Aug 25: Week 2 of Transfer 2 in Castle Hills

Oi Familia!

We have seen many miracles this week. We have been blessed with many people to teach. We are finding new investigators and several are progressing!

We went on exchanges this week and I had the opportunity to serve with Hermana R here in Castle Hills for the day! Hermana R is from El Salvador, so I got to practice lots of Spanish and Portuguese with her. We had lot of appointments and had a great time!

We had Zone Training and Interviews with President Slaughter on Friday- both were great!

On Friday we had dinner with the W Family, and they gave me a bike to use! (Sister S and I are trying to conserve miles!) We took the bus one day, and on Saturday we biked! It was a nice hot, biking day! (Gave me a very big appreciation to all those biking missionaries! I was thinking, "Sister Danica Greenall gets to do this every day in the Texas sun!!")

This morning I was reading from President Monson's last conference talk "Love - The Essence of the Gospel."

In his talk he quoted Spencer W. Kimball, "We must remember that those mortals we meet in parking lots, offices, elevators, and elsewhere are that portion of mankind God has given us to love and to serve. It will do us little good to speak of the general brotherhood of mankind if we cannot regard those who are all around us as our brothers and sisters."

President Monson also said, "Beyond comprehension, my brothers and sisters, is the love of God for us. Because of this love, He sent His Son, who loved us enough to give His life for us, that we might have eternal life. As we come to understand this incomparable gift, our hearts will be filled with love for our Eternal Father, for our Savior, and for all mankind."

I love that promise that as we come to understand the gift of God's Son, our hearts will be filled with

1.) love for our Eternal Father

2.) love for our Savior
3.) love for all mankind

I know that love truly is the essence of the gospel. I know that we are surrounded by those around us for a purpose. God loves His children (that's us!). Jesus Christ lives and loves us! We are brothers and sisters!

I hope y'all have another superb week!

Love,

Sister E. Greenall

Aug 18: Tudo Bem!

Oi Familia!

Another great week!

I have some pictures I want to send if I can figure out this computer!

We are seeing miracles each day!

We had a Sister Training Leader meeting on Thursday that was so helpful. It was great to be with those sisters and to learn from them. I was surrounded by people I love! All three of my trainers were there, as well as my trainee, Sister T! I am inspired by the missionaries around me here in the TSAM.

We brought new ward missionaries and recent converts, A and G (a married couple) to our lesson with R this week. Their testimonies and fellowship made all the difference! I have a testimony of the importance of members in missionary work!

We have met several new and incredible people! We are hoping to continue teaching them and to help them progress to baptism!

On Saturday Ar was baptized! It was a wonderful day. Saturday was a miracle-filled day. We have a recent convert in the ward who lives very close to us (she was married recently to a return missionary). She comes out with us a lot and came to 3 lessons with us on Saturday!

Ar's baptism was wonderful! He is such a great guy and I am so happy to see him begin the path back to his Heavenly Father. Brother Z, our ward mission leader, conducted the service, and Brother G, our ward mission leader assistant, baptized Ar. On Sunday Ar was confirmed by another member of our ward.

What an incredible week. There are miracles all around!

As I was reading Pregar Meu Evangelho (Preach My Gospel) during language study this week, a quote really struck me. I wrote it down and put it by my desk.

"There is no mortal man that is so much interested in the success of an elder when he is preaching the gospel as the Lord that sent him to preach to the people who are the Lord's children" (PMG pg 12, President Lorenzo Snow

I know this gospel is true. I love this work!

Love y'all!

Have a great week!

Sister E Greenall

PS: We ate lunch with the T family this week. He is from American Samoa and she is from Hawaii! There home is so filled with Aloha! They are the sweetest and they remind me of being at BYUH.

 

Aug 11: The Good Ol' TSAM

From Erica's Mom:  Thank you for all of your prayers on behalf of Sister Erica Greenall and her visa.  As of last Friday, my hopes for Erica's visa were dimmed as I was told by the church travel department that in checking on the status of her FBI clearance letter, that it was mailed by the FBI to our California address and that I would need to track it down when it arrived there.  So I spent the weekend contacting friends in California to find out who the current occupants of our old house are and how to contact them.  Then we had a miracle today, when the church travel agent let me know that the FBI clearance letter was received by their office today and he would be resubmitting her visa package again asap.  Thank you for your prayers! :)

 

Also, in an email last week, Sister Greenall ask if I could go through her clothes at home and see if any were mission appropriate as she really needed some new clothes and needed a more professional look now that she is a Sister Training Leader but hadn't been able to squeeze in any time to go shopping.  I looked through her clothes and found nothing that would work so I was able to find a few simple mix and match outfits at Walmart and put them in the mail (with the receipt in case they did not work)...luckily they actually fit AND she actually likes them.  There is two more missionary miracles for the week. :) (see photo below)
 

 

Reply from Sister Erica Greenall:

Mom!!! I cannot thank you enough for your email and for the package you sent and for everything! You are always so encouraging and supportive. THANK YOU!! The clothes you sent are perfect. Thank you!! I am enjoying them and it is SO nice to have new clothes to wear and believe it or not, the skirts and shirts and shrugs are much more cool and summer friendly than what I have been wearing, so thank you!! I now feel like a more dignified missionary :) 

 

 

 

Hello!

I was so happy reading y'alls emails that I finished and was about to log off when I realized I hadn't even sent out an email!

Thank you for all of your support and encouragement.

Every week in the mission is a week of miracles.

Ar passed his baptismal interview this week and will be getting baptized next Saturday!

Some of the biggest miracles I have seen this week have been priesthood blessings.

The authority and power to act in Christ's name has been restored to the earth through the prophet Joseph Smith by John the Baptist, Peter, James, and John.

I know that this power is real!

It is an incredible thing to see someone receive a blessing of healing or comfort for the first time who has never before had first-hand experience with that power. (Or even seen or known about the true priesthood authority!)

The gospel is true! This is Christ's church! The Book of Mormon is truly the word of God. Everything we do and teach in Christ's church comes from the fullness of the gospel as revealed in the Book of Mormon and through the prophet Joseph Smith.

Covenants are essential. God fulfills His promises to those who keep their covenants.

Jesus Christ lives and knows us!

People are prepared to receive the message of the restored gospel! As we strive to be part of the Lord's work - to be instruments for Him - we will be led to those people and they will be led to us! We had one of those experiences last night as a man came up to us and asked if we were ministering! We shared the message of the Restoration with him and as he prayed before we left, he thanked God for leading him to us!

I love being a missionary and I love this work!

All in!

Love,

  Sister Greenall



 

Aug 4: Another Great Week in San Antonio!

 

Hello all!

It has been a wonderful week.

Sister S and I will be staying here in Castle Hills B for another transfer!

I have learned so much this week!

At Mission Leadership Council, Sister Slaughter did a training (she is incredible!) about how she does her personal study.

1.) Read Straight Through the Story. Get the Flow and Feel of it
2.) Write down ALL the questions that came to mind or that you have about the segment
3.) Study it through the "eyes of the Restoration"

We did an example study about Noah and why the earth needed to be flooded. I learned so much! We first read the story from the Bible, then wrote down our questions, and studied the same story but in Moses, in the Pearl of Great Price. The world believes that the world was flooded because the people had become so wicked. Which is true! -But there is much more! We learn this through the eyes of the Restoration!

At Mission Leadership Council, we had so much incredible training. We have a lot of missionaries going home this transfer! Several of them were at the meeting and did training. All of the missionaries who were going home bore their testimony at the end of MLC. They were asked to share the "pearl" of their mission - just one thing they had learned. It was so inspiring to hear all of the different pearls and to be surrounded by such powerful missionaries. They are all examples to me, and I hope to be like them someday! The pearls were everything from "Now I KNOW that my Savior lives." to "Progression" to "I've learned to TRUST in the Lord." to "My Heavenly Father loves me." to "REPENTANCE."

I left feeling thoroughly uplifted and chastened, as I always do at those meetings! It was great!

I loved what one sister said, "Repentance isn't something I do morning and night when I get on my knees. Every single minute of my mission has been repentance."

All of these pearls got me thinking - if I were leaving my mission tomorrow, what would I share as the "pearl" of my mission?

Two things came to mind.

1.) "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;"

2.) God loves broken things.

Before leaving on my mission, I chose D&C 18:15 as kind of a theme for my mission. Over the past 11 months of my mission, I have come more than ever to know that this promise is true! God is always aware of the one. When we go after the one, and bring them to the fold, the joy is indescribable.

God LOVES broken things! Starting at the MTC, I have noticed that every time I am among missionaries who are bearing powerful testimonies, I can look around and see that everyone of them has become broken in some way. When we are broken, Christ can fix us and make us a little better, and a little better. Every time we are broken, we gain a few more cracks, and when we are put back together, a little more of Christ's light can shine through us.

D&C 56:18

"But blessed are the poor who are pure in heart, whose hearts are broken, and whose spirits are contrite, for they shall see the kingdom of God coming in power and great glory unto their deliverance..."

One more pearl: THE RESTORATION! As President taught, we know can see "the kingdom of God" when we can recognize that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is truly Christ's church - the Kingdom of God on the earth. When we have broken hearts we can see so much more! I left MLC with a longing to be broken.

A sister in the ward said something during testimony meeting that really touched me. She said, "Their (Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ's) love is not to be comprehended, but to be enjoyed."

I love this gospel. I know that it is true! The Restoration is real!! It was prophesied of anciently by prophets in the Bible and Book of Mormon! I have been studying the prophecies that were made of the Restoration. There are more and more as I really begin to dig in!

When Joseph Smith was 14 years old, he saw God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ! Through Joseph Smith, the FULLNESS of Christ's gospel was RESTORED to the Earth! The priesthood authority - the authority to act in Christ's name with HIS power - was restored to Joseph Smith by John the Baptist, Peter, James, and John!

I love being a missionary! I love the gospel!

I hope you all are well and have a GREAT week!

Love,

Sister Greenall