Hello!
Its been another great week! We have been really blessed! The ward here is amazing and is taking such good care of us. We have seen more miracles but we have also had the adversary in our face trying to get us down but together sis. Anderson and i keep each other up and positive.
There has been alot of snow and yes we tract in it! It is invigorating! The spirit keeps us warm or at least helps us keep our thoughts off the fact that our toes our numb. We realized we need boots because our shoes keep filling up with snow so we will go buy some today....lots of people feel bad for us but not so many let us in. Ha Ha.....also people are so busy celebrating Christmas that they dont have time to hear a message about why we have Christmas. Isn't it ironic? Well it does not matter cuz we just keep working hard and we have had some really neat experiences and are still setting up appointments with many people for after the holidays. But untill then we will continue tracting! wow i am learning great things about perserverance and prayer! President has given sister Anderson and I the special assignment of figuring out how to get the "im allright Jack" people to listen to the message we have...so please let us know if you have any ideas on how to help the people who are content with thier life as it is to have a desire for the gospel in thier lives... That is our mission right now....President told us he wants us to become universal teachers so that we can convince anyone that they need the gospel......he has actually asked us to be "traveling sisters" so next tranfer he will send us all over the mission to do exchanges with all the sisters so that the sisters can get as much training as the elders do. That will be a really neat experience. We actually spent an hour with President at zone confrence talking about these ideas. He is such an inspired man. He also gave us blessings. I am so grateful for the Priesthood.
well i almost forgot but on Tuesday we set a baptism date with a women named June. She is a single women with two kids. She loves volunteering and serving. She was a refferal from the spanish elders. She went to a Christmas concert at the church and felt the spirit so strong that she went the next night too. The sisters taught her the first lesson and she knew it was all true. So we taught her again. we cleared up some questions and the spirit was so strong it was almost tangible! Then we set the date for January 18. Wow what a neat women. And Satan has been working on her ever since but she is overcoming because she knows what she felt is real. Wow! It is such a neat thing to feel the holy Ghost work through you. I know this is the true gospel of Jesus Christ!
Love, Sister Flake
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
December 29, 2008 Email
Well hello!
Wow that was so great to talk to you on Christmas! And it made it even better to here from all the cousins and grandma and grandmpa too! Thanks for the advice and encouragement. Were going to be trying alot of new things. So i was telling you how are ward mission leader is kind of hard to communicate with because hes chinese....well i had an epiphany yesterday during ward correlation. We were trying to help him express his many great ideas in a way that people would listen and be enthused and it worked really remarkably...and i had the thought that i should change my major to communications....? Not that i have time to think about it much now but i really feel that the training im getting out here is preparing me for the future....well obviously ....but i was just thinking about everything ive learned from president about persuasion and helpping people find truth and plus all the english classes ive taught here.... i just want to help people express themselves and help people understand each other...a peacemaker.... and anyway it will help in all aspects of my life. So mom is there a communications program at Dixie? well anyway it could help me be a more qualified motivational speaker as well! HA HA! Well back to the mission...sorry bout the tangent. The soup kitchen at the Catholic church on Christmas was such an amazing experience. We went there not intending to proselite of course... and we served dinner and then sat with some homeless and widdows.....it was an incredible expereince....i had 5 people at the table with me asking all kinds of questions about the church! I couldnt believe it....they were interested in our beliefs and such. I felt like i was in an interview. It was the topic of discussion. One lady was so excited to know that i went on a date with donnie osmonds son! HA HA! and we talked about the new temple and everything else! And they started telling me all the people that they know that were mormons. and this really cute 18 year olg girl from the catholic church sat next to me and had the most sincere questions about the purpose of life and Christ....she was telling me how she has a religion course at her catholic high school but they dont use the bible to teach it....they just talk.....and so she was really wnating to learn about the bible....so i taught her a bunch and taught her her relationship to God....That He is her Father in Heaven and she is a daughter of God....she was really toched and the spirit bore witness that it was true. we talked about meeting again....i gave her information about the Ecuador orphanage program becase she was telling me about her desire to reach out and do some kind of mission.....and she plays soccer so we had a connection. she was a really neat girl and at a cross road in her life.....She was telling me how her freinds are pullling her one way but she wants to have that relationship with God....she knows she cant have both right now....so it was so neat that God placed us at the same table so i could share with her the reasons to stay on Gods side and stay strong against temptations. So her and the lady on the other side of me who was a widow from Ireland expressed their desire to meet agian! Who wuold have thought that would happen! At a catholic church! The Lord is so aware of each of us! This is His true church and People are drawn to the light the gospel gives us....if they are searching for that light! So let your light so shine! And pray to be placed in places where the Lord can help others through you! The gospel so so true! The Lord is my Light! He is my strength! I love you all!
Love sister flake
Wow that was so great to talk to you on Christmas! And it made it even better to here from all the cousins and grandma and grandmpa too! Thanks for the advice and encouragement. Were going to be trying alot of new things. So i was telling you how are ward mission leader is kind of hard to communicate with because hes chinese....well i had an epiphany yesterday during ward correlation. We were trying to help him express his many great ideas in a way that people would listen and be enthused and it worked really remarkably...and i had the thought that i should change my major to communications....? Not that i have time to think about it much now but i really feel that the training im getting out here is preparing me for the future....well obviously ....but i was just thinking about everything ive learned from president about persuasion and helpping people find truth and plus all the english classes ive taught here.... i just want to help people express themselves and help people understand each other...a peacemaker.... and anyway it will help in all aspects of my life. So mom is there a communications program at Dixie? well anyway it could help me be a more qualified motivational speaker as well! HA HA! Well back to the mission...sorry bout the tangent. The soup kitchen at the Catholic church on Christmas was such an amazing experience. We went there not intending to proselite of course... and we served dinner and then sat with some homeless and widdows.....it was an incredible expereince....i had 5 people at the table with me asking all kinds of questions about the church! I couldnt believe it....they were interested in our beliefs and such. I felt like i was in an interview. It was the topic of discussion. One lady was so excited to know that i went on a date with donnie osmonds son! HA HA! and we talked about the new temple and everything else! And they started telling me all the people that they know that were mormons. and this really cute 18 year olg girl from the catholic church sat next to me and had the most sincere questions about the purpose of life and Christ....she was telling me how she has a religion course at her catholic high school but they dont use the bible to teach it....they just talk.....and so she was really wnating to learn about the bible....so i taught her a bunch and taught her her relationship to God....That He is her Father in Heaven and she is a daughter of God....she was really toched and the spirit bore witness that it was true. we talked about meeting again....i gave her information about the Ecuador orphanage program becase she was telling me about her desire to reach out and do some kind of mission.....and she plays soccer so we had a connection. she was a really neat girl and at a cross road in her life.....She was telling me how her freinds are pullling her one way but she wants to have that relationship with God....she knows she cant have both right now....so it was so neat that God placed us at the same table so i could share with her the reasons to stay on Gods side and stay strong against temptations. So her and the lady on the other side of me who was a widow from Ireland expressed their desire to meet agian! Who wuold have thought that would happen! At a catholic church! The Lord is so aware of each of us! This is His true church and People are drawn to the light the gospel gives us....if they are searching for that light! So let your light so shine! And pray to be placed in places where the Lord can help others through you! The gospel so so true! The Lord is my Light! He is my strength! I love you all!
Love sister flake
December 15, 2008 Email
Hello!
Oh my goodness! So much has changed! First of all thank you so much for the packages! Wow! It was all so nice and thanks for the camera! Holy Cow! You are amazing! I love you all so much!
Well yes i have been transfered! God strengthend me so much to be able to leave those people who i love so much because He made it easy when you know how usually i can get sooo emotional when i say goodbyes...ha ha! well there was some tears shed by my favoriets there... i love them so much! sherry sammy and deanna especially. and we helped the LeBrun family decorate their tree on my last night there...it was really special. David then decorated me as an angel! Ha ha! I love them so much!
So we switched! Sis. Barnum took my place and i took hers in Langley. My companion is the short Sister Anderson, not the tall one that was my trainer. Anway!! I cant even explain to you how amazing things are going allready....we knew we would serve together eventually....we did exchanges two months ago and hiked Grouse mountain together and since then we had both been hoping to serve together..... wow! so this place was completely dead two transfers ago when the sisters were brought in....sis anderson and sister barnum spent two transfers tracting almost constantly here. and they had one progressing investigator......well lets just say that God knew what was capable with the two of us together because we have been bombarded with miracles since i got here thursday! HOly Cow! God is so amazing! i can not even tell you! We pray all day we have the spirit so strong...and sis. anderson is so obedient and full of enthusiasm so together we are able to do so much!WOW! litteraly miracles....God is working miracles for us....i have never felt so much courage and strength.we have so much unity...when we teach together you can just feel the spirit so strong! i have not really had that unity with my other companions so its just been so amazing because our goals and ambitions are the same and we are both willing to do whatever it takes and so far, its only been three days, but God has just poured down blessings.
so the first night we went tracting in -2 degree weather....yes its cold. and we only went to seven houses and we got invited in to teach and then spent half an hour with another person outside teaching. Then the next time we went tracting in the snow! we got seven phone numbers and taught three lessons on one street! and you know what we dont even take time to go have dinner we just go all out out quickly from door to door and God has blessed us with meals from members that happen to live on the street that invite us in unplanned! wow the members are amazing!
we had a lady come to church with a friend that we sat next to who felt the spirit and then leaned over and said " i have some questions can i give you my number?" Thats unheard of here in Canada! someone offering us their number! Gods work is just booming here! and members are giving us refferals...that never happens! wow! i have never felt Gods love and strength so much in my life! we are preparing this city for a temple and the spirit of God is changing hearts in this place and we are here to enthusiastically gather these elect people! Miracle upon miracle upon miracle we have seen since we have been put together! And you know what our schedules are already filling up with teaching appointments.
So can you tell im a little excited? oh yeah and this members girlfreind who has been coming with him to church talked to the bishop after we taought them in gospel principles and she wants to be baptised..so we will be teaching her soon! and so you can see that many great things will be happening here!
so basically Langley is a pleasant little place....dad you would love all the barns everywhere! and its called little hollywood because lots of movies are filmed here and all the youth our into danceing and acting and singing! so i can relate with the people a little there. it is gorgeous here! and you know what? saturday morning we worked on the farm! Yes the elders in the area next to us have a nonmember that they help with the farm and they needed extra help feeding the cows ! wow it was so fun! we rode on the trailor behind the tractor and tore the hay of the roll and through it out to the cows so fun! the ward is great! Sister anderson is from idaho! She is so dang cute and enthusiastic! We are non stop talking and having fun! wow this is what i wanted missionary work to be like! Non-stop, hard working, miracles every moment, spirit strong! This work is amazing! keep praying for me! The adversary is getting stronger here too......the church is truer then ever!
Love, sister flake
Oh my goodness! So much has changed! First of all thank you so much for the packages! Wow! It was all so nice and thanks for the camera! Holy Cow! You are amazing! I love you all so much!
Well yes i have been transfered! God strengthend me so much to be able to leave those people who i love so much because He made it easy when you know how usually i can get sooo emotional when i say goodbyes...ha ha! well there was some tears shed by my favoriets there... i love them so much! sherry sammy and deanna especially. and we helped the LeBrun family decorate their tree on my last night there...it was really special. David then decorated me as an angel! Ha ha! I love them so much!
So we switched! Sis. Barnum took my place and i took hers in Langley. My companion is the short Sister Anderson, not the tall one that was my trainer. Anway!! I cant even explain to you how amazing things are going allready....we knew we would serve together eventually....we did exchanges two months ago and hiked Grouse mountain together and since then we had both been hoping to serve together..... wow! so this place was completely dead two transfers ago when the sisters were brought in....sis anderson and sister barnum spent two transfers tracting almost constantly here. and they had one progressing investigator......well lets just say that God knew what was capable with the two of us together because we have been bombarded with miracles since i got here thursday! HOly Cow! God is so amazing! i can not even tell you! We pray all day we have the spirit so strong...and sis. anderson is so obedient and full of enthusiasm so together we are able to do so much!WOW! litteraly miracles....God is working miracles for us....i have never felt so much courage and strength.we have so much unity...when we teach together you can just feel the spirit so strong! i have not really had that unity with my other companions so its just been so amazing because our goals and ambitions are the same and we are both willing to do whatever it takes and so far, its only been three days, but God has just poured down blessings.
so the first night we went tracting in -2 degree weather....yes its cold. and we only went to seven houses and we got invited in to teach and then spent half an hour with another person outside teaching. Then the next time we went tracting in the snow! we got seven phone numbers and taught three lessons on one street! and you know what we dont even take time to go have dinner we just go all out out quickly from door to door and God has blessed us with meals from members that happen to live on the street that invite us in unplanned! wow the members are amazing!
we had a lady come to church with a friend that we sat next to who felt the spirit and then leaned over and said " i have some questions can i give you my number?" Thats unheard of here in Canada! someone offering us their number! Gods work is just booming here! and members are giving us refferals...that never happens! wow! i have never felt Gods love and strength so much in my life! we are preparing this city for a temple and the spirit of God is changing hearts in this place and we are here to enthusiastically gather these elect people! Miracle upon miracle upon miracle we have seen since we have been put together! And you know what our schedules are already filling up with teaching appointments.
So can you tell im a little excited? oh yeah and this members girlfreind who has been coming with him to church talked to the bishop after we taought them in gospel principles and she wants to be baptised..so we will be teaching her soon! and so you can see that many great things will be happening here!
so basically Langley is a pleasant little place....dad you would love all the barns everywhere! and its called little hollywood because lots of movies are filmed here and all the youth our into danceing and acting and singing! so i can relate with the people a little there. it is gorgeous here! and you know what? saturday morning we worked on the farm! Yes the elders in the area next to us have a nonmember that they help with the farm and they needed extra help feeding the cows ! wow it was so fun! we rode on the trailor behind the tractor and tore the hay of the roll and through it out to the cows so fun! the ward is great! Sister anderson is from idaho! She is so dang cute and enthusiastic! We are non stop talking and having fun! wow this is what i wanted missionary work to be like! Non-stop, hard working, miracles every moment, spirit strong! This work is amazing! keep praying for me! The adversary is getting stronger here too......the church is truer then ever!
Love, sister flake
Monday, December 8, 2008
Email December 8, 2008
Hello!
i love you! thanks for the updates! Sounds like you are all doing well! That makes me so happy! Thanks for the pictures... a little update..... it is warm here....well compared to Provo. it stays around ten degrees celcius... sometimes i dont need a coat...just a sweater and guess what we have not been outside...we teach constantly and dont have time for tracting and only can contact on the way into appointments. so remember when we use to get like 600 contacts a week? well that hard work payed off because now we just teach and get not much more then 20 contacts a week....and God is really blessing us because we still get about three new investigators a week from referals etc. Amazing!
And Christmas is big here too. We helped our landlord with her Christmas tree and tonight we are having FHE with Deanna, Larry, Gil, Sammy, an Sherry putting up a tree! All of my favorite people...we had FHE last week together too....i guess its tradition now. Its great because Sammy and Deanna are recent converts, Larry is an investigator and Gil and Sherry are less actives. so its really enriching for all! Also they are all really poor. so i was hoping that we could buy Deanna Scriptures for Christmas? I could get a member to buy them at the distribution center and pay them back. Did i tell you she wants to go on a mission in a year? Yeah she is on fire! mom..she doesnt do email....so just write a letter...Thanks.
So anyway its just amazing to me because Deanna is just like the glue that holds all these people together. Its great because there are alot of rich people in the ward who they dont really seem to fit in with so its great that they have all found freinds with in each other. But like the humble Zoramites in the Book of Mormon, the poorer people are way more prepared to listen and more welcoming to other people....cant we all be a little more welcoming to new people? Anyway....today we are taking the sky train to Vancouver! Wont that be exciting? Maybe you can google it to see what im talking about.....its like this train that travels 30 feet above the ground. Pretty cool.
I dont know if i will be transfered i will let you know as soon as i can. But i just love the people here so much! They are angels and my life has been changed forever from associating with them. Another thing is I love the youth in the ward here i have made lots of friends and have tried hard to strenghen them as well.
Merry Christmas! Cant wait to talk to you! Good job being missionaries yourselves!
Love, Sister Flake
i love you! thanks for the updates! Sounds like you are all doing well! That makes me so happy! Thanks for the pictures... a little update..... it is warm here....well compared to Provo. it stays around ten degrees celcius... sometimes i dont need a coat...just a sweater and guess what we have not been outside...we teach constantly and dont have time for tracting and only can contact on the way into appointments. so remember when we use to get like 600 contacts a week? well that hard work payed off because now we just teach and get not much more then 20 contacts a week....and God is really blessing us because we still get about three new investigators a week from referals etc. Amazing!
And Christmas is big here too. We helped our landlord with her Christmas tree and tonight we are having FHE with Deanna, Larry, Gil, Sammy, an Sherry putting up a tree! All of my favorite people...we had FHE last week together too....i guess its tradition now. Its great because Sammy and Deanna are recent converts, Larry is an investigator and Gil and Sherry are less actives. so its really enriching for all! Also they are all really poor. so i was hoping that we could buy Deanna Scriptures for Christmas? I could get a member to buy them at the distribution center and pay them back. Did i tell you she wants to go on a mission in a year? Yeah she is on fire! mom..she doesnt do email....so just write a letter...Thanks.
So anyway its just amazing to me because Deanna is just like the glue that holds all these people together. Its great because there are alot of rich people in the ward who they dont really seem to fit in with so its great that they have all found freinds with in each other. But like the humble Zoramites in the Book of Mormon, the poorer people are way more prepared to listen and more welcoming to other people....cant we all be a little more welcoming to new people? Anyway....today we are taking the sky train to Vancouver! Wont that be exciting? Maybe you can google it to see what im talking about.....its like this train that travels 30 feet above the ground. Pretty cool.
I dont know if i will be transfered i will let you know as soon as i can. But i just love the people here so much! They are angels and my life has been changed forever from associating with them. Another thing is I love the youth in the ward here i have made lots of friends and have tried hard to strenghen them as well.
Merry Christmas! Cant wait to talk to you! Good job being missionaries yourselves!
Love, Sister Flake
Monday, December 1, 2008
Email December 1, 2008
Tis the season to be jolly!
I am so happy right now....i should be sad because its the holidays with out my lovely family but i actually have been so overcome with joy this week....and somewhat emotional......i have never felt so close to Christ. This past week has been an amazing spiritually growing time for me. First off i had an interview with president that really got me thinking about how i can draw closer to the Lord.....and then we spent some time in Burnaby at the Nativity Festival..... while we were waiting for our investigators to arrive i sat in the chapel where they were showing the nativity movie over and over again. I watched it three times in a row. with tears running down my face i sat and pondered the Love of our Saviour and prayed for a fair amount of time..... since then i have been looking at people and seeing Christ with in them..... this has changed the way i teach.....and our last few appointments have been filled with the spirit as i have concentrated on loving them rather then worrying about what to say next.
This is real happiness...i have never felt the Christmas spirit so strong. I love my Saviour. There was a Christmas concert Saturday night at the festival and we had two Persian investigator families show up and we went with a less active lady that we love.....she told us that this is the first Holiday season for at least four years that she has felt the Christmas spirit and she says she thinks its because she has started reading the book of Mormon again......it is a powerful book....it is changing lives. and then we were visiting Sammy, a recent convert from Iran who was baptised in February....the spirit was felt so strongly as we talked about Christ and celebrating His birth.....this will be Sammy's first Christmas as a Christian..... i cant explain how wonderful it is to be introducing our Saviour Jesus Christ to people who do not yet know Him.
Love, Sis. Flake
I am so happy right now....i should be sad because its the holidays with out my lovely family but i actually have been so overcome with joy this week....and somewhat emotional......i have never felt so close to Christ. This past week has been an amazing spiritually growing time for me. First off i had an interview with president that really got me thinking about how i can draw closer to the Lord.....and then we spent some time in Burnaby at the Nativity Festival..... while we were waiting for our investigators to arrive i sat in the chapel where they were showing the nativity movie over and over again. I watched it three times in a row. with tears running down my face i sat and pondered the Love of our Saviour and prayed for a fair amount of time..... since then i have been looking at people and seeing Christ with in them..... this has changed the way i teach.....and our last few appointments have been filled with the spirit as i have concentrated on loving them rather then worrying about what to say next.
This is real happiness...i have never felt the Christmas spirit so strong. I love my Saviour. There was a Christmas concert Saturday night at the festival and we had two Persian investigator families show up and we went with a less active lady that we love.....she told us that this is the first Holiday season for at least four years that she has felt the Christmas spirit and she says she thinks its because she has started reading the book of Mormon again......it is a powerful book....it is changing lives. and then we were visiting Sammy, a recent convert from Iran who was baptised in February....the spirit was felt so strongly as we talked about Christ and celebrating His birth.....this will be Sammy's first Christmas as a Christian..... i cant explain how wonderful it is to be introducing our Saviour Jesus Christ to people who do not yet know Him.
Love, Sis. Flake
Monday, November 24, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving
I want to share with you the three things i am thankful for this year and you can read it at the dinner table at grandmas at thanksgiving. Oh my im getting emotional just thinking about all you sitting there.....its like my favorite thing of the whole year....anyway.....
1. Family: yes...all of you! I have never felt so much love for you in my whole life! Every time i see something neat or have a cool expereince i want to call you up and tell you about it. Thank you for suppporting me, appriciating me, and loving me. And i have such a wonderful legacy to live up to. The more i think about it....i realize my extended family has had such a great influence on me. i look up to so many of my wonderful cousins, my grandparents who are pretty much the best ever, and my aunts and uncles. Thank you so much for living what you beleive and being such great examples. Honestly. Sincerely. Thank you.
2. Gods Love: There is no better feeling in this world then the feeling of love that i feel from my Heavenly Father. Especially when i pray. I know He knows me and is molding and shaping me into who He wants me to be......when my soul hungers...He is there to feel it. When i am down and depressed he lifts me up. When i feel unworthy He lets me know that i am a daughter of God and that my Saviour Jesus Christ has suffered for me, sister Lindsey Rose Flake...He knows me, my name, my strenths, my weaknesses, my trials, and my heart. And He has that same love for all His children on this earth.
3. The truth: So many people are wandering to and fro in this wicked world looking for something to fill the hole with in thier soul.... How blessed we are to have the truth....about God and His plan for us... we must never take these truths for granite..there are many who do not have them and feel very lost....we must treasure up the truth and share it with all that we can!
Sorry i have ran out of time.....ilove you all! the week went great all is well! Ill tell you more next week!
Sister Flake
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
November 17 Email
Wow! another great week of teaching and learning! I really loved zone conference...President is so inspired....the things he told us were answers to questions i have been pondering. Can i just tell you how much i love studying....its like theres never enough time...the scriptures have become a treasure in my heart and when i read them it feels me with courage to go and do the things the Lord has asked me to do. We also had stake conference this week and it was so great to see so many faithful saints out here in this worldly part of the world. There is alot of excitement about the temple being built.....and i am so happy that i will be able to be here when it opens. and the blessings from the temple being in the area is already changing things. The number of baptisms in BC has had a dramatic increase and is on the rise. Its really neat to see Gods power and miracles here.
Please pray for Larry....he was doing so good but Deanna called us on Friday really sad because Larry went on a drinking binge....and he was finally getting off of the Boos. But hopefully this will be the last time cuz he will realize it does not bring him happiness.... Deanna went through the same thing and she came out strong so i am sure Larry will be able to as well....and still be baptised in December.
Well we are getting some amazing refferals and teaching all kinds of different people..... We taught a man from Sri Lanka yesterday....he was just eating it up....also we will be teaching a man named Rudy from the persian gulf who is ready to be baptised. And a really neat thing... we were teaching our investigator Mel at a members house and a construction worker was fixing her door..... we introduced oursleves and then he left before i could talk to him about the gospel....and i was like dang i should have said something...but then he came in aagin because he forgot something....wow....so we ended up getting his number.... well we taught him on thursday and it went so well! He told us that though he was catholic there was still something missing in his life! Thats a great thing to hear as a missionary.....bingo! So we have another appointment....his name is Fernando and his is from El Salvador.....Yeah isnt it great how many differnt kind of people we get to meet with!? also an Iranian lady from english class invited us over for lunch. so we mad persian food together and talked about Jesus Christ because she is interested in becoming Christian! Wow sooo things have really taken off here and it is so fun and wonderful...
I love testifying to so many of Gods children here on this earth....also something that president has taught us to do is when ever we finish an appointment we explain to them about satan and how he will try harder to tempt them and lead them astray from the truth.....we have to do this because i cant explain to you how hard it is to help people remeber what they felt with how hard satan is working on them here....it can cause great dissapointment sometimes....but we all know that the Lord is stronger...we are on the winning side! We must stay close to the Lord in these latter days! Well the church is truer ever! Christ is our Savior!
Love, Sister Flake
Please pray for Larry....he was doing so good but Deanna called us on Friday really sad because Larry went on a drinking binge....and he was finally getting off of the Boos. But hopefully this will be the last time cuz he will realize it does not bring him happiness.... Deanna went through the same thing and she came out strong so i am sure Larry will be able to as well....and still be baptised in December.
Well we are getting some amazing refferals and teaching all kinds of different people..... We taught a man from Sri Lanka yesterday....he was just eating it up....also we will be teaching a man named Rudy from the persian gulf who is ready to be baptised. And a really neat thing... we were teaching our investigator Mel at a members house and a construction worker was fixing her door..... we introduced oursleves and then he left before i could talk to him about the gospel....and i was like dang i should have said something...but then he came in aagin because he forgot something....wow....so we ended up getting his number.... well we taught him on thursday and it went so well! He told us that though he was catholic there was still something missing in his life! Thats a great thing to hear as a missionary.....bingo! So we have another appointment....his name is Fernando and his is from El Salvador.....Yeah isnt it great how many differnt kind of people we get to meet with!? also an Iranian lady from english class invited us over for lunch. so we mad persian food together and talked about Jesus Christ because she is interested in becoming Christian! Wow sooo things have really taken off here and it is so fun and wonderful...
I love testifying to so many of Gods children here on this earth....also something that president has taught us to do is when ever we finish an appointment we explain to them about satan and how he will try harder to tempt them and lead them astray from the truth.....we have to do this because i cant explain to you how hard it is to help people remeber what they felt with how hard satan is working on them here....it can cause great dissapointment sometimes....but we all know that the Lord is stronger...we are on the winning side! We must stay close to the Lord in these latter days! Well the church is truer ever! Christ is our Savior!
Love, Sister Flake
Monday, November 10, 2008
November 10 email
Well hello!
Another great, and wet week here in Port Coquitlam! Miracles are happining! I never know where to begin but.....yesterday a man from an island near the Persian gulf came to church and told us he has been going to the mormon church on and off for ten years and he now wants us to teach him so he can be baptised.....apperently he was once on a business trip to salt lake and was invited to church there. he travels so he has been goint to church in many different places...but now he is living in canada. wow!
Sis. Huffaker and i went on exchanges here this week....both our companions were sick so we were covering two areas while they slept and watched church movies it was really exciting to be all over the place....it was awesome and i learned so much from teaching with sis. huffaker.....we hadn't done it since the MTC and we are both alot better now:) . one of our investigators ended up in the hospital so we asked the Burnaby elders to give a blessing for her and then we taught her about faith in Jesus Christ and what it can do. Her mom was there too and now might be interested in learning too! I just realized how much i love teaching! it is so fun and brings so much satisfaction to bare your testimony to those who are just begining thier own testimonies. oh and guess what? President spent two hours with sis. Huffaker and I studying and answering questions! We appriciate him so much!
The gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored! I know that my Redeemer lives! I dont have words to explain how wonderful it feels to know He loves me and has a plan for me. Keep the Faith!
Love, sis flake
So i heard Jenn Olsen turned her papers in! I want to know where she gets called!
Another great, and wet week here in Port Coquitlam! Miracles are happining! I never know where to begin but.....yesterday a man from an island near the Persian gulf came to church and told us he has been going to the mormon church on and off for ten years and he now wants us to teach him so he can be baptised.....apperently he was once on a business trip to salt lake and was invited to church there. he travels so he has been goint to church in many different places...but now he is living in canada. wow!
Sis. Huffaker and i went on exchanges here this week....both our companions were sick so we were covering two areas while they slept and watched church movies it was really exciting to be all over the place....it was awesome and i learned so much from teaching with sis. huffaker.....we hadn't done it since the MTC and we are both alot better now:) . one of our investigators ended up in the hospital so we asked the Burnaby elders to give a blessing for her and then we taught her about faith in Jesus Christ and what it can do. Her mom was there too and now might be interested in learning too! I just realized how much i love teaching! it is so fun and brings so much satisfaction to bare your testimony to those who are just begining thier own testimonies. oh and guess what? President spent two hours with sis. Huffaker and I studying and answering questions! We appriciate him so much!
The gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored! I know that my Redeemer lives! I dont have words to explain how wonderful it feels to know He loves me and has a plan for me. Keep the Faith!
Love, sis flake
So i heard Jenn Olsen turned her papers in! I want to know where she gets called!
Monday, November 3, 2008
Staying in Port Coquitlam!
Monday, November 03, 2008 11:56
Hello!
Thanks everyone for the emails! I really love hearing from you! Sounds like you are living fun, fabulous lives! I hope you realize how much i love you! So guess what? Im still here! And I am still with Sister van den Bosch! Crazy eh? Yeah its unheard of in this mission for sisters to be together for three transfers...but....the Lord knows best! Also the Lord answers prayers and Deanna, Sis. Lebrun, Sammy, and Sherry(our best friends here) all told us that they have been praying that we would both stay! Isnt that great? and apparently the Lord still has plans for us here. We have a lot of fun together....and though we are very different we each have strengths where the others weaknesses are so we work very effectivley together.
So 6 months in Port Coquitlam! Can you belive it? I just love the people here and we have many progressing investigators so it's best that we both stay here to help them along!
So.... we are teaching Patricks friend Taylor at the LeBruns house. He really likes learning and going to church. And we had a little neat miracle. Patrick lost his moms cell phone trick or treating and after our lesson the next day with Taylor, Sis. Lebrun asked me to pray for them to find it. We did and then left and a half hour later they called us and someone had called them to return the phone that they found! So it was really neat because Taylor, and the LeBruns were all able to see the power of prayer! God is amazing!
We will be teaching Davids friend Sam, with his family tonight! They have had missionaries before so the seed has been planted...The father is from Nicaragua and the mother is Italian! NeatI willl let you know how it goes....
We are also teaching a family from Mexico.....the spirit was so strong the last time we were there! Wow! We are praying for them to find thier answer....you can to... Arturo, Rosa, and Sara Ortega.
We found out from President that we have to call Salt Lake to get permission before any Muslims are baptised because thier family back in Iran under law is supposed to kill anyone in thier family that converts....this is very serious business and we have to be very careful..... So as you can tell we teach such a variety of people! it is so neat! I just love people! Well i wish i had time to tell more stories..... I love you !
Love, Sister Flake
Hello!
Thanks everyone for the emails! I really love hearing from you! Sounds like you are living fun, fabulous lives! I hope you realize how much i love you! So guess what? Im still here! And I am still with Sister van den Bosch! Crazy eh? Yeah its unheard of in this mission for sisters to be together for three transfers...but....the Lord knows best! Also the Lord answers prayers and Deanna, Sis. Lebrun, Sammy, and Sherry(our best friends here) all told us that they have been praying that we would both stay! Isnt that great? and apparently the Lord still has plans for us here. We have a lot of fun together....and though we are very different we each have strengths where the others weaknesses are so we work very effectivley together.
So 6 months in Port Coquitlam! Can you belive it? I just love the people here and we have many progressing investigators so it's best that we both stay here to help them along!
So.... we are teaching Patricks friend Taylor at the LeBruns house. He really likes learning and going to church. And we had a little neat miracle. Patrick lost his moms cell phone trick or treating and after our lesson the next day with Taylor, Sis. Lebrun asked me to pray for them to find it. We did and then left and a half hour later they called us and someone had called them to return the phone that they found! So it was really neat because Taylor, and the LeBruns were all able to see the power of prayer! God is amazing!
We will be teaching Davids friend Sam, with his family tonight! They have had missionaries before so the seed has been planted...The father is from Nicaragua and the mother is Italian! NeatI willl let you know how it goes....
We are also teaching a family from Mexico.....the spirit was so strong the last time we were there! Wow! We are praying for them to find thier answer....you can to... Arturo, Rosa, and Sara Ortega.
We found out from President that we have to call Salt Lake to get permission before any Muslims are baptised because thier family back in Iran under law is supposed to kill anyone in thier family that converts....this is very serious business and we have to be very careful..... So as you can tell we teach such a variety of people! it is so neat! I just love people! Well i wish i had time to tell more stories..... I love you !
Love, Sister Flake
Monday, October 27, 2008
Happy Birthday Sis. Flake
Happy Birthday Lindsey!
Oh Family!
Thanks for all the birthday stuff! And man i got so many cards and the ward members are so nice to me! Deanna made me dinner and pie and got me balloons...the Danatos got me flowers and cheese cake.... Sammy got me lotion and took us to lunch....and Sherry is throwing a party for me on Tuesday! Wow i have never felt this loved. Thanks so much!
Saturday, October 25, 2008
October 20th Email
Oh my goodness! I am so sorry again! Last week I wrote a long email and i tried sending it but the email service logged out for some crazy terrible reason. Oh man! Sorry, so quick recap of the last two weeks.....yes Deanna got baptised and it was the best day of my life! WOW! She is so happy and she found a great job two days after she was baptised! The Lord has been blessing her so much! She is soo happy! And it makes me so happy! And Daivd was baptised on Satruday. It was great. His father was able to do it and we set a date for his friend who came to watch him for November 8. We plan on teaching his whole family! and Deanna’s friend Larry we started teaching as well.... he really loves the Book of Mormon! So more excing events coming up! Patrick wiill be baptised this Saturday......we are busy and its great! The church is true and it changes lifes! We have been having such neat experiences lately and my testiomony keeps growing. I keep getting birthday cards! Thanks too all of you! This gospel is so great! God lives and we are His children.....He loves us more then will ever understand......i want so serve Him till the day I die and am so grateful for this time i have to draw closer to Him.....Jesus Christ did and does so much for us! I can't put into words how much i love Him and appriciate the great atonement that he did for us.... In the name of Jesus Christ...Amen.
Love, sister flake
Love, sister flake
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Note from Port Coquitlam Member
Dear Brother and Sister Flake,
We wanted to write you and thank you for sharing your daughter, Sister Flake, with our ward. In her short time here in Canada, she has had a wonderful impact on individuals in our ward, as well as the ward as a whole. We love her bright, bubbly, positive outlook and find it a delight to be around her.
You have truly raised a wonderful daughter and can be very proud of the work she is doing her in the Port Coquitlam ward. She and her companion have truly gotten the missionary work rolling in the ward. Thank you so much.
May the Lord bless you and your family,
Best Wishes,
The Dunn Family
We wanted to write you and thank you for sharing your daughter, Sister Flake, with our ward. In her short time here in Canada, she has had a wonderful impact on individuals in our ward, as well as the ward as a whole. We love her bright, bubbly, positive outlook and find it a delight to be around her.
You have truly raised a wonderful daughter and can be very proud of the work she is doing her in the Port Coquitlam ward. She and her companion have truly gotten the missionary work rolling in the ward. Thank you so much.
May the Lord bless you and your family,
Best Wishes,
The Dunn Family
Saturday, October 11, 2008
New Pictures from Surrey
Click on the link to view Lindsey's latest album of pictures http://picasaweb.google.com/danflake/LindseySurrey#
Friday, October 10, 2008
Vancouver Temple
The beautiful Vancouver Temple is currently under construction. More info and construction pictures are located at http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/vancouver/ .
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
October 6, 2008 Email
Hello! Its been another hardworking wonderful week! I love it here! I have an advantage being from the desert because i love the rain! Its pretty much always raining but its fun and smells good. We picked up four new investigators this week.... by tracting and refferals! Its so great when people let you in! I love it! So we have been meeting some really neat people. We are excited about this women and her 10 year old daughter that we taught the first lesson to on Saturday. After the first vision we asked them what they thought or felt..... the cute girl Annalisa said "It makes me feel special." What a wonderful way to express the feeling of the spirit! It makes me feel special too! We then asked them if the story was too hard to believe....Annalisa didnt blink an I and said "i believe it!" The mother said that she will pray about it. This is a good example of why the Lord has asked us to become like little children!... Maybe we can all take a look at our lives and ask our self what more we can do to become submissive to our Father in Heaven like a child.
As far as our progressing investigators go...... if every thing goes as planned Deanna will be baptised this Saturday, David the next, and then his brother Patrick the next week(he wanted his own special day). Wow! but we need prayers because Deanna is still struggling with the w.o.w. she wants to be baptised so bad.....she keeps slipping.....but if she can just make it through this week we know that the Lord will make it easier for her and she will have the Holy Ghost to help her. Pray for her please. She recieved a beautiful blessing last night from the elders. And then we all sang Amazing Grace together....which she wants us to sing at her baptism. The work is moving forward! The gospel is so true!
Guess what? Thanksgiving is on Oct. 13th here....so the Library wont be open again....so probably i will write on Tuesday next week.
So dad...thanks for the email....i totally agree with you about the making it simple thing.....i have been trying to do that myself. I am so glad that Eduardo is getting baptised...very exciting! Keep up the good work! I loved conference.....seeing the choir kind of made me miss home though....all those nice looking mormon people! HaHa.
Love, Sister Flake
As far as our progressing investigators go...... if every thing goes as planned Deanna will be baptised this Saturday, David the next, and then his brother Patrick the next week(he wanted his own special day). Wow! but we need prayers because Deanna is still struggling with the w.o.w. she wants to be baptised so bad.....she keeps slipping.....but if she can just make it through this week we know that the Lord will make it easier for her and she will have the Holy Ghost to help her. Pray for her please. She recieved a beautiful blessing last night from the elders. And then we all sang Amazing Grace together....which she wants us to sing at her baptism. The work is moving forward! The gospel is so true!
Guess what? Thanksgiving is on Oct. 13th here....so the Library wont be open again....so probably i will write on Tuesday next week.
So dad...thanks for the email....i totally agree with you about the making it simple thing.....i have been trying to do that myself. I am so glad that Eduardo is getting baptised...very exciting! Keep up the good work! I loved conference.....seeing the choir kind of made me miss home though....all those nice looking mormon people! HaHa.
Love, Sister Flake
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Email September 30, 2008
Well Surprise! We actually are having P-day today. Sorry to fool you. Thanks for the email mommy. Yes we did get to go to the broadcast. It was wonderful! Just what i needed to hear. We had a very inspiring zone conference yesterday. I loved it. i love president Nelson and his wife. we are learning how to strengthen our teaching skills through asking more quesitions. Its kind of salesperson approach....so i am learning how to persuade and convince using the scriptures.....its pretty neat and will be helpful for the rest of my life..... whenever i am trying to get my way....hah ha just kidding. Anyway.....wow miracles are still happening here.
First of all we had mini missionaries with us this past weekend! So fun! We had two cute young women from the stake come and stay with us for a couple nights. They got to do a little bit of everything. They said thier testimonys were really strenghtned...they didnt want to come at first but they said they never thought it would be so fun! also it was funny to see how they reacted when people would get mad and not want to talk to us. I think its funny now, it doesnt phase me...but for them it was new haha! usually people are pretty nice though. and one night we all went to Deannas and sang amazing grace as passionately as we could... the spirit was really strong.....poor Deanna. Bad stuff keeps happining to her and she is really depressed. We were not trained to deal with that kind of stuff....luckily a wonderful women from the ward has been helping her.....she needs lots of prayers please.
David LeBrun, the 9 year old finally set a date! The 18th of this month.....and then a few days later his older bro. Patrick chose the next week, the 25th. they dont want to do it the same day for some reason....oh well....so anyway thats really exciting....and has been a long road.... but they were all at church Sunday! Including the father! They are headed in the right direction. We really love them!
We got an awesome media referal Sunday night! Wow! This couple we took the Lamb of God video to are so prepared for the gospel! We both got the chills when we walked in to thier house....we just felt different....and they had so many questions for us. They had so many Questions and want all the videos and books we have to offer! ITs super....we are giving them a tour of the church on Friday and they said they will go to conference! WOW! We walked out with our mouths hanging open! Crazy! The Lord answers prayers! The gospel is so true! Jesus Christ is the only way! Well i love you so much! Thanks for everything!
Love, Sister Flake
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Monday, September 22, 2008
September 22, 2008 Email
Hello and so sorry about last week! We went on a hike and it took way longer then expcected.....but it was awesome! But i feel really bad and i have been missing you more this past week cuz i didnt get to check the emails...and we could have been dissobedient and went on a dfferent day....but no way. So yeah anyway we went and did the Grouse Grind which is basicly a hike in North Vancouver that goes straight up the skiing hill. It was easier for me then most missionaries becaouse we hike so much as a family but it was still pretty tough. But the view up top was amazing! And up there is all kind of exciting things..we watched a logging show and saw big bears (in a cage of course) and then we went back down on a ski lift thing....i took pictures that i will send home today:) so sorry again....but maybe we can do the hike together after the mission...that would be fun. Andrew you should look it up on Google.
yeah so transfers came and went and we are staying the same allthough most the people around us have changed....we are still getting fed very well...the weather is getting a wee bit chillier and rain occurs regulary.... you wouldnt believe how fun it is is to tract in the rain though! I love it! Seriously. I will write you a letter today with pictures included....get excited! Thanks for the many emails and pictures....
Next week I won't be writing till wed. because of zone conference on Monday. so sorry again....i really do love you all so much! and i still cant get over how huge my brothers are! Mom how do you keep them fed? and they are exercising so much to....they must each eat like 6000 calories a day with how much they are running.
Anyway so back to missionary work.....i am learning so much about faith and prayer.....things work out how they are supposed. A few highlitghts..... sister van den Bosch and I were walking down the street in New Westminister....and she walked both feet in to wet cement! HIllarious!! we still laugh every time we think about it! The construction workers thought it was pretty funny too!!!! wow! She is a blonde...we all have our moments!
well one of our investigators Nyla passed away on Thursday....She was the mother who had cancer....i cant remember if i told you but we have been teacching and singing to her for a while now.....we even visited her in the hopital a couple of weeks ago and had the zone leaders give her a blessing...and her daughter Natasha was there and asked for one too... she is 18 and we have been trying to teach her too. we gave her a bom...she actually called us the morning her mom died to let us know...we hope to be teaching the rest of the family about the plan of salvation this week...sad news.... but things happen for a reason....i think her family is being prepared...and they will be able to do her work....they are from Iran....like many around here who have left thier country because of our country.
Anyway......Deanna is doing way better.....we chatted with her...the reason she called us the other week is because her boyfrined broke up with her so she was upset and decieded not to get baptised....but she now knows its what she wants to do....so she has to quit smoking again....but her and her boyfriend came to church yesterday, it was his first time....so things are looking up for them... Joes uncle influenced him to not get baptised because he needs to reasearch all religions before he is baptised....yeah bad news eh? well satan is working hard here......but you know what? we just work are hardest and we know that the Lord is in control...... well i will tell you more next week!
Love, sister flake
yeah so transfers came and went and we are staying the same allthough most the people around us have changed....we are still getting fed very well...the weather is getting a wee bit chillier and rain occurs regulary.... you wouldnt believe how fun it is is to tract in the rain though! I love it! Seriously. I will write you a letter today with pictures included....get excited! Thanks for the many emails and pictures....
Next week I won't be writing till wed. because of zone conference on Monday. so sorry again....i really do love you all so much! and i still cant get over how huge my brothers are! Mom how do you keep them fed? and they are exercising so much to....they must each eat like 6000 calories a day with how much they are running.
Anyway so back to missionary work.....i am learning so much about faith and prayer.....things work out how they are supposed. A few highlitghts..... sister van den Bosch and I were walking down the street in New Westminister....and she walked both feet in to wet cement! HIllarious!! we still laugh every time we think about it! The construction workers thought it was pretty funny too!!!! wow! She is a blonde...we all have our moments!
well one of our investigators Nyla passed away on Thursday....She was the mother who had cancer....i cant remember if i told you but we have been teacching and singing to her for a while now.....we even visited her in the hopital a couple of weeks ago and had the zone leaders give her a blessing...and her daughter Natasha was there and asked for one too... she is 18 and we have been trying to teach her too. we gave her a bom...she actually called us the morning her mom died to let us know...we hope to be teaching the rest of the family about the plan of salvation this week...sad news.... but things happen for a reason....i think her family is being prepared...and they will be able to do her work....they are from Iran....like many around here who have left thier country because of our country.
Anyway......Deanna is doing way better.....we chatted with her...the reason she called us the other week is because her boyfrined broke up with her so she was upset and decieded not to get baptised....but she now knows its what she wants to do....so she has to quit smoking again....but her and her boyfriend came to church yesterday, it was his first time....so things are looking up for them... Joes uncle influenced him to not get baptised because he needs to reasearch all religions before he is baptised....yeah bad news eh? well satan is working hard here......but you know what? we just work are hardest and we know that the Lord is in control...... well i will tell you more next week!
Love, sister flake
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
September 16, 2008 Email
Well, we didn’t get an email from Lindsey this week, but we did receive a letter by snail mail today. Here is what she had to say:
I love you! I miss you so much! But I promise you that I am really supposed to be here right now. I mentioned to you that I received a blessing out here. It was a really neat thing and I really needed it at the time. I was told that the Lord, my family, and my friends all really love me, along with the people that I serve. And then he said that what I am doing now is necessary for what I will become. It was amazing how much comfort I felt from the blessing and I am just so happy because I was reminded that the Lord knows me and has a specific plan for me.
I am really trying to follow promptings and I think I am getting better at it. I am just so happy because I am progressing and I really love the people here. There is so much to learn from other people. Sin is really bad and ruins lives—but people are blinded by it! I feel like I have come face to face with Satan with all the bad stuff I hear and see out here. We are so sheltered in Utah. Please don’t forget why we are so blessed. It’s because we have the gospel! If you follow it—and serve a lot you will be always blessed!
Well, three months eh? Long time no see! It sounds like life is exciting there. I love you all so much—and I don’t think I will ever leave home again. J Seriously, no more Provo for me.
Love, Sister Flake
I love you! I miss you so much! But I promise you that I am really supposed to be here right now. I mentioned to you that I received a blessing out here. It was a really neat thing and I really needed it at the time. I was told that the Lord, my family, and my friends all really love me, along with the people that I serve. And then he said that what I am doing now is necessary for what I will become. It was amazing how much comfort I felt from the blessing and I am just so happy because I was reminded that the Lord knows me and has a specific plan for me.
I am really trying to follow promptings and I think I am getting better at it. I am just so happy because I am progressing and I really love the people here. There is so much to learn from other people. Sin is really bad and ruins lives—but people are blinded by it! I feel like I have come face to face with Satan with all the bad stuff I hear and see out here. We are so sheltered in Utah. Please don’t forget why we are so blessed. It’s because we have the gospel! If you follow it—and serve a lot you will be always blessed!
Well, three months eh? Long time no see! It sounds like life is exciting there. I love you all so much—and I don’t think I will ever leave home again. J Seriously, no more Provo for me.
Love, Sister Flake
Monday, September 8, 2008
Email September 8, 2008
Holy Cow! My little brothers are huge! Thanks for all the pictures...wow how did you grow so fast, what are you eating? You look so different.....you are still handsome even more so! Good job with track boys! and Dawson sounds like you had a really exciting week. Way to go! I just love you all so much... thanks for being so awesome! Its great hearing about your life...i have been away three months...i hit my record for being away from home since i was in Ecuador for only three months. so i am one sixth of the way done:) when i am home i am not ever going to leave just so you know. i miss you....but dont worry i dont have time time to think about it.
Anyway....
So missionary life has its ups and downs but i have managed to stay positive through it all. The truth is Satan hit us with all he has on Sunday......will just put it at that....Deanna may not be baptised.....or maybe later....and a bunch of other stuff happend all with in a couple hours....i took it pretty hard but then after church and a few tears I asked for a blessing from one of the korean elders and i have felt commpletely fine ever since. I am so grateful for the priesthood! It was actully a really neat experience and i know that the Lord is looking out for me. I feel His love for me so much out here. I am learning so much and i am full of happiness. I am so glad the Lord knows what we need better then we do.
On a more positive note.... we got another baptism date with a wonderful young man named Joe! I don't think I have even told you about him yet because we were not sure how serious he was....but we met with him Saturday and he had read a ton of the book of Mormon and he had tons of questions about baptism! So basically he asked what he needed to do to be baptised! Awesome! He is so great, really humble and in tune. He is 25 and he had a brain tumor so he talks really slow....but he understands well. His father passed away earlier this year and he was excited when we told him that he can see his father again someday. So the date is set with him for the 27th. Reza met with the bishop so he is still progessing..... we have to find out what is going on with Deanna I think it has to do something with her mom who is a baptist and told her she was never going to talk to her agian......yeah satan is terrrible.....but i think it will happen later.
so.....the weather is still awesome here! this is such a beatuful place. We played football, soccer and ultimate frisby today with all the lower mainland missionaries. On pday all i want to do is run around all day because i feel so confined the rest of the week. you know me i like to be moving and a haf hour of dancing at the church in the morning is not cutting it.
well time is almost out! I love you sooooo much! really i do! but i love the Lord and i love serving Him. I am really getting to know Him better out here. I know that this gospel is true and its so great to be able to share it! God is real. Christ is our Savior! Love, Sister Flake
Anyway....
So missionary life has its ups and downs but i have managed to stay positive through it all. The truth is Satan hit us with all he has on Sunday......will just put it at that....Deanna may not be baptised.....or maybe later....and a bunch of other stuff happend all with in a couple hours....i took it pretty hard but then after church and a few tears I asked for a blessing from one of the korean elders and i have felt commpletely fine ever since. I am so grateful for the priesthood! It was actully a really neat experience and i know that the Lord is looking out for me. I feel His love for me so much out here. I am learning so much and i am full of happiness. I am so glad the Lord knows what we need better then we do.
On a more positive note.... we got another baptism date with a wonderful young man named Joe! I don't think I have even told you about him yet because we were not sure how serious he was....but we met with him Saturday and he had read a ton of the book of Mormon and he had tons of questions about baptism! So basically he asked what he needed to do to be baptised! Awesome! He is so great, really humble and in tune. He is 25 and he had a brain tumor so he talks really slow....but he understands well. His father passed away earlier this year and he was excited when we told him that he can see his father again someday. So the date is set with him for the 27th. Reza met with the bishop so he is still progessing..... we have to find out what is going on with Deanna I think it has to do something with her mom who is a baptist and told her she was never going to talk to her agian......yeah satan is terrrible.....but i think it will happen later.
so.....the weather is still awesome here! this is such a beatuful place. We played football, soccer and ultimate frisby today with all the lower mainland missionaries. On pday all i want to do is run around all day because i feel so confined the rest of the week. you know me i like to be moving and a haf hour of dancing at the church in the morning is not cutting it.
well time is almost out! I love you sooooo much! really i do! but i love the Lord and i love serving Him. I am really getting to know Him better out here. I know that this gospel is true and its so great to be able to share it! God is real. Christ is our Savior! Love, Sister Flake
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
September 2 Email
Hello Everybody! Thanks for all the emails. I feel loved. Incredible week....but first thanks for the package! We gave alot of the food to the skate park guys! Ha ha! Thanks for being so thoughtful....those orange chocolate ones are really good....It is still warm here....it rains alot more though...no big deal i like it. We really do get fed a ton here are members are soooo good to us! Our bishops daughter just left today for the mtc. She is going to be at the SLC temple square! We switched places! She is awesome and we will miss her.
I will send some more pictures soon. I dont have time to take very many. Wow dad! you are doing excellent at your calling! The stake is using your idea! thats awesome... Remember member work goes like this PLSI Pray Look Speak Invite! Its all you got to do! The precious stones are working really well...the member work is really picking up. I am glad that you and mom are doing so much missionary work! Awesome....Boys you can invite people too! Think and pray about one person at school that could hang out with you and your mormon frends and they all you have to do is invite them to an activity! Simple!!!!!Can you imagin if everyone did that!
Well Danielle and Steve sounds like you have been majorley blessed! Keep up the good work....dont just hang out with the members though always invite some of the non members....you are such great examples so shine your light! So Dawson homecoming eh? WOW you are soo funny. way too fool them! Did they get it on video? Cant wait to here about the dance! Andrew way to go on your eagle project you are awesome? HOw is cross country going? Do you like your teachers?
You know what? One of the reasons why the youth have problems up here is that there are no school activities...Teachers etc. dont want to volunteer their time and there are no particpants.....so sad. Its good to be involved. we still hit up the skate parks a couple times a week and we have been the answer to a couple of prayers there. Neat!
Oh yeah so i did not write yesterday because of Labor day! Sorry! But anyway oh yeah great news! Deanna has decided to be baptised on the 13th!!!!!!!!Amazing!!!!!! I cant express to you how happy I am! She is really enjoying planning her baptism and she want us and Sister Anderson to sing Amazing Grace with her after she gets dressed.....It has been so neat to see her whole journey.....We met with her last week and got her a blessing from the Korean Elders then we all bore testimony and the spirit was so strong i just knew i had to ask her right then! so she said yes! Sad thing is that she told her mum and she told her that we are a cult. she does not believe her but we have got to explain to her the opposision of the truth. Anyway God is helping her and she will make it! Please pray for her to be strong..... Reza has put his baptism off....we need to explain a few more things to him....he still believes its all true.... so pray for him too!
Now I will skip to the miracle we had this morning! So in my morning prayers i was really specific today! I prayed to find an investigator today...preferalbly a family and it would be nice if they didnt have to get a ride to church!....yes i was that specific....and guess what? we were sitting in the church teaching english when i see someone walk in....i went to greet her and she said she just moved down the street and was looking for christian church to go to! WOW! so i took her and her little son on a tour of the church! She loves our focus on families and the primary program....then i took her to the Joseph smith picture and did the first vision! The spirit was really strong! and she kept saying wow! i told her about the book of mormon and she asked for one! So she has been prepared. she is excited for church on Sunday....she has two children 6 and 8. they are Persian and very beautiful and kind!wow so be specific in your prayers the Lord wants to bless us! we are so excited to start teaching them! we are meeting many people! The Lord Loves us! Our prayers are answered!
Love,
Lindsey
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
August 25 Email
I am so sorry! Holy cow! Whats my problem....i can't properly send an email! How hard is it? HA HA! Well i thought i sent an email last week...i know i wrote one...so i dont know where it is! SO SORRY! i choose not to be angry at myself will you do the same? anyway.....i dont remember what i wrote. So i will have to read it to you out of my journal when i get home. Sorry if you worried. Thanks for the letters from Jini. its fun to hear about other sis. missionaries....yes i would love to have Elder Flakes address...he sent me a letter from the mtc. I dont have the package yet but please no more graonola bars....i told you a lady from the ward gives them to us regularly and so to be honest we have over 150 graonola bars in our house right now!!!!!! We do not need food here! our ward gives us alot! And i refuse to gain weight. please send love and church cds.....they get old fast. but i really dont need anything.....maybe more family pictures.... anyways....So Dawson who did you ask to homecoming...and did she say yes? Andrew! You are stellar! Are you guys being as nice as you can to everyone?
Mom and dad! good luck with your talk! You are both so amazing and i am glad that you have this oppurtunity because you are such good examples. we had a zone meeting that i had to speak at on wed. about faith.....and this week i am speaking about PMG: "Talking to everyone" so i am getting my chance as a motivational speaker.....mom can you send me my pom poms? Just kidding.....anyway.....and Danielle and Steve you are so cute and your apartment looks nice. Be member missionaries!
Progression with investigators is happening....i am learning alot of patience. We are asking people to make big changes. I love my companion! We laugh alot! anywone want to go to new zealand with me when i get home? we can stay at her house. we are really relying on our members for support and they have been wonderful. We have had miracles. We have areally amazing zone right now! Lots of faith. Our mission president is so inspired! We had interviews this week and he spoke words to me that i knew came from God. I really needed it. And he gave me some great advice that I really needed....."sister Flake......relax!" and thats what i am going to do.....i can be so intense and trying to work hard that the spirit cant always talk to me.....so i am going to do my best and let the Lord do the rest! i am too blesssed to be stressed! Anyway.......mom...i think i am picking up a few more of your traits...and its hard trying to be perfect all the time...so lets relax and let the Lord help us out...what do you say?
Well....sorry i have not really shared any inspiratitonal stories...i promise they are happening though....This is the Lords work! I know this is the true church! I know that we have a Father in Heaven who loves each indiviual....lets do all we can to share that love with as many as we can! Love, Sister Flake
Mom and dad! good luck with your talk! You are both so amazing and i am glad that you have this oppurtunity because you are such good examples. we had a zone meeting that i had to speak at on wed. about faith.....and this week i am speaking about PMG: "Talking to everyone" so i am getting my chance as a motivational speaker.....mom can you send me my pom poms? Just kidding.....anyway.....and Danielle and Steve you are so cute and your apartment looks nice. Be member missionaries!
Progression with investigators is happening....i am learning alot of patience. We are asking people to make big changes. I love my companion! We laugh alot! anywone want to go to new zealand with me when i get home? we can stay at her house. we are really relying on our members for support and they have been wonderful. We have had miracles. We have areally amazing zone right now! Lots of faith. Our mission president is so inspired! We had interviews this week and he spoke words to me that i knew came from God. I really needed it. And he gave me some great advice that I really needed....."sister Flake......relax!" and thats what i am going to do.....i can be so intense and trying to work hard that the spirit cant always talk to me.....so i am going to do my best and let the Lord do the rest! i am too blesssed to be stressed! Anyway.......mom...i think i am picking up a few more of your traits...and its hard trying to be perfect all the time...so lets relax and let the Lord help us out...what do you say?
Well....sorry i have not really shared any inspiratitonal stories...i promise they are happening though....This is the Lords work! I know this is the true church! I know that we have a Father in Heaven who loves each indiviual....lets do all we can to share that love with as many as we can! Love, Sister Flake
Monday, August 18, 2008
More Pictures from Surry
Here is the picture link to all of her new pictures from Surry. http://picasaweb.google.com/danflake/MissionSurry
Friday, August 15, 2008
Pictures from Surry
Lindsey in front of the home where she lives in the basement apartment.
Lindsey with the mission president, his wife and the Surry zone.
Lindsey with Sis. Anderson and Deanna. She writes, "This is Deanna! We Love her! And she loves everyone! So sweet! I think she was a hippie!"
Monday, August 11, 2008
August 11 email
HI everybody!
Lots of change this week! Thursday Sis. Anderson left me for Richmond where she will be doing Chinese work. I now have Sis. van den Bosch from New Zealand! She is great and has an awesome accent. She has been out 9 months and she has served here in Poco before so its great cuz she knows the ward and everything. We are both short blondes and we have a lot of fun together! We are seeing lots of miracles!
We are getting lots of member help which is awesome and makes things work out so much better! Yesterday we had eight investigators at church! unbelievable! when i first got here we were lucky to get one....so the work is just really progressing and its going to keep getting better and better...President has a great vision of this mission really booming and i completely believe him...I think that’s why things are really picking up. FAITH works miralces...when used as a principle of power...look it up Faith in the bible dictionary! It’s amazing what we can do if we believe we can do it!
So Dawn gets baptized this Saturday! She is so ready! We are going on a picnic with her this week...she has taken time off of work to focus so she wants to spend more time with us. Her and her Samoan boyfriend are planning on getting married in the Samoa temple next year. I am learning so much about all kinds of different cultures.
Deanna quit smoking!!!!!! amazing!!!!! she just had to desire it enough......she told us she wants to be baptised!!!!!!but we still have to set a date. This morning we went on a hike to a beautiful waterfall called Crystal falls with her and her fiancé Larry and another friend from the ward. WOW the forest is so beautiful! I am so blessed to be in this beautiful place...
We had some great success tracting yesterday...we found two new investigators to meet with this week... we met them both with in a half hour! so you just got to let the Lord know what you want and if you really believe and its a righteous desire He will give it to you! And you just cant believe what other people may say.....if its negative don’t believe it and get it out of your mind!
Speaking of members and food....we ate at some Chinese members house and I ate a little fish.....bones and everything that was just fried up in a pan..... no likey.
Well it’s going to be a really amazing transfer! I will tell you all I can. I miss you so much but its ok. Family you are so amazing! I love hearing about your lives. Danielle and Steve i know you can really touch lives out there....don’t be afraid to talk to people:) Good job.. Dawson.....I think you are learning and will continue to learn that everything happens for a reason.....God knows what is best for you and i think you are going to love doing cross country with Andrew. Andrew! Yeah seminary! Advice is that definitely take scripture master seriously...i so wish i would have....take a little time to memorize during your daily scripture study.... be a friend to everyone....and never ditch. mom and dad.....you amaze me! Thank you so much for being the most perfect parents! I love you so much and appreciate more then ever all that you do! Thanks so much!
Love, Sister Flake
Lots of change this week! Thursday Sis. Anderson left me for Richmond where she will be doing Chinese work. I now have Sis. van den Bosch from New Zealand! She is great and has an awesome accent. She has been out 9 months and she has served here in Poco before so its great cuz she knows the ward and everything. We are both short blondes and we have a lot of fun together! We are seeing lots of miracles!
We are getting lots of member help which is awesome and makes things work out so much better! Yesterday we had eight investigators at church! unbelievable! when i first got here we were lucky to get one....so the work is just really progressing and its going to keep getting better and better...President has a great vision of this mission really booming and i completely believe him...I think that’s why things are really picking up. FAITH works miralces...when used as a principle of power...look it up Faith in the bible dictionary! It’s amazing what we can do if we believe we can do it!
So Dawn gets baptized this Saturday! She is so ready! We are going on a picnic with her this week...she has taken time off of work to focus so she wants to spend more time with us. Her and her Samoan boyfriend are planning on getting married in the Samoa temple next year. I am learning so much about all kinds of different cultures.
Deanna quit smoking!!!!!! amazing!!!!! she just had to desire it enough......she told us she wants to be baptised!!!!!!but we still have to set a date. This morning we went on a hike to a beautiful waterfall called Crystal falls with her and her fiancé Larry and another friend from the ward. WOW the forest is so beautiful! I am so blessed to be in this beautiful place...
We had some great success tracting yesterday...we found two new investigators to meet with this week... we met them both with in a half hour! so you just got to let the Lord know what you want and if you really believe and its a righteous desire He will give it to you! And you just cant believe what other people may say.....if its negative don’t believe it and get it out of your mind!
Speaking of members and food....we ate at some Chinese members house and I ate a little fish.....bones and everything that was just fried up in a pan..... no likey.
Well it’s going to be a really amazing transfer! I will tell you all I can. I miss you so much but its ok. Family you are so amazing! I love hearing about your lives. Danielle and Steve i know you can really touch lives out there....don’t be afraid to talk to people:) Good job.. Dawson.....I think you are learning and will continue to learn that everything happens for a reason.....God knows what is best for you and i think you are going to love doing cross country with Andrew. Andrew! Yeah seminary! Advice is that definitely take scripture master seriously...i so wish i would have....take a little time to memorize during your daily scripture study.... be a friend to everyone....and never ditch. mom and dad.....you amaze me! Thank you so much for being the most perfect parents! I love you so much and appreciate more then ever all that you do! Thanks so much!
Love, Sister Flake
Monday, August 4, 2008
August 4 Email
hello!
MIssionary work is amazing. I am learning so much...and am having so many life learning experiences and crazy things happen all the time that i wish i could have time to tell you about....someday. So i sent a long letter last week that you should be getting soon. It is a holiday today..Happy BC day! The library is closed so we are using the computer at the Farrances in our ward....they are awesome to the missionaries...they have the missionaries over for lunch every Saturday.
So Dawson dont be afraid to be creative and try crazy new ideas for seminary.. its all new so just go for it. be prayerful and seek inspiration. You will make a difference for good for many people.
Andrew...i only did one day of cross country...i think you will last alot longer....you will be wonderful! How did the state long jump go by the way?
Mom i say definately do the HIll Cumorah. YOu would love it. and they would love you! And the boys would make great Lamanites....maybe they can get blown up like i did! its lots of fun!
Dad keep up the good work...get the members involved as much as you can in the missionary work....we started a new program in our ward..i did it in my singles ward and so told our ward mission leader about it. anyway... in every auxillary ask a volunteer to take home a special rockand a BOM and pray all that week for a missioary experience..then they report back about it the following week and someone else takes the rock. it gets everyone talking about it...and i know that when you pray for something righteous the Lord will bless you with it...its one way to get more investiagors.....any questions? It worked great in the singles ward....everyone knows someone who is not a member.
So this week has been awesome....We met with Dawn again last night....she is so excited to be baptised and has a ton of support from members. the 16th is the date!
We have met twice with this Iranian man in his 50s. HIs name is Reza and he wants to be baptised on the 30th! He went to church for the first time yesterday! So he just walked into the church o amonth ago and talked to the bishop who was there because he said he was looking for a christian church.....he is muslim. so bishop gave him our number. so we have taught him the first two lessons with members from our ward there. he is reading the BOM and he knows its all ture! He was a professor in Iran...very smart man. he wants his family to learn too...so we will let you know how that goes. wow! BLessings!
So Michael had a baptism date for a few days....but now he says he wants to wait and see....so we are still working with him. He took us to eat chinese food with Bro. bird...one of our ward mission leaders.
Deanna was at Church yesterday too! And she bore her testimony! Wow! We were a little nervous....but she did such a great job....she just said how she loved the feeling she feels at the church and she said how grateful she was for the missionaries and that she is glad that we have helped her stop drinking and that she is going work on stopping smoking!WOW! so then she decided to say a prayer for everyone and thanked God for the spirit that was there and for the gospel! so it was definately differnt but everyone mentioned how powerful it was....the whole meeting was....and our wonderful members noticed all the investigarors at church and so they bore strong testimony and some even spoke directly to the investigators during thier testimonies promising them blessings for being baptised! Also this less active...Sherrie bore her testimony for the first time in years..we have been working with her and encouraged her to bear her testimony..and she got up after Deanna talking about how she stopped smoing to join th church! Powerful meeting....and the flower guy Marty was there....we set up an appoinment with him for this week...no flowers this time. thats good. and then saturday we were contacting at the mall and i had an impression that i needed to speak to this man i saw. he was kind of far away so i almost didnt do it...but i did so i invited this man joe to church....which we do all the time....but he did show up!So he was there and the members really welcomed him he wants to come back next week. WOW! things are going so good! The Lord is really blessing us as we strive to be obedient.
Transfers are Thursday but we dont know whats going on till WEd. sis anderson been out here since April....so we are both pretty new. and she has been in poco the whole time.
Presedent met with us the other morning because he was in the area to meet with the stake president. HOw nice eh? YEah so he gave us some great advice.... i like himalot. \ The other day at the skate park someone actually asked for a bible! so there is slight progression there! ALot of the work we do here is more like a drug free campaign.....the youth in this city are not getting taought morals from their parents...but the youth in the church are awesome! Its really fun telling kids...and adults how uncool it is to do drugs...unlike popular belief...haha and im pretty bold about it too!
Yes mom we are getting fed alot...often times by investiagrors so thats awesome! This is getting to long...i better stop....i love you all thanks for your support and letters....love, Sister Flake
MIssionary work is amazing. I am learning so much...and am having so many life learning experiences and crazy things happen all the time that i wish i could have time to tell you about....someday. So i sent a long letter last week that you should be getting soon. It is a holiday today..Happy BC day! The library is closed so we are using the computer at the Farrances in our ward....they are awesome to the missionaries...they have the missionaries over for lunch every Saturday.
So Dawson dont be afraid to be creative and try crazy new ideas for seminary.. its all new so just go for it. be prayerful and seek inspiration. You will make a difference for good for many people.
Andrew...i only did one day of cross country...i think you will last alot longer....you will be wonderful! How did the state long jump go by the way?
Mom i say definately do the HIll Cumorah. YOu would love it. and they would love you! And the boys would make great Lamanites....maybe they can get blown up like i did! its lots of fun!
Dad keep up the good work...get the members involved as much as you can in the missionary work....we started a new program in our ward..i did it in my singles ward and so told our ward mission leader about it. anyway... in every auxillary ask a volunteer to take home a special rockand a BOM and pray all that week for a missioary experience..then they report back about it the following week and someone else takes the rock. it gets everyone talking about it...and i know that when you pray for something righteous the Lord will bless you with it...its one way to get more investiagors.....any questions? It worked great in the singles ward....everyone knows someone who is not a member.
So this week has been awesome....We met with Dawn again last night....she is so excited to be baptised and has a ton of support from members. the 16th is the date!
We have met twice with this Iranian man in his 50s. HIs name is Reza and he wants to be baptised on the 30th! He went to church for the first time yesterday! So he just walked into the church o amonth ago and talked to the bishop who was there because he said he was looking for a christian church.....he is muslim. so bishop gave him our number. so we have taught him the first two lessons with members from our ward there. he is reading the BOM and he knows its all ture! He was a professor in Iran...very smart man. he wants his family to learn too...so we will let you know how that goes. wow! BLessings!
So Michael had a baptism date for a few days....but now he says he wants to wait and see....so we are still working with him. He took us to eat chinese food with Bro. bird...one of our ward mission leaders.
Deanna was at Church yesterday too! And she bore her testimony! Wow! We were a little nervous....but she did such a great job....she just said how she loved the feeling she feels at the church and she said how grateful she was for the missionaries and that she is glad that we have helped her stop drinking and that she is going work on stopping smoking!WOW! so then she decided to say a prayer for everyone and thanked God for the spirit that was there and for the gospel! so it was definately differnt but everyone mentioned how powerful it was....the whole meeting was....and our wonderful members noticed all the investigarors at church and so they bore strong testimony and some even spoke directly to the investigators during thier testimonies promising them blessings for being baptised! Also this less active...Sherrie bore her testimony for the first time in years..we have been working with her and encouraged her to bear her testimony..and she got up after Deanna talking about how she stopped smoing to join th church! Powerful meeting....and the flower guy Marty was there....we set up an appoinment with him for this week...no flowers this time. thats good. and then saturday we were contacting at the mall and i had an impression that i needed to speak to this man i saw. he was kind of far away so i almost didnt do it...but i did so i invited this man joe to church....which we do all the time....but he did show up!So he was there and the members really welcomed him he wants to come back next week. WOW! things are going so good! The Lord is really blessing us as we strive to be obedient.
Transfers are Thursday but we dont know whats going on till WEd. sis anderson been out here since April....so we are both pretty new. and she has been in poco the whole time.
Presedent met with us the other morning because he was in the area to meet with the stake president. HOw nice eh? YEah so he gave us some great advice.... i like himalot. \ The other day at the skate park someone actually asked for a bible! so there is slight progression there! ALot of the work we do here is more like a drug free campaign.....the youth in this city are not getting taought morals from their parents...but the youth in the church are awesome! Its really fun telling kids...and adults how uncool it is to do drugs...unlike popular belief...haha and im pretty bold about it too!
Yes mom we are getting fed alot...often times by investiagrors so thats awesome! This is getting to long...i better stop....i love you all thanks for your support and letters....love, Sister Flake
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
July 28 Email
Hello!
Thanks so much for all your letters! They make me happy! Sounds like the reunion was a blast. Yes we do get the ensign so you dont need to send it but thanks so much for the spanish one...that was very nice. Happy Anniversary mom and dad! Thanks for loving each other! I love you both so much!
So far we have only had one rainy day. They say there is only two seasons in this area rainy season and consstruction season. anyway....today for pday we played football with about 50 other missionaries...so much fun!
This week has been full of appointments. Zone conference was so good! Our president is inspired...and his wife has daiebetes so we got to take her to dinner...well she payed....but it was great to spend time with her...and she is so knowledgable about the scriptures so we were able to learn alot from her. Oh and the night before we spent at the other sisters, sister Huffaker and the other sis. Anderson, house because conference is an hour away...it was fun. Dawn, Deanna and Michael are still progressing. Our newest investigator came to church yesterday..his name is Fuji and he is 21. He has long hair and is in a band and is an intellectual...so we contacted him at the mall last week and we have taught him twice since then.....he says he does not believe in God but he keeps wanting to learn more and he reads the Book of Mormon, and he enoyed church. soooo he is starting to open up his mind.....and more importantly his heart.
oh yeah...we keep getting invited to sing for things...we sang at zone conference, the mission President fireside, and church yesterday. Im getting lots of practice.
We gave David ( the nine year old) a really interactive and entertaining first lesson....we let him be Joseph smith and he saw a pillar of light(a flashlight) and then he had to search in the back yard for the silver tinfoiled plates! it was great fun! he has a very short attention span.... his mom baught him a new tie for church. He really loves primary. So things are moving along with our wonderful investigators. Deanna made us dinner the last time we had an appointment with her..very nice....so anyway....I am writing you all letters today so get excited and sorry but you wont get them for two weeks.
Love you all so much!
Love, Sister Flake
Thanks so much for all your letters! They make me happy! Sounds like the reunion was a blast. Yes we do get the ensign so you dont need to send it but thanks so much for the spanish one...that was very nice. Happy Anniversary mom and dad! Thanks for loving each other! I love you both so much!
So far we have only had one rainy day. They say there is only two seasons in this area rainy season and consstruction season. anyway....today for pday we played football with about 50 other missionaries...so much fun!
This week has been full of appointments. Zone conference was so good! Our president is inspired...and his wife has daiebetes so we got to take her to dinner...well she payed....but it was great to spend time with her...and she is so knowledgable about the scriptures so we were able to learn alot from her. Oh and the night before we spent at the other sisters, sister Huffaker and the other sis. Anderson, house because conference is an hour away...it was fun. Dawn, Deanna and Michael are still progressing. Our newest investigator came to church yesterday..his name is Fuji and he is 21. He has long hair and is in a band and is an intellectual...so we contacted him at the mall last week and we have taught him twice since then.....he says he does not believe in God but he keeps wanting to learn more and he reads the Book of Mormon, and he enoyed church. soooo he is starting to open up his mind.....and more importantly his heart.
oh yeah...we keep getting invited to sing for things...we sang at zone conference, the mission President fireside, and church yesterday. Im getting lots of practice.
We gave David ( the nine year old) a really interactive and entertaining first lesson....we let him be Joseph smith and he saw a pillar of light(a flashlight) and then he had to search in the back yard for the silver tinfoiled plates! it was great fun! he has a very short attention span.... his mom baught him a new tie for church. He really loves primary. So things are moving along with our wonderful investigators. Deanna made us dinner the last time we had an appointment with her..very nice....so anyway....I am writing you all letters today so get excited and sorry but you wont get them for two weeks.
Love you all so much!
Love, Sister Flake
Monday, July 21, 2008
July 21 Email
Nii how! hello in chinese! i know hello in many different languages now... well thanks for all the great emails.....i have not read them yet. but i am finally getting some letters...and i am glad that you are finally getting some of mine...sorry it took so long and too bad my pictures got lost....dang. You are all the best and i love you so much. i cant wait till you can come see how beautifull it is here.
So the most exciting news this week! We commited two people to baptism yesterday! wow! sooo great! we knew that if we showed the Lord that we could work hard by contacting like crazy(oh the koreans already beat our record by the way...didnt evey have it a week...thats great though)that we woulld be blessed....and this past week was so full of appointments we barely had time to contact. and we had a coulple people call us for appointments! so a boy named David who is 9 came to the church for the first time since he was a baby....his family has not been active....but we have been visiting them alot and builing a bond with david...is just treat him like my little bros...and him and his mum(yes its mum in Canada) came to the stake pic nic on saturday....so i hung out with him most the day and made him promise to go to church with his mum who has been coming the last couple weeks...anyway...he came to church and so did his dad! so we gave him a tour of the church and all the secret rooms and top secret stuff "wink wink" and thn we took him to the font tsught about baptism and sang the special baptism song....then we asked him and he said yes! so probably the last week of august or whenever his older brother gets home from cadet camp....he is 13 and we will get him baptised too!
so our other baptism.....a member refferal.....she is this really cute women in her 20s who works at a gym and is dating a member in the singles ward so she had been to church with him five times and she asked to start talking with the missinoaries...so we went there on sunday night taught her the first lesson and commited her for baptism the third week in August.....wow! and she is so ready she knows what the spirit feels like and is excited to learn more and more! so we didnt really have to work for it....she is so ready! wow this work is so exciting.
the three people we had at church last week were all there again! michael agreed to take the lessons so we meet with him tonight..... Deanna is still progressing as well.... after sacrament michael turned to Deanna and asked "the spirit is here isnt it?" soo we are way excited bout both of them and the ward was so welcoming to them...the other guy brought me flowers again so we are going to have to hand him over to the korean elders because its getting kind of wierd.......but its nice because we give the flowers to people who need love dureing the week.
anyways miracle story.....we met with this women that sis. anderson had met with before i got here. her 21 year old daughter was killed in a freak accident three months ago and she is in depression.... on her last day of work before taking time off for mourning she happened to cut the elders hair...they got her number and then sis. anderson and her last companion went and visited her...so she invited us to come over again and this time she wanted us to meet her friend who lives next door and is dying of cancer...... really sad stuff i know...so we happened to have a dinner appointment before that with sis. kovaltsenko who lost her husbannd foour years ago...we had the inspiration to invite her to come with us to khatiras(the lady who lost her daughter) wow we taught them the plan of salvation and the spirit was so strong....we prayed and sang for them.....and sister kovaltsenko was able to help so much because she had been thorugh it you know...anyway everyone had tears and we were all comforted...we have another appointment with them tonight. wow! the Lord knows exactley what we all need! This church is so true! God loves us all so much and he knows each one of us! Read your scriptures daily ! you will recieve the inspiration you need in life.
so for pday we met all the missionaried in Richmond and did a free car wash...it was supeer fun.... president baught us pizza! thats why i didnot write this morning...love youall...bye bye
So the most exciting news this week! We commited two people to baptism yesterday! wow! sooo great! we knew that if we showed the Lord that we could work hard by contacting like crazy(oh the koreans already beat our record by the way...didnt evey have it a week...thats great though)that we woulld be blessed....and this past week was so full of appointments we barely had time to contact. and we had a coulple people call us for appointments! so a boy named David who is 9 came to the church for the first time since he was a baby....his family has not been active....but we have been visiting them alot and builing a bond with david...is just treat him like my little bros...and him and his mum(yes its mum in Canada) came to the stake pic nic on saturday....so i hung out with him most the day and made him promise to go to church with his mum who has been coming the last couple weeks...anyway...he came to church and so did his dad! so we gave him a tour of the church and all the secret rooms and top secret stuff "wink wink" and thn we took him to the font tsught about baptism and sang the special baptism song....then we asked him and he said yes! so probably the last week of august or whenever his older brother gets home from cadet camp....he is 13 and we will get him baptised too!
so our other baptism.....a member refferal.....she is this really cute women in her 20s who works at a gym and is dating a member in the singles ward so she had been to church with him five times and she asked to start talking with the missinoaries...so we went there on sunday night taught her the first lesson and commited her for baptism the third week in August.....wow! and she is so ready she knows what the spirit feels like and is excited to learn more and more! so we didnt really have to work for it....she is so ready! wow this work is so exciting.
the three people we had at church last week were all there again! michael agreed to take the lessons so we meet with him tonight..... Deanna is still progressing as well.... after sacrament michael turned to Deanna and asked "the spirit is here isnt it?" soo we are way excited bout both of them and the ward was so welcoming to them...the other guy brought me flowers again so we are going to have to hand him over to the korean elders because its getting kind of wierd.......but its nice because we give the flowers to people who need love dureing the week.
anyways miracle story.....we met with this women that sis. anderson had met with before i got here. her 21 year old daughter was killed in a freak accident three months ago and she is in depression.... on her last day of work before taking time off for mourning she happened to cut the elders hair...they got her number and then sis. anderson and her last companion went and visited her...so she invited us to come over again and this time she wanted us to meet her friend who lives next door and is dying of cancer...... really sad stuff i know...so we happened to have a dinner appointment before that with sis. kovaltsenko who lost her husbannd foour years ago...we had the inspiration to invite her to come with us to khatiras(the lady who lost her daughter) wow we taught them the plan of salvation and the spirit was so strong....we prayed and sang for them.....and sister kovaltsenko was able to help so much because she had been thorugh it you know...anyway everyone had tears and we were all comforted...we have another appointment with them tonight. wow! the Lord knows exactley what we all need! This church is so true! God loves us all so much and he knows each one of us! Read your scriptures daily ! you will recieve the inspiration you need in life.
so for pday we met all the missionaried in Richmond and did a free car wash...it was supeer fun.... president baught us pizza! thats why i didnot write this morning...love youall...bye bye
Sister Flake
Monday, July 14, 2008
July 14 Email
Hello! So sorry about last week. Apparenty i typed the address wrong!oops...but i resent it. will you forgive me? So i have not been recievingemails from grandma...she is probable sending it to the old adress...sorry ikeep messing everything up. And wow it takes over a week to get yourmail...and i wonder if you recieved anything from me yet. The mail does notcome sat. or sun. here. So yes the weather is still beautifull here! and this place islovely...i love the forrest! and i love our ward...they are so nice. thisold lady with an english accent brought us a costco size box of granola barsto church for us yesterday...she calls me sister Fizz because she thinks iam so bubbly! Ha Ha. Anyway they are my family away from home. So...we had three investigators five investigators at church yesterday!WOW! Deanna who we i talked about in my last weeks letter.....her fiancetook her out to buy a dress for church the day before! She looked sopretty....anyway we are still working with her to stop smoking.. anysuggestions from anybody....i have never dealt with this. but wow i loveher she is so EXUBERANT.....like you know kind of hippie like all aboutpositeve energy and expressing herself thorugh movement....we were meant foreach other ha ha! and she calls us all the time. we meet with her againtonight.... oh yeah so i was the speaker yesterday.....i really wanted to say whatthe Lord wanted me to say and it was about building your testimony...howperfect! i bore a heart felt testimony. so the other guy michael showed up too! he is the one who stopped us onthe street last week to tell us that the BOM was true! so funny! well heliked church but does not want to meet with us till he has read all the BOMso he is busy just converting himself and then BAPTISM! The other guy who was there is this guy we met the day before in thepark.... i told him i was speaking in church the next day and he promised mehe would come...well he did...and he brought me floweres! soo kind of wierdand sounds creepy but its not...ha ha. so he said he wanted to come nextweek to. So it was awesome! we have progreesing investigartors! The Lord reallyblessed us this week becasue we went so hard core! I dont think i toldyou this but we wanted to break the contacting record for the missio whichwas 783....so we fasted last week for it because the law of the harvest saysthat the more people you meet the more baptisms you will have and we havemade a goal to have three this transfer(will you pray for us to be able todo this? thanks) so anyway we got the korean elders involved tooo.....andthey broke it 2 weeks ago with 830.....so we had to up ours......and we didit! we contacted 842 people! can you belive it? we didnt do pday so wecould do it.....and so we met and testified to over 120 people a day! itwas awesome and believe me i am no longer afraid to talk to anyone becauseGod gives me courage! So we hold the record now! But we are challlenging theelders to beet it again! So yes we are working hard and the Lord is blessing us tremendously.yesterday we met with a man and his wife...he has a major in religiousstudies.....so you know its one of those stories....anyway he is soconfused because he is seeking the truth by only using his head...and theLord helped me bare strong testimony about the fact that a testimony comesfrom what you know in your head and more importantly feel in your heart!....and he softened up and agreed that that was important.....so we willlmeet with them again in a while...i think the wife is having a baby likeright now. oh yeah! we have been back to the skate park three or four times....weteach about 12-18 teenagers at a time! we brought them popcycles! so we toldsome of them the story about alma the younger......they cant pay attentionvery long...so it is slow with them....but we really feel that God wantsthese punk kids whose parents have never taught the m anything about moralsvalues or God to know that God loves them and that there is hope...we haveto help them with drugs too...so we will continue to go over therealot...the funny thing is that they actully like us being there and alwayswant us to stay longer. well the church is true........i know that the Lord has a plan for all ofus....and i know why he sent me here.....love, sister flake
July 7 Email
Hello!Holy cow! This work is amazing! I will just tell you a few hightlightstories. well earlier this week we decided to be bold and we went to theskate park and talked to some of the dudes there. (i can say dude because idont know how else to explain them) anyway we taught them and more peoplegathered...we were teaching 7 or eight of them at one point. it was coolbecause its kind of unexpcted for someone to come teach a bunch of punk kidsabout Christ....but we did it....and we are going to keep going back....theyneed hope and they need to stop doing drugs. Some of them were geuninlyinterested! Awesome! God wanted them to know that they are loved.Oh and i have already used spanish twice in contacting! Wow the Lord wasreally helping me because i testified to this lady Elena about the book ofMormon and she said she wanted one so i got her number to give to thespanish elders. amazing!Yesterday sis. anderson and I fasted( the longest i ever have). and we sawmiracles. we went to teach this women who we met contacting namedDeanna...and let me just tell you....she has been so prepared for thegospel...i have never met some one with so much faith. she has had 4 neardeath experieinces and she is a smoker and drinker but she relys on God somuch....she just needs direction...anyway she was soaking up the lessons andi testified of the book of mormon that it was the word of God....she took itfrom me closed her eyes to pray and then opened it up to a random page...sis. andeerson and i were both praying that it would be a good versse....and she opoened up to Enos.....which you should all read! tears came to hereyes as she read vs. eight.... thy fiath hath made thee whole...... she said"i know this" and we told her she could find out if the book is true andbefore we could tell her to pray about it she said... i already know itstrue! wow the spirit was so strong.....we set up an appointment for todaybecause she wanted to meet with us as soon as possible...she wants to makeus creapes too... she gave me the longest hug and told me she loves me somuch and kept thanking us for the truth...then she took my hands and said "there is something you are not telling me that you know... and i thought fora minute and the spirit had me tell her that the Lord wanted her baptised inhis church. and the she said....and there is somthing else.....and isearched my heart and said a silent prayer and the spirit had me teach herabout the word of wisdom and i said " Deanna the Lord wants you to stopsmoking and drinking." She nodded her head and hugged me... she knew thatswhat the Lord wanted her to know..... my companion later tolde me that thatis what she thought to say as well. This is Gods work....we will go see howshe is doing today and teach her more....her fiance was there learningtoo... he told Deanna that he wanted to go to our church this sunday! sothey will bothe be there...and guess what? bishop asked me to speak nextsunday! the ward is so great here,,and very supportive.one more miracle. there is this older man named Michael that we ran intorandomly(inspired i am sure) the first time we met him he told us we arefull of light...we gave him a bom but he didnt want to be taught....thesecond time we saw him we asked him if he read and he said he had glanced atit so we commited him to read it again....then yesterday we saw him in townand he came up and asked if we had a bom with us....he opened it up and readthe first line of the intorduction and looked at us and said " see this bookis true!" he testified to us that it was true! and then he asked us whereare church was...he said he wants to read it all and then we can teachhim... we exchanged numbers and will probably see him at church! wow! anywaythe gospel is true and we can heaer about miracles but our testimony canonly come from reading and prayin on our own!
Love, Sis. Flake
Love, Sis. Flake
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
First e-mail from Canada!
OH hello!I am here and it is amazing! Every minute is exciting and important! I am here at the Port Coquitlam library using the computer. That is our area and our zone is called Surrey. We are about an hour east from Vancouver. It is a beautiful city with lots of parks and trees. we went on a jog throuth the forrest this morning! i love it! I am so blessed to be here!Ok i will start from the begining. We said hello and goodbye to President middleton and his wife. They are very nice and served us dinner and then we stayed the night at a hotel because they were moving out of the mission home already. It is soooo diverse here! 90 percent of the people here are not canadians. Everyone just immigrates to this beautiful place.. and guess what? it is not even cold at all. Its way warm....and it has not rained since i got here. its like 9o degrees most the time. So my companion is sister anderson from Heber city....shes only been out three months and is a trainer. she speaks french and chinese...and so she gets an hour of language study each morning....so i do too...so i am going to finish learning spanish....that way whoever we talk to we will be able to speak to....well almost. wont that be awesome?Ok so we live in the basement of a really cute house in a nice safe neighborhood. nothing to worry about mom:) We wake up and do aerobics at the church for a half hour with a cute 18 year old member girl named Kristen. OH and we ride our bikes there becase its just down the hill from us. we have a car and bikes so we do a little of both....very fun riding bikes and its good PR. we have already had three member families mention that we looked like we were working hard on our bikes....and we are. We talk to everyone! We average about 50 contacts a day. WE spend alot of time in the mall parking lot testifying to people..many think that we are crazy. ITs not even scary beause all you have to do is start walking towards the people and then the Lord helps you know what to say... some listen some dont. IT is amazing! This is the Lords work . i feel him working through me and i use to be so scared to approach people but now its just like easy. Amazing! We have also been teaching alot....we dont have any progreesing investigators yet....but a few close ones....we had an amazing experience fri. a 16 year old boy named Edgar from El Salvador....it was a refferal. we stopped at his house and he eagerly let us in....we taught him the first lesson! we gave him the book of mormon. he just ate up everything we said. the spirit was strong.... i know he will read and pray about it....we will meet with him again this week. he wants to come to church next week. his family only speaks spanish which is one of the reasons i want to learn it....and i know the Lord will help me learn it fast. So it was great...he is golden.we were also able to teach a family from India...the Skotsvys! They are beautiful...only the 12 year old daughter knew english so she had to translate everything.... we sang to them I am a child of God and the spirit was stong. We gave the girl a Book of mormon and we are ordering one in the Farsee language for the mom. They were so nice...she wore like those really beautiful colorful india outfits and sat on the beatifull rugs on the floor...she also gave us cookies and tea...which we kindly refused to. really nice generous people...we were able to get a sewing machine from some members to give to them.....they are poor and were originally refugees from Afganastan. we look forward to teaching them more.We have had four dinner appointment with members. three of them have been hamburgers on the barbque! ha ha! but its fun to eat and be outside and with members. we have been visiting a ton of less actives too! This work is so great! oh there are two korean elders in our area that go to all the dinners with us...they are so funny. Last night we all sang at our appointment and the wife is going to have us sing for sacrament meeting.... the ward is strong here. they are so nice and great! we are going to make the ward even bigger though! i really love the people here and i am learning so much about other cultures and stuff. The Lord loves all His people.We are also teaching a new convert from Iran... he gives us persian bread from his dads store...so good. People are so nice to us. anyway i will talk more next week..this is so long. i did not even know i could type this fast! we are going to the peace arch for pday with a bunch of other missionaries..including sis. huffaker! its an arch between the borders...and we will see the beach! Love you! sis. Flake
3177 Sylvia Place
Coquitlam, BCV3E 2R4
now that you have my adress you can all write me! yeah hoo!
3177 Sylvia Place
Coquitlam, BCV3E 2R4
now that you have my adress you can all write me! yeah hoo!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
New Mission President
Sister Flake will be getting a new mission president in the next week or two. Here is their Bio:
President Kent Kruger Nelson
Spouse: Jannilyn
Served: 2008 - 2011
Comments:Kent Kruger Nelson, 60, Canada Vancouver Mission; Kaysville 20th Ward, Kaysville Utah Crestwood Stake; ward Sunday School teacher; former bishop, high councilor, stake mission president, stake Young Men president and missionary in the Canadian Mission. Associate Partner, Hendricks & Partners. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Rene Ensign and Ruth Mary Kruger Nelson. Married Jannilyn Dickey, four children. A ward Relief Society teacher, Sister Nelson is a former ward Young Women president, counselor in a ward Primary presidency, ward Sunday School teacher and gospel doctrine teacher. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Myron Leolin and Mary Christine Calcote Dickey.
Monday, June 23, 2008
June 23 Email
From: Lindsey Flake [mailto:lindseyflake@myldsmail.net]Sent: Monday, June 23, 2008 3:48 PM
Hello! This week was fast and amazing. We have spent alot of time in theRefferal center and i have had some amazing expereinces...oh and this shiftkey on the keyboard doesnt work good so i am not going to capitalizeanything. sorry. so anyway.... i was able to send misionaries to four offive people over the phone. wow! it feels so good to talk and testify topeople. i just try to say what the Lord wants me to say. i have got to knowsome really neat people from all over the country. i have been talking tothis one lady more than once who is a jew and 85 years old! she is fromgermany and the only one left of her family. she was 10 years old when allthe bad stuff started happening over there. anyway its amazing that ihappened to be the one to contact her because i learned so much from herabout being accepting to other peoles beliefs and standing up for the truth.she speaks at schools and and places now about the haulicost. anyway....iwas able to testify to her about the whole first lesson the first time italked to her... and it was the first person i have ever testified aboutJesus Christ to ho does not believe him to be our Savior....and i felt thespirit stongly as i told her that i know that He is our Savior and that heloves her and suffered and died for her......she didnt say anything for along time and i just let it soak in...then i commited her to praying to knowif Jesus is the Christ and i sent the missionaries to her house with a bookof mormon... i have given her number to someone who works at the referalcenter who i can trust since i am leaving tommorow... wow neat.... and all ido is try to love her like God loves her and then i know what to say to herbecause its His work and he lets me know what to say. The worth of everysoul is great in the site of God! Oh and she loves mitt romney.....shesays there is a light in the face and the voice of mormons she is sosweet.....i talked to her for over an hour and at the end of the call shetold me she loved me! she is such a nice old lady.Dad....she asked me if i followed politics...i told her i use to be and shewas very happpy...she thinks that there are not enough americans standing upfor truth.... i told her that now i am focusing on sharing the truth of Godand she said "all truth goes together with God." it really was a blessingfor me to talk to this lady! She said, coming from a women who saw hercounty fall apart "Fight for God, you will die anyway....fight for God! anddont let them take him out of our schools and county!" Neat lady!anyway.....i do leave tommorow. i am very excited and i have pass alongcards for the plane ride. i have made so many friends..... its been anamazing three weeks.... oh and all the general authorities were hereyesterday....but i never saw them. they were at another sacrament meetingfor the mission presidents..... oh well. we still had a way good devotionalfrom some other guy.
love,sister flake
Hello! This week was fast and amazing. We have spent alot of time in theRefferal center and i have had some amazing expereinces...oh and this shiftkey on the keyboard doesnt work good so i am not going to capitalizeanything. sorry. so anyway.... i was able to send misionaries to four offive people over the phone. wow! it feels so good to talk and testify topeople. i just try to say what the Lord wants me to say. i have got to knowsome really neat people from all over the country. i have been talking tothis one lady more than once who is a jew and 85 years old! she is fromgermany and the only one left of her family. she was 10 years old when allthe bad stuff started happening over there. anyway its amazing that ihappened to be the one to contact her because i learned so much from herabout being accepting to other peoles beliefs and standing up for the truth.she speaks at schools and and places now about the haulicost. anyway....iwas able to testify to her about the whole first lesson the first time italked to her... and it was the first person i have ever testified aboutJesus Christ to ho does not believe him to be our Savior....and i felt thespirit stongly as i told her that i know that He is our Savior and that heloves her and suffered and died for her......she didnt say anything for along time and i just let it soak in...then i commited her to praying to knowif Jesus is the Christ and i sent the missionaries to her house with a bookof mormon... i have given her number to someone who works at the referalcenter who i can trust since i am leaving tommorow... wow neat.... and all ido is try to love her like God loves her and then i know what to say to herbecause its His work and he lets me know what to say. The worth of everysoul is great in the site of God! Oh and she loves mitt romney.....shesays there is a light in the face and the voice of mormons she is sosweet.....i talked to her for over an hour and at the end of the call shetold me she loved me! she is such a nice old lady.Dad....she asked me if i followed politics...i told her i use to be and shewas very happpy...she thinks that there are not enough americans standing upfor truth.... i told her that now i am focusing on sharing the truth of Godand she said "all truth goes together with God." it really was a blessingfor me to talk to this lady! She said, coming from a women who saw hercounty fall apart "Fight for God, you will die anyway....fight for God! anddont let them take him out of our schools and county!" Neat lady!anyway.....i do leave tommorow. i am very excited and i have pass alongcards for the plane ride. i have made so many friends..... its been anamazing three weeks.... oh and all the general authorities were hereyesterday....but i never saw them. they were at another sacrament meetingfor the mission presidents..... oh well. we still had a way good devotionalfrom some other guy.
love,sister flake
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Lunch with Sister Flake
I just got back from work where I got to eat luch with Lindsey at the MTC! I also got to listen to her make a few calls in the Referral Center. She basically baptized one lady over the phone! She is incredibly happy and excited to head to Vancouver in five days!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
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