Sister Flake Returns with Honor

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Friday the 13th of November was a lucky day for us as Sister Lindsey Flake completed her 18 month mission to Vancouver Canada and returned with honor via Delta airlines to SLC and Skywest to St. George to be reunited with her family. There to greet her at the airport were Grandmother Floretta Flake, family Dan, Shelly, Dawson, and Andrew Flake, cousin Angie Breinholt and kids Rilee and Sadie, friends Jayme and Shannon Steiner, neighbors Roger and Sydne Davies and Linda Hatch. The plane was actually early but we were ready for her. She was the last one off the small Sky West plane. She rode to SLC with four other returning missionaries: Sis. Huffaker, her MTC companion returned to Bountiful, one Elder to Preston Idaho, one to AZ and another Elder to Las Vegas. So wonderful to get her back into our arms and home. She was off to an Institute dinner and dance by the evening.

It's November and You Know What that Means!

Well Heavenly Father helped me feel so loved at church yesterday. To be honest we were praying very hard that our testimony meeting would be spiritually uplifting because often times it gets a little crazy and you wouldn't want investigators there. But we did have a couple show up, one of which it was his first time. So we were so grateful at the out pouring of the spirit at that meeting.... First off Chiara received the Holy Ghost and her blessing was so beautiful. She was told that the angels are rejoicing at her decision to join the church and that she would be a beacon to her friends and a leader in the church. Wow! Sister Barnum and I were touched to tears. She looked so happy! They sustained her at the pulpit and later that day she shared with us that she was worried that the bishop was going to say "any opposed?" haha! We had a good laugh at that! And then Gina and Jeremy bore pure testimony! Her first time! Beautiful! Then Sister Phinney who helped fellowship Chiara talked about how she was having a hard time feeling the Holy Ghost in her life but by having the missionaries in her home teaching the gospel to Chiara she now feels it again and is excited about the gospel again. Then a first nation couple who we helped reactivate in Hope bore their testimonies and in tears thanked those in the ward who never gave up on them and thanked us for coming to teach them and relight the fire for the gospel. Wow! I love Heavenly Father! I felt like he was giving me a big hug! What a wonderful experience to have right before i go home. He loves all of us so much he knows what his children need....and he knew what i needed. He has infinite love....He has blessed me more then words can speak....i am forever indebted to Him..... My heart is full. And how best could he show his love to us? By sending His son to stand in our place! Jesus Christ is our Savior!
Love, sister flake

October 26, 2009 Email Happy Birthday Week

Happy Birthday Sis. Flake!

Thanks for the emails and birthday wishes!
This weekend was one to remember! Friday night was Brennens baptism! Lots of people from the YSA were there so see him. And his mom and brother came. And really i am even more impressed with Brennen then ever after meeting his mother. I don't mean this rude but she is completely brain dead from drugs....she can barely talk and walk. Brennen is definitely a transitional character in his family. He could be right there with them, but he has chosen the better path....Its been a long road and it will still be hard with all the bad examples around him, but he has chosen Gods ways and i am so proud of him. The gospel does indeed change lives!
Then Sunday after church was Chiaras baptism! Never have I seen such radiance! Her and her friend Teya stayed up late the night before making a beautiful white baptism dress, and she looked so beautiful and pure! After the service she exclaimed, "I cant believe I'm part of Jesus Christs Church!" Ive never seen someone so appreciative of their baptism.... She really has a deep understanding and testimony.....probably more then many of us who have been members our whole lives! We are truly so blessed to be a part of HIS church!
Prayers really are answered..... Teya had been praying for a long time for Chiara that she would be able to be baptised. What a true friend. Who are we praying for?
I know God lives. His love is infinite! His arms are always extended! He hears our prayers. He weeps when we weep! He rejoices when we rejoice. I have a testimony of the reality of the Savior and His atonement! He is the only way. Of this I know!
Love, sister flake

October 19, 2009 Email

Well Hello!
I feel so much love for you family! Thanks for your support through out my mission! Thanks for waiting for me to get home before Dawson goes through the temple! If there were two things that i missed most while on the mission it would be my family and the temple! I am so excited! Wow i love the gospel. Sorry the pics you sent didn't work for some reason but the hike sounded like fun. As for my birthday....remember less is more when your on a mission and have limited space. Dad how is it being 50?
Well i would like to tell you a few miracles....... Chiaras dad said yes to her being baptised! I have loved getting to know her. She has such a strong spirit! And this family the Phinneys where we teach her at live out in the country and they are just so much fun! I have really grown to love all of them and feel like they are family! And then there is the Bishop and his wife......they have been so helpful and they share so much love with us. Well we sang at church yesterday..... In Humility our Saviour. I am really stepping out of my comfort zone. Sister Barnum can harmonize so it really sounded nice. I love Sister Barnum! She is such a good friend to me. well we found some new people tracting this week.....it was really a miracle because it was a "No Soliciting" complex.....but we did it anyway cuz we thought it might be fun to get thrown in jail for the gospel of Jesus Christ.....so we found this women and her dad.....earnestly ready to hear truth....the first lesson was very powerful and we are looking forward to out meeting with them Wed. We found two other new people to teach this week too! I love doing this work! I love this gospel it is sooo true! Heavenly Father has shown us His infinite love through giving his son Jesus Christ to us! It is the supreme expression of love! And i feel it when i seek Him and put Him first in my life! The laborer in Zion will labor for Zion!
Love, sister flake

October 13, 2009 Email

Hi! Sorry we didn't get to email yesterday because it was Thanksgiving. But we thought we would quickly stop in and give you a shout so you know that were alive. We had a Turkey Bowl yesterday with about 50 missionaries from the lower mainland. It was lots of fun! We had a big meal sat. sun. and mon. So we have been well fed:) i guess i will get two thanksgivings this year! That's exciting! Well i will be home in exactly a month. Just want you to know how much I love you! Happy Birthday Dad. There is a card for you in the mail. Sorry it will probably get to you late cuz of the holiday. Oops. Well San Jose, California Dawson! How exciting! You are going to be a stellar missionary! That's great that you are already practicing your Spanish! Wow! Things are great here. We have another baptism coming up. She is 15. Her name is Chiara. She is so awesome. Her friend started bringing her to activity night and the rest is history! Yea! Well don't got much time....i will write more next week!
Love, sis flake

Finally--some pictures from Chilliwack!

We finally got a disk of pictures from Lindsey. They show where she lives, in a complex in an industrial area, picking wild berries, her current zone, the Vancouver temple under construction and the beautiful coutryside of Chilliwack. Click on the link below to view the web album. She looks very happy!

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=danflake&target=ALBUM&id=5388553386990846385&authkey=Gv1sRgCMe0wKq3psn7iAE&feat=email

September 21, 2009 Email

Hello Family!
So sorry about last week. We email at the local college and a biology class was scheduled to use the computers so i only got 5 min. I will try to make up for it now.
As far as i know the open house wont be till May. They want to do it after the Olympics now.
Things are still going amazing. We have lots of people progressing towards baptism. We still get lots of referrals. We even found a family to teach....i should tell you about our first meeting with Jana and Paul. Well we met them while looking for a less active Lady's home and scheduled an appointment with them a week later. So we brought Sis. Tompson, a wonderful women in the ward and we taught the restoration. My companion was reciting the first vision when suddenly we heard angels singing as she Said "This is my beloved son, here him." Everyone had their jaws dropped for 2 seconds until we realized it was their son who had turned on a movie in the back room. It was so cool! Well we had a good laugh and then brought the spirit back in.
Right now I am most excited about Leslieanne, she is a student from St. Lucia in the Carri bean who is living with a family in the ward while going to school. She is 19 and a spiritual giant. She is catholic but felt the spirit at church and is loving this new found truth! She keeps asking "why don't the other churches believe in the Book of Mormon...its obviously true...." :) After a spiritually strong gospel principles lesson she told me....."I felt this strong feeling of love growing inside of me....what is that?" Wow! I explained she had felt the Holy Ghost testifying to her of truth. So she is doing great but is in the process of realizing the church she has grown up in isn't true.
We are also doing alot of reactivation. Found out the bishops goal is to get the ward split as soon as possible. President is wondering if he should send another set of missionaries into the ward to help us out. We are very busy and our area is too big. We spend alot of time traveling. Heavenly Father keeps setting things up for us. He is working miracles here. And i just love these people so much! I'm so grateful to be able to spend my last bit here in Chilliwack with an amazing companion. By the way we have been getting so much fresh produce from the ward members gardens. I don't think I've ever eaten healthier in my whole life. We also have been involved with the Young men, young women, and primary lessons. The ward really knows how to use their missionaries in this ward. And we are tight with the bishops wife. She invited us over for apple crisp the other night and gave us two more referrals. Wow!
And this place is beautiful, and I'm use to the country smell...and dad i think you would like it. Thanks for the emails. Dawson i cant wait to find out about your call. Andrew good job with cross country! Mom I'm glad that you are getting to see fruits from your labors as a teacher. And thanks to Danielle and Steve for the cute pictures of Alexa. I love you all so much! I cant wait to spend time with you. I hope you are preparing for story time with Sister Flake when i get back. There's so much i want to tell you and i have so many questions for you.
Love love love ya! love, sister flake

Letters in the Mail

Hello Family,
I'm sorry it has taken me so long to write and send pictures. I hope you enjoy them. I won't send any more home after this. but I'll take a bunch more and we can look at them together.
I love you all very much and am so excited to spend lots of time with all of you. So prepare yourself because I will be following you around. I want to cook for you and study the scriptures with you, and talk and play and hike! When this gets to you I will only have one transfer left.
I want to do my best with the rest of the time I have. Thank you so much for the support and the love and prayers...throughout my mission.
Love, Sister Flake
(We also received a letter from her companion, Sis. Barnam)
Dear Mother of Sis. Flake,
Thank you for parting with Sis. Flake long enough for her to be my companion. It was an answer/miracle to prayer to work with her. No one in the group of sisters is more hard working, full of faith, hope, and charity. She truely understands the atonement and works with the Savior, which few missionaries can boast of. I could prattle on forever about your lovely dughter, but I really wrote to you to thank you for the cool PMG-mini style! I love it! I keep it in my bag always! Thanks agin! Love, Sis. Barnam

September 28, 2009 Email

Well hello!
It's been an amazing week with lots of small miracles and what a wonderful blessing it was yesterday to see Gina be baptised by her husband Jeremy. Their happy family can now go to the temple in a year! Wow! We have many new people to work with! We are really involved with the youth here. We took some Mia Maids on splits with us and now all the other young women are wanting too so i think its going to become a weekly thing! Yea! The members here are so wonderful. They are so missionary minded and that makes a huge difference! What a blessing to be here! I love it! I love these people! I love the Lord! I love the truth! I love you!

Love, sister flake

September 14, 2009 Email

Hello! Cool picture Andrew! You dont look scrawny like the other guys! Thanks for the news. Sorry i dont write much. Great things are happening i just am getting bored of emailing i guess. I just want to tell you in person in two months. Well anyway. well i have to go! We have three baptism scheduled this coming month and a few more that are very close. we had 5 investiagarors at church.....the class has to use the computers. sorry i love you so much!!!!!!!
love, sister flake

(and another short note from her companion reflects that they are kindred spirits)

Dear Family, We have three solid baptism dates and six progressing investigators. Heavenly Father is truly continuing to open the windows of heaven upon us. Sis. Flake and I are one in the work, even though the opposition tries to bud into a beautiful companionship. He can try, but he won't succeed. It has been amazing to see so many answers to prayers. We have prayed for the power of the Holy Ghost, that we will be able to work WITH the Savior, and that the work will go forward. Prayers are answered, when we live worthy of the answer.

Love you lots,Sis. Barnum

Email September 8, 2009

Wow! Thanks for the pictures....i want to wrestle a pig too. And little Alexa is soooooooooo cute! Wow.
We have had a spectacular week. But first i must say i am pretty sore right now. Sister Barnum and i did an 8k hike yesterday for pday. We hiked a very high mountain. Elk mountain. very steep and very enjoyable but my muscles have been dormant for a while so I'm feeling it today! Hallelujah that sister Barnum likes to hike!
Well members here keep helping us! I love our ward mission leader and his family. They remind me of my family! Anyway we had dinner at their house on Sunday and the wife spilled a glass of water on my lap on accident! It was so funny! We have a corn roast tonight that will be great! We have had many spiritual lessons this week and we now have thee people in line to be baptized. Two young men from Hope and Gina. Sorry I don't have too much time to write. as you know yesterday was labor day here so we couldn't get into the library.

I love you and I love the gospel!

Love, sister flake

August 31, 2009 Email Chilliwack

From: Lindsey Flake [mailto:lindseyflake@myldsmail.net]

Subject: Chilliwack

Funny name. Beutiful place. This morning sister Barnum and I went on a walk by the river through the forrest. We found a log and did our studies outside. twas lovely! This week has been miraculus! We met with the non member wife of a less active and she wants to be baptised September 26. Her name is Gina. She has two children and a third on the way. So sweet! The members here are just making things happen. We also met with a refferal we got from the office the first day we were here! They are so eager to learn about the church. Members keep giving us refferals its amazing! Also we had some general authorities here so we went up to Richmond for a special question and answer session with elder Clayton. Neat. I had to give the closing prayer. It was great to learn from them. Basicly life is better then ever! My companion is full of faith and we get along so well.... she is helping me alot. The members here are incredible! Thank you for you prayers! I love this gospel!
Love, sister flake

Hello mother. Well before I forget I don't really care if or when I give my homecoming talk. I don't know that world anymore so you can figure it out and no matter what i will be happy with it. I have had a few ideas about school come to me lately. I am considering going into Psychology(i cant even spell it haha!) and being an art and dance therapist.... i know it sounds weird....but maybe you could look into it a bit for me... well you don't really need to cuz i can worry about it when i get home, but anyway.... well it is starting to sink in that I'm going home soon, but the cool thing is that it is motivating me even more cuz i want to do all that i can and feel like i gave it all i got. Anyway....i love you very much! Oh and thanks for the Hawaii package. I shared with the elders at zone meeting. So sweet of you. Thanks. love you.
love sister flake

New Return Date

I received a call from Sister Oliver in the Vancouver mission office and they are moving Sis. Flake's return date to Friday, November 13. She will be arriving in St. George. More on the exact time and Missionary report date later....

Shelly Flake

August 24, 2009 Email Transferred!

Hello Hello Family! I am so happy right now! I can’t even express it! I have been transferred back down to the lower mainland. Chillowack is so amazing! We have the biggest ward in BC and it is a farming town! Everyone here is so nice! And it is soooooo beautiful! My companion is amazing! Her name is Sister Barnum from Las Vegas. She’s just a year older then me and she has her master’s degree in teaching and has been teaching elementary for three years already! Can you believe it? So we do not have a problem with working hard..... Diligent is her middle name! It makes the work so much better when you both want to work hard! So life is just perfect here! Basically we wake up and run down the most picturesque country road with tall corn fields and fruit trees all over the place....and gorgeous tree-covered mountains in the distance....then at the end of the road there’s a bunch of blackberry bushes. We eat all the berries we can handle and then run back. Then for breakfast I have toast with homemade raspberry jam from someone in the ward and a couple of scrambled eggs from a local farm! wow! This is the life....and the apartment is sooo cool. It’s basically a dance studio. For some reason there are mirrors on almost every wall and the kitchen is big enough to dance in! It’s like God created this place for me! Wow! Well anyway we whitewashed the area meaning that there were elders here and we took their place. We have found that there was not much work going on here for the last year due to some disobedient elders....so ever since we bore our testimonies to the ward on Sunday we have had refferals just dumped upon us! Plus we have an area book full of unfinished teaching records that have already been very fruitful as we have been doing phone calls and drop bys. We found out that the bishop had been praying for sister missionaries. and this morning we got a phone call from a women in the ward who said she feels her friend is finally ready to take the lessons....she is the third person to tell us that and its only been 4 days! This is a missionary paradise! I can’t believe it! Sister Barnum and I have seen so many miracles! And I love Sister Barnum so much! She is an amazing teacher and knows how to follow the spirit! We laugh a lot and enjoy every moment! And we have a lot in common including that we both come from the desert and love fruit! Speaking of fruit! We feel that there is a lot of fruit to reap here! We know we have a great responsibility to get this area going.....we would really appreciate your prayers in helping us find those prepared to be baptized. There are a lot of people counting on us right now. It’s been so amazing to see the Lords hand in this work....especially in the last four days. I know this is His work. He is helping all these wonderful things happen here and we are blessed to be His instruments at this time. Thank your for your love and support! I am so grateful for this gospel. I know even more now that Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us and wants us to find the most happiness. As you may know the past couple transfers had been very trying for me. Discouragement was bringing me low....but the Lord has been preparing me...and has now poured out blessings and because I had felt sorrow for a while the joy is so much greater! I love the Lord! He is so good to me! I am forever indebted to Him! Love, sister flake
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Email August 17, 2009 Transfers Maybe?

Hello i love you!
This is gonna be short because the Pennticton sisters are here. They had a sleepover last night. Katie made us breakfast and we all had companion study together..that was fun! We are anxiously awaiting phone calls from the president. Were all kinda worried because there are three sisters going home and only one coming out.....so that means they are closing a sisters area! oh dear me! Sister Brian says hi.
Well we had an investigator barbecue at a members home. went well. Well that's it for now. I'm doing good..... let you know whats going on with transfers next week i guess.. sorry so short but i cant stay focused. love love love ya!
The church is true!
Love, sister flake

Sister Flake has her Return Date!

The mission office of the Vancouver, BC, Canada mission just confirmed that Lindsey will return from her mission on
November 11, 2009 in St. George at 11:00 am!!

Augus 10, 2009 Email

Hello Family!
Wow Hawaii hey? Thanks for the pictures. I really am happy for you. promise. mostly..... haha! Thanks for keeping it a secret for so long so that i only had to be jealous for a short period of time:) The St. George airport sounds wonderful. Thanks for taking care of that mom. Oh and thanks for the package! you are so sweet!
Well its been such an interesting week for me. We taught some young people in thier garage. we met this long haired hippie in front of his house. I noticed he was wearing Ecuadorian pants so i asked him about them and he said his girlfriend just came back from there. so he invited us back to thier garage where his girlfreind and friends were hanging out. They hid the bong under the table as we came in. And we taught them about the nature of "the higher power" and how we can communicate with him. Then we left them the scripture of the day and they invited us back. It was epic!
We had another investigator pass out at the door because she accidently took too much medication. I was super scared but she came to and we got her some water and food and helped her into bed. Wow.
And the last drug story i have is that one of our investigators sons who is only 12 is heavy into drugs. So we treated him and one of his friends to milk shakes and tried our best to pump up thier self esteem cuz they dont seem to have any. His mom and sister came to church yesterday. The little girl was just glowing after primary. She gave me one of the best hugs ive ever recieved. She finally was able to learn about Jesus and she cant wait till next week! i love the gospel! It does wonders in our lives!
Love, sister flake

August 3, 2009 Email

Well hello dear family.....i have a few quick and important things to say. First off...i know this is crazy but Sister Oliver in the office has already made my flight plans! I wasnt sure what airport you want to pick me up at. I told her Las Vegas....it doesnt matter to me so if you want to pick me up in Salt Lake then you need to call the office and let her know please, and then let me know too! I know its wierd! i feel nervous. Also if you could let her know, or me know the Bishops address...i know i should remember it cuz i lived there...but nope.
Also if any of you get an invitation on facebook from a Jean-Robert(ITs french) then add him and do some missionary work! He is 15, adopted from Haite...we work with him at the food bank and we have alot of laughs together. we are teaching him about God and how to pray right now. i told him about my brothers and he wondered if they had facebook and im not sure so if you do...or mom if you do...then you can talk to him. He is hilarious, you will love him.
Next.....i cant remember when the deadline for efy counselor is. But if its soon will you let me know...or sign me up or something? Thank you.
OK and also if anyone heres anything about fires in Kelowna...do not worry. Yes the forrest all around us is burning, and our ward did a fast that we will be protected, but we are fine and probably will not be evacuated. The westbank elders were on alert but its now getting farther away. We have a red sun! Scary eh? and our car had a bit of ash on it yesterday morning....its so smoky that you cant see the mountains. In the meantime we are asking people to come to our stop-smoking workshop haha!
another thing to mention is the fruit here! wow! There is so much fresh fruit that members keep giving us! Everyone here has gardens and fruit trees! We are so blessed.
Well Keith passed the sacrament for the first time yesterday and i about cried. I felt like a mother or something. Im so proud of him:)
Well right now i am trying to up my faithfullness and dillegence. I want to be doing my very best till the end. I am overcomeing alot of weaknesses and trials right now. Heavenly Father is helping me improve as a person as much as i can before i get home. It kind of hurts.....but i know its what is best. I love this gospel! I know i cant express it the way i would like too....its just so precious to me. I love you!
love, sister flake

Hello dear family!

Ok I'm trying not to cry right now. i just looked at the reunion pictures and i just want all you Flakes to know how much I love you! And why are you all so tall....and im still short? HOly Cow looks like you all had lots of fun and ya'll better go to the reunion next year too because i miss you lots. Now you can all write me a letter and tell me how much you missed me! Haha just kidding.... Kind of.
Well another inspiring week. Our new ward mission leader is helping us get some good stuff happening here. We started volley ball at the beach on thursday nights. we had a good turn out, despite the rain. And we are starting the stop-smoking workshop at the church on wed. nights. Its a great way to get people in the church and also a really non-pressured way to contact people. People are more likely to talk to us when we ask them if they "know anyone who wants to quit smoking?" instead of "what do you think is the purpose of life?" Plus it helps people to see that we are trying to help in the community and people seem to like that. By the way the word religion is practically a swear word here. We hear this daily "Dont you know more wars are started by religion then in any other way?" Yeah....try getting around that. Peace, love, and Harmony!
But i do love these earth-loving, meditating, good-energied people here in Kelowna. I think that if i didnt have the gospel I would also be doing yoga in the park, backpacking across the country, and cherry-picking during the summer to to sustain me for the rest of the year, not to mention dread locks. Seriously.
Well Katie got baptised down in the states this week. And Tiffany Terry recieved the Holy Ghost at church. Lately we have been helping the members learn to seek personal revelation in their missionary efforts. We have been applying this ourselves in the work and have been seeing many more tender mercies of the Lord as we let HIm lead us. Im very happy to know the true nature of God. To be able to have a relationship with the Father of my spirit and with my Saviour and ultimate example Jesus Christ. Im doing this for Him. For any other reason, i promise i would not have made it this far with out going home. I love Him and want to obey Him for the rest of my life. I love this gospel, it means everything to me. Im happy to stand up for my Lord and teach about Him to all who will listen.

More pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=danflake&target=ALBUM&id=5362613215355316209&authkey=Gv1sRgCMTO7IHc07-dDA&feat=email

I love you all ! Love, sister flake

July 20, 2009 Email

Sent: Monday, July 20, 2009 3:40 PM

Hello people that i love! not much time but i just want to say that the gospel changes lives. we have had a few random phone calls from investigators this week just to tell us that they always feel so good after we leave thier home..... One sweet women, Jewls, told us that her husband, allthough hes heard lots of bad about mormons, likes us to come over because he said Jewls always seems brighter after we leave. And the same women called us to tell us that indeed repentence does work....she says " last night after i repented i slept better then i ever have and the next day i felt calm all day." wow isnt the gospel great? And Jesse when we found him had no belief in God, or Christ, but after being taught the Gospel says he looks forward to praying before bed...he says" i sleep better and feel happier"....and just yesterday we watched Finding Faith in Christ and he told us he feels like Chirst is his friend....... He never understood the whole christian thing...... but when he saw the emotion we had attached to the Saviour he says its easier for him to beieve. I know the gospel is true! i know it with all my heart! The cause of truth is worth everything we have! I love you !

Love, sister flake

July 13 Email

Dear Family,
I have the faintest memory of writing last week. I'm not sure if i did,but i thought i did. I know that i wouldn't intentionally not write to my family. I might be losing my mind. But don't be worried. I'm sure ill find it soon. Well, first off....i thought i wrote this last week...but i guess i didn't.....Katie's getting baptised in Salt Lake on the 21st if anyone is around that day. Her future father in law is baptising her, thats why they are doing it down there. This week things have been taking off with member work. We found a less active women who wants her non member sister to take the lessons, and a young girl in the ward who wants her boyfriend to take lessons. so things are going great. One of our Jamaican friends, Nigel, came to church yesterday and was really eating it up. Tiffany Terry was baptised last night and her mom who has not been to church in years came and made an instant best friend with another Filipino women at church so now she wants to come every week. And they spent the time after church making Philipino food for the baptism together. Yumm. Frinedshipping is so important! Also Mauro has been 80 days alcohol free and we did a special fast with him so that he can get off the cigarettes. He wants to be baptised on the16 of August. We are so proud of him! There is a family in the ward thathas been inviting him over for all kinds of things... so again its themembers that fellowhip here that make all the difference....if it wasn't for them what we do as missionaries is almost useless... Be a friend......make a difference! Well the Sippels are taking us to the Tressels today. I guess its these old train tracks that are pretty cool that you can walk on and it takes you to all these beautiful views. I love nature so i am really excited. I will take some pictures. Maybe you can google it. Also i found a map at the library of all the cool places that you can hike and bike around here so when we all come back and visit we can hit up some trails. The Book of Mormon changes lives.... If yours needs changing then pickup the book and start reading. I testify that it is true. I know that it unlocks the mysteries of God and gives us the determination to live righteously. We need it. I could go off for days on the corruption of the world that i have seen out here. We must read the book. The world is on a path to a barbaric society where right is wrong and wrong is right. If we do not hold to the rod we have no promise. I love you all ! Stand up for whats right!
Love, sister flake

July 6, 2009 Email

Lindsey sent a big I Love You in the family email today. She did reply to her last companion, Sister Wong and to her Grandparents.:
Hello!Thanks for the email and i did get your letter! Mahalo! It was great! You made me get emotional. Im glad that your relatitionship is improving! I knew it would.....its just hard sometimes to get used to a new person and a new way of doing things... im not gonna lie i was pretty frusterated myself the first few weeks.....i have to communicate a total different way with sister stevens...im kind of figuring it out now. so things are getting way better! Heavenly Father wants us to learn all we can out here so he gives us these experiences to grow. Well i will find out Jasons address and birthday tonight and give it to you next week. Katie is getting baptised on the 21st in Salt Lake. Tiffanys getting baptised on the 12. And Dans getting baptised on the 18th. he quit smoking! So good job Sister Wong! and guess what? Mauro has not been drinking for two months and he quit smoking last week so we will see how hes doing on that! Whoo hoo! LOve you so much! I will tell Katie what you said. oh guess what? Keith, Eric, and Jason are all getting thier priesthood this month and Keith bore his testimony yesterday! It was so good! wow! I think about you always! love you!
Love, sister flake

Hello Grandma and Grandpa! I got your letter. Thankyou very much! It was great to hear from grandpa too! I love you both so much! What a fun trip you will have! I also heard that in France they dont like Americans. But they do love Canadians.... Someone told me that if you go there you should wear a Canada pin because they will treat you much nicer if they think you are from Canada! Ha ha! Well have a wonderful trip and take lots of pictures! Love, sister Flakep.s. my companion has a great attitude and a great capacity to love! She says she knows the Capners.

June 29, 2009 Email

Well Hello!
I'm an auntie! Holy Cow little Alexa is so beautiful! Thanks so much for sending the pictures. I kinda got emotional. You all look so happy and that makes me happy. She is so cute. Well I'm so glad that it all went so well! Congrats Steve and Danielle! Yippee! Oh and i forgot to thank you for the package last week mom. I'm so grateful for your support. My companions mom passed away when she was 13 years old...so she appreciates the support too. Thanks so much. I love you all so much!
Well things are going good here. We got the new ward mission leader that we have been praying for! He is on fire for the work so that just pumped us up a lot too.
The weather here is absolutely amazing and there are so many tourists around town. Its neat to meet people from all over the world. Today for Preparation Day we are going to play basketball with Keith. The 13 year old who was baptised last month. That will be fun! This week we spent most of our time tr acting down part-member families. Some our nice, some our rude, and some our crazy. So President asked us to concentrate on member work. So its been a little discouraging because i feel like were not working as hard cuz were not contacting or tracting every waking moment, and were not seeing much success at it right away......but president promised that it will work so we will keep going at it. People seem to be really afraid to share this with their friends...How can we help the ward members be missionaries? Any suggestions? Well anyway....I am grateful for the scriptures. They are a treasure in my heart. They help restore peace to my soul every time I feast on them. And I also like marking them.... its one of my only creative outlets. Ha ha! They are becoming very colorful. I think you can tell a lot about a person by the way they mark their scriptures...just a random thought that came to my head suddenly.
Well i have a lot to learn and i am trying very hard to be all that Heavenly Father wants me to be. I just want to please Him. I'm trying to be obedient as I can. I want to show the Lord how much I love Him. I know that we are all continually indebted to Him. How grateful I am for my Advocate with the Father, my Savior, my Redeemer, and my Freind.
Love, sister flake

June 22, 2009 Email

Hello!
Still no baby? Hang in there Danielle! What a wonderful gift life on earth is! And to be able to make it through it as an Eternal Family! The blessings of the true gospel are infinite! We can be sealed as families! Its incredible! And when we put God first He is "bound" to bless us. I worried about leaving my family for so long and didn't want to miss anything back home.....but as i ponder on the forever eternal life that i will be able to have with my family i know that this year and a half is such a small token to give. I mean think about it....forever..... it makes sacrifice here seem so small......think about a trial your having....and now picture that trial in relationship to Forever...... We are so blessed! And everything that is unfair in this life will be made fair in the next. well anyway..... Guess what? we got a new ward mission leader and he is stoked off his hinges to have the calling! we are so happy!!!!!! He is a convert to the church and then served a mission a couple years later. Before he joined our church he was about to start his own church because he didn't agree with the doctrines he was learning in other churches. Then he met the missionaries and the rest is history. So with him and the new things we are applying from zone conference this area is going to fly...and its going to fly high! With faith in Jesus Christ. Also i know that i have so much to improve on....i just want to do my best for the Lord....and you would think that i got it figured out by now since I've been out a year....but i need help. i know i need to relax more and let the Lord take control. I am learning alot and i am learning that i have alot to learn. What have i done with Christs name? The gospel of Jesus Christ is restored to the earth!
Love, sister Flake

June 15, 2009 Emal

Hola mi familia!
Thanks to all who supported me in the form of an email this week. It is much appreciated. Sorry bout your experience in Wyoming boys. Glad that your scriptures were safe Dawson. Sorry Justin that your PMG was stolen....priceless i know. But you're all still alive and you still have the gospel. :) Well I'm about to be an aunt and that is exciting. Please tell her hello and give her a kiss for me.
So just a quick update....I'm still a missionary..... We work hard.... We teach and testify often.... Its great! So Jason was baptized. It was marvelous. Remember Dan? Well we had to hand him over to the elders cuz hes actually in their area but he chose July 18th to be baptized. He already has the gospel glow! We are working on some new ideas for getting referrals from members. Any ideas? Begging doesn't work. haha! just kidding!
well today the Sippels are taking Katie, Sister Stevens, and i mini golfing. Wont that be fun?
Well this week I am very grateful for the priesthood. We were going through a bit of a stressful time and were able to receive blessings from Brother Sippel. It helped me feel peace and be reassured of the love and plan that God has for me. And brother Sippel respects and honours his priesthood. Before he gave us our blessings he went and shaved and got on his suit. What an example of respect that we should have for the power and authority to act in Gods name. I will always remember that.
Missionary work is kind of like a pineapple:) Mostly sweet and delicious but a little bit hard in the middle. I'm grateful for the hard parts though. I know its growing me as a person. And I'm grateful to be able to suffer a bit.
"If it so be that we suffer with Him, For i reckon that the suffering at this present time is not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us." Romans 8.
The church is true!
Love, sister flake



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June 8, 2009 Email

HI!
What an exciting week! Well first of all today sister Stevens and i got pedicures from a lady in our ward! Wow. What a sweet women trying to share her talents to help the Lords work go forth! and guess what? a women she works with heard her say my name and told her that i called her a few weeks before out of the blue.....when she told me the woman's name i realized that it was this women that we called because we thought we found her cat that we saw on a poster......and it wasn't her cat but i then continued to talk to her and taught the first lesson over the phone....so we are going to try to meet up now to teach her again.... did that make sense? Anyway....the Lord works in mysterious ways. Well guess what? while we were doing surveys and contacting people at the park we received a bit of persecution. Its fun to talk about now...but while it was happening it was not that cool. So this one guy i was talking to i could tell was not interested but just wanted to share his opinion....so i said goodbye and then he walked away and came back later and walked back and forth in front of our survey table singing very loudly this awful Satanic song as he was listening to his earphones. Of course people were wondering whats going on and i was trying to bear my testimony to this other guy who was basically crying as he was explaining his desire to have God in his life.... and i just felt the most terrible feeling.....and i was praying in my heart that he would leave......and he finally left after coming up and interrupting our conversation saying" don't take this personally. i just thought it was the perfect song for the occasion." yikes! evil. and then a couple of other guys said some terrible things about the church.....so anyway....... Satan was trying to get us down because of what was going to happen later that night...... We met 6 Jamaicans who are living in a house together saving up money to send back to their families in Jamaica. Bro. Calvert came with us to the appointment and it was the most spiritual experience of my whole mission. We taught the restoration and the spirit was thick. They are so humble and sincere and by the end of the lesson they couldn't wait to get their hands on a copy of the Book of Mormon. Please pray for them....The Lord wants them.
Also earlier this week we were walking down the street and started talking to a young guy and asked him the purpose of life...he looked at us inquisitively and said that was actually what he was thinking all morning as his close friend died two days earlier.....we walked to the library to talk more..... we taught about God......he didn't know He existed....... until the spirit overwhelmed him as we told him the love that God has for him and that he lived with Him before he came here. Tears streamed down his face.....and mine...... and he then told us he had been walking since early that morning and was feeling so heavy.....and he then said "now i feel so light." Now Gunnar knows God.
I cant express the love and gratitude i feel for my Father in Heaven. There is no greater feeling then knowing that you have been an instrument in His hands. My relationship with Him is real.... and is everything to me. This is His gospel...it is true, no power can stop His work! I love my Savior and Redeemer. He lives and His atonement is real.. its real for me, its real for you..and its real for your neighbor down the street who does not know about it. Go tell them. Love you all! Love, sister Flake

June 1, 2009 Email New Companion

Hello my dearest people that I love! What a week! First of all, my dear sister Wong has been transferred to Richmond (which is 80% Chinese) to speak mandarin. And yes I did cry when she left. Wow I really love her. Saying goodbye at the airport was difficult. So now I have a brand new missionary companion, Sister Stevens from Tremonton, Utah, fresh from the MTC. She’s teaching me a lot. She is a twin and the youngest of ten children. She is really athletic so that’s nice, and a very hard worker. She really catches on quick. It’s been great so far! We work and forget to eat and drink, and wear sunscreen.....i love that! But we both are pretty burnt from four hours of contacting at the park. But the Lord blessed us with lots of potential investigators.....
Oh yeah! on Monday sister Wong and I finally were able to commit Jason to baptism....I’m not sure if i even told you about him...missionaries have been teaching him for 6 months, and he was really stubborn, his wife is a member but has not been active, they have a cute little daughter named Kaylee... We have been meeting there almost every Monday night....two months ago we told him we couldn’t come over anymore until he went to church, we have always invited him but he never made the effort, so we had to be bold. We were not sure if he would do it.....but he did! and he’s been going ever since....and now he will be baptized on the 13th! Whoo hoo! As he started really trying hard to come to a conclusion about the book of Mormon his life began to change! It saved their marriage and even people at work have made comments to him that he seems different! The gospel really does change lives! Please pray for their family that all will go well till the baptism....Satan likes to stop people whatever way he can.
Keith received the holy ghost at church yesterday :) we also recommitted Tiffany for baptism on the 4th of July (it’s not a holiday here).. So things are going very well here. Oh and something kind of crazy. Katie’s dad kicked her out of the house because of the whole Mormon thing.....so she is living down stairs here at the Sippels house.....so she has joined us for dinner appointment and running in the morning....it’s kind of crazy.... its only temporary til she can find another place. But its fun getting to know her more. and the ward has really reached out to her here. The Sippels are so nice to let her live here. So lots going on here! But i love it! Thanks,

Love, sister flake

Dearest Sister Flake,
I just want you to know how much I love you and miss you! I shall write you soon. I came to realize you did teach me a lot since I am no longer with you. You better write me soon too...lol I miss laughing with you. Hope all is well with you and Sister Stevens.
Love, Sister Wong

Email May 25, 2009

Well hello everybody!
Good to hear from all of you! Congrats on the excellent grades bros! And yea Dawson you are done with high school! How does that feel? I appreciate the pictures you sent. Well i love you all and are so proud of you!
Well this week was the most stressful of my whole mission i think. But the Lord is helping me learn to cope with stress. So basically we changed the baptism date for Keith and Tiffany about five times. We were having the hardest time coordinating with parents and with leaders. Anyway it was a big mess. But what happened is that Tiffany will be waiting for her dad to be prepared to use his priesthood so he can baptise her....probably in a month or so. And we ended up having Keith's baptism on Sunday. So all this stress kind of building up was finally washed away as we watched Keith wash away his sins in the waters of baptism! Beautiful! The service was beautiful! We had the youth do the talks and prayers and it was awesome to see how they are so accepting of him. And Keith's mom was there and was really fellow shipped well so we will be working on her, as well as Keith I'm sure. So Keith bore his testimony after the baptism and tears of joy just filled my eyes! The Lord has great things prepared for him. Last week he told us that his class mates and teachers were all throwing questions at him during class when he announced to them that he was going to be a Mormon. He said he was surprised because he was able to answer all the questions. He has so much courage and i am just so pleased with the strength of character of the youth of the church today! wow!
Also Katie went to six hours of church yesterday. She really just thirsts after knowledge! Teaching her has been such a blessing....and like i said before....shes teaching us too. I love the people here. I love teaching people of their true relationship with their Heavenly Father. There is no other message other then the true restored gospel that could get me to walk up to crazy looking people of all walks of life and bring up something as controversial as religion. This gospel means everything to me! I know that this is Gods church!
Love, sister Flake

Well hello! I love you soooooo much! Just a few points of business before I get started...I did receive the memory card...thanks a ton. I hope you enjoyed the pictures I sent you. So did Fusi give you a call? I got an email from her. Which is crazy cuz i was thinking about her the other day? You remember her right. The one from Tonga...or Samoa...can’t remember, she lives in the Boulders and I use to pick her up for church. Well I can’t email her back cuz of the new rules....but can you get her address for me...or give her mine? Thanks so much! Mom I just wanted to say I got the pictures you sent and you look beautiful, and Sister Wong thinks you’re pretty too. You look pretty too dad! HAHA just kidding.....anyway my brothers are huge its kinda scary... how am I gonna keep up on bike rides now? No chance.
So anyway ....life here is great! We had a miracle this week. We met with Keith and asked if we could talk to his mom. At first she said " no he doesn’t need to be baptized, has already been baptized in the Catholic Church." Then we kept talking to her and 5 min later she said she needed to think about it....then we talked a little more about authority and showed her the Strength of Youth pamphlet....and then she said" ok let me check my schedule." Wow! Isn’t that great! She agreed! So Keith and Tiffany will be baptized this Saturday! The Lord answered our prayers...and thanks to all of you who participated in those prayers. Faith in Christ works miracles! So then we had another great miracle from God. Remember about a month ago when I told you I had to buy new Nikes cuz my feet were having problems? well when we were in that store at the mall on Preparation day there was a couple there and the guy was like" hi sisters" and we were like "woa, oh hi" cuz that doesn’t usually happen....so found out he was a member from the states and his girlfriend was not a member from Kelowna (long distance relationship).....so we asked her if she was ready to meet with the missionaries?...haha....and she declined but was very friendly. Well....we forgot about it till last week when we got a call from the office with this girl, Katie Turner as a referral! WOW! So we met with her this week and wow! She is amazing.....she has already been going to church with her boyfriend in the states and came back so she can get a visa and meet with us so she can be baptized! So we asked her how she feels about the church so far....well basically she bore her testimony and we were all teared up as she explained how the first time she walked into the LDS church she was filled with an overwhelming feeling of the spirit....she said she felt like she had returned home! She knows it’s all true.... She is already in Alma and she has notes on every page with things she has learned and questions for us..... she also came to church with us and answered most the questions in gospel principals...the ward members were like" do you want to get baptized after church?" ....she is on fire with the spirit! Amazing! I feel so privileged to be a part of teaching her....she is an elect daughter of God....she grew up in the catholic church...her family is strong catholic....she was frustrated with her church because every time she would ask questions they would tell her "that’s just the way it is....don’t worry about it." so any way she will be baptized in June and she is so amazing and such a great example and faith builder for me! And please pray for her family because they are kind of mad about her investigating the church...The gospel is true and the spirit is real! Love you all!
Love, sister flake

Click on the link below to see more of sis. Flake's photos from Kelowna.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=danflake&target=PHOTO&id=5337314724488462914&aid=5337314581196355041&authkey=Gv1sRgCNuYyZn44KfsUg&feat=email

May 11 Email and Mothers Day phone call

Hi Friends and family,
We had a delightful visit with Sis. Flake on Sunday morning. She sounds like all is going well. She loves her companion Sis. Wong. They go to the church and dance once a week for exercise. Sis. Wong likes to shop and likes Sushi. Good thing that Lindsey likes that too. They are in a very beautiful area and she says that they are just wearing sweaters now that it has warmed up. They live close to the church and there is just one ward in their area. She will have been out one year on the first week of June. She should be returning in November.

May 11, 2009

Oh how wonderful it was to talk to you yesterday! Wow! you are all as amazing as i remembered. Thank you for your much support and encouragement. what a blessing. and i cant beleive that the next time i will talk to you will be face to face. AHHhh! oh yeah before i forget.. .yes mother i do have another memory card and yes please send me the other one and then i will send you more pics. and Happy Birthday mom!
So my companion and I are of one heart and one mind....yesterday at church sister wong introduced herself to someone: "Hello, im sister Flake" haha it was so funny once she realized what she said. And i wrote my presidents letter yesterday and put down her name instead of mine on accident. We definately have unity. Speaking of unity...this is what we are focusing on as we teach members at dinner appts. "Now ye are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citezens with the saints and of the house hold of God." So we ask: What makes a stranger turn into a friend? we want to help our ward be one and welcome everyone. sometimes we can get caught up in just going and talking to the same people....but we need to make sure that no one at church is a stranger. So we have been challenging every family to say hi to one new stranger every week untill there is no longer strangers or foreigners at church. i extend the same challenge to any of you that may be reading this right now. We are all brothers and sisters. Lets act like it. UNITY! ..........ZION! its a wonderful thing. i just felt like i was making a commercial....ha ha.....anyways....
I dont know what to talk about other then the church is true and we have investigators who are progressing.... after church yestday i was talking to Keith ( the 13 year old investigator) so i said "hey Kieth is this really the true church" and he said "yeah"....and i said " how do you know?" and he said " everytime i pray and ask God about it i just feel to good." and it is my testimony that it is so good....every bit of it. I just love rejoicing in this glorious gospel. Keith also offered a simple and beautiful prayer at our last appointment....." please help my mom to let me be baptised so that i can recieve the priesthood, and the holy ghost, and live with you in the Celestial Kingdom." How beautiful and simple it is. And we have it! Take a minute and think how blessed you are to have this. Who can you share it with? Pray and find someone today. well thats all for now...until next week....love, sister flake

May 4 Email

News from Sister Flake in Kelowna, BC, Canada

Subject: This is God's work!

OH my goodness! I feel so blessed to be a part of this great work! Things have really taken off here! It's been a spiritually powerful week! At zone conference president inspired us to challenge more people to be baptized...not to wait tell their ready...but to challenge them to be ready....so we asked almost everyone this week and we now have two people being baptized on the 23 of May! Well i don’t think that I have told you about them yet. Tiffany is 12 years old. Her father is a member that hasn’t been to church for years because of work..... but we have been teaching her and her friend Keith who is 13 and had interest. So we have been teaching them for about a month and they are so wonderful. I love teaching them. They both came to church yesterday and they are already excited to be involved in the activities and the youth really engulfed them! Yea for the wonderful members of the ward. One little problem is that Keith's mom is Catholic and has not agreed yet. So please pray that she will soften her heart and allow him to be baptized! He received his answer about the Book of Mormon and started reading it at school during reading time. His friends have tried telling him bad rumors about Mormons and he was strong enough to resist! WOW! For the strength of youth!
Also pray for Mauro....he is one of those eternal investigators...he wants to be baptized so bad but he is an alcoholic.....but this week he called and said he is done with the beer! He said he was drinking and looked at the beer he was holding in his hand and as he read the brand of beer he was determined to change....the can read "Hells gate" clever brand name eh?
Now to tell you of some answered prayers. I told you how our ward is in the "way older" category...and most our investigators are young....so we have been going to the other ward to find fellow shippers. Well yesterday at church we had 9 people in their 20s move in to sell security systems for the summer! We already have two of them coming to appointments with us this week! WOW! The Lord is so amazing! what a huge blessing! And Dan came to church this week. He's praying for a baptism date! and then another amazing thing that God did for us ....we had scheduled two appointment at the church Friday night....not knowing that the other ward had a convert baptism scheduled that night as well. (the elders forget to tell us those things sometimes) but anyway God knew...and it all worked out because Dan and David got to be at the baptism and the spirit was powerful as usual! Thank you Heavenly Father! So as you can tell I am very happy and being a part of this great work is so fulfilling. I know that this is God's church! I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet! I know that God is with us in this work! The gospel is true....you better believe it!

Love, sister flake

April 27 Email

So i am writing today because we had zone conference yesterday. wow! we learned about how we can get to the "boiling point" in our areas. I learn so much from president and his wife. and i love testimony meeting. we have three recent convert missionaries in our zone! Their testimonies just blow me away.... i am so grateful to be working with one of them... sister Wong is so wonderful. i just cant say enough good about her... we really feel unity together and it is a huge advantage in our teaching. we have had many opportunities to be bold....and the more we lay down the line for people the more success we are having!
my goodness! I have never felt so much desire to serve! Things are really climbing here! We had loads of new investigators last transfer and now there are a few who are progressing! we had two come to church actually! It has Begun! the one guy, Dan, just got out of jail and has had a major change of heart. He wants to be clean of his sins! So that’s going well because there is a man in our ward who went through a similar lifestyle before joining the church that is fellowshipping him....so what a blessing! the other one that came to church is the husband of a less active....Jason. They have had missionaries over for months now but he has not progressed....sister wong and i didn’t want to waste Gods time so we told him we would not come teach him until he come to church. and guess what....he came! and we challenged him to be baptized....so he said he would pray and let us know. Yeah... he has a problem with Joseph Smith....we told him.... "you can not receive a logical answer to a spiritual question." so we are excited about him.... well i will tell you about others next week. i love this work! I love bearing testimony! The gospel is so true! I know that God is there and Christ is our Savior!

love, sister flake

April 20 Email

Thanks for the updates Family! Sounds like the weather is great down there. Its warming up here and people are a lot more happy....including us :)
Well we had really neat experiences this week finding people to teach....i love talking....you may have already known that....but i know that we really surprise almost everyone that happens to walk on the same street as us because we greet them with huge smiles and just talk to them as if they were our brothers and sisters...oh wait...they are....anyway lots of people have really surprised looks on their faces when we start talking to them. And then we have wonderful conversation and i am just having the most fun time talking to all these people. and I'm learning so much about culture, religion, philosophy, communication, and even drugs. haha! yeah and all in the same conversation haha! so its like college only interactive learning!
anyway.... i have to buy new tennis shoes today because last week we started jogging for exercise and i got really bad shin splints because my tennis shoes lost their cushion. Oh and something funny...i found out from Sister Nelson that i am the richest missionary in our mission! Yeah she actually told me its a big problem and that i need to start spending the money in my account...haha! I guess i really did learn something in young women's and relief society about being frugal. its such a funny word....
anyway i have to tell you about these Filipino's that we tracted into a few days ago. we started tracting their complex early in the afternoon but decided that contacting would be better cuz no one was home.....so that night we came back to tract that complex and the second door we knocked on Rochee from the Philippines opened the door and invited us in!!!!!!! holey moley! and so we started sharing the restoration with him and this other women who lives there and guess what he said? " i knew that i was supposed to let you in when i saw you at the door....i can tell you are messengers from God." The spirit was so strong.......we will teach them this week......this is something that has never happened to me before and i was beginning to think it only happens on foreign missions. But i guess they are foreign so maybe that's why...they are so humble and kind! wow! and also we are teaching Javone from Jamaica who is also very humble. But Dima from Russia is not so humble....anyway....its so neat to be teaching so many different people. well anyway i am so grateful for the gospel. It is so true and it makes me so happy. i love you all! Keep up the good work!
love sister flake



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Easter Letter April 13, 2009

Hello family!
Hope you had a happy Easter. Guess what? We went to a member’s house for dinner on Easter and they made the same dinner you always make mom! Ham, potatoes, homemade buns (Canadian for rolls), and even angel food cake! Can you believe it? So that was nice and yes I got the wonderful Easter package on Saturday. It brought us great joy. Especially that little squiggle pink thing. Funny! Oh and those shirts are so cute thank you. And that’s too bad about grandma’s package....but I wouldn’t want too many packages at once anyway:) So thank you for making sure that I feel love and support.

Well we volunteered for the community on Good Friday for their annual pancake breakfast and Easter egg hunt. The Victory Life church put it on. There were thousands of people there and it was so fun to help out the little children. I got to stamp hands. and it was a beautiful spring day. My only complaint is that the music was Christian rap which I think is an oxymoron. Yeah I felt that it was disrespectful and we were not the only Christians who felt that way. Other volunteers agreed with us. Anyway we handed out a few pass along cards while we were at it. Also we saw this drama about Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. It was kind of like interpretive dance celebrating the resurrection. and to tell you the truth because of the rock music and the interesting interpretation of Satan I actually felt a total absence of the spirit.....it actually really affected me....probably more so because I appreciate the art of dance so much.....anyway....I just felt even more so the importance of having the whole restored gospel with the Holy Ghost to back it up. We go to church to keep covenants and not to be entertained. The Lords church and organization is perfect and does not change. Even as the world changes and new things become popular our beliefs, doctrine, and worship will remain the same! Have you ever realized what a great blessing that is?

Anyway....we are continually finding many new investigators and now have great member fellow shippers to help. It makes a huge difference! We finally have some people progressing! Keeping their commitments! Yea! I will give you more details next week! Thank you for all you do! Love you so much!

Love sister flake

April 6 Email

Thank you all for your love and support and prayers. Sister Wong and i have been truly blessed! Its been an amazing week. The Lord is helping us do hard things.This week we had two people at the food bank with the desire to learn about our church. So we already met with one, and the other we will meet with this week. So far so good. The stronger our faith and confidence in the Lord the more He just places people in our path. Its so neat to see. Tracting has really been paying off for us as we received four new investigators again this week! Wow the Lord is so wonderful! Well we have still been helping that single woman with the seven kids. This week we painted her basement. It was fun and we have built a relationship with her six young sons. I love going there cuz they remind me so much of my little bros. They would make such good Mormon boys. I wish that Dawson and Andrew could come out here and fellowship them. Well the great thing is that the mom fed us dinner and told us that one of these days we should just come over to talk and not to work.....so that is a great opportunity that we have been praying for. I will keep you updated!
Anyway i really loved conference! Holy cow did anyone else feel that wave of the spirit when the choir was singing "We thank thee oh God for a Prophet" and they started showing the pictures...wow the spirit was incredible. and it answered a question for me for an investigator that i will share with him this week. His name is Dima and he is from Russia. anyway he is all philosophical and was suggesting that an answered prayer or feeling the spirit just comes because you want it to and attract that feeling into your life....but its not a real answer...blah blah blah...etc... anyway i thought about it and could not come up with a way to explain it..... but while in conference and the song was being sung i was just sitting there listening to the beautiful music and thinking about the many different hairstyles of the women in the choir...not asking for or expecting any spiritual manifestation then all of a sudden whoosh! The spirit flooded my body and tears filled my eyes. so i want to share that experience with him and testify to Him of the reality of the spirit and of God. Well i know this is the true church. i know Thomas S. Monson is a true prophet.....how grateful i am for this knowledge! Not just because it all makes since but because i have felt it and cant deny it! Love you all!
Love, sister flake

March 30 Email

Well Hello family! sooo wow dad first counselor. Holey moley. that will be a new experience and i know that you will do such a wonderful job dad. but no one told me who the bishop is. Could you give me more of a low down please. and Danielle looks so cute with her big tummy. and how fun that you could celebrate her birthday with Brandy. That is so nice. Well how tall are my brothers now? how are they doing in track. I hope that they like it. You know hockey is huge here! Way bigger then the NFL. Do you know how much it costs to get all the equipment to play. Your looking at around 500 dollars. so i guess its a good thing that they dont play much hockey down there. well you asked me some questions that i guess i should answer cuz i usually avoid questions...sorry. so anyway we wake up early so we can get a ful half hour exersice in. we do 800 jumping jacks and then we have free weights that we use. i weighed myself for the first time on the mission and found i have only gained three pounds. apparently thats really good for this mission. haha. and pdays we have been just hanging around at the house relaxing or go shopping together.... we get along so great. we are more then just companions we are great friends....we have sooo much fun together no matter what we are doing and she has a laugh that she cant hold back ..kind a like mine so its great fun. and im learning cool stuff about hong kong and china and even learning to speak a little chinese. i will practice for you on the phone on mothers day.
as for my easter package get what ever you want. but make sure you get stuff for my companion please. she doesnt get much from her family. she is the same size as me. and we share clothes. so thats fun too. my clothes are getting so boring. haha.
so anyway this week was great. we tracted some houses by the Okenogan lake. so we had a beautiful view as we walked from house to house. we have alot of great conversations at the door because the people here are way layed back. we talk about hockey, the weather, or telecommunication powers with normal and odd people and then find some way to tie it into the gospel....its really fun. we found some hippies this week. and also taught a really wonderful christian family. they looked like mormons. we asked them simple questions that they could not answer. so we layed out the plan of salvation and testifed of the simpliicty of Gods gospel and that the truth can be felt....i think they felt the spirit but then they disagreed because they told us that their pastor told them that they cant trust thier feelings.....sooo sad.....we also spend alot of time at peoples doors trying to convince people that not all christians are hypocrites. you would be amazed at the new teaching skills we have aquired as a mission. we hardley ever say statements....we put everything into quesion form...its the only way to keep the door open...we have also found that the more compliments we give those we are talking to the longer they keep the door open....im learning so much about communicating. anyway....i will let you know as soon as we get some progressing investigators. right now we are teaching about 15 people but only one is progreesing. you should pray for Geoffry to decide on a baptism date. he is an african american who is 12 years old. he has been going to church for 2 years but doenst want to commit tell he feels ready....he is awesome! You should pray for him. thanks! Love you all so much! The gospel is truer then ever ! Love, sister flake

March 23 Email

Dear Friends and Family,
Well thank you so much for the pictures of Moab.... i love the pictures of everyone "jackie Channing" it up the side of the rock. and i noticed that you took all the same pictures in all the same spots as the last time we were there....the only difference is that it was different cousins and i was not there. haha oh well. im sure there will be other trips. Mom Deanna called me last week and we talked a long time...she is excited about going to the temple but maybe you can continue to motivate her to prepare for it. She told me " i dont know how your mother does it.....i miss you so much and worry about you being safe....it must be so much harder being your mom...." anyway it was really sweet. She is excited to meet you someday..... and i am so excited for you all to meet her....if she was the only reason for me coming here it was worth it. well sister Wong and i have had an amazing week! We recieved four new investigators this week!!!!!!!!! HOly MOley! The Lord is blessing us so much.....i have felt the spirit in great abundance at these teaching appointments.... i feel that there is something very special about our companionship and we sure are learning a lot from each other. She is my motivation! From the moment we wake up in the morning and have companionship prayer i am determined to find more people like sister Wong who will accept the gospel! her prayers are so humble and sincere. it is very touching to hear her and work with her. And like i said we laugh a lot...because we both just love laughing....only at appropriate times of course:) anyway.... we have dropped quite a few people since i got here..... sometimes as missionaries we hold on to people even when they are extremely stubborn because we are afraid if we let them go we wont have anyone to teach....but we were bold and took that risk.....we let go of a few people and with in th next week we found 4 sincere people who actually want to learn and not just debate....so we feel very blessed and i cant even explain to you the joy that comes from teaching other people these great truths....like Elder Dickson said, the general authority who came to our zone conference last week, "we are here to share with people insight on who they really are". That’s probably my favorite thing to testify to people of! That they have a Father in Heaven who loves them soooo much and knows them by name! well, its spring here now! yes we do have sunshine and the snow is gone! And we have flowers popping up here and there! This is a cause for great rejoicing! Tracting just keeps getting better! Sister Wong and I got to talk in church yesterday. There was going to be three speakers...but for some reason there wasn’t.....so sister Wong went first, did an excellent job, but only went about 15 minutes.....so i got up and talked as long as i could...... i thought i was going to faint! Haha! But i was amazed at the way the Lord just gave me the words to speak...it just kept coming.....wow! Talk about blessings. So i spoke about the power of the book of Mormon and why we should share it with our friends....i explained that the best decision i ever made was to begin reading the scriptures every day....and any good decision i made after that was because of that first decision....to drink from the living waters daily....and i thank my older sister for that!....i remember seeing her study her scriptures before bed and so i decided i would to it too. Thanks Danielle! And happy birthday! I will be thinking bout you! well i love you all so much! Thank you for everything!
Love, sister Flake

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March 9 Email TRANSFERRED!

Hello family! Thank you for all the inspired emails! You are so wonderful and i love you so much! Well Surprise! I have been transfered! President is white washing Langley with elders and sister Anderson and i were transfered up to the Okanagen! She is with sister Duong and i am with sister Wong from HOng Kong! Haha! We are serving in Kelowna which is so beautiful....its the vacation place in BC! Yes its more north and still cold but once it warms up this place is gorgeaus and known for all its orchards and organic fruit. you should google it. people are way nicer here and laid back. and loads of old people. our ward only has 7 young men and young women. but thats ok cuz we are going to grow the ward. Sister Wong is so amazing! She joined the church in 2003 in HOng Kong and she has been going to BYU Hawaii and working at the PCC! she is so sincere and hard working...and we love to laugh. She has gotten really good at english. sometimes she is a little hard to understand but its getting easier. It so neat to be working with a convert. It makes the work seem even more important and worth it! Her family are not members so please pray for them.
The members here are so nice and very friendly and we have lots of dinner appointments. They are more missionary minded then the last ward. They actually had a baptism here the week before i got here so thats great. Its about -10 right now outside and we have been tracting in snow but it doent feel as cold as the lower mainland because the air is more dry. we live with an old couple. so its like we have this huge house that we share with grandparents. they are so sweet. the Sipples are theier name. They started letting missionaries live in thier house when they went on their mission to Hawaii. Now they are living with us. its kind of wierd sharing the kitchen and everything with them but i guess we will get use to it. So i am happy to be here. i feel like i am supposed to be here.
We have been finding new people to teach. we found a cool hippie with dread locks that we will teach this week;) Old people love to invite us in and talk but usually dont want to budge. I will miss sister anderson....i learned so much from her. But we are still in the same zone. and this is her last transfer. I really love tecahing and we get to do a whole lot more of it here. Thats great! oh yeah we flew here by the way. The man next to me avoided me...oh well. so now i am far from the mission office and most the missionaries so things willl be a little different because we are a little more isolated. but really it is so beatiful here and lots of wildlife and mountains! Very neat.
Well love you so much!
Love sister flake

March 16, Email Kelowna, BC CANADA

Hello Friends and Family!

I appriciate your love and support! I really love it here in Kelowna. People are much nicer....i wonder if its just my perspective or attitute or something...but this place has a total different feeling then Langley. We have had a great hard working week except that Sister Wong has a terrible cold. She is so determined though. It snowed again yesterday and she was feeling terrible but she wanted to keep working.... I feel so blessed that i have been healthy even though all my companions have been sick.... hmmm...i hope im not the one making them sick!

Anyway this week we met with Amythest. She is 18. we found her tracting and she is golden. She went to Victoia for spring break but we are looking forward to teaching her more when she gets back....in the mean time she is reading the Book of Mormon! Well we do schedule alot of appointments as we tract, alot of them fall through but there are those few who are serious about it! We do lots of service with the food bank and dad you would be proud of me because we have been helping a single women with 7 kids dry wall! i think thats what its called..but anyway yeah im working construction! And we tract a whole ton. i really enjoy it to tell you the truth.....funny things happen all the time that sister Wong and i enjoy laughing at in between doors....instead of crying! Ha Ha!

God is blessing us with litte tender mercies here and there to help us remember that he is always there for us. I'm still trying to build up my faith more. The ward is so wonderful! We had a great pot luck yesterday. WE need a felloshipper for Amythest but there is no one in our ward her age! So hopefully she starts bringing friends to church who want to be taught too. I never thought i would be in a ward that is youthless......maybe i can help bring in some youth while im here. well thats all for now. love you all! The church is true and its all worth it!

love, sister flake