9/22: T's Baptism!

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday, T was baptized! It has been such an awesome experience to watch him and his dad as they progress in the gospel together. His dad has become very active in church and has become a worthy priesthood holder. T looks up to his dad so much and it is awesome to see how strong their relationship is. T's dad choked up with tears as he baptized son. It was a really powerful experience. I am excited to continue recent convert lessons with them. Every time we have a lesson with T and his dad I always learn something new. Even though T is only 9, he is so full of love for God and everyone around him!

Here is my favorite scripture on baptism:

Alma 5:62 “I speak by way of command unto you that belong to the church; and unto those who do not belong to the church I speak by way of invitation, saying: Come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye also may be partakers of the fruit of the tree of life.”

I love being a missionary!

Have a wonderful week,

Sister Danica Greenall

Note from Danica's Mom:  These photos are from a week ago Monday when Danica went with some other missionaries to Dallas for the day.  They went to the Perot Museum and did some shopping.

 

I love my companion Sister D! She is so much fun! A fun part of being a missionary is being forced to be with someone 24/7 and becoming best friends!

9/15: Hi!

Note from Danica's Mom:  We got this very short and sweet email this week.  We also had a member of the church in Texas, Allison, see both our daughters last week.  She lives in Plano, TX in the same stake as Danica (but hadn't met Danica) and travelled to San Antonio, TX, for her niece's missionary farewell (where she met Erica).  She was able to relay a message of love from Big Sister Erica to Little Sister Danica. - see the screenshot she shared with me from her phone.  She said when she found Danica after Stake Conference and gave her a message from her sister....she just cried.  Allison also sent a couple photos.  It's nice to have local members looking after both girls. :)

Hi Mom and Dad, 

I had a fun day in Dallas today with some other missionaries, but sadly have barely anytime to e-mail!!! I am going to spend time reading the e-mails I got, but I'll send a bunch of pictures next week!!! Love you!!!

Danica

Screenshot from Allison

Sister Danica, Sister D (on left) with Allison (center)

9/8: BBQ and Catholic Concerts

Hello!

For labor day we went to a family's house for a BBQ, which was a lot of fun, and then we had an awesome FHE with a family in our ward. They had a guitar, so I started playing chords out of the primary book and hymn book and everyone sang along. My companion, Sister D is an amazing singer and I love to play guitar, so we are going to start doing musical devotionals in members homes for their family and friends. A lot of people in Plano, Texas aren't immediately interested in hearing a message from us, but many are willing to listen to uplifting christian music. Someone from our ward already called us today and wants us to come over tonight and play for their elderly neighbor. That will be a fun way to meet new people!

After Monday, Sister D was so sick this week! I felt so bad! We stayed at home a lot this week, so I worked on contacting those we are working with and setting up appointments, while Sister D tried to recover. We had a zone conference on Wednesday, and some other elders had gotten sick as well.

This past Sunday Brother R came to church to watch Sister D and I sing during Sacrament meeting, so this Saturday we went with Brother R's family (who is Catholic but his wife and kids are all active Mormons and an awesome family!!) to watch him play the drums in his Catholic band R.A.Y.N. (Rest All Ye Nations). It was at a huge carnival at the St. Jude catholic church in Allen, TX which is right next to Plano. We got some funny looks when people noticed we were Mormon missionaries, but everyone was very nice to us :)

When I was reading this week I found this scripture in the Book of Mormon:

3 Nephi 29: 6 “Yea, wo unto him that shall deny the revelations of the Lord, and that shall say the Lord no longer worketh by revelation, or by prophecy, or by gifts, or by tongues, or by healings, or by the power of the Holy Ghost!”

I really like it, because God still works by revelation! Even though people we talk to say that people no longer can have revelation from God or that we can't let feelings overpower our knowledge, I know that God still speaks to his children today.

Have a great week!

Sister Danica Greenall 

9/2: Keys and Tracting

Note from Danica's Mom:  Sister Danica's p-day was switched from Monday to Tuesday this week because of the Labor Day holiday.  We have received photos of Danica via email and text messages several times from members of the ward in Plano so that has been fun.  I received the attached photos from a family in Plano yesterday.  They had Sister Greenall and her companion over on Friday for dinner and a message.  They also told me that they attended a different ward on Sunday so she could see Danica and her companion sing an acapella duet of Nearer My God To Thee.  Danica and her companion cover two wards in Plano.  I also got a text message from another member in Plano on Sunday saying how much she enjoyed their musical number. Here's what Danica had to say about her new companion and their duet:

Sister D is an incredible singer, she has taken voice lessons for a long time! We had fun singing in sacrament meeting. I sang alto while Sister D sang soprano and then I sang soprano while Sister D sang tenor an octave higher, which sounds really cool! 

*********************************

Hi Everyone! 

Being a missionary is so great! I love it here in Plano! 

I forgot to talk about transfers last week! I was so sad to see my trainer Sister S leave, she is awesome! Luckily I have been blessed with Sister D as my second trainer! She is wonderful.  We are really getting along well and working hard! 

Around 4 weeks ago while we were riding our bikes around we saw a man looking around for something. He asked us if we had seen his keys he had lost while on a bike ride. His family was visiting from out of town so he was really worried about his keys he had lost. We said we hadn't, but that we bike around town everyday so we would keep our eyes open. He left us with his phone number so that if we found them we could give him call. A week later I saw their phone number in my planner so I decided to call to see if they ever found their keys or if we should keep our eyes open. They hadn't had their keys returned yet, but were thankful we checked. This past week we got a call from the same family. They actually live in Idaho, but were calling because they had a friend in Pennsylvania who just had a surgery and really needed help at home. They asked us how they could send missionaries to go and help them. We referred them to mormon.org/missionaries and let them know that if they put their information in our website missionaries would be able to go and help them within 24 hours! It is amazing to know that there are missionaries all around the world willing to give Christ-like service to others. 

While we were tracting this week we met with a Muslim family. They were so nice! They invited us right in and we had a really good discussion about what they believe and what we believe in. We have so much more in common than I had previously thought. The man boldly invited me to read the Koran and that he knew he would be accountable before God to share it with us and that we would be accountable too. We invited the same invitation to him with the Book of Mormon. We told him that we knew that there were still prophets living on the earth today and that through Joseph Smith the Book of Mormon was brought forth and that it spoke about prophets of the America's and more importantly of Jesus Christ. I shared Moroni 10:27-30 and left him with a Book of Mormon which he said he would read and pray about and he invited us back to come get a copy of the Koran in English. It is so awesome when people are so open about religion and sincerely want to do what God wants them to!

Moroni 10: 27-30

27 And I exhort you to remember these things; for the time speedily cometh that ye shall know that I lie not, for ye shall see me at the bar of God; and the Lord God will say unto you: Did I not declare my words unto you, which were written by this man, like as one crying from the dead, yea, even as one speaking out of the dust?

28 I declare these things unto the fulfilling of the prophecies. And behold, they shall proceed forth out of the mouth of the everlasting God; and his word shall hiss forth from generation to generation.

 29 And God shall show unto you, that that which I have written is true.

 30 And again I would exhort you that ye would come unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing.

The Book of Mormon is awesome! If you love the Bible and Jesus Christ you will instantly recognize the beauty of the Book of Mormon. Plus they're free! mormon.org/free-book-of-mormon

On Sept 21, T  is getting baptized! He is a cute 9 year old boy. His dad is becoming more active in church and his previous wife has given T permission to be baptized. It is awesome to see how much T admires his dad. When we are teaching lessons, T is excited to learn, but whenever his dad says anything T really focuses and soaks it all in. It is wonderful how the gospel strengthens our families! 

Have a great week!

-Sister Danica Greenall


 

The Sisters learn how to play 4-way thumb wars.

8/25: Two Months as a Missionary Today!

We learned that Sister Greenall has a new companion this week, Sister B.  I'm guessing she's the one in the yellow in the attached photo since she's the only other sister in the photo. :)

We also had a "small world moment" yesterday when we had the Spanish Speaking Sisters (Hermanas) in our ward over for dinner and learned that one of our Hermanas knows Danica - they were in the same BYU ward together.  When Danica found out she was going to the Virginia Richmond Mission, she told her that is where her parents lived but that she probably wouldn't be in their ward since it is an english speaking ward....well, it turns out Hermana A came straight out of the MTC to our ward. I mentioned it to Danica in our email today and she said "Ya, she lived right down the hall!"  Small world. :)

************************************

Hello!

We spent a lot of time tracting on Wednesday and we happened to knock on a members door, who was really stressed about her house. We helped her with a lot of house hold chores and she said the timing that we came was perfect and that she was so grateful that we came by. It is always so neat when we end up at the right place at the right time.

We taught a lesson with our nine year old investigator. His dad is active in the church now and he is excited to get baptized! We were teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ lesson and when we brought up the term "Endure to the End" he said, "I know what that means, it means Love till the End!" It was so cute. You'll always endure to the end when you have love for God and love for your fellow men in your heart :)

Here is a scripture I really like that I found while reading in the New Testament this morning:

"Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ" -Ephesians 3:8

I love being a missionary!

Have a wonderful week,

Sister Danica Greenall

Sister Greenall's Dad enjoyed getting a birthday package from her this week with all things Texan!

8/18: Hello!

Hi ya'll! 

On Tuesday we went to Rusty Tacos with Ch, he has taken the lessons and isn't interested in learning more, but he likes to keep in touch and do fun things with us! 

On Thursday, we went to Zone Conference! We learned about the importance of working with the members. Ideally we won't need to tract because we will be working so closely with the members of our ward. 

On Saturday morning we helped the E Family move. Sister E's daughter wants to be baptized but they have so much going on right now it will have to be after they move. Then later in the morning we taught a second lesson to a man who was mourning the loss of his son. He keeps rejecting everything we say, but lets us come back. He used to be Hindu but now he says he doesn't believe in anything. He has seemed to light up a little when we come over so maybe eventually he'll start to accept what we are saying. Saturday night we went to the B Family for dinner. They had a tiny electric guitar they let me tune and play! 

On Sunday I gave a talk in 6th ward! That night we had dinner at the J Family's, who have the fattest cat I've ever seen! It was a pretty cool cat though, I might want a cat like that someday... 

We had transfer calls on Saturday, I am staying in Plano and Sister S is getting transferred to Cross Roads! We have spent a lot of time this week with members and investigators that want to say good bye to Sister S! 

I love being a missionary, I am learning so much! Sorry I write short uninspiring e-mails :D

Have a great week! 

Sister Danica Greenall

P.S. Here is the talk I gave in Sacrament Meeting yesterday:

First of all, I want to thank all of you for being here. It is so rainy and stormy outside, and it would have been so easy for any of you to just curl up in a ball and fall asleep, but you all choose to be here. Not only to be spiritually edified yourselves, but to uplift those around you. Thank you so much!

I want us all to imagine there is someone sitting in this room who interacts with God and Jesus Christ on a daily basis. What if you knew that this morning they spoke with Heavenly Father and our Savior and  they specifically mentioned you by name. Wouldn't you be dying to talk to this person after sacrament meeting ended? If they were sitting next to you would you have them whisper in your ear the things that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ really want you to know? 

Today I am speaking on the Holy Ghost, who as the third member of the Godhead, right alongside Jesus Christ and God the Father, and wants to communicate to us what we need to hear and feel to return back to God's presence. In his talk "These Things I know" Boyd K. Packer said: "Each of us must stay in condition to respond to inspiration and the promptings of the Holy Ghost. The Lord has a way of pouring pure intelligence into our minds to prompt us, to guide us, to teach us, and to warn us. Each son or daughter of God can know things they need to know instantly. Learn to recieve and act on inspiration and revelation." I hope all of us wil strive to recieve and act on promptings from the Holy Ghost. 

In 2 Nephi 31:17, Nephi says, "For the gate which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost." This illustrates the importance in baptism. Those not baptized can have the uplifting feelings the Holy Ghost brings, but once some is baptized the Holy Ghost helps them experience a remission of their sins and begins to cleanse them. In the Bible Dictionary it states: "The gift of the Holy Ghost is the right to have, whenever one is worthy, the companionship of the Holy Ghost. For those who recieve this gift, the Holy Ghost acts as a cleansing agent to purify and sanctify them from sin." I love that the Bible Dictionary uses the words "purify" and "sanctify" Many of us strive to gain a understanding of how the Atonement is personal to us in our lives. This is only possible through the Holy Ghost. Our progression in this Gospel, God's plan for us to return back to him, is relient on us becoming one with the Savior by feeling the cleansing, the purifying, and sanctifiying powers of the Atonement through the Holy Ghost. Elder Packer said, in the same talk: "Teach yourself and teach your family about the gift of the Holy Ghost and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. You will do no greater eternal work within the walls of your home." It is vital that we learn and share with our families the important role of the Holy Ghost and the Atonement in our lives. 

Today when we took the Sacrament we promised we would take upon us Christ's name and always remember him as well as keep his commandments. If we keep these promises, God promises that we will have his spirit to be with us. In Preach my Gospel, the first two commandments listed in the commandments section are "Pray Often" and "Study the Scriptures". Do we realize that by not praying often or studying the scriptures we are not keeping God's commandment, not keeping our baptismal covenant, and aren't ensured the companionship of the Holy Ghost? This is a wake up call for me. I am lucky as a missionary to have time set aside every morning to really study the scriptures, but I hope when I return home I can continue these essential habits in my life so I can have the blessings of the Holy Ghost in my life. 

In Preach my Gospel on page 65, it states blessings of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost:

sanctifies us, cleanses us, testifies of Christ, helps us recognize truths, gives us spiritual strength, helps us do what is right, comforts us, gives us power to teach and learn, is a foretaste of eternal joy, and a promise of eternal life. All of these are wonderful blessings. It is amazing to think that by consistently feeling the Holy Ghost we are promised eternal life. It makes sense though, because if we are truly keeping our baptismal covenant which promises us we will have the spirit with us always, then we are on the path to eternal life. 

I am so grateful for the role the Holy Ghost has played in my life and for the closeness I have felt with the Savior because of it. I hope we all continue to feel God's love for us through the Holy Ghost. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

After church a man in our ward came up to me and told me with tears in his eyes that he had been fasting for answers and said that everything I said in my talk was exactly what he needed to hear. That made me feel so good, because I was wondering if anyone got anything from my talk :)

8/11: Mission Pictures!

Friends and Family, 

We did not receive an email letter from Sister Danica Greenall today but did receive these photos.  So we're not sure what happened, but I'm sure next Monday we might get some more info on how the day went.  In the mean time, a picture is worth a thousand words so here are 6000 words. :)   Danica told us in her handwritten letter this week that one of her favorite things about her mission is spending time with the children and how fun it is when they just run up to her and give her hugs. :) 

If any of you received an email from Sister Danica today, please let me know of any news that you might have to share with us.

 

Thanks,

Chris aka Danica's Mom

 

 

 

8/4: Follow Up and Exchanges

Hi Everyone!

This was another great week in Plano!

Last Tuesday (July 29), we went to Follow Up training, which was a meeting with the mission president with the other new missionaries and their trainers. It was fun to see all the other new missionaries that flew out when I did and hear about all of their experiences during their first month. When we came back to Plano from the meeting in Dallas, we went tracting and then had a teaching appointment with a 9 year old boy who wants to get baptized! His dad is becoming active in the church again and they are really doing great!

On Wednesday, we had two follow up appointments from tracting on Tuesday, but one of them wasn't home, but the the other appointment we had went well! She even let us come back on Thursday to pick up some quilts she wanted us to have because she was moving soon. Hopefully we can keep in touch.

On Friday morning, all the missionaries were asked to study a page of the Book of Mormon that they were given the night before by the zone leaders. We marked every thing we notice that had to do with the "We are One" theme of our mission. Now the mission president is going to collect them all and have the book rebound so that he has a copy of the Book of Mormon with each page marked up by a different missionary in the mission, which is pretty cool!

Later in the day, I went on my first exchange with the Sister Training leaders. Sister Ph came to Plano with my trainer Sister S for the day, and I went to Garland with Sister K. Sister K is really great, she had a lot of good advice on how to be more effective and she's super nice and happy too! In Garland, people are really open to hearing about our beliefs. In Plano, there are a lot of huge christian churches (many of them teach people about "Mormons", which are pretty negative views) so many people aren't interested in what we have to say, but there are a few who are, and those are the people we try to find!

On Sunday, we went to both of our wards like we normally do. I feel like I know most of the members here now, which is really nice. Before our wards start, at 9am and at 1pm, we stand by the front doors and welcome everyone as they come in. The highlight of my week was when I was standing there by the door and this little sweet girl saw me and her eyes lit up and she ran and gave me a hug. I am really growing to love the people here, Plano is a great place!

Some fun facts about Plano:

Speed bumps are called "Speed Cushions"

In most neighborhoods people's driveways are in the backyard and lead down an alley way. There are alleys like this everywhere.

I am really growing a lot as missionary. Having time set aside every morning to really study the scriptures is a great blessing. When I take time to dive into the scriptures, I really feel God's love for the people I interact with that day. I know that really taking the time to study the Book of Mormon will change you in a way that helps you face your challenges and improve your life!

Sincerely,

Sister Danica Greenall

Here is my Book of Mormon page!

This a picture from my first district meeting! Elder H (far left elder) and Elder H (far right) are home now (they only had two weeks left when I got here!), and Elder M (orange pants) is now the district leader. We also have spanish sisters in our district now!

7/28: One Month as a Missionary

Hey Everyone!

I hit my one month mark this week on July 25! I feel like time is passing so fast, it's kind of scary! I still really love being a missionary, I have met so many amazing people and am having so much fun every day. It helps that my companion Sister S is such an awesome person!

On Wednesday, I met one of our investigators. One of the members in our ward invited us and her to their house for dinner. Afterward we had a lesson together on the Plan of Salvation. She is really excited about the Book of Mormon and already noticing all of the blessings it is bringing to her life!

On Friday, we went to Mission President Interviews; it was my first time meeting with the mission president other than when I first got here. It went really well, President Taylor is amazing! We also got to listen to a lesson by the zone leaders and the assistants to the president. After we got home we went tracting in a neighborhood close to our dinner appointment. The very first door we knocked on the person had a cross in their front yard and a scripture from the bible on their door. When the person answered and found out that we were Mormons he started spouting out tons of anti-mormon rumors at us and slammed the door... That was a little disappointing, because he was a Christian but wasn't acting very Christ like around us. :) On that same street a couple houses later we met a Muslim woman. She was so nice! She had three cute kids running around and she talked with us for about thirty minutes. She really liked that we lived a higher standard and we found that we shared many of the same values. She invited us to come over another time so she can share with us what she believes and we can share our beliefs with her. I love when people are open to discussing religion!

On Sunday, we left on our bikes at 6:30am to get to our weekly ward council meeting. We had only gotten a couple blocks from our house when we passed and waved by this elderly woman. She started talking to us, so we stopped to hear what she was saying. She was really worried and had gotten lost! We got off our bikes and walked with her until she found her house (which was really just down the street). She had us come in her house with her and she kept yelling "Hello?" looking for her family. One of her grand kids came out and we told them that their grandma was lost, but was home now. Their parents came out and they thanked us. Their poor grandma! We were glad we could help grandma find her way home :) And we got to our ward council meeting only a couple of minutes late!

"If thou desirest this thing, if thou wilt bow down before God, yea, if thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest." -Alma 22:16

Have a great week!

-Sister Greenall

Here's some pictures of my zone from last Friday:

7/21: Museums and Milestones!

Hi everyone!

This week has been full of missionary milestones for me! 

On Friday (18th) I placed my first Book of Mormon! We were tracting in this neighborhood with a bunch of really huge houses and we weren't meeting any people who were that interested, but one of the people who answered their doors was a nanny and said she had friends who were Mormon and said she would read it. Then on Saturday I gave another Book of Mormon away while tracting to a really cute older couple who lived in Salt Lake City for a couple of years. We first gave them a pass along card with the Salt Lake City Temple and then a Restoration pamphlet and then they even accepted a Book of Mormon, but they said they weren't interested in taking any lessons at this point. 

On Sunday (20th) I found my first contact! After our first ward (we go to 2), we ate our lunches at the park right next to the church. I started talking to a lady there who was watching her two kids and she said she was looking for a church to go to and lived right down the street. She expressed concerns about raising her kids in a world with no moral standards, and she was excited to hear about primary and all the good things kids can learn at church. We exchanged phone numbers and she said she would come to church next Sunday!

Last Monday, a nice family in the Plano 8th ward took Sister Simpson and I to Dallas to go to the Perot Museum! Dallas is such a cool city, Plano is only about 30 minutes away. The museum was really cool, it is a five story science museum. We learned about all kinds of things from dinosaurs to the weather! 

Pictures from Monday (14th):

Here is a picture of Sister Simpson and I from the parking lot by the museum

Here's me by a giant frog in front of the museum

 

This was the view from outside the museum window. Dallas is so beautiful!!

When we were leaving the museum, I saw this giant grass hopper and told everyone to stop and look at it, because I thought it was so cool. No one thought it was as cool as I did, because I've come to realize that there are a bunch of giant brightly colored bugs in the Dallas area, so everyone else is used to seeing them except me :)

A funny side note: 

Sister Simpson has a missionary planner with a picture of Christ on it, and every time we ride our bikes somewhere I see Jesus staring at me from Sister Simpsons bag. It just goes to show that Jesus is always watching! 

Have a great week!

-Sister Danica Greenall

​