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. :)

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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!