Lindsay - June 29, 2015

Dear Family

So on Monday we had P-day. I always love going at 2 to play sports with all the elders and sisters every P-day! We had a half mission conference on Tuesday and that lasted from 10 to 2:30. Lawrence E. Corbridge spoke. We also all got to shake his hand! It was great! And guess what??? I saw my MTC roommate at the meeting!!! ( Sister Adams). It was so great to see her! She serves in a YSA ward and the University of Arizona is in her area. She loves it! On Wednesday, a family in the ward gave us a referral for a family that lived two houses down from them. They were interested and we are teaching them tonight! Sister Mizell is giving me the responsibility to invite them to baptism!! Ahhhhhhh!!! :) I'm so excited! And nervous :) 

On Thursday we had exchanges. I was companions with the STL ( sister training leader), Sister Brown. It was amazing!!!!! She was EXACTLY obedient!!! She is very logical in her thinking so our planning took forever. But I loved it. We had so many back ups for the people we were going to see and it was great! Whenever we had extra time, we would go street contacting in the apartment complexes. It was scary!!!!! 

I seriously loved Sister Brown and the day I had with her!! I was definitely drained because we walked around more in the hot sun! But I loved it. At the end of the night we visited an investigator and she was the cutest thing! We talked about having pure thoughts. We had a great discussion with her and she loves serving others. Whenever someone comes over to her house she has a roll of paper and people draw and write notes. For the missionaries she has them write down their favorite scripture. So I wrote down D&C 25:2. 

On Friday we did service at the Blanco's. For 2 1/2 hours in the heat! Ahhhh it was so bad! Sister Mizell and I got headaches so bad that day. Ok funny story. So we have this service activity with the zone where we buy food and put it on an elders/sisters doorstep and then we knock and run away. Then the elders or sisters that received the food buy food for someone else. So late that night we went to Safeway and bought food for Elder Potter and Muench. We went over to their apartment, and I was going to bring the food up the flight of stairs to their door when I saw that they were both at the window with the blinds opened. So I went back to the car, waited a few seconds and then tried to go up there again. The door was opened so I sprinted back to the car. Again, I headed up there and the door was closed. So I breathed a sigh of relief and all of a sudden I see Elder Potter on the floor in front of the door just smiling at me waiting to see if I had noticed. Apparently he had been there for a couple of minutes and I didn't realize it. Awkwardest moment of my life!!!!! Hahahahaahahahah:) it was hilarious, we had a good laugh. So my week has been good! I hope all of you are doing good and that you enjoy the Fourth of July!  I love you all so much!!! Sam and Parker, I'm sorry I missed your homecoming!! I can't wait to see you in a year and a half!!! :) Oh and happy Birthday Spence! 

Sister Dunn

Taylor - June 29, 2015

Hey! So this week was a little bit tougher, I think we were struggling to get that "fire" going especially when knocking. We did see some miracles through our faith though! We were knocking in an area that we had prayed about and chose to go but after a while we felt like we needed to go somewhere else. We got in the car and had a couple options to choose from and we prayed and felt we should go to a certain spot. We got out of the car and the first door we knocked we found Juan and Jose! Juan is a member that just moved from the Cayman Islands like 8 days ago to live with his cousin Jose who is not a member. We sat down and talked with them, (they both speak fluent Spanish) and we shared the "Because He Lives" video which they really liked. Juan had been looking for a church building to go to and turns out he was really close to ours. Jose said he had to work on Sunday though so he couldn't attend but we are excited to work with them and see if we can really get Juan to motivate Jose to come to church! 

We also met this super boss woman named Olga who's mom died about 4 years ago and she was a member. Olga straight up committed herself to come to church the next day which made us excited! On Sunday though she had a surprise visit from family so she couldn't come. We are hoping to stop by and see if she really has high desires to become a member as well! 

So, I truly have a testimony that as we show our faith in God he will help guide us and we will see miracles! Through my mission, a huge struggle in every place I've been is increasing my faith. I feel like I trust the Lord and definitely have faith that he's there and that he can help us, but I always ask myself, do I really have faith enough in Him to help me change people's hearts and help them come into the fold of God? As a missionary I'm constantly working on increasing that faith. As well as love and having charity for everyone, as you know without charity we are nothing. Out in the mission field the same rule applies. Without charity we cannot help people come closer to Christ because they will not feel our love for them. They won't be able to feel the spirit. Anyways I don't know why I'm dragging on about this....

As far as the trio, Elder Wolfe got an emergency transfer to Immokalee because an Elder had to go home for knee surgery. Immokalee is definitely going to be a shock for him because there's not a lot out there. It's kinda in the middle of the everglades. Plus there aren't that many Cubans either and he's going to be greeny breaking someone, but I'm sure he will love it!  We were the only trio in the mission so something was bound to happen. Haha I think Elder Nielsen is depressed because there's less people in the house and in a two man apartment, it's a little quiet. Hopefully he will overcome that soon haha.  I'm enjoying the Spanish, I definitely need to improve but it's going good! 

Hey! Sounds like it was a pretty fun week with Spencer's surprise bday party, I bet he loved it! Man the taco bell sounds good although I think I'm getting a little tired if it now haha. My favorite meal this week was fish and arroz con gris. It had maduros as well which is like cooked bananas which for some reason I really just don't like (even though I can eat bananas just fine!) Luckily Elder Wolfe hates fish so we did a little secret trade off ;) 

Yes, It's pretty toasty, it hit 100 degrees and it's nice and humid too, it's great! We are running a good amount and we are up to 6 laps so that's good :) it's still not quite enough for my liking, plus the sisters run 10 laps each morning so I'm trying to use that against Elder Nielsen to get him motivated to run more ;)  We definitely aren't eating out as much in our new area which is nice! When we aren't fed which is rare, I eat apples and peanut butter or sandwiches, ramen, salad, I even ate Triscuits with salami and cheese which was pretty good. 

Sounds like it was a pretty good week! Sounds like Josh Holt did an awesome job, I bet he's pretty excited! Anyways I hope we can get the fire started in Hialeah West this week! Love you Mom and Dad thanks for the email!

Elder Dunn

Chelsea - June 27, 2015

Oh My Gosh! This week was amazing!! So here's the story. The Prophet and the Apostles are all here this week because they are training the new mission Presidents. They all meet in 1m, so it's restricted. However, our service assignment is in 1m at 6:15 on Thursday. So they let us in to clean. Sister Turley and I were vaccumming the front entrance and this car pulls in and a man gets out. All of these policemen come and start to open the doors so we go back in. We were winding up the vaccum cords and guess who walks by. ELDER HOLLAND!! We look up and he's like, "Hey kids, you look great!" AHHHHH BEST MOMENT EVER! We were literally like five feet away from him! We also were able to see Elder Bednar and Elder Anderson the next day!! So good! You can so feel the spirit of the apostles here at the MTC. It's amazing. 

So as you saw in the picture, we also got to meet our mission president and his wife which is really weird because they've already been serving for two years! So here is the story. So they thought Sister Ralph had thyroid cancer so she and her husband flew back to Utah to get surgery. Luckily, it wasn't cancerous! So while they were down in Provo, they decided to come see us!!! They showed us a bunch of pictures and told us all about the mission. They are seriously so great! I love them! They were super reassuring about the language. President Ralph told us that we won't really be able to understand or speak til about 6 months. So he told us to just chill and love the people and the area. They also bore testimony at the end and I seriously got emotional. Their testimonies were both so powerful, and just them coming to the MTC has made our whole group excited to leave!

So teaching this week was pretty good! We got to skype for TRC this week. Oh man it was an adventure. We skyped this filipino guy and he was pretty funny. Haha we were told that you can't speak any English because they would not be able to understand. That was so wrong! Haha he spoke so much English haha. We had one really bad lesson this week. We were talking about how to apply hope and diligence in our lives. Literally, we just rambled on forever and after the lesson he told us that he had no idea what we were saying. So through my tears, I was like, "Please help me!" Haha it was quite the sight. Super embarresing.. He told us to make our lessons super simple. So now, we are teaching about 10 minute lessons and every single one has worked out great!!!! 

So funny story of the week. Last Saturday we moved to a new building, 17m, because our other one was being renovated. Every single girl in the MTC was living in 17m. Then randomly in the middle of the day on Thursday, an announcement came out, "All girls, regardless of what you're doing, please report to 19m immediately." Haha we were like, "OMG the prophet is gonna speak to us." Haha we were so off. Apparently, a bat was found in a room on the fourth floor of 17m. So guess what, everyone had to move out... back to our old building!!!! again!!! hahahaha. it was so funny. And what was even funnier were the questions some of the girls were asking. "What will happen to the bat?" What if I don't want to move?" "How will I carry my luggage up the stairs?" OMG these girls though! Hahaha such wimps! Even though it was annoying, we just got up and moved back! haha.

The language is coming okay. Sister Baker has it down. She is sooooo good! She did a lesson demo with our teacher and I couldn't understand what both of them were saying. Definitely a motivation to try harder. So Tagalog lesson of the week! There are multiple ways to say things. 

1. Nagbibigay ang Aklat ni Mormon ng kapayapaan sa mga tao.

2. Ibinigay ng Aklat ni Mormon ang kapayapaan sa mga tao.

3. Binibigyan ng Aklant ni mormon ng kapayapaan ang mga tao.

Each of these sentences translate to: The Book of Momorn gives peace to the people. However, in a lesson when you want to say that, you have to figure out what focus you want. Do I want to focus on the book of Mormon? Do I want to focus on the peace? Do I want to focus on the people? So once you choose your focus, you then choose the correct verb conjugation. If my focus is the Book of Mormon, then it's a mag verb. If my focus is peace, then its an i verb, and if my focus is the people, its an AN verb. Ahhh it's so hard. Especially, to think that fast when you want to say something!!

Something that I've learned this week is to teach by the Spirit. It's so hard to discern between my thoughts and the Spirits thoughts. I was practice teaching Sister Esplin about baptism. She started asking about what authority is etc. I was getting so frustrated. All of a sudden she told me to stop and think. Literally for a minute, I just sat there and thought about it. I then started to speak and bear my testimony about baptism. Literally, I could not tell you what I said. The spirit was speaking right through me to reach her. After, she was like, "That was amazing!!" It was definitely an amazing experience!!

Haha another funny thing that happened. So we have these language assessments on the computer to test how well we are doing. For example, the computer would say, teach a lesson on the Atonement and how people can apply it in their lives. You have about one minute. So first mistake was that I was sitting by Elder Kofe. Literally whenever I'm around him, I just laugh and laugh. The first question was to recite a scripture into the microphone. I pressed play, and then he started making me laugh, and so literally that whole recording is of me laughing! So embarrassing. The people grading it probably think I'm a weirdo haha! 

Well that's about it for the week! I cant believe that I have about a week and a half til I fly out to the Philippines!! I'm so nervous but super excited about this new adventure!!! Ingat!! Love you all!

Sister Dunn

Taylor - June 22, 2015

Taylor with his companions Elder Wolfe and Elder Nielsen

Hey Family,

The trio is working out well and we are getting used to working in one, though we still need a little bit of work. Elder Nielsen is from El Paso, Texas but also has a house in Chihuahua, Mexico. The house in Mexico is kinda like a little white colony as he describes it. Almost everyone in that area speaks English and a lot of them are members so his whole ward is white. He did learn Spanish there though obviously because there are still Latins and he also grew up learning that language in school so he is perfectly fluent. Elder Wolfe is from Roxborough Park, Colorado so he's definitely used to the snow! His Spanish is quite good and he's really dedicated to learning it! It's definitely cool to be a part of the work of the Lord.

I can't believe Spencer will be turning 17, that's crazy! Is he enjoying life at home without anyone there or no?  He's gonna love his birthday. Wish him happy birthday for me!! Sounds like you guys are going hard on the yard, believe it or not I kinda miss the yard work! Oh and that picture mom made for you Dad for Father's Day was super cool, it looks really good! And man it sounds like you had an awesome Father's Day dinner!!

To answer some of your questions, yes we do get fed every day because we're in a Latin ward and they always feed us! Haha  Maduros (fried plantains) are not my favorite though but luckily I do pretty well at getting everything down!  Oh and I know I need a lot of improvement, but the Spanish is going pretty well!  We are in a car now so that's good but also bad ;) We go to the track to run every morning though which is great! Although three laps around the track kill the other elders! So... we are going to have to work our way up slowly! Haha. Mom, you definitely cannot wake up early in the morning and play tennis here in Florida and hope it will be cooler! I believe it was 87 degrees when we started running this morning and that was at 6:30, plus the humidity is crazy!! But I love it...ok, ok, not all the time. Oh, by the way did I already tell you that in my first ward correlation meeting in our ward (which was in pure Spanish) I had to give the spiritual thought! Ya I was freakin out!! I chose Alma 7: 11-13 and it luckily it worked out. 

So I think that the family I talked about last week just wasn't quite ready to commit. They just don't realize the blessings in store for them and how important it is, they are kinda letting work get in the way. Haha, ya Dad, I need all the advice I can get!  It is definitely true, sincerity is something we're always working on but I admit after knocking for a while you're just so exhausted that all you want to do is lay down. It's definitely difficult to be sincere! 

A big miracle happened this week when we were knocking an area and we just didn't feel good about it so we spotted a different place a little bit away that we thought would be good. Not too long after, we found Daisy and Maria! It's a daughter and her mother and they are super boss! They loved the prayer and wanted to come to church.. which they did the next day! They came for all 3 hours and really liked it, the ward did an awesome job fellowshipping them as well! During the gospel principles class they were kinda being drilled by the teacher and the teacher TOTALLY threw down on them about the authority and how their pastor that baptized them didn't have the authority. Also, every question the teacher asked during the lesson was directed towards them.  I totally felt bad and so did  Elder Nielsen and Elder Wolfe. We were sweating it big time! Luckily we still got a return appointment with them! Their biggest problem is that they don't believe at all in prophets because they said all men are liars. Anyways we had a super boss member come out with us to the next lesson. We taught about the restoration and Jesus Christ and ultimately we invited them to read the Book of Mormon and to pray to know of the truthfulness of the Church of Jesus Christ, of the Book of Mormon, and of having a living prophet on the earth today. I truly know that they will be able to receive their answer as they do it with real intent, and we're super excited to continue to help them and teach them the truth! We definitely would like them to get baptized but my comps and I are going to be patient. They're pretty elect though and we're meeting with them again tonight so it should be awesome! 

Anyways, I don't think I say this enough but I love you guys a ton. You are the best parents ever, I hope I can be like you guys when I grow up. I truly thank you guys for all you do for me, all the support and love and time spent answering my questions and concerns. Thanks for all your prayers and thank you so much for being awesome examples to me! Love ya! Have a great week!

Elder Dunn

Holli - June 22, 2015

Hey Mom, Dad, and Spence!

Thanks for your letters! Wow - sounds like a lot is going on :) happy Birthday Spencer! Can't believe you're going to be 17! That's crazy :)

So we’ve been busy. My comp. Sis. Robinson is fearless when it comes to street contacting. Even when I would prefer to avoid them :) she just goes right up there. We visit a lot of people - less actives and referrals mostly. We try to get as many referrals as we can. We found the cutest family. It's a single mother (Karina) and her 4 kids. Karina was raised Catholic but she doesn't go to church - partly because all of her kids are crazy energetic and people have told her she's interrupting the meeting. We told her she'd fit right in to our ward and that we have tons of people to help out with the kids if she needs it! She works Monday through Saturday so Sunday has been the only time we've talked with her but both times have been great. She and her kids seem interested even though they have no clue who Jesus Christ is, and they have all these questions for us. Sophia, Marina, Diego, Andrew, and little Chloe are the ones usually there. I think Marina is the cousin. Anyways, they are all under 8 years old and so curious. They love watching the video Because He Lives - they watched it 4 times last night! They are seriously the cutest though. Sis. Robinson talked to Karina while I sat on the porch with the kids watching the videos. She also showed them lots of pictures of Jesus and after like the 5th pic. They would shout "Jesus!" The Spirit is so strong with those kids. We asked Marina if she thought that Jesus loved her. Sophia said "Nope” but Marina said "Yes!" So we gave her a high five :) We're working on Sophia.

We had dinner with Celane the other night. She's a member but she’s interesting. She believes in God and the priesthood but she was telling us that she practices this weird thing where you gather the energy of the universe and help the blockage in people's nerves go away. It's super weird. Sis. Robinson says that Celane is just like that.  She kind of reminds me of Professor Trelawney from Harry Potter.  Sis. Robinson agrees :)

Sis. Robinson has been a great companion. It's been kind of an adjustment for me, as I think every companion will be. I mean we’re together 24/7 so sometimes it's crazy but she's very driven and focused. Her previous companion was sick 3 days out of the week (she had a gluten allergy among other things) so they would stay home a lot. It drove Sis. Robinson crazy. But now we are working so hard and we both love it. I've been crazy home sick so it's so much better to be of focusing on people than on thinking about myself. It about drives me crazy when we aren't out on the streets.

I had to speak in Sacrament meeting yesterday. Holy cow I was on the struggle bus (that's what Sis. Robinson says). They assigned me to speak on the Plan of Salvation but I focused on Heavenly Father because it was Father's Day. I mentioned that it must have been so hard for HF to let us come down here with our agency, letting us choose for ourselves whether or not we would return. I talked about how hard it was for me to leave my dad at the airport, even though he knew I was coming back it was still so hard! I pretty much cried the rest of my talk. Lots of people thanked me for my talk and one of the ladies in the ward just came up and hugged me and said, "just let it all out girl!" So I had another little bawl fest but it was great. The ward is awesome and I'm feeling good. Getting pretty tan (yes I am wearing my sunscreen:). )

Spence - Mom sent me lots of pics of you playing tennis! Looks pretty awesome! When do you get the results back for your ACT? Hope you had tons of fun with the Holts and hope you have fun with the Roberts next week!

Love you all so much!

Love, Sister Dunn

Lindsay - June 22, 2015

Lindsay had dinner at a member's home in Tucson
on Father's Day and they took this picture of her and sent it to us!

Thank you for writing to me and telling me about what is going on! Braiden Shaw looks like he is happy to be home from his mission! I'm so glad that you got to see the reunion of that family. You should send me the video of Sam and Parker's homecoming at the airport! I want to see it! 

This week was great! Of course it is slow because not everyone is home or they are out of town, but at least we try! We attended a baptism for two of the elders in our area. It was so sweet, and the spirit was definitely there. We do a lot of service which is nice because Sister Mizell and I LOVE service! We also visit a lot of less actives which is nice. 

Today I was asked to speak at a funeral about the Plan of Salvation. The girl that passed on from this life was a less active and Sister Mizell taught her. When we walked into the room the Spirit hit me like a wall.  I didn't even know this person and I started to cry as this one man talked about her life. So I was already bawling before I spoke. I got up there and  said  that  I didn't know this lady but that when someone

passes on from this life, there is always a sweet spirit that dwells within us. I literally bawled through the whole thing. I talked about this life and how God has a purpose for each of us. I talked to them about praying and reading the scriptures and how it has helped me come closer to God. I also talked to them about how this isn't the end of our life, but that we can see our loved ones and continue our lives when we pass away. I hope I did a good job! My companion said that I did good:) 

So the people that had us over for dinner on Father's day are the Bott's. They are the sweetest family and the mother reminds me so much of Mom. She is the sweetest and she is always concerned about keeping us hydrated and things like that:) she is so considerate of others. The dad is outgoing and fun and the two children are so sweet. Anyways, I am excited to get used to the area and get to know people! There are so many good people here. I love this area!! I hope you all have a great week!! I love you all:)

Sister Lindsay Dunn

Chelsea - June 20, 2015

Happy Fathers day dad!!!! I hope you have a super fantastic day full of relaxation and amazing food! I really wish I could be there! Thanks for being there for me and for your support! You are one great dad :)

This week was such a good week! Everyday, I noticed so many tender mercies and blessings. One of the biggest blessing for me is my kasama. I love her so much and she literally makes me want to become like Christ! My favorite part about us is honesty and communication. That's definitely been a blessing because we've seen the other companionships struggle because of a lack of communication. Last week we both went to the temple in search of how we can progress and this week we are going to the temple with hearts full of gratitude for our Heavenly Father. Having a companion that you love and that becomes your best friend is such a tender mercy. Mondays are my favorite because we we get a lot of additional study time. At this time of year, it's so nice outside so we just study there for a couple of hours. Two girls came to sit with us and they are both learning Portuguese and going to Africa. One of the girls told us that they could only bring one suitcase that is 44 lbs. And I thought I had it bad! 

The new districts have been way fun to get to know. Apparently, I kinda look like one of them. Her name is Sister Bishoff and she is literally hilarious. But anyways, I was walking in the cafeteria and some guy was like Bishoff! And I didn't think he was talking to me so I just walked away! Haha I have gotten that twice now. Like people, seriously get it right! The other district I don't know as well. They keep to themselves and they don't come to gym time so it's been hard. And then the other district would blast out country music in their room. The rule in the MTC says you can't even play music at all, even if its Sunday music. So it was super awkward going into their room and telling them to turn it off. Oh well! Another funny thing is that one of the girls has sort of a hygiene problem. She doesn't shower very much and doesn't really do laundry and she takes her shoes off in class-haha my kasama sits right next to her and she cant even breathe. Haha its so bad. So last night, Sister E created a diversion and I grabbed this lysol spray from the bathroom and just sprayed her shoes. Sister E was so annoyed that she asked a girl who is close to her, to talk about hygiene- so she showered that night and the other girl lended her some shoe spray! So that problem is solved! 

So TRC was amazing this week! We taught two new people and we were able to teach a powerful message about endurance. The only awkward thing that happened was we thought Steven was married, so we asked him how his wife and kids were and he was like uhh... I'm not even married. HAHA we literally have moments like that all the time. Other than that though, lessons have gone by pretty well. We have three investigators and we do one lesson a day, so not too bad. What really has been frustrating is that we can't say what we want to say. We always plan a lesson but rarely ever use it because usually the investigators needs are different. So we go in to the lesson, not looking at our notes and just try to speak. One of the hardest things is saying what the Spirit is telling us to say. Whenever we feel strongly about saying something, we usually can't say it which is such a frustration! But Brother Kaka said to just work on our Tagalog and it will be easier to speak by the Spirit. The language is coming okay. Sister Porter and I have had a lot of coaching by the teachers which has been really great. One of my favorite coaching sessions is when they take us out in the hall and just give us a sentence in English and tell us to translate it in Tagalog. It's a pretty slow process, but it works!

Oh and Mother thank you so much for the package!!!!!! I know you probably had to go to a couple different stores to find those things. It means a lot! I almost cried when I pulled out the dried fruit. The food here has been messing with our system. Like literally every day they have hamburgers and fries and salad. So I'm making a goal to be super healthy here. I also did such a good work out yesterday. I did the machines, elipitcal, and running by myself while everyone played volleyball. I like playing volleyball but everyone just kinda stands around and doesn't do anything. But what's really nice is that by the machines, they have a window and I can see Holli's dorm and all of Provo. I almost cried. It's weird to think that there is a world outside of the mtc haha. 

 Anyways, that's about it for the week! I loved reading your letters! I only have about five minutes left of my email time! And I only wrote one person before you.. It's so sad because I can't even email anybody. Oh well! It's been good for me. I'll print out your letters and respond to them by letter! haha. I hope you guys have an amazing week! Thanks so much for all of you who send packages and letters! It's seriously the best! 

Love you all!

Sister Dunn

My kasama and I with one of our teachers Sister Bates

 

Holli - June 15, 2015

President and Sister Villanueva 

Hello everyone!

I love my area! My comp. Sis. Robinson has been out since February and hasn't left Claremont - she loves it here. We keep so busy! Sis. Robinson is pretty awesome though. She's a great trainer--kind of OCD which is good for a missionary. We have ipads but I won't get mine until Friday but they have the area book on them. We have met with so many people it's insane. Less actives, non members, members, the list is super extensive! The members are awesome here. They feed us well. We're working on member missionary work and it's kind of slow but it's good. Yes I did buy a bike, but riding it is another story. I should have taken a picture of myself the other day. I looked like such a goober. I wore that blue skirt that I wore Tuesday but it's so long and wide near the bottom that it would just catch and tear in my brakes (that's what happened to my red dress) so I gathered it to the side and tied it in a knot. Super stylish! That same day my companion made a sudden right turn up onto the sidewalk and I tried to follow her but that didn't end so well. It was in front of a big intersection and I hit the curb and totally biffed it! All is well though, we just laughed it off and kept going!

We had dinner with a family last night that was so great. They have five kids, four of which were there. One son is about to get married, another just got back from his mission in Utah and had the funniest stories about his companions. One companion he had for four transfers and this companion was a weirdo. It was hilarious. They have a daughter who is my age and two other daughters. Anyways, the ward is awesome and fun. We went over to another home for dinner the other night and they are a super healthy family. Sis. Robinson says that she thinks they only eat things they grow. They made this dinner and it was like beans on rice and it was kind of tasteless and then there were cucumbers in this white chalkish goo (there's seriously no other word for that) and then there was a salad that was good. For dessert they had watermelon that had seen better days. I just couldn't help but laugh. I mean they had 4 boys and they were wolfing this stuff down. Holy cow they were pretty discliplined. 

There are lots of drug problems, smoking/gambling, and drinking problems in this area. It's kind of a problem city. We've actually done a lot of street contacting and I'm kind of nervous. There are some seriously sketchy places here and we're not even in LA. The other day a woman stopped us on the street and started bawling - she used to be a mormon I think but made some bad choices in her life. We gave her a hug and talked to her a bit - she said she wanted to go to church but she was homeless. She didn't end up going but that's ok. Then another guy flagged us down and asked us for a Book of Mormon. Apparently some Elders had knocked on his door two years ago and had told him a little bit about our religion. That was cool. We also just met a few cute families. We knocked on one lady's door and she was holding the cutest baby ever! She had about four kids but they were living with three other families with kids so we were trying to teach her but it was super chaotic. I think we'll visit her this week. We also knocked on another family's door and the dad had already told the missionaries he wasn't interested but he said his wife might be. They moved here from Lebanon - he's seen some pretty awful things. But they have the two sweetest girls and they invited us in and we stayed for about 1.5 hours. When we told them we had to leave the girls said, "No don't leave!" It was the cutest.

One family has been learning from the missionaries for about a year and half. The dad is Jewish but he is socially converted to our religion. He loves the members and he thinks the doctrine makes sense. The mom and the son are ready for baptism but the dad has reservations about Jesus Christ. They're kind of interesting but fun. 

I have to go now. Mom it would be great if you could send me my maxy skirts (they let us have them bc they're easier on a bike) and any other skirt that's kind of narrow and not wide. Maybe just go to DI or something. A lot of my skirts are awful for riding a bike. 

I love you all so much! Thank you for the letters.   When I get my ipad I can read my emails any time so feel free to email me whenever, I just won't be able to respond until Monday.

Have a great week!

Love, Sis. Dunn

My comp. Sis. Robinson

Lindsay - June 15, 2015

Thank you Family for all the letters and packages!! Sophia, I LOVED your letter! It gave me so much comfort. :) I love you and all my cousins:)

So this week has gone by VERY slowly. I'm in the Tucson Northwest area and my companion and I cover two wards. There are so many less actives here, but not a lot of investigators. My companion Sister Mizell is from Georgia and she has a fiery personality! She is very sarcastic but in a good way! She has a thick accent which is so funny! When she pronounces "pillow" she says "pilla". Haha:) I love her accent. Sister Mizell is hitting the point in her mission when she just wants to go home.  She actually told me that she is like Elder Rodgers and I am like Elder Calhoun in The Best Two Years movie!  I have definitely learned patience this week. One of our elders in the zone said that our "pool of investigators here is bone dry". So it's really hard to feel like I'm doing a lot of work. Plus, our mission president doesn't encourage us to go tracting.  But our goal is to have 2 new investigators and 2 baptismal dates. I'm just hoping that we will follow up with that goal. I mean in our planning we have a great plan for the day but sometimes we don't visit as many as we could. Or we take 2 hours for lunch instead of one. I think many of the missionaries in my zone are more relaxed and casual. But I'm hoping that this experience will help me. Maybe we can turn this area around! You never know! The Lord can work miracles when we are obedient! 

In the MTC our "investigators" actually show up at the time we teach. In the mission field, so many people fall through with their appointments so it is hard to adjust to that. But I am learning! I know that every area is different so I'm excited to explore this wonderful mission of Tucson. The members here are wonderful! They are so supportive and they feed us mostly every night! Mom. The first night I was here we went to a members house for dinner. She provided fish tacos and they were delicious! And she had this pico de gallo topping that had corn, black beans, cilantro, and chopped onions. Oh my gosh I could have eaten 20 of those things! The food here is soooo good and the members are so nice and loving. Just by having that support, I know that if I have a bad day, they will make it so much better!

I still haven’t taught an investigator yet, but Sister Mizell has given me the responsibility to invite our investigators to be baptized!!! Ahhhhh!! I'm freaking out but the Lord will direct me! One of our investigators is named Diego. He had a hard time this week because someone close to him died and she was a less active. He told us that the church has helped him so much through that tough time so he seems interested even though he is Catholic! 

So I am hoping that this week goes by better! Thank you all for your prayers and support! I love you Mom and Dad and I am so grateful to have you in my life! I have heard of so many missionaries not having a solid and active family. I have been beyond blessed to have such an amazing family. Love you to the moon and back! I have felt so much love this week and I am so grateful that I have you as my celestial family.

- Sister Lindsay Dunn

This was my MTC District and they were like family to me!

Taylor - June 15, 2015

So what happened on transfers this week?.... drumroll please..... I got put into a trio and I'm serving in Hialeah! Hialeah is one of the most Spanish areas in the mission, woot woot! Ya so it's boss! I'm serving with Elder Wolfe and Elder Nielsen! Elder Wolfe was in a different district in the Mexico MTC so I saw him a little bit up there. Elder Nielsen is from the Tampa mission. They are both super boss! Elder Nielsen is the District leader and he is a super hard worker and is always looking to improve. Elder Wolfe used to be a little crazier than he is now.  He's still crazy but funny and he is also a hard worker and loves missionary work! I'm excited to work with them! Oh and we've all been out on the mish for the exact same time which is cool!   

Hermana Alcazar and Hermana Moise are the sisters in our ward. We are Hialeah West and they are Hialeah East, and they are boss sisters! They both are fluent in Spanish, Hermana Alcazar is from Mexico and Hermana Moise is from Spain but she is Haitian so she speaks Creole, Spanish, and is working on her English. The ward is purely Spanish, so on the bright side no one has to translate anything!   I'm super pumped to be in an all Spanish area and to improve my Spanish! Our ward mission leader doesn't even speak a lick of English, so ya I'm going to have to work on it! Luckily I'm actually not doing too bad with the Spanish, everything is going quite well. I can understand and get my point across well enough! When talking to people you just have to go and do it, it gets easier as you get to the point of where you don't think about it.

I can't believe I missed Elder Oaks!! Soo lucky. Was Dad sweatin it during the prayer? Was it the best prayer he's ever said in his life?! Haha. Ya glad Grandpa is Ok. He is a trooper, I hope I will be able to be as healthy as him when I get old because I definitely don't want to be in a retirement home! Man it seems like so many people are leaving and coming back from missions, it's crazy! Ya you told me about Janie, it's super awesome that she decided to go! Ah man Spencer broke McKay Grange's arm haha jk! 

When we run into tough times we just have to look for the little miracles that we might not even notice! One miracle we saw this week was on Saturday where we were really trying to get some people to commit to church and we stopped by a family that had been former investigators, we invited them to church and they said they would! So the next day they showed up at church and they really liked it! So that was super cool, it was a family of four. 

Also we had another cool miracle this week! We stopped by a less active's house but she wasn't there, her brother was though! So we took advantage of the opportunity and taught him. He has met with missionaries before, and we shared the "because he lives" video and he really liked it! He wants to start coming to church with his sister and come closer to our Heavenly Father! We are seeing him today with a member so that should be cool, hopefully his sister will be there as well! 

So this week it was a little difficult on the finding people portion. We weren't able to find many people but we are deciding to really pray about places to find and agree together on where we feel we should go. We might even have a little devotional and sing a song or share a scripture before we go out and knock so that we can be pumped up. 

By the way I have made a resolution to take more pictures and carry my camera around with me more. So next week I will be sending you some because I don't have a lot of pics yet ;) And ya I will definitely continue praying por mis hermanas! Haha Puedo escribir el resto de mi email en espanol. Haha jk! 

Oh and I had to play the piano at transfer meeting, of course I did, I should have expected it! So ya I played Let Us All Press On which I didn't really know but it was easy enough.  Then at the end of every transfer meeting it's always the Army of Heleman song in the primary hymn book. I love that song, though it was on one sheet of paper and it was double sided so I had to flip it over like 6 times, fue horrible! Anyways, I love you Mom and Dad, have a great week!

Elder Dunn

Chelsea - June 13, 2015

Heyyy okay seriously I’m going crazy because we literally have no time to email. I'll try to send you a handwritten letter to reply to your emails. Uhhhh!!! So last Saturday was so good!  We get to go to the temple on our P-day. I prayed to my Heavenly Father before we went and just asked Him to help me realize the blessings of the temple and to help me to enjoy the session and that temple session was the best one yet. I enjoyed every minute of it and it was such a sacred experience. 

So this week was horror story week. All of our teachers were telling all their gross stories about the Philippines. One said that she woke up in the middle of the night to a rat eating her hair. One said that in his bathroom they found about 30 cockroaches and 2 rats the size of cats. One teacher said that he got a bug and slept for three days straight and the funny thing is that his companion was super new and thought he was dying! hahaha. 

So the missionaries who have been in the MTC for a while get to host on Wednesdays when new missionaries are being dropped off.  I saw Christina Walker while I was hosting. I really wanted to host her though! But ya right when I saw her I was like, Sister Walker!!! I've also seen Mallory Moss a couple times and she seems like she loves it! Ya so I got to host on Wednesday and it was so great!! But it really brought back the feelings of getting dropped off. I almost just cried watching! I also saw Eric Peterson and was able to talk to him for a bit which was super cool! Accounting buddies for life. Oh ya so I was in the cafeteria and this guy was like Sister Dunn! And I turned around and I didn't recognize him at all. I was like uhhh do I know you? And he was like I'm elder Packard! Our moms know each other! Haha it took me a minute but I felt so bad I didn't know him! haha 

Ya I was so sad when Lindsay and Holli didn't come and see me before they left the MTC! I literally thought that they just couldn't make it. I totally forgot that their cards don't work in my building. Well at least Lindsay and Holli had a moment!  The Struggle is real! Oh, we watched meet the mormons Sunday night. Everyone got to watch it! I bawled at the end, haha and so did the elders in my district even though they don't want to admit it! Pam and David sent a package! So sweet! Okay where does Tyler Roberts teach? It really bugs me that I haven't seen him yet! Especially if I'm having a hard day, it would be so much appreciated!! 

So this week has been super hard for me. I dont know why, but the language just hasn't been the easiest for me. I have a good understanding when someone is speaking, but it's so hard to speak grammatically correct in Tagalog. I've also felt like I'm not really progressing and not sure if I'm studying the right things. I talked to Brother Kaka and he gave me a lot of advice and told me what to study to improve so I should be okay this week. Probably the most emotional day here has been Tuesday. TRC is the worst!!! It's when you teach a lesson to a member in Tagalog. So the first lady we got was an old filipino lady and she was the best! Super loving and super kind. But oh man, our next person was horrible! He was a returned missionary from the Philippines but we really couldn't understand him. Whenever we asked him to repeat something, he wouldn't repeat it or if he did, he made us look like idiots! I then asked him to share an experience he has had with prayer and he told me no, that's a too personal question. We tried to figure out his needs, but since we didn't know what he was saying, Sister Turley just started, "Well I don't know what you said but I feel like I should talk about.." And he literally like scoffed at us. It was the worst experience ever! We then talked to Brother Brodhead after, and Brodhead told us that he was never good at Tagalog even coming off his mission. We then told Brother Kaka, and he was like that's horrible, I'll make sure he won't come again! So that was a relief! But literally, we walked back into the classroom and I just started bawling. So my kasama and I went outside and just talked it out but after I was still feeling pretty horrible about myself so I just sat on the stairs by myself and just let it all out. Right at that moment, the only person I wanted to see was Sister Bates. She is literally an angel and whenever she gives a spiritual thought, it's so inspirational. She's also just the most loving and kind person you'll ever meet. So I was sitting on the stairs, just wanting to talk to Sister Bates, but the sad thing was that she already had her shift for the day. So I walked back into class, and guess what?! She was there! I was like what in the heck?! She then shared a spiritual thought and it was exactly what I needed to hear. She then had to go, walked out of the class, and then just patted my shoulder and seriously I just broke down again! Such a tender mercy from the Lord!! Oh and I forgot to say that everyone was bawling except the elders and my kasama. TRC was rough for everyone! It was so bad and all the teachers were freaking out because they didn't know how to handle it haha!

Another cool experience that happened yesterday was I got to be the investigator for a demo. Brother Brodhead taught a lesson on the Plan of Salvation and it was so good! I understood him pretty well and was able to respond pretty well back! He taught me for like an hour and the class could interject whenever they wanted. It was such a cool experience to be on the other side of the lesson! Brother Brodhead is an amazing teacher though so I learned so much! Okay I have to go! Sorry I have like no time for emailing, and my kasama is all about strict obedience! haha. 

Oh and tell Val thanks for her note! I really loved it and its such good advice about lessons. Because seriously they are the hardest part of the MTC. Tell her that I love her!! 

I'll write you guys a handwritten letter this week with way more details. I hope you are all doing well! Tell grandpa to get better! Oh and btw I love getting Dear Elders, its the best in the world. Sister Esplin literally gets five a day... Haha!! Love you guys! 

Sister Dunn

***Hey note from Chris….if anyone wants to write Chelsea a Dear Elder letter…they are free while they are in the MTC and they print them off daily for the missionaries so it is a real treat for them instead of only getting emails once a week on P-day.  Go to dearelder.com and click on write a missionary. Then on the left hand side of the screen click on Provo MTC (free). Put your return address in, and then all you need to fill in to get a letter to Chelsea is Sister Chelsea Dunn, Unit 91, PHI-CAU, JUL 15. Then you can click in the box below and write a letter. Thanks everyone!

My District

We got two new districts Wednesday and one of the sisters and I were matching.
Not planned btw.

Taylor - June 9, 2015

Hey Mom and Dad. So ya transfers are this week, and...... I'm getting transferred! Craziness! So ya sad day, Elder Mota was super awesome! Elder Mota is staying, in fact everyone in our zone is staying except for me, Sister Rampersad, and Elder Marshall, but he's done with his mission.I don't know who I'm with or where I'm going until tomorrow so sorry about that!  

Actually no, I luckily haven't gotten the chance to play the organ yet. For zone conference I had to play How Firm a Foundation which has 3 flats in it and I didn't know how to play it at all so I spent an hour practicing.  Luckily it turned out okay! Most of the hymns I play I already know but for zone conferences and stuff when they are already picked out I have to learn them.  So, on the bright side I'm learning more hymns!  

Sounds like Spencer had an awesome time at Moroni Academy! Super sad about the Wilkinsons leaving. I'm going to miss them tons! So this week it was a little hard finding new investigators but the Lord still blessed us! Liah is starting to take the lessons again and coming to church! She is the one that we took to the Ft. Laud temple. She knows the Church is true and she feels better there than anywhere else, and she has a testimony of it. For some reason though, she doesn't feel like she is ready. We've tried to explain that you don't have to be perfect to be baptized, but she wants to feel like she is fully committed. So, she is a little timid about baptism but hopefully as we work with her and she reads and prays and comes to church she will feel the Spirit testify to her that she is ready to take the step of baptism! 

Also, we are working with some part member families.  Mainly Gabriel and Christy. They aren't married yet and apparently they have been taught in the past by other missionaries.  We went and taught them and they came to church on Sunday and really liked it! We are excited to work with them and to help them get married and Christy baptized so that they can be together as a happy eternal family! 

Over the past few weeks I've been working as hard as possible to listen better to the promptings of the spirit and trust in the Lord to help me. It's definitely something that has been difficult but the Lord knows what's best for me and he wants to see me grow.   A lot of times though when I don't have success I feel like I've done something wrong and then I try to figure out what it is but it's soooo hard! I’m still working on it though! I think as long as we are giving our all and are striving to improve and be effective, that is all the Lord expects of us. And let me tell you, I've definitely been giving as much as I possibly could! I think that's how we grow! 

I read this little section on a letter from the president. It says "The Prophet Joseph said in speaking to the 12 on one occasion: you will have all kinds of trials to pass through. And it is quite necessary for you to be tried as it was for Abraham and other men of God, and God will feel after you, and he will take hold of you and wrench your very heart strings, and if you cannot stand it you will not be fit for an inheritance in the Celestial Kingdom of God…". 

That quote hit me hard and helped me again understand why I have so many trials. Really, God is doing all He can to help us reach the Celestial Kingdom and the best way He helps is with those wonderful trials!!!! We need to try and have that eternal vision that the Lord has!!!! I think it is necessary to have hard times, that is how the Lord prepares us for the Celestial Kingdom. After all, our time on earth is the time to prepare to meet God. 

Thanks for all the good advice, I will definitely be applying it in the weeks to come! Truly I just hope I can be effective for the Lord. 

Super awesome that Janie Thompson is going on a mission. That should be super cool! 

I love you Mom and Dad, have a great week!

Elder Dunn

Lindsay - June 9, 2015

Well, I have made it to Tucson and it is really hot! When we got off the plane we met with the Mission President, Brother Passey, and his wife, Sister Passey. They are both so amazing! My mission president has a great sense of humor, but he is also serious. I love them already, and I know that I will develop a close relationship with them. We went to the Mormon Battalion and street contacted. It was SCARY!! Sister Chandler and I went over to this one lady. She was sitting by herself and I asked if I could sit by her. She let me and I brightly said, "Hi, how are you, what is your name? She said that her name was Linda but that she wasn't interested. Great!! Wahoo! :( It's ok! She was really nice to us and said "Have a good day though". It is hard to be rejected, but my mission president reminded me that they aren't rejecting me, but they are rejecting the message. So that makes me feel better. I met my trainer today, Sister Mizell. She is from Georgia and you can tell she has an accent. She is laid back, but I like that about her. She is super fun and hilarious! I hope that I can be a good companion to her! So today is P-day. Every transfer week which is 6 and 1/2 weeks they switch the P-day from Monday to Tuesday. So I will mainly write on Monday. Sister Mizell told me about one of our investigators. She is Catholic, her name is Susette, and she believes that the Book of Mormon is half true even though she hasn't read it. I hope that I can testify of what I know to her, and that she will feel my spirit. That is something that I am working on. It is hard to focus on the investigator and on their needs, but at the same time think of what you are going to say! I know that these first few months will be hard, but I know that if I keep being obedient, and I try my hardest, that I will be blessed. I love all of you, and I have been pretty emotional all week, just because I miss you. When people ask about my family, I get so close to breaking down and crying. You guys mean the world to me, and I will miss each of you! So, I told my Mission President about how my brother is serving in the same mission he served in when he was young. He told me that one of his sons is actually in Taylor's mission too. Then Sister Passey told me that their son said that Taylor was an amazing missionary and that Elder Dunn helps him to have hope for the future of the Fort Lauderdale mission. When she told me that, I literally started to sob in front of the missionaries. And of course my wonderful district sisters comforted me. :) I am such a cry baby:) Ok, I love you all and I hope you have a great week! Thank you for all the letters, packages and wonderful e-mails you have sent me! You are the ones that keep me going out in the field! You are the ones that help me press forward when I am discouraged. I love you!

Love,

Sister Lindsay Dunn

Holli - June 8, 2015

Hey family!

Thank you for all your dearelders and packages. I seriously have so much food right now I feel like an oompa loompa. I am staying away from a scale! (It kind of helps that there aren't any here at the MTC). Man it's been a great week. It flew by super fast. We head out tomorrow morning at 3:35 am. Yes, that's a.m. We are leaving and taking a bus to get to the frontrunner and then we'll go into salt lake and take the trax from slc to the airport. Party right? Our flight leaves at 8:45 so Sis. Duncan and I will probably be calling home between 7 and 8. May be earlier, maybe later but yeah, that's the closest estimate.

It's been an amazing week but yesterday I caught what our whole district had a few days ago. Insanely sore throat, fever, body aches, ugghh!! Today in class Sis. Duncan started feeling the effects. As we were walking out of class she said, "We are quite the pair." Haha, yep. So when we meet our Mission Pres. tomorrow we might have to bump elbows so we don't get him sick. Haha jk. 

We had a great devotional Sunday and a pretty fun day. The Tanner's spoke to us. It was fast Sunday too and we had a very emotional testimony meeting.  I shared the experience of Bro. Carter’s accident which really hit me and I just basically thanked the missionaries. So many of them are sacrificing and leaving families that are going inactive or trying to be examples for older siblings. I told them that I had been super blessed to have been born in the church with a solid family and extended family. I don't know how many missionaries can claim that blessing. Even Sis. Duncan has tons of relatives, as she calls it, "so inactive they forgot they were even members." Makes me sad but happy that I can go out and share the things that bring me the greatest happiness.

We finished teaching our TRC's friday. One investigator was our teacher so it's hard to be like totally serious with that. Our other TRC was over skype (Hailey) and she was just super hard to teach. Lisa was our favorite.  We are learning so much. 

Dad, thank you so much for your dearelder letter. It seriously made my day. It's bad to say but the Elders are so jealous of Sis. Duncan and I. She gets like 3 dearelders a day from her fam. and I get all the packages. But they're awesome elders. So I guess Luke Worthington (who just left from the ward you are serving in Taylor) and Ryan Andrus will both be playing on BYU's bball team. Taylor, we totally have connections. That is so cool!

Gotta go but I'll write you soon, hopefully!! Love you all so much!

Love, Sis. Dunn

Chelsea - June 6, 2015

This week was so much harder for me! I've had a lot of experiences that just humbled me and made me realize that I am so weak!! So we finished teaching our investigator a couple days ago and she agreed to be baptized! haha and then the next day, she became our teacher in class! I swear, we are lied to so much here! Everyone was like, "Oh ya, they're a real investigator!" Heck no they aren't! They are secretly teachers who are evaluating you! Oh well, it's still a great experience! One of the hardest things for me is to plan lessons with my companion. I love her so much but we have opposite teaching styles. I'm all about making the lesson simple yet meaningful, so the investigators can understand what you're talking about. She's all about going deeper, expressing herself, etc, etc, etc. So that's been such a struggle for me. Also because we both have dominant personalities it's a little challenging. But because she is that way, she has taught me so much. I have learned to be more expressive with my testimony. Now, we have two investigators.... so excited. And one of them is our teacher Brother Kaka. When everyone heard he was going to be our investigator, we all groaned haha. Yesterday was probably the hardest day for me. We had to teach a baptismal lesson in English to each other. I was assigned to Brother Kaka... of course. He is so hard on me!! And he is so intimidating. He started out by teaching me the lesson and then he wanted me to do it in Tagalog! I was like, I thought we were only teaching in English!! So I started teaching, and I just kept blanking out because I wouldn't know what direction I wanted to go. And he wouldn't help me! He just kept waiting and waiting. It was the worst! So after he could tell I was struggling, he took me in the hall and we walked around while I had to teach it again to him. Oh man, let me tell you I was so close to crying in front of him. Although the experience was rough, I learned so much about myself and my weaknesses. I was able to take his advice and now I'm working on it! I think the reason why he was so hard was because our investigator/teacher reports back to him on how we did and she said that I did really well. So he told me that he expected the best out of me! Ahhhhhh it was rough!! Right after, during Elder Perry's funeral, I just started crying. First time I cried in the MTC! haha. But thankfully, my roommate is super comforting. She is da best! But let me just tell you I don't let Brother Kaka get away with bossing me around all the time. So he was teaching us conjugations and there is a root of every word. For example basa is to read. But he told us you would never just say basa. You would say magbasa- read or magbabasa-you will read, etc. So like a second later I caught him saying basa to us, and I called him out on it! Boom! Revenge!! 

The language is coming really well! Things are starting to click. By no means am I good, and I'm struggling a ton, but I love learning Tagalog! I have really felt like this is my language!!! I was meant to speak it! haha. Brother Kaka says that I'm really advanced and that I will be able to be pretty functional when I get out of the Provo MTC! haha.  So one of the other girls in my district, Sister Porter, is exactly like me. We progress really fast, pronunciation comes easy to us, and we just want to keep going and going. But both of our companions are a little different. My companion is okay at the language. Her pronunciation is okay but I have to help her with a ton of things. Sister Porter's companion is the same. During language study, all we do is help our companions out. It's so hard because we both want to keep going and going but we feel like we are being dragged down. But then we listened to a talk by Elder Bednar about the characteristics of Christ. He simply stated that this mission is not about you so get over yourself! That was such a good message for me. So now, I'm just going along and doing everything I can to help my companion out and it's been working out great! 

So everyone in my room except Sister Esplin is going to Cauayan! Can you believe it!! But really though. Five white girls going to Cauayan at the same time! Super weird. Sister Esplin is going to Bagio. By herself! I would be freaking out if I was her! haha. Haha one night we were all trying to guess each others first names. Everyone was laughing so hard. We were trying to guess Sister Esplin's name and then she said it was Amanda. I was like what?! You look nothing like an Amanda! Haha it was so funny. So Sister Esplin goes to BYUI and its been so fun just talking about it. Every kid I see here that goes to BYUI she knows too! It's so weird. Like this guy came up to me yesterday and she was like hey I know him too! Haha. I've seen Kenzie, Lindsay's roommate and I saw Hailey Chatlin yesterday so that was fun! I get to see Lindsay and Holli all the time!! Holli and her companion seem to really work well together!! Thank everyone for the packages for me mom!! It's so nice to get a package or a dear elder letter here!!! Pam has sent me two packages!! She is so sweet! OMG I haven't seen Tyler yet and I'm kinda going crazy! My building is 3M! Does he teach in 18M? Oh and the Millers sent such a nice package. I almost cried when I saw those cheeze its. That's another thing. We are starving over here. We have dinner at 5:30, sometimes 4:30 and then that's it. And usually it's gross so I don't eat much anyway! So send food please!! And healthy food!  Okay who sent the waffle donuts? I don’t know who sent them but the thought was really sweet!!!!

Okay well that's about it! I hope you all have a wonderful week!! Love, Sister Dunn

Lindsay - June 3, 2015

Hey Mom!! 

 I am doing so well here at the MTC! But I do have to admit, I did get discouraged many times on the first few days. I broke down in front of my teacher Sister Runyon about how I would compare myself to my siblings, and how I struggled in everything. But she helped me get over my discouragement over my weaknesses. I just love all my investigators and I want them to understand what I'm saying, but sometimes I mess up! For example, it was so embarassing:) My companion and I were teaching a girl named Chevin. We weren't really close with her because our first lesson was with her, and we didn't really do a good job because we were so focused on teaching her doctrine. I have learned here at the MTC that you need to forget about yourself and just focus on the investigator and what they need. I have felt the Spirit more as I have focused on the people instead of myself and how well I am teaching. I feel like this experience has been a roller coaster! But I am so happy!! My companion is Sister Daun (you say it like Dawn). :) She is very very bold and has a strong personality. She is a genius, she goes to BYU and she told me that she got a 35 on her ACT! Totally opposite of me! haha. Oh well. It has been hard because she is so different from me. When we teach lessons, she knows every answer to every question! No kidding! She has had many missionary experiences before she came here so she is a professional! But you know what, I am accepting her as a person, and we do love each other, even though our personalities are different. At the beginning of the week, she taught the lessons 90% of the time. But throughout this week we have been trying to fix that! I know that we are improving, and I can see the difference in our teaching, because we feel the Spirit more! I am so grateful for the experiences that I have had. My district is amazing and we definitely feel like we are family! I truly feel loved at the MTC. There are so many people that have touched my life. I have seen so many people that I know here, and I saw Tyler the other day!! It was so great to see him. Of course I see Holli and Chels alot which is so awesome! :) Overall, this experience has helped my testimony grow so much! I truly believe that Jesus and Heavenly Father are watching over me. God knows who's life I need to change, and I have felt his love so much in the MTC. On Sunday we had a devotional, and we sang alot of primary songs because Janice Kapp Perry was the speaker. Every time we sang a hymn or primary song, I would just feel the Spirit so strongly, and start to cry. I have felt God's love for me, and he knows that my message is to spread that love to others. I want everyone to know that they are loved by us and by God. Once they feel that and know that God loves them, they can receive revelation that this Church is true. I love you all and I am so grateful for the packages I have been receiving. My district gives me a hard time because I have been receiving alot of packages. I over heard Elder Drake (an elder in my district) say to his companion, I can testify that even though we don't receive any thing from our parents, we are still loved! They are the best. I love you all!!! Have a great week!

P.S. Spencer, just to let you know, Elder Drake and Elder Winstanley LOVE Psych, and they seriously look like them. I will send some pictures to show you!! haha they are hilarious. They tried to imitate the part where the British guy says, "Give it back" and then Shawn says, "No!" They did soooo good!!!! Ok I'm figuring out how to send pictures so I will send them separately. 

Much love,

Sister Lindsay Dunn