Taylor - September 28, 2015

Biking day, don't look half bad ;) found those
shades in the car!

Hey! Thanks for the emails! So this week was a tough week but a great week at the same time! Cristian really wanted to get baptized but he and the bishop talked to his mom and she wouldn't let him so we are still praying to be able to help him enter the waters of baptism but it is kinda at a stand still right now. 

Venus and her daughter really want to come to church but Isidro doesn't want to. They wanted to leave but he started crying. Definitely a difficult and sad situation. We just need to get members over there, maybe that will help! 

We had a difficult time finding this week but something we want to work on, especially myself, is making the whole door approach less rote, making sure they can really feel the spirit. And I want to follow the promptings of the spirit to discern if they are willing to come to church and keep commitments. I've done the door approach so much that sometimes I don't think about it but every person is a child of God and truly needs to feel the love of God in their lives. So ya so much to work on for this week but I'm excited, I just want to help the Lord out and sometimes when I'm not having much success I feel like I'm not doing much. I know I am but I want to do more, does that make sense? But hey as long as the Lord is happy I'm happy!  

Elder Keys is doing awesome and is a great example to me of love and patience. His Spanish is improving slowly but surely and his pronunciation is quite good! We biked a little bit this week because we were low on miles haha. Made elder keys sweat a little bit... ok a lot haha! The spooky bash is coming up which is a just a zone activity, the zl's do really good planned out zone activities so it's super fun! We are gonna be gangstas haha. It's gonna be epic! Oh and we're running again because my comp is actually down for running so that's pretty fun! 

I'm glad spencer had a lot of fun at homecoming. Sounds like a super fun time. Thanks for the pics! I remember all that delicious food when we made the Tucanos dinner. It was the best!  Ya BSU sounds like they're not doing too bad which is great! Man Janie is leaving already, that's crazy, I bet she's pumped! I'm glad Stan is doing well and ya we'll continue to pray for him! Oh and here are comments from elder keys he wanted to type it himself  {From elder Keys... Elder Dunn is awesome and you need to tell him to quit stressing because I am more relaxed than him and I am a greenie!! Love yall see ya next time!!} 

Anyways thanks for all the emails. I love you guys and will talk to you next week! Oh ya and I'm pumped for Conference!

Elder Dunn

Chelsea - September 28, 2015

Splits with Sister Flores

Family Day food at the Church

Ohhhh man this week was a rough one! I was sick Sunday and Tuesday. I’m working with Sister Rahlf though and she’s working with the mission doctor to get me on some meds or something. But there were some good parts, so don't worry! 

So, we had splits on Wednesday in Santiago. My companion was Sister Flores. She is awesome and so in tune with the spirit! But let me tell you, it was so hard. Literally, the whole day, we walked and walked and oh man, my calves were killing! Haha also, Sister Flores and Sister Mariano's styles are so different. Sister Mariano likes to have a plan in the lesson and Sister Flores is just like, say what you feel! So we found some people to teach lesson 1 principles 1 and 2 to, and she literally went on for 45 minutes. I was going crazy. And then she kept turning to me and I was like, I have nothing left to say!! So the next time she turned to me, I totally closed the lesson. BAM! Taking control! Haha except I could tell, she still had more to say. Also, we came back an hour early and just chilled in the apartment. I was like, we aren't supposed to be doing this! You're a Sister Training Leader!  So ya, a lot of things I learned that I wanted to implement and things I didn't want to implement!

Zone Conference was pretty good. Oh man, President Rahlf asked Sister Mariano and I to role play the story of Jacob and Sherem. Let me tell you, that was an embarrassment. 

HAHAHAH funniest thing of the week. So Sister Mariano and I were out contacting and we contacted this one bakla (gay guy who dresses up like a girl) and Sister Mariano asked his/her name and he was like Kring Kring.  Sister Mariano and I had to try SO HARD not to laugh. And then when she invited him to church, she was like "Brother, invited kayo sa simbahan! I think he got offended we called him Brother. Oh well! Sister Mariano says she LOVES to invite baklas and call them what they truly are hahaha. We also contacted this drunk guy holding a puppy. and He was like, you are just inviting me so you can have my puppy! and then we started walking away and he shouted, "I have a pig too! Do you want that!" Hahahahahah we were dying!

Rodel's baptismal interview was on Saturday and he passed! We are so excited for him! Watching him change has been amazing. He has been through so many pairs of  missionaries so it’s an honor to be able to see him baptized. He is doing so good though! He's reading the Book of Mormon and he's becoming a new person. Before, he was so addicted to alcohol and tobacco and he had a child with his girlfriend, but now he's doing so well and he's really developing that faith in Jesus Christ. So we are so excited for his baptism this Saturday!

Jessa's baptism was amazing!! After, when she was bearing her testimony, she was so emotional! It's been awesome seeing her change also. It was so sad though, cause her parents didn't come. And her mom is less active and she's great! We tried to convince her mom so many times but she was like I have to do laundry. So it was so sad... but luckily a couple of her sisters came!

So this week is family week in the Philippines! So Sister Mariano and I went down to the church on Saturday and hung out with the ward! We ate and talked and played some games. We had this big water fight and sister Mariano grabbed the hose and started soaking me, but I came up behind her and grabbed the hose from her and sprayed it right in her face. HAHA! 

President and Sister Rahlf were able to come down to our ward on Sunday and give an awesome fireside on the Sabbath Day! Let me tell you, it was so needed! Just before they arrived, kids were running through the chapel, screaming, with their shirts off (lack of parenting here) and the leaders went to the palengke (store) and bought some pancit (noodles) for the ward to eat right before the meeting hahaha. So it was so great! President Rahlf is an amazing speaker! He is so bold and up right with people and the ward really loved him! 

That's about it for this week! Love ya all! 

Sister Dunn

Lindsay - September 28, 2015

Hello from Tucson, Arizona! I hope you all had an amazing week! I had an awesome week! These are the highlights! So on Monday it literally rained all day! Sister Grange and I were loving it! It is so uncommon for rain to fall more than an hour here! We had dinner with a member at a place called "Beyond Bread". It was so good! Mom, you would have loved it! I got Chicken Tortilla soup with four slices of white bread on the side!  At the end of the day, we exchanged with the 

Vail sisters! I went to Vail with Sister Stebar! It was awesome! But funny story.....hehe:) So I had the phone when we exchanged, and so Sister Grange didn't have the phone all day in our area! Oops! Hehe:) Sister Stebar is an awesome missionary! She came to the mission a transfer after me so we are both pretty new to the mission! But one of our 

appointments was in the foothills and the dirt roads are NASTY to travel through! There is a device on our car that monitors the way we drive. I got an aggressive driving it was so bad! Sister Stebar screamed "YES!” When I got the warning!!! Ughhhhh!  First aggressive driving of the mission! 

But it was an awesome lesson nonetheless! 

On Wednesday we had District Meeting! It was awesome as usual! We talked about members and how we can help them do their own missionary work in the ward! Then we tried some of our investigators and ended up talking with Brittany (one of our investigators). She is so sweet and the way she comprehends the scriptures amazes me. Her perspective on the gospel is amazing, and you can tell that she speaks 

with conviction. 

On Thursday we had exchanges with another set of sisters. Sister Grange is a Sister Training Leader, so we had to have 6 exchanges this transfer. So we are trying to squeeze them in the last 2 weeks of the transfer! So Sister Fowers ( a new missionary), came to my area, and Sister Grange went to the 

other area. Sister Fowers is awesome! She lightens the mood and is very optimistic about the work! Once while we were at the stoplight, she put the car in neutral and I totally gunned it when the light turned green. It took me a second 

to figure out what was wrong with the car! Haha:) She is definitely a talker though! Haha! She told me that it was hard for her to listen to people, so she interrupts  a  lot of people when they are speaking. I think she is just trying to get all her words out! But she will do amazing things! Her happy, positive attitude will help her go far! 

On Friday we did a lot of weekly planning and trying to find more people to teach! It has been really hard for both of us to pink wash! We have had a tough time finding more people to teach! But the harder we work, I have hope that the

Lord will bless us in the end! 

On Saturday we went to the temple! One of our recent converts David was going to do baptisms for the first time! And the ward was also doing a temple trip so it 

was awesome! We got permission from President and we headed down towards the Mesa Temple! We didn't do baptisms, but we got in cute little white dresses

with slippers and handed out towels! The Mesa temple is so beautiful! It was so nice to feel so much peace there and to witness David going to the temple for the first time! We also went to Cafe Rio after our temple trip! So good! 

Later that day we went to the Women's Broadcast! It was amazing! And our investigator Kelly came!! I felt the spirit so strong during that meeting, and President Utchdorf's talk helped me a lot! This week was awesome! Even though it has been really hard physically, emotionally and spiritually, I learned so much and it’s worth it in  the end! Press forward everyone! That is the key to happiness! Just keep trying and 

everything will work out in the end! I love you all and I just want to thank you for your kindness and support!

Sincerely,
Sister Dunn

Holli - September 30, 2015

Washing Juan's car

Dear everlastingly loving and patient family :)

Today is our pday because we got to go to the temple! So it
moved back a little bit. So we had a pretty long but amazing week here in Arcadia! Sister Bennion got pretty sick earlier in the week but she refused to stay home so we pressed onward. She has the stamina of a horse that girl! (Do horses have lots of stamina?) Anyways, we've been out walking a lot, working on that street contacting thing. We met Robbin sitting down on the side of the road. She had been waiting 

for her daughter. We sat down by her and started talking. Turns out one of her kids passed away and she's had a lot of trials in her life. She believes in Christ but because of her trials her faith is super shaky. She got pretty choked up but we gave her a plan of salvation pamphlet and testified that 

this plan would bring her and her family lots happiness.

We had dinner with an older couple (Brother and Sister Steimle) and they are amazing! They swim like two miles in the pool every other day and Brother Steimle played the Ukulele for us and he has the best voice ever! The other day at church he came up to Morgan and Tyler (newly 

baptized girls) and played Ain't she sweet and I was like, that's my favorite song ahhhh!! Besides Called to Serve of course😉. We also had a great District Meeting this week. Elder Phoompuang (pronounced poom-pong) went like

super in depth into the tree of life story and drew it up on the board. He's from Thailand and his English is slowly progressing but it was just so funny to listen to him describe Lehi's vision. Best re-telling of 1 Nephi 8 ever! On the bus ride there this one guy tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and he wrote a note on this paper asking if we were LDS. He turned out to be deaf but Sister Bennion and I found out he was baptized a while back into a branch out here. 

Kind of cool!

We went to this Street Fair on Friday night because some Sisters in our District go every week and set up a "Mormon table" so we got to use all of our unique dancing skills to try to get people to the table and fill out a survey for a candy. Elder P was the best dancer there and all these people would kind of stop and look at him. The funniest part was this elderly couple were walking along and the grandpa starts
dancing right along with Elder P and he was a very enthusiastic dancer! His poor wife was standing there face palming while he danced.

On Saturday we washed a less active's car so now I am a professional at car washing.  The Stake put on this dinner before General Women's conference so we got to go to that and it was so fun! And the conference was just the bomb! Elder Uchtdorf totally nailed it with his story, and Sister's

Wixom, Reeves, and McConkie did an awesome job as well. So humble and so wise! Unfortunately I caught what Sister Bennion had so I was blowing my nose all throughout the conference. Those poor ladies probably thought someone had let an elephant into the room!

Sunday was pretty awesome. Sister Bennion and I both gave talks and I played I Feel My Savior's Love on the piano for the musical number. We also taught Sunday School so that was pretty fun. Yesterday we stopped by this lady named Roxanne and it was the coolest thing ever. So her
husband is a member but he's super inactive. He has a very time consuming job so his schedule is kind of crazy. She tried meeting with missionaries before and going to church and she loved it. However her family is super Catholic and she felt she couldn't get baptized because of that. Her husband basically said, if you're not going to get baptized, why are you still taking lessons/going to church? So they moved around a bit but finally just returned to Arcadia and have been fixing up their house that had a lot of problems with the pool. So we were talking to Roxanne, and her husband will be out of town for a month because of his job and she told us that the other day she had been thinking about her kids and she has such a strong desire to raise them with good morals and values and so she wants us to come over and teach them about God and Jesus Christ. She said that her kids are asking her all of these questions and she can't answer them so she needs help. Miracle right?

Last night we went over to Sister Leyva's house (her kids Tyler and Morgan just got baptized) and her son Dean (who is baptized but doesn't want much to do with church right now) got terrible heat stroke yesterday so the Elders gave him and Sister Leyva a blessing and it was so powerful and sweet. Gotta love the Priesthood!

I am learning constantly from Sister Bennion. She is the easiest person to get along with.  She truly teaches with the Spirit, something I have to work on every single day. She is so patient and loving and very easy going. She knows how to work with the ward really well and can teach the gospel so simply and powerfully. It's awesome! It was so funny because 

the other night, with the Steimle’s, they were all talking about who she was going to date when she gets home and poor Sister Bennion was getting so red. Partly because her last comp. Sister Thatcher has a brother who she is trying to set her up with. Then the Steimle's were talking about setting her 

up with a grandson. Then they turned to me and said they have a grandson who will get off his mission in about a year and a half and go to BYU. Then MY face started turning red :)

Anyways, that's about all from here in Arcadia. Dad, I found our long lost cousin! Sister McEwan's grandma (Pamelia Dunn) was the sister of William Meguire Dunn. She gave me a bunch of cool papers that prove it so now we call each other cousin. And the coolest part is she is married to a Patriarch who has given 1620 blessings in his lifetime.

Holy crow we are related to cool people! And mom, I'm supposed to ask if you know of an Ezra T. Clark in our family history somewhere? I'm glad to hear Stan is doing a little better! And it sounds like Janie's farewell talk went 

okay too :) I’m so excited for her! Sounds like you had a very fun week mom :) and those homecoming pics were awesome :)  Love you all so much! Have a 

great week!

Love, Sister Dunn

This is from last week when it was raining before mission conference and we had to run to a bus stop. I debated sending it because I look like a goober but I guess that can't be avoided on your mission :)

Holli - September 21, 2015

We taught a Sunday School class

Surprise visit from Elder and Sister Echo-Hawk

and President and Sister Villanueva

Hello Everyone! 

We had a really good week!

So mission conference was this week and on Monday, Elder and Sister Echo-Hawk came to inspect random missionary apartments (they were the speakers at Mission Conference) and ours was one of them! They were super awesome and it was fun to meet them. We also sang at Mission Conference and I think it sounded good . . . Haha, hopefully it sounded good! Ok and weirdest thing, so just like Lindsay, we were all asked to prepare 5 minute talks because random missionaries would be called on to give them and guess what, I was called on! I told everyone that this had happened to my sister in her mission conference, so it must run in the family! 

Anyways, I talked about faith and shared this great scripture in 2 Nephi that talks about having unshaken faith in the Lord. I then shared my track experience - when Lindsay and I were on a relay team together and our first race we were disqualified because someone (cough cough, Lindsay) took off like a bullet without getting the baton from me first. I kind of had to act out the story so they could get the whole picture, so I may or may not have disgraced the family name. I said that sometimes as missionaries we feel like we are in this race and we are trying to hand the baton to our investigators hoping they will hold onto it and keep running. Sometimes we feel like we give it our all and then the investigator just takes off on a completely different route and we feel so discouraged and sad. But our coach (Heavenly Father) knows the best order to place us, where to place us, and he lets us learn and grow from those experiences so we can run faster, work harder, and help more of His children.

So Mission Conference was on Tuesday and it was pouring. Sister Bennion and I got soaked! But the conference was amazing. Sister Bennion and I came back on Wednesday to help prepare food for the other missionaries (the conference was split into two days) and that was fun too. I got to talk to Sister Duncan and she is doing well in Claremont. 

We had exchanges on Saturday and Sister Razzy came here from Sunland and we had a pretty fun day. We walked, and walked, and walked and walked, . . . . And walked! We were able to have quite a few lessons but poor Sister Razzy was limping home by the end of the day! Sister Bennion went to Sunland and got to paint faces and help out doing tailgate stuff before the BYU game. She also got to meet Elaine S. Dalton! Super cool! 

We had some really good lessons with promising investigators that the ward has given us. The ward does so much missionary work and is working so hard so we try to keep upping our game as well! 

Haha, interesting experience with one of our investigators named Tim. We met him walking home and he's pretty stuck in his religion but he was curious about ours. We gave him a Book of Mormon and encouraged him to read it and pray about it. We haven't been able to meet with him since but we've been calling him and he has lots of questions but he thinks a lot of the BofM is pretty astonishing. So one day we called him and he told us he had injured his back so bad he couldn't move. He then hesitantly told us that he had prayed to Heavenly Father and asked if He could give him a sign if it wasn't the path he should take and the next day  he injured his back. We were like, there's also this evil guy named Satan that doesn't want you to learn about this so that was probably him :) 

That's about it for this week in Arcadia. I love you all so much and hope this next week is a good one!

Love, Sister Dunn

We went on exchanges and Sister Bennion 

got to meet Elaine S. Dalton

Lindsay - September 21, 2015

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a great week! Here are the highlights from my week! So on Wednesday, we had an awesome district meeting on temples. Our district leader is awesome! He had us all bear testimonies about the temple. It was such a powerful and spirit filled meeting! 

We met with one of our recent converts named Taylor. She is the sweetest girl! We talked about the Atonement which was so powerful. Her testimony of the gospel is so strong, and she is scared to share it publicly, but we have been encouraging her to bear it in Relief Society, or by just being an example to others! Because your actions do testify of the things you believe in! 

We also had another lesson with our investigator Ria. We are trying so hard to set a baptismal date for her! She still wants to know more about Joseph Smith so that she can gain a better understanding of him and know that he is a true prophet. We know that she is also very nervous about this decision because it is a life changing event for sure! So we are trying our hardest to set a date that she can work towards. So she is out of town for a week or two, so we hope she will receive some inspiration while she is away so that she can come back with confidence towards baptism! 

We also met with a less active in the ward named Pearl. She is so awesome! We showed her the "Because of Him" Mormon message. After the video she started to cry. I didn't expect that! She knows that she needs to go to church, but she doesn't. She specifically told us that. So we are going to give her a little push so that she can become active again! Because she has so much potential, and I know she will be able to do great things in her life! 

On Thursday, in the morning we taught one of our other recent converts Arminda. She just received a calling, and she is so excited!! She is an amazing example to me because even though her family isn't supportive of her baptism, she still is holding strong! She has strengthened my testimony of the gospel, and I can feel that she is very close to the Spirit. She is fantastic! 

On Friday we went with Kelly to the ward building, and she got her baptismal interview! She passed! Yeah!!! We are so happy for her, and we know that this act of faith will strengthen her so much! Her baptismal date will be on October 2nd which is Conference weekend, but it will be awesome! 

We also did a lot of weekly planning! We worked really hard to receive revelation for our investigators and less actives in the ward. We definitely are ready for this upcoming week! 

On Saturday, we attended a baptism for one of Sister Grange's investigators. I also taught him (Pedro) and his fiancé (Lexi) on exchanges, so I knew them! It is so weird, but out of all the baptisms that I have gone to with Sister Grange, I have taught them all on exchanges! God is amazing!! :) 

Sister Grange and I taught the 5 minute teaching moment! It was so powerful, and I know that the Spirit was definitely there! Then after his baptism, Lexi and Pedro got married! It was so sweet! They plan to be sealed in the temple one year from now! 

This week has been amazing! There have definitely been some ups and downs, but God is good! And he knows how to boost our spirits when we are discouraged! He loves us so much, and he wants to help us! All we have to do is reach out to Him! I know this church is true! The gospel is real, and it changes lives! I love all of you! Have a great week!

Sister Dunn

Chelsea - September 21, 2015

I look like a giant in this picture. Oh my goodness. I swear Jessa is nice! She just never smiles in the pictures, even though she’s constantly laughing! 

Look at the tan line people!

Wow another week! So this week, we had to teach about five lessons to Jessa since she is getting baptized this Saturday!! So every day we taught her…Law of Chastity, Word of Wisdom, Law of tithing, etc. I felt so bad cause on Thursday she was kinda out of it. We asked her what was wrong, and I think it was information overload. I do not blame her! I felt so bad! But she is doing so great! She reads the book of Mormon every day and prays all the time and goes to church for the full 3 hours! She is just so amazing and so ready for her baptism! 

So I talked to my first white guy in our area. So we were in Liwayway (town of the drug lords) and we were passing this barbeque party and I see this white guy and I got so excited so we headed down there and I was like HEYY! Where are you from??! Turns out he is from France. He looks about 70 and his wife looks about 20. Typical situation here. He was kinda weird but you know what, I don’t even care! He could speak English so that was fine with me. HAHA and then sister Mariano contacted him and asked if we could share a message with him sometime and it was so great seeing her struggle in english.  But she did fine and we have a return appointment this week! 

So super sad.... So I think about a month ago I told you about the Engaran Family, how their daughter is sending them money to get married so they can get baptized. Well, right after that, nanay couldn’t find the papers of her dead husband, so that was a complication. And then they didn't come to church. And now, its been a month since they have come to church. And whenever we try to visit them, they aren’t home. So Friday, we were able to get over there and we walk up the steps and we hear bawling inside. Tatay then comes out and he’s totally drunk cause he keeps like touching us when he’s talking to us, which he never does. And he was trying to explain what was happening. Apparently, three of their friends were in a tricie, and both of the wheels fell off, and they all died. And one was pregnant. .. so sad. And so both nanay and tatay got drunk. And then nanay came out and waved to us and then just started bawling against the door. Tatay then said, I know, we have sinned. But life is hard right now. Literally, the sadness I felt for them cannot be described. I guess it just shows that when you begin to go off the path just a little, it’s easier to break god’s commandments. Like they didn’t go to church one Sunday, and they said that they would come next week, and then they didn't, and now they started drinking again. So sad.. But we can’t lose faith in them! I saw them active in the church, and I know their potential. So we will visit them again this week. 

So we were in Maria Clara and we literally got punted all day. So we decided to explore a bit. Most of the people we teach are just off the highway so we decided to go inside a little bit. We walked about 20 minutes past rice fields and what not and we finally see this house. And then this guy comes out and starts talking to us about religion. He was so drunk. And then he told us not to go in any farther, because crazy people live more inside. Haha, I was like you are crazy!

So we had two dinner appointments on Saturday in a row. I really wanted to throw up the whole night. We ate so much. And then Sister Mariano just told me after the dinner appointment that I ate pork and blood. So I was mad at her for that. So gross... Also, yesterday, we were in a tricie and there was a live chicken in a bag right next to us. I felt so bad for it. But that's how you buy it here. If you want to buy a live chicken from the market, they put it in a bag with its head and legs sticking out. It’s sad and pathetic. So as we were riding in the tricie, I pet it and I was like it’s okay chicken, trying to give it some comfort. I think he knew his fate haha. 

So pretty much I am so scared for this upcoming week. It is week 11 in training, which means I have to lead the area and all the lessons. Uhhh multiple tears will be shed this week. Also, we have splits on Wednesday with the sister training leaders.  Then we have zone conference the day after all day, then we have Jessa’s baptism on Friday, then we have Rodel’s baptismal interview on Saturday, then we have to teach a seminar to the young women about fashion and modesty, then sister Mariano and I are going on splits on Sunday, which is my first time, and I do not feel confident at all. Oh and then we have a missionary fireside and President Rahlf is coming to our ward to speak. So so many things! Talk about stress! I know these are going to be great learning experiences though and with the help of my Heavenly Father, I will be okay. 

Well that’s about it for this week! Missionary life is good and exhausting but super rewarding! We had three less actives return this sunday so that was a major blessing! Love you all! 

Sister Dunn

My favorite thing in the world! It’s called pandecoco. And it’s just bread and coconut inside. It’s really unfortunate cause the bakery that sells them is right outside our apartment. How am I supposed to stay skinny with that!?

Taylor - September 21, 2015

Hey thanks for the email! Wow super shocking news about Stan. He will definitely be in our prayers well as the Thompsons. I hope everything goes well with Brian and Val as well. That is definitely a nasty situation. 

This week was quite good! We really worked hard and loved the people (which elder Keys is a master at)! We again saw miracles near the end of the week! Hermano Davila one of our members gave us this part member family referral and we went and saw them that day. The member is Isidro Diaz who has Parkinson's disease. The wife is basically taking care of him though he is still up and excited as ever. We taught them the restoration and his wife Venus loved it! We invited her to read the Book of Mormon and pray to receive an answer herself. We also committed them to come to church the next day and they said they would. Unfortunately we didn't see them there and we figured out that Isidro is embarrassed and ashamed to go to church because he can't walk very well or talk. So ya we are going to continue to tell him that that doesn't matter and we'll get a member to come and help pump him up! 

We also have Cristian the bishop's son who kinda has just been going to church but not wanting to take the step of baptism.  We walked up to him and asked if there was a time we could stop by and share a message with him and he said "actually guys I was thinking about getting baptized." We were in a little bit of shock but ya we are going to be doing that this Saturday so we are pumped! 

I'm loving the mission and training and district leading. Challenging but fun and a learning experience! Haha I’m also trying to learn to embrace the daily trials we have in the mission, after all they are the best learning experiences! 

Man I just think the mission is flying too fast. I still have so much to learn and not enough time to learn it! Oh and by the way for Lindsay-- I agree with you Mom-- testifying is the most important thing we can do. Without the spirit we cannot do anything and testifying of the truth is the best way to do it. We call it greenie power in this mission, but it's because the greenies are so energized and excited and filled with the spirit (not that the old ones aren't!) and their testimonies are so powerful! So no precupies Lindsay! Anyways Love you guys! Have a great week!

Elder Dunn

Taylor - September 14, 2015

Mission Leadership Training

Ok ya a little devastating loss for BSU but hey I'm glad BYU won. Sounds like they did great!  

So this week was good for us! We really worked hard and at the end of the week we were able to see miracles! We found some cool people including Maria who is a catholic but wants to come to church and learn more about the true Church of Jesus Christ! She couldn't make it yesterday but she is excited for this coming up Sunday! 

Also, we got a referral from the other missionaries who came to church! His name is Cesar and he wants to learn more and is super cool, though he had a hard time finding the chapel! ;). Anyways we are excited to teach him and help him come closer to Christ! 

MLC (Missionary Leadership Counsel) was super good this week and I learned a lot! Usually just the ZL's and STL's go but the DL's got to go this time too! All the training seemed to be exactly what I need to apply to myself and the area! It was just about helping people feel the spirit at the door and testify of the truths of the restoration as well as tie it in to the needs of the people. There was other good stuff but that was the main thing. So we are excited to go out and teach people at the door and help them feel the spirit! 

Elder Keys is doing good, working hard, learning the language pretty good! He's not scared to mess up and talk to people which is awesome! He is definitely getting used to the mission life, and the mission schedule so he's doing awesome! 

The large family is the Mendez family and they are actually two families living in the same house. The unfortunate thing is they speak a little bit of spanish but idk if they can understand it very well because most Guatemalans speak a language called mum. We have a couple members that speak it and we are seeing them tonight to see what we can do. 

The finding is going better and we're still improving on it. I'm trying to get elder Keys to say more but most of the time he feels like he needs to pass it to me because he doesn't know it very well, but when he talks to members he's much more confident! It is a little different and stressing having to do most of the work, planning, updating the area book, getting members to come out with us, setting up appointments, making sure we're 100% obedient, etc. but it's good! 

My last district training was about daily contact with investigators and not letting them drop off the side and helping them progress and setting them with dates. It went well! Luckily I don't have to do District Training this week because we are having Zone Training! The missionaries in my district are great, they really do good work and love the people. Hermana Morrow and Erickson just need to continue to stay positive and excited no matter what happens and realize that some situations they can't control, and Hermana Mahterian and Hutchinson just need to continue to find solid investigators and keep doing what they're doing! 

Well anyways thanks for the awesome emails and I'll talk to you later! :) Love you guys!!

Elder Dunn

Chelsea - September 14, 2015

So this is Tatay belon! the one on the left. He had a stroke fifteen years ago and he is 75. He’s kinda hard to understand but he’s soooo cute. I just want to pinch his little cheeks! His wife is right next to him. She is 39! Scandal!! haha. And then on the right is Rodel. He is one of our investigators and his baptism is scheduled for october 3rd. Hopefully he follows through!!! 

Hey Family!

Well this week was kinda of a bad one! I got sick from Wednesday to Friday! It was the worst. Literally, I am so sick of getting sick! So on Wednesday morning at like 1 am, I woke up, and I just started throwing up non stop. And then I started to get this migraine during the night that made me even more nauseous! Then later that day, I had a fever and LBM and it was just the worst! Haha we tried to get out Friday afternoon but I almost threw up again! I think its the water. Sister Mariano is really watching what I eat and drink haha.  But we were visiting this old nanay and we told her that I was sick and we had to leave and so she like walked up to me and grabbed my head and then like touched my face or something and I was like what in the heck?! Haha, apparently she was blessing me because she thinks that a spirit is messing with me because I'm foreign haha! 

Let's see, scary happenings. Haha oh ya so we were in Rizal at night which is pretty sketchy. And we had to walk from this one house to another which is about a 10 minute walk. So we walk by this house and this guy is sitting there and he has like the creepiest look on his face and then he called his friend over to watch us walk by and I was like, oh my goodness, we are going to get killed. So we like ran to the Gonzales house and sang primary songs cause we were freaked out that they were following us. And oh ya! So Sister Mariano and I were coming home for the night and we got up to our door and we could see this thing laying on the ground by the door. So Sister Mariano shined her flashlight on it and it was a disfigured barbie doll with a rope around her neck. We both just screamed so hard and we kicked it off the steps. After that, I was like, Okay, Im done!  The owner of the apartment thinks it’s a little kid messing with us! So we were just super excited about that! 

Haha oh my goodness. So we were teaching a less active on Saturday. We were talking about the importance of church and the sacrament. And then she told us that she is more comfortable at home instead of at church, etc. And then she was like, and I do take the sacrament! And we were like how? And then she told us that she blesses and partakes of her own sacrament. It was so weird! I was like, who are the missionaries that taught you?! Haha. And whats funny is that she loves the Book of Mormon and reads from it diligently. So Im thinking, obviously you dont understand the book of mormon, because what you are doing is so against it! haha. So Sister Mariano had to explain about Priesthood authority haha. Sobrang weird! (sobrang means super in Tagalog)

Haha so yesterday, we had to teach lesson 3 to Elcid, Alvin, and Rennabeth. It was my first time to actually teach some of the priniciples, so for training, we just rehearsed it. So I was doing Lesson 3 principle 1 to Sister Mariano, and after I was finished, she almost started crying. She was like, Sister Dunn! You were so fluent! Ahhh I want to cry! I am so proud of you! Haha and I was like what are you talking about?! And then, I was super scared to do it in the lesson cause usually I just blank out, you know! But I really prayed hard before and during that lesson, and even though I still struggled and made mistakes, I felt the Lord by my side the whole time and I felt like He really magnified what I could do. So ya, yesterday was a good day. Except poor Elcid! He wants to get baptized so bad but he is having some word of wisdom problems. Ever since he was 6, he drank 2 cups of coffee a day and then he drinks so much tea every day. So since the word of wisdom lesson, he has stopped drinking coffee, but he still hasn't stopped drinking tea. Ahhh. And so his baptism keeps getting moved. And its super awkward, because Alvin and Rennabeth have no problems and so we dont know how to keep all of their baptisms together. Elcid is gonna be so crushed! Ahhhhh

Yesterday, we had 8 less actives come to church! Wooh! and if four of them come next time, they will be returned (have attended for their fourth time)! So we are super blessed in that department! Only four of our investigators came to church yesterday, and Jessa didnt. We were so crushed! Hopefully she comes next week, or her baptism is gonna get moved. We are guessing that they didnt have money to get to church... uhh its hard! 

So ya, that was the week! I am doing pretty good! Days are getting easier and easier the longer I am here and I truly am growing a love for this work. So I’m sitting next to this american guy right now that is also a missionary and he is going home in three weeks! He told me, you do not want to be in this position. He hates it. And just like two seconds ago, his parents emailed him some dates when he could give his homecoming talk. He was like, I dont want to do this! I don’t want to leave. He’s so amazing though at tagalog and ilecauno.  Love you all!  And have a good week! Thank you for your love and prayers!

Sister Dunn

Pig!

Lindsay - September 14, 2015

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a great week! I just love my companion Sister Grange!! She is such a good missionary and practically done with her mission, so it's hard sometimes feeling like the naive and shy missionary who hangs out in the background.  All I can do is testify! She is very natural with communication,and she talks with everyone. She has truly helped me get out of my comfort zone, but I have struggled wondering if I am making a difference in the lives of the people here in Arizona. But I am pushing forward! I'm trying my best to do what I can:) I want to share an experience with you! So on a day when I was having a discouraging time and Satan was really working hard on me, we decided to visit one of our investigators. She wasn't there but her dad was. We asked more about what he thought of the gospel and if he had a belief in Jesus Christ. Sister Grange ended up sharing the first vision. And I gave a brief testimony of the gospel and the Book of Mormon. After that what he said really struck me. He said, I can tell that you believe it and that you are heartfelt. And then he looked at me and said, "Especially you". I was shocked. I had no idea that I had said anything special. But after that experience, sister Grange encouraged me by repeating what the man said. Sister Grange also helped me to realize that I can make a little difference in someone’s life. So I knew that God helped me have enough strength to make it through that day. He helped me realize that I do make a difference. So that was my spiritual experience for the week:) 

So this week has been a little crazy but good! We are just so busy! Pink washing an area is stressful because we have no idea how to help these people! So it has been a struggle but we are pushing through it!  On Monday night we met with Kelly one of our investigators. She is so sweet. We taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ and she loved it! She has such an amazing testimony, and she strengthens my faith of how important this gospel is! I have truly realized that I would be lost without the gospel in my life! 

On Tuesday we met with one of our recent converts in the ward! She wanted to learn more about the church standards on modesty, so we helped her understand that. She also has great questions which helps me learn and grow as well! We also met with Ria this week! She had us over for dinner and we taught her a lesson on the Atonement. We are trying super hard to set a baptismal date for her! Apparently in the past, she did have a baptismal date but then she didn't want to rush into it so they postponed it. But I hope and pray that we can help her towards baptism, because she is ready! We just need to help her feel the Spirit more so that she can recognize her answer of the truth!! We also met with Kelly again and talked about some commandments like word
of wisdom, law of tithing etc. She definitely knows why God gives us commandments! She is so funny and her sense of humor makes me laugh! She told us after we taught her "like duh! Of course I will follow these commandments, it just makes sense!" So she is definitely golden!! :)  

On Wednesday we had a huge Zone Meeting! I seriously love those meetings! They are so inspiring, and I feel like jumping up and down and proclaiming the gospel to the world after it! Haha! So we talked about the new Area Book planner app which is going to take time to get used to for sure:) haha! It's kind of a pain cause we have to input ALL of our records from the printed area book into our iPads! So that will take a long time but it's ok! I am starting to see the benefits that come from having these records put into our Area Book
planner app. We are also still working on flooding the earth with the
Book of Mormon! So far we have placed 9 Books of Mormon in two weeks!!
Ahhhh!! It's amazing to see that God puts people into our paths for a
reason! We just need to be observant to see them! 

We also had a lesson that night with another of our recent converts. He is the sweetest guy and he just got confirmed!! On Thursday, I went on exchanges with Sister Tracey!! She is awesome! She was in my zone during my first transfer so that was awesome that I knew her! She is a talker though! Haha! Pretty much in every lesson after someone would pause after a comment, she would jump in like a horse starting a race! Wow! I could never get a word in! But it was ok! Maybe she needed to talk most of the time! Haha:) but she is a great missionary! She definitely has a positive attitude about the work which is awesome! We had dinner that night with one of Sister Tracey's recent converts! Oh my gosh her dinner was soooo good! It was a dish of marinated beef with pea pods, and some teriyaki/soy sauce rice! Oh my goodness it was divine! Haha! :) 

On Friday we got to go to the temple! It was amazing!!!! We all got to stay in the celestial room for a while which was nice. It is so nice to be able to feel like you are close to heaven in the temple. I truly needed that spiritual experience to boost my spirits, and help me learn more about my relationship with God. 

On Saturday we went to visit Bryan our investigator. We kind of had an iffy feeling about him from the beginning. He just seems out of it every time we meet him! And he didn't keep our commitment that we extended to him, so we told him to call us when he had kept the commitment. It's ok, he just wasn’t ready to receive the gospel in his life yet. Later in the evening we were supposed to attend 2 baptisms. We actually missed both of them because the first baptism was a stake children's baptismal service, so there were a lot of kids being baptized! And we had to leave early so that we wouldn’t miss the baptism of Sis. grange's investigator in her last area! But
we missed it, and Sister Grange was so sad!! I felt so bad that we had tried our hardest to attend both of them but that we missed the ordinance! But if we look at the positive, Sister Grange got to see the people that were baptized, so that is good:) 

On Sunday, we went to church and Ria (our investigator), stayed the full 3 hours!!! We were soooo happy! But those 3 hours were inspired. The talks in sacrament meeting were about the Atonement and the speakers delivered the message beautifully. Then in Gospel Principles we talked about being valiant and striving to be the best we can be. It was just awesome all around!! We are so happy that she stayed the whole time! :D Well that was my week! I love you all! Thank you so much for all you do!

Sincerely,
Sister Dunn