Chelsea - March 28, 2016

Hello everyone!!

So I'm going to start this letter with something pretty lame but I'm pretty proud. I was in the grocery store on monday and I saw italian pizza sauce and mozarella cheese (you never see that kinda stuff) and I freaked out and grabbed it and I made little pizzas in the toaster oven. It was just so great cause I've been really craving american food this week haha!!

So on Wednesday I found out that Sister Porter, Sister Turley, and Sister Ngakuru from my MTC group are training! Gosh, I'm super excited for them!! It was funny because Sister Clarin had to go to Cauayan too for career workshop. So our plan was to meet with Sister Tupou (sister ngakurus companion) in alinguigan and work with her for the day while sister clarin would travel with sister ngakuru. But... they were so late coming in so we got permission to go with Sister Clarin to Cauayan. Unfortunately, Sister Elix and I hadn't even showered and we looked so gross when we had to go to the mission home!! Haha we were dying. But I got to see Sister Turley and Sister Porter and talk to them and I got to see my nanay again!!! That was probably the last time I will see her before she leaves... hopefully not! But it was super fun to be down there and to breathe in some aircon for a while! Unfortunately that same day we saw another accident. This guy was drunk and his tricie totally flipped over and oh man, I really thought he died. I walked up to where he was and he was just laying there and blood was everywhere. But we heard from someone a couple days ago that he's still in the hospital and buhay pa siya!!

Super good experience this week. We went tracting in Santa Victoria-an area that we have never gone in before. We were there for about 3 hours and we just were contacting and contacting and we were getting no lessons... We were pretty disappointed haha. But then we remembered that a less active lives there and so we asked around and were able to find her. Her name is Roda and her family and the rest of her kids actually live in San Isidro. She and her husband were married in the temple and just last year they separated. She took one of the kids and is living up there right now. It's so sad but we had a really good lesson with her and she remembers everything about the temple. I just think the whole messed up family situation is keeping her from coming back. But we are really excited to keep working with her and try to get their family back to the church.

So this week was the baptism of Irish, Divine, and Krizzel!! And there were no problems and everything went smooth! And that's a first!! haha. It was really fun. Those girls are so cute and I just love them! I'm just glad that I'm able to be a part of this experience for them. I will send pics! Yesterday, Tatay Fernando and Tatay Marcelino came to church! The ward is doing a really great job at fellowshipping them! And then, a couple of the brothers from the ward went with us to teach them yesterday in ibanag. They are really progressing and we are pushing for a baptismal date on April 23!

That's about it for the week! Sister Clarin leaves tomorrow and I still haven't accepted that she's leaving but I will really miss her. She has been a great companion and I've learned a lot from her. 

Anyways, love you all!

Sister Dunn

Lindsay - March 28, 2016

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you had a wonderful day! This week was good! We had an awesome experience this week! So every week we see Gayle. She is preparing to go to the temple. She referred us to stop by and see an old lady (Sister Polluck) in the ward, and so the next day we did. Then she referred us to another old lady to see, (Sister Miller). So we saw her the next day, and guess what?? She referred us to another lady who is a recent convert, but hasn't returned to church in a while!!! So we are going to see her this upcoming week! What a domino effect! It is so amazing to be led to so many faithful women despite their health challenges!!

We have been seeing Roxy a lot lately and she is doing so well! Satan is working really hard on her! She is working on obeying the Word of Wisdom completely, and so far she has quit smoking!! So we are praying that the challenges she is facing will strengthen her faith. On Thursday we witnessed a miracle! So Frank and Chelsea are some people we have been working with for a while. Frank is a recent convert, and Chelsea is investigating the church. But the unfortunate thing is that Chelsea is really really lazy. She literally sleeps all day! So we are trying to see if she even sees her purpose in life. We finally caught both of them at home! Usually when we come over, Frank is working on his cars, and Chelsea is a sleep. So..... when we knocked on their door, and Chels answered the door, I was totally taken aback! So we taught them both about hope. We asked Chelsea what she wants to do in the future. She told us that she had never thought about that before. So I asked her, "Chelsea, do you want to have a strong family? Do you want to have a stronger relationship with God?" She nodded her head to both questions! So I said, "There you go! You do have some goals that you want to reach!" You really have to dig in to what Chelsea is thinking cause she is pretty quiet, but when you ask the right questions (by the Spirit), then she opens up! It is great!

On Friday we went to see the Gilberts. The wife is a member, and the husband is a member, but he hasn't received the priesthood. So we are teaching him the lessons so that he can be prepared to receive that and then go to the temple. I am going to honestly say that he is the most stubborn, hard hearted, bluntly honest man I have ever met. He is very picky about who he accepts into his home. He fought in Vietnam, and he experienced some things there that weren't good. He has a hard time forgiving himself of the things he has done. When we started teaching him the Restoration, we got onto the topic of Joseph Smith. We asked Brother Gilbert how he would feel if he saw God and Jesus Christ. He told us that he would ask the question, "Why do you let other people kill each other? Why can't you come down and stop it?" In every lesson we have with him, it is so hard to know what to say. Towards the end of the lesson, he started talking about his past experiences in the war. He started crying, and it was so painful for me to watch. I literally started crying in the lesson. It was very excruciating for me. I don't know why, but for some reason I felt his pain. Sister Steele was very bold, and upfront with him. It was good because he is pretty blunt too. He wants answers from the Lord. He literally needs a kick in the bum to get him going. But he hasn't prayed. And so we made it pretty clear that he needs to pray so that he can receive those answers. Sister Gilbert talked to us and said that us being there to help him is a kick in the bum to get going! haha:) But he is pretty hard hearted, so he doesn't recognize that. It will be a tough challenge, but we are going to help him until he finally forgives himself and accepts what has happened in the past.

On Sunday, we had a wonderful day! We went to church all day, which was amazing! Then we had a lesson with Devan finally at the Hargis home! We set a new baptismal date, and we are going to meet with him every week so that we can help him be prepared for baptism! We then had Easter dinner with the Hargis family! They are the sweetest family! Some of the Fox family kids were there so that was fun. We had an awesome discussion on missionary work because some of the kids are going on missions. So it was really good to help them and answer their questions. That was my week! I love you all!

Sincerely,

Sister Dunn

Taylor - March 28, 2016

This week was quite a week. We learned a lot and grew in faith and diligence! Though we didn't find many people that wanted to learn of the restored gospel or wanted to come closer to Christ, we did have the wonderful opportunity to testify of the truthfulness of this Church. We testified and invited all to follow him!

We did help our investigator Cira progress towards baptism this last week and I'm super excited for her baptism coming up this Thursday. We hope to get good member support for her! She's super cool and passed her interview. Her daughter also decided to sit in on a couple of lessons so hopefully we'll be able to work with her!

This District is good and pretty young besides Elder Dabo and myself. They are all super cool and I think I've felt a pretty good bond with them and all the missionaries where I've been district leader. I am still doing district training every week and yes they come a bit easier now but I still get a little nervous and on edge. I just always hope I'm able to help the District!

Elder Johnson and I work pretty well together. He's an awesome missionary. He has really good Spanish and is hard working! He's super funny and keeps the mood light which is a big strength we share! It helps us press forward!

In our mission, for finding, there is something called "The Liahona". We fill out a list of prospective Elders, less active members, recent converts, and part member families during weekly planning to go visit during the week. The mission also focuses on knocking, Obedience is considered 1 hour a day but we are usually 2 a day, usually averaging around 15-18 hours a week of knocking.

For the door approach we really try to focus on needs and desires of the people we are talking to. We state our purpose real solidly and we center it on Jesus Christ and the restoration!

For my whole mission I've covered one ward at a time and attend the whole block on Sundays. I believe multiple wards for missionaries are just for the missions with bigger populations of members.

This last week, we had fast and testimony meeting. Unfortunately, no Easter program or anything. The Bishop actually is basically less active. He works at the airport or something so he's never really at church. They hold ward council usually every other week but we haven't had it for like 3 weeks now. Our ward mission leader is a recent convert so we don't even do correlation but we explained it to him and we're having it this Friday, yay!

For transfer predictions I believe I will remain here and possibly train but I don't know. Elder Johnson will most likely transfer because he's been here for 3 transfers. Elder Dabo is going home and Elder Lloyd will probably stay. Sister Kronmiller is training Sister Flavel so they will probably stay.

Yes we usually get fed a lot, though in this ward. A lot of it has been pick up or drop off at our house.

Well I hope I answered all of your questions. Oh and thanks Mom for the letter and thanks so much for the Easter package. It was delicious and the other elders say thanks! Anyways I think that's about it for this week, love you guys, stay safe!

-Elder Dunn

Holli - March 28, 2016

Hello Everyone!


We had a pretty good week! Haha so on Thursday our DL told us that as

a district we had really been struggling with finding new

investigators so he challenged us to make a district goal to contact a

certain number of people a day. Our district goal is 20 contacts a day

so it's been a very fun goal to reach. Sister Barney and I are having

a lot of fun with it :)

We went to Maria's house last night (the Egyptian family) and it was

so sad. Her mother passed away a few years ago and you could tell it

was pretty hard on her. We tried our best to comfort her but she

stayed pretty sad. Angelina (her daughter) said that at the funeral

everyone was crying and screaming and it was super sad. It reminded me

of the story in the scriptures where Jesus raises the daughter of

Jairus - all of the mourners are weeping and wailing outside the home

and he asks them why they're weeping and mourning so much. He is able

to bring Jairus's daughter back to life and it was a cool experience

to have on an Easter Sunday - where we could truly testify that Jesus

is the Resurrection and the Life.


Maria also told us that she loved when we came because every time we

come she feels better - but when we leave, the feeling leaves with us.

We wanted to tell her so badly that it was the Spirit and that she

could have it in her own life but she's very stubborn in her own

beliefs and isn't super open hearted to learning about anything

different. But we love her and pray for her!!


We had a wonderful Easter Breakfast Saturday morning. Maria and her

kids came at the end and Brandy and her children came at the

beginning. They seemed like they had a good time! A few of our less

actives came as well so it was good to see them. There were lots of

non members there as well and we were able to share a little spiritual

thought with the kids before they went out to hunt for eggs so it was

so sweet! We showed the Follow Me video the church just came out with

and it was super touching to see all of the kids and their parents

watching the video. Then we talked briefly about different ways we can

follow Jesus. Go to church, get baptized, believe in Him etc. - they

all gave wonderful answers.So fun!

We were teaching Brandy one day (initially she wanted us to help her

with her English so we are teaching her English, through the English

pamphlets) and she was raised in this really interesting religion in

China and she had all of these deep questions. Luckily one of our

members walked in who speaks Chinese and was able to help

translate/explain our side of it. We had actually asked this member to

stop by and invite Brandy to the Easter Breakfast so it was perfect

timing that she came right when we were there!

We met Manuel street contacting one day. It was super cool! He told us

he's seen missionaries before and he's open to hearing what we have to

say. We referred him over to the Spanish missionaries because his

primary language is Spanish (go figure :). ) but we were stopped at a

stoplight for a while and just really started talking and it was

really cool! He asked us when we had become converted to our church -

when we had known that this was the church right for us - and we both

got to bear our testimonies about the power of prayer and asking God

and then little experiences building up over time. We also got to

testify about the blessings and the happiness that are found in the

church and Manuel got pretty quiet and he nodded his head and the

Spirit was super strong!


So this week is a 7 week transfer so no transfer calls until next week

:) Since I've been here for 5 transfers we're pretty sure I'm going to

be transferred but we'll see!


That's about it from here in Arcadia! Hope you are all doing well and

that you have a wonderful week! Thanks so much for your prayers and

support!


Love, Sister Dunn

Chelsea - March 21, 2016

Kumusta!!! So this week was good. It started out with me washing the dishes, and a rat running across my feet. I literally screamed the loudest I've ever screamed in my life hahahah. Fortunately, not as many rats are running around the apartment. The missionary couples gave us some rat poison! But unfortunately, the rats are dying in the walls of the house and so it smells so bad. Like so bad. We can't even go into our room right now because we just want to throw up. So ya that's the update with the rats!

Also, we had a super scary experience. On Monday night around 9, we just got done with an fhe, and we were waiting on the highway in manaring for a van to take us home. We were walking on the highway, and right in front of us, two motorcycles crash into each other and the people on the motorcycles flew across the road. We were like, oh my gosh.... the sisters were all freaking out and just stayed behind, but I ran up to the one guy that was on my side of the road. Blood was everywhere and his face was messed up and he was barely breathing and having this seizure and I was like oh my gosh... then people started to show up but no one touched him because we had to wait for the medics. Apparently, they both died. A 17 year old and a 19 year old. And the one that I saw was actually the nephew of a member in our ward. Super sad.... And definitely scared us... we just came home and sat down and didn't say anything because it was so horrible!

We had some interesting lessons this week. We have so many investigators who have a ton of questions! It's definitely spiritually exhausting sometimes. Right now, we are teaching a sister of a active. She's kinda stubborn but she's also willing to listen. What is interesting is that she had a dream she was surrounded by mormons at church, and she doesn't know what to think of it. She really has a desire to know what church is true. She said that she prays all the time to know if our message is true but she doesn't receive an answer. I was able to tell her that in order to receive an answer, we need to search. We can't just be curious. I asked her if she had ever read the book of mormon and she said no. And so I challenged her to read the book of mormon, ponder, pray, go to church and really search for the truth, and I promised that God would answer her prayers. It was definitely a good lesson.


Irish, Divine, and Krizel all passed their baptismal interviews on Saturday and so we are good to go! They are super excited to get baptized! Thats about it for this week. Mahal ko po kayo lahat!

Sister Dunn

Holli - March 21, 2016

Hello Everyone!

We had a pretty good week this week!

We had a six hour zone meeting on Tuesday which was pretty fun. The

Spirit was super strong but definitely a long time to sit! President

showed us a clip of when he and Sister Villanueva were invited to SLC

for this Mission President Training with Elder Bednar and they ended

up filming it and sending this training to all of the mission

presidents. It was really cool though to see them in this training.

We had the coolest contacting experience the other day. We were

walking down the street and tried to contact three people headed

towards us and each time they either waved us off or just smiled

really big and nodded emphatically like, I have no clue what you're

saying but I think if I smile bigger you'll go away. Kind of funny. So

we tried this one last girl and she was walking pretty fast, like she

was running late. We slowed and tried to talk with her but she

apologized and said in really good English that she couldn't

understand English. We asked "español?" (Cause obviously we're pro's)

and she nodded and we started using broken Spanish to communicate. She

could speak English really well but she told us she didn't really

understand it when people spoke to her. 

Anyways we asked some basic questions and she told us she was from

Mexico, near Guadalahara so I was like, mi hermano servia sus

missionaro en Guadalahara! (I didn't know the word for cousin haha -

or for most of that sentence so I pretty much made up words and tried

to say it in a Spanish accent). We started talking about church a

little and we asked if she had heard of the Book of Mormon and she had

a little bit so we were able to give her one in English because

apparently her boyfriend can read English. She then told us that we

were really good missionaries. She said that in the 1 year she's been

in California, not one white person has ever tried to speak with her

in her native language. So she seemed super touched - and we were just

glad she kind of understood our Spanglish.

We went by the Health and Rehab center and visited this man named Karl

at a member's request. He was a very interesting man. He went to a lot

of theology school and is very educated so it was interesting talking

with him. He was very sweet though and had lots of advice about how we

should do our missionary work :)

We had a set lesson with one of our investigators (Christy) one day

and we went to her home and her mom answered and told us she had no

idea where Christy was. So we called Christy, thinking they were at

Chucky Cheese or something but they were actually at the park right

across the street so we were able to have a lesson with them. They had

been reading a little bit from the kids Book of Mormon and really

liked the stories so all fingers crossed as they continue to progress:)

We had a dinner appointment that ran late one night and we had to bike

it up to our church and that bike ride is like biking straight up a

hill - no gradual incline. It was so hard! So like we get to the

church and our faces are super red and we look like dead fish trying

to gasp for air. Good thing it was our last lesson with Joe (our

recent convert) so he didn't judge too much.

Haha, we had to grab money for our bus cards one day and on the ride

there Sister Barney had a great bus contact with is really nice guy -

until he eventually got caught up on blacks and the priesthood so it

kind of turned awkward haha. And then on the way back I started

talking to this one guy who said he had had missionaries stop by a lot

before and he knew a little bit about he Mormon religion. Then he told

me he had a question and I was like, uh oh - it's going to be another

blacks and the priesthood thing - but he just asked, "So why in the

world do you girls not have a job?" Haha, we told him it was to help

keep our focus on Christ for the short time we were out on missions.

We had a really cool experience at a member's house the other night.

They had a friend (Stacey) who they had invited over a few times to

dinner before - and they had asked us to stop by a few times. Anyways,

Stacey has been super busy lately and just not able to meet and we

don't know how interested she is in investigating but last night we

gave a thought about getting through trials. We shared a couple points

of the restoration and then read the scripture from D&C that starts,

"My son, peace be unto thy soul, thine adversities and thine

afflictions shall be but a small moment" etc. and we challenged them

all to pray in times of intense trial but also to remember this

scripture and to put either  "my son, or my daughter" etc. We finished

the thought and thanked the Schroeppel's for dinner when suddenly

Sister Schroeppel started talking about how she feels like feeding us

is the least she can do because everyone in the Ward has done so much

for her and then she started crying and talking about how Heavenly

Father gives us so much and how much we are indebted to Him and His

Son and the Spirit was super strong. Truly when a member testifies it

adds so much to what the Spirit can do in a lesson!

So I've been here for about seven months and two of the less actives

we've been working with since I arrived came to church yesterday so it

was a good day!! Also one of the members came up to us and told us

that when we had had dinner with them the other night, they had this

girl named Rosa there (she works for the Greens and takes care of

their daughter) and he told us at after we had left the home that

night that Rosa had started asking some questions and he was able to

give her a Book of Mormon and then told us to stop by in a few weeks

to check back in and see how that was going. So it was super awesome!

Thank you all so much for your love and support. Hope this next week

is a great one!

Love, Sister Dunn

Lindsay - March 21, 2016

Feeding baby goats at the Russels

I went on exchanges with Sister Mary Mccombie!!!!!!!

Hello Everyone! I hope you all have had a great week! Our week was so good! And it was Spring Break, so we had our doubts that a lot of people would be gone! But they weren't! It was truly a tender mercy of the Lord:)

On Tuesday, I went on exchanges with Sister Mccombie. She is the sweetest sister I have ever met! She is happy ALL the time, and she is so kind and loves everyone. She is also really bold in lessons, and will ask them directly if they will come to church (even if they have health problems:) So usually our days have consisted of canceled appointments. But we saw people non-stop! We went and saw Roxy, and that was a really good lesson. Becca (a less active), came with us, and she made some inspired comments in the lesson. After lunch, we met with an older women who the ward council referred us to go and see. She told us that she never has visitors except for their home teachers. She was really touched by our message, (the Restoration), and we could tell that she has a strong testimony. Oh I forgot to tell you about her dog. Oh my gosh, when Sister Mccombie and I came to the house, the dog started barking non stop! He was a chiwawa, but his eyes literally bulged out of his head! It was the funniest thing! Of course I didn't want to pet it cause he looked like he wanted to bite my hand off!! haha! Later that day, we decided to go over and see Becca's aunt. We came into her home, and her grandson comes in and we start talking to him. He apparently had been baptized when he was 10, but his mom was in jail, and so he had had a rough life. But he told us that he wants to change, and so we taught him the Restoration! It was an amazing lesson! And Becca and her sister Rachel came and joined in with the lesson too. It was awesome!

On Thursday we saw Roxy again, and we went through the baptismal questions. It was really good to go through those, so we could cover any other concerns she had. She did really well, and she believes whole heartedly in being honest. So that is good! We then went into town so we could get an oil change and tire rotation for our car. So we took a lunch break and had Dairy Queen! We both got butterscotch dipped ice cream cones. It took me back to my childhood! After we got our car fixed, we went over to Frank's house to have a lesson. Frank had gotten really mad at Chelsea, and her daughter, and so he was pretty frustrated. He was also fixing a car, so we just asked if we could say a prayer with him. Sister Steele said the prayer, and by the end of it, he was crying. he told us, "Thank you." and then went over to the car to start working on it again. It was so sad. But he texted us later saying that when we said that prayer, that a wave of anger left him, and he felt more confident. The Lord is truly mindful of his children. Even in a small prayer, the spirit can uplift and strengthen those that are struggling. It was such a sweet experience. 

After that we saw Ida and Jim (Ida is a non member, and Jim is a less active). They are an older couple and we stated our purpose frankly and boldly. But apparently it went over their heads. We told them that they weren't doing their part by reading the scriptures and going to church, and so we thought they would get the hint. wrong.... they totally missed it. So we are just going let the ward know that they need home and visiting teachers:) Later that night, we met with a referral given by our bishop, and he had been taught the missionary lessons before. But he showed interest in taking them again! We got to know his religious background, and how God has strengthened his life. His testimony was so simple and so full of faith. We were truly led by the spirit in that lesson! The bishop's daughter also was present in that lesson, and she helped our new investigator as well. When we invited him to be baptized he said, "Someday, I will." We asked him what made him hesitant. He didn't necessarily specify what was holding him back, but Sister Steele was so inspired as she went on to talk about how he doesn't have to be afraid to be baptized. It was a really good discussion. We truly felt that his heart was softened during that lesson. We are so excited to teach him, and help him to make the necessary steps to prepare for baptism!

On Friday we did a lot of weekly planning! I would have to say that it was the most effective weekly planning. Every time we talked about an investigator, we would pray for that specific investigator before we planned for them. We did a lot of praying that day! But it was so worth it! We went to the John's for dinner, and her cooking reminded me so much of your cooking Mom!! She made southern fried chicken (like the breaded chicken you make Mom), with mashed potatoes, milk gravy, salad (with avocado, bell peppers and onions:), toasted bread and German chocolate cake for dessert! Oh my lanta it was good! I am so sorry everyone that I am detailed in explaining meals! haha! Later that night we taught the Marble kids (Jade and Gavin). We taught them about the gospel of Jesus Christ and the steps of repentance by going through head, shoulders, knees and toes. First you acknowledge, or know you did something wrong, then you feel sad and guilty, and it weighs you down on your shoulders. Then before we go to our knees, we go to our pockets and repay what we have done wrong. Then we fall on our knees and pray to be forgiven, then we go to our toes, and we kick that sin right out the door! They were such good listeners, and we reviewed it a couple of times so they could remember it:)

On Sunday, we had a wonderful day! We had stake conference, and someone from the seventy came and spoke to us. At the end of the talk he said something like, "To all those who are non-members and are investigating the church, stop wasting time and get baptized!" Wowzers! It was great to hear him say that! After that comment, he shared with everyone that he was a convert. Then he proceeded to tell his conversion story. It was amazing! I loved every minute of stake conference! We visited a few people before we headed off to dinner with the Russels. They are the sweetest couple, and they have baby goats, so we bottle fed them:) Sooooo cute!! Then we went to the Hargis home because we hadn't seen our bishop in a few weeks (he is a doctor). So we talked to him about our investigators and the ward. After that meeting, there was a stake meeting for the youth at his house. Sister Hargis made some scones and had a bunch of different toppings. Then 60 youth came!!!  Wow! And bishop asked us to speak at it!! Plus there were a few non members there so it was awesome! We talked about missions, and how we decided to go on a mission. We asked the youth who were planning to go, those that were unsure, and those that weren't planning to go. We talked a little bit about how we can be missionaries even without a name tag. I felt the spirit so strongly during that lesson! And we got to know the youth a little bit better. So that was our week! Best Spring Break ever for sure!! I love you all! I hope everyone who is on spring break will have an amazing time!

Sincerely,

Sister Dunn

Taylor - March 21, 2016

Hey! Sounds like the week was good. Good upsets in March Madness. That sounds awesome! Sounds like the trip to Utah will be fun. Aww man the spaghetti factory sooo good! Spence is a champ! I don't know if I want to play tennis with him when I get back. He'll kill me! ;)  Nice scriptures Dad. Ya I need to work on my memorization of scriptures in Spanish to be able to share those, but even then people with hard hearts won't accept it or will find a way to refute it. But asi es la vida de un misionero! 

This week was a good but tough week! It was definitely a battle to find people at the end of the week. We started off good and found some awesome people but they eventually chose not to continue which was sad, but we can't force people to accept the gospel. We are working on being personable with people and truly finding their individual needs and desires better. We were really bold in inviting everyone to come closer to Christ and follow his example but we truly need to find their desires and take an interest in them. We know for sure that the gospel can help everyone no matter the situation. When we tie in the gospel to their needs and desires and also personalize it to our own lives, I think we have a lot better of a chance to bring the gospel unto the hearts of the people and help them realize how the gospel can bless them. Haha I do feel like I've gotten quite awkward on the mission and all I know how to talk about is the gospel, and soooo that makes being personable a little difficult but hey we're going to give it a shot. It's pretty easy to do it with latins. Just find a joke according to where they are from and they are instantly your best friend. For example if you ask a Nicaraguan if they eat iguanas and where do you purchase them they will bust up laughing. It's great!

Anyway we are working with Cira who is progressing towards her baptism on the 31st. We're super excited for that! We gave her a chapel tour this last week and she liked it a lot so that was great! We have a lot of finding coming up but we are excited and just hope to be successful tools in the hands of the Lord! Well that's about it. I need to take more pictures I know. I'm just soo terrible at it! I'll work on it this week!

Love you guys, stay safe and have fun!

Elder Dunn

Lindsay - March 14, 2016

Hola todos las personas (I think the espanol is correct??) :) 

I hope you all had a great week! This week was a little rough, mainly because a lot of our investigators got sick with strep throat and bronchitis, so that was really sad:( But on Monday, we had a huge Stake Family Home Evening, and so we invited our investigator Roxy to attend. A less active (Becca) in the ward picked her up and gave her a ride to the activity! They connected really well because they both have faced similar trials in their lives. So that was amazing! 

On Tuesday we went to the Trainer, trainee meeting in Tucson! It was amazing! We drove down with Sister Brown (the STL), and Sister Mccombie. It was such a fun road trip! We listened to Mormon messages instrumentals, and the famous Josh Groban's, "You Raise Me Up". I cry every time! We had a short visit with Roxy before heading off to dinner! She is doing so well! Her faith has grown, and she looks so happy! Sister Steele and I are so excited to teach her about temples, because she loves her family, and she wants to raise her children well. 

Later that night after dinner, we went to the Relief Society activity for a few minutes because Mary Ann our investigator was going to it. So we saw her a talked to her! It was awesome. Then as we were leaving and we started trying to find people to visit, we got a text from Mary Ann saying that she didn't think the LDS church was for her. We were so shocked! And Sister Steele started crying:( It was really sad. We called Mary Ann first, but she was crying and talking to one of her friends on the phone, so we decided to go over to her home and see her. We waited a little bit and then went in to see her. Apparently, after the Relief Society activity she saw a man in the parking lot and got a bad feeling and so she left and said she would never return. I think she just freaked herself out. Plus, we think it is something deeper than that. Her dad is a devoted Baptist, and he is against what she is doing. So that has been a struggle. We talked to her, and encouraged her, and through the grace of God, her heart was softened, and she agreed to start taking the lessons again. So that was a whirlwind experience! Wow! 

On Wednesday, we saw Floyd again! haha! We asked him to read 1st Nephi Chapter 1 last time, and we asked what he thought of it. He said that he didn't understand it so we talked about it with him. We have decided that we are going to teach him the missionary lessons because we believe he got baptized for the wrong reasons. So, it will be an adventure, but I know that as we continually work with him, his bitterness of the life he has had will slowly go away. 

On Thursday we had another lesson with Roxy, and we talked about the 10 commandment and keeping the Sabbath day holy. It was a great lesson! And she said the prayer at the end of the lesson again! She still struggles with saying the prayer with us. She has told us before that she is embarrassed, and I was prompted to say, "Roxy, I know that sometimes we feel embarrassed to pray. I don't know about you, but in my life sometimes I haven't felt worthy to pray because of past mistakes in my life. But the Lord wants us to pray. He accepts us the way we are. He accepts you the way you are Roxy, and don't you ever forget that." (I am kind of paraphrasing what I said, but something to that effect!) Roxy told us that she felt that way, and so she expressed that she felt better. It will still be a struggle, but I know that as Roxy continues to pray she will be able to naturally speak to our Father in Heaven. 

Later that day we were trying to see a less active and she wasn't home. So we decided to just walk around the street and knock on a couple of doors. There was a lady (named Patsy) outside planting some flowers in some pots, and so we decided to talk to her.   The first thing she said was, "I didn't know that they sent out girls for missions!" So we explained that to her, and then started talking about God. She told us that she was happy in her own church, but asked a few questions about the Book of Mormon. She told us that she had a lot of LDS friends, and that she knew a little bit about the church. During that conversation we started testifying of the Restoration, and the importance and purpose of the Book of Mormon. Whenever we would bear our testimonies and speak about the gospel she would say, "Interesting." We could tell that she was able to learn more about the Mormon faith and what we truly believe in. It was a great discussion, and we felt the Spirit as we spoke to her about the gospel. 

On Friday we did a lot of weekly planning. Then we went to the Boer's for dinner. They are the best! We had taco bowls, and it was amazing! 

On Saturday we saw Frank and read the scriptures, and talked about the Word of Wisdom with him. Then at 2 we saw John:) We made his gratitude wall by writing down what he was grateful for and then putting the heart sticky notes on a white poster board. He was so happy to see it, and he was grinning from ear to ear. He was also sick this past week, so I think he was happy to have visitors! 

We also visited Gayle and taught her more of the temple preparation lessons. She is the sweetest lady! Then we taught Jason later that night. We talked about church and the purpose of it, and we also covered keeping the Sabbath day holy. Sister Vallejos said that they will probably attend church on Easter Sunday, so we are praying that that will happen! Later that night we got a prompting to go see a member from 7th ward (Sister Gilbert). Her husband told us that he wanted to start taking the missionary lessons again so that he can receive the priesthood and go to the temple with his wife! It was such a tender mercy from the Lord! Then the next day at Ward council, Bishop Richardson brought up Sister Gilbert and asked if we met with her and her husband! We told them that we did, and that he wants to receive the  priesthood! Bishop told us that that was their goal from the beginning! Wow! So inspired! 

I have realized that there are so many small miracles that happen each week, even though some days are rough! I love missionary work even though it is hard, but I am grateful for this opportunity to learn. I love you all!

Sincerely,

Sister Lindsay Dunn

Chelsea - March 14, 2016

Sister Elix, Sister Clarin, and me at Trainer’s Training

Alinguigan Ward

Hello everyone!! 

This week was kinda a crazy week! So on Wednesday, we had new trainers and their trainees meeting! It was super fun!! There was just three pairs of us. Us three, two elders in our zone, and Sister labis and her anak! Super fun!!! President Rahlf talked to us about training like Jesus trained and the characteristics that we need to have to be a good trainer. Definitely a good reminder for me as I am in the middle of training Sister Elix. Also, Elder and Sister Jones had just come from Manila and guess what they brought with them... Krispy kreme donuts!!! Me and the other americans almost cried. It was the most delicious thing I have ever tasted in my life!! Also, the American elders were making fun of my english so bad because I am literally the most awkward person when I had to answer questions in english. haha

So... this week while we were sleeping, Sister Clarin got bitten by a rat on her face! There were like four teeth marks on her face, and she said it stung really bad.  So… we told President and Sister Rahlf and now we are probably moving apartments!! Sister rahlf was super mad, she was like, that is not acceptable, you are all moving! I would cover my face at night while I sleep, but it’s too hot so I just risk it! haha. We went upstairs one night, and turned on the light, and there were 6 huge rats in the kitchen and they all scattered and we were all screaming our heads off! So we’ve been doing some apartment finding this week and we found this great house. Unfortunately it’s not quite done yet… but the Jones are thinking about it! 

Super random: my anak right now, sister elix, well today I found out that my mtc teacher’s dad baptized her family! What a small world right!!! Anyways, this week was good. We have found so many potential investigators this week... the only problem is getting them to church! We have been working with Josie, daughter in law of tatay fernando. She has so many problems in her life and she told us this week that she might move to manila soon because her husband is physically abusing her. But our goal is to get her and her daughter baptized before they leave. So on Saturday, after we taught about Joseph Smith, I felt prompted to invite her to be baptized and it was the first time someone ever said no to an invite!! But it was good, she said no, I’m not ready and I really want to learn about your church before I get baptized. So actually I’m glad she said that because it shows that she wants to be committed to this and actually understand the gospel and why she needs to be baptized. Unfortunately, they didn’t come to church yesterday and it was so disappointing! But that’s ok, we'll just try again. Tatay fernando didn’t come either!! We visited him last night and he said that he didn’t have any clean clothes and he didn’t want to smell bad haha. But we brought two members with us and they taught the whole plan of salvation to fernando in ibanag! Haha they were struggling. They said ibanag is so hard and it’s super hard to teach, but they did awesome. And I was smiling the whole time cause tatay was understanding and speaking more than I’ve ever heard him speak, and asking questions and it was just so amazing!!! His faith is definitely growing and I love watching his progress! That’s about it for the week! I hope you all are doing well! 

Sister Dunn