Hello Everyone!!
Super excited to be writing to you all today! Thanks for all of the
emails - definitely made my day!
So this week . . . Oh my lands it's been crazy
So Sister Colson has been here for about seven weeks and they cut the
area in half about halfway into last transfer so a huge chunk of our
area is now gone, and there wasn't much going on in the upper half. So
right now we are trying to breathe life into Glendale! Neither of us
know the Ward members very well and we are just trying to figure lots
of things out - so it's kind of like pink washing which is fun!
We got this interesting referral this week for a guy named Sergio. He
told us he wants a lot more in his life - we think he's had a pretty
troubled life too - but some Sisters gave him a BofM and when we met
with him he said he had started reading it but he couldn't find the
guide to how to live. That's what he wanted - he wanted like a guide
on how to live. So that was pretty interesting. But we've been
teaching him and he says it's getting more interesting. That's good!
Haha, we taught him about repentance the other day and Sister Colson
likened the feeling we get when we sin to if I had pushed Sergio in
the pool, how I would feel. Sergio said I would probably laugh but we
were like, heck no we'd feel awful! So on Sunday Sergio promised us he
would come to church. Church starts and Sergio texts us he's on his
way - and then he never showed. By the end of church we get a text and
Sergio says - I feel like, how you felt, when you pushed me in the
pool.
Hopefully the Spirit is working on him!
The temple was amazing and all too short! We actually got to do
sealings with the members who brought us afterwards. Thankfully Sister
Colson had participated in a sealing once so she showed me the ropes
:) pretty cool!
The Elders baptized two people on Sunday and I was asked to play the
piano at one of them so that was super cool! It was a really awesome
experience.
Super cool experience happened this week. We were sitting at Starbucks
(haha, yep) using the wifi real quick and there was this lady and her
daughter sitting nearby. As we were about to leave she asked us if we
were from the LDS church and then continued to say that she was a
member starting to come back to church and she wanted her to daughter
(April) to take the lessons and to get baptized. April had turned 8
about two days prior so it was a super neat experience!
We also went by this member who we didn't know and when they didn't
answer we left a note with our card. That night after 10:30 we got a
call from Neil who apparently lives at that address now and said he
would be totally open to having us come by and share a message about
Christ. He told us he was a firm follower of Christ so it was pretty
awesome!
I think that's about it from here in Glendale. I love you all and hope
you have a wonderful week!
Love, Sister Dunn
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Chelsea - April 18, 2016
This week we taught our investigator, Charmaine! She is doing so great and is super receptive. We were in relief society yesterday and people were just sharing about the blessings in their life and Charmaine just stands up and started saying that she is so grateful for us and how we have been teaching her and have been helping her to realize the truth. Sister Elix and I almost cried! So sweet! Also we were teaching tatay fernando this week and he was saying that he feels so much better ever since he's stopped smoking and as we have kept teaching him and as he's started living the gospel, he said that his thoughts and self are changing. I'm just saying as a missionary, to hear that kind of stuff is probably the best reward. To hear that people are changing for the better.... just great stuff people!! So ya, fernando is getting baptized on april 30th and charmaine on may 7th! Unfortunately, tatay marcelino didnt come to church so we have to move his baptism.... But ya, that's the update for the investigators.
We also had a cool experience this week. We have this Less active in our area and every week we teach him but he's pretty quiet and doesn't open up to us. He got baptized a year ago but because of his really bad health, he can't go to church. He's so skinny and he can't even walk or breathe sometimes. So this week it was my turn to share with him and I was just praying that he would open up to us about how he's feeling with everything and so I prayerfully chose a scripture verse to share and some inspired questions and as I asked my question he just started talking and talking and then started talking about the hard things he's going through. He said that he's so grateful for the missionaries and the men in the ward who visit him, but he wishes so bad to be one of the guys in the ward and actually visit others. But he said that he knows one day God will give him the strength and things that he wants to do. He just started crying and Sister Elix and I were def holding back tears! I was so grateful in that moment that god led me to the verse I needed to share and the question I asked in order for tatay george to open up. it just showed me that God really knows his children and even though I don't know what people are going through and what they are feeling, God does and as long as we are worthy as missionaries, God will give us what we need to say.
That's it for the week! Other than it has been soooo hot. Haha our support money is literally gone buying water like five times a day haha. I don't think I've ever drank so much water in my life. But oh man, probably the hottest weather I've experienced. All of us in the apartment are experiencing like heat rashes and all that fun stuff. Also, our apartment is super hot during the night. Like we just wake up constanttly cause it's so hotttt... but we love it! Anyways, love you all!
Sister Dunn
Taylor - April 18, 2016
Hey! So this week was quite a week and we had a strong start with finding some cool people who seemed like they really wanted to progress and be baptized! There was Brenda who has a smoking problem but she and her daughter want to find a "good" church and be baptized so that was cool. We also contacted a woman that had been a potential named Ericka and she spoke mostly Spanish which kinda makes it an awkward lesson because I'm the only one speaking but it went well! She goes to a Latin christian church that she likes but is curious about the Church of Jesus Christ! Over the week we weren't able to see them very often. We tried to get in contact and had solid return appointments but they never answered the door or phone and they fell off. We are trying to make sure that really doesn't happen. So, we are going to be having a stronger HTBT and also be bold on the commitments which are baptism, church and daily contact. We need to make sure they are willing to take these steps. People cannot come closer to God if they don't have desires to repent and change(PMG).
I gave a talk in sacrament this past week and the ward is excited about doing missionary work as well as rescuing those who have fallen off so that's pretty cool! I got to choose what the subject was and it went along really well with the other talks. It was about service, loving others, and following the example of our Savior Jesus Christ and I think it went pretty well!
Two best conversations for the week was one with Brenda who seemed to really have desires to come to church and be baptized. She liked the restoration lesson a lot and she just really wanted to come closer to God! The other one was pretty cool. We knocked on this one kid's door named David. There's a good amount of YSA around because Florida Gulf Coast University is pretty close. He seemed a little hesitant about the prayer but he invited us in to pray for him and his girlfriend Angela. He had a Presbyterian background and she had a christian background. They both really weren't active in their faith and didn't have desires to go to church or do much. We said a prayer with them, and I don't know if they felt anything but we asked them if they felt that God loved them, Angela said yes right away and then David later said yes. We then testified how going to church is a show of love for your Heavenly Father and how he wants the best for us and as we show our love and learn of Him at church we will be happy. We then just invited them to church. I don't know if it affected them at all but they were a lot more open after that and I felt the spirit!
Oh and this week I did a baptismal interview for Adam who is an investigator for the sisters. He is almost done with school as an anesthesiologist and he's considering moving to Boise with his Mormon girlfriend soon to be wife so that was cool!
I gave a talk in sacrament this past week and the ward is excited about doing missionary work as well as rescuing those who have fallen off so that's pretty cool! I got to choose what the subject was and it went along really well with the other talks. It was about service, loving others, and following the example of our Savior Jesus Christ and I think it went pretty well!
Two best conversations for the week was one with Brenda who seemed to really have desires to come to church and be baptized. She liked the restoration lesson a lot and she just really wanted to come closer to God! The other one was pretty cool. We knocked on this one kid's door named David. There's a good amount of YSA around because Florida Gulf Coast University is pretty close. He seemed a little hesitant about the prayer but he invited us in to pray for him and his girlfriend Angela. He had a Presbyterian background and she had a christian background. They both really weren't active in their faith and didn't have desires to go to church or do much. We said a prayer with them, and I don't know if they felt anything but we asked them if they felt that God loved them, Angela said yes right away and then David later said yes. We then testified how going to church is a show of love for your Heavenly Father and how he wants the best for us and as we show our love and learn of Him at church we will be happy. We then just invited them to church. I don't know if it affected them at all but they were a lot more open after that and I felt the spirit!
Oh and this week I did a baptismal interview for Adam who is an investigator for the sisters. He is almost done with school as an anesthesiologist and he's considering moving to Boise with his Mormon girlfriend soon to be wife so that was cool!
Anyway love you guys, take care, stay safe, have an awesome week!
Elder Dunn
Elder Dunn
Lindsay - April 18, 2016
Hello Everyone! I hope you had an amazing week! For me, it has been a crazy week! On Monday we cleaned our room and bathroom and tried to unclog the shower drain. I used a knife to try to unclog it and I accidentally dropped it down there, and it is impossible to get it out. Haha! Later in the day we went bowling with our whole zone. It was so fun!! It was probably the most relaxing and care free activity to do on a P-day for sure! Mom and Dad you would be so proud of me for the scores that I got! Haha! I usually do terribly in bowling but I got 60 the first game and 96 the second. It was awesome!!
On Tuesday I went on exchanges with Sister Brown from Melba, Idaho!!! I love her so much, and she is an awesome STL! We visited Roxy, and that was a pretty rough lesson, mainly because of her dog, and then Becca ( a less active), came over with her daughter, and her daughter had a lot of energy, and played with the dog a lot. So that was rough, but still good nonetheless! Then we visited Gayle and taught her another of the temple preparation lessons. It talked about some principles that we could apply in our lives to be prepared for the temple. One of the principles was that we need to be humble. We had an awesome discussion about that, and how we need to be humble so that we can learn and be teachable. Then we saw Frank who is one of our recent converts. He was struggling when we came over. He was pretty upset at his daughter, but when we started to teach the Restoration to him, the Spirit slowly began to calm him down. It is amazing what the Spirit can do to help someone who is struggling. After dinner at the Bingham's we prayed about a list of part member families, and decided to go visit 3 families. And guess what? They were all on the same street!!! It was so cool! We couldn't find the Goodman's who we were looking for so we knocked on this one door. There were 2 people living there. One was an older lady and she kept asking us if we could call her son because their phone broke. Her other son was there and he literally shouted at her (cause she is hard of hearing), and said, "Why do you need to call your son?" It was really funny! But the people knew where they lived so they got in their car, and we followed them to the house! They were the sweetest people! We had a great visit with the Goodman's and figured out that they were both members, but less active. And they didn't have home teachers!! So it was a spirit filled experience for sure!
On Tuesday I went on exchanges with Sister Brown from Melba, Idaho!!! I love her so much, and she is an awesome STL! We visited Roxy, and that was a pretty rough lesson, mainly because of her dog, and then Becca ( a less active), came over with her daughter, and her daughter had a lot of energy, and played with the dog a lot. So that was rough, but still good nonetheless! Then we visited Gayle and taught her another of the temple preparation lessons. It talked about some principles that we could apply in our lives to be prepared for the temple. One of the principles was that we need to be humble. We had an awesome discussion about that, and how we need to be humble so that we can learn and be teachable. Then we saw Frank who is one of our recent converts. He was struggling when we came over. He was pretty upset at his daughter, but when we started to teach the Restoration to him, the Spirit slowly began to calm him down. It is amazing what the Spirit can do to help someone who is struggling. After dinner at the Bingham's we prayed about a list of part member families, and decided to go visit 3 families. And guess what? They were all on the same street!!! It was so cool! We couldn't find the Goodman's who we were looking for so we knocked on this one door. There were 2 people living there. One was an older lady and she kept asking us if we could call her son because their phone broke. Her other son was there and he literally shouted at her (cause she is hard of hearing), and said, "Why do you need to call your son?" It was really funny! But the people knew where they lived so they got in their car, and we followed them to the house! They were the sweetest people! We had a great visit with the Goodman's and figured out that they were both members, but less active. And they didn't have home teachers!! So it was a spirit filled experience for sure!
On Wednesday we went to Commodities at 8 in the morning. There were a lot of people that needed food so we were there until district meeting at 11! Wow! Also, I got a sunburn on my head, so that hurt really bad. It brought me back to the memory of Trek, and getting sunburned everywhere! Haha! We had an awesome district meeting on obedience, and teaching obedience to investigators. We did a role play and I taught Sister Steele about obedience, and literally the Spirit was directing it the whole time. Sister Steele pretended to be someone that had a word of wisdom problem. I asked her, "Do you think the "fun" things you have been doing will bring you happiness that is permanent?" I then proceeded to talk about temporary happiness and permanent happiness, and how the gospel can bring us permanent happiness. Later that night we had dinner and a lesson with the Marble family. Jade and Gavin are getting baptized in a few weeks, so we are helping them to be prepared for baptism. We taught them about reading the scriptures and keeping the Sabbath day holy. It was an awesome lesson! Then we started to try some part member families, and knocking on a few doors to see where the people lived. We knocked on this one door and a drunk guy answered. We asked about an individual that we were trying to find, and he told us he was a friend visiting. So he shouts at his friend Phil, and Phil was totally out of it! Haha! It was hilarious! Phil asked us who we were with our badges and we said we were sister missionaries. He thought we said we were singers. But we had to yell that we were sisters. Then he started saying that he wanted to sing. Then he invited us to sing with him! Hahahaha! He asked if we knew the Beatles, and then he asked his friend, "Let's sing the Yellow Submarine!" And then he started singing it! On top of all of that Phil said, "Do you want some pop? I know I am going to drink beer but do you want some pop?" We kindly declined it and then left. Probably the most bizarre experience of the mission!! Haha!
On Thursday we taught a lot of people! We taught Roxy, and Sister John came with us! It was amazing! Then we saw Floyd and read the Book of Mormon with him, and then we tried Heather who is a less active. We drove through their driveway, and there was a barbed wire gate in front of their house. So I told Sister Steele, "Let's just climb through the gate and knock on the door!" So we did! They weren't home which was a bummer. Then the most awkward thing happened. As we walked back, a car comes up the driveway and parks right next to the other trailer. It was the most awkward situation! We told him we weren't trespassing but that the person that we were trying to see knew us. It was great! He didn't mind, which was good.
On Friday, we did a lot of weekly planning. For lunch we went to a Hawaiian grill called Kainoa's. It is really good! Then we went to Dairy Queen and got dilly bars. My childhood!! :) Later that day we had dinner with the Webb's. The father is less active, and their two boys aren't members, and neither is the mom! But the mom is from the Philippines!! We talked about the Philippines pretty much the whole time! I told the mother that my sister ate balut and she told me, "Ahhh she ate balut? I can't even eat it!" It was really funny! Then after dinner we helped with the Pima triathlon signup. There were so many people from around Arizona traveling down to Pima just so they could sign up for the triathlon! It isn't a complete triathlon. Just a mini one that consists of: 3 laps of swimming, 6 miles of biking, and then a mile and a half of running. There were even some little kids that signed up for the race!
So on Saturday we helped with the actual event. We were at the finish line, and we would give them water and a medal! There were definitely pros and cons of being at the finish line! It was amazing to cheer them on, but I will never forget the memory of a boy at the finish line spewing puke everywhere. I wish I could take back that memory.
On Sunday we had an awesome day full of spiritual nourishment! The most amazing thing that we experienced that Sunday was in 7th ward. So you all have been hearing about the Gilbert's in my letters. So Brother Giaque, who comes with us in the lessons told us that Brother Gilbert prayed, and he got an answer. As he told us that, we both just sobbed. We worked so hard to help him have the strength to pray, and he finally prayed. What a blessing from the Lord! I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week!
Love,
Sister Lindsay Dunn
On Thursday we taught a lot of people! We taught Roxy, and Sister John came with us! It was amazing! Then we saw Floyd and read the Book of Mormon with him, and then we tried Heather who is a less active. We drove through their driveway, and there was a barbed wire gate in front of their house. So I told Sister Steele, "Let's just climb through the gate and knock on the door!" So we did! They weren't home which was a bummer. Then the most awkward thing happened. As we walked back, a car comes up the driveway and parks right next to the other trailer. It was the most awkward situation! We told him we weren't trespassing but that the person that we were trying to see knew us. It was great! He didn't mind, which was good.
On Friday, we did a lot of weekly planning. For lunch we went to a Hawaiian grill called Kainoa's. It is really good! Then we went to Dairy Queen and got dilly bars. My childhood!! :) Later that day we had dinner with the Webb's. The father is less active, and their two boys aren't members, and neither is the mom! But the mom is from the Philippines!! We talked about the Philippines pretty much the whole time! I told the mother that my sister ate balut and she told me, "Ahhh she ate balut? I can't even eat it!" It was really funny! Then after dinner we helped with the Pima triathlon signup. There were so many people from around Arizona traveling down to Pima just so they could sign up for the triathlon! It isn't a complete triathlon. Just a mini one that consists of: 3 laps of swimming, 6 miles of biking, and then a mile and a half of running. There were even some little kids that signed up for the race!
So on Saturday we helped with the actual event. We were at the finish line, and we would give them water and a medal! There were definitely pros and cons of being at the finish line! It was amazing to cheer them on, but I will never forget the memory of a boy at the finish line spewing puke everywhere. I wish I could take back that memory.
On Sunday we had an awesome day full of spiritual nourishment! The most amazing thing that we experienced that Sunday was in 7th ward. So you all have been hearing about the Gilbert's in my letters. So Brother Giaque, who comes with us in the lessons told us that Brother Gilbert prayed, and he got an answer. As he told us that, we both just sobbed. We worked so hard to help him have the strength to pray, and he finally prayed. What a blessing from the Lord! I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week!
Love,
Sister Lindsay Dunn
Chelsea - April 11, 2016
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| Fernando and Marcelino!! |
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| I got to hold a little piglet!! They were about 6 hours old!! Cutest thing ever! |
So this week was super busy!! On Friday, we moved out! Elder Navarro, Elder Pandaog, Elder Saez, and Elder Murddock all came to help us which was super great!! It took about the whole day but we are finally moved in and there are no more rats! The new house is super nice... I will send pics. The only problem here is the spiders. Haha so funny cause a couple days ago, we saw this huge giant spider right next to my yoga mat. About the size of my hand. And so Tonette was actually visiting at that same time and so she tried to get it using flipflops and she failed and it ran and hid and I was like oohhhhh great, now it's lost in the house!! Haha but so funny cause last night we saw it again and it literally took us an hour to kill it. Two of us wanted to kill it and the other two were saying that thou shall not kill, etc. I was like, you don't want to kill it? Ok thats fine, but do you want that thing crawling on your face in the night as well as its 1000 future children in our house?! Haha so funny. Every time we tried to whack it, it dropped and ran towards us and we all were screaming sooo loud haha it was so funny. Finally it was on the wall and our plan was to trap it in a tupperware and everyone was so scared to trap so i had to do it... haha. Unfortunately I missed and cut its legs off accidentally and now it's dead!! hahaha probably the funniest experience ever. Don't worry, I took video!
Basically, we have the greatest investigator right now!! Her name is Charmaine and she is actually from the area near the stake center. But fortunately, she is dating a returned missionary in our ward and so she has started taking the lessons. On Friday we were able to teach her the restoration and she is super receptive. We also committed her to baptism on April 30 and she said yes!! We are super excited for her!! We also had such an interesting lesson yesterday. We have an investigator and his name is Sandy. He has a wife and they also have a baby. And they are married!! So that's a plus! His dad is a catholic pastor and so is his brother so it's definitely gonna be hard converting him haha. But what's cool is he's actually pretty receptive. So last night we visited him with four rm's from the ward haha (they are so good at teaching you just have to bring them along!) and before he started he said that he had something to say. He said, "So last night I prayed and asked God if Joseph Smith was a true prophet, and I didn't feel the holy spirit and so I just don't want you to keep coming here when I know that it's not true. I was born catholic and I'm not going to be changing my religion anytime soon." We were devastated but it was so perfect because our lesson was on the book of mormon and so we were able to share with him about the book of mormon and how we have to read it in order to know that joseph smith was a prophet of God. Basically the rm's taught, but they did a great job. They also talked to him about real intent with prayer and do we really have a real desire to know. After the lesson he said he was actually excited to read it and he committed to do that and ask God. Man it was such a powerful lesson and we are just praying and praying for him and asking God to answer his prayers.
We also had the opportunity to watch general conference in centro with air conditioning and in english! It was so glorious... Elder Holland's talk was definitely my top favorite. But I also loved Bednar's about the ordinances. Definitely expanded my views on that and helped me to become a better missionary when it comes to teaching about baptism, the holy ghost and the sacrament. Anyways, a really great week here in the Philippines! Love you all!
Sister Dunn
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| New Apartment! |
Taylor - April 11, 2016
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| Baptism of Cira. Brother Sabala is from la republica dominica. |
Ya so the week was a good one. Saw some awesome miracles! Ya it's weird to be back here on this side of the state. Sooo much different than miami! You feel so alone as well because we're in a two man house and we live so far away from everyone in the zone because it's so spread out, but it's cool!
Elder Craig is originally from Indianapolis, Indiana but only lived there for 3 years and now lives in santana valley/gilbert Arizona. I'm greenie breaking Elder Craig so he just got done being trained. He's a pretty serious guy and likes to do what he likes to do but he works hard and he's obedient so that's the best! He's still getting used to the mission schedule and isn't super faith filled because of lack of success in his eyes, but I'm doing all I can to be energetic and positive. We're sooo going to see some awesome miracles! With the Lord's help of course!
This week we set our investigator Dalton with a date but he has a night shift so it is really hard getting him to church. We have a chapel tour with him and we need to double check on his desires to progress because it has been difficult meeting with him. He keeps canceling on us!
The district is chill in Vanderbilt. There is sister buckley and sister livingood, in estero YSA. There is sister morrow and sister tarullo who are also STL's. As well in cypress grove there is elder hatch and elder keith. Everyone is english speaking, though I believe sister tarullo and sister livingood are spanish missionaries.
As far as conversations this week, not a lot of white people like to stand around and converse with missionaries but there was this one YSA girl we talked to who goes to some church and said there was a point in her life where she was super depressed and she kept going to church and it didn't help and so she kinda fell away from church. So I asked her what she was looking for in her life and she didn't really know, so we had an awesome chance to testify of the Church of Jesus Christ and invite her. Hopefully she will decide to come and see for herself! Then another conversation this week was actually just spanish speaking people so it was great. They of course were super open to a prayer and said they sometimes go to mass but they want more of the spirit and the gospel in their home. They said we could pass by anytime but they work only mornings every day I believe which is tough. We might stop by this week! I just feel bad inviting spanish people because I will be the one translating sacrament meeting for them and they don't have a ton of people to talk to or relate to since everyone basically is white! Pues asi es la vida!
Sounds like an awesome week and crazy week! First of all dang, villanova won. That's cool. Sounds like an intense game. Congrats for spence in tennis and prom. Looks fun. Thanks for the pics! Haha was one of the couples on the date Connor and Corinne? If so that's hilarious! And yep I will definitely be praying for spence in senior projects!
Love you guys, stay safe! -Elder Dunn
Sounds like an awesome week and crazy week! First of all dang, villanova won. That's cool. Sounds like an intense game. Congrats for spence in tennis and prom. Looks fun. Thanks for the pics! Haha was one of the couples on the date Connor and Corinne? If so that's hilarious! And yep I will definitely be praying for spence in senior projects!
Love you guys, stay safe! -Elder Dunn
Lindsay - April 11, 2016
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| The most interesting thing I have eaten on my mission....chia seed pudding! |
Hello everyone!
I hope you all had an amazing week! We actually got 2 days of rain this week! I was so happy! On Monday we went to Frye Mesa again! It is so beautiful up there in the mountains! On Tuesday we had a lesson with Roxy about enduring to the end. We read a great general conference talk about it called, "Stay by the Tree." You all should read it! Then we saw Kris after lunch. She is a recently returning member, and she loves coming to church! It has been hard lately because of her job, but she is so diligent! She wants to return to the temple, but she is struggling with the Word of Wisdom so we are helping her with that. Kris is the most loving person I have ever met in my life. She gets in your personal space A LOT which is sometimes a little awkward. Sister Steele isn't a fan of people getting in her personal space, and so she literally looked awkward the whole lesson. Haha! But it's ok!
On Wednesday, we had an awesome zone meeting about companionship inventories and planning. We talked about how we can work well with our companions as well as strive to be more specific in our goals when we plan. It was very helpful. We also visited Floyd and we read the Book of Mormon with him! It was actually really good for him. We talked about the chapter and asked questions to make sure he understood what it was talking about. We asked him if he had prayed to know if the Book of Mormon is true. He told us that he hadn't. That is why we are going to read the Book of Mormon more with him! Every time he reads by himself, he says that it doesn't make sense. Good thing we can read it and discuss it with him!
On Thursday we went to go see Heather our new potential investigator! We found out by the end of the lesson that she was less active:) Her son isn't a member though, so we are planning to teach him next week!
On Friday I woke up really dizzy and I had a massive headache and stomach ache. Whew, I was soooo sick!! The Lord truly helped me to make it through the day! We weekly planned and then we went to the Gilbert's. We taught Brother Gilbert the gospel of Jesus Christ. We had a good friend of his from the Ward come over and participate in the lesson. It was really good to have him there. At the beginning I bore my testimony to Brother Gilbert about how much we cared and loved him and how Satan wants to make him miserable. I told him of all the blessings that God has given us and how if he turns to Him that the burdens that he feels and the pain that he is going through can be lifted. It was an amazing lesson, and at the end, Brother Gilbert said that he felt something, but he didn't know what. :) (aka the Spirit:)
On Saturday we helped prepare for a triathlon that they are going to have next week. We folded ads and then helped to compile 1,600 envelopes for the event! Wow!! Later that day we saw the Tucker's (they are a less active family). The mom and the kids were home so we taught the kids about the Plan of Salvation. The 3 kids have the most energy I have ever seen in my life! There are 2 boys (ages 6 and 4), and a little girl that is 2 years old. They literally just wrestle each other the whole time! But once we got out the pictures to describe the Plan of Salvation, they were drilled in on those pictures:) haha! That is how you get kids attention! It was a really good lesson nonetheless!
On Sunday we had an amazing fast and testimony meeting. Of course when you cover 3 wards, the Spirit nags you to share your testimony in one of those sacrament meetings:) haha! I bore my testimony in 8th Ward, and I talked about the love of God, and that he provided for me the day that I got really sick. Later that day, we also taught Jason (our investigator) about the law of tithing. His mother has a hard time coming to church because she has a younger son who is autistic. So we suggested that members come and pick Jason up for church! She was open to it! Hallelujah! So hopefully next Sunday Jason will be at church!
That is my week everyone! I hope you know how much I appreciate your love and support. I love the Gospel, I know God is real, and that he is always mindful of us. He is always by our side when we need help!
I love you!
Sincerely,
Sister Lindsay Dunn
Holli - April 11, 2016
Hey Everyone!
So our preparation day switched to Saturday because we got to go to
the temple today. Sorry this letter will be super short but I love you
all so much!
We've had a good week here in Glendale! There is not much going on in
the area so it's a lot of street contacting and walking. We used to
have a car but another missionary needed it so we walk and bus
everywhere which makes it super fun!
There are also a lot of Armenians and one day we tried to street
contact this couple who looked like they were lost. We started asking
them if we could help them find where they needed to go and they were
smiling really big and talking in rapid fire Armenian to us. We kept
walking, asking if they were looking for the bus or something? They
started saying "Oh boosa, boosa!" We were like, "Yeah, the boosa! . .
. ?" They finally motioned this little ten year old kid over to help
translate between us and them. The wife said something to the boy and
he looked at us and said "She wants to know if she can help you know
where to go"
Haha, mental face palm. Alright, gotta go! Love you all!
Love, Sister Dunn
Taylor - April 6, 2016
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| The District |
By the way just so you know Dad I guessed NC and Villanova in our final four so I still have a little bit of basketball in me! NC will win. By the way you might need to reteach me how to play bball...ya.
Anyways, Cira's baptism was awesome! The guy baptizing her was a member in the ward and he was a little confused on how to do it. Let me just say it was a funny but great experience. She loved conference and we’re super happy for her!
As for transfers, this was actually surprising but I'm transferring! I’m going up to Bonita Springs which is in the Naples Zone. It’s an English area :( ya I was super disappointed about that and the area hasn't seen much success... Well I'm going to be a creator of circumstances and make it awesome!! I know the Lord called me there for a reason. I pray that I will be able to fulfill my purpose there!
We met this one woman yesterday who was from Peru but spoke good English. She invited us in without us saying anything, gave us some weird drink which I hope wasn’t tea.. and bananas. She didn't really know about religion until she came here and then she started reading the bible and is now going to a christian church. She knew a little about The Church of Jesus Christ because her great grandma and someone else that was related to her were both Mormon.
We got into a discussion about the priesthood. The difference is that they believe that Christ left the spirit with us so that we will be able to continue to have him with us and how the prophets were only needed before Christ to guide the people. When I used Amos 3:7 she said that was part of the old testament. I just testified the we believe that God didn’t take away prophets, that the priesthood is different from the holy spirit, and we invited her to church. She respects our beliefs and she was a super good christian woman. Man I should have used Ephesians 2:20 with her or Ephesians 3: 5-6 I believe is also good. Anyways that was a good conversation.
Another one was just on the doorstep and short and simple. This Latin guy from Cuba didn’t believe in God and we asked why and he said there is so much suffering and we testified that God loves us and we have trials and suffering to help us grow. Without it we wouldn't grow and then we testified of Jesus Christ and His church and his heart seemed to soften and he left us his number and said he would come check it out, so that was cool.
Conference was excellent and I can't remember which talk but one of them relates to our doorstep conversation. I think it's in 2 Nephi where there is a need for opposition in all things to be able to help us grow and be happy. Anyways ya so many of them were good. Unfortunately I don’t have too much time to write but I liked Hallstroms, Hollands, Uchtdorfs, and Stevensons talks a lot! I love you guys! Thanks for all your support and prayers! I pray for you all siempre! Love you!
Elder Dunn
Holli - April 4, 2016
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| Sister Terrill's 100th Birthday! |
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| Teaching our great kids! |
Ok transfer news - I'll be going to Glendale and I'm serving in the
Glendale 2nd Ward. (It's kind of by Sunland) I'm super sad to be
leaving Arcadia but I'm actually pretty excited to get out of the area
and change it up a bit.
My new companion is Sister Colson and she's bomb! She's been on her
mission since September and she's a wonderful Sister. We are super
excited. We are actually in the same Ward that the APs serve in so
pressure is on.
We had a really interesting experience at the bus stop the other day.
There was a lady sitting there next to her wheel chair and as we
approached she saw us, did a double take, and then grabbed her purse
and shifted down the bench. She looked super cold and we asked if she
was waiting for the 187 and she asked us why we wanted to know. We just
told her we were wondering what time it would arrive and apologized if
we had offended her. She sat there sullenly for a while and then
turned back to us and said: "So what do you guys really believe?"
We briefly explained the Restoration and how Christ's true church was
on the earth. She kind of grumbled about how some other Mormon's
believed differently than we did but we testified that the Book of
Mormon was true and that Christ lives today. It was really sad to see
her sitting there because she just looked miserable. It reminded me of
Lindsay's experience a few weeks back when she noted that all those
people who like to argue and bash with us are miserable - absolutely
miserable. And that's exactly what Satan wants. It's a comfort to me
that Christ invites all to come unto Him and as we do so, we allow His
light and His atonement to fill our lives and we can find that true
happiness.
We met with Neil pretty frequently this week as he is preparing to get
his patriarchal blessing. It was funny because he received his
blessing at 7:30 am Sunday morning and right before he was going to
leave he couldn't find the papers he had to bring so he was scrambling
around and freaking out when all of a sudden this voice tells him to
look in his backpack and he looks and the papers are sitting there,
right next to a copy of the sacramental prayers we had printed out for
him. Neil definitely has some amazing experiences with the Spirit!
Glendale 2nd Ward. (It's kind of by Sunland) I'm super sad to be
leaving Arcadia but I'm actually pretty excited to get out of the area
and change it up a bit.
My new companion is Sister Colson and she's bomb! She's been on her
mission since September and she's a wonderful Sister. We are super
excited. We are actually in the same Ward that the APs serve in so
pressure is on.
We had a really interesting experience at the bus stop the other day.
There was a lady sitting there next to her wheel chair and as we
approached she saw us, did a double take, and then grabbed her purse
and shifted down the bench. She looked super cold and we asked if she
was waiting for the 187 and she asked us why we wanted to know. We just
told her we were wondering what time it would arrive and apologized if
we had offended her. She sat there sullenly for a while and then
turned back to us and said: "So what do you guys really believe?"
We briefly explained the Restoration and how Christ's true church was
on the earth. She kind of grumbled about how some other Mormon's
believed differently than we did but we testified that the Book of
Mormon was true and that Christ lives today. It was really sad to see
her sitting there because she just looked miserable. It reminded me of
Lindsay's experience a few weeks back when she noted that all those
people who like to argue and bash with us are miserable - absolutely
miserable. And that's exactly what Satan wants. It's a comfort to me
that Christ invites all to come unto Him and as we do so, we allow His
light and His atonement to fill our lives and we can find that true
happiness.
We met with Neil pretty frequently this week as he is preparing to get
his patriarchal blessing. It was funny because he received his
blessing at 7:30 am Sunday morning and right before he was going to
leave he couldn't find the papers he had to bring so he was scrambling
around and freaking out when all of a sudden this voice tells him to
look in his backpack and he looks and the papers are sitting there,
right next to a copy of the sacramental prayers we had printed out for
him. Neil definitely has some amazing experiences with the Spirit!
We had dinner with the Hollings the other night and near the end of
dinner they had Gabriel and Natalie come over - Gabriel and Natalie are
both under eight and are the children of some less active members in
the Ward. They are super sweet though and we taught them the Plan of
Salvation. We would ask them a question about Heavenly Father's plan -
like where did we live before we came to earth - and their answers
were spot on and so confident. It's amazing to see the sincerity and
the trust children have in and towards God and their leaders.
We taught Zoe (who is also the daughter of members in the Ward who
will be baptized in July) and there was another member who had her
children there so they joined in on the lesson. Alex, Zoe, Lucy, and
Nicholas all joined in on our lesson about tithing (mainly because we
used jelly beans haha) and it was a pretty successful lesson!
General Conference was wonderful! I enjoyed most of the talks - though
I have to go back to my notes and look at my favorites. But I'll
definitely let you guys know!
Moving into Glendora today so pretty busy. Apparently it's a little
bit crazier than Arcadia - a lot of Armenians!
Love you all so much and hope you have a great week!
Love, Sister Dunn
dinner they had Gabriel and Natalie come over - Gabriel and Natalie are
both under eight and are the children of some less active members in
the Ward. They are super sweet though and we taught them the Plan of
Salvation. We would ask them a question about Heavenly Father's plan -
like where did we live before we came to earth - and their answers
were spot on and so confident. It's amazing to see the sincerity and
the trust children have in and towards God and their leaders.
We taught Zoe (who is also the daughter of members in the Ward who
will be baptized in July) and there was another member who had her
children there so they joined in on the lesson. Alex, Zoe, Lucy, and
Nicholas all joined in on our lesson about tithing (mainly because we
used jelly beans haha) and it was a pretty successful lesson!
General Conference was wonderful! I enjoyed most of the talks - though
I have to go back to my notes and look at my favorites. But I'll
definitely let you guys know!
Moving into Glendora today so pretty busy. Apparently it's a little
bit crazier than Arcadia - a lot of Armenians!
Love you all so much and hope you have a great week!
Love, Sister Dunn
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| Posing with Neil! |
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| The District |
Chelsea - April 4, 2016
Kumusta kayo lahat?!
This week has been an exhausting week! It started out with saying goodbye to Sister Clarin. Definitely a sad moment.. Haha we were waiting with her on the highway for a van and once the van came she quickly hugged us and then got right on without even looking at us. haha she's been super sad to leave but I think she's ready for the next part of her life. Right after that, Sister Elix and I got out of the apartment and just worked and worked. Honestly, its been the most exhausting week of my whole mission. Also, its been the hottest week of my mission. It was about 105 or something like that and we were sweating so bad. I dont even think I've ever sweat that much hahaha. But our work was great this week.
On Wednesday we were out tracting in San Andres and we walked by this house and I just saw a guy watching tv so we just kept walking but Sister Elix stopped and we returned to the house. We ended up teaching three new investigators there and also there was one guy who sat in and listened. We then asked if they had any questions and this guy says that he has one. He said that his sister's husband got in an accident a couple weeks ago and he is now paralyzed from the neck down. And his sister is starting to go crazy and she tried to kill herself and he wanted us to stop by and share or pray for them. I was like ummmm...sure. Can we come back on Friday?? Cause we were like what are we supposed to say to her?! So on Friday, we were able to find this girl and her husband and share a message. She wasn't actually that crazy so that was a relief and we just told her about why God gives us challenges and how to overcome them. It was a good lesson and we are planning on returning this week to actually share about the gospel and how that will be able to help her a lot more.
Haha i have now become immune to rats! We were teaching a lesson in this one house and two rats ran across the floor in front of us while we were teaching and then I saw a rat on the bed and another rat on the stove and it literally didn't bother me at all! This mission is definitely toughening me up! haha!
So yesterday, Tatay Fernando and Tatay Marcelino didn't come to church. I was so frustrated and pretty much done haha. I guess I have just felt like we've been forcing them to come to church when they actually don't want to and I feel like they don't understand the lessons very well and so I've just kinda been stressed out. But we went and taught them yesterday with our ward mission leader and they said that their mormon neighbor told them that church was in ilagan because of general conference (which is next week) and so they didn't come hahaha. And then tatay fernando said, "Marcelino and I have been catholic our whole lives. But we believe in your message and we want to join your church now." When he said that I almost cried. They don't express their feelings a lot and so I've never really known how they are feeling about us teaching them and so when he said that it was definitely a sign from Heavenly Father to keep on teaching them and being patient. The spirit is teaching them the truth of the gospel. Definitely one of the good moments this week.
So we are moving in to our new house on Thursday! It is still in the process of being built but it is way nicer than our old apartment and so we are super excited! I will send you pics next Monday! Also, some recent news haha. It started out with my head really itching on Friday and finally last night I told Sister Elix to look in my hair. Yes people... I have lice. I am so grossed out at myself it's not even funny.... haha. So last night and all this morning, Sister Elix has been so great and just went through my hair and tried to get them all. Basically they said it's because of the heat. When it's super hot outside a ton of people get lice. Sister Ilago said you can even get it just talking to someone on the jeepney next to you. Fortunately the the bugs in my hair haven't laid eggs yet. That's when it gets super bad. Haha but there are definitely a ton of them in my hair and every time Sister Elix found one she would freak out and Sister Ilago would have to come kill it. Haha so that's the exciting story of the week! I just love being a missionary and all the little things that come along with it! hahaha love you all!
Sister Dunn
So yesterday, Tatay Fernando and Tatay Marcelino didn't come to church. I was so frustrated and pretty much done haha. I guess I have just felt like we've been forcing them to come to church when they actually don't want to and I feel like they don't understand the lessons very well and so I've just kinda been stressed out. But we went and taught them yesterday with our ward mission leader and they said that their mormon neighbor told them that church was in ilagan because of general conference (which is next week) and so they didn't come hahaha. And then tatay fernando said, "Marcelino and I have been catholic our whole lives. But we believe in your message and we want to join your church now." When he said that I almost cried. They don't express their feelings a lot and so I've never really known how they are feeling about us teaching them and so when he said that it was definitely a sign from Heavenly Father to keep on teaching them and being patient. The spirit is teaching them the truth of the gospel. Definitely one of the good moments this week.
So we are moving in to our new house on Thursday! It is still in the process of being built but it is way nicer than our old apartment and so we are super excited! I will send you pics next Monday! Also, some recent news haha. It started out with my head really itching on Friday and finally last night I told Sister Elix to look in my hair. Yes people... I have lice. I am so grossed out at myself it's not even funny.... haha. So last night and all this morning, Sister Elix has been so great and just went through my hair and tried to get them all. Basically they said it's because of the heat. When it's super hot outside a ton of people get lice. Sister Ilago said you can even get it just talking to someone on the jeepney next to you. Fortunately the the bugs in my hair haven't laid eggs yet. That's when it gets super bad. Haha but there are definitely a ton of them in my hair and every time Sister Elix found one she would freak out and Sister Ilago would have to come kill it. Haha so that's the exciting story of the week! I just love being a missionary and all the little things that come along with it! hahaha love you all!
Sister Dunn
Lindsay - April 4, 2016
Hello everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful general conference weekend! This week went by so quickly, it is crazy! On Tuesday we met with Roxy our investigator. She is doing so well, and she is so excited to be baptized! She is so happy, and it makes us so happy to see her change and grow in the gospel. We watched the Restoration video and then talked about the Book of Mormon. It was so funny because during the lesson we were going to ask her if she had prayed to know if the Book of Mormon was true or if Joseph Smith was a true prophet. But then she surprised us and told us that she had prayed and she felt good about it, and she got emotional about it. We didn't even have to ask her the question! She is an amazing person and has become such a happy person because of the gospel! She is so excited to raise her son in the church! :)
On Wednesday we saw Floyd again! It was a really good lesson. We listened to the talk, "What Lack I Yet." It is just what Floyd needed! We asked Floyd about what things he could give up in his life to follow God's will instead of his own. He didn't really know, but I suggested, "What about your iced tea Floyd?" That is when he hesitated. So we are definitely going to work with him on the Word of Wisdom. It is hard because he says that in his prayers he asks for help, but he doesn't receive it. We are trying to focus on helping him live ALL of the commandments of God so that he can receive the fullest of blessings to get help. He also prayed at the end of the lesson which was really good.
On Thursday we met with an older lady in the Ward named Gwena. We invited her son to join in the lesson with us. It was a really good lesson! We talked about the Restoration. Gwena is hard of hearing so we literally had to shout to make sure she heard us. When we reached the part of the first vision, I was contemplating whether to share Joseph Smith's experience in his own words. But I decided not to do that cause I didn't feel comfortable yelling the first vision:) haha! Then we had a lesson with Devan at the Hargis home. We finally set a solid baptismal date with him! Before we hadn't met with him as often because he was struggling with some family issues. But he is finally ready to be baptized on the 30th of April. It is awesome because while meeting with him he was very honest about the things that he was slacking on. He told us that he hadn't read the Book of Mormon in a little bit, and that he had been slacking on coming to church. He told us that he now has multiple alarms to get him up in the morning to come to church at 9am! Haha!
On Friday we met with the Gilbert's again! This lesson was definitely a better lesson! We talked about the Plan of Salvation. Their son Chuck participated with us in the lesson. He is struggling with cancer right now, so it has been hard on their family. But I can definitely see that it has brought them closer together. Brother Gilbert is still looking for a kick in the bum from God so that he knows that God is there. He even knows that God doesn't work that way! But yet, he still wants that type of sign that He is there! At this point in the lesson, Chuck said something like this to his dad, "You don't have to have a huge manifestation to know that God is there! I received an answer by praying and having a peaceful feeling that He loved me and that He was there." It was amazing to have him sit in the lesson! When we talked about the subject of prayer, Brother Gilbert told us of a time in his life when he didn't receive an answer to his prayer, so he has stopped praying since. So that is another hurdle we have to face! But it is so fun! Even though it is a struggle sometimes with the people that we teach, I know that they and we will be changed because of it! Missionary work is great!
On Saturday we went to General Conference!!! I love General Conference weekend!! It is sooo fun!!! Then on Sunday we went to the Norton's and then the Hargis's for General Conference! It was awesome! Devan, our investigator went to both sessions on Sunday at the stake center! We were so happy! So that is my week! I hope you enjoy the warm weather! I love you all! :)
Sincerely,
Sister Lindsay Dunn
On Friday we met with the Gilbert's again! This lesson was definitely a better lesson! We talked about the Plan of Salvation. Their son Chuck participated with us in the lesson. He is struggling with cancer right now, so it has been hard on their family. But I can definitely see that it has brought them closer together. Brother Gilbert is still looking for a kick in the bum from God so that he knows that God is there. He even knows that God doesn't work that way! But yet, he still wants that type of sign that He is there! At this point in the lesson, Chuck said something like this to his dad, "You don't have to have a huge manifestation to know that God is there! I received an answer by praying and having a peaceful feeling that He loved me and that He was there." It was amazing to have him sit in the lesson! When we talked about the subject of prayer, Brother Gilbert told us of a time in his life when he didn't receive an answer to his prayer, so he has stopped praying since. So that is another hurdle we have to face! But it is so fun! Even though it is a struggle sometimes with the people that we teach, I know that they and we will be changed because of it! Missionary work is great!
On Saturday we went to General Conference!!! I love General Conference weekend!! It is sooo fun!!! Then on Sunday we went to the Norton's and then the Hargis's for General Conference! It was awesome! Devan, our investigator went to both sessions on Sunday at the stake center! We were so happy! So that is my week! I hope you enjoy the warm weather! I love you all! :)
Sincerely,
Sister Lindsay Dunn
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