Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Lindsay - July 3, 2016

Hi Everyone!

Oh my goodness what a week it has been!! I love training soooooo much!

My new sister missionary is Sister Brinkerhoff. She is from Missouri.

She is the sweetest thing! She is very quiet, and doesn't say

much. But when she does speak, it is powerful. I love training her!

She is definitely obedient which I am so grateful for! On the first

day, she was very very shy. She also looked pretty nervous. I say that

because half the people we saw the first day asked if Sister

Brinkerhoff was ok. I think they could tell that she looked nervous,

haha! I remember those few moments of anxiety the first day! It brings

back fond memories:)


So on Tuesday we had a trainer, trainee meeting.

Then we all went to lunch. So Sister Sayer, Sister Condie, and Hermana

Kerr are training! It was such a relief knowing that I knew some

sisters that were training with me! It brings me a lot of comfort. We

drove 3 hours just to get there from Silver City! We are really on the

outskirts of our mission!! So, rewind to a couple days ago when

I was preparing to train. Our dinner canceled on the day that the new

sister would come into the area. So I called a bunch of families in

the ward and asked them if they could provide a meal for us.

Thankfully, a family offered to feed us! And then I set 2 appointments

after that! The first day went great! I was totally not expecting

that, because the last time I trained, the day didn't go as planned:)

So it surprised me! We had dinner with the Jenkins family, and

then we went to the Porter's (Stake President), and taught the

Restoration. It was a great experience! The Spirit was so strong! Then

we visited a returning member, Sister Post. She was so sweet to Sister

Brinkerhoff. Sister Brinkerhoff is 4'11" and so Sister Post just

treated her like she was her own child. It was so sweet:)


On Wednesday, we had an awesome district meeting! We talked about

adjusting to missionary life, and setting goals as a companionship to

help each other transition. It was really good! Then we had a great

lesson with Avery. We were talking about service, and teaching and

learning, and Avery made a comment about something that he learned in

primary. He talked about how testimonies are like pieces of string. If

you have only one string, you can break it easily, and that represents

a weak testimony. But if you have a lot of pieces of string tied

together, it's harder to break. That is a strong testimony. It was so

cool to see his face light up about something that he learned in

primary. It was a great lesson! For dinner we went to Bishop Roth's

home. We helped them grease the horse stall railings. It was a fun

job! Then we had waffles for dinner! It was so good!



On Thursday we had a lesson with Asia. Oh my goodness, I have never

seen someone that happy! Literally, by the end of the lesson, my cheeks

hurt from smiling so much! She brings so much joy into the world, it is amazing!

We talked to her about family history, and told her about the family

history center. She was so excited to find out that she could find

family names and take them to the temple!


We also had a lesson with David. We talked about the Atonement, and

asked him questions about it, and how it has helped him in his life.

It was a powerful lesson. Sister Brinkerhoff, in the middle of the

discussion talked about the scripture in John 15:13. It says, "Greater

love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his

friends." David made a comment about that scripture, and how in the

military they would always refer to that scripture. He told us that he

never thought of the scripture as a verse that applied to the

Atonement. So it was really cool to see, that he learned something new

that made an impact on him. For dinner that night we went to the

Meija's for dinner. Oh my goodness I love that family! Brother Mejia

is a goofball! He went to the Philippines on his mission, and I asked

him all about it! He said that during his mission, his mom sent

him some crocs. This was the first time that they had come out with

crocs, and so when he got the package that had only one shoe in it, he

said, "What the heck?" Then a month and a half later he got the other

shoe. So apparently in the Philippines, if you send a pair of shoes

in the mail, the people will steal them, no matter the size. He also

told us that hot dogs in the Phiippines are nasty, and that he would

rather eat balut or bat than eat that. Haha! Oh my word, I was

hysterically laughing!!! :)


On Saturday we went and saw Sister Scott. She wasn't doing so well,

so we called the elders before the appointment to have them come over

and give her a blessing. Wow, was that experience draining. She felt better

after the blessing, but she was very anxious. I talked to her, and encouraged

her and tried to be as positive as I could. It is hard to teach someone that has

a mental illness. But, there is a joy that comes from helping them and

encouraging them. In a way I felt like I could relate a little bit to

how Sister Scott was feeling. She would say something that was

negative about herself, and I would immediately tell her that that

thought wasn't from God, and that she should choose to be happy. It

was definitely an interesting experience.


On Sunday, we had a wonderful Sabbath! There were so many great people

from 3rd Ward that bore their testimony. The Spirit was definitely there. After church,

we did some studies, and then met with a member of the YSA to go see

an investigator. When we went to his home, he was there, so we decided

to see a less active that we had met briefly only once. He was home!

We had a great discussion with him! He was very honest and

straightforward about what he was struggling with. He told us that he

has a hard time obeying the Word of Wisdom. He also talked about how

he hasn't come to church in a while. It was weird, because during the

lesson he told us that he wasn't ready to make the change. But then

towards the end, he asked, "So what do I need to do to be able to go

to the temple?" Yay!!! There is hope for this man!


I am so grateful to be a missionary and share my testimony with

everyone! I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

is true! I hope you all have a Happy 4th of July! I love you all!! :)


Sincerely,

Sister Dunn

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