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| Sister Handy and I with Jayci on her baptism day! |
Hello Everyone!
Wow this week has been crazy!!! My new area is in
Sierra Vista in the Pomerene and Patton wards! The members here are
amazing, and I love the area already!!! And it is green! :) My new
companion is Sister Handy! I was in the MTC with her, so it is nice to
know her and work with her! She is very sweet and sassy, but I love
it!! Haha! She has been in Sierra Vista for 6 months, so at the end of
this transfer it will be 7 and 1/2!! She thought she was going to get
transferred, but I guess not! It has been a hard adjustment to the
area, but every change in the mission is hard, so I am ready to face
the challenges that lay ahead! I feel weird being an STL! Haha! I
don't really know what I am doing, so I know these next 3 months will
be an adventure! But I am excited to get to know the sisters! Sister
Handy and I are covering 5 sister companionships!!! Wow! The usual
amount that we cover is 3, so a big load has been placed upon our
shoulders! But I am grateful for the chance that I have to learn and
grow.
On Tuesday when I arrived in Pomerene our first appointment was
with our mission leader from Patton Ward. He is awesome, and I am
excited to work with the members here! After dinner, we met with the
Wright's who are a recent convert family! They haven't been to church
in a few weeks, so we are working on helping them to come to church!
After visiting the Wright's we went and visited the Sparkman's. Sister
Sparkman is pretty active, but Brother Sparkman isn't as active. So we
read a talk with them and invited them to church. We are also working
with Brother Sparkman to go to the temple!
On Wednesday, we did some service in the morning with the Benson Food
Bank. Sister Handy and I signed in all the individuals that came to pick up
food. We did it out in the blazing sun for 2 hours!!! Wow it was hot and humid!
The night before it had rained, and so it felt a little muggy. After service we
went to district meeting. Our district is amazing! We have a great
district leader named Elder Perry. He is training an elder and then
Sister Sayer is in my district with Sister Benson!! I am so glad that
I know most of the missionaries in my district! Later in the day we
met with Justin and Amy. Justin is a recent convert, and Amy is a less
active. We have been working with them, and Justin has been thinking
about getting a patriarchal blessing. So we explained what a
patriarchal blessing was, and we were able to invite them to church!
On Thursday we had 3 member present lessons! Heck yeah! We met with
Vikki who is friends with a lady in the St. David Ward. Vikki is
amazing! She told us that whenever she meets with us she feels peace.
We had such a powerful discussion! When I recited Joseph Smith's
vision, we asked her afterward how she felt. She told us, "It was
magical, it was real!" And then she told me that I was heartfelt. I
just love it when through another person you feel the love of God. It
is the greatest feeling ever! After Vikki's lesson we had dinner with
an investigator! Her name is Jo, and Brother Fletcher from Patton Ward
is her brother. So it was nice to have him there. Jo had one of her
dogs pass away, so she was having a hard time. But it was so nice of
her to feed us, even though she was going through some hard times. We
had a great lesson with her, and I knew that she felt the Spirit
because she told us that she misses church, and that she committed to
being there on Sunday. Jo is amazing, but one thing she won't do is
give up smoking. From what I heard from Sister Handy, she wants to
change, and she has the desire to be better, but she doesn't take
action. Faith + Action = Power!! After Jo's lesson we went to go see
another one of our investigators named Donnie. His daughter Brittany
is an active member of the church, and so she sat in for part of the
lesson. Donnie is definitely a character! He is very straightforward
and blunt, but we really do appreciate it! He has a lot of concerns
with the doctrine, but we were at least able to talk about it, and
help him feel the Spirit. Right now, he is searching, and he doesn't
know what direction to take. So we talked about prayer, and how he can
find answers to the questions that he has. I think it really comes
down to faith. If you have a lot of concerns about The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-Day Saints, well..... Ask God! He will let you know
what is true! You just need to trust in Him and ask!
On Friday, we did some weekly planning, and we also met with Jayci!
She is the cutest and sweetest girl! We taught her the Plan of Salvation.
We used the pictures, and she really enjoyed the lesson. We are planning to
continue to teach her the lessons, so that she understands the gospel
more fully. On Saturday, Jayci got baptized! It was such a sweet
experience, and the Spirit was definitely felt! Her Dad is a less
active member, and her mom is a non member, but they really wanted her
to be baptized! We are excited to ask the mom if she wants to take the
missionary lessons!! After the baptism, we did some service for a part
member family. They were so appreciative of the Ward coming out to
help them. We also met with Brother Fenn. He was baptized last year,
and He has a lot of stories to tel! When we ask him about the gospel,
he really opens up about his life, and how he has learned from his
mistakes and has embraced the gospel! After visiting with Brother
Fenn, we went to the general women's meeting! We had a dinner before,
and there were so many girls and women there! It was such a great
turnout! I LOVED the general women's session of General Conference!
And I loved listening to President Utchdorf's talk! I think we all
definitely need more faith, especially right now with the world the
way it is. I am so grateful for the gospel, and the foundation it
gives me. I know that with the gospel I don't need to fear.
On Sunday we taught Primary in Pomerene Ward! She talked about
missionary work, and we gave each of the kids a "mission call". We
copied my mission call, and then on the copy we put that the kids were
called to serve in Pomerene. It was so cute to be able to ask them questions,
and involve them in learning more about missionary work! The kids were so
cute! The Pomerene and Patton wards are amazing! I am grateful to be
able to serve here. I know that these 3 months will be hard for me,
but I know that I will grow and stretch. That is what the Lord always
has in mind for me! He knows that I need constant challenges and
trials! But in the Bible Dictionary under conversion it says,
"Complete conversion comes after many trials and much testing". I know
that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true! I love
you all, and I love being a missionary!
Sincerely,
Sister Dunn
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