Taylor - April 6, 2016

The District

Hey fam! Wow sounds like quite a week and busy weeks to come! I'll pray for you all in everything you are doing!

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

Sister Terrill's 100th Birthday!

Teaching our great kids!

Hello Everyone!

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!

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

Posing with Neil!

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

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