Taylor - July 21, 2015

Hey Mom and Dad! 

Wow sounds like you had a busy but super fun week this week! Thanks for all the details! I can honestly say my email won't be as long as yours haha! You got to ride Segways, that must have been fun! And oh man the San Diego temple is gorgeous, that's one of my favorites!  Sounds like Spencer is having an awesome time as well going from one trip to the other, he's probably loving it! 

Okay ahora voy a escribir mi email en espanol! Entonces por esta semana tuvimos mas miembros salir con nosotros. Tambien tuvimos muchas oportunidades para ensenar durante el tiempo teniamos que tocar puertas. Haha so ya it was pretty effective and it really helped us out during the week. I'm trying to work on my Spanish as much as possible and I hope I will be able to improve faster! Also, we have been running almost every morning to the church and back which is a total of about 2.3 miles which is awesome! I still have a ton more fat than muscle on my body though haha. 

So our week was great! We had a chance to go out with more members to teach our investigators which was super nice! I felt we did really well teaching this week which really helped us to determine who was willing to change and who was not. You are right, just getting in front of people is the best thing to do. A good analogy for that is having our lines (or I guess nets back in the old days) in the water. As long we are out there with our lines in the water we have the best chance to find  someone. If we don't have our lines in the water it's impossible. 

So with Maria and her husband, they didn't come to church this week so we were kinda sad since they seemed so solid. We visited them later that day and figured out that they felt pressured to go to church and do all these things. We testified that as representatives of Jesus Christ all we do is invite people to come to church and to do the things necessary to be happy. We aren't forcing them in any way. I think they had been studying with jw's and felt forced to do everything to become a member. Truly though it is their agency, it's up to them whether to come to church or not and I think that made them feel better for some reason. So, they committed to come to the Wednesday night activity as well as church this week which is boss! 

We also met Olga last week who is a member but hasn't been to the church here in Florida. She used to go to church in Peru but then she moved here and has been sick. She came to church on Sunday and we visited her yesterday. She also has a daughter in law who used to go to church in Peru with her cousins and other family but hasn't gone here yet. She said she would come to church this Sunday and we are excited to visit them again. The husband isn't as excited about it but we haven't really been able to meet him officially so we'll see if he would like to hear the message of the gospel as well! Although, I'm actually getting transferred so I won't be able to see their progression! So one and done in Hialeah which is crazy! Elder Nielsen is staying and training. They are taking the car away from him this transfer so basically he's having a nervous breakdown in every way possible. Haha I just keep encouraging him and trying to pump him up. He's an awesome missionary, he will do great! So since I’m being transferred I don’t have the address yet so I will give it to you next pday!  

Anyways, ya so that kinda sums up the week! By the way did I tell you Elder Johns has been in my zone this transfer? He's pretty boss haha he says he regrets not hanging out with me before the mish, haha man I must be a cool kid ;) 

Love ya Mom and Dad thanks for everything!

Elder Dunn

Lindsay - July 20, 2015

Thank you so much for the letters!! I truly needed that counsel! :) so transfers.........  So my trainer Sister Mizell is being transferred!!!! She is going to Sierra Vista!  It's kind of confusing but yeah! So Sister Mizell isn't finishing my training and she is going to Sierra Vista. But I have been asked to drive and take over the area even though I have only been here for 6 weeks!! I am excited! But of course I'm scared out of my mind. When I got the call I literally felt like throwing up. Usually when a new missionary is left by her trainer, the new missionary is prepared to take over the area because the trainer goes home from their mission, so it rarely happens that someone isn't

prepared.... Which is me! So yeah! And Sister Mizell is taking her GPS so I have no idea where I'm going!!! Haha:) my goal is to be positive because I know that I can't do anything without the Lord. It is definitely going to be a challenge, but my new companion is from Hawaii, and everyone says she has a really positive attitude for missionary work so I'm thrilled to have her as a companion!  So I'm excited! So out of all the missionaries in my zone, 5 of them will be staying here. I'm soooooo sad about that! I will truly miss all of them. I'm not even kidding, Sister  Mizell and I had crying breakdowns in church the other day. Even though we have  had our rough patches, she and I have truly loved teaching and serving together. She has told me that she has never cried when a companion left her (or cried in general)  so I must have made an impact! I'm truly going to miss her!  

This week was great! I feel like this letter is going to be a novel so bare with me! :) 

So on Monday I told you last week we went on the hike! That was exhausting! Then on Tuesday, Sister Mizell and I participated in a Missionary work mutual activity. There were three groups of youth and they would rotate doing different stations. We taught a mini lesson on using the basics of Preach My Gospel. It was great, and we had a fun time discussing missionary work with the youth! On Wednesday we had a District meeting. We talked about helping our investigators feel the Spirit. I love district meetings because we all are united as missionaries and we discuss things and strengthen each other as we share our testimonies. Then after the meeting we had a Zone breakout meeting. This is when all of the missionaries that are leaving bare their testimony. It was very powerful and the Spirit was definitely there. Thursday was great! No one seems to be home on Thursdays but we visited 4 less actives!! It was a miracle!!! On Friday we visited a couple of people and then we did weekly planning! I love weekly planning because we focus on every individual we teach and what our goals are for them. On Saturday we had a mini missionary experience. In the West Stake, all those who are getting ready for missions or want to serve a mission go out with the Sisters or Elders and teach with us! I think that it is great to get the youth involved! We received a sister who had gotten her mission call already! She is so excited to go on a mission, and it was amazing to have her go with us and proselyte! She seems very enthusiastic about serving, which is great! 

On Sunday, we went to the Tortolita and Countryside wards. The speakers talked about pioneers and how we can be modern day pioneers. Then in Relief Society we talked about Temples. Sister Mizell and I taught the Restoration to one of our investigators Maryanne. She is so close to being baptized but she still hasn't gained a testimony of the priesthood authority. But it's ok! I truly believe that one day she will discover for herself that this is the true church!! In Sacrament meeting Sister Mizell and I were literally crying! We do not want to leave each other! I feel like I can teach very well with her, and we balance our lessons pretty well! I just hope that it will be like that with my new companion! Well that is my week! I love you all and I am so grateful for you and your examples! I hope you all have a great week!! 

Much love,

Sister Dunn

Holli - July 20, 2015

This week has been pretty good. We did a lot of knocking, trying to find some investigators and that was tough but we found a promising family. We walked up this one street called Mountain and seriously, you are climbing up a mountain, to find a referral but she wasn't home! So we knocked doors all the way down and that was fun. Thank goodness it was downhill. We stopped by a members house at the bottom
of this mountain and she is just the sweetest. She served a mission in Italy and made us laugh with all of her crazy stories!

We were doing lots of service this week and that was insane. A member was having her floors redone so we had to basically cram the contents of her entire house into one bathroom. That took some major packing skills. Our whole district ended up having to help so it was a district bonding moment for sure. After that we ate at KFC and I was
so excited but my poor companion told me "Never again!" - she doesn't eat much junk food.

We went to visit an investigator this week and her mother in law is a member but doesn't speak hardly any English. The investigator (Linda) wasn't there and we saw her mother in law (Ophelia) pulling weeds so we offered to help. She kept saying "No, no!" (She didn't want us to get our dresses dirty) but we persevered! She grew these gorgeous roses so she gave us a cute little bouquet afterwards and hugged and
kissed us - so sweet!

It has rained for 2 days straight here - weird! We biked the first day and got so soaked! (Sister Robinson has lots of pic.'s so we'll get them to you soon :). ) we also taught this guy named Jose who doesn't live in our boundaries - we are a bit concerned that he likes the Sisters more than the message - but he has lots of questions and knows
the Bible front and back so that's good. We are encouraging him to read the Book of Mormon. At the end of he lesson Jose asked if it was ok to hug us as a thank you. I told him no, but we could give him a meaningful fist bump :) that was cool.

All right, ready for the big news? So it was transfer calls this week and we didn't think Sister Robinson would be transferred because she has to finish my training. However, she is being transferred to Azusa which is about 20 minutes away and is going to be the Sister Training Leader over there! So she will be my STL and she is in my zone so I
should see her often. Lots of people in my zone are training... 
Including me!! Haha, kind of jk :) So my new companion will be . . .Sister Duncan!! She was my MTC companion!  So we both have been out six weeks! Holy cow we are going to die! I just barely learned how to ride a  bike and now I'll have to orient her around Claremont and Pomona! I'm just a teensy bit nervous. So technically we are finishing each other's training - this doesn't happen very often but it's kind of cool!

That's about all from here in Claremont. Thank you for your prayers - definitely appreciated and needed! We will be relying on the Lord to train us this week - He knows the area and the people much better than I do but I'm stoked to be with Sister Duncan again. President called Sister Robinson and I on Saturday to tell us and then Sister Duncan
called us later that night and thought Sister Robinson would be her companion until I told her I was. We both freaked out :) Love you all and hope you have a great week!!

Mom: I did get your package this week - thank you so much! 

The m&ms were life savers!! And so was the camera cord :)
I'll try it out today. Loved the pics of you and Christy - super 

awesome! Sounds like you had lots of fun :) Glad the funeral 

went ok and I'm sad Bro. And Sis. Davis are moving :( 

Glad that they're happy!

Dad: Thank you for all that you do for our family! Love you so much :) Glad I could make Grandpa laugh, though he did take me down to Simplot offices one day and I couldn't tell him which way was North and which way was South so not knowing what a graveyard shift is sounds like me.

Spencer: Dang you're having such a fun summer!! I hope EFY was good and you learned something :) Looks like you've been having tons of fun with the cousins! Thank you for the letter - I'm glad you got my letter! I was so worried someone had like stolen it or something! Love ya Spence, and have a great week!

Love you all so much! Thank you for the letters, prayers, pictures and support. Have an amazing week!

Sister Dunn

Alma Court...The Book of Mormon is true!

Happy 4th of July!

Got a little wet riding bikes today!

Lindsay - July 13, 2015

Dear Mom,

Sorry I didn't email earlier but we got up at 5:30 in the morning to
go on a hike. I'm not even kidding you, I almost got heat exhaustion!! I brought a lot of water, but I get dehydrated fast so it was tough! We were literally climbing on our hands and knees to get up the mountain of rocks! It was a great view though! One time during the hike, we got off trail and we were literally climbing up so many rocks to get up on the right trail! It isn't paved very good for about 3/4 of the hike so I just followed those that were in front of me:) (the hike is called Sombrero). It took 2 hours to get up and 2 hours to get down. Whew! It was hard, and HOT!!! I'm never going hiking in Arizona again! We were so dead by the end! But it's ok, it was an adventure!!!!

So this week we visited a lot of less actives and we did a lot of
service projects. On Wednesday we had a zone meeting. It was really good, and we had a lot of participation throughout the meeting. Thursday's for us are kind of slow because no one is home but we came in contact with some of them and we have returning appointments this week! On Friday we went to the Blanco's and painted their kitchen! It took a long time but it was fun!! I seriously love our area!! The people are so sweet and I love getting to know all of them! 

Sunday was a great day! We went to many meetings and enjoyed our time learning more about this gospel. I seriously love the Gospel Principles class!! It is so nice to just learn about the basics and strengthen my testimony of the gospel. I love my mission! It is so hard, but I have learned so many things while I have been here: I have learned patience, I have learned how to have true charity towards others, and I have learned that my testimony is so vital to hastening the work of the Lord. I truly believe that when I bear my testimony of this gospel, that is when I feel the Spirit the most. I am so grateful to be a missionary, and to share the light of the gospel with others! Thank you for your prayers and encouragement! I love you all!!!

Much love,
Sister Dunn