Holli - January 25, 2016

Da Jiā hao!

It has been a pretty amazing week!

Sister Maughan left for Glendora on Sunday so Sister Ausen became my

companion for this week. She doesn't have a bike so we've been busing

and walking but we've enjoyed every minute!

We met this sweet Egyptian family this week. We actually had caroled

to them around Christmas time on accident but Sister Maugan had the

impression that we should go meet them a couple weeks after. The mom

is Maria and she has three kids, Josiah, Daniel, and Angelina. She was

telling us that she came to America for her church. She told us she

joined her church because she felt this great light come into her

heart when the choir sang. But when she came to America and started

going to the church here she felt that the light had dimmed. We taught

her the Restoration but because she speaks and understands mostly

Arabic, she got confused pretty quickly. We were able to give her a

Book of Mormon and Restoration pamphlet in Arabic but it's pretty

frustrating because she goes to her church pretty much because it's

the only one in Arabic. Our mission has missionaries for 7 different

languages but Arabic isn't one of them! However, Sister Ausen's

brother-in-law who lives in Italy currently, knows Arabic so we are

trying to set up a Skype between him and Maria so he can teach her the

gospel.

We were walking one day and we saw this guy (Ryan) sitting at a bus

stop. We got to talking and he had had some pretty rough experiences

through the his life. We were next to a pretty busy street but I felt

impressed to show him this video about two brothers going through

pretty hard things and eventually turning to Christ. By the end of the

video Ryan was sobbing over the iPad. The spirit was so strong and we

both just felt this love for Ryan, even though we didn't really know

him. We gave him a couple websites and some information to help him

out and invited him to church. We hope the Lord continues to direct

him!

We had a missionary broadcast on Wednesday morning and it was amazing!

It was a really neat experience knowing that I was watching the

broadcast along with my siblings :)

On Friday night I switched companions to the Chinese Sisters. It was

super cool because Friday night they have their "sports night" where

investigators and members come to learn how to play badminton and

shoot some hoops if they want. It was pretty awesome!

On Saturday we had English class - I got to teach bit of that :) There

was only one lady there but she was so sweet and her English is pretty

good. Haha, I think I made her English worse!

We've just been running around a lot this weekend! The Chinese Sisters

are pretty busy so we have lots of lessons which is awesome. I've

picked up a little Chinese but not too much. Sister Huang has been out

for almost a year and speaks both Chinese and English and Sister Gong

has been out for over a year and speaks hardly any English so during

language study I get to teach her a little English :) So fun!

On Sunday Sister Ausen became my companion for half the day and we

both gave talks in sacrament meeting about the Ward mission plan. Then

we went to teach the 11 year old primary kids about obedience and

Nephi. Then we taught Yiwei the third hour of church about the temple

and the things we do there. Brother and Sister Garrard helped us teach

and it was the most amazing experience ever. They are both such great

teachers! And have such strong testimonies! Another member in our Ward

(Brother and Sister Park) are going to take Yiwei and Amanda to the

temple on Saturday with the Garrards and show them around. So excited

for them all!

We had dinner at the Ward Mission Leader's house last night - tons of

Chinese food! Thankfully most of it was identifiable :) and really

good! I got to say the prayer at the end and they taught me how to say

“Our dear Heavenly Father" in Chinese so it was awesome! 

Haha, the Ward Mission leader told us this funny story.

There was this guy who attended a class in China. The teacher told

everyone in the class that if they ever went to America and

accidentally brushed up against someone or bumped into someone they

should always say sorry. So this man goes to America and is in the

airport and accidentally bumps into someone. He turns around and says,

"I'm sorry" . The man he bumped into says, "Oh, I'm sorry too." The

Chinese man pauses and then says, "I'm sorry three." The man he bumped

into inquires, "What are you sorry for?" The Chinese man replies, "I'm

sorry five.” This story is supposed to help Chinese people learning English

differentiate the difference between too, to, and two, and for and

four :) Funny right? Ok maybe it's funnier in person :)

The District Leaders call the missionaries every Sunday night so we

can report our numbers for the week. As I was reporting my numbers

Elder Shu (our DL) asked about who as at church. I told him one person

came. He asked if it was Amanda (Yiwei's wife) and I said no, Yiwei

came. He like paused for five minutes and then said, So one person

came? And I said yes and then he asked if Amanda came again and I was

like, no Yiwei came. Well apparently Yiwei means one person in Chinese. 

This week is going to be awesome :)

Hope you all are doing well! Looks like you had tons of fun at

Disneyworld without us :) The pics were awesome mom - thanks for

sending them :)

I love you all so much! Have a great week!

Sister Dunn

Lindsay - January 25, 2016

Hello Everyone! I love and miss you! We had a fantastic week! It just flew by so fast! 

On Monday night, we went on exchanges! I went with Sister Moe-Tufaga and served in Thatcher for a day! And I was on a bike!!! haha:) I was a little rusty riding on that thing:) haha! It was so fun! We visited some people throughout the day, and I loved riding my bike! I felt like such an accomplished missionary! During the day, I was riding my bike with Sister Moe when a car pulled up at an intersection, and a guy rolled down the window and said, "Sister Dunn!" It was Austin who was the Assistant Ward Mission Leader from YSA 2nd Ward! What are the odds that I come across someone from my old area! It was great! By the end of the day, my bum was so sore! I literally had a bruise in my bum bone for 3 days straight! haha! I love Thatcher and Safford because it is such a humble community! The people are amazing and it is wonderful to teach people here! 

On Wednesday, for district meeting we gathered as a zone and watched a worldwide missionary conference! They hadn't done a missionary conference in 10 years! How crazy is that?  Elder Bednar, Elder Oaks, Elder Clayton, and Elder Andersen were there! It was amazing! Something that Elder Bednar talked about was that we can invite the Spirit unto their hearts, but the investigators have to invite it into their hearts. It was amazing! We also went to Floyd's again with the Reynolds, and it was an amazing lesson! We talked about faith, and we shared the story of Enos, and talked about growing our faith in Alma 32, and planting the seed, so that we can nourish it. The spirit was so strong in that lesson! At the end of the lesson, we invited Floyd to pray. Every time we have come over, he refuses to pray, but this time, he prayed! He told us before, "I don't pray like you sisters!" But we told him that there is no bad prayer. So he prayed! It was the most beautiful prayer that I have ever heard! And Sister Sayer told me afterward, that that was the first time he prayed in 3 months!! So we were pretty speechless coming out of that lesson. 

On Thursday, we went to the temple! But before that Sister Sayer placed her first Book of Mormon! We were trying to contact this one person, and the address said that she lived behind this market place. We tried to look around but we couldn't seem to find it. So as we were looking around the place,there was this cute picnic place to sit down and we were admiring it, when this lady (named Annie), starts talking to us about the picnic place and how she didn’t know that it existed. And before we even knew it, we were talking about religion. She told us that a couple years ago she met some missionaries, and they helped her by serving her. She was atheist then and they gave her a Book of Mormon, but she didn't throw it away! She told us that she told the missionaries that she wasn’t ready yet.  So she gave it to a member because she didn't want to throw away the word of God. So she talked about her life, and the struggles she went through to find God. Her story is amazing! She is struggling right now, but I know that she will overcome any challenge through the help of God. And, she accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon! But she thanked us for listening to her, and was grateful that she had the talk with us. We hope and pray that she will read it, and feel of God's love in her life! Oh and Bethany Spackman, I stuck your testimony in The Book of Mormon we gave her, so your sweet testimony is being spread to someone who needs help right now! I love you Bethany! Oh and to the other young women who sent their testimonies, I have given some to other missionaries to put in some Books of Mormon! So your testimonies are being spread throughout Safford, Thatcher, and Pima Arizona! I love you all for your wonderful, and pure testimonies! The temple was amazing, and I received so much peace and strength this week just by going to the Lord’s house.

On Friday, I have one thing to say that highlights the day. I drove into a ditch. haha! We were night contacting, and I was trying to turn around when I drove into this deep ditch! Thankfully we got out, but Sister Sayer and I were laughing so hard I was crying!!! :) It was amazing! I will never forget that experience! Oh and we weekly planned too:) 

On Saturday we saw a lot of less actives, and we had a How to Begin Teaching lesson with one of our new investigators Roxy! Her husband is a less active, and she isn't a member. She is the sweetest person! She is very shy, so the next time we come over, we are definitely going to ask more questions. We also taught John, who is the cutest old man ever! We came in to see him and he wasn't sitting in his usual chair. So Jody, the person who takes care of him invited us in and he was eating yogurt in the kitchen. He is such a tease! When he started talking to us in the middle of the conversation, he waved at me and said, "Hi there!" He is such a sweetie. Especially during a lesson he will say something that makes no sense and we laugh and ask what he is saying. Then he says just kidding, or never mind. It is really funny! His smile is the cutest thing, I will make sure to take a picture next time! 

On Sunday, it was definitely a great day with many many adventures! We went to church all day, and Devan finally came to church! Because of his anxiety he had to leave after Sacrament, but he will make it to 3 hours in no time! We studied a little bit before going to dinner at the Borr's. Then afterwards we tried to contact some people at night. Artesia is the sketchiest place to contact at night. Literally, it is so scary, and Sister Sayer and I are scaredy cats!!! We were trying to contact this one lady, and she wasn't home so we just left a note, and I was holding a flashlight so that Sister Sayer could see what she was writing. While she was doing that, I looked around (which wasn't a good idea). I saw a run down rusty boat and car, and we heard loud squeaking of metal and other unhuman noises. And it was windy too. I felt like I was in the setting of "Ghost and Mr. Chicken" movie. and I literally looked like Luther just looking around. haha! It was so scary! Then as we were going to teach someone, we were having a conversation about scary movies, and all of a sudden, we hit this huge bump in the dirt road. I am not even kidding you, Sister Sayer screamed so loud, it was like a reaction to a scary movie! She said that since we were talking about scary movies, that she was kind of scared so when we hit that bump she about lost it. haha!!! Soo funny! We taught Sasha after that experience, and the lesson was amazing! She is an exchange student from Denmark, and she is so close to the spirit! We felt so comfortable teaching her! Probably because we knew that she was inviting the Holy Ghost into her heart. Throughout the lesson as we were explaining things, she always had a furrowed brow, like she was thinking. And things would just click for her, and it was like a lightbulb went off in her head. She also asked so many good questions, and she truly wants to learn more about the gospel! We love her sooo much!! So that is my week! I know that my letters are literally novels! haha!! I love you all! Have a great week!

Sincerely,

Sister Dunn

Chelsea - January 25, 2016

Kumusta!!

Well, after emailing last week, we went to the hair salon from 3 to 9 pm. My comp and the other two Filipina sisters we live with were rebonding their hair. They put this gel in their hair, then they sit for two hours, then they wash it, blow dry, straighten, and then do the whole thing again. I just sat there while the hairstylists kept telling me my hair was beautiful and they wish they had my nose. Let’s just say I’ve had better p days hahaha. 

So we found our next baptismal candidate!! Irish! She is 9 years old, she is a granddaughter of one of the members and she’s been going to church every sunday and we just haven’t noticed. Haha so we started teaching her and her baptism is set for February 13th!! We also found a former investigator. His name is June and he doesn’t have an arm! (apparently, his brother cut it off because they had a fight…) Anyways, he’s super cool. Every lesson is super amazing and it’s like he knows everything. He really loves Jesus Christ and appreciates the Atonement in his life. His problem right now is smoking. He has been smoking forever and smokes about five a day. But the next time we taught him, he said he only smoked a couple, so he’s progressing! 

Basically, it has been a hot and exhausting week! On Saturday morning, sister clarin and i went to one of our areas. We planned to go to three appointments, and there was a 30 minute walk in between each house. And we got punted at all of them... so basically we just walked for 2 hours up mountains! Haha literally, i thought i was gonna pass out, haha so did Sister Clarin, she was dying hahaha. 

The baptism was awesome!!!! Ahhh best baptism ever... President and Sister Rahlf even came!! That was a surprise! And everything went smoothly. Jayson and jerome had to be baptized twice because of saying the prayer wrong, but thats ok! After their baptisms, they all got up to bear testimony. Jerome started crying when he shared his testimony, and I almost started crying too. Probably the sweetest testimony I’ve ever heard from a recent convert and I just thought, wow I am so lucky to be apart of this. Every day, I realize more and more how great of a work this is. Jayson also expressed his desire to us to go on a mission. Also, Jerome is probably going to baptize Irish and start blessing the sacrament. Jayson is also teaching his sunday school class next sunday! They are doing great and the ward has done an awesome job at making them feel loved. 

Lets see, random stuff, oh ya, at night, sometimes we have to walk through this huge cornfield. And the other night it was super scary, cause it was so dark, and it was super silent, and i was like, oh my gosh, I’m in the movie Signs right now. I literally thought an alien was gonna come out hahaha. Thats about it for this week! Love you all! 

Sister Dunn

Taylor - January 25, 2016

Hey! Sounds like you guys had an awesome week! Man Disneyworld is just the best! I actually never rode the Everest ride. One day though! The prank pic is hilarious. You’ve got to admit mom they got you pretty good ;) Man spencer is owning his finals. I’m happy for him! 

This week was pretty good, little slow finding-wise but we had tons of opportunities to testify of our Savior Jesus Christ!  Faith's baptism is coming up this Saturday so we are super excited about that! Inez and Leonila weren't able to come to church this past Sunday and we've really been working with them and taking some members out with us but we are really going to have to stress church even more, and the importance of it.  We really want to make an effort on getting inside the home to pray with the family and really bring the Spirit so that it can teach them and testify to them of the truth. 

Elder Johnson is doing well. We are doing pretty well speaking Spanish but need to speak even more often as well as I’m trying to help him OYM because he gets a little nervous. It's super funny trying to get him to OYM someone. He like stands there awkwardly and I have to cheer him on to get him to do it! Hilarious, but he's coming along! So ya we will be OYMing a lot this week! 

Hmm I'm trying to think of what happened this week...oh ya we don't really have miles so we've been biking a lot and it was super rainy and windy this week so that was fun! Haha hilarious idea elder robishaw had to keep our hands warm since we don’t have gloves is to put socks on his hands. It looks super funny! Oh and we were eating at this one member’s house and she's from peru and likes to make her food spicy. So there was this little dish that had some good looking sauce in it and so elder angulo and I were putting it on our rice. We both knew it was spicy but for some reason we did it anyways. It was just super funny because we kept eating and sweat was like rolling down our faces but it was just so good I couldn’t stop eating it. Haha super funny! Oh and elder angulo bought new ping pong balls for that mini ping pong set you sent us for Christmas Mom because he likes it so much. Haha nice thinking! Well anyways love you guys! Stay safe! 

-Elder Dunn