Lindsay - February 15, 2016

Hello Everyone! Ok I am not kidding, this transfer….. I'm training. Whooohh I am so nervous! But I am really excited. So I will be training a new missionary in 3 wards. That is intense. Wow, I never thought I would train a new missionary covering 3 wards. The Lord just loves catching us off guard:) I just love it. So Sister Sayer is actually going to YSA 2nd and Hidden Valley with Sister Condie! So we are swapping areas! How crazy is that? 

This week was fantastic!! We set a goal to achieve 8 member present lessons, and we met it! We were so happy when we realized that we got our goal. We worked really hard this week, so achieving our goals made us so happy:) 

On Wednesday we did commodities in the morning. So with Food bank we occasionally participate in this event where we bag different types of foods (for example peppers, cucumbers, bottled water, flour, bread etc.) And then there are lines of cars that we put the food in. So it is an awesome service that we get to do, and we get to talk with people and give them food, it is awesome! Then we had interviews with our mission president. I don't why but I always get nervous before interviews happen, but then once it starts, I'm fine! So that was really good. Then we had an awesome zone meeting where these 2 guest speakers came in and talked about goals and vision boards. Sister Tunnell (the first guest speaker), talked about the conscious mind and the subconscious mind, and how when we visualize our goals and can see ourselves achieving them, it motivates us to take action. It was really cool! Then Sister Brown and Sister Moe-Tufaga (The Sister Training Leaders) gave a training on inspired questions. They had us participate in this activity where they lined up a good number of missionaries in a row. There were slips of paper with a principle on it. When it was our turn, we would look at the slip of paper and think of an inspired question to go along with the principle. So I participated in the activity. It was nerve wracking cause half the missionaries in the zone were up front, and half were sitting down. They judged us on our questions, and told us if they were good inspired questions or not. But the Spirit instantly filled the room in that activity. Every time a missionary was thinking of a question and then would ask it, you knew that it was inspired by God. I was the last one to go and my slip of paper said Joseph Smith. I thought about it for a while, and I honestly can tell you that Heavenly Father helped me, but I said something along the lines of, "Do you believe that you can receive an answer like Joseph Smith did, that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true? That activity really helped me to gain a better understanding of how powerful those type of questions can be. 

Later that day after the meeting, we had a lesson with Devan. He was 8 months sober, and so we celebrated at the Hargis home by eating a relish tray. And afterwards we talked about the Word of Wisdom and Obeying and Honoring the Law. It was an amazing lesson! Then before going to the Whitmers, we went to go see a potential investigator named Maryanne. She was home, and very interested to learn about the gospel! She told us that earlier that day she was praying to know if she should be a Mormon or not! She told us that we were an answer to her prayer. It was amazing! So we are going to meet her on Tuesday and teach her the Restoration! We had a lesson with the Whitmers right after about the Word of Wisdom. Angelica had a question about how Jesus Christ used wine with the sacrament and how she didn't understand why we didn't use it. I feel like the Lord helped me answer that question, because that question has scared me from the beginning of the mission. And whether or not I answered it correctly, or helped her understand it more, it’s ok. I tried my best, and the Lord will provide! 

After the Whitmers, we tried a few people and we met an older couple named the Fergusons. They are the sweetest people! When we walked in I felt like I was going in to get my patriarchal blessing! The home was very neat and tidy, and it was an older home, and so it smelled really good! I felt just at home! And they gave us referrals to go see people! They were so sweet. 

On Thursday, we had a lesson with Roxy, and Sister Norton came with us. It was a really good lesson. Towards the beginning we didn't really engage her at all, but by the end of the lesson, the spirit was so strong, and we asked more inspired questions that helped her to think and express her thoughts. It was great! Then afterwards we had lunch and then met with a less active named Kris. She is very touchy feely and will get in your bubble A LOT! The first time I met her I was kind of taken aback because she was so close to me when she would talk. haha! But I have learned so much from her! She is so loving to everyone and she loves bearing her testimony of the gospel. She is an amazing person. Then we saw Gayle! She just had surgery to get a pace maker. She is taking the Temple Preparation classes so she can get her endowments out for the first time:) She is wonderful! Then we saw Mickie (another less active). She is married to a Native American, and so she is very close to nature, earth, and spiritual matters. It was very comforting and peaceful to visit her. The stories that she tells us are inspiring, and we are just so amazed at the strength and faith she has in the Lord. 

On Friday we did a lot of weekly planning. Oh and Sister Sayer had to take a driving test so she can get her tiwi card:) Later that day we had dinner with the Bodine's and she made her homemade pizza again!! She makes everything from scratch and it is amazing!! On Saturday, we had breakfast with the Hoisingtons. They are such an amazing family! Sister Hoisington is from Mexico and when she says hi to us she pronounces sisters like, "Seesters!" She smiles all the time, and she is always so happy! I just love them all! We met with John after breakfast, and he showed us his picture album:) He is the sweetest man in the world! 

On Sunday, we went to church all day (Such a blessing), and then we went to the Wilhelms to visit. Every time a missionary is about to leave, the Wilhelms invite the missionary to their house to bear their testimony. So we stopped by, and Sister Sayer bore her testimony to them before she leaves. They are such a sweet family. Then we had dinner with the Pena Family. They are the most loving people you will ever meet. Every one of the kids give you hugs except for the boys. But we give hand hugs, which I think is appropriate! We had Chinese food for dinner and then Sister Pena made heart cookies. It was an amazing Valentine’s Day! 

So that is my week! I love you all to the moon and back! Stay safe, and don't catch the flu bug that is going around! I just recovered from a cold!

Sister Lindsay Dunn

Holli - February 15, 2016

My new companion Sister Barney!

Hello Everyone!

Holy cow, you've had quite the week in Eagle! Wow mom, you and dad on the news!  You are famous - that’s awesome ;) and I’m so glad that Val and Brian are making some headway with this foster care reform. That is such a relief. And good to hear about helping with Sister O’heron’s move.  Thanks for all you do in the Ward mom and dad - when members chip in to help out less actives, in actives and others in the Ward, it helps the missionaries so much. There are so many people we worry about here - so many we pray for each and every day so thank you for helping your missionaries and the Lord!

We've had quite the week here in Arcadia!

So transfer news. I'm staying in Arcadia and my new companion will be Sister Barney! She's from Utah and was in my zone this past transfer so we're super excited to be serving together. She's an amazing Sister - and she's been out for three transfers, so about four and a half months. This transfer was insane for the rest of my district though.The Chinese Sisters were both transferred out and Chinese Elders will be put in who don't know very much Chinese. Elder Shu (our DL) was transferred to Spanish work and an English Elder will come in to be with Elder Chen - Elder Chen hardly knows English and Elder Bishop doesn't know any Chinese so it will definitely be an interesting transfer!

So we met this guy named Hitler this week. Really interesting kid - he

told us he is atheist but he loves religion. We were kind of like …

 What? But you could tell he hadn't been making the best decisions in

his life and with no one to really guide him, what else was he to

think? I'm so thankful for wonderful parents who taught me the

principles of the gospel, not only through their words but through

their actions. That impact has changed my life. Out here, many

children are brought up without any concept of God and they just don't care so it's an interesting challenge!

We were coming out of the church building one day and Sister Ausen's sister Kyara was hanging outside the building (it's right across from the high school) with her nonmember friend. They walked over and we started chatting. Kyara is like the best missionary ever and she started talking to her friend about mutual activities and church. Then we started talking about the Book of Mormon and Kyara totally invited her friend to take the lessons and her friend said sure! So we're pretty pumped about that.

We were excercising with the Chinese Sisters one morning and we met this one guy named Jake. He and his wife were waiting outside this apartment for a yard sale that was to happen that day. We started talking and he told us he had led a pretty rough life but then he met his wife and she started getting him into church and now he seems really happy. It was crazy - there were four missionaries but we didn't have any pass along cards or anything! Thankfully Jake's wife had some paper so he gave us his number - we asked him if he would come speak to the youth in our Ward so hopefully we can help him learn about the restored gospel!

We met this older man named Dominic a few months ago. Sister Maughan and I went survey tracting at night and we only had time to hit a few houses so the very last house we knocked was Dominic's. He has one daughter who is LDS but he is Presbyterian and pretty ok being Presbyterian but he did tell us we were welcome to stop by and teach him about our church. He has a girlfriend now who he said might also be interested in learning about it so we taught him the Plan of Salvation this week and it was really cool! He told us that in his

nightly prayers he would always ask the Lord, what is my purpose in

life? But he never really felt that his prayer was answered. Anyways,

we gave him a Book of Mormon and it was awesome!

We have been trying to meet this family (the Websters) ever since I

came here. They moved into Arcadia in the summer time last year and most of the Ward helped them move in including President. They are from the same part of Mexico that President is from and the

missionaries taught them a few times until one day they just pulled a

cold shoulder and became pretty distant. No one knows what happened but a few days ago Sister Ausen and I were able to meet the parents!

They are the sweetest family - so kind and loving, so hopefully as the

members continue to work with them we'll be able to teach them!

It was late Saturday night and we decided to stop by this one

potential Sister Maughan and I had tracted out one day. Her name is

Kristy and she has 3 cute little kids! So last night we asked if we could teach her more about Heavenly Father's plan for us and she said sure too! So we are excited to begin teaching her.

It was a really good week. We definitely saw lots of miracles which

makes all of those hard days and weeks worth it! We are so blessed to have the gospel in our lives and to have Jesus Christ as our example! I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

Love, Sister Dunn 

This is Zoe!!! She is a daughter of a member in the Ward - she will be baptized in July so we are teaching her the lessons before then :)

Taylor - February 16, 2016

Hey Family glad your week went pretty well. Ya I definitely got the package and it was awesome. Thanks so much mom. You’re the best! 

For transfers I'm actually transferring to fountainbleu north as a DL with a different Elder Johnson so that will be interesting! My comp will be going to Hialeah with Elder Lolani, Elder Robishaw's son so they will learn spanish really fast down there. Elder Robishaw is going to be a DL up in Jupiter which is an english area. Haha he's super sad about that but his spanish is perfect so he'll be fine! Elder Angulo will be staying with Elder Kiser who's coming in. I'm super pumped for the new experiences ahead and hope to make a difference in the part of the Lord's vineyard I'm working in :) 

So this week was pretty good with Elder Johnson and I. He’s really doing a lot better being more confident and opening his mouth and I'm super happy for that! I’m super excited that he got sent to the Hialeah zone so that he could work on his spanish. He’s going to love it up there! 

Jillian is progressing really well and is preparing for her baptism on the 27th so we are super excited for that!  The missionaries coming in need to take good care of her! Also I'm super excited for the conferences coming up and the awesome counsel we will receive! I’ve been reviewing in preach my gospel a bit in chapter four about following the Spirit and it's crazy how much I can learn each time. I’ve learned through experience and study that prayer is super powerful and that I need to use it as one of my biggest tools to see miracles and learn and grow as a missionary! 

So those are the big things that happened. Elder Dube is coming for a special mission conference on the 29th of this month so I’m super excited for that! It was an awesome work week this week but we had to pretty much clean out our whole teaching pool because the people we were working with weren't really keeping commitments, so ya fresh start there, but it's good! Anyways love you guys and hope you are doing great, stay safe! Bye! 

-Elder Dunn

Chelsea - February 15, 2016

Road to Rodrigo

BBQ Chicken Feet

This is my favorite! It's squash and coconut shrimp flavored!  

Sister Clarin's Birthday

This week was good! We are starting to really explore our area! On Wednesday, we hiked up to San Rodrigo. Oh my gosh it was straight uphill and sister clarin and I were dying. Haha so after walking for like an hour, we got there and the people there are so sheltered. They had never seen a white person so literally we had like 20 kids following us wherever we went. kinda annoying… cause we couldn’t teach a lot of lessons, but okay lang! 

We are also exploring Rugao more and we have found so many potential investigators there! We are really excited about working with these new investigators. We also had four investigators come to church yesterday! We were so surprised! Haha but literally, all of our potential investigators are kids! 10 years old, 9 years old, 9 years old, and 12 years old!! hahaha. But thats all right. 

Embarrassing moment of the week: so we were at the house of some of our less actives. They are two sisters and both have families. They are actually married to two brothers so its kind of weird! Anyway, we were talking about doing an FHE with them and Lia said, baka lasing sila (their husbands and all their brothers will probably be drunk) and I was like lasing tayo lahat?? ( we will all be drunk?) But i totally meant to say lasing sila lahat (all of them will be drunk?) and literally she laughed for like a straight minute and i was super embarrassed hahahah. okay lang! definitely a funny moment!

We had chicken feet on the BBQ this week and it is Sister clarin’s favorite.  And they like eat the bones too. It’s like chicken bone fat. so gross.  Whenever we have a filipino barbeque they never have meat! I always get so mad! They only have chicken head or chicken feet or baby chick! So when I get home I  totally can make you some! I’ll just cut off the feet and ears and head and then put vinegar on it and throw it on the BBQ. It will be so delicious! haha haha  I really don’t know how to cook filipino food. But I want to learn how to make adobo, and chicken curry, and of course pancit. This week I bought a piece of squash from a lady in our area selling it on her head, and then I boiled the squash in water, and I bought this packet of coconut milk and shrimp flavored powder and then just poured it in it. It is sooo good.

Basically, I realized this week that filipinos are sooo kind and generous. We were at the house of one of the members teaching, and they don’t have a lot of food.  After the lesson, they totally gave us a ton of their crops, corn and a bunch of other vegetables and I was like ahhh stop! But they were like sister okay lang! Even though they have nothing, they are always quick to give and never hesitate. 

That’s about it for the week! Love you all! 

Sister Dunn