Holli - November 14, 2016

Sister Barney and I with roommates Sister Shaw and Sister Coulson

Marathon Service!

Hello Everyone!

We had a pretty cool week this week :)

We were walking to this dinner appointment and met Ariana who is super

cool. She is a young mom and her little baby's name is Noah :) haha

and it's a girl! We thought that was pretty unique. But she wants to

learn more so we're excited to start teaching her.

We did a lot of service this week! There was a big marathon here in

Azusa and we got to volunteer there for a bit. It was so fun to see

members from all over the US come to participate in the race as well

as everybody else. Haha, we got a lot of mixed emotions when we asked

how it went. Needless to say, many people were a little sore

yesterday!

We also were able to help this member (Kevin) clear out some things

for his parents who are not members. That was pretty exciting! And

super dusty - but we made it through!

We had a few of our investigators come to church today! It was so

great to see them come :) Maria and her mom Veronica came with Maria's

little daughter Mia :) and had a great time. We extended a date to

Veronica to get baptized and she accepted. They are both excited to

come next week as well. Such a great family :) Your prayers were

definitely felt this week, thank you!

We cover the Claremont sisters so I got to go back to my old area this

week and help them with a blitz! They are really struggling to find

but they have one person on date and are keeping positive!

That's about it from here in Azusa! Love you all so much - thank you

for your support (and birthday wishes haha)

Love, Sister Dunn

Chelsea - November 14, 2016

One of our members house totally was destroyed by the typhoon and this is the new house they are building. They are living in a tent meanwhile.

Joanna's Baptism

Alma, Alwina, Angel, and Darwin!! favorite fam :) 

Hi everyone :) 

So this week was great! We are back in Tugue and on Monday we spent the whole day cleaning our house because it was so gross! But it's back to normal and we are doing good! We are actually also in the process of finding another house in our main area so it's closer to the other sisters area! 

On Wednesday we had just gotten out of the hospital and into our area when the other sisters called. Sister Caduada had some kind of heart problem and the Hiatts were going to take her and Sister Kjar to Cauayan and they were going to leave Sister Fielding with us. And so we got to train her for a couple days! I was pumped because I had always wanted to train in english! haha it was great though. Sister Fielding is an awesome missionary and it was so fun to train her. I've definitely realized how much I've grown as a missionary! We talked about the spirit and teaching people according to their needs. 

On Friday, we had a return appointment with one of our investigators Lunabel and right when we started the lesson I felt like we should extend a baptism date and so we did! She totally accepted and it was so funny because she was like where do I go to get baptized? We feel like she is really going to start progressing! The only thing is, is that she's not married to her boyfriend and they have a child.... and her boyfriend is living somewhere else working, but we'll get there when we get there! 

Haha definitely had some funny moments with Sister Fielding. This is her first cycle in the Philippines and she studied spanish for 3 years like me in high school and so we were teaching the Temporal family about missionary work and she was the one to share the scripture verse and she was trying to say "work hard" in tagalog even though there's like no exact translation and she was like kailangan natin na trabaho mucho" haha me and sister atutubo looked at each other and were like mucho??? what is that??? hahaha turns out it was spanish! Also she was saying the prayer when we were going to Joanna's baptism and she said nagpapasalamat po kami sa oportunidad na ito na punta kami sa pagbabayad sala ni joana. hahaha which means we're grateful for the opportunity that we have to go to joanna's atonement hahahahaha. We were laughing so hard. She kept getting baptism and atonement mixed up and man we've laughed so hard! But she's great and will always just keep going despite the mistakes. 

Anyways, we had Joanna's baptism this week and that was just super fun to witness :) We asked her what she felt like when she was baptized and she said that she just feels like a new person. We are so happy for her and her family because all they need is the dad to get baptized and then they can be sealed! 

Also had an amazing lesson yesterday grabe!!! One of best moments of my mission seriously. So basically there's this family, the mom is Alma and the daughter is Angel and they are both recent converts. Her husband was supposed to get baptized but he couldn't stop smoking and basically he doesn't care about the church anymore. Whenever we taught him, he didn't really listen or care...so these past couple of weeks, I've just felt like we need to go back and teach brother darwin even though we know he's not that interested. When we went to church on sunday, he was there with his daughter! Sister Alma was gone because she just had a baby. The bishop then told us that he even came to church last week before we got here! We were so surprised! So after church, we went to visit Alma and her new baby Alwina and then we taught brother darwin. It was so cute because we were all sitting on the bed with the mosquito net over us and they were all together as a family and we reviewed the restoration and brother darwin remembered everything! We then extended the baptismal date of Dec 17 and he accepted and he said he was excited! We were just so shocked. The spirit was sooo strong in that lesson, and it was like brother darwin had totally changed and that the Lord was softening his heart! This has definitely been the effect of never ending prayers from alma and angel and the ward and I really think the Lord is pushing bro darwin and helping him. He's been chewing gum and eating candy so he won't have the urge to smoke so he can get baptized on Dec 17! Man, what a miracle! I know that God lives and that he's so aware of us and those we love and if we come to him with a willing heart, He will help us be the people we need to be! I know this church is true and I know that god loves us. Sorry  my grammar is so bad.... Love you all!  

Sister Dunn

Lindsay - November 14, 2016

This week was so fun and busy!! I LOVE being a missionary! 

On Tuesday, we had Zone Conferences. President and Sister Passey were there and so were the Assistants. Sister Beach and I gave a training on helping our investigators receive revelation through prayer. We were so nervous before the training, but all went well! The Zone Leaders gave a training on asking inspired questions, and it was definitely needed! This week has been so great, because we have been able to apply what we have learned in zone conferences! That very night, we had a lesson with a less active family, and they were watching the elections. They refused to turn off the television, and so it was really hard for us to share our message. But the Spirit directed us, and we were able to ask them inspired questions that helped us understand their struggles. We talked about consistently living the gospel, and how important it is to have family prayer and scripture study. This Sunday, they came to church! :) 

Later that night we had a lesson with the Sparkman's! Brother Sparkman finally talked to bishop, and he is getting his temple recommend renewed!! I am so excited for him! We talked about grace, mercy and the Atonement. It was such a powerful lesson, and we asked A LOT of inspired questions! Wow, I felt the Spirit so strongly in that lesson! My testimony of asking inspired questions has increased especially this week! When we ask inspired questions, we are striving to understand our investigators and what they are struggling with. When we listen, and then when we ask inspired questions, the Spirit can bear witness to them of the truth! 

On Wednesday we had an amazing day! We met with our investigator Vikki. Our ward mission leader came with us, and he was so awesome in the lesson. We talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We taught faith and repentance, and then Brother Reynolds talked about baptism. It was such a great lesson because we got straight to the point, instead of beating around the bush. (which we do sometimes as missionaries:) But we figured out that she is afraid of being baptized because she doesn't want to cause a wedge between her, and her husband. But I am so grateful for the Spirit, that led us to discover what was keeping her from being baptized. 

After Vikki's lesson, we had a discussion with our investigator James. Well, technically he isn't our investigator, because he lives in Tucson. But he was in Pomerene for a few weeks, helping his Mom recover from surgery. But now he is in Tucson, so it is hard to meet with him! He is used to us teaching him, and he also suffers from anxiety, so it has been really hard to transition him over to the Tucson sisters. But it's ok! I know that Heavenly Father has a plan, and that if we work hard, He will bless us. The lesson we had with James lasted longer than we expected, and we were 15 minutes late to dinner. On top of that, we couldn't find the house! We kept turning around and going a different direction, but then we figured out that we were going the wrong way. Sister Beach got so frustrated that she just parked the car, and we started walking. We literally ended up walking a good mile to get to their home. It was really funny because it was dark outside, and Sister Beach was frustrated, but I started laughing because it was really funny. Then Sister Beach and I started running because we couldn't find the house, and it was sketchy outside in the dark, and then finally we reached their home, practically an hour late for dinner!! Ughhhhhh!!!! We apologized about a hundred times, but we got to share a message, and then Sister Mudge packed up some food for us. I LOVE that family! They were so understanding, and they drove us back to our car:) They were so nice! 

After that adventure, we met up for exchanges with the Wilcox sisters. Hermana Flores came with me, and Sister Beach went with Hermana Farias. I had an awesome exchange with Hermana Flores! She gave me some great advice about a less active that we were working with and I learned a lot from her. We did some service in the morning, and then saw a less active during the day. We had a good discussion with her about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Hermana Flores definitely has a strength of asking inspired questions.

We also met with our new investigators Theresa and Mina! Last Sunday, Theresa asked Bishop Dahl if he could give her a blessing to quit smoking! We hadn't even taught her the Word of Wisdom, and here she was asking for a blessing to quit smoking! Oh my goodness the Spirit is truly softening her heart and I know that Theresa will be blessed for her desires. At the end of the lesson, we invited them to be baptized on December 10th! They said yes!! Theresa got so excited that she jumped up and hugged us! She told us, "I feel really good about this!"  I am so grateful to be here, and to teach these wonderful people! 

On Friday, we met with Kairi, another of our investigators. She is 11, and she is scared to pray in front of people, but at the end of the lesson, she said a prayer! I was so happy!! We also met with a less active that is struggling with her faith. We talked about the importance of the Sacrament, and how it can help us to strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ. She came to church on Sunday, so I was very grateful that she made that commitment! On Sunday, we met with another investigator named Brittany. She is 13, and she loves the gospel! She isn't sure whether or not she wants to be baptized. Her parents aren't supportive, and so she is always unsure. But she has an amazing ward family, and I know that when she gets older, that she will be more confident in the decision to be baptized. We are going to keep teaching her though!  We had such a great week, and I am so grateful for the trainings that we received at zone conferences! When we go back to the basics, it really makes a difference to be simple and powerful in our teaching. I love you all, I love the gospel! I LOVE being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!! I hope you have a wonderful week everyone! 

Sincerely,

Sister Dunn

Chelsea - November 7, 2016

Zone Conference!

This is what happens when we go to the barbeque stand and we can't stop ourselves because it's so delicious! I got the recipe people so I will be making it when I get home! 

Beautiful Philippines!

Hello po sa lahat :) 

This week was another crazy one! But good news, we just got home! It feels sooo good to be back in Tugue!!! We are so excited to get started where we left off with our investigators and are so excited to work in the area! 

On Wednesday we had the opportunity to attend our zone conference with Elder and Sister Schmutz! Man, i received so much revelation during that meeting! The spirit was soo strong and I definitely feel the whole mission was uplifted. One of the major themes was repentance. President and Sister Hiatt spoke first and man, it was harsh but I really felt like the mission needed to hear it. They just pretty much called everyone to repentance and they were super blunt about it but it was great! I think all of us as missionaries all received revelation of the little things that we are doing that we need to stop or the things we can improve on. It was just a really great conference. I also really liked what Elder Schmutz said about striving. He said that usually when he asks missionaries how their obedience is, that they would always say, I'm striving president! Basically, he talked about how striving can really be used in a negative way, it pretty much means, I'm not really obedient, but I'm trying! He said, you made the covenant when you were baptized to be obedient to the commandments, when you became a missionary to follow the mission rules and when you entered the temple and covenanted to be obedient. We willingly made these covenants with God and we should follow them with exactness! Never say I'm striving, but always say yes, I'm exactly obedient! "Just do it!" I really loved that! He also talked a lot about the doctrine of Christ and what are the things that are important for an investigator to understand before they are baptized. Learned  a lot and ready to apply!

Sunday was really great! Last day in Diffun! It was fast and testimony meeting and Jessa my recent convert got up for the first time and it was like the sweetest thing! It's been so fun to have been able to see her growth, especially as she was able to bear her testimony. She's such a strong one. All of her sisters were baptized during the time of sister balaoing, but they never come with her. So she still goes by herself but she is strong! I just love that girl!

So ya that was the week! Haha have to leave with a funny story. So we were in relief society and I was sitting by this old lady named nanay namnama haha she's so cute. And the topic was about prayer and how we shouldn't keep saying father over and over again, and also the word sana, which means hopefully. She turned to me and was like, I can't stand when people do that! It drives me crazy! The funniest thing was that a certain sister was called to give the closing prayer and she kept saying ama (father) even though we just had the lesson hahahaa. Every time she said it, nanay namnam kept tapping her leg against mine haha. After the prayer she just looked at me and held up four fingers and was like she said it 4 times!! hahaha man I love the filipino people! 

That's about it for the week everyone. I love you all and I love the gospel! Mahal ko po kayo 

Sister Dunn