September 23, 2013

Hello again!

We've been busy this week! So, Jesus got permission from his parents to be baptized! YAY!! That's a miracle because his parents are very Catholic and were not open to him becoming a member of the church. We've set a date of November 2. He is absorbing the gospel like a sponge and is growing stronger every time we meet with him. We have some work do to with the Law of Chastity, but I have faith that he can commit to living it and that he will find strength in Jesus Christ. 

We had an interesting teaching opportunity this weekend. On Friday, the Davis family in Estate Groves had a friend, Jason, who was coming from Texas to visit and he wanted to have the lessons while here. So, they set up the time and place (President Gulbranden's home) and we had lessons! President Gulbrandsen just returned from Argentina serving as mission president and he LOVES teaching the gospel. He loves it so much he practically taught the first lesson by himself. Sister Clemons and I did get some words in, but he extended all the commitments and invited him to be baptized. Afterward we were evaluating the lesson, trying to be positive because we really wanted to teach Jason! As we were sitting in the car I had made the comment that we were like witnesses to this lesson. Then Sister Clemons exclaims that we should be honored to have been witnesses to such an amazing lesson! And she was right! We were so prideful because we wanted to do everything. But we were humbled because Jason still felt the Spirit and began to have feelings that were nudging him in the right direction. The same thing happened on Sunday. We learned a lot and we are going to apply some of the things President Gulbrandsen did because they're valuable and effective. We're really going to start following up on commitments that we extend including every member we've had a lesson with. Jason is back in Texas now and the missionaries down there are aware of him and are going to continue what was started here.

Our other investigator in Estate Groves is Sister Beckford. She's slowly progressing, but she reads the Book of Mormon and prays. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and I invited her to be baptized! I've never done that before and that was something we did not plan on doing. During the lesson, the Spirit kept prompting me to talk about baptism and that's what I did! She was surprised by the invitation. She has a solid foundation in prayer and knows she can receive answers to prayers. So we prayed with her and helped her recognize the answers she was getting through thoughts and feelings. She felt peaceful and happy after praying and we are praying that she'll recognize the answer to her prayers when they come. She also came to the conclusion that she needs to say prayers specifically about the Book of Mormon and baptism and not have them be combined with everything else she prays about. We are making daily contact with her and we're excited to hear about her experience!

I've learned a lot this week and I've done some things that I've never done before. I was really down this week and I could not figure out why I was feeling the way I was and nothing seemed to be working. Members were being too missionary minded and made teaching/dinner appointments absolutely miserable. I felt really lost after one dinner where a member took control of a golden teaching opportunity. The member kept saying "these girls know a lot about this stuff" but the non-member said "I'd rather hear this stuff from you..." Yeah, that was a blow. I felt like I was in limbo after that for the next 2-3 days and I was having a hard time working and being diligent. But reading the Book of Mormon, praying, and talking with Sister Clemons and working through whatever was happening worked! After getting out of this funk I have never been so happy and I have never felt the Spirit so present in my life before! I've experienced wonderful miracles the past 3 days and I'm humbled because I know that without the Atonement, I wouldn't have been able to get through that difficult time. I know that no matter how the work gets done, the Lord makes sure the work gets done; even if we're just witnesses!

Love, Sister Dunn

Sis. Clemons, Sis. Foster, Sis. Dunn