November 25, 2013

Greetings!

This week was so good! The more I just dedicate everything I have to
the gospel and the Lord the happier I am. Losing oneself is definitely
a joy beyond comprehension. So I got two big packages today. One was
filled with some things I needed for Christmas lights, like my coat, and
the other one was filled presents for me and Sister Sparhawk. There's
a gift everyday from December 1st to the 25th. I started crying when
we went through the boxes! There was so much thought and love put into
these packages. I feel so blessed to have a family who loves me and my
companion so much. I think my mom did this because she knows how much
I love Christmas and that I would struggle not celebrating it with the
family. So, I guess this is what she came up with! I love her so much!
I also got a letter from my Grandma and Grandpa Cornia that had their
testimonies in them. Their testimonies really touched my heart. It's
really amazing how the Lord gives you exactly what you need exactly
when you need it. I feel so blessed!

Our investigator Kyle didn't make it to church on Sunday :( We were
super sad. But he texted us and said he needed to think some things
through and make sure he really wants to be baptized. We got word
today that he still wants to be baptized! We are praying for him so
much! We hope that he can make the necessary choices so he can be
baptized. Right now he's struggling not working on Sundays. But we
always encourage him. He's also developing a lot of friendships in the
ward and they're helping him also.

We also had a miracle happen this week! There's a less active named
Callie. I met her when I day trained with Sisters Homer and Bolliger
the day I got to Mesa and I knew that I would see her again. As soon
as I got into this ward and found out this is where Callie is, I
literally jumped with excitement. We've been meeting with her and
helping her read the Book of Mormon, pray, and come to church. On
Thursday we went over and this is the first thing she said to us: " I
want to serve a mission." I felt like I couldn't move because I was so
shocked! She's already talked to the stake president in the family
stake. We're going to introduce her to Bishop Peterson and get things
started there. She has some things to work on and she recognizes it
and is already working on those things. She came to church for the
first time in over 4 months. I feel so blessed to be working with her.

Something that I'm doing now is studying a single chapter of Preach

My Gospel every week. So last week I studied chapter one and this week

I'm going to study chapter two. I really loved doing this. I got to understand

Preach My Gospel more and my purpose as well and I get to do all the study
activities! I feel like I'm beginning to understand my role as a
missionary more and my responsibilities as well. My goal this week is
to improve my personal studies which goes right along with what I'm
studying in Preach My Gospel.

I can't believe Christmas is a month away! How time flies when you're
having fun!

Sister Dunn

November 18, 2013

Hello!

I'm not being transferred! It feels so nice to not move or learn new
names and get used to a new companion. I definitely felt like my work
was not finished here and that there's so much more for me to do here.
Not gonna lie, the past few weeks have been rough. I went through some
serious changes and I realized that it was time for me to become the
consecrated missionary the Lord needs me to be. I went through a lot
of emotional storms because my "natural man" didn't want to let go of
what I thought made me me. But I'm giving all of that up now because
none of that stuff matters! All that matters is me devoting everything
I have to the Lord and the work of salvation. This isn't about me. I
had an idea of what that meant when I came out on my mission but now I
know what it means. I'm grateful for all the experiences I've had in
the past 4 months because they have molded me and shaped me and
prepared me to become the tool that the Lord needs to harvest the
fields. I know I won't be perfect and I'll make mistakes but I will do
everything in my power to devote all my time, energy, and thought to
the Lord.

Besides me changing my life, this week was wonderful! We had Stake
Conference and it was AMAZING. The adult session was my favorite.
President Jenkins and Sister Jenkins came and spoke.... They're so
awesome! That session was all about the Work of Salvation, just like
the rest of the world's. It was awesome! The general authority that
came was Elder Foster from the second quorum of the Seventy. He was
spectacular! But my favorite talk was by President Jenkins. He talked
about a lot of things but the thing that he said that stood out to me
was this: Repentance symbolizes happy endings. What a powerful
statement! Repentance isn't a bad thing. Yes, it is hard but it's a
great thing that brings happiness and joy. Think of a fairy tale
ending. The ending is always happy because the characters had to
experience some hard things  in order to appreciate the happiness.
Repentance is just like that. I'm so grateful that I have an
opportunity to repent daily and change to become more like Heavenly
Father and Jesus Christ. I love the Atonement and I love repenting!

Many wonderful things have happened this week and this transfer. I'm
excited for everything that is going to come. I hope to stay in this
area for a long time. I think now that the big wave of missionaries
has passed we will begin to see people stay in areas for a while. This
mission rocks!

Love, Sister Dunn

November 11, 2013



Sister Dunn and Sister Sparhawk (at the Mesa Temple by Mary and Joseph)



This week was much better than last week. Even though we had a temple trip and lots of meetings that took away from our proselyting time we got a lot done.

 

We had a really cool experience on Wednesday. We were driving to go to an appointment but we had 15 minutes before we needed to be there. While driving to the area where the appointment was I got a very small prompting to go to this town home complex and try and contact a YSA. I decided it was something that I should act on, asked Sister Sparhawk if she wants to go there, she agreed and we went there. This YSA ended up not being home but there was this woman sitting by herself and she looked so sad and lonely. I got an even smaller prompting to go and talk with her. Sister Sparhawk and I looked at each other and went over to talk with her. Her name is Tessa and she had just lost her job. She was smoking, trying to drown out her sorrows. As we were talking we eventually got to the point where it felt right to talk about the gospel. We taught her about Jesus Christ and testified of the Restoration and gave her a Book of Mormon. We invited her to learn more and she accepted! She lives in the Assistant's area and we told them about her and hope that miracles happen for her. Running into her and following the promptings of the Spirit was such a miracle. This testifies to me of the amazing things that happen when I follow the small promptings of the Spirit. I know I'm not perfect at it but the more I do it the better I'll become. I'm learning to not expect perfection, only progression. I have faith that the Atonement will help me as I work to overcome this weakness and turn it into one of my strengths.

 

We have a progressing investigator! Yay! I am so happy!  Sister Clemons and Sister Robbins were going to teach him but they thought he would do better in a YSA ward so now we're teaching him. He's been taking the lessons for over a year and really wants to be baptized. But we're worried that he isn't serious about being a member and thinks that baptism is a one time thing and that he doesn't have to do anything afterward. We're also concerned that because he's had so many spiritual experiences that have told him to be baptized that he's just doing it on blind faith instead of having the knowledge of why we need to be baptized and the significance of it. We're making sure he understands and we are teaching him very slowly. He also needs to start reading and praying everyday so we make sure he had something to read and we text him everyday. We set a soft baptism date of December 21 and told him that he needed to work to be ready for this day. I think that made baptism very real and is going to get him to make necessary changes in his life.

 

This week was just better. I did an "attitude adjustment" and reevaluated myself and realized that I do have a lot to learn but I shouldn't expect perfection. I'm expecting too much of myself and as a result I'm not doing to best job I can. I rededicated myself to work on small things that will make a big difference and to always laugh. 

 

I can't believe transfers are next week! Transfers are hard but I will do whatever is asked of me and I will do it with a smile and the world's most positive attitude!

It is so crazy how fast time flies! I can't believe that I've been out for almost 4 months! I'm beginning to understand what it means to lose myself in the work and when I do time just flies by! It's really crazy! I'm so grateful to be here with so many amazing tools to do the Lord's work. I feel so blessed to be on Facebook and to have an iPad to help. The Mesa Mission is the 7th mission in the world to receive iPads! How cool is that! It's really neat. 

 

Life is really good here. The weather doesn't go above 95 and all the snow birds have arrived! It's super fun!

Love, Sister Dunn