December 9, 2013

What a week... A very cold week! I've actually really needed some winter clothes down here! Who knew that it would get into the 30s in Mesa Arizona. But I'm still alive! There was also frost on our car! It wasn't a lot but it was there!

A lot has happened in the past week. On Friday I got a blessing of comfort and peace from our Ward Mission Leader Abe. Even though these wonderful miracles were going on, I felt a little alone even though I knew I wasn't! It was just one of those days when I really needed to hear from God. The blessing was exactly what I needed to hear. The blessing was packed full of love from God. Most of the blessing was reassuring me that He is there and is mindful and knows everything that I'm going through. One part of the blessing said that many things may go unnoticed, but He notices them. That meant a lot to me. We go every day to contact potential investigators and less actives and most of the time the door remains unopened. After doing that for a week with little success can be discouraging but hearing that in my blessing reassured me that all the things that I'm doing to help the work progress doesn't go unnoticed. I feel so reassured that God and Jesus Christ are there working right with me and that everything we do has a purpose. I may not understand that purpose but I have to keep going!

Christmas Lights is exhausting but so much fun! It's neat to see people light up as they see the lights and displays! We had a really cool experience this week. We were roaming around the grounds near Joseph and Mary. There was this family walking the opposite direction of us when this older gentleman walked up to us and said he'd like to have the missionaries come and teach him. His name is Toast (aka Anthony) and he said to come during the evenings Wednesday through Friday and to come before Christmas because that is his birthday. It was a crazy experience. He's out of the mission though :( But we got him referred! He's so great and eager to learn. Christmas time is the best time to find people who are prepared!

So a really crazy thing happened during Christmas Lights on the 6th. Sister Sparhawk and I were walking around near the White Nativity Statue when I saw my dentist, Dr. Baugh. It was really strange seeing someone from home here in Mesa. But it was really neat as well!

Kyle is progressing to baptism! Yay! He's still set for the 21st of December. He's doing awesome. He's really trusting us. We taught him the Word of Wisdom the other day and asked him if he struggled with anything and his initial response was no but then he hesitates and said that smoking was something that he had struggled with. He worked in an environment where smoking was the thing to do so he did it but he hasn't had a cigarette in 4 weeks! He and another member are going to clean through his belongings and remove any evidence of tobacco. He said that he trusts us a lot because he told us something that he hasn't told anyone. He's awesome :) We know he has a testimony of Jesus Christ, the  Book of Mormon, and Joseph Smith. We're praying extra hard that nothing comes up that will have his baptism postponed!

Well, I'm having a wonderful mission despite the cold ;)

Love, Sister Dunn