January 13, 2014

Greetings!

What a week! I'm sad that Elder Holland got an emergency assignment, but we still had a fabulous meeting! Elder Wright of the Seventy came and spoke to the Mesa, Gilbert, and Scottsdale missions. It was so fun and the Spirit there was amazing! The main message that Elder Wright gave was about changing and making every moment of my mission count. 

This week has been a bit challenging for me. I've been struggling a lot with who I want to become and where I want to go. After the meeting on Saturday I created a vision of who I want to be and how I can achieve that vision. I did have my struggles and I had to slow down to see things clearly (Sister Mitchell really helped me do that). I now appreciate how much the Lord loves me and trusts me. I had a hard time seeing that, but I see it now. I need to trust the Lord more than I've ever done in the entire life and to NEVER doubt Him. I now know that even the smallest amount of doubt can throw a person down into a big and dark pit. I was scared when this transfer began and I let that get the best of me. Biggest mistake EVER. I now have a vision that will help me exercise my faith and will lead me to be more obedient and to trust the Lord like never before. My struggles have made me stronger and have given me the determination to never doubt.

I really loved exchanges! It was so fun to be with a wonderful sister and to learn from her how I can be a better missionary. This sister serves in Highgroves, so it was really fun to be back in the YSA for 24 hours. Sister Mitchell also loved being on an exchange! And she did so well!

Sister Mitchell is doing really well. She's adjusting to missionary life better than she thinks she does. She's super insightful and always wants to talk to people. She works hard and tries her hardest to follow the impressions and promptings from the Spirit. She is very open with me about what she's feeling and what she's struggling with. Together, we've worked through a lot our problems and struggles, which is awesome!! She loves doing 12 Week and is learning a lot from it. I hope the next 5 exchanges go as well as the first one!

Missionary work in the ward is coming along. A lot of members are inviting like crazy to the Gilbert Temple. We're getting referrals by the handful and the members (especially the sisters) are seeing that they can do missionary work. Bishop Baird is wonderful and wants us to always be busy. We're always in the homes of members for FHE on Mondays and we're getting more sisters to come out with us when we teach. This ward is wonderful. Todd, Michelle, Brody, and Brenna have been sick, but I also think they're ignoring us. Meh. They've cancelled all of our appointments and when we stop by they say they're sick when we can clearly see that they're not. Our ward mission leader also sees this and he's trying to reach out to them along with our ward missionaries. We're praying for them a lot. But we have some hope! Lynn, the wife of a recent convert, is really open to sister missionaries. She wasn't with the elders, but we feel that we can connect with her. The members think that also. We stopped by the other night and dropped off cookies and she was so happy to see us. Although she was busy at that moment, she really wanted us to come back this week. YAY! With our investigators and referrals, we're staying busy and we're working hard to try and get a baptism this month. I know we can do it. :)

I've learned a lot in the past week and I can't wait to apply this knowledge to the rest of my mission. This week is going to be awesome! I have two exchanges that I'm going on and I have an interview with President tomorrow! This week is going to be a blast!

Love, Sister Dunn