June 9, 2014

Greetings!

Another week and flown by and I don't even know where it went. I can't believe how fast time is flying by. This week has had many ups and downs, trials and joys, and many crazy experiences.

This week has been so hard because Satan has just been attacking me with everything he has in his artillery. I really don't like him. He's been sneaking into my mind and causing me to question and doubt. He's been in the minds of the people we're working with and throwing trial after trial in their path. He has been relentless and I'm exhausted. I don't understand why he can't just leave me alone! He's like one of those annoying flies that keeps coming back even though you've swatted him away 1,000 times. He keeps coming back for more.... He's been very forceful with me this week and it's been hard to let the Atonement come in and help. As soon as I let Christ in Satan comes in with a bulldozer to remove. Even though I'm pushing him back, he always manages to always be there. I'm looking forward to the second coming where he will no longer be around. That will be a glorious day!

Besides being treated like a punching bag by the Adversary, we had a good week. We found 4 new investigators in the Adobe Villa ward! Man, people are just coming out of nowhere. It's great, but the problem we're running into now is getting our investigators to progress. It's easy to teach them on the spot, invite them to do something, and set up a return appointment. It's another thing to have them keep their commitments and return appointments. I know that there's a lesson to be learned here... I'm just not sure what it is yet. We get to experience these miracles of finding and then nothing happens after that. *sigh* I keep praying that everything will work out and I'm doing all that I can to ensure that I'm worthy to follow the Spirit and to allow the Lord to work miracles through me. I definitely need to develop patience because it is not a virtue that I have right now. Everything will work out in the Lord's time.

Charlene and Raymond have been bombarded by attacks from the Adversary. With all that is going wrong in their lives we have not been able to teach them this week. Our members have been awesome though and have gone over to their home by themselves to reach out to them, share love, and give encouragement. They told us that things are going to calm down this week and we have an appointment with them on Wednesday. Hope all goes well! We're sad we have to push their baptism back, but it's has to be so and it's what they need.

John Taylor is doing great! He's starting to get answers to his prayers. He's beginning to know for himself that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that through him Jesus Christ established His church on the earth. It's really amazing to hear him put the pieces of the puzzle together. I know he'll be baptized soon. That being said, he lives in Gilbert and we have to transfer him to be taught by the missionaries over there. Please pray that we can transition him. We've only taught him twice but it's still going to be hard. He's dead-set on being taught here. He loves this ward and his girlfriend is here. I hope and pray that he will see that he needs to be taught where he lives.

Vista Peaks is doing alright. We've been seeing a lot of members this week and they recognize that they need to do more missionary work to help us. Thankfully we have messages and commitments to give to members to help them do that! It's great! We're really encouraging our Ward Mission Leader to start acting on the plan we made a couple of weeks ago to help the members do missionary work as well.

I have the most kind and loving Ward Mission Leader in the Adobe Villa ward EVER! So I was looking into getting a new iPad case because the keyboard/case I had kept falling off and my iPad was beginning to get destroyed. One Sunday I looked over my shoulder and I saw that Brother Austin had a brand new iPad and a really great case that was with it. I asked him how much the case was because I was looking into a keyboard/case combo. He told me and I began plotting in my mind how I could save to obtain one. After thinking I decided to not buy a new case and to just get a new one from the mission office and use the keyboard I had. A couple of days later, and after obtaining a new case from Elder Hansen, we were walking and talking with Brother Austin after a fabulous lesson with John Taylor. Me being dumb and gullible did not see what was going to happen. Brother Austin asked to see my iPad. Of course I said yes because I wanted to show him the new case I had just gotten and to share my excitement for my iPad not falling out of it. Then he asks how to connect devices to an iPad, so of course I showed him how to do it. I was so out of it that I do not remember him grabbing my iPad, taking it out of the case, and putting it into the one we had just talked about a few days before. Then he handed me my iPad in HIS CASE, walked away, got into his car with his wife with the BIGGEST smile on his face, and drove away. Needless to say I was in shock and I couldn't move for a few seconds before I registered what had just happened. That man is so giving, I love him a lot. There are some really great members here and I feel so blessed to be a recipient of their love and generosity.

Here's the biggest miracle for the week! When we first found Charlene and Raymond there were two kids that really wanted to learn as well. This super cute 10 year old boy and 7 year old girl were so excited to learn about Jesus. Well, we never actually got the chance to teach them because they moved out of the blue and we had no idea where they had gone. We were deeply saddened, but we prayed that they were in a much better place. A couple weeks later Sister Quiocho and Schulte called us and told us that they had just found the kids and their parents! The family is no longer lost and they still want to learn! Although they're not in our area, I'm so happy that they're safe and that these wonderful sisters found them. Huge miracle!

Going to the temple on Friday was absolutely wonderful and desperately needed. After this week of hand-to-hand combat with the adversary it was so nice to be in a place where he cannot dwell and I was not going to let him in either. It was so relaxing and peaceful. We got there plenty early and I loved it. It gave me time to calm down and get into a state of mind to receive revelation. Pondering and listening to the music brought the Spirit into my soul and it felt wonderful. My question going to the temple was about how to become a better missionary. It was very vague, but I knew that Heavenly Father would tell me how to become better. Sitting in the Celestial Room is one of the best places on earth for Heavenly Father to speak to you. He told me that I needed to become like Christ. As I pondered I saw that I needed to learn to serve and love the way He did. Everyday I study the New Testament seeing how the Savior served and looking at my own life to see what I can change to be that way. This is going to be something I'm going to work on for the rest of this transfer and probably the next one as well. Not only do I want to become a better missionary, I want to become a better person and I know that trying to become like Christ will allow me to do that.

I'm looking forward to what this week has to offer. As each week passes by I always recognize how Heavenly Father is blessing us and how the Lord is leading and guiding us. Now it's up to us to be worthy, listen, and act on the guidance we receive and not to take any blessing for granted.

-Sister Dunn

New temperature high for the week!