Sister Brianna Dunn's Mission: November 3, 2014

Greetings!!

It has been a pretty good week! We've managed to stay busy and have had little tidbits of success! The member who invited their friend to Stonebridge's Halloween party took her to the Phoenix Temple open house and she's agreed to take the lessons! This member is on fire! It was a really neat experience being there when she invited her friend because she realized how hard it actually wasn't. If you invite, then you're successful! We're going to work with that and this friend is going to learn and feel the Spirit. :) We got to go the open house one last time on Saturday with this member and her friend. I just love this temple! I can't wait to go inside it when it's dedicated!

Trying to work with Stonebridge's new auxiliary hasn't gone according to plan this week. No one has answered their phones or isn't home... Times like these really test the extent of your patience... I'm getting a glimpse into how Heavenly Father feels sometimes when we don't do the things he's asked us to. Our goal is to still meet with all of them this week WITH our ward mission leader. That's the goal anyways....

All of our recent converts are doing really well, especially Mack and Maria! Mack gave a talk during the Saturday night session of stake conference (mind you he's only been baptized about a week too)! He had the entire audience crying and the Spirit flooded the room. The new member lessons are underway and they're reading the Book of Mormon! They're coming down from a spiritual high, so we're trying to get them to a stable place so they don't crash and burn. They're going to be great leaders in the ward in the near future... They're even better missionaries than the members! During conference, President Whimpey (the stake president) had all the missionaries come up and stand in front of the audience. He asked a few of us to share with the members exactly what they can improve on. Sister Poppe said that when she came into the area the members didn't know their neighbors. Nine months later these members still don't know their neighbors. Maria knows all her neighbors, invites them to everything, and even has gospel discussions! Who does that?? She's setting the standard for each of us. The essence of the gospel is love. One way we can show love for our neighbors is by getting to know them and showing interest in their lives. Over time, as we live the gospel, they will become interested in ours and will ask us why we are so happy. That opens the door to the gospel. It's not an overnight process, but it works!

We had a regional broadcast for the general sessions of stake conference. IT WAS SO GOOD!!!!! Elder Bradley Foster, Elder Christofferson, Sister McConkie, and President Uchtdorf all spoke. And the lady who directed the music is the mother of one of my friends from jr. high! I'm noticing a pattern in the talks given by our general authorities. They want us to gain a testimony, be converted, and endure to the end. I learned the power that comes from keeping an eternal perspective when going through challenges. Elder Foster gave us 4 things to remember:

1.) We are all children of God

2.) Our life has an eternal purpose

3.) God has a plan for YOU

4.) Remember that progression is eternal

Sister McConkie talked about strengthening families through keeping our covenants (another theme from the General Women's Meeting). Elder Christofferson taught us about being truly converted. My favorite quote from him was "The Atonement is what writes the law (or gospel) on our hearts." The way we let the Atonement do that is by acting in faith to do what's been asked. We read the scriptures, pray, attend our church meetings and keep the sabbath day holy, attend the temple frequently, share the gospel, repent. President Uchtdorf taught us about the blessings of the temple. In case you didn't know, the Mesa Temple is where he received his own endowment! He loves Arizona so much and I love Arizona so much! We have so much in common!! #potentialbestfriends Anyways, he taught us that the "For the Strength of Youth" pamphlet is a guide that tells us what we must do outside the temple to be able to receive all the blessings that come from inside the temple. Spectacular? I think yes!

Being out proselyting on Halloween was prohibited, so we got to go to the temple instead. :D I had so many tender mercies/miracles happen it wasn't even funny. One of my favorite families in Adobe Villa works in the temple Friday nights and I told Heavenly Father that it would be nice to see Brother and Sister Mangum. It wasn't a demand, just a thought that I told him. After I had changed to do initiatories I heard a voice say "Sister Dunn!" I turned around and there was Sister Mangum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my! It was so good to see her! I got to talk with her for a few minutes and she asks me "now, what's your name? I can't remember..."....................... The voice that said my name was not hers.... It was the Spirit. It was Heavenly Father letting me know that he heard my prayer. He let me know how much he loves me. He wants to bless us! We just have to ask and if it's his will, it will be done. It was such a tender moment to have that prayer answered. And then I also got to see Sister Austen from the Adobe Villa ward too!!!!! Tender mercies in abundance!!

Remember my explanation of my new found love of sushi? Well, to show our gratitude for Bishop and his wife, we decided to one-up heart attacking. Our genius idea consisted of cutting out papers, coloring them, and making everything look like something you would find on a plate of sushi. Chopsticks included! As we go up to the house, I stayed in the get-away car and Sister Krueger runs and places everything on the door, Bishop and his wife drive up. You would think that I would hide my face, right? Wrong. I quickly tell Sister Krueger to hurry it up while they go and park their car all the while knowing that they saw me. You would also think that being caught would cause you to stop and talk, right? Wrong. We book it still and we die laughing about what happened all the time. Moral of the story? You NEVER get caught heart-attacking, but sushi-ing is a lost cause. Trust me :) I have a lot of heart-attacking stories with situations that would seem impossible to accomplish the task of taping hearts to a door.

This coming week is going to be SO GOOD! We get to go to the temple again and President Jenkins has me and a couple of other missionaries working on a training for Zone Conference. On online proselyting!!! No pressure.

-Sister Dunn

1. Phoenix Temple open house!!

2. Sister Poppe thought it would be a genius idea to take a dare given by a youth to eat 8 corn dogs on 50 cent corn dog day on Halloween.