Friday, December 24, 2010

Feliz Navidad!!!

SURPRISE!!!! I'm writing today and not tomorrow! I forgot that our mission president said he still wanted us to email today instead of on p day tomorrow cause he didn't want a million parents calling him worried where there missionary was and why they hadden't written hahaha. so tomorrow is our p day but only for this week and I'll tell you why!!!
We had MTE....(missionary training exchange) where we meet with our zone and President Donaldson (mish pres) trains us and teaches us more about the gospel and how we can better help others understand it. He teaches us new tools to use in teaching and ways to teach. Then we have a missionary who's been out for a while or whatever, come on exchanges with us in our companionship to observe and help us how to implement what we just learned into our teaching. Like today we learned that an effective way of teaching that we need to get really good at is teaching with stories. And who would of thunk that Jesus Christ is our perfect example of that! and President Monson too! hahah. OF COURSE stories work! we just simply forgot about it and/or don't use them that much. I've quickly found out though that i STINK at telling stories! there's a lot of things about teaching that i'm not good at, at all! but i try my best everyday to improve and just follow the spirit to help these people. It was awesome though!!! the things i learned and continue to learn from my mission pres is AMAZINGLY mind blowing and helps me understand the gospel so much more and only strengthens my testimony that this IS THE WAY! This is the way that heavenly father has provided. His way, His authority, His gospel, His will. Not our gospel our church but His. My appreciation and knowledge for the gospel grows each day! and I only hope to help people gain this same knowledge and appreciation...because it is well!

I have a challenge for you guys. if you want....of course. I would love to hear from you! and answer these questions.
1)What do you truly want in this life? to achieve or whatever!
2)If you could ask Heavenly Father ONE question of your heart, what would it be?
3)What means most to you?
That would be great if you could write me a letter :-)
OH my gosh!!! GUESS WHAT!!!! I will be hitting my 6 month mark on the 23rd of this month!!! in 2 days!!! ahhh! that means I'm 1/3 through my mission. That means I only have 1 year left! oy! I still feel like I know NOTHING, but have learned sooo much at the same time. I love the mish! and I hope I'm helping SOMEONE! I hope I'm helping you...even in the slightest way.
We have this ROCKING member who is an AMAZING missionary.! she's in her 60s and she just LOVES to share the gospel no matter WHAT people think of her because it brings her so much joy! Her name is Eva Salazar and her son is a rocking RM too! still doing the work too! Her nephew we just added last week. We went to the Mormon Batallion and he LOVED it! and we taught him last night for the first time last night and invited him to be baptized and he said YES and he said YES to 3 weeks too! AMAZING what the miracles can be when you follow the spirit. My comp and i were RIGHT on key because everything that i was wanting him to hear SHE said it! it just flowed and we all felt the spirit testify to us so strong and he is just SO ready to do this! WE also added more people and a family that is awesome! So things are working out better and we are just trying our best to put all our talents and selves out there on the line for the Lord and his children so that we can better help them.
Thursday will be our Christmas party where we get our presents and stuff and I'm singing in a trio the first noel. and then Christmas eve and day we have several eating appointments with members. so I'm gonna look like Santa pretty much hahaha. jk.
well love you all! hope to hear from you soon.

love hermana dunn

Dec 14th Letter

so i have noooooo time to write cause we went to the temple today and it took all day....traffic stunk too. but i can feel all of your prayers and they are much appreciated. yesterday we added FIVE new investigators! it was awesome! i don't know how but it happened.
next week my P-day will be on wednesday the 22nd .....cause we have meetings all day on monday and tuesday with the mission pres which will rock. so dec 22nd is my p-day for next week and email day!
and just for a random story on a random events night......the other night we were walking to the car and a firework went off about 100yds from us and scared the poop out of us! my heart stopped cause it almost sounded like a gun shot...haha but no worries we saw the firework. it was random though....then we were driving down the street and a possum slowly slinked it's way across the road ....it was nasty! like and ROUS from Princess Bride (rodents of unusual size) haha. then we were driving home at night and i saw a meteor fall! or a really bright shooting star!.
we have a mission president fireside in La Mesa this sunday which will be fun! it's in spanish and we'll be singing christmas songs. .....sorry but i'll type more next week. and i still haven't gotten time to send pics yet...sorry.

love hermana dunn

Dec 7th Letter

Sorry this is late everyone. We lost the car keys this morning and also had some technical problems with stupid picture developing place where I was printing pics to send home...but they didn't come out. So sorry you wont get all the new ones I wanted to send.
Like every transfer, it was nerve wracking this morning during study time because we were waiting for ''the phone call'' to see if any of us were getting transferred. Well....none of us are! I'm staying with Sister Muir here in Otay River Ward...in Chula basically. woo hoo!!! our roomies are the same too sister Nelson and sister Gines who are awesome! They are in Chula 4th ward. So it'll be another party for the holidays in our apartment. haha.
The work here has still been slow. Some days are awesome some are not and some are a lil hard, but the mission is awesome. I'm really blessed to be here in San Diego. i LOVE IT! I think i was really meant to come here believe it or not! I love the ward I'm in! I feel like I've known all the members for a long time and they feel like family. Love them!
In an attempt to try and help our investigators progress and strengthen their testimonies and get more investigators I thought up the idea a few weeks back to have a mini little fireside for our ward. Music program with testimonies for those of you that don't know what a fireside is. We missionaries sang 4 songs and the youth sang another and we did it as the "spiritual thought" for mutual. We did some pretty arrangements of I'm a child of god, Lead kindly light, O my Father and the youth did I know that my redeemer lives. It was good! but the turn out wasn't. None of us got any of our investigators there and none of the members, except ONE brought friends. There were 2 people there that weren't members. We had our stake counselor speak too! I was pretty bummed. I almost wanted to cry cause I was so frustrated that none of us could get anyone there. BUT!!!! Turns out that it seems that the youth/ and members might have needed it more that investigators. One of the members in our ward really appreciated it and lots of the youth needed to hear it too.
So to much of my dismay there were no investigators and I felt that it was a wasted effort and time, but I'm glad it turned out that SOME people were able to be touched by the music. Makes you really think how investigators aren't the only ones that need to be strengthened in the gospel. All of us as members ALWAYS need to be strengthened in the gospel. We are not perfect, we have everyday challenges and bigger ones at times and we all have our faith tested. We always need to remember though that we need to help lift each other up and edify each other always. NEVER, are we to judge others of how "perfect" or "not perfect" there lives may Seem. We all have challenges. Heavenly father has an amazing perfect plan of happiness for us that we need to share...but the adversary has his plan too that can sometimes dangle in our path and for some even trap them in despair. But it's with the light of the gospel that can give us hope and strengthen us. we can all share that light and all need to. There are people out there searching for it. Now that may have just sounded cheesy or preachy but I'm dead serious. I continue to learn each day just how much the gospel really means to me and to others and to Heavenly Father.
The other night at the Christmas devotional broadcast president Eyring said something like, "you would give Him (heavenly father) Much JOY this Christmas season and always as you come unto him and accept his restored gospel." That's what I hope to do as a missionary and as a human being is to bring my Heavenly Father joy in coming unto Him each and every day and hopefully helping bring others unto him as well as a missionary. That quote though that He said just really hit me. The greatest gift you can give to Him this season and greatest joy you can give Him is to come unto Him and accept and apply His gospel that He has once again restored to the earth through a prophet.....because He LOVES US. The Christmas season is really about the Savior and what he came into the world to do for us. The best way we can honor His life and His sacrifice is accepting and living the gospel. I strive to do that everyday...and I hope we all will. It may not be easy at times...but that's why he's given us families, prophets, leaders, teachers, scriptures, the book of Mormon, prayer, church, wards! That's why Hes' given us commandments, to bring us joy and eternal life. "for behold, this is My work and my glory: to bring about the immortality and eternal life of man" Moses 1:39 "porque, he aqui, esta es mi obra y mi gloria: Llevar a cabo la inmortalidad y la vida eterna del hombre."
It's amazing the things I continue to learn....especially in Spanish at times. I love the mission and can't imagine my life without it and the things i might have never learned....so far. Even though there are really tough days at times, I keep pushing through. without the bad days I wouldn't know the GREAT Days that I have!
Love you all!
Hermana Tawny Dunn