Monday, June 20, 2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAY...

To me! haha. Ok so I ate a TON the past week! I had a different birthday dinner almost every night of the week! From pizza, to Mexican, to Italian, to BBQ chicken! It was a good week! One night we each were fed a ton and then Hermana Pastran fed us a HALF of a cantaloupe with HALF of a mango in it too! I was SOOO FULL!!!! I attached some pics of one night of b-day celebration. Don't worry people I still worked

So something way exciting for our ward is that Carlos and Enrique both got their mission calls this last week and opened them together! They are the first missionaries of our ward! Carlos is going to Rawley, NC mission speaking Spanish and Enrique is going to Lexington Kentucky English speaking! woohoo! It was fun to be there for that. I'm going to send this real fast and write the other half of the letter so that the elder that's lending me his camera cord can leave .....yay pics! and yay for cameras and computers that actually allow me to email pics!
.........

..... so we got to be there to see them open their calls....with half the ward there too. I love this ward so much!
We've got an investigator ready to be baptized! Fernando, the awesome one that's just so ready! we're just waiting for a few things to be worked out but hopefully it will be soon that he's baptized.
We've been doing good though....we have a mobat (Mormon battalion) night coming up tomorrow night for investigators so that will be fun. I'm also going to play violin for the next fireside!!! Sister Nelson...my roomie now for 8 months..is accompanying me in O My Father. So it'll be really pretty. Thank you Brenna for sending me that arrangement!!! But that's pretty much all the excitement now. We're just trying to help our investigators progress and learn and understand the gospel more. Mercedes is thirsty for it, but has been super busy with work and just recently had a minor HEART ATTACK! So that's not good! We offered our help for anything but she's doing good. You can tell though that she wants this for sure for her kids. So it'll all work out in the Lord's time.
It is gorgeous down here! Nice and warm! We're (a bunch of missionaries) are going to Red Robin today for a b-day lunch get together... for mine and another elder's b-day. So that will be fun!
Love you all and hope to hear from you soon.
Love Tawny

Prayer + Faith + all energy of heart + work = MIRACLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OH MY GOSH!!!!!! Miracles really do happen according to the faith of man! Do you remember how last week I told you that Fernando was NOT getting baptized because of legal complications and confusions? Well......HE GOT BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY AND CONFIRMED ON SUNDAY!!!!!!! Boy it was an emotional couple days, up and down and up and down like my second baptism with Alexis Segura. Our faith was tested, but because we decided to just trust in the Lord and do all we possibly could to do our job and work, and putting Fernando's name along with some other investigators names in the temple. Fernando was able to get baptized! It was a miracle of faith. He was just soooooo ready and excited to be able to get baptized! He loves it and was BEAMING at his baptism and on Sunday! He loves the gospel so much that he's sharing his experience with everyone!
Another exciting thing that happened was that we had a fireside in City Heights last Sunday as well and guess who worked their guts up to play a violin solo? I actually did it! I know incredible huh! but....my nerves still got the best of me for the most part. I hate that! I've performed all my life and I STILL shake like crazy.....I played Stephen Sharp Nelson's arrangement of "O My Father" and sister Nelson played piano for me. My hands were shaking so bad that my vibrato was intensified......but I tried my best to control it. Other than that I did pretty good!!!! Everyone loved it. so yeah!
We also had MTE (Missionary Training exchanges) yesterday and today, so our p-day is actually tomorrow but we still got to email today so that all the missionaries families wouldn't freak out. Man I can't tell you just how amazingly blessed my life could possibly be to have President Donaldson as my mission president. Sadly he's leaving at the end of this month....but he has been called to teach ALL the new mission Presidents the doctrine at the MTC !!!! And boy was this MTE loaded with DOCTRINE!!!! I love learning the DOCTRINE!!!!! or the "why" of the gospel! It's SO AMAZING to see what Heavenly Father's plan really is for us and how it works and we got the "disc of knowledge" too!!!!! FINALLY the POWER in my hands hahaha!!! I'll explain....it is a cd with 14,000 pages of notes on the doctrine and scriptures that president Donaldson continues to add onto! He writes for the church too. I am eternally blessed to have this precious AWESOME gift of knowledge of the gospel to be able to study for the rest of my life and learn Hebrew!!!! I'm so excited to study it when I get home!
Humberto is an investigator that we've recently started teaching that I found months ago......He's really interesting! He was raised Catholic but has searched all his life in different religions. He doesn't believe there is one true one.....he takes the good from each...but right now loves Buddhism. So he doesn't believe that Christ is His Savior.....we just got done teaching him and watched finding faith in Christ. We are starting with the basic basics! but he's willing! That is the key! and I can feel so much of God's love for him and have faith that he will come to know the truth someday soon!
Love you all.......GOOD LUCK to all the iron man competitors! Roland, Marci and Carolyn! I'll be their in spirit cheering you on!!!
Love you
Tawny
ps.... I LOV EYOU EMILY AND CONGRATS ON THE WEDDING THIS WEEKEND!!! i'll be thinking of you!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

May 24th Letter

I just turned 11 months old in the mission yesterday! I can't believe I'll be out almost a year soon! oh yeah and I'm goning to be turning 22 in a week! oy! That's weird. I feel...old. No offense to anyone else at all haha.

Transfers are tomorrow! Still haven't gotten the call yet...hopefully soon. I think I'm staying here though. I have to give a talk on missionary work in Sacrament next week so I bet it's sealed the fact that I'll be staying....but ya never know!

We just recently got 3 investigators with a baptismal date in the past few days! Mercedes for June 19th and Fernando and Rodolfo for the 12th of June! We're super excited for them because they are all just so ready, want it too! You can tell they want to follow Christ. Mercedes, especially for her kids. She want's them to have a good example and just good lives. Fernando really want's to turn his life around and want's it so bad and is reading and praying and attending church for ALL 3 HOURS!!! Rodolfo's mom we found out does NOT understand or speak Spanish! She's from Oaxaca, Mexico and speaks a native dialect! We were asking if Rodolfo was home and what her name was and she just stared at us....at first we were like... What?? ...but then it clicked "WHOA! she doesn't speak Spanish!!! crazy!!!" We don't normally run into that down here! Normally people are from the states north of Oaxaca....Sinaloa, Sonora, Jalisco, Michoacan, Baja California...etc. So it was way cool that we just found someone from a more Indian blood background. Rodolfo said that he doesn't really speak the dialect anymore and that they can basically communicate with her...but her husband speaks Spanish and the dialect. I'll have to ask him what the dialect is called though.... When we heard that she was from Oaxaca I thought of my cousin Brian! So Brian.....did ya run into a lot of different dialects? did you learn any?....

This last week we had Zone Conference which was awesome! We also had a fireside out in the desert!!! In El Centro! It took two - two and a half hours on 94 to get there. It's this old 2 lane highway that winds through the countryside right along the border! It was pretty....I felt like I was in Utah or Montana haha.....OK so it was sort of pretty. lol. I sang in a group and played the violin again for I am a child of God.... And I did GOOD! I didn't mess up! Except the ending was thrown off and everyone messed up....but it was still good! It wasn't too hot either...only 85...but the winds were SURE STRONG on the way back home! Then we just took the 8 back home. So that was fun to take a lil road trip out to the country/desert. The stars were GORGEOUS on the drive home.....been a long time since I could see them like that!
So far we STILL haven't gotten transfer calls....So I'm probably staying. love you! Have a great week!
Hermana Dunn

May 10th


Happy mothers day today!!! In Mexico, Mothers Day is always celebrated on the 10th of May. It's like a holiday holiday too....No one does anything but celebrate all day. Everything is shut down etc. So we'll see if we get to teach anyone tonight! They might all be in Mexico with their moms. But Mother's day rocked cause I got to call home! woohoo! Then it made me feel trunky for a little while....but I got over it. haha.
Well really the only big news is that my companion had to go home :-(. Because of medical reasons. But the good news is that she will come back out when she gets better! Sister Jensen, we miss her. But President Donaldson said that she was doing good. It was kinda crazy though cause it was so last minute. She left Saturday within about 3 hours from when she talked with president. But she'll be back soon!
Ana, our investigator, is still progressing, but we found out that she doesn't feel ready this month to get baptized and that she's going to be in Mexico for like a month or something! oy! But that she wants to after she gets back, so that was a little sad to hear, but we still have strong faith in her and know that she will get baptized when she's ready! Which is good and what we want for everyone, to be ready.
Jose Luis is slowly progressing too. We taught him the word of wisdom and it went shockingly well! He didn't understand the no coffee and tea thing at first, but when we taught the doctrine and the "why" he understood and was like, "OH! Well I'm gonna get rid of it!" It was amazing! and he let us talk!!! haha We weren't there for even an hour! Ok, 55 mins but that's FAST for him! It was awesome!
It's weird that transfers will be in 2 weeks, since we just had some...sort of. Who knows what will happen and who will go where!
I thought I would share something cool that I read about today while studying. I was reading about the Plan of Salvation, which is the plan that Heavenly Father has for us to gain peace in this life and in the life to come. It answers the questions: Where did we come from? Why are we here? and Where are we going? But I was reading in True to the Faith, on pg 117 about the blessings of knowing the plan! it say:
"A testimony of the plan of salvation can give you hope and purpose as you wrestle with the challenges of life. You can find reassurance in the knowledge that you are a child of God and that you lived in His presence before you were born on the earth. You can find meaning in your present life, knowing that your actions during mortality influence your eternal destiny. With this knowledge, you can base important decisions on eternal truths rather than on the changing circumstances of life." My favorite part is that last sentence! This gospel is the ETERNAL TRUTHS that have been restored to us. We can find security and know that we won't be lead down the wrong path when we Base our decisions on these ETERNAL TRUTHS, rather than on the ever changing of called "morals" and circumstances of the world. Eternity and God and Heaven are always going to be the same yesterday today and forever and it's going to go on for all eternity! This world we live in now is a split second compared with eternity. And I dunno about you but I've observed a lot of challenges in this life and had my own... But because of the plan of salvation...because of the restoration of the gospel...I know these eternal truths to actually be true! and I know that anything and everything can be made right through the atonement of Jesus Christ... through the ways that He has set! We can make our decisions, knowing that when we choose the right, we will be rewarded with the acceptance in to the presence of the Lord, in Heaven, forever living in a FULLNESS of Joy and Happiness with our families. That's why we follow the commandments. That's why we are in the world but not of the world. That's why we stand out. Because we know the truthfulness of the gospel. and THATs why we are so persistent in trying to help others come unto Christ, through faith, repentance, baptism, and receiving the gift of the holy ghost...and enduring to the end. I know it's true. And I know you know it's true, or have known that, or will come to know that. I know that by reestablishing or reenforcing that knowledge and living it, will give you eternal happiness.
It later goes on to say in True to the faith on pg117 , "You can continually improve your relationship with family members, rejoicing in the promise that your family can be eternal. You can find joy in your testimony of the Atonement and the Lord's commandments, ordinances, covenants, and doctrines, knowing that 'He who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come' (Doctrine and Covenants 59:23)' " .
It's everyone's choice to accept it or not though. Heavenly Father is definitely happy when we choose to follow it and accept it.
I love you all! And hope you are well and happy!
Love,
Hermana Dunn

May 17th Letter

HELLO!!! HOLA! Buenos Dias! Que tal? What up?! haha
I've got exciting news! My recent convert Albino.... you remember how it started with him and then we baptized his daughter Ana, and then His wife Susana got baptized in Mexicali.... We were teaching his son Tony whenever he was here in SD.... but he would go to Mexicali a lot. Well, HE GOT BAPTIZED down there 2 weeks ago!!! on mothers day! and he got confirmed this last Sunday!!!!! WOOOHOOOO!!!! The whole family is following! Albino is super happy and now there's just one more son that hasn't gotten baptized. Some day. :-) It was so exciting to hear that he got baptized though.

We are actually going to be having a small Mission President's fireside again this month but in Calexico. My apartment and 4 other sisters and two cars full of elders will be going there to sing and do the special musical numbers. I will be playing my violin again on the same song. So hopefully I won't mess up again haha. But it'll be a two, two and a half hour drive out to the desert. I heard it's HOT HOT HOT out there! Like 95 degrees at night! It gets up to about 120 normally in the summer... Which sounds like what I was going to be dealing with if I had gone to Salta, Argentina. It should be fun! We're just going for the night and driving back right after the fireside. I will also be singing in a small group of sisters for one of the songs, plus the choral pieces. So that will be fun this weekend!

Transfers are on the 25th next week so we'll see what changes are made. I have to give the lesson in gospel principles this coming Sunday and then if I'm still here on the 29th I'll speak in sacrament on missionary work.
We got an awesome new investigator....actually a couple! that are really interested in learning more, so that's sweet! It's nice to actually talk to people that are happy to see you and want to see you and don't avoid you, run away or hide. One of the investigators might be a lil too happy to see us!! LOL ...so they might just go to the elders instead. We'll see though.
Lately a couple people have told me that I've lost weight which is GREAT! But I dunno I think it just might be my bangs that I just cut that makes my face look different, cause they do. I definitely don't really feel like I've lost weight haha. But hey! I'll take that compliment!
We had some exciting things happen at our apartment! One is that we found a kitten and her mom on our back porch and she is SOOOO CUTE!!!! But they are strays so it breaks my heart... We don't feed them but they just chill on the back porch sometimes. The other one is that the sister's bikes got STOLEN from the front porch the other day!!!!! AY!!!! They had forgotten to lock their bikes at night and when we opened the window we realized they were gone! ay! Sister Adams was using sister Kratzer's bike too and had just dropped $80 to repair it the day before!!!! So we went back to the bike shop and she bought the exact same bike and everything since sister Kratzer will be coming back soon to get it. Bummer!!
That's pretty much the news down here at the border! Hope all is well with work, health and school!
Love,
Hermana Dunn

April 25th Letter

TOMORROW!!!!! Yup tomorrow is the day that we go to the Carlsbad Mission to see L. Tom Perry. I'm super excited! Oh ....I'm giving the closing prayer too! I just remembered that ....guess I'll practice my prayers in English today haha.


So This week has been a little crazy, but last night topped it off. My comp and I went to see an investigator, Ana and we had a AMAZING LESSON!!!!!!!! It was totally the spirit teaching and directing what to say and ask. It was just so awesome we all almost started to cry. My heart was full afterwords. I just love these people so much! Especially when the spirit works through us to be able to help them come to know Christ and His Gospel and the truthfulness of it. She agreed to prepare herself to be baptized on mothers day May 8th. Which by the way will be the day that I call home again! Feels like yesterday that i just talked to the fam, but it's here again!

Anyways with Ana we were reviewing the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and we hadn't had personal study that morning as church starts at 9AM. So I was feeling unprepared but said a prayer that Heavenly Father would help me remember scriptures, or know what to say and what to ask. Then during the time when we were talking about her family and how this would bless her and her family I remembered two scriptures that I just happened to read in sacrament yesterday! They were PERFECT! Mosiah 2:22&41.. look them up. It's Heavenly Father's promise to his children that when we obey the commandments we are blessed in all things temporally and spiritually and that this promise never falters but is the same forever.... but we must do our part to act and exercise faith.

Random little tidbit! My roommate, sister Adam's, .....her great grandfather is Bruce R. McConkie! Pretty sweet huh. Now I want to read the Mormon Doctrine books that he wrote when I get home even more!

Well other than that we are just trying to find more people as always. That's the hard part. It sure is easier when members find know and/or find those that are truly searching for it. People will talk to us sure....but sometimes they just aren't interested! Story of my life, but there are those that really are and really do things to know it for themselves! That's where We come in! To help people know for themselves that the gospel is true, then showing them how to act on that knowledge. Knowledge without using it or doing anything is never going to benefit us at all. You've got to apply it!! Then that knowledge will turn into something even greater, which is wisdom!

My TEN MONTH MARK was on Saturday the 23rd. OY! Time is flyin and I only have 8 months of this amazing time left... scary!

Well I love you all! I hope you have a wonderful week!
Love ,
Hermana Dunn