(To those who follow this blog I am slow to post this latest news from Scott but I am a teacher and school just started so I have been working really long hours. He chastises me in the note though so I guess posting it will be my punishment. I write at least every Sunday so he really did get a letter. Kris)
Mom, you are pretty terrible at writing me back by P day, even though you had 3 days to do it. Good news is that I am leaving tomorrow. The missionaries that left on Tuesday said everyone talks about my trainer as though he is the world's best missionary. So I am really excited to meet him. Unfortunately, 5 days of laying in bed not doing much has made me forget Spanish. So I am busy trying to remember everything I forgot. If you can write me back by 9 am, that would be cool. (I did write again as soon as I received this note.)
Elder Dunn
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Surprise!
So guess what? I get to have a really unique experience. I am being transferred missions. It´s only for a little while, but still, it doesn't happen to everyone.
I have been reassigned to quarantine until my flu goes away. Sweet huh? Yeah, so all the Elders here leave tomorrow and the two that come here on Wednesday are from France. So, along with my quarantine, I won't be able talk to anyone! I have had a fever since Saturday morning, and the medic lady said that it shouldn't last longer than a week. So personally, I am hoping to leave Thursday, but if not, oh well.
The bad part is I miss orientation with the Elders I know, and I miss a P-day. And there really isn't a good part. I don't know why but I have never thought about being sick as a missionary before. But now that I am sick, I realize how horrible it is. You would have to cancel teaching appointments, you aren't able to tract, your companion would be super bored. So I guess I am grateful to get this out of the way before I get into the field.
But yeah, nothing has really happened since last Thursday. So this one will be short. I have no idea when I will be able to write again. Oh but hey, did I tell you that a kid received a package that cost $50 to send here? It was all just candy and food. So yeah, when am I going to get one of those?
Elder Dunn
This is his mom writing. At least his illness has not affected his appetite!
I have been reassigned to quarantine until my flu goes away. Sweet huh? Yeah, so all the Elders here leave tomorrow and the two that come here on Wednesday are from France. So, along with my quarantine, I won't be able talk to anyone! I have had a fever since Saturday morning, and the medic lady said that it shouldn't last longer than a week. So personally, I am hoping to leave Thursday, but if not, oh well.
The bad part is I miss orientation with the Elders I know, and I miss a P-day. And there really isn't a good part. I don't know why but I have never thought about being sick as a missionary before. But now that I am sick, I realize how horrible it is. You would have to cancel teaching appointments, you aren't able to tract, your companion would be super bored. So I guess I am grateful to get this out of the way before I get into the field.
But yeah, nothing has really happened since last Thursday. So this one will be short. I have no idea when I will be able to write again. Oh but hey, did I tell you that a kid received a package that cost $50 to send here? It was all just candy and food. So yeah, when am I going to get one of those?
Elder Dunn
This is his mom writing. At least his illness has not affected his appetite!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Almost Time to Hit the Field!
Dear Family and Friends
This week has been really good for my studies but nothing very eventful. Last week at the park we didn't get any references or have any really good experiences. But my companion and I tried to be more bold and talk to everyone, even those who initially waved us off. One guy we started walking up to waved us off. We saw that he had a Prado Pamphlet near him so we just started talking to him about that. After awhile, he brought up religious topics. He asked, "So what do you even believe in?" I just was like wow, why do you wave us off when you know nothing about us or how much we want to help you! But we talked to him for like 25 minutes, and I think he started becoming more open to the idea of a God. He is atheist so we only talked about God and praying but it was really good. I have been trying to ask better questions when teaching so I was able to ask a couple of good ones that really made him stop and think. I felt really good about it. We would have made a reference but he lived in like Toledo or something and said he would be traveling for awhile. Oh, and more good news, on Saturday we got another new missionary whose passport came late, so now I am in a twosome again, which is great.
My companion and I teach really well together. We taught the President on Tuesday, and we were able to really use the Book of Mormon effectively and ask great questions. For his advice, he asked, "So what else could you have done?" My companion and I didn't know what else we could have done so we didn't say anything. He said, "Maybe ask the investigator if you could fast for him, or give him a blessing, or just do something bold!" I figured since he didn't tell us anything about the basic teaching skills we did pretty well teaching.
After this my companion and I made a goal to use the Book of Mormon more effectively. We took 2 small copies of a Book of Mormon and went through with our Big Book of Mormon and just highlighted key words that will help us apply the book to investigators. Now we are in the process of making an alphabetical index of the key words and writing it in the front of the Book of Mormon. I am not going to lie to you all, it is pretty much the best missionary tool I have. It's pretty sick.
I am also halfway through Jesus the Christ and I love it. It's great because it helps me with my English vocabulary and teaches me more about Christ. Speaking of language, you know how in Spanish, poder is to be able to? But in English, we just use the word, can. Example, You can dance. Puede bailar. So now in English, I find myself saying you are able to in place of can. It actually sounds more proper though, so I am ok with it.
Anyway, love it here, but ready to be out in the field on Tuesday. Crazy yeah? You are telling me. I thought I was learning Spanish, then they introduced present and past subjunctive. What a stupid principle! Who does that? So yeah, back to being frustrated with the language because pretty much you have to conjugate verbs different now even though they mean the same thing. Really, English verbs are like cake. I walk, you walk, we walk, they walk, he walks, almost all the same conjugation except with the he she form. But still, way easier. Oh and my P-day in Madrid is Wednesday. I get there Tuesday, have meetings and junk till like 7, then proselyte till 10 or 10 30 then have p-day. Gotta love summer schedule in Madrid. During the summer they arise at 7 30 and go to bed at 11 30. Then usually it´s 11-7. Anyway, have a good one.
Elder Dunn
This week has been really good for my studies but nothing very eventful. Last week at the park we didn't get any references or have any really good experiences. But my companion and I tried to be more bold and talk to everyone, even those who initially waved us off. One guy we started walking up to waved us off. We saw that he had a Prado Pamphlet near him so we just started talking to him about that. After awhile, he brought up religious topics. He asked, "So what do you even believe in?" I just was like wow, why do you wave us off when you know nothing about us or how much we want to help you! But we talked to him for like 25 minutes, and I think he started becoming more open to the idea of a God. He is atheist so we only talked about God and praying but it was really good. I have been trying to ask better questions when teaching so I was able to ask a couple of good ones that really made him stop and think. I felt really good about it. We would have made a reference but he lived in like Toledo or something and said he would be traveling for awhile. Oh, and more good news, on Saturday we got another new missionary whose passport came late, so now I am in a twosome again, which is great.
My companion and I teach really well together. We taught the President on Tuesday, and we were able to really use the Book of Mormon effectively and ask great questions. For his advice, he asked, "So what else could you have done?" My companion and I didn't know what else we could have done so we didn't say anything. He said, "Maybe ask the investigator if you could fast for him, or give him a blessing, or just do something bold!" I figured since he didn't tell us anything about the basic teaching skills we did pretty well teaching.
After this my companion and I made a goal to use the Book of Mormon more effectively. We took 2 small copies of a Book of Mormon and went through with our Big Book of Mormon and just highlighted key words that will help us apply the book to investigators. Now we are in the process of making an alphabetical index of the key words and writing it in the front of the Book of Mormon. I am not going to lie to you all, it is pretty much the best missionary tool I have. It's pretty sick.
I am also halfway through Jesus the Christ and I love it. It's great because it helps me with my English vocabulary and teaches me more about Christ. Speaking of language, you know how in Spanish, poder is to be able to? But in English, we just use the word, can. Example, You can dance. Puede bailar. So now in English, I find myself saying you are able to in place of can. It actually sounds more proper though, so I am ok with it.
Anyway, love it here, but ready to be out in the field on Tuesday. Crazy yeah? You are telling me. I thought I was learning Spanish, then they introduced present and past subjunctive. What a stupid principle! Who does that? So yeah, back to being frustrated with the language because pretty much you have to conjugate verbs different now even though they mean the same thing. Really, English verbs are like cake. I walk, you walk, we walk, they walk, he walks, almost all the same conjugation except with the he she form. But still, way easier. Oh and my P-day in Madrid is Wednesday. I get there Tuesday, have meetings and junk till like 7, then proselyte till 10 or 10 30 then have p-day. Gotta love summer schedule in Madrid. During the summer they arise at 7 30 and go to bed at 11 30. Then usually it´s 11-7. Anyway, have a good one.
Elder Dunn
Thursday, August 13, 2009
A Great Week
How goes it back in M-Town?
This week was really good. Learned lots. I will start with Saturday night. Usually we just practice teaching other missionaries with a given scenario, but apparently there was an EFY group here and our teacher knew the leader so we were able to teach a youth group. We taught Eduardo, a 15 year old. They were suppose to be investigators, so we started teaching him as an investigator. It wasn't really going anywhere because he didn't really know what to do and we couldn't understand him too well. So I followed a prompting and asked if I could share a scripture that has helped me in my life a lot. He said of course so I shared it and things calmed down and the spirit came and it turned into a really good lesson. He asked what scripture it was and said he really liked hearing it. I was like "cool, glad I listened to that prompting."
On another note, my district got to sing a special musical number in sacrament. My district has no musical talent whatsoever so it was way funny. I think I told you about how we sing every week on the temple plaza too. Anyway, the district that does the musical number in sacrament is invited to sing outside as well, but since we were horrible, we were just going to sing the first verse then everyone else was going to hop in. My district started laughing because two of them were a note ahead of the rest of us, anyway, I sang a duet with another Elder, for the first verse of I Know that My Redeemer Lives, in front of about 30 people because only 2 of us were able to keep it together. So yeah, it was pretty sweet. Oh, and there is a temple missionary here who also plays the organ for us when we are outside. She is from Kearns and taught Spanish there for like 30 years. In short, she reminds me of you, mom. She served her mission in Peru and talks a lot like you. But she lives like on 5600 south in Kearns. Weird. Another missionary couple is from Cottonwood Heights and he used to be principle at Brighton 3 years ago.
Ok, so next neat experience was teaching President Hill a lesson. In Provo, I had never been within 100 feet of the President of the MTC, but here I talk to him like 10 times a day and he is a spiritual giant. He has been mission president 3 times and has the coolest stories. He has like 50 stories where he meets someone, gives them a really sincere compliment, and says three weeks later they were baptized. So it's kind of the joke of the MTC now that whenever someone gives a compliment, we all say, "And 3 weeks later they were baptized." Anyway, we asked to teach him and when we got in there the spirit was just amazing. We wanted to focus on listening to our investigator, asking effective questions, and using the Book of Mormon better. So we did, and it was amazing. We didn't even teach any of the principles of the first lesson besides we have a Heavenly Father who loves us and he gave us a book to help us. We didn't even talk about Joseph Smith. After the lesson, he said that we did it exactly right. He said we taught him as a person, and not a lesson, asked great questions, and got him to think about how he needed this book. So I was really grateful for that experience and for what it taught me. I have been taught by some missionaries here that definitely just teach lessons and not people. And that isn't what I want to be. Elder Holland spoke to us in Provo and said to ask ourselves after every lesson, was the Holy Ghost the Sr. comp, Jr. comp, or not there at all. And I have learned as of recently what a huge difference it is when the Spirit can be the Sr. comp. Anyway, life is good. Like 11 days left? Yeah, I wish I knew how to speak Spanish... Anyway, love you all.
Elder Dunn
This week was really good. Learned lots. I will start with Saturday night. Usually we just practice teaching other missionaries with a given scenario, but apparently there was an EFY group here and our teacher knew the leader so we were able to teach a youth group. We taught Eduardo, a 15 year old. They were suppose to be investigators, so we started teaching him as an investigator. It wasn't really going anywhere because he didn't really know what to do and we couldn't understand him too well. So I followed a prompting and asked if I could share a scripture that has helped me in my life a lot. He said of course so I shared it and things calmed down and the spirit came and it turned into a really good lesson. He asked what scripture it was and said he really liked hearing it. I was like "cool, glad I listened to that prompting."
On another note, my district got to sing a special musical number in sacrament. My district has no musical talent whatsoever so it was way funny. I think I told you about how we sing every week on the temple plaza too. Anyway, the district that does the musical number in sacrament is invited to sing outside as well, but since we were horrible, we were just going to sing the first verse then everyone else was going to hop in. My district started laughing because two of them were a note ahead of the rest of us, anyway, I sang a duet with another Elder, for the first verse of I Know that My Redeemer Lives, in front of about 30 people because only 2 of us were able to keep it together. So yeah, it was pretty sweet. Oh, and there is a temple missionary here who also plays the organ for us when we are outside. She is from Kearns and taught Spanish there for like 30 years. In short, she reminds me of you, mom. She served her mission in Peru and talks a lot like you. But she lives like on 5600 south in Kearns. Weird. Another missionary couple is from Cottonwood Heights and he used to be principle at Brighton 3 years ago.
Ok, so next neat experience was teaching President Hill a lesson. In Provo, I had never been within 100 feet of the President of the MTC, but here I talk to him like 10 times a day and he is a spiritual giant. He has been mission president 3 times and has the coolest stories. He has like 50 stories where he meets someone, gives them a really sincere compliment, and says three weeks later they were baptized. So it's kind of the joke of the MTC now that whenever someone gives a compliment, we all say, "And 3 weeks later they were baptized." Anyway, we asked to teach him and when we got in there the spirit was just amazing. We wanted to focus on listening to our investigator, asking effective questions, and using the Book of Mormon better. So we did, and it was amazing. We didn't even teach any of the principles of the first lesson besides we have a Heavenly Father who loves us and he gave us a book to help us. We didn't even talk about Joseph Smith. After the lesson, he said that we did it exactly right. He said we taught him as a person, and not a lesson, asked great questions, and got him to think about how he needed this book. So I was really grateful for that experience and for what it taught me. I have been taught by some missionaries here that definitely just teach lessons and not people. And that isn't what I want to be. Elder Holland spoke to us in Provo and said to ask ourselves after every lesson, was the Holy Ghost the Sr. comp, Jr. comp, or not there at all. And I have learned as of recently what a huge difference it is when the Spirit can be the Sr. comp. Anyway, life is good. Like 11 days left? Yeah, I wish I knew how to speak Spanish... Anyway, love you all.
Elder Dunn
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Real Good, Real Fast, Real Real
Dear People,
I will start off with last Saturday in the Park. We actually were quite successful. We placed three Libros de Mormon and actually had someone fill out a referral card. Everyone but one person we talked with allowed us to talk to them about religion and stuff. It was pretty sweet. I don´t know what people are talking about that Spain is hard. It's only hard because I know zero slang and when investigators only speak in slang, I get lost real quick.
I have a companion from Las Vegas, and he says real before every adjective. I guess it's a Vegas accent, but it's pretty catchy. "You do that real good, or real quick, or real slow." Sunday was great, pretty much everyone bears a one to two minute testimony here. And we sing every Sunday on the temple grounds for a half hour, then after mingle with people. I was talking with some of the sisters serving in Madrid and they have had like 7 baptisms in a year or something. Most missionaries have at least 5. So I am real excited to get out there. I will make sure to send you all a picture of my first one. Expect it within a month of me getting out.
The older kids left the MTC on Tuesday. I woke up at 5 am to take one of their comfy mattresses. There are only 4 in the whole MTC and they are quite coveted, so I was pretty happy I got one. But it was kind of crazy because I leave in 2 and a half weeks!
Time flies here in Spain. Today for lunch I bought an ice cold Mountain Dew at McDonald´s. So you all can be assured that I am living quite well. (Ha,ha)
On a spiritual note, our teaching has improved a lot. They challenged us to shut up and listen to the spirit, even if takes a minute of silence. Well, it really does work. We are getting a lot better at teaching with the spirit and when you have the spirit with you and you share a personal experience, it really touches people. Also we watched the Joseph Smith movie on Sunday, and pretty much everyone cried. Watching that movie in a room with missionaries is way crazy. You learn a lot more from it and really have a greater appreciation for what a great guy Joseph Smith really was. It is impossible to teach this gospel without a testimony of Joseph Smith and I am very grateful for my testimony of him.
Anyway, love you all. Stay beautiful.
Elder Dunn
I will start off with last Saturday in the Park. We actually were quite successful. We placed three Libros de Mormon and actually had someone fill out a referral card. Everyone but one person we talked with allowed us to talk to them about religion and stuff. It was pretty sweet. I don´t know what people are talking about that Spain is hard. It's only hard because I know zero slang and when investigators only speak in slang, I get lost real quick.
I have a companion from Las Vegas, and he says real before every adjective. I guess it's a Vegas accent, but it's pretty catchy. "You do that real good, or real quick, or real slow." Sunday was great, pretty much everyone bears a one to two minute testimony here. And we sing every Sunday on the temple grounds for a half hour, then after mingle with people. I was talking with some of the sisters serving in Madrid and they have had like 7 baptisms in a year or something. Most missionaries have at least 5. So I am real excited to get out there. I will make sure to send you all a picture of my first one. Expect it within a month of me getting out.
The older kids left the MTC on Tuesday. I woke up at 5 am to take one of their comfy mattresses. There are only 4 in the whole MTC and they are quite coveted, so I was pretty happy I got one. But it was kind of crazy because I leave in 2 and a half weeks!
Time flies here in Spain. Today for lunch I bought an ice cold Mountain Dew at McDonald´s. So you all can be assured that I am living quite well. (Ha,ha)
On a spiritual note, our teaching has improved a lot. They challenged us to shut up and listen to the spirit, even if takes a minute of silence. Well, it really does work. We are getting a lot better at teaching with the spirit and when you have the spirit with you and you share a personal experience, it really touches people. Also we watched the Joseph Smith movie on Sunday, and pretty much everyone cried. Watching that movie in a room with missionaries is way crazy. You learn a lot more from it and really have a greater appreciation for what a great guy Joseph Smith really was. It is impossible to teach this gospel without a testimony of Joseph Smith and I am very grateful for my testimony of him.
Anyway, love you all. Stay beautiful.
Elder Dunn
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