September 30th

Hello,

Thanks for keeping me up to date with the other missionaries. It's nice to be able to read about other missionaries lives. Also, I can now cook some mean chicken. With a few tips from other missionaries, and your spices, I am a pro. Olive oil seems to help too. I think when I am married, in 10 years, I will just cook. I like being able to cook whatever sounds good to me at the time. I just need to learn quicker meals. And yes, fastest three months of my life. The MTC seems to have been so long ago now. The field seems way slower than the MTC. Just because some days drag on, and others you don't want to end. But I am glad you don't miss me too much. Or at all Haha. All mission presidents say stop worrying about your family and your girlfriends. Your family is just fine without you, I promise. And your girlfriend is probably on a date with another guy not thinking about you, so stop thinking about her. Haha, probably the most true statement I have ever heard.

But yeah, I am way jealous of the amount of baptisms in your branch. Toledo has been a slow area for teaching and for baptisms because the majority, like 90% of the members, don't live in Toledo. They all live in pueblos about 20-90 minutes away from Toledo. So teaching is hard, having members present at lessons is hard, and finding people is hard. We are mostly to find people in Toledo so we actually have members here, and right now we have around 7ish investigators from Toledo. One is a Muslim guy who is way cool. We gave him a Book of Mormon and invited him to church 2 Wednesdays ago and last Sunday he came to church and said he read the Book of Mormon twice and knows it is true. But I think he also thinks the Qur'an is true. So we have some work but we can't teach him till he comes to church 2 more times. Silly rules.

So, this week was kind of a spiritual week. We had a couple of lessons where we were either going to convert investigators or lose them. So we tried really hard to just let the spirit teach. And those lessons were amazing. One guy said he wants to get baptized, he just isn't ready yet, and his wife, who never wanted to listen to missionaries before us, is thinking about baptism as well. They are so good because they said they have seen a lot of people fall away after their baptisms so they want to make sure that if they do get baptized it is what they really want. So, WHEN we baptize them they will be good members. They have 2 kids too, so they are a great family. This week I have learned a lot about having the spirit teach in lessons and doing all I can to invite it. It's cool too because some experiences I have had yet haven't remembered them until the moment I start telling them. So, it's good.

Anyway, there is the spiritual side. On the language side, I am rocking it! No, not at all, but some of the members and investigators tell me that they have seen a lot of progress in me. And I have started to notice it too. I can talk with decent speed, and I am able to understand people a little better now. I sometimes do phone calls in the car now, and those are always fun. But I am able to communicate now. It's great. I started a goal last Thursday to only speak Spanish during proselyting hours and it is helping me. It builds my vocabulary, give me practice with more verb tenses, and forces me to think of different ways of saying things. I am excited to be able to come home and talk to you guys in Spanish. I think I will only talk to you in Spanish actually since you seemed to only want to talk to me in Spanish after I got my call. Anyway, I have to go. Have a great week. Stay pretty.

Elder Dunn

Language is Improving

I fixed most of the words missing a T,Y, or P while I ate breakfast and before cutting and pasting it into this blog. "The Mom"
P.S. The reason I sent Scott so many pictures or our dogs is because the only current pictures I have of anyone is a picture they let me take with the dogs.


Hello Everyone,

Ok, so I got the package and it was great. Also, the T Y and P keys on this keyboard work terribly. So if some are missing, I am sorry but I don't have the patience to spell check. But yeah, I am going to play ping pong today with my paddles and the seasonings were amazing and candy is always good. And thanks for the pictures, now I can actually introduce my family. But did you send enough of the dogs? Geez. And isn't the Lang's cabin awesome? I have showered in 4 of the showers there, I think that is all of them, but maybe not. But now you can picture how we use to set up 3 X- boxes and play Halo at a scout camp. Haha. And mom, I should definitely get the room downstairs. I don't have that much stuff to move... But I am excited to see what you guys do with the house.

So this week was good. We taught 20 lessons, which I guess is amazing. My comp never told me because he wanted me to think it was nothing, but we got a call from our president saying good work. So that was neat.

Spanish is coming along. I now understand almost everything at district meetings. And I am getting better with members. Also, I am learning Arabic. We taught some Muslim guy about the Book of Mormon, and he taught us the alphabet and the numbers in Arabic. We can't teach him anymore though until he comes to church at least 3 times and gets interviewed by the president. Some rules about teaching Muslims.

Last week we ate at a Chinese buffet. I tried everything. Squid, oysters, all sorts of raw fish. It was all amazing. And I only had a numb mouth for like an hour. So no worries. Other than that, the Vuelta de España came through Toledo, so we got to watch that during our mediodia. I was also offered beer several times and cigarettes. It was pretty great. We watched it with this group of bikers that knew a lot about the race but were also drunk. We got like 10 contacts out of the ordeal. It was really funny. Well stay pretty everyone.

Elder Dunn

Short and Sweet

Hey,
Thanks for sending my package. I am looking forward to getting it. Ok, I only have like 15 minutes today because I have such a great sister who writes me great emails. They say on your mission you grow closer to your family. I never got how, but today was kind of a moment of realization. So yeah, thanks for the great letters.
As for the work, it's coming great. Last week we had a baptism in the ward, an 8 year old. I won´t count it as a baptism yet but it was still a great experience. I had the opportunity to conduct the baptism. No biggie, I just rocked it. It was a good experience and my language is definitely coming. I can talk pretty decently, I just cannot understand some people. I swear they are not speaking any language, let alone Spanish. I think it's because everyone smokes.
Zone conference was great. Elder Teixeira, or something pronouced Teshera, spoke to us. He is from the Seventy. I talked to his wife after for about 20 minutes. She was way funny plus how often does the opportunity to talk to a general authority´s wife happen? It was cool.
Yesterday was my first exchange. It went really well. We had 7 good solid new contacts and we taught 5 lesson in 4 and a half hours. Then back in my area the work went well too. And I learned a bunch from the district leader, who was my companion. So it was really neat. We have 2 investigators with baptismal dates, and soon we will have 5. So far missionary work hasn't been too hard. (Haha) Missionary work is mostly about your attitude I have decided. So yeah, it's good here. Loving it.

Elder Dunn

The Best Week

This week has been the best week of the mission so far. The first week we were here was rough, we didn't know many people and a lot of our appointments fell through and I don´t speak Spanish! So yeah, a little rough. Since Sunday we have taught about 8 lessons and none of our appointments have fallen through. It is amazing! We are currently teaching a new family, married parents with a kid and they have a member of their extended family who is a member. They are way nice and very religious so we are hoping for the best. We are teaching them again tonight and I am so excited. But mostly we have been teaching less actives and getting to know all the members. We drove 45 minutes on Monday to have family night with the bishop and these 2 less active families. It went well. The food was good and one of the families said they would come to church this week. I don´t know how much truth is in that but we will keep on praying. We also are teaching this less active who really doesn't believe in God anymore so it´s like teaching a totally new investigator. He speaks English ok so it's nice when I am sharing personal experiences to be able to say a word in English and not have to worry about all of the vocab. Helps me focus more on the message of my story and not just the words I am trying to say. But it was really good. He is definitely softening up. Our goal is the next Ward Mission Leader. So we will see how it goes. But the rest of the week is packed with solid appointments and a special zone conference and stuff so I am excited.
The language is getting a little better. We have talked to a couple people who speak very clear and slow, and I can pretty much understand everything they say. Sometimes I won´t know some words, but I still get the idea. Our bishop is a native Spaniard and speaks very quickly with a think Spanish accent. I don't know if I will be able to understand him when I leave this area. Yesterday for district meeting I was in charge of district snack. I wanted to make no-bakes because they are delicious. Well we didn't have oats, peanut butter, or vanilla so we used Nutella (a type of chocolate or something) and golden grams. They turned out really good. I was surprised. The cooking is getting better too. I love just frying chicken or some sort of meat and throwing some seasonings on it and mixing it with pasta and cheese. It is always delicious. We still going running almost every day, and today we are going to attempt a 6k run during the afternoon. So, it should be good....... If I live.
OH, and during interviews yesterday with President Watkins, he showed us the church news where President Monson is in the Catholic church. He said we should do the same, and go be friends with the Catholic leaders. So we are also going to try and talk to them and ask them if they have service opportunities and ask to take a tour of their churches. It is way cool, I am super excited about it. There are like 3 churches in Toledo, so should be fun. But yeah, I never know what to say in these letters. So, stay pretty family and friends.

Elder Dunn

Finally in the Field!

Hello,
So the field is a lot crazier than the MTC. AND a lot more scheduled, which is weird cause it was pretty structured in the MTC. I don't know if I will ever learn to like planning out every minute of the day. It's killing me. Hopefully I do eventually. My companion said he is going to plan out his whole day when he gets home as well. I will definitely not be using a planner post mission. Anyway... So Spain is tough. It is really hard to actually teach a native Spaniard. Mostly we teach immigrants from other countries. But I think it's better because their accents are a little bit easier to understand. Oh, and let me tell you about my situation. I have absolutely no idea what is going on half the time. I just spend the time figuring out when to laugh, when to act surprised, and when to just smile. Then when I need to say the brief part of the lesson that I say, my companion looks at me. That is our sign to go. It's kind of a joke but people speak so fast. Plus I only know how to talk about the gospel. I am not able to just talk to someone past one or two lines of just a normal conversation. It's good though because I am learning a lot of patience, which is something I lack.
But yeah mom, Spanish names are funny. I swear we are teaching like 3 different people named Antonio or Carlos. But it is easier to remember names that way. How long are you two on your mission? I hope I am able to go to your ward when I get back sometime. Anyway, so my companion entered the MTC at 225. He is now at 180. So, there is hope for me! And I have already tightened a belt loop since being out in the field. We walk a lot, and the city we are in is very hilly. So, we get a lot of exercise. We also go running in the morning, so by the end of the day, my legs are pretty much dead. As soon as my head hits the bed, I am out. But it's good, because my mattress is way lumpy so if I actually had to be comfortable to be able to fall asleep, I would never sleep. But really, we only eat two meals a day here. Cereal in the morning, then whatever we make during mediodia. When we get home for the night, I never like eating right before we go to bed, so usually we just drink a lot of water and eat two meals a day. Oh, and I drink 5 liters of water a day, and only have to go to the bathroom like 3 times a day. So, you can imagine how much I sweat here. Mom, I don´t know how you served a mission in Paraguay and are able to complain so much about it being hot in your air conditioned house. I am getting use to just sweating all the time. I barely notice it at all anymore.
This week for service we are painting part of the piso we live in. Oh yeah, I should tell you about my area. We are in Toledo, which use to be the capital of Spain. It's like a giant castle thing with a moat. It's way pretty. The first part of the town was built in the third century. The piso we live in was built in the 14th century, like 100 years before Columbus was even born. So, it's pretty awesome. The missionaries before us left it really messy though. So we have had to spend some time getting it cleaned up. It's pretty nice though. Anyway, we are going shopping. Tenga una buena semana!

Elder Dunn