Hey it's me-- still alive here in LA!

This week was super dreamy because an APOSTLE OF THE LORD came and spoke to us!! Elder Neil L. Anderson in the house! and Elder Hallstrom!

Wow what a treat it was. So many good things were said and felt. Here is something I love.

Elder Hallstrom said something like, 'The work you are doing is really important and needed. But we care less about what you are doing and more about who you are becoming. We don't just want you for 18-24 months. We want you forever.'

(*cue Squints from Sandlot: "FOR-EV-ER"*)

After the conference we went to the temple visitor center with our investigator J and woof, it was so, so good. I love being a missionary because every single time we teach someone I learn something different and my testimony is strengthened. I am being taught.

We watched a video at the visitor center and it just solidified my testimony in the importance of consistently nurturing our conversion, especially when things are going good. We all face times where our faith is tested and going through the motions isn't enough in that time of need. Our testimony never stands still; it is either increasing or regressing.

Sister D and Sister B

As I think about the person I want to become, the list grows endless. But overall the goal is eternal joy. Happiness is the ultimate desire. And I've realized through observation in my life and lives of others, through question filled prayers, and hours of scripture study, that the happiest people attain that level of joy "because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people".

It isn't a magical golden ticket that will only come in that unreachable far away future. It is attainable NOW by the love of God that we have in our hearts.

Earth Day--planting trees!

P-Day overlooking Malibu

Dodger Blue!

And the coolest thing is we can take that love of God with us wherever we go. We can adventure the world, savor tasty treats in a crowd of raging teens, go wild and run free, and still be obedient to the laws of God. Without it, we are lost and searching for the next distraction to draw our minds away from the bottomless pit in our stomach that can't be erased. Joy is not temporal. It is an eternal principle. 

Well, I could go on forever but I love you all and don't want to burn your eyes on your iPhone 15's. Stay cute and find your happy :')

xoxoxox,

your girl Sista D

Hi cute people of America!

These past 7 have been SUBLIME!

We've been teaching like mad, seeing wild miracles, exploring the valley, getting kicked out of booshie gated communities searching for Jbeebs and the KK (kardashian klan), and having amazing studies with crazy revelation.

Our investigators are doing AMAZING! We have almost all of them on date so we're just praying really hard and studying really hard on how to help these people be prepared to take one step closer to eternal joy.

Something I've realized is how important it is to know where our heart is. I've been pulling apart talks and zooming into scriptures and really praying about how to have a genuinely happy heart, soul, and character and I've found A LOT.

It really comes down to where our heart is.

"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." ( Matt. 6:21 & 3 Nephi 13:21)

I love 1 Nephi 8 where it talks about Lehi's dream. Above all of Lehi's desires, he wanted to partake of the fruit from the tree of life and wanted his WHOLE family to partake also. No matter how much he begged and pleaded and bore his testimony, Laman and Lemuel wouldn't come. It says, "He did exhort them then with all the feelings of a tender parent"; Lehi brought ALL of his feeling unto their hearts, but that was all he could do. Laman and Lemuel had to bring those things INTO their hearts in order to truly believe and be changed.

How relatable is that? 

We all have those who wander in strange paths that we are shouting to come back and grab a hold of the rod of iron. We all have those we exhort with all our feelings to partake of God's love, but deny it. We can bring it unto their hearts, but it's up to them to allow those things INTO their hearts. 

I have confidence that God will always answer the questions of our heart. Sis Boss and I have realized that when our investigators "don't get an answer" to their prayers it is because the question in their minds and the question in their hearts are not the same. We may tell them to ask if these things are true. We may ask them to pray for the Lord to help prepare them for their baptism. But if the question in their heart is whether or not they should stick with their degree or change their major-- THAT is the question God's going to answer. So we've been proposing the question, "If you could ask God ONE question, right now, what would it be??"

And there it is. There's the question in their heart. and for those that aren't "getting an answer about baptism", the question in their heart is never about baptism.

So, what's the question of YOUR heart?

If you could ask God ONE question, right now, what would it be?

God truly does answer the questions in our hearts. God truly is our loving Heavenly Father. And I know God manifests His love through blessings. That is why He gives us commandments. They're opportunities for us to progress and opportunities for Him to shower his love through blessings.

"..the good that you do, will do you no good, unless your heart is right" (the fourth missionary by lawrence corbridge)

I know that we all have the ability to be TRULY happy NOW, when we point our hearts to God.

 

I love you babes so much and I hope you know that I pray for you every day. I hope you're truly happy :)

LOVE YOU MORE THAN BOBA XOXOXO

Hello beautiful people!

One of the craziest and best weeks of my life out here in SoCal!

Here are just a couple highlights:

President and Sister Henrie, Elder and Sister Zeballos, Me and Boss

Wednesday we got to go to the temple with our bff recent convert Dali! Wow I love her so much. I love the temple so much. 

Taking our recent convert to the LA Temple for the first time!

Cool thing #1: I came to the temple with a question that I really wanted the answer to. I went through the whole session enjoying it and learning so much but not getting an answer. At the very end I grabbed the scriptures and it pretty much opened itself to a section in Index and my eye caught a scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants that straight up answered my question. It is wild how the standard works truly are books of answers and a way God communicates to us.

Cool thing #2: There is something incredibly special about waiting in the celestial room for someone to come through. There was a bundle of us anxiously waiting for Dali to walk in and I really can't explain the feeling. Tears just started streaming down my face I couldn't hold it in.

It brought me back to when I received my endowment and walked through into the celestial room in the San Diego temple with an insane brightness of white with my parents and Scott standing there waiting with BIG smiles. I couldn't help but think that's what it's going to be like after this life. I'm holding back words because there really aren't words to describe celestial feelings. The temple is the place to be.

Thursday and Friday was Zone Conference and Mission Leadership Council with Elder Zeballos (Area 70).

It was really, really good. I have been working on improving my character and trying to figure out how to improve myself internally. Throughout the conference I just kept getting lots of personal revelation about what it truly means to be happy. That there is a difference between temporal happiness and eternal happiness, and a difference between being happy and having a happy character. I realized that a lot of time we rely on happiness to come from the fruits of what we do and the outcome of things but that is just temporal happiness. What really matters is having a happy character and letting eternal principles seep into our being and build righteous, happy character. I could just talk all about this but there's just a little of what is going on in Sister Dohner's mind :)

Friday night we picked up this WAY SICK investigator! Sister Boss and I decided we're going to crack down and not deal with shady people anymore so we're just inviting people to be baptized left and right and if their intent isn't there, we don't teach them. Haha. So we met with this guy named J ( I know my mom just puts first initials and 4 of our investigators start with J so... just try to follow along haha.) He had dinner at a members with us and then we taught him the Restoration and committed him to a date! He came to church and man he just is so ready. I feel really, really lucky to have a front row seat in witnessing the Atonement touch hearts and change lives. The spirit is a bro.

Saturday was P's baptism!! OK Craziest day of my entire life!!!

It was 15 minutes before P's baptism and so Sister Boss and I decided we were going to go out on the streets and right then find someone waiting to change their life and bring them to witness the baptism. Hahaha just try to picture us speeding to the closest busy corner in the rain, tracking down anyone we saw and inviting them to let Christ more into their lives by being baptized and watching someone be baptized!! Well we ran into this man walking out of the bank. He hardly spoke any English but through our broken Spanish and his broken English, we almost dragged him there. haha. We had him follow us in his car and on the way called the Spanish Elders to be outside ready to talk to this man. It was a miracle. He couldn't stay for the whole baptism, so that was a bummer, but he came and he was an incredible man prepared by the Lord. The Spanish elders got his information and will start teaching him. MIRACLES HAPPEN. They are waiting to be known! It was a thrill of a day.

And the baptism went so so well! P was so happy and he bore his testimony after and at church on Sunday and wow!! There's something really special about humble testimonies.

Baptism Day!!

I seriously am taken back by the mercies of the Lord. They really are all over those who have faith to make them mighty unto deliverance. I know you all can see the miracles if you open your eyes to them.

Sunny D

 I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH and keep being cute :)

xo Sister D

**We were on Vacation last week, so here are the last two emails from Sister Dohner**

Monday, April 4
Aye what it do friends!

Good laws this week flew.

I hope you all enjoyed #ldsconf because i sure did :)

Thurs we had a bomb lesson about prophets with our girl M.

That's been one of her concerns lately but what a better time to have it arise than before we hear live from the man himself!

We all (sis boss, me, ward mission leader, m, her returned missionary boyfriend) decided to fast Saturday and write down questions to bring to conference.

Sunday morning our bishop had a bundle of us over for breakfast and to plop in his living room for the morning session of Conference. M came to listen to conference!

We met with them last night to talk about it and teach her how to explore the wonderful world of the gospel library app to re-read the talks (she thought that was pretty dope). lds.org

But it was really cool to see her testimony in the prophet and apostles develop and grow. She said it was "really weird" how the exact things she had concerns about were straight addressed. Even a scripture Mark shared with her the day before conference to address a concern was mentioned TWICE in conference. Hmmm... coincidence.

It's really cool to see her fascination in the divine inspiration these men have (and other people all throughout the church). She gets taken back when they speak by the spirit because the spirit touches hearts and changes lives.

Cotton Candy Palm Trees

 Really though, I am so grateful that the Lord's church has order. That we are led by Christ through His chosen men and there will never again be a time where we do not have a prophet of God to lean on for guidance and instruction. This truly is the dispensation of the fullness of times. This is it. And I have a firm belief that the prophet and apostles will continue to lead us straight to Christ to "kiss the nail marks in His hands and wet His feet with [our] tears". My heart is very grateful.

Love you babes x123124 :)

Keep being cute and don't dread "tomorrow" lol

xoxoxo sis d