Well this week has been nuts...

I've been out for roughly 6 weeks now which means 6 weeks of insane miracles and immense blessings! I wish I could accurately describe what my life has been like here but in one word I'd describe it as crazy.

Beside all the great miracles, fun times, and success, sadly Sister M and I are being separated. We were seeing so much success... like lots in the mission. But the Lord is in charge. Training is for 12 weeks, typically. But we got a transfer call on Saturday and now I will be taking over the area and training a brand new missionary! 

I'm pretty convinced president confused me with someone else because this never happens. I am really nervous and anxious and scared but if the Lord has faith in me that I can do this, then I need to have faith too. 

Goodbyes to Sister M

I really like this talk called Faith- The Choice Is Yours by Richard C Edgley. I'll paraphrase: 

'Faith can move MOUNTAINS. Mountains of doubt and despair removed and replaced with hope and optimism. Mountains of sin replaced with repentance and forgiveness. Mountains of pain replaced with peace, hope, and gratitude. Move forward into the unknown, armed only with hope and desire. Showing faith and devotion to the Lord.'

 

One of my favorite lessons to give is about the Atonement. I was teaching an investigator once and she never realized fully that the atonement was for HER. The spirit took over me and told her in depth how exactly He

atoned for her and she just started crying and the room felt like it was on fire. SO AMAZING.

Please pray for me like super hard and long and sincere because I will need it! And pray that my trainee is as cool as I was as a trainee ;) 

Well I sure do love you all and I hope you all are being good girls and boys and using each and every day as a day to learn and grow and progress. Remember, in life you can either Win or Learn, Losing is a choice. 

Peace and Blessings,

Sister Dsteezy

 

 

Hello beautiful people! 

So this week was jam packed with good times. But I won't mention all the pranks we pulled because then you might think we're not working hard!

PREZ HENRIE IS IN THE HIZHOUSE! We had our Zone Meeting aka "Meet the New Mission President" last Tuesday and it was exciting because we had a city-wide blackout so half of it was in the dark lolol. Mind you: these meetings are typically from 8am-5pm. But of course after the lights went out I had a code red bathroom attack :)))) There is only one bathroom in the the whole stake center and it just happens to be a strange one where it's through two doors next to the baptismal room and has no windows so there is no source of light at all...Couldn't even see my hand in front of my face. That was a bonding experience for Sis M and I.

But on a more serious note, we are constantly seeing so many cool miracles in our area, I feel so lucky. 

An elder this past week made a weekly goal to wake up in the morning and look in the mirror and ask himself, "How can I be more like Sister M and Sister Dohner?" haha we are the talk of the town here. You all are missing out. :)

Here's a pretty cool story:

4th of July. One of my fav holidays but of course we still had our normal curfew. We crawled into bed at 10:30 and were almost asleep when the door bell rang. Anytime past 10:30 to missionaries is like the middle of the night to normal people. So we get up super startled and confused and look through the peephole to see our homeboy from upstairs that we talk to from time to time. We don't answer it though because too tired and just nah. Well he texts us right after about how he's super curious about the Mormon religion and he wants to learn more... uh okay rad! Well we see him the next day and he tells us he's open to meet with us right then so we pick up our stuff and go to a cute park bench place in our complex. He asks all these questions and it was a super sick conversation. He said he wants to come to church on Sunday and meet with us again. So we tell him to pray with us and he said the sweetest prayer about knowing if our church is true and to take care of his grandpa that just died. Ahh so sweet. 

But listen here, this is really significant to me...

1. When I was preparing for my mission I would pray that God would prepare the people for me and that they'd have curious minds to learn about the gospel.

Our homeboy kept saying how "curious" he was.

2. From the time we first met him I kept thinking about how we really needed to meet with him. I didn't know exactly why or if it was the spirit, but I knew we had to try to reach out to him. He works for Universal Studios super early in the mornings so we always miss him; but we caught him at the right time.

3. After the lesson I was telling my comp how cool that was because I kept feeling like he was one of the people I was sent here to teach and I prayed for curious minded Californians. Then she paused for a second and said, "You know... He moved here the day you got here."

WHAT.

It doesn't sound significant but it was. I don't know what God has in store for this guy but it was such a great testament knowing that God truly does prepare his people and he truly does answer prayers. 

Keep praying for me and remember to stand a little taller and be a little better :)

Stay freaky fre$h lovelies~

-Sister Dohner

Pics: 

I'm a Pro! Look Dad!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA

One of our Filipino bff's. Her twin gave me new slip on black vans that I've been wanting :)

This week was really good.

To kick it off, we had a sick district meeting on Tuesday about teaching simply that was super useful for Sis. M and I.

Then we had a nice meeting with our dope ward mission leader that got us fired up on what kind of missionaries we want to be. It really got us so pumped. He shared a quote with us and I put it on my wall to push me even harder:

"Each minute is a little thing, and yet, with respect to our personal productivity, to manage the minute is the secret of success."

One of my favorite talks, he also shared with us later in the week, is Look to God Each Day by Elder D. Todd Christofferson. Fam, it's so good. It talks about using each day as something special. Only focusing on conquering that day and taking your manna for the day; manna being Christ. Turn to Christ each day and feast upon His words. 

Ever since the MTC, I have been trying to study about what it really means to have faith and how we increase our faith in the Lord. We know faith requires action first, "we receive no witness until after a trial of our faith" (Ether 12:6) and we know blessings only come due to our faith... so how do we increase our faith and truly trust in the Lord in all we do? ...read the talk, it's cool.

Well our new mission president got in today! Out with the old and in with the new :) Pray super hard he allows us to go to Mormon Dodger Night, it is our dearest request.

Tender Mercy of the week:

On Thursday, Sister M and I were having a little rough patch. We felt pretty unproductive and a little down on our day. An appointment fell through so we decided to stop by one of our previous investigator's apartment hoping she would let us in. Right before we went, we said a prayer hoping we had a purpose to being here and that we wouldn't waste any more time. So we go up to her door and she wasn't home. Bummer. But her apartment was by the pool and we saw some people BBQing so we were like okay they're our next focus. We started talking to a father and his son and then they went and got the mother and we all had a really good discussion and shared a lesson and testified and they invited us over to teach them and feed us dinner tomorrow :) God prepares his people, friends. Ask and ye shall receive. 

But mostly this week was cool because we got quite a few new investigators and referrals and lots of lessons! One of our homeboys we just met came to church :) We got 4 investigators to church and a convert shared her story that was superb so it was a way good meeting. And I may or may not have shed a tear or two in Relief Society. It was a tender week of greatness. 

Oh ya and there was a big fire this week but it was cool because it stopped right at the mission home and was headed towards a bunch of missionaries apartments but the wind blew it the other way. The whole sky was brown with smoke that day. But it made for some pretty cool sunsets :)

I won't be specific but we had a couple things happen this week that shook us in our boots and was quite spooky. There were some situations we were in that were not good and got my heart racing. There are some crazy people out here. But oh how I am grateful for the guidance of the spirit. And for the will-power to walk, or run, away from situations (or people). I am beyond grateful to be here and for all the prayers of protection and success. 

S/O to all my fans. I wouldn't be here without you. Thank you for the prayers and emails and love. Keep it fresh babes. Until next week <3

Hey fans!

                                                         (Service Day--at a Carnival!)

So I don't really have a lot of time today, so apologies. But I did have a good week! It was hard getting our investigators to church and have them stay the whole time but we'll try harder this week. 

Yesterday we heart attacked our fav dads in the ward and our zone leaders--for Father's Day. We made them cupcakes! It was so sneaky and a good time. 

Our zone did service for like 5 hours at a carnival and all got sunburned but it was a good time. As you can tell in the pictures we worked really hard. lol. 

 

                                                               (On an exchange day)

I went on exchanges with the STL and knocked in the 105 million degree weather but it was so fun actually. I LOVE talking to peeps about Jesus Christ. Honestly I don't even feel like I'm on a mission. I just feel like I'm living a normal life, but better. Like a Chelsea 2.0 version.

We met with our investigator family and it went well! The Primary President came and talked to the little kids about what to expect and gave them CTR towels. I had some CTR rings and gave them each one. They were all so pumped--it was cute!

I invited my first person to be baptized and she said YES!!! :) The cutest little 76 year old lady. I told her God won't let her die until she gets baptized hahaha. She's so pumped though and loves the gospel abundantly! But she has to fix her hip because she can't really walk well so she will wait until after her hip feels better. Hopefully mid August.

I am sorry this is short but we are about to go play ball with our zone. Priorities. Send good vibes and pray that I don't make the Elders cry again... FROM BREAKING THEIR ANKLES!! Lol. 

I love you all so so very much and I feel all your prayers. I love this work and I love waking up every morning knowing I am exactly where I am supposed to be doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. God is good ladies and gents. Stay cool.

Sister D

 

 

Hello lovely humans!

 

                           
                (Me with my Companion--Sister M)

I am still alive and beat boxing my way thru the Santa Clarita valley :)

This week was nothing short from miraculous. I get overwhelmed

writing these emails because I really have too much good to tell

I have a hard time picking which stories but I have a decently juicy one

this week.

First and foremost... WE GOT A NEW INVESTIGATOR! He is Muslim and 

man, he's a gem. We taught him all about the plan of salvation and a little

of the restoration yesterday and he agreed to start reading the BOM 

we gave him. And he will continue to meet with us and try to study up and get

prepared for JULY 18TH DUNK DAY! We prayed about asking him to be

baptized and July 18th just felt right so pray it happens :)))

It is such a miracle to see how much God truly does prepare his people. 

The big miracles like our Muslim friend is super awesome but what is super

sick is the everyday, small miracles God manifests in our lives. I think my 

favorite thing in the mission is letting the Holy Ghost speak through me and

seeing the truthfulness of the gospel spark in their eyes. It's something I cannot

effectively explain. It is something needed to experience to understand and man,

it is the coolest thing.

I was really thinking this week about why I'm here. Not only on my mission but on

this earth. We tell people all the time that we all have purpose but what is it? You know, 

an LDS mission is 18-24 months but our time here on earth is our true mission. I believe 

we all received "mission calls" in heaven. Part of them are called Patriarchal Blessings. Missions

are filled with rules and guidelines and goals along with an immense amount of blessings. 

You're doing a lot better than you think, but we can all do a whole lot better.

Our Mission-wide Temple trip was great! The LA Temple is so big and beautiful!

Well I want you all to know not to worry about me. I have sad moments but I make sure they are numbered. I know I will never regret a decision when it is in the footsteps of Christ. I would not want to be anywhere else.

 I love you all more than I love taking naps on P day. Which is a lot. So ily. Keep it fresh and make every day count.

Love,

Sista D

                                         

Monday, June 8, 2015
ATTENTION PEOPLE

                                                              (erin and me at the MTC)

 

One week down :)

I am alive and well and I love my mission so much, holy smokes!

So my last Sunday in the MTC was a little sad but not really. Except I was a one man show. I got called on to give a talk, I sang with my district, and I gave the lesson in district meeting. Phew. Fun times. But it was so good to leave because the food was starting to make me mad at society. 

First day in CA was a GT (good time lol kenz). I went out knocking in North Hollywood with my homegirl Sister F. She's poly aka we had the best time, it was so fun.

Then I got my companion the next day at transfer meeting... SISTER M ! She is like my twin. Hahaha we are so funny and have the best time and work so well together. She reminds me A LOT of Ashlyn. So ya I love her a lot. We are doing really well right now with like 7 progressing investigators and 3 baptismal dates so pray for us that we will continue to pull up clutch. And because we have a lot, our days are very busy which is SO GOOD.

                                                  (went to LA Temple with our investigators)

The area... I am really really lucky. I am in Santa Clarita, aka the best area in the mission with the nicest people and the best members in the world. They feed us every single night and take us out for like Olive Garden and Tepanyaki and give us Dodger apparel and take us golfing lol. But most of all they are the most genuine people ever. Gosh I love them so much. And our investigators have my heart. Gosh I love them so much. I was legit sitting in a lesson and my heart started hurting a little bit because I was so happy aka I was the Grinch and my heart has already grown 3 sizes.

 

(My first P-day)

K coolest thing happened. It won't sound cool but it was. We asked our buddies the Zone Leaders to come over and give us blessings to start off the transfer and get this.. Elder B knows nothing about me and a big portion of my blessing was about my family. And how they are alright and I don't need to worry about them and that they will be comforted by angels while I'm gone. And a whole lot of other way cool stuff. GOD IS GOOD LADIES AND GENTS!

I have already seen so many miracles on my mission. There have been multiple times where I felt like I was just kicking back and the spirit was talking for me. Out of body experiences I tell you. Hearts have been softened and God has worked wonders. I love my mission so much. I love my people so much. I love my companion so much. 

You know, I came out here because I have seen the gospel bless my life and I wanted to bring those blessings and happiness to others. I stay out here because I love the Lord and I love the people. I love being a missionary. I can seriously say I have never been so happy. 

I want you all to know that I love you so much. I am sad to leave you all, especially at this time, but I want you to know I am going to work hard and do the Lord's work. I AM HIS NOW. I already feel like I have a good pre-mortal friend here that I NEED to find. This gospel is the truest. It makes me happier than anything. Even Harry Potter and blue raspberry Nerd slushes. THERE I SAID IT.

So Sista M and I have made a lot of goals. Some of the goals we made were to notice the daily miracles in our lives and to reflect everyday with the question, "Have I done any good today?" FAMILIA Y FRIENDZ don't lose out and take this commitment I give you: 

Search for the miracles each day and reflect on your life. If you aren't using every day to come closer to God and strengthen your relationship with Jesus then you fail indeed. Be cool and be righteous. I promise promise promise you will be 1203812093 times more happy. 

Well I love you all so so so much. Stay frosty.

-Sista D

California Here I Come~

 We got a call this morning from Sister Dohner at the airport. She LOVED the MTC and the people she met there! She flew into Burbank and then we received this letter from the mission~

Happy New Missionary Day!

We are so excited to welcome this group to The Great California San Fernando Mission!  This is a great group of Elders and Sisters.  We are so excited to be able to work with them in bringing souls unto Christ.

Tomorrow is transfer meeting where everyone will receive their assignments and companions.  We ask that families of missionaries pray not only for their own missionary, but pray for your missionary's companion.  

This group has arrived at a great time, next week is our mission-wide temple trip.  There is nothing like going to the temple with missionaries.  It reminds us of how vital our calling is so all of God's children can return to Him.

We love your missionaries!  

Love,

Sister Hall