Bom dia familia! (: June 23, 2014

Bom dia familia! (:

How's everything going? When people ask how my family back home is doing, I'm not sure if I should talk about my family in Hawaii, in Oregon, or in Idaho. So I generalize and say you're all doing well (:

Twas but another week out in the mission field. It was normal. Nothing real exciting happened. No special events.

But alas! Today was splendid! Because.........! We went to the zoo! Woohoo! My dream come true! (: We went to the Fort Wayne Zoo. So that was a lot of fun. A member took us. We saw all sorts of animals! Sadly there were no elephants... My favorite animal, and they weren't there. Darnit! But don't you worry, my second favorite animal was there! Giraffes! (: Hooray! And I splurged and bought me some dip-n-dots. They were delicious. And there was a huge thunder storm rolling in. So it seemed really real that we were in the wild with the sound of thunder cracking every so often as we walked around. Thankfully we timed it just right, and it started to dump water right when we were in the gift shop. Then when we were done, it had passed. So yay team! Haha. It was a lot of fun. But I'm definitely excited to go to the zoo in Hawaii. That is now my new dream! Yes!

So yes, spring time equals rain time. Lots and lots of very loud thunder and super hard downpours of rain. I miss Oregon rain. The thunder is crazy loud and lasts forever. And the lightning is super cool! It's neat.

OH! By the way, I AM NOT BEING TRANSFERRED! I am staying here in Fort Wayne, along with my companion. So if mail was postponed, repone them because I will get them! (:

An elder serving in the same ward as I, and is also one of my Zone Leaders, Elder Pape (pronounced 'pop'), is from the Portland, Oregon area, and one day during our coordination meeting, he just looked at me and said that he had a picture that he needed to show me that I would really like. So after the meeting, he pulls out his camera, and it's a picture of an Oregon license plate! YES! It was the happiest sight ever! Haha. Apparently it was driving in front of them, and he saw it and thought it looked familiar then realized it was Oregon and told his companion to drive up to it so he could take a picture. haha. It was worth it. Then one day, I was wearing my tie-dye shirt, and Elder Smith asked me if I had made it and I told him I did, and he acted impressed and said that he had never tie-dyed a shirt and I responded with, "That's because you're not from Oregon." And Elder Pape just says, "So true." Haha. Yay for Oregon pride! It's fun (:

So ya. That's about it. Sorry, this email is super short.

Oh mom! You'll never believe. But also, you probably will. I have now made a hole in my bed sheets! Haha! Just like in the last two. I don't even understand. So I'm gonna go look for sheets next week. They lasted me 11 months. Haha (:

Love you all so much. Hope everyone's week was great! I think of you all often.

Be happy! Life is good (:

Love,
Sister Clara Kay Dunn.

The streets of Fort Wayne, Indiana. All the houses look the same. And they're real old and run down. You should see what some of the insides look like. Dad would be freaking out. People just keep everything and pile it where they have room. We're lucky if we can walk to a place to sit down. And lots of time everything smells like cat pee.. Yay! 

Can you tell how much I love my family and friends? (:

This is on my desk. Sister Sofele and I write letter to each other, and in one she included the picture on the top right. Given in a talk by Elder Rasband. It's perfect. I love it. She's the best.

My planner for this transfer (:

At the Zoo! WOO!

Going on a Safari in Africa! (:

Camping in a tent!

A giraffe and me! We match.

A hatching dinosaur! Oh wait.. That's me. Just an adult trying to fit in this egg.. Awkward. Hahah!

Chilling with the orangutan. 

This was as close as I got to an elephant at the zoo. Ha!

The member that took us, Sister Henson, the orangutans are her favorite (: So here we are sitting just watching them.

The man-eating Kimono Dragon that I wrestled! 

It was a fun day. I was happy. And now, let the work begin again!


Love you all so very much. Thank you for everything.

HAPPY! (: June 16, 2014

Dear Dad, Mom, Lucy, Cooper, Kylie, and Sydney (and I guess also blog readers),

This week was great! They just keep getting better and better. Which is amazing! But now it feels like time is just zooming by! Like we're already halfway done with June?! When did that even happen?! Wow. But it's fun.

DAD! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! (: WOO! I hope you had a happy Father's Day and I hope your birthday is just as great! I sent you lots of love on Father's Day, I hope you felt it! And I'll be sending more tomorrow, so be looking out! (: Also, I hope you got my gift. I'm not really ever sure when you receive my mail or packages, so I just hope for the best and say that you got them! Haha.

Parents (and Sydney), it was SO nice to talk to you last Monday. Wow. When I got off the phone I just felt good. I felt good about my decision to keep waiting and knew it was right. It definitely helped to talk it out with you. Thanks for your love and support. I couldn't do this without you. It's fun how the timing worked out, cause then I got to call home and talk to you dad for an early Father's Day and birthday gift (: That was fun.

I met with President Porter on Friday. Our zone is super amazing and like one of the best in the missions, so he and Sister Porter came up and fed us lunch (: And then President and I talked for a bit. He said that he completely supports my decision, he then went on to ask how my Portuguese is (uh... it's there. I haven't completely lost it. This morning, after I showered I laid in bed for a couple minutes and was dozing off and realized that I was bearing my testimony in Portuguese! So that's cool!), then he asked about the area and my companionship. President is so sweet, he mentioned that missions are hard, no matter what, but with my added unknown and waiting, it adds on top of a mission that extra difficulty. He works hard to help us visa-waiters. It's kind. He complimented my work and my area (my numbers here have been the best my whole mission, I don't know what happened in the last couple of weeks, but something just clicked and I just go out and work, and it shows in the numbers), he said he's so proud of me, that I have grown so much. It was nice to talk to him. Not often do we get a one on one with President. It was fun, we were both eating ice cream just talking on the couch in the foyer of the church. It was super relaxed. Ha (: He said he can't believe that I'm more than halfway through my mission. I can't believe it either. And next week I hit 11 months. Crazy! We then talked about how time on a mission is wack. But it's exciting (:

That was basically the highlight of the week. I'm just staying focused and working hard! Enjoying my time in Indiana and being a missionary. Transfers are on the 24th, so we have a possibility of moving, I don't think I will, but we never know. Transfers are exciting.

I know that continuing to wait for my visa is right. I was called to Brasil for a reason, and I will put my mission in God's hands and let Him guide my paths. He is aware of everyone, and we are in certain places for a reason. I know that I'm still in the Cincinnati Mission for a reason. And I work hard and talk to everyone so that I don't miss that reason.

I love you all so very much. You do so much for me. It was actually stressing me out this week. Ha! You all just do a lot and I feel like I don't know how to pay you all back and then I started feeling bad and was stressing on figuring out how to show you that I really truly care for what you do. So that was rough. I'll figure out some way (: OH! One way is the blessings you receive while I'm out here (: But I'll find another way that I can pay you back.

I hope your week was great, and the one to come is greater! I pray for you all every day. I even pray for baby nephew (:

Love you with all my heart,
Sister Clara Kay Dunn

P.S. Remember how when we Dunn girls feel the Spirit we just start crying? Well, since being on my mission, that doesn't really happen anymore... I actually don't often cry at all.. But when I feel the Spirit, I just get so excited and so pumped! I just want to raise the Book of Mormon up in the air and throw it at people because it's so true and when you read it you just feel the Spirit! I love my mission! I love talking to everyone! And sharing the truth with them. It's so exciting! Yay! (:

I was somewhat dressed like a cowgirl this day (digging into my Texan roots) and then we walked by a playground with this tiny little zebra horse thing! It was fun (:

I just thought these flowers were neat looking. I miss my Cannon.

Indiana! Sunsets are different when you aren't surrounded by mountains.

CHECK THIS OUT! Ya.. Remember how I don't like birds? Well this one liked me. It got all snuggly up on my shoulder and neck. Thank goodness I was wearing a cardigan cause his talons were sharp! It was so exciting! (: He belongs to my Ward Mission Leader, and the bird's name is Earl. He even talks.

We went through lots of pretty places this week, so I made my companion stop the car so I could get out and take pictures. Hahah!

Just another angle.

Familia. I love you oodles of a lot of bunches. You're my favorite. I am truly blessed to be a part of this family.


Also, go team Brasil in the World Cup! I get little updates every so often! My friend who is down there said that it's crazy! They only go out to work from 9am to 12, and then they have to come in for the rest of the day. And that was orders from the First Presidency and the 12. Crazy! They said if Brasil does well they'll have to stay in lots. Hahah. I'm sad I'm missing it. But it's fun to hear about it (:

Love you!

This is a good one! WOOHOO! June 9, 2014

Family! Hey! (:

So here is some news: President Porter texted us yesterday and asked that I call him when I got in for the night. So he and I had a conversation last night. The Mission Department in Salt Lake City called President Porter. They said that because I have been out for more than half my mission they want to know how I'm feeling. They asked that I make a decision of whether I want to continue waiting or if I want to decide to just permanently stay in this mission. So President told me last night to start thinking and praying about it, and that he's coming up here on Thursday and he'll take us out to lunch and then we'll visit and talk about it. He said he has some questions to ask me. He also said that he will be sending my answer of staying or waiting and also my thoughts and feelings about it all, along with his thoughts back to Salt Lake so that one of the 12 can look it over and figure out from there how to handle this situation. They will also be doing the same with the elders, only between the months of 12-13. So halfway.

Mom and Dad. President gave me permission to call you and talk to you about all of this. To get your opinion and just to be able to talk it out. I know it's last minute, but I'm meeting with President on Thursday and I can't talk tomorrow night because I'll be going on exchanges. SO. Be prepared. I will be calling you around 9:00 my time. I'm sorry it's so last minute, but I'm hoping I'll be able to talk to you both. I suppose we'll find out! (: So be thinking about it! I prayed long and hard about it So I'm eager to talk to you and be able to hear what you have to say. (And hey! This kind of worked out. I got to call on Mother's Day, and now almost on Father's Day (: Haha).

So that's that. Phew. It was a lot to take in.

Other than that!

This week was GREAT! My gosh. So every week we make goals, for how many investigators we're gonna try to get to church, how many member present lessons, new investigators, member lessons, etc. And this week we set some pretty high goals. We were wanting to reach Standards of Excellence, which you have to get so many of each category. So we were gonna try it! And we started the week off amazing! We were finding and getting members out with us, it was incredible! Well, we did it. We hit Standards of Excellence! First time on my mission! I can't believe it's taken me this long. But I now realize that when you make the goals, and work with Heavenly Father, when you do all that you can, He will help in any way possible. Grace. We receive grace after all we can do. And I witnessed that this week. It was a miracle. We had hit all our goals, and then church came. We had 3 committed to coming, our family we're working with, and then, they didn't show up... NO! We worked so hard to get them there. But don't you worry, MIRACLE! 2 of our other investigators showed up! Hooray! Heavenly Father wants to help us. We just have to reach out to Him and do all that we can.

Yesterday we stopped by a members home, it's a family of 7, 5 kids all under the age of 11. And we went and jumped on the trampoline, and played a like dodgeball game, and then we played Shark Tag! Oh my gosh, it was SO much fun! I was having a blast! I love members (: They make the work fun, it's always a nice break.

This week we have Mini Missionaries. The stake is doing a thing for youth between 16 and 19, they get to be set apart as missionaries and they come out and work with us for a week! Unfortunately, not enough girls signed up, so we didn't get one.. But it's fun to see them around. They have to live all the rules and do everything, just like a real mission! It's exciting! I think it's a great idea! A great way to see what missionary work is like. Because I definitely did not know! It's fun (:

That's pretty much my week! It was a good one! I'm excited for this next one!

Here's something that I learned this week! It was a talk given to new mission presidents, and he's talking about how Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon. It was a miracle. Power of God. It took him about 3 months to translate it, that's an average of 7 pages a day. People today who are trying to translate it to different languages luck out if they do a single page a day. Wow. So here's something that David Whitmer wrote about how Joseph translated:

"Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. One character at a time would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principle scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to Brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another character with the interpretation would appear. Thus the Book fo Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God, and not by any power of man."

WOW! How cool is that?! I'd never heard that before. It was definitely a cool image.

Well I've got other emails to read and pictures to send, and we've got a lot to do today. We have a Zone Fun Day that we've gotta get to! Yay! (: It'll be fun with all our mini missionaries!

Family, I love you dearly. You are my life and everything.
Daddy, have a happy Father's Day on Sunday! I love you so very much! I'll be thinking of you and sending you all my love! I'm grateful to be your daughter, to call you dad (:

LOVE YOU!
Sister Clara Kay Dunn.

LOOK WHAT I FOUND!

I have dubbed this my street name pose. Hah!

This is basically the best picture. It doesn't get much better than this. 5 Guys AND Sister Sofele. Happy (: And also, if you will notice the skirt that I am wearing, courtesy of my lovely mother! Sending it to me from Hawaii! I LOVE it! Super cute. I got lots of compliments (:

The group! We have a Senior Couple in our Zone! The McClellans! I love them. Senior missionaries are the best! Seriously. Elder McClellan served in Brasil! And even better, served in Curitiba! We had lots to talk about.

It had just rained!

What happens when you hand your glasses and camera over to elders. Ha! Elder Smith and Elder Pape were having too much fun. Unfortunately, Elder Pape was hidden behind Elder Smith. Silly Zone Leaders.

Hope you have a great and happy week! I love you!

Zone Conference, Exchanges, Awk, and Love (: June 2, 2014

What a great week it has been! It's amazing how difficult it is being a missionary, but how much you learn and grow and you begin to notice the little things and the miracles, and that makes all the difference! That's what makes a rough week a learning experience and a joy! (:

We had Zone Conference this week. WOW! I seriously LOVE President Porter. He's incredible. I know that I am in Ohio to learn from him and his wife. They're amazing. I forgot my notes, but I got lots of wonderful insights! My notebook is just full of inspiring things that President has said. He's a wise man. One that I learned is that sacrifice and obedience always go hand in hand. We can't be obedient without sacrificing. And it was amazing that he mentioned this, because in my email to him last week I mentioned that a lot is happening at home that I'm missing out on: family moving, first baby in our family, friends getting married. And then at Zone Conference he said that we sacrifice things so that we can be obedient. And in this case, I'm sacrificing things at home so that I can come out and serve the Lord. Which was also way cool to hear because that is EXACTLY what dad wrote to me awhile back! WHOA! Seriously, Dad, the letter you wrote me a little over a month ago, and you quoted Joseph Smith when he said, "The religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient unto life and salvation." Well, President sent me the exact same quote this week! Holy smokes! The Lord really is mindful of his children. He is watching over me and helping me. I'm so grateful for Him and for the people who are following the Spirit so that He can work through them to help me.

Other than that, I went on exchanges with my Sister Training Leaders. I worked with Sister Parker. And oh my gosh. SO much fun! It was HILARIOUS! She's a hoot! And a GREAT missionary! I learned so much from her. I am really learning what missionary Christ has sent me to become. It's hard work getting there, but rewarding when I get a step closer. I feel that in the last couple of weeks my mission has done a 180 turn. Just the way I look at it and do the work. It's wonderful. So anywho, with Sister Parker, here's a funny story. We had lots of appointments that we were having to get to, and so we were running from place to place. While going to our second appointment, the gas light beeps at us to tell us we're almost out of gas. Well. It was serious. All of a sudden Sister Parker just exclaims, "Sister! I think we're out of gas!" Next thing I know, the car is slowing down and puttering. Hahah! We slowly lose speed, and awkwardly pull over to the side of the road. All while we're just cracking up! Then S. Parker says, "Wow.. This isn't the first time this has happened on my mission." Hahahha! So we say a prayer, get out, put on sunblock (: and walk .7 miles to the nearest gas station. But seriously, it was meant to be. We found a new investigator! And we talked to a Jewish man. That was interesting. And while we waited at the gas station, we offered to wash people's windshields. Ha! And we gave out Mormon.org cards. It was great. Until a grumpy old lady came out while we were washing a windshield and said, "you can't be doing that here. You'll have to leave." I tried explaining to her that we ran out of gas and were waiting for our friends to come help. But she just insisted that we couldn't do "that." So S. Parker says, "We can't wash windshields?..." Ha! And the lady just awkwardly said, "no... no... you can't." So we finished up the man's windshield, and waited. The other sisters came with a gas container that we filled, and we were having difficulty getting the lid screwed on so S. Parker and I got gas on our hands. So we went inside to ask where the bathrooms were so we could wash our hands. And at the same time, a man working there said, "Around the corner," and the grumpy lady said, "They don't work, you can't use them." So we tried explaining that we have gasoline on our hands and need to wash them, and she goes on to explain that they don't have any running water and that we can't use their bathrooms... We were denied a bathroom! The perks of a nametag! (: A man who was buying something there came out and told us there was a bakery around the corner that would probably let us wash our hands. He was a nice man. So we walked to the bakery and washed our filthy hands. It was good ol' fun. It was great (:

Oh! One of our investigators asked me out on a date... And then asked if I would meet his mother!.. Uh.... Awk. He would call us multiple times in one day. Then on Sunday, he called early in the morning and said he wanted to come to church! So we set up a ride for him and informed the elders he would be coming and explained that they now have another investigator! Haha. Cause we most definitely cannot work with him. Every time he called, I'd have Sister Montrose answer, and each time he would ask for me and say he wanted to talk to me and then asked if I wanted to come watch him sing karaoke. HAHAH! Oh gosh. But the pass off to the elders worked great. And now he's calling them all the time (:

That's about all the excitement of the week. It was a funny week. I'm doing good. I'm happy. I love my mission. It's great fun! Lots of learning. It's fantastic. Oh! We had an appointment with the deaf couple in our ward, and a lady who came to translate. It was SO cool! They taught me how to sign the beginning and ending of a prayer (: Neat! I'm picking up on words. It's super neat.

Also. You know how you can look at the missionaries in your ward and the mission they're in? Well I was just looking around on that, and the other visa waiters in the neighboring ward, they still show that their mission in in Brasil. Well. When I look at mine... It says Cincinnati. So that kind of made me nervous.. Why has mine switched?. I don't know. And I don't think I will know. But that was a kind of damper on my day. Also, you can see what missionaries are serving from your ward. And I couldn't find mine. It doesn't show me in our Laie ward. Strange things! My records are all messed up! (;

I printed off my fan chart of family history! It's SO cool! So much of our work has been done! It's great! Awesome job momma! (: It's neat to look at and think, "this is why I'm on a mission." I'm here to help families come together, to help families become eternal. Ah! Cool.

I love you all lots! I missed you a ton this week. I was pretty homesick. More than I have been for awhile. So that was sad. It's just cause I love you lots (:

Keep being the amazing great happy family that you are! You're my favorite (:

Love you!
Sister Clara Kay Dunn.


I forgot to mention! Yesterday, we were out walking around, talking to people. And we went up to a group of people drinking beers in their driveway and started talking to them. They weren't real interested, more interested in just poking fun. But one man, Jeremy, was actually super nice. And his countenance changed as he talked to us. He wasn't like the rest of them. He was saying that he truly appreciates the work that we're doing. That he knows it must be hard but that it's incredible that we're doing it. He then just started asking questions, like how long we've been out, where we're from, if we've found success and things like that. Then he offered us bottles of water, which sounded great cause it was a hot day, so we walked a couple houses down so he could give us some. He kept going with telling us how cool it is that we're doing this. He was genuinely nice. Which you don't see very often. He ended up giving us a soda, getting me some sunblock cause I mentioned it was hot and I'm super white. Ha! And then he said he went to IPFW, which stands for Indiana University, Purdue University, and Fort Wayne University. There's a campus here that combines all those. And I mentioned that I've been looking for an IPFW shirt, and he said he could get me one! For free! Saweet! (: He wasn't interested in learning more, but he was sincerely kind to us. He then gave us his business card and said if we ever needed anything to feel free to call. It's amazing how the Lord watches over us. I was having a bad day, and no one wanted to talk or was interested, and then we ran into him, and he just brightened up our day. The Lord really does send us tender mercies to uplift our spirits (:

And also, we had 4 investigators at church yesterday. YAY! That's the most I've had on my mission. Woot woot! (:

Love you all SO much!

Look what I found at the store!

Happy (:

Oh my gosh, it was delicious. SO good!

Sister Parker and I right after we ran out of gas. Haha! Now you see why we applied sunblock, we're pretty white (: Ha!

Fillin' her up!

Didn't take lots of pictures this week. Sorry!

Love you all so very much!

FBI, shoes, and miracles May 27, 2014

So this week I got LOTS of emails! (: YAY! But that means I don't have a lot of time to write in this email. Sorry! My companion is already done and is making me anxious to finish quicker... So this is going to be short! Sorry.

I got all my FBI stuffs done and sent away. They should have gotten it on the 22nd. So hopefully they'll get it all processed quick and sent away so I can get my visa soon! (:

We went shopping with one of our investigators, and she took us to this thrift shop where EVERYthing was a dollar! Seriously. So because I had just gotten SO many skirts recently, I didn't need anymore. But guess what?! I got 7 pairs of shoes for $7! Yepp! You better believe it! But now I have too much clothing.. ha! I'm gonna have to go through it all and send stuff home. But it was happy and exciting! (:

That was basically the most exciting thing this week. hah!

We had our ward picnic yesterday! That was a lot of fun. I'm starting to get to know the ward and make friends, so that's happy.

There's a zoo here in Fort Wayne! YAY! Our picnic was right by it! I was dying to go in! But I guess a member has offered to take us! So that'll will be great!

Here's a neat story: So I carry around my scripture quad with me in my bag. And my bag is only big enough to carry that. But yesterday, I felt an impression that I needed to pull out that my quad and just put a Book of Mormon in there. Just the little blue one that we give out. I thought that strange, cause I like to have all my scriptures, but I just went with it. Well, later that day, we went to visit someone in the hospital, and we met a man, Jay, who we got talking with. And we said a prayer with the lady we came to visit, and Jay came to the room in time to hear the prayer. Then he asked if he could say one, so he then said a prayer. I then felt that I needed to pull out the Book of Mormon and give it to him and explain what the book is about and how I could help him in his life. After talking with him, he asked if we were coming back the next day to visit the lady, we weren't planning on it, and he then asked if we'd be willing to come back and talk to him. Of course we would! So we set up a time to return and went our way. It was a miracle. When we follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost, we can witness miracles!

It's been a good week. Working hard. Trying to be the missionary the Lord knows I can be! With His help, I know I can become more like His son, Jesus Christ. I'm grateful for the gospel and the happiness that it brings into my life. I'm also grateful that I am able to share it with others (:

Love you all so much! Hope you had a great Memorial Day! It's crazy to think when I email you again it'll be JUNE! Crazy!


Love you,
Sister Clara Kay Dunn.

Went to one of our investigator, Michele's softball game! That is Sue, she is Michele's neighbor and was baptized in December.

Sue, me, Michele and Sister Montrose! Michele didn't want her body to be in the picture, so she was awkwardly trying to hide. ha!

These 2 little girls were having a yard sale to earn money to "buy pizza for mom and grandma for an early Mother's Day present." Haha! Cute. So they were selling their Barbie dolls, but wanted to keep the clothes, so they stripped them all down. Haha! (:

The 2 little girls, Victoria and Jewel and Kolton, Michele's son.

Check it out! Another one! This one is the best cause it's just my name! Woohoo!

My goal is to find a street with Clara in it in every area I serve! (:

This is a hallway in the church. That used to be the exterior wall, but they extended it and just kept the wall. The elders and I were climbing it one day. haha! This is my Zone Leader, Elder Smith climbing it beautifully as he pops his leg out. hah!

This is Kylie, she was baptized in December. We accidently matched on Sunday! Awesome! (:

Being fun (:

Well that's it! I love you all! Until next week!

LOVE YOU!