What I learned. July 28, 2014

Alright, here's the truth, this week was rough.. It happens! But here's why it happened this week:

I hit my year mark. Yay!.... I don't know if I've told you, but whenever I hit a new month mark, it's really hard.. It's a month less I'm in Brasil, and a month closer to coming home (which sometimes scares me.. haha!). It's extra hard when the month mark is a big one. Like 9 months, or a year. Well I got so anxious and sad that I actually wound up making myself sick.. Our Spirits and physical bodies are so connected. Well my spirit and mental self was a wee bit sick, and it came out physically.. So that was no fun.

But enough of that! I had my little pitty party, and then I move on! There's nothing I can do to change it, so I just take it and move on.

I have started to do something differently in my journal, I write what I learn that day and then I find a scripture to go along with it. It's been really neat! I just started a new journal (journal #4 on my mission! Hooray!), and so I only have a few entries in it. But here are some.

What I learned today: You always feel better when you just go. You always feel miserable when you are slothful, slacking, procrastinating, knowingly doing wrong. That is why the church is an active go, you just feel better.

"And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." -Mosiah 2:17

What I learned today: People may not have the courage to come up to me and ask me questions; so I have to have the courage to go out and talk with them."Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good." -Doctrine and Covenants 6:34
And also! It is so important to be obedient. When we are, we are blessed."Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice." -1 Samuel 15:22

What I learned today: Communication is key! Info, thoughts, opinions, just anything. It's so important to know how to communicate to others."But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." -Hebrews 13:16


What I learned today: HOPE. To have hope. Hope that I get to brasil. Hope that I learned Portuguese for a reason. Hope that things will work out. We must have a positive attitude and hope for good to come.

"For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." -Romans 8:24-25

"The Lord has invested much in you, and He may have uses for your language abilities later in your life." -Preach My Gospel, pg. 128

So there you go (: What I've learned in the past couple days.

It's been pretty hectic here. Finding, teaching, people dropping us, and then finding some more, and teaching, and then more people dropping us. But we just keep looking forward! Trying our hardest, knowing that when we are obedient and doing all that we can, God will step in. It's His work, His will, I am just the instrument in His hands. I am the pencil, but He does the writing.

I hope your week went well! (: Hope everyone is happy and doing great!

Oh! Transfers are next week. So I'll know if I'm moving on next Monday, so I'll let you know (: AH! Transfers are going by quicker and quicker, it's insane!

I love you all so very much. I am so grateful for you all. You make me happy.


Love you!
Sister Clara Kay Dunn.

Sister Montrose made me peanut butter cupcakes for my year mark (:

I also fed some squirrels (: Haha.

So Fort Wayne is the City of Churches. So I've started taking pictures of all the churches. Just for funzies

Our STL's came over one morning and surprised us with balloons and made us breakfast. hah.

The old GE building.

Sister Sofele! It's always a happy day when we get to see each other (: We can both do that sign because she's Tongan and I'm from Hawaii (; Haha! I told her that I want her to be in my wedding, and she said, "What?! I thought we already knew that! Duh! You're going to be in mine!" haha! She's hilarious. Also, I found out that the movie, The Other Side of Heaven, well the companion to the white guy was Sister Sofele's grandpa! How cool! She doesn't tell many people, but it's a neat and exciting fact!

Just a cool fence and sky.

I'm learning new ways to do my hair! This is today (: I thought it turned out fun.Hooray for selfies! That way you don't forget what I look like. hah!

Well I love you all to pieces and to death! Brutal love... but it's just SO much! (;
love you.

Insert clever subject line here. July 21, 2014

My dearest family!

'Twas a good week! I made notes on a little piece of paper so that I would remember what to tell you! Hooray!

In Fort Wayne, there's this HUGE festival every year. It's called the 3 Rivers Festival. And apparently millions of people come to it every year. Fort Wayne is the city of 3 rivers, cause 3 rivers all go through Fort Wayne. But the festival was great! We drove downtown and I started freaking out cause there was so much there! So for a dinner break we decided to walk around! They had helicopter rides! (That would be cool to do if it wasn't against the White Handbook). And they had a whole carnival like section with rides and games and booths. Then there was Junk Food Alley. Oh gosh. It's just booth after booth of elephant ears, drinks, hotdogs, churros, any junk food. It was crazy! And it smelled SO good! And so fattening. Then they had a market! That's what I was excited about (: And get this! We walk into the park and the first booth that I wanted to go to was of some really pretty jewelry, and as I was looking the lady who owned the booth just says, "Well hello Sister!" Kinda freaked us out. Haha. But we got talking and she is a member from Arizona staying in Michigan for the summer and her and her husband go to fairs and festivals like this for their job! She was so sweet! She had some really pretty jewelry. And here's the big part. I picked out a bracelet that I liked and went to buy it, and she just put it in a bag and gave it to me. I felt so bad! So I told her that I would buy a necklace from her. She asked which ones I had been looking at, grabbed the 2 sets that I liked (they were a necklace/earring combination), said she'd charge me her price (cause they were pretty spendy), and she only asked for $5. Not okay! So I tried slipping her more money, but she wouldn't have it. She told me to save the money towards something else. I felt so bad, she was so kind and I just hugged her like crazy. Well on our way back to the car, I see that she had put the $5 that I did give her back in my bag. She gave me about $70 of jewelry, for free. FOR FREE! I felt terrible! She was wayyy too nice! I'm telling ya, this tag is a curse and a blessing (; She was really sweet, and now whenever I wear the jewelry I'll think of her and her kindness. It was great (:

While driving down a street, there was a guy driving his lawn mower on the street, and the member we were with just says, "only in Indiana." It was hilarious! Yay Indiana!

Mom! Your letter was the best! That was so very happy! Thank you SO much (: It really made my day.

And speaking of letters. And also emailing. I'm making some changes. So pay attention everyone! I have more time on Preparation Day to write paper letters than to email. So I'm asking that people write the email they would normally send me, but don't send it, just print it out, but it in an envelope, put a stamp on it and my address and send it away! To me! Cause emailing is frantic, and I never have enough time to write everyone and say all the things I want to say! I'm good with a few emails here and there, but I may not be writing you back.... I'm kind of going back to those old mission rules of only emailing immediate family. But please don't stop all communication! That'd make me sad.. Just switch it up a bit! Thank you!

You know. I knew that I was grateful that our family can be together for ever. But it wasn't until I went to a funeral this week that it really hit me. That death will not separate us. We really will be together forever! I am SO grateful for that. I am so grateful for temples and the work that is done there. Death is only a comma, not a period. And knowing that brings peace in our lives. Understanding that removes fear with faith. And I'm grateful that I am able to share this knowledge with others! I love my family. You are my everything (:

I made no-bake cookies! And they were delicious! And then we delivered them to members! Let me tell you, I have made more cookies on my mission than in my life! Haha! (: It's fun. And delicious.

And also... This Thursday is my year mark! AHHH! Can you believe it? Because I can't. Where did the last 6 months go?! Time is going by wayy too quickly! It's starting to scare me! I only have 6 months left... AH! I mean where did this week even go? I could have sworn yesterday was Monday, and now it's Monday again! It's just crazy! I'm having fun (: I love being a missionary. It's just great!

So that about sums up my week! Just know that I love you all so very much. With all my heart. And I pray for you everyday! I think of you often and am grateful for Heavenly Father's watchful care. He's the best. Thanks for all the support and love. It's felt and much appreciated! Hope you have a happy Pioneer Day! Still can't believe it was a year ago that I entered the MTC. That's just ludicrous. I learned Portuguese a year ago and can still kind of a little bit speak it! (; Hooray!


LOVE YOU SO VERY MUCH!
Sister Clara Kay Dunn.

Oh the things you see in Indiana! (:

This is Sister Herndon. I LOVE her! She's my Sister Training Leader and I went on exchanges with her this week. She's been out 9 months and her and her companion, Sister Parker, are the best STL's in the mission. Not even kidding. They were the first sisters to hit a 'triple double!' Getting double numbers in 3 categories of new investigators, member presents, and people at church. So they had to get at least 10 in each of those! And they did it! They're incredible.

Junk Food Alley at the 3 Rivers Festival!

The Market! (:

And the new sheets that I got for my bed. Princess! Yes!

This kitty was just so loving! It would wrap it's paws around my neck and start kneading. It was a nice kitty massage!

And a selfie, for good measure. That was one of the necklaces that lady gave me. And I got a new dress (:

This tomato just looked too good for me not to take a picture of it. Haha! 

So the camera that the member is letting me borrow has kind of messed up.. So unless we can fix it, I may not have pictures next week.. We'll see! The excitement of a mission!


I love you all SO very much! (:
Tchau!

Week 6521896 July 14, 2014

So I don't know about you, but I feel like everything is about Brasil. Hahah! Did you see the giant article in the Ensign for this month?! Well there was a video on lds.org about the missionary work in Brasil. So I thought I'd send it to you. It was neat. And I may have cried. Haha! My heart longs to be there, but I know that I am needed here.

https://www.lds.org/prophets-and-apostles/unto-all-the-world/missionary-work-in-brazil?cid=HPFR062714283&lang=eng

I watched this video a couple of days ago and oh my goodness it's great! I loved it! The cinematography was amazing! And it's a good message (: Yay for Mormon messages!

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=1101413031001&cid=HPFR071114321

I don't know weeks. Some people label their emails as what week they're in. I have no idea. I just go forward!

Alright family.

From the beginning!

Sunday, a member, who is my age, is letting me borrow her camera. Hooray! So I'm back to taking pictures! I bought myself an SD card, and we'll see what happens when I get transferred.

Tuesday, we had interviews with President Porter (love that man). The first thing he says when we walk into the room is, "Can you believe you've been out a year already?!" Uh, no! That's not right, I think we got the math wrong. Haha. He and I came out around the same time, so it's fun cause we are the same "age" in mission. A year. Sheesh. Then he went on to tell me how much I've grown on my mission, and especially here lately, I've just exploded! He said he's so proud of me. He told me that in the beginning of my mission I was pretty stubborn (ha!... true), but now he sees that I am more humble and meek, and lowly of heart and he can tell that I am wanting to follow the Lords will. That I will ask Him where I need to be and follow it. It was neat to hear, cause that's what dad emailed me this week! (I'm telling ya, President Porter and Dad are on the same spiritual wave length like all the time!) Dad said that he can see my will aligning with the will of the Lord. And I can see it as well. And let me tell you, when we trust in the Lord and follow His guidance and promptings, things work out, we're happier, and it's easier. I'm grateful for the lessons I've learned on my mission and the many more to come! (:

We found an investigator, Curtis, he's 24 and African American and on fire! We met with him 4 days in a row! And we talk all gospel, and the Spirit is SO strong! He's super smart. He was so excited when we told him about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. We gave him a church tour and he loved it! And he kept telling us how much he wants to get baptized. But for some reason he didn't come to church. We even had a ride set up, who went to pick him up, but Curtis told the ride that he wasn't coming... So that was a bummer. So we're going to have to get with Curtis to find out what happened. But really, Curtis is the elect, it was amazing that we found him! He has taught me so much, it's been great!

Today was our Zone Fun Day! Hooray! Once a transfer, so it's always exciting to get with other missionaries. Especially when Sister Sofele is in the same zone as I (: We've been together our whole missions, minus 2 transfers! That's amazing! It's SO much fun. We're a hoot. So today we went and played soccer. And I played! I did it! I am not a soccer player, but that's okay, cause we just all go out and have fun! And guess what?! I even scored a goal! WOOHOO! Go team Sister Dunn! Making points! It was a lot of fun. And I even prepared myself and put on sunblock! And thank goodness I did, cause that sun was hot! But it was so much fun. Oh! Sister Sofele told me she lost her camera this week! I'm telling you, we're the same. Haha. So that was sad... We were bummed cause every time we're together we take a picture, so we were sad cause now both of ours are all lost! Dangit. Thank goodness I'd been sending lots of my pictures home! Phew.

That was about it. It was a great week! It went by SUPER fast! I couldn't believe that it was already Monday!

I love you all so very much! Thanks for the support and the love! It really is felt all the way over here in Indiana!

OH! Grandma emailed me last week and told me that Grandpa had sold some special thing to one of the hospitals here in Fort Wayne! Grandpa walked the streets I'm walking! And Dad only lived about 2 hours from where I am! I think that is SO cool! (: Dad, we'll have to come back and visit my mission and where you lived. I want to go to Indy and check it out too!

Alright. Hope you have a GREAT week!

LOVE YOU ALL!
Sister Clara Kay Dunn.

Sister Sofele and I at interviews! Sometimes we accidently match (:

This is what happens when you give your camera to one of the Assistants. Hah! That's Elder Martin who lived in Medford, Oregon! Cool!

Sister Montrose and I after we worked in the Family History Library digitizing really old books.

Just messing around with the settings on the camera. That's a picture of Jesus that we have on our dashboard (:

Indiana!

Took lots of selfies, in case you forgot what I looked like!

A less-active had a garden that she showed us. Her corn was looking great! I know how hard it is to grow corn! 

Random. Found these in the back seat of a member who went out with us. Hah!

After playing soccer. We realized that we are really out of shape. haha!

Corny. We're funny. You should have seen us playing soccer. We were on opposite teams. Hilarious. All rules go out the window when we are fighting over the ball. It's fun.

Part of the group after soccer! We were missing a couple elders. It was a lot of fun (:

I love you all SO much! Thanks for the emails, and thanks for the letter mom! And also Grandma! And the pictures that you send. Those are fun to see (:


LOVE YOU!

Hey there. July 7, 2014

Alright, every week is up and down, but this week was insanely up and insanely down. I was getting dizzy. Haha! So here's what happened:

I'm going to start with the bad, that way I end on a positive note so that we all end happy!

Bad:
Worse thing ever, ready for this? I lost my camera. NOOOO! Seriously. We were at a park (that's one of the good things), and I must have set it down (which I never do, I ALWAYS put it back in my bag due to fear of losing it, and silly me, I didn't follow that), and by the time I had realized I didn't have it, we went back to the park and it was gone.. Some homeless man just got real lucky with a camera with a bunch of ridiculous (but memory cherished) pictures. SUCK! Thankfully I send home important pictures, so I didn't lose everything.. But I did lose the pictures or videos that I didn't send home.. Like a video of me shuffling on a patch of ice in the middle of the road and dedicating it to Sydney. She will never see it! Darnit. Sydney, it was awesome, and I was shuffling great! But it's okay, it's in the past, I've moved on, so we're good. We're starting over and I'm being smarter now! A lady in our ward, she's my age, is letting me borrow her camera, so she's super nice! I don't want to buy a new camera, because I only have 6 more months and it's not worth the money, so I'm gonna borrow for now, and then see if someone is willing to donate a camera to Sister Dunn's mission. So we'll see! The adventures!

We spent 4 hours straight out in the sun, and silly me, I forgot to apply sunblock. DUMB! So I got burnt. My part, and my face and this awkward triangle shape on my sternum cause I was wearing a collared button up, and the sleeves were rolled up so I burned from my elbows down to my hands. AWKWARD BURN! It's all just dumb looking. But don't you worry! I went to Walmart and bought me some of Lucy's miracle lotion that helps with sunburns and Lucy, I'm proud to say that I goop it on lots! Whenever I would think you'd tell me to go apply more, I go apply more! So hooray! Sunburn down to a minimal tan/burn in 3 days. Miracle.

I got zero mail this week.

Our investigators are flakey and haven't been showing up to appointments or keeping comittments, so that's been frustrating. It's hard when someone says they'll do something and then they don't... It's real bothering. So don't do that!

Alright, enough of the negative. We're moving on!

Good:
On the 4th of July, our Mission President, the beloved President Porter, had everyone in the mission find a public place and go draw out the Plan of Salvation in chalk! Missionaries in other missions have done it, and so we thought we'd give it a whirl! It was AMAZING! It was so much fun! So we went to a park in downtown Fort Wayne, with about 18 missionaries and we chalked out the Plan of Salvation. It was amazing! I had really awesome pictures, but refer back to the first "bad" bullet... Thankfully my best friend was there, Sister Sofele, and she took pictures and was kind enough to forward them to me. Yay! (: All hope is not lost! We met a lot of new people, and were able to teach so many people about the Plan of Salvation. It was such a neat experience. It was a good 4th of July. We did however have to be in by normal time, so we missed the big firework show. But from the sound of it, it was great! Haha (:

My sunburn is now a "Clara tan." And my arm is now 3 colors. So that's fun! My shoulder is super white, my bicep is white, and my forearm is "Clara tan." Haha!

For the activity in the park, one person in each companionship wore pants, so that they could bend down and draw, and so I got to wear pants! That was great! I got all dressed up for the 4th.

Found out that interviews with President will be tomorrow! Hooray! Those are great (:

So that's it. The good and the bad. It all makes up for the other.

Here's a story:
We met an investigator at the park, Adam. He reminds me of someone I'd meet in Oregon, like in Ashland. He's got tattooed sleeves, a sweet beard, is super spiritual and kinda out there. He reminded me of home. Hahah. Well we got talking and he said he'd come to church. Sweet! So we asked a member to give him a ride, well we get to church and we find out that that member couldn't take him, so he asked someone else.. Someone who wouldn't really do well with Adam. Well this other member picked him up, and by the time they got to the church, Adam was MAD, he was offended by some things said, and did not want to be there at all. The member got awkward and just left him outside. Ah! So we went and found him, finally calmed him down, explained that it was all a misunderstanding, but he just wanted to leave. He's about 15 minutes from home in a car.. And he was about to walk home! So we asked another member, who is awesome! And he came out and talked with Adam and we finally got things cooled down. Adam said he'd still want to meet with us, he said that he could see something different about us, that we had Christ in us, so he wanted to set up another time where we could talk more about the church. Well this member took him home and ended up giving him a Book of Mormon. It was crazy, but awesome! We have to be so careful with what we say to investigators, they take what we say as what the church says, and that's not always the best. Thankfully it all worked out and it was happy. I'm excited to meet with him again.

That was pretty much my week. It was pretty crazy hectic. Haha. But fun (: Just like a mission and life are.

I hope you're all doing well. I love you all so very much. Keep being the bestest family ever!


Love,
Sister Clara Kay Dunn.

Premortal life!

The creation up top! And also, that's me to the right! Haha, yay! Taking my pictures.. Thank goodness for Sister Sofele following behind me taking the same pictures. haha!

The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and the Fall of Adam and Eve. (This is what I was in charge of drawing. Yay! If I do say so, that's a good looking tree!)

Earth life!

Jesus Christ makes Salvation possible! Faith, repentance, baptism, Holy Ghost, endure. Also, the elders. haha.

The Spirit World. Paradise and prison.

Resurrection. We all get perfect bodies!

Judgment!

Celestial Glory. Where we live with God and Jesus Christ and our families forever! Happy (:

Terrestrial!

And Telestial!

And Sister Sofele and I sitting on a bench! Haha (: 

The Fort Wayne Zone and our Plan of Salvation chalk drawing! GO TEAM! (:

Friends on the Fourth (:

So.. Those are all the pictures I have for you! Haha. It's been quite a week! I love you all lots!


Hope you had a happy 4th!

Happy Fourth of July! (: June 30, 2014

So what happened this week?.

I don't even know. Not a lot. It actually wasn't a great week. Most of our investigators dropped us, finding wasn't too good this week (meaning like no one), and it was just bleh.. But amazingly enough, I'm still happy. So that's good.

Something exciting was we went and visited some members, the Ramos family. And I found out that Brother Ramos is a pilot! COOL! So I mentioned that was my secret job that I would love to be if I could be anything. He got real excited. Basically, he went through everything with me. Answered questions and told me about it. The pros, the cons, and everything in between. I wrote them all down when I got home (: Pretty much the cons would be that I would be away for a couple weeks a month, and it can be lonely, and to start you're in a lot of debt. Pros would be that where I am in life and being a woman, I would have a higher chance of getting a job, and after working for awhile I would make bank. He also said if I like to travel and if I really want to do it, then do it. He then gave me his business card and said when I was done with my mission to give him a call and he would help me find a school and network. He said don't be afraid to use him, that he's willing to help! Whoa! It was great. So that was exciting.

Something fun about Indiana, there are bunnies everywhere. They're just wild and they run around and it's normal. Pretty much equivalent to squirrels! It's fun. I always get so excited. And then I think of Sydney. She would love it. I've tried catching them, but never to my success. But one of these days! (:

Oh! We had a ward activity and we were asked to help. It was The Amazing Race: Family Edition! And they had to go around to different checkpoints and complete tasks. We were in charge of the last one, which was like an obstacle course. And I was helping with the "dizzy lizzy" where they had to spin around on a bat 6 times and then shoot a basketball. And bishop did that one, oh my gosh! So funny! He got SO dizzy and when he stood up he tried walking toward me to get the basket ball and just starting walking to the left and more and more and more and eventually he couldn't stand up and he just fell. He was laughing so hard just laying on the floor. It was great! Bishops are good sports (: It was a fun evening.

Basically that's it.. Ha! Sad. But yes. Thanks for the letter everyone! They're happy, and I love them (: You're the best!

Hope this week is great!

I love you all SO much! Have a Happy Fourth of July! I can't believe only a year ago we were in Sunriver watching fireworks. Crazy. And this year, I'll probably have to be in early. Bummer, I'll miss them... It's fun to think of memories past, they keep me going (:


LOVE YOU!
Sister Clara Kay Dunn.

LOOK! I made it onto the Amazing Race! (:

Woohoo! Seriously dad, I vote that we go on this show. I think we'd win! Lets train and then try out for it. We can be the Mormon couple! And maybe one of the checkpoints will be in Brasil and I can use my language! And maybe that's why I had to learn Portuguese! (;

They had fun props for pictures! I thought I looked pretty good.

I went Western and Sister Montrose went rock.

Wanted!

The clouds here seriously look like the clouds that would be in pictures of heaven from the gospel library from the 80's. That like light pink blue powder look. Haha. They're really pretty. 

The weather here is super humid and hot and also really stormy. It's been raining a lot. And not like Oregon rain (which I miss) but it dumps for like 5 minutes then will stop. Then dump for another 5 minutes. It's ridiculous. We had to run through it for like .2 seconds and we were soaked! 


Also, we went and visited a member at work, and it was an ice cream food place, and we sat down and they had a tv and on it was the World Cup. And of course Brasil happen to be playing! Brasil vs Chile! So I saw my tiny little portion of the World Cup. Haha. 


LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!
Bye.