Workin hard! October 20, 2014

Hello Family! (:

Just want you to know that I love you all so very much!

It was an amazing week! Seriously. The last two weeks have been the best on my mission (number wise). We have standards that we try to hit every week. Standards of Excellence, and above that, Leadership Standards. And guess who hit Leadership Standards this week?! Sister Dunn and Sister Hall! GO TEAM! It was amazing. Thank goodness for the grace of God. We couldn't do it without Him. I love that when we try and do our best He makes up for what we can't do. He truly reaches our reaching, and I'm beyond grateful for that. I know it was His will and His help that we were able to do that. We almost hit it last week as well, but our investigators didn't come to church.. but they did yesterday! Hooray! I was talking to my Zone Leaders who are serving in the Anderson Ward with us, and I was saying how I'm sad that I've finally figured out how to be a missionary and have it show in my numbers and I'm leaving in a week... Then Elder Kimball tells me that that's how God works with callings. He calls us to something, we do our best, and when we finally feel like we've figured it out, He calls us to something else. Boy is that true! It was a neat way to look at it. I've been worried about whether my mission here in the Ohio Cincinnati Mission is acceptable to the Lord, and I have received my answer in so many ways. I worked my hardest, I did my best. My first week and my last are the same. I gave it my all. And I know that the Lord is pleased. I have felt Him work through me, answer my prayers, and change the lives of the people I've worked with. What a neat experience it will be to continue the work in a different country!

Now speaking of that. I leave next Tuesday. AH! My anxiety has been pretty bad.. And I'm really sad to leave.. I don't want to. I've even cried a couple of times because I'm sad to go.. I can't think too hard about it or my stomach starts doing flips and I start to get super anxious and have to focus on my breathing. HA! But I'm excited. It's all an adventure. I trust the Lord. He'll take care of me.

Sister Hall and I performed in sacrament meeting yesterday! She played the piano and I sang. We were SO nervous! But we nailed it! We did great. People were so kind and kept coming up to us telling us we did a good job. One lady told me that she teared up, and another said that it was so good because I sang with my testimony. Sister Hall played the song Abide With Me 'Tis Eventide, and I sang the words from Go Forth With Faith. It was neat. That's a great memory I'll be able to look back on (:

LUCY! Thank you SO much for the packages! They were so happy and perfect! Ah. I love them. Thank you so much! I love you!

We had our ward Halloween party. We went out to a farm in the country and roasted hotdogs. And let me tell you! It's fall here in Indiana. GORGEOUS! The trees are green, yellow, orange and red! They look like they're on fire. I LOVE it! And being out in fields, ah! I was in heaven. If only there were mountains, it would have been perfect! But it was a fun night. I love this ward so much. They're a hoot (:

That was my week! It was a great one. Excited for the one to come. Last full week. Yuck. We're having a Zone Fun Day. I'm excited. OH! And we're going to the temple on Thursday! God knew His timing. I'm so excited. I love the temple. We're going down to the Columbus temple. The Indianapolis temple just put Moroni on top! It should be done hopefully in the next 6 weeks! Amazing!

Grandma, I got your letter! And the check. Still haven't been able to cash it. I need to find my bank, so I'm working on that this week! Thank you so much. I have loved your letters! And Grandpa's! It's so nice to hear from you. I love you both! (:

Hope you have a great week! Know that I love you a lot and you're in my prayers!

Love,
Sister Clara Kay Dunn. 

Fall in Indiana!

Selfies with the comp!

Goofs (: We were waiting on a member, so we decided to just mess around. Ha!

This made me laugh. Thought I'd share. It's still just sitting on our dashboard in our car. Haha!

Photo shoot!

Just some trees.

At the Ward Hot Dog Roast! It was a bit chilly. I was wearing leggings and my coat!

Pretty! The camera couldn't do it justice.

Just goofing around.

It was pretty dark out.

We've been taking lots of pictures of ourselves. Well, I have. I think Sister Hall only has a couple. Ha!

I took lots of pictures this week.

There are SO many trains in Indiana. All the time. Tracks everywhere and sometimes you get stuck waiting for one for about 5 to 10 minutes. It's crazy!

Well, that's it! I love you all so very much! (:

Hey! October 14, 2014

Alrighty.

So no time.

This week was amazing! We got so much done! We were working fools! (: Just like always, only this time it showed in our numbers! Hooray!

We had a Sister's Conference! That was fun! Got to see a lot of sisters before I left. Sister Porter was giving a talk about how life is hard, and it doesn't go the way we want, and then just started talking about me and my experience but how I have my visa now. She's funny. Everyone then came up and congratulated me. It was nice to see them before I left.

Interviews were great! All President had to say was, "I love you and I'm proud of you." And that I've changed a lot. I asked him for a Priesthood blessing. And wow. It was amazing. He truly is a mouth piece for God, and he said so many things that had been on my mind, and answered so many of my questions. I was grateful for him.

At interviews we had to role-play teaching a lesson, and they recorded us! And then we had to watch it and critique ourselves. That was scary! But kind of cool to see how I teach. It was neat.

So I have my visa. I fly out at the end of the transfer, on October 28th, and my flight leaves at 4:30. I'll go down to the Brasil MTC and spend 2 weeks there and then head to my mission.

No time. Sorry. Know that I love you all!

Love,
Sister Clara Kay Dunn.

If you want to send me mail, do so now. Don't send any after like the 21st, cause I probably won't get it and that'd be sad..

Love you!

Last week, after I found out that I got my visa!

It was Sister Hall's birthday, so we went to Stake 'n Shake!

This is a famous place in Anderson. It's super delicious!

We went and got ourselves ice cream!

Bahahah! Funny (:

Saw this at Anderson University. We had to get a picture with it! It was perfect. Sister Dunn and Sister Hall.

Went and got 75 cent giant sodas for weekly planning! Haha!

Sister Hefner and I. Her family also moved to Hawaii while on her mission! I love her (:

Sister Sofele!

Sister Erickson!

The McClellans! He served his mission in Curitiba! He was excited to hear that I got my visa.

Sister Parker! I will forever love her. She is incredible, and changed my mission.

Sister Herndon!

Sister Clawson!

Love you all so much! (: Miss you!

Family! I love you (: October 6, 2014

Each week I email my mission President's wife down in Brasil. This was her email she sent me this week. You'll have to copy and paste it into Google translate or something.

"Querida Sister Dunn,

Esta semana foi ótima! Conferência Geral, missionários americanos chegando e você recebeu seu Visto!! Eu quase gritei quando o Presidente abriu o email e falou: Sister Dunn recebeu o Visto! YES!! hahaha

Com amor,
Sister Fernandes"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Dear Sister Dunn,

This week was great ! General Conference , American missionaries coming and you received your visa !! I almost cried when the President opened the email and said, Sister Dunn received the Visa! YES!! hahaha


With love,
Sister Fernandes "


I HAVE MY VISA!

I got it. My visa came. I read that and just started crying. I cannot even believe. I just started crying. I don't even know what to think! I have interviews with President Porter this Wednesday, and I'm sure he was waiting to tell me, but Sister Fernandes beat him to the punch. So I'm sure he and I will be talking about it this Wednesday. So I don't know what this all means. All I know is that I have it. What happens next, no clue. This transfer ends October 28th. And we usually leave at the transfer. Can you believe that Salt Lake was going to stop working on my visa on October 15, and I got my visa a week before they stopped. I mean really?! God has a plan, a silly plan, but he has one. I know this was no accident. Oh gosh, President just texted saying "Hi! Sister Dunn please call in 30." Oh boy. You guys, I don't even know. I don't even know. I'm all jittery and excited and scared and nervous. I didn't think I'd get it, so I'm not sure how to react, or what to feel.

Well that pretty much trumps over everything else that happened this week! Haha. Oh wait, except conference. That was pretty much incredible!

I absolutely love General Conference, and our leaders. How neat that we have a living prophet and 12 apostles on the earth today and we have the opportunity to hear from them! I received so much revelation, so many of my questions were answered. I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father, who loves each one of us individually and personally.

Well, I am all shaky and my insides are freaking out, and I don't even know what to do with myself. So that was the week.

Thank you for all the prayers. They keep me going. I love you all so very much.

Love,
Sister Dunn.
The (almost) 15 month long visa waiter (:


ALSO, Thank you so much Tina Westlund for the package! It was so needed, and perfect, and I loved it. The Dove chocolate wrapper made it into a frame! (: It said, "You are exactly where you're supposed to be." I love it!

And mom, thank you SO much for the letter! I loved it (: I cut out the picture and put it on my wall. Our mission actually has something similar to that. It's called the Accountability Ladder. It's cool. Gets us motivated.

Thank you!

Love you!

Serving in Anderson, Indiana!

Look! I'm a Sister Missionary! This was before the Sunday sessions of conference (:

Sister Hall and I (: It's cold over here now! We've had to pull out tights and scarves and coats!

This is Alina Beamer. She's amazing and I love her. She graduates this coming year and will be at BYU-I the fall that I go back! So we want to room together (:

Alina and Clarissa Beamer (: I love the friends I've made on my mission. These girls are amazing.

Me, Sister Hall, Brother Haines (our Ward Mission Leader), Elder Mower and Elder Kimball. All serving in the Anderson Ward. Haha! Fun bunch right there.

Study desk (:

Bahaha, cheese ball smile.

Love you all!

It's kind of short. Sorry. September 29, 2014

So pretty much this week was uneventful. Not a lot happened. Well, except for a few things.

The General Woman's Broadcast was incredible! That was so great to watch! I love our leaders. It's so amazing that we get to hear from them every 6 months. I learn so much. I am so very excited for General Conference next week! (: It's going to be great!

President Porter texted me and told me that on October 15 Salt Lake will stop working on my visa. So after that date, if I don't have it, I'll be finishing off my mission here. I figured I would, but I didn't think they'd stop working on my visa. So that was kind of a hard thing to take in.

BUT!

There's a website to check the status of our visa. It has 4 bubbles. And I've only ever had one bubble filled.. Which was the lowest anyone could get. And all I've ever heard is you have one filled, or all 4 filled, and once all 4 are filled, the person usually got their visa within a couple days or within the week. So I decided to just check it, I haven't checked it in weeks because I kind of gave up on it. Well. Guess what. All 4 bubbles are filled...... Ya. I started to freak out! I got all shaky and my heart was pumping, it still is! BUT! We don't know how valid that website is, or if it really means that I have my visa. But I'm freaking out cause the bubbles moved, and that hasn't happened my whole mission. So there's an update for you! I'll let you know if I hear anything else!

That's pretty much it for this week!

And I'm out of time.


Know that I love you all so much! (:

Love,
Sister Dunn.

The Muncie South Zone!

Indiana.

How we listened to music during Weekly Planning. Old school! hah.

OH! We went to Pendleton High School's homecoming football game! That was fun! We helped out with a burger place selling burgers at the game. We wrapped them (: It was a lot of fun!

This is Tandy. She's a lady we work with. She's incredible. She has a beautiful garden! I love her (:

Proof of all four bubbles filled! They're all red! We'll see what happens! (:

Love you all!

Post Transfers September 22, 2014

Hello minha familia! (:

I just want you all to know that I love you so very much!

So this week! We had transfers! Wooo! So exciting! It's always fun to see a bunch of missionaries and see who their new companions are. Guess what?! Sister Sofele just became a Sister Training Leader! Say whaaaa?! Ya. She was so nervous. Haha. But seriously, she's an amazing missionary, she's going to rock it. Sadly, we're still separated, not in the same zone.. which is a bummer. But we got to see each other last transfer, and we'll see each other this transfer because we're having another Sister's Conference (: hooray!

My new companion is Sister Hall! She is from Idaho Falls, Idaho, is 5'9" and has very long red hair. She's been out 10 months and this is her third area. Things have been going well. We're working hard and doing our best (:

We're working with a girl named Ashton. She is 17 and a senior in high school. She's taking 6 AP classes and has a job. She's very intelligent. She new a boy in our ward who just left for his mission, and so she referred herself on Mormon.org because she wanted to better know what he believed and what he is out teaching on his mission. She originally told us that she just wanted to learn and better understand, but didn't want to convert or anything. Well. She's working towards baptism on October 18 (: I'm telling ya, that Holy Spirit will direct you to all truth. It's incredible. She came to church this Sunday and loved it. It's been incredible to teach her because she just soaks it all up. It's amazing (:

I'm loving this ward. The people in it are so kind. I'm just falling more and more in love with them. There are quite a few people that I love and want to become more like as I grow up (: We got a new Ward Mission Leader this Sunday, which was a surprise! I think it'll be good. He's really a hard worker and dedicated. It'll be fun to get to work with him, Brother Haines.

Um, have I ever told you about bed bugs? Ya. Remember the saying before you'd go to bed, "don't let the bed bugs bite?" Well I always thought that was just a cute little thing to say before bed. But no. Seriously. They are REAL! Bed bugs are real things! They are so bad over here! It's nasty. And they actually do bite! I'm so grateful that I haven't had any. Cause once they get into your apartment, you have to treat it right away before they reproduce and infest everything! Creepy. We get this spray stuff from the mission to spray ourselves down with after we've been in some sketch places to hopefully kill them all. So ya, the saying "don't let the bed bugs bite" has now a very scary and creepy meaning. I will never be saying that to my children. Ha!

Hope things are going well with baby Parker! I printed off a picture that Lucy sent me last week and he is so dang cute! I love him. Can't believe we're aunts. And that mom and dad are grandparents! Whoa! Just connected that one! Wow! (: We're just a growing family! I love it.

You're the best family out there! Hope that work, school, callings and any and everything else are going well! You're in my prayers and thoughts.

I love you,
Sister Clara Kay Dunn.

Hooray! Got to see her at transfers. The coloring is silly because I forgot to change the setting. Love her (:

This is after the Transfer Meeting, when everyone is outside moving their luggage from one car to another, saying bye to everyone, and getting this situated. It's a cool experience. I love transfers.

Jayda, Jazzie, and Kanyla wanted to do our hair in braids and twists. I think they did a pretty good job! (; They are adorable kids. Love them.

Sister Hall and I right before we walked into the library to email! (: Thought you'd like to see us.

I love you all so much! As President Porter likes to tell me, "Have a miraculous day!"


LOVE YOU!

Cincinnati, fall, social media and I'm an aunt! (: September 15, 2014

Hello Family!

Wow, what a week! Where to start?! The beginning! MONDAY! RED'S GAME!

So we went down to Cincinnati, and went to the Red's game and oh my goodness fun! We took a big mission picture then walked to the stadium and we were on our own. Haha! A night with lots of missionaries! It was great (: Sister Sofele and I hung out for the majority of it. We watched some baseball, looked at souvenirs, hate a hotdog, drank some soda, preached the gospel to some people. It was fantastic! (: I had a blast. It was amazing to see a bunch of the missionaries from the mission. I've made so many friendships. It's great! So that was fantastic. We spent the night with a set of sisters just outside of Cincinnati, and then drove home the next morning. I was beat. Not a lot of sleep. Went to bed late and slept on the ground, but it was worth it! (:

It's been chilly here! Like low 60's! I love it! I've pulled out my tights! Woohoo! I need to buy a pair of boots. And I've pulled out scarves as well. I'm excited for fall and all the holidays. It's going to be fun! (:

So I talked to President at the Red's game, and he told me that not often does he talk to the Mission Department is Salt Lake about missionaries, but he does about me, a lot. hah! So I guess he had recently talked to them and they advised that I stop work on my visa because I don't have a lot of time left (a little over 4 months), and if I got my visa I'd have to do 2 weeks in the Brasil MTC and then wouldn't have enough time in the field to learn the language and be effective. However, they said that it is still my decision and I have been praying hard about it. And on Saturday, I knelt down and talked to my Father in Heaven, and I felt so much peace with continuing to wait. Although I know I may never go to Brasil while on my mission, I knew it was right to keep waiting. I then got permission to call my parents! So last night, I called dad, and he and mom were super confused! Haha (: But we talked it out, and I feel good. It's so reassuring to talk to parents, you two are incredible. So that was exciting (:

We had another Social Media Split, so there are pictures of me out there on facebook of doing missionary work! (:
#socialmediasplit
#Mormon
#andersontwo

Also, I hear Instagram is more popular than Facebook. Whoa, what?! The world is changing! (;

Transfers are tomorrow. I am staying in the area. So I have the same address. I am, however, receiving a new companion. Sister Armstrong is leaving. My mission has had a pattern with companions. I'm with them for one transfer, then two, then one, then two, then one, then two, and now one. So the next is two! (: Hahah! Exciting.

Thank you for sending pictures of baby Parker (: He is adorable! So cute. I love him (: Congratulations Cooper and Kylie! I'm glad all went well.

I love you all! Thank you so much for your support and love, it truly makes a difference.

Love,
Sister Dunn.

We went and did service on Saturday, and I got to chop wood! First time doing that! Haha. Brother McKenzie got some funny photos. So here you go!

Cincinnati!

Sister Hefner! She's the one who's family also moved to Hawaii! I love her (:

Sister Parker! So much happy (: She was my STL in my last area.

She's incredible! She's changed my mission.

Elder Smith (ZL in last area) and Elder Klodnicki (last DL).

SISTER SOFELE! Best friends.

Cool. Ha!

President Porter and I! I love this picture. It was so nice to talk to him (:

Hooray! I'm at a Red's game!

Best night. I've missed her.

In the stadium!

I love this picture! So classic. Eating my hotdog and a baseball game (:

Sister Porter! Love her! (: She told me to keep in touch because my mission has been crazy and she wants to see what happens in my life to know why I'm going through what I am. Ha!

WOOHOO!

The stadium.

Bridge (:

Cute burger place we were going to eat at, and I got a picture and everything, then it was too packed so we went to Pizza Hut instead. Ha! I thought of Lucy though, so I had to get a picture.

This was on exchanges, this was a girl named Lucy (: She was adorable. And so happy and giggly. I loved her. We were having fun.

I think that's it! LOTS of pictures!

LOVE YOU ALL!

Again, same address. So feel free to mail me stuffs!

And congrats Cooper and Kylie! (: