One

Hola mi familia!

Can you believe there is only one week left?!  It is hard to imagine that a year and a half has already passed by... Heavenly Father has been blessing us so much these last couple weeks and I feel so grateful to still be fully engaged in His work.

Yesterday we had an awesome follow-up lesson on the Restoration with our investigator Alejandrina.  She had some doubts about following the prophet, but those doubts dissipated when we introduced the Book of Mormon.  Alejandrina told us that for years and years she has been asking people if Jesus Christ came to the Americas and nobody has been able to give her a satisfying answer.  Everyone just told her that America didn't "exist" yet when Christ was on the Earth.  However, she felt that Christ must have visited God's other children on the earth, besides those in Jerusalem.  She was so excited to read the Book of Mormon and to finally find an answer to her question.  The Book of Mormon is true and is evidence that Jesus Christ loves everybody and will manifest Himself to all those who ask.

"I’M GOING TO MISS NEW YORK!"

We finished the day visiting our investigator Milagros, who is Guarina's neighbor.  We decided to have a crack-down Word of Wisdom lesson, since Milagros struggles with coffee, tea, smoking, and drinking.  To be honest, Sister Hall and I were really nervous as to how the lesson would go.  Because if it didn't go well, she might not let us come back.  But God blessed us to find an AWESOME member to teach with us, Taty.  Taty helped explain the blessings of the Word of Wisdom and we discussed a lot about how to leave behind vices.  Milagros has wanted to quit smoking.  In fact, on Tuesday, the day we taught her, she had only smoked one cigarette without knowing that we were going to speak about the WOW that night.  She took it as a sign that it was time to stop.  We are praying for her and really putting our faith in the Lord to help her overcome her addiction! Everything is possible in the Savior.

Last Friday was Guarina's birthday, and we celebrated on Saturday at her house.  She is adorable and loved feeding us her special birthday dinner... she loves to feed us... We ate Bandera with lamb and it was delicious.  Funny story- one of our investigators, Filgia, a friend of Guarina, came to the party.  Filgia is interesting!  She told us that here in the United States, any time they say at the store that the meat is lamb, it is actually deer.  She thinks that there is no such thing as lamb in America... Deer, lamb, whatever. Same thing ; ) We ate it and it was delicious!  We gave Guarina a picture from her baptism for her birthday.  She was so excited that she brought it to church the next day to show it off to everyone.  She is progressing so much and we love her more and more every day.  We are taking her to the temple on Saturday to be baptized for her mom!!  We are so EXCITED.

Want to hear a funny story??  So on Saturday, after leaving Guarina's, we went to the church to use the bathroom.  The elders had two donuts and gave them to me and Sister Hall.  I didn't want mine and so I told Sister Hall she could eat my donut.  She was halfway done with my donut when I remembered that she is supposed to be eating healthier and I can't let her have sugar.  So I decided to tell her that I wanted my donut back in an attempt to get it away from her.  She didn't want to give it back, but I convinced her to hand  over the other half of my donut.  As soon as she put it in my hand, I booked it towards the bathroom to throw it in the trashcan. I made it clear to the bathroom doorway when she grabbed my backpack, tackled me to the ground, and stole the donut out of my hand!  She shoved the whole rest of it in her mouth before even getting off of me.  I was laughing so hard that I couldn't move off the ground for a good five minutes.  Hahaha.  Lesson learned: never mess with a donut-crazed-former-rugby-playing-Sister-Shelby-Hall.  Mmmmm.... donuts.

We have had a really crazy, but exciting, week.  I am grateful to still have one last week to serve the Lord and preach His gospel to those who He has prepared to receive it.  I know that this Church is true, and that though the principles and doctrines taught within, we can receive the fullness of joy and peace that Heavenly Father has provided for us. 

Love you all!

Hermana Dodson

Almost done!

Hola mi familia!

This week was awesome! No bunker-up mega snow storms, or crazy less actives, but we did have a lot of snow and an egg drop contest at Mission Leadership Conference. 

We built a Snowman (actually an Hermana Missionary) in Central Park!

Chillin (literally) in Central Park

Remember being in high school physics and being given the assignment to create something made out of straws and duct tape that could catch an egg? This week at MLC was a reenactment of those days.  We had to create something to catch an egg falling from 10 feet in 15 minutes with the elders that we work with.  Good news: we won!  Not only were we one of the first and only to create a successful catcher the first round, but we also had aim and were able to get the egg in our contraption on the first try! (Credit for that goes to Elder Brandon Miller, future University of Utah basketball star.  True story.)  It was a really random activity, but super fun. At the end, President asked us to think about this point: while working, did any of us think of home? Of our moms, or our boyfriends/girlfriends? Did we think about any movies we wanted to see at home? The answer across the board was “No". He tied it into how focusing on the work allows us to have success and completely lose ourselves. I'm loving this theme of focus! It is the kick in the pants I need to keep me finishing strong. 

We also built Marshmallow Towers at our Zone!  Into construction lately…

Victorious Egg Drop Team!!

On Saturday, one of the cutest 8-year-olds ever, Yaya, was baptized! We teach her and her family every week, so it was awesome to see her take the first step to returning to our Heavenly Father. 

Other than that, not much happened this week... Normal teaching, normal crazy New York, etc. I am loving every moment of my mission and am so happy to be here. The Church is true and is the only way to the Celestial Kingdom and ever lasting happiness. 

Love you all,

Sister Dodson

The Famous “George’s Diner”: Pancakes, French Toast, Bacon, Sausage, Eggs and Fries in one meal!

My future self (post mission)….Artist!

Sister's Conference

Hola mi familia!

We have had another incredible week.  I feel so grateful that Heavenly Father keeps giving me so many miracles and wonderful experiences clear through to the end.

On Friday we had Sister's Conference!! I LOVE this meeting.  All the sisters in the mission get together for a day to listen to President Morgan and other special speakers.  The elders always complain that they don't get an Elder's Conference, but none of us really have pity on them... Haha.  The theme of this year's conference was Ruth from the Bible and dedication.  I felt so inspired and LOVED the talks given.  I love being a missionary, but sometimes you need some extra motivation to help you give all that you can.  We also had a question and answer session with President where a question was asked about how sisters can have complete access to the Priesthood power.  After the question was asked, I leaned over to Sister Hall and said, "He's going to go to D&C 121:45."  Immediately after, President says, "Let's all go to D&C 121, verse 45."  Sister Hall just looked at me like I was crazy.  President loves that scripture and brings it up often.  We talked about how to access the complete power of the Priesthood, we simply need to be virtuous and valiant in all that we do.  It does not matter if we are male or female, we all have the ability to receive exaltation and peace in this life through the power of the Priesthood. I am so grateful for that knowledge and for the work of Priesthood holders in my life and in the mission.  I have felt the positive influence of a worthy Priesthood holder in almost all settings.  I definitely left Sister's Conference feeling ready to work to the end!

The 911 Memorial & Museum was inspiring!

The next day, we had a cool experience in following the Spirit.  After an appointment ended, we decided to go visit a less-active family.  We showed up to their door, and were welcomed in by Hermana Gutierrez, and then saw Hermano Gutierrez sitting on the couch in tears.  Apparently only 30 minutes earlier he had learned that his sister had passed away.  Only five minutes later, the elders showed up (the family had called them about 20 minutes before we showed up.). It was incredible to see how the Spirit had brought us all to a single place to bring peace to the home in a distressing time.  When Sister Hall and I were in route to their house, we decided to teach about temples and eternal families and to encourage them to get to the House of the Lord.  While at their house, the elders started teaching about the power of the eternal family and covenants.  We were all in sync to help this family progress! I was able to testify of the power of the temple and the peace I felt after Dorivee's passing knowing that she had made covenants in the Holy Temple.  It was an incredible experience for me to remember the peace of the gospel in my life.  The family is being bums right now and still won't come to church, but we have high hopes for them!

I made our family out of Legos!

Later that night, after a dinner appointment, we went to go see a part-member family.  When we reached their door on the third story, we received a text saying they weren't home... perfect timing!  We headed to go down the first flight of stairs and Sister Hall slipped from the snow and slid down three or four steps! The leftover food she was holding went flying into the air and slammed into the wall! She almost couldn't get back up because we were laughing so hard.  I seriously almost peed myself, I was laughing so hard.  After we composed ourselves, I grabbed the food and we headed down the next flight of stairs.  Next thing you know, I slip and fall on my butt down the second flight of stairs!! I definitely may have peed a little that time... We laughed even harder and decided that the food must be bad luck.  The last flight was twice the length as the other two.  I geared up and took the food and headed down first.  I was three steps shy of the bottom when I look up to see Sister Hall a few steps above me slip back onto her bum! She was so scared of running into me and causing a bowling effect that she turned onto her side and screamed trying to stop herself!  Luckily she paused one step before she hit me.  I don't think I've laughed that hard since Sister Smart left.  We were dying.  Hahahaha.  Don't worry, no injuries, just a big bruise for Sister Hall.

Monday we were warned of the snow storm of the century from our mission President.  We were told to be inside by 6 o'clock and to be prepared to be inside for the next three days! We were instructed to make sure that we had enough food, bottled water, and flashlights.  There was supposed to be 30" of snow and 60mph winds, so we had to be prepared for anything!  This morning we had to have a good laugh since we only got a whopping 7"... We still had to stay inside though for most of the day.  It was so nice to have some time to draw and get some things done.  And we wore our Bronx pants all day, so we were pretty happy about that.  It is hard to get out and work in the cold, but definitely worth the effort.  We had an awesome lesson with Gloria and Fernanda about the Plan of Salvation and testified of the power of the eternal family.  I love being a missionary and am grateful for every minute I get to share the Savior's gospel.

Love you all!

Hermana Dodson

Guarina's Baptism

Hola mi familia!

We have had another fantastic week here in Inwood! Guarina was baptized on Saturday and then received the Holy Ghost on Sunday, which was one of the main reasons why this week was so great.  

Guarina's baptism was beautiful!  Just like I thought, she looked so good in white! We had a huge turnout from the ward and the Spirit was so strong.  She was so prepared to be baptized.  I was in shock that we had only found her six weeks ago, and already she had fully understood and accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ.  When she went up to the front of the chapel to be confirmed on Sunday, we saw her slip a tithing envelop to the first counselor.  She is an incredible example.  

I love how peaceful Guarina looks!  Pedro, her husband is in the jeans.  He’ll look good in white too!

Before the baptism, we kind of had a crazy day.  We ran to pick up one of our investigators, Filgia, for the baptism.  We were rushing to get to the baptism early enough and arrived at the chapel about 15 minutes before it was about to start.  We rushed into the Relief Society room and didn't see Guarina anywhere! Cue freak out mode. We started running around the chapel asking people if they had seen her, but nobody had.  Elders Freebairn and Salceda said they had opened the door to two dominican women that were missing, and so we assumed they were Guarina and her neighbor Milagros.  Sister Hall and I couldn't find them anywhere.  We decided to go upstairs and check all the bathrooms, hallways, etc.  Sister Hall suggested we should say a prayer to find our missing baptizee, and so we stopped to do so.  

To be honest, I could not stop giggling during the prayer! What a funny situation we were in!  The baptism was supposed to start in 10 minutes and the present to be baptized was MIA, and probably MIA somewhere inside the building!  A few minutes later we found Milagros chilling on a couch upstairs. THEY WERE THERE!!! She said Guarina had just barely gone to the RS room. We flew down the stairs and found her! I felt so relieved and so grateful! Heavenly Father answers prayers.  

She changed and already began to get teary-eyed as the Spirit overwhelmed her. Sister Hall and I actually ended up missing the actual baptism because we were behind the scenes holding Guarina's  towel.  But when she came out, she looked  beautiful.  The best way to describe how she looked was that she emitted  humility.  She was  teary-eyed and silent, and was so reverent as she put on her flip-flops  and went in to go change.  The Spirit testified to me of the power of ordinances performed by the Priesthood of God. Sister Hall and I walked back out as people began to bear testimony. Pedro, Guarina's husband (and our new investigator!!) walked up to bear his testimony.  He didn't know how to do it, or really what to say, but he testified of the gratitude he had for the ward and for His Savior.  He spoke about how happy he  was that his wife was so happy and that she was in the true church, and he began to cry. The Spirit was really strong throughout the whole service, and we are excited to teach Pedro and get them on their way to the temple.  Filgia, the investigator we had picked up and brought to the baptism, was really moved by the Spirit and on Sunday, we were able to set a baptismal date for her for March 28!! 

Look how pretty Bryant Park is!! It looks so different than when I came 15 months ago in the fall!

I love being a missionary and am so grateful for the time that I have here.  The Church is true, and it is the only way through which we can receive all the ordinances necessary to enter into the kingdom of our Heavenly Father.

Love you all!

Hermana Dodson

17 Months Down!

Hola mi familia!

Things are still going great here in the Heights.  I still can't get over how happy I am to be here.  The work is booming here--we are always busy and always finding new people who are so ready to hear the gospel. Sister Hall and I have missed Sister Smart this week, but we are still having tons of fun.  

Funny story from the week:

Every single time we go visit Guarina, she feeds us.  I have decided to name one of the fat roles on my stomach "Guarina", in honor of the amount of food I have eaten at her house.  It is all tasty, but when you go over every single day of the week, your insides start to feel like they are made of platanos.  Haha. 

Many of the people we visit offer us soda.  Sister Hall and I have been trying to drink less soda (especially the sugary stuff), but we don't have the heart to tell these kind people that we don't want any of their soda, so in addition to giant-sized portions of delicious Dominican food, we often also have to gulp down a huge glass of Dominican soda, which is really more like syrup with bubbles.  Last week, one person gave us large glasses of red soda, and Sister Hall and I felt like we were going to puke.  In the middle of our lesson, someone rang the doorbell and they got up to answer the door.  When they left, I grabbed Sister Hall's full glass of soda sprinted to the only plant in the room and dumped it in.  Much to my surprise, the soil started fizzing almost to the point where it overflowed. I grabbed a napkin and tried to soak up some before they retuned then shoved the napkin in my pocket... Gross. Anyway, problem solved. So this week when we went back, I noticed the plant... The leaves turned RED. And it may be wilting a little bit... We were on a split with another sister and she called me Plant Killer for the rest of the night. Hahaha. This is why we are quitting soda...

Some great news:

So a new Elder in my district just came from serving in the Bronx Ward where I started my mission. He showed me a picture of one of my investigators that Sister Ramirez and I started teaching a year ago. He asked me if I know him, I say YES, and then the Elder says that Salvador is getting baptized on Saturday!!!!!! AHHHHHHH!!! I almost peed myself. And then he shows me a picture of a family that Sister Ramirez and I worked our butts off to re-activate. My last Sunday they came, but that was it. The Elder told me that they reactivated with him!!  AHHHHH!! I love being a missionary!! It is so cool to see how these people progress and how the right missionaries can change the situation completely.  Every missionary has such a strong impact and can make such a different difference. I am so grateful for the people who I have helped, and for those whom Heavenly Father has sent me to. The mission is so personal, and I love it. 

Guarina is progressing great! She is so ready to be baptized. On Saturday she passed her interview with flying colors. We are also super excited for her husband to come tomorrow! We are definitely going to jump right on teaching him the gospel. Guarina is already a missionary, so this is going to be SO AWESOME with her husband. On Sunday Guarina brought her neighbor to church with her!! We actually have been teaching her neighbor Milagros for a while now. We found Guarina cause we arrived early to our appointment with Milagros and decided to knock a couple doors first. BOOM, there was somebody so prepared to accept the gospel. Milagros has been progressing at a slower rate (she had never been to church before), so it was incredible to see how Guarina is pushing her to accept the gospel as well. 

I love seeing people change their lives through our doctrine. It is such a blessing to be here in New York. I'm trying to live every single moment until they shove me on a plane. Haha. 

I love you all!

Hermana Dodson 

Last Cycle!

Hola mi familia!

Once again, another transfers has passed by WAY too quickly! It is hard to believe that I only have six weeks left! Sister Hall and I are staying (!!!) but we are losing Sister Smart to South Manhattan : ( I love that girl and am going to miss her! We had way too many laughs together and she is an incredible teacher and friend.

We had an awesome busy week! Guarina is progressing really well. We taught her about tithing last week and she said that she already tried to pay the bishop but he said she had to wait until next week.  She already had an envelope with money in it before we even taught her! She is so prepared, it is insane.

At church on Sunday we had a really powerful testimony meeting. It is incredible to feel the Spirit that Fast and Testimony Sunday's bring. I think I look forward to it the most. A testimony is a source of power and is just a verbal expression of how we live. I love seeing people gain their own. I know that as people keep strengthening their testimony, that any problem, whether in or out of a church setting, can be resolved and overcome because of faith in Christ.

Christmas breakfast

I worked on setting New Year's resolutions this week! We are focusing on this topic as a mission and it is fabulous. It is such a great way to apply the Atonement in our lives. Truly through the Aonement and through Christ we can change and become better people. He allows us to let go of the past and move on. I know that He makes us better than we could ever become on our own. I am so grateful for repentance and for my Savior.

Here are a couple funny stories from the week! The first is actually from Christmas, but I forgot to send it home last week. For Christmas I got these awesome printed socks with bacon and eggs on them.  After I'd been wearing them all day inside my boots, Sister Hall and I convinced Sister Smart that they were scratch and sniff socks. She was hesitant at first, but then came over, scratched my foot, and smelled it!  Hahahaha. Definitely smelly, just not like bacon and eggs! Hahaha. (I am going to miss her!) 

He is the Gift street contacting

The other happened when I was on a split with the english Sisters. Sister Hall and Smart met up with a member who was asking who I was and where I went. Her husband couldn't remember my name or who I was, and so the member says, "it's the one who always does her hair in a bun!”  And then she asked my companions if I don't like to do my hair… Hahahahaha. I guess I should pick a new hairstyle... Knot on top is not winning the crowds!

Birthday burgers

I love being a missionary and cannot believe it is coming to an end! Things are going to get crazy here as we push harder and harder and find more and more people the Lord has prepared.

Love you all,

Hermana Dodson

Weekly!

Hola mi familia!!

We had yet another crazy week! This week all of our crazy running around teaching people finally caught up with us and we were dead tired... Haha. But after a good nap, we’re hopefully ready for next week's adventures.

Friday was the mission CHRISTmas Devotional and it was INCREDIBLE! Our mission is full of so many talented people. I wish I would have recorded it because the music was so fabulous. Also, the Christmas party is the only time during the year that the whole mission is together.  I loved seeing all my friends! It was a little sad though, since I had to say a lot of goodbyes to many of my favorite missionaries who are going home in a couple weeks! Yikes!

On Sunday Juarina came to church! The Ward ate her up—it was so awesome. We didn't even get to sit by her because she had members on all sides. We are super excited to see her keep progressing.

 Yesterday I went on a member split with our awesome gospel principles teacher, Ruth. She taught a kick-butt lesson and I felt like I was her sidekick. I am so impressed at the knowledge and strength of testimony from our members. They live in such a loud environment in NYC, but they know the truth, and they cling to it.  I know that the gospel gives us a different perspective on life and is a protection from the world.

 I am just seriously so happy here! Tired, crazy, and stressed, but overall, happy! I love doing the Lord's work, and I love that He sent me here to the Heights.

Love you all,

Merry Christmas!

Hermana Dodson

Fun times at the Mission Christmas Party!