The World Will Know!

Hola family!!!

This week was insane! Yesterday we had an amazing zone conference.  I was able to see Hermana Livingston and see her play the violin.  She truly is TALENTED.  She started out by playing Amazing Grace, one of my favorite hymns that we played and sung all the time in the MTC, and I totally started tearing up.  I was like, What the Heck??  But it was beautiful.  I am so blessed to know her.

Hermana Dodson and Hermana Lancaster

Anyway, zone conference ended with a bang.  It was announced yesterday that we are now online proselyting missionaries! This means that now I will be preaching the gospel on Facebook, Mormon.org, and my blog!  Essentially I will be taking my blog over in a few weeks.  So if you see me on Facebook, don't get freaked out.  Haha.  But this is truly a blessing.  We talked about how the prophesy that the Gospel will go to the whole earth is now coming true, as we are using the internet to reach literally every person on this planet.  It is a miracle to be able to use the internet for it's true purpose: proclaiming Salvation through our Lord, Jesus Christ!

There have been missionaries in my mission using the internet as trial runs now, one of which is a convert.  He has been able to share the gospel with his family through Facebook, and a couple days ago was ago to Skype his family, along with other missionaries, and teach them about the Restoration.  I was so touched by this story.  He is having the opportunity to teach the most important people he will ever teach as a set-apart missionary.  This work is glorious, and I feel so blessed to be able to be a part of it!

Anyway, as part of this announcement, every missionary will receive an Ipad and each companionship will receive Iphones in the next few weeks!  YESSS.  We have been using members ipads to share videos, etc. for a while, and it is amazing to be able to use technology to bring the gospel to the world.

I am so THRILLED by Nani and Papa's decision to serve another mission at the age of 79!! I could not be more proud and humbled to have their example in my life.

Another thing you might love, if you haven't seen it yet, the missionaries in South Man Zone all got together and did a chalk drawing of the Plan of Salvation in Union Square!  They literally walked people through the Plan!  There is a video on KSL, and it is all over Facebook.  Pictures are also on a the blog reachmygospel.blogspot.com.  I feel so honored to have these brilliant people in my mission!  My district is now talking about doing this at Yankee Stadium.  Too bad baseball season is over!  

Another great thing, we are moving apartments, and we are moving next to a GYM!! I am so excited.  I don't think I have gained much weight, since we are lucky to get one dinner appointment a week, but I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to just be more healthy!  I can't wait to get back to the gym.  Bet you never thought I would say that, did you? Haha.  

I have learned so much about the Character of Heavenly Father by reading "Jesus the Christ".  It's funny, but I feel like as I have started to read that book, I have learned more about the Father than our Savior so far... Haha.  But I know our Father loves us.  I literally see this everyday.  He fills me with love for others as I have the opportunities to share the gospel.

A typical day includes waking up sooo early, get ready, study, language study, eating lunch, roaming our area hoping somebody is home until about 6.  Sometimes we have planned lessons, but a lot of times it is just easier to go knock on someone's door.  People are so busy here.  Although now we will be on Facebook in the afternoons during our non-busy time.

From P-day last week. Museum visiting!

We are going to the temple today.  I AM SO EXCITED!!! 

Love you guys sooo much, and I miss you like crazy!!

Love,

Sadie

NYC Week Dos

Hola familia!!

It's been yet another crazy week in NYC!  But we didn't really expect different, so that's okay.  Haha.  First off, I AM SO EXCITED.  We work mostly with less actives, who just don't realize the heaviness of the gospel and that things really do continue after baptism.  We have decided the best way to show them is to teach about the temple.  Truly the temple is where the saving ordinances are done, and it is so exciting to be able to share with people the power that is in the temple.  We are hoping that as we start to help less actives find a desire to go the temple, that desire will help them understand that they actually have to go to church to get to the temple... Haha.  Anyways, during companionship study we were talking about the temple and how we could get people excited.  Hermana Lancaster yells out, "you should do drawings of the Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) temple and Manhattan temple!"  Of course my mind was blown.  SOO those are my next projects! I am so thrilled to be able to use my talent to bring others unto Christ.  (When Sadie finishes them, we will have her send a picture so y'all can see her art. :) What a blessing it is to be able to do something so special for these people.  As we have been teaching about the temple to some members already, it is surprising how little they know.  Some have never seen a temple, and one less active who was baptized years ago, thought the temple and the chapel were the same thing... Not quite... But I am loving testifying of the power that is there.  There is an article in the Ensign about how youth are going to the temple, and I feel so blessed to be able to be a part of that! I am only 19 years old, and yet I get to partake of the blessings of the salvation already! I love it. We are allowed to go to the temple here once a cycle (6 weeks), but the South mission decided to let their kids go more, and so there are not enough workers and we can't go as often.  Many elders in my district have been out for 6 months and are going for the first time today.  I can't wait to go!!

Manhattan Temple

Santo Domingo Temple

I am really learning about the gloriousness and heaviness of this gospel.  It's not just something we do or a place we go, it's the work of salvation!! Literally without this true restored gospel of Jesus Christ, there is no way anybody can return.  It is a blessing to be able to share that with others, but also a struggle to be able to help them feel it's heaviness.  I mean, it took me 19 years to really be able to begin to comprehend! I just pray that we can bring the Spirit enough to show people.  

Our ward is so hilarious.  I looovee the people.  They are freaking funny.  We have this one old lady who store some 3D glasses from a movie theater because she thinks they help her see better than regular glasses.  Basically my whole ward is like that.  They are fun and hilarious.  We have having a Dia de Naciones activity in a couple weeks where everyone is doing a performance or somthing from thier country.  Us missionaries, the only Americans, are doing the Hoe Down Throw Down... I don't know how that happened... Hahahaha.  I like to call this activity "Carnaval de Barrio" since the word Barrio is ward as well as neighborhood.  All my IN THE HEIGHTS peeps will love this.  Hahaahahah.

New York is crazy.  It blows my mind to be so in the world, but so out of the world.  Like last P-day we went and played Ultimate Frisbee on a field literally right outside of Yankee Stadium.  Yeah. YANKEE STADIUM.  I was kind of freaking out the whole time.  Except now we got to Yankee Stadium like three times a week since it's the end of our area, so yeah.  But it's amazing.  I was in shock.  But anyways, then we go and testify to people about Jesus Christ.  We stick out like sore thumbs here.  Two cute white girls walking around the Bronx... The other day we passed a cop car and the cops in the car yelled out, "Hey, what are you two ladies doing in a place like this?!"  We get cat-called ALL THE TIME.  God has blessed me with deafness though, and I can't really hear all the terrible things that are said to us.  It is nice to be called beautiful every day though.  Hahaha... Not really.... Although Hermana Lancaster told me that she hasn't been cat called this much in this area before... Uhhh.  Yesterday we were crossing the street and this guy yells at me, "I've been waiting for you girl for an hour!"  And I was like "Sorry, have a nice day."  And then as I'm walking away he says "Oh, so you're saying I've got to wait a little longer??"  I was dying laughing.  Never in my life have I been called Shorty, and now I get called it like every day.  Whatevs.  

If you have suggestions…..please help!  So there is a mouse rotting behind our cupboards, and the super says we can do nothing about it.  Basically my apartment smells like rotting body.  If you could google how to get rid of the smell, or at least how long it will take for the smell to leave, that would be great!!!!  We are actually switching apartments probably this week with the zone leaders, and I feel terrible that they might have to move in to that.  Grossssss.  Let me know!!  Today, I am emailing from the apple store across the street from the temple.  BOOYA.

My companion is fantastic.  I love her tons!! She is hilarious.  I've made her pass out a couple times and it makes me pee my pants (skirt?).  She is literally always tired, so we have to schedule in a nap time.  Mom, you would love this.  I ususally use it as extra study time though.  Or art time.  Sometimes I like to call it "talent time".  Hahaha.  But she is great.  She brings the Spirit, and always makes sure I get a chance to share during the lesson.  She has been a fantastic example to me as she has shown me how to truly love and act in a place like this.  She has also been my HERO with spanish.  I am so grateful to have her.  She is from Springville, Utah, and went to high school with Robert (she thinks she had a class with him maybe??) . She is 22 years old, and will go home in February.  She loves art, loves geology, and loves the gospel.  I love her!

Question for ya'll, what the heck is going on with the government??

Also if you could send me info about the difference between direct and indirect object verbs in english...because I don't understand, and in spanish they are whack.

I love you guys so much!!

Love,

Hermana Dodson

Of Break-ins, Besos, and the Bronx

Hola familia!

Answers to your questions: I live on the fourth floor, with a broken elevator.  Yay!! My butt is sore every morning.  I don't know why we live so far away from our area.. But we are talking to the President about possibly moving after this week... 

First things first, after reading the title of this email, you are probably freaking out.  But know that I LOVE THE BRONX.  It is scary and crazy but I love it to death.

Bronx skyline

Anyways, New York must have found out I was new, and sent somebody to give me a nice welcoming!! Yay... Friday night we came home to find that our door was all jacked up.  The handle was pried up and looked like a wreck.  Somebody tried to break into our apartment. We have elders in the other district that live about three minutes away from us so we called them before we even attempted to open the door.  We were kind of freaking out that someone was inside.  The elders sprinted over and after turning the lock, found that the door had been messed with so badly that the door knob wouldn't even turn.  It was dang scary.  We ran to our downstairs neighbors and the elders climbed up to the fire escape to go through out window, but that was locked too.  So we ran to get the super and tell him what went down.  He told us to call the cops... whattttt.  Neither Sister Lancaster or I had ever called 911 before, so we were kind of freaking out again.  We ran upstairs and found that the elders had used a Subway Rewards card and opened the door.  Nothing was missing, and nobody had gotten in.  But we were still extremely nervous, and now we were waiting for the cops to come.  Our zone leaders came over too (one of which is a dark haired dark eyed Jordan Teuscher.  HAhahahahah), and President called us to see if we were okay.  I think he was super nervous about me since it was my second day, and because in our interview I asked him if I was moving into a safe place.  He assured me never have they had a problem with dangerous situations or anything like that before.  And then this happens... I had to laugh a little bit about that.  Anyways, President told the Elders to stay with us until the cops arrived, and then we were going to go stay at another sisters' apartment.  So we waited and hung with the Elders in our apartment.  By the time 10:30 rolled around, one of the Elders had already taken an Ambien and was going crazy.  He couldn't see colors or anything straight anymore, but wouldn't go to sleep since that would kind of be a little inappropriate, since they aren't even allowed to be in our apartment.  By the time midnight rolled around, Monopoly was pulled out.  And then by 2, we were extremely antsy.  We called 911 again, and they told us we were on EXTREMELY low priority, since it was just an attempted break in, and we live in the Bronx, and it was a Friday night.  Greatttt.  By 2:30 we got a hold of President and he told the Elders to leave.  So Hermana and I grabbed our blankets and fell asleep on the couch hoping the cops would arrive soon.  At 4 the cops finally showed up.  They were at our apartment for literally five minutes, three of which were spent climbing the steps to the fourth floor.  They then told us it was just a criminal mischief and they weren't really going to file a report.  By this point we were so exhausted I couldn't even react.  We called President to tell us the cops came, and he told us to sleep in the next morning! Yay!  Basically the last few days have been spent dealing with the super trying to get a new lock, dealing with the cops who wanted to see the old lock, and trying to catch up on sleep.  President was really sweet to us and let us sleep in and go to bed early a couple times to catch up.  Thank goodness for that, because otherwise I would have DIED during Conference.

Anyways, I know that angels were looking out for us that night.  If a criminal couldn't get through our door, but somehow elders and a plastic card could, then miraculous things must have happened.  Also I know the Lord blessed me with peace.  Throughout the whole situation, I felt okay.  I didn't feel worried or insecure, and I know that had a huge affect on Hermana Lancaster who was kind of freaking out.  The Lord is looking out for us!!

A few other things:

I have been called to speak Spanglish!! It seriously is so funny.  Everybody here speaks Spanglish.  Basically if you don't know a word in Spanish you can fill it in with English, and chances are they will still understand you.  We don't usually get fed, but we have had dinner appointments Monday and yesterday, and we have one tonight!  We have set up a schedule to go eat dinner with a woman and her husband (who is an artist and got REALLY excited when I told him I was an artist.. Haha) and that is great.  Yesterday we were checking up on former investigators and found a woman who is really strongly Catholic and has no interest in the church, but always lets missionaries in and feeds them.  Let's just say Dominican food is like my favorite thing now.  Everyone greets you with a beso, a kiss on the cheek.  Germs are really fun things here.  Haha.  Also the worst part here, besides the break in, is being two white girls in the Bronx.  We get dog called ALL THE TIME.  Seriously people say the most inappropiate and hilarious things to us.  I am in shock that it happens.  Never have I been asked if I have a boyfriend, been told I'm beautiful, or been told "Oh God bless YOU, shorty" so many times in my life.  Hahahaha.  Oh man.  WHAT IS THIS WORLD.

I love the work. We have two big investigators, and four ones in the process.  I love the work and am so thrilled to be able to spread this gospel.  I know it is the true church on this earth!! 

Love you guys lots!! 

Todos mi amor,

Hermana Dodson

Start Spreading the News!

Hola familia!! 

I am here in New York!! Culture shock!! Haha. Also it is really odd to be typing on an American keyboard again...

My first area is....... THE BRONX.  I am so excited to be in the city!  It is definitely the ghettos, but I couldn't be happier.  There are the most interesting people here already.  We live in an apartment about 30 minutes away from our actual proselyting area, so don't worry, by tomorrow I will be a pro at public transport.  

Source

My first companion is Hermana Landcaster.  SHE IS FANTASTIC already.  I am seriously so happy.  She talks a ton, loves art, and is dang hilarious.  She already told me how she just wants to go the Met so bad and hasn't had an artsy enough companion to do all those things with.  I am so pumped for our P-days.  We get to go our of our area twice each transfer, one of which to use the temple (and do some city stuff there too).  All the elders rave about her.  They have also told me that she laughs a ton and if she gets laughing too hard then she will faint... HAHAHAHA.  This is so perfect. I will make sure to keep of tally of how many times I have to catch her.  She has been here for almost six months know so she definitely knows her way around the Bronx.  She speaks Spanish with a very Domincan accent- they drop off all s's and r's.  SO instead of saying Iglesia de JesuCristo de Los Santos de Las Ultimas Dias, it's more like Igleia de JeuCisto de lo antos de la ulima Dia.  It's going to take a while to catch up on that one.  I will send pictures home next week of the Bronx.  But I could not be more excited to be here!!

Hermana Livingston is up in Yonkers, so we won't get to see each other for a while.  That is a big bummer, and it was so hard to say goodbye to her!  I love her sooo much.  

My mission president is AMAZING.  The only way I can describe him is to describe him as a Steve Clinger.  He has a big booming laugh, genuinely loves people, and definitely has tons of fun.  The Mission Mom is the most adorable lady on the planet.  She is so sweet.  I love them already and am so excited to be able to get to know them more.  

Yesterday we flew into a teeny-tiny airport in White Plains, NY, and right when we landed I just felt like I was at home.  Part of me felt like peeing my pants, but for the most part, I just felt so comfortable.  I know this is the place I am meant to be, and I am so grateful every day that Heavenly Father blessed me enough to send me here.  New York is going to be a place of miracles.  I can feel it.  

Also it is stunning here.  The leaves are just beginning to change colors, and it looks like a scene straight out of Scooby Doo and the Witch's Ghost.  The mission home is in Scarsdale, and it is over 100 years old, and thus it is stunning.  The New England old fashioned feel here is incredibly welcoming and home-y.  

Funny story- My companion is the only person in the ward who can play the piano, besides one of the deacons who can play about two hymns... Looks like I will need to spend some time practicing my Piano!  Of course this would happen to me.. Haha.  Mom, I am sure you are gloating reading this.  

Love you all! It was AMAZING getting to speak to you yesterday, and it totally got rid of all my tiny homesick feelings.  I am so thrilled to get out in the real world doing real missionary work! 

Yo se que JesuCristo es nuestro Salvador y Redentor y la manera a Dios es por medio de El.  La Iglesia es verdadera, y un mision es lo mejor manera que yo puedo hacer ahor.  Me enconta!

Todos mi amor,

Hermana Dodson

On Her Way

Sadie left the Mexico City CCM yesterday and flew to New York!!

Our family had the privilege of talking to her on the phone for a few minutes.  Emmy even insisted on being checked out of school, so she could enjoy a few minutes asking Sadie about the soccer skills she acquired in the CCM. ;)  Hermana Dodson sounded great!  She was so grateful to be back in the United States of America--a land that she loves!  She was also thrilled to eat fried chicken in the Airport.  I thought it would have been a bacon cheeseburger!  She was very anxious to get to New York and begin preaching the gospel.  She came to really love the elders and sisters from her district.  She was pretty tender as she told us how the Elders had given them Priesthood blessings their last night together, before they each flew out the next day for their respective areas of service.  We feel especially grateful for Hermana Livingston, Sadie's companion.  When we dropped her at the airport on August 20th, she was all alone.  Thankfully she found Emily Livingston and as Sadie said, "they basically stuck together"….  From those first plane rides and through the CCM, she's been a good friend and companion during these 6 weeks.  They are serving in the same mission and I'm sure each time they see each other will be wonderful!

Sadie only had a few minutes on the computer this week.  Here's what she wrote:

I currently have no updates for the blog…..But I love you guys and miss you and am so excited to finally get to New York.  Syd (Sister Syd Jensen from PG, who is serving in NY, NY) emailed me and gave me a rundown of how things are going to be when we get there and it definitely helped! I love that girl to pieces and hope I get to see her! She is currently upstate, so if I go up there, then yippee!! If not, then I will just have to wait a few months.  Haha. 

The Hermanas! I miss them tons.

Companeras! Hermana Livingston is AMAZING.

GIANT MOTH.  IT was our class pet.

Funny story.  My bag broke.  Also here is a funny story you can put on the blog if you want.  As the mom here, I am in charge of providing the Tide to go pen to all the Elders.  When I get to New York I seriously am going to ship them all one of the pens.  Because they use it 20x's more often than I do.  Anyways, one of the Elders in my district had a stain on his sleeve and he couldn't quite reach it with his own arm.  So I grabbed his arm and started applying and scrubbing.  Unbeknownst to me, President Pratt was sitting eating lunch right behind me.  I turn around to hear Hermana Livingston saying something to the effect of: "Oh, he had a stain.  Those Tide pens work great!!"  Apparently President Pratt was giving me the stink eye... I guess technically grabbing an arm, scrubbing it, and scrubbing a spot on the chest of an Elder is not exactly a firm handshake either... Hahaha.  At least I got on the President's bad side three days before I left.  Haha.

Elder Christensen and Hart- awkward lunge.  YESSS.

Other Elders in our zone: The one looks like Mario Lopez, and gets mad when I call him Elder Mario.  Haha.