Meet the Mormons

Hola mi familia!

Can you believe how quickly the time is passing?! It is a little frightning to look at the date and realize we are already at Oct. 15.  Sister Brower and I had a fabulous week this week and saw INCREDIBLE miracles.  The Lord definitely has His hand in His work here in White Plains.

On Friday we got together with all the upstate missionaries and watched Meet the Mormons!! Oh my goodness, the Church really hit it out of the ballpark on this one.  I encourage everyone to go see it if they haven't yet, and bring a nonmember friend (and tissues)! More than anything else, Mormons follow the example of Jesus Christ, and the movie clearly demonstrates our desires and abilities to do so. Love it.

About 2 weeks ago, Sister White and I received a referral from one of the most rock solid members, Sister Lopez.  It was of a woman who lives on her street, who is the mother of 7 children, and NEEDS God and direction in her life.  We heard rumors about how hard her family life was, and although we are not sure at all if they are true,  the gospel will bless her family!  We were so excited to go and meet her, but things fell through and it never happened.  A few days later we get a call from an excited Sister Lopez telling us we needed to get to her house in an hour and run over and teach Sandra (the mother of 7).  Okay, perfect.  Sister White and I ran over, taught an incredible first lesson and really felt the Spirit as Sister Lopez testified to her friend about the power of the Restored Gospel to bring us closer to our Savior.  We set up a return appointment, but Sandra got sick (like everybody and their dog in White Plains.. Boo.) and we haven't been able to teach her since.  On Sunday, Hermano and Hermana Lopez enter the chapel followed by a line of 7 children, and picking up the caboose, Sandra!! Sister Brower hadn't met this family yet, so she was a little confused at why I was jumping up and down and freaking out a little bit.  I was sooo excited to see Sandra and her kids at church!!!  AND to make it even better, they brought two friends with them! Our branch basically doubled in size on Sunday.  The family stayed all three hours and loved it.  Their two friends had to go after Sacrament meeting, but they loved it so much they said they wouldn't dare miss next week.  We have been so blessed with incredible people to teach, and families who are going to be strengthened and protected by the power of the Savior.  We know He will bless their lives.  4 of the kids are baptism age, and they will definitely all look good in white ; )

Yesterday was an incredibly strange day, but we definitely saw that God takes care of His missionaries.  After planning Monday night for Tuesday, we had about 9 lessons set up.  After working for 8 hours, we had barely taught one lesson and had ran all over every corner of White Plains with nobody home.  Dinner time finally arrived, and we had an appointment set up with the fabulous Fila.  We knocked on her door, nobody answered.  Juked.  Sister Brower felt like going to the mall to eat, so we decided to head out.  I got suuuuper lost driving on the way, and instead of taking 5 minutes to get there it took us 15.  When we entered the food court, there at KFC was Fila and her family!  We walked up to say hi, and she immediately turned around to the cashier and ordered us some chicken and biscuits.  Holy Cow, Heavenly Father loves us so much. He prompted Sister Brower to go to the mall, helped me get extremely lost, and planned everything out perfectly so that at the exact minute we walked in the food court there was Fila right in front of our eyes, finishing her order!  Miracles like that don't happen merely by chance, but by the grace of a loving God.

Funny story of the week:

Our investigator, Daniel, has a brother who is just as sassy and hilarious as Daniel is.  Last week when Sister White said goodbye, Daniel's brother said I couldn't come back unless I brought back his girlfriend, Sister White (whom he had met once BTW...).  Sister White didn't understand any of that though... haha.  Needless to say, Sister Brower and I have tried to stop by 4 or 5 times the past week, and each time Daniel has opened the door, sassily told me that his brother said I couldn't come in because I didn't bring his girlfriend, laughed really hard, and then told us to come back another time.. Hahahaha. Maria wasn't home any of those times either though, so we couldn't enter anyway.  Last night we passed by and luckily, Maria was home.  Daniel and his brother were out selling food.  As we walked out the back door at the end of the lesson, Daniel and his brother were at the bottom of the stairs.  They froze and just stared at us with bug eyes, shocked that we got in without bringing back Sister White.  After Maria came out behind us they just started busting up laughing. Hahaha, I love this stinking sassy family so much! 

I know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ has the power to change lives.  It is the only way through which we are capable of entering back into the presence of our Heavenly Father, and it is an amazing experience to see the power of the Atonement working in others as well as working in myself, and even more powerful to see it working within the family. If the Savior has the ability to heal our bruised and damaged souls, then why couldn't He have the ability to heal our bruised and damaged families? 

Love you all,

Sister Dodson

Conference Weekend

Hola Mi familia!

Big news happening this week! I'm not getting transferred! I will be staying at least 7 more weeks in White Plains! I couldn't be more excited!! But here is the kick in the pants: Sister White is being transferred to the BRONX! (Don't worry Livie, maybe she will have some exciting stories ;)) (Recently, Olivia was complaining that since Sadie has been out of the Bronx the stories haven’t been nearly as entertaining!)  We are honestly super sad and feel a little weird about her leaving, but if it is God's calling for her, than it is God's calling. She is excited and nervous. I am getting Sister Brower, who was in my ward up in Stamford! I am super excited to work with her. She works hard and is adorable. She actually read my blog before she came out and emailed me to see what the mission was like!

Yesterday we had kind of a crazy day, running to and fro trying to say goodbye to everybody, but other than that it has been a pretty normal week.

Thursday we received a referral from one of our INCREDIBLE members and were able to teach Sandra. She has a family of 7 kids! We only taught her this first time, but we are definitely planning on teaching her whole family. She is looking for God and ready to hear our message. We taught her to pray and are excited to see her progress.

Friday Nani and Papa came and visited us for lunch!  We had some really great Peruvian food and it was awesome to spend some time with them.

It was fun to see Nani & Papa.  Basically, it was the best lunch ever!!  Look at my plate!! (Rice, French Fries, Beef, Fried Eggs…) Yum!

Saturday and Sunday we had General Conference and it was INCREDIBLE. It was fantastic to listen to the words of our living prophet. I know Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God and has been called to serve us here at this time. It was really special to sit there and listen to his words. I felt promptings over and over again about the people we teach, and found that there was a special message for almost each of our focus people. We are excited for conference to be available on the iPad in Spanish!!  Haha. BTW, how LEGIT was it to have speakers in SPANISH! And also Portuguese and Cantonese!

After conference on Saturday we were finally able to get the elders to Maria and Daniel's house to FINALLY give her a much needed blessing. She has been super sick with back problems and a really bad cold. The elders gave her a super sweet blessing and the Spirit was really strong. We testified of the power of the priesthood as the power of God here on the earth. We emphasized that if this was the power of God, then Joseph Smith was a prophet and the true Church of Jesus Christ has been restored. She said she would pray and ask God for a sign of the Church was true. We are so excited for her and know she will receive an answer. She and Daniel are progressing slowly, but so surely.

Love you lots,

Hermana Dodson

Fall in NYC

Hola I'm familia!

Surprisingly, it is already the last week of the cycle! Time has gone by way too fast. Fall is here already, and this week the leaves started to change colors!! It is gorgeous and gives me motivation to paint all day... I will have to just save some mental images for some time in the future... Haha.

This week we were able to teach Miracle Miguel again, and he is still just so prepared.  We taught the Restoration and testified of a living prophet and Book of Mormon. The Spirit was so strong throughout the lesson, and especially as we knelt  for the closing prayer. We invited him to say the closing prayer, and you could tell that he felt like he was talking to Heavenly Father. He is so humble and we love helping him find greater peace and happiness in his life.

Yesterday we went to visit a less active, and on the way in, we passed a young girl on her porch.  We decided if she was out after our appointment we would go stop and talk to her. Heavenly Father loves us, and when we returned she was still there! We stopped to talk to her, and are now teaching Yemeleth! She is ADORABLE.  When we got back in the car, I just wanted to cry--she reminded me so much of Jasmin and Wendi. Those girls have a HUGE chunk of my heart : )  Yemeleth is 16 and just moved to the Unites States from Guatemala. She loves God, and told us she is ready for church. Last Sunday was the first time she had gone to a church in 5 months, and she was so happy to talk to us about Jesus.  I love her already.

Here is a gorgeous rainbow on Ferris!

If there is one thing I wish I could explain better in words, it would be the love that I have learned to feel here. The love of God is pure and perfect, and there is nothing so attaching as when you feel it for somebody else.  I feel like I am always saying how everybody is so great, or how much I love them, and as cliche as it may seem, it is absolutely true! God has opened up my heart and allowed me this opportunity to serve and come to see everybody as His children. When we finally can feel that love openly, we really begin to want to share His gospel, and see people for their true potential.  Dang, I just imagine so many people looking sooo good in white!

I love you all, HAVE AN INCREDIBLE GENERAL CONFERENCE WEEKEND! Share something you loved or learned with your family, or with someone who may need the gospel more in their life.

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Dodson