Zone Conference

Hola mi familia!

This past week was awesome! We had a ton of awesome miracles, super good lessons, and some really fun experiences. 

Last Thursday we had zone conference in the Bronx with President Morgan. He decided to mix things up a bit, (some missionaries complained about never having fun...??) So we had a movie making competition! We had tons of fun getting into groups and then making a video on our iPads about Why We Believe in Christ. My group decided to go out to the Bronx and ask people why they believed in Christ. Their answers were amazing! I will send home a couple : ) I love seeing why people believe in a Savior. Especially in a place like the Bronx, it is incredible to hear how He lifts them up, and they can't deny His existence because of that. Zone conference was really inspiring and definitely fun. We talked a lot about how if we want to receive inspiration like adults, we have to act like adults. We're trying to take that to heart and make better decisions.

Westchester Zone

On Friday, we planned to go see a potential investigator that was found about 5 months ago originally.  We had stopped by to try to see her on various occasions, but she has always been busy.  She told us to come back Friday in the morning, so of course we went! We knocked twice, no answer.  But the door was slightly open, which was evidence that someone was most likely inside.  We decided to knock one more time, and Maria came to the door! She let us in, brought in her adorable one-month-old baby and we began to talk.  Maria is awesome.  She is from Mexico, says she is catholic, but is not really practicing.  We had a good discussion about our purpose as missionaries and the hope that our message can bring into her life.  At the end, Sister Brower beautifully and powerfully invited her to be baptized. BUT, literally immediately after Sister Brower finished saying, "Seguiria el ejemplo de Jesucristo a ser bautizado?" BOOM BOOM BOOM.  There was a knock at the door.  Maria excused herself from the table to go answer the door.  Sister Brower and I waited anxiously to see what would happen, and to see what her answer would be to the million dollar question, while Maria attended to the visitors at the door (who had such impeccable timing).  We couldn't see them, but my first impression was a business person, since they asked for her husband, then started asking questions about if she was his wife, their address.  Next thing we know, we see two hands shoving a Bible through the door- JDUBBS. Dang those Jehovahs's Witnesses!  Our perfect Spirit guided baptismal invitation was interrupted by stinking JDubbs.  They taught her a whole lesson at the door, unbeknownst that we were waiting on the other side.  A few minutes later, when Maria returned to the table, she said, "It's been pretty cold outside, right?" Right, Maria.  It's been pretty cold outside... With our bap invite down the drain, we decided to pull out the big guns and show her Gracias A El.  The Spirit once again flooded the room, and we testified of the power to seal families for all eternity.  The good news is that we scheduled a return appointment! The bad news is, so did the JDubbs.   But in this battle, truth  will always prevail. We are pumped to see Maria progress and choose the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Monday night we were almost killed by a bulldog. Probably not really, but it kind of seemed like it a little bit. We went to go see a new investigator, Rosa, and had an awesome lesson about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon with her.  She took us into a back sitting room in her house and shut the door so that we could have a more reverent environment. As Rosa is saying the closing prayer, we hear her 10 year old son screaming behind the door, "Brewster! Brewster! Brewster's oooouttt!" Rosa keeps praying through the screams, which were then closely followed by the most terrifying bark I've ever heard. Forget your cute little "Griffi-hi-lets-be-friends-bark", this was more of a hi-I'm-hungry-and-I-like-to-eat-people-bark. After saying amen, Rosa got up and opened the door a peak to see what was going on. Next thing you know, she was fighting against the door trying to keep it closed while Brewster the bulldog is lunging at it trying to get into the room.  It kind of felt like a movie scene where a monster is trying to break through the door (couldn't tell you which one, the veil is too thick...) Rosa looked at us and with a smile said, "Un momento", then with one last kick, she sneaked through the door to take care of the Brewster problem. Right after the door closed, Sister Brower and I just started laughing. Five minutes later, Rosa returned to let us out. We must have looked pretty tasty to the bulldog. 

We also had a huge miracle with a less active family. The three youngest boys of this family are AWESOME and come to church even though their mom wanted nothing to do with it. Last week, the  youngest, who is 12, asked his mom why she expects them to do good things if she doesn't even do them herself. (Go Pedro!) That snarky comment changed her whole point of view, and Hermana Marian had her heart softened. She came to church on Sunday and plans on coming back in full force. She wants all her boys to serve missions and is going to do everything in her power to get them there! I love Hermana Marian and am so excited for her to make this change! She has been so prepared by the Lord.

One of our investigators, Modesta, is progressing so much!! Last week we went and after teaching the Restoration, she kindly told us she was Catholic, but still wanted us to come teach her. Upon visiting her yesterday, she told us that she feels something so different when we pray. She had a hard moment during the week, and tried to look online to find our prayers (Catholic tradition is memorized prayers for certain situations, so Modesta looked to find "Mormon prayers").  She said she was so happy to see us so that we could pray for her and bring her the peace she needed. We taught her how to pray and that it comes from the heart, and also about the power of the Holy Ghost. We then invited her to pray to know if our message was true. She responded saying that, of course, it was true. We were definitely freaking out a little inside. After asking her why she thought that, she said that she feels it when we teach and when we're there. THE SPIRIT IS WORKING IN HER!!! Modesta is definitely going to look good in white! : )

I know that this is the Church that contains all the truth. The truths I teach come from a loving Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ.  They have the power to make us into people that we could not naturally be on our own. 

Love you all,

Hermana Dodson

P.s. Transfers is next week! No idea what is going to happen...haha.