Chapulines

Hola mi familia!

I seriously don't think I have ever had a bad week on my whole mission.  I am so blessed! I love it here! This week we had a lot of fun and saw good progress, so it was definitely a success.

On Sunday, two of our investigators, Daniel and Maria, showed up to church! It was the miracle of the century. We have been teaching them seriously for a little over a month now, and they are incredible. They sell amazing Mexican food out of the back of their house, and do fairly well. Daniel is about 20 years younger than Maria, he is about 40 and she is about 60, but they are a hilarious married couple. Love has no age boundaries. Haha. Anyways, their progression is hilarious. Throughout every lesson, they go back and forth multiple times between "oh yeah, we need to step it up and do this and this," and “we're already doing so good though! We’re good!"  The Spirit is strong every time, and they feel the Holy Ghost pushing them to do more.  By the end of our last lesson, they decided they needed to come to church…..but somehow made the conclusion they needed to go to their old Catholic Church???  Not sure how they got that... Haha. But anyway, on Sunday we had a HUGE surprise when they walked into the chapel!  They haven't had a Sunday off working in years and years; so it was a BIG deal for them to take time to come to church. The branch went crazy and really welcomed them. They loved it and are going to come again next week! Woohoo!

On Monday, we went to dinner at Mimis and Rocio's house with their brother, Ernesto! Last week Ernesto told the elders that we should all come over and try chapulines. We had no idea what it was, but you know I'm always up to try new foods.  At their house they hand us plates with eggs and beans, and tortillas, and then tell us to prepare ourselves for the chapulines, and to promise them that we would eat them... Mimis then brings out the chapulines.... Translation: GRASSHOPPERS.  So we ate grasshopper tacos for dinner!  Mmm… Grasshoppers. They were crunchy and had a little bit of a sweet/bitter after-taste, but really were pretty tasty.  

   Mmmm. Grasshopper tacos for dinner! Sorry for the bad lighting… 

However, I was terrified that I had little grasshopper legs sticking out of my teeth the rest of the night... Hahahaha.

The work here is incredible, and the people are even more amazing.

Love you all,

Sister Dodson

Car-less and Loving It

Hola mi familia!!

This was a week of crazy adventures! Mostly just yesterday and today consisted of really crazy adventures, but still. It has been an awesome week with an awesome companion.

On Monday the whole mission got banned from using their cars Tuesday and Wednesday because we have had 8 car accidents in the last 3 weeks... Uh.... (Mom, it wasn't me!) Even on your mission you can get in trouble and then your dad comes and takes away your privileges. Haha. So yesterday was definitely CRAZY! We live in Yonkers, about 10 miles from our area, and most our members don't have cars, and almost all of them work, so we ended up taking metro north to get to White Plains! We walked probably at least 6-7 miles yesterday.  The good news is that both Sister Jensen and I are city girls, so we LOVED it!  We got to talk to more people, get more exercise, and just had a lot of success! God blessed us with a dinner and a lunch appointment, Popsicles and tons of bottled water from investigators and members, and even better, the branch president's wife was a Godsend and took us home. Today is a little crazier since it is P-day and the closest grocery store is about two miles away, but it's all good! We are definitely sore, but also it's P-day, so we took a nice long nap this morning : )

A gross Cockroach in our apartment!!

This week we finally got to get in with a new investigator that was found two weeks ago, and she is LEGIT!! She was found by the marvelous Sisters Wankier and Sorensen. They went home yesterday along with 13 other missionaries who went home early in order to get back into school. Basically they had no area and were our zone monkeys for 2 weeks, helping us find people throughout Westchester County! They are incredible! I am definitely going to miss those girls : )

Anyway, two weeks ago they found Francis, a 46-year-old mom from Peru. SHE IS INCREDIBLE! Our first lesson with her, she broke down and told us how she is living in sin and wants to make things right with God. She is living with her baby-daddy, who is 20 years younger than her. She is just soaking up the gospel! We invited her to be baptized, which she agreed to if she is prepared enough, and wants to meet with us practically every day!!! The only down side to this story is that she is moving in two weeks to Massachusetts…  : ( 

Either way, we are going to keep progressing her towards baptism and then hand her off all ready and dressed in white to the Boston missionaries! I LOVE HER!

A member gave us Popsicles that matched our outfits!

Funny story from the week!

Ever since I got here, all our members not from the DR have been calling me the Dominicana, and keep telling me how Dominican I speak. Yesterday we had lunch at a Dominican family's house, and the wife told me I spoke like a Brasilian!!  Hahaha. I love people.

The work is incredible here in White Plains. The people are so ready and listen to the Spirit so well. They know God loves them and have desires to change and do what He wants them to do.

Love you all,

Sister Dodson

Biking in Central Park

Hola mi familia!

This has been an awesome start to an incredible cycle! It really is such a blessing to be with Sister Jensen! God knows what He is doing. Haha. We have had so much fun and laughed a ton about our moms freaking out about us being companions.

I am in LOVE with this area! It feels like the Bronx but a little less sketchy. I think I am bound to serve in the ghetto my whole mission, so it is a good thing I love it. Haha. We have a tiny branch- last week there were about 40 members who came. Our area is huge and there is tons of potential. Last week we found 4 new investigators! My goal is to make this branch a ward ;)

We have a couple really promising investigators and we also work with a lot of Inactives. One of my FAVORITE people we teach is an investigator named Marielos. She is the biggest sweetheart ever. She has two little boys who are crazy! Diego is 5 and Anthony is 7. Diego's favorite song is the Happy song ("cause I'm happy, clap along") and he constantly has it on repeat. Marielos is incredible and totally ready for baptism. She knows the Church is true and honestly would be baptized tomorrow, but she is not married to the father of her kids, even though they have been together for about 10 years. He is totally against marriage, and so we just keep praying and working so that a miracle will happen!

This not being married thing is actually a common problem for most everybody here- investigators and less actives. I am so excited to get teaching here and I pray that the Spirit will work through me and Sister Jensen to help others understand the sanctity and blessing that marriage is. We had a lot of miracles this past week where people told us they were ready to change and come back to church, or change and progress. Through the grace of God we figured out a lot of people's needs and now are just ready to work away!!

Here is something mom will like- we have this incredible less active who works at a French bakery! Sometimes it's easier to just stop by and talk to her there, and sometimes she gives us free baked goods :) mmmm. Baked goods.  Her sister is super active and is one of my favorite members here.  She is only 20 years old, but has an incredible testimony of the gospel and LOVES everybody. You can feel it when you talk to her. I love this place!

Funny story- my Dominican accent was fading up in Connecticut because there are no Dominicans, and because Sister Vicino's accent was so strong it made mine go away :( BUT here in White Plains there are TONS of Dominicans (and Mexicans! We get Mexican food almost every day. Mmm. Mexican food.) The first time we talked to a Dominican it all came right back and all the sudden I was speaking like I had just come from Santo Domingo. Hahaha. Needless to say, my talk on sacrament meeting was in fluent Dominican... Hahaha. I definitely get sass from the members...

I know this Church is true and I feel so blessed to be where I am doing what I am doing! I feel the Spirit testify to me everyday of the security and inspiration of my calling.

Love you all!

Sister Dodson

P.s. Today we are fulfilling one of my life long dreams: WE'RE GOING BIKING IN CENTRAL PARKKKKKK!!! I'm freaking out.

A Sisters Selfie!  Hermana Dodson, Hermana Jensen, Hermana Wankier, Hermana Sorensen

Hermana Jensen in Central Park!

I'm loving this cycle with Hermana Jensen!  What a treat to be comp's with a dear friend from home!

Transfer to Scarsdale, NY!

Hola mi familia!!

This has been a super exciting and thrilling week! I have officially been transferred to Scarsdale, NY!  Back to New York!  BOOYA.  I have been sent to the area close to President, so that either means I am one of his favorites or he needs to keep a close eye on me... Haha.  But here is the real kick in the pants about this transfer:  MY COMPANION IS SISTER SYD JENSEN!!!!  I am so excited to be with Hermana Jensen! It is so fantastic to have been trek sisters (5 years ago?? Holy cow that was fast...), to companion sisters! (Real cheesy line there, I know.  So sue me.)  It is definitley going to be a fun cycle as I kill her.  Haha. (The new missionaries are called "babies" and the missionaries going home are "dying".  Bro. & Sis. Jensen in our home stake will welcome Hermana Jensen home in September.)

Back in Norwalk...

Last Saturday we had the baptism of Christina and Adrian!  It was an incredible experience for all of us to be able to share with them.  I felt the Spirit so strongly as Christina, after investigating for a year and a half entered into the waters of baptism.  The baptism was super tiny (10 missionaries plus the ward mission leader, her husband, brother, mom, and kids) but incredible.  It was very tight knit and you could feel the love that we all had for her.  She was so ready and I feel blessed to be a part of it.  Her mom, Sylvia was baptized in February and we are now working on getting the two of them to the temple as soon as possible!  Adrian recently turned 8, so that was exciting that he could also be baptized.  The best part of this story was after the baptism!  On Tuesday we went over to say goodbyes and teach a lesson.  Christina was a completely changed person.  She was so patient and loving and spoke to her sons in such a different loving way.  It really almost made me cry to see.  Families who really understand their potential to be eternal, and especially when accompanied by the Holy Ghost, have the ability to have a successful, happy life in the home together.  I LOVE IT.

From the baptism last week before she got transferred

Also on Tuesday we were leaving Wendi and Jasmin's house and saw a man taking out his garbage.  We decided to talk to him and see how he was doing.  I asked him if it was garbage day... Can you say awkward beginning line?? Haha.  Anyway, we chatted about the Church and Christ and gave Elvin our card.  He then asked me where I was from.  I told him Utah.  He asked me if I knew somebody he knew there.  Nope.  Apparently this person he knew was a missionary in Guatemala where Elvin met him!!  We asked if he had been to the Church or taken the lessons and he said yes!  Sister Vicino started talking to him a little about the Church and then I felt really impressed that we should ask him if he has been baptized.  I asked, and to our surprise he said YES!  We had just found another mysteriously missing less-active!! BOOYA for the Spirit.  I love it.

It was really hard to leave Stamford but I am so grateful for all the work and everything that happened there.  It was incredible and I truly love those people.  They changed my life and taught me how to be a dedicated member of the Church.

Love you all,

Sister Dodson

A Baptism!

Hola mi familia!!

It's weird that another week has gone by! And even stranger that I hit 11 months on Sunday... I remember writing Sarah and her telling me she had been out 11 months and thinking that she was super old. It's weird that that is me now... Ha. And now she is at 14 months! Same with Madi. Time flies!

This week was a little crazy with interviews with president and such, but it was a good one. On Sunday we went to a baptism for the English New Canaan ward.  New Canaan is RICH territory, and the ward is full of very accomplished people. This was the first missionary baptism in two years!  Almost the whole ward showed up. We went to support our Zone Leaders who taught Greg, the muchacho that was baptized. It was a very spiritual experience. It was reverencing to see the support that was given to Greg as he began his new life. It was a reminder to me of the strength that comes from the ward as a family unit. We are all put in certain wards and certain ward boundaries for a reason, and The Lord needs all of our talents and skills to bring forth His work in whatever specific area we may be in. Also new members need support by us! What a blessing it is to help somebody continue on their path.

We also visited with Ana (16-year-old) again this week! She is really really dry. As in she is a very dry Mormon.  She was taught the Restoration about two months ago by the elders and so we wanted to review it with her. We started out asking her what a prophet was, to which she replied and told us that Joseph Smith was a prophet called of God. She is so ready. We are hoping for a baptism at the beginning of August!!

This week we also met Veronica. She called us randomly after seeing a flier for English classes in the library and asked us for help with
her English. Upon meeting her, we found out that she is Argentinian, has lived the past 20 years in Rome, and is on summer vacation here with her Italian husband and three kids. She has studied English but needs someone to practice it with and help her Italian-speaking husband and children to learn it. She is also a sociology professor at the University of Rome. And when she was in high school, she was assigned to do a research paper on another religion. She just so happened to be assigned to research the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! The best part of this story is that Hermana Vicino studied Italian and knows quote a bit! It is definitely evidence that God puts us in certain places at certain times. They have two months left in their summer vacation, so we are praying that something happens with them in this short time period! If not, we will definitely have an amazing family prepared for missionaries in Rome.  :)

God lives and really has a purpose for every situation we are in. If we pray and focus on Him, His purposes will become apparent and we will be able to reach our full potential.

Love you all,
Hermana Dodson

P.s. This Saturday is Christina and her son Adrian's baptism! (We had hoped Christina would be baptized in May, but she wanted to wait for her son who just turned 8 : )  

P.p.s.  YOU GUYS!

Madi just got transferred to Monroe, Louisiana. YOU KNOW WHERE THAT IS??!! It is a short drive away from West Monroe, THE HOME OF DUCK DYNASTY!!!!! That lucky bum. Next time you watch duck dynasty, just picture Madi there... Hahahahahahaha. She told me she is gonna go hit up
the store. And I told her she gotta go baptize that family. They're basically already as Christian as you can get. BOOYA.  (Sadie obviously slipped into hick English here….)

A few days later they experienced the effects of a hurricane.

"It POURED rain!! We got so soaked. Thank you hurricane Andrew.. Haha.

We were so wet we had to change before we could do nightly planning,

but we are supposed to be in our proselytize clothes for planning….. Sooo this is what happened. 

Muumuu with a belt. Mom, I can pull that off, right!?? Haha

Another Week in NYC

Hola mi familia!!

This was another awesome week!  It started out fantastic last Wednesday with the Yankees losing, and has just been a lot of fun since then.

Sadie reassured her Dad of her allegiance to The Reds…."I really do hate the Yankees!"

We have been focusing A TON with members and less actives in family history work, and on Thursday we had a really special experience with Jorge's (Lego kid, recently baptized) family. His parents were baptized around 10 years ago but they haven't been really active.  Martha, Jorge's mom, had her father die when she about 3-years-old. She has heard that before he died he had attended an LDS church a couple times in Ecuador, but she didn't know much more. We decided to look him up on familysearch.org. He immediately popped right up, and to our surprise, we find that all his temple ordinances have been done, except for sealing to parents!! With more investigation, we found out that her dad had actually been baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ONE month before he passed away. 

Martha's uncle had finished the temple work, since he is a member as well (Martha doesn't have much contact with him). The spirit of Elijah just filled the room. It was so incredible to see her excitement in finding out that her father was a member of the Church!! After that, Marta's older brother walked in and told us that he remembered the baptism of their father because he was there. It was crazy!!!! I definitely believe that Martha's father had an impact on her conversion 10 years ago, even though he was on the other side of the veil. We are blessed with ancestors who know the truth and who are doing all they can to make sure that we can return to live with them.

Thank you for your prayers in helping us to find people to teach!! We have been praying as well and were blessed with a really neat miracle on Sunday. We have been focusing on street contacting, and even though it scares the heck out of sister Vicino, she is doing an awesome job, and we are being blessed for it. On Sunday we were sitting in ward council when we received a call from an unknown number. We rushed out to answer it and on the line was a woman named Angelina, asking us where the church was located. Turns out Angelina was baptized when she was 12-years-old, has been inactive for years and years! Her son just moved here from Mexico and together they want to start going back to church!!!  We were kind of freaking out!! They didn't make it this week, but we are continuing to contact them. It's crazy how God blesses us with new people to teach who are ready to hear the message of the restored gospel, whether they've already heard it once or not. It's awesome!!!

On the more hilarious side, yesterday we found a 30-ish year old man from Morocco.  We started talking to him about God and he started asking questions about what we do as missionaries. We explain how we leave everything behind to serve The Lord and do our thing out here. He asks if we left boyfriends behind too. Sister Vicino says no, and then he turns to me and says, "And what about you Sister Dodson?" I say no, and then in the thickest Middle eastern accent I have ever heard he says, "You look for one? You look for me?" Oh man I was dying! Hahahaha.  I let him down pretty easy, but definitely we will be sending some elders over to his house to teach him. What's funny is that chances are, God lead us him and we probably really were looking for him.... Just not in that way... Haha.

Love you all! The Church is true and we are so blessed to live in a country with religious freedoms where we can exercise our God-given agency.

Love,
Hermana Dodson

6/21-6/26

Hola mi familia!

We have had kind of a crazy week! I think I start all my emails home with that phrase, but only because it is true. Haha. There is nothing in the world like mission life.

Last week, Hermana Dodson had the privilege of attending the Temple with Dorivee (who she helped re-activate in the Bronx) and Dorivee's mom.  The Temple workers were her Grandma & Grandpa!  Afterward, they all enjoyed dinner at their apartment.

We are still working with a ton of people, and are finding even more! We went and did a less active lookup, and after no success did a little tracting and street contacting. As we were walking to the car, we stopped and talked to a family getting in their car. There we met Jose. You could see such a light in his eyes, like he was truly needing to hear our message. We got his information and are working on setting a time to meet with him again. After we got in the car, I turned to Sister Vicino and declared that he will be baptized and that he looks pretty good in white. She just looked at me like as I was crazy. Haha. But really, it is incredible to feel God's love for others, and when you find the ones that He has been preparing for you, it is a really special feeling. You can recognize them as the Spirit testifies that you have been sent to them. I'm excited to teach Jose and his family!!

Hermana Dodson and Vincino

*Missionary tip: ALWAYS use the World Cup as a street contacting technique. *example: (as translated into English)

"Hey! Do you guys happen to know the scores from today's games?"

"Of course! How do you know Spanish?"

"I'm a missionary for my church!"

And then boom, they're the newest members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!

We've caught a few bumps with Wendi, Jasmin, and Sandra, but are working hard to overcome them and help them really understand the truth of the Restoration of the fullness of the truth.

An AMAZING miracle this week came in the form of Ana. She is our 16-year-old fabulous investigator who has been through so much and has been so prepared by God. She was baptized back in Honduras in another church, and when we first met her, she made sure that that point was clear--she had already been baptized. This Sunday she came to church for the first time! It just so happened that the topic in Gospel Principles class was baptism, and especially baptism by proper authority. We were not able to attend, but she told us that in class she asked if she needed to be rebaptized by someone with the authority from God (!!!).  I know the Spirit touched her heart, and she has now accepted baptism! We are thrilled to see this AMAZING young woman come unto Christ. Her life in general has been full of heartache and hard times, and she is so ready for the message of the Restored Gospel and to feel the love of God more fully in her life. I love her so much.

Jasmin wants to be like Hermana Dodson when she "grows a foot or two"

I had a pretty good spanish slip up this week...  On Sunday we went to dinner with one of my favorite members, Isabel. She lives here with her son, Angel, who is 7.  She is super cute. She said something at dinner about her oldest son, and I was super confused since I didn't know she had other kids. I asked her "Cuantos hijos tine?" (How many kids do you have?) She answered 5. In my shocked state I replied "Usted tiene 5 ojos??!!?" Translation: You have 5 eyes??!!? We were rolling laughing. It was so good.

Love you all. I know the church is true and that God loves us and knows us each personally.

Love,

Hermana Dodson

P.s. YANKEES GAME TODAY!!!!!! I am FREAAAAAKIN OUT!

P.p.s. Don't worry mom, I got loads of sunscreen. And a hat. Haha.

Mission P-Day at the Yankees Game! (About 250 Elders & Sisters enjoying America's Favorite Pastime.)