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.)

Last Week + This Week

We are combining two blog posts in one this week, just FYI!

June 18

Hola mi familia!!

Another great week here in Norwalk, CT!  I'm not going to lie, this week was a LONG one, but it was fantastic.  It definitely took me back to my first weeks as a missionary.  CRAZY.

As far as the work is going, we are kicking butt here.  We are working incredibly hard and having faith and just focusing on working with people to make covenants!

For Sister Vicino's first lesson ever we went and saw the Torres girls, and we had a ROCKIN lesson.  Jasmin said that after the baptism of the family (from a few weeks ago) she knew she wanted to be baptized, and Wendi told us that she was almost crying because she felt so different.  We are praying hard that they will be ready to be baptized at the end of the month! Wendi says she doesn't know if she has an answer yet, but she definitely does.  She just doesn't realize it yet. So hopefully with their parents' permission, in two weeks the Torres girls will be the newest members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!!!  I love those girls so much and can't wait for what blessings are going to come to them.

This week the elders passed us an investigator, Ana, who is 16-years-old.  We went over to her house to meet her and had an INCREDIBLE lesson.  She is one of the strongest people I have ever met.  She has been refined and prepared and endured a lot, and now is the time that she can accept the Restored Gospel and find everlasting peace and happiness.  We were bawling like babies when she told us her life story (at least Ana and I were... Haha.  WHAT DID THE MISSION DO TO ME??!!) She said that she has been asking that somebody would come by that she could talk to and express how she really feels and what has really been happening in her life.  She told us that she knew we were those people.  We testified to her that we were guided to her by a loving Heavenly Father.  The Spirit was outstandingly strong, and I know that she will accept the gospel SUUUPER soon.  She has a heart of gold and as the elders told us, "eats up the lessons."

Saturday was a super eventful day!! We started off the morning with Jorge's baptism!!! It was a really special experience and I am so grateful I could be part of it.  That family will be so blessed for the baptism of their son. I Love love love this family!! I was hoping that we would have a Lego cake to celebrate, but we just had pizza instead. I can deal with that ; )  Hermana Tirado also came back for the baptism and so we were all happy for that.  Later that night we had the ward Father's Day party, and somehow we got roped into doing a performance since the elders performed for Mother's Day.  We had planned to do a traditional Mexican dance with these SUUUUPER flowy skirts, but Tirado left and we had no idea how to do it at all.  We kind of made up our dance last minute, but the ward was laughing and it was a success.  I'll attach the video... Just remember that it was made last minute... so yeah. Hahaha. 

Love you all! The Church is true, and as we make and keep our covenants, we will be come closer to God.  No matter what sacrifice we have to make, we shouldn't worry about what will happen if we choose to follow God.  He knows us and knows our hearts, and everything will work out for the good.  Always, 100% of the time.

Love,

Hermana Dodson

June 25

Hola mi familia!

There is really not much time to write today... We had a crazy amazing pday at the temple. We are so blessed to be able to partake in and receive these blessings that come from The Lord through the temple. It especially was a blessing to see my sweet grandparents (and participate as they led the session), as well as Dorivee and her sweet sweet mother in the temple.  I may have even cried thinking of the beauty of eternal families….dang the crying!

We are working with many people on family history and it has been so much fun! There is a special spirit that comes as we help to redeem our ancestors. There is also a special spirit just as we research and learn more about those who have helped shaped our lives. Each person has a story and we can learn from them.

Love you all! 

The church is true,

Sister Dodson

New comp!

Hola mi familia!

One more cycle down, lots more to go! (Woohoo!)  This past cycle Sister Tirado and I must have done something right, since she was called as Sister Training Leader (STL) and I have been called to train again!  I am sol excited to train again!  Last time, with my first baby, I learned TONS and grew just as much.  It will be awesome to see where we end up this time : )

Sadie's New "Baby" companion: Hermana Vicino

My new baby, Sister Vicino, is AWESOME.  She is from Los Angeles and Arizona, is 22, graduated from ASU in English, and wants to get her masters in British Lit. (Sounds just like all my friends... weiiiird).  Anyway, here is the real kick in the pants, SHE IS A NATIVE SPANISH SPEAKER.  Her mom is from Honduras and her dad is from Uraguay!  Seriously, President has got to be trying to kick my Dominican accent in the pants or something.  But it's kind of engrained in me now, so yeah... Not going to happen.

Wendy, Blisleidy & Jasmine who we love!

This week we had the chance to work with a lot of families.  That has been the focus lately, and it has been incredible!  We had the chance to visit with the Martinez family, an active member family who were baptized a bit ago (the wife 3 years ago, and the husband 7).  They have a one little old chubster who is DANG cute.  A few weeks ago we were with them and asked about their conversion and so forth.  I asked if they had been to the temple, to which he replied that he had just barely gotten his endowment, and she had done baptisms once.  I asked if they had a goal to be sealed in the temple, and the conversation just died.  We decided to focus on the temple with them. So this week we went and talked about the family.  The Spirit was incredibly strong as we testified of being an eternal family and the blessings that come from loving and working with one another.  I was almost in tears testifying that my family is eternal.  I could not be more grateful for that powerful blessing.  No matter what happens in this life, I know that my family cannot be split up (as long as we live according to our covenants.)  Death, especially, has no weight when the family recognizes it's own eternal value.  After our lesson, I went to the bathroom and the husband left to put the baby to bed. When he came back, Sister Martinez looks at him and says, "Ya nos motivaron a irons al temple." (You have motivated us to go to the temple). I was almost in tears hearing this.  We are now working with them and with the Elders to get them to the temple!!!! What am amazing miracle!!

Sister Missionaries serving in the Stake having some fun.

We have also started to help Jorge's family with Family Home Evenings!! Mom, we have been using the FHE lessons you sent me, and they have been a hit! Next week we're playing Don't Eat Pete ; )  But the Spirit has been incredible at these FHEs.  We taught them about how to do them, and mentioned that to end a lesson, you finish with your testimony.  They interpreted this to mean that EVERYBODY ends with their testimony, and the effect has been so powerful! It is a treat for the kids to hear the testimonies of their parents, SO STRONG.  I love it.  Those testimonies are going to sink into the hearts of their children and change their lives.  I know it.

Tirado found this and said it was me... Hahahahaha.  It's so sad how true it is.

I love you all!!

Love,

Sister Dodson

City Adventures

Hola mi familia!!

This was another great week! I cannot believe that it is June already!  We finished off the end of the month really great and are pumped for June!  Transfers are next week, so we will find out if Tirado and I can go one more together, or if they split us up. Everything is kind of up in the air right now... Haha.

Last Friday we had Elder Stephen E. Snow and his wife come visit the mission!  They were absolutely fantastic and I learned a lot about continuing with our high goals of faith and excellence and especially about how to become a better teacher.  We all had to prepare a talk to give about faith and then two elders and two sisters were chosen to speak.  After they each spoke we had to critique them! That was a little unexpected and definitely a little nerve-wracking, wondering if we'd be picked and then have to endure the critiques of our peers.   Luckily all my years in art have made me love a good critique, so I wasn't too nervous if I was chosen to speak (which I wasn't).  But either way, I learned a ton more techniques in how to teach well, such as keeping eye contact, keep exactly in the time limit you are given (they timed each of the talks to make sure they were exactly 5 minutes!!), sharing stories, and especially including music.  It was an awesome meeting.

On the more hilarious/awkward side of my mission life, this week in the good old Spanish ward the members taught me all of the following words: sunburn, you got fried, sunscreen, and aloe lotion.  Needless to say, instead of being made fun of for speaking like a Dominican this week, I was made fun of for being a gringa.  Hahahaha. Thursday was the most beautiful day yet, so Tirado and I decided to do weekly planning outside.  Mom, you should be so proud--I put my 70 spf sunscreen on my face! But that was about it... The worst part about the burn was the fact that Friday, the next day, was the mission conference with Elder Snow.  Basically I met a general authority with arms and legs about as red as a fire truck... Haha.

ZONE MOVIE PARTY!  After our movie party! Yeah, I love when I get to wear my stretchy pants :) 

Yesterday, Tirado and I were out tracting and looking for people to teach.  All of our appointments fell through, so we decided to spend the time outside since it was a lovely day.  We decided to check up and see if Juana was home, so we walked over to her house.  Her van was not in the parking lot, so we decided to go somewhere else.  On the way out the parking lot, we decided to stop and talk to this man sitting in his truck.  As we approached him he says, "I know where you're from!"  We reply, "Oh you do?? Where are we from?"  And then he says, "You're los Santos de los Ultimos Dias!"  We ended up having an awesome lesson with this man Carlos who told us he had been baptized in Guatemala 26 years ago, when he was a kid.  Then when he moved here he and his three brothers didn't know if there was a church or anything, and they just kind of forgot.  He said he had been to other churches if people invite him, but it never felt the same as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He even remembered the names of the missionaries who baptized him!  We promptly told him where the church was, gave him a Book of Mormon, and are now working with him to get back on the path!! SO CRAZY!! WE FOUND A LESS ACTIVE STREET CONTACTING!  The Lord works in mysterious ways… That is for sure...

Love you tons!! Have an amazing week!

Love,

Sister Dodson