THANKSGIVING!! (11/24/14)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!!! I truly am just so grateful! For everything! Seriously, being on a mission has made me more grateful for everything! For my family, for the Gospel, for Jesus Christ, for my relationship with God, for friends, for a nice house, for food, for clothing, for being apart of a Heavenly Family, for my companion, for the mission president, for the people we meet everyday, for laughter, for trials, for the Atonement, for the Book of Mormon, for the plan of salvation, for this wonderful world in which we live, and for just BEING A MISSIONARY! And everything that encompasses that. I do want to Thank my parents for being the best Parents in the world. I am so blessed and so grateful to have a mom and dad that care so much for me! I am so grateful for everything that you have done for me growing up and for all that you will do for me, I just can't say thank you enough. I love you lots!

On Tuesday we had an amazing Zone conference! We learned about the "He is the Gift" initiative that the church is coming out with on Nov. 28th! We already saw the short video, which is amazing! This is seriously going to be so big! The church bought an advertisement bar on youtube and bought a huge corner in Times Square to show advertisements and the actual video! Please try this Christmas season to "Discover the Gift, Embrace the Gift and Share the Gift!"

On Wednesday Sister Bullard, the ZL, and I were in charge of another Zone meeting! It was even better than last week! We made a tree of life/iron rod walk through in the gym and had all the missionaries blindfolded. Then it ended in the chapel with soft music playing. We talked about how before our missions we went through trials and challenges to get on a mission, and now we are here. So WHY are we here? We talked about our purpose as missionaries and then at the end we ran in with the Title of Liberty that we made for our zone! it was a huge success and really got our zone motivated to work hard!

We had an amazing lesson with T* this week! It wasn't so much what we talked about but her prayer at the end of the lesson. She was so sincere and just thanked Heavenly Father for sending us to her and for all that the Gospel has blessed her with. She thanked Him for the peace that she now feels in her life and the comfort and guidance that the Book of Mormon brings to her! She started tearing up a little bit and so of course I did too and afterwards she just gave me the biggest hug. This is what the gospel is all about my friends, changing lives and bringing true happiness. She told us that her divorce is getting moved back to Feb, but she doesn't want to wait that long to be baptized so she moved her baptism up a week and is getting baptized onDec 6th!

We had a cool experience while trying to contact some referrals. Both of them weren't interested, so we decided to knock on the 2 neighbors houses on each side of the house. We met this older guy named R* who said he would be interested and told us to come back on Tuesday! The Lord really does lead us to people who are prepared!

We met with the B* family on Saturday and went over the baptism interview questions! We were really nervous that they were going to say that they don't believe in Joseph Smith! But when we got to that question they all said yes! Brother B* said he is taking a leap of faith but knows this is right for him and his family! They will be baptized on Dec 6th as well! And they need all the prayers we can give! We have been working with them for 6 months now! I have complete faith in the Lord that He will help them make it!

The week ended SO GOOD with CHURCH!!! WE Had so many investigators and less-actives come it was a miracle! The R* family, who we have been working with ever since I got to Maricopa, finally came to church! For Brother R*, that's the first time in 20 years! You can just tell the spirit is working within him and his family! We also had 3 other less active families come that haven't come in years! As well as T* and The K boys! The K boys had their baptism interview on Sunday and passed so they will be baptized this Friday!!! It is so exciting to see hard work pay off!

The Gospel is amazing and I'm so blessed to be on a mission! I will miss all of you during thanksgiving but I would not want to be anywhere else right now! Thanks again for all you do!

Sister Dewey

BEST ZONE EVER!!!

"Soccer with the Zone on P-day!!"

This week was amazing, that's all I can say. Seriously my testimony of this Gospel seems to grow everyday as I see it blessing the lives of others and as I realize how much it CAN and WILL bless the lives of others!

on a funny note: we went by this girl's house, S*, and she is kind of interested and we were talking to her for a little bit and then all of a sudden her Baptist grandma comes out of the room and starts preaching to us about living in Fear and how we need faith and she just went off for a solid 20 minutes. And then when we tried to pray at the end she kept interrupting and yelling "PRAISE JESUS". It was funny and totally unexpected.

On Tuesday we had Zone meeting where Sister B* and I, and the zone leaders did some training for the zone! It was so powerful as we really pumped up the zone about each companionship having a baptism this transfer! The way to achieve that goal is through referrals and member presents, we also got out 10 baptism suits and had each companionship envision who was going to be in suit! Everyone was so excited afterwards and I just know that we have the best zone ever! Our goal was to ask for 200 referrals every week as a zone and after 2 days we were already at 154! #wethebest #HeavenlyFatherisamazing

We had dinner with the B* family this week! They are doing good, we are trying to help them see the importance of reading the Book of Mormon!! I know without a doubt that no one can read the Book of Mormon and NOT feel anything. And I know that reading the Book of Mormon is the fastest way to gain a testimony of this church and the best way to prepare for baptism. So we are working with them on that.

On Thursday we went to MLC (mission leadership council) with the Zone leaders. We received some powerful training from the assistants about how we are literally in a battle right now and how we have to unhesistantly go to the rescue when there is a "MAN DOWN!" We also got chastised by President T*, but all-in-all the meeting changed my life. I am now more committed to my Savior Jesus Christ and to serving those around me.

I had a cool experience when we went to this part member family on Thursday. We were teaching about the gospel of Jesus Christ and talking about repentance, faith, sacrament and the holy ghost. We heard the story of her ex-husband how he was so faithful but because he wasn't truly converted he fell away. I just sat there looking at these kids (who looked bored to death and weren't even paying attention) and I thought to myself, I hope these kids realize how important the gospel really is and how it literally is a way of life. The spirit came to me so strong and just whispered that nothing else is ever more important in life than the gospel and our relationship with Heavenly Father. Let's just it was a powerful moment for me and I know the Church is true!

We had a cool experience with a pest control guy that came to spray our house because there was a scorpion in it. we started talking and at the beginning he was kind of offensice but by the end we gave him a Book of Mormon and committed him to read 3 Nephi chapter 11!

LAST BUT NOT LEAST, yesterday was the dedication of the Phoenix Arizona Temple!!!! it was one of the coolest feelings every! first, on Saturday we got to watch the cultural celebration where youth from my first area got to dance and sing for the prophet! Also-J*, my recent convert from Phoenix got to participate too! Then on Sunday we got a special recommend to go to the stake center (which is an extension of the temple) to watch the dedication. President Monson and President Uchtdorf were there and President Monson did the dedicatory prayer! The spirit was so strong and because President Monson was dressed in all white and the dedication took place in the celestial room of the temple, which is all white, He literally looked like he was glowing. He looked like an angel from God and he was speaking with such a strong spirit that I had to pinch myself to make sure it was real! I know without a doubt that we have a living prophet on the earth today and that he is the leader of this great church! Temples are amazing and I am so blessed to have seen the dedication of 2 temples this year in this great valley of the sun!

I love you all, thanks for the support! Have a great week!

Sister Dewey

Happy Halloween! (11/3/14)

Happy Late Halloween Everyone! This past week was really fun and full of changes! This week is the end of another transfer! thankfully Sister B and I will both be staying!

First off, we moved houses today! We moved into a couples home in our ward, the S*. Their home is super nice and we are excited to get to know them!

Also-BREAKING NEWS! the weather has finally changed! after so long of being hot! On Halloween it was 94 degrees and then once it hit November it literally changed overnight and we woke up and it was in the 70's! Sister Bullard and I were actually cold! Good things are coming my friend.

This week we have been working a lot with our recent convert K*, and teaching his non-member mother, M*! She is this super sweet and sassy black lady that could talk for hours and you would never get bored listening to her, I just love her! We found out that this whole time she thought we were nuns. hahah wouldn't be the first time someone has thought that of us.

We had our ward Trunk or Treat party on Tuesday and it was a huge success! We had so many investigators and less-actives there! And they all were fellowshipped and had fun and interacted with the members! And now we are helping a couple families return back to activity! You never know the impact that can have on someone.

We are still working with T*! It was so cool, we went over to teach the word of Wisdom and she had no problem with it! Then we started talking about when she wants to be baptized and she said after her divorce is final so that she can be baptized with her own name! She is really taking it seriously! So we set a date for December 13th! I'm so excited, it will be an early birthday present for me!

A part member family we are working with, less-active husband and non-member wife, went to the phoenix temple open house on Saturday and LOVED IT! They have a goal now to be sealed in the temple together as a family! and before we left, we took his cigarettes and lighter and threw them in the trash when we got home! not sure how happy he was with us, but in the eternal perspective, it's better that way :)

On Thursday we went on Exchanges with Hermana S. I love her, she is so sweet. She taught me some more Spanish, like greetings and small talk stuff. Also we had the coolest experience with skyping my friend A* from Home! So I didn't really know who she was, I know she went to Glencoe but I had never had a conversation with her. And I saw that she had liked one of my posts on facebook, so I messaged her asking what she liked about it. I came to find out that she has been less active for like 10 years and her grandparents are in the Evergreen ward. We started talking and I found out she is doing the BYU-I pathway program and is reading the Book of Mormon for the first time. I asked if we could Skype and we set up a time for Thursday. I felt the spirit so strong during that lesson as we talked and testified about the Book of Mormon. We talked about how the Holy Ghost changes us and makes us want to do better. By the end of the Lesson and after some teary eyed moments, she committed to go to church on sunday with her grandparents!

Halloween was fun, we got to help some less-actives make cookies and cake and get their costumes ready. Then we had to be home by 6 that night. So we pretty much spent the night packing for the move today. We had stake conference this weekend and got to hear from Elder Bradley Foster, Elder Christofferson and President Uchtdorf over a state-wide broadcast!

Lastly, on Sunday we took a trip out to the desert! We are working with a part-member family and the 2 boys, J and C are going to be baptized! They are so funny and get off topic really easily. So we are always looking for fun games to play while we teach. We also got to visit some other less-actives and see all their horses and their animals! I love it out here! and I love the work! I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Sister Dewey

"When we took away his cigarettes and lighter!"

C-R-A-Z-Y! (10-27-14)

This week was crazy! just like every week is I guess. But for our small town of Maricopa, it was crazy.

So to begin with, A* is doing great! This week we gave her a Book of Mormon and she said she already feels different when she reads it. Then we talked about the plan of Salvation and she said it just makes sense that God would give us agency and continuous choices and opportunities to choose Him. We also gave her a map to baptism which is a calendar that has all the things she needs to do to prepare for her baptism on November 8th!

S* and T* are doing great as well! On Wednesday we had scheduled to go to the Phoenix Temple open house with them! It's cool we get permission to go because it was way out of our mission boundaries! So we fasted that day so that S* and T* would feel the spirit there. She called us 1 hour before we were supposed to leave and told us they were sick and couldn't come... But we knew how much the temple can have an impact on them and we knew Satan was just trying to stop them from coming. So we knelt down right where we were and said a prayer that they would be able to come to the temple. 30 minutes later we got another call back and T* said they were feeling like they could come now! Miracles happen! And the miracle was that they indeed feel the spirit at the temple, I mean who wouldn't? And their favorite room was the baptism font, it was mine too, because it was so beautiful! Afterwards T* said that the baptisms for the dead is something to look forward to! YAY!

So something crazy... we almost got shot or stabbed! it was like 8:50 one night and we decided to go knocking on our neighbors doors because all our other plans fell through. This one house looked friendly because there was a minivan in the driveway. We knocked on the door 3 times and there was no answer. we were about to walk away when some lady comes to the door and yells at us through the door, WHAT DO YOU WANT?!?. it took us by surprise so we didn't respond right away. so she yelled it again, WHAT. DO. YOU. WANT.?!? I timidly said, we're the missionaries for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. and she yells back, MISSIONARIES? THIS LATE? I DON'T THINK SO! so I was like, okay... we will come back later then... she responds viciously, NO. DON'T EVERY COME  BACK. I HAVE A WEAPON AND I WILL CALL THE POLICE. we looked at eachother and were like, okay time to go... so we start walking away and we look back to see her peeking through the window. Sister Bullard got scared so she starting booking it towards our house. So the lady opens her door and yells at us IF YOU WANNA LAUGH, COME BACK TO MY FRONT DOOR!!!! I don't look back but I keep walking and whisper to Sister Bullard... Go ahead, shoot me... hahah let's just say it was crazy. She acts like it was midnight, it was only 8:50! at home that's when the party is just starting! But here in Maricopa, once it gets dark around 6, the whole town like shuts down and everyone goes inside...

During exchanges with Sister T*, we tried to street contact all the people we saw on one street.. we talked to like 6 people and each one of them rejected us, HARD CORE. we were like, okay, great. haha then we went to this less actives house where all her kids had lice but she invited us in to see her house. it was crazy, we thought for sure we would get lice, but thankfully Heavenly Father was watching out for us. Her living situation was so sad though, she has a 14yr old son that is on house arrest until he is 18! That's 4 years of not going anywhere except school! He can't even have interaction with his siblings... She was in a state of despair so we just told her About the Atonement and how it makes up the difference.

We had a miracle happen. We went over to this Less-Active lady's house to teach her. She was on the phone and said that she would call us when we could come over (pretty much she doesn't want us just stopping by). So before we left we decided to do some service for her by sweeping her driveway, apparently she saw and after her phone call came out and thanked us. We then started talking and she found out we didn't have a dinner that night, so she invited us to eat Tacos with her that night! so we learned how to make tacos and we got to share the plan of salvation with her and her grandson after dinner! Service truly does soften peoples heart!

The last Crazy thing we found out this week... The member we are living with, doesn't want missionaries to live there anymore. And she wants us out ASAP. So we have a week and a half before transfers. So if we don't find anywhere else to live in that time frame, then sister B and I will both be transferred and they will put elders in our area so they can live with the elders from the other ward! So this week is going to be fun trying to find a place to live, because we definitely do not want to be transferred! A* baptism is 3 days after transfers!

Well even though life is crazy as a missionary, I love it. It really is the best! And thank you for all the support you give me! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! I LOVE YOU!

Sister Dewey

"Learning how to make tacos!"