So much to do so little time

I think the subject of the email pretty much sums up my week. This week has been a little more stressful than others because of transfers and getting a new companion to show around the area and get to know. My new companion is Sister Lenogon from the Philippines and she's the best! We are getting better at communicating but it's rough sometimes because all she wants to do is just talk to me in Tagalog and have me understand because after all day speaking in English she gets headaches and I can't imagine how hard that is having to translate everything and not understanding people in lessons. We had a lot of people cancel on us this week which was a bummer but it gave us more time to plan and set goals for the transfer which was nice. I really want to help the area grow so much in these next 5 weeks so I'm hoping we can do that as we work our hardest. It's already getting cold here and I want to cry because it's not even October yet what the heck vernal!! I'm breaking out my tights boots and coats knowing that it's only going to get colder and darker earlier which makes finding houses at night miserable but I'm learning. On Thursday me and my companion team taught an investigator with our District leader and his companion and it was the coolest thing ever. This woman has had bad experiences in the past with elders and since she lives in their area the AP's asked us to go over and help teach so that she feels more comfortable and safe since it's not just her and the elders. We spent a lot of the time talking about her faith and why she wants to be baptized and it was just so cool to see how prepared she was. I really felt the spirit in her house testifying to her of the truth of our message and helping her feel comfortable with the elders. At the end of the lesson she said "I guess you were right sister Dunkley these guys aren't so bad!" It made me laugh so hard because ever since I met her I've been trying to talk up the elders to her so she would be excited to meet them and it worked! Miracles happen people. I honestly say that like 5 times a day haha.  Saturday night was heaven sent for me I had been stressing and wet from all the rain and just so done with the day when I remembered we had dinner and the women's general session of conference! Best thing of my life. It was exactly what I needed to help me relax and regroup from a hard day/week. I learned so much about being a woman of faith and gaining a "bedrock understanding of the doctrine of Jesus Christ". Another thing I read this week that I loved was 

"Conversion is an offering of self, of love, and of loyalty we give to God in gratitude for the gift of testimony.

A testimony is spiritual knowledge of truth obtained by the power of the Holy Ghost. Continuing conversion is constant devotion to the revealed truth we have received--with a heart that is willing and for righteous reasons. Knowing that the gospel is true is the essence of a testimony. Consistently being true to the gospel is the essence of conversion. We should know the gospel is true and be true to the gospel."

Elder Bednar 'Converted unto the Lord' Oct. 2012

I hope you are all doing well and have a great week! The church is true and I'm so grateful for the blessing it is to be the Lord missionary here in Vernal even though I might freeze to death pretty soon haha. 

Love From Vernal, 

Sister Dunkley

Vernal

This week was pretty awesome! For starters we had exchanges with the
sister training leaders again and it was the best I loved it. I was
here in Vernal with Sister Horne who's from Napa Valley CA so it was
fun to spend the day with her! Also I'm not sure if I mentioned it but
the other sister training leader is from Glendora! Sister Gold I think
she's in the Glendora 5th ward but it's the ward with Bishop Whitworth.
She's awesome and I love her too. We also got to go to the temple on
Friday!! It was amazing and just what I needed. The Vernal temple is
beautiful! Super small but so cool. I got some funny looks cause
without my name tag I look like I'm 16 so people were really confused
when I wasn't going to do baptisms with all the other high school kids
haha. We had some great lessons this week and almost all of our
investigators made it to church which is huge! Only one didn't make it
and it was because he was with his mom for the weekend but he would've
went if he was here so I was still super excited. We got to go to a
baptism that one of the elders in our district was having and it was
way fun the kid was hilarious it was a good time. Other than that it
was a pretty regular week! I had a cool experience Friday evening we
were driving around trying to find something to do before our last
lesson and all of the sudden we were driving by a less active families
house and I yell at sister brown to stop and pull over cause I felt
like we needed to visit them. Long story short two older ladies who
are sisters live there together with one of their daughters and her
husband and as we are talking one of the ladies sons and his family
shows up (less active wife isn't a member and kids are all over 8
haven't been baptized) and we start teaching a lesson and it's so
good! The kids loved it and everyone was super attentive. We set up a
return appointment at the end of the lesson and the son asks if they
are invited and were like oh yah!! It was such a miracle because he's
really been against the church for a while but is really opening up to
us. They don't live in our area so we have to get them comfortable
with the elders there but it still was a really cool thing to happen.
Also transfer calls came this morning and I'm taking over the area
with a new follow up trainer and my companion is becoming my sister
training leader in Roosevelt!! I don't find out who my new companion
is until tomorrow which is so nerve racking but I'm really excited I
can stay and see how the area improves with all of our progressing
investigators. I hope everyone is doing well and has a great week!

Love From Vernal,
Sister Dunkley

Miracle's

This weeks email is going to be a bit of a longer one so I apologize
for that haha. This weeks miracle would be probably during the hardest
day of the week Thursday. Despite all that was thrown my way that
normally I would be incapable of handling I felt the hand of the Lord
in helping me through the day and opening up doors that made it
possible for me and my companion to do what we needed to do to receive
comfort and  time to just deal with life. I really felt the spirit
comforting me and telling me it'll all work out and not to worry and
it was so strong it was amazing. With our 6 scheduled appointments for
the day (including dinner) only one kept their appointment and it was
truly divine intervention from Heavenly Father. That lesson was what I
needed to help comfort me and strengthen my testimony of why I am
serving a mission and I was so grateful for that. I also received all
of my packages that have come in the past couple of weeks on Thursday
from the Zone Leaders and it was literally like Christmas for me and
just what I needed. It just strengthened my testimony in the tender
mercies that we can receive as we do what we are asked and have hearts
softened to see them as they come to us. I have a strong testimony of
the power of the priesthood and the blessing it is in my life and how
grateful I am to have zone leaders who are worthy and willing to give
blessings and help the sisters out when we need it. Priesthood
blessings are available to all who need them and I am so grateful for
that because we can truly receive divine comfort through them.

Today I feel it's important for me to bear my testimony of the plan of
salvation and the reality of temple covenants and promises. Heavenly
Father loves us all so much that He gave us a road map to make it back
to His presence along with our families. This plan of redemption
allows us to know true joy among the trials and sorrows that come with
life as we look to Heavenly Father in all we do and continue to access
the Atonement through faith, repentance, partaking of the sacrament
each week to renew our baptismal covenants, listening to the promoting
of the Holy Ghost and feeling His comfort and then enduring to the end
or repeating these things continually. I have a firm testimony that as
we do these things and live worthy of the covenants we make in the
temple we will live with our families forever. The temple sealing is
real, there's just no way around it. Because of this truth the day
will come when our joy will overpower any sadness and sorrow we felt
in this life. Christs atonement makes it possible for us to have a
fullness of joy despite the hardships of life. He has felt and
suffered for it all so that we can be strengthened and eventually
overcome all sorrows through Him and His infinite atonement. This
knowledge that I have gained as I've been on my mission carries me
through all the things that have been thrown at me this past week and
helps me have hope and will enable me to more powerfully bear
testimony of the gospel truths to those I encounter on my mission and
I am so grateful for that.

I want all of you to know this for yourself, to truly pray for comfort
and peace and then feel it come into your life because it will. We
received the Holy Ghost after baptism for a reason so find out what
that means for you. Never loose sight our our eternal identity as sons
and daughters of a loving Heavenly Father who will always be there.
Jesus Christ came down to earth and atoned for our sins and felt all
our of individual pains, sicknesses, heartbreaks, everything. Nothing
we feel hasn't already been felt by our savior which means he can heal
us and comfort us through the power of the Holy Ghost that we all
have.

Funny story of the week to lighten up the mood, we went to a ward
party Friday night and we were shaking everyone's hands and meeting
people and this little kid taps my leg and says "hey you can be a
missionary when you're small now?!" All shocked and confused we busted
up laughing so hard his parents felt so bad but I needed that comic
relief more than anything with the week I've had it was truly heaven
sent! Hope that made y'all laugh! Lol.

I love all of you so much and hope that you can all know of these
things as surely as I do. Thank you for all of the love support and
prayers I truly feel and rely on them. Tell someone you love them
today and give them a big hug for me and think of someone who could
benefit from the knowledge of the restored church that we all are
blessed with and make a goal to share it with them. I am praying for
all of you daily and hope you all have a good week!



Love from Vernal,
Sister Dunkley