Google Hangouts! Love them!!!

So this week we were able to talk with James via Google Hangouts.  I've put some of his comments below:

I am doing well, this past week we finally starting to get the area going again and really using the members for help when we can't do something. The members are so important, if you don't have the member support, the new investigators won't stay or feel excluded.  We've been working with a man named Gerald, and HE CAME TO CHURCH YESTERDAY!! He had a great time and the member support was great and was really cool to see the help they gave him!! Gerald is actually living with some members right now and is friends with their less active son who we are trying to re activate!! So great support there!!

Yea so this week while we were tracting, we has several different people approach us and said they were either A. looking for a church, or B. were former investigators, and had been reading the Book of Mormon at night, which was really cool.

Finally, there have been so many miracles and it is finally turning around. My study this week has been on Gifts of  the Spirit and studying my own gifts. It is literally the coolest thing, to apply what I have been learning. Heavenly father wants to give them to us, we just need to search and ask for them!!

Love you all,

Elder James Dunyon

Back on the Island!!!!

Yes so as many of you have already heard, I am back on the island and working again this week!! Thank you for all your many prayers and fasting for me, I really did feel it and that strengthens my testimony of the power of prayer and fasting.

After Zone conference we were able to come back to the island and start working again after about two weeks, which is really rough. Coming back I was able to jump right back into the work, with taking breaks here and there to rest up, because my body was still really tired. Health wise, completely healthy and nothing really going on and getting my strength back. Working out everyday again is fun to get back into as well.

This week we were able to visit some of our progressing investigators and they have been doing well. There is one guy, Gerald who has one eye, who is doing amazing. He has amazing questions about our lessons and it is going well. We just need to get him to church. That is the hard part of the island, it is hard for anyone to come to church so we are working with that.

This week getting back into the work, we had some experiences with meeting new people and re-opening some old areas, but I still feel like I am not succeeding. I feel I drag down this area with how often I get sick. So, then one morning during prayer, I had the thought, just keep doing your best and you are doing what you need to be doing. That is my thought to all of you. As you are going through hard times, if you truly are trying your hardest and doing your best, that is all the Lord asks of you. If you do your best, He will take care of the rest. This is still hard for me to fully use because I want to do more, but that ties in patience. Be patient and I know it will happen.

Thank you for all your support and love!!! I will be very careful not to get dengue again!!!!

Love
Elder James Dunyon

The Dengue

I am out of the hospital now, just have a check up on Thursday before we head back to the island. But two weeks of sitting in hospital beds, not working and having a fever of 104, is really quite a blast let me tell ya! Honestly not a whole lot to report other than my companion and I get along really well and bonded a lot over our time of sitting doing nothing in hospitals.

The fun part/story I guess is that in the hospitals, there were these kids that needed IVs, and they would scream there heads off, like they were about to die, until the IV went into their hand, then they would stop. This one kid went on for about 30 min, and it sounded like they were slicing him open, but it was just an IV. I did not sleep that whole night lets say that.

Spiritual thought for the week:

First off, thank you so much for the prayers and fasting, I know they helped me a ton!! That strengthens my testimony of prayer and fasting. Heavenly Father wants to hear from us but we need to take the first action and talk to him. He is literally our Father and he wants to talk to us, so give him the opportunity to!!

Thank you for all you help and prayers!!!

Love you all
Elder James Dunyon

Dengue Fever

This update is from me (James father).

As many of you may know, James has had a very rough week.  On Saturday (2/2/19), we received a phone call from James' mission President's wife, Sister Davies.  She informed us that James was being taken to the "hospital" due to contracting Dengue Fever.

For those of you who don't know what that is (me included)...basically it is a virus transmitted by the bite of a mosquito.  Symptoms, which usually begin four to six days after infection and last for up to 10 days, may include:

Sudden, high fever
Severe headaches
Pain behind the eyes
Severe joint and muscle pain
Fatigue
Nausea
Vomiting
Skin rash, which appears two to five days after the onset of fever
Mild bleeding (such a nose bleed, bleeding gums, or easy bruising)

He had most of the above at one time or another throughout the week..... 😣

Since this is a virus, there is not much they can do for him other than pain killers, rest and IV's.  His fever got up to 104 and his blood platelets got down to 32 (which is close to needing a transfusion).  He was in the "hospital", which was really a clinic on the island, for a couple days before transferring to a real hospital on the main land.  The fever finally broke on Wednesday and blood platelets started coming back up.  As of yesterday (2/9), he was up to 110 for his platelets and they were waiting for one more test before releasing him.  He is staying near the Mission President and going back for a follow up, this coming Thursday, and will hopefully head back to Marinduque (the island) on this coming Friday.

Many of you have fasted and prayed for him.  We have seen the power of that this past week with him, and I have a strong testimony to the Lord answering prayers.  Sister Davies was wonderful in keeping us updated on his progress each day, and we are so grateful for her care for James.

We are also so grateful for everyone's prayers on his behalf .  He's not totally out of the woods yet, but should be by the end of this coming week.  If you have a minute and would like to drop him a quick note, his email is:

adam.dunyon@myldsmail.net.