I AM IN THE CANADA OF THE PHILIPPINES!!!!

So I've experienced my first transfer!  I'm in Santa Maria Laguna and the title here is because they all finish their sentences with EH!  So weird.  I have a new companion, Elder Penetrante from Tuguegarao Philippines.

The active members are strong here, especially the auxiliaries but not going to lie, there is a lot of work that we need to help with here. Missionary work in the branch is minimal, and I told that to the Branch yesterday and they totally agree, and we made plans to fix it!! There are 500 less actives here.  So this week, not going to lie, I was wondering why I was sent here and not made to a District Leader. This is in the New mission after the July mission split and so I was questioning it. President Davies told me I was going somewhere where I am needed. Through prayer and study, I found out why I am here and my new comp is really thankful I am here. He is still new and has no idea what to do, so this is going to be rebuilding but in a different way now and I am really excited now.

Alright Spiritual thought:

This week, after conference here, I definitely felt that everyone's personal studies need to be more effective. So, I revised my personal studies to be even better!! Really connecting with the Holy Ghost and the Lord is key.  We need to strengthen our relationship with Him to know what He has planned for us!! Pray and ask what you need to study. Figure out a topic and ask if it is right. And start studying.

Take that action and get closer to Him!!!

Love Elder Dunyon

New Area:  Santa Maria

Transfer from the island

I'm the Pied Piper!

I only had one full day of work in my area this week. District council, weekly planning and exchanges, It was a lot!!!

So on Friday we had exchanges. So me and the other Elder, we go to an area where he has never been before. So we were going to "reopen" the area. We go down this road and it is just packed with KIDS!! They scream, AMERICANO!!!!! And they instantly follow me.

So I joke around with them, give some high fives and pass out pictures of Jesus. then they REALLY LIKE ME!! So then I ask, Saan ung mangulang mo? (where are your parents?) And they take us to their parents and we have return appointments with them!!! I TALKED TO 80 PEOPLE AND SET APPOINTMENTS WITH MOST OF THEM IN ! HOUR!!!

We finally got to watch conference.  I think my favorite talk was Elder Holland's, Bednar's and Renland's.  I also loved Tadd R Callister's talk  So many good notes!!!!  The main themes I got from conference were ATONEMENT OF JESUS CHRIST, FAMILIES, TEMPLES, And REPENTANCE.

My spiritual thought this week is simple, Listen to at least the words of president Nelson Again. I felt he summarized everything into one. And pray to know it is true and act on it.

Two Weeks Worth

The below is from the last two weeks of chats with James:

Week One:
This week we got "Punted" a lot but we found a ton new people and really deepened our teaching pool.

There was one day we hiked up a mountain on the other side of our area at 7 pm. Now there are no rides home but we needed to visit him. So we hike for 30 min up this mountain to his house and we get there and he wasn't there. This was a return appointment. So we asked "Saan po si Alex?" (where is Alex?)"Paginom po siya dow. (He said, he is drinking). Just about cried, because now we needed to walk a 3 hour walk home and no meeting with him. BUT GREAT IS THE WORK!!  Yeah it has been busy. The part that was hard was we couldn't visit any progressing people so it was WALK WALK WALK!! That is the SECRET!!!

This week we don't have any meetings or places to go off the island so this week is a full week with literally no distractions at all!!! However, we haven't been able to see Gerald much this past week because of his work and school schedules.

We have a one week delay for General Conference, so I won't get to watch it live.  Then with Easter this next week, there is the festival on Marinduque called the Moriones. Making it a big thing about the Crucifixion of Christ in the catholic church. So this next week will be interesting. And Elections are also going on, so things are a bit tense everywhere.

This week personal study was very important to me. The Lord really really does speak to us through personal revelation. We need to pray to our Heavenly Father every day, read our scriptures with intent and look for that help he is giving us.  He has blessings waiting for us, but we need to ask and put our faith forward to find them. Other wise, we won't be able to receive them.

Week Two:

Alright so the fun things that I want to share are this Crazy Tatay, (Dad). This man is literally the most expressive crazy person you will ever meet and moves 100 mph and never slows down!! He and his wife are super interested in the church and have been progressing amazingly and came to church and accepted a Baptism date on 25 of May!!

Also, we have found a member that is friends with Gerald, and able to talk to him. She told us he still wants to be baptized but doesn't know its importance. We haven't been able to see him for two or three weeks now which is why he has so much confusion. He has been busy with end of school projects and so we can't see him. Hopefully we can help soon!!

There was this Nanay, from last week that we got to visit again.  The really cool part of this week were the many opportunities to give priesthood blessings to others including investigators. When we gave it to the investigators they testified after the fact that they felt the power run down their back. They felt something during the prayers. Then we testified of the holy ghost and it is so cool to see them realize that and what we teach is true!!

There has been a talk I have studied this week, and I have really tried to apply those things  The talk is from Elder Bednar called THE CHARACTER OF CHRIST!!!!!  I love this talk so much and you can only watch it in the MTC I think but it is amazing!!  The Character of Christ - Character means your nature.  Nature is the things that you do every single day without thinking of it.

The Character of Christ is the example Christ and how he turns outward in compassion toward others when in the same scenario we (as the natural man) would turn inward being selfish. A great example of this is how after Christs baptism, he was tempted by Satan and he denied him 3 times. Then after all this, he sends angles to John who is now in prison. The thought is to be more like Christ and turn outward rather than inward with love, charity, service, patience, humility, faith, all the Christlike attributes really!!

I KNOW that by building upon this and having that true foundation of Christ, You and many others around you will feel his love and really strengthen you!!

Love Elder Dunyon