Light the World - It's Christmas Time!!!

Well - We got to talk to James today as our "Christmas" call.  They are having a normal proselyting day on Christmas, so this was our opportunity to video chat and talk with him. 

Below are the notes from the conversation we had with him and pictures!

This past week went pretty well!! We had Christmas Zone conference and we were able to see a ton of missionaries because it was half of the mission there! We played games, had skits, delicious food and got new neck ties along with an Antipolo mission coin that we have all promised to carry with us for the rest of our life!  

One quote I remember from this week "Lingering on a problem never solves anything, solving the problem solves your and another's problems. So, figure out a solution to help you both".  Thinking about problems in a third person point of view is interesting, you are able to look at yourself and other things involved and find the best solution for you all!! Of course, it also involves prayer, and a lot of it, then listening to those promptings. I guess that is what it is.  

I have really been trying to understand what heavenly father needs me to do and learning how I can be ready for anything that he calls me to do!  

I learned a lot this week about The Holy Ghost, Ministering vs Administering, Charity and Love, connection of the gift of wisdom, love, and discernment, and also success.  The one I would love to share right now is Charity and also success. 

This week, almost all of our friends we were currently working with decided that they didn't wish to hear the message anymore and it breaks our hearts. We are taking it step by step and lighting the world one by one.

But what made up for it was the experiences that we were able to have with the ward and some less active members. We invited many of them to come to the Christmas party and a lot of them came. They expressed to us that they feel lonely and the ward doesn't care about them and that is a big reason why they don't come to church, and it meant so much for us to deliver a handmade invitation to each of them. 

Remember to reach out and love all of our friends, sometimes we may not see what happens, but they will always remember it!! If we are not showing out love for our neighbor, we don't love them at all. Be like the savior and do all you can to serve others.

Love you all and Merry Christmas!

Elder James Dunyon

Shrimp heads on my fingers

FHE with some members 

Typhoons aren't so bad...

SO….the big typhoon here was next to nothing.  It didn't flood or anything near us and it was just raining and had a little bit of wind.  However, we still had to stay inside for most of the day, just to be safe. We did see on the news at a investigators house that it got really bad down in Bicol where it went straight through.  That’s where my companion is from, but all is good with his family.

When we finally were able to go out, it was about to be dark, so we ended up holding district council that ended up being really good for the district so it ended up being a really good day.
Then the next day we had trainer and trainee meeting with president Alder, and it was a great time!! Learned lots.  I had an interview with President and had a Boodle fight with the other missionaries (an all you can eat lunch where it is a TON of rice and you only eat with your hands). Then we had a good rest of the week!! 

A really fun story this past week…

We were able to make a new friend and investigator by playing chess with him, and we just talked the whole time, shared a small lesson during the game and this brother, Rod, just opened right up to us. At first, he said "I am good with my religion, I have tried many others and am not looking to change." But by the end of our time together he said "I am not looking to change my religion, but I am willing to listen and I am open to your teachings, I am just leaving it open right now".  Rod is mid 40s or 50s, he doesn't say his age because he "stopped counting at 25" But he is a great man and I can just see him as a future bishop!!

Then this is the story of the Santellises Family. 

Wednesday night we were redirected all night long trying to find a way to get that first down. Our previous ITAs that we were trying to visit were no home. Luckily, I followed a prompting before we left and I wrote down a bunch of part member names around a certain area, so we sent out trying to find them. We were trying to find house number on this Long Road but no one seemed to know where it was! We circled the area for 1-2 hours and we could not find anyone we had written down, and no one wanted to hear the Lords restored gospel (night time changes people). There came a point where I was just frustrated because I had been hit with garbage, chased by dogs, yelled at, and just had been walking in circles the whole time. I sat down on a curb with my companion, trying to be happy because I DO NOT WANT TO BE ANGRY, there is no reason to be angry, sad, or anything like that in the Lords work. So, I said a prayer asking for the Lords help to guide me and to allow my anger to wash away. A strong peaceful feeling came over me, and I felt better, but still didn't know what to do. After another minute I realized/heard a small thought pop into my head, "try the first road you went down again". So, I got up and told elder, let’s go try this road again. At first, he was like why? but we soon realized why. The first person on the street we met was this amazingly nice sister who tried to help us find this household, asking everyone around if they knew this house. We ended up still not finding the house, but as we talked about what we are doing here as missionaries, she said we could share a message with her, and gave us her address for a future date. When we go back to her, we taught her, her husband and her 19-year-old son who were all extremely receptive to the message.  Here is a picture of him and his litter sister.

The Lord really does want to give all of us blessings, just make sure the you are always doing the right thing, and if you are not, REPENT as soon as you can to get those blessings, and you can gain His love again in your life!!

Updates on the other individuals we are working with –

John-drew can still make his date of December 28th for baptism, but he didn't come to church this last week which is cutting it really close, so we might have to push it to January. Rayden, has disappeared. He recently got a job and is now busy and we can only visit Saturdays or Sundays and sometimes he isn't there.  We are still working hard for them, trying to work really well with the members too, because we really do feel that is the way to help this area. We planned the Ward Mission Plan with the ward council and we are all really hoping to start out this next year great!!

That’s about it.  Love you all,
Elder James Dunyon

Here is a burger and a mango shake place we found!!!  It was sooo good!!!!

Typhoon or not Typhoon

This week, we weren't sure we would get to hear from James.  I'm sure many of you have heard of the super typhoon closing in on the Philippines.  We've received a couple letters from James' mission President.  The most recent below:   

Dear Parents,
The expected super typhoon over Antipolo has moved further South and we will not therefore experience the eye of the storm. We will however still experience heavy rain and strong winds. All our missionaries are well prepared with water, food and their 72 hour pack. They have been advised to stay indoors until given the all clear. Those missionaries in low lying areas are being moved to apartments which are safer. The safety of your missionaries is our top priority and we will do everything necessary to ensure they are taken care of.

We thank you all for your thoughts and prayers as we have prepared for this event. We will certainly keep you informed of any further developments.
The latest information and maps can be seen on:- weatherph.org

President Mark Alder
Philippines Antipolo Mission

However, we did hear from James! We were so excited.  He is doing well.  Here is what he was able to send.

I am doing alright, there is no rain here yet, it is still the calm before the storm, but we have been told there will be emergency plans and evacuations happening so to be ready for that. I don't think elder and I will need to go anywhere. Our house is higher up and it has two floors.  Our bishop doesn't think the storm is coming at all and he has a service project for us on Tuesday, but that is not happening, hahaha. Preparing for the storm really has not had any affect on anything, there hasn't been any rain yet.

John-drew is looking good for his baptism date of December 28th, and Rayden wasn't able to come to church this week, but we are still shooting for January 11. Next week we will go pick him up!! We have met tons of new FAMILIES that are excited to hear the gospel and readily accepting the Gospel and it is such a blessing!! 

We actually did have a real Thanksgiving dinner! Wednesday night we were all invited to a dinner that an American Family made for us in another Elders area. The whole zone went! It was a REALLY fun time and the members were so nice!! They made a whole thanksgiving feast!! They were so amazing, and some of their friends were visiting from the states who were in the Tabernacle choir, so we got to meet them too! The food was so delicious!! We all shared a big zone message afterward and it was good!!   Oh yeah, I cut the Turkey at thanksgiving. Just saying I was the best out of everyone else 😎.

 I ate 5 slices of pie..... 4 pumpkin and 1 apple

This is the Orlanda family (middle with the baby), and the Buban family (on the right). 
They invited us over for a FHE because the Buban family is a little less active and it was a great time

Spiritual thought:

This week my studies have been amazing thanks to promptings of the Lord!! As I was reading the book "Saints" this week, I was reading about Oliver Cowdery's experiences in wanting to learn moire and trying to develop gifts of the spirit when the aspect of revelation, prophecy and seer-ship came to mind. I then was prompted to read certain sections in the Doctrine and Covenants and other chapters in the Book of Mormon. 

Through my studies I learned so much and still have much more to learn, but the process has been humbling. These gifts are only available through humility and wanting to act out of love for others and wanting to build up the Lord's kingdom. If there is any other reason that you have for developing these gifts, you will never receive them. True, pure humility and wanting to come closer to God is the key to any gift of the spirit and the solution to many if not all of life's problems. Always look for ways to feel God's love in your life!!

Love Elder James Dunyon