April 23rd

This week was pretty exceptional for several reasons. First, it was Easter so our mission president had us study everything about the Atonement in Preach My Gospel, and every lesson we gave as well as received was centered on Christ's life and resurrection. Second, we went to the temple! I have never been so excited to go to the temple as I was that day!

It happened Thursday which was the last of three days the mission took to rotate all the missionaries through the temple. There were three zones going that day and we road in school buses through the Seattle mission boundaries (that was really weird to me to see Seattle signs everywhere - alarmed me a little bit every time) to the temple. It drizzled the whole time, but the temple grounds were so beautiful it made up for it. Inside the temple was even more beautiful and coming out I felt such peace. It was painful to leave the temple knowing I probably won't be able to go again until next year just before I finish my mission as they do for missionaries who are leaving the following transfer. Going from weekly visits for 9 weeks in the MTC to once a year.... yeah, it really makes you appreciate the temple that much more.

Saturday Sister Noun wasn't feeling well, so we had a sick exchanged authorized so Sis. Walker and I could do some work while Sis. McQuivey stayed home with Noun. That was the first time we've been on our own together since the MTC! It was an eye-opening experience to compare our efforts to the MTC and how we've adjusted to the field and improved. It reminds me of my two days of training on how to teach children English for the International Language Program. It gave me an idea of what I should do, but it wasn't until I was in the classroom with the children trying to think of sentences for them to repeat while pulling out crafts from my bag that I really learned how to do it. Experience is the best teacher, and as much as I really did love the MTC, it's so different out in the field. Then, to see my work ethics with the same companion I had back then really showed me how much we've grown. It doesn't feel like I've been on my mission for nearly 8 months now, but that's where we are! And it's fun to see the difference.

Sunday was really neat; first off, we had a Cambodian come church!! (An Easter miracle!) He's this 70ish year-old man who speaks very little English, so I did my best at translating Sacrament meeting. It proved to be both a breeze and a challenge at the same time as the topic was on Easter so the easy part was that I was able to use the vocabulary I'd been using all week. The challenge was that's all the speakers talked about and there were only so many ways I could think of to summarize the meaning of Easter with my limited vocabulary for a full hour. But he said he enjoyed it and said he'd come back next week, so we'll see what happens. But he was the one out of three who said they'd come to church, so it's improvement!

Sunday evening we got to see the Lamb of God (written and composed by Rob Gardener). The performers were crammed into the chapel - the orchestra squished in a space vacated by some pews - and the whole stake center was filled all the way to the stage so it was hard to see very well, but the music gave me chills. It felt good just to hear a live orchestra again and it made me homesick to be playing there with them, but the program itself was very moving. I left with an even greater appreciation for the celebration of Christ's life and resurrection, and a realization of how much Christ truly loves us.

In the light of Easter, this is one of my favorite scriptures that shows the absolute love behind Christ's actions;

"Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading our cause before him - saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified; wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life." - Doctrine and Covenants 45:3-5

- Sister Dunster

April 15

This week we were on foot hard core. Last week Sister McQuivey was sick so we didn't get out of the apartment much, but this week we pounded a lot of sidewalk. It felt good to be so physically tired and know that every hour of the day was spent finding as many people as possible, if we were in an ideal location. Otherwise our work just looks good in numbers because most of the lessons we get are with white people which we pass on to the other missionaries and we find very few if any Cambodians in a day.

That weekend we got a break though as it was my turn to get sick with the flu and I was out of commission the next day and a half. I haven't slept that long in ages, and near the end I was pretty sure I would have to miss a fireside our zone was invited to which I was really bummed out about, but as it turned out Sister Weaver cleared me to go! We only have a few left and one of the main pieces is played on the cello by an elder who goes home next transfer so this was his last fireside and his piece ("Oh, How Lovely Was the Morning") is my favorite of the whole fireside.

Lately as I've contemplated what we've heard from General Conference I thought about what an experience it must be to live or work with one of the Twelve and hear their words of advice or see their every day examples. One day I read Alma 31 where Alma is brought down in godly sorrow for the people praying from Rammeumptom and he prays for patience and comfort in Christ as he will suffer affliction from the people in his efforts to bring them unto Christ. I'm not sure what it was about that chapter specifically but afterwards I left with a feeling that living around an apostle is just what the scriptures do for us. They are a record of prophets that lived; they share advice and are examples to us if we choose to read about them everyday. We have the living words and personal advice of prophets available to us everyday, whether or not we get walk with them.

Have a great week!
Sister Dunster

P.S. Happy birthday mom!

April 8th

There's only so much you can do for your birthday on your mission, but it still turned out to be a really good day, AND it was sunny! What we couldn't do in celebration was made up in the numbers we ended up with that night, so it was worth it. Sister McQuivey made a carrot cake for me, and during the following days got packages and mail from friends and family, so thank you! I really appreciate it!

General Conference was super good, and we even got our investigator Brenda to watch it with us on session (her parents speak Cambodian, but she speaks English). She had a really old computer so it took awhile to download a faster browser, but we got through most of that session and she seemed to like it. As soon as conference ended the website stopped working, which was probably a good thing because Brenda was beginning to lose interest, and I was able to download the last three talks we missed on a memory stick to listen to later anyway.

Yesterday's zone activity was ultimate Frisbee which is Sister McQuivey's game. It's hilarious to see how competitive she gets during the game! I started to get into it and with good players on our team we won by one point, much to McQuivey's dismay. Afterwards one of the elders offered to lend his piano binder of sheet music I've openly coveted, so I got to play in the church building while the rest of the zone played basketball in the gym. (Well, the elders did. The sisters chatted awhile before joining us.) That was one of my favorite belated birthday presents.

Other than that, not a lot has happened this past week. We're back to walking for now, so even though all appointments are spread apart, at least we've been having some pretty nice weather.

Love you!

Sister Dunster

April 1st

Wow Kim you're engaged!! I freaked out when I got your email, and I'm still reeling over the fact that I would have to miss another marriage in the family and that I will be the last person in the family to get married! (Pretty appropriate I guess since I am the youngest, but still!) As much as I would hate to go, I really don't want to miss your wedding!! And even though you didn't give a date of when, I figured it'll be in about two months or so, so I called President Weaver about it and decided I'll be flying to Utah to stay with family the week of June 15th for the wedding. Once you let me know when your wedding date is we can schedule the exact date for the flight there and back, but I'll probably be home - or I guess, in Utah - for a week and a half!! Ah!

Oh, and by the way, happy April Fools. :) I was so excited to email on my birthday until I realized I can't trust any announcement I get today. But they've all been really good so far, so nice job! (So no, Kim is not really engaged, and no, I'm really not flying to Utah.)

Other than that, for not having the car this week we didn't have very many near-death experiences as I'd expected, but then again Sister McQuivey was sick most of the week, so we didn't get out much. (Just to make sure you know our car is not in the shop, we actually just rotate it between us and the other Cambodian companionship every week. It's rough since we cover three zones, but so far we've made it work, though we'll be clarifying any rules with President during personal interviews on Thursday.)

Saturday's Women's General Meeting was amazing!! Obviously it was different from the traditional general meeting they have since ages 8+ were invited, but even then, to participate in singing and to watch the videos they showed us, it was just what I needed and I loved every second of it!

Sunday the mission had a fireside (where the missionaries in that area sing and those assigned bear testimony) in Port Angeles which is a 2 hour drive from the area here, but Sis. Weaver asked that I sing in my regular group (we sing "Lead Kindly Light" which has become a special song for me now) and accompany another piece on the piano, so I was among the 16 other missionaries driven to Port Angeles to join the zones up there for the fireside. It felt SO weird being without Sister McQuivey, but because there was limited space I had to find a temporary companion that evening that was also in our group. (That day I realized that by the end of this transfer I will have been with Sister Walker and Sister McQuivey for an equal 6 months each, my only two companions so far.) It went really well and was another Spiritual booster for the week!

Otherwise the work has been going kind of slow this week, as Sis. McQuivey was sick, though we were so close to getting one of our investigators to church. She decided she wasn't ready and asked that we stop asking her and she will tell us when she's ready. But good news is Say made it back from Boston Sunday and came to church! Unfortunately we couldn't meet him there because President doesn't want us traveling all the way down there anymore when the ward and fellowship can continue teaching him. As thoroughly bummed as we were, at least I know he's in a really good ward and I couldn't trust any other ward to go through with their work more than that one. It's a hard area for finding, but they have really strong members and wards there.

Scripture for the week;

"Let him that is ignorant learn wisdom by humbling himself and calling upon the Lord his God, that his eyes may be opened that he may see, and his ears opened that he may hear." D&C 136:32

This verse has come to mean so much more to me as I've experienced how delicately the Spirit works in our lives; from helping us learn and discern truths, bear witness of the holiness of temples and God's eternal plan for His children, and recognize His hand in the little everyday things of life. I'm learning to recognize the different between simply reading from the scriptures, and feasting upon them, and how the Spirit is the key to our spiritual growth as we doing so.

Love you, and have a great week!

Sister Dunster

April 1st #2

Here's some extra fun April Fools material to read and pass on if you like that my companion wrote about us. :)

This has been a crazy week, even by our standards. First of all, remember Veasana, the one who writes the letters and proposes to us on the daily? Well, he was up to his old schemes in our latest lesson. The problem being that Sister Dunster hadn't gotten the best night's sleep the night before, so she was dozing off as he was talking. I elbowed her awake just as Veasana finished professing his undying devotion for us, and I guess she was in a dream because she woke up and yelled out, "I do!" (she later explained to me that she'd been in a dream in which the mission president had asked, 'who wants the last slice of cake?' and that's what she'd been responding to. Poor timing). Veasana was so excited, he lept up out of his chair and ran out the door to start making arrangements. Unfortunately since then, we haven't been able to get a hold of him to explain the error. His phone line is tied up because he's been trying to make reservations and book a florist and caterer. I was having so much fun thinking up cake flavors and dress designs that I just decided to get on board with it as designated wedding planner. Dunster was still opposed until she saw that she could put a baby grand piano on the registry, at which point she gave in and accepted the engagement. All Veasana can afford right now is a ring pop, which Dunster doesn't love, but I'm thrilled with it because it means I have a gluten-free snack with me at all times.

Then of course, it just got nuttier when the other Cambodian companionship crashed the car. We've been switching off every other week so far, but now without a car, we're forced to be full-time skateboard missionaries. President has asked that we spent 30 to 60 mins a day, following language study, at the local skate park practicing. He feels like we'll be much more efficient missionaries once we can skateboard quickly, and also hopes that we might pick up some investigators when we're showing each other skate tricks. So far, I've mastered the ollie, the nosegrind, and a pop shove-it. Dunst on the other hand has got down the inward heel flip and can land a frontside on a half pipe pretty comfortably. It hasn't resulted in more teaching opportunities thusfar, but we have learned some valuable slang and it's given us a whole new area to draw lesson analogies from, so that's promising. (For years, people were riding goofy footed because they didn't know how to skate correctly. This was called the apostasy, bro.)

Finally, we've officially decided it's more worth our time to just be full-time buddhist missionaries now. You see, all Cambodian people out here are already members of the church, but have been going to the buddhist temples in the years since their baptisms. When we ask them why, they explain to us that Jesus Christ and Buddha are the same, because they both teach us to do good and not go to jail. I didn't know that's all it took for religions to be the exact same! What's with all the religious confusion when all churches that recommend we don't spend years behind bars are actually the same church? So because Mormonism and Buddhism are so similar, we've decided to start teaching buddhist doctrines to all we meet. It's difficult because we don't actually know any, so we mostly just roll down the car window and yell at kids on the street to do good and not go to jail. It's going really well, except that we did get into a Spanglish fight with a Mexican mother for making her son Jose cry when we asked him if he wanted to go to jail. We called the Spanish Elders (who are now teaching Catholic doctrine to their investigators) and they quickly cleared it up by saying "estas chicas están locas en la cabeza" which they said means "these girls are beautiful daughters of God so don't get upset with them". We're so lucky to have them on our side!

That's pretty much all that's happening with us! Oh, except that I'm in love with my district leader and I'm leaving my mission early to marry him. I don't know what his first name is yet, so just go ahead and tell people that his name's elder. We got matching tattoos of our name tags over our hearts, because we love being missionaries. Isn't that cute?

I do insist that Parson Brown officiates the marriage, because he asked me if we were married and I said no man, but that he could do the job while he's in town.

-Sister McQuivey