Status Quo - Week 43

So this was a week of working really hard and a lot of sad let-downs. 

On Tuesday we had a Zone Meeting which was focused a lot on pointing investigators and members to the temple, which is kind of hard to get to for some people because it is in the Dominican Republic. But the Zone Leaders asked me to take a few minutes and talk about finding those that will receive us which was really cool! After Zone Meeting we had a pretty alright day we were able to have a great lesson with a young woman named Judean who is very interested and keeping an open mind about what we share so that is super cool!

On Wednesday we tried to go see some people in the morning but had them fall through and we were able to contact and meet some cool people in an area that we don't go to very much called Frenches, so Elder Pohl and I are thinking about trying to help build that part of our area by doing more work over there! The rest of the day was kind of a bummer though, we had a lot fall through and actually met some semi grumpy people that didn't really want anything to do with us, so that was kind of sad, but we made it a good day!

On Thursday we were able to have a great lesson with a member about temples and how he and his family are preparing to go to the temple! He has a daughter on a mission right now which probably really helps him want to do better, so it is cool to go and talk with him about preparing for the house of the Lord! That night we were also able to have a good lesson with the Ashton family about temples also, talking about eternal marriages and families. It was kind of a hard topic for them to grasp, especially baptisms for the dead, but I think it went pretty well! 

On Friday we had a pretty uneventful day with a lot of contacting and lessons falling through. It was kind of a bummer but had a great lesson about testimonies with a less active family. It went really well and I really have a testimony of using and sharing the spirit through Mormon messages. They are so powerful and direct that I can't believe that I hadn't really seen them before my mission.

On Saturday we had our appointments cancel in the morning and another wonderful lesson with Judean about the restoration which went amazing! She is really understanding it is great! 

Sunday was a great day of church and an awesome branch council with our new branch president who is really excited about bringing the less active members back to reactivation! It's going to be really great working with him the rest of the time that I am here! 

It was a pretty great week! I cannot believe that another transfer is coming to a close! 

I hope all is well! 

I love you guys so much! Thanks for everything you do!

Love, Elder Dorrance

Like a Tourist - Week 42

Right over my left shoulder is the rock structure where the skeleton was hanging at the beginning of Pirates of the Caribbean.

This week was slow at parts and flew by at others! Today is the start of week 5 of my 7th transfer! I can't believe how fast transfers are flying by these days! It's crazy!

On Tuesday we went and saw a few people after district meeting which was pretty cool, but a lot of our planned appointments ended up falling through! But we had a really great lesson with the Ashton family about prayer I think... The days are really starting to mesh together... But it was actually kind of a bummer day.

On Wednesday Elder Pohl woke up sick and we spent the entire day inside playing dominoes and watching old VHS tapes of Mountain of the Lord.

Same thing on Thursday, except we swapped Mountain of the Lord for Legacy. After sitting inside for a few days, some of the "movie magic" of the 80s made us crack up pretty hard, so you could tell that we hadn't really had much comedic relief for a whole 42 hours...

But on Friday we were able to go on a trade off with the Zone Leaders which was really great! Elder Hatch and I spent a few hours in an area that neither of us had been into before and were able to contact and teach some amazing people who were extremely prepared to hear the gospel! It was really a testimony builder to me to see that Heavenly Father really is building his kingdom and has prepared souls to receive us! It was wonderful!

On Saturday morning we traded back and Elder Pohl and I were welcomed back into our area together for the first time since Tuesday with a day of never ending rain that soaked us through while waiting for buses and what-not... haha. but because of the rain we had a lot fall through and not a whole lot of people wanting to talk to two soaking wet white guys trying to yell over the downpour of water... haha But it was a pretty good day! 

On Sunday we were able to have President Mehr come and speak to us and rearrange the branch Presidency which had been how it had been for a while, so nothing too crazy! Then we went to a members house for lunch and then to the new senior couples house for a "gospel jam session" with President Mehr that is always cool. We just bounce questions off of him and he teaches us. We were there for like 2 hours just talking and learning it was so awesome!

Then today we were supposed to go hike a volcano but it didn't work out so a few companionships got together and took a 45 minute bus ride to what is called Wallibou Bay where a few scenes of Pirates of the Caribbean were filmed. One of them was the one where Orlando Bloom and Johnny Depp fight in the rafters. Kind of cool!

All in all it was a great week! Nothing to complain about! I hope all is well!

Keep me in your prayers!

With all my love,

Elder Dorrance

Sister Wood and Sister Shelton

Looking over a wall into the ocean

Elder Gutierrez

I told Elder Wilson to make it look real and you can see in my face I wasn't breathing too well. Those things really work.

Rain Rain Go Away, Come Again Another Day...Week 41

Elder Pohl and I got caught in the most amount of rain I've ever seen.

This week was pretty average! We worked really hard, got really tired, sweated a whole lot, and something to kind of put a spin on things it rained. And it rained and it rained... haha

On Tuesday we had a combined district meeting about understanding and teaching to understanding which was really good because it really focused on experiences from the Book of Mormon where the prophets there were really able to help the people they were teaching understand. We were also able to go on a trade-off. Elder Gutierrez came into our area with me and we  had a spectacular day. We were able to teach some great lessons, one in particular about humility with a member named Kolin. We focused on Heleman 3:35. Which talks about improving your humility and faith! It was awesome! It also started DUMPING rain on us while we were walking home, it was raining so hard that we just started booking it down this hill. haha. It was great until we got home and I realized that running brought back my shin splint pain so that hung around for a few days but is gone now!

On Wednesday we woke up and headed over to Calliaqua to trade back and elder Pohl and I were able to have a pretty interesting day. One lesson that really stuck out was with a man named Baynes who has met with missionaries before and knows a lot about the plan of salvation and Joseph Smith and wants to get baptised! So that was really great! The only problem is that right now he is living with his girlfriend and they aren't married, but nothing that can't be fixed!

On Thursday we had a good lesson with a man named Leslie comparing the Book of Mormon with the Bible and seeing how they teach the same things and how they both simply testify of Christ. Which went really well because he told us that he is going to start looking into the Book of Mormon to find other things that are similar in them. Then we headed down to the church to help some members clean and it turned out to be us and one other member and there was only one mop and two brooms, so Elder Pohl and i swept while Sister Smith mopped and she had to stop to go to a meeting so it just ended up with us being there for 2 hours while we took turns watching the other one mop... Loads of fun... haha 

On Friday we had almost all of our appointments fall through. But one we didn't have fall through was with an awesome member family named the Browns. We talked about the sacrament and how it really cleanses us. It was awesome! And on the way home we found ourselves running again because of the downpour of liquid from the heavens... It was a magical experience, I thought I was swimming again... 

On Saturday we had a great lesson about the restoration with a woman named Keisha and her sister which went really well. I love talking about the Book of Mormon when teaching the restoration because of how vital it really is to the establishment of the church. It is so vital. And it also completely rained like a hurricane on Saturday too. By this point Elder Pohl and I were pretty tired of getting home completely soaked through, especially me when I only have one pair of shoes and have to wear some semi-wet shoes all day the next day... haha

On Sunday we had great church. We had some good talks on seminary and missionary work, one of them by a missionary that just got back from his mission that was really good. After church we headed to a members house for lunch where we had some pretty good chicken and rice and peas. Pretty good! Then we went home to study and then to choir practice where it started pouring rain once again and no one showed up but the director with a car and the four missionaries, so that was fun... Then when it didn't let up after about an hour we decided to just book it home.

All in all a really fantasticly wet week. Taught some great lessons and found some cool people to teach and got really really wet.

I heard once from an older, more experienced missionary once, the more times you get caught in the rain as a missionary, the cuter your wife will be. So I'm not complaining.:)

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Elder Dorrance

The Weeks are Flying By! Week 40

I can't believe it is already P-Day again. The weeks are just flying by. This last week was independence day here in St. Vincent on Monday so we had P-Day on Tuesday which was kind of a bummer in some ways but better in others because the week feels so much shorter. 

But on Wednesday we had all of our appointments fall through but we were able to see one of our most progressing investigators named Kelly, who should have a baptismal date for the 15th of November tonight when we go see her and she came to church so that was great! 

On Thursday we were able to have one of the returned missionaries who just barely got back like 2 weeks ago come out with us just to have all of our lessons fall through and spend a day contacting which was pretty unsuccessful... but it turned out alright... 

On Friday we had one lesson in the morning and the rest of the day cancel on us. We literally tried contacting and talking to people but people wouldn't even talk to us. It was an awful day... haha oh man that's all I can say about Friday ... Happy Halloween.

On Saturday we went to a baptism in the morning which was really great! then we got back in the afternoon to start our fast which went extremely well. We had some pretty good lessons later Saturday evening and I got really really sick from some food that I had eaten for lunch earlier in the day so that was fun... haha But as usual got home completely exhausted and ready to sleep from not eating or drinking...

On Sunday we had really great church where Kelly and her sister both came to church which was super awesome and we are meeting with them again tonight to follow up on a baptismal date! 

All in all we had a really great week of working really hard and teaching a whole lot! It should be a really great week and I'm excited to be here. 

Thank you so much for all that you guys do for me! I love you so much! Have a great week!

All my love, 

Elder Dorrance