Monday, September 20, 2010

Sept. 20, 2010

Hola familia!
We had a great week this week. Elder Claudio Zivic of the seventy was here on friday for a mission tour. We fasted as a mission and it led to a very spiritual experience for all of us. President Archibald was very excited about the level of spirituality and really feels the consecration level of the missionaries has been increasing recently. It was Elder Zivic's first mission tour in english. He has been assigned to the argentina region for 6 years and is originally from buenos aires argentina. He has recently been assigned to work out of salt lake. It was neat that we were able to speak with him in spanish, he definitely lit up when we spoke to him in spanish. him and his wife discussed a variety of topics. his wife spoke fairly good english because she was an english teacher for many years. his english wasn't too great though. he was able to get his points across though and it went very well. we were also able to have a zone leader training with them afterwards which was a neat experience. he talked alot about our goal to baptized a stake before the completion of the temple. he asked several times: what is your part in this goal? he really emphasized that we all need to make it our own if it's going to be accomplished.
we're excited about a couple of neat experiences from this past week. there's a couple that moved here from spain about a month or two ago and has came to church almost every sunday. the husband is a member and the wife isn't. they have two little kids as well. the wife has been resistant to invitations to receive the lessons, but has continued to come to church. we were finally able to have an fhe with some of their extended family members this past monday and the wife was present. the lesson went well and she tearfully expressed her doubts and feelings about coming to canada and bore her testimony about jesus christ. yesterday at church, her husband was super excited as she accepted an invitation to meet with us this week. her husband was behind her pumping his fists.
we also received a reference for a lady that owns a mexican/colombian restaurant in town. there's not many latino restaurants, so she already knows many of the members of the church. we heard from a member that she was interested adn stopped by at the end of last week. she was busy, but invited us back this morning. we decided to eat lunch there and while we were eating, we were able to talk to her about her family and her desires and goals. she has 5 children and 4 of them are of baptismal age. she wants them to be in a religious setting that will help them progress adn become good people. she feels a little stressed because she's forced to work so much. she even expressed that she wants her kids to serve missions like us. we've been super excited adn the best part is she lives in our area. she invited us back for a formal lesson on Wednesday morning. we're also excited because the food was super good.
the picture is from yesterday at church. unfortunately, this family is going back to mexico because their time here has ran out. they're a member family that i visited a lot in my last area.
this week is supposed to be a little warmer, but it snowed one morning this past week. winter is definitely here already.
elder galloway is getting along very well. he does a great job of staying focused and just keeping his mind occupied. i can tell it's hard sometimes, but he does a great job of not showing it. he knows that this is where he needs to be.
thank you for everything! i already have at least on birthday meal scheduled for saturday. a family has a son that is turning 14 or 15 on the 26th and they're going to make us tacos. his dad works for fedex here as well.
thanks for everything!
con amor,
elder dunlap

4 comments:

  1. Elder Dunlap: I enjoyed reading your post. It is evident that you love the people you are serving as well as the Lord. The older I get the more I appreciate the gospel of Jesus Christ and its power to change lives. I think one of the great blessings of missionary work is the opportunity to witness such change first hand.

    Thank you for your sacrifice and example. Most of all, thanks for being you and sharing this glorious gospel of love. - Sister Chapman

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  2. It's so comforting to find someone that has found the Holy Spirit but can also appreciate a nice pair of DSL's!
    con amor,
    elder bandit

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  3. Elder Dunlap: Hola! I am so happy to have found you. Your posts are very interesting, but come as a surprise to us who knew you in your former life at Wake Forest. We can't wait to share all the fond memories we had together at Wake with your new friends! Like the one time we were all sitting around the television watching American Idol. I am sure you will recall a young,short,fat black girl whose mother was homeless was on singing. To make a long story short she did not win over the judges the way she would have liked. She was declined to move on to Hollywood California and sent home. She began to cry her eyes out on National television. Everyone watching television with us became quiet and choked up a little. Then out of nowhere to shine a little of the Lord's light and faith upon the poor black child you shouted out "Hey at least she has some nice DSL's." And by DSL's you meant dick sucking lips. At that moment I knew the Mormon Church needed a guy like you to spread the word of the lord. Joseph Smith would be proud! We love you Seffy boy!

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