August 16,2010

Hola!
It was another great week here.
Elder Galloway adn I were able to attend the interview adn baptism yesterday of a lady named penelope from Mexico. We had met her when we served together, but never really had the opportunity to teach her. elder harker and christenson had challenged a member family to find someone to be taught in their home and recieve the blessings of the gospel in the following week. The members invited her and she accepted a date in the 2nd lesson. the baptism was very spiritual. she shared a strong testimony about the changes and blessings that came to her life. she shared with us on saturday nigth at the interview that the missionaries had been inviting her to pray and know if the church was really true so that she could know for herself. she decided to do it that night, but got a super strong headache that stayed with her the rest of the day. that night she prayed, and while listening for an answer, she had the distinct question come to her head: is your headache real? and she thought, well yes. and then the thourght, the church is as real as your headache is right now. it's interesting how everyone comes to the same conclusion, but it always comes in different ways for everyone. she said that she opened her eyes to make sure no one was talking with her because the voice in her head seemed so real. the members were so happy to see her get baptized as well. it was a great experience for the whole ward and should really be great for the missionary work in the ward.
our area is progressing well. it's one of the harder areas really because it covers some of the nicer parts of teh city. we've got soem really great potencial investigators that we're working with member families to begin teaching. Even though teaching investigators has been slow recently, I've found great joy in working with the members recently in an abundance that I've never really felt before. Some members are really grasping the fact that the blessing of the atonement is something that all the children of our Heavenly Father really need. It has brought greater joy into their lives and seeing that happen, it has brought joy into mine as well. We've seen some great miracles meeting new people that live in other areas recently too. I've seen great joy in the work seeing others in the zone exceed. My testimony continues to grow of the happiness and joy we can feel in this work of the Lord.
the mission as a whole continues to focus on the 2 year baptismal goal. we have zone conference comign up next week and the theme is goign to be all about zion's camp. we've been studying in preparation adn there's a lot of great parallels and similarities that apply to missionary work and missionary life.
i was able to see the first family that elder zoltan adn i baptized last nigth at the baptism. i haven't seen them in several months because i've been down here in the branch. they continue to progress and grown. the father recieved the melchezidek priesthood a couple weeks ago and they're preparing for the temple at their year mark in november. we're able to take a temple trip every 6 months and i'm saving mine to hopefully be able to go with them. there is a chance though that they'll have to return to mexico in the beginning of october which will be very sad. the mom is also expecting a baby that should be born in one month. it's great to see them so active and happy.
the weather here has already started to turn chilly in the evenings again. starting september, we're back to suit coats unless it's above 22 degrees. i can't believe that it's already that time again.
thank you for the updates and encouragement. i love and miss you all.
con amor,
elder dunlap

August 3, 2010

Hola familia!

This past week has been an exciting and fast one. Elder Galloway and I have been in a companionship with two other missionaries that we're dropping off at the mission home tonight. Elders Krueger and Nelson have been showing us the ropes on some of the new responsibilities and also introducing us to soem of the people in the area. They're both going home, so we've done a lot of picture taking adn eating. It's been a lot of fun though. The members really loved them in this area and we'll have soem big shoes to fill. We've been able to split up some over the past week and really have had some great success. They've both worked really hard which makes coming into this area fun. It's been weird seeing them to prepare to leave. They were our trainers when we arrived, which seems like such a short time ago.

New things are happening in the mission. The MTC has came out with some new trainings and videos that we'll be learning more about soon. We previously had interviews once a transfer as well as zone conference, but they'll both rotate now and only be every other transfer each. We have our first zone leaders council this coming friday. It should really be a great learning experience.

We're excited for some of the missionary activities that are coming up as well. There's a picnic this saturday for the branch and the branch has really been pushing invitations. The members always do a great job of getting friends out. I think it's the hispanic culture that really makes it easy for them to invite. We hope to meet some new people and start some great teaching opportunities. Some members in the ward in the north are also planning a fireside with the mission president. They're making a short video with testimonies and conversion stories of several of the new converts set to music. We're hoping that it'll be a great success and tool in the future.

The mission and the stake presidents in calgary have came out with a new two year goal to baptize a stake- or about 2,500 baptisms before the completion of the temple. Some specific goals have been set and it continues to be an exciting time in the mission. President Archibald continues to have challenging expectations for our spanish program. It's interesting that he never lowers his expectations for us. I"m sure that Elder Galloway and I will be learning a lot and growing a lot as well over the next couple weeks. I couldn't be more excited to be serving with him again.

I'm glad that the babies are both doing very well. You'll have to email me some more pictures sometime soon. I love and miss you all!

Con amor,

Elder Dunlap

7/27/2010

Hola familia!

We really had a great week this past week. We were able to set two baptismal dates for August 14th. One is a girl from colombia that we've been working with for a while named natalia. It's been hard to get in contact with her over the past couple weeks, but she seems ready to be baptized. The other is a 20 year old frmo Mexico. He's a friend of a member adn we were able to begin teaching him this past week. He accepted a date in the first lesson for the 14th as well. He too seems ready.

I just got news though that I'm getting tranfered. I'm sad to leave the area and a lot of the people that we've been working with. My companion, Elder Chunn will be training one of the new elders in our area. Elder Rudd will be training the other in the ward in the north of the city. They're both excited to train and will be great for the new elders. It's going to be different having new elders in the mission. Several of the older elders will be leaving in the next week as well.

I'm getting transfered to cover the south stake, or the southeast corner of the city. Elder Galloway is going to be my companion again. I couldn't be happier! I loved serving with him and am really looking forward to it again. They created a new all-spanish zone for us with two districts. Elder Galloway and I are going to be the zone leaders. I'm sure that there's going to be soem new challenges and responsibilibities for us.

I'm glad to hear that all is going well with the babies. I can't believe that life continues to go on without me at home. The weather here continues to be great. THere's been a decent amount of rain recently, but I think that's probably common here in Calgary. I miss and love you all! Next week I'll have more details about the new area and things. It is a holiday here on Monday, and so we will be emailing on tuesday next week.

Com mucho amor,

Elder Dunlap

7/21/2010

Hola!

We had another great week this past week. Time continues to fly by.

Yesterday was the baptism of Alicia, a girl who is 22 and from Spain. She has two young kids that are still in Spain, but she came to canada on a 6 month visa to learn english. It's interesting how the Lord works. She came with her younger sister and her sister's boyfriend. They had all recieved permission and worked out plans to go to England to learn English, but for some reason were reassigned to calgary at the last minute. I guess that the governement there has connections with certain cities or countries, i'm not sure how it works. but, she was assigned to calgary. she met a member that was a recent convert over the internet somehow before she came. he started bringing her to our english classes and she began listening to the missionaries. her husband in spain is an atheist and she had developed throughout her life similar views. i was able to perform the baptismal interview and it was a wonderful experience. president archibald conducted part of the interview and i learned a lot from the way he answered some of her questions. i had the opportunity to translate between the two of them. the elders have done an excellent job preparing her and helping her along. it was great to be able to hear her testimony of each question and the different commandments. her family in spain was totally against her decision and her sister here as well. but, she knew what she had felt and that it was true. she asked me to confirm her and that was a spiritual experience as well.

we also received a call from an investigator that we haven't taught for about 5 weeks. we've stayed in contact with her fellowshippers and they've been helping her along although scheduling differences and some things that happened in the single adult ward that she was attending have kept us from having an appointment. we talked to her a couple days ago and she told us that she's been reading the book of mormon recently and has decided that she is going to get baptized. most likely before the end of the month. we have an appointment with her tomorrow and hope to work out all the details.

we also challenged a member to invite one of their freinds to learn about the gospel in 7 days. the member said that they have a friend that is a young mexican that told the member that he'd like to be baptized. the member said that he told him he has to learn a little bit first.

we've been excited about all of the new things that seem to be coming together and the blessings that we're receiving. it seems that things seem to always come together at the end of transfers. we have transfers next week, so preparation day will be on tuesday next week. the elders are all excited because this thursday is when we find out who will be training the 2 new elders that are coming from the mtc. i'm hoping to stay in this area at least one more transfer. we'll see what happens though. we've heard rumors that there's going to be some changes with several of the older elders going home from the spanish.

this past week, i also learned how to put down new sod. a member asked us to help him and through the service, we were able to meet two new spanish people. they're both younger guys that work for the member. they live in other areas of the city, but we were able to find two new references. i've been pretty sore ever since. we had to carry A LOT of dirt and grass to the back of the house where we were putting it down. it was a lot of fun though. most service opportunities here are usually helping people move.

i'm glad to hear that everything with the babies continues to go well. i love and miss you all.

con amor,

elder dunlap

July 12th

Hola familia!

Everything here continues to go well. We have spent a lot of the past week walking but it's been fun to get out and be amongst the people. It definitely makes me have a little more of a missionary spirit to feel like I'm suffering a little bit. I realized how spoiled we are being able to drive the rest of the year. With the stampede, everyone in towns seems to have transformed to cowboys. Everyone has on cowboy hats, flannel, and jeans. We've tried to avoid the stampede area near downtown but there has definitely been more people out in the streets.

We're excited because there's a baptism planned for this Saturday in our branch. It's a girl from Spain that a member brought to the English Classes that we had started. It'll be my first baptismal interview so it should be a neat experience. Hopefully, alot of the other students in the class will come to the baptism and feel the spirit.

We have been teaching a part member couple. The wife is a member adn the husbadn is Harry Krishner- or something like that. It's a unique religion is based on vegetarianism and reincarnation and some other things. We decided to visit a yougn single adult member that speaks spanish this week and through talking to him, he told us that his dad had converted from the same religion and it was the same situation- his mom was a member. It was a neat miracle to be able to find that out and we plan on bringing the couple to the appointment this week. I really hope that it'll help him get over soem of the doubts he has. I've learned to appreciate more during the mission to keep a broader perspective. Little daily miracles like this are what brings the ultimate success in the long run. Sometimes, it is frustrating to look back at a day and only have one lesson or not really see too much success. But looking back over weeks and months, and seeing the changes in the people we work with and how we've personally grown, success can be seen. We've helped to bring people unto Christ and have grown through our trials.

I'm glad to hear that everyone is doing well. I love and miss you all!

Con Amor,

Elder Dunlap

July 5th

Hola familia!
This past week went by quickly. It seemed like I just wrote. We were busy this past week contacting and beginning to teach some of the new references that we had recieved at the end of last week. We've really been blessed with new people from several different places.

This past thursday was canada day. With the nice weather, there were a lot of people out on the streets. We went downtown for an appointment and it looked like there was a celbration downtown. The city is getting ready for the stampede. I assume that it starts this week, or at least within the next couple of days. Almost every community center or church in the city has a free stampede breakfast. I guess it's a tradition that has developed. I'm not quite sure though what our rules are about attending them. We may be eating a gourmet breakfast every morning for the next week and a half. This month, we also can only drive 3/4 of our kilometer alotment, so I'm expecting to encounter some pretty interesting conversations downtown. I've heard that there is a lot of alcohol that is consumed during the stampede.

The Latinos have been very interested in the World Cup. I think it's the topic of conversation at almost every house we visit. There is definitely a strong sense of national pride amongst the different countries that are here in Calgary.

The weather continues to be excellent. I just wish that it would stay like this all year round.

Everything else is going great here. I miss you all, but am enjoying more and more the mission as I become more comfortable with stretching myself.

Con Amor,

Elder Dunlap

June 28th

Hola!
I'm glad to hear that Hailey continues to grow and be healthy, that Nathan and Ashley are preparing for their baby, and that Monica was able to find a job. Maybe this is beginning of a future as a librarian for Monica.
We've had a great week this past week. We've lacked some solid investigators recently, but we've been flooded with blessings in this past week.
We extended a 7 day challenge to pray and invite someone to meet with us to a member family a week ago. THey brough someone to church yesterday and then we went and ate dinner with them last night. Their friend is going to be moving about a block away from them in the beginning of July. I taught her a little bit in my past area, but now she's going to have a perfect fellowshipping situation. She enjoyed church and is going to continue to attend.
A former investigator showed up at church 2 weeks ago and he wants us to start teaching him as soon as he moved to a new house at the end of the month of June. We're excited to begin working with him. He randomly came to church so we can tell that something has changed in his life.
A guatemalan guy went to church in the north ward yesterday and he wants to start meeting with the missionaries. He lives in our area and we're going to begin teaching him this week as well.
Another member found a less active lady that he works with. She's been inactive for a long time and recently moved to Calgary. She's married to a non-member but accepted an invitation from the member to begin listening to the missionaries again.
We also extended a 7 day challenge this past Saturday to a less active couple and they immediately thought of two people that they are going to talk to and invite this week.
President has been stressing the importance of being obedient and extending 7 day challenges in our areas. He's stressed that it's not about us, but that we leave strong commitments with ward members so that they can receieve the blessings of sharing the gospel and so that they can have a faith building experience. As we've been obedient, blessings seemed to pour in these past couple days. New investigators have came in all different forms. Maybe not exactly related to the 7-day challengein some cases, but blessings for being obedient to the will of the Lord and the mission president. We've really been filled with gratitude the last couple days for the things we've been blessed with. Thank you for your prayers and support.
The summer weather has finally arrived. It won't be here for long, but I think if the weather was like it is right now all year round, Calgary would be a town ten times the size it is.
The Calgary Stampede is coming up the beginning of July and I'll probably be right in the middle of it being in downtown. We'll definitely try to avoid it as much as we can.

Thanks again for everything! I love and miss you all.

Con Amor,
Elder Dunlap