Mar Vista: Transfer 11: Week 6 The Last E-mail!!!!‏ May 9, 2011

This is it!!!? Can you believe it? I still can't believe it. I can't believe that on Wednesday I will be back home. I have gone through so many different emotions in the last couple of days, its crazy. I just can't decide how to feel about it.

It has been a crazy week! After the hike last Monday I had a terrible allergy attack and then was hit with my annual springtime sinus infection, which had me in bed for three days. Can you believe it? What wonderful timing. Not! I actually think that a lot of it had to do with the stress of everything finally wearing down my body. Saturday we had a big church "Open House" activity that went alright for a first time, "pilot program" sort of idea. It was well organized but that we didn't have enough publicity for it, so we only had about five nonmembers wander in. But one of them was really interested and wanted to have the missionaries come over! So even if it was just for him it was definitely worth it. We had a big part in helping put it together, so that was part of my stress, but it was also a good distraction to keep me focused on the work.

I said goodbye to everyone in the ward yesterday and that was sad. I am really going to miss the Mar Vista ward. It has become a big part of my life. I was there for six months and I know every person in that ward. It has been amazing to see the changes as everyone has become really excited about missionary work. Since the ward fast we have had different investigators at church every Sunday, which has helped to boost the enthusiasm as the ward has seen those positive results. In sacrament meeting I sang the hymn "O My Father." I felt that the words were very fitting for my coming home.

I especially love the last verse:

When I leave this frail existence,
When I lay this mortal by,
Father, Mother, may I meet you
In your royal courts on high?
Then, at length, when I’ve completed
All you sent me forth to do,
With your mutual approbation
Let me come and dwell with you.

It made me think about coming home to be with my amazing family again and how much I love them. My mom and dad have been such incredible examples to me with the honorable missions that they both served, and just the strength of their testimonies of the gospel. I appreciate them so much! :D

It also made me think about how this whole life is a mission, and one day we will all return to live with our Heavenly Father and we will be so happy to see him, and hopefully he will be able to say to us "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." I really feel like I have done everything that I could on my mission, and I have taken the fullest advantage that I could of growing from this experience and have become a new and better person. I am very satisfied with all of the experiences that I've had, all of the personal growth that I have accomplished, all of the friends that I have met, and all of the times that I was able to follow the spirit and be in instrument in Heavenly Father's hands to do his work. Part of me is sad to leave it all behind, but at the same time I know that I will continue to learn and grow in the next phase of my life and I am excited for a new adventure. I really gave my heart to the Lord here on my mission, and I have learned to trust him with it and to let him guide my life because he will always make it better than I ever could.

I know that Jesus Christ lives and that he is the Son of God. He has the power to heal us and to cleanse us of our sins, and to prepare us to live again with our Father in Heaven. He loves us. It has been so interesting to me to hear all of the different stories of who men say that he is. Some that I have heard are that Christ wasn't really crucified, it was just a "look alike" that fooled the people and so Christ was never resurrected. I've also heard that the period of time where the Bible was silent about Christ's life from the age of 12 to his late twenties that he went into India and learned his philosophies from that culture. It is the same now as when Christ lived; there were so many different theories.

It is like when he asked the apostles "Whom say men that I the Son of man am?" And they told him that some people thought that he was John the Baptist, or another prophet. Others thought that he was just a wise rabbi, or some of the Pharisees even claimed that he was possessed by a devil. It is incredible how many different views and explanations there have been of of Jesus Christ. I love how Jesus then asks "But whom say ye that I am?" And Peter responds "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." And he says to Peter "Blessed art thou Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in Heaven." The only way that we can come to know that Christ is our Savior is through our Father in heaven, who will send his Spirit to those with an open heart and a willing mind to testify the truth that Christ is the Son of God, and the only way to return to our Heavenly Father. I know that is true because I have felt the spirit testify to me that Jesus is the Christ! He really can heal our souls. He has healed my soul from past mistakes, hurt feelings, moments of self hate, depression, anxiety, fear, and doubt. I have loved being his representative and bearing witness that Jesus is the Christ. He is all powerful, and with Him "nothing is impossible."

I love you all, and will see you soon!

Sister Dansie

1. Goodbye lunch with Sister Larson
2. Saying Goodbye to Dagmar
3. Open House Activity
4. Last time at Yogurtland
5. At the Hollywood sign with my district.

Departing Missionary Fireside Pics‏ / May 1, 2011

The Marquez family came and they gave me balloons and a huge stuffed animal bunny. It was really sweet of them. :) I gave Mirna, Melissa, and Clarissa some of my mission skirts to remember me by and I gave Felix my hymnbook which I wrote my testimony in so he can take it with him on his mission. Did I tell you that Felix is getting ready to serve a mission?! I am so excited for him.

Mar Vista: Transfer 11: Week 5 / May 2, 2011

What a week!
 
Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Elder Clayton, the President of the Seventy came with their wives this Friday to speak at a combined mission conference we had with the Arcadia mission at the Los Angeles stake center. It was so incredible! We got to hear them all speak about missionary work. It was a very powerful meeting with all of those missionaries there. It reminded me of the Missionary Training Center. Elder Perry told some really incredible stories, like about how when he was twelve his dad had taken him and his brothers to meet a man who had known Martin Harris when he was a boy. He had worked for a family that Martin Harris was staying with in Utah. Martin Harris was very old and witheres, but he still bore a powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon and it had really impacted this man, who then then told the story to Elder Perry. Martin Harris was one of the Three Special Witnesses of the Book of Mormon, who had personally held the gold plates and testified of their reality. Elder Perry told us how it was such a powerful experience for him to realize that he was just two generations away from a man who had actually held the Gold plates in his hands, and who bore special witness that they were from God. Elder Perry then bore a powerful witness of the Book of Mormon and Jesus Christ.
 
There were a lot of things at the meeting that were surprisingly very applicable to my life after the mission. I also keep meeting people in the Visitors' Center that somehow find out that I am about to come home and that have been giving me really good advice. There was a man that came in and he told me about his nephew who was such a great missionary, that he loved his mission, but then he had come home and married someone who hated the church and had gone completely inactive. It is so sad to see people that fall away after having such an incredible experience as a missionary. I've decided that a big part of it comes from a need "to be commanded in all things," instead of being the wise servants that Doctrine and Covenants describes in section 58 that is "anxiously engaged" and "does many good things of his own free will and choice," or something along those lines. I am really grateful for the self-control that the mission has taught me, and I plan to keep learning and growing, and setting goals to grow spiritually as well so that I don't catch myself backsliding. Another old man asked me "So are you happy right now? Do you feel close to Christ and more of his love?" To which I of course replied "yes." "Well, then keep doing what you're doing." I don't think that he meant in a freaky "act like I'm still a missionary" kind of way, but there is a value that comes from the habits I've formed, from the daily scripture study and prayer, and from really applying the gospel to myself that I hope to always have with me in my life.
 
After the fireside and later Friday evening I was lucky enough to be right at the entrance of the Visitors' Center when Sister Perry and Sister Clayton came by, so I welcomed them and offered to give them a tour. They are the sweetest ladies! They loved the Visitors' Center. It was really amazing giving them a tour, because they are so wise and it was great to learn from them and also to see two really great examples of women that have dedicated their lives to serving the Lord. Their husbands were busy in a meeting, which is something that I imagine they are both very used to. Elder Perry even made a joke about how he loved being out with the members instead of being in meeting after meeting after meeting at the Church office building. They were especially excited to watch the Special Witnesses of Christ with the video segments of the newer apostles that aren't on the DVD. We also watched Elder Perry's, and Sister Perry commented on how much she disliked the tie he had chosen to wear. When we were in the "Savior of the World" exhibit there was a video clip that starts out with Christ on the cross, and sister Clayton gasped and hurried and changed it saying "oh I just can't handle that." They were both so cute.
 
Yesterday was the Departing Missionary Fireside. You would think that the fact that I am going home soon would hit me there, but it didn't and it really hasn't yet. It kind of just feels like a weird dream and home is still just another alternate reality. The fireside was great, except that they put me first! There were seventeen of us going home, so they told us that we only had three minutes to share our testimony, so I felt completely unprepared. I had thought that I would have some time to sit there and think about it, but no. As I got up I could still hear them discussing how we really needed to make sure we didn't take more than three minutes, so I was so nervous about going ever that I only talked for about a minute and then sat down. Hopefully I made up for it in a really nice musical number that I did with Sister Stout. It was a duet of "Lead Kindly Light." It was so great to see a lot of the people that I have come to know and love on my mission that were there! That was definitely the best part. The Marquez family came and they gave me balloons and a huge stuffed animal bunny. It was really sweet of them. :) I gave Mirna, Melissa, and Clarissa some of my mission skirts to remember me by and I gave Felix my hymnbook which I wrote my testimony in so he can take it with him on his mission. Did I tell you that Felix is getting ready to serve a mission?! I am so excited for him. So now I'll have two little brothers out on missions! Wouldn't it be great if he got to be companions with James? Or if they are in the MTC at the same time?
 
I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and I have felt him carrying me so much throughout my mission, and I know that he will keep taking care of me in the future. "So long thy power hath blest me, sure it still will lead me on." Heavenly Father loves all of us so much! It was so incredible to see some of those blessings of my mission and the fruits of my labors in his vineyard. Wow. Like I said, I still can't believe it.
 
I hope that you are all doing well, and I look forward to seeing you all pretty soon.
 
I love you all!
 
- Sister Dansie
 
Pics:
1. The Dickson's came in to the Visitor's Center!
2.Dinner at the Bishop's with Diane
3. Sisters Perry and Clayton

Mar Vista: Transfer 11: Week 4 / April 25, 2011

Happy Easter!

I hope you all enjoyed Easter! We had a great morning in our ward and then afternoon at the Visitors' Center. We surprised our ward by giving all of the families a family home evening game activity that we made called the "Feed My Sheep Game," where they put the names of people they are working with on sheep game pieces and then move around the steps to track their progression for when they are ready to be taught by the missionaries. It also has a booklet with ideas of how to help them get to the next step. It was a fun project that Sister Olsen and I have been working on for the past month or so during slow times here at the Visitors' Center. Hopefully it will help people get involved in missionary work, and especially the families with young kids. Over half of our ward is made up of families in the UCLA family housing that is adjacent to the church building.

It has been an interesting week, to say the least. We've spent a lot of time finding, because a lot of the people we are working with haven't really been progressing, well, or at least it is just going to be a longer process. We tracted into a Hari Krishna spiritualist community in Venice that was pretty interesting. They told us that they were interested and open minded towards all religion, so they invited us in for a minute. There were seven of them, one family- A mom and dad and their two year old boy, and then four other men. They had one wall that was dedicated to being an altar, to which they added our pass along card picture of Christ that we had given them. They started talking to us about Hinduism, and basically trying to convert us, and I didn't really know what to do (Yes, I probably shouldn't have gone in in the first place, but one of them seemed really interested in the Book of Mormon), so as most of the situations where I don't know what to do as a missionary, I turned to my cop out and asked if we could sing something for them. They said yes so we sang them "I am a Child of God." We were just going to sing and leave, but then they wanted to sing us a song, and we didn't want to be rude, so they busted out a harmonium and drums and started singing a song in sanscript which basically just repeated "Rama rama" over and over again, and it went on for at least five minutes. I didn't know what to do. We couldn't escape. Then they finally stopped and they explained that "now they sing the song in double time, to have higher vibrations and more connection with God," so they went again for the next couple of minutes. They were such nice people, it was just an interesting kind of culture shock, especially for little miss Sister Olsen from Rigby Idaho. So that was kind of a fun experience. Only in Venice. :D

We also met some other really good potentials, one of them is a ten year old boy that is really interested in learning more, and the other is an Iranian woman that just walked in to church this Sunday, and we just happen to have another Iranian woman in our ward that is about her same age and that is the most incredible member missionary I have ever met. It was just another testimony that God does watch out for all of his children and have a plan for all of us, because it was just so perfect that she recently moved in our area and then just happened to come in to church.

Well, have a wonderful week! I love you all!

- Sister Dansie

Mar Vista: Transfer 11: Week 3‏ / April 18, 2011

Hi family!

Guess what? Steve was baptized! Remember how I told you about that guy from Scotland who had worked with Bear Grylls and who came in to the Visitors' Center with his member girlfriend? Well, she just came in a couple of days ago to let me know that Steve has been baptized! She said that he really felt the spirit at the Visitor's Center and he took the lessons in two weeks and was baptized! He's in Morocco now for the next couple of months leading outdoor excursions, which is part of the reason he decided to get baptized so quickly so that he could have the Holy Ghost with him before he went out there. I thought it was pretty crazy that he is going to be in Morocco at the same time as James. Wouldn't it be crazy if they met somehow? James, if you meet a Scottish guy named Steve, make sure you ask him if he knows me. It was so great to be able to see the end result of someone's conversion that I had a small role in initiating. He was obviously so ready and already seeking the truth, and then when he came in to the Visitors' Center for the first time he was ready to recognize it for what it was. It was interesting because he was already Christian, so I was trying to explain some things to him at first and talk a little about the Bible from a bit of a logical standpoint, considering I've been reading Jesus the Christ and learning a lot of really neat things, but then I could tell that it wasn't going anywhere and he was a little defensive, so I just took him in to the Christus statue and told him to push all of those things aside and just pay attention to how he felt, and what the spirit was trying to say to him, and the whole tour changed. It is amazing what the spirit can do, and another testimony to me that I can't convince anyone with my own knowledge that the gospel is true. They have to feel that testimony from the Holy Ghost, and all I can be is the messenger.

Caroline, the woman from India that came to church last week came to the Visitors' Center with her husband and little girl and another family from our ward that lives in their same complex. They loved it, and they went to church the next day and really enjoyed it as well. The culture in India is very different. They are accepting of all religion and everything good, so they still don't understand a lot of the spiritual aspect or even the concept of conversion and what that would imply, but they love the social aspect and the church organization and they can see how it will help their family. We're hoping that slowly we will be able to help them understand. They seemed a little confused even about why we want to come to their house, so we're trying to explain all of that as well. We invited them to be baptized and Caroline told us that she already has been baptized Christian, and the husband said that he would go to church and be involved but that he doesn't really want to commit to anything right now. So, it will probably be a slow process, but they are an amazing family, and they would do anything for their daughter, which is why they want to go to church, because they know that it is important to teach her about God.

We also got the information for a man named Sky that has been going to church in a ward close to the beach because it is only a couple of blocks away from he lives at a rehab center right on the ocean front. He had an amazing "Alma the younger" type conversion experience when he was in prison, and apparently met with missionaries there but is just waiting to get off of parole before he can be baptized. We went to go visit him, but the center has some pretty strict rules about visiting hours, so we can only go on Sunday afternoons, and before we could visit we had to go through an forty five minute orientation. We went with our Relief Society president who lives right by there as well in Venice. It was really interesting, because it put us directly into the heart of Babylon- right on the ocean front of Venice Beach. There are so many interesting people there. We actually didn't end up getting to meet Sky this Sunday, but I did find out the definition for "Tripping." It was in our information packet along with other helpful terms to know like "Jailing," and I can't remember the other ones. I especially remembered "Tripping" because the definition was "having your mind on anything but the here and now." So, some of you might be asking, have I been "tripping" about going home? Well, actually, not yet. It still hasn't really hit me. I'm sure it will eventually though. I'm just trying to do the opposite of "tripping" by focusing on the work and enjoying every day that I have left. I really do love my mission. I love being able to help people, and thinking about others before myself, and being able to be a representative of Jesus Christ for those that I meet. I hope that is something that I can take home with me and keep working on every day.

Well, I love you all very much! Don't be "Tripping"! I'll be home soon enough. :D

- Sister Dansie

Pictures:

1. So remember all of my friends that left me last transfer? Well, I saw three of them three days in a row, first Sister Cass, than Sister Tittle, and then Sister Garcia. I guess that Heavenly Father was trying to show me that life goes on just fine after the mission.

2-4 Pictures from our district activity this morning to the La Brea tar pits and the outside of the LACMA art museum. I went there last year too on my mission. Which again made me realize how long I've been a missionary for. And yes, my hair is foofy and out of control. I'm starting to feel like Carrot top. I'm just going to wait to cut it until I get back though. I've had too many traumatizing hair cuts here with the low price hair cuts I've been able to afford.

Mar Vista: Transfer 11: Week 2 April 11, 2011

Beach P-day!

We went to the beach for our annual beach p-day today. We had two hours where we played volleyball and ultimate frisbee on the beach. We couldn't touch the wet sand or get too close to the water, but it was so nice to just be on the beach and feel the sand on my bare feet. It was a beautiful sunny day, and wasn't too hot. It was so much fun!

It has been a great week. We've seen so many little miracles that show us how much Heavenly Father really has been guiding us. Diane and Ekambaram come to church on Sunday! They both really enjoy church. We had to leave after sacrament meeting to go serve in the Visitors' Center, but we found out when we were eating dinner with a family in our ward Sunday night that a woman named Caroline had come in to church with her husband and daughter. They had come late and missed sacrament meeting and were a little confused, but ended up going to Relief Society and taking their little girl to primary. Caroline is a woman from India who we met on the street about two weeks ago and she just let us in to her house and we had talked to her about going to church, but we hadn't been able to get ahold of her since that first time. We were really surprised to hear that they had come, so we decided to go over and visit them after dinner and they told us that they had loved it. They have an adorable five yr. old girl named Nitila who is severely autistic and they have really been wanting to teach her more about God. They went into Primary with all of the kids and there is only one little girl in the 4-5 year old class with a lot of little boys, so when she saw that there was another girl coming into the class she was so happy that she grabbed Nitila's hand and was a sweet friend for her. (If only we could all be so loving and friendly to anyone new that comes to visit church! That's something so amazing we can all learn from kids. I think that "Awkward" is something that adults invented.)

Caroline was so happy with everything that she told us "Yes, we will be members of this church." We are going to work to help them to understand the spiritual aspect and not just the social aspect of the church, but they really have great motivations and want to get involved with everything. Caroline is already Christian at least, so she has that background with Jesus Christ that we can build on. It is so interesting that we have found a family and a single man from India, all within this past month. I love meeting different people from different cultures and being able to learn from them and their point of view.

Well, I don't have as much time to write this week, but I hope you are all doing well! I love you all so much, and can't believe how fast summer is coming, and with it, well, lets just say a lot of big changes and new adventures for my life. I still don't know quite how to feel about it, but I'll figure it out and the Lord will be there for me, just like He has always been. :D Take care and have a great week!

- Sister Dansie

Mar Vista: Transfer 11: Week 1‏ / April 4, 2011

General Conference!!! Woo! Yeah! Wasn't it awesome?!

Ha Ha, yes, as missionaries we get pretty excited about conference. Its almost better than Christmas even. :D I loved hearing from the prophet and the apostles. The fact that God still speaks to us through his prophets has got to be one of my favorite things to share with people. Heavenly Father loves us, so of course he is still going to speak to us. Why wouldn't he? I loved the emphasis on charity, and really being true disciples of Christ. I felt like it was a call to action to be even more sincere in everything we do, and be motivated by true, Christlike love. I also love how it talked about sacrifice and suffering being part of our journey as disciples of Christ, and that it is what shapes and defines us. We can't expect life to be easy, or to have a quick fix for our problems. God is the Gardener! He wants us to learn and grow. It is so true! If our life were just cushy and comfortable, we wouldn't learn and grow, and Heavenly Father wouldn't really be showing his love to us, because he wouldn't be helping us to be better, happier people.

We had transfers this past week and my companion and I were blessed to stay together and in the same area, but it was still a really hard transfer for me. Three of my companions finished their missions and went home. I've been together with them for my whole mission, so we've become really great, close friends, and it was hard to see them leave, and also to realize how close the end is for me. It is a hard reality to face, and a very bittersweet thing to think about. My problem wasn't really trunkiness as much as it was feeling all of these doubts and fears about the future that Satan was trying to convince me to believe. I've been doing a lot better now as I've realized that I need to take President Monson's advice to "Fear not! The future is as bright as your faith."

I was feeling really down that morning in the Visitors' Center, but then we went out into our area that afternoon and saw some incredible miracles. We had received a referral for someone that had requested a Bible on mormon.org, and they had put the address for an apartment building but not an apartment number, so we said "ok, for some reason Heavenly Father wants us to go to this specific apartment building." We went and started knocking on doors and finally Maxine answered. At first she asked "Who are you? What do you want?" and we told her we were looking for someone who had ordered a Bible, and she told us that she hadn't requested one online but she had asked the Jehovah's witnesses for one but hadn't gotten it yet, so we told her "Well, this Bible must be for you!" She was so happy, and she told us that she had a mormon friend that had taken her to church a few times and she really enjoyed it. She told us that she had been taking care of her dad who is really sick and she apologized for being rude with us in the beginning, because it had just been hard for her to see her dad sick and she almost didn't answer the door. We gave her a "Together Forever DVD" and she told us "Oh, I'm sure I'm going to love it! I'm going to watch it tonight with me dad, and then I'm going to watch it again with my granddaughters. She thanked us for brightening her day by coming by, and really wanted us to visit with her this next week, so hopefully we'll see her again soon. It was an amazing miracle, and it reminded me of one of my favorite scriptures in Alma 31, where it talks about our afflictions being "swallowed up in the joy of Christ." Now matter how bad or how hard something is, God always gives us more joy and blessings than we could ever deserve and that far outweigh our sorrows and sufferings. We can't give him a crust without getting a loaf in return.

Have a great week!

Sister Dansie

Mar Vista: Transfer 10: Week 6‏ / March 28, 2011

Hello family!

My mission went from being a "Novella" to a "Bollywood" film this past week. We met a man from India named Ekambaran. His wife just left him and he was devastated. They had an arranged marriage in India and then she moved here with him while he's at UCLA doing research, and she hated it so she went back to India. We found him walking to a dinner appointment in the UCLA village family housing and he invited us to come over right after dinner, so we went by and he just broke down crying. We couldn't come into his apartment because he was there alone, so we said a prayer with him in the doorway and then sang "Where Can I Turn for Peace?" The next day he came to the Visitors' Center, because he felt something compelling him to be there. He felt peace. It is hard to teach him because he is still working on his English and has no Christian background, so we have to take a lot of baby steps. We taught him what baptism was and then asked him if he would be baptized if he knew it was true and he said yes. He really wants his wife back, and so that is all he prays for and what is motivating his seeking God in his life. We asked him if he was just looking for a quick fix or if he would be committed if he knew this was God's path for him, and he said that he would be. He came to church on Sunday and really seemed to enjoy it, so we'll see how that goes. We also found a 60 yr. old African American man named James Epps who wants to be baptized, so things are starting to pick up in Mar Vista. We don't know how serious they both are about it, but just the fact that we have started to find people that want to be baptized is such a miracle!

Things really are starting to bloom in Mar Vista! We always pass a fig tree on the way up to our apartment, and it has been bare for a long time because of the winter, and it is barely starting to get leafy again, so the other day I saw it and turned to Sister Olsen and exclaimed "We are like this fig tree!" She was really confused, as she often is, poor thing, but especially confused, so I had to explain to her how we were slowly starting to see things bloom and progress, and eventually we are going to see the fruits of our labor. It is funny because this week we decided that our companionship is like "Pinky and the Brain." I am always thinking and plotting. And as Sister Olsen said "You think too much. But I probably don't think enough." It balances out though and we make a good team.

I've started teaching a morning aerobics class for the sisters which is so fun! It has kept me motivated to exercise and helped me get those much needed endorphins to keep me going and to keep me happy. They all like to tease me for my enthusiasm in doing aerobics, but I don't care because I really like doing it.

I've been reading in Jesus the Christ and I found a really deep quote that I liked a lot. It says "Mere pleasure is at best but fleeting; happiness is abiding, for in the recollection thereof is joy renewed." -James Talmage. So that is my spiritual thought for you for the week. When we do good things the joy and happiness lasts because we can always look back on those memories and it gives us even more joy thinking about them.

I love you all! Have a great week!

Sister Dansie

Mar Vista: Transfer 10: Week 5‏ / March 21, 2011

Hey family!

Wet, cold, and rainy. That is how I would describe these past couple of days. I don't know how missionaries in Seattle do it. There was a point where the water in the curbs was so deep I had to attempt to leap over to get on the sidewalk, while my poor companion was fighting with the umbrella against the wind, which lead to it flipping itself inside out and my leap just let the wind pick up my skirt and almost flash the world as we are getting soaked in the meantime. We couldn't stop laughing, it was so funny. :D Good thing no one else was crazy enough to be out in it to see us, because we looked pretty ridiculous. I’m not complaining though, we only get a few bad weather days here in sunny California, so really it just made me appreciate how good I have it to be here in California, and how hard it must be to serve in places with bad weather. Well, all missions are challenging in their own rite, no matter where they are and what the circumstances.

Diane came to the Visitors' Center this week which was good. She had a terrible week though- one of those Murpheys' law, everything that can go wrong does go wrong kind of weeks, so we weren't able to meet with her. We had another woman come to church with us this week though. Her name is Melinda and she is so cute! She was going to another ward but lives in our area and so the first time we met her was at church, and she came up and gave me a hug and was so friendly and nice. She is in her late twenties and she found out about the church because a lot of friends from her work are Mormons and so is her husband's sister, and she said that she always felt like there was something about the religion that really interested her. We gave her a Book of Mormon before sacrament meeting started and she treated it like a prized possession and asked us where she should start reading from, and then the sacrament talks were perfect because they were all about the Book of Mormon and how it was another testament of the divinity of Jesus Christ. It was amazing! She loved it and was so open. The only thing is that she is super busy getting ready for big tests and said that she can't come to church again until April 3rd, but that she will read the Book of Mormon in the meantime.

In the Visitors' Center this week I've had the amazing opportunity of sharing the gospel with people from all over the world. An Italian man walked in the other day just out of curiosity. He didn't speak any english, and we could only somewhat communicate through spanish- as I awkwardly tried to speak spanish with an italian accent. i showed him all of the exhibits that we have in Italian. I also gave him a Book of Mormon in Italian and so a few times when I couldn't figure out how to say what a word was I quickly flipped to a scripture that had that word- like "prophet" or "angel" and things like that. It reminded me of the time we were lost in Florence and I only had one page of guidebook italian that I was trying to shout out the window to people to figure out how to get to the train station. I think that Italian is going to be the next language I try to learn. I also was able to give a tour to three people from Taiwan that were here for their cousins wedding. They live in the U.S. and spoke really good english, but it was still really neat to give them a tour. I also gave a tour to a really awesome Born Again Christian guy from England that came into the Visitors' Center with his girlfriend who is a member of the church. He was here in Los Angeles visiting her, so she wanted him to see what the church was all about. He travels the world as an adventure guide and does hiking tours in Scotland and Morrocco and all over. He even did some stuff with Bear Grylls from Man vs. Wild. Anyways, so it was just really neat to see the gospel being spread to the four corners of the earth and being part of that.

I love you all! I know that this church is the same church that Christ established when he walked the earth and that we have it again today. Christ is our true and living Savior, the Son of God, our Redeemer. He loves us and is always there for us, and through him we can repent and be cleansed from our sins. We just have to be humble and let him in and allow him to heal us and to change our hearts, so that we "have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually." Keep thinking about him as often as you can! Reading the scriptures will help. I've been learning about him more and reading Jesus the Christ and it is so amazing!

Have a great week. :D

Sister Dansie

Pictures: We took a few photos in front of the temple with the city in the background, and the last one is at Leavin's baptism.

Mar Vista: Transfer 10: Week 4‏

Wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles! We found someone that wants to be baptized!!!

Her name is Diane and she is amazing! She is in her 60s and has lived in Mar Vista for all her life. Her parents were what she jokingly called "jack mormons" from Utah, and they fell away long before they had Diane, who is number six of seven kids. None of the kids grew up in the church, but one of her brothers was converted and is now a bishop, and one of her sisters recently joined the church within the past couple of years, and Diane has seen how it has changed her sisters life. We met her on Tuesday, and meeting her was a miracle in and of itself. We felt like we needed to go see a potential investigator on a certain street, and when we got there we saw that the address doesn't exist. We decided to tract around the area to make it worth our trip out there and hopefully find someone. I always feel that if we are guided somewhere than Heavenly Father has a reason for us being there, so we need to at least talk to one person in every place that we go. So we started tracting and weren't having much luck. The first five houses were empty, and a couple of people on the street rejected us. We finally knocked on a house with someone home but they weren't interested at all. So we said, well, we'll try this one last house by where we had parked our car, and we found Diane! She was so open and friendly and wanted us to come back.

When we called to set up a lesson she asked us to bring her a copy of the Book of Mormon, even before we had mentioned it. We had a lesson with her on Saturday with Sister Larson, this awesome Iranian lady from our ward that converted from being a Muslim and is an incredible member missionary. In the lesson we talked about Jesus Christ and the atonement from scriptures in the Book of Mormon, because she has been going through a lot of hard things in her life right now and we asked her how Jesus Christ had helped her and she said,"Honestly, I don't know." We talked to her about her relationship with Jesus Christ and what he did for her, and how by being baptized she could access the blessings of his sacrifice for her in her life, and then Sister Olsen courageously invited her to be baptized. We ask them directly "Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God? She said yes, that she does want to be baptized and that she has never been baptized before in any religion, and she thinks that it would really help her. Then the second part of the baptismal invitation is asking to set a date by saying "We will be having a baptismal service on the tenth of April, will you prepare yourself to be baptized on that day?" It is one of the few very specific things we say in order to be very clear and direct with our purpose. So Sister Olsen did the first part like a champ, and then she got so excited that Diane said yes that she said "Will you be baptized April 10th?" And Diane said "What?! April 10th? Really? So soon?!" She was a little shocked, but we were able to explain to her that it was just a goal that we are working towards, and that baptism is just the gate to receiving more blessings and guidance from our Heavenly Father. Cute Sister Olsen after the lesson was like "I'm so sorry I messed it up!" But I told her it was fine. Diane's only concern is not being prepared, because she doesn't realize how much the spirit has prepared her already. She came to church and stayed for all three hours, even though it is painful for her to sit for long periods of time and she is taking care of her son who just got out of the hospital and she was a little worried about leaving him, but even with those possible excuses she stayed! She is so solid. We know that finding her was a miracle that happened as a result of our 40-day ward fast.

Another miracle was that I got to see Leavin be baptized, finally! He is a guy I taught with Sister Garza in Olympic that wanted to be baptized, but that told us that he would do it in his own way and time, and he finally did! Sister Garza and I sang "I Need Thee Every Hour" in Spanish at the baptism. It was so great to be there and see everyone from my old ward. We also saw the Ramos couple from that ward that we went by to visit a couple times. They were a young couple without any kids that have just been in the church for about two years. When I was with Sister Garza we felt really strongly that we needed to visit them a few times, although we didn't really understand why. We talked to them about missionary work and the Hermana told us that she really wanted to invite her nonmember sister to the Visitors' Center, but that she was scared. We took the couple out to an appointment with us, because we thought that maybe we had felt inspired to go there because they would be good to help us with a family we were teaching, but the appointment fell through so we took them tracting for a little bit. The Hermana was really shy and nervous, but she did it and we had a good experience. We committed her to invite her sister to the Visitors' Center and she did, because she said that going tracting helped her to have the courage to invite her sister. So a couple of months ago i was at the Visitor's Center when hermana Ramos and her sister and sisters family all came to the Visitors' Center, and they loved it. Yesterday I saw the whole family again with Hermana Ramos at the baptism, and I found out that they were all baptized last week! It was really amazing to see how something small that we did helped to trigger the process of conversion for this beautiful family.

Things are finally really coming together! I have realized how incredibly important it is to follow the spirit, because in both of those experiences we would have completely missed out on being part of helping these people, but the fact that we did follow the spirit even when it didn't make sense to us and we couldn't understand why gave us the blessing of helping them. And now Heavenly Father gave us the blessing of being able to look back and see some of the fruits of our labors. It is like how King Benjamin says that there is no way we could ever earn the blessings that God gives us, because every time we do something good he blesses us even more. He gives us more than we could ever dream of deserving. I am so happy that I am here serving a mission and serving my Heavenly Father and that I can see his hand in my life and in everything around me.

I love you all! Have a great week.

Sister Dansie

Mar Vista: Transfer 10: Week 3‏ / March 8, 2011

Hey family!

Things are finally starting to happen in Mar Vista! People are actually talking to us and setting return appointments! They haven't been following through with those appointments, but still, we're seeing progress! Almost every day this week we had a miracle experience with someone who wanted to talk to us that we had the opportunity to teach. Our first miracle was with a man named Deryl. We were fasting for our day in the ward's forty day fast and we felt really strongly that we needed to go to a certain street in Venice, and when we were there we were rejected about five times and were on our way back to the car when we saw a man across the street. We awkwardly crossed the street to go up to talk to him and said something like "Hey, we're just trying to spread the good news about Jesus Christ." To which he responded "Of latter day saints?" We got talking and found out that he had dated a Mormon girl for about a year and knew a lot about the church, so we shared some scriptures with him from the Book of Mormon and he was really interested in talking about it. We got his info and called him and he actually called back and told us that he was pretty busy working on a movie, but maybe we could set up a time for Saturday. We're still trying to get a hold of him again to meet with him, but that was a little miracle.

Yesterday we were fasting again for help finding people that are prepared to receive the gospel and we tracted into a Chinese woman named Stella that let us right in to her apartment. She has been studying the Bible with her Christian friends and was really open to the things that we talked to her about, even though she doesn't consider herself to be Christian. We invited her to be baptized when she finds out that it is true, and she said that is she knew it was true she would be baptized. We also had a kneeling prayer with her and she offered it, which is always a great sign that someone has a willing and humble heart, and you could tell that she felt the spirit. It was really refreshing to have someone be so kind and open to receiving us in their home. So both of those miracles happened as we were fasting, which is another testimony to me that when we are showing our faith that the Lord does bless us.

I've been having a lot of fun with Sister Olsen. She is really pure and innocent and sometimes says some really great blond things, and we just laugh at them together. She is from a two stoplight town in Idaho called Rigby, so everything is just so new and foreign to her. The other day she asked a random man on the street "Are you a member?" We also had some guys that wanted us to talk to them for a little bit and then brought up the question "Do you practice Celibacy?" Which led to a discussion on the Law of Chastity. They were really nice talking to us, although their minds and their motivations abviously weren't very focused on the gospel. Los Angeles is just getting more and more disgustingly sleazy that the concept of the law of chastity is completely shocking to most people, and is actually the number one issue that keeps people from baptism in this mission. i mean, you should see the billboards around here! Those poor elders. Finding a virtuous woman here really is like trying to find a ruby. Anyways, so we got back in the car and sweet Sister Olsen asks "What's celibacy?" and then after a brief explanation she stated "Well, I've never talked about THAT with a complete stranger!"

The best was when we were at a members house the other day. The member is from Guatemala but is now very into american culture as she has been here married to an american for a long time. I was saying something about how I wished I was latina because they age so beautifully. Then Sister Olsen pitched in and said "yeah, I wish I was luh-teen-oh so i could wear the gangsta clothes and look cool." I was terrified for a second but the member just laughed. And asked how are gangster clothes stylish? Apparently Sister Olsen really likes hip hop music, which is where she was coming from in her mind, but I had to explain to her in the car afterwards that gang violence here is a very real thing and so she has to be really careful talking about it like its cool because most people here actually know someone who has been affected by and maybe even killed from gang violence. We were mostly just laughing about it, but i also told her that she has to be careful to not say things that could be taken as racially offensive. Ha Ha, it was just really awkward all around, and we were just lucky it only happened with a sister that understands that she didn't realize what she said had actually meant. So we've been laughing a lot and having a good time.

Oh, and something else cool is that my recent convert Karina came in to the Visitors' Center the other day with a less active and a nonmenber friend, and she was bearing her testimony to them and her non member friend wants a Book of Mormon and the missionaries. It was so cool to actually see how the small part that I had in the conversion of Karina is branching out into a domino affect as she now bears her testimony and shares the gospel with others around her. She is also the Relief Society secretary in her ward and was so excited to tell me about it. It was so amazing!

Well, I love you all! Have a great week!

- Sister Dansie

1. Sister Olsen's mom made these cute headbands
2. Mini Mission
3. Gangsta Sister Olsen
4. Zone Conference

Mar Vista: Transfer 10: Week 2 / 2/28/2011

Hey family!

It has been an eventful week. Wednesday we had zone conference. It was in the stake center where the Marquez family and the Reyna family were baptized, so it brought back a lot of good memories. We focused a lot on fulfilling our purpose and having the faith to ask for referrals and extend the invitation to be baptized in the first lesson to be clear with why we are there, and it was really good for me because I realized that a big part of why we haven't been successful in our area is because we were thinking of all of those things as if they were just nice suggestions, and now my companion and I are trying to think of them more as commandments, and we are starting to see really great results. It is definitely a trial of our faith because it can be scary inviting someone to be baptized, especially when we are in an area where we are lucky if someone will actually talk to us, and so when someone does you don't want to freak them out or scare them away, but I realized that people were getting more freaked out not really knowing what we were doing there when we weren't clear with our purpose.

For example, yesterday night we went to visit a family where the dad isn't a member, and we have gone by before and tried to be friendly and get to know them and maybe share a spiritual thought and pray with the family, which is nice, but last night we actually invited him to be baptized and asked what was keeping him from being baptized, and he said that basically he just doesn't know if it is true or not, so we told him that he needs to pray and read the Book of Mormon and really ask Heavenly Father if it is true. We could tell that he was a little taken back by us being direct, but he sincerely thought about what we were saying and he thanked us for coming over. The spirit was really strong, and I know that it was because we testified boldly and helped him clearly understand what Heavenly Father expects of him. Heavenly Father wants all of his children to be baptized, and someday everyone is going to know that this is the truth, and they are going to be able to look at us and ask why weren't we more direct in telling them that this is true! Anyways, I've been thinking about this a lot because we've been working on getting our ward involved in missionary work. We had ward conference and we had to get up in front of the whole ward in the chapel for Sunday school to give part of the lesson. We think it went well. Hopefully we will start seeing some results.

We got really excited this week to get a referral text with the information for someone in our area named Carlos that wanted to be baptized, but he turned out to be spanish speaking. It was still great to be a small part in his conversion process. We got to talk to his son about the gospel and Carlos was so grateful. Oh, and I found out that someone from my old area is getting baptized on March 15th! It really is so amazing to see someone change their life in such a physical way and to know that they are going to be happier because they have the Holy Ghost to help them out.

Saturday we participated in a mini-mission where two young women came with us in our area for a couple of hours. Heavenly Father really loves us and loves them because we had some amazing miracles when they were with us. We went to Subway for lunch and met a man named Ernie that was there at Subway studying the Bible and taking notes and everything, so we went up to him and started talking to him and he was really interested in learning more. He wanted to buy the Book of Mormon from us. When we told him that Christ came to ancient America he said "No way!" he was so excited about it. He lives in a different area of Los Angeles, but it was still really great to talk with him, and he wanted the missionaries to teach him and said that he would be baptized if he knew that it was true.

Well, I'm doing my best to stay as focused as possible, if you can't tell, ha ha. :D Things are going great with my companion. She is always asking me "Can I help you?" She is really sweet.

I love you all!

Sister Dansie

Mar Vista: Transfer 10: Week 1 I'm Training?!‏ Feb. 21, 2011

Hey Family!

So guess what? We had transfers and I am still in Mar Vista, but I'm training a new companion. Well, I feel more like she is training me. Her name is Sister Olsen and she is from Rigby Idaho, and she was called to the LA Visitors' Center, English speaking, which means she was in the MTC for four weeks and now she is here in LA. She is really sweet and humble and is already jumping into the work without me hardly having to show her anything. She arrived Wednesday afternoon, and right off the plane we take them out tracting. She was a little nervous, but she even knocked the first door without me showing her first. She is courageous and just trusts in the Lord. She is a natural at talking with people and being friendly. She has a great attitude about everything and looks around for ways to help without me even asking her. I feel incredibly blessed.

I was kind of freaking out at first about training and just worrying that I wasn't good enough or I was going to mess everything up somehow, but I just really prayed and was reading in the Book of Mormon in Mosiah chapters 2-4 and it was the perfect advice for a trainer. It talks about trusting in Jesus Christ, about teaching your children (which in the mission they joke that your trainee is your baby) and it also talks about being diligent, serving with your whole heart, but not running faster than you have strength. I feel like Sister Olsen has been really patient with me as I learn the ropes as well and get used to being a senior companion for the first time, running the area, and driving for the first time in LA. :P It has definitely been a challenge, but Heavenly Father is helping me and is pushing me to grow so that I can rise to meet and overcome it and become a stronger person in the process. Its like lifting weights, as soon as you become comfortable lifting a certain amount it is time to step it up, add more weight and push yourself to grow stronger. I still remember when we would all go to lift weights as a family at Gold's Gym, early in the morning over the summer. Do you remember that? Those are some great memories for me, ha ha. :D Anyways, I just started thinking about that as I made that analogy and it always makes me laugh thinking about us all decked out with our weight lifting gear and everything. We should do that again this summer so that I can get in shape.

Well, back to how the week went. This week has been the rainiest week I have ever experienced here in Los Angeles. It has been pouring. It finally cleared up yesterday. It was really uncharacteristic and led me to wonder how missionaries serve in bad weather, because it makes everything so much harder.

Wednesday we picked up the trainees, took them out tracting, and then they had to have an interview with the president and then go through a lot of orientation things while he decided who would be their companions. There was one other sister that came into the Visitors' Center, named Sister Franks. Her family is really good friends with the Sharettes. It was really weird because when I saw her I thought that she looked so familiar, and so I'm thinking that I probably saw her when she was visiting them or something. We found out who our companion was and then went over to work in the Visitors' Center. It was a long and overwhelming day for the trainees, I think as the first day always is. We got some training about how to be trainers which was good. Mostly they emphasized how being their trainer is going to affect the rest of their entire mission and life and how you better be a good, obedient trainer. Hence the aforementioned freaking out. But I've gotten over it and realized that the Lord is there helping me, so it'll be fine.

Friday night we had great experiences teaching a couple of powerful lessons where the spirit was there so strong. Sister Olsen has such faith and love and a great testimony of the gospel. She is always worried because she didn't read a lot before her mission and feels like she doesn't know enough about all of the facts and the doctrine, but I keep telling her that what matters the most is her testimony and how well she follows the promptings of the spirit, which are both super strong points for her. You can feel her genuine love for the gospel and the pureness of her motivations. I love it. Heavenly Father knows me really well and knows exactly what I needed. I don't think I could have handled a sassy know-it-all kind of companion, and Sister Olsen is so completely the opposite.

Saturday was one of the worst days of my mission so far. It was pouring rain and we were out in our area that afternoon. We decided to go out and visit Janee and her family. They are the group of Christians that came to church a couple of weeks to check it out, which was a miracle because it has been really hard to get people to come to church. We went by and tried to teach them again about Joseph Smith, which was their biggest concern, and they basically told us that they can't accept that he is a prophet and won't even open their hearts to the possibility because it adds on and therefore somehow takes away from their belief in the Savior. They said that even they they didn't know much about the church, that they knew there was something extra that goes above and beyond, like the Pharisees at the times of Christ that added on to the law of Moses. So even without reading the Book of Mormon or knowing anything, or praying with even the slight thought that it might be true, they completely rejected the possibility and wouldn't let the spirit testify that it was true. We were there for a little over an hour, because they kept asking "questions" that logically disproved our beliefs because they want to save us and keep us from being mislead by a false prophet. I felt terrible because the spirit was completely gone. We left and it hurt so much because they are incredible people and we love them, but they just aren't ready. We walked out to our car in the pouring rain and then sat in there for a minute and just prayed so hard to try to get the spirit back, and I was also praying in my heart trying to think of someone, anyone that actually wanted us to be there and would need us and would be willing to accept the gospel.

We drove away and I felt like we should stop on the next street and visit a potential investigator. By this point it was a little after eight, we were in a weird neighborhood in Venice, it was dark and still pouring rain, but i felt like we needed to stop by this house, almost in an effort to prove to myself that I did know how to follow the spirit and that I had faith enough to find someone who actually cared to listen. We got up to the door and I knocked with all of the hope and faith that my heart could muster after being so sad about that horrible lesson, and we knocked and all of the sudden a gruff looking man opened the door restraining his German shepherd that is big enough that it could eat me and says "What is the world are you doing out here? What do you want?" We weakly said something like we were inviting people to church. And then he said "at this time? This is not a good place or time for this. This is not a good neighborhood. Are you lost?" At that point I uncharacteristically broke down and started bawling and through tears said "We are just trying to help people." He softened and let us come in, but then I realized he was the only one home and we needed to leave, and he told us that he wanted nothing to do with what we were teaching, so we left. It was kind of a bummer. I cried in the car and we prayed again. i have realized since that I was being really dramatic, but I'm blaming it on the pouring rain which makes everything more depressing.

Things are actually going pretty good in the area. Well, they are improving and I just need to be patient. Well, i'm out of time, but i love you and hope you have a good week and a great president's day!

- Sister Dansie

Pics:
I can't remember which ones I put, but the last one is me and my new comp. The other ones are of our district.

Mar Vista: Transfer 9: Week 7 Transfer Week!‏

Hello family!
 
Happy Valentines Day!
 
Thank you for all your e-mails this week, it really made my day. :D
 
Well, this week has been an interesting one. I felt myself getting sick last Monday, but it didn't really hit me until Friday night when it laid me flat and I was in bed for two and a half days. I didn't hardly leave the apartment. I haven't been that sick in awhile. I don't even really know what it was. I think it was just a really bad sinus infection. Well, that plus a couple of other things that just built up on me. So, I know that some great things happened this week, but I can't really remember in the blur of being sick. :P I'm feeling better now though.
 
I'm kind of nervous because I have an interview with president in half an hour, which probably means that I'm training next transfer. I don't know how to feel about it yet. I haven't even been senior companion yet, let alone a trainer. So pray for me lots and I'll let you know what happened next week.
 
Did I tell you that our ward is doing a forty day fast for missionary work? It has been really cool because we are already seeing a lot of miracles from it. Our Bishop and Relief Society president both had really great missionary experiences on the day they were fasting. (We are having a different family fast for forty consecutive days.) Our Relief Society President is a precision driver, which means she does the driving for car commercials, and she was working the day or her fast and a woman came up to her and asked her about Joseph Smith, so she was able to share with her her beliefs and her testimony, and it was a really great experience. I know that as we look to have experiences to share the gospel we will find them.
 
So we've been teaching a lot of Christians lately and I was feeling kind of down on myself for not knowing the Bible better, but I had a realization the other day that it doesn't really matter how much you know; what matters most is the way you live your life because of what you know. So even though I don't know exactly where every verse is in the bible, I know that I am part of a church that directs me to live my life exactly in accordance with what the Bible is teaching us to do in the first place, which is believe in Jesus Christ and follow his example. Everything in our church is given to us as a resource to live a more Christlike life. Not that it isn't good to learn all about the scriptures, but you can't expect yourself to become a bible scholar overnight, so why worry about it? Just do your best and keep learning and growing. That's what I realized at least.
 
Well, can you tell that I'm kind of tired? I'll be alright though. I think that Heavenly Father was just putting me through the humbler again, because sometimes I can be kind of controlling and think that my way is best, and I really don't want to bring that upon my next companion. So he made me automatically meek and submissive through feeling sick and recognizing how much I need him. There is a talk by Hugh B. Brown that I love that is called "God is the Gardener." Sometimes God cuts us down to help us grow how he envisions we can be, just like a plant that has to be pruned. God is the gardener, which means that he is in control, and if we let him he will mold us into the best versions of ourselves.
 
I love you! Heavenly Father loves you! Thank you for the Christlike love you all show me. Have a great week!
 
- Sister Dansie

Oh, and a side note, everyone here is taking really good care of me, so don't worry, I promise that I am fine. The Macdonalds and all of the senior couples are sooo sweet. Sister Miyagi from the cute little Japanese couple brought me by a whole bag of yogurts, sushi, and juice. They are all so sweet. The Macdonalds keep telling me to go home and rest and take it easy until I feel better. I feel really loved and well taken care of. They are so great! I am really lucky to be here in the Visitors' Center where it is so easy to find ways to stay at home and get better. I've had different sisters babysitting me for the past couple of days. Anyways, so just don't worry! I'm doing great. :D

Mar Vista: Transfer 9: Week 6

Hello family!

I finally figured out how to attach the files from my voice recorder, so this is the duet that I sang with Sister Salazar for the Mission-wide Christmas devotional. She is singing high soprano and I'm singing alto.

Well, another week come and gone. Last Sunday we had a combined priesthood relief society lesson that we taught and introduced this year's ward mission plan. We also started a "40 day fast," where a different family in the ward fasts for forty consecutive days for the specific people in their lives that they want to share the gospel with and also for our ward goal of bringing three eternal families into the Mar Vista ward through baptism, reactivation, or completing a part member family. It went so well! The spirit was incredibly strong, and we helped people understand that our purpose is not just to add more people to the ward, but to help these families come closer to God, be sealed in the temple and to know that they can be together for eternity. We told the ward that as we exercise our faith we will begin to see miracles, and we have! We had three investigators come to church yesterday! It was a huge miracle because it was the first time we've had investigators come to Mar Vista ward since I have been here. I know that Heavenly Father was just preparing the hearts of the ward members and helping them be able to recognize the miracle that it would be to help bring families into the gospel. It has been so great to see things in Mar Vista changing for the better, and recognizing that all of our hard work is finally starting to pay off.

We also have had some really great experiences in the Visitors' Center. I realized that I never really explained what we do here at the Visitors' Center besides giving tours and teaching in the center. Every Visitors' Center is also designed to help generate teaching opportunities that lead to conversion around the entire world through referrals. We ask everyone that comes in if they have someone that we can help share the gospel with, and then we get a chance to call their friends or family members and ask if they would like to meet with the missionaries or receive a free DVD or the Book of Mormon. I have had so many amazing experiences calling people around the country and sharing my testimony with them, helping them come closer to Christ and opening them up to having the missionaries come over to help them know what to do to be happier in their family through following the teachings of Jesus Christ. So that is a huge part of what we do at the Visitors Center. I think that a lot of people get this idea that at the Visitors' Center when no one is there we just sit around and read our scriptures, which is true sometimes, but we also still get to do a lot of missionary work for people around the world. The way our schedule works we serve in the Visitors' Center half day and rotate through mornings or evenings, so usually about four evenings and three mornings every week we are in the Visitors' Center, and then the rest of the time we are out in our areas visiting people, knocking doors, and all of the stereotypical missionary stuff.

Well, I don't have much time left, so I'll just write about the other cool experiences that I had next week. Have a great week!

Sister Dansie

Mar Vista: Transfer 9: Week 5 / Jan. 31, 2011

Hello Family!
 
How have you all been lately? I am really sorry that I am so bad at writing personal letters. So, if you haven't heard from me personally lately, don't feel bad, because no one has. P-days are our most stressful, crazy day, and so first off I don't want to write letters rushed, and secondly I am usually grumpy and stressed from having to do everything so fast, and I don't want to write a letter while I'm grumpy. So just know that I love you all! Aunt Natalie, thank you for your family Christmas card and for that really inspiring talk that you included. I loved it! And everyone else that has written me as well. I think that I have started writing some letters to Dave and Paula Thomas, but never quite finished them and sent them off. I love you! thank you for your encouragement and letters! And everyone in the ward that wrote me over Christmas. Falcon Park is such a great ward. I love you all! Alright, so I know that doesn't completely clear me from not writing, but I will try and do better. So yes, I have recieved your letters and I love and appreciate them a lot!
 
Miracles have been happening this week both in and out of the Visitors' Center. The other day there were two guys that came in to the VC named Edgar and David. They were both from Guatemala, but Edgar moved here about five years ago and David just arrived. Edgar is a member of the church but fell away when he moved here, and David is his lifelong friend of another faith. (They don't want us to use the term "non-member" anymore.) They walked in and I showed them the Christus presentation, and I felt a strong prompting that I just needed to wait for awhile after the message was over. I sat there for probably about three minutes without saying anything, and I could see them thinking and really feeling the peace that comes from listening to the words of Christ and looking at the beautiful statue representation. When we finally started to talk I found out that they have been going through some really hard things, and so Edgar told David that he knew of a place they could go where just walking there would make them feel better. When they walked up to the temple, David told Edgar that he had dreamt of this building and this walkway. They told me that they could feel peace and comfort being there. i told them "Do you realize that this is a miracle? Can you feel how much Heavenly Father loves you?" It was such a cool experience and I loved seeing them realize how much of a blessing it was that they came to the Visitors' Center and felt the spirit, and they agreed to meet with the missionaries.
 
We also met a great guy in our area named Conrad. We were about a block away from the church, so we left our car there and spent the afternoon walking around the area, visiting and contacting a lot of great people. We were leaving our dinner appointment that we had with some members in a nearby apartment complex and Conrad was out sweeping his porch in his apartment that is about ten feet away and ten feet up from the sidewalk. We saw him and I called up to him and asked "Hey, have you ever been to that church down the street? Well you're invited!" Sometimes my companions are taken aback by my bold ventures of talking to everyone. I feel like especially when we are that close to church, why not just invite everyone to church? He was really nice and he told us that he has been looking for a church to go to with his fiance. He was raised Baptist and she was raised Lutheran, and so he said that they wanted to find some common ground. We found a way over the foliage that separated us from his balcony and handed him up a pass along card with our number and the church's address on it. A couple days later we came back to his apartment and he was there and we had a chance to talk to him about the restoration and Joseph Smith, and he told us that he has met with missionaries in the past and that three of his friends from high school served missions. He still has a copy of the Book of Mormon and he committed to read the introduction. He was so friendly and just a really great guy. We are hoping he will want to keep investigating. The only problem is that he is an EMT and is really busy, which is why he couldn't come to church yesterday. That seems to be the most common problem in LA, everyone is just too busy! I really don't want to get so caught up in being busy that I just miss everything that is most important. Maybe Heavenly Father needed to teach me that, because for those of you that really know me, its like I am almost addicted to being busy. I was in about five different groups and clubs and everything in High School, and looking back, it was great, but I wish that I would have spent more time with my family, and more time serving others.
 
Also this week Elder Clayton came and gave a really amazing mission conference. He is in the presidency of the seventy. He also came to the Visitors' Center, and I got to give him a tour. Well, kind of just tag along while the mission president and Director gave him a tour because he only had about half and hour to be there and it was all really rushed. It was still cool though.
 
Well, I love you all! Have a great week!
 
- Sister Dansie

Mar Vista: Transfer 9: Week 4 / Jan. 25, 2011

Hi family!

This week has been good. I'm attaching some pictures of our adventure to the Getty museum this past Wednesday during our temple P-day. It was really fun, but we only had about forty minutes to be there and it is a place that you could spend all day exploring.

Well, I got a big slice of "Humble pie" this week. We were scheduled to be at the Visitors' Center Sunday morning, and we wanted to come in just an hour later so that we could go to our sacrament meeting, and Elder Macdonald, the director of the Visitor's Center, told us that if we wanted to come late we would just have to switch. I couldn't understand why because Sunday mornings are our slowest time there and we've always been able to go to our sacrament, so I thought that it would be no big deal for us to come in a little late just like we always had. I felt like we really needed to go because a less active woman named Bonnie promised us that she was going and I didn't want her to feel uncomfortable coming without anyone to be there with her. I even asked Elder Macdonald why we needed to be there, because I just wanted to know. I told him that I understand how important it is to be obedient, but I really don't like having to do it blindly- I like knowing the logic behind it so that I can fulfil the purpose of it and maybe even do it better, but I felt like this just didn't make any sense. He said that he needed all three of the companionships there and that I would see why Sunday morning. We decided to go on splits so at least one of us would be at church and we did rock-paper-scissors to see who out of the three of us would go with the other companionship of sisters in our ward to be there with Bonnie. I won so I got to go to church.

To my disappointment first of all, Bonnie didn't come, and secondly, when I returned to the Visitors' Center the director and his wife told me, very kindly but with a little bit of a well deserved "I'm sorry but I told you so" aire, that President Uchtdorf had come to tour the center that morning, and because I had switched I had missed it. I was pretty bummed, but that's what I get for being prideful. I had even told myself "Heavenly Father doesn't really expect blind obedience." But in actuality, he does, and that is where our faith comes in. To give myself a little credit, I have been doing really good at following the spirit in every little thing that I can, like talking to everyone that I see, or going back to the car to get something random that I feel like I might need but don't know why, or going back down the street to a house I feel we need to go to even if my companions are going to think that I'm crazy. I guess that I just needed that experience to remind me that when I'm not exactingly obedient, even to all of the small things, that I am going to miss out on some pretty awesome experiences that Heavenly Father has for me. And its ok that I'm not perfect, because I am learning and growing every day. Well, I hope that you don't think that I'm a horrible and prideful missionary for admitting that experience that happened, but I've realized that at least I am recognizing my weaknesses and working on them. I actually think that it was kind of funny. I think that it was best for me have missed out though, because I was the one that thought it was so important for us to be at church, and I would have felt really bad to have been the cause of one of my companions missing out on that experience. Its alright though, I'll have other chances to meet cool people, and we'll all meet the apostles in the next life, right? Anyways, moral of the story is, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In ALL thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy path." Proverbs 3:4-5

In other news, we are still searching for people to teach, but its going really well. We have met some great hopefuls, and we just need to keep having faith that we'll be led to those people that are prepared. "When you are down to nothing, God is up to something!" :D

I love you all so much, and again am grateful for your prayers and your great examples. Take care!

- Sister Dansie