I love being a missionary!!!!! Best thing ever!!!

Hello from Paraguay!!

It was a beautiful week of Miracles and missionary work is just the best thing in all the world! I love it so so so much!!!! And don't want to ever part from it! There have been so many blessings that I have seen happen and miracles and it is so great!!!!!! 

We have a new hermano who got called to be our branch mission leader! and he is so great! one of the best mission leaders I have had, who calls us and gives us references all the time... We are so excited about the work! And Bueno! we have had some major success this week! 

Yesterday was a great Sunday we went up 20 in our asistencia! Woo hooooooooooo So exciting! Then it gets even better four of them were investigators! YEP! you heard right! Four or actually five were, but one had to leave early!!!! but he wants to know more, he just came in on his own and attended elders quorum! Oh yeah..... This week was a week of dreams for me here in the mission.

Starting with A~! We Taught him a few times and he is slowly progressing, it is a little difficult, but it is working out. We are working on it but now he is starting to play a bigger role and told us he would keep coming to church and he listened to many testimonies yesterday that helped him see that he may want to get baptized one day. The wife of a man who is getting baptized this Saturday shared her testimony and it helped A~ understand that he isn't the only one investigating the church. so that was cool! 

Then there is N~....... Can I just say coolest reference ever, N~ would like to baptized on the 27 of June!!!! He acted as though that was too far away! Haha, but he needs to learn more so he is ready. He already been to church 3 times and we have our first lesson with him tomorrow! Well can you say golden investigator! He was a reference from a brother in another branch and that is why he has been to church already! greatest thing ever! 

Then there is M~ she has a son who is less active in church. She is the sister to our new branch mission leader! And some miracles happened with her before when she attended church in Spain, but moved back a long time ago but wasn't ready to receive missionaries. Her son is struggling and she is willing to do anything to help, so we did a fast with her and she came to the church, and at first she was there only for her son, but in the last hour we had sacrament meeting and she was sitting in the front and L~ (the sister who got baptized a week ago) (This part made me almost cry) L~ got up and shared her testimony and shared about how she received an answer and it was the greatest thing ever. Later that night M’s~ brother called us and told us that L’s~  testimony touched his sister and now she has questions and wants to really know more!!! ahhhhh!!!!! So happy about that! It was a great moment! And I am really excited about working with her! 

Then there is another girl, L~ who came to church, the elders invited her and she showed up and then she left before we could really talk to her, but she came and we have her number and she is really interested and we plan on going by tonight!!!! 

Also an older man named P~ just walked into church yesterday and we are going to try and find him and talk to him, he wants to know more as well!!!! 

I love being a missionary!!!!! Best thing ever!!! 

Ok that is just a quick rundown of the week it has been so great! And the spirit so strong! My poor companion even got sick this week, but is so strong and just kept working and we had major success in the time that she was sick and putting her best foot forward!!!! Now she is all good and isn't sick but she is a fighter and I'm so grateful for that!!! 

I love you tons and am here to remind you about reading the Book of Mormon! I hope you haven't forgotten yet!!! Keep reading everyday just a little bit it will make all the difference! 

This week I have been reading and studying a ton about real intent and desire the reason we do things. But what is real intent. As I have been studying I have come to find that Real intent is doing things for the right reason. Sometimes we get confused with what is the right reason or how to stay focused on that real intent, I'm still trying to figure it out myself, but I have come to find that as we set goals and as we put our heart, mind, and soul into it we will receive the blessing of eternal life. We should be doing things through the love that we have for our loving Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ. To really fulfill what He has in store for us! It is like a triangle with there are 3 parts to it starting at the bottom the first reason people may do things is because they fear those around them (They fear the consequences, the outcome, the judgments, etc.) Second  blessings. (having a desire to receive blessings things etc.) and the last is most important is Love, We do it because we love the Lord! I testify if we change our sights and the reason we do things we will receive a never ending state of Happiness and be really prepared to live with our loving Heavenly Father (Mosiah 2:41) This life is to prepare us to meet God (Alma 34:32) To practice how we will live with Him in His kingdom. That is why the Plan of Salvation is so important, that we really fulfill this plan that Heavenly Father has for us with our best ability and helping others to change,  having a change of heart receiving clean hands and a pure heart, (Moroni 7:41-48 or just all of Moroni 7! :) )  loving our Heavenly Father with real intent, and then we will all be in a state of never ending happiness all together! That’s what He wants and that is what we should all desire here in this life! I love you all and invite you all to bring at least two references to your missionaries in your wards! Remember that Plan Heavenly Father has for us! It is real easy to just invite and give two names I promise!  

Hope you all have a great week! and keep working hard in the work of the Lord as well! 

Hermana Dunagan! 

Transfers to Marambure w/ Hermana Sanders

This week had some excitement! We went to our district meeting and found out that I had transfers (Shocker because I still have 6 more weeks of my training). I'm now in Marambure which is closer to the city. It is awesome I love it here!!!
 

My New companion is Hermana Sanders and she is just the greatest!!! Funny story we had the same trainer and she trained in Ysapy as well! So we know alot of the same members and it has been fun getting to talk about it!

Hermana Sanders and her old companion taught some less active kids that now come to church and yesterday we had to be “parents” and make sure they got to their classes.... They like to run around and so hermana Sanders and I have to gather them up and get them to class. Hahaha it has been a fun adventure! I really love the people in this area, they are so sweet and great!

So next week is general conference!!!!!! So excited! It is my favorite time of year! The opportunity to listen to the Prophet and Apostles is so awesome, they speak with such authority and power! It is so important to really listen to what they say and to apply it to our lives because it is under the direction of our loving Heavenly Father!

This week has taken a ton of faith because we don't know all of our area very well and we have gotten lost a few times, but we have always had the spirit with us as our guide. General Conference is a guide for our lives so pretty please listen with all your heart and I promise you will receive so many blessings as you learn and feel the spirit! 

I love you all so much, keep up all the hard work and remember to always get up again and push through the hard times because on the other side there are blessings and riches that we can't even imagine in this life!

Ciao till next week!

Hermana Dunagan! 

My first baptism!!!! Cow Heart Vs. Cow Stomach

My first baptism!!!!

So after I finished writing last week we got to work! We had FHE with a family and afterwards she gave us cow heart..... Not too bad to be honest, it was better than the cow stomach I ate a few weeks ago!

We have been trying to teach one of our investigators who didn't show up to his baptism, things are really hard for him, but he has a great heart and I really want to help him understand his purpose here on the earth! One of my favorite quotes from the book, Continuous Conversion, is that we aren't earning heaven we are learning heaven. Our life here on the earth is to give our will to the Father just as Jesus Christ did. We must love and serve others and continually nourish ourselves in the Gospel. When we do so our desire will be to fulfill the lords will. Read Isaiah 55! So great!

This week we have been blessed with a ton of rain. We were prepared on Tuesday for it, but on Wednesday we weren`t. We had to run under a tree and to seek protection from the rain and then some nice people allowed us to sit under there patio covering and we talked with them for a little bit. After it stopped raining and we were walking and looking for someone to talk to. We met a younger girl in the street with her baby and her two younger sisters. We talked to her and as she began to have tears in her eyes, I just knew how much the savior loved her and it took all my strength not to cry like a little baby. It was just so powerful and I am so grateful to have grown up knowing I am a daughter of God!

We finished out the week with some Baptisms!!! Yay!!! first was the gentleman  Hna Santos and I have been teaching on Saturday and then he was confirmed on Sunday!!! Yay and then we attend the baptism of the other Hna`s! all and all it was a fantastic weekend and the spirit just keeps teaching me and all those around me! it is so powerful! I love you all and want you to know that you are the greatest! I hope you have a great week!

The coolest sister in Paraguay! (not really hahah)

Hermana Dunagan

Fun Adventures & Fence Clapping

Hola! This week has had ups & downs! Here in Ysapy as we look for a new people to teach we ask if we can share a message and many respond and say they are already members.... But it is an opportunity to rekindle and help others to strengthen their testimonies and invite them to come back. 

We had one investigator who was going to be baptized this past Saturday and he had been receiving lessons since December. We got everything ready for his baptism and when I say ready I mean we had to empty the font from a couple weeks before with buckets and clean it out it was a fun adventure.... Haha  Later we waited for him for his baptism and he didn't show up. It was a hard moment in time.... and was really sad. 

We taught one man a while back and he lived super far and we hadn't really gotten the opportunity to get back to his house but yesterday I felt like we should visit him and we happened to be in that area so it was perfect. We went to his house and it looked like no one was home, but we still clapped at the fence. Low and behold he was home!!! We sat and talked to him, and let me just say he is so hard to understand (one minute I understand Spanish and the next not a single word). But he told us that he had thought about the previous time we had visited and wanted to attend our church!!!! What?! That was an amazing miracle after the weekend we had just had. Heavenly Father really does put people in our paths at the right time.    

It is so important to really prepare our investigators and make sure they have a strong testimony. And sometimes it doesn't always work out the way we plan, but all things are possible through Him and His Atonement!  When we rely on Him we can receive the strength and support we need to get through all our trials! He never leaves us; it is us who leaves Him.  

I love you all so much! I hope you have a great week! 

Love Hermana Dunagan! 

Mba'èichapa (that is hello in Guarani)

March 10, 2014

Mba'èichapa (that is hello in Guarani)

This week has been a great week! I finished two months in the mission!! YAY so exciting, I didn't even realize until Hna Santos pointed it out haha! 

This week we have one of the greatest investigators who has a baptism date for the 15th of March! so exciting! He is just growing so much and is just so open and willing to let the spirit in! so amazing! 

We are visiting with a less active familia and we got them to commit to FHE with us every week! so that was really cool! The mother is so amazing and filled with the spirit! 

We had to stop teaching one of our investigators so that was sad his family didn't want him meeting with us it broke my heart! 

We wash our clothes by hand here and I now miss the convenience of a washer and dryer! 

We had a water balloon fight with our branch and it was just so much fun!

For the spiritual side of things I want you all to know that the Testimonies members have makes a difference and that they mean so much to investigators so any chance you have testify to all those you meet by your actions! 

I love you all and the support you give! 

Sorry for the short email this week, I will fill in more next week! 

Love Hna Dunagan! 

First Week In Paraguay!

                    Hermana Santos, Elder Goss, Elder Whitaker, and I con Familia Ag

Hola!!!

I have survived my first week in Paraguay!!! Yay! My area is called Ysapy A. I believe that is in Guarani... Which is very difficult to understand and speak nothing like spanish! My spanish is improving

little by little and understanding the people here is so hard we are lucky if I catch a word because it is different than Spanish elsewhere. Their words are all slurred together! But it is beautiful here and I love it so much!!! There are trees everywhere and random animals all over (cows, horses, dogs, cats, and chickens)  When I got off the plane it just felt so right, I knew I was where the Lord needed me. The food here is pasta, rice, and meat.... So I will not be losing any weight haha, I love the food here! We eat lunch with the members.

My companion is Hermana Santos, She is from Guatemala!  Her spanish is much easier to understand, but still difficult! She is amazing, I have been so blessed to have her as a companion. She teaches me Spanish and I teach her English so the language barrier is starting to get smaller! We live with two other Hermanas. One of them is from Guatemala as well and the other is Ecuador( don't know how to spell that)

We have been giving lots of lessons, mainly Hermana Santos, with my little testimony and prayer.... But It is growing in Spanish. It is very humbling to not be able to say or understand anything... Hermana Santos and I went to go teach a young girl who is 12 and her brother who is 10. When we arrived I was shocked at there living conditions, I thought that some of the other circumstances I had seen were bad but this one was worse! we talked about the first vision with her and she listened with all her heart it was amazing! I was so amazed at this young girl and her testimony. It is difficult because her parents won't listen to us but she does. She had several little brothers so I gave them the pencils you gave me mom and I almost cried at how excited they were about receiving pencils.... It was just so touching!

We try and get references from investigators and members, and most of the time when we go and visit the references they are members who are less active.. I really want to help our branch become a ward here in Ysapy, The branch is already so amazing and strong! we have the best branch in the Mission ;)

One day we went and visited the branch mission leader and his family, Hermano Poli, and we ate budding, I think that is what it is called, and then we sang Joseph Smiths first prayer together, but before we began singing he sang the first verse by himself and no one was really paying attention, but while he was singing the spirit was so strong it was amazing I could feel his testimony and how strong it was in that moment!

I was studying this morning in the Liahona and I read a talk by Bishop Dean M Davies called a Sure Foundation. It was amazing! It was all about how we must build our spirits on our rock, the savior so that way in times of affliciones (afflictions) and trials we will not fall. I see that the people here need that message, because when difficult times come many of the people fall away from the church instead of leaning on it for strength and making their faith knowledge!

I was also reading in 2 Nephi 28 and wow is that a great chapter! specifically read verses 7-9 (Scripture Mastery), 22, 28-30,32! It is some powerful stuff that the scriptures have to tell us. We must never make excuse or justify things. When we do so it weakens our testimonies and prevents us from progressing and reaching our potential!!!

I love you all so much! And I am so grateful for all of your love and Support!!!

Till next week!

Hermana Dunagan!

Arrival of Hermana Dunagan to Paraguay!

Dear Family of Hermana Dunagan:

We are so happy that your daughter has joined us here in the Paraguay Asuncion North mission!  We know that as she commits to work hard and be obedient to mission rules, and continues to study and seek the guidance of the Holy Ghost, she will have a great experience on her mission.  She will grow to love the people, she will be willing to pass through difficulties, and she will come to know and love her Savior in a more profound way than she has ever known.

We were able to give all the incoming missionaries some training on staying healthy, finances, mail, etc.  We were also able to learn about the history of the Church here in Paraguay.  Your daughter was interviewed and met her trainer, Hermana Santos, who was specially chosen for her.  She was trained to help your daughter in all the skills she will need to be a good missionary.  We hope you will enjoy these pictures that we are attaching as well.

Thank you for raising such a fine young woman who is so willing to serve her Father in Heaven and be a blessing to the people here and to her fellow missionaries.  We truly pray for them every day and are committed to working diligently to help them in whatever they need to be happy and successful.

May the Lord bless you, and your daughter, for the sacrifices, the faith, and the love that you are extending to the people here.  Thank you for all of your support.

With much love,

President and Hermana McMullin