STORYTIME

I'm working on becoming a better person- it's a long process but, from the moment they clicked my tag on me at the MTC, I knew that I wanted to return home in 18 months better than who I was. Probs not the first missionary to say that, but it’s true. Luckily, the gospel makes good people great. If I've learned anything so far, it's that my mission has been a giant Refiner's Fire. Super hard, but super awesome and I've heard that it's all worth it in the end. And I've got a lot of refining to do. Also, I feel like I've been skimping out on some stories for y'all. And I'm sorry. So here are some really long ones. Read them if you want. Other than that, I'm alive and Fairbanks is Fairbanks.

XO Sister Dunlop

Story #1: Hiking+Zombie Apocalypse Mosquitos

So I magically convinced/dragged the elders out to Angels Rock last Monday for PDay (after an hour long drive though The Middle of Nowhere, AK and on sketchy roads they haven't filled the potholes for yet...sorry) and our hike was SO FUN! I LOVE MOUNTAINS! The snow and ice still hadn't totally melted down in the trees so we were slipping and sliding all over the place until we finally got a little higher on the mountain. Then it was just muddy the rest of the way up. But anyways, we're hiking along and there are these gigantor mosquitos (like seriously, the baby ones are the size of a coin) buzzing around like helicopters trying to suck out all our blood and leave us out dry - they're preparatory for the Zombie Apocalypse, I swear to you. Random and not really related to this story (or anywhere else in this email): we've been seeing SEAGULLS around Fairbanks. What. The. Heck. They are so lost or something like literally I have no idea where they came from or what they're doing here. But whateverz. 

So anyway, good hike, bad mosquitoes.

Story #2: Hot Mess Tuesdays

Tuesday afternoon/evening was a hot mess. After district meeting, we go to paint nails at the senior center and I'm seriously the worst ever at it. I paint like everything but their nails. Luckily, a lot of them don't have microscopic eye sight so I don't really think they notice :) From there we went to go and see one of our favorite less actives, Sister Deitch (she's a little crazy but we love her), in the hospital because she has been there for the past few weeks with pneumonia and some other stuff. So we go over there and go up to her room and it's empty. Her bed is made, the curtains are closed, everything's clean in the room. Now, a patient-less and clean hospital room means one of two things: the person got better and is home now, or they died. She had told us they were going to keep her in the hospital at least for another month so we started freaking out because we thought she was gone. Literally. We try calling her, no answer. Freaked out and called the elders (Sister Deitch adores elders so she has met like all of the elders in our district) and they were zero help in our quest for Sister Deitch. We decided we needed a McDs ice cream cone to feel better (this homegirl member gave us McDs gift cards and so sometimes we treat ourselves to ice cream when we have breakdowns/our less active homies go missing). We're in the drive thru and our phone starts ringing...IT'S SISTER DEITCH! CHURCH IS TRUE! She was like, "I'm not in the hospital anymore. I was sick of that place so I took a cab and went home. I'm home now. Can you come and visit me?"....um she like straight escaped the hospital. Whatever, we were just grateful she's not dead.

Then we did other missionary stuff and had to go and pick up Sister Nield and Sister Martinez and take them to the airport to go down to Anchorage so we get there and remember that the back of our Jeep still has our snow tires in it (reason #3857128 I want my red truck back) and so there's no way for us to put the sisters or their luggage in the Jeep. So then I get blessed and have to drive the sisters' truck to the airport and then we remember that the YSA elders had signed us up to take high school girls in Mission Prep out on splits with us. But we don't have time to go back and get the Jeep so we go pick them up in the truck and then they have me take two girls and Sister Fa'anunu take two girls but there's not enough seats in the truck for all of us so we have to drive separate (we had separate lesson appointments to go to anyways) and Sister Fa'anunu kinda knows where things are, kinda not so they leave and these cute girls get in my car and I'm FREAKING OUT because I realize we are supposed to teach Paula the Law of Chasity that night and so it's just going to be hecka awkward. And we are planning on having a member come with us so that's killer. We pull in to Paula's driveway and knock on the door and no answer. So I have two high schoolers all fired up to do missionary work and a member sitting on the porch with me, but Paula's not home. So we call her, no answer. Text her, no answer. Knock on the door again, no answer. Awesome. So then the cute member we were with starts talking to the girls about her mission in Japan and all this stuff that worked for them, what didn't, and all that la la la. Then it was time to go and meet back at the Institute. On our way back to the Institute the girls were like, "Sis. Dunlop, what is missionary work really like?". Homegirls, I'll tell you. Being a missionary is the hardest thing I've ever done. I've never felt such heartbreak or such joy in my whole life. I figured that after awhile I would be numb to the sound of a door slamming in my face or having someone tell me they're "not interested" [in their opportunity to be sealed to their family forever] or that they're "too busy" [to learn eternal truths]. But I was wrong because it still is hard. But it's good. And joyful. And that's what makes all the door slams worth it. Because "it's all for the one", that's something President Robinson says all the time. The one. 

Story #3: Tour Guide Barbies

So we've been teaching Sydnie, Samantha, Leah, and Zach Jepson and we finished up the first lesson (the Restoration) with them and invited them to prepare to be baptized on July 8th. Yes, we know that's like a million years away, but we can only meet with them every other week so it's going to take us about that long to finish all of the missionary lessons. We also told them that we would be their "Tour Guide Barbies" to the Church and towards their baptismal date. The member present with us made a joke that if the sister missionaries were Tour Guide Barbies, then the elders would be Tour Guide Ken. The Jepson kiddos thought that was the funniest thing they've ever heard. I adore that family. 

Story #4: Exchanges

Exchanges with Sister Martinez are like holidays, the happiest days ever. I freaking ADORE her. She was also trained by Sister McGee and was training Sister Jewel down in South Anchorage when I was being trained in Oceanview. We served around each other down in Palmer but I just did a "one and done" there and then got sent up here to Fairbanks. So I hadn't seen her in forever and ever and then she was transferred up here to 2nd Ward which was one of the happiest things in all of Alaska. So we went and visited people in 2nd, had dinner with their investigator who is getting baptized on Sunday and had the most profound and deep things to say about the gospel that I've ever heard. And he is receiving the priesthood next week so he can baptize his wife #goals. Love them.

That's all I have for right now.

Love ya bye

Sis. Dunlop