Sister Masih's birthday was great! She got 3 cakes. Mama and Papa
Forsberg took us out for birthday lunch on Friday and we had district
lunch on Saturday!
We had zone conference this past week and it was so good. And then we
had a mission devotional on Friday night. It was the whole mission's
first time seeing me since I changed my hair and it caused a bit of a
ruckus. Hahaaaa but everyone liked it. Elder Allen of the seventy
spoke to us. He talked about each of our need to repent and then he
talked about 8 questions he wrote down as he read through the New
Testament,that we can ask ourselves to become more like our Savior.
1. What gifts have you given Him?
2. Do all of your sins have a cloak?
3. What are your temptations?
4. What have you forsaken?
5. In what ways do you forsake Him and flee?
6. What spiritual gifts has God given you?
7. If the Savior were to come to you and say, "lovest thou me more
than these?" What would the 'these' be  in your life?
8. What kind of disciple are you?
I was a great time to self-evaluate what I am doing in my life and the
things that I can improve so that I can answer question 8 with honesty
and integrity.
I got my bestfriend Sarah's WEDDING ANNOUNCEMENT! Congratulations
Sarah and Cody.
I also got my sweet friend Jessica's Save the Date!!! AHHHHHHH! So cute!
I got both announcements on Friday at the mission devotional so I
spent the majority of the time afterwards walking around and saying
"Hey! Look how cute my friends are!!!!!"
Mi***lle, our 22-yr old investigator, accepted the baptismal date of
April 25th! She is so excited. We are going to begin transitioning her
to a Young Single Adult ward. It is so hard to lose her but I know she
will flourish more with the right support.
Br**n is progressing slowly. Hahaaa. He asked us for our next lesson
to talk about revelation! It was super cool that he requested to learn
about something.
M**ls went to church last Sunday and announced to the Sunday School
class that she is methodist and that she hopes that no one will kick
her out and the teacher said "We definitely will not kick you out but
we might kick you in!" The Relief Society lesson was all about Joseph
Smith. We thought that she wasn't too jazzed about church and then
this past week she texted us and asked if she could come to church
with us again on Sunday?! WHAT?! People should ask me all of the time
if they can come to church with me! We have a lesson scheduled for
this Wednesday so I will let you  know next week how it goes!

Everything with me is great. I am so excited about General Conference
this weekend. We are taking Mi***lle and her fellow shippers to the
Saturday morning session so look out for us!!! And I am excited about
celebrating Easter! I am so blessed. I love being a missionary!

We got to go to the Jordan River temple this morning! It was so
wonderful and so beautiful!
This Wednesday we have Zone Conference and this Friday we have a
mission deviotional. This Saturday is Sister Masih's birthday! It is
going to be a busy week!
This week past was great! Our former investigator Alexis (the cute 19
year old that grew up catholic and we passed her over to the Young
Single Adult missionaries) got baptized on Saturday!!!! It was so
amazing and she has so much love and support in her single's ward.
We got a new investigator! Her name is M****lle and she is 22 so
eventually we will have to do the same thing we did with Al**is. Her
friend Re**nn is in one of our wards and just joined the church about
a year ago. She invited Mic**lle to learn from the missionaries so
right now she is going to a family ward. She is super cute and anxious
to learn. She asked us how long most people take to be baptized.
We passed H**ry off to the YSA missionaries so that they can teach him
the rest of the new-member lessons.
We have had jello THREE times this past week. Thank you Utah for
living up to the "Mormons love jello" reputation.
Everything has been really great. I am learning along with my
companions and I am trying to be more patient and loving every day! I
hope that everyone has a great week!

Halfway mark!!

I am officially the worst person ever. I forgot to outwardly wish my brother, Nathan, and my trainer, Sister Unrast, birthday shoutouts! So Happy belated Birthdays Nate and Danie!

This week was good. Sister Masih, Sister Britton and I are getting along really well. I had to go to InstaCare last Monday and I found out that I have an ear infection! Then Tuesday I woke up with a cold. Hahahaa. So my body has been battling an ear infection and a cold this week. I am so grateful that my companion's have had patience with me this week. I am almost back to being myself. I feel like this blog is just a way for me to complain to the world! Hahahaa. Honestly I am doing so well. I am loving my mission. Also I have been out for NINE MONTHS! I cannot believe I am half way done. I didn't realize how fast missions go by. 

WE ADDED A NEW INVESTIGATOR THIS WEEK! Her name is M**s and she is from Connecticut. She is methodist and she went out twice with us this past week to teach! Hahaaa. She is amazing. 

We taught 17 lessons this past week! The Cottonwood stake is amazing. We recently visited a less-active family who hasn't been to church in over a year. The mom and 12 yr old daughter are members and the 8 yr old boy wasn't baptized. The dad is not a member. We told the mom what time church was and the address and guess what? She showed up! And the son was baptized this past Sunday! They jumped into activity so quickly it was so cool. Then we visited them yesterday and all of them made comments that they don't fight as much and there is a better spirit in their home when they go to church.

I am blessed every day. I see miracles every day. I love this gospel and I am so grateful to serve another 9 months!

Exchanges with Sister Richardson! 

We got our iPads on Friday! We are slowly learning how to use them so
Facebook won't come for awhile.
Also, unknown to Sister Britton or I....WE GOT A NEW COMPANION at
transfer meeting on Tuesday. We are now in a trio. Sister Masih is
Samoan, Fijian, and Indian. Her native language is Samoan and she is
from Australia....talk about cultured! She came out at the same time
as I did but we weren't in the M.T.C. together. She just learned
English in the MTC so she still struggles with the language. She is
quiet which isn't a bad thing because Sister Britton and I are both
talkers! Hahaa. It has been quite an adjustment to have 3 of us but
the Lord helps us do hard things!
We are struggling in this area to find investigators. We have loads of
less-active members that need our support and love to come back to
church. We are working with a lot of people.
Yesterday we were able to teach 2 primary (kids 3-11) sharing times
and 1 primary class. We were with little kids all day! For the sharing
time we got to talk about Joseph Smith. It was so amazing. The little
kids are so smart and it is always a great experience to share my
testimony of Joseph Smith. He truly did restore Jesus Christ's gospel
back to the earth. We meet a lot of people who tell us that they can't
agree with us because unlike us they think every church is good. That
is such a big misconception. We do believe that all churches have
truths and have goodness. We claim that this church has the FULLNESS
of truths. That is why I love teaching about Joseph Smith because if
people come to a knowledge of Joseph Smith they will recognize this.
Then in the sunbeams primary class we talked about repentance. They
are so stinking cute but repentance was a hard one for them to fully
understand. Heck I don't even fully understand it! But it is such a
relieving process. A process that I have used, a process that I use
daily and a process that I will continue to use because it makes me
happy.
I love this gospel! I love being a missionary! I hope you all have a great week.

We get our Ipads either this week or next week. I am super nervous but
I guess I have to get over it!
Also, transfer information.....dun dun dun I AM STAYING! And Sister
Britton is staying! It will be another transfer full of exchanges. I
am taking a silent vow to take more pictures this transfer (even if my
face is chubby).
So for the General Womens Broadcast our stake and the surrounding
stakes have been invited to make up the choir for that night. We were
invited, as missionaries, to also join so you might see me in the
choir at the womens broadcast! I know everyone is thinking..."Wait,
Sister Dodd, you don't sing..." I am well aware of this but Sister
Britton is going to help me!
Okay so those are the calender items I have for you today. Other than
that everything is going well. We run into to many amazing people,
both latter-day saints and not, and they teach me; every one of them
has something to teach me. I am growing my testimony and strengthening
my conversion every day.
We ran into a lady yesterday who had her records removed from the
church. She told me that I had a lady with me and she asked if any of
my grandmother's have passed on. I was a little weirded out. But I am
constantly reminded of the help we have in our lives from the other
side. We are all fulfilling missions and that does not stop once we
pass from the life. I am grateful for those who have passed on so that
they can help us in our lives. I love this gospel and the opportunity
it gives me to gain knowledge and understanding.
I have been being a diva lately and so I decided to get a priesthood
blessing of comfort and counsel. The blessing told me that my family
is being taken care of and that I need to focus on the family that I
am creating here while on my mission. I am so grateful for the counsel
I am given daily. I love this gospel. I am grateful to be a
missionary!

Thank you Teresa and Joe (my dunkin aunt and uncle) for my surprise
care package!

Sister Britton's birthday was a success! She turned 24 which we found
out was a whole box of candles...from now on she will have to buy 2
packs of candles.