Another Great Week in Back Creek

7/25/11

These past 7 days have been phenomenal. We visited 3 part member families and all of them displayed interest in baptism. We are really excited about it all. One of the coolest things happened on Monday night though. Remember when I talked about Clara and Fausto last week and how they were excited? Well last Monday we visited them again. It was like deja vu when our member began speaking in Spanish. I was able to pick out a few a words, but mostly I could just feel the Spirit. As Clara spoke we prayed that she was saying positive things. As Danny translated for us, the Spirit set in. She explained that she had prayed just a few days earlier for something or someone to help strengthen her belief in Christ and then we showed up! She said although she enjoyed her church she knew there was more out there, something specific to her. Danny explained that God teaches us to crawl, then walk then run. As she recently developed her faith in Christ it is preparatory to her receiving the Restored Gospel. She agreed and was really excited, as was her Dad. They are excellent people.

We tracted into two Baptist ministers this week, both were intrigued by the Priesthood and one prayed with us. And not praying spitefully either, with the typical "help these young boys find the truth." It was about coming together as believers in Christ. It was a very positive experience. Wednesday was supposed to be District Meeting, but instead we helped someone paint their house. Two days earlier Mitch sent me an email:

"I recall getting frustrated sometimes with the elders in my district because they weren’t being fully obedient or as hard as I thought they could, truth is, you also need to work hard at being a leader and not just a missionary. How? Take ‘em to lunch. Serve should to shoulder. I recall grabbing my truck on afternoon and putting the whole district in it, grabbing member’s rakes and raking random people's lawn and singing them a hymn after. Create memories where the spirit was present. Sorry for the sermon, I feel I Was almost inspired to write that."

It wasn't more than a few hours later that the Zone leaders called me to ask if we were still having district meeting; the choice was clear, service is what we needed. We painted for a few hours instead of district meeting and made a huge difference in someone’s life. They are now meeting with the missionaries in that area. Mitch always tryin to steal my thunder, by receiving inspiration for my mission! Thanks buddy.

Thursday was a really powerful evening. As we went to meet with Crawford (set to get baptized August 25th) we saw that all his belongings were packed away and stored in his front room. He wasn't going to be able to pay his rent. We had planned from the get go to teach tithing, but began to shy away as to even think of him giving more money when he doesn't have any. Then the thought hit me. This is the lesson he needs more than anything. President McBride was with us and he shared his experience with paying tithing as a young, poor medical student. He paid when he had nothing, but because of his faith he was provided for. He was offered to be the caretaker of the property and live with the number 2 at General Motors in Detroit and didn't pay a cent of rent during medical school.

Sorry for all the stories but this week was sweet! Saturday we met with a fella up in a holler. He really wants to turn his life around and be baptized. He is one of the most caring people I have met and would do anything for anyone. He was hit by a drunk driver a few years back and hit his face against the dash. He lost all his teeth, and has a plate in his forehead and nose. I love the guy and I love the hills. One of favorite lines of my mission came from him;
As he explained his Chevrolet Truck, "I got the Lord in my heart and the Lord in my Engine."

Sunday during our first sacrament meeting I got a call from Wayne Hewitt. He had cancelled the last 3 appointments on us and I was shocked to see him calling. I stepped out to listen to his voicemail. His wife had been in a car accident and was fine, but as a result felt he should come to church. He said, "I got my shirt and tie on and I am coming to church". He came for the first time and loved it! After the service he called me and told me that he had a profound spiritual experience and shared it with his wife. They both are excited to come back.

I wasn't planning on writing very much this week, but I guess I couldn't stop. I pray that you can draw strength from the things that I shared and we can all recognize the hand of the Lord in our lives.

Love yall,
Elder Dumke

Serving with Purpose

This isn't my horse,
but it's mighty fine!

7/18/11

This past 7 days has been quite the rodeo. I forgot to mention that we are no longer on bikes they gave us our horses back. All 170 of them, in the form of a Chevy Malibu. I have never been so grateful for good ol glorious Chevrolet.

This week began with an awesome lesson with Claire and Fausto the family from Mexico. One of my favorite Members Danny Farerra came out with us and taught the entire lesson in Espanola. I was able to pick up a lot of it and tell where he was, but we participated very little. Only when he asked us to bear our testimonies of the Book of Mormon did we even speak. Quite the role reversal. The Spirit was super strong despite the language barrier.

We had our interviews with the President this week as well. In our brief time together he said he met my greenie in the MTC. He said he had prayed for the mission as a whole, but for him especially to have a "patient companion." He said his prayer was answered. I was humbled to be told I was an answer to such an outstanding man's prayer. Strangely enough patience is the virtue I am working on the hardest, because I feel I am seriously lacking it. In the words of Dad, "It is hard to develop patience when you have such an urgency for the work." I have thought about that dozens of times this past transfer and I am far from where I would like to be in actually claiming it as an attribute.

On Wednesday night we had a follow up appointment fall through. We went to contact an inactive member instead. When we pulled into the parking lot of the apartment complex, we helped a few people move a truckload of bedroom furniture up 3 flights of stairs. We put aside our original purpose and just helped. After assisting we explained we were missionaries sharing a brief message about Jesus Christ. We adjusted the first lesson to fit their time frame. It was incredible finding out that both of them have many Mormon friends and they are very interested in visiting the church.

Friday we dedicated our morning to service. We got out of our usual proselyting attire and helped a family with their yard and an investigator with her garage. They both were sincerely grateful for our help. We also visited a few widows and elderly couples. We chatted for a little while as usual, but this week I brought my piano book with me. After a little while of talking I asked if I could play a few hymns, as that most have an old piano to play on. Some of them aren't able to come to church and haven't heard the hymns played in years. It was amazing to invite the Spirit through Music.

My comp and I are working hard to work things out ;). I love y’all so much and hope things are going well on the home front.

Much Love,
Elder Dumke

Global Melting Pot

7/11/11

This week was another great one. We were able to work in the nearby ward of Cave Spring the whole time. I am doing well and constantly learning.

We met our new mission president on Tuesday. He is a truly incredible individual. Him and his wife are a bit older to be mission presidents. He is a sincerely faith promoting man and I am excited to serve with him. After our interviews on Tuesday, we decided to have more faith in our companionship. Although we were on bikes we knew the Lord would help us achieve our goals if we really did all we could do. After the meeting and a few sweet appointments we had 25 minutes left in the night. Hard to get motivated to get out and ride to a neighborhood to tract for just a few minutes, especially when you know you will be soaked in sweat in just the first few minutes. We went anyway, figuring we had time for maybe 2 or 3 houses. The first house a man answered in just his whitie tighties. He maintained complete composure despite the awkwardness and invited us back another time. Don't worry though, he isn't sketchy or anything. We kept laughing about it as we went to the next house. A dark, slightly run-down tucked away home, complete with 6 to 10 dogs barking at us. A friendly wave at a dark figure and we were invited up. There we met Claire, Fausto and Prisca a happy family from Mexico. They were excited to see us and we will be seeing them again tonight. A taste of a southern American mission.

While rediscovering our area on bikes this week we found a sweet little park. Basically empty on a weekday, but figured it would be a bit more populated on the weekend. Saturday we went tracting and found a real pleasant man, who was convinced yelling less than a foot away from my face was going to change my belief in Christ, it didn't. We ate lunch at the park and decided to do some 'contacting.' Certainly not as common in the states, especially in our mission, but we gave it a go. It proved to be unsuccessful until we returned back to where we had locked up our bikes. There next to our bikes were two friends, basically waiting for us. We shared our message with them. The Spirit was so strong in that Park Pavilion, basic strangers were moved to tears and invited to attend church. I am so excited for them both to be there this week.

After our park experience we continued tracting, even though it was dinnertime and Satan (my stomach) was attempting to keep us from keeping the fire burning. Never stop when you find success. We found Sonny and taught him right there on his doorstep for 40 minutes or so. He is a Sikh from India. I guess my World Religion class did pay off, when he saw that we worked to understand other's beliefs as well.

Our 2 top investigators were supposed to be baptized this week, but there were a few things holding them up. We have reset one date and working on the other. My comp and I are super open about everything, something I didn't do enough with previous Elders. We have also been trying to really think outside the box. We have set aside our Friday morning and afternoon to do service for people in their yards. Already our schedule is filled for that time. We have really been blessed. We met or exceeded nearly every single one of our goals, in a record-breaking week. I am so grateful to continue to learn. Love yall so much.

Much Love,
Elder Dumke

My new address is:
Elder Collin Dumke
3260 Woodland Dr (Basement)
Roanoke, VA 24015

A New Kinda Work

Losing the Car
7/4/11

You are told a mission is hard your entire life. And I am thankful to not be disappointed.

We moved to our new apartment with the help of members and biked a couple miles a day. It has been a blessing hidden within a trial. Something we like to call "outdoor therapy." The Lord was really looking out for me when he put me on a bike at this stage of my mission. (Nothing like a good hill climb to forget about frustration ha) We were able to teach a good amount of lessons this week and find a few new investigators.

One of which was the wife of a guy who gave a Book of Mormon to last week. It didn't seem all that promising, but as we tried back we were able to talk to her on her front step about the restoration of the gospel. She had even begun reading the beginning chapters and mentioned, "She had visited just about every church in Roanoke except the Mormon church or Jewish synagogue."

Other than that all is well. I began taking protein in the morning to gain weight and despite my best efforts I lost nearly ten pounds this week. All the weight I have worked the past 5 months to gain! We are meeting the new mission president tomorrow and will be having interviews with him. Should be great!

Love yall
Elder Dumke