Merry Christmas

12/23/12

Merry Christmas Everyone!

This week was wonderful! John's Baptism on Monday on his birthday, amazing for him to be reborn on his 67th birthday. His whole family came and it was a very nice service. Afterwards we had Mexican food with everyone. Marcie was so happy and everytime I am around them I am just amazed. I love them so much. She taught gospel principles again today and did so great. I gave them and Sister Long the Mormon Tabernacle Choir DVDs from you. They way loved it. Today was his confirmation along with 4 others. I love church and it is going to be so hard to leave the 1st ward. Next week is Matt's baptism which is super exciting. He can't wait to be baptized and we have grown really close to their family.

Wednesday was transfers and we have Elder Makemson with us. It was definitely apparent that he would be the Elder with us. He is very on the ball and catching on quick. It has been really great being in a tripanionship this time. Typically it is difficult, but we get along really well and we are all different enough that it works out great. The van taking all the missionaries to their areas broke down on Wednesday so all the missionaries were stranded for about 7 hours until the rental company could get a truck to tow them. The tow truck then towed the bread truck with everyone's luggage from point to point and they got in at 11:30 that night. It takes a lot of planning to make transfers happen, then you just have to throw your hands up sometimes when something catastrophic like that happens. I am definitely getting better at dealing with stressful situations now.

We have had some good times this week doorbell ditching the families that need help with Christmas this year. It puts us in a tough situation being missionaries and giving people money publicly, just because we are everyone else's project for Christmas, so anonymity has been the best approach. It has been very rewarding and brought the Spirit of Christ to helping others. I saw this quote this week, "Coincidences are God's way of being anonymous." 

I have never felt to loved in all my life by family, ward members and the good people of WV. I finally understand why people will build a brand new house next to the trailer they grew up in 6 miles deep in holler. There is love in these hills. Merry Christmas Everyone and I will talk to you Tuesday just after 2:30!

Love yall

Elder Dumke

Teaching and Training

12/16/12

This last week was a very very busy. Monday thru Saturday we traveled to 6 different zones, each a few hours apart, doing training with the missionaries. We really didn't get to proselyte in our area, but it was really fun to be able to work with literally all of the missionaries in the mission. Elder Klain and I got to work with each companion on their teaching. Our focus was on inviting investigators to attend church. We talked about giving a vision of church before extending the commitment. We explained the principle, demonstrated it, and then had them role play, stopping periodically to help them re-practice and evaluate. It was really neat to see how their teaching improved. It was a stretch to try and be a coach on that kind of thing. A tender balance of building up on the things you do well and direct and clear suggestions on things they can work on and re-practice. It proved to be very beneficial and we are excited to see the results of it all.

Today at church was really incredible. Marcie was called to be the gospel principles teacher after being a member for only a month and today was her first time teaching. She did AMAZING! She reads her Book of Mormon every night along with Preach My Gospel and is learning so quickly. Tomorrow is John's baptism and he is really excited. The ward has caught fire of missionary work and it is incredible to witness. Today there were 4 baptisms, tomorrow there is one and there are two more on the 30th. There used to be such a distinct line between families from Utah and WV families in the ward, now everyone is united and happy. It is excellent to see how SHARING the gospel does that.

This week is transfers, so it will be crazy again, but we are getting a 3rd companion with Elder Klain and I. We will work together until I go home. Sister Pitt is going back to Utah for their son's wedding from the 29th to the 7th, so i will probably be President's companion during that time. I am pretty excited about that. Things are going extremely well and so it is hard to think of going home so soon, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Thank you for the Christmas Package and notes. I love being able to read your testimonies and experiences time and time again. Time is going way to quickly. Love yall

Much Love

Elder Dumke

Trying not to Count it Down

12/9/12

Family!

I miss you all so much. Even when the work is great, it is hard not to think about my wonderful family back home. I hope y’all are enjoying this holiday season. This past week we got a call from a family that I had worked with a little bit over the last year. The family is less active and we had been teaching them and trying to get them back to church. Last week they came, and the Mom talked to the Bishop and the son really wants to get baptized. He asked me to baptize him, so he will be getting baptized on the 30th. We are gone all week for specialized training and then John is getting baptized on the 17th. He is so excited. Anyway I cannot wait to chat on the phone in a few weeks. Sorry for not writing more, but we have to wake up at 5 tomorrow.

Love yall

Elder Dumke!

Working in a Trip Ship

12/3/12

Dear Family-

There is an Elder that has been struggling recently so Elder Klain and I got to have him work with us for the week. It has been a lot of fun, and  hopefully been a positive experience. Each year our ward does a community nativity event. Where there are nativities from all around the world, over 100 countries are represented. We had a lot of success having non members and investigators coming, and John and Marcie helped to host it. We had a good lesson with them last monday and gave John a blessing. We invited to pray about being baptized. At the Nativity event he called us over to talk to him. He said, "I did what you said, I prayed about it, and I made a decision." He is getting baptized on the 17th of December, his 67th birthday. Marcie came over as we were talking and then he told her that he was getting baptized she immediately began crying and was so happy to hear. Our last lesson was on eternal marriage and she can't wait to have an eternal family.

Things are going well with Christina she came to church again yesterday and met with the bishop and has been telling everyone, she is getting baptized in December. We are excited for her. 

Sorry I am out of time but a few other highlights - Taught two people from China while on exchanges in Blacksburg. That place will erupt with the gospel when it's borders are opened. We also began teaching a man from Iran, that had no background of Jesus Christ. He has now read half of the Book of Mormon and said the closing prayer in our lesson in Persian. It was a powerful experience for him to come to the Nativity. 

Love yall

Elder Dumke

Happy Thanksgiving!                                                                                               11/25/12                                    

How was your holiday? This week was really great and packed with A TON of food. My goodness I thought I was going to burst. We started the day was a few hours of rugby, and it was a blast. I am way out of shape and my body still aches, but is was such a good time. We then went to Sister Longs and met her daughters and Marcie and her family came and we got to meet the rest of her family. It was a lot of fun and Marcie's family was rattling question after question, we are having a lesson with all of them tomorrow night. After having a good time with them we went to the Frosts for a meal until the Roots. It was good food and company. The Roots then had a prepared a good country WV thanksgiving. It was awesome to eat with them. The day before we had come by and taught Christina.

We knew going into the lesson that she needed an understanding of the blessings of the gospel and her potential as a daughter of God. We prayed that the Lord would grant her a vision. We taught a good lesson from the scriptures, and towards the end, she asked if she could have a blessing of comfort. After the blessing, she was kind of speechless, and then began to cry. She said," when you gave me that blessing, I suddenly saw myself walking down a dirt road, not really sure where it was headed, and then I saw the Lord. He was calling me towards him and I kept walking and was shaking off Temptation and things that Satan was throwing at me. That has never happened to me before, I have never seen anything like that." It was especially incredible, because we didn't mention anything about vision to her before or during the blessing. We left their house giving thanks the Lord had heard our prayer. The amazing thing is that she is acting on it. She came to church today for the first time and hadn't smoked all day. She continues to read every day now and plans to be baptized at the end of december.

Today was an amazing day at church. All of our investigators came, so we had 9 investigators there. The Lord truly is hastening the work. The family that referrred themselves came for the first time, and we will find out this week what they thought of the service. John McDonald keeps plugging along, and I hope to see him baptized before the end of December.

We exchanged with the elders in Roanoke this week which is a 3 hour drive, so I got a good 12 hours of driving in 40 hours. And Elder Klain had his wallet stolen so I have been doing lots of driving, :) I am definitely grateful for the amount of pondering time I have. Today I had to teach an impromptu gospel essentials class because the teacher didn't come, and a lot of it came from things I had been pondering about. I am super happy and thankful for all the blessings we are seeing.

Love yall and see you soon

Elder Dumke

Ah Gratitude!

I love being a missionary.

Today was stake conference and there was a new stake president called for the stake, because the current one was moving to Texas. There were two seventies that came in, Elder Murray and Elder Golden. They explained the revelatory process of calling a new stake president and then invited the old stake presidency to bear their testimonies. The new stake president is a very humble WV man, currently serving of one of the smaller branches. After the testimonies, Elder Golden is part of the curriculum for the church, taught doctrine concerning the Holy Ghost and the Savior. It spurred alot of questions and we were able to discuss it with President after the Conference. It has been amazing to be tutored by President Pitt in the Gospel. I am extremely grateful for it. We were also asked to teach the Priesthood Preview to the 11 year olds turning 12 this year about the Aaronic priesthood in Stake Conference. It went really well.

But now for why I love being a missionary. The Lord is hastening the work. This week we got a referral for HQ for someone who got on Mormon.org and requested a visit. We went and taught him tonight and met his whole family. He had a Book of Mormon once, but lost it, and since Mitt Romeny ran, he became interested in the church. He has been studying Mormon.org and ordered a Book of Mormon off of amazon.com. We had a great first lesson with them tonight and are seeing them again Wednesday. After that we had the prompting to see the Roots. They are doing okay, extremely well considering where they were 1 year ago. We visited with them and had a prayer and they explained that they had been in a fight and Tommy had our number dialed ready to call and talk and then we came. He stayed up till 5 studying the scriptures and had over 25 pictures of the temple on his phone. I am so grateful for the things that are turning him around.

Marcie is doing great. She drove down from Morgantown to come to Stake Conference. Her daughter has been defending the church all week, and John is doing okay. He has had some more complications with his surgeries, so we are praying he will be alright. He continues to have baptism on his mind though. Our Thanksgiving plans are looking great. 10 to 12 Rugby Turkey Bowl, 1 to 3 Thanksgiving with the Longs and the McDonalds (both investigating families), 3 to 5 dinner with the Frosts and a few active members, and 5 to 7 thanksgiving with the Roots (investigator family) and dessert with a recent convert at 8. The day is packed with food, but we are trying to make it as productive as possible.

I am so grateful for you. For your support and love. I recognize that I am below par at sending personal messages and keeping in close contact, but I am so thankful, every time I hear from you. I can't wait to be with you all soon! Sometimes I wonder how much the mission has changed me. This week as I began pondering the temple interview questions, I got a little emotional thinking about how much firmer of a testimony I have of those things. I have known Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, now I feel like, I know the Prophet Joseph and I love him. I am thankful for the restoration and for the Holy Ghost to testify of these things.

Yall be good

Much Love

Elder Dumke

I like Being a Missionary

11/12/12 

This week was really great. We had Zone Conferences from Monday to Friday with lots of driving with President and Sister Pitt. It was awesome to be able to learn from them both in the doctrine and things of life. After Zone Conferences we worked on Transfers. I can't believe another 6 weeks has come and gone. Thankfully I am staying with Elder Klain another one, which means that I will finish off here in Charleston. This has been amazing week especially with Sis. Root. She has really been coming out of the woodwork. She is excited about the gospel and has been reading a lot of the Book of Mormon.

Sister Surface is doing extremely well and is so much more comfortable at church. Last night we went over to their house for her son's birthday and met more of her family. They all seemed happy that she had made the decision to join the church. Marcie was up in DC this week for John's surgery. We gave him a blessing last Sunday and he was very appreciative. Some unexpected things happened in the surgery and it was pretty scary there for a bit. His nurse was LDS and that turned out to be a great comfort to their family. After his strength returned, while still in the hospital, he said that he felt God was urging him towards baptism. We bought Marcie some Large Print Scriptures and we engraved her name and the whole 9 yards. We are giving them to her tonight at FHE with them. I love those two.

Sounds things are going well at home. I am glad. It was 70 degrees yesterday. Looking forward to seeing you soon.

Love yall

Elder Dumke

Week of White

The Surface Family

11/7/12

This week was another incredible one, I didn't think anything would top last week, but amazing things continue to happen in Charleston. There are so many prepared people in West Virginia!

It was ZLC on Tuesday so all the Zone leaders started to travel in and then this insane snow storm came and put 18 inches of snow in a few hours. It knocked out almost all the power and so we did ZLC in the mission home with no power and then had all the Elders sleep over there. It was a ton of fun and a very unifying experience. We have been pondering on what we could do to unify them a little more, and this was an answer to prayer. It was miracle all of them arrived safely in Charleston. We then had zone conference the following day in Huntington. It went well and I learned alot, as we taught. There just isn't enough time to prepare and so the spirit teaches you as you teach. It was a good day. Friday we had a few incredible lessons. Right now we are teaching 4 families, which is incredible.

Last Sunday we talked with Christina Root out on the porch and this week we taught her and her husband and they are way elect. She was glued to every word during the restoration and explained she hadn't gone to church for the last few years, because she felt that they lacked the fulness. She definitely felt we were an answer to prayer.

Saturday morning, so yesterday, we had a lesson with Sister Surface and it had been a while since we taught her and so we really wanted to gauge where she was at. Elder Klain bore a very strong testimony of the Book of Mormon and discussed with her about the importance of her knowing for herself, mind you we have taught every lesson on her outside porch, (because her husband works alot) and it is starting to pretty chilly out here. I said to finish 2 Nephi before next Sunday, the Spirit told her to finish it by tomorrow (Today). About 3 o clock Saturday afternoon we got a text asking us about baptism from her. We told her to read Mosiah 18 and pray about it. She texted back that she was ready to be baptized! What?! So amazing we were freaking out. We went over and talked to her and told her we could do it tomorrow morning before church. And she could be confirmed that day with Marcie. We did the interview that night and she got baptized this morning. It went so well and was so cool to see the completion of this family. They will be going to the temple this time next year.

Marcie was confirmed today too. The member we asked to do the confirmation didn't come to church today, so as we gathered in the circle, Bishop Larsen handed the microphone to me and asked me to do it. It was my first tim and it was really neat. Marcie was so happy and her husband and daughter were there too. After the confirmations, the deacons were passing the sacrament and the power went out. They continued to pass and after they were finished, the bishop stood up and said we would cancel and immediately the lights turned back on. It didn't last long though, the power went out right after sacrament meeting ended. We then taught Marcie's Dad and daughter and it went really well. Marcie was testifying of the Book of Mormon to them. Ah she is so great. She reminds me a ton of Mom, they are going to be such good friends I know it.

I love you all so much and this has been the most amazing past few weeks.

Ya'll be careful

Love

Elder Dumke

Miracle after Miracle

This may be hard to believe -                                                                                            10/28/12

But this has undoubtedly been the best week of my mission, possibly my life. What incredible blessings we are experiencing! As Elder Whiting said this week, "It has hard to record celestial experiences in a telestial world."

Wednesday Elder Whiting came into Roanoke and addressed half the mission. He is  down to earth, a dry sense of humor and very straightforward. Elder Klain conducted the meeting and welcomed everyone and then began to intorduce Elder Whiting by reading a Bio from LDS.org. Just as he started reading Elder Whiting told him to stop, and just let him begin talking. It took everyone off gaurd and Elder Whiting got up. He started by saying, "It doesn't really matter who I am, all that matters is that I am on assignment from the Quorum of the 12 Apostles." He taught a lot on unity and his over all feel, was that we can do better. He didn't come down on obedience or faith or desire so much as he explained that we have all those things, and now we need to stop living below our potential. He said everything that needed to be said. It was an excellent meeting Tuesday as well as the one in Charleston on Thursday. That day I got to have an interview with him. We didn't have much time, we sat down had a prayer and he said," Lets cut to the chase, what can I do for you Elder?" Is there any greater question to be asked by a general authority? It was extremely impactful to be asked that. I talked to him about how I could take things to the next level spiritually. We had a nice discussion.

Thursday night we had dinner and a lesson with Marice and John, she was feeling healthy and great. We pretty much finished up the lessons and she was set to be baptized this weekend. She is amazing!! John is coming along as well and they have a temple marriage in their sights. She is a rock solid convert. Today her husband and daughter came to church for the first time, it was the primary program. They really enjoyed it and felt very comfortable. Marcie was baptized after church and it was incredible. The Spirit was so strong, I feel it now even as I reflect on it. I was privileged to be the one to baptize her. Ah it was everything I hoped it would be for her. The Relief Society is absolutely ecstatic to have her in the church. She has canned almost her whole life and has already been very active in their socials. It was a wonderful day.

On top of the baptism today this non member showed up at church. This might be confusing, but it was a very fortifying experience. While in Roanoke last year I had a dream about a woman that came to church, that looked sort of like a witch, and had trouble with her car and we baptized her. It was a very weird dream and i didn't think too much of it til last week. This Less Active member came to church for the first time in years. She looked very familiar and then while sitting in the second hour of church it clicked, she was the woman from my dream! I went and talked to her afterwards and found out she was living out of her car, I was thinking that she must be the woman and surely we would baptize her, but then I found out she was already a member. Anyways I told Elder Klain about it after church and kind of wrote it off. Then today she comes again, this time a little late to sacrament. Immediately after sacrament, she comes up and says, "I brought an investigator!" We stepped into the hallway and she explained what happened. She said she was driving to church and got a flat tire. She said she was praying to God somewhat cursing him for giving her a flat tire when she was trying to do the right thing and go to church. As she sat there, this man David came up to her on the side of the road and asked if he could help her. She was very appreciative and invited him to church. Surprisingly he came and he LOVED it. He asked us if he could be baptized, what he had to do to be part of the church, the whole bit. He stayed for the baptism, we taught him after church and set him for the end of November. It was amazing!! Not only did he just come, but the Lord gave me a dream to prepare for this experience. What a day.

Half the Charleston Zone

Finally we have really tried to reach the standard of excellence every week to show the mission it is possible. We were short on lessons and new people to to teach. The Lord sent us one to church already, and then we prayed to know where we could find a few more. We visited a Less Active referred to us by the bishop and it wasn't really going anywhere as we were on his porch figuring out how this was going to work, his daughter in law came out to smoke. We had an excellent discussion with her, she opened up began bawling and allowed us to teach her. I am just grateful.

I love y'all so much!

Elder Dumke

Elder Klain and Elder Dumke with Halloween Cookies.

Bro. Frost and Danny Robinson

Another Good One

10/21/12

This week has been another good one! I am feeling good, but a little nervous for this next week. Elder Whiting is coming in Tuesday and we will be conducting the Meetings with him and the mission Tuesday and Wednesday.Have you ever thought about the Un-Godly attributes? Things like embarrassed, or negative or stressed.  Knowing that I can get easily stressed, I prayed as we took the sacrament to know what I could do. The talk directly afterwards was on gratitude. A talk given by Elder Nelson a few conferences ago. This week I have decided to replace the word stressed with grateful. I am grateful Elder Whiting is coming to bless our mission. I am grateful to be able to conduct in a meeting to help me grow. I am really excited this thought replacement process. I know that Dumkes are immune to stressing about things... but thought it was a nugget with sharing with the bloodline.

We were able to teach Marcie on Thursday night and it went really well. She is excited for her baptism, and her husband is coming right along as well. Unfortunately she came down with some horrible Bronchitis. She had lung cancer at age 30 so she had to have a lung removed. Of all the people to have lung cancer in WV, she never smoked a cigarette in her life. Coughing is horrendous so her, so she wasn't able to come to church, and we may move it back a week but it might good. She is converted, but we want it to be a special day for her, not a day being super sick.

Thursday we had helped someone for like 20 minutes and then had to run, but we set up to visit them a few days later. She is the daughter of a member in Elder Klain's old area and we had a way good lesson. She is a lawyer in town and is very interested. We are excited about her! Always great to have an investigator that likes to read! Earlier this week I got to go on exchanges with Elder Maxwell. It was the first time in nearly a year getting to serve with him. we have both grown a lot, but it was just like old times being in Cave Spring. Love you all so much1

Yall be careful!

Elder Dumke

Drum Roll.....

10/15/12

After an awesome interview with President, I feel confident in coming home in January. We discussed school, mission, post mission, all of that. He can release thirty days before the day I entered the MTC. We decided on January 4th. It is way scary how soon that day is. I am happy to finally be able to rest on a decision now.  I am excited, but I am even more excited that I am at the point where I can love the mission this much. I wasn't sure I would feel this way. But I can honestly say that I have loved this time as a missionary.

A week of Miracles

Good Morning Family -                                                                                       10/15/12

I loved hearing from you this week and getting Mom's packages and letters. I am so grateful for you. I love you so much! This week was incredible and I know it was because of your prayers.

On Tuesday we Blitzed down in Buena Vista, meaning we both left the area for the day and worked with the companionships down there. It went really well. Wednesday was amazing and we had the best lesson ever in the Long's home. Sister Long's husband isn't a member of the church, but he was supportive of us teaching Sister Long's friend in their home. We had dinner with the Long's and Marcie and her husband. I can hardly believe how prepared Marcie is. She loves the gospel so much and the more she learns the more she loves it. Wednesday was our first lesson with her, but we set with a baptismal date for October 28th. It was pretty shocking to everyone because that is only in a few weeks, but she is going to make it. She is a wonderful lady and just by talking with her you would think she is a member already. Sunday we had another lesson after church with her husband, teaching the Plan of Salvation. They said it anwered a lot of the questions they have always had, especially concerning Adam and Eve. As we taught Pre-Earth Life we explained that God a perfected body; she responded with, "Wait, Heavenly Father has a body? That is awesome!" We are soo happy for her!

Sister Surface is doing very well too! She came to church yesterday fasting for the first time. We had some really good lessons with her and she is so ready, she is growing to the point where she can say, "I am Mormon." Her family is strong Catholic, so she really wants a firm testimony before baptism. Right before ending our fast with her we got a call from a lady in New Mexico. She met the missionaries a year ago at the apartments they used to live in and she came to church a few times. Then she moved to New Mexico and met the missionaries there too. She is moving back to Charleston next month and she wants to join the church. It was one of those miracle phone calls, you always pray happens when you see an unfamiliar number.

I love you all so much.

Elder Dumke

General Conference Feast

10/7/12

Oh Boy I am stuffed!

What an amazing week this has been! The new missionaries came in Tuesday evening and it was a treat to be with them. They have such strong faith and a desire to serve. We spent Monday and Tuesday preparing for the huge transfer on Wednesday. There were over 70 changes in the mission. Nearly every companionship changed so logistics was crazy. We had a great transfer meeting, where all those that come in to charleston come and have a meeting. It is always really looked forward to being around such a strong group. As we were closing up the building there was a family cutting down a huge tree, so offered to be back in an hour with work clothes to help them out. They were very willing to let us help out. We had a good time with them and they invited us for dinner a few days later.

Thursday we woke up at 3:30 to take all the departing missionaries home, then had enough time to crawl back in bed at the mission home for a while. We had to prepare for Zone Leader Council the following day. It was an awesome meeting as well. The mission is doing better than it ever has in obedience and success. The Lord has opened the windows of heaven in our mission. I don't know if I told you this before or not, but we used to get $170 on our support card each month, but we felt it was too much, so lowered it to 150. Since that time amazing miracles have happened. The principle of tithes held us as mission made its funds more sacred. After ZLC we had dinner with Jeff and Vlinda (our tree people). They are your traditional WV natives that moved into the city from the country. He is a brick mason and she loves to hunt bear. They are a way nice couple. We had a good country meal of dumplings, biscuits, green beans and chicken with them. Afterward we taught them and they said they were open to the lessons. The best part is they live literally right across from the church.

OH! and General Conference was amazing! We watched it all at the church. We were with President when they made the age change for missionaries. It is pretty crazy that no one except the 12 knew it was happening. It will certainly change missionary work and we are expecting a lot more sisters to serve. It was amazing to watch that revelation flow. It is basically the biggest change in church policy during my lifetime. Today we watched the morning session at the church. Sister Long brought her friend Marcie with her. We were shocked to see her there. Friday night we got a call from Sis Long that Marcie's car had been hit from the back by an 18 wheeler on the freeway on their way back from DC. It was scary there for a while. She LOVED conference this morning and after the session we gave her a blessing. Sis Long was bawling the whole time. Afterwards Marcie explained when she was in the hospital they asked her religious preference and she answered Mormon. She continued to say that she wasn't one that understood why people would testify, but every since she has been reading th Book Of Mormon she literally wants to tell everyone about it. We get to teach our first official lesson with her Wednesday Night at Sis Long's home. She is amazing!

President has challenged all the Zone Leaders and us to get the standard of excellence this week.  The following week Elder Whiting will be visiting the mission. He spoke in the Saturday Session of Conference actually. It is getting late and we just finished numbers. But I will send some more tomorrow.

Friday night we had a fun time with the Surfaces carving Pumpkins. This is Noah their 2 year old trying to spit on my pumpkin to put out the candle. He is so funny! 

 Love you so much!

Elder Dumke

Transfer Day & Photos 9/30/12

This week is transfers and crazy busy. I will write Tuesday Morning... hopefully.

These are photos of our plan of salvation cake that we kind of made and then taught to Brietta. The lesson went way well!

Dear Family-

I wouldn't have had time to write today, but the new missionaries flight got delayed by an hour. Thankfully I get to send a quick something. It is crazy to think that 20 months ago it was me entering the MTC, trying to prepare for my experience in the field. I am so grateful for the missionaries I had to look up to when I came in, it seems like a lot of pressure to be their first impression of WVCM missionary. Things have going well though. I am still loving serving with Elder Klain and Charleston is great. The picture that i attached sunday of cake was definitely my favorite experience of the week. We taught Brietta the Plan of Salvation by decorating the cake with frosting and sprinkles of each stage. Thankfully I just got a package from MB with cake supplies to save the day. We taught in a members home and it was a really fun and good lesson.

Sister Surface has been super sick over the last week so we haven't been able to see her at all, but the rest of her family was at church and ward members really helped them feel loved. Jill and Alan are friends of member that leaves deep in the sticks. She is at the end and bottom of this holler. It was a miracle we found them, but we taught them two weeks ago and followed up last weeek. She had read the first 13 chapters of the Book of Mormon, done this study called questions of the soul and wrote full answers for each question. The don't have much education, but they said one thing their Mother made sure they understood was to read. And they read well. They have very little, but give us a big bag of fresh homegrown tomatoes each time we come.

General Conference is this weekend and we have been contacting less actives and asking them if we can come and watch it with them, or inviting them to the church. We aren't sure what we will be doing yet, but it will be good regardless. I am so excited for it. Yesterday we had a meeting with President and afterwards he thought it would be good to teach us doctrine after our meetings. He knows so so much and is an amazing teacher. It was so neat to have a personal lesson with him on the law of consecration and stewardship. I have learned so much!

Love yall!

Elder Dumke

Hey!

  9/23/12

So I had a bit of a crazy beginning to the week! I travelled down to Buena Vista for exchanges with Young Single Adult Zone Leaders. In Buena Vista is Southern Virginia University, which is similar to BYU, where it has the church standards and most of the students are members, but it isn't sponsored by the church. Anyway it is like mini Utah down there. It was really strange. So we travel there on a Monday and get there in time for the student Family Home Evening, headed up by the one and only Rebecca Rayburn. It was so crazy. It threw me off, but it was really good to see her. I guess she should be getting her call this week and I heard thru her that Jordan Jones is off to Chile for her mission. After working there we came back to Charleston. It is a 3 hour drive so any exchange involves 12 hours of travel. I haven't enjoyed road trips that much, but now we just talk and talk and talk. We can't hardly stand to listen to talks on CD, because we learn so much by discussing. We have learned to try and make every moment productive and fun!

We had a good lesson with Sister Surface again this week. This Friday we are all fasting to know if she is ready to be baptized. She struggles a bit, with getting on the in with members socially, so that is kind of the next step. She read a few more chapters in the Book of Mormon and read half the Ensign about Temples. WE had awesome experience with her on Wednesday. Right before the lesson we felt prompted to teach tithing. It didn't really fit with her progression, but we taught it and it was going well. In the middle of the lesson, she somewhat stopped us with a smile and tears in her eyes that she understood more with the lessons, than she had her whole life growing up in her church. She said, "I Know who God is." It was one of moments where every little bit is worth it. Who would of thought a tithing lesson, would help her understand that? She again said the closing prayer and did a phenomenal job.

Friday night we had a dinner with a fairly recent convert. We always eat at her mom's house with her non member mom. When we came Friday, there was a new face there. Her name was Brietta. She was taught by missionaries a year ago and we started teaching again. She came to church today and we are teaching her in a members home next week. Things are looking good. Love yall so much

Elder Dumke

9/16/12

Connie Angel did in fact get baptized today. It was awesome. It was a huge feat for her because when she was a little girl her cousin tried to drown her, but she made it through. This week has been really good. We did lots of driving down through Virginia and it was beautiful. The leaves are starting to change and there is no better time to be driving around. Over the last few weeks it has a been a big change in how I do missionary work. 

Elder Klain and I work well together even though we have different teaching styles. He really is good at helping people feel confident in sharing the gospel and we teach to help strengthen their testimonies. It has been such a blessing to work with the members of the ward.

We had an amazing lesson with Sister Surface this week. Over the last few weeks she didn't want to pray in front of us. Like so adamant about it. Last lesson, she starts it off by saying, "Well I would like to start our lesson with a prayer." and then says a perfect prayer. We talked about the temple and helped her understand the blessings of eternal families. She liked it and we can literally see her countenance changing. I am so sorry my emails are so short these days. But I hope it is enough to know that I am doing well, loving Charleston, and I love you like crazy.

Much Love, Elder Dumke

PS. The little 8 year old boy that got baptized is a recent convert family we have been working with to help prepare him. He was baptized today too.

Love This Work

9/9/12

     This week was another great week! In our monday meeting with President we decided that we text the whole mission and challenge everyone to reach the standard of excellence for finding - 3 new investigators. So we set off to do it.

     We received a list from the bishop of a few part member families to try. We felt impressed for this one woman, so we went to go find her. She lived in an apartment on top of a barbershop. As we walked past the barbershop, there was a knock on the window from the haircutter. He motioned us in, and asked about our bibles. As he was cutting this guys hair we taught him about the Plan of Salvation. He was genuinely interested. There were a variety of other customers obviously listening in as we taught. One man was hardshell baptist and got to preaching back that our doctrine was false. He got contentious, but simmered off when we he was listing off things we agreed rather than differed on. It felt like a scene straight from the adventures of 19th century missionaries video. We left grateful for the opportunity to testify of the gospel. He wants us to come back next month after he has read the Book of Mormon. I think I might be due for a haircut here in about two weeks though... ;)

     We had the privilege of teaching a few other very prepared families. One is the Surfaces/ they are awesome. Sister Surface isn't a member but her husband is, she has been around missionaries for about 8 years, but never really been taught the sit down lessons. We began teaching them to her a few weeks ago and she is doing so well. We taught her tuesday and she called us wednesday to come back and teach her more. They are a great family! Sheila is the cousin of member that came to church today for the first time and then went to addiction recovery tonight at the church. She is making huge progress, but is on house arrest so she will be a little later down the road, but she is due for a miracle soon.                         Finally some of the most exciting news is that Marcie, the friend of a member came to church for the third time in a row this week and this time her friend was out of town. We got to sit and talk with her some and she is super prepared. She has been reading the Book of Mormon, and she said she has been feeling a peace she has never felt before. Things are going well and the members are amazing. Connie Angel for Charleston East Side is actually getting baptized next Sunday, which is sweet that i will get to be here to see it. I have never had so much fun and felt to so fulfilled. 

     To cap it off we met the Standard of Excellence again this week and nearly every area in the mission found their three new investigators. There is such a good feeling being created. We have a General Authority coming in next month for a mission tour, which we are really excited about. Thank you for all your love and support. Your prayers are so much appreciated and needed!

Love

Elder Dumke

Excellent Week!

9/2/12

This week was another great one!

We traveled all over the place including a 7 hour drive to and from Roanoke, thru Huntington and all the up to Ohio. I don't know how anyone could spend this much time in the car and get along any better than Elder Dallin Klain and I. (That's my companion) He is from Cardston, Alberta. We put together a Zone Leader Council this week and had all the Zone Leaders in and we were able to have a good feel for where the mission is at. These are kind of the conclusions we have come to:

- We have a very obedient mission, there is no outrageous behavior or contraband

 - Everyone has a deep love of the scriptures (whether you want to or not, this is the Bible Belt)

  -Everyone loves and respects President Pitt

 - For the most part we are good at the mechanics of finding and teaching

 - There is more faith than there has ever been

We discussed what it is going to take to have success. We are kind of breaking new ground because everyone feels they have potential to be incredible, and the task of the Zone Leader is to direct them and help them achieve it. I know these next few months witll be historic in the WVCM. Our discussion consisted much of forget the past and be your best self. Already there has been excitement brewing in the districts. President really wants us to be a top notch proselyting area, on top of our responsibilities, and so Elder Klain and I prayerfully set a goal to reach the Standard of Excellence Every week. I have only done it once on my mission. So this morning we had done all but two of the key indicators for it. We needed two people at church and 2 baptismal dates. We asked the Lord to grant us this blessing, because we know we had worked hard and been obedient. The two people we hoped would be there didn't show, but two others we had worked with previously came. We reached that goal. Tonight we had a wonderful lesson with a members cousin, who is looking forward to baptism as well. While walking back to our car tonight there was a young mother sitting on her front steps. We went and talked with her and she met with missionaries a bunch in the past and wondered why they stopped coming by. She wants to be baptized in October.  In the final hours the Lord provided two elect people in our path. I talk about this not as numbers thing by any means, but I have really come to enjoy the ability to choose. We really set out minds to this goal. We set in hope and worked according to faith. We are so much in control of our attitude, way more than we realize.

There were so many miracles of members bringing friends to dinner and so many other great things. I have such a love for this work. I had to put service clothes on this week and I couldn't stand it. First off I looked like a goofball without a white shirt on and it was a realization that I wont be doing this forever. Maybe I will just dwell among the people until I die here.

Thank you for you love and support

Love Elder Dumke

Week #1

8/26/12

Well to start off, I LOVE my companion. He is so awesome. We get along so well, and we have looked up to each other a bunch our entire missions even though we had only met like once. He is from Canada. He is such an awesome teacher and we have already seen so many blessings. The ward was confused, but also happy that I was still in ward. It was amazing. We have been getting more and more member referrals and it is has been wonderful. But we are working harder than I thought physically possible and I just love the work. We were basically doubled into the area, so we have been trying to get a handle on everything and preparing for different Zone Leader meeting this week. I love my Savior and I have felt such a sustaining power over the last few days.

It was bitter sweet taking all the departing missionaries to the Airport especially Elder Brady. Sorry I have no time to write more.

Love you all so much!!

Elder Dumke

Transferred but staying in Charleston

8/21/12

Needless to say this has been the most exciting, anxiety producing, sleep depriving weekend yet. On Saturday I finished up a nice exchange with one of the missionaries and President called me to come and visit with him in the mission home. Elder Syndergaard and I went and we had a really nice visit. He asked how I felt about my mission so far, if I was at a high point or low point, etc. He asked what we could do to elevate the mission, I responded, and then he asked me to make that my first assignment as an Assistant to the President. I threw my head so far back, I nearly hit the wall. Although I have been here for 6 transfers, I will be moving from East Charleston to South Charleston (in the same ward)! It will be enough of change to help recharge me. It has been really humbling to see the Spirit operate within me as a Zone Leader and I have been fasting and praying all weekend to be able to be up to this next responsibility. The scariest part about all of it is that my companion Elder Klain (from Cardston, Alberta) has only been in the area for the last three weeks and Elder Brady and Partridge go home tomorrow. I am really excited and I can only move forward with confidence relying wholly upon the Lord. I know that Heavenly Father will give the patience (with others and myself), charity and faith necessary.

This last week Connie did okay, and we are planning to have dinner with her at a members home tonight. It is hard to keep a weekly update on her because she has dropped us and begged for us to come back 3 times in the last month. The exciting event of the week was that the assistants had a baptism on saturday and Luke came to it and loved it! Unfortunately because he was thinking so much about it all night saturday, he didn't get enough sleep for church sunday. We stopped by last night to see him and he was on his front steps studying Adam and Eve in the Bible because he wanted to learn more about them after reading about them in the Book of Mormon. We had a wonderful lesson and explained that the Sunday School Lesson on Sunday was on the Fall of Adam and Eve. It was such a testimony of the Spirit operating in the life of a humble seeker of truth. As he missed church his Spirit yearned to learn more of his parents. He is doing very well.

Thursday night we had all our appointments fall through and decided to go tracting at some apartments that had stood out to me each time we passed them (It must have been the name "Millcreek Landing") Before getting out of the car we set some goals for the hour. We said 2 Book of Mormons and 1 first lesson. We knocked doors for the hour and loaned two Book of Mormons, but no first lesson. As we headed back to car about 8:45 pm there was one girl and her family, in a final push we went and talked to them and asked if we could teach them about Jesus Christ. They invited us to their home and a had great first lesson with the family, all of them committed and excited for baptism. It was such an amazing miracle.

I love this work. I love Jesus Christ and I am grateful for the opporunity he has given me to save my soul through 2 years of dedicated service. Miracles are real and prayer is vital to any and all success. I ecstatic for the new challenges and opportunites that lie ahead!

yall be good

Much Love 

Elder Dumke

We went on a strip mine tour this morning with a guy named Bruce Vest. I think he went to East or Highland back in the day. He is the Young Mens President here.

Week Five

8/13/12

Good Afternoon!

I am still just plugging right along here in Charleston. We have spent a majority of our efforts on Connie Angel, trying to prepare her for baptism next week. We taugh the Word of Wisdom and she was all for living it this time. She has a lot of passion for the gospel. She took all her cigs and tore them in half, dumped all her coffee and tea down the drain and gathered up all her ashtrays. She put it all in a bag, held it over the trash shoot and said, "In the name of Jesus!" and let go. She didn't come to church yesterday unfortunately and when we went to see her in the evening, her friend was over and being way sketchy to us. The things they were saying, It definitely felt that she didn't want to meet with us anymore. Then she called us this morning and told us she wants us to come by tonight. I would love to give you a thumbs up or down on how she is doing, but honestly it feels day to day. Thanks for keeping her in your prayers. It is miraculous the changes she has made in her life already.

Last night we met with a Mason. He is a highly intelligent person with a lot of truth, but the conversation was so deep that I left feeling weighed down rather than uplifted. It was a nice reminder that the gospel doesn't need to be complicated. The Spirit bears stronger witness of simple truths. He was a friendly guy though and showed us around his guitar studio. He is friends with Tom Morello from Rage and has his original bass pedal.

We had a good zone conference on friday as well teaching on Commitments with Investigators. I love being a zone leader, but I am feeling burned out in some of the responsibilities. So next wednesday (10 days) elder brady will be going home so he bore his departing testimony at zone conference. It was a pretty harsh reality that missions really do come to an end. It was kind of emotional for me because I remember my first day with him and now 18 months later he is leaving. Yall be careful! (Every single person we talk to says this as we leave, not because it is dangerous, its just a culture thing)

Love

Elder Dumke

Faith Unto Power

This is from the opening night of Mulitfest. A culture fair for the "many" nationalites of WV.

8/6/12

This week has really been so inspiring. We had a wonderful Zone Leader Council with a discourse on Faith and Hope with Moroni 7 by President Pitt. We then studied it over the next few days and taught it to have the zone on Friday. It was much about how we grow in our ability to exercise faith; from faith unto repentance (doing things) and faith unto power (becoming things). We taught for two hours straight with a short role play. Everyone was really excited about it all afterwards. Sunday night we collected numbers from everyone and saw the effects of faith. The half of the zone that had been taught about faith, almost every area had someone at church on Sunday, while the other half did not. It doubled the numbers of investigators at church, with only half the areas bringing people. It was awesome. Faith is amazing. Why would we choose to not have faith? Where exactly does that get us? We limit our incomprehensible potential if we doubt. Our fears lie in a loss of pride if we don't achieve. We definitely got the chance to put it to action.

Right after teaching this on friday we went to have a lesson with Connie on the Word of Wisdom. 5 minutes before we arrived she called and left a message. She said, "I can't be baptized a mormon. I believe in drinking coffee and tea. I am a pentecostal and Imma stay a pentecostal." You could hear it in her voice that she didn't believe what she was staying. We knocked on the door anyway; "Sister Angel we know your in there come out and talk to us."It was somewhat dissapointing, but it was perfect chance to see that "failure" doesn't have to weaken faith. We prayed she would have a softened heart. The next day she called and explained there was a man in her life that was preventing her from learning the gospel and last night she prayed to find out what she needed to do. She said she'd get rid of him and she wanted to meet again. She came to church yesterday, but she came with her friend who had also been sitting in on the lessons. He seemed to enjoy church too. Amazing miracles.

I still love Charleston and serving with such amazing missionaries. I have felt my nature to begin to change and I love who the gospel has made me. I love the Book of Mormon and the ability it has to answer prayers and questions. Just this morning we had to take someone to the mission office during studies so by the time we got back I had but 2 minutes to study. I prayed to know what element of Commitments we need to focus on teaching at Zone conference on Friday. The Book of Mormon took me to 3NE2, talking about forgetting the signs of Christs coming. It was perfect, because every person we teach forgets their commitment. Anyway that is just a small example. I feel the sustaining power of prayer in my life when it is late or early and I am worn out and here comes a boost of energy. I love being a missionary and I miss you all.

Much Love,

Elder Dumke

Faith > Works

7/30/12

Last Sunday we put away any fear and decided to work with Faith. No hesitancy no fear. We prayed that we would baptize this transfer. Monday after noon we got a media referral for one Connie Angel. That night we went to visit her. She sits us down and tells us she knows Joseph Smith is a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is true. She was going to be baptized a few years ago, but her husband was against it. He has now since passed and she wants to join the church. We taught her 3 times this week and she is amazing. We gave her a Plan of Salvation Pamphlet to read and she studied it, marked it up and filled out any question. She prayed and wants to be baptized August 19th. The Sunday before transfers. She came to church this week and really enjoyed it and plans to come and stay. She says she has tried other churches this whole time, but doesn't find the kind of peace anywhere else that she does at our church. She really is phenomenal.

Tuesday we went to follow up with someone at 10 am, but they weren't home so we prayed to find the one the Lord had prepared in that area. We saw someone sitting on their porch and walked up towards them. We stopped at the gate and said "Hello!" She looked and asked if we were Jehovah's Witnesses. We explained who we were and she let us come in. We talked for about 30 minutes and she talked about all the wrong she had done and she was looking for a way out. She told us she had been praying for the last two weeks for God to show her what she needed to do. We smiled and the Spirit rushed over her and she knew that Heavenly Father had sent us there to see her. Hopefully it develops into something.

Diane dropped us by text. And Vince didn't come to church again. We had a pretty straight up lesson with him though and recognized what was lacking in his progress. It came down to what his vision was. He was reading, so he could get into heaven, not to help prepare him to free from sin. I love learning that the underlying principle of the gospel is 3 Nephi 27:19. Our purpose is Moroni 7:31 so that others can feel 1 Nephi 11:22. I love being a missionary, even if it ridiculously hard sometimes!

Love you so much,

Elder Dumke

Be not faithless, but believing

7/23/12

Good Morning!

So last Monday we had a lesson with a lady Diane. She was baptist then converted to catholicism and now she is interested in the church. She expressed how she believed all the things we had taught and she really loved the way she felt when we came over, but she said she couldn't ever join the church. By simply asking why not, it seems like the Spirit just melted this wall of fear and she said, " Well I probably could." She is super in tune with the Spirit and really loves the sacred feeling that it brings. Most people are partial to the shouting and speaking in tongues in feeling. We feel she has good potential and we are hoping to see her tonight.

After teaching Vince for a long time, last month his girlfriend came out fired up and told us she really doesn't want to learn. We stopped by on Friday, praying she wouldn't be there. Before going in we felt impressed to pray that he would wake up (despite it being 3 in the afternoon). We knocked on the door and some of the first things out of his mouth was "you are lucky I heard you, I was sleeping and rolled over right before you knocked." We acknowledged his comment with a smile, knowing that it was much more than luck. He said he was happy to see us and said that he had been reading everyday even while we weren't coming. I am not so sure if that is 100% true, but I am sure he was reading.

Saturday night we drove past a home with about 15 hispanics out front (not common in WV) and we remembered that we had a Spanish Book of Mormon. We turned around and went to talk to them. By the time we got there, everyone cleared out but one lady. We gave her the Book and she seemed pretty receptive. With it being 9 we headed back home. Before getting back a prompting came to go see luke. We hadn't seen him in over a month as well. We had a good visit with him as always, but the neatest things was the closing prayer. We were on his front steps and as Elder Syndergaard was praying, luke, started yelling, "OH MAN! WOW! OH JEEZ, I AM SO SORRY. AH SO SORRY I HAVE BEEN GOING AFTER THIS GUY FOR WEEKS!" We had no idea what was happening until he reached down and grabbed his son's hamster. It had been missing for quite some time. We prayed again, this time for gratitude. It was a really funny, but memorable experience.

Finally yesterday we expected quite a few people at church and none of them came. As church ended we got a text from one guy jason, who we had just set with a date this week, that he talked to his preacher and that he was going to stay baptist. After church we studied and prepared to go see him. We decided to just testify of the Book of Mormon and sing Joseph Smith's first prayer. We did and it was amazing! The Spirit was so strong. We asked him to pray to know if it was true. He couldn't speak, so we sat in silence, as he struggled to pray. He did and still said he was staying baptist. It was tough, but reassuring to know we did all we could.

Love you all so much

Elder Dumke

Transfers

7/10/12

Tomorrow is transfers and much to my astonishment, I will be staying! Round 6 in Charleston haha, that will make it 9 months. Wow I am really excited. It has been a wonderful 6 weeks with Elder Syndergaard and looking forward to another 6.

Because I have been here for so long, finding has been more difficult. We have tried the members quite a bit, tracted out many streets and worked with less active members. We felt that the way we were going to find someone who we couldn't reach any other way would be through a member. We prayed for a referral all week. On saturday night about 8:45 we got a call from a member that said her co worker had been asking her about the church all day and wanted a Book of Mormon. We went and talked with her about it some more and apparently 6 months her co workers family felt they needed to get married, and that they should quit smoking before they got married. They also got rid of all violent movies in their home. We don't know too much yet, but we are hoping to teach them soon. I will keep you posted!

2 weeks ago while on exchanges we went to have dinner with a member. That meal wasn't quite ready yet and wouldn't be for about 20 minutes, so we decided we would go knock a few doors and come back. Elder Brady and I went to an apartment complex that had stood out about 2 weeks prior. Because of limited time we knocked 2 doors at once and waited to talk to which answers first. If it so happened they both answered we would divide and conquer. We talked to one guy named Joe and gave him a Book of Mormon. He knew a member and a week later we taught him. And on Sunday he came to church with his girlfriend. He has now thru 3 Nephi and says he is on the fence on converting. We have barely taught him twice! We are teaching him again tonight.

Another huge storm came thru our area and the rain came down like anything Charleston had ever seen. In about 10 minutes there was about 4 inches of water on the freeway and the construction cones were floating down the road. We made it safely but this time we were preparing for the worst.

Love you all and I know this gospel is true. I am extremely grateful that I am serving in WV. It has taught me a lot, especially about what is important. I know that President Monson is a prophet of God, and not only does his counsel help us personally, but knowing that the Lord is in charge of this church thru him brings a lot of peace. We don't have to question what doctrines are practices are right. 

Love you

Elder Dumke 

Destruction

 7/2/12

Hey Family -

It is crazy all the natural disasters that are happening. I guess you probably didn't hear about the tornado/ hurricane windstorm that ripped through West Virginia. A majority of the missionaries were without power for a few days and some without water. Needless to say it was anything but a routine weekend. At the time I was on exchanges in Beckley with another missionary. We were teaching the restoration on this guys front porch and the clouds really started rolling in. 

The day went from 105 weather to starting to cool down quick. If you know anything about weather (which at the time I did not) then that is not a good thing. Within 10 minutes there were hurricane force winds uprooting trees, breaking branches and pulling down power lines. We ran to our car and headed for shelter, but almost all the ways home were blocked by downed lines or trees. As we came around one bend, this guy immediately behind us pulled his chainsaw out of his truck and starting going at this 40 foot tree in the pouring rain. The good thing about WV is everyone has a gun and a chainsaw and everyone wants to use it. The power was out and the chaos began. Elder Syndergaard and his temp comp stayed in the mission home with the Pitts because all the streetlights were out and it was unsafe to drive. We got home the next day and there were basically two apartments in the mission with both power and water - us and the assistants. It helps that we live right next to the capitol. But I have never been so grateful. Surely it doesn't seem like a big deal for all the power to go out, but you woulda thought we were on the brink of an Apocalypse.

Church was obviously cancelled and all the missionaries in the surrounding area came in for missionary sacrament meeting. Elder Syndergaard and I blessed the sacrament and we all bore our testimonies. The Spirit was so strong.

The rest of the week was good. We taught more than we usually do and we drove the zone with meetings. It is so cool how the Lord magnifies the time we do have. Chip is doing well. We didn't get to see him this week but we were in contact with him almost everyday. His grandma has been in and out of the hospital, but we are planning to see him tonight. 

Remember that less active family I talked about a few weeks ago that I have been trying to see the whole time I have been here, and then the Dad came to church? Well on Thursday we teamed up with their home teachers to go and see them. They didn't answer at first but as we were leaving they ran and caught us and told us to come round back. We had our first lesson with the family and have scheduled to see them every week to work with them. The girls both want to be baptized after they found out Liz got baptized. I am really excited to see the progress they make.

I am guessing this is my last full week in Charleston, so I am really trying to soak it in.

Love yall!

Elder Dumke