SISTER RICHES!!! from the Bay Area, she was called to the Porto Alegre South Mission and when she had 4 weeks in the MTC, she got sent home, like us all. But, now she's here in the Great Salt Lake City Mission and is so excited to be here. She's super ready to work and is taking everything in stride which I'm so impressed with. We love her so much. It's my first time being in a trio but it's a good time.
Then, on Sunday we had a really beautiful baptismal service with them. They just got here to the states in March so starting in about January they had been taught by a handful of missionaries in Brasil. The missionary who taught them and baptized Heloiza their daughter, Elder Weston, got to participate via Zoom and bore a sweet testimony. His family was at the service because they live here and it was such a cool connection. They are such a special family. We sang "When I am Baptized" in Portuguese and the bishop gave a little message which I translated for!! (The Weston family doesn't speak Portuguese, obvi). He cried, they cried, I almost cried, the spirit was so strong.
I know that there are people in every part of the world prepared to receive the gospel. These people were guided to the church through simple, yet powerful ways. Heloiza saw a video on YouTube about general conference and fell in love and wanted to learn more. Joselia saw the elders walking on the street on her way to work and was curious. Marcos worked as a bus driver and took a group of members to the Recife temple and they kindly explained things about the church, the gospel, temples, etc. They really were guided to this moment because the Lord knows all things and is able to work miracles.
I love you all!!
-Sister Dobbs
Us eating Cafe Rio at the park
The happy couple
And the bridesmaids/witnesses/wedding planners
I caught the bouquet!
Our shower broke
My cooking: stir fry and fried rice!!
Sister Riches!!!
I made beans and rice for Sister Riches'd 1st day to get that authentic Brazil experience (except the beans were not the same as the irmĂŁs make it. I'll keep trying)
Mauri was recently featured in a Church Newsroom article and video about reassigned missionaries. Below is the article and link as well as the YouTube video.
Thousands of reassigned missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are heading out to new assignments in their home countries following disruptions due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Young missionaries across the world returned home from their international assignments in waves this spring, when Church leaders became concerned for their health and safety when the pandemic hit.
“We have moved about 26,000 missionaries, all of them to their home countries,” said Elder Brent Nielson, a General Authority Seventy and executive director of the Church’s Missionary Department.
Church travel employees around the globe spent sleepless nights in their offices booking flights and chartering planes to bring the elders and sisters home. Many missionaries were not given much notice before having to pack their belongings and head to the nearest airport. Some left their missions without their luggage.
“This involved many weeks of very little sleep as we coordinated flights, whether those be commercial or charter flights, wherever the missionaries needed to go,” said Nanette Sorensen, Global Travel Services manager for the Church’s Materials Management Department (MMD). “Between our staff here and the staff in the area offices, we saw miracles happen as borders opened up and we all worked together for this common good.”
“In addition to the sacrifice and the dedication, it was amazing how unified we were as a team,” said Russell Harrington, missionary travel manager for Global Travel Services, who slept by his desk some nights while working to help bring all of the missionaries home. “And if that took staying up for 36 hours and working at our desk the entire time, we did it. And everyone did it. The unity that played into that was pretty phenomenal.”
Thank-you notes from the families of missionaries and others hang in the Travel office in the Church Office Building in Salt Lake City.
In Utah, where many neighborhoods are predominantly Latter-day Saint, congregations organized drive-by parades to welcome home the missionaries whose missions were cut short. “I was so happy. That made me feel so loved. That was so sweet,” expressed Sister Katie Telford, who returned to her South Jordan home following 15 months of service in the Philippines.
Missions Make Room for Reassigned Missionaries
Those missionaries who had just a few months left to serve were released. Those with more time on their missions were given two options: depart for new assignments as soon as possible or delay for 12 to 18 months. Most missionaries opted to leave right away.
“That was a great moment for me to see how many of them wanted to go back,” remarked Elder Nielson. In the United States, reassigned missionaries are going to nearly every mission in the country, except “where the virus seems to be hot right now,” according to Elder Nielson, including locations such as New York and New Jersey.
"We’re learning new ways to do missionary work." Elder Brent Nielson.
“Every missionary who’s assigned either to their permanent assignment or to a temporary assignment is made by a member of the [Quorum of the] Twelve [Apostles], so they’ve been very busy lately as they reassigned missionaries,” said Elder Nielson.
There are many opportunities to serve, but not enough apartments in some locations to house the influx of additional missionaries. In high-demand areas such as the United States, Church housing staff contacted hotel chains to help solve the apartment shortage. Many of the hotel properties had available rooms, as occupancy decreased when business and leisure travel dropped during the pandemic.
“We decided to reach out to hotels to see if they might be able to help us,” said Brent Elliott, a purchasing manager for MMD. “And since there aren’t a lot of people traveling, it was a good time to do that. And so hotels reached out and they’re helping us.”
“It is a privilege for the Materials Management Department to support the Missionary Department in helping our beloved missionaries,” said Peggy Cowherd, managing director of the Materials Management Department. “We are grateful for the wonderful collaboration with the Missionary Department, the dedicated teamwork around the world and the countless miracles that have made all of this possible.”
Virtual Missionary Training Centers
When the Church’s 10 missionary training centers (MTCs) closed due to the pandemic, several thousand newly called missionaries found themselves online in a virtual classroom. The missionaries spend six hours a day online in a teleconference with a trainer and their class, including about 500 missionaries who are learning a new language.
“We teach them the same things, we practice the same things with them, and hopefully they’re just as prepared as the ones that come [to the center],” said Bryce Tripp, an MTC instructor from Mesa, Arizona.
Brother Tripp spends several weeks with each class of missionaries who are assigned to English-speaking missions.
“As long as the missionaries are there to learn and the teacher is here to teach, I think the same learning occurs,” he said.
“I was worried the feeling would be different, but it’s not,” said Maegan Hendrix, an MTC instructor who teaches missionaries going to Mandarin-speaking missions. “In regard to things like the language, there’s a lot more responsibility on them, obviously, to be practicing at home.”
Elder Nielson says the families of missionaries also benefit from virtual MTCs. “I think we’ve learned some great lessons about the Spirit that brings to a home when there’s a child there who’s actually studying how to be a missionary and learning a new language.”
Sister Sydney Leiseth, a Mandarin-speaking missionary called to serve in the England Leeds Mission, has enjoyed being with her family in Herriman, Utah, during her training.
“It’s been really cool to be able to share those experiences with them every single day as those experiences are happening,” said Sister Leiseth, who will begin her mission this summer in the Florida Tampa Mission until it is safe to travel to England. “They’ve been so great about keeping the Spirit in our home and following along with my mission protocols and the procedures that can help me be the best missionary here.”
Sister Leiseth and Sister Azoa Price of Midvale, Utah, have both been in Sister Hendrix’s Mandarin-speaking virtual classroom.
“This is a really cool experience,” shared Sister Price, who will serve in the Canada Vancouver Mission. “I don’t regret it. And despite some of the hiccups that happened because of internet, it works.”
Sister Price spends time with her mother practicing her Chinese vocabulary. “My mom is actually really cool. She’s willing to help me learn my language.”
Senior Missionaries Also Impacted
Most of the 4,000 senior missionaries who are at higher risk for COVID-19 returned home. A few did stay in the mission field and are in self-isolation.
“We have some that are serving from home,” said Elder Nielson. “They had an office assignment in their mission, but they can still do it at home and we’ll gradually begin to start having them go out if they can be safe.”
The Missionary Department reports that senior couples are still applying to serve missions.
“We still have some that are ready to go whenever we can send them,” added Elder Nielson, who said senior couples serving on a Church farm can leave now. “It just depends on what the assignment is. … They can social distance, they can wear masks and they can serve in an office.”
Technology in the Field
Despite the pandemic, full-time missionaries are still teaching thousands of lessons every week from their apartments using technology. They are also allowed to leave their apartments at certain times and provide meaningful community service in ways that are safe, which includes wearing masks and social distancing around others.
Two sisters who were serving in Brazil have been reassigned to a Portuguese-speaking congregation in Salt Lake City. Sister Mauri Dobbs (left) and Sister Hannah Davidson (right) make a plan for the week in their apartment, Thursday, May 28, 2020.2020 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
Two sisters who were serving in Brazil have been reassigned to a Portuguese-speaking congregation in Salt Lake City.
“I knew I’d be with Brazilian people again. I would be speaking Portuguese and that would add this element of familiarity,” said Sister Mauri Dobbs, a native of Santa Clarita, California, who served for a year in Brazil.
“And here it’s so nice because we have smartphones and we can text people and … there’s Facebook that we can use,” said her companion, Sister Hannah Davidson of Sandpoint, Idaho.
“We’re learning new ways to do missionary work. And I think people are actually more receptive online than they are with someone knocking on their door or trying to stop them on the street,” said Elder Nielson.
“We teach from our home or sometimes we go to the church and teach, but we can do it from the apartment just the same,” said Sister Dobbs.
“We hear from almost every mission that they have a really long list of people who are waiting to be baptized as soon as the chapel can open,” concluded Elder Nielson. “We’re excited for that moment to happen, and it’s starting to happen right now.”
Lots of spicy stuff going on in the Winder 17th Ward, lemme tell ya.
This week is transfers!! I got news that I'm training so yeehaw! I don't know what that means, if it's someone who was reassigned or gonna go to Brazil and did MTC online. We shall see. I'm gonna be in a trio for the first time and I am HYPED.
This week, we went out a lot more and knocked on doors of people who had been taught previously or referrals. We did that almost every day this week. I really liked it and we met some cool people. We even met people who spoke Spanish (the ones we were looking for had moved) and I got to use my #spanishskills and talked to them. Truly spicy.
I have learned that technology is extremely more effective for finding and teaching. We can have back to back lessons and don't have to worry about physically traveling from one house to another, and a million other advantages. The way we do the work is pretty different but I am honestly loving it. It's going well, and I'm pretty sure missionary work is never gonna go back to the way it was before. It's just so much more effective now.
Some highlights were that we got a referral from two spanish Sisters about someone from Brasil who's friend brought her to church and she LOVED it and said she wants to go every Sunday. I get the feeling she is gonna be golden. We talked to her last night and have a lesson planned this week.
Another cool finding experience. We were knocking on some former's doors and we talked to this girl who was a member and asked if she knew anyone in the complex who spoke Portuguese or who needed to hear a message about Christ. She pointed out an apartment where she believed the family spoke portuguese or spanish. We went there the next day and met the sweetest lady who WAS from Brasil!! From Porto Alegre!!!!! She even KNEW some members I KNEW!! She is a member, but the only one in her family! Now we can get to know her a little better AND meet her mom and siblings and begin teaching them. #miracles!!
We got special permission to attend a churrasco with Gabi (our recent convert), Ăcaro, her husband, and a bunch of members who are in their ward. She was so glad to see us and said the message we shared after really touched her. We also got to know her husband better, who isn't a member. And we are REAL BRAZILIAN CHURRASCO (barbeque), complete with beans, rice and potato salad. It was so good and I had missed it so much.
We had a super great lesson with our friend Kelly. The first day, we invited her to read the Book of Mormon. The next day, we called and she said, "Amei o livro!!!" "I LOVED the book!!!" It was so precious.
We were really bummed because due to some scheduling conflicts with their wedding, Joselia and Marcos will have to be baptized next week. We're still working on the wedding. It's been a lot of hurdles to jump through, but I have faith it will all work out.
I love you all and I am so happy and so grateful to be here.
*We had church yesterday! After being closed for about 3 months, some areas are starting to have meetings in the chapel again! Our ward (congregation) is pretty big here, so they divided it into 3 groups, 9am, 10:30 and 12p.. We attended all 3.
*We found out how to make protein balls this week (it's like peanut butter, honey, oats, etc) and we have made them 3 times already. 3 separate batches. We're addicted. We also made baked potatoes and panko chicken this week, among other things. Truly thriving.
*We had zone conference this week, which was with like half the mission. It was super good. We talked about Facebook and our capacity to reach millions through technology. The Lord's work will continue accelerating and it's quite thrilling to be a part of that. They say this is the new wave of missionary work. We can't go back to knocking doors. It's just so much less effective.
*We went with Joselia and Marcos to the clerk's office and they got their marriage license!! It was a good time. I had to translate everything for them which was fun. They're one step closer to baptism which they've been so waiting for months!
We also had a super awesome mission devotional via Zoom with Elder and Sister Gong and Elder Christansen from the missionary department. It was soooooo good and I definitely cried at some touching things that were said.
One of my favorite parts was when they spoke about D&C 45 which lists signs of the times: earthquakes in divers places, a "scourge" and "sickness" that will cover the land (aka COVID-19) (vs. 31,33). But then it says in verse 32, "but my disciples shall stand in holy places and shall not be moved". We, as missionaries and saints, are a part of that. We are the example to the world, the ensign to the nations. Despite a world filled in commotion, we are standing steadfast, strengthened by our faith in Jesus Christ and the hope He offers for a brighter future.
For my mission friends:
President Christensen said, none of you are waiting for a Visa or to go to your original assignment. Your mission starts NOW. D&C 31:3-4 "Lift up your heart and rejoice, for the hour of your mission is come."
Another special thing I found in my study. In 3 Nephi 9, just 2 chapters before the Savior comes, it talks about the destruction the people endured, the suffering and loss. There were fires, earthquakes, whole cities drowned in the sea, and then complete darkness for 3 whole days and nights. Not even candles or torches could be lit to penetrate the utter blackness. How terrifying must it have been! We live in similar dark times. Times of commotion, confusion, and destruction. We, too, are awaiting the coming of our Lord. But, in this darkness the Lord speaks from the heavens. He says,
"Will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?
"Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me." (Vs 13-14)
I know He is the light of the world. He speaks to us in the darkness and we can learn to hear His voice. I love Him and feel Him lifting me up in the hardest moments.
Love,
Sister Dobbs
Our hike ft. A teepee and a mining shaft we went down
Yesterday Gabi was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ. I could not be happier to have been a part of her journey. She is incredible and shared her testimony at the end and everyone was crying. She said she had been lost for a long time, searching for the truth in many different churches but was disappointed or deceived every time. She prayed for years to be guided to the truth and now can see how she was led by the Lord to this church. Even if she didn't recognize it at first, she now knows that she was being led. It all started when she, as she was working as a Uber driver, gave a ride to the Munns, who are members and they talked about the church. I can't even express how special Gabi is to me and how happy I am for her.
We started teaching this cuuuuute family and I love them so much. I love that even indoors, we're able to find people and the work cannot be stopped!!
We did a service project this week packaging masks. In Utah, anyone can request 1-5 masks and the gov't is providing them. They've sent I think like 2 million masks. We packaged thousands that day.
We also did a service project putting together school kits for families who can't afford the supplies. It was fun!
It rained a lot this weekend, which was super fun. We're just having a good ol' time. I love my area. I love my comp. I love our district! Oh yeah, we got 2 new elders in our area who were also both reassigned from Brazil! They're super cool and funny. And we can speak Portuguese with them :) Big things happening in Winder 17th.
I know that life is crazy right now, but we can still feel joy independent of our circumstances when our joy is centered in Christ. Jesus Christ is joy!! We can feel peace, when it seems impossible to feel peace because He is the Prince of Peace. I love my Savior so much.
Love,
Sister Dobbs
This is what we look like when teaching, in our "office" (the study room). I don't know why anyone would reject our video calls. I think we're pretty cute.
So this week something semi-spicy happened. We got a call from someone who represents the Church Public Affairs saying they're doing a piece on reassigned missionaries and wanted to interview us!! So on Thursday they came to our apartment and we had like a 30 minute interview and they filmed us doing various activities like weekly planning, calling people and teaching on a video call. So look for me in a Church Newsroom article sometime soon!! I'm basically a celebrity!
We had another interview this week, but this one was with President. I really love my new mission president. I was worried because I really loved the Joneses and was sad to leave them behind in Porto Alegre but the Priers are amazing. When he talked, it was super special and I know I'm exactly where I need to be, in this mission and in Winder 17th ward, the Portuguese area. I feel so blessed that the Lord called me out a second time and still had a work for me to do. I'm so grateful to be out here. I love being a missionary. I love teaching. I love my companion. We see miracles all the time.
We just have so many awesome people to teach. We found 3 more this week and their stories are incredible. One did a tour at temple Square and the sisters there gave her a Book of Mormon, which she read and just had so many questions about. She wanted to know who the Nephites, Lamanites and Jaredites all were. She is so prepared to hear the gospel. This was a funny story. She knew about the symbol of the angel Moroni in the church. When we reached out to her, we said that Moroni gave us her number (who is a member in our ward) and she thought "Moroni" was a code word we use for someone who's a good friend, a helper, or an angel. She said she has lots of friends who are members and said "they were all Moronis," just super good people, angels in my life. It was so cute and precious. (We explained though the next time we met.)
Gabi had to go out of town this week so her baptism got moved to the 7th. Our couple who's getting married, Joselia and Marcos are gonna go get their marriage license the 8th and hopefully can be baptized the 14th (or sooner). And we're just seeing straight miracles.
I feel like I can't take credit for anything going on in this area. It's the members who've helped us or the missionaries before us who taught these people. I just feel privileged that God trusts me to help in His work and I'm grateful He allows me to be an instrument in His hands.
Last thing, we went on a super cool hike today! We had to cross a river like 3 times and it was so fun. We took our shoes off one of the times and it was cold!!
I love you all!! I'm happy here! I'm praying for you all.
