January 17, 2012
we are doing great and i'm happy :) it HAS not been very cold (haha i
thought that was funny). very mild winter and although some days have
been freezing, generally it's been nice. i still haven't gotten sick,
like my whole mission! cool huh? i am so grateful for all the Lord has
done for not only me, but our family through my missionary service.
i'm stunned at all the blessings we have been given.
we had a miracle happen the other day! my companion and i were walking
in the snow towards home. it was actually cold that dad and it was the
day it snowed, so my head was down and i was walking quickly as my
companion told me a story. he then stopped, looked back and said "i
think we should help her". i looked back to see a woman taking in her
groceries (which were a lot of things). i didn't even notice her when
we walked by! so we huslted back to help the woman. unfortunately when
we brought up the gospel- not very interested. so we began walking
back home when we heard someone shouting behind us. we turned around
and a young woman was at the house we had just been at. she beckoned
us to go over and the only thing she said was "can you come back? in
like 2 hours?" we said yes and she went inside to hide from the cold.
we were kinda confused but thoguht it was awesome! we went back 2
hours later and taught this young woman. the family had spoken with
missionaries a few years back and she wanted to hear us again. we're
going to try to work with the whole family. we'll see how it goes this
week!
well i love you tons. i hope you and dad can share emails together
because they are different! take care and have a great week okay?
i miss ya,
elder derek munoz
January 10, 2012
familia!
so guess what? pdays are now monday, however, for those of us in the
city, we will be emailing tuesdays! haha we just barely changed the
pday and there was a problem between the city and the library
employees and funds gettin cut... so now mondays the libraries will be
closed.
things are going well. i'm really scared to go home, not gonna lie!
haha i'm really excited to be home and see all of you!!! but i've been
a missionary for so long! i'm not sure how to be a normal human being!
because obviously missionaries are not normal human beings ;) haha i'm
sure things will be fine though, i'm trying not to stress or even
think about it too much.
any stories or experiences to share for your talk? i have no idea!
haha sorry mom but i have so many stories and so many experiences that
idk where to start. if you want to give me a better idea of what you
may talk about or something i can try to think of something that fits!
but for the moment i have no idea what you're lookin for so idk what
to share. sorry! but i love you and so does God so you will be helped
:)
we had a really cool miracles happen! last week Jesus shared his
testimony with us. it was such an incredible feeling to hear him talk
about the blessings he has recieved from the gospel. he was sharing
with us how much his life has changed and it's changed A LOT more than
i realized before. he shared some things about his past i hadn't heard
before. he was struggling new years weekend with some old problems
that were coming back. he was going to do something "really stupid" in
his own words, because he didn't see any other option. but he decided
to stop, and pray to Heavenly Father for strength or a sign or
something to let him know that he wasn't alone and that He actually
cared. as he finished his prayer, the clouds on this dreary day
parted. the sun shone brightly on him and he began to sob. he said
that he know knew more than ever of Gods love and the power of prayer.
it was so cool to hear him share this with us. i realized how much i'm
going to miss being here teaching the gospel. what gives me comfort
though is that i now will be a better member missionary than ever
before! i can't wait to share the gospel with those around me
throughout my life.
i love you all. thanks for everything! dont worry about the money for
the marriage licence. its taken care of!
love elder munoz
January 4, 2012
howdy-ho family!
things are going well! 2012 should be an awesome year! i think it's a
cool start to the year being on my last transfer! work hard, have fun,
see miracles in the mission and then start the next chapter of my
life. cool beans. we had a really fun new year's. went to bed, woke up
and went to 9am church. whoop whoop!
so... jesus is doing well but we have to push things back a little
longer. i think i was put here in this area for just the right amount
of time. like he needs this much time to make this big change and i'm
here for it. i don't think that is a coincidence. i'm not worried for
him. he's slower to progress than most people i've worked with but
he'll be alright. we have never gotten the chance but it seems now we
may be able to start teaching his... fiance? pretty soon! that'll be
good.
yeah i love the experiences that the Lord gives us so that we can
grow. sometimes we need time, facing problems, so that we can increase
in our faith, or appreciating, or our reliance on Him. i'm grateful
for the sometimes hard situations we face because, if we choose for it
to be so, we can always learn, grow and come out on top. it interests
me how much ATTITUDE has an effect on everything. it's really not
worth it to have a bad attitude. it doesn't lead to happiness.
the last few days i've been in a threesome with my old mtc companion!
he's come with us because his companion was moved to a different area
monday morning. so until this afternoon he is our comp. it's really
cool! so much fun talking and seeing how much we have both learned and
grown since we were together so long ago. we had been in contact and
spent some pdays together, but as far as working together we have
never really been very close or had those opportunities. it was fun to
have them together.
i hope all is well. i love you and appreciate you all so much. thanks
for everything you have done for me!
elder munoz
December 28, 2011
hey there family!!!
so it was awesome to talk to ya'll on Christmas. i loved it. you all
sound like you are doing well and that's a great blessing :)
well i'm not sure what to say because i just talked to ya'll on the
phone! a little cooler than just an email. things are still going
good. i can't believe i only have 7 weeks left! it's crazy! i'm trying
to work hard still and let the Lord take care of things like always.
we are trying to get Jesus married and baptized this weekend. it's
going to be crazy and stressful and i'm not quite sure if everything
will work out but i'm praying for it! we're going to do everything we
can and pray for a lot of help. i'm sure the Lord will make it happen
if that's what's supposed to happen. he's doing great though. we met
him this morning and i'm just so pleased with the changes he's made.
he's so much more happy and positive than when i first met him. a
great guy!
my companion and i had some cool things happen yesterday! it was kind
of a crummy day with not much happening. i felt like things were just
not working the way i wanted and i was bummed. HOWEVER even though i
was discouraged and we had no appointments for the last few hours of
the day, we went out and knocked doors. within a block we found 3 new
people to teach! something that we've been struggling with lately. it
was awesome! and then when we were walking to visit a recent convert,
our investigator Edith who we had lost contact with met us walking in
the opposite direction! she had lost her phone but now we are back in
contact! awesome. so many miracles. i know that God was helping me out
and blessing me in a time when i really needed that comfort. i'm so
grateful for His love.
i love you all and thanks for all you do for me! you are all great
examples and i appreciate your care and concern for me.
take care!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!
elder derek munoz
December 21, 2011
hey there!!!
wow i'm excited to talk to ya'll this sunday! yes, i think 1:00 should
be fine. we have church at 11 so right after that i'll do it. i can't
wait to hear about the baptism! too bad that one elder just got
transfered. that kinda stinks!
don't worry about not sending a stocking, you sent stuff that i would
usually find in a stocking so thats okay! haha i love all the gifts!
so fun. i enjoyed some captain crunch this morning from the "eight
needful things" present. cool stuff! and i'm glad you gave the
missionaries those treats! that's so cool. i'm sure they just loved
it. it's so nice when members think of you to give you somethin. not
that you have to give something to show you love someone of course,
but you know what i mean. it's a fun little thing to show you
appreciate them and that means a lot when you are far from family.
Jesus is doing well and so far on schedule to get baptized new years
eve, and confirmed new years day. i don't want to say it's for sure
yet because you never know what happens. but he's doing well and i'm
praying that the Lord keeps helping him.
things are going well! my companion is a really funny guy. we have fun
together but i feel bad because he tries my patience a lot. lets just
saying i'm learning to be better at constructive criticizing than ever
before! he's a great guy, and i'm trying to be a good trainer.
it feels like Christmas has just come by way fast. its incredible how
time moves on the mission. i don't know where it's gone. i have 8
weeks left until i get home. that's scary! i am just gonna keep
preaching and try not to think about it.
i saw a story of a member of the church that was badly burned in an
airplane crash 3 years ago, but survived. it made me really appreciate
my life and the beauty of the soul. although she was badly burned, you
can see the most incredible light in her eyes. she is such a great
example of strength and faith. i dont think she could be who she is
without the gospel though. i love this gospel and know that it is
true. it creates like a physical protection that makes me so happy.
well, i sent this woman and her family a Christmas carD! i hope she
likes it. i think she has a blog too if you want to check it out. her
name is stephanie nielson.
Christmas caroling was awesome! we had lots of fun and talked to
people from all over. many people were very grateful for our service
and some even stopped and sang along! Chicago is a very festive city.
i really like it.
i loveyou all! sorry this was a little short! but i'll talk to you soon.elder derek munoz
December 14, 2011
hey there!
haha mom it's funny that you said you hope i stay warm and dry because
it's gotten warmer (still a bit cold tho, 40's) and it's been raining!
today we walked the whole way to the library while it rained... the
busses came up to us each time we arrived at the street we needed to
get off on... hahha that's life though. luckily we had
umbrella-ella-ellas! last week there were some FREEZING days. but
lately it's been okay
well it sounds like ya'll are having a party at the Munoz house! ya'll
are doing a bunch of fun activities! and you sent another package? i
just got one last week of the 12 days of Christmas stuff. i opened the
first one today! it was a cool little tree :) and i decorated it.
thanks :)
thats cool that devin and kat will get to be with ya'll. when should i
call? i assume we'll do like last year where we 3-way call right? just
start thinkin about it and coordinate something because my last
communication with ya'll will be next week! wow, it's coming fast
isn't it?
we ARE going Christmas caroling! we are going downtown, a ground of
like 20 missionaries, to sing carols and talk about the gospel. i
think i told you we did something similar last year and so i'm excited
to do it again. we've been doing well. we're sharing part of the birth
of Christ with people and reading it from the Book of Mormon. then
we're asking to come back and share more about this book that has
blessed us so much. it's been good because more people are open to it
and it gives us a chance to testify about the restored gospel.
my comp and i... are getting along. HAHA i know that we're together
for a reason. let me just say it's not the easiest. but it's okay.
he's full of spunk and that's good. we laugh a lot too! but we went on
exchanges the other day and my buddy elder barney said that i was must
be a special person hahaha. take that for what you want.
well jesus is staying strong! he is going to get married soon! he even
brought his financee to church last week! i'm so happy for him. i
think he is the longest ive ever worked with an investigator before.
and to see things finally start to take hold is great. i know that the
Lord works miracles with people. He is so patient with us. i need to
be more patient wtih people. love really is such a HUGE thing. it's so
important. love can change lives.
i love you all a ton. i miss you! but i will talk to you soon! oh, i'm
really sorry but i didn't save up money this year for presents... i
will make sure to send a disc or something with photos tho...
elder derek munoz
December 7, 2011
hey there!
i don't know how much i'll be able to write this week because i'm sick :( i can't concentrate a whole lot. don't worry though i'll be fine. just need to sleep it off...
i'd love to see pictures of the decorations you spent so much time doing! my companion and i joined some other missionaries in buying a tree and we all are going to put the presents under it and get together for Christmas to open them. i'm excited for that! that's way cool that you got a video camera! very nice.
so that Christmas caroling sounds fun! we are going to do that on the 17th downtown and it should be fun. we did something similar last year but this time it will be better cuz we'll have more people. i still can't sing very well but i'm looking forward to it nonetheless. today we went downtown and saw a bunch of Christmas lights and a big Christmas tree and tons of stuff. it was fun, and not too cold yet. in the 30's but i'm worried cuz it should be gettin consistantly into the 20's by the end of the week. still no snow sticking! by this time last year there was a bunch. it should be comin soon though i'm sure.
so dad i really want to write you in spanish but i'm just like- 'bleh...' right now. maybe i can hand write you one soon. i really enjoyed the stories that you shared with me though! thanks for that. it's way cool how much the Lord loves and watches over his missionaries. what a blessing.
well my comp and i are getting along fine. he's hilarious. and we're stoked about Jesus' baptism comin up in a few weeks. he's been making great strides to repent and find out when he can get married and everything to start the new year with a clean slate, being baptized and confirmed dec31and jan1.it will be a great end and start to the years.
in other news, i found out that my best buddy alec swope is going back the the mission field! or should i say, comin back to Chicago! he went home back in the february and should be here for the jan 4th transfer! he will be back for the last transfer of my mission! i'm way excited. i love him a ton. one of my very best friends.
i love you all. i hope that you are remembering to spread the Christmas spirit with everyone you come in contact with! i loved the devotional by the first presidency! inspiring. my companion and i have been talking to people about the birth of Christ in our contacts and it's a great feeling to help others remember it's true meaning.
hope all is well!
elder derek munoz
hey hey fam!
i hope you all enjoyed Thanksgiving. my companion and i enjoyed the
day with some other missionaries ultimate frisbee, soccer, and just
talking at the church over some icecream. it was loads of fun to be
there with some of my really close missionary friends. then we ate
with some families and they were really fun to be with too. i just
love passing time with loved ones! i hope you are all enjoying the
moments that God is giving you together.
well elder melenciano and i just finished our first week together!
HAHAHA let me tell ya... he is one of a kind. we've been having a lot
of fun together so far. he's crazy! haha he's a little tiny guy that
tells me, if you say that in my country, you have to fight. hahaha so
i tease him a lot and he pretends to beat me up. maybe not the norm...
but it works ;) we have been working hard, and it really is hard to
work hard! haha it's been so cold and windy lately. the other day when
we were biking, i was peddling hard but if i stopped, in 5 secons my
bike would stop. i think it would have pushed me backwards if i had
stopped peddling actually...
we finally set a solid date with Jesus. man he's been up and down like
a roller coaster with his baptism. he just has so many things to fight
through. but we are here trying to help him the best we can and i know
that this is something he wants. he's still battling with tobacco.
he's making actual marriage plans now though and that's HUGE! we're
going to visit him today and give him a baptismal calander to help him
prepare and stay focused on what he needs to do.
i'm not sure if i shared this miracle with you before or if i just
wrote it in my journal but i wanted to tell ya'll anyway. so a while
ago we were working in an area and we were going to head back home to
eat that night. but before we left we decided to randomly stop by this
less active family that we hadn't been able to contact in a while. we
just wanted to say hi. they invited us right in and said we came at
the perfect time. the Hermano had a sick sister and they were about to
go to the hospital, but he was not doing well. he was really burdened
down and needed help. so we gave him a blessing and afterwards he
cried and gave us huge hugs. he was in need of some heavenly help and
i was so glad that we were able to be there for him. the work of the
Lord is so incredible! i love it.
today we're going to set up a Christmas tree and decorate it! we are
way pumped for that. well, i am at least. it should be fun. i can't
believe it's already december! ah. time goes too fast. i don't like
it. that's why it's so important to enjoy the moment! my mission
president tells us, don't just hit the notes, but FEEL the music! i
really like that and i've been trying to apply it.
i love you all and miss ya! hope everything is going well.
love elder munoz
November 16, 2011
hey ma, pa and other kin!
well things are going really well here. i'm a little nervous about
transfers next week. i think that i might train! don't get your hopes
up, i don't know til next week. i'm scared about leaving though
because we just began teaching an amazing family!!! for real! i'm so
happy. we are teaching a family and they have 4 girls between the ages
7-13. it's so cool because even the girls like to learn about the
church. we taught them how to pray and what prophets are and they are
such good learners! and they are all super cute girls that are just so
attentive and nice! it's incredible. it's really fun too because it's
a whole new teaching style for me. i'm really not used to teaching
younger people. but i get to try to be much more interactive and
excited when i teach them, to keep their attention. and we're finding
different ways to present information and examples we can show them. i
really like this family, i already love them and we've only taught
them twice. the mom is really cool too and they are going to feed us
dinner friday night! for me it hasn't been that frequent that
investigators feed us so i'm excited. this family is awesome and
really soaking up the gospel. it's going to be a challenge to get them
to church because of the parents work schedules but it'll work out.
karla, who we baptized about a month ago is doing great too! she
actually came with us to the last appointment to help be an example
for these girls and she did great. she's already inviting her friends
to meet with us, she's never missed church, and she's now been to a
missionary appointment with us! it's awesome. and then my other recent
convert that was baptized in september, is doing great! we just met
with him yesterday and HE had something planned from his reading that
he wanted to share with US. haha he taught us from the book of mormon
sharing a story about Lehi and prayer. it was really cool to
experience that and see that these two people are progressing so well
in the gospel. it makes me so happy.
so this next week i have many mission friends that are "dying" and
going home. it's sad! and its scary because i feel like my time is
just around the corner! i'm trying not to think about it. haha for a
little while i was thinking about it a lot but recent events reminded
me to just stop worrying about it all! so that's what i'm going to try
to do. and it feels good. no sense in worrying about it. live in the
moment right mom!?!
i love you.
elder munoz
