June 1, 2011

hey fam!

 

i really don't have too much time today. things have been going crazy. but i'll let you know about a few updates...

 

so i forgot to mention that last week i gave my first talk in sacrament! haha i was able to last so long without giving one, i didn't think i'd ever have to! but i did. it went well, at least i hope so. a few members said they liked it and something i said was even quoted! i talked about the blessings that come from missionary service. it was way easy to talk about. (i actually think that i went over time...)

 

last week the zone activity we put on was awesome! everyone loved it and everything worked out just nicely. we were really worried because we woke up and it was POURING out. and we were planning on having a water balloon fight and grilling! but luckily we put forth our faith to go through with it. there was like a 4 hour window of a beautiful day where we were able to do everything we planned. it was nice, and then the weather got lame and dreary again. everyone had fun and the food was pretty good. an elder chavira and i were manning the grills and we're both from texas so that's why it tasted so good.

 

juan is still supposed to get baptized this week! he has his interview tomorrow so we'll see if everything is good to go then. i'll let you know. i'm super excited for him and i'm so happy that we are having success. we have been getting referrals too like i mentioned before, so that's always great.

 

one of the missionaries got "door-ed" on his bike yesterday and we had to take him to the hospital. he wasn't it TOO bad of shape but it did turn out that he had a broken arm! when you get door-ed that's when you are riding your bike and someone parked by the curb opens their door without looking and you crash into it. it's scary stuff!

 

i hope wedding stuff is going well. dad said that there is a lot of painting going on and what-not! cool stuff. the house is going to look so different. also, dad mentioned a music room? is that the garage? i don't know what he is referring to. and mom, you hurt your foot!?! i hope you are okay :/ that's scary

 

love you all tons.

elder derek munoz

May 25, 2011

hey there mom!

well i'm going to try to write everyone so my emails might be a little shorter.

 

i'm glad you have decided to repent and be better at your keeping of the sabbath day! haha that's what our mission president calls it when we have some kind of training or meeting. he asks what we are going to do to repent and be better.

 

sounds like a lot of things are going on. that is really funny that the little girl asked if devin was superman! haha so when is girls camp? that's cool that you are talking to them all. you were always good working with the young women. so my companion has "the miracle of forgiveness" and i've been reading it. it's GREAT! really teaches you how gravely important virtue really is. might not be right for the young women though... haha idk maybe.

 

i LOVE reading the scriptures now. i used to think of it like a chore. but now it makes my day so much better and i love studying in the book of mormon. i used to think the scriptures were so complicated but after studying them out, they are a lot easier to understand! haha it's like piano, i've been studying it out and i want to learn when i get back home. i know i could do it.

 

so the work is going great here. we should have a baptism coming up in a week or two. plus we have been getting some great referrals! the Lord truly has been blessing us. we've been trying to work harder, not waste so much time and be obedient. i'm so greatful to be workin with the companion that i have. we invited one of our families in the ward to pray about someone and then invited them to meet with us. just last night we had dinner with them and they had a friend over with her daughter! we taught them and they should be coming to church! another thing that i've learned is that the people i should be talking to are the people placed in my path. like sometimes i fall into the trap of saying, oh we tracted so that was our finding" but really i know that i need to be constantly talking to people in my path. we've been seeing miracles that way finding people interested to talk with us :)

 

i love you tons. i'm doing great. please give a personal hug to both sister flick and sister hill. tell them i miss them.

elder derek munoz

Gotta Love Chicago! May 18, 2011

hi hi!

that sounds so fun to have devin be your buddy around the house! isn't he cool? haha he is such a hard worker! i've learned so much from his example. actually our whole family is full of hard workers that i have learned from. i am probably the laziest out of the family but i'm changing that! well i'm trying to haha. the mission definately helps out a ton. it's like ya'll sent me to a church boot camp! haha okay maybe not quite but i'm grateful for all that the mission has taught me and help me become.

anyways, that is cool that you got six flags passes! it'll be a good thing to do to relax from the stress of planning the wedding stuff. how is that going btw? i want to hear about the plans and what not. amber said the bridesmaides dresses are done yeah? thats cool. i guess i don't really know what to ask about the wedding being a guy, but i want to know about it cuz it stinks i'm not apart of it.

but it's okay because i'm on the mission sharing the gospel. it brings so much excitement and happiness. i'm not even sure how to explain the aweseome feelings you get when you teach the gospel or testify of truth. i guess the book or mormon prophets and missionaries said it best when they said their souls are filled with joy. that's what i get to feel. yeah sometimes it's hard because people don't want to hear or accept it, but when you find that one person who has been prepared, it makes it all worth it. we should have a baptism coming up and he;'s still doing well.

well one of the women that we baptized has moved back to mexico. she was here visiting family. the good thing is that her brother and his wife are members and they moved back with her. her brother was part of the elders quorum presidency from my first ward! it was so funny seeing him and knowing that i was now teaching his sister up here on the north side! it was cool. luckily she said she will be coming back to visit next year. around may!! that's when hopefully we'll be here visiting chicago! cool huh?? ya'll should get to meet her. the other woman we baptized has been on vacation but she just got back! and she is doing great. she is going to start working with her family to share the gospel with them. i gave each of them a picture frame with a photo of their baptism with all their family there. they seemed to really like it.

i love you all! can you believe that david barton should be home now or really soon from his mission?? and caleb has not even 5 months left on his! time flies.

elder derek munoz

May 11, 2011

hey there family!

 

well, not much has changed in the past 2 days! it was so much fun talking to all of ya'll. i still have one more phone call left. haha time seems to be going by so fast, but 9 months still seems like it's forever away, yet not enough time for me to want to go home at the end of it. time on the mission is just super wierd.

 

anyways it was great talking to all of you. i miss you all a ton but i enjoyed hearing your voices. i wish i could've had a little more time! haha i can't wait to talk with grandpa when i get home. like amber told me, i'm going to understand all his funny comments now!

 

so what did you all do for mothers day/your birthday mom? i bet it was a blast. amber said that devin has already moved back home. crazy! truly a full house now. where is everyone staying? seems like ya'll, mom and dad, never have had an empty nest have ya? maybe everyone will be out in a few months, but then I'LL be back! hahaha. but hopefully i will be able to go to BYU soon.

 

what do ya'll think i should do? i looked it up and for 2012 the spring semester starts april 24, summer starts june 18, fall starts august 27. i'm going to be getting home february 16. this is a while away, but i want to make sure that everything gets done in time for me to enter school at one of those times... everything else about after the mission i don't need to worry about. i know i'll be taken care of by the Lord if i work hard here and continue that hard work when i get released.

so my comp and i are working well together. we are constantly moving. the other day i just had to take a nap after i ate lunch. i was so tired i was out in an instant! but i like it. we are working well together and having fun at the same time. it makes me happier! we are working with a Juan Ramirez and we just had a great lesson with him yesterday. he's got a baptismal date for june 4th and so far he is progressing really well to be able to do so. ah... teaching the gospel is just so awesome. it just feels nice to talk to people about what i love so much. i wish i was able to better discuss the gospel and share it before the mission too. that's something i'm gonna have to change when i get home! i'm sure i had so many opportunities that i missed out on... but ya live and ya learn.

 

i love you all! thanks for always helping me out.

elder derek munoz

Chicago White Sox Game- May 5, 2011

hey there mom!

i'm so excited to call ya'll this sunday. i'm sure that 5 oclock will be fine. so we are allowed to skype but i'm not sure where i could do that. we don't have too many really tech-savy people in the spanish program to be completely honest. i mean there are a few families with web-cams but i'm not sure how good their internet is or if i would be bothering them on mother's day. but really, i don't think i would want to skype to be honest. it sounds really cool but i would really like to see you all for the first time when i get off the plane next february. i think that would be cool. it'll add to the suspense and excitement yeah?? hahaha i hope ya'll aren't annoyed with that but i'd rather just talk on the phone.

anyways it's so exciting to hear that you have been having such great spiritual experiences! i mean, that is so cool that the FHE group is working so well and that you feel they are helping everyone involved. and i'm so happy that you and devin gave your testimonies together! how incredible. as you said, i never knew that it would be this soon that he would find his way back to the church. i'm so happy and thankful to our Heavenly Father for answering our prayers!

well things are going well here. we have been so busy! i love it. my new companion is a stud. we're getting along really well so far. i like it because we have some very similar goals. so since we are on the same page we can really help each other get to where we want to be. we have found some really great new investigators and we are really hoping that we can be good instruments in the Lords hands in helping them prepare for baptism. i feel like we are going to be a great team. things with our zone are already looking up.

well i also got to go to a Chicago White Sox game. it was so cool! they lost 3-2 but it was exciting. if you ask amber she'll tell you that we had quite a few things go wrong yesterday... haha but we've been working hard and we know that they are just trials. we are still happy and positive that the Lord is pleased with our progression. sometimes when we try our hardest to do what is right and be good, everything goes wrong! but instead of being bitter, i know that i am just being tried and tempted by the adversary. my Father and my Savior love me and they want whats' best. so i continue knowing that they will help me over come everything.

i love you all and can't wait to talk to ya!

elder derek munoz

Best Easter Ever! April 27, 2011

hey there familia!

we had 2 baptisms!!!! and they were so happy/excited! it was such a great experience. and i want more like it! haha we had transfers and i have a new companion named elder swenson. he's from Snohomish, WA. strange name... but he's an awesome guy! i'm so excited to serve with him and we'll learn a ton from each other. anyways, we're going to continue the baptizing! it was a great way to end my service with elder john, having two people enter into the waters of baptism. i baptized one and elder john confirmed her, then he baptised the other and i confirmed her. sweet huh? i'll be sending pictures real soon.

Maria Ledezma Baptism on April 23, 2011

Balbina Ruiz Baptism on April 23, 2011

Easter was GREAT!!!! two baptisms easter weekend. plus, i did get your package! thanks ya'll! it was awesome. and i love the picture book! that was so tight and i was so happy to read the little messages people left for me. it was really sweet. so thanks! i'm going to enjoy it for sure! (surprisingly i havent' finished it all yet). for Easter day we did get to eat with members. actually, twice! right after church we went to a family for lunch. it was tons of fun. i barbequed!!! hamburgers and hot dogs! (delicious of course). and they had these bunny ears for everyone to put on... haha funny stuff. they also had a bunny costume that we dressed up in. i'll send pictures, don't worry! they are an awesome family. then later that evening all 6 of us missionaries went and ate with the Delgado family. the ones that you have talked to. it was a great Easter weekend. best one ever.

The Arruela Family

Opening Easter Basket from Mom and Dad

Photo Book from Mom and Dad

okay so funny story... i got my companion elder swenson this morning and he came over to the apartment. and... the kitchen smelt really bad. haha elder john and i have been so busy lately we haven't really even been in there. maybe we made a quick meal and then threw the dishes in the sink but that's it. well... he was tryin to figure out why in the world it smelt so bad! the sink was pretty bad... but that wasn't the end. we decided to not wait and clean the fridge real quick. he was workin on throwing away some old food, and there was this container of old leftovers. he opened it to throw it away, and was hit by a real bad, horrible stench! haha he said he gagged from it! oops... welcome to the apartment elder swenson! (don't worry, we're goin to try and be cleaner and throw away old food too).

so the weather is getting warmer. the only problem now is that it has been raining like crazy. it was like that last year too. we're going to try and use the bikes a lot more, because we both want to get back in shape! haha but it's good that we have a car on the really bad weather days. it's a good balance i think.

so how is everything? anything new or exciting? mom are you still doing p90x? or running with Gracie to the church? how are the wedding plans comin along? how's work dad? what's the status with amber and jeremy? ya'll just both workin a lot? i miss you all! take care and i'll call ya in a week and a half!! i'm not sure when but what sounds like a good time for ya'll? let me know and next week i'll see what i can do with it.

love 

elder derek munoz

April 20, 2011

Hi there!

 

things are great. i am so so happy that these two women have made the choice to be baptized. and i'm extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to have a part in their learning the gospel! what an incredible feeling. it was so awesome because i have been trying to really have and show love for the people i'm teaching. so we were talking about baptism with one of our investigators and before we asked, she asked me if i would baptize her! she said she had already thought about it and wanted me to do it. i felt so honored. i just felt the love i tried to give her return to me. she's a really cute older woman too. as her baptism has approached she seems to be happier and happier when we see her. she's always got a smile on and looking to say hi to us. we went to a wedding reception for a family that recently got sealed last weekend, and she was watchin us when we got there from accross the room, and when we saw her she waved at us with a big smile! it was awesome.

 

i'm so happy for peter. don't forget that i want a picture or invitation or something! so a while ago i got a letter from the Lundeen family. they said that they are doing well but sister lundeen said she does'nt get to see you much because you are really busy. that stinks! you should hang out with her. she told me that mckayla is doing water polo. that is so cool! i wish i could see her play.

 

well we have transfers once again! next week we'll find out what happens. i think i'm going to stay here, but that my companion will leave. he's been here for a long time and we've served together for 3 transfers now. but it's possible we'll stick together one more.

 

we are teaching a Zone meeting tomorrow, and i'll see if they recieved the package you sent yet. if we've got it, they should bring it for me tomorrow. but if not it might be next week that i get it. either way that is okay though. thanks for sending me something. i love ya'll. FAMILY! can you believe that i get to call home in less than 3 weeks?? how cool is that?? time just slips by...

 

i'm doing great. i love all of you. i'm so happy that you keep in such good communications with me. keep up the good work ;)

love,

elder derek munoz

April 13th Letter

hey guys!!

 

dad, you have had a crazy busy week. that is intense. that's too bad that you are going to lose devin though! he told me that he got into the program at new york. YEAH! that is so cool. but you are going to lose your hang out buddy. don't worry, in about 10 months (haha) i'll be home for a little while i think and i'll tag along!

 

awe mom, don't cry! in my words, i'm not dead yet! so don't worry. i'll be home soon. can you believe that i get to call next month?? it's comin fast right? that is so neat that you two got to serve in the temple together for the first time. i think that would be such an incredibly relationship building thing. me and my wife work in the temple? sweet.

 

i had no idea that peter cunningham was getting married! wow. tell him that i say hello and that i miss him. also tell him i said congratulations and that i want him to send me an invitation or announcement or whatever k?

 

so get this. Hermana Curtis who i've been serving around for a long time, has been telling me about her study abroad program she did through BYU. she went for a semester to Jerusalem. it sounds incredible. i think i might want to look into that when i get home. the only thing is it would take A LOT of work. it's very expensive. but she said that when she got accepted, she didn't have any money. she did several fundraisers and such to get the funds. i want to look into it.

 

things are going well with our investigators. i think that we will be able to have 2 baptisms this month! and we are still working to get another person married. hopefully they will and we will help her prepare for baptism for next month. i love this work. it's really hard sometimes! being in sales and having served a mission you know how it is getting rejected a lot. but ya just gotta keep on movin forward. i know that ther are people that have been prepared because i have seen it. and spreading the gospel gives you so much joy that you just keep goin!

 

we went on exchanges with the Assistants yesterday. that was a great experience. elder mcdonnel taught me a lot. he's a really dedicated missionary who just loves his mission. it was good to see the joy he got from talking to people about the gospel.

 

i'm happy that you were able to have such a successful time with FHE. i love teaching about the atonement. it is such an incredible tool in our lives that helps us be happier every single day. what is sad is that there are so many people that don't understand. i've met many people who think that Christ's suffering is so sad and that they are sorry that he had to do that for them. while it is a very sad subject, it happened because he LOVES US! and he wants us to use the atonement to make us happy and return to our father in heaven. the atonement should be used gratefully. we need to realize that the price has already been paid. now it's up to us to use that precious gift.

 

i love you all and i miss ya'll. i hope everything is going well and that you are all remembering the Savior in this Easter season.

hugs and kisses,

elder derek munoz