Family of Slackers!

FAMILY!

 

slackers. i have no email to respond to. thats ok though because i never have any time either. SO SORRY about the pillows. i'll send them off (hopefully) today. it's just hard because like i said it's hard to find time. Mom, thanks for the DearElder! i loved it.

 

anyway, happy wednesday!  it is such a beautiful day here in Provo! it's a little chilly outside for my Texas preference, but it's bright and sunny. how's the weather in texas? my friend from near Dallas said that it snowed there last weekend! 6 inches! and then the next day it was in the 70's haha. i won't be here for much longer though! i got my travel plans!

 

ok so i am leaving next wednesday. Elder Robbins (one of my comps) and i are the last to leave in my district! i'm not sure if this relates or not, maybe it doesn't, but listen to this... i really want to play out on the missionary field before i leave. enough to where... i simply asked my Father in Heaven for that one little favor. i asked the night before i got my travel plans, and i find out that i'm leaving WEDNSDAY! after everyone else is gone. i'm wondering if He's playing a small joke on me and i'll get to play on the field tuesday, the day before i leave. and i have to stay an extra day haha. maybe it's not related, who knows, but it wsa a funny thought. ok ANYWAYS i will be in the airport around 6:30 or 7 AM. my flight leaves at 8:45. so i'm not sure if i'll be able to talk to you mom, because you'll be at work. but dad i'll call you okay? that's going to be really strange. maybe we'll talk in spanish!! weird... so yeah, that's the plan. i'll be in chicago by 1 o'clock! (we're in the same time zone again padres!)

 

this week is awesome. instead of having classes all week, this is la semana de enseñanzas. or the week of teachings! it´s so much fun! because we have to contact other spanish missionaries so that we can teach them the discussions. and we can't teach the missionaries that are in our zone, so we have been talkng to and teaching people that we haven't met before and stuff. we go to other floors and other buildings to find people. we're teaching all 3 types of misisonaries too! we're teaching people that are also learning spanish, missionaries that are in intermediate and advanced spanish classes, and we're also teaching NATIVES! we have two really great missionaries that are from Mexico and from Cali, Colombia! they're here learning english. it's so much fun teaching native spanish speakers. they are really friendly, patient and helpful. it was so much fun too telling one of them that my dad was from Colombia. so this week is great. it's as real as we can get here. we've already had several appointments not work out. they didn't show up or forgot and they were in class. so we took it like we'd do in the field and found other people near by that we could teach.

 

so of course, being a missionary, i have to tell you a missionary thought. well i was thinking this, i know that our family is truly blessed. BUT all of us struggle. our family has a lot to do! we struggle getting through in school, in our callings, at work and other stuff. and these things really take a toll on our financial status. well, we just need to be faithful and put our trust in the Lord. we don't pay our tithing with money, but with faith. that's what i heard this week. we HAVE to pay our tithing and we will be taken care of. we have been promised that. 3 Ne 1:31-33 i think.

 

i love you all! time is running out!! you are the best

munoz

St Patty's Day

HEY family! happy st. pat day!

 

yes mom, i'm wearing my green tie! the one that devin gave me a while back (thanks bro, it rocks). so luckily i haven't been pinched or anything. although my friend in the district from Hawaii didn't wear any today... stinks for him (i'm not sure if it relates to him being from Hawaii haha...)

 

ok so let me pour out my deepest apologies for not having the time to send a letter last week. i really wanted to because my email had been so short, but i just didn't have the time. even though it is our preparation day, we have an investigator that we teach on Wednesday nights right after dinner so we have to prepare for that. and the temple takes a lot of our time too so really i don't have too much free time. which is fine though because going to the temple is AWESOME! one of the best parts of the week. but yes, i humbly apologize for not sending out a letter. forgive me. that's why i wrote on annie's letter to share some things with you all. i'm not sure if i told her this scripture to go with that story so i'll repeat myself, Alma 26:3. that's the scripture to go with the temple story and Elder Shilhabel.

 

how has everyone's week been? mom said that it's been busy! mom, how was Utah?? dad, how was it having to be without mama? (did you survive??) devin, how was visiting home? (i miss your guts) amber and jeremy, were you stoked to see mom!? that must have been so fun. by the way you two, one of my really good friends in my zone is from Pocatello Idaho! or wherever it's called. and whenever i meet sister missionaries that went to BYUI i ask them if they know you amber! but, you're married so idk if that makes it different. i haven't met anyone who knows you yet haha but maybe one day.

 

MOM! actually, EVERYBODY! that's so cool what you said about the missionary sharing that they try to look at everyone the way the Lord views them. that's definitely something that is important for everyone to learn. i'm trying hard to be that way too. i thought it was neat that you mentioned that to me because last night i realized something pretty similar to that. well we sometimes discuss how the gospel makes people feel so close to each other! many of these missionaries i feel like i have and will know them forever! many have become family! and we've only known each other for about 2 months. well what i thought about last night was that it's because when we discuss and try to live the gospel, we feel the Spirit strongly! and because we feel the Spirit so strongly, i feel that many times we get a glimpse of the Savior's love for them. i'm not perfect, and so sometimes different people in different situations, it is hard for me to feel that Christlike love. but when i'm putting myself ASIDE and trying to be more like the Lord, i do feel that love. i feel that pure love and that's what brings us so close. we all have those glimpses. so yeah, that is something i constantly work on. loving others. that's one of his commandments! "love one another, even as i have loved you".

 

so one more thing from my study is one of my favorite chapters of the Book of Mormon. Mosiah chapter 4!!! it is FULL of great things. but i love how it talks about beggars. how do we treat beggars? what do we think of the homeless? well verse 17 says "perhaps thou shalt say: the man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore i will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance". isn't that true many times? don't we think that? well verse 18 says that those who think that should repent of that! and 19 says "are we not all beggars? do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have"? yes, we all receive everything from our God and we should share these blessings with those who aren't as fortunate. the chapter is a great one to study.

 

well, i love the idea of looking for miracles! we should all look for them in our lives. the other day i was looking in my scriptures and found a note that someone had left for me, encouraging me and supporting me for all i have done in the district, with scriptures to go along with it. they said that God noticed all the good i did. i felt that immediately lift my spirit and i was so thankful.

 

i love you all! let me know how things are!

love elder munoz

Derek is a new District Leader

Hi family!
that is so cool that you sent this email the same day that i'm reading it haha. yeah i'm diong laundry right now. i finally got the package from devin! thanks brother! it was awesome. i was so excited and i loved it. the shirt you gave me and the "stress reliever" was awesome. everyone, thanks for your letters of love and support. it's so nice to hear from everyone! well i just set up this new email today so that took about half of my computer time! so this email won't be quite as long as they usually are. also, for some reason my ENTER key isn't working so this might not look as organized. 

well i got a letter from David in Japan that mom forwarded to me! he's doing great and loving it in the field. and guess who else i've finally heard from?? caleb! i finally got a letter from him and i was way excited for it. did you know that he passes out pieces of paper with his name and phone number so that people will call them to learn about the church. i've never heard of that before! i thought it was pretty cool. well this week was exciting! 

my district leader and his companion were made the new zone leaders. and i'm the new district leader! i'm excited to serve the people in my district further. i'm a little nervous about it. but i know that with the Lord's help i will be able to know their needs. it's pushing me to be a better missionary because i want to set the example for them. so that's great! 

well i want to share a scripture with you! read 2 Nephi 31:19-20. it's awesome. we must press forward in our faith in Christ. ah there is so much i want to say about these scriptures because they are great. it tells us exactly what we need to do in order to come closer to Christ and our Father in heaven. but i don't have time to write all i want to say. so take this in your personal study and see what you can get out of it. also, 2 Nephi 25:23-26. i love you all! sorry i didn't have more time! take care!!!!! 

- Show quoted text -

Another Letter From the MTC

Here is part of a letter that Derek emailed last week. He mailed us some pictures that I will post soon.


Hello again family!

i'm just hanging out in the dungeons of the laundry room. it's WAY exciting haha. well every week seems to go by so fast. i'm always busy, and things are intense. BUT it's great of course. i'm enjoying myself. some days i feel so beat though because of all that i'm learning. i am loving the spanish, and i'm trying to practice more!

so just so you know, it is beautiful here! i look at the mountains everyday. it's awesome. BUT it's freezing! i'm a texas kid! right now it's snowin out there! i guess i need to get used to it  because i am going to chicago... i heard something about it possibly snowing in texas?? what is that about?? am i gonna come home and have to more even MORE south? aye... it's not too bad... snow is fun! different from what i'm used to.

did i tell you about the pinata annie got me? like dad wrote in his email to me, sometimes it's hard to remember if i've said something the week before... well i'll tell you again and maybe it'll be a little different. okay so annie sent me a pinata for Valentines! how cool is that?? everyone was jealous. haha i had some people coming in my room to take pictures and i didn't even know them! it was a missionary pinata with an Elder Munoz tag. it was homemade too. i sent some pictures and i think you should get them real soon if you haven't already. it had all sorts of candy and things inside. i felt really bad busting it open though... haha it's still in my room.

so the unity between the district i'm in is really great. i love everyone in my class! sometimes people can get on my nerves.... but that's okay right? haha. my zone is really fun too. i've met so many people that have been good influences on me. everyone has their own personal experiencse and some of them are really personal, but through their adversity they have obtained amazing testimonies! luckily i don't think i cried this week about anything haha :) but there's always next week.


Love,
Derek

The Elders with Hermana Coleman (bottom) and Hermana Doeman.

We have a large district.

Pinata of Derek from Annie. 

Cute!! 

Notice the resemblance?!

Elder Munoz with Elders Thomas, Little, Reagan, Bean, 

Bottom: Boyd (new companion), Robbins (other new companion), 

and Hawk (old companion).

Elder Munoz with Elder Hawk

Week 3 Letter from the MTC

Hello family from the confines of the MTC!

how is everyone?? i'm doing great. i just got back from the temple. it was a great session. i went with everyone from my district. man, i could stay in there all day! it was so peaceful and calming. i enjoyed it. i hope you all have been trying to go as much as you can!

well, i'm constantly tired, the food gives me gas, and i'm studying/learning almost 10 hours a day... but i love it! what better work to do than the Lords'?? we heard a talk that Elder Holland gave to the MTC back in 2000. he was stressing the importance of missionary work and how lucky we were to be apart of it. he was saying how it's extremely hard work, but it's the best. something that really stood out to me was when he said in a small way, we are going to be helping to bring salvation to another soul. wow. how awesome does that sound?? but it's a little scary, because it's such a great responsibility. he was also stressing the importance of not fighting obedience. we need to be obedient in all things and that's what i'm working on so i can be the best missionary i can be.

ok so these past few days have been pretty intense. my companion has been in and out of meetings. and yesterday we found out that he needed to go home for a few months before returning to the mission field. it was really sad. i'm pretty sure i mentioned it (it's possible i didn't- because i don't want to sound negative) but i haven't always gotten along with my old companion Elder Hauck (How-ck). i was extremely excited to get out on my mission and he... wasn't helping me keep my excitement. he was negative sometimes and not very motivated. but i tried to love him and help him as best i could. but i didn't understand what the problem was! last saturday he let me know that he needed to talk with our Branch President about some things. once i understood i was flooded for love for him because i understood what he had been going through. we found out tuesday morning that he was going to have to go home, and was leaving in like 3 hours! it was hard. all of the elders in my district sang, God be with you til we meet again. and then we cried together. then we said a prayer together and cried some more. it was way hard BUT he is doing the right thing. he is being very courageous to set things in order and use the gift of the Atonement.

well i'm now in a threesome with Elder Boyd and Elder Robbins. it's going to be different and take some getting used to have 3 comps instead of only 2. also, our teaching styles and everything are all going to have to mesh and get used to! it should be a fun adventure. i'm looking forward to it because they are good Elders with the desire to be the best they can be. i ordered pictures today so i should be sending those later this week.

well a scripture i'd like to share with everyone is in Alma 31:34-35. they are GREAT missionary verses. and remember, you are missionaries too familia! everyone needs to come closer to Christ. members, inactive members, non-members. we all need to strive DAILY to become closer to God and become more Christlike. if you disagree with this, well... you're wrong. hahaha ;) just so you know those marks are a winky face. but i'm sure you know that.

love you all!!!!

Derek's Second Email

hi familia!
things are going great! i love it here. love it! of course i'm gonna love it even more when i get out in the field, but i know that it is so important for me to be here in the MTC!
dad, your egg story is hilarious!! just as bad as mom's soda story. except the soda didn't stink up the house... glad to know you are surviving without me....
mom said you might get Gracie a companion!? that would be so awesome! poor grace. she's GOTTA be lonely. what else is new with the munoz family?? is the blog looking incredible still?? i hope so. everyone, thanks for the dear elders! mail is so fun to get in here. we're in classes like 10 hours a day. crazy.
spanish is coming along well. i love the language. i can pray, meet people, set up an appointment, and little things like that in spanish. don't worry i'm going to be workin my butt off to learn more k? i know it sounds simple but i feel like i've learned lots! i'm getting better at listening to spanish too which is good. because learning to listen to missionaries who barely know the language is a lot different than hearing a native. HUGE difference.
well my testimony is growing everyday. whenever we have opportunities to talk in class and discuss things, i can't help but say something! every opportunity to share my testimony is an opportunity to STRENGHTHEN my testimony.
what i want to share with everyone this week is very important! we had a devotional yesterday and he was talking about missionary work, but in a way i had never heard before. he was talking about going to the rescue. going to the rescue for those who have wondered off the path. reactivating members! read 3 Ne 18:32. Christ tells us to love everyone and not to kick them out of our churches. but to bring them back so that HE can heal them. did you know that Elder Ballards family was inactive when he was 11 years old? but thanks to the Bishop and a few other members coming to his home and asking his father to teach his class, they became active again. his father quit smoking and became the sunday school teacher for Elder Ballard.
it's about to kick me off! sorry for not having funny story time!
i love you all!!! do DEAR ELDER!
elder munoz

Derek's First Email

This is Derek's first email from the MTC. I debated whether or not I wanted to fix his punctuation but decided not to worry about it. Derek comes from the texting generation and maybe he will grow out of that and we will notice a difference in his letters and as time goes by on his mission


Hola familia!

como le van? hahaha how are you?? do you miss me SO much? i think you should. because the munoz family is awesome and now one of us is practically out of touch! don't worry i'll keep you updated on what's goin on.

well i landed safely if you didn't realize. my p-day is wednesday so that's why it took so long for me to write. do you know what wednesday means!? we have newbies coming in my district!! so i'm no longer the youngest. we're going to meet the fresh new meat pretty soon i assume. that'll be fun. but about MY district- they're awesome! we have 12 people (which is a lot), 8 elders and 4 hermanas (sisters). and guess how many different missions? 6! all stateside. we already have a lot of unity between us all. just so you know, i mentioned that i was going to move up to the intermediate spanish class. well, i decided that it was better for me to stay. my companion needs me! haha he's a great guy but i don't want to leave him because i think he's struggling. we were made companions for a reason! also, my teachers and branch presidency is the BEST. they are so awesome and teach me various things about all kinds of stuff. i love them!

so as you know- i'm not a morning person. at all. haha but i'm trying to start the day positively. so in the mornings when i get in the shower i always ask who else is with me!? because there are 4 different shower sections. we all start talking and singing to cheer up. it's actually a lot of fun. whats cool is that the same 3 elders have been in there with me so it's our early morning shower team!! haha

well the spirit is also really strong. wow. on sunday guess how many times i cried?? 3 different times!!! and i'm not a cryer. no way. but the spirit was strong and the stories so touching- that i couldn't help myself. whatever- real men cry. sunday has got to be one of the  best days. i love that i can learn so much from great people, and so much from the Spirit.

my p-day will be really great also because 1.we get to relax a little, 2. we can finally write letters so maybe we'll get some during the week, 3. we get to go to the temple, 4. the newbies come! which means... ice cream! so p-day and sunday=best time of the week. not that the rest of the week is bad... it's great! just taxing on you cuz you work SO hard. i'm enjoying the hard work and the strict schedule though. because i've gone too long without it. i mean working as a server i didn't have TOO much of a rough schedule haha...

i would love to write some scriptures and things that i've learned but i don't have any materials with me! i'm in the laundry room waiting for my clothes to dry. yes, they have computers for us in the laundry room. but i will share something that i remember. D&C 123:11-14. read it. it's AWESOME. talks about how we in this generation should be sharing the light of the gospel with those who are in darkness. we should wear ourselves out telling people of the gospel. it's real cool :) there is a lot that i'm learning, everyday. so it's hard to share everything with you but i HAVE  been writing in my journal everyday (be proud mama).

i love it here and i'm so thankful to this opportunity. i love you all! don't miss me too much. i'm not dead yet. haha thanks for the letters! keep them coming! it's such a nice thing to have mail because the MTC is rough! i pray for ya'll everyday! devin- i hope all is well with school. remember to continually pray. i'm excited to get your package and thanks for sending my cookbook!! Amber and Jeremy- i hope school and work isn't too rough. keep up the hard work and depend on the Lord to provide. as long as you do your part. Mom and dad- you are the best. i wouldn't be here without you. thanks for everything.

i love you!
Elder Munoz