Less than a month!

With the holiday and everything I got a little behind posting Derek's letters. Now with only 24 DAYS LEFT (Wow!!!!) I have alot of catching up to do. So here are some more letters!

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

November 30, 2011

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

November 9, 2011

hey hey!

do i even know where the cruise is to yet? i feel like nobody has told
me anything about this fancy new adventure you are going on! maybe i
just have a bad memory though... hey don't worry! i've been biking for
two years yeah, and i'm going to want to keep it up. i like riding
bikes and i want to do it for a good work out. haha some of my mission
friends say they wont get on a bike again for years hahah

hmm well i really want to go to Colombia, but i also want to go to
Chicago... hmm who knows. we'll have to have a good discussion. haha
but before you go on your cruise i just wanna say have fun and be
safe! i want to see lots of pictures okay? so keep your camera with ya
always!

so things are going well here except for the weather. it's been
pretty... bleh. cold AND rainy. fun yeah? haha we're still on bikes
for another couple weeks. probably until the first snow hits. it
stinks because the weather effects so many different things. it's
harder to find people who want to give you some time and that makes it
harder to keep a good attitude. BUT we're trying. i love being a
missionary so that helps haha.

we finally got one of our investigators to come to church and he liked
it! haha it was awesome. and it was good because we've already
established a good relationship between him and some members so he
felt really comfortable and it was good to see the members showing him
around and helping him with what they could. i feel like the mission
just opens your eyes so much about the church and it really helps you
see through the eyes of someone who isn't a member. and that is
something you keep for the rest of your life. I'm so much more aware
of how i can better talk to my friends about the gospel through my
whole life. and like... it makes me want to help new people, members
or not, feel Christ's love when they come to church. and if i can
offer a helping hand, or a welcoming smile or anything to help lift
their spirits and lighten their loads, I'm gonna do it.

well my companion is a great guy. i love him a lot. but it's not
always easy. I'm not sure how to help motivate him. haha he likes to
buy things to make him happy when he has a bad day. last thing he
bought was a remote control monster truck hahahaha. he's hilarious but
i want to help him love the work more. i guess I'll pray for some
inspiration.

well jesus is going to be baptized in about the next 2 weeks.
exciting! i'm a little nervous though. not for any real reason i
guess. i just always get nervous when a baptism comes up. i know that
sounds crazy but hear me out! haha i just hope that these people are
truly converted and that they will stay strong their whole lives in
the gospel. but i guess i can't expect everyone to love the gospel as
much as i do. even when they are going to get baptized they still have
much to learn and to grow. and he is AWESOME! he has been progressing
a lot and so i'm not sure why i'm nervous. he hasn't smoked in 3
weeks!!! and he is just like a rock haha. he knows and understands the
difference in his life now compared to before he met us. it's cool
stuff.

so before i end i just want to say that i did find some stuff that i
might need... i could use a new belt cuz mine is destroyed! and
another elder just got some nice black shoes for cheap! so i was
thinkin those two items i'd like to get if you could help me out.
thanks!

i love you all! hope you continue to see miracles :) if you aren't,
then ask for some! (it works!)
your missionary,
elder munoz

October 2011

October 5, 2011

hey there fam!

that's cool that annie told you about the application for a scholarship. i'm gonna need it! yeah it's going to be down until oct 17 so that kind of stinks. but it'll work out. so can you get a copy of my high school transcript and send one to me as well? thanks. and i'll  be asking my mission president for a recommendation soon.

guess what? josh, annies brother, is going to serve his mission in Louisville, KY!! guess what? you know the delgado family that you've talked to before? that's where their daughter is serving too! so he's going to meet her i'm sure! isn't that crazy? small world. i've talked to Hermana Delgado on both Christmas and Mothers day because she called the house when i was having dinner with the family. haha i was serving in her ward a few months before she left for the mission field. cool stuff...

wow! so dad and jeremy are in the bishopric? crazy. i don't know anyone anymore. how many bishops have changed since i've been gone? i thought bishop jackson has been my bishop this whole time! what's going on!? haha i don't even know who bishop doly or fulbright are... however the latter name sounds familiar.

well thanks for my birthday package! i loved every bit of it. i've been wearing those sweet pj bottoms nightly (don't worry i wash them!) and the shades are really cool. of course the candy arrived JUST in time for general conference weekend haha and now it's almost all gone... and i'm really happy about the new journal, that even has my name engraved. haha ya'll are the best. i love you all a ton!

well, i recieved so much revelation during conference. it's the greatest spiritual feast ever. man i can't wait to actually go and BE THERE next year for conference. i'm going to do my best to go. i'm not sure if i told you but there is a family here that wants me to go and meet up with them for general conference. they are an awesome family. guatemaltecos! i really enjoyed the talk by Boyd K. Packer. he really reminded me of the spiritual war that we are in and the need to strengthen myself against evil. going along those lines, i loved the talk by sister dalton about being a great father and priesthood holder for your kids. i like that both these speakers talked about how it's not only very important for ourselves to be worthy of the Spirits protection, but it's something vital for my future children who will be growing up in such a moral-decaying society. and President Monson is amazing. he is so strong in spirit and still has such a great sense of humor. oh i love that man. it was very exciting to hear about the new temples and also about the new temple fund! i think that's an excellent idea! i can't wait to help contribute to it.

i love you all so much. i know that this gospel is true. and i love it. i love the peace and happiness that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings to our lives. i know that we have a very special purpose being here on the earth. and i know that our Heavenly Father wants us to succeed in our endeavors, and we CAN! as long as we put Him first in our lives.

love,

elder derek  munoz

October 12, 2011

hey there!

 

i had a great week and a great birthday thank you very much! 22 years. man i'm so old, wise and mature right?? ;) thanks for the cake. the other elders and i loved it.  can you believe that caleb is almost home?! tomorrow he gets there! blows my mind. i miss him a ton. i hope you all can give him a big hug for me. i think he's grown a lot too. haha he keeps telling me that i should be an awesome missionary but then he says, but don't turn into a robot! dont be lame! hahaha i love him.

 

thanks for your testimony mom. it's always nice to hear the testimonies of my family members. it makes me so grateful to know that my family is strong in the gospel and trying to keep on the right path in this life. wow i don't know what i would do without all of ya'lls great influences! i know my Father in Heaven has given me countless blessings and i am eternally grateful. know that i love you!

 

well i got transfered! wait wait, no i didn't. but my comp did. i'm now going to be serving with an elder findlay. i've served around him before and i'm excited to now be his companion. we're going to get along fine. today me and him are going to the dollar store and we're going to decorate Elder Barney's apartment. he's been serving in the ward with me the past few months and we're really good friends now. he's training! so we're going to get balloons and write, "it's a boy!" and stuff like that. haha because who you train is your "son" in the mission. so that should be fun today.

 

you should be happy to know that i have a pretty determined goal to write daily in my journal the last few months that i am out here. it's about 4 months til i get home. i'll be sure to write details like you always say, and reflect a lot. i'm trying to "live in the moment" mom like you always used to say.

 

love you,

elder munoz

October 19, 2011

my dearest mother,

 

howdy!! that's awesome that his whole family was able to speak! way cool. i can't wait to see caleb. it's killin me! haha i miss him. it's so great to hear that everyone is doing well. everyone has their own different callings now which are pretty cool. i'm sure sometimes its demanding. but that is so neat that everyone seems happy and enjoying what God has given them. one of the closing testimonies that i heard yesterday, the elder talked about letting God change him month by month. i think it's so cool and important that we look to the future with faith, and open ourselves to allow the Lord to change who we are. he wants us to continually progress, and never plateau.

 

HAHHAA hilarious story about the dog door. haha wow you all are crazy... i miss it! what fun.

 

so my comp and i had an AWESOME and long conversation last night. well, he had a lot of things on the mission that he bought that weren't the most... obedient. it just was not allowing him to focus the way he could. the mission really pushes you in many different ways and sometimes its hard to deal with it all. well we had an awesome conversation and we decided to have an experiment for this week. we boxed up anything and everything that might distract our thoughts or our hearts from the work and we're going to see what changes. i'm excited! blessings are bound to pour out upon us. i'm trying to push him, but not too hard cuz i don't want to have a reverse effect happen. but anyways he's a great kid and i love him a lot. i know that he's going to do great things on his mission. i'm really excited for him.

 

so yesterday we had a zone conference with elder ellis from the 70 and it was really cool. i learned a lot. i know that i need to be a lot better at exercising my faith in the Lord. he encouraged us not to be praying to find SOMEONE to baptize, but instead, a FAMILY to baptize. so that's what we are going to begin to do. i'm stoked.

 

well, we are also going to have a baptism this saturday. i'm really excited for Karla! elder swenson, my old companion, interviewed her and said that she was way prepared and ready for it. that made me feel so good. the mission is awesome. seeing Karla go from "not believing" to being prepared for baptism is just the coolest blessing! ah... i love it.

 

i love you all. take care!!!

elder munoz

October 26, 2011

hello there!

no problem for the letter! i thought that you might like a little surprise. thanks for the prayers! thinsg are going well with my investigators. i'm happy for them. it's hard sometimes... because you just want the best for them and sometimes they don't want it. we gotta continue strong tho and help them out as much as we can. many of the conference magazine talks that i have are aobut families and doing your best to help guide your kids on the right path even tho sometimes they may wander. you just have to do your best to love and guide them the rightg way. i guess that's similar to what i have to do with the people i teach.

thanks for sharing your journal exerpt with me. i really liked it. i'm so grateful for how much my testimony and LOVe for the scriptures has developed. they provide such greater strength than i every thought. it's awesome isn't it? i have found that the gospel has provided such a great barrier for me. between me and the world. it provides such a protection that makes me never want to lose it. i feel so happy and comfortable when i have that with me.

well things are going well. we had a baptism! i told dad all about how stressful it was.... hahaha so ask him to fill you in. the good thing is that it went through and she's doing great. horay! i know that sometimes satan tries to throw us off course, but as long as we trust in the Lord and strive to do what He has asked, things will be okay. he wants us to succeed.

so mom when is the family reunion?? i want to be there but i may be in school if i'm going to the summer term at byu. give me the low-down. well i apologize this letter was short. i love you tons! we'll talk again next week ;)

your missionary,
elder munoz

September 28, 2011

so i need you to figure something out for me. well on my application to BYU i said that i wanted to apply for the Winter because the options for spring or summer aren't up yet. well i'm not sure if i can change it haha. i may have to withdrawl my application and do it over. but you have a bit more time to figure that out than i do. but that would be cool to get a job where Sarah is. i'm absolutely going to need one. i'm not sure how to do the FAFSFA or whatever it is but i think it's going to need to be done around the time i get home. we'll figure it out. and i'm going to TRY to room with caleb but i think his plans might be different from mine. at least until the Fall semester. can you believe i hit 20 months yesterday? crazy.

i'm glad everything worked out for you. it's awesome when we put in a little bit of faith, what God will do for us. way to go mom! and don't worry, i understood your story. it was funny! well, i laughed here in the library! i'm glad that things are going well. so the missionaries are going over Sunday? that's awesome. Conference weekend is so great as a missionary. it's just such a sweet re-energizer. i can't wait to learn from it. i've grown to appreciate it WAY more than i ever have before.

so things are moving well here. we are still working with those 2 investigators to prepare them to be baptized this month. i have really grown to love them and so i hope it works out. one of the people we are teaching is 17. i've never taught someone that young (consistently) in my mission. but its awesome because she is so sincere. the other day she told us about how she was struggling with a problem at work (she got fired...) and she was going to freak out BUT she remembered what she learned at church! she stayed calm and said a prayer and it helped her a ton. one of our members had given the young women a lollypop with a note that said, "is it right? is it good? if not i won't do it because i'm a child of God". she had it in her purse! haha that's awesome. and Jesus is still struggling to quit smoking. he hasn't been doing it a lot, less than before, so that's good. but he's having trouble just kickin the habit all the way. i know that he'll be able to do it though. i think conference is going to help both of them really well. and i'm excited because i think we'll be able to get more people to church than usual.

well i've been learning a lot lately. my companion and i have been trying to watch our words and thoughts more that i have in the past. it's been really cool because i have been learning a lot about the real purpose of missionary work and the real purpose of our time here on earth. we are trying to be like Christ, and that means we are trying to constantly progress to align our will, to the Fathers. that's what progression is about, and that's how we can really finally be happy. even if we DO what we are supposed to do, while thinking about how we really want to do what WE want to do, we wont be happy. the Lord will always ask of us. he always wants to stretch us and to mold us. if we don't give into it and WANT to do it because that's what God wants, we wont be happy! it'll always be an internal conflict we have.

well i love you tons. i hope all is well! keep me updated, i love even the little stories you share!
elder munoz

September 21, 2011

HEY FAMILY!

 

okay so yes, last week was hard. just because there was a lot of discouraging things happening. people yelling at us really harshly and investigators falling through and all sorts of things. dont' worry though, things have been going awesome. my companion and i have been studying obedience, and we have seen some incredible things happen. we are seeing a lot of miracles.

 

but first i wanted to talk about some other stuff. so mom, sounds like you are SUPER busy. keep strong mom! don't get too overwhelmed. i saw an article in an ensign or something recently by a young person, about setting priorities. they were involved in WAY too many things than they could handle and they had to pray to know what were the best and most important things to do. anyways, i know that most of the things you do are necessary and sometimes there is nothing you can do about it, but i just worry about ya. remember, it's not required to run faster than we have strength. love you :)

 

so i said that i bought an electric razor, but don't think i didn't need the money to go to the hospital like i asked for! haha i DID need that and i did go to the hospital. don'[t worry, things are okay :) no cancer or anythin.

 

Aslynn is gettin married! wow crazy stuff. you'd think the Prophet said that the young adults should get hitched or something... marriage... aye.

 

so caleb is going to get home soon! isn't that awesome? i miss him. that is really neat about devin's new calling. i know he's going to do really well. he's a smart guy. how come i didn't get that from ya'll mom and dad!? anyways what else... oh so i have ONE request for my birthday. i'm almost done with my journal... idk if you already sent something or if you already jumped on the idea to just save money but just throwin it out there.

 

so things out here on the mission... are AWESOME! i've had one of the best weeks of my mission. i read this really inspiring talk about different types of missionaries. and i started reading it RIGHT as i was inspired to fine tune myself. it was so cool. because i just had some revelation to make my weak spots strong. i decided that i was going to be even more obedient and diligent than i had been. and i decided i'm going to try to give more of my heart and mind to the Lord, by eliminating distractions (i took down most of the pictures of fam/friends and just have a lot of Jesus up). anyways i read the talk and it really inspired me too. it's been awesome. i feel like the Lord is just pouring out the Spirit upon me and upon our work. in 2 days, we already have 17 lessons and 8 new investigators. that's like what most people usually get in a week! it's been awesome. i'm really grateful for what the Lord has been doing.

 

i think i've learned a lot about consecration this last week. i mean, the whole mission is supposed to be about consecration i know. but i feel like i just learned a lot about it personally. we've found some pretty cool people as well. we're teaching a young woman who had originally said that she was atheist. i think i've told you about her. but anyways, she's now doing really well. her prayers are awesome and she even came to church! she's really sincere and she's not the only person that we've found that's sincere. we'll have to see how it goes though. because like i've told you we pick up and drop people really fast.

 

we also went to the temple today. incredible stuff. it really does give you a good boost. i've been so tired lately because we have been working really hard... but i feel so refreshed after going to the temple. i've been so tired that we get home, plan, and i'm gettin in bed! haha lately i've just been making PB&J so i can take a quick nap during our lunch hour before we get to work again. but it feels great.

 

i love you all. i wrote a lot today! sorry if it was boring! 

elder derek munoz

September 14, 2011

hey there fam!

 

well... it was a rough week... but in the end it was awesome! well my companion and i have been studying patience and hope. and the Lord has given us many opportunities to develope that. funny how that works right? well this week we had many hardships... many investigators fell off the face of the earth, or cancelled our appointments, or we just couldn't find new people, and we were struggling to reach our goals. BUT in the end, things worked out for the best. we tried to continue to be patient and hopeful. haha it was funny because we were fully aware of what was happeneing to us. (it was still hard). at the end of the week we were able to see that we did well working to get our goals. it seemed to be the last 2 days of the week that things really made a difference and we saw many blessings. similiar to the story you shared with me dad (thanks for that!) i know that we really are blessed and can see miracles, but not until after the trial of our faith.

 

jesus is still doing great! he hasn't smoked and although we moved back his baptismal date for october 8th, it's going great. he actually said that he feels good about changing it back. he said it's something he wants, and he knows it's serious. so he's going to prepare the best that he can. i can explain how great it feels to work with him. he's been searching for truth his whole life. he was bitter toward religion for a long time, but now finally has been finding his answers.

 

my comp and i are doing great together. and i can't believe i'm turning 22 soon. strange. i don't really want much for my bday (i'm sorry but i purchased an electric razor so that's why i went into my personal funds). BUT there is a tiny thing that i do want... instead of gifts for my bday or christmas, can you just start a 'fly derek to utah as soon as he gets home' fund? just a thought. haha but your call.

 

love you all tons. peace! keep lookin for miracles

elder munoz

 

oh! p.s. annie and my mission friend alec swope met each other! haha that's awesome.

Labor Day

did we have another great week? why yes we did. did we find a lot of people home on labor day to teach? no... haha but don't worry! it was still an awesome labor day. we were working all day and not really having much luck... but we just kept working. it was a little rough because we didn't have any appointments all day since it was a holiday... but the Lord delivers when you do your part first. not until towards the end of the day did we see something happen. we knocked this door and a teenage girl answered. we asked if her family would be interested in a message and she looked at us for a moment, then said, 'yeah sure. you want to come in?' we were kinda surprised but we went in. her mom came over and was thrilled that we spoke spanish. she sat down with us and seemed really happy to meet with us. to be honest that usually puts me on alert because most of the time the person knows exactly who we missionaries are and it's not always a good thing hahaha. but we taught her and her daughters and it was incredible. she said that she had been going through some tough times and has been praying very very hard for help from God, and then we show up! and she knows that she wants to help her daughters grow up and have faith in God, but she hasn't found a church that she felt was right. well, after the first vision the spirit was really strong. all three of them were really touched by it. we can't wait to see them again tomorrow!

 

and our investigator Jesus is doing really well. he's been working hard to quit smoking and it's going well. i'm excited for his baptism at the end of the month. i love this work!!!

 

how are things going for all of you? can you believe that caleb is almost home?? what miracles have you been seeing lately?  i love ya'll.

 

elder munoz

Derek's Letter on August 31, 2011

hey there!

 

i know ya'll love me. no doubt!! ya'll rock. don't worry i plan on finishing strong. it's been kinda hard because we see investigators come and go so quickly in our area... but i know that there are people prepared and will be baptized. we have a baptism this weekend. i haven't mentioned much about him tho just because he was already preparing to be baptized before i got here. but it's been great to have a small part in everything for him.

 

wow i cannot believe that there have been so many changes! so many weddings. cool! i know a couple of the people you were mentioning. i do remember the winegar family! thats neat to hear about so many things. i cannot believe that lise goreman is engaged to isabelle's brother! wow. i've been writing to isabelle and she never said that!!! crazy stuff. tell brooke jump and lise goreman congrats for me and give them a hug! thanks.

 

sounds like you all are having so much adventures. i can't wait to join ya'll! it's gonna be so different but good now that everyone is grown up and starting their lives. so yeah i want to start school asap too... but you still think that i should go to the summer term so i can get a little money yeah? spring term may be too quick. maybe not idk! so a cruise huh?? haha that would be a blast. i would do it! haha yeah why not?? but the thing is are we still going to be able to come visit chicago? yeah i may want to visit utah pretty soon after i get home too... but it's too early to tell that little detail. we'll see.

 

my comp and i are going to stay together one more transfer. that's good because we really get along. i enjoy it because he's a great worker and has pure desires. we are good about keeping eachother having a good attitude. we're teaching a deaf investigator. did i tell ya that? they are really cool. we'll see where it goes... i'm lovin chicago. we went by Obamas house today. it was wierd with all the secret service and what not. stinks for the people that live next to him...

 

well i love ya tons! i'm gonna email daddy.

your missionary,

elder derek munoz

Derek's Letter on August 24, 2011

hey there!

 

dude where is the love? where is the love? haha maybe my email last time wasn't good enough. but i'll try to be more entertaining this week. haha that might be hard cuz not a whole lot has happend. well, awesome stuff with the work actually...

 

so my comp and i have been workin hard of course. haha can you believe that the transfer is almost over?! that is crazy for me. next week we have transfers but i don't think there will be any changes here with elder hancock and i. which is a good thing because i'd like to work with him again. i only have 4 transfers left! time to work my butt off. it's the last stretch. President Roach always said that the way you end your mission is the way that you will remember it. and i want to finish strong! i love it. i'm going to miss it. and i believe it's true that i'll remember it for the rest of my life.

 

well we have been teaching Jesus and he's been doing great! there is a lot that he is going to need to change in his life but he wants to finally get right with God and be happy in his life. and we are here to help him do that! we have been having some awesome lessons with him. what makes them awesome is that we can feel the spirit and then when we ask him questions, we can see that the spirit is guiding him. helping him to answer the questions. that is the best kind of learning that he can do! he's talked to us about how he has alwasy had questions and wanted to know where it is that he could find truth but has never found it. and now he finally feels like we have been helping him recieve the answers that he is looking for. he said that he was going to read and pray about the book of mormon to know if it is true for himself and we'll see how it went when we go over tonight. he wasn't able to go to church last week but this week is looking good for it :)

 

we also have gotten back into contact with a really cool family. this woman has two kids, and one of them is 9 years old and he is a CHAMP! he loves church and learning about the prophets and knows a lot of the bible stories. it was funny because the first time we met them he wanted to learn a lot more from us and it was his mom that was hesitant. she just didn't know what she was looking for and so it was hard to keep in contact and teaching them. BUT just yesterday we stopped by to give the son a kids BOM and it was like perfect timing. we chatted with her for a little while and i showed her the picture in the Conference Ensign of the prophets and apostles, and it finally connected with her. she had her interest sparked again, and finally confessed to us that it's good we've been persistant because she now sees the need to find a spiritual foundation. she now wants to know what we have to say and if it's true! before she just thought it was interesting but wasn't really super serious about it all. but i knew there was somethin about the family and now their time has come. sweet yeah? we'll see how it goes but i have a lot of hope for them.

 

we have been teaching some others too and it's just incredible the feeling you get when you find someone who finally appreciates the comfort the answers we have are. i love it.

 

well so i was hoping to start school in the summer term for BYU. but there is a missionary i heard from that went home back in march. well he went to tennessee to sell security and made 15grand!!! in 2 and 1/2 months! may to july. i think that would be awesome. because i need money to go to school and everything. and that would be an incredible opportunity to make that. and i think that i can do it! but here's the thing, should i do that and put off school til the fall? or should i try to see if i can go sell and be back in utah for the summer term? what do ya'll think? that might keep me away from home for a while though because i want to go the fall right after the summer term.

 

i love ya'll! i have to go get something checked out at the doctor and i have to pay this co-pay. i was wondering if you could put 10 or 20 on my home card soon to pay for it. yeah? thanks

elder derek munoz

August 16, 2011 Letter

why hello there!

 

wow mom and dad you two have some demanding callings now. one of my friends on the mission said he hated going to his home ward after the mission because at church his dad stood on the stand in the bishopric and his mom was up there for the music. so he was sitting all by himself! i think that might be what i go through! dad on the stand, mom visiting different wards. lame... haha jk. i'm not sure if i'll want to go to the singles ward. it'll be wierd. who knows though. i hope dev and kat make new great friends too. that will make a big difference in their church experience. i bet they will though.

 

so how does amber and jeremy have friends from india? what is going on here?? haha that's really cool though. there is a big Indian community in chicago. there's really people from everywhere here. its really neat. right now though as you know i'm just serving in little mexico. that's cool that even ya'll are getting to see a new culture!

 

wow so the wards are growing out there?? tell me more about that. are they just going to need to split our ward or are they going to split other wards too? any more news about the members from the stake? any more recent marriages or anything exciting?

 

well the work here is going well too. we found a really cool new investigator recently. he's got a LOT of deep life questions and has felt like they've never really been answered, but he's never talked to us before! so we're going to teach him tonight. we also found a deaf person that we just started teaching! we ran into her tracting and although we couldn't speak with her, we wrote down a few messages on paper and she accepted to watch the restoration dvd because that has ASL to it. we're going back tonight to teach her too and we're bringing an interpreter from the suburbs haha! isn't that cool? that lesson we had was the first lesson i have had without talking! i'm telling ya, i really want to learn ASL when i go to BYU. i guarantee that it'll come up in my life and i'll need it.

 

my comp is doing well too. he is picking up spanish a lot! i'm so grateful to be working with him because we both have desire to be the best we can. so we openly execpt constructive criticism from one another and seek how to improve individually and as a companionship. he's got a great heart.

 

well i love you all. i printed off some pictures and i made a cd with some pictures too. i'll be sure to send it soon cuz i haven't had the chance to mail it. but you'll have it before i email ya again i'm sure!

love,

elder derek munoz

Visit With My Bro.... August 10, 2011 Letter with Photos!

hey MAH!!

i am still workin hard, but not really the rest of the things... haha i mean here's the deal. eating healthy is really hard to do when you have only 2 MAYBE 3 meals coming in for the week. haha it's hard to be healthy grocery shopping when many days you have to make 3 meals. p90x and knitting? well we are keeping pretty diligent and so i'm too tired to do those things! but don't worry i'm still applying many good things  in my life continually! i've been writing in my journal still and my comp and i work continually to self-improve. we are working hard to increase in diligence, obedience, and faith. 3 keys to success!

you chatted with annie's mom? haha that's fun. i didn't really know that you had ever communicated. annie sent me a christmas package! haha yeah she's a little late but Christmas in August is still cool. she made a stocking that was a missionary! haha it was a shirt, tie and tag. stuffed with candy! and i was TRYING to eat healthy! but man. when you just place candy in front of me...

well i gave dad some details of the visit with dev and kat. like i told him we just ate, talked and enjoyed our few moments together. i really enjoyed it. but i was explainging to dad that i couldn't think of what to say cuz i was just happy he was there! i really enjoyed the company of my new sis-in-law too. haha i really wanted her to step outside her comfort zone though. i'm not sure how she appreciated it... haha i took them out to eat at authentic mexican places, and i had them stay with a mexican couple that hardly spoke english and iwasn't able to be there to introduce them. Kat wanted to stay in a hotel but i insisted that they didn't. hahaha i think the mission has REALLY taught me to step outside my comfort zone and try new things. i'm not sure if i told you but recently when we went out to eat i voluntarily ordered cow tongue. i think i said that last week... but i like tryin new things.

anyways, it was a great visit. i can't wait to get home and visit with all of you!!!

but i still have 6 months left. it's going to go by FAST so i'm trying to enjoy every moment of it and work hard. it's gonna fly by, but it's plenty of time for me to have a great influence and do a lot of good work in the mission field. we have been finding like crazy. however we are filtering trhough many of them because we are striving to find the Lords elect! it's a fun quest.

i love ya. guess what?? i'm going to be ordering some pictures today so within the next week you should be getting some k? love ya'll.

Lunch with Devin in Chicago!

Great Times!

First time meeting the new Sister-in-Law!

Miracles Out The Wazoo! August 3, 2011

hey there familia!

miracles out the wazoo! haha my comp and i have been working so hard and having so much fun. ah... it's nice to be back in my greenie area and i am getting my "greenie fire" back! i think we are going to see a lot of success in this area/companionship. but let me respond to your letter first.

haha mom you are the famous cook among the missionaries? that is so cool! i want to ask them about it! haha there are sometimes certain families things that becomes the legend in the area and sometimes it spreads through lots of missionaries. i wonder if your cooking has acheived that!? haha i'm sure it has or will.

whew mom. AC out when dad goes out of town? sorry. i've heard that it has been really bad there in texas. many members have told me that there is a drought and that it's been really hot for a long time. hang in there! 

can you believe that devin is married and moving to new york? wierd huh? do you know if he is going to be staying there for the summer or what his plans are? so i was thinking. i think i asked but do you think the best choice for me is to wait and go to byu in the summer term? that starts in like end of june or beginning of july. the spring term would be like end of april or beginning of may. that might just be too soon to get sufficient money though.

so my companion is elder hancock and he has great desires. he's really helping me to improve my missionary efforts. we have been working well as a team so far constantly evaluating ourselves and talking about how we can improve. it's nice. i feel like i'm finally consistently fine-tuning myself to be a better tool for the lord. our teaching skills are getting better, our listening to the Spirit is finer-tuned, and we're having fun being tired at the end of the day!

we have our sights on having 3 baptisms next month. you know that i haven't had a ton of baptisms in my mission, and 3 baptisms in one month would be AWESOME for me. i feel like its' going to happen. we are working with someone already who will get baptized this month, but i know we can also have 3 next month. we're going to be working and praying for it at least! and i know the Lord will help us out. just yesterday we got a random call out of the blue from someone  who wanted us to come over. she is visiting from texas with one of her sons who is a member. but his wife isn't. well we showed up and they both have desires to turn to God to strenghthen their marriage! they are both young and going through a rough patch. but we invited his wife to prepare to be baptized and she accepted! 

i have to get going but we have been seeing miracles all over. the Lord is guiding us to those he has prepared and i love it!

love you all a ton! i miss ya!

elder derek munoz

Oh Happy Day... July 27, 2011

hey there!

yeah i had a great week here in chicago. it's a little strange being back here in my old area. but it's good to see the members again and we're trying to work really hard so that we can grow the work. i'm not going to lie, it's less stressful as a district leader than it is as a zone leader. i feel like i can focus better on my area and i am responsible for less missionaries and have more frequent contact with them so that's cool. i enjoyed the time that i was called as a zone leader though. i learned a lot over those months. so my very first apartment caught fire due to an unattended grill or something like that. crazy huh? that happened to some missionaries on like the 1st of this year. but we have a really sweet new apartment now though. i really like it.

thats awesome that you are hitting the gym! sometimes it's hard to start when you don't do it for a while. so yeah all the missionaries got dvd players for the apartments. we have been given the preach my gospel training videos and we use those a lot for examples and to see how we can better our own teaching skills. it's really neat and i think it's effective! and i'll be able to use p90x in the mornings too so that will be cool!

thats great that gramps is getting so many blessings! i miss him and i can't wait to talk to him in spanish more. he's gonna have to teach me the Colombian accent though because everyone says that it's awesome. everyone thinks that it's a beautiful accent. has he gone to church at all? how come he doesn't want to get baptized??

well things are awesome. i miss and love you all. but i love this work. we went on exchanges on monday. i went to another elders area and we had a great time. the Lord helped us see miracles. we were knocking doors so that we could find them some new investigators and we approached a family that was trying to blow us off saying that they were catholic and believed in the virgin mary. but we didn't let it phase us and began talking to them about prophets. the woman we were talking to seemed touched at some of the questions we had for her and she agreed to listen to us. we taught her and her mom and they loved what we had to say. the elders are going to visit them again tomorrow i think. and on Sunday we saw miracles in our area too! we were trying to reach our goal of new investigators and we needed two more for the week. and we only had like an hour left of proselyting time. so we went to work!!! we started talking to people and knocking doors. i recognized one house that we got to and i had taught there before, but they didn't progress. maybe it was now their time to listen to the gospel! turns out they weren't interested... BUT! we kept going and the very next house we found a whole family that listened to us! they were really nice and we have hope for them. they are going to meet us at the church this saturday so that we can give them a tour and teach them a little more. i hope that they feel the spirit and want to come to church sunday!!!

oh how merciful the Lord is. blesses us when we are trying our best.

i love and miss ya'll tons!

elder derek munoz

July 20, 2011

hahah!

 

i knew you would enjoy that mom! it's been fun. my comp has helped me branch out and try stuff like that and it's been good. i like cooking and eating healthy much more than before.

 

man that must be such a change that things are so quiet and everyone is gone now. that's super relaxing now though yeah.? and that is SUCH a cool experience to go do baptisms for the dead with all those who hadn't done that before. did you know that's what our stake here has been doing? it's a GREAT idea. dad said that the stake president was thinking about doing it on that level too. i think it's neat. and you got to be apart of it! way to go mom!

 

i'm nervous about my mission president saying no. but i still want devin to come say hi. how do you feel about that? hahaha (don't judge me, i'm not perfect ;) )

 

thanks for your prayers! we have been doing really well together. i was truly hoping to serve one more transfer with elder swenson, but.... my time is up!!! i'm finally being transfered. i had a good run. 11 months in the ward! can you believe that? oh my i love this ward. i honestly think that it's one of the best in chicago and my area too. we have a ton of cool members! well my time was good but now it's time for a new adventure. can you guess where i'm going?? well... i'm staying in the city... somewhere that i'm familiar with... hahha i'm going back to the area where i started my mission!!! can you believe that? i'm stoked. i will actually know what i'mdoing this time around and how to speak spanish. i'm moving back to the south side in 26th street. i'll be in a new apartment though, i'm not sure if i told you but my old apartment burnt down. haha. i'll be serving as a district leader in the Chicago Zone with an elder hancock. adventures lay ahead!

 

we've had some awesome adventures recently though. my companion and i have been teaching a lot and really picking up the work in the area. we have found several people to teach and gosh dang it! i'm going to miss out on some baptisms for sure. we are teaching a Cuban lady that i'm pretty sure i talked to you about. she is really nice and interested in the gospel. she has been to church before and thought it was beautiful. the other woman that's really cool is a dominican lady. she's the mother of Carmen who has been meeting with missionaries for YEARS and has always loved the members of the church. but her husband didn't approve of "mormonism". apparently he has had a change of heart though! she should be baptized within a month. her mother has expressed interest in the church now and went to services. she loved it and now wants to prepare for baptism too!!! many good things have beeen happening in the area. many miracles from the Lord.

 

well thanks for sending me p90x! i'm really excited to get it. and AH! i'll be sure to send pictures soon. sorry i'm so lazy about that. forgive me! i'll try to print some off today. so my most recent convert, juan ramirez gave me a gift when i said goodbye. he gave me a 2 and a half feet high statue of a bear with a chicago Bears jersey and helmet. hahah it's really cool, i'll send a pic. i'm going to miss the people here in this area. and in the whole ward. they've taught me a lot and i love being able to serve them. but i look forward to serving chicago 2nd ward too. i'm a much better missionary now than when i started and i hope they'll be able to see the changes in me.

 

love you tons and miss you tons!

elder munoz

 

make this week an awesome one!! everyday choose to make it a better day than yesterday

Missionary Ninja... July 13, 2011

hey hey!

i'm doing so great. i mean lets be honest. the mission is rough. but i love it and it's all worth it! but i'm doing so good you have no idea! i've been writing in my journal, doing p90x, eating healthy, and we've been finding tons of people to teach!!

I love this photo! Me & my buddy fighting evil!

so it sounds like you all still haven't had a ton of time to just relax yet! still trying to recover from everything? haha stay strong family! you are babysitting Cloe, remind me who that is. sounds super familiar...

wow they are on a cruise to jamaica. so cool. and ya'll are going to go on a cruise too?? i didn't know that. i thought you gave it up to them. so tell me about ya'lls!!! are amber and jeremy going on that one too? speaking of trips... when i get home i really want to save up some money and go to Colombia with gramps. ya'll in?? also i wanted to ask ya'll, want to go to utah for the april conference next year? i want to try to go. there is an AWESOME family in my ward that is going to go. i told them i want to try and meet up with them and it would be a sweet opportunity to see some of my friends from the mission who are in utah (there's a TON of them hahaha).

mom this might be the favorite part of my email... haha so my companion and i HAVE been doing p90x and it feels good. i feel like it's been pretty effective, i just still need to work on getting rid of my love handles and i little of my stomach... :) but i'm only on week 2 so it'll come. anyways i would appreciate if you could send those dvds sometime. ALSO, you will be happy to hear that i've been eating much better. my companion and i make salads, SALADS!!! with grilled chicken, spinach, tomatoes, cucumber, carrots, and apple. super yummy. i also like to eat cottage cheese with fruit now. can you believe the change in me?? and i've been doing so much better at writing in my journal. i'm not going to lie, there are some spaces in the mission where i haven't written for months... but i've broken the habit and doing well with that. we'll have to print out these emails to fill the time i didn't write.

well as cool as that is, it gets better. my companion and i have really tried to keep positive attitudes, be obedient, and be diligent! i mean i always tried to do those things, but now it's a much more focused thing. i'm actively trying to make better changes. it's been cool so far! i feel good about the work, and we have been having a lot to do. the past few days we've found new people to teach like EVERYDAY! and guess what? we've found 2 families!! this is a cool story... so we were on exchanges and i had an Elder Harris here in the area with me. he's a great missionary and i enjoyed our day to work together. well, we were tracting a street and not having any luck. the exchange was almost over and we hadn't found anyone to teach yet. so i stopped in the street, pulled out my map, and told him, "elder harris, we need to find someone to teach! where do you think we should go?". he looked at my map and pointed out a street that i hadn't reallly worked on before. that area has less hispanic people in it, but we went anyways. the 10 minute bike ride over there i was praying the whole way. i was asking Heavenly Father to bless us and lead us to someone ready to listen. well we got there and began to knock. a few houses down, we got let in! it was an english guy though (and we hand over english investigators), but i figured, maybe this is who we were meant to find together. well he was an old man and began talking to us. he actually didn't let us teach him and was closed to our message.... haha but that's not the good part, 2 houses later, we got let in! we got to teach Ana and her daughter the restoration and the spirit was so strong. Ana seemed to really enjoy what we were teaching her. oh man i know that the Lord led us to them. she recently went through some bad family issues and what we provided her seemed to comfort her needs. she's been working a whole lot, but we'll hopefully get to teach them this week. i'll keep you posted :)

it seems like all the people we have been finding have been straight miracles from the Lord. it's been so awesome.

well i love you all. thanks for your love and prayers. i miss you all tons!!!

elder derek munoz

July 6, 2011

hey hey!

 

that is so awesome that you were all there together in the celestial room! i wish that i was there! it was so cool talking to devin and he said that the temple was an incredible experience. he sounded so happy when i talked to him, which just fills my heart with joy. i miss you all a ton! i can't wait to see all the pictures and i really can't wait to get to go do a session with you all after the mission. that'll be such a special experience. oh man how time changes things! i'm so so grateful for the answers i've recieved from my prayers.

 

dad told me about some of the challenges ya'll faced at the wedding reception. sounds super stressful!!! but i'm happy that it all worked out in the end and that everyone enjoyed themselves. tell uncle louie thanks for video taping the thing! i'm looking forward to re-living that with ya'll. yeah i know what you mean mom, it's strange having a sister-in-law. wierd stuff. cool though.

 

oh mom i'm sorry you haven't been able to get much sleep. i've learned my lesson on the importance of sleep! i don't know if i can say that i like getting up early... when it's early in the morning... but as soon as i get going, i'm very grateful to have gone to bed early and gotten up early. it feels good! (idk if i would have the self control in special occasions and parties though!) has devin told you that my companion and i have started P90X?? so far we just did day 3... but i really like it! i've been eating a lot healthier and the exercise is awesome. the other day my comp and i broiled some BBQ chicken breasts, melted a little cheese on top, and ate it with sauteed onion, carrots and zucchini! it was delicious. i was wondering if you were still doing it too? ya think you can burn the dvd's for me?

 

well i'm glad you had an awesome wedding, and an awesome 4th of july! over here we had a good time too. well really we had a mission council that elder swenson and i were at for most of the day, and then we had to do our report for stake missionary coordination. so pretty much all day was filled with neccessary non-proselyting things to do. bitter-sweet. but what was cool was that we got to see a TON of fireworks! although it's illegal, there's so many people that just shoot them off anyway, there's not much that the city can do about it haha. so my comp and i went out onto the roof of the house and watched an AWESOME fireworks display from all sides. it was like a war zone. it was tons of fun.

 

i'm happy to say that the work is going well. we've got some great ideas to implement into our zone and our own area. we had been struggling to get people to come to church the last few weeks. and it was a trend in the whole zone. but guess what?? the next topic the mission is going to cover is "revelation through church attendance"! we're going to learn how to better teach and invite people to come to chruch! haha it's so cool how the Lord works. He knew what our needs would be in this time, long before it came up. neat huh?

 

also, last sunday was awesome! although nobody we had invited came to church, the Lord provided. a member in our area had brought his friend to come to church with him and we got to meet with him! then we went over to the members house after church and taught him!! although everything is really new to him, he really liked what we talked about and agreed to prepare for baptism on august 6th!!! he just fell out of the sky! we had no idea that was coming our way. i'm just so happy that we have been so blessed for the efforts we had been putting in, even though it came in a way not directly connected to what we were doing. it's absolutley the Lords work and not ours.

 

well i love you! hope all keeps going well!

miss ya!

elder munoz

June 22, 2011

hey there!

 

no no no! don't feel bad when you can't email every once in a while. i'm fine i was just giving you a hard time! i really understand that you are so busy especially in summer!

 

i'm glad that girls camp and youth conference both went well! i miss those activities. they were so much fun but i don't think i appreciated the experiences then as much as i do now. they are such faith/character building things. so good work mom! the youth will remember what happened and even if you don't see the appreciation, know that your efforts are appreciated!!!

 

not much has gone on in this past week. we have been really blessed however to find many new people to teach again. we are working hard at finding some solid people. right now we have a pretty big, but young teaching pool. as in there are many people we've taught that will take a little more time to know how/where they are. but we have been so surprised and thankful to have found this really cool 19 year old boy. he's rough at first glance with his son and tattoos, HOWEVER he's got a great heart! he is such a sincere guy and has been loving what we have taught him so far. we are going to teach him this evening and are planning on inviting him to be baptized again, but this time with a date. i'll tell you how things go next week.

 

so i've realized that i want to do humanitarian work with my life. i want to do a lot of volunteer things in the comunity and in the world after the mission. i was watching some Mormon.org videos and there are a lot of members that go out and give their time and love to people that they don't know to help them have a better life. it's awesome. and there is a sister missionary in my district who's dad is a dentist. he is part of a ground of people that go to different countries to do free dental and medical things. apparently what they try to focus on is working with people in the age range of going on a mission! and they do they work for free and encourage them to go serve missions! that is so cool!!! i want to do that. i have misse dout on a lot of opportunities to offer service and don't want to miss any more.

 

anyways i love you alll and i miss ya. i hope that you are all not stressing too much about the wedding and all. it'll all work out. just enjoy the moment! 

 

peace out my fam!

elder munoz

Chicken for Dinner! June 15, 2011

howdy ya'll!

don't worry about the craziness family. i understand sometimes it's hard to write to your lonely son who lives so far away that you can't see or even talk to on a regular basis. i mean don't worry, i think he'd be okay if you ddidn't make time to sit down for a minute to write him a simple email so that he has a glimpse of happiness in his week... i'm sure that young boy would understand.... HAHA just kiddin pops. and mom. i'm doing GREAT :) and thanks for trying to email every week. it's awesome! sometimes it's hard and time just flies but i really appreciate the amount that ya'll write me. so don't worry about if you miss a week.

things are going well. and i'm working hard with my companion and we found 10 new investigators last week!!! it was so cool and it just fed the fire for us. we just wanted to keep working because of that. and we have goals to keep on finding. we are starting to try and teach Juans' wife. i think that things should work out :) he has kids but they are all grown up now. some of them live close by though so maybe we can teach them in the future.

we killed, prepped and ate the chicken last week. i almost chickend out of doin it but i just thought, if devin and dad were here, they would do it! so we did. i have to send pictures! my comp did the killing but after that i was in there for everything! i pulled the guts out and i held it's heart... haha it really was a great learning experience. for real. now i know how to kill prep and cook chicken from the beginning.

Gutting the chicken that we just killed!
You have to be brave or crazy to do this!

Are you sure this isn't considered a foreign mission?

Enjoying the fruits of their labors!

well there's not a whole lot to say today. we had a couple changes in the zone and we're excited aobut that. i will hopefully be in this area with this ward for one more transfer. that would mean that i spend just over a year in the ward! and 8 months in the area. i wouldn't mind.

i love you all!

elder derek munoz