April 20, 2011

Hi there!

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

love,

elder derek munoz

April 13th Letter

hey guys!!

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

hugs and kisses,

elder derek munoz

April 6, 2011

Hey there,

 

yeah i'm really happy to be here. i mean don't get me wrong, this is the hardest thing ever! haha it's hard physically, spiritually, emotionally. but ever bit of suffering is worth it! it's the greatest joy ever. so i'm happy for that. we still have our car, but we have limited miles that we can use each month. during the winter we recieved bus passes but now we are back on bikes. which, means more extra costs here and there. that's okay though i like biking.

 

i LOVED conference too. that talk on BEING and not just DOING was really good like you said. i also liked the talk about putting action to your hopes and dreams. the priesthood session was amazing like always. i really liked that talk by President Uchtdorf too. i'm not sure how much dad told you about it but i THINK that talk was about living up to your priesthood duties and priviledges. i watched all of conference so without my notes i can get mixed up sometimes. he talked about us living below our priveledges and how we need to overcome that. i loved it. my impressions? it's so true. i think to different extents we are all guilty of it. i'm going to try and be better and exemplify my callings and responsibilities more, while enjoying it every step of the way. oh! i also loved Elder Christoffersons talk on giving, taking and seeking righteous correction. i loved it because i want to be the best missionary i can be so i need to be accetpting and even SEARCH out constructive criticism.

 

mom i love the quotes you send me btw. i loved the one about the way to have a great, lasting relationship being that you take full responsibility for it and don't expect anytyhing in return. awesome. i've been trying to better live by that.

 

well, our two investigators with baptismal dates are progressing nicely along! i'm so happy and excited for each of them. they are both scheduled to be baptized on the 23rd of this month. they have come so far and i'm so excited for them. each one of them is excited for it too and have told us that they know that this is right. so cool. we were actually a little unsure of how solid Maria was feeling about it, but the last time we met with her she told us about how she has already started inviting her family to come and support her at the baptism!!! we were very happy to hear that.

 

so my district went to the temple today. it was great. such an incredible feeling of love, peace and happiness. whenever i go in there i just ccan't stop smiling. i think it's great you two get the chance to work there. so unfortunately like i said, i need garments but the distribution center was closed for another two hours by the time we were done. so we didn't get to buy any! darn right?

 

i love you all. hope everyone is doing fine. devin sent me his wedding invites~! i'm so stoked. i have been showing everyone. even members haha. i'm so happy and i can't wait to see pictures of the wedding.

love,

elder derek munoz

- Show quoted text -

Letter on March 30, 2011 with picture of my District!

hey there mama!

things are going well here, but YES it has been cold. and i don't like it! it's almost april! we were hoping that it would be warmer. but i think it should get warmer pretty soon. our bus passes expire soon so we will be back on bikes. it'll be good because i'll need that exercise. there hasn't been snow in a while though.

that's awesome that you get to work in the temple. we should be going next week. it'll be a great pday following general conference. which i'm WAY excited about. i love conference. it is so upliftin and makes me feel so much hope in the world. i can't wait to hear about what ya'll liked and share what i learned too.

it's incredible how much the Lord truly blesses us right? we have so much to be thankful for. elder john and i have been incredibly blessed. yesterday we found a new family to teach! a family of 4 and we also found a new woman to teach! so 5 new investigators yesterday! we're excited to see how they progress this week and we really hope that they can come to one of the sessions of conference this weekend.

we are still working with a couple other investigators. we had a GREAT lesson with the "husband" of one of our investigators. they aren't married and have said they think they want to wait to go back to Ecuador to get married, but now i think we might be able to set a marriage and baptismal date with her! she's a really kind woman and has desire to do what's right. she's just struggling because the onluy thing she's known is catholisism. however she's recieved an answer about joseph smith. so HECK YES! :) she'll be fine.

i love you all. thanks for all of your support. keep on moving forward!

love elder derek munoz

Missionaries in my District

March 23, 2011

hey there!

 

i'm doing great this week. it is great to hear about all that's going on back home. sounds like a lot of crazy stuff like always. don't worry mom, you and dad usually touch on different subjects or if it's the same thing, you both have different perspectives.

 

see how missionary work can be so easy mom?? we just need to let ourselves be mormons all the time. we need to always have Christ's image engraved in our countenance and invite people when we have an opportunity. and we ALWAYS have opportunities. if they aren't interested, that's okay. maybe right now they aren't prepared, but we can't make that decision for them! so many people try to make the decision for others, saying they aren't ready. but you never know...

 

that's crazy about the glass door shattering again. seems like our house has gone through so many changes bytheway... that's cool though

 

well the work is going forward! elder john and i are so excited for the changes in the zone. like i said, not because they old missionaries were bad, it's just good to have a change once in a while to get some fresh blood, fresh ideas for different areas. some of the missionaries had been there for a while. so we are hoping that the work here in the city increases a lot.

 

we lost one of our investigators last week. it was sad because he was the one that was so great! ha he was receptive and wanted to keep the commitments we had left him, but after his few weeks in mexico with other family, we lost him. he came back with just a different mind-set and stronger belief in his families religion. maybe in the future he'll regain his desire. so right now we are focusing harder on our other investigators that we have. they are doing well and all have different situations we have to work through. sometimes that is rough but we are going well and hoping that the Spirit really takes over with how we need to approach things with them.

 

so just so you know i picked up knitting again. i didn't really know much before but i feel like i know more now. my comp and i have been doing it at the end of the night before bed and it's been fun haha. we're both making big beanie hats. they are lookin pretty good. we got a new district member who likes to knit a lot and taught us some cool things. he's knitting a sweater!! haha he's so funny.

 

i love you all and hope you are well.

elder munoz

March 16, 2011

hey there familia!

 

things are going great here! we invited another lady to be baptized and she said yes! she's a sweet older woman. her son and his family are members but she for the longest time, didn't want anything to do with us! haha she was sweet but didn't want to talk to us because she was Catholic. but we started talking little by little and with the help of her son, she agreed to actually listen to our message. she has incredible faith!! she knows that God answers prayers and already feels she recieved an answer about joseph smith. it's a little hard because she is not scripturally knowledged at all. so she doesn't understand even some basic stuff. that only means we have to teach very simply and explain the truly important things.

we've also made a great breakthrough with another woman and will hopefully be able to set a date for baptism with her too. she has been taught by many different missionaries, but only now understands the importance of prophets and the Book of Mormon. we found out some of her other concerns and i think we'll be able to really help her overcome them. i've been trying to be better about LOVING the people i teach. and showing that love. and i think it's truly helping, especially with this woman just mentioned.

 

wow mom. that is one crazy hat!!! how the heck did you make it? or where did you buy it?? haha you are such a fun person. i'm glad that you won.

 

it sound like the family is enjoying the company of Kat's family. that's great to hear. i can't wait to meet all of them too. they seem so country! haha i love it. i want to get some cowboy boots too! so i'm not left out. i heard that the river walk was going to be shut down for a few months for cleaning or something. is that true?

 

don't worry ma, i'm not sick. like you guessed i've been blessed to stay healthy so far and hopefully it stays that way.

 

guess what?? elder ferrel, or now travis, came back to chicago with his parents! he's the companion i had before elder john. i was with him for 4.5 months, the one from texas. they came back to visit during his spring break. they took us out to eat and came to our ward last sunday. it was good to see him and meet his parents. he's such a funny, big bear. haha

 

well i haven't mentioned yet, but we just had transfers and elder john and i are going to be staying here and doing one more transfer together. so we'll do at least 4.5 months together like i did with elder ferrel. guess what's crazy about transfers? him and i are the ONLY companionship in our zone not changing! out of 12 comps, we are the only one. we're really excited about the change. not that we won't miss the old missionaries, but we feel like we are going to get a great fire in the zone. sometimes you just need to get a fresh mind in the area to make great things happen. and we'll have 5 of the companionships training so they will bring "greeny fire". hopefully this zone will be seeing a lot of success in the next few months.

 

i love you all! miss ya'll tons. i think for now i'm doing good mom. i can't really think of anything i need except that i ran out of candy... just sayin ;)

until next week,

elder derek munoz

March 9, 2011

hey mom!

 

i'm doing great. thanks for liking my letters! haha i love hearing from all of you also. so the mormon.org thing is great to show non-members and you can all set up your own profiles. it's to let people know who we are and get them introduced to the gospel. i think the church is trying to really expand the church's outlook to be more positive. anyways i put up the picture because when i went online i didn't see the picture that you had put up. for some reason it didnt' come up so i put that one on there.

 

i'm glad that you have been enjoying the missionaries. how is the work going for them? things are good here. i was telling dad that we have had many members offer their friends for us to give them blessings when they have been sick or otherwise afflicted. it's been great because we have had a positive experience sharing the gospel with them after the blessing. we hope to invite many more people to be baptized this week so pray for us!

 

i am doing so great. i love it here. so i looked up some upcoming shows in chicago and they are going to have peter pan, beauty and the beast, and west side story this year! hoepfully i can see some of them.

 

i love you a ton and hope you are doing well. i miss you. thanks for your love and support. read what i sent to dad :)

love, elder munoz