Wednesday, August 5 Letter

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Dear Family
Hello! I love you so much. Seeing pictures of you this week made me so happy and I've been so proud to show to everyone the pics. Thanks for being so good looking! :)
On Monday we were able to watch the Finding Faith in Christ DVD in Spanish. It was so good. Earlier that day we taught a lesson in Spanish and I really didn't do that well. I felt pretty discouraged. But we watched the video and I realized that just as Peter had faith to walk on water and allow the Power of the Savior to perform a miracle, so can I have faith in Christ to allow a miracle in my life- being able to teach in Spanish, to the investigator's needs. That for me will be as miraculous as walking on water. I really hope that we can all exercise that great faith in our lives, porque con El Señor, nada es imposible! It is something we need to ask for, and work on, which in itself takes faith. But I know that with hard work, and obedience the Lord will bless us with faith and then we can be filled with it and be able to see miralces in our lives. I am grateful for my Savior, and the great sacrifice that he made, that through him I can change daily to become more like him.
On Sunday my whole district bore our testimonies, it was so powerful. I know that it is a tremendous blessing for me to have so many people that I love so much in such a short amount of time and that we are able to work together to learn and strengthen our testimonies. I said Mi distrito es el mejor distrito del CCM. (Everyone was shaking their heads haha) and then I said lo siento. We also got a new District leader, Elder Hardy and Elders Thompson and Unker are the new Zone leaders!
Elder Hardy and I are related! We finally compared pedigree charts and we have the same great great grandfather, Oliver Cowdery Dunford. We think that makes us 3rd cousins once removed. We aren´t sure, so if anyone knows could you tell me? But his mom's maiden name is Shelley Dunford I think. Anyway it is really fun to always call each other cuz and make jokes and talk about the family name. He also said the Dunford side of the family is the fun side, I thought that was funny.
So on Thursday the Sisters in my zone and I will be auditioning to perform The Olive Tree- such a great song about missionary work and working hard to bring God's children back to Him. I will be playing the piano, so wish me luck. It sounds really good so far though.
Also in two weeks Hermana Godfrey and I will be singing Abide with Me in Sacrament. It is so fun to sing with her because our voices blend so well- she is amazing, I never thought my voice would sound so good! We get compliments practically daily, so that's neat. I am so glad we have music and the way that It can bring the Spirit.
On Sunday we had Kelly and Katherine Mills come speak, President Mills is the head of the International MTC's, He was also the President of the Nagoya Japan mission. There are 16 MTCs in the world! It was neat to see pictures of all them. They were very nice and happy people and everyone was laughing a lot. They also sang a lot of songs and sounded amazing!! But one thing President Mills said is that we need to "focus on the edges and the center will take care of itself". As we focus only on serving those around us we will automatically become better servants of the Lord. He showed us many pics of missionaries that changed dramatically in their countenance from before to after the mission. It was neat.
Last night we had the privilege to hear from Merill J. Bateman. He said so many powerful things. There are three things required for a missionary to receive the Spirit. it was Obedience which leads to cleanliness, diligence in the work (diligence means to steadily and quietly perservere), and we must ask for the Lord's guidance. And having the power and authority of the spirit means we can know what to do, know where to go, be able to perceive other's thoughts, and have our testimony confirmed through the witness of the Spirit. WOW. what amazing blessings. He said he got these principles from reading about the four sons of mosiah. What a great story. We can learn so much from how they taught and relied on the Lord to have success with His children.
In Spanish, I already have a word I say all the time. Instead of saying you know? or you know what I mean? in English, I say sí? like, yes? you agree? at least that's what my mind is saying. haha, I already say it so much.
In the Referral Center we set a goal to get 10 referrals. We were only at eight and it was time to go to dinner, but we decided to make just those last calls, and the last two calls made were two more referrals! With strong faith and expectations for a worthy goal to be me, I know the Lord truly does provide miracles!
I am grateful for everyone's letters and love. Thanks so much. I challenge us all to bear our testimony to someone this week- no matter whom, because everyone is in need of feeling the Spirit. I promise that you will be blessed if you do this, because your own testimony will be strengthened and you're sharing the gospel of our Savior Jesus Christ. I know this is the true gospel and I know that with obedience and righteousness we can return to live with our Father in Heaven and be with our families forever, because of the gift of the power of the Priesthood.
I love you all, and again, am grateful for your support.
Love, Hermana Dunford