TRANSFERS!!!

Woooooaaaaah there....

First of all it's SNOWING yaaaayyy! :) so pretty. So mom be grateful I'm being transferred to an area where I won't have a car!! No driving in the snow hahaha. Just freezing.


SO... Can you guess where I'm being transferred..?  I will give you a few hints..

This place....

-is BUSY..
-is expensive...
-is PRETTY..(especially at Christmas time)
-is FULL of diversity...
-has some good smells (and some not so good smells)
-has a whole lotta good shopping...
-is intimidating..
-has fabulous food...
-has famous people..
-has awesome LDS members...
-has lots of smart people... (And some not so smart)
-has a temple...

This place is one of my favorite places I've ever been in my life.

THIS PLACE IS MANHATTAN.

If you could only see the look on my face when I found out I was being transferred there.. Manhattan has been just a place of fun on P days for me so far.. But now I get to actually teach the people in Manhattan. I get to do the Lords work in an amazing part of the world. (And yes I realize serving in manhattan is not like visiting/vacationing in manhattan.) haha. But like Manhattan is Manhattan no matter what. And I LOVE it.

Some of my feelings..
I can't help but feel a LITTLE inadequate serving in this super populated amazing city.. Like do you know what kind of people live in manhattan? Haha. Like HI New York City I'm Sister Dunford. .. But whenever I feel these little inadequate thoughts I just push them away and think "oooooohhh k Heavenly Father you know where I need to be, and I know that you will help me out as long as I do my part." I am just praying that I will be able to be a successful instrument in the lords hands. I know he will guide me with the spirit. I have witnessed it already!! I seriously just can't wait live in the city and explore it in a WHOLE new way. How many people get to say that they have helped others come to Christ in NYC? Lots of people visit/vacation there.. But I am doing the most important thing EVER there. HAHa I CANT WAIT to share the gospel with the people. I can't BELIEVE how well Heavenly Father knows me. I know that Manhattan is where I am supposed to be.

So as for leaving the Darien Connecticut ward... SAD. I love this ward SO much. The people here are incredible. Soooo successful and SO humble. A scripture that reminds me of the Darien ward is... Alma 32:16 "Therefore, blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble...." The Darien ward is a perfect example of this. They have everything they need (materialistically speaking) they have wonderful nice homes, great families, nice cars, everything. They have it all. BUT they are still SO humble and willing to help out and serve others. They are humble because they want to be. Not because they have nothing better to do than to serve and help others. I LOVE THE DARIEN ward. It will forever hold a place in my heart. I will for sure be back to visit this area. I have learned soooo much from the members here!! I heart Connecticut. AND I heart NY.

One positive to leaving this area...
I have never eaten so much in my life. HAHA. I honestly don't think there was one dinner appointment that I didn't have a desert. And there were dinner appointments like 5 ish times a week. And you cannot turn down a desert that was made especially for you. The people sure know how to fatten a girl up. So I guess we'll see if I can stay away from the delicious food in manhattan this next cycle. I will be walking walking walking. :)

So I received an email from my wonderful Dad last week telling me that I need to talk more about the things that are HARD for me on my mission. HAHA what!?! So I thought a lot about that throughout my week. What really is SO hard about my mission? And I came to the conclusion that the very root of what makes my mission hard for me is having to be 100% selfless. FOR REAL. When I break down every little thing that is hard for me, It really comes down to selfishness!!! HOW SAD. I never really thought I was that selfish until I started thinking about WHY certain things are hard. Things like I want more sleep, more time for myself, more time to study, more space for myself, feeling inadequate to teach, wanting to eat what I want whenever I want, wanting to listen to MY favorite music, thinking about home, wanting to do things for the benefit of ME. ...And there you have some honest thoughts from ABBs. I think we as humans are ALL more selfish than we would like to admit. .. SO..How do we fix this huh? Well.. What i'm doing is working really hard on becoming more like Christ EVERY single day. Remember how I told you I focus on one Christlike attribute a day? IT IS THE BEST THING for me. I'm telling you, if you want to be truly happy and perfect, focusing on Christ is HOW you do it. It's not having the best hair, it's not being the skinniest person ever, it's not having the best clothes, not having the most money, not having the best pictures on Instagram, not the most likes, ITS NOT about those things. (I feel like that's what everyone describes a "perfect person" as) THAT IS NOT a perfect person. It takes humility to admit that I am selfish! It really really does. I would LOVE to just tell you that I am always thinking about others and ALWAYS turning outward and ALWAYS being just like Christ. But hate to break it to you, IM STILL HUMAN. BUT I am trying to be more like my savior EVERY SINGLE day. And that my friends, is why we are here on this earth, to become more like Christ and to CHANGE and be BETTER. So I invite you ALL, to think about yourself. Think about why you do the things you do. And then break it down. And then pick a Christlike attribute and tape it ALL over your mirror. So everyday when you get ready, you know what you're going to implement throughout your day. It will help you be happier I PROMISE.

I had an amazing last week in Darien!! Lots of good things happening here and the sister that gets to replace me us ONE LUCKY DUCK. I wish I could write more but there is just TOO much. So. That's it! Can't wait till next week to tell you about my first adventurous week in MANHATTAN. Love you ALL.
Xoxo- gossip girl ;)

HA.

Teasin

LOVE,
Sister Dunfun