New York keeps me laughin...

Hey! Happy Easter!!!! And Happy General Conference! 

We had a grand old time. The food intake that day was not even funny. The oh so kind members that feed us (bless them) just think we can pound endless amounts of food and sugar. But whatever. It's not like I hate New York food. 

I really LOVED the talks from conference. There was one line I seriously mega loved from Dale G. Renlund, he said: "God cares a lot more about who you are and who you are becoming than who you once were. " I was like mmm yes. Because do you ever look back and think woah hahaha what was I thinking back then!?! I just really love Heavenly Father. 

Some funny moments from the weeeeek! 

One man, (just a visual image,) had tattoos every where. And when I say everywhere, I mean EVERYWHERE. All over his face arms legs neck. Everywhere. Well. That doesn't stop two sister missionaries, representing Jesus Christ, from talking to him!! (Last I checked we are all children of God.) We were walking around a park and we happened to walk by him like 4 times and we decided we better talk to him because we kept seeing him!! So we walk up. (We are such cheerful 19 year olds) We asked what his name was and he responded in a rather freaky voice telling us his name was... (well I won't give his name but let's just say his name reminded me of Rasputin from Anastasia haha!!!) Then we showed him the He Lives video. When we finished we talked about it. And for a SHORT moment I thought he felt the spirit... He asked if he could meet with us again but we quickly realized he wasn't interested in meeting to learn about the gospel but more interested in meeting with US. He doesn't live in our area (PHEW!!) So we were like oh well we will have to send some other missionaries to you! And he was NOT liking that idea. We explained more and the next thing you know he had grabbed our hands and kissed them!! We resisted so awkwardly and quickly said bye have a good day!!! Haha oh my goodness you've never seen two sister missionaries walk away as fast as we did!! We were dying laughing and freaking out. So there was that contact. (Stress moment for sure)

Next crazy was what I call a hangry man. (Hungry/angry) 

HAHA. This was horrifying. We are sitting on the subway and we try to talk to this man all of the sudden he smacks the wall SO HARD. And says "move! this is my office." So we move... And then at the next stop a woman walked on and he did the same thing to her. Then he started sneezing out of control like CRAZY. Sneezing so much. Everyone on the subway was like what on the earth is this mans deal.. So then the next stop, in comes a man with a cupcake and a small bag of food. He sits down just a little bit down from us. Then the next thing you know the sneezing crazy man gets up and starts to attack the man with the cupcake and food. He's like "give me your food!!" Then the poor man with the food gets real sassy and they start arguing REAL loud. Haha (meanwhile Sister Spencer and I are just chillin on the bench remaining calm.) well eventually their little fight stopped and the hangry man got off. But they left a bunch of crumbs all over the floor. That fight for the food got real intense you know?? Hanger never was happiness. 

And the next crazy hilarious moment was when we found a giant cockroach (we named him Vladimere) in the bathroom. You would have thought there was a murderer in the house. All four of us sisters SCREAMING crying laughing screaming trying to get rid of this cockroach. (Hahaha family, remember how scared I am of spiders?) the tears were coming out. Horror. Pure scary. Oh my heck I hate cockroaches. We put Vladimere in the toilet and found out quickly that cockroaches SWIM!!! he would not go down. So we grabbed a ladle and scooped him right up and boom out the window. AH. (You should see me checking my bed every night for more of Vadimere's family members) I'm terrified that they are going to crawl on me in the night!! 

So that's real scary. 

funny posing

And I'm realizing that no matter how long you've been out on your mission there will always be those weeks that just completely turn into toast. Where every lesson cancels, nobody really wants to talk to you, numbers are like straight zero's and you just feel real swell. Yeah, that was last week. But ask me if I got upset about it. (I didn't) hahaha. People have their agency and I guess they can use it the way they want. But I have MY agency and I CHOOSE to be happy. 

I wish I had more cool stories to tell for this week but those will have to do! 

I AM DOING GREAT. Really really happy. I still love New York City and I will move back here again. 

sending this pic to the Ensign haha ;) 

I LOVE all of you.!

Love Sister Abba Dunford 

April Foolin YA

APRIL. Quit it. Not even funny. Time is flying. 

So transfers are today!!! Guess where I'm being transferred to?? The Bronx. Yep!!! You heard me. The Bronx.

Okay little sister McCall is 16. BE SO CAREFUL. I love you and hope you had the happiest birthday ever!! Ps I still don't think you're allowed to date.  ;)

APRIL FOOLS about transfers. Hahah! I'm funny. I am actually STAYING in South Manhattan. But I thought I would fool momma Kendra! Haha.! Relax. I'm still in Manhattan. Still training Sister Spencer. We are lovin it! Laughing all day. 

sista kim left to go home to Korea :( 

It's EASTA time!!

Guess what. I haven't even had ONE STINKIN chocolate Cadbury egg. Those are my weakness. I think they win as my favorite candies in the world. (Now please, nobody send me those in a package) I will eat them all. Love them. I am doing an Easter egg hunt for the sisters in my apartment on Easter morn! It's going to be fun.  

Along with Easters is.... General Conference. My most favorite time to be a missionary. Because I actually understand things for a change :) hahah. It's like WATCHING A MOVIE. We are totally getting pumped. Already bought some popcorn. YAY. The Women's conference thingy was awesome. I loved how they talked about defending the family. I CANNOT wait to be a mother one day. My mission has made me so pumped to be a mom. (Not that I wasn't pumped before.. I just now have a whole new knowledge.) 

--Random moments and thoughts from throughout the week--

*We had a few Ballet classes taught by (me. Sister Dunford) in our apartment. So funny. Laughter non stop. We love our old classical music. Really brings the spirit. Haha!

*I was proposed to on the subway. Definitely blushed and didn't know what to do with myself.

*Haha. Judge Sister Spencer and I, but we HAD to buy Jergens tanning lotion for our snow white legs. It's warming up. And this transition from tights to no tights is a lil blinding. 

*I made some new friends in Central Park. Skaters. They taught me a skateboard trick and I taught them the Restoration. YEAH. Good trade if you ask me.

*I waxed Sister Spencer's lip and never have we ever laughed so hard. The scream that came out of her mouth was deathly. AH hahaha. She is a new woman. Smooth upper lip. 

*Found my new favorite go to meal. Jamba Juice at whole foods. Apple n greens. Best healthy yum. 

*Shared the He Lives video with like 1.5 million people. Spirit is there EVERY time. 

*I am just happy

*The weather is bipolar here. One day it's warm and one day it's snowing. Crazy NYC. SO YEAH. Can't complain about life. It's good. Serving is awesome. 

A little thought to end. 

Something I've been learning and figuring out on my mission are the traps that the adversary puts out for us!! The adversary wants to catch us. Satan KNOWS our weaknesses. And so he is setting all these traps and just waiting for us to fall. I don't like him. 

Some traps pertain to our mood and attitude. When we have a good attitude and good thoughts and happiness, we have the spirit with us. When our mood is opposite from that, we separate ourselves from the spirit. Satan wants to separate us from the spirit! He wants us to fall and get a little snappy with someone. Or get just a little irritated. Or frustrated. Mad, Sad, Upset, Bugged, Impatient, Jealous, rude. You know? WE MUST NOT FALL INTO HIS TRAPS. We all know what happens to those little mousy mouses when they fall for the cheese... SNAP. It's too easy to fall. That is why we must have a strong foundation built on our rock. Christ! 

1 Nephi 15:24 reads: 

"And I said unto them the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction."

There is a scripture that I am memorizing and WHENEVER I feel like I'm going to fall into the adversary's traps, I say it in my head. It's Moroni 7:45 and it says:

"And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."

I LOVE the scriptures. They are changing my life. 

I know that when we are STRONG and we stand firm on our foundation, satan has no power over us. And we can resist his silly little traps. I'm so grateful to have scriptures and prophets and church and prayer and the temple and leaders, and Christ to help me not fall into those yucky traps. I invite you all to memorize Moroni 7:45 and say it in your head over and over!! Whenever your about to get a little snappy with someone, think of this scripture :)

I LOVE YOU. Sorry to end so quickly. Gotta go have fun in NYC. 

Have a swell week!!

Love, Sista Dunford 

He is HERE.

Okay first of all, family, QUIT GROWING UP. 

Holy cow I am dying at how much older you all look. (Mom, Dad you are the exception) you don't look older. haha. 

McCall! You are going to prom and I shed a tear that I don't get to be there to help pick out a dress. WAIT I'm in NYC. Send me some money and I will pick out a dress. I will go to 5th ave. and pick the BEST dress. ;) TEASIN. 

But woah. I love you guys so much. I cannot believe you went boating last week. Can you get a sun tan for me? Thx love you.

the real life cinderella dress!!

What a good fabulous wonderful week! 

How. can I even explain the miracles. I really can't because you had to be there but I will do my best!! I can't even write them all. (One day in heaven you can watch my mission like a movie with me) :) 

Some quick random moments from the week

*One investigator confessed his love for me. Things got PRETTY awkward and we quickly gave his information to some other missionaries. Hahaha. I was DYING. 

*Found the CUTEST 20 year old girl to teach #tractingreallydoeswork

*LOVED seeing dads cousin at church on Sunday. Tender.

*Dropped a few investigators because they just would NOT keep commitments and ain't nobody got time for no real intent. 

*Mom the Starbucks giftcard you sent me has been HEAVEN. Because sad news: it's still cold. BUT hot chocolate can cheer Sister Dunford up.  

*Lots of good things happened but I'm overwhelmed.. so moving on. 

Ores got BAPTIZED!!! On Saturday. It was SO good. Ores said "There is no word in the dictionary to describe the feeling I have right now!!" That made me smile so big and my heart fluttered. Ores had tears in his eyes and was the happiest I have ever seen him. Such a good man. 

-Mega love for my Savior- 

HE LIVES. Jesus Christ lives. You. Guys. The new church initiative. AMAZING. I tear up every time I watch the video. Jesus Christ LIVES. HE IS HERE. Everyone please watch the video. And cry. Let your eyes tear up. And let your heart be full of LOVE for your savior!!! Because my heart is over flowing with love for MY Savior Jesus Christ. I know he is HERE. I just need to reach out. call out. cry out. HE IS HERE. Then. Now. ALWAYS. He lives. I love him. My heart is so full. 

I love Easters.

-Miracle- 

IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME. 

Sister Spencer and I were headed to go to an investigators apartment for a lesson. We go knock on the door and she wasn't home. Bummed. So then we were like okay let's go pick up mail at the 15th street chapel. And then we're like wait.. pinkberry is right there and I

wouldn't even be mad if we made a stop there... So we decided we needed to go to pinkberry for some frozen yogurt. YUM. But then I was like wait lets go stop by the temple so I can fill up my water bottle. Sister Spencer was like "it's half full?? Why do you need to fill it up?" and then I was like "I don't know.... But I want it full." (It was literally so weird) I had this random desire to fill up my water bottle at the church. So we walked over. Then we get there and the security guard was like "Sisters!!!!! There is a man HERE who wants to know more about the church!!" We looked at each other with THE BIGGEST SMILES. We walk over and there sitting on the couch was this very NORMAL nicely dressed man. Around age 30 ish. We introduced ourselves and got talking. He explained why he was there and that he wanted to know more about the church. He asked a few questions and we answered. We then took him into the chapel on the 3rd floor. And this is where the story gets REAL man. So we slowly taught him the Restoration. And if you only knew how QUIET the chapel was in this busy loud city. It was PERFECTION. My words will not do this experience justice. But I can tell you that this moment was BY FAR the most spiritual experience I have ever had in my life. Never has the spirit ever been SO clear. We showed Him a picture of Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appearing to him. And I quoted Joseph Smiths first vision. When I finished quoting Joseph, we all paused. Pure SILENCE. Not a sound was being made. And then my eyes filled with tears. We asked him how he felt. And he was SPEECHLESS. It took him a long moment to gather his thoughts and words. He then described his feelings. I can remember his exact words. He said "I feel so much love inside of my heart right now. It's like this serenity that is indescribable." He said how did you know to ask me how I felt? And we told him we were feeling the EXACT same feeling!!!! He told us that he felt so much CLARITY. He told us that before, things were confusing. And didn't feel quite right. He had a catholic background and he said it never REALLY made him feel good.  He kept saying woah. Wow! Woah! HE FELT THE SPIRIT SO STRONGLY. The story gets better. We then finished teaching him the Restoration and invited him to follow Jesus Christ's example by being BAPTIZED by someone holding the priesthood authority. HE LAUGHED AND SMILED AND SAID YES. He said I have no idea what I'm getting myself in to but YES. We set his baptismal date for May 2nd!! (Holla dads birth!!) so we showed him the baptismal font and explained a few more things to him. But WOAH OH MAN. I literally cannot deny that Jesus Christ's church HAS indeed been restored to the earth. All three of us witnessed the powerful spirit testifying of its truthfulness. Joseph Smith was a TRUE prophet. Can't deny it. 

I also am ALWAYS shocked at the fact that my companion and I can deliver such a powerful message SO CLEARLY. After that lesson, it could have been too easy for me to BOAST of myself saying "go me, go us, woo woo I'm so good blah blah.." .... But there was NO WAY and I mean NO POSSIBLE way that I. Me. Abbey. SISTER DUNFORD. 19 year old Utahn. Could have taught him and made him feel that peaceful wonderful feeling he felt. 

"Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever."

Alma 26:12

I KNOW that because my companion and I were in the right place at the right time doing the right thing, we were able to be instruments in Gods hands. We were SO not planning on that lesson to happen. We had not practiced anything, we didn't even know it was going to happen!!! (That's how YOU KNOW it was the spirit teaching him. Not us.) But because we were doing what we were supposed to, (personal studies, praying, obeying) doin our thang, God used us to help this man. 

"Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man."

D&C 84:85

OH HOW GRATEFUL I AM to be here. Exactly where I am supposed to be. Man it feels good. THE GOSPEL BRINGS PURE JOY AND HAPPINESS. I AM SO HAPPY I AM SO HAPPY I AM SO HAPPY I AM SO HAPPY. You guys. If you want to know HOW to be happy, live the gospel of Jesus Christ. I feel so much happiness. And I know that THIS is true happiness. I love my mission. The spirit is real. 

Heavenly Father LOVES YOU. And You have a Savior. Jesus Christ. And HE KNOWS AND LOVES YOU SO MUCH. 

Love you so much.

Love,

Sista Abbey Dunford 

marchin

HEY!

I'm happy.

Let's be real you guys I'm in the best mission ever.

Okay I will start out my email with a silly Sister Dunford thought- (If Maddie Lowry reads this.. she will understand me) :)

Have you ever seen the Lizzie McGuire movie? Well Kate (the bratty blonde) says to Lizzie at their graduation: "Lizze McGuire, YOU ARE AN OUTFIT REPEATER." And then Lizzie says "you are an outfit REMEMBERER which is just as pathetic!!"  Hahahaha. I repeat this in my head EVERY DAY OF MY MISSION. Feelin like such an outfit repeater. The trick of being a sister missionary is not feeling like the homliest human alive. (I don't know if homliest is a word.)

Hope you all had a LUCKY day yesterday! Haha (we didn't) but it was still a happy St. Patrick's day :) every single one of our appointments cancelled. That's got to be a missionaries FAVORITE kind of day... Ha! No. 

Today we get to go to the temple. Yay!!!! I can't wait. It will be so good to just take a step back from crazy missionary life and to remember the big picture. The temple is my favorite. 

We had Zone conference on Friday and we got our brand NEW iPads. So that was nice. Although such a pain to make sure I didn't lose all my notes and pictures, etc. now I don't have to worry because I get to take this iPad home. Hooray. Zone conference was swell! Talked a lot about how to keep our bodies HEALTHY and to work out!  You know what's funny? President told us that with in the last month, about 20 companionships ordered blenders, and full length mirrors and scales. Haha you can tell spring is coming because everyone's trying to look good and lose weight or somethin! President was laughing. I love him. 

We also had STAKE CONFERENCE. 

Two general authorities were there and it was great! 

(Not to mention I saw MY 2nd MOM Heather Moss and my sista Sydney Moss on Sunday!!!) 

Couldn't believe my eyes. I didn't even know what to do with myself. Seriously I was like speechless. My Moss fam is the best. 

#ohana 

Sister Spencer and I are still going strong! Missionary workin. Trying to keep busy! It's challenging because everyone here (almost everyone) works like 18 hours a day or else they die. Haha New York City is so expensive and so everyone is working working working so they can survive and live here. So that means less teaching appointments. More finding. It's good.

At stake conference Elder Hallstrom shared a WONDERFUL talk on reverence. And I wanted to share some thoughts from that here. 

He said that to be reverent is to revere! Which is to feel deep respect or admiration for something. So.. if we are truly REVERENT, our thoughts and actions will be consistent with our love for our savior Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. Not just our Sunday thoughts and actions, but our EVERYDAY thoughts and actions. Meaning when we are at work, when we are at school, when we are out to dinner with friends, etc. The way we think and act is so fundamental and foundational as to how we feel about them. 

There is a song often sung in our church and that is "I Am a Child of God." How many of you can sing that song? (I know EVERY WORD.) Elder Hallstrom challenged us to ask ourselves if we REALLY REALLY REALLY know that we are a Child of God. Because IF WE DO, then it should be OUR IDENTITY. It should affect everything we do and everything we think! Yes we have OUR identity. (I am from UT. I am blonde, I like music, I am a daughter, a sister etc.) but MY IDENTITY is that I AM A CHILD OF GOD. That is.. Who. I. Am. And I know that. ;) 

We live in a world that can cause us to forget who we REALLY are. Thinking happiness will come from having the most money, having an amazing appearance, etc. Acting in certain ways so that others look at us with great respect. When this becomes our identity and our focus, we lose sight of who we are. So question... Do we love the Lord more than we love the things world? 

My testimony is that I AM A CHILD OF GOD. And he has sent ME HERE. He has given me an earthly home, with parents kind and dear. (Holla Mark and Kendra!) 

If there is ONE thing that I have come to really know on my mission, it's that I really am a Child of God. I am SO grateful for that knowledge. I hope and pray that I will FOREVER know my true identity and not lose sight of who I am. I LOVE Heavenly Father. I LOVE Jesus Christ. And I LOVE being a missionary. 

#twinning #winning 

LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH SO MUCH SO MUCH!! 

Love 

Sista Abigail Dunford