a swell week

Okay you guys. SUCH A SWELL WEEK.

Let's start with.. TRANSFER news:

I will be taking on the responsibility of being a sister training leader and I will be TRANSFERRED. Not far away at all.. I am WAY happy about it. Literally feels like I'm just switching apartments..

And actually, a song comes to mind when I think about this new area. It was popular a few years back, you might be able to recognize it.. I'll drop you a line. 

"Do the Harlem Shake." That's right. HARLEM. Hahahaha! 

I will be moving from the South Manhattan zone to the... (not far away at all...) Central Manhattan zone!!! (Which still covers my last area) weird but so good. HAHAHAhaha. I'm seriously excited. We will be over the Harlem 1st ward which is a family ward, and we will be white washing the Harlem YSA. Which are both AMAZING wards. But oh so different from the Manhattan 1st ward...  TWO wards. One of the the busiest areas in the mission. Seriously booming with lessons. I am SO excited to have more people to teach. It's quite funny actually because our apartment is currently in Harlem and now I will be moving ALL of my stuff over to East Harlem.  Right next to Target and Costco! YES. (Yay for grocery shopping) I am way pumped. Feels like I'm not going anywhere... Just switching wards. Which is exactly what's happening. We will still have all of our P days in this fabulous CITY. My new companion will be SISTER CHECKETTS. She is a darling red head and we see each other every P day. I'm so excited to be with her. We will both be Sister Training Leaders. (STL's) So let's get excited for some crazy stories these upcoming weeks!! We are going to be SO busy... Pray for me ;)

Me and sista Checketts!

Okay so enough talk about the future, let's talk about my last week in this AMAZING area. 

Here are some moments I enjoyed:

*Eating at serendipity with some of my favorite members and drinking my very own huge salted caramel frozen hot chocolate. (Heaven on earth) 

*Contacting in Central Park/Riverside Park and passing out hundreds of Mormon cards to the coolest New Yorkers.

*Eating lunch with my UTAH neighbors. I love the Mayers. Thanks for the visit!! 

*Meeting the cutest return missionary that served in NYNY South and is one of my fave singers. Her name is Jen Blosil. Check out her music. She will be big one day.... I know it.

*Listening to Quinton L. Cook. I will mention some of my favorite quotes in a second. 

*Seeing the WHOLE mission together at our conference. I've missed my old mission friends.

*Having an APF with my good old zone in Madison Square Park. We are creative. (Free shoe shining ha!)

*Talking to momma KENDRA and the fam. Best. Ever. (Although I could have spent 100 more hours talking to you guys..) 

*Saying "see you later" to most of the members here. (NOT goodbye.) I held back tears while hugging a few members. You never realize how attached you are to someone until you have to leave them! Hard. 

*Laughing my head off while I stress packed. Packing is NOT FUN. 

*Aaaand spending time with one of my new best friends Sister Spencer. 

The Mayers :) 

GOOD WEEK. 

So I briefly mentioned that I LOVED hearing from, and shaking Elder Quinton L. Cook's hand! What a neat experience. It's amazing how a room can change when someone so reverent walks in. Our mission was immensely blessed to receive some council and training from him. He left us with an apostolic blessing that gave me chills. His blessing was basically.. We need not EVER question if being home, (making money, helping family, dating, going to school, etc.) would be better for us than being out in the mission field. He said there is nothing better we could be doing right now. He said that our mission will bless our grandparents, our parents, our siblings, our future spouse, our children, grand children and ALL of our posterity. What an AMAZING blessing. I could not imagine my life without my mission. 

One last thing from Elder Cook. He spoke of his witness of the Savior Jesus Christ. And I have never felt the spirit so strong from a testimony than I have from his. His EXACT words said with so much confidence were: "I know The Savior's voice. I know what He looks like. I know that He lives." 

I sat there with chills all over!!! It was such a special conference. I love the gospel. I love my mission.

My heart is so heavy with love for this city/area..... Sounds cheesy. I can't describe it! The city is so much more than just the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, 9/11 memorial etc. those are all GREAT things in this city. But I have fallen in love with much much more. If you could only be here with me every step of the way to experience all that I have here. It's UNREAL. 

The people I have met have changed my life. My perspective is so different in so many ways. I'm so grateful SO SO SO grateful that I followed the prompting to serve a mission. My life is FOREVER changed. 

I'll miss my roomies 

LOVE YOU

Love, Sista Dunford