SPRING IS IN THE AIR

Hello!

It's a WARMIN UP!!!! YES YES YES. Happiness. Pure happiness. People are happy. New York is a much happier place with some warmth in the air. We FINALLY got to do some real street contacting. We were in Central Park quite a bit!! CENTRAL PARK IS MY FAVE. I even got to take off my coat a few days!!! SO TENDER. I loved it.

    

hahaha

Today's P day activities will consist of:
*Buying yogurt and sitting on the steps at the MET. Hahah. (If you've watched gossip girl you will understand)
*Shopping. (it's not like I have money to blow) window shopping is
therapeutic to me. Helps me remember who I am HAHA.
*We might go to the Empire State Building today. We'll seeee.
But I love New York City if you didn't know.

It was a slow but good week! Not very many teaching appointments. Lots of contacting and tracting. Just gotta smile my way through it and know that the mission is only temporary! Random thought- I have noticed something about myself on my mission, and that is that I am just a HAPPY person. I don't really get super discouraged when things don't work out perfectly. I know that Heavenly Father is helping me to have a good attitude about everything. I'm so grateful. My companion and I are going to fast together and pray so hard that we will have more people to teach that have REAL INTENT. We do have people to teach.. Which is good. But we want some more real intent if you know what I'm sayin. I wish I could write more about all the people we are teaching. But emailing is just overwhelming haha.

We have a BAPTISM coming up. March 21st! Woohoo! We've been teaching a man named ️Ores all the lessons and he is awesome. He's older. Like 58ish. And from Haiti. It's really exciting because the first time he actually met with missionaries was in Haiti when he was a high schooler!! And he just decided about a month ago that he wanted to be baptized. He wasn't even meeting with missionaries before us. So that's real great!! He is golden.

   

I wanted to share some thoughts on OBEDIENCE! again I hope my thoughts tie together at the end of this. So just keep reading ;)
Okaaaaay. So I think obedience is something that actually turns a lot of people away from the church. I have talked to so many people that say things like "I don't do well with rules" or "I can live my life FINE without obeying these silly little rules" or "I don't want to live my life that way" "I'm a free spirit.." Blah blah etc! You know? Haven't we all heard that? Or be honest, have you FELT that yourself? I mean if we are ALL being honest, it's only the natural thing to feel. It's NATURAL to want to be "a free spirit with no rules"... at least I think it is.
Let me share with you some rules in the mission life.
*be home at 9:00. 9:30 if you're teaching. NO LATER
*be in bed, lights off at 10:30. NO LATER
*wake up at 6:30 on the dot NO LATER. (If you wake up at 6:33 you're disobedient in the eyes of a missionary) we wake up at 5:30 so that's not a prob for us. Mornings are ughhhhh!!
*EXERCISE every morning. If you don't work out you're SINNING.
*Be kneeling down praying at EXACTLY 8:00 for studies. If it's 8:03
you're guilty. Haha.
*Begin companionship study AT 9:00.
*leave the apartment at 10:00 to proselyte.
*NO thinking about anything other than MISSIONARY WORK. (For example: my weakness is I LOVE TO SING AND HUM Taylor Swift music.) and that = unconsecrated. Rough life!!
*If I even THINK about thinking about home that = unconsecrated.
*no holding children. (This one kills me it's really hard) but I
humbly obey the rule.
*basically, use your agency, and be a missionary robot. Hahah. (Anyone that knows me, knows that I do not want to be a robot.) but keep reading. Haha OKAY. So those are just a FEW mission rules. Now my friends.. You want to talk about the NATURAL man in me? I am not afraid or embarrassed to tell anyone that these rules are a challenge for me. For example: 
it seems pretty innocent to me if I hold a baby. Here's the natural man thoughts in me..."for crying out loud I am a girl who loves babies WHY can't I hold the cute children? What harm will I cause? I just want to hold a baby." I think others feel the same as me. but I'm just not afraid to be REAL and admit it. Because this is real life. I am human. I want to hold a child. But I cannot.
The mission is TURNIN THE HEAT UP. You think obeying the word of wisdom is hard? Come be a missionary. :)  Missionaries are to live the higher law. This level of discipleship is unlike anything else. Living at this level of discipleship takes mega humility. The mission is like a refiners fire. And the missionaries are like gold! Haha we crank up the heat a bazillion times and then we are PURIFIED like gold. Yeah. It's good stuff.
Now let me share some scriptures of a perfect example of obedience.
This is Adam. (You know Adam and Eve? Our first parents?) okay. This
is after they had been driven out from the Garden of Eden and the Lord commanded them to multiply and replenish the earth and to till the land and etc.
Moses 5:5-6
5. And he gave unto them commandments, that they should worship the
Lord their God, and should offer the firstlings of their flocks, for
an offering unto the Lord. And Adam was OBEDIENT unto the commandments of the Lord.

6. And AFTER MANY DAYS an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam,
saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said
unto him: I KNOW NOT, save the Lord commanded me.
OKAY. So the angel is like Adam why are you doing this? He's like I don't know, I'm doing this but I don't know why? Other than God asked me to. THAT LEVEL OF OBEDIENCE Is what we ALL need. Too often, I have questioned (in missionary world) why do I have to get up at this time? Why does p day end at 6:00? Why studies right at 8:00? Why can't I hold a baby? (Okay I know a lot of the answers why.. but lots of times it can be easy to think I am the exception to the rule.) in real world it might be things more like why do I have to keep the sabbath day holy? Why can't I stay out longer than my curfew? Why can't I do this and that etc. (and most people know why. But think they are the exception to the rule) you follow me?? Yeah?
We MUST Be completely loyal and follow father Adams example. "I know not save the lord god commanded it." We must set aside our pride and just be humble. Humility you guys!!! So important. As I continued to read I found that after Adam obeyed he was blessed with the spirit.

9. And in that day the Holy Ghost fell upon Adam, which beareth record of the Father and the Son, saying: I am the Only Begotten of the Father from the beginning, henceforth and forever, that as thou hast fallen thou mayest be redeemed.

So to close my long email.. I just want to leave a short little testimony on obedience.

I KNOW that when we are exactly obedient we ARE blessed. The lord is
BOUND to bless us when we obey. I have witnessed it in my life. I
promise you Heavenly Father is there. And he is our smart awesome
amazing glorious FATHER. He wants to help us. and he will!! AS we
align OUR WILL with His. I LOVE this work. And I love you allllll!

   

Love Sister Abbs Dunford

I still LOVE New York

Hello!! 

What a good March daaaaay. Its quite cold and rainy. So today I'm taking my companion to a cute bakery where they have the yummiest grilled cheese sandwich and tasty warm tomato soup!! and the view from this cute bakery is amazing. It will be such a good day. We just got back from trader joes and later we will be headed to the 9/11 MUSEUM. Last week we just walked around the memorial and Sista Spencer was dying to go inside the museum. So it will be great!!. I could spend 12 hours in that museum. I think we'll head over to China town as well today. Maybe we'll stop and see if Taylor Swift is home too. Hahaha. ;) P days are way too good to us.

Aaahahaha. 

You guys I just wanted to start off my email and tell you how many people I have seen SLIP and fall this last week. (Insert falling New Yorker video clips) haha #iwish. I can't explain how hard It is to not laugh out loud. Hahahahaha. Thank heavens nobody has been injured yet. (That I've seen) sheesh. Laughing all day long. Too many slippin New Yorkers. Sister Spencer slipped yesterday and we were DYING. I don't think I have laughed that hard in a loooong time. It was snowy and she just face planted right on the sidewalk. HA HA. I shouldn't be laughing watch I will be next. 

Other than the snow and cold it was a fabulous week. 

*We had interviews with President Morgan! He really made me feel loved. I almost wanted to cry at how good he made me feel. Told me he was so proud of me. SO good. I love that man. I LOVE HIM. He is a man of God.

*We got like a bunch of referrals. YES. Hard work pays off.

*We found a new man to teach and he told us the spirit COMMANDED him to meet with us.. Which was cool. He is on the search to find out if the Book of Mormon is true or not..!! I love those real intent truth seekers!! They're the best.

*We ate dinner at my fave restaurant and two ANONYMOUS people PAID for our meal.. (So tender)

*Sister Spencer told me I should have my own reality show. She laughs so hard at my every day life sayings and actions. I didn't think I was that funny but apparently it's entertaining hahaha!

HAhA you guys.Funny story. Mom don't stress it was funny. 

We were tracting one day and we knocked on this door at the end of a hallway.. And right after I knocked I heard a loud growl. HAHA. A growl. Like a tiger/dog. I go hello "it's the missionaries from the...." And then I hear a voice telling me we were at darkness's home. and we needed to turn around or we would be dragged down to the depths of hell. THAT was weird. Hahahah. Sister Spencer was horrified!!! I felt so bad. We ran off. (The things missionaries experience) just gotta throw in some honest true missionary moments for ya.

This last week I was reading through my study journal and I couldn't help but tear up seeing the personal growth I've seen in myself!! WOAH YOU GUYS HOLY COW. I have grown soooo much. Never did I ever think I would have this strong of a testimony. I. love. My mission. And New York will forever hold a special special place in my heart. In a way.. New York will be a sacred place for me. A place where I came to know my savior. My own little "Waters of Mormon." cool huh? 

--A call to REPENTANCE-- 

(I hope my thoughts will tie together at the end of this..) 

So on Friday we got together as a WHOLE mission at the Manhattan Temple/church building and we were privileged to hear from Elder David F. Evans and Elder Stephen B. Allen! From the missionary department. They came with more guidance and direction on our digital media! So just a brief explanation of what was talked about: They basically just called us, (all the missions and missionaries that have digital media,) to repentance! Don't get me wrong they were AWESOME. They told us that the meeting was not REALLY about iPads or media or facebook etc. but it was about TRUE DISCIPLESHIP. It was definitely one of those awakening repent moments for all of us missionaries!! The church is sending authorities to talk to every mission that has had digital media. (To give more direction and council.) Which is definitely needed. So many missionaries are like, "what on earth am I supposed to do with this Facebook account as a missionary!?" It's crazy that we have such a thing. Haha like everyone knows Facebook is designed as a form of entertainment and connecting with loved ones from far away and posting pictures and etc. So to give 18-22 year olds a Facebook account while we are supposed to be totally focused on sharing the gospel is kind of an oxymoron to me... I don't know! What do you think? (I do think it's great that the church is "hastening the work" but we definitely have needed more council than just "ope here is your Facebook account, now don't talk to your family, and don't scroll through the newsfeed, and don't talk to anyone unless it's about Christ." and blah blah etc.) do you see where I am coming from? So it's VERY good that the church is providing more direction and council with the digital media. I am a fan. 

So our mission has had iPads and digital media for over a year now. And about 30 other missions have as well. Our missions have been being TESTED with media. (Which explains the lack of direction with social media) at least in my opinion. ha we are just like guinea pigs. Or I guess you could call us the digital media PIONEERS!! (I like that one) Well the church has decided to give digital media to more missions so now there will be about 88 missions with iPads and media. (Mom and Dad this explains why you had to go to that meeting about iPads) we have been using church owned iPads but now everyone has to pay for their own! Interesting right? Well anyways back to my thought. So yes. We were all basically called to repentance. NO scrolling. No chatting. No nothin. No being alone on your iPad. Share your FB password with your companion. Etc. (Which we already knew) but I guess it's been a problem for multiple missions and missionaries. So to many missionaries, this message was just a big giant sting!! Haha like a cut. As nephi explains it: "..wherefore, the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center." 1 Nephi 16:2

Well I think this message from the general authorities was very good for all of us. We are doing a refresh/reset/restart with Facebook. So when we get our new iPads we won't have Facebook for a little while. And we have to go through these different stages and then eventually we will be back on to share the gospel.  

I was ironically reading in The first few chapters of Jacob in the Book of Mormon (Jacob is telling the people to repent of their grossness and wickedness) and I felt as though it totally connected with the digital media situation. 

So I read that Jacob felt like he needed to "enlarge the wounds of those who were already wounded." Meaning bring to their attention that they needed to repent! His people were setting their hearts upon the riches of the world and they were having more than one wife. #sinners haha. Well here Jacob is.. commanded by God to bring this to their attention. I read that he was NOT too excited about telling them this. He said "Yea, it grieveth my soul and causeth me to shrink with shame before the presence of my Maker, that I must testify unto you concerning the wickedness of your hearts." Jacob 1-4 (I would feel the same as Jacob)  Well, I related this to the authorities that had to come and basically tell us all to repent about our digital media! They probably didn't really REALLY want to come and preach repentance unto us. But because they are called of God to do so, they did. 

Elder Dallin H. Oaks said " ..a message given by a General Authority at a general conference--a message prepared under the influence of the Spirit to further the work of the Lord--is NOT given to be enjoyed. It is given to inspire, to edify, to challenge, or to correct. It is given to be heard under the influence of the Spirit of the Lord, with the intended result that the listener learns from the talk and from the Spirit what he or she should do about it”

SO. In conclusion, I learned that the authorities that came to our mission, didn't come to entertain us or to bring us enjoyment. But they came to motivate us to CHANGE and to be better. Which In turn will make us happier. 

I know there are MANY messages in life we receive that maybe aren't the most enjoyable messages. (For instance, maybe the dentist told you that you need to floss because your gums are not lookin so good..) it's not like the dentist hates you..! And I don't think the dentist even WANTs to tell you that. But he DOES want to tell you because it will BEST HELP YOU. Same thing with parents parenting. Like maybe your parent made you clean your room... (Not fun right?) but who is it benefitting?? YOU. Get it?

It all comes back to God wanting us to be happy. Sometimes we need to hear the hard messages and feel that motivation to be better. So next time you feel irritated with someone's council to you or their advice... Maybe just humbly think of the big picture and try to change for the better. I don't know. That's what my thoughts have been. :)

I love Jesus Christ. I love Heavenly Father. I LOVE my mission. And I love who I am becoming. 

CTR

Love you so much

Love, Sister Abbey Dunford 

training and stuff

Hey Family and Friends! 

How is everyone. 

I'm real goody :)

P DAYS ARE THE BEST. 

Today I'm taking Sister Spencer to Rockefeller Center and to shop on 5th avenue. Then to the 9/11 memorial. And I will take her to the BEST cookie place she's ever been to. Hahaha. (Silly missionaries that think they can lose weight on the mission) not here in NYC man...

So my brand NEW companion is here!!! And we are a perfect match! Here's a little bit about her: 

She is from Salem UT. She went to Utah State before the mish. She is tall. She is HILARIOUS. My heck we laugh all day long. (It's so good when someone has the same humor as you) yesss. She is a great new missionary! We both love to shop!!! She and I both love Jimmy Fallon. And Taylor Swift. (Uh oh) haha. We are already waaaayy good friends!! We are super similar in the way we think and act. Haha I love her. SO GOOD SO GOOD. We have been SO busy together. I can't even explain how tired I am at nights. #exhausted. We are working hard. 

We had so many little miracles and tender mercies that happened!! 

I'm unsure how to even explain and what to say. 

So HERE are some Tender Mercies:

*We got a new investigator. From a media referral! (Meaning he requested missionaries from online) which was awesome. Taught him the restoration and gave him a Book of Mormon. 

*We got another one from tracting in the projects! FINALLY A WOMAN. I have been praying and praying that God would give us a woman to teach for once and HE DID!! So happy. (Not that I hate teaching single men.. It's just tricky to always have a 3rd female with us or 3 males) So yipeeee for teaching women!! 

*We met a new man on the subway who seems to be interested! (We hope his interest isn't just in us..but in the GOSPEL.) we will see where that goes. 

*We ate dinner at the most BEAUTIFUL apartment I've ever been in. My heck. (If only you could just see a sneak preview of the places and apartments I've been) SO DREAMY. 

*we taught the gospel principles lesson on Sunday and it was SWELL.

*we ate dinner with my favorite blogger and it was amazing. She's even better in person. Her family just kills me of cuteness. Her daughter wants to be a missionary just like ME when she grows up. 

*today I gave 2 haircuts so that was a happy moment! I love doing hair. 

*we have a meeting with the whole mission on Thursday for an Ipad meeting. How to better use our social media and online proselyting. One of the church authorities is coming to talk to all of us. So that'll be cool. 

*I am in the best mission in the world. 

SO. 

I have like zero time left. And I wish I could write more. (This email is LAME) But I wanted to leave one of the scriptures I've been thinking about a lot lately!! 

We ALL feel weakness. Every single person on the stinkin earth feels weakness. And this scripture goes RIGHT along with my thoughts of weakness and humility and it's just perfect for my thoughts! And it's a super popular scripture but it's a way good one. 

Ether 12:27 says: 

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

To shorten my thoughts.. (this doesn't even do it justice).. but if you feel weakness, KNOW that it's because we need to stay humble. And when we are humble, Christ's grace is sufficient for us. When we are humble, and when we allow the atonement to heal us, then our weaknesses are made our STRENGTHS! Who doesn't want that? I want my weaknesses to be my strengths! Everyone please go study that scripture!! It's so good!! So good so good! 

I LOVE YOU ALL

Sister Abbey Dunford 

hiiiiiiii

HI THERE SISTA DUNFORD HERE

Funny Stuff:
So NO I am not going to fashion week today because there were no more tickets... :( But.. hahaha. I got PERMISSION to go to fashion week. what on earth. Hahaha I called President on the phone.. President has over 250 missionaries to take care of, and here I am asking him for permission to go to fashion week. I JUST COULDN'T PASS UP THE OPPORTUNITY!  Aahhaahh. He was like "I think that sounds fun!!" I was SHOCKED. Straight up shocked. I love President Morgan you guys. He is amazing. The Morgan's win in my book. I could go ON and ON and ON about how incredible the Morgan's are. The most Christlike couple I've ever met. So humble, patient, loving, knowledgable, charitable etc. they have all the Christlike attributes. And to top off all the attributes, they know how to have FUN while living the gospel. You guys, we totally CAN have fun and be normal and be cool while living the gospel. Living the gospel is the coolest thing you could do. I love it. #coolestmormons

   

Transfer NEWS:
I'm.... STAYING in South Manhattan .... And training a brand new missionary from the good old MTC. Her name is Sister Spencer and I'mvSO pumped to meet her. She gets here on Friday! WE ARE GOING TO HAVE SO MUCH FUN SHE WONT EVEN KNOW WHAT HIT HER. It's supa great. Hahaha we are going to WORK MEGA HARD. There are only TWO new english sisters coming into the mission.. and I get to train one of them!! Woo!! I feel so blessed to be in this area. We have THREE baptismal dates. Sister Spencer is coming to the right place man. I love Sister Spencer so much already.  (Let's hope she looooves me!!!) haha!! It was really cool to hear President talk about how they decide who the trainers are. He said: "you can imagine a few weeks ago as I was praying and thinking about trainers, your name was whispered to me." (Gives me chills) Wowza. To be part of revelation is COOL. I know Heavenly Father is putting Sister Spencer and I together for a reason. We are meant to be HERE in Manhattan TOGETHER. Let's goooooo Sista Spenca!!

Randomness:
*Sister Brown is going to THE BRONX. It's a partay in Da Bronx man.
*Today is P day and guess what we are doing. Shopping.
*Valentine's Day was goody. We passed out PINK heart Valentine's and
free hot chocolate and gave freeee church tours!! (So many people in
LOVE here in NYC) cough cough (jealous.) Hahah. Nope teasin.. ;)
*Its Fr Fr Fr FREEZING here. (You lucky little Utaherz in your warm weather.)
*I loved seeing the MINNICKS at church.
*I am being over fed here every night.
*I got to go to Scarsdale for the trainers meeting. Those train rides are the best little breaks EVA.
*President and Sister Morgan got to go to UT for an Ipad meeting.
(They were SO close to YA fam!)
*I am HAPPY

So this week we had a lesson with one of our male investigators who I've been talking about for a while now. He has SO many deeeep deep questions. Which is great. But his questions aren't very important when it comes to his progression in the gospel. (Some missionaries would call him an "eternal investigator.") haha just feels like he is a never ending investigator. In a lesson last week we asked him how he felt about what we have been teaching him and how it makes him feel. He told us he feels NOTHING.... Uhhh.. WHAT.. Okay. I was super frustrated for a second. I was thinking "Heavenly Father why aren't you sendin him the spirit! Why don't you give him a clear answer. Why isn't he feeling the spirit after everything we've done for him and taught him?" (Just a few of my thoughts during our lesson..) and don't worry my thoughts HAVE changed since that lesson :) Well it's quite interesting because he refuses to come to church. And he won't read the Book of Mormon. and he only prays when he wants to. RED flag. (I was like dude why are you even meeting with us then..?) It's weird. Like I understand if for a little bit people don't want to come to church.. but after a while... It's important that investigators keep commitments and start to act on the things we are teaching them. (Otherwise it's waste of our time to focus on somebody that doesn't have real intent.) Preach My Gospel tells us that to have real intent is "to be committed to ACT on the answers we receive." Obviously this man is not committed to act on ANYTHING.. which is exactly why he is not feeling the spirit. I've been trying my hardest to discern this mans needs because I really REALLLy want him to progress. Well I've come to the conclusion (I don't want this to sound rude.. But if I'm being honest..) he is straight up prideful. I just want to be bold and go to his face and be like "HEY YOU PRIDEFUL MAN BECOMETH LIKE A CHILD WHY DONT YA!?!" hahaha. (But that wouldn't be very humble of ME ha!!) anyways.. I've discovered that he is not very humble. He told us last week that he is at peace with the fact that we just die and then that is the end... 3 things! ONE: I just don't understand that AT ALL... TWO: that's sad for him.... THREE: what a lame to live life... (To anyone who believes that death is the end.... You might want to rethink your life!!) I mean COME ON. (Forgive me for my bold opinion..) but we are NOT here to just be humans and then reproduce humans and then die. Like that is the dumbest thing ever. There IS MORE. I want our investigator to just take a step back, take a niiiiice big glass of humble juice, and swallow his pride! (Is there such a thing as humble juice??) haha. Sheesh a lot of people need some humble juice. For cryin out loud we ALL need some humble juice. Myself included. I've really been thinking about the importance of humility this week. HUMILITY is so important. Without humility we are blocking God from speaking to us. Those that are not humble have a hardened heart and until they soften it... They won't receive the truth. 
In a talk called, "Be Meek and Lowly of Heart," Elder Ulisses Soares says: ".. Become humble. The Lord instructed Thomas B. Marsh through the Prophet Joseph Smith, saying, 
“Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers."  "I believe, brothers and sisters, that only those who are humble are able to acknowledge and understand the Lord’s answers to their prayers. The humble are teachable, recognizing how dependent they are on God and desiring to be subject to His will. The humble are meek and have the ability to influence others to be the same. God’s promise to the humble is that He will lead them by the hand. I truly believe that we will avoid detours and sadness in our lives as long as we walk hand in hand with the Lord."  YES. Right? SO how do we be humble?? To be humble, (to me) means to be WILLING to act. (LIVE the gospel.) To Acknowledge that there is more than just you and your own little life. to have humility we should "Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend." Mosiah 4:9
(Kinda like when I was a child and I knew that I didn't know it all... And I needed to ask for help from my parents a lot!) #becomelikeachild
I studied a talk called Lord, is it I? By Dieter F. Uchtdorf and he says: "We must approach our Eternal Father with broken hearts and teachable minds. We must be WILLING to LEARN and to CHANGE. And, oh, how much WE GAIN by committing to live the life our Heavenly Father intends for us. Those who do not wish to learn and change probably will not and most likely will begin to wonder whether the Church has anything to offer them. But those who want to improve and progress, those who learn of the Savior and desire to be like Him, those who HUMBLE themselves as a little child and seek to bring their thoughts and actions into harmony with our Father in Heaven--THEY will experience the miracle of the Savior’s Atonement. THEY will surely FEEL God’s resplendent SPIRIT. THEY will taste the indescribable joy that is the fruit of a meek and humble heart. THEY will be blessed with the desire and discipline to become true disciples of Jesus Christ." So to wrap up my scattered thoughts on humility... It's obvious that God does not communicate with us when we have a hardened heart. (Our investigator is not receiving the spirit.) Why would he receive the spirit? He doesn't have real intent. And THATS why it's HIS problem. Not Gods. So if you EVER feel like you aren't feeling ANYTHING, and you wonder if God is really there.. you might just want to take a great big glass of humble juice. ;) and do THIS:
"..becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon (you), even as a child doth submit to his father." YEAH.
all I'm sayin is WE ALL NEED TO LIVE THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST. It's
simple. Just be humble and live THE GOSPEL :)
Okay sorry for going on and on.

I LOVE YA!!!

Love Sister Abba Dunford

Fashion Week Fun

Hey

Guess what week it is here in NY....FASHION WEEK. Mwaahahah. You guys I literally am right in the hood of #NYFW. I don't know why but I have this strange love for fashion week. You know I'll be passin out Book of Mormons right along with those gift bags :) hahaha.

Holy cow. It was a much needed amazing week. I don't think my email can do it justice. (The emails really don't do any justice for the experiences I'm having here.) 

A funny little story- (this is how missionary work goes in NY) So this was hilarious and awesome. Okay there is this couple here in Manhattan and they are VERY high class. Like VEERRY. Very confident and just really cool. (There seems to be a lot of people like that here hahah) Their names are Dave and Kate. Well they have been coming to church for the past 6 years. They aren't members. And they say they aren't interested in being baptized but they love the church. (We are working on them) :)  Anyways we had dinner with them and It was amazing. Dave has SO many connections with people in the world. He is big time you guys. Well we were eating dinner and he mentioned fashion week and I basically just told him how much I love fashion week.. Next thing you know he was asking me what day I wanted tickets... UM. Yeah hi. I told him my P day and we'll see what happens with that.. But WOAH. He has an in with everyone. Just before we were about to leave he shook my hand for a long second and said to me "you look like you could be a good actress. You have a very awesome personality and you could go far. Keep in contact with me after your mission and I will get you put in acting classes and I can connect you with some people." I was laughing so hard because.. like what!?!? 

BLaHhhhhh!!!!! Hahaha you guys. Here I am being a missionary in New York living in one of my dreams. Somebody pinch me...? Haha!!! So that was funny. (Never have I EVER pictured myself as an actress..!) I guess I never pictured myself as a missionary either tho... Ha! But really an actress isn't the lifestyle I'm going for... I took it as a compliment tho. Cool right? 

Tender mercy.. Our dinner calendar is FULL for the next four weeks. Wow. So blessed. And whoever stays In this area (sister brown or I) is a lucky. Haha watch I will get transferred just because of the sudden success I'm seeing. Gods will. He knows what is best for me to become like him :)

Hahaha my companion and I have become really good at helping to push cars out of the icy snow banks on the side of the road. We always see people struggling to pull away so we drop our bags and PUSH. Haha little acts of service bring so much happiness. Can you just picture the two of us? People are always shocked that we come to help. Good stuff.

You guys I just HAVE to let you all know that HEAVENLY FATHER IS THERE. He really really truly is there. Never have I EVER been SO sure of it. Like my knowledge of him being there right now, is like my knowledge that I am alive on earth. I AM SO SURE OF IT. I wish you could get inside my head and be able to see ALL the tender mercy's that I witnessed this last week. I will share more details and thoughts in a second . 

But first, I just wanted to give a HUGE thank you to those who have been reading my blog. And to those who have let me know. Every time I receive an email from somebody letting me know that they have been a reader of my blog, I get little tears in my eyes. I can't tell you how much it means to me! I'm so grateful that I have the opportunity to write home about these experiences that I am having. I hope and pray that I can continue to share more of the things I'm learning and experiencing in a way that will continue to help bring the spirit into your lives. To those reading my blog: I LOVE YOU. And to those not reading my blog: I LOVE YOU. Ha!! 

Here's just one example of God helping me out this week. So recently I have started praying that God would put people in MY path that are interested and that need the gospel. (Rather than having to find the needle in the haystack) because there are zillions of people here so you'd think there would be billions to teach.. Well there's not :) hence, my reason for praying for others to be put in my path that I can help!! Well WOAH. I can think of 6 times this last week of times where somebody came up to ME. SIX TIMES. That's not just coincidence. That never happens. I can't explain how good of a feeling that is. It is probably one of my favorite feelings. It's like at times I feel like a sales person who isn't selling a stinkin thing. So for someone to come to ME with questions is like taking a HUGE drink of refreshing niceness :) haha. I also wish you could see how big my smile gets when people come to me asking about what I am doing and who I am. It just feels good. SMILEY WEEK :)

This week we got not one baptismal date, but TWO. Oh my heck. Father in Heaven is working through my companion and I and it feels SO good to be a part of this. I will have to tell you their stories another time. But I just feel blessed.

A moment of HAPPINESS and a shout out to:

Ma gurl MADDIE SIKICH who moved to NYC and lives in my area!!! Uhhhh heck yeah. I love her. When I saw her my heart skipped a beat and I wanted to jump into her arms. These tender mercy moments where I get to see people from home are AMAZING. I feel very extremely blessed to be here. It's an overwhelming feeling that I have of feeling blessed. 

So something I was feeling this last week was this unknown random boost of extreme confidence. CONFIDENCE. I can't explain too well but I will do my best. So being a missionary here in New York, you get lots of condescending people who treat you like you're "one of those weird Mormons" well it can be challenging to feel completely 100% confident at all times in front of these successful people. But I am telling you.. I felt like I could have born my testimony to the President of the United States and not have been shaken. I felt as though I could have born MY WITNESS of our Savior to Taylor Swift, to Kate Middleton, to The Pope, to Harry Styles, to ANYONE IN THE WORLD. (I guess you could say the names I listed are those that I consider to be cool and successful people haha.) I just have zero doubt in my mind that God loves us. and that he has a plan for us. (That plan being the gospel.) I have no doubt that he sent his son to the earth to pay for our sins so that we could one day live with him again. I KNOW that our Father in Heaven calls prophets to the earth to help us know his plan for us. I know that God is SMART and he knows ALL things. and so he set up a way for us to successfully and CLEARLY understand his plan. (The gospel) :) And that is by giving authorization (the priesthood) to man to act in His name. because if He allowed everyone to just freely baptize each other and freely change doctrine then God would not be very smart... But he IS smart. And he is organized. That's why there is such a thing as the priesthood. And such a thing as ONE TRUE CHURCH. You know? I know that after a long time of that authority being lost from the earth, that The Prophet Joseph Smith restored it back to the earth so we HAVE IT TODAY. I know that God loves us. And I know that he is leading and guiding us RIGHT NOW through our prophet Thomas S. Monson. Like IT ALL JUST MAKES SENSE. It's simple. It's pure. It's truth. And it rings in my heart. I cannot deny the powerful witness that I have received that there is a God and that he does indeed love us. I know he is there! I bear you my witness. This church is TRUE. 

I love you guys. So much!!!

Sorry for the randomness. (Always random emails) 

Haha

Love Sister Dunford 

Ps happy love week!

A Novel from Sister Abbey Dunford

Hello Everyone!! :)

(Forgive me for spelling errors because I'm typing like a crazy) 

It's still winter over here in NYC. I'm a leaping queen. Leaping across the gross puddles EVERYWHERE. I wish you could see how yucky the ground is here. Hahah literally the grossest ever. Slush everywhere!! Because it snowed and rained and iced and winded and snowed and rained and iced and winded. But I smiled and smiled and smiled :)

the view from a members apartment

This week was a really hard but good week. I learned lots of little things. I'm MEGA learning patience right now!! Isnt it funny how we have to be stretched and pulled and uncomfortable in order for us to be who Heavenly Father wants us to be? A quote I like says: "He gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion which polish you for your everlasting benefit. To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain.” Sometimes I'm just like WHY. Hahah but I know why. I do love the growth I see in myself. HURTS SO GOOD. :)

Some random thoughts-

I LOVE the ward that I am in. I absolutely love it. And PS my favorite blogger signed up to have us over for dinner ..... I was straight up grinning from ear to ear. This will be good hahahaha. 

It's really cold here. Really really really cold. But we are making it through the days somehow!! It's that darn wind I'm tellin you... Cold days = grumpy New Yorkers and grumpy New Yorkers = discouraged missionaries. Haha but the discouragement somehow turns into a laugh from me because it's sometimes so funny to think about what we are doing!! So the equation = laughter. Boom! Missionary work in cold New York is GOOD. 

Today one of my favorite members is taking us on a cookie adventure. She knows all the best places in Manhattan so this will be GOOD. 

We had a miracle moment of THREE investigators at church. Tenderest Mercy all week!!!

Our top investigator these days is Jay. He's pretty cool not kidding. We taught Jay at one of my other favorite member's apartment.. and it was so good. SUCH a good spirit there!!! Well I was laughing in this lesson something funny Jay said to me.. He looked me in the eyes and he was like "did you have special training to be a missionary? Do they train you every week for this?? Did you have to go to any sales classes? Because I studied psychology and you seem to ask all the right questions.." I was like uhhhhhh.... I went to the missionary training center ??? Hahahah. Good old MTC helpin me out these days. No but really I will be honest. You know who helps me out in every lesson? The SPIRIT. Everyone knows I WOULD NOT be able to do this without the spirit. I'm just trying to be that instrument in gods hands. 

STORY ... :) (this one is for my sistas!!) haha

We went tracting on Friday in the project buildings here in Manhattan and oh my Hannah I almost got beat up. Hahahah! So the story goes like this...My companion and I started at the top floor and decided we were going to make our way down!! So we had been knocking doors for like an hour and a half. So stinkin discouraging. I'm being so honest with you right now it was just hard. Nobody would talk to us. Out of like 50 doors there was seriously ONE that opened and let us talk. It was a 10 year old Muslim boy cool yeah? . Well anyways we decided okay let's do one more floor. So we go to the second to last door and knock. Nobody comes so we knock again. Well we were about to walk away and then the door opened! And inside there was (what "seemed" to be a cute nice 23ish yr old black girl.) her appearance seemed totally normal and cute. So I smiled big at her!! Well just as I started to introduce the two of us, she cut me off so rudely and said in this deep mean black girl voice "you are at the wrong door" I was about to reply back and she said it again even louder!!! At this point my companion and I looked at each other getting ready to walk away when she stepped out and yelled at us asking why we were still there... I said "I'm sorry" and tried to explain that we were leaving and she grabbed my arm and smacked it so HARD... You should have seen my face.... In my head I was like "duuuuuude chill we are leaving!!!" And then she started punching the wall and saying she would come after us.. At this point we are like running down the stairs hahaha and we could hear her screaming "two stupid white girls never come back here again!!!" We finally got in the elevator and headed OUTTA there. And there I was just saddened a bit trying to take TAYLOR swifts advice to "shake it off" haha. (Easier said than done tayla!) 

So that felt weird. Aaaaaand I was like this is lame. Here I am working hard to share happiness with others and I just about got beat up!! But I guess you could say I shook it off shortly after! Hahah. Life goes on. Whatever.. The church is still true!! haha

There was a question that Jay (our investigator) asked me on the phone one night and it REALLY got me thinkin. His question was about prayer! Here's how it came up.. I told Jay that in the near future, one of us, (Sister Brown or Sister Dunford) will probably be transferred. He was heart broken. He didn't realize that we get transferred every 6 weeks. He thought we just stay in the same area for our full 18 months! So with that being said, Jay told me he was going to PRAY that Sister Brown and I would stay here for our whole missions. I kinda laughed and told him that he could pray for that ALL he wants but that it's all up to God and it's "His will." Not ours. Well Jay got pretty upset. He is still learning so much about God's nature and about prayer! (Because he has literally ZERO religious background) ..we have told Jay time and time again that when he prays he can ask Heavenly Father for whatever he wants and that he can just pour out his heart to Him. (So you can understand how coming to understand "Gods will" could be difficult.) well Jay said "wait a second.. what's the point in me praying and asking for anything that I want.. if no matter what.. it's "Gods will" not mine?" ... "Uhhhhh. Good question Jay??" This is something that I have come to understand for myself through experience and I couldn't quite explain the answer briefly in a way that he would understand and be okay with "Gods will" not ours. You know? So I told Jay that the next time we meet that we can talk more about prayer and why it's so important that we pray even though it's "Gods will." He said yes I would love to discuss more about prayer next time. So we ended that phone call and I was DETERMINED to find an answer that would sit right for Jay. In all my personal studies I was on the search for an answer. And who knows if there will EVER be an answer that Jay will be okay with. But I needed to find one. So there the question sat in my mind.  WHY do we even pray with faith and ask for things.. if no matter how much faith we have.. it's still "Gods will" not ours..???

I will tell you what. After searching and finding things here and there.. there was one talk that REALLY stood out to me. And it's called "Fear not ,I am with thee" by Jean A Stevens. (And I have read this talk before and loved it.. but it now applies in a whole new way.) so Jean talks about how Heavenly Father TRULY hears our prayers. Heavenly Father HEARS us. He is there. Listening. And he DOES and WILL and can answer us. There was a paragraph that stuck out to me and here it is.. (I will use capital letters for emphasis :) ) 

"We can trust that He WILL help us, not necessarily in the way WE want ... but in the way that will BEST HELP US TO GROW. Submitting our will to His may be difficult, but it is essential to BECOMING LIKE HIM and finding the peace He offers us."

Okay I probably sound like I'm screaming at you when I use capital letters but I just want you to see the words that really click and make sense for me. :) haha. So my thought process was... We are HERE on earth for one reason. And that is.. to become like our Heavenly Father so we can live with him again one day. Yeah? So wouldn't it completely make sense that "God's will" is REALLY what WE want!!! We just are so limited in our perspective that "God's will" sounds almost kinda bossy and not the way we want things.. But in the BIG PICTURE "God's will" is for realz the BEST thing for us. ..... So now when I meet with Jay next I can tell him that WHATEVER God's will is... It is honestly and truthfully the best thing that could EVER happen for him. And the reason we PRAY to God in faith is because it changes US. It helps us become more like our Father in Heaven. Praying gives us hope. And peace and comfort. Think about when Christ did the will of our Father.... Christ prayed to God and pleaded even though HE KNEW our fathers will. He knew that his suffering needed to happen. Yet he still prayed. "And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." Matthew 26:39

I can't say it better than Elder Robert D. Hales. He says: “It takes great faith and courage to pray to our Heavenly Father, ‘Not as I will, but as thou wilt.’ The faith to believe in the Lord and endure brings great strength. Some may say if we have enough faith, we can sometimes change the circumstances that are causing our trials and tribulations. Is our faith to change circumstances, or is it to endure them? Faithful prayers may be offered to change or moderate events in our life, but we must always remember that when concluding each prayer, there is an understanding: ‘Thy will be done.’ Faith in the Lord includes trust in the Lord”

Praying changes US. Praying helps us know God's will. I'm SO grateful that God has a will. Because he knows how and what needs to happen in order for me to become like him. I know it's not always easy to be okay with Gods will (like Sister Brown or I getting transferred) .. and sometimes we don't want to do Gods will. But I KNOW that God can see the big picture and that he is doing what will make us like him. And that is PERFECT. So if we can just submit our will for His.... We. will. one. day. be. perfect. And who doesn't want that? 

Blah blah blah I could keep going and going and sharing more things that I'm learning but I won't! Too hard to explain. So anyways. I leave that little testimony with you in the name of Jesus Christ amen! (Because I'm learning how important it is that we do ALL things in the name of Christ.) so that's why I closed in his name ;) 

Happy LOVE month ;)

I LOVE YOU ALL

Love,

Sister Abba Dunford :)