Happy New Year!

Monday, December 29, 2014

Hola a Todos!

Hey, so Christmas in the mission is awesome, seriously, awesome. Look forward to pictures. And New Years I am sure is awesome as well, it is just seriously so weird to think that we are already entering 2015. I come home this year, ha. Yikes, it goes by so fast!

These dates are all about family, love, and goals. We always make goals about diets or jobs or school. But I have been thinking a lot lately about what our goals should be. Mostly because my companion always asks me what my goals are and I never know. But one thing I have come to know here in the mission is that the most important thing that we can know and apply in our lives is who we truly are. If people could really understand the fact that we are all literal children of God, that we are loved beyond comprehension, and that we have a divine nature and an eternal potential, every thing would change. We are God{s children, He loves us and more than anything He want us to return to His presence. I testify of that, with all the energy of my soul. What can we do this year to prepare to return to His presence? Well, there is a quote that I love from President Thomas S. Monson.
....May I suggest a formula that will ensure our success: First, search the scriptures with diligence. Second, plan your life with purpose. Third, teach the truth with testimony. Fourth, serve the Lord with love.....

If we remember who we really are and apply this formula, we will have success. Not only the success of the world, but success on an eternal scale.

I love y'all and wish the happiest of New Years.
Hermana Dudley

FELIZ NAVIDAD

Monday, December 22, 2014

Hola!

First of all, I have a ton of pictures to send but I don't have the cable thing so I can't send them. Stupid technology, maybe next week.

This week is Christmas! I am so excited! We are going to be with La Familia Duran and Contreras on Christmas Eve and we are calling with La Familia Cruz and on Christmas we are going to be with La Familia Cabrera y ay chihuahua les amo! Seriously, this week is so packed full already with plans and citas y cenas y I love it because the people are all just a little bit more open and accepting during this time. So we talk to a ton of people and we have a ton of work to do. The initiative ´Él es la Dádiva´ is so great and yesterday we went to this big plaza with a giant Christmas tree and we started to sing and contact everyone that was there. I loved it. Really, Christmas is the best time to be a missionary. I love it!

We also had a Christmas Mission Conference, which was a blast! I have a ton of pictures with Hermana Brown and Hermana Corzo and all these people that I just love. Especially Hermana Brown, ha. And it is hilarious because everyone was like, ´Hermana Dudley, are you still in Delicias?¨ Ha. Yep. 9 months, one area, eat it up. But it was just so fun and honestly made me a little sad that I only have one Christmas here. We had a Piñata and I went first. But, they blindfold you and twirl you around so I didn't break, or really even hit it, ha.

This time of year is so special. But what I love about the Gospel is that is teaches us to have this kind of love and focus every day of our lives, not just in December. I know that Jesus Christ is Christmas. I know that I am His Representative. And I love every minute of it!

Merry Christmas y Feliz Navidad a todos! Les amo!
Hermana Dudley

Petras baptism.

The surprise party we had for Hermano Duran!

Hermana Johnson

Hermana Godinez

Hermana Geddes

Hermana Whitehead

Hermana Corzo Y Hermana De Olarte

Y Hermana Rojas, mi companera

Hermana Laguna!

Hermana Brown! She is my favorite, ha!

Elder Rojas and Elder Peralta

MTC companionship again

Christmas table

With Joseph and Mary

With Presidente and Hermana Chavez

La Piñata!

Hola!

Monday, December 8, 2014

Hola a todos!

Pues, esta semana se fue tan rapida!

Dang, it was a crazy week with cambios y intercambios y la conferencia de estaca y todo. But, it was great.

So, I am back in my first area, combined with my second area and I have officially completed 8.5 months in Barrio Juarez. It is great. We had stake conference and Presidente Chavez came. Everyone says that he has forgotten me, that is why I am still here. HA! But in reality, I know that the Lord has a very specific plan for me and I am here for a reason.

I also know that all of our callings have a purpose. I am no longer a Sister Training Leader, but I am with Hermana Rojas. She is great. She is super serious, but we are getting to know each other and every day I am able to make her laugh. I really think we will work great together and I am excited to be with her. We have a huge house and a ton of stuff because we had to bring all the stuff from the other house to this house. But, I finally finished organizing everything and I hope I have three more months here because I am super comfortable now, ha.

The mission is going to have a Christmas Dinner this Saturday and I am super excited. It is so fun to see all your friends and meet new ones and the Devotional is going to be awesome. At times it is a little strange to be away from home for the holidays, but then we start to think about which family we are going to have dinner with and which investigators are going to come to the devotionals and the call home and then we just get super excited!

I love the mission and it is even more amazing to preach the gospel and testify everyday of Jesus Christ during this time.

Testifico de Jesucristo. Sé que Él vive, que nació en una situación tan humilde y vivió una vida tan perfecta y sufrió, murió, y se resucito por cada uno de nosotros. Él es la dádiva. Descubran lo, Acéptenlo. Compartan lo.

Les amo mucho!
Hermana Dudley

It Finally Happened.

Monday, December 8, 2014

Howdy,

Well, it happened. After 8 incredible months in Delicias, Barrio Juarez, I got the call. I have cambios. I don't know where I am going or who will be my comp or anything. All I know is that I wont be here. I am excited. It is something new, I know there are new people to meet, new experiences to have and new things to learn. And I was doing just fine. Packing all my things, cleaning the apartment. But then we had to call and tell our members....and when they started to cry, I did too. La familia Duran actually came to get us and we are with them right now. We went to eat and they are going to help us with all our preparations. Let me tell you....when Hermana Duran is crying, you cant help but cry as well. I cant describe the love I have for this area, for the entire ward, but especially for this family. They have literally been with me every step of the way. They picked me up from the bus station when I very first started my mission. They are incredible and have truly become my family. And the hardest thing is telling them good bye. I am so grateful for the time that I have had to know them, to feel like a part of their family, and there is no doubt as to the fact that I will return to see them. Hermano Duran always says we have to come back to give him the hug that is not allowed right now, ha. I am so grateful...

Truly, this time in Delicias has been one of the best times of my life. I have struggled, but I have overcome so many things and I have seen not only my own progress, but the progress of the people I have taught and come to love. Delicias is a holy land.

My companion also has cambios. Actually, they are going to split our area between the other missionaries that are here. They told us at about 11 last night and neither of us slept. All night we were thinking about our investigators and converts and the members and the references we have and the appointments and the house...ha. We have a lot to take care of.

It is weird actually, I feel like I am ending the mission, because my entire mission has been here in Delicias. And I thought, man, if it hurts this much just to leave this beloved area, I don't even want to imagine how it will feel to leave the mission. I am so glad that I have 9 more months here. And when those 9 months are up, I am coming back.

I love Delicias. I love Barrio Juares. I love the Familia Duran. But more so, I love being a missionary, a servant of the Lord. And I know that He has a plan for me. So I will go where He needs me, but this place has the most special place in my heart.

I love y'all!
Hermana Dudley

Hermano Jackson

NO ME VENGA

HOLY COW!

THEY JUST CALLED AND TOLD ME THAT I AM NOT LEAVING! I AM STILL IN DELICIAS!!!!!!!!!! WWWHHHHOOOOOPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Barrio Juarez....going for 9 months!

A missionary rap.

Hermana Laguna

https://www.lds.org/youth/video/come-unto-christ-2014-theme-song?lang=spa

I will actually be going to back to my first area and working with the same people that I first knew when I first got here with all the same members that I love so much! I will be with Hermana Rojas and she is a great missionary. I feel like maybe it wont last the whole transfer, but I am so excited!

HERMANA DUDLEY

de Barrio Juarez, ha.

DECEMBER

Monday, December 1, 2014

Hola!

On Thanksgiving we had tacos, ha. But, I was thankful! And actually my sweet companion and I ordered Pizza and she made me little post it notes of gratefulness, so it was good.

This was a good week, crazy fast and at times stressful, ha. First of all, Hugo and Lluvia were baptized and confirmed! WHOOP! We had some definite trials.....gosh......stressful. But everything turned out as it should. For example, Lluvia almost didn't have permission to be baptized because her uncle says we are from the Devil. But, we talked and worked everything out. Then, before the baptism we couldn't find Hugo. Anywhere. But, we prayed and waited a bit and he appeared, ha. That was an extremely happy moment. And their baptisms were beautiful. I am so proud of them and so happy for them. And they are both so excited. I cant wait to continue to learn with them. Actually, the other day something really funny happened while we were teaching Lluvia. We were outside on the curb talking and this man passed by and looked at us and then came back. And he was like, Hey, are you the Hermana that is always singing? And I was like, uh...yes. Ha. Because, really, I am just about always singing in the street, ha. So he said that he had heard me singing the other day in the street and then he wanted to know if I wanted to come to his house and record a cd for him, HA!

So, we are now entering December. These past few days have been super hot here. But, yesterday I completed 8 full months in Barrio Juarez. We have cambios in one week, I know that it is very probable that I will leave. But I am still hoping not. I just truly love this place and these people.

And, we are doing this cool thing! The Church has this initiative called He Is The Gift. and a page called christmas.mormon.org with an incredible video to help us all remember the point of this time. Please go see it and share it with everyone you know!

I love y'all and my mission! I hope all is well!
Hermana Dudley

El dia del Bautismo

And another from the baptism.

Y tambien cuando tuvimos que quedarnos
y ayudar a las hermanas a cambiar la casa. 

And Hermano Duran in a suit from Halliburton, ha.
We ate breakfast with him this morning.
I love that family SO MUCH. 

How we celebrate.

I Moved!

Monday, November 24, 2014

Howdy!

Okay, this was probably one of the fastest weeks of my entire mission! It was crazy! We moved and that is stressful but I am so happy because the new house is great. The mission helps you appreciate the little things. Like, now in the new house, we have a sink and cupboards and it is so great. It is cold here in the mornings and evenings and hot during the day. So I am glad that I don't have to wash my dishes outside anymore.

We have two baptisms scheduled this weekend, Hugo and Lluvia. Hugo is 16 and Lluvia is 11. They both are just super excited and I love them. Lluvia lives just a couple of blocks from our house and last night she came and knocked on our door just to tell us good night. These two have just become best friends and it is perfect that they are going to be baptized the same day.

My comp and I had a pretty intense couple of days due to some serious miscommunication. But, we are all good now. She is about to end her mission, and that brings up a ton of emotions, so I try to just be patient, ha. But really, we are all fine and dandy now. The mission really just teaches so much. I think more than anything I am learning humility. It is so easy to yell and fight and be selfish and blame the other. But that truly doesn't accomplish anything.

Love y'all!
Hermana Dudley

Family history fair.

Hermano Duran making his diary, ha.

The cake we bought for my 9 months. 

And  the elders after our comida.

And also, this elder is hilarious.

Today, He was wearing two different shoes.
Ah, la vida misional.  

The Girls!

Una Noche Mexicana

All the youth danced all the dances of Mexico.

And a guy that looks almost exactly like David Archuleta!

Guess What Happens This Week.....

Monday, November 17, 2014

Howdy y'all!

First and foremost, HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTIAN! I can't believe you are now 22! WHOOP! Sing that Taylor Swift song all day long and know that I love you! And hey, just for your birthday I have an announcement: I hit 9 months this week. That is half way, y'all. Honestly, I don't know how it happened. I feel like I just got here and I just stare at my calendar every morning and try to find the mistake, ha. But I guess it is true, 9 months.....only 9 more months of La Misión Maravillosa. Gosh, I love it here so much and all I want to do is make the most out of every single moment.

So, my companion was sick again this week. Pobrecita, she has been sick, like stay in the house all day long sick, like 7 times in our companionship. And it sucks, ha. But, we were greatly blessed this week because even though we lost two days, our investigators are really progressing. Our stake had a Family History Fair on Saturday, so we took a few investigators to that and it was just awesome. My favorite part was the baptism of Ximena. She is the daughter of a Hermano Carlos y La Hermana Hortencia. They are recent converts that live in my area and I love this family, like, I LOVE THEM. And we helped them prepare for the baptism and helped organize everything. And listen, it was the most beautiful baptism I have ever seen. Every baptism, every time someone decides to make a covenant with our Heavenly Father, is beautiful. And I have seen miracle baptisms. I have seen an 84 year old man change his life, people with more problems than you can imagine accept the Gospel and entire families become stronger through this ordinance. But this baptism was my favorite. First of all because I love them and I have really seen their progress as a family. Secondly, because I was able to see Hermana Carlos use the literal power of God given to men to baptize his daughter. And as he said the prayer and then baptized her, there was such love and gentleness, it can't even be described. Just the most beautiful thing.

I know that our families can be eternal. The love that exists cannot end at death. And we are so blessed to have the opportunity and the authority given to us to perform these binding and saving ordinances. And I know that that power and authority only exists in the true church of Jesus Christ, His Church.

I love y'all!

Hermana Dudley

P.S. I will send photos next week, I ran out of time. 

Another Amazing Week in Mexico

Monday, November 10, 2014

Hola a Todos,

Pues, esta semana me encantó. Trabajamos bien duro y ya podemos ver frutos. Ayer, una investigadora que ya tiene un ano astiendo a la Iglesia aceptó una fecha bautismal y ella ya tiene una meta de entrar el Templo!

Really, this has just been a grand week. We had some leadership changes and that just for some reason brought this whole new animo to our area. We worked wonderfully this week and I am so excited to keep it up and see what the Lord has in store for the people we were able to meet. One thing I just love about missionary work is talking to everyone. I have met so many people here and I just love walking down the street and we always see someone we know or someone that knows another missionary and we can always talk and testify and invite and explain and I LOVE IT.
We really focused this week on working with the members and one member that I just absolutely love is this 11 year old boy named Luis. He loves to come with us to our lessons and he is just the sweetest, most pure spirit I have ever met. He wants to become a singer/songwriter. He is the only member in his whole family, but he loves the Gospel, he really does.

This week I learned how to make empanadas, I am super excited about that. I also traveled to Chihuahua yesterday and I got to see Hermana Brown! She is probably my favorite person from the whole mission so far. I am going to send a picture.

What I really loved about Chihuahua was the conference. We went to Stake Conference there because one of the sisters was going to sing. So, I was sitting in the audience and another missionary asked me if I could help with their investigators. So I said, of course and I sat with two families that came to church for the first time. But what struck me was the love I felt for them. I literally have never met these people and it is unlikely that I will ever see them again. But I was so happy to sit next to them, to help them feel welcome. I loved it and I realized that I am a missionary. Not just in my area, with my investigators, in my ward. But with every single person that I have the privilege to meet. It doesn't matter if I have cambios tomorrow or never, I will fulfill my purpose, treat others as Christ would and invite them to know Christ, in whatever situation I am in. And that goes for after the mission as well. The situation never matters, it is who we are that matters. And I love that I can say that I am a missionary, a direct Representative of Jesus Christ, and I know that His church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the one and only true church.

I love y'all!
Hermana Dudley

FRANSICA! I got to see her when we went on Divisons.
Gosh I love her. 

Luis Angel Cabrera.
This is a different Luis than the one that I was
talking about, but this kid is amazing as well. 

HERMANA BROWN! I don't know if y'all understand fully, I LOVE HERMANA BROWN. She is like my best friend here in the mission. We already have plans to have our last transfer together.

Also, this is our Christmas tree. 

I choose Christmas hymns every time it is my turn. Ha. 

I fell asleep in Language Study the other day...

NOVIEMBRE

Monday, November 3, 2014

Hola a todos!

It is officially November! Whoop! It was still really hot yesterday. But, it is cloudy today so I am taking the risk of not carrying my umbrella. I am hoping in the next few weeks we will see some cold fronts. 

So, this was a crazy fast and busy week. We almost didn't get to actually work at all in our area. We had to go to Chihuahua twice, we had  a ridiculous amount of meetings and capacitations, and on Saturday one of the other hermanas was sick, so we got to go and help them out. But that actually wound up being an awesome day. Hermana Geddes and I worked, she is American as well, so it was an interesting day. This gangster man with playboy bunny tattoos talked to us in English and we were a little scared. But we invited him to church and he actually came! That was super cool. And even cooler was a lesson that we had with Fransico Antonio. He is super interested, he has some family that are members. We taught him the Law of Chastity and we talked about how we need to respect our bodies. Part of that is the church's guidance on tattoos and piercings. He has gauges and an eyebrow piercing. But the Spirit was so strong and he got so excited he took all of his piercings out right then and there and threw them in the trash! He is just 100% ready to accept the Gospel and to change whatever He needs to change. It was so cool!

We also went to see Fransica, and I have missed her so much. She had the biggest smile when I walked through her door. And I would never guess that such a tiny old lady could hug so tightly, ha. This was my favorite visit of the entire day. It was a great lesson, and we could just feel the Spirit. She prayed and thanked Heavenly Father for His church and her testimony is so real. It just amazed me so much because I remember so clearly the first lesson we had with her. I am so grateful for the Mission and the opportunity that I have had to not just meet such incredible people, but to help them and to see the changes the Gospel can make in their lives. 

Oh, also, we capacited in our Zone Conference the other day and it was great because we brought everyone cereal. I like to do little but memorable things. And this was even cooler because it was idea that Aaron gave me. Ha. But it was a huge hit! I will send pictures in a bit. 

I love y'all!!

Hermana Dudley

These are two drawings from a missionary that just went home last week. He has this incredible talent!!!! He is from Peru. 

Hermana Johnson, Hermana Brown, Elder Sanchez and Elder Peralta! These are from Tuesday, we went to Chihuahua for a doctors appointment and cambios were also happening. 

When we brought Cereal to Zone Conference! That was a big hit. We talked about how important it is to learn how to manage our money here, because we shouldn't eat just cereal. Then we brought out the cereal. Ha.

This is Carlos Flores Torres. He got baptized on Friday. He is hilarious. And the Reyes Fernandez Family. They are awesome!