Thursday, October 6, 2011

I'M IN NEW MEXICO!!!!!!!!

 New Missionaries with President and Sis. Augustin


Sis. McGregor at their apartment -- note swimming pool full of dirt and plants.
Yayayayayayayayayay! We found out our first area Monday night and I almost cried, I was so thrilled. I'm excited to serve in Texas, too (I loved Lubbock), which will likely be the case since there are 6 zones and only one of them is in NM, but for now I'm starting off in Clovis, NM! Que excitando!
 
 
Well, to start from the beginning (I just thought I ought to get that out of the way or it'd burst out of me), after I talked to Mom/Dad/Shae at the airport, I was understandably tender. I quickly distracted myself by being all missionary-y with my fellow companions and told myself I would start my missionary life right then by chatting up the people I sat next to. Which I did. Hesitantly. I've found in the last few days that missionary work is harder and easier than I expected. Point being, I gave out a pass-along card to one woman I sat next to and counted that to my success.
 
 
Let me say this about Texas: it is flat. Oh my goodness, is it flat. We flew out to Dallas and then back to Lubbock, and I can promise you that there were absolutely no vertical change in the ground either way. Good gracious. And it's all fields and strange trails. We actually started descending into Lubbock (the airport was on the northern end of town, and I was facing north) before I thought we would, so I was just staring down at the fields getting closer and closer, thinking, 'Is this an emergency landing? There's nothing down there but cows and cotton!' I didn't see anything coming in.
 
 
We left the airport with Pres. and Sis. Augustin (AU-gust-un) and went off to the mission home where we spent the rest of the day milling about "resting" and being kind-of-sort-of-trained. Heads up, the next day was exactly the same, at least until my companion and I left for Clovis (2 hours away). That first night, however, Monday night, I found out my trainer (Sis. McGregor), that I was going to Clovis, NM, and that I'd be living there for at least 3 months (two transfers), living in the Curry House apartments. Which means I'll be there for Christmas. Living in the Curry House. Where the pool is filled in with dirt and plants. Pictures will soon follow.
 
 
Anyways, my first morning really in the field was spent studying. They have this new trainer/trainee program which takes 12 weeks (hence the set 3 months here) and it involves 1 hour of personal study and 2 hours of comp. study every day. We woke up and within 15 minutes it was raining torrentially - it smelled divine. It also reminded me of how I thought it would never rain and I didn't have a raincoat/umbrella. Luckily, it stopped before we went out.
 
 
That afternoon/evening we had 4 appointments drop on us, and we dragged a member missionary around trying to visit less active members that the bishop asked us to check on. No one was home. Or if they were home, they were sick. I actually wasn't too bothered by all this, since it was my first day and all, but my trainer was getting pretty frustrated. Expecially when we went to teach Joe, the member-turned-Messianic-Jew. He had stopped going to church because we celebrated the Sabbath on Sunday when God told the Jews to celebrate it on Saturday. We found out he'd actually never read the Book of Mormon more than a bit, he'd just gotten baptized because he wanted to be baptized somewhere and the missionaries showed up. It was actually the turning point of my day, since I felt the spirit prompting me to promise Joe that he'd receive an answer about the sabbath if he read and prayed about the Book of Mormon. He stared at me, the spirit super strong in the room, and then said something akin to, "But I'm going down this path right now and I'm stuck on this bible that the Lord gave me and I'm not gonna." And then he told us about his plans to be circumsized.
 
 
That night, though, we had a little bit more luck. We went to teach this 11 year-old boy named Isaiah who's family had been baptized but didn't attend church. He's getting baptized Saturday, and we taught him the 10 commandments, about prophets, and what questions he'd be asked in his baptismal interview. His aunt, uncle, and mom were there, and I actually ended up teaching his aunt about the priesthood (she'd been baptized years ago, loved it, and was asking me if she could baptize someone into another church and if it'd be the same thing). It was great.
 
 
 I'm excited to be here, and I'm praying for you all - I know God is watching over you for me. I ask him to every day.
Love!
Sister Dunkley

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