Friday, May 30, 2014

A day in the Life of Hermana Dunkley

I asked Madison to tell me what a typical day is in the CCM Mexico City.  Here is her reply:

also this is my schedule every day
630 wake up
7 personal study
8 breakfast
830 class for 3 hours usually language teach an investigator and someting else
11 30 gym
1 lunch
145 tall (computer lab thingy)
245 additional study
330 class again similar to the first one
630 dinner
7 language study
8 additional study
9 planning
930 go home
1015 try to be asleep
1030 when you think your asleep
11 when you actually are asleep

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Pictures from CCM week #5

Madison jumping the pole and getting stuck on the pole

Madison falling off the pole

Madison's landing from getting stuck on the pole

Stick with Dance Madison

CCM Mexico City




Madison bought these in the CCM 

One of Madison's Companion Hermana Barrus fell this week and broke her knee cap in three places.  She has had to go home and is having surgery on Friday.  Madison will miss Hermana Barrus! 

Love of God

Every week is a new challenge. Time flies by so quickly here that you feel like you have new problemas or trials everyday.  The blessing though is that  we are able to know that our trials are supposed to shape us into the servants we need to become.  It was a crazy weekend in that one of my companions got hurt and had to go home .  We went from 3 to 2 in one day and it was really weird because we were so used to teaching in a trio and we had to learn to adjust quickly.  I think that this is something we have to do often in our lives but especially out here.  We have to learn that sometimes you will be with another complete stranger tomorrow and just have to learn how to teach with them and adjust quickly because it doesn´t matter how you feel about it...it matters what the investigators learn and that they are coming closer to Christ.  It is so crazy to imagine that I will be in Ecuador on Tuesday. It is hard to imagine this experience is over.  Especially because you learned to be humbled here everyday, but you start to expect that oh I am improving or oh my investigators should be amazing by now...and then you are humbeld again and brought back down to the place Christ needs you to be.  The only success I have had with relating words to another person in Spanish during a lesson is because of Christ and it is always vital that I remember that.  I can´t expect any praise because it is my job to improve and the only way I can improve is by being shown my weaknesses.  So I am ready to learn the rest that I will need to learn in Ecuador.  But, more importantly I am ready to finally be with the people I already love in Ecuador.  I am so excited to get to know them and to work with them it is just so crazy! All I pray is that I can be worthy of trust from the Lord so that he will trust me to share the message with the children he loves! We learned a little about Thomas S Monson's talk from conference this week in relief society my favorite thing he says is that,"May we begin now, this very day, to express love to all of God's children, whether they be our family members, our friends, mere acquaintances, or total strangers.  As we arise each morning, let us determind to respond with love and kindness to whatever might come our way.  Beyond comprehension my brothers and sisters is the love of God for us.  Because of this love, He sent His Son, who loved us enought to give His life for us, that we might have eternal life." I am so proud to testify that I know this to be true and feel the love for my Savior each day! I hope all of you can as well.  Love
Hermana Dunkley

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Week #4 pictures at CCM


                                                          The Grounds at CCM
       
                                                 Companions at CCM


                                                            CCM Mexico City





                                                Follow Jesus Christ

 
                                       Bad Hair Day?

The true Character of Jesucristo

Dear family/everybody,
It has gotten to the point now where I just forget what happened in the entire last week.  Like didn´t I just get here? Wasn't it Thursday last week? haha, but it truly is a blessing.  Anyways it is my one month anniversary tomorrow no big deal!! haha. And then we will be saying 17 more months!! But what matters the most is that I have learned so much here and I am so grateful for that! This week we had a member of the seventy speak named Elder Anulfo Valenzuela and he spoke all in Spanish and since we have been here for 5 weeks we had the opportunity to just listen to all of the Spanish.  The new kids got headphones that translated it into English, but we had to try to just comprehend as much as we could.  I was very thankful that he spoke slowly for us because I was able to understand so much and he really showed to me how important it is to focus on your investigators.  The one thing that stood out to me the most was even at moments when I wasn't as focused on figuring out what he was saying to me I could still feel the Holy Ghost and it was almost like it was communicating the words that I heard.  The power of the Holy Ghost is amazing and it has really impacted me so much here! As we were teaching investigators this week we were progressing so well with one of our investigators and we were behind with another.  We had no idea what to do with Lino and we were wondering why we could not figure out what to do next.  So I felt impressed upon to ask help from our teacher and he told me that the most important thing to focus on your mission is loving your investigators and learning about them as people.  In the CCM we often are focusing on our own progression, how we do with the language and how we are as teachers...,but that is not what is the most important thing for us to do at all.  When we learned about the true character of Christ this week we found that everything about him turns outward.  When Satan tried to tempt him in the Bible the problem for him was not to eat bread because he had just fasted for 40 days it was the temptation to deny his father and use his power as the savior for himself.  This temptation was for him to look inward and it could have never had any affect on him because his true character is one that looks outwards.  As we go through struggles as we move on through life as we desire to be like Christ we must desire to look outside of ourselves.  It is often much easier to worry about your needs and what you want, but as a disciple of Christ we can only grow by looking outside of ourselves.  Sometimes it can be hard to be in a scheduled day to day routine, but as soon as I expressed concern for my investigator to my teacher in Spanish he asked me if I was speaking Spanish because he couldn't tell the difference because I spoke so quickly haha. But what I am trying to say is that through all of the struggles we all have when we stop thinking of ourselves and think more of what God may want us to learn we can truly find the eternal beings we are meant to become.  I am so thankful for all of you and if you have time to do anything you should read chapter 6 of preach my gospel about Christ like attributes and maybe try to find the true character of Christ to you.  
Love Hermana Dunkley

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Pictures of Mexico City, Mexico Temple


To all those who make fun of me with door pictures!! Here you go! Ask and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you!!!



The boy in the wheelchair almost rain into me . . ps this is a totally in the moment kind of picture.


Mama Dunks sent two dozen Krispy Kream donuts, I shared with my district, Thank you Mama Dunks.


Mexico City, Mexico Temple


Hermana Dunkley at the Mexico City, Mexico Temple
The Angel Moroni is holding Scriptures


District 10B . . . Said that the kid in the wheelchair is almost taller than me


Picture of Christ in the Mexico City, Mexico Visitor Center




Always Follow Christ (Seguir Jesucristo Siempre)‏

It has been a long week. Pretty much the understament of the century haha it was so crazy.  First of all everyone is getting the flu but I am lucky to have gotten the shot so I feel fine.  Then on Wedenesday a guy in our district (Elder Peterson) fractured a bone in his ankle while playing volleyball.  Luckily for us he will stay here as a handicapped person for the next 3 weeks.  (there are some pics of him in the wheelchair)! Today we got to go to the Ciudad de Mexico templo! it is beautiful on the outside and it looks just like a Mayan temple, but white.  Plus the Angel Moroni is holdings scriptures in his hands which is the only one in Mexico that does that which is interesting.  This week I had the opportunity to teach the first lesson all over again for another investigator.  He was a teacher here at the CCM but his profile was a less active which is harder to teach a lesson too.  We had a plan to teach a lesson to someone who did not know anything about our church, but we had to change our ideas once we got in there.  The best thing that happened was that I was able to speak in the Spanish language so clearly and I could actually help him understand the reasons why this church is so important to me.  What was so amazing was at the end of the lesson we asked him to pray and he prayed to God and said thank you for me! He said my name and everything...( well at least my last name haha). But what mattered to me was that I was able to practice helping him to develop a closer relationship with God.  To follow in Spanish is Seguir and I have learned that word and tried to use it so often.  It has become so important to me that I follow Christ´s ejemplo as often as I can.  This week was harder because I got to see my family on Mothers Day but then I had to say bye in only a half hour.  I really had to realize that this has been apart of Gods plan for me all along.  One of my companions has been struggling with being enough, or being a perfect teacher, companion, and just person in general.  And I think I realized that at sometimes we all feel that way just some people more prevalent than others.  So it may be hard to not compare your success to others or your progress to others, but what matters is that God values the success you have made yourself and we are all different and all have different talents for our own reasons.  Whenever I feel down or troubled I think of the fact that My Savior suffered much worse than my trials are, but also that I have been given these trials because he knew I could make it through them and look back a better person.  I hope that all of you can remeber to follow Christ this week! Much Love From El Ciduad De Mexico
Hermana Dunkley

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Pictures from CCM week #2





Madison says the picture of her in the green circle is when there is an earthquake that is where you go. Of course today is her P-day and she emailed me that there was an earthquake today. No big deal Madison said, it was a small one.

El Preserverar hasta el Fin (Endure to the End)

LIfe at the ccm is good.  Life on a mission is good.  Basically life in general is good haha.  You get used to your schedule, the people,...even the food.(or you try to get used to the food). The one thing that you never get used to is the Spirit that is with you constantly and the overwhelming happiness you get when you understand what your teachers say and you can convey your thoughts in spanish!!! I think one of the major blessings of learning another languages is being humbled.  Everyday I think of how much more I need to learn and how much more I need to change.  I am blessed to have 2 companions who keep me in check and although we disagree sometimes we have made it a habit of talking everything out so we go to sleep happy haha.  This week we had the most amazing devotional from Elder Holland, we watch the broadcasts from Provo, and I saw Kim singing in the choir! Anyways he said some amazing things and I wanted to share two quotes, "'you are a disciple of Christ so you will have to experience a little bit of Gethsemane.'" and "a mission won't be easy, conversion won't be easy, life can't be easy, because it was never easy for the living son of the living God to Atone" so I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that has supported me on my way out here and I wanted to especially say to all those who are having hard times that when we are in our hardest moments and in our toughest trials we really are the closest we can be to Christ and his suffering for us. I have seen a fraction of a fraction of how hard my mission will be, but I I am grateful because it is the closest I can ever become to Christ's struggles.  Nothing can compare to the sorrow he felt for us, and if I must endure ( or el preseverar hasta el fin) then I will try my hardest as a representative of him. I pray for you all and I love you all. Thank you for the beautiful emails they truly uplift me all the time. 
Happy mothers day!!!
Hermana Dunkley

Pre-Mission Photo's


Thank you Jorge Ambrocio for these beautiful pictures of Madison.  Your work is great!

Friday, May 2, 2014

Pictures from CCM Mexico City




Hello from Mexico!

Hola familia!!! 
Mexico is amazing.  I mean we live in the most beautiful little compound. haha it may sound funny but it is true.  since practically everyone has asked yes the food is mostly disgusting but we are lucky to have pizza every Tuesday and taquitos that are pretty good!!. so we teach an investigator everyday in Spanish. it is so hard, but it forces you to learn the language fast.  we have definitely learned that teaching takes practice and that you just got to keep the scriptures open when you have no idea what to say.  i have been inspired so many times to say things that i wouldn't always know and it is truly a blessing from god. honestly the second you get here you are immersed in spanish our teachers dont like us speaking english and only when maestro munoz is feeling nice will he speak english to us.  my district is hilarious and we like to joke around a lot we also have these awesome traditions that we have to do.  my roommates deidra and kim will understand that i have to wear pink on wednesday because of mean girls haha but we make the boys do it too!! it is so crazy how much the lord blesses you too.  i have been able to tell that i definatly am in this companionship for a reason and i have trials to better shape me into the servant god needs me.  4 of the boys in my district are going to quito and the other two are going to concepion chile like trevor.  my companions are hermana ennis and hermana barrus.  we are a funny pair but we have gotten along so well and really learned to communicate and work together in all of our lessons and stuff. hermana ennis is from virgina ( yes the south country side) and rachel is right hermana ennis knows a bunch of people who make moonshine, and hermana barrus is from texas and she is such a sweetheart.  hermana ennis is one too we are just a little more sassy with each other haha.  I am currently the only girl goint to quito because the girls who were going left the week before we go here, but all the latinos love me here when i put on my soccer jersey and then they start talking to me in spanish and i just start nodding and acting like i know what they mean hahaaha.  We got a baby district today and my companions and i have been called as sister training leaders.  the poor girls get a bunch of leaders who have only been here a week but we are excited to train them and get to know them better!!  I have really grown so much since I have been here and to be honest you hear people say oh it will be hard on your mission, but you can´t understand until you are actually here.  I had some trouble Saturday night and i really missed my family, but on sunday we had a devotional about Lots wife looking back and turning to salt because she wanted to return to the city and she did not have faith that god would provide for her in her future and that has definately been amazing learning point for me.  I cant look into the past or leave in the past with my family anymore now, but I can have faith that God will provide for me in my future and truly teach me the things that i need to learn in order to be the trusted servant he wants me to be.  I am so grateful for all the emails I have recieved and I love you and miss you all so much, but this is the place I am supposed to be now!
Love Hermana Dunkley
#selfie....had to do it considering my dad has an instagram now he needs to learn the correct ways!!!
​my beautiful bed an my awesome scriptures with case...someone tell grandma i love my quilt and it is amazing and uncle brad i love my case!! it totally makes a difference to have personal things like these!!!​