Ancient Prophets Understanding the Power of God (06/23/2014)

'Ello Jimbo!
Your letter came in perfect timing last week. Right before I read your letter my Mission President gave me the news about Cinnamon. I was a complete wreck as you probably well know. So when I remembered the next morning that I hadn't read your letter yet, it brought my spirits up a lot :) Thank you for doing all you did for Cimmy. The headstone, necklace and note were perfect. It makes me happy that you were with her when she passed. I'm also relieved that you didn't take Andrew's "brilliant" idea and taxidermy her. I would not have been amused or pleased.
I'm glad you liked the video for Fathers Day. There was more I'd have liked to say, but cameras make me nervous.
Oh! Mom mentioned that she made the meat in the red sauce dish for the Elders the last time they were over. Man! I'm so jealous! They better have appreciated that masterpiece. Seriously, other than your burgers, mac n cheese, bacon, milkshakes, fish sticks and spiedies....yep! Yummmm! In addition to all that, the meat in red sauce is one of my favorite things you make. 

Some things I have found in my scripture studies have been eye-opening, others funny, faith building or just plain interesting. One thing I found interesting is that  the ancient prophets knew science and were truly inspired men. Check out Helaman Chapter 12 verses 14-15. In the last two lines of verse 15 it shows that ancient prophets were way ahead of their times concerning their knowledge of science and outer space. Super cool stuff! :)
<Mom Note: I included more verses so that readers could understand the full train of thought that Sister Duenas is referring to>.
Helaman 12:
vs 8: For behold, the dust of the earth moveth hither and thither, to the dividing asunder, at the command of our great and everlasting God.
vs 9: Yea, behold at his voice do the hills and the mountains tremble and quake.
vs 10: and by the power of his voice they are broken up, and become smooth, yea, even like unto a valley.
vs 11: Yea, and by the power of his voice doth the whole earth shake; 
vs 12: Yea, and by the power of his voice, do the foundations rock, even to the very center.
vs 13: Yea, and if he say unto the earth - Move - it is moved.
vs 14: Yea, if he say unto the earth - Thou shalt go back, that it lengthen out the day for many hours - it is done; 
vs 15: And thus, according to his word the earth goeth back, and it appeareth unto man that the sun standeth still; yea, and behold, this is so; for surely it is the earth that moveth and not the sun.

Hello Mumzy!
Happy Birthday Mommy Dearest!
Love you bunches of baby elephants <3 <3 <3

Happy Birthday Mumzy! MISS YOU! and LOVE YOU! 

I know this letter is late again, but we got caught up at Wal-Mart on P-Day doing our shopping. These last P-Days have been insanely busy. When we go shopping, people just want to chat our ears off! Hahaha...good thing we love talking about the gospel 24/7 :)
So, I just got back from an exchange with Sister Miller in the Eugene 5th ward. This Sister is absolutely amazing! She is a Sister Training Leader, she is in charge of a new sister missionary and has to work with 2 wards. The two wards are in different stakes, which means 2 different mission zones too. She is crazy busy all the time with double the people to see and teach, but she handles it like a champ :)
So, here's the basic details of an exchange. The STL (Sister Training Leader) picks who they'll exchange with and she either comes to your area or you go to her area. Either way, you must be able to show/prove whatever that you're a good missionary, know the rules, good planning skills, and that your teaching skills are up to par...etc, etc.
Last week's pollen count here was 1000, the worst in the nation I guess. I got pretty well attacked by allergies that week. I had to take Zyrtek and Tylenol. Unfortunately, because I only had night time it didn't work super well until I could actually go to bed. But I am feeling much better now :)
How exciting about the baptisms! I am so happy to hear that our little Branch is growing. The missionaries must be so happy.

Love you!
Toodles!
Pooks

Be Not Afraid of Being Great - You Are a Child of God (06/16/2014)

Holo Mom!!!!!!!!

So, I got the Lamb of God cd. It's certainly good music and missionary appropriate but it's not OEM appropriate unfortunately. We can very strictly only listen to hymns, MoTab, EFY or Nashville Tribute...nothing else. So some of the other CDs aren't super acceptable though they are great songs, like the Hilary Weeks collection, piano guys, and not the Xmas stuff when it's not Xmas. So the music rules have always been the same. When I asked for music from Hillary Weeks and Alex Boye I also said that they had to be hymns. If they are hymns we can listen to them no matter who sings them. But yes you never know, the rules might change with the new mission president in July, so I'll just hold on to the Lamb of God cd for now.

But I do need some stuff from home if you don't mind :).

- sunglasses

- I am down to the Dead Sea Mud and half my Sweet Pea soap! If you'd like to send me a bar or two of soap it'd be great :). Just choose whatever you think I'll like best ;)

- If you could somehow get the March 2013 Ensign and the Ensign with the October 2011 General Conference for me I'd love you for eternity x two! There are so many great talks in there that I want the actual magazine. If you haven't already, you should read "Forget Me Not" by President Uchtdorf in the Oct 2011 GC. It's the best ever!!!

I LOVE my green rain jacket and it sure comes in handy in the Oregon rainy season.

Make sure to tell Jim to see his email on Father's Day. A reminder that I need those emails of Jay, Brad and Matt for their Father's Day present ASAP if you please :)

Ok so I haven't finished Jim's video yet so I am going to do that now….. Ok all is finished! I feel really bad about the video though :( It's rather poorly taken. Maybe if I took your photography class it'd be better. So tell him that next week I'll do a much better one and longer too :D

So sadly you won’t be getting your big letter on time. We really need to organize our time better for pdays. But I do have half a letter done telling you about the exchanges and other mission stuff. I will be sure to answer all your questions and the cool stuff that is going on back home :). Two extra big letters in your future!!

These are some cool stuff I've found in the past couple of weeks (Stand Ye in Holy Places and be NOT moved, a better understanding of Grace). 

Sister Duenas' Facebook post: As I faithfully live the gospel I find that more and more opportunities are opened for me. The restored gospel of Jesus Christ has helped me overcome things I would never have thought I could triumph over.How has Christ helped strengthen you? Because of the gospel what blessings can you see in your life?

<'Mom' Note: MY response to Sister Duenas' FB post: Because of the Gospel and through the enabling power of the Atonement and through grace, I am given capabilities beyond my normal strength to accomplish what is asked of me when I put forth my best efforts. ps...Look up the definition of grace in the Bible Dictionary and REALLY read it thoroughly. Then read it again. Good stuff ;) >

This poem is very inspiring to me. We should most definitely not be afraid of being great. Greatness will just inspire more greatness :)

Cool stuff from District Meeting! Got a new district leader this transfer. We only have 3 sets of missionaries in the district this time: Me and Sister West, another sister companionship and the district leader and his comp. A very small district for this area.

District Meeting June 13th 2014

Opening Song: #128 "When Faith Endures"

Opening Prayer: Sis Duenas

 Zone Conference with the Roseburg Zone on June 17^th. This will be President Young's LAST Zone conference with each of us! So, please come prayerful and prepared to learn.

Set a Goal for one thing that you would like to improve on, then set a goal within your companionship that you would like to improve on.

- Personally: be more prayerful. What do the people under my care truly need, what skills do I need to sharpen to help them in their needs?

- Companionship: weekly planning guidelines! Do short lesson plans for each of the people we will be seeing the next day.

Ok…gots to go now!

Love you bunches of baby elephants!

Pooks<3<3<3<3<3<3

ps. Sister West says 'Hi!'

Book of Mormon Fortunes - P-Day Fun (06/09/2014)

Holo Mom!!!!

So the 1000 piece puzzle. I took a picture and thought I sent it to you. The picture is deleted and the puzzle... demolished... I'll get you another picture but it might be a little while :)

But since you are wanting to see what we missionaries do to have good clean missionary appropriate fun here's what we've come up with recently :)

Book of Mormon fortunes!

- you get chastised by Abinadi

- get an angry letter from Capt. Moroni 

- Ammon is your member present

- you find golden investigator like Lamoni

- Nephi helps you understand the Book of Isaiah

- Sariah gives you a hug

- Enos prays with you

- Learn teaching pointers from Enoch

- the 3 Nephites visit and reactivate your whole family back home

- you get speech lessons from King Benjamin

- play capture the flag with Teancum on pday for a Zone activity

- Mormon tells you a bedtime story

- you write a stripling warrior

- the Brother of Jared goes tracting with you --> you find 10 new families to teach

- Gadianton Robbers erase your weekly planning/wipe the area book from your iPad

And a picture of the product :) and yes, I spelled blue wrong so I had to make it French.

No pics from district meeting since we all forgot but we will definitely get some this transfer. 

So...the Memorial Day picnic - it was pretty basic. No fire or marshmallows, but there were burgers, salad and watermelon and the kids went outside to play and do stuff while the adults (and us) stayed inside and talked. I made our macaroni salad :)

So super super weird! It is seriously crazy how many times we are just on the same page. For the past couple of days I've been studying about the priesthood, authority, power of God and church organization. I literally just read Alma 13 for my studies this morning. Mine is very colorful as well. I'll take a pic and send it to you later :)

<Mom Note: I had been studying in Alma Chapter 13 on Sunday night, sent a picture of Alma 13:27-29 to Sister Duenas in an email on Monday morning. Turns out that she was also studying Alma Chapter 13 nearly at the same time as I was.>

I really like your letter/thank you note idea. We have been giving them Thank You cards, but I think including the Feeding His Sheep idea and other spiritual things will be great! Gracias Mommy!

K well I guess I'm going now :(   I'll just write another big letter to you later :)

<3<3<3<3

Love you!

Pooks

Long Letters Home (06/02/2014)

June 02, 2014 to Mom

Holo Mommy!
Just some Spanish information...hahaha. 
Te amo mucho = I love you a lot. Me amo mucho = I love me a lot.
Just thought I'd let you know for future reference in your emails ;)
<Mom Note: I had emailed Sister Duenas and was trying to be cute and tell her in Spanish that I love her, but I wrote Me amo mucho (I love me a lot) instead of Te amo mucho....oooops!>

So, as expected, I am not getting transferred. I will be staying here in Eugene with Sister West. I'll actually be "killing" her since she'll be going home in July. <Note: Lest some blog readers be concerned..."killing" a missionary is not literally killing them, it just a term used for the missionary's last 6 week transfer of their missionary service when their mission ends and they return home to their family>.
I will likely be staying here in Eugene for a total of 6 months and Sister West and other sisters are threatening me saying I'll be training someone after Sister West is gone. Don't know quite how I feel about training someone yet.

That's very clever to print out the blog and keep it in a binder at church. I think people at church will love it :)
For P-Day, we have to wash and wax our car as well, but we have a rental now so we just have to wash and vacuum it. It is a big black Nissan and looks like a pretty sketchy car when we are out tracting. People think we are scary government people, then we get out of the car and they see we are two nicely dressed women who are completely unintimidating. It's pretty comical. A member told us that we should dress in black super professional clothing and get briefcases and go out tracting like that. An entertaining idea, but it would totally distract from the spirit :)

This is what happens when a sister missionary with multiple colored pens studies the Family Proclamation. It turns COLORFUL!

We have a bunch of less actives here and I think it's technically one of the smaller wards, but the attendance could be better which would help :) We have a whole list of less actives to work with.

We just visit them and see if they want to come back to church, and if they still have a testimony and if they do want to be reactivated then we give them the lessons, kinda like they are investigators, and get them fellowshipped with other members. We involve them in Visiting Teaching and Home Teaching, church activities and service projects.
We haven't had baptisms in a while, BUT we have a goal and believe that we can accomplish it this transfer. Sister West and I are super excited. Since she'll be leaving soon, she wants to have a BOOMING last transfer :)

<Mom Note: a little background before Sister Duenas' next comment. I shared with her a game that the missionaries in the New York Utica Mission play while they are tracting. It is called the Celestial game. While they are out tracting, they look for objects shaped like the sun, moon and stars. Suns are 5 points, Moons are 3 points, and Stars are 1 point. The first companion to 20 points wins.>
We play games like that here in the Oregon Eugene Mission that relate to the Book of Mormon or the restoration. Whenever we see odd, funny things while driving or if we happen to think of non-missionary things (like Disney songs or other movies) we have to turn it back to the gospel to keep ourselves on spiritual track. Or if we see a colorful hippie van or young kids being bad, we have to figure out what we'd teach them from the lessons or which story in the Book of Mormon we'd share with them. That is the extent of our Book of Mormon/Restoration game.
But that is an interesting game they play in the NYUM, so we'll def try it out :)

Love you!!!!!!
Sister Duenas

Dear Jim (06/02/2014)

Sister Duenas sent a beautiful letter to her father, Jim, this past week.
Much of it is too personal to share in the blog, but here are some of her thoughts of gratitude for some of the things that he has taught her throughout her life.

Jim,
Looking back, I can see how much you have helped me and taught me. In fact, Here's a list!! :)

1. Taught me how to fish. (Mother and her corks...so silly :)  )

   

   Sister Duenas and Jim - Yes, I realize the sign says No Fishing, but it is the only pic I could find Sis Duenas and Jim with a body of water :)

2. How to drive....truck, tractor, four-wheeler, go cart...you name it :)

   

   Sister Duenas on the Right

3. You got me my first horse ride! Way back when Mara and I were little. It was in McDonough on a horse named Bunny I believe.

   

   Sister Duenas (far left). This is Wyoming (not NY). She was required to wear a helmet due to age.

4. Tucked Mara and me into bed when we were super-younger and got home late from whatever we were all doing together.

   

   Sister Duenas (left)

5. Helping me with Pinewood Derbys! That's right! 4X champ because of your awesome wood skills :) <of course Sister Duenas designed the car, and sanded and painted it though>
   
6. Always telling me I'm beautiful at random times. This honestly did help my confidence and make me want to try a little harder to at least look presentable.
   
7. Awesome meat in that red sauce (rabbit, venison, pork or chicken)! Wait...why did that help me? Oh yeah, I want a husband that can cook! (someday)
   
8. Making those sweet snow jumps and trails when we'd go sledding.
9. Bonding when Mom got stressed over the business and we were in agreement that she needed to rest and to lighten-up. (of course this (getting stressed over the business) rarely happens :) )
10. Always there when I or anyone needed you.

Thank you for all these things and more.
I love you!
Sister Kiana Duenas

Missionary Moments and Revelation (06/02/2014)

Excerpts from letters dated May 25th and June 2nd, 2014

Hello Mommy! <3
Since I needed to write a GINORMOUS letter I had to switch to actual paper (instead of cute stationary) :)  Sorry I missed two weeks :(
I saw all your questions and got overwhelmed....hahaha just kidding :)
The other sisters in Eugene 1st ward came and hung out with us these past two Mondays so we didn't have time to write letters :( but I did get a 1000-piece puzzle done! Felt supremely accomplished. I'll make sure to send you a picture of it.

Sister Missionaries - Eugene 3rd and Eugene 1st wards. Sister Duenas not in photo as she is taking the picture.

So Sister West is indeed very awesome! She is a bit distracted with going back home in July, but she is still invigorated with the missionary spirit and continuing to find ways to help this ward. Her experiences in life have made her a strong woman and a unique missionary who many people here in Eugene can relate to. She is a bit sad about finishing her mission. It's always a bitter-sweet thing. You get to go home to family and normal life, but you normal life has become mission life and all the opportunities to help, serve, teach, guide and motivate others are drastically decreased. Our mantle will be lifted, name tag retired and our minds having to shift (though just slightly) in priorities in our daily lives. We go 18 months without needing (or having time) to worry about ourselves and have been given the joy and responsibility to worry about the lives of perfect strangers. It's stressful, exhausting in mind, body and spirit, sad/devastating at times and then you have miracles happen. With all the stress and sadness going on around us we can be brought out of that by others. A member who's less active finally comes to church or prays, we find a family to teach, a member gives us a referral, an investigator realizes God's love for them, nobody yelled at us while tracting, an investigator stays all 3 hours at church, someone thanks us for simply dropping by their house in a sad moment of their lives, a member has a missionary moment and feels important and needed....The list can go on and on. These are the moments missionaries survive/live on. It's because of these small miracles that we are able to see our Heavenly Father's hand in everyone's lives. We also see that it is HIS work and He knows exactly how to do it and where He needs us to be. What we must do is to always be prepared and worthy, keeping His trust, that we can be the instruments He needs to help His other lost/wandering children.
In the name of our Savior, Lord, master, Redeemer, Jesus Christ, Amen.

A recent spiritual revelation I got from the scriptures is pretty neat and also pretty eye-opening/heavy. I was reading in 1Nephi about Nephi's long vision of what Lehi saw. 
Chapters 13-15 are what I specifically focused on though. So, Nephi has been given a bunch of new information on the future of his seed and the church, so he's a bit heavy-burdened now. He doesn't even get a breather afterward because Laman and Lemuel are being stubborn and dense again, complaining that they don't understand the things Lehi saw and is now teaching them. Instead of having faith and inquiring of the Lord" as Nephi did, they are pestering Lehi to clear everything up for them. So, here's where the revelation comes in. Laman and Lemuel are smart, they've become educated (taught by their father), they're (occasionally) obedient to their father...they just don't have faith. The moral of the story: don't be like Laman and Lemuel. Make sure you are doing the little things like scripture study, prayer and church attendance. These things are what feed ourspirits, giving our spiritual muscles energy to exercise their faith to become stronger. One can't survive on (several) events of angels appearing to them and hearing the Lord's voice in chastisement. Laman and Lemuel are the evidence of it. Read, Attend & Pray. Makes enduring to the end just a bit easier :)

So, Sister West and Sister Miller were out tracting our area. (I'm on exchange in the Eugene YSA ward/area at this time). They knock on their first door and a young man in his mid/upper twenties opens the door. He's nice as he listens to their message on families being together forever. When finished, he tells the sisters that he's sorry but he's not interested. They ask about his religious background. His reply is that he and his Mom have read many religious books and when he rejects the sisters again, he says "I'm sorry, but the only things I believe in are Buddhism and the Book of Mormon." The sisters pounced and said "So do we! We love the Book of Mormon!" They bare their testimonies and viola! new investigator :) Let me just remind you, this was the first and only door they knocked :) MIRACLES!

LOVE YOU!!!!
Sister Duenas

Sacrament Meeting Talk (Given on Sunday, May 18, 2014)

Sister Duenas' Talk given in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday, May 18, 2014 
<sorry for the lateness in the blog, but we didn't receive a copy of her talk until the first week in June>

So, for future reference, when you ask a missionary what their favorite scripture is and tell them to give a talk on it, just know that we have MANY favorites. Asking us to choose just one is like asking a parent to choose their favorite child.
Since I couldn't choose from my many scripture children...I chose all of them :)

The entire Book of Mormon (and likewise with the Bible, Doctrine & Covenants and Pearl of Great Price) is wonderful to me. It contains the answers to many of life's questions. Every page is full of inspiration, revelation and testimony that Jesus is the Christ. Since we can't exactly read the Book of Mormon in under 10 minutes, for the sake of time I'll just mention a few of these wonderful pearls found in the Book of Mormon.

Question #1 - Is there a God?
There are many verses and chapters testifying of this, but my favorites that I feel really get the question answered are these: Alma 30: 43-45 and Alma 22: 7-11. They are very similar situations asking the same question but with very different outcomes.

The first situation (Alma 30: 43-45) is an example of what not to do or not the proper way to seek an answer to the question of if there is a God.
43 And now Korihor said unto Alma: If thou wilt show me a sign, that I may be convinced that there is a God, yea, show unto me that he hath power, and then I will be convinced of the truth of thy words.
44 But Alma said unto him: Thou hast had signs enough: will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have had the testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.
45 And yet do ye go about, leading away the hearts of this people, testifying unto them there is no God? And yet will ye deny against all these witnesses? And he said: Yea, I will deny, except ye shall show me a sign.

The second situation is an example of how to properly seek an answer to the question. In Alma 22: 7-11, Aaron is teaching Lamoni's father about God.
7 And Aaron answered him and said unto him: Believest thou that there is a God? And the king said: I know that the Amalekites say that there is a God, and I have granted unto them that they should build sanctuaries, that they may assemble themselves together to worship him. And if now thou sayest there is a God, behold I will believe.
8 And now when Aaron heard this, his heart began to rejoice, and he said: Behold, assuredly as thou livest, O king, there is a God.
9 And the king said: Is God that Great Spirit that brought our fathers out of the land of Jerusalem?
10 And Aaron said unto him: Yea, he is that great Spirit, and he created all things both in heaven and in earth. Believest thou this?
11 And he said: Yea, I believe that the great Spirit created all things, and I desire that ye should tell me concerning all these things, and I will believe thy words.

Don't be like Korihor (in the first situation). Be like Lamoni's father (in the second situation), and then once you have that testimony be like Aaron testifying, teaching and using the scriptures to help others gain a testimony.

Question #2 - How can a belief in Christ help me?
Alma's conversion in Chapter 36 of the Book of Mormon is a great example. Alma was in outright rebellion against God, leading away many of His children, leading them into a life of misery and destruction disguised as "freedom" and living the life of riches. Alma did this until he was struck down and faced all of his sins.
In Alma 36: 12- 15, we read:
12 But I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins.
13 Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell; yea, I saw that I had rebelled against my God, and that I had not kept his holy commandments.
14 Yea, and I had murdered so many of his children, or rather led them away unto destruction; yea, and in fine so great had been my iniquities, that the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror.
15 Oh, thought I, that I could be banished and become extinct both soul and body, that I might not be brought to stand in the presence of my God, to be judged of my deeds.

Alma wanted not just to die, but to be "banished" (and) "extinct" so he wouldn't have to face God being as filthy as he was.
BUT, as many of us know, there is always hope, even in the depths of torment and misery. We see this in Alma 36: 17-20.
17 And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.
18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.
19 And now, behold when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.
20 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!

Alma's pain was replaced with joy.
Jesus Christ has the power to heal each and every one of us. All we must do is remember Him, act on even the tiniest seed of faith to call on Him and he will be there. Always.

I leave my testimony with you that I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God and the words of God "are written for our learning. That we through patience and comfort in the scriptures might have hope." (Romans 15:4)
I challenge you all to read the Book of Mormon and gain a firm testimony that you can share with your friends and loved ones.
I say these things in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Memorial Day (05/26/2014)

Hola Madre!
Just finished up an email to Ariel :)
So, How are things going?

Mission life is pretty great. Sorry about the lack of handwritten letters lately, I've just been supremely slacking on letters. I'll send a big one today, I promise :)

Man, I miss those bonfires (at Grandma's house)  :(
Are you gonna be having the macaroni salad too? Oh, I just know it will be there! I have all the ingredients, so maybe I'll make it today to celebrate in my own way :)
I'll be with you in spirit via the macaroni salad :)
We will be going to a BBQ tonight so that'll be fun!

Bonfire at Grandma's house back in NY

Is what the missionaries have in NY called a TIWI? If yes, then it's thanks to the OEM (Oregon Eugene Mission) :) The TIWI is to help promote safe driving. It alerts the driver to the speed limit and aggressive driving. If the driver doesn't decrease or increase their speed to be lawful within 7 seconds, then it'll report them to the TIWI service thing AND to the Mission President and to whoever is the car coordinator for the mission. Oregon was a testing mission for the TIWIs (a long time ago) and they work great. We haven't had any (bad) accidents in a very long time.

Facebook time has been reduced to 15 minutes on Tuesdays. So, basically not doing any Facebook at all. Some people don't see the point of Facebook as a missionary tool and think it is a distraction from missionary work though we have seen miracles from it. Many of the them (the miracles) with family members and friends back home because they finally see what we believe it. Facebook may not be effective directly in our mission, but our messages have been helping other missionaries worldwide. As long as the message is getting out and people have more access to the Gospel I don't care where the baptisms are happening :)

Please make sure Cimmy is alright. I am NOT coming home to no Cimmy!
I know it's a bit ridiculous and others would say she's just a cat but she's not. 
I don't care if people think I'm a crazy cat lady. Cimmy is mine and I love her to pieces :)
I've met kitties out here that are 20 years old. So, she'll make it too! <Note: Cinnamon a.k.a. Cimmy is 16 yrs old>

I haven't actually made my strawberry cookies in Eugene yet. We don't have a mixer here, so I'd have to hand mix it....Not fun. But I will make them eventually. I've been bragging to Sister West about the cookies, so she'll demand proof soon :)

So....I asked around and apparently the transfer times don't change with new mission presidents coming in. So my early date (to come home) would be March 25th, 2015 and the late date would be May 5th or 6th, 2015.  <Note: Because of the way transfers fall, Sister Duenas has to decide whether she will be coming home slightly early from her mission or staying slightly longer.>

Ok bye bye!
Love you!
Be waiting for a ginormous letter! :)
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3