Week 2 It's been HOT

Hola :D

This week was craaaazy! Time goes by so slow but also insanely quick!!!

HIGHLIGHTS:

It hit 101 degrees :D At least according to our car... The members say it's only about 95 in actuality but it sure don't feel like it. Yeeesh. Including me, there are 4 missionaries in our branch that haven't spent a summer here yet... And we're all from the east coast. At least we'll all die together, right? :D Wootwoooooooot. Farmers tan, watch tan, bracelet tan, shoe tan.. All very real :)

Menudo............................ Okay. Now Mexican food is not my favorite, but I can deal with all the rice and beans and albondigas (mexicans put meatballs in this kind of chicken soup thing. pretty good. but my compa says she's had them 4 times on her mission and 3 of those times have been with me in the past 2 weeks). ANYWAYS. so like. Mexican food's pretty good. And then came the Menudo. We were teaching this family and we set a return appointment for the next day around lunch time and they were like "PERFECT! We'll make menudo!!!! :D" .... And turning down food from Mexicans is a big no no, but turning down food from mexicans a day in advance is like a biiiiiiiiig no no. So there was no way to get out of it. Menudo conists of this really yummy broth that's spiced plus some onion and cilantro and these rice/bean things? Not really sure, but like it's pretty good........ except for the main ingredient......... COW STOMACH. Dear goodness gracious. Mexicans LOVE menudo. Like it's their favorite kind of MEAT. Meat is a loose term considering it's just skin and fat. Gives me the chills just talking about it. If you steer clear of the "meat" it's SUPER GOOD! But obviously you can't pick and choose so it was an interesting experience thinking about all the stomach in my stomach :) hahahah gotta try it some time.

BUT. The miracle that followed the Menudo was AWESOME. So we had had a bunch of days back to back where we just got fed more and more and more and more and more crazy mexican dishes and we were feeling it. Before our dinner appointment we were talking in the car and daying "ahhhhh a SALAD would be so nice!" and my compa was like "ooooh my sister makes the best salad with strawberries on it!" sighhhhhhhh. Mexicans don't really believe in salads. They are so so so so SO good to us and feed us so well when most of them don't have very much at all so we decided to suck it up and show some gratitude :) Oh! and with this dinner appointment, we like had the wrong number, couldn't get a hold of them, almost switched with the elders, had to bump the time, couldn't find the house, we were super late.. aye. craziness. But we finally got there and she was like... "I'm so sorry! I ran out of rice so I just made A SALAD... and I wanted to try it out with Strawberries... I hope that's okay..." Our jaws hit the ground and we almost cried/cheered/hugged that poor lady. It was small. But I know that that was a MIRACLE just for us. God cares about the little things. And sometimes all you have to do is ask :)

We had another cool experience this week with a referral. An english family in a ward about a 45 minutes away prayed and fasted and decided they wanted to share the gospel with their family friends: a spanish family in our area. They took us out to lunch and gave us these letters they had written as a family describing how the gospel had blessed their lives. They also gave us a BOM in english and a BOM in spanish that they had wrapped up all nice like a present :) They texted this family and said "You're getting a present this Tuesday at 7!!" So this family had no idea that two hermanas were gonna show up at their door and share the gospel :) no pressure, right? But my goodness gracious. That lesson. Those letters. Woooweee. Missionary work with members is AMAZING. During that lesson all this family could say was "[The family that gave us the referral] is just different. There's something about them that's just different." They said they want to learn more and that they'll read the Book of Mormon :) Cool stuff right there.

Take away of the week.. Be a good example. People notice good people. And there's a power there. As missionaries we can knock on doors till our knuckles break... but when there's that love and respect already established by a member, it's a WHOLE different ball game.

Be good and don't be afraid to share your beliefs :)

Look for miracles :)

Oh! One more fun thing! There was an afternoon this week where our appointment fell through... and they our backup fell through. and our backup's backup. and our backup's backup's backup etc. So we prayed and felt like we should go to a park :D When we got there there we decided to draw the plan of salvation on the sidewalk :D We even had a few helpers :) Missionary work comes in many forms!

Anyways :)

This week before Easter make sure you watch this video!!!!!!!!!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZqTRSVA1YA#action=share

You don't have to be LDS to appreciate the blessings of Jesus Christ's resurrection and some powerfully artsy video clips :)

Happy Easter!! and Happy General Conference :))

OS AMO MUCHO!!!!
Hermana Lund

Week 1 Dogs

HOLA!!!!!!

This week has been a week of DOGS. yup. 3 types of dogs to be specific...

1) SONORA DOGS. Twice this week members have taken us to these food trucks in random parking lots or on the side of the road to eat Sonora Dogs. They're basically hotdogs wrapped in bacon with beans, salsa, cheese, guacamole, and everything else you can think of stuffed into a bun soaked in butter....... My goodness gracious. SO stinkin good!!!

2) NICE DOGS. There aren't a lot, but there some really really really cute sweet dogs around here :) Like last night we went to a member's home and they had a lil baby puppy that could fit in your hand! All the missionaries in our ward (2 sets of elders and us) went to this one guy's house to do service on Saturday :) We pulled weeds and raked his rocks (yup. yards here are made of dirt and rocks). Got a real nice farmers tan :) But he had a dog named Brownie. So sweet. So wonderful. Perfect.

3) ....... OTHER DOGS. I have never been afraid of dogs until this week. There are some real nasty ones in South Tucson. Our area covers basically all the sketchy parts of Tucson, really poor, really run down. And the people ALL have dogs that could kill you. The only thing that's stopping them is a little baby fence. Yesterday I literally saw a dog drinking another dog's pee...... :)

Hermana Ellis and I started off on a good note ;) Our first day we had 2 near death experiences. One involved a driver who just wasn't paying attention and then the other happened when we were meeting with this investigator. We sat out on her front porch (cuz it's been 90 degrees :D) and towards the end we heard these loud shots. She quickly rushed us inside. We said a prayer, said goodbye, and BOOKED it. Turns out it was just fireworks but the fact she thought it was something else was definitely a new experience :) Hermana Ellis is great though... There are so many sketchy, crazy, unpredictable things happening in our area and all we can do is laugh about em :) Every day is just better than the last :)

Hmmmmm what else? The people here just have SO much faith. Everyone lives in trailer parks or bad neighborhoods and they could go on and on about how their brother got shot or their sister is a drug dealer or just really horrible, sad stuff... But they all have SO much faith!!!!! It's really humbling to see how they really do believe that Heavenly Father loves them and hear and answers their prayers!

My testimony of the gospel has been totally shattered and rebuilt on a whole new foundation! Today we went on a sunrise hike as a zone :) woke up at 4:55 wootwoot!!! It was a tough hike but the view at the top was amazing!!!!! Attached are some pics of the top with my companera :) We took some time at the top to read scriptures and sing and talk. The zone leaders did this exercise where they offered us an oreo one by one. There was this member who came with us who just got back from his mission who used to be in the marines. And as they offered us a cookie they would say "Andrew. Can you do 7 push ups so to pay for Hermana Lund's cookie?" and they just went around one by one. All 22 of us. And it started out really light hearted, like "oh okay, trying to prove a point.. got it." and it turned into something really profound! When you see someone in physical pain, struggling, all for you, it really gets to you. And there were some people who said they didn't want a cookie and he still did push ups for us anyway. It was a really humbling metaphor. Andrew had showed us where the hike was, walked along side us, helped the people who fell behind, and then physically sacrificed for us just like our Savior. I know that God is real. I know his son died for each of us, individually. And I know that we can return to live in their presence some day :)

I love you all :) Send us some letters n such!!!

Traveling from MTC to Tucson, AZ

Hey Guys!

Happy St. Patrick's Day :D

It was awesome to talk to family for a little bit yesterday at the airport!

We got here yesterday around 11 :) (Fun fact of the day, Arizona does not believe in daylight savings time). Our Mission President, President Passey (like a pacifier), his wife, and the two assistants were there to greet us:) They're all so nice and wonderful! After that the 2 APs took all 7 of us to the Mormon Battalion Monument in downtown Tucson. THey parked about a half mile away, talked to us about hastening the work, and said "let's go hasten!!!" and started running.........Definitely got my workout for the day running through 89 degree Tucson holding a Book of Mormon ;) Once we got to the monument they said "go to work" so Hermana Olivas, Hermana Adams (who also came from the Provo MTC) and I started talking to people about the gospel, Wow. Such a cool experience!

We talked to these two guys first. Both very passionate about religion and good food. They offered to buy us some of these hotdogs with beans and jalapenos and everything else you could imagine. We said no, but we got to share a quick message before we talked to 4 more women and gave out 3 Book of Mormons and got 3 of their numbers! Can't wait for the missionaries to follow up :)

After that we went to the Mission Office, ate some gooooood food, did some training and role playing, interviews and then went back to the Passey's home for a much needed nap (We only got 1 hour of sleep before we left the MTC). OH! at the Passey's home we met the 2 missionaries who came from the Mexico MTC and one of them is also named Nadia :) Kinda cool....After naps we had a looooovely dinner of spaghetti and meatballs on the Passey's balcony right during sunset. And oh my gosh, it was GORGEOUS. Being surrounded by dirt and cacti taller than trees and red and purple mountain while the sun lit up with oranges and pinks and mmmmmmmmmm GORGEOUS. The pictures really don't do it justice. After that we had a testimony meeting and called it an early night.

Today was transfer meeting :D We got to the church at 7, met a whoooooole bunch of super friendly missionaries and got put with our trainers!!! They did this whole dramatic thing where they had all the trainers sit on one side of the chapel, all the new missionaries sit on the other, and when they read off the area and the missionaries, they would meet in the middle and give each other a big ol hug :)

So, my trainer is Hermana Ellis :) She's been on her mission for about a year, goes home in July. She's from Nebraska and come from a big family :) And she is so stinkin nice! Also tall! We're serving here in the TUCSON SOUTH Zone. Our zone is the only one in the whole mission that is an "all Spanish zone" so all meetings and missionaries are spanish so I'll get lots of good practice! Hermana Olivas is going to New Mexico, 4 hours away!! :'( I'm gonna miss her! Can't wait for the day we get to be companions again!

I think that might be it. Hermana Ellis said we get fed every night so that'll be nice :) I'll have P days on Monday's except for transfer weeks (every 6 weeks) when my P days will be on Tuesday! It's hot, it's sunny, and it's gorgeous here! Our area covers the University of Arizona which is also pretty sweet!

I'm tired, I'm excited, and I'm happy :)

LOVE YOU ALL :) 

I don't remember the address to our apartment but emails are always appreciated :)

Hasta pronto!
Hermana Lund

Picture of us with the 1st counselor in our MTC Branch Presidency
(the President was sick, so he was basically our President)

At the Provo Temple with Hna Olivas

At the Temple with District 

Some of the Elder we traveled to Tucson with
(they looked like they were praying while they were sleeping)

The rest of the pictures are of the sweeeeeeeeeeet sunset last night from the Mission President's balcony (pictures didn't do it justice)

Second P-Day in the MTC

Hermana Lund had a half P-Day today and sent an email with a few more photos. 

These first 2 are of her District and her two MTC teachers.  

"We found this picture by the cafeteria and could not stop laughing. We call her abuelita and say hola every time we walk by :)"

"A bug's been going around our district so we convinced the elders to wear some masks."

Wow. It's only been a few days but it seems it's been FOREVER. Day's go by really slowly but also flyyyyyyyy by!

The rest of the evening is our P Day for those of us who leave on Monday so we got to whip out the jeans :) Never thought I would love pants so much. 

Anyways! This week has been amazing. There have been MIRACLES. Like real miracles every day. 

Tuesday mi companera y yo taught a real investigator! (or at least they tell us she's real.....we're kind of in denial because we love her so much!!) She's a 60 year old lady from Guatemala and she's about 4 and a half feet tall!

No joke. Like when she sits in the chair her feet don't even touch the floor! Oh man she's so sweet. In our first meeting with her she just talked about how much she loved her kids for 30 minutes. It was so sweet. And it was even sweeter to tell her that her Heavenly Father loved her even more than that! We used Matthew 7:11 to back it up: "If then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" :)

Yesterday we asked her if she would follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized....She said yes :)

The greatest miracle of the week happened with Elder A. He's the one from Ecuador! The one going to Tucson too! So. Long story short, he's got the craziest story. 

1)He came from Ecuador

2) When he got off the plane here, he was ARRESTED

3) After he got released and came to the MTC, before he could even walk in the door he got pulled aside and was put in solitary QUARANTINE for 36 hours cuz they thought he had TB (surprise surprise...he didn't)

4) On Wednesday he was told that he was going to have to stay here for another two weeks because he had a cough!!

The MTC is great and all but when they double your time cuz you've got a cold??? aye. I was really frustrated for him. A bunch of us fasted that night and prayed that it would all work out. I remember starting my prayer that night by asking for a miracle....and then after a few minutes I kinda  backed out and just started praying for him to be able to make through whatever Heavenly Father saw fit. 

5) Next day he got called to the front desk...and he got news that he can leave with us this Monday!!! :D He told us that the doctor said it was a MIRACLE. But for some "magical" reason he was good to go.

It was such a humbling experience! He is such an amazing example! The day he thought he wasn't going to be able to leave with us he went and bought a ton of hershey kisses and gave them all out to us :) Such an amazing experience to learn from his faith and love. 

We all head out to Tucson on Monday:) I don't know when I'll have my next P Day but I'll call home on Monday morning! 

So SAD to be leaving here. My zone has been AMAZING. I love each and every one of them SO SO much. We've gotten so close. We eat every meal together, play volleyball every day together, ealk everywhere together, and we laugh alllllllways. We've been coming up with Disney doppelgangers for everyone. We've got a bunch of people from the Lion King and Napoleon Dynamite ;) I'm Lucy from Chronicles of Narnia. They also call me the Queen of LUNDon ;)

I should go! But I love you all a lot!

There's a quote from Elder Holland that says that as missionaries we have to be our first investigator. We want our investigators to pray more, Heavenly Father wants us to pray more. We want our investigators to have faith, Heavenly Father wants us to have faith. I have loved the opportunity I've had to rebuild my testimony while I've been here :)

I love you all :) Special shout out to Sister Whitesell for the letters!! I've been using your quotes in all my lessons ;)

THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!

Adios amados, 

Hermana Lund

First P Day in the MTC

Hola :D

I don't even know where to start! I haven't even been here a full week but SO much has happened!!!!!

My companion is Hermana Olivas. She's from Provo (literally 5 minutes away from the MTC) and her parents are both from Mexico so she's been speaking Spanish her whole life! She's really laid back but she loves the gospel and has been so patient with me as I butcher the Spanish language.

My ZONE is made up of me, Hermana Olivas and 7 other elders. 2 of them are from LA, 1 from Texas, 1 from Virginia, 1 from Salt Lake, 1 from Spokane, and one from ECUADOR! The one from Ecuador is also going to Tucson with Hermana Olivas and I but the others are going to Mexico, Tallahassee and a couple are ever staying here in Provo! Like Hermana Olivas most of them have parents from Spanish speaking countries and have been speaking Spanish/ attending Spanish church services their whole life. Only me and one other elder learned Spanish in school and you can definitely tell ;) But they've all been so nice and welcoming and patient with both of us.

My DISTRICT is made up of our zone and another one (also in the advanced Spanish program). They have about 5 or 6 elders and 3 hermanas. We share a room with the 3 hermanas and they are fuuuuuuuuuuny. 2 are from Florida and my goodness gracious they are the funniest, nicest people ever. I have absolutely loved hanging out with the"Spanish crowd" and being a part of their culture. They are so full of love and energy and passion and it's absolutely intoxicating.

        

We wake up between 5:30 and 6:15 every morning and got to bed around 10:45. During the day we do chores, study, pray, play volleyball in the gym, study, listen to talks, study, watch videos, study, practice teaching "investigators" (aka our teachers) and did I mention study? ;)

The hardest thing so far has definitely been the language! The first day I had no idea what to expect......and it was definitely a shock, linguistically but I prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed for help with the language and I can understand about 93% now :) But the hardest part about the language hasn't been understanding it. It's definitely trying to find a balance between teaching with my heart and my head. It's been SO hard to teach the "investigator" lessons with my heart, listening to the spirit when the whole time I'm just trying to make sure I have all the grammar correct. My first full day here I was like "I'm just gonna focus on the language and then I'll be able to follow the promptings of the spirit and be better able to communicate with others." That night I had an interview with our branch president. He's a football coach and he definitely sounds like one. Very direct. Aggressive. But very very wise. Anyways, he told me "STOP TRYING TO LEARN THE LANGUAGE. The language isn't what changes lives. No one ever converted to the church because a missionary had perfect Spanish. They become members of the church because of what they feel." Needless to say, I've changed my focus a little bit :)

I have been the recipient of so many tender mercies here :) My favorite of which was a few days ago. I was feeling a little bummed about a lesson we had taught. I had tried to ask the investigator some clarifying questions but he couldn't understand me and the whole confusion just drove the spirit away :( So we were getting dinner and I was waiting in line. It was pizza night and I was looking for some Hawaiian pizza and I couldn't see any :''''( But as soon as I got to the front of the line, the lady put out THE most glorious Hawaiian pizza I have ever seen :) AND THEN! I looked to the right and there was some Tapioca Pudding :'D I know it's small but I know Heavenly Father was looking out for me :)

Hermana Olivas and I leave here on Monday at 3:35 am

(woooooooooohoooooooooooo!!!!) and then we'll be off to Tucson :)

Estoy aprendido mucho y me encanta este evangelio restaurado. Tengo un testimonio en el poder del sacerdocio de dios y en poder del espiritu santo. Dios nos ama. Y tiene un plan. Un plan de felicidad. Y estoy agredicio para la oportunidad para participar en este plan.

If I can figure it out, I'll send pictures when I go do laundry later today :)

Se amo :)

Hermana Lund

Entering the MTC

Hermana Lund on her way to the Missionary Training Center.

This is starting to get real.  

Like super real! She just saw the MTC entrance. These are excited tears.   

Last minute photo with Lin, Grandpa, and Grandma. 

She's so ready! :)