Week 6 little "coincidences" (T2)

Hey :)

Hope you're doing well :) I survived my first transfer!!!!!!! :D Wooohoooo! Still got a ways to go, but it's comforting to know that there's some other missionary out there that a little more clueless than you are... (not by much though! I still feel clueless some times... but I'm learning :D)

Funny stories this week.... Mmmmmmm.... This week was kind of uneventful. Well, no week is ever uneventful but I can't think of any funny stories :( Sorry! I'll be funnier next week!

Our investigators though..... Man. So we're teaching a few 17/18 year old girls. They're both really quiet and they never have ANY questions so it's really difficult to build momentum and have them share their testimony and stuff. And then on the other extreme we're teaching these 2 guys. They're Uncle/nephew about 28 and 35 years old and oh my gosh! They just have this FIRE. Woooweee. They're in Tucson trying to set up a church right now, funny enough :) It's some Christian sect, but they're congregation has like 2 or 3 people in it, and one of them is there mom/grandma. She's been really sick but today is her birthday so we bought a picture frame and we're gonna put a picture of Jesus in it for her :) But they are just so passionate! They made us papussas (definitely didn't spell that right) last week!!! and MMMMMMMMMMMMM so good! They taught us the right way to eat em too ;) (you like peel em open and eat em like a pita pocket kinda deal, fun fact of the day!) ANYWAYS. They just have SO many questions and the energy in the room once they get going is just electric! When they pray they also pray very.... expressively. hahaha like, it just really gets you pumped hahah.

So we're working on finding a balance between our two types of investigators :)

We had this really really really amazing experience on Sunday. It was after dinner and we were gonna try and knock some doors and find some new people to teach :) so we got in the car and prayed to know EXACTLY where to go. After the prayer, Hna Ellis felt like we had to go to this one house. She and her old companion had found this house with this family a few months ago. The family is non-practicing Jehova's Witnesses (yeeeeeeeeeeup! Great combination with mormons :D). Their daughter died around 6 months ago and they had adopted her 2 year old daughter. So this couple was just having a hard time. The last time Hna Ellis went to see them, they told her "sorry, we don't want your help, don't come back." So. We showed up on Sunday :) This man gave us this look, like.... really? you're back? and we just had to say "We know you said you weren't interested in our help or anything but we just felt like we should come and see you tonight." This man just started talking about how the night before they had had a vigil for their daughter. They've been having a really hard time. He just cried and cried and cried. I can't even imagine what that must be like loosing a child. But we were able to share some words of comfort that he really needed to hear and we parted as dear friends. It's amazing to know that you're in the right place at the right time saying the right things.

God really is guiding this work. I have absolutely NO doubt about that. There are THOUSANDS of little "coincidences" we encounter every day.

Sorry this email's a little bit mushier...

OH! At service this past week we made FIVE HUNDRED SANDWICHES and put together SIX HUNDRED BOXES at the food bank :)

The church is true. Hard work will pay off :) I'll have better stories next week!

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!

Week 5 Hermana Lumps

Hey!!!!

Stories!! First, this picture! Every week or so we have a Blitz :) It's where the 4 sets of missionaries in our district all go to an area and just knock doors for a few hours. This really helps get a lot done in a little amount of time, especially when the missionaries in that area are struggling or just wanna find some new investigators :) We took this picture while we were walking :) Those are our footprints :) It's a lil toasty here :)

Also this week we had splits! Since Hna Ellis is a Sister Training Leader, every so often we switch companions for 24 hours so we can learn different teaching methods n such! So on Thursday I think? I went with Hna Martin :) She's awesome!!!! She's a Yankees fan but we were able to overcome it. She has AMAZING spanish and so much energy and passion for the gospel. A story to illustrate her: One time she was teaching a lesson to someone just outside their trailer (classic Tucson) and she got the stomach flu. Like right there, while she was speaking, she was about to blow. So she finished her sentence... Walked around the corner of the trailer... Threw up in a bag... Put the bag in her purse... Came back... And picked up where she left off :) MAN. If that's not passion and dedication for the gospel then I don't know what is?

Mmmm OH! Hopped a fence in a skirt this week! We've been trying to read the Book of Mormon with this less active family a couple days a week. And this one night a lot of appointments had fell through so we were ready to get some teaching done! So we got to their house... and there was a lock on their gate... All the houses/trailers in Tucson have these like waist to chest high metal fences and most people lock em which is super frustrating. It's one thing if you knock on someone's door and they say "no" or "we're busy" but it's another thing when you get shut down by a lil baby lock! SO! I hopped the fence :) Not my most graceful moment... and I got pretty intimate with a large plant but it got the job done :) I knocked on the door and the grandma said they weren't home so I had to hop the fence back onto the other side.. but I waited til she closed the door :P

Oh! We have dinner with this less active family every Monday and they have a son who's 9 (hopefully getting baptized soon!)... He can never remember our names so we quiz him every time! Last monday he was trying real hard to think of my name... "hmmmmmmmmm Hermana.... L..... Hermana Luuuuuu.... HERMANA LUMPS!" :) yeeeeeup. That's me :) hahah It's funny cuz most people struggle with our names. We've got Hna Elleees and Hna Luuuun :) Dream team :)

Going back to the blitz, Hna Ellis wanted the chance to spend some time with Hna Martin so we split again for a few hours and Hna Adams and I were together for the blitz! Hna Adams and I came out together :) So we're both FRESH. like REAL FRESH. And she didn't know any spanish before she came out.. so we were both kind of like... uhhhhhhhh okay :D But she just had such a great attitude about it :) We ended up getting the most referrals out of any of the other missionaries! It was truly a miracle. There was a really cool guy we met. We had knocked on his house but no one was home. When we were on our way back to meet up with everyone we saw him getting home :) His name was Mario. We had a whole successful interaction in spanish where we got to teach him about baptism, talk about Jesus Christ. He kept on saying "I've seen those men in ties and white shirts all the time!! But I've never seen sister missionaries!!!!" It's awesome knowing that we each bring something different to the table :) He said that we could stop by any time and that he and his wife would cook lots of food for us :) So sweet. So kind. So amazing. The Lord really does prepare people who are ready and eager to learn and help you learn. That was the first time on my mission that I've really truly felt like a missionary and not just like a companion :) It was really special.

That's about it, but I love you guys so so much :)

We've each got something special to bring to the table! There's this killer quote I read in a book Hna Martin let my borrow:

"To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for what could have been their finest hour" - Winston Churchill-

BOOM! Preparation and worthiness is everything. Work hard, push yourself and God will bless you and will be able to bless others THROUGH you in amazingly unique ways :)

LOVE YOU GUYS!

And I haven't responded to a bunch of you... I'm sorry!!! I'm working on it!! But it's not cuz I don't love you and think about each of you and pray for you every day :) I'll do better on responding :)

Les amo mucho :)
Hermana Lumps

Week 4 "My coolness confirmed by a homeless man"

HEY :)

Funny story of the week: The other day we were walking and we had to send a text to one of our investigators... Hna Ellis is the designated driver (still haven't gotten green dotted yet.... but soon!!!) so I'm the designated texter. So I start typing away on our phone from 1999 and I WALK INTO A POLE. Well, it was a big old metal box attached to a pole. But yeah. Hurt my pride and my head a bit but we had a good laugh :)

Another funny story!! Last night we were driving to an appointment and we saw this homeless man in a wheelchair just cruising down the middle of the road. He got a lil stuck on a speedbump so we pulled over and offered to help him out :) Took about 3 seconds to figure out he was partially intoxicated and an absolute firecracker! We talked to him for a while, shared a quick gospel message and Hna Ellis said, "well, we should probably get going..." (cuz it was getting dark and two girls in South Tucson after dark is a death wish :D ) And this guy just looked at her and got really sad. And he said "You're not cool!!! You're not the cool one! SHE (pointing to me) is the cool one!!!!! I'm gonna put her around my neck and we're gonna go for a ride!" hahahah I told him maybe next time... He seemed to be okay with that :) So, if any of you had doubts about my level of coolness it's been confirmed by a homeless man from Tucson!

I honestly don't know where the time goes! We're always busy and have stuff to do, but I've never felt really overwhelmed or stressed. At least not stressed in the same way as I would get back home or at school. Out here it's all about "How can I help this person really by happy and be with their family forever?" It's a whooooooooole different level of responsibility but thus far, pretty stress free :)

During a lesson with our investigator Nadia (:D she's awesome!!), her boyfriend looked at us and said... "You guys are always smiling!" We were like "awww wow, thank you so much!" and he was like "no... like it's like an awkward smile though......" Welp. Thanks? hahaha It's kinda crazy though. There's no logical reason we should be happy and energetic and enthusiastic about the gospel. We wake up at 6:15 every day. We walk around and get doors slammed in our face. We pray and pray and pray and pray for these people to have a desire to come to church and to learn more and then they cancel appointments and we never hear from them again. It's horribly depressing! Yet I feel the complete opposite!!

Our mission is making a huge switch to have more effective Weekly Planning and Daily Planning. (Every week we talk about individuals and what we generally want to accomplish and then every night before bed we plan out the specifics of what we're gonna do). Sounds easy enough, right? Well. As a mission we've kind of been slacking off on this. So they're telling us to wake up and get to work! Weekly planning used to take about 2-3 hours....... This week it took 7.5!!!!!!!!!!!! My goodness. It was crazy! How can you talk about other people for 7.5 hours you may ask? Well. This new system of planning involves 3 steps. 1) vision 2) plan 3) scheduling. And I've been shocked about how applicable this system is to our lives. In trainings they said that this is an eternal principle.

1) vision. So apply this to yourself. What's your next big goal? Survive finals, make it to the temple, have 30 kids, whatever. Now what do you see as a part of that? Do you see yourself sitting in a library studying, managing your time well, getting lots of sleep, studying your scriptures daily, serving others. What do you see? What do you feel?

2) plan. Whatcha gonna do to make it happen??

3) schedule. When are you gonna do it??

This system is just so applicable to eternal life!! We can live with Heavenly Father again!

1) What do you imagine heaven looks like? Who are you with? What do you do? What do you feel? What have you learned?

2) How do you make that happen? How do you form those relationships with those you'll be with for eternity? What habits can you form now to change your life after you die?

3) DO IT NOW!

Change, learn, grow! I've talked about this before.. but I have been growing SO much! It's addicting and I've never been happier :) I LOVE Alma 5: 7-8, 26.

7 Behold, he changed their hearts; yea, he awakened them out of a deep sleep, and they awoke unto God. Behold,they were in the midst of darkness; nevertheless, their souls were illuminated by the light of the everlasting word; yea, they were encircled about by the bands of death, and the chains of hell, and an everlasting destruction did await them.

8 And now I ask of you, my brethren, were they destroyed? Behold, I say unto you, Nay, they were not.

26 And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?

In the midst of darkness, never loose your vision of light. Allow your heart to be changed by God himself. Pray to him for guidance and I know you will receive answers. And when those hard days come, "Can ye feel so now?" Can you feel the love and peace you have felt previously?

I love you all so so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stay amazing :) Thank you for all the love and support. I wouldn't be here without you guys...

TE AMO MUCHO!
Hermana Lund

Week 3 "Googlearlo"

Hey Guys :)

We'll start out with a funny Hermana Lund story....... My companion is currently writing to her family about this same story and disrupting the whole library with her lil snickers. Mmmmmmmhmmmm. Oh man. hahaha. Okay so I really hope this isn't one of those "you had to be there" stories but oh my gosh, I'm never gonna live this down.

Okay. So. It's one thing to go door to door or see people on the street, say hello, get to know them, see if they're interested in talking a little bit more about jesus christ, offering service, and then repeating that 209832409 times. That's Street Contacting. It's a WHOOOOOOOOLE different ball game to go CAR CONTACTING. Oh my gosh. hahaha. So. Car contacting goes down like this. You are stopped at a red light. There's a car stopped next to you. You've got a specific time frame to say hello, get to know them, see if they're interested etc etc etc. You have like 10-45 seconds to do allllll the normal things we do in maybe 5 minutes or so.

SO. I think this was on Tuesday? Who knows. Anyways. We were running late to dinner. (Every tuesday night we have dinner with the spanish patriarch and his family with the elders. He's like 90 years old and an absolutely ADORABLE little man with a testimony that'll shake your soul.) Anyways! So we were running late and we were stopped at this light with a car next to us. Hermana Ellis looked over at me and was like....... DO IT! Contact him!! Now you have to understand. We had been at that light already for maybe 10 seconds so the clock was ticking... Plus car contacting is terrifying. So we did the whole nooo do it mmmmm do it there's no time! DO IT! AHHH! and so I start talking to this guy (in spanish) driving this truck. Ask him how his day was going, if he has fun plans for easter, and then I start explain about how we have this BEAUTIFUL easter video.......... and the light turns green!!!!!!! Panic sets in!!! He looks at the light, looks at me, like "Oh, uh I'm not gonna be rude and drive off so you've got like 2 seconds...." I'm not gonna get out of my car and die trying to give him this card with the website on it. I'm not gonna just say SEE YA.... ahhhhhhhhh! so. I said the first thing that popped into my head............ uhhhhh GOOGLEARLO!!!.... Now. for all you non spanish speakers.... that translates to GOOGLE IT! ........Yeeeeup.

I kinda feel like you had to be there but oh my gosh. We just busted up laughing the whole rest of the way to dinner. Googlearlo. The epitome of panic, right there. Successful contacting! woohoo :)

hahaha everytime we plan for a lesson and we get stuck and don't know what to do... "googlearlo" :) Works every time.

Other highlights :) There's a mission rule where we have to do 10 hours of service a week!! Which is awesome and crazy!! But we've already been doing 3 hours a week at this food bank/kitchen where we make 200-300 sandwhiches and lunches for these churches that give em to homeless people. And then we've started volunteering at the legit food bank too with the elders on Tuesday and Thursday :) Last week we put together bags of bananas and grapefruit and dumped a like 300 juice jugs in a big ol' box and then washed some buckets :) It's been proven that missionaries that do service are significantly happier than those that don't. SO TRUE! So much fun :) And we've already met so many wonderful people who volunteer too. They all just wanna do the right thing and help the community. Jewish, Catholic, Atheist, etc :)

It's really cool waking up every day, rolling out of bed, saying a prayer asking for help and guidance and for the ability to learn new things that day. Then 16 hours later I'm back in the same spot saying another prayer as a totally different person! I honestly feel like a new person every single day. There is SO much to learn!! So much to discover and try and fail at and people to meet! Oh my gosh. The people. EVERYONE has a story. And they're all so humble and willing and giving. Man.

I can't not mention General Conference! HOW GOOD WERE THOSE SESSIONS??? Like man. I don't know if it's just being a missionary but conference was different this time! My favorite talk was definitely Elder Hollands. Wow. I could talk about that talk for days. I received so many answers to prayers during that talk. mmmmmm. Elder Holland is truly an apostle of God. They all are. God has blessed us with a living prophet on the earth today :) He has 12 apostles. And no matter who you are, where you come from, or what you want out of life, these servants of the Lord have the ability to give you guidance directly from God. Personal prayer and personal revelation is awesome too but prophets guide the entire church. They show us what we should be working towards as wards, communities, families, etc. (Also interesting being a missionary and sitting through 7, 8, 9? talks about marriage ;) LOLS).

But the church is true. We have been so blessed. Never stop learning!!!!!! Being a mormon is not a passive thing. googlearlo :) hahah jk. Use the scriptures. Use conference talks. Use church leaders. LEARN. Be passionate about the gospel!! Especially when it comes to Jesus Christ. Haven't finished Jesus the Christ, but there are so many details and beauties found in his premortal life, his birth, the miracles he performed etc. Learn more about him and you'll learn a heck of a lot more about yourself than you ever expected!!!!

AH! I want to share so many things but I love you guys so so much!! Being a missionary is truly a gift. A friend told me something before I left that I thought a lot about this week. "Being a missionary is the dream job!" I know that that's true. There are hard days, yeah. Rejection, food, lack of sleep, stress, etc. But I wouldn't trade this experience for anything!

LOVE YOU ALL! Hope you had a good easter and a good conference :)
Hermana Lund