Week 24 Tacos, Tendons, Transfers, and Tattoos (T5)

Hola :)

This week was nuts. Complete chaos all leading up to Friday (which was our combined taco fiesta single-handedly executed by 4 sister missionaries and the best family ever) and Saturday which was baptism day and transfer calls.....

On Monday I got to talk to my recent convert from Tucson... Remember H&P? Well, H blessed the sacrament yesterday and he was so dang excited :) I felt like such a proud mom.

Oh! You'll get a kick out of this... We came up with this game this week. I'm pretty sure I've told you about Tiwi before (the lil machine in all the mission cars that yells at you when you go 7 over the speed limit). Well. The game is... whenever the driver gets yelled at by tiwi, you switch drivers until they get yelled at by tiwi........ Needless to say, I've driven a whopping total of about 20 minutes this past week :) You can take the girl out of Boston but you can't take the Boston out of the girl :)

Wednesday was a really good day. Lots of running around (picking up stuff for the fiesta, printing baptismal programs, etc) but it was a lot of fun! And we were able to have 2 lessons back to back with 2 awesome investigators where we set baptismal dates!! One of em is married and her husband told her he wasn't going to go to her baptism and she was like... "Oh well!" :) She's so prepared... She stinkin knew what an endowment is... Her date is set for the 19th of September :)

Okay. Friday. Long story short, we got to the church in the morning with the other sisters and started setting up, giving us plenty of extra time. Lunch time rolled around so Hna M and I went to get food. We come back a little while later and we see one of the other sisters laying on the ground with her foot on a chair, her companion holding a bloody paper towel to her ankle. She had sliced the back of her heal on one of those chair cart things JUST LIKE LINDA!! It was really deep. Through a huge fiasco and some assistance from some elders we managed to get her to the doctors. They poked and prodded and tweezed and man, it was actually really really cool. Like part of you wants to throw up in a trash can but there is absolutely no way you're gonna pass up on seeing a doctor hold someone's tendon with a pair of tweezers :) She partially severed her Achilles tendon which isn't ideal.. but she's tough :) So that killed a few hours so we were running around frantically the half hour before the fiesta was supposed to start.

5 minutes before everyone was supposed to arrive, we realized we needed some ice!!! So Hna M and I hopped in the truck and booked it to the gas station. As we got there, a man held open the door for us. Hna M asked him his name... He said it was Jim.... Turns out he was a former investigator that we have been trying to contact for WEEKS!! So Hna M snagged some ice, I set up another time we could see him and we were off :) Really cool miracle and the fiesta was great :)

Saturday. The baptism of A&A. The two sisters. So beautiful. Not a dry eye in the house :) And transfer calls came............ Hna M is headed to a border town Everyone says she's gonna get kidnapped and hear gunshots and such but she's really excited :) and I'm staying here with...... Hna B :D I've only had brief conversations with her, but I've heard only wonderful, positive things about her :) I'm really excited :)

Sunday. A&A got confirmed :') and we also made plans with them to go to the temple to do baptisms on Wednesday :) we also got to go to a special fireside from Al Fox Carraway also known as the Tattooed Mormon. She's a convert from New York with a killer story, a super successful blog, and AMAZING public speaking skills. So so so cool. We were able to snag a picture with her afterwards with A&A and our sister training leaders :)

The takeaway I got from her story was TRY. Just try. There's that Gordon B. Hinckley quote, I think... "Try a little harder to be a little better." And the power of just TRYING is so underrated. I've seen so many nonmembers, members, and even missionaries that have just given up. Just try. God loves us. We have been given an incredible gift to choose. Agency. "As you submit your will to God's, you are giving him the only thing that you can actually give him that is yours to give." Turn to him through prayer, reading your scriptures, and TRYING and you will be blessed. I know it. I've seen it.

I love you all :) Que tenga una buena semana :)
Hermana Lund

Week 23 "We can break the cords that bind us"

Hola :)

I'm struggling to remember what happened this week...

Hna M has been really sick so our time out of the apartment has been limited... but we were able to hit mission standards of excellence for the 3rd week in a row :D So many little miracles and coincidences.

We also had zone conference with all the missionaries in the Gila Valley and New Mexico on Tuesday. It was nice to see a lot of old friends I served with in Tucson :) Plus, President and Sister Passey are absolutely legendary. Really really great conference. Learned a lot.

Mmmmm what else. Oh! We went bowling this morning :) That was fun :)

Mmmmmmm oh! this coming week is going to be absolute chaos. We put together this bi-ward TACO FIESTA NIGHT that's going down this friday. Hopefully we'll get a lot of nonmembers or less actives to come out. Should be a blast :) We just have to do all the running around and organizing, which I kind of love, but hopefully Hna M will be well enough. We've also got 3 baptisms this Saturday (wooohooo :D).

And then we also have transfer calls this Saturday as well. At this point, anything could happen. With Hna M being sick, we might get put in a trio. I probably won't leave. I feel like Hna M and I are just going to stay together and that'll be that, but WHO KNOWS :) Woohooo gotta love the suspense.

With Hna M being sick I've had a lot of time with just me, myself, my thoughts, and my scriptures :) I read the story of Alma and Amulek in Ammonihah this week (solid alliteration right there). They preached to the people and some converted. Then because of a whole bunch of nonsense, they were bound, beaten, tormented, forced to watch those converts burn, and put into prison. Ouch. And you thought you had it tough. And the scriptures say that they were put through those things for DAYS. And the whole time, God tells them to be patient and endure it well. After days, Alma just can't take it any more and he says: "How long shall we suffer these great afflictions, O Lord? O Lord, give us strength according to our faith which is in Christ, even unto deliverance. And they broke the cords with which they were bound"

I find it particularly powerful that THEY broke the cords by which they were bound. No doubt, God gave them that strength, but God required him to give it all he had and then he was freed. And then a whole bunch of other cool miracles happened.

But I know that God requires a lot of us, especially when we're going through hard things. But if we have faith, and if we give it all we can, we can break the cords that bind us.

I love you all :) Read your scriptures... I promise it'll help!

Gracias por todo :)
Hermana Lund

Week 22 MIRACLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hooooola :) Como estan??

This week was a week full of miracles :)

First, we had a Zone Goal (for the 13 companionships serving in the Gila) to find 28 new investigators this week. The record for the mission had been 27 before so we figured, what the heck, let's do it!!! ... As a zone we found FORTY NEW INVESTIGATORS. 16 of those were found in one day :') Miracle.

Okay. So. Last Tuesday there was a good old storm brewing in the distance with some thunder and black black clouds. We headed into dinner right when it hit so we didn't get too wet, but during dinner you could see all the hail and it was just dumping buckets outside. The power kept flickering, the wind was going. I'm a total storm junkie so I was on cloud 9 :) During our dinner message the lights kept flickering... It was totally the Holy Ghost :P So. Anyways. Awesome storm. And then we had to leave... so we BOOKED it through the pouring rain to the truck. As we started to drive, the rain kept getting worse and worse. So we pulled out of this little side street onto the main road and we couldn't even see 20 feet in front of us. It was bad and honestly we were starting to get a little nervous. So we decided to pull over back onto this side street.

And I don't really know how it happened... But long story short, as we were pulling onto this side street, a telephone pole and all the accompanying wires fell a FOOT (not an exaggeration) away from our truck onto the road where were were 2 seconds before. Had we not turned onto the side street we would've gotten hit. Had we been 2 seconds slower, we would've gotten hit. It was insane. You can't really see it well in the picture.... but gosh. It was crazy. Miracle.

The even cooler part was directly after, as we turned around to look at the pole, I felt the Holy Ghost, this peace, this love, these chills, stronger than I ever have before.

I've never been one that has these big huge life or death miracles happen... But I'm grateful for "coincidences" from a loving God :)

My favorite scripture that I've probably shared 1203981023 times is Proverbs 16:9

"A man's heart deviseth the way, but the Lord directeth his steps."

As our hearts are set on good things, the Lord will guide our steps and protect us along the way.

Les quiero mucho!!!!! Que tenga una buena semana :)
Hermana Lund

Some pics of us goofing around:

Week 21 Month 5!

HEY :)

So this week I hit my 5 month mark......... Yup. 5 whole months. I'm still processing.... but yeah! Craziness!!! :)

So... this week...

Well. So Hermana M has had these bad stomach aches and head aches so we went to the doctor on Tuesday, I think.......... We had thought she might be allergic to gluten or something else...... PLOT TWIST! SHE HAD STREP THROAT :D woooohoooooooo! Definitely didn't see that one coming... So we spent much of the beginning part of the week inside the apartment (lots of good Book of Mormon study time which was awesome!!). And I honestly don't really get sick. And I feel like our family had a "rub some dirt on it" kind of attitude about sickness so I've never been much of a CALL A DOCTOR! STAY HOME! CANCEL EVERYTHING!!! kind of person... But let's just say we're pretty sure I have strep too and we're gonna go to the doctor in the next few days :)

Oh, so there's this one family we've been teaching. They're stinkin hilarious, I love em so much! The dad hasn't gone to church in a while, and the mom and two teenage daughters aren't members. The teenage girls have been wanted to get baptized but the parents were really hesitant. But after weeks and weeks and weeeeeeeks of praying, WE GOT THE GREEN LIGHT :D they're getting baptized on the 29th :)

But this family, oh my gosh. They crack me up. Their newest hobby has been finding celebrity look alikes for Hna M and I :) apparently the other day they were watching Disney channel and there was this one girl on a random show I've never heard of that looked like me.... Let's just say she's super dorky and has an interesting fashion sense :P we were laughing for a good long while.

Oh! Amazing amazing story!! So our ward mission leader has these two little twin girls :) cutest lil things! They call us the "manas" :) but so Brother W was at work and Sister W left the two twin girls inside with some of their cousins while she did some yard work. After a while she noticed all the cousins had gone to play in the backyard, but the twins were nowhere to be found. So she got this prompting to go in the house and find the girls! She ran inside and found them in the bathtub with the water running and their little faces just barely above the water... Crazy! But we're glad they're okay. Thank heavens for the Holy Ghost.

To all the mormons out there, this is for you!!!

Doing missionary work as a member and not a full time missionary can be tough. You don't want to overstep your bounds, make relationships awkward, seem too pushy... I understand. But that doesn't mean it's not worth it. Sometimes it just takes a little extra faith and a little extra prayer :) So. My invitation for all of you comes from a quote from Neal A. Maxwell.

He said "The key to successful member missionary work is the exercise of faith. One way to show your faith in the Lord and His promises is to prayerfully set a date to have someone prepared to meet with the missionaries. I have received hundreds of letters from members who have exercised their faith in this simple way. Even though families had no one in mind with whom they could share the gospel, they set a date, prayed, and then talked to many more people. The Lord is the Good Shepherd, and He knows His sheep who have been prepared to heard His voice. He will guide us as we seek His divine help in sharing His gospel."

We have priesthood power. We have the Book of Mormon. We have a modern day prophet. And there are people in the world who have absolutely no idea. Exercise faith and set a time to have missionaries come over teach someone in your home. I promise you will be blessed with missionary opportunities and the spirit in your homes and in your hearts will be strengthened.

Sorry this email's so choppy... but les quiero mucho!!!

Hermana Lund :)

Week 20 Blessings Come After Tribulations

¡Hola!

Okay, so I feel like immediately after I email you guys, EVERYTHING happens. Last week was really really hard, honestly. So p day was such a blessing. After we emailed, we went to this investigators home and got to play with horses and their baby goats :) hence the pictures...

That was a lot of fun. And then that night I was feeling really discouraged and I was writing in my journal and being all mopey and dramatic and then Sister Munk said "oh! We have a missed call from a 520 number..." "That's a Tucson number....?" So we called it back.... And it was my old zone leaders!! Some of my best friends!! They just called to check in :) it was a total answer to a prayer :') it's been hard being isolated from all the other Spanish missionaries I got so close to, especially when a lot of the English missionaries here just think we're here to steal their investigators but challenge

accepted!!!!

So that was one miracle.... And then on Tuesday I got a call from Hna Townley and her new companion in my old area. They've been visiting our recent converts H&P... So. H&P had some reservations about paying tithing which was a huge roadblock in teaching them, but eventually they were ready to act in faith, get baptized and pay tithing and wait for the lord to provide :) so when Hna townley called she said that somehow, magically, coincidentally, all of these bills that H&P had.... HAD BEEN PAID!!!! I burst into tears. No shame. Oh my goodness. God loves us and he wants to take care of us... Yeeesh. I still can't believe it :') H also got the priesthood yesterday :')

Other than that, this week was pretty uneventful... Lots of service, helping people move, going to the food bank. Yesterday was one of those stereotypically rough missionary days where you try and visit 15 homes (yes, we counted) and no one was home or wanted to see us... And then we got stuck out in the rain. Yeah... That was an "endure to the end" kind of day. But I love those days, cuz it helps me remember why I'm here :)

Oh! We got to have a lesson with these investigators IN THE TEMPLE!!! It was just in the waiting room... But they were so amazed by the spirit that was there... It was amazing :) being so close to the temple is such a blessing! Yesterday when it was raining there was a HUGE rainbow that led straight to the temple :) it was beautiful.

Anyways. I love you guys!!! The church is true :) I know we're never alone and that blessings come after tribulations :)

Les quiero mucho!!
Hermana Lund

Sent from my iPad

Week 19 Sacred Sanctification

Hoooola :)

So! New area!! New companion!! New everything!!!

The Gila Valley feels like an entirely different mission. Hermana Munk and I are the only spanish missionaries in the whole valley............. Yup. And our area is the whole valley...... Our area overlaps with about 16 english missionaries so geographically it is HUGE. We drive a lot :) Meaning, I drive a lot :) Which I absolutely love! We have a big old white truck too for all the dirt roads. Man. It's so crazy and green here! with fields and crops and farm animals... Holy cow! I have never seen so many horses in my life. We also get to drive by the temple a few times every day which gives me the chills every time :) It really is so beautiful here. WAY different than Tucson which isn't really a bad thing or a good thing.

Also, the spanish is really limited. We had maybe 1 or 2 lessons this week that were entirely in spanish and then maybe 15 that were completely in english. It kind of breaks my heart not being able to use spanish as much as before. Oh, and also... I have no idea how to talk to people in english! Yeesh... Turns out I'm an awkward missionary... Dang it. In spanish I can be all charming and such but english... forget about it :P

Our branch is made up of maybe 3 or 4 people that only speak spanish and then a ton of white people :) Oh, and everyone here is a member... But we get treated like royalty!! DISCOUNTS GALORE!!! We went out to dinner once: paid for. Went out to lunch: paid for. Did service at the food bank: free groceries. It's ridiculous!! Don't get me wrong.. It's great! It's just different than all the crazy homeless people in Tucson.

We've seen a lot of miracles this week though. It was really easy to go knocking in Tucson cuz there were apartment complexes and pretty mexican areas. Here, it's alllllllllllllll white. And our area's HUGE (like we can drive up to 2300 miles a month, huge). And the houses are all pretty spread out with dirt roads farms in between. So. Knockin here is a challenge. But we did a lof of "eh, let's try that random farm over there!" and they just happened to speak spanish :) One house we knocked on happened to have a spanish husband, and a less-active wife that hasn't been visited by missionaries in 7 years. Oh and she just *happens* to be having a major surgery in the next few weeks... Hmmm. coincidence? I think not :) They're really funny and kind and they invited us back to play with their horses and goats and donkeys and cows and dogs and chickens! We snagged a couple pictures with their cute lil baby goats :)

I've been studying in Mosiah a lot, reading the stories of all the great missionaries/leaders/pure legends like King Benjamin and Abinadi. And I kept seeing these little passages that just bugged me. After King Benjamin gives all of his words of wisdom to his people from the tower and turns over everything to his son, it says in Mosiah 6:5 "And King Benjamin lived for 3 years and he died." And then it moves on. THREE YEARS??? One of the wisest men in the world was about to die... Don't tell me he just sat around for 3 years doing nothing, saying nothing! And then I hit the story of Abinadi. After he confronts evil King Noah and lays everything on the table it says he was in prison for 3 days and then the story moves on. He essentially condemns himself to death by standing up for what he believes in, and there is nothing about the 3 days that follow?

I strongly believe that those 3 years and those 3 days must have been one of the most sacred periods of time those two great men ever experienced. Whenever we make the conscious decision to follow God and to act in faith we are IMMEDIATELY blessed with an outpouring of the spirit. I have felt that time and time again as a missionary. I can only imagine that sweet spirit those men must have felt before they died. They probably experienced trials, doubts, depression, anxiety in those time frames as well. But I have no doubt that the Lord blessed them for completing the work he had set out for them to do.

Leaving Sonora on such a high note with a baptism I feel like this past week has been like my 3 years or 3 days. Difficult, challenging, but so full of the spirit confirming that my work there is done and I have done what the Lord wanted me to do there :) I'm excited to see what happens as my story moves on here in the Gila Valley :)

Thank you for all our love and prayers!! Y'all are great :) And the church is true!

Hermana Lund

Goats!!

Week 18 Salty (T4)

Hooooooooooooooooola :)

Bueno. Pues. This week was RIDICULOUS. In the best possible way :) I've never been so exhausted in my life :D hahaha

Everything this week was leading up to Saturday: 3:00 H&P's baptism, 9:00 transfer calls...... AHH.

But there were sooooooo many miracles this week leading up to H&P's baptism!

Por ejemplo, we went to the library to print out some invitations for the baptism to hand out and there was this wicked long line for the computers. We signed up and decided to sit down while we waited. So we sat down on these couches and there was this man reading a news paper sitting across from us (kinda like in the movies where it completely covers their face :P) After we sat down he moved the paper in what I felt like was a very dramatic reveal..... and......... it was one of our old investigators' husband!!! We had lost touch with them a few weeks ago. And then his kids came over and we got to talk to them and play some chess and blocks and give them an invitation to the baptism......... What are the odds that we would be at the same library. same day. same time... Hmmmmm. Heavenly Father... I see what you did there.

So the baptism!!!! :'D It was beautiful! Lots of members were there! And even President Passey and his wife came! Now. In order to have a baptism, you have to reserve the building with the building coordinator. We had done that a while ago so we were all set. We had the building all set from 3-5. Also, in the past, they've had the baptismal service (like the talks and musical numbers and everything) in the baptismal font room.... but since H&P are so special, we decided to have it in the chapel........ So. Long story short. The other ward decided to plan a baptism for 4:00 without telling the building coordinator........................... And the other ward also decided to plan a talent show at 5:00............................................. Oh, I was so stinkin mad. YEESH. It was pure chaos. But it was a pure miracle that we had planned on doing everything in the chapel so that the other ward could use the baptismal room when we were done. Ugh. It's making my blood boil just thinking about it.... but other than that, everything was perfect :')

Oh my goodness, I just wish I could have taken that moment and put it in a jar so I could keep it forever. Seeing H&P get baptized :') And then confirmed yesterday :'''') Gets me every time. I love them so so much.

As a missionary I have found there's a lot of moments that I just can't put into words... There's a story that Boyd K Packer told that I just LOVE. It's a little long, but I promise it's worth it!!!!!!

“I will tell you of an experience I had before I was a General Authority which affected me profoundly. I sat on a plane next to a professed atheist who pressed his disbelief in God so urgently that I bore my testimony to him. ‘You are wrong,’ I said, ‘there is a God. I know He lives!’

“He protested, ‘You don’t know. Nobody knows that! You can’t know it!’ When I would not yield, the atheist, who was an attorney, asked perhaps the ultimate question on the subject of testimony. ‘All right,’ he said in a sneering, condescending way, ‘you say you know. Tell me how you know.’

“When I attempted to answer, even though I held advanced academic degrees, I was helpless to communicate.

“When I used the words Spirit and witness, the atheist responded, ‘I don’t know what you are talking about.’ The words prayer, discernment, and faith, were equally meaningless to him. ‘You see,’ he said, ‘you don’t really know. If you did, you would be able to tell mehow you know.’

“I felt, perhaps, that I had borne my testimony to him unwisely and was at a loss as to what to do. Then came the experience! Something came into my mind...

“Such an idea came into my mind and I said to the atheist, ‘Let me ask if you know what salt tastes like.’

“‘Of course I do,’ was his reply.

“‘When did you taste salt last?’

“‘I just had dinner on the plane.’

“‘You just think you know what salt tastes like,’ I said.

“He insisted, ‘I know what salt tastes like as well as I know anything.’

“‘If I gave you a cup of salt and a cup of sugar and let you taste them both, could you tell the salt from the sugar?’

“‘Now you are getting juvenile,’ was his reply. ‘Of course I could tell the difference. I know what salt tastes like. It is an everyday experience—I know it as well as I know anything.’

“‘Then,’ I said, ‘assuming that I have never tasted salt, explain to me just what it tastes like.’

“After some thought, he ventured, ‘Well-I-uh, it is not sweet and it is not sour.’

“‘You’ve told me what it isn’t, not what it is.’

“After several attempts, of course, he could not do it. He could not convey, in words alone, so ordinary an experience as tasting salt. I bore testimony to him once again and said, ‘I know there is a God. You ridiculed that testimony and said that if I did know, I would be able to tell you exactly how I know. My friend, spiritually speaking, I have tasted salt. I am no more able to convey to you in words how this knowledge has come than you are to tell me what salt tastes like. But I say to you again, there is a God! He does live! And just because you don’t know, don’t try to tell me that I don’t know, for I do!’

“As we parted, I heard him mutter, ‘I don’t need your religion for a crutch! I don’t need it.’

“From that experience forward, I have never been embarrassed or ashamed that I could not explain in words alone everything I know spiritually” (“The Candle of the Lord,” Ensign, Jan. 1983, 51–52).
My mission has been so incredibly salty!! Just full of moments that I want to describe, but I just can't. I wish I could describe how I felt when H&P got baptized. I wish I could tell you how I know that Heavenly Father is real and that he has a plan for each and every one of us. I wish I could tell you how.... But that reminds me of another President Packer quote: "Much of what I have come to know falls into the category of things which cannot be taught but can be learned."

I cannot teach or express the things I have learned on my mission so far but I wish with all my heart for you all to know the things that I know. Pray. Read the Book of Mormon. Ask. Do all that you physically can so that you can experience all the blessings Heavenly Father has in store for you.

Oh! and transfers!!! Hah. Almost forgot... I'm going up to the Gila Valley :) I leave tomorrow! I feel a little as though I'm being banished, leaving Tucson. People call Tucson "the promised land" for spanish missionaries just cuz there's so many missionaries and so many mexicans and so much work! And the Gila only has a few spanish missionaries and it's notoriously white and very mormon. Oh! Also I don't know my companion at all... She's only been out a few transfers so no one knows her either so this'll be interesting!! But yeah :) I'm leaving Tucson and being banished 3 hours away in a cool, green, oasis of mormons apparently :) Hahah I'm excited though. It'll be a COMPLETELY different experience :) A fresh start :) And I'll come back when H&P go to the temple :) Oh! and how interesting that H had that dream about the GILA VALLEY TEMPLE and I get transferred to the GILA VALLEY.... I just thought that was cool :)

I LOVE YOU ALL SO SO MUCH! The church is true! I wish you all the best :)
Hermana Lund

p.s. Also, don't be discouraged by the lack of smiling mexicans... they just don't smile. Don't ask me why... But asi es :)

Hector and Patty and me and Hna Townley

Hna Ellis got to come too! She goes home tomorrow :''''''''''''''''''''''''''( But she got to be there for their baptism which was really special. She's one of my best friends and I owe her everything. She made me a missionary!! Oh man... It's gonna be hard to say goodbye. She was an amazing trainer.  

One of the ward members. His spanish was SO hard to understand at first and he intimidated me SO MUCH!!! But now we're buddies :) 

Some of the girls from the ward :) 

They're mom :) 

One of the daughters of that intimidating member!

After the baptism with some other missionaries :)