Week 48 Live after the manner of happiness

Hola :)

Every day this week was monumental.

Tuesday was the 30 anniversary of my mom's baptism. That just makes my heart fill with gratitude, love, and a fire to keep going. I could hop on my mom soap box but I'll spare you :) I love you mom!

Wednesday was my 6 months to go mark... Yeah. Mixed emotions about that one. But we went up to Tucson for the best zone meeting ever! I've never been to such a spiritually significant meeting as a
missionary. And it wasn't even anything special! Just a normal meeting... But there was this moment where Hna H and I were doing a role play on inspired questions and the spirit just hit us like a train and we burst into tears. It was so bizarre but really powerful! I love being a missionary :)

Thursday we had exchanges :) I took over the area for the first time, which will always be a little nerve wracking but it all worked out! I got to go with a sister who is brand new! It was expecting it to be missionary work done with two very different perspectives but I was shocked how similar our points of view were, how similar our recent spiritual growth has been. It was kinda cool :)

Friday was Linda's birthday! Happy belated birthday, Lin! I love you buckets!!!

Saturday was transfer calls........ Hna H is going home halfway through the transfer so we were thinking a trio or she would go somewhere else in a trio. Either way, some kind of change. But......... We're staying? Yup. We talked to president and he said "I don't know what's going to happen in 4 weeks but we're just gonna act in faith and move forward. The lord will provide!" Sooooo yeah :) this
is a 7 week transfer so it'll be nice to get it broken up with some chaos :) we'll see what the lord has in store..

Sunday... Happy Valentine's Day :) it was also our monthly 7 hours of church Sunday... But! Miracle! Cowboy Bob, the recent convert we fondly call grandpa came to church for the first time in months!!! It was such a blessing to sit next to him as he took the sacrament again. He even got a little teary eyed during the closing hymn :)

Quick spiritual thought! 2 N 5:27. After Nephi and all the goodies split off from Laman and leamuel it says they have the scriptures, they learn to cultivate the land, they build a temple, they set up
priesthood leaders... And then "they lived after the manner of happiness." Cynical me, it doesn't say they were happy. The chapter goes on to say that they had wars with their brothers. There's no way
they were always happy. But. They continuously lived after the manner of happiness. They read their scriptures, they worked hard, they went to the house of the lord, they obeyed their priesthood leaders. Living after the manner of happiness GUARANTEES eternal happiness and often leads to momentary happiness that is pure and irreplaceable. True happiness comes from living correctly.

Be good :) Live after the manner of happiness :)

Hermana Lund
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Week 47 If we let it, the Holy Ghost can flood us with immediate, indescribable peace.

Hola :)

This week was a good one. Full of good things :)

For starters... So we share our wards with a set of elders. They cover Nogales right by the border and we cover Rio Rico which is more north and safer :) so we don't really know Nogales super well. Last Monday we took cowboy Bob out to dinner at Denny's down in Nogales. On our way back we were driving through downtown, not really paying attention and all of a sudden we see this huge sign MEXICO ONLY! We started freaking out! There was the huge wall, the border patrol, the dogs, everything! Hahah we made an emergency U turn and B-lined it out of there! But it was so cool!!!!! You could see Mexico! It looks just like Rio Rico except the hills are FULL of colorful houses. So beautiful! One day :) since then we've gone back to Nogales twice just to get a better look :P

We spent Thursday night at the mission president's home in Tucson for Hna H's meeting the next day, which is always a blast :) I went on exchanges with an English sister and went to YSA for the day! Good stuff! We also made a pit stop at the new Costa Vida before coming home :)

There were so many miracles this week! We ended up finding 4 new investigators!! 2 are the daughter and boyfriend of a recently reactivated family. They just moved here to get a fresh start and are so hungry to learn! It's awesome! Also their husky had puppies on Saturday night so we got to hold em and love em :) one of em pooped in Hna H's hair too :P

Spiritually, this week was amazing too. I LOVE going to two sacrament meetings. Maybe not so much for all the talks but for the sacrament!!!! Oh my gosh, I love getting that quiet time twice in one
day! I feel so lucky! Yesterday during the sacrament I felt the spirit the strongest I probably ever have. The spirit speaks to us in our minds and in our hearts. And if we let it, it can flood us with
immediate, indescribable peace.

The church is true! The Book of Mormon too!

Be happy :) and wear bright colors!! A good friend told me that this week and I highly recommend it :)

Los quiero!
Hermana Lund

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1/2. We looked around in relief society yesterday and we were completely surrounded by adorable Hispanic babies!! One of the hardest rules as a missionary is not being able to snuggle/hold adorable squishy babies...... Luckily we found a good alternative lying in the corner :) almost as good as the real thing.
3/4/5. A part member family we visit has a beaaaautiful huskies that had babies on Saturday night! So of course we went over on Sunday for a visit :) this was before Hna H picked up a puppy and it pooped in her hair :)

6. We went to Tucson cuz Hna H had MLC. She's a biiiiiiiiiig Costa
Vida fan so we made a pit stop of course :)
7. Cowboy Bob, or grandpa in his full glory :)
8. His dog Willy :)
9. Hna H likes Polaroids :)

Week 46 God truly is our loving Heavenly Father...I will forever be grateful for that.

Hola :)

This week was good!

Moderately uneventful. President and Sister Passey came down to our district meeting on Wednesday (AHHHH!). I had to give a spanish training, but it worked out well! Thanks for the assist, spanish angels! Afterwards we had interviews. Every time I talk to President Passey I just get so much more respect for him. We had a bunch of members of the 70 come a few months ago and they all said "He's honestly the best mission president." Agreed. He takes such good care of us.

We found some new investigators through a few miracles :) One of them had said she had been praying for us. LOVE IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS!!!

We were also going to bust out of the mission boundaries and go to the Gilbert Temple this past Saturday with a recent convert to do baptisms for the first time. His name is Cowboy Bob. He's a real cowboy. We call him grandpa :) The trip ended up getting cancelled last minute (there must needs be opposition in all things...) but hopefully we'll get to go for his birthday in a couple weeks!

Oh also! it's been in the high 70s this whole week :) Yup, already have a solid watch tan going. No shame. But, that being said... I've been missing the rain and clouds. I haven't been in a good rain storm in WEEKS. So the past couple days part of my prayers have sounded like this: Heavenly Father. It's silly really. But I would really love some rain. Just a nice rainy day. If it's not too much trouble. If not, I'll get over it... But yeah. Pretty please?

And so! We get out of church yesterday and go visit this less active lady and she takes one look at us and says "Where are your coats??? Aren't you getting ready for this storm???" :) She over exaggerated a little bit, but there was a storm coming. Lots of wind and crazy cool clouds. I was still hoping for some rain though. Last night before bed, I peaked outside... Still no rain. I was a little sad but I went to bed anyway. As a missionary I've developed a talent for falling asleep fast and staying asleep til the alarm goes off. I must be tired or something. But last night, I woke up for just a second. Really bizarre. And I heard it. Rain :) I said thanks Heavenly Father and fell back asleep :) The storm had passed by the time we woke up but it's still a nice cloudy day!

God truly is our loving Heavenly Father. I believe that, I know that, and I will forever be grateful for that.

Comportales bien y tenga una buena semana :)

LOS QUIERO

Hermana Lund

Week 45 "The future is as bright as your faith"

Hola familia :)

Nogales is great :) still Spanish. Still full of beautiful hills and mountains and people waiting for the gospel!

Random things:

Totally forgot to mention this before but I died my hair a few weeks ago :) my hair had gotten SUPER light out here with the sun. Plus peer pressure ;) so yeah! It's just a darker brown. I like it a lot!

Highlight of this past week was definitely going back to the Gila Valley for our quarterly temple trip :) it was just like going home. It was by far the greatest experience I have had yet at the temple.

There are so many good people here. We've got Cowboys, illegals just scraping to get by, rich rich rich retired people, young college students and everything in between. It's been interesting to see how
life is hard for everyone no matter their situation.

There have been a lot of missionaries that have been struggling lately. Physically, spiritually, emotionally. All of it. I don't know if it's just because I'm older in the mission so I see/hear more but
it seems like Satan is working so so hard on his missionaries. And if he's working hard on us, I can't even imagine what it's like back home.

I've been trying to make a more conscious effort to have faith and have hope in the future. One of my favorite Thomas S. Monson quotes.. "The future is as bright as your faith." Have faith in Jesus Christ :) Have hope that the best is yet to come :) Just be happy :) thanks to Jesus Christ, it's a choice. Happiness is 100% your choice. Wake up and decide you're going to be happy. It will make all the difference.

I love you all :) Stay happy! And do the things that you know deep down will make you truly happy!

Que tenga una buena semana!
Hermana Lund

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Every Monday we work out with all of the hermanas in the Spanish Ward.

We were getting ready one night and we discovered we were both rocking a gray hoodie, black pants, and fuzzy socks... A photo shoot ensued. Of course.

The sunrises have been ON POINT recently...

 Especially when Hna Hubert decides to do yoga.

Southeast zone temple trip :) it was nice to go back to the gila valley!

This is our double date district. It's just us and the elders around here so we always get to ask a member to tag along when we do stuff. This time the member took us on a RIDICULOUS hike!

Hermana Hubert has a new goal to do tree pose in as many places as possible.

 It didn't look that bad.... But it just about killed us all. Worth it though. So so beautiful.

We took the Sahuarita sisters out to fro yo after their baptism on Saturday. I think I've found my place as a missionary :)

Week 44 Short email this week

Glad to hear you're all doing well and working hard! Keep it up! You've got this!

I don't really feel like writing a long email this week but I'm glad you're all doing good :)

Hermana Lund
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Week 43 First Week in Nogales (T8)

Hola familia :)

Coming to you live from Nogales!! I love it here!

We share an English ward and a Spanish ward with a set of elders. So lots of work and hardly any other missionaries around to distract. It's awesome! We stay mostly in Rio Rico (a little more north) but our area is HUGE. Lots of driving like the gila valley which is really nice :) especially because I LOVE my companion. She's amazing! I served around her a little bit when I first came out but I love her so much! We complement each other really well. She's big on the MBTI personality test and we've figured out that our personalities are the most compatible! I like the way she thinks. So we end up having amazing deep conversations while we drive. I've learned a lot about myself and a lot about the gospel just this week.

What else? Oh. She's a big health nut so she's whipping me into shape (it's about time). We go to the track every morning and she runs 4 miles while I go for a nice walk :) hahah... But it's BEAUTIFUL
watching the sunrise at the track. It's really hilly here and lots of mountains too. BEAUTIFUL. And our apartment is a two story with an amazing view. I'll send some pictures.

Hna H is a sister training leader so we went to Tucson for her meeting which was fun! I got paired with another sister and we ran around Tucson all day helping sisters jump start their car and knocking an apartment complex with one of my old companions. The lord used us even outside of our area.

Today has been a good p day too. Worked out with the hermanas from the ward :) Got my teeth cleaned and a cavity filled for free by a member :) little bit of shopping. Funnily enough last night Hna H had a dream that we needed to go to JC Penney. So we go and we're just having a grand old time... Turns out one of the workers is a less active they have been trying to contact for months! We got her information and set up a good time to see her next week and we got lots of free stuff too
:) MILAGROS.

This week has been full of miracles. Hna H is so in tune with the spirit. She relies so much on prayer, it's amazing! We have been guided to so many places to teach certain things and it just happens
to be exactly what that person needed. One of them is Dylan. She's a 9 year old from a part member family who hasn't been baptized yet. We were out visiting other people, found ourselves with a little extra time so we prayed and felt like we should see this family.
Conveniently it was only one street over. We met her and her sisters and their grandmother was there. Turns out that the grandmother is a less active that dropped off the face of the earth a few years ago.
They all came to church yesterday. It was such a miracle. Dylan is a cute little cowgirl with freckles. It was great to see her smiley face at church with her family.

I've been thinking a lot about communication. The bishop gave me 5 minutes notice to speak yesterday (first time that's happened on my mission) and I decided to talk about that. Prayer and insight from God takes time. Think about it. Sometimes the visions we read about in the scriptures take several chapters. And if it takes 30 minutes or so to read... Imagine how long it took in real life. I've been using my morning walks to just think and talk to God a little more. That extended time to talk to him through informal prayer has made a world of difference! Peace. Clarity. It's made the transition here a lot easier, which was one of my worries.

The church is true in Nogales too :)
Les quiero mucho!!!
Hermana Lund

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1. We have a goal to take a picture each day... Sometimes we forget until it's late... Much too late...

2. Hna H during weekly planning :)

3. The view from our balcony :)

4. Saying goodbye to the Padillas, my Recent converts. We visited them almost every day I was there... Sad to say goodbye!

5. The transfer van crew. Transfer day travel was NUTS. We drove from the gila valley to Duncan to lordsburg to Wilcox to Tucson dropping off everyone. (Look at a map. Not geographically... Fun.) and then Hna H got me in Tucson and we drove to Wilcox. I left the Gila at 10:45.... Arrived in Nogales at 7:45 WOOOHOOO :)

6/7. Our first pics as a companionship :) what happens when you don't answer your door with a beautiful wreath on it

Week 42 Last Day in Gila Valley

Hola :)

Today's a big day. I hit 10 months and it's also my last day here in the Gila Valley. Tomorrow I'm off to....... NOGALES! It's a border town under Tucson, like you can see Mexico from your house so there's gonna be a lot more spanish and a totally different vibe in comparison to here. Culture shock here we come!!!! But I've served around my new comp before. She's awesome! I'm really excited! She goes home soon so I'll probably end up killing her but one transfer at a time :)

Happy New Year!!

This week was a blur. It's been hard to start saying goodbye, but such is life!

This past week we witnessed a miracle though. I think I've told you about her before, but there's this woman Patsy we've been seeing. She's my best friend :) And I mean that. She's been coming back to church and she has just been an absolute rock. She's had a lot of medical problems but on top of all of that, she got really really sick on Saturday. She couldn't breath. Just coughing and wheezing. It was pretty bad. So after a long talk she decided she would like a priesthood blessing. Wow wow wow. I'm not gonna be able to put this into words as well I hope, but she was HEALED. Her breathing IMMEDIATELY improved and 15 minutes later we were all laughing and joking around again. It was an incredible moment to see the light in her eyes and realize all the little things that came together to make that miracle happen. Wow. Well done, Heavenly Father.

I'm gonna miss this area and the people a lot. Plus I stink at goodbyes. Good news is that I'll be back at the end of the month for our scheduled temple trip :) Tender mercies.

I love you all! Be good :)
Hermana Lund

1. New Year's Eve dinner with the Penas and our favorite sisters. We've spent Hna B's birthday, Halloween, thanksgiving eve,thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas, and New Year's Eve with them :) I'm gonna miss them but I think my waistline will thank me.

2. Patsy and us outside the temple yesterday. She'll be going through sometime soon and we promised we'll all be back :)

3. Most of the young women from the branch

4. Most of the youth from the branch

5. Branch president and his family