Hello again :)
Life's good :) On Tuesday we had Elder Corbridge from the 70 come for our half mission conference!!!! He's the guy that wrote the 4th missionary talk! If you haven't read it..... READ IT NOW! He's amazing!!!!!! And so Monday night we got a text from President asking Hna Townley if she would be okay having an interview with Elder Corbridge!!!!!!!!!!!! We were both kinda freaking out... I was a little bummed too, not gonna lie. But I was happy for her nonetheless :) So we go in on Tuesday morning and she goes in for her interview.... and then afterwards they all come out and Elder Corbridge says "Hermana Lund, could you come in here for a minute?" ................. PURE PANIC SET IN. Yeesh. I felt like I was getting called into the principal's office.......... if the principal was a member of the quorum of the stinkin 70!!! AH. But he just wanted to talk :) He's an amazing guy :) We had a great conversation :) And the rest of the conference with him was amazing too :)
Other than that, this week was pretty uneventful. Lots of little miracles here and there :) Turns out 2 of our investigators work together! Like in the same department! :) Coincidence... I think not!
OH! This week we did a TON of service! We went back to that school and cleaned that with 12 other missionaries from the zone which was a blast :) And then on Saturday we painted a house :D BRIGHT ORANGE! I love Mexicans.... But it was an ex-investigator's son! And we got 6 elders to come and help too, which was great! He was very grateful for the help :) He said he wants to throw a little party for us to celebrate! We were able to tie in the Word of Wisdom a little bit there and give him a pamphlet ;)
Oh..... It's still REALLY hot. But not as bad as last week.... That was killer. We're hoping that was the worst of it. But the monsoon season is starting :D We've hardly gotten any rain here, but these really dark clouds roll in and everything just gets dark and the LIGHTNING! AHHH LOVE IT! SO COOL! .. But yeah. Apparently there's been a lot of rain in East Tucson... Maybe they'll share some with us this week :)
OH! and we got a call on Saturday morning to teach relief society yesterday! So that was exciting!! :P Definitely not our best lesson.... but learning experiences, right? :P Plus, the branch here is just amazing. It's going to be so hard to say goodbye.
Para terminar, quiero compartir algo chiquito en espanol para mostrar a mi madre que en realidad estoy aprendiendo espanol :P Se que no soy perfecto. Se que Dios nos ama. Se que nadie esta solo en la tierra. Lei la escritura esta manana en 2 Nefi 28:30. "Pues he aqui, asi dice el Senor Dios: Dare a los hijos de los hombres linea por linea, precepto por precepto, un poco aqui y un poco alli; y benditos son aquellos que escuchan mis preceptos y prestan atencion a mis consejos, porwue aprenderan sabiduria; pues a quien reciba, le dare mas; y a los que digan: tenemos bestante, les sera quitado aun lo que tuvieren." He aprendido que esta escritura es cierto. Tenemos que aprender poco a poquito. Como un videojuego :) Tenemos que vencer un nivel antes que seguimos. Poco a poquito :)
LOVE YOU GUYS :)
Que tenga una buena semana!
Hermana Lund
Address
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Monday, June 22, 2015
Week 14....I almost killed my companion
HOOOOOOLA :) como estan?
Pues. It's been REAL hot. Like it takes all your energy not to keel over and die every day kind of hot. Yeeeesh. And it's supposed to be 108 the whole week.... so wooohoooo :) and our zone is the hottest (temperature-wise.....) zone in the whole mission. I should've known this would be one of my trials... Sighhhh. But it's all good :) It's sunny :) People take pity on us :) It's all good :)
... But I did almost kill my companion. Not like she was being annoying so I wanted to strangle her or anything. But I seriously almost killed her. So..... I like to work hard..... Like ridiculously hard. Especially when I'm mad :P And when it's hot outside, I tend to get a little mad and frustrated, so I just work and work and work and since I've been in the area the longest I was kind of calling the shots. So I was having us run around and visit eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeveryone. Driving. In the car. Out of the car. Hurrying. Going going going. And so on Tuesday, Hna Townley got reeeeeeeally sick :/ I felt horrible. I almost worked my companion to death. I'm a little proud... but also not at all. This heat is just such a game changer in terms of what we can realistically do. I'm not used to having to adapt based on weather. I'm more of a plow-right-through kind of a worker. But our goal this week is to work smarter and safer :)
The members and investigators here just have my heart, 100%. We had a Father's Day fiesta on Saturday with carne asada y frijoles y musica and my goodness, I just love these people with all my heart. It's going to be so hard to leave. But it's all good :) I know the Lord has a plan and it'll all work out :)
Oh! So this week I got to organize this huge service project with a member of our branch. She's been cleaning schools for like 20 years and she asked if some missionaries could help. We got 12 missionaries and 2 members to come help :) It was awesome! We just cleaned this little school for 2 hours and then they took us out to Chinese :) What a treat!
Oh! So these investigators!! This one couple just has my whole heart. They're just so wonderful and loving and ready to be baptized :') So we went over and we asked if they had had the chance to read at all. And he was like "ohhhh well... no.... work got a little busy... no.......OH WAIT! Actually, I read all of Ether!!" ....... He just casually read the whole book of Ether in one sitting!! :'D Seriously wanted to cry. He's such an amazing example to me! The scriptures are such a blessing. Especially the Book of Mormon. In my personal study this week I found this scripture in 2 Nephi 22:3. It says:
"Therefore, with JOY ye shall draw water out of the WELLS OF SALVATION."
First of all, I just loooooooooove the language of the scriptures. My trainer used to describe reading scriptures as filling up this big old pool or a bucket with water. We have to show up with our bucket and fill it as much as we can with good water so that as missionaries we can leave with our buckets and share the water with those we teach. The scriptures are a well of salvation. A well of faith, self discovery, everything that leads to salvation! And we should draw water from that well JOYFULLY. Maybe that means you end up reading the whole book of Ether because you love it so much :) But I know that when we joyfully draw water out of the wells that lead to salvation we can experience peace in our lives through the Holy Ghost.
I love the Book of Mormon with all my heart. Read it. Cherish it. Never take it for granted :)
LES QUIERO MUCHO!!!
Hermana Lund :)
Pues. It's been REAL hot. Like it takes all your energy not to keel over and die every day kind of hot. Yeeeesh. And it's supposed to be 108 the whole week.... so wooohoooo :) and our zone is the hottest (temperature-wise.....) zone in the whole mission. I should've known this would be one of my trials... Sighhhh. But it's all good :) It's sunny :) People take pity on us :) It's all good :)
... But I did almost kill my companion. Not like she was being annoying so I wanted to strangle her or anything. But I seriously almost killed her. So..... I like to work hard..... Like ridiculously hard. Especially when I'm mad :P And when it's hot outside, I tend to get a little mad and frustrated, so I just work and work and work and since I've been in the area the longest I was kind of calling the shots. So I was having us run around and visit eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeveryone. Driving. In the car. Out of the car. Hurrying. Going going going. And so on Tuesday, Hna Townley got reeeeeeeally sick :/ I felt horrible. I almost worked my companion to death. I'm a little proud... but also not at all. This heat is just such a game changer in terms of what we can realistically do. I'm not used to having to adapt based on weather. I'm more of a plow-right-through kind of a worker. But our goal this week is to work smarter and safer :)
The members and investigators here just have my heart, 100%. We had a Father's Day fiesta on Saturday with carne asada y frijoles y musica and my goodness, I just love these people with all my heart. It's going to be so hard to leave. But it's all good :) I know the Lord has a plan and it'll all work out :)
Oh! So this week I got to organize this huge service project with a member of our branch. She's been cleaning schools for like 20 years and she asked if some missionaries could help. We got 12 missionaries and 2 members to come help :) It was awesome! We just cleaned this little school for 2 hours and then they took us out to Chinese :) What a treat!
Oh! So these investigators!! This one couple just has my whole heart. They're just so wonderful and loving and ready to be baptized :') So we went over and we asked if they had had the chance to read at all. And he was like "ohhhh well... no.... work got a little busy... no.......OH WAIT! Actually, I read all of Ether!!" ....... He just casually read the whole book of Ether in one sitting!! :'D Seriously wanted to cry. He's such an amazing example to me! The scriptures are such a blessing. Especially the Book of Mormon. In my personal study this week I found this scripture in 2 Nephi 22:3. It says:
"Therefore, with JOY ye shall draw water out of the WELLS OF SALVATION."
First of all, I just loooooooooove the language of the scriptures. My trainer used to describe reading scriptures as filling up this big old pool or a bucket with water. We have to show up with our bucket and fill it as much as we can with good water so that as missionaries we can leave with our buckets and share the water with those we teach. The scriptures are a well of salvation. A well of faith, self discovery, everything that leads to salvation! And we should draw water from that well JOYFULLY. Maybe that means you end up reading the whole book of Ether because you love it so much :) But I know that when we joyfully draw water out of the wells that lead to salvation we can experience peace in our lives through the Holy Ghost.
I love the Book of Mormon with all my heart. Read it. Cherish it. Never take it for granted :)
LES QUIERO MUCHO!!!
Hermana Lund :)
Monday, June 15, 2015
Week 13 CHECK
This week.... My gosh..... 13 might not be my lucky number any more. This week was hard. I'm WIPED. Ugh. Okay. So you know how I hit that car? Yeah.... that's been a fiasco... Coming to the library to fill out online paperwork, talking to the insurance guy in salt lake, taking pictures, talking to the vehicle coordinator. Oh! and our car's name is Chuckie :) It used to be Charlotte but then we got Tiwi (the lil safety thing that yells at us when we drive fast......... we don't get along) which has a man's voice so we changed it to Charles. And I nicknamed him Chuckie :) So! poor Chuckie's been through so much. There was that liiiiiiil accident (paint scratches, nothing more). And then we had to take him to the dealership to get something done on the emission something? I don't even know.... and then the dealership called and was like uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh you have ZERO oil. like ZERO..... So that was exciting. So I was calling the vehicle coordinator, calling the dealership, trying to call our dinner appointment cuz we were gonna be late... my word. Pure chaos. But it's all good :) I just hate when all this administrative junk makes it so that we can't really visit people. That was hard. But hopefully this week will be a little bit better :)
MY NEW COMPANION :D She's from Ogden, Utah (classic :P). She's 21! She's 5 feet tall :P and she's got a killer testimony. And you can tell it's hers. She just uses her personal experiences to share what she believes and it's awesome! This is her first new area so I think it's been hard for her transitioning, but it's been great! We get along pretty well :)
OH! Another random chaotic thing about this week! We went to Mount Lemon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now... if you're not excited for me, you should be! Mount Lemon is like OFF LIMITS for missionaries. It's like this legit mountain (not like A mountain). And we, along with 3 other sets of sisters got to go to girls camp there!!! It was gorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgeous. My goodness. There was DIRT and MUD!!!! and TREES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and no cactus........ It seriously felt like another world! We got to do a lil activity with the girls where we talked about fears. Everyone got this board (about 8"x8"x.25" or something) and wrote their fears on them or things that hold them back. and then.......... we broke em :D Like the missionaries/leaders held them up and the girls just punched it til it broke...... Hna Ellis had done it at girls camp way back in the day... but the boards were a lil easier to break. So these poor girls' hands were bright pink... But they all broke em :) My hands still hurt from holding the boards up. We like had to bend it as much as we could for them so they could break em :P But it was awesome!!! Oh! and we went on exchanges because it was Hna Ellis' idea so Hna Ellis and I were back together again for a day :) It was nice to just talk and catch up and drive through the mountain.... mmmmmmm. Living the dream :)
MMMM! We found this new investigator this week and her 4 grandkids and we were gonna do a church tour with them on Saturday. So we woke up at 6:00and cleaned the church with the elders until that capilla sparkled :) We went home and got ready, came back........ and there's all these cars. at 10 on a Satuday at the church...... so we started to freak out...... turns out there was a funeral!!!!! So we were like shoot, we're gonna have to reschedule, but she really wanted to come to church and ahhhh... but then she stood us up so it was fine hahaha :P Seriously though. Answer to prayers.
And then I gave a talk yesterday!!!! My topic? ................... Relief Society..................... Yup. Of alllllllllllll the gospel topics of the world.... Relief Society. I feel like as soon as someone mentions relief society in a talk, all the guys and kids are like "ope! not about me... I'm just gonna nap!" and then all the women are like "oh! I already know about this... I'm just gonna nap!" and so literally no one pays attention. I tried to swing it into a "how we can all be disciples of christ" kind of thing but it was definitely not my best work :P BUT. The lady that stood us up on Saturday CAME!!!! With her husband and her grandkids. MIRACLE.
Prayer works. I promise :) Pray a little more. I know that God exists and I know that we're on this earth to be happy. Some days are a little harder than others... but that doesn't mean we aren't loved and it doesn't mean we can't find joy in the journey :)
I feel like that's sufficient. But I love you all :) I wish you all the best!
Hermana Lund
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Week 12 Confidence, Companion, Car, Crazy about Making Mistakes (T3)
Hola :D
Pues..... todavia estoy en la misma area. Y tengo una companera nueva que se llama Hermana Townley!! Ella tiene 4.5 meses en el campo! Entonces... vamos a aprender mucho juntas :)
... Just wanted to prove I'm actually a Spanish missionary :P
But yeah! New companion!!! It's kind of weird... but Hna Townley is amazing. We've only been together a few hours and I can already tell she's got a killer testimony and a desire to work hard :) Our area is so so so amazing. We have a lot of really amazing investigators. I'm really excited to work hard and help make things happen :) I was reading in 2 Nephi 13 today and in verse 4 it's talking about all these rulers and princes and doctors and lawyers and intelligent, powerful people.... and then it says that "babes will rule over them." I kind of feel like that's how this transfer's gonna be :) Hna Townley and I are so young in the mission. And they're asking us to take over areas, find, teach, and baptize. Crazy. Every single companionship in our zone changed. EVERY SINGLE ONE. Usually a few companionships stay the same... but out of the 10 companionships, every single one changed, including our Zone Leaders. Most of them involving younger missionaries stepping up and taking charge. Kind of crazy. Kind of exciting :)
Funny stories of the week.... mmmmmmm Oh! yeah! I backed into a member's car :D ... Yeah. The member was really nice about it and there was only damage to the paint... but yeah. Still. hahaaa. Ummmmm I don't know :) This week was fun.. I just can't think of very many stories.
Ooooff. Okay. Investigators. A lot of our investigators are struggling with ONE THING. Like they've all just got this oooooooooooooone cosita that's just holding them back from receiving ALL these blessings. Addictions, trouble believing in certain doctrinal points, not following the 10 commandments. Mmmmm man. It's frustrating. But that's just so true. We've all just got that ONE thing. We usually know what it is. Or if you don't know... Ask God and he'll definitely tell you :) But man. I have just gained such a testimony of the importance of just getting rid of those little things. There is such peace and joy that can be found when we sacrifice that ONE THING.
I'm having a hard time thinking of other specific things that happened this week, but life is good :) I love being a missionary :) I love making mistakes! Well, sort of.... But I've been praying to Heavenly Father to help me make all the mistakes I need to in order to learn and be the kind of missionary that makes a difference in people's lives. It's working :) hahah I'm far from perfect. But one day, in the next life, I'll get there :)
I LOVE YOU ALL :)
Here are some pictures of our District and our Zone :)
Pues..... todavia estoy en la misma area. Y tengo una companera nueva que se llama Hermana Townley!! Ella tiene 4.5 meses en el campo! Entonces... vamos a aprender mucho juntas :)
... Just wanted to prove I'm actually a Spanish missionary :P
But yeah! New companion!!! It's kind of weird... but Hna Townley is amazing. We've only been together a few hours and I can already tell she's got a killer testimony and a desire to work hard :) Our area is so so so amazing. We have a lot of really amazing investigators. I'm really excited to work hard and help make things happen :) I was reading in 2 Nephi 13 today and in verse 4 it's talking about all these rulers and princes and doctors and lawyers and intelligent, powerful people.... and then it says that "babes will rule over them." I kind of feel like that's how this transfer's gonna be :) Hna Townley and I are so young in the mission. And they're asking us to take over areas, find, teach, and baptize. Crazy. Every single companionship in our zone changed. EVERY SINGLE ONE. Usually a few companionships stay the same... but out of the 10 companionships, every single one changed, including our Zone Leaders. Most of them involving younger missionaries stepping up and taking charge. Kind of crazy. Kind of exciting :)
Funny stories of the week.... mmmmmmm Oh! yeah! I backed into a member's car :D ... Yeah. The member was really nice about it and there was only damage to the paint... but yeah. Still. hahaaa. Ummmmm I don't know :) This week was fun.. I just can't think of very many stories.
Ooooff. Okay. Investigators. A lot of our investigators are struggling with ONE THING. Like they've all just got this oooooooooooooone cosita that's just holding them back from receiving ALL these blessings. Addictions, trouble believing in certain doctrinal points, not following the 10 commandments. Mmmmm man. It's frustrating. But that's just so true. We've all just got that ONE thing. We usually know what it is. Or if you don't know... Ask God and he'll definitely tell you :) But man. I have just gained such a testimony of the importance of just getting rid of those little things. There is such peace and joy that can be found when we sacrifice that ONE THING.
I'm having a hard time thinking of other specific things that happened this week, but life is good :) I love being a missionary :) I love making mistakes! Well, sort of.... But I've been praying to Heavenly Father to help me make all the mistakes I need to in order to learn and be the kind of missionary that makes a difference in people's lives. It's working :) hahah I'm far from perfect. But one day, in the next life, I'll get there :)
I LOVE YOU ALL :)
Here are some pictures of our District and our Zone :)
Monday, June 1, 2015
Week 11 Bugs, unBearable Heat, and Brand New iPads
Hey :D
Crazy week! We got iPads today!!! Hna Ellis and I were the last ones in the mission to get em but it was worth the wait!!! Such an amazing tool! I'm excited to use em more :)
It's been HOT. VERY HOT. Like REALLY REALLY REALLY HOT. Our car thermometer is a little dramatic but only a little and yesterday it said it was 116 degrees.... It's been a good time :) it's exhausting though... Just staying awake the whole day in this heat is exhausting!!! I've never been so tired... But it's all for a good cause :)
Oh! Linda, you'll get a kick out of this! WE HAVE BED BUGS :D hahah yup! They're real. I remember when you emailed home and said you had bedbugs I was like "hahah bummer" but my goodness they are a pain in the butt! Their bites feel like fire ant bites... They like itch and sting and mmmm no me gustan por nada. We haven't figured out how to say bedbugs in Spanish so we just call em Los insectos del diablo :) I've got 23 bites on my feet :) we're still waiting for the exterminator to get back to us so we've been living in our living room and sleeping on our lil baby couches and washing all our stuff into the wee hours of the night :) last night we went to sleep on our couches and then at 2:30 in the morning someone banged on our window really loud and scared us to death!!!! Man. Thought we were gonna die. We were all sleepy and disoriented and freaked out. Man it was scary! We stared at the window for like an hour before we finally fell back asleep... still have no idea who it was or what they were doing but welcome to Tucson :) hahah everyone's either a catholic, a college student, or a hippie... If you're lucky you get all three :) haha
Transfers are next Tuesday and I'm gonna be done with training so we'll see what happens :) off the record Hna Ellis is probably going to go... She's been in this area since before Christmas! She's only
got one transfer left though but yeah... She's probably gone. Meaning I'll probably be taking over the area!! :S everyone loves Hna Ellis, and I don't blame em! She's amazing! She's so experienced and loving and I can only hope to be like her one day... But she's got some really big shoes to fill. I'm gonna be praying a lot this week. We get calls on Friday and Saturday :)
Aside from the heat and the bugs and the crazy sleepless nights, the work here is amazing :') we went on exchanges this week and I got to go with Hna Hubert :) she's amazing! And she's got great taste in
music :) we had a blast! And to finish off the night we had an amazing first lesson with this part member family. This has been such a blessing.
Also, we have this investigator that has been uncomfortable praying. Most people are at first. Heck, I didn't want to pray in Spanish the first few weeks I was out here. But today we were guided by the
spirit, changed our lesson topic and talked about prayer. To finish the lesson she offered the sweetest, sincerest prayer I have ever heard. She is an amazing woman and she's really in touch with the spirit. She's really taught me the power of sincere prayer.
There was a scripture I found this week that's just been stuck in my head. It's in d&c 64:25. This chapter is talking about all these people who need to man up, get to work, and repent. It says:
Crazy week! We got iPads today!!! Hna Ellis and I were the last ones in the mission to get em but it was worth the wait!!! Such an amazing tool! I'm excited to use em more :)
It's been HOT. VERY HOT. Like REALLY REALLY REALLY HOT. Our car thermometer is a little dramatic but only a little and yesterday it said it was 116 degrees.... It's been a good time :) it's exhausting though... Just staying awake the whole day in this heat is exhausting!!! I've never been so tired... But it's all for a good cause :)
Oh! Linda, you'll get a kick out of this! WE HAVE BED BUGS :D hahah yup! They're real. I remember when you emailed home and said you had bedbugs I was like "hahah bummer" but my goodness they are a pain in the butt! Their bites feel like fire ant bites... They like itch and sting and mmmm no me gustan por nada. We haven't figured out how to say bedbugs in Spanish so we just call em Los insectos del diablo :) I've got 23 bites on my feet :) we're still waiting for the exterminator to get back to us so we've been living in our living room and sleeping on our lil baby couches and washing all our stuff into the wee hours of the night :) last night we went to sleep on our couches and then at 2:30 in the morning someone banged on our window really loud and scared us to death!!!! Man. Thought we were gonna die. We were all sleepy and disoriented and freaked out. Man it was scary! We stared at the window for like an hour before we finally fell back asleep... still have no idea who it was or what they were doing but welcome to Tucson :) hahah everyone's either a catholic, a college student, or a hippie... If you're lucky you get all three :) haha
Transfers are next Tuesday and I'm gonna be done with training so we'll see what happens :) off the record Hna Ellis is probably going to go... She's been in this area since before Christmas! She's only
got one transfer left though but yeah... She's probably gone. Meaning I'll probably be taking over the area!! :S everyone loves Hna Ellis, and I don't blame em! She's amazing! She's so experienced and loving and I can only hope to be like her one day... But she's got some really big shoes to fill. I'm gonna be praying a lot this week. We get calls on Friday and Saturday :)
Aside from the heat and the bugs and the crazy sleepless nights, the work here is amazing :') we went on exchanges this week and I got to go with Hna Hubert :) she's amazing! And she's got great taste in
music :) we had a blast! And to finish off the night we had an amazing first lesson with this part member family. This has been such a blessing.
Also, we have this investigator that has been uncomfortable praying. Most people are at first. Heck, I didn't want to pray in Spanish the first few weeks I was out here. But today we were guided by the
spirit, changed our lesson topic and talked about prayer. To finish the lesson she offered the sweetest, sincerest prayer I have ever heard. She is an amazing woman and she's really in touch with the spirit. She's really taught me the power of sincere prayer.
There was a scripture I found this week that's just been stuck in my head. It's in d&c 64:25. This chapter is talking about all these people who need to man up, get to work, and repent. It says:
"Wherefore, if ye believe me, ye will labor while it is called today."
If we believe in God. If we believe in Jesus Christ. If we believe in the need to repent.... What the heck are you waiting for? Today is a beautiful day to get to work :) and it's all centered on faith and
belief in him :)
I love you all. I encourage you all to think about what you have faith in. And then labor while it is called today :)
Los quiero mucho :)
Hermana Lund
Sent from my iPad
If we believe in God. If we believe in Jesus Christ. If we believe in the need to repent.... What the heck are you waiting for? Today is a beautiful day to get to work :) and it's all centered on faith and
belief in him :)
I love you all. I encourage you all to think about what you have faith in. And then labor while it is called today :)
Los quiero mucho :)
Hermana Lund
Sent from my iPad
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Week 10 A Mission is Pure LIGHT
HEY :)
This week's been crazy :) .. As always.
Uhhhhh funny stories. Hah. Well last Sunday we went out on splits with 2 young women. And this young woman and I were walking around, knocking on some doors and we meet this 60ish year old guy. Seemed pretty nice... but I couldn't tell if he was drunk! I was struggling to understand what he was saying and he was going on a lovely rant about something so I was really focused on trying to find out if he was drunk cuz I didn't want him to snag this lil young woman and scare her or anything so I was really trying to focus but I was not paying attention to what he was saying. Then! out of the blue... he just bursts into tears!! and then... HE HUGS ME! Like rather aggressively too.... hahah. There was a split second where I was like MY GOSH HE'S TRYING TO KIDNAP ME... but then I got it. Hahah taught me to pay attention a little bit more in conversations. But we talked about how his wife had died and we got to share a bit of the plan of salvation :)
A member took us out to have RESPADOS!!!!!! Oh my WORD. My eyes have been opened to the beautiful world of respados...... it's like shaved ice on STEROIDS! They're like shaved ice with ice cream and fresh fruit and this other pure sugar syrupy thing. My goodness gracious. AH-MAZING. mmmmmmm. However, good must always be counteracted with evil... and last night we had double dinners. This happens every once in a while, and I don't want to sound ungrateful, but it's a rough experience. Our first stop last night was Golden Corral :) A member took us and 11 other elders out to eat there. Pretty good, but obviously she paid a lot of money so we had to eat a lot. Then we went to this other member's house and had Chichuron. mmmmmmmm It's like this dried pig's skin stuff and she made it kind of like noodles with some spices n such. mmmm. It was a rough one, for sure. It was the first time I haven't been able to finish my plate (which is a huge sign of disrespect) but I figured throwing up in their home would be worse :S One elder in our ward the other day threw up in the middle of a lesson with an investigator. And to make it worse seeing him throw up made the the investigator's 5 year old son throw up right after :P Yeeesh.
We've been really really blessed though. We have this couple investigating and they are just AMAZING. GOLDEN. INSPIRATIONAL. It is really an honor to hear about their desires and goals and to help those thing happen for them. We were teaching them last week about the Book of Mormon and Hna Ellis asked what we're supposed to do with the BOM and they thought about it for a bit... "well.... We should read it...... And then we should think about it, listen to what it's telling us to do............... and then WE SHOULD SHARE IT WITH EVERYBODY!!! :D" Hahahah it was really cute. But they've just got so much faith and fire and it really is an honor to be a missionary.
We've been seeing a lot of miracles. People who just happen to be home at a random time we felt prompted to stop by. People who just needed someone to listen. It's really amazing.
When we were parking and walking in here to email we saw this guy. We said hi of course :) He asked if we were missionaries. We said yes. He then asked if we could help him. He just started to cry. (We've had a lot of cry-ers this week, which is such a clear indication that the Holy Ghost really is softening their hearts and telling them to change). He's just had such a hard life. So many people have. They just want a fresh start.
I know that making the gospel a part of your life offers something that drugs, alcohol, going to church just on Sunday, and buying new clothes just does not replicate. LIVING the gospel brings LIGHT. We were studying together this week and I stumbled upon this scripture in Alma 32 where it's talking about faith as a seed. It's really interesting because I keep thinking that this whole experience just doesn't feel real. It doesn't feel like you guys are all back at home living your own lives. It doesn't feel like I'm finally a missionary, the thing that I've been building up to for 19 years. It just doesn't feel real. And then I read this scripture :) Alma 32:35
This week's been crazy :) .. As always.
Uhhhhh funny stories. Hah. Well last Sunday we went out on splits with 2 young women. And this young woman and I were walking around, knocking on some doors and we meet this 60ish year old guy. Seemed pretty nice... but I couldn't tell if he was drunk! I was struggling to understand what he was saying and he was going on a lovely rant about something so I was really focused on trying to find out if he was drunk cuz I didn't want him to snag this lil young woman and scare her or anything so I was really trying to focus but I was not paying attention to what he was saying. Then! out of the blue... he just bursts into tears!! and then... HE HUGS ME! Like rather aggressively too.... hahah. There was a split second where I was like MY GOSH HE'S TRYING TO KIDNAP ME... but then I got it. Hahah taught me to pay attention a little bit more in conversations. But we talked about how his wife had died and we got to share a bit of the plan of salvation :)
A member took us out to have RESPADOS!!!!!! Oh my WORD. My eyes have been opened to the beautiful world of respados...... it's like shaved ice on STEROIDS! They're like shaved ice with ice cream and fresh fruit and this other pure sugar syrupy thing. My goodness gracious. AH-MAZING. mmmmmmm. However, good must always be counteracted with evil... and last night we had double dinners. This happens every once in a while, and I don't want to sound ungrateful, but it's a rough experience. Our first stop last night was Golden Corral :) A member took us and 11 other elders out to eat there. Pretty good, but obviously she paid a lot of money so we had to eat a lot. Then we went to this other member's house and had Chichuron. mmmmmmmm It's like this dried pig's skin stuff and she made it kind of like noodles with some spices n such. mmmm. It was a rough one, for sure. It was the first time I haven't been able to finish my plate (which is a huge sign of disrespect) but I figured throwing up in their home would be worse :S One elder in our ward the other day threw up in the middle of a lesson with an investigator. And to make it worse seeing him throw up made the the investigator's 5 year old son throw up right after :P Yeeesh.
We've been really really blessed though. We have this couple investigating and they are just AMAZING. GOLDEN. INSPIRATIONAL. It is really an honor to hear about their desires and goals and to help those thing happen for them. We were teaching them last week about the Book of Mormon and Hna Ellis asked what we're supposed to do with the BOM and they thought about it for a bit... "well.... We should read it...... And then we should think about it, listen to what it's telling us to do............... and then WE SHOULD SHARE IT WITH EVERYBODY!!! :D" Hahahah it was really cute. But they've just got so much faith and fire and it really is an honor to be a missionary.
We've been seeing a lot of miracles. People who just happen to be home at a random time we felt prompted to stop by. People who just needed someone to listen. It's really amazing.
When we were parking and walking in here to email we saw this guy. We said hi of course :) He asked if we were missionaries. We said yes. He then asked if we could help him. He just started to cry. (We've had a lot of cry-ers this week, which is such a clear indication that the Holy Ghost really is softening their hearts and telling them to change). He's just had such a hard life. So many people have. They just want a fresh start.
I know that making the gospel a part of your life offers something that drugs, alcohol, going to church just on Sunday, and buying new clothes just does not replicate. LIVING the gospel brings LIGHT. We were studying together this week and I stumbled upon this scripture in Alma 32 where it's talking about faith as a seed. It's really interesting because I keep thinking that this whole experience just doesn't feel real. It doesn't feel like you guys are all back at home living your own lives. It doesn't feel like I'm finally a missionary, the thing that I've been building up to for 19 years. It just doesn't feel real. And then I read this scripture :) Alma 32:35
"O then, is not this real? I say unto you, Yea, because it is light; and whatsoever is light, is good, because it is discernible, therefore ye must know that it is good"
A mission is just pure LIGHT. I don't know how else to describe it. It doesn't feel real because it's just so good. I don't even know how to put it into words. But the gospel brings light into people's lives. People who feel completely immersed in the dark. Seek out the light. You know that it is good. And then go and share it with others. There's a quote I like by someone really smart... "A candle looses no light by sharing it with others." You know what you need to do to bring more light into your life and into the lives of others. Now just do it :)
I LOVE YOU ALL :) I pray for you every day :)
This week we're getting iPads and as a part of that we'll be able to READ emails during the week :) We can still only respond on P days but they used the logic that since we can read letters and stuff during the week, why not emails? So that'll be exciting :) I'm excited to see what changes come our way :)
A mission is just pure LIGHT. I don't know how else to describe it. It doesn't feel real because it's just so good. I don't even know how to put it into words. But the gospel brings light into people's lives. People who feel completely immersed in the dark. Seek out the light. You know that it is good. And then go and share it with others. There's a quote I like by someone really smart... "A candle looses no light by sharing it with others." You know what you need to do to bring more light into your life and into the lives of others. Now just do it :)
I LOVE YOU ALL :) I pray for you every day :)
This week we're getting iPads and as a part of that we'll be able to READ emails during the week :) We can still only respond on P days but they used the logic that since we can read letters and stuff during the week, why not emails? So that'll be exciting :) I'm excited to see what changes come our way :)
Love you guys!! Thanks for all your support :)
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Week 9 God Knows Best/ We're Getting iPads
AHHH!!! Such a crazy week!!! So much to say so little time to say it!!!
1) We had a last minute meeting with ALLLLLLL the missionaries in the mission yesterday......... and we're getting iPads!!!!! :D It's exciting and wonderful and scary and a lot of responsibility and obedience is gonna have to go down, but I couldn't be more excited to give it a try :) We should be getting them in the next few weeks :) Oh! and it also means I get to skype home now on Christmas and mother's day!! And even use facebook!!! yeeeeeeesh... craziness!
2) I found a Mexican food I CANNOT stand! :D hahah I know that shouldn't be exciting... but I feel like that's a right of passage as a missionary. It's called Mole. Like Moe-lay. And it's basically meat in this sauce with a whole bunch of peppers and CHOCOLATE. Yup. Most people love it! Including Hna Ellis, and maybe it's just because I haven't had the best kind yet... but I think it tastes like DIRT. This sweet old lady from the ward made it and oh man. She's awesome. But mmmm. hahah
3) As a zone we tried to hit Standards of Excellence this week :) Which means as a mission we have goals (2 investigators at church, 3 new investigators, 2 baptismal dates, 5 lessons with a member present, 2 investigators that are progressing) that every companionship should be able to hit. Our mission's been struggling a little in this department so we decided as a zone that we were gonna make it happen!!!! We worked so stinkin hard. Yeeesh. We're exhausted. But Hna Ellis and I, along with 2 other companionships managed to hit it :D And our zone had INCREDIBLE results. So many miracles. And SO many trials. The harder we work, the harder satan works.
We were out knocking doors one day and this lady opened the door. Nice lady :) From Hawaii, started talking about God, etc and 20 seconds in I just feel these little pinches all over my feet......... There were fire ants EVERYWHERE. And they were like ALL over me. On my wrist, on my arms, on my legs, all up in my skirt. My goodness gracious and they were biting the heck out of me. And I just smiled and kept going :) She wasn't interested, but it was a really good contact. hahaha After she closed the door we ran around the corner and Hna Ellis started whacking the heck out of my skirt trying to get em all off. :) I've got lots of lil bites all over me... but hey, we hit standards :) And we have 3 investigators who are going to be baptized on June 13th :') The Lord works in mysterious ways.
4) We also met a guy named LION!!! Yeah, like the animal! Big old black guy who was sitting outside his house :) He looked at me and was like... "wait! I know you!!!!!" After going back and forth for a bit he finally decided "Ohhhhh no, you've got that bible in yo hand so I know I didn't meetcha up in da cluuuub" hahahah it was pretty funny. He had some really profound ideas about how church is a lot more than a building. Couldn't agree more! We gave his number to the English elders :)
I always feel like I have to pick a theme for every week in these emails. This week... I guess. God knows best. We've gotta experience so many hard things so that we can see the miracles. God loves us. He knows what we want. One of my favorite scriptures is Proverbs 16:9 "A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps"
The Lord knows our hearts. He knows we want to be better. Look to him in faith and he WILL direct your steps and help you get there. I know it.
I LOVE YOU ALL :) Have an amazing week!!!
Hermana Lund
1) We had a last minute meeting with ALLLLLLL the missionaries in the mission yesterday......... and we're getting iPads!!!!! :D It's exciting and wonderful and scary and a lot of responsibility and obedience is gonna have to go down, but I couldn't be more excited to give it a try :) We should be getting them in the next few weeks :) Oh! and it also means I get to skype home now on Christmas and mother's day!! And even use facebook!!! yeeeeeeesh... craziness!
2) I found a Mexican food I CANNOT stand! :D hahah I know that shouldn't be exciting... but I feel like that's a right of passage as a missionary. It's called Mole. Like Moe-lay. And it's basically meat in this sauce with a whole bunch of peppers and CHOCOLATE. Yup. Most people love it! Including Hna Ellis, and maybe it's just because I haven't had the best kind yet... but I think it tastes like DIRT. This sweet old lady from the ward made it and oh man. She's awesome. But mmmm. hahah
3) As a zone we tried to hit Standards of Excellence this week :) Which means as a mission we have goals (2 investigators at church, 3 new investigators, 2 baptismal dates, 5 lessons with a member present, 2 investigators that are progressing) that every companionship should be able to hit. Our mission's been struggling a little in this department so we decided as a zone that we were gonna make it happen!!!! We worked so stinkin hard. Yeeesh. We're exhausted. But Hna Ellis and I, along with 2 other companionships managed to hit it :D And our zone had INCREDIBLE results. So many miracles. And SO many trials. The harder we work, the harder satan works.
We were out knocking doors one day and this lady opened the door. Nice lady :) From Hawaii, started talking about God, etc and 20 seconds in I just feel these little pinches all over my feet......... There were fire ants EVERYWHERE. And they were like ALL over me. On my wrist, on my arms, on my legs, all up in my skirt. My goodness gracious and they were biting the heck out of me. And I just smiled and kept going :) She wasn't interested, but it was a really good contact. hahaha After she closed the door we ran around the corner and Hna Ellis started whacking the heck out of my skirt trying to get em all off. :) I've got lots of lil bites all over me... but hey, we hit standards :) And we have 3 investigators who are going to be baptized on June 13th :') The Lord works in mysterious ways.
4) We also met a guy named LION!!! Yeah, like the animal! Big old black guy who was sitting outside his house :) He looked at me and was like... "wait! I know you!!!!!" After going back and forth for a bit he finally decided "Ohhhhh no, you've got that bible in yo hand so I know I didn't meetcha up in da cluuuub" hahahah it was pretty funny. He had some really profound ideas about how church is a lot more than a building. Couldn't agree more! We gave his number to the English elders :)
I always feel like I have to pick a theme for every week in these emails. This week... I guess. God knows best. We've gotta experience so many hard things so that we can see the miracles. God loves us. He knows what we want. One of my favorite scriptures is Proverbs 16:9 "A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps"
The Lord knows our hearts. He knows we want to be better. Look to him in faith and he WILL direct your steps and help you get there. I know it.
I LOVE YOU ALL :) Have an amazing week!!!
Hermana Lund
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