Week 35 Our Pet, George

This week was crazy once again!!

Tuesday we had... an incident... We were getting ready for bed. Hermana B was in the bathroom and I was in the bedroom. All of a sudden she starts screaming!!!!!!!!!! I run in, thinking she's dying and then we see.... George. Yup. We named him. The biggest spider I have ever seen in my entire life just camped out on our bathroom wall! Turns out he was a baby tarantula :) We ended up calling the elders that live around the corner. Hna B only asked them two questions... "How fast can you get here?" and "Can you come now?" They come RUSHING over thinking we were dead. We met em outside and they were all frantic and concerned... They were a little bit mad when they found out it was just a spider :P But they caught him for us and George is now our district pet :) He's currently in a mason jar in our truck with an "I'm a Child of God" sticker on it :) Pretty sure he's dead....

On a more spiritual note... We've been visiting this woman for a few months now. She's working to transition from the english ward to the spanish branch. She has been less active for most of her life. One day she woke up and decided she wanted to start back up and learn everything from scratch! We're currently in the middle of a BOM reading challenge with her and she is absolutely beating our butts. She's amazing :) Anyways. She has a lot of physical problems but we had been planning on November 15th as the day she would come to the Spanish Branch :)

Right before sacrament meeting started we got a text from her saying she wasn't feeling very well and sadly she wouldn't be able to make it. We were a little disappointed but we knew she had a good reason. Halfway through the meeting...... SHE WALKS IN :D She told us, "A promise is a promise. I asked Heavenly Father to make me well enough to come to church and he did." :') She had a wonderful experience. Her father used to serve in the branch presidency of our branch and so she met a lot of people who knew him. She was cryin and cryin and cryin. Man, it was beautiful. She said it felt like coming home :)

To be honest, when I first got to this area it was tough to love. But here I am 17 weeks later and it breaks my heart to think about leaving. It really does feel like home...

We had our regular interviews with president this past week and he essentially told me that I'm on my way out. He wouldn't tell me where I'm going but he said to just have faith :) We'll get calls this weekend so next Monday will be my last day here, most likely.

But yeah :) The church is true. No matter what. (Yup, that one's for you mom!) Just have faith. Have enough faith to give it a shot. Have enough faith to ask questions. Have enough faith that you will receive answers. Just have faith that it will all be okay :)

Tenga fe y tenga una buena semana!
Hermana Lund

Week 34 Stop Trying to Magnify Your Calling

Hi :)

Every week just keeps getting kicked up a notch! This week takes the cake. High highs, low lows. But my goodness it's all just so worth it :)

In terms of lows, eeeeeeeeeeeeeveryone here is getting sick. They've been harvesting all the cotton so everyone with allergies has locked themselves inside their homes. And if you don't have allergies... Well, you do now :) Plus it's getting colder here :D Words I never thought I would say in Arizona... But everyone's been whipping out the sweaters :) It's absolutely magical. I think the summer here made me soft, bundling up when it's 70 degrees but I'm okay with it :)

Mmmmmm other lows. Eeeverything self destructed this week hahah! I say hahah because in hind-sight it's significantly more humorous. But there are some days where I really want to take away other people's agency... But then miracles happen and it's all okay :)

Okay. Enough of that. MIRACLES :D WE FOUND 8 NEW INVESTIGATORS THIS WEEK!!!! :D Among them is a family with 5 kids ALL over the age of 8 :'D Miracle miracle miracle. They have so much light and the kids all love to pray :)

Oh! Okay! This is a low and a high but mostly it's just funny. So Hna B was out of commission with a sinus infection. She's a total hippy so she LOOOOOOOOOVES natural light and fresh air and all that good stuff :P So we decided to move our mattresses into to living room with all our big windows and open the door to let some fresh air in while she rested :) It was all quite lovely......... And then we looked up on our ceiling and saw THOUSANDS of flies just camped out having a jolly old time. Our apartment is now the crime scene for the Great Fly Massacre of '15 :P

We had zone conference this past week along with a Regional Broadcast yesterday where Lynn G. Robbins, Linda S. Reeves, Lawrence Corbridge (the guy who came to our mission a few months ago!!) and Dallin H. Oaks! Power house line up right there! A big focus of both conferences was SIMPLIFYING. We also just had breakfast and studies with all the other sisters in our Zone. We read "Good, Better, Best" by Elder Oaks, a talk based on a simple but incredible true concept. We need to prioritize. There are things that are better. There's a portion of the talk where he talks about our responsibilities we all have. He poses it in the frame of church responsibility but it's equally applicable to just every day life. He says "Remember, don't magnify the work to be done--simplify it!"

In the church we often use the phrase "magnify" your calling, meaning work hard to fulfill all your responsibilities. In Preach My Gospel quotes Ezra Taft Benson by saying, "The Spirit is the most important single element in this work. With THE SPIRIT magnifying your call, you can do miracles for the Lord... Without the Spirit, you will never succeed regardless of your talent and ability."

My invitation is that you STOP TRYING TO MAGNIFY YOUR CALLING AND RESPONSIBILITIES. Your responsibility is SIMPLE: strive to be worthy of the spirit. Its guidance and the Holy Ghost will magnify it for you. I have seen first hand, that as we forget ourselves and follow those simple promptings of the spirit, we will have greater success than if we had done it our way.

Gracias por todo lo que hacen! Y tenga una buena semana :)

Hermana Lund

Week 33 "If ye love me keep commandments"

Hi :)

Yeesh today's been a crazy P day... But all good things :)

This past week... Hmmm...

Wednesday we had our district meeting and we carved some pumpkins too :)

Thursday we had exchanges with our Sister Training Leaders. I stayed and Hna B went to the only biking sister area in the whole mission :P It was fun because the sister that came with me had served here about a year ago so we got to go on a trip down memory lane together and find a lot of people that had just fallen through the cracks. I also got to teach her some Spanish :)

Later on Thursday we exchanged back, had 2 normal hours together, and then we got another English sister with us because her companion was going to Tucson for a meeting. So. Exchanges and a trio back to back... woohoo... :)

Friday was... Yeah... We started the day with service at the foodbank with the whole zone like always. Hna B hadn't been feeling 100% that morning but she's tough. After foodbank... it hit her. She ended up passed out on our living room floor for the majority of the day. But the trio turned out to be a blessing because I was able to go on exchanges with a sister in our branch so I could go help with a ridiculously chaotic service project while Hna B was cared for :)

Saturday and Sunday we had our stake conference all about Reverence and Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy :) It was really insightful. As a part of the conference we had this open forum where everyone got to share their ideas about how they've tried to make their Sundays more sacred and Christ centered. Our temple president's wife shared an amazing quote that President Monson said: "I would rather break a rule than a heart." And think of Thomas S. Monson. He has given his life to fixing broken hearts. I really admire his ability to love and care for others. And that's what Sundays and honestly every other day should really be about. Love. Even the bible tells us "If ye love me, keep my commandments." The reason we should keep the commandments, the clearest set of guidelines given to us by our Heavenly Father is because of love. I love being a missionary. I love my area. I love my companion. I love my zone. I love my favorite. And I love my Heavenly Father for blessing me with all of it :)

¡Que tenga una buena semana!
Love others :)

Hermana Lund

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I clapped while I had soap on my hands.... Hna B was struck by the debris

About half of the cotton fields are gone... But it's nice to go back to the glory days. The cotton fields remind me of snow.

This was a result of our district breakfast. We ate goodie. Jammed on the piano, did studies and then stole the elders vehicle so they stole ours and my name tag got caught in the middle... :)

Week 32 Baptisms, Birthdays, Service, and Warriors :)

Hola :)

This week has been a liiiiiittle bit nuts... like always. But we made it :)

First of all, D got baptized :) She is the sweetest little girl I have ever met. She LOVES praying. She says "Dear Heavenly Fahder" every time :'''''''') She was so so happy to be baptized. There was a major fiasco with the musical number involving a few missionaries having a really bad day but in the end, D got baptized, and she was happy :)

Also! This week we celebrated the birthday of one of our favorite sisters!!! She was in a trio with other favorite sisters :) Sadly, one of them had to get emergency transferred to another area because another sister had to go home for surgery :'''''''''''''''( So it was a little bit of a damper on the birthday celebrations but it all worked out :)

As a zone, we're making a big push for community service! There's a new website called JustServe.org and an app to go with it! Our zone is the guinea pigs for missionaries spending more day time hours serving the community instead of knocking on doors when appointments fall through. We did 113 hours of community service as a zone this week :D

Spiritual thought... I've been reading in Alma about Helaman and the 2,000 stripling warriors.

Most people grow up hearing the story of these great and valiant warriors who righteously defended their families. Well. I found something new I hadn't learned before! In Alma 56 you read about how they had this big old battle and "not one soul had of them had fallen to the earth!" MIRACLE! But, if you keep reading in Alma 57, there are 60 more stripling warriors that came to join their forces. 60 more who for whatever reason were not able to be part of that initial 2,000. And it is after these 60 soldiers join them that the battles get worse. But Helaman says "my little band of two thousand and sixty fought most desperately... yea and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness..." After the battle they find that "there was not one soul of them who did perish; yea, and neither was there one soul among them who had not received many wounds."

The 2,000 stripling warriors were preserved by the hand of God. The 2,060 stripling warriors were preserved by the hand of God, but they were all wounded.

I often feel like one of those 60 warriors. I hardly ever get it right the first time and when I finally get my act together I always get wounded, or have to learn things the hard way. But oh, what a blessing that is! To know that God doesn't forget about those 60. He is patient. He is loving. He is our father.

Helaman often refers to his stripling warriors as "my little sons" with such love and tenderness. Such tenderness and love I know Heavenly Father feels for us.

If you ever feel like one of the 60, don't forget it's never too late! The Lord will still work miracles in your lives!

Hope that kind of maybe made sense :)
I LOVE YOU ALL A LOT!!
Hermana Lund

Week 31 Priesthood Blessings

Hey everyone :)

This week I had a really special experience. Life out here is a little nuts :) so I've been debating getting a priesthood blessing for a while now. I went back and forth all last transfer and after praying
and some studying I decided to hold off. I'm a big believer in putting your best foot forward in faith rather than waiting around for a glorious sign from above. Anyways! So this week I got the prompting that I should actually get a priesthood blessing. Now. In everyone's testimony of the gospel there are key points of strength; points that you can rely on when your faith falters elsewhere. For example, I don't know if we really lived with God before we came to earth. That could be a struggle for me. But, I know that when I pray I feel good. And that good feeling is Gods love. And if God is our loving father, I suppose it makes sense that we lived with him before. Anyways. The
priesthood is a huge key point for me. I cannot deny the feelings I have felt as righteous priesthood power has been exercised in my life. So. I don't like to abuse or overuse the gift of receiving priesthood blessings. Keep it special, ya know? But finally I felt like it was time. Not because I was in complete turmoil in every part of my life, but because I felt ready and worthy to listen.

Finally, I got up the courage to call our district leader. This is our third transfer serving together so we've gotten really close. He is currently training a brand new missionary named elder brown :) As I
prayed to know if a priesthood blessing was the right step for me, the spirit was clear. Ask Elder Brown. Silly spirit, I met elder brown yesterday! But it was really clear. So I asked him :)

It was the first blessing he has ever given. It was short. It was sweet. It was genuine. And it was exactly what I needed. The could feel the few words he spoke were inspired and came directly from a
power who knew me much better than an elder that I met 2 days previously. It was amazing.

Other than that, life is good :) we've got another baptism this Friday :) she's 8 years old and got a little lisp and stutter. She is really the sweetest. It's amazing that little kids know and understand enough
to say "this is good. This is true. I'm in!" :)

Here's a picture of a cow we bonded with :) his name is Bessy. Yup. He. :)

Life is good. The church is true and that's all that really matters :)

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!

Ladies: Find righteous ways to use the priesthood in your life :)
Gentlemen: The priesthood matters. Stay worthy. You never know when
you'll have to use it :)

¡Hasta la próxima semana!
Hermana Lund

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Week 30 Don't be all talk and no work. Get to work (T6)

Hey :)

Crazy last week of the transfer!!

Monday: we went to a member's house as a district and watched church movies in their home theater :))) fun stuff.

Tuesday: D got baptized :D after 15 years of waiting, her husband finally got to see her baptized! It was crazy and chaotic (as most surprise baptisms are) and honestly something I would rather not
repeat... But D got baptized :)

Thursday/Friday/Saturday: The annual county fair started on Thursday! We had this booth at the fair. It looked like relief society threw up and two beautiful tables popped out :) it was a lot of fun to talk to so many people and answer a lot of questions!

We also got transfer calls!! Annnnnnnnd... We're staying together :) woooohoooooooo.

We were finally able to go to the temple with our recent convert R :) we did baptisms. It was amazing.

This morning we had our Spanish temple day we've been planning for moooonths! The 7 Spanish branches in our temple district all came up! They opened up the temple just for us. We were able to do so much family history work! And we were able to do baptisms for the first time with D :)

Oh! And we went on a district hike this morning too :)

Crazy, amazing week! Full of miracles!

Sorry this email isn't as perky and profound as usual but I love you all :)

All I've got to say is put your money where your mouth is. 

Don't be all talk and no work. Get to work. The church is true :)

I love you all!
Hermana Lund

Weekly planning at its finest:

Week 29 Seven Months

HOLA :)

Here we go again :)

Welp. I turned 7 yesterday!!! Woohooooooo. So crazy. A lot can happen in 7 months :)

But can we talk aboout General Conference???????? HOW AMAZING WAS THAT?????? My goodness, I have never been so pumped up by listening to people talk for 10 hours! SO SO amazing!

I especially loved Larry Lawrence's talk. The one about praying to know what you need to change. Don't get me wrong, I love those talks that say "being christ-like is so important!" "have faith!" "be a happier person!" but I always end up saying... HOW? And so I loved that his talk had such a simple solution. PRAY. Ask God and he'll tell you the how. Stop stalling, humble up, and ask what you need to do differently.

Other than that, we went on exchanges this week with our Sister Training Leader, which are always just so nice and refreshing. We saw a lot of miracles.

The weeks/days are all blurring together.

Transfers are going down next Tuesday and transfer calls are on Saturday... It's kinda frustrating because literally ANYTHING could happen based on where Hna B and I are at soooo :) That'll be fun!

But!! Fun distracting things are happening this week... Including a surprise baptism :D I can't remember if I've told you this, but this lady is the only member of her family that hasn't been baptized and her husband has been waiting for this for 15 years!!! And, according to her request, she's just telling her family "oooooh, there's a baptismal service we should go to" and when they get there she's going to say "SURPRISE! It's mine!!!!" Hahah so... We're planning a surprise baptism :)

I'll keep it short and sweet this week :) Life is good :) Say your prayers :)

I love you all!
Hermana Lund