Bienvenida, 2014!

What a week. It was SO good to talk to y'all on Christmas! It was weird how normal it seemed, except for Kevin and Matt's voices! They'll be grown me by the time I get home.

Haha, so I have a funny story. On Christmas Eve night Sister Arche and I got home before the other sisters and we immediately got into our pajamas since we were SO full of food. When the sisters got home they told us to get our clothes back on so we could take a picture. We were kind of annoyed, honestly, but did it. After we took some pictures, Sister Christensen told Sister Isham to go look at something on the phone outside or something (why didn't I see this as more suspicious?) and we immediately got back into our pajamas. Well, President and his family were suddenly at our door! Haha, they had some presents some random lady had given them and told to give to some missionaries. The sisters had tried so hard to get us to look presentable but we wouldn't do it. Haha, it was pretty funny. I looked pretty cute in my red nightgown, though.

We had a good Christmas full of lots of food. We had a cupboard FULL of candy, even after we had regifted all we could. The other sisters brought a huge box of pure chocolate to the office, thank goodness. I have never seen so much candy in my life. 

This Saturday was rough. It seems like, out of nowhere, everything that seemed to be going right had slipped down the drain. On Saturday we didn't have ANYTHING to do. We tried so hard to visit people and find things to do, but it just wasn't happening. We were both kind of in zombie mode. The next morning Sister Arche was kind of going crazy; she was just so fed up. Haha, it was actually pretty funny. 

Anyway, church was a good time for me to refocus and recommit myself. And last night we had a miracle! Our district leader and his companion had a random non-member family who lives in our area show up at church yesterday. They asked if they wanted us to come over and they said yes. So..we did! Their names are Justin and Mari. They're actually not married, but they have a 3-year-old girl. Mari's brother lives with them but he didn't go to church yesterday. He seems interested too, though. Anyway, they told us that Mari's dad is a member who had apparently been working hard on them for a while. Apparently they had a long talk with him and committed to come to the Mormon church for a whole year! And they totally want to be baptized. They told us that they're going to go to this church for at least a year no matter what and they want to know what the next steps are to "progress in the church." Mari said that the more her dad has talked to her about it, the more she thinks that it can't not be true. I think I'm still a bit skeptical of it all as a way to protect my poor, delicate heart but I think they're really interested! They would have to get married but..totally could happen! I'll keep you posted.

So this is the last week of the transfer. Can't believe how fast it went. If Sister Arche and I are separated I'm going home. Just kidding. Kind of. Being on a mission is hard in so many ways and I kind of feel like it's never going to end, but I'm so glad to be out here. It's like running (everything on my mission relates to running somehow, by the way). I don't know why I like it because it's miserable in the moment, but for some reason it's my favorite thing ever! 

Love you all! Sorry this e-mail isn't exactly inspiring...just read your scriptures or something. Have a happy New Years!

Hermana Lund

Feliz Navidad!

Mi Familia!

Besides the fact that I got a horrible stomach bug this weekend, we had such a good week! Things seem to finally be coming together. ALL of our investigators (though they be few in number) are super solid. We met this man named Rudy last week. He lost his wife of 51 years 3 weeks before and is heartbroken. He eagerly set up an appointment with us. Apparently he's already friends with 2 member families who live right by him, but they've tried to reach out to him and his wife before and they weren't interested. Anyway, we had a good couple lessons with him and he said that he would like very much to be baptized. He said he was baptized into the Catholic church but "that was different." He's going though a lot right now and just seems really prepared. 

And he came to church yesterday!!! YAY!!!!! Finally, an investigator at church!!! He immediately made lots of friends with the Elders' Quorum and our Ward Mission Leader said that, to introduce himself, he said, "I'm Rudy from St. Matthew's and I'm hoping to be here for a long time." He has a date for the 11th and we're pretty sure it's going to happen.

We're also teaching the Harris family, which is actually the Louis family I wrote about a couple weeks ago. Apparently he was just the boyfriend and he's not a good guy. We stopped by last week and Michelle, the mom, said the police had been there just and hour earlier to get him our of her apartment. So he's out of the picture. Anyway, we helped her out around the house. She doesn't have anything. We're working on getting a mattress from a ward member to give her because her kids don't even have a real bed. We were sweeping her carpet with a broom because she didn't have a vacuum. We had a little lesson with her. Actually, she mostly just talked. She doesn't get to talk to other women ever. 

Michelle is super attracted to the church. She loves the idea of Relief Society and activities for her kids. She has real desires to come closer to God and find a good church. We taught them the Restoration on Saturday and they all ate it up and accepted it. They are completely on board to be baptized. We set them with a date for the 18th but she works on Sundays. She's going to try to get them off, though. 

Michelle told us that she knows God sent us because of how she feels with us around. She said that it was really weird that she let us come back another time but she could just sense something different about us. Rudy said that, too. He keeps telling us how beautiful we looked that day when we came up and talked to him in his yard. Haha. I think he recognizes that as evidence of the truthfulness of our message.

We've also got Peggy and Shannon, whose ultimate goal is also baptism, but they might take a little longer. But it's so neat to be teaching people who actually are interested and actually want to make changes in their lives. 

Oh! And we had a missionary correlation meeting last night. It was the first correlation meeting I've had where ward missionaries came. Actually, we haven't really even had ward missionaries in my other areas. We did in Riverside but they didn't know what their calling consisted of. This ward is amazing! Everyone is so on board with their missionary work. Families keep asking us for Book of Mormons and pass along cards that they can give out. Almost every family we talk to has people they're working on. It's awesome. I can see now how it's supposed to be. I really want to be a ward missionary when I go home.

Well, I've got to go. Can't wait to talk to you on Christmas! Have a great week, love you all!

Hermana Lund

December is Slipping Through My Fingers!

Mi Familia,

Can you believe how quickly time is passing? I feel like this transfer I've really been able to sink into being here, to not think about home or anything and just be here. It doesn't hurt that I have the best companion ever! It feels like my transfer with Hermana King again--I hate how quickly the transfer is going because there's a chance we won't be together after it ends! I hope we'll at least be together for another one. Sister Arche is seriously incredible. 

This week I ate a scorpion chili pepper! (Did you get the video? The member we were with was going to e-mail it to you.) I only ate a tiny bit and it was dried so it was less awful than it would have been had it been fresh, but it's supposedly the hottest chili in the world and it was TERRIBLE! The Martinez family always initiate the new missionaries by having them chew a ghost pepper for 20 seconds before swallowing it, but I was the first missionary to ever try the scorpion chili pepper. My mouth and throat were completely on fire. I downed 2 huge glasses of milk and an ice cream sandwich afterwards. Haha, it was great.

The work is still going slow. But we had another lesson with Shannon, a man who went to one of his Mormon friends to because he wanted what he had. He's doing really well, but we're pretty sure he's on parole so he can't get baptized any time soon. He committed to go to church this week but he didn't. Seriously, I think I'm cursed. He texted us afterwards to say that he was really sick and to see when we could set up another appointment to come by. That's a good sign, right? Haha, he said that it's a good thing he didn't commit to come last week because he ended up spending the weekend in jail because one of his business partners signed some checks he shouldn't have or couldn't or something. But he told us that he was abnormally calm through it all. He said that he recognizes that since he talked to his friend and started visiting with us he's been so much calmer and more peaceful. He's really searching.

We haven't been able to meet with the Louis family again and they haven't come to church. We think the mom might be a slight problem. Sigh. It is SO HARD to work hard when there's nothing to do. It reminds me of soccer in high school. When we played Bonneville or Logan or a good team like that, I always played my best game. But when we played Grantsville, even though we'd win like 15-0 I would be playing HORRIBLY. It's just so hard to do your best when there's nothing to push against. It's easy to work hard when you're busy. Like Hermana King and me in Riverside. But it's those moments when there's nothing you have to do that require the most dedication and self-motivation to do what you should do. It's kind of cool: I feel like I'm a hard-working, dedicated person but Heavenly Father is allowing me the opportunity to take it to the next level. Although I'd still rather be busy and baptizing like crazy. I'm praying that will come..

Yesterday in church I was thinking hard about the Atonement. This girl shared a poem in her talk about how the Atonement is like us building a ladder to get out of a dark hole, but our ladder won't reach so the Savior throws down a rope. Which is great, but I don't think it's completely accurate. I've been thinking a lot lately about how I'm just never doing enough. I'm just not. Just being Camille, I want to be doing so much more! My heart is hungry to be doing more. But I've felt like I don't have the capacity or the tools to do what I want to do, and it was really bugging me. I felt like I'll never become the missionary I want to be because I'm never doing all that I can do, all that is required to receive the help from the Atonement that I need. 

But I realized something that I realized months ago, but had somehow forgotten. The Atonement doesn't help us after we put in our best effort. It helps us put in our best effort! His strength, His love, His courage...it all permeates everything we ever do if we let it. Through Him, and only through Him, will we even be able to put in the effort we need to to become perfect. What an incredible gift He gave us!! There's never that moment when we can say, "Ok, I've done all I can do, now take over, please." We are to say, "Help me try harder today. Help me love deeper and be selfless. Help me forgive. Help me become more like Thee!" So that's what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to believe He can help me, to believe I need His help, and to accept His help in everything I do. 

I love you all! Have a great week. I so excited to talk to you on Christmas!!

Mucho amor,

Hermana Lund

Utah Weather Minus the Snow

Mi Familia!

Man, it has been cooooold here. Cold and windy. I'm so thankful to have a car again, even if I do feel completely cooped up. Although it has been really warm here and there, too. Like last P-day we played soccer and the weather was divine! But..that's gone.

 It got down to freezing a couple days ago. And I think it's 10 times worse 1) because I'm not wearing pants and 2) because I've acclimated to Texas weather. I'm a wimp! It hasn't snowed yet, just rained a bit today. But everyone says this weather isn't normal. Maybe we'll have a white miracle!

I'm loving San Antonio. It's such a nice place! We work in a very rich part of town. It's completely made up of gated communities filled with HUGE houses. There's this one community, Shavano Park, that is actually it's own city. It has it's own police and everything. It's really nice. Really nice. It can be a bit intimidating to talk to those people, but somehow it hasn't bothered me too much. I guess 10 months (wow!) of constantly being out of my comfort zone has done something to me!

And the ward is incredible. They're very missionary minded. I went to PEC for the first time in my mission yesterday. All of the ward council was there and they gave us and the other sisters special time to talk about our investigators and less actives we have been working with, coming up with serious plans of action to help us out. It was great! And we've been working with members a lot lately, and I feel like everyone is already working on at least one of their friends, often as a family. We're just trying to help them move it to the next level. 

There's a couple recent converts, Meredith and her boyfriend Hector, and Laura Ketterman, who are simply fantastic. They love the gospel and want to share it with everyone! And they do! They honestly look for opportunities to share the gospel. Laura keeps a Book or Mormon on her office desk at all times ready to give out. They inspire ME to talk to more people!

We taught an incredible family on Saturday, the Louis family. They're an awesome black family who lives in probably the only ghetto apartments in our area. We talked to Allen, the dad, outside a week or so ago and set a return appointment. But I didn't have my agenda for the new transfer with me and the next day Sister Arche lost hers, so we forgot when it was. But we went by on Saturday and he said they had been waiting for us the day before! Luckily they weren't upset. Anyway, the mom was at work but we taught Allen and his 2 kids, 10-year-old Jace and 9-year-old Jayla. 

They're so great! We taught the Restoration and they were super open and accepted it all. Even the kids were attentive, although Jayla did fall asleep once. ;) Allen knows EVERYTHING about the Bible and lives it. He's a great dad. He said he's been praying to find a good church for his kids that will help them learn. They all accepted the baptismal invite and were really excited to read the Book of Mormon together. They committed to go to church, too. Brother Green agreed to give them a ride and he confirmed with them and everything, but the next morning Allen called to say he'd been up with a toothache all night and wouldn't be able to make it. It was pretty disappointing for us, since neither of us have had investigators at church for what seems like forever. But we did only teach them on Saturday, after all. As Brother Green says, we'll get 'em. :) We have a lesson with the whole family tomorrow night and Brother Green is coming with us. Allen says they will DEFINITELY go to church next week, so I hope that happens. 

We're trying so hard to work hard. Which is hard to do when there isn't a lot of work to do! But I think we're doing a pretty good job. I just want so badly to be busy, to teach millions of lessons and baptize tons of people. Everyone keeps telling us that there ARE people in our area who are ready to be baptized NOW. Why can't we find them?! Is it a lack of faith on our part? Are we doing something wrong? That doesn't seem quite right, but I can't stop thinking about it anyway. I just want to do work and make a difference. I want to kill it! 

I think I just need to forget about it. Forget about whether or not I'm working hard enough and focus on loving God and His children. And pray with faith. Pray for us to find people who are ready right now, ok? They have to exist.

I love you all. Have a great week!

Hermana Lund

San Antone!

Mi Familia,

I'm in San Antonio! 8th Ward, where lots of The District was filmed. I think Scott's the only one who would have seen that, but in The District, Jackie (an investigator) and Caleb get married in the bishop's home. I went there on Friday! He isn't the bishop anymore but his wife's the Relief Society president. We're having Christmas there, too! I'm way excited. It's a great ward.

It's totally English. But surprisingly, I'm ok with that. English wards are great. And if my Spanish could have improved so much in Del Rio, which was basically and English area, I'm not too worried about it improving here. I'll just keep working hard like I always do and pray like nobody's business. :) Plus, my companion Sister Arche is fluent in Spanish even though she's English-called. So I've been practicing. There's nothing better to help you learn Spanish than having a companion who grew up speaking Spanish, I've come to realize. I haven't had a companion who could speak Spanish almost at all since Hermana Rodriguez so I'm excited. And Sister Arche tells me my Spanish is really good so I'll just believe that and move on.

The work here is even slower than Del Rio. A lot slower, actually. Haha, go figure. We have 2 investigators, only one of which is solid (although she's really solid and we're hoping she'll be baptized soon.) Can you believe that? What was I possibly complaining about in Del Rio? But it's been ok. Sister Arche has only been here for a transfer so she doesn't know very many people, so we're going to be working with members a ton this week. Apparently the ward gives a lot of referrals, so we're going to feed off of that. We've been contacting a LOT the last couple of days, too. But it's been so fun! We've met some great people (although not anyone who's really interested) and Sister Arche and I have SO much fun together.

Sister Arche is the best. She's been out for just short of a year. She's from West Valley but her Mom's from Ecuador and her Dad's from Mexico. Haha, we came up from the border a day before transfers on Wednesday and stayed I stayed in Sister Arche's apartment, and we could kind of deduce from everything we knew that we would be companions. My first thought was, "Shoot! I can't be companions with her! She's too gorgeous!" Haha but she's SOOO sweet. She's soft spoken, but hilarious and fun. We have the greatest time knocking. She's such a hard worker, too. She has some serious health problems but she keeps going even when she's not feeling well or in pain. I really admire her for that. 

Oh! And I'm living with Sister Isham and Sister Christensen! They're traveling STL's...they're in charge of all the other STL's. So that has been fun. And also hard. It's close to impossible to not compare myself to Hermana Christensen since we were MTC companions. She's basically and AP and I'm just a normal junior companion. But it's actually been a huge blessing. I just feel so humble! Not in a negative, self-demeaning way, but in a way that helps me realize who I am, Who I'm working for, and what I'm doing. It's not my work, it's completely God's! And it feels sooooo good! I just feel like I'm filled with humility and charity and there's nothing that feels better, including other missionaries recognizing how great of a missionary you are. 

Also, I've been coming across desire a lot in my studies lately. God truly works according to your desires. I wrote a list of my desires as a missionary. I want to be completely fluent in Spanish. I want to be filled with charity and humility and be completely on the Lord's errand. I want to help other people feel confident in who they are. I want to be part of the harvest as well as the planting. But I'm not super worried about being involved with the work on a high scale. I just want to work! Heavenly Father will give me according to my desires. I'm not worried about that.

I'm so blessed. I'm so happy to be on a mission this Christmas. Oh! I forgot to talk about Thanksgiving! I don't have enough time, but just know that I was taken care of by some super sweet and fairly crazy old people. Perfect! I loved it. 

I love you all! Have a great week!

Hermana Lund

Estamos en Tejas?

Mi familia!

I'm leaving Del Rio. I am seriously heartbroken. I cried when we got the calls. I know I've already been here for 4 months but I don't feel ready to leave at all. I want to stay here forever! Also, they're combining my area with the other sisters' area; Hermanas Montgomery and Pond will be companions (That will give you an idea of how slow our area is..). That just makes me more jealous! I have always wanted to serve in south Del Rio. That's where all the Spanish is and it's gorgeous down there with all the small streets and cottages and Victorian-style homes and huge, lush trees. Man! Why can't I stay?!

I love this place and these people more than I can possibly explain! I love biking and talking to everyone on the street, I love the wide, barren land out by the lake, I love the huge sky and beautiful sunsets, the spontaneous flooding and the crazy bugs. I love Marilyn & Jerry, Eloy & Rosie, Imelda, the Judds, Sister Braudaway, Hermana Alvarez, Hermana Trevino, even crazy TC and Hermana Tanaka. I love the border patrol and airforce families, all the crazies we meet every day, and the awesome sisters I live with. I love the long drives to Eagle Pass for zone meeting where all you can see is barren Mexico and the gorgeous clouds. I love the Spanglish, which is literally a language of it's own. Del Rio is where I learned to chill and to be spontaneous. It's where subjective began to really come naturally and where I learned to roll my rr's like a Mexican. It's where I learned patience, and how to be on the same team as Heavenly Father. I LOVE DEL RIO! I never thought I'd get to love an area as much as this. I've been filled with the love of Christ for these people. It is going to be SO hard to get on that border van on Wednesday.

But Heavenly Father knows best. I told Him I wanted to stay. But I also told Him that I knew He knew things I didn't, so if He had a better plan, I'd be ok. So He must have a better plan. It's just hard to imagine. But how grateful I am that Heavenly Father has always loved me enough to go against what I want when it's what I need. I would have missed out on a lot of great things in my life and my mission.

Sigh. Anyway. This week was..eventful. We had such a good time in San Antonio. Tuesday was a spiritual feast if I ever had one. The temple was amazing. I got sick the last day up there, but I got a blessing that I would get better on the Lord's time, but that I'd be given the strength I needed in the meantime. Which has been so true! I'm still definitely sick..I have a cough and seriously annoying phlegm going on..but I haven't been tired. I've been able to do everything I've needed to.

Including biking through the FREEZING weather all week. I finally learned what everyone was talking about when they told us about the bone-drilling effect of cold humidity. On Friday it was in the 40's but it was SUPER windy and I felt like I was at the top of Strawberry. Saturday was the same, but in the 30's. Yesterday was cold, but not windy. I've been wearing 2 layers of tights, 3 cardigans, a jacket, and my coat and it still barely cuts it. But we've been blessed. We haven't had a lot of plans lately and we had to knock a lot the last couple of days, but we found a lot of people who let us into their warm homes. Thank goodness!

Oh. And sad news..Hermana Rodriguez told me at the conference that Robert has been drinking again (My heart is really taking a beating this week). I'm super worried about him. And Carlos hasn't been going to church because he keeps going down to San Antonio to visit his dad who just got out of jail. Sometimes it feels like I'm not doing any good. But that's when I have to kick Satan in the buns and remind myself that that's nonsense. 

I love you all! Have a GREAT Thanksgiving week! I've been thinking about you, but I haven't been homesick. This is my only holiday season as a missionary, after all!

Love you tons! Share the gospel! 

Hermana Lund

El tiempo vuela!

Mi familia!

I can't believe how fast this week flew by. I can't believe we're more than half-way through November! And transfer calls come on Sunday. It's seriously nuts.

I had such a good week. I feel like a switch has turned on in my brain. I don't know, I've just learned a lot of things. I just feel good and happy and excited to work! I went on an exchange with our STL Hermana Vankatwyk on Friday. She goes home the day before Thanksgiving and it was neat to spend the day with someone at that point in her mission. She's ready to go home and see her family, but she's soaking up the last few days on her mission. She kept me up late talking about her mission and the struggles she's had and the things she's learned. She's just so genuinely excited about missionary work. She was super bold with everyone and made sure they understood that this is the greatest thing they will ever hear ever. Haha, I loved it. Plus, the weather was GORGEOUS. Most beautiful weather so far this fall. Just an all-around good day.

Like I said, I feel like a light has just switched. I think I understand better what I'm doing out here. Heavenly Father is doing His own work...through me. Through every missionary, through every member. I feel much more like I'm in a partnership with Him. When I pray, I counsel with Him to know what we can do together to help His children. And when things don't go well or when other missionaries seem to be having so much more success than me, it's ok because we're all doing the same work and we're going to win anyway. 

Also, this week I realized something that I should have realized a long time ago...TSAM is the best mission in the world (sorry, Scott). I legitimately believe it. 

We've seen a little progression with our investigators. We finally met with Imelda again. She's been really worried about her sick dog that she loves like a child. Anyway, she's as solid as ever. She believes in our message but is a bit hesitant to ask. But we're working with her. She's such a sweet lady and I love her to pieces.

Rosie Vasquez has been really sick lately so we haven't met with the Vasquez's a lot, but last we heard they were both reading. Yes! We invited them to baptism again last week and they said they've been talking about it together, but they don't want to disgrace their parents. We asked them what they thought their parents would want for them if they were to find the truth and they agreed that they would want them to join but..we'll see.

We're also teaching a man named Juan Cardenas (Yay! Spanish investigator!). We were teaching his wife Patricia a while ago. She's still reading the Book of Mormon but won't make appointments with us anymore. Don't really know what's going on there. But we've been meeting with Juan and he's really interested. He works like a dog and is rarely home so we've only met with him once a week. Yesterday we went by with Presidente Mata and he met us outside to tell us that he had family over. My initial thought was, "Ok, well obviously he's not that interested and we probably shouldn't waste our time with him too much more." But we ended up having a lesson out there anyway. He had read the chapter we had assigned him and talked about how he feels something different when we're there and he wants it for his family. He recognized the peace we bring with us. Presidente Mata was awesome and really bold with him. He told him that we have something that will change his life and that he needs. He said that God has given us 24 hours in the day; how much are we willing to give to Him? That seemed to hit Juan hard. He really wants this. And he seems to be acting on it. We assigned him another chapter and set an appointment to see him next Sunday. Hopefully we'll be able to check up on him before that, too.

Oh! And today we're driving up to San Antonio for a conference with Elder Golden tomorrow! I'm so excited. AND, best part, we're going to go to the temple afterwards! We wouldn't get home in time for any appointments anyway, so we're going to stay an extra night up there and just come home early the next morning. SO excited. I've been so temple hungry lately.

Wow, that's a lot. Sorry you had to read all that. Well, I love you all! Have a fantastic week. Share the gospel!

Oraciones contestadas

Mi Familia,

This week was hard and good. I'm happy to be past nine months...the mission's great but it's also nice to know that I can for sure do nine more months because I've already done it before! If that makes any sense.

We FINALLY had an investigator at church yesterday!! It was another one of Hermana Trevino's friends, Carole. She's been really searching for a church for a while. She tried out a pentecostal church a while back and was super turned off/discouraged by the speaking-in-tongues stuff. I hope yesterday was a better experience.

Marilyn and Jerry are out of town. I sure hope they're reading. Rosie has been super sick and Eloy has something weird going on that required him to get and MRI. Everyone's still kind of dangling, but we're working hard to give them a chance to accept and act. And if they won't, we'll just have to have faith to let them go and let other missionaries pick them up someday. 

Sister Montgomery shared something awesome with me in comp study the other day. She was reading Elder Bednar's conference talk and changed a few words to fit missionary work. I'll copy and paste it and add the changes so you can see:

"Often as we teach and testify about [missionary work] we emphasize the immediate, dramatic, and readily recognizable temporal blessings that we receive. And surely such blessings do occur. Yet some of the diverse blessings we obtain as we are obedient to this commandment are significant but subtle. Such blessings can be discerned only if we are both spiritually attentive and observant...

...We may need and pray for help to find [new investigators]. Eyes and ears of faith are needed, however, to recognize the spiritual gift of enhanced discernment that can empower us to identify [teaching] opportunities that many other people might overlook—or the blessing of greater personal determination to search harder and longer for [people to teach] than other people may be able or willing to do. We might want and expect a [family to teach], but the blessing that comes to us through heavenly windows may be greater capacity to act and change our own circumstances rather than expecting our circumstances to be changed by someone or something else.

We may appropriately desire and work to [have high numbers]. Eyes and ears of faith are required, however, to notice in us an increased spiritual and temporal capacity to do more with less, a keener ability to prioritize and simplify [and plan], and an enhanced ability to take proper care of the [investigators and members] we already have acquired. We might want and expect a [teaching pool], but the blessing that comes to us through heavenly windows may be greater capacity to change our own circumstances rather than expecting our circumstances to be changed by someone or something else."

I've been able to see this first-hand. We've been working so hard and seeing virtually no results. But we have become SO much better at planning, working with members, and taking time to serve the one. Our work isn't great in quantity, but it is great in quality. We depend more on Christ and have more faith that His help will come. Pretty awesome.

And we are seeing results, maybe just different ones than we imagined. Like the members of the branches--especially the English branch--and really getting on board with the whole "member missionary" thing. Which is awesome, because it's clear that that's how Heavenly Father wants His work to be done. 

Anyway, missionary work is good. Really hard, often tedious, and far from perfect, but good. 

Love you all. Keep on keepin' on and share the gospel!

Hermana Lund

La Mitad

Mi Familia!

Thank you for all the birthday packages and wishes! They all made me really happy. I had a great birthday week. Sister Montgomery's birthday was Tuesday and Sister Isham was down here for an exchange while Sister Hearne was doing an exchange with the STL in Eagle Pass. It was so fun to have her with us! I adore her. We made Hermana Mo a birthday breakfast of doughnuts and eggs and fruit salad while she was in the shower, which was really fun.  And we had a great birthday dinner with the Judds where we celebrated both of our birthdays. We had tacos and strawberry shortcake. Yum! We had such a fun time talking and laughing. I seriously love that family so much. Definitely keeping touch after the mission. 

Halloween was fun...I dressed up as Hermana Clark. Not very many people noticed. To one lady on the street I introduced myself as Sister Lund and she said, "Sister what?" looking at my name tag, and I said, "Sister Clark. My name is Sister Clark," and she said "Oh!" Wow, that story probably wasn't worth typing up. Oh well, hecho. That night we couldn't be out past 6 so we did our weekly planning at the end of the day. It was SO hard to focus. 

For my birthday we had another exchange. Sister Hopkins was with us from Eagle Pass while her companion, Sister Vankatwyk, was at the leadership meeting in San Antonio. It was fun. Marilyn taught us how to make pecan pie! It turned out really good! We also had a couple really good lessons with less actives. And we gave out treats to more people who don't like us. Oh! And that morning while I was in the shower, everyone decorated around my bed with those light-up balloons you sent me, Mom, and little notes. And we made carrot cake, my FAVORITE. Soooooo many treats this week...

So I think I have pink-eye. This time it has made me feel pretty sick. Yesterday I was just so tired and my nose was a faucet. Hna. Mo was sick too, but with something totally different. We ended up getting a ride to our lesson and then we went home early to conk. We went to bed at about 8:45. My eye's still really bugging me and, according to Hna. Mo, I look like the Hunchback of Notre Dame, but other than that I'm feeling ok. I'm going to get eye drops today at the store. 

But BEFORE all that, we decided to take carrot cake to some less actives who have turned pretty anti. We've just had such great success with treats lately! We took it to their door and the husband opened, and when we offered them to him he said, "No thank you, we're fine," and closed the door. Ok...So we decided to just give it to the next person we saw because of something that happened to us on Thursday that I just remembered and will write about after this. Well, the next person we saw was a guy getting ready for a run. I offered it to him and he kept trying to ignore us until he finally couldn't anymore (we don't go away THAT easily) and said no thank you. Seriously? It's cake. Anyway, I felt prompted to take it to Mr. Moravitz, the old man we used to teach who lives at a rest home and whose lady friend said she would stop helping him with paper work if he went to our church. We took it in and she was there! She is one of the most anti-Mormon people I have ever met. Like usual, she wouldn't look at us or respond to our hellos. But as we just stayed and chatted with Mr. Moravitz a little, you know, just being friendly and not devil-worshippy, and she noticeably warmed up to us. She talked to us for a second, and even laughed a bit! I thought that was impossible. Anyway, it was a miracle. Maybe a whole lot isn't going to come from it right away, but it was a huge step.  

Ok, so on Thursday I was feeling really down. Our area is suffering big time, we didn't have any appointments for the day, and we had taken longer than we should have to leave the house. I was frustrated, tired, and feeling a little bit guilty. We were biking down the street when Sister Reese, the Relief Society president, pulled over and flagged us down to give us a list of people she'd like us to go see. Then, she ran back to her car and grabbed a mini loaf of pumpkin chocolate chip bread to give to us. She said Sister Pomeroy had made it and given it to her to give to someone. Now, pumpkin chocolate chip bread is my favorite ever...even more than carrot cake. I immediately recognized it as a miracle from Heavenly Father, right at the exact moment that I needed it. It was a gentle reminder to me that He loved me, knew me, was mindful of me, and wasn't upset with me for making mistakes. We ate some right then and there; we didn't have a knife so we just took big bites out of it. Haha. It was a miracle and turned my day around. 

It was a testament to me of being in tune with the Spirit. I can almost guarantee that neither Sister Reese nor Sister Pomeroy knew they were being guided by the Spirit. But I know they were, and it blessed me a lot. That's something I've learned while being out here: The Spirit usually works through us in ways that we don't even recognize. But when we're living right, He guides us. 

Love you all! Have a fantastic week.

Hermana Lund

Disfruta los momentos pequenos

Mi Familia!

This week has been good. Which is weird because I had an all-time record low of lessons. It was kind of rough sometimes, and we've dropped a few people/haven't seen them in a long time. But there were some great moments, too. Like with Marilyn and Jerry. I LOVE Marilyn and Jerry. Every once in a while an investigator will become my favorite person in the world. I remember it happened with Robert, and now it's happened with Marilyn and Jerry. We had a lesson with them where we discussed more of the Book of Mormon. Jerry has been reading 4 or 5 pages every day and Marilyn has been trying to read when she can. Jerry even read a little to Marilyn. They talk about us and our message when we're not there, too. It's so nice to teach someone who doesn't forget about you the minute you walk out the door. They still have serious doubts--they flat out told us they could never believe the Mormon church is the only one with authority--but they are open, receptive, and hungry to learn. They're reading the Book of Mormon truly seeking to find out whether or not it's true. They just don't know what happens to people who find out the book is true. ;) I hope they get baptized while I'm here. But even if they don't, I'm positive I'll see them in the Celestial Kingdom, which makes me smile.

I really wish y'all could meet them. They are SO awesome and they crack me up. I can't even explain it. Jerry is such a hillbilly and Marilyn is the sweetest little southern lady you'll ever meet. And their house is so cute and quaint, and it always smells like yummy candles. She's going to teach us how to make pecan pie with us on my birthday! I can't wait! And Jerry told us we're like family and we're welcome any time. They call us "the girls," which I don't know why I love so much.

My other favorite people in the world are Eloy and Rosie Vasquez. They're Seth's grandparents. They're kind of in the same boat. They're Methodist, not Baptist, but like Marilyn and Jerry they're very active in their church and feel comfortable. But they're also humble and ready to learn. They're been reading the Book of Mormon too, though not nearly as much as Marilyn and Jerry. We watched the first half of The Testaments with them in an attempt to help them connect the Bible, which they're already thoroughly familiar with, to the Book of Mormon. You should have seen them watching it. They were completely enthralled. When I paused it, they gasped and said, "Was that part 1?" They eagerly set another appointment (for tonight) to see the rest. Rosie said in awe that she never knew anything about the Mormon church before and in her prayer thanked Heavenly Father for sending us to open their eyes and help them learn. YES. They're another couple that I'm not sure if I'll personally see baptized, but I'll definitely see them in the Celestial Kingdom. And how great shall be your joy! :)

Also, we gave Rosie a copy of the Friend earlier that day when we just dropped by. By the time we came by that evening, she had already looked through it all and chosen something to use to teacher her kids at church the next day. She says that she often uses the things we teach them to teach her kids. So without even knowing it, those kids are being taught, too!

Hermana Montgomery's doing much better on the bikes. We still go slowly but not nearly as slowly, and we don't walk nearly as much. I'm so proud of her.

I'm excited for this week. 2 birthdays, Halloween (I'm going to "dress up" as Hna. Clark and wear her name tag), and sleep-in day (daylight savings) on Sunday! It's going to be good.

Love you all! Have a tremendous week!

Hermana Lund

Nueva Companera!

Mi Familia,

Transfers were this week. Hermana Ludeman went up to Austin and my new companion is Hermana Montgomery! I adore her. We came into the field together, actually, but we were in different zones and didn't meet until the day we left the MTC. We've talked a little before at zone conferences, but we didn't know each other more than that. And Hermana Pond is Hermana Clark's companion. She came in with us, too, so in a couple weeks we'll all be celebrating the 9-month mark together! Also, Hermana Montgomery's birthday is 3 days before mine. So we've got some exciting celebrations planned for the next couple weeks! :) Sorry, I haven't taken any pictures, but I'll try to send some home next week.

This week has been stressful for me just because change stresses me out (like just about everything else in missionary life) and it's always hard to adjust to a new companion, even if you love her. It's also hard for me to be the only one who knows anything about the area. But I really love Hermana Montgomery and I'm excited to work with her. She has only served in English areas before this and is excited to be on the border, even if our area is predominately English. She has SO much to bring to the area, especially when it comes to working with members. I'm excited to see the changes in the area that I know she'll bring. She's super driven and passionate about the work and she already loves everyone here. Haha, I don't mean for this to sound prideful, but I feel like Heavenly Father has put 2 of his hardest-working, most determined missionaries in the same area. Serious work is going to get done! :)

Hermana Montgomery and I are alike in so many ways. We think and feel the same way about a lot of things, and we struggle with the same kind of things. (We're both stressers, which I hope will be a good thing rather than a bad thing since we can support and understand each other.) We really get along and we stay up talking every night. ;) The only struggle we've had is that Hermana Mo gets anxiety and motion-sickness from riding bikes. Which is a pretty big problem here. She tries her best, but we've been walking quite a bit. It has turned out ok though; on Friday when we walked a ton we still ended up having 4 lessons. Heavenly Father is making it possible for us to do His work. He always provides a way. Anyway, I'm praying a lot for her and trying to be patient and understanding with it all. She got a blessing on Saturday so I hope she starts feeling better. 

There was a baptism on Saturday for 2 of the Elders' investigators. Only, one of them didn't show up. His name is Noel. He recently moved here from the Philippines where he had already taking the lessons. He's super solid but his wife is super anti. We're guessing that's were the problem was. But the baptism still happened for the other man. I accompanied one of the other Elders for a musical number. It went ok, especially considering I only got the music 2 days before and didn't get very much time to practice. Also, since Hna. Isham is gone, I'm not the only missionary who can/will play in church. The English branch is ok without me but the Spanish branch expects me to be in Sunday School, Relief Society, and Sacrament to play. Kind of annoying, but I'm still grateful for the opportunity. 

I've been happy. But I'm still struggling with the same things I've been struggling with for 4 months. I still feel homesick (not terribly, don't freak out) and I often feel stressed and overwhelmed. That is the thing I dislike about myself the most: how hard it is for me to stay calm and keep my stress in check. It's so miserable. I just get so anxious and worried and can't seem to control it. It's something I'm trying so hard to change. It's just not Christlike. It's not who I want to be and I know it's not who Heavenly Father wants me to be. It stems from great attributes that I love about myself like determination, obedience, and self-motivation, but I need to learn how to stay calm and have patience & faith. It's just discouraging because I've been struggling with it for so long. I hate that I often long to go home where there's not so much pressure. I've looked forward to my mission for as long as I can remember, and it bothers me that I struggle with desire out here. 

But I have seen progress in myself. I know I'm better at handling stress, even if it doesn't seem like it sometimes. I love people more, I love my Savior more, and I have more hope and faith that I have tremendous joy to look forward to on my mission. I'm at least a little bit better at seeing the beauty in the moment, in slowing down and taking it a day at a time. And I know without a doubt that Heavenly Father is proud of me, the work I've done, and who I'm becoming. I just miss you all a lot sometimes.

Don't worry about me too much, though. I'm figuring it out. Heavenly Father always gives me my daily bread. I have no doubt that good things are to come on my mission.  I'm so grateful for my mission, for the chance I have to learn and be so involved in God's work. And I LOVE this area. Just in the last couple days I've had several moments where I was filled with love for the people here, members and non-members. I love them! I love learning about them and serving them. There are several people I plan to come visit after the mission. What a blessing!

Phew! Long e-mail. I'll let you go now. I love you all and hope you have an incredible week!

Mucho carino,

Hermana Lund

P.S. President told me my Spanish is phenomenal! Yay!! :)

El octubre de las hojas verdes

Mi Familia,

Another good, fast week...and transfer! I'm staying and Hermana Ludeman is leaving. Kind of what we figured. I have no idea who my next companion will be or if she'll be senior or junior. It doesn't really matter though because I'm not training so it's all the same. 

We actually figured out transfer changes a day earlier than everyone else. On Saturday President Slaughter was here on the border and gave our district our own 2-hour Spanish training! It was awesome and so helpful. During a break transfers came up and he kind of just told us what was happening. Haha. So that took the nerves off for Sunday. Something cool though: Sister Isham, our Sister Training Leader who lives with me, is going to be a Traveling Sister. This is new for our mission. She's going to travel all over the mission to do exchanges with the other STL's. Sister Hearne, my trainer, is the other Traveling Sister. Cool! They will both be great. 

Seth didn't get baptized. We haven't seen him for at least a week and a half. He only texts us back when it doesn't involve any commitments. Like yesterday, we texted him to say that Hermana Ludeman was leaving and we needed to meet with him to say goodbye (I do not feel guilty). He said, "Oh no! When is she leaving?" We told him Wednesday and asked if we could meet that night or on Tuesday. He said he was in New Braunfels, so we asked him if we could meet with him on Tuesday. No response. Agh! Seth! I think he just figures he can get baptized whenever. So he's just putting it off until it's easy. And it never will be. So yeah. Keep praying for him. 

So, as I've already ranted, the whole time Hermana Ludeman and I have been together we've had a ridiculously hard time getting member-present lessons. It's not that the members aren't willing, it just never works out for some reason or another. But looking back, we've both been able to see that the incredibly hard time we had allowed us to develop some serious skills. We're SO much better at working with the members now. Like having them invite investigators to conference, having lessons at a member's home, finding members who would actually be a good friend for our investigator...these are things I didn't think a whole lot about in Riverside. It was all just too complicated. And it still doesn't always work out the way we want, but we're both much more confident with our ability to work with members. So that's good!

Like yesterday, we had a lesson with Rudy at the Pomeroy's home. I don't remember how much I've told you about the situation, but Rudy's been taught before and we found him by going through the potentials in the area book. We met him on September 11, the one-year anniversary of his wife's death. He knew that wasn't a coincidence. Anyway, we found out that he already had a Book of Mormon, given to him by his neighbor, Brother Pomeroy. 

The Pomeroy's have been praying as a family for a while to have someone to give to the missionaries by October 5th. Technically, we had already found Rudy, but they had him over for Conference and have been an incredible fellowship for Rudy, so I definitely believe this is the answer to their prayer. So cool! And soooo vital. Automatically his odds of getting baptized go up like a million percent. Anyway, yesterday we played this awesome Plan of Salvation game I made (an idea that's been passed down from sister missionary to sister missionary) after teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was so fun for everyone (the Pomeroy's have 6 kids) and Rudy seemed to learn a lot. But when we invited him to baptism, he said that he's just here to learn and if he were to choose one religion over the other he wouldn't be able to learn anymore. We couldn't ever quite get the logic behind that, but it's clear that he likes our message and he loves being included in the Pomeroy family, but he doesn't want to make any commitments. Does that sound familiar to anyone?

Something I came to understand better this week is that Heavenly Father doesn't waste any effort. Every contact, every lesson taught to someone who's not interested, every smile...He's going to use that. He's hastening His work and He's not wasting time. Everything we do as an effort to bring about His work, no matter how small, will be put to use. 

I hope you're all feeling the sense of urgency I am. How is your missionary work going? 80,000 missionaries isn't enough. We need the 15 million members! Talk to your friends and neighbors. Open your mouth. I still get nervous to talk to strangers about the gospel, but I can testify that Christ will give you the courage you need to do what He has asked. Time and time again I've felt his gentle gift of courage, even though it still takes me putting in everything I've got. Don't get discouraged when you miss an opportunity; He is patient! Just try again! And pray, pray, pray, pray, pray. He will give you what you need to do what He has asked you to do. Yo les prometo!

Pues, I love you all! Have a semana muy fantastica. 

Hermana Lund

Dios Manda a Profetas

Mi Familia,

SUCH a good weekend. Conference is suddenly better than Christmas when you're on a mission. I learned so much and I can't wait to read a bunch of it over again. We did have a few investigators there, or listen to it in their own homes! Last week was good and busy as we invited everyone we knew and tons we didn't to conference. Seth went to priesthood session with a member he's close to. That was a surprise because we had invited Brother Hatch to invite him but we thought he had work. Also, the Pomeroy family invited one of our newer investigators, Rudy, over to listen to the Sunday morning session with them. He loved it and told us he was surprised that they talked about God the whole time rather than Joseph Smith. and Marilyn and Jerry, a hilariously southern couple we've taught only a couple times, watched at least one session at home. They're super Baptist but have read a little from the Book of Mormon, mostly out of curiosity. Actually, only out of curiosity. I think that's what Conference was, too. But Marilyn said that she liked it and agreed with everything they said. 

I loved Conference. Probably the greatest thing I learned, or came to understand better, is Heavenly Father and Christ's pure, good love for us. Elder Ochoa said something about us not being able to do anything without the Holy Ghost. I thought about that, and thought about how the commandments are only there to help us have the Holy Ghost with us, so we can one day inherit all of God's blessings. It became clear to me. Heavenly Father isn't the God so many people in the world imagine: a old man sitting on his throne demanding to be worshiped and obeyed and smiting people left and right. He is so good. He isn't mad when we neglect Him, He's sad that our decisions are distancing us from Him and the influence of the Holy Ghost that is so vital for us to get anywhere. When we slip, He is patient. He is quick to help us back up. He is purely good. How important it is for everyone to understand this!!

Yesterday morning the Crapo family invited us over for breakfast before Conference. It was a COLD morning (we got a beautiful cold front this weekend! We were wearing cardigans and scarves and tights and everything! I think it's about over, though) and we sat cozily at the table with their sweet family, talking and laughing and eating waffles with homemade whipped cream and syrup, cinnamon rolls that were to die for, bacon, eggs, and orange juice. And Sister Crapo gave us a warm loaf of homemade bread for us to take home, because she knows how much we love her bread (it is SOOO good! I will use her recipe forever!). We felt so loved. I don't think I'll ever forget how beautiful that morning was, and how I felt. And Sister Crapo gives the greatest hugs. 

We dropped Christina yesterday. She didn't come to Conference and hasn't been reading, and we basically told her that we will teach her as long as she shows an interest, but if she's not going to act we can't waste God's time. She got kind of defensive and said that she's just really busy and can't go to school and tell her teacher that she didn't do her homework but at least she read the Book of Mormon and stuff like that. But she needs to make it a priority. We've invited her hundreds of times to just read one minute a day. She won't even do that. She said she hopes things will be easier next week, and we asked her to call us when things slow down and she wants us to come back over. She said she will. My heart kind of sunk in that lesson but it had to be done. We'll keep praying for her and see what happens. 

Seth's being difficult still. The branch president wants him to meet with President Garza, the mission presidency counselor who's over the district down here, before he gets baptized. But he's completely avoiding it. We saw him one time this week and had a good lesson, but he was questioning getting baptized on the 12th. We haven't seen him or heard much from him since. We think the main thing is that he's scared of the interview. We don't know why. We've talked about it several times and told him that President Garza just wants to get to know him and there's nothing to worry about. We don't know what's going on. He's just so, so busy (isn't that always the story?) and needs to make the gospel a priority. It's completely his decision. We'll see what happens.

So to change gears, this whole government shut-down thing is really hitting Del Rio hard. The majority of people here work government jobs like border control. Many people have been sent home or working without pay. Many don't know if they'll get retropaid or not. It's nuts and it's effecting everyone. I hope it ends soon.

I think that's all I've got to say. Next week I'll tell you what happens with transfer calls. I'm trying not to think about it and to live in the now. Hermana Ludeman and I made a pact that whenever we start talking about transfers, we have to start talking about ducks. It's been pretty effective since there's not a lot to say about them.

Love you all! Have a fantastic week!

Hermana Lund

Y se fue el septiembre!

Mi Familia!

Well! The week flew by just like the rest of the month of September. After today I'll never (at least for a long time) be a missionary again in September. Triste. This week was slow. We had less lessons this week than I've ever had before in my mission, I think. But it's not for lack of trying. People are just so busy. That's seriously Satan's most effective tool. Just get to the point where you're too busy to dedicate time to the one thing that really matters. 

All week we invited EVERYONE to the Relief Society Conference. We had so many people who said they absolutely would come...if such and such didn't happen. We did end up having 3 people there: The grandma of that girl named Alejandra who just left on her mission to Salt Lake who isn't a member (her daughter brought her), a less active (her mom brought her), and Erin Smith, an woman we just had to drop because she doesn't want to join any religion without he husband but who still loves everything about the church (her friend brought her). We didn't even think to invite Erin, actually. So it was nice to see them there. By the way, can you see the importance of members?

Hermana Ludeman and I were talking yesterday because we've both been a bit discouraged. It's so frustrating that you can work so hard and see so few results. It's especially hard because there are a set of Elders who work in our same area and they are finding families left and right. It's really hard not to compare. Sometimes I get frustrated because everyone keeps telling you that you don't have to be perfect, that God works with small means to do great things, but then there are all these skills and tactics we're expected to incorporate and I just don't feel like I can. I just don't have those skills and lots of times things that I probably should have done don't even cross my mind. But anyway. We had a good talk. We are working hard. We're not perfect, but we're trying to improve. Maybe God just has a different kind of work for us to do right now. I hope that's not just an excuse.

And we haven't even heard from Seth in more than a week. That's stressful to say the least. I don't really know what to do there. He's SO busy with work all the time. I don't know. I'm basically just taking it a day at a time with him.

There is a bright side to all these feelings though: I know I'm getting more and more wrapped up in the work! I love these people with all my heart, which makes disappointments all the more painful. Yes! Go charity. I've struggled with that my whole mission so it's good to see my progress. I'm not perfect but I'm definitely better.

Well, that's about it. Have a great Conference weekend! Woohoo! Conference is a missionary's Christmas and I'm soooooooo stoked! And hopefully we'll have a million investigators there! I hope you all watch it! Think about questions this week and bring them with you with a prayer. What an incredible opportunity we have to listen to living prophets and apostles, to listen to the words of the living God Himself. I know this church is true and that those men are called of God. They are witnesses of Christ and they are inspired to speak the words we need. I know that all of you will get the answers and direction you need as you prayerfully and humbly watch. 

Mucho, mucho amor y carino,

Hermana Lund

La Semana del Rio

Mi Familia!

Cómo están? Cómo les va el otoño en Utah? It's officially fall here and it feels like it, but it doesn't look like it. The leaves don't change here. :( But it's been so much cooler! Yesterday we walked outside and it felt like the mountains in Utah, all crisp and dry and heavenly. It was really strange. And it's been raining A LOT. We got some serious flooding on Friday. Del Rio has man-made trenches for the water to drain through that go right over some of the roads, which is really fun to bike through. :) I was thinking about it--I really think one of the reasons I'm here in Del Rio right now is that Heavenly Father knew I wanted "that" mission experience. I wanted to bike in the heat and the rain, do stuff like that. So here I am in one of the few biking areas for sisters in the hottest--and apparently wettest--part of the year. I know it's crazy, but I'm grateful for it.

This week was awesome. Yesterday we went to Eagle Pass for District Conference with all the branches on the border. President Slaughter and the temple president and matron were there to speak to us. It was really good. And I always love driving to Eagle Pass. That drive is beautiful. Oh, and the giant Mexican flag was finally flying! It seriously couldn't have been more than 2 miles away. Hi, Scott!

We had a lesson with both Seth and Ashlie on Saturday. I don't remember how much of their story I've told you, but she's a less-active who's been going through the repentance process and is finalizing her divorce. He is 23 and used to be into some really bad stuff but changed his life a ton before Hermana Ludeman and Hermana Christiansen found him, and is still making awesome changes. They're officially engaged now and plan to elope after her divorce is finalized in the middle of October and have a big schabang in January. She's currently living in New Braunfels (about 3 hours away) with her mom and he's living down here with his grandparents, who we're also teaching. Anyway, Seth was going to be baptized this following Saturday but we've moved it to the 12th for a bunch of reasons. But we were talking with the 2 of them on Saturday night and they were talking about getting the priesthood and getting sealed next year and all that. It was way cool. When Hermana Ludeman and I left we were SO HAPPY. When we got home we just sat in the car and soaked it all in. It was pure joy, the kind of joy that is fueled by the Spirit and fills you all up. The last time I felt so happy was probably when I first entered the MTC. It was so cool. Seth isn't perfect and he's still got changes to make, but I know he's ready. It's so awesome to see the gospel change lives. Sometimes I tend to think that the mission is some kind of story, removed from real life. But this is as real as life gets. This is the only thing that really matters in life but that the worlds seems to have forgotten.

Les amo a todos! Que tengan una semana muy bonita, y que disfruten la clima del otoño!

Hasta luego!

Hermanita

Mexican Independence Day

Mi Familia!

This week has been...well...let me just tell you about it. We've been really struggling with investigators lately. Seth, who had a date for the 28th, wouldn't even text us back all week. Christina, who was really progressing, ran into anti-Mormon stuff and told us that she's been meeting with the Jehovah's Witnesses, and that she doesn't like the Book of Mormon because it's confusing and she's the kind of person that can't move on when she doesn't understand something and just gives up instead. Mr. Moravits dropped us, the Casillas family doesn't have time for us, Patricia is too busy, Chela loves our message but won't read and told us she probably won't ever come to church, we had no investigators at church again yesterday, we have next to no appointments, Terri hasn't come to Relief Society like she said she wanted to and can't meet with us because her floor is getting redone, and no one we contact wants anything to do with us. I think I've been directly shut down more times this week than ever before on my mission, including a particularly charming Puerto Rican who, in his perfect Spanglish, literally yelled about 2 feet from my face that he has 62 years and he can't learn anything from us because we only have 21 years and he studies everything and we don't know anything. Alright, fine. If you say so. 

We are working so hard. We're changing how we do things, trying to work with members, looking for people in blind spots, everything we can think of. But we're just not seeing the fruits. There have been too many hot days of biking from house to house to house to house to house...I remember thinking before my mission that time like this wouldn't bother me. As long as I work hard, it doesn't matter how other people use their agency because I know I'm doing my job. Which is true. But it still stings. Oh well. We just keep trucking! One thing I do know is that Heavenly Father isn't going to waste time. I guess that, as inconceivable as it sounds, what we're doing is making a difference. 

Some good news: it's Mexican Independence Day! Viva Mexico! We had an awesome branch fiesta on Saturday with tons of good food and performances. People in our branch sang (we have some incredible singers--even a mariachi band member--in our branch!) and danced, all in their best traditional Mexican attire. It was great, and I got lots of good pictures and videos. I legitimately wished I was Mexican afterwards. 

Also, my Spanish is getting much better. It's just been so gradual that I haven't noticed! An old lady I was talking to at the party told me that I speak very well and very clearly, and Hna Ludeman says she's noticed my accent has gotten better. I remember back in Riverside just getting SO LOST in lessons; that doesn't happen anymore. I still miss a few things here and there, but I can definitely hold up a conversation. I realized recently that this is the first time I've been with a companion who doesn't know Spanish better than me and where I have to rely on my own ability to speak and understand. And it hasn't been a problem. Hermana Ludeman and I are trying to speak more Spanish with each other and it takes me back to when I first got put with Hermana Rodriguez and it was SO HARD to speak Spanish to her. It comes much more naturally now. It's just such a relief to see improvement while serving in a predominately English area. I don't know how well I'll learn Spanish by the end of my mission but I know I'll learn it fairly well.

Well, before I go let me just share a quote from Thomas S. Monson that's helped me lately: "We must develop the ability to see men not as they are but as they can become." Or something like that. I've been trying to do this; I'll look at a person and think about who they can be rather than who they are. Some people are annoying, some people are lost, but all of us have the same potential. On the same note, we must learn to see ourselves as who we can become rather than who we are. It doesn't matter where we are, just where we're headed. If you're on the right path, you've got nothing to worry about.

Well, I'd better go. Have a fantastic week! 

Amad a Otros

Mi Familia!

So Grandma and Grandpa are home! Wow! I can't believe that that day I said goodbye to them in the MTC was 18 months ago! Where does the time go? Also, it's been more than a year since I got my call. Texas, San Antonio has been a part of my life for more than a year! Super cool.

It's been raining a lot here, too! Although it sounds like not as much as in Mexico, or even in Utah! I've been enjoying it though. The thunderstorms are one of my favorite things about Texas. That and the giant sky.

This week was hard in a lot of ways, but it was good. It was hard because we struggled finding people who were interested in listening to us. I've had such a different experience in Del Rio than in Riverside. People are just happy where they are and most of the people we teach aren't willing to make us a priority. Not that they couldn't or that they won't change, but it's been frustrating. We spent a LOT of time this past week biking around from house to house, trying anyone we could think of and talking to people in the streets, but we didn't have a lot of success, at least not that we could see. So it was hard, and exhausting. For the first half of the week I was super discouraged and down, but for the last half I decided I'd had enough of that and chose to be positive. It made such a difference! I realized that this is Heavenly Father's work. He's not messing around or wasting time. Whatever I'm doing day to day, it IS worthwhile and it DOES make a difference.

On Saturday we prayed for a miracle. We had just gotten to that point. We decided to go see some menos activos we didn't know, la Familia Hernandez. When we got there there were a million cars in front and our branch mission leader, Hno Cardenas, and the Relief Society President, Hna Riojas, were just pulling up. They told us that Hno Hernandez's mom passed away and they were having some kind of funeral party thing. So we decided to go in. We were welcomed warmly but we felt super awkward and out of place. We offered our condolences to people we didn't know and tried to talk to a lot of people to see if we could find any nonmembers. I was praying that we could figure out whatever it was we needed to do there. Right when we were about to leave because we felt like we didn't have anything else we could do, we started talking to three women in their 20's, the daughters of Hno y Hna Hernandez. They told us they live up in South Austin, in Riverside! I was so excited and we got to talking. They said they used to be really strong in the church but fell away. They've been wanting to come back for a while and they've even tried to wave down the missionaries in Austin before, but they just need some support to go back to church. I was able to invite them to church just like old times (On Oltorf and Parker, right behind the Super Burrito!) and I gave them the missionaries' number and took down their information to give to Hna Rodriguez and her companion up in good old Riverside. Then we saw them in church the next day! It was so exciting! It was cool because at the party they kept saying to us, "I'm so happy! It's finally time." We may not have found people for us to teach, but it was definitely a miracle! 

I've decided I need to have more faith in miracles. Missionary work is a big deal and Heavenly Father's more serious about it than we are. We don't have to convince Him to help us with His own work. But at the same time, we are expected to ask for His help in prayer. I think sometimes I don't pray for something, or at least I don't pray hard enough, because I figure that He's just going to do His will anyway. Just because I don't pray hard enough for someone doesn't mean He's not going to help them. Plus, I don't want to ask for something that's against His will. But if nothing else, me praying for miracles with all my heart gets me on His side. It helps ME focus on His children and believe that miracles can happen for them. That's something I've learned: it's ok to pray for specific things as long as I'm sure that I'm on His side, that I'm not trying to change His mind but that I'm trying to secure blessings that He already has in store for me and my investigators, but that are conditional upon me asking for them (Bible Dictionary right there). Actually, specific prayers--when said with a spirit of "Thy will be done"--are the most powerful and they help you align your will with God's. 

Anyway, prayer is real. I'm starting to realize just how close Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are to us all the time. And not just missionaries! They love us all more than we can comprehend, and they work for nothing other than our immortality and eternal life. 

I hope you know I love you, but I hope even more that you know Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost love you. Do all you can to let them be a part of every aspect of you life. Like I've said a million times before, do the little things. Draw near unto Him and He will draw near unto you. And read 3 Ne 17:20 together. Or just read the whole chapter. It's definitely one of my favorites. 

I love you all! Have a great week!

Mucho amor,

Hermana Lund