Mi familia,
Como estan? Thank you for all your letters! Just FYI, I have mail from since I got here at the mission home. So if you wrote me and I haven't mentioned it, that's why. I should finally get it on Wednesday when we have a zone conference. Mom, I'll have to think about the princess theme! That will be so fun for you to help with girls' camp. Some of my greatest memories are from girls' camp. And good luck with you talk. That's an interesting topic, but you'll do great as always. ;) I don't need you to send anything else, but I'll let you know. And when I get home I'm going to have to have Matt finally teach me how to play chess. It's kind of ridiculous that I've come this far in life without learning.
Ok. So we've been hearing tons of crazy rumors about weird stuff going on around the world. We can't watch the news so we don't know what's going on. What's happening with us and North Korea? And what is this I hear about locusts invading the Middle East? I would really appreciate a solid conclusion, por fa. :)
I'm keep saying this, but I think I'm finally starting to get my footing here. I know more people in the ward and I'm starting to make some relationships. I bore my testimony in Relief Society yesterday and, although I know I made an amazing number of mistakes, the women were all just smiling back at me. It's really cool here because the missionaries play a huge part in the ward. It's not really like that in Utah. They call on us in class when they want to get a solid answer and they all know who we are. They all really look up to us. It's neat.
Ok, so I have an awesome story. The other day we were driving to an appointment and Hermana King spotted Salvador, an older man who she and Hermana Hearne had contacted once before I came here, walking down the side of the highway. We waved to him and he blew us a kiss! After the Hermanas first met him they had gone back to the house they thought was his but he wasn't there.So we decided that if our lesson fell through we'd come back and try to find him.
Our lesson did fall through so we searched all around the area, looking everywhere he might have gone. We finally found him sitting at a bus stop! It was a busy road, though so we had to go park. By the time we got to the bus stop the bus had come and left. But we were not going to give up so easily. We chased that bus! It stopped like 7 times and each time we had to turn into a parking lot while we waited for it to go again. Finally Salvador got off. We waved him down and got out to talk to him. He was sooo happy to see us, and I immediately loved him. He gave Hermana Hearne a hug twice and she, of course, didn't have the heart to stop him from breaking the rule he didn't know about. :)
Anyway, we set an appointment with him. Turns out he did live in the house where they met him. It's a little run-down mobile home in a beat up neighborhood. We brought Carlos Mendez, a newly reactivated member, with us. Salvador first asked us to read some mail he got that was in English. Turns out his house is being foreclosed on May 7. That was rough to have to break it to him. We didn't know exactly what to say, but Carlos was all over it. He just started bearing this solid testimony about prayer and faith and how he know that Heavenly Father would bless him if he would put his trust in him. It was so neat to see Carlos do that. The second we walked out the door he told us that he was going to bear his testimony in sacrament meeting the next day.
So here's a little about our area. Our area is mostly in the suburbs of Austin. Most of the people we visit live in mobile homes or old apartments. Some of them live in legitimate poverty. Some aren't so bad. Some have really beat up houses on the outside but the inside is kept up really nice. Some people are hoarders. You never really know what to expect when you walk into a house. But no matter what it's always possible to feel the Spirit.
Part of our area is out in the boondocks, way out east. We went there yesterday. It's so nice out there, with rolling plains covered with bluebells and daffodils. And tons of huge scary dogs at every house. They're usually all bark though, and it's actually a nice change from the chihuahuas that infest the neighborhoods in the rest of our area.
And they feed us such heavy food! Sometimes it's Mexican, sometimes it's American, but it's always heavy. We haven't had a ton of planned meals with members, but somehow we always end up being fed. Like last week we came to teach a menos activo and they were just about to start dinner. So we had to eat again. Oh, man. I was in some serious pain after that. I've just decided to assume that I'm always going to have a giant dinner and eat light all day. It's the safest solution I can think of.
I really love it here. I hope I can stay here for a while. I want to really get to know the people and gain relationships with them. Especially with our ward the way it is, I want to stay here and help out the menos activos. But whatever happens, I know it will be ok.
It is so cool to be a missionary now. The work is really hastening it and we can see it. Sometimes we feel like we're in a literal war with Satan. He is trying so hard to weaken our investigators and members, and we just have to fight back harder. It is so neat to be constantly focusing on the only thing that's really worth focusing on: the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know the gospel is the only thing that matters. Keep up on the family prayers, scripture study, and FHE. There's honestly nothing so important, especially now.
Well, I'd better go. Gracias por su amor y apoyo. Y Kevin, feliz cumpleanos en la proxima semana! Les amo muchisimo.
Mucho amor,
Hermana Lund
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