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