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