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

Me Quedo en Del Rio!

Mi Familia!

Because it's Labor Day the library is closed, so we're using the Family History Center and we can't stay too long. So I'll have to keep it kind of short.

So we got transfer calls last night, and all 4 of us sisters in the apartment are staying! Yay! We're so excited. This is the first time my whole mission everything has stayed the same. We'll see how it goes!

Some sad news: Amanda dropped us for good. She said that she's still reading the Book of Mormon and she's grateful that we helped her find her faith in God again, but that she doesn't think our church is for her. Kind of broke my heart. If only everyone understood that "our church" isn't just a church. It's not about the culture or the people or stuff like that. It's about faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost, making covenants, progression, HAPPINESS. And THAT is for everyone. I don't know. Someday she'll be ready. 

Some good news: Seth has a date! September 21. I don't remember what I've said about him, but he is dating a member who is returning to activity. They were living together but she moved to a town between Austin and San Antonio so now it's ok for him to get baptized...if they're firm in their decision to keep the Law of Chastity. He seems really ready and really sincere. I'm excited for him. 

Lately I've been struggling with accepting Heavenly Father's time table. It's nothing big, but I just feel like He's being so quiet and mysterious with me. I pray for help with certain things and He doesn't answer right away. And I want Him to! I want it to be easy. But I guess He just loves me too much for that. He wants me to grow in faith and patience so I can be a better missionary and a better person. I guess that's fair. 

The trick, though, is to trust that He really does love me, that He hasn't just forgotten me. I think we often want Him to give us a huge demonstration of His awareness of us, and we tell ourselves that when that happens we'll follow through with faith. But I think we often need to decide on our own that we will BELIEVE that He is aware of us, and THEN follow though with faith. And slowly, without any kind of breakthrough we were sure we needed, we come to the realization that He has been with us all along, and thank goodness He didn't do what we asked. Sometimes you literally can't see more than a step ahead of you. But as you keep taking those steps, you eventually find yourself somewhere greater than you've ever imagined.  

I love you all. Have a fantastic week and DON'T FORGET TO PRAY AND READ YOUR SCRIPTURES!

Love,

Hermana Lund

La Tierra de los Ocasos

This week was good and FAST! I lot happened and, like always, I can't possibly share it all. But just so you know, Amanda's family is doing much better! We got in and talked to them the other day. They used to love us before Amanda's mom got on mormon.org and found a million things she hated, and I think she's just cooled down from that and loves us again. But she doesn't agree with us, not in the slightest. But still. I count the change as miraculous. Amanda has been hard to meet with, though. She's ALWAYS cancelling on us. But I think her heart's still in the right place so I think she'll be ok. 

We had a frustrating week numbers-wise. We've been working so hard and have basically nothing to show for it. But looking closely, our investigators really are doing well. We have a handful of solid investigators with real desires. And while they may not make all the decisions we wish they would, they are progressing. We just have to be patient.

Yesterday, for the 3rd week in a row, we had no investigators at church. We were super bummed until we saw Cristina and Hermana Trevino sitting in Sociedad de Socorro (Relief Society), completely unexpected! Hermana Trevino is a menos activo and Cristina is her friend we've been teaching (have I talked about her?). Cristina has firmly told us that she's not going to leave her family's tradition of Catholicism, but she has loved reading the Book of Mormon with Hermana Trevino. They're already in Jacob, after about a week and a half! She had told us she wouldn't come to church, but there she was! She's a sweet lady and I don't know when she'll be ready to be baptized, but I don't really doubt she'll get there.

Oh! By the way, I finished reading el Libro de Mormon! I've done everything to get my Spanish certification. Yay! It doesn't mean anything, but it still feels good. :) I think my Spanish is still getting better, even in this area. Sometimes I get really frustrated about being in a state-side mission. I want to learn Spanish really well, and I feel like I'm at such a disadvantage. But I'm not giving God nearly enough credit. The gift of tongues is real and I've seen it work in me. I wouldn't say I'm completely fluent (what does that even mean, anyway?) but I'm completely comfortable in a lesson in Spanish, I'm comfortable speaking, and I can usually understand. It's the conversations that don't have to do with the gospel that still get me, but even those are getting better. And the Latinos keep complimenting my Spanish, so that's a good sign, right? I've been studying hard and we try to speak Spanish together whenever we can/remember. I'm not too worried that I'll learn it. 

So on Wednesday we biked out to Cienegas for the first time. On the way home it started to rain...and rain and rain and rain! And what's even better, Hermana Ludeman got a flat tire! So we were huddled on the side of the road under a tree for probably about half and hour while we waited for the Elders to come pick us up, in the pouring rain with huge cracks of thunder. It was awesome! Haha we loved it so much. People kept pulling over to help us but we told them we had a ride. One lady even gave us an umbrella, but by that time we were already soaked. It was an adventure, that's for sure! The only bad part was that I had forgotten to take my Preach My Gospel out of my backpack after district meeting and it got pretty soaked. Eh. Oh well. The crinkly pages will always remind me of a great memory.

We had a training by our President in Eagle Pass on Saturday, and while we were driving over there I was looking at the huge Texas sky and just thinking about how awesome it is to be a missionary. We feel the Spirit ALL THE TIME. I was studying the Spirit the other day. It is what gives you power and boldness when you teach. It is what fills you with love and sanctifies your soul. It is the medium by which we change. And we feel it ALL THE TIME. I said when I left the MTC that if I had to go home right there I would still be a completely changed person. Now that's just a million times more true. Hopefully by the time I go home I'll be perfect! Haha, fat chance. But still. Even when you look at if from a completely selfish point of view, being a missionary is such a blessing. I can't explain how incredible it feels to be in a lesson and to literally feel the Spirit working through you, giving your words power and testifying of the things you say. It's the greatest feeling I've ever experienced. Yeah. Being a missionary is the greatest.

One more random thing. Texas has the MOST GORGEOUS sunsets, especially lately and especially here where there's not a lot obstructing the view. Seriously, it blows my mind every night. Mom, you would probably faint. The sky is ginormous and all lit up. I used to miss the mountains, but now I've fallen in love with how big the sky is here. I've taken a lot of pictures and if we get a chance to go to the computers that can send pictures I'll send you some. 

 Well, that about wraps it up. Oh! And I don't know if you tried to read the scriptures I recommended last week, but I made a mistake and wrote down the wrong reference. I meant Mormon 2:11-15 and Mosiah 24:8-16. so try it again.

I love you all and I pray for you tons! Have fun at the temple this week, Matt and Kevin! Que tengan una fantastica semana, y que les vaya bien!

Mucho amor,

Hermana Lund

Worth It

This week has had its ups and its downs. It started strong, dipped a bit in the middle, but finished strong. And man, did it go FAST! I can't believe how fast mission time is--only two-ish more weeks in this transfer!

We've been struggling a bit lately with investigators. We have a good number, but they just can't seem to make us a priority. We're hoping that once summer ends it will be a little easier. It's just frustrating to know that you have the most important message they will ever hear and have them cancel appointments 2 minutes before or even refuse to make an appointment at all! This last week we worked super hard to have members at all our lessons. Out of the million we planned, only 3 ended up happening. The most frustrating was on Friday. We had a lesson planned with Amanda and her husband Isaac at the church with a great member who would be an awesome friend with Amanda. We were so excited because it would mean that Amanda had the support of her husband and a friend, and that both of them could see the church and feel comfortable to come on Sunday. But seriously 2 minutes before Amanda told us through text that Isaac was at his sister's house and that he didn't really want to come anyway, and that she couldn't come because Isaac had the car, and that we couldn't come over there because her mom didn't want us to, and that we couldn't pick her up in Sister Worthen's car because her mom was suddenly asking her to do all sorts of things. Sigh. But we're still working really hard to get members, and we just have to have faith that God will make up the difference. 

Amanda didn't end up coming to church yesterday. I was pretty bummed. She was SO set on coming. But she's been sick and having trouble sleeping, so 9:00 church was just not going to happen, I guess. Her family isn't any more supportive, either. Her parents really don't like us. I don't really know what to do honestly, besides pray and keep trying.

But we did have some success this week, too. In Riverside we had something called "Milagro Saturday." Every week on Saturday our district would look for miracles on Saturday, and we always found them! I've been trying to bring it here, and Saturday proved that Milagro Saturday is alive and well. We saw miracle after miracle, including finding a lady who was taught but somehow forgotten and wants to be taught again, a bunch of other awesome lessons, and a lesson with a less active that most people have given up on that went really, really well. And as we were driving back home (we were in Cienegas) there was a GORGEOUS sunset over the wide, barren, Texas/Mexico wilderness. And the road we take back to town is called "Milagro." We took some awesome pictures with that sign and the sunset in the background, a perfect tribute to our day. It was awesome. :)

Lately I've really been able to see how much Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are a part of my life and the things I'm doing. They really are with me, every step of the way. They really are with all of us, whenever we'll let them. They really love me, they really love the people I'm serving, and they really love all of you, too.

So Grandma, you asked a couple questions I wanted to answer here. She asked me what the branches are like here. The English branch is largely made of young families where the husband either works for the border control or the air force base here. They only stay for a couple years and then leave. Anyway, the ward is FILLED with pregnant women and I think the branch president said we have 32 children under 2 years old. Yeah. It's crazy.

The Spanish branch is really small. We can't even fill the pews. They are really fun and love to have fiestas! We actually had a branch activity at the park on Saturday that I think ended up lasting literally all day. We went for a couple hours and had a lot of fun getting to know the members better. They're great. 

You also asked about P-day. We have had SO much fun on P-days this transfer! We hiked the "mountain" of Del Rio a couple weeks ago--It's really just a dirt-clump, if you ask me--, we've played volleyball and basketball, gone thrift shopping, and today we're going out to the dam--the border of Mexico and Texas! Next week we're going to go do a flight simulator with some members who work at the base. Yeah. We have fun. 

Well, I'd better go. I love you all! Do you need a new scripture? If so, read and compare Mormon 1:11-15 and Mosiah 24:8-16. Talk about how we have the ability to choose how we react to situations.

Love you all, have a great week!

Mucho amor,