Bluebells, Indian Paintbrush, and the Giant Texas Sky

Mi Familia,

I. Love. Texas. I have fallen head-over-heels in love with it. My goodness, you wouldn't believe how beautiful it is here. There's some big, wide-open places out here, with bright green glass, a huge blue sky, and wildflowers of blue, red, and yellow scattered everywhere. Texas has my heart.

We got transfer calls yesterday...and we're both staying!!! We are SOOO happy. Seriously, we are such a good companionship. We work hard, we expect miracles, we are obedient, and we have faith. We're ready to just break through the ceiling this transfer. Especially being in this area. It is white and ready to harvest. I am so excited for this transfer.

Jose did get confirmed yesterday. Apparently his step-dad (he's actually not even that, since he's not even married to his mom) offered to take him to Chuckie Cheese during church. He's 13, what do you think he's going to pick? But he felt really bad afterwards. But anyway, he's confirmed and will be an incredible missionary someday. Also, Carlitos bore his testimony in sacrament meeting. They both have an incredible future ahead of them.

We were able to go to the temple on Friday with Erika, Carlitos' mom who was baptized in January. The bishop and his wife, Hno. Sanchez, Hna. Castor, y Hno. y Hna. Aguilera went with us. We had planned to take a huge group of recent converts but no one else could get work off. But it was still so worth it just with Erika. She is pure and strong. She had such a good time and recognized the Spirit she felt. 

Did all you women watch Women's Conference? If not, watch it this second on lds.org. I loved it. It was especially neat since Hermana Egbert and I have been studying covenants lately. Covenants are such a blessing to us. They give us an opportunity to use our agency for good, and to increase in doing so every day. The more we keep our covenants, the more we are blessed with the Holy Ghost and the more we learn. The more we learn, the more power and joy we receive, until we have obtained all the Father hath. If we could only comprehend the blessings that await us, I am thoroughly convinced that we would not be able to contain ourselves from praising God and proclaiming His gospel in every moment of every day. He sure does love us. 

This week has been hard for me, and consequently, very rewarding. I have learned the importance of CHOOSING to have faith. Truth never changes and we are to hold onto the rock that is the source of all truth: Jesus Christ and His gospel. We are to hold onto the things we know, the things that never change. I know God loves me and that He always answers prayers. I know that He has promised that He will grant me anything I pray for as long as I am being obedient and it is according to His will. I know He always keeps His promises, and I know He has promised me all that He has. So, I will push aside everything else that holds me back. I will press forward and work hard with a sure confidence that He is there and He will help me. Let Him answer my prayers in the way and timing that He thinks is best. The greatest blessing of obedience is the conviction you receive that GOD WILL KEEP HIS PROMISES WITH YOU. And he already has for me, more than I can explain and more than I'm sure I understand.

I can't wait for Conference. Better than Christmas. Everyone watch it and write me back what you learned! 

I love you all! The mission is the best and I don't want to be anywhere else. 

Hermana Lund

What is this, like week 60 or something?

Mi familia,

Once again, the fastest week of my mission. This is getting ridiculous. We missionaries have absolutely no perception of time. Someday I'm just going to find myself at home and I'm not going to know what happened. I've been having dreams about going home, actually. Last night I dreamed that I had classes at 11 and 12, but I forget to go to them because I wasn't used to having school. I was sooooooo frustrated! I also had a dream that I tried to do everything I could to keep busy at home, and then I looked at the clock and it was only 6:30 in the morning. Haha, hopefully the adjustment to home will be a bit better than that.

The baptisms went well on Saturday! Carlitos' and Jose's moms shared some really powerful testimonies. Erika, Carlitos' mom, is incredible. She was baptized in January. We're taking her to the temple on Friday along with some other members of our ward to do baptisms for the first time! She got her recommend yesterday and was so proud to show it to us. She is a strong, strong woman. Now we just need to soften her husband's heart more so he can get baptized and be the priesthood leader in their home, so they can be an eternal family. Seriously, being a missionary is incredible.

The baptisms went great, but yesterday Jose and his family never showed up for church for him to be confirmed. Erika got a text from him that said he couldn't go to church that day, but didn't say anything else. We still have no idea what happened. We wonder if it could have something to do with Clara's husband...Jose is fine and we'll get him confirmed. We would just like to know what's going on.

Saturday was SUCH a crazy day. We had our baptism and then we had to go to a child-of-record baptism later that day to play piano. They both started really late because we were waiting for people to get there, and I just played piano the whole time. Between the prelude, the musical numbers, and the hymns, I probably played every song in the Children's Hymnbook and the normal hymn book. And then yesterday we had to play piano for primary. I seriously never wanted to play piano again. Which is saying a lot because I love playing piano for that kind of thing! 

Oh! And we're teaching a piano class on Thursday's now! This Thursday was the second week we did it. We get quite a few people there; we had 11 on Thursday! Haha, we had to teach it in the overflow room because EVERYONE was there that night, from people planning for a ward garage sale to cub scouts to a relief society activity. But it went well and people loved it! We're really only teaching members right now but we're trying to get them to bring their friends so we can use it as a finding activity.

These past couple weeks have seriously been so good for me, looking back. I have learned so much about who I am and what on Earth I'm doing out here. I don't even want to try to explain what I've felt and learned, because it's just impossible. Let's just say that the mission is a miracle. The Spirit is literally constant. I've gotten to the point where I can honestly feel and recognize it in every moment. I am constantly being refined and sanctified by His influence. There is no other way to describe it than as a miracle. 

I know without a doubt I'm going to be different when I come home. In the way I talk, the way I dress, the music I listen to and the TV I watch, the way I spend my time...none of this was bad before my mission, but I have such a deeper understanding of and conversion to this gospel. I want to keep every commandment because I've seen first hand that the only way to happiness is through obedience. I want to do everything in my power to obey the Lord in all things. I've seen the Atonement work in so many different instances throughout my mission, but the life in which I've seen it make the most changes is my own. I am so grateful for that.

I love you all! Keep the commandments and be happy! Have a fantastic week.

Love,

Hermana Lund

Un Ano en Texas

Mi Familia,

Good week. We had one exchange (Mom, tell Sister Turpin's mom she's doing great; she's already an incredible missionary!), President interviews, and the Elders who are also in our ward had a baptism on Saturday. Our area is really doing well. That was the 4th baptism this month in our ward. 

And Hermana Egbert and I are having 2 more on Saturday! They're both kids. Jose is 13 and has been coming to church for a while. His mom, Clara, is a member but his dad isn't and he only just barely got permission. His dad isn't a bad man (or so I've heard, I haven't actually met him), he just isn't interested at all. But anyway, we were having a lesson with him, his mom, and his little siblings the other day. Clara's sister Erika was there, along with her 3 young kids. Erika was baptized last month and is incredibly strong in the gospel. Her husband is not such a great man and has refused for a while to let 10-year-old Carlitos get baptized. But in our lesson we were talking about baptism and Carlitos said something like, "When can I get baptized?" We said, "Oh, you know, someday you'll get baptized.." but we looked at Erika and she said that her husband had given permission! Yay! So both boys are getting baptized together this Saturday. We're so excited! We really wish we could teach the dad, but he really just won't have it. Not yet, at least. I met him for the first time yesterday when we went over and we just shook his hand and were really nice. Little by little. Erika's faith is incredible and she'll see miracles.

It blows my mind how strong some of these members are. This is definitely the highest-functioning Spanish ward I've seen. Stronger than a lot of English wards I've seen. There are a lot of people who have next to nothing, but they are so humble and so converted. They are always willing to help one another. We have a lot of returned missionaries in our ward, even the women. The converts usually stay strong and really add to the ward. It's so fun to get to know and love everyone. 

Last night we went to visit Hermana Castor, one of the members we're really close with. She just had surgery. We were at the Espinosa's trailer with Hermana y Hermano Espinosa, Hermana y Hermano Aguilera, Hermana Castor, y Hermano Sanchez. All are strong, endowed members; Hermano Sanchez just went through the temple on Saturday. We sat and talked about temples and stuff. It was so great! Just being in a room with people like that was so humbling and made me really excited for heaven.

The language is getting a lot easier. When I got here I feel like I had all the potential energy boxed up from stuff I had learned while in an English area. It took a while for me to access it when I first got to Lake Austin, but then it just started spilling out. I can understand and speak with very little trouble. I understand what people are saying, so when I hear them say something differently than i would have, I can learn from it and apply it when I speak. Except for some reason I still have the hardest time understanding Spanish on the phone! That's the next step.

Oh my goodness, and guess what! Justin got baptized last week and Mari is getting baptized this Saturday! They broke up; I don't know all the details. But I am SOOOO happy!! Mari wrote me and said she reads her scriptures first thing every morning and she's memorizing scriptures so she can always have them with her. Oh my goodness, I'm so happy. I love them so much. 

It's neat when you get this far into your mission and can see the delayed fruits of your labors from earlier in your mission. From what I hear, Carlos is doing well. He moved back to San Antonio so I don't see him when I go to Riverside for exchanges. Robert isn't doing well, though. It breaks my heart. But he'll be fine.

Wow, this letter got really long really fast. And I'm not writing even close to all the things I'd like to tell you. We will just have to spend hours sitting and talking when I get home. At the cabin, of course.

Love you all! Have a great week!

Hermana Lund

Ocupadas!

Mi Familia!

Wow. What a week. We had two exchanges and MLC in San Antonio. And a

baptism on Saturday! Gigi got baptized. :) She's part of a giant

family from the Riverside ward that I got really close to while I was

there, so it was fun to see all of them again.

MLC was fantastic. Seriously, President Slaughter is incredible. No

doubt he'll be an apostle someday. He's so focused on us and helping

us become completely firm in the gospel. His view goes so much past

the mission. He's making is into life-long church leaders. He expects

perfect obedience, but he leaves a lot up to our judgment. Just about

always, when someone asks him is something is okay, he says, "Is it in

harmony with the sacredness of your calling?" He's an incredible

example to us. Haha, I just have to laugh at all the elders. They

respect him SO much. They all want to be him. They want to have the

same scriptures as him, study the same way he does, and they ALL want

to be dentists like him. They have game plans of how they can know as

much as he knows in 20 or 30 years. The elders in our district say

that, when they have a question about if something is okay, like with

what they wear of something, they think, "Is it good enough for

President Slaughter?" and they act accordingly.

President keenly understands that there just isn't room for nonsense

in the church anymore. We can't be only partially in it any longer.

It's like President Holland said, we have to pick a team and stop

dribbling out of bounds. There's no more room to just go through the

motions, to grow and learn at a natural, slow pace. We've got to pick

it up. The whole church has got to pick it up. I've never been firmer

in my testimony and conversion than I am now, but I will never, ever

again be at this low of a spiritual level. I will grow more and more

every day. I'm nervous to come home because it's not as easy to

actively serve God and keep His commandments, but when August 7th

comes, I will still be working to be better, to know more, to have a

stronger conviction than I had the day before. I'll hit the ground

running and I'll never turn back.

I can't begin to express how much I love my Heavenly Father and my

Savior. They have done so much for me and the people I love, and I

will do anything for them. When I see them again I will stand tall in

confidence that I have honored Them and served Them and loved Them

with all my heart, might, mind, and strength.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is God's kingdom on

earth. Jesus Christ is the Savior of all mankind. Joseph Smith was a

prophet of God, through whom Christ restored His church. The Book of

Mormon is the word of God, containing the fullness of the gospel. The

Priesthood of God is restored to the world, making possible the saving

covenants and ordinances of the gospel. We have living prophets and

apostles today, with the authority and power to direct God's work.

There is no doubt anywhere inside of me that all this is true.

I love you all! Have a great week, and make sure to be better than you

are now the next time you write me! :)

Con amor,

Hermana Lund

Day #361

Mi Familia,

What a great week!! Definitely the fastest of my mission. It was so fast that I didn't even have time to think that it was going quickly before it was over. I had my first exchange as an STL on Saturday. We had a really good time and worked hard. We're going to have an even faster week this week: we have exchanges on Tuesday and Thursday (I get to go back to Riverside--my first area--on Tuesday!!), MLC (the monthly meeting for STL's and Zone Leaders with President..I am SO excited) in San Antonio on Friday, and a baptism on Saturday. We have a ton of lessons on Wednesday and we don't even have any room to do our weekly planning! It's going to be crazy and I'm so excited!

I LOVE Hermana Egbert. We have so much fun. And we work so hard. It feels incredible. We relate really well to each other, and we talk & laugh a lot. And our district is amazing. I've served with all but one of them before (he's brand new); it's like a mixture of all my favorite districts I've ever been in all in one. I'm just happy where I am in my mission. I'm not wishing time away (usually, haha), I'm just happy were I am. I love it.

Last week a man and his wife came to church randomly. He's a member but he's never been active and she isn't a member. They have a tiny baby. He's 35 and she's 19..which I guess is much more normal in Honduras. They live in a tiny, dirty, old RV on the property of some pretty sketchy men off of the highway..but they're moving into an apartment next week.  Anyway, they just moved here a couple weeks ago and they looked up the church online and came. They said they'd been wanting to for a long time. Melvin (the husband) says he has a testimony of Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and of the Church being the true church of Jesus Christ. She just believes everything we tell her. She really wants to be baptized. They came to church yesterday again. Considering they really are married, she should be baptized in a couple weeks. She's so sweet and genuine and I love her! 

The people here are so nice to us, and they feed us non-stop. At least the Sisters. They love us, for some reason. It probably doesn't hurt that Sister King was here last. Anyway, we have dinners planned almost every night, and on the rare day we don't have one we still don't plan a dinner at home because we ALWAYS find food. One day this week we didn't have a dinner planned but I said to Hermana Egbert, "God will provide." Haha, we had chicken soup (we asked for un poquiquiquiquito and she gave us a whole bowl with a drumstick just sitting in there) when we visited a less active. Then in our next lesson we had a full-on meal of two chicken dishes, rice, and beans. THEN we stopped by another member's house and she fed us MORE chicken, beans, rice, and biscuits. It was rediculous. And just to add to it, we had gone to Chik-fil-a with some sisters we're over for lunch that day. We definitely got our protein. And we got 100000000000x the necessary daily intake of oil.

I loved our mission Book of Mormon study this week. That book is powerful. It's purity and truth just ooze from it's pages. The Spirit is present every time I read it. I love it. There's so much material you can study, but all I ever really want to do now is read the Book of Mormon.

I love you all! Have a fantastic week!

Love,

Hermana Lund

La Luz de La Verdad

Mi familia querida!

It's been a good week. Things were pretty crazy there for a while, but we've been able to get most of it figured out. Thank goodness. Anyway...Justin and Mari and Richard are doing great!! They were at church again yesterday (or course), Justin and Richard wearing white shirts and ties that I'm pretty sure Richard and Mari's dad gave them. They just fit right in. 

We had one of those unforgettable lessons with them on Thursday. We had been praying and thinking a lot about it before we went, because we've just about finished the lessons and it's really time for them to make some solid decisions. Justin and Mari scared me almost to the point of a heart attack when they said they had something to say. I would never have survived if they had said it wasn't worth it anymore. But they didn't say that, thank goodness. They said that they have been thinking and praying a LOT about what they should do. One of them can't very easily move out because they're all starting a business together, plus they're already basically a family with Mari's daughter and everything. Mari still wants a pretty, well-planned wedding, but she says that she knows she can't put that before being baptized. We talked a lot about prayers and the Holy Ghost and receiving answers, all of which was what we had planned, but we taught it completely differently according to what the Spirit prompted and what they were telling us. (I LOVE lessons like that.) 

Richard also opened up a lot about how he really believes it and wants to be baptized, but something keeps making him want to put it off. He said he just really needed to talk to his dad. (Sometimes I forget that he's just 20.) His dad was up this weekend to work in the temple so I hope he did. He really should get baptized soon. Oh yeah, and he's gotten to be really good friends with one of our ward missionaries, Brother Cook. He's texted him some questions he's had. Exactly what a missionary wants to see, because we aren't here for long.

That night Mari and Richard texted us to say that they're thinking about getting married in April. That's such a big step from a year!! And honestly, a huge sacrifice for Mari. I'm so proud of her. But I don't think they understand just how much this ward would help them with a wedding. They both really want us to be there when they get married; we've gotten really close. So..we're kind of hoping we can convince them to move it closer, since the chances we'll both be there in April are pretty slim. But it doesn't matter a whole lot to me, since I'm DEFINITELY going to be there in a year when they get sealed. And THAT is the beauty of a state-side mission.

So that's them. Keep praying! I'm not worried about them at all. They'll be just fine. It's been such a blessing to teach them. Especially because we really aren't teaching anyone else right now. Haha.

So I've decided that all I ever want to study again on my mission, and probably forever, to be honest, is the principles and ordinances of the gospel. I just got through an incredible study on faith, including Elder Bednar's visit. Now I'm studying repentance. It's been incredible to study the basics of the gospel. They really do bring you closer to Christ better than anything, because they are clear, pure truths. 2 Nephi 31 has become my favorite chapter in the scriptures. It's incredible to me how clear Christ has made it for us to receive eternal life. He knows exactly what it takes and every commandment we receive is only to make it simple for us to walk that path. It's genius! There is one way to eternal life, and that is Christ and his gospel. Any other way simply won't get you there. Why doesn't the world understand this?! It's incredible how things can seem so simple and clear, but without the Holy Ghost you'll never understand it. 

I know with all my soul that this is Christ's church and Christ's gospel. Faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end...that's the way to eternal life. It's simple, pure, and beautiful. And it never, ever, fails!!

I love you all! Have a great week!

Hermana Lund

A Heavenly Texas January

Mi Familia,

Wow! What a week. I'm learning things this transfer I've never had the "pleasure" to learn before. I swear. My mission has been a non-stop furnace. Just when I seem to be figuring it out, I get t-boned by something else. All I can say is this better make me the best wife and mom the world has ever seen.

But anyway, Justin, Mari, and Richard are still doing really well. Mari came to church for her 4th time and Justin & Richard for their 3rd yesterday. The ward has been awesome, too. Without us even knowing it, they invited Richard to church ball and he went! They say hi to people in church and always tell them that they will definitely be back (it never gets old to hear that). Richard and Mari even told us that they've been telling people that they're Mormon now. Ha! They have been getting a bit of persecution, but they hold strong because they know it's right and they already see the blessings. Yesterday the gospel principles lesson was on the Fall and afterwards Mari said that she just wishes she could show the Book of Mormon account (in 2 Nephi 2) to everyone because people outside this church just don't understand. They're awesome.

Richard was previously set with a date for the 1st, but we're not sure that he's onboard with that right now. Not exactly sure why. He's really hard to get to the bottom of things with. Justin and Mari--especially Justin--would get baptized now if the whole chastity thing wasn't in the way. We've been fairly bold with them and they understand what they need to do. It's just a matter of them wanting it badly enough to sacrifice. They will. I know they will.

Besides that we don't have a whole lot of investigators. Not progressing, anyway. We've been working a lot with the Relief Society President and Bishop, visiting anyone and everyone they want us to. I like it because it keeps us busy. This ward is incredible. They blow my mind all the time. We have 15 stellar ward missionaries and the greatest Ward Mission Leader I've ever seen. It's the easiest thing to get members to lessons and they always take it upon themselves afterwards to befriend the investigator. If I ever move to Texas this is definitely where I'm going.

I love you all! Keep me updated with how your missionary work is going at home. I'd love to hear your stories!

Have a fabulous week!

Hermana Lund