11/25/13

This week was super great! I feel like every week on Sunday my companion and I hit our beds at night and decide that we can't work any harder or we would die.. Then the next week we step it up another level. This week we ran around like crazys and led the mission in fechas, lessons and investigators in church. But it was a super bummer how a super potential family we have couldn’t go.. They are definitely going to go next week.. I hope.. And were super sad they couldn’t yesterday. You’d think that with how hard we’re working I’d be losing weight like nobodies business but honestly I’m going to be super fat when I get home! They just have these flour tortillas here in Sonora that they almost don’t have in any part of Mexico that are so dang good but they fatten ya right up! And we always choose them over corn tortillas so were definitely going to come home looking like pumpkins but Ni modo! 

Right now I feel like I’m starting to turn into the missionary I want to be. I feel like I’m miserable if we’re not teaching a lesson or walking as fast as we can to a lesson. Today we’re supposed to start working at 6 because it’s p day, but today we’re starting at 4, and the last 2 weeks we’ve been working more than 7 hours every Monday with our investigators. I think I’m going to die from exhaustion and my feet are super angry lately but I just can't stand not working.

This week I gave a less active member that just told us he wants to go on a mission one of my shirts because he didn’t have one so I had to go to the store to buy one more because I only had 7 and I need 8 because one has to be for when your other 7 are in the wash. ha and my companion and I used up all our monthly money on fast offerings. We’ve been fasting a ridiculous amount but we’re seeing results so I´m going to keep doing it! That’s why I had to buy my groceries with my money from home! But this week I only need to buy some tortillas and some cheese so it’ll only be like 40 pesos. so like 4 bucks or less.

Tell Grandma and Brother Hoyel that I got their letter and package! The letter from the Hoyels was sent in June! and it had 3 2 dollar bills that I gave to the hermanos here in the ward that went crazy when they saw them! haha I love the people here! I never want to leave! They all live WAY below the united states poverty level but they are so willing to give me everything they have! So when one of them needs a shirt or a 2 dollar bill or whatever they need I’m going to help them out a little bit. I’m going to make sure its only if they really need something and I’ll pay for it all when I get home but I would honestly give them anything.

I don’t know if I told you but the hermana Pelaez had her baby and its a little boy thats the cutest future missionary ever! The first thing they they did was put him some church pants! 

I’m honestly so happy here. I feel like God’s opened my heart and filled it full of everybody in my area!

This week we have a meeting with the area presidency. Thats Elder De Hoyos, Elder Johnson and Elder Valensuela (I think that last one’s right). They’re all seventies and I think they’re coming to yell at all the members here cause they do literally nothing. On Saturday we helped our bishop paint his house, and for like 2 hours I just talked his ear off, as you know I’m capable of doing, and just talked about the potential in the area, and on Sunday in ward council he made a goal of 40 baptisms every year. And if they don’t stay active they don’t count. He’s getting really excited about the work, and we are going to take advantage!

Have a great week!

Love you guys!

Elder Lund

11/18/13

This week went by so fast..! I only really got 1 full day in my area because we had so many meetings and I had to do interchanges with both of the areas in my district because the missionaries were fighting.. so I had to leave everything to my companion.

This week we had 1 investigator in church. His name’s Angel and his family are all members, but they got baptized in Phoenix and when the came here they saw how the church is way different, and kind of lost the desire to go. But they are now going, and their oldest son wants to go on the mission. And we’re going to baptize Angel on the 7th of December. There were once again like 10 investigators that were super excited to go to church, that didn’t go.. But thats fine because Im pretty sure they´ll go next week!

We’re doing great here! The ward is literally like my family now. And the Hna. Pelaes (Who just got baptized) had her baby on Sunday at 2 in the morning! They thought that it or the Hna. was going to die because he had his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, and I guess there were complications, but everything ended up fine! She has so much faith! So does her husband. They called the bishop to ask if it was okay if they missed church because she was having her baby. And if the bishop would have said no, I’m 100% convinced that they would have been to church, on time. 

It’s so awesome to see your converts so strong in the truth. The bishop here is going to be released in 1 year, and EVERYBODY is talking about how the Hno. Pelaes should be the next bishop. And he’s only been a member for 1 month. He’s always the first one to every service project the ward does. And neither him or his wife have home or visiting teaching assignments yet, so they visit everybody at least once a week.The church makes them so happy, and that makes me so happy!

Love you guys!

Elder Lund

11/11/13

I`ll start with transfers. My companion and I are staying together for the 3rd transfer. By the end of the transfer I will have 6 months here. It’s crazy how fast time flies. This transfer I got put as District leader which should be cool. I’m super excited for our area, and I think we`ll have some success. I love the people here in the area so much, and honestly don’t want to leave after this next transfer either..

  

This week we had a some success with new investigators we found, but only had 2 in church. But the coolest moment of the week is when we met this lady from Mesa Arizona. She was a 23 year old that had 3 kids, used to be addicted to meth, and apparently dances at a strip club. She’s from Colorado so we talked all in English, and when she was telling us about her life I just prayed that the Lord could help us make some change in her life in some way or another. Anyway we had a lesson of like an hour and a half and at the end she had started crying because of the spirit, and accepted baptism and the word of wisdom and the law of chastity. It was the craziest change I’ve ever seen in anybody so fast. She left to go to Arizona where she lives with her mom, so i passed the reference up there and I’m hoping I hear about her baptism soon!

Its kind of crazy how I’m ALWAYS tired, but never want to sit still and do nothing. Grandma asked me how the mission has changed me most and I'd definitely have to say in my work ethic and my decisions. haha I feel like I haven’t gotten super mature yet and I still love to laugh and have fun, but now when its time to work I can put my head down and work hard.

Everything here´s going great! I’m loving it and I’m excited to have 1 more transfer here!

Love Elder Lund

11/4/12

Sorry I didn’t write last week! We went to the internet in the morning, but I forgot my cable to the camera so I couldn’t send pictures, so I decided I would write the letter when we came back in the afternoon, but in the afternoon I thought that I had already written in the morning! sorry!

Everything went great with the baptisms. This family is so special. They have absolutely no money because the husband is waiting for his license to get here so he can start working again as a trucker. But in the meantime the ward has helped them out a ton. But a couple of times people have joined the church when they have needed help, but when they get back on their feet they just stop going. So when the Hermana Pelaez went to one of her best friend’s house, Hermana Soto, to ask if she could borrow 50 pesos for the bus to go downtown for something important, Hna. Soto told her she didnt have any money, and just had the food in their house. So hna Pelaez went and did a loan or something from somebody to be able to go down town. She took out 300 pesos and did her business downtown, and when she was on her way back she stopped by the Hna Sotos house and gave her 50 pesos so she could buy tortillas for her family(B.T.W here tortillas are 100% mandatory). Hna Soto apparently just started to cry because Hna Pelaez, who has literally nothing, was willing to give her 50 of her loaned pesos to her family so they could have tortillas. This family is so amazing. They are the most Christ-like people I’ve ever met.

As for my companion and I, we had a great week up until Sunday. We were expecting like 16 people at church, and not a single one went. It was so.. I don’t even know how to describe the emotion... just awful. Its hard when you know your being 100% percent obedient, and the people don’t show up. But it just means we just have to look for whatever else we can improve on, fix it, and then we´ll get those baptisms! Right now were both in like hyperdrive diligence mode! And I´m really excited to see the results!

I feel like whenever I hit a rough patch in the road, I always grow the most. And I can definitely say I grew a ton this week! So to be 100% honest, the hard times don’t bug me too much. Because I know the Lord only makes us stronger, after the trial of our faith. So I’m excited to come home with a 6 pack!

We have transfers on Monday but I honestly don’t think I’m leaving yet. I can’t tell if I feel like I’m staying, or if I just want to stay so bad I’m convincing myself I am! I love this area so much, and really don’t ever want to leave! haha. The members, even though they don’t help us, are so awesome, but especially my investigators! I want to see every single one of them everyday for the rest of forever!

Love you guys!

Elder Lund