I Feel Like Dan Jones!!!!

Hi Fam Fam!                                                                                                                    072617
I hope you had a great week. My week was pretty good. The weeks just keep going by! Sorry my email deleted last week.
Thursday: Today we had our normal Thursday, Hot cocoa social and district meeting. This evening was really good.  We had a service project with Elders at the Norths house and they made us food. Brother North made soooo much food, so good thing the Elders were there.
Friday:  Today was pretty rainy. Oh man. This morning, it was fine, we thought it would be pretty sunny, so we were like we can do some heart attacks... when we got out it all changed. It started to pour! But we still did the heart attacks, even though all of the hearts got wet. It was the thought that counts right? 😊
Saturday: We had been doing drop bys all morning, and no one was home, so we decided we would go to a different part of the village. So we were waiting at the bus stop, singing songs 😂 and then all of a sudden people started to gather around us at the bus shelter. I was holding a Book of Mormon in my hand, and this lady goes... "oh your Mormons..." and started talking about all the things she thought was true but really they are just misconceptions people have about Mormons. And so we started to testify of the Book of Mormon, and how we know that she can get closer to God through this book than by any other book, and as we said this another person piped in and wanted to know more and then another person as well... it was so cool, sister Velez and I just looked at each other in awe, because we literally taught the whole bus stop.
Sunday: Two of our friends came to church today, which was a miracle. This evening we had a lesson with Emilia, and we read from the Book of Mormon. She is so smart, and she retains so much.
Monday: we had a lesson on the high street with our friend Derrick today. Derrick is a nice guy, but he struggles with a lot. We have never met him sober, which is sad. He wants to change, he wants to have a better life, but "he knows not where to find it". When we got to the lesson this morning, he had about 5 of his friends with him, and they were all drinking and smoking and having a good ole time. And then we came, and boldly but lovingly said okay Derrick we are here to save souls and to help others come unto Christ, and our time is very precious, can we share a message with you. He told us yes, so we had a prayer, and we tried to teach a lesson and extend him an invitation to be baptized... but he just was not in the right state of mind. But his friends started to ask us a whole bunch of questions and started to reject us and revile our beliefs. So we stood up, bore our testimonies, and gave them a Book of Mormon. And you know what I wasn't scared, I truly felt comfort from my Heavenly Father knowing that people can say what ever they want, but I KNOW what I know, and no one can take that away from me.
Tuesday: we helped Alcina today with some service. Alcina is so lovely. We love spending time with her. Today was a bit of a crazy day, and it didn't go to plan at all... but sometimes you need days like this so that you can learn.
This week was really cool. Ever since I came to England I have heard about the old missionaries when the church first came to England to spread the gospel, non stop. And I have heard about how powerful they were and how brave. And I was amazed. I was like "I want to be like a Dan Jones". I want to be able to stand up on a box and preach repentance unto the multitudes. And this week I did. I may not have literally stood on a box yelling out to the crowd haha, but I did have many experiences where I was able to bear my testimony to groups of people that were reviling against us, and I was able to see the power of God touch their hearts, even in the smallest ways. And that was AMAZING. This week I was able to see that it does not matter what others think of us. It doesn't matter what they say. What matters is what God thinks and what God says... because at the end of the day, God is the only perfect judge, and he will be who we stand before at the bar on judgement day. He loves us and is the only one that knows perfectly.
I love you. I hope you have a fabulous week. We got this!
Love, Sister Lund

 Happy Birthday to ME!!!!

 You would think I was prepared for unexpected rainstorms!!

 Francesca got Baptized!!!

 The Norths made tons of food

 Hot sauce exploded on poor Elder Rhees

Not One Day Goes By that God Doesn't Watch Over Me...NOT ONE DAY!!

Hi Fam Fam!
This week... OH BOY. We saw SO many miracles. But opposition in all things, right?
Wednesday: So we went to Swanwick Lake with Patrycja for preparation day, and it was really nice to be in the trails again... even though we weren't on a mountain.
Thursday: We had Quad-Zone Conference. Wow, it was so amazing!! It really was just what I needed. We talked mainly about who we are (I suggest that you read D&C 138, and study about noble and Great ones) and we talked about urgency in His work.  There was a part in the meeting where they shared this: "This knowledge takes our breath away. We know that God has a work for us... "I knew it, God knew it, and I knew I could not deny it" ". If you don't recognize that last sentence, it is a quote from Jospeh Smith. This hit me so hard, because I know that I have a work to do, not just on my mission, but in life. I know that God knows as well, and I CANNOT deny it.
Friday: We did quite a bit of drop bys. We are really just trying to find people! Which is great, hard, but great.
Saturday: Such a great day!!!  Alcina had us come over to help her make samosas, which I had no idea what they were. It's like this Indian side dish thingy, and you have to fry them. So that was my first experience ever frying food. Haha you have to be REAL careful, didn't realize that oil pops haha 😂. But....Paul got baptized! The Elders and us have been working with the Truter family for a long time. And it has been amazing to witness the miraculous change that has been wrought upon them. Paul was glowing after he was baptized. You could see how happy it made him, and also how happy it made Alcina. It's these kinds of moments that make life so sweet. To see families starting to come together.
Sunday: Paul got confirmed today!! After he got confirmed, he came up to us and said "when can I get the priesthood, what is the next step?" Oh man haha he is so excited!! He truly has changed. It is amazing what the gospel does for people.
Monday: We had exchanges, and I was with my lovely best friend Sister Walker. She is such a sweetheart. I love her. Our exchange was crazy though, because nothing went to plan. We were supposed to have Nadine's baptismal interview, but she never showed up... so we just did finding.
Tuesday: We called and finally were able to get into contact with Nadine, and she said that she is just very nervous. She doesn't know what she wants. Which is very heartbreaking, because she is ready. She is ready to be baptized. I think that is probably one of the hardest things about missions is when you have a friend that is ready to follow their Savior and be baptized, but they are too scared to make the step. Ugh it rips your heart out.
This week has been full of ups and downs. But I really have been trying to focus on love. I am so grateful for the love that my Heavenly Father has for me. I know that I am not even close to comprehending what his love even means, but I do know that He is watching over me. There is a talk medley that I have been listening to a lot on my mission called "missionary work and the Atonement" and there is a part in there that quotes what missionaries will say:  "why is this so hard, why don't  things go better, why isn't our success more rapid, why do they reject us?", and he answers with this: " Missionary work is not easy because Salvation is not a cheap experience. How could we possibly bear any moving lasting testimony of the Atonement if we have never known or felt anything of such an experience. We are proud to say we are missionaries but mark my word that means you must be prepared to walk something of the path He walked. To feel something, a little of the pain He felt. To at least occasionally, sometime during your mission shed one of the tears of sorrow that He shed. To come to the truth, to come to salvation, to come to repentance, to come to know something of the price that has been paid, we will have to pay a token of that same price. It'll only be a token, but I believe that it has to be paid. Presidents let your missionaries know that the Atonement will carry them, perhaps more importantly it will carry their investigators. You let them know that when they struggle, when they are rejected, when they are spit upon, and cast out, and made a hiss and a byword, they are standing shoulder to shoulder with the best life this world has ever known. They have every reason to stand tall... and remember that for a moment in their lives they will understand what He went through for them."
This talk makes me cry and brings me chills every time I listen to it. Something I am grateful for this week, and that I have been learning a lot about his week is How grateful I am for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I am grateful that He loved me enough to go through what He did. And I am grateful that I am having opportunities in my life to learn more about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. This life is not easy, but I know that NOT ONE DAY goes by that God doesn't watch over me... NOT ONE DAY. I am grateful for this knowledge. I love you all so much. Make it a great week. We got this!
Love,
Sister Lund

 Swanwick Lake

 Paul got Baptized!!

Me and my bestie, Sister Walker!!

Grateful He Loves Us and Let's Us Choose!!!

Hi Fam Fam!
This week was so so good!! It flew by though.. oh man. I hope your Fourth of July was fun, ours was pretty fun actually. Big miracles to share!!
Thursday: today was pretty fun! This evening we went to YSA with Patrycja. Haha we were playing this game where we had to close our eyes, turn around a bunch of times and run to find our partner... haha and because I am me... I ran right into the piano.. I have a big bruise on my knee and everyone thought it was pretty funny, haha which it was!
Friday: we had a lesson with our friend Nadine! She is such a miracle! She has been investigating the church off and on and she messaged us a few days out of the blue, and said sisters I want to get baptized in two weeks. She said she knows it is true and she is finally ready to make the step. WOW!!! We were shocked and so excited! So Nadine is getting Baptized on July 14th!!! We are so happy for her.
Saturday: Today was a really special day. Alcina got her Patriarchal blessing today, and had us come with her. That was such a spiritual experience. She really enjoyed it... it was a bit hard for her to understand because of the language barrier. Probably one of my favorite experiences so far on my mission... then again all the experiences are great!
Sunday: Nadine came to church, and brought her cute daughter Penelope with her! She LOVED it. She was just like I can't wait to be baptized!
Monday: We had a lesson with Emilia, which was really good. She is such a smart girl. Yesterday she bore her testimony in sacrament meeting (3rd fast Sunday in a row) and she said that she want to get baptized because it is Jesus's church. She really is so ready to get baptized!
Tuesday: HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA! Today was a really good day. This morning we had a lesson with Nadine, which went really well. And later in the evening we had a lesson with Vinh's kids: Sophia and Leo. They are smarties. And this evening we had a BBQ with a small group of people. It was fun to be able to still kind of celebrate the Fourth of July.
This week was a miracle filled week. The entire time Sister Velez and I have been here it has been pretty hard to teach people, because they just don't seem to be interested. But we knew that God had a plan for us. We are so grateful we have this opportunity to teach Nadine and to help her come closer to her Savior.
I think what hit me this week was the fact that we all have Agency. Because God loves us, he has given us the ability to choose... to choose whether we follow him and his path,  or whether we choose to follow our path. How amazing is it that before we came to Earth we had Agency, we then chose to come to earth, and we have the right to choose here on earth, and we will still have the right to choose after this life. I am amazed... May we all "choose the harder right,  than the easier wrong". I love you all so much. Have a fabulous week. We got this.
Love,
Sister Lund

 Happy Birthday, America!!

 Alcina got her Patriarchal Blessing today!!

 Say Hi, Fred!!

Nadine Wants to Get Baptized!!! (July14???)