Say Our Prayers ...and Live Them!!

Hi Fam Fam,                                                                                                                      092717

I hope you had a great week. I hope you are looking forward to conference. I am so excited!!!!!!!! Sorry this email is going to be really short, we are playing volleyball as a district today!

Thursday: we had a dinner appointment, and we did quite a bit of finding, not much to say haha.

Friday: We were supposed to have a lesson with Richard, but he went on a last minute trip for a couple of days to see his brother. We had correlation this evening as usual.

Saturday: we had futbol, but no one showed up, and it's been a bit hard to get people to come to futbol, and it was a little discouraging. And we wanted just to quit. But we received a challenge from our zone leaders to go out and to find in the park to invite people to play with us. MIRACLE! 6 people said that they would
come and play. It was fantastic! Best turn out to futbol. Amazing how when we want to quit and throw in the towel the Lord gives us the strength to continue.

Sunday: we had church which was great. I always love fast and testimony meeting. We were supposed to have an appointment but they cancelled, which is okay, Sundays always fly by! 

Monday: we did a lot of finding today! We stopped by this potential family In Woolston, and they let us in to teach them. Miracle! They have a very strong belief in the Bible, and they didn't want to listen, but we shared the restoration with them and as soon as we shared the first vision the room went quiet and the spirit was so
strong. We were able to leave a Book of Mormon with them which was definitely a miracle. We have no idea what will happen and if they will invite us back, but if anything can change their mind it'll be the Book of Mormon.

Tuesday: we had exchanges in Havant. I was with Sister Ripley. She is lovely. We did finding all day, and we found 4 new friends! Major miracle. Sister Walker goes home in four weeks! I can't believe it! My goodness!!!

Something I have learned this week is how important a positive attitude is in the hard times. We all have mountains and valleys, and they can be tiring, but if we have a positive attitude, which doesn't always mean to be laughing and smiling, but actually to just look forward with hope, then we will be able to find ourselves, we will be
able to gain so much more knowledge, and more fully reach our potential.

I love you so much. I hope you have a good week, and that you will look forward with faith and a positive attitude. We can do hard things. We got this.

Love,
Sister Lund

Patience is a Heavenly Virtue!!

Hi Fam Fam!                                                                                                                      092017
This past week was moves week.... any guesses?! Stay tuned 😉
Thursday: Today we had district meeting, last one as a district before move calls. We are the only sisters in our district so our meetings get pretty interesting... and a bit loud haha. But it's so fun. We were supposed to go district finding, but it started pouring! It was Sister Gaston's half-way mark today! This evening we stopped by Patrycja, because she just had surgery, so we brought her some get well treats. She wasn't feeling too well so we didn't stay long.
Friday: haha it is always funny on Fridays before moves, because usually this is the day that President calls to tell you if you've been called to leadership or called to be a trainer.. but he and Sister Gubler were in Portugal for a training. But none of the missionaries knew he wasn't going to call until Saturday so everyone was on edge. I actually was at peace, and not too anxious about it because I had a feeling I am going to stay in Hamble... we will see though! Sister Gaston really wants to train! We did quite a bit of finding before we went to correlation this evening. Oh my days... so it is starting to get cold here in little ole' Hamble River, and sister Handley served us frozen fruit and ice cream for pudding (English term for dessert). All of us were freezing, I could not feel my tongue, it was numb. I looked over at Elder Dasalla (from the Phillipines) and he was shivering... bless. 😂 haha it was really funny though!
Saturday: Today we had futbol! Which was great, we met a man who let me play with his puppies, which fun fact, one of them was named Abbie, spelled the same way.... all the other missionaries got a kick out of that haha! Sister Gaston and I tried doing an activity at the chapel... we wanted to show the movie "Meet the Mormons". And the whole week we had been inviting everyone... so only one person came... and it was Alcina, but we felt the spirit that we need to do it, so we did! We are going to try it again this Saturday and see if it works! So we got a call from President at about 7:30pm... my stomach sank! When sister Gaston answered the phone President asked if he could talk to me, so she handed me the phone, and President and I chatted for a little, and then he asked me "So, Sister Lund, how would you feel about staying in a Hamble River another transfer? I know you have been there since April, I went quiet and thought oh boy... and I though about it for a bit, and a bit hesitantly said "Yes President, I can stay if this is what the Lord want me to do"... He replied and said "Sister Lund, I know this hasn't been the easiest for you, but the Lord has made it very clear to me that you need to stay with Sister Gaston, in Hamble River", when he said that to me, I remembered that I didn't want my mission to be easy, so whatever my Heavenly Father needed me to do, I was going to do it. So I said "President I will do what Heavenly Father wants me to do, I feel the spirit confirming to me this is where I need to be". I was just so grateful for President that he took the time to call me just to make sure that I would be okay with this.
Sunday: 13 Months! I don't think it's hit me... I don't quite feel it yet. I feel like I've been here forever, yet only a few months. Emilia came to church today on her own which was a miracle, because Pat wasn't feeling well. She struggled the third hour... she wouldn't go to Primary. But we had a lesson with her this evening, she seemed a bit better.
Monday: we had accounting this morning with Elder Rhee, he found out the he is moving to Paignton, Plymouth to finish training a new missionary. So it was our last accounting. We had a lesson with Richard today. Which went really well, it was a very spiritual experience. We met with him on the sea shore, in Weston, with Heather. Richard really is struggling in his life. He was very emotional today, and he opened up a lot to us. He has a lot of things he needs to work through. This will be a long journey, but he will make it! This evening we went to the Bakers family, and had a FHE with them, we haven't done that in a while, so that was nice.
Tuesday: today went pretty quick, we had quite a few lessons. This morning we decided to stop by a potential, Susan. And she let us in! MIRACLE!! We were able to get to know her better today so that was great, and she said we can come back on Friday. After Susan, we went by Linda Holden, in the ward, since they live a few houses apart. She was busy sewing, so we didn't stay for long, but she is so sweet. I don't know how we got to this topic, but we were talking about Wisdom teeth, and she said she wants to see one of my videos... oh boy... so if you have one of them still, and can send it to me that would be great. But no worries if you can't! This afternoon, we saw Richard again, and taught him the Restoration. This evening we taught our friend Alex... I don't know if you remember the Alex I taught back with Sister Velez in April, but we are starting to teach him again. Oh my goodness, this lesson was a tough one... amazing and the spirit was so strong, but it was tough. Alex has a very strong belief in the Bible. And so we are trying to teach him very simply 😅 but he is great, such a nice guy.
So this week has been really long, yet really short. But man have I learned! I have been studying what it means to be a Christlike leader, and I was reading a talk from President Utchdorf, called Continue in Patience. He was talking about his experience in training to be a pilot and he said " I'm still not sure why endless running was considered such an endless preparatory part of becoming a pilot... Nevertheless, we ran and we ran and we ran some more". I love this because it made me think about how a lot of the times as humans we don't see or understand the importance of something, but if we truly want to follow God, we do it anyways. Patience is a purifying process... without patience we CANNOT please God. If we are ever going to grow and reach our potential we have to learn to wait for things.
I like this because growing up when we hear from our parents or grown-ups tell us "Patience is a Heavenly virtue" we cringe... or at least I did 😅😂 but it's true. And not only is it a Heavenly Virtue, it is a rare virtue... one that I want to one day perfectly acquire. I am so grateful that to come closer to my Savior, Heavenly Father will give me opportunities to put my desires or wants on hold so that I can gain this precious and rare virtue.
But as Elder Holland says "Don’t give up, boy. Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead--a lot of it--. You keep your chin up. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come. Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come."
I hope you have a great week. I love you so much. You are all in my heart and prayers. We can do hard things. We got this! I'm smiling! I hope you are too!!
Love, Sister Lund
P.s. I love a quote from a talk that says " Who is the greatest leader of all time? Jesus. Who is the greatest follower of all time? Jesus".

He is the Physician!!!

Hey Fam Fam!                                                                                     091317
This week flew by. I feel like I was just writing an email to you like it was yesterday... scratch that.. like it was this morning 😂 time is crazy.
Thursday: we went to Kleins for dinner. But not much else happened, we just did a lot of finding! 😊
Friday: we had district meeting which was good! We had a surprise... our mission got smart phones... crazy! I actually really liked our little dinosaur phone. But I guess in a couple of transfers the church is going to start sending missionaries to our mission with phones rather than iPads or Samsung tablets...which will be really weird. But I have no idea if that is worldwide or just my mission! We had a lesson with our new friend Richard, the one we met in Woolston. He is really struggling. He isn't sure what he wants right now, but he know he needs to change. We hope he will let us help him, but he has his Agency.
Saturday: what an eventful day! We played futbol this morning, one family showed up but they had to leave early. It was Des's baptism!! And I am really sad we weren't able to get a picture with him... anyway, we were able to help the elders fill up the font... haha kind of. So the Elders called us in a panic saying "Sisters, we can't get the boiler to work, so the font is filling with freezing cold water, we need your help!" So when we got to the chapel, they were boiling water on the stove, for us to dump into the font. It actually worked... well a little bit. 😂 We only had one accident! Sister Gaston burned her finger, and got a pretty bad blister, but thankfully it is going away! This evening we had a dinner appointment with the Bishop and his family. They are so funny. It was a mad house, and there were a few tears 🙈but it was great to be with them! 😊
Sunday: church was good, Although no one came. All of bishop's family and sister Gaston and I wore JoJo bows. Haha it was funny. I felt prompted during sacrament meeting that we needed to go outside to find someone to come to church... sadly no one wanted to come, but it was a testimony to me that God has consecrated our efforts. Maybe not at the time we want him to, but he will consecrate them! This evening we went to the Sheppards for FHE, and Patrycja came! It was really good. We studied Luke 15, about the prodigal son.
Monday: this morning we were supposed to have a lesson with Nadine. About a week ago she sent me a message, saying that she wanted to meet with us, so we set an appointment for today, and she didn't show up... which is really sad, but hopefully one day she will make the step. This evening we went to Naomi's and helped her make dinner for her family. Naomi is so sweet, she really just needs friends and people to talk to. We were able to show her the Mormon message "Fragile" which she absolutely loved. If you get a chance, go watch it! It's amazing.
Tuesday: this afternoon we had a lesson with Ron. Haha oh Ron... thankfully the elders in his area were able to come on the teach with us, so they were able to create a friendship, so we can transfer him over to them. But it will probably take some time because he is really close to us. But he has a lot of questions of Christ visiting the Americas, so we gave him some chapters to read in the Book of Mormon. He loves the Book of Mormon... I'm telling ya, there is POWER in the Book.  This evening we had dinner with Sister Hollis, and talked about why prayer is so important, and having faith to receive an answer. And having faith in Christ, not outcomes. So important. Then we had ward council, which is always an interesting event that happens in Hamble River 😂 but it was good.
This week went by so quickly. It seemed like my week was focused a lot on healing. I love the quote " In the same way a physician might lead us to physical wholeness, the Savior, who is the perfect physician, can take away the burden of shame, worry, guilt, and even feelings of frustration and anxiety and show us the way to be spiritually whole again. That's his job, and he performs it perfectly". It just made me think of how every person in this world is looking for healing in one way or another. Not only healing but relief... but the fact is, is that relief from the challenges we have may come slowly or quickly, but sometimes full relief doesn't come at all until after this life. But the fact is is that Christ is the only one we can receive healing from, whether on this earth or in the life to come. I think this is amazing. That yes we all have to go through hard things, but we ALL will receive healing, and be made whole.
I hope that you will have a great week! I love you so much! We can do hard things. We got this!
Love, Sister Lund

 Out with the old....

 In with the new!!!

 Wearing our JOJO bows!!

 This is what happens when the boiler goes out and you need hot water in the font

The colors are a changin'...

Jesus is My Shield!!

Hi Fam Fam!                                                                                                                         090617
This week went super quick, my goodness.
Thursday: We did a few drop-bys in Hedge End today. We were able to stop by the Kadungure family in our ward. They are really nice, they are from Africa. They haven't been to church in while, so we are trying to help them come back. Haha we missed our bus on the way to the Klein family for dinner, so we had a nice long walk through the country side... but hey I loved it. It was beautiful! We have become really close with the Klein family... especially Mathilde. She wants me to come back and visit her. She is the cutest.
Friday: our schedule changed 1,000 times today. Haha not really but the day was crazy. We ended up having all of these appointments, and then they all cancelled, and then we had lol of these other things pop up. But it was great. We had correlation as always. And MeAlissa, Brother Handley's daughter talked with me about the Beatles. Haha I actually know a lot about the Beatles.. I surprised myself...thanks dad 😉
Saturday: we played futbol this morning! The activity is actually taking off. We are having people coming which is great. Our goal is really to strengthen the ward, and make it more of a tighter unit. And this activity is helping! We had a dinner appointment with Sister Baker. I love her so much. She has taught me so much. She is the cutest too. She created a fairy garden in her yard. This was the first time Sister Gaston went to her house and when we walked in she saw her house... haha pink and purple and fairies everywhere. She was like "oh wow". 😂 I actually like it... it's unique! Sister Bakers friend Angie was there. She is lovely. But she is not interested. She has really really bad back problems, and we invited her to think about receiving a priesthood blessing, and she was surprised that the church did things like that, and she was genuinely interested and said she would think about it. I love how Heavenly Father works.
Sunday: we had a lesson with Emilia today. She is struggling. She says she's not interested in being baptized unless her mom gets baptized. We think she is just tired of getting the answer "no" when she asks if she can get baptized. So it's really hard for her. This evening we had dinner with Kim and Iris Smith. And we got to play some "tunes" as Iris would say on the piano. They all played these beautiful pieces, and then they turned to me and said "your turn".... so I played Yankee Doodle... 😂 but it was a good laugh.
Monday: we did a lot of finding today! We have been praying a lot that we can find one person that is prepared and ready to receive the Gospel. We were in Woolston, and I saw this man across the street pushing this other man in a Wheelchair, and I remember seeing him a few times  in the Bitterne area. The spirit practically threw me across the road. We went over and talked to them (Richard and Mellie). Richard, is an ex-armyman. He told us that he suffers with PTSD. We asked him if there was a way he could learn to deal with this pain would he give us 30 minutes of his time, and in desperation he said "I'd give you a year!" I could just see the pain in this man's eyes. We are meeting with him on Friday!
Tuesday: haha so... today was really rainy. And we had to grab lunch at Tesco, because we were really far from home, but we had no where to find shelter from the rain... so we walked for a bit and found a bridge/tunnel... ya know we looked a bit like we had no home but that's fine. 😂today we had a lesson with Vinh, Sophia, and Leo. We talked about Jesus Christ. I love the answers Children come up with. So amazing. We asked them to say who they thought Jesus Christ was and they said "Jesus Christ is my shield, he is my shield because he loves me". I loved this. This evening we had an activity with the relief society. We made non cook strawberry jam. Did you know how much sugar is in jam!? Oh my goodness, sister Gaston, and Sister Anna Bryant and I looked at each other as we were making it and my jaw dropped and I was like "that is so much sugar!" One of the sisters was like "well it is an American recipe". I just laughed and was like "hey, I didn't create it!"
This week was a good hard week. I feel like I always say that. But hey, not much comes from things that are super easy. So I am glad, because I am learning so much.
Something I just have loved was what Sophia said..."Jesus is my shield". I think this is so powerful. The amount of times Christ has saved or protected me are endless and eternal. I was reminded of a scripture his week in 3 Nephi 11: 11, where it talks about how Christ drinks the bitter cup and gives his will to God. Christ suffers the will in ALL things so I wouldn't have to... He drank ALL of the bitter cup so that I wouldn't have to. I only have to go through a portion. I will never understand exactly what Christ had to go through for me, but because he loves me, he was my "shield" and did all he did so that I would only have to go through a tiny tiny tiny amount, WITH him. To me when we are asked to endure, it doesn't mean to just hold on and go through a whole bunch of trials. To me enduring means to have patience. And patience is defined as: the capacity to ACCEPT (choose) or tolerate delay, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious... so yeah, I'm not the best at patience 😂. But I have come to love getting the answer "Sister Lund, be patient, I have a plan for you". It brings so much peace to my soul. Patience truly is a Heavenly virtue, and I am so grateful Heavenly Father is giving me the opportunity to learn how to have patience. It truly is a gift.
I love you. I hope you have a great week. We can do hard things. We got this!
Love,
Sister Lund

 It's starting to get a little chilly!

 Do you know how much sugar is in jam?

 Lund Lane

 Sister Baker's Fairy Garden

 Futbol with the missionaries

 Had to eat lunch under a bridge

 Rain is not hair friendly

Making jam with the relief society