New Beginnings!!!!

Hi Fam Fam,

So this email is going to be pretty short... so I hope that is okay... but here is the round down of my week.

Thursday: this morning Richard came to the hot cocoa social which was fantastic!! I am so proud of all he is doing. We had a dinner appointment with the Kleins. They are the cutest I love them. When we opened up their gate outside Adelaide screamed and said "the sisters are here mummy!!" She was so excited haha.

Friday: we had a lesson with Nadine.. she opened up to us a lot about her concerns. She knows everything we are teaching her is true, and she knows she needs to get baptized, but she is so scared to make the step. She is scared what it will do with her relationship. This evening we had correlation, and it was Melissa's birthday so we sang happy birthday to her, which she really liked haha.

Saturday: we got a call from a President this morning, and he was like " Sister Lund, how are ya doing... the Lord wants you to get back on the saddle... he wants you to be an STL and move to Crawley to be with Sister Gates" my heart was pounding. And yes I cried because I knew I was leaving all of my family here in Hamble River. But we saw Sister Baker this evening, and we told her I was moving and she cried. She told me she loved me...  oh man goodbyes are hard!

Sunday: Richard came to Church!!! He said it was different but told us he knows it is true. He has an uphill battle, but he can do it. Then we had a lesson with our new friend Laura (and Sister Gaston called me today saying she has a date now, yay!) this evening we had dinner with the Sheppards, they are lovely.

Monday: I said goodbye to Richard which was so sad, but he opened up a lot. He is really excited to meet dad one day! We also saw Alcina, which was great, she cried and I cried, and she told me that between me and her missionary that converted her, I changed her life, and that I took a piece of her heart... same same Alcina. Then we went to Pats and I fed Fred...oh man I about died... I was shaking so bad, but it was a really fun experience as well.. I think I have mainly conquered my fear of snakes... or at least most of it 😂 it was really hard to say goodbye to Emilia, but she will be just fine! Haha she's Emilia 😆

Tuesday: Pat and Iwona dropped by the flat to say goodbye to me, the fact that they both came meant a lot. I was not expecting Iwona to come, but I was so happy! It was definitely the hardest to say goodbye to Pat. But she is amazing! She will be great! I traveled to Crawley today.... let me tell ya that was an adventure. Luckily a nice man
helped me with my bags! There was only one problem....my travel plans sent me to Crawley train station, and when I got there, no one was there... because Sister Gates was supposed to pick me up at the temple... but I was told to go to Crawley...haha a really nice train worker let me use his phone, and I waited in the waiting room for an hour and a half, for my companion and my ride to come get me... but hey I met some really nice people.. haha it  probably would have been really fun to watch.

My week has been good, but also really hard. Something that I learned this week that God truly gives us what will help us  grow the most in our lives. And that means the stuff he gives us won't always be easy, but we can do them with Him. I love you so much. I hope you have a great week. We can do hard things. We got this!

Love,
Sister Lund

 Saying goodbye to Patrycja

 Richard

 Sister Baker

He is the Teacher!!!

Hi Fam Fam!                                                                                                                      101817
Wow this week has been full of learning and growing and becoming humble... I had a really good week. I hope you did!
Thursday: We had Quad-Zone Conference in Poole. Conference was amazing and I learned so much. So many of my really close friends are going home..time has flown. This evening we dropped by Richards house with Sister Elly Hollis who lives really close to him. He really was not feeling well, and he didn't have the strength to go to the shops to buy food, so sweet sister Hollis took Sister Gaston and I to the shops to buy him food.... she bought everything! She's such a sweetie! ❤ Richard gave us his coffee as well, which was a miracle!!
Friday: we had weekly Planning today, and our correlation meeting was cancelled, so we went to the chapel to correlate with the Elders, to see how we could help the work progress this week.
Saturday: we did finding this morning in west end. This afternoon we had a dinner appointment with Jean Baker. She had me write my testimony in her scriptures, which was so sweet of her. She just looked at me and was like "Sister Lund, I want you to write your testimony in my scriptures, I just really love you, and I will miss you" haha apparently she thinks I'm moving?! Haha I don't know. She is so cute though because back in the 70s or 80s there were some Elders that called her Munchkin from the wizard of oz, because she is so short. Haha and so now every time she messages us or talks to us she always says "love munchkin" 😂 oh my goodness. This evening we had stake conference in Portsmouth. The Saturday session was great, not very many people showed up, it was very different from Welling, and definitely different than Utah.
Sunday: we had stake conference in Portsmouth, and it was really good! I love conferences on my mission, such a special experience. And this evening we had a broadcast for the European areas from Elder Ballard; and he talked about how it is literally not possible for missionaries to do missionary work with out the members. He was very bold... he said missionary work or conversion will NOT happen without the members. It's so true.
Monday: we Skyped Heather this morning. She is doing better, she still is having some struggles, but all in all is improving. We had a lesson with a new investigator today, and it was a very strange experience...but I won't go into the details haha. We had a lesson with a Richard. And oh my goodness when we saw him today compared to when we saw him on Thursday, he was a completely different person. I could literally see the light in his eyes. It was one of the only times in my life that I could actually see a physical, emotional,  and spiritual change in someone that quickly! Wow!! Richard was very emotional, but it was such a powerful lesson. We showed him the video "because of him", and all Richard said was "I have a second chance"... and it's so true, because of Him we all have that "second chance". This evening we taught Emilia, and we had a miracle! Emilia has not wanted to read the Book of Mormon. We have been trying everything. But today we invited her to act out the Book of Mormon, and it worked she read, or acted out two chapters!! There is power in the Book!
Tuesday: we went and did some service at Sister Linda Holden's house, we just were clearing out a bedroom. We had dinner with Sister Hollis. She gave us Rice pudding for pudding...it's very English...yeah it's not my favorite. This evening we had another lesson with Richard. he was able to talk with Elder Wells, a new senior couple missionary, whose occupation is in Addiction recovery and therapy, and he has worked with people with PTSD. So that was so helpful for Richard. Richard told us today "there is no coincidence you met me... God really does care. You two are my angels". When I heard that it just pierced my heart... I am so lucky to have been able to meet Richard he has taught me a little bit of what it means to be strong emotionally.
This week has been really good. It was tough. We had some really hard days. But I cannot say it enough I don't regret nor will I ever regret coming on my mission. I love the hard days. They have shaped me into a stronger daughter of God... something that hit me really strong this week was something my sweet companion sister Gaston told me. After I shared an experience with her about when I got to my mission I made a promise to Heavenly Father that I would try to do my best and do everything I possibly can to save and rescue souls, and I remember telling him and even telling President when I got here "Don't make it easy".... my mission has not been easy, nor is anyone's mission. Missions are not meant to be easy. Missions are a refiners fire. And they melt and mold us into amazing and beautiful things! But after I shared my experience with her she just told me "Sister Lund, you make me want to be humble. You are noble and You are teachable." I don't share this experience with you looking for recognition. Not at all!! I began to cry when she said that to me because it reminded me of my setting apart blessing, where it mentions that I will be blessed to be teachable. And my teacher is my Savior. And he teaches me so many things every single day. Missions are our MTC for life, and I am so grateful I chose to come here.
I hope that you will have a great week! I will let you know how moves go! We can do hard things! We got this! I love you so much!
Love,
Sister Lund

 POOLE

 Saying goodbye to Sister Zulu

 It's my Welling Sisters

 Saying goodbye to Sister Walker

 Patrycja's cat flicked paint on Sister Gaston

She's still smiling!!

Focus on Their Achievements!!!

Hi Fam Fam!                                                                                                 101117
I hope you are doing well, and that you had a good week! I had a good week!
Thursday: Our plans never go to plan in Hamble River. We had a lesson with our friend Richard. Oh my goodness, Richard has become an eternal friend of mine. He is 46 years old, he grew up in England. He has an amazing story. He was in the British army for 26 years, and was deployed many times, and saw things and went through things that no one should have to go through. Richard made it through the army, but he has PTSD, and really struggles with it, and has made some choices that has made his life difficult. But Sister Gaston and I have being praying everyday and fasting weekly that we could find our "new friend" that God has prepared for us... and we found Richard about 4 weeks ago. But today he made the decision that he would come to church this Sunday, even if he had to bring work with him.
Friday: we had another lesson with Richard. It went really well, we taught the plan of Salvation, and it really hit home with Richard. He was in awe. This evening as usual we had correlation at the Handleys home. We have become really close with their family. I love them!
Saturday: this evening we had a lesson with Alex. Alex is such a nice guy. Man this lesson was hard though haha. He is very well versed in the Bible, and has a very strong enthusiasm and testimony for it. We tried to bear testimony, and that really was all we could do.
Sunday: Miracle: Richard came to church!!! He couldn't get here until Priesthood meeting, because he had work today, and he brought work with him. He is a caretaker, and he takes care of a 40ish old man named Melly, who actually reminds me a lot of Ben Fredrickson next door. But Richard told us today that he was going to make some HUGE changes in his life... it's going to be really hard, but we are seeing that through God, he really does make weak things become strong. This evening we went to Alex's church... and man oh man was it an interesting experience. It made me really just want to go to our church more. These people are amazing people, please don't misunderstand, but I know what I know... and that is that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is God's kingdom here on earth. I know it, and I cannot deny it.
Monday: we had a lesson with Richard. He had a really tough day. But he is holding on and striving to have hope. We helped Pat with remodeling her room. It is going to look really nice, she is gutting the whole thing!
Tuesday: we had a lesson with our sweet 83 year old friend Ron... we haven't seen him in a while. He is pretty closed to the church right now, due to what people have been telling him, but we know that if he will truly look for truth and read the Book of Mormon, that his heart will be opened.  We also saw Richard again today. He was not doing well, but he is trying!!  We are so proud of him. He will get there!
Something that I have really learned this week is the importance of humility. And that according to our faith we can have a mighty change of heart! We must focus on the Father and the Son's achievements rather than our failures... because when we focus on their achievements, it is a reminder and inspiration to us of how amazing God and Christ are. And just like Daddy always says: stand up to the plate, and take your swings... who cares if you strike out. Because you only fail when you quit swinging! SOOO keep swinging!
 I really do love you! I hope you will have a great day. We got this, we can do hard things!
Love,
Sister Lund

Choose the Path that Leads Back Home!!!

Hi Fam Fam!                                                                                                                      100417
Conference was fabulous! We haven't been able to watch all of it yet, but I'm so excited to study these amazing  talks for the next six months!! I hope you have had a great week. We have had a good week. We have learned and grown a lot which is great!
Thursday: We had the hot cocoa social, which was good because the ward hasn't done it in a few weeks. But today we traveled out to Fareham, and we had lunch with the Batus. They are a cute elderly couple in our ward. And we tried to do some finding in that area to make the most of the time in Fareham, since it is quite far from Bitterne.
Friday: we had a lesson with our friend Susan. We showed her the short clip the church put out for General Conference. She really liked it. Susan struggles with anxiety so she told us that she can't come to watch General Conference, and be surrounded by other people. And she also told us that she "will never become a Mormon, but appreciates what we do". I know she will get there one day. She truly is so lovely. We had district meeting, and it was great because Sister Walker and Sister Ripley (our STL's) came to our district meeting, so it was great to have sisters with us for once haha. This evening we had correlation, which consisted of us, and when I say us I mean everyone other than myself, 😂 trying to figure out the electrical stuff for General Conference so we can show it for our friends... haha that type of stuff makes zero sense to me... but that's fine 💁🏼
Saturday: guess who we had a lesson with this morning.... Nadine! Miracles are happening with her. She explained to us that she has fear with being baptized, she knows she needs to do it, but she doesn't know why she is so scared. I love Nadine, so much. The lesson went really well. Just thought I would share that miracle with ya 😘. This afternoon from 1-2pm our whole mission did finding, and as a mission for that one hour we found 507 people. How amazing is that!! This afternoon we went to the chapel to watch Conference, but one of our friends had an emergency so we were only able to watch the last few minutes of Conference. It was a bit of a crazy day, but I'm excited to catch up on the talks, I heard they were really good!
Sunday: Conference!!! 🙌 we watched General Conference basically the whole day today. And it was amazing! We watched it with Emilia and Patrycja, and Emilia actually stayed for two sessions of conference. That was a miracle for a 10 year old to do that!  But I loved Conference, it definitely raised my spirits.
Monday: we spent most of the morning and afternoon helping Raffaella move houses. It's funny because her mom came over from Italy to help her move... and her mom kept talking to us in Italian... the funny thing is we think she knows that we can't speak Italian but that's not a problem for her 😂 she just kept on talking to us in Italian, I picked out a FEW words...haha
Tuesday: we had interviews and training at Presidents house today in Oxshott. Which is about a two hour train journey from Portsmouth. So it took the whole day. But it was amazing. I love President. I am so grateful for him and Sister Gubler and all that he does for me, they have helped me SO much. I will be forever grateful.
This week was amazing. I received so much guidance from Heavenly Father. I loved the talk given by Stephen W. Owen, about how repentance is always positive. He shared the parable of the Prodigal Son. I love Luke chapter 15, I think it has become one of my favorite chapters. I really encourage you all to take the time to read it. But I will do my best to summarize it.. in this parable it talks about a man who has two sons. The younger son asked for his father to give him his inheritance, and he took it and left home, and basically wasted all he was given on earthly possessions and insignificant things. He hit rock bottom, and lost everything. He realized he had no other option than to go back to his father, and to plead with him to forgive him. But in his mind he told himself that he would no longer be worthy to be his fathers son, and that he would need to be his servant. As he travelled the long walk home, which as Elder Owen said "probably consisted of a lot of faith to keep him moving" his father saw him, and as soon as the father saw him, the father ran to him and fell on him and kissed him. And the son said to his father that he was not worthy to be called his son, and that he had sinned against heaven and that he needed to be his servant. But the father did not listen, he gave him fancy robes and jewels, and threw a celebration that his "son was lost, but now he is found"... but while all this was happening the elder son had stayed with his father all this time and had been working in the fields, and doing everything he had been asked to do. And when the son had come in from a day of work in the fields he saw that there was a celebration and asked a servant what happened...and the servant told him that his younger brother was home and that their father was throwing a celebration. The elder son became very angry and wouldn't go and join the celebration, so the father came out and asked him what was going on, and the son told him he was upset because he has followed and done everything he has been asked to do, and he has not turned away from him like his younger brother had, but he never got a celebration like his younger brother had... and his father told him " you have always been with me, and all that I have is yours", but we needed to be glad and throw your brother a celebration because he was lost and now he is found...
I LOVE this parable.... so so much. Because I think at one point or another this situation has or will happen to all of us. But how amazing is it that our Heavenly Father loves us so much, that as SOON as we turn to him he will RUN to us... this is not to say that we will not feel sorrow for what we have done, because the younger son definitely felt sorrow, but through the  atonement of Jesus Christ that pain will be wiped away.
I hope that you will have an amazing week. I love you so much. We got this! We can do hard things!!
Love,
Sister Lund

 Left my name badge at home so I'm Sister Gaston for a day

 Love my STLs Sister Walker and Sister Ripley

 Interviews and Training at Presidents House

The Crew