It Was Not A Race, It Was A Journey...

Hi Fam Fam!

I cannot believe that I am writing my last email right now. It is crazy to me how quickly time goes.

Thursday: We had two district meetings today. We started out the morning with Epsom's District meeting. It was so great. I was able to share my testimony of how my mission has changed me and something that I have learned. I shared the quote from Tiffany Webster's ted talk called "The Perfect Lie". I remember when pops emailed me one week at the very beginning of my mission and invited me to watch this ted talk. The message has stuck with me the rest of my mission...  "Me + Christ = More". I didn't need to be more of something...I didn't need to be perfect, I just needed to add Christ more into my life, it changed my whole outlook. I'm SOOOO grateful for that! After Epsom's District meeting we had another District meeting with Crawley! It was my last District Meeting. But it was really good!  We had a Skype lesson with Izzy. She told us again that she knows that she needs to be baptized, but is really struggling to pick a date. But she felt that April 7th would be a good date for her. Then this evening we did some finding which was great.

Friday: My goodness, it has never been so hard for me to catch a train haha! So we had a workover in Eastbourne with the Sisters today... Usually we take the train from Crawley and change at Gatwick Train station... but for some reason we felt better about taking the bus to Gatwick Airport and then taking the train... Oh my days... So we relied on Google Maps, and it took us to Gatwick Train station, however it dropped us off on the other side of the gate... We could see the train station, however we couldn't get into the train station, so we walked around perimeters of the train station for about half an hour looking for a way in, and we couldn't find one. But then we met our nice friend Mike. Mike was dropping his rental car off, and he was going to catch his plane, but he told us that he would help us get into the train station. BLESS HIM! Turns out we had to go into the airport to get to the train station... Wait what? 🤔 Anyways Mike was from the States and knew about Mormons, he was so nice! Long story short we missed our train but we caught the next one and we were able to get to Eastbourne. I love those sisters! They are the cutest. We did finding with them, and it was a nice sunny day so that was great!

Saturday: We saw lots of miracles today. We had the mission finding hour, and we met this kid named James and he let us teach him right then and there which was great! He has had a really really hard life, my goodness! But then we met lots of other great people too. One of the best parts of the day was that we got to witness Obert get baptized. Obert is the elders friend from Zimbabwe. He was so prepared! He was glowing! It's always a good day when someone takes steps closer to Christ by being baptized! This evening we met with Diego and Richie in town. They are doing great. Richie just got his patriarchal blessing and he is over the moon about it!

Sunday: Today was great. Izzy came to church, and so did a guy we met on the street, named Paul. He only stayed for like half an hour... but that's okay, hopefully he will come back one day! We did some finding this afternoon which was really fun actually! We met a really cool guy named Vlad from Romania. It was his last day in England, and we were able to give him a Book of Mormon. Later this evening he sent us a message, and was like " Thank you for introducing me to the truth" and sent a picture of the Book of Mormon in his carry-on bag.

Monday: We had accounting and our normal morning. Then we did MLC planning with Elder Armstrong and Elder Hardy, which was good! Most of our lessons fell through today. But we had a lesson this evening with a guy named Tom. Oh man... It was interesting. They live in very uncleanly circumstances to put it nicely. At one point in the lesson we were bearing our testimony about the First Vision, and their dog Trixie came up and grabbed something off the ground and started chomping on it... 🙊But they invited us back for next week. I won't be there but hopefully they will still let the sisters in, because the gospel can change their lives!!

Tuesday: Such a golden day! We taught a former investigator named Shirley today. She has a very strong testimony in the Book of Mormon, and she knows it is true, however she is scared to leave her church. But she has so much potential! Then we went and visited Sabrine. She is moving back to France, so she can submit her mission papers. She was pretty emotional, because it has been a really long process to put her papers in, but she is ready and excited to go. Then we came back to Crawley to teach our friend Wez and then Flavio in the Library... Sadly a volunteer in the Library came up to us and told us that the Library is a neutral space and that we can't teach there anymore... I mean that's fair enough, we understood! But the lessons went really well. Wez has a lot of potential. And Flavio is so great. He told us "Sisters it's like you are reminding me of what I already know, I know what you are teaching is true!" Ahhh so great! This evening we just had correlation and ward council. So all good things, all good things!

Where do I even start... It was never in my plan to serve a mission, but God had a plan for me, and he needed me to serve... And I am so grateful that I listened to his prompting. I have been reflecting on my mission, and it has been a pretty emotional time. I love the people I have met here. They have changed my life forever. I know that there is a time and place for everything, and that God needs me to move forward to another chapter in my life. I am excited for what lies ahead.

If I could say one last thing to you all it would be this... My mission was not a race, it was a journey. At times I compared myself to others, at times I wished I had what others had, at times I wanted to quit, at times I felt like I was on top of the world, but through all these times it taught me this : Life is not a race, it is a journey. A journey back to our Heavenly Father. I learned a lot about who I am. I am a daughter of the Almighty God. I have infinite worth that no one can take away from me. I know that I was called to this earth at this time for a reason, and that Heavenly Father has very specific tasks that He needs me to accomplish. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had to serve in the England London South Mission. Yes I am sad to leave, but I know that this will only be goodbye for a very short time!

I am grateful for all of the support you have shown me over the past 18 months. I am so grateful for you.

To close I want to share a quote from Elder Uchtdorf :

"The path toward fulfilling our divine destiny as sons and daughters of God is an eternal one. My dear brothers and sisters, dear friends, we must begin to walk that eternal path today; we cannot take for granted one single day. I pray that we will not wait until we are ready to die before we truly learn to live."

That is my hope for all of you as well. I hope that you will not wait to accept all the blessings God wants to give you. Choose TODAY to accept our Brother and Savior Jesus Christ, and live...

I love you so much.

#Wecandohardthings! #Wegotthis!

Love,
Sister Abbie Lund

L-O-V-E: Que the Nat King Cole Song...or at least that's who I think sings this?! Haha

Hi Fam Fam!

Happy Valentines Day! Boy do I love you!! This week was pretty good! I hope your week was good too!!

Thursday: Today was so good! We got to go to District meeting, which means we got to see our friends in Brighton! Woohoo! The District meeting was good.. However Elder Sly had me lead the music, probably because my cute companion can play the piano, so everyone naturally assumes that I can lead... haha nope. So that was interesting. I have had to do it quite a few times... maybe it's Heavenly Father's way of telling me that I need to learn how to do it!? After District meeting we traveled back and did some finding, and then we went to visit Charlie. I just love her. She is so sweet! She told us her conversion story and how it took about 4ish years for her to join the church! But she told us how much the gospel of Jesus Christ has changed her life! Same Charlie... Same!

Friday: We had a companionship study over Skype with Sister Gaston and Sister Teriamano. It was so helpful, and it was good to see and study with Sister Gaston again... my cute little french companion! 😍  This evening we had a lesson with Mark and Carolyn. They are a really nice couple. The lesson was really good. They told us that they are pretty interested in learning, but they aren't so sure if they are ready to make any changes in their lives...

Saturday: We had a Skype lesson with Izzy. She was in Kent all week, so we couldn't teach her until today. She looked so sad! And she just kept telling us that she didn't know what she should do, whether she should get baptized or not. She is pretty confused right now! After the lesson with Izzy we went to East Grinstead and did finding with our friends in that area! Always a good day when you get to be with other missionaries!! And we saw loads of miracles! So that was great! This evening we tried making brownies for the Corrigans, because it was their birthdays this week... It did not turn out well. I swear I used to be able to bake... I'm just going to blame it on the oven... But really though our oven is very dodgy.

Sunday: Miracle! Izzy came to church, and in Gospel Principles the lesson was how we can overcome stress and find peace in Christ. Perfect for Izzy! This evening we had a dinner appointment with the Hunts! It was so fun, they are such a funny family. Ali Hunt told me that I am always welcome to come back and visit them! Awh... I just love the people here... they are amazing!

Monday: We had accounting like normal, so that was good. Then we traveled to Horsham and we had a lesson with Izzy in this cute little tea shop called "Pretty Things" everything was pink... it was great!! 🤗 The lesson with her went okay. She told us that she knows she is ready for baptism, but she still doesn't know what to do. So we are really trying to help her overcome her fears. This evening we had a lesson with our friend Flavio... which awkward story... because of his accent I thought his name was Flavier, so that is what I have been calling him this whole time... whoopsies... But he is really kind, and willing to learn, we just aren't so sure yet if he is willing to make changes.

Tuesday: Today was great. We were on exchange with the Eastbourne sisters. I was with Sister Hulldin. She is absolutely adorable. She is adjusting to being a new missionary, but she is fabulous!!! We did lots of finding, and she was asking such great questions! I was very proud of her! Our schedule changed like 10,000 times today.. okay that is an exaggeration but still it changed so much... but blessed are the flexible, and we still saw lots of miracles!

This week I have been thinking a lot about one of my favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon; 3 Nephi 9:13-14. I love how Christ is telling the people to repent, and to turn unto him so that he can heal them, and he says that he is merciful and that his arm will always be extended towards us, and then he finishes by saying "blessed are those that come unto me". This scripture has really being tugging at my heart strings this week! I am so grateful for my Savior. How amazing is it that he is ALWAYS extending his mercy towards us... meaning his mercy never ceases. I love being able to share that message with people!

I hope that you all have a great week! I hope you have a Happy Valentine's Day. I LOVE YOU SOOOOOO MUCH! I am so grateful for you!

Love,
Sister Abbie Lund

Eternal Joy!!!

Hi Fam Fam!

This week was a little bit of a harder week, but that's okay! I hope you are all doing well, and that you had a good week!

Thursday: We were at President's all day for interviews and training! The training turned out pretty good. Elder Armstrong and Elder Hardy trained the zone on how we can make sure our return appointments with our new friends are solid, and Sister Shumway and I did a training about why we all came on a mission and why we all stayed on a mission. It was pretty powerful for me to reflect on why I came on a mission, and ultimately why I chose to stay. But I'll talk about this later in my email... 😄 My interview with President was good. It was my departure interview, so it was less focused on missionary work and more focused on life, and the future. Lots of decisions to make haha! But it's exciting.

Friday: This morning we tried stopping by Joanna to see if she would let us in... We think she was home, but she wouldn't open the door, which is so sad, but one day hopefully she will want to learn again! This evening we read the Book of Mormon with Sister Senior, and she understood really well! I was so proud of her.

Saturday: Today we had Finding and Food with the Crawley District. We went to the Hayward's Heath Elders area, and did some High street contacting for about and hour and a half, and then we had lunch with the district. We met a really cool guy named Michael from Ireland. He was just visiting the area for a couple of days, and he was looking for directions to a pub so he could go and watch a Rugby game. But we got chatting to him for a little bit, and shared a brief overview of the Restoration, and talked with him about the Book of Mormon. He was like, I don't believe that Christ came back to Americas to see the people there. So sweet Sister Shumway being the amazing person that she is pulled out John 10: 16 where it says "And other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd". And Michael was like "wow I have never heard this before, how can I learn more?" So we gave his information to the missionaries in his area! That was a really cool miracle. After Finding and Food, I asked for a priesthood blessing from Elder Armstrong. It helped me so much. The whole blessing was amazing, but there were two parts in it specifically that really stuck out to me: "He wants you to know that you have done your best, you should have no regrets, and no remorse". That hit my heart so much, it just showed me how much my Heavenly Father knows me. And the next part was "Sister Lund, there are no limits to what you can and will accomplish with His help". Ahh, it was just what I needed to hear from my Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for the priesthood.

Sunday: Today was hard... Peter and Jo and Hannah dropped us. They are struggling with a lot right now, and they just felt they couldn't cope with it all. I just wish they could see how much the gospel would help them.

Monday: Today really tested me haha. Oh my golly days. SO... We had accounting like normal. But sweet Izzy texted us and said she couldn't skype us today and that she was going to be staying with her Sister for an indefinite amount of time. Also earlier this week she called us and told us that she got cold feet and that she wasn't ready to be baptized. SO SAD!! So we are really trying to help her understand that she can find peace through the Savior. We will see what happens. But all of our appointments cancelled today, like our whole schedule fell through, so we did finding the entire day. Let me just say I am so grateful for Sister Shumway she had such a positive attitude. But I said a little prayer and humbled myself and we saw lots of miracles.

Tuesday: We did finding all day today as well, because we are trying to find some solid friends. It was good, I mean we found some friends... We will see how interested they are though! And then this evening we had correlation and ward council. So that was good.

I have been reflecting a lot on this past week. I kind of struggled this week, which is okay... It's normal to struggle at times. But I was amazed at how Heavenly Father prepared me. I was studying my call letter this past week, and a part of it says that on a mission "I will experience miracles and be happier than I have ever been before"... and when I first read it I was like "hmm...I don't know.. Missions are hard, what are they talking about!" 😂 But as I have gone through my week this week, this statement has made a lot more sense. Missions are not easy, life is not easy, we are meant to be stretched. That is part of our purpose here. Something I have gained a strong testimony about is the fact that truly some of the hardest times bring us closer to God and therefore these hard times are what will bring us ETERNAL JOY, because they are bringing us closer to our loving Heavenly Father. Ultimately this is why I stayed on a mission. It's because I know that through my choice to serve that I will be eternally blessed, but also that the amazing people that I have met here will be able to have that ETERNAL JOY because they can come closer to their Savior, and if I get to see that change in others now or even after this life, then serving a mission was completely worth it. I am so grateful for that!

I hope you have a fabulous week! I love you so much! We can do hard things! We got this!

Love,
Sister Lund

 It's Freezing!!!

Richard got the priesthood!!!