1 Year!!!!

Hi Fam Fam!                                                                                                          
Oh my goodness. This week was pretty good. We saw a lot of miracles! I apologize ahead for this short email... 😜
Thursday: we had two dinner appointments today, one with the Batus, and one with the Kleins. The Batus are such a funny and cute old couple. They remind me a bit like Ray Barone's parents from Everyone Loves Raymond... only a little bit though haha. They have the biggest English house I have seen so far on my mission. English homes are quite small. I think it will be weird for me to come home and see big yards and houses. The Kleins are such a cute young family. Mathilde is hilarious, she definitely has English humour. 😂
Friday: we did a lot of planning and we did a lot of finding! I think that is where we have seen a lot of miracles this week is finding... granted a lot of our appointments flogged us... but hey we are able to find, and we are doing our part, now all we can do is leave it up to God.
Saturday: today was really fun. This morning we started a new activity! Football on Saturdays! I actually did pretty well... all us missionaries were so out of shape haha, but I can still do rainbows!
Sunday: we had a miracle! One of our investigators came to church! We had been trying all week to get someone to come, and we were really worried no one would come, but cute little Symphony came with her mama!
Monday: we went to the edge of our area: Portchester, and spent the day there. We were able to see a less active family: the Lowrys. They are the funniest. They are very unique, the wife has bright red hair, and she wears 50s clothing and the husband has a mustache that makes him look a bit like Captain Hook. But oh man they are so fun.
Tuesday: we were on exchanges with sister Walker and Sister Ripley. I was with Sister Walker, and we went to hedge end all day. We were able to see Heather, which is always good. I love Heather, we haven't seen her in a while, and she needed the visit. As soon as we got there and I asked if we could pray, she just looked at me and pulled me into a hug and started crying. She has had a really hard life, but it was such an amazing moment for me to be there with her and feel the spirit telling me "if your only role here was to help Heather, that would be fine for me". I think that was a lesson I learned today was that I am helping everyone I can, and Heavenly Father recognizes my efforts.
Wow. I cannot believe I hit my year mark... I know I always say time is weird, but it really is. It's crazy, now when people ask me how long I've been on my mission they are like "you are starting to get old"... haha but I have been able to reflect a bit on my mission, and ya know it hasn't been the easiest. I have had some growing pains. But I have learned that I really can do hard things, I was set apart by the Lord to do the things He needs me to do here on my mission. I have been able to learn more about myself... especially the fact that I am a spiritual being having a mortal experience, and he doesn't expect me to be perfect in this life. But mostly I have learned that this Gospel truly does bring eternal joy into my life... that the joy I have had in my life hasn't come from the world or anything the world "gives" me. The joy I have, came and comes ONLY from my Loving Heavenly Father. What a gift... men are that they might have joy. So yes, we will have hard times and we will face trials, but we can choose to find joy in these experiences.
I love you. I hope you have a great week. We got this! We really CAN do hard things! I love you so much.
Love, Sister Lund

I'm Blonde...but I'm Trying!!

Hi Fam Fam!
Another week down!! Big shout out to mama!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! Have the best day ever. You are amazing, and are such an amazing example to me.
 Thursday: okay so it is quite funny... Sister Gaston is related to a couple in our ward: the Andrews. Sister Gaston's great grandfather married sister Andrews mother. So such a small world. We had a dinner appointment with the Andrews this evening, which was pretty fun. We were able to talk a lot about Sister Gaston's family. 😊
Friday: this evening we went over to wash Iwona's (Patrycja's mom) car. Which was a miracle because we are really trying to work with the family. It was really funny. So when we got there we had dinner with them... and then Sister Gaston got to hold Fred. She is terrified of snakes but she did really well. I've gotten better with snakes but today was an interesting day between me and Fred. I went to pet Fred and his mouth opened, so it scared me... like My heart skipped a beat and I thought I was going to pass out haha. Turns out he was Yawning. Snakes yawn? 😂 And then Pat was like "Sister Lund, you need to hold Fred..." so she coiled him up and set him on my lap, and he sat there for about 5 minutes, until she had to put him back in his cage. And when she picked him up, I look down at my leg, and saw that it was wet... I was like huh? Turns out Fred peed on me... 😂 who knew snakes peed on people... Pat was like of course it would happen to you.
Saturday: we had correlation at Brother Handleys house this evening. He got new bunnies, and so we were able to go in the bunny house and pet them haha. They are so cute.
Sunday: we had dinner at Bishops house! And it was great. They really like to make fun of our accents. But hey it was fun to build a stronger relationship with him and his family.
Monday: we did A LOT of finding today. We are trying to build up the area. And so we spent the whole day finding. Which is okay. 😊
Tuesday: we helped Alcina this morning, prepare to go to Mozambique. She hasn't been back in years so she is really excited. I'm glad that we were able to help her, because she was pretty stressed, she wouldn't have been able to do it all by herself. This evening we went to a LA in our ward Naomi Islam, and on our way to her door, Sister Gaston slipped in the mud, and we both started laughing. When we left Naomi's, I slipped in mud going down the hill haha. We just looked at eachother and we were like "okay this is scary, we are so similar".
Sister Gaston and I are so similar. We have gotten a long really well, and we just click. It was funny, because you know me... I'm pretty blonde and ditsy at times... well most times. And Sister Gaston can be as well. And so we came up with this slogan #I'mblondebutI'mtrying. And I love this. It just made me think how grateful I am to be me. I am NOT perfect... not even close. But I am grateful for the strengths and weaknesses God has given me. I am so grateful for my personality, because I am literally the only person in the world like me. There Is only one of me. I think Satan is telling the world that we need to be just like this person, or we need to do this to be noticed, but it's not true. We NEED to be ourselves, because God intended us to be unique, and to be ourselves, and for that I am so grateful.
I love you. I hope you have a fabulous week. Happy birthday mommy! I love you. We can do hard things. We got this!
Love,
Sister Lund

 Fred peed on me!!

Bunnies!!!

Encircled in the Arms of Safety

Hi Fam Fam!
Wow this week has been a bit crazy. And definitely unexpected. I am staying in Hamble River for this next transfer. I got a new companion: Sister Gaston. She is from Paris, France. So she is my second French companion. But man I already love her. She is so sweet. She has been on her mission for 7 months. She has been serving on Jersey for the entire time so far. So this is her first area on the mainland. We are super similar, it's a bit funny 😂.
Thursday: we had dinner at the Norths house, and we brought Patrycja with us, because he is her home teacher. We are really trying to get her integrated into the ward more.
Friday: correlation got cancelled, but that is okay. We were able to go and visit Paul, which was really good we hadn't talked to him in a little bit. Oh Paul... he is so amazing, but he has literally told us that he likes to be difficult. He always says "Sister Lund, I'm like Wasabi, I'm an acquired taste" 😂. I'm like well okay then Paul haha.
Saturday: This morning Kim Smith took us to brunch in Hamble, at the Banana Wharf. I had my first real English breakfast, which was actually pretty good. I am a fan of beans on toast. It is actually really good. This evening we had a dinner appointment with sister Baker. She is the cutest. She is 81 years old, but she acts and looks like she is in her early 70s. She is feisty!
Sunday: it was Sister Velez last Sunday in Hamble River. She is moving to Newton Abbott in Plymouth, and she is going to be companions with her MTC companion Sister Stephenson. She is nervous but excited. She will be great.
Monday: Sister Velez and I went to have lunch with the Sheppards, we always love seeing them. They have become like my "family" in the ward. I love them so much. Then we went and saw Alcina and Paul and Rehana, it was hard for them to say goodbye to Sister Velez because they were really close with her. And then we went to Patrycja and Emilia's. I think it was hard for Sister Velez, and it hit her that she was actually leaving, but I know it will be good for her.
Tuesday: because Sister Gaston was in Jersey, her flight got delayed by an hour. So I went to Havant with Sister Walker and Sister Ripley for the night, on exchange. I got so burnt! I don't even know how! My skin here, oh my days. They found out that I gave Sister Honeycutt a hair cut a while back and so they had me cut their hair, and I was proud of myself. It actually turned out really well... bangs and all haha. I think it was all those hours I watched people cut hair 😂, just kidding.
So this week was great. But it was also a bit hard because I realized again how important it is to not have faith in outcomes. I was reminded of my Savior and the His Atonement. I was able to see that my Savior loves me so much, and that he is there to help me through everything. I was reading a talk from October 2008 called Arms of Safety.
"A family had been taking pictures on a lookout point of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. They heard screams and ran to find that a two-year-old girl had fallen through a railing to a ledge about 35 feet (11 m) below. The little one tried to climb back up, but her movements caused her to slip even farther until she was 5 feet (1.5 m) from a dangerous 200-foot (61-m) drop.
A 19-year-old young man named Ian saw where she was and, using his emergency-response training, knew how to handle the situation. These are his words: “‘Immediately, it all came at me, and I just knew what I had to do. I set down my camera and went up the trail a little ways where it wasn’t as steep, climbed over the rail, scrambled down a bunch of rocks and through brush, and found her.’ Holding her in his arms for an hour, Ian waited until emergency teams could drop down with ropes” to rescue them (“Save Her!” New Era, Sept. 2007, 6).  The phrase “holding her in his arms” caught my attention because the scriptures talk about arms--arms of love, arms of mercy, and arms of safety (see 2 Nephi 1:15; Mosiah 16:12; Alma 5:33; D&C 6:20; 29:1). The scripture phrase “encircled in the arms of safety” comes from Amulek’s message to the Zoramites about the infinite and eternal Atonement. He taught that the sacrifice of the Son of God made it possible for man to have faith in Christ to lead us to repent. “And thus mercy can satisfy the demands of justice, and encircles them in the arms of safety” (Alma 34:16; see also vv. 9–15)."
This just made me think of our Savior and that sometimes we want to stand up and move, and try to climb back up, and do what we think is best, but our Savior immediately climbs over the rail, scrambles down a bunch of obstacles, and holds us in His arms for an "hour" or whenever He sees that it is safe for us to move.
I cried when I read this, because I was reminded of how much my Savior loves me, and even though I can't fully comprehend how much He loves me, I know He does. Because I have felt his arms around me, especially on my mission. Sometimes I think my plan is better, as all humans do. But when we can humble ourselves and realize that our Savior and our Heavenly Father know us perfectly, and know how to help us, we are then able to recognize that love, and feel his arms of safety. Heavenly Father has a perfect plan for me and for all of you. Trust him.
I love you. I hope you have a great week. We got this!
Love, Sister Lund

 Sister Gaston form Paris, France

Exchanges with Sister Walker and Ripley

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???)

I Don't Want to be a Laman!!!

Hi Fam Fam!
This week went by really quickly. I feel like June just went by really quickly, haha. We saw a lot of miracles over here in England.
Thursday: We had the Hot cocoa social as usual at the chapel. We met with Vinh, and he opened up a lot to us! He is hilarious, and he really wants to get his patriarchal blessing, so he is working on some things he needs to get past so that he can get it!
Friday: we did a lot of finding today! We were able to find a family to teach, they are neighbors to a family in our ward, so we are teaching them next Saturday which we are really excited about.
Saturday: we had a lesson in the morning with one of our friends Oliver. He is a funny guy. He is very open to learning about life. He has a lot of Buddhist beliefs, but he says he is not a Buddhist. We aren't really sure what he is interested in haha... its been a bit of a sticky situation recently with understanding if people are meeting with us because they are interested in the gospel, or if they are interested in us. Haha Sister Velez was like Sister Lund we need to put a brown paper bag over your head. Haha 😂 this evening we got to see the Truter family and Emilia, which was really good. We missed Emilia, she was on a trip for the past week, so we were happy to see her!!
Sunday: Sister Velez gave her first talk as a missionary in sacrament meeting today. She did really well! Sadly none of our friends came to church, but the meetings were really good. We had a lesson with Emilia today about repentance... we asked her to squeeze out all of the toothpaste in the bottle, and then asked her to put it all back in. She was like " I give up, it won't go back in, it's too messy". When she said that, it just made me thin, isn't this how we all are sometimes?... like oh man this is too hard, it's too messy, so I'll just give up... but thankfully God had a plan put in place to fix these messy situations. Thankfully he gave us the gift of his Son, so that we could repent for our sins, and through our Savior we are able to clean up the "toothpaste" or our sins.
Monday: this evening we had an FHE with the Savickas family in our ward. They are hilarious. It was so fun. We were able to help them liken the scriptures unto themselves. We asked the question: if there was a zombie Apocalypse that hit England right now, and you had to take only what you could carry what would you bring if you knew you couldn't come back? They started listing off all of these things. So just like Nephi and his family had to take what they had and travel into the wilderness. Then we read in 1 Nephi 19:23 where it says we need to liken the scriptures unto ourselves. That we need to immerse ourselves in the Book. The Book of Mormon is SO important!!
Tuesday: it was such a great day today. We had interviews at Presidents house! Which means we got to travel through London. Man do I miss the city. But I loved interviews! It took the whole day travelling though, so not much else to say about today!
I loved my interview with President. He shared an experience he had with one of his sons. One of his sons had a pretty sour outlook on everything that was happening to him, and he murmured and murmured and kept on murmuring. One day President sat down with his son and opened up to 1 Nephi, and they began reading. All of a sudden his son stopped reading and began to cry. He said "Dad, am I a Laman?" And President boldly but lovingly replied "yes son", and his son replied "I don't want to be a Laman". From that point on his son made a conscious effort to change. The phrase "I don't want to be a Laman" really hit me. There are going to be hard times in our lives, it won't always be sunshine and daisies, but that doesn't mean we can't find joy in the hard times. It made me really think about how I have reacted to situations in my life, and how I want to react in situations to come... I don't want to be a Laman. I want to find joy and peace in my life, because I know it is a lot better to have joy than misery, and it is a lot better to give thanks than to murmur. It also just helped me see again that the Book of Mormon really does change lives. There is power in the Book. I invite all men to read it. It has CHANGED my life, and I know if you will begin a serious study of it, that it will change your life as well.
I love you. I hope you have a great week. We got this!
Love,
Sister Lund

 Sister Velez killing a monster mosquito

It's so hot here, I only found relief in the fridge!!