wahakalugie

Actually, the package (which was FANTASTIC btw) was awesome, and got me thinking. Is there any way I can get a list of majors at BYU? I´m moving towards NASA stuff again (perhaps just because of the awesome shirt and the blanket). It´s been an interest all my life, and perhaps there´s something behind that. It´s kinda hard to gather thoughts together though, espcially because I´m in the middle of so many other things. The space blanket is super cool though, and super warm. The only downside is that it crinkles and makes noise that scares the snot out of my comp sometimes. But eh, that´s cool. ;P

So speaking of which, I´m still in providencia and my comp is Elder Hernandez from Santo Domingo Ingenio, the state of Oaxaca (can you prounounce that? Say it with me: "wa-ha-ka"...or "wahakalugie") Cool place with lots of native culture, unlike Guadalajara, which can trace most of its influnces to the Spaniards and things that have been invented since Mexican Independence. GDL is a modern city though.

So Mayte was baptized on saturday! It was a good service, and her friends from another ward came. Also with her was her mom, who felt the spirit and seemed very proud of her daugher. We´ll see what we can do there in the future. It´s always such a good feeling to start to change families step by step. mayte is already super active and ready though...I mean, she was doing visiting teaching before she was baptized! Friday she went to a multi-stake dance too. Ready to roll, and help change things in her own home and strengthen her family.

People to pray for: Nadia and Sinuhe, who are doing beter. Also Sinuhe´s nephew Iran, whose family is reactivating and preparing for his baptism. The thing is, Iran is sick. i don´t know what he´s got (some weird named disease without a cure...it has to do with swelling organs and stuf), but it´s not deathly dangerous. The only thing is that he´ll have to stay in bed or sitting around for about a month. The dad is sure that he can be okay for this Saturday, but that´s something they are gonna consult with the doctor today to see if he´s physically able to do that. Hopefully everything turns out alright.

Say hi and send my thanks to Richard Krenz, Tyler McCombs, and Kevin Habenicht, the three people who have sent me letters! They´re all awesome. I´ll see how I can get letters back, because its rather complicated...but I´ll see what I can do. Tell them thanks for me, and also especial thanks to the family, for always thinking about me and setting a good example for others. Thank you for enjoying life too!

Well, gotta run...We´ll be giving district class today.

Love yoU!
Elder Lund

they gave me a tie.

Thank you!!!!! My birthday was cool. Also, I´ll see what I can do about a guitar once transfers blow over. I´m sure I´m staying, but there´s always lots to organize within the zone. There´s leadership conference again tomorrow and wednesday.

So on my birthday we had lunch with the bishop, and they attacked me with confetti and made me brownies w/ ice cream. Also, they gave me a tie. Other than that, I worked as if it was a normal day. In the morning Elder Perez made me breakfast. Yay!

Nadia couldn`t be baptized even though she was ready in all other aspects because she and her couple couldn`t resolve whether or not they´re getting married. Now the trick is getting the process taken care of, but it shouldn`t take long because his family is full of lawyers. She´s still excited, from what we can tell.

Mayte, the girl who has been going to various other wards before finally finding out that she belongs here in Providencia and who we´ve been teaching, is planning to be baptized on the 25th. She´s excited, spiritual, and learns quickly. She´s a 24 year old photography major as well.

I got to do three baptismal interviews this week as well (a good sign, besides) and it was and always is a great experience. You have the opportunity to see someone sharing their testimony for perhaps the first time in their life. You have the privilege of being there with someone as they express their desires to follow the Lord. It´s wonderful. Only two were able to be baptized this week, but it was a good experience with all three.

Well, have lots of fun in the keys. Take lots of pictures, and I´ll try to take more too. Elder Novoa goes home in six weeks, and I´ll be home in eighteen. I´m 21 and have lots to do with the time I have left.

But obviously, my service will only just be beginning when I land in the Orlando Airport. This is just the start of things.

Love you!
Elder Lund

"count your many blessings"

Well this week was an interesting experience. It was actually a rollercoaster. We now have a LOT of people to visit...from contacts, references, and people who just show up to church or seek us out. I was super exited to visit them all and see miracles this week. However, blessings always seem to come after the trial of faith. It was a difficult week as I was still recovering from two consecutive sicknesses and almost ALL of our appointments fell through and we spent a few days running from appointment to appointment without really being able to visit the majority of the people we wanted to see. I´ll admit, I was ungrateful and a little frustrated.

One of these days we stopped by a less active family (The Segoviano family) because everything else had fallen through and it was almost time to head home. We sang them "count your many blessings" and I think the hymn helped me more than it helped them. I´ve tried to be more grateful since then, and was patient in working hard and trying to preach the gospel and help people.

On Sunday I had reverted to frustrated because out of so many seemingly fantastic people only the one we brought to church with us (our neighbor Cristina actually...she´s fantastic) was there. We also had to run around draining and cleaning out the font that had not been taken care of properly because ending stake conference there was going to be a baptism in a different area. When I finally got to sit down I was praying a lot to figure out what has been going wrong, because I felt that my efforts for a long time have not been proportionate with the "success". Very foolish, isn´t it?

That´s what I felt, actually. A need to be more grateful. That impression filled me and I´ve made it more a part of me since that moment. As it turns out 5 investigators finally showed up for church from our area, and the zone brought a total of 28 investigators (we´re a zone of 6 areas). Every area has a baptism planned for this weekend. Nadia is working her way there. Please pray for her, so that she´ll be ready on time. She´s fantastic and has been trying so hard, but she has to make a big decision about her family before she can be baptized. Please pray for her and her spouse Sinuhe.

Thank you for all of your prayers I can feel miracles coming, and soon. This is a huge difference here, and Independencia is doing fantastic now. Things are changing, and the Lord is working miracles.

Gotta run quickly, and I can´t write everyone today. Sorry! I´ll write the rest next week. Love you, and I´m so glad you´re home together!

Love,
Elder Lund

Well you know...nerd.

Sometimes ideas come from other activities, which I modify to meet the situation, and sometimes we create them from scratch. The trick is to just think about what needs to be accomplished, and everything else just comes. This Sunday, there were seven or eight members who promised us references, and we´ll be running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to contact them all in addition to the ones we already have. CRAZY. It will take lots of careful planning.

So Angel is sick. He ate come chicken cordon-bleu thingamajig and he´s been throwing up like there´s no tomorrow. He couldn´t make it to church to receive the priesthood and he´s spent the last while in bed. Hopefully everything turns out okay.

Lots of investigators in church this week, five to be specific. One is our neighbor, a member of the "Luz del Mundo" church, which has its headquarters here in GDL and is mildly interesting. She had a great time though and is reading the BoM. Also, Andrea, one of the kids from the big family that used to come to church without their parents, showed up as well. We stopped visiting the family because the adults didn`t do squat and so the kids couldn`t progress, but Andrea hunted down a primary teacher and got a ride to church. Persistent little girl. She also got a hold of my hymnbook and wrote her name in big letters on it a month ago. She´s only 10 years old.

I almost lost my voice this week, and I haven`t a clue why. I find it really strange because I just felt tired and could hardly talk, but I didn`t really have any other symptoms this week. I´m fine now though, which is good, but I don`t know what I had. I hope it isn´t insanely contageous.

Also, the heat has been picking up quite a bit. Two weeks ago it was hotter here than in the desert south of Arizona (Sonora) and supposedly broke some heat records. 41 degrees celsius. Now it´s a little cooler. Heat doesn`t affect us too much though, we´re used to it by now. I don`t know if its hotter here than at home right now.

We ate with a half Japanese half Mexican family this week, and they fed us homemade hamburgers. They had some church books in Japanese, and I thought that was pretty darn cool. Well you know...nerd.

Well we´re off to Tala. There´s some things to take care of and clean up, although this district is doing much better than the other one. We had to deal with an Elder who wanted to go home not too long ago, but he´s doing much better now. Always lots to do. I´ll tell you how goes the food this coming week. Take a picture of the family together and send it to me please! It´s awesome that everyones getting back together.

Love,
Elder Lund

100000000 words per minute

Zone conference was good. There was lots of talk about what happened with Peter between the crucifixion and when the Lord appeared to him on the shores of Galilee, and how he really obtained his testimony...and changed completely. It was good. Also, the practices were lots of fun, spiritual, and productive. President said they were the best practices he had seen. I don`t know if that´s entirely true, but I do know I enjoyed them.

Our ward mission activity was also this week (this thing has been inthe pipes for about a month). We taught the members how to share the gospel and answer simple questions about our faith. We started everyone out together and President Saucedo gave an introduction (pro of having him in our ward), and afterwards we divided the members in groupos. Each church organization was assigned a specific theme with common questions, and the groups went through each room/station and spent about 10 minutes learning about the theme and practicing how to explain it to a nonmember in simple words and with the spirit. The themes were Book of Mormon, the Restoration, Baptism, Temples, Traditions, and the Purpose of Life. The members had a great time, and at the end they grabbed materials to give away and also a card we designed (with a member who is good in graphic design) that had scriptures to answer common questions like "why don`t you use crosses in your church?". The bishop also commited the members to bring a new friend to church next week. We´ll be praying and working for that.

We helped out with two baptismal services that weren´t ours this week as well. One was for another area (I did the baptismal interview and conducted the service) and the other was for a child of record from our ward. It was good though because through the other area we found out that the members of that ward have a few references they want to give us with people who were going to church in Utah and are hanging out with the YSA. Also, the other baptism gave us lots of contact with the Rojas family, and that´s a big family where not all of them are members. They like us a lot and there´s actually a baptismal date planned for the 18th with the wife of one of the Rojas brothers. More details later!

Well I´ve gotta run, as usual. Love you much, and take care. Say hi to everyone I don`t manage to write to even though I´m writinga t atl ike 100000000 words per minute to try to get everything in.

Love,
Elder Lund