I´ve seen much worse.

Last monday the mission leaders talked a lot about the importance of having lots and lots of contacts (people we´ve invited to hear the gospel in the streets, on the bus, on their doorstep, etc.) So we decided that since we´ve been having a mediocre time with what we´re doing, we were going to give it a try. We almost tripled our number of contacts and we´ve been running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to visit them all. Some other Elders also ended up contacting a lot of people that live in our area, so we´ve been trying to find them too.

One of these new people is Oscar, who had a rough life but decided to leave it all behind and try to find God. He´s been confused though because he´s searching for a true church and he always finds things he doesn´t agree with in the churches he visits. We talked to him a lot about the Book of Mormon and he´s very interested. There was also a small miracle that helped us see him in our second appointment. He had completely forgotten about the appointment and was driving around with his family on the other side of the city, and before going to visit his mother-in-law (who lives way over there) he decided he needed to stop by the house. When he got out of the car, his wife asked him "why are we here?" and he responded "umm...I don´t know. Let me just drink some water and we´ll head out again." In the next five seconds we arrived. It turned out to be a great lesson, by the way.

Another girl we met is Monica, who went to church for the first time in LA, but then moved down here to Tepic six years ago. Her sister was baptized in that time, but she wasn´t. She wants to visit again. She has special light and excitement in her eyes when she talks about the church. We´ll see what happens.

It was a little rough though because at the end of the week nobody ended up going to church, for one reason or another. We tried to visit people and make phone calls but nothing turned out. That´s always rough as a missionary, but we decided to keep moving. After sacrament we took off early to go look for the people who didn´t come to church.

One of those families are the Araiza, who are trying to be reactivated. Their two daughters have not been baptized but have expressed that they want to. We talked with them and said a prayer and the whole family agrees that they should be baptized on the 18th of September. SO that´s a good sign. We´ve got lots more to do, but that´s a start. We have to find a new house and move because our house is falling apart, btw, but that´s a minor detail. I´ve seen much worse.

ALso, there was a family home evening we planned with our ward mission leader. He invited his neighbors and we watched the D&C movies about WIlford Woodruff and Parley P. Pratt. The neighbor couple (Efraín and Patricia) were very interested and were asking us why there are so many churches and how they can find the truth. It was a very good lesson and we´ll be seeing them again soon. They want to investigate and believe that God can answer their prayers and guide them to the truth.

So lots of good things are happening around here. Gotta run, but take care. Say hi to everyone. I want to do lots of cool stuff with the family when I get home. One other thing I´ve learned is that I really need a good agenda system to help keep myself organized. I´m a billion times more productive when I plan my goals like that. Plus I don´t forget stuff as easily.

I think of you often and pray for you always.

Love you,
Elder Lund