Corn on a Stick

Hey, writing quickly because today is transfer day and I don´t have a lot of time! I´ll try to send pictures this time if I have time to let them load, if not then next week for sure.

You know that corn everybody eats in nacho libre? I´ve had some, and it´s pretty good. They put salt, lime juice, and chiles on them...with optional mayonnaise. Tasty. I love the food here.

We had 4 baptisms this Sunday! It was supposed to be this coming Saturday, but something with family came up so it got pushed forward. It´s Maria Elena and her three grandkids Christian, Luis, and Hector. They´re all great and just came out of nowhere, having talked a little with sister missionaries before some time back. I baptized Luis and Christian, and the latter gave me a big hug and shouted "Thank you, brother!" when he came out of the water. It´s definitely rewarding to be a missionary, and there are a number of others progressing as well. Luis also fixed my shoes, whose soles were detaching from the rest of the shoe.

Oh btw, that also makes Elder Fernandez and I companionship of the week. Our zone has been zone of the week all but one week since 2010 started. Our ward´s attendance is also a lot higher, and a WHOLE lot higher than when my companion arrived here. 30 to 40 people attended then. There were about 120 yesterday.

Today is also transfer day. Elder Fernandez is off to Tequila to be a branch president. Pretty crazy. I´m getting one of his old companions, who will be district leader and I hear from many is a great missionary. I´m sure I´ll learn a lot and I´m going to work hard. I´m sure we can have great success if we really work at it. His name is Elder Tovar and he´s from the state of Hidalgo, Mx. It´ll be my job to get us everywhere and do the majority of the planning for the first week though, since he won´t know the area yet.

Well I´ve got to go. Take care, and I love you all.

Elder Lund

Guadalahonkey

Haha, I got sick too (although I´m peachy now), so I guess we still get sick as a family.
They actually figure more than anything that it was probably a mild case of
dengue.  That´s more cool to think about than anything else, now that it´s
all over.  Solid stools and warm showers are always nice, when I can get
them.  More motivation to get up early and take my vitamins every day.

I traveled solo because we had to take care of some visa paperwork.  I came
down to Colima initially with another greenie, but he´s now in Guadalajara
because he had a diabetic episode and they need to keep him close to the
hospitals.  Everything worked out fine, but yes it seemed a bit odd rule
wise.  I was in Guadalajara for less than 24 hours before returning, just
long enough to sign and fingerprint some stuff.

I´m glad there´s some missionary progress over there, we need more converts in the states.  The church in general is pretty big in Mexico, but our zone and our mission has been dropping lately.  I´ll have to see what I can do about that ;)

We had our first baptism thursday, actually.  His name´s Christopher and he
pretty much found the church on his own.  We´ll see when his mom finally
wants to change her life and follow suit, but now he can baptize her, which
is pretty cool.  I didn´t have much to do with teaching him though as his
baptism was planned before I showed up, but it was still good to see.  I´ll
send pictures when I can, but this ciber doesn´t have any SD card slots and
I didn´t bring my camera cord.

We have 4 more baptisms planned for the 6th, but there´s still some work to
do first.  Transfers are on the 1st as well, so we´ll see what happens
there.  Elder Talbot and I purged and rearranged the house anyways though,
so it´ll be nice for whichever of us four is going to stay.  My comp has 6
months, so does the DL, and Elder Talbot has 4.5.  Then again, anything can
happen.

I keep forgetting to mention the ¨magic zone¨ as well.  it´s an area on the
way to Suchitlán where, due to magnetism or something of the sort, if you
turn off your car and leave it in neutral, it will roll up the hill rather
than down.

The president and his wife are great people, who work very hard to help the church in this area.  They are focusing a lot on obedience.  They also have some affinity for scripture memorization of verses related to being a good missionary, and have some very high goals for this year.  They seem energetic and excited though, and I´m definitely glad to have a good mission president.

Random thought: if and when you send another package, ties and socks are always nice.  Shoes I should probably buy here since I can check the size and awesomeness, etc., but other stuff is always great.

I pray for you all frequently.  Let me know what else I can pray for.  I got your attachments btw, and I enjoyed reading them.

I still can´t figure out why nobody knows how to sing in this country, by
the way.

Say hi to everyone for me!

Love,
Elder Lund

Haha, the weather is just peachy here!

Haha, the weather is just peachy here.  A little more dry than FL, but not too much.  It just seems hot when you´re in the sun.  I´ve tanned nicely though.  Too bad I lose tans as fast as I get them :(

I was talking about Japanese and engineering with my DL, Elder Rosas.  He actually understands and reads English perfectly, although he can´t speak it (crazy changing vowels and whatnot).  He understands every word I or Elder Talbot might say in English and his favorite book is A Tale of Two Cities (in English, of course).  He didn´t study any at all though.  He learned English by watching Friends.  Yep, Friends.

We have some good investigators right now (we had 8 at church yesterday in a ward that is notorious for poor attendance), including a family that just popped out of nowhere, having talked with sister misionaries some time back.  They just showed up at church.  There´s a total of 5 of them that have come to church, but we´ll see how things go with time.  We have one baptismal date for the 21st for Christopher, who is also looking into the church school system and intends to major in international relations.  I gave him a hymnbook and he´s got a gospel principles manual, and I also showed him how to find good stuff on lds.org (he more or less reads English as well) like the conferences, as per his request.  There may be more in the future, but as always with people and the work of the Lord, nothing is set in stone.  Interviews with the mission president are this week as well.  Not sure how those are supposed to go or whatever, but I´m sure it will be peachy.

I´m happy for Ashley´s writing skills and success.  I never did get into the whole speechwriting thing, but it seems like she can win awards in pretty much anything she feels like.  Awesomeness!

Tell David not to shoot anyone´s eyes out, and tell everyone I love them.  Take care.

Elder Lund

We had a drop in investigators this week, but not every week is a perfect one.  However, there´s a baptism this Thursday, which is awesome.  I´ll be sure to take some pictures for you.  I´m glad to hear about the missionary work that might be happening back home too.  All our friends need the gospel.  Well, everyone needs the gospel, but we especially like to share it with our friends because we care about them a lot.  I hope it turns out great, and I hope you´re all searching for more opportunities to share and talk about the gospel!

The only address is that of the mission home.  They bring us the mail twice a transfer, so more or less once every three weeks.  That makes packages and letters 100x more awesome when you get them, since you get a bunch and at once, but round trip communication obviously takes FOREVER.

This week I finally got sick!  I still have no clue what it was, but I´m fine now so I suppose it doesn´t really matter.  I also had interviews with the President, which was great.  He considers it an honor to have a missionary of my heritage in his mission, but I suppose I have some work to do before that can be considered justified.

I also went to Guadalajara for a day to take care of some visa signatures and thumbprints, and I went by bus solo.  That was pretty cool.  I only got back this evening, but it´s a 3 hour bus ride, more or less.  The trick is ignorning the onboard movies.

I do in fact remember the circuis.  I was thinking about it not too long ago.  Good memories.

Well I´ve got to go!  Busy day.  I love you all and think about you frequently.

Love,
Elder Lund

Happy P Day

Hello everyone!

I´m writing from a cyber café here in Colima, Colima, México. Apparently, the mission here covers Nayarit, Jalisco (as far east as Guadalajara and half of the city), and Colima. Things have been plenty interesting here, but we´ll see how much time I have to write about it here.

My companion, Elder Fernandez, is pretty cool. He´s from Cuernavaca and doesn´t speak English. In fact, the only person I see who speaks English is Elder Talbot, who is in the same house as us, but I hardly see him aside from p-day (Mondays, btw) and the mornings/late evenings. So yeah, Spanish immersion programs for the win! As far as grammar principles go, there is little left to learn and a lot to get better at, as well as vocab and the biggest thing of course being able to understand others. I can follow conversations alright, but questions tend to throw me off. With time though, I´m sure I´ll get it.

No baptisms yet, but if all goes well that will change before too long. We have two investigators with baptismal dates and another investigator not far away. I can´t wait for the holiday season to be gone, actually, because I will finally be able to see how much work we can get done in a normal week. The holidays are shaking things up and of course not a very good sample of how day to day life will be. I´m excited to be here though.

We hitchhike everywhere we can, and if we really can´t get there by foot (pretty much just the chapel) we nab a taxi...they´re everywhere. I actually think the MTC should have classes on hitchhiking and j-walking. I´m comfortable with it, and actually kinda like it, but it would have been helpful nonetheless.

There´s two volcanoes visible from pretty much anywhere in Colima, one behind the other. THe big, close one is much more likely to kill us all than the other. We´ve also got a bunch of little villages in our area. It´s time consuming to get out there and it´s expensive for them to travel to church (and they live out there because they´re poor), but we´ll take a day or two and really work out there and see what we can do. If there are enough investigators or members, a branch can be organized out there. However, that´s still in the distance, and there is work to be done right here and right now.

It sounds like the music was interesting to deal with, at the least. I´ve developed a new appreciation for music as I find that less and less of the people I meet are educated in it. I´m sure the performances were great, and the music invited the spirit. That´s all it has to do to be a success, after all.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas, and I´m glad I got to talk to the family. Keep the faith, remember what´s most important (and do it), and you will find happiness beyond your imagination. I´m doing my best to hit the ground running here, and with any luck we´ll be able to make a big difference here in Mexico, where everyone is cool with talking about God. Especially since the Book of Mormon is a book written by some of their ancestors. They can really feel that.

So I´m trying to be diligent, faithful, and patient as I learn the language, area, and people, and I´m having a great time. I hope all is well at home, and that you are all able to live with the knowledge and happiness that comes from a Heavenly Father that loves us all. My job is to share that with my brothers and sisters, quite simply.

Take care,

Elder Lund

From Mexico!

Hello!

I have been allowed online for a second to write and let you all know that I have gotten to the Mission Home in Guadalajara safely. I am told that I will be able to call on Christmas. Take care, and know that I am safe and praying for you all!

It's finally time.

Thank you for the package!  I'm enjoying it quite a bit, especially that Mexican Dinner.  Wonderfully brilliant.  It's nice to have a picture of the family now too, and I would always love more.  I'm glad you are enjoying the music of Christmas.  I will do my best to do the same every day here, as I try to keep Christ in my heart.  I really like the "Walk with Christ" ideas, and I've also gotten some nice Christmas gifts and cards from the Bragonges, Hayes, and Christensens.  Send them my regards.

Tues, December 15, 2009

It's finally time.  This is my last week here at the MTC.  I have travel plans (SLC to Dallas, 5 hour layover, flight to Guadalajara, arrive at 7:30 local time), I have checkout instructions, I have had a health and safety meeting, and I have already seen one member of my District leave.  Monday the 21st, I will be traveling away from what would otherwise be a White Christmas, for the purpose of sharing with the people of Mexico a Christmas message more important than any other they have ever heard.  It is exciting and confusing at the same time to be so far away from both home and my traditional idea of Christmas, while feeling more Christmas spirit than perhaps ever before.

The BYU Men's Chior sang for us on Sunday.  It was very powerful.  Between one of the songs, the question was even raised as to where we were and what we were doing on the night of Christ's birth.  One of the members of the chior likes to think that he was in the angelic chior that sang to the shepherds.  As to where I was...I really don't know.  I'd like to imagine I was in one spot or another, doing various things, but I really haven't a clue.  I do know where I will be and what I will be doing this Christmas day.  I'll be on the streets of Mexico, knocking doors and handing out Books of Mormon and teaching people what Christ came to this world for, and how they can receive a part of it.  I will spend Christmas day in the service of my Lord and God.  Where will you be?

Take care of yourselves, and you'll be in my prayers.  I don't know when the next time I'll have email access is, but I will write home as soon as I can.

Love,
Elder Lund

Quarantine!

This past Tuesday (24th, I believe?) Whenever it was I last wrote) I began
feeling sick during chior practice. I was able to make it through the rest
of the night just fine (including an amazing talk by Elder Dallin H. Oaks of
the Council of the Twelve!) but the next morning I couldn't concentrate on
my morning study. I went to the clinic and spent about five hours waiting
to be seen (they are very busy right about now). Eventually I was seen, and
they shoved some instrument up my nose to essentially scrape my brain, and
they tested that to see if I had swine flu.

The test came back negative, but it's only 50% accurate anyways (or so I'm
told) and I had lots of the symptoms, so swine flu, regular flu, or
whatever, they decided to quarantine me in order to keep the other 2,500
missionaries from getting sick too. Understandable, considering how crowded
the MTC is, but oh boy. Quarantine. That's not...a happy word.

So they put me in the "sickbay", aka quarantine, which is half of one floor
of a particular dorm. The other half of the floor is for those who are
confirmed cases of swine flu. We have no physical contact with them or with
anyone in the outside world. I put the stuff down they let me grab from my
room and slept for pretty much the rest of the day. I was also prescribed
TAMIFLU, which I was supposed to take at breakfast and dinner. Dinner was
always cold leftovers from the cafeteria, which in reality isn't all that
bad since we had a microwave, but when you're sick the last thing you feel
like eating is a cold french dip sandwich. That's alright though, they
provided us with whatever they could.

That included virtual classrooms. Through a desktop computer in my room and
a camera I could video chat with my classroom and try to keep up with the
curriculum. However, the sound wasn't working out at all on my computer, so
I only tried it a couple times and concentrated mostly on personal study.
My time was dedicated to reading, watching church related video content
(mormonads, general conference, seminary videos, MTC videos), sleeping, and
doing things like building archways out of the boxes our food came in.

Overall it was actually a pretty good thing that I was able to spend some
time really reflecting on what's most important to be thankful for and what
really lasts, since I was there for thanksgiving. possessions disappear,
good days can turn sour, and even good health isn't always something you can
be thankful for, which is why we should be so grateful for it when we DO
have it. What really lasts, however, when time has passed and things return
to the dust from which they came, be they possessions, money, or even our
current mortal bodies, certain things will never disappear. If I live my
life right, I can have my family forever. I will have my relationships with
others. I will have what I have learned. Finally, I will have who I am.
I'm eternally thankful for that, and for this gospel that allows me a chance
to obtain eternal happiness. That's what I'm here to do, after all...share
the greatest gift any of us could ever possibly recieve. I ask that those
of you who don't know what that is look into it. It will change your life.

/I will address everything else in my letter home, because my time is up
now!/