Little miracles like that happen...

Thank you very much for keeping our investigators in your prayers. Daniel was baptized after a very long wait (and the family is starting to unite more thanks to him), but we have pushed Eduardo and Carlos to this week so that we can finish teaching them, along with Jorge´s sister Tonantzin and grandma Gloria. It will be a tight week with 4 planned baptisms, with a lot of things to take care of as well as a need to keep contacting and helping the other progressing investigators along, but I´m sure we´ll be alright. We had 8 investigators in the chapel Sunday, that was great. We also found, by knocking doors, a family that loves the Book of Mormon and lost contact with the missionaries when they moved. They have a lot of problems, but they are eager to learn and progress. Little miracles like that happen all the time here, and at least two houses on every street are willing to listen to us. There is no excuse not to be a successful missionary here.

The environment for Americans here is nothing special. Every once in a while someone tries to practice their English on me or tell me how they used to live in California, but not much else. I am distinguished by being white and blonde, but not mocked. I´m sure that will all change if Mexico loses to the US in the world cup! I think some of that has to do with us being close neighbors and having a rather well used border. I think things would be more difficult if I were in Brazil, for example. Till next week!

Love,
Elder Lund

6 months down!

6 months down!

Saturday Carlos, Tonantzin, and Gloria were baptized. Eduardo still needs a little time, but it was a great service anyways, and there was a lot of time spent doing confirmations Sunday. I also take care to record in my journal each ordinance I perform, and I´m trying to make journal writing a habit.

The BoM loving family has some difficulties, including not being married and the lady being married to someone else from years ago. They also had a daughter die some years ago and need to find a new place to keep her because the place where the body is storied right now ends its contract before too long and if they don´t have somewhere else they throw the body out. There´s a lot to overcome with them, but as far as we´ve seen so far they´re willing to progress and do what´s necessary to be an eternal family. I pray that continues.

I´m also right now thinking about what it would be like to study at the BYU Jerusalem Center. Right now I haven´t a clue how I would pay for it, but it would be a fantastic experience.

There is a tiny pyramid here, I´ll see if I can convince my companion to go one monday. As far as Aztec, I´m not learning much of that since I´m in the city all the time now, but I have discovered that I can read Portuguese. My Spanish is decent now, but It´s still not at the level I´d like.

Today was an interesting p-day as well, as we played volleyball for a while and later went to the house of another missionary, Elder Gomez, who goes home in a week. We celebrated that and two birthdays (and wednesday I can celebrate 6 months in the mission) with soaking one another and stuffing cake in the birthday missionary´s faces.

Not much else has changed other than that, we´ve been very focused in the baptisms, and now that they´re done we´ll see what other adventures and stories I run into. Next week are transfers again. We´ll see if I´m left to complete 6 months straight in Colima or if I´m moved somewhere else.

Our apartment has 2 bedrooms and one bathroom. It´s close to KFC and Soriana, and it has a front patio (more like a garage) and a place to wash clothes. No grass. I´ve taken more to sleeping in my bed rather than the hammock due to the mosquitos, but it´s getting hotter and hammocks are really comfy, so we´ll see. The clothes situation is fine right now as well (i´ll get you shirt sizes next week), but I´d love as many pictures as you´re willing to send.

Well I´ve got to go. We´ll see if I can get some baptism photos soon, but I´m not sure I trust this cyber café and I don´t want this computer to eat my SD card. Take care, and I´ll write soon. Mother´s day is pretty soon too, so I´ll let you all know how that´s supposed to work out as well.

Love,
Elder Lund

Conference was wonderful!

Conference was wonderful, and it caused me to think about the family a lot, as well as my future here in the mission and further down the road. One of the odd things I realized is that counsel to parents is now something I should probably be listening too. As strange as that is, it makes me smile. As I focus on improving my connection to God and my love of and service to Jesus Christ, I´m sure things will become more and more clear. I just want to be able to use all of my talents and abilities, known and unknown, to their greatest potential to serve God, my family, and my fellow man. That´s a tricky bit of systems engineering if done alone, but I know The Lord has given me every single thing I have for a reason, and I want to give back in the way He has in mind.

Yes, actually. Shirts, shocks, and specifically pants would be appreciated. I´ve decided to stop carrying my wallet around because I realized that it´s what created the hole I have in one of my pairs of pants and is starting a hole in another pair. That...or the fact that I wash my clothes by hand. I think I´ll go with the first though.

I can understand the Zac Reese sentiment...and I think I´ll just leave it at that. ;)

Honestly, I think I´m probably the same weight as when I left the MTC (somewhere around 145 pounds I think). I say that because on the one hand, we do lots of walking and exercise and whatnot, but on the other hand my metabolism is ridiculous. One thing that has changed is that my hair is a lot more golden, and I´ve tanned a lot. As we get into the hotter months soon, we´ll see how far I can go in that respect. In the house I tend to eat egg omelettes, hamburgers, hotdogs, and quesadillas (all cooked by ME), but lunch every day can be one of a million things. I take care to take vitamins though, because Mexican diets are heavy on starches and meat, and not so heavy on everything else.

Danny, the 9 year old who´se baptism has been postponed for almost a month now, has another day set for Saturday. The biggest change, though, has been that his inactive mother and his nonmember father who had a bad runin with the church a year or two ago came to general conference, and they were greatly edified. They walked out of the session really looking like a loving, happy family. I really hope that will be able to last for them, that family (and in particular Daniel) has so much potential. I´ve even got a tie that he bought me. Please pray that things will turn out well for his baptism this Saturday and that his family can some day be sealed in the temple.

I´ll write more when I have more time, but for now this is goodbye. Thank you so much for everything you write every week. I love you, and everyone else in the family as well. Get them all and my friends to write! :P Take care, and know that The Lord Jesus Christ is with you and loves you, and will help you overcome all your problems if you will just go to him for help and search out His will, the things He would have you do. The rest, including inner peace, always comes.

Love,
Elder Lund

Time to step up!

Things have been good here. A couple hours after I last wrote, Elder Tovar got a phone call from the mission president and the next morning at 7AM he was on his way to Guadalajara, and I got a new companion. His name is Elder Peña and he´s from Cozumel...he also wishes he was black and played in the NFL. He´s a pretty cool Elder, actually, and we work hard. He´s only got 7 months in the mission, so the two of us are a very young companionship. Time to step up! I´m actually excited at the opportunity.

Today in the morning we played volleyball again, and it makes me feel like I´m back in the MTC. Now that I´ve been in the mission for 5 months that sounds strange, but it still feels like last week I was studying all day and was only pretending to understand Spanish.

I´m guessing that Ben will come to Mexico, btw. Just a thought.

I have no idea what to ask for my birthday, except for more shirts, more pants, more socks, and more ties. Something like that. That´s all I ever use, after all, except shoes...and I´d rather get shoes here so I can see that they fit my oddly shaped feet.

No baptisms right now, but we´re seeing what we can do to turn that around, and soon. We´ll see how the city changes for spring break.

gtg!

Love you all, enjoy spring break!

Danger in Chiuhuahua

Well things are doing peachy here. Chugging along as usual. The only change is that now some transfers will happen every month, as well as at every sixth week mark. We´ll see if that changes much or not. That and "holy week", or in other words easter vacations start soon. Supposedly the whole city goes to the beach. I wonder how that will affect things, but it won´t really make a big difference. We will continue working as usual.

(About the drug cartel killings in Chiuhuahua) I heard something through the radio in a taxi yesterday, but I don´t know any of the details. As far as I know, I should be just fine here. Colima is far south and out of the way from most of that. Safer and supposedly a higher standard of living.

Daniel´s baptism isn´t officially set yet, but we´re hoping for Saturday. The issue is that we have to talk to his grandma and dad about the day. I just hope the inter family shenanigans don´t cause more problems for Danny. He´s suffered enough. Other than that, things are a little slower. The most promising aspect though is Gloria, the grandma of Jorge. She goes to church regularly now and participates a lot in class. She´s just hesitant about putting a day to her baptism. Speaking of Jorge, he blessed the sacrament yesterday in Ward Conference and three of the four people passing it were Christian, Luis, and Hector. That was really great to watch, and they all did just fine

We got put in charge of an activity for this past Saturday, actually. We put on a rally, with various bases and activities, from karaoke to bucket races, water balloon toss, and other things alike. It turned out great and there was dinner afterwards. I think that was something the ward badly needed. The downside is the amount of time we put into it was taken away from the work. Hopefully it pays off in the future, but I´m glad we were able to help. We won a lot of confidence within the ward, and it was a good setup for ward conference the next day.

I received the valentines package Tuesday, to give you a reference for how long it takes to mail things. We only receive our mail at the beginning of transfers, during zone conference, or interviews with the president. It´s possible the package arrived just a little bit too late last time around, but I have it now. Thank you all very much for that :)

I would also have to say that you´ve taught me well how to manage my money, even though I´m still not perfect with it. In February I paid the electric bill and for a tank of gas, so this month I said it was someone else´s turn. Nobody paid it, and they cut the lights on us. We went 24 hours without power, and nobody but me had any money left (it being the middle of the month......) to pay the bill, so I paid it and the reactivation fee as well. It all gets reimbursed, but that wasn´t exactly handled so well. I´ve still always got plenty of extra emergency cash though, because I don´t really need to buy a whole lot here.

I´m still not the best missionary, but I work on improving and on loving the people every day, with a lot of prayer as well. I´m sure I will be able to call my mission very successful if I am just able to put in my part and accept no compromises. I finished Jesus the Christ this week as well.

Well I´ve got to take off. Busy day as usual!

Love,
Elder Lund

Today's Adventure

So I'll start by describing today's adventure. It's pday, and also the last day of the transfer. Elder Tovar and I are staying here as companions still, but my piano prodigy amigo named Elder Talbot is heading off to Sayula. So anyways, there's no school today in Mexico for some reason as well, so Jorge our friend and convert invited us to go with his family up to a couple lagoons which are up close to the volcano (supposedly they are craters of the volcano). It's in our area and we were going to be able to get back in time, so we decided to go. It was a lot of fun. We grilled some steak and sausages, played a little soccer, hiked some beautiful trails, and took some fun pictures. The first laguna, from which I think all of the pictures are from, is a little smaller, and actually has a lot less water than usual right now. It's called Laguna Carrizalillo. From there we went even closer to the volcano to a bigger one called Laguna La Maria. It was really nice to be out in nature for a while, hike some cool trails (and there were some caves as well), and just spend time with the other missionaries, a convert, and three of our investigators (his family).

As far as baptisms go, Guadalupe was baptized, but Daniel was not. He still will, but it has been postponed until we can make sure that his dad can be here. He works in Tecoman, which is about 45 minutes away, but is only home some weekends. Guadalupe's baptism was nice, very simple, and a special experience for me. She's more active than some church members, and had only been a little hesitant to take this last step. Now she and her son Christopher are both members and one day can be sealed together as a family.

I'm glad you get to help the missionaries fellowship, that's so very important in missionary work. I've seen a lot of investigators that have testimonies of the truth, but are a little hesitant for social reasons. Fellowship can make all the difference in the world, as does working with members in general.

We had more investigators go to church than usual yesterday, including four of the five girls who came last week to do their school project. We'll see how that progresses, but I do think their interest is more than just academic. I have high hopes for the work here in Colima, all I need to do is make sure to put in my part to see them realized, and I know The Lord will do the rest.


As far as the working hard goes, that was more or less the philosophy I had been assuming. My thinking had been that God knows exactly where all of his children who are ready to listen and progress are. All we have to do is be worthy to teach them and show God that we are willing to have faith and put in our part. If we meet God's standard, he'll trust us with his children and we will find, recognize, teach, and baptize. If we're not trustworthy, he won't. Thus miracles happen after all that we can do. One thing I'm focusing on is more efficient study and planning. It is much more difficult to waste time and not put in your part if you have a good plan.

Actually, the ward (and stake, and supposedly Mexico in general...although I don't know about that) isn't doing all that hot at the moment. The bishop is one of if not the best I have ever seen, and he works incredibly hard despite being completely destitute. The rest of the ward, however, does nothing. Also, church attendance has lowered, almost as if to compensate for the converts we've brought in. Thankfully, all our converts are still active as of right now, but it's troublesome. No one in the ward seems to be friends with anyone else, and no one completes with their callings. However, we're working closely with the bishop, ward conference is this coming week, and with some prayer and sweat we'll see what we can do. The church will never fall back into apostasy (I've read that book, The Great Apostasy, btw. Very good and very informative), but will press onward and forward until the second coming of The Lord.

Love,
Elder Lund

Another Mexican Missionary

It sounds like there is someone I know in the majority of the missions here
in Mexico now! Congratulations to Ryan, he'll love it. The other day I got
to spend some time with two ex-teachers from the Mexico MTC who live here in
Colima. That was pretty nice and informative as well. Study is ever so
important, and so many forget that.

These past two weeks have been really slow, actually. We have been doing a
whole lot of contacting, but there were two full days of contacting in which
we were not able to teach a lesson in a home. Considering I've had days
with very different fortunes and this is MEXICO, it's been a little rough.
I'm patient though, I know we'll get some production going. Quite honestly
we have needed more investigators since the beginning of February.

We've got two baptisms planned for this week though. One is Guadalupe, the
mother of Christopher (who was baptized in January), and the other is
Daniel, a 9 year old who reminds me of David and who goes to church with his
grandma. If they both go through, it will be a nice way to greet the
transfers that are coming up the 14th.

In other news, I now sleep in a hammock, which is really comfy and I got it
very cheap as well. I've also become addicted to Salsa Valentina, a type of
hot sauce here. That wasn't really my cup of tea before the mission, but I
put it on everything now.

Also, my email has now changed because the church just switched clients to
Gmail. I am told all
emails sent to the old address will still reach me just fine. It's much
nicer, and it won't take an eternity to load photos anymore. I was talking
with Elder Humphreys the other day about the very idea of switching to
gmail. We've also talked about the usefulness of some sort of pda or other
device with maps, area books, preach my gospel, things of that nature.
Someday, maybe I'll get to tell my son how low-tech my mission was ;)

So I'm not sure how long I'll be here in Colima. Some say that missionaries
are being left in their areas longer, and three of the five I have lived
with stayed here for six months. At the same time, you never know what may
happen in the future. Whether I stay here or whether I start again
somewhere else, I will continue working hard to do the will of the Lord.

5 investigators appeared out of nowhere at sacrament meeting yesterday.
They said they were there to do a school project about ethics and wanted to
learn a lot about the church. Two of them ended up bearing their
testimonies during the meeting though, and we taught them The Restoration as
well as answered a bunch of their questions. They say they really enjoyed
themselves and will return next week. We'll see what happens. It was an
interesting experience for sure.

Well I've got to go. Say hi to everyone for me, and I hope things are going
alright.

Love,
Elder Lund