I am so hungry

This might be areally short horrible email on account of I am so ferociously hungry i cant really focus on the keyboard or remember anything that happened this week.

Im really hungry because we keep playing on p day instead of buying food and there is nothing in our apartment and last night i ate two oreos four saltine crackers and salted nuts for dinner.

Dont feel bad for me. It is completely self inflicted.

This week was dreamy. Time is drifting by and I just get to spend all day talking to people I love about things I love.

One of those people is named brother pak. He and his wife are old investigators who we used to meet with but they are Buddhist and never kept commitments so we had to stop meeting with them but the other night i really felt like we should go visit them. I walked up to their house and I hear through the screen brother pak say "our American princess!" They both hugged me like a granddaughter and made us  some crazy juice and they kept asking me why i stopped coming and how much they had missed us and reminded me of every nice thing we had ever done for them. I never realize how much me mean to people or how much people mean to me. We sat and talked on their front porch through the evening about their children and they gave me dating advice for when I go back to america (i should probably write a book- it was hilarious). We laughed and told stories and he finally turned and looked at me seriously and said- ive been reading the book you gave me. I said really? what do you think? He told me that he really liked it and he felt really good when he read it. I told him i did too. I asked them if they would pray about it and they said I dont know how to pray. Ive taught them maybe ten times but we went through it one more time this time they prayed at the end before they left. In his very first prayer to God he asked Him if i could stay in Korea and marry a Korean man and visit them a lot. He asked that i would always be happy and never be fat. He prayed for my family because they are probably not happy without me. He sincerely prayed to know of the truthfulness of the gospel and if what we teach is true. By the end of the prayer I was a crying mess realizing how much i love them and feeling that I had given up on them too early. I know that missionaries will come after me to help them but I want it to be me! what if they give up on them? What if they are lazy missionaries or cant find their house? AH! its the worst feeling in the world.

On a happier note Naomi had her baptismal interview on Sunday. She has completely transformed as she has learned about the gospel and read he book of Mormon. She completely glows. She is so full of hope- something that was absent from her life just a few months ago. As she has started living the gospel I think she has realized what she wants out of life and how much more she is capable of. I wish you could meet her. She is amazing. I got to sit in on her interview and hearing her testimony was one of the happiest moments of my life. Her testimony is so strong- i love hearing those first simple testimonies. I love that with the gospel you don't have to know all the details to know that it is true. I remember being a really little girl maybe eight and praying to heavenly father if my family would really be together forever. I remember feeling heaven around me and knowing it was true. Isnt that amazing? That God cared enough about a little eight year old girl to be listening to and answering her simple prayer? And He still does. I love being a missionary- i feel like he listens extra hard to our prayers because they are always about taking care of his children. 

I am so grateful that people can and do change. Im so grateful that I can and do change little by little. Im so grateful for personal revelation. Can you even believe that the God of the universe truly speaks to us!? I am grateful that I have listened to that guidance in my life- not that ive been perfect at it, but im getting much better.       

Im so grateful for the macro and micro plan that heavenly father has for us. He is even in the minute details of our lives- even when we dont see it.  

I know this gospel is true. I feel it more and more every day i am a missionary.
President Furniss often reminds us to be "happy always- content never" something that i love. Never give up on yourself- or others. The lord never does!

LOVE LOVE LOVE,

sister lund 

This week was memorial day in korea. ko sun ray the wife of shim gwang shik (the guy who passed away a couple weeks ago) asked us to go with her to his grave with her. We all loaded up in her car and drove about two hours into the Korean countryside where Shim gwang shik grew up. We drove up to this giant old korean mansion and walked behind it the the Shim family cemetary. At the entrance were these giant dragon statues and the Shim family creed or something. SO COOL. The cemetary sits up on a hill and looks out over his hometown and miles and miles of rice fields. In the far corner was a fresh mound of earth. We walked over and Shim Ji yoon (his daughter and our investigator) got on her knees and started to talk to her dad like she was there. "Oh dad we miss you so much, its been so hard." They place fruit in front of his grave and pour him some coke. We brought him some flowers and they placed them too. We all did full bows a couple of times and them sat and ate apples. His wafe sat by the grave holding the bills and paper work she is struggling through asking him what she should do. It broke my heart. We sat and talked with her daughter about her dad. We told funny memories and she told us about what he was like before he was sick. Then my companion turned to me and asked me to share the dream I had about him the night he died. Im not sure why but i started to cry before i could even get a word out. I felt the spirit settle in like thick fog as i told her about seeing him happy, young, radient, and surrounded by those he loves most. I told her I had lost someone too- my big brother. I told her I knew we would have them again. I and I told her I knew how we could have them again. That before we were born God created a plan for us so that we could learn and grow. He knew we would make mistakes so he provided us with a savior. I told her how the savior knows exactly how we feel. and more importantly he knows how to help us out of it. We talked about temples and their sealing power. All in Korean beyond my ability. I love these people more than I can express. I am so humbled and grateful that the lord trusted me enough to be apart of their lives during this tender time.

Adriene had her baptsmal interview on sunday. They changed to rules and i got to be there for the interview. It was one of the sweetest experiences of my mission to hear her tell her conversion story and bear her testimony. It was so amazing seeing how much she has changed and grown over the past few weeks. The lord has been in her life leading and guiding her to this place. While I was sitting in the interview i felt how much the lord loves Adriene. I love her so much. SO sorry im out of time. 

love you

sister lund 

So much has happened this week.

I lost my wallet. I royally freaked out. I called everyone in the city of chungju and most of Seoul and everyone was so incredibly unhelpful. I think someone stole it. I cant wait till the day comes i can tell them how rude it was to steal a missionaries wallet. I think maybe i cant get back into america now. It had all my ID in it. too bad for me. I gave my dying talk in zone conference. I feel like it is all a big joke. There is no way that i wont be here for the next one. I will always live this way and it really seems that i have always lived this way. The missionaries feel like my family. Korea is home. 

I AM SO WEIRD.

Adriene found a bunch of anti mormon stuff online and i was really nervous to meet with her because i've never looked at anti mormon stuff i have no idea what it says. Her concerns were about the different accounts of the first vision, crazy stuff brigham young said and weird things the early saints did. Her main concern was that if there was indeed a restoration how were there imperfections in a "perfect" religion?

I love when i am teaching and I feel the spirit take over. I was able to explain things beyond my understanding, use scriptures I had forgotten were there. As we talked i explained- or i guess the spirit explained that although the gospel is perfect, man is not. The early saints were doing the best they could with the information they had. I told her to not let what you dont understand perfectly get in the way of what you do know. I told her that no matter how hard you try you can not prove logically that the gospel is true- its not the way the lord works. He will never take away our agency. And there always has to be room for faith. 

We are reading 17 pages of the book of mormon so she can finish before her baptism. oh boy. She is going to be the most incredible gospel scholar. She reads every footnote. On sunday after church we read together and we got to the end of one chapter and i asked her if she had any questions. she was quiet for a minute and then she said i know this sounds weird but sometimes i just love the book of mormon so much that i want to eat it! hahaha

I love her so much. 

Do you remember the mongolian that was riding his bike around the church parking lot and turned out to be a former investigator? He got baptized on Saturday. There was an awesome turnout for the baptism and the elders forgot to fill up the font before hand so we had a huge badminton tournament while we waited... maybe not the most reverent activity but we had so much fun and everyone was sweating to death. 

After the baptism i asked him how he felt. He said it felt like he had been carrying a heavy backpack and it had been really hard but today he got to take it off. He said he felt free. He was radiant. 

I feel so content. Which feels good. 

President told us in zone conference "happy always, content never" which probably means my companion is going to get transferred. Im TOO happy.

love love love you

sister lund 

Sorry for the late email. It was Buddhas birthday. If you go to Buddhist temples they will give you free food!

Also we went to a picnic with our ward and its was so so fun. We taught them to play football, i dominated in badminton, the bishops kids destroyed my in a water gun fight.

That night all the missionaries had dinner with the Jung family. Brother Jung is in the mission presidency and one of the most Christlike people I have ever met. I love spending time in his home.

I had a miracle this week. I have been in the middle of trying to get my visa renewed and it has been more than an ordeal. The last time i tried we got this terrible woman who was so incredibly unhelpful and was making me fill out this crazy paperwork and wanted me to buy a new foreigner card and I tried to tell her nicely yes but i have two months left I would really rather not buy a $60 foreigner card plus buy these special blue stamps that seem to have absolutely no purpose and cost lots of money I'm really only here to be a good citizen of the world so could you please help me out here lady. also did I mention i am a MISSIONARY?! Then she looked at me like there was absolutely nothing she was going to do to help me and sipped her coffee. Then my companion made me leave. I kept thinking about how grandpa used to say- why be difficult when with a little more effort you can be impossible. so true. anyways we went back the next week and my companion told me to pray to get a nice person this time. I laughed but then i really did pray. And we got a wonderful gentleman who didn't make me fill out any stupid paperwork in Korean or buy any blue stamps or stand on my head. He just stamped my papers gave me a lollipop and we were on our way. I love that Heavenly Father cares about the silly things in my life.

Adriene is progressing beautifully. I don't know if i ever told you her whole story so sorry if I already said this-

Adriene is an English teacher. She has been teaching at a school here for almost a year. She works with Mallory a returned sister missionary who came back to Korea to teach and is one of my favorite people on this earth. Adriene is probably one of the most prepared people i have met on my mission. The other Sunday we were in the middle of the lesson and I asked her what she thought about the book of Mormon- she said she felt it was true. Then she said I know it sounds weird like if been searching all these religions but with all the other religions I always hit a point where something just doesn't feel right but with this, i feel like all these questions that i have had all my life are being answered so easily. She said that when she was trying to decide where to teach English she really wanted to go to south America because it would be easy to find Catholicism there. But for some reason my mom kept saying you are going to end up in Asia I can just feel it! She talked about how she wondered what brought her here. The spirit filled the room and I felt so strongly to tell her that there was a purpose in her coming to Korea and it was to find this- the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I bore her my testimony that the things she was learning about and starting to understand were things that I knew to be true. Things that had filled my life with peace, purpose, clarity, and joy. Then I asked her if she would be baptized and she said yes! We are going to read the book of Mormon together before her baptism. 17 pages a day. Its killing me. But so so good. She asks really hard questions that I don't know the answer to but I always find myself responding and giving answers I didn't even know that I had. I am so grateful for the spirit we carry as missionaries. I'm so grateful to never be alone in what we do.

I am speaking in zone conference tomorrow. Ive been really stressing feeling like i have nothing to say but then i realized its actually that I have too much to say. How do i sum up my feelings about my missions into a five minute talk? I cant.

We are teaching a Chinese investigator who is the cutes thing in the world. We watched the video on the restoration and when it was over I asked her what she thought. She said she thought it was true. I loved how simple her response was. and realized sometimes i complicate the Gospel. It is so simple. God is our loving father, Jesus Christ is his son. If we follow his example and live by his teachings we will be happy. If we live the Gospel nothing will ever be permanently wrong but if we don't nothing can ever be permanently right. We are hoping to get a baptismal date this week so be praying for Ga Yoo. 

사랑해

sista lundo 

WE were SO busy this week. I am exhausted. I totally get why sisters serve a year and a half. I am the crypt keeper. We are teaching incredibly prepared people right now and i cant wait to see what happens. We are getting ready for two baptisms in the next few weeks and I think a few more are on the way. We are being blessed. My favorite is Adriene- the American. SHE SPEAKS ENGLISH. I have no idea how to teach the gospel in English but its a blast saying anything and everything I want to say and understanding every word that comes out of her mouth. Its weird to think that is how my life used to be all the time. Anyways Im excited to see how everything unfolds...

We are getting our apartment remodeled. Our wallpaper dates back to the Mongolian empire and they decided that espestice is actually not that great for your health. We got to pick out the wallpaper this morning. I was going for a Versailles look but the lady really wanted this crazy technicolor candyland theme. We had a big fight and I prevailed. She told me it was grandma wall paper. Whatever. I gave them soymilk and choco pies.  

Do you remember the recent convert who has been really sick? I dreamed about him the other night. He called me on the phone and wanted me to come see him. He sounded so happy so i hurried over to his house. I walked in his front door and he was sitting in the middle of the room surrounded with all the people that matter to him- his wife, the elders who baptized him, his children and lots of little kids that were his grandchildren in my dream(even though he doesn't have any) He was laughing and telling stories. The most striking part of the dream was his appearance. He was young, handsome, full of life, and radiant. I remember sitting and watching and feeling his joy. The next morning one of the elders called to tell me that he has passed away.

We rushed over to the hospital where they were having a viewing. The room had a wall covered with flowers and a picture of him. They lay fruit and have incense burning. As you walk into the room you do a full bow- meaning forehead to the ground two times and then a half bow. Afterwards we sat with his wife and daughter and they just cried and cried. And i cried and cried. The timing of everything was really sweet. It was the day before transfers and their elders got to be there for the funeral. They were like sons to them- he even bought an English book so he could visit them in America. That night we stayed and served food to their friends and family that came. It was pretty incredible to see how grateful their family was to the missionaries. His sisters came and thanked us again and again for being there and being part of his life.

The next day was transfers and half of our district got transferred or went home. I hate change- you'd think id get used to it but i don't. Im so happy i got to stay with 서나리 she is an angel.

That night we went to part II of the funeral, this time with the ward. Only a few people showed up. Most of the room was filled with missionaries and family members. The bishop and stake president spoke about the plan of salvation but i didn't hear much because i sat across from his wife and my heart broke watching her sob. I hate funerals. I always completely lose it no matter what. I know he is in a better place and that their family will be together again but as a sat looking at her I couldn't help thinking what about between now and then? Who will take care of her? Does she have enough money? what about the loneliness? Everything gets better with time but i also know that the pain never really goes away. I felt so angry and upset feeling that life just has too much pain sometimes. I got on my knees that night and prayed. I prayed for her. for her family. I wanted to know everything was going to be ok and wondered why does it have to be so hard?

The next morning I opened my scriptures and found something in Corinthians- "for now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall i know even as I am known." I thought about life and all of its joy and all of its sorrow and I remembered, once again, we are here to obtain an education and work out our salvation. Life isn't easy because it cannot be a cheap experience. We are to model our lives after the saviors- how could we expect it to be easy for us when it was never easy for him?

So yes we must endure trials and sorrow and loss but we must always remember that He is ever with us. Right now we see through glass darkly- we cant see why but a day will come that we will stand face to face and thank him for loving us enough for letting us hurt sometimes. I know that He lives I know that he loves us. I trust Him. I know that the atonement is real and when we seek its healing power there is nothing to large or too small.

I love you.

sister lund

 

Pictures!!!!

Mongolian Surprise!

April 29th, 2012

안녕하세요! it literally feels like five minutes since i emailed but now that i think about it so much has happened there is no way it has only been a week!

First of all the weather has been incredible. Spring in Korea is probably what the celestial kingdom is. The whole country turned into a flower garden. Every other day something else blossomed. Because of the nice weather peoples moods are pretty nice as well. We have seen so many miracles this week. The other day we were heading to an appointment and stopped by the church randomly to get some water or something when I saw a kid on a bike staring up at the church. He saw us a started to ride away and then the next thing i knew i was chasing him down asking what he was doing here. Turns out he is from Mongolia and used to meet with the missionaries a few years ago. He said that he remembers feeling a lot of happiness when he met with the missionaries.  His mom is really sick- maybe cancer and he has been really struggling being so far from her. That day he was riding his bike and saw the name of our church and felt like he should come in. We talked for a while and invited him to English class (so he could meet the elders). He showed up and that night the elders set a baptismal date with him. I love how as a missionary I think I'm in control of everything but i am reminded often of how very much the Lord leads and guides His missionaries. I just thought i needed a drink but the lord has a better bigger plan for us.

We got a call from a member the other day wanting to give us a referral. Her friend is about 44, single, wealthy, beautiful, and alone. She recently quit/lost her job (not exactly sure) her crazy neighbors are suing her and her dog died. yeah.

SO we went and met with her. In the standards of the world this woman has it all. Her apartment is unbelievable. I think her Picasso was an original... and yet there she sad in tears unable to be consoled. I sat in terror for a moment wondering what in the world i would say to this woman and then i realized oh yeah... dork... you have EXACTLY what she needs. THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST.

So often i find in Korea people who don't need God or just don't know where to find Him. They seek joy and happiness in beauty or wealth status or education. But in the end their hunger persists. They still need more.

 And then i compare that to my bishops family. He has six children under the age of 11 which is unheard of in Korea. They live in a two room apartment- in worldly standards they have nothing and yet when i think of them the word that comes to mind is JOY. They are the happiest people I have ever met. What it the difference? Its perspective and a life filled with everything the gospel teaches. Service, love, devotion, family centered life. 

I don't mean to say you cant be happy and affluent but any worldly success cannot compensate for spiritual neglect.

anyways. guess what else? I've been praying my heart out for 김경선 (my less active recent convert) and making the missionaries down there go after her. I wrote her a letter with a picture of us at her baptism- reminding her of the best day of our lives! and the lord answers prayers- she came to church for the first time in two months on Sunday! I am so grateful for those missionaries- that no matter what i know that there with be two elders in 그경선's ward looking after her. I hate that I'm so far away from her. 

AH! I have so much to tell you! I have no time. I'll tell you everything someday. 

But what you should know now is that I have a testimony. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know that with the gospel nothing in your life can never permanently be wrong. Without is nothing can ever permanently be right. I love being a missionary. I love Korea! 

lovey dovey all the time 

Hey Your Dads in Seoul!!!

April 23rd, 2012

I got a call from like 800 people this week telling me my parents were in Seoul and asking if i wanted to hide in their car on the way to convention.

I said no...

Hey thanks for not even TRYING to see me! I heard lots about your trip from everyone. I even got a phone call from the convention from a member who put dad on speaker while he was talking.

The good news is that i got a call from the mission office telling me that my parents were in Seoul and that there was a very special package that a very persistent Korean man insisting that he hand deliver. I knew it had to be one of two things. Moms sugar cookies or dad in a box. I couldn't decide which i wanted more.

Thank you for the package! It was so fun. Mom I've lost my mind. Either my feet have grown or i asked for the wrong size. they were all small except for the tan ones which i love. IM SO SORRY ITS MY FAULT! 

This week has been pretty grand. We have been really busy and that's a good feeling. Our baptismal date is killing me and we are postponing... indefinitely. We met with her on Sunday after church because she wouldn't actually come to church, or read, or pray and talked about why its important to come to church and how she needs to keep praying and reading the book of Mormon to get an answer. But then i got really frustrated and realized none of that mattered unless she had a desire to know. I told her that I cant and wont make her do anything. We are here to give you the most incredible gift God has given his children but it is entirely up to you if you want it or not. I told her that I loved her but that we couldn't meet with her until she started doing the things that would help her gain a testimony. I'm pretty sure my companion wanted to kill me afterward but 아름 called us a few days later and asked what it would feel like if she got an answer. We talked for a while about the ways God answers prayers and she said she was going to start searching. Pray for her.  

The other day we were in a training meeting talking about missionary work discussing for the 100th time about how to find new investigators... working with members... retaining... and all of a sudden i felt overwhelmed with the task that is layed before missionaries. We have so much to do and not near enough capacity to do it. So then i thought about why I do it. What is it that keeps me getting up at 6:30 every morning? And i realized in the end it is my love for the Savior. I am often overwhelmed with my inadequacies but then i remembered who it was that called me. I am given so much strength by His confidence in me that I can do hard things. And it IS worth it. Even when we don't see it, our actions and efforts are noted. I believe so strongly that one day we are going to look back at all of this and realize that every experience this life offers, every heartbreak, and every disappointment have all been gently pointing our course towards the Savior and life beyond our current circumstances. 

I know that He lives. I know that He loves us. What an incredible thing that is!

I love you.

Sister Lund     

Popcorn Popping!!

April 15th, 2012

The Cherry blossoms came out this week and it is so incredible. Through the center of the city a big river runs and giant cherry blossom trees line the river. It is maybe the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. There was a big festival for the blossoms and we went to go proselyte and found out that they were doing a march down the river to welcome spring so we marched with them for a while and taught them about the gospel. It was so fun! We found a lot of new investigators through it. I love spring people are in such a good mood.

One of our new investigators is from China. She sort of speaks Korean and sort of speaks English. Its sort of an adventure teaching her. We gave her a book of Mormon and she read the first book of Nephi in the first week- this is coming from someone who had never heard of Jesus Christ. I feel like we are going to see miracles with her. I cant wait.

All of the young single adults in the Taejon region met at our stake center for an activity and I got to see some of my favorite people from Kwangju. I found out though that one of my converts in Kwangju is less active. It broke my heart into a billion pieces. She was golden. Had such a strong testimony, and an amazing support group. She told me all the time how she wanted to be a missionary. but not she says that church isn't fun. Im about to hop a train to Kwangju and... i dont even know. Yell at her? cry? beg? that's no good. Its now up to her.  

I hate agency.

Ive been thinking a lot about how important it is to be constantly strengthening your testimony. read your scriptures every day. Pray. Every day. Go to the temple. Serve. Share your testimony. It is the most precious thing we have. You cannot afford to be passively living the Gospel. like everything else worth having in life it requires effort.

Im so frustrated with the less actives in Korea. I just want to shake their guts and tell them how badly they need the Gospel! Sometimes i do. K i don't actually accost them.

So. im depressed. 

We sang a special musical number in sacrament meeting with the elders. Come thou fount. in Korean. It was horrible haha. I don't know why the members always assume the missionaries can sing. Maybe they learned their lesson. Maybe we shouldn't have picked such a hard song... 

 Time is slipping through my fingers. Sometimes it is exciting. Sometimes I hate it with the fiery passion of 1000 suns. 

I just feel like im just now getting it! I love these people. I love sharing the gospel with them. 

I love being someones missionary. I love being separate from the world and spending all my time thinking about Koreans and their troubles, heartache, desires.

I am so grateful for my testimony. Im grateful for those times that i question and doubt- I am able to re-examine my heart and realize how very much I believe. How very much I know. 

I cant believe Kendis is leaving! Im so proud of her. She's about to start the grandest adventure. I love that we are all doing it together a million miles apart.

Love you

Sister Lund.    

One Time on My Mission I Got Hit By A CAR!!!!

April 8th, 2012

Once upon a time it was raining the storms of Noah outside and the wind was blowing so hard I almost flew away. We had to go to district meeting so I grabbed my green umbrella with green hearts on it and lacy rims that was never actually intended to be rained on. We went outside and it promptly broke due to the gale force winds so i was getting drenched and running with my umbrella pointed in front of me to block the wind. The problem is that it also blocked my vision and so I kind of sort of didn't see the car that hit me/I ran into full force. Head on collision. Man vs. vehicle. Guess who won? Before I could say kimchi there i was on the hood of an Asian lady's car with an even more broken umbrella and an even more severely damaged pride. I slid off the hood of her car and tried to act like it wasn't a big deal but IT WAS. I GOT HIT BY A CAR! but really maybe i just ran into a slowly moving car running as fast as i could. Can you imagine what the lady in the car was thinking? She's just doing her thing driving down the street when out of nowhere a giant American with a broken green umbrella comes charging at you and just doesn't stop and ends up on the hood of your car. The best part was that she just shook her head and drove away. I would have been freaking out if i hit a korean lady! All the missionaries saw. and that is all i will ever be remembered for in the Korea Daejeon mission. I am ok btw. But i probably need lots of care packages.

In english class last week we were playing 20 questions and the word was Jesus. The lady asked if the person was alive or dead. One of the elders responded that he died but he is alive again so naturally she guessed Michael Jackson.

We are still working with Jack sparrows family and they are the loves of my life. They are really progressing and they pinky promised to come to church this week. I will die of happiness if they really come. its been like 11 years. Their kids are out of control and it is battle royale every time we go over. Elvis their son (yeah, his name is Elvis) Suprise attacked me while i was hiding in a fort with a bag of open glitter. NOT COOL. Ive been sneezing glitter for like a week which might sound kind of magical but its really not. it is currently elections in Korea and they do the craziest stuff here. Like these huge trucks that drive around with loud speakers blaring crazy Korean pop songs and pictures of hopeful senators doing a hand stand. At the giant intersection downtown at every corner crosswalk stood 6-8 korean ladies holding posters with a politicians face and doing an absurd choreographed dance to crazy polke techno music. I want to do that for Mitt when I get home.

Our apartment is near a huge catholic church and every Sunday morning at 6 they play this insanely loud heaven angel music goes off and every sunday morning I wake up delirious- sure that its the second coming going on outside. 

General conference was amazing. I LOVED it. I laughed so hard when that guy made the super chauvinist joke about unrighteous dominion but no one else did because im pretty sure "im your husband and i have the priesthood" is a legitimate argument in korea. I love them. I am always left wanting to do and be so much better after conference. I felt tlike ever talk was written for one of my investigators. Im going to make them all watch conference.

I love spring in korea. It is breathtaking. The blossoms are out and everything smells amazing... when you arent smelling gas fumes.

I love this gospel i know that it is true. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet- i know that because every time I talk about him and what happened in that grove of trees in any language I feel an unmistakable assurance from the Lord that it truly did happen. 

I love you. Thank you for your love and support. I am blissfully happy. There is nowhere else in the world i'd rather be.

Happy Easter! i love cadbury eggs

Sister Lund  

 

Greenie Fire!

April 1st, 2012

I AM IN LOVE!

My greenie is ridiculously cool. Everyone is in love with her especially me. She is so fun and just HAPPY. Its the most refreshing thing in the world. She is so full of life. I dont think ive stopped smiling since thursday. We also haven't sat down since Thursday. SO BUSY.

Her name is 서나리 seo nadi and is from Pusan. She lived in Australia for a year and speaks the funniest english ive ever heard. She is sort miniature...like maybe she is five feet tall. 

I thought yesterday was Easter and i was super upset because there was no sign of it at church so I made everyone sing Easter songs and planned a huge Easter snickerdoodle cookie party at the church for the youth and our investigators and shared a big easter message and then I found out it was actually NOT Easter.

There is a new special 12 week training for new missionaries that requires us to be inside all morning. Im going crazy we have to take breaks like every 20 minutes. Plus we watch these videos about missionary work and i just get really mad because its made for missionaries in America and I feel like missionary work is so COMPLETELY different in Asia. bleh.

anyways one of the things we were supposed to do her first week is extend a baptismal commitment in the first three days. I was really worried because i couldn't think of anyone that would even maybe say yes and i  so badly didn't want to pop her bubble. But we prepared for a lesson with an investigator who i love but has been progressing SO SLOWLY. She has been meeting with the missionaries for like 7 months and came out to church for the first time last week. Anyways we sat and started to teaching and the spirit completely filled the room. She kept asking us why we were so happy all the time- and i told her the truth. My life isnt perfect. I am not perfect. I do stupid things every 45 seconds. But my testimony of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ makes everything ok. Nothing could happen that isnt made right through the atonement of Jesus Christ- and that is something to rejoice about. We asked her how she felt about the book of Mormon and she said she loves the way she feels when she reads it and that she felt that maybe it was true. We explained that if the book of mormon was true then Joseph smith was a prophet and our church was the true church. She sat and thought about that and then i realized HEY! She is ready to be baptized! I said in English SUPER fast "ask her to get baptized". 서나리 did a beautiful job explaining and asked her to be baptized on the 15th (the real easter)  and she said YES!!!! MIRACLE! I am loving serving with a greenie- they still have that unstoppable optimism and we are seeing miracle after miracle. I hope i get to stay with her until I die.

Ive been studying the Resurrection and the atonement a lot this week because i thought it was easter and feeling in a way i haven't before an overwhelming love for the savior. I love being a missionary and putting on my name tag every morning. It is such a privilege to bear his name- I feel like im suiting up for a team where the quarterback throws nothing but touchdown and because im on his team I know we'll go undefeated no matter how inadequate i am.

The only problem is our uniforms are really lame and no one has any idea how cool we are and mostly just tell us we are a cult and run away. Their loss.

Love you madly,

sister lund

Expecting!!!

March 25th, 2012

Guess who's getting a little baby missionary? I just hung up with president and im training. Kinda want to die/ excited-ish!!

I cant believe how fast this transfer flew. I feel like i just got here! This week was kinda lame. It rained all week and because of the rain every single person cancelled. so that meant we were out in the rain ALL DAY LONG. But we had some really great things happen. We are working with the most amazing family. The parents were baptized a little over four months ago and we are teaching their beautiful  22 year old daughter who is my favorite person in the world. Her dad is a retired fire fighter and their house is filled with awards from his days of saving people. They are the coolest family. The thing is that firefighters and policemen are known for drinking themselves to death and the dad is no acception. I think he is dads age but he looks maybe 95 and has lung cancer from smoking and his liver is failing. He's been going through chemo but he started refusing treatments this week. He hasn't eaten anything solid in 30 days. We try to visit often and every time he is considerably worse. He really could die any day. we went over to their house one sunday because none of them came to church (he cant even really get up off the floor). We had fun talking and hearing stories about him telling about our families. After we shared a message and were about to leave the dad started to tell us about his health and thien i thought he was telling us about the time he got abducted by aliens but then I realized he was telling us about his chemo treatments. Then he asked us to slap his chest and rub his belly and pinch his legs to help with his circulation. His daughter was really embarassed and was like "no dad stop thats weird just let me do it" but then he said she couldnt because she didnt go to church hahah. so... i did it. slapped his chest rubbed his belly and pinched his little bony legs. Its funny to realize there is literally nothing i wouldnt do for people as a missionary. I had my one year anniversary as a missionary. It was great. 

Im nervous to be a momma. I feel like i dont know anything about anything. pray for me.

I cant believe Ryans gonna be an Oxford boy.... I have no idea how im gonna one up that.

Oh i know. I ate kimchi for 18 months. WIN. 

Well I dont have anything else to say. I CANT BELIEVE IM TRAINING! AH!

love you madly

Sister Lund

Jack Sparrow Teaching!

March 18th, 2012

Hi.

This week FLEW. Everyday was incredibly busy. I love weeks like that. My body is taking a hit though. Im getting old. Its near impossible to get out of bed in the morning. i just sort of roll off my matt and crawl on my hands and knees into the kitchen. So pathetic. 

We went out to a private school  that jack sparrow teaches at to introduce our english gospel program to the students. We went with the elders who are both well over 6 feet and the two of us are blonde- i dont think we could have attracted more attention if we had Barack Obama with us. All the girls would basically start crying and shouting in english "marry me!" when we walked by and the boys they would shout "you're beautiful" or "I love you!". It was just like my high school days. oh how i miss them...

We broke off into groups to explain our program and have the students fill out forms of where they live, phone number, and religion. Everyone in my group were boys so i taught them little girl games like down by the banks and they loved it. They got pretty good at Miss Mary Mac. Then I taught them how to arm wrestle and they were really funny because they were WAY stronger than me but they kept letting me win. NO FUN. Everyone started watching and then one of the elders brought a girl over from his group who was the size of a small bear to wrestle me. I tried, i really did but she had the strength of many lions and beat me twice. Even after I tried to cheat. 

I often think about missionaries serving in the states and feel envy. What could possibly be hard about serving in your native tongue. I would spend all my days baking cookies for our 200 baptisms! But the other night we had dinner with an RM American who served in Oklahoma. I was SO wrong. Her mission was just like ours except instead of everyone treating you like rockstars and thinking its adorable when you try to talk to them everyone hates you. She told us the CRAZIEST stories! I will never again feel bad about serving in an impossible language. Korea is the best. 

Our mission is having a 40 day fast where everyday a different companionship fasts and the mission prays for them and their investigators. We had ours on saturday. All of our appointments cancelled that day so we spent the whole day knocking doors and it was BOSS. We met so many amazing people. We went into this crazy oild neighborhood with actual old korean houses- pretty sure no missionary has ever gone there before. We found like five new investigators. We got carried away trying to knock doors that had never been knocked before and ended up getting lost on this crazy trail that took us on top of a mountain and we got lost for probably an hour and my companion was mad and it was hilarious. We were both in heels hiking through the Korean wilderness LOVE.

I realized yesterday during relief society how much i love korean women. In the states all the ladies just try to be perfect and say perfect things but in korea they just say it like it is. like last week they talked forever about how awkward and inconvenient visiting teaching is and how nobody likes it but how they all need to be better and asked us if we liked visiting teaching and i realized that my whole LIFE is a huge visit teaching activity and its ALWAYS AWKWARD AND INCONVENIENT and somehow i love it. then they felt bad and said they'd be better. Then this week they talked about how its important to make your kids come to church- then this lady raised her hand and was like "church is not fun. Im not going to lie to my kids and tell them how awesome it is when im just as bored as they are. We have to tell them the truth! and when all else fails bring treats". hahaa.

We had a baptism yesterday. A son of a part member family. Everyone was incredibly irreverent and the primary was having a circus in the hallway and i was so irritated because his dad showed up and i wanted so bad for it to be spiritual so we had everyone sing a hymn while the boy changed out of his wet clothes. We sang called to serve and all the high priests were in the back singing their own version and everyone was running around and laughing and everything was going wrong but all of a sudden i felt the spirit come into the room. There i was singing called to serve feeling rage and overwhelming love all at the same time for these crazy people who mean the world to me. The missionaries sang a musical number because everyone thinks that missionaries can sing which is too bad for me because i most definitely do not sing. We sang teach me to walk in the light. it was pitiful. we sang acapella because the organ in broken. My favorite part was looking up at this soaking wet kid sitting next to his nonmember dad and beaming mom and never wanting to leave this place.

I cant tell you how much i love this gospel. It is true.

love you

love, me

In Like a Lion!

March 11, 2012


March is the best worst month. Best because it was the month I was born worst because its such a tease. One day its beautiful and the sun is shining and the birds are singing the next its snowing and the Siberian death winds are at it again. 

AWESOME. I basically hate being cold more than anything in the world. Sometimes we call people to set up appointments and they say ïts too cold and windy for you to come over stay inside!" All i want to say is if you dont let us come over we have to spend the entire day OUTSIDE in the too cold and windy. GRR.

But today is one of those lovely days... This week has been pretty good. We had dinner with Jack Sparrow (a less active member who is the Korean jack sparrow) and his family. He has the best family in the world and none of them are baptized. He teaches english through American pop songs at a local university and is the most entertaining human alive. His children are the most confident hilarious kids and love to preform synchronized dances from music videos (they are 5, 7 and 9). My favorite one is Beyonce's Single ladies. They have it DOWN! The little boy seriously puts Beyonce to shame. I was so disturbed and full of admiration at the same time. They are a little too much fun its near impossible to get a lesson in but im optimistic. 

The other day i was street contacting when i noticed a tall American walk up behind me. I was talking to a woman but made eye contact with the man who immediately fist pumped the air and said "VOTE FOR MITT" I laughed and introduced myself. He is this hilarious guy from colorado and has been teaching english here in Korea for 11 years. He tried to go visit the temple in Seoul but they wouldnt let him in. yeah...

The other day we were walking around in the freezing when we realized we were incredibly hungry. My companion remembered smelling something delicious a couple blocks back so we went back and walked into this "buffet". I say "buffet" because it was the sketchiest restaurant ever but because we were WAY hungry it just didnt matter. None of the meat was being properly refrigerated. Everything looked really dirty and old but I just didnt care. My standard of living has deteriorated. a lot.  anyways my favorite part was at the end when we were finishing up we had some extra lettuce that we didnt finish and the crazy lady who owned the place came over and collected them dropped two on the floor- picked those up, and put them back in the basket. Waste not want not.

I love being an american in korea. One day a guy came up to me and grabbed my hair (its getting really really long)  and inhaled deeply and said "if only you werent so big" and walked away. yes if only... 
We got a phone call the other day from a man named Kim bob. He really wants his wife to get baptized but she doesn't let him come to church so he told me about his amazing plan of us meeting them secretly at baskin robbins and surprising her. He explained that baskin Robbins is very expensive but that was ok because ï am a very rich man". He said it would be a good idea if i were casually singing a John Denver song because she really likes john denver and so she'd probably like me because john Denver people really like other people who like john denver. He even sang me some sample songs. I dont think she will be very surprised. I will sing john denver though.
THe work is a lot slower up here. A LOT. But its ok. We have some brilliant stuff planned for this week.  I feel like my emails are never spiritual. Sorry. The thing is that i feel like my spiritual experiences are these simple little moments that aren't even stories. 

I guess thats how life is too. Its less of the huge dramatic moments and more of these simple beautiful pockets of light. 
Love you,
Sister Lund

22 & Still Kickin!

March 4, 2012


SO JEALOUS YOU MET GEORGE KASTASTANZA! I had a dream once that i
married him. Not gonna lie it was not the best dream ive ever had.
well it happened. I really turned 22. My companion was so so sweet and
made me french toast and then we went out to a fancy italian
restaraunt with a bunch of  missionaries. Its another elders birthday
today so we bought a costco cake with swans on it and cut it in half.
It was delicious. That morning while we were studying someone knocked
on the door with three packages. I was SO excited. I commented that it
would be funny if they werent for me and guess what?! they were for
Sister Sagers and an elder. AWESOME. haha no big deal.

Then we had a couple appointments and it was over. Definetly different
from last year but truly one of the happiest of my life.
We had zone conference this week. It was so amazing. My favorite part
was hearing the missionaries testimonies that are going home. There is
a big group going home and it was really incredible. One after another
they got up and talked about what their missions meant to them. The
struggle, heartbreak, joy, frustration and everything in between. I
loved seeing these kids- most havent even started college- speaking
boldly of things far beyond their years.
We had stake conference on sunday. It was great- a member of the 70 came.
This is the most boring email ever.
im sorry.im really distracted because we are going to a cat cafe and i
cant focus because im too excited. AHH i gotta go.
thanks for the birthday love.
k bye
Sister Lund

Nuskin Land!

Feb 26th, 2012

ah! my email just erased and now this one is not going to be as good
because i lost my momentum.

I LOVE MY NEW AREA! It's ginormous and so hard to get around but its
not a big deal because my companions a little genious and knows how to
get everywhere and how to do everything including speak arabic,
korean, and probably cure cancer. She is a lot of fun.

I was flipping through records the other day and came across a less
active who's sister used to meet with the missionaries and has a
daughter who is not baptized. Then i saw that she went to salt lake to
for the Nuskin convention and called her up. She answered the phone
and i introduced myself and told her that i would really love to meet
her and her daughter. She then started to tell me how incredibly busy
she was and that she probably was going to be in seoul for most of the
week and that is was very nice that i called maybe i will call you in
a week goodbye. Then I blurted out "MY DAD IS STEVE LUND" shameless.
Then she was REALLY happy i called and agreed to meet the very next
day which my companion said it was nothing short of a miracle- they
have been trying to meet for two months. We met at the church and she
was absolutely lovely. we got talking and she started to bear her
testimony and saying really beautiful things about the church and how
it had really blessed her life and then i realized she was bearing her
testimony about Nuskin. haha. anyways she was at church the next day
and that evening I got a phone call from her sister who was a former
investigator who refuses to answer calls. and now she is a new
invstigator who promises to come to church on Sunday. oh plus my
bishop works for Nuskin. weird.

I sort of crashed a wedding this weekend. It was in this beautiful
restaraunt looking out over a lake. We were a little late though and
most people had left by the time we got there. But true to korean
style the bride and groom insisted that we eat and left their
reception and went downstairs and ate with us. They were the cutest
couple ive ever met in Korea. She served her mission in Washington DC
and is a supermodel. They sat and talked with us and gave us all the
marriage wisdom that they have aquired over the past two months they
have been married. After we ate the couple found out we were going to
our english class on the other side of town and arranged for two town
cars to drive the elders and i to our class. Yeah. Korea is the best
place in the world to serve a mission.

Im turning 22 this week. Pretty much hate that. In korea everyone is
one year older so i never got to be 21 but i refuse to tell people im
23. Ive come to that point in my life where its time to start lying
about my age. 22. I will tell people im 22 till the day i die
probably. Im so happy its spring. I cant wait for the Cherry blossoms.
anyways. I fall deeper and deeper in love with my mission every day.
It never stops being hard- the amazing thing is that i feel like i
overcome one obstacle and the lord has another all lined up for me. Im
learning and growing so much. Im so in love with korea. I was standing
on a bridge the other day for a district activity and stopped a girl
who immediately told me she didnt believe in God. I told her that I
knew there was a God and that he loved her. I told her our lives had
purpose and that she could be with her family forever. It was just a
simple testimony but as I said the words i felt it in my bones that it
was true. I am so very greatful for the knowledge. I am greatful for
the special spirit that accompanies missionaries. That its there even
on a crowded windy bridge. I am so very greatful for my decision to
serve a mission. This experience saved my life. Thanks for the
birthday wishes!
love love love
Sister Lund