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

Jack Sparrow and the Dolphin that Lives in our Pipes!

Feb 20th, 2012

I live in Chongju now. Its maybe an hour north. It is MUCH colder
here. They actually get snow and you better not expose your hands to
the cold or they will surely snap off. I love it here. Our apartment
is a shoebox and maybe the most ghetto thing i've ever seen. Every
time someone in the building takes a shower the pipes make this crazy
loud dolphin cry. It does not set the mood for sleeping. nope.  Mom
remember when i turned eight or nine and we were in hawaii and you
signed Kendis and I up for the "dolphin show" and all we got to do was
stick tubes down their throats and give them their medicine? haha.
anyways...

Sister Sagers is my new companion. She is blonde and very very very
smart. She studied molecular biology and arabic in college.
yeah i studied art history and public relations.

We had a funny day on Saturday.  We were visiting a bunch of less
actives when we came out of an apartment building and across the
parking lot i see a blonde girl. I told my companion and she asked if
i wanted to talk to here and before i knew it I was running across the
parking lot after her. We ended up having to chase her for like three
blocks and I felt like the biggest freak but we finally caught up and
"smoothly" said hi. She takes out her earphones and is super friendly
and from florida. Then we found out that her boyfriend is a less
active member of our shurch and she thought he would maybe like to
talk to us. Yeah she'll get baptized. ill keep ya posted.

Then we went to another less active's house and knocked on the door.
This particular less active is known for being amazingly aloof. But he
was home and let us in! His whole family was home and we instantly
bonded. I LOVE LOVE LOVE their family. I also love that their dad IS
Jack Sparrow. Facial hair, cheek bones, attitude, maybe even carreer.
He's just the Korean version. Anyways his english is amazing and we
got talking and told him about our english class that night. He
immediately got his oldest daighter ready and drove us all to english
class. Later the elders told us how they have been trying to get in
touch with him for months and that his wife and children are not
baptized... anyways Jack Sparrow invited us over anytime. I had
several experiences like that this week where we were simply at the
right place, at the right time, saying the right things. I sometimes
think how do things turn out JUST RIGHT. or how did I even think to
ask her about her mother- or what was going through our heads that it
was a good idea to chase some lady three city blocks to tell her hi?
Then I remember that there is a God in heaven who cares deeply for us.
He is aware of our noblest desires and our most profound heartache. He
has a remedy for everything. And most of the time His remedies come
through others.
im so tired today. The wind NEVER stops blowing. I talked our whole
district into going to a cat cafe today and our
previous-assistant-to-the-president-very-serious district leader was
less than pleased because he is allergic to cats. Luckily I found some
dishwashing gloves, a sergical mask, and swimming goggles so that he
could participate. He didnt think it was very funny but you should
have seen him petting the cats with his pink dishwashing gloves. Best
day of my life.
love ya

Starships and an aquarium

February 12, 2012


I got to go to KASA. Kasa stands for the Korean Aeronautic and Space Adventures…. or something. haha anyways its where the astronaut space people work. Also where our ward mission leader works. We decided to hold an English class there for his co workers and it was like setting foot on the SS Enterprise. Seriously. They all told these awesome nerdy astronaut space jokes and there were all these time travel looking machines and no amount of pleading got you playing with them. I got to see cool photos of the universe and as i looked at them i was overwhelmed with how small i am. But then they all wanted to know how big I was and what my mother fed me when i was little. I told them cinnamon toast and otter pops. Blew their minds.

I also got to go to an aquairium on p day. I heard about this great one that has two pink baby dolphins in it. I was super excited. Hailed a taxi and said take me to the Daejeon aquarium! Next think i know we are outside this gigantic department store and the taxi driver gave me a post it note and told me to give it to someone inside. I did what the man said and i was directed to the "aquarium" on the third floor. Yeah. it was the pet store. WOW. Not a single dolphin either. We got some good pictures with the fishes though. 

We saw a bunch of miracles this week. We worked our buns off this transfer and we are starting to see lots of progress with our investigators. Even a baptism next week! So of course i am getting transferred. Back to square one. I'm going to be companions with a girl that went to timpview- don't really know her except she studied Arabic in college. Maybe she will teach me. Then i can communicate with the man who dad sold me to for 1000 camels in Egypt. wow that was random.

We threw a dessert party at the church last night for a couple families plus our investigators plus some less active families. It would have been awesome (we made awesome American desserts) except NO ONE CAME. Except the bishops family and my other favorite family in the ward. I felt like no one showed up to my sixteenth birthday party. But it ended up being SO fun. We played spoons. and i DOMINATED. It was especially fun because Koreans are mega competitive and they kept challenging me and I KEPT winning haha. Seriously went undefeated. I think i won their respect. I've loved it here. I'M so sad to leave. Missions sure do have a lot more heartbreak than i was anticipating. You completely give yourself over to these people and then you just get shipped off every six weeks. I hope president forgets about me for the rest of my mission and i can just die up there. 

Mom will you send me American treat/baking things? I want to start having my dessert thing a lot.

um. i think thats about all. sorry to hear about Whitney. The cafe im in in playing her music right now. Its kind of way depressing. 

love love love love you. I have the best family in the world. Time is going by ridiculously fast.

I HATE CHANGE! what if my companion hates me?!?! 

got the handwarmers mom. haha. Lifetime supply. Just as i requested. hahah

sister lund