Temple Square Referral

Hey folks.

ring ring...ring ring... "hi this is the missionaries from the church of jesus christ of latter day saints. We heard you were maybe interested in hearing more about our church after your visit to temple square?"

"Oh yes, i was just in Salt lake for a Nuskin meeting and my boss just announced that he is going on a mission for his church so i wanted to know more."

"oh wow, your boss sounds like a really great guy"

"Yes he is. I took a tour around the temple and they told us about how families could be together forever and it really touched my heart"

"Yes your family really can be together forever- that is what our message is all about! When is a good time for us to meet?"

"oh maybe next Thursday"

 

Yeah that TOTALLY happened. Blake and I are doing tag team missionary work!!! Thanks for the help Blake!

I heard that the mission has been getting several referrals like that. Can you believe how cool?! I cant.

 

We had another baptism yesterday. Her name is Chi noo. She is 17. She wanted to join five years ago but her dad said no. She decided a month ago that she missed church and that it was still true. We told her she was right.

I love her a lot.

I do not love that the elder who baptized her had to baptize her 1 2 3 4 5 times. NOT COOL.

But it happened and she will serve a mission and have eight beautiful children.

 

I went on splits to Naju again. I got to see my laywer who got baptized a few weeks ago. When we got to his house he was out in his fields. I ran out to say hi and instead of a polite bow I got a hug. I was shocked to see a different man standing in front of me. His countenace was completely different. All i could think was that this man was converted. He was all smiles and laughter.

We sat in his ancient korean mansion and drank disgusting old man tea and he bore me his testimony. It was all i could do to not break out in sobs. I was SO HAPPY.

The next day was zone conference. President and sister furniss are rockstars. I LOVE them. I didnt have to speak and that was great. actually it was a miracle. I prayed the whole hour bus ride that i wouldnt have to speak. They make us do it in Korean! Do i LOOK like i speak korean?!

 

Ok so everyone keeps telling me to get real and say how im for realy reals doing.

Crazy things are afoot at the circle k.

The reason why im emailing so late is because my companion might be going home. Its a really long story and its not really mine to tell but she is having a really hard time. And so am I.

 Pray for us ok? Especially our investigators because im pretty sure some of them think we are crazy due to crazy things that have happened.

just got a call from president. She is staying.

mixed feelings about that.

I love you so much. Im ok. Its just missionary work. Im learning lots of good things. Just not korean... haha.

Kisses,

Sister lund

 

 

There is a Balm in Giliead

So i dont know what changed but this week was different. I spoke a lot more, laughed a lot more, didnt feel like running to Switzerland (maybe once), and felt so much love and encouragement. I read this quote the other day about how life becomes the toughest just before you reach your goal. Im hoping this means im getting closer to being where i want to be with my language and my work. Also i think we've been doing a lot of things right because the adversary is going to work on our investigators and us. We had five baptismal dates at the beginning of the week and it feels like all of our investigators are going through the same thing- questioning, doubting, or just wanting to ignore answers they have received. I know its just a phase though. They all promised to keep trying. I know they will pull through!!

My halloween was pretty cool. I found this great place called coffee and cat where you can buy some juice and drink it in the midst of like 50 cats! hahaha. Yes. It was the coolest weirdest thing ever. My favorite part was the super creepy owner cat lady man. He LOVES his cats. I saw him kiss their lips a couple times. Turns out i really love cats. I was in heaven a little bit. It was the best medicine in the world to hold something that loves you back. I realized how love deprived missionaries are that holding a cat meant something to me. so so sad and pathetic. After we went to the yound single adult activity. I was a ballerina. Tutu, ballet shoes, bun and all. My companion was a ghost. Just a bed sheet. She mostly looked like a terrorist/maybe a leper or maybe Mary. Anyways we had a lot of fun. The had a unicorn pinata. nuff said.

Oh something COOL happened!  A couple weeks ago we picked up an investigator who i was 100% sure was an english interest only. Guess what? I dont know anything about anything. She walked into our lesson on wedesday and says guys... i was thinking about what we talked about last week, about finding an answer and i was praying while walking down the street and it was cloudy and all of a sudden i saw and felt all this light. I think it was my answer! We told her it most definetly her answer and that she should get baptised and she said yes, of course! HUZZAH!

Oh guess what else is cool. We were having companionship study the other day when i hear these crazy howler monkey noises from outside. I looked out the window and what did i see?! People dressed up as dementors fighting with light saber/ jousting sticks howling like screeching eels. It was so much cooler than you could possibly imagine. Probably the best experience of my mission so far.

OH ALSO. The other day we were heading home on the bus and i was carrying a thousand heavy things plus i was so tired and the only seat open what a seat next to this kid in his 20's. I usually dont sit next to those types of people because they do weird things like touch my hair and tell me my face is the size of a thumb (thats a compliment here fyi). But i was so tired so i just stepped over him and dont worry! my foot slipped and i promptly sat on his lap, spilling my oranges everywhere and i about died a thousand deaths trying to get off of him and not let anyone see my nametag.

Good things are happing. I love love love being a missionary. I love you. The church is truer than ever.

Sister lund

What?????

I am so sosososososo excited for Blake and Nancy!!! I want them to be my mission presidents! They are going to be amazing. Kaedon London and Kelson are so lucky- They are about to have the biggest adventure of their lives.  Happy Birthday dad. My companion and I sang happy birthday for you and ate skittles. I am so happy you were born. You are my hero.  Also happy halloween. Korea doesnt have Halloween but we are having a big halloween party tonight for the young single adults and all our investigators. Spook alley included. I am so excited. I havent decided what i will be but just know it will be epic. This week has been kind of hard to be honest. Mostly because I had interviews with my mission president and he told me i have to learn Korean this transfer because there are 10000 American sisters coming into the mission. I pretty much wanted to die after. But ive been studying like theres no tomorrow because there kind of isn't and its not really helping. Turns out korean makes no sense. We had sisters conference. Sister Furniss is so cool. I want to be her so much. We had so much fun and listened to the relief society broadcast. Elder Uchtdorf.... pretty sure that is not how you spell his name... is the MAN. It was exactly what i needed to hear. I love how the same talk can mean something to a mom in Utah and some sister missionary way the heck in Korea. My companion got sick on Friday. We were at the church waiting for our appointment to show up when she looks at me and says " think i throw up many times" and walks into the bathroom and does so for a really long time. About two seconds later our appointment shows up. My companion is on the floor moaning. I am left to my devices- caveman talk for five minutes. Luckily the church is true and the lord ALWAYS covers for us. The elders come striding in like the knew what was going on and start helping with the lesson. It turned out to be awesome and she agreed to meet with us again. My companion threw up like eight more times. It was amazing. So saturday we took it easy. I studied Korean all day. and then i plucked my companions eyebrows. She was kinda mad but then she told me this awesome story about how her cousin shaved off her eyebrows when she was little and then i told her about how i shaved my own head a little when i was not so little and my sister used to make fun of me. Anyways since then our relationship has been really good. All we needed was some throwing up and some shared traumatic experiences. The work is still challenging but so rewarding. Its a lot harder than i thought it would be. But in between the tough times are all these moments of brilliant light. Never in my life have i felt so sad and discouraged but never in my life have i felt so much joy, fulfillment, and peace. This gosple is true. The savior lives. Joseph Smith really was a prophet. I know the book of mormon it true. It is an incredible thing to be able to teach about these simple truths. I love you. Happy halloween! sister lund

Sister Lund vs. the World

So... once again.... i have overstressed the situation. My companion is only a little out of her mind. She is like 4' 9" and i tried to bench press her last night and it almost worked. She is the first convert in her family and is a gentle sweet little thing. She kinda cries a lot. like a LOT. but it turns out sister missionaries like to do that so i just make her hot chocolate and hand her tissues. Last night we had dinner at Robert Holly's house this returned-missionary-turned-famous-comedian who lives in one of our wards. It was kind of a miracle because i heard he doesnt really like sister missionaries. but dont worry. I totally made him love us... i hope. Anyways his wife gave us pumpkin pie and it make me feel all tingley inside.  So the relief society had a big cooking competition and invited us and i wanted to participate and bought this horrible korean cookie mix. Also i could NOT get the oven to start. We prayed and tried again and of course it immediately started working. Our cookies came out looking and kind of tasting like dirt clods. but i didnt even care because they were miracle cookies. We brought them to the activity and they entered them into the contest. Our area is known for the amazing cooks and these women totally brought the heat. Their food was UNBELIEVABLE. we all introduced our items and I explained that our cookies were made by Gods hands. Everyone thought that was pretty funny and they LOVED our cookies. and get this: WE WON. Our cruddy ugly little cookies beat out all the Korean cuisine!!! hahahahahhahahaha i have pictures. Ill show you in like 11 months ok? This week i got lots of love from home and it was pretty AWESOME. Shout out to Larry Jones, momma oldroyd (the zucchini bread made me cry a little), and of course my mom who is the envy of every missionary in Taejeon. Im speaking a lot more Korean- thats pretty exciting. hmm... k thats all i think i have to say, Except maybe I love being a missionary. SO MUCH. even when my companions are completely nutso. maybe especially when they are crazytown. Remember when i got set apart and my blessing talked about how i would love my compys- its totally true. Sometimes ill be in the middle of a crazy situation and im just able to have a clear head and not get mad and just feel love for them- definitely strength beyond my own. I love you. i love this work. I love korea. Kisses!! sister lund

Happy Pregnant Korean Day and Steve Jobs Died

Today is pregnant lady day in korea which is so appropriate considering EVERYONE is pregnant back home. Congrats to all my Georgia loves. Way to follow the prophets counsel! I will be spending pregnant lady day as a bystander for SURE. i still dont speak Korean. also I dont know if anyone heard but Steve Jobs died and Korea is pretty crushed. Like every one has pictures of him in their store windows. I feel kinda sad too. Who will think of really awesome devices to help me waste all my time? oh well. CONFERENCE CHANGED MY LIFE. If any one isn't quite sure if the church is true just watch conference and you'll remember. I am totally blown away by how inspired the bretheren are. I feel so motivated to be better, try harder, repent more, practice more faith and stop being such a boo boo cry baby. To me, conference was all about realizing how blessed i am and to stop focusing on what im unsure of and realizing the Lord has everything covered. Everything is going to work out just the way its supposed to especially if im doing what im supposed to. i JUST got transfer calls. Im getting a korean companion Sister kim. she doesnt speak english. pray for me. Anyways im all of a sudden completely distracted- what was i saying..... i dont know. Sometimes missions are hard.... kinda feel like my life is over.... but im done being a boo boo cry baby rememeber!? Ok honestly insane things are happening. like we have three baptisms scheduled for dads birthday. I totally plannediton purpose dont even worry about it. Our investigators are unreal. So prepared and so lovely. I love love love them. I pretty much think about them all the time. Its getting kinda coldy outside. I love it. but im freezing to death kinda. can someone send me some leggings? I got the Nuskin stuff. THANKS! It was better than christmas. I almost cried. Im sad sister sherwood is leaving. It kinda feels like Camelot is ending... trudging off into the dark ages.  ok for realsies its gonna be fine. ok i gotta go we have a crazy day, I LOVE YOU! I love being a missionary even when things are weird. love you! sister lund

1984 George Orwell and three baptismal commitments

Remember in 1984 when George Orwell talks about how it doesnt matter how many people tell you you're wrong, if you're right, you're right? I have to remind myself of this pretty much on daily basis in korea. My favorite example of this happened at a sisters lunch with all Korean sisters. We were talking about how missions are 18 months and its like giving birth twice. Then the koreans were like,"but it doesn't work because pregnancies are 10 months". Uh... no they're not. "Yes they are!" uh no. I TOOK THAT CLASS! I watched that WHOLE video except the very end when I passed out. But there was no convincing them- it only ended because the Korean rage was starting to surface and i was scared.  But on to more important things- WE GOT THREE BAPTISMAL COMMINTMENTS THIS WEEK!!!!!!!! Two of them are happening on saturday. I am on cloud nine! I cannot believe the miracles we are seeing. We are planning on committing two more people thisweek and I am pretty confident its going to happen. It seems like every day we are picking up another incredibly prepared investigator.  We had ward conference yesterday and we were pretty heart broken when only two of our investigators showed up. I said a prayer and moments later we got three phonecalls in a row from lost investigators trying to find the church. We had to go on member splits and runa  half marathon to collect all of our SEVEN investigators that came. The ward was amazing and I think everyone had a really great experience. The stake president gave an amazing talk all about repentance, the atonement, and baptism. It was such an amazing missionary sunday. SO many members brought friends or family- we got so many numbers i have no idea how we are going to have time to call them all this week. I looked at our schedule this week and we have one one hour block of time that is not filled with a stellar appointment. The Lord is blessing us in such a huge way- im just hope we can keep this up. We arent taking a p day again today because there really is no time. I dont know how im going to do it. IM SO TIRED. I feel like ive aged ten years this transfer- im losing tons of weight and the weird thing is ive never been happier in my whole life. I love falling into bed feeling like death and knowing I'm doing what i came here to do.  OH YEAH- we had splits this week. My compy from the mtc came up to gwangju which meant neither of us spoke korean and I had to get us to all of our appointments all over the city and try to say something substinative enough that our investigators wouldn't drop us. I've never been so stressed in my life. BUt guess what? The Lord totally covered for us. We had an amazing couple of days. We made it to all of our appointments on time, taught our lessons to our investigators who either understood us or are just really nice. It was a humbling and incredible experience to feel the spirit guiding us in such a huge way. Its comforting to know that the Lord wont let us mess things up-  He ALWAYS has our backs.  An old lady bought us chicken the other day and there were fried chicken feet in the bucket that looked like baby hands. I freaked out inside. The korean elders tried to get me to eat them. um no thank you i'd rather not chew up a foot today. Thanks! IT sounds like everyone it doing amazing! I miss you all somthin fierce.  Lovie dovie all the time

Baptisms and Fall Festival

Fall is in full swing in gwangju this week and im starting to realize why every koreans favorite holiday is fall. There is a huge oldies festival going on in the downtown area that is SO incredible. All the foot streets in the shopping district are roofed with glowing painted chinese lanterns, all of the street vendors are selling their special fall treats that taste amazing. My favorite are these giant walnut shaped custard filled pastry things that make you feel all warm inside. Guess what else I got? cotton candy. I saw the cotton candy man and FLIPPED. We asked him to give me a lot so he made me one the size of a beach ball (heaven) Oh and did i mention that it was made on a chopstick? it was. I fall deeper and deeper in love with korea every day. The festival is fun because as we are traveling or street contacting i hear a group of koreans preforming "california dreamin" or Cat Stevens- its especially great because they dont speak korean and their pronunciation is adorable.  Its also cool to see koreans doing something other than rushing to work- actually spending time together, doing fun things.  So we had FOUR baptisms this weekend... no big deal. Except it was a BIG DEAL!! Im pretty much bursting with this deep, heart throbbing, joy. Our first baptism was kim kyung sun our 19 year old miracle who didnt even really need us- the Lord has been preparing her for a while. I got to be there from lesson one to baptism. I feel so blessed to have been apart. The guy that baptized her forgot to tell her to plug her nose and pretty much threw her into the water she came up gasping and choking and sister sherwood and i basically had to pull her out of the water- it was pretty awesome. AHH! I love that girl! Then we had our couple who almost didnt get baptized because they didnt pass their initial interview but one of the counselors in the mission presidencies came down to interview them at eleven for their four oclock baptism. wow. They were so cute and all smiles.  Then at that same service we had our little eight year old first convert in her family (except her aunt who served a mission in temple square). She was so excited and nervous and filled with light. She came out of the water giggling. I love little kids. They have so much trust and faith in people- i want to be like that. So it was an incredible weekend. We had to go on splits on sunday so we could be at both sacrament meetings for the confirmations. Kim kyung sun sat down exactly four seconds before they called her up. Hallelujah. We are extending three more baptismal commitments this week. Can you believe this place?! How are these people so prepared?! It feels pretty good to be working so hard and seeing so many miracles. Sometimes i feel like the lord isn't being sneaky enough. Sometimes his help seems so apparent. Like He is being to obvious or something. I knew He helped missionaries i just didnt know it was THIS much. It makes me kinda homesicky to be so far away on conference weekend. I get to watch it this weekend and im hearing rumors about it being available in english.... huzzah! I cant wait. Could someone send some mac n cheese? I suddenly crave it all the time. Also i need an update on Kendis roney, Alexis Kaufusi, Matt Oldroyd, and anyone else who I should know about. I LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU! I have a testimony of this gospel. Its the only thing that im 100% certain of. I know that we can rely on the Lord even when it feels like everything else is falling apart- he has our backs. He has invested everything in us and wants us to be as happy as we can. As we give ourselves over to His will, He will make us into something better than we ever imagined. I love being a missionary. Its the hardest, worst, best thing i think ill ever do and i genuinely love it. All my love, Sister lund