A joyful and different week (dec 30)

Hey everybody,

 

So in typical sister lundahl fashion I will send this e-mail in the usual format starting with monday.  Monday was a crazy day of doing the 2 fhe's in 3 hours.  I don't know about you, but a challenge it was, and success we had.  It helps that we live with a member who we can corner and share a message with later in the evening.  Which ended up in us having success!  

 

It was the tuesday christmas eve challenge of 12 christmas carols to different people that gave us a challenge.  We sang one to Linda and Arnez.  They loved it!  And then we sang one to Melanie.  The we drove around and sang to members in our town.  We only have like 4 members... so we called people we left messages and did what we had to do to sing 12 christmas carols.  And we got them all done before we had to drive down to Boothbay for christmas eve dinner.  It was a wonderful dinner.  The Quinlins who are our branch president and wife hosted it, and we had vegitarian lasagna and it tasted really good.  We played a personality game which was really fun and same songs.  Then sister Quinlin gave us a stocking that she had made.  It was an absolutely beautiful stocking. :) full of goodies lol.  It was fun!  

 

Christmas was a great day.  For some reason I felt like a little kid again waiting for christmas to come.  I was so excited to open presents and talk to my family that I kept waking up in the middle of the night. I had to keep telling myself that I couldn't get up until the alarm when off.  I needed to stick to the missionary schedule.  It was hard, but I did it.  And it was so much fun to wake up and open presents and then have breakfast with sister brooks and get ready.  It was a really good morning.  Then we went out and visited members.  We ate so much!  I still feel full.  jk.  We saw the Dyers who were facetiming people in Utah which made me really excited and then we went to the Libby's where we had Christmas dinner and called all of you!  So crazy to see you all!  The puppy was so cute! and Lincoln was adorable!  And I especally loved being able to talk with grandma and grandpa over the phone.  That was truly special.  I also thought it was really funny when grandma said she loved to shovel snow! 

  

Thursday was a little different.  We had district meeting and then we went and tried to contact a few people.  It was good and fun.  a great way to have the day after Christmas.  That evening we cleaned up our area book.  It is beautiful now.  And that is all for now.

 

Friday started out great.  We cancelled exchanges and then we went out and served melanie and taught the seversons.  We also we're able to do our mormon.org time.  We planned and everything.  And that night as we were doing our nightmy planning I got a call from my mission president.  He said he needed to talk to me confidentially and so I went into the bathroom nd he told me that Grandma Bean had passed away.  it was a very difficult rest of the evening.  I did not get very much sleep needless to say. 

 

Saturday kindaof passed in a blurr, there was a funeral for another person who passed away this week that we went to.  i held myself together.  We were able to go and teach linda and Arnez and we taught about the atonement.  It was a really good lesson!  And those are basically the highlights of saturday 

 

Sunday we actually had church!!!! We were all so happy it is very nice to just go and partake of the sacrament.  I am so glad.  we we're able to have church.  I haven't really told anybody in the area that gandma passed away yet.  i am waiting for a little longer.  But even though I haven't told anybody somehow this week we now have a bunch of meal apts. and I'm really happy!  cuz cooking right now is not on my priorities. :)  So a tender mercy from the lord it is.  

 

That is all for this week.  It has been very hard, but I know this is where I'm supposed to be  I'm so glad to be on my mission.  And even when live gets a little hand and throws some challenges the Lord is always there to help. :)

 

Love Always and Forever,

Sister Lundahl

Freezing Rain (from december 23)

Hey family!

So this week had been crazy!  We have been doing a 12 days of christmas challenge given by our zone leaders.  And so far our district is killing with a perfect score! 

 

on monday we had to share 4 luke 2 messages.  mind you that is our p-day and we had to drive to go on exchange... so we got creative.  WE memborized a scripture and shared it with people we met.  like the lady who works at moody's gift shop and the dollar tree cashier, and others.  It was intersting.  Very awkward, but we did hit success. :)  And we had to drive down to topsham and back. So sister tait came back with me to Waldoboro.

 

Tuesday we went out and taught Linda and Arnez again.  We finally taught the law of chastity.  WE didn't wait because we were scared, but because we had already gave them the pamphlet and they read through it.  but we still needed to officially teach it.  o worries.  THey are all good.:)  Then we went to go help a potential paint some furniture, but she wanted sister Huefenr to be there to paint so we cleaned the furniture and helped that way.  We then had to do our christmas challenge of contacting 5 former investigators.  So off we went.  We called people and drove to houses.  One house we went to had a bunch of creepy statues outside of it and it was hard to get to the door.  but the guy was nice.  He is an artist which explained the statues.  We also found a new investigator from it.  Her name is Cat.  It was really funny cuz we knocked on her door and she just yelled come in.  So we did.  And she wss super cill that we were missionaries.  And was very nice, and wanted to learn more. :)  We then came in a little early due to the fact that we we're getting another storm so we worked on visuals and things like that. :)

  

Wednesday we woke up to another 1.5 ft of snow.  We also needed to drive down to topsham so that we could unexchange. We were also grounded... So we shovelled ourselves out and called our branch missionleader he gave us the go and we went out and about to get to topsham.  I drove, and all the road were clear except for thedriveway to the elders apt because it was crazy steep, but we made it and picked up the elders and drove to topsham.  :)  no problem.  We called all the people we usually see and told them we would be late... we ended up being really late, but they understood.  S. Russel one less active we see actually made us dinner!  So we had waffles!  My 1st waffles in new england.   And they were very good.  So funny story: my companion doesn't like tea and s. Russel always gives us herbal tea, and so S.H. tried to sweeten it with syrup... then she put in honey... then sugar... needless to say it did not improve the flavor.  But she choked it down with a happy face :D  It was really funny.  We also went caroling that night with the youth in the branch.  It ended up being a wonderful day. :) 

 

Thursday We needed to invite 7 people to do something from mormon.org.  DId you know you can download free music from mormon.org?  so we asked 7 people. :) We had a lesson with Linda and Arnez and Tom at the Duffy's-the family we lived with for 3 weeks.- and it was great.  WE re-taught the plan of salvation and it was great.  We then went to melanie's the potential and really painted the furniture.  And somehow we were able to invite 7 people.  We had to call a few, but there was no way we were loosing our perfect score.

 

Friday was a car fast.  We had weekly planning and that took up most of our day. And the rest...was not very exciting. :0

 

Saturday we went and taught linda and arnez again.  It was great.  WE watched the testaments with them.  It was great.  We also had to ask for 9 christmasy referrals.  So we went caroling that night and asked for people we could sing to next.  It was great!  We we're able to carol to our neighbors with the elders and shared christmas cheer.  :)  It was a really good day.  But everyone was preparing for an ice storm...which came

sunday.  Due to the ice, church was cancelled.  And good thing too.  We had about .5 in of ice on everything.  Although the road was ok since it had been very sanded.  But since we had no church and we can't go and shovel ice we had a very creative day of helping our land lady sister brooks.  We made 2 pies with her and did a ton of thankyou cards. and somehow we were able to deliver 2 christmas baskets which we also made with sister brooks all so we can still say we have a perfect score... needless to say, our district is winning. :)

 

Which brings us to today.  Where it is still raining although it is just warm enough that it is not freezing and we need to do 2 christmas fhe's with members.  So we have one scheduled.  We jsut need to figure out the other one... but we will succeed the lord will provide.  And tomorrow we will be singing 12 christmas carols.  And that is what we are doing.  It has been a crazy good week. :)

 

Love always and Forever,

Sister Lundahl

Snow Miracles!

Hey everyone!

 

So this week was crazy!  I'm not sure I will be able to write about it all, but I will do my best.  It all started Monday when we got a snow storm and had to drive to Augusta.  It was a scary drive but we made it.  We then had to wait 2 hours for the other missionaries to get there. And then drive to Portland, pick up another sister and drop me off, and the rest of the sisters had to keep driving down to Manchester.  So that was the start.

Then on tuesday Sister Beus and I went out and about in that area.  I met a member who has made a stuffed animal sewing book.  Her last name is Goulders and she is amazing! I absolutely love her!  The then went about trying to find and teach people, we met a quaker on the street and met some other really nice awesome people. :)  And then Sister Huefner picked me up and we drove all the way back to augusta where we then drove back to waldoboro.  Getting home way past our curfew and bedtime....like 11:00 it was not good...

We still had to get up at 6:30 and get to work.  It was great.  And that night I was leaving the area again so we could go on exchanges with oxford and so I quickly unpacked and then repacked and we had to go about doing all our usual stuff.  We taught linda and arnez again,and then helped a lady named Melanie move some things and clean a few other things.  Which was fun.  And the rest of our usual Wednesday stuff, because we didn't have district meeting because we had interviews on friday.  

So thursday was fun.  I met the people in oxford.  The sisters there really have some great members that are just fantastic!  They are very helpful and are very missionary minded.  And the Sisters have been able to find some great investigators over there too.  I love all the people there.  We taught this single guy who has already made a bunch of changes in his life and it a really great guy.  We also taught this Golden family who called the missionaries because they left a card and now they are learning and wanting to know more and are really comfortable in the gospel.  It is cool to see how the other sister's areas are doing. :)

Friday is when we had interviews and we had quite a bit of travel time from oxford, but it was fun with Sister Jensen who I was with.  I love having interviews because you get to talk with the mission president one on one.  And talk about anything.  Which is very helpful.  Interviews were of course running very late so we had to hurry home.  Of course while we were at interviews we found out Sister Huefner lost the phone.  SO we were hoping that it was at our apt.   So we hurried back and couldn't find it anywhere.  So we said a quick prayer and the Elders found the phone outside- they were giving us a ride to the branch christmas party since we gave them a ride to interviews- apparently the phone had fallen out of Sister Huefner's bag on the ground.  We were so luck that it didn't get ran over!  Then the Christmas party was great.  WE had good ol' funeral potatoes. :)  And they were yummy, and we also had ham and veggies and stuff like that. :)

Then Saturday wen't crazy because we needed to help sister brooks get ready for the storm so we stacked about a cord of wood then went into the forest to cut down our own Christmas tree. :)  It is kinda sparse, but cute and is awesome.  I just think it is kinda funny that we just went into sis. Brooks backyard and found a tree.  We then had another lesson with Linda and Arnez.  It was good.  Tom was there.  I can't remember if I told you all but tom and Arnez broke up and tom didn't realize he could still come to church, but we hope that he will be able to now. Then we helped the Duffy's with their tree, so that was fun getting it into the stand.  All their cats we're funny when they saw it, they had to keep checking it out.  Then we started our weekly planning and prepared some more for the storm.

Sunday was a really crazy miracle day.  It was great.  1st church got cancelled.  Yes, kind of odd.  I've never heard of church getting cancelled until I came out here, and it was a good thing it was because there was a lot of snow.  I think that we got about 1-1.5 ft of snow.  It is crazy.  There is so much snow everywhere.  And so we got out and shoveled ourselves out and then tried to help shovel our neighbors out.  Of course our cars were grounded so we couldn't drive any where so we got walking.  As we were walking we saw a person outside shoveling, and thought, perfect someone we can help.  So we go over to try and help. We went to ask him and he said you must be the Mormons.  Are you out of the damariscotta branch? It is very rare for someone to know that term.  So while we were in slight shock we find out he is a baptized member!  He was baptized at 8 and has a little family and live around the corner from us and his records aren't on our list.  We are determined to fix that, and go and see him again!  It was crazy.  Just around the corner and there he was.  He said he didn't need out help, but that he appreciated it.  So we went back to walking around when I guy stopped and asked if we needed a ride.  We said no, but asked if knew of anybody that needed help shoveling.  So he send us back down the road to an older couple called the browns,  We made the hike, talking to a few people along the way, and came just as Todd Brown was exiting his house to start shoveling.  So we asked if we could help and got to work.  Then his wife and him invited us in to warm up and we talked with them for a while.  Told them we were singing in church and they said they might come.  They even wrote down the address.  So that was exciting.  Then as we were heading back to our apt/ sis brooks home we saw 1 house whose drive way had not been shoveled.  And we were ready to go back and finish our weekly planning and be done for the day, but we said a quick prayed and went back and met a really nice guy named Barry who invited us over for dinner with him and his wife. :)

 

So even when the snow comes down and the flood and whirlwinds come the lord will deliver us to those who are prepared for the gospel.

 

Love always and Forever,

Sister Lundahl

ps, I forgot that we are also doing a Christmas challenge as a zone the 12 days of Christmas and yesterday we also had to hand out 3 Christmas DVDs.  We succeeded.  And today we are going to be sharing 4 Luke 2 messages and so on.  It is crazy fun! we are competing with all the other districts in the zone. :)

Christmas is coming!!!

Hey everyone!!

 

This week has been so crazy!  Some of it good, some of it less than desirable.   You'll know what I mean.  But to start with all the crazy good things that have happened. 

 

We have been going non-stop somedays.  So Tuesday we taught a lesson to Linda and Arnez, who are both doing fantastic. Then we went to the Royers and moved wood.   Lots of wood.  We had to not just move it to a new spot but onto the secone story of a barn.  It was fun.  Actually we were really lucky that we were ablt to move it all. I'm not sure how we did it.  We had a huge stack that we needed to move in 20 mins and somehow we did. :)  

  

On wednes day we did not have dictrict meeting because the Topsham missionaries had a funeral so we got to do our mormon.org time and help a member whose washer and dryer broke.  IT was actually a lot of fun.  She has the cutest little girl.  We then went and read the book of Mormon with a less active.  Then we went and taught a lesson to another less active.  That night the young women were sharing family history stories, nd luckily I was able to look some up on family search.  I am so glad somone put those stories up .  They were very interesting. 

 

Thursday we had district meeting and it was so muc fun we read Heleman 14, Mat1-2, Luke 2 and 3 Nephi 1, as a pre study and then we acted them out.  Yes I recorded them.  I think it was my favorite district meeting so far.  It was so much fun!  We then went and helped a lady decorate her house for christmas!  It was very fun.  She has quite a few decorations though.   

 

Friday was great.   We did a bunch of weekly planning and then went and had a lesson with Linda and Arnez.  It was great.  unfortunately Alrnez fell of the bandwagon a little bit and smoke some.  But we are showing her that we will love her and support her and want to help her.  We then had our exchange with Augusta and they came and dropped S. Lassen off with me.  

  

Saturday:  We after studies we go to grab the keys and get to work and I can't find the keys anywhere. So I call s Huefner.  Guess where they were?  In her pocket.  In Augusta.  Not in Waldoboro.  So we had no car and the nearest place we needed to go was about 5 miles away.  But wait, then I was supposed to drive to Augusta later that night... with no car.  So we called our investigators and headed out to walk.  They said no way and came and picked us up on the way.  Linda and Arnez were there.  Tom.. was not.  Aparently Arnez and Tom are not happy with eachother right now.  Anyway after our lesson with them, they drop us off at the goldrups who have pity on us and sis goldrup drives us everywhere.  She took us to the Royers so we could take care of their dogs while they were at the temple then she took us to an investigators house.  And then the investigators took us home.  And then Sis Goldrup came and picked us up and took us to Augusta.  So while not exactly the ideal, it turned out to be a great opportunity to get to know sis. Goldrup even more and have faith that we were going to make it everywhere we need to go.  

 

That's all for crazy excitement.  This week is going to be even worse with mlc and zone interviews and an exchange.  Wow, life it just so busy!   

 

GTG.

 

Love always and Forever,

 

Sister Lundahl

Thanksgiving!!!!

Hey everybody!

 

I love holidays!  They are pretty awesome! And who doesn't love Thanksgiving?  hmmm?  And I am so glad we have members who invited us over.  :)  So on sunday our thanksgiving was looking a little sparse because we only had one member invite us over, so we were praying that we would be able to get some more places to visit, and thankfully we did. :)  

So Tuesday was a wonderful day.  It was one of those days that we could definitely see the Lords hand leading it out.  It just worked out perfectly.  We went and taught a lesson to Arnez and Linda, and then we went to see a potential investigator and help her move some furniture and stuff.  It was great because we were able to share a scripture and hopefully we will be able to keep serving her.  She is a cousin to the Thompson's who just moved out to Utah.  Actually to  Orem.  So we went and helped her and then had to go to the Royers to feed their fire.  He is our branch mission leader and he got something in his eye and had to go to the hospital so we were making sure their fire didn't go out while they were gone.  We then went to a Relief Society activity.  It was great.  We made menu boards which we converted into a planning chart.  :)  We then went back to feed the Royers fire.  well, I didn't put as much wood on it as I should have... so I had to work to get it going again.  Luckily we still had a few coals left.  Unfortunately the wood was taking a while and then the smoke started to billow back at us instead of out because the chimney wasn't open.  It was a little crazy but we were able to figure it all out and got a roaring fire going again. :) Especially since we got snow for the first time today.  It was beautiful.  And not very much.

  

Wednesday, was quite a bit less eventful.  We had district meeting.  And then we went and saw Sister Gove.  We taught her a little bit, and she gave us some egg nog.    That was the main(e) highlight of the day.  -haha get it Maine... main... ok nevermind. -  So we were able to work and get some things done though and that was good.  WE also got a ton of rain!  It was crazy.  The river is still overflowing.  But we were able to make it down to Topsham with no accidents. :)  

 

Thanksgiving!!! Boy it was crazy to not worry about black friday shopping.  It felt like a regular odd day.  We went and watched a movie with Linda and Arnez and arnez's granddaughter, Jillian  We wanted the full length restoration dvd.  It was good.  And then we went over to the Kanewske's  we were able to talk with then for a bit and share our Thanksgiving scripture which was Mosiah 24:21.  We focused on how they poured out thanks to god.  It was good.  The husband brought up Man's search for meaning, by Victor Frankl and I knew what he was taking about.  All those books I read in high school paid off. :)  We then went to the Dyers for dinner!  It was delish!  I love the Dyers!  They are a fantastic family who are so fun to be around. :)  And thanksgiving was the bomb!  We then went over to the rest home and sang a few songs for a family who was there.  

 

Friday we had to do a last minute exchange cuz we couldn't fit it in earlier in the transfer, so that was really good.  After weekly planning we went out on the exchange, so I had Sister Hoffman with me for the night.  We went and taught a few people. We have been seeing some of these investigators and we never get a full lesson in, but this time we were able to teach both families full lessons!  It was fantastic!  It was a really great day!  

 

Saturday we went to try and find some potentials and some former investigators, and we were able to go in and see this really nice lady who is willing to let us come back!  So we will keep working with her she is a very nice lady!

  

Sunday was super, between the elders and us we have about 8 investigators at church!  And about 10 nonmembers.  It was so cool.  And then I got up and bore my testimony.  Because I was so glad we didn't get a call the night before telling us that we were splitting so now I get to stay in Waldoboro for Christmas!!!!! 

  

Well I got to get going Love you all!!!

 

Love always and Forever!

 

Sister Lundahl

I'm not what I once was, But I'm not yet who Heavenly Father wants me to be.

Hey All!

 

So if you just skipped over the subject, it is I'm not what I once was, But I'm not yet who Heavenly Father wants me to be.  That was shared yesterday in a youth fireside for our branch that a member shared about his conversion.  And I think that is so true for me right now as well.  I am not the same person I was when I came our on my mission.  In fact I'[m not the same person I was at the beginning of this transfer.  And I am still not yet the person that Heavenly Father wants me to be.  I have made progress, but I am nowhere near what he wants me to be.  I guess that is why we have a whole lifetime to figure that out.  But in regards to the mission and this last week I have definitely been able to make some progress.  

 

Monday:  Was great, we drove to Auburn for our exchange with oxford.  I went to their apt.  And it was lots of fun.  They have a really nice apt, but for some reason there is a bunch of copper in the water there, so it turns all their stuff blue.  But they have a really good area, and the ward over there is really supportive of them and way nice!  I loved everyone I met over there.  I was with Sister Smedley, another Visitor Center missionary.  

 

Tuesday:  We went out to teach this really nice lady name Andrea.  She is so sweet and it great!  We took a member with us named Sister Lilly and she is such an example of being a member missionary.  SHe is constantly sharing the gospel.  No matter what it is she is sharing.  She shares on facebook and the phone when she teaches yoga, in everything she does.  It is soo cool to see how she does it.  All while facing major medical problems.  :)  She is awesome. 

We then went and taught this couple named Josaphine and Tony.  Tony is a classic 70-80 punk.  He is now 60 and he still makes his music and puts it on the web.  They are so sweet and are great! We then had to drive to Auburn to exchange back.  It was a great day!  

 

Wednesday:  was another great day!  We had apointments the whole day and none of them fell through.  They were with a few less active members they are so sweet!  We love each of them to pieces and want them to come back to church so badly!  They are amazing!  I wish we could do more for them, but we do our best.  And they are just so amazing! One day they will come back.  I'm sure of it.  And have that lasting conversion.  

 

Thursday: I love member meals!  They are the best.  Especially when the member is a good cook!  We went and ate at the Hovances.  They are a young couple who were sealed this past weekend, and while we couldn't be there, be heard that it was amazing and so sweet.  They have 3 little girls and they are just so adorable.   We love them! And we also helped a potential investigator make some candy wreathes.  I now have a fantastic skill that will help in the holiday season. :)  We also taught the Golden trio as Sister Huefner has now dubbed them.  That would be Arnez, Linda, and Tom.  We had a member, sister Duffy with us and it was so good.  We were able to follow up with them on the Proclamation to the family and also shared with them about the Articles of faith.  We have basically taught them all the lessons, but we are waiting for them to have the all clear for baptism so hopefully that is soon. 

 

Friday:  Weekly planning.  We were also hoping to get our licence plates today since our car is about oh 20 days with out a licensing.  Somehow we hove not been pulled over yet.  And hopefully won't because we didn't get them.  The vehicle coordinator for some reason hasn't been able to get the car licensed.  It is odd.  But it has all worked out so far.  But we stopped by Arnez and Linda's to give  Linda a Bible with all the footnotes and the bible dictionary, and found out that Arnez fell off  the bandwagon for smoking :( So we went and bought a calender for her to mark off everyday that she doesn't smoke.  She wasn't there when we dropped by so we left a bunch of sticky notes of encouragement and then went to a dinner apt. with the Dyers.  It was great.  They had a friend of theirs there who is not a member and we shared a scripture, and it was really great!  She is an amazing person! 

 

Saturday: We went and gave Arnez the calender and the stickers to linda so they could mark off everyday that she doesn't smoke.  Arnez was so funny, she kept telling us that the Lord had tattled on her and that is why we came and found out about her smoking.  It was really funny.  Arnez also had her granddaughter there and she had some very serious questions for us.  like how does the Holy ghost speak to us and what was her middle name. Because Arnez told her that we know everything.  So with panic in our eyes Arnez tried to mouth her name to us and we tried to figure it out and guess all at the same time.  Her middle name is Lee in case you are wondering.  It was funny.  Then she gave us a christmas present.  A picture that she had drawn.  And Linda and Arnez gave us homemade snowflake stainglass ornaments that they had made.  It was so sweet.  I loved them!  They are probably my favorite thing I have received on my mission so far.  

 

Sunday:  They came to church! Of course and we also had a great fireside at the church where converts and born members shared how they became converted.  It was really cool.  And thinking about how I became converted, just shows how important conversion really is.  So how we're converted officially?  Not your baptism, but your conversion?

 

And that brings us to today.  I love you all And hope you are all doing well. 

 

Love always and Forever,

 

Sister Lundahl

Hello!!!!!

Hey everyone!!

 

Another great week in the Waldoboro area!  We have been busy.  So last week we had our zone conference and stuff and it was fantastic!  We then had p-day on Tuesday.  So I will start about Tuesday night.

 

Tuesday:  We were chauffering the Elders around because their car is in the shop.  So they needed rides everywhere.  We then went to August for exchanges.  I picked up Sister Wray and brought her down to Waldoboro with me.  Sister Wray and I went to high school together actually.  So it was lots of fun! 

  

Wednesday:  We then got about doing some great things.  I basically taught all the lessons because sister Wray was very shy, so I taught the 10 commandments to Linda, and Arnez.  It was very difficult, but it turned out great!  I totally felt the spirit with be helping me teach them, because I had no idea what I was doing. 

We then went and saw Sister Russel.  She is the less active we read the book of mormon with.  She is soo sweet.  Everytime we go there she has something for us.  Either a baked good or a drink or something.  And she is sharp.  She understands the Book of Mormon really well and she gets around doing stuff too.  She is 81 and lives alone and is amazing! 

We then went and taught the restoration to another less active.  She is very nice, and we were able to teach in some unity.  we asked Sister Gove to evaluate how we did teaching and she said that we did a very good job, and that we are great teachers.  She also said some other crazy things like, I'm a confident person or something... lol.  She is super nice. 

We then had coordination with the Elders and Bro. Duffy.

It was a good day and then we exchanged back.  It was so much fun. :) 

 

Thurday:  We taught Linda and Arnez again.  Arnez has officially stopped smoking.  It is awesome (as of now it has been like 6 days. :D)  She is still going through some withdrawals which is to be expected, but it is so cool to see how the gospel influences people's lives.  She is doing great, and is making tons of progress!!

We then went to go try and find out what happened to a member.  She just disappeared.  And nobody knows what happened.  Her house was all padlocked and everything.  So we went and talked to her neighbors and found out she moved.  So that was good, and sad, but she is going through chemo and is now closer to her family.

We talked with some her neighbors and there is some good potential there. :)

 

Friday. We had another lesson with Arnez and Linda.  We were only going to see them 3x this week, but then scheduling stuff happened and people got confused so we saw them 4x last week. :)  Oh well.

We then went to go see a really cute and sweet old couple and they weren't feeling good.  So we tried some other people.  And of course we had weekly planning. So that took up the rest of the day.

 

Saturday: A family got sealed!!!! A couple in the branch got sealed on Saturday.  It was awesome.  We couldn't go, but we heard it was amazing. We heart attacked them.

On the way there we passed a car that had steam billowing out of it, so we pulled over to see if we could help.  It was all beyond our understanding, but we tried.

We then went a saw some other people who have been struggling and they were really happy today, so that was great!

Also there is  amember here who is an art major who is really interested in drawing my hand. :)  So we stopped by so he could take some pictures.  He and his wife are so cute and sweet.  And he was so excited to be able to have all these pictures. :)  It was funny.

 

Sunday:  Church is always great when you have investigators there  And of course linda, Arnez, and Tom were there.  They even brought food for the linger longer, and they basically fit right in.  They just get to work and help.  They are so fantastic.  We then went and taught S. Gove again.  She is so sweet and nice, and was great.  We still hadn't finished weekly planning so we went to finish that as well.  Unfortunately we still are not done, but we are getting close.  Also another cool thing that happened was one of our less actives passed the sacrament in church!  :D

 

So that was basically our week.  Lots of good things and funny times.  Meeting people is definitely interesting! :)

 

Love always and Forever,

Sister Lundahl

Another Amazing week in Waldoboro, ME

Hello all!!!

Boy has this been one crazy good week. I love having people who want to come closer to Christ and are willing to make the changes to do that.  And that is what has happened this week.  Starting with lots of other craziness.

 

So Monday we drove to Augusta so we could meet the Wintrop Elders and drve down to Portland where sister Huefner and I stayed the night.  It was a super fun drive with the Elders and the I met Sister Griffin and Sister Beus.  They are so nice and great missionaries. 

 

Tuesday Sister Huefner and Sister Griffin got picked up and went to MLC and I stayed in Portland with Sister Beus and got to work.  It was fun.  We tracted a little bit and did mormon.org time, and then we went and helped  a member in their ward.  She was sick and didn't really want us to come over, but sister beus forgot the phone so we came over and helped anyway.  Her daughter was there too, and usually she doesn't do very much, will come out then go back to her room, but she stayed and helped us clean.  She was super funny and sweet. I wish I could be with her more, because she is less active and doesn't come to church, but she did promise me tat she would read her scriptures everyday.  So I hope and pray that she will be follow through.  The only problem is I won't be there. :/  but the other I know the Sisters there are great and will help her. We then met up with the other Sisters and Sister Huefner and I went back to Augusta to pick up the car.  It was a very interesting ride.  Some of the Elders were very tired, and one asked me where I was from twice in 5 minutes.  Of course he was the one driving, so that was interesting....  But we made it and it was great and then we drove home and didn't gt home till super late...late missionary terms. 

 

Wednesday was really good again.  We had been studying the question of polygamy in the early church so we could answer the concern of a woman in the branch who is a little bit less active.  I was kind of concerned that it would become confrontational, but it didn't and somehow we were able to pull in a bunch of other information and doctrine.  It was so cool to be able to see those how that all worked out.  And then we had a meal appointment with a family called the Hovances.  They are so great!  Sis. Hovance is pretty young, like 24 and she is so funny ad we love to talk with her.  They have 3 kids.  And are so delightful.  Sister Huefner shared the message with them, and did a fantastic job of making it fun for them. :)

 

Thursday we went and say Arnez, and Linda.  We are teaching them the word of wisdom.  And we knew that Arnez smokes and drink coffee.  Well we started it by using the pamphlets and Linda jumped ahead.  Arnez was so excited, because she wants to quit smoking but when she heard no coffee, she was not happy.  But she decided that she wants to come closer to Christ and will do it.  And to far she has not ad another cup of coffee since.  And she has gone down from 1/2 pack of cigarettes to 4 and maybe even less now.  We are so proud of her and are constantly praying for Linda and Arnez to continue to come closer to Christ.  Also they were watching TV and they saw a show called Mormons in America and it talked about Polygamy.  We were so prepared to answer that question!  It was so cool how the Lord was able to prepare us not only to answer S. Gove's question but also Arnez and Linda's! 

 

Friday was a lot of planning again.  Weekly planning of course.  We then went and Painted 2 walls and a ceiling for a member who is moving to Utah.  In fact, she might be interested in going and visiting you, so if you get a call or a drop by by Bev. Thompson, don't be surprised. :)  It was a lot of work.  In addition to more planning etc.

 

Saturday we taught Linda and Arnez again, and this time Tom was there.  It was great!  He too decided that he is not going to drink coffee anymore.  :D  We went and helped Bev again, since she need all the help she can get. 

 

Sunday they came to church and really liked it.  We forgot to get Arnez a blessing for quitting everything, but we will get her one soon.  She really thinks and knows that it will help. Our other appointments fell through unfortunately.  So that was fun.  But we got to go to a meeting in Topsham where Elder Gifford Nielson spoke to us.  Or the guy at conference who talked about exclamation points.  :)  It was sooo good and he gave some really good advice. One thing that stood out to me was the fact that he talked about daily testimony building.  I think that is sooo important to try and do that all the time.  That is what we have promise our savior to do.  And it is when we actually do that, that we feel the spirit that much more. :)  Loved it!

 

Monday was Zone conference in Augusta so we got up at 5:45 so we could both be ready.  Elder Nielson was the presiding authority and he talked a bunch to us.  It was really incredible.  Everything was so inspiring and helpful as missionaries.  I feel so lucky to be here at this time.  I wish I could tell you all the wonderful things that I learned, but the one thing that really stood out to me the most was when he talked about how we are still fighting the same war that we were fighting in Heaven, and we need to decide today where we will stand.  And he asked and committed us to NEVER leave the Lords side.  Because while the Lord knows us so well so does Satan, and he will do everything in his power to keep us from being happy.  For some reason that just stood out more yesterday than ever before.  I think of all the times I've let Satan get me down and I know that as we stand firm and true God can help us even more.  It truly waay great day. :) 

 

And that is why I'm e-mailing today, because today became our p-day.  Well that was basically the week.  It was great and fun and I'm so excited to keep working.  Random tid bit, I've almost been out on my mission for 6 months!!!!!!  Where did the time go?

 

Love you all and I'm so grateful for all the love and support you give!

 

Love Always and Forever,

 

Sister Lundahl

Halloween On A Mission

Hey All!

 

So This week has been crazy good and way busy!!!  1st I have a question, do you prefer my letters to be separated into the separate days or not. I recieved no reply on this subject, so if you have an opinion please let me know. :)

 

Monday:  P-day was great!  It was a wee bit crazy though because we had to do an exchange with the Oxford Sisters who basically life on the other side of the state.  We determined a halfway point for our meetings which was super helpful. We drove I picked up Sister Jensen, then drove back.  Luckily we were able to get a ride this time.  The Duffy's gave a a ride.  They are so sweet!

 

Tuesday:  So Sister Jensen and I went and taught Tom, Linda, and Arnez.  We taught them the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it was so good.  I loved teaching with her.  She is so nice and has lots of missionary experience.  She is one of the few sisters who have been on her mission for over a year.  All three of them committed to coming to church and we really want to baptize them all.  Unfortunately Arnez and Linda cannot be baptized for a while, but hopefully we will be able to behere when Tom gets baptized.  We then went and did service for a member in the Branch.  She is super sweet and we gave her an idea on how to prevent JW's from trying to teach her.  :)  Basically give her a Restoration Pamphlet.  I can't wait to hear the results.  We then did our Mormon.org time.  and of course I showed Sister Jesen my favorite videos.  I suggest everybody goes and watches Lindsey Stirlings mormon.og video.  It is sooo good!!!  Then we drove to exchange back. 

 

Wednesday: It was such a good day!  We had district meeting and we Sister Tait a sister in our district gave sound advice which is very true, Learning Patience take patience.  Yeah, I still am working on that one. But it was such a great district meeting.  We then went and read the Book of Mormon with a Less Active. She is such a sweet old lady, but she goes to the church she grew up in which is sad, and we are trying to help her cuz she still has a testimony.  But she was telling us a story about how she waas driving to home from Boston and it was late and she got lost and she said some very inspiring words, "I didn't panic, I prayed."  I just thought how many times do I just start panicing?  I definitely need to work on that.  We then went to the Branch Truck-or-treat.  Which was good, the Sister in charge asked for our help, and it was so funny.  We picked up the elders and set up our trunk with candy and pamphlets and passalong cards.  Well the Elders decided to get in the truck and they turned into major goofballs trying to get people to take the stuff. It was super funny.  Everybody loved it, and it turned into the happening truck of the trunk or treat. :)

 

Thursday:  We taught Linda, And Tom today.  Arnez had to go and take care of her grandkids.  But it was good to see how they were understanding the gospel.  We taught them pray often, obedience, and study the scriptures.  It was really good.  We set up to come and see them again tomorrow. We then went and saw a few other Less actives and taught them.  And them we came in @ 5:00.  Basically they think that it is a good idea that missionaries aren't out tracting while kids are trick-or-treating.  I guess that would be a good idea....  So we deep cleaned our apt.  Which turned into organizing everything.  I'm not going to lie it looks really great.  And that was the excitement of our Halloween.

 

Friday:  We taught Linda and Arnez about prophets.  They really liked it.  They totally thought it was great.  Especially when we watched some of the clips of the special witnesses DVD.  It was really cool.  They said they will for sure be coming to church and we can't wait to see them there.  We hope they will be there.  We then did our weekly planning that day.  We actually got most of it finished.  It was such a miracle!  And then we went and contacted a media referral!!  So Sweet.  We went to her house and she said that her friend was telling her about how great the church was and answered a buch of her questions and she said she would try to come to chruch!  We reallu hope so.  She was super sweet!

 

Saturday:  It was very interesting.  We went tracting and basically we were tracting the same road some Jehovah Witnesses had tracted earlier that day. :/  so we were a little dicouraged, and then a lady let us help her with her garden.  She was super nice.  Her name is Afila, she changed it from Barbara in the 70's. :)  She was really cool.  It was really nice that we were able to help her. 

 

Sunday!!!!! I love Sundays!  and this Sunday was the very best!!  It was Sister Huefner's birthday and it was like heavenly father was sending his love in tender mercies and random miracles.  1st Linda, Tom, and Arnez came to church.  Then Arnez bore her testimony!!!! Crazy!!  And another nonmember bore her testimony.  And then we found out that ever since we went to a members house for dinner they have been reading their scriptures together every night!  A random girl walked into the church building as we were doing comp study and she wanted a book of mormon to take with her on an airplane ride somewhere.  It was just really crazy! And it all ended up being just a really good day.  Which I'm glad cuz it was a nice present for Sister Huefner from Heavenly Father. :)

 

Well that's all that happened this last week.  This coming week is going tobe crazy cuz we  are driving down to portland tonight because sister Huefner needs to be at Missionary Leadership Council in the morning in Manchester, NH so tuesday I will be serving there, and then more craziness will happen as always.  But I hope everybody is having a great day and week!!

 

Love Always and Forever,

 

Sister Lundahl

BAPTISM

Hello All!

 

Life is still crazy here in the Waldoboro area!  Do you prefer when I list out what we do each day?  or general things like I usually do?  Today I will do each day.

 

Monday of last week was crazy as we had to drive back and forth doing laundry and shopping and such.  Definitely not the most effective use of our miles but we did finish everything.

 

Tuesday: We had another lesson with Arnez, Linda, And Tom.  Actually Tom wasn't able to hitchhike over to Linda and Arnez's so we just retaught the Book of Mormon and helped fill in the many gaps which they were starting to gain.  It was really helpful because they actually asked questions and are trying to learn everything.  It is so cool!! 

 

Wednesday:  We had District meeting.  We then went on exchanges where I went to Topsham to be with Sister Tait and Sister Huefner stayed in Waldoboro with Sister Hoffman.  It was so cool.  We did a bunch of street contacting and met this really cool lady in the park.  She had gone to  a religious school over here where they had studies the book of Mormon from an academic point of view it was very interesting to hear the difference.  She then shared with her Moroni's promise and invited her to read the Book of Mormon in a new way.  She said she would.  We wish we could teach her but she lives in Portland area with is like 1 hr away.

We also met a few other people on the street.  A statistician who doesn't believe in God, and a another lady who is a catholic.  It was definitely different, because the Topsham sisters are in a car share, and the day I was there all we did was walk.  And walk and walk and walk.  No we did not sing.... ok maybe for a little bit.  But it was really cool to go there and work in another area and see how they work.

That night we had a member meal, and a little girl gave me some crab apples and said the would fix my hand.  She was super cute and funny!!

 

Thursday:  Sister Tait and I had to wait to exchange back so we went out to find people.  It was so cold!!  One day is was medium weather and now it is starting to get really cold!  I'm not ready!  I just want it to stay mediocre. So we went out and we met an old investigator of sister Tait's.  She was very nice and apologized for some things she had said, and then prayed with us... It was interesting, but hey now they know they could probably come back and see her again.  We then ran into a lady who is Pagan. Like the believes in a mix of Native American things and old Celtic stuff.  It was a very short interesting conversation.  We eventually were able to exchange back, and we then got to work in Waldoboro.  We tried to contact an investigator, but he wasn't there, so we tried to other people until it was time to go to a relief society activity.  We made pumpkins out uf long sleeve t-shirts.  I should have taken a picture, but I will send one home next week.  They were actually kind-of cute.  I think if you really want you could find out how to do in on pinterest. 

 

Friday:  Friday is Weekly planning.  And boy is it a long day.  We basically try to figure out where we are going to be and work.  It is fun.......  I am learning to make it fun. :)  We then had a meal appointment.  It was really good and the people are originally from Utah.  It was a very good day because we had other lesson with Linda and Arnez, and this time Tom was there.  So we finished talking about the Plan of Salvation.  They are so excited.  Unfortunately they will not be able to make it to church this week because of Arnez's grandson's Birthday. 

 

Saturday:  Oh today was so cool because there was a baptism!!! Not one of our investigators but the Elder's investigators.  There were 3 people who were baptized A couple and a 14 year old girl.  They were all confirmed on Sunday!  But the rest of the day we so cool because we were able to see how the Holy Ghost was able to guide us to different people.  From one house to the next we could feel how we were helping these people come closer to Christ and it was such a blessing to share that Love.

 

Sunday:  We helped with the primary program, and it was super cute!!  All the 3 investigators are not members and a lady who was there to watch said she would be back next week!  We I need to Go I love you All!!!

 

Love Always And Forever,

 

Sister Lundahl

Hello! Hello!

Hey all!
Transfer calls were this weekend.  And while we sat waiting we thankfully did not get a call!  We were so worried since we finally moved in a couple of weeks ago that we were going to be separated especially after we have 2 awesome investigators.  i will talk about them in a minute.  It has been so good working here.  Even though SIster Huefner is gone a bunch doing lots of Sister Training Leader stuff, we have been able to find and help people.

In regards to the queries about the Royer's lost pigs, they came home.  Nobody found them.  What happened was when the Royers came home to watch conference they went outside to count the pigs and see if they had come home, and the still counted 10, well they turned around and one pig came out from under a barn or something and another came out from under a horse,  not exactly sure on the details, but they are home and save to one day be sent to freezer camp.... If you know what I'm talking about.

So our investigators!  I think I mentioned Arnez and Linda last week.  Well this week we returned to teach them the Plan of Salvation, when we got there and Arnez's boyfriend was there.  It was a little intersting at first, but we started the lesson.  Well her boyfriend-Tom- can't read to her was looking through the pictures in the pamphlet and just kept staring at one of the pictures later on.  We were doing something different for our lesson, since we don't usually use the pamphlets and we were just reading through it and discussing it.  So of course we felt bad that he couldn't read. Well we kept going with our plan though and when we got to the page that he was on it was the picture of Christ is Gethsemane.  Praying.  And he just kept staring at it.  He told us, I just keep going back to this picture.  We had been talking about the atonement and how through Christ we can be forgiven of our sins, and he asked us what he needed to do to have that forgiveness.  Talk about prepared.  We told them about baptism and following Christ.  The spirit was so strong.  Sister Huefner was in tears, and surprisingly I was close, and so was Tom.  It was a great lesson.  It was to cool to see how the Holy Ghost worked through us.  Cuz we didn't do anything, that was all the Heavenly Father, we just happened to be in the right place at the right time.
They ended up coming to Church.  At least Tom and Arnez.  Linda had a headache and didn't come.  She has 3 brain tumors.  And I guess Larry, Moe, and Curly were being a little problematic.- that is what she named them :)
It was so cool.  We then gave them a church tour afterwards to show them the rest of the building.  We ended at the baptismal font and committed them to be baptised on Nov. 23.   They said YES!  AHHHH!!!! Neither Sister Huefner nor I have ever had a baptismal date and people who will actually strive to meet it.  Stressed much?  Not yet, but I'm sure we will feel it later.

So wood stoves, I know I've mentioned them before, but we now are using one to heat our section of the house.  It is outside our apt.  So sister Brooks the member whose house we now share usually takes care of it, but she is going to teach us what we need to do to keep it going and how to work the furnace/ stove and what not.  Sometimes, I remember that I really am a city girl especially when it comes to wood stoves. :/

Well, I'll see if I can send some more pictures today.

Love you all!

Love Always and Forever,
Sister Lundahl