Bonjour!

Bonjour Family!

How are things going?  Things have been going pretty well here.  WE have been trying to stay busy.  

Monday: the day was pretty much the same old P-day.  We had dinner with a member who has 2 boys and they are adventurous little 9 and 6 year old kids.  

Tuesday the miracles of the day involved going visiting teaching with a member.  That was lots of fun.  I actually really like visiting teaching now.  I wish I would have been better at it before my mission.  A funny thing that happened was we had dinner with a couple in which they told us how they met.  Needless to say they went from dating to marriage in 2 weeks.  It was quite the story.  We also had a great miracle of stopping by a family that the Elders have been working with.  We talked and they know Freddie and Tiffany.  The awesome mother and daughter that we were talking about last week!  Now we know where they live, so we are going to go and visit them!

Wednesday we had some awesome plans that kind of fell through a little bit, but we rearranged and made it work.  WE had district meeting and then an appt.  with an investigator. Well she wasn't home so we went and tried some other people.  We walked to some potentials and found some solid new potentials.  Then we went VT with a member.  Te person we were supposed to VT was not home. :(  So we took her to see some other people.  We called a few members on the way and ended up VT 3 other people. :)  Then we had a meal appt with a member who invited her grandson to come over and learn from us!  He is our new investigator!  We are so excited!  He is 12 and really nice.  He loves baseball.   So while I may not know anything about baseball, there are boys in the branch who do. 

Thursday we went and did some more VT.  And went and saw an old less acive lady.  Her husband in 92 and he served in WW2 and went across on D-day to Omaha beach.  He is really cool.  He also played the violin. :)  It was also Sister Welling's year mark of being a missionary.  And we had a meal apt.  But unfortunately there was some confusion about the time, so we went to pizza hut. 

Friday The miracle of the day was going to have dinner with Brother Reitze.  His car broke down in Farmington, and he came back for work but his family is still there.  And they just sent a missionary out on his mission, so things are a little crazy for him.  So we had dinner with him outside.  Bug spray was needed and used profusely. 

Saturday we went and did more service for a family.  We moved some dirt.  I feel bad, because for some reason when you move dirt it really is hard to see how much you have moved.  But I got some good blisters on my hands.  We picked some raspberries with some Less actives who are coming back to church.  It ended up being a great day.  

Sunday we had church.  And unfortunately we did not have any investigators come to church.  But the Less actives that we picked raspberries with came.  We finally finished weekly planning.  Which honestly is a miracle.  This is the first week that has happened.  And that is about it for miracles.  I really liked one of the stories that a member told us.  How some missionaries that found him and his wife.  They just appeared at the right time.  The Elder had the skills to fix a tractor, and now they are members.  It is so great to see how the Lord will prepare us before our missions for where we are going, and who we will be helping.

That is all family!

Love always and Forever,

Sister Lundahl

Week 2 in Newport (july 14, Late)

Dear Family,

So this week for my big e-mail I am going to write about the miracles we saw each day. 

Monday we went and stopped by the Reitze family.  Their son Micah is going on a mission to Guatemala in fact he just left on Tuesday so we had so hurry and stop by really fast and see him before he left.  We got there just  a little bit before they had to leave to go to get him set apart.  I think that another miracle for the day was I finally got a soccer ball.  It is not pumped up, but that will change. :)

 Tuesday the miracles of the day were being able to contact a less active and she was fairly receptive to us coming by.  She was nice enough and we are going to come back with another member.  We also had a very interesting meal apt with some members.  It was odd because we had pulled pork sandwiches and hushpuppies.  There were no vegetables or fruits.  It was kind of funny.

Wednesday we had an amazing lesson with a less active Kala.  She is super nice.  She is going through a hard time, but she is doing really good, and I really wish that she would come to church.  We then stopped by the McConkies and I think it was so much fun to hear the great stories that they had to share.  They are really great! 

While we were out and about we were contacting formers, and we were going to see one and Sister Welling said lets stop by this less active that lives on this road.  We were driving and of course I had no idea where it was that we were going so when we said, here we are, I had to slam on my breaks going 40 mph and we stopped to see her.  That was a good stop by.  And I think we were supposed to go that former just so we could stop by that less active because the former wasn't home.  Sometimes the Lord puts us in different places for reasons we do not understand.

Thursday was a miracle day where we now have a new key indicator.  We basically count anybody that we talk to and share a message with.  They are not investigators, we are just leaving them with the invitation to learn.  Thus they are called ITLs.

We went to a Less actives house to share a message and while there her 2 less active children showed up.  So we were able to teach both of them and share the awesomeness of the gospel.  The daughter said we could stop by her house when we are in the area. :)  We re excited.  Then after that great moment we had dinner with some members and convinced them that we needed ice cream.  They took us and we sat across from these 2 ladies.  A mother and daughter, and they started asking us questions.  It was great!  They were fantastic.  So not even a day later we had a golden ITL!

Friday we had the miracle of being able to serve at a place called pennywise.  Iti s a thrift store and we sere able to help them sort through things.  We were also able to pick out a few things as well. But they sell things there for super cheap.  $3 a bag!  afterward we went and helped an old lady week her garden.  I must admit.  Her garden is completely overran. It was great to help her. 

Saturday I think that the miracle was digging for 4 hours and making a wonderful hole.  It was amazing!  We dug the foundation for a swimming pool, and I'll be honest when we started I was very doubtful that it was going to turn out, but before you knew it we had a level spot and foundation.  I think I was in the most shock!  The other miracle for that day was I got to milk a goat again.  By hand. :)

Sunday the miracle was being able to have dinner with a member.  She is super nice.  Her name is Sister Holmes and she is so helpful.  She came and picked us up and then drove us back.  And was asking how she could help us.   That is a very rare thing. 

Then we were walking in Corinna and stopped to talk with our neighbors.  She was almost baptized at one time!  Miracle that we found her.. well probably a planned thing from the Lord.  She is really good friends with some people that live in another branch.  :)  Oh yeah!

That is all for this week!  Things are going great!  I love the area, and my companion is super fun!

Love always and forever,

Sister Lundahl

Where'd Sister Lundahl go?

Hello Everyone! 

How are you doing?  This week has been one of craziness and fun. Very busy though.  It all started last Monday when I had to hurry and finish packing.  Thankfully I was able to get everything in my suitcases.  Which was really good.  They were heavy, but that was ok, because I was able to fit everything in them.  We found a ride down to transfer meeting too.  WE took tons of pictures with everybody and it was just great!

Tuesday we hurried and got ready put my stuff in the car and then rushed off to transfer meeting.  Where I sat and waited to hear where I was going and who my companion was going to be.  Sister Smedley was panicking because there were only 2 options for her companions.  Me, I had quite a few.  When they announced who I was going to be with I didn't know where I was going.  It took me until I met her to find out I was going to the top of the mission to Newport Maine.  It was pretty funny, because Sister Huefner opened this area as well.  So that very first night we had a meal and a lesson with member and 2 new investigators!!!  Oh it was great.  The lesson may have gone all over the place, but it was really good.  They were asking some hard questions.  Their names are Steven and Linda.  IT was also an interesting dinner.  We had scones and sausage and then we also had peppers and onions on the top with Powdered sugar and maple syrup.  It was odd, but good.  But still a little odd. 

Wednesday we went and served Sister Mason.  We helped her clean windows and she made us an awesome BLT sandwich.  It was great.  We then went home and saw an investigator.  Her name is Felicia.  And she has some great potential.  She wants her kids to be baptized, but unfortunately she doesn't quite understand the need for authority.  We are going to help her figure that out soon.  So then she can have a testimony of that, because if it's not the right authority, then it isn't really official.  Anyway, she is very nice though.

We then went and tried some people then we tried some service places, but they weren't open.  Then we stopped by a members home.  They are the Reuters.  And I really like them.  They are so nice!  Their son in on a mission and the companion that he has is being sent home because he won't do missionary work.  And he shared some of his letter with us.  His son has only been out for about 5 months.  It is so crazy that is happening to him so soon.  But he has been strong and really understands the importance of missionary work.  We then had dinner with a member.  Her name is Sister Morgan and she as she puts it, has been single for a very long time.  But she a great.  She has 6-8 kids and is taking care of her mom right now.  She joined the church when she was 16.  We had a fun time with her.

Thursday we had district meeting.  That was good.  The people in my district are E. Quinn and Davis- elder Quinn was my district leader in So Ro but is now a Zone leader here.  E Parry and Beck, and S Dixon and Danner.  They are really cool.  We then went and saw some people.  Some less actives and recent converts in the elders area.  That was good.  We had dinner with the Masons.  Brother mason is super funny.  So is sister Mason I really like them already.  We went to a western place called Cervasas.  It was good. 

We went to yw and then a BOM class, and then we had a mini coordination and rushed home.

Friday we had the 4th of July breakfast with the branch here.  I met a ton of people and I don't remember all their names.  As we were helping clean up a little deacon was trying to help and unfortunately the table was bigger than he was and he dropped in on the back of my right ankle foot area.  It was ok.  IT just unfortunately bled a bit and is a little purple today.  and a little hard to run with.  But I'm trying.  WE then went home and did some weekly planning.  After which we rushed off to help the Kinnies with some service we ended us just dusting a shelf because it was raining outside.  We then went and filled up our water containers at the Watsons  a members home.  That was good because our water smells like sulfur.  It is kind of concerning.   but we don't drink it so that is good.

Saturday we were supposed to be in a parade in the morning, but they postponed it because apparently there was a hurricane going on over here so it was raining hard.  So we tried to finish weekly planning.  And then we went and saw a less active who just got a kidney stone taken out.  It was bigger than a golf ball, but smaller than a baseball!!  HUGE!  Yeah.  I don't know how that was in her.  So we then went to the Elders and went to the parade.  We walked with The Dows car.  They were driving a corvette.  1965 blue and beautiful.  It was followed by a 1965 mustang. I got pictures of sitting in both, but I forgot my camera today. :(  So that was really great though.  We handed out over 200 pass along cards and pamphlets to people between us and the elders.  Very productive I would say.  Then we went to Linda and Stevens for a meal and a lesson.  We also got to milk a goat by hand!  That was cool.  And see a few fireworks.

Sunday I met even more people. and not all of them are actually in this branch.,  One of the kids Micah is going on a mission to Guatemala.  So it was his farewell.  That was really good.  I also bore my testimony as it was fast and testimony meeting.  Unfortunately we had no investigators at church, but we did get to go to Micah's farewell party after church.  There were some non-members that we talked to and we also got to set up some apt for visiting teaching.  We have a goal of have 75% this month.  So go do your visiting teaching! 

It has been a really crazy week.   But I am so glad to be here.  It is so wonderful to be able to share the gospel with so many wonderful people! 

I love you all!

Love always and forever,

Sister Lundahl

Transfer... :(

Hello family,

So this week was good and sad.  It all started Monday.  We taught the FHE group that meet at the memorial.  It was lots of fun! Then we went home to finish weekly planning.

Tuesday we went and tried to really finish weekly planning.  We then Had our meeting with all the other missionaries at the JSM.  I love them all so much!  I have so much fun here.  They are really the greatest, and they spoil us.  So much.  But we love it.  :)  Afterwards we went up to Randolph to see some people.  We stopped by a less active named Buffy.  She has Bed bugs and they are all over her apt.  It is really bad.  Her foster son has  them all over his body.  :(  I had some hydrocortizone cream with me so I gave it to them.  They needed it way more than I did.  We taught a really fast lesson to Dylan, he is 7.  And he really likes it when "the church people" come over.  So we then stopped by a members house and had one of their children show us some art he has been working on.  It is actually really good.  A little dark, but good.  We then had dinner with the Likes.  They are one of the senior couples.  They took us to this fancy-ish place.  The food was really good.  Then we had to rush down to meet with Misty.  We had a great time, because we were able to get a member to come with us and we read through 2 Nephi 2:1-14.  It was a really good lesson.  I really enjoyed it.  The coolest thing happened that night.  We were laying in bed and there was this odd light flashing out side our window.  We kind of panicked a little bit thinking there was somebody out there.  But then we remembered what some members had told us, and we hurried and opened our blinds and there they were, a bunch of fireflies!!!!  It was so cool.  We just sat there and watched them for a little bit.  They just lit up the area in little splurts of light that would flicker.  I enjoyed it!  We fell asleep a little later.

Then Wednesday we went to FM.  It was not hot thankfully.  I think I don't like heat too much.  And we cleaned windows.  We did all the windows at the memorial.  Of course as soon as we got them all cleaned, what happened?  It rained.  Oh well.  We helped them clean out some of the storage units that they have behind the shop.  A bunch of the things were covered in mold so we wore the awesome face masks.  Well while we were working we got a text message.  It was from Bre.  She was the girl that came to church on sunday.  She was wondering if we could find her a ride to church!!  What!  Of course we could.  We were so excited.  I was practically jumping off the walls.  Oh how I love it when people want to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Anyways, after that we went and saw a referral we had been give.   She is a cousin of Misty's.  The Less active we saw.  So we went and talked with her, and guess what?  She is now a new investigator!!  Whoohoo!  It was awesome.  We were so excited.  We walked out and just thought, wait a minute, we jsut reached out goal of having 2 new investigators... oh my goodness.  The second one was Marcee she was able to set a return appt. with us.  After Sarah we went to the Perrons.  We had a nice visit with them.  Then we went to young womens.  That was fun they are getting ready for camp and we totally want to get involved somehow. :)  After that, we decided we needed to eat some dinner so we went home for a late dinner.

Thursday we had a great district meeting.  It was so good.  We talked about using out time best.  I loved something somebody said, it was from a general conference talk.  " There are more good things in the world than we have time for."  So that is why we need to fill our times with the best things.  Wow.  That has hit me hard.  I really want my time filled with the best.  So ever since then Sister Smedley and I have been working to do that.  After district meeting we came home, no car troubles and then we did chat at the JSM.  We had a few good ones, but nothing that really stood out much.  We had coordination with our Ward Mission leader. After we were driving to our next a backup appt because ours fell through when we saw an investigator that we have been trying to get ahold of for a long time.  So we totally stopped around the corned and got out our car to go and talk with him.  He was with a member, so we talked to the both of them, and the girl they were with is the daughter of one of our investigators.  We were shock they all knew each other.  But the Lord works is mysterious ways. We then drove to the backups house and talked with her for a bit.  We taught her the restoration.  She was really interested, and really wanted us to come back.  We are hopeful that she will start progressing.  She is an investigator that the Sisters before us found, but lessons have always been super scattered.  So that was realyl good.  Then we had dinner with the Hostetters.  They know one my friends from Utah.  So I was able to get her e-mail from them and I just e-mailed her.  Anyway  we have a great dinner with them and lesson.  Also as we traveled back there were a bunch of fireflies that we could see. :)

Friday we did weekly planning.  Yeah.  That wan't too fun.  But then we got to go and milk cows after we had JSM.  We had a great time.  We were able to feed a baby cow that was only about 3 days old.  It could barely stand on it's own.  It was also the 170th anniversary of the martyrdom of Joseph Smith.  It was good day though.  Although we were starting to worry about transfer calls.  And for good reason too. :(

SaturdayTansfer call day.  We went and saw some potentials and finished up weekly planning.  We set up some return appts.  and then we went to the JSM where we were busy with tours.  It was so good to be able to give some tours.  Afterwards we went and had dinner with the Hart family.  It was so cool because they both served missions.  and they have really strong testimonies.  Then we stopped by a few people and then had the inspiration that we needed  to stop by Pat.  We rushed to grab our violins and went over there to play for her.  She was home and we played.  We played some songs from her hymnal and from ours.  Quite a few of them are the same.  It was cool.  Well we got home and we were like we aren't getting a call there is no way.  I just felt so calm and sure of it.   Especially when it got to be 10:15.  We sat on our beds smiling saying, we are safe.  No we weren't.  10:24.  6 mins from our bedtime we got a call.  Yep.  That's right.  6 mins.  And guess what the call was.  Well Sister Lundahl you are leaving! and staying senior companion.  What?  For real.  I just got here.  I just sat there and was so sad.  I don't want to leave here.  Especially Sister Smedley.  But that was the call.

Sunday.  We went and picked up Bre and then went to church.  Sister Smedley was telling people that I was leaving.  It was sad.  I said goodbye to a bunch of people.  And after church though we were able give Bre a tour.  WE weren't able to set up a return appt. ith her yet so she is not a new investigator, but she will be.  She is so amazing!

And that brings us to today.  I have been busy packing and panicking trying to get everything ready.  So that is about it.  I love you all I will let you know where I am as soon as I can.  I won't find out till tomorrow.  We are going to transfer meeting. 

Love you always and forever,

Sister Lundahl