Raining for 4 days straight. I didn't know the sky could hold that much moisture.

So I realized that last week I didn't finish about the week, but oh well.

We made this really awesome game for when we have family home evening with people.  It is like scribblish but with scripture terms.  I suggest that you look it up.  It is really fun.

We had a couple of really great lessons with our investigator Branigan this past week.  She has been reading and reading with her girls too.  It is really cool to see her progression.  SHe is just taking everything in.  We gave her a for the strength of youth and she is applying it with her girls too. I've never had an investigator so prepared for the gospel before. 

We had zone conference this past week.  It was my very last one.  I cannot believe that I can actually say that.  I love zone conferences so much!  We talked a lot about the Book of Mormon.  It was really great to be able to see how much the atonement is in there.  That was the main focus and also about the fall and important doctrines there.  It was really cool.  It think one of my favorite things was just being with all the missionaries and being able to enjoy the spirit.  It was great!

We picked up a new investigator on Thursday.  She we really interesting.  She is overcoming some addictions.  She just got out of the hospital and is working on being clean.  So we talked about the Book of Mormon and really focused on helping her.

We met a less active who... well she is very vocal and she know that she should be coming to church.  She is very funny though and also is very big into women's rights.  We got a very good lecture on that.

I must say, it is rather hard to go contact people after 6 sometimes.  Because it is dark.  And while six is a normal time to go and see people tracting is not advised.  lol.  People look at you strangely.

Saturday we the best day ever.  It stopped raining, and the sun came out. And we had a baptism!  Well the Elders did.  But we know her really well.  She is just a great woman.  It has been a real blessing for me because I have been able to see her from her wedding to her baptism.   She asked me to play the violin as interlude while she got dressed.  That turned out good.  A great tender mercy came as the accompanist offered to play with me.  That really helped.  It turned out really good.  I was nervous, but it was good. 

The trunk or treat was that night as well.  So we have quite a few non-members come including Branigan.  That was so cool!  Her fiancé came as well.  I am so glad.  He seemed to like it at the church.  It was a good time. 

Sunday Kerri was confirmed.  It was great!  She practically is already part of the branch.  She had a calling before she was baptized. :)

That was pretty much it.  This week was a really great week and we had lots of blessings.

I love you all and hope things are going great!

Love always and forever,

Sister  Lundahl

Miracles Continue to Happen

Hey family!  How are y'all doing?

This week we had a fantastic week! 

I'll start with Tuesday this week.  We had to change the time we were going to be seeing Nicole.  Our investigator so we actually got to do Mormon.org time.  we watched a priesthood conference talk and looked up different things there.  I had no idea how many temples the church is in the process of building.  wow!  So many. 

We taught Nicole and it was really hard to get the spirit.  She tends to ask off the wall questions that really derail us and we have to think.  She is sincere about learning though.  I am just trying to figure out how to help her.  We are going to teach her about the Savior this week, especially about his atonement.  I think that it will be a really good lesson.

We saw Laurie that day.  She is doing good.  She didn't come to church because she wanted to go see her boyfriend.

We then had dinner and a lesson with Branigan our new investigator at the Watsons.  A member in the branch.  It was so cool.  We taught the restoration using the apostasy cups for her little girls and it was really cool!  Branigan has been reading in the Book of Mormon, and the pamphlets and is really just soaking everything right up!

Wednesday we had district meeting and the Elders had a baptismal interview!  It was with a wonderful lady that the Elders have been teaching for a very long time now and she is so ready.  She is sweet and We have worked with the family a little bit and she is basically amazing.  She asked me to play the violin at the baptism, so I have been practicing a bunch of songs and trying to figure out how to order them and whatnot.  I can only really do that during our personal time aka getting ready for the day lunch and dinner and getting ready for bed, so hopefully it will all be ready for Saturday. :) 

After Kerri's baptismal interview we went to go contact some potentials that we have found.  They went well.  We taught one lady and we were trying to leave because we had to walk back to our apt and then we had to drive for 10 mins.  So about 20 mins of travel time. Well we got out a little late so we had to run back to our apt for our car, and we were about 3/4 a mile away and both of us are super out of shape, plus in churchy shoes and dresses and we were running down the road [probably looking like crazy people in Maine}. 

We got to our car and rushed to our appointment.  We were doing the stop smoking program with her. basically you are guaranteed to quit smoking in 1 week if you follow all the steps.  It is cool and it works. 

That was a great Wednesday!

Thursday we had plans to teach an investigator, but she wasn't home. :(  so we went and tracted and street contacted.  As we did so we met this lady who really is seeking direction in her life.  It was really cool how we were able to relate the story of Joseph Smith to her and then to invite her to learn more.  We set up a return appointment and are super excited to see her this next week.

We did a lot of street contacting and trying to talk with people.  We then had pie and a lesson with Branigan and a member. :)  It was a little scattered because little kids were all over the place, but it was great still because Branigan is just making so much progress. 

After we had to rush and pick up the Elders to get to the Church because they don't have a car.  Nobody came to book of Mormon class. :(  But life goes on.

Friday we got weekly planning done rather quickly it was quite amazing.  So we went and saw some less actives and then had dinner with one family.  She was making a bunch of excuses about not reading the book of Mormon.  And I said, look I know that it is hard, and I know that my family wasn't always the best at it either, but I do know that you have done it before and it is possible.  And you know and I know that it will make you happier.  That is a little bit more bold than what I said, but that is the gist of it.  We committed them to do their best.

We then went to clean the church.  We got assigned that duty this week.  The Elders and our Branch mission leader were supposed to come, but only we showed up.... So we did our best. 

Saturday we planted flowers and had some great Chinese food.  Then we were planning on going to a baptism, but that didn't happen the ride cancelled and so we called Branigan and committed her to coming to the baptism this week. 

So since that changed and we were already in Newport we saw our Newport less actives that we weren't able to see earlier that week.  One just got out of the hospital and had read a bunch in the book of Mormon while she was there. :)  So we read another chapter with her and really tried to help her understand. 

It is crazy how low reading comprehension is out here.  I am so grateful for the education that I got in Utah, because there are so many people out here who just don't think anything about an education while young and then they find out that it does make a difference.

Another thing that astounds me is how many teen mothers there are out here.  There is one lady we see who had her first child when she was 14.   Wow.  that is all I can say to that.  So remember that education is important and it changes lives and wait to be married before you have kids.  Yeah.  That is all I can say.

I love you all and I know that this church is true!  It is amazing to see how much it blesses peoples lives in so many ways.  I love you all! 

Love always and forever,

 Sister Lundahl

MIracles (October 13, 2014)

Hehehe I am so happy this week!  And since I have limited time as today is a holiday and we have to e-mail at the church, I will skip to all the good highlights of the week.

Monday we got a sweet tour of vic firth.  It was really cool to see how they make the drum sticks.  :)

Tuesday we did service and then we went to see Nicole our investigator whom we weren't able to meet with last week.  Well she was so sad that we didn't meet she was there and just didn't hear us knocking cuz she was at the back of the house.  She even made us brownies.  So we set up a time to come back this week and she invited us to a Tupperware party lol. I regret to say that we won't be able to go to the party because 1st it's on sunday, and second... I'm not sure we are allowed to go to those. 

Wednesday we found a new investigator.  She is 10.  And her mom gave us permission to teach her.  She is so great.  And she is actually interested.  She wants to learn more about God.  She really focused well.  

Thursday we had the great experience to meet with some of our less actives and then we went to young womens and also to Book of Mormon class. That was fun.  We had a really great discussion on faith and planting seeds and other seeds that we need to plant. 

Friday our less actives weren't home, so we did some tracting.  We parked at members house and went in her neighborhood.  She gave us a few names and we went knocking.  Well we talked to one guy on his front porch for about 45 mins.  My legs were really tired.  Walking for 45 mins is different from standing for 45 mins.  Anyway on the way back we saw this guy outside smoking.  And it was one of the people that the members told us to go see.  So we stopped and talked to him, and taught the restoration in 7 mins and then asked to come back.  He said to come back tomorrow.  So we did.  

Saturday We brought a book of mormon.  Well, he gave his girlfriend/ fiance the pamphlet and she read it and said it seemed really good, so we read the intro to the Book of Mormon and invited her to come to church. She said she would be there.  In fact the walked all the way to her fiance's work to pick up the car so they could come to church.  

Sunday they actually came to church!  I was to happy!  Oh my goodness!  it was amazing.  We found out that she is a cousin to one of the members in the branch and so we are having our lesson at the members house on tuesday!  We are so fantastically excited I cannot even contain myself! She is just so prepared and I feel so lucky to be able to teach her! 

Those are all the great miracles of this week.  I am so happy right now.  

Sister Dastrup is really starting to get the hang of being a missionary.  She is doing a great job and we are having lots of fun together, this week has been the best so far. :)

I love you all so very much and I can't wait to hear from you!

Love always and forever,

Sister Lundahl

Everyday is Sunday as a missionary. Except Monday. Monday is Saturday

The title of this e-mail if a prime example of most of what my companion says.  It is rather amusing.  I have lots of opportunities to laugh. :)

So last Monday we went on that amazing hike!  It was so super cool!  The colors were amazing I will send lots of pictures home. :)

Tuesday we started doing service at the Dexter library.  We are helping them go through some old obituaries and get them submitted online into a database. It is really cool.  I feel like I am doing family history work.  They are very interesting.

We saw Laurie again on Tuesday.  She is doing really well. :)  We also stopped by out investigator Felicia and invited her to general conference. :)  She said she would come, but unfortunately she didn't. :/

Wednesday we had a fun district meeting and we watched the Mormon message God's light or something, here is the link, you should watch it is amazing!

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=3701964025001

we talked about receiving revelation and how to help our investigators do better at getting revelation.  Mainly through reading the Book of Mormon. 

We then saw a few less actives and taught them about the Book of Mormon more and invited them to read from it.   We had an appointment scheduled with a new investigator at the church and we were really sad because he didn't show up and when we called him, the number was disconnected... so we don't know what happened there, but I guess he doesn't want to meet with us.  :(

We did go to Felicia's house and read from the Book of Mormon with her and her kids.  It was really cool.  The book of Mormon is really amazing because people are able to grow so much from reading it.  Everybody in the family struggles with reading, but as those who could read read from the Book of Mormon they already started to read better just by reading the first chapter.  It really is cool to see how the spirit can help enlarge someone's mind.

Thursday we had the great time of tracting and also teaching 2 great lessons!  We went with a member to teach our investigator at the library.  It was really good to be able to meet and he has been listening to the Book of Mormon on CD.  :)  He really likes it, and we are trying to get him to commit to baptism, but the only problem is, is he has narcolepsy so he pretty much sleeps during the day.  So I shared with him Phillipians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.   So hopefully we will be able to help him really just come to the gospel and really take this chance for happiness. We also taught Felicia and her family about the plan of salvation. :)

General conference was so amazing!  Oh my goodness!  I love it so much!  It was just so cool.  Sister Dastrup and I discussed some of the themes that we noticed and it was really focused on making our own testimony strong and making sure that we know the truth and that the gospel it true. 

 I think it was interesting how much was talked about with sustaining the prophets.  I think that it is so important that we know that we have a prophet today.  It is such a blessing to have the knowledge that he is looking out for us and that if we need to know about something he will let us know and if we have questions he can help us.  It is a big blessing to have a prophet.  And I know that Thomas S. Monson is the prophet for us right now and we really are so blessed.  I've seen so many people tossed in the whirlwind that I know this gospel is true. 

We need opposition in this life, but I loved Richard G Scotts talk about the 4 tools to overcoming challenges.  I would highly suggest and encourage to take those 4 things of 1 prayer 2 Study the scriptures 3. Weekly family home evening and 4 Going to the temple.  Another favorite talk of mine was Jorg Klebingat the 6 practical steps for peace!  Wow.  Those talks were so good!

Well, I've rambled enough.  I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love always and forever,

Sister Lundahl