Happy 2 months to meeeee!

Hi Family!

This week was too good. I can't believe I entered the MTC 2 months ago today. Weeeeeiiiird. The highlight was Saturday at Mission Conference with Elder Bednar. The lowlight was the drastic change in weather. But we'll get to that.

Monday we just went shopping for new Mission Conference clothes - we had to look good to see our favorite Apostle of the Lord, you know? About half our mission was at this place called Nickel City playing laser tag so we stopped by to see them. I talked to Elder Nilson, who is also waiting on his Spain visa, and he said President Brown from the MTC talked to his parents (I guess they're neighbors) and he said they'll be here probably mid-December and that we'll leave at the first of the year. I hope that's right! Monday night we taught Nina (our little Chinese investigator girl) about the Restoration of the Church. We had to go slowly and explain things very simply and clearly because she's still learning English, but it was good. She's so cute and so interested in learning. And her prayers are getting really good too! Monday night we also taught Doria. We made a point of seeing her every day last week since she was getting baptized, so we did. We taught her the 10 commandments and afterwards we asked if she had any questions and she was just like, "Nope, I'm just going to keep living them!" I love how willing she is to obey everything Heavenly Father wants her to. I think more of us (me included) need to have that attitude.

Tuesday morning Elder Jackson (my little brother from my last district) called me. He said he could tell from the 5 minutes he was around us on Monday that something wasn't quite right between Sister Cha and me and he wanted to be sure I was okay. I love that kid so much. He encouraged me to focus on the things I love about her and find ways to serve her and promised me things would get better. And they have! Sister Cha and I have gotten along perfectly this week and I'm grateful Elder Jackson helped me out. Tuesday was soooooo busy. We had something every single hour from noon until 9. But it was awesome - busy days are my favorite. We had a lesson with Connor. He only had like half an hour, so we were going to talk about the importance of obedience, prayer, and studying the scriptures. He told us he ordered a quad and he was super excited about it. He asked us how we mark our scriptures and we told him each of our systems. I told him that scripture mastery verses were a good place to start, so I let him borrow my card thing that has all 100 of them. Afterwards we had a lesson with Nina. We had planned to teach the Plan of Salvation, but we decided first that it'd be a good idea to answer any questions she had. I like her a lot because she's so sincere. She's not embarrassed or afraid to say/ask anything - she is always really honest and tells us exactly what she thinks and feels about the things we teach her. Then it was time for dinner. The ward who was in charge of our meals last week forgot about us, so we had to find our own dinners. We called the Gill family and asked if they could feed us and Sister Gill said yes! I love that family so much. They're seriously the sweetest. She made us chimmichangas (no idea how to spell that) and we talked about the election and stuff. I want to go to their house for Christmas because I know it would feel like home. Haha they're the absolute best. After dinner they took us to our next appointment. We normally meet with Justin and Stephanie once a week, but since Justin was working, we still wanted to visit Stephanie, so we did. We watched the Special Witnesses of Christ DVD. There's nothing more powerful than the testimonies of the Prophet and Apostles, so that was really neat. Then we spoke at another Relief Society thing. I love doing that! I wish I had heard from Sisters before I decided to go on a mission. We always here from returned Elders, but it's not the same.

Wednesday morning we woke up to like 10 different texts from our investigators that Obama had won. We were hoping it had just been a terrible nightmare, but newspaper headlines when we got to campus confirmed that it wasn't. Lame. Anyways, we taught Tabitha the Plan of Salvation. Those lessons are my favorite. Since being out here, I love the Plan of Salvation so much more. And teaching people about this plan that Heavenly Father has for them and their family is the absolute best. This kid Jordan Lee (who served in Sister Cha's ward back home) came with us. His testimony really helped bring the Spirit and afterwards he sang "Be Still, My Soul" to her. It was so preeeeetty. I think we all might have teared up a little bit. But that's okay - crying on a regular basis is acceptable when you're crying happy gospel tears. Cutie little Nina left for China on Thursday, so she made us dinner Wednesday night. I love that girl! It was so cute.

We walked in and she had the table all set and everything. First we had fish ball soup (ew) which was basically broth with fish meatballs in it. Then we had dumplings (basically postickers) and those were delish. We also had California rolls (my fave) and fruit. So good. I love real Chinese food. After dinner with Nina we went to Doria's and reviewed the baptismal interview questions with her. She did so great and she was so ready for her baptism Saturday. It was awesome getting to hear her testimony about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and the Plan of Salvation and the Atonement. After Doria we had a little time before we had to go home. One of the YSA wars was having an activity in the middle of the apartment complex. They were bowling with frozen turkeys and they invited us to play. Haha omg it was so much fun. Sister Cha and I sucked at it, but it was fun trying!

Thursday was kind of a slow day because meetings took up a lot of it. We taught Ashley the Law of Chastity. It always amazes me how teaching that commandment is never awkward. But when we explain why we have the Law of Chastity and the blessings that come from it, the Spirit is there and it takes away any awkwardness. We also had Doria's baptismal interview with the District Leader and it went swimmingly. She got the green light for Saturday!

Ewwwwww it snowed Friday morning. So so much. I hate snow. I know I should be used to it by now since I've lived in Rexburg for 3 years, but I will never get used to snow. Worst stuff ever.

While we were doing our weekly planning at the chapel, Doria came up with her friend Kendra to try on her white jumpsuit thing. She's so excited! We had an awesome lesson with Conman. We taught him the 10 commandments and he showed us his pretty new quad. He's excited to start marking scriptures! We had dinner with the Gill family again (they don't hate us for asking twice in one week). Sister Gill made us pasta and salad and bread. So yummy. We went and visited this lady Katia who isn't a member, but her daughters are, and she fed us hot apple cider and pumpkin pie. We're going to find a time this week to visit her and hopefully start teaching her. We got home and the power went out. Awesome. Bro. Barlow brought us down some emergency candles and a flashlight, but it was still a sucky situation.

We woke up early Saturday morning so we could get to the chapel early for Doria's baptism, but the power was still out. We called Sister McCune and she came to get us so we could get ready at the mission home. Suuuuch a pretty house. She made us yummy breakfast and took us to our baptism. The baptism went perfectly. After she got out of the font, she came back in the bathroom area to change and just started bawling. Happy tears though! It was perfect. Afterwards was Mission Conference. Best 4 hours of my life. I love Elder Bednar so much. I'm late, so I don't have time to tell you what he taught us (it'll have to wait til next week), but it was the best. He let us all go up and shake his hand. I love that guy.

Love,

Hermana Munden

"We are not worker bees, we are not drones - we are children of the Most High God"

Hi Family!

This week went by soo fast.

So Monday this sweet lady Sister Baird took us to lunch at Cafe Rio and to do our grocery shopping and such. We went to the church to watch the Elders play basketball for a little bit and then we went to a corn maze on the west end of Provo with our district. Then we went to teach Justin and Stephanie. We taught them about the Law of Chastity, which they already understood and agreed with. Justin is so great. At one point he was like, "Now when I think about being morally clean, I think about my future family. I think if Stephanie and I try our hardest to put God in the center of our marriage, our children will have a good example of what a successful marriage looks like and it will help our family be more unified. I know how special the powers God has given us to create life are and I want to be careful with them. I want my sons to learn to respect women as they see the way I treat their mother, and I want my daughters to grow up knowing they are so valuable." Every time Justin speaks about what he's learning and understanding of the Gospel I feel the Spirit so strongly. He's seriously incredible. After Justin and Stephanie we went to visit Robert and Misty. Robert got baptized just a few months ago so we like to go visit them when we have a chance. Misty opened the door and just started crying. I guess Robert has been really sick. We asked if there was anything we could do for her and all she said was, " I just really need my husband to get better." So we said a prayer right there with her. Sister Cha loves her so much and tried her best to comfort her. We called their bishop as we stood there in the doorway and asked him to come give Robert a blessing. We saw them the other day and Robert is all better!

Tuesday we spent most of our afternoon contacting on campus. I ran into lots of people I know; I love seeing familiar faces. I know that's not ever gonna happen in Spain! After dinner we went tracting in some apartments we cover. We got so many referrals for nonmembers and less active people we can teach! People are always surprised when we tell them there are 3000 nonmembers on campus, but that's because everyone always assumes everyone else is a member! A lot of the ones we're planning on contacting are athletes who come here to play sports. I can't wait to go back and talk to to some of them. One of the referrals we got was for this Chinese girl named Nina. Her English is pretty good, so we get to teach her. She asked us to come in right then and teach her! We taught her about our purpose as missionaries and read the introduction to the Book of Mormon with her. She's so interested, it's really awesome. Our other appointment with her last week fell through because she was sick, but we're meeting with her again tonight.

Wednesday was so good. It was my 7 week mark in the mission. We started our morning at the temple. Sister Cha and I had been struggling a little bit due to an argument we'd gotten in the day before. But it was incredible how much the temple helped us. After we left the Celestial room, before we headed down the stairs, she just grabbed me and we hugged for a good minute or so. She started crying and just said, "I'm so sorry, I love you." and I apologized too. It changed everything, and things have been so much better since. I love the temple! We get to go twice a month and since October, November, and December are all in this transfer, I get to go six times this transfer! After the temple we had a lesson with Connor. I'm pretty sure I've already said so, but I love this kid so much. He's so receptive to everything we say and he wants so badly to find the truth for himself. I love it. Our lesson was on the Plan of Salvation, which I was really excited for because of his dad's cancer. I wanted to tell him that I know his family can be together forever, and I wanted him to know it too! At 5 we stopped working for the day and we met at the chapel by our house to have our party with the Elders in our district. The AP's brought us Little Caesar's (sooooo gooooood) and we watched the first Narnia movie. I forgot that it's actually pretty good. When Azlan came and roared everyone was quiet and I just said, "I love lions, they're so attractive." I thought I said it in my head, but I guess I didn't. Everyone judged me so hard. It's okay, only Hadley and Amy would understand. We love lions.

Thursday we spent 4 hours in our booth in the Wilkinson building on campus and didn't get a single referral. The only good thing that came out of the booth was I saw Amy! Homegirl just waltzed in through the doors and I about peed my pants of excitement. It absolutely made my whole day. And I met this kid, who's reporting to the MTC in February and who will be serving in Madrid! Yay for Madrid missionaries! After the booth we went to dinner with a family in one of the wards we cover. She's from Mexico, and her husband’s from here, but he served in Nicaragua, so he and Sister Cha had a lot to talk about. Sister Hunt made the most delicious meal ever; fish, bread, salad, rice, and this yummy yogurt/fruit thing for dessert. It was basically heaven in my mouth. And you know the picture called "Lost and Found" of the boy sitting on the bench with his bags and the Savior sitting next to him? Yeah, well that's one of her sons. He's famous! She gave us both a copy of the picture so I'll probably send it to you. They were the sweetest and I hope we get to go eat with them again. That night we were invited to speak at a Relief Society preparedness meeting. We bore our testimonies, talked about why we decided to serve a mission, and how we prepared. It was really awesome. We have another one tomorrow.

Friday we met with Ashley. This girl is awesome. I don't know if I talked about her before, but her parents are inactive, her grandma's a member, and she has never been baptized. We had planned to teach the Word of Wisdom, but we both felt impressed to talk about fasting. It was a really cool lesson and since the upcoming Sunday was Fast Sunday, the three of us decided to fast together. Ashley asked if we could fast that she would have the courage to talk to her parents about her desire to be baptized, and that their hearts would be softened and they would be supportive of whatever decision she made. We'll see her tomorrow and I'm excited to talk about how her fast went. After we had this really awesome dinner with this family from Africa. African food is so good! I want to eat it every day please. After dinner we went tracting in the same apartment complex as before. This time we met this inactive kid named Paul. He was a super strong member of the church until about a year ago when his girlfriend broke up with him and married another guy. Now he spends like 3 hours a day waxing his car and that's all he cares about. I think we're going to have a Family Home Evening with his apartment soon.

Saturday we had five lessons planned and three cancelled on us, so it was kind of a bummer day. But, we taught Connor and things were so much better since it was just the three of us. We taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and focused on faith and baptism. He explained a little more why he doesn't want to be baptized until his dad's out of the hospital. It's really important to him that his family be there to support him, so he wants to wait until things are better with his dad's situation. We also told us about a cool post he saw on Facebook. One of his mom's best friends posted that she got hit really hard by the hurricane. A lot of damage was done to her house and she didn't know where to begin to get it fixed. Two hours later he saw another post that a group of people had shown up to her house ready to help in whatever way they could! Guess who those people were. The Mormon Helping Hands in their yellow tshirts! I guess one of the men in the group had a feeling to turn down her street and then they happened upon her! Connor was really impressed by their sensitivity to the Spirit and how willing they were to serve her. The lesson that followed was incredible and it's so great to be able to see Connor coming closer to Christ every single day. We went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner and it was yummmm. Jessie was working so I got to see her and it made me miss work. Saturday night we taught Tabitha. We met her a couple weeks ago. She's had kind of a crazy past and she's been through a lot, but she's on date for baptism on the 16th of this month, so we're helping her get ready for that.

Yesterday we went to three different Sacrament Meetings. My favorite, though, was church with Connor. Before the meeting started he told us an experience he had that morning. His Bishop felt impressed to call him in to meet with him. He didn't know about the situation with his dad, or that he was meeting with us. But he offered Connor a blessing and he told us that it was a really special experience for him. The testimonies that morning were perfect too. Three different people got up and bore testimony of the Plan of Salvation, saying that they had friends/family with cancer, but that they knew they would see them again. HOW CRAZY IS THAT? It's incredible how aware Heavenly Father is of us and how big of a part the Holy Ghost plays in missionary work. I know Connor felt the Spirit and I hope the testimonies of the members of his ward really helped him. Last night we had a lesson with this girl Doria. She was being taught by the Asian Elders, but since her English is really good, they transferred her to us. She's getting baptized this Saturday! She's so willing to obey every single commandment that God gives her and she cannot WAIT to get baptized this weekend. It's awesome.

Well, I think that's it. Saturday we have Mission Conference with Elder Bednar! I can't wait. I love that guy. I met him like 7 years ago or something when he came to the Olathe Stake Conference. I can't wait to see him again. I hope I didn't forget anything. I love you guys!

Love,

Hermana Munden

My first week on BYU and my first baptism :)

So much has happened, I don't even know where to start. Transfers were Wednesday. Everything is so different - the area, my companion, our investigators, everything. It's taking some getting used to, that's for sure. Sister Cha is awesome though and we get along so well. We're basically the same person. She helps me a lot with my Spanish and I've made it a goal to learn 200 new words every transfer (which is about 5 words a day). It's also nice not being in a trio for once, and teaching in English, I feel like I get to say more in lessons than I was before.

It's been SO cold lately. I'm wearing so many clothes all the time; tights, leggings, my dress, a cardigan, a coat, and scarf, and it's still not enough! It doesn't help that our house doesn't have heat. Some days I wake up early and take a hot shower just to get back in bed because I'm so cold. It's rough. AND this is a walking area. I didn't realize how spoiled we were with our car until I came here. Please mail me a car! That'd be just fantastic.

On Wednesday after transfers we got right to work. We had dinner with our investigators (Justin and Stephanie) and their member friends (James and Kendra), and then had a lesson. Justin and Stephanie are so great. They've been taught all the lessons, they're reading their scriptures and going to church, and they know a ton. The problem is that they want to know everything before they get baptized. Right now they're hung up on the nature of God - who He was before He was our Heavenly Father, and how He became who He is. From what I understand, they feel like not knowing everything is affecting their relationship with Him and that until they get the answers they want, they can't get baptized. That's hard for me. I was baptized when I was 8 years old, didn't know half of what I do now, and I don't expect to know everything in this life. But knowing that God is my Father, that He loves me and that He is all-knowing, is enough for me. Some things we just have to take on faith, knowing that more light and truth will be given to us with time and as we're seeking for it.

Hey Paola Ward people, this is for you! Sister Cha and I had a meeting this week with Phil Hickman. He asked where I was from and we got talking about Kansas. I guess he was in the Paola Ward for 23 years or something? He asked about the Kesters and the Cunninghams, Gerry Sue, and Iris! It made me miss the Paola Ward so bad; it was great to meet him.

On Thursday we met with Connor. He first heard about the Church two years ago in Connecticut with his family. His dad was diagnosed with cancer in February, so he says his family has gotten really close through prayer for his dad. He decided to come to BYU because it's a conservative school with high standards. When he came out here, his roommates took him to watch the Joseph Smith movie at Temple Square and then he met and talked with some sister missionaries there. Apparently he'd been having bi-weekly appointments with them over the phone, but they encouraged him to meet with real live missionaries, so that's when he called us! He's so awesome. All the nonmember students here have to take an Intro to the LDS Church class, so he's in that, and he's been reading the Book of Mormon and praying a lot. He got to go to General Conference and he said the Spirit he felt there, in the same room as the living Prophet and Apostles, was incredible. We're meeting with him again on Wednesday and I can't wait to talk to him about the message that we can live with our families forever!

Saturday morning we had a lesson with Sonya. Sister Cha said she'd been progressing really quickly and she even had a date set to get baptized (this last Saturday), but that lately she's kind of hit a wall. She's not even really sure she has faith in God anymore. We watched the moving Finding Faith in Christ with her and the Spirit quickly came into the room. I almost started crying as I bore my testimony that God lives. My voice began to shake as I explained to her that her feelings of doubt and fear did not come from God. I encouraged her to remember the feelings she'd had before as she read and prayed and made the decision to be baptized. Yesterday we fasted for her in the hopes that she would begin to regain that faith she's seemed to have lost.

The highlight of my week was definitely Saturday afternoon. I had my first baptism! She has an incredible story and it was probably one of the coolest things I've been apart of. So many people were there -- 50-60. The Spirit was incredible and she was so happy. She texts us every day and tells us she's still on cloud nine.

Last night we had dinner with the Gill family. They live up by the Y and have a beauuuuutiful home. They said Sunday dinners are always really big (they had like 10-15 kids from BYU over; some of their kids' friends, some they knew from past wards, and then us). It was awesome. One of the guys that was there served in Madrid, and another one served in the Louisville Mission! I talked to them and that was really awesome. Speaking of dinners, it's fantastic eating American food again. I'm going to miss it when I get to Spain!

I think that's about it! Today we're going to a corn maze with our district and one of their investigator's who's getting baptized on Saturday, so I'm looking forward to that! Halloween is Wednesday and the movie President McCune approved us to watch is Narnia. We stop proselyting at 5 and get to have a little party with our district and watch our movie. Yay for Halloween! I love and miss you all. I can't believe how the time is flying. I never want to leave :)

Love,

Hermana Munden

P.S. A high council member told me on Sunday that the Spain Ambassador was actually at the MTC this last week and that he promised to do something about the Visa situation! Maybe I'll spend Christmas in Spain?

Transfer Week!

I've officially been in the field longer than I was in the MTC! Finalllllllly. I guess I'll start with the big news first. We got our transfer calls on Saturday afternoon. This last week went by soooo slow waiting for our calls. But here's what's happening for the next six weeks. Hermana Alley is going to Payson speaking Spanish, Hermana Soto is going to stay here in Provo East speaking English, Spanish, and Portuguese, and I'm going to BYU Campus speaking English. I'm really gonna miss Provo East. There are so many cool people we're teaching that have come so much closer to Christ and I'm sad I won't be here if and when they decide to get baptized, but President McCune will let us come back for baptisms, so I'm glad about that. I have mixed feelings about serving at BYU. I'm excited I get to stay here in Provo, but kinda bummed about serving in English. I mean it's kind of awesome because, well, I speak English. But I'm nervous that my Spanish is going to get worse than it already is. The good thing though is that my companion, Sister Cha, is from Nicaragua, so she can help me keep practicing so I don't lose it before I get to Spain.

Alright. So this week has had more downs than ups, but that's okay. Our guy Adao from the Portuguese ward in Orem was supposed to get baptized this past Saturday. He was going to be our only baptism this whole transfer! But he hasn't been going to church and he has to go at least two times in a row before he gets baptized, so we have to push his date back a little bit. Kind of a bummer, but he's still really excited about it and knows he's making the right decision, so that's really good.

We had some awesome lessons with Michelle this week. She's told us she needs to get baptized, but she's lacking the faith that she's good enough to take that step and that she can truly be forgiven of her sins. The other day in my personal study I read Mosiah 26:22 and thought of Michelle. It says that whoever will believe in Christ, repent and baptized, will be freely forgiven. We spent our lesson that night talking to her about forgiveness. I think she's feeling better about the idea that we can be freely forgiven, and she also recognizes the importance of forgiving others. She's had some pretty terrible stuff happen to her and she told us since talking to us she's been able to talk to some people for the first time in years and tell them she forgives them. Yay Michelle! I know how hard it is to forgive people sometimes, so I'm really proud of her. We invited her to come to church with us on Sunday because it was mine and Hermana Alley's last Sunday and guess what. She came! And she brought her husband and 7 of her 8 kids. Oh goodness, it made my whole day. We also two more of our investigators there and a couple less active couples. And the theme in Sacrament Meeting was missionary work and the restoration of the gospel, so it was a good one for them to come to.

Wednesday night we had dinner at Cafe Rio with one of our recent converts and this guy who was there with his girlfriend came up to us and offered to pay for us! How sweet. We figured we shouldn't deny this kind man the blessings that would come from helping the missionaries, so we accepted his offer. Haha and then Thursday we went and got Jamba Juice and they gave it to us for free. Being a missionary in Provo is for real the best. After Jamba Juice we went home and I accidentally through my scriptures in the trash in the garage. So that was awesome. I had to have Bro. Dickson help me get them out. Oopsies. They don't stink or anything though. So I mean that's a plus.

Friday morning we had DTM (District Training Meeting) and Hermana Alley gave the spiritual thought. She shared Alma 26:16 and it's my new favorite scripture. Go look it up! It's a good one. We went out for pizza as a district afterwards and these two gentlemen who were eating with their families paid for us. Sweeties. Saturday afternoon after we got done with all our scheduled appointments, we walked by Bro. Adams house (he's in our area) to see if he was home. He was! It was good to see him - I've missed that guy. Now I wanna go find my other teachers! He made me give a spiritual thought, as only an MTC teacher would, and then we left. Afterwards we went to dinner at this lady's house. It was a nasty sweet potato and pea soup. I wish so badly that I'd eaten more weirdo vegetables and stuff when Mom tried to make me because if I had, I wouldn't be so picky now. It's a real problem. I hate almost every dinner we have. I'm excited about serving in English wards because I might finally get normal food for once!

I'm sad about leaving Hermana Alley. She's been such an awesome first companion/trainer. She thinks I'm funny even when I'm not, she encourages me, and she loves being a missionary. She's so easy to love. I think I got lucky with her and I know I'm not always going to have companions as great as she is, but I feel blessed and grateful that I got to spend my first three weeks with her. I still love being a missionary. I'm the happiest I've been in a long time and I feel my testimony growing every single day. One of the things I like best about being a missionary is the love I've developed for the scriptures. They're so good! An hour of scripture study every morning is never enough! My scriptures are covered in colors and notes and I love it.

I think that's it! I always feel like I've forgotten stuff, but this week wasn't too terribly exciting. I hope everyone is healthy and happy. Thanks for all your support.

 

Love,

Hermana Munden

Happy 1 month to meeee!

I can't believe I've hit my one month mark. This has been the busiest/best month of my life. I had a couple really cool experiences with some of our investigators this week. I think I mentioned Idalid; we found her just one day knocking. She's incredible, and somewhat of a "golden investigator." The hard thing with her is finding a time when she's home. I don't think she understands that when we make appointments with her, that means we will be coming over at that time, because she's usually not home. But every time she is, she lets us in and we have an awesome lesson. She's so interested and willing and already has such great faith! We visited her on Wednesday and talked a lot about prayer. The three of us bore testimony of the power of prayer and why it's a commandment. We taught her the way we pray and asked if she'd pray with us. At first she said she was too embarrassed, but after we showed her a simple example, she prayed herself! It was so cool. We left her with the Introduction to the Book of Mormon to read and pray about and she said she would. We haven't seen her since Wednesday because she hasn't been home, but I'm so excited to go back!

That same day we had an appointment with this woman named Doris. She's in her mid-20's and hasn't been progressing. This time we asked her directly if she was interested in our church and just as directly she said, "Honestly, no." Dropping investigators is so sad, but we always let them know that we're still here for them and care about them. Even though Doris isn't interested, we've started teaching her sister-in-law, Kelly. She's 26 and here from Venezuela learning English. She lives with 3 members who go to BYU. She's most interested about the Book of Mormon so we started talking about that, along with prayer. She listens so intently, asks questions, wants to come to church, and the Spirit is always so strong when we're with her. We have an appointment with her tonight at 6, which we're all pretty excited about.

We had another really awesome lesson with Michele. Her daughter Lucia has been sitting in on lessons which is also really cool. Lucia speaks more English than Spanish, so the English Elders in our area teach her (and her boyfriend Anthony), but we still always welcome her in our lessons and even though she's kind of quiet, I know she's listening. Towards the end of the lesson, Lucia goes, "I'm gonna be honest. When I first heard of the Mormons I thought you guys were crazy. I really did. But when I read the Book of Mormon I get this feeling. It's the same feeling I get when you and the Elders come into our house. It's a safe feeling. It's comforting. Like even though when I wake up in the morning and think today's going to be another bad day, I can go to sleep knowing that everything will be okay. It's a feeling that tells me that God loves me and is looking out for me. It's making me a different person. I don't really know how to explain it, but I don't want it to go away." Oh my goodness. It was the best thing in the world. I love Lucia and Michele.

Last night we went tracting after dinner because all of our appointments fell through and we ran into this crazy cat lady. She has 20 something cats and I guess animal control has been called a few times. She's sweet, but extremely odd. She asked us to come in and leave her with a prayer of health and safety. And she asked me to say it. It was super awkward and I had no idea what to say that would make this crazy cat lady feel safe and healthy, but she really appreciated it so I guess that's all that matters! Haha she told us she served a mission, but her neighbor said she's never been baptized, so I'm not quite positive she's all the way there. Her neighbor is really cool though. She's 26 and from Brazil and is a single mom. She's a member and she said she'd feed us whenever we want! She also is the manager of the Forever 21 in Orem and said she'd hook us up with some free clothes. Hooray for that.

Speaking of food, oh my gosh. I wanna die. I think we're gonna try to cut our dinners with members down to only 3 days a week because we just can't handle all the food. Haha it's good, but way too much. And they get offended when we don't eat it all. We go to the faculty gym at BYU every morning though, so that makes the situation a little better. I'm going to enjoy that luxury while it lasts.

One of my companions has been struggling lately. I think she really misses home and has had a couple down days this week. We brought one of her family friends with us to teach a lesson and afterwards when we walked Maria home, Maria grabbed her, and in the most loving, firm way, she said, "When you get back to your apartment, go answer these three questions... One, who are you? Two, why are you here? Three, what is your goal? And when you have a bad day, read your answers." It was awesome. So the next day during personal study, I answered those questions for myself. This is what I came up with. Who am I? I am a daughter of God. I am literally the daughter of a king and an heir to a royal throne. I have a divine heritage. Jesus Christ, the most perfect man to ever walk the Earth, is my brother, friend, and my Savior. I am a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am a servant of the Lord. I am His hands in the great work of gathering His lost sheep. I am a Mormon. I am a representative of Jesus Christ and I wear his name proudly. Why am I here? I am here because I love God. I am here because after all Christ sacrificed for me, and all His selfless love has allowed me to do, 18 months of my life dedicated to Him will never seem like enough. I am here because I want to be. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the best thing that has ever happened to me and I want to share my knowledge of truth, happiness, peace, and love with everyone that will listen. I am here because I have been called by God himself, through a living prophet, to serve the people of Provo Utah and Madrid Spain. What is my goal? My goal is to invite as many people as I can to come unto Christ, and to show them the goodness of the Gospel. My goal is to love others with all my heart; to care less about myself and more about them. My goal is to help people see, recognize, and feel the love God has for them and that their life has great purpose. My goal is to change - to be truly converted unto the Lord. My goal is to make myself, my mission presidents, my family, and ultimately, my Heavenly Father proud.

Love,

Hermana Munden

One week down, and not enough to go

Oh my goodness gracious. I don't even know where to start. I LOVE being a missionary. It's just about my favorite thing in the world. Let's start with General Conference. HOW ABOUT THAT MISSIONARY ANNOUNCEMENT? I'm pretty sure there were probably gasps all around the world. How exciting! I would've gone on a mission in a second if I could have two years ago. I think a lot more young people (as Grandpa Wayne would call them) will be going on missions now that the age limit has been reduced - especially sister missionaries. I love love looooved the rest of Conference. I heard all the things I needed to and was super uplifted and re-motivated. I don't know if you watched the Sunday morning session, but if you did, I was on the TV! During "Called to Serve" the camera panned over the section of missionaries right in front and you could definitely see us for like 5 seconds. It was so incredible to be in the same building as the Prophet and so many other General Authorities. Before the session started we got to talk to and hug the General Primary President and a couple members of the Seventy and their wives. They all were so appreciative of our service and it was neat to get to meet them.

The funniest thing from this week happened on Saturday. Sometimes we park in the Taco Bell parking lot to either go to the bathroom or because it's a convenient location to leave our car while we walk to investigator's homes. We had just come out of Taco Bell and were getting back in our car when we saw this guy ride up on his motorcycle. The back of his shirt said Wilson and he had gauges in his ears. We figured he wasn't a member, so Hermana Soto was like, "Hermanas, let's go teach him!" But right after she said that he rode off on his bike; literally no more than two minutes later he drove back and parked his bike again. Hermana Soto goes, "Oh my gosh it's a sign!" So while deciding whether or not to give him a Book of Mormon, I say, ""I think that kid could use the Gospel," and Hermana Soto goes, "Hermana, the whole world could use the Gospel, but you're right - especially Wilson." We about died of laughter. It was so funny. Now we call him Wilson because that's what his shirt said, even though we don't know his real name. While he was still inside Taco Bell we ran out and placed a Book of Mormon on his bike and moved our car to a less obvious location to watch what happened. He came outside, picked up the book, looked around, kept it, and sped away. Who knows what will happen, but it was a pretty funny (and hopefully productive) moment.

This week has been good. We usually teach 3 or 4 lessons a day. It's hard because a lot of people are too nice to tell us that they don't want us to come back and teach them, so we make an appointment and then when we come back they're not home or they make up an excuse as to why we can't come in. It's kinda sad. But we do have 4 or 5 progressing investigators, which is really cool! There's this couple, Michele and Nelson who we've been teaching. They seem really interested. They keep all their commitments, and are reading and praying which is so so good. The Spirit is so strong in our lessons with them. It's cute because Michele has all these cards and things marking spots in her Book of Mormon and she shares with us cool stuff she read. She says she likes taking her kids fishing because it's the only time she has where she can just sit down by herself, and read from the Book of Mormon and Bible. It's awesome. She has a baptism date set for October 27th, so hopefully we can get her to church with us a few times before then so she can be baptized. There's another guy named Adao whose baptism is scheduled for a week from Saturday! We went over the baptismal interview questions with him on Thursday and it was so awesome to hear his testimony of all these things like Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith, a modern day prophet, the Word of Wisdom, and everything else we've taught him. His faith is incredible and I can't wait to see him get baptized! Eddie is my other favorite investigator. He's just 15 years old, has read the whole Book of Mormon, goes to seminary, and is so, so eager to learn. On Thursday we taught him the Plan of Salvation and spent time answering his questions. Before we left we readdressed the issue of baptism. We knelt down with him and he offered a prayer about whether or not baptism is the right thing for him. At one point he said, "God I believe in you. I know you're there and whatever you ask of me, I'll do. Thank you for sending these sisters to me." It was all Hermana Alley and I could do not to cry. Prayers of sincere investigators are so powerful. The other day when we called him to see how his prayers about baptism were going he told us that he wants to get baptized in the Catholic church first and then in the Mormon church. So that was a little disappointing and confusing, but we have an appointment with him tonight so we'll talk to him about that.

It's incredible how much people in Provo love the missionaries. We get so much free food it's insane. It's awesome. I probably shouldn't get too used to it though since that's never gonna happen in Spain. Speaking of Spain, I still haven't heard anything. I'm okay with that though because I love it here in Provo.

Jessie Drake lives in our area so I'm going to try and see if she wants to come out and teach with us sometime - especially because she can go on a mission in less than a year if she wants to! I love and miss you all.

Love,

Hermana Munden

Day 2 in Provo

My new address is:

Hermana Munden
85 North 600 E
Provo, UT 84606

 

I'm in the mission field! I had almost forgotten what it's like to ride in a car and experience the outside world. That being said, I miss the little MTC bubble I lived in for three weeks. I had a good last day though. Since Sunday was Fast Sunday we had Mission Conference with everyone there. The MTC Presidency spoke and then someone in the Missionary Department from Salt Lake. Sacrament meeting was the best. I love hearing other missionaries' testimonies and conversion stories. They're so uplifting and inspiring and give me the extra boost I need to keep going. My favorite part about night time at the MTC was when we got to our residence, we had the windows open and could hear the elders singing "God Be With You Till We Meet Again" in Spanish as they walked home. I'm gonna miss that so much. It was such a happy way to fall asleep.

It's so strange that yesterday morning I woke up in the MTC, and I went to bed at my new home in the field. Yesterday was so overwhelming. I had to say goodbye to my companions, my district, and a couple other elders I became friends with. It was the saddest thing! I spent every minute of every day with these people and now I won't see them for two years. Waaaaah. Hermana Barrera and I left the MTC at 2:30 and drove to the Utah Provo Mission home with the three elders who have also been reassigned while they wait for their Spain visas. I met my Mission President and I already love him. He said in my interview that he can tell I'm going to be a great missionary, and I really needed that. He also made a point of telling me that right now, this is my mission. He and the other missionaries are going to treat me like one of their own, not as someone who's here temporarily, and I really liked that. Then I met my new companions! I'm in another trio. I feel like there are some ups and downs to teaching in threes, but so far it's all I know, so I don't really mind. Hermana Alley is from Indiana and Hermana Soto is from Spain! Hermana Alley has been out for a year and Hermana Soto for two months.

Last night we were at it right away. We knocked on some doors in our and we came across this family talking outside. One of their friends was outside with them and we struck up a conversation with him. His name is Arturo and he's from Mexico. He's been in Utah for about 4 years and he's single. His wife left him for another man after 38 years of marriage, so he's struggling with that. We talked to him for probably half an hour and after a while he actually told us he'd been baptized in the Church. He's just not active anymore. I felt the Spirit so strongly when we were with him and I know that God loves him. He's a really good man, and seems so smart. I think he's really lonely, so I'm glad we got to talk to him. And we have an appointment with him on Thursday!

Next was our appointment with Clara and Joel. Hermana Soto went on splits with some girl from the ward, so it was just Hermana Alley and me. The Ward Mission Leader and his wife were at Clara and Joel's house when we got there. Clara fed us cake and horchata (I think that's how you spell it). Oh my gosh, soo good. I've had horchata before, but the homemade stuff is a thousand times better. Then we started our lesson, talking about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Hermana Alley taught most of it, but I bore my testimony about prophets. The Spirit was so strong as Hermana Alley was teaching these people. I guess Clara had been having some pain in her legs and wrists, so Hermano Bailey gave her a blessing. It was really neat. He sat down with her and explained what a priesthood blessing was and how it was going to happen. He then gave her the most beautiful blessing. Afterwards we asked her how she felt. She said she felt chills, and a calm and peaceful feeling. We told her it was the Spirit and she said it was a beautiful feeling. I love teaching real people!

Hermana Soto has a family friend from Spain who lives in our area, so we went to her house for lunch. We had these weird meat things. Ew, not a fan. Some of it looked like sausage with pepper, and the other stuff was called jamon cerana I think. It looked like raw bacon, but definitely didn't taste like bacon. Hermana Soto was so excited to eat it because I guess it's one of her favorite things, but Hermana Alley just gave me a look and was like, "Don't worry, we'll go eat a real lunch." I probably need to learn to like this stuff because it's what I'll be eating in Spain, but right now, I think I'll stick with my American food, thank you very much.

We live in the basement of a member's home; it's a million times more space than I had in the MTC. I like the schedule here a lot more, too. We wake up at 6:10, workout until 7, then take turns showering and getting ready. Personal study is for an hour at 8, companionship study is for two hours at 9 and then at 11 we do language study. Then we have lunch and don't leave the house until about 1. It's so nice to have all that time in the morning to study so I feel prepared for our lessons throughout the day. Tonight we have a few appointments, so hopefully they don't fall through!

Basically, life is goooood. It's strange serving in Provo. I'm nervous I'm going to see someone I know and not be able to run up and hug them and carry on like a normal human being. Haha that's okay, though. We live like 5 minutes from Alec and Irene's and pass the MTC at least twice a day. I'm excited to be here and it's incredible how much I already care about the people we're teaching. That's how it should be though, so I'm glad it's coming naturally. This Sunday, we're going to the morning session of General Conference, and I CAN'T WAIT! General Conference are my favorite days of the year and I'm thrilled I actually get to attend a session!