Dear Family and friends,
This week has had some serious ups
and downs. I'll start with the downs. This week I have really come to be close
friends with my slingshot. We have implemented late night discussions and with
it late night dogs. I have been nipped a couple times but not hard enough to
draw blood. The dogs get shot as soon as there are about 5 feet away. The other
day we were chased by 12 about the size of Skye and I only take comfort in that
I think I can climb fences faster than them.
I still wake up at 5:30 and go
Workout. I do my run and then come back in and shower. Sometimes the shower
doesn't work though because it runs on rain water and it hasn't rained much. We
have been getting more spiders in our MQ lately. They make Tarantulas seem like
decent creatures. These ones are massive. To be honest everything is bigger
here. The people, mosquitos, spiders, flies and dogs. The Papaya is huge as
well as the Watermelon. I am sorry I didn't take many pictures I didn't have
much time this week.
We went to a zone
conference on Tuesday. I figured out what my companion said about us not doing
anything the way it's been done in the past. Our numbers are at the top. Last
week we taught about 50 lessons. On Saturday alone we made 27 appointments for
this upcoming week. My comp said that we need to slow down, I told him we could
soon as we got to around 200. He is starting to like the harder work more and
more I think. I track our time everywhere we go. About 50% of the day is
traveling so I started organizing appointment times based on location. I hope
to get around 75 lessons this week and 10 baptismal dates. Hopes are high.
Our zone leaders are
Tongan. Mahe and I make bets over what they stole every time they come do a
room check. I'm getting pretty sick of coming home and having all my food
stolen, so I started something new, I only buy fruits and vegetables. Now they
don't touch my food. Fact is, neither does my companion. I can buy a huge bag
of pears, apples, and carrots for about a dollar US money right now because
they are in season.
We aren't allowed to play sports,
with one exception: touch rugby. Let me tell ya...it's a blast. For sure my favorite
sport. I think I'll try to find a team when I get back. I play every night with
a group of about 20 sixteen to twenty year olds. The funny part is I teach them
while we play and after. On Monday I gave them all a Book of Mormon. Only about
5 are LDS. I think they will all get baptized before I leave the area. Or at
least I hope.
The food is getting
better. I have just been eating everything they give me and hoping I can keep
it down. I miss the MTC food to be honest.
Language is still super
rough. I am frequently laughed at and responded to very rudely by the old
ladies when we go out tracting. "Kātaki te ke foki ki Amelika palangi!" (Please, go back to America white man!)
That's about
all for now. I hope every thing is going well back home for you all. I love you
all and wish you the best. Whenever you feel like complaining about your living
conditions remember there are people that live in a shack with dirt floors that
have children that squish the cockroaches off the ground and then eat them.
People that have never seen a shower, and still remember to read their
scriptures and say their prayers. I haven't heard one complaint since I've been
here. I love you all and would like to bear my Testimony that I know I
was sent here for a reason. Looking back, even when it gets super hard here I
still know I been raised and had experiences that God has wanted me to have to
be better able to adapt to this mission.
To all those out
there that are struggling with your faith or your testimony: I invite you to
pick up a Book of Mormon. I invite you to kneel down and say a prayer. Pray to
understand. And then began to read. Read 30 pages. Underline the
different things the prophets know are true. And then dig deep. Could a boy, with
barely any education write it? Or is it a work of God? Need even more proof?
Look up at the stars. Think of every miracle of life around you. I testify that
if you do this you will know. The day you stop, you will began to doubt.
Stay consistent. In the name of Jesus Christ amen.
Love, Elder Lundskog
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