This will be Elder Lundy's last full week on his Mission

I didn't have a 4th of July. It passed by before I even realized...

Man that's gonna be rough on Oliver. 8 weeks? and right when I'm gonna get home. Ugh.

Those boys are looking so big now! (Our dog Oliver was injured in a Frisbee accident and may need surgery.)

Oh so this week we finally had the zone conference and it was with four zones! more or less 50 missionaries. 11 of the 18 that are going home this transfer were present so our testimony session took pretty much an hour like I thought it would haha. It was kinda funny because my arrival group has 5 elders,4 Americans and one Brazilian and all of us were present so the one Brazilian got to do something rare which is hear the ending testimonies of all the Americans from his group. I got to see a bunch of friends again including Elder EWERTON!!! YAY!! This was the first time in almost a year that I got to see him! I can honestly say I'm pretty proud of him!  I was his second companion and now he's my AP! He calls me Papai basically saying that I was his trainer. :) He gave a really good training session.

Elder Beatty also informed Webster, Kebker, and I that our MTC instructor Irmã Fuoco is going to be sealed this Friday morning and she invited us all to attend!! As for the temple, the missionaries who're ending their mission here all go one last time in their last days.

One more thing! One sister was joking a bit about her husband's large belly during lunch and at the same time giving us advice but it was actually pretty funny. "Girls want the cute little washboard abs, but a REAL woman wants the large 10kg washing machine because she knows it gets the work done!" haha (Dad's reply... SO THAT'S WHY Mom keeps the old washing machine fed!!  ;-)  She's really getting the work done now!  :D)

My throat's getting better. I'm pretty sure it's the house where we live. There's a leakage problem when it rains and it's always pretty cold in our house. And yes I did gargle with warm salt water. 2 times!

(I had a talk and lesson to give on Sunday almost an hour and a half of talking.) Mom, you've always had the gift of gab when it comes to gospel stuff :P (that's a good thing) I'm pretty sure my talk will take up a good amount of time just because I'll keep pausing to try to remember how to say English words haha :P I know them all very well but saying them is another matter.

This week apart from the sealing session I'll attend, I'll have self sufficiency training on Wednesday. Tuesday morning we have a district meeting but first we'll have a zone wide breakfast. Thursday there will be an integration activity for the ward at night. Next Monday I'll be going to the mission office and we'll have dinner with the President followed by another testimony meeting. Next Tuesday we're going to the temple, then we'll have our final interviews and Wednesday we're getting on the plane!!

Yeah the weather change won't be too big. It just won't get as chilly there haha.

Imma make dad exercise with me :3

I love you!!!

4th of July Week

Fireworks from home - small town USA

This week was slower than normal because I got sick last p-day and spent the majority of the week sick. My sore throat got worse when I got sick and is currently the only problem I've got.

This ward helps a bit more than others so I don't have much to complain about but the issue with converts' family is worldwide sadly. 

Wow... you guys got a lot of work done this week! That stinks about needing to put down the rooster. :/ And awesomeness about your new temple prep class!!

I'm a bit sad because our two investigators L... and C... have begun avoiding us. C... told her member friend P... that the church is very mysterious after watching Sunday. Ugh... we're here to take away the mystery. But no... ...ugh.

Oh so the zone conference didn't happen this past week for some reason so it's gonna be this Wednesday together with a total of 4 zones! that'll be cool. We're gonna spend at least an hour on the testimony session for everyone who's going home.

Anyways, I love you! 

Baptized this Saturday!!

So our new investigators C... and L... are pretty great! They accepted a baptismal date of July 9th and they went to church this Sunday so the date is still valid!!

G..., from the Lan-house, was baptized this Saturday!! Finally!! She was baptized in the neighboring ward Jundiapeba. While I was there some of the members remembered me from the three other times I visited a year ago! One even remembered my name which surprised me but of course made me happy. 

Well I woke up with a sore throat and a bit of a runny nose.

Mice are annoying. (Dad and I had some mice move into the work shop.) I haven't seen our rat anymore but I've still been hearing little noises that to me must be from him.

So this week we'll have zone conference again. It'll be my last one so there will be a part where all the people in the zone that are ending their missions share their testimony with the rest and I'll be participating this time.

I'm excited for this zone conference because there's a good chance that I'll get to see Elder Ewerton again!! 

Oh so we had interviews with the president this week and while we were waiting I chatted with Sister Silcox and she said that she was proud of me for my exercising and all that stuff. This was the only time that she didn't hit me on the head for drinking from the tap.

Anyways, that's all I can remember...

I love you!!!

Father's Day

Hi Mom and Dad,

Happy Late Father's day!!!! In Brazil it's august 13th so I got confused. Thanks for being my Dad!

There are only two elders in this ward including me, but we share a church building with another ward and that ward currently has a trio of elders. They live on the same road as us just a tiny bit closer to the church. I don't know if you remember Elder Friere, but I lived with him in São Mateus and Tiradentes and he's currently the "third man" in the other ward.

Our teaching is going alright. We got two new investigators that are really interested in learning more about the church. Hopefully it's not just an interest to learn more but an interest to act on the knowledge we'll pass to them.

I got an awesome invite this morning when I arrived in the LAN-House! G..., one of the girls that works here, has been taught all the lessons and visits the church every once in a while on Sundays. This started 3 years ago. This Sunday she decided that it was finally time for her to be baptized so she invited me to attend her baptism in a neighboring ward on Saturday!!! So that's the great news of the week!

Haha honestly I was planning on asking for that meal during my first week back! (I fixed Elder Lundy's favorite meal for our local elders this past week.)

Elder Nascimento doesn't cook for me too often. Every once in a while he makes a meal at night if he's hungry and stuff. What happens more is that the sisters in the ward buy the ingredients for dessert and ask him to teach them how to make it. His specialty is in desserts.

Oh those boys... they eat rabbits and catch birds? :( eww   (our 2 dogs have decided lately that catching rabbits and birds is fun.)

That's pretty awesome about Gunner! I email him when I've got the time but he hasn't mentioned that yet! (Another elder from home that is serving in Brazil and got a special assignment.)

Oh so this week we had a fight with a rat in our house at 12:30 at night until 2am. We didn't catch/kill the rat but once it was out of the house we sealed where it was entering.

(I'm still encouraging Elder Lundy not to be trunky. His response to that challenge is...)

One of the things that's motivating me to keep going is the family that took care of me when I was sick in Taubaté. They told me that they learned of the church through a contact that an elder made with them in the grocery store line two days before he ended his mission.

Anyways, I love you!!

Back in an old area...

(Back in an old area...Do they remember you?) It's AWESOME!!! Everybody remembers me and I was greeted by big smiles, happy handshakes, big hugs, and some sisters that said "if you weren't and elder I'd hug you" haha :)

My week here was pretty great! The best thing about this week is that I arrived just in time to see the baptism of R..., a boy that I taught a little with Ewerton and Soares.

My companion is Elder Nascimento he will be turning 21 this year.. He's gonna end his mission in August or October. He's only been here for one transfer so I know the area better than he does almost. Something cool about him: His family is pretty big. I believe he has 8 siblings. He and some of the other were adopted as babies. He ended high school early and has gone to college already and studied gastronomy!  So the eatin's good :) We're thinking that President Silcox wants to fatten me up a little before sending me home so he doesn't have to deal with angry parents haha. (Elder Lundy lost a lot of weight in Brazil)

Busy week for sure! Anyways, have a safe trip!! Love ya!  I'm glad you guys got to have this fun weekend together! (Mom and Dad spent a much needed weekend away with family friends)

I had to stop with the exercises because I got a bit sick but I started up again and boy is it difficult if I just stop for a week haha

Those boys still chew everything up huh? haha And Aunt Edie keeps supplying them with stuff hahaha (Our dogs get pampered by our Edie. They can chew thru anything and I do mean anything. lol Even the toys that say: indestructible.)

That's sad that an injury like that is enough to finish off a chicken :( (We had a chicken break her leg and she died before we could help her get healed.)

Bridget is awesome for sures! (Elder Lundy's sister is helping him with registration for College.)

Anyways, I don't have much more to say.

I love you!!

You have no idea where I am right now!!! :)

You have no idea where I am right now!!! Transfers were today, not tomorrow.

President closed Vila Ema (my area) and told me that I would be transferred to... BRAS CUBAS!!!!!! I'm back in Bras Cubas to end my mission!! I'm super super happy about this! 

My companion is Elder Nascimento, I already know him and I like him and all so it's all good.

Okay, my birthday was pretty good. The sisters in my district bought me a little cake, and at night Elder Puga and I bought one of the more expensive pizzas.

I'm pretty good already. My nose is still a little annoying. I got better after about 4 days.

Hahahahaha. You do scare me a bit with what you're able to do through social media.

I'm glad the week worked out for everyone. (I needed to get support for some important things happening in our ward so I hit social media kind of hard, and played the guilt card.)

OKay so the situation with Vila Ema... President Silcox closed the area to missionary work. The mission is getting really small lately. Our ward mission leader made that announcement during his testimony at the end of the sacrament meeting and the whole place went silent. So as for R... He started avoiding us so I've got no idea. I believe F... has managed to stop smoking again!

That's sad that your ward member are having problems with some of the commandments :( I'll be home in 6 weeks and I'm already planning my homecoming talk on repentance so let's see if I can help.

How's Elder M... (that's his name right?) He's got a hug arriving for him soon!

haha Haha those boys. (I taught our dogs to eat radishes) I'm getting much better with my eating habits. I'm not as picky anymore. But put some fish in front of me and see if I touch it hahaha :P

So imma finish my mission with a bang of course! Especially now that I'm back in my favorite ward! Imma do whatever I can to help these people out. Hopefully I'll be able to baptize someone here so I can say I baptized in all my areas haha.

I LOVE YOU TOO!!

 Yay for the Bang! (I challenged Elder Lundy to not go trunky!)

Happy Birthday Son!

Elder Lundy's the baby of the family :)

Thanks! :) (It's Elder Lundy's 22nd Birthday today!)

I'm getting old :P

My week was pretty good. The baptismal interview went well but it ended up being on Tuesday instead of Friday.

R. wasn't baptized because he still hasn't given up coffee... Our ward mission leader bought us cevada (Mormon coffee) to give to him to see if it helps.

(Cevada - A roasted grain beverage (also grain coffee) is a hot beverage made from one or more cereal grains roasted and commercially processed into crystal or powder form to be reconstituted later in hot water. The product is often marketed as a caffeine-free alternative to coffee and tea.)

Speaking of exercise, I had the goal to be able to do my work out plan within 10 minutes by the end of the transfer, and I already managed in 9! I also managed to do double my workout plan Saturday night (to make up for not doing it the following Sunday) and it took me 33 minutes, including a bit of rest time to not hurt myself.

I enjoyed the temple trip. I got to see a bunch of my friends from another zone. Sadly my stomach didn't let me focus too well while I was in the temple. Stomach problems stink :(

Zone conference went well too. During the lunch break some of the other missionaries had a small birthday surprise for four of us in the zone who'll be having or had a birthday this transfer.

That sounds frustrating about the baptism situation there (at home). Sadly you're both right. The goal is to baptize the investigator as soon as possible, so the third Sunday is ideal, but you're also correct in that if she can't wait one week she's very likely to end up on the less active list quickly. There are a lot of missionaries though that keep pushing because every week you wait is another week that Satan has to work in the mind of that person... it's a difficult and annoying situation for sure...

I got sick this week too. Saturday night going to Sunday and still to this moment. Just a cold though I think. I don't know if it's because of the flu vaccine, or my being stupid and going out back to check on my clothes in the washing machine after doing my exercises... probably the second because that happened right before I got sick.

Anyways, I love you!!

HUGS!!