OCTOBER 1, 2010


Woo, its already October can you believe that?! I sure can't. Kah-ray-zee.

Dad:
I think it would be awesome if you were the new gospel doctrine teacher! I sure enjoyed the short time I got to be a teacher in college. It seemed like a bit of a hassle with preparing a lesson on the weekend when I could've been out in about but you learn so much more when you're studying it to later teach it. The OT was kind of scary to try and teach but I'm glad I got to learn a portion of it well!
Thanks for the milk lesson :P haha. I'll try and keep that in mind. I'm actually trying to not get so festively plump as I think I was on the path for. At all the meals I'm trying to hold back on all the desserts and in the morning and evening I get ready for the day and bed fast so I can have a little time to work out ontop of regular gym time.
Thanks for sending the pancake picture, appreciate it!

Lori:
I'm super pumped for you to come to Provo! The MTC here is great and you'll love it! since we're both speaking Brazilian Portugues we just might be in the same branch here :O If anything our classrooms will be really close together since they group those by language and theres only like 1 floor of building 18M that is portugues, so I have a feeling I just might see my sis a bunch :P the subject of hugging sibligns came up in a zone meeting and they said don't do it infront of everyone in say like the cafeteria cause not everyoen knows your related and you dont wanna give anyone the wrong idea. But don't you worry, I'll be sure to stop by your class and awe your district with my amazing speaking skills (not :P) but give you a hug there :P
Things I wish I brought? You pretty much have everything you need on the list... Your day is spent studying away really, so if you have all that stuff you're pretty much set. You might want like a sweatshirt or jacket since the MTC (on say p-days) in provo is and will continue to be colder than what Sao Paulo would be.

Mom:
Hope you're feeling better! Thanks for the shoes, they're working out great, and my feet don't slide out of them, its rather nice! I think they'll last a lot longer than mesh (tears easy). So good investment. You can count it as my christmas present (y)

Jeff:
Looks like jobs are gonna work out for ya, thats always good to hear! I'm shocked you had such detailed updates on football :P You must of actually watched the game!? Sounds like BYU isn't looking so hot at all this year. Looks like I left at just the right time eh? Hopefully they'll be built back up in 2 years so I don't have to watch all the losing as much.

Brother Clements is also leaving as our teacher, he got reassigned to an English district. He was replaced by Sister Dickson, who served somewhere in southern Brazil, I forget which mission. Oh actually it was somethign that translated to "Black River"? I donno something like that. She's a pretty good teacher, she's good at not letting us get away with speaking English when we can figure it out in Portugues (just one week till we make the whole conversion!) But at the same time Sister Dickson just doesn't have the crazy excitement that Brother Clements had, who would literally jump for joy if you did something good or figured something out in Portugues and was always smiling huge and open mouthed. Basically (for the college friends) the male version of Krista :P thats a good description.

This last week I also got my first haircut in the mission. Its shorter than I've pretty much ever had it. Its just like one step above a buzz cut pretty much, so when you feel it, it has that buzz feeling but its not like you can see my scalp under it. I don't really like the look of it too much but hey, its way easy to maintain (don't have to do a thing) so it saves me like a minute each morning having to do my hair :)

This week There has also been an unfortunate distraction of having to go to the medical clinic a couple times ( and will have to return a couple more) My companion, Elder Black's, arm + half his hand has been numb for about 2 weeks now and this week he finally decided to go get it checked out (i've been telling him to for awhile) So I just got to read Jesus the Christ (got a lotta reading done) for about 3 hours while he got a bunch of tests done. Initial tests are saying that he has 80% nerve damage in his elbow/hand. So in a couple weeks we gotta go back and see if its getting any better, and if not what to do from there. Its kind of strange, cause nothing really seems to be the cause of it, he just kind of woke up with it one day.

Quick note to Jeff Lestz:
Sorry It took a bit to respond. but I wannna thank you for the letter you sent. I definitely wasn't expecting it but I'm glad you did. Sounds like Skyline sports is fairing well. The XC team sounds crazy with those times. That means like the top 5 is more or less better than me, who use to be position 2 then 3 (4 at the end of senior year, kind of dropped the ball) They definitely have a shot of doing some good things this year, and they're all stilll pretty young for the future. Good thing you got a running roommate too, It sure helps out. I definitely didn't run near as much in college and it got pretty pathetic when I did run. One of my goals when I come back is to pick that up again. I still want to do a marathon.

As a wrap up I just want to thank everyone for all your support. One of my roommates (Elder Fernandez) was talking about when he left his Father was telling him (nonmember) how he didn't want him to go and him going would pretty much be an insult to him, and hasn't written him yet. I respect him a lot for still making the descision to serve the Lord, but how much easier that decision was for me with all the support and love I have received! so thank you all, and I love you all!

I'm stoked for General Conference this weekend, and the chance we have to hear the prophet and apostles and the other general authorities. I know these men were called of God and act as his mouthpiece to instruct us in these latter-days. I encourage you all to listen to the conference! Take notes and (of course) stay awake! (I use to have that problem :P but it'll be a lot easier I'm thinking now that I'm use to waking at 6:30 ha, anyway I'm pumped!)

Ok, less than a minute left so I better close.

Love you all, keep up the good work!
Elder Lund







SEPTEMBER 24, 2010




Well hello again from the MTC! Can you believe I'm already in week 3? (that rhymed)
First off Kelli, Thanks for those pictures again, I love the one with Bekka's arms stretched out like she's about to give you a big ole hug!
Mom also thanks for mailing your pictures, i noticed I didnt have any of you guys when I got here! Now I got the fam :)

Dad:
That cloud program sounds pretty sweet! i was actually one day thinking if that was possible and was trying to find something that would do that! Now it sounds like one day it'll be possible! Glad to hear your still biking to work, I think you've inspired me to want to do the same someday (y) but I dont really have to worry about that for now

Also for the pancake picture we took at Ihop coming home from Provo, Elise said she would like to see that, just for an fyi
sounds like Grandpa would be an awesome scout! better than me at least, I kind of regret not having done much in scouting...but not much ya can do now. Least I tied my dad :P

Sorry to hear Lori's unfortunate experience on the plane...hopefully she doesnt have that on the 12+hour plane ride to Brasil...That would be slightly miserable... yikes1
i like your 'attitude is altitude' saying. It certainly is true... and i've been having to say it a lot this week. it seems like all the missionaries are settling into the swing of things....which also means to some that their mission excitement is somewhat wearing off...and the lazy ones are starting to show. Its been pretty frusterating when you're trying to study or what not and other missionaries just want to take a nap or something. Or sometimes in companion study you say something and you get a blank face back and kind of have to refocus them. But all is well, I still think I'm working hard and trying to influence others to do the same...so I got a clean conscious at least (y)

Its great to hear that Sam got her call to Brazil! sounds like its the place to be! this past week one of the elders in my district got their visa and is already in Brazil by now. At the same time though the Brazil district thats ahead of us all got reassigned to different locations in the United States...so its still kinda iffy on where we're headed (the district before that one also got reassigned too...) so its jsut a matter of who are the lucky ones picked to get their visa's it looks like. hopefully Lori's comes through no problems though! If not the Provo MTC is great! and you can share in my discovery of this week. on campus there is a tree that seriously just smells exactly like cream soda! Its so amazing! Its so popular that they had to put up a sign by the tree saying not to walk on the grass around it because everyone was doing so to take a wiff.

Mom: I think your Scotland trip sounds kind of fun. How about we make a deal :P i'll come with ya and take care of ya :P I would love to go to Scotland or pretty much anywhere in the world.

I think I jumped the gun last week in saying I was already feeling better. The last weekend I was pretty sick, but NOW....I feel pretty much all the way better, I just have a little cough now, but all my enegery is back! which is the thing i care about most. Getting through all those class hours was really hard when you feel miserable and just wanna sleep :P My foot also feels all the way better now too, but my bad luck continued in it as well :P for some silly reason i decided to block a shot with my face, and consequently was spitting out blood for a bit and had a solid bloody nose --> the bright side I found out... a bloody nose clears out your congestion really well! haha

Quick note to Christian; sorry I didn't respond to your note last week I ran out of time. But that sounds great! i'm proud of your putting forth the effort to search for truth and hope you find everything you're looking for :) Going to school with you would be tight too if that does happen, Provo is a great city.

This week I taught my first lesson in straight portugues...which was a really cool experience. The odd thing was portugues was the least of the problems! I could understand everything in the discussion and could say anything that I wanted to in the language! The part that I found hardest was what to tell them in english (the teacher through a big curveball for an investigator) but it was awesome! :) i'm getting pretty excited to stop speaking english for good :)

Each day the lessons are pretty mind blowing and we cover so much so quickly. I've learned more grammer here than all my english classes combined i'd say, and for once the grammer stuff makes sense to me! (never have been good in english)

Also a quick note...family...you might be proud of me...i switched back to skim milk while I was here...having switched to 2% while in college...
Also i said last week I forgot my camera to upload some pictures of me in the MTC and temple grounds and such...turns out you cant put pictures on emails with the MTC computers so I'm going to plan B) sending them to Elise via mail since she lives close and i know she has a scanner (or at least did...pretty sure still does...) so my plan is she can scan those and then email them to Momma bear who can forward it to the rest? just my thinking (y) so heads up to look for that

Oh one quick note...my running shoes I brought for gym/pday/service already have holes in them!? :( i dont think running shoes are cut out for the mission since they're maid of more of a mesh material and not as durable as regualar shoes....but I don't really know how to replace them since we can't really go off campus...So mom and dad if you were to send a package of anything...i think those would be helpful...to just have normal tennis shoes... Or i could just duct tape them!? that would be pretty legit...start a new fad...

One last thing cause my time is pretty low. I had a dream this week where there was a huuuuge building that just had a bunch of rooms full of religion classes. and I went into one of them and MOM! you were the teacher! i guess my subconsciuos wants to thank you for teaching me growing up and all you've done for me :)
And thanks to everyone for all the love and support you give me :) keep up the prayers and know its goin both ways :)

Love you all, have a good week, and remember who are!






SEPTEMBER 17, 2010



Can you believe its already been more than a week? I sure have trouble doing so. The days themselves are pretty long and tiring but the week(s) seem to fly by. I'm really loving my time here! :)

First off I'm just gonna respond to what family has said. Actually before that a heads up on Dear Elder. For non-family please use that or handwrite (i know...snail mail...ew) and even for family the Dear Elder stuff was pretty swell. I liked being able to read all your letters before my Pday :) and now I don't have to use part of my 30 minutes to read so I can just write on ahead. Though Kelli, I did love the pictures you sent of Bekka, she's cute! :) I'm a bit bummed that by the time I get back she'll be so big! I'll have to do some major catching up ya?

Also on dear elder stuff, the is one "hitch in the get-a-long" or something like that as mom would say. It has trouble with some characters such as ' " type of marks, and unfortunately accents on Portuguese writing, it just puts a "?" if it doesnt understand it, making it harder to piece together. So just a heads up.

Congrats to Robby and Erin on their baby Brody. Glad everything "came out" alright (bad pun)

Dad:
My companion Elder Black isn't actually from "Moab" its a super small town so he just used that to describe where he was, the town is called Blandy (sp) He doesn't really mountain bike though. He's a big hunter, and his grandpa owns most of the land there so their family pretty much has free reign over lots of game there, he has lots of pictures of him with big buck and what not.
Glad to hear that the work situation with Amit turned out alright, just do your part in the work and the rest will take care of itself.

Lori:
Sounds like you're having a fun end of non-missionary life, enjoy it while you can! And thanks for the cupcakes :) They're super delicious. On advice before coming here... I'm not really an "expert" on the MTC since I've only been here for just over a week. But really just prepare yourself for the shock of being busy pretty much every second of the day. Don't let yourself sit around the house being a bum like I did and it'll be less of a shock to the system. There's no substitute for scripture study, just grow as close to your Heavenly Father as you can, cause you'll need his help. At a devotional here there was a quote from Elder Holland that I liked: "Missionary work is not easy because salvation never was a cheap experience." Our salvation is made possible by Christ's atonement, and while he was doing that he asked his father if there was another way (Matthew 26:39) It only makes sense that gaining access to the atonement and helping others to do so takes a lot of hard work!

Oh...this is really random, blame a weird question in a gramer workbook and my really weird mind. But I made a riddle...
Can there be an "emo goldfish"?

Answer: NO! if a goldfish was emo then it would cry all the time and the fresh water would turn salty and no more emo goldfish :(

Sorry random.

Jeff: I forgot to write this last week, but guess who one of my teachers are here!? Brother Clements! (Apparently you two served the same mission) and he has a very high opinion of you and says you're a super nice guy. That being the first day. Then yesterday he was saying how everything about me reminds me of you, from looks to personality, to smartness. Hope you know I took that as a big compliment :) since he holds you in such high regards....maybe the comparesson to your nerdiness is a bit less of a compliment :P

Oh, I was going to try and attach some photos of me at the temple with my companion and the district, but when I came to do laundry and write email (same room) I forgot the camera, so I guess that'll have to hold off, sorry folks! But I am a bit of a scatter brain... I'll get to it. Today is our first opportunity to actually go through the temple, and I'm super excited for that :)

It sounds like momma's hands turned out to be a great experience too! No wonder There is so much emphasise on service in the church :) Love them and they'll notice!

This week I also got the chance to watch the Joseph Smith movie that they play in Salt Lake. It was so GOOD! I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the true gospel was restored through him. I am so thankful for all the sacrifices that not only he, but the rest of the saints made at that time. And honestly I am glad I don't have to live in that time. Being pushed out multiple times of your home and even having family killed would be so hard in order to keep your faith. But because of our faith even in those circumstances we can be happy knowing in the end all will be well. How little is two years of missionary service to ask for in comparison, especially when you consider all of the blessings you get out of it.

This week I got to teach my first lessons, I am getting fairly comfortable with it, and love doing it. Even though for now its all just practice, the spirit is still there. My favorite part in teaching is the first vision :)

Oh, Momma, your 501 verb book is proving to be a big help too :) I'm really hammering that out. We're getting to the point where we are creating more and more Portuguese!

And for all of ya'll, guess what! I'm learning to dance! haha...but don't get to excited, the dance I'm learning is how to "Jerk" (look it up if you donno what it is :P) the first time I tried I fell on my back, it was pretty funny.

Starting yesterday I started to feel a little sick, but I'm already starting to feel better.
Also yesterday I slightly tweaked my foot playing soccer, just barely enough for my foot to be saying "hey remember that time you played soccer yesterday" whenever I walk. I'll have to take it a bit easier the next couple days. No biggie.

This week I've also been working on having a super positive attitude. My companion sometimes gets pretty down and I can tell it just impedes the study process, so I have stopped all my sarcastic humor (i had a lot of that...) and replaced it with positive-ness! and I think its already having a good influence on others (and myself)
I got a bit lucky though one time. My companion was bummed at not receiving any mail yet earlier this week so I was like "Elder Black, TODAY IS THE DAY! ITS YOUR DAY, I'm feelin some lovin comin in the mail for you!" and guess what, 5 letters and a package came his way :P how great was that anywho, I'm running out of time. So everyone take care, and have a super week. Make good choices and all that jazz (y)

Love you all x 1,000,002! ;)









SEPTEMBER 11, 2010


I made it to the first P-day! Though today is just a half-p-day. Just to tell you that I'm all alive so you don't have to worry. Most importantly to give you all my mailing address so I can get letters :)

Elder Travis Owen Lund
MTC mailbox# 152
BRA-GOI 1109
2005 N. 900 E.
Provo, Utah 84604-1793

Ok now thats taken care of I can actually right about my first 3.5 days. When I first landed in Utah Julia Jennings picked me and Kristin up to take us to the MTC. but first she insisted on taking us to Ihop (I really just wanted to get started but I went anyway and got some pretty tastey crepes)

Once we got to the MTC we got wisked away pretty quick for orientation. My companion is Elder Black, from the Moab Utah area. He plays football and baseball and is a pretty cool Elder. We were first a bit shy about warming up to each other but now us as well as the rest of the district is pretty close.

A funny story about the district (or at least my roommates) that may be a little off in humor... One of the first nights our branch president came in each of the rooms to introduce himself. Elder Nickel had his back to the doorway and was showing us that he shaved his legs, and right when the President Aidukaitis walked in and was standing right behind him he said 'yea I also have a really hairy butt and need to shave up there' GREAT way to introduce yourself to the branch president eh? but it had the rest of us busting up and a rather awkward introduction to Aidukaitis.
The first couple days have been pretty overwelming, especially the first day when you first walk into your classroom and all you hear is your teacher speaking Portuguese and you're just thinking "oooooh boooy how am I possibly going to get through this and learn this" But already after a few days They got us praying in Portuguese and able to bear testimony in Portuegese as well. We can do basic conversation as well. Next Thursday is the first real biggie test for us where we have to hold a conversation (contacting) with a native speaker who comes in to volunteer as well as teach the first discussion. I'm feeling a bit more comfortable with the language but am no where near the best in the class at the language. Its amazing how fast you can learn with such a strong spirit surrounding this area. With the Lord anything is possible!

Random bit of info, this is only a temporary P-day, my regular day will be set up for Friday, so you can expect e-mails that day. Also on my mailing address, Props to Pono and Elise for figuring it out and having mail already for me to read :) made my day!

Back to the language, even when the teacher is just talking away in Portuguese We all can pretty much understand everything he says, It is amazing, and I know there's no way I could do that sorta thing without divine help. Plus in my notes theres not a single word in English really, which is kind of odd idea. taking only Portuguese notes when thats what you're trying to learn. I just thought it was funny.

Lori should have her farewell tomorrow! wish i could be there, tell me how it goes!
The food hear is kind of hit and miss for taste, but the worst thing for me is no matter how bad the meal is they ALWAYS have desserts that are sooo good. in college my weakness was doughnuts, and I would always save up my change and buy one when it added up to a doughnut. Now I am just offered doughnuts at about every meal! It is amazing!!! but at the same time I'm afraid of getting "festively plump" So i'm trying to avoid them, but they are all just so tempting :)

Everyday I also get to play a bit of soccer which is loads of fun, just today I had a pretty cool goal (y) but anyway.

Everyday we have personal and companion study, as well as language study, and then the time with the teacher. I was pretty surprised how much time is spent up to you to teach yourself here. You really get out what you put in, and my personal study has definitely improved in quality a lot. My favorite scripture of this weeks email probably comes from D&C 31 combined with one from D&C 138 (sorry I dont have my scriptures here in the laundry room so I can't double check that, but you can have a fun scavenger hunt to find them :)) But it talks about how in the pre-existance there was a meeting preparing a select group, people like me! and Elder Black, and all of the many missionarys here. And now the hour of our mission has finally come! it is a reason to lift up our hearts and rejoice! For we have been waiting for this moment for longer than we can remember! and our responsibility is great, the responsibility to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and his restored gospel, repentence, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. Now if only I knew that in the correct language.

Thats more or less how I've been goin, just practicing teaching a bunch and enjoying an atmosphere filled with the spirit. It's an amazing thing. Lori you should be PUMPED! maybe you can be sent hear for a bit :P or my visa will come through, everyday at lunch and dinner they usually announce people to come to the main office (for visas) and all the brasil missionaries basically are there holding their breath hoping their next to be called. So far its just been a lot of quick adrenalin shots when they call em out, but no cigar for me yet, but I'll get to where I need to be. For now I just work as hard as I can to better be prepared to serve the Lord when the time comes to go out in the field :) I'm stoked!

Anyway my time is running low. So shall tell ya'll that I love you, and Heavenly Father loves you, he is mindful of you and is there by yourside, to lift you up through your trials. oh, and feel free to write me letters :)

Tchau for now folks! till I write ya'll next Friday!

Shhhh

First off I'm writing this more out of procrastination then to tell you all (the very few that even know I have this thing) about my life.

So..my life.

Spring Semester:
Taking Civ 201/241
basicallly a lot of Greek and Roman stuff and mythology
they over lap a lot.
It's interesting but the tests intimidating since they're 100% written response.
Hello essays.

This week is finals week, civ 201 is tomorrow at 7AM tomorrow morning...this is tragic for someone who goes to bed nightly at 4AM... The finals really cutting into my sleep pattern, grr.
Then I have an essay due and final for civ 241 on Thur 1PM.
Basically....3 days of 'yikes'! followed by 2 years of no school :)

I miss fall/winter friends. Spring all I really do is soccer, like everyday.
Speaking of soccer.

FIFA 2010
USA v England
USA defense was great, but the team overall was outplayed the whole game. We were lucky to pull off a 1-1 tie. But I'm happy, even if Green pretty much gave us the tie with his practically own goal. Yay.

Brasil won 2-1 against North Korea, who had a pretty solid defense the first half holding the game scoreless. Then Brasil finally penetrated and got one in which make North Korea have to open up their defense a little to provide offense. I'm surprised North Korea did this well and a little disheartened.

Uhh.. So I decided to make a blog... ya.