So... this was the most incredible week of my mission. I learned so much and cant even begin to explain how my testimony has changed. But I will try.
So it all started with our hike last Monday for p-day. We went to this place called Red Knolls that is supposedly a super awesome hike. There is a lot of climbing and hiking down into little caverns and crawling through holes, etc etc. We were all super stoked. The elders brought a member named Adam who is pretty familiar with the area and was able to tell us some of the geography and stuff. I was shocked at how much I was able to do. I honestly thought I was going to chicken out and just be lame since you know... hiking/outdoor activities as such really aren't my thing. But some crazy outdoorsy fire just started burning inside me and I was going for it all gung-hoe! We had been hiking from probably about an hour and decided to try and get out to this plateau kind of thing. As we were going that way, we found a little cave that looked intriguing, so Adam and some of the elders went down into it to see if it was worth it. Turns out that there was a little hole at the other side that we could crawl through so we decided to start going for it. Hermana Blackford went first and had a rough time getting down since she is shorter. Then one of the other sisters went and I went right after her. At the end there was a little part where you had to jump down about 5 feet, but the freaky part is you are scaling that wall so you kind of just have to let yourself go. The elders were all standing around ready to catch us so we all got down safe. Then another sister went after me, and as she jumped down, she landed weird and we all heard her ankle snap. I have never felt so frozen in my life. We were down about 60 feet from the surface, stuck in a hole, and she had just broken her ankle. Adam started going immediately, he told the elders to give her a blessing and then started crawling back out to call for help. Hermana Blackford and I were just frozen in place, totally shocked. The sister was laying on the ground, and was probably the most calm out of all of us. Her companion was down there too so she was able to comfort her and talk to her to keep her from going into shock or anything. The elders asked us to say a pray first, and then they gave her a blessing. Honestly... I would have never guessed that one of the most spiritual moments in my life would be down in a hole, but it was. The minute they started that blessing, we felt like a column of light had just come down on us. The spirit was so strong, that it was impossible to be scared or worried. We were just all calm. The elders said three things that stood out to us in the blessing, they said that she would remain calm, that she wouldn't feel any pain, and that she would heal well and quickly. Well, we got a hold of search and rescue and they came to get her out. Luckily enough, there was a hole in the rock right above us, so they lifted her out of the hole, and then zip-lined her down the mountain. We drove her to the hospital and ended up staying there with them until about 9pm. This entire time she was completely calm, she told us that she really felt no pain at all, and the only time she cried was when she thought she was going to have to go home. At the hospital they told us it was for sure broken but the crazy part was her main shin bone had broken and then lined back up, so it would heal totally normal and fine! She needed a little surgery on another side bone that had broken but that was it. It was incredible! This week so many people have been so willing to help and be there for them. It really increased my testimony on how loving and helpful members are. But probably the biggest testimony builder was of the priesthood. Everything went totally flawlessly and she had her surgery and is healing well. The spirit that we felt there in a little hole in the middle of the ground was incredible. I am so thankful to know that we have the restored gospel and the authority to act in Christ's name, to have his help and power to strengthen and bless us. I will definitely never forget this experience.
The rest of the week seemed to go just as flawlessly as Monday (not that breaking an ankle is flawless... but just that everything worked out). We had a lot of success contacting some less actives that we had never been able to find. We also met a TON of part member families who have children that are not baptized. There is so much promise with that work, we really want to focus on that, getting the families back to church and re-activated so the kids can be baptized as well. We are way stoked to start working more with them!(: I love families!
We found two new investigators this week! There was this couple that we had been trying to get a hold of for a while at the beginning of the transfer and they just never called us back. Hermana Blackford had met them last transfer but they were just never able to nail down a time to come back. Well Tuesday morning after all the craziness, we got a call from a member in another ward who had originally referred them to us. He said he had someone for us to talk to and it was the couple! Leo and Soriah! They told us they had lost our number but we were able to schedule a time to go visit them! We saw them on Thursday and had a great lesson. We taught them about the restoration and they were really tuned in through the whole thing. At the end Leo stopped us and asked "well... if when there is no prophet on the earth, we are in an apostasy... aren't we in an apostasy now since Joesph Smith isn't here anymore?" Heck! We were so stoked! We explained that we have a prophet today and that he has that same power and authority. He has such desires to learn and increase his faith. We are stoked.
Also, on Friday we went tracting with some elders to blitz one of their areas. Blitzing is basically where a bunch of missionaries come together and knock an entire area. It was so much fun! We felt so powerful just having a group of us out there all working together! We actually knocked into a really cute family that the elders are now teaching! Even though knocking isn't the most effective work and that sometimes it really stinks, we had such a blast. Oh yeah, did I mention that it was 102 degrees outside when we did this? Heck yeah bring on the summer!
So nothing else as crazy as Monday happened this week, but we were all able to see miracles continue through the week. We spent some time doing splits with the sisters so that they could still teach the lessons that they needed to. One of us would stay at home with the injured sister and the other would go out. We all had a lot of success and we know that it was because we had extra help from Heavenly Father.
Well I love you all! So glad that everyone is doing well! Keep smiling!
Love,
Hermana Lundquist