Week 20, Dec 22, 2015

Hello Everyone! 

Merry Christmas!!!! I'm so excited for Christmas this year because I get to spend it with amazing members, yummy (I hope) food, and I get to Skype home!!!! AH! I'm excited! =D This is my first Christmas away from home and I would not have chosen any other way to do it; if I was in college I would probably go home, so I'm excited to see how this goes. What better way can I celebrate the birth of our Savior than by sharing His gospel? 

Okay, excitement spent a bit, let me tell you the major things of this week. On Wednesday and Thursday, we had a Book of Mormon Read-a-thon where for 33 hours total, we read the entire Book of Mormon as a mission. We started at 8am Wednesday morning and ended at 9:15pm. We then picked up where we left off Thursday morning and finished by 5pm. It was intense, but well worth it. I know the Book of Mormon contains Christ's gospel and it is a book sent by God. It is true. You will get closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ by reading this book than by any other book. 

I love the Book of Mormon and everything that you can learn from it. I am always spiritually edified when I read this book and I can find all the answers I need in its pages.

Please read this book, if you've never read it or if you've read it many times over. Take the time to read from it and ponder on what it says. I promise that you will gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon if you will read it, ponder on it, and then ask God if it's true. I have done those things and I have gained my answer. I now share it with all who will receive me. 

The other major event was our Musical Fireside. Yesterday, Monday, the missionaries of the Ogden Mission performed songs of praise about Christ's birth. It was a beautiful experience and the Spirit was so strong. I was asked to narrate, and so I had the special opportunity to read scriptures about Christ and share my testimony through the words of ancient prophets and apostles. I love music and I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to share my testimony through it. I wish that you all could've been there, but you can feel the same way as you share your testimony through songs of praise. I challenge each of you to take time this week to go caroling. Focus on what the words are saying and how you feel as you sing them. I promise that you will have a greater appreciation for Christmas and Christ as you carol. 

Ok, the last exciting thing is that I will be on facebook now. My mission has been approved to proselyte through Facebook and I am one of the first to be authorized to use it. I will be there to do the same things I do here in person and I am so excited to be using this amazing tool. It's amazing to me to see how many wonders the Lord has provided so that we can share His Son and His gospel to all of His children. He loves us and He will help us magnify the potential of this great tool. I'm grateful that He has trust in me and that He has provided me with the means to share my testimony both in person and on the internet.

I love you all and I hope that you have the best Christmas week ever! Be good, go caroling, read the Book of Mormon, and be happy! =D

Love,

Hermana Lindh

Week 19, Dec 15, 2015

'Ello 'ello 'ello!

I was feeling silly =)

So, I promised follow up on the Sister Training Leader (STL) thing so I'll do that but I will also explain a bit about transfers. As you know, I now have a new companion whose name is Hermana Pecjak. The first day was fairly difficult not because I didn't get along with Hna Pecjak but just because there are challenges that come with changes. For example, while she's nice and I think we get along, the dynamic is different than with Hna Lewis. Also, because she is new to my area, it's my responsibility to plan and show her around. It is difficult to plan by yourself because you could forget someone or something and it's nice to be able to bounce ideas off of someone else which you can't do by yourself. Just like any change, the little stresses of each day are what wipe you. Everything takes just an extra bit of energy which drains you a little bit faster.
The first day felt like we were just on exchanges (that's when 2 companionships exchange companions for 24 hours. For example, I would go to Ogden to be with Hna Pecjak while her companion, Hna Woodhouse, would come to Layton to be with my companion, Hna Lewis. (This being before the transfer)); I felt like the next day she would go back to Ogden and I would have Hna Lewis back. But that didn't happen, which I knew logically but I think my body still had a reaction to. Transfers are part of mission life, and they're good practices for similar stresses after a mission, so I'm tying to learn all I can now.
For example, I've learned that you do better as you pray for your companion. As you have an increase in love for your comoanion, it becomes easier to deal with the idiosyncrasies. Heavenly Father loves me, and He loves Hna Pecjak, and He put us together so I know that He'll help me come to love Hna Pecjak. I have already felt an increase of love for her.

I have also felt like I have more love now for the sisters in my mission. My mom and dad have said that when they have been called to leadership positions, they loved all in their care. At the time I wasn't sure if I believed them because they were over lots of people and I wondered how they could love each person. Now, I get it. The Lord has called me to serve the sisters in this mission. He wants them to be happy and to succeed and so He has given me a great blessing so as to do what He asked. He has blessed me to love each of these sisters even though I don't know all of them very well. I know each of them are daughters of Heavenly Father. They have each been called and set apart to serve in this mission. I love them; they are amazing.
I don't have as many worries any more. I still don't know 100% how to fulfill my calling but I know that the Lord is there guiding me. My companion and I have already started to have ideas on how to serve these women and I am super excited! I'm grateful the Lord helped me through the first few tough spots because now I feel ready to do this. I'll make mistakes, things won't go perfectly, but when in life hasn't that happened? This is going to be glorious and I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for me.

I know that the Lord directs this work; He is intimately involved in missionary work because these are His children. He gives His missionaries promptings so that we may help as many of them as possible and in the best way. I want to share one more experience with you. This past Friday night, we were visiting potentials in one trailer park. As we were leaving it, I had a name of someone pop into my head, "Laura". She lives in the trailer park across from where we were so instead of going to where we had planned to go, I went to Laura. It is difficult to find her at home and available, so I wasn't sure if we should go, but I did anyway.
When we knocked on her door, she answered it (this in of itself can be a miracle at times =) ). We went in and started talking; she was very tired but let us share a message with her. At the end of it, she said that we always come when she needs us, not when she calls. She has never called us before, but there have been nights when she had been praying to God, asking her Heavenly Father for help, when we knocked. The same had happened that Friday night.

Heavenly Father knows YOU and loves YOU beyond imagination. YOU are His child. He hears your prayers and He answers them.

After we left her, we went to the family we had planned to visit earlier. We had been in the house for about 5 minutes when another family came in. Apparently, this two families meet together often, but usually late at night. We were able to share a message with them and leave an invitation. We then asked if they knew any Spanish speakers in the area who are not members. The family we had come to see told us of one family, and the other family who was visiting told us of 3 others. We thanked them and then headed on our way.
Had we not stopped at Laura's house, we would've missed the second family and 3 referrals (a referral is when someone tells us about someone else who we could go visit and teach). The Lord was reaching out to us that night. He was showing us where to go when, even though we had made plans earlier.
If there is nothing else I could get permanently stuck in your hearts, it would be that the Lord loves you and that He talks to us through revelation, through the Holy Ghost. He will answer your prayers and help you because He loves you! I don't know what simpler truth I could share.

I love you all. I am so grateful for your support, in any way that you give it. I hope that you're all happy and having a great Christmas season! Be good and remember who you are!

Love,
Hermana Lindh

Picture found on FB

Found this posted on FB from November 25th, I obviously missed it when it originally went up. This is Sister Pecjak who will be Rachel's new companion starting December 9, 2015. They will be Sister Training Leaders together for a while.

You can follow this link http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/church-adjusts-mission-organization-implement-mission-leadership-council to learn more about what a STL does. It's new to me so I thought I would share this explanation.

I also found this article, though a little lengthy, about how this position has affected missions and missionaries since it was implemented almost two years ago.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865600279/New-leadership-roles-for-women-alters-LDS-mission-culture-hints-at-deep-long-term-ramifications.html?pg=all

An invitation to "O Come Emmanuel"

Week 18, Dec 8, 2015

Dear Group,

Happy December!!! This is my favorite month of the year! I love the season that starts around Halloween, the yummy and grateful feeling to Thanksgiving, but Christmas time is my favorite. I start wanting to sing carols the Friday after thanksgiving =) I think it's my favorite time of the year because this is when most people start to let themselves feel the Spirit more. We call it the Spirit of Christmas, but really it is the Holy Ghost speaking to each of us, testifying that Christ really did live and that He is our Savior. Before my mission, I just loved feeling good and seeing others being happy. Now, I love the season even more because this is the time that people are more open and receptive to the Spirit because they also love this time of year (cue "It's the most wonderful time of the year"). It is easier for me to have conversations with people because they have just a little more patience, a little more love.
This is the best time to share the gospel with loved ones and friends and even complete strangers. I challenge all of you to find one person a day for each day of December to share your testimony with. It can be through service, or being extra friendly, but the boldest way will be to share what you know of Christ. It will  ring both you and the person you talk with great blessings because I promise you that the Spirit will be there. You can do it! Make someone happier, and yourself, by giving the gift of Christ to someone. If you would like help knowing how to do that or would like extra support, please feel free to message me!

This past week has been very interesting. This is transfers week, and I will be getting a new companion. Her name is Sis. Peckjak and she was trained by my trainer, Sis. Lewis! In mission terms, that makes us sisters =)  Also, I have been extended a leadership position called STL. It stands for Sister Training Leader. My job is to take care of all of the Spanish sisters in the mission which is 10 sisters. There are 2 other STLs who cover the English sisters. I help them by going into their areas with them for 24 hrs and work with them as if I am their companion  (these are called exchanges). I then give feedback and I  general help them be the best they can be. If you would like to know more, please look at lds.org to learn more.

I want to share with you my initial response: "Why was I called as an STL? I'm working on finding an answer to that. I don't understand why the Lord has asked me to serve in this position. I know that I needed to accept, I know that He has called me, but I don't get why. I feel like I don't understand women, that I struggle in small groups, and that I either make people angry by speaking my impressions or I remain silent. This position asks me to work with women and in a small group! I think the Lord has a sense of humor...... I'm scared, that I am going to ruin any chance I have with good relationships with the sisters, or that I'm going to hurt someone, or that I'll let myself get offended. But my hope is that I will have enough faith to fulfill that what the Lord has asked of me." 

But I have reached a better spot: "After talking things through with my companion (because I talk through my emotions) I have come to a more peaceful state. I'm still really kinda nervous, but I need to get over myself and just work hard with Sis. Peckjak and the sisters we are over.  The things I was stressing about are things I can't completely control, such as how will the sisters react to the changes in STLs? But I can control how in tune I am with the Lord and trust that He'll guide me to help others."

Ether 12:27 is my favorite scripture because I have the Lord's promise is that He'll help me if I turn to Him. I'll let you know how it's going next week, but for now I'm trying to live in hope. 

Other than that, my life has been fairly normal. (whatever normal is for a missionary, haha) I'm doing well and I'm getting plenty of opportunities to grow and to learn. If only you all good have the same chance =)

I love you all! I hope that you have a great week!

Love,
Hermana Lindh

 Pictures from Gissell's baptism! She's 11 and the 2nd youngest of 10 and she's AMAZING! The quality of this picture isn't the best, please blame Samsung....

  Recent convert family; I love them! The mom is Guadalupe, the girls are Melanney and Angie, and the little boy is Edwin

 Me having attached a corsage for a choir performance to my earrings....yep, I'm still me =)

 Hermana Lewis! My friend Sis. O'Connor and I bought her these pajamas because she LOVES pizza!

 A whiteboard where my district wrote good things about me =)

 

 My bedroom wall, with all the pictures my family has sent me. 

Week 17, December 1, 2015

Group email 11/17/2015
Dear Family and Friends,

I  sorry that I didn't send out a group email last week, but thank you for your kind words of encouragement. I will try my best to have my letters written the night before, or at the very least have a small thought to share just in case I run  out of time.
The previous week went really well. As always, I'm working hard, stumbling, growing, and ending up exhausted every day. This work isn't easy nor do I want to pretend that it is. What sounds scary, like having doors closed in your face or people being mean to you, isn't as heart breaking as when those you're helping come unto Christ make a decision  you know isn't best for them. Agency, the gift given to us to be able to choose and act for ourselves (see 2 Nephi 2), can be such a pain at times! (Please realize I'm being a bit flippant here) I marvel more now than I have ever before at the love and patience Heavenly Father has for us. How can He, with all His infinite knowledge and understanding of us, not want to snatch our agency away when we make poor or just dumb choices? He knows what we are capable of and He sorrows when we make choices that take us away from Him. Yet, He allows it. Why? So that we may learn from  our own experience right from wrong, so that we may learn how to become like Him because we want to and because we love Him.
It is heart wrenching to see someone ready for baptism choose not to accept it right now, no matter the reason. I love these people dearly, they are teaching me so much, such as the importance of agency and doing the best we can despite how others use theirs. I pray for them everyday, multiple times, and because of that I'm starting to see them as Heavenly Father does.
This email is going to be shorter, but it was a huge lesson for me. I am here to HELP others come unto Christ, not force them (as much as I'd like to at times =) ). I hope that you all will do the same, that is, learn how to respect others agency while still trying to do your best. It's not easy (yes, I just saw all the parents nod their heads =) ), but progress and growth isn't easy. Christ, and His Atonement, will help you come to love others and see them as He does if you pray for that with sincere intent. It will make your both harder and happier; harder in that you'll be affected by more people, but happier because you'll be more like our Savior.

I love you all so very much. Thank you for everything you do. Have a great week and remember who you are!

Love,
Hermana Lindh

Group email 11/24/2015
Hello Everybody!

I want to share a miracle with you first thing.
This past Friday night, Hermana Lewis and I were tracting  (which is when you knock on doors and search for people to teach) in an apartment complex that we know has Spanish speakers in it, but not a lot. We had knocked on about 20-30 doors already and only one, the second to last, was really able to help us. He talked with us a bit and then told us that the his neighbor speaks Spanish. We became excited because we had found only a lot of English speakers. When we knocked on that last door, a woman  opened it to us and as we started to introduce ourselves, she invited us in.
This isn't very common  for us, so we were super happy (being in from the cold being a tiny factor). We started to talk with her to get to know her and her family, and immediately the Spirit was there. (the Spirit is the third member of the godhead; He does not have a body of  flesh and bone like Christ and God, but rather is a spirit. His responsibility is to help guide us by bearing witness of truth. If you want to know more about Him, please ask me or visit lds.org or mormon.org) We knew that this family is reading to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. We had a great lesson with them and invited them to come to church, which they did! Sunday we had another lesson with them and again, the Spirit was so strong. We invited them to be baptized on December 12th and they said yes!
Now, what was the miracle? 1) we were led to the right door 2) she opened the door for us 3) we were able to teach by the Spirit 4) this family had been prepared. As I have testified before, God is a god of miracles. He never ceases to perform them when He is asked by one of His children in faith. Hermana Lewis and I work hard to be worthy of the Spirit so that the Lord may guide us in His work. That family has been searching for truth. We are blessed with miracles, but we must have the eyes to see them.
I love this family so much, and I have only known them for a few days; that's a miracle too! But these type of experiences are what I have everyday. You can have similar events too if you live like a missionary, which means putting God first. Study your scriptures everyday, pray every morning and night (with many in between), put others first, and develop your faith in God. It seems difficult, but if you start with that desire, the Lord will bless you for it and help you with your goals.

Heavenly Father knows every one of His kids and He loves them dearly. He knows YOU and loves you. You are a child of God and He will help you fulfill your divine potential. I love you and pray for you. Please keep working hard and remember who you are.

Love,
Hermana Lindh 

Group email December 1, 2015

Dear family, for we are all brothers and sisters, =)

I am sorry for the past week. We are piloting (or in other words, being guinea pigs) for other missions in Europe and Asia that are not able to have ipads, like my mission, the Samsung tablet. As such, I am still learning how to use this thing and making mistakes with it. For instance, last week I wasn't able to use a computer so I did emails from the tablet. It informed me that my group email had been sent but then I later received an email from my parents letting me know that it hadn't made it to them. Yes, I'm blaming technology this week, but I am still sorry that I failed to email you all last week.

I hope you all had a GREAT Thanksgiving! =) let me tell you about mine. As you all well know, this if the first time I have lived away from home, and as such, it was my first Thanksgiving away from my family. You would think that I would be really homesick at this point, but truth be told, I wasnt. (I love you very much, my dear family, please bear with me)

We had our normal morning routine (up at 6:15, exercise 6:30-7, get ready and eat 7-8am, personal study 8-9, and companion study 9-10) before picking up other sisters to go play Turkey Bowl. I hadn't expected to play because my companion had a headache and I didn't want to abandon her. So, I was in proselyting clothes, i.e. skirt and blouse (one of the rules we follow is that we are to wear proselyting clothing, which is basically church clothes, unless we have specific activities where we can't and need pants) and not dressed for football. One sister brought clothes to change into but decided not to play. My companion then decided to borrow her clothes and play! Of course then I really wanted to but didn't have the right clothes to play. So, an elder who wore to layers of pants, let me borrow one and a pair of tennis shoes. I have no clue how they fit, but I am counting it as a miracle from the Lord =)

I had a great time playing, and so did my companion, (despite the 20 degree weather, freezing wind, and snow ) until it was time to go meet our lunch appointment.

I had 4 dinners that day and they were all amazing in different ways. The first one I had was more like lunch since it was at 2pm, and it consisted of wings from a store's deli because all the pizza joints were closed and they didn't have food ready yet. The family we ate with is the Fuentes family and I love them! They are all so great and the mom comes out with us for lessons fairly often.

The next dinner we had was at 4 and that was our official dinner, one a family had signed up to feed us, and they are the Pechettos. I also love them a lot! The dad reminds me a lot of my daddy (though definitely a lot more Hispanic looking than my dad =) ) in the way that he acts and his strength in the gospel. He is also a convert to the church and his example is amazing to me, along with his wife. They fed us a beautifully mixed culture dinner; we had turkey, rice, corn, mashed potatoes, bread, and pop to drink. I was quite pleased =) For dessert they had pecan pie and something called dulce de leche, a Hispanic dessert that is so yummy!

We then went to another dinner where we ate only one small dessert because obviously we were really full at that point, but we can't be rude and deny food. Again, it was super yummy and we were only there for about 20 minutes.

Our final dinner was with a recent convert and she had asked us to bring sweet potatoes. This was my first time making them by myself and they turned out really good! (I'll provide the recipient at the end of this). She fed us pasta verde, which is pasta in a spicy (pretty hot) sauce, along with a chicken cooked in a spicy red sauce. It was yummy, but my stomach had long run out of room for more food. I ate as much food as I could, but it was a bit unpleasant to eat it. I am very grateful that she thought of us thouh and included us in her holiday with her family.

We then went and visited a family we had met only a week earlier and they wanted us to eat with them but we begged not to. They let us escape without eating anything, which I was extremely grateful for. =)

All in all, it was a great Thanksgiving despite being away from home. I missed my family a lot but the Lord provided a way for me to not feel homesick. Now, to see what Christmas has in store for me!

Besides Thanksgiving, everything was about the same as normal. I'm still working hard to find people to help and teach, teaching those I know now, and continuing to maintain good relationships with the ward and recent converts. I'm learning a lot and I have been given many opportunities to grow. I love my companion and I'm starting to get to know other missionaries better, so I love them as well. I start each day with a pray and a smile, so life is good. What more can you ask for than to help others know Christ?

I hope that you are all doing well. I think about you and pray for you, and I can feel the strength that comes from your prayers. Thank you for all that you do! You are all amazing children of God. Have a great week and welcome to December!

Love,
Hermana Lindh

Week 16, November 24, 2015

From Lanae:

Hmmm, no group email this week either. I can confirm she is alive and well as she did briefly respond to our personal email but not with anything worth sharing. ("Yes, the tights got here, thanks!" type of stuff, that's it.)

Maybe next week we'll fare better. Please continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers, we really appreciate it. Picture was posted on FB this Sunday (Nov 22nd) so I'm sharing with y'all.

Week 15, November 17,2015

Hi! I didn't write a letter in advance this week so I will have to send two next week. Today we are really busy and I'm sorry that I didn't do my due diligence. Next week will be awesome, I promise! I love you all and thank you for having patience with me and supporting me. Have a great week! 

Love, and very sorry,

Hermana Lindh

Week 14, Nov 10, 2015

¡Hola mis amigos y familia!

Okay, this past week has been interesting (As most are). We had two
investigators who were doing really well! We were excited for them
because they've had all the lessons, kept their commitments, and
everything seemed on track. But, this Sunday we learned from one that
she wants to wait till January for various reasons and the other, who
is 11, her mom wants the dad to baptize her and he's in Mexico so
she'll have to wait until January as well. We weren't excited at all
after that. We had actually been fasting (fasting is when we go
without food and water for 2 meals so as to better communicate with
the Lord and show our willingness to listen to Him) for them, that
they might be baptized on the 14th so when we learned that, we were
both a bit....antsy.
The major thing that I'm struggling with is the personal revelation
aspect; when we set our goals for the month and coming week, we felt
like the Lord confirmed them. Yet, we were thrown this curve ball
which changes our goals. I know our calling gives us the authority to
receive revelation "for" these people (meaning we are inspired in what
to do and say to and for them) but they're saying that their
revelation is saying something else. In the case of the 11 year old,
it's her mom saying and doing this, not the girl herself. And the
other is 19 and has said that every time she prays she feels like she
needs to wait until January.
How does revelation work? Did we not have enough faith? Did we miss
revelation throughout the week? Are we supposed to be pushing still
for their original date? I'm just struggling with the disappointment
that they may not be baptized soon when we thought they were going to
be, and also the understanding behind revelation. I'm not upset at our
goals changing or anything like that. I'm sad that these two precious
daughters of God, who are ready to be baptized, seem like they have to
wait. I feel like I haven't done my job well or that I could've
done/said something else that would have changed this.
But, I still have hope. I'm not exactly sure how things are going to
work out so this is when faith steps in. The Lord is asking me to take
this next step forward with faith, knowing full well that I like
seeing where I'm going but asking me to trust Him anyway. I'm still a
bit upset to be honest, but it's all good right now. We'll keep
working with these two and help them in any way we can and let the
Lord take care of it. This isn't easy or natural for me; I like to be
in charge. Thank goodness though that we have an all-knowing and all
loving Father who is there to guide us. This work wouldn't be possible
without Him.

Besides this kinda hard topic, this week has been great. My companion,
Hermana Lewis, is a Sister Training Leader (she's a sister missionary
who other sisters talk to and report to. She's kinda like a mom for
some of the sisters here. =) ) and so she goes on exchanges fairly
frequently (an exchange is when missionaries change companions for
usually no more than 24 hours at a time. It's to give us an
opportunity to see how others work and how they're doing). This means
that I'm left in charge of our area which is a bit overwhelming to me,
but is also really cool! It gives me an opportunity to see how well
I'm doing with Spanish and also how comfortable I am with planning and
leading lessons. Basically, it's a great checkpoint for me because my
next transfer (which is Dec. 9th) I am most likely getting a new
companion and I'll need to step up. I'll also no longer be a newbie
(12 > weeks old) but rather a greenie (12-18 weeks old). This means
that, technically speaking, I could be able to train a newbie.
Another highlight of the week is that it snowed for the first time
this season!!!! It didn't last for very long but it's supposed to be
snowing again soon! Oh, I've missed snow! I think in a few weeks I'll
be over it and cold, but for now it's magical for me =)
Um, what else........I guess I'll share with you how I'm changing my
small habits. There are things that everyone does because that's just
who they are and for me, it's playing with my hands while I am
thinking or concentrating. This small habits are not bad necessarily
but they can drive someone else insane, like my companion =) so, I am
learning how to have charity for others and control my little habits
better. This is a good skill to have not only for now, but for
college, marriage, church callings, etc. Any time I could be around
others, I just need to have a little more self control. I know it's
possible (see Ether 12:27) and I want to love others enough to do it,
so I'm doing it, just one day at a time =)

Overall, I'm still doing great, I'm working hard and enjoying life.
Thank you again for all your love and support; I need it.
Be good and remember who you are!

Love,
Hermana Lindh

Week 13, Nov 3, 2015

¡Buenas días!
I have learned a lot this past week.
This was the first week of my second transfer (a transfer is a 6week
period of time where we serve in an area. You could potentially be
moved every 6 weeks, or every transfer, but the norm is to stay in one
area or with your companion for 2-3 transfers. There are about 8
transfers in a year) and I have been able to see quite distinctly what
a new missionary is like. I know I was new myself just 6 weeks ago but
I already feel really old and learned next to the new missionaries.
Yes, comparison is bad, but I actually gained hope for them and myself
by seeing how much someone can change in such a short time. The
atonement of Jesus Christ is not just for non-members or less actives
but also for good members who are trying their best. I think we (me
specifically) sometimes forget that we need it and should access it
every day.
For example, this morning (Mon. the 2nd) I kinda broke down on Sister
Lewis. She was helping me improve our spiritual thoughts with members
(which we share anytime we have dinner because we are fed by the
members) because mine have been kinda choppy, and I was struggling
emotionally. I felt like although I've been working hard, I'm just not
getting it. My frustration with myself, with Spanish (even though I
love this language), and with being a new missionary all kinda hit me
at once. I was upset because I felt/feel like I'm not doing as well as
I could be, and that I didn't prepare enough before my mission, and
that I'm hindering others because of where I am spiritually.
Sister Lewis, my companion, was very patient with me and helped me
calm down before practicing with me how to share a spiritual thought.
I felt better and now I'm trying to have more patience with myself and
faith that the Lord is working with and through me. It's hard though!
I feel like every flaw that I have, every weakness and doubt, is being
poked at! I know some of it is Satan trying to make me doubt who I am
and why I'm here, but I also know some of it is the Lord trying to
help me get better. Either way, I was just kinda struggling this
morning.
I have grown within these past 6 weeks and I am still growing which is
good, necessary even. The Lord has given me this opportunity to help
and serve others, but also to make me the Latter-Day Saint woman He
wants me to be. He wants and needs me to be the type of woman Pres.
Russell M. Nelson talked about during conference. (Please see lds.org
for the October 2015, Sunday morning session "A Plea to My Sisters")
That's going to take some growth though and growth requires being
uncomfortable in certain ways. I'm comfortable in the knowledge of who
I am and the plan of salvation, but I'm uncomfortable right now in
"what exactly are my strengths?" "How do I need to use my talents and
skills?" I don't know 100% right now, but I'm learning so that is what
is important.
I love being a missionary and I know that it's all worth it if I give
my all to the Lord. The hard is only too much when I loose sight of my
purpose, which is to "invite others unto Christ by helping them
receive the Restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His
atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost,
and enduring to the end." I know it better in Spanish =) This
principle is true though for life in general! The last step of
Christ's gospel is to endure to the end and, personally speaking, we
can't do that without knowing our purpose. We have to keep sight of
why we are and where we are going in order to live Christ's gospel as
perfectly as we can. That's why it is crucial that I share, and all of
those with the knowledge of, the plan of salvation.
That is one of the major things that keeps me going. I know where I
came from and why I am here on earth. I know who I am, a daughter of
God, and where I want to be. I want to live with my family eternally
with God and Christ so I will do all I can now to demonstrate that
desire and willingness. My goal is possible only through the atonement
of Christ, which was Him suffering in the garden of Gethsemane, His
death on the cross, and His glorious resurrection.
I am a missionary for Jesus Christ so that all of my beloved brothers
and sisters can have the same joy, peace, and hope that I have. I am
here, learning and growing, so as to help as many people as possible.
It's what Christ has asked of me, and He asks it of you too, just in a
different way for right now. Pray to know how He would have you build
His kingdom and serve your siblings. You'll receive an answer if you
intend to act on it, I promise.

I struggled this week, but it's all worth is for mortality is but a
small moment in all of eternity, and everyone is worth it.
I love you all and I hope that you're doing well. I hope you're happy.
Remember who you are and learn something this coming week!

Love,
Hermana Lindh

Week 12, October 27

"Marriage. Marriage is what brings us together." Name that quote! And I thought of this quote because while the quote is cute, I know of something that is even better than marriage that brings us all together and that is the gospel of Christ. This past week has just shown to me, again, how much the gospel blesses those who follow it and who strive each day to live as Christ did and does.

There is a sister who just completed her mission this past Monday; her name is Sister Stratton. She was my Sister Training Leader (this is a calling/responsibility in the mission field. She was charged with making sure all the sisters under her area were doing well and working hard. She accomplishes this by talking with them regularly and going on exchanges, which is where we "trade" companions for usually 24 hours) and she became my close friend. I love her and look up to her because of how great of an example she is to me. She actually reminds me a lot of my dad because she is also a convert to the church and their character. She is the only member in her family and she was able to use this experience to help so many out here. Basically, she is amazing and I will miss her so much. BUT, because I know that we both are covenants with the Lord and are striving to live up to the knowledge that we have, that we will able to be friends and sisters for eternity.

I take great joy and comfort from the knowledge that I know families can be sealed together for eternity and that our main goal is to have everyone sealed to each other, so we can always be with each other. This is not only how I handle my friends leaving me, or me leaving them, but how I am able to serve a mission at all because it was so hard to leave my family. I miss them terrible but I am able to focus here and work because I have faith in the covenants they have made and I have made with the Lord. I will be with them again and 1 and a half years is not that long in the perspective of eternity. I can serve others and bring them the same joy I have because of my covenants with the Lord.

 So, besides my friend going home (which is actually a good thing, I just miss her), my week has been great. I have seen many miracles. Now, when people think of miracles, they usually only think of the great big and super visual miracles, like Moses parting the Red Sea or Jesus healing the blind and the lame. But the miracles I saw are just as profound, but not as easy to see. For example, I saw an 11 year old girl come to church by herself (she received a ride from a ward member, no worries there =) ). It may not seem like a miracle, but who here could, as an 11 year old, go somewhere new by themselves? Maybe you could've but I know I wouldn't have. It was also a miracle to find her in the first place! We went to her home looking for someone else we thought live there, but had moved. Her whole family is actually interested, but they're all really busy right now so she is the only one making time for us to teach her.

Another miracle I saw was that a member of our ward asked us to go visit someone and this person called her later to ask for help translating something. The member sent us to her right away and we were able to introduce ourselves to someone who we can tell is ready for the gospel. This woman even came to church yesterday without us inviting her! It's hard for us to get investigators to church while inviting them and helping them, but this woman did it all by herself! I am so excited for her and I just love watching her exercise her faith.

 Oh, that reminds me of something I have learned recently. Anything is possible if you have faith and act on it. This past week we have mostly been looking for more people to serve and to teach and we have been kinda struggling. But, we had set a goal that, after praying, still felt good about so we knew that God would help us. How we have found these people has been kinda weird (just judging by past experience and the culture of our investigators) so I have no doubt that it was done through the Lord. That kinda reiterates what I said above a out miracles, but the point here is that you have to have the faith to act first, not just to expect. Yes, it does take some faith to expect God to do something, but it takes more faith to act without knowledge of how He'll provide. The more we walk by faith, putting our trust in Him, the more we are guided and can see the miracles He provides.

I know that having faith is challenging at times, I'm working on it now!, but it is possible because we are putting our faith in a perfect and all powerful being. I love this work and I know how blessed I am to be here. I try to say thank you each day for this opportunity because I know none of this would've been possible without the Lord. This work is done by Him, through us, His chosen servants. I know this church is true and that it contains the fullness of Christ's gospel. We can only be truly and eternally happy by living the gospel fully. I promise that as you strive to live the gospel, the Lord will bless in you in amazing and beautifully personal ways. I love you all. Be good and remember who you are!

Love, Hermana Lindh

A special text

On Sunday the 25th, I received this text:

Hi mama, this is R. the Dattages wanted to take pictures of us for a journal of theirs. I love you and hope you're doing awesome! Tell everyone I love them too. :)

I think this is supposed to be a "poor" missionary.

This is better, love the smile.

Week 11: Letter #2

October 20, 2015

As perm the norm, my week has been crazy and crazy good! The major
highlight (non spiritually speaking) was definitely indoor skydiving.
The letter that I've sent just before this one describes it so that
should be good. =) The other major highlight of this week was a
princess party and a nations party!!! I'll explain that in a bit; I'd
like to try and give a brief overview first. Spiritually speaking,
this has been what I'd call a refining week just because it's
been....a bit difficult. Again, I'll get into details in a bit.

The princess party was AWESOME!!! It was held by an English Ward but
the surrounding neighborhood has a lot of Hispanics who came so we
were invited. We used it as a finding tool (finding is when we are
looking for new people to teach/help/strengthen) and we actually found
a really nice mom! As a missionary tool, it was a success! But it was
also a lot of fun! We were in charge of a sing-along station so I was
blessed to have time to be 5 again! =D We sang a lot of princess
songs, the most popular being, I'll let you guess.......YUP! Let It Go
from Frozen! Besides the slightly repetitious song selection, it was a
ton of fun watching these little girls have a great time and knowing
that I helped with that.
I learned more about myself from that party: 1) I'm still a child at
heart, which may not surprise you =) and 2) what I love is making
people smile. I guess that that helps with missionary work because I
know that the gospel can make people happy so I'm extra motivated. But
really, that's one of the reasons why I act the way I do, why I want
to go into nursing, and even why I'm a missionary. It was a really
cool confirmation for me to learn more about myself and my reason for
what I do.
Now, about the second party. I work in a Spanish Ward and thy love to
have parties. The most recent one was a celebration of the different
countries that make up our ward's heritage. There was fun, Latino
music and booths set up with food and items from each country. At the
end, a representative from each country gave a slideshow presentation
of their country. It was so YUMMY!!! And amazing! And colorful! And
fun! I am so grateful that the Lord called me to a Spanish speaking
mission because I absolutely love this culture =)
I have pictures of both and videos of the princess party; I hope you
enjoy the singing and dancing as much as I did! =D

Spiritually speaking, it's been tough because appointments fell
through or people wouldn't answer the door, even though we knew they
were home, just lots of small things. I'm doing fine, I'm still happy,
but this hard work and sometimes disappointing work. We have to
remember that "real life" gets in the way a lot. For example, one
family that we've met recently I just love to pieces! They're 10 kids
in all with 7 in the one home we visit; the mom is a single mom so
she's really busy with work. But, they all have an interest in the
gospel and want to learn more; the mom not only gave us permission but
told her kids to have lessons with us because she wants to listen and
wants them to listen as well. The major problem that we're running
into though is that rarely the same kids are at home and the younger
ones who would like to do things, like go to church, rely on the older
siblings who are busy with work! It's hard to have patience at times
when you know that they want this but just things get in the way.
Another example is just finding people at home. We may have set an
appointment with them, get there, and they're not home. We don't know
why, so I hope that something came up or that something ran long for
them, which is completely understandable. But, to be honest, it just
gets wearisome when that's the majority rather than the minority. But,
Christ Himself dealt with this and He's the Son of God!
For this brief moment in my life, I get to experience to a very small
degree what the Savior did; I get to walk as He walked and work as He
worked but I also get to be rejected as He was, despised as He was.
Now, I'm not trying to say I'm anywhere near the level of Christ, but
what I'm saying is if even the very Son of God had a difficult
"mission", why would I expect mine to be better? Why would I expect
any less difficulty and heartache than Him? As part of our training as
new missionaries, we get to watch quite a few instructional clips and
one of my favorite was done by Elder Russell M Ballard, of the Quorum
of the Twelve Apostles. He said that missionaries are going to ask
questions that kinda go like this: "why isn't this easy? We have
truth! We have the church that Christ Himself established! Why isn't
everyone just running to be baptized?" And his reply was this
"Salvation isn't easy! It never was! And it will never be. It's hard
work!" (Please keep in mind that I'm summarizing and not perfectly
quoting; this is a mix of what he said and what I took from it) So,
when we have hard moments, I just remind myself that salvation isn't
easy and then I move on. I find joy no matter what and I keep trying
my best to work hard.
I have learned some important lessons this past week; I'm growing even
if I don't want to =) It's hard work because you constantly have to
fight off the natural man (see Mosiah 3:19 in the Book of Mormon) to
be worthy of the Spirit so that you can do what is needed for others.
You have to remember their agency, or their ability to choose, and
while you may be upset with some of their choices you also have to
have faith that the Lord is watching out for them.

I love this work; I love those whom I serve; I love my companion and
others who I work with. It is a great privilege to have been called to
serve and to be a proselyting missionary.
I love you all and I miss you, but please understand that there is
nothing you could do to bring me home right now. =) I hope that you're
doing well and that you're also growing. Let me know how you are!
Remember who you are! I love you!

Love,
Hermana Lindh

Week 11: Letter #1

October 20th, 2015

I'm sorry that I didn't send this last week; let me explain what
happened. Last week, I had an extremely rare opportunity.
There is a company here called iFly that does indoor skydiving. My
mission president happened to run into the owner of iFly and he's a
member; he offered to let all the sisters in the mission come fly for
2 minutes each for no cost to the missionaries. We were invited to go
indoor skydiving!!! My companion and I and 2 other sisters who are our
friends carpooled to go in the early afternoon. I was so excited!!!!
But, that meant that I didn't have a lot of time to email. I think I
may have mentioned, but I only get an hour to email each Tuesday but
because of our activity, I had about 45 minutes. I wasn't able to
write this email previously in the week and I used my time to email my
family. I'm very sorry that I didn't write last week; will you please
forgive me?

Let me tell you about my experience flying though! It was the coolest
thing I have ever done! It's really hard to do but I love how the wind
feels and the sensation of falling/floating; I have always wanted to
go sky diving and this was a great introduction to it. I think before
I attempt anything that requires a parachute, I'll go to an inside one
a couple of times first =) It is officially on my bucket list!
There were about 24/25 of us there who participated so we were split
into 3 groups of 8. Everyone was really nervous so I ended up in the
first group. When it came time to see who would go first, the mission
president's wife encouraged her daughter to go, but she
realllllllllyyyy didn't want to be first. So, naturally being
outspoken, I offered to take her place. I was the first of all the
sisters to go!! That was a really cool but also kinda scary; but, I
know that obedience brings happiness so if I did what the instructor
said, I'd be okay. I did what I was told and I let myself kinda fall
forward, so I was spread eagle. I. WAS. FLOATING...... It was
EPIC!!!!!! I loved the rush of knowing that nothing was holding me up
but wind and that while I was in charge, I really wasn't.
The position that you need to be in to do this correctly is actually a
but harder than it looks. You have to keep everything just right or
you go flying out of control. There was always an instructor there to
correct my form and to grab me from hitting the wall, but I was
actually able to do fairly well. The general trend is to flail/freak
out when things start to get a little funky but I stayed still and
relaxed so I was able to not get hurt and to enjoy myself! The time
that we were in the tunnel was only for a minute then we got out and
someone else went in. We had 2 minutes to do this and the second
minute they first stabilized us like the first minute, but then an
experienced flier maneuvered us to go up really high! It was sooooooo
cool! I knew that he was in control and all I felt was a thrill from
the feeling of flying! (The instructor who took us up higher is a
world sky diving champion; I have a short clip of some of his moves.)
I love this sport so much. If I ever have the opportunity and means to
do this again, I would do it in a heartbeat.
My mission president took pictures so I think they'll be posted on the
Ogden Mission Facebook page if you'd like to see them. I'm also
supposed to receive a video of our time there so when I do, I'll share
it with you
So, that's why I didn't mail this letter out last week. I'm sorry that
I procrastinated, but to be quite frank, it was worth it! I love you
all. =)

Other than my p-day activity, my major highlight of the past week was
when an investigator got baptized. I don't know if I have mentioned
him before, but he could be my great grandfather, if I was Latina =) I
love this man because he is such an example of faith and the power of
prayer. He has had a strong testimony of the these we've taught him
but he had been struggling with his addiction of smoking. To be
baptized, you need to first meet a few requirements that are outlined
by Doctrine and Covenants 20:37(D&C, a set of scriptures composed of
revelation from the Lord through Joseph Smith. We, Mormons, study this
along with the Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, and the Bible. If
you would like to know more about D&C or the other sets of scriptures,
please send me an email or see LDS.org) One of the requirements is to
follow the commandments of the Lord, which includes the Word of Wisdom
(see D&C 89). Part of it is to not smoke so before he could be
baptized he had to stop smoking which has been a multiple year long
habit.
He was cigarette free for two weeks before he was baptized and he has
not touched one since! I am so happy for him! To me, it's a testament
to the importance of baptism and proof that God is still a god of
miracles. If he had not received a confirmation from the Holy Ghost,
it's possible that he could've stopped but what incentive would he
have had to stop? I also know that the Lord strengthens and blesses
those who strive to be obedient to Him. He blesses us when we make a
commitment to Him and then miracles happen; I see it everyday and this
time it was with this man being able to quit his addiction.

A mission is hard work and sometimes it's filled with disappointment.
This week has been fairly difficult because I had a lot of
appointments cancel on me; I'm still trying to not take things
personally, but I'm also sad for these people because of what they're
missing out on: true joy. When you spend all your time and energy on
these people, because you know they're not just random people but
rather YOUR brothers and sisters, you tend to feel the extreme
emotions. You feel so happy for them when they receive their answer,
but you also feel their pain when they still feel confused. No, you
don't understand them perfectly, but you strive to put them before
yourself so you become more in tune with the Spirit. The Spirit will
tell you what thy are feeling and/or what they need to hear or see. In
that way, you know who these people are and you know what they are
feeling and you feel it with them. So when I say that this week has
been difficult, it's because of experiences like that mixed in with my
personal emotions.
But, a mission is a miracle. You are here only for 18-24 months and
usually only 6-12 weeks in one area (sometimes longer, it depends on
the needs of the missionaries and the areas) and yet, you're able to
intimately connect with, in many ways, total and complete strangers. I
have never met my companion before and yet I love her as dearly as I
do my family and close friends. These people I meet on the street or
through members, I come to know them in 1-2 visits. Granted, I don't
know them perfectly, but I want to. It's miraculous that I have
learned as much Spanish as I have in 2 months. It's miraculous that
mere teenagers are able to help fully grown (please don't laugh too
hard at my terminology) adults make difficult changes in their lives.
It's miraculous that teenagers are able to choose to focus on others
for 2 years of their lives at a time that the world tells us we need
to be the most worried for ourselves! No one could persuade me from
this truth that I have; missionaries are called of God and because of
such their work is nothing short of miraculous for God is a God of
miracles.
I know there are some who disagree with my beliefs, my church, my
religion. I would invite those people to ponder on 2 questions:
1. Why do you disagree and what did you base your decision on? And
2. Can you humble yourself enough to listen to a set of missionaries
without malice or ill will in your heart?
I promise you, that if you truly want to know whether The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is Christ's church, all you have to
do is get past yourself and ask God. God will give you His answer
through the Holy Ghost and you will be able to know for yourself the
truth. But, the Holy Ghost speaks in a quiet voice, one of peace, joy,
comfort; you have to be listening for Him in order to hear His
whispering which means clearing yourself of your preconceptions,
arguments, and/or bad thoughts. This is the promise and invitation
that I am extending to people here (granted in more simple terms
because that's all my Spanish skills will allow). Can you do that? Ask
with sincere intent, what I just described above?
You'll get your answer, which will come in the form best suited for
you, for Heavenly Father knows you and what you need.

I love you all and I know that you are all good, righteous people
trying your best to follow Christ. Keep working hard to grow that
relationship with Him; you'll be blessed beyond belief. Remember who
you, a child of God, someone with infinite worth and value. Remember
there is always someone who loves you because you are His child. Be
good in this coming week. I promise I'll do better with letters. I
really am sorry for the mess up and I'll strive to prevent it from
happening again.

I love you. God and Christ loves you.

Love,
Hermana Lindh

Week 10

Dear Family and Friends,

Each week Rachel writes a minimum of two e-mails, one to the group and one to just Jason and me (and the kids). I post her group emails here in her blog for her as a record of her mission and so that if someone wants to read her letters without having to get the email they are able to. This week, Tuesday Oct 13th, she did not send out a group email. I am posting the brief private email we received.

I hope you enjoy her letter and I'm sure she'll be back on the bandwagon next week with a group email.

Love, Lanae

From her letter:

We have a little less time than normal because at 2:30 today, I'm going in-door skydiving!!! A member ran into my mission president and offered to take the sisters (I don't know how many are going) for free!!!! It's a wind tunnel and I am soooooooooooooooo excited!!!!! =D If I can, I'll try to let you know latter today how it went, but I can't promise for sure that I can email again.

We had a zone wide service project at a developing park. Construction workers are trying to make a scenic path through some wooded area but there's a lot of dead trees and shrubbery. Obviously, as missionaries, we take every opportunity to serve and make ourselves known in the community. I was helping and doing all that I can obviously, because I'm a Lindh. There was one tree that was dead, but really stubborn so another sister and I teamed up to try and break it in half. I was expecting it to break easily like the others trees have and it did! But, it broke between me and the other sister. She had the end unattached to the trunk while I had the misfortune of having the trunk hit me in the face.

My eyes watered up really fast and I stood dazed while blood started to come from my nose. Fortunately, I have had enough training that I knew what to do, so I leaned over and pinched the bridge of my nose to help the pain go down and to keep the blood flow to a minimum. The sister who was with me has gone through nursing school and also knew what to do so she helped me out. My face hurt really bad, and my nose/top teeth were throbbing. I could feel that nothing was broken, but I think that I may have damaged the cartilage a bit. My nose still hurts today but I never bruised and there was no swelling so I know I didn't break it. 

The first half of my day is spent studying usually (we also sometimes have service at the library or family history, 2 things that Pres. has required of our mission) and the second half is in lessons/tracting. I use a lot of Spanish but I also have quite a bit of English in my day. I am picking it up fairly quickly, or at least according to Hermana Lewis, my companion, and others in the ward. Apparently, I speak a LOT more than other missionaries who started or were fairly new when they came to this area. I try to talk as much as I can because I know that that's how I'll learn the fastest and I think it's paying off. I love the ward members and all of our investigators. They help me so much and I just love them and their culture. The ward members, I think, have respect for me because I'm willing to just throw myself into the language and the culture, take criticism (I mean that in a positive way), and laugh at myself when I mess up. I learned this skills though through all the moves we've made so I thank Heavenly Father for having blessed me with that. And thank you, and daddy, for listening to the Spirit each time and being willing to listen and obey. I know it was hard for you to move too so I'm grateful for your faith and diligence to the Lord. 

I'm doing well and I'm happy. This past week has been kinda hard, a lot of cancelled appointments, members not coming with us, etc. but it's all part of the job. I still love this work and I'm so grateful that the Lord prepared me and allowed me to do this. It's a privilege to be here and to be a missionary; I say thank you to Heavenly Father everyday for this opportunity. If I ever complain (which I'm hoping I won't ever do), please remind me of this feeling. 

Love,

Rachel

These are pictures that were sent to me by members in UT. The top one was taken 9/28/15 and the other was 10/15/15

Week Nine

Written 6 October 2015

My Dear Friends and Family,

How are you all doing this week? Thank you to those who responded to
the last email, I loved your comments. I know that many of you are
very busy, but I do enjoy reading your thoughts and encouragement so
if you have the time, *sing songy voice* spare a thought of me =)
bonus points to whoever knows that reference.
I'm someone who loves conversation so this group email thing is kinda
weird for me because I feel like I'm just talking out into space.
That's why I ask for responses, even if it takes me a little while to
respond too. We can work on that together! As you may have noticed, I
am learning a lot as a missionary, like the best way to extend
commitments and how to help them keep them. I have found that one of
the best ways is to keep gently reminding and be willing to do it with
them; this can work miracles.

Anyway, this has been a really great week. As I promised last time,
I'll start by talking about General Conference.
As I said, I was able to go, just not in the way we had originally
planned. We had planned to go Saturday evening (2-4pm) with a recent
convert; she had to cancel on us the day off due to some unplanned
problems. We then scrambled to find someone else, another recent
convert, but we also had to find a babysitter for his kids. Basically,
everything was very last minute and we weren't out of Ogden until 1:20
and we had a 20-30 minute ride to Salt Lake. We had also been asked to
be in our seats by 1:30 so that didn't happen =) We arrived and parked
by 1:55 and then we made a mad dash for the conference center. We were
in line by 2 and they were still letting people in but the stopped
that about 8 groups ahead of us; we didn't make it. So, we went to the
tabernacle where the Mormon Tabernacle Choir does Music and the Spoken
Word Sunday mornings. There the conference was being broadcasted and
translated into Spanish so our recent convert and his wife were able
to understand. Overall, not what we planned but okay.
My companion and I felt bad for our recent convert, that he and his
wife hadn't been able to actually be AT conference so we started
asking around for tickets for the Sunday session. Miraculously, we
were able to find four, though they were in different parts of the
center. The tickets we gave to our friends were plaza seats; they were
in the seats right in front of the podium and they could see all the
prophets and apostles and general authorities!!! My companion and I
were so excited for them, even though we couldn't sit next to them;
instead, we were in the balcony seats, the highest and furthest away
from the podium =D I loved it! It was my first time to be at a live
general conference and I was even happier because of how close my
friends were. It was so beautiful and the Spirit was so strong that
all of our troubles were worth it to be there.

Let me share with you my favorite talk from Sunday
afternoon....actually, that's kinda hard because they all addressed
something I needed or had been thinking about. Instead, let me share
what I learned. One speaker, Devin G. Durrant talked about
"ponderizing", where you take a scripture and just ponder on it for a
long time. He challenged us to ponderize a scripture a week and I love
challenges. I am working on Romans 13:12 this week, and I'll share my
scriptures in the following weeks, but this one says "The night is far
spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of
darkness, and let us put on the armour of light". I love this
scripture already and how I'm taking it right now is that I'm here
helping people find their armour and put it on. I've already suited up
so now it's my turn and responsibility to go help others suit up. I've
also learned from conference that the world is no longer just
ridiculing the church, it is outright attacking it at points that are
very dear. For example, I have personally been mocked for believing in
a living prophet; I have been accused of being blind and
unintelligent. I have had some wonder "why for someone who seems
intelligent do you believe in God and in prophets?"
Now, I'm not trying to make a "woe is me" speech or even make others
feel bad, I'm just showing that I have personal experience that
confirms what the prophets have declared. We, as mankind, are in the
last days. We are living at the time that prophets of old have
prophesied about which is both great and kinda scary. This is time
where we have the fullness of the gospel on the earth and it will
never be taken away; we are preparing for Christ's return which is
marvelous! But this is also the time where wickedness is more
acceptable and it's becoming more commonplace. Now is the time that my
scripture talks about; "the day is at hand" and we must have our amour
on to be able to fight against the evil of this day. For this time in
my life, I am one of the more noticeable warriors but everyone who has
Christ's gospel is in His ranks. I would urge you to put on the full
armour of Christ and stand as a witness for Him at all times and in
all places.
Basically, because of Conference, I have found new ways to learn and
to grow and that is one of the reasons I'm so grateful for the gospel
and prophets. It is amazing to me the goodness of the Lord, that He
gave us prophets in the past and He gives them to us today. Now we
need to show our love and gratitude to the Lord by listening.

Besides General Conference, my week has been a fairly normal
missionary week. We taught lessons and helped prepare a man for
baptism this coming Friday. We spent some time doing service, ranging
from cleaning a house to moving a family; we also volunteer at the
local library now. We have also been asked to do family history for at
least 3-4 hours a week so I have started that. It's actually been
kinda interesting to me to try and find more about people that I know
are in my family but that I don't know a lot about. Though, it does
take a while to confirm that you have the right person and you've made
the right connections. We also spent a lot of time trying to find new
investigators because most of our "older" ones have been baptized. We
have found quite a few to teach now and I'm super excited! We found
most of them through techniques/activities that we had been taught in
meetings my first and second week. My family's motto comes to mind:
"Obedience brings happiness".  That is all a mission is, your strict
obedience to the rules and promptings of the Spirit bring about the
miracles you need to bring others to Christ.

All in all, I'm doing great. Life is difficult at times because it's
hard at times to remember that others have agency =) but it's all
good! "It's the hard that makes it great," and I'm here to testify
that it is great. This work is one of the greatest things I have ever
done and I've only just started. I can't wait to see what the Lord has
planned for those in my area.

I love you all. I pray for you and I hope that you're all happy. Have
a great week and I can't wait until I can see your responses!

Love,
Hermana Lindh

P.S. if this looks a bit funny sorry because I wrote it on my ipad =)

 Hermana Lindh ate a hamburger that earned her the right to sign the wall of the establishment offering the challenge of finishing it. Not surprisingly, she noticed that not a single sister had managed the challenge but quite a few elders had so....