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