Week 38, April 25, 2016

You'd think with more practice, I'd get better at first lines, but experience is proving that wrong. =) 

Without further ado, I am in a new area! I have left Buenaventura to come and serve with the ward Washington Terrace. This ward hasn't had sister missionaries in over a year, so the members are extremely excited to see us. Also, I am training!...again! My new companion is Hermana WiRepa; she is from New Zealand and had been waiting for her visa. As such, she served a transfer, in English, in her homeland and then her visa came so she reported to the MTC in Provo. After spending a transfer there (6 weeks), she finally arrived to the mission field! Her Spanish is already really good with the pronunciation and she's learning a lot of new words quickly. I love watching her grow and we are already having a great time together.

It has been very interesting opening a new area and training a non-native speaker. There are both disadvantages and advantages to our predicament; unfortunately we do not have any investigators currently, but fortunately we can start off on whatever foot we want with the members (no one has set a precedent, for good or bad, before us). Neither of us know the area, but neither of us know the area! so we can learn together. I know how hard it can be to open an area, I've heard plenty of horror stories, but I believe that if we view the positives more, all will be okay. 

Another thing that has helped my transition is the family I'm living with. They are the Nehrings! (Pronounced the same as "nearing" as in "we are nearing our destination") As of right now, they are only Br. and Sis. Nehring, so we have a swell time together. They are both amazing people and we (my companion and I) refer to them as Ma and Pa, because they, in many ways, act as our home-away-from-home parents. It is amazing to me what random strangers will do to help further the work, and these kind and awesome people have chosen to share their home. They even helped us decorate downstairs! (I promise pictures)

All in all, this has been a good move. I miss my old area and I still feel like I have more to do there, but it's possible I could go back. If I don't, then I was there for the time the Lord needed me there. I also wish that I could've had more time with my previous companion, Hna. Felix, but again one never knows =) Change can be hard, or scary, or both but if we go at it with Heavenly Father, He'll help us. Life is all about changing, so the sooner you can learn how to grow with change, the sooner you will learn how to be happy. As an African saying goes, "If you have conquered the demons inside, you have no need to fear the demons without."

Besides the big move, I don't think a lot happened this past week. Oh! That's not true, ok, I have two stories for you.

This past Saturday, we ran into 2 people who were testimony builders for us, but not in the nice traditional way. The first person was a woman visiting a potential investigator of ours. She was there for a bible study with our friend, and we asked if we could join them. This woman joined us at the door and I asked what they were studying and she said "angels." We started talking and it became quite obvious why she had come to the door. We would ask her about something we hold to be basic truths, such as we lived with Heavenly Father before this life as spirits, and she stated that we do not have spirits, we are simply flesh and of the earth, and that we didn't live before we were born. She threw in a few bible verses to support her feelings and then said that if we knew the bible, we wouldn't be so easily deceived. 

This "conversation" continued for a few minutes, mostly her speaking (whether during her turn or over the top of us, she had no preference) and telling us what we should believe. I could feel myself starting to get upset because of the manner this woman was attempting to teach, though preaching would be a better word, and I had to say a prayer for peace. I bore my testimony of the savior and of the Book of Mormon (which she spoke over.....) and then said "thank you for your time," and we left. 

I learned a lot from this situation: 1) the way you teach and share the things of Christ greatly affect how well they are received, 2) purposefully using the Bible to attack others drives away the Spirit and 3) it is more important to make others feel the love of Christ through you than to prove you're right. This woman was more concerned with making us feel stupid (by using and quoting specific scriptures after asking "don't you know the bible?", along with asking questions that had very specific and uncommon answers) and proving her position than making sure we felt Christ's (or in her case, Jehovah's) love for us. I have promised before and reiterate that I will share my testimony of the gospel with others because I love them and the Savior, not because we have the correct religion.

Now, the other person we met that day is Ryan. We were at a restaurant to meet with a member and he walked in looking for directions. We helped him out and he left; a few minutes later he returned and said that he was hungry so he'd eat before he left. He sat a few tables away and eventually struck up a conversation with us. With our plaques, we quickly moved into a discussion about the gospel of Christ and why both of us (us being me, my companion, and him) were here. He is a traveling evangelist and he walks, or sometimes rides a bus, multiple miles each day to travel between major cities and share the gospel of Christ.

He expressed his believes, we did ours, and we were able to have a great discussion. The main topic we talked on was the nature of the Godhead (or trinity for some). He believes firmly that God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Ghost are 1 God in 3 separate forms. We shared our testimony of the Godhead, that we know they are 3 separate beings and that they act in unison having one purpose (Moses 1:39). It was a great discussion and we eventually had to stop due to time constraints, but we all left in a courteous manner. He had been very polite and sincere with us, as I hope he felt we were to him, but we were unable to reach a point where we all agreed. My hope is that he will continue to hear this message and one day accept the fullness of Christ's gospel because he is truly a good man.

We took a picture (so I could hopefully remember his name later), shook hands, and said goodbye. This was a much better experience than earlier that day, and I learned something again. 1) Satan will attack us in many different ways (not that these two people are of the devil, just hear me out) Each one attacked my core belief that we are all children of God and the true nature of our Father and Brother. If I didn't have a sure testimony, if I wasn't converted, I could've been swayed and lost focus on my true identity and purpose. 2) We must always be willing to share our testimonies, even if the other person doesn't want to hear us out or change. And 3) we will be given opportunities to share the gospel at any point during the day; we must take advantage of them! How grateful I am that we took the time to speak with these people even if they didn't want to listen, for now they have a greater chance of one day accepting the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

All in all, we are working hard to get to know members and build that trust, find new investigators, and help the work to move forward in this area. I'm grateful that the Lord trusts me enough to have me train and open an area. I hope this doesn't come across as bragging, but maybe I'm doing ok. I think it's really easy to get down on ourselves and to not see our full potential the way God does, so He gives us these important moments. For me, this is my Father telling me "I love you Rachel and I know what you are capable of. Trust in me and I will show you how to become even better." What better feeling could we have than the feeling of love and trust from our Father? 

I know that He knows each of us individually and personally. He knows what we are capable of and He has a magnificent plan for each of us to become like Him. I know we lived with Him before.

I love you all! Be good and remember who you are! 

Love,

Hermana Lindh

P.S. Por mis amigos quién hablan solamente español, lo siento que no escribí en español. Espero que todavía pueden disfrutar mis electrónicos correros. ¡Le quiero tanto! Tenga una buena semana y recursos que Dios le ama =)

Week 37, April 18, 2016

What a great day, what a great day! (I'll include a sound bit so this makes sense). 

Nothing is better than growing, even though growing can be uncomfortable at times. Stretching and pulling pushes us out of our comfort zone and stresses us, but it's all worth it in the grand scheme of things. It would be easier to stay as we are, easier to just say "I'll never change! I am who I am, so let me be!", and easier to give up, but then we'd be giving up on our glorious future selves.

Who I see myself to be is a woman who is patient (ha! Don't know when that's going to happen =) ), charitable, efficient, well rounded (no, not in physical shape haha), spiritual, and wise. I see myself in the future as a woman like unto the women in the Old Testament, such as my namesake, Rachel, and others such as Esther and Eve and Rebecca. I now I can become like them, I can become the woman Heavenly Father sees me to be, because of the Atonement. But it must all start within myself. If I don't want to change, the Lord is not going to force me! He wants me to use my divinely given agency, the ability to act independently and choose (but not to choose consequences), to become my best. As such, we are given the option every day whether we will grow and thrive or stay stagnant and wither.

This past week has been littered with opportunities for me to choose whether to grow or to stay as I am. Fortunately, and with a lot of help, I have chosen to grow. For example, this past Wednesday, all of the sister missionaries in the mission gathered together to receive a special training. There are about 20 of us in total and so I know each woman, some better than others but still knowing them. We spent some time eating lunch and then sharing 3 things about ourselves with the others. We entered the training having just learned something new about each other and the training was all about loving our companions and strengthening them. 

To be quite frank, I had been dreading this meeting due to how poorly I feel around other women. I'm not entirely sure why, but the notion of sisterhood is difficult for me to grasp and I almost always feel awkward around women. With my negative emotions causing a mini turmoil inside of me, I listened to a woman (the wife to a stake president over young single adults) testify of how special each one of us are. This is a sore point for me because I know we are all children of our Heavenly Father, that He loves us and that we each have divinity in us. That said, I still struggle with feelings of inadequacy, self resentment, and overall self pity; I always have a small voice in the back of my head saying "you could've done better". Not healthy, I know, which is probably why I needed to be at this meeting and hear what this woman had prepared.

She kept stressing how each one of us is a beautiful daughter of God and that we need to see that in each other. I already see that in my companion; she's awesome! But what I felt the Spirit tell me then was "Rachel, you need to see YOU the way God sees you." I struggled not to cry as I felt an overwhelming feeling of love. I had heard stories like this before, and believe them, but for me it was confirmed yet again that God knows me and loves me. He is pleased with who am I now and when He asks me to grow, it's not because He's displeased but rather knows my desire to be better, as it is His desire as well. When we are called to repentance, or to do hard things, or to endure a seemingly impossible trial, it is from a perfect and loving Father who is yearning to help us. He is always there to listen and to love and to comfort and we CAN change because of His Son, Jesus Christ and the perfect love He had for us. 

That meeting was difficult for me, the physical pain of headaches caused by crying aside. This was a moment when I was called to grow and I had to choose. It was scary, it was hard, and continues to be so, but I am changing and I know God is pleased with my progress. I strive everyday to love myself, to tell myself I'm beautiful because I am a daughter of a King; I am a princess! And so are all of you, princes and princesses, destined to become kings and queens. We can do this, with the love and support of each other, from our biggest brother, Jesus Christ, and always, of course, our Father. We can make this journey here on earth beautiful as we come to see ourselves as God sees us and see others the way He does.

Ok, here's my news report: 

WE HAVE PEOPLE ON DATE!!!! Oh my goodness!!! It's kinda hard to explain how excited I am through email, but I hope the all caps helped. =) (people on date means that they have agreed to be baptized on a specific date)

I believe on Saturday the zone leaders (see earlier emails for explanation of the organization of a mission) sent out a text saying that they had faith that everyone would be able to find one new person/have someone on date by the end of this past weekend. I was a bit skeptical because although we had been finding new people, we haven't been finding people willing to listen all that long. We worked hard Saturday and no new people. On Sunday, there were a few people that we had tried to get to church and no one came investigator wise, which was disappointing. We continued our day and decided to go visit someone who said she couldn't come to church. 

Her name is Angelica and she is just amazing! She has a lot of faith, which we saw as she explained some things that happened in her life, and she even offered the first prayer without us asking! The lesson we had yesterday was amazing! We asked what she wanted from us coming and she explained that she wants to be a better person, more like us (I kinda giggled on the inside and was like "wow! People really do see a difference in us, even if we have very brief contact with them"). We showed her the Book of Mormon and invited her to read it. Her next comment surprised me because she told us she wouldn't be baptized. We asked why and kept questioning her until we learned her main concern is that she wants to be baptized with her family. =D May we all have a mini dance please!

After that, we invited her to be baptized because the Spirit was super strong and it just felt right. As we started to give her the date (I was the one extending the invitation) I hesitated. We had planned to invite her for the 7th originally, which wouldn't work anymore because she didn't come to church yesterday, so I had the 14th ready to go. But it didn't come out; I invited her for the 21st and she agreed. I don't know what happened, but both Hna. Felix and I feel like this is the correct date for right now.

After we finished our lesson with her, we were both in a state of pleased shock and we started talking about what we need to do to teach her and her family. We walked towards our planned family for 8pm, Dante and his family, which we had felt prompted that morning to include, though we haven't ever personally taught them. The Elders had taught them twice and had asked us to take the next lesson, so we prepared to teach the gospel of Christ. Based off of what the Elders had told us, we were a little trepidatious but decided we would have a game plan and stick to it as closely as possible. (Apparently this man has a habit of asking very random and deep doctrine questions.) 

The door was answered by Rosio and she invited us in to speak with Dante, but we invited her to join us as well. All of the family, Dante, Rosio, and their 7yr old son whose name I can't remember, joined us. We started by singing "Families Can be Together Forever" (which is a habit that I thoroughly enjoy that Hna. Felix brought, singing before lessons) and then one of us offered the first prayer. We started the lesson by giving a brief overview of what we would share and then asked what they remembered from the last lesson they had. Dante mentioned a few things that had troubled him (such as God having a body of flesh and bone and that Joseph Smith saw God) and so we bore our testimonies of the nature of God and that in reality Joseph Smith saw Him and Jesus Christ. We then invited Dante to pray asking specifically "God, do you have a body?" and "did Joseph Smith really see Thee?" 

Having answered his questions, though probably not the way he wanted, we moved forward in teaching the gospel of Christ. We asked questions to gauge their understanding of each topic, used visuals such as a pen demonstration for repentance and a video for baptism, and asked them to share experiences with each topic. We felt like they were engaged and learning, rather than just listening. As we concluded our explanation of baptism, we asked what do they remember of theirs (nothing, due to the religion they were born into) and asked if they would like to choose this time. They said yes and so we asked the baptismal invitation, prefacing with "And when you come to know these things are true....". They agreed to be baptized and so we pressed forward and invited them for the 21st. Again, I don't really know what happened there, but again Hna. Felix and I felt at peace with that date. 

They hesitated at first, asking what we would do if they didn't feel ready by that date. We explained that we love them and pray for them, and so we felt that they could be ready by then, but that if they didn't feel like they were, we would change the date and work with them. We stressed a lot that we love them and want to see the. Happily individually and as a family. After that, they agreed to the date. We closed the lesson there and asked Rosio to say the prayer. She struggled at first, we invited her again, and then she asked her husband to. We decided not to push her but asked him and he started to pray but not out loud. We asked if he could and he said that he's never done that before and felt uncomfortable and so his son asked if he could do it.

Hna. Felix helped him start, but this spiritually sensitive kid gave the prayer by himself. He needed help closing, but afterwards we asked how he had learned to pray. He said that he wasn't taught but rather when the other people came (referring to the Elders) he would come in and listen to them and watch them.It is awe inspiring to watch this area grow and my own faith. Hna. Felix really has helped me grow my faith and I feel like that's what this area needed. We pray a tremendous amount, more than I thought possible at first, but now I'm realizing that I should've been involving Heavenly Father more. As I've reread my patriarchal blessing and have studied more fully, I have found another part of myself that I am growing into. Hermana Felix is an amazing example to me of what a faithful Latter Day Saint woman is. She exemplifies the women of the Old Testament, such as Esther and Ruth, Rachel and Rebecca. 

This week was awesome, just great, and beautiful. I hope that all of you have an awesome, just great, and beautiful week as you strive to grow. I love you and remember who you are!

Love,

Hermana Lindh

Week 36, April 11, 2016

Zone conference April 8, 2016

Ok, I'm not very clever and as such, I can't think of a cool way to start off this letter, sorry about that. =) 

I have learned that, no matter what, you can have awesome adventures if you put your mind to it. This past Monday we had Noche de Hogar (family home evening in Spanish)  with President and Sis. Keyes; they are members of the mission presidency. We were with our district and spoke about our favorite conference talks and the revelation we received from them. It was such a spiritual boost to spend time with other missionaries talking about how we can apply modern revelation to our investigators. The snacks afterwards helped too =)

I really am grateful for modern revelation that has taught us the importance of spending time together as a family. Family Home Evening was instituted to help families stay strong in these last days. Now, more than ever, we can see that the family is under attack and as a shield against that attack, we have family home evening. I love my family and I am so grateful that we made FHE a priority in our family. Even when we were extremely busy, having to mesh at least 4 adult schedules and the extracurricular activities of the younger ones, we managed to have family home evening at least once a week. We also read scriptures and prayed together every night. Some nights it was in shifts, but usually we were together, and these nights made a profound impact on me. Now, I have the joy of sharing my experiences and knowledge with others; I get to watch other families increase their unity and happiness by teaching them the importance of living the gospel of Christ together. 

Now, continuing with the week, we celebrated a good friend of ours' birthday. Her name is Dolores and she invited us specifically, and the other missionaries, because she loves being with us. I love her dearly; she is an example of charity and patience in my life. It was a privilege to celebrate with her and we were able to get her a gift, although we were late, which she loves. I arranged a boutique of flowers for her and Hna. Felix picked out the accessories for it (such as the vase and rocks in the bottom). It was amazing seeing her be so happy over such a simple gift.
We have been doing a lot of service lately, such as cleaning homes, and I just love it. I love seeing peoples' faces get lighter because a weight (even it it's as small as a dirty bathroom becoming clean) is taken from them. We may not always be able to fix everything, but I know that the Lord will take care for the hard things and I can help with the smaller things. I can't mend a broken heart, but I can show Heavenly Father's love for them by listening to them talk, bringing them cookies, or raking their yard. One of the best parts of missionary work is service.
Besides finding service opportunities this week, we have been out working; our goal has been to work harder AND smarter. We spoke with our bishop, Bishop Rodriguez, and asked for a list of part-member and less-active families to go and visit. We came back later that night, about 3 hours later, and he had a list for us! Now, half of the families he gave us live outside of our area, but it's still amazing to see how fast he responded! We have also been finding miracle by trying to visit these people. For example, we went to visit one woman on the list, but she wasn't home at the time. I really needed to use the restroom (one of the hardest aspects of missionary work is finding a restroom =) ) so I knocked on the neighbor's door. Fortunately, the woman who answered the door is a member and she let us in. When we spoke with her, we mentioned that we were looking for her neighbor and this good woman gave us a lot of helpful information. As we were about to leave, I asked her one last question; "Do you know if any of your neighbors speak Spanish?"
She was able to point out a home a few doors down that she knew spoke Spanish, so we walked down to see if anyone was there. There were 2 men outside eating and one, seeing us, approached the gate. We started speaking with him and he told us that although he doesn't own the house (he's currently renting) he would love to meet with us outside to listen to our message. This man, Oscar, works for a member of the church and so he's heard a lot about our beliefs and he has Sunday off! It was kinda indirect, but by following the prompting to speak with Bishop, acting in faith by going to the woman's house, and then by persevering, we were able to find someone new to teach. 
Another miracle that happened, and still makes my heart swell, happened during dinner on Saturday night. The member who signed up to feed us ran out of time to prepare a meal and so she invited us out to eat at a buffet called Chuck-o-Rama (it's not as bad as it sounds, I promise!) All 6 missionaries went with her (because there are 6 of us serving in the same ward) and another friend, Dolores, whom I mentioned earlier because of her birthday. We had just about finished eating and were talking about taking a picture outside. Before we stood up, a man approached our table to speak with us, the missionaries. As a disclaimer, this is very common here because there a quite a few members who love missionaries. They either have someone out right now, just got back, about to go, or had an awesome set of missionaries in their ward and as such, they love to talk to us. 
I am now accustomed to people randomly speaking with us, so I wasn't too surprised to see this man. He asked how our week had gone, if we're being fed, and what our plans are for the week. We all made our comments, just making small talk, when he pulls out from his wallet a large sum of money for each of us. He said that he hopes that we have a great week and enjoy going out to eat for lunch one day. All of us were taken aback, I feel like for obvious reasons, and tried to give the money back. He wouldn't accept it, even after multiple attempts at returning the money. We were all a little shell shocked, but made sure to thank this man, and his family profusely. They were there that night to celebrate a little boy in their family getting baptized that day. He was an amazing kid and the Spirit was so strong because of that family. This man will forever be in my prayers and memories for the service he rendered. It wasn't just about the money, but the fact that he would sacrifice to help the work of the Lord go forward. We are going to use the money wisely in order to bless those we serve for what more can we do to honor this man? This act of service has touched my heart deeply and I know that the Lord will bless him and his family for what they did.
The rest of the week continued with miracles. We saw them when we saw our plans change because we had been prompted to make the plans we had, yet not many of them came to pass. I'll share one more story that actually happened last night. We had just left dinner, which had been from 6-7pm and we debated about visiting the planned people by walking or by bike. We decided to go get our bikes, which seemed like a little bit of overkill for our plans, and when we came out of the church with our bikes, a man stopped us to ask for consecrated oil. We didn't have any, but we were able to bike to a member's home to get some and then meet him at the house with the sick person. If we hadn't returned for our bikes, I doubt that we would've run into the man, let alone be able to help him and the woman receiving a blessing.
The Lord works miracles in this day and age and we get to be a part of them! =) If we are open and willing to receive promptings, not only will our lives be blessed but so will others'.
I love you all! I hope that you are seeing God's miracles in your lives today. Be good and remember who you are! 
Love,
Hermana Lindh

A street taco truck, seriously the best tacos ever!

Brother of an investigator dressed up as a cowboy.

What missionaries use when there are no bowls.

Dinner with Hna DaSilva and Dolores.

Week 35, April 4, 2016

Good Day Everyone! =)

This has probably been one of the busiest and funniest weeks in the mission ever. As a brief outline: 1) New companion!

2) Biking!

3) General Conference!

Each section has multiple funny stories so I hope you enjoy.

As I announced last week, my previous companions Hnas. Woodhouse and Kang were transferred. We learned last Monday night where they were going; they have opened a new area (which means they are the first to serve in a certain area) in the ward Jefferson 2nd. This ward already has 3 sets of missionaries, but they are the first set of sisters in this ward in 3 years. They are very special and the ward is very excited to have them! I stayed in Buenaventura and now I am serving with Hna. Felix! She is from the Dominican Republic and she had served there for the first part of her mission, for 4 months, as she waited for her visa. I am so excited to have her!

She has brought such a positive energy and outlook that I feel refreshed and ready to go (for those who don't know, I have been struggling a little lately because of the challenges in this area). She has brought new ideas that worked really well in the D.R. and so I'm excited to try them here. She also is very good at pointing out others positives and strengths. For example, I tend to be very self-critical. I feel the way to progress and to grow is to overcome mistakes and make weaknesses strong, which means that I notice my imperfections quite easily. I can also get stuck in my thoughts at times, which makes it easy for me to be very down on myself. She has helped me multiple times change the way I think and point out things in me that I had felt were weaknesses. I am so very blessed to have her and that she is such a positive influence in my life. I hope that I am able to be one for her as well.

We get along really well because we are both very social and we have similar interests and viewpoints. We both appreciate the importance of obedience and the blessings that come when we are obedient. She is a very intelligent woman who loves to learn and so we will spend travel time talking about our opinions and helping each other with our non-native languages. She is also very willing to drop everything and serve, which I love! I love physical service as much as spiritual service, so I treasure the time we have to provide a physical relief for someone. For example, this past week we were told to visit a family where the dad speaks Spanish, 1 for the Spanish speaker and 2 because they need help. We knocked on the door and the wife answered and we asked if we could take a few minutes for a spiritual thought. She replied that she'd love that but that we probably shouldn't come in because of how bad the house was. We asked if she needed any help, and she said "Only if you want to clean my house!" With giant smiles, we replied "Of course!" and started walking in! She was surprised but let us come in and we spent about 1 1/2 hours cleaning her house. We didn't leave it perfect, but we tried our best in our time constraints. She seemed so happy and asked if there was another time we could come by to help, and so we set something up with her. 

The power of service is real, and it can make such a difference in the lives of others. No, we may not have found someone new to teach that night, and we may have missed out on opportunities to teach lessons, but the time was well spent. That family, those children of God, know that they are loved by their Heavenly Father because He sent His servants to them that night. They know that there is always someone who loves them, and now their faith will be strengthened. No, we didn't serve someone who speaks only Spanish, but I know that Heavenly Father is pleased with what we did. Okay, now Hna. Felix and I love music, and so we will sing to people and sing as we work, which is amazing! We also sing as we bike, which is an amazing feat of its own!

I am now serving a biking area; we do not have a car, which I have had up to this point in my mission. I was definitely intimidated when I learned that I would be biking because I barely know how to ride, let alone in a skirt and on a mountain. But, anything is possible with the Lord if you'll trust Him, so we got bikes the next day. Missionaries who have served here before using a bike can choose whether to keep their bike (bring it home, sell it to someone else, etc.) or leave it with the mission. Fortunately, many have chosen to leave their bikes and so Hna. Felix and I had a few to choose from when we obtained our bikes. I chose one with a place for a basket in front because that would allow us to carry around pamphlets and copies of the Book of Mormon. I was so happy and excited to see it!!!! And when other missionaries asked about it, I would get excited all over again! One Elder commented that he wishes he could get as excited about important things as I do about little things. I just laughed =) 

My bike is also pretty old apparently. Now a days it is popular to have old-fashioned looking bikes, but mine is actually pretty old according to people who have stopped me to ask where I got my bike. I was in the FHC (Family History Center) when a volunteer came in asking who had parked their bikes outside. Me and my companion raised our hands a bit sheepishly, thinking we were in trouble. But all he did was ask where we got the blue bike and so I explained. He proceeded to tell me that my bike is from the 1950's and he knew that because he had watched multiple antique television shows (shows about antiques and what they're worth). I kinda shrugged off his comments until we got home and a friend of our owner asked where I got my bike. He also analyzed it and stated that it was made sometime in the 1960's, which he knew because he has worked with bikes before. Now, thanks to these two men, my companion loves to tease me by saying things like "Oh, go ahead first because seniors first!" of "My bike is the granddaughter of your bike!" I love her sense of humor and it just makes me chuckle to think I have an antique bike.

Now that we have bikes, we depend on others giving us rides to far away places, such as Salt Lake City. We were able to attend 3 of the 4 sessions of General conference down in Salt Lake City. It was amazing for me, but even more so for my companion because it was her first time. It was such a treat to show her around and watch her excitement! She insisted on pictures (and I'm a little camera shy so that was....fun) and I loved watching how big her smile got! I also loved to watch our friend, who had brought us down and we had asked to accompany us, soak in the peace and tranquility of conference and temple square. It was an amazing General conference and I was so edified by the Spirit this weekend. 

Now, General Conference is a big thing for us Mormons and many people come from far away. There were people from China, India, Colombia, and many other countries. There were also people from other states, and I happened to run into 2 people that I knew! After the Saturday afternoon session, we were looking for our friend who had driven us when we had paused for a second to check our phone. When I looked back up, there was a man standing in front of me and as I started to recognize him, he said my name (my secret first name, so it was really weird to hear it =) ). It was Dylan Pemberton, a friend from home!!! He is up here studying at BYU Provo and that day he had made a last minute decision to come to conference. It was so good to see him, yet really weird because we couldn't hug, like I would back home, and I was just kinda startled to recognize someone here in Utah. We talked for a bit and took pictures but then both of us needed to go. It was such a blessing to see him and that we had been able to talk for a short bit. 

I thought myself very blessed to have run into him, so I thought that my allotment of miracles was up. The next day, after the Sunday afternoon session, I felt a tap on my shoulder so I turned around and saw Ty Hinson, another friend from home! (I'm sorry if I spelt that wrong....) His family were up here to see conference and so we talked for a bit and then took pictures. It was so good to see them too! I felt so blessed to have seen my friends, a tender blessing from my Heavenly Father. Little (well, not really little, but you know what I mean) surprises like that make my life so much richer. I'm so grateful that He watches over all of us and gives us what He knows will make us happy. =)

Last story for the day; this past January I participated in a world-wide broadcast for missionaries. 15 other missionaries and myself were recorded having trainings with general authorities and officers of the Church. In the missionary world, I quickly became fairly famous. I didn't realize how much so until random people down in Salt Lake stopped me to ask if I was one of the sisters in the broadcast. I said yes and they shared what they thought of what we had said and what they had learned. It was really cool to see returned missionaries kinda freak out because I didn't feel like I had done something terribly special; I only shared my personal experiences and thoughts! But, it was cool to see how the Lord places us in each others paths and how we were able to meet each other. One woman even took a picture with me to send to her friends back in the mission! 

All in all, this has been an awesome week! I have had a lot of great experiences and learning moments which I will forever be grateful for. I hope that you are all doing well and that you are enjoying spring time! I love you all and remember who you are!

Love,

Hermana Lindh

With the Hinson boys.

With Dylan Pemberton

 

Week 34, March 28, 2016

#PlotTwist

I absolutely love my companions! We work really well together, we all enjoy similar types of humor, and we just enjoy each other's company. We have learned how to teach together, which is a miracle in of itself since we're in a trio, and we were starting to move forward! That means of course that it's time for change. Yesterday, Easter Sunday, we received a text from President Jaggi that stated that Hna. Woodhouse and Hna. Kang are being transferred. He didn't know where yesterday, but he does know that they'll stay together, which is a blessing for them. I will be getting a new companion; her name is Hna. Silvestre and she is coming in from the Dominican Republic. She was supposed to come into our mission about 4 transfers ago, which is roughly 6 months, but she has had to wait for her visa. As such, she has been serving over there for a while. 

I will be "training" her as in I'll be teaching her how this mission functions and how this area works. She is already trained, and a native Spanish speaker, so I'm really excited to learn from her. I'm hoping that I am able to help her feel comfortable here and that she'll be able to adjust to Ogden Mission life. My companions and I will learn where they are going tonight and then they will go there tomorrow evening. 

As I'm sure you can guess, there have been more than a few tears. Our first week together was a bit rough and since then we have become so much better. I was so excited to continue serving with them! But, while we should enjoy our time here and our companions, it's important to continue growing which doesn't always happen when you're comfortable. Plateaus are a nice break, but climbing mountains is what will make you stronger and bring you higher. (See youth song "Give Me Mountains to Climb") 

Ok, so that was the major news. Other than that, this past week has been pretty great. We have been planning a fireside about member missionary work because we feel like although the members like us and trust us, they just aren't as excited about the work as we are. I love being a missionary! It is one of the greatest things I have ever done. Since I've been out here, I have seen what the Atonement can do (I already knew that, but it's a lot more "real" here). I have watched people quit a multiple year drinking addiction or smoking, I have seen basic personalities change, I have seen people who swore they would never believe in God come to church.

There is beauty and joy in everything, even if it's hard to see. I have been a marriage counselor as I shared my testimony and knowledge of eternal marriage. I watched how a man started treating his wife better and she flourished because they applied the Atonement. I have been a therapeutic counselor, comforting those who have mourned over their past sins and transgressions. I have been asked some of the hardest questions, such as "how can I believe in a God when all I see is misery?" and other questions that can only be answered through the gospel of Christ. All in all, while these situations are hard, even though they are heart breaking, I can see the joy and hope Christ brings.

Our goal with this fireside is to help the members see this joy, these blessings that their brothers and sisters desperately need and that members have. I hope that they are able to change their viewpoint enough to see what we, as missionaries, see. My life has forever been altered because I came out here. I now can see deeper and feel more because I have asked Heavenly Father for the help to do so. He wants all of us to be joyful and He has made it possible.

Happy Easter! by the way =D Yesterday we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was a glorious day and my favorite part was singing songs of praise during sacrament meeting. The sacrament meeting is the most important part of our week because it is during this time that we partake of the sacrament. We can be completely clean, as if we were baptized again, each week as we partake of the bread and water. We remember the promises we have made to Heavenly Father and we ask for the strength to do better this week. Hallelujah is the only apt word to describe my joy.

I hope you all had a blessed Easter and that you were able to spend time reflecting on Christ and everything He is and do for us.

I love you all! Be good and have a great week! 

Love,

Hermana Lindh