Week 40, May 9, 2016

Another mile marker met! Yesterday, I was able to Skype my family for the second time on my mission (which means I will Skype only one more time before I head home). I will say, I am quite proud of myself because I didn't start crying when they first appeared =) It was so good to see all of them! My heart was full as we talked and just enjoyed each other's company; it is something I have missed terribly. They are all amazing and it has been difficult to be apart from them for so long so it is such a blessing to call them occasionally. I know, once again, that I am in the right place, at the right time, and doing the right thing. This sacrifice is reaping such amazing and beautiful blessings that the tears and hard days are all worth it. One of the big moments of the call is that I learned where my brother Nathan was called. He has been called to serve in the South Denver Colorado Mission, English mission!!! I am so excited for him!!! I was secretly hoping that he would learn Spanish so that we could speak with each other in the best language ever, but Heavenly Father knows better than me. I know he is going to the right mission for him, at the right time. I am so happy and proud for him! I know he will be a great servant of the Lord and that while he grows he will help many others to grow as well. He reports July 27th, which is a week before my year mark, so we will both be in the field for 6 months before I head home. I will miss him terribly, but I am at peace as I hope he is. I love him and am so grateful that he is my brother; his mission is lucky to have him. Okay, so that was the major event this past week. Kinda hard to live up to that, but I have a few stories. =) My favorite one happened this past Saturday. We had planned to make treats, such as cake and cookies, to bring to people but we needed some ingredients so we ran to the store real fast. When we got to the self checkout, it asked if I would like any cash back and for some reason,mi felt like I should draw out a few dollars. I didn't want a lot so I took only $5 and put in my wallet, not thinking much of it. Later that day, we were trying to contact some referrals that were close together, so we walked. We walked past a Spanish store where a woman and her kids were outside selling flowers. The little boy runs up to me and asks if I would like to buy a flower. Without thinking about it, I said I would. They had a few bouquets that were fairly expensive but they also had single roses in a bucket that were $5 a piece. I gave them my $5 from earlier that morning and chose a beautiful red rose; I had no clue what I was going to do with it. We spoke with the woman for a while and invited her to read the Book of Mormon, but she wasn't very open to our message, so we moved on. As we continued to the house, we passed a family having a fiesta. A woman had just walked to the front yard and saw us, so she said hi and invited us to join them. We said no, because who likes to crash a family party? She insisted another 2 times so we finally said yes. They were celebrating a child's fist communion, so it was terribly awkward for Mormon missionaries to walk into their party. We approached the child whose day it was and just said "Hi! Felicidades!" because we weren't sure what to do! Just standing there awkwardly, I said "We are so happy for you that you are choosing to accept God!" and then handed her the rose! It was so perfect because if we didn't have the rose, it would've been very bad =/ The mom was very kind to us and now we are hoping to find them again later this week! Miracles happen in weird ways, as long as we are open to the Spirit. I didn't know what I was doing, but everything worked out just right and it was because God's hand was in our work. He is always watching over His children and wants to help us if we would just listen to Him. Okay, the other story I'm going to share kinda happened throughout this week and last. We volunteer at a place called Roads to Independence which is a group that helps anyone with any type of disability. They are always looking for more help and so we have been doing a lot for them. The major project we've done is pin and sew quilts. I can't tell you how excited and grateful I was when we're asked if anyone knows how to sew and I was able to say yes! Now, quilting is a fairly easy sewing project, but it was difficult to just sit down and sew for 3 hours at a time. Despite it being uncomfortable a bit, we were able to get a large part of that project done in a short amount of time. The woman who works with the volunteers was extremely surprised and grateful and it was really cool to see her so happy. I love working there because we are able to help so many people, use the talents we have worked on, and see the difference we make. (We don't always get that blessing so I love it) I also enjoy little blessings that come from it like gift cards. Let me explain =) This woman, Karen, chooses to have a raffle for the volunteers for the service they give so she has them make a "ticket" and put it in a bowl for every day they serve there. We have been doing that and they did the drawing for the month of April on the Thursday we were there. She managed to draw my name! As such, I chose a gift card to Walmart! .....You know you're a missionary when....you choose a Walmart gift card over a restaurant gift card. =D I am so grateful for this gift card because now we can make more treats for people in our area!!! I absolutely love baking cookies for people, as many of you know! =) I think that's it for this week. I have been growing spiritually and laughing and dancing in the rain, overall just living life. I love it and wouldn't change it for the world. My heart is full and I am joyful. I hope you all have a great week. I love you and I know Heavenly Father loves you. Always remember who you are and be good! Love, Hermana Lindh
i found real life princesses!!!
we hiked to the top of a mountain to find a waterfall!