Instruments in His hands

Hola mi familia!

Este semana fue muy bien!  It has been a very good week!  I am loving Peru and missionary work so much!  My companion left yesterday for her mission in Bolivia.  That will be me in 3 more weeks!  I am excited to get to Cusco!!  I am going to miss my companion though I had to have lots of patience, I learned to love her and I am going to miss hearing Spanish all the time.  Good news though, I am companions with Cori Hoffman again!  I am excited, but I am going to have to work twice as hard to keep my Spanish up now.  It is tempting to speak English :)

This week we went proselyting and it was a really cool experience.  We went knocking on doors and got a lot of doors shut in our faces.  That wasn't the cool part.  But I got to talk to a grandma who is a very devout Catholic.  She is very set in her faith, and really wasn't open to anything we were saying.  I asked her why she thought there were so many different churches in the world, and then we got on the subject of prophets and I was getting really frustrated with my Spanish because I knew what I wanted to say but it just wasn't coming out.  Finally I just said "I may not know a whole lot of Spanish, but I do know that I was called by a prophet of God to come here today and give you this message." She changed her attitude a little bit right then and I could tell she felt a little bit of the Spirit, because she said "You girls speak with much power, it is really amazing." But in the end, she didn't accept our message.  But I learned that even though I really don´t know a ton of Spanish, if I can help the investigator feel the Spirit, they will come to know these things are true.  Sometime, family, you should watch on YouTube or something "a man without eloquence-an account of Brigham Young"  We watched it in class yesterday and it talks about these same things.

Mom, I wanted to share with you a quote I got from my relief society president this last week...you can put it on my blog or not, I don´t care... it says:

"Many young women are serving missions.  Many more are preparing to serve missions.  Not because they aren't married or do not have anything else to do, but because they have a desire to serve and therefore are called to the work.  The reason so many are going is because the next generation, Heavenly Father will be sending His priesthood army to the earth and wants to send them to mothers who have been properly trained and taught in the Gospel.  What better training could a young woman have than that of serving a mission."--Gordon B. Hinckley.

Cool, huh?  We watched a talk given by Elder Holland a couple of nights ago and he talked about being instruments in the Lord's hands.  That is what I want to be.  I am here to preach His gospel, not mine.  He said that all the Brethren in the Twelve are right behind you in your work.  They get sick, they get tired, they get homesick.  If you are feeling these things, welcome to the work of the church :)  And this work will never stop going forward.  I am so happy to be a missionary.

Well, today we are going to get a tour of Lima!!!  I am going to take really good pics to send next week!  And I am going to get some chocolate.  It is really good here.  Oh, and I cannot WAIT to hear where Clark is going on his mission!

I love you all!}

Hermana Lindsey

The first picture is of my companion, the second is of one of my latina roommate

It's been a month!

Hola familia!

I received all the dear elders up until Aug 27th today!  Thanks so much mom and aunt phyl!  I don´t know when they exactly got here cause I am only allowed to get the mail every pday...but I got them!  So thanks!  I attached a couple of pictures on here I took today at the temple and I think one of them is at night when I arrived here.  i hope it worked.

Mom, dad said you are thinking of sending me a package?  I can´t get any packages while I am here, but I can get them in cusco I think--which is only like 4 weeks away can you believe it?! I would like my other coat, but I can also buy stuff there too.

Dad also said he wanted to know my schedule here at the CCM.  (mtc in spanish)  I wake up at 6.30, eat breakfast. and do personal study for an hour.  Then I usually have class for a couple hours. I learn spanihs grammar and usually some sort of teaching principle. then I teach with my north american companion.  next I have companionship study with my latino companion.  and then lunch!  I am getting used to eating 3 huge meals a day instead of little meals throughout the whole day.  here, it is very simple to tell you what we eat because it is the same every day.  A huge plate of white rice and a big chunk of some sort of meat.  I have only had one meat I really didn´t like.  It is usually quite delicious.  I am sometimes glad I don´t ask what it is, because I know it is a meat I have never eaten before.  But it is always good.  I am glad i have vitamins, because I don´t get very many vegetables here.  Every once in a while i will get an apple.  And the desserts here are way good--tell clark we have flan like every other day. :)  The desserts are never as sweet as in america.  today we went to the grocery store after the temple and we baught a candy bar for each of us--neither of us could finish it in one sitting it was so sweet to us.  It was just a hershey´s bar!  I think food is all the elders in my district baught. haha.
Oh yeah so after lunch we come back and a we have what is called TRC where we teach one of our teachers with our latino companion and we only get maybe 5 mins to prepare the lesson.  My latino companion...well, she is quite a dramatic teacher.  the other day we went proselyting and she was like poking people with her pen telling them that our church was true....I almost took the pen from her.

proselyting--that was a really humbling experience.  It was so exciting to actually go up to people and talk to them about the gospel.  These people literally have nothing, but they are so humble.  I was able to teach a mother and her three really young children about the book of mormon and as the little boy was looking at the pictures in the book of mormon he suddenly jumped up and ran into his house and got a little figurine of Jesus and said "this is Jesus too!  you have Jesus in your book!" It was really cute.  It made me want to know spanish better because all i could do right then was bear my testimony which was really good but that was such a perfect moment to teach more and my companion didn´t recognize it at all.   They say the north american companions are here to learn spanish, but also teach the latinos about the gospel. I know my companion will learn a lot about the gospel on her mission.  She has a really big heart, but she is really difficult sometimes to get along with.  I am working on patience patience patience...

Thanks for all your support family!  Español is coming I think!  i am understanding people better.

Love you all!

I have just arrived in Peru!

At the Lima Temple with my companions!

Just me at the temple!

Aug 30th

Hola familia!

Did you get my last e-mail?  I hope so!  I didn´t get any e-mails from yáll, so I will just tell you how I am doing!  I don´t exactly remember what I wrote in my last e-mai, so sorry if I repeat anything.

Today was our first day out into the city.  It was really fun.  I got to escort my latino companion through the temple for her first time today.  I think she thought it was kinda weird :)  But it was an amaziing experience for me. The temple here is right in the middle of the city, and it is beautiful on the inside.

The first day me and my companion met a week ago, I didn't understand a word she said.  Nada.  No entiendo.  But, it is getting easier to understand.  Communication is really rough sometimes, but I am working on it. I understand her most of the time now.  It feels so cool to be in Peru.  The elders in my district are so funny, and they were so great out on the street today they were very protective of all the hermanas.  It was cute.  The elders contacted someone on the street, and the hermanas got to talk to a lady on the bus aboiut the gospel.  She thought mormons are all from Utah.  And I think I only understood two other words she said.  And I thought my companion spoke fast. :)  Oh yeah, and driving here is really crazy.  I think people here honk just for the heck of it too.  Red lights and white lines on the road don't really mean much here :)

So I heard some really cool story from my teacher here in the MTC about cusco.  Oh but first, I need to tell you that somehow when I get to cusco I need to buy warmer clothes.  I have heard from the natives here that cusco is pretty cold, and it is pretty cold here in Lima right now, but winter is almost over here.  And mom, I thought I brought my coat (not my rain coat but the other one) down here but I can't find it anywhere in my bags.  I think I might have left it.  But because I can't get packages down here, I guess I will just have to wait for another month or so.  So back to the story.  I guess when Spencer W. Kimball was president, they were thinking of closing the cusco mission because there was absolutely no baptisms in the mission.  But one night Spencer W. Kimball had a vision, and Lehi appeared to him and told him to not close the mission yet because the people there are his children and he wanted them to recieve the gospel.  Cool, huh?  I don't know how true it is, but it sounds pretty cool.

Though hardly know much Spanish at all, teaching experiences here are really neat because I don't need to know much to get the message accross.  The Spirit is the one who does that.  But I would really like to know how to talk in past tense, becasue telling the Joseph Smith story is quite difficult without that.  But I love teaching.  My companion likes to talk most of the time, so I am working on helping her understand that I need to be able to testify and talk too.  It is amazing the sacrifices the latinos here make to be here on a mission.  I didn't sacrifice anything compared to them. My friends companion got her call a week before her arrival date to the MTC here, and so all of her friends donated all their church clothes to here because she didn't have enough time or money to get all she needed.  She only has 4 outfits.  She was a convert 5 years ago, and she left her family who are not members and her dad who is very sick to come and be here to preach the gospel.  Amazing.  She is an angel.

Well family, I love you all very much and I hope you are doing well and are happy.  I am!  Write me I would love to hear from you next week!

Lots of love!!


Hermana Lindsey

August 25th, in Peru

Hola Familia!!!!! I do not know how to use this keyboard, so sorry if this letter is confusing and short. haha But the flight went well.  It was very long.  I am just getting over being sick so it was kinda miserable, but it is getting better.  I got to call mom yesterday and I wanted to say sorry to Dad cause I was going to call you too but when I got off the phone with mom I realized I forgot what your number was--shows you how reliant on my cell phone I used to be.  So sorry dad!!! Well Peru is really great. It feels really strange to be here.  I have an english companion and a native companion from argentina.  I haven´t met her yet though.  It is kinda cold here, especially in the mornings.  It is winter here and it is like 60 degrees in the heat of the day.  I am dead tired.  I am feeling homesick for the USA already.  It is great here, but very different. We are so lucky to live in the US.   Riding to the MTC last night on the bus there was trash everywhere, and dogs too!  There are dogs everywhere here.  Children were just sitting on the sidewalk in the middle of the night, and there was always people everywhere.  Lima is HUGE. My bus driver was super crazy.  People drive crazy here.  I was so nervous we were going to run into so many cars, but we never did.  I like the MTC here.  It is much smaller and they have a really pretty courtyard with lots and lots of flowers.  The food is good. It is so humid here my hair is quite curly.  Elder Dallin H. Oaks and Elder Neil L. Anderson are here today.  They gave a fireside yesterday, so I just missed it!!  But they are having meetings today.  Some guy on the airplane said that Lima just had an earthquake this week sometime.  Maybe Dad could check that out.  It doesn´t seem like it affected much, so it might be small.  So about getting in touch with me...I guess you can´t send packages here because they have too much trouble getting through customs.  I think i put my address in the last letter i sent to you which you should get really soon...so write me letters!!  Clark I read your email and understood most of it i think....thanks for that.  Tell me how school is going!  I think we just missed each other at the salt lake airport too.  Dad, I love you!  Mom it was so good to hear your voice yesterday even though it was only for like 30 mins.  David, I got your letter about Ed Week it sounds like so much fun!  I love you familia!  Wednesdays are my p-days...so until next week!   Hermana Lindsey

Last Week in Provo

Holá mi familia!

I have been here for two weeks! Sometimes I think about it and it seems like it has gone by so fast, other times it seems like I have been here for months....home life seems like it was a dream.  I think I am being brainwashed.  Just kidding. Sort of

I head out into Peru in 6 days!  Yahoo!

Mom, Dear Elder works super great here at the MTC because I get the letters the day you send them to me.  It was fantastic. :)  I heard that it takes a month to get mail in Peru....so everyone should write me now before I leave!  My teacher also said that when I get down there,  there is a purple looking juice and it is NOT grape juice.  Good to know.  Its like corn something.  I forgot what it is called.

Guess who I saw yesterday?  Rachel Jackson!  Remember her from Texas?  She just moved in to the apartment next door to me.  It is so fun to see people here you know.

Ok so let me just say something right now.  I keep getting letters saying people are having surgery and heart attacks and no one ever gives me any details so the only thing I can do is pray that my entire family is still alive. I keep getting letters from you, so I know at least you are breathing.  I am glad to hear that everything is OK though!  I worry about you guys!  I love you!

Mom and David, I hope you are having so much fun at Education week!  You will have to tell me all the things you learned!  Clark and Dad, please take care of yourselves!

Oh yeah, I wanted to tell you we call our teacher the Jedi Master.  First, because he has Jedi-like reflexes.  Serious.  And second, because without fail every day during a lesson he will stop for a moment and say "we need to turn to the scriptures.  Specifically to.....blank.  I swear he has the entire standard works memorized.  This week he turned us to Deut. 31:4 ( i hope that is what it is) and it was awesome.  And I just learned yesterday that he was a convert at 18 years old!  WOW!

And let me tell you something I experienced this week.  Yesterday was our first day to go to the TRC, training resource center.  It is where people come to volunteer to be investigators and we pretend to knock on their door and all that.  So I taught two people yesterday.  The first time it was so funny, because me and my companion had jotted down some notes of things we wanted to say in Spanish, but when we knocked on her door, she said sorry but she only spoke English!!!  If only that were to happen in Peru, right!? :)  The second time was an older guy who spoke only Spanish, and this was the coolest experience I have had so far.  We just started talking to him you know, about how he has a loving heavenly father and how families are a part of God's eternal plan.  Then my companion felt inspired to share a scripture with him that we had previously prepared for another investigator a couple of days ago.  It was 1 Ne 8:10-12 when Lehi talks about the joy of the fruit of the tree of life and how after partaking of the fruit he desired to share it with all his family.  It brought the spirit so strong into the room and touched the investigators heart so much he began to cry and said that this is what he needed to be reminded of because he has an inactive brother and he knows that he can share the gospel with his family and maybe his brother will one day feel the love of God.  I was able to bear testimony in spanish that I know that the love of our Father in Heaven is available to all people if they are willing to come unto Christ.  It is so amazing to see the Holy Ghost prick the heart of the investigator.  That was my favorite experience this week.  After that meeting my companion and I just hugged each other and got really excited about this work.  God know's everyones needs.

Well, I am off to Peru this week!  I love you all!!  Until Peru (WOW!!)

Hermana Lindsey

Another Week

First Week in the MTC

Dearest Familia!

My first three days at the MTC have been quite a whirlwind!  It has been an amazing experience!  There was so much information given to me all at once on my first day it was quite crazy.  I had a headache by the end of the night.  But it is getting better. I love all of my roommates, especially my companion!!  We have so much fun together, whenever we have a crazy experience (most of them have to do with Spanish...) we just laugh about it.  We have had MANY laughing moments.  All of my other roommates are very nice as well.  And we are all going to Peru together! I am excited about that.   Oh and I am waking up to my alarm Mom and Dad.  :)

Thank you all for your letters (DAVID!  thanks for you're letter!  I wrote you and Clark today!) Oh and thanks especially to Mom for her package.  It was just what I needed.  And MOM!  Thanks for your letter too!  It MADE my night!  Annnnnd.....Cori is my COMPANION!  We both thought it was so great that our Mom's found each other online.  I don't think it was coincidence.  Coir is the most amazing companion--OK she is my first one but still!  She is just so bubbly and happy all the time and she has a beautiful testimony.  And she didn't act scared at all to be in the MTC.  She was a real strength to me.

I taught my first lesson entirely in Spanish yesterday.  Yes I did not use any English whatsoever.  And yes I had no idea what was going on.  Actually, I was suprised I did as well as I did.  I understoood a lot of what he (my "investigator" from Chile) said...and missed a lot of what he said too. Natives speak SO fast.  yeah....so fast.  We will get to teach him about faith and how to pray on Monday.  I learned how to pray in Spanish yesterday too.  Now I pray in Spanish all the time...well I pray in Spanglish.  haha.  I am having so much fun learning the language though!  It is my favorite.  My teacher is really great, my district is great--everything is great!  It has been really really really hard, and sometimes I feel like I can't do it anymore..but in the end when I look back I am glad I just keep going. I am learning a lot.  Oh and gym is one of my most favorite times.  Sometimes this place is kind of like a jail cell we are in class for so long.  It is nice to be reminded that there is a world outside of class.  Yesterday when we left class an Elder yelled "there IS an outside world!  Yipee!"  I know just how he feels :)  It's weird to say that this is so awesome, cause I am locked inside a campus, but it is!  Love you all!