Another Week

Hola familia!

This week went by really fast. We worked really hard this week to find new people and we did find some that can progress, I believe.  I am getting SUPER excited about conference--and even more because you´ll actually be IN there with the prophet!!!  WOW Talking about conference this week; we're letting everyone know about it and I received lots and LOTS of questions. Why have all of the prophets of the Mormon church only been Americans.  The truth is: I don't know but I do know the Lord calls and that every prophet was and is called of God. That is sufficient for me.  I am so grateful we have a living prophet to guide us.

This week in Peru there was a big scare that the Russians predicted that we would have a 7 or 8 point earthquake here in Peru and we should all be prepared but so far so good and I really don't know how they can say that because I thought you could only warn people of an earthquake 10 min before it happens...who knows?

Well, we have a baptism for conference weekend and the parents of the girl want to get baptized too but they need to get married first (surprise). I hope everything works out.  Pray for them!!!!!!!!!!!!  It would be so cool that this whole family is baptized.

Sounds like Mom is doing great work in Relief Society and the family is good.  I was happy to hear that Clark is still doing well even though maybe his new area is a struggle.  My companion that was from Argentina always asks about him and how he is doing. 

Lots of love and blessings this week for all!!!!!!!!!!

Hermana Lindsey

Changes

Hola Familia

SI tengo cambio siento que estoy viajando por todos lados :)  I have a change!  Let"s all play, "Where will Hermana Lindsey Go??"  Because I don´t find out until tomorrow night.  But somewhere COLD I am sure.  Because I have already been in all the hot places in the mission. I will miss the heat, the jungle, the MANGOES...ahhhhhh :)   We will see what happens.  My companion is really sad that I am going.  I feel bad.  She told me yesterday if I have a change,  she will go home.  I hope her new companion can help her learn to love the work.  Sometimes I feel I might have failed in that aspect...but I can´t look back.  I learned a lot being her companion.  President always receives revelation and I am excited to learn where I will go next.  I can´t believe it is already September.  We found a GREAT family this week.  We were knocking on doors and WOW both me and my companion had an impression to knock on this door and a lady answered the door.  We told her who we were and how this message can bless her family and she let us in.  We started to talk, she showed us pictures of her family and was so excited to talk with us.  We shared the first vision with her and challenged her to be baptized and she accepted AND she is MARRIED ( what a miracle and a blessing)  and now I am leaving and my companion doesn´t want to work.  But this family NEEDS her.  Now!  I just hope they follow through and are baptized because they are golden.  I hate leaving an area when we find such great people but that is how the mission is!!! But I know the Lord has a plan for me.  I love the mission with all my heart it has changed my life.  And continues to do so.

The family is all talking about how the leaves are changing colors and oh how I miss that time of year!!!!  Enjoy it while it lasts!! 

I don´t have much else to say except I hope you all have a great week and work hard! 


Hermana Lindsey

Quilla!!!!!

Hola Familia

Well, I am back here in Quillabamba.  And it is HOT.  Just when I was getting used to the cold again...:)  Yeah so I will tell you all that I went to Urubamba for a week because one of the Hermanas in the mission.  They are doing this big musical recital thing in the whole mission and so she is traveling from place to place putting it up and well it was her turn to come here and set it up and so I went to be with her companion in Urubamba.  Needless to say it was a wonderful week.  Took pictures with my converts, whom are still active in the church and that brings such joy to my heart.  Participated in the baptism of Manuel, one of the children of a family we activated in the church when I was there.  We baptized his sister , and I miraculously (it was a tender mercy I am sure) participated in the baptism this weekend that almost completed the family in the church.  Now we are just waiting for the mom and the dad to get married and then this family will go to the temple!!!  YEAH!!!  So apart from the joy of being in my old area, seeing old faces again, finding old investigators that are now ready to listen, and taking part in baptisms, it was a week full of miracles.  The last day I was there we went to visit a family that lives out in the country and they are building a new house and so right now they are living in a one room house next to a TON of chacra (land) where they are growing maize.  We had to pass all their land to get to their house and as we got closer, the member who was accompanying us Hermano Carlos warned us to be ready because everyone that lives that far out in the country has huge dogs that are really aggressive...or to say that they are REALLY good at protecting their stuff.  And just as he said that 3 HUGE dogs with HUGE teeth came running full speed for us.  Oh freaky, I was so scared.  But Carlos just kept walking normal and all the dogs did was bark at us...and if they tried anything he threw water on them.  They are afraid of water.  And then the old lady we came to visit came running down the hill with a wooden stick and began to beat the dogs away.... it was an interesting sight. Grandmas can be a little aggressive too :)    but we made it and it was a really spiritual experience with her in the end.  The family really needed the gospel. 

Annnnnd now I am here.  And suffering from the climate change.  My first night back I spent throwing up with diahrreah and in the morning too.  Hermana Calderon told me to buy this red drink stuff that is a lot like gatorade but tastes HORRIBLE and it is a huge bottle of it.  But I had to drink it all that day.  But it helped a lot I think it has vitamins and minerals that you lose when you have problems like that.  I am feeling better now...at least I am not throwing up but I am really tired.  But in the next few days I will be just fine I am sure.  And it is a good thing too because I am almost 100% sure I have a change next week.  Where I will be going I have no idea but it will be somewhere cold.  Because I have been in all the hot areas of the mission possible :)  Woohhoo!

Sounds like the family is doing good.  Mom "be not weary in well doing" and I know the Lord will bless you with the strength necessary to move forward.  Thank you Hampels for my package I abosolutely LOVE the clothes :)  Thanks for thinking of me!!!!

Wish you all a great week!!! 

Hermana Lindsey

Welcome Back to the Land of the Spiders!!!!!!

Family my time is up here but I will tell you that yes I am in Urubamba and yes I am really happy to be here...but I will only be here for one week and I will go back to Quilla but It will be the best week EVER. 


Love

Hermana Lindsey

Seems Like a Day!

Yes yes yes yes yes yes everyone...and when I say everyone that means
EVERYONE down to my converts like to remind me that I only have 6
months left.  They want me to leave??  No, but everyone likes to
know how much time I have in the mission and when I say a year they
all start to ask what I will do when I go home..they all want me to
come and visit after I have my family...BUT--I say I am not going home.
I will buy my land here in Quillabamba and harvest my bananas :) Really I think I have decided that if people ask me how much time I
have I will respond and say I don´t remember.  The thought of home is
happy...but very sad at the same time.  And so I prefer not to think
about it until the very very last moment..

This Sunday we didn´t have very many people in church but I was so
happy because my most recent convert Yulisa gave her testimony in
sacrament meeting...all she said was that she knows the church is true
in the name of Jesus cChrist Amen, but it was so sweet!!!  Things with
my companion are the same.  I hope to help her out.  Thursday I went
for training in Cusco and the climate there practically killed me.  My
stomach hurt so bad...I don't know where I am going next but I have got occustumed so much to the heat that a liiiiitttlle tiny bit of cold is
REALLY cold.  Well-- I still have Puno as one of my options....the
coldest place in PERU.  Well, I know wherever I go next I will
adapt...no matter how hard it is.  But I better be prepared for cold
because there are no more hot places for me to go in the mission.
WAHOO!!!
Ya, so we went for training in Cusco and Pres talked to me about my
companion and said that she needs lots of love and spiritual experiences
and he was confident that I could help her out.  Sometimes my head
hurts at the end of the day-- but I liked what Dad said that if I
become like the Savior in the process..His love can be transmitted
though me to her and she can learn.
I learned that being Relief Society Pres in Idaho..but I had
forgotten.  As we come
closer to the Savior, we can transmit the love that He has for
everyone under our stewardship and we can help them gain their own
personal relationship with the Savior...which is the greatest gift we
could give anyone.  Its hard work too :) :)  There is a quote that i love that Hna Cuenca gave me that is
something along the lines of "The greatest satisfaction we can gain in
this life is when we consecrate all of our time and efforts to the
purposes and will of God.  D Todd Christofferson. That is when we are
truly happy..

Oh and thanks mom for the quote about a positive attitude.  Haha I like
it a lot!!!!!!!!!
Hope everything is going well at home...everything is great here in
Quillabamba.  I am lovin' every minute!

Love always

Hermana Lindsey

Feliz Cumpleanos a Mi!!!!!!

Hola Familia!
Wow.  I have A LOT to tell you all.  First things first, thank you Clark for your email.  I will tell you I have just been asked to lead a
choir for a musical recital they will have here in Quillabamba for the
end of August...I am going to lead a freaking choir and I have no idea
what I am doing.  But we are preparing 3 songs and I just hope it all
sounds great in the end!!!!!!!  wahhh!!!!!!!  And no one can play the
piano either and so I will be practicing the songs so I can play the on the piano.  WHAT? haha

Second my birthday was one of the best days EVER.  I have a few
pictures but I can´t send them but maybe I will put them in an
envelope and mail them.  It started out
normal...preaching..teaching..and then we went to lunch and all the
elders sang "happy birthday" to me and one of them pretended to give me
a gift but it was really the baptismal clothes for the baptism I was
to have that night.  Haha it was funny.  I will speak more about the
baptism later.  But I went to give a couple of things to my ¨mama¨ in
the mission, Hermana Roxana.  She is our old pensionista and she said she
would cook anything I wanted and that we could come to her house in
the night and eat.  So of course..I asked for pizza. It was SO good.
I have been having problems with my stomach again lately I went to the
doctor and I have an infection but I am getting better and I am so
happy because now I can eat. And it was good.
 Yeah, well we ate pizza with all the Elders and they sang Feliz Cumpleaños and it's a tradition after you blow the candle out that you
eat a portion of the cake--or in other words you put your face close
to the cake and someone else smashes your face into it.  Yummy.  I ate
so much frosting in that moment I was afraid I would throw up.  Then we all ate cake and the Elders gave me presents.  The other Hermanas--oh thats right with the changes there are now 4 Hermanas
here in the zone...and not just us two.  It is pretty fun we all live
together.  I am liking it. So the other Hermanas gave me a really cool looking bracelet and
the Elders.. (it was so funny) bought me a little figurine
doll and they told me that they bought it because it looks like what I
looked like when i was young...gringa :)  It actually looks like
me too.  And they bought me a picture frame so I can put a picture of
the whole zone in there.  It was so sweet.  They threatened to put an
egg on my head (it's a tradition) but in the end they did not.  Thank
goodness.

Thank you family for all the birthday wishes although it wasn't at
home with my family...I felt your love through the letters and I
really felt the love of the members here and I feel like I have a
family here.  I think it will be reallllllllllly hard to leave.  But
that's a good thing. :)

I am sure you are all wondering what happened with my companion and my
new companion.  Well, mi hija was sent to Puno...the poor thing that
is the coldest area in the mission!!!  But I received a call from her
on my birthday and she seems to be doing quite well.  My new companion
is from Argentina (Mendoza)...is from the same group as mi hija and so
I am finishing her training with her here.  Her name is Hna Lepez and
she is 33 years old.  I can`t say much here but she is having some
difficulties in the mission...I received a call from the assistants
and they assured me that the change had nothing to do with my capacity
to train, just they felt the change was necessary for the progress of
both of them.  I have to be firm and loving with her...a new thing for
me.  I think I will learn a lot.  My goal this week is to teach her
how to be happy.

The baptism we had this weekend was one of the most touching
experiences for me.  We have been working with a young girl 15 years
old for a while and she wants to be baptized but her dad told her no
and her mom told her yes.  Her parents are separated but her dad was
really strong in telling her not to do it but she told him it didn´t
matter what he said and she made the decision from that point to
prepare for a baptism.  She attends seminary every morning and has
really gained a testimony of the church.  She was baptized thisSaturday.
 And a miracle happened in her family.  Her father came to the
baptism.  Her mom, her sister, to see her in white ready to be
baptized began to cry.  They said they felt something really special
and they told us they would support her and they wanted to come to
church with her.  And with tears in his eyes, after the baptism, the
father looked at us and told us that he wants to learn more, that he
noticed something different in his daughter and he knows that what she
has chosen to do is good and he wants to learn more.  The next day he
came to church and we challenged him to be baptized at the end of the
month..and he accepeted.  Even though the parents are separated...the
mom asked the dad to sit with her in church...and I don´t know maybe
after time marriage will be possible for them too.  What a blessing it
would be for the whole family.  It truly was a miracle...and just for
my birthday too!!!!!!!!!!!  The young girl that was baptized she has a
younger brother (10 years old) and after she left the baptismal font
he came RUNNING back to the font and asked the elder "can I be
baptized with my sister too????"  It was the CUTEST thing ever.  Of
course the Elder said yes...but he will be baptized with his dad.
So everything is great.  Working with my new companion will be a new
challenge, but I am excited to work with her.  And we have received
blessings and blessings from the Lord.  The truth is I have a love that
runs deep for every single member, for everyone here in Peru.
Alma 29:1-3 pretty much sums up how I feel.

Feliz anniversario papas!!!!  Happy Anniversary mom and dad :)  It is
SUCH a blessing to have a mom and a dad who are sealed in the temple,
active in the church, who have taught their children to obey and
serve.  What more can I ask for?

With all my love

Hermana Lindsey

Just Keep Swimming!

Wow its already Monday.  I am excited to hear that the Flemings are
coming in Wednesday!!!!!!!!!  Bienvenidos a mi HOGAR!!!!!!!!  jaja
Welcome to my home.  It sounds like it will be a great summer.  And
David goes to EFY and then to Scout camp...where is he going next??  It sounds like it will be a blast for him.  And Dad you said
that Clark is emailing me...but no.  I hope to receive an email from
him before I end my mission :)  I hope everything is well with him.
He seems to be enjoying his time in Argentina.
This week was pretty good---I worked really hard to get my convert to
come on Sunday to receive the Holy Ghost and he finally came!!!!  But
I was disappointed because they told him he needed to wait to the
other Sunday because he came late.  But what can I do but support the
members?  The branch is really great here, just I was a little
frustrated.  We are starting a new mission plan with the branch.  I think
I have mentioned it before but we are working with one family to help
them get excited about sharing the gospel and they have to read their
scriptures as a family every night for three weeks and contact and
give out a Book of Mormon.  Its pretty cool.  And the family that I am
working with, their 14 year old son reminds me so much of David.  He
helps out his mom so much, he is very thoughtful,  an extremely hard
worker, and he attends seminary every day and studies the scriptures
every night. He will be a great leader.
This week I will just move forward and try and help as many people as
I can.  Dad said that the real success is not  measured by numbers or
baptisms, but it is really if you have the Spirit with you or not.  Its
true.  I hope to have more of the Spirit with me this week.

Well, changes are this week but we will be staying :)  yo y mi hija.
And I am happy.  There is a lot of work to be done.

Love

Hermana Lindsey