Hello!!
Good news: I´m STILL alive! Isn´t that just lovely. So, my first area is called Burzaco. It´s amazing. My first companion (in the field, that is) is called Hermana Bushman. She´s amazing. Seriously! I have so enjoyed being her trainee. She´s a great trainer. She actually gives me responsibilities and asks for my input and she´s eager to work hard for the lofty goals we set together. I am such a big fan of meeting people on the streets, on the bus, and wherever else we see them. I tell you what, my Spanish background is a tremendous help. I didn´t realize how rare it is for people to come into the mission already knowing the language. My first day here, we ran around the city getting Visa stuff together, and as I was the only Spanish/English speaker, I got to play interpreter for all the fun official stops. On the other hand, my respect foe people who go on missions without knowing the language has grown tremendously. I listen to people who just barely started learning Spanish but are faithfully exercising what little they have in testifying of the Restoration of Christ´s gospel. Kudos to them!
Okay, so Burzaco is what you would get if you mixed parts of La Mesa with parts of Downtown San Diego. It´s really beautiful. The people are so kind. I don´t know if it´s different for elders of not, but when I talk to people, so far just about every single person is willing to listen, and most are willing to set a time to meet again. I had no idea people would be so receptive. No complaints here!
I´m still getting to know the investigators and members, but so far they´ve been fabulous. There are a ton of less active members here, most of which just don´t go because they don´t feel like it. It´s made me want to develop a greater testimony of the importance of weekly Sacrament meeting attendance. If only they could see what a difference it makes to learn in the house of the Lord and to partake of the Sacrament weekly: reminding ourselves of what great blessings the Lord has given us, is giving us, and will give to us in time. The Atonement is the greatest of all. Really, to think of what power the Lord gives us when we come to Him! I feel like I lack so much knowledge - and I mean A LOT - but I so so badly want to learn more and I so badly want to be a good disciple. There is SO MUCH MORE to learn and do. The best consolation I have, though, is that I know the basics to be true. Because I´ve felt the Spirit testify to me that Christ lives, and because I´ve felt His love and lived to see miracles, and because I know that Joseph Smith truly saw Christ the Lord and our Heavenly Father, and because I´ve felt joy and purity and intelligence flow through me while reading the Bible and the Book of Mormon - because I know these simple, basic things, I can trust in the Lord that everything else is true. I can trust that, in time, I will learn all that I desire to know (and especially that which is requisite that I know).
SOOOOOOOOO I HAVE TO DO BETTER! AND I WILL! Thank you all so much for your prayers and your support in whatever form. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. In the MTC, someone taught us to take our times of discouragement and transform them by remembering how many prayers are being offered for us - by children, by family, in the temple, by the Prophet, by strangers even. I pray for my family and friends and many other every day. I know that Heavenly Father hears and answers. Oh! That reminds me of a great story, but I dont have time. Ha! Sorry. :)
Oh! It{s that time! I love you all so much. Thank you very much for everything.
SMILES ALL AROUND!!
Hermana Lindquist
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You and Charlotte are great writers! If she only had the internet instead of spider webs to work with... One thing that I have found that makes attending Sacrament meeting particularly high on my list of things to do on Sunday is the understanding that we RENEW the convenants we have made by taking the Sacrament reverently. If done in with a sincerly repentant heart, after the Sacrament is administered to us each Sunday, we are then as fresh, clean and spiritually renewed as back to the point at which we made those covenants. Taking the Sacrament is a HUGE part of the plan of repentance that gets me back feeling alive, in tune with my Heavenly Parents, and ready to learn the lessons they are sending my way. When events happen that I do not understand or (at the time) welcome, I know that with the renewal of my covenants by taking the Sacrament, my mind is open, my heart is made pure, and I can in faith find the light, the lesson, the truth of the situation. I am greatly uplifted by taking the Sacrament. When you wrote that people get in the habit of not going, I thought of the darkness I felt in my life when regularly taking the Sacrament was not a part of my schedule. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! The more I did not go, the worse I felt until I felt so unworthy to go that I had to work very hard to take the bishop, the Lord and the spirit at their word that I was worthy and should attend again. The adversary seeks to make us feel like Sacrament Meeting is not that big a deal and that our testimony is strong enough to skip now and then. I know that I need the constant nourishment from the Spirit that is renewed each time I take the Sacrament. I am so happy we have the buildings and opportunity to partake of this sacred ordinance that gives so much light and happiness.
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