Hey!

I finally got photos to send out! This is an opportune time to send them as well, considering that we have just had a slew of baptisms and some great spiritual times. Sadly, however, the computer took forever to load them, and I only will be able to send one or two. Our numbers haven´t been that great this week, but we had two days of work cut out for Zone Conference and another day with a sick compy, so truly it was out of our control. Our area has baptisms planned for the rest of the transfer every Saturday. Great things are in store for us, and all that we have to do is work hard enough and live worthily. Music is fantastic. My new favorite hymn was translated poorly into Spanish, but in English it really hits home. #185 Reverently and Meekly Now. For those of you who are music theory geeks like me, there is some great stuff written into the score, and for you Christians, there is some delicious food for the soul in the text. Verse one reads: Reverently and meekly now, let thy head most humbly bow. Think on me, thou ransomed one; think what I for thee have done. With my blood that dripped like rain, Sweat in agony of pain. With my body on the tree, I have suffered death for thee. Figure out what it means for your own personal relationship with Him, and read the rest of the text to get an even more powerful message. Singing this song for me, from the perspective of the Savior, always wrenches my heart, and gives me strong desires to follow His counsels and example. The official way to commit someone to keeping a commandment or making a covenant is along the lines of "Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and...?" So, I extend this challenge to you. Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and ? It is a yes or no question, and the answer is yes or no. Do, or do not. There is no try. However, should you slip up, reread the text and try again the next living breath you take to be better and like Him. God be with you till we meet again. Elder Lindsey

big letter

I apologize for having written so few letters by hand, but it turns out that it costs eleven pesos everytime, which is the equivalent of about three bucks, or an entire meal if you know how to spend it right. Yeah, letters will be a very seldom done deed. The work is great. We have saved five people through providing them the ordainance of baptism in Arenales, and there is another one this weekend with more to come in the near future. Our goal is to baptize every week, to put a baptismal date every day, and to feel happy inside for the joy of helping others. So far so good on the last two parts, but the first one will just have to include this last half of the transfer. Life is simple. Eat, obey the Lord, pray, obey the Lord some more, listen to the really gravely voice of the man right next to me that sounds something evil from smoking too much, and enjoy the mission. I really don´t know what to say more, nor do I have the time do say it. Take Luck! Elder Lindsey

But Elder, It's Cold Outside!

It has cooled down quite a bit around these parts. The pension clocked in at 42 degrees inside this week, and we have one dinky little heater for the four of us. This winter is going to be a party. Elder Spencer Hughes, from Alpine, Utah is in my zone right now, and he really has grown into a great man. We talked a ton about how things are since he left home, and have now refocused on the work. Also, Miguel Villalobos has a cousin here in the mission that lives nearby in the Highland area. Good times. Our area set more than ten baptismal dates this week! And then two people showed up to church. We are really working hard, and have a baptism this week at seven, if any of you have some free time to swing by the church. There will be cookies afterward for sure. He stopped smoking almost cold turkey. Apparently he didn´t understand that it was a commandment, and he quit in three or four days from smoking sixty cigarettes a day since he was eight years old. The family is admittably strange, but their faith and fidelity to the Lord and each other are incredible. His wife called me her grandson this week, and I have never felt so loved in my whole mission. Another lady told me that when I talk to her it moves something inside of her, as if I speak directly to her spirit. I don´t know what to say to that, other than that the gospel is true and the spirit bears witness of that to everyone that is willing to hear. Truly, the Lord has shown us many miracles this week, and furthermore, we have become His mouthpieces for instigating them. His power is real, and cannot be negated nor denied, no matter what logic attempts to feebly prove otherwise. That each and every one of us can be forever sure of that is my prayer. Isaiah rocks. Find out for yourself. Be good, now, y´all, Elder Lindsey

Shake My Faith!

Well, I am officially not a "greenie" anymore, as of about sixteen hours. Elder Petersen, mi Papito, left for La Rioja again, and Elder Van Loo left for Santa Rosa. I snuck one of my ties into Elder Petersen´s stuff before he got off, and he got me back whilst I slept and the sojourners packed up for the journey. My new compañero (Elder Almirón) is bien Latino, from Buenos Aires, and we seem to get along really well. We have convinced him, and Elder Gimenez´s new comp from Canada that this area is the Celestial Kingdom made manifest on earth (slightly due to the mention of five lunches a week, minus planning session days and p days, plus two dinners a week, all set in stone and without fail, and also slightly due to the fact that our recent converts are active, (not to mention the fact we are baptizing pretty well), and they are really pumped to get out and do the Lord´s work. The four of us hooligans in great looking apparel went and played soccer at the church to kick off our awesome transfer with some friendly sport action. On that note, I beat a super inactive son of our ward mission leader in one on one streetball 5-2, which truly was a miracle. Another great thing about our companionship that already is in progress is a service war, or a competition to see who can serve the other person more. Nobody really loses anything, because you get so much in return if both people go in for it, which I can already tell he will. The first thing is that we are going to get Grido ice-cream, the best stuff known to missionary kind, other than a deep, sweet personal study to start the day. The deal was that since a kilo of ice-cream is only a little less than five American bucks five days a week, and since the new companñeros need to adjust to the area, the incumbents are going to buy one kilo per compañerismo, but my "compy" quickly asserted that I wouldn´t pay simply because I am his compañero. Gotta love the ideology behind that. Elder Gimenez and I have a deal this transfer. If I speak English (not including helping my companion learn the language or like cases), at the end of the day I owe him an alfajor. However, if he eats more than one serving at any given point in time, with the exception of empanadas, he owes me a giant banana at the end of the day. I failed today because Elder Henry (the Canadian) isn´t in on the deal, and speaks English whenever, so I will have to make a huge effort to overcome. For those of you who know the story (mostly my family), you will be pleased to hear that I have acquired a copy of the Teachings of Wilford Woodruff, in Castellano, and have been reading it every chance that I have alongside my pocket Book of Mormon and set of study scriptures. For those of you who don´t know the story I quote one of the greatest movie scenes ever: the sword fight between Wesley and Inigo Montoya. "Get used to disappointment," said Wesley. How my confidence that the Lord knows each and every one of His children and that His authority to reveal things to them has augmented in this time spent in the mission! How great is our God! I feel very much like Nephi and his Psalm located in 2 Nephi Chapter 4. "What a wretched man am I! But that you may know, I am saved in Christ Jesus, who lives, and loves us to the end." My new favorite hymn this week is number 102, "Jesus, Lover of My Soul", which has a soothing, lilting melody that conveys true trust in Him and implores His help in all that I might do. I offer a challenge to the world: SHAKE MY FAITH. Go ahead. It isn´t because I am some almighty being, or that I am perfect, but God in His soft mercy has blessed me to the point of sealing me His. He has shown me so many miracles, the fact that I´m still kickin' not being the least of them, that I cannot ever imagine myself doubting that this Gospel is true. I never wish to compromise His laws for the petty things of the flesh, nor do I wish to cause others to do the same. Instead, my eye is set on the prize. What better thing can there be than living with our families and loved ones forever in the presence of an Omnipotent and Omnibenevolent Father? May the Lord provide each and every one of y´all, His beloved children, with such experiences and love as he has for me, for you truly will know with a surety that He is God and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is His glorious deed. Nos Vemos, Elder Lindsey