Hey!!!!

I got the package for my birthday!!!! Thank you sooooo much. The extra extra socks made my day, and I currently am wearing them, for those who are wondering. The Lord works in mysterious ways, and never lets us get too up nor too down. This week I have felt the love and affection of the Savior more than any time in my life. President expressed a ton of confidence in my abilities, as did my district leader Elder Santo. Elder Van Loo, my companion, is a man that I highly respect and hope to keep a good contact between us for the rest of our lives. These three men in this time have raised me higher, and deserve all that I have to give (as does really any child of God, but these three especially.) Please keep them in your prayers. We still haven´t baptized this month, but there is still hope. The power of faith coupled with fervent prayer to discern the Lord´s will, and immediate action to do it, all comprise the formula for success. We´re gonna add a little bit of our spontaneous love for others as our own part, but the rest really lies in the Lord´s hands to shape us and direct us to His prepared children. Christmas time is here. Are we all happy? It is the most wonderful time of the year, especially in South America with our summer heat. Goodness how I love it! People here don´t put as much emphasis on Christmas as they do the New Year, which saddens me, but the season gives us great reason to contact and talk with everyone: sharing a message of the Savior´s birth. There are myriad accounts of it in the Scriptures. The first Nephi, not the 2nd 3rd nor 4th, prophesies of Him, King Benjamin tells the tale, Samuel the Lamanite tells it, Isaiah foretells it triumphantly, and St Luke made it famous. Try reading them and think about the significance of that moment, paired with that of Easter, which in reality was the day which gave the most hope to all of mankind. Without Easter, we would have no point of living. I love the Savior and all that He has done, does now and will do for me and my loved ones. Spend some time with your loved ones this time of the year, and make loved ones out of those who have none. ¿Feliz Navidad! Elder Lindsey

As I have heard reports of the Lone Peak High School Madrigal Feast and its festivious successes, I am again turned to think on the Savior and how much I love Him. My favorite of all the songs we ever sang for Christmas is "Jesus Christ the Apple Tree" I don´t have time to write the lyrics, but He keeps us alive and gives us rest. The Reason for the Season is love, as the Bible teaches us. "God is love", we learn. So, how do we become like Him? Love! We worked like crazy this last week to get all of the members in on the Bring-a-friend-to-church Day, and those that did were richly rewarded it seems. Those who didn´t saw that, and have promised to work with us this next week. Whew. So much to plan, and so little time to do it! We had a couple come with us to church on Sunday, and they really enjoyed it. They are talking about coming back, and their questions slowly answer themselves in the message of the gospel. We are very happy for them. We had our Christmas Zone Conference yesterday, and it was great to get packages and letters from everyone whilst missionaries from across the world did the same and feasted on delicious roast pork and beef. We played soccer, piano, sang carols and just enjoyed ourselves. I have heard that the mission calls for the young ladies have already been sent out to the world near you. Mary Petersen wrote to tell me of her upcoming adventures in Canada. Good luck Mary! I love really getting to know people and having them feel the Savior´s love as I have come to feel it. "For this is life eternal, to know the Father." I hope we can all do that especially over this Christmas season. In Christ, Elder Lindseyi

All of you know that the Lord respects His children´s prayers and fasts, that He answers them and grants blessing to us even when our imperfections get in the way. This is exactly what happened this week. We worked hard, really hard, to find people and help people come to church, accept the challenge to get baptized and become like Christ, but it just wasn´t having any fruits. And then came the miracle. The whole Zone fasted and prayed that our area could baptize this week to complete a Zone of Zion, (that everyone baptizes). We ended up finding two registers of previous baptisms that hadn´t been sent in, and these two poor souls weren´t technically members of Christ´s Church. We sent in the two of them, and we effectively baptized two people before even leaving the house to preach that morning. The Lord works in Mysterious Ways, no? I love it here in Centro. We have a much smaller area to work than my old one, but it is a functioning ward with a full staff of authorized assistants of the Lord for this city, all of whom wish to work like dogs to save God´s children. I am very very very excited to be in a ward for the first time in my whole mission. We are going to get things rolling well if we listen to the Spirit and convey desires to help people come unto Christ. I have thought long and hard on the topic of prayer for a while now, and I believe that it is the single most important thing that we can do to begin, sustain and end our day. I find that often the nightly prayer is the most rewarding, though the most difficult to apply and/or remember the next day. My new plan is to try and make the morning prayer and prayers throughout the day more effective and with more results. Wilford Woodruff was visited by Brigham Young in a dream, and he said that the only thing that he told him was that the saints need to understand the importance of having the guide of the spirit constantly to assist them always in their lives. Well, the spirit comes through the prayer of faith, and if you want it in the day you have to ask for it genuinely and for the correct purposes. I love the mission, and recommend it to all as soon as one is able to, not when one plans to in the distant future. Satan is a cunning little devil, and will tempt you beyond what seems fair, and as we learn from King David´s example of not being in the fight when he should have been, he fell for Bathsheba and lost his exaltation despite his good works in the past. Go ahead and leave your nets "immediately" as did the Lord´s chosen apostles, for time is short, and the laborers are few. Imagine what would have happened to them if they had waited a few months or years to work with the Savior. They wouldn´t have been able to work with Him, for He had a work do now right then, and not later. Procrastinate later. Go out there and do some good now. With Love, Elder Lindsey

This week was nuts!

This week was nuts, full of events and ever so spiritual. To expound, we had an earthquake, 6.0, in Catamarca, and both of us felt and heard it, about 60 kilometers away from us, or about forty miles or so. It lasted for about ten seconds from what I could tell. We had a three foot snake in our pension that we took pictures of before pushing it out with a broom, a giant spider jumped at my companion during nightly planning, my bike got stollen and we will check tonight to see if the police have found it or not, we went to La Rioja to see Elder Zeballos of the Seventy who talked to us as a Zone, and our most promising investigator received a very clear answer when we all knelt down in the chapel to ask the Lord to give her one. Furthermore, another investigator showed up to church just out of the blue after a week of not being able to find her. The Lord sure does like to keep us on our toes. It has been strangely cool here for Catamarca this time of the year, but I assure you that it is just a fluke. As things warm up here in temperature I hope that things will continue to warm up in the hearts of the people around us so that more of God´s children can be saved. Perhaps the most important thing that has happened this week is that I have put in an extra large effort to never rest and to always be pushing myself to do everything possible and just to bring people to Christ. Nephi says I will go and do what the Lord has commanded, and not "I will sit around and think about it for too long first, and then maybe I will do something along the lines of what we have planned." Most importantly, the Spirit will always guide us in our actions, but we have to act to be guided. I have learned more of the Love of Christ this week as all of the crazy facets of life have piled themselves on me, and overwhelmingly it seems at times. The other morning I just needed the Father to calm my troubled soul, and earnestly knelt in prayer to ask Him for comfort. As Elder Bednar teaches, we must be willing to act on the answer that we receive, and the response which I got was to search the materials that I have to study to find the answer: a frustrating, but faith building reply. As I looked over all the books, scriptures, magazines and pamphlets that neatly resided on my desk, none of them struck me as the designated medium for this moment of love which I needed. Upon a more diligent search through my things, my mind fell upon a letter from a friend, which threatened to kick my butt when I got home if I didn´t give it my all. That, and other small phrases reminding me of the importance of the Spirit, as well as that the Lord can´t allow His work to mess itself up, not even if we try, really lifted my spirits. I stand all amazed at the love He offers each and every one of us, even now as I sit at the computer. I also stand all amazed in behalf of the love that He gives us and testify of its reality, that each of us can feel it and later testify of it to all we encounter through our example, smiles, choices, works and divine potential. I love y´all too, even if I do only write once a week. Be Good! Elder Lindsey

Have I done any good?

To start, this question is a great way to analyze our own day and pushes us toward doing some good. My response to that question is a change in the question: Have I done ONLY good in the world today? Have I helped EVERYONE in need? Have I cheered up the sad and made EVERYONE feel glad. If not, I have failed indeed. For more insight, see Mosiah 28:3 in the Book of Mormon. Apparently, my accent is very much like unto that from Spain, and three or so people asked me if I was from Spain this week. I guess I watched the Princess Bride waaaay too much beforehand, for I always quoted Iñigo Montoya. In that movie, there is a true principle. Wesley says "Death doesn´t stop true love; it just... delays it for a while." As we all know, this life is not the end of existence. Were it so, there would be no point, and I would not be here doing the things that I am doing. Our purpose is to be happy now, later and forever. Now, for the peace that the Spirit brings, later, for not having to be wearied by our future past sins and forever with our families. The Lord is watching over each and every one of us. May all of you learn that individually. Sorry for the short letter. Lots to do! Elder Lindsey

Conference

Mama mía, You are definitely in tune with the spirit. One of the biggest things I pulled from conference is that I need to wait for the Lord´s timetable to guide things, and not mine. I also began my Christmas wishlist this very morning, so we are in luck! Some good ole thick black socks would be fantastic. The thin ones are simply shot, and many are completely unusable. Begin Post My dear mother wishes to hear about a few things in specific about Catamarca. The scenery here is incredible. Spring time here completely took me by surprise. The colors definitely reach the soft spot in my heart for God´s wonders. There are trees that completely fill themselves with soft pink, bright yellow and subtle lavender flowers that really make you think when you see it, wondering to yourself if it is real. Shocking reds, oranges and every color in between mix in with the blues and vibrant greens found in the leaves and grass. The architecture is another wonder, with many beautiful houses and stores amongst the humble abodes of the everyday people. My companion and I are getting along quite well. We have devoted ourselves to spend this next transfer simply being better in everything. Organization, cleanliness, contacting, lesson teaching, time and money spending and studying. We are really pumped to get out and do some good. David should be pretty ready to serve a mission by now if he isn´t already. I think we just had to get through my generation before we got to the good ones like him. I feel a great responsibility in having to train and teach these new 18 year olds which will soon come to our mission, seeing as I am the last generation of the "Old Ones" if you will. I almost have a year in the mission, and only have two bouts of conference that I can apply to the rest of the world whilst preaching as one having authority, and not as the scribes. This Conference marked a monumental moment in the world, and in my conversion as well. Apathy cannot be accepted. Get out and be a Christian this instant if you really love the Lord. Are your actions to help yourself or the Lord? I will be working on this as well, because it ain´t easy. It is, however, worth it. Thanks for thinking about me. I love you all very much! Elder Lindsey PS A quick note about the QWERTY keyboard that makes typing a pain. In Spanish, the B and V make the same sound halfway between the two in English. On the QWERTY board, they just happen to be right next to each other, which is almost as confusing as the M and N keys which also are adjacent.

Marta got baptized!!!!!!! There was a ton of opposition last minute and she wasn´t sure if she should go through with it. We told her to come to the service and to decide there, because two other people were getting baptized that day and most of the Zone would be there. Twenty minutes before, she shows up dressed in a white jumper ready to get in the water. We had two other investigators in the service as well that really loved it. One of them said that it felt like she herself had been baptized. Those which we ask that you pray for are Cecilia, Laura, Claudia and Pedro. The branch here is going through a really hard time right now. As of today, we lost a family of two due to their long-expected move to Buenos Aires and eventually the States. It has been a rough time for all, and much has been learned on the importance of the Saviors Atonement. The two of us in the Valle Viejo pension ended up rather short on money for this last month due to difficulties with reimbursements and bike problems, but we ate every day and made it out alive without losing weight. I cannot tell you how joyed I was to see that as of today they have upped our monthly income if you will by 25%. Hallelujah! And, as I was writing, some of my stuff which got stranded in another pension for almost a week magically arrived with my district leader and I will try to attach some pictures along with it all today. No promises. Speaking of hallelujahs and praises, we have organized a little choir of the Zone of Catamarca and some members for a multi-faith choir festival in the stake center this Friday. Please invite your friends, I am sure that it´ll be lovely. It´s on la Zurita in between Sarmiento and Maipú at sevenish or so. I´ll be playing the piano for our choir, but it´s only one song and its at the end, so you can leave if my playing gets too bad. The Scriptures tell us that if we are happy, we should praise the Lord with singing and praises. If you have ever wondered how to pray all day, remember that the song of the righteous is a prayer unto the Lord, and just go ahead and sing your way through the day. Goodness gracious, how I love and appreciate the generosity of the Lord in His tender mercies that he sends us constantly. Wilford Woodruff, in his teachings, tells a story in which he and his fellow missionaries were lost in the wilderness during a horrid southern thunderstorm at night, and how the Lord safely guided them to the path which they needed to take. He then continued onward through the tempest just glad that the Lord had helped him in the past, not minding the current evils around him. I like that attitude. No matter what happens right now, I can be happy because the Lord has shown me in the past that I can do it with His loving assistance. I feel my Savior´s love in all the world around me. I know that my Redeemer lives, and that I need Him every hour. Have you done any good in the world today? If yes, than what more can you do? Remember that it is the Lord´s work and glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Is that your work and glory as well? Love one another, and preach the gospel to all that will hear. Our purpose in this life is to get baptized and have faith in the Savior in order to return to Him someday. Help those around you to understand that it is their purpose as well. Be good! Elder Lindsey