Oct. 28th,2019 Last letter

Elder Mardo and I went with Sasha to the temple on Saturday and she was endowed. She said that it was a lot of new stuff for her, but she left talking to the ward relief society president (who was her escort) about how they could get the sisters from the ward to go to the temple more often so I think it went alright. There were some new things indeed. They took us out to eat after to a buffet of tacos. Tomorrow we're going to spend the day with President, but I don't know what the plans are. Wednesday we all travel back home. 

As I think about the "best" experiences that I've had my mind turns to the moments where I've been able to see that people have changed for the better or have endured well through difficult moments. The gospel is all about hope and change and I've been happy to see how much the little things can make all the difference as well. Some of the hardest moments were when people turned away or rejected the gospel due to fear, misunderstandings, or indifference. One thing that I've understood more plainly that will help me a lot from here on out is that the gospel is more than just a list of to-do's and not-to-do's. It is life's most important pursuit and it requires extra effort, attention, and sacrifice. I'm bad at remembering funny things without something that reminds me of the experience, but I'm sure that you'll hear a story from this week at some point.

Love you,

Elder Finlinson

 El Tajin with Ivan (one of the guys we baptized).

 I didn't really tear my pants, it just looks like it in the picture. 

Baptism of Oswaldo

Oct. 21st, 2019, Letter #102

Sasha says that she's waiting on the Stake President for a signature so she hasn't been able to schedule with the temple yet, but she's pretty sure that she'll get endowed on the 26th. I guess you'll have to wait and see what happens. 

El Tajin was really cool. It was a pretty place for sure. That being said, I forgot my adapter and my companion forgot his camera so we'll wait still on the pictures... 

The woman is going to wait to get baptized, but her enthusiasm didn't decrease at all. She said that she'll send me pictures of the wedding and baptism. Her son chose to get baptized anyway (we'll also wait for the pictures until next week).

There's another investigator that wants to get baptized before I go who is waiting to recover from an eye surgery. He'll have his appointment today and we'll see if he can do it or if he'll have to wait, but either way I'm sure he'll get baptized at some point so it's fine. 

I haven't been able to find a nativity set. I'll keep an eye out, especially when I go to Xalapa. I have tried, but it's hard out of season. That being said I do have a back-up plan that I hope you'll like. We'll see if I can get both things. The eating thing is something I'll figure out when I get a bit closer. I really don't have a strong preference though. 

This week my goal is to just remember that it's still not about me and that I am to continue representing the Savior and doing his work. The tender mercy/miracle was being able to baptize Oswaldo and seeing Carla (his mom) take the news well about waiting. 

For P-day the zone tried to surprise plan a Carne Asada for me to celebrate (I found out beforehand, but the thought counts haha). It was really nice of them. I'd give a big shout-out to the sister missionaries who were the ones that went the extra mile with the planning and preparation. Of this event I will send pictures that were taken by other missionaries. 

I decided this week to make a bit of time to read a general conference talk each day along with my regular study. I would look for the "marriage" topic in the old ensigns we had sitting around and read. I thought it'd be funny haha. But I did get some good stuff out of it and what I learned can be applied to anything. I just reinforced the idea that we need to trust in God in making sure that we seek His will in all things as well as that we should make Christ the center of everything. In all reality I think that those eternal truths show up in the study of just about any gospel topic. I also enjoyed studying chapter 3 in Colossians. 

Love you,

Elder Finlinson

 P-day party in Connor's honor

Oct. 14th, 2019 Letter #101

I talked to Sasha and she said that they haven't had a lot of time to figure everything out for the sealing, but she wants to at least get endowed on the 26th, but she said she'd let me know for sure probably tonight. 

Our investigators liked conference. We had 2 in church this week that are really excited and I think at least one should be able to get baptized before I go. One thing I liked about this week was that we did splits several times and it was fun to see how the other missionaries were because it's been a while since I've done much work in splits. One challenging thing is a situation we have with an investigator. She herself asked to be baptized next week without us having invited her to baptism. We said that we could make that work. The problem is that we found out after saying that that she isn't married to her "husband." At first I didn't think it to be a problem because they're not currently living together anyway. But she is planning to move to where he is living now soon. I called President to see if it would be ok to baptize her if we made a plan with her to get married as soon as she moves (the "husband" is also willing to listen to the missionaries), but he didn't approve so now we're going to have to go tell her that she actually can't get baptized next Sunday. I'm pretty concerned about it, but I'm hoping she'll understand. I have my doubts though because at the end of the day she is keeping the commandments currently and if we made a plan for her to get married when she arrives there then I wouldn't see the problem, but I also understand the risk involved. I could weigh both sides of the argument all day, but I'll stop now I guess because I'm not in charge of the decision. 

One tender mercy is that I decided to make a more consistent effort to study the Book of Mormon with a question in mind. So a couple days ago I was reading with the question: "Has my missionary service been accpetable?" I then read this in Helaman Chapter 10: 

"And it came to pass that Nephi went his way towards his own house, pondering upon the things which the Lord had shown unto him... and it came to pass as he was thus pondering in his heart, behold, a voice came unto him saying: Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments."

So I can say that it's worth reading the Book of Mormon with a question in mind. We'll get more out of it and the scriptures will become more personal for us. 

One thing that I'll miss about the mission is being able to not think so much about myself. I don't have to worry much about finances, grades, etc. Just trying to help others. One thing I'm looking forward to when I get home is putting in practice what I've learned from the mission back home and seeing how different post-mission is from pre-mission. One thing I've learned much better from the mission is to "Trust in the Lord with all (my) heart; and lean not unto (my) own understanding." One way that I've matured is in my way of seeing things. I think it's really easy for teenagers to see their life as their own, but I now realize that it's one big opportunity to serve others. I did get your pictures, thank you. I'll be going to Tajin later so you'll have to wait until next week for those pictures.

Love you,

Elder Finlinson

Oct. 7th, 2019 Letter #100

I actually felt super normal when they cut my tie. I feel like I did before coming on the mission. A little excited, a little nervous, but mostly calm. It's one of those "I'll figure it out when I get there" kinds of things. After President and his wife any other missionary(s) can come cut the tie as well. So a fair amount of people that knew me cut mine. Some took big sections and others took smaller ones. I don't which Hermana was in the picture cutting my tie. I don't know what they do with the clippings. 

My favorite part of the zone conference was being able to help out in the classes whenever participation was needed because I know from experience how crucial participation is in a class. There were 4 zones there and it was held in my stake center. 

I liked conference. I was left considering the fact that the speakers aren't typically there to expose deep doctrine, but rather to bare testimony behind testimony of the same simple doctrines that we need most to apply in our lives. I liked the talks by Elder Budge and Elder Boom a lot. Elder Uchtdorf also had my attention from the get-go with a reference from The Hobbit. I was going to comment on the same themes as you basically. Trust in the Lord and keep covenants. One funny thing is hearing the Spanish translators read off the names of the apostles to sustain them because it's one name after another that they say with a strange accent until the very end when they nail Ulisses S. Soares. 

One tender mercy/miracle is that I have the desire to finish my mission with some success and I've been praying about it and we went from having 0 people in church last week to 4 this week. At least 3 if not 4 of them are pretty interested and one of them has already accepted a baptismal date. 

I didn't get around to talking to Sasha, but I intend to do it soon. It's hard because when we get home at night Elder Shumway has to do phone calls now that he's a district leader. He's doing really well. I've seen quite a bit of progress in him lately. 

For P-day we had a little b-day party with the zone for Elder Shumway who turns 20 tomorrow. I asked President for permission to go to the ruins at Tajin next week and he said yes so I think we'll go.

Love you,

Elder Finlinson

 Poza Rica Zone

 I love these pictures of the tie cutting ceremony for missionaries on their last transfer.

Sept. 30th, 2019 Letter #99

My favorite part of the week was stake conference. There was one person that talked about how to have good communication with your children that I really liked. Perhaps I'm a few steps from there, but it's never too early to learn. 

This morning I was listening to a talk from Elder Christofferson that helped me understand something that I was trying to grasp for quite some time. I'm aware of the fact that the apostles are also called to be prophets, seers, and revelators. So I'd been wondering why we always say that the president of the church is "the prophet." Elder Christofferson quoted President J. Reuben Clark in explaining the following: “[We] should [bear] in mind that some of the General Authorities have had assigned to them a special calling; they possess a special gift; they are sustained as prophets, seers, and revelators, which gives them a special spiritual endowment in connection with their teaching of the people. They have the right, the power, and authority to declare the mind and will of God to his people, subject to the over-all power and authority of the President of the Church. Others of the General Authorities are not given this special spiritual endowment and authority covering their teaching; they have a resulting limitation, and the resulting limitation upon their power and authority in teaching applies to every other officer and member of the Church, for none of them is spiritually endowed as a prophet, seer, and revelator. Furthermore, as just indicated, the President of the Church has a further and special spiritual endowment in this respect, for he is the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator for the whole Church.” 

One challenging thing that's going on is that we are really struggling to get people to progress. Hopefully things will change soon (that's something you could pray for). 

One funny thing that just barely happened is that I had to put "profetizar" in google translate to remember how it was in English. It's prophesy just so you know. I was thinking that it couldn't possibly be profetize. Imagine that one in a sentence. 

One tender mercy is that there's a lot of new missionaries in the zone and a couple of them are always asking for advice and looking for a good example and so that keeps me motivated to be on top of things. My zone conference is on Friday.

Love you,

Elder Finlinson

We went to a pretty fancy pizza buffet to eat today. I was on splits with Elder Martinez (far right) because Elder Shumway and his (Elder Martinez) companion wanted to do something else.

Sept. 23rd, 2019 Letter #98

My favorite part of the week is that we also had our primary program yesterday. Meredith had a part in it (The girl we just baptized). I don't know if I told you her story. Her mom is a member that had been less active for a while, but now they're back in the game and are ready to go. 

One challenging thing is that we don't have a ton of investigators right now that are progressing quickly. We have a few that are crawling along, but it'll be a battle for the next little while. 

This week I was reading the war chapters in the Book of Mormon and I enjoyed reading again the epistles between Moroni and Pahoran when Moroni didn't receive the expected troops and provisions that he'd requested. The epistle from Moroni has several parts that should grab the attention and call to action anybody who is just going through the motions in a church calling instead of working diligently. The attitude of Pahoran on the other hand teaches us about how to react when we are falsely accused. He let the false accusation go and calmly explained the situation while even saying that he admired the greatness of Moroni's heart in being so concerned for those who were at war. 

Something really funny happened this week. I even remember telling Elder Shumway that I would write to you guys about it, but I forgot what it was... 

One little tender mercy this week was that I got to do splits with a missionary that is in his training and it was a big help for me to see all the energy and good intentions that he had. It was cool to hear his story of how he prepared himself to come to the mission, especially knowing that it was all recent. I also got the chance to answer a few of his questions about the mission so I got a tiny little "training" experience this week. 

This week I ate a meal that seemed pretty healthy so that would go down as the best.

Love you,

Elder Finlinson

Sept. 16th, 2019 Letter #97

I'm going to be staying here with Elder Shumway, but now he's going to be District Leader. It'll be fun.

The party that you saw us at was a stake celebration of Mexico's independence day. There was a cultural part with traditional Mexican dances and music and then they gave us some food afterwards. There were a couple more things that they did, but we didn't stick around because it got late. 

My favorite part of the week is that Ivan (the guy we baptized) told us that he wanted to go to a pizza place with us and his younger brother Cristian. We agreed and while we were on the way back we started talking about baptism with Cristian for probably the 4th or 5th time and this time he said that he wanted to do it. None of us actually expected that answer and so Elder Shumway and I kept asking him things like, "Wait you're serious?" And sure enough he got baptized this Sunday because he already had everything. The only thing we had to do was tell Elder Huxford to interview him haha. I really don't know what the most challenging was. 

Something cool this week was that we found a new investigator who had just started collecting hand prints on her wall and so she asked us to put some paint on our hands and leave our mark. That was pretty cool, but I didn't think to take a picture. 

The thing I'm most excited for in this change is to see how being district leader might affect Elder Shumway. This last transfer I'd like to finish in obedience and baptize at least 4 more people. I also hope to go to the temple. I got a chance to talk to Sasha and she said that she has the intention of getting sealed perhaps the last weekend before I leave the mission so let's hope that it works out. 

I would tell a future missionary at least these 3 things: 1. Make the decision to be obedient before getting to the mission field. 2. Teaching an investigator after baptism is just as important as teaching them before. 3. Study Preach My Gospel.

Love you,

Elder Finlinson

 Baptism of Christian

Sept. 9th, 2019 Letter #96

I'm going to be quick for time's sake. This week we baptized Meredith. I'll tell you more about her next week. Ivan is pumped to get the priesthood and is doing well. We were eating mole with Hermano Jorge.( In a picture sent to me by Hermano Jorge).

Love you!

Meredith's baptism

Sept. 2nd, 2019 Letter #95

There has been a bit of progress this week. We had a baptism and we should have another one or two soon. There's one guy that wants to get baptized, but he's going to have an eye surgery soon and wants to wait until after the surgery. So we'll hope that everything goes well and that he can recover quickly.

This zone conference was huge with 4 zones that were included. There are a lot of new faces, but I saw plenty of recognizable ones as well. The conference was held here. 

I don't remember what I said last week about ice cream, but what I can say is that the ice cream is typically better in the US, but typically more appreciated here thanks to the heat. 

I expect to finish here in Poza Rica, but nothing is guaranteed. I feel like time is moving pretty quickly right now. I think that's a good sign because "time flies when you're having fun." 

My favorite part of the week was the baptism of Ivan, but I also really enjoyed splits with Elder Huxford's companion Elder Macedo. He's from Brazil and is super funny. 

One challenge right now is taking care of my feet. My toes get roughed up a little when I wear my boots, but when I wear my nicer shoes I'm always afraid of the possibility of rain, because the rainy season is coming. I have some thicker socks, but it's a trade off because it increases the heat. So I just switch to my shoes every once in a while.

Something funny was that I was walking with a couple of missionaries today and one of them was distracted as he talked so he had an unfortunate encounter. You know those steel cables that are attached to big telephone poles and come down at an angle toward the ground? He was walking and that steel cable found its way between his legs haha. 

One hymn that I like in Spanish is one that doesn't exist in English. It's called, "Placentero nos es trabajar," which is basically like "working is pleasant to us."

One thing that I studied this week was the chapter in "Jesus the Christ" about the trials held before the crucifixion of Christ. Taking a closer look at that process was eye-opening. I knew that the trial wasn't just, but I didn't realize just how incredibly illegal the whole thing was. But Jesus didn't complain, didn't exercise his power to escape, and didn't lose his cool at any point. I found it very impressive.

Love you,

Elder Finlinson

 Ivan's baptism

August 26th, 2019 Letter #94

Some of the investigators are doing pretty well. I think we'll start seeing more progress in these next few weeks. We had 4 people in church this week and I expect to have more next week because we found a person with a lot of potential last night too. We talked to the ones that thought church was boring and they said they'd go again. We called them the night before and they said yes. We called them the morning of church as well and they said yes again. But they didn't show up. So I think we're going to leave them in the area book for the next set of missionaries. 

The best part of the week was the multi-zone conference. The messages were well chosen and well prepared. Something that happened that wasn't necessarily "challenging," but was uncomfortable was that during the special number that our zone sang there was a part for a quartet and I was the tenor, but we had barely practiced and so both the alto and I forgot our parts and we just gave up and sang the melody after a couple moments of silence at the start while we were trying to remember it. I suppose that in retrospect it can also be considered a funny moment. 

Something unexpected that happened is that in one day we had two different non-members pull over to offer us rides. 

There's not a lot of good smells here honestly haha, but the worst smell is when you're close to any of the places where they work with oil or by a river because they're all super polluted. 

One good thing that I ate this week was ice cream. We had another one of those rare and special days when somebody offered us some. For p-day we played volleyball. 

Something I learned from my studies is when I was reading the scripture in D&C that says: "Wherefore, now let every man learn his duty, and to act in the office in which he is appointed, in all diligence." Now that I'm not a zone or district leader anymore I saw it in a new light. Let can also be interpreted as allow or permit. And I realize that now is a time when I might have to stand back a little and allow other men or missionaries to learn their duties as leaders in the church. 

I did talk to Hermano Lovaas after the conference. He came at the end to say hi to a few people, but we didn't have time to chat so he said that he'll invite us over to eat one of these Mondays. I'll be praying for Grandpa.

Love you,

Elder Finlinson

Connor and his friend, Darin Lovaas and his daughter.

(His daughter is funny, I talked to her a bit while the other missionaries were talking to him. She made a face for the picture, but she was pretty happy most of the time.)

August 19th, 2019 Letter #93

Yeah our investigators kind of went downhill because they came out and said that they like the way that we teach and so they've accepted our visits, but they say that they get bored in church. We´ll try to explain the purpose of church more to them, but it's looking iffy. That being said we have a couple other people that are progressing so we'll see what we can get out of this whitewash.

My favorite part of the week was teaching in splits with one of my zone leaders, Elder Lazareto from Brasil. He really teaches incredibly well and has a cool life story as well. 

The most challenging thing was just trying to keep up the good spirits after our investigators said that they weren't impressed by the Sunday church services (they also took another one of our investigators who had a baptismal goal shopping on Sunday instead of going to church so that was wonderful). 

The tender mercy is that while we more or less lost the 2 that went to church last week, we had a different 2 in church this week and one has the desire already to be baptized. 

Something that was funny, but I couldn't laugh in the moment was that we visited an elderly member of the church. He has bad knees. That much is unfortunate, but the remedy is the curious part. He caught a bee by the head with his fingers and held it behind his knee until it stung him. He claims that the sting will hurt for a couple hours, but it takes the pain from his knees for a few days. I thought it was crazy, but his daughter/(granddaughter?) was next in line as she wanted one for her ankle. Weird. 

One thing I love about my companion is his work ethic and ability to plan. He is of the mindset of "if we´re going to work then we´re going to do it effectively." And so he's good at making sure we have things to do. 

One thing to pray for is that we can gain the trust and respect of members, investigators, and other missionaries. In other words just be true representatives of Christ. 

One thing I like a lot about the area is that there are a lot of members who want to help with missionary work. Something that stood out in my studies was an article I read in the Liahona about President Nelson. It mostly inspired me to seek a good education and try to use my time as efficiently as possible while remembering to seek the kingdom of God first in all things. Cool article.

For P-day we played hockey in the church's gym. We just used water and soap to make the puck slide well. It was kind of crazy, but fun

Love you,

Elder Finlinson

We found a book called "How to draw:Wizards, Warriors, Orcs and Elves" in the house and so I decided to give it a try. I would assume that a missionary left it, but I don't know its story.

August 12th, 2019 Letter #92

My companion pretty much always has that same energy. We don't get bored haha. I really like the area for the most part. I think we´ll have success here. There are a good amount of helpful members as well and that goes a long way.

Darin lives in my zone so I'll probably see him around at some point. 

I've enjoyed the adjustment in this new change. There are quite a few newer missionaries in the zone so I think it´ll be a good opportunity to just set an example for them and support the leaders from the other side. I know how much that can help. I only smell oil every once in a while or in some particular places, but most of the time it´s not a concern. 

One fun part of the week was that we had a competition in the district to see who could find the most new investigators and we won in a landslide thanks to the energy of Elder Shumway. It wasn't an incredibly challenging week really, but one thing that is a bit hard is getting used to the weather. It's cool at the same time though because every time I step outside I feel like I'm on vacation because of the heat/humidity. 

One thing I like a lot about my companion is that it's easy to stay motivated and energetic with a guy like him around. We do work well together. I would perhaps compare us to a boat. He is the wind that's driving the boat around and I'm the rudder just trying to make sure that the energy goes in the right direction. 

The other cool thing was that today I'm with Elder Huxford because our companions are in Xalapa renewing their visas so we talked a bit about Cedar City and the people that we both know. (Elder Huxford and Connor had brothers that served together in the Mexico City North mission and were companions.) 

One miracle is that we had people come to church because in week 1 of a whitewash that's kind of challenging some times. One thing that stood out to me in my studies was an article by Elder Holland in an old Liahona about the importance of teaching about and understanding the Godhead. It was originally directed to mission presidents and it mentioned in one part that it is important for investigators to know what we believe about our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost before we talk to them about the importance of earthly leaders like the prophets. 

Zone leaders: Elder Lazareto y Elder Whiterock District leader: Elder Huxford. I don´t know a ton from the zone, but I think that´ll make it more fun.

Love you,

Elder Finlinson

P-day Splits with Elder Huxford

August 5th, 2019 Letter #91

This change I'm headed to Poza Rica (known as the hottest zone in the mission) in whitewash with Elder Shumway from Arizona. My area is called Petromex. Elder Shumway and I did splits just a week or two ago haha. I actually believe that we're together for that same reason. The assistants asked me a few days ago about my opinion considering who would be a good companion for several missionaries in the zone and when they asked me about Elder Shumway I suggested that it be me or a missionary similar to me in personality. Elder Martinez (an assistant) told President about what I said and I guess they decided to go with it. *When asked why he thought he would be a good fit for Elder Shumway this was Connor's response: "He has maybe 10 or 11 months in the mission. He has been in Poza Rica for half of his mission so perhaps he doesn't know the exact area, but he knows the city. I thought I'd be a good fit because he has a lot of talent, but a lot of his companions haven't wanted to work so I feel like he needs someone with a desire to work to be with him so that he can have some space to grow. He's also a really loud and energetic guy with a stronger personality so I figured it'd be good for him to be with someone that's a little more calm to balance it out."

The flyswatter is more useful in dirty houses. So when it starts to become a common necessity we know that it's time to clean.

Something that made me smile was that Angel received the Priesthood yesterday. 

My favorite part of the week was that we had a busy week of traveling for baptismal interviews which is a hopeful sign that Teziutlan will be left in good condition. 

Something that I'm excited for this change is putting (Elder) Lovaas to work looking for references. (*Lovaas is one of his mission friends that now lives in Poza Rica with his new wife and family.) Also I think it'll be super fun to work with Elder Shumway. 

Something interesting that we saw was a little farm hidden in the mountains. The dad of Nathaly (the girl we baptized a few months ago) works there and showed it to us (the bad news is that we had left our backpacks at Nathaly's house to walk to the farm and therefore left our cameras without thinking). 

The things that I'll miss most from this area are the weather, the members, and the recent converts. If I were to come back to the mission to live and be part of a ward I would probably choose this one because I enjoyed the ward interactions quite a bit. That being said I have no plan whatsoever to come back to live in the mission.

Love you,

Elder Finlinson

July 29th, 2019 Letter #90

Fanny got baptized, but I don't know what hijo you're referring too. She's 19. (I meant Isabel's son) Yeah that was Isabel's son. He's doing well. Now that Fanny is officially a member we'll probably start focusing a little more on him. Fanny keeps telling him to get baptized. haha

I don't really know where I want to finish, but I'd prefer not to go back to Papantla. Watch that happen. 

My favorite part of the week was between Fanny's baptism and basketball this morning. Something that was really cool at Fanny's baptism is that one of the other members knew that she liked the series "Stranger Things" so she prepared little jello cups that had toothpicks in them and taped to the toothpicks were little papers that said "Felicidades Fanny" or "Bienvenida Fanny" or other things like that in the font that Stranger Things is written in. That sort of extra effort is rarely seen so I appreciated it a lot. Also when we played basketball we finished by playing lightning with 15 guys. I won 2 of the 4 times. 

Something that I liked in my studies was a talk by Boyd K. Packer that I listened to that's called "Spiritual Crocodiles" (I think). Look it up, it's good. 

This week we ate with Isabel and she gave us breaded shark so that was awesome. It reminded me of fish sticks, but had a buttery flavor. We could say it was the 2.0 version. 

A tender mercy was that we hadn't found very many new people to teach this week when Saturday came around, but just a few minutes before we were supposed to go eat we tried one last contact and were able to find 3 new people to teach behind that door. That was exciting. 

Something that I'm extra grateful for this week is the sacrament. It's the best moment to reflect on what we can do to be more Christlike and consider how we're progressing. 

Love you,

Elder Finlinson

 Angel's Baptism (this was a while ago)

Fanny's Baptism

One of his favorite companions from the CCM, Elder Mardo, who is now in his Zone.

July 22nd, 2019 Letter #89

We had milanesa (breaded chicken), rice, beans, tortillas, soup as an appetizer, agua de jamaica, and cupcakes for desert. The zone conference was good, we talked a lot about obedience. 

I don't know how to word the story all that well. It'd be better in person. I suppose you'll have to wait :p. 

I do have a copy of my patriarchal blessing with me and I read it somewhat regularly. I thought about reading my setting apart blessing recently, but forgot to do it when I got home. 

One little miracle about this week is that yesterday after church Isabel's niece, Fanny, accepted the invitation to be baptized and although we had originally said that it would be for the 4th of August she said that she'd prefer it this weekend so I believe she'll get baptized on Sunday. Her son is also considering it although he doesn't feel ready yet (he has less understanding and has gone to church less so it's understandable).  

Something that I'm working on is trying to balance not running faster than I have strength with being diligent in all things. The trio is good, but it's kind of hard at the same time because we have to be exemplary as leaders and when one of the three doesn't wake up, get ready, etc. on time then nobody leaves the house on time. If one keeps talking about topics that aren't related to the gospel it's hard to start a lesson. If one person doesn't have the desire to contact then the whole companionship loses the spirit, and on goes the list. So it's a bit frustrating. That being said, there are a lot of pros as well. If there is an argument there is always a peacemaker, we almost always have ideas flowing, it's easier to remember to do things when there are 3 people trying to remember, etc. 

One phrase that stuck out to me this week comes from Preach my Gospel. It says something like this: "Our goals reflect the desires of our hearts." I would think that that applies in many senses. But we should remember that that can mean that if we're in a church meeting and we start thinking more about the nap after church than the lesson being taught then our goal changes from learning about the Savior's gospel to sleeping.  If we're playing soccer and we start worrying more about sitting down after the game than moving the ball up the field then our goal is now taking a rest and our goal to win the game takes second place at best. So it's important to control our thoughts/desires because they truly change our goals/end results.

Love you!

Elder Finlinson

Elder Finlinson, Elder Andino and Elder Merrill 

July 15th, 2019 Letter #88

Isabel's niece is doing relatively well. Her husband not as much. One of her sons went to church this week though, so we'll start working a little more closely with him now. 

Honestly in the zone I feel like one huge and easily resolvable problem we have in the zone is a lack of goals. Some missionaries are doing their best to work with goals, but generally we haven't done a good enough job of encouraging the missionaries to set and achieve high goals. 

The trampoline was a little small for adults to jump on so I didn't get on at any point. 

Zone conference between Teziutlan and Martinez trades off between one and the other, but in some zones that's not the case. We'll be in charge of food, a class, and my companion will direct the conference. 

Two investigators that have had a big impact on me are Sasha from Xalapa and Isabel from here. Obviously there are others, but they come to mind as two that helped me gain perspective. Sasha helped me gain perspective on what it means to put God and family first and Isabel helped me understand that repentance is truly between God and the individual (although others can definitely help along the way). 

One companion that had a big impact on me was Elder Alor because we learned together that obedience brings blessings. And one that wasn't my "companion," but was at the same time was Elder Lovaas. He also helped me understand the important difference between correcting others without love and doing it with love. 

My favorite part of the week was possibly the district class. I sat in on the class of Elder Merrell (not Elder Merrill my companion, but Elder Merrell the district leader). I was just impressed by the energy and new ideas that he had. 

One funny/scary/mostly funny thing happened this week, but I'll have to explain it later. Just remind me to tell the story about the drunk guy that wanted to give us his hats. 

One miracle is that Angel (son of Juana) got baptized this Sunday and I honestly wasn't too sure that it would happen. But it did, and he was super happy to do it as well. One blessing is the simple, but extremely important reaffirmation that God hears and answers our prayers when we're patient and have faith. Something challenging is just trying to find the way to not "run faster than (I) have strength." I'm trying to keep things in perspective and just be led through prayer to make my decisions.

Love you,

Elder Finlinson

*Tu español va bien. Sigue estudiándolo y no te rindas. Entiende que será un proceso, pero está bien. Así esto puede servirte como una lección en ambos el español y en la paciencia.  *This is a message to me, as I am trying to learn Spanish. :) 

July 8th, 2019 Letter #87

Elder Andino is feeling better now. 

We will have zone conference on the 19th. 

The district meetings themselves have been quite good so far from the 2 more experienced leaders. The newer one is still getting the hang of things, but we'll be keeping an eye on him because he has a lot of potential as well. The districts themselves are struggling though. We hope to see a turnaround soon. 

The service we've been doing has been several things: helping prepare a taco stand, cleaning up a somewhat abandoned piece of land, setting up a trampoline, etc. 

Some of our investigators our doing well right now. The ones that give me most hope right now are family members of recent converts. 

The best part of the week was either the leadership conference or church. 

Something funny that happened is that we were at Isabel's house to teach her niece and as we were on our way out Elder Andino saw a little blonde baby on the TV screen in the main room and he said, "Look, that's what Elder Finlinson's babies will look like." Everyone looked, but in that very moment the scene changed to show a gorilla and so every saw the gorilla instead. 

Something challenging right now is just trying to figure out how to lift the zone, but we're brainstorming still to figure out what to do. 

I read the "Come, follow me" assignment this week and something that stood out to me was the sheer boldness with which the apostles preached the gospel. I'd add that it's something just as applicable outside of the mission as it is within the mission. 

The zone is still what needs the most prayer for now. I always ask people to pass me pictures, but it rarely happens. The good news is that I finally have a camera charger again so from here on out I'll be independent. I'll get one with Elder Mardo asap.

Love you!

Elder Finlinson

July 1st, 2019 Letter #86

I'll write quick for lack of time. The week was good, we are now in a trio with Elder Andino as well. He was my District Leader in the CCM. He's an awesome guy and I'm excited about it. We've done quite a bit of service lately as well. Pray for the zone in general because we're in a down swing right now. We finished June decently well, but we have nothing for July. In our area we're doing well though and our recent converts are flourishing. Thanks for the support!

Love you,

Elder Finlinson