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