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