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