February 26, 2018 Letter #16

The lessons went well and it's been good to see that the Lord provides a way for His children to come back even when He has to work with imperfect instruments (Elder Marquez and I have been a little up and down this week as a companionship, but nothing to worry about). The lessons with Lucy have been super neat because the Spirit is always really strong and we have the benefit of always having a member present at her lessons because she's been staying with her cousin-in-law who is a member.

The main way I've been working on consecration lately is through leaving behind pride because pride is a huge stumbling block in the work. Just trust me on knowing that the Lord is preparing me haha. It's been a chain of events. 

We don't know for absolute certain what bit him (the Elder he was on splits with), but he got fixed up this week in the hospital so hopefully he'll be good as new when I see him Wednesday at zone conference.

 As for the guardian angels thing I would suggest that your thought is indeed correct as I have been thinking of one particular angel whom I expect has taken a large role. 

The music I got wasn't exactly what I expected, but fortunately I like Hillary Weeks more now than I did as a kid. Haha It's all good stuff and if I ever go on splits or something with Elder Mardo I'll show him the song with you and your sisters (we were good about taking interest in one another's family). I don't know where I put the lizards (bead lizards we made for him to give little kids).

Splits simply depend on the day. Sometimes we go, sometimes they come, sometimes we split after district classes because we're already together. The best thing about this week is that we have had two investigators express real interest in baptism (Lucy and Briana). 

We had a killer lunch today that consisted of breaded shrimp, veggies, and fries. I do some weird exercises in the morning because options are limited. I stopped sending group emails because I forget.

February 19, 2018 Letter #15

Birthday was a typical day, but Hermana Esquihuas did call me to tell me happy birthday.

We haven't been able to see Rosa yet and Jose Manuel we're giving some time off. We have a new investigator named Lucy who seems to be the real deal so that's exciting. Another little niña named Ashley too.

In my studies I've been trying to understand more fully how I can consecrate myself as a missionary and I think it's helping a lot. The main thing I've been working on is being positive in the face of difficulties.

A guy in my zone got bit by a spider and they had to cut his leg open and I was with him when he changed bandages and had to have it cleaned out and so there are a couple missionaries that have said something like "Elder Finlinson has seen more blood in two months in the field than the rest of his life" or "At this rate Elder Finlinson will be a doctor by the end of the mission." So it's been interesting out here. Luckily I myself have been protected. 

I've been blessed with the knowledge that the Lord is preparing me right now more than anything else. I've been pretty happy about my progress with Spanish lately so that's a blessing. Elder Marquez is good for me because he is preparing me well for the work and keeping me humble. My hardest moment this week was Sunday because we didn't have anybody to preside so we had to call someone from Martinez to come and he couldn't come until late so we changed the order of the meetings. Then I taught Priesthood, Gospel Principles, passed the sacrament, and gave a talk. After church we had to rush to the bus stop so we could get to a meeting with other missionaries in Martinez. So it was a tad stressful you might say. But the Lord provided a way. Also I remembered the weird food I had. It was Armadillo. It was boney and gamey.

Elder Finlinson

Letter #14

My birthday will pass well I'm sure. We've been able to teach and we've found several new investigators. We still haven't seen Rosa because she had surgery yesterday, but we heard the surgery went well (blessings). We need to go see Jose Manuel soon. 

Elder Marquez is doing better and so we're not too troubled anymore physically. The bit of damage he had in his brain is in the front so he's been a little prone to mood swings lately, but hopefully that passes with the healing (the front of the brain controls personality if memory serves me).

Favorite moment is when a less active 10 year old came to church for the first time since before I got here. She's way funny. Anyway, when she took the sacrament it felt like a baptism to me because it had been so long for her since she last renewed her covenant.

I have had more odd foods, but can't remember what. This week I'm looking forward to that fact that we already have a lot of appointments made. I've realized while doing my studies that the time we have to study is honestly a big part of the reason missions are such a blessing. It makes me grateful and excited when I have time to study all the different resources we have (Scriptures, LDS magazines, etc.)

Love, Elder Finlinson

Letter #13

We're back in Vega, arrived on Saturday, but we'll be starting slowly this week because Elder Marquez was told to rest a little before fully going back to work. Daniel and his mom came to church on Sunday and we talked. Daniel is still in a neck brace and has stitches in his head, but he felt good enough to come to church so that's a positive sign. He told me that Ada is doing really quite well. Rosa is still in enough pain that she doesn't leave bed much, but she's gonna be alright. She had to get surgery on her wrists and stitches in her head too. We didn't talk much about Marcos, but Daniel told me that he'll be fine. I just didn't bother writing a group email last week because I didn't have many of the answers that I felt were necessary. Elder Marquez actually chose to stay in the hospital a few extra days so the assistants and I took turns being there with him throughout the week. That meant that I was on splits with the assistants all week (which was awesome because they're way good missionaries and I learned a lot). I actually liked working in Xalapa quite a bit. Tuesday we had a training in Xalapa for new missionaries and I was already conveniently there so I got to attend. It was super cool and I got to see the guys from the CCM, which was nice. Elder Mardo was excited to see me in one piece (as he had already heard about the accident). One night I went on a split with Elder Gunderson (secretary) and he showed me where to get some good hot dogs after we taught a killer lesson to an elderly woman who had a strong testimony of miracles. She has a surgery coming up so we got to give her a blessing too. The next day I taught a couple more awesome investigators with Elder Kucharek (assistant) and finally got to try the infamous tracting with Elder Sutton (assistant). I don't get why tracting has such a bad reputation because I actually enjoyed it and we made a number of appointments in relatively little time. Maybe it's just more effective in Mexico. President Esquihuas and his wife are actually the best. Hermana Esquihuas gave us some extra garments too. She and I had three dinner dates this week haha (she would pick me up from the hospital and leave President with Elder Marquez for a second so I could eat). The language is coming along well enough I suppose. President told me such. He then proceeded to tell me that that's good because we need good Spanish speakers to be leaders. (I didn't know how to respond to that). I'll be studying a lot this week. 

Love,

-Elder Finlinson

Letter #12

* Elder Finlinson and his companion, Elder Marquez, were with Rosa (an investigator), Daniel, (her brother) and Ada (a neighbor) in the car that crashed. The following is a summary of the event.

We were working in Juan Martin (in the middle of nowhere) that day and we needed to get back to Rancho Nuevo. When we go to Juan Martin we always have to make a deal with the person that takes us there from Rancho Nuevo so that we can have somebody take us back (because taxis don't come through Juan Martin past a certain time). Unfortunately, when the driver showed up he was drunk. So I said a prayer in my heart that we'd be ok and off we went. I quickly realized that a crash was likely by the way he was driving, but he wasn't about to stop so I checked for a seatbelt. No dice. We crashed into a tree a short while later and I was fortunate enough to suffer little damage. Elder Marquez and I ran the rest of the way to Rancho Nuevo (we were still about 3-4km or so away at that point). On the way we saw a truck on it's way toward Juan Martin so we stopped them to let them know and ask for them to help the others. When we got to Rancho Nuevo we still didn't have reception to make a phone call, but fortunately the police were already there. Blessings.  I frankly couldn't tell you what the police did besides make calls, but I'm sure they were important. (*Side note: Elder Finlinson gave out pamphlets and other church material to the police officers.) Eventually the guy in the truck brought us all to Vega where 5 of us were dumped into an ambulance and the other (me) rode in the back of a different truck to the hospital in Cardel. (*Cardel is outside of Elder Finlinson's mission boundaries.) The others were transferred to Veracruz shortly thereafter while Elder Marquez and I stayed the night in Cardel, where the mission president met us and had us call home before being transferred to Xalapa.(Elder Finlinson was sore and a little banged up and bruised but that was it.) I was cleared to be free from the hospital and am now in tip top shape. Elder Marquez was released yesterday, but went back today because the pain in his head increased greatly overnight. I've spent the day on splits with other missionaries, but I'll be going to check on Elder Marquez after I write. The police have pictures, but I don't. I'd like to know how the others are, but have yet to here anything. Rosa was the one with a baptismal date. I gave Elder Marquez and Daniel blessings, but then we had to move to the next place so I didn't make it to everyone. I haven't received one, but I didn't get hurt nearly as badly as the others. We'll likely be staying with the Pres. until Friday or Saturday. They're super awesome and bought me new clothes to wear until we go back (which is especially good because my clothes got drenched in oil).

The other areas I have been on splits are Plaza Verde, Misantla, and San Rafael.

The zone conference was in Martinez (HQ for my zone). I don't have pictures, but I'm sure President posted plenty somewhere. I don't know which investigators we'll still have in a week because we're missing several appointments and couldn't inform all of them because we don't have everybody's numbers. 

Love,

Elder Finlinson

Letter #11

I've only stayed in my area once for splits, but I think it's fun working in other areas. The other missionaries have been from Arizona, Utah, and Costa Rica.

 The beach had nice sand, but also a lot of trash (typical). ( The beach where he played soccer.)

 I love love love the smell of the panaderías (Bakeries) and don't care for the smell of the bathrooms. 

My clothes are doing well and my shoes are holding up super well. I've been impressed.

Elder Marquez is good at not getting frustrated with me ever really so that's nice. 

I had a spiritual moment when we were teaching a lady named Maria Esther and I kind of just decided that I needed to take control of the lesson a little because I didn't feel right about where it was headed, so I did. I taught her about the need to always be progressing. (Ask Andrew about the escalator and let him know I used it in a lesson). And then the power of prayer using Enos and asking her to substitute her name into the scripture. Funny moments are hard to remember honestly, but I'll try to take note of one this next week.

We had a zone conference this week and it was a lot of fun to meet more missionaries and whatnot. We also had interviews with the President this week I I gotta tell you something. The President and his wife are SUPER awesome. At one point I walked out of a training at zone conference and I saw the President buying tacos in the street so I gained respect for him in that moment.

Missionary work is confusing sometimes. Investigators will seem super ready for baptism one day and then far from it the next. That's why patience is a beautiful thing to have as a missionary. We have a number of investigators who look like they might make it to the font sometime in February so stay tuned.

I've been thinking about diligence lately. If we're not consistent in what we do then it's much harder to benefit from it. Of course it's never a bad thing to eat healthy for a day, exercise for a few mornings, or read a little extra scriptures when you're having a trial. But how much more beneficial is it when you do it every day, every morning, in every moment? Excellence isn't an act, it's a habit (I think somebody famous said something like that once).

Best of wishes to all that made it to the bottom of the email,

Elder Finlinson

 P.S. Best of wishes to the other people too

Letter #10

Our investigators with a baptismal date are named Jose Manuel and Inocencia. They've been good about coming to church (which is a rare blessing) and they seem legitimately interested. Jose Manuel needs some serious help overcoming an alcohol addiction and Inocencia doesn't wan't to marry him unless he quits drinking so we'll have to have some patience working that one out, but they invite us over pretty much every day to teach a little more. They have three super funny kids ages 7,5,4. The kids call me their muñeco ( toy) because I always take a little time to play with them when we visit. 

I'll tell you what. I don't get how some people lose weight out here because around these parts we eat like kings even if we try not to because the people constantly ask if I want more. No = You don't like my food. A little more= A little more than the first serving. I'm gonna get large. That being said, I'm glad we're being taken care of by the people.

The missionaries in my Zone are super great and I've had three opportunities already to go on splits so that's been fun. One time I went with another guy who is still relatively new and white so we had a hay day talking to everyone in broken Spanish haha. It was actually super fun though because we both had to step up and take the lead at times instead of being able to have the comfort of a native speaker with us.

My area is a pretty calm town where people know each other and the simple life is embraced. I like it. It's the Mexican version of where I might like to live one day. Side note that that brings to mind: America is great. I absolutely love Mexico, but I'm glad I'll be able to raise my family, get an education, work, etc. in the US. 

My testimony of Christ has been the biggest thing that has grown while I've been serving a mission. I suppose when you're always teaching His Gospel one starts to appreciate Him more. Heavenly Father must really love us (John 3:16)

When asked about soccer last week: Nah we didn't play with other missionaries. We're way out in the boonies so we don't spend more time with other missionaries than is necessary. 

There are ruins near here, but I don't know exactly where or how to get there. 

 Gospel Principles has had inconsistent attendance between 4-10. English classes aren't happening much right now. My Spanish feels great sometimes and abhorrent at others. We'll have to keep waiting before I can say I'm comfortable with it. 

A lot of people around here just have their little stores with snacks or whatever else. Cigarettes are expensive here and they sell well if you were asking for business advice. 

Honestly the food is almost always fantastic, but I did have a weird octopus thing. It wasn't squid because I know the word for squid. But it had suckers. 

 Asked about writing in his journal and his health: Yes I'm using the journal like a good boy. Missionary work is rough on the back, but it's not unjustly difficult. You just gotta stay focused on what you're doing.  I myself have been in good health outside of my unsightly weight gain. I tell you what. I don't get how Andrew lost weight out here because around these parts we eat like kings.  I'm gonna get large.

 Anyway that ought to do for this week. 

- Elder Finlinson

 The gentleman in this picture new someone in our Stake and sent this picture of Elder Finlinson.

Elder Finlinson...not sure what he is doing, maybe just borrowed the other missionaries suit coat?