April 30th, 2018 Letter #25

Elder Alor is leaving tomorrow and my new companion's name will be Elder Marinez (or something like that). I'm staying in Xanath. 

Juana's baptism didn't come easy. She lives in a little community outside of Papantla and they have dirt roads. It rained hard the day of her scheduled baptism and the next day (Friday and Saturday) so we had to ask permission to baptize her on Sunday before the meeting (which is at 9). We got that permission Saturday at 9 PMish. So we made the necessary calls and set an alarm for 4 AM so we could fill the font. We got up at 4 and walked to the church (which in retrospect probably wasn't safe, but hindsight is 20/20). We tried to turn on the boiler so the water would be warm and.... no gas. So we walked back to our house, grabbed a little metal heater for heating water in buckets and got ready for church because we weren't going to be coming back. When we got back to the church we tried to warm one bucket at a time for a few hours, but that didn't do a thing to an entire font of water so it was still really cold. What's more is that Juana and her family didn't get to church until 8:30ish so we had to rush everything. We talked to her son about the water because she's 88 and we were worried the cold water would end more than just her life of sin, but he said something to the effect of: "Oh don't worry, we live in a small town. She bathes in cold water daily." So that was good. We had to baptize her twice though because the first time she tried to grab the edge of the font as she went under. 

No investigators came to church on Sunday so we have a lot of work to do this week. We have a few investigators, but we'll have to go on a quest tomorrow to see why nobody came to church.

District and Zone meetings are weekly. Splits come when they're needed. 

I've been studying the war chapters in Alma lately and I was thinking about when Moroni writes Pahoran in anger about how the government isn't helping to protect the freedom of the people. The reality is that Pahoran couldn't help due to rebellion in Zarahemla and he himself was in need. Moroni wrote with the intention of seeking help in protecting the people, which is good, but he made assumptions about why someone else might not be doing his part. We ought to keep that in mind when somebody else doesn't do their part or seems not to want to help with something. We never know what might be the reason for someone's lack. We shouldn't assume, but look for how we might help them.

I heard the Gummy Bear song this week in the street and I lost it. Elder Alor thought I was nuts, but I found it funny.

We had a super good chocolate cake this morning that a member gave us. I'm starting to realize that even though I'm getting used to spicier foods, I don't really like the taste of Jalapeños. The weather has been warm and somewhat rainy.

My favorite part of the week was this morning. We were out and about looking for a gift for José Emiliano because Elder Alor is leaving and we just so happened to find José and his mom in the street looking for a present for Elder Alor. I thought that was neat.

Love you, Elder Finlinson

Juana's Baptism

April 23rd, 2018 Letter #24

Alberto has lived a roller coaster of a life and, yes, he is the older fellow. Alberto has a variety of talents and has offered to teach members of the church that are interested so that should keep him involved. 

There were a lot of people in the English class (30 or so) from various age groups. 

My clothes and everything are holding up fine. Sometimes the fact that they're still in such good shape makes me question if I've really been on the mission as long as I have. My health is fine and my energy isn't problematic. I'd just like to see more stores that sell fruits and vegetables around here. There are bigger stores and a lot of produce places in the center of Papantla, but we live toward the edge of town.We can get into town fine, but it's a major pain to get the groceries home if we buy too much.

We've found some interesting new investigators this week. One is named Roosevelt and he used to talk to the missionaries all the time so he already knows a lot. He's 19 and he came to church yesterday. The other is Julieta and she's 16. The Spirit was really strong in the first lesson with her, but she wasn't able to make it to church. Juana (I don't know if I've mentioned her) should be getting baptized this week. She's 88. 

Elder Alor has been here for 4 transfers so he's probably gone next transfer. I'll definitely be here unless someone throws me a wicked curve ball. Xanath has great people. The members are super awesome in general.

Love you,

Elder Finlinson

April 16th, 2018 Letter #23

We had to dodge 372 bullets to baptize Alberto, but it worked out and the President personally congratulated us for being persistent with it. It was a nice baptism and we combined with other wards for the service. Some members from the other wards spoke. He let loose a few tears when he found out he was going to be able to get baptized so that was a neat experience. He's married but his wife kicked him out of his house as we were teaching him so we've had little contact with his family, but his daughter came to the baptism so we're going to start working with her. No investigators came, but we're teaching a few more. I'll let you know who's progressing next week. 

Zone conference was fun and, yes, the president comes to conference. My companion convinced Hna Equihuas to buy pizza for us. We talked about the importance of love in missionary work during the meeting for leaders and I liked that bit. Elder Alor and I were asked to sing in the conference "Secreta Oración." The conference was in Poza Rica.

 I went on splits with Elder Seaman (my first zone leader) this week and that was super fun. We had several incredible experiences. One time we had what I would call a "second chance contact." We were rejected, but something told Elder Seaman to stay outside the house and wait. So we waited. When the guy came back out I told him that we also offer service to others. He turned that down too, but we got started talking again and he eventually mentioned how his mom had died recently. We shared a bit about the Plan of Salvation, he let us in, and we made another appointment. Later on we taught an investigator who met all the requirements for baptism (times in church, commandments...), but lacked a testimony of Joseph Smith. I shared mine and told her to read that of Joseph Smith himself. Elder Seaman set up a time to watch "The Restoration" the next day. Yesterday Elder Seaman called me to let me know that she got baptized and confirmed this weekend. The other thing we did was teach an English class. We taught them directions (right, left, forward...) Then blindfolded them and sent volunteers one at a time through a maze of chairs while another person guided them in English. It was super fun.

 The members feed us lunch. Breakfast and dinner is kinda just whatever we have (cereal or toast or something). 

Love you

Elder Finlinson

Alberto's baptism...with others

April 9th, 2018 Letter #22

The baptism went well. Alberto couldn't come because he went to go sell some stuff in Poza Rica (which is good because he's really struggling financially). Teresa came though. Late, but there. When Jose Emiliano got baptized he forgot to plug his nose so he came up with a cough and immediately ran up the stairs and out of the font. He got all the way under the water though so it counted and he'll probably never forget his baptism now. 

Alberto is excited for his baptism this weekend, so that's positive. 

Elder Alor and I sing hymns with investigators and Jose Emiliano likes to sing 3 or 4 whenever we go to his house. 

Maripaz and the Hernandez Aguilar family can be added to your list of people to pray for if you want, but I wouldn't stress too much about memorizing everyone.

Interviews were good, but the zone conference is tomorrow. We didn't get the Liahona yet, but the "ministering" announcement made for a hectic ward council meeting. It was a good meeting, but a little crazy.

Food really doesn't get too wild here and it's typically the same kind of thing over and over. 

The best thing that happened would be that Jose Emiliano got baptized. Apart from that we found a way to introduce religion to the conversation with Teresa (before we had been coming purely to teach English to her son because she's SUPER firm on being Catholic). So we're starting to see progress. 

Maripaz also just came to church unannounced and has apparently already gone several times to another ward so she's pretty much already prepared. 

Elder Alor is good about keeping in mind what tasks we have left to do in the day so that we don't forget stuff (which is really good for someone like me). We haven't been on splits for a while, but we're planning some this week. 

The trial is just having enough energy to keep climbing the hills. I'm pretty confident I'll make a splendid hiker when I'm done here. It sounds like a little thing, but it starts to wear down on a person day after day. The weather isn't bad. It's a little on the warm side, but not enough to complain a ton about. I was gonna send pictures, but we're in a ghetto internet café and so the computers aren't what I need.

With love,

Elder Finlinson

Jose Emiliano's baptism with Elder Alor and Elder Finlinson

April 2nd, 2018 Letter #21

I thought it was funny when President Nelson coudn't keep a straight face after announcing another Utah temple. The changes make sense. I liked the Saturday afternoon session quite a bit. The guy that talked about ordinances got Elder Alor and I going when he told the story about the investigator that asked about the sacrament and reverence in church. Alberto came to conference and liked it. Jose Emiliano came too (I had a typo on his name last week). We missed the Saturday morning conference due to some confusion.

We didn't try the singing thing this week because we spent quite a bit of time teaching rather than contacting. We added Dolores to the list of progressing investigators.

Tell Cole to take care of his head because head injuries mess with you if you don't take good care of them. The head stays with you for life, but a soccer game or two gets forgotten pretty quickly. 

Good to hear Elder Mardo still loves me from afar. I've been studying humility and pride this week. If you get a minute or two then it might be worth glancing over Chapter 18 of The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson. 

Love you all,

Elder Finlinson

March 26th, 2018 Letter #20

Cool story: We were talking to a man in a store and he kept talking and talking about religion and the bible and whatnot and it was hard to get a word in, but I felt an impression to take immediate advantage of any window of opportunity and just ask if he wants to get baptized. So I did. He agreed that baptism would be important so we said we needed to teach him a few things in order to baptize him. He invited us to teach and so we made an appointment and set a baptismal date with him right then and there. We later came back to teach the restoration and I felt like my Spanish/teaching was lacking for whatever reason so I said a little prayer in my heart just saying, "please don't let me mess this up." At the end we asked if he would pray about Joseph Smith and he basically said, "I have nothing to ask. I know he was a prophet." So that was a blessing. He also came to church yesterday so hopefully we'll have a baptism for Alberto on the 14 of April. Other investigators to pray for if you'd like: Teresa, Jose Emilio, Alicia, Gabriel.

Our voices were still struggling even up until last night (from being sick) so we might put the song thing into practice this week. Even though we couldn't use it, we still had a great week this time around. 

I like the little bananas.

The Chinese restaurant is pretty similar to American ones. There aren't as many bakeries here.

I played soccer for P-day with Elder Alor, Jimenez, and Medina (Medina is from my CCM district). El Tajin isn't far so we'll go someday. 

My favorite part of the week is that we had a shower of blessings. Every investigator we have (except Gabriel) is new. An inactive sister from the ward came to church yesterday after years of inactivity and brought her unbaptized 9 year-old with her. We talked to her afterwards about her son and, long story short, we should be able to baptize him on the 7th of April. So the Lord has been helping out a lot lately.

We're watching conference in the church building with the ward so it'll be in Spanish. I haven't seen any big celebrations yet for Easter. 

Insight from studies: don't make fun of people (Alma 5). I kinda lacked on pictures this week so I'll have to look for opportunities this time around.

With Love, Elder Finlinson.

March 19th, 2018 Letter #19

I will be staying with Elder Alor in Xanath this change. I heard a rumor that the President expects a lot from our companionship, which is both encouraging and frightening (pressure). Elder Alor heard the rumor from Elder Lovaas (Assistant of Teaching).


The area is indeed hills on hills and it also happens to be one of the biggest areas in the mission (At one point it was 3 areas I heard). It is a pretty area though. There's a real shower now, but the water is cold so I sometimes still go for the bucket because we can heat it. 

I typically think in English to myself because it's natural, but I think in Spanish a fair amount for the sake of practice and I also think in Spanish when I've been talking for a while.

We baptized Sara this weekend and I got to confirm her as well so that was neat. . She's 10 and her sister was baptized a few weeks ago. Her dad was an inactive member, but is starting to come again now.That being said, we have almost no investigators right now, so we gotta focus on finding this week. Elder Alor and I had been planning on using hymns to get into houses. Something like, "hey can we sing a hymn and say a prayer to bless your house?" then teach a little and reschedule an appointment. But then we got sick Friday/Saturday and so we've decided against singing until we're healthy again.

The ward is really nice and fairly well organized. We eat with members and the food is pretty similar. Although there is a Chinese restaraunt here that a member owns so we go there a decent amount.The guys that spin from the sky are more of a seasonal thing, but I have seen one of the towers for it. We kinda just relaxed for P-day because Elder Alor and I are both sick (just a cold). 

The homes around here are pretty similar to Vega. There are a lot of banana farms here. I like almost everything about Xanath, but the hills make for a long day toward the end. It's said kinda like "Shannut". 

Also some interesting thoughts from Elder Alor:

He says I look like Chase Matthews from Zoey 101, but with different hair.

When we pass young women they often stare and once he told me, "you're like a Jonas Brother" because I catch a lot of looks.

One time I was standing in front of him and so with his broken English he said, "your butt is my face" He missed a crucial "in".

The Lord answers prayers when our desires are truly in line with his. Like Moroni says, we need to pray with real intent and a sincere heart. If we're asking him for things that we want simply because we want them then it's not so likely we'll be answered. If we ask because we honestly know that what we're asking for is something that lines up with His plan then it's a lot easier to recognize an answer just around the corner.

Sara doesn't smile unless she has a reason. Pictures weren't a sufficient reason for her.

The two in back are family members and the little boy in red just jumped in because he saw an opportunity. We figured we'd let him in.