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 

July 15th, 2019 Letter #88

Isabel's niece is doing relatively well. Her husband not as much. One of her sons went to church this week though, so we'll start working a little more closely with him now. 

Honestly in the zone I feel like one huge and easily resolvable problem we have in the zone is a lack of goals. Some missionaries are doing their best to work with goals, but generally we haven't done a good enough job of encouraging the missionaries to set and achieve high goals. 

The trampoline was a little small for adults to jump on so I didn't get on at any point. 

Zone conference between Teziutlan and Martinez trades off between one and the other, but in some zones that's not the case. We'll be in charge of food, a class, and my companion will direct the conference. 

Two investigators that have had a big impact on me are Sasha from Xalapa and Isabel from here. Obviously there are others, but they come to mind as two that helped me gain perspective. Sasha helped me gain perspective on what it means to put God and family first and Isabel helped me understand that repentance is truly between God and the individual (although others can definitely help along the way). 

One companion that had a big impact on me was Elder Alor because we learned together that obedience brings blessings. And one that wasn't my "companion," but was at the same time was Elder Lovaas. He also helped me understand the important difference between correcting others without love and doing it with love. 

My favorite part of the week was possibly the district class. I sat in on the class of Elder Merrell (not Elder Merrill my companion, but Elder Merrell the district leader). I was just impressed by the energy and new ideas that he had. 

One funny/scary/mostly funny thing happened this week, but I'll have to explain it later. Just remind me to tell the story about the drunk guy that wanted to give us his hats. 

One miracle is that Angel (son of Juana) got baptized this Sunday and I honestly wasn't too sure that it would happen. But it did, and he was super happy to do it as well. One blessing is the simple, but extremely important reaffirmation that God hears and answers our prayers when we're patient and have faith. Something challenging is just trying to find the way to not "run faster than (I) have strength." I'm trying to keep things in perspective and just be led through prayer to make my decisions.

Love you,

Elder Finlinson

*Tu español va bien. Sigue estudiándolo y no te rindas. Entiende que será un proceso, pero está bien. Así esto puede servirte como una lección en ambos el español y en la paciencia.  *This is a message to me, as I am trying to learn Spanish. :) 

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

July 1st, 2019 Letter #86

I'll write quick for lack of time. The week was good, we are now in a trio with Elder Andino as well. He was my District Leader in the CCM. He's an awesome guy and I'm excited about it. We've done quite a bit of service lately as well. Pray for the zone in general because we're in a down swing right now. We finished June decently well, but we have nothing for July. In our area we're doing well though and our recent converts are flourishing. Thanks for the support!

Love you,

Elder Finlinson

June 24th, 2019 Letter #85

Isabel's husband and niece went to church this week and her daughter, Ana, was baptized. 

I was definitely wearing shoes when I stepped into the water, but it really wasn't too deep. (Funny story from last week.)

In the zone there will be few changes, but one that I'm excited about is that Elder Mardo will finally be in my zone. He'll be district leader so we'll be working together fairly often.

Last week we didn't get around to everything, but I'm staying here so we'll get around to it eventually. Today we just played some simple games and ordered pizza. 

The best part of the week is that we had several people accept baptismal dates this week and also Ana got baptized. One challenging thing is that while our area is gaining ground, the zone is losing it. I'm hoping that a few changes that will occur at the district leader level will help things improve quickly. 

One funny moment was.Yesterday we got on a bus and a guy started waving at us and laughing like he knew us, but we didn't recognize him so we talked to him. He said he was from Guatemala and we had a conversation similar to this: "Hey, I know you guys. Do you remember me?" "No sorry, where/when did we meet?" "I met you in Chiapas. Or was it Oaxaca?" (Two Mexican states near the southern border where many are crossing illegally) "I'm afraid that wasn't us my friend, but there are surely other missionaries around there" "I don't know you look a lot like the ones I met over there..." "Where are you headed?" "Puebla. Can you give me a ride from Tezuitlán to Puebla or pay for my ticket?" And so on until we eventually parted ways.

Something I'm looking forward to in this change is 1. Working with Elder Mardo 2. Continuing the work in our area.

Something interesting I found in my studies this week is that God's omniscience is an essential factor in our having faith in him. We can trust perfectly in Him because He knows perfectly what the consequence of any decision is/will be. 

One piece of advice to learn Spanish is to find as many different ways to immerse yourself in it as you can. Have simple conversations with Dad, use Duolingo, watch movies in Spanish with subtitles in English or in English with Spanish subtitles, read simple books, ask Miranda how she's learning (grandpa told me she is). And when you're talking in Spanish DON'T TRANSLATE IT INTO ENGLISH.

Love, Elder Finlinson

 Ana's Baptism. There was also an 8 year old getting baptized that is why there is so much white.

Juana's Baptism 

June 17th, 2019 Letter #84

The best part of the week was of course the baptism of Juana, but also something than made me happy is that the husband of Isabel went to church finally and he said that he liked it! Something that was kind of funny is that while we were filling the font for Juana's baptism I kept going down to a certain step to check the water temperature. Well after several times I went back to check again and out of habit returned to the same step. What I didn't notice was that the water had already reached that step so I stepped right in. Elder Merrill got a kick out of that. 

Something challenging right now is just trying to make sure that my progress doesn't hit a plateau. I feel like it's slowed down and that it's time to pick it back up, but I talked briefly to my district leader about it so hopefully he'll keep an eye on me. 

We ate shrimp this week with Isabel and it was good. I don't know what'll happen next change. Sorry about the short email, but I'm needed somewhere right now so I'll be heading off now. 

Love you,

Elder Finlinson