February 20th 2017~Happy President's Day!! (Also, late Happy Valentines Day! I completely forgot to tell you that in my last email!)
Hello my awesome family! Wow, what a great week! I have enjoyed reading all of your awesome emails! First of all, I need to thank everyone for the amazing cards and packages! I loved everything you sent me! It is so fun to get such amazing packages and cards! The flash drive works perfectly! It came with my other packages and it makes it so convenient to upload pictures and send them to you! I love all the t-shirts and sweat pants! They all fit me perfectly and they are so comfy! It is so thoughtful of you! It has made me feel so close to home! Also, thank you so much for the cash! I will be sure to put it to some good use and buy somthing fun with it! Thank you so much! I LOVED your email and the pictures you attached! It was really fun to see everyday events! They always make me feel right at home! I love reading how everyone is doing and I still always wonder what everyone is doing at any speficic time! I am so glad that I finally get to show you all my pictures! I have been wanting you to see them so bad! I really like your idea of having you get onto my account and seeing them all! If you log onto my Google Drive using tanner.lindberg@myldsmail.com then you can see all my pictures! I tried to upload them into an email but I could only send 3-4 pictures at a time because they were the full size not the link to the picture. (Hope that makes sense! ) The pictures that you haven't seen starts with DSC00121. So I took about 130 pictures since I have been here! I also have two videos! One is of us taking off from Detroit and the other is from the big snow storm we had! If you have any questions about any of the pictures let me know! I took a picture with our golden investigator, Osagie, who will be baptized this coming Saturday! How cool is that! I have been thinking a lot about how cool it would be for you all to be here! It is a really amazing place!
Wow! I CANNOT believe I have been out for over a month now! It was so fun to get you email on Saturday saying "one month!" It seems like yesterday that I was getting dropped off and now I've already been here in New York for two weeks! Time flies! I have set a goal to write in my journal every night and so far I have kept that promise so on Saturday I went and looked back at my first journal entry! It is crazy to see how far I've come in just a short period of time! I said my first night at the MTC: "Where do I start? I have been so blessed to have the most amazing family! I have been overcome with emotion today as I said goodbye to those I love and hold so dear! When I first got here I wasn't sure what to expect but I know that this is where I am supposed to be and I also know that my family is right here with me every step of the way!" Really cool to go back and read that!
I have been so lucky to have such an amazing companion and roommates! We all get along really well! I forgot to mention in my last email that my companion played wide receiver for Skyline! What are the chances of my first two companions loving football? The other companionship in our apartment is awesome! Elder Bradley is from Brigham City and Elder Smiley is from Colorado Springs Colorado. The three of them have been out the same amount of time (which is about a year) so I feel really young! Our apartment is really awesome! It has lots of storage space and it's from World War 2 which is pretty cool! We have an amazing view! We can actually see Manhattan from our apartment (which I took some pictures of!)! I'm so glad you can actually see all my pictures now so you can visualize everything! I have loved my area! Also, our apartment has two bedrooms and one bathroom. We have a big open room right as you walk in and then to your right is the kitchen then next to that is our bedroom. We have bunk beds and I am on bottom. We share the dresser and I was lucky enough to get 3 shelves instead of 1! We really enjoy having another companionship in our apartment.
P-Day last week was awesome! We had so much fun getting to know each other better and taking time to get the things done that we needed to! In the morning we got up and got ready for the day and then we headed down to the laundry room and got our laundry started. We are so lucky to have a laundry room in the basement of our apartment! We have these cards that we load money to and then to start the machines we just put our card in and then it charges our card. So after we got our laundry in we headed back upstairs to email home! I have been so grateful for my tablet! It is so convenient to email right here in our apartment! We also have an area book on our tablets that allow you to look up investigators and have all their information right at your fingertips! So nice to have this kind of technology! After I emailed home, we all decided to go grocery shopping! I'm so glad that my companion and the other companionship that lives in our apartment know where the best deals are! There is a really cheap grocery store about 2 miles from our apartment called Aldi's. They sell off brands for really really cheap! I bought lots of stuff to make smaller meals but I wish I had time to make some of your quick and easy meals! I bought milk, cereal, yogurt, granola bars, hot dogs and cresent rolls for pigs in a blanket, pop tarts, eggs, cheese crackers, lots of canned soups like clam chowder (yum!) and loaded baked potato soup, and some sparkling waters that were in sale for $.59 each! My companion said he spent about $40.00 his first time to get a stock pile but I only spent about $30.00.
After grocery shopping we headed back to the apartment and just rested while I finished emailing everyone. P-Day really recharges everyone's batteries! That night, my companion thought it would be fun to go to Cross-Bronx! The pizza shop that sells these HUGE slices of pizza almost as big as the box! He and I both got the bacon pizza and it was so good! My first New York pizza! I have a picture of me attempting to eat it but it is so big that it is hard to hold! I was so stuffed after eating that so I would say that $5.00 for a good New York pizza, that I could barely finish, and a 20 ounce drink is a really good deal! He said that there are tons of places that like that we need to try! P-days are so awesome!
This week has been so amazing because we have taught a lot of lessons and gotten to know our investigators really well! It is a COMPLETELY different lifestyle than what we are used to! To get to church, we have to take 2 busses and it takes about 45 minutes to an hour just to get to church! The church isn't very far away but still with all the traffic it takes a while! Whenever we have an appointment, we have to plan ahead and figure out which route and bus will be the quickest. We have mostly used the bus service and the subway trains! It is really weird to not be able to just hop into a car and go wherever you need whenever you want! We have these cards called Metro cards that they buy for us each month. It normally costs people $2.75 per trip but our cards are unlimited so we just put them into the machine on the bus and then we are good to go!
I have loved our district! There are 10 missionaries in our district! There are 8 Elders and 2 Sisters! We have our weekly district meetings on Wednesdayand they are awesome! We go around the room and talk about all of our investigators and how they are doing. Last Tuesday the four of us in our apartment went on splits! I went with Elder Bradley and my companion went with Elder Smiley! We had a great time! It was nice to get to know him better! I have really liked the members in the ward! The bishop is actually 30 years old and graduated from Utah State! I didn't have the chance to ask him what brought him here to New York but he is such a nice guy! His name is Bishop Jessop. The ward members are really nice and live having so many missionaries in their ward every Sunday! Yesterday our attendance was about 75 which I heard is REALLY good for this ward! The weather has been beautiful the last couple of days! I have not yet had the chance to eat at any members homes yet but my companion wants me to meet a member named Dalton who is from Jamaica! He says he makes really good Jamaican food that I have to try! I can't wait! We have mostly eaten at our apartment but we will be able to visit member's homes soon! Our referrals mostly come from people that order a Bible online and then put their information into our area book and then we go by and drop off the Bible and then introduce them to the Book of Mormon! My favorite part so far has definitely been street contacting! We have had a lot of success in a rough part of the Bronx. It is called Gun Hill Road. Their are a lot of project housing that we normally just walk up and down the street and talk to anyone that we see! It has been really fun because the people are so nice and always thank us for being out there "preachin' the word!" I would have to say that the craziest thing that has happened to us so far is when we were street contacting down a street called Baychester or Eastchester after we were visiting a member and helping her write her sacrament meeting talk we were street contacting and so many people kept telling us that we were in the wrong neighborhood and we should go back to Utah! Which is funny because my companion and I are both from Utah! But it's like they all got together and told everyone to say that to us! We couldn't figure out why everyone was saying that to us! When we could see someone down the street my companion said: "I bet they are going to say the same thing!" And sure enough we would pass them and they would say: "you're in the wrong neighborhood!" That neighborhood we actually have quite a few members that live there. Kind of funny and crazy but that is definitely the craziest thing that has happened so far! Also the ladies car shutting off was pretty crazy too!
On Tuesday we looked some investigators up and went to go visit them! I have loved our tablets because we have an app called area book, and it has all of our investigator's information right there at our finger tips! Our daily schedule is really awesome! We wake up at 6:30 every morning and since we all have to share one bathroom we have until 8:30 to be right ready! So during those two hours we pray, eat breakfast, shower, etc. Then from 8:30-9:00 we get on our tablets as a companionship and plan out our day! We have our schedule right her on our tablets so we can type memos and plan everything out! It is really nice! Then from 9:00-10:00 we personally study! Individually we study scriptures and Preach my Gospel like crazy so we are really prepared! It is a nice time to just sit down and think of what our investigators really need! I usually write down all of our investigators we will be teaching that day and then plan for them! Then from 10:00am-9:00pm we carry out our plans! During planning we normally call people and ask if we can come over sometime that day! There are so many people to call and get to know better!
Wednesday was awesome! We had our weekly district meeting and it was really fun to hear about everyone's investigators! After our district meeting we did something really fun! The 3 Elders in our apartment said that there is an ultimate breakfast challenge that all the new missionaries have to try! So of course I was on board! It is a local diner called George's! It is a classic New York style diner! The owner is really awesome and loves missionaries! He always gives the missionaries a free drink called: Marie Ciano! It is just like a orange julius! It was so good! Everyone that works there has that classic New York accent! It was so cool to see! The meal costs $8.00 which is an amazing deal because we get the drink free that normally costs $4.00! I took a few pictures of all the food! The pancakes are HUGE! They are about a foot in diameter! I am proud to say that I finished it all! Not only did I eat it all on my first try but all four of us ate all that food! It was a really fun experience just because it was a really cool classic New York style diner!
On Thursday we got to teach Osagie again! He is getting so close to baptism! I can't believe that I've only been here two weeks and I will already have a baptism! He was only taught the first lesson by the other missionaries but then he was handed off to my companion and I to be taught the rest of the lessons and commandments! He has loved having us over and is always so friendly and nice! I took a picture of him so you can see what he looks like! Poor guy though is still trying to find a job because he moved here from Nigeria a few months ago! He is really frustrated that nobody wants to hire him! We assured him that through this Gospel and if we put our trust in the Lord then he would take care of the rest! We said a prayer together that he would be able to have peace and comfort while he goes through this trial. We invited him to Church on Sunday and he came with us for the third straight week! After Church he told us that he had been praying for a job and an opportunity to earn some money! Not more than a minute after he told us that the ward mission leader who is from Ghana came up to him and started talking with him! His name is Brother Dankquah and he had never met Osagie before. They started to talk and Osagie told him that he was looking for a job. Brother Dankquah said that he works with people like him and most likely could get him a job! After they got done chatting Osagie told us that he was praying for something like that to happen! Pretty cool experience! Especially for someone who is so interested in our Church! We are getting things ready for his baptism on Saturday and he told us that he can hardly wait! He is such a great and humble guy!
On Friday we had our new missionary meeting at the Scarsdale Church! It was so fun to hear that you got to see me and my companion on the blog! I still haven't had the chance to look at the blog because we only have access to the clerks office computer. I can't wait to see it though! The new missionary meeting was so awesome! First we talked about driver safety and rules about driving missionary cars. We then got our card that we actually have to log into a system called TiWi that monitors our driving! They are really cool machines! You swipe your card and then you can turn on the car. Every week it send a report to your mission president. It uses GPS to tell where you are so it knows the speed limit and if you ever go over then it shows up on your record. Really cool technology! I won't have a car in this area but I will whenever I serve in a rural area! After that orientation, President Smith and his wife spoke to us! They told us missions bless so many lives! I couldn't think how true that is! They said that everyone has so much family cheering them on and praying for their success! It was a great meeting!
On Saturday, we walked a TON! It was really fun to see all the cool sights of the Bronx! There are also tons of little local car shops with people working on really cool cars! I have lived to see lots of really nice cars! We visited so many less active and former investigators! We found a former investigator named Kojo and his wife Sophie that just had a baby. They were really interested in our Church and were ready to learn more! We have an appointment to go see them and teach them the Restoration this coming Friday! Yesterday was a great day at Church! The nice weather brought a lot of people! We had about 75 people show up! Even though it may not seem like much it sure is a lot for this ward!
It has been so fun to chat and hear how everyone has been doing!! Sunday nights are perfect for the email! I love reading every single word and I love all the details about the week! Especially the every day events! Also, my companion is training me on how to use Facebook for missionary work! We got on and started hiding all of my Facebook posts and pictures so I could add our investigators! I don't get to start using it until after the first 3 months but until then we just clean it up. I bet you were wondering what I was doing! I saw all of your nice comments on my profile picture but I can't comment back sadly! He said that when we get home I just have to unhide all my stuff and it will go back to normal but it's a really good tool to connect with our investigators! I'm not sure if I can chat with family on there? I really hope I can!
Also, I'm sad to say that we decided not to go to Manhattan today. We totally forgot that it was President's Day and they said that it would be so busy we may not even be able to get into the museum! Two of the Elders served in Manhattan last area and said that the museums are really busy on a regular day but since kids were off from school, people were going to travel here since it is such a busy city for tourists. They said that they tried to go to the Museum of Natural History one P-Day and they said it took them over an hour just to get to the door! It would have been so busy and we only get to travel to Manhattan once per transfer so we want to make sure we use it wisely! We will for sure go next P-Day which I am so excited about! I can't wait to go to the 9/11 museum and memorial and see all the cool sights! I am really glad they thought of that and had us wait for a less busy day so we can actually enjoy it on a day that isn't as busy!
Well, It has been a blast to email you all today! I hope you have a great day off from school and work! Have lots of fun! I have loved it here so much but I always miss family and home! I am pleased to say that the New York, New York North mission is the BEST mission! Sorry Dad! I think about you all the time and miss you so much! I have loved getting to know so many new people and teaching them about this amazing Gospel! I love telling people all about our church when they have never heard anything like it before! I know that this Gospel blesses so many lives! I have seen it bless all of our lives now I am actually sharing this with the many people I come into contact with! We have been so blessed to have this Gospel all our lives! I love you all so much! You all are the best! I hope you have a great rest of your day and do lots of fun things! I found a scripture that I really like! And in our new missionary meeting President Smith actually brought it up! It is in Doctrine and Covenants 100:1 It says: "Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my friends Sidney and Joseph, your families are well; they are in mine hands, and I will do with them as seemeth me good; for in me there is all power." Isn't that a cool scripture! President Smith told us to insert our own names into that scripture: "Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my friend Elder Lindberg, your familiy is well; they are in mine hands, and I will do with them as seemeth me good; for in me there is all power." I have had so much fun emailing you all today! Have a great rest of your day off! LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!
~Elder Lindberg
He sent lots of Pictures. Enjoy
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