BIRTHDAY PACKAGE!! 
Hello my dear Family! Wow! What an amazing week! Thank you all so much for you amazing email, pictures, and videos and your amazing Birthday package! I had so much fun looking though them all! I had a wonderful Birthday and had so much fun looking at everyone's cards and opening packages! I felt like you were all here with me celebrating! I'm so glad that you had an amazing and safe trip! It looked like so much fun! I was so surprised at how much you got to do and what you got to see! You sure did fit a lot of fun stuff into just a few days! I am very glad that you got to go and see so many cool sights! I was very jealous though that you got to go to the Beaurau of Engraving and Printing!! That has been on my bucket list my whole life! It looked like it was so much fun! We had a great week and had lots of cool and amazing things happen! I am so excited that we get to chat back and forth today! Today for P-Day we are still deciding what to do. We just got back from shopping and we already have our laundry done so now we get to just have fun!
WOW! What can I say about your Anniversary and my Brithday other than it was so fun! I appreciated so much all of your Birthday wishes and your pictures and videos that you sent! It was SO fun to hear you wish me a Happy Birthday in person!!! It was such a fun day and I loved every second of it! I think I told you about most of the day last week as it was happening. I had such a great Birthday and I appreciated so much all of the amazing Birthday wishes! It was SO fun to look through all of your pictures from your trip and then see videos as well! I was thinking about you all day and thinking what fun thing you were doing at that moment! So we went to this really cool Hall of Fame just down the street from our apartment and looked at many different famous people like authors, aviators, Presidents and so much more! It was right on the campus of Bronx Community College and so it made me feel like I was back at Utah State! They had tons of cool sculptures of famous and historical Americans! It was all really cool! So after we looked at all of them it was time to head to Red Robin for a Birthday dinner! We got to Red Robin and It wasn't very busy and so we got seated and our orders taken really quick. I decided to get the Tavern Burger meal with the endless fries and a pear lemonade that was so good! The whole time we were eating, I was thinking of you. I just couldn't believe how close you were! It was such a fun time and i had a great Birthday! It was so much fun to be able to email you on your actual Anniversary! It was the best! So after our delicious dinner, we were already in Co-Op City so we went and found a bench to call and text some of our investigators. We do this thing called daily contact where we call and text our investigators a scripture or an inspirational quote. So as we were doing that, an older guy with a button up shirt and a Yankees baseball hat came up to us and started talking with us. He jokingly said: "What are ya sellin'?" He knew that we weren't selling anything and then he wondered where we were from. We told him and he was so nice! He was very friendly and started talking to us about the Bronx because he has lived there his whole life. He had a very cool voice that sounded like a P.A announcer voice or a sports radio broadcaster. He told us that Co-Op City used to be an amusement park before they built all of the apartment buildings. He had a really cool New York accent and was really fun to listen to. We chatted with him for a while and then he said that it was time for him to head home for the evening. We then knocked on some doors around Co-op but not very many people were home even though it was the evening. We texted Osagie and Kojo to see if they were home when We could visit them but they were both working until really late. So we just knocked on some doors of people we had in our area book. Then after that we headed back to the apartment for the night and then Elder Dick, Elder Jackman, and Elder Knudsen did something so nice for me! Without me knowing, Elder Knudsen and Elder Jackman went into the kitchen and made a pan of brownies from a Ghirardelli box mix and put some candles on it and came out singing Happy Birthday! It was a great surprise and we had a fun time celebrating! I even had some ice cream and so we had a really fun time! It was a great Birthday and I appreciate all of the love and birthday wishes so much! It was a very fun day!!
Thursday was AWESOME!, I was SO excited to get your package!!! I couldn't wait to open it! I got it right after lunch and brought it home and opened it right up! We had a celebration and everyone was there when I opened it! I can't thank you enough for everything that you put in there!!! I loved it all so much and it was a ton of fun to read all of the cards you made for me! So we got a call from Elder Kirkham and his new office Elder, Elder Gappeldt and they said that we could come let them into the church and get our mail! So we picked up all of the mail for the apartment and I excitedly took your package back to the apartment! I loved everything that you put in it! I was so excited to get a Bluetooth keyboard (which I am using right now as we speak!) It works so great and is so much easier to email you now! I was lso so excited to get some nice slippers t wear aroud the apartment and a nice new journal to write in! Let's just say that I really loved everything that you put in! I have been enjoying all of the treats SO much! Everyone was especially jealous of the milk chocolate Riesens and the red velvet cookies! I shared with them and they thought that everything was so good! I also loved the new ties as well! I loved them both so much and have enjoyed honoring Grandpa every time I wear it! I am so excited to say that I made your delicious funfetti cake and we had a celebration! They look so good and I loved the candle idea! The confetti was a fun suprise too. I loved the awesome cards that you all wrote and decorated for me! I loved reading all of your kind words so much! I will save them forever! I have really been enjoying using my pens to write in my journal! I keep one at my desk just for my journal and then I use the other one thrughout the day and keep it in my pocket. I just can't thank you all enough for the many Birthday wishes and for the amazing packge! You definately spoiled me and guess what......I'm 2000 miles away and I felt so much love! We woke up and headed outside to play some baseball on the baseball field that we have right down the street from our apartment and It was so fun! There is just something about baseball and the Bronx. They go hand in hand! It was a really fun time and then we headed back to the apartment to get ready for the day. Then after we planned and did our studies, we started our weekly planning. Man, I am typing this so much faster on my new keyboard than I was just with my 2 thumbs. So we planned out half of our week and then we took a quick break and had some lunch. I had some really good Texas toast that I found at Aldi's and then some yogurt with granola. I know that sounds like a wierd combonation but it sounded really good! So after we had lunch, we got a text from the office Elders telling us that mail would be there in just a little while so we quickly headed over to the church to get my package! So we headed back to the apartment and I opened up my package and then we finished weekly planning and did our language and companionship study. Then by that time it was dinner and so we had dinner while I read through all of the amazing cards that you sent and then I had some treats! You guys know exactly which candy I like because you got ALL of my favorites! I loved the cards so much and then I tried on my slippers and tried out my new keyboard! Then we headed out to Co-Op City for the night! We did a ton of lookups and tried to schedule some appointments but not a lot of people were home. We knocked on Gifty, Deinde, Kojo, Hector, Charles, and Adrian's door but only a few of them were home. We had really fun though talking with people because is was SO pleasant to be outside. There was an amazing sunset and the temperature was so cool. Elder Dick and I continue to get along.....even though he goes to a school down south that is rivals with Utah State.
Guess what we got to do on Friday?!?! Go to Manhttan! I totally forgot to tell you last P-Day that all of the newly called district leaders have a meeting in the Manhattan Temple Church Chapel and so we got to go for a quick trip! It just always amazing me: "Oh I'll be in Manhattan one day and then back to the Bronx the next." It is so thrilling to go to such a famous and historical place! So we woke up, got ready for the day, did our studies, and then got to take the train all the way down to the Temple! We were both really excited to hear from President Smith! Elder Dick has never held a leadership position before and so this was the 1st time for both of us. So we took the train and headed into the Temple and up to the 3rd floor to where the church is. I always love the hustle and bussle of New York City. There is so much going on around you every second! Then once you walk into the Temple......complete scilence and peace. It really is amazing how much sound is blocked out when you are inside the Temple. There were tons of sirens going off and once you walked through the big, thick doors, you couldn't hear a thing. So we went into the Relief Society room and got the meeting started. President Smith gave an amazing talk on leadership and how much the leaders of the mission can impact the other missionaries so much. It was an amazing lesson and I learned a lot! The meeting lasted until 2:30 and so we headed back into the Bronx and we had an appointment with Clifford and Nina Oti. They moved here from Ghana 5 years ago and were baptised right after they moved here and he been members ever since then. Clifford is 17 and Nina is 18 and getting ready to go to college. We have been wanting to have an appointment with them for a really long time and we finally got to! So we headed over to their apartment and had a Restoration lesson with them. We atually did someting really cool with them. We pretended to be investigators and they were the missionaries teaching us. They did a great job! Then they told us that we couldn't leave thier home without eating something so they warmed up some leftover ham fried rice and some really good chicken. It was really good and we had a great lesson with them and then we headed back to the apartment for language study and by the time we got back, we were a little hungry so we had a snack and then headed out for the night. We had a great night! While we were waiting for a bus, we saw something really cool! We saw a team bus for Sacred Heart University Pioneers! We weren't sure which sports team was in the bus but it was pretty cool to see! So we headed out to do some lookups. We knocked on a ton of doors! We went to a ladies' house who ordered a Bible and we knocked on her door and a man yelled: "Who is it?" We told him that we were the missionaries and we were wanting to drop off a Bible that a lady named Ikiddeh ordered. He wasn't sure who that was so we gave her a call and she told us that she never ordered a Bible. We were really confused because we had all of her information and we were calling her so she had to of put in her information on mormon.org. So we continued down the street and knocked on some more doors. We went to a lady named Sandra's house and she was busy making some candy for a baby shower that she was going to so we set up another time to come back. After we knocked on tons of doors, we headed back to the apartment for the evening. It was a great day!
Saturday was another great day! I was thinking about you all day because I knew that you were flying home from your fun trip. It has been so much fun to know that you were in D.C this whole week seeing so many famous landmarks! We woke up and headed out to the baseball field again to play some baseball! It was really fun and then we came back and showered and got ready for the day. Then after our personal study we did companionship and language study and then we headed out in the pouring rain but it wasn't too bad since we have nice umbrellas! So we headed out to do lots of tracting and all I can say is that is was so successful! We headed over to Gun Hill and Boston Road and we knocked on a ton of doors! My testimony was really strengthened and I learn a ton about listen to the spirit about where to go. So we were out in the pouring rain and we had planned to do this for 3 and a half hours. We were nice and dry though! So the 1st door that we knocked on we had a man named Mark answer and we asked him if we could share a quick message with him and he excitedly invited us in! We couldn't believe our luck! We could knock on door after door and people wouldn't even answer let alone let us in. So we headed inside and got to know Mark a little better. Mark was in the marines for about 7 years until he had to go home because he had a sickness. He has been looking for a job now and so it has been hard on him. He told us that he goes to a Muslim church every Saturday. Then we taught him a great Restoration lesson and he really enjoyed it! We felt the spirit so strong and we know that he did too! We were so excited to meet him and get to know him more. After we got done with our lesson with Mark we headed down the street and knocked on tons of doors. Elder Dick and I switched off who took the lead in talking to whoever answered the door. We knocked on many doors before someone answered. A lady named Madeline Lopez answered the door. Her house smelled really good! She was cooking something and It smelled like really good garlic bread. We talked to her and told her that we were sharing a message and wondered if she had time to hear it. She said that she was busy cooking but then she told us that her kids really needed a church to go to and she wanted to start coming back to church but she wasn't sure which one!! We scheduled another time to come back to teach her and her family and then she said: "I'm counting on you to come back because the last time I had an appointment, they cancelled". We assured her that we would be back! So we knocked on so many more doors and down the street we felt like we should knock on this one particular door. A guy in his mid 20s named Alex answered the door. We got to know him a little more and he is from Haiti and speaks Creole. His English was very good and he had a really cool accent. What was really cool to see is how much he enjoyed listening to us talk about prophets and how we have a loving prophet on the earth today! He said: "You mean to tell me that there is a modern day Moses and Abraham??" We said yes and his eyes lit up and he said "Wow! That's amazing!" He said that he goes to a church that is actually in Creole, his native language, and he likes that church but he is open to many religions. We hadn't had much success in the past with tracting and so it was a very successful day! We found 3 new people to come back and teach in only a few hours. I know that doesn't sound like very many but most people just don't answer their door or aren't interested. So we headed back to the apartment really quick to dry off and then we had a dinner appointment with Matt but he cancelled because he was in Brooklyn for a Birthday celebration for one of his co-workers and wouldn't have gotten home for a while. So we decided to head to Co-op City and see a few of our investigators! We headed to Kojo, Deinde Coker, Gifty, and The Ampah's apartments. The Ampah family was home and were very happy to see us! A few days ago, Brother Allah called us and guess what!?! He called us to speak in sacrament meeting on Father's Day! So when we got to his apartment, their 2 little kids were so happy to see us! They have a 5 and 4 year old son, and a 2 year old daughter. They really like it when we come over. We chatted with them for a few minutes to see if there was anything that we could do for them. They asked us if we had our talks ready and we said yes! He then gave us a carton of cranberry juice and package of graham crackers as a snack. We were very appreckative and then headed bacl out. Elder Dick and I both had the feeling that we should go visit Osagie since he lives just down the street. We found out some sad news about Osagie. So we headed all the way up to the 20th floor where he lives and knocked on his door. The lady that lives there was home and we asked for Osagie and she said: "Osagie moved 2 weeks ago." WE WERE SHOCKED! I didn't know what to say. She said that it was too expensive for him to live in Co-Op City and so without telling anyone he just up and moved to Brooklyn. So we thanked her for the information and then we went straight outside and called him. He answered and said exactly what the lady at the door said. We had been in contact with him every day but just hadn't been able to go over to his apartment because he was very busy. So we had been calling him and sending him texts every day to keep his spirits up. He has been pretty discouraged because the rent was so high and he was working so much that it didn't seem like he was getting anywhere. So hopefully now that he has a cheaper apartment, he will be able to save more money. But I was pretty sad because that means that not only is he out of our area, he is completely out of our mission and so we can't even talk with him anymore. He will still continue to work at the car wash until he can find a better and more stable job. But once he gets a new job, I don't think I will ever be able to talk to him again until I come home. So we were pretty sad and shocked about that but it was comforting to know that he had found a cheaper place to live because the rent was really steep! So it was time to head back to the apartment for the night. We had a GREAT and productive day!
Sunday was a great and very busy day! First off: HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD! I was so glad to hear that you got my card in the mail. I was thinking about you and wishing the best father ever and a great day! I was thinking about Dad and who the new Bishop would be all day! I was so excited to find out who the new members of the Bishopric were going to be! I thought it was really cool that the Bishopric that got called on Sunday would still be there when I get home! It was really crazy to think about! So we had a really busy day especially at Church. A few days ago, Brother Allah who is the 2nd counselor in the Bishopric, called Elder Dick and I to speak again in Sacrament Meeting. We said that we would be glad to! So we have been finding time to write our talks. I couldn't have asked for a better topic: Fathers! I thought and thought about what would be the best thing to share. So we wrote our talks throughout the week and then went to church. Sunday was probably the most humid day I have experienced so far. It was 82 degrees but the air would just feel sticky. We were wearing our hot suits with long sleeve white shirts.....lets just say that it was hot! So we headed over to church and we got there a little early and so we welcomed everyone to church and wished all of the Fathers a Happy Father's Day! Then we went into our Gospel Principles class and realized that there wasn't a teacher. Brother Danquah, the ward mission leader, was standing right next to us and asked us if we would teach the class. We weren't sure which lesson it was on so we chose the Holy Ghost out of the Gospel Principles book. So we taught the lesson and had great participation! Then Elder Coleman asked us if we would come teach part of the Preisthood lesson on families and the importance of marriage. So we headed upstairs for our next class and Elder Coleman taught an amazing lesson on families and how much he loves his family. You may have seen some pictures of him and his wife in some of my pictures. He is a great guy! Then I shared how much I admire you all and look up to you guys. I'm not going to lie, I got a little teary eyed when I talked about how much I loved and missed you. It is always a little hard to talk about home when you are away. I talked about how much I admired you relationship that you have with each other and Abby, Brandon, and Parker. Then Elder Dick talked about his family and how excited he is to start his own family when he gets home from his mission. So after our Priesthood Meeting, we had sacrament meeting and Elder Dick and I spoke. Elder Dick did a great job and he talked about his own father and how he helped a lady in their ward mow her lawn. So he did a great job and then we had a great intermediate hymn from the primary. There were only 4 kids from the entire junior and senior primary. Can you believe that?! Then it was my turn to give my talk. I was looking on family search and I came across a story about Axel Lindberg and how he and his family came to America to have a better life. I thought it was pretty cool to be talking about Star Valley and Logan over the pulpit......in the Bronx! I had a fun time telling the story! Then I talked about Dad and how much you have influenced my life! I told the story of when we hauled in the rocks from the Backus' yard and what a great experience that was. I really enjoyed talking to everyone! Then once church was over, the Relief Society put together a big Father's Day lunch for everyone! We had chicken salad wraps, rice, salad, chicken, lemonade, and cake! It was really fun and we enjoyed talking with everyone! Then Elder Stevens, who was companions with Elder Kirkham and just got transferred here and is now our new zone leader, heard me talk about Star Valley and Afton in my talk. This is so crazy! So he said that he had family in Star Valley too just down the street from the church. I said that Grandma and Grandpa owned a house just down the street as well. I told him that it was the big green barn with the "L" on it and he said: "Oh yeah! I know exactly which one you are talking about! Small world! So he knew exactly which house was Grandma and Grandpa's in Star Valley! It was pretty neat! So we finished eating and then Brother Allah told everyone to keep Bishop Jessop in our prayers. Bishop wasn't at Church and so we all wondered what happened. Brother Ampah said that Bishop had surgery a few days ago. Everyone looked at each other because nobody knew that he was going to have surgery. Then we had the thought to go give him and his wife the sacrament. So we headed over to give Sister Johnson the sacrament and it went really well! Sister Johnson is always so happy to see us and loves the sacrament. Then we headed over to Bishop's house and knocked on their door. He opened up the door and was wearing what looked like to be 3D glasses for a movie. But then he told us that he and his wife had Lasik eye surgery just a few days ago. So we went inside and they have been doing really well. The pain is pretty bad with this kind of surgery so they have been stuck inside for a few days now. So we talked with them for a while about the ward and how church went! These glasses kind of looked like the glasses from 2015 in Back to the Future. They were pretty funny. Every time we go over to their apartment I always love seeing their 2 Utah State University degrees displayed proudly on their wall! They both graduated from Utah State just a few years ago and now Bishop is working as a doctor at a Manhttan hospital. I always comment and tell them that it is good to have some Aggies in the ward! So we gave them the sacrament and had a great discussion with them and then we headed out to do a few lookups and try to schedule some more lessons. We went to a lady named Shalva Coleman and we found out that she moved and the people that lived there were Jewish and not interested. So we continued down the street and were happy to see our friend Fitz-Roy Francis out on his porch. So we said Happy Father's Day to him and got to talk to him for a little while. It was getting pretty late so we had a quick chat with him and then we headed back to the apartment for the night! It was a great and busy day! I was really excited to find out who the new Bishopric was! I was wishing Dad a Happy Father's Day and hoping you had a great day!
Monday was our first District Meeting with Elder Dick as our District leader! We woke up and went outside to play some baseball on the baseball field again and we had a great time! Then we came back to the apartment and got ready for the day and did our planning. Elder Dick was really excited for District Meeting! It was his first District Meeting that he had conducted and so we're both really looking forward to it! So we headed over to the church after our planning and to set up for district meeting. Elder Dick bought a cord to hook up his tablet to the tv so he could play hymns and show everyone our goals and numbers for the week. But unfortunately, the cord didn't plug into his tablet and so he will have to buy another one sometime today. So we got District Meeting all set up and then we had leadership meeting with our Zone Leaders and the District Leaders from the Spanish ward. We had a great leadership meeting and we talked about our splits that we will be going on and what we can do to help the ward. It was great and then we headed upstairs for our District Meeting and Elder Dick did such a great job! We talked about the ward and our investigators and what we could do to help them. It was great! Then we did something really fun! Elder and Sister Coleman ordered Dominoes since it was our 1st District Meeting of the cycle. We had a bacon lovers pizza and a brownie cookie. It was a fun time! Then we had to hurry over to an appointment we had way into our area. It was with Madeline Lopez that we found tracting on Saturday. We were really excited! It was SO hot and humid. I have never felt so much humidity and I knew that it was going to get much worse. By the time we got to her house, we were so hot and thirsty. Luckily I brought my water bottle that you gave me and had ice cold water to drink. So we got to her house and she answered right away and felt so bad because she had to go run an errand for her Grand Daughter and so she couldn't have our lesson. She said that she was just headed out the door and so we scheduled another appointment for yesterday afternoon! So then, we headed back to the apartment to do our studies. We did language study, personal study, and companionship study. As we were studying, a whole bunch of dark storm clouds rolled in from out of no where. It had been so hot and sunny all day and now It was looking pretty stormy. Then out of no where, a sheet of rain all fell at once. It wasn't like it slowly trickled in, it just all fell at once. Then the wind really picked up and there was a ton of thunder and lightning. I even got a video of it and put it on my drive so hopefully you can see how crazy it was. So it rained the rest of the day but it died down towards the evening. Then we had dinner and then headed to Co-Op City to see if Kojo was home. It took us forever to get there. It took us over an hour and a half to get there which is crazy! So by the time we got there, we had just enough time to knock on his door to have a quick chat with him and share a message. Unfortunately he wasn't home and so we decided to head back to the apartment but along the way we planned to talk to as many people as we could. At the bus stop we met 2 really nice Jamaican ladies who were coming home from work. It was fun to talk to them and get to know a little bit more about Jamaica! So we took the bus back to the apartment and had a nice chat with them. Then didn't understand much English and so we knew that it would be hard to teach them and they might not know some of the words. So we headed inside after a productive day! I was getting more and more excited for P-Day! Tuesday was another great day! We had 3 lessons back-to-back-to-back! We always love it when we have so many lessons! So we woke up, excercied, got ready for the day, did our studies and then headed out the door for another great day! So we had lots of tracting to do so we can have lots of people to teach! I'm not going to lie, it takes A LOT of patience to knock on lots of doors and only have 1 or 2 people even talk with us for a few minutes so we can tell them about our message. So we had 3 lessons scheduled and after a few hours of tracting out in the beautiful weather, we went to our 3 back to back lessons. We knocked on the 1st person's door, Gloria Udotia, her son was just about to leave and so our rule for missionaries is that we can't go inside if there is only 1 female present. So we just had to teach her a quick message of the Restoration. She really enjoyed it and then we got a text from our other investigator that we had a set lesson and she said that she had something come up and so she was unable to meet. She felt bad so we rescheduled with her. We then decided to do some more tracting for a few hours and then we did something really fun! We headed to eat dinner at Popeyes! I am a really big fan of Popeyes! They have really good food and a $5.00 that fills me up every time. It was really good and then we headed over to City Island to do some more tracting before we met with Matt! We knocked on a few doors but not very many people were home. We then saw something really cool! We saw a North Carolina licence plate on a car that was parked outside of a house so we decided to knock on their door but they weren't home. We would have had an instant connection since Elder Dick is from there. Then we headed over to the white mansion and met with Matt! He told us that the owner of the mansion actually moved in and she brought her dog. Before I talk about the dog, let me talk about the owner. Her name is Michelle and she owns the white mansion. She is very nice and loves it when we come over. I have only met her a couple of times since she loved in Manhattan. But she decided to move in. She brought her dog. This dog is unlike I have ever seen before. I is called a Doberman and apparently it is a REALLY expensive dog. We are talking like $10,000 just for 1 dog. It is a really rare Albino Doberman and to be completely honest, it is pretty funny looking. I guess I don't know what to look for in an expensive dog. Matt told us that Michelle has had her car almost broken into just so people can get this dog. I will be sure to take a picture of it soon. He said that when you take it out for a walk, you have to be careful so no one takes it because dog owners will definitely identify it as an expensive dog. But can you believe that?? $10,000.........for a dog! It is white and has these light blue eyes. I'm sure that if you googled: White Albino Doberman dog, it would probably come up with what it looks like. Her name is Jupiter and she is a very friendly and tall dog! So we had a great visit and lesson with Matt and we couldn't stay for too long since we did lots of tracting and finding. So we headed back to the apartment and I was so excited to read your email! I loved every single word and it was so much fun to read all about your amazing week and all of the fun and amazing things you got to see and do!
Well everyone! I think I got to everything that I wanted to say. I just want you to know how much I love and miss you! You are so loving and supportive! I appreciated so much all of the Birthday cards, treats, pictures, and videos! It was SO neat to have everyone wish me a Happy Birthday on your videos that you sent! I had an amazing Birthday! It was so fun to have my Birthday land on a P-day! I just appreciate you all so much and everything that you do for me! I feel so many prayers each and every day! I pray for you and everything that you do in every single one of my prayers. I am so blessed to have a family like you! I hope you all have an amazing week and enjoy your summer vacation! I cant beleive that I hit my 5 month mark! LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! ♥️
Love Always!
~Elder Lindberg
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