I Love Being A Trainer!

January 31st 2018~I LOVE TRAINING!!! Have So Much Fun Watching The Super Bowl!!!

Hello my dear and amazing Family!!! What an awesome, exciting, successful, fun, and amazing week from New York City! I am just loving being a trainer and the HUGE blessing that it is to train this amazing missionary! I have loved getting to know him and I know have a little bit more information about him so you can get to know him better! As you know, he is 6 foot 7 and so when he walks, I have a hard time keeping up with him just because he takes giant steps and he loves the work! This area is doing really well but in New York City, it's kind of a difficult challenge to even meet with anybody. But that is to be expected in Lower Manhattan! Hehe! It's just a huge blessing to be here in this truly incredible town!!!! First of all, thanks as always for your awesome, fun, and interesting emails and pictures! They are always SOOOO much fun to read and I love hearing about everything going on! I appreciate all of the details about major events and everyday events that take place at home! This week was jam packed and we are working so hard that the week just absolutely flew by! I hope this all makes sense and that I can remember everything!

Last P-Day was really awesome! We had a blast shopping in China Town and then we saw tons of cool stuff at the Met! We got to see tons of cool antiques and lots of guns! On the way, we had a guy come up to us and ask us if we would explain the Plan of Salvation to his friend who didn't really believe in religions but it was cool to share what we knew to be true and give him a Plan of Salvation pamphlet! We got to see a ton of antiques as well and some of my favorite things were the Grandfather clocks! They had a really cool American section that I wasn't able to go to last time and so it was a lot of fun to see! After our fun and exciting P-Day ended, we walked across the street to a lesson that we were really looking forward to with the Ingram family! We got to their door and realized that they weren't home and so we called them but they didn't answer. We are going to start trying to remind them about our appointments because they must just be forgetting. We won't give up on them because they are so awesome! Then we went to our next set appointment but again, he must have forgotten and so we will need to remind our investigators more about our appointments. We call them quite often but we need to keep trying! So then we did lots of lookups and knocked on doors until 8:30 when it was time for us to head back to the apartment. We only had a few people answer and they told us that they weren't interested or too busy. We try to share something really quick if they tell us that they aren't interested. Then on the way back to the bus, we saw a Mom and her son walk out of a church school and the 12 or 13 year old son had a good looking yellow Wyoming Cowboys sweatshirt with a big old bucking Bronco on it! I complimented him on it and I asked if he was from Wyoming but he said that he just went there for vacation a while ago! It was so cool! Thank you so much for your awesome emails throughout the day! They were so awesome! We were tired after a really great and fun day of hard work!

Thursday was so amazing! We had another really great and busy day of work ahead of us and so we were excited to get going! I woke up and loved seeing your fun email with pictures! Thanks so much for always sending them! I love getting emails so much! We started the day by doing our studies and then we called and texted about 40 investigators that we had in our records and called Antoine and we were able to set up an appointment with him! Then we read through Preach My Gospel and learned how to teach the Plan of Salvation better in a more simpler and clear way. Then we went to the Lincoln Square Chapel to pick up our mail and then we did lots of lookups to try and find more people to teach that had either had contact with missionaries a long time ago or just haven't been contacted in a while. We were able to see the McClain family and set up a new weekly time to meet with them! They were doing really good but Charles' health has declined a little and he has had a few health challenges. We continue to be there for him and help him any way that we can. We also saw Aaron, who is one of our investigators, as we were walking down the street sharing the Gospel with those we saw on the streets. He has been having some trials himself and told us that he needs some help with putting food on the table. We assured him that if he reads the Book of Mormon and prays about what he reads, he will be able to find peace and comfort during his trials. We were so happy that we could help him! He always wears a Yankee hat and it's always fun to talk to him! Then we took a bus and talked to people and asked how their day was going on our way to our 7:15 dinner appointment with Brother and Sister Toomey! We had some really good pork chops with mashed potatoes! Then we had a really good and spiritual lesson about following the Holy Ghost and we invited them to write down any spiritual experiences that they have during the week and see how many they have! Then we waited for the bus and talked to some really cool people and asked them where they were from. It's always so cool to meet so many people from all over the world and meet people that were born and raised in New York City! Then we had a lady come up to us and ask us for any food. The only thing that I could offer is a Book of Mormon but she respectfully declined. We came back to the apartment after a hard day's work and were ready for a snooze! We helped out our roommates by helping them move their huge and old couch that has been in their bedroom for years now. There used to be 3 missionaries that slept in that room and so they threw away the couch because it wasn't needed anymore and it was taking up a ton of space. It was a really awesome day and I was so excited that Dad and the boys had a fun time at the Aggie game and that that Aggies won! Thanks SO much for the awesome pictures!

Friday was so great! We had interviews with President Smith and I always love telling him all about our area and how the work is going! We did our studies and then had our interviews right after studies at 11:00. My interview went so well and President Smith and I had a very great conversation! He told me that he was so proud of me and that we are doing so well in this area! He told me to keep up the great work because this area has struggled a little bit in the few months before I got here and we are really turning it around! After our interviews, we had some lunch and then did our companionship study and 12 Week and we learned more about working with members and how to teach the Plan of Salvation. Then we did a few calls and we found a really cool guy in our area book from Germany named Justen! He is so cool and he wants us to help him with a small service project within the next few weeks and share a message with him! It was really cool that we just happened to call one of the only investigators who speaks German because Elder Williams took 5 years of German in school and can speak it really well! Then we tried to look up a lady who ordered a Bible online yesterday and so we tried to deliver it but she wasn't home so we called her and found out that she is in the hospital and on dialysis. She told us that we could drop it off within the next week and then we went to look up Edwin Roa and he was home but he was just about to leave but we were able to give him a Restoration Pamphlet and invited him to read and then we would discuss it more on our appointment on Sunday! Then we knocked on Kevin's door but he wasn't home so we came back to the apartment to have dinner and then we went to do some more lookups before our appointment with the McClain family. Our first stop was to visit Godson since we knew he was sick and resting at home we thought it would be a great idea to cheer him up and share a message to bring the spirit into his home! We buzzed up and nobody answered so we started to walk away but then a lady let us in and we went to knock on his door and when he answered, he was very, very angry that we came over without an appointment. He is from Nigeria and they have a culture where it is very impolite and rude to come by without an appointment, especially when you are close friends. So he yelled at us and told us that he was heading out for a long night of working and how rude it was to show up. We were very sorry to have upset him but we love Godson and want to help him come closer to Christ. He hasn't been to Church since before Christmas and so we just wanted him to get back to Church so he can feel the spirit. We are going to give him some time to think things through and so hopefully we can start teaching him in a month or so. But then we had a great lesson with Charles McClain! Monae was out of the house with the Sister Missionaries and so we had a great talk about the Book of Mormon and Charles said that he had an experience where he saw the Book of Mormon on tv and he thought it was a sign that he should continue reading it and seeing cool miracles! Then we saw a cool miracle of our own! We have texted this referral named Stephanie that we got a few days ago from a member who lives in Utah and she never responded. Well, we got a text from her asking us if we could come help her move some stuff into a storage unit and then the movers would be there to help us and load it into a truck. We had some time to fill that we left open for anything that we had come up and Stephanie told us exactly the time that we needed to fill and so it couldn't have fit more perfectly into our schedule! We had such a great day and we are seeing so many cool things happen in our area! I was thinking about you all day and wondering what you were all up to! Love ya!

Saturday was another amazing day from New York City!!! We started the day by going to visit an investigator who needed some help moving some bags. She is the lady that we heard about through her Dad Brent who is a convert and lives in Utah! So we helped her move about 2p garbage bags of stuff from her hallway in her apartment and took them to the curb. She was so nice and we found out that she moved to Summit Utah 2 days after we helped her. She told us that she had a crew of movers coming a few hours after we helped her to move her to Utah. It was great to help her but we wish that we could have taught her because we are pretty sure that she will get baptized pretty soon because she has 2 sister who are serving missions right now but she isn't a member! It is really cool! Then we had some lunch and then did our studies at the Church and then went to go visit Andre Perez. We had some great lessons planned and even had 2 members, Brother Bryan and Brother Mishler that were going to come with us but they ended up having some things come up and so they weren't able to make it. The rest of our day was so busy and it was a very great day! We have been working so diligently and very hard to help this area do well and have lots of people to teach! I'm so excited to see what this area will do not only while I'm here, but in the future! Then Brother Mishler came with us to visit Brother Eades and Brother Forbes. Brother Forbes has been going through some really tough times and he is starting to feel like the ward hasn't been as welcoming. He has been feeling a little sad but we were able to cheer him up! Then we had a lesson with Antoine and his family and we were a little nervous that he wasn't going to be there. He has been having a hard time keeping commitments but we try to remind him a lot to make sure he is always there and let him know how much we care about him and about how important our message is! Then we had a wild goose chase with him and it was a crazy, but great night! We got to Antoine's apartment right on time and knocked on the door but it was silent and nobody answered so we called him and he said that he was on his way back from New Jersey even though we reminded him about our appointment that morning and he said that he would be home. So he then told us to meet him at the 1st Avenue McDonald's but when we got there, we looked all around for him and a bus was pulling away from the curb and I spotted him on the bus leaving to go back to his apartment. Then Antoine told us not to stop by because his wife was sleeping and he was about to head off to bed as well. Our appointment with him was at 6:30 and we spent a while trying to meet with him but we never were able to. It has been hard to meet with him but we love this good family and want them to know how much we care because the Gospel will bless and help them so much develop in their relationship and make their family so much closer! Then we quickly checked on Lillian Rios since she lives right by our apartment and she wanted us to order her a large print Book of Mormon for her to start reading. Our next step with her is trying to get her to Church. We are working harder than ever to study, get people to Church, and really watch this area progress! I really have this area down like the back of my hand since I have been here for 3 transfers and I am really putting into practice what I have learned during the 1st half of my mission! I am working as hard as I can and giving it everything that I've got! I feel so many prayers and so much love from each of you! Love and miss you so much!

Sunday was so great! I love this ward so much and the members are so great and Church is always awesome! We woke up and said a prayer together that we would have at least 1 investigator in Church that day because we love it when our investigators come to Church! We headed out for church after we planned out our day and as soon as we turned the corner, guess who was standing right outside our apartment in front of Compare Food?? Antoine! He was talking to a lady and so we quickly invited him to Church and then he said that it was a true miracle that we ran into each other! We had to hop on the bus because there aren't very many that come on Sundays and so we had a prayer in our hearts as we rode the bus to Church. We got to Church and had an amazing day! It was a little rainy but it wasn't too bad. I was so very excited to see your email and I loved your quote! I always love the quotes that you send so much and they always motivate me a ton! We didn't have any investigators in Church due to the rain and Charles had an injury to his leg and so none of our investigators were able to make it. We had some great lessons about agency and how we can choose for ourselves if we return to live with Heavenly Father if we make the right choices. We also had some amazing sacrament meeting talks about prayer and Brother Guynn and Brother Swiss talked about how they have both had experiences where prayer has helped them in danger. They are both from Utah and so it was really fun to hear them talk about Northern Utah and Salt Lake! Then after Church, we did our studies and talked about what we learned in Church and then called our investigators that weren't able to come to Church and then we got a text from Sylvia Ingram and she wanted us to come over and share a message but she ended up cancelling due to some things coming up so we sent her a text telling her that we really love their family but it has been so hard to meet with them and that we really need them to commit to some lessons. We are working so hard to meet with them on a regular basis so we can establish our expectations and importance of reading the Book of Mormon and coming to Church. It was great to be able to set our expectations and show our love to their family! Then we knocked on Edwin Roa's door who is an investigator that ordered a Book of Mormon online and that we have only met 2 times and so we thought we should continue teaching him now that the holidays are over. He wasn't home and so we went to our next 2 appointments with Robert Torres and the Ingram Family but they both cancelled as well. Robert really wasn't feeling good and was lying down and was considering calling an ambulance. We thought about offering him a Priesthood blessing but it just wasn't a good time so we cheked up on the McClain family since they weren't in Church and Charles wants us to pick up Monae for church every week since the lady that was supposed to pick her up today wasn't able to make it. Then we called and thanked the 2 awesome speakers that we had in sacrament meeting and they really appreciated the call! We also called the Call family and they were doing really well! They were Skyping their families when we called and thought it was nice of us to think of them! We have had so many different people sign up to feed us and it has been awesome! We know that the ward trusts us and we love going over to so many different apartments for dinner! I have absolutely loved being here and serving a mission! This place is just so incredible! I really appreciated your email so much and I set the picture that you sent as my background!

Monday was a really great day as well! We headed off to the Temple for our District Meeting after our studies and we learned more about the Book of Mormon in Chapter 5 of Preach My Gospel! We had 2 sister missionaries from the Temple Square mission who left a week ago and so we had 2 new sister missionaries from the Temple Square mission added to our district this last week. This next cycle will be crazy because there are quite a few missionaries t hst have been here for a while and so we are pretty sure that we will get a new district leader as well! I have been having a ton of fun especially now that I have gotten completely used to being a missionary and now I am really putting into practice what I have learned and it has been so awesome! Even though I still really, REALLY miss you all, I haven't been as homesick. It's always been hard for me to be away from you but I really have been doing much better and I've really gotten into a great rhythm and I know how much this Gospel blesses the lives of others! Thank you for making so many sacrifices so I can be here! Mom and Dad, thank you SOOOOO much for working so hard at your jobs each and every day so we can be as blessed as we are and so I can serve a mission and go to Utah State! You bless my life each and every day and I am going to continue to work as hard as I can to show my love and appreciation for you both! We had fun getting to know the 2 new sister missionaries before District Meeting. One is from California and the other is from Thailand. After District Meeting, we called some of our investigators who we didn't know very well so we could set up an appointment with them and get to know them better. We did our companionship study while we were at the Church and even got a hold of a lady who ordered a Book of Mormon but we found out from her that she already got it from the Sister Missionaries! We were happy to hear that she was in touch with missionaries and that she was being taught! Then we visited Brother Eades and Brother Forbes which was a really great visits! It has been fun to teach them more about Temples and remember the amazing experience that I had going through with you before I left. I will never forget that special moment and I will always treasure that moment! Then we went to an appointment with a less active member named Mary Miles. We have met with her a few times and we are trying so hard to get her back to Church. She is an interesting lady and she has some personal problems that she is dealing with but she has a strong testimony of Jesus Christ. So after her lesson, we had a lesson with Alexsander Feliciano and it went really well! We always love having set appointments and working with less active members! We had the best lesson that we've ever had with him! He has been having a hard time understanding the lessons that are taught in Church and so we are going to start sitting with him in his classes so we can explain everything! He is about 35 years old and has a learning disability so it can be hard for him to learn most of the concepts of the Gospel. Then we wished Charles a Happy Birthday and he was in the best mood ever! He and his family didn't do much for his special day but he was in a cheery mood, especially because we stopped by which was great! Then as we were walking towards Antoine's apartment, we heard someone yelling for us and it was our investigator Aaron Dais! He said that he really appreciated everything that we were doing for him and encouraging him to pray and read the Book of Mormon. He told us that he was sorry that he wasn't taking our lessons seriously and that he will be in Church within the next few weeks. He has just had so much going on in his life that he has been in a bad mood and so it was so nice to hear him compliment us! Then we knocked on the Ingram families' door and Sylvia was the only one that answered and so we said hello to her and then it was time to walk back to the apartment for the day. We had a great, busy, and successful day!

Tuesday was incredible! We got right to work and we were busy the whole day trying to find more people to teach! After our morning studies, we both felt prompted to call as many of our potential investigators as we could so we got busy with calling lots of people and setting up appointments! We were able to get a hold of a few of our investigators and even called Antoine and scheduled an appointment with their whole family for this evening! Then we did some lookups and knocked on some door near Madison Square Garden and we saw on the side of the arena that the Knicks played the Nets last night and it was really cool to see so many fans! We found a few people at home and now we have a few more names with the faces that we have in our area book! Then we did our companionship study and had fun studying in Preach My Gospel and watching the assigned District videos. I always love watching them because they are really good examples of how to teach by the spirit and according to their needs! Then we went to visit Brother Eades and Brother Forbes to teach them more about the Temples again! I was getting more and more excited to get your email that night! I get so excited to read them and see your pictures every Tuesday night! We had a great lesson with them and I even got a picture with Brother Eades and Brother Forbes with their home attendant, Troy! Then we walked back to our apartment from near the Empire State Building and talked to people along the way and were able to help a lady with her cart of groceries! Then we had some dinner and I made some pancakes with syrup and it was really tasty! Then we had a lesson scheduled with Robert Torres that we were so excited about because we couldn't wait to teach him about the Restoration and teach him about the Book of Mormon! We were also excited to help him through his addictions and help him work towards baptism! We feel so bad for Robert because we have really come to love him but his circumstances and his life is really rough right now. We usually go over and find him so drunk and not even coherent but he manages to express how much he appreciates us. He has such a good, caring heart but has just made some bad decisions and gotten involved with the wrong crowds and he has some bad habits. He is in his mid 50s but he tells us that he thinks that he doesn't have much longer left which is so sad to hear because we can see the amazing man that he is underneath his addictions. I need to get more pictures with people so you can visualize who we teach. We were able to share the message of the Restoration with him but his mind kept slipping and he couldn't retain much of what we taught. We taught simply and the spirit filled the room as we taught. Elder Williams did a really great job teaching and I think I have taught my very best with him because of what we are learning in our studies! We gave Robert a big hug and he just looked up at us both with a lot of his energy and said "Boys, I love you, and appreciate you bringing me hope! You have brought me something that I haven't ever felt in my life, and that's hope and love." He has been one of the coolest investigators that I have taught so far on my mission. He may not get baptized while I am here, but we are planting the seeds and helping him slowly progress towards baptism and coming closer to our Father in Heaven. We walked the 1 mile or so back to our apartment after an amazing day and with big smiles on our faces! I told Elder Williams how awesome he is doing and how great of a missionary he is! I couldn't wait to say our nightly prayer and then read your fun email! I couldn't beleive how fast P-day rolled around again!

Well my dear and incredible Family, it has been an awesome time to type up this email to let you know how the missionary work is going here in New York City! It couldn't be going any better and Elder Williams is doing a really great job! He has loved it here and it has been really fun for me to show him the ropes of doing missionary work in New York City! It's been a blast to show him different landmarks and get to know him better! I have loved being able to help him and answer any questions that he has because I take pride in making sure he starts off on the right foot! I want him to become the best missionary he can be and it makes me better because I learn so much with him! A few more things that I learned about him is that he speaks really good German because he took German classes for 5 years in a row in High school. It has been fun for him to teach me a few words and phrases even though there aren't many people besides tourists, who speak German around here. He is going to go to Weber State when he gets home and wants to go into Law enforcement. His older sister is debating right now whether she should go on a mission or not and so it has been fun to hear Elder Williams get excited about his sister serving! He is one of the funniest missionaries I've ever met and has lots of funny stories from the MTC and about his family. His Dad is a police officer and their whole family loves football and watches the March Madness tournament each year and has huge parties for the games. He seems so much younger than me though just because he is a whole year younger and was just in High School. He is also one of the hardest working missionaries I've ever met and never gives up or complains. We still aren't sure exactly what we are doing for P-Day but Elder Williams wants to go get a haircut and then we might go to the Museum of the city of New York which is always fun! It has been really fun to know what subways to take to get to certain places and see the different museums over again. Well my dear Fam! I hope that we can email back and forth a little bit today and chat throughout the day! I just want you all to know how much I love and appreciate you each so much! I love being a missionary so much and I'm so grateful for all of the many sacrifices that you have all made so I can be here today! I hope you all have an amazing week and lots of fun! It is really cold right now and so we will bundle up and have lots of fun today! Elder Williams really wants to try Dö Cookie Confections and so that will be a fun way to kick off our day! There is always something to do in the Big Apple! Have an awesome time at work and school! LOVE AND MISS YOU SO VERY MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love You Always!
~Elder Lindberg

Big News!

January 24th 2018~NEW MISSION PRESIDENT ANNOUNECED!THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE AMAZING PACKAGE AND HALF TIME WISHES!!!!

Hello my dear and incredible Family! Thank you all bunches for your awesome email, pictures, and package! I hope you got my letter to show my appreciation for you! I wish I could give you a hug and thank you in person! I am so glad that you pointed out that yesterday will be a year from when I come home! The countdown is on!!! In less than a year, I will be giving you a huge hug! I am so happy that you had a great and fun week because I sure did as well! I have so much to talk about so here we go! Today for P-day, Elder Williams wants to go to the Met Museum to check out a lot of cool art and artifacts so we will be having a blast there all day! They have Wi-Fi in the museum so we can chat back and forth all day! Right now, we are cleaning the apartment and we already have laundry done so we are emailing and then do our grocery shopping before we head to the Met! I'm excited to go back because there is so much that I still haven't seen!

Last P-day was so much fun and very relaxing! We woke up to light falling of snow but it wasn't too cold which was nice! It was an amazing day and I appreciated so much your emails and your well wishes! We had a really fun time emailing and getting our apartment straightened up and nice and tidy and then at about noon, we headed over to the Temple for our session! We had a really good turnout and we were the only 2 missionaries in the session and so it was fun to get to know some different people! It was such a cool experience to be able to go on the 52 week mark of getting dropped off and the day before my year mark! It was really awesome! It was a really fun P-Day and I was sad that it was over. Then we went to go visit Charles and Monae but they told us to come a little later because they were having an argument and they had some business to deal with and so we did some tracting and we were able to pass out a Resteration pamphlet with our phone number and so hopefully we get a call soon! Then we went over to visit Charles and Monae and we found out from Charles that their 13 year old daughter, Monae, has been taking different things from around the house to school. Charles was pretty upset but we were able to bring the spirit into their home and by the time we shared a video about the Atonement, they were both getting along much better! The spirit can fix almost anything! It was a cool experience! Then we had an appointment with Antoine but he ended up leaving the house right after he called to confirm with us about our appointment. We are so confused as to why he keeps setting up these appointments and calls to confirm them but then at the split second, decided to take a trip to Brooklyn and left the house. We are so sad for him because we know how much peace and happiness he can feel in his life if he just takes this step and commits to reading the Book of Mormon and coming to Church. It will help his marriage so much but if he chooses to not be home for our lessons, then we will have to stop teaching him. We see so much potential in him but sometimes people have a really hard time seeing the importance of our message at first. So then we did a few more lookups and knocked on Evelyn Esteves door who is an investigator and we met her son, Chris. So it was awesome that we found another guy to teach! Then we walked back to the apartment and I was just so excited that it was my year mark! I realized that it was exactly a year that I was set apart! On our way back, we met a really cool man from Brooklyn who just recently moved to a homeless shelter on Avenue D where our apartment is and said that he was looking for Infomil formula for his 4 month old baby but he couldn't find a place that donated money. I really wish I could help everyone that we see but it's so hard to give money. It was a really awesome day and I was so excited for Zone Conference and my year mark hump day!!

Wow!!! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE HAPPY HUMP DAY WISHES!!!! Thursday was such an amazing day! I woke up and was SO very excited to see your amazing email! Thank you a million times for you awesome pictures and fun video!!!!! It was so much fun to see and hear you and watch you eat your delicious ice cream! You all look so well and happy! And that makes me so happy! Thanks again for the well wishes and the fun package! I was smiling ear to ear the whole day and just couldn't even believe that it has been a whole hear since I got dropped off! It really blows my mind! We woke up a tiny bit early to get to Zone Conference on time. It was so much fun to have Zone Conference on my actual year mark! We took the train to the Temple and had a delicious breakfast! We had an amazing zone conference! It was all centered on faith and helping our investigators keep commitments and the importance of the Book of Mormon. It lasted until about 4:00 and we were able to celebrate my year mark afterwards! They had mail on the stage and I was so excited to get your fun thank you card! Thank you so much for everything that you wrote and all of the fun thank you notes! I really appreciated it so much and loved reading what you all wrote! I watched your video again and loved every second of it! Then we were able to go out to eat and celebrate! We decided to go to Taco Bell and I used your gift card and so it was like you were there! It was a really fun way to celebrate and I got some really yummy food! Thanks again so much for all of the fun gift cards! I had a blast using them and eating at lots of fun places! After our delicious dinner, we headed towards our apartment to go to a few lessons that we had! I was having the best day and just couldn't even believe that I now had more time behind me than I did in front of me! It blew my mind that my mission was now more than half over! As I looked back on this last year of my incredible mission, I just can't help but smile! I'm so appreciative of you all and all of your love, prayers, and support!! This year has been so incredible and I've learned so much! I can't wait to see what this next year has in store because I know it will be incredible too! After our dinner, we brought the mail back to the apartment and then went to go teach and help Robert Torres come closer to Christ. We knocked on his door and he was just released from the hospital that day and so he was recovering from his illness. We said a prayer with him and then called Antoine Ingram to remind him that we were coming over. He told us that he was down the street eating at IHOP with his wife and so we went over to have a lesson with them! It was later and so there were hardly any people in the restraunt and so we had a great lesson! We found out that they really love coffee and they just went to IHOP so they could have their unlimited coffee deal. We will work through that issue soon so they can progress towards baptism. We were able to meet his new wife, Sylvia and give her a Book of Mormon and a Restoration Pamphlet and then we invited them both to Church and to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. They both are showing so much promise and we are really excited to plant those seeds of faith. They are both religious and Sylvia grew up in Savannah Georgia and she is so nice. We were praying and asking Heavenly Father to let them make it to Church! We left the IHOP feeling so excited and blessed to be teaching them! We are helping them in any way that we can and planting those seeds of faith. Then we got a text saying that the De Jesus family are moving to California in a few weeks. It was pretty shocking at first but they have been talking about some job offers that have come up and so at the beginning of February, they will be moving. I had an AMAZING hump day and really loved your treats, packages, videos, pictures, and funny "Hump Day" picture! Grandma Evans also gave me an incredible card and I'm so grateful for each of your love and support! You are the best Family ever!!!!! I was thinking about you the whole day! Love you!

Friday was so awesome!! I woke up and couldn't believe that I was more than half way done!! I loved your videos, pictures and well wishes so much! I enjoyed the treats and reading your fun cards so much! We found out that we had a conference call so President Smith could share all of the cool stories that have happened within the last week. I submitted our cool stories about finding people to teach and how we found Antoine and what a cool miracle that was! He shared some experiences where people were found by cool miracles just like Antoine! It was so cool to have our faith built by former missionaries. Then we did our weekly planning and called lots of people and even found a lady named Aida for the Florida missionaries to teach! It was a cool miracle! Then we went to go teach Neil but he just isn't progressing and so we aren't going to go over to his apartment any more because he just wants to talk about life and not about religion at all since he is an atheist. We thought we would go over to help build his faith that there is a Heavenly Father but he would stop us and change the subject. He is still a really good friend and he is such a nice guy but isn't someone who will accept the Gospel. So then we went to the Church to do our studies which is our 12 Week program and then we did our companionship study!We have been learning a ton from each other and we are having fun watching some District videos for missionary training and reading from Preach My Gospel together! Then we had 2 of the COOLEST and most AMAZING lessons I think that I have ever had so far on my mission! I'm telling you that these 2 lessons were so incredible and the spirit was really strong! We started off by scheduling a dinner appointment that morning with the Toomey family but it ended up getting cancelled due to a late train and Brother and Sister Toomey weren't able to make it home to feed us and so that allowed us some extra time for these amazing lessons to happen! First, we knocked on the door of a man named Robert Torres who I met for the first time about a week ago. He told us to come back and so we did. He has been struggling with drug and alcohol problems most of his life and was so frustrated and just wants peace and to be freed from this addiction. He poured out his feeling to us and told us that he wants to stop smoking and drinking. He then said that he was done and at wits end and just wants help and that he knows that it wasn't by coincidence that we came by. We saw such a change in him for the 45 minutes that we were over there and we promised him that he can be freed from this addictions as long as he reads the Book of Mormon and says his prayers to help give him that power to overcome his addictions. He is in his late 50s and lives alone and gave us a big hug before we left and told us thank you! He just kept telling us how grateful he was that we stopped by and he wanted us to help him! Then we went to go visit a lady named Lillian Rios who wanted us to give her a blessing. I had met her before but we hadn't been able to meet with her for a few months because of the busy holidays. She told us that she is going in for spine surgery and just wanted some peace. Her daughter passed away last March and so she has been having a rough time coping with raising her 3 grandchildren with her husband. She came into the dining room and just didn't look good. She was hunched over in pain because she has some pinched nerves and so she was in a lot of pain. She could barely sit let alone stand and so we gave her a blessing of comfort and healing. We closed the blessing and I kid you not but she stood right up and told us "Boys!!!!! I don't feel any pain." She walked us outside to the elevator and said that he pain was virtually completely gone. It was so incredible to see such an immediate answer to a blessing! It was so cool for all of those involved! Then we came back to the apartment for dinner since Brother and Sister Toomey weren't able to make it and so we had a nice dinner at our apartment. Then we checked up on Charles and Monae and their cousins were over and so we got to say hi to them. We invited them to Church again and to the linger longer lunch and they said that they would come! Then we tried to visit a guy named Radames but he wasn't home so we talked to people on the streets for the rest of the night. It was a really great day and then we got some exciting news when we got back to the apartment! We got a text from our Zone Leaders telling us that President Smith was having another conference call the very next morning and so we knew that he was going to announce something big!!!! We went to bed excited for the morning to come so we could hear the news!

VERY EXCITING NEWS!!!! Saturday was a really aweosme day! We woke up to an amazing sunrise and we enjoyed exercising before our studies. After our studies, it was time for the conference call that we were all really looking forward to! We got on the call after our studies and were so excited to hear his news! He told us that as of July of this year after the new mission President comes in, it will be the New York City mission!!!! It will be its own mission and then he told us that a new mission President got called! His name is President Toosher! I'm not sure how to spell it but it was exciting to hear a name! It was really exciting and I recorded it on my new recorder while eating your treats! I'm not sure exactly what the new boundaries will be but it's so crazy to think that New York City will have it's very own mission. I am so excited to meet President Toosher in July! It's crazy to think that when the new mission President comes in, I will be 6 months away from coming home! After our awesome Confernece call, we went to visit Andre Cox because we have been wanting to get to know him better and he called us that morning and asked if we wanted to come help him clean his apartment. We were so happy to help out! Elder Brown and Elder Macedo went over to his house to share a message when they were on a split and said that his house was really messy so we went over not knowing what to expect. We got to his floor and there was a funky smell. Then we got to his door and realized that it was coming from his apartment. We walked inside and the smell was overpowering and Elder Williams and I couldn't even hardly stand to be in there. We kept fighting through even though it was so messy. We helped him clean up and carry garbage bags full of garbage out to a nearby dumpster and really made the place look a lot better! It was so sad to me to see how some people live. He is a really nice guy but likes to keep everything and sometimes has a hard time taking care of his house. We brightened his day and worked up a big appetite and then went to our lunch appointment with the Bryan Family! Brother and Sister Bryan, and their daughter Riis, met us at a teriyaki place called "Glaze" and it was so yummy! I got a pork and rice platter with brown rice and lots of good teriyaki sauce! We had a great chat but Riis was getting a little fussy so we are quickly and then went over to the Church for the rest of our studies. We did our 12 Week and companionship study and then went to go visit Brother Eades and Brother Forbes. I was hoping that you were all having a great day! We taught them about Temples again since Brother Forbes is still preparing to go and so we read through the first few pages of the "Preparing to Enter the Temple" book! Then we had a quick dinner and then went to visit Arcangel! We hadn't seen him since before Christmas and so we were anxious to teach him again! The spirit directed us to teach about the Priesthood because he had many great questions about how the Priesthood works! Then we came back to the apartment to prepare our online progress record of everyone that we are teaching. We sent it off at about 9:30 and then enjoyed writing in our journals and resting for a new day!

Sunday was so amazing!!! I am so excited to say that we had a whole family of that investigators come to church! We had Antoine, Sylvia, and Elijah come to Church! We woke up excited to see how many people we invited come to Church especially because we had the Linger Longer Ward Activity with a free lunch and so we were hoping to get tons of people there! So we cut some olives for our Ward lunch and then went over to Church! We had an amazing turnout but when Sacrament Meeting started, we realized that we didn't have any investigators at Church and so we were sad about that but when we got to Gospel Principles class, Sister De Jesus called us out of class and told us that Antoine and his family showed up! We were so happy and grateful that they were able to make it to the last 2 hours of Church and the lunch! We had some really great speakers! We had Brother and Sister Bryan give introductions to their family and some of their hobbies. Then Brother Bryan shared one of President Monson's 1st conference talks that has to do with missionary work and gathering those who are lost. Then Bishop Duprieu gave a really great talk about how he went to the Temple with his good friend and his son who is about to leave for his mission to the Czech Republic! We were sad that the Ingram family couldn't make it to hear those amazing talks but I was able to get a picture with them! It is just so amazing that we ran into Antoine on the street and now he and his wife and son are in Church! It was a really cool sight to see! They really enjoyed the classes and loved how the church is organized and they had tons of people come up to them and introduce themselves and then we had a great Hawaiian Haystack lunch and they thought it was so yummy! We got to talk to them for about an hour while we ate and mingled with members and even taught them about the Plan of Salvation! It was a true miracle that they were able to come and feel the spirit! I am so grateful to Heavenly Father and all of your prayers because I know that they made Antoine and his family feel prompted to come! After Church and our aweosme lunch, we had a really good ward correlation with the sister missionaries and Brother Mishler and talked about all of our exciting investigators! The Sister Missionaries have 1 person on baptismal date for February 3rd and so they are working hard to keep that date on track. Then we came back to the apartment to change and we did our 12 Week program and learned about following the spirit to teach people according to their needs. On our way back to the apartment, we met a man who is a native New Yorker and started talking to us who is Jewish. He asked us if we were both from Utah and sure enough, we both are so we enjoyed telling him all about Utah! Then when we got back to the apartment, we watched a cool district video about how they were teaching a lady and found out more about her to teach based on what the spirit directed them to teach! Then we went to find some more people to teach and along the way, we stopped to visit Andy! He is doing well but he still just doesn't feel happy or peaceful because of everything going on. He has also been feeling sad that he has a disability and so we read out of the Book of Mormon about the resurrection and then we tried to visit Isaac and the McClain family but neither of them were home. We knocked on the door of an older lady and found another son named Angel. Each time we have gone over, we have found someone new so it has been really cool! I was thinking a lot about you the whole day and hoping you had an amazing and fun day! I love and miss you all so much!

Monday was so awesome! We went to district meeting and got to split with Elder Lusk and Elder Macedo! It was Elder Williams' 1st split and so he was excited to go to their apartment! So we had our district meeting and then we hurried to get some lunch and then we did a quick companionship study because we had a really busy day planned! Elder Lusk is from Clinton Utah and is our District Leader! He is such a great missionary and I learn so much from him! As we were studying together and practicing our teaching skills, we got a call from the sister and they told us that they had a guy named Wayne that wanted to meet with us and get a Bible. He had met with missionaries before and so they told us that he would be by the Church in about 45 minutes so we waited for him but he ended up cancelling because he was so busy. So we finished up our studies and then went to visit Brother Forbes and continue to learn about Temples and how special they are and the peace that we can feel! Brother Eades was out helping a neighbor with some grocery shopping and so he wasn't able to make it. So then we had a delicious dinner at Arby's since they have their $1.00 small size everything and so it was really fun to talk with Elder Lusk since we have so much in common. Then we saw something so crazy! We were headed over to give Andy a Bible and we saw a group of 3 boys in their 20s and we walked past them since we were in a hurry. As we got about 10 feet in front of them, we heard them yelling "Hey!" "Hey you!" We thought that they were yelling to us but we realized that they were yelling at another guy in his 20s that was walking in front of us. The group of 3 boys came walking really close up behind us and I hear in my right ear "Let's knock him out." I couldn't beleive that they said that and my heart was racing like crazy! Then we started to walk faster but then they walked right past us and walked up behind the guy who was in front of us and one of them ran up to him and punched him. The guy just stood there shocked and he had headphones in so he couldn't hear anything. He reacted very calmly and we walked across the street and the 3 guys yelled at him but the other guy was just so calm and kept walking which helped calm them all down. They split up and went different ways but we had no idea why they did what they did. It was so crazy! I am so grateful that we were safe and sound! Then we dropped off Andy's Bible and then went to a lesson with Lillian. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she even had a friend over who is a 7th Day Adventist and we found out that we both have almost identical beliefs and he agreed to everything that we said! Then we had an amazing lesson with Robert Torres. He had his brother over at his house but he listened in from the other room and thanked us for coming over and teaching his brother. Robert was struggling with the Word of Wisdom and said he just doesn't know how to resist the temptation but we continued to encouraged him to read the Book of Mormon and pray for guidance! Then we walked back to the apartment excited for all of the fun things happening in our aweosme area! It was such a great day and I really appreciated your email so much! It was a ton of fun to hear from you!

Tuesday was an awesome day! We woke up to warm weather and a little rain but it was a nice change! First thing, we went to the Temple to unsplit and then we got to see a huge tour that the Sister Missionaries organized to look at some Book of Mormon art and they were all from a local Catholic Church. Then we headed back out excited for the day because it was really busy and we had a dinner appointment scheduled that evening with the Shumway family at the World Trade Center which we were very excited about! Then we dropped off Elder Williams' overnight bag and had some lunch before heading to a visit and lesson WIT H Jesus Mena. We had met with him only once before so we were excited to talk to him again! When we got there, a lady told us that he wasnt home and so we knocked in some doors around his apartment and then did our 12 Week and companionship study at the church before going to visit Brother Eades and Brother Forbes. We learned how to work well with members and how we should always ask for referrals. We continued to learn about Temples with them since they both really want to go and someday be sealed to a spouse. Then we got really excited for our dinner with Brother and Sister Shumway at the World Trade Center. It is a really fancy shopping and eating district called "Brookfield Place" and it was remodeled after it was destroyed when the Twin Towers collapsed and so it is really crazy to be eating dinner there as a missionary! I look around and I'm just so grateful to be serving here! We got to Brookfield Place right on time and enjoyed being there while we waited for Brother and Sister Shumway to get there. It is such an amazing building and has lots of fancy shops and restaurants! They have a really nice food court there and so we could eat get whatever we wanted and so Elder Williams and I both got a brisket sandwich with fries and a drink and had a really fun time eating and getting to know them better! They are both from Utah and so we all connected really well! Sister Shumway had to leave early so I was only able to get a picture with Brother Shumway. Then we went to an appointment that we had with Charles and Monae but Charles cancelled last minute and so we decided to go visit Robert instead. We are so close to helping him break his addiction to drinking and smoking. We have seen a changing his behavior and he is slowly but steadily recovering and he has drastically cut back on how much he smokes and drinks each day! We have only met with him 3 times and I have never taught anyone who has these addictions and so it has been a real growing time for me to focus on what he needs to break these addictions. It has been such a testimony builder for me! I was really excited to get your email and see your pictures as always! It always makes my whole week and I love every single thing that you write! We got back to the apartment right in time and I enjoyed writing in my journal before seeing your pictures and reading your awesome email!

Well my dear loved ones! It was so fun to email and hear how your fun week went! Thank you again for your fun package and your emails and pictures! I know this Church is true and I have seen how much it has blessed our lives and I know how much it can bless others! Thanks so much for your constant love and support! I hope you have another great, fun, and safe week! Good luck with work and school and know that I think about you all the time! YOU ARE THE BEST FAMILY EVER!!! LOVE AND MISS YOU SO MUCH!!!

Love You Always!
~Elder Lindberg

One YEAR Down!!!!!

As I reflect on this last year I am so amazed at what a great Missionary Tanner has become. He has truly amazed me all along the way. I could not be more proud to call him my son. Since Tanner loves football so much we put together a half-time package to celebrate his half way mark. He of course loved it! Good Luck in the second half Elder Lindberg!!!

January 17th 2018~THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE AMAZING PACKAGE!!! Exciting News! Baptisimal Date With Antoine Ingram!!! HALF WAY DONE WITH MY MISSION ALREADY!?!?

Hello my dear and amazing Family! Hello my dear and amazing family! I can't believe that I'm writing my last email before my year mark! Wow, what an amazing week it has been! Only 1 more day until I hit my year mark and I just can't believe it! I am so excited to open your package and see what you gave me! I have some exciting news! We got permission to go to the Temple today for our 1 temple trip this cycle and so we are going to the 2:00 session and we are really looking forward to it! Sorry that I forgot to mention that last week but we weren't sure if we got permission to go. We are really excited to go!

Last P-day was really amazing and incredible! It was really fun and special! I thought of you the whole day! We got to see so many cool artifacts and sights! We did our usual morning P-Day activities like grocery shopping in the basement grocery store, and laundry. Then we got to email for quite a while and then we headed down to the 9/11 Museum! It was different this time just because we didn't have to take as long to travel from the Bronx which meant we had a lot more time! We had a really fun time together at the museum and I was just blown away by how amazing and jam packed that museum is! After we spent most of the day in the museum, we headed back to the apartment for dinner and then we finished our emails and then went to go visit Charles and Monae. We showed them a Mormon message video called, "Where Justice, love, and mercy meet." We knew they would enjoy it since they always rely on Jesus Christ and have lots of faith! Then we had one of the most amazing lessons I've ever had! We found a guy named Antoine Ingram a few days prior right before a lesson while out doing work with Brother Toomey! So we were walking to an appointment with Aaron on Thursday and Antoine Ingram came walking by and came up to us and starting talking to us. So we set a return appointment for last P-Day and we went over so excited for our lesson! We prayed about a baptismal date for him and we both felt like February 10th was the right date for him. So we went over to his apartment just right across the street from ours and had one of the best lessons! We got to know him better and to give you an idea of what he looks like, just look up a picture of Mark Ingram who plays in the NFL and that is pretty much what he looks like. He is really muscular and loves talking to people. He has a 10 year old son named Elijah. We taught him the Restoration and invited him to Church and read the Book of Mormon and a Restoration Pamphlet and he accepted! Then we invited him to be baptized for February 10th and he accepted! We read the introduction of the Book of Mormon and when we asked him what stood out to him the most, he paused for a couple of minutes and the spirit was so strong and he pondered on what to say. Elder Williams and I just sat in silence and let him think and he said that by praying, we can know through the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is true and that Jospeh Smith is a true prophet. It was so amazing and I'm so blessed and grateful to have met him! We headed back to the apartment with huge grins on our faces! Thanks so much for all of your wonderful prayers to find more people for us to teach because we now have so many investigators and we are so busy! We haven't been able to get a hold of Kevin for a while now and his baptism was supposed to be last Thursday the 11th but he hasn't been willing to meet with us and he still struggles to come to Church. So we will continue to work with him and progress with him step by step. It was such an amazing and incredible day!

Thursday was a really awesome and productive day as well! We had lots of studying and planning and it was really busy which is always nice! We went to the church right off the bat and did our big, huge weekly planning session and then did our 12 Week program and companionship study. We learned a lot from each other about teaching the Restoration and being able to find more people to teach. We have just gotten along so well and have had so much success together and I'm just so happy for this area and the people we are teaching! Then we did tons and tons of lookups and knocked on door after door after door and found a couple of less active members at home. We noticed that a lot of the less active members that live near the Empire State Building and the Flatiron building haven't even been visited or contacted and we didn't have record of any missionary even trying to go see them so we tried to visit as many less active members as we could but not very many people answered. We did this for a few hours and then headed over to Brother & Sister Toomey's apartment for a late dinner and lesson! I will be sure to get pictures with all of these members further on down the road so you can see what they all look like! We had a long bus ride ahead of us since we were all the way on the upper West side near Kevin and we had a dinner appointment with the Toomey family all the way down on the lower East side. I was so thirsty and so we stopped and I bought a Gatorade and drank it all in one gulp but then I realized a few hours later that New York City doesn't have any public restrooms. We did lots of lookups and then it was time to go to the Toomey's Apartment but then they texted and said that the Sister Missionaries were running a little late and so I had to wait for another 45 minutes before I could use the restroom but in the meantime, we looked and looked everywhere but found out that there are only a handful of public restrooms in the whole city. It was just a funny experience all together! Then we had a great dinner with Brother and Sister Toomey and we had hard shell tacos with chicken, rice, and sour cream and then shared a message about Jesus Christ and how we can rely on him. We showed the Mormon message called "Where Justice, Love, and Mcery Meet." Then we took the bus back to the apartment for the night. Then I checked my emails and saw that I had one from you and so I excitedly read it and was so excited to hear from you again! Thanks so much for always thinking of me! I'm such a blessed missionary!

Friday was such an amazing day! We woke up a little early to get to Grand Central Station on time so we could be to Scarsdale for the new missionary meeting by 9:00. We have been taking lots of trips up to Scarsdale and it's always so much fun! We get to see lots of cool New York sights along the way and the train ride was very pretty! The last 2 days have been very warm and even got into the upper 40s. Hehe! Can I say that 40 degree weather is warm? Hehe! It really hasn't been too cold at all! We loved the train trip up to Scarsdale and there was lots to see! The new missionary meeting was so great and we all felt the spirit really strong! Sister Smith shared a story from her mission where she and her trainer met this couple in their 70s and they were both baptized shortly after meeting them. She told us how special that was and then at the end of her mission, she was able to attend their temple sealing. She showed pictures and everything and it really made me reflect on how blessed I have been to teach Osagie, Mike, and Bill! Some really awesome news that I found out is that Graciela and Mike are engaged and they are getting sealed in the Temple within the next year! I am so excited and couldn't believe that exciting news! It was a privilage to be able to teach them and watch Mike grow! They talked a lot about adjusting to Missionary Life and how well the new missionaries were adjusting. It was a great meeting and then we had a huge meatball, salad, and rice lunch and had a great time talking with everyone! It was really similar to my new missioanry meeting last year and it brought back so many great memories! I felt like a brand new missionary just because a lot of the stuff they talked about, was from our meeting and so it was really awesome! Then we got to watch President Monson's Funeral and wow was it amazing! I was thinking about you all a lot since I knew you would be watching it too! We enjoyed watching it and remembering our dear prophet! Then we took the Metro North back to Grand Central Station and came back to the apartment to change and then we called our investigators. We were able to call Godson and Kevin but we couldn't hear Kevin because the microphone on his phone wasn't working so he could only hear us and so we talked but he would respond through texting. It was a very interesting way to communicate! Hehe! Then we had some dinner and headed out for the rest of the night! We visited Andy Lam again since he wanted us to come over and he wasn't doing very well unfortunately. He told us that he has been feeling down and that he is just struggling to find some self confidence. We made him feel a lot better and reassured him that he has a loving Heavenly Father. Then we stopped by to visit Kathy Evans and she was home! We had a great chat with her and then did some lookups. We walked for most of the day and Elder Williams and I got to talk a lot and he expressed how grateful he was for me and I told him how much I appreciate him and all of the hard work he puts in. Then we did some lookups and we went inside one kind of scary building to knock on a door and a group of guys asked us if we were in the right place. We said that we were visiting a friend and they said "Oh, ok". It was interesting! Then we walked back to the apartment after a really hard day at work of being a missionary! I hope you all were having an amazing day!

What a great day Saturday was! I am so excited to say that I got your package in the mail! For some reason, the office Elders came to deliver mail on Saturday and not on Thursday. I was so excited to open it but I waited because I was almost positive that it is for my year mark and so I am waiting so patiently to open it! I am beyond excited to see what you sent! Thank you so much in advance! You are so very thoughtful and I appreciate so much the wonderful and fun packages that you always send my way! You are seriously the best! We started the day by visiting Kevin at his apartment and talk about his baptism since the day passed. So we got to talk to him and he told us that he has a few struggles with the Word of Wisdom and so we reviewed that and then he told us that he just wants to get baptised but he can't due to the fact that he is living with Sauce. He has a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon and all of the principles of the Gospel but just has some Word of Wisdom issues but loves the church. Then we got some lunch and then did tons of studying and we practiced teaching our investigators at the 15th Street church and then read lots of chapters out of Preach My Gospel and learned some "How to begin teaching" points which are some great points to talk about when we first get into contact with an investigator and it sets the stage for our future visits. Then we went to pick up mail and I was so excited to see your package and Grandma's card!!!! Then we brought the mail back to the Church so we could walk down the street to visit Brother Eades and Brother Forbes. We taught them about the Atonement and then asked them what topics they would like us to teach. They want us to talk about Temples since Brother Forbes is preparing himself to go through the Temple within the next few months. They are really great people and very humble. They never complain when life gets hard and they trust in Heavenly Father and always try to stay positive. We had a really great visit and then Brother Forbes said that he is planning to visit his Brother who lives right down the street from were I used to live in the Bronx. It was kind of weird to say that I "used to live in the Bronx!" Then we had some dinner and then invited tons of people to Church. We have been focussing a lot in our district about using technology a lots more and we have found that we can contact a lot more people by giving them a simple phone call. It has worked really well and we had lots of people that said they would be in Church! Then we filled out our weekly report for the ward leaders to see about all of the great people we are teaching! We were so excited to submit it because we had 2 new people on it that we were excited to introduce to the ward! Then we brought our mail back to the apartment and I wanted to open your package really bad! It was a really great day! I love you guys so much!

Sunday was so amazing and fun! We woke up and got a call from Antoine and he said that he was in Brooklyn and thought Church started in the afternoon even though we reminded him that church started at 10:00. We were really excited for him to come and help him progress toward baptism but he said that he would come this upcoming week. So then we went to pick up Monae and take the bus with her to Church and then we had a great time talking with all of the members before church! This ward has been so awesome and Elder Williams has really loved it too! We invited and committed 7 people to come to Church but unfortunately, none of them showed up. We called them all afterwards and they all said that it was either too cold, or they went out of town for the day, or they were too tired. We were sad because we thought that we would have 7 investigators in Church and then none of them showed up. We tried to explain to them the importance of the Sabbath Day and how it can give them spiritual power for the week. Then we went to dinner with the Mishler Family and had an amazing time! Sister Msihler made us tomato soup and veggie burgers. It was really tasty and we had a great lesson! We shared the President Monson tribute video which they really enjoyed! We love that video a lot and it goes along perfectly for any family! Brother Mishler talked about his mission and how fast time goes. He told us to enjoy our missions while we are still on them. It got me thinking how fast time has gone. I couldn't believe that I was only a few days away from my "hump day" and the half way mark in my mission. I seriously feel like I was just giving you all a big hug ready to leave for my mission and here we are a whole year later. I wish I could give you all a big hug right now and relive that amazing and exciting time in my life! Thank you so much for allowing me and preparing me to serve a full time mission! It was a decision and a life goal that I set many years ago and I can't thank you all enough for the love and support! I wish I could relive those final few days that we had together because they were just so special! Everything was so special and it is a memory that I will never forget! After our dinner and lesson, we headed out to knock on lots of doors! We knocked on this one door of someone who we had records for but haven't met before and his name is Andre Perez. He was so nice and very humble! He ordered a Bible online and we were able to give him a Book of Mormon and a Restoration Pamphlet and he wants us to share more! We were so excited because that meant we had 4 new investigators for the week! We then got in an elevator in a building near our apartment and we had a teenage age student and his girlfriend get in the elevator and ask us what we were doing there. He was a little bit scary because he just stared at us with no emotion and then said that we weren't real missionaries. He asked us what mission we were on and we just told them that we share a very special message that will bless his life but he got out of the elevator and then called us a name. The only thing that we could do is "smile and wave boys!" Hehe! Then we knocked on a lot more doors but just not very many people answered or where home. We then stopped by on our way back to the apartment to visit Charles and Monae. Monae came to Church and a member brought her home but we wanted to check up on Charles. He was having some joint paint and swelling and he wanted to say a prayer with him. Elder Williams gave a great prayer and we excitedly walked back to the apartment for the night after a really hard day's work! I was thinking about and missing my dear family a lot but I was so excited to hear from you a few days later! I am also so excited to open your package on my year mark! I hoped you all had a great time at Stake Conference and had a great Sabbath!

Monday was so awesome! 1 day closer to my half way mark and I couldn't be more excited to open your package! I have been feeling so happy and blessed and I can't thank you enough for everything that you do for me! I am just so blessed to have you all in my life and I can't wait to hug you in a year! We woke up and did our studies and I have been learning so much not only about the church, but Jesus Christ as well. Grandma Evans sent me these really cool articles from her sacrament meeting program and it has been fun to read them! Elder Williams is such a great missionary and we have so much fun doing missionary work together! If there is ever anything that you want to know or if you have a question, I would be more than happy to answer it. I hope I explain things well and that I tell you everything. After district meeting, we headed to the church to do our 12 week program and companionship study. We got some texts from Antoine telling us how grateful he was that we are bringing him the Gospel! It was really cool! We had an amazing study session and read through the whole Restoration section and then practiced teaching our investigators. It is always interesting to just practice teaching and not actually having someone there but it really helps us teach together. Then we went to go visit Brother Eades and Brother Forbes and we taught them about the Atonement and it was so great! Then we went over to the Lower East side near where the charging bull is in the financial district to have a Chipotle dinner with the Doxford family! We had a great visit with them and their 2 little daughters, Grace and Lillie. Grace really remind me of Lacey and Lillie kind of reminds me of MaKayla. They are really awesome and we had some great food! I got a steak burrito with all the fixings and we had a homemade lemonade with chips and dip. Then we shared the President Monson tribute video which they really enjoyed and it brought the spirit in so strong. Brother Doxford told us of an experience when he was living in Salt Lake when he was out jogging. He told us that he took a street right off of State Street when he was training for a marathon and he turned down a street and saw President Monson walking out of the dry cleaners and got to shake his hand. He said it was one of the coolest experiences of his life. Then we came back near our apartment to go to a lesson with Alexsander Feliciano and share a message with him. He and his Mom, Norka, both showed up to Church on Sunday. We are trying to always be there for him so he keeps coming to Church! We were able to teach him about prophets and how the church is organized. He was curious about who the next prophet would be and so we had fun showing him pictures and explaining who the new Prophet would be. He is in his late 20s and has some disabilities but is really funny and very smart. He gave us a big smile and away we went. Charles and Monae cancelled their appointment with us due to to family matters so we knocked on some door around where we were but not very many people were home so at 9:00, we came back to the apartment and called it a day! It wasn't too cold but it is the wind that makes it feel absolutely bitter and unbearably cold! Hehe! We had a really awesome day and I woke up the next morning so excited to get your email that night! I was also so excited to see your Facebook message about Captain Sullenberger! I couldn't beleive that it was that long ago! It was a really fun surprise! Thanks!

Tuesday was an exciting day! We were all really excited to find out who the new first presidency would be and so we were anxious to find out! We did our studies and then headed over to the 14th Street church and watching with excitement on our tablets! I was so happy to hear that President Nelson chose Elder Oaks and Elder Eyring as his counselors. We were both really excited for the announcement and then we did a lot of studying and practice teaching. We learned all about teaching people and not just presenting a written lesson. We watched a video all about teaching according to someone's needs and then talked about what we studied. I read in the Book of Mormon like I always do in the morning and then studied the chapter 9 in Preach My Gospel for that day's lesson. I also have been reading through my patriarchal blessing and receiving council and direction from it. It has just blown me away at how personal it is to me and really has helped me throughout my mission and I look forward to using it a lot more the next year as I come home! Then we got to go to the New York University Hospital to give a non member who was referred to us by a member in the Harlem Ward. So we went over to that beautiful and huge hospital and was able to share our testimonies of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon to Joseph Maysonet who was recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He was doing fine and in good spirits but was ready to get out of the hospital. We gave him a blessing and he teared up and was just so grateful to have some peace! Then we went to go visit Brother Eades and Brother Forbes. We taught them about Temples again and all shared our testimonies of Temple blessings. We showed them another video about the Temple and they really liked it. Elder Williams shared a story of when he did baptisms for the dead in 7 different temples in 1 day!!! Then we headed back to the apartment for dinner and then headed out for the rest of the evening to do more awesome work! I am so grateful to be able to be a missionary. I love this city and I love the people! We had a busy night planned and so we were anxious to conquer it before our fun P-Day! We did a whole bunch of lookups and door contacting but we had no luck in catching anybody at home for some reason. We couldn't find a soul at home even in the hustling and bustling of New York City. Then we came back to make some phone calls and we were able to call a few potential investigators and Charles. Then we got some amazing news and it is a huge miracle. We got a referral on our tablets on a lady named Stephanie Doan. Then we saw a note that it was a member who referred her to us and that the man who referred her would like us to call him before we contact this referral. So we excitedly gave him a call. His name is Brent Doan and he told us that he is a convert of about 1 and a half years ago and wanted us to go visit his daughter. Both of his other daughters served missions in Las Vegas and Baltimore and really wants his other daughter who lives here in New York to het baptized as well. He lives with his wife and 2 daughters in Cedar City and said that we are his best chance of baptizing his daughter and converting her to the Gospel! How cool?!?!? We are being so blessed and I know it is because of your prayers! I truly do! We walked back to the apartment and I just couldn't wait to read your email and see your pictures as always! They are always so great and reading them is the highlight of my whole week! You are the best family ever and I love you all so very much!

Well, my dear and amazing Family! It has been so fun to respond to your emails today and get to talk to you! I hope we can chat back and forth throughout the day! I just want you to know that I am ALWAYS here for you and I keep you in every single one of my prayers. You are just the best family ever and I really love and miss you! Thanks so much for all of your love and support and all the well wishes on my "Hump Day" year mark! You are the best! Thanks again for the package! You are always so thoughtful and I can't wait to open it tomorrow! I checked the date and it was fun to know that it was in Utah just a few days earlier! I hope you all have an amazing week at work, school, and all of your other fun activities! LOVE AND MISS YOU TONS AND TONS!

Love You Always!
~Elder Lindberg