Hello my incredible family! First of all and most important, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! I hope you have an amazing and fun day! Also, HAPPY 2018!! I can't believe that it's already 2018. I am so happy and excited that you all had a great and fun New Year's and got to relax! This week has been so amazing and I have tons to say! I hope you can read this before you go to work and school! I hope you all have an amazing day and that Mom has the best birthday ever! Eat lots of yummy cake and ice cream! I hope I can remember everything!
Last P-Day was really awesome and fun! We got our regular chores done and then I emailed like the wind and I had so much fun talking to you! We also cleaned the apartment "just in case" we happened to get a new missionary in the apartment. We cleaned it and it looked really nice! We were all waiting for a call since everyone thought I was going to get called as a trainer and so I was anxious the whole day. After a while, we headed off to the United Nations building to take our awesome tour! The lady that took us was a member of Elder Rocha and Elder Staker's ward. So we headed over to the United Nations building and it has a different feel to it. It is right along the Eastern edge of the island up by 42nd street. It's a very cool building with tins of history. So we went through security and then she took us on an awesome tour! We got to ride in the elevator that is reserved only for world leaders and the United States President. So I got to ride in an elevator that tons of Presidents have ridden in! Then we saw Los of cool artifacts from Hiroshima, and Afghanistan. The coolest part was being able to see the General Assembly room where all of the world leader meet to talk about wars and protecting our freedoms and tons of other cool stuff! I got to take lots of pictures and even got to stand at the pulpit where President Trump spoke from a few days prior. The building is massive and has tons of cool history! After the tour, we were able to eat at a Greek restraunt called, Grk. It was really good and I got a lamb gyro and a soda. Then after that, I emailed you a few more times and then our P-Day ended. I wish I could have talked longer but the day went by fast. Then we went to go and visit a less active member named Cody Hoyer. As we walked down his street, we remembered that it was the same street that we saw the fire on Christmas day. Well, it turns out that it was his building but his apartment was fine. He has to evacuate for the time being. So, that appointment didn't work out, then we met Brother Wood at his office where he owns his own company called "Woodies." He gave us a few shirts but they aren't white shirts and they have all kinds of designs on them so we can't wear them. It was so nice of him but he has so many that he told us to take them. Then we headed back near where our apartment is and had a lesson with Charles and Monae! It was a really great day and we were excited to hear all about trainers and who would get called! I couldn't help but think about how your day went and how much fun you had!
Thursday was INCREDIBLE! I have some amazing news and I'm so excited for your to hear about it!! It's a huge responsibility and I'm so grateful for Heavenly Father trusting me with this responsibility! I didn't get a trainer call the day that they usually do trainer calls which is Wednesday and so I was pretty sure that I didn't get to be a trainer. I was curious to know who the new trainers were. We had a great conference call and it was so much fun to hear the cool stories about Christmas and how many cool things happened! I was able to share with President Smith about gift wrapping and what an unforgettable experience that was! It really made Christmas so special and it really strengthened my faith even more! After our conference call, we went up to the Temple to pick up mail and were going to do our weekly planning but we found out the office Elders weren't coming until 3:00. It was frigid outside and it was hard to breath because it was so cold. We bundled up like Eskimos in the snow and made the trek up to our Church for companionship study and weekly planning. I am just so grateful for this Christmas season and the chance I had to be here. I have seen so many miracles and I know this church is true and Jesus Christ is our savior! We did some weekly planning and then we tried to visit Godson and we even had Brother Mishler meet us there but Godson told us that he was sick and so we couldn't meet. We were going to help him move some boxes due to his injury that he had a few years ago and so then we tried to go visit Kevin. He was home and it was nice to see him again. We set an appointment with him for the following day and he had to go because he was working on his business. So then we went to our next appointment with Mary Miles. We had Brother Sorden come with us and we had a great lesson with her. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and then read a few chapter from Psalms with her. Then we headed over to the Temple to pick up our mail and then I had something so amazing happen!!!!!!! We had just sat down on the almost empty bus and Elder Brown handed me the phone because I needed to text the office Elders to see if mail was for sure there. As I'm typing in their number, President Smith's face pops up on the screen. I knew something big happened! I was so ecstatic and excited for what he had to tell me! He answered and greeted me by saying "Elder Lindberg!!! The Lord has called you to be a trainer!!! How do you feel and will you accept this responsibility?" Of course I was beyond excited and happy for this opportunity! I was so excited for this huge news! We traveled over to the Temple and I was just so excited! Elder Brown was sad because he knew that means he has to get transferred. So we got to the Temple to pick up mail and then brought it back with us to our dinner appointment with Brother and Sister Toomey! We had a great ham dinner with them and then shared a video that talks about never looking back and just keep looking forward and progressing. Then they showed us their 2018 glasses and scarfs that they bought to go to Times Square and we made a video for you. It was a really fun time! Then we came back to the apartment for the night and we had some sparkling cider to celebrate! I was so excited and couldn't wait for you to hear my news! I love you so very much! I'm very proud to be your son and brother! This is a really exciting time and I was so excited to meet my Greenie! I mean....trainee! Hehe!
Friday was a really fun and amazing day!!! We woke up a little early and got to go on a split! We got the news that Elder Staker would also be training and so we will have 2 new missionaries in our apartment! So since we both are training, we got to go to our trainer meeting in Scarsdale together while Elder Brown and Elder Rocha had a regular day. I was so excited and couldn't believe that I'm a trainer! So Elder Staker and I took the bus and subway to Grand Central Station to buy a ticket from the Metro North to go to Scarsdale! We were both so excited and couldn't wait! We got there just in time and we enjoyed talking together while waiting for the train to take off. The Metro North is really nice and has comfy seats. We read scriptures and just enjoyed the great opportunity we had to train New missionaries! I feel bad for Elder Brown because he has gone his whole mission without training, being District Leader, or Zone Leader. He really wants to train and he is already a year and a half out. I feel very lucky and blessed to have this wonderful opportunity! We got to Scarsdale right in time and they started the meeting! Wow, it was such a great meeting! There are 6 Elders who are training and lots of sisters who are training as you saw in the picture. It was so fun to be there and listen to President and Sister Smith! They talked a lot about when we were getting trained and what helped us feel loved during that awkward time of transitioning from the MTC to the mission field. They talked a lot about following mission rules and how we set the stage for their whole mission. The meeting went from 9:00 until 12:30 and then we took a picture and had lunch and it was just such a fun time and I still couldn't believe it was happening! After the meeting ended, we brought our new companions' bedding to the Temple wherein met Elder Brown and then we went back to our Church on 14th Street and then we went to go get some keys from the Cropper's since we had to clean the church with some of the ward members the next day. We had fun talking to each other about what I learned! Then we went back to the Church because we had an appointment with Kevin that we were really excited about but he never showed up. So then we called around and told some members that Elder Brown would be leaving. It was so weird to think that I was getting a brand new missionary right out of the MTC on Tuesday. Then after that, it was about 5:00 and we decided to go see Brother Eades and Brother Forbes really fast since we were right there to tell them the news that Elder Brown was leaving. Then we got to eat at Arby's and I used your gift card to get some delicious food! Thanks again for all of the fun gift cards! Then we came back to the Church because we dropped off my new companion's bedding that they gave to us at our awesome meeting and then we dropped it off at the apartment before walking down the street to visit the Cabral family. They are a less active family that the sisters work all of more with since it is just a single lady with her 5 teenage kids. We shared a video about setting goals and the headed back to the apartment. I was so sad to hear that the Aggies lost. I really couldn't believe it since New Mexico State has struggled in football for many years. I was so grateful for your 2 emails about me training! I was so excited that you heard about it and especially grateful that you heard and found out about it before I actually got my new Companion! I was excited for you to watch them all come off the airplane and know one of them will be mine! I love and miss you all tons!
Saturday was really amazing! We were so excited and curious to know where Elder Brown and Elder Rocha were going since we knew that they were getting transferred so it made the call a lot more exciting! So we woke up and headed off to the Church to clean it with some of the members! We were so happy to help! So we helped clean and we vacuumed the floors and then took our all of the garbages. We had lots of help and so it went really fast. Then we came back to the apartment to write our talks for sacrament meeting and my topic was on Setting goals and our earthly progression. It was an interesting topic but I was so happy to speak and I talked about my goal to serve a mission and how I achieved it. After we studied and wrote our talks, we tried calling Godson to confirm our appointment with him to help move some boxes but he didn't answer. We decided to go over anyway and he answered the door but he was still sick. He left his phone in his car and so he couldn't answer it. So then we came back to the apartment for some lunch and we did the rest of our studies and then we went to go see Brother Eades and Brother Forbes and to tell them the news that Elder Brown was leaving. We also had a great lesson for them! Brother Forbes got the Melchizidek Priesthood about a month ago and he has been so excited to use it. We were able to dedicate his apartment a while ago and he has loved having the Priesthood! It was snowing pretty hard and it stuck to the ground. It felt weird to have snow even though it is December. We showed them a video about faith and how we can grow and strengthen our faith. Then we were able to go to a baptism for 2 people who got baptized into the YSA and MSA branches at the Temple. So we headed up to the Temple and the 2 baptisms started at 6:00 and it was so great to see a baptism! We invited tons of people to go to it but nobody ended up coming. We still had a great time. Elder Brown said that he was nervous about where he is getting transferred to. He was pretty anxious to find out just like we all were! President and Sister Smith even came to the baptism. We sat down and they didn't have anyone conducting and they ended up starting 45 minutes late but we left after 20 minutes because we had an appointment. There was tons of support and so we went to have dinner at Subway and I used your gift card! Then we went to an apartment right by the One World Trade Center and visited a member named David Olivier. He is a very quiet guy and we didn't know hardly anything about him and so it was so nice to go over and get to know him. I have seen him in Church but I haven't been able to talk to him. Bishop Duprieu asked us to go over and visit him since he can get pretty lonely since he lives alone. We found out something really shocking about him. We were asking him where he was from and he said that he has lived in California, Colorado, and Utah. He served a mission in Columbia and graduated with an accounting degree from Byu. He told us that he was new to the Ward and has only been here for a few months. We asked him where he was moving from and he said, "I didn't move, I was in prison for the last 6 years." When he said that we couldn't believe it. He is one of the most quiete guys I've ever met. He in his 50s and so it was just kind of shocking since he lives in a really nice apartment in South Manhattan and just got out of prison. We shared the New Year video that we like sharing with people that talks about looking forward and setting goals and then we left him with a prayer and then we headed back to the apartment to await the transfer call. This transfer call was a little different because we knew that Elder Brown and Elder Rocha were both getting transfered. But with my transfer call when I got transfered here was a total shock. So this one was different just because we knew that we would for sure be hearing where they were both going. So we wrote in our journals and then the call came! We found out that Elder Rocha is going to be a zone leader in Yorktown and Elder Brown will be in Yorktown as well!
Happy New Year's Eve everyone!!!! We woke up, got ready for the day and then we went to the church a little bit early because we got to help Brother Welch with a few things ariund the church building since we couldnt get them done the day before when we cleaned the church. We didn't have a key to the supply closet and so we couldn't refill the paper tower dispensers. We were both really excited to give our talks even though it was for only 5 minutes. We had a great time in Church but we hardly have anyone there. We got some sad news that President Cropper's Mom passed away shortly afternthey returned back to New York from a trip to go see his family for Christmas. We felt so bad and called him and he was doing fine. He is a really great man and he told us that she was only 73. Then we went to go visit Brother Eades and Brother Forbes and give Brother Eades the sacrament. My talk went really well but it was so quick. They had 5 speakers on the program and they only got to Sister Coburn and Elder Brown and I. They also had a baby blessing that we were able to stand in the circle for! It was really great! Then after we gave the sacrament to Brother Eades, we headed back to the apartment to change and call a few people before we went to our New Year's Eve Dinner! Brother and Sister Ward invited us over and so 2e were so excited to go over! The day seemed really, really short since we had to be in by 7:00. So we hurried over so we could have enough time for a visit and a lesson and then eat dinner. We had an amazing time with them and had lots of great food! We had homemade Mac n cheese, ham, and Oreo balls for desert. Then we had something so yummy! We each had our own 8 ounce bottle of Martinelli's to keep the tradition alive! Even though we didn't get to stay up very late, it was still a ton of fun! After our dinner, we got to chat for a little while and we got to know them a lot better! We had a really fun time and I even got a picture with them! It was a really awesome day but we had to go back to the apartment at 7:00. Sorry, I don't have very much to write about today but it went by so fast! It's amazing how fast time goes just having those 2 hours missing from the end of the day. Overall, it was a really great day even though we couldn't stay up u til midnight to celebrate with you all! I was so curious to know how your day went and how much fun you were all having! I thought it was funny that when you were celebrating, it would be 2:00 in the morning our time. Also, I got thinking and remembered that the new missionaries flew out early that morning! I was so excited to know that my trainer was on the airplane headed towards New York! It was really exciting to think about!
We had a conference call at 8:30 and it was so great! One cool thing that President Smith invited us to do was write to someone who has impacted my life more than anyone. I just want to take the time to thank each and every one of you. My dear family means so much to me and I'm so grateful for the love and sacrifices you made and continue to make. This year has been incredible! I have almost been away from you for an entire year and I can't even believe how fast time has gone by. I love and miss you all so much and I can't thank you enough for your righteous examples! Love ya tons my dear family!
Happy New Year's Day everyone! I hope everyone had an amazing celebration and lots of fun! It was so excited to think about the new missionaries coming in! By the time we woke up, they were already in the air! We woke up and it was bitter cold again. They said it was one of the coldest days on record for how early on in the year it is. It was about 9 degrees and very windy. We had something really cool happen! We did our studies and then we went up to Target since Elder Brown needed some space saver bags to pack with and so we did a few lookups on the way and we found this lady named Fedeloursdes. Yes, that is her real name. Hehe! She answered the door and we told her that we were sharing a very special message about Jesus Christ and she said "Ok" and just looked at us so we started teaching her the Restoration right there on her doorstep. It was really cool! Then we headed off to Target and Elder Brown really wanted to go to a burger place called 5 Napkin Burger. It is a very popular place and we have always wanted to try it. So for Elder Brown's last lunch, we ate there! I got the 5 Napkin Burger and it was really tasty! It had caramelized onion, guerre cheese, and a garlic aioli sauce. We had a great time and then went over to visit Neal. We had a great chat with him and we explained that I was training and he thought it was really cool that a new missionary was coming in. Then we quickly went to go see Brother Eades and Brother Forbes and Elder Brown said goodbye and then we set some goals for them for the upcoming year. I really couldn't believe that it was 2018! I was thinking about you all a lot because I knew you were still enjoying your Christmas break! After that, we came back to the apartment for dinner since we had an appointment right by our apartment. We went to go visit Alexsander Feliciano and set some new year goals with him. Then Elder Brown said goodbye and then we went over to visit Charles and Monae. We shared the Restoration video with them and then read 2 Nephi 26 with them also. Then I got a really awesome email from you telling me that the new missionaries just got there! It was so exciting to know that they were her in New York! We hurried back to the apartment so Elder Brown could finish packing from 9:00-10:30. I was just so excited to meet my trainee and k still couldn't beleive that I was training! Love you all lots!!!
Tuesday was such an incredible and amazing day! We woke up and Elder Staker and I were both so excited to go pick up our trainees! We had a really fun and busy day planned so we woke up a little bit early and then I made my new companion's bed with the bedding that we got at our other meeting. I switched to the bottom bunk and I got everything ready to roll for him! I wanted the apartment to be spotless and so did everyone else so we all cleaned like the wind! It looked so nice and ready to have 2 new missionaries stay there! We took a subway to Grand Central Station and then we waited on the Metro North Railroad until 7:56 when we started our journey to Scarsdale! We got there right on time and then they announced my trainee! I even got an audio recording of President Smith announcing it! It is kind of quiet because I forgot my voice recorder which I'm so sad about so I did it on my camera and it is pretty quiet. I gave him a big bear hug and away we went back to the apartment. It brought back so many memories of me coming to New York and the shock I was in the whole day! I was in awe! He looked around and just couldn't beleive all of the cool sights there were. We had a very busy day after that! They told us in our trainer meeting to unpack on p-day and get right to work. So we talked to people on the subways and had an appointment with Brother Eades and Brother Forbes to get them accuanted with each other. We shared some scriptures from the Book of Mormon and then tried to visit Godson but he wasn't home. So then we had a later dinner appointment with the Toomey family and they printed off a welcome sign for Elder Williams and make a brownie cake for him. It was a really fun time and Elder Williams just loves it so far! It is a lot of pressure on me to train him correctly and so I will work hard and try my best and he will be just fine! I love this opportunity but I still get nervous about the huge responsibility! I remembered how Elder Kirkham was just so patient and humble and explained everything so well. I really look up to him and want to train Elder Williams just as good as Elder Kirkham trained me because he is so awesome!
Well my dear and incredible family! I wish you could have some more time to be off from work and school! I have been thinking about you a lot and hoping you were having a really fun time! I want to get this email off before you head off for work and school so sorry if it's a little choppy. We are unpacking and settling in while we do our grocery shopping and laundry. We might do some sightseeing like going to Battery Park City and seeing the Statue Of Liberty! I will try to write a lot during the day! I love and miss you all so very much! You are such an incredible family and I love and respect you all so much! You mean everything to me and my daily motivation comes from your love, prayers, and support! I'm so happy to hear t hst you are all doing so well and I loved hearing all about the fun things that went on this week! It is such a thrill to get emails and pictures! I just got thinking yesterday that now I can say that I will be home NEXT January!!! Very crazy thought! It just makes me realize how long I have been out because there are tons of new missionaries coming in. He couldn't beleive that my year mark is in just a few days. Neither can I! Time really flies and it's only going to go faster. I'm enjoying every second of my mission and it has been such a blessing to be able to serve! It means so much to me to be a good missionary and one who works hard just like you taught me! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!! LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL SO VERY MUCH!!!
~Elder Lindberg
No comments:
Post a Comment