Letter #41

Sent: 12/16/13

Hi Mom!

So today is transfers and Sister Opheim and I will both be staying here in Coquille. This week was a pretty good one. We went on exchanges again and it was such a blast! I was with Sister Clove all day and I just love her!! She is such an incredible missionary AND she's from enterprise so not too far from home! We slept over at the other Sisters apartment and Sister Clove and I stayed up talking and we pretty much planned my whole wedding! Haha! ;) She is getting transferred so i'm super bummed about that but hopefully we'll serve together again someday.. maybe even be companions! This week we met with a wonderful couple who are so prepared by the Lord. Members of our ward have been working with them for quite some time now and at the Ward Thanksgiving Dinner they said that they are ready to take the missionary discussions!!!!!! They live clear out in the middle of nowhere about an hour away so it's hard to meet with them but we did go out there Thursday and had lunch and lesson with them! It went really well and I'm pretty sure they will be getting baptized in January!!!! Also, i'm not sure if i've told you about Maxine yet but she is the sweetest little old lady (besides Roberta), and she has been taught by missionaries since 2008. She believes everything about the gospel and knows that it's true and wants to be baptized but her family is holding her back :( She is 84 years old so we are a bit confused as to why she is letting them "Rule the Roost" as she would say. She has a baptismal date for the 28th of December so hopefully that will go through. Prayers would be greatly appreciated :) I did get your Christmas Decorating Package on Saturday and I LOVED it SOOO SOOO much!!! Our apartment looks quite festive thanks to you and Chels! Thank you so much! You guys are seriously THE BEST!!!!!!!! Sister Kleinman did call me and said that she will forward my two packages today. So..... guess what?!?!?!?!?!?!? I get to see you guys next week on Skype! We haven't been told a time but we were told that we only get 90 minutes (which will fly by so fast). I can't believe Christmas is already here and that i've been on my mission almost 11 months. It's just so crazy! I can't get over it. Oh! And you should be getting a letter or e-mail from President Young about the whole Facebook proselyting stuff. We haven't started yet but probably will soon. I'm guessing that you won't be able to be on it anymore or send messages. That would probably be against the rules. We will find out more details hopefully soon. Do you know if Trevor is getting transferred? I think if I remember right, he's been in Central Point for almost 6 months. President and Sister Young haven't told me anything about him in a long time so i'm not really sure what's going on. Anyways, I love you and can't wait to see you in 9 days!!

I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Lyndsie

Me & Sister Opheim

 

                                    View from our back door

 

Letter #40

Sent:	Tue 12/10/13 12:36 PM

Hi Mom!

How are you this morning? I hope you are surviving in all that snow! Chels said you guys got somewhere around 6-8 inches?!?!?!? That is so crazy!!! I wish it would snow here! Even though it's freezing cold, I still would like a "White Christmas". The cold here is different than back home. It's a damp/wet cold so it goes right through you and chills you to the bone.. and once you're cold, it seems there's no way of getting warm.
Guess what?!?!?!?!?!?!?!     WE ARE GOING TO THE BEACH TODAY!!!!!!!

It will be my first time going to the Oregon Coast so i'm super stoked!!

 

Anyway, yesterday we had Zone Conference! (That's why you didn't receive an e-mail) It was such a GREAT conference. The AP's started out by telling us that our mission has been chosen to test online proselyting. We will each have our own i-pad and will be on Facebook, Skype, Blog, and E-mail for an hour each day to teach the Gospel. Crazy, right???? I think it is absolutely incredible how the Lord is using technology and modern devices to Hasten His work. The prophesy given to Joseph Smith in Doctrine and Covenants 88: 73 is so true. It's such an awesome thing that is happening and the use of technology is going to make it possible for the Gospel to go to all the world! It will be interesting to see how quickly this work picks up even more than it has. Also at Zone Conference we talked about having Higher Expectations and how we can align our will with the Lord's will. It was very Spirit filled and probably one of my favorite conferences yet! And as a Christmas gift from President and Sister Young, we watched the movie Christmas Oranges! It was really good and during the part where the children got oranges in the movie, the AP's and Pres. and Sis. Young walked around and gave each of us oranges and wished us a Merry Christmas. It was so sweet :) We then did a Tie exchange for the Elders and a Scarf exchange for the Sisters!! The whole conference was just superb! And it was only the Coos Bay Zone.

So Sister Young and Sister Kleinman said you called them about the fleas.................................. Oh mom, you are so funny! I just love you! Thanks for your concern, I will be fine :) And I promise that I will send "My Christmas List" that you asked for today! The past few p-days have been crazy and we never have time to sit down and write letters but I will make it appoint to do that today. Thank you for all that you do for me!! I really do appreciate all you and the rest of the family do for me. I love you guys! Oh! One last thing, transfers are this weekend, so don't send anything to my apartment address. Thanks! I hope you have the best week!!!

Love,

Lyndsie :)

P.S. I will let you know when we get to skype when I find out.

P.S.S. Riley and Callie are talking again!!! Yay!

P.S.S.-- TREVOR!!!!! HAPPY 30 MONTHS SWEETHEART!!!!!!!  I LOVE YOU!!!! :D

Letter #39

Good Morning!

I hope your Thanksgiving was great and that you ate lots of pie and turkey! Sounds like it was a good time having Kathie and Konnie's family down! That is something that I really missed. Being with the family. We had Thanksgiving at our Bishops and it was just his small family there but it was still nice. You said that you had some of the family write to me but I didn't receive any e-mails from any of them?? Maybe you could try sending them again? That would be great! :D And thank you so much for sending me the treat! It's super delish! Anyways, this past week was pretty good. We were able to see a lot of people and most of our appointments followed through. We had a really great lesson with our investigator Karen. She has a problem with Priesthood Authority and Joseph Smith so we felt prompted to show her the full version of the Restoration from Joseph Smith's mother's point of view. After the movie, she told us that she gained a lot of knowledge and has a lot to think about. We invited her to pray specifically to know if the church is true and she said she would so i'm super anxious to meet with her again this week. I have actually been studying the life of Joseph Smith lately and it astounds me at how much he went through and the sacrifices that he made so that we could have the Book of Mormon and also the Priesthood authority again on the earth. I also think about Emma and the many things that she endured throughout her life. I truly look up to the Saints especially our ancestors and am grateful for their sacrifices. If you could talk to grandma and send me some information on my great great grandfather William Clayton, I would really love that! We also have been working with a less active lady named Maggie and her daughter Rebecca. They are so great! She's part Native American and has tons of neat things from her heritage in her home and she makes these cool little bags called "Blessing Bags". She has lived a pretty hard life but is such a strong women. Her story kind of reminds me of Cinderella but more sad. She has a son in-law who is a Rapper and she told us that he has performed with Tech Nine. Ryan knows who they are! Haha! I think he would really like this guy. Is Ryan and Kelli still living in Hurricane? Anyway, I just want to let you know how truly grateful I am for you and for our whole family. I feel so blessed to be apart of it. I can't express how much love I have for you guys and how much I truly care for each one of you. Everyday when I see families together, I just think of our family and think about how lucky I am to have the BEST family in the world. I also look at other families and it makes me so grateful for the opportunity to be a missionary. I love the quote... Missionary: Somebody who leaves there family for a short time so others can be with theirs for eternity. I love that I have the chance everyday to bring others to this wonderful gospel and help them to know of Christs divinity. I love my Savior with all my soul and I am forever grateful to Him for His Atoning Sacrifice. For the joy and peace that this gospel brings into my life. I'm grateful for this holiday season that we have to reflect upon His birth and rejoice in his life. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have hope. He is the way and the only way that we can return to live with our Heavenly Father and to be with our families forever. I thank you for raising me to be the person I am today. I honestly can't express the love that I have for this family and for all that each of you do and have done for me. Thank you. I love you all so much and hope that you have just the best week. I LOVE YOU!!!!

Love,

Lyndsie :)

P.S. Sister Opheim and I have been getting little red dots all over our bodies, mostly our legs. We aren't quite sure what they are but she thinks that it's fleas! I sure hope that's not the case! EEEEEWW!!

 

Letter #38

Sent:	Mon 11/18/13 12:14 PM

Good Morning!

I hope all goes well with your surgery! Know that you are in my prayers! What is the surgery for anyhow?

So this past week was a bit slow here in Coquille, well it always seems that way. Mostly cause it's so small and everyone goes to bed at like 5pm when it gets dark and nobody ever seems to be outside. Super inconvenient for us missionaries! Anyway, it is a very impoverish town. I think that's why it seems to be more humble and friendly. We found quite a few new investigators last week and are excited to start teaching them. One of them is a lady named Shauna. She's in her late 20's and has a 3 year old named Carter. She said that she just moved here about a month ago and that she's been looking for a church. We invited her to come and she said she will definitely try if she doesn't work and we also invited her to the ward Thanksgiving dinner. She seems to be pretty promising along with a man named Blue that we met which is her neighbor. His wife is an inactive member but she still knows quite a bit about the church. They are a very sweet couple and when we went back he told us that the reason he wanted us to come back was to tell us that he was scared for our safety and was wondering if there was any other way that we could share the word than by knocking on total stranger’s doors. He actually started tearing up. He and his wife said they are both very fond of Mormons and especially the food that we cook. Haha! They said they will for sure be at the Ward Thanksgiving Dinner but only if there is no "Green Jello" involved. Lol! We stopped by yesterday to give them a conference talk, it's called Come Join With Us. (You should look it up! It is an incredible talk!) And he told us that we are starting to convince him.. not sure what he meant by that but we took it as we're going back and teaching him and helping him enter into the waters of baptism. He said he's catholic but also a witch? So it should be interesting! We also met with a man named Brian. I'm not sure how to explain him but he is very knowledgeable about the Bible and is a 7th Day Adventist. It always intrigues me when people of other faiths have such a great relationship with God and they believe almost exactly what we believe but have such a hard time excepting certain principles of the gospel. He had many many questions, mainly about Joseph Smith but what it really came down to is reading the Book of Mormon. He just won't do it. We had a very spirit filled lesson with him and got him thinking and challenged him to read for the hundredth time so we will see what happens. We met last night with a man named Lewis that we found last week and started teaching him. He doesn't really have a firm belief in God or Jesus Christ and his wife wants absolutely nothing to do with any religion but agreed to let us come back to see and teach him. They both are a little closed minded but I know that they felt the Spirit last night because I saw the tears streaming down his face. He tried to hide it but it was clear that what was said touched his heart. We are planning on inviting everyone to be baptized this week so if you could keep all those that we invite in your prayers, it would be greatly appreciated :)

Also, the rain and cold finally hit. I am absolutely freezing everyday. I hope that the package you sent will get here soon. We are planning on going to Coos Bay today which is about 30 miles away cause they have a Wal-mart so hopefully I will find some warmer rain proof things there. I have also been sick this entire last week. I don't know if it's just a cold or a sinus infection or what but i've been having coughing attacks which is super embarrassing when we are in the middle of a lesson. I am going to try and buy some Vitamin C today. We have exchanges tomorrow with the Sisters in our Zone so I am extremely excited about that.  I hope that you are doing great and that all goes well with your surgery! I love you so much! Have an awesome week! Thank you for everything that you do!

Love,

Lyndsie

P.S. Does Trevor ever send pictures with his e-mails?? If so I would really like to get some of those :D .... and if he happens to get a forward of this, I LOVE YOU! Oodles and Oodles! :)