July 25th- August 1st
Week 6 in field
hey ya'll, its once again time to write the weekly letter, (can you believe it?!)
man oh man guess what i just realized... I've been on my mission for 2 months today! yeah already 2 months. time is flying by and i hear it only gets faster as time goes on. shoot im gonna blink and i'll be on the plane home. but im not thinking about it (I've still got a long ways to go) just a crazy thought. so i hope that the email i forwarded made sense. send everything to me from now on!!! thanks! um yeah so i guess i'll respond to emails first as usual. oh quick side note any family that wants to email me can! yeah, anybody that us related to me can send an email and i can respond! another cool fact for ya. well dad congrats on the pottery showing. man every time you talk about a kiln firing or a show i just get super jealous. i loved helping with those show more than i think ive ever really let you know. i cant wait till i get to help with those again. please keep me updated on how all that kind of stuff is going. and yeah i was signing off last week and your email popped up so i had to wait till this week to read it. but that's ok because i feel like i got to hear from you alot this week and i really needed it (i'll explain in due time). Mom, im so stoked the trek went well. i still remember the trek i went on. remember when we went on the rescue party for that other group. that is probably in my top 10 spiritual experiences of my youth. so im glad that they are still doing it and i hope i can help with the next one. thats so cool that you got to be an angel. i remember watching the woman push the carts and feeling so bad that we couldn't help them but seeing their faith and determination was awesome. i hope you get a break for a few weeks now. sounds like you and dad have been running on empty for awhile. hey angie has a new boyfriend?! what?! craziness i leave for 2 months and she is up and getting herself in a serious relationship. tell her i say congrats. dad its cool that your friend got to come over for a few days (i think its spelled Oneal...?) i remember him. he was a cool guy. um... i think that covers most of it so time for my update
i want to start off by saying that this week has been the hardest week of my mission so far. hands down. i'm gonna start with the bad and then end on a positive note. so 2 of our baptismal dates dropped. yeah i know my heart almost stopped. one of them, his name is aldon, is 11 yrs old and he was doing so well. he even had his baptism interview questions and he gave some of the best answers ever! he was taking the lessons with his grandma (she has just started coming back to church and is doing great) and then he would go back home. so one night he was teaching his siblings the ten commandments and his mom (who used to be on board and supportive) said that keep the sabbath day holy want a commandment. aldon looked up exodus and everything but she still said no. so she called her uncle who happens to be a baptist preacher and they totally ganged up on him. his grandma called us and told us the whole story (its a long story) but basically Aldon now believes that since he was born and his mothers womb was water that that counts as baptism and that all he needed to do to be saved is pray and ask to be saved. so he said he didnt want to learn anymore because he is already saved. dad any doctrinal help here? but it has to be from the bible. nothing else. oh also quick side note can you please shed more light and knowledge on the alagory of the olive trees in jacob 5? i know your pretty much an expert on the subject so no pressure. thanks! ok back to the story so his grandma is sad cause he was doing so well and was really ready for baptism and now he cant be baptized cause the baptist uncle is in her words "brain washing him"
that was the first big blow. the second came with an investigator who when he was at rock bottom realized all the blessing and wanted us over all the time. but now that he has got his life a little more stable the pride cycle is starting to turn. Dangit! he doesnt think he should have to change, just realize he is a sinner and be baptized. we tried to explain it to him but he is at a standstill. so his date was erased off the baptism board. i kept thinking to myself. what am i doing wrong? am i even a good missionary, am i even making a difference? would it even matter if i went home? for about 2 days i was strugglin and then i thought are these feelings from god? NO! THEY ARE NOT! get thee hence satan i said and prayed earnestly that i could make it through this trail. i thought of joseph smith and what he had to go through in liberty jail. although my circumstances were nothing compared i thought of gods promise. that these adversities would be for a small moment. that trials are for our benefit and learning and that we have challenges to rely more on the lord and make our hearts more tender. what truth! i could not have made it through this week without my friendship with God my father and Jesus Christ. its been hard (elder holmes said that it was his hardest week in the mission and he has been out 20 months! ) but im trying to endure it well. i love the prophet joseph. what an example to me and to all of us. so thats my sad story but time to move on and stay strong in the faith.
so there were also good moments during the week. we had transfers and Elder Holmes and i are staying together! hurray for awesome trainers and a great area. sad note- another elder in my district, elder Anderson, is leaving us to become a zone leader. sad day, its crazy how close you get to others in your district in such a short time. but yeah we're still together. but now the moment you've all been waiting for the funnny story of the week. well in our last district meeting elder holmes and i decided to name our district something. we are now surnamed "The Sons of Thunder". look up MARK 3:17. but to go along with that title we have to earn it so now go to ALMA 29:1,2 "O that i were an angel... with the voice of thunder" oh yeah were gonna be angels with voices like thunder, who like it says in D&C 35:13-15 " thrash the nations by the power of the Spirit". yeah i know were totally awesome. basically the best district ever with super human powers. its funny though because there are thunderstorms all the time here so its only fitting. and last night during a really bad super storm Elder Holmes and I sent the other elders in our district this text "you know our district is working hard when our efforts are published in the symphony of the skies... WE ARE THE SONS OF THUNDER!!!". yeah i know its thee coolest surname ever. period.
well i love you all and i hope your doing well. remember that when everything seems to be going against you, pray harder, ponder more deeply the word of God and trust in our Savior to pick you up when you cant seem to stand any longer. -a direct quote from Elder Linn (i know i think that this whole mission thing is actually making me smarter...go figure, and yes chance if you wanna use that line in your next talk to enhance your words of wisdom i'll give you permission). Love Ya'll !!!!!
Love,
Your Son of Thunder
Elder Linn
"I will trust and not be afraid"
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