A Whole New World

Linnea at a mission training meeting in March 2012

Linnea's letter on Monday, March 26th informed us that she had been transferred to a new area.  After spending 6 months in the same place she knew that a change was inevitable.  Here are some of her comments....

I have been transferred. And let me tell you...it really is a whole new world. A whole new life for me. I got the call Tuesday morning that I was being transferred(which was inevitable) and I spent that day with Sister Solomon saying goodbye to my North Star family. It was really hard. I have met a lot of great people in Rose Park and in the North Star Ward and it was surreal saying goodbye to them. I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to be there though and know I will be making many visits there when I return. One really great moment I won't forget was talking on the phone with my recent convert, Antonio. We tried stopping by his house Monday but he wasnt home so we sent him a text and he called us back after we had already got home. Hna Magdaleno told him that I was probably getting transferred on Wednesday and had wanted to stop by to say goodbye. I knew that Tuesday was his birthday so he probably wasn't going to be there which is why we tried Monday. He asked to talk to me and he said he just wanted to thank me for changing his life. He said I had helped him change his life in a way he never imagined. He asked me if I remembered a prayer I had said at his house one night(I didnt really remember but Hna Magdaleno helped me remember). He said that he thinks about that prayer every morning when he wakes up and every day after work and he said he knows that because of that prayer his days go well. He said it was a testimony builder for him. I just wanted to cry. It was so great. One of the best and most rewarding experiences of my life. Antonio was a miracle in our area and I know the Lord put him in our path so that we could get to know him and help him but more so that he could help us. He's great and I know he'll continue to be a strong member of the church.

A little information about her new area...

Transfers were crazy because all the sisters(Spanish) had been in their areas for awhile and one sister went home early so we knew that one sister would be alone with a visa waiter or something crazy like that. I thought I was going to the East Zone so when the ZL's held up their signs of who was in their zone I was standing by the East and to my surprise...I wasnt there. Sister Magdaleno ran over to me and said..."I KNEW IT! You're the one white washing with the visa waiter!" Sister Magdaleno had been telling me that I was going to be the next trainer and I kept telling her no, but what do you know....she was right.

        So I got white washed into the Salt Lake Zone with a new visa waiter named Sister Lomiga. She had been out 1 week but was with the Burmese refugee program before so this past week was her first week in Spanish. She is 26 years old from  Torrance California and is going to the Argentina Buenos Aires Sur mission. She is Samoan and graduated from BYU-I with an English degree. She is cool and we get along well. We think its funny that we are together...the 2 polys speaking Spanish. I really miss my last companions but know that we are going to do big things in this area. So as far as the area is concerned....ITS HUGE! We cover the area of about 20 stakes. Woof. So, obviously we have a car. We live super close to the Temple (about 1.5 miles away) in the basement apartment of a members home. Its weird because in this apartment everything is separate. They can't walk down the stairs and come into the basement like my last place..they have to leave their house and come down to our separate entrance so we hardly ever see them. The place is way bigger than my last apartment and there are only 2 of us so its quite roomy.

         Back to the area. We cover about 20 stakes and we are in the Sugarhouse and Granite areas. We cover two Spanish branches. Lucero and Forest Dale 2do. Both in the SL Granite Stake but each of their branch boundaries cover the area of about 10 neighboring stakes. The area is like the complete opposite of Rose Park. Hispanics are few and far between. And the ones there are are already members. I'm excited though because this area in the past hasn't baptized much but I'm ready to change that around. The members here are GREAT! Sooooo willing to help.

Linnea is excited about being in Salt Lake for General Conference and will be at the Conference Center and able to attend if she and her companion are able to get tickets.  

She always expresses her appreciation for the letters and cards she receives from her friends and family at home.  Keep on writing...even though her area has changed her mail continues to go to the same place.