Happy 23rd Birthday, Linnea!

Happy Birthday, Linnea!

Today our little missionary celebrated her 23rd birthday.  She is so lucky because her birthday fell on her P-day.  P-day is short for preparation day and on that day the missionaries get to shop, do errands, clean their living space, do their laundry, check their mail and email home.

Here is what Linnea had to share about her special day...

 First off....thanks for all the birthday wishes and emails. Its been a great day so far! The Perez family (recent converts) sent me a text super early this morning and Julia sent one this morning,too. Then, later Rigo and Laura Perez (the oldest kids of the Perez family) sent me a text from their phone while they were at school. The mission office staff called and sang me happy birthday (adorable!) I got the birthday package and everything was great...right sizes and everything. Thanks! Last night we ate with the Cabrera family in our ward. Hno Cabrera was the ward mission leader right before we got into the area and was just put into the new bishopric. They did carne asada and a birthday cake! And then the kids pushed my face into the cake..it was great hahahaha. And tomorrow we are eating with Julia and she is making papusas...its just a week full of celebrations! I'm a lucky gal.


Linnea continues to be busy teaching people about the church.  She had this to share...


This weekend we had a baptism of this young guy named Antonio. He is from Vera Cruz,MX. He is the defintion of a prepared person. We found him while he was washing his car while looking for someone else. We asked if we could come back and visit later and he said sure. we asked him in that lesson who Jesus Christ is for him and he said "el amor de mi vida" Precious! Every lesson he just loved and everytime he would pray he would say he was grateful for all we were doing for him. He overcame some obstacles and was just soooo ready to be baptized. during the talk at his baptism he just started crying and then all 4 of us sang lord,I would follow thee in spanish and he was just smiling. It was so cool. After his baptism we went out to eat(us 4 sisters and him) and he said a prayer to bless the food and just said he felt soooo great but couldnt explain it. Im so glad I had the opportunity to meet and teach him. 


And about being a missionary in Salt Lake City:


Funny story...only here in Utah will sister missionaries get pulled over by a police man so he could get our number to give to the kid sitting in the back seat. HAHA.


Linnea continues to work hard and has lots of experiences that she will remember forever.  She loves hearing from you.  Her address is listed on the blog.  Please write to her.

New Year's Eve in the SLC Mission

Linnea had been telling me about their New Year's Eve celebration.  She said that Sister Winn had taken lots of photos and would be posting them on her blog.  I have been looking at her blog...http://www.mamawinnsplace.blogspot.com/... everyday and finally found that the pictures were posted.  I had to scroll through 711 photos but was able to find a few pictures with Linnea.  I have posted some of them below.

Here are some highlights from Linnea's last letter:

Today, President and Sister Winn took the ENTIRE north zone out to lunch to Tucanos(super good Brazilian Grill place) because we hit the Standard of Excellence as a Zone. That is a REALLY big accomplishment. We have been the only zone to do so this year and it hasn't happened in a while! The standard of excellence is when one companionship has ONE baptism/confirmation, THREE people on date to be baptized, FIVE investigators to church, EIGHT lessons with a member present, and THREE new investigators in a week. In our zone there are 13 companionships so mulitply all those numbers by 13 and thats how many we would need to get to meet the S.O.E. as a zone...but we surpassed it which is why Pres Winn took us out to lunch. We are so spoiled. We ALMOST got it again this week but we needed THREE more people to church...soooo close!

 We had another miracle this week..... So we have this man that Sister Picuasi and I met in November. He flagged us down and was telling us he was baptized and just moved and didnt know where the church was and was just so happy to see missionaries. Then he said "Wait a second...let me show you something!" So he goes up to his apartment and brings down this HUGE poster of the temple, but on the bottom it said "Here is the place where there are special blessings waiting for Javier" He works at a company that makes billboards and posters and this picture of the temple got printed backwards so they were going to throw it away but he asked to take it and he added the words himself. Anyway, Sister Picuasi thought to check his baptism record because he said that after he was baptized he had to go to Mexico and just barely got back. Turns out his record was lost and he needs to be baptized again. We told him and he was happy to have a fresh start and get closer to God, but family issues took him back to Mexico sudenly and we didnt see him again for awhile. I just kept getting this feeling that we should keep stopping by so whenever we were in this complex we would just knock but never got an answer...until last night! He answered the door and was so exicted to see us. He said he just got back and is ready to take the steps to become closer to God and do the things God wants him to do. Since he lives alone the other Sisters rushed over so we could go inside. He just told us that now is his time, he isnt working as much and has weekends off and he is ready to take the step of baptism. We heart committed him and he is on date for this weekend! This just shows that hard work pays off. I also realized the importance of following the Spirit. I just had this strong feeling to keep going back and it paid off. Javier is great! Cant wait for his baptism!

A comment about the time flying by:

Things are going well here in Rose Park especially since the weather has been pretty great! It hasn't snowed. Its been a little cold but not unbearable. The people here in Rose Park have taken advantage of the weather and there is not a day that goes by that I can't smell carne asada haha soo good. This may be my last full week in Rose Park...transfers are next Wed. I cant believe I've almost finshed my 3rd transfer. Time is flying by. 

 Anyway, love you all. Cuidense mucho!

 

The SLC mission sign...all the missionaries signed it and hang it up when they all meet together.

Linnea on transfer day, December 28th.  A smile because she got to stay in Rose Park for 6 more weeks.

New Year's Eve missionary style.  She said it was the first time she wore jeans in 5 months.

There was a big dodgeball game.  Those single ward tournaments paid off!

No celebrations would be complete without food.

Some strategizing with the mission president's wife, Sister Winn.

Looks like they were victorious.