Elder Lindquist 12/10

Hello from Beja! Hey everyone how is everything? I have more or less been in Beja for about two weeks now and I love it here, this last week has been amazing. We have a new investigator and a couple is pretty close to baptism they're just waiting for their marriage papers to come through. We're the only missionaries in Beja and our area is pretty big so we walk a lot. Your feet get beat up from walking on cobble stone all day but I can't complain it is so beautiful here. Last P-day we went to the castle that's here in the middle of the city and took some really cool pictures, it's been pretty cold and rainy this last week but it's not too bad. The language is coming pretty good I feel like I can communicate pretty well but I have a long ways to go. On Monday Elder Rissi and I went to a city called Evora to do divisions with part of our district. (We have six elders total in our district, a companionship in Evora and a companionship in Santo Andre.) It was way fun and we got so much done. For some reason almost everyone we talked to that day was accepting of our message. Elder Flint and I were able to obtain about twenty addresses/phone numbers from contacting, teach two lessons, place two Books of Mormon, and get in a door. That usually doesn't happen in an entire week. So it was really fun to have that much success in a matter of 5 hours or so. We were on our way to pick up some dinner and talked to a guy in a park who was a little hesitant to talk to us but once he realized we just wanted to visit with him and not take any money or anything he really opened up. He played guitar and we talked about music, (in English). I was way excited to talk to someone in English!) We talked about Miles Davis, Neil Young, Led Zepplin, the whole gang. It was sweet. Elder Flint and I were also able to teach him most of the first lesson about the restoration of the gospel and it was really cool. He seemed really interested in the fact that we had a living prophet on the earth today. He had band practice after talking for about 45 minutes but we gave him a Book of Mormon and challenged him to read Moroni 10:3-5 and pray about the book. I wish I could be there for their next appointment with him but I am needed here in Beja. Last night we all went to the bus station to come back to Beja and spend P-day here. Elder Flint’s companion forgot some things so he and elder Rissi went back to their house to get it. While they were gone elder Flint and I decided to do some more contacting since we missed our bus and the next one wasn't leaving for another hour and a half. Every one we talked to gave us their address to visit another day, which is extremely rare here. Almost everyone says they don't have time to talk and sticks their hand up in your face. It's really funny. So as we were contacting we decided to go back into the city to visit one of their new investigators who they'd only taught once. He's like nineteen and is from Cabo Verde, Africa. He was home as well as all three of his roommates. They were all watching the soccer game between Sporting Portugal vs. Brazilia Brazil. They were way cool guys but didn't really seem interested in why we were there. We went into another room with their investigator to share the second lesson. We were visiting with him for a while, and in the meantime some of his roommates would come in to talk a little bit. The game was really loud coming from the other room, and pretty soon all of his roommates were in the room. We had a lot of fun talking to them while a couple of them bounced a basketball around, so it was really loud. Time was running a little short so I said ok guys now we want to teach you about the plan of salvation. It's the plan Our Heavenly Father has for us to return and live with him again. This got their attention and they shut the door to block the sounds of the game in the background, this was a miracle. For about twenty five minutes Elder Flint and I taught four Cabo Verdians about how they can live with their families after this life. It was the coolest thing in the world. I will always be able to skateboard and play drums and do all of that stuff I did before the mission but that is one thing I will never be able to do again after these two years here. I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to serve here and I know that I'm supposed to be here at this time.With love, Elder Lindquist