Elder Lindquist 12/28/09

So it was really great to talk to all of you guys I hope you are doing well and that you had an awesome Christmas! I was super happy to talk to ya and hear your voices again. Doesn't sound like a lot have changed, however; a lot is changing here in Portugal we had another baptism yesterday and a bunch of his family members came and they loved it. This = new investigators:) So we will keep working our magic and following the spirit and every thing will be good. I can't believe that Ryan is already 13! Holy smokes, before you know it he'll be on a mission. I'll eventually send you guys the package I have here I just haven't had that much time to run it to the place. Well we had a fun week with the Christmas conference with all the missionaries in the mission. We had good trainings, good food, and a good white elephant exchange. We had a crazy Christmas Eve where all we did was run around and eat at member’s houses all day long. And it was basically the same thing on Christmas. We could feed an army with all the left over food that was given to us from Christmas and this baptism. I don't know what we'll do with it probably give it to the poor people here or something. Well the work is going good here we have a bunch of people that are ready for baptism but they want to "wait until the time is right" which is frustrating sometimes when you know they are ready and they want to be baptized but they decide to wait for some reason. But we'll keep working with them and they'll be baptized here pretty soon. Well the work continues onward and I'm so happy to be a part of it, this last year has been sick and I am excited for the New Year and to see what it holds in store for all of us. I hope everyone is good and know that you are in my prayers. Thank you for all of the support! Love, Elder Lindquist

Elder Lindquist 12/21/09

Hey gang how's it going? Hope you had a great week ours went well here in Corroios we had a baptism yesterday and it went very well. I'm so dang excited for Christmas it's going to be awesome, and even though there is not snow here it is so cold here. Oh my goodness. Anyway we had a great turnout in church yesterday with over 10 investigators. Our investigators are amazing but we had some problems this week with a few investigators telling their family members that are in Cabo Verde that they're investigating our church and their family freaked out on them because they're breaking the family tradition of being catholic, (non practicing..) so that is kind of annoying because it bums people out ya know, then we have to go over and encourage them to follow what they feel is true. But things are going great especially during Christmas time. I got bombarded yesterday with members asking when we can eat at their house, I love serving in a ward it's amazing. And even though we still don't have a ward mission leader we're coming along pretty well. I have other good news, Ana's mom from Caldas da Rainha, got baptized a few days after I left! We had been teaching her but I didn't think she'd be baptized that soon, or in the ocean. Poor old lady but also a girl that Elder Wheeler and I found in Torres Vedras got baptized last Saturday so I was stoked on that as well. It is cool to hear about what happens after you leave areas. I felt like Amulek and them when they said are our fruits few? I say unto you no, they are many. Or something like that I'm trying to translate it in my head from Portuguese. So I'm super excited to talk to you guys on Christmas just remember that it's always better to give than receive. There are so many people who have nothing here it amazes me. People here have so much more faith than me. Like one African lady we found the other day in a ghetto place by our house, (that's basically little Africa) she promised us she'd go to church and yesterday morning she didn't have electricity in her little hut thing so to take a bath she poured cold water in a tub thing and bathed her daughter and herself early in the morning (when it was about 32 degrees) so they could make it to church. I feel really humbled to be here and have these experiences and meet these awesome people. I'm grateful to be a missionary and I'm grateful for my savior and for all of you and I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Elder Lindquist 12/14/09

Wow this week was crazy. A bunch of stuff has happened and I'll try and fill you in even though I can't do this week justice. So it turns out that I was not called to serve in Setubal but in an area called Miratejo, I just got confused because they combined the two zones so it includes Setubal but we're in the Miratejo. The Miratejo is on the other side of the river from Lisbon and it's a way sick area. It's the first time I'm serving in a WARD, yes I said a ward. It's part of the Setubal stake and we share our chapel with some sister missionaries in Almada that is close to our area. I took elder Petersen’s spot here, (my favorite comp in the mission) and I'm serving with Elder Daley. Elder Daley is an incredible missionary he's a super hard worker and we're having lots of success. As a matter of fact I got to walk in a threesome with Elder Daley and Elder Peterson for a few days before he went home. It was sooo fun to talk to him again that kid is so hilarious. It was sad to see him go, but he's got a mission to fulfill at home now. (Marry Courtney!) So things are going well in our zone, it's a lot of work but we are doing well. We have had a lot of awesome experiences and we will have quite a few baptisms this transfer. We had our Christmas party the other day and Elder Daley and I preformed a missionary version of the 12 days of Christmas, it was really fun and the members liked it a lot. Elder Peterson wrote it the week before he went home and left it for us to perform so we threw it together the day before, it was pretty nerve racking to do but it was a lot of fun. We've been following the spirit a lot this week and seeing a great deal of success. This last Saturday we decided to pass a potential investigator by, but he wasn't home so we decided to do some knocking in his building. We said a prayer there so that we could be led to those that were ready to receive us. Just a few doors later a woman answered the door and invited us right in. She has two sons and a daughter, we taught them the first lesson and they came to church the next day. That was really cool it's amazing how much stuff like that happens here. This area is full of Africans, whereas my other areas were full of Portuguese and Brazilian people. The people here are so freaking nice! I couldn't believe it, but it has been refreshing to have so many people listen and talk to us and be willing to listen to our message. The difference between Beja and here is like night and day. Even the Portuguese people will talk to us here it's sick. So last night we went to the Christmas devotional and it brought tears to some of our investigators eyes it was cool. Especially an African guy we've been talking with who is a member of the 7th day Adventist church. After a hefty lesson/debate about baptisms for the dead we went to the devotional and he and his girlfriend liked it a lot. Oh and also our mission is doing a thing where whenever we have a baptism we send a picture to the office and they send them to church headquarters and our mission has a deal with President Monson that as a Christmas present they'll make a slideshow of these pictures and put it on the churches website so you should see me in there a few times. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and I'm excited to talk to you soon! com muito amor e carinho, -Elder Lindquist

P.s I'll send you my address here but I want to make it very clear DO NOT send packages here only letters! Because you have to bring your real passport to the place to get the package and I don't have that the mission office does and I don't want to have to go to the office and get that every time I receive a package it's easier just to send it to the mission office. I received the package slip for the first package you guys sent to Caldas but I was not able to get the package before leaving the area so I'll call the place and have them ship it to the office. Also we're still figuring out whose house we're eating at on Christmas so I don't know if I'll be calling you from a members house or from the chapel but I'll let you know next week I'll just buy another calling card and use that to call your cell or the house phone. Elder Daley is from AZ so we will call at different times but we'll get everything sorted out this week and let you know. Love you
Avenida Rui Gracio
Nº 64 4º DRT
Santa Marta Do Pinhal
2855-709 Corroios
Portugal.

Elder Lindquist 12/7/09

So Christmas is drawing nearer and nearer each day and needless to say I'm pretty excited. This week went by crazy fast holy smokes, I spent the majority of the week out of my area (in Santarém) on divisions and such and we're still here but we'll be returning in the afternoon. We had Clara's baptism on Saturday and it was amazing. It was a combined baptism with two other baptisms, (an awesome African lady and her son) which the elders here in Santarém had. Then after the baptism we had the Saturday session of our district conference, it was amazing. President Torgan was there along with a seventy from Brazil it was pretty sweet. President told me that night that I probably wouldn't stay in Caldas da Raiha but I still haven't heard any news on transfers today so I'd say the best bet is to ship the packages to the mission office. So yesterday was the conference again and it was super cool. We had a fun night last night staying in our Zone Leaders house with about 10 elders, (which included a dance party and other fun adventures.) But like they say we play hard and we work hard. It was sick because my homeslice elder Togo from my MTC district was there and other amigãos. So this week should be good if I stay in Caldas with a branch Christmas party and so forth, but even if I leave I'll be happy to serve wherever the Lord wants me to. It's pretty sick to serve during Christmas time the people are somewhat cheery. The rejection isn't always as bad because you can always say "Happy Holidays!" and leave people with a smile. Last night we went to members’ houses here and sang them a few Christmas carols and it brought tears the every eye in the room, (like I said a few weeks ago my angelic voice has improved.) So my Christmas thought for this week is the following, during this time of Christmas we see many lights, lights on the Christmas tree, lights on the roofs of houses, etc. But let's remember what the meaning of these lights is. As we read in the Bible as well as the Book of Mormon Christ is the LIGHT and LIFE of the world. Christ brings light to every thing he touches, that is why his gospel changes the lives of those who live it and I testify that it does because I've seen that with my own eyes. Even though we do not have a big star to indicate where the Savior is here on earth we have other tools- the scriptures, the words of the living prophets, etc. So let's all think more about how we can add more of this light to our lives and also light up the lives of others, that is what Christ would do if he were here and so let us help share the light of the gospel with those who are in darkness. Have a great week every one, I love you all, and I'm excited to talk to ya'll here in a few weeks!
-Elder Lindquist

Here is a follow-up email received later this morning.
So I'm getting transferred to Setubal. It will be pretty hectic. Another missionary and I will be white washing the area as leaders of the zone but they're combining two zones so it will be the biggest zone in the mission. President told me he wants me to teach other missionaries how to baptize. I'm excited but a little nervous since either my companion or me will have experience in the area. I love you.

Elder Lindquist 11/30/09

So I hope you all had a great week, Sounds like you had a great thanksgiving and every thing. I was excited to hear that BYU won. As far as turkey day went for me. We had interviews and president took us out to McDonalds! so that's a tradition for me here in Portugal because a year ago when I arrived in Beja on Thanksgiving day Elder Rissi and I ate that for dinner, but I'm afraid that next year that tradition will be broken:(
So this week we were running around quite a bit. And this week will be even busier, preparing our awesome investigator Clara for baptism and I have to go to Santarém to do a baptismal interview, Saturday and Sunday is our district conference and before the conference on Saturday our zone is combining all of our baptisms it's going to be awesome. Well things are good here in Portugal, I'm pretty sure I'll stay during transfers but I'll let you know, stop stressing mom! We should get T-calls next Monday so I will let you know what's going on. Transfers would be on the 8th (they moved because our P-day moved). And for Christmas, if I stay I'll probably just buy a calling card and call you from the phone in the chapel. But we can sort out all of those details when I know. So this week Joana has been walking with us all day and Christophe after he gets done with class. It's amazing the work that the members do here I've never seen anything like this anywhere else. Joana will be starting a course soon then after that is over with in a year and a half she wants to serve a mission. Oh and Ana might be going to Brazil this next weekend, I don't want her to go she is such an amazing person/member, and a lot of times she reminds me of mom. Christmas would not be the same without her. Well I love you all, I hope you all stay safe in the snow! It’s pretty cold here as well. mas paciência não é?, Love, Elder Lindquist

Elder Lindquist 11/23/09

Oi gente how's it going? Well this week was pretty awesome. I'll start with a fun little experience we had at the beginning of the week. So we decided to do some finding in a different part of town the other night that's basically on the border of Caldas. When we got out there Christophe said oh man this is the second most dangerous place in Caldas and I thought, great I've already been to the first most dangerous place so we'll see how this goes. We started knocking but no one wanted to talk to us because Portugal's soccer team was playing an important game. So we went down a smaller street. We knocked on a gate of a house and their dog started going crazy, then a lady opened the window and was like "what do you want"?! Elder Silva tried to talk to her but she couldn't hear because of the dog. So then she turned around and said to someone behind her "hey go get the pistol". I was like GUH! I turned and started booking it. Eventually we got to Christophes car and Elder Silva was joking with me saying that I was a baby for running and that she was joking. So we started driving and when we got to where the road we came from connected with the road we were driving on there was a tall man dressed in all black with a big hat on just standing in the middle of the road and in one hand was holding what looked like a gun and in the other was holding a thick chain that was about two feet long, with his back to us but when we drove by him he turned and looked at us. I almost wet my pants that image freaked me out. Elder Silva was like "ahhh! Now I believe you Elder"! It was crazy, I don't know if it was because it was a dangerous area or if we were messing with Portugal people and their soccer. So we confirmed Ana and Elias yesterday, Elias also received the priesthood. They also received callings so they’re doing well. We also marked another investigator yesterday. So the other day Elias informed us that a little bag of his, (containing all of his important information, credit card, passport, drivers license, etc.) had been stolen from his car. He was pretty stressed but we visited him on Saturday night and we said a prayer asking God to help him get these important things back, (to be honest I didn't think that he would ever see them again. Where was my faith right?) So Sunday morning he got to church and was like Elders, last night after you guys left someone called me and told me that they found my bag. I met up with him and he gave it to me and it wasn't missing anything! It was a pretty sick miracle and in a certain way a test of faith, Ether 12:27. But as we read in D&C 58:2-4 we are blessed after our trials. Well things are going good here, I don't know if I'll stay one more transfer we'll see. Transfers are the first week of December. Well you all are in my prayers. I love you.

Elder Lindquist 11/16/09

Que semana! So this week was incredible, even though it has been raining a lot and I don't like this weather it was an awesome week. The baptisms were a success, we met with Ana last Monday and after a bit of conversation I asked her how the day went. She said horribly until about ten minutes ago. She continued to explain that after she told us that she would be baptized the day before the rest of that day and almost all of Monday she became worried that she might have made the wrong decision. She said she watched a bunch of the church films we had given her and prayed all day Monday pleading with God for a sign. A week earlier when we challenged her to be baptized on the 14th she was worried because she had a visit marked with a client of hers up north and this client doesn't like to have things changed, so she was afraid to call him if she received an answer and decided to be baptized. So after she agreed to be baptized she was king of stuck between a "rock and a hard place" and so she prayed all day on Monday knowing that we had a visit that night. Ten minutes before our visit she received a phone call from the client saying look we're really really sorry but we can't have the meeting with you on the 24th. she was completely stunned and she knew with a certainty that that was her sign from God. She was so excited that day. The baptisms were so cool! I would give anything to feel the feeling I felt on Saturday. I felt like I was the person that was baptized ha. But I know all the money in the world can't buy that feeling, the joy that comes from the gospel is incredible. Ana and Elias felt it too; they were so happy on Saturday and are completely different people. I know that they literally were born again spiritually. Elder Bell, (the elder that found Ana a week before I got here) and his parents were here. He baptized Ana, it was a way cool experience for him and his parents, for Ana, and for us as well. I know that God lives and loves his children, and I know that miracles are real. I've already seen so many miracles happen in this last year that it almost makes my brain want to explode. It makes me wonder how much more I'll be able to handle in the last year of my mission. Well I'm extremely excited for Christmas, (I've been listening to Christmas music almost every day) and about thanksgiving. Well, we have interviews with president on that day so I don't know what we'll do but all I know is Elder Silva is an INCREDIBLE chef. He cooks some of the best food I've ever eaten, (in the mission Mom I'm not talking about before.) but I don't mean to toot my own horn or anything but my cooking skills have improved quite a bit as well. As well as my singing skills, (I have the best voice in the branch by far Portuguese people can't sing worth beans). Well have a great week I love you all!
-Elder Lindquist

Elder Lindquist 11/9/09

Well this last week was amazing, some of the coolest experiences that I've had on the mission happened this last week. I'll share some with you. We've been working extremely hard to help Ana receive an answer and take the step to baptism, it's been a challenging journey but we continued with faith. Last Monday Elder Silva and I were discussing her needs and the things we could do to help her, we decided to do a special lesson and we spent some of our p-day preparing it. That was probably the coolest lesson I've taught on my mission, the Spirit was extremely strong. The lesson was titled "The love He has for you" it was all about the Savior and his love for us, we listened to a beautiful version of "come thou fount of every blessing" while we closed our eyes and thought about Christ. We also made a little book for her that had pictures of Christ and poems and scriptures about the Savior. It was awesome, especially because we didn't plan on doing that but we were talking and we were inspired and ideas started flowing and it turned out really well. Needless to say she received an answer. But it was to a different question than if she should be baptized, it was if she should go to Brazil for three months to do some medical treatments from an accident she had some years ago. But she said she had been feeling a great desire to be baptized. So this left her with another question, if she should be baptized before or after the trip to Brazil. This was a big question she has been fighting with this whole week, we continued teaching her and praying that she would receive an answer. Yesterday we had a nice sacrament meeting, the Spirit was very strong and at the end of the meeting right before I went up to say the closing prayer she tapped me on the shoulder from two chairs over and said Elder I will be baptized this Saturday. My jaw dropped and I almost had to change my pants. And the cool thing is the elder that found her a week or so before I got here (who ended his mission in this area) is visiting this weekend with his parents, I'm pretty sure he's going to baptize her. After all this time of trying to help her receive an answer I can see that things have to be done in the Lord's time and not when we want them to be done. We also marked an awesome investigator named Elias, (elijah) and he had a dream that I was baptizing him so he wanted me to baptize him. So this Saturday we'll have two baptisms, I'm not sure if it will be at the beach or in Santarém but I'm super excited. It is so sick to see the hand of the Lord in the work here there's no doubt that all of this is true. I've been feeling the spirit in abundance this week it has been an awesome week. Well glad to hear you all are doing well, you'll have to send me some pictures of the snowy mountains. It has actually started to get really cold here; winter is on its way. I don't know how to express my feelings right now, I feel extremely blessed for being here at this time. I know that I'm actually making a difference in people’s lives and I'm super grateful for the privilege I have to be here in Caldas serving with Elder Silva because I'm certain that things would not go the way they have gone if we were not here at this point in time. Oh I forgot to mention this last week we had zone conference and a 70 was there, Elder Kopischke. He's a member of the area presidency for Europe. I really enjoyed the conference but I was exhausted at the end of it because I had to translate the whole thing for Elder Silva, man that was rough. Well have a great week.

Com muito amor, -Elder Lindquist

Elder Lindquist 11/2/09

Well this week was crazy sauce but it was pretty awesome. Last Monday we got T-calls and Elder Larsen got sent to the other end of the mission to serve with my MTC comp Elder Craig. And Elder Silva got sent to me! He's a stud I have already served as his District Leader when I was in Torres Vedras, (he was in Mafra). So we already are buddies and we work well together, really well. And needless to say I now realize that I don't speak Portuguese, ha! But, he’s helping me with a lot of stuff and I'm helping him learn English as well, he's my second companion from Porto. So things are going really well we have a few people progressing and we will get them marked soon. Joana's baptism was a big help to get people pumped up about baptism. She got a calling yesterday as a primary professor, she was way excited. And yesterday we taught her about missionary work because she wants to serve a mission in a year! Well I realize that there are quite a few people, friends and family that are in need of special blessings. They are not alone; all around the world people are going through trials and need special blessings from our Heavenly Father. One thing I can testify of with all of my heart is that I know our Heavenly Father loves us and watches over us. And that our Savior is always on our side, (Matthew 11:28-30) and no matter the trial there is always a reason and a purpose to our challenges and if we stay close to our Heavenly Father through these challenges and have faith in him we will always come out on the other end stronger (D&C 120-122). I'm grateful for this opportunity I have to serve the Lord, I've learned so much and still have a lot to learn. But I'm really enjoying my time here in Caldas with Elder Silva I know we have a lot of miracles to accomplish here. Well were going to get a haircut right now (even though Elder Silva doesn't have a lot of hair. haha he's a 26 year old convert and he's balding) but I'll let you guys go have a great week you're always in my prayers.-Elder Lindquist

Elder Lindquist 10/26/09

So this week was sick! We're busting out some big accomplishments here in Caldas; we broke two of the pattern of excellence goals for the mission so we'll keep on working to fulfill the others. The baptism went really well, she was just happy to get baptized she was sick of waiting. It was a really peaceful atmosphere; the place where we went the water wasn't very deep so Christophe, (our Branch mission leader) and Joana had to walk around for a while to find a place deep enough. It was kind of like a lake thing that split off from the ocean called lagoa de óbidos. We are working with a couple other people to get them baptized as well. Going to the baptismal service really got them excited about baptism. In fact half the people at the service were investigators and then yesterday we had 9 investigators in church! This branch is small but it has a lot of potential. This last week we had interviews with President Torgan and this week is transfers. I don't want to get transferred I love this place, but we'll see what happens. Yesterday Teresa showed up at church to visit. She brought a bag full of treats, oh by the way I went to the mail place the other day and picked up the package it was just waiting there for me. Thanks for the package. The shoes are really nice. Well p-day last week was really fun but I was really sore from all the ping-pong, B-ball, and ultimate frisbee. Then that night we had a street meeting and we all sang for people then got their information after the hymn, it was sick. Today I think we're going to go bowling with one of our Brazilian investigators, (the one that almost burned my face off). Well have a great week I pray that all is well with you, thank you for the support.
-Elder Lindquaisties (as pronounced by a few people this past week.)

p.s. I forgot to mention the other day we went to teach a reference that was given to his dad and us was a pastor. Well let’s just say that was a fun experience. After calmly listening to us explain the restoration to his son he started yelling a bunch of crazy nonsense that had nothing to do with anything. ugh I'm so dang sick of these crazy evangelical churches they are so distorted and all they want is your money. I'm glad I have the truth it's a very big blessing for sure. Oh and yesterday we were doing some finding when I hear drums coming from a third story window. My dream finally came true! We knocked on the door and a man answered I asked him if he was playing and he explained that his daughter was the one playing I asked if I could try and he invited us right in. I had a good 5-minute jam and they were really impressed, (even though I'm really really rusty). I know it was the Sabbath but I've been studying the Law of Moses and I found that it's just within the law to play if you get two new potential investigators. They were really cool he made us tea and we had a good visit with them. They said we could come back any day to talk about the church or to jam out. I just thought I'd share that because it made my day yesterday.

Love Elder Lindquist

Elder Lindquist 10/19/09

Hey so sounds like your week was almost as busy as mine was. Well we're working hard here in Caldas and meeting some of our goals so that's always really fun to see and feels really rewarding. Our baptism is this Saturday and we're all really excited, especially Joana. Wow she is electissimo (ha the way you say really elect but used at the end of an english word). And we hope to have some other people marked here pretty soon. I love hearing investigators bear their testimonies on the Book of Mormon, it is really is a powerful tool in the conversion process. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God and the keystone of this church and it's so sick to be able to give someone a copy of it in another language and bear my testimony of it. This week I did a division in an area called Carregado with Elder Ellis it was fun, I did a baptismal interview for them there and I also re-learned how to play Egyptian rat screw, (a card game that I had only played once and forgotten how to play). Today will be sick, our whole district is in Santarém and we're going to have a nice P-day together including a ping pong tournament, B-ball, ultimate frisbee, and a little bit of kings cup as well. Tomorrow we have interviews here then I have a division here on Wed. so it will be a little while before I get back to Caldas but oh well. What are your plans for Halloween? Halloween doesn't exist here. (The carnival is the closest thing to Halloween that they've got) I don't know what we'll do because transfers are a few days before Halloween. Since we can't dress up we'll probably do something like wear each others nametags or something just to throw people off. Well I love you guys and pray for you everyday. Have a great week!
~tsiuqdnil redle

Elder Lindquist 10/12/09

Oi minha familia tá tudo bem convosco? How was the week sounds like it was good. Ours went well also some crazy stuff went down. The other day we were teaching a Brazilian dude named Allyson, (I know that name is completely a girl name but in Brazil anything goes with the names.) He's a way sick dude. So anyway I asked if I could use the bathroom and so when I walked out of the bathroom he was standing on the side of the doorway with an air freshener and a lighter. All of the sudden I just felt a huge flash of heat by my head and I look over and see him with this homemade flamethrower. It was funny but it was pretty close to my head I don't think he estimated how far the flame would go. Luckily it didn't singe any hairs! So Joana is doing well and we're making all the preparations for the baptism our branch mission leader will baptize her in the ocean, (we don't have a font closer than an hour and a half or so). So we're excited for that and so is she, as a matter of fact she bore her testimony in church yesterday. Oh my goodness speaking of yesterday, we had four investigators in church and things were going good and sacrament meeting was almost over when a member gets up to bear his testimony and says brothers and sisters I know this church is true and the book of Mormon is true but this is the last week I'm going to come to church. Guhh sometimes I get sick of these small dysfunctional branches. He continued to list a few reasons why, none of which had anything to do with the church but that's how people function here.. I think he just wanted attention and was using the wrong way to obtain it. Yesterday we ran into Teresa in the street. I guess she came up to Caldas to visit a few people and track me down to say hello. It was weird but cool. Well the work is going fairly well here in Caldas. The companionship isn't the most fun one in the world but patience is a virtue right? Well have a great week I hope you all are doing well and all strengthening your testimonies daily I know that is happening to me. Bem, valeu meus queridos. -Elder Lindquist

Elder Lindquist 10/5/09

So this week went great. Conference was awesome! However, I must say it was a huge stress getting everything going for the members and investigators who were waiting to see it. Our Branch President is out of town so that means the Elders do everything for a couple weeks, (we usually do anyway) so we spent a while running around on Saturday trying to find a way to get internet so we could start watching conference, it could have been a fiasco but we ended up getting everything to work. And the sessions worked out well yesterday as well. Fogo pá Elder Holland laid down the law I hope to be able to preach the gospel like him by the end of my mission I also liked a bunch of others but too many to name. This morning we came to the chapel with our branch mission leader to watch the priesthood session on his laptop it was great as well. This week went by really fast now that I've been in Caldas a couple weeks I'm getting used to how things function here and things are going good. I know that Thomas S. Monson is our Prophet today and our church is led by modern revelation, our church is the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth. I know without a doubt this work is real and it will progress until it fills the whole earth. Even though our branch is small and at times very dysfunctional it will eventually grow to be a stake. Portugal is an amazing country, it has amazing people here. I know if we will work hard the Lord will bless the people here and with a little help from our Heavenly Father, (maybe the fall of the great and abominable church...) this country will accept more fully this gospel. Portugal is already the highest baptizing mission in Europe and will continue to grow. Have a great week I love you all and I love the Lord and his work, Love Elder Lindquist

Elder Lindquist 9/30/09

Hey sorry I didn't send an email yesterday the missionary couple that served here and left a couple months ago is visiting this week and took us all around in their car to all these sweet places that would be impossible to visit without a car. Then we went to the area of our zone leaders because I had a baptismal interview to do there and we planned on doing email there but the power went out! So I got permission from president to use it for a bit today so this will be quick. Well things are going really well this week we had an awesome week. Both Joana and Ana are progressing very well. Joana will be baptized on the 24th and she is soooo excited. The baptism was supposed to be on the tenth but our branch president will be in Brazil so she agreed to do it after he got back but she is really anxious to be baptized. She without a doubt is elect. Ana is also doing really well but has a lot more questions and concerns, this morning we had a lesson with her and the couple that served here. Brother and Sister Parker from Idaho helped us out and it was probably one of the best lessons I've taught on my mission. It was awesome and without their help it wouldn't have been the lesson it was. We had zone conference yesterday and it was very intense, and our president is a beast; both spiritually and physically! It's incredible to be in a meeting with him I feel like we're in a meeting with the apostles. He really is a spiritual monster and a great leader of this mission. For the past few years our mission has averaged 11 baptisms a month. This last month the mission had 42 baptisms, I hope all of them, including Teresa stay strong in the church. Speaking of apostles I'm really excited for General Conference. Every time I hear it announced I get giddy, I don't know why but it's a lot cooler on the mission. I really know we are led by inspired men of God. We will watch it in our chapel on a little laptop and we'll use the computer speakers I bought to use with my walkman. Well have a great week everyone I love you and pray that everything goes well for you this week!-Elder

Elder Lindquist 9/23/09

Wow time is flying by! It scares me to think that my time in the mission is more and more limited but I look at it like the mission cup is half full, not half empty. Elder Larsen's B-day is tomorrow as well so we're going to party it up. Caldas da Rainha is sick! I really like it here but it took me a few days to get used to it here. Even though it's close to Torres and the city is similar the work is very different. Once again I'm out in the middle of nowhere, even a million miles away from people in our district. Our branch here is very small, about 20-25 people. But there are some sick members here. The mission leader in the branch is awesome. He's a 25 year old guy named Christophe and he walks with us and teaches with us every day for the rest of the day after he gets done with school. That's a big help. We do service here every Friday morning at a soup kitchen for homeless people it's pretty cool we kind of help prepare the food then we serve it and do the dishes after it was cool. And we've got two really good investigators right now who are progressing really well, Ana and Joana. We marked Joana for baptism the other day; she'll be baptized in October. She has a cousin that's a member in our branch and that helps a lot. And Ana is still praying to know if the Book of Mormon is true and I know she'll receive an answer because she's one of the most down to earth sincere people I've met. We have family night every Tuesday here and it was a good one last night the members here are pretty cool, there's not a lot of crazy people like there is in other branches. My district here is huge; there are 8 of us including our zone leaders so it will be a party. Oh by the way President Torgan moved P-day to Monday, starting this coming Monday so make sure to send your emails on Sunday night instead of on Tuesday. I had a sick dream last night, Elder Larsen and I visited a music store on P-day and I played the drums for like ten minutes it was amazing. That reminds me the other day Elder Wheeler and I were proselyting in Torres and I heard drums coming from an apartment. We rang the door bell like a hundred times but no one answered :( it's alright I'll eventually get my chance. I was way excited to hear that Aspen will be getting a little brother! That's awesome I'm excited to see him when I get back. When will Nat and Isaac have their baby? Well I'll end with my testimony on the priesthood; I know the power of the priesthood is real and that holders of this priesthood can lay their hands on someone’s head and cure them in the name of Jesus Christ. Have a great week.
My address here is:
Elder Jordan Lindquist
Rua fonte do Pinheiro
Nº43 3ºESQ
2500-Caldas Da Rainha

Elder Lindquist 9/16/09

Hey all how's life? I hope everyone had a great week ours went pretty well. The baptism went really well on Saturday and we tried to stay busy this whole week making sure everything is in order because in interviews president told me he was probably going to whitewash Torres, (he likes to whitewash areas.) and he did. So we're making sure everything is in order for the new elders that arrive. Well we got transfer calls yesterday and I'm getting transferred even farther north almost to the border of the Porto mission! It's a city the same size as Beja and Torres Vedras called Caldas da Rainha. I'm way excited because I've heard lots and lots of good things about this area. The branch is small but the members are great, and that area has some of the coolest castles in Portugal. Elder Wheeler is going down to Mafra ha-ha different area but the same branch. I'm really bummed to leave Torres because I really love the people here they are amazing and I'm going to miss them a lot but I'm excited to go up to Caldas. My companion is from California, (another one) his name is Elder Larson and he's from Brea California. Well today we're going to a place called Cabo da Roca with the elders from Cacém, Cabo is the furthest point in western Europe so that should be fun. I'll send pictures from the baptism and such, I'll let you know what my address is there in Caldas so you can send the shoes there, or you can send them to the office if you want. I'm glad you guys liked the package, have a great week!
-Elder Lindquist

Elder Lindquist 9/9/09

So this week went really well. Ha I've been waiting all week to tell you guys but last Wednesday night we met up with Teresa and she informed us that she had received an answer to her prayer concerning her baptism. So she let us know that she wants to be baptized this coming Saturday, it's a really cool story of how it all came together but one to be told in person and not typed out. That was the biggest thing we encouraged her to do was to search prayerfully for an answer and she received a sign. We're very happy about that, all I can say is God loves his children and answers their prayers. And I know that miracles are real. We had a fun day on Saturday, our ward mission leader got married and we partied it up at the reception, Teresa also insisted on taking us out to a nice restaurant Saturday night; so we ate pretty well on Saturday needless to say. Well we have a lot of good investigators but most of them have a hard time going to church. That is probably the biggest barrier we have and unfortunately it's the barrier that keeps people from being baptized. But we try our best to get people there without destroying their agency. We found some cool people this week, it's pretty cool when plans fall through then you have to go with another option and you end up finding amazing new investigators. It's funny how the spirit works. Well this stupid computer is telling me it's going to shut down in a second but did you guys get your package? Well have a great week we're going to the driving range with the rest of our district today. This next week we will know if I'm getting transferred. I'm nervous but excited. Tchau pessoal!-Elder Lindquist

Elder Lindquist 9/2/09

So this week went well, it's really cool to see people progress it's one of my favorite things to see. The baptism didn't go through. Teresa was really nervous and didn't think she was ready to make that commitment. She continues to progress, we had a family night with her on Monday and we played a game I made that reviews the restoration it was really fun and we had some good laughs. It was a bummer but she'll still be baptized soon when she feels completely ready. (She is ready she just got scared). So Saturday was a rough day it was very hot and we were both exhausted. We were getting shut down all day. We went to the other side of town to teach Sister Maria Regina and after that (about 7:30) we didn't have much to do. I was like I feel like we should do some finding in Bairro Boavista (which is another 30 minute walk from where we were) Elder Wheeler looks at me like you've got to be kidding me, but we decided to go. We started walking up the long road that led to that part of town and we decided to start knocking those apartments. Everyone was treating us like trash and I was getting a little annoyed, so I was like should we keep knocking here or go up to the Bairro? Elder Wheeler was like I don't care, so we decided to keep knocking. A few doors later I knocked on a house and a younger lady answered. She was a little hesitant to talk to us at first and let us know that they were eating dinner I jokingly said "oh cool do you have room for two more? I'm starving" (I really was because I slept during our hour for dinner) she laughed and was like do you want to come eat with us?! I looked at Elder Wheeler and we both shrugged our shoulders and I was like sure. So we go in and there's a table full of people in their living room, so they found space for us and preceded to hand us plate after plate of food. It was awesome. After desert we talked to them about the Book of Mormon and left them a few copies, they wanted us to write our testimonies in them so we did and we left that house walking on clouds. It's funny how the days can shift so quickly. I definitely know that our Heavenly Father had our back that day because it wasn't going very well and he was aware of that so he gave us a nice tender mercy. So last night we had a lesson with our African investigator Vanessa. She is so sick! She's on chapter 11 of 1st Nephi and we had a great lesson talking about the tree of life vision and all this good stuff. I told her that she's going to like chapter 13 because it describes the church of the devil and I was like pay attention to the characteristics I'm pretty sure you'll be able to decipher which church it is. She was excited about that. Well today we're going to Sintra with our Zone it's going to be sick. Elder Wheeler has never been so it will be a good day. I hope you had good birthdays Mom and Dad the package should get there in about a week. Take it easy and study/work hard! Love vosso querido Elder Lindquist

Elder Lindquist 8/26/09

So this last week went great we're making, I should say attempt-ing to make the final preparations for the baptism and we're a little stressed out but I hope it goes well for Teresa she is an awesome lady. The baptism will be held in Mem Martins, (an hour and a half or so from our area) we got permission from Pres. Torgan to do it in the ocean but unfortunately our stake shut us down. Oh well. I don't really remember a lot that happened this week my mind has been pretty scattered, we've just been working with the members a lot to teach Teresa and some other people so things are going good. Wow how the mission is a rollercoaster. It's crazy I can't explain but sometimes it feels like the end of the world but then sometimes you are floating up in the clouds because people are so grateful to you for showing them the truth. We really are instruments in the Lords hands in the mission field that is something that is really cool to me. I'm really grateful for the conversion of my family into the church just one generation ago because that is now rippling to other people that will create generations of other members in the church, and who knows how long the ripple will last. It's cool to think that the ripple of my grandparent’s conversion would spread across the Atlantic Ocean. There is nothing in the world cooler than being a missionary. The script writers for Billy Madison messed up the old lady should have said "if serving a mission is cool consider me Miles Davis". So the B-day went well, thank you all for the packages, letters and emails. Well I feel that this will be the last transfer that I will stay in Torres Vedras but I'm going to continue working hard in this area until I leave, It's cool to see the progress of this area since it opened and it's cool to think that with the Lords help Torres Vedras will have its first baptism in over 10 years. One day there will be a branch here, then a ward, then a stake. Nothing can stop this work from progressing I testify of that. ~Elder Lindquist

Elder Lindquist 8/19/09

Hey sounds like summer is wrapping up well for you guys. This last week went really well for us here and I hope things continue to go well for all of us. Count your many blessings right? There are more than we can imagine. Well the other day we had a family night in our investigator Teresa's house with about five members and we marked her for baptism. She should get baptized in a few weeks and I received permission from President Torgan to realize the baptism in the ocean so we'll see if that's where she wants to do it. These members have been such a help to us, if it wasn't for the members Teresa wouldn't have progressed. Well I should say wasn't progressing I tried for two months to get her to come to church and she never did then the Sunday after we had a lesson with her at the members house she came and was also there this last Sunday. So we're grateful for the members help and we're excited about that. Ha this morning we were doing personal study and we got a buzz at the door, Elder Wheeler jumped up like he always does and was like Yes! A package! So he ran out and shut the door. I was like what do you think you're doing you crazy man and got up to chase after him. When I opened the door he was standing in the hall with Elder Nair and his companion Elder Thomas. They traveled from Cacém to surprise me and play golf with us. So that was really fun we're going to go after we do email and eat. Oh the other day we were knocking some building and this 50 year old not so skinny woman came to the door and was like hello my dears. And I was like hi we're missionaries and we'd like to talk to you about Jesus Christ and immediately she was like do you want to come to bed with me. I was like Guh! My answer was no but that we could teach her how she could be forgiven of her sins. She declined, so that was interesting I've never knocked into a prostitute before and I hope it doesn't happen again. Well I hope you have a nice transition from summer to school/work, I miss you all and thank you for your support. I really love serving a mission it is by far the best decision I've ever made. -Elder Lindquistinho

Elder Lindquist 8/12/09

Hey all tudo bem? Sounds like you guys have had a great week Elder Wheeler and I were stoked about that article that talked about Dallan that was sick. Well we're in Cacém right now (we had a huge BBQ at the chapel here) and we have to catch a train soon so this will be quick. We already had zone conference it was cool and we had a good week with some awesome lessons. One lesson in particular with our investigator Vanesa she said near the beginning of the lesson "since you guys have started teaching us these things and since I've started reading the Book of Mormon we have felt a big difference in our home" she explained that she feels better and feels more peace and she also said she was talking with her mom (who attends the lessons about half the time) and her mom recognized it too it was cool. Because she just brought it up we didn't say anything. They would be baptized soon if they would just come to church! Oh and there's a lady that we've been teaching who said the Book of Mormon is worth more than all the riches in the world. That was pretty cool; we plan on marking her soon. So anyway things are going good, a few missionaries came in this transfer that I know through other people. A DRUMMER from Lindon that is in a band called shake and Echo who is good friends with the band the highwire act who we played many shows with. So that was sick to talk to him at zone conference and he was at the BBQ today. Also a guy from Elk Ridge (Elder Thaught) I've been to his house a few times that was weird. But yeah this transfer is going really good We stayed in cacém the other day before zone conference and I got to teach with my home boy Elder Nair, and today at the BBQ there was like half of our district so that was cool. I really like Torres Vedras the work is going good and I love the people there we have a lot of fun Elder Wheeler reminds me of a mix of Dallan and Jake it's crazy. I hope you all have a good week, next p-day we're going golfing at a professional course that is about 5 minutes from our house we already went there to do the driving range but now we're playing the real deal, (my first time playing golf is going to be in Portugal how funny is that?) so take it easy every one I've got to go catch a train. -Elder Lindquist

Elder Lindquist 8/5/09

Hey all how's it going? Sounds like summer is flying by for you just like the time is flying by for me. Thanks for the package it was awesome; I also received a birthday package from Elder Wheelers family this morning that had some goodies as well. So transfers. Elder Wheeler and I are staying together; we're the only ones in the entire zone that didn't get separated. I felt like I needed to stay one more so I'm happy that I'm still here I love this area. Transfers were insane though like six areas were whitewashed, (both elders taken out at the same time) and tons of crazy changes that no one expected but some cool people are coming to our zone including my home boy elder Nair from the MTC and Elder Coombs is coming to be my new zone leader, oh the great times I had with him down in Beja and Evora. So I'm excited about that. So our branch got back last week from their trip to the temple in Madrid, Spain. Our stake took three tour buses there and 100 adults went and 60 youth so that was cool, soon enough Portugal will have a temple here and the members won't have to travel 8 hours to get there. Wow how I took for the granted a temple 20 minutes from my house. So things are going good with our investigators. But a lot of people are gone for summer break so it's a little bit harder to find appointments and get people to church. But a young couple moved in from Braga, Portugal to our branch and they live about 10 minutes away so we're really excited to have some people that are willing and ready to help us teach! The other day Elder Wheeler and I were cleaning the chapel and we missed the last bus back to Torres Vedras so we caught a bus to stay overnight with the Elders in Mofra, (we weren't going to sleep on the chapel floor again). We decided to play a trick on the elders so I wrote a letter, (supposedly from their landlord) saying that I have to sell the apartment due to financial problems and that they have to move out by the end of this weekend and we dropped it in their mailbox and went and made contacts until it was time to go in. So we got to their house and they were all stressing out and was hilarious. We didn't tell them till the next morning when we left. Well I really love the mission and my companion. I'm learning a lot, missions are not just about working hard but reaching your full potential. We have to strive every day to fulfill our full potential that our heavenly father has in store for us. Have a great week.-Elder Lindquist

Elder Lindquist 7/29/09

Hey how's it going all? I had a good week things are going well. We’re doing email later because the site was down and we spent all day buying ties. I splurged and got about 5 but don't worry they're way sweet (not just grey and brown like all my other ones) but yeah I hope you like the picture I sent they are really cool. We had our first interviews with President Torgan a couple days ago which went well. The rules haven't changed all that much other than the number of times investigators have to go to church in order to be baptized and we can't play soccer anymore. So I'm pretty much sick of fleas by now, we're catching them weekly and I have about 7 taped in my journal, the biggest is about the size of a piece of rice or something. But yeah they drive me crazy! Well I don't have a lot to say. We're working hard and quite a few people are progressing but they have busy schedules so it's very difficult to keep up during the week and then the weekend is way busy usually. Elder Wheeler's feet are exploding with blisters. He also scared the crap out of me with two pan lids which luckily he got on film. We also made ribs last Friday that was probably the best meal I've had in my life. Well everyone have a great week and stay well I'll be expecting over 100 letters for my birthday this year (Only in my dreams) I know this church is true and has a living prophet that has authority as restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. God is our Heavenly Father and he loves us. And I know Jesus Christ is our Savior. I love being a representative of him and trying to do what he would do if he were here. com muito amor, Elder Lindqüist

Elder Lindquist 7/22/09

Hey! Sounds like you guys had a good week, congrats on the Home run Dallan that's awesome. It has been pretty hot here as well, (it's ok though because we gain hot wife points for having to be in the heat all day, getting blisters, getting shot in the head by an airsoft gun, etc...) So this week was great, last P-day we went to the driving range as a district and with our zone leaders so that was a blast. Elder Wheeler and I decided if I stay next transfer were going to play a full game of golf the p-day before my birthday, (on the 19th). So we didn't find as many people this week but some of the people we've found in the past couple weeks have been progressing really well. We had a meeting with Cristina and her daughter Vanessa last night and Vanessa has been reading the Book of Mormon and highlighting things in the pamphlets we leave them so that's exciting. She also brought her Book of Mormon to work the other day and was explaining everything to her colleagues and also her family members so that is awesome. The only problem is she doesn't like churches and she likes to sleep in so it's hard to get her to come to church but we'll get her there. That's one of the difficulties we're having, almost everyone we teach loves the Book of Mormon but they're too lazy to come to church, (due to the early hour) or they have to work. It's sad but I know God is preparing people to accept completely the gospel, (including the early hour of church). We found this middle aged couple that is way cool, (she's Brazilian and he's Portuguese) and initially he didn't really want anything to do with us because he's "not a religious person" but now he loves us and has started reading the Book of Mormon. They asked if they could feed us lunch or dinner and it was funny because they were all shy and scared to ask but then we were like of course you can! We’ll bring the desert! So yeah this week was great we had plans to go to Santa Cruz today to write letters on the cliffs overlooking the beach but it's raining right now :( But we'll probably go next week the view there is amazing! I want to stay here I love Torres Vedras, I know we can get some baptisms going this place has so much potential and things are going really good. I hope you all have a good week keep on being awesome!-Elder Linguiça.

Elder Lindquist 7/15/09

So this week was crazy awesome, like some of the coolest stuff has happened. So a few weeks ago we found an African family and were able to teach about the restoration and the other day we went back to talk more about the Book of Mormon. The cousin was there so we had one of the daughters explain the restoration to her cousin; she taught it way better than I could ever do. Then we taught and testified about the power that the Book of Mormon contains, and bore testimony of how we can receive an answer. The daughter and cousin were both like "I want to receive an answer like that"! They were talking to each other like lets read it tonight together and all this stuff it was sick because usually it's like pulling teeth to have people fulfill the invites we extend but they were way excited about it, it was cool. Then the other morning on Saturday we went to teach Maria Regina and her sister/sisters husband and remarked them for baptism. On the way home (we were really close to our house) I saw a Brazilian lady walking with her daughter, both of them was carrying tons of grocery bags so I stopped and asked the mother if we could help them. The daughter saw us and ran away, but the mother looked at me and saw me holding the Book of Mormon, she was like OH! Is this a book of Mormon? My friend gave me one of these books ten years ago! She explained that a colleague from work moved to France but before she left she gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon with her testimony written on the cover. So of course I jumped all over that and we invited her to church, (both her kids are baptized in the Assembly of God church and she's preparing to be baptized there but said she would LOVE to come to church). So we took her bags and walked with her to the bus station and talked about church. She lives in a little village on the way to the chapel so we stopped to get her on the way. Her and her daughter walked out wearing dresses and her son walked out wearing a shirt tie and slacks. My jaw just about dropped, investigators never wear that stuff the first visit at church. Ha so on the way to the chapel she was like I hope you don't mind that we invited a friend from our church to come as well, I was like of course we don't mind. So then in second hour the gospel principles teacher told the story of how the Elders found him and then after that Rosária, (the woman) starts basically bearing her testimony of how we found her and when we talked to her the day before she felt that we were men of God and that she felt like we were lead to her. It was sick! So yesterday we had district meeting and then divisions with the zone leaders and Elder Marriot, (the stud muffin) and I went to visit them. Her daughter sang a gospel song for us then Elder Marriot and I sang "I Need Thee Every Hour" and we taught them about prophets and authority. Near the end of the lesson the Uncle dropped by, (who happens to be the vice president of their church) and we had a great conversation and explained how the mission goes for these two years and everything then we all ate some Brazilian food it was awesome. So that was just a little bit of my week. How are things going for you guys? Sounds like things are pretty busy for it being summer time. Well Elder Wheeler is awesome, he's from Glendora California. We like to quote Nacho libre a lot and I got him hooked on a lot of fattening foods here.. Descula la familia wheeler mas o seu filho vai ser um gordinho quando ele voltar..So yeah basically my message for this week (as you can see in the pattern of my stories) is that the Book of Mormon is awesome. If you aren't reading it every day, do it (I'll try and apply this invite too) but it really does have a huge impact on peoples conversion process, as it was with yours right dad? Didn't a colleague give one to Grandma Lindquist before the missionaries passed by? Well my invite is to talk to someone about the Book of Mormon this week because you don't know if the impact will be made that night, or ten years down the road, but an impact will be made. ~Have a great week, Elder Lindquist

Elder Lindquist 7/8/09

Hey how's it going all! We had a great week, well I should say an awesome week and it sounds like yours was great also. Hey dad you misunderstood my last email we didn't get 10 investigators for the week that was only in one day. We continued working hard throughout the week and by the end of the week we had 23 new investigators. It was amazing. It's awesome what you can accomplish with the help of the Lord. We broke the record and we were really excited. Elder Wheeler is a stud I love serving with him we have a lot of fun. His personality is a lot like that of Jake's, so I feel like I'm serving with Jake haha. We had our first zone conference the other day with our new mission president, President Moroni Torgan. He's a great man, and really funny too. You should read about him on Google or something he's done a lot of cool stuff for Brazil as well as for the church. He came into the church because Elder Faust baptized his great-grandmother, cool huh? Well we've continued teaching some great people and things are going really good. Elder Wheeler and I made a goal that we will have 10 baptisms by the end of August and we just ended our fast for that so I have a feeling things will continue moving forward with great leaps and bounds. The other day we were working in São pedro da cadeira until later in the day and our bus, (the last one that passed through that small town) didn't show up, so we ended up spending the night sleeping on the floor in the chapel. This was not the most comfortable night of my life but at least I wasn't bit by any fleas. We recently watched a "presidents of the church" documentary on Joseph Smith and it made me realize that one night on the floor didn't compare to the several months he spent in the jail floor so I appreciated his sacrifice more after that. I don't know when father’s day was because it's different here but happy father’s day Dad I love ya. I never remember when holidays are in America. In fact we forgot about the fourth of July the other day.. It wasn't until we saw an American food sale at a grocery store here that we remembered. Oh and yes we heard about the death of Michael Jackson all the drunks here were freaking out about that. I thought oh man uncle Kyle must be tearing up right now. Well we're in Mofra today doing a sick P-day as a district and after this we're going to go to the big convent. (I'm the only one in the district who's already been there) and next week we're doing another joint P-day as a district as well as with our zone leaders and I think we might go golfing in Torres Vedras so we're excited for next week. But yeah everything is going great here the area is exploding and Elder Wheeler speaks great (like as well as I did in my second or third transfer). So yeah have a great week everyone. Love Elder Jordão Lindquist

Hey all how's it going? This week was pretty sweet I got my new companion on Thursday his name is Elder Wheeler and he's from the LA area in California. We have the same taste in music and movies and he's really into extreme sports. I'll send a picture of us on Thursday. We've been tearing it up this week we found ten new investigators on Monday. All of which were Brazilians, (note: we didn't find ten investigators my whole stay in Beja) so things are going really good in this area. We're setting up kind of a schedule where we are visiting the little cities and villages outside of Torres Vedras and that is going very well. Our branch president has felt very strongly that we need to do that and it's working very well. So on Sunday President and Sister Terry came to visit our branch and after we all ate at a member’s house. This was their last Sunday so that was cool to spend it with them. President Torgan arrived last night and we have our first zone conference with him on Monday so we're all pretty excited. I really like training its fun, Elder Wheeler speaks really well so it isn't extremely difficult. But yeah a lot of cool stuff happened this last week. The other day we passed by some people during the afternoon and no one was home, I had a feeling we needed to go to the park. I thought why the park that's clear on the other side of town, but we went there not knowing why. We got there and it was full of people, I was kind of thinking ok heavenly father help us find the person we need to talk to. I looked to my right and saw a man sitting on a bench alone, I felt that we should talk to him so we went over and asked if we could sit by him to talk about Jesus Christ. He quickly welcomed us to sit down. As we talked to him he explained that he knew the elders ten years ago when they were in Torres Vedras and that he came close to being baptized. This surprised me a lot. So yeah we got his information it'll be hard to meet with him because he lives in a place where I don't think we have transport to but that was a cool experience. So many things happen like that throughout the week I can't even tell you all of them. But I do know that Christ is leading us to his elect by way of his spirit. And not everyone progress but we still feel good that we did the best we could do. Like in the story in 1st Nephi chapter 3 and 4. It took them several attempts to obtain the plates and even when they brought their best (the second attempt when they brought all the gold and silver) their attempt still failed. But the Lord eventually provided a way for them to fulfill the commandment that was given to them by their father Lehi. Sometimes we bring our best to the lessons and things still go bad, but I know that eventually the Lord will open up a way for these people to accept the truth. Whether it's tomorrow or five years from now. Hope y'all have a good week we're doing fine here in Torres. Com muito muito amor..Elder Lindquist

Elder Lindquist 6/24/09

Hey everyone sounds like ya'll had a pretty busy week and the week ahead sounds pretty busy too. That's cool, it's better to be busy than bored right? Well I'll just get the big news off my shoulders right now then I can type this thing. Elder Peterson is being transferred to Lisbon area to be a zone leader and I've been called to take his place as District Leader. Oh and I'm TRAINING too. Ha I'm way excited I did not expect either of those things to happen but yeah tomorrow morning I'll go to the office to get my greeny. It feels like just yesterday that I was trained there in Beja. But yeah that's the news with transfers. Oh and Elder Tipton got called to serve out in the Azores with the first kid he trained. He trained him in Beja and had about the same number of transfers as me. I'm really excited it's going to be sick to train in Torres it's a great area with so much potential were going to tear it up with that greeny fire! So we played soccer in Lisbon with about 15 elders today it was way fun. We've been working really hard there in Torres and we're always tired but things are going really good. We got to eat breakfast with Elder Peterson's sister the other morning (she was in Europe and decided to swing by) and she's going to leave for a mission before he gets home so president gave us permission. So right now we're about to go have a sweet BBQ in the house of our zone leaders because Elder Oliveira is leaving tomorrow, (they live with some members) so it will be sick. Then tomorrow morning we'll head to the office and split our separate ways. I love these missionaries they're awesome. They've really helped me grow as a missionary in the last two transfers I've been here. Well I don't know what else to say today. I'm mostly just nervous, anxious, and excited about this transfer. It will be sweet. Tu tens jeito meu! Have fun at Park City I'll be soaking up the sun here in Torres.
Well have a good week everyone.-Elder Lindquist

Elder Lindquist 6/17/09

Hey thanks for the weekly emails it's always a great hour to read and hear from you guys. Holy smokes this transfer is going by fast. We only have like one more week its crazy. Elder Peterson says he has a feeling he's leaving but I want him to stay, ele é realmente boeia de fixe! So it has been pretty hot here recently and we've been doing a lot of finding in little towns outside our area so we've been doing a lot of walking. The past two days I feel like I've been hit by a train. We're pretty tired but we're working hard and loving Torres Vedras. I have a pretty funny tan line. A collar line on my neck, (which with a regular shirt on looks ridiculous) a farmers tan at my elbow and then a long sleeve shirt line. So we've been battling the little devils in our house that have been biting the poop out of us, (which are not fleas but another type of small bug that we got from one of our investigators houses.) I've only been able to catch one and it was a wrestle, they're sneaky little buggers. I taped him in my journal, ha!So this last week we had a huge number of investigators, we beat our district goal. Now it's just a manner of getting those people to "stick" and actually progress. But I've seen that when someone has stopped in their progress that was doing fairly well and you drop them the Lord makes up for it and you're able to find new people to teach. We found a great Brazilian family on Sunday and they are really nice and a family that has a son that's a member who lives in England and they have a really good view of the church because it "saved" their son/brother from the path he was on so we're excited to continue visiting with them. Ha the other day we stopped by the Igreja Maná (we wanted to see the miracles they do where the people pay the pastor like 50 bucks and he beats them in the head and they're supposedly healed) but unfortunately we only had time to stay for the music at the beginning. It was pretty funny Elder Peterson and I was grooving out dancing around and one part of the song the lady singer was like raise up your bible! This is your tool your weapon, use it against the enemies of God! I look over and Elder Peterson is holding up the Book of Mormon, ha it was classic. I know without a doubt that this is the true church of Christ, he is the head of this church and there is a living prophet called by him on the earth today. I see daily, how lost people are. It is so plain in my eyes the truthfulness of this message. I know of with conviction that this church is true. And even though we don't have thousands of baptisms in this part of the world as it says in 1 Corinthians chapter one I was called of God not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. That is my greatest desire right now and it's a pretty awesome privilege to have a name tag on my chest that also includes the name of the Savior. So today we're kicking back for P-day after tons of crazy ones this last transfer we're just going to chill and play tennis. I hope you all have a great week,Com muito amor..-Elder Lindquist

Elder Lindquist 6/11/09

Hey all how's it going? This week was sick! We were so busy oh my goodness, sometimes the things I miss most is just a nap or simply just hanging out at the house, ha the simple days. So we had a good week even though we've got fleas in our apartment now. But we will destroy those suckers. So the reason I didn't send an email yesterday was because we had an activity with our stake called "day of the youth" all the youth got together with their friends at the stake center in oeiras and first they had them rotate from classroom to classroom while us missionaries taught a short lesson. Then we had lunch (which sat horribly in my stomach and I ended up spending half the talent show in the bathroom later that day). Then after lunch they had a talent show of the missionaries! Elder Peterson, Elder Marriot, Elder Oliveira, and I played "Island in the sun" by Weezer, foi boeia de fixe! We opened the show and the crowd loved it. I sang, Elder P and Elder M played guitars and Elder Oliveira played the scissors. Yes, the scissors and danced around. We were messing around in their house the night before and we decided to have him play that so it was pretty funny. There was also a bunch of magic tricks preformed by a native missionary that is from Portugal, he is 28 and was a professional magician before the mission. Then later all the missionaries preformed the Hakka (the Tongan war cry dance) for everyone, then Elder Peterson taught the crowd how to do it. Then we had dinner and took off. It was a way fun day. Then we stayed with the zone leaders again last night because we had interviews with president today, (our last one with President Terry). So we'll finally make it back to our area after we do Internet here today. So yeah we took P-day on Tuesday, and then had the activity on Wednesday and interviews today. It has been a crazy week oh I forgot to mention that for p-day on Tuesday we went to the huge mall in Lisbon, (Columbo) and ate at a Brazilian resturante and went bowling.. It has been forever since I've Bowled but I still managed to win one of the three games we played. Too bad it wasn't the game that we bet a sundae on. Well the work is going good in Torres, the baptisms didn't go through on Saturday due to complications with the marriage, but we have patience and Maria de Graça has incredible faith so her and her daughter will get baptized eventually. Paulo disappeared for a while but we found him the other day. His life is pretty complicated but I have faith that he'll be able to overcome the difficulties he's facing so he can get baptized. Ate já, ficam bem!-Elder Lindquist

So this week was crazy so I'll try and remember all the stuff that went on. We were all over the place. So the craziness started on Saturday when we had service in Mofra, there's a brother there that has back problems so we went there to help him with his back yard. He has a bunch of trash back there and these shacks he built with a bunch of different stuff and the purpose of the service were basically to get rid of everything so he can expand his garden. It was the funniest service I've ever done. We all just grabbed like a metal bar or a shovel and started beating the tar out of these shacks, it was so fun to destroy all that stuff we had a good time. But next week is going to stink because we have to haul all the debris away. Later that day we went up north to a city called Santa Cruz, It's basically a little party town that's right next to the beach and we have some inactive members there that we went to find. OH MY GOODNESS that water looked so refreshing and it was hot as a mug so we were just dying to take a dip as we walked along the ocean. It reminded me of California, (except the beach was better here) and I got saudades demais! It was a good trip, we only found one of the three members we were looking for but strangely enough we ran into someone we contacted in Torres Vedras a couple of weeks ago and we were clear out in a small town away from the beach that only has a few houses it was so crazy. Portugal is a small country but I don't think that that was by chance. So yeah basically it's getting really hot here, (probably is there too huh?) and with the humidity here it's ridiculous. I just lay on top of my blankets at night feeling like I have lotion all over my body but it's just the thickness of the air. So yesterday our Zone Leaders came to do divisions with us and after our district meeting I stayed in São Pedro da cadeira with Elder Oliveira, (a native from Brazil). He's such a funny guy and a great missionary. He doesn't speak English besides a few phrases like "freaking heck man", so that was fun to spend the day with a nativo. At night we were walking up to teach Maria Reginas sister when all the sudden I heard a yell in front of me and when I looked up I saw an old lady fall over, she fell hard on the cement and bashed up her elbows and knees. Elder Oliveira and I ran over to help her up it scared the bejeebies out of me. Then we had a lesson with the other elders and Maria Regina, her sister, her sister’s husband, and their son. It was a pretty good lesson we we're all crammed in a tiny room basically sitting on top of one another to watch "the restoration" I swear I already have that movie memorized. So today the elders from Mofra are coming up and we're having a "special p-day" with the zone leaders it's going to be sweet. I think we're going to play settlers of catan or some other board game up in the castle, estou animado! Have a great week I'll talk to ya next week-O missionário mais Giro no mundo...Elder Lindquist

Elder Lindquist 5/27/09

Thanks for the weekly emails I always enjoy hearing from you guys. This week was pretty good things are running pretty smoothly here, lots of stuff happened that I'm not sure I can remember but I'll try. We have been working really hard and with the lack of members here it is really difficult to get references, thus leading to a million hours of contacts and knocking but we're coming along and are still able to find a steady flow of lessons. Because our area is so huge and includes a bunch of towns, (big and small) we try to spread things out pretty evenly. Maria’s neighbor that we taught with her came to church on Sunday, his name is José António and he's an awesome guy. Very poor and humble like Maria. On Monday he called us and was like you guys are picking me up right and we were like for what? He said for church this coming Sunday! We were like well yeah of course. It was just funny to get a call that early in the week from someone who has such a desire to go to church. We also taught Maria’s sister, Maria José and her husband João. They can't read so we brought the Book of Mormon CD's for them to listen to. They fed us a BOATLOAD of Feijoada, (which is basically like a bunch of beans and big chunks of pig fat). This was the first time on my mission I had to pray while I was eating that the food would not project out of my mouth and onto their table. There was this one piece that was probably the size of a small chicken and took me like ten minutes to chew, but I got it down and I'm grateful for the people here and their willingness to feed us.Yesterday we had our last zone conference with President and Sister Terry and it was excellent. I'm going to miss them a lot they help the mission so much and are such great people. President Terry truly is a man of inspiration.I'm excited for this week it will be good, tonight we're going to teach English class and I'm pretty excited because the other day we went to São Pedro da cadeira and found a bunch more Brazilian investigators that are friends with the ones we already have out there.. There's a house just full of them so we watch the Restoration DVD, (I swear by the end of my mission I'll have that movie memorized..) and they thought it was interesting, a lot of investigators I didn't think had that much interest or would progress very much and doing just the opposite so I just need to use my "eyes of faith" and they say here and the Lord will help them progress. Well I better go have a great week!-Elder Lindquist

Elder Lindquist 5/20/09

Hey all tudo bem? This last week has been crazy and flown by so I'll try and remember everything it's been a pretty awesome week. Any news about the gender of the Nordlund baby? Last week we went to Sintra and hit up the quinta de reguleira which was sick! and we went with the missionaries/senior couple missionaries from caldes de reinha and on our way back the senior Elder said you guys should pass by this inactive member that lives in this little neighborhood over by this store, (he used to drive the sisters over there back in the day when Torres was part of their area) so a couple days later we passed by and it was amazing what happened.
She is the sweetest old lady that lives in the smallest oldest house I've ever seen and she was so excited to see us. Her cousin was there and we were able to teach them a lesson, the next day we had a big BBQ at the chapel so we invited them to come and anyone else who wanted to that they knew. The next day she, her sister, her sister’s husband, and her cousin were at the BBQ. Along with a Brazilian investigator we found over in São Pedro, (where our chapel is). The next day we had almost all of those people and more investigators in church! It was amazing. This last Sunday was the first time in ten years the sweet old lady (Maria dos santos) got to renew her covenants. She is so humble and was so excited to go back to church, the lack of transportation and distance of the chapel after the church left ten years ago made it impossible for her to go to church but this last Sunday she came and happily said the closing prayer in gospel principles class, that made me really happy.
So yeah things are going good our branch has two more baptisms this Saturday and maybe three if we can arrange the marriage/baptismal interview for Paulo, but it's getting down to the wire so I think we might have to push it back to June 6th when Maria de Graça and her daughter are marked.
Ha the other day we had a lesson with our Russian investigator ilhá and I brought my pictures to show him and he saw the picture of Mom and Dad and me sitting in front of the temple and he said that dad looks like Bruce Willis with his shaved head. Ha he's a cool kid he got an answer to his prayer about the Book of Mormon so we're trying to help him quit some bad habits and I have faith that he'll eventually be a missionary! My favorite thing to do with him is take cigarettes out of his mouth and tear them up.
Today will be fun the Elders from Mofra are coming up to play tennis with us and then Elder Peterson has to go to cacem for some meetings and the other Elders and I will go to the chapel to teach gospel principles and I'll be teaching an English class, we're just starting it this week so we'll see how it goes. I'm going to teach them how to pray in English! Well have a good week everyone I'll let you know how the baptisms and everything go next week.