Elder Lindquist 1/26/10

Oh my goodness gracious this week/day is going by really fast. I have very little time because we had a meeting almost all day yesterday and we have a lot of stuff to do today. Things are going great though. Elder Bezerra (that means calf, as in a baby cow) is awesome he's a great companion I'm really enjoying serving with him. We have a lot of work to do trying to mark people for baptism. We're both full of fire, now we just have to burn people. I don't know if that was the best way to say that but oh well. Yesterday the mission office got robbed, so we got there for the meeting and found the after affects. it was pretty bad, we also locked our keys in the house on Sunday and the Bishop’s wife had to break into our house for us. Then today a truck almost nailed Elder Bezerra; the rear view mirror nicked his shoulder. So as you can see it has been a crazy few days but the work is going well. There are quite a few people progressing in our area but we have a lot more people to find. Helping our zone catch that fire is probably one of the hardest things sometimes but we're working on it. I love you guys I hope you know that I'm thankful for all that you have taught me in my life and I'm very prideful of my family/friends, I know I need to repent of that but thanks for everything. Have a great dinner w/ elder Peterson he is a stud muffin and he needs a house to eat at every 15/15 days because he doesn't have the gordinho juaquim in Provo.. Take it easy I love you guys, -Elder Lindqüizle

Elder Lindquist 1/18/10

Hey all how's it going? Wow what a week! A lot of stuff has been going on and I'm really excited right now. We got a call a little bit ago and Elder Daley was called to be the new AP. It was so funny because this whole last week he and others in the zone were saying that I would get called but it backfired on him. The other day we had a division with the AP’s and Elder Daley went to the office and saw the transfer board. He said that I was off the board (meaning president hadn't put me in a certain place yet.) and he was staying since he only has one transfer left, but president is always moving stuff around. I'm getting a Brazilian whose name is Elder Bezerra. I've already talked to him a few times at zone conferences and I'm really excited to serve with him, he's coming in from the Azores. Well it was a tug of war all this week to get Antónia and her family baptized, and we were able to baptize Nuno and Gonçalo yesterday. Antónia is working on the word of wisdom and we're praying for her to get baptized soon. It was a really cool experience. I'm excited to start this transfer we're going to keep working hard and tearing it up! It's important that we never loose hope in life, if we give up our hope, we fall right into the plan of Satan. We must always have faith that things will turn out for the best and that we can overcome any obstacle. With our faith, we can move mountains. I hope that all is well with you and that you are growing and learning daily too! Have a great week.
-Elder Lindiquisties

Elder Lindquist 1/11/10

Hey, sounds as though things are going well for you all. I finally got the Christmas packages and needless to say we have too many goodies with my packages and Elder Daley’s combined, thanks for thinking of me! Well the week went good, it is freezing cold right now and I'm pretty sure my fingers are going to fall off. We are cruising through this transfer I can't believe it's going by this fast. The other day we had an interesting lesson with a couple, (I contacted his wife a few weeks ago) She's from an evangelical church and he is just studying every Christian church there is. I went on a division with a member in our ward here that is 70! He is amazing and has so much knowledge, it was a fun lesson. The guy was pretty impressed with how we were able to answer his questions. There is no doubt that this church is true. Yesterday I got told that I need to give a 10-15 minute talk in sacrament meeting about 10 minutes before the meeting started, I just love doing that. It has also become like second nature to me now. I remember Dad always saying "just wait till you go on your mission and you'll have to do this and that.." I can't wait to say that to my kids:) Our investigators Antónia, Gonçalo, and Nuno are doing well but Antónia's daughter Karine doesn't want to get baptized:( we'll keep working with her until she has that desire but things are going really well here in the Miratejo we're seeing the hand of the Lord in everything we do. We were doing some finding the other day and got into a Brazilian family home. Their kid (that is nine years old) brought his pet bird in to show us (a parakeet or something of that sort) and the bird jumped from his hands and started flying around the kitchen getting feathers in our juice and on the cake they had just offered to us, as the mom is yelling at the kid trying to catch the bird I couldn't help but laugh to myself. I'll never have experiences like these again. I love the mission and I'm learning a lot. I hope you all have a great week, Love Elder Lindquist:)

Elder Lindquist 1/4/10

So this week was great! It has been raining like no one’s business here but we are trying to stay dry. We did have a baptism on Saturday, it was a girl that is 18 that Elder Peterson started teaching months ago and she finally was able to get baptized because she couldn't get work off before. It was cool because we had a baptism on Saturday, and two confirmations and 3 baby blessings yesterday. So the day was pretty full. We're trying our best to get another person lined up this week and we have a family of 4 marked for next week, they're awesome the mom’s name is Antónia and her three kids are named Karine, Gonçalo, and Nuno. There's a lot of good stuff going down right now a lady also returned to church after being inactive for 5 years. (I guess this New Year has called a few people to repentance.) But we're doing well and everything is cool. Today we'll probably go to a big mall that's down the train line so Elder Daley can find a sick suit. Yesterday was his birthday and so we had a good lunch appointment with a Mexican lady and her family. (We didn't eat chicken enchiladas but it was still really good food.) I actually tried making chicken enchiladas in Caldas a few times but I don't think I had all the ingredients and it gave Elder Silva the runs so I don't know if I dare make it again. But thanks for all of the love and support I pray for you all the time and hope everything is well with you. Have a great new year!
-Elder Lindquist

Elder Lindquist 1/4/10

So this week was great! It has been raining like no one’s business here but we are trying to stay dry. We did have a baptism on Saturday, it was a girl that is 18 that Elder Peterson started teaching months ago and she finally was able to get baptized because she couldn't get work off before. It was cool because we had a baptism on Saturday, and two confirmations and 3 baby blessings yesterday. So the day was pretty full. We're trying our best to get another person lined up this week and we have a family of 4 marked for next week, they're awesome the mom’s name is Antónia and her three kids are named Karine, Gonçalo, and Nuno. There's a lot of good stuff going down right now a lady also returned to church after being inactive for 5 years. (I guess this New Year has called a few people to repentance.) But we're doing well and everything is cool. Today we'll probably go to a big mall that's down the train line so Elder Daley can find a sick suit. Yesterday was his birthday and so we had a good lunch appointment with a Mexican lady and her family. (We didn't eat chicken enchiladas but it was still really good food.) I actually tried making chicken enchiladas in Caldas a few times but I don't think I had all the ingredients and it gave Elder Silva the runs so I don't know if I dare make it again. But thanks for all of the love and support I pray for you all the time and hope everything is well with you. Have a great new year!
-Elder Lindquist

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