First letter from the newest Lindmark missionaries

15 Nov 2008

Dear Family,

No, we didn’t die…We’ve just been in what you might call a whirlwind of our own! Kind of like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz! Our November has been totally packed, as you might have imagined. We began on a foundation of “busy “ to begin with, but our letter will let you of what we’ve been doing so far this month.

Besides getting ready for our trip to the MTC we decided to go to the Cambodian Mission Reunion put on by the Towers (they were the second President we serve under on that mission). This began at the Salt Lake Temple in the late afternoon. From there we went to their Stake Center where we were serve sandwiches, chips and dessert. We didn’t get to see but a very few of the missionaries that we had served with so on that point we were a little disappointed, but we did get to see President & Sister Towers and three of the couples we had served with in that mission, which was a delight. We had only served with the Towers six months, but it was good to see them and visit for a while. .

On Sunday, the 2nd of November, we began with Church. I actually went to the Adult Sunday School class for the first time. It was interesting and Dad & I enjoyed sitting by each other – the first time we’ve been in Sunday school together for a long time. Next was Fast & Testimony Meeting, it too was really good. After Church Natalie & the three boys came over. Natalie had cooked the dinner, our job was to provide the mashed potatoes and she brought the rest. After dinner was cleaned up, it was time to go the Stake President Office to be set apart. It was sprinkling…tears of joy from heaven! President Lawrence set each of us apart as official Missionaries. Then we went home and had dessert and said our good-byes.

On Monday, the 3rd, we were up early, we did our last hour of power at home. We felt it was a good beginning to the Hours of Power we would get at the MTC. After arriving at the MTC we empty our suitcases and making our bed we went to our assigned training. After the training we went to Dinner, after dinner we went back to our room and studied our assignment for tomorrow.

On Tuesday, the 4th, we were up at 5:45 AM, got ready for the day. We went to breakfast about 7:15 am and then to our training which began at 8am. After studying we went back to our Room, where a man came to visit with us. We began with what we had studied to discuss, however the spirit became very strong and we found ourselves being led by the Spirit, with a different message which just flowed from our mouth. It was an amazing experience. The man also seemed to be engulfed by the Spirit and thanked us for our lesson. From there we went back to our class room & everyone shared their experiences. Next we went to dinner, our third meal of the day.
After dinner we went to the Devotional, which was held in the Lorenzo Snow Building. While we were sitting there before the Meeting a couple turned around and asked us if our son was the Stake President in Kentucky, we answer yes, and they said that they were just wondering because he had set them apart for their mission just before they came to Provo. Talk about a small world. Don’t; you just love it when things like that happen?

Sister Beck the General Relief Society President was the guest speaker. She was incredible and we were all enlightened. I forgot to mention that to begin this meeting we (all the Missionaries) had the opportunity to sing a few Hymns…it was my style …We sang all the verse, at the top of our voice and it was totally Awesome...the Spirit was INCREDIBLE!

I might note that it was also Election Day, (FYI we voted early) but being out of the world, it was no big deal. I have to admit that I was not happy with the decision that the American’s made, I am afraid of what this will mean to the freedoms we have enjoyed for so long. I’m concerned the election of Obama will mean BIGGER GOVERNMENT …fewer freedoms. I can’t help wondering if this is the time that the “Constitution will hang by a thread”. Only time will tell. My desires are that my children will teach their children the “truths” of the foundation of this country and the guidance that God has played in its creation. I’m concerned that important truths will be lost with this change. Thus my plea, teach your Children about the Foundation of this Great Country, because I am afraid we are in for a change to Socialism, all in the name of taking care of others.

On Wednesday we were up before the Alarm Clock, which meant 5:30 am. After getting ready, a little study, and a good breakfast we went to our General Meeting where we began our day. Today we were involved in another roll play opportunity. We divided up our lesson topic and went to work preparing our own subjects. Next we went to lunch, on the way to lunch we realized that we had not fulfilled our assignment to speak to some missionaries (young) and bear our testimony. So we picked out a couple of Elders who were eating at a table by themselves. Elder Lindmark explained what we were doing; in the conversation one of the Elders, whose name was Mosman said he recognized the name Lindmark and said that he knew Josh Lindmark, talk about a small world. He and his companion were learning Khmer (ka my), which is Cambodian. Then we headed back to our class room and checked off our assignment as done. Had another lesson and then prepared for another experience with an investigator this lesson also went well, the spirit was strong and it was another success. Then we attended another meeting which gave us instructions for tomorrow and wrapped up our day. From there it was time to eat again! I don’t believe I have eaten so much in a long time, but I seem to need it. While being here, we have had the opportunity to see several of our missionaries from Russia, which thrilled us.

On Thursday we talked about working with less active members. From there we went to the Team room and talked about it, then we took turns roll playing. Next, we went back to the big room where we discussed what we did and were encouraged to use the Book of Mormon in our roll playing. Then we planned our strategy for the next roll play & did it. Our next assignment was to go to the Call Room where we spent an hour answering phones for the free DVD advertised on the TV. However our phone never rang, I think it was the timing… From there we went back to some more roll playing with less active people. After that we (senior couples) went back to our class room and shared our experiences. That took us up to Dinner time. After Dinner we went back to our room where we did our preparations for our class the next day.

Friday was our last day at the MTC. We left the MTC about 5:30 pm, went home and started packing for our trip to Texas. We stayed up late packing the car. However on Saturday we decided to repack the car. We decided not to hang the clothing because it actually took more room than suitcases would take. This took about an hour and a half to make the changes. With the job completed we actually were able to take some groceries for our apartment in Texas. We pulled out of our drive way around ten o’clock. We stopped at Burger King and picked up some breakfast. It was a beautiful day! Our drive today was through some beautiful Canyon Lands. For some reason we just drove and drove stopping only for breaks and gas. We arrived in Gallup New Mexico and registered at the Hampton Inn. Our room was really nice. However our dinner at Applebee’s was awful; but that’s OK because the service was equally bad. Having only eaten Rice Check Mix all day we were hoping for a good dinner. Oh well, such is life.

Sunday morning we left Gallup after having breakfast at the Hotel. We took turns driving. We stopped about one o’clock for a Subway sandwich. Again we listened to our Conference Tapes as we drove and admired the landscape. We stopped at Childress for gas and some dinner. It was not much of a restaurant. Richard had Fish and I had chicken fried steak which included more gravy than a family usually enjoys. We stayed that night at the Comfort Inn.

Monday we got up and dressed for our first day on our Mission. Four and a half hours later we arrived at the Mission Office and reported for duty. We joined them for lunch. The Elders then lead us to our apartment, and helped us unpack the car. Then we unpacked our stuff, put things away as much as we could. It is not a bad apartment. The couches need a shampoo but I found out that this is not a furnished apartment. The Missionaries had provided the furniture from a Mission Storage Unit. Actually the apartment is okay, but it is in an upgrade situation, so things are not quite finished. What is done has been done badly, plus they don’t work on weekends. So…we wait with all our groceries and dishes and pots & pans, toaster, etc. are all sitting on the floor. The furniture we have been given is well used. Our bed isn’t much but Elder Lindmark is not having problems with his back so all is well with that. The couple we are replacing told us that they would be glad to share their stuff when they go home…so between the apartment still in repair and many things still pending, we just exist.
“This Too Shall Pass!” or so the scriptures say.

On Tuesday we celebrated our 47th Anniversary. We spent the day in the office learning the way this mission operates. I found out that we had 170 Missionaries in this Mission. How’s that for doing things “Big”? The missions we served in the past had about ninety on a good day. We spent the day learning the way this mission does things…it’s a bit different but seems like it will be okay. Then that Night we took the Office couples, the Mission President and his wife out to dinner to celebrate our 47th Wedding Anniversary. It wasn’t exactly a romantic evening because no one could think of a place that fit that bill, so we ended up going to the Texas Road House and had our celebration dinner there with our new found friends. We had a delightful time.

After dinner we went to Wal Mart and got some supplies for some of our apartment projects. However it was late when we got home so Richard did what needed to be done and left other projects for another day.

That brings us to Wednesday the 12th. We still have not gotten into a regular routine, we have been putting in long hours, but there is still much to be done. We got to work at nine o’clock and went straight to work. Today I worked on incoming missionary preparation. This is a whole new ball game from the way we did it in our other missions, so I put all that behind me and I am trying to learn the new way things are done here. Sister Christiansen is a very sweet lady and is very organized and approaches things somewhat like I do, which is going to help me out a lot after she is gone home. I won’t go into all details, but you can only guess with 170 Elders to take care of this will mean twice as many things to do as I had done in the past. After a long day we went to Chiles and got a salad & chili for dinner. However the Chili was too spicy for me so I just had a salad, but that meant that I had room for dessert. FYI ~ It was yummy!

On Thursday the 13th we went to the Office, and went straight to work…so much to do here. It is almost a little frightening, but I will trust in the Lord and get through this somehow. I will need your prayers because the fun part of our job (interaction with the Missionaries) is looking like it is out of the picture for the most part. I’m thinking this call to serve in the office will be more like a job (employment). We each have our own office; although they are next to each other it’s not going to be the same interaction. I am happy because Sister Christensen is very organized and has created a book of instructions. That will be very helpful when she has gone home. The mission boundaries’ are quite large and the missionaries have cars... After another long day we went to Bajio Grill for dinner with the Christiansens. Then they went home and we went to Wal Mart to get a few things we needed for the apartment. Richard spent the rest of the evening hooking up our washer & dryer. We are still waiting for the people to come and do our cupboards…that’s another story best left unsaid if I want to remain positive.

Friday was another busy day at the office, learning how they do things here is a lot different because of their numbers. Today we worked on stuff for the In-coming Missionaries. This includes making notebooks. Another responsibility I have is every day after the mail is delivered; it is my job to block out the Missionaries Mailing Address, (here to the main office) and then make a new address tab with the correct address where they are currently serving. After working all day we find that we are
Filling our night still trying to get the apartment live able. Tonight we went looking for things we needed…like a bedspread, some special screws, bathroom rug etc.

On Saturday we started with high hopes because the Cable man was coming and we thought that would answer all our problems with the internet, the ability to connect our computer & our DVD & VHS etc. However, it didn’t happen, plus the repair people who are doing our cupboards came but only started the cupboards and what they did was ridiculous…plus they didn’t finish. So we get to live the entire weekend without the use of our kitchen. You all know how much I love clutter/and messes, so you can appreciate how well I’m enduring these things.

Thanks goodness that Dad was able to hook up the washer & dryer so we were able to take care of our laundry here at the apartments. We also were able to find a smaller Chest of drawers at the Missionary Storage Unit, which would give us some room for a computer table.

Well, that brings us to today, Sunday. We were up and dressed and out the door by 7:45 am. We had a meeting with the Ward Mission Leader where we discussed Missionary work in the ward. This is truly the Mission Field; the leaders are all engaged somehow in the work. From there we went into Sacrament Meeting then Sunday School and then Relief Society. A pretty average Sunday in the States. After Church we came home for some lunch then at 1:45 pm we went to the two different Nursing Homes where we visited two Senior Sisters. From there we came home got out of our Church Clothes and then I decided to write the family!

The Christiansons brought us a small TV today, when they came over this afternoon to pick us up for our visit mentioned above. So now we have a Television to go with the cable that was put in on Saturday. While I’ve been writing you Dad found the Wizard of OZ on the Television, perhaps this is some kind of a message …

We would sure love to hear from you. Our address is:

APARTMENT: Phone # 1-817-684-1237

2411 L. Don Dodson Apt# 2066
Bedford, Texas 76021

OFFICE: Phone # 1-817-354-7444

Texas Fort Worth Mission
1313 Airport Freeway Suite 305
Euless Texas, 76040-4150

Love Sister & Elder Lindmark; mom & dad; grandma & granddad