Lindsay, CJ

Olá meus amigos e families, Estou na area nova agora, e eu amo muito! I am in the new area now, and I love it a lot! This past week has seemed less like a week and more like a month, but for very good reasons. On Sunday, Chris got the Aaronic Priesthood! It was such a cool experience having that as what what might be my last memory of him. He is so excited to be able to go to the temple soon and start doing work for his grandparents and other family members that have passed on. Saying goodbye to all of the great folks we were teaching was tough, but I know the new Elders over there are going to do some great things. Elder Vess is now back home in Georgia, which is sad, but I am pretty happy for the guy. He had a full two years going from Brazil, back home, and then out here. And Elder Romero is going to be a great comp! He's a SoCal native that will eventually serve in Portugal. He's 10 months in but hasn't spoken in Portuguese yet, so we're both working hard to learn, ...

Olá familia e amigos, Another quick week!  I'll get right down to it and begin with the most exciting update: transfer news came in last night and I am going to start speaking Portuguese full time! Am I super excited? Yes! Am I also incredibly nervous? Oh you betcha! I know that Heavenly Father's got my back, though, and that the Gift of Tongues will come if I work hard and devote myself to it! My new area will go from the current Lehi Gateway and Willow Park Stakes to the "Portuguese North Area," which basically means I am moving from half of a city to half of the mission. Big change. I have come to love the folks in my current area and can honestly say I will miss it here, especially as I have only been here a handful of weeks. I am so excited for the opportunity to meet and serve with Elder Romero, though, and begin doing this work that I know will be a big help as I continue to work toward making it to Brazil! As far as my physical health goes, I am happy to say I...

Olá a todos, I'm afraid this update won't be all that exciting, but I'll still start with the highlights! Wednesday was my first Zone Conference of the mission. It was a pretty great experience, complete with talks, trainings, and the bearing of the testimonies of all those who will be leaving at the end of this transfer, Elder Vess included. Pretty crazy to think that this transfer will be over in just over a week. I also got a flu vaccination, which will become more important toward the end of this email. Today we had the opportunity to go to the studio of Angela Johnson, an incredibly talented sculptor that has made over 200 sculptures depicting the Savior and other figures from the Bible and Book of Mormon. When I was at the First Vision sculpture the first week of my mission, that was her work.  Pretty incredible. I mentioned the flu vaccination because, to be honest, it has been kicking my tail since Wednesday evening. Without being too graphic, there's been a lot...

Olá pessoal, ***Here's the real one*** What a quick, exciting, week! Like always, I will start off with the highlight. Only this week it was highlights with an "s"! We had another baptism! Rachael! She was baptized just last night and confirmed with the gift of the Holy Ghost. She has such a sweet testimony and has a way of praying that is so humble and personal. I was so very excited for her! Another highlight: General Conference! What an incredible opportunity we have every 6 months to listen to the words of the Lord's prophet, apostles, and other leaders of His Restored Church about topics that are so different yet all focused on Him. The world of commotion we live in will not become any less noisy any time soon. However, if we focus our lives on Jesus Christ and utilize His Atonement which he has already endured for us,  we will have His rock, His strength, as our foundation: a foundation that CANNOT fail. I am so humbled, excited, and awestricken that Cody is goi...