IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN!!!! 7/10/2017

Favorite moment from this week: Opening week 5 of MyPlan (dating and eternal marriage) to find this quote, "One of the main purposes of coming on a mission was to prepare you for eternal marriage" Hahah is that why I came out? 

I had my final interview with President Olson this week. Like ever. I was all nervous about it, and what it would include, but it turned out to be a counsel session on how to find the one and to live worthy of them. hahah so much fun... He did compliment me on my growth on the mission and the work I have done. He said he is proud of me. Then in closing he said, "Sister Lindberg, continue your bright happy influence in Bountiful!" I laughed a little after that. He can't seem to remember that I am not in fact from Bountiful. But whatever. At least he is somewhat close right? 

This week I have hit a wall of "I'm done. I'm done. You can't make me do this (tracting, walking around, being rejected etc) anymore!" I am trying my hardest to scale the wall and make this last week a fire week. Sounds like even in my fight for motivation I am a step above some of the other departing missionaries. Our district leader has given all decisions and work over to his companion. The Magnolia Elders no longer do studies. The Brownlee Elders are fighting since one of them just got here and is full of greenie fire and doesn't understand why his companion has no desire to go out or do anything. That companion made the comment on Sunday "I'm leaving. Why should I care about any of these people?" Poor guy. He's given up entirely. So in relation I'm doing pretty good! JK. I can only compare myself to myself. Trying to keep up motivation until at least Sunday night. Then no promises. 

I have gone through the five stages of grief and am now in a somewhat numb state of mind. I just am ready for something to happen, in this case, me heading home. 

Denial: Week 1. Lots of denial of the fact that it was now my last transfer. 

Anger: Week 2. A strong desire to flip out at the world that I had to leave this all behind, and yet nothing was happening (at least in the mindset I was in)

Bargaining: Week 3. If I just work hard enough, maybe I can stay. Or y'all could come here. Both options can coexist right? Right?

Depression: Week 4. I don't want to get out of bed. I don't want to work. I don't want to do anything. 

Acceptance: Week 5. Alright. This is happening. I am going home. I can do this. I am ready. 

Who knows what Week 6 with be characterized with? Probably all five of the stages all in one week. In rapid succession. Hahah. That should be fun! 

I realized this week that I will be all alone in the airport, having to figure out where to go and what to do. Why I didn't realize that weeks ago I don't know, but it set in this week that I really don't know what I am going to do! I don't know how to find the gate I need to go to!! I don't know what to do!!! AHHHHHH!! I need someone to come hold my hand and show me what to do and tell me everything is going to be okay!

If I don't make it to SLC, that is why. Just advance warning. 

Here is the list of things I have thought of that I would like to do when I get home.

ACTIVITIES:

>Go to the Temple

>Go on a family bike ride

>Go swimming

>Mow the lawn (weird I know, but I haven't been able to do it for more than 18 months)

>Spa/movie night with little skisters

>Family movie night (perhaps Moanna?)

>Paint a picture

>Go through clothes/stuff from home

>Make blanket with fabric I got from Purvis

>Make decorations for room at college

>Go to Island Park and have a blast!!!

FOOD:

>Ham balls

>Brisket

>Chicken cordon bleu

>Rotisserie pork loin

>Lion House rolls

>Mom's cake. Any of them. chocolate preferred.

Okay. That is all. Love you! 

Is There a Third Option? 7/3/2017

This week I have been trying to come to terms with the fact that I am almost done with my mission. Good and Bad. 

Reasons it is good:

-Get to see you

-Get to see Ryno off

-Great things ahead of me

-Get to see you

-Don't have to be rejected anymore (at least not in a missionary sense)

-Weight off my shoulders

Reasons it is bad:

-Weight off my shoulders is the mantle of a missionary. Not ready to lose that yet

-Don't get to have the opportunity to be rejected anymore

-Have to face y'all and hope that y'all are as proud of me as I would like

-BIG things ahead of me, not ready to adult yet

The two options that are before me are 

1)Go home 

and

2)Stay here

Obviously it really isn't a choice that I can make since it really isn't in my hands, but it would be nice if there was a third option 

3)Stay here AND get to see all of you and do all that I want to do with y'all

But unfortunately that option doesn't exist, so instead I am faced with the reality that option 1 is quickly coming. 

Because of that I have felt like an elephant is sitting on my chest this whole week. Lots of fun. Sister Spencer tries her hardest to help me, but what can you do when your companion suddenly is uncontrollably laughing on the floor and can't stop because she is literally losing her mind? Not much. 

Other than the increasing number of breakdowns, this week has contained the following:

-Moving a potential investigator named Jerrie. We met her tracting and she said she was in need of help moving stuff from her house to a storage unit behind her house since she is disabled. Sounded easy enough so we brought it up to the ward council and enlisted the help of the elders quorum and some of the young men. We set it up for Wednesday evening at 6. Tuesday evening Jerrie texts us and says she will meet us at the storage place 3 miles up the street. Turns out the "couple boxes" that were "in her house" were actually LOTS of boxes in a storage unit 3 miles up the road. Luckily we had 2 trucks, a van, two compact cars, with 3 grown men, two Elders, two Sisters, and 2 young men to transport the stuff. Even with that it took us three hours and 4 trips back and forth to get it all and move it into the storage shed in her backyard. The experience was enhanced by Jerrie's occasional (alright constant) nagging about where everything went. Needless to say, by the end of those long three hours, everyone involved was ready to bail and never volunteer again.  One guy from the other ward was getting pretty sassy and fiesty by the end. Jerrie and him seemed to be having a bit of an unspoken competition of who could be sassiest. Lots of fun! It was made better by the surprised looks from Jerrie and the men as I lifted boxes and carried things. The guy from the other ward came to grab a box from me to be nice, and when he took it he just looked and said "wow sister! You're strong!" Hahah. 

-Teaching Tasha. We set her with a baptismal date (July 29th) and are working to help her be ready. We also want to involve her husband Tim, who happens to be a Jehovah's Witness, and their 3 sons, Trey, Kendall, and Landin. Slowly the three of us, SS Tasha and I, are working on them. Tasha is really an amazing person! She has been searching for the truth for a while and is beginning to notice that we just might have it. God is working with her. 

-Trying to contact Cassie. She is the daughter of a less active member that lives in Timbuktu, well they actually live in Princeton, but is might as well be Timbuktu because it takes a whole day's worth of miles to get out there and back. We taught Cassie the Restoration the second day SS was here...and haven't been able to meet with her since. We have tried texting, calling, and going out there, all to no avail. We went out with Kaitlin Hawkins, a recently returned missionary, but weren't able to see her.  sad face. 

-MyPlan. This week was about Self reliance. There was one part that made me smile because it said to contact your stake self reliance specialist once you get home to get assistance in making a plan for how you will be self reliant in the future, and that just so happens to be my father. Haha. Dad, you and I need to sit down when I get home. 

This week is week 5, which means the section on dating and eternal marriage. Finna be fun!

-Finishing the New Testament. I started it on the 15th and read marking scriptures that talked about different things. I have colored tabs that I put in. Here is my system. 

Orange- introspective question

Pink- example of righteousness

Yellow- warning

Green- commandment/blessing for obedience

Blue- interesting fact/idea

It was really cool to read it that way because now I can go back and say "I want to see what commandments there are in the NT." and all I have to do is look for a green tab. I am hoping it will be the great resource I want it to be. I also read the Book of Mormon in this manner last month. 

-Traveling out to Benton. Benton is one of the areas contained in the Brownlee ward that doesn't get visited by the missionaries or anyone really because the members that live out there, with the exception of 3 or 4 families, are less active. We decided to go out there and contact the LAs and part member families. It turned out to be full of driving through a terrible storm. At one point we were driving down a road that turned into a dirt road. As I said, it had been raining REALLY hard so this dirt road was now a MUD road. SS had the foresight to say "If we go down here and get stuck, we don't have any cell service." That made me realize it probably wasn't the smartest idea to continue. So we decided to turn around. Luckily God was looking out for us because at that moment two things happened, we started getting bogged down in the mud and then the road came to a turn around point. We were able to glide and turn around and get out of there! It made for an interesting time as we turned back onto the main road and mud was flying out from our wheels! Hahah we looked like Hansel and Gretel. Everyone could tell were we had been because of the long trail of red mud behind us!  

That is all for this week folks! I love you and can't wait to see you! Get ready for a very torn Sister Lindberg to run up to hug you, while she is also wishing she was back in the MJM with her new found friends. But I still love you, so I guess I will come home, no matter how hard it will be. 

The End is Near. 6/27/2017

First off. We moved. I know I know. I keep saying we are, and then we are not, but this time we really moved. So my new address is 2305 Ovietto, Bossier LA 71111

I have a question for you. 

Does Ryno need the missionary library? (Our search for happiness, true to the faith, Our Heritage) I have those three and can bring them home for him if he needs them, if not I am going to leave them here. 

This week the motto has been #notgivingup. Doing myplan has really made it hard to focus just on the mission, but as Mary said this week in her email, I need to  "teach as many people as you can!! Time is running out!!" 

Speaking of myplan, I registered for institute this week. I picked two classes that I thought would be applicable to the time I am at in  my life. 

-The Gospel and the Productive Life 

Continuing Conversion for Returned Missionaries

-Preparing for an Eternal Marriage

Those should be entertaining and fun! Still debating whether I want to keep the second one. 

We had interviews this week and President Olson made sure I knew not to give up. As he said "You don't buy a movie ticket and leave 15 minutes before the movie is over." Yep. Just trying to stay for the whole movie. It would be easier if everyone here would just stop telling me to do so! Goodness! ;) 

I made Dad's famous chocolate chip applesauce cookies and gave President and Sister Olson some. They have texted and called us about 5 times over the weekend telling us thank you and raving about how good they were. President Olson even shook my hand when we walked into Zone conference and said "i hope you know those cookies are all gone! They were very tasty!" Hahaha

We had Zone Conference yesterday. It was a bittersweet experience because we were learning great things, but I know I only have so long to apply them and that this was the last ZC I will attend. I bore my final testimony and thought back on my mission! And what a mission it has been. I am so grateful for all that I have been blessed to be a part of. There have been many lessons learned and great experiences had on this journey. I will treasure this experience for the rest of my life! 

I love y'all so much! I can't wait to see you and tell you all about it all in person!