Week 95 in Chihuahua - September 30, 2019 - A Part of the Journey is the END - Last email!!

It's a weird feeling knowing that this is my last email as a missionary. 

I have a lot of mixed feelings about leaving the mission. 

About a a month ago we were teaching a sister named Artemisa. We had invited her to church and she came and we asked her what her experience was like at church. She started to break down in tears as she described to us the peace she felt as she was in the chapel and every time we teach her. She said she sees the world differently, and she thanked us for all that we were doing to help her get closer to Christ. 

In that moment I remember thinking how much I'm going to miss the mission when I go home. Being an instrument in the hands of the Lord to bring peace unto his children has been undoubtedly one of the best experiences in my life. I've learned so much in these 2 years. I have made a lot of friends and developed a love for the people of Chihuahua and a love for the scriptures. But more than anything  feel like I've gotten a lot closer to my Savior. I've learned that being close to the Savior brings so much more happiness than the  world offers us. 

So without a doubt I will miss the mission but on the other hand I'm way excited to see my family and friends. I remember advice that my family gave me before I left that has helped me get to this point. My mom said "do every thing that you need to so that when you are on the plane home you have no regrets". My dad said "Trust your mission president, he is there to guide you and to help you, and my brother has given me too many good ones to choose from and a lot of other advice given by them and my friends. It's funny how the simple act of giving a little advice to someone can help someone throughout the course of their life. 

Anyways I'm excited to work this week. We have a possible baptism on Thursday and I'm trying to get a huge family home evening planed with investigators and recent converts and members. There is still a lot to do haha. 

I love you all I can't wait to see you. Thank you all for the support!! 

Love,

Elder Lignell

                                                     Gotta have one last good rainstorm!!

                                                                    Elder Lignell 

Week 94 in Chihuahua - September 23, 2019 - Another Great Week!

Well we baptized Estrella's son and it was awesome.  He is 10 years old and is such a cool kid. He was so excited.

I don't think I'll be satisfied though until I get one more baptism.  And then I think I'm good. haha

We are teaching the other son of Estrella.  He is coming along pretty good, but wasn't able to go to church with us last Sunday.  We are shooting for October 3rd for his baptism, so we'll see how it goes.

Mom, who are our home ward missionaries and do you see them in church?  I was just wondering if you know them and have met them.  I'd like to meet them when I get home.

I'll definitely need some new shoes when I get home.  I gave my gray suit away the other day to a kid in our branch.  Unfortunately, it wasn't in the best of shape!

I'll have my exit interview with our mission president on October 6th and then leave to come home on October 7th!

I'm trying not to think about it too much because it'll be weird, but don't worry about talking about it; it doesn't make it harder or anything for me. haha

Okay, so I need to go now but I love you so much and I will see you soon!

Elder Lignell

Week 93 in Chihuahua - September 16, 2019 - Another Baptism :)

Okay, so this week we will probably baptize one of Estrella's kids.  We are shooting for this Friday.

My companion is getting the swing of things and he might actually be glad when I'm gone and he gets a new companion that isn't as strict with him as I am. haha 

He had a lot to learn when he first arrived, but he is doing really good!  He was pretty happy to have our two baptisms last week and is pumped to baptize again.

Well, I have my travel arrangements for when I come home which is CRAZY!

I've gotta run....lots to do and finish.

Love to everyone!

Elder Lignell

Week 92 in Chihuahua – September 9, 2019 – Best Week in the Mission!

HEY what's up everyone.

Without a doubt this has been one of the best weeks I have had in my mission.  Ok so for about a month we have been teaching a lady called Artemisa and for like a 2 months we have been teaching a lady called Estrella they both are awesome. Artemisa was soooo ready for the gospel in her life and Estrella as well but Estrella wanted to get to know the church a little more before getting baptized.

About 2 weeks ago we went with Artemisa and we asked her how she felt about getting baptized and she said that she was really ready. a little nervous but ready. So we got super happy after that lesson and we went with Estrella right afterwards and I remember having  the perfect plan all mapped out in my head. I was going to invite Estrella to the baptism of Artemisa so she could see how we baptize in this church and the next Sunday would be fast and testimonies so I thought that it would be perfect push to get Estrella baptized on the 14 of September.

So we visited Estrella and I proposed my idea to her reassuring that she would feel confident and prepared to get baptized on the 14th. She didn't say anything for a second and in this moment my heart was beating like a 10000 miles an hour when she said,  " I think I'm ready now". She didn't like the idea of getting baptized on the 14th she wanted to do it on the 7th along with Artemisa.

I screamed out of happiness and gave her a double high five hahaha. They both got baptized on the 7th and it was such a beautiful baptismal service. They both shared their testimonies and Artemisa was crying out of joy. 

During my mission I noticed something. Every time I leave an area I always see the blessing like right before I leave. Like if God was thanking me for the work I did in the area.  Now that I'm almost leaving the mission I'm seeing great marvelous blessings every day and Artemisa and Estrella definitely were one of them.

I still have a lot of work to do and I'm excited to do it! Love you all! See you soon!

Week 91 in Chihuahua - September 2, 2019 - Birthday Was Great!

Okay, so it was pretty cool to be able to Skype with you on my birthday!  The members that made me a cake are pretty awesome.  It's tradition to shove a person's face in their birthday cake so you noticed that I held everyone back when I took a bite!

They made me a Jazz sign because they know I like the Jazz and it took them 3 hours to draw it!

My birthday this year was a lot better than last year, haha.  Last year some sister missionaries bought me a birthday cake, but after they gave it to me they said they were pretty sure it was coffee flavored and so I wasn't actually sure what I was supposed to do with it.  Plus I was sick last birthday, so this year has been way better!

The two sisters that we are teaching are continuing to progress and just love learning about the gospel.  Next Saturday will be their baptisms!  I'm so excited!  I'm actually nervous that I won't be able to get everything I need done here before I leave to go home!

Here are the pictures for this week.

Love to all!

Week 90 in Chihuahua - August 26, 2019 - When It Rains It Pours

Hey, so I loved my birthday video!! You guys are the best!!  I think I will be able to call you on my birthday, but I need to check first.  And don't worry mom, there are some members here who love me haha, so I won't be alone with just my companion on my birthday.

This week has been so awesome.  We have a lady who is super cool and she is 75 years old and we have been teaching her.

She was really excited to come to church and she was really worried about being late.  She took an hour long bus ride to get to church.  So, our church starts at 10:30 a.m. and she arrived at 9:00 a.m. and so when we got there we found her but she had already attended the church that started at 9:00 a.m!

She loves church and says that when she leaves after attending the meetings, she looks at the world so differently like it is cleaner and feels so much peace.

Also, we are teaching a woman who is 36 years old and she is really excited to be baptized and so it looks like we are going to have two baptisms in the next week or two.

Everything is going so good!

The pictures below are of me and my companion teaching and the video is of another rainstorm we were caught in.

Have a great week everyone!

Week 89 in Chihuahua - August 19, 2019 - Lunch With The Missionaries

So this morning, we were able to play some soccer and basketball for our P day and boy am I sore and tired haha, but it was fun!

Today I'm going to treat some missionaries to lunch.  I thought it would be fun and a good way to get to know everyone.

Kevin decided he didn't want to be baptized but that is okay and we still had a great week with 4 people coming to church with us for the first time.

Ya, so I started doing "Pinky Promises" with the people that I teach, making them promise that they will go to church on Sunday.  It must have worked because we brought 4 people!

I don't seem to have a lot of time on my P days, so gotta run.

The picture is of our district.

Love to all!

Elder Lignell