We're at it again!

Dearest friends and family,

Lake McDonald, Glacier National Park

After three foreign mission assignments we decided we wanted to try something different.  In September we relocated to Montana to begin a 12-month FamilySearch Support mission.  More specifically, along with 700 other church service missionaries from around the world, we answer phone calls, emails, and chats from people using www.familysearch.org.  The support lines are live 24 hours per day (except for a half day on Sunday for services).

Our instruction has been rather intensive for the past seven weeks and we're finally prepared to take the "training wheels" off the bike.  This week we will begin taking solo calls but we will always have a mentor, or supervisor standing by if we get ourselves into trouble. Missionaries typically serve from home so all meetings, training, and communications are via the internet.  It's a miracle that we're able to handle over 20,000 calls per month from all over the world, around the clock, with only volunteer help.

We've enjoyed getting more involved in family history and exploring our family tree through the medium of familysearch.org.  To help visualize our tree graphically back nine generations, Sister Lindorf made a large wheel shown below with her family lines on the right and mine on the left and our children in the center.  She was actually able to trace one line on her father's side all the way back to Adam using the website we support as a resource.

Despite our busy schedule of training and manning the phones, we've had time to spend with our daughter Jenneka Shumard and her family in Kalispell, MT.  We were fortunate for the opportunity to rent the house right next door to the Shumards which influenced where we decided to serve "from home" on this mission.  Here we are with the Shumards enjoying the beautiful Fall colors.

It's wonderful to be able to serve a mission and have three of our grandchildren right next door.  After 4 1/2 years out of the USA on our previous missions this is a real treat.  As an additional bonus, almost everyone in Montana speaks English!  How could you resist these three?

Montana is beautiful and no smog in sight.  Before the weather turned cold, we had a chance to try out an inflatable kayak on nearby Foys Lake.  Here is Sister Lindorf showing how it's done.

While exploring our new surroundings, we took at trip to nearby Glacier National Park.

Birthdays, are another thing we won't miss on this mission.  Anndra turned five and Parker turned twelve in the past month.

I suspect we won't be sending out as frequent updates as we have on previous assignments due to the nature of this calling.  But we wanted you to know what we're up to and invite you to learn more about your family tree at www.familysearch.org.  The website is free and is available to everyone, not just members of the church.  If you have a question you can call the support number and you just might get one of us!

The first snow started to fall this evening so we'll be settling in for a long winter.  Please feel free to write back.  We would enjoy hearing from you.

All our love,

Elder & Sister Lindorf

Glorious Days!

Dearest Family, Friends, Brothers & Sisters...  LOVED ONES ALL!

Concerning these glorious days before His second coming, the Savior declared, 

"Wherefore, let us go to and labor with our might this last time, 

for behold the end draweth nigh, 

and this is for the last time that I shall prune my vineyard (Jacob 5:62)."  

Our Missionary District...  Trusty soldiers!

Baptism days are some of the most glorious days of all!  

This ocean baptism picture conveys a powerful image of the faith, courage, and love 

required to enter the waters of baptism and leave your old, familiar life behind!

Mercifully, the looming, dark wave gives way to expressions of pure joy!

The baptismal font on the back side of our Couva church building.

A glorious day when older brother (baptized 2 weeks previous) baptizes younger brother!

Our own, personal glorious days have been bountiful!  What a privilege it has been to enter the homes of God's children, and bear testimony to the truthfulness of the Lord's plan of salvation...  These are times never to be forgotten.  We will continue to pray in faith for the spiritual welfare and happiness of many dear ones.

The blessings of a gospel life are 

the greatest blessings the Lord has to offer His children!

And He offers it freely to all.  

May the Lord bless you as we keep you in our hearts!  

We sign off in love until, God willing, we are able to serve another mission.  :)

Elder and Sister Lindorf

Wrapping Up

Dearest Family and Friends,

We have just one week left on our mission.  As we conclude our service in Trinidad and the West Indies we wanted to share a few more pictures with you.

Many of the islands are host to turtle nesting this time of year.

Sea turtles can live up to 100 years!

Seminary and Institute students around the world take the Basic Doctrines Assessment each year.

We administered the test here in Barbados as well as many other locations throughout the mission.

This is Mamey Sopote fruit native to Trinidad & Tobago.  It looks funny and tastes like peaches.  We also get a lot of mangos this time of year.  Did you know there are over 300 varieties of mangos?

Early morning cloudscape - Barbados

 This boardwalk runs for over a mile along the beach near Christ Church, Barbados

Sister Lindorf enjoying a moment of reflection

 When the sun comes up the color of the water in Barbados is beautiful

Carlton Spencer's Baptism

Our missionaries in Couva have been busy!

 This new convert, Cintra, has been a great asset to our ward.

Early morning ocean baptism near Maracas Bay

Young Adults in Barbados playing games at a YSA activity

 Here we are with Elder Gamiette, our S&I supervisor who was just sustained an Area Seventy.

We have enjoyed our service in the West Indies and have grown to love the people here dearly.  We appreciate each of you and the love and support you have expressed.  We will likely have one more post before we return to the USA next week.

All our love,

Elder & Sister Lindorf

Doubles, Anyone?

Hello Dear Ones,

I want to begin this update by highlighting a special project that I've been working on for over a year.  I have had the unique privilege of giving music lessons to 12 students in Trinidad.  When I taught piano lessons on our mission in Thailand, I discovered how challenging it is to have them playing in church by the end of our mission.  So when I found such a demand for music, I drew upon my guitar teaching experience and created a method for hymn playing that is wonderfully rich, but simple.  I immediately began arranging music and as my students have progressed, I've continued adding new hymns to their repertoire. 

Last month I published it into a compilation of over 80 hymns.  What a joy it has been to see them progress and I have high hopes that they will continue after we go home. 

Next, I'm excited to tell you about a wonderful event put on by our Couva Ward Relief Society...  just for Sister Lindorf!  Let me explain...  

Since a lot of the West Indies cuisine is a blend of East Indian and African dishes, many of them are based on beans.  I'm not sure our sisters really believed me however, when I told them that in our family I am known as the "Bean Queen!"  When I saw the bean isle (YES, there are entire isles devoted to beans) at the grocery store, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.  There is rarely a day that our trusty crockpot is not cooking up a savory pot of beans for our next meal.

No trick photography...  This whole isle is BEANS!

Meanwhile there is a dish that you can buy from the street vendors called "Doubles" that is divine!  It is a scrumptious blend of tender fry-bread and exotically spiced beans that melts in your mouth.  So I thought, "This should be no problem for the Bean Queen."  Not so!  My recipe from the internet was a total disaster.  As soon as the sisters at church heard about my miserable experience, they secretly planned a Doubles Cooking Class just for me!  Sister Griffeth firmly declared, "You can't just READ about cooking Doubles, you have to SEE it done and get your hands in it!"  So we did!

In Trinidad, a "hand mixer" is your hand!

Bear in mind, these are carefully guarded, family recipes handed down from generation to generation.  However, throughout the class, they would gleam with delight as they whispered some special instruction for this part or that part, that would make them turn out perfectly!  So I can't share the recipe...  no, no!  But the pictures are worth a thousand words and I'll tell you what...  I'll make Doubles for YOU when you come to visit us in Oregon!  How's that?

...Done a special way to keep them "tender."

The lively chatter and bantor was probably my favorite part.  You would never know that the heat in our little church kitchen was oppressive...  Especially with the deep frying and no AC!  But they roll with it and have an enjoyable time.

Now the yumminess really begins!  Spices and peppers go into the chana mixture (what we call chickpeas or garbanzo beans).  

And the real flavor comes from these special toppings, which each person adds according to their tastes.  As you can probably tell, each of these were brought by different sisters, previously prepared at home.  THIS part of the secret recipe they didn't really plan to share.  And yet, they just couldn't resist...  I found myself being quietly pulled aside at different moments, so that they could tell me in hushed tones why THEIR topping was so exquisite....   MMMMmmmmm....  Makes my mouth water telling you about it!

Let me give you a little run down, to give you an idea of your choices.  One topping is simply called "pepper" and you can probably guess why!   Other toppings would be based in a tart fruit, like green mango or cranberries.  The green one you can see on the far right is a pureed broad leaf plant called callaloo, which looks like what we call elephant ears.  They each have their own unique flavors and will fall anywhere on the full range scale of spicy hot and/or tart sweet.  I will never be able to duplicate them, for sure!

Calalloo Plant

NOW TO BUILD YOUR "DOUBLES" FEAST!

Start with fry bread and chana...

Special toppings to taste...

And another fry bread on top!

Now you may think that you eat this delectable delight like a sandwich...  not so!  The chana and toppings are a little soupy (on purpose), so in a pinch/scoop motion you use your top fry bread to swoop up a bit warm, finger-licking filling with every bite.  Then you finish what filling is left with the bottom fry bread...  Hence, the name: "Doubles."  Its kind of an art form and I mostly just end up messy!  :o]

To finish, how can I resist talking about General Conference?  Over the past year, we've been working through the logistics of having General Conference available to our ward at the chapel.  This time the elements all came together... We had a fast internet connection for live streaming, a flat-screen TV to show it on, AND we've been talking it up for the past month. 

To top off a wonderful experience, the Priesthood organized a "picnic" between the two Saturday sessions!

Our Elder's Quorum President, Brother Phillip.

As an added bonus, we all rejoiced together as we sustained our Mission President who went home last July, Claude Gamiette, as a new Area Seventy.  He is so beloved by all of us and we pray the Lord will bless him and his dear family in this new calling.

Outgoing Pres Gamiette on the left, and incoming Pres Mehr on the right.

We are sad/happy to report that we have just over a month to finish our mission.  We love these dear people with all of our hearts!  We pray the Lord will sustain us to finish STRONG!  :)

Love, Sister Lindorf