SCM - Happy Father's Day

Dear family and friends, I want to begin this Father's Day update by thanking each one of our children for being independent enough to make it possible for their parents to serve this mission in Slovenia.  There is no greater joy than knowing that your children are walking in light and truth.  Challenges abound, but they are met by capable hands and hearts.  Thanks for making this Father's Day a happy one for me. I've heard from some of you, after seeing the pictures of our ONE hike, that we've been vacationing in Europe.  So that you'll know that we actually do work in between P-days, I've selected a different set of pictures this time. We recently went to Zagreb Croatia with President & Sister Hill for a Zone Conference.  The fountain in this picture was designed by a church member. We are fortunate to have such a spiritual and talented mission president.  Zone conferences with President Hill are a highlight.  Elder Lindorf with Elder Estigarribia from Spain during a break The new chapel in Zagreb was scheduled for dedication in two weeks, so we did and 'advance fly-by' to be sure it would be ready on schedule. Well, it looks pretty good from the outside.  There was still a lot of interior work to complete in the final hours. After the conference we took a walking tour of downtown Zagreb.  Quite a contrast between the old and the new. Two Dads We had a baptism recently in Ljubljana.  Elder Hunter (the beaming one) was our trainer. Sister Lindorf, always cheerful. Earlier I showed you a picture of our apartment from the inside.  This shot shows the back of our home from the street.  We have the whole upstairs of the house in the center.  We were trying to capture these magnificent sunbeams, but the picture doesn't do it justice. I thought this rose 'tree' would look prettier with Sister Lindorf in front of it. We appreciate your spending a few minutes with us.  We would enjoy hearing from you as well.  You don't have to send us pictures, but just a quick note to let us know what you're up to would be great! We LOVE being on a mission.  We LOVE the missionaries.  We LOVE the work.  We LOVE Slovenia. And we LOVE YOU! All our best, Elder and Sister Lindorf

SCM - Smarna Gora

Hello Family & Friends, Ever since we moved into our apartment, we've been watching Slovenes going to and coming from Smarna Gora.  Here's a picture of the 'hill' rising steeply above our village of 'Ljubljana-Smartno'   Hiking this mountain is a little bit of a local obsession.  There is a parking lot near our house which they fill to capacity almost every day... And they always take their walking sticks.   So for 'P-day' we decided to try it. Because there are so many and because they are all ages and fitness ranges, I have mistakenly supposed that it was a fairly simple hike. I was so wrong!  I'm not sure how they do it so casually, but this hill/mountain that is in our backyard and that we look at every day, is a bear to climb!  I should qualify that it wasn't that hard for Elder Lindorf.  He really enjoyed it.  The view from the top was spectacular! You can see plainly how rural Ljubljiana is...  And this is Slovenia's biggest city.  They purposely work toward maintaining a rural feeling in their communities.   Here you see the beautiful river that winds past our house.  Up on top there is a very beautiful and very old, stone church.  I can't help but wonder how many people, for centuries, have climbed that hill every Sunday to go to church?  There is a steep road that goes up the back side of the mountain.  There are also shops, picnic tables, lounging chairs to look at the view, and a restaurant.  It's a real party, once you reach the top!    They also have this amazing launch ramp for hang gliders.  It made me dizzy just to look at it!  All and all it was a wonderful adventure.  But we promise, if you come and visit us we won't make you climb it...  Unless you want to, of course!  Elder Lindorf will be happy to accompany you!  We are excited to report that we have four baptisms scheduled in our branch in the next few weeks.  Our missionaries have been very busy teaching lately.  We are also excited to have Elder Christofferson coming this weekend to dedicate a chapel in Zagreb, Croatia.  He will meet with the members in Slovenia for a fireside on Sunday evening and have a special meeting with all the missionaries on Monday.  We're looking forward to that. Love to each of you, Sestra Lindorf

SCM - Lovely Country

Hello Friends and Family, Sister Lindorf got to do the last update, so it's my turn.  You will get this from her email address because she maintains the lists. I wish I could capture in a picture how beautiful the countryside here is.   The evergreens have now been filled in by all the deciduous trees and the panorama of the rolling countryside of dense forest, punctuated by small farms and villages.  It's just too quaint to take it all in.  I can see why the Slovenes love living here.  Who would have thought?  They have successfully retained a rural feeling even in the larger towns.  The houses aren't 'wall to wall'.  There are many greenbelts and parks in the cities and the countryside is just breathtaking. You can't see it too well in this picture, but those are the Alps in the background, still covered in snow. Today we drove to Novo Mesto, about an hour from Ljubljana, to attend church in a branch with NO members - just missionaries and investigators.  It must have been what it was really like in the early church to open an area for the first time to proselyting.  What a great experience.  Our young missionaries are undaunted. We also went to Trieste, Italy a couple weeks ago to get our visas.  Here we are standing by the Adriatic Sea.  It was a cold day, but we enjoyed some real Italian pizza while we were there. We also received our first group of new missionaries.  President Hill took the group for a short walk from the mission home to a nearby grove for a spiritual retreat. Some of these missionaries are now in Serbia and Croatia, but we got to keep two of the Sisters  in Slovenia.  I love working with these young people who are so full of enthusiasm and testimony. We also had to say goodbye to 4 missionaries who have finished their missions and have now returned home to resume their studies.  How quickly we grow to love them! One of the local attractions in our neighborhood is a river that is very popular for kayaking.   This river is about 100 yards from our house, so we walk by it everyday.  The water has an unusual bright color from the mineral content. They have even created what I would call a 'terrain park' if it were snowboarding.  They have obstacles and stunts they have to complete in the water.  Here's a look at a few practicing. They actually have organized kayaking events here that are very well attended.  The Slovenes love being outdoors.  And now that the weather has warmed, there are bikers in greater numbers and hundreds that climb the mountain behind our house every day.  We're looking forward to a Saturday very soon when we can join them.  Then we'll show you some pictures from the top. I can't tell you how much we're enjoying being on a mission and serving in this lovely country.   We count every day a joy and a blessing.   Of course we miss our family and friends, but fortunately it's easy to keep in touch with technology.  We now have the internet installed at home so we're able to use our CA number for phone calls.  If you want to say hello, give us a call at 949-698-7476 most mornings (which is evening here).  We are nine hours ahead of PDT.  If we're not available, just leave a message and we'll get back to you.  Of course, we also love your email notes. We feel your love and support and appreciate all you do that allows us to be able to serve and to "lay aside the things of this world, and seek for the things of a better." (D & C 25:10) Elder Lindorf

SCM - Spring in Slovenia

Dear Family and Friends,  Spring has arrived in Ljubljana and we love it!  It is such a joy to walk to work without our coats and to open up our windows at home.  We hear that it gets very hot in the summer months (we have no AC), but for now, we'll take the sunshine…   It is the perfect introduction to Easter!  Tomorrow we will have been here for one 9-week cycle, which we call "transfers." Every nine weeks we send a group of 4 to 8 missionaries home, and the next day 4 to 8 missionaries arrive.  We arrived 9 weeks ago and now we've seen one complete cycle from beginning to end.  Since our job is to do all the processing that transpires during those 9 weeks, we feel like we've "seen it all" and are now seasoned and ready to run!  (This is our daily "picnic at the office" – sweet!)  Paul has done such a nice job keeping in touch with everybody and sending out updates!  As for me, I have felt like I've been drowning much of these past two months.  Even though we were "Office Couple" in Thailand also, I never realized how much help we had!  And since we have always tried to keep the young missionaries out of the office, rather than being tied up helping us (they learn the language fluently and that is priceless in sharing the Gospel with others), we are working in this office "solo." We love it!  Here is a picture of the two Elders who trained us.  Do you want to know why they're so happy?   This was taken on our LAST training session.  And now that we've gone through an entire transfer cycle, my nose is definitely above water and things are looking good.   I'm going to share a journal entry from a few days ago, to show one of the reasons I have been overwhelmed, and to show the Lord's miracles in His Work… We have a tree, of unknown origin, in our apartment that we fondly call "the tree of life." That symbol is not only found in the Book of Mormon, but it can be traced to cultures all over the globe.  As we hold fast to the Word of God, and look to our Redeemer for love, for life, and for daily breath, He will bring us to the tree of life!  Every day that we are privileged to consecrate all our time, our meager talents, and what energy we have to building the Lord's Kingdom on earth, He gives us the fruit of the tree of life.  This blessing is the sweetest and most cherished I have ever known! Happy Easter! All my love, Sister Lindorf

SCM - Getting Settled

Hello Friends and Family members, I told you last time I would elaborate on why we've been so busy in this assignment. While in Thailand, we had the same job - but a LOT of help to get it done.  We had another full-time Senior couple in the office as well as Office Elders and a full-time church employee who just handled Visas.  We also had a part-time returned missionary volunteer who helped us with translation needs. In Slovenia it's just us – period!  Now, in fairness, we don't have as many missionaries to keep track of, but that doesn't offset the sheer number of tasks that we were used to sharing with others.  So it's been an adjustment, but we're beginning to get on top of things. We also moved last month to an apartment closer to the office that cuts an hour a day off of our commute.  It's also much larger and ready for visitors.  We've already hosted our first guests; a couple that arrived on Thursday going to Zagreb, Croatia. Here are some pictures of our new apartment Well, we ALMOST have a view of the river. This past week we traveled with the Mission President on a Zone Conference tour to Serbia and Croatia and we finished up Friday in Ljubljana.   During Zone Conferences I made a presentation to all the missionaries about finances.   Here's a picture of one of our role play sessions.  Sister Lindorf found one of the props the Missionaries in Serbia use for street contacting. Zone Conference was AMAZING.  President Hill's background is in CES as well as having served as a bishop and Stake President twice.  As he opened the scriptures to us I  became very distinctly aware that we are greatly blessed to be serving with him.  He is so kind, and deeply spiritual.  He LOVES the way the Savior taught us to love. Here is a picture with three of our Sister Missionaries.  We have a special place in our hearts for the young Sisters. We were also blessed to be able to attend District Conference in Ljubljana and two baptismal services the past two Saturdays.  The baptism yesterday was particularly inspiring.  A young brother, 24 years old who joined the church four years ago, was able to baptize his older brother, aged 30.   He bore strong testimony of the truthfulness of the Restored Gospel.  He said that he's known ever since his younger brother joined the church that it was true, but he didn't feel worthy.  He has now prepared himself to enter in at the straight gate and has a firm desire to stay in the path. As I watched those two brothers, dripping wet, hug each other in the font after the baptism, I realized that it just doesn't get any better than this.  We are so blessed to be able to serve the Lord as full-time missionaries.  There is nowhere else I would rather be. Until next time, Elder & Sister Lindorf

SCM - Totally "Whelmed"

“I know that you can be over-whelmed, and you can be under-whelmed, but can you just be whelmed? …… I think you can in Europe!” (quote from Ten Things……….)

Well, we’ve just spent the last three weeks being totally ‘whelmed’. This update is going to be short, but I wanted to get something sent out. We’ve been getting several inquiries from folks thinking they weren’t on our update list.

We’ve been too busy to take many pictures but here are a few.

Slovenia is a small country, bordered on the North by Austria and on the West by Italy. It is part of the former Yugoslavia but since 1991 has been an independent country and recently was admitted into the European Union. Croatia, which is also in our mission is currently trying to become part of the EU as well. Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, which is where we are located sits at the base of the Alps. Here is a picture of our little community.

The church you see in the distance is where we walk to when we need to go to the post office. It’s about a 10 minute walk from the Mission office.

We have a very active branch in Ljubliana, which includes nearby Kranj and they have a new chapel that was just completed in 2008. Last week they had a young single adult conference which attracted LDS youth from Croatia and Serbia as well. Here’s a picture from that event.

We moved into a very small apartment that the previous office couple was using, but last week we moved again into a larger place closer to the office. Here’s a picture of our very tiny kitchen – this time complete with dishwasher, built-in fridge with separate freezer and an oven all packed into this tiny little space.

Our new kitchen is much larger and we can actually both be in it at the same time!

I’ll follow up in about two weeks or so with a few more pictures and a lot more about what we’ve been up to that’s keeping us so busy!

The Gospel IS the Good News that these countries need.

All our best,

Elder and Sister Lindorf

TBM - Sawadii, Khaa!

Dearest Loved Ones...

Our mission is drawing to a close.  In eight short days we'll be wending our way back to our homeland.  This last week has been filled with the deepest of love and tender good'byes.  

Last Sunday we spent our final Sunday in Ayutthaya with our beloved branch members.  If you can imagine LIVING the closing, parting scene portrayed in "The Other Side of Heaven," that is what we experienced.  As we finally drove away, to their gathered tears and bobbing waves, our bodies couldn't contain the depth of our emotion.  Elder Lindorf commented simply, "That's the hardest thing we've had to do on our mission!"

Then last Tuesday was Zone Conference and a farewell dinner at President Wisit's home.  I felt like we spent from 6:30 AM to 9:30 PM in tears, pictures, and hugs.  Of course, we have had the privilege of bearing our testimonies at each of these gatherings.  There is no greater parting gift.

This "chapter closing" season continues with saying our good-byes to the Service Center tomorrow and to our local Pakkrett Branch on Sunday.  Then we pick up Elder and Sister Laing at the airport on Sunday afternoon.  In the midst of a busy week of training for them, we will have another farewell dinner with the Senior Missionaries on Monday and at the Mission Home on Wednesday.  They weren't kidding when they said that "leaving" is harder than "staying!"

One of the things that eases this transition is that there is one person I DO NOT have to leave...  that is my beloved companion.  There is something uniquely wonderful about serving "our" mission.  It's not my mission, or his mission, but "our" mission.  Everything about it is exceptionally ours to love, to hold and to cherish.  During the course of our mission the Lord has unified us and knit our hearts together in beautiful, new ways.   

We are humbly grateful to you, who have patiently and lovingly followed this journey with us.  Your letters and prayers have been a great blessing to us and to the Lord's precious work.  We are grateful that the Lord continues to enlarge our hearts, so that we can fit in it all the people we love so dearly.  Those people, who have become family to us, span the oceans and will come back to us, again and again, as the waves upon the sand. 

Yours always,

Sister Lindorf

TBM - Daisy arrives!

Hello, dear family and friends who are family! Some of you will probably remember that our mission takes in 3 countries.  While most of our experience has taken place in Thailand, we have had a choice association with Myanmar and the saints there, for over a year.  In January 2006 we went to Myanmar with President Hansen.  They had been planning and waiting in great anticipation for him to arrive, because they had 10 candidates prepared for baptism!  What a wonderful experience it was for us to witness such a beautiful "white" day!   Daisy is the one looking our way and smiling... Among those brothers and sisters, was the first person to be baptized from Mandalay...  Daisy Kone.  She had been studying with the missionaries for almost 2 years and she was ready!  Inasmuch as 97% of the Chin tribe (Daisy's tribe) is Baptist, Daisy was raised with a Christian upbringing.  After the baptisms, they asked Daisy to bear her testimony.  I remember with clarity her complete conversion and conviction!  Interestingly enough, her father and a sister were baptized about a month later.  And then another sister was baptized later in the year.  This family has become the nucleus of the church in Mandalay.  Sacrament Meetings are held in their home every Sunday.  There are 8 in their family, and they have anywhere from 10 to 20 attend each week.  They are such a faithful family.  They even gather everyone who is handy each evening to study the Book of Mormon.  Daisy's mom hasn't joined the church yet, mostly because the Book of Mormon isn't available in Burmese yet and she can't read English.  She feels like she should read the Book of Mormon first. Meanwhile, Daisy had been dating a young man, Tom, for 10 years.  The main reason they had been courting so long (and were not married, yet) was because he lives in the United States.  He's native Myanmar, but when the current dictator was taking over the government, Tom was part of the resistance.  So he ended up fleeing the country for his life and the UN assigned him to the US as a political refugee.  He can never go back to Myanmar and some of his friends are still in jail (if they're still alive). Eventually Tom was able to get a visa to Thailand, and Daisy was able to get a visa to Thailand, and at the end of January 2006 they were married by President Hansen in Bangkok.  It was such a happy day.  Because neither of their families could be there, they told us that it felt like we were standing in for their parents.  Such an honor.    They both stayed in Thailand for a couple of months and Daisy naturally shared her new-found faith with her husband.  He took the missionary lessons and in February 2006 we were pleased to join them again for his baptism.  Daisy and Tom were both so happy.  Soon, however, their tourist visas ran out and Tom had to return to his country and Daisy returned to hers.  Meanwhile, Daisy was working toward joining Tom in the US.  Through emails, we learned that she wanted to try to get an H1 visa and that the US Embassy in Thailand might be a better place than Myanmar to apply for one.  So, Daisy came to stay with us the first of November 2006.  Working through the process of obtaining a visa for Daisy has been an amazing experience.  We have learned so much!  While the visa process has been very educational, we have learned even more through our experiences with Daisy herself.  She has been an angel presence in our home.  What a joy it has been to nourish one of God's children in the good word of God.  We have laughed and cried together.  We studied the scriptures daily and had lively gospel discussions.  We have embraced her with our hearts and she has given us a wonderful perspective of the true pioneer spirit.  Between her strong faith and people working on two continents, her visa finally came through with only 1 week to spare on her Thailand tourist visa.  Each of us witnessed daily miracles and felt God's hand in our lives. Last week, when we took Daisy to the airport, we indeed felt like we were saying goodbye to one of our children.  She and Tom are in our hearts to stay!  She arrived in Utah to experience SNOW for the first time.  What a joyous reunion it was for this young couple.  God truly blesses His children with miracles!  We love them dearly, and pray for their continued blessing in the future. All our love, Elder and Sister Lindorf

TBM - Who let the girls out?

Dearest Fellow Friends and Family, A couple of weeks ago, my mother, 2 sisters and a niece visited us in Thailand.  What a wonderful time we had!  Rather than give a lengthy travelog, I'm going to let the pictures do the talking (with captions, of course). They arrive, and we go to our favorite place to eat...  "Heaven!"     We try out Thai dancing.  Camile and Missy really get the hang of it! Elephants galore!  (Not the women in front!)    A new kind of elephant ride...  They're amazing!   More elephant rides.    Camile gets mauled by two (then 4) elephant trunks.  Augh!       Tigers - Up close and personal. Elder Lindorf had to put up with 5 women for 10 days.  What a champ! He was our organizer, photographer, bank, and strong arm.    IT WAS SOOOOO HOT!    Fun in Chiang Mai.    Making our way around Bangkok. What a wonderful time.... Love, Sister Lindorf