WIM - Christmas 2011

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WIM - Arrive in Trinidad

Obligatory MTC photo

There?

Dear Family and Friends,

We began our mission at the MTC about a month ago.  We have been initially assigned to Trinidad - the largest island in the Caribbean chain just off the coast of Venezuela.  The population is a mix of East Indians, Caribbean, and African Blacks.  Other than missionaries, we haven't seen any Caucasians since we arrived.

                     YES, we have..................................

Bananas!

And Coconuts!

In Trinidad it rains almost every day, but the showers are usually brief.  As you can imagine everything is very lush and green!  

Sister Lindorf, do you think it will rain today?

The rain is actually a welcome relief to the heat and humidity.  It's hard to feel like it's Christmas time when it feels more like summer!

And the flowers are lovely...

The island of Trinidad is shaped like a boot, and we are living in Couva, which is where the boot laces would be.  (Notice in the map picture above, how close our island is to Venezuela.)  The beach is just a few miles away.  It is not really a swimming beach, because our local coastline has many oil refineries (the island's major industry).  But we hear that there are beautiful beaches on the other coasts of Trinidad (more about that later, I'm sure...).

No tourists on this beach!

It looks more like Galveston Bay than what you might have expected.

I caught a picture of one of our local birds, a snowy egret...  don't miss his bright yellow feet.

They have a local dish they call Roti... but much different than the Roti we enjoyed in Thailand which was a dessert.  Both are of Indian origin.  It is sooooo good!  There is quite an art to making it, so a sister from our ward offered to teach us how.  Bear with me...  These pictures are worth a thousand words!

The beginnings of Roti....

Sister Mohammed goes to work!

Mixing the dough

Kneading the dough

It's really an art form.  Hard to capture in pictures.

Cooking

Bon Appetite!

It's interesting that the entire meal is eaten with no utensils.  You hold the Roti dough in your hands and scoop everything up with that.  Missing from this picture is the traditional garbanzo beans and stewed mangos and of course - Pepper Sauce!  Yum.....

And for dessert!

I'm not sure exactly what was in this but it was good!

We've been working primarily with less-active LDS to invite them back to Church, but we actually are teaching one Methodist family who lives very close to us.  They came to services with us last week and will be attending our Christmas party on Saturday.  We're also teaching two families Temple preparation classes.

 Couva is a Ward, not a Branch but it feels like a Branch!  We had about 45 out to church last week.  This is about the same size as the Branch we attended in Thailand.  We had a child of record baptism the week after we arrived.

Anniah's Baptism

Everyone we have met here has been so warm and friendly.   I'm not sure if the weather has anything to do with it, but we haven't been so well received since we left Thailand.    Next time we'll share some of the challenges of trying to navigate our way around.

We are excited to be here and enjoy each and every day!

Elder Paul & Sister Kristene Lindorf

SCM - Countdown

Dearest Family and Friends,

Believe it or not, it is countdown time...  Wow!  I don't know where the time has flown.  We have less than 2 weeks until our replacement couple arrives in Slovenia.  Then it is a week of training and we're off into the wild blue yonder.  It truly has been great! Let me begin with a wonderful double baptism we had recently in Ljubljana.  It has been so thrilling to watch these two sisters (front and center) embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ!  The sister on the left is originally from Bosnia and the sister on the right is originally from the Ukraine.  They bring a vibrant, rich heritage to our branch. Elder Lindorf turned a triumphant 60 last month and celebrated by climbing both peaks of Smarna Gora.  He shared his spectacular hike with President Hill and his son Darren.    As they crested the top, they found the whole valley was covered in thick fog. As you can see, Slovenes love to hike and they love the sun - a winning combination that morning! We have been visiting all of the missionary apartments in our mission.  Our main purpose was to install smoke and CO detectors, but we combined it with copying leases and visas, and taking pictures inside and out in preparation for handing things over to our new office couple.  We have enjoyed immensely interacting with our missionaries in their apartments and appreciate the ways that they foster the Spirit in their homes.  It also has been a beautiful time of year to see the countryside. We especially enjoyed the splendor of the sunflower fields.  And no matter what time of day we saw them, the sunflowers always faced East! A few Mondays ago, for Preparation Day our District went on an outing to Vintgar near Bled less than an hour from Ljubljana.  Our trek followed walkways and bridges along a river at the bottom of a deep gorge.  These pictures don't even begin to capture the power and beauty of this creation by our Father in Heaven.  We loved it! For a little taste of local flavor, here is a picture of one of our favorite places to get pizza in Trieste, Italy (we go there every other month to obtain visas for new missionaries) and a picture of local folk dancers in Ljubljana Center. We are so thankful for the time we have spent in this corner of the world, serving the Lord and His children.  Our hearts are full to the brim with love for our beloved Slovenes and the missionaries with whom  we serve.  It is with tender hearts that we say "ciao, ciao!"  As you can tell by this family tree that hangs above my desk at the mission office, we are also excited to see our children and to hug each of our 14 dear grandchildren.  God has cared for each of us abundantly! Fondest love until our next mission,  :) Sister Lindorf

SCM - Winter to Spring

Hello Everyone!

It's a little late for a Christmas card, but after months of no news, I decided I'd better send out some pictures and let you know we're still alive and doing well in the beautiful country of Slovenia.  Sister Lindorf was good enough to send out the last several updates so it's my turn.  I know that no one is in the mood for snow, but I have a few pictures that you just have to see.  President Hill spent some time in Thailand, as did we, so he made what he called a Thai Snowman in the back yard of the mission home (and our office).  This is one of a kind, since there is no snow in Thailand.

This is what he looked like after the next storm.  I am easily amused!

We've had a variety of activities to help us enjoy coming out of winter and into spring.  We got to watch professional women's volleyball.  Emillie Toone from our Ljubljana branch is the tall one.  Their team took the regional championship for the first time ever this year.

The missionaries and members of the branch got together one Saturday for some basketball.  Afterward, they helped clear the parking lot for church the next day.  We had a lot more snow this year than most.

Sister Lindorf during Jen & Todd's visit with Anndra.  A happy grandma indeed!

The first flowers of the season are called 'Snow Flowers' because when they bloom it means there will be no more snow!

When spring finally arrived we were able to travel to Zagreb for a zone conference.

What we're standing next to is a large hand painted Easter egg!

Slovenes love flowers.  When the tulips came up you would have thought we were in Holland!

Snow capped Alps towering over the clouds

Every once in a while we have to pinch ourselves when we realize the magnificence of this earth.

An annual spring tradition is Clean Slovenia day.  They estimate 140,000 volunteers spent the morning picking up trash and debris left from winter.  The yellow vests are 'Mormon Helping Hands'.

We really do dress like missionaries most of the time, but it seems we only have a camera on P-days!  We'll be home in about 2 1/2 months.  It's hard to believe how fast the time flies.

We love being here and serving in whatever small way we can to contribute.  It's a great time to be alive and a part of such an amazing work.  We miss all of you but count each day here precious and wonderful.

Our love to you,
Elder Lindorf