Hey, it worked.

Cheeheeee :)

My trainer - Hermana Mariana Lissett Rodriguez

It's been a super swoll week. We had a baptism on sunday! My first baptism! And my companion and I spoke in church. We destroyed sacrament meeting. We were playing piano and leading the music and it was a total wreck. We didnt know the songs and I don't know how to lead music and I was laughing so hard. Latino wards are hilarious when it comes to the hymns.

I'm trying to upload some pics right now but failing miserably. Don't know why its not workinggg :( If I can even just get one I will be happy. I am about so strangle someone.

Well - missionary news: I got a new companion. My last companion Sister Thomas left today for home! I am a serial killer in the mission. My new companion is named Hermana Beauchamp. She's great.

Well. This always happens to me. I forget everything that happened in the week and never know what to say. There was a significant amount of fort building. Sleepovers. Umm. We taught 30 lessons. The baptism. Speaking in church in spanish whhuuut. Saying goodbye to my 3 best friends in the mission who are all gonna be home hanging out soon and I'm sad about that. Ate a lot of awesome latino food like always. Stuffed my face so as to not offend people. And then wished I could throw it up later. I've switched to soy milk fyi. But I'm addicted to that Horizon organic chocolate milk. I need to switch that to soy too. I made eggplant parm recently. It was delish. We found a good home for our puppy that we have been harboring. I haven't emailed my family in 4 weeks almost. Sorry fam. I took a bunch of fun pics with the holga. Hopefully I'll get those back soon. I have a lunch appointment in 10 minutes that we are gonna be late to oooops. Atleast I can use the gps I got for my birthdayy!! (Thanks dad..)

I think I'm changing a lot more than I think I am on my mission. It's weird. I sort of was determined to stay the same person and not turn into one of those sweet spirit sister missionaries. But resisting change is counterproductive. I want to turn into the best version of me. So don't worry folks - I am the same old Lindsay, but I'm just getting better! Life is good. I swear a lot less than I used to. Ha. And other improvements. Bring it on.

Loveyaaaa. Love Linds.

Email from Emma:

remember when we slept in the silky bed at uncle brians house and i drove you
insane and when we were in the guest bed at home and i kept putting the feather
in your nose and when i gave you that heinous pink and black frayed skirt for
christmas and when i hung a banana above your bed and you were sooo mad and when we rode our bikes to the MTC and i was freaking out and you abandoned me
hahahahahaha i am so retarded

yes. you are. and you kill me. iloveyouemerson.

Well hello there my children. I'm gonna fast forward to the present and give a brief description of transfer 1 in the mish.

I'm serving in Palmdale, CA.. the desert. It's about an hour north of LA. We got to go to the temple there twice which is pretty rad. I'm only allowed to go twice in a year though soooo... looks like I've used mine up. Heh..

Transfer 1 was trunky. My comp was a hot latina surfer chick from Guatemala - Mariana Lissett Rodriguez. We got along reeeeeally well. Too well... and it was her last transfer so it was a little difficult. But we are truly best of friends. She's probably tagged me in some facebook pics by now. Companions have been one of the coolest things so far about the mission. I didn't know I was going to meet so many cool people, hopefully life-long friends. I have a trip to Guatemala in the works as we speak ;)

My new companion for transfer 2 was Clarissa Darger Thomas from St.Louis. Aaaaand - to our great surprise we found out that we are 3rd cousins. Obviously, because we are perfect for eachother. Sometimes she drives me absolutely insane, but we're family so I'm ok with it. We work really well together. We work HARD. We talk to EVERYONE. And teach our butts off. But we play equally hard. I didn't expect the mission to be as fun as it has been. I had my birthday last week. It was a blast. Suprise breakfast and cake that night. Fire breathing with powdered sugar. Elders losing their minds. Weird right? My life is so weird. So weird and so cool.

We used to live in this huge house called the princess house. It belonged to a member who passed away but in my first transfer the family decided to finally sell it. So I had the pleasure of cleaning out 10 years of sister missionary JUNK. I found so much cool stuff. Ha. We moved into a cute little apartment. I say cute because I made it cute. You'd like it. I promise. The couches are garbage but we manage.

We are having a baptism next week. My first!

So... my companion and I have a puppy.... that is going to be my post for next week hopefully. Complete with pictures. Oh! And I got a holga for my birthday from my amazing former companion Hna Rodriguez. She is so great. And a member in our stake got me some expired 120 film. Expect good things soon, ok?

Ok. I love you all so much, whoever is reading this and cares. No worries if you don't. Leave a comment, or email me, ya? Or talvez write a letter if you want a real one back ;)

38314 Wildflower Ct. #504
Palmdale, CA 93551

Love your faces and your guts.
Love, Linds

February 8

you know all those home videos of little kids falling asleep while eating in their high chair? heads bobbing. drool occasionally falling from their mouth. well that is what i fear i look like at almost all hours of the day. ok not really all the time. but occasionally, especially in class i have the hardest time staying awake.

we have officially covered every grammar principle that exists. so technically i should be able to speak perfect spanish at this point. ha... not really. but anyway, its amazing how fast we are learning. i taught a 45 minute lesson in spanish the other day and then another one yesterday. spanish is great. im a real latina now. ha.

i have a new passion. and that passion is called: the free bin. there is a give away box in the sisters residence halls and everyday i find some new gem that i wear the next day. i look really great or really horrifying some days. i have a floor length fuschia skirt. i am the envy of all the hermanas.

my companion received a 5 pound jar of jelly bellies from her boyfriend. we are becoming jelly bean conossieurs. well, she is. im not that into candy. i am into FOOD. i am the district mom. i barely take any food for myself anymore at meals, i just end up eating off of everyone elses plates. i really just want 1 or 2 bites of everything. so why get my own meal that i am going to waste when i can just mooch off of everyone else? exactly.

in fast and testimony meeting on sunday one of the new elders said en espanol "se que jesucristo suffrio por todos las pescados en el mundo." he meant to say i know that jesus christ suffered for all the sins in the world. but what he actually said was "i know that jesus christ suffered for all the fish in the world." I was trying sooooooo hard not to laugh. it was terrible. i couldnt stop thinking about it and laughing. we have a laughing problem in our district. its a miracle if we can get through a nightly prayer without all busting up.

February 1

Alright what have I got to tell you? I did sealings in the temple last week for the first time. It was really cool. We go every tuesday at 9:15 to the temple. It is joyous.

I see SO MANY BOYS all the time that work here that I have been on dates with. It's hilarious.

I've calculated that at any given time I can have anywhere up to 8 layers around my waist. G-top, bottom, nylons, slip, skirt, tanktop, shirt, sweater, coat. etc. oi! It makes using the bathroom pretty inconvenient.

One of my hermanas got a box of 12 huge bags of white cheddar pirates booty. We have been scarfing it down this past week. SO GOOD. Hermanas can wear skirts to the knee now. So in order to rebel, I have bought a long skirt to my ankles and I wear it all the time. Ha.

Here's a little miracle for you. My companion couldnt roll her her R's when we got here. That is no bueno en espanol. So I prayed for her every night that she would be able to and now she can do it just fine! Yahoo!

The more roommates I have over the years the more bodies I am subjected to and the more I realize how happy I am with mine. Just saying. Claire, you have a great body. No worries. :)

If you have ever had a problem with bathroom stagefright maybe you should come on a mission because all that goes away when you are with someone 24/7.

Last night someone burned a poptart in the microwave and it started filling the residence hall with smoke. So the fire alarm went off and we all had to go and sit in the gym til about 11. It was fun! Ha.. we were being wild.

We had another TRC appointment with an investigator and my companion farted mid lesson. I was fully prepared to go on but she started laughing which made me start laughing. It was horrible. We couldnt stop! The investigator was so confused. I apoloigized profusely and said that we were just nervous. Ugh. Ha. So embarassing.

I guess that's really all I have to say for now. I love you loads and loads lon and lon. Thanks for all your letters. I will try to respond to them individually by hand today. I really wish I could repsond to everything everyone says but there is so little free time here. Really, there is no free time. It's nutso. But so great. This is the best thing I have done for myself and for God and for others. It is changing so much about me. Changing my weaknesses into strengths. My spiritual growth blows me away. ha. I still cant even believe I am ON A MISSION. But thats what they tell me so. Its cool. I like it :) I will leave you with this thought from Jeffrey R. Holland. "We spend way too much time acting like we're going to stay here when we're not, we can't, and we won't." This life is temporary! Focus on what is important and dont get too distracted with the things that dont matter AT ALL. Coming unto Christ really means walking away from the world. Seemingly impossible, but totally doable. :)

Love LOVE LOOOOVEEEEEEEEE to you all. I wish you were here. Hugs and kisses. Hermana Lindsay Ann Erickson <3

January 25

last week on pday my companion and i were walking to the laundry room in our pday street clothes. a branch president and his wife saw us and came over to us. they asked in a slightly concered manner, "do you girls know where youre going?" I looked at him almost offended and said very firmly, "YES WE DO." We are sister missionaries, duh! Claire will appreciate that story hah..

i sat next to this elder with THE WORST onion breath at the devotional. he wouldnt stop talking to me and i thought i was going to die. it was horrific. everyone smells in the mtc. except me of course. i smell great all the time. ha. but everyones feet smell for sure. girls put their shoes out in the hall because they smell so bad. its nasty. i have so many weird dreams. i dreamt that i had a litter of 18 kittens. and by have i dont mean gave birth to.. i just mean that i had them.

we have had so many great devotionals and firesides. the primary president came, elder gong came. i cant say enough good things about those devotionals. i love them. best part of the mtc. one speaker talked about how we all feel like we dont want to be here sometimes. he said we go though a honeymoon stage and a hostile stage, a grin and bear it stage and an endure to the end stage. i am in the hostile stage haha. kidding? maybe. sometimes the mtc and i are not so great of friends. but i am still very happy here.

one night this week my companion asked me, "are you on track (referring to our planning for a lesson)?" "no" i said. she giggles. "that wasnt a joke" i said. she giggles even more. "that wasnt a joke either." sometimes the mtc is rough. ha.

i ALWAYS have the limbo rock song stuck in my head. i have no idea why. its been going on for about 2 months now. coolest song.

we have companionship inventory every week. i like to think of it as a DTR (determine the relationship). my companion and i have NO problems whatsoever. I think i am having a freakishly positive mtc experience. we have 3 ericksons in my zone. all spelled differently. one of them almost accidentally kissed me last night. he was trying to scare me. he came up behind me and said "boo!" but just as he did i turned my head around really fast and we were about 2 cm away. ha. i SCREAMED!

i dreamt that i kissed my teacher. oh man. haha. i cant stop having weird dreams! there are so many elders with femi voices. i DONT GET IT. i really will never understand it.

we have 2 elders leaving for peru tomorrow from our district. they are headed to the mtc there. we will miss them so much. i have THE BEST district ever. we are all crazy and crazy about eachother and crazy about the gospel. hah. we sing "total eclipse of the heart" together. we love eachother. its great. one thing i miss here is male companionship. i really miss having so many good guy friends. we have them here but no hugging. i miss those hugs a lot.

there is a sister in my zone who only wears jodie dresses. she is the best. i got called to be the zone's coordinating sister. its kind of like relief society president except our relief society here is with the whole mtc and the president is the mtc presidents wife. so i am in charge of all the sisters in the zone. we have 12 sisters in our zone which is actually a ton for a zone i think. its about 2/3 elders and 1/3 sisters.

i weigh 128 pounds. normal. happy. i believe the lord has a time warp on showering here. i will be in the shower for what feels like 25 minutes and when i get out its only been 7. its a miracle. an mtc miracle haha. my hair is so long. its weird. how did it get long so fast? maybe because i wear it straight most days. i hope its soooo long by the time i get back...

January 18 - Week 2

what to say what to say???

our devotional last week was with elder holland and it was a real experience for me. he was of course very strong and direct and i was in tears the whole time. no time to even go into detail on what it was about but what i really took away from it was that whoever we were before this, we have left our nets and we're going to feed sheep. when he calls us he calls us for life, and we are never going back. i loved it.

my companion asked me the other day, "are you a little boy crazy?" yes. yes i am. ugh. i miss boys hahaaaa.

i am the "funny" sister in my district. i love it. cause im really not that funny but im always cracking jokes and its fun ha.

hymns get stuck in my head all the time. its great. i love the mtc.

once we learn a spanish word we only use that word. so every once in a while when an english one comes out of my mouth like "hello" it sounds SO WEIRD.

I have seen so many people here that I know, it reminds me of the real world haha. but doesnt make me sad so thats good.

i wish i was asian. end of story.

we get to watch music and the spoken word every sunday before relief society. i LOVE it. i love music. and the spoken word. ha.

i always get comments on my glasses. always good ones. there is a girl here who wears these HUGE ugly glasses. they make her look like she is about to go saw down a tree or something. i asked her if they were prescription and she said no she just loves them SOOOOOOOOOO much. ew. nice girl though.

its pretty wild the clothes that some sisters wear here. ive seen everything from super conservative homely polygamist looks to a little on the scandalous side with uggs to top it off. so weird. uggs? really??

in a fireside last night the person speaking asked if anyone had gotten dear johned yet. 4 elders stood up. haha... sad..

claire, i wish you were here and were my companion. thatd be the best.

the branch presidents wives come over some nights to visit us. i was wearing just nylons and a shirt when she came and gave me a biiig hug. hah. no pants. coolest hug.

sometimes the sisters in my district will get on a topic of something they reeeally love or really cant stand and usually i dont even make a comment because i am the complete opposite! its crazy how i am soooo different from them and to be honest would probably never be friends with them in "the real world" but here in the mtc none of that matters and they are the greatest girls ever. so happy to have them as mi hermanas.

8 minutes..

to answer your question catherine. am i still normal? i'm same same but different. :) still normal. but loving everything about being away from the world and focusing on feeling the spirit. you can feel it ALL THE TIME. no joke. we always can i guess, its just easier to be distracted when youre not in the mtc... or spirit prison as elizabeth calls it. ha.

i feel good. i feel the spirit. i love my companion. i love my teachers. i love the elders in my district. i love sundays and pday. i love hearing the bell at byu play on the hour every hour. i can even see it from my classroom. we also get to see the most beautiful sunsets every night from our classroom. i love it.

i think about all of you and pray for you all the time. prayer is so great! my companion couldnt roll her R's when she got here but i prayed for her every night and now she can! woooh. hah.. i love the gospel. i love expecting miracles.

just know that i am doing well. i am struggling every day and look forward to getting in bed like nothing else, but its all coming together and i dont have any worries. i loveee you all. i miss you. i still cant hardly believe i am actually here and on a mission. but i guess its real. ha.

thanks for your love and support. and funny stories. and reports of the day. they make me happy even if you think "she doesnt want to hear this stuff..." I DO!! i want to hear anything and everything. little things, dumb things, funny things, spiritual things. everything, i love you!

So.. I'm gonna start blogging. Wooh. I feel alive again. Ha.. kidding? No but really. I'll start at the beginning. Of the mission that is. For anyone that is interested.

January 11 - First week in the MTC:

Asians. I want to be friends with them all. They are the most stylish people in the mtc. I love them.

The spirit is SOOO strong. It is really changing the way I think of having the spirit as our CONSTANT companion. I feel the spirit every where I go. Even now as I type this I can feel it warming my soul. Ha. Cheesy.

The first few nights I slept horrrribly. I had terrible dreams that stressed me out and just made me feel bad. but i prayed a lot and i am sleeping so well now and having nice dreams. I dreamt that i kissed bret meisenbach again. that was a nice dream ha.

time is all running together. the days are all one big day. its a trip.

meals - breakfast is the best. i eat a bowl of cracked wheat loaded with almonds and walnuts and raisins. its great. its very hard to be healthy here but i have become a health nazi. i will only drink water. no juice or soda! NO desserts! (theyre usually not that good anyway, the just look good and im sure theyre TERRIBLE for you). no fried food. fruits and/or veggie with every meal. i will not get fat on the missioN!!

gym! its great. we have 45 minutes of gym every day. i like to do circuit training. lifting weights. i love it!!! i am so strong! Emma you will be proud to know that i taught my companion and my hermanas the angels workout. its so hard. we are so sore all the time but it feels great. we love it. thank you.

my companion is hermana asenath busch. look her up on facebook. she's from louiston idaho. she goes to byu-i. she's 21. she is a dream. companions are assigned by god i know it! we are great for eachother. so much to say but no time.

we are in a room with the 2 other hermanas in our district. kimberley williams and summer white. look them up on facebook too. i love them. we love eachother. i have the top bunk. we are right across the hall from the bathroom. i always try to get the shower with 2 shower heads in it and point them both at me. haha.

emma - remember what you said about finals and your eye twitching?? that is my life now. hah. its so busy and crazy and jam packed but so good. i love it here. i am so happy.

there is a class in the morning for sisters if we want to go at 6 to work out. they have yoga and pilates and kickboxing, toning and stretching, step aerobics etc. we went a few times and they play TECHNO HYMNS. thats right. its awesome haha.

i have become addicted to flossing my teeth. also, i think i have cracks in my back molar. hmm... google that for me.

the carpet here is the same as on campus at byu. in fact, many things are the same... so thats weird.

i saw jeff zwick yesterday and i love him and i miss all my friends. mostly claire and david lewis though. i also saw a boy that i went on a date with once... lance stevens. it was the worst date of my life. they both work here..

dont EVER send me food. ever.

we taught in the TRC and it was great to be there. the last time i was there i was with emma as an investigator and that is the day that i decided to go on a mission.

massachusetts is to dunkin donuts and the mtc is to hand sanitizer dispensers. EVERWHERE!!

i love my bed. bye!