In Memory of our God, our Religion, our Freedom, our Peace, and our Families

Happy Memorial Day! Thanks for the reminder Mom. You're right, in some people’s minds that may just be an excuse to have a barbecue. I knew that Memorial Day was coming up, but I still didn't realize what day it was when I woke up this morning, but how fitting it was that I should have chosen to base my study this morning in the forty sixth chapter of Alma. I couldn't have chanced upon a better chapter to read today, how great it was to read of Moroni's courage and bold defense of what he knew to be right and true.

Today I am so grateful to be serving as one of the Lords Missionaries, to be defending what I know to be true (even when those we speak to may be quick to turn from the Lord their God). Today I gratefully remember again the goodness and mercy of God in giving to us his gospel and a living prophet to lead and guide this church. Today I gratefully remember that freedom and agency which God has given unto all men, as well as the duty of all righteous men to defend those freedoms. Today I gratefully remember those good and great men who gave their lives for these two great and eternal causes; in defense of the truth, of the right, of the weak, that our Peace and Freedom may be preserved that we may worship our God, and nurture our Families in the gospel of Christ.

Today is a day to remember, so "In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children" let us go on in this great cause. Let us lift up our voices with the sound of a trump and proclaim this gospel to the ends of the earth. Zion, thy God reigned! Christ, the Son of God has broken the bonds of sin and death, and it is through Faith in Him, Repentance, Baptism, and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, that we can find the strength and power to overcome the evils of this world and return to dwell with our Lord, our Father, and our God.

"Surely God shall not suffer that we, who are despised because we take upon us the name of Christ, shall be trodden down and destroyed..."

Life can be rough at times as a missionary. There are people who despise us for our testimony of what we know to be true. But look at the bright side! There aren't any wicked men conspiring to take over the government and make themselves king (...right Dad? I don't really know as I haven't got a politics update in a while). ;)

As far as news goes from the mission there really isn't a whole lot to report. We had exchanges this last week; I was with Elder G (our District Leader). He has a lot different style of missionary work than the other missionary's I've served with before. He takes being anxiously engaged to a whole new level. He is really bold with people and he talks to EVERYONE, He is a great missionary, he has a strong desire to serve, and he doesn't want to let an opportunity pass him by. But I could learn a lot from him, and did learn a lot on our exchange. It was good to get out of my comfort zone again, I've become too comfortable doing what I'm used to, I need to look for more ways to shake things up, it’s far too easy as missionaries to get stuck in a rut just doing and saying the same things all day every day. I have had some ideas on how I can improve and I have been working on applying some of them already. Hopefully it will help. :)

As always if I am getting transferred I will probably get a call tonight. I don't know yet if I will get a call. But, Elder A and I were talking and we both seem to have a curse, and those will probably work together to make sure that we both get transferred. Elder A has had a bunch of 6 week companions, and I have never been in an area for more than three months AND I have never left an area without being Whitewashed (when both missionaries leave at the same time). That having been said.... I have no idea what is going to happen. :)

I love you guys, I look forward to your letters every day (which probably isn't healthy because that means I get disappointed several out of the week. ;P Saturday is the worst because mail doesn't come on Saturday in Canada, and I forget about that just about every week.)

Love,

Elder Thomson

 

Happy Victoria Day!

This week hasn't been better as far as results. We are still doing an enormous amount of finding, but it looks like we may be gaining some traction in working with Former Investigators.

Yesterday was as you know was May Day (or something, I wish people would stop making up mythical holidays as excuses to not be around when we need to talk to them), we didn’t get to email yesterday which was a bummer and it also meant that p-day ended almost two hours earlier than usual, and that meant we spent a lot of time finding. We talked with a lot of rather interesting individuals, we had a conversation with a drunk old Scottish man for almost half an hour, he answered the door shirtless and proceeded to tell us almost his whole life story, we heard all about how he was a math whiz as a child and how he got it from his Dad who helped design some bridge but his dad was so absent minded that while the bridge was under construction he almost walked right off of it into the river, but he fell onto some scaffolding below. Then he told us all about how he decided to leave Scotland to escape being conscripted into the army and so he decided to leave for Ghana except there was some kind of mix up and he ended up in Canada instead, but since he was here he figured 'what the heck' (except he didn't say heck) he might as well go into architecture and then he proceeded to show us how he had remodeled his whole front entryway because the people who built the house obviously had no idea what they were doing, and since we were inside he showed us all his First nations art and art from Africa as well. And then somehow he got onto the topic of soccer (I don't really remember how we got there, I sort of missed that jump) and he told us about how he first met his best Friend (before they were best Friends) and he punched his eye out and then they were best Friends after that. I didn't really understand that story either. In fact, I'm not sure how true any of those stories were, but they all sounded pretty good at the time and I was trying to get over how awesome this guy was. In the end he wasn't interested in learning any more about our message. But he was a really cool guy, and I would have loved to teach him when he sobered up.

We were finally able to meet up with a Former Investigator named J (who is a good friend of, and was previously neighbors with, Bishop H and his family) we were able to have a lesson with him Saturday morning, we invited him to be baptized if he came to know for himself that the Book of Mormon is true, and in response he basically told us that he doesn't feel like he is searching for anything right now but that he likes the Book of Mormon and thinks it has good things to say (but to him it is just another one among many uplifting books) at the close of the lesson we talked about absolute truth and knowing it for ourselves. J is a really great guy who has been through a lot of rough stuff recently and is in the process of changing his life for the better. We talked to the H’s and they agree that living the gospel would be a very possible, very positive, step in J's life. He just has to be willing to see just how much it can help. J loves the missionaries in general, so we will probably be having a follow up lesson fairly soon (although there is nothing scheduled as of yet).

We also have a few other appointments scheduled with 2 or 3 other Former Investigators in the coming week, as well as times for members to come out with us to visit single women and Potential Investigators. My hope is that those appointments will be able to work out and that we will be able to see the results of that and that the work will begin to pick up again.

In other news:  Elder A bought a pack of Pokemon cards a few weeks back because he wanted one of the cards to he can learn how to draw them so he has been doing that p-day afternoons, also we have been designing Zombie proof shelters after planning but before bed. It cuts into journal time but it’s more fun. : P We came to the conclusion that in the event of a Zombie Apocalypse the safest place to be would be a Super Tanker (those big ships with all the crates on it) or an Oil Rig.

I still don't understand my cravings for Legos. But I'm still managing to resist. I found a single solitary Lego in the apartment and I have been playing with that but I've come to realize that they aren't really all that fun by themselves.

Let’s see, what else? Elder A and I keep kicking around the idea of a diet, but it seem that it keeps not happening (usually my fault), but since its getting closer to the end of the month we may be forced into one because we've pretty much spent all our money already. Shopping at Wal-Mart helps but stuff is still really expensive here, and then the Wal-Mart people will sucker me into buying junk with "sales" like three bags of chips for $8, or 5 croissants for $2. And I wonder why I'm getting fat!?  But seriously though, all I bought yesterday was Bananas and Milk... and two bags of chips. ; P We have a lot of stuff in the apartment too, perogies, canned food, frozen dinners, frozen bread, LOTS OF RICE, and that's about it. :)

I think I'm about out of time so I had better send what I've got before I run out.

Love,

Elder Thomson

My Life:

This week was awesome in that we were finally able to get in contact again with some of the people who we have met before that were truly miracle finding and teaching experiences but that we haven't been able to get a hold of in a while. Both of them finally became New Investigators, and I feel like we are finally going to see some traction here.

I've mentioned both of them before in my emails but here is kind of an update on who they are, and where they are with the Gospel. Both of them are "looking for something" they have gone to different churches in the past but aren't really active in any right now because there are things about them that just haven't set right with them. They are also both really, really busy. They are both successful business men and work long hours/travel a lot, so getting to meet with them is difficult, but they are truth seeker, they just have a lot of questions that distract them from the questions that they really need to know the answers to.

J is the man who we found in a 50's Diner a while back. He gave us his card and we met up later and gave him a church tour, and talked some more about Christ and what we believe. We called him again this week and he had just gotten back from a business trip and wanted us to give his wife (P) a church tour as well. It went really well, we taught about Prophets and Apostles, Priesthood Authority and Saving Ordinances like Baptism and the Sacrament. We weren't able to set up a return appointment with them (because J is heading out on another business trip again this week) so P isn't technically a new investigator, but she is just as interested as her husband, and they both want to sit down with us when he gets back from his trip and learn more about our faith.

D and A are the couple with the twins. We haven't been able to get in touch with them in several weeks (their schedule is all over the place) but we met with them again this week and talked a bit about where they are with everything. They have been reading from the Book of Mormon but only verses here and there. D said that what he has been reading hasn't really "spoken" to him as much as he would like, he also has some problems accepting the doctrine of Resurrection as opposed to the concept of reincarnation (something that seems to fascinate him quite a bit, that and near death experiences). He also has a hard time believing in an adversary (a devil, or hell). But he is willing to accept a spiritual witness of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. He is going on a trip this week and he said he will take the Book of Mormon and read it on the plane, we also talked about how to ask and how to recognize the answer we receive. Hopefully he will ask sincerely, and recognize the answer for what it is. That's what I am praying for.

The rest of this week was packed with wonderful experiences. It’s hard to believe that so much could have happened in one week. The Temple trip Tuesday (which was awesome!), Lower Mainland Multi-Zone Conference Thursday (not really enough time to explain what that was all about, but believe me when I say: it was game changing), and then Stake Conference Sunday (which was also REALLY good).

I don't know how this coming week could beat this last one for spiritual experiences, but I'm excited to see what the Lord has in store.

Until next week, all my love for all of you at home and any who may be reading this abroad.

Love,

Elder Thomson