Pops, JC & The Spook

            The title of this email is how one of the less active members described the Godhead to his nonmember fiancé.  It’s a little more than irreverent, but I had a good chuckle when he said it, so I thought I'd share. 

This week was somehow really slow and really eventful at the same time. All week it seemed like nothing much was happening but looking back a ton of really cool stuff was going on the whole time. I guess I've just been seeing so many miracles that I've stopped noticing them when they are right in front of me. 

One really cool thing that we got to do this week was go on splits with Mini-Missionaries. The Stake has a program every year with the Young Men.  It is where the Priest age Young Men have the opportunity to go out with the Missionaries for a whole day and just do what Missionaries do. So Friday evening a couple of young men showed up at our apartment and the adventure began! Planning was nightmare because we had to work out two days’ worth of plans... but for the same day, and be sure that we wouldn't be bumping into each other or trying to talk to the same people. In the end we just went with the really simple solution of kicking the other companionship off our turf. Elder M and Brother J went south of town and Brother W and I stayed north of town. Our day together was fairly uneventful for which I was a little sorry, you don't want to go on a Mini-Mission just to stop by people who aren't even home, or knock on doors to have people tell you that they are busy and can’t meet today. When all was said and done we only got into someone’s house one time all day, and were able to share a brief message, but both of the people there became new investigators though, so not a total loss. 

By the sound of things Elder M and Brother J's day was by far more exciting, they almost died while driving south. Apparently the car spun out, and they were headed into oncoming traffic but Brother S, who was driving them, was able to recover control of the vehicle and they survived unscathed.

I got to drive the car here, Elder M usually drives, and I didn't realize how much I missed driving. It had just snowed so the roads were pretty interesting but the most exciting thing that happened to us here was that we almost got stuck pulling out of a driveway once. 

Sunday was an adventure, we had a High Council member visiting again and his speaking companion was a young man who just got his call to serve his mission in Japan. Pretty exciting stuff! They both gave excellent talks, and after church the Branch had a potluck for them so they wouldn't have to drive back hungry. After the potluck Brother R took the Mini-Missionaries back home, and Brother M (The High Council member) asked us to accompany him south to see an old friend of his named B who has just recently moved there. We didn't have any appointments planned for that afternoon (just stopping by potential investigators) so we said we'd tag along. We had a good talk with B, left him a Book of Mormon and Brother M was able to bear a powerful testimony. The Spirit was there for sure and it was obvious that B was feeling it. Afterward Brother M said that he had never seen B that way before.

After B's, Brother M continued on his way south and Elder M and I were left to our own devices. We tried knocking on a really fancy looking house that said "M" on the gate (Elder M was really excited about it) but we couldn't work out how to get past the gate so we decided to go see a guy named A that Elder D and I had found on an Exchange a few weeks back. A was home and we were able to have a really good lesson with him about the Plan of Salvation, and he seemed to really enjoy it. He believes really strongly in the Bible and he hasn't been baptized in any church even though he knows that it is really important. We haven't even talked about the Word of Wisdom yet but he already knows that smoking is something he wants to give up before he gets baptized. He seems really solid and open to learning new things about the Gospel. We'll be seeing him again on Wednesday on our way to our District meeting. 

After A's we stopped by to see B and K, they just got back from a trip where they bought a shiny new orange Jeep. It’s Beautiful.  They are both so solid, B has a great testimony of the Gospel and that is helping K so much. Sister W (the RS President) lives nearby and she is going over to visit K this week so that (hopefully) K can feel comfortable coming to church (and have a ride to church). While we were there B was telling us about how he had found all of his church DVDs (Joy to the World, Finding Faith in Christ, & The Restoration) and how they had set down together and watched all of them (more than once). We will be taking them a copy of The Testaments the next time we see them (which will probably be Friday or Saturday).

Yesterday, being Monday, was supposed to be P-day, but that didn't so much happen. Right at 10:00 we had a lesson with an older lady named T, we had a wonderful talk about God and Brother D (who accompanied us) was able to bear a great (cowboy-ish) testimony. 

At 11:00 we went with our Branch President to see an elderly woman who just started her own business selling meat pies and who had come to church with us on Sunday. I just hope I feel that great when I'm her age!

In the evening we went to visit a less active member named J and her husband, P. They fed us dinner (coincidentally also meat pie). J is a very sweet lady and a joy to talk to. Both P and she are from England and just listening to them talk is the greatest. P isn't interested in religion just yet, but is a riot to talk to. He has one of the greatest senses of humor. 

To continue on with the theme of Pie (or Pi) we met this super cool guy named B, who is the art teacher here at the high school.  He invited us into his house and showed us all his art and the stuff he's working on and we talked a lot about eternity, infinity, and of course pi.

That’s about all I have time for this week guys. I love you lots and am thinking about you... occasionally. ;) 

Elder Thomson

Whoa... are you serious?

I received the Valentine’s Day package, it was a bit different shape than I have come to expect, but just as much if not more fun. There are currently paper hearts all over our apartment. I really like the tie and the smelly stuff that I sprayed all over Elder M (to see if it was safe to use or if he would die) doesn't smell all that bad either. The CDs were also greatly appreciated, especially Jesus the Christ. It’s a really good book. All the kitchen supplies and towels were greatly needed. It seems like almost every missionary apartment is without. The food is good too, don't get me wrong, I am grateful for all the love, but that doesn't stop me from being just a little like Laman and Lemuel and complaining about my blessings. "But Dad!! We don't want to go to the land flowing with milk and honey. Just think about how fat we'll get" For thus saith the Lord "Exercise [a little self-control]."  Thanks so much for all the love and letters and packages. They mean a lot.

Also, the kitchen remodel looks good. You guys somehow managed not to mess things up too badly without me around. ;) But remember that corner where you didn't know what to put there? Where is the microwave going? ;) Food for thought. 

And thanks once again for the weather reports and spiritual thoughts. :D

Lemon Heads: This is why we don’t need this much candy! Yeah, I brush pretty regular (once or twice a week). ;P The retainer is a bit more hit and miss though... 

My Belly is Jelly: Again, why we don't need this much candy: We rated all to the Jelly Belly’s 1.0 - 5.0 My rating is written in blue and Elder M’s is in green. Buttered Popcorn is one of the most amazingly accurate flavors in the box! Do you have any idea how hard it must have been to get candy to taste like popcorn?? Anyone can make candy taste like bubble gum. We can even make toothpaste that tastes like bubble gum! Ask Dad. He'll agree with me. ;)

 

We went to the only Chinese food restaurant within driving distance the other day. Afterward I asked Elder M to describe the experience with a facial expression. This was the resulting review:

 

Well... I wouldn't recommend returning there. ;)

 

That's pretty much all that I have time for today. I'll try and remember to take some more pictures this week.  And don't think because all the pictures are of us in our apartment eating lunch and being goofy that that is all we do, it’s just that we never take pictures of ourselves working because we are busy being serious. 

I leave you with these videos to check out from Mormon.org... because they're awesome.

Awesome Violin Girl. Zach, take notes: http://mormon.org/lindsey/

Lead singer for The Killers: http://mormon.org/brandon/

Life of Jesus Christ Bible Videos:

http://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/peter-and-john-heal-a-man-crippled-since-birth?lang=eng

http://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/peter-preaches-and-is-arrested?lang=eng

http://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/peter-and-john-are-judged?lang=eng

Until next time…

Love you all!

Elder Thomson

Miracles Never Cease!

            Yup, Elder M will indeed remain my companion for the next six weeks. In fact our whole District stayed exactly the same. We are all staying exactly where we are and we were told that we were all exactly where the Lord wanted us (you don’t mess with a good thing). So yeah, were staying where we are, and were working even harder! 

Thanks once again Mom for the spiritual thought and for the weather report, they really do help out, more than you know. : ) I love you too, and I know that you love each of us (your children) more than we probably can understand.

I was super excited to hear that A got baptized, she and her brother are both really people and were practically living the gospel already, they just didn’t have anything to call it. ; )

My feet are fine! They’ve only frozen solid a couple of times but they thawed right out, and aren't any worse for wear! :D

As for the Subway cards, no I have gotten them. And I think I’m going to starve to death!! KIDDING!!! I'm so fat. I have so many dollars a month that I can’t spend on anything but food and you keep sending me stuff! I did get the “Sunshine in a Box” that you sent. Thanks so much. Are you trying to give me diabetes? : P ... if only you knew what I’ve been eating. : P  No, I am not burning enough calories, not even close. I try and share all the goodies you send me. Elder M is no help at all. He's got his own candy he's trying to get rid of. I'm about ready to start throwing it at people who don’t want to talk to us! ; ) Jut kidding!... But it is nice to know that I’m loved. : )

Okay, miracle time! This week’s miracle was that we were able to find and teach 4 new investigators this week which is my personal best (so far!). Here’s a real speedy quick version of what happened with each of them:

·         D - We found tracting. When we knocked on her door she said she was sick, but that we could come back a different time. We went back after another one of our appointment fell through and we had J (a priest age young man from the Branch here) we taught the Restoration and invited her to be baptized if she came to know that the Book of Mormon was the word of God. She objected, but we were able to determine from the following conversation that she didn’t really understand the principle of authority, or even believe that authority is necessary. We left her a copy of the Book of Mormon and she said that she would read form it.

·         R - We also found tracting. She was having "one of those mornings" and said that we could come back at a different time. We also took J with us to visit her, and again taught the Restoration. We laid a heavy emphasis on Prophets, which turned out to be good because she was leery of reading "another book", but after re-explaining that the Book of Mormon was the words of ancient prophets (just like the Bible is) and that it was translated by a modern Prophet and that it was by reading these words that we could come to know if Joseph Smith truly was a prophet called of God, she finally accepted a Book of Mormon and the invitation to read.

·         W - We (again) found tracting. He said that he has visited with missionaries before but we couldn't find any record of him in our area book, so they must not have gotten very far. We talked about the Book of Mormon and about Prophets; we asked what he remembered from talking to missionaries before. We invited him to read form the Book of Mormon and to come to church with us. He declined to do either; he said that it would be too hard for him. He explained that a few years ago he fell from a roof and broke his spine. He is paralyzed from the waist down and has limited fine motor skills in his hands and arms which makes traveling and turning the thin pages of the Bible (and Book of Mormon) very difficult. Difficult but not impossible, he can do both, but must rely heavily on the assistance of his wife and he is reluctant to inconvenience her. We did however leave a copy of the Restoration pamphlet, which he will be able to read because he can turn the thicker pages. He seemed excited about it.

·         K- We found when we went to visit a less-active Member. His name is B, he is a great guy with a pretty strong testimony of the Church. K is his Fiancée and was there both times we visited with B. The first time we went over we had no idea that B was engaged, and were a little bit worried that K would be an obstacle to B's reactivation, She was a little standoffish, and it was obvious that B (while excited to have us over) was worried that we (and by association his faith) would offend her somehow. However, over the course of the visit K became more comfortable (I think she realized that we weren't there to tell her that she needed to join up or she would be going to hell), and B visibly relaxed as well.  By the end of the lesson B bore his testimony of the church and how it was the only church that could answer all of his questions, and K was the one to invite us back! The second time we went over we planned to teach K by asking B questions about what he remembered about certain aspects of the gospel (i.e. Priesthood, Apostasy, Restoration, etc.) it went very well and lead perfectly into explaining about Joseph Smith and the Restoration. We left K a Book of Mormon, and committed them both to reading Moroni 10, and praying about the Book of Mormon for a witness (in B's case for a reaffirmation) that it is true.

Anyway, those are the most exciting things that have happened in  this past week,

Talk to ya next week! : D

Elder Thomson

P.S. Elder M says "Hi."

Interview With a Spiritual Giant

Hello all, Elder Thomson here once  again.                                                          

       Happy to have this chance to update you guys on what’s going on. That's right, it is transfers again, and just as I was starting to feel comfortable here. I don't know yet if I’ll be leaving or not. President J (the Branch President here) seems to think that both Elder M and myself will be staying for at least one more transfer, which kinda makes sense because we really did just get here. But we were down for Zone Conference this last week, and both Elder M and myself got to have one-on-one interviews with President Tilleman, which was kinda cool.

It was only my second interview with President Tilleman since I've been in the mission field. Interviews with him are awesome, and also a teeny tinny bit stressful. First of all he’s a spiritual giant, second he’s also huge on calling people to repentance, which apparently is a once in a lifetime experience (because after he does you only have one option: Go! And sin no more!). All the same I’d rather just do my best and not need to experience that.

The other thing that stresses me out in interviews with President Tilleman is that he knows exactly how to improve your missionary work in under a minute thirty! He'll usually start by asking some vague open ended question along the lines of "How’s the work going up there?” You start of by saying "Good, good..." and before you realize what you're doing you've given him the top three things that are keeping you from being the best missionary you can be, and you are ready to start confessing all the times that you were inwardly murmuring that life was hard when he holds up his hand and you shut up real quick like. He says a few sentences, which you never really remember, but you leave with the impression that whatever concern you came with has been resolved, and that you are going to try about a billion times harder to be "exactly obedient".

The main thing I got out of my last interview (aside from an increased commitment to the work) was that I shouldn't get "too comfortable here." I don't know if that means I’m going to be leaving soon, or if I should just be staying on my toes? But either way it’s going to be a challenge to not get too comfortable here. 

I just love all these people! The B’s are an amazing family, Brother and Sister B are the most kindhearted giving people, and their kids are the greatest! The R’s are so giving and are quite possibly better missionaries than us Elders are! They are fellowshipping EVERYONE on that side of town! The J's and S's are both wonderful older couples and President J and Brother S are always willing to accompany us to lessons almost any time of day.

R is doing awesome! He knows the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and he knows that Joseph smith was a prophet, he’s coming to church again and I think he’s working on his second time through the Book of Mormon. So really it’s only a matter of time before he is able to take that next step and accept the Covenant and Ordinance of Baptism.

R and T are both on the back burner right now. T is a boss, but neither of them have given the Book of Mormon a shot yet. Some of our investigators have also bought into the greatest lie ever told. (See "The greatest lie ever told" below)

But we do have some other people that we are working with now:

·        R - Is a lady we met when we went to go visit another member of the church. As it turns out that member no longer lives there, but R said that she would like to come to church with us on Sunday. So she’s been to church once and we've had one lesson with her. We gave both her and her young daughter copies of the Book of Mormon and R said she would read it to see what it was about. Stay tuned! 

·        D and C - D was a potential investigator found by previous missionaries, we stopped by once and she wasn't home but we got to talk to her son, C. He's awesome! He wants to serve a mission... he just doesn't know for what church! And he told us when we could come back and talk to his mom. We had a lesson with her and are going back to teach both her and C sometime. Really great people and pretty interested in the gospel. I'll be sure to keep you updated on them as well.  

 As promised, THE GREATEST LIE EVER TOLD:

The greatest lie ever told is that Truth is Relative. That somehow it doesn't matter about the way things actually are, if you believe that something is okay, then it’s okay. It doesn't matter if something is black or white, wrong or right, light or dark, true or not. It’s really all Shades of Grey anyways.

This lie is taught in school, and it can seem like a good idea at first, how else are we supposed to reconcile our differences in belief? Johnny was taught that Jesus paid for his sins, Lin was taught that he should try and become enlightened like Buddha, and Cyrus was taught that when you die that's the end of it all.

You can’t tell them that somebody has to be wrong! You can’t say that things have to be just one way. That if it’s a Brick it’s a Brick, not a Dog, or a Flower, or a Gurgling stream. Now if you had a lot of other Bricks you could make it into a house. But that would take work and a plan and probably more than a little help.

Satan is a pretty trick guy, he wants us to think that we can all be right, that we can have it anyway we like it, that it doesn't matter about the way things really are. That it doesn't matter. There are such things as right and wrong, good and bad, Salvation and Destruction. Because if he can get us to believe that it doesn't matter... we're already his.  DON'T LISTEN TO SATAN!!

I guess that's my spiritual though for the week.  

Elder Thomson signing out!

... OH! In other news: A got baptized on Saturday in PR! S is coming along a bit slower but is still progressing toward baptism. M and J are getting married, and hopefully baptized, in February. Elder C and Elder T are Super Missionaries!

I Little Info About My Awesome Companion, Elder M

Elder M is an amazing missionary; dedicated, obedient, and bold. He is the second oldest of seven children and I can’t remember his Moms and Dads name (he looked at me funny when I asked just now). He has been in the mission field for about 8 months now (twice as long as me), and his only other area was M (where Elder A and Elder M’s' previous companion are now).

All I know about is family or his hobbies before his mission are that he has an older brother who is recently returned from his own mission, and that his family isn't weird enough to sing to him on the phone for Christmas. (Thanks again for that!) ; P

I also know that he played soccer in High School and that he likes to kick a soccer ball around a bit for morning exercise. 

I don't think he has any strong dislikes aside from I now he’s not a huge fan of tomatoes or raisins (and who can blame him!), and he is developing a healthy aversion to Pierogies, as anyone would after eating nothing else for about a month straight. Admittedly we made some poor shopping decisions this month, and our diet has suffered as a result. We have been subsisting mainly on pierogies, frozen pizzas,  microwavable  burritos, tater tots, and sour cream on all of the above. As such, most of our conversations not involving missionary work revolve around how bad we smell, how fat we are getting, or how poor we are because we spent all our money on garbage food.

Pranks? That would be immature and unprofessional! As a representative of Jesus Christ I would never... tell anyone about the kinds of pranks we pull when nobody is looking. ;D

We do sing a lot, seems like. A lot of Hymns and EFY songs, but occasionally something will get an "apostate" tune stuck in your head, and you can’t keep it there so you have to get it out somehow. ; P

Elder M runs funny! But I thing that's because he’s trying to jog in out tiny apartment and that a bit hard because... it’s tiny. And it’s WAY TOO COLD to go outside in the morning. So we have perfected 7 different ways of running like an idiot indoors. I’ll have to tell you about them some other time. :)

That’s not everything about Elder M but I think that answered some of your questions at least. :)

 

President Tillman is talked about on LDS.org!http://www.lds.org/church/news/karl-tilleman-an-example-of-determination-and-endurance?lang=eng&country=ca

Thats all I have time for though guys.

Until next time!

Love,

Elder Thomson 

 

No Post this Week

Elder Thomson wrote a very touching letter to the Parents of his friend, Josh, who recently passed away.  Due to the personal nature of the letter we have chosen to not post it to his Blog.  Thank you for understanding. Stay tuned for future posts.

-2 Fahrenheit this week! IM GOING TO DIE!!

It’s supposed to get to -2 Fahrenheit this week! IM GOING TO DIE!!  Nah, I'll live. But it is gonna get pretty chilly here. Or, so I've heard.

I'll have to tell you about the really big miracle we witnessed this week a bit later, but we have been able to meet and in some cases exceed our goals that we have been setting here. We were blessed enough to have 9 lessons this last week one of those was with a less active Member, and the other 8 were with investigators. 2 of our investigators came to church and we had a total of three non-members at sacrament meeting.

R - Is our big miracle. We met R first while we were tracting a trailer park. We were knocking doors, when he walked by. We introduced ourselves as missionaries and he made a comment but he just kept walking. So we shrugged it off and kept walking too. A few days later (New Year’s Day) we were tracting in the same area and we knocked on his door. He invited us in and was nice. We talked about his religious background and beliefs. He was raised Christian but fell away in his late teens and partied a bit but later realized that that wasn't taking him anywhere he wanted to be and started taking a second look at religion. When he started reading the Bible again everything just clicked and he knew it was true. We asked if he had ever read from the Book of Mormon before. He said that he had but that he never really got that into it. We explained what the Book of Mormon is and how it came to be that we have it. We talked about Joseph Smith and invited him to church on Sunday. Saturday morning we got a call from him he said that he had been reading from the Book of Mormon and that he had received a witness that it was true. Sunday he came to church and bore his testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. We actually had two non-members bear their testimony in fast and testimony meeting!

M - Is an older guy, who used to work logging trees, but is now retired. He lives alone in a little trailer a bit out of town, and LOVES to tell stories from when he was logging. He's known the missionaries for a while, and is pretty good friends with several members of the Branch. He has two copies of the Book of Mormon, one of them is quite a bit older and has kinda a funny story. The other is just one of the ones we hand out. He's read some of the Book of Mormon and had some concerns. He wondered why God would tell somebody to kill an unconscious man. We explained that Laban was a wicked man who had rejected the commandments of God as given through his prophets, (i.e. Lehi) and had, on top of that, robbed and attempted to have Nephi and his brothers killed... twice! And that even if Nephi had been able to get the plates without killing Laban, considering Laban's earlier reaction to them just offering to buy the plates he would have be even more furious and committed in his campaign to have them killed. M agreed to read from the Book of Mormon again and to come to church with us on Sunday (which he did do). He also has a dog who likes to eat icicles!

T - didn't make it to church. But there is at least some level of interest there and he said that he'd give the Book of Mormon a go, so if he does that, then the spirit will be able to touch his heart. He really likes Native American art (Which, I must say, I'm a pretty big fan of myself). T is just pure unadulterated awesomeness! Last time we were at his house he took us down into the "Man Cave" and it was indeed the manliest man cave I have ever seen. The walls are covered in Native American and African masks and planks carved with native art (some of which he did himself!) against one wall is a flat screen TV with swords (and a spear!) stacked to either side. Against another wall is an old entertainment center, with every drawer full of different kinds of knives. there are more knives our on the tables and three different rooms coming off of the man cave in one is his gunsmiths shop (he is a gunsmith and used to shoot competitively) another is his wood an machine shop and another is his room that he has (and needs) to store all of his guns. I think he may have more guns and in greater variety than the gun section a Cabellas!! He practically has his own museum!! ... Except there were no "please do not touch" signs anywhere and he would just hand you 200 year old revolvers and start explaining how old it was, how rare it was, and the shiny penny he paid for it. Needless to say it was really easy to get distracted when we were in there. But it was still really cool. He said we could come back sometime and get a picture in his gun room. :D  

Gotta run, love ya bye!

Elder Thomson