Here today - gone tomorrow

So yup Bad news! Im getting transfered again. they just called us earlier today..Its so weird because I have only been here for three weeks, so im way suprised that im leaving so quick. But thats okay that just means i learned everything i needed to here in PB haha.. pretty quick.. nah well see where i go now. Hopefully its back to spanish. that would be the bomb!

Anyways i gotta tell you about this cool story/sweet huge miracle that happened the past 2 weeks.. sorry about not writing last week, never had time.. so now you know im still alive. OK so two weeks ago, after sacrament meeting, this guy dressed normal came up to us and told us that he wanted to start taking the lessons. His name is destry. He's a way cool guy. So we started to teach him and everything and he told us how his parents got baptized when he was a kid and then he didn't really want to do it. so he went his own way. but after all the trouble and hard times. he knows he needs to do it. Man i mean no joke.. he is the most willing guy i've met on my mission.. he listens to the spirit so well. its pretty cool to see. But anyways, the first lesson we had with him, we went to the mormon batallion and we started to talk about Joseph Smith and he said he had some doubts about whether he was a prophet or not and we watched the movie and i was just praying that he would feel the spirit and so after the movie was done. he turned to us and asked us if we felt it.. and i was like heck yeah we felt that. Then he just tells us that he knows he's a prophet. So after we gave him a Book of Mormon. that all happened last week. We got to talk to him again this past sunday and he told us that right now he is reading in Alma 32. Shoot i was so stoked when he said that. he has like this burning desire to follow God's path no matter what and it's way nice to see. Its just cool because you know he's gonna be alright. he can get through anything because he understands his true purpose and is gonna give everything to stay on the path..because sometimes i feel bad for people that have hard times but they dont know God and they reject the message too. i just know that they are going to have alot of sketchy times. but if someone is so willing and has good desires, then bam they got a way bright future. So he has a baptismal date for december 25.. which is a bummer because i won't be able to see but that's okay. his dad is gonna come done with the rest of his family to baptize him. it'll be a way good experience.

So that's just a huge miracle that we saw this past week. But that's just one of many. Yeah its a big one but there have been alot more, maybe not as big or maybe some people wouldn't call them miracles, but i believe they are. This one time while we were headed to the mormon batallion to meet with Destry, this old lady was carrying a couple bags up some stairs and i just went up to give her some help and we actually carried it a couple blocks. but it was the nicest old lady and we didn't get her information or anything but she was still very thankful and she said there needs to be more people like that, who want to help in the world. She didn't even know anything about missionaries until that point. So that was pretty cool

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That same night heading back to the bus we saw this guy walking and i just said hello and waved and then we started talking and everything. same thing as the nice old lady.. had no idea who we were. But we talked about the message we have and he liked it alot.. he doesn't live in our area, but some other missionaries will be able to teach him. so it's all good.

Oh here's a funny story. we met this guy walking on the streets. and he asked what company we work for.. haha. just a ton of people still dont know who we are.. even in the states! pretty funny stuff. anyways we told him we are mormons and he asked us what that meant and he asked if that means .well pretty much stuff about the law of chasity and then all of a sudden he just is really impressed. and gave us props.. haha which was pretty sweet. so we gave him a card and everything.

Oh by the way, in PB, there's a mountain called mount soledad. its pretty gigantic. and we had to bike up it to the top pretty much because we were going to visit someone. Holy smokes it was way hard.. then i remembered back in the day when the missionaries would come visit us and would have to go up the hill. thats ridiculous. haha then when they came we would always give um some gatorade. ooohh that would have been so good afterwards. oh well. But it was all good afterwards going down that thing. we went about 40 almost 50. the speed odometer clocked us. going that fast. haha it was pretty fun. Anyways i got to start packing for tomorrow.

love you guys. have a good week!

Elder Thomas

Eagle Scout skills

Hey!

So this past sunday, we got to go back up to poway to see Ricardo and Flor's baptism, which was sweeet!! It was cool because their dad, who was less active got to baptize them! so that made it even better. Then I got to see the members and everything up there. It was nice to hear spanish again too. i miss it, i knew i loved serving in spanish and teaching and just meeting new spanish people, but i didn't realize how much i love them. they are awesome people and their culture, man its pretty cool... then at the baptism, Alfredo the guy we baptized back in june, well he was there too and he had his tie on and everything, looking good. He's even got the aaronic priesthood now! i was just thankful you know that i could see that. I mean he gets it, he has the truth now and understands it and he is still doing good, taking the next steps that he gotta take and preparing to get married in the temple. just seeing that and knowing that is the best thing i ever received.

Anyways i got those other pictures too. so i'm sure you heard of the black out. well just for those who didnt know. me and my companion are eagle scouts and so after being told to go back to the apartment... we thought that we would put our eagle scout knowledge to good use and we made an oil lamp... with a bowl and a toothpick (as the wick) and then wait for it...WD-40 and a pair of pliers to hold the toothpick. So we put that in the bowl and it worked super good and it made some good light so i left the room to get something and then the room got alot brighter... so at that moment i kinda got a little prideful about how good it was working then when i got back to the room it was a huge flame... haha so it kinda backfired on us and then we put our fire in the bowl outside on the porch so it wouldnt burn the apartment down, haha. Nevertheless it did provide us with light for a short amount of time haha...

Love, Elder Thomas

Now you see him...now you don't

So this past saturday i got a call at lunch time telling me to pack my suitcases - at first i didnt believe it so i called a second time haha. But yeah we had an emergency transfer meeting 3 hours after the call. it all went pretty quick! but its crazy because you'll never quess where i got transfered too... Pacific Beach...English! So now im not in spanish any more and its way weird, plus im super close to the beach haha and we were trying to find a couple referrals and no joke we were so close to the beach driving and it was ridiculous. felt so weird but i wasnt doing anything wrong haha. so yeah im doing english work now in a humungus ward! i walked in and asked my comp "shoot so how do you know everybody..?" then he told me you dont haha.. yet im so used to saying hi to everyone even before sacrament starts. Then the bishop asked me to go up and give my testimony since it was fast and testimony meeting. it was pretty good. weird though that i was speaking english im pretty sure i slipped in a couple spanish words in there haha.

It was funny kus there is a hawaiian family in the ward and so i thought i would be funny and use the aloha thing since everyone else does it. but the hawaiian brother went right before me and did it so he stole it haha.. but it was cool kus we ate at their house this past sunday. super sweet family! oh the food was way good and it felt like home which was nice. One of the sons is a RM and he has a uke and taught us a couple songs. So im gonna practice and get good. play some musical numbers up here in the firesides and stuff. good tool to find too. But they said next time i come over i can send a request for whatever hawaiian food i want to eat!!!

Anyways another sweet story that happened in Poway. We were trying to visit this recent convert but he wasn't home so we started talking to his grandma and while we were talking to her.. the son comes in and just sits down, then asks us what we are doing? like what are we talking about? so we told him about our message and How we invite others to come unto Christ. Then he just starts telling us his story and how he has a huge drinking problem and how his wife took the kids and left him.. I felt way bad. But i was really trying to understand where he was coming from but it was way hard. but then he told us that the hardest part was that he got put in jail.. so he was pretty much super depressed no hope no happiness nothing.. and all he does now to try feel better is drink more. But just throughout the whole time i felt bad for him but i didnt feel hopeless for him only because i know that there is the atonement of Jesus Christ. We don't need to fear about being sad forever or feel like we are alone, because of what he did and that he provides a way out and that way is for every single person. and so we told him that and we said basically thats what we do and we told him it was possible for him to give up drinking and follow Jesus Christ to happiness and the spirit was just way strong in the lesson and at the end we gave him a priesthood blessing and after that he said he would come to church, but im not sure whats happening now since i got Emergency transfered. but maybe tomorrow i'll figure out something. Just goes to show you though that when we follow the spirit and go where we are supposed to be..God will put people in our path and we can share the love of God that we have felt with our brothers and sisters through the Gospel. Pretty amazing stuff.

Well, thats some of the good news haha. This past week was pretty intense though. with the change. A TON of stuff happened.. So like on Friday Alfredo and leticia the people from guadalajara, they came back up to Poway for a visit and so i got to see them once. they are doing way good!! Alfredo has the priesthood now and is a priest. it was way nice to see him and know that he's still doing good. But it was kind of a bummer that i left the next day.. But aparently he was going to bless the sacrament this past sunday! cool stuff ah.

Then just yesterday actually we taught this lady here in PB and she has had a lot of problems in her life and tough stuff that she went through because of drinking and smoking and all that junk. its just a testimony you know that we are blessed to know the gospel becuase its the truth and it protects us, it gives a foundation that saves us from all this other crazy stuff. its true when it says theres no other way just got to follow Jesus Christ and get access to his atonement and the only way is through us as members who already have a testimony of these things and it's our responsability to let them know.

So yeah we were talking to this lady and we were talking to the gospel and she asked wait.. so you pretty much mean if i dont get baptized then i wont be saved..lack of a better word. so we said yup pretty much because we know its true and we have the only way for them to access the atonement. and we just testified that she can get her answer from God and not just have to take our word for it. so it went way well and the spirit there was super fuerte there too.

Well alot of stories but i better end it now. So yup now i am here in PB its pretty sweet. way excited to work here, so we'll see what happens.. Oh i forgot to tell you about my companion his name is Elder Turner, he's from Draper Utah. super cool guy, we think like each other its pretty hilarious! Its been a good time so far. So good things in the future!

LOve you guys have a good week

Elder Thomas