The good and the not so good

Hey everyone!

Hope your weeks going good. it's going pretty good out here. Although it was kinda junk though today because the stake center where we usually write is getting renovated and so we can't go there to use the computers and so right now we are at this unemployment place kus the person who works there reserved some computers. but we only got a little time, so i can't write for too long. Um... lets see, ooh man we cleaned the apartment today, that place looks way clean i think we could probably hold up our own against the sister missionarie's apartment even haha. it took us all morning though!

Oh this past sunday was really good too because alot of people came to church. but pretty much all of them were Spanish which was even sweeter. we have been teaching a lot more in Spanish, so that is good. Pretty stoked about that part. Man i had a funny story to write you guys but i forgot it. Oh but something that happened this week was a Seventy came to the mission. his name was Elder David F. Evans. It was way good. I don't know how he did it but he talked for pretty much the whole day, for like 5 hours haha. how would you like that assignment? i could imagine like me getting this call. alright brother you will be going to San Diego to speak for 5 hours haha. i would probably die! But for all that time he spoke he had my attention. it was really really good and there was this point were he asked us what we learned today or something like that, and i was about to stand up and talk, and that this isn't a joke. hah but i didn't, it probably was the spirit constraining me to save me from myself, haha. But like it is tough sometimes because some people just get caught up in stuff with missionary work like oh we need to find more people to teach kus we aren't doing anything or man we haven't had a baptism in a while and stuff. so it was nice to get a good reminder and a good boost i think for the real reason why we are here.

Oh yeah the other day I finished the Book of Mormon in Spanish, that was pretty cool. There are some really powerfull testimonies though right there in Moroni. Makes you really think about where you are at spiritually and how you are doing with faith, and man, I still got a long long way to go. but something i really liked that i read today in doctrine and covenants stood out to me. i think it was something in section 6 or some where in the first few sections. It was the Lord telling Joseph Smith to remember to always trust in the Lord first and not to listen to the persuadings of men and other people. And i was thinking about that lately because it is true and it is tough. but then it says again to search for God first and then you shall be rich with his gifts. Hopefully one of those includes a really sweet surfboard.. nah just kidding. But like the whole Faith in God's way is something i have been thinking about alot.

Ok I told you about the people who said thanks for rescuing us, well the husband's name is Marcelo. So Marcelo and his wife where two of the people that came to church and they really liked it and said they want to keep on coming, which was really good to hear. Even cooler yet they told us that they want to be on the right path already and want to be baptized and just follow all of God's commandments. i was pretty much jumping up and down on the couch when i heard that, man it was just so nice to hear. But then with the good always comes something else. So then they actually told us that they weren't married and that the wife right now has been seperated from the ex husband for years but hasn't gotten a divorce and so they cant get baptized until she takes of that and they both get married. So we gotta wait till that happens. I just hope i am still here for that though, because that can take a long while. so everybody you got to pray that i can stay haha.. But yeah so that's the latest news. but i got to get going. LOve you guys and hope you have a good week alright!

Elder Thomas

To Touch Someone

Hey everybody!

So alright tons of stuff i got to write about this week. pretty cool stories. But before the cool ones we had some tough times too. This week we finally had a chance to talk with joey, and well we tried calling him in the week because we really wanted to meet with him and we told him we could meet at any time, so he called us back and we were stoked but we realized that we had a service project we had to do and we asked him if we could do it sometime tonight or tomorrow but he was mad kus he felt that we didn't want to visit him so he hung up and so that wasn't good. However, later on saturday we got a text from him and so we stopped by his house and talked about it and he was really mad at us and said some stuff and we felt really bad becuase we well let him down you know. It got way bad too before we left, just told us he doesn't want to talk to us again, he'll learn some other way with some one else. So we just felt like horrible missionaries, i mean it made me really feel inadequate and i questioned, even though i knew i shouldn't have, why i was here. i felt that i should've prepared better before my mission, that way i could be the best missionary i could be. So that's how we felt.

Then there was something really cool that happened on sunday, the next day. We had the confirmation for Janelle, so she could recieve the Holy Ghost, and originally my companion was going to give it, but it didn't work out, because he was in another meeting and so i had to give it. i really don't remember what i said, but i remember feeling that the spirit was there and that i knew it was testifying that what we were doing was right. For me it was a huge blessing, because probably for the first time in my life, well that i could remember, i felt that way.

What happened after that was even more crazy. So this past week we were trying to find more Spanish people to teach and visit, so we passed by this one former investigator's house. When we stopped by, her son-in-law was there with his wife and we gave him a Book of Mormon and invited him to church, andcome Sunday he came! He stayed there for all three hours and loved it and met all the members, it was just a really cool thing. Then we stopped by his house just yesterday and his wife told us a cool miracle that happened. For the first time in years, in years...he woke up and got down and prayed and she said she thought he was crazy, like what are you doing? But he then told us that he felt peaceful for the first time in years... because he hasn't worked for two years and has been looking and looking but can't find any work. After that day he prayed, he found some work for next week, and he said that he knew it was by God. Then he told us something that i will never forget, he said thanks for rescueing him, for bringing the spirit into his life, and for me, i would give my whole life for just another person to say that. I would work my whole life knocking on doors or trying to share the gospel just so i could know again that it has touched someone else's heart. It is true when it says how great your joy shall be, i felt it and it was the strongest thing i felt and it was nice. From that point I knew that God knows the way to true happiness and that he has given us the gospel to live in order to be on the path, and no matter what the world has to offer or no matter what any other thing there is in the world, it will sink into insignificance compared to the joy and happiness that comes from the Gospel, and thats truth at its finest.

And just even going more back earlier in the week. i really saw the importance of being obedient to God's commandments and following all the missionary rules even though i don't understand why they are there. I know that all these good things are happening because of we obey the commandments and the rules and there are so many blessings that I have seen, it's awesome.

So those were the stories I wanted to share with you guys this week. i hope everyone is doing good and everyone is happy I miss you all and love you all too!

Love
Elder Thomas

The Work Is good

Hey Everyone,

So this past week was crazy!! So much stuff happened, and didn't happen at the same time. We found a lot more people to teach. it was a pretty sweet week. Well first off, we had this dinner at the Whittles family house. So we pull up and then his next door neighbor that we met two weeks ago popped out of his house and said hi and we got to talk to him. It's cool because we weren't able to find him for two weeks or something like that. What happened was his house caught on fire two weeks ago like two days after we visited him and that's why we couldn't find him. he showed us the house and it was bad. the soot pretty much ruined everything, but his house is still standing which is the good part. So the very next day we came over and helped clear out his whole house, it was good to finally do some service, felt way good. He also got to come to church this past sunday which was gooood! He liked it, and he is humble and really does want to make a change, which makes it even better. and the cool thing all about it is that his neighbor the member is Bro. Whittle and he is a really good example. Joey, that's his name always talks about him and how he admires him and his family. So that's a big reason why he is letting us come over too.

We just have a lot of other teaching opportunities as well, it's really sweet. You can definitely see the Lord's hand in the work. hey you need to let me know how the dinner was with the missionaries. They might of showed you a video that was filmed here in San Diego with the missionaries here. I t's really good, we share it in a lot of our appointments, because it talks about the work and what our purpose is, not only for us missionaries but for everybody, it's really good. So keep a look out maybe.

Um lets see, oh this week we had a ton of appointments set up during the week and it seemed like one by one they all fell through. one day we had three in one day and we were stoked and we planned for everyone and got super excited to go visit and talk with them and then bam, all gone and no one had time to meet with us. it was like those times dad when we would be surfing one day and a set a nice waves would come and then after we would be pumped and keep waiting and waiting and waiting for more to come and then nothing happens. so at first i was just disappointed and then after a while, after it happened again and again. i start getting mad. So it wasn't good. But in personal study i am at around Alma the war chapters, but it's in Spanish so i am completely lost haha,i have no idea what half the words are in there. but i was reading about Capt Moroni and how it was talking about what he was like and that if we were like him the power of the devil would be as much power as a butterfly or something like that. and so i was thinking and you know i bet Moroni got angry too guarantee, to be fighting like the beast that he was. but at the same time he kept his cool and knew what he needed to do. and then i started thinking a lot about a good attitude. haha dad you remember when we were kids? you would always tell me and cait, hey i dont like that attitude, you better change it haha gosh. I dont know i guess it was just a constant reminder that things will come up. unfortunate or fortunate. but we have an understanding of what we need to do and should do, and so no matter what we just need to keep going and keep pushing until the next life where we will probably have to push still. thats alright haha.

oh got side tracked. um well anyways things are going really good here. so yup oh dad so i bought that translator with the card and also that knife don't worry, i just needed the knife to make a gift for carly. kus i was going to carve her something. shoot its hard! if you know any tips let me know. haha um

Thanks for eveything and i love you guys. take it easy!

Elder Thomas

Christmas in the Desert

Hey thanks for all the packages again! It was good to hear from everyone. I got some stuff to send out, some pictures and thank you cards and everything. Christmas was really good out here. it was fun, hope christmas and the holidays are going good for everyone where ever you are.

Shoot so i am not too sure what to say now. it feels like only yesterday since i talked with you, so i dont know whats new.. oh well this sunday we had like the christmas program for church and so all the missionaries got to sing in the choir. it felt like i was back home for a second singing like how we would in the stake choir at the tab, but something felt different.. then i realized that i didnt have dad right by me singing off key. haha nah i am just kidding. it was funny though cause someone didnt know bass really so he would just sing the melody way low. and that was pretty much how we sounded.at least all of us missionaries haha. i am pretty sure all the sisters sitting by us were getting headaches because of it or maybe they were just tired, because everytime i looked they had their foreheads in their hands haha. So thats what happened in church.

Um ... oh on monday we had a meeting with all the missionaries out here in the desert. it was way good. we talked about alot of stuff and we learned a ton. it was sweet! but we were talking about how we can share personal experience and stuff, so i got a story that happened in a lesson with someone we were teaching. i think i already told you Mom, but it was cool so I'll just tell it again. So you remember in the MTC when i used that story about the mokulua island? Yeah so the other day when we were teaching, it just popped in my mind again, kus i psh forgot that story. So i shared it again and just gave my little testimony. I mean it wasn't anything mindblowing or anything, but it just changed the whole setting. i mean it wasnt me but it was the testimonies of my companion and i. Simple but true testimony something based on experience, things that we actually knew to be true. Before that i have been thinking you know how can i help show the truth of the message or help them want to figure out the truth. Because I mean with each day that goes by, my testimony grows stronger. it seems like more and more i see that yeah you know what? God does love us and he knows us and is helping us in our lives every day and that he really did restore his church again to lead us, guide us and teach us . And i mean the best part of it all too, is that we know our families can be forever. So everyday i just want people to know what i know and feel what i do. it was pretty cool because that one time last week when we were giving our testimonies, for one second it looked like the person could feel that power of truth. it was a sweet experience because she was thinking really deeply and you could tell she understood. so anyways i just wanted to share that beucase i know we can make a difference in someone's life just by sharing our testimonies, not like we are better or anything. but just that we want to share with them something that has blessed us alot and has given us happiness. So pretty much everyday we could help by just sharing a few words of truth.

Oh cool thing that happened to us yesterday was that we had someone that we were trying to visit for weeks already, but she hasnt been home and just yesterday we were able to meet with her. she just got back from san diego because her son was in the hospital and they just got out and came back home. her name is monica. and the way we met her was through a member. and she is awesome. she is such a nice lady, and she was saying that she loves Jesus Christ and everything, you could tell she had a huge belief and so we are stoked to go by and talk with her some more and so that was a cool blessing we got yesterday. but anyways that's all that happened, plus i got to start with those thank you cards and stuff.

THANKS AGAIN for all the cards and gifts.

I love you and hope you guys have a good week

Elder Thomas

Feliz Navidad!

Hey Everybody!

Merry Christmas. shoot i still cant believe that its christmas in a few days. still trying to find a cactus that we could go get and decorate, no luck yet. it was pretty fun this past week because we had all the church parties celebrating christmas. it was sweet too becuase we got to go to two of um becuase we cover spanish and english. But i not gona lie, the Spanish party was way fun haha. i swear they know how to have the fiestas. in the party the branch president turned to us and was like haha could you imagine if they were drinking tequila. man i dont know, but it would be pretty intense if they were. Oh it was pretty cool too becuase his daughter just got back from BYUH. and so we were talking about food and the beach and everything, finally someone knew what i was talking about. someone finally knew what a musubi is. but its lame becuase out here in the desert theres no L&L. we would eat there sometimes back in my old areas. so no hawaiian food.. no wait i lied. there is this one lady in the english ward that is from hawaii haha oh man she is hilarious, she reminds me of grandma. Bishop introduced me to her and i saw her before and said hi and everything but didnt know she was the sister from hawaii. so i was just standing there and she comes behind me and wacks me in the back, then she was ike, eh you bettah watch out, i didnt know you were from hawaii. it was funny. so we talked a little bit, shes from mililani side. oh yeah there is actually a bunch of people out here who knew hawaii, becuase they have been there before. no matter what though, no body knows where hawaii kai is, jeez i mean we got to talk to these map people over here. tell um to put hawaii kai on the maps in big bold letters.

Oh man i dont know how i forgot this but last week we had a baptism. his name is Jesse. he's 10 years ols. i got some pictures no worries, il send them out as soon as i can. It was a nice baptism. it was funny though kus at first when we were filling up the font we turned all the valves to make it go faster and we head back in to check it after about 30 mintues and we walk in there and its a SUANA. is that how you spell it? im pretty sure thats wrong. SAUNA, i blame it on the spanish learning. but the font was steaming and we thought it was gonna be bad but nothinghappened.it turned out that the water was normal. dont ask me how but it was. so now we at least found out our new workout routine:

1. run around the block

2 Run to the church

3. sit in the font

4 soak up the steam

So next week ill let you know how its going. But good news too. Janelle, not sure if i told you guys about her. but its one of the people we are visiting and teaching. shes doing really good. she was able to come to the baptism. and so that was really good for her, she has her baptismal date for the 7th of january and so far so good. we are stoked! we hope everything goes well.

um lets see what else..

oh spiritual thought, something i was thinking about the other day.. We all know the Gospel changes lives for the better, i mean it helps us out so much, and like as missionaries we tell that to people while we are teaching and so of course they are like yeah i want that i want it. But many people think that it comes as long as we believe and go to church and pray and read scriptures. its true those things help. but i mean its not all. we obtain the blessings of the gospel, like peace and happiness from obeying the commandments becoming more like Christ and obtaining those attributes that he has, love patience and charity, selfless. and when we try to change ourselves to be more like him and when we really live the commandments thats how we experience the blessings. That was just something i was thinking about. but i better head out and play some sports before they head out without me. I love you all and miss you. hope everyone has a good christmas.

Elder Thomas

Sand, sand and more sand

Alright Some Really sweet news! (this will explain the subject)

So i got transferred out to the desert!! about 120 miles from San Diego haha. The town i am in is called Brawley. But yup so this is where i'll be for Christmas, decorating some cactus christmas trees out here. Its so different. it took about 2 hours to get out here in the car. It was a long, long, long drive (see the picture). it was funny becuase you get to the end of santee the last city and then you drive for about 1 hour and something more haha.. There is like nothing out here, it's a cool place. Funny thing though is that we cover a spanish branch and a English ward, but we are only on bikes so we can't go to the others places because there are outer towns, so the other elders cover it kus they got the car. And guess what... they drive a mini van. i was stoked, kus as everyone knows, i drove that beautiful red surfer mini van back home, but i dont get to drive it yet, maybe i'll get switched to that area one day, so i can teach um how to really drive a van. So anyways, right now i am pretty much an english elder, which is way fun. something different, i can actually talk without thinking first in my head.. .alright haha that didn't sound that good but yeah i like it. My new companion is from New Jersey. eastern states, another comapnion opposite coasts baby! His name is Elder Avalos. his parents i think are from Guatemala. but he doesn't know alot of spanish surprisingly, still more than me, but different from a full on native speaker. He is a pretty huge guy. He weighs more then you dad, he is about 250. he is super nice too. people told me before that he is a really quiet guy, but ever since i got here, its not that true. he is a little but not that much. but no complaints from me. So i am glad kus at first i was like shoot, i won't have anyone to talk to, l will have to make up some imaginary friends. but everything is good haha.

So lets see ... what else. We got a baptism coming up this next week, his name is Jesse. he is ten years old. and he's excited for his baptism. cool kid. his whole family are members and they just moved down here from washington. oh and then we are teaching this muchacha, her name is janelle. she loves the church, she was invited by her friend who is a member, and we are going to stop by her house tonight and teach her some more and hopefully set her up with a date pretty soon. She's awesome, she has been reading and praying and attending church activies and institute so she's going pretty quick, so we hope she gets baptized. lets see, oh i got my resource for the latest updates to the eagles. its this brother from the ward. we went to go visit them and i saw the little eagles license plate, BAM instant friend right there, really cool brother. we helped them put up some lights and we are going to go teach his friend hopefully this week.

Oh yeah another reason why Christmas is the best! People need help putting up lights. easy service opportunity. its so sweet. we can just help people and be able to get to know them and build some trust with them, so they know we aren't just robots or anything. this one lady, she is hilarious she is an investigator of the other elders. She goes all out. i got to send you picture of this stuff. super crazy. and she said her inspiration for putting up lights and decorations this year was from genesis 1:29. She puts trees up and everything. but we read the scripture thinking it would have something to do with light. but it wasnt. i read it like 10 times trying to figure out what it meant haha but still have no idea maybe you guys will know but anyways i got to head out. I love you all. hasta la vista!

Elder Thomas

The Restoration

Alright Hey everyone. ok so yes this is the Restoration of me writing emails again haha shoot i have been on a bad streak. But we always get busy on pday tryin to fit everything fun in and then kindof runs out da time. But yeah so More news i am still in linda vista with the same companion elder taylor. haha its crazy becuase he is the first companion that i actually stayed with. it was way funny too when we found out we werent getting transfered. kus we got the call and then we looked at each other from across the hall and then we started yelling haha and jumping up nd down kinda like we just won a lottery or a surf board or something. so we are pretty stoked that we can be with each other another transfer kus we like each other and we work good wit each other. we got way close to everyone in the branch and they helping us like crazy. its just that still the work is slow.. i dont know why, but we can seem to find people and the people we do talk to arent interested or they set another time for us to come back and they arent there. so its pretty tough, but we are trying to hang through and keep pushing trying to work hard. So not gonna lie too. it makes it pretty tough to write emails kus i feel like i am failing haha not i am mean i feel bad kus i dont really want to write and then it seems like i am not doing anything.. but i have realized that is pretty retarded so i am gona start writing anyways haha. oh so our weekly family home evenings in the church are going way good though! i mean its pretty legit. we have a ton of members show up and investigators. we have a lesson. then they have a ton of food too. leave it to those guys to bring all the goods for the party. and so i had to teach the lesson this past week and it was way good. not from anything i did but it was about charity and it was wierd kus plenty of people gave in their insights and it was a good discusion. and our ward mission leader shared this story that happened that exact day that really applied to him at that time. it was sweeet. 3 pointer swish by the spirit. oh what else has been happening. halloween was crazy. dang it was actually on saturday the night before, we were walking around and people were dressed up and there were tons of parties. we got so much shout outs, they werent sure if we were dressed up or not but some of the stuff they would say to us was pretty funny, except for the swear words. haha people would like, hey look the mormons, wheres your bikes, wheres your bible, and then we would get the occasional oh mormons ah i would never be one of those, but rock on. haha it was hilarious. ah man i forgot what i was talking about. oh so we were helping out this member move, his name is wilson. he is a cool guy, an RM and so he was renting to another apartment becuase the other place was a dumb right but when we got to the new house there was a miscommunication and actually he was going to be able to live there so he was homeless right then and we were freaking out because man he didnt have a place to say, doesnt have a car or nothing, or alot of money, but it all ended out good. he ended up renting at his parents house so that was a miracle right there. but that is really common with the members and investigators here. always moving because they no more money and so they live with barely anything and so we are always trying to help them see that all they need to do is put God first, and he will help you. and i mean at first i thought i dont know if i even really believe this, just giving all these members false hope and this encouragement when if someone gave it to me i wouldnt even believe it. if that makes any sense, but it really is true, and its crazy some of the stories we hear here. its ridiculous. families with no work no nothing, with a huge family to feed and somehhow they have the means of doing it. and then with members asking to have sundays off and just keep the sabbath day holy and then they miracally get it off and the boss repects them and they some how have enough money and they are happy, its pretty cool! but shoot we gotta go. but i miss you guys and hope everything is going way good!

Love

Elder Thomas