Another Day....Another Dollar $

Photo sent from his Bishop. 

"Being missionary parents ourselves, we understand the importance of getting pictures of your missionary.  We've enjoyed getting to know each of these valiant servants. Thank you for sharing your son" 

~ Bishop Don and Becky Walker

No they don't pay us out here but its another week down. Sometimes it flies by while other times it seems to be in slow motion. But oh well, that is way it goes right. Anyway, we waved goodbye to Elder V and he is home now. He sent me a picture and he made it back to his homeland of Oregon. We also sadly waved goodbye to Elder H. They were awesome guys! We had a lot of fun together! They were two good friends and I look forward to the day that I will bump into them at Costco 20 years from now and we can discuss about how my premature balding has taken full effect and talk about old times. But now we say hello to Elder T and Elder P. Elder T the new English man on the scene has four months left, he would only have one month left but due to an event on a tractor while doing some service he broke his leg and had to go home for three months. Elder P is my new companion and he knows how to work. We got back from the transfer point and we were off, working hard. He is kind of quiet but he is a great guy.

My Spanish is increasing. It comes poco y poco, like everything and I have yet to master the skill of understanding the Spanish language that they don't speak. You know, like when someone rolls their eyes you know that they are frustrated or whatever. In Spanish someone could be yelling at you and smiling and you have no indication of what they are talking about. They could want you to get lost but they just smile at you until you get the message that they don't care about religion. They are a very kind people and I love them! Tony, a man we found a while back, told us that the Book of Mormon is really helping him, it is so cool to see that. His friends that we have bumped into say that it has changed him and because of that they want to know more about the Book of Mormon. It is so cool!

It has been a bit of a challenge adjusting to missionary life. You start out thinking it is just an adventure, laughing at the little inconveniences here and there, but then they begin to build and things just get hard. But it is times like these that we are tried. Without hard times like these we wouldn't be able to fully appreciate the times of peace and happiness. This two years will be a two year trial but it will still be fun! Elder Vest told me that your mission is like your earth life. Before you were here you tried your best to prepare yourself for your mission. And now that you are here you need to prove to Heavenly Father and others that you are willingly to work your hardest for Him. And then if you work your hardest, when you go home you have paradise. Music, family, friends, and other things that are in paradise. I hope I can work my hardest here.

Thank you all for your prayers to me. They have helped me and motivated me. I love you all.

Love,

Elder Thomas

The best birthday gift a missionary mom could ever receive! A card in the mail on my (Rosemary's)  birthday.

These are from Ian:

The bolo tie uncle that surprised me on my birthday.

The most beautiful day I have ever seen, the sun hung just above the farmland in the trees and this old guy with 3 teeth was telling us some stories.

A town that could have easily been inhabited by zombies or some other creature of the infernal realm.

A picture I took while my companion was going to the bathroom in a Mexican restaurant.  I stole this hat from off the wall and took this beautiful shot.

A small car that Elder V and I found in some old city that was super creepy.