Radio Silence

Glorious Pizza!

I apologize for the radio silence that has occurred over the past week or so and I hope to make up for it with the following stories.

It was the evening like a January evening in Utah. A bit chilly, cloudy and just one of those days that makes you want to do nothing but be miserable and watch Spongebob or local PBS programming until the sun returns. But remarkably we weren't depressed in the slightest. We ate an enchilada dinner, (the American variety not Mexican) with a family in a large log cabin-like home and laughed about the father of the home's experience hunting wild pigs on his mission in  Hawaii. After I briefly mentioned how planning saps my energy, he told us that he had energy drinks in his garage that he didn't want, so I did what any missionary would do and took them all. The following morning we needed to do weekly planing. And so the experiment began. With excitement and anticipation for the worst in our eyes, Elder T, and the new Elder in the area, Elder C and I all drank one. Elder P was the only one with enough sense to not drink one. We had all heard stories of people drinking two of them and going into comas or having heart palpitations and being hospitalized, so our hopes were high.  The sensation was different for all of us. Elder T immediately began to laugh hysterically and Elder C's face got really red and his hands started to shake and as for me, I remained the same. I was expecting to start flying or explode and all that happened was a headache. A complete let down. But we will search for another energy drink and let y'all know what happens.

We burnt a tie for my 6 month mark and it was about as exciting as us drinking energy drinks. And it is kind of strange that I've been out this long, it feels like a week at Camp Steiner.

We have been teaching many people and trying to teach them English as well. An older lady in our group, (who has a problem of informing the Catholics at her work about their eternal salvation if they stay their current course), can't read or write in English or Spanish. My companion teaches her daughter and I am teaching this 67-year-old woman from Monterrey, Mexico the alphabet. She is having a really difficult time learning how to write "G".  Never thought I'd be doing this.

Do y'all remember the crying gentleman that we taught in the Pontiac? He now has a baptism date and is progressing very well. He told us something very interesting. He said, all the Hispanics believe that God is everywhere and no matter how you believe in Him, no matter what you do to believe in Him, you'll be saved, but it isn't like that. We teach a lot of Hispanics and they believe that, but something was different about this man named R. R gets it, the Spirit touched his heart and he will probably be baptized soon. I don't know what we did differently but he understands. As missionaries, we can work with people forever, teaching them the same doctrine over and over, but the the real teacher is the Spirit. And for that I'm grateful because the Spirit speaks much better Spanish than I do.

Thank you for your prayers, they do more for me than any of you can imagine.

With love and apiece of steak from lunch stuck in my teeth,

Elder Thomas

He said, "Two excellent photos that had to be taken!"

Car covered in pennies

I'm Alive

Due to  the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday, Elder Thomas was unable to access a computer at the library.  He sent a short, I'm alive email and said he had a great week!  He sends his love and appreciation for your support and prayers.  Stay tuned for his letter next week.

Love,
Rosemary

Zip-Ties and Psychotic Terriers

We walked into a Zone training meeting and our mission President stood in front of us wearing a full army get up. I thought that we were either about to get chewed out or we were in the wrong chapel, which isn't hard to do out here, due to the church on every corner dilemma. President Shumway told us that we were going to lose a lot of missionaries in the next few months. Due to the age change there was a huge increase but now it has begun to plateau. So he challenged us to become 'Special Ops Missionaries'. Better, smarter and spiritual-er. I was super motivated after this. So motivated that immediately following the meeting I was messing around with a zip-tie and got it stuck around my wrist. So my first move as a 'Special Ops Missionary' was going outside finding a zip-tie on the ground and, after believing it was broken, getting it stuck fairly tightly around my wrist. And we don't keep scissors in our bags so I wandered the streets of South-West Missouri wearing a zip-tie, I was pretty good at hiding it with my sweater, though. So, Mom, don't worry I didn't look like a vagabond. Not the best start, but it got better.

I would like you all in your mind's eye to imagine a dog from your childhood. That dog that lived maybe on a shady road, was small enough to drop kick and barked just because it enjoyed seeing the human race in a state of annoyance. There is a dog similar to this on one of our streets. It has a leash that is tied to another leash so it may roam freely around the yard without much restriction. My first encounter was during my first week. It was dark and we walked down a road, abundant with trailers and broken down trucks. then out of the darkness sprinted a full sized terrier, ready to feast on my ankles. With no restraining device seen my companion ran to the hills. I stood in a state of shock and the dog was pulled back at the last second. This week we had to give them a card. So with the English elders distracting it we ran to the door. But the dog was bright, and knew of our plan and ran after us as we stuck the card in the door. I have never run faster in my life. We lived and that is all there is to say about that.

Angels watch over us and the Atonement will carry us, if we are willing to ask for help.

Love y'all,

Elder Thomas

The Plight of a Spanish Speaker in Missouri

Colloidal Silver ~ He describes this "cure for all" in his Dec. 1st post.

I will set the scene. As a Spanish missionary, your trainer helps you
develop an eye for Hispanics. You are cultured to look for them
subconsciously. Every time I see a house with a mop in front of it I
immediately begin to go into Spanish mode, craving carne asada and
Mexican Coca-Cola. So we were passing through a trailer park. It is
raining so my vision is blurred and it is frigid so my wits are not
entirely about me. I see off in the distance a darker skinned woman
doing laundry in the cold, or in other words, pulling frozen clothes
off this string that hung between the two trailers. I yelled into the
wind in Spanish how are you, to which she responded with a welcoming
wave. I asked her if she needed help, in Spanish yet again, to which
she nodded. This is unheard of. Hispanics are an independent people.
Even if they were dangling off the edge of a cliff holding on to a
vine by their teeth they still wouldn't ask for help, (and not because
of their inability to speak due to the vine in their mouth). They know
how to work and do things by themselves. So, I was very excited to go
give some service. I walked closer asking in Spanish how everything
was and things of that nature to which she just stared at me.
Something was off, but I wasn't sure. then I asked the key question;
"Habla espanol?" This is an essential part of the conversation that I
had forgot. She just looked at me and said, 'I am not Hispanic. I am
from the Philippines." So, this the Plight, finding Hispanics in a
world that is increasingly more diverse and English speaking. (But it
turned out she was a member so it was ok.)

Even though, we do experience our challenges and disappointments on
our missions we do experience many encounters with the help the
Atonement offers. I have felt His help this week in greater amounts
than I have previously in my life. It might not always be the way we
expect, the help for me came in the form of an opportunity to cut wood
in the cold like a lumberjack in New England.

I am grateful for your prayers and I hope you are all doing well.

Elder Thomas

Excited about the price of gas!