The Pastor: Round 2 and the Miraculous 25 Pounds

Racing the Amish

So to begin, as some may recall, last week we had a run in with a
Pastor. Well, this week we went to talk religion with him. I mentally
prepared myself like I would for a swim meet, by singing the Rocky
theme song... in my head because I don't think it is approved, maybe
the theme song is but "Eye of the Tiger" is a little bit more
questionable. Anyway we went into his home and it was set up
perfectly. Not a strand of carpet was out of place. The man was either
a perfectionist or trying to impress/intimidate us. He had on his
coffee table three pictures of his family facing us. So we kind of had
to talk through these pictures, because he was sitting just beyond
them, it was really strange and I could tell something was up. We
asked if we could start with a prayer and after we said amen, he
began. The Pastor explained the origins of his religion as we tried to
bring the conversation back to the Restoration. It wasn't working. As
things came to a close, my humble companion made a Hail Mary with the
hopes to invite the Spirit and turn the Pastor's thoughts to our
message, Elder P said, "will you be baptized?" and the Pastor
chuckled, he said, "that is funny you ask, because I was wondering the
same thing, would you be baptized?" So as we left, feeling a little
bit like Rocky after he fights Hulk Hogan in Rocky IV, (I think) and
there was only one thing we could say "Well that didn't pan out."

As I have mentioned before I gained some weight in the CCM in Mexico,
but this past week I weighed myself again. I have some great news,
since I left home I have gained 25 pounds. Yes, my pants still all
fit, but I have noticed a slight difference. So, that's all there is
to say about that.

We stumbled into a kind woman this past week named N. She asked us
how old we were, we responded with 19 and 20. She sadly looked at us
and said we were way to young to be away from our mothers. Her husband
asked us a question that kind of struck me. He said "Do you think God
doesn't want you to talk with your families?" Oh man, Satan IS a
crafty one. I didn't know what to say, so I played the "I can't speak
Spanish very well" card, that always works well. Haha, but Elder
P said we just devote all our time to the Lord. N wasn't
having any of that, she was just shocked. I gave her Mom's number and
said that she could talk to Mom about it. She called and it sounded
like it went well.

We had taught this kid named J once. When we came back we asked if
he prayed, he said he had and knew there was only one true church.  I
asked which one and he just pointed at my badge and said "that one". I
was overwhelmed. But not five seconds later his dad came out and told
us he couldn't be baptized. It was so sad. We went back to teach J
again and apparently we had misunderstood his dad, his dad told us
never to come back. I was so sad. I had this feeling that he would
remember the truth and find it again someday. I am glad we had the
chance to know him and plant the seeds of truth in his mind.

I heard an interesting view of the Atonement this week. A woman said
this upon looking at a painting of Christ in the garden of Gethsemane;
"He prayed for all of us." I have never really thought about it like
that, but He did.

I love you all.
Elder Thomas

Blood splattered door

Lookin' stylin'

Elder Thomas vs. The Spanish 7th Day Adventist Pastor for all of Southern Missouri

A Cold War Dog House

So while on an exchange went to see a potential investigator. She wasn't
home but right before we left a car pulled up. It wasn't our
investigator but her Pastor and his wife and daughter. He introduced
himself and told us he was the Spanish 7th Day Adventist Pastor for
all of Southern Missouri and he wanted to talk. Presumably, I was
fairly nervous and worried but, I prayed pretty hard that I could
speak with him correctly and with the Spirit and not accidentally tell
him that we believe in something crazy. Our investigator arrived just
seconds later and we all went inside. I stood in front of the small
congregation and explained to them the Restoration and occasionally
translated for my companion for the day. I felt like Samuel the
Lamanite or something. It was just me and the Spirit. Whoa.

Don't have a lot of time this week but I love this mission, I love the
people and will record some stories and send them back next week.

Take care y'all
I love y'all
Elder Thomas

Wild Elder Thomas laying in the snow. 

Lessons Learned

Right before the incident...a couch and some Christmas lights.

We started the week off with high hopes of moving a couch that has
been sitting in our yard for the past month, but didn't end up moving it 
it until Thursday.   We have been quite busy. So while on an exchange
with my good friend Elder Powers we decided to move the couch that
helps us assimilate into the culture. Upon moving it into the truck,
we remembered that we needed rope. We searched high and low to no
avail. But we did find an adequate substitute. Christmas lights. Yes,
we had seen someone use it before we thought so we tied it down with
those. As anyone can probably imagine, this was a very stupid idea. We
drove down the road a ways and took a turn onto a farm road, Elder
Powers also wanted to test the Christmas lights so he gave a little
extra gas. There was a loud noise of metal against metal and a
noticeable movement in the back of the truck. We directed our view to
the stage of this travesty. The couch had flipped out of the side of
the truck and the remains of the incident were only a couple shabby
broken Christmas lights with an array of colorful glass sitting in the
back of the truck. No one was injured and it was on a farm road, so,
don't worry Mom, everything is ok. Elder Powers and I just laughed for
a while, while we analyzed the damage

Also, I got nearly chased by a dog so that was cool, luckily my tiger
like reflexes were firing on all cylinders and we were able to escape.
And we rode our bikes in a down pour, just like Sandon, er, Elder
Sperry. It was awesome, the only downside is now my suit smells like a
biking jersey, thank goodness for dry cleaning.

We never go anywhere without us finding someone to teach. It is so
weird, just about every place we go someone is interested in the
Gospel or there will be a Hispanic person there. Just about all
Hispanics are interested in religion so it is fairly easy. But at a
stake conference we went to Elder Bednar said, "the keys don't go
anywhere by coincidence," it is really true. He spoke of the Apostles,
but you can easily replace keys with missionaries. We are on the front
lines of a war with Satan, which is pretty nuts, and Heavenly Father
is putting us in places to fight Satan everyday, it is hard work but
at the end of the day it is the most fun thing I have ever done. It is
awesome!


Thanks for the prayers, Halloween gifts and candy and everything else
you all do for me and my family, Love you all...  Elder Thomas

A barber shop in the "city".

Other info he sent: 

The ward is awesome, transfer calls are next Saturday and I am praying really hard that I stay here for Christmas and Thanksgiving, but whatever happens happens. We eat with the ward members often and they cook great home style stuff. A boy in the wardhad his farewell, he is headed for the Mexico CCM, he will love it, it was cool to talk with him a little bit and explain how much fun it is. Isaac's hair is too long, please cut it all off creatively and film it so I can watch it, haha!

About the people, they are really nice. the Mexicans give us water whenever we go in their house and the other folk always say, "well, I respect what y'all are doing, there are a lot of people who need to hear your message, is your first name Elder?"

He asked what is going on with Ebola?  I keep hearing just little things and when I hear about it I say with Elder P in one accord, " I have ebola... ebola ice cream! (say it out loud it will make more sense.)

My companion and the candy carnage on my desk.

Dollar General, or in other words, Walmart in its Paradisiacal Glory

"Guatamalan Village" ~ They love visiting the people who live here.  They are very friendly.

Yes, it may seem hard to believe but Dollar General is incredible. I
went there last week on Preparation day and found a plethora of
discounted goods. So, naturally I had to buy them all. I bought a new
pair of camo shoes, $8, a card for Gavin $.50, and a bunch of other
useless stuff. I do slightly regret spending so much there but its
incredible. Utah should highly consider investing in one.

We had a Zone Meeting this week and Elder Packer came. Not President
Packer but his son, Elder Packer. And he had some inspiring words. But
as he introduced himself he showed us a picture of his family. He
introduced them all and then pointed to one in the back of the crowded
picture. "This guy is in Singapore," he said. It was my good friend
from Alta, Paul Gilman! (please excuse the spelling error.) He is
related to an Apostle and to Elder Packer, whoa. That was pretty cool.

We have been continuing to teach an investigator who has had trouble
with smoking named Tony. He is a good friend to me and you could say
we are pretty tight. He always is super motivated to overcoming
smoking and drinking when we are there but then falls back into it
when he is feeling sad, but I know he can make it. Yesterday, we went
with a member, he said, "I don't know all of what you're going through,
but I do know that these (my companion and I) guys are
representatives of the Lord and have been called by Jesus Christ to
help you." I don't know the effect it had on him but it hit me. I didn't
really ever think about it before like that, but it is true.

One of Tony's friends wanted to talk with us so we went to his house,
but when we go there he was just in his car. He told us to get in and
we could have the lesson in his car. It was a bit strange but we did.
He began to cry and said in Spanish that he felt alone. His whole
family lives in Mexico and his daughters and wife live there too. His
kids are very small and he was just sad. I felt really bad for him. We
told him about how this message could help him and at the end I asked
him if he would be baptized, it went something like this, in English:
"If you come to know it is true would you be baptized?" and then he
looked at me pushed his eyebrows up and opened up his eyes really wide
kind like when people get confused and just said, "What?" Shocked and
confused we explained a little bit more due to my premature
invitation. He said yes eventually. Never in my whole life did I think
that I would be sitting in a beat up Pontiac with a crying Hispanic
man while discussing baptism. The Lord puts us in places we never
thought we could go occasionally.

Here is a quote from my Mission President. He was saying that we can
all chose to be heroes or join Satan, happiness or misery, but those
battles between us and Satan aren't usually seen. He said, "Some of
the greatest battles will be fought in the chambers of our souls." Not
only is that good writing, it is also some great advice.

Thank you all for your prayers continue to send them my way and to all
the other missionaries as well, I love you all.

Elder Thomas

Missouri Sunset

Looks like the hare won the race!  Poor turtle....

"I guess you could say things are getting pretty serious." ~ Kipland Dynamite and a Visit from Elder Bednar

This week has been, in the words of Kipland Dynamite, 'I guess you
could say things are getting pretty serious.' We had a pretty sweet
bash with a Hispanic lady that is a Jehovah Witness. (Bashing is frowned
upon in most missionary situations, but due to my lack of experience
and my sudden adrenaline rush when she pulled out her Bible saying,
"well in the Bible it says..." I got carried away.) We talked about
the basic bashing materials, heaven, God and the things that separate
us from Him and how we can return to live with Him. In Spanish, I
surprised myself and, not to get to arrogant, but I laid down the law
in Spanish! But much to my dismay this had little to no effect, it is
kind of like on those Pokemon games from the '90's, "Elder Thomas uses
Ezekiel 37:19!... It is not very effective." But not to fear, my
companion straightened me out and we left with a kind goodbye and a
mormon.org card.

While touching upon the subject of Spanish, I feel I am getting fairly
decent. I am at a point where I translate in my mind but cant keep up.
My companion advised to stop translating. Confused? So was I. But I
did. You just understand. I would compare it to the difficulty those
young boys had in the critically acclaimed film The Sandlot, when they
had to retrieve the baseball signed by Babe Ruth. But in the end they
get it right? (This isn't a rhetorical question, I cant remember what
happens, I never saw the end of that movie.)  But anyway I think I
will manage.

We had a stake conference with 3 or 4 stakes there, so basically
it was the whole area within a 100 mile radius of Monett, Missouri (just about
20 miles south of us.) Elder Bednar spoke and when he walked in we all
stood up. Chills immediately. He spoke of how the keys never go
anywhere by coincident. He then told us several stories of how he has
been put in people's paths over and over because God cares about us
individually. It was very cool, especially because we brought an
Investigator with us.

This is true, this is the way. The only way to know is through the
Book of Mormon. Pray to ask if it is true. Read to know if it is true.
You will find your answer. I love you all, thank you for your prayers!

Love,
Elder Thomas

I Met the Mexican Elvis

Yes, it is true. you know how you hear those stories of people praying
after a long day of hard work and they find that golden investigator.
That didnt happen but we did pray to find someone and guess who we
stumbled into? We knocked on the door of a typical mexican home.
Covered in tomato plants, Christmas lights and a ford truck sat humbly
in the gravel driveway. We knocked nearly knocking the 'merry
Christmas' sign off the door. But we hear a rumble inside and what
emerged nearly brought tears to my eyes. A short plump man clad in
purple tight slacks with a mullet and a t-shirt that said 'Aurora
Football' and 'Go Houn Dawgs' on it. His clothes too tight, his mullet
to perfect and his sandals and socks combo too original. This Hispanic
man was Elvis it must have been. I was overwhelmed and I mumbled a
typical spanish door approach and we set up another appointment, I
will let you know what becomes of the Mexican Elvis.
I also me the inventor of chalupas. She probably has the greatest
story of rags to riches I have ever heard. She could have a movie made
about her.

We walked into a trailer park and we were both tired all of the
sudden. I was just pooped. So we sat down outside a woman's home and
discussed with her the Restoration. I was overcome with absolute
exhaustion and was lost in the void of spanish words not understanding
a lick of it, my companion later informed me he was having difficulty
teaching as well. But i prayed and asked for strength and to have the
Spirit with us. Nearly immediately, we both grasped the conversation
and taught. The Spirit was there and we taught with divine help. At
the end we both felt pretty good and Elder P invited her to be
baptized, she said yes. We don't have a date but it was awesome.

We had an exchange this week so I was on my own to teach people in
Spanish and I was with the zone leaders. No pressure, right? Wrong. We
met these people who said they attend a church called the Light of the
World church. They also believe in a restoration, really quite
interesting. But I was nervous to teach them alone, but I prayed and
asked to get help to know what they were saying and speak well. And
like it says, ask and ye shall receive, I did. I spoke and she
understood and her daughter was there to translate for us. How
awesome, she had so many good questions and I felt God's power helping me.

I know that this Gospel is true and anyone that wants to know it as
well can just ask Heavenly Father and know.

Elder Thomas

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.