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.

Another Brick..er..Week in the Wall..(Title inspired by Isaac's endeavors at a sweet concert that I wish I could have seen.) Pink Floyd

Elders Outstanding in their Field!

From Mama Thomas ~

What a week of tender mercies for our family.  Heavenly Father has answered many prayers for us this week.  Ian is surrounded by a great ward family and great friends and family at home and serving around the world!  We prayed to find a contact in his area when his birthday package didn't arrive on his birthday.  That night we received an email from a dear sister who had the missionaries join the youth at a corn maze on his birthday.  The youth sang to him and they made his day special.  She sent an email the next day to let us know that his package arrived. 

 Sister Thomas, 

I spoke with Elder Thomas today & he got your package!  We are so excited to have him in our area. The youth, leaders, & other missionaries all sang to him yesterday. He's in good hands.
My oldest will be reporting for his mission the day before Thanksgiving. I totally feel your pain of having them gone holidays & birthdays. I'm trying to fit everything in before he leaves.  I've noticed how Heavenly Father looks out for His missionaries and their families, though.  I have to trust that He will also watch out for Austin.
I'm glad those pictures eased your burden.  Thanks for sharing Elder Thomas with us. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From Elder Thomas:

And again we gather to hear a tale or two from Elder Thomas in the city where dog food is made. Yes, Aurora is surrounded by many large factories that produce dog and cat food. So, if perchance you have inquired on what it would be like in the  shoes of Elder Thomas, according to Elder Holyoak one simply places a large empty bag of dog food over their head and then walks into a steam room. Hot, humid and smells worse than the bathroom at that creepy gas station you always have to stop at on your way to Idaho. Anyway onward with the stories, oh and like conference the first one will be in my native tongue of Spanish, just kidding but that was kind of cool. I am sure the people that speak those languages were stoked to hear something other than that same translating voice for a talk. Anyway here we go.

 

So this week was my birthday and would like to thank you all for making it wonderful. I received packages from near and far from north even to east and they were much appreciated. Mom, the cookies you sent were absolutely decimated but they were eaten with joyous hearts because anything is better than top ramen. It began with an interrupted sleep but our ward mission leader gave me breakfast at his home which was very kind, he also has the cure for Ebola and anything else, he is of Indian decent and is one of the coolest guys I know. He is like that cool Indian uncle that I think we all need to have. He wears a bolo tie and has the sweetest shirts I have ever seen. They are so cool, but his wife made us a very delicious meal of biscuits and gravy with fresh orange juice. We were filled but then what to my wondering eyes should appear, a cake with nineteen candles. It was really nice of them to go out of their way to make my day special. Then we were treated to a lovely lunch at Braums which is the best fast food place american dollars can buy. And then that evening to a surprise dinner at my favorite establishment around. Little Caesars. The pizza was something of a dream and it made my day awesome! We went to a corn maze as well. (Isaac, Gavin and Gabe, I have an assignment for you. Go to a haunted house for me and give me a report about it. I went to the haunted corn maze with some members and it was sweet. I need some good stories from y'all about Nightmare on 13th or something, Isaac I look to you to be an example and take your brothers there to scar them for life or take yourself with your cousin and a girl because that would be a good date and a great story.) ( oh and look up Dunked On by Froggy Fresh I heard about it and need to hear y'all sing it, it's from our main homie krispy kreme!)

 

Today, we went spelunking as a zone. You would be surprised to see the vastness of caves out here randomly in some farmers yard. I wore my finest caving outfit with my new clothes and as I climbed through the mud with my back against the ceiling and my stomach against the floor I realized that I probably shouldn't have chosen those pants, but no matter, that was the closest I will get to swimming on my mission and I swam and it was grand. There were cavities bigger than a church chapel and then others smaller than your computer screen that I crawled through.  I was quite claustrophobic and as I slipped and slithered on the floor of the muddy cave in my typical red converse shoes I occasionally said a prayer that I wouldn't die and that mom wouldn't kill me about ruining my pants. So sorry mom.

 

In the cave you need a light. It is essential to your health and sanity. Without one we were lost. There was a moment when we all shut them off and we just sat in the darkness, almost tangible, like a giant black blanket of moist air breathing air onto your muddy shirt and shoes. It was a little eerie. We also needed the light so that we could jump from rock to rock to get out, (so that batman flashlight came in handy! thank you family). Life is like this cave. I could try to get out without my trusty batman flashlight, leaping from rock to rock in utter blackness, with the hopes that I don't smash my head into a swarm of bats or dangling stalactite. Or i could use my flashlight. And even though sometimes mud would coat it and dim the light or sometimes I didn't point it in the right places, but it guided me out. In this life should we trust ourselves in the darkness? Probably not, you can try, but you will probably smack your shin super hard on a unseen rock like me and have trouble walking. I would advise using the light. This week I have used that light, I have felt down and sad at times, wishing it was me heading home with my companion. I got kind of sad one night and just prayed and asked to be helped, I have never really asked like that before. That night I was helped. People were put in my path to make me feel better, ( we ate dinner that night at the home of a family with 6 boys! 6! I felt right at home as they proceeded to tell me everything 3-7 year olds know. they made me laugh as all of the 6, under the age of 8 attacked each other in a loving way and then were immediately quiet when their mom said that the missionaries had a message. I received more energy and the Spirit helped me forget myself and see why I am here. It was great. one of the boys sang Book of Mormon stories at least 10 times, I haven't laughed that hard in a while.) I am trying to utilize this light more in my life as I am trying to gain a greater testimony of it. This light is the Atonement. (Forgive me for getting preachy if I am.) But this light is so essential to us! It is a gift but we have to chose to use it. Ask and ye shall receive right? Just ask, no matter what you are going through, Christ has been through it, doubt, depression, despair. He has felt it all. People say that too much and people don't get it. He has felt it all. Think about that. Everything you or I will ever feel is something that your Brother felt. Your Brother that loved you enough to go through the most painful thing in the world, knows it all. And he didn't give up. Follow that example by using His experience. I believe the gift of the Atonement is one of the most under utilized gifts God has given me. I don't use it nearly enough and I don't thank Him enough for it. You can literally use it for anything that causes you strife, pain or disappointment. Pain that is caused by girls, work, church callings, surgeries, death, depression, anything. I will make you a promise that this week I will try to use it as much as I can if you do as well, and if you do you will feel yourself happier, stronger, more confident than you have ever been in your life. I am going to try it this week, and y'all should as well, and I know you will be helped.

 

So another week has past and this mission is going by way too fast. I hate how fast it is flying. I received a gift in the mail that said you only have 730 days out here. This was a substantial note in my mission. Every day I tell myself that I only have 730 days to fully commit myself into the Lord's hands to be molded into the missionary He wants me to be. And I hope that I can make Him and all of you proud. I leave you all, and hope that General Conference was good fro you all, Go watch it again, i wish I could, oh and go enjoy some pizza or something because life is way to short to not enjoy pizza at least once a week. Like they say a pizza a day keeps sadness away. Oh and I had a thought during conference that I thought you would like, "If you just keep trying, if you just hold on a little longer, you will surf forever in the cosmos while eating pizza with your eternal companion." That is what I imagine heaven as, so one last thought, imagine what you think heaven is and then whenever you get down just think of that image of heaven.

 

Thanks for the birthday wishes and I love you all. Your gifts are great and I use them frequently. I love you all.  Please ignore my mistakes I was in a hurry.

Elder Thomas

Conference ~ Ian really was just joking around.