Guatemalans and the Alphabet

We have begun a class to teach English in the which I have learned things. One, if you don't have teeth, you can't make the F sound. Two, it is an effective way to get people to come to church. And three, it provides us with many new words of the Guatemalan variety. I learned how to say a lot of useless phrases and laughed harder than every before as an old Hispanic woman tried to say the F sound. We all laughed together so it was ok. They have become our friends and then the husband came to church! It was awesome.

And now for an update on the people being taught. M R. , the mother of the woman who fed us on Thanksgiving, lives alone so we teach her with a couple in the ward. She loves the gospel and has a lot of difficultly learning but has the greatest desire to learn. Pray that she can learn quickly. She told us she wants to be baptized on April 4th.  A., the ex-girlfriend of another one of our investigators named T., cried as we told her, that her father in Heaven loves her and after we bore our testimonies of the Book of Mormon and Elder Thomas ruined his suit because he was crying so much, she said he knows it is true and said she wants to be baptized. R, the man we taught in the Pontiac is having problems in Mexico with his family but readily accepted the messages we brought him. Tony is beginning to notice the truthfulness and loves the Book of Mormon. A., the elderly man who told us he was a member but after some investigation found out he just came to our church once or twice, has been difficult to get a hold of, due to his roommate who is the only one who has a phone within two nautical miles of A., named J.. J. has been the only person we have talked with but hopefully we will see A. soon.

All is well.  The Lord is blessing me in many ways out here. Hope all is well there and stuff!

elder thomas 

The Dog Strikes Back

Catching some Air in Aurora

We were riding our bikes down the road about as normally as you can while wearing a suit, when all of the sudden comes the dog. Not just any dog, but the same one that had hungered for my flesh previously. Legend has it that it has been searching for me every since that fateful day when the cord attached to its neck saved my life. It ran at me with increased ferocity as it recalled the time it had almost killed me. With teeth chopping and tail wagging, its small little feet hurled its disproportionate body at the frame of my bike. As I screamed like a little girl, my new companion Elder McKenzie came along side of me to end the dog's incessant yapping. But before he reached my side, I had a boost of courage and faith, and I swung my leg in the direction of the noise that now haunts my nightmares, nearly throwing myself of the bike. My foot hit something, be it the dog or the pavement I am not sure , but whatever it was it displayed my leg strength enough to frighten this overgrown spawn of a possum-dog hybrid. (And I also showed myself, that 30 minutes of exercise every morning has done wonders for my bod and leg strength.) I heard yaps in the distances as we peddled out of its sight, but I don't think for a minute this will be the last we see of that disgusting creature.

In other news things are going well. I am in charge and was very nervous about that. But like it has been said since olden times, the Lord qualifies whom He calls. I have felt an outpouring of His spirit guiding me and helping me know where to go, what members can help us and what to say. It has been a great strength to my testimony and to this area. We have worked hard and our goal is to work even harder. I was worried about that too, but like the talk giving by President Eyring, ( I think), about the truck that was stuck, it was the load in the back of the truck that helped. I have been more focused and have felt the love Heavenly Father has for His children more here than I have ever before and I can't wait to feel that more as I continue to serve him.

Thanks for the prayers and for the packages! It is very kind for you all to be thinking about me!

Love you all,

Elder Thomas     

      

Dogs and Milagros

Elder P last pic before transfers. ~ Photo with the wonderful  Nield family who takes great care of the missionaries!

So this week could be summed up as such like unto the last email: "Did you run into a Jehovah's Witness or a Baptist? That eye is pretty bad, son."  The eye got progressively worse and the people always gave me a look like when you see someone seriously injured, disgusted. But it was fun and it helped us get more lessons. I think it hurts the people who see it, more than it actually hurt me.

But on with the story. Elder T's last exchange. He goes home in T-Minus 4 days. It was night and we went to a man that I might have mentioned in a previous email. He has a walking stick, lives in a trailer and has a beard of steel wool. We knocked on the door and immediately heard the barking of not one or two, but six or so dogs. He waddled to the door and looked lethargic and dizzy. He has gone to the hospital many times in the last few weeks and has been very ill, but now he is fine but is on quite a few medications. He invited us in and we were swarmed by the dogs. I tried my best to testify of the veracity of the Book of Mormon but it is a little difficult to do that while a lab is cleaning out the inside of your ear with its tongue. As the lesson went on the man slumped further into the couch and his wife in the other room opened a door releasing 16 puppies. So now at this point there are 21 dogs running around, Elder T, the animal lover, is in heaven, the man we're teaching is probably near there as well at this point, and I realized we should probably set up a return appointment.

We had our first Spanish sacrament meeting as a Spanish group. We have tried and tried to get people to come but no one ever does. Then Saturday night, a preacher of a church just outside of town called us. She wanted to come to church and bring her whole family. We got to church she was there and so was one of our other investigators. The disease of Grandma and my Dad began to act up (crying). I saw this group when it had three people. Yesterday there were 13 of us. It was very special and it made me extremely happy. I am so grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord in our lives, like having your ears cleaned while teaching a lesson. 

I hope all is well and I'm grateful for the prayers you send, they were answered yesterday.

Elder Thomas

He called this "dramatic pic"

This looks exactly like Ian's very first bike when he was 7.

He said, "Eating way too much....

A large Triple Chocolate Shake from Andy's....

And a Roast Beef Sandwich from Arby's.....

I Feel Like an '80's Punk Rocker

In the wise words of the young boy in my ward, "my goodness, what happened to your eye?!"

As one may view from my eye. I feel like David Bowie. My eye looks like mascara is smeared everywhere. The past few days could easily be summed up in the few words of a small boy who say my eye at church: "Oh my goodness, what happened to your eye?" 

So here is what happened. An exchange in Cassville at a Ward party, playing soccer with the youth. The game was close, the stakes were high. 1-1, with not much time. A low ball was kicked and it was between me and a Hispanic teen. The only training I had was with Elder Vest and he hadn't taught me much but I did remember that headers were more impressive, so I bent down at the moment the teen brought his knee up. As my face connected with his knee cap a bolt of lightnning shot through the sky and we both collapsed on the field. I stood up dribbled the ball down and kicked a goal bending it like Beckman and the stands cleared and the fans lifted me in the air cheering... not really I woke up in the hosptial. Hahaha, just kidding. I was fine I stood up and watched the teen kick it down and score a goal. I lost the game, my pride and my sight. But all in all the week was good. My favorite scripture comes to mind as I tell this story. go read it, because that is what I did next. Philippians 3:13-14. I went and taught some more people and told them I got in a fight when they asked about my eye.

Have a good week!

I love you all, your prayers for me help me more than you can imagine!

Love,

Elder Thomas 

Traditional 6 month tie burning...

Making friends where 'ere he goes...

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