Elder Henry H. Thompson: Hunters And The Hunted

1.29.18

So this week we went rabbit hunting! No guns or anything but we did chase a rabbit with some sticks so I guess that counts.... This happened on Tuesday when we were at the bottom of town looking for potentials. We got 2 new potentials but nobody else answered so we decided to take a shortcut home through this gigantic field. Elder Jones saw the bunny and we both took off after it. It lost us of course, but then we found it again and tried to sneak up on it. That didn't work either.... so we continued on and went in for comp study.

On Wednesday we had Zone Conference so you already know it was a good day. We learned about teaching with the Spirit and online proselyting. I came away a better, more informed missionary than I had gone in.

Thursday was weird, we set up some appointments with people which is good. However, in the morning, Elder Jones and I were out tracting when a woman pulled up behind us and honked. We both turned around and she got out of her car and jogged toward us. She told us that she wanted her and her son to learn about God and then gave us her card and left. That doesn't usually happen in California.... so we set up an appointment with her! We also had a really great dinner message with a part member family in the ward who is looking really hard into the church. We are hoping to meet with them again and help them progress toward baptism!

Saturday and Sunday were both really cool yet hard. Saturday, we had 5 lessons lined up and 4 of them cancelled for the morning. We ended up walking around and street contacting and looking for potentials. Needless to say, we got wrecked. Elder Jones and I needed to sit for a minute, so we sat on a wall by the sidewalk and waved at everyone who passed by. After about 10 minutes of that, we get a wave from the corner of the street a bit away. Turns out, it was Gabriel, one of our investigators who lives all of the way on the other side of town! He had just started a job like 2 days ago that was up near us so that he could help his mom out more. We had a small lesson with him on the street and made an appointment for Sunday to come over and talk more. He was very receptive which seems to be a new concept for most Californians. After that, we had a lesson with an investigator family from Nigeria and they loved it. They have a really cool Nigerian accents so it's fun to talk to them. The grandma, mother, and daughters all agreed to start reading the Book of Mormon and study it. We will be going back this week to check up on how it is going! So we ended up being in the right place at the right time for that day even though we got destroyed in the morning.

Yesterday, we had a multi stake conference in which they played a broadcast from Elder Christofferson. I enjoyed it. After it was over, we fulfilled our main priesthood duty by taking down all of the chairs.

We had two great lessons that day. One with an investigator named Angel. We taught him the Plan of Salvation because one of his close friends just passed away. He really liked it. We told him that nowhere in the scriptures does it tell us more about God's Plan for us than it does in the Book of Mormon! That's true. We also had a really great lesson with Gabriel again. He asked us questions and we taught him about a lot of things. He soaked it all up and we were able to set up another appointment with him and his mom. The work continues to progress in my area. I've seen it grow from practically nothing to where it is now. By this time next week, I'll know if I'll be leaving here or staying my first 6 months in one area.

For those of you who want to skip to the funny part of the email, it's right here. This week, an Elder in my apartment (not going to name names) wrecked our bathroom. Not just any wreck though.... the toilet is now disabled and literally does not work anymore.... we are hoping to get that fixed really soon because I'm not sure how long I can use the sketchy town park bathroom.

The song for this week is "Sound and Color" by Alabama Shakes. Very nice one.

I know that God has a plan for you and for me. He made it just for us individually. His work and His glory is to bring to pass immortality and eternal life for all of us. I'm grateful for this plan. You can read about it more in depth in the Book of Mormon!

pebbs and pepps,

Elder Thompson