THANKFUL

Hey everyone! Get ready for a good read this week! Actually, I'm not sure how good it's going to be so just be ready for anything. 

We saw some great miracles this week! I'll highlight a few things before I talk about our big miracle for the week. 

-Finding a husband and wife to teach last Monday night.  We initially got in with their adult son and had a lesson at their house. We invited them in to join the lesson and by the end of it, they both asked for large print Books of Mormon so they could read them. 

-Thanksgiving was great! We went over to my "mission grandparents" house, the Hollingsworths. They had a lot of their extended family there who are also in the ward so it was a fun get together.

 We got stuffed for sure. It was raining all day super hard though which was a blessing to get the smoke out of here. Finding and working was harder that day because everyone was cooking dinner for that night and didn't want to talk, but we made it! 

-In honor of 2 years since India, I found an Indian store and bought some Limca for Elder Pearson and me to drink. It brought back some good memories of not being able to drink even the filtered water over there haha. 

-We had a member family invite us to their house for a surprise lunch because it was raining so hard on Friday. We were very appreciative. This ward loves Elder Pearson and I because we have been together for such a long time and we have gotten to know the ward really well. It will be hard if I have to leave in a week.... 

-People still trying to kick us out and threatening to call the cops on us. I honestly think it's hilarious. My stubbornness is actually helping out here, everyone! Mom would be proud. 

-Shoutout to the UTES baby!!!! Keep putting BYU in its place. The members we had dinner with yesterday, same as the ones for Thanksgiving, are all diehard BYU fans. I got to rub it in their face a little bit and we teased each other. They said that I'm lucky they like me because they usually don't allow Ute fans in the house. I had a member tell me the final score so I woke up on Sunday really happy!! 

Now for the Miracle of the Week: We went and saw Scott and Janet because we hadn't heard from them in a while. They opened the door right up and we had a small lesson with them. They are still reading and still praying, just really busy. But later that day, Elder Pearson thought that we needed to go tracting on a certain street, I told him that sounded fine. As we were going up one side of the street, we ran out of Books of Mormon because you already know we are handing out those bad boys like crazy. So we went back down to our car to restock. On our way back to tracting after we got our books, we spotted a woman across the street. We yelled across the street and asked if we could share a message about Jesus Christ with her. She said we could and so we ran across the street to talk to her. We helped her take some stuff inside from her truck and then we started talking about the Book of Mormon and all of that good stuff. She really enjoyed learning about it and then told us that her parents have been meeting with missionaries as well but it was unlikely that we were the same ones. She told us where they lived and we asked for their last name and she told us. Turns out, we had just found Scott and Janet's daughter!!! She said that they really love us so that was a good thing to know. So now we are going to teach Scott, Janet, their daughter, and her 3 kids as well, all at the same time! It was a huge miracle for me. Also she was really into ranching and stuff so Elder Pearson got to talk cowboy to her, he always enjoys that. 

The Song of the Week is "Where the Streets Have No Name" by U2. That was an amazing concert back in 2011. My sister Molly even fell asleep at that one, man she can fall asleep anywhere. (she was 7, it was late)

But anyway, the church is still true, there is no way it's otherwise! I've seen too many miracles out here. Everyone participate in the Light the World campaign to make this world a better place. I know that the Lord has His hand all over this work that I and so many other great people that I know are doing. It's a special thing and I wouldn't give it up for anything else. 

Much love, 

Elder Thompson 

P Day excursion to Point Bonita Lighthouse 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzZWSrr5wFI Where The Streets Have No Name U2

"Go To and Labor in the Vineyard, With Your Might..." Jacob 5:71-72

Happy Thanksgiving week everyone! 
I hope everyone enjoys it and gets to eat some good food on Thursday! 

- The smoke is still bad. We had to get masks on Friday because it is so bad. Everyone we talk to is like "what are you guys still doing out here?!" it's pretty funny. The mask is so annoying but hey it's for my own good I guess. People think we are hardcore for wearing them around. I guess there is some sort of scale for air quality levels and at 200 it's dangerously unhealthy and right now in Rohnert Park we are at 174, so dang. Other places yesterday it was like 270, so I'm glad I wasn't there. Keep praying that they can get those fires put out soon. 

I'm kinda tired of nobody being outside and having to wear a mask for hours on end, but my problems right now are very miniscule compared to the thousands who have been affected, the people who are missing and people who have lost their homes and everything in them.

Hate the masks love our lungs

- I scared the literal pee out of a big dog this week. We were knocking doors out in the country and this big dog came barking at the door, I guess it was pretty scared because when I knocked for the second time, It ran away peeing everywhere. I felt bad for the owner but Elder Pearson and I had a good laugh over that. 

- We had interviews with President Meservy this week, which is always great. He is a great man with some wise counsel. We got some Wendy's afterward in Petaluma where I got my first Baconator; not all that it is hyped up to be but it was still good. 

-We had a great lesson with Branden and Anissa this past Saturday. We shared with them the Plan Of Salvation and they enjoyed it! They feel like the Book of Mormon is true (because it is!) But it's just a big step for them which means that they would have to stop attending their current church which they love.  I know that God will provide a way. 

- We were knocking an apartment complex, and a woman told us that we couldnt solicit there and that we had to leave. I thanked her for her warning, nicely, and then kept going after she closed the door.  A few doors down, we met Obadiah, who let us right into his house to share a message about Jesus Christ and we taught him about the Book of Mormon. He was a little apprehensive because he is very big Bible reader, but we helped some of his uneasiness. If we would have listened to the woman a few doors before, we would have been robbed of the opportunity to meet Obadiah! I think that opposition means that you are going the right way. Henry B. Eyring said, "If you're going the right way, it will always be uphill."

-We also had a great lesson with Barbara, who continues to read the Book of Mormon and enjoys it! She loves having us over, which is always good. We taught her about the Plan Of Salvation as well and most of it was about how the Fall of Adam and Eve was a good step forward and not a bad thing. It was a hard thing for her to get, because she has been taught her whole life that The Fall was a bad thing, but I think she gets it now! That God has had the same plan since the beginning and he knew that The Fall was going to happen! 

-Ethan continues to meet with us and we read from the Book of Mormon with him. He says he likes it and will put Moroni's promise to the test! He quit his job this week so he says he has a lot more time to meet up! 

-Kenya and Steve are also great, we are going to set a goal date for them to go to the temple together! They can't wait. I will definitely be coming back for their sealing next October! 

A huge shoutout to Operation Ashabadi for 2 years since we left for India!!  Man, I miss all of you guys and love all of the memories I have from that trip. I still think about those kids all the time and miss them too. One day I'll go back! It's crazy how fast 2 years goes by, so we need to make every day count! 

The Song of the Week is Come Together by the Beatles. You can also check out the cover that Michael Jackson did of it, that one is a cool 80's rendition. 

Missions are amazing! I've seen myself change in a lot of ways. I'm sure a lot of people from high school would be surprised haha. The Book of Mormon is true and a divine book and that is my favorite thing to be sharing with people every day. It's made me really happy and so I get to share that happiness with others. I know that we have a loving Father in Heaven who has a plan for each of us individually and that if we follow His son, and do our best, then everything will work out the way it's supposed to. Sorry this is long, I guess I have a lot to say. 

Have a great week everyone! I'm thankful for you all.

Much love,

Elder Thompson 

Skating in San Rafael

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45cYwDMibGo   Come Together The Beatles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubR9cXWkXv8    Come Together  Michael Jackson

More Fires... Pray for California

Hey friends and family! 

This was a refreshing week, despite the thick smoke. Some of our lessons didn't happen again but hey, it's all good. We found new people to teach and people were surprisingly nicer to us this week! What a feat! 

The "Camp Fire" is sending all of the smoke and ash over here so that's been fun. Everybody is wearing masks and ask us why we are outside when we knock on their door.  It made the sun almost as red as it was when I was in India! At first, we just saw a thick cloud of smoke coming in from Santa Rosa and we were like, "uh oh, here we go again...." because we didn't know how far away the fires really were. They are probably about 120 miles from me but the smoke was still crazy! Hopefully everything is okay up there.  (sadly, the Camp Fire is now California's deadliest fire on record)

First up on the list of experiences was one where I used my stubbornness to my advantage when a man tried to kick us out of a smaller apartment complex,  I told him that we wouldn't leave and kept going. The 2nd door that we knocked on, we met Michael.  He has had some really spiritual experiences lately and we sat down with him and talked for like 30 minutes. It was great! I'm not going to let crabby people get in the way of other peoples' salvation! Good times. 

We called our friend Barbara on Saturday and she answered the phone, "hey kiddos!" She is a sweet woman, about to turn 80 and has been Catholic all of her life. But she is happy to get more information about Jesus Christ through the Book of Mormon! She has been reading and telling us all about how she is marking it up! As we checked in on Barbara on Saturday, she told us about how a man from her church owns Mountain Mike's Pizza which is a good pizza place near our apartment. She said that we could go in and ask for the "Catholic discount" if we want cheaper pizza but only if we, "want to go, you know where...." haha it was hilarious. I don't think we will be using the Catholic discount anytime soon though.    Maybe when I come back to visit and I'm not in missionary clothes... we'll take Barbara with us!

 

We also had Zone Conference this Friday and it was a long one but a good one. We talked all about finding and family history in finding. The leaders got to take an hour and teach our individual zones about finding and how to increase our faith in finding. We made a great video of past missionaries from this mission talking about how they developed the faith to find people to teach. Everyone loved it!

Sunday we had an awesome lesson with Ethan, a college student that we met on Wednesday. He had already read the Restoration pamphlet and also the beginning parts of the Book of Mormon before we got there! We had a very spiritual lesson and he enjoyed learning more! Then he wanted to show us his snakes and his hamster so we checked those out too. I know Kathleen, Kate, and Lindsay would have loved the snakes! 

Happy Veteran's Day to all of those who have fought to keep this great country free and make it possible for me to proclaim my testimony publicly, especially the Veterans in my life:  Grandpa Mick, Great Grandpa Spry,  Great Grandpa Stew, Rob Anderson, mom's Uncle Bill and cousin Bill, Nini's uncle Bill... that's lots of Bills... and more I'm sure. 

Also, Happy Birthday to Grandpa Roger this week!  I hope you get to drive fast and eat lots of chocolate!  Love you grandpa!

The Song of the Week is "Five O'Clock Somewhere" by Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett.  Dad and I always loved singing "it's 5 o'clock somewhere!"

I continue to love my scripture study and learning more about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I got to listen to my trainer give his departing testimony as he goes home this transfer. He trained me, then I was a Zone Leader with him, now he's finishing up in our zone! It's good to be around him. I was definitely blessed with one of the best trainers to whom I give a lot of credit for the success of my mission so far. I'm waking up everyday and loving the message that I share with everyone. Not everyone accepts it, that is to be expected. But as Joseph Smith said, if we do our duty it will be as well with us as if everyone accepted the gospel! 

Much love! 

Elder Thompson

P Day tennis:  Nini will be so happy!

Camp Fire smoke

More Camp Fire smoke

last week's SWAT training

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPCjC543llU  It's Five O'Clock Somewhere  Alan Jackson/Jimmy Buffett

Call In The SWAT Team

Hello again friends and family, another report from the beautiful northern coast of California. 

I'll be honest, this week was one of the harder ones for me but it's all good... Just another opportunity to prove myself to the Lord. 

Halloween was fun! We decided that since it would be a garbage day to tract, we were just going to bake some cookies for the people we are teaching and also recent converts. It was such a success!! I think it's good for people to see that we actually care about them as people and friends and not just someone who we are teaching about the gospel. They go hand in hand!  One person who we gave cookies to is a recent convert.  She has been going through one of the toughest times I've seen out here. She has tons of health problems, she lives alone, can't drive anywhere, and her family did some messed up things to her. She told us that she was having a really tough time with her health and could almost feel herself ready to give up. At that moment, we texted her to see if she was home so we could drop off some cookies to her. She said it was a sign from God that He is watching over her and He would give her strength. We gave her a blessing the next day. 

2 families invited us over for Halloween, one was the Bishop and the other was the Ward Mission Leader. Both of them told us we could stay as long as we wanted haha. But we had to be in by 6:30 that night. We had pizza at Bishop's and talked to some people who we have been trying to get in contact with, so that was great! We were walking back to our car probably a block away and everyone we passed by thought we were just in REALLY good costumes and thought we were hilarious. We told them we were the real deal and they all got really silent. Made me laugh, great future costume idea. 

After,  we went to our Ward Mission Leader's house, we hung out for a little with them and their son, Camden, who I have become close friends with. It was a fun day, really! 

Another good thing is that Cary, who Elder Justus and I baptized in Fortuna, was down near both of us this week and stopped in Petaluma so that we could all say hi to her! It was fun to see her and hear that she is going strong in the gospel and loves the ward up there. Tender mercy!

The rest of the week was hard. All of our lessons cancelled and they were with such great people who I was so excited to teach. So we did a TON of tracting over the weekend and usually it works out pretty well but the past couple days, the people really weren't having it. I think I got a very small glimpse of what the Savior had to go through.  As we were walking out of an apartment complex that we had spent the last 1.5 hours knocking in, we waved at a man going into one of the apartments. He yelled at us and told us to 'eff off', I tried to smile and have a sense of humor about it but I'm not sure if he appreciated that. That man really didn't like us, but it's okay.  Even if people are mean, make you leave or do other things to you, it doesn't make the work any less true and meaningful. To me, it actually makes it more true! If there were no opposition, there would be no way of telling that this is a good thing. 

So when we showed up to Novato for Pday today, a big armored SWAT truck pulled in the parking lot  along with a big surveillance van.  The SWAT team guys got out and asked if we wanted to participate in some of their training inside of the church, of course we said yes!! We ended up having a big airsoft war with the Marin County SWAT team in which we ran through scenarios where they were supposed to clear out the building and we were supposed to be the bad guys shooting at them.  So that was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, so cool! They were awesome guys!! 

The Song of the Week is  "Noisy Birds" by Fictionist. That's a good one!  Brandon Kitterman, guitar/bass guitar, was my first guitar teacher.

Hope everyone is doing well, much love from the 707.

Elder Thompson 

Rohnert Park Vineyard

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmn1HltEQtQ   Noisy Birds: Fictionist