Week 9

Dear Family,
 
Sister Allen and I received a media referral about a month ago and tried to contact the couple, but the woman said her husband was very sick and would not let us go see them. We didn't know what to do, so we put it on the backburner for a while. On Friday evening, the media referral from a month earlier came to mind and we decided to drop by them with a Book of Mormon (which they requested) and then an invitation to a Christmas musical going on in the neighboring community. Their names were Karen and Patrick. We walked to the house on Saturday afternoon right as the woman was pulling up. We told her who we were and that we wanted to meet her. She told us she had just come back from the funeral home because her husband had died that morning. I don't remember too much about the encounter besides the Spirit that we felt talking to this woman. I am amazed at how much God loves and knows His children. He inspired us to go to her in the very hour of her need and we left her with a Book of Mormon, which I know will provide her the most comfort and direction she can find. She received it gladly and I am so grateful we were able to act on that inspiration (which didn't seem like anything huge at the time, but it was) and were able to help her feel the Spirit. We said a prayer with her and promised her that families can be together forever. She said, "I know." I don't know what has happened since then, but I know God loves her and cares about her individually.
 
This week was not a week of seeing the fruits of our labors. But something that gave me a lot of comfort was being reminded of some scriptures about the sons of Mosiah. I kept wondering why we were not seeing success when I know the work is hastening and that I'm going to be a successful missionary. I had begun to doubt myself and my effectiveness as a teacher and a missionary. But I read in Alma that the sons of Mosiah were blessed that they would bring many souls to their salvation, yet there was a time when their hearts were depressed, and they were about to turn back. That is exactly how I felt on Saturday morning. Not about to turn back, but just questioning myself as a missionary. This helped me so much! Just like me, the sons of Mosiah were promised they would bring many souls to the knowledge of their God and they would have success. But they too almost wanted to turn back. But they didn't. They had faith and they kept going. So that's what I'm going to do. It was just comforting to know that my missionary idols almost wanted to turn back, even when they knew they would have success! I realize this is probably only profound to me, but I don't really have much else to tell you all about this week. We did a lot of finding....
 I know this church is true and I love it so much.
 
Love you all,
Sister Thomson

Week 8

Dear Family,
 
I have debated this week whether to share this story because it is probably the kind of thing that is going to freak my mom out. BUT I'm in Canada, not Equador, so when miracles like this happen I have to share them, even if it will scare my mother. :) Don't worry, Mom, I'm safe I promise.
 
This really was amazing though. I can't even tell you. But I'll try. So Sister Allen and I were out finding on Tuesday on a street we felt like we should go to. We were walking in one direction and felt like we should turn around and go the other way. After about two minutes, we came across a man sitting on a small stone ledge by the curb. Even though he was sitting down, he looked like he had to about six-and-a-half feet tall. (And he was.) There were two full bags of alcohol with him and he looked very perterbed. He was chewing on his coat almost, and we could tell he was not in a good state. BUT we felt the Spirit still and felt no danger in talking to him, so we did. :) We found out his aunt had just tried to commit suicide by swallowing a bottle of pills and had been rushed to the hospital. His other aunt (married to the aunt that swallowed the pills) had kicked this man out of the house and he was contemplating kicking the door of the house down because he was so angry. His phone was missing and he had nowhere to go--his ride had driven off and he lives about a half hour away. He wanted to get to the hospital but had no way to get there. He was so angry. We found out he was on bail and was beside himself with grief and anger. He kept saying, I'm going to jail tonight. I don't know what to do, I'm going to jail! He was saying this because he felt like his anger was out of control. You could really see the anguish in his eyes because we could tell he wanted so badly to be better but he was stuck in this rut and felt he was trapped. His anger was consuming him and he was sure he would not be able to control it or the consequences of it. Sister Allen and I said, No. Matt, you are not going to jail tonight. You are not going to hurt your family and we are going to walk you to a bus stop to get away from here and the tempation. So we did. :) We walked him away and he started to tell us about how he prayed every day but he felt like God hated him. Matt said, "God has to hate me. None of this would have happened if He didn't." We kept telling Matt over and over again, no God doesn't hate you, He sent you us to help you get out of this situation. We got to the bus stop and tried to convince Matt to let us take the alcohol. He had purchased it for a party he was planning to have with the family, but then his aunt did what she did. He kept saying, no, I need it. I need to feel numb. He told us he couldn't not drink it. I told him if he kept it, Satan would get him to drink it and he would end up in jail. We tried to say a prayer with him, but the bus came and Matt wouldn't offer it. The bus came and my heart SANK as it drove away. I have never felt the love of God in the same way I did that night for Matt. I just knew God loved him. Anyways, I told Sister Allen that we just had to pray that God would put someone in his path to stop him. Then it hit me!! Who better than the Elders!!!! He was headed downtown straight into their area. We called the Elders and said, "Elders, we need you to perform a miracle." We told them to look for a young, big scary man in almost all black holding 18 cans of beer. We told them the situation, that we left him with a Book of Mormon, and that his name was Matthew.
 
When the Elders called us that night, the first thing Elder Alden did was say, "Okay just wait, Sisters. Listen to this." We heard a little noise and the Elders explained that the sound was fizzing. Sister Allen and I freaked out. We were soooooooooooooo excited. I don't think Elder Alden has sisters. Anyways. They found Matt, got him to his aunt, talked to him for two hours, and tried to get the beer off of him. He wouldn't dump it himself, so Elder Alden told us that the Spirit whispered to them to buy the alcohol off of him. !!!!!! So Elder Butler went to an ATM, withdrew $40, and purchased his alcohol. Matt was then able to pay for a hotel, the Elders left him with their number, and told him to call in the morning. They then went home and dumped out all 18 cans. Is this not the greatest story ever?
 
Also, I have an update on the Native couple Sister Allen and I met a few weeks ago and had the drum circle thing with. We felt that we should go see Arlene this week, so we knocked on her door, but all that happened is that we were able to set up an appointment to see them on Sunday. On Sunday we asked them if they had ever been to church before and Bill told us this half hour story about how he went to church once when he was younger with his dad. He said all of the sudden he had this great joy come over him. He said he felt so happy, but he was crying at the same time. He said the whole room felt lighter, and it was the best thing he had ever felt. Then the feeling went away. He went to church later hoping to feel the same, but he didn't. He spent a long time searching, trying to feel this feeling again, but it wouldn't seem to come back. He went on a 4 day trip to the mountains and after the first few hours all of his food was ruined because of the rain. His ride was still four days away and he was all alone. He decided, well, I'm here, so he just took care of himself for the next few days. He said at the end of the fourth day he was exhausted, but he felt that feeling again, just before his mom came to pick him up. He was so happy to feel it again that it didn't matter. He said he went to the mountains often after that and that same feeling of the best happiness, but also crying would come over him. He said he learned that it's called Conviction and he told us about how he gets that now sometimes when he's with the Elders in his tribe in a smoke house or something. And then he told us how he felt that when we come over, which is why he is happy to talk with us. Sorry that I don't have time to go in depth about it, but I was so happy I was crying a little. I have never felt such joy and such relief in a teaching appointment. I explained to him the Moroni 10:3-5 promise and the gift of the Holy Ghost that we can always have with us. I told him the Book of Mormon was written by his ancestors and I promised him he would know it was true by that same feeling and that he would get that feeling when he read the Book of Mormon and followed Moroni's counsel to pray to know if it was true. We didn't have time to stay much longer, but he went through the pictures and pointed to the picture of Jesus Christ and said, This is Khaans. He came to our people. He talked about a Second Coming and about all of the legends and things his people know about him. I don't have time to write down Khaans teachings, but they are so similar to the Book of Mormon and Christ's dealings with the Nephites. He is living proof that the Book of Mormon is true!! He's going to read it and pray about it. He was very interested and Arlene will be too hopefully. We're going back on Thursday for dinner.
 
Best week ever. It was hard, but the miracles were worth it. The gospel of Jesus Christ is true. I know God loves His children and is in the details of our lives.
 
Sister Thomson

Week 7

Dear Family,
 
This week our mission was toured by Elder Paul V. Johnson of the Seventy. Our P-day was moved to today because yesterday we had a mission conference with him as well as our Mission President yesterday.
 
It was an all-day thing where we listened to instruction for hours. It was incredible and I feel like the Nephites--I can't even tell you one tenth, or one one hundreth of what was spoken there. So I'll tell you things that stood out to me, or at least some of them.
 
He wrote four names on the board--Jeremiah, Lehi, Ezekiel, and Daniel--and asked us to identify each of them. He told us about each of them--Ezekiel was a refugee in Babylon, Jeremiah lived in Jerusalem where everyone hated him, Lehi left because he was going to be killed and then half his family left his church when they finally got to the promised land, and Daniel got to live in a palace and be 2nd in command in Babylon with two different leaders and had a minor incident with some lions. He had us imagine them opening their mission calls and then asked us to imagine what Ezekiel would feel like if Daniel started gloating about how awesome his mission call was. He asked us which missionary was the best missionary, or which missionary lived their purpose the best. He said they all did! It was so powerful.
 
My companion showed me the pure love of Christ this week. She is seriously the best at ministering to me and to everyone at all times. I am working so hard to become like her in that way. I thought I knew how to love until I met her. I seriously love her so much. Her cousins who live in Cologna (I'm going to pretend I know how to spell that city) came to visit this weekend. Her cousin Cheree was baptized when she was eight but has little recollection of the church beyond that. Her husband, Mike is a vet who graduated high school when he was 15 and is a genius and also an awesome guy, but they both know little about the Church so Sister Allen was so excited to see them and share that with them. They have two little girls who are the cutest girls I have ever seen. Ever. Until I have nieces and daughters.... Anyways. We went to a baptism of a woman from Bolivia who walked into the church building one day and asked the Elders to be baptized. Talk about a miracle. Sister Allen and I went with Cheree and it was such a powerful experience. She also received the gift of the Holy Ghost and the room changed. The woman asked to bear her testimony and talked about how she truly felt different when they conferred her with the gift. She said the baptism was great, but the gift of the Holy Ghost was the most powerful feeling she had ever experienced. Our Ward Mission Leader got up when the meeting should have ended and said he felt impressed to ask one or two people to share their testimonies. First, a woman who served her mission in Guatemala got up and bore her testimony in Spanish for the woman. It was so beautiful. I've heard RM's bear testimony in Spanish, but this was something else. She said things I'd never really thought of before and she glowed with the love of Christ in her eyes. (Yay for still understanding Spanish!! Good thing I can't speak it to save someone's life....) Then my companion got up. She said, Hi, you don't know me, but I'm a missionary... And then she bore a testimony so full of love that the whole room lit up. She talked about the joy she felt and how sometimes we get so busy in the church that we forget about why we are here or moments like that, where we have a better look at why we are really here. She continued, and Cheree started to cry. It was a miracle. I love this church. Every day people tell me simply uneducated things with an educated air. They try to sound smart or tell me that the Bible will prove me wrong. I hear things every day that I could pull out a scripture to contradict, and explain to them how they don't understand it. But I'm notttt here to revile with revilers. I'm here to bring others unto Christ. I love what I am learning. Sometimes we go to Christ with anger or frustration because we don't understand His will or His purposes. But He always lovingly just teaches to our understanding and waits for us to catch up. I'm learning a little bit more about Him by trying to emulate Him when people get angry or don't understand. As missionaries we are to go back to the doctrine of Christ, which is faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. I don't want to argue with people. I hope I can show them that I'm not here to be right. I'm here to share the joy I feel with them through His doctrine. I don't know where that tangent came from. But anyways, I love my companion. She just glowed. All I could think when I watched her was, this is the pure love of Christ. She really has this for this woman she has never met. And I hope to reach that point. Where I can look at a stranger with so much love that His light radiates off of my face.
 
Other insight from this week is 3 Nephi 11:3-8ish. Or something. It took them THREE times to recognize the voice of God, even though their hearts burned within them on the first time and it pierced them to their very soul. They just didn't understand that. As a missionary, I can see the Spirit in people's faces when we teach of the Restoration or the Doctrine of Christ, and I know they feel it. They just don't understand it yet.
 
Also Elder Johnson said that we're not getting it yet. Missionaries are no longer supposed to do their work and the members to do theirs. Now is the time for us to work together! So. That is all. I still don't get it, but I'm trying to.
 
I love you all and pray for you every day!!
 
Sister Thomson
 
PS. Elder Johnson told us that we in the Canada Vancouver mission have the Daniel mission call and to not gloat to our friends about how awesome our mission is. So, if I have been gloating about this mission, I am soo sorry! But I truly have the cream of the crop and I'm trying to live up to the priviledge of being here.
 
PPS. Transfer calls came yesterday. Guess who's opening Hidaguay with Sister Allen?!!! Just kidding. We're staying here in Chilliwack. Which is the best. I'm seriously so happy.
 
PPPS. Sisters will probably never go to Hidaguay from what I've heard, so, Mom, don't worrry. I won't be trekking it with the polar bears and drug dealers and six foot drifts.

Week 6

Week 6

Dear Family,

This week was a rough. I kind of knew last week as I was writing that it was too good. There has to be opposition in all things. One thing my district leader likes to emphasize is something that our Mission President's wife told us at my first transfer meeting. There is never a bad day, just a hard one. So this week was really good. Just hard. Which is okay; I know that I've never felt so streched or taxed in my life. I can feel my faith growing. And I know it grows the most when things are the most difficult.

Sister Allen and I have a large teaching pool, but none of our investigators are progressing and we can't seem to find many or any people seeking for truth. But we received a blessing on Saturday night from our Stake President that helped a lot. He said that the mind cannot cognitively process the work we are doing and the importance of it. I felt that so much as I received the blessing and so much comfort. I was reassured that we are doing so much. We knock on so many doors and talk to so many people every day in the hopes that one person will want us to come back. But we forget that we help others in ways we don't know about. I don't know the struggles these people are going through. This actually reminds me of testimony meeting yesterday when two women that we took to some lessons with us got up and bore their testimonies. One touched me so much. This woman had been invited to come with the missionaries to two lessons that fell through. She made the comment that she must be a bad missionary. Sister Ladoucier was kidding kind of, but we could see that she really thought that. We made the comment that Satan must realize how much she can help these people and is working hard to make these appointments fall through. It was just a normal comment to us, but when she bore her testimony yesterday she talked about how deeply that touched her. Yesterday I realized how much good missionaries do, even when we feel like all of our efforts are wasted and cannot see any of the fruits of our labors.

I guess this week I just gained a testimony of being obedient and giving all that we have even when we feel like the heavens are closed and no one is listening. I know that people are being prepared and that miracles really are happening. The two women bearing testimony of going teaching with the missionaries was a huge miracle for Sister Allen and I. We have struggled so much to get members out to lessons, but I think the testimony meeting yesterday made all the difference.

I want to also invite all of you to do something. Since conference, our Mission President has asked us to share Elder Ballard's talk with every active member. We leave each of them with a hard copy of the talk and invite them to read it. It's called "Put Your Trust in the Lord" and it's about member missionary work. He says that when members and missionaries kneel in prayer and ask the Lord for missionary oppurtunities, they will come. He says they will flow naturally as a result of our love for our brothers and sisters and not be forced or contrived. He also says "We are not asking everyone to do everything" and I'm going to paraphrase the rest. He invites each member to help someone feel the Savior's love by Christmas. So everyone, pray for missionary oppurtunities! I'm hoping that when you all get the chance, you can kneel in prayer with the missionaries in your ward and the oppurtunities will come. And that talk is so inspired. So go read it. :) I know that being a misssionary really is the best way for me to feel my Savior's love. When we figuratively take someone by the hand and lead them to the Savior we will feel the Savior's love more fully for us as well as them. I know that the Lord has set up this work the way He has so that we can have the opportunity of feeling the joy that He does when we bring someone back to Him.

I love you all and pray for you!

The Work is working!

Sister Thomson

Week 5

Week five????

HI FAMILY!!!

I probably can't express to everyone how happy I am. Especially because I have so many emails to read.! :) Okay that's probably the last reason why I'm happy. Thank you to everyone for writing me even though I sometimes don't respond. I still love you all and it makes such a difference to have encouragement.

Anyways, the reason I am so happy is because I have seen so many miracles this week! Real ones. Seriously just read this.

So Sister Allen and I attended a Native American drum circle at a strangers home and they fed us chilli and fry bread. WHAT? This really happened. So we were just tracting as per usual and ran across a woman who was native. I just wanted to tell her the Book of Mormon is for her!! I seriously felt like all of the prophets of the Book of Mormon were holding their breath waiting for her to receive this because she's their ancestor! I think. Mom if I'm wrong don't correct me:) Her boyfriend came to the door as we were talking about the Restoration and invited us inside. He told us why they don't believe in going to church and about the God Khaleel (Jesus Christ, he just doesn't know it yet) who came to the Americas and taught them about gifts and love and the trees or something. But the way he said it I knew he was talking about Jesus Christ. I was so excited I just wanted to give him all the gospel discussions right then. But I, of course, couldn't do that so I just tried to listen patiently and smiled A LOT. I felt so much love and joy for these people and could not wait to tell them about the gospel but I felt sooo weak because I had no idea where to start or what to say! I just kept praying the words would come. Then Bill, the boyfriend, invited us to come back in an hour for a drum session that he was holding with their families. So we came back at seven and there were about fifteen people and us. We stood out like a sore thumb and I don't think he told them we were coming. I was so happy to be there that we talked through the awkwardness and they began to feel comfortable around us. They fed us dinner and talked to us. The Matriarch of the family asked us if we were from the Catholic church. I felt that I should say no firmly so I did and then she explained the hurt they felt from being driven about and all of the things they had against churches kind of. But we felt so much love for her and understanding that I think she could see we were sincere. She asked us what was different about our church from the Catholic church and Sister Allen talked about the Restoration. It was great. We then talked about how much we value our heritage and family history and we got them interested in new.familysearch.org. Then we listened to them play drums and rattles and sing like they do in western films and we were informed that it's a way that they worship the Creator. The songs are prayers to Him. It was beautiful. With the direction of the Spirit, we asked if we could share a song of worship with them as well. We said we didn't know how to sing like them, but we wanted to take part in this too. They were happy to have us sing--they were so nice!-- and we shared "A Child's Prayer" because nothing in the hymn book realy stood out to us. The Spirit was so strong and we could see it in their faces. One of the men thanked us and talked about his grandma singing songs like that to him when he would sleep. Long story short, we have just hopefully helped prepare fifteen hearts for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We're going to go back and bring them cookies to thank them so I'll let you all know how that goes.

 

This isn't even the biggest miracle this week! But my time is so limited. Sister Allen and I have been so amazed at how the Lord is just pouring out blessings upon us.

 

We also received a member referral yesterday at church. Her son is inactive and his kind of fiance are living together but so ready for the gospel in their lives. We went to the house and his girlfriend, Kayla was there alone. We talked to her in the backyard but there were REALLY strong winds, so she had to invite us inside!! One thing led to another and she has agreed to hear the discussions with Adam. How much of a miralce is this? Sister Allen and I almost cried as we walked out of her house. She told us a little of her life and absolutely everything she  told us about showed us how the Lord has been preparing her her whole life for this gospel. She went on a six-month mission in her church in and had such a firm belief in God. She received answers to prayers and tried to bring others back to Him. Then she got married and it was rough. She wanted to pray together and he was just not who she thought he was. I don't have enough time to go into depth but she used to pray for help and felt like she received no answers. Basically she is so happy to be with Adam and they are both confused. She says she doesn't know what she believes anymore and wouldn't be suprised if there was no God but wouldn't be suprised if there was. She is so ready. We asked her if she would be willing to let us help her rebuild that relationship with God and she agreed.

 

There have been so many miracles but I don't have time to write all of them. I am amazed sometimes that I'm a missionary!!! I can't believe it. I feel so much love for others and especially for the Lord. All of the time I feel so unworthy of all of the miracles and blessings we've received, but we receive them anyways. Even my companion is a miracle. She is soo good and we get along so well. I love her and have grown so much. I just love my mission. There have been so many rough moments and rough days but then we witness one miracle and the rest doesn't seem to matter anymore. I love what I'm learning about people and about the Lord.

I love you all and I love my mission. You are all in my prayers.

 

Sister Thomson

 

PS. People here fail at taking pictures of us. But this is my comp and I at our Halloween party. I was Elder Butler for Halloween. Also note the Beer Hunter. Taken at a trailer park near the most beautiful lake on the earth. Classic BC.

 

Week 4

Week 4?? I think?

This week has taught me so much. Tuesday was a day of almosts. By the end of the day, my companion and I were feeling frustrated with how close we kept getting to reaching our goals. We had the goal of one new investigator. We ALMOST had four, but every time we tried to pray with them, something would go awry. Then we almost had 20 gospel centered conversations and we almost were home on time. (9:31). It was so frustrating! By the end of the day all I could wonder was why does the Lord seem to almost be blessing us, but not quite? And then Sister Allen, in all her wisdom, realized what is was. That day and the previous day, we were almost obedient but not quite. And the Lord was showing us the difference. Not that we have been doing anything awful, but we would be one minute late to personal study or just little things like that. It is so important to be exactly obedient. Sister Allen and I really learned the difference on Tuesday.

After we repented and fixed that, the rest of our week went better. When Sister Allen and I showed up to our appointment with Stan, he informed us that he had a ton of questions. This was not suprising until we learned that he had spent six hours reading Mormon Doctrine by Bruce R. McConkie. I seriously felt like the poor missionaries who had to teach Glen Beck. We could barely keep up. He is truly a truth-seeking investigator. We again emphasized the importance of the Book of Mormon in the power of conversion. I also felt the reality of the promise to missionaries in Doctrine and Covenants that we will not be confounded if we are teaching by the Spirit. Because he takes his faith seriously and truly wants to learn, we were able to answer all of his questions. It was exhausting, but we were not confounded!

The Work is Working!!

Sister Thomson

Week 3

Rebekah's subject line :
Week 3 You know you're not getting your message across when you're invited to go clubbing.

So my companion and I had the strangest experiences this week. We knocked on a door where a man answered and before we had time to say anything, the man said, "Oh, Mormons. Come in and sit down." He then left the room. His living room was COVERED with pictures of bleeding Christs. Like really gruesome ones. I saw some anointing oil, and thought, Oh no. He came back with a sheet of paper for each of us called Hell--The Grave Reality. He didn't try to tear us apart like I was assuming he would, but we left shortly thereafter. The info thing on hell was the most awful thing I've ever read. It made me so sad to think that some people really think we need to obey out of fear, not love. I was horrified. My companion and I left the house completely stupified. After we went to this man and a couple of other houses, a line from Alma came to mind. "Now when our hearts were depressed and we were about to turn back.." This was exactly how we felt--done with that street, even though we felt so good about it when we came. We decided to knock on one more door and found the friendliest woman ever who is ready to receive the lessons. I am learning more about opposition in all things.

 

Tuesday was a good day. We found three new investigators. Two are a young couple--they let us teach them on the husband's 30th birthday! They are so ready. Jordan, the husband, is looking to quit smoking and wants a better life for his kids. He was able to quit for three months when he was reading the New Testament every day so we are really excited for him.

 

So guess who learned yesterday that it IS possible to gain five pounds in a twelve hour span. ME! Hahaha Sister Allen and I went to our bishop's house for Thanksgiving last night.When we were finished, he turned to his wife and said, Annie they must not like your cooking because they haven't taken seconds. So of course we then took more. What we couldn't tell the bishop is that we had another dinner appoinment schedueled right after that. Yes that is correct. Sister Allen and I ate two complete Thanksgiving dinners complete with like six slices of pie. With seconds at both houses. We learned that there is a point where you just don't even notice any more how much you are eating. I think because we are missionaries and are really blessed, we weren't even in pain. But don't worry, I've already lost three of the five pounds and in this mission we do not eat with members very often. Our mission president wants us to only be with members if they have someone for us to teach and our time with them is still limited.

 

Our mission president has huge amounts of faith in us. His standards of excellence for the mission are really high. He wants 1 new investigator every day, 1 baptism per companionship this month, and one per person next month. After he became the mission president, all of our key indicators septoupled. Or more. He has so much faith.

 

He has also asked Sister Allen and I to cover another area on top of the one we are opening. I can't even tell you all how much I am growing from this. My comp and I are learning so much about hard work and truly relying on the Lord.

 

The Work is Working!

 

Sister Thomson

 

PS. I am compiling a list of reasons why Canada is a different land.

1. My companion just told me about how she once tracted into a black bear. On her way to chuch. In a neighborhood. Apparently that is not uncommon here.

2. I have learned to trust candy here. It is always the best stuff I've ever tried. Always.

3. There is a Tim Hortons on every street corner. I'm not exaggerating. All Tim Hortons sells are bagels, coffee, donuts, and really plain sandwhiches. But people eat there every day. I've tried it once and am so confused.

Week 2

Note from Emily Gold:

I officially suck at this. I can't remember where I created the first blog so I'm starting a new one. I'm so sorry to all of you who are not on her email list. You can send a facebook message to me or Rebekah and I will give it to you if I know you and ask Rebekah if I can give it to you if I don't know you. Again sorry these are soo late. 

Rebekah's Email from week 2:

Dear Family,

I got to drive a mission car today! There was an emergency with some other sisters and only my comp and I could drive, so I took the sisters' car over to the shop with one of them. So exciting right?

This work has been difficult, but it is going really well. My companion and I--Sister Allen--were sent to open a new area where sisters haven't been for a while. Our Mission President has challenged every companionship in the mission to have one baptism in the month of October, so we were really excited for that. Then on Thursday night, the night we arrived in Chilliwack, our zone leaders challenged us to have a baptismal date by Sunday night. We had no investigators or really heads or tails of where to start, but we had faith that the Lord inspired our zone leaders and would help us find those that were ready to hear our message. This kind of thing only happens with exact obedience and luckily, Sister Allen is sooo obedient. I was so happy to have her and she seriously strives to be exactly obedient.

This morning I actually didn't feel discouraged when we didn't have that baptsimal date! And what made me feel even better about it is that we had to drive a sister back to Richmond to catch a flight and while we were there President Tilleman interview my comp and I. He said that he wants us to focus on opening the area and setting the ground work, so two baptisms for Nov and Dec instead. BUT we worked really hard this week and the Lord has blessed us! We have three new investigators! (In four days)

Sorry if this is super vague. It's really hard to write an email knowing this is going out to everyone. But I'll get more used to it..

My mission president is the most incredible man I have ever met. I cannot tell you how lucky I felt to even be in the same office with him.

The work is working!

Sister Thomson

PS. Read Elder Ballards talk again! President Tilleman wants us (the missionaries) to make sure every member in our area has a hard copy of it.

PPS. What was everyone's favorite parts of conference?

PPPS. Funny story I forgot to mention. When I met my comp and we were headed out to Chilliwack, we got a call saying the people in our area thought we were coming a week later so our apt. was empty. We were both really excited to sleep on the floor (no sarcasm here--we really were excited) but a member called and told us she had set up some things. We still don't have any knives and used shampoo for dish soap so I'm really happy it's p-day!! We can get the things we need!!

PPPPS. Groceries are so expensive here. I feel defeated somehow. The cheapest price I've seen for cereal is $4--average being around 5.50. Eggs are like 5 and I almost had a breakdown looking at chicken today. Not really, but I had no idea how to proceed. Who pays $10 for TWO chicken breasts?? Candada. At least the chocolate here is good. But I really do love it here. It's the most beautiful place I've ever been. A bag of marshmellows was on sale for five dollars. Hahahaaha