Week 33: Exercise Every Day and You'll Die Healthier

Dear Family,

This week has really been a week of miracles. I cannot believe it's already the third week! I had the horrible thought last night that I might only have three weeks left with Sister Kunz. But that would be silly. So I stopped thinking about it. :)

Sister Kunz had an experience in her last area that she told me about on Saturday, so we've been sharing that with a couple of people, and it really is incredible. So I'm sharing it with all of you. :)  They were teaching a woman in Maple Ridge and invited her to pray and ask if the Book of Mormon was true. She said, I will if you will. Sister Kunz thought that was fair enough, so she said, alright. I'll pray every day this week after I read it and ask if it's true. So every morning after reading the Book of Mormon for half an hour, she would pray and ask if it is true. And every time she got an answer! She said she received a spiritual witness every single time. What a miracle! So she went back and told the woman about her experience. The woman hadn't read it. So moral of the story is that we need to ask! And more than that, put in some effort first to show that we're going to be willing to act on the answer we receive. That's what real intent means. Really intending to act on the answer that we receive. And part of the faith is acting. Acting in faith means doing something without knowing the end result but hoping that it will be good or will lead where you want it to.

So I love that story. I had a really sacred experience on an exchange this week. I don't know why, but whenever I go on exchanges, I feel like I discover these sister's deepest concerns and questions. Not that I mean to. But it is really special. She was telling me about some boy at home and I was silently praying HELP me change the subject!! I had the thought a couple of times to ask this sister, How do you know that Joseph Smith was a prophet? So I did. She said, actually I don't know that he was. So I asked her, how did you gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon? She responded that she didn't have a testimony of that either. But then she told me she believes they're true, and she feels the Spirit when she shares the First Vision and the Restoration. I don't remember everything that was said, but I did share my recent experience with her. Sister Tilleman told us at a transfer meeting that she has been applying Moroni's Promise each day by praying for more faith in the Book of Mormon and that her testimony of it will increase. So I decided to do that too! One morning about a week later, I was really concerned about something at home that has been concerning me my whole mission and really isn't something I can resolve, it's just something I need to put on the back burner for now. But it was really eating at me! I had prayed for more faith in the Book of Mormon, and was really trying to focus on the message I was reading. I slowly did start to focus on it and by the end of my thirty minutes my heart was literally healed. Stress and worry had really washed away. It amazed me! The page I was reading wasn't even that spiritual. But I know now that anyone can read any page of the Book of Mormon regardless, and gain a testimony of its truth and divinity. I know I did. I know every single page has power. I shared that story with this sister (who has been out for 11 months) and the Spirit was really strong in the car. I was just really happy to share that with her. I love the Book of Mormon. 

Funnier story. We met a guy named Bruce yesterday who goes to the Nativity every year that our church puts on. When he answered the door, I immediately wanted to had him a mormon.org card and run because he was really attractive... Luckily I have a companion. :) Sister Kunz started talking to him and asking him questions. Eventually she asked him if he believed in the Bible. He said he believes that it probably has some overall truths and is really good, but he believes that some things have been changed and he can't believe that people haven't taken things out of the Bible after the years of translations. Sister Kunz immediately said, "Are you sure you're not a Mormon?" Bahaha I love how bold she can be. But she explained the Book of Mormon and he was really excited to read it. 

Also Devin came to church and she really liked it!

Also I've spent way too long writing this email.

Also my subject heading was a little plaque in Bruce's home.

The work is great! I love it and love this mission. I get to see President Tilleman tomorrow! And (hopefully) have an interview with him. The Book of Mormon is true. :)

Love you all,

Sister Thomson

Week 32

Dear Family,

I have had so much trouble writing this email! I don't know why. But I really love this work. Best scripture ever: "Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." It's so true! Everything else is a gift! Actually even the fact that we're here is a gift. 

We have been working with a girl who is a recent convert. She was baptized about 8 months ago and moved out here from Calgary a few months ago after she got married. She is getting a divorce now though, and was not coming to church. So we met with her with our Relief Society President and talked and now she is coming out to lessons with us and shared a really powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon. She really felt like she shouldn't read it at first, so she wouldn't. But one day she found herself picking it up and reading it. She said the second she did, she couldn't put it down! She took it with her everywhere--to work, on the bus. She read it every spare moment and quit all of the things she was doing including smoking and drinking. Her parents were really against it, but she knew what she felt was true and even though they threw anti at her, she just knew the Book of Mormon was true. I love her. 

Last night when we got home, the Spirit came into the car so powerfully.... Sister Kunz told me she didn't like my workout book because even though she's barely looked at it, she just said it was really affecting her. And she was lovingly trying to ask me how it must be affecting me. I don't know. I might throw it away. Ha. We'll see. But it was almost an out of body experience. I just really felt His love for us so strong. I really think He is so much more happy with us than we are with ourselves. 

I can't quote President's email, but he told us (as a mission) how amazing we are and the best part is we don't know it. And then he said, if any of you think you're an amazing missionary (because of you and not God), go to the Christlike attribute activity at the end of Chapter 6 and mark 0s for everything on humility, and study it every day.

We are working with a girl named Kelly who can feel the Spirit every time we see her! She hasn't read the Book of Mormon on her own yet, and she didn't come to church yet, but I know she will. She's still a newer investigator.

I really love this work. I know God has really been blessing us so much. I don't even know why. When I've been getting up, I am starting to sense how each day has really been a gift from God. I'm getting a greater appreciation for this life in general and feel like God is so merciful and so full of love just for letting me be on this earth to grow! I really am sincere about this. I wish everyone could serve a mission. I just want everyone to have what I've been given, and I feel like the mission is the only place to learn so many things.


Sister Thomson

PS. We saw a miracle! I was feeling really dizzy during finding time, so we went to the car to pray that it would go away. I wasn't sure if it had after we prayed, but then I realized I needed to have faith and get out of the car. When we did, we knocked on a door where a man's heart was so softened that at the beginning he was leaning on a wall saying he barely believed in God and at the end was crouched down looking in our eyes and hanging on every word and saying he wanted to read the Book of Mormon because he could literally feel our enthusiasm about it. His name is Dean and we're teaching him in two weeks.

Week 31

Dear Family,

I've been transferred to Duncan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's on the Island. This place is really cool. We have a really large area with lots of country roads that haven't been explored yet, and the people here are so receptive. I feel like I've been able to just let the Spirit speak through me so much more fully without restraint because they're really open. 

Sister Kunz is my companion and she is awesome!!!! She got her bachelors in history at BYU-I and has been accepted to the Reuben J. Clark Law School at BYU for when she gets back. She is really hard working and I feel like we get along well and work well together. I feel like my dream of being able to work myself into the ground has finally come true!! She's the type to work even if she's sick or tired which is so perfect. We run in the mornings together and run door-to-door in the evenings when we're finding too. We found 6 new investigators on Saturday. And on Sunday we invited a girl to be baptized named Kelly at our first lesson and the Spirit was really strong. She mentioned she could really feel something when she is around missionaries. I just feel like God is really pleased with the work we're doing and I feel like I'm finally at the point where I can just work and give everything over to God and focus on this. He really is fulfilling the promise to give us at the very hour what we need to say and I feel like my love for these people is growing. So, I'm happy. I know there will be challenges that I don't see yet, but so far so good.

Downsides to Duncan: this is the weed capital of BC. It is hippie central. When I heard I was going to Duncan, I only knew one thing about it. The two sisters that opened here got really really high on their first planning day from the woman living above them and had to get picked up by their Relief Society president. She wouldn't let them leave her house for about 24 hours because it took a long time for them to come back and they had to live in a hotel for a week while they found a new place. So transfer calls were a little shocking. But it is definitely true. There is a place here that is called the Bong Shop and has a picture of marijuana next to the sign. It's crazy to me that they can be that open about it here!! What is this?! 

But that's okay because we're here to help people overcome their addictions and I am so excited to help free so many people from that. I can't decide how to describe this place. It's like nowhere I've ever been or seen. So I'll figure that out next week....

I would tell you more stories but I have a lot of letters to write today. But the church is most definitely true and I know it. 

Love you all and this work is absolutely the best! If you are thinking about serving a mission, do it! It is the best decision ever and I love it.

Sister Thomson

PS: Almost forgot! I hit Sister Kunz with the car yesterday when she was backing me and knocked her over...... I am a terrible companion.