November 17th

Dear Family,

I know I shouldn't be keeping track, but tomorrow is my 14-month-mark! It's crazy. A member this week was telling us about the things she is trying to overcome right now and also about her mission. She told us that her mission experiences have carried her through the rest of her life. Every companion, every investigator, all of those things have come back in her life in one way or another and I feel like it is such a blessing to be here. Even when it's hard. It's been a good week.

We saw some huge miracles with member referrals yesterday. About five weeks ago, we were at a member's home for dinner. When we asked them who they know that we could teach, the parents looked at us pretty blankly and said they didn't know, but then we asked their 17-year-old son Daniel. He said, yeah, actually my friend Alyssa asks me a lot of questions. We told him to invite her to mutual. We followed up on Sunday and he hadn't yet. We followed up a few more times and then we went to the church on Wednesday evening. He ran up to us and said, "Alyssa is here!" He told us we should meet her after. We did and set up a time to go see her at Daniel's families house on Sunday. We think she's 18. We still need to make sure... But we did some how to begin teaching and are going to see her again on Tuesday. We gave her a Book of Mormon to read, and the Spirit was really strong. This is how it's supposed to be. :)

We also contacted a referral from the ward mission leader in Salmon Arm. We had actually met their son Justin in September, so it was really cool that we already kind of knew him. The family lives in the middle of nowhere, but they are a really sweet couple and interested in learning. They let us right in! I think Jack (the dad) has outwardly given up on religion but he has so many questions that I think he is still inwardly searching. Even if he doesn't know it yet. We're going back to see them on Tuesday as well.

There is a part-member family in the ward that we have been working on. The husband works on Sundays so he wanted to be baptized but was going to wait until retirement in two years because his boss won't let him have any Sundays off. His wife got baptized about two or three years ago. We went in on Wednesday evening and invited him to join us. He wouldn't, so we started teaching Sister M., who struggles to come to church regularly. The Spirit was really there for a while, but she asked us a question about some anti that her husband heard. As we were explaining it, he walked in. It was pretty awful after that. The Spirit left as he spewed out anti. It was so sad. He now has no interest in being baptized. I know absolutely that the church is true. And it made me so sad. His wife seemed uncomfortable for a while, but then she started to join him. It broke my heart. After sharing my testimony several times, I knew we just had to leave. It had been about twenty minutes of this, so I simply said "I'm sorry, but the Spirit is not here, and we need to leave. We will probably come back at a different time, but we cannot stay any longer." When we got to the car, I was shaking and Sister Brook was pretty upset. She rarely cries, but it reminded her of what happened when she told someone close to her she was thinking about serving a mission. I just wanted to go somewhere where the Spirit was strong, so we went to the bishop's house and then met him at the church. It helped a lot and we both got Priesthood blessings. I feel like it's been a blessing in a way, because I feel so much more prepared for whatever is coming and I feel like it was another opportunity to use the Atonement. Sister Dixon invited us to ask Heavenly Father to remove any bitterness from our heart so we could feel the way the Savior feels about them and that was good. You've got to love Sister Training Leaders. :)

I know this church is true. I know the Gospel. I feel firmly planted on a solid foundation. I know absolutely that Heavenly Father will not lead me astray and I have taken my decisions and questions to Him on so many different occasions. I know that He is the source of all spiritual truth and we can find that through prayer. I felt so strongly that the Book of Mormon is true this morning. And I felt that yesterday and the day before that. I love this church and I love my Savior, Jesus Christ. I know anyone looking for answers will be able to find them from Heavenly Father. We are the salt of the earth. :) There may be a tiny fraction of us compared to the rest of the earth (or the meal) but we make it good. I love you all and pray for you.

Sister Thomson

PS. My favorite quote about prayer. “Do you want guidance? Have you prayed to the Lord for inspiration? Do you want to do right or do you want to do what you want to do whether or not it is right? Do you want to do what is best for you in the long run or what seems more desirable for the moment? Have you prayed? How much have you prayed? How did you pray? Have you prayed as did the Savior … or did you ask for what you want regardless of its being proper?”

President Kimball then continued: “Do you say in your prayers: ‘Thy will be done’? Did you say, ‘Heavenly Father, if you will inspire and impress me with the right, I will do that right’? … Did you say, ‘Father in Heaven, I love you, I believe in you, I know you are omniscient. I am honest. I am sincerely desirous of doing right. I know you can see the end from the beginning. You can see the future. You can discern if under this situation I present, I will have peace or turmoil, happiness or sorrow, success or failure. Tell me, please, loved Heavenly Father, and I promise to do what you tell me to do.’ Have you prayed that way? Don’t you think it might be wise? Are you courageous enough to pray that prayer?”