August 26, 2013
Dear Family,
It's always a challenge to express in words..
and even more so, in text, the feelings I have from the mission. It's
something I have to do every week! This week was great. I got to go on
exchanges with many of the Zone Leaders and we experienced lots of great
things. We got to go to church in a place called Orange yesterday. It
was the District Conference for the members in the Orange District.
Presiding was Elder Walker of the 70. It was a neat experience to meet
and interact with these members that live out in the Australian Outback.
They are very faithful Saints and have a special spirit about them.
One really cool experience I had this week was
that I got to go back and work in Bankstown for the first time since I
left. I was with the Zone Leader Elder Wan. On this day I got to go
visit my recent convert Dee Havea. His family is still set to be sealed
in the temple in November. Just a few weeks before I come home. Dee is
an amazing man. He has been a member for less than 1 year but is one of
the most converted people I have ever met. He is always helping in
church activities and rescue nights and he fulfils his calling very well
as 1st counselor in the young men's. He understands the significance of
the priesthood and is always conscious of being worthy of it. He is
also using it in every way to bless his family. He and his wife and 6
children begin each morning with prayer and scripture study but since
they have been really sick lately they changed it up one morning and he
gave each child a blessing. The night before he
made sure he fasted and prayed to get the spirit, then woke up very
early in the morning to shave and put on a suit so that he could give
the blessings. I was really impressed by this. I am very blessed
to see the progression of Dee and how the gospel has blessed his family
in such a short time.
It's very sad to hear about all the deaths
happening lately. It is always a rough thing to lose someone close to
you. It is also such a blessing to have knowledge of the plan of
salvation. It may not answer every question that someone might have,
but it does give answers to the questions that God knows we need the
answers to. I am grateful for the Holy Ghost and it's power to teach.
Not only teaching through me, but also teaching to me. There are many
great and wonderful things that I have learned only because of the Holy
Ghost. No amount of intellect or intelligence could gather from the
scriptures or any other resource, the things that have been revealed to
me by the Holy Ghost. It is an unbeatable gift. If nothing else, the
Spirit will always provide us with comfort and peace to help us get
through whatever trial we have.
To Makayla, I am so happy and so sad to hear
that you are growing up so fast! It seems like just yesterday I could
hold "Monkey" as a little baby but now you could probably lift me up! I
am excited to hear that you are going to go to a new school and makes
lots of new friends. You will never forget the people you have met
through school and daycare so far. You will also have lots of fun
in your new school. Change can be a scary thing. It is scary for
everyone because we don't know what to expect, or what will happen to
us. However, change makes life exciting! I remember I was nervous to
leave home and go on a mission but I knew how much I would learn and how
much I would change so I just did my best to try anything new. I have
learned a lot of new things and I am thankful for this experience of
being a missionary. There are also lots of other new things I had to do
before my mission but I am thankful for all of them
because they helped me to be a better person and to learn more, and
meet lots of cool new people. I'm sure that this new school will bring
you lot of happiness, friends and good memories. You are such a good and
kind girl I know that others will like you too. I'm happy for you
that you got to have a longer summer break & have fun at kids camp
& swim with Grant, Lydia and Lila. To Mr.Grant, have fun at
pre-school & take good care of Lydia and your mom. I am looking
forward to seeing Lydia as a little person, not just a tiny baby and to
meet Lila.
This week we have a mission tour with the Area
President, Elder Hamula. I am very excited for that but also have to do a
lot of work in preparation for it. The days of sitting back and
enjoying the show are over. I'm now the stage crew!
Hope you all have a great week!
Love Elder Thompson
Pictures
- the Orange Zone at District Conference (many of these branches have not seen any missionaries in years)
- watching the sun rise at Pambula Beach
No comments:
Post a Comment