Feliz Navidad....still. October 27, 2014

WE FOUND A CHRISTMAS TREE IN OUR HOUSE WITH LIGHTS! 

Also, right next to it is a very creepy crab-lobster plush thing that sings to you and I am actually sincerely creeped out by it. Also, Elder Olson walked by just now and told me to tell all of you "hi." So, hi.

First of all, we got the most amazing apps on our iPads this week for Spanish study...we got "duolingo" approved, and also an app called "Quizlet". Duolingo is great and all, but, I, uh, am a little too advanced for that. (Cocky nod.) But sometimes I still play because I like the little successful "ding" it makes when you get something right. #energyboost #confidenceboost #selfesteemrocks

Anyway, that's like the biggest thing that happened this week.

In other news, we were sitting in Greenie meeting this week and suddenly there's a ruckus on the other side of the room with three elders, they're desperately trying to catch/flee from something, and lo and behold, it's a SCORPIAN. I mean a SCORPION. (Stupid spelling.) And this little guy is mad! So Hermana Mello and I get abandoned by our Zone Leaders/fellow trainers/trainees (all elders) because they are trying to coax this little demon into a glass cup, I'm like, yep, I'm out, so I just get up and leave, there are some elders studying in the gym and I'm like, "ya'll are missing Animal Planet in there," so they book it inside, and before you know it, there's like eight elders and a few sisters huddled around this scorpion in a cup, and two of the elders went and found two rolly-polly bugs and stuck them in there, apparently this scorpion was just going wild, and I'm like, WHAT IS THE POINT OF THIS MADNESS?????!?!?!?! 

We also carved a pumpkin this week as a district activity. 

OH WAIT, OH WAIT. Let's talk about this. Is it just me, or do people in Phoenix start decorating for Halloween WAY TOO EARLY/TOO MUCH. For real?? People are buggin because I start Christmas a few weeks early, but they've got their plastic dead bodies and YES THEIR CREEPY SINGING GHOSTS out on like September 30th?! Not cool, Phoenix! It's Christmas!!! I don't need that bloody skull in my face. I just don't think that Halloween is my holiday. Or, really, I don't think that any holiday where talking/singing inanimate objects are the norm. (Besides Christmas...dancing Santas are cool I guess.)

Oh, going back to insects, we had to let off a roach bomb in our house on Wednesday. Those little critters are toast. Ooh, cockroaches are so fast! It's unbelievable! And they hide! It's the creepiest game of peek-a-boo ever. 

Also, as my mother was already informed, I did something unbelievable this week...I TRIED TO GET A FLUSHOT OF MY OWN FREE WILL. It's optional, but I figure that I won't be in AZ for the entire winter so I should probably cover my bases. I even picked out a reward of what I was going to buy after I did it, I chose this really cute nail polish, but then it didn't work out. But I just thought you should all know that I TRIED. We'll see if I can muster up the courage again. I was almost in tears still. 

PHOENIX TEMPLE OPEN HOUSE!! We went on Saturday! We invited a less active and her nonmember family. The husband has been pretty against her going through the temple, and we hoped that this would soften his heart. TEMPLES ARE BEAUTIFUL. You all need to look up pictures of the Phoenix Temple. The baptismal font was one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. And the spirit was tangible. Afterwards, her family had a lot of questions, and finally her husband said, "if my wife is a member, why can't she go through the temple?" We were like, "she can!!" and he was like "she can??" and we were like "YES!!!" 

BOOM. Heart changed. It was awesome. 

ROSALIA WAS BAPTIZED THIS SATURDAY, TOO!!! I couldn't go, because we had made plans to go to the temple. But, I am certain that it was a beautiful experience. I am so happy and humbled to have been a part of helping her find the gospel. I just love her so much. 

Gerardo, once again, was not baptized. We decided that we want him to have a little more time, so his date is now the 8th of November. (NOVEMBER, GUYS. NOVEMBER IS THIS WEEK.) Anyway, I feel REALLY GOOD about the 8th for him!! I know that he can be ready by then!! We have to work on helping his 9 year old daughter to want to go to church on Sunday, though. She stays with him every weekend and she really doesn't want to go to church, which...presents a bit of a problem. But it will all work out! Pray for him. :)

This morning, I did a lot of reflecting during my personal study. And I had so many thoughts running through my mind. It's hard to explain them all. But I was thinking about the beginning of my mission. Before I even left, I thought that a mission was going to be something for me. Something to make me grow. Then when I left, I was like, no, no, no, this is about me helping OTHER PEOPLE. Well, flash forward a few months, and I realized, NO, no, no, this is not about ME helping other people, this is about GOD helping ME. HEALING me. I am here to learn and grow and become humbled to dust. 

Well, now I'm like HOLD UP. NO. NO. NO. No. The mission is not about me. It is not about me helping others. It is not even about God helping me. My whole life has just been me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, etc. But the mission...is about something BIGGER. Something GLOBAL. Something ETERNAL. And it's NOT ME. At all. I get some benefits, sure, but IT'S NOT ME. I feel like my mission has in a way mirrored my life up until this point, but now I feel like everything is getting super-charged for the moment when I walk off the plane and I become McKenna Thomas again. WHO IS THAT? WHO WILL THAT PERSON BE? WHO WILL THAT PERSON INFLUENCE? WHAT GOOD WILL BE DONE? It's not just who I am. It's what happens afterwards. In the world. In a home. In the life to come. IT'S NOT ABOUT ME. Or you. Or anyone. Ever. There is something big, people. Way bigger than what I think most of us imagine. Think about that.

I hope that what I just said made sense. I KNOW THAT THE GOSPEL IS TRUE. This is not my mission, it is His.

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. PLEASE CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS TODAY.

Love, Hermana Thomas

And...still Christmas-ing!

FELIZ NAVIDAD OR ELSE. Yes, Christmas is a-ringin' loud and proud down here in the oven of Arizona! Sometimes when I am sweating to death I pretend that I'm just soaked with melted snowflakes.  I AM CRAVING A WINTER. And I will probably take that back after about ten minutes in Utah but HOLY COW. I don't think you all understand. I haven't seen a cold day for LIKE TWENTY MONTHS. I mean, I guess that it was a little cold in my first two weeks in Chile, but that's due to the absolutely nonexistence of indoor heating. It was probably in the high seventies, low eighties during the day.  For those of you just tuning into my life, I am pretty much world-renown for turning the fireplace on in July and sitting two inches from it to warm my fingers and toes and whole body in general. I am 138% positive that I have a higher body temperature than the average human being...okay, well, I don't really get "science" but wouldn't that make sense?? Wouldn't that explain why I am always colder than everyone else?  DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON WEEKLY PLANNING HERE. In this mission we all come together every Friday as a zone and do our weekly planning in the cultural hall of a chapel (as companionships, obviously.) I AM ALWAYS FREEZING. I have brought a jacket to this meeting for the last few months because I seriously just sit and freeze. For three hours.  So, just to clarify, just because I am craving a winter...probably doesn't mean that I won't have the fireplace on in July. Now that I've gotten your attention with that super interesting story...let's get on with this letter! First, I have to say...Georgette did not end up being baptized this week. :( Super sad. Again. I guess that she's been out of town/super hard to get a hold of. I KNOW THAT SHE WILL FIGURE IT OUT SOME DAY. It makes me so totally sad. :( BUT I HAVE OTHER NEWS THAT IS SUPER GREAT! ROSALIA IS GETTING BAPTIZED!! Do you remember my Mexican grandma who read and loved the Book of Mormon? She is on date for this week! Hopefully it will happen, though. She's not sure that she can get work off, but I saw Sister Homer last night and she told me all about it, I'm going to try to get permission to go! Also, in case you are wondering, Gerardo was not baptized this weekend, either, but it's okay! He is on date for this coming weekend. There were a couple things that he still needed to learn and apply, and we want him to be totally prepared to be baptized so that he can have the best experience possible! So we moved it. But he's doing awesome! My companion is so sweet. We've had quite a few funny moments this week...oh, a classic Hermana Mello quote: "I really want to marry a guy from Scotland. I am confident that we would never have any communication problems. I would just sit and listen to him talk all day and be happy about it." She is so funny...and also TOTALLY from New England. (OH WAIT. SIDE-NOTE. Everyone, answer me this: is New York considered part of New England? Very important that you tell me soon.) She uses these big words and formal phrasing, and when she talks I seriously feel this empty omniscient echo in the back of me that feels so familiar and nostalgic of living in Connecticut! I have remembered so much vocabulary being her companion. And sometimes I use big words again. It's for fun. LIKE FLABBERGASTED. #favoritewordsince2ndgrade Also, I was trying to open a jar the other day but couldn't. So I asked her to help. She was struggling, too, but then she went across the kitchen to grab a rag to help her open it...then she turns around and runs at the jar from across the kitchen, practically leaps on top of it, and tries to rip it open! I was laughing so hard, it was the most unexpected attack I have ever seen. She was like, "I don't know why I went at it with a running start, I usually think that it gives me more force or something, but I forgot that doesn't usually work when you're opening a jar." Another great quote from the week: "In my mind, Nephi looks exactly like Kronk." --Elder Whitted, District Leader Hermana Mello and I had a good week! We got super blessed. We had more member-presents than we ever have had before, so that was a big improvement! We also found a lot of new investigators, which was so fun! But we did run into this guy and his wife who have listened to missionaries before, but they've got some giant beef about tithing and bishops. He was absolutely one hundred percent convinced that bishops make their living by taking people's tithing. We tried to explain why we pay tithing and that it's only used to build temples, chapels, serve members of the church, serve the world, print books, build the Kingdom of God on the earth, but he wasn't really having it. Then he went on to say that he went to a Mormon church once, asked for food and a job and didn't get it. So later he went to a random other christian church and they gave him everything he asked for. And he said that that's why he goes there. Not for Jesus. For the free stuff. 1) Sorry that you had that experience with the Mormon church, I'm sure they would have loved to help you, but we also know that God intends for his children to learn to work for and support themselves so that they can learn new skills and become independent and industrious. 2) Didn't you just accuse and condemn bishops of supposedly committing the sin of "free-loading"? 3) Go to church for Jesus, please. He also firmly believes that people cannot repent. He claims that church is where murderers and evil people go to pretend like they are good, but that Jesus rejects them and is therefore disgusted with churches in general. WELL, I have never heard something so untrue in my entire life. EVERYONE. JESUS LOVES ALL OF US. HE DOESN'T CARE WHAT YOU'VE DONE. THAT DOESN'T CHANGE HIS LOVE FOR YOU. And He welcomes us with open arms when we humble ourselves enough to come unto Him for help. THAT IS WHY HE CAME TO EARTH IN THE FIRST PLACE! :) So that we can change! So that, no matter what we've done, we can ALWAYS COME BACK!  I am so grateful that I know that.  I don't mean to talk badly about that man and his wife. It just really made me sad for them. And sad for anyone who believes the same. GOD LOVES YOU!! :) Last night I got to sing one more time in that double quartet at the Mission President's Fireside. Brother Barney, part of the mission presidency here in Tempe, gave a beautiful talk afterwards. He told this story: There was a family who had a severely handicapped 12-year-old daughter. The parents wanted her to be baptized, but the bishop did not believe that it was a necessary course of action. Not only was he unsure that she needed it, but he wasn't convinced that she could understand enough of the gospel to know the significance of the baptismal covenant. Regardless, he decided that he would have at least an interview with her to determine what they would do.  Just as he had predicted, she didn't recognize most of the vocabulary of the discussion, such as "repentance" or "immersion," "priesthood" or "prophet." Feeling justified, the bishop was about to close the case and decide that the little girl would not need to be baptized. However, the painting behind her caught his eye. It depicted the Savior in Gethsemane. He felt prompted to ask the little girl if she even knew who that was.  After he had asked the question, the girl stood herself up, approached his desk, leaned herself by her elbows onto the table and said firmly, "that's Jesus. And He loves me!" Then, waving her hand around in a circle above her head, she added, "He loves ALL of us!" The bishop was overwhelmed by the enormous spirit he felt in the room, and was both humbled and grateful that she had drawn the circle big enough to include him, as well. I LOVE THAT STORY! GOD LOVES YOU. HE LOVES ME. HE LOVES ALL OF US. Never forget that! READ YOUR SCRIPTURES, ERIN AND IRELAND. AND PRAY. AND GO TO CHURCH. DON'T SKIP IT. EVER. Love, Hermana Thomas

More Christmas happiness Letter from October 13, 2014

HELLO THERE. How are the Christmas celebrations going over there? Because they are thriving here! Well...around me, at least. (My poor companion.) (Just kidding, she's lucky.) (And I mean that in the least vain way possible.) (Okay, is that how you spell "vain"? It just looks wrong.)

This week I got out-whitted. And I was super impressed. And still not over it. There's this most amazing family in our ward, the Flores family, and they are amazing. The dad was just released as Ward Mission Leader in our ward and called as Stake Mission Leader...and pretty much it's a family of missionaries. One of their daughters goes out with us all the time, she's so nice! Anyway, they have a 12-year-old son named Alex. This kid is a crack-up. When we first met him, we asked if he was going to be a missionary, and in response, she kind of cocked his head to the side and said "well...I'm, uhh, actually the deacons quorum president, so..." raising his eyebrows in a 'you-know-what-that-means' way. We were like...way to go, kid. He is proud of his calling. :)

Well, we went over to their house for dinner a few days ago. He came around the corner, and shook the elders' hands first, then came over to us and said, "I don't believe I've met you two yet, either!" So I said, "umm...ouch! We met last week! You don't remember?!" He squinted his eyes, and said, "no way, really??" And I pretended to be offended and hurt, like, "come on, you don't remember us?!" So this kid just shrugs and says, "it's probably because you look even prettier today is all." 

So I respond, "oh, and what are you saying about last time we were here, then, hmm? We weren't pretty then?" And he says, "nope, you were pretty then, too, but you two must be wearing less makeup today." 

BOOM. Touche, kid. Too. Shay. That kid is smooth. I had nothing more to say. Bright future ahead of him, that's all I'm saying. Okay. Back to missionary work.

I have a lesson about peer-pressure this week. Once upon a time, I ate six chilepinos mixed into a fourth a cup of frijoles and my mouth caught on FIRE.

DON'T LET MEXICANS CONVINCE YOU TO DO THAT. OR FELLOW MISSIONARIES. JUST DON'T. 

Also, I came up with a great analogy. I don't know why, but when missionaries want to explain that teaching people according to their needs is more important than teaching the lesson word-for-word, they say, "you can't throw up the gospel onto them." (<--at least, that's what everyone always says to me....?) Anyway, so I say that now, too, but the other day I said it to Hermana Mello and I just got caught up in this thought and okay, just listen...

If there is a really good food, but looks different and people have heard weird things about it, but YOU know it's good and you want to share it with your best friend, THE LAST THING YOU SHOULD DO is eat it and then throw it up on them. 

No, no, you should tell them how good it is, testify of it's deliciousness, and invite them to try it themselves! Because if you throw it up on them, great, they have it all over them, they kind of know what it is now from their own personal experience, but they never got the chance to really take it in! And if you try to force it down their throat they will probably throw it back up (and also hate you.) You can only INVITE THEM TO TRY IT! Then it will become a part of them. And they will love it too and invite their friends!

Weirdest analogy ever, never going to use it in a lesson unless directed by the Spirit to do so, but that's what I think about during personal study, and I thought I'd share. Also, I'm sorry for the imagery. 

Cristina got baptized on Saturday! I got to go, and it was amazing! She was glowing afterwards, and her testimony was so simple and beautiful! I was so glad I got to go and be a part of it. I am hoping that Georgette follows through and gets baptized this coming week, because I've already got permission to go to that one, too!

Also, all missionaries in the United States got to see "Meet the Mormons" early, so I saw that this week! YOU ALL NEED TO GO ASAP. IT IS SUCH A GREAT MOVIE! Also, I don't know if you knew this, but all proceeds for the movie are being donated to the Red Cross. Pretty cool!

We also have a baptism coming up this weekend! (We hope.) We have to follow up on the Word of Wisdom, but I might be sending a baptism email next week! Yay! His name is Gerardo, super prepared for the gospel. He's got a great story, I'll tell you next week!

I have also been setting some BIG TIME GOALS this week. Like, I realized on my mission that I don't think I've ever set/achieved a formal goal ever in my life. I have studied goal-setting like absolute crazy, and I'm SO EXCITED to tell you all about it when I am home! That's a long time away, but it is coming! :)

"You are my favorite Yankees fan. That is an honor." --Hermana Mello (redsox. ugh.)

"God speaks fluent Spanglish. He also speaks dream language, like when you're praying in the mornings." --Elder Vorkink

"I don't know why you need to take physics for the MCAT, you're never going to use it...like...if the particles are moving at this rate, you're gonna need a heart operation." --Hermana Mello

"He just gave me a friendly arm-grab." --Hermana Mello

Despite the funny quotes (are those ever actually funny to you?), Hermana Mello also said something super interesting the other day while we were driving. I don't even remember what we were talking about, but she said "isn't it interesting that we as human beings so readily accept scientific eternity, things unexplored and unproven theories as something real and possible, but we are so incredulous to spiritual eternity, things unproven and believed in?" 

I love that. It's true. We accept that the universe has no end, but our finite minds find it difficult to actually comprehend an endless matter. But we believe it as a true fact nonetheless! But then you consider a spiritual eternity, that there are things unproven but spiritually true, and people so easily doubt. Our minds are so finite! And guess what? We will never prove everything, spiritual or physical! There is so much to be discovered. But isn't it amazing that the gospel still provides answers to all life's questions? It just make sense...the gospel is logical!

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. IF YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE...DO IT. DO IT!

Not in a peer-pressure kind of way, though...

READ YOUR SCRIPTURES, GUYS. AND PRAY MORNING AND NIGHT. AND GO TO CHURCH AND FEEL THE SPIRIT PLEASE.

Love, Hermana Thomas

Merry Christmas

It is Christmas Time for McKenna letter from October 6, 2014

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

AREN'T YOU HAPPY?!?! IIIIIIIIIIIIIIT'S CHRISTMAS TIIIIIME! JINGLE BELLS, JINGLE BELLS, JINGLE ALL THE WAY....(creepy eyes staring at me from down the hall as a Christmas Tree comes hauntingly to life and threatens to suck out my soul...)

Oh, Douglas Fir. RIP.

Feliz Navidad! YAY! Christmas is starting a month early this year! (Yes, you head me. A month early.) I just feel in the Christmas spirit! Plus IT'S PRACTICALLY HERE! :D

But I certainly didn't feel that holly-jolly on Monday...I GOT SICK. Super sick. Like, never-eating-Panda-again sick. It was super schlikin. 

Truth is, it started before the Panda. We were cleaning out the fridge on P-Day and I started to feel a little nauseous, but I just shrugged it off. Then I wrote my letter home, and as we were walking out of the library we ran into the nicest little week-off-her-mission RM who asked if she could take us out to lunch! We were like, YEAH, so we went with her to Panda. She was so nice. Also, she's engaged. (Sent me into panic mode a bit.) But we were so grateful...man, I have been on the receiving end of SO many random-mormon moments, I need to do that for missionaries when I get home. 

Anyway, we went to buy food after, but by that time, I was feeling pretty light-headed and not at all in the mood to be surrounded by food. So we bought a few things, went home, and I just absolutely crashed in bed for like...three hours. IT WAS THE WORST. And I wanted to go out and work, but we called Sister Toone, and she said to take it easy. So I laid in bed for like, another four hours...up all night...no more Panda. The next day I had a fever so we stayed in for most of it again...my poor greenie! Her first P-Day, and she just had to nurse her trainer back to health...but she must be good at it, because we got out to work later that night! Yay!

WAIT. CAN WE JUST DISCUSS THIS FOR A SECOND? Putting aside the whole TB thing, how many times did I write home during my time and Chile and talk about being sick? ZERO. ZERO TIMES. ZERO TIMES ZERO. But pick me up and move me to Tempe Arizona and I'm BEDRIDDEN. And this goes for everything, not just sicknesses, I'm talking bugs I've had to kill, too. I don't think I killed a single bug in Chile! DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY COCKROACHES I HAVE COME TO A VIOLENT DEATH AT MY HANDS IN THE LAST FIVE MONTHS?

Back to real news: Hermana Mello and I got into our first fight ever. Thor vs. Loki. I'm sorry, when was this even a QUESTION? LIKE, WHEN WAS LOKI EVER CONSIDERED SOMEONE WORTHY TO BE COMPARED TO THOR...OR ANYBODY? HAVE I MISSED SOMETHING?

So...General Conference happened! Wasn't it AMAZING? I actually got so much out of this Conference. I know I've probably said that about every Conference in the mission, but this time I actually mean it. I was reflecting on why that might have been, and I decided...I have really grown in the last six months. I wish there was a definite way to measure it, but I don't think there is. All I know is that something has undergone an immense change within myself and I was more spiritually mature and humble to hear what the Lord wanted me to hear. It was so amazing! I especially loved the first session of Conference. 

We also watched it all in Spanish...that's right! My greenie watched it in Spanish! And totally understood it. Did I not tell you that she already speaks Spanish? But if you ask her, she'll say, "oh, only un pocito..."....no, no. She's amazing.

SO I HAVE NEWS.

First of all...IVAN GOT BAPTIZED LAST WEEK! (Remember the young man we were teaching, and his less-active cousin in Mesa?) I didn't get to go, but YAY!!! 

Also...Christina is getting married this Friday and baptized on Saturday! I am going to try to get permission to go, but isn't that also amazing?

BUT WAIT. THERE IS MORE. 

The reason I know all of this is because I got a call from the wonderful, lovely Hermana Homer last night! She got permission to call me and discuss the baptism details so that I can get permission to go, but anyway, the point is...on Thursday, in the middle of an MLC, she got a text. When she checked it, it was.....GEORGETTE! GEORGETTE, PEOPLE!! And she said that she was ready to get baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??! 

So of course Hermana Homer set up an appointment ASAP to find out what was going on. They met up with her, and I guess that she very tearfully told them that the night before/morning of her baptism, she and her husband had had some pretty big disagreements about her being baptized. It got pretty intense, and in her weakness, she just called the whole thing off. But she told Hermana Homer that as soon as she lost contact with the church, stopped reading and stopped praying, she felt it. She felt dark. She felt empty. And it was such an awful thing. So much so that she knew that she had made a huge mistake, and chosen, once again, a man over God. So that's when she contacted Hermana Homer.

GEORGETTE IS GETTING BAPTIZED ON THE 18TH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I am going to fight, fight, fight so that I can be there. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS, RIGHT?!?

DON'T HATE ON CHRISTMAS.

Miracles are real!!! My heart seriously exploded from joy when I heard that. Most amazing thing ever. 

"I'm kind of upset that my dream wasn't anatomically correct." --Hermana Mello (she got her leg accidentally chopped off in her dream and there was only one bone in her calf.) (is that how you spell calf??)

"Horse people. Solid." --Hermana Mello (upon seeing three men riding horses through the streets)

"I don't know how I could tell, but I just knew I was turning into a camel, I could feel it." --Hermana Mello (she has weird dreams at night)

"You have, like, a lot of time left.....................................................like, not from my point of view, but from yours." --Hermana Mello (trying to console me as I stew about how much time I have left on my mission.)

"You can give all the birth you want." --Elder Knudsen (don't ask.)

THE CHURCH CONTINUES TO BE TRUE. Don't ever doubt it! Serve everyone! Love everyone! Look to God in everything! KINDNESS IS POWERFUL!

LOVE, Hermana Thomas

Letter from September 29, 2014

HELLO EVERYONE! HELLO WORLD! HELLO COMPUTER! HELLO MY STALKERS. (It's been a while since I sent a shout out over that way.) HOW'S IT GOING?

Do you know what is the worst thing ever/something I am becoming very professional at? Packing. Packing is the worst. I used to think that unpacking was worse, but after this week, I have made my firm, eternal decision--packing. Is. Not fun. 

Hermana Homer and I were both asked to train, so leading up to transfers, we did as much stalking as humanly possible on a mission...we called Sister Brown in the office to send us pictures of the incoming missionaries. Then we pretty much had our eyes glued to those pictures for the next three days, trying to divine who our greenies might be. We were pretty impatient. 

THEN THE BEST THING EVER HAPPENED. President Toone asked all of the people that had sung in the double quartet for Elder Christopherson to come down to the mission home and sing to the greenies the night before transfers! Seriously, I felt like I got some kind of year-early sneak-peek at the next Lord of the Rings movie or something, I was so excited!! So we went down and scoped it out, sang for a little bit, then scoped it out some more, but none of the greenies were screaming at me this time. With Hermana Johnson, I pretty much knew. But this time...nope. I was left to develop patience. The one Christ-like attribute that has been tested consistently and daily throughout my entire mission.

It was a tearful goodbye saying "adios" to Sister Barnes...especially to Sugar. Not kidding, I cried when Sugar licked my nose for the last time. Someone help me. I am developing Christ-like love for a Chihuahua. 

Well, we got to transfer meeting and, drumroll please....IT'S A GIRL! :) Hermana Emily Mello from Massachusetts is my newest, wonferfulest companion. GOOD OL' EAST COASTIN' UP IN HERE, REPRESENT. Hermana Mello is a doll. She's so cute. And SHE SPEAKS SPANISH. She says she doesn't, but don't believe her. She's hablar-ing like nobody's business. I'm so proud of her. 

She's also pretty much got like, every talent known to man. A couple days I was just sitting at a piano clunking out some old tune that I remember the first line of, and she was like, "look! You are so good at piano!" I was like...umm...no. Not really. I asked her if she played piano, and she said yes, but not very well. 

"Not very well." She played like the entire Children's Hymnbook for our ward's primary yesterday, not a single mistake, no sweat, just swaying to and fro, her fingers dancing on the keys...I was like...oh. Wow. That's good.

Then yesterday we found this investigator whose son is deaf, so of course I'm all whipping out my ASL ABC's (the letters I even know are: ABCDEIJKLMNORTUVWYZ) and also I somehow know the sign for "Christ"? I don't remember learning that ever, but I got it right...anyway, I am pretty much communicating at the pace of an ant with a rock on top of it. Then I turn to Hermana Mello, and she just smiles, and whips out some ASL! She's all "I know that Jesus Christ lives" in ASL and I'm like...oh. Wow. That's good. 

The point is, she is the bomb. I love her! She is probably one of the sweetest people I know! We are living in our apartm

WAIT I DIDN'T TELL YOU WHERE I AM. 

Phoenix South. Aguila Ward! G-g-g-ghettooo. Kind of. Not really, but a lot more ghetto than my past areas. (Tempe and Mesa...pretty posh in comparison.) But the ward is awesome! This is the first time that I have members that actually ASK me when they can come out with us. I'm like...how about right now until the end of the night? And all day tomorrow? Do you want a tag? You can just come live with us.

Did all the women reading this see the General Women's broadcast this Saturday? I really hope so! It was so good! We actually got asked to go help out with this booth at the activity beforehand and remind people about the temple open house coming up! But we were late because of a HUGE RAINSTORM that hit us as we were leaving! It was crazy awesome.

Hermana Mello and I have already had a few adventures, too. That mainly means that we have gotten lost like 24 times in the last three days. That's for real. We drove so much last night just trying to figure out where we were. 

Also, we had fast Sunday this weekend. We actually ate at about 3:30 on Saturday night, then started fasting, so by yesterday afternoon we were pretty starved, and our dinner wasn't until 5. We weren't anywhere near the apartment, plus we didn't want to take time out of proselyting, but it was Sunday so we couldn't just go buy something quick from a gas station. We were dying of hunger by about 4:00...but then...Hermana Mello found some super crushed up M&Ms in her bag. From like, two months ago. 

Best break the fast ever.

We also each had a mint.

As for the work, we whitewashed in, so it's been a little slow! It's been especially hard this time for  us to get a hold of people, or to find them in their houses! But we have already met Gerardo, an amazing investigator who is set to be baptized on the 12th of October! He is awesome. And we are slowly setting up appointments to meet members and the other people that the sisters before us were teaching.

Phoenix South is pretty awesome. I am excited to be here! I hope that I can die here with Sister Mello. That would be fun. And...I don't want to pack until I have to...

I LOVE YOU ALL SO STINKIN MUCH. Oh yeah, also, guess what? I got a call this morning from some BYU student who was asking permission to use my song from the For Strength of Youth album for her dance project...I felt pretty famous! But...unfortunately I had to tell her that I don't actually have the rights to that song...so I couldn't okay it for her! But...cool, huh? 

LOVE YOU! KEEP BEING GOOD PEOPLE. REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU STAND FOR. I'M SERIOUS.

love, Hermana Thomas

Ups and Downs...letter from September 23, 2014

HELLO. I LOVE YOU.

First of all, I just have to say...buckle up. This week...was an emotional roller coaster of absolute insanity. There was hardly a dull moment, and I think I felt both extreme joy and sorrow in the space of four hours. I know I say this a lot, but...I have no idea where to start. 

I guess I will start on Friday night! Do you remember our Mexican Grandma friend? Well, we still love her and all, but we had quite the frustrating lesson with her. We'd just gone through a day full of no one listening, cancelled appointments, you name it, so I guess you could say that we didn't walk into this lesson with the best attitude. But our mexican grandma had also had a long day at work, and I don't think any of us three were in the mood. And the lesson was okay and all, but she didn't really feel like being preached to by two twenty year olds and just went off about how we don't haven't had any experience thus far in our lives, blah blah blah...we just stayed calm, taught her the principles, expressed our love, and left. We just didn't talk on the way to our last appointment, which we were already ten minutes late to.

Luckily, our appointment was with Georgette, who was preparing to be baptized the next day. She was so cool with us being late, and had been sitting with a few people inside the chapel. She was beaming!! So excited for her baptism. We went into another room and taught her about some Laws and Ordinances, but she turned it into how excited she was for her baptism, she wanted to know when she could receive her patriarchal blessing, she practiced being baptized, she asked what she would need to wear...this is the most prepared investigator I have ever seen! We just talked to her for a long time about how she felt, and she said that she was so excited, she wasn't going to be able to sleep all night. Then she gave us a big hug at the end and we told her we'd see her the next day. When we drove home, both of us were just grinning, counting her blessings that we had someone like Georgette to remind us how amazing the gospel really is. 

Then the next day we had an AMAZING MEETING with someone named Elder D. Todd Christopherson! That's right, an Apostle! I think I told you all last week that I was asked to sing in a double quartet for this meeting...we sang "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need." Super simple, super beautiful! Well, we practiced for a little bit before, said a prayer that everything would go alright, and then went down to wait for the Apostle to come. We got to sit in the front row since we were participating in the program! Then a HALF HOUR before Elder Christopherson was supposed to get there, he came walking in!! And he wanted to shake each of our hands and know our names and where we were from. 

IT WAS SO AMAZING. When it got to me, I just felt something well up inside me, and I thought, "this is an Apostle of the Lord." It was just...such a cool experience. Then the meeting started, and we sang right after the opening prayer. And okay, we were okay in our practices, but something happened while we were singing! Because we just filled the room! Just a sound, or more of a feeling, filled all the empty space during the song, I wish it could have been recorded! Our vowels were good, we blended, the spirit was strong, and it was such a cool experience.

Then we had an open-question time with an Apostle. So many answers to so many of my prayers were made in those two hours that we held that meeting. But I guess the most impressive part of it was how it felt when Elder Christopherson was speaking. Yes, my mission president is powerful, so were the members of the Seventy (Elder Corbridge) or General Bishopric (Bishop Davies) that were with us...but...when an Apostle of the Lord spoke, he spoke with a power and authority that was a little shocking. I will never forget it. Also, he is super nice. He just smiled and waved and said that when he stands next to President Toone he feels like he just stepped into a hole.

The meeting ended, Elder Christopherson left the room, then Hermana Homer and I jumped up to run to the baptism for Georgette. As we were leaving, however, I opened a text that we had received from her about halfway through the meeting. It said: "I can't make it to baptism today. :("

Hermana Homer and I were concerned, obviously, so we tried to call her, call her, call her...we went to the church anyway, but we couldn't get a hold of her. We texted her asking if everything was okay. About a half-hour after the baptism was supposed to start, we got a text from her, very formally, telling us that after "much consideration" she had decided that she was going to stay Catholic. We asked if we could come visit her one more time, and she said no. We sent her a text bearing simple testimony and telling her how much we loved her, begging her to remember the "tingles and goosebumps" that she always expressed to us as she heard the message. No response. 

So...we still do not know what happened. And my heart is broken. Our best guess is that her husband went crazy on the anti in a space of 12 hours. But...that's a guess. Hermana Homer and I have had a good couple cries since then. It hurts so bad. And I don't feel this because I wanted a baptism...we really grew to love Georgette. She was so ready. But as Elder Corbridge stated just an hour before the baptism was cancelled, "rarely does a convert sneak into the church without Satan noticing." 

There we were, sitting in our car on Saturday night, with a schedule filled with cancelled appointments/salvation, without any idea of what to do. So we decided to just get up, out of the car, and talk to people. (Our Zone has had a huge focus of trying to ask for referrals, so we're supposed to tally up how many we ask for every day. So far, our weekly total as a companionship has averaged at about 2. We are awful at it.) 

Well....we just started, then we kept loving it, and it helped us numb the heart ache, so we just kept asking, asking, asking....WE GOT THIRTY! I know that probably doesn't matter too much to all you, but that's unheard of. We got thirty referrals asked for in about 4 hours. We just would start on a street, decide how many we wanted to ask for, then said a prayer asking that God would place that amount of people in our path to ask. And at the end of every street, we always had exactly how many we'd prayed for. We got some great referrals for other companionships in English, too! 

Then we just got showered with food on Sunday...three investigators at church, as well, and we just started recounting our blessings...we still have so many amazing investigators to love! And my chilean ward-member friend randomly called and invited us to his house to eat chilean empanadas for lunch. They weren't as good as the real stuff, but it made me feel so happy to just step back to some great chilean memories! And he gave me a recipe for chilean bread!!!!!!!

This weekend turned into a counting blessings experience. I am still sad about Georgette, but I am so grateful that I had the experience of hearing from an Apostle right before, who said things that really strengthened me in my heartache. 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND I HAVE NEWS. I am stepping down as a Sister Training Leader. :( That was so fast! One transfer, that's it!

....................but.............................I'M TRAINING AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And...I'm leaving Mesa... :( I'm pretty bummed about leaving but DID YOU HEAR ME?!?! I'M TRAINING AGAIN! It's a little bittersweet because I was just starting to really love being an STL, but my heart has always loved training! I get a new greenie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Again!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so excited. I will find out this week where I go and who I am with, but the point is, this week was up and down and all around! I still don't really know what to do about it. So I'm just going to take it! Sometimes when I pray, I ask for a hotter refiners fire. Why not? That's how you grow! 

"It's not like I'm ravenously hungry, but I kind of am." --Hermana Homer

"It's just a fat day." --Hermana Homer

"No we can't put the food there, the homeless people will get it." --Hermana Homer (charitable.) 

As you can see, Hermana Homer was on a roll this week. I will miss her!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. Keep keeping me updated. I love it. I miss you so much!

BE GOOD.

Love, Hermana Thomas

SHEESH! Letter from September 15,2014

HEY WORLD. LOVE YA.

This week was really good! 

First of all, I feel like my letters are really lacking in the funny experiences...but the truth is...Mesa isn't really...funny. I mean, I laugh and all, but...weird things don't happen here. Not like Tempe or Phoenix or Cachapoal or La Florida or the MTC. 

Hermana Homer and I just randomly will not be able to focus because everything starts making us laugh. Like...we were in the middle of weekly planning, and we started talking about Fall and how we both want to eat pumpkin flavored things and then it turned into pumpkin carving into evil-staring at my district leader to him turning to us at the wrong moment to just having to get up and take a few laps around the church in order to calm down.

Also, I just want to eat every unhealthy thing on this planet. All day every day 24/7 fo realz. This week we had a stats meeting after district meeting with all the district leaders, the zone leaders and us sister training leaders, but I was just totally spacing it the whole time, laying back in my chair just thinking about nothing, when all the sudden someone said the word "cookie" and I just jolted straight up in my chair and went "COOKIES?!" And all the elders stared at me for a few seconds, and it was just weird, and then everyone started laughing at me and I laughed too but I really wanted COOKIES. OH MY GOSH, COOKIES SOUND INCREDIBLE RIGHT NOW. 

I'm sorry, I always write these letters when I am starving.

Then for like three days after everyone kept saying cookie stuff around me. Also during weekly planning I ate the MOST INCREDIBLE BROWNIE OF MY LIFE. IT WAS ABSOLUTELY UNREAL HOW GOOD THIS BROWNIE WAS. 

I also got into a heated discussion with one of the elders in our ward about whether dying by heat exhaustion or freezing to death would be better. OBVIOUSLY heat exhaustion, but whatever, the point is that I had a big time dejavoo (is that right?) throwin' it back to Helaman Halls with Chloe, fighting about this very same thing, and at the end of the conversation she says "so you REALLY think that it's better to die of heat than to freeze?!" and I said "YES." And she narrows her eyes and, with a somewhat-maniacal look, says, "...we'll see."

WHAT THE SCARIEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE?!?!?!

Also, we were waiting for an investigator at her house for an appointment one day and we get a call from her asking if we could come fix her car?! We were like...umm...did you call the wrong number? She's like "aren't you the missionaries?" we're like "...yes..." she's like "VENGAN." We're like "...?!?!?!?! We don't know anything about cars?!?" Then her brother went to help her and everything ended up fine. We even ended up having the lesson still. But it was just...a kind of weird request. I mean, I guess we always tell people to call us when they need something...but...

Almost all of our investigators made it to church this week! That was such a blessing. The one that couldn't make it was actually on her DEATHBED practically, super sick, but tried to come anyway! But she just couldn't...poor thing. She is super sick. Hey, it's Georgette! And guess what? SHE'S GETTING BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!!! We are so darn excited! Georgette is amazing. She's the referral that speaks English. She has the most amazing testimony ever. We went out to eat with her and her husband on Wednesday. He's not super interested, but she wanted us to get to know him because she's hoping that he will change his mind soon. Anyway, we started kind of talking to him at the end about religious things, but Georgette just completely took over and bore the most legit testimony I've ever heard from a non-member...or a member, really. She talked about how it's not something of logic, but it's something that you feel, something that you just know is true because it's familiar to you, and she just told him how much she wants him to have it, too. For like, five minutes. Then she turned to us like, "your turn," and we just looked at each other, and were like "AMEN."

She's amazing. I am so stoked for this weekend!

Then the next weekend we have another baptism planned for a kid named Ivan. We have been working with him and his less-active cousin, Daniel, for a few weeks now. They started out really quiet and not really engaged at all, especially Daniel, but last lesson we had with them, HE PRAYED! Do you know how many weeks we have been trying to get him to pray? One time, he cried because he just couldn't bring himself to pray! But he prayed last time!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE WERE SO EXCITED. IT WAS SO AMAZING. And they were at church with their grandma. :)

Also, we have started preparations for the wedding on October 10th! IT'S GOING TO BE THE BOMB. Then she gets baptized the day after! Super exciting.

OH YEAH! Remember our stubborn mexican grandma? Well. Guess who read 17 chapters of the Book of Mormon this week?!?! She did! SHE LOVES IT. And she flipped her work schedule UPSIDE DOWN to come to church for an hour! And she surprised us by coming at all! IT WAS A MIND BLOW. 

Well, needless to say, this week was amazing. I hope things are sunshine and roses for you too. I love you all so much!

LOVE, Hermana THomas

The field is white....letter from September 8, 2014

Welcome to Mesa, Arizona, where prepared investigators just fall out of the sky and land on your front door.

I'm serious....it's unreal. This has never, ever, EVER happened to me ONCE in my ENTIRE mission. Yeah, okay, I've seen it happen to a few other people...a FEW others, not a lot. Maybe like...twice. But something's weird in Mesa, guys. Weird...but super awesome. 

I LOVE ARIZONA. It's pretty schlikin'. 

It is seriously UNREAL. Do you remember the investigator and boyfriend that I was talking about last week? Well, she's on date. TWO DATES! One to get married (October 10th) and the next to be baptized (October 11th.) I GET TO PLAN A WEDDING, GUYS!!!!! I AM SO EXCITED! These two are the best. She's the one who has had a pretty rough past, but went through her repentance process and is now ready to be baptized! And her boyfriend is still super awesome. He wasn't quite ready to commit to the baptismal date, but he had nothing against being married on the 10th. He is just a super happy person! They both are. Oh man, we are so excited. Hermana Homer and I got into the car last night after our lesson with them and just started squealing like girls. WE GET TO PLAN A WEDDING!!!!!!!! We are hoping so badly that Hermana Homer wont get switched out in a few weeks (it's more likely that she will leave than me) because we want to do all this together! AGH WE ARE SO EXCITED. I am stoked.

Also...remember the other investigator I mentioned? Actually, I said that she was a referral that we hadn't met yet...well...SHE'S ON DATE TOO! She is quite a character, I'm not really sure how to explain her. She's just a really different person! But super nice, super friendly! Our first lesson with her, she asked when was the soonest that she could be baptized. We told her the 20th, and she said that she wanted to meet with us every day until them so that she could be prepared as fast as possible. Like...when has that every happened ever?!? The Lord is blessing us SO MUCH right now. Unfortunately, her husband is pretty uninterested in anything, but he is at least being supportive by driving her to church and to lessons...we'll work on it! 

We are working with quite a few other people, as well, but those two have a date and we are SO EXCITED! I turned to Hermana Homer and just said "what the heck is going on?? Why do people just pop out of nowhere in this Zone?" (Because this is not an uncommon thing in Mesa, apparently.) Hermana Homer just shrugged and said, "I think Mesa is where missionaries come to heal." 

Regardless of the "why", the point is that we are being SO BLESSED. I'm not going to lie, I have always wanted to be one of those missionaries that sees a miracle baptism like that...but I didn't think it would happen! I'm just super stoked. Miracles are real.

So, this is a bit of a different letter. I started with the investigators first. That was weird, I have never done that in the last 13 months I've been out here. I just...thought I'd change it up. Plus I was just super excited to share!! 

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH IT'S UNBELIEVABLE.

So right now we are in the middle of a flash-flood! IT'S THE BOMB. AND I'M WEARING BOOTS FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE TALCA. I guess you could call me an Arizonan now--it hits the high 80's and I'm bundling up like it's a blizzard. We woke up at 6:30 to the sound of pounding rain on the roof, so what did we do? We ran outside in bare feet and pajamas. (I'm going to get sick.) But the water came up over my ankles! Then on our way to email the road was like a river! I'll send a video. It was so cool. Arizona is the bomb.

Last Tuesday was Zone Meeting, so Hermana Homer and I had to do part of the Zone Training, and it was so fun! We pretty much taught the zone about developing Christ-like attributes. It was so fun. I love training. It made me miss being an actual trainer! But right after we had exchanges, and I got to go with the lovely Sister Vea in our area. Sister Vea is a brand-new English-speaking missionary, but she's actually just waiting for her visa so that she can go to Australia! It was so fun to go around with her, talk about goals, get to know her...we had a lot of fun! And that was actually the day that we first met Georgette...at one point, I had no idea how to respond to a question that Georgette had, and I just sat there wracking my brain for something to say, when Sister Vea (who had been silent up until this point) just started testifying of the power of faith. And I just sat back and listened, and it was so amazing, and at the end, Georgette said that she had goosebumps and that she would finally ask God to know if the church was true! IT WAS SO AWESOME. #greeniemiraclesRreal

Hermana Homer got really sick, so we had to go home early on Thursday night. We arrived home at about 7:30 pm, and Hermana Homer spent the rest of the night throwing up or sleeping, so it was up to me to plan. Sister Barnes just bought a massage chair, so I was like, heck yes, I am sitting in that thing for three hours and watching Bible videos after I plan. (I AM SUCH A MISSIONARY.) So I went over, sat in the chair, and started planning for the next day. Well, I finished ten minutes later, put my iPad down, closed my eyes, tried to relax...

Nope. I sat there for maybe ten seconds, opened my eyes, and was like, "I gotta do something." Then I was like...nah. Take a nap. So I closed my eyes again, and then they opened, and I felt super restless, and I was like, "gotta do something!!" So I turn off the chair, stand up, and start walking around. Then I see some clothes I hadn't hung up yet, so I do that...then some things on the bathroom counter, so I put them away...then my books out of order, so I order them...then before you know it I have spent an HOUR AND A HALF JUST CLEANING THINGS. Then I'm like, what now. Everything is clean. So I go into Sister Barnes' sewing room and read a bunch of her family history books, then I go look for Sugar for like a half hour (she hides when Sister Barnes isn't home) and then it's TEN THIRTY AND TIME TO GO TO BED. 

I AM NOT GOING TO ADJUST WELL TO NOT HAVING A STRICT SCHEDULE, GUYS. This was the first time I have had some down time in a year (that's the last time that one of my companions has been sick) and I couldn't sit down for two minutes! WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?!

Some quotes from the week:

"I literally think I am having a baby right now." --Hermana Homer

"This is good but it tastes like B.O." --Hermana Homer

"Oh I loved being sick in middle school it was the BEST." --Elder Norwick (District Leader)

This week we also contacted a lady who was supposed to be a great referral. But when we got to her house, she firmly said that she did not have time to listen to us, because of how much she works and cleans and generally has to do in a day--everyday. We get told this a lot, actually, but this time it was different, I don't know why. It was...sadder. She was so firmly stating how little she cared to meet with us. We left her with our number, and lovingly promised her that if she made time for God, He would make sure she always had time to get what she needed to do done. She waved us off and said, "yes, yes, I know that, I know that. It's true. But as for now...I need to work more." 

We got in the car, drove to the next street, parked, and just had a really good discussion about how sad it is when people do not make time for God. How people don't get it! It just made us both sick to our tummies. 

MAKE TIME FOR GOD! He will bless you! Do you trust Him?

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. KEEP PRAYING AND BEING GOOD PEOPLE AND ALL THAT JAZZ. Just be awesome. 

Lots of love from the good AZ, Hermana Thomas

A GIANT PINK "HELLO" Letter from September 1, 2014

HELLO!

I don't know why but I just wanted that to be really big and really pink.

Hello, world! I am in a super weird mood today! Fo' realz. I don't know why. I think I'm just super hungry. My breakfast...was...six oreos. 

ANYWAY. This week was super awesome and SUPER busy! Lots of things happened. But for some reason the only things that are coming to my head are FOOD RELATED, so...this email might have a theme.

PS: I forgot to say I LOVE YOU ALL!

Okay. Let's talk about Thursday. OH MY WORD, THURSDAY. Wait...just kidding. It was Friday. Sorry about that. We'll come back to Thursday. But FRIDAY, OH MY WORD, FRIDAY...

As missionaries (and humans in general) the most skipped meal of the day is breakfast. Hermana Homer and I have been pretty decent at eating in the morning, though. Sometimes we'll make a smoothie, or we'll have some toast or fruit...well, Friday morning we went all out. HUGE smoothie, half a peach each, and a egg and cheese breakfast sandwich. The works. It was so good. 

Then we had our Weekly Planning meeting with the Zone, and at noon we all went out to eat together. We decided on Thai food (yay!) and we were seated by this pretty grumpy Asian lady who seemed super inconvenienced by the size of our group (it's like....oh, you don't want our hundred dollars we're about to drop you? Okay, we'll find somewhere else then...) Anyway, I got yellow curry and I ate the WHOLE plate. Hermana Homer only ate half, but I ate it all. (By the way, just so everyone knows, I've gotten a lot better about controlling my portion sizes. It's just...THAI FOOD. For the first time in more than a year!) 

Then we worked for a few hours, and our dinner appointment rolled up at 5:00, so we go, but they were late getting the food, so they just bought a giant pizza for us to share and asked if we could eat it somewhere else. We were like...yes. So we just got in the car and started driving to our next appointment, which was with a member of the ward that we were following up with on something. So we're cramming this pizza in our mouths, IT WAS SO GOOD, we ate the whole thing in like five minutes. We were feeling pretty good, getting a head start on the evening, feeling definitely full...

Well, turns out that this member didn't know that we were just there to follow up on something, cause we walk in, and instead of sitting in the living room she guides us to the kitchen table where there are two heaping plates of DELICIOUS Mexican food for us. She thought she had to feed us dinner. So Hermana Homer and I look at each other, we're like, here we go, and we sit down and eat. And as we eat we are following up on that thing we came there for, so that we lose the least amount of time possible, and let me tell you, that food was good, but holy cow, one egg-sandwich/giant-smoothie/fruit/thai-food/half-a-pizza/mountain-of-mexican-food later, I thought my clothes were going to rip at the seams, I was so full. So full. Like...Chile-full. We got in the car and just laugh cried all the way to our next appointment. It was wonderawful. 

But! We had a super fantastic week! Other than eating three times my own weight in a space of 16 hours, we found some really cool investigators! Actually, they were all referrals, and they are SO GREAT!

We have one woman who has known about the church her entire life. She has a pretty rough past...like, pretty rough. But she found the light of the gospel a few years ago, she knew it was absolutely true, and knew she needed to go through a repentance process. This process included jail-time for a few years. I still don't know what it was, but she recently was released and is cleaning the rest of it up so that she can be baptized as soon as possible. She didn't miss a week of LDS church her entire time locked up. She has a boyfriend who we are teaching as well, and he's awesome! They are both so happy and friendly, you'd never guess that she's had the past she has. He has just started investigating, but they are absolutely amazing, planning on getting married beginning of October...so keep them in your prayers!

We also have Ivan, he is the grandson of a member in the ward. He and his cousin, Daniel, are about 14 years old. Daniel was baptized, but he is super less active, runs in a rowdy crowd, doesn't have the best background from his parents. They are sweet though, and have really started opening up to us in the three times we've gone by. Ivan wants to get baptized, we'll just have to keep him moving forward!

We also have a referral that we haven't met in person yet who has already put herself on-date, she wants to get baptized! We don't know too much about her, but she's actually English speaking, but requested sister missionaries, and we're the ones that can reach her easiest with where she lives, so we are going to be teaching her! So cool. We're excited to get to know her better.

Yes, Dad, I did sing in the Mission Tour this week! (That was Thursday, August 28th. Remember that date.) We met with Elder Schwitzer. It was amazing. (Fun Fact: I just accidentally wrote "Fun Face.") (Real Fun Fact: he was directly involved with most of the decisions made throughout the Tuberculosis adventure. He didn't remember me by name or anything, but he remembered all that drama and said that he's glad to see that I'm okay with the switch, and that he can now sleep at night. He's super friendly and nice.) 

Anyway, preparing to sing for that event was really stressful. I wanted to sing it so good, I wanted everything to be perfect. We practiced for hours the week leading up to it. We recorded ourselves, listened to it, changed it a million times. It got to the point where I just wasn't feeling it anymore. I was so stressed out about it. I wanted to call President Toone and tell him never mind. My voice was acting up and cracking, I couldn't hit the notes I wanted, it just wasn't working. 

We finally got to Thursday morning, and Hermana Homer and I got there early to practice. It wasn't even 9:00am yet and my voice would not warm up. I stood at the piano, plunking out the notes I was going to need to hit, failing miserably, feeling discouraged, and suddenly, hardly controlling what happened next, I said "I can't do this!" and I sat on the piano bench fighting tears. My throat was welling up inside me and I knew that if I cried, my voice would not come through for me. Poor Hermana Homer, she came over and offered to pray with me, so we did, but I couldn't keep my eyes closed because I knew I would start crying if I did. 

We ran through it a couple times, and it still wasn't working, but I had calmed down a little. As we finished up the second run-through, though, said a prayer in my heart, begging Heavenly Father to help me do this. 

Then, I had the strangest out-of-body experience. Suddenly, I was back in La Florida, sitting on my top bunk. The lights were out, and my roommates had long since curled up into their beds and begun to fall asleep, but I was still awake, kneeling, face against my covers, choking on tears. I don't think I'd even started praying yet. It was August 28th, 2013, and I hadn't understood a word anyone had said to me for a solid 12 hours. I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I remember silently sobbing, and the words bobbed around in my head, and I finally whispered to myself, "I can't do this!" 

Then I was back in Arizona, and I stood up straight, soaked back the tears, and stopped practicing. I prayed in my heart, "Heavenly Father, please help me. I know I'm not perfect, I know I probably won't ever be in this life, but you've strengthened me before--do it again. Teach me something more."

Then we went in, we sat down, we prayed, and Hermana Homer and I got up and sang. And my voice cracked once. And Hermana Homer missed a few notes. But I felt it. And I understood, a little deeper than before, the Atonement of Jesus Christ. 

He's not there to make it perfect--He's there to make US perfect. And we only become perfect by going through the perfection process. And that's not over night. That's not even over thirteen or so months. That's an eternal goal. And it's not easy. But He will never--NEVER--leave us alone. He is teaching me.

I love you all so bad. I miss you tons!!!!! But I love being a missionary! I may come home some time, but there are two parts of the world that will still have my heart! Sorry about that. 

KEEP READING AND PRAYING AND BEING THE MOST AMAZING PEOPLE IN THE UNIVERSE.

Love, Hermana TBhomas

Well. Letter from August 25, 2014

Howdy, ya'll! How's it goin' out yonder? That was weird. Okay, I do not AND WILL NEVER say howdy. It's just...so not me. BUT. I have fallen into the ya'llin. I ya'll. I'm sorry. That's what state-side-missionary-ing has done to me. #loveit

So it's only been four days...I'm not gonna lie, I feel like I'm reaching for things to say. I mean, a LOT of things happened, but I'm not really sure how to write about them. (I wrote one time in my journal.) (This morning.)

But it's for real, I don't know how to write things that happened this weekend! I guess I'll start out with the highlight: we had a Mission Leadership Council meeting on Saturday with Elder Robbins from the Presidency of the Seventy! It was absolutely amazing. I LEARNED SO MUCH. He talked about Agency, Responsibility and Control. How are those related? IT WAS SO INTERESTING. I really thought that I had studied enough on that topic, but I learned SO MUCH. What more can I say...I LEARNED SO MUCH. 

He talked about how it is a natural reflex for us as human beings to want agency but avoid responsibility. We complied a huge list of things people do to avoid responsibility:

Blame

Excuse

Self-Justify

Flee

Hide

Lie

Not Forgive

Deny

Rebel

Self-Pity

etc

The list was pretty long, and the over-arching theme was PRIDE. He called this list the "loser-list." And it really is! Because the more we resort to this list in order to avoid responsibility for our actions, the more we lose control of our situation, thus the less agency we have. He said that making people try to avoid responsibility is the "back-door approach" that Satan uses to take away our agency. 

Anger is a CHOICE. IT ALWAYS IS. 

The scary part about this seminar though...was...HE TALKED ABOUT MARRIAGE. *shiver* Yeah, he was pretty super focused on marriage and raising kids. And all us missionaries were taking notes like crazy and also cringing at the thought. He was on the board recently of reviewing cases for temple cancellations, and he said a lot about that. He said that people rarely said "I got angry." They would say that them and their spouse "fell out of love," as if it wasn't their choice at all. He said that in most cases both parties reverted back to the "loser-list." 

Guess what? YOU choose to be bothered. YOU choose to love or to not. When you revert to the list, however, you lose control. Control doesn't lose you...YOU lose CONTROL. YOU lose it.

It was super amazing. My mind was kind of swirling by the end because of how much I took in and was trying to retain. But it's something I TOTALLY can't wait to come home and talk about with all of you in person. THERE IS SO MUCH MORE THAN WHAT I JUST TYPED. It was life-changing. 

We have another General Authority coming for a Mission Tour this Thursday, and I am so excited! This is with all the missionaries, not just the MLC. President Toone asked if I would sing at it, so I'm singing "Savior, Redeemer of My Soul." Hermana Homer is going to play for me, and we've been practicing like crazy. It's going to be awesome! And I am so excited to hear from another leader of the church. Then the week after, we will have ANOTHER MLC with that same General Authority. I got so lucky getting called as a Sister Training Leader this transfer, they never have this many special MLCs with leaders. Super cool!

We ate with Chileans twice in a row this week! It took me a couple minutes each time to adjust to understanding their accent, but it was so fun to rehash some Chilean memories with them. Oh yeah, yesterday I had to give a talk in church (that was stressful,) but afterwards my good-ol-Chilean-friend in the ward came up to me and said that I sounded like a Chilean. BEST COMPLIMENT EVER. I was so psyched to hear that. I love the people I serve, but when it comes to the accent...well...Chile rules.

Oh, back to the "loser-list"...after church we went with the Relief Society President to do some visits with her. (By the way, my absolute respect for all women who fulfill calling has been magnified 189483x since being a missionary and working so closely with them.) Anyway, we pretty much sat through a scream-fest of a 30-year-old daughter and her mother (who lives with her.) They both expected the Relief Society President to come to their house and solve their problems, but they just ended up screaming at each other. I have never seen such hating looks between mother and child. It was so sad. Hermana Socorro tried to solve things as best she could, but they just screamed, screamed, blamed, blamed, and finally she just stood up and left, and we followed her out. 

I have the best family ever.

Some quotes:

Me: "Ugh, we can't use any of these pictures, look, my fat roll!"

Hermana Johnson: "WELL SUCK IT IN."

"I didn't choose Taco Bell, Taco Bell chose me." --Hermana Johnson

"Don't knock doors of bad people because they steal stuff KAY?!" --random little girl

Am I repeating quotes right now? I'm really sorry. I am running out of things to say.

The point is...the church is true! SUPER true. I love the gospel! I love being a missionary! 

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. Hope your week was fantastic. 

READ AND PRAY AND GO TO CHURCH AND ACCEPT CALLINGS AND ALL THAT GOOD STUFF.

Love, Hermana Thomas

I. AM. ALIVE. Letter from August 20, 2014

YES. I AM ALIVE. I'm better than alive...I just got back from the Temple! It was so amazing! SO amazing. I love the Mesa Temple. And all temples. But today I like Mesa best.

...yes, it is Wednesday...no, I am not breaking mission rules...we switched P-Days this week! (Just this week.) (Because of the temple trip.) So...here I am writing you in the middle of the week! Different, huh? #tbt to Thursday P-Days in MexicooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo

Anyway. You all have permission to ciberly-smack-me-in-the-face because..............................................................drum roll............................................................................i didn't write in my journal for 10 days. :(

I remember pretty well, though. Tuesday of last week we went by as many people as we could (Hermana Johnson and I) (I miss that girl...) to say goodbye! A couple were actually pretty disappointed, which is cool but also not cool, since we really want them to progress for the gospel, not for the missionaries...but I know they will! It's always hard to leave your area, because you just develop so much love for the people you serve! It was especially difficult to say goodbye to Blanca and Alex and their cute kids. I love them to death. It was a little tearful, but I know that the missionaries who came in will take good care of them!

So then...transfer meeting! Sister Johnson got assigned with Sister Greenhaulgh, who came into the field at the same time as her! WHAT?!? We were super duper shocked! That's kind of unheard of, since they both have about the same level of Spanish and are pretty much just out of training...but I am so proud of mi hija! She is going to be awesome! They went on down to Casa Grande. And I...........drummmmmm roooooooooollllllllllllllllll.......................

.............GOT PUT WITH HERMANA HOMER! (Yeah, you all knew that anyway, because of that Facebook video, but I thought I'd drum-roll it anyway.) I was so excited! I knew it, I knew we were going to be companions. 

For those of you just tuning in, when I was switched from Chile to Arizona, I was put with Hermana Homer for two weeks to adjust to this mission. At the end of our time together, Hermana Homer got called to train. She said to me, "just wait and see. I will train for one transfer, then the next transfer I will get called Sister Training Leader and you will be a trainer, then you'll train for two transfers and then get called Sister Training Leader as well, then we'll be companions and I'll kill you in Yuma." (Pretty sure killing me in Yuma...not gonna happen. But. The rest of it has.)

Freaky, right? Anyway, we got assigned companions, and we are serving in M-M-M-Mesaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa (I don't know why I keep doing long vowels. I am SUPER HUNGRY AND NOT IN MY RIGHT MIND.) We are living with a member who is just absolutely LOVELY. Her name is Sister Barnes, she's a widow, and she has a beautiful, I mean BEAUTIFUL house. It has a flipping lake in the back! And a little square dock! And a back patio! And just so many things! And when you walk on her carpet you feel like you're dancing on a cloud. Also, her house is like sound-proofed on the inside, sounds don't even happen. I don't know how to explain it. Also, she has a chihuahua named Sugar, we call her "shoogs" or "azucar" and she's a little punk but she was trained to give kisses on people's noses when they bend down, and she's like OCD or something because whenever she goes anywhere she has to walk in circles. Like, she kisses you on the nose, then runs in a circle, then kisses you on the nose again, then runs in a circle. BUT she will NOT let you touch her...it's super annoying...because I just want to pet her and love her but she won't let anyone except for Sister Barnes touch her. If you try, she will tell you off, man. Trust me. 

Last night Sister Barnes was holding her and she passed her to me and I touched her for the first time! She was shaking so bad! She hated it. But I'm like, come on, I just want to love you, Shoogs.

Let's see...what else this week...we ate some supes nast spaghetti last night for dinner. It was mushy leftovers that we found on the freezer (we ran out of food...) But then a member brought us some IN-N-OUT and it was the bomb. I've also grown quite fond of chocolate concretes from Culvers with reeses peanut butter cups and brownies mixed in. I WANT ONE RIGHT NOW.

Okay, I think this email sounds like we haven't done anything but eat and play with dogs this week. We've actually been working a lot the past few days, reorganizing our area, cleaning out the areabook, kind of starting from not-quite-scratch and working to build the area back up! We are super excited to be companions again. We have been making companionship goals and all that. I'm looking forward to this transfer!

Hermana Homer is awesome. She is a crack up. The other day we felt a little overwhelmed about all the organizing and I had her lay on the ground while I walked in circles around her doing a relaxation exercise I learned in my Psych 101 class. So I guess you could say that we're already comfortable around each other.

Well, everybody, I've been thinking a lot about the Plan of Salvation and Gospel of Jesus Christ this week. How much happiness it gives us! And how simple it is! I have thought about the sacrifice that Christ performed on our behalf. I thought about if I had been in His place. I thought of my sisters, my mom, my dad, even my friends, and I thought, if someone asked me to sacrifice myself for any of them, would I do it? I decided that the answer would be yes. But then I thought about...what about someone I'd never met? What about some random Joe on the side of the street, waiting for a bus? What about that lady driving that car in the next lane over? Would I do it for them? That answer was a little more difficult. 

Then I've thought...two things. 1) Christ's love is extended towards EVERYONE. We cannot comprehend it. And 2) He must know each of us--everyone who has or will ever live on the earth--as we know our mothers, fathers, siblings, friends. He knows each of us THAT well...and even better! How amazing is that? How does that change how you feel towards the people you don't know? Doesn't it make you want to know them? To discover what it is that makes them so special to our Savior? 

I do! I love that thought. 

Anyway, I hope everything is absolutely lovely on your end. Sorry that this email was a little improvised. I will try to send pictures if I can! But I LOVE YOU ALL TO DEATH. How's the Book of Mormon reading going?!?!

Loooooove, Hermana Thomas

Drowning in Grapes! Letter from August 11, 2014

This week was quite interesting. I only wrote in my journal twice, though...but I don't even blame myself at all. This week was crazy!

But first of all...how's everyone doing? I love you all.

Yep so back to me...

I don't even know how to start this email...I guess...I drowned in grapes this week. We are teaching this lady named Esperanza, she's this pretty ancient Mexican lady who seriously CRACKS ME UP. She is exactly what I would imagine an abuelita mexicana is. She's super sassy, and just says what she wants. She sits and talks, talks, talks about her medications and how all the doctors are stupid and how her sons are stupid and her husband is stupid...she can talk for hours and hours, I swear. And it's really hard to teach anything because she just rolls over you. But a TON of her family is LDS and she loves when we come over. I don't know...it's and interesting situation.

Anyway, the other night Hermana Johnson and I were wrapping up a lesson quick because we had a 25 minute bike ride back to our apartment to do exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders. She was like, "do you want grapes?" and we were like, "no, thanks, we're okay," but she just stands up and starts washing grapes. (And Hermana Johnson and I were also completely stuffed from our last visit we'd had.) So she brings over two bowls and a huge thing of grapes and is like, "eat." So we each grab a few grapes and Esperanza just keeps talking about her kids, I'm literally inhaling these grapes because we have to go, and when we're both done we say, "oh, thank you so much, we have to go," and she's like, "do you want more grapes?" and we're like, "no thanks," and she's like, "did you like my grapes?" and we're like "yes they were really good" and she's like "THEN WHY WON'T YOU EAT MORE?!" so we just start shoving armfuls of grapes into our mouths and you don't even understand there were SO MANY GRAPES IN THAT BOWL. AND SOME OF THEM WERE MUSHY. Oh that just sicks me out. Mushy grapes. Anyway, we finally finished, and we stand up to go without even saying a prayer (I know, shame on us, but we were not going to escape) and finally started on our way home...15 minutes later.

Even so...Mexican grandmas are the best.

We also had a member from our ward randomly send us pictures of her baby Shi-tzu. Cute...but...what? Why? We still don't know.

Also...drum-roll, please................BRENDA GOT BAPTIZED!! Ya'll remember Brenda? Brenda and Gustavo? Well, Brenda was baptized and confirmed this weekend. It was so awesome! I seriously love her so much. Hermana Arellano and Hermana Raynor have been the ones teaching her these last two transfers, but I really felt like it was my baptism, too! I love her so bad. 

On that note...a miracle happened. We had sent out a text to our teaching pool reminding them to come to the baptism...turns out, no one got it...but Hermano Alex (you know, Alex is less active and his wife, Blanca, is an investigator) just happened to come to the chapel that day to play soccer with some other members. He saw the baptism and came inside to watch. He sat next to us, and he was really attentive. Then as a closing hymn we sang "Families Can Be Together Forever," and we could tell that he was a little emotional during the song. 

Afterward, he came up to me and Hermana Johnson and told us a lot of things that had been going through his head recently. He told us that he'd never wanted to be married or have kids...but that changed when he and Blanca had their first son. Now they have two boys, but they still aren't married...anyway, he was pretty tearful as he told us that he finally has realized that he has been holding Blanca back all these years, and that now he feels like he has to be the example for her and his kids by reactivating himself in the church, getting married, and helping her progress to baptism! And he said that he wants to get married soon...like...within two months or less!

Hermana Johnson and I were in shock shock SHOCK. We were so excited, we were kind of (I was kind of) jumping up and down...but he was really sweet about it, and he told us that millions of missionaries have come by their house, but that she and I were the first ones that seemed to have opened their hearts to the gospel. 

We have seen so many changes in them in the last few weeks...especially Hermano Alex. The first time he came to church, he was in a T-shirt and jeans. The next week, jeans and a polo. Next week, jeans and a button up shirt. Then with a tie. Then dress pants. For crying out loud, he gelled his hair this week!! WE LOVE THEM SO MUCH. They are just absolutely progressing. It is such a miracle. 

This last week I've begun to see even more profoundly why I was assigned to La Florida B last August with Hermana Pineda as my first area. Here I am, in Tempe Arizona, shaking the hand of some less active member from Honduras, and I think I played a role in changing his life. In building an eternal family. I'd brave Tuberculosis for that. Again.

THE CHURCH IS SO TRUE. IT IS SO TOTALLY TRUE. 

So..........now for the hard part.................

We are getting white-washed. :( 

Hermana Johnson and I are pretty down about it. They are taking us both out of our area and throwing two new missionaries in (we are guessing that they will be elders.) 

Do you know what is harder than white-washing in? White-washing out. Especially after a miracle like that with Alex and Blanca. They are going to be pretty sad. Ugh, it kind of stinks, I LOVE THIS AREA SO MUCH. This is the first time I've felt this strongly about an area before. I think it's because my greenie and I have super duper built it up from pretty much scratch, and we love our people SO MUCH. 

But...I have faith that President Toone is inspired of God, and that the best thing for our area will be done. Still. Bummer. 

That also means that Hermana Johnson and I are getting split up...SAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM SO SAD. I love her SO BAD YOU DON'T EVEN KNOOOOOOOOOOOOW. I am so bummed. 

Oh, yeah, and.................................I got called as a Sister Training Leader?!?!?!?!? After all this craziness, that little fact definitely threw a wrench into the equation. 

I am super excited about this new calling (although I super wanted to train again...) This means I could be companions again with Sister Homer! That would be the bomb.com. But...we'll see!

Pray for our investigators please! Especially Blanca and Alex, so that they can continue to progress with new missionaries!

And just...pray in general!

I LOVE YOU SO BAD YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW.

Con Amooooooooor, Hermana Thomas