I
have been pretty busy the last couple of weeks and wasn't able to send an email
last P Day. I have my journal with me so I will summarize what happened each
day.
2/25:
I had my first exchange. I went over to be in 2nd ward boundaries with our ZL
Elder Diedrich. He's from Utah. He's been out almost 21 months and has had many
cool experiences on his mission. Most of the day we tried getting his driver's
license and tracting. I then learned a little about a ZLs job and got to
account with all the DLs and STLs with him. After I got settled in the ZLs
apartment that night, we stayed up for a while after 10:30 just talking in our
beds about all sorts of stuff.
2/26
In the morning, Elder Diedrich and I met with my comp and Elder Lewis, the
other ZL and we helped a member move their stuff out of their home in the AFB
into a storage unit. We got ready for our district council and the exchanges
ended. That night we went to the YMCA for the first time and played a ton of
basketball. We met many people who were a little curious about what we do as
missionaries and what our church is like.
2/27
We helped build another ramp in the morning. It's fun to go every week and be
around many different people who go to different churches and have the same
goal in mind to serve those around them. We had an early dinner/late lunch at
the Cogdell's. We go there every week. Kenneth Cogdell served in the Lodi
mission way back in the seventies and Alex Cogdell, his son served in the
Sacramento mission around 2005, but he was only in Elk Grove for about 3 weeks.
It was fun talking to them about California, and especially how much we love In
N Out. We wen to Highway 55 for a late dinner that night which is a diner-type
restaurant with the theme of cars and music and such from the seventies. It
has probably the best burger around here but it still isn't West Coast quality.
2/28
We ran out of miles so we had to bike to and from the church. We walked from
the church to McDonald's and a lady we'd never seen stopped her car, handed us $20, and said it was for lunch. Most of the nonmembers
here respect us and what they do, they just aren't interested in our message or
changing churches.
2/29
I believe is missed writing that day
3/1
We shared our testimonies on fast Sunday because we're the new missionaries.
Some members in Sunday School got way off topic and discussed real deep
doctrine stuff that got really out of hand.
3/2
P-Day, just a bunch of Spikeball and Basketball
3/3
We went back to the old folks home again to play more games with them for
service and then got new shoes for me before we went to the YMCA to talk to
more people. We are making so many friends at the Y that enjoy talking to us
and sharing their beliefs and learning about ours.
3/4
We had zone council in a very interesting way. Each district met together in
their respective buildings, but we all were on a video call together so the
whole zone would be there. At district council, we made a goal of 1 baptism this
month, which will hopefully help our mission goal of 32 this month. We went to
McDonald's afterward and met a guy outside who said he was struggling in life
and looking for help and wanted to hear how we could help him.
3/5
We had interviews with President Holland in the morning and he gave us
different advice and counsel on how to be better missionaries and increase our
productivity. At the old folks home, one of the able-minded residents told us a
pastor that had been coming in, who we were nice to and listened to for a bit,
was talking bad about us behind our backs. She said she was so sorry and that
none of the residents liked him for that. The pastor and a country band were
scheduled for the same time that day, and everyone went in to listen to the
band instead of him, I thought it was pretty funny. We heard many different
country and gospel songs from the band which was awesome.
3/6
A majority of the day we spent at Bro. Gray's house helping him reshingle the
roof. As we were working, we talked a lot about professional and college
basketball, how he is a big Lebron fan, and that although he's always a Tar
Heel, he enjoys BYU and will always support Jimmer through thick and thin. We
played again at the YMCA, and we met a guy who was really good friends with the
Briggs family in our ward. He said he's gone to church before, been taught and
attended other church events. He said he loved how our church was nice to
everyone and the members didn't force anything, he just liked his church more.
We've continued to talk to him and he said he even wants us to come play
sometime with his rec team and meet everyone.
3/7
We played bingo again at the old folks home. After we played we talked to Ruth,
an inactive resident who loves us and the church, and set up a time to do
come follow me with her. The rest of the day was intermingled with playing
basketball, meeting more people, and preparing my talk for the next day.
3/8
I gave my talk in sacrament meeting and everyone said they enjoyed it. I talked
about how to become a disciple of Jesus Christ and different ways to gain the
attributes of Christ. I felt the spirit strongly as I spoke and shared my
personal experiences of becoming a true disciple of Christ. We had an insane
experience tracting! We got to a door in a row of townhomes, and heard foreign
music from inside. Most of the time weird music is Hispanic and we wait for the
Sisters/Hermanas to stop by and knock their door. I felt prompted though to
knock. A man opened the door, who was darker-skinned. We asked him where he was
from, and he said Haiti. Elder Toso asked if he knew Creole, and he said yes.
They had a couple sentence exchange in Creole, then Elder Toso asked if he knew
French. The man said yes. My companion said I spoke French, which scared me at
first, but as the man spoke to me in French, I felt the spirit overcome me and
calm me, so I could understand him and say what I needed to say. From what I
could remember and understand, he said his first language was French, I told
him I studied for four years in California, he said he spoke English, French,
Creole, and some Spanish. He figured we were Mormons and from the church when
he saw our name tags. He said I was speaking and communicating well in French,
he talked about past experiences he had in France with missionaries, the Book
of Mormon, and the church. He said he'd love to talk to us more, but he was
about to wash his car, and his week was pretty busy. I finally agreed to meet
with him next Sunday. That whole exchange was in French and I'm still amazed
about what I heard and said. I know that because I had faith, I was able to
have the spirit guide me to remember what I had previously learned to
communicate with him.
I
know that if we act in faith and trust in God, he will bless us in so many ways
that we might not be able to imagine as we go about and serve him and try to
better ourselves.
-Elder
Thompson