Hey
Y'all,
I
wanted to start off by saying although Nacho Libre may not be mission approved,
there are some fantastic examples of serving Christ and having faith in Him and
His atonement in that movie. I also want to apologize in advance for the length
of this email. With the time I have, I can't respond quite yet to individual
emails so I want to answer all possible questions this time around while I have
the chance.
It's
been a super hectic few weeks, I apologize for not sending out an email my
first Preparation Day. The week leading up to the 26th was stress-filled trying
to get everything ready for me to head out to Houston. The few weeks leading up
to my mission call as well as the week I had after I received my call to get
ready for Houston is a whole other story for another time. It was a testimony
builder for sure being able to finalize everything and be as prepared as I
could be and out on a mission on such short notice. I know the Lord's hand was
definitely helping me get ready and sorted out as best as possible. It was also
a great blessing to be able to see some of my close friends and my family
before I left. It was a neat experience to have my father as pretty much my
missionary companion that Sunday, especially as we met a nice pair of old
ladies who stumbled into our Elders Quorum meeting that day and got to teach
them for a bit before we handed them off to the Sister missionaries in our
ward. In this whole email will probably contain a whole lot of thankfulness for
everything in my life.
My
actual, for real, Elder Thompson missionary experiences all started pretty much
as soon as I took off from Sacramento. On the extremely early flight to Dallas
I had, I was sitting next to Troy, who was headed to Missouri. He was super
into aviation and planned on studying religion once he was able to help his
mother out there. That was a golden missionary opportunity and since I happened
to be carrying an extra Book of Mormon I was able to give him a copy as well as
share my testimony with him.
Monday
was a great day meeting all 35 other new missionaries that would be training
alongside me. It was great as well meeting President and Sister Richards who
are pretty much been trained as well because they've only been missionaries for
a couple weeks. We learned our mission is almost entirely made up of training
companionships, with about 70% of us either being trained or training. A
majority of missionaries here are also foreign language speaking who got
reassigned here because of covid and whatnot. I believe of the 36 missionaries
I came out with, only about 6 to 10 of us were actually originally assigned to
the Texas Houston South Mission and not anywhere else in the world. We had an
opportunity to go to Hermann Park and try to hand out Book of Mormons. Elder
Zabel and I randomly got assigned to each other for the hour and we handed out
2 in a short span of time! We met a pair of girls home for the summer from
college, I believe UTSA and Texas Tech but I don't remember exactly. (I've met
so many wonderful and amazing people I can't help not remembering their names
or every little detail of their life, I feel so bad) Anyway, I recognized the
power of being true to your testimony and being genuine and honest with people,
as they liked to hear the compliments I gave as well as my love for and desire
to share the Atonement of Jesus Christ and His teachings with them. After a
bunch of training at the mission office we finally were welcomed into various
members homes that night to share a lesson and spend the night.
Tuesday
was the day we were all anxious for, the day we'd finally meet our trainers. We
had a bunch of long and boring housekeeping meetings that we all dreaded, but
then the long awaited moment arrived. My trainer's name is Elder Farris. He's
from Boise, ID and has only been out for two transfers which is three months,
meaning he's pretty much just as new and fresh as me. He's about as much of a
goofball and diligent worker as I, so it's easy for us to get along and do a
lot of work, all while finding humor and happiness through it all. We met the
Hermanas (Spanish speaking sisters) and other Elders in our district and headed
with our stuff to our area. I'm serving in the Silverlake ward which is located
in Pearland, TX. The city itself is very akin to Elk Grove and it was so nice
and welcoming arriving there. It is a lot different but felt the same in a lot
of ways. The north part where we do most of our teaching and fellowshipping is
called Sunnyside. Think of the place Sunnyside Daycare from Toy Story 3. It is
a lot more comparable to South Sacramento; really dangerous, really rundown and
poor financially with lots of troubled people who are searching for their way
in life. I absolutely, genuinely and without a drop of sarcasm (I'm serious, I
can be sarcastic but this time I ain't) love the people there so much already
and love spending as much time as we can in that area. Our apartment we live in
is nice and well maintained, probably because for a long while it was Sister
missionaries here instead of Elders. My very first official nonmember lesson as
a missionary was an interesting one. We got to talk to Kiosha, who is preparing
for baptism on the 21st, from our car over facebook messenger. We taught her
about the Law of Chastity, believe it or not. Luckily it went well as we had a
member join us and helped her understand the importance of being pure before
and staying faithful during marriage. It is definitely an experience I won't
soon forget. We also had a lesson with Katherine, an amazing 11 year old who is
knowledgeable in the gospel, she and her brother are just a little hesitant
about the idea of being baptized as their mother urges them on to do so. We
also were at the Wilson's for dinner, who fed us well and loved to joke around
with us missionaries.
Wednesday
was district council, and we all got to know everyone serving around us a bit
better. Our district compromises of Elder Farris and I, (District Leader) Elder
Godderige and (Trainee) Elder Tucket in the Pearland Ward, Elder Doyle Elder
Seal and (Trainee) Elder Nichols in the Manvel Ward, and (Sister Training
Leader) Hermana Swapp (Sister Training Leader) Hermana Nelson and (Trainee)
Hermana Childers also in the Spanish only Manvel Ward. We had a lesson with
Nathan who is 14 and Katherine's brother. He will not talk to us directly and
is terrified of water, but is excited and anxious for his sister to say yes to
baptism so they can be baptized together. We had dinner with the crazy awesome
Sturm family and Ashley who is their good friend investigating the church. They
introduced me to Choffee, which I guess is using cocoa beans instead of coffee
beans in a coffee brewer? It's not technically coffee but whatever it really is
and no matter how much sugar and cream I put in it I think it's awful and
disgusting.
Thursday
we contacted a bunch of people and had a few lessons after having a really
solid morning exercise session with the Elders in the district playing
basketball and spike ball. We also got to take a nice bike ride to the Hermanas
apartment to drop off a children's illustrated BoM they requested from
us.
Friday
we were stuck inside most of the time trying to call people, since we were low
on driving miles allotted for us. I did get the chance to go and meet Ken, who
is an ex-convict with enough love for and faith in Jesus Christ to fill an
industrial warehouse. He is anxiously and very patiently waiting to hear from
the first presidency of the church about the status of him being able to be
baptized. It was also interesting seeing everyone in the mission over messenger
for a training, it was nice seeing how well all the other trainers were doing.
Saturday
was the day I tried mussel, crab, crawfish, and Whataburger. Nothin much to say
other than the fact that since we're close to Louisiana, we get a lot of
amazing bayou food, including crawfish which I think is the first
"seafood" I love.
Sunday
we got to pass the sacrament and bear our testimonies in church as well as meet
various members. We also heard Elder Doyle would finally go to his original
assignment in Mexico. We also had an interesting encounter with a cicada.
They're these super loud and obnoxious chirping bugs in the trees you hear all
day long, and one happened to fly into our apartment in the night. Not fun to
get rid of let me tell ya.
Monday
was our Preparation Day, and for Elder Doyle's last day he decided we should
all go to Buc-ee's. Buc-ee's is a big chain of gas stations in Texas, and the
one we went to was massive, at least 100 gas pumps and a huge store. Imagine if
a Maverik gas station expanded to have a butcher, a baker, a candy maker (not
quite the nursery rhyme), an IKEA style home decoration section, a sporting
goods/hunting area, and a ton of assorted and bizarre memorabilia dedicated to
their beaver mascot almost like Mickey Mouse in Disneyland. It's no doubt in my
mind the 8th wonder of the world.
Tuesday
we learned Elder Nichols and Elder Seal lost car privileges since they
technically "allowed" Elder Doyle to go over 100 mph on the way to
the mission office and on his way to Mexico. They were soon understood and
forgiven and eventually got their car back after about a week biking all over
their massive area.
Wednesday
was filled with bizarre interactions with a multiple personality disorder
member that we helped out with her living situation as well as hearing Elders
way outside our area are trying to I guess steal our contacts and referrals for
some reason. I will say I was blessed to hear an amazing story from Elder Seal,
very similar to mine actually, and we were able to share our testimonies of the
Atonement of Jesus Christ to each other and inspire the work in each of us.
Thursday
we had Chili's to celebrate Elder Godderidge's 1 year mark which killed our
stomachs and made us exhausted and made working so hard, but we were able to
find a family of 6 we can now add to our teaching pool.
Friday
was awesome, as all the missionaries apart of training went to League City,
where the Johnson Space Center is located. We heard a lot about sending rockets
into space and also got to take pictures in front of the space center. We
learned how missionary work is a lot like building rockets and how sharing the
Atonement of Jesus Christ is a much greater work. That night we did exchanges
with the Pearland Elders and I was with Elder Godderidge in their area.
Saturday
we helped Bro. Flores move and assemble a treadmill in his house. He treated us
to Killen's Burgers after which is famous apparently and one of J.J. Watt's
personal favorite places to eat. We ate at Stake President's for dinner. He
apparently tries to determine children's disorders based on genetics and
appearances, and remarked I had perfect ear size, shape, rotation, and
placement. I guess that's one attractive trait I've got going for me. I went
back to my area with Elder Farris that night.
Sunday
we had a lesson with Ken and Damascus, a returning investigator, before church.
I also got to give a great talk on obedience and as a result had many people
talk to me and ask about California, as well as sign up for missionary dinners.
Monday
(Today) We had a fantastic day playing basketball and spikeball with the Elders
and Sisters on our district, but mainly I've been stuck writing this email. We
were offered a free couch by a member, but sadly couldn't make it to the store
for a guitar tuner. We found a ukelele that was left here and I was able to get
my hands on a guitar from the Pearland Elders but neither are close at all to
being in tune and it's just killing me inside not being able to play them.
I
hope I am able to sort my thoughts and condense them better for y'all in the
future. (If you haven't noticed, y'all is actually proper and formal English
here in Texas, it's encouraged for the missionaries to use it and I love it) I
do have various pictures attached of my apartment, other missionaries and I,
and other goofy things, that I think are somewhat interesting. There'll be
better ones in the future for sure. Thanks to those who read it all and stuck
it out to the end. I hope y'all are doing well and I would love to hear how
things are going and everyone is doing! Please email me individually so we can
get the convos rolling on Mondays. I'll leave with my testimony of this great
work. I know that Christ came to the Earth to atone for our sins and preach his
gospel, and we as missionaries are here as His representatives to continually spread
His word and teach other His gospel. I love the Savior and am so grateful for
everything He's done for me and the opportunity He gives each and every one of
us to utilize of His atoning power. I say these things in his name, Jesus
Christ, amen
-Elder
Thompson
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