I wanna start off by apologizing to anyone, especially my parents, who's ever had the laborious task of teaching me and other primary kids. It really is the crazy hectic side of church. We had the opportunity to teach with a member the Restoration and the importance of the church to both junior and senior primary, which was a load of fun but also super chaotic. I know understand why some members loathe being called to primary and some cherish it forever.
One day this week, as we were taking a long drive back from the church, Elder Zabel and I felt we should stop by a Pawn Shop to look around. I've never been inside one, and I wasn't interested in buying anything, but we felt we should go anyway. When we got inside, we started talking to this super cool lady, who told us she was a recent convert who had just moved and wanted to get in contact with missionaries again in her new ward and area so she could receive a blessing. It was a neat miracle to experience and helped remind me that the Lord works in mysterious ways.
Throughout the week as we were contacting people in stores, we ran into a member from my old ward and the sisters in my old area, who all told me that my friend and new convert Ken had fallen again and now he's in a care facility. We all hope he's doing alright and we all keep him in our prayers.
Our ward had a trunk or treat which was OK, but the great part was we had our friend Hope and her three kids show up. We walked around with them and told them about us and our church as well as introduced them to the members of our congregations. She loved all of the members and their kindness and we even got her excited to come to church!
The last exciting thing that happened in our missionary work is we had a pass-off lesson with some Sisters from NC. We had a zoom meeting with our new friend Raymond and the Sisters and we taught him the Restoration. What was really interesting was that I knew one of the Sister's cousin fairly well, and I knew the other one's former companion fairly well, both were connections through my wards and FHE groups at BYUI. It's pretty crazy how small our world actually seems at times and it's always great to know friends of friends.
This week I've learned the difference in my work and success when im either in a cheerful and hopeful mood or if I'm in a discouraged and frustrated mood. Both start at the beginning of the day and what I choose to think or do affects my demeanor and attitude for the rest of the day. I know as we strive to be positive, the Lord will bless us for our positive efforts and willingness to try and do good.
-Elder Thompson
