The past two weeks

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

Goldsboro, NC

Elder Thompson called home again on Monday.  He was also going to send an email but we received a short note stating that he ran out of time before he could finish it and so he will write next Monday.

Since Rachel and Reene were home from school today they were able to talk to Josh. Renee asked Josh, "What do you do every day?" Josh told them that he does service every day, he does some tracting (walks around trying to talk to people about the gospel), visits with ward members as he eats dinner in their homes and also studies his scriptures. When asked if there was something different that he has eaten, he said he did have some shrimp and grits which he liked.

Josh has a piano in his little apartment. It is a one-bedroom apartment. The piano is in his kitchen. He is trying to remember how to play hymns so he can play some for the seniors at the senior center. They go each week to play games with the seniors. They have about 15 seniors who will walk out and play with them. They will play cornhole or bingo or any other game the seniors want to play. The sister missionaries have set up a Spanish class for the seniors and Josh and his companion are trying to plan a set schedule of something they can do for the seniors.

I sent Josh a simplified hymn book last week. He gave me his address because he still hasn't received his Valentine's package that I sent to the mission home. We looked up his address on google maps. (His address:  312 Perkins Road, Goldsboro, NC) I have decided that I would like to live there with all the greenery. Josh says he does live in the rural part of Goldsboro. His area is on one side of the interstate where there is no city. The other side of the interstate has all the shopping and the city. So he drives in a car to get everywhere. This has made it a challenge to contact people. This is why they have gone to parks and the YMCA to find groups of people they can talk to. The two people they contacted two weeks ago didn't answer their doors when they went back this past week.

There is an investigator who is friends with the youth in the ward. He comes out to play basketball with the youth. In their ward, their youth night consists of basketball practice for the boys and girls. We do not have church ball here in Elk Grove. My boys would have loved to play church ball and I am sure my girls would have loved that too.

As I talk to Josh he seems to be very happy and glad to be serving a mission. Here are some pictures he sent. He said that he got a haircut last week and it is a lot shorter than he usually likes. He hasn't had his hair that short since he was in junior high.

 
 

Feb 24th

I'm glad to hear from everyone and all your different experiences. I've been busy with so many things I don't know where to start. 

Tuesday we got to go around town looking for people to talk to in the stores, and we found a YMCA in our area, so we're going to go there to play basketball and sports contact. Brother Kimbrell was taking us around after dinner to find people in our ward that we could share a cake he made with. 

Wednesday morning I believe we helped Brother Clark tin roof his new patio, and Brother Aycock took us to Chik-fil-A afterward. We went around more stores afterward looking for a new pair of basketball shoes for me while we talked to more people in the stores. We had dinner with a member I believe, but I honestly can't remember a lot of this week which is fine because I'm keeping a daily journal. I really liked reading your journals dad and I want to read more.

Thursday we helped build another ramp in the morning, then went and played games with the residents at an assisted living home. They are all so fun to be around. After our weekly Thursday night dinner at the Cogdell's, we had to go straight home because it started snowing really hard!

Friday morning we stayed inside because of the ice and snow then went back to the old folks home to call out bingo for them. We met an inactive member there, and they all love us. I'm sort of relearning a couple hymns on the apartments piano because they want to see if I can play for them.

Saturday I really don't remember much of what we did except for the fact that we found two new people to teach while tracking! My area has been whitewashed 3 or 4 times in a row, and has been in a teaching drought for over a year so this is big. Sunday after we talked to a new person we found another person to teach while knocking doors in their complex. We then went to visit Bro Tilton again. We had dinner at the Boneys and played basketball in their driveway with their kids for a little bit before we visited Kevin Baker, a cool member who has just been depressed and needs people to talk to.

Bro Tilton is an old gentleman who lives in a tiny house on a member's property. He is a member but he has a hard time moving around so he hasn't been to church in a while. We meet with him every Sunday and Wednesday. He loves reading the teachings of prophets and will share with us a spiritual message every time we are over there. He also makes us eat ice cream. He has two big bowls that he tells us to grab and makes us fill them to the brim with ice cream before we are allowed to go and sit back down. I love ice cream, but Elder Toso doesn't and he struggles trying to eat it all.

There's an investigator in my ward that loves coming to church and talking to the missionaries and his friends. He's made an effort on his own to come to young men basketball and sacrament and priesthood meetings. He just started slow and with gradual introductions, to pieces of the church, he's been wanting to learn more. 

I know that if we continue in our efforts to fellowship others and bring them unto Christ, we will eventually see success. It will require some trials of faith but if we endure we will succeed. In the Book of Mormon, there are many scriptures that tell us to have faith. Mosiah 8:18 says "Thus God has provided a means that man, through faith, might work mighty miracles; therefore he becometh a great benefit to his fellow beings." I know that Heavenly Father loves us and is looking out for us. He wants to help us through our trials and in our efforts to help others.

-Elder Thompson

Other Notes:

* Elder Thompson called home Monday morning and I was able to talk to him for only a few minutes. (It was a busy time trying to get kids to seminary and school when he called.) He was in very high spirits and is keeping busy with the work. We need to work out a better time for him to call so that Ethan can be here for the conversations.

white washed:  when both Elders are removed from the area when transfers occur

1st Prep Day

Sunday was eventful. We met so many ward members in their homes and got to strengthen our relationship with them so hopefully, they can find people for us. We also met Bro Tilton. He is a very old man who has a hard time getting around so we visit him every Sunday and Wednesday to talk and give him the sacrament. He gives us massive bowls full of ice cream in return. He's from the Bay Area originally and talked about the World Series earthquake for a while. He was so fun to talk to and loves all the missionaries.

Today, we went shopping at Walmart. Since then, we've been playing basketball at our stake center.

The work seems to be moving at a snail's pace, but once we get a system in to teach our members about missionary work, I know we'll get things moving along

Here are a bunch of pictures I have from the MTC as well as my travels into the field.

-Elder Thompson

 

 

 


First Companion: Elder Toso

Happy Valentine's Day

Today Josh was able to call us since it is Valentine's Day. He has been assigned to Goldsboro, NC. His companion is from Washington State. (I am not sure how to spell his last name so I will wait until I get an email.) He stated that his companion was born in Samoa and lived there for 9 years and then moved to Washington.

Between training and missionary study, he has been doing service and some tracting. On Thursday his companion and him met with other local church congregations and went and built ramps for people in need. Josh helped build a ramp for a school girl who is in a wheel chair. Today they stopped by the local senior home and were asked to come back tonight to help them with their Senior Valentine's Party.

Josh said that basketball is really big in that area, bigger than he expected. He said that the missionaries will go to parks and play basketball with the locals and talk to them that way. I think he is super excited about that.

Josh also said that he enjoyed the emails that he has received. He apologizes for not being able to respond to each of them. He also asked that if anyone has missionary journal entries that they would like to share with him, he would love to read them. He asked Ethan to send him one, once a week. So if you have any to share he would appreciate it.

Here is a picture of him with his Mission President, his wife, and all the other new missionaries. Also I have posted a link to a video of the new missionaries arriving in North Carolina last Monday.



Video of new missionaries arriving in North Carolina

Flying to North Carolina

Josh Checked out of the MTC this morning at 4:45 AM. Their route to the airport was a little crazy. They caught the bus by the MTC which took them to the Front Runner Train Stop. From there they rode to Downtown Salt Lake City and transferred to the TRAX (train) which took them to the airport. Josh's plane left at 10:10 this morning (SLC time). We have been following his flight on flightaware.com. It is scheduled to land at 4:00 PM (North Carolina time).

When Ethan left the MTC several years ago, they had a bus that picked him up from the MTC and took him straight to the airport. Reading Josh's travel instructions, we were a little stressed for him but I am sure he made it OK. Hopefully, we will hear from him when he arrives in North Carolina. Here is a picture of him by the World Map at the MTC, pointing to North Carolina.

Message from Josh:

Hello From NC!

I am emailing y'all to say that I have arrived safely and am here in the mission president's home. I will email or call on P Day, I'm not sure when that will be. I'm learning so much right now and am excited to be in the field!

-Elder Thompson 

Final Days at MTC

I am feeling better, I got released from quarantine Sunday afternoon. This week has been full of many cool experiences. I finally got a picture of the view I get to see for 6 hours a day while I'm in class. We figured out where the vending machines are in our complex, and they have things like licorice, pizza, soda, and even ice cream in them. The food has been lowering in quality, the only good thing we've had this week is Subway. We've been eating pretty much anything else besides the main courses. Later in the week, we made a basketball hoop out of a hanger in our room. We've been playing Pig with the basketball you sent before bed.

Since this is our last week, we got to do lots of different service. Monday we got to welcome the new senior missionaries by carrying their luggage and showing them their rooms. Tuesday we got to got back to the docks where the food arrives and took all sorts of ice cream and yogurt to the different fridges and freezers. Wednesday we welcomed both North American and international missionaries. The international missionary I helped spoke only Portuguese and Spanish which was a very difficult thing to do but we got him settled in. I then went down to the garage and got to help new missionaries get unloaded and led them to their rooms.

We had our last TRC week, and we were sad to say goodbye. Me and Elder Robert's taught a nonmember student at UVU named William. He's from Salt Lake City and all his friends are on their missions. His experience with the church are his friends talking to him about missions, and he loved to play church ball. Me and him talked for a while about basketball. Our meeting with him were great. We got him to pray and got him excited to read the Book of Mormon. Last night was our last meeting so we got his email and we're excited to keep talking to him while we're out in the field. 

After all the experiences I've had in the MTC, I'm so excited to go out to North Carolina and serve the people there.

-Elder Thompson