Rocket Man 9/2/202

 This week was incredibly crazy and super wild and overall insanely awesome.

 

Tuesday we had the opportunity to teach our member friend Josh, and I got super close to beating him in chess afterward. He makes his own wooden sets and practices a lot so the fact I got as close as I did to winning is a miracle. That evening our branch missionary Jacob took us to a really upscale Korean BBQ place for dinner.

 

Wednesday we didn't have district council, but we still decided to go to Fruity Party Island. The Torres actually let us learn how to make our own food in the restaurant's kitchen and then eat afterward. We did weekly planning a day early as well since our next day would be busy.

 

We had a pretty awesome zone conference on Thursday as well. We got there early so I got to sing in the missionary choir which I haven't done in forever and loved doing. We learned a lot about strengthening our own relationship with Christ and discovering who we are, which was a nice change since zone conferences usually focus on how we can help those we teach. We of course had to stop at Montag's on the way home as well. We had dinner with the Larsons and went to institute that evening.

 

We went all the way out to Friendswood on Friday to teach a friend, but he canceled on us, so we taught a member of ours over zoom at the Friendswood building and then came back to our church building to teach our member friend Christian and give him a blessing as well. We also tried to get pizza with gift cards a member had given me a while ago, but for some reason, it took like an hour for the people at Domino's to figure out the system, so that was basically the rest of our evening.

 

Saturday, we played basketball as always. We also wasted so many of our allotted miles. I wanna say for 3 or 4 hours we were driving around to teach different scheduled lessons all over our area, and every single one of them canceled last minute. Our member friend Joel was at least nice enough that night to give us all the leftover food from his event and chat with us.

 

Sunday was really our only "normal" day. We went to church and met some new members and nonmembers that came. That afternoon we tried contacting people before joining our ward for come follow me. 

 

We woke up Monday at 4 am then took a 5-minute drive down to NASA. We were with missionaries from League City and Friendswood zones trying to be some of the first people into the space center for the launch party for Artemis 1. We got there early enough that we got a lot of cool free stuff and got to walk around NASA with other missionaries for a couple hours before the scheduled launch window. It was a blast, but sadly the launch ended up getting delayed. We went out with our district to breakfast, then spent the day with the Clear Lake district playing volleyball and card games at our church building. That evening we also got to join or branch at FHE for trivia. 

 

It was an amazing week and I've been so grateful for all experiences and opportunities, good or bad, Heavenly Father has given us.

 

-Elder Thompson

Derezzed 8/2/2022

 This week was super solid and we had a lot of fun doing missionary work.

 

Tuesday we went to a school organization and helped put together boxes of learning activities for elementary and middle school students. We were there for over 4 hours with the clear lake district which was so much fun.

 

Wednesday after district council and lunch we got to finally grind put some contacts and apartment finding, but sadly all we could manage to do was pass out a BoM. Apparently, the guy was in the middle of reading a new graphic novel about the story of Joseph Smith.

 

Thursday we meet with our member friend Yudeth and drove a lot in the rain. We made the trek all the way out to institute, just to get there and get a text from a member saying it got canceled. That was wonderful.

 

Friday we went back to the school organization and helped load the boxes and some wood onto a truck to be sent out, and basically right after went to help at the church food truck again.

 

Saturday we went to play basketball at the church and met a lot of new people there. Afterward, Chris invited us and the ZLs (since Elder Van Wagoner is our Zl now) to lunch at Coco again. The crepes there are good, but their raspberry sorbet gelato is some of the best sorbet I've ever had. We also finally got in contact with our friend Chucho in the evening when we stopped by his place.

 

On Sunday we went to church and got to set up lots of lessons and meetings with members, and that evening we got to teach mission prep again. We asked who would want a chance to knock doors and teach with missionaries, and they all raised their hand, so we're gonna try and give them all that opportunity in the future.

 

For PDay, we had lunch with the Jensons at their home. They're a member of the Texas City Branch who has a really nice house in a secluded area on the bay. We played pinball, pool, and cornhole for the entire afternoon. That night for FHE, we played a wild game of musical chairs with the branch.

 

This week I really learned how to enjoy serving selflessly and how to be better and stepping up and offering a helping hand to those around us. I'm so grateful for the opportunities God had given me to love everyone.

 

-Elder Thompson.

THSM 8 August 2022 Transfer Newsletter 8/9/2022

 Good morning THSM family members,

 

Yesterday, 8 August, 2022 was our THSM transfer day.  We said farewell to 11 of our amazing missionaries who completed their missions, and gave a BIG Texas sized welcome to our 22 arriving missionaries.  

Each transfer we create a THSM Transfer Newsletter and we want to share with you the great things that are happening in our mission.  There are photos and comments from our departing; a welcome to our new arrivals; a 6 week calendar of mission activities; the THSM transfer board so you can see where your missionary is serving and their companion.  It also includes our focus and goals for the next 6 weeks and a sweet conversion story miracle. 

We hope you will speak with your missionary about the training materials, and let them share their experiences with you, as they grow in their missionary work, especially the daily miracles they see as they share precious Gospel truths with our THSM neighbors.   

https://drive.google.com/file/d/11f9afUshozmhMICWj3vjm5VHy2c65ye8/view?usp=sharing

Thank you for sharing your missionary with us.  We treasure them.  Rejoice with them. And truly love each of them.  

THSM Transfer Training Plan 7/3/2022

 Dear parents and first contacts of our missionaries, 

Please find attached our Training Plan for this new transfer, which commenced on June 27th. Because of size limitations, we can't send you the entire plan, but we wanted to send you these highlights so you can see where your family member is serving and a copy of the calendar. You'll also see what we are focusing on as a mission.

We have an amazing mission. We have great momentum! Miracles are happening, and we’re excited to share some of them with you. Feel free to discuss these focus points with your missionary.

With love, 

President and Sister Richards

PARENTS Transfer Training Plan (Jun 27 - Aug 8)[8750].pdf

THSM Transfer Training Plan 5/16/2022

 Sisters, Elders and parents, 

Please find attached our Transfer Training Plan. Inside, you’ll find the topics we are focusing on this upcoming transfer, skills to work on, an update on our goals, and lots of other tips. You will also find a calendar, a copy of the transfer board, photos of the new missionaries who arrived today, and advice from our amazing departing missionaries who returned home this morning. 

Please read it carefully. District leaders, use these topics and training ideas for your district councils. Parents, we want you to feel connected to what we are focusing on as a mission. You can ask your missionaries about what you read, their goals, and their personal progress. 

We have an amazing mission. We have great momentum! Miracles are happening, and we’re excited to share some of them with you. 

With love, 

President and Sister Richards

 

Even Flow 8/18/2022

 This week went well, we had lots of opportunities to serve as well as lessons and meals with members.

 

We got to go to the elementary school again with all the Elders near us to help set up more classrooms. Tuesday we also taught Matti one time before she head out for South Carolina and also taught our member friend Christian. I guess that lesson went well enough he decided to buy us food for the first time ever. We also got to teach our friend Christopher for the first time and invited him to church.

 

Wednesday after district council and lunch, we helped Matt and Bremmen move Bremmen out of his apartment on Galveston into a temporary storage unit. That took pretty much the whole afternoon, so they decided to take us out to Olive Garden for dinner. That was I'm pretty sure my first time ever going there, and as much as I was grateful for the food, I don't think it's ever worth going there again. 

 

We helped our member friend Lily learn more about missionary work Thursday afternoon, then President and Sister Larson had us over for dinner. We also got to go to and help out at institute that evening.

 

Friday evening we did a lot of contacting and tracting in Friendswood, but we were invited to dinner by our member Jacob Gabbitas. He took us to an all-you-can-eat sushi place near us, which was the first time I've ever had sushi. That was a mistake because now I like sushi a lot and am going to want to fork over the ridiculous amount of money to buy more. Thankfully as a missionary that can't happen. That night we went over to the Valentine's whose son Jacob is in our branch and got to teach all of them.

 

Saturday we went to a park to play basketball since there was an event going on we didn't know about. It was pretty fun, except for one point when i started to feel just a little sick from all the food I'd had the night before and had to sit out a second before anything wild happened. We taught our member friend Elder Vergaray, who is currently a service missionary in the branch and helps our social media and data team. That night, we had a game night where members invited nonmember friends which went super well and we had a good turnout. 

 

At church, we invited Russell to be baptized, but he said he wasn't feeling prepared enough, so Mike invited him to the branch temple trip to tour the grounds a bit and he said he would go. That evening we learned about a new program in the mission called Better Life Houston, where stakes will put on a variety of classes geared toward helping members and nonmembers in all parts of their lives. It sounds like not much is required of us as missionaries, but it was also pretty vague when we discussed what our responsibilities would be. 

 

I did get a haircut on Pday, and although it didn't turn out the way I hoped, the lady who cut my hair had met with missionaries before and wanted them back, so I referred her to the Sisters in her area. As a district, we played mini golf on Galveston, and then we went with the Elders to the nearby batting cages for a bit. It was all a lot of fun, and at FHE that night there were some members we didn't know, and got to introduce ourselves.

 

It was an overall fun and productive week and I hope to keep the spiritual ball rolling this next one. 

 

-Elder Thompson

Speed of Light 8/11/2022

 Not only did this week, but this whole past transfer seemed to fly by so quickly. There's always so much going on here in the Armond Bayou YSA.

 

This Tuesday we taught some of our member friends in the afternoon and decided to go tracting at a nearby complex in the evening. We had an awesome first lesson with Jamie whose door we knocked and we are hopefully gonna teach her more soon.

 

Wednesday evening Bremmen and Matt invited us over as well as our friend Russell to have pizza and play games, as well as help us teach Russell about the priesthood. 

 

We got an interesting service opportunity Thursday morning. A member in clear lake had us and the other Elders help her elementary school teacher friend set up some classrooms at the nearby school. We got another chance to go to institute later that evening as well.

 

On Friday, we did another service at a nearby church's food bank with a bunch of the other Elders. In the evening, Elder Long came to my area on exchanges, and we joined the clear lake 1st Elders and their youth in volleyball.

 

Saturday morning we did my favorite thing and played basketball with all our friends at the church. That afternoon we went down to Galveston with Bremmen and Matt to help a member's friend move in. After exchanging back, we went to an institute gathering and talked to some member and nonmember friends, as well as playing ping pong, pool, and volleyball. It was a fantastic time, so much so we lost track of time and almost got home late.

 

Church on Sunday was extra powerful for us and our friend Matti. She went up and shared her testimony about Christ, the BoM, and the church. Afterward, our branch president, ward mission leader, and we agreed she was basically inviting herself to join the church and we agreed to ask her if she wanted to be baptized before she leaves on Wednesday. She agreed, and we scheduled her baptism for Monday night. We had a very stressful yet rewarding opportunity to plan and set up a baptism in less than 24 hours. We taught her the last couple of things she needed to learn, and Elder Zabel interviewed her right after. That night, we taught mission prep with Mike and the Sisters and stopped by come follow me right after.

 

Monday was transfers, and in the morning we hung out with the Clear Lake district near the mission office at a burger place. Elder Van Wagoner left to be our zone leader in a different area. My new companion is Elder Hadley, who's from Blackfoot, ID and has only been out for 6 months, this is his second area ever. After transfers, we prepped for the baptism and then had the service right before FHE so the majority of the branch could show up. There was a great turnout and it went super well. The spirit was so strong and Matti was so grateful to be baptized before she left for school. It was a pretty nice going away gift.

 

I'm so excited we got to get our friend Matti baptized and for all the ways we've been able to serve and teach people in our area this week. I'm excited for all the opportunities and blessings that are ahead this next transfer.

 

-Elder Thompson