April 23, 2012

Hello Family and Friends,

So this last week was filled with me being a missionary (go figure). There were a lot of random things that happened so this may be a little different of an email. First though I would like to say Happy Birthday to Derek (yesterday) I hope you had a great day! Something random, we were driving down the street and I noticed something very familiar. A BYU Jacket. It caught my attention and made me super excited. Then I realized it was the Sunday School president Brother Stonehocker. This is the second time I've noticed him on the street walking and got really excited to see the BYU Cougar. :)

The following is my previous week at a glance (obviously not everything that I did/ happened is mentioned or this would be too long of an email):

Monday, April 16, 2012

- Preparation Day. We went with Sandra Woodruff in the ward to tour a Hutterite Colony. It was really interesting to see how they live. It was "The Giver" meets "Little House on the Prairie". They live very basic yet everyone is given the specific assignment (the welder, head cook, German teacher, gardener, etc.) It was interesting to learn about them and see how they live. Everything is very clean, monochromatic, and immaculate. The men eat on one side and the women on the other. The kids all eat in a separate room. They are all fluent in both English and German and have church every night for a half hour in addition to Sundays. I asked them about their religious beliefs and the woman giving us a tour didn't really know much. She said she didn't really know how to explain it. (I thought that was pretty interesting). They gave us homemade cinnamon buns (Yum!!!) and we got to see everything there. It was definitely a neat tour.

Tuesday, April17

- Met with Tina (our investigator). Had a great lesson on the first half of the Plan of Salvation. She mentioned that is worries about her family and what will happen to them after she dies. She also said that the Jehovah's Witnesses stopped by and she told them, "I'm already meeting with the Mormon Missionaries. I can't meet with both." That was pretty funny.

-Did service at the Food Bank

-Met with the Atkins family (1/2 Less Active). This turned out to be a pretty intense lesson. Sister Atkins has stopped coming to church after being offended and feels like she doesn't have a testimony. In our lesson Sister White felt impressed to tell her that she is being a hypocrite (I couldn't think of a better way to put it) and that she needs to forgive those who she feels have wronged her, stop judging those at church as self righteous and move forward. The spirit was there (thank goodness) otherwise this would have been a pretty intense moment. Sister Atkins waited for a moment as the rest of her family sat in silence and stared at her. The first thing she said to Sister White was, "You are a brave girl." In the end she said that she felt humbled and that she'd really have to think about how she felt. She hadn't thought about her being a hypocrite and judging those who had judged her. We're praying that this will be a good step for her and that her heart will be softened. We wont be able to meet with her for a week because she is going out of town so it will be interesting to see what happens.

Wednesday, April 18

-Met with Sister Evans (less active), Lindsay Rector, Eniely (RC) and had supper at the Blanchards. We were also invited to a Volunteer Appreciation night put on by the town for all of the volunteers around town. It was pretty cool to see people that we volunteer with at the library, food bank, and rest homes.

Thursday, April 19

-District Meeting in Innisfail. (Always great to see other missionaries and receive training.)

-Service at Rosefield

-Met with Sister Gudim, the Votary's (played cribbage with them) and had supper at Brother Young's

-Relief Society Activity (made frozen casseroles)

Friday, April 20

-Weekly planning

-Met with the Stonehockers. Took pictures of us as "Nomads/ hunters and gatherers."

-Supper at the Teskey's (Part member) Brother Teskey is Catholic and the most active none member. When we told him that transfers were coming up he said that the furthest we can transfer is Bowden (part of our area.) That made us feel good. Also, he had a work social after work, but he told them he couldn't stay because the missionaries were coming over for supper. He is so great! I think in due time he will gain a testimony. It's hard though because his dad was a Catholic priest.

Saturday, April 21

- Helped out at the Stake Activity Days activity. Sister White and I were in charge of one of the rotations. Silent Interview. The girls had to tell three things about themselves without talking (kind of like charades.) Then we played "Friendship Tag" AKA "Missionary Tag." It was great fun. The girls loved us.

-Met with the Pratts. Brother Pratt had a type of cancer and is starting chemo today. We stopped by and shared a message of strength and comfort for him. We had a great visit and Sister White and I ended up crying. He has such strength and faith. I hope and pray everything will go well with treatment. They will be gone for a couple months.

Sunday, April 22

-This was the nicest day (weather wise) of the year so far. + 23 C! So warm. I loved it!

- Sister Tara Wells spoke for the first time in sacrament meeting. She has been less active most her life until about a year ago. It was amazing!!!! Her whole family came (three less active kids and non-member husband). She talked about the need of a living prophet and it was so good. She did so well.

-Had to teach Gospel Principles last minute (the teacher had an emergency and had to leave). So, on the spot (and by the Spirit) we taught about the Creation. It went really well. Gotta love the Holy Ghost. We also taught the Kinders, Beckers, Darby's, and had supper at the Ellis'.

Overall, it was a great week. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve. I'm grateful for the lives I get to be a part of the lives I get to touch. I'm grateful for the instrument I get to be in the hands of God.

In 1 Peter 3:15 it says;

"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear."

Ask yourself, are you able to tell those around you why you have hope? If not, study the gospel and sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.

I love you all!

Love, Sister Thompson