HOW aRE YoU ALL??
Sweet to hear about Amy's baptism! That's really cool! Sounds like it was really special. Keep that COMFORTER nearby! The "spiritual toolbox" sounds like a sweet object lesson - I'm not allowed to stay up till 5am (sometimes I get UP then) so my genuis is forced to be used in the thick of the day... I'm excited about the singing you did, when I get home maybe we'll have a Thelin quintet? Congrats Amy!!!
Speaking of baptism, last week we weren't sure, but as it worked out, we had FIVE baptisms on Sunday night!!!! Two sisters, and three of their children, were baptized! They were all related to the family that was going to be baptized but moved to California. This family has come since September, kids sang in the Primary program, etc. It was sweet. They were all there on time dressed in white! They chose members from the ward for all the program, to give the talks, the baptism, etc. Ha, the man who baptized them is our branch mission leader, from Dominican Republic - speaks very loud with a voice of authority, kinda dramatic. "LUPE REYNOSO! HABIENDO SIDO COMISIONADO..." Funny. But good baptism. One of the older people that went to California came back to see it! And just about all the branch came to support them. Way cool.
OK, not much time: maintenance: Yes, got the package! Thank you! Waffle bowl died, but it still tastes good! You could send a card with the song on it, prob won't play in MY camera, but maybe my comps... cassettes are allowed too, but I don't have a player..
Music I can listen to: just about everything. EFY, Motabchoir, LDS artists... music I've looked at might be "trek" ,"Reflections of Christ sountrack" (look it up, heard it was cool, sweet photography project...) and really anything that looks cool! Music always welcomed!
Ok, well, I've got lots of thoughts, and comments, but good luck on everything, stay firm and learn from each day. I really can't remember life without being focused on important things, hopefully its possible to stay focused... get more sleep! Important! snowed here for first time, winter may be reeeeeeeally fun... and cold... wash hands, swine flu is scary, haven't received vac's but might, mission is trying to order them. Pray and don't worry... WAIT is it a RENTAL spaceship car you are talking about, or is it really OURS? Every sheep is way important, help them all! Good job JEFF, keep it up, that's my browski, Jeffrey BEASTLIN (my nickname here now...)
LOVE YOU ALL! I know its true. Jesus Christ lives. This is His Church. I've felt it confirmed to me over and over. I have a testimony of agency, we CAN always choose the right. DO IT!
Love you all!
Elder Thelin the Christopher Beastlin
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
THE WATERS OF BAPTISM
Hey Family!
What's up? Hope everything's ok with everyone, and everyone's well! Sorry I couldn't send an email yesterday, we had our Pday on Wednesday this week, so we couldn't get to use the computers till now. Ah well!
Amy! Congratulations on the baptism! It was cool, WE actually went to a baptism on Saturday too! A little boy was being baptized in the branch - his family was baptized a year ago, but he was only 7 and wasn't able to - it's hilarious, because in their baptism photo last year, all are there with big smiles except for little Steven, and he's looking quite sad and disappointed, looking down. Now, he finally turned 8, and was jumping up and down to be baptized - before they closed the curtains on the font we could all hear him say "ALL RIGHT!!" I was asked to speak about the Holy Ghost. It was cool, I got to talk about how, 2000 miles away, my little sister was ALSO getting baptized! That's really cool Amy, we're all proud of you! I hope everything went well - the pic didn't work on the computer, but I'll await the package from mom. Speaking of, thanks for the package with my contacts and treats! I ate all the candy corn before taking pics of the boat, but we'll see what we can do. The cd's are a lifesaver, we were going crazy with the same 2. We're allowed to have just about anything, Tabernacle Choir, EFY, various piano, Viva la Vida, Jack Johnson..... ok, well, almost anything... but yeah, MoTab is fine, one missionary has like all classical music known to man, even some Disney soundtracks, like Narnia... its all up to the missionary, basically, whether its going to inspire, or just be entertainment and distraction.
Hmm, what else... we've done a lot of traveling... we got a call from a man in Malad Idaho, saying there is A spanish woman there, could we go teach her? So, we went... LONG ways away, we didn't think we covered even that area, but apparently we do. There are roughly 300 people in Malad, its fairly barren - check out some pics on the internet - but there was one lady from Peru there who told her English husband she'd love him forever, and he told her that could be arranged, ha, so now she is very interested in being sealed to her family in the temple, only she is moving to Baltimore on Saturday, so we won't see her baptized. :( It's all good though. Also, we had a Zone Conference, and learned much, then had a SPANISH Zone Conference in Ogden, and learned some things specific to the Spanish program. Swine flu is a big problem here too- we have 20 missionaries quarantined - we're not supposed to shake hands or touch anyone, and we wash our hands continuously. 4 English Elders above us are quarantined for 7 days. In one apartment. I think they're going crazy, and their songs they sing are growing more interesting each day...
Hmm, bueno, this week.... oh, well, funny how much damage 2 missionaries can do - we heard something about stake conference [a "stake" contains several congregations, so this is like a special area meeting he is talking about] coming up, and told all our investigators and half the branch it was this weekend. Spent the whole week drawing maps to the stake center, explaining how it was at a different time and everything, and how everyone could sleep in a little. WELL, get a call about 8 am on Sunday, a little something like "HEY ELDERS, WE JUST FOUND OUT IT'S NOT STAKE CONFERENCE TODAY! IT'S NEXT WEEK!" I guess we heard the announcement wrong. And so commenced the next hour of desperately driving and trying to wake everyone up and tell them... I thought we did pretty good, got 6 of them to church, so...
Also, really cool, remember that guy Moises (Moses) I wrote about? His best friend is an American lady, Sister Danielson, who lives in the trailer next door, and she doesn't speak Spanish, and he doesn't really speak English, but they talk through hand signs and pocket dictionaries and a few words here and there - we've taught Moises for like 3 months now. He's a slow progresser, feels unworthy to do just about anything religious, wouldn't even say prayers for a long time. Well, recently, he's been saying a prayer - a quick one, but still a prayer - every day before work. He's quit drinking altogether in 3 months. Also, he reads the Book of Mormon some. We taught him a lesson over at Sister Danielson's trailer, our last there for awhile as she has to go to Texas for the next 2 months. A few days earlier she woke up in the night thinking the thought Moises is getting baptized. We felt the same when we did weekly planning. Also, all Saturday when we saw members, they asked "Hey, how's Moises doing? He going to get baptized?" When we called to confirm the appointment, he sounded happier and more friendly than I've ever heard him, he was making jokes, asking about how our work was going, encouraging us to keep teaching people... 10 minutes before the appointment, we felt again that he was ready, just not sure how to approach it... I've never wanted someone to be baptized so much, this man has shared all kinds of things, and seems to feels he's lower than the dirt, just unworthy and can't change, just seems burdened. Baptism is the key, lift all the burdens and come unto Christ to be healed. We taught a principle, and he revealed his doubt, why he feels so terrible. We were so grateful that, instead of judging him, the member missionary with us explained that Christ can heal us, and we opened the Book of Mormon to Alma 7:14-15.
14 Now I say unto you that ye must repent, and be born again; for the Spirit saith if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye may be washed from your sins, that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, who is mighty to save and to cleanse from all unrighteousness.
15 Yea, I say unto you come and fear not, and lay aside every sin, which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments, and witness it unto him this day by going into the waters of baptism.
I love this scripture - powerful, and explains why we need to be baptized. He read it, and then said "Actually, I've thought a lot about this lately. I know this is what I need to do. I actually made the decision about 3 weeks ago, I just wanted to know some more." It was crazy, it was so happy, translating that to Sister Danielson ("He WHAT?") The ONLY thing is he wants to wait until she gets back form Texas so now we have to wait till December to baptize him. But this'll be good, give him time to come to church on his own, without Sis. Danielson, and make some friends (he's really shy). But it was a crazy Saturday, we just have to keep him on a spiritual high for 2 more months...
Well, family, I don't have much more. Just that I know its all true! I've felt more spiritual this week than ever before in the mission, opening my heart to the Spirit, I know we've been directed to homes, invited the Spirit, helped people feel it. I know that this is the Church of Jesus Christ. I know He will come one day. I've thought over that a lot, how its all winding down to the end. Imagine that morning, after all the fury of the world, all the wickedness and darkness giving its last rage before being taken from the earth, and then the stillness. The light. The Savior returning. Imagine being there on that morning, having weathered the test of life, and passed, standing with the strong, the faithful, the proven, and hearing His voice as He embraces you, with tears in His eyes, saying "Well done." I want to be there. We can all be there. We are His children, and He will never leave us if we come unto Him. He answers prayer, and can do miracles. I know its true!
Have a wonderful week all, I'm praying for you!
Elder Thelin
JAMIE, got a letter for ya, but don't know your EMU address...
What's up? Hope everything's ok with everyone, and everyone's well! Sorry I couldn't send an email yesterday, we had our Pday on Wednesday this week, so we couldn't get to use the computers till now. Ah well!
Amy! Congratulations on the baptism! It was cool, WE actually went to a baptism on Saturday too! A little boy was being baptized in the branch - his family was baptized a year ago, but he was only 7 and wasn't able to - it's hilarious, because in their baptism photo last year, all are there with big smiles except for little Steven, and he's looking quite sad and disappointed, looking down. Now, he finally turned 8, and was jumping up and down to be baptized - before they closed the curtains on the font we could all hear him say "ALL RIGHT!!" I was asked to speak about the Holy Ghost. It was cool, I got to talk about how, 2000 miles away, my little sister was ALSO getting baptized! That's really cool Amy, we're all proud of you! I hope everything went well - the pic didn't work on the computer, but I'll await the package from mom. Speaking of, thanks for the package with my contacts and treats! I ate all the candy corn before taking pics of the boat, but we'll see what we can do. The cd's are a lifesaver, we were going crazy with the same 2. We're allowed to have just about anything, Tabernacle Choir, EFY, various piano, Viva la Vida, Jack Johnson..... ok, well, almost anything... but yeah, MoTab is fine, one missionary has like all classical music known to man, even some Disney soundtracks, like Narnia... its all up to the missionary, basically, whether its going to inspire, or just be entertainment and distraction.
Hmm, what else... we've done a lot of traveling... we got a call from a man in Malad Idaho, saying there is A spanish woman there, could we go teach her? So, we went... LONG ways away, we didn't think we covered even that area, but apparently we do. There are roughly 300 people in Malad, its fairly barren - check out some pics on the internet - but there was one lady from Peru there who told her English husband she'd love him forever, and he told her that could be arranged, ha, so now she is very interested in being sealed to her family in the temple, only she is moving to Baltimore on Saturday, so we won't see her baptized. :( It's all good though. Also, we had a Zone Conference, and learned much, then had a SPANISH Zone Conference in Ogden, and learned some things specific to the Spanish program. Swine flu is a big problem here too- we have 20 missionaries quarantined - we're not supposed to shake hands or touch anyone, and we wash our hands continuously. 4 English Elders above us are quarantined for 7 days. In one apartment. I think they're going crazy, and their songs they sing are growing more interesting each day...
Hmm, bueno, this week.... oh, well, funny how much damage 2 missionaries can do - we heard something about stake conference [a "stake" contains several congregations, so this is like a special area meeting he is talking about] coming up, and told all our investigators and half the branch it was this weekend. Spent the whole week drawing maps to the stake center, explaining how it was at a different time and everything, and how everyone could sleep in a little. WELL, get a call about 8 am on Sunday, a little something like "HEY ELDERS, WE JUST FOUND OUT IT'S NOT STAKE CONFERENCE TODAY! IT'S NEXT WEEK!" I guess we heard the announcement wrong. And so commenced the next hour of desperately driving and trying to wake everyone up and tell them... I thought we did pretty good, got 6 of them to church, so...
Also, really cool, remember that guy Moises (Moses) I wrote about? His best friend is an American lady, Sister Danielson, who lives in the trailer next door, and she doesn't speak Spanish, and he doesn't really speak English, but they talk through hand signs and pocket dictionaries and a few words here and there - we've taught Moises for like 3 months now. He's a slow progresser, feels unworthy to do just about anything religious, wouldn't even say prayers for a long time. Well, recently, he's been saying a prayer - a quick one, but still a prayer - every day before work. He's quit drinking altogether in 3 months. Also, he reads the Book of Mormon some. We taught him a lesson over at Sister Danielson's trailer, our last there for awhile as she has to go to Texas for the next 2 months. A few days earlier she woke up in the night thinking the thought Moises is getting baptized. We felt the same when we did weekly planning. Also, all Saturday when we saw members, they asked "Hey, how's Moises doing? He going to get baptized?" When we called to confirm the appointment, he sounded happier and more friendly than I've ever heard him, he was making jokes, asking about how our work was going, encouraging us to keep teaching people... 10 minutes before the appointment, we felt again that he was ready, just not sure how to approach it... I've never wanted someone to be baptized so much, this man has shared all kinds of things, and seems to feels he's lower than the dirt, just unworthy and can't change, just seems burdened. Baptism is the key, lift all the burdens and come unto Christ to be healed. We taught a principle, and he revealed his doubt, why he feels so terrible. We were so grateful that, instead of judging him, the member missionary with us explained that Christ can heal us, and we opened the Book of Mormon to Alma 7:14-15.
14 Now I say unto you that ye must repent, and be born again; for the Spirit saith if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye may be washed from your sins, that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, who is mighty to save and to cleanse from all unrighteousness.
15 Yea, I say unto you come and fear not, and lay aside every sin, which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments, and witness it unto him this day by going into the waters of baptism.
I love this scripture - powerful, and explains why we need to be baptized. He read it, and then said "Actually, I've thought a lot about this lately. I know this is what I need to do. I actually made the decision about 3 weeks ago, I just wanted to know some more." It was crazy, it was so happy, translating that to Sister Danielson ("He WHAT?") The ONLY thing is he wants to wait until she gets back form Texas so now we have to wait till December to baptize him. But this'll be good, give him time to come to church on his own, without Sis. Danielson, and make some friends (he's really shy). But it was a crazy Saturday, we just have to keep him on a spiritual high for 2 more months...
Well, family, I don't have much more. Just that I know its all true! I've felt more spiritual this week than ever before in the mission, opening my heart to the Spirit, I know we've been directed to homes, invited the Spirit, helped people feel it. I know that this is the Church of Jesus Christ. I know He will come one day. I've thought over that a lot, how its all winding down to the end. Imagine that morning, after all the fury of the world, all the wickedness and darkness giving its last rage before being taken from the earth, and then the stillness. The light. The Savior returning. Imagine being there on that morning, having weathered the test of life, and passed, standing with the strong, the faithful, the proven, and hearing His voice as He embraces you, with tears in His eyes, saying "Well done." I want to be there. We can all be there. We are His children, and He will never leave us if we come unto Him. He answers prayer, and can do miracles. I know its true!
Have a wonderful week all, I'm praying for you!
Elder Thelin
JAMIE, got a letter for ya, but don't know your EMU address...
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
WE LEARN WE CAN"T, BUT HE CAN
Hey s' up family, how ARE you all?
Sorry about the lost pictures, Mom. Sometimes we gotta shrug and let things go right? Like our baptisms last week. And the fact that I forgot to get a receipt for gas yesterday that I needed to give to the mission office. And now I must account for. Haha. Whoops...
Well, yup, its been a fairly crazy week here too. Working, singing, talking to EVERYONE (new theme here for us, before we tried to do 10 unplanned contacts a day. President Olson declared that if we don't have 10 unplanned contacts a day, thats pathetic. So we speak to EVERYONE. Including pulling over the car to talk to walkers, shouting across lawns, etc., etc. Intense. Missionary license. And Elder Baquedano is pretty awesome. He grew up in Mexico City for 13 years, then moved to Las Vegas. Unlike Elder Muro he didn't lose his Spanish - we talk just about 95% in Spanish now, which is a blessing for my Spanish. I actually think in Spanish a lot - the other day I was imagining a conversation between me and Jeffrey and Dad, then realized that in my mind Jeffrey was using words like "entonces" or "loquisimo"... and it occured to me that Jeffrey has never had that conversation with me because he's never spoken Spanish with me, so I was translating in my head... yeah... weird. Probably means my mental processes are like moving at half the speed, but hey, whatever.
HEIDI, stop being sick. That's always a bad idea. It's not fun, and it's not cool. So stop that. Ha. Man, that's no good! You gotta get better quick kiddo. No, we don't have too much of "the swine" here, but we are trying to keep clean. I'll start using more hand sanitizer again. And I've heard that the shot is scary, so careful with that. And sweet about Reagan! Amazing! I regularly put people on the prayer rolls at the temple, and we pray for all of you, so I'm glad she's well. Grandma too!
And WHOOO AMY! That's so exciting! Your baptism is on Saturday? That's so cool! Fun! I talk about my baptism all the time with people. Baptism is really cool. It's one of the best feelings in the world. You're going to love it. You just feel really clean and happy, like you're wrapped up in a warm blanket. It's been like 12 years since I was baptized, but I still remember it. The Holy Ghost will warn you of things, help you remember things, help you feel happy when you are sad, help you calm down if you are nervous, and will be like a best friend inside you. I am so glad you are excited, and are going to be baptized! That night, write down in a safe place how you feel - I forgot to do that, and wish I had it written down. But a long time from now, you will want to read that and remember how you felt. It will be a great day. I love you Amy, and am so glad you are part of my family. Good luck, dude!
Speaking of baptisms and confirmations, we had the privilege of confirming Adrianna after 2 weeks! She is now a full-fledged member of the Church of Jesus Christ! She is happy, and hopefully more of her family will follow! Her sister's husband came to Church for the first time on Sunday - he promised EVERYONE he'd come - before he never came because he said "la cama siempre gana" or the bed always wins. Good grief. It was pretty good though. Also, we met a lady that was offended 40 years ago, and left the Church. We taught her, and I was on exchanges with a greenie, Elder Brown - he is still learning Spanish, and trying hard to talk. I turned to him, and he started just giving his testimony. It was very simple, but one fo the msot powerful testimonies of the truth I ever felt. She was crying. A little later we gave her a blessing for some health problems, and she cried again, and told us she felt a peace and joy she hasn't felt for years, and then, in a firm voice, declared she would not miss another Sunday. She is going to Church this Sunday no matter what, even if she's dying, even if the world's ending, NO MATTER WHAT. It was super cool. We've had a lot of spiritual experiences like that this week, where I know that people felt what we said is true. It's true! The Spirit testifies.
Dad, cool, you're going to be a boatsman, eh? The many sides of Gordon Thelin... just don't be too crazy with the money...
Well, yup, life is crazy, not quite used to these responsablities, but I can see how the Lord is trying to stretch me, and what I'll learn from all this. Just means a lot of working and changing to get there. I still think just imparting pure knowledge instantaneously is easier, but I guess it's something we have to work through. The Lord has a plan, and we are able to do all He hands to us, even if we don't think we can. And it sure looks like we can't sometimes. I guess that's the secret. We learn WE can't, but HE can, and humble ourselves enough to let Him work THROUGH us. We should never fear or doubt our potential in this life. As a general authority told us at BYU, "God is for us, Christ accomplished the Atonement for us, and the Spirit is with us." Can't fail. 2 is a majority when one of them is the Lord. Just need to lean on that Rock, and learn to stay there. This Gospel is true. God has given so much for us to build upon. I am thankful for the Book of Mormon and the Bible. I am thankful for the faith of Joseph Smith that was so strong - like a rock, he knowlingly faced persecution, faced all hell and earth could throw at him, and as a Prophet of the Lord Jesus Christ weathered it all in defense of the truth, for us. I am thankful for the temple, and the promises we are given there. And most of all, I am thankful for the Savior, and for all He has given and made possible. We can grow and live and change and have hope because of Him. I know He lives.
Well, love you all so much! Take care, don't get SICK, and love life!
Love, Elder Christopher Thelin
PS Calc is crazy, just look it up online...
PPS Jeffrey--WRITE about SNRa Johnson, haha, funny lady
PPPS I lost Kayla and jaime's addresses - can someone send them? I want to write, but cant
PPPPS MUSIC- we have none here.... the 2 other EFY cds are in the white shelves in DVD like cases. I'm not sure if I have any other that's appropriate, but I'll think... could you send those with the contacts? THANKS!
Sorry about the lost pictures, Mom. Sometimes we gotta shrug and let things go right? Like our baptisms last week. And the fact that I forgot to get a receipt for gas yesterday that I needed to give to the mission office. And now I must account for. Haha. Whoops...
Well, yup, its been a fairly crazy week here too. Working, singing, talking to EVERYONE (new theme here for us, before we tried to do 10 unplanned contacts a day. President Olson declared that if we don't have 10 unplanned contacts a day, thats pathetic. So we speak to EVERYONE. Including pulling over the car to talk to walkers, shouting across lawns, etc., etc. Intense. Missionary license. And Elder Baquedano is pretty awesome. He grew up in Mexico City for 13 years, then moved to Las Vegas. Unlike Elder Muro he didn't lose his Spanish - we talk just about 95% in Spanish now, which is a blessing for my Spanish. I actually think in Spanish a lot - the other day I was imagining a conversation between me and Jeffrey and Dad, then realized that in my mind Jeffrey was using words like "entonces" or "loquisimo"... and it occured to me that Jeffrey has never had that conversation with me because he's never spoken Spanish with me, so I was translating in my head... yeah... weird. Probably means my mental processes are like moving at half the speed, but hey, whatever.
HEIDI, stop being sick. That's always a bad idea. It's not fun, and it's not cool. So stop that. Ha. Man, that's no good! You gotta get better quick kiddo. No, we don't have too much of "the swine" here, but we are trying to keep clean. I'll start using more hand sanitizer again. And I've heard that the shot is scary, so careful with that. And sweet about Reagan! Amazing! I regularly put people on the prayer rolls at the temple, and we pray for all of you, so I'm glad she's well. Grandma too!
And WHOOO AMY! That's so exciting! Your baptism is on Saturday? That's so cool! Fun! I talk about my baptism all the time with people. Baptism is really cool. It's one of the best feelings in the world. You're going to love it. You just feel really clean and happy, like you're wrapped up in a warm blanket. It's been like 12 years since I was baptized, but I still remember it. The Holy Ghost will warn you of things, help you remember things, help you feel happy when you are sad, help you calm down if you are nervous, and will be like a best friend inside you. I am so glad you are excited, and are going to be baptized! That night, write down in a safe place how you feel - I forgot to do that, and wish I had it written down. But a long time from now, you will want to read that and remember how you felt. It will be a great day. I love you Amy, and am so glad you are part of my family. Good luck, dude!
Speaking of baptisms and confirmations, we had the privilege of confirming Adrianna after 2 weeks! She is now a full-fledged member of the Church of Jesus Christ! She is happy, and hopefully more of her family will follow! Her sister's husband came to Church for the first time on Sunday - he promised EVERYONE he'd come - before he never came because he said "la cama siempre gana" or the bed always wins. Good grief. It was pretty good though. Also, we met a lady that was offended 40 years ago, and left the Church. We taught her, and I was on exchanges with a greenie, Elder Brown - he is still learning Spanish, and trying hard to talk. I turned to him, and he started just giving his testimony. It was very simple, but one fo the msot powerful testimonies of the truth I ever felt. She was crying. A little later we gave her a blessing for some health problems, and she cried again, and told us she felt a peace and joy she hasn't felt for years, and then, in a firm voice, declared she would not miss another Sunday. She is going to Church this Sunday no matter what, even if she's dying, even if the world's ending, NO MATTER WHAT. It was super cool. We've had a lot of spiritual experiences like that this week, where I know that people felt what we said is true. It's true! The Spirit testifies.
Dad, cool, you're going to be a boatsman, eh? The many sides of Gordon Thelin... just don't be too crazy with the money...
Well, yup, life is crazy, not quite used to these responsablities, but I can see how the Lord is trying to stretch me, and what I'll learn from all this. Just means a lot of working and changing to get there. I still think just imparting pure knowledge instantaneously is easier, but I guess it's something we have to work through. The Lord has a plan, and we are able to do all He hands to us, even if we don't think we can. And it sure looks like we can't sometimes. I guess that's the secret. We learn WE can't, but HE can, and humble ourselves enough to let Him work THROUGH us. We should never fear or doubt our potential in this life. As a general authority told us at BYU, "God is for us, Christ accomplished the Atonement for us, and the Spirit is with us." Can't fail. 2 is a majority when one of them is the Lord. Just need to lean on that Rock, and learn to stay there. This Gospel is true. God has given so much for us to build upon. I am thankful for the Book of Mormon and the Bible. I am thankful for the faith of Joseph Smith that was so strong - like a rock, he knowlingly faced persecution, faced all hell and earth could throw at him, and as a Prophet of the Lord Jesus Christ weathered it all in defense of the truth, for us. I am thankful for the temple, and the promises we are given there. And most of all, I am thankful for the Savior, and for all He has given and made possible. We can grow and live and change and have hope because of Him. I know He lives.
Well, love you all so much! Take care, don't get SICK, and love life!
Love, Elder Christopher Thelin
PS Calc is crazy, just look it up online...
PPS Jeffrey--WRITE about SNRa Johnson, haha, funny lady
PPPS I lost Kayla and jaime's addresses - can someone send them? I want to write, but cant
PPPPS MUSIC- we have none here.... the 2 other EFY cds are in the white shelves in DVD like cases. I'm not sure if I have any other that's appropriate, but I'll think... could you send those with the contacts? THANKS!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
MONDAY WAS SUCH A MONDAY!
Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey mi familia!
Oh MAN, this week was different. The Lord likes to stretch us, even if we aren't very elastic-like. Like, I feel like I'm a rock or something and He's taking me and starting to pull.... cause He sure dumped about as big a change as He could on me. DISTRICT LEADER? A TRAINER? I'm still trying to get used to just being a senior companion and leading a single area, let alone be worried about 4 Elders, reporting, making significant decisions for people's lives, and being the perfect example in everything for the other missionaries etc., etc., etc. It's sure going to change my mission though. I think it is exactly what I need at this point, but it sure feels like the Lord is doing an Elder Thelin Overhaul here...
Well, let's start last week around Wednesday morning. Get up before dawn to drive the hour down to Ogden. SNOWING. Yes, SNOWING. Get down there, go to the big meeting for all the Trainers with President Olson. Intense. (He asked us to pattern our training on what OUR trainers did. Hahahahahahahahah, I haven't started attacking things in the apartment at random with kitchen knives or started calling my Greenie "Billy" or anything like that.... yet... ha, Elder Gurrola was so great!) Then we had a District Leader training, also intense. I have a greater view of accountability and stewardship now, looking at 4 Elders and determining what my actions can do, all the time, to lift and better them. Still working on that one...
Then I meet: Elder BAQUEDANO!! (Bah-kay-dah-no) He's from Mexico City, but more recently from Las Vegas. Cool guy, he's on fire. Working hard to talk to everyone, really sincere, bigger than I am, has a brother who decided to serve a mission at the same time, and they both started the same day, were comps in the MTC, and he is serving in Salt Lake City South, crazy! So now we are speaking almost entirely in Spanish. I'm turning fluent, yesh...
But yeah, really good, we're working hard here. Not easy, but good! And what a crazy first day - we made the voyage back to Hyrum in Cache Valley, driving quite slow through the blizzard, got home, then began to tract immediately. Oh, I forgot: as a zone, we only get so many miles to drive a month - and, although WE still had like 800 miles left to spare, by the time everyone in the ZONE made the 100 mile round-trip to Ogden, the zone had used them up, so when we got back, well, we had to walk. In the freezing rain and snow. Like, miles. It was a blast. Luckily we got a ride to our REALLY far appointment (tip: find out what state of mind people are in BEFORE you ask for a ride. Explanation given when this man picked us up: (in Spanish) "OK ELDERS, we have 20 minutes." "Why?" "Because I just drank a lot of Nyquil for my headache, and I'm going to be asleep in 20 minutes." Luckily the appointment was only 15 minutes away. Yes, we learned our lesson. Heh.)
And yeah, so far we're doing good. Difficult, but the Lord is changing us. It has been one of the most stressful and intense weeks of the mission, but I have also felt the Spirit a lot, and had some wonderful experiences. Yesterday is the example: Monday apprarently was REALLY Monday for the whole WORLD, because we started out by losing 2 appointments. Then, we stopped by the two older people we've been teaching, Araceli and Igancio Alvarado. They have a baptismal date for Sunday. They informed us that they had a problem and it was neccesary for them to go to California. And probably MOVE THERE. Gone. They're like family to us, so nice - I can't tell you how many tamales she gave us - but that's how it is. I was pretty frustrated, but my comp told me not to worry. As we drove past another house on the way out, he pointed out they were home, and we had missed an appointment with them the day before. So, we stopped, and, well, they were home, and we taught them a lesson. The Spirit was strong. Sometimes people don't listen and don't seem sincere after, but this time when we asked how they felt, they seemed changed, and really had felt the Spirit. Just after we had another small miracle and met the husband of a lady we want to teach, and he set up a appointment.
Later that night I was feeling way stressed. Everything fell through. We said a prayer. I began by explaining to the Lord how hard everything was... and then stopped. Then apologized, and began to thank Him for everything that was going so well. It was amazing, because as we did this, the phone rang, and it was a miracle we'd been only half expecting. Then we drove to a house, and it was dark. A name came to mind, so we drove to another house, and this 19 year old, Abel, from Guatamala that we've never taught before was HOME. We taught him about the Restoration. Again, we asked how he felt. He said "Different. Something... I can't explain this feeling." It was powerful.
SO, tough week, but learning a lot. Gratitude, and positivity. Diligence, and faith. The Lord can do it all - it's just hard to let go and trust.
HAHA, I laughed really hard at Amy's comment. [When we told Amy about Christopher's new responsibilites she said with great skepticism, "They want CHRIS to be a leader? Of other missionaries? (and then whispering) Do they KNOW that Chris flooded the church and broke an ancient stained glass window?"] That's hilarious. I'm trying to do better with floods and stuff. And I really couldn't finish reading what you wrote about the annual closing up the pool conversations between Dad and Jeffrey from under the deck, I was crying so hard laughing. Holy cow, Mom, that was funny, and typical. I do miss those good old days, but not so much crawling in the mud under that deck... (don't we ALWAYS do it between Saturday conference sessions?)
Wasn't Conference good? Admittedly, I missed out on some because in Spanish its a little harder to follow, but I saw some in English - Elder Holland's was amazing. "I want it to be written down in history before God, angels, and men that I testified to the world in the plainest language I know that I KNOW THE BOOK OF MORMON IS TRUE!" ('Safety for the Soul'). Apparently all the people watching in Spanish could hear his voice over the translators... also thought it was cool that there is a TEMPLE BEING BUILT IN BRIGHAM CITY! That's MY AREA right now! YEAH. Really good stuff - we had about 10 investigators watching the conference, and all loved it.
Hyperboles... no idea. I remember what a parabola is, but only because I get it confused with "parable" in Spanish... and co-vertices sound like a trap. Good luck with that, Jeffrey.
Well, we don't have much more time here. Jeff, keep running, be the beast. Holly, you're riding again? Amy, nice party - sounds like fun, and 5 GOALS! Heidi, YOU CAN DO IT - #1 AR reader in the school - wasn't Harry Potter 7 awesome?!! Not that I am remembering it...
Well, family, I love you guys. I'm learning a lot, and hope that my dross is being consumed and my gold refined. I'm so thankful to have felt the Spirit in a greater way this week, and hope to grow much. I don't understand all things, but I want to trust without hesitation. We are so lucky to have that as children. Wish it was easier to keep it. But I know that God lives. I know that He is watching over us, and not passive, but working to help us overcome our difficulties and grow. The Savior Jesus Christ is always here, trying to heal and strengthen. It's amazing to think of that patience. He knows us, He weeps with us, He understands us. Even though we are so weak, He understands, and loves us anyways. Enough to help us overcome them. And I've thought a lot about what He expects of us. To those He has given the Gospel, the truth, the gift of the Holy Ghost, all these oppurtunities... do we understand what we have? The Lord has given us so much... think of what He is hoping for us: we are given all this not just to keep it and enjoy - His hope is that we bless the world with it. The salt of the earth isn't good if it can't be used! He is so exicted when we humble ourselves and become a tool for Him to bless others, help our brothers and sisters understand and come Home. I know this is true. I know He is always willing to help us grow and stand up again. He never designs to destroy us with our trials and experiences, only lift us. I know this Church is true. The Spirit testifies to us. Christ is leading us. God is for us. We can be laborers in His vinyard with Him. If He is helping, we can do it.
I love you all. Thank you for all you do! I hope its not as cold in Virginia yet, and school is fun, and everyone is positive and grateful! Look to Him, and never look away.
Love, Elder Christopher Thelin, who feels like he was accidentally signed up for too many spiritual AP courses in one semester...
Ps Seeing as how I can't remember where they won this battle... um, SO EVERYONE WENT TO GO PARTY, and went out to eat in a small little village fiesta in the foothills of the Andes Mountains. Holly was riding a llama and everyone was great until the llama started to talk. "I used to be an EMPEROR you know...."
PPS "Best Two Years", haha, that is a pretty good representation about mission life sometimes... hilarious!
Oh MAN, this week was different. The Lord likes to stretch us, even if we aren't very elastic-like. Like, I feel like I'm a rock or something and He's taking me and starting to pull.... cause He sure dumped about as big a change as He could on me. DISTRICT LEADER? A TRAINER? I'm still trying to get used to just being a senior companion and leading a single area, let alone be worried about 4 Elders, reporting, making significant decisions for people's lives, and being the perfect example in everything for the other missionaries etc., etc., etc. It's sure going to change my mission though. I think it is exactly what I need at this point, but it sure feels like the Lord is doing an Elder Thelin Overhaul here...
Well, let's start last week around Wednesday morning. Get up before dawn to drive the hour down to Ogden. SNOWING. Yes, SNOWING. Get down there, go to the big meeting for all the Trainers with President Olson. Intense. (He asked us to pattern our training on what OUR trainers did. Hahahahahahahahah, I haven't started attacking things in the apartment at random with kitchen knives or started calling my Greenie "Billy" or anything like that.... yet... ha, Elder Gurrola was so great!) Then we had a District Leader training, also intense. I have a greater view of accountability and stewardship now, looking at 4 Elders and determining what my actions can do, all the time, to lift and better them. Still working on that one...
Then I meet: Elder BAQUEDANO!! (Bah-kay-dah-no) He's from Mexico City, but more recently from Las Vegas. Cool guy, he's on fire. Working hard to talk to everyone, really sincere, bigger than I am, has a brother who decided to serve a mission at the same time, and they both started the same day, were comps in the MTC, and he is serving in Salt Lake City South, crazy! So now we are speaking almost entirely in Spanish. I'm turning fluent, yesh...
But yeah, really good, we're working hard here. Not easy, but good! And what a crazy first day - we made the voyage back to Hyrum in Cache Valley, driving quite slow through the blizzard, got home, then began to tract immediately. Oh, I forgot: as a zone, we only get so many miles to drive a month - and, although WE still had like 800 miles left to spare, by the time everyone in the ZONE made the 100 mile round-trip to Ogden, the zone had used them up, so when we got back, well, we had to walk. In the freezing rain and snow. Like, miles. It was a blast. Luckily we got a ride to our REALLY far appointment (tip: find out what state of mind people are in BEFORE you ask for a ride. Explanation given when this man picked us up: (in Spanish) "OK ELDERS, we have 20 minutes." "Why?" "Because I just drank a lot of Nyquil for my headache, and I'm going to be asleep in 20 minutes." Luckily the appointment was only 15 minutes away. Yes, we learned our lesson. Heh.)
And yeah, so far we're doing good. Difficult, but the Lord is changing us. It has been one of the most stressful and intense weeks of the mission, but I have also felt the Spirit a lot, and had some wonderful experiences. Yesterday is the example: Monday apprarently was REALLY Monday for the whole WORLD, because we started out by losing 2 appointments. Then, we stopped by the two older people we've been teaching, Araceli and Igancio Alvarado. They have a baptismal date for Sunday. They informed us that they had a problem and it was neccesary for them to go to California. And probably MOVE THERE. Gone. They're like family to us, so nice - I can't tell you how many tamales she gave us - but that's how it is. I was pretty frustrated, but my comp told me not to worry. As we drove past another house on the way out, he pointed out they were home, and we had missed an appointment with them the day before. So, we stopped, and, well, they were home, and we taught them a lesson. The Spirit was strong. Sometimes people don't listen and don't seem sincere after, but this time when we asked how they felt, they seemed changed, and really had felt the Spirit. Just after we had another small miracle and met the husband of a lady we want to teach, and he set up a appointment.
Later that night I was feeling way stressed. Everything fell through. We said a prayer. I began by explaining to the Lord how hard everything was... and then stopped. Then apologized, and began to thank Him for everything that was going so well. It was amazing, because as we did this, the phone rang, and it was a miracle we'd been only half expecting. Then we drove to a house, and it was dark. A name came to mind, so we drove to another house, and this 19 year old, Abel, from Guatamala that we've never taught before was HOME. We taught him about the Restoration. Again, we asked how he felt. He said "Different. Something... I can't explain this feeling." It was powerful.
SO, tough week, but learning a lot. Gratitude, and positivity. Diligence, and faith. The Lord can do it all - it's just hard to let go and trust.
HAHA, I laughed really hard at Amy's comment. [When we told Amy about Christopher's new responsibilites she said with great skepticism, "They want CHRIS to be a leader? Of other missionaries? (and then whispering) Do they KNOW that Chris flooded the church and broke an ancient stained glass window?"] That's hilarious. I'm trying to do better with floods and stuff. And I really couldn't finish reading what you wrote about the annual closing up the pool conversations between Dad and Jeffrey from under the deck, I was crying so hard laughing. Holy cow, Mom, that was funny, and typical. I do miss those good old days, but not so much crawling in the mud under that deck... (don't we ALWAYS do it between Saturday conference sessions?)
Wasn't Conference good? Admittedly, I missed out on some because in Spanish its a little harder to follow, but I saw some in English - Elder Holland's was amazing. "I want it to be written down in history before God, angels, and men that I testified to the world in the plainest language I know that I KNOW THE BOOK OF MORMON IS TRUE!" ('Safety for the Soul'). Apparently all the people watching in Spanish could hear his voice over the translators... also thought it was cool that there is a TEMPLE BEING BUILT IN BRIGHAM CITY! That's MY AREA right now! YEAH. Really good stuff - we had about 10 investigators watching the conference, and all loved it.
Hyperboles... no idea. I remember what a parabola is, but only because I get it confused with "parable" in Spanish... and co-vertices sound like a trap. Good luck with that, Jeffrey.
Well, we don't have much more time here. Jeff, keep running, be the beast. Holly, you're riding again? Amy, nice party - sounds like fun, and 5 GOALS! Heidi, YOU CAN DO IT - #1 AR reader in the school - wasn't Harry Potter 7 awesome?!! Not that I am remembering it...
Well, family, I love you guys. I'm learning a lot, and hope that my dross is being consumed and my gold refined. I'm so thankful to have felt the Spirit in a greater way this week, and hope to grow much. I don't understand all things, but I want to trust without hesitation. We are so lucky to have that as children. Wish it was easier to keep it. But I know that God lives. I know that He is watching over us, and not passive, but working to help us overcome our difficulties and grow. The Savior Jesus Christ is always here, trying to heal and strengthen. It's amazing to think of that patience. He knows us, He weeps with us, He understands us. Even though we are so weak, He understands, and loves us anyways. Enough to help us overcome them. And I've thought a lot about what He expects of us. To those He has given the Gospel, the truth, the gift of the Holy Ghost, all these oppurtunities... do we understand what we have? The Lord has given us so much... think of what He is hoping for us: we are given all this not just to keep it and enjoy - His hope is that we bless the world with it. The salt of the earth isn't good if it can't be used! He is so exicted when we humble ourselves and become a tool for Him to bless others, help our brothers and sisters understand and come Home. I know this is true. I know He is always willing to help us grow and stand up again. He never designs to destroy us with our trials and experiences, only lift us. I know this Church is true. The Spirit testifies to us. Christ is leading us. God is for us. We can be laborers in His vinyard with Him. If He is helping, we can do it.
I love you all. Thank you for all you do! I hope its not as cold in Virginia yet, and school is fun, and everyone is positive and grateful! Look to Him, and never look away.
Love, Elder Christopher Thelin, who feels like he was accidentally signed up for too many spiritual AP courses in one semester...
Ps Seeing as how I can't remember where they won this battle... um, SO EVERYONE WENT TO GO PARTY, and went out to eat in a small little village fiesta in the foothills of the Andes Mountains. Holly was riding a llama and everyone was great until the llama started to talk. "I used to be an EMPEROR you know...."
PPS "Best Two Years", haha, that is a pretty good representation about mission life sometimes... hilarious!
My "son," Elder Baquedano
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
BIG NEWS
Wow, ok. Big week. It's about to get bigger.
Ok, we'll start here. This of course is transfer week. It is almost unbelievable that most of the world passes through this week without noticing anything different, or that they measure time in "months" rather than 6-week periods of time, or that most people don't have any change of residency and people so often. Crazy. Well, we've been anxiously anticipating this transfer, because President Olson is kind of a wildcard, and does things unpredicatably. Like, our Zone Leader just shifted to the English program. Or calling 2 sister missionaries in Spanish (did I write about that in Ogden? Funny, sister missionary Hermana Lopez from Peru (more recently Maryland) was supposed to go Spanish speaking to Washington state, but had her call changed at the MTC to Ogden, and when she got here, they said she'd speak English. She put her foot down, said she was called to Spanish speaking, and that was her mission. So, now as a result, an English sister (her companion, Sister Shuttleworth) is learning Spanish, and so we have the first two Spanish sister missionaries... funny...)
WELL, last night at about 9:30 we get a call. President Olson. Elder Muro picked it up, talked a minute or two, then passed it over. "Elder Thelin, like I just explained to Elder Muro, your area is being split in half. He will be a new missionary trainer in Logan. You will stay in Hyrum, and cover Brigham City. You will also be a trainer for a new missionary, and also we would like to extend the call to you to be District Leader. A little awkward, because you will be leading your current companion Elder Muro. Ok? Have a good night."
YIKES. Um, I still feel like I just started this whole thing, and that I'm still quite "green"... I'm fairly freaked out. I guess there are a lot of things changing in the mission, and, well, I'm up. Heck, though, I have no idea what I'm doing! I still speak Spanglish (i.e, lesson yesterday to the Rosales family in Providence: in English, I say "When Jesus Christ was on the earth, EL called 12.... I mean He called....." or "La Apostasia era un tiempo de darkness. I mean, obscuridad..." Gotta love it...) So, yeah, I'm going crazy. I don't feel ready or like I'm a leader yet, or like I can do any of this on my own, but I'm starting to realize that's maybe the point. Heavenly Father knows that. Maybe this transfer is about "Being still, and know that I am God." That I am weak, but through God, and the power of Jesus Christ, and His Spirit, I can be shaped and made into something stronger. That if I humble myself and rely on Him, I can do what I couldn't do myself. I feel very humbled already, and hope I can complete my responsiblities... which just tripled. Any success I will have this next transfer will not be mine, and I will not take credit for it. And any damage I do to my new greenie I can't take credit for either, since that will be Elder Gurrola's doing. I'll just be doing what he did to me! Heh, planning things out already...
Whew, anyhow, pray for us...
In other news, WE BAPTIZED someone this Sunday! I'm not sure I've done very well explaining the people we're teaching - funny, EVERYONE is related that we're teaching, somehow. But we had 4 baptisms scheduled... then Wednesday we found out Ignacio Alvarado, an older guy in his 50/60's had been smoking [members of the church are asked to live by a code of conduct known as the Word of Wisdom, abstaining from substances which are harmful to the body or which might interfere with our ability to draw closer to God, such as tobacco and alcohol, etc. Any addictions to these substances need to be forsaken prior to baptism.]:
In our conversation with Ignacio, we say, "So, will you keep the Word of Wisdom?"
He says, "Oh, yes." (while his wife is pointing at him and smoking an imaginary cigarrete)
I say, "Ignacio, when was the last time you smoked?"
He says,"Oh, I quit in '98, and picked it up again in '05, and haven't had too many since..."
I say, "No, no, like the LAST CIGARETTE you smoked?"
He says, "OH, yes. This morning."
So, that was one date that needed to be postponed. Then Carla, his daughter in law, and Ignacio's wife, Araceli, decided to wait to be baptized with her husband on the 11th, but Adrianna, the other daughter stayed firm. It was sweet. She was very brave, and excited - she showed up 30 minutes early (as opposed to the usual 15 minutes late...) and 40 people showed up to the baptism, 10 of which were investigators. Amazing. 1st baptism in Hyrum in a LONG time, usually there is nothing happening here, but we lucked out and found gold. Way exciting. Adrianna is now baptized, and we have a ton more on the way!
Hmm, what else - OH story: last week I was on exchanges with one of the Zone Leaders, and we were knocking doors in some trailers in Nibley (BTW, trailers in trailer parks are remarkably big inside, you know that? Cozy.) and suddenly this little Hispanic kid shows up in the street.
We asked in Spanish, "Hey, what's your name?"
Nothing."You wanna be a missionary?"
Nods. Then he points to a trailer."That one? They speak Spanish there?"
Nods.
So we go and knock on it. Whenever ANYONE gives a referral or recommends someone, we always go and check it out. We figured a 3 year old would be more inpsired than most.
When we finished at that house, he was in the street waiting. Then he pointed to the next house. "Hablan espanol?" He nods yes. Ok...
So yeah, this little kid led us to all the Spanish speaking families in the trailer park! It was hilarious, he'd come up to the doors with us, and we'd have to explain "Oh, this kid is one of your neighbors. He said you'd be interested in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. " He even snooped out his own parents, yelling "AQUI!! MI MAMA!! VENGAN!!!" (Come!!) Little kids are awesome.
So, Mom, you thought my pictures were weird? Why? Disturbing??? What was? Just the craziness, or what? Dad, hope it brought back some memories, I think you have to serve a mission to really understand all the missionary experiences and stories and stuff...Glad it's entertaining... sorry the pics took so long. I can't send the new ones until I get the old card back. Maybe I can figure out a better system for getting pics to you all... Holly, um, don't spend too much time looking at the inside of my mouth on the computer, that's weird... haha.
Yeah, I do have Elder Gurrola's address, I'll get it next week. You're right, he should have some of those pictures of him in the fur coat - I'll see if I remember by next week...
No, I didn't take the pic of the temple and the rainbows - given to me by someone.
I think we should all stop having dental problems, as it is expensive. Sounds like a good rule. I wear my retainer once a week or so, and its working all right, so yeah. My only dental problems would be that whenever I drink Atole (weird Mexican drink that tastes kinds like thick gravy with twigs in it) my teeth turn yellow for a little while. It's OK, I have teeth whitening gum and plenty of toothpaste.
Cool that you got to use my testimony in your testimony at church Mom. Glad it helped! I love doing that, visualizing the scriptures, and feeling like I'm there. I know this Gospel is true. I have seen people with and without it. I know that it is true. Heavenly Father is really there - He really is our Father. He waits so patiently for us to stumble our way into faith. And He is so ready to take us up in His arms when we find it. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. That doesn't make much sense until we open our hearts and seek Him. And when we do, we find the truth. He is the center of it all. Our older Brother, ready to lift us when we fall, build us up, and help us reach the vision we had when we accepted this whole plan. The love He gives is the reason and the hope and the reward. It is so worth it. There's a song we've been listening to - see if you can find lyrics online because its good ("The Lights within Jerusalem are dark, but there is One who will not sleep at all.." [Garden Walls by Mindy Gledhill] It says "2000 years, and across the deep blue sea, Why would the King of Heaven and Earth bow down to save me?" I can't understand, but I know He did, and I am thankful. He'll carry us through if we let Him.
Love, Elder Thelin in a rush...
PS The story: Suddenly, something HAPPENED. That was epic. hahahah
Ok, we'll start here. This of course is transfer week. It is almost unbelievable that most of the world passes through this week without noticing anything different, or that they measure time in "months" rather than 6-week periods of time, or that most people don't have any change of residency and people so often. Crazy. Well, we've been anxiously anticipating this transfer, because President Olson is kind of a wildcard, and does things unpredicatably. Like, our Zone Leader just shifted to the English program. Or calling 2 sister missionaries in Spanish (did I write about that in Ogden? Funny, sister missionary Hermana Lopez from Peru (more recently Maryland) was supposed to go Spanish speaking to Washington state, but had her call changed at the MTC to Ogden, and when she got here, they said she'd speak English. She put her foot down, said she was called to Spanish speaking, and that was her mission. So, now as a result, an English sister (her companion, Sister Shuttleworth) is learning Spanish, and so we have the first two Spanish sister missionaries... funny...)
WELL, last night at about 9:30 we get a call. President Olson. Elder Muro picked it up, talked a minute or two, then passed it over. "Elder Thelin, like I just explained to Elder Muro, your area is being split in half. He will be a new missionary trainer in Logan. You will stay in Hyrum, and cover Brigham City. You will also be a trainer for a new missionary, and also we would like to extend the call to you to be District Leader. A little awkward, because you will be leading your current companion Elder Muro. Ok? Have a good night."
YIKES. Um, I still feel like I just started this whole thing, and that I'm still quite "green"... I'm fairly freaked out. I guess there are a lot of things changing in the mission, and, well, I'm up. Heck, though, I have no idea what I'm doing! I still speak Spanglish (i.e, lesson yesterday to the Rosales family in Providence: in English, I say "When Jesus Christ was on the earth, EL called 12.... I mean He called....." or "La Apostasia era un tiempo de darkness. I mean, obscuridad..." Gotta love it...) So, yeah, I'm going crazy. I don't feel ready or like I'm a leader yet, or like I can do any of this on my own, but I'm starting to realize that's maybe the point. Heavenly Father knows that. Maybe this transfer is about "Being still, and know that I am God." That I am weak, but through God, and the power of Jesus Christ, and His Spirit, I can be shaped and made into something stronger. That if I humble myself and rely on Him, I can do what I couldn't do myself. I feel very humbled already, and hope I can complete my responsiblities... which just tripled. Any success I will have this next transfer will not be mine, and I will not take credit for it. And any damage I do to my new greenie I can't take credit for either, since that will be Elder Gurrola's doing. I'll just be doing what he did to me! Heh, planning things out already...
Whew, anyhow, pray for us...
In other news, WE BAPTIZED someone this Sunday! I'm not sure I've done very well explaining the people we're teaching - funny, EVERYONE is related that we're teaching, somehow. But we had 4 baptisms scheduled... then Wednesday we found out Ignacio Alvarado, an older guy in his 50/60's had been smoking [members of the church are asked to live by a code of conduct known as the Word of Wisdom, abstaining from substances which are harmful to the body or which might interfere with our ability to draw closer to God, such as tobacco and alcohol, etc. Any addictions to these substances need to be forsaken prior to baptism.]:
In our conversation with Ignacio, we say, "So, will you keep the Word of Wisdom?"
He says, "Oh, yes." (while his wife is pointing at him and smoking an imaginary cigarrete)
I say, "Ignacio, when was the last time you smoked?"
He says,"Oh, I quit in '98, and picked it up again in '05, and haven't had too many since..."
I say, "No, no, like the LAST CIGARETTE you smoked?"
He says, "OH, yes. This morning."
So, that was one date that needed to be postponed. Then Carla, his daughter in law, and Ignacio's wife, Araceli, decided to wait to be baptized with her husband on the 11th, but Adrianna, the other daughter stayed firm. It was sweet. She was very brave, and excited - she showed up 30 minutes early (as opposed to the usual 15 minutes late...) and 40 people showed up to the baptism, 10 of which were investigators. Amazing. 1st baptism in Hyrum in a LONG time, usually there is nothing happening here, but we lucked out and found gold. Way exciting. Adrianna is now baptized, and we have a ton more on the way!
Hmm, what else - OH story: last week I was on exchanges with one of the Zone Leaders, and we were knocking doors in some trailers in Nibley (BTW, trailers in trailer parks are remarkably big inside, you know that? Cozy.) and suddenly this little Hispanic kid shows up in the street.
We asked in Spanish, "Hey, what's your name?"
Nothing."You wanna be a missionary?"
Nods. Then he points to a trailer."That one? They speak Spanish there?"
Nods.
So we go and knock on it. Whenever ANYONE gives a referral or recommends someone, we always go and check it out. We figured a 3 year old would be more inpsired than most.
When we finished at that house, he was in the street waiting. Then he pointed to the next house. "Hablan espanol?" He nods yes. Ok...
So yeah, this little kid led us to all the Spanish speaking families in the trailer park! It was hilarious, he'd come up to the doors with us, and we'd have to explain "Oh, this kid is one of your neighbors. He said you'd be interested in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. " He even snooped out his own parents, yelling "AQUI!! MI MAMA!! VENGAN!!!" (Come!!) Little kids are awesome.
So, Mom, you thought my pictures were weird? Why? Disturbing??? What was? Just the craziness, or what? Dad, hope it brought back some memories, I think you have to serve a mission to really understand all the missionary experiences and stories and stuff...Glad it's entertaining... sorry the pics took so long. I can't send the new ones until I get the old card back. Maybe I can figure out a better system for getting pics to you all... Holly, um, don't spend too much time looking at the inside of my mouth on the computer, that's weird... haha.
Yeah, I do have Elder Gurrola's address, I'll get it next week. You're right, he should have some of those pictures of him in the fur coat - I'll see if I remember by next week...
No, I didn't take the pic of the temple and the rainbows - given to me by someone.
I think we should all stop having dental problems, as it is expensive. Sounds like a good rule. I wear my retainer once a week or so, and its working all right, so yeah. My only dental problems would be that whenever I drink Atole (weird Mexican drink that tastes kinds like thick gravy with twigs in it) my teeth turn yellow for a little while. It's OK, I have teeth whitening gum and plenty of toothpaste.
Cool that you got to use my testimony in your testimony at church Mom. Glad it helped! I love doing that, visualizing the scriptures, and feeling like I'm there. I know this Gospel is true. I have seen people with and without it. I know that it is true. Heavenly Father is really there - He really is our Father. He waits so patiently for us to stumble our way into faith. And He is so ready to take us up in His arms when we find it. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. That doesn't make much sense until we open our hearts and seek Him. And when we do, we find the truth. He is the center of it all. Our older Brother, ready to lift us when we fall, build us up, and help us reach the vision we had when we accepted this whole plan. The love He gives is the reason and the hope and the reward. It is so worth it. There's a song we've been listening to - see if you can find lyrics online because its good ("The Lights within Jerusalem are dark, but there is One who will not sleep at all.." [Garden Walls by Mindy Gledhill] It says "2000 years, and across the deep blue sea, Why would the King of Heaven and Earth bow down to save me?" I can't understand, but I know He did, and I am thankful. He'll carry us through if we let Him.
Love, Elder Thelin in a rush...
PS The story: Suddenly, something HAPPENED. That was epic. hahahah
Igancio gave us his last pack of cigarrillos... we hope...
Adriana's baptism! Adriana is in white, with her two sons in front of her.
To the left is Adriana's brother and his wife Carla. To the right is Araceli and Ignacio.
Back: Me, Elder Diaz, Elder Muro, Elder Edmonds hiding back there, Elder Hogue (Zone Leader), Elder John, and Elder Leavitt (other Zone Leader)
Front: Elder Hatch, Elder Meza, and Elder Casillas
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
PONDER IT, FEEL IT
Weeell, HI family!
I cannot BELIEVE it is the end of the transfer already. This has been the fastest transfer ever so far... [every 6 weeks there is the potential for missionaries to get transferred to a different area]... I blinked. Being in a car might have something to do with it, not having a general exhaustion in the whole body is something new... we'll see what happens next week - I'll probably stay here in Hyrum. And that'd be cool, I don't think I've written a lot about the investigators here["investigator" is missionary term for people studying the teachings of the church], I guess earlier in the transfer we had zero because the previous elders baptized them all. But right now we're looking at 9 with a baptism date - families, too! 4 will be baptized this Sunday - Ignacio and Araceli Alvarado, and their 2 daughters in law, Carla and Adriana. Their own sons could have been baptized too, but 9:00 apparently is too early to go to church... sweet family though, it started out with a referral from President Teters, our branch president. They'd asked for some help from the church, so we were a little skeptical about them listening to us maybe just because they only wanted more help or something... but they are great! They are the ones that wanted to bear testimony in testimony meeting. The other day, Ignacio (like maybe 50 or 60 years old) said he misses us when we leave, and is excited on the days he knows we're coming. They all love reading the Book of Mormon, and have a gazillion questions every time. It's pretty sweet, and they're excited for Sunday!
We also had over 12 investigators show up to Church sunday! Usually Hyrum is a dying little branch, and last transfer they were considering taking the missionaries out of there. Guess there's still work... funny, its all in the same trailer park, and EVERYONE we're teaching is related somehow - over like 20 investigators, and every time we find someone, they mention someone we're teaching. Go figure.
I hope Grandma is ok now! My goodness, you can't be getting bronchitis, that's no good! I have been praying for Grandma, and Reagan, and everyone - the tests we go through are meant to stretch us, but we can always make it through with His help. It looks like Grandma is going to be fine, and I will ask people to pray for her here.
Jeffrey, what the heck, nice job! Sounds like you're making the most of life, track star, singing, stage beast... sheesh! Just make sure you don't start wearing duct tape on your chest... if Billy's warning about THAT comes true, I will not cease to make fun of that. Good luck, hahahha... and sweet, Heidi, stage manager? I don't even know what that does! But sweet! You'll do great - what's the play?
Dad, DO NOT sail from VA to Florida next summer. Do it TWO years from now. MUCH better idea.
That would be cool if Amy can get confirmed at Grandma's - very exciting, sheesh, Amy, you're all grown up! I keep meeting kids, and thinking they look so much bigger than my sisters, but I guess they're getting older too. Then again, I'm 20. WEIRD.
Hmmm, what else is up... some sweet lessons this week, felt the Spirit strongly. It's amazing what we have in our hands, and enjoy. I know the Spirit witnesses of these things. The temple is also awesome.
Buying the new Spanish King James edition of the Holy Bible today, it looks cool.
I WILL SEND BOX TOMORROW WITH THE PICTURES, SORRY! Not sure why it's so hard! Ha, sorry! By now its kinda anticlimatic... Oh and the postcards are working great, I've been deliquent about writing people - I so appreciate those who write me in spite of my neglect and love hearing from you, and I'm aware that I'm a sinner and have to do a lot of catching up. P-day goes by so fast, and we can't write on other days... I promise I'll do better. My guilt level is now sufficient that I should be writing everyone in some form or another more often!
The reading lessons are progressing... those ideas sound good, Mom, I think we will try to make a window card, because I've been pointing with him to the words we're reading, and have him repeat us, but I don't think anything is sinking in. We're reading the Book of Mormon out loud from the beginning. Leap o faith...
Holly - you want a toy poodle. I met one the other day, and the whole time thought you'd love it.
Hm, its so hard to think of what happened this week, because it all runs together! "Last week" seems like it should include the MTC...
Oh, branch missionary training again -still hilarious, trying to teach other members to help us with missionary work. This week we tried to teach them how to share scriptures and ask people questions about it:
Me: "Hermana Bravo, can you share a scripture with me."
Her: "Ummmm, sure......which?"
Me: "Whichever you want!"
Her: "ummmmm, ok. In the Doctrine and Covenants book.... 69.... um, verse 1."
Me: "Ok."
Her: silence.
Me: "Hermana, are you going to tell me anything about it?"
Her: "Uh, sure. Can you read it?"
Me: "First, maybe explain the background a little..."
Her: "Uh, no, just read it."
Me: "Hermana, have you ever even read this scripture?"
Her: "No - you said just pick one! Read it and find out!"
It'll be a while maybe before we turn them loose on investigators...
Well, I love you all, and hope - well, pray -that all is going well for everyone! I've thought about family a lot this week, and about each member of my family. Thank you for everything. I love each one of you, and miss you all.
This Gospel is true. It is the only sure thing we can hold on to. It's very simple, yet hard for us to fit it into our busy lives for some reason. Read the scriptures, pray, have family home evenings (fun, I have like 5 a week) - it matters so much! Most of all, have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm learning much, and trying to grow closer to Him. I have a testimony He lives. As we draw near unto Him, we find He's been reaching out to us all along. He's always ready to forgive, to heal, to support us. We are not one in the crowd to Him, or just a face. I love the painting of Christ in the Americas, with all the people approaching Him in awe, joy, relief... I thought about that the other day while I was looking at that painting in the Church foyer. When Christ is amongst us all, He looks at each of us, and KNOWS us, understands us completely, has the memory of our pains in His hands, and also understands exactly how to lift us up above the things that hold us down. That painting is cool, just think of Him looking at each person there, and the loving understanding radiating from that connection, as He locks eyes with you in that crowd. In that moment, He is focused on you, and smiling because He knows what you need and are headed towards. I love reading the scriptures and visualizing things like that. I know He lives, and is indeed thinking of us - EACH of us - and that love, that understanding, that wisdom and power to heal and lift us is always extended. We only have to lift our eyes and decide to take the hand. If we trust Him with all our hearts, and walk with Him, He will guide us through it all, and we'll live with our Father again. Ponder it every once and a while. More important, feel it.
That's my sermon! Now I'm off to play mini golf with the zone!
Love,
Elder Christopher Thelin
PS: (following the crash landing in Jurassic Park)...Out of the trees came... the T-REX!!!! The girls all screamed. Jeffrey finally woke up and screamed too. The dogs started barking like crazy. The T-rex started to come at the plane, but suddenly a little dinosaur came and ran in front. "DONT EAT THEM! FRIENDS ARE NOT FOR DINNER!!!" "CHOMPER!" yelled the girls. The T-rex looked confused. It began to open its mighty jaws and bend down...
I cannot BELIEVE it is the end of the transfer already. This has been the fastest transfer ever so far... [every 6 weeks there is the potential for missionaries to get transferred to a different area]... I blinked. Being in a car might have something to do with it, not having a general exhaustion in the whole body is something new... we'll see what happens next week - I'll probably stay here in Hyrum. And that'd be cool, I don't think I've written a lot about the investigators here["investigator" is missionary term for people studying the teachings of the church], I guess earlier in the transfer we had zero because the previous elders baptized them all. But right now we're looking at 9 with a baptism date - families, too! 4 will be baptized this Sunday - Ignacio and Araceli Alvarado, and their 2 daughters in law, Carla and Adriana. Their own sons could have been baptized too, but 9:00 apparently is too early to go to church... sweet family though, it started out with a referral from President Teters, our branch president. They'd asked for some help from the church, so we were a little skeptical about them listening to us maybe just because they only wanted more help or something... but they are great! They are the ones that wanted to bear testimony in testimony meeting. The other day, Ignacio (like maybe 50 or 60 years old) said he misses us when we leave, and is excited on the days he knows we're coming. They all love reading the Book of Mormon, and have a gazillion questions every time. It's pretty sweet, and they're excited for Sunday!
We also had over 12 investigators show up to Church sunday! Usually Hyrum is a dying little branch, and last transfer they were considering taking the missionaries out of there. Guess there's still work... funny, its all in the same trailer park, and EVERYONE we're teaching is related somehow - over like 20 investigators, and every time we find someone, they mention someone we're teaching. Go figure.
I hope Grandma is ok now! My goodness, you can't be getting bronchitis, that's no good! I have been praying for Grandma, and Reagan, and everyone - the tests we go through are meant to stretch us, but we can always make it through with His help. It looks like Grandma is going to be fine, and I will ask people to pray for her here.
Jeffrey, what the heck, nice job! Sounds like you're making the most of life, track star, singing, stage beast... sheesh! Just make sure you don't start wearing duct tape on your chest... if Billy's warning about THAT comes true, I will not cease to make fun of that. Good luck, hahahha... and sweet, Heidi, stage manager? I don't even know what that does! But sweet! You'll do great - what's the play?
Dad, DO NOT sail from VA to Florida next summer. Do it TWO years from now. MUCH better idea.
That would be cool if Amy can get confirmed at Grandma's - very exciting, sheesh, Amy, you're all grown up! I keep meeting kids, and thinking they look so much bigger than my sisters, but I guess they're getting older too. Then again, I'm 20. WEIRD.
Hmmm, what else is up... some sweet lessons this week, felt the Spirit strongly. It's amazing what we have in our hands, and enjoy. I know the Spirit witnesses of these things. The temple is also awesome.
Buying the new Spanish King James edition of the Holy Bible today, it looks cool.
I WILL SEND BOX TOMORROW WITH THE PICTURES, SORRY! Not sure why it's so hard! Ha, sorry! By now its kinda anticlimatic... Oh and the postcards are working great, I've been deliquent about writing people - I so appreciate those who write me in spite of my neglect and love hearing from you, and I'm aware that I'm a sinner and have to do a lot of catching up. P-day goes by so fast, and we can't write on other days... I promise I'll do better. My guilt level is now sufficient that I should be writing everyone in some form or another more often!
The reading lessons are progressing... those ideas sound good, Mom, I think we will try to make a window card, because I've been pointing with him to the words we're reading, and have him repeat us, but I don't think anything is sinking in. We're reading the Book of Mormon out loud from the beginning. Leap o faith...
Holly - you want a toy poodle. I met one the other day, and the whole time thought you'd love it.
Hm, its so hard to think of what happened this week, because it all runs together! "Last week" seems like it should include the MTC...
Oh, branch missionary training again -still hilarious, trying to teach other members to help us with missionary work. This week we tried to teach them how to share scriptures and ask people questions about it:
Me: "Hermana Bravo, can you share a scripture with me."
Her: "Ummmm, sure......which?"
Me: "Whichever you want!"
Her: "ummmmm, ok. In the Doctrine and Covenants book.... 69.... um, verse 1."
Me: "Ok."
Her: silence.
Me: "Hermana, are you going to tell me anything about it?"
Her: "Uh, sure. Can you read it?"
Me: "First, maybe explain the background a little..."
Her: "Uh, no, just read it."
Me: "Hermana, have you ever even read this scripture?"
Her: "No - you said just pick one! Read it and find out!"
It'll be a while maybe before we turn them loose on investigators...
Well, I love you all, and hope - well, pray -that all is going well for everyone! I've thought about family a lot this week, and about each member of my family. Thank you for everything. I love each one of you, and miss you all.
This Gospel is true. It is the only sure thing we can hold on to. It's very simple, yet hard for us to fit it into our busy lives for some reason. Read the scriptures, pray, have family home evenings (fun, I have like 5 a week) - it matters so much! Most of all, have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm learning much, and trying to grow closer to Him. I have a testimony He lives. As we draw near unto Him, we find He's been reaching out to us all along. He's always ready to forgive, to heal, to support us. We are not one in the crowd to Him, or just a face. I love the painting of Christ in the Americas, with all the people approaching Him in awe, joy, relief... I thought about that the other day while I was looking at that painting in the Church foyer. When Christ is amongst us all, He looks at each of us, and KNOWS us, understands us completely, has the memory of our pains in His hands, and also understands exactly how to lift us up above the things that hold us down. That painting is cool, just think of Him looking at each person there, and the loving understanding radiating from that connection, as He locks eyes with you in that crowd. In that moment, He is focused on you, and smiling because He knows what you need and are headed towards. I love reading the scriptures and visualizing things like that. I know He lives, and is indeed thinking of us - EACH of us - and that love, that understanding, that wisdom and power to heal and lift us is always extended. We only have to lift our eyes and decide to take the hand. If we trust Him with all our hearts, and walk with Him, He will guide us through it all, and we'll live with our Father again. Ponder it every once and a while. More important, feel it.
That's my sermon! Now I'm off to play mini golf with the zone!
Love,
Elder Christopher Thelin
PS: (following the crash landing in Jurassic Park)...Out of the trees came... the T-REX!!!! The girls all screamed. Jeffrey finally woke up and screamed too. The dogs started barking like crazy. The T-rex started to come at the plane, but suddenly a little dinosaur came and ran in front. "DONT EAT THEM! FRIENDS ARE NOT FOR DINNER!!!" "CHOMPER!" yelled the girls. The T-rex looked confused. It began to open its mighty jaws and bend down...
Christ in the Americas
Mini-golfing in style heheh
Araceli and Ignacio!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
WE'RE ALL A LITTLE CRAZY
[Background editorial note: Chris has been randomly selected as a potential jury member for Culpeper County Circuit court. We have to send him a form to fill out in order for him to be exempt from this experience. Among the possible options are: having been convicted of treason or felony, being over 70, being a mother of a nursing child, being mentally impaired,or being personally responsible for a mentally impaired person--here at home we were having fun deciding which one Chris would choose as an excuse...the fact that he is simply not living here for the next two years is way too boring. We also got a notice that Chris owes $10 in overdue taxes for a little business selling toys and games online that he and Jeffrey started a few years ago. Clearly, Chris is a troublemaker.]
Hey, Family, whats up?
Yes, that is correct, I am a juror. I think I'll use that as a title from now on. Too bad I'm unable to fulfill my duty... I believe the "personally responsible for a person with a mental impairment requiring continuous care" is the option I'll take. I've already informed Elder Muro. He's not as crazy as Elder Gurrola, but still... c'mon, we're missionaries, we're all a little crazy.
Dad, just fork over 10 bucks. As CEO of Boompf Enterprises, I can't take the business to a bigger market with the history of offending a small farming county government like Culpeper. No one will respect the company. Plus someone might find out the business actually started in our basement in said farming community. If Boompf does go down for tax evasion, though, it would get me out of jury duty for sure.
Good job on your talk at church Amy! and Holly! That's really cool! And Happy Birthday again Ames! Hope Fred the frog gets along with the guppies. Fish are the best pets I think, because they don't make noise, don't smell... we did service for a family that RAISES dogs in their basement, and, well, it smelled, and there were like 50 puppies barking like crazy. They also had chickens. Holly would have loved it...
Speaking of birthdays, THANK YOU to EVERYONE - people have been quite jealous of the 5-6 packages and tons of letters I've gotten... it's all been great! Magura family, thank you for the recipe book! And all who contributed to it! It looks great, and I think I'll be trying it out today for P-day dinner! I'll see if I can use some of all this food we have in the fridge - people give us tons of stuff here, probably 4 bags of peaches, a bunch of fresh corn, cakes, trout, etc etc etc in our fridge. Hey, its Utah, remember? Also, thank you Aunt Jill--as ALWAYS, thank you for the letters and all you do to keep me updated. I always laugh when I read about Erica ("you are a TOY!") and all the adventures you all have. Kayla, haha, thanks for the box. Cd is sweet, and I'm finally gonna use them candles... lol. TO all, thank you for the cards and everything! It was a sweet continual birthday!
That's cool about Neil Anderson coming to your conference. He's already one of my favorite church leaders. Make sure to go meet him! And that's CRAZY about Steven and President Monson. That is definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity! Hope Steven ASKS QUESTIONS. I probably could think of a couple...!
Ha, this week we got to meet with some Church representatives (besides us I mean)- there is a council that works with the Mission President and the General Authorities over this area, and we met with them with one of our Branch councils. It was cool, they taught the Branch leaders how to do ward missionary work, and what they need to do to help us here in this area. It's a sweet plan Elder L. Tom Perry made for this area, and they are putting it into effect immediately. SO we now have a full crew of like 10 branch missionaries - like half of the adults from the ward basically - and a branch mission leader from the Dominican Republic (Hermano Luna, he is a host of a spanish radio station in the area, they call him the "Mayimbe"). We're teaching them how to give discussions and help us teach. This of course is a little nerve racking since, well, they aren't exactly trained in teaching skills, and tact, and....help. We began trying to teach them how to teach something easy on Sunday night. We got as far as the Creation of the world. We explained very carefully that they only have 20 minutes to cover it all, and to pretend they are teaching children - SUPER simple. You'd think, anyway. They made it about as complicated as you could imagine haha. Well, their hearts are in the right place.
Of course, not an hour later after we explained all that, a well-meaning couple comes with us to help teach a lesson with some investigators and, when they asked a simple question about Adam (as in Adam and Eve), the husband we brought said (in Spanish), "Oh yes, ADAM! VERY IMPORTANT..." and launches into a huge dissertation that didn't make a lot of sense, in Spanish or English. Our investigators were very kind about it, though, and politely nodded now and then with fairly blank stares. I love Utah.
Despite all of this "help" we're getting, we're doing well! We had 10 investigators show up at church in one branch on Sunday! Plus about 15 children that tagged along with the parents! Looked really good with the representatives from the mission being there and all...
Haha, and I think the other noteworthy thing is that we taught a Family Home Evening lesson in "Little Mexico" last night - a trailer park in Hyrum. I love trailers. We taught a member family, their 3 brothers' families, and a nonmember family. And all their tons of kids. Imagine, one room of a trailer. TWENTY THREE PEOPLE IN ONE ROOM.
Mom, I am GOING TO SEND THE PACKAGE and I have the contact prescription and info in it. I PROMISE IT'S COMING.
Yeah, about the new edition of the Spanish Bible you want to get me. I think we are going to go buy one next week, and see how much they cost and which is best. I don't know anything about the different ones, so we're going to go next week and get a ride to the store and stuff - maybe someone will buy one and we can check out theirs. Um, so if I pick it out, you can just, maybe put the money on my card? Sounds good. We're excited for it, since the current Spanish version we have is less than perfect without all the cross references or footnotes and stuff, plus very small print.
Well, I love you all. I hope all is going well, and everyone is happy and enjoying life. I know this gospel of Jesus Christ is true. I know the Spirit bears witness of its truthfulness. I am indeed amazed by the faith of all good Christian people - mom, you are right about that. We are all blessed beyond reason with light and truth. This gospel, this plan, requires faithful work from all. "For everyone to whom much is given, of him shall much be required." -- Luke 12:48
Well, gots to go! Love you all, tah tah for now!
-Elder Christopher Juror Thelin the Old.
PS. Sweet Jeff, 5k in 18:46 is a sweet time, how many miles is that? - keep it up, just don't wear yourself down! "It is not meet that man run faster than he hath strength..."
PPS HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!!
PPPS [Enroute to Uruguay...] Just then the plane shook. "What is THAT?" Holly yelled. Amy saw out the front window. "Oh, it's a Pterodactyl!" (I can't remember how to spell it, I'm not 6 anymore...) "A WHAT?" yelled the girls. "WOOF WOOF WOOF?" barked the dogs. The plane shook again. Luke tried to steer the plane straight, but it was too late. The dinosaur grabbed the plane and steered it straight DOWN... into a small Pacific Island off the coast of Costa Rica. Just before they crashed into the trees, Heidi saw three things: fences, old buildings, and some animals with REALLY long necks...
PPPS2 Took pics at Logan temple, sweet, will send package I promise...
PPPPPs Any ideas on how to teach someone how to read? One of our investigators can't read Spanish (his native language), and we're trying to teach him, but we're kinda just making it up... teaching the alphabet... we pretty much figured we don't have time to really teach him, so we're going to have faith and read the Book of Mormon out loud, and have him point to the words and say them after us. Someone said that it is easy to help teach children to read from the Book of Mormon (remember hearing some of the homeschoolers do this), and they will learn. Maybe it works on adults? Any thoughts for an easy way to teach might be useful... definitely interesting working with a grown man, pointing to letters and trying to get him to learn them. "That's "jota". "Oh, ok. S, right?" No..... "De." "S?" .... "A." "Oh, ok. S." sigh....
Hey, Family, whats up?
Yes, that is correct, I am a juror. I think I'll use that as a title from now on. Too bad I'm unable to fulfill my duty... I believe the "personally responsible for a person with a mental impairment requiring continuous care" is the option I'll take. I've already informed Elder Muro. He's not as crazy as Elder Gurrola, but still... c'mon, we're missionaries, we're all a little crazy.
Dad, just fork over 10 bucks. As CEO of Boompf Enterprises, I can't take the business to a bigger market with the history of offending a small farming county government like Culpeper. No one will respect the company. Plus someone might find out the business actually started in our basement in said farming community. If Boompf does go down for tax evasion, though, it would get me out of jury duty for sure.
Good job on your talk at church Amy! and Holly! That's really cool! And Happy Birthday again Ames! Hope Fred the frog gets along with the guppies. Fish are the best pets I think, because they don't make noise, don't smell... we did service for a family that RAISES dogs in their basement, and, well, it smelled, and there were like 50 puppies barking like crazy. They also had chickens. Holly would have loved it...
Speaking of birthdays, THANK YOU to EVERYONE - people have been quite jealous of the 5-6 packages and tons of letters I've gotten... it's all been great! Magura family, thank you for the recipe book! And all who contributed to it! It looks great, and I think I'll be trying it out today for P-day dinner! I'll see if I can use some of all this food we have in the fridge - people give us tons of stuff here, probably 4 bags of peaches, a bunch of fresh corn, cakes, trout, etc etc etc in our fridge. Hey, its Utah, remember? Also, thank you Aunt Jill--as ALWAYS, thank you for the letters and all you do to keep me updated. I always laugh when I read about Erica ("you are a TOY!") and all the adventures you all have. Kayla, haha, thanks for the box. Cd is sweet, and I'm finally gonna use them candles... lol. TO all, thank you for the cards and everything! It was a sweet continual birthday!
That's cool about Neil Anderson coming to your conference. He's already one of my favorite church leaders. Make sure to go meet him! And that's CRAZY about Steven and President Monson. That is definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity! Hope Steven ASKS QUESTIONS. I probably could think of a couple...!
Ha, this week we got to meet with some Church representatives (besides us I mean)- there is a council that works with the Mission President and the General Authorities over this area, and we met with them with one of our Branch councils. It was cool, they taught the Branch leaders how to do ward missionary work, and what they need to do to help us here in this area. It's a sweet plan Elder L. Tom Perry made for this area, and they are putting it into effect immediately. SO we now have a full crew of like 10 branch missionaries - like half of the adults from the ward basically - and a branch mission leader from the Dominican Republic (Hermano Luna, he is a host of a spanish radio station in the area, they call him the "Mayimbe"). We're teaching them how to give discussions and help us teach. This of course is a little nerve racking since, well, they aren't exactly trained in teaching skills, and tact, and....help. We began trying to teach them how to teach something easy on Sunday night. We got as far as the Creation of the world. We explained very carefully that they only have 20 minutes to cover it all, and to pretend they are teaching children - SUPER simple. You'd think, anyway. They made it about as complicated as you could imagine haha. Well, their hearts are in the right place.
Of course, not an hour later after we explained all that, a well-meaning couple comes with us to help teach a lesson with some investigators and, when they asked a simple question about Adam (as in Adam and Eve), the husband we brought said (in Spanish), "Oh yes, ADAM! VERY IMPORTANT..." and launches into a huge dissertation that didn't make a lot of sense, in Spanish or English. Our investigators were very kind about it, though, and politely nodded now and then with fairly blank stares. I love Utah.
Despite all of this "help" we're getting, we're doing well! We had 10 investigators show up at church in one branch on Sunday! Plus about 15 children that tagged along with the parents! Looked really good with the representatives from the mission being there and all...
Haha, and I think the other noteworthy thing is that we taught a Family Home Evening lesson in "Little Mexico" last night - a trailer park in Hyrum. I love trailers. We taught a member family, their 3 brothers' families, and a nonmember family. And all their tons of kids. Imagine, one room of a trailer. TWENTY THREE PEOPLE IN ONE ROOM.
Mom, I am GOING TO SEND THE PACKAGE and I have the contact prescription and info in it. I PROMISE IT'S COMING.
Yeah, about the new edition of the Spanish Bible you want to get me. I think we are going to go buy one next week, and see how much they cost and which is best. I don't know anything about the different ones, so we're going to go next week and get a ride to the store and stuff - maybe someone will buy one and we can check out theirs. Um, so if I pick it out, you can just, maybe put the money on my card? Sounds good. We're excited for it, since the current Spanish version we have is less than perfect without all the cross references or footnotes and stuff, plus very small print.
Well, I love you all. I hope all is going well, and everyone is happy and enjoying life. I know this gospel of Jesus Christ is true. I know the Spirit bears witness of its truthfulness. I am indeed amazed by the faith of all good Christian people - mom, you are right about that. We are all blessed beyond reason with light and truth. This gospel, this plan, requires faithful work from all. "For everyone to whom much is given, of him shall much be required." -- Luke 12:48
Well, gots to go! Love you all, tah tah for now!
-Elder Christopher Juror Thelin the Old.
PS. Sweet Jeff, 5k in 18:46 is a sweet time, how many miles is that? - keep it up, just don't wear yourself down! "It is not meet that man run faster than he hath strength..."
PPS HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!!
PPPS [Enroute to Uruguay...] Just then the plane shook. "What is THAT?" Holly yelled. Amy saw out the front window. "Oh, it's a Pterodactyl!" (I can't remember how to spell it, I'm not 6 anymore...) "A WHAT?" yelled the girls. "WOOF WOOF WOOF?" barked the dogs. The plane shook again. Luke tried to steer the plane straight, but it was too late. The dinosaur grabbed the plane and steered it straight DOWN... into a small Pacific Island off the coast of Costa Rica. Just before they crashed into the trees, Heidi saw three things: fences, old buildings, and some animals with REALLY long necks...
PPPS2 Took pics at Logan temple, sweet, will send package I promise...
PPPPPs Any ideas on how to teach someone how to read? One of our investigators can't read Spanish (his native language), and we're trying to teach him, but we're kinda just making it up... teaching the alphabet... we pretty much figured we don't have time to really teach him, so we're going to have faith and read the Book of Mormon out loud, and have him point to the words and say them after us. Someone said that it is easy to help teach children to read from the Book of Mormon (remember hearing some of the homeschoolers do this), and they will learn. Maybe it works on adults? Any thoughts for an easy way to teach might be useful... definitely interesting working with a grown man, pointing to letters and trying to get him to learn them. "That's "jota". "Oh, ok. S, right?" No..... "De." "S?" .... "A." "Oh, ok. S." sigh....
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