Thanksgiving and the Believers

Guten Morgen!

Wow, another crazy week! Since they aren't big fans of Thanksgiving here, you're probably assuming that I just had cereal or something for the holiday. But if so, you have assumed incorrectly! When there's a will, there's a way, and such was the case for Thanksgiving. I was able to squeeze through the gaps and into the home of an American family for a filling Thanksgiving dinner. Also got to introduce a Tahitian missionary to Thanksgiving since he didn't know what it was. But I'm thankful for the people in my life, for investigators, for members who feed us and do missionary work, for wool socks, for custard creams, for ice cream, for the gospel, and for Jesus Christ. Thank you all so much for your letters and emails and prayers. On some days they make all the difference.

I feel like I'm in the most interesting area of the most interesting mission...these truly are days never to be forgotten. Elder Baum and I decided to think outside the box and try something new this week. A while ago we were invited to a church called "The Church of Christ" in our little town, so this week we decided to go. We were assured that it was a very multi-cultural congregation, but it must've been a joke because the everybody there was pure Philippino. It was pretty funny! Their fellowshipping skills were off the charts as well. They swarmed us as soon as we walked in and I probably shook 100 hands. It was cool to be on the investigator side of things for once. We were hoping to get a chance to share our message with everyone and eventually create a Philippino branch, but our wishes turned out to be short lived since they didn't let us say much until the end. They put a camera on us and asked us a bunch of questions at the end. So don't be surprised if you see Elder Baum and I with some Philippinos on FB. It wasn't as effective as we though it would be, but it was so good to be around some strong believers. Their church wasn't all true, but the people were so good and they know how to have a good time.

Our investigators have been extremely blessed recently. We taught Dan over skype and read the Book of Mormon with him. He and his family will be coming to church next month. The Huertas, our Mexican family, have also made progress as a family and we taught them the Plan of Salvation last night. I don't know what it is about Mexicans...they too are natural believers. They all became sponges while we were there, soaking up every morsel of doctrine they could. With my grandpa passing away, the Plan of Salvation had a different light to it than usual and it really came to life. I'm so grateful for it. Hope we can keep teaching this family and eventually get them baptized. We're just doing our best to manage our time wisely and give everything up. The Lord takes care of everything else...all glory to God!

Mission life truly is the best...it kind of feels like a dream, but I love it. I've found that focusing less on myself and more on others usually leads to happier and more fulfilling moments, and greater success. Thanks for helping me so much along the way.

The bad news is that today is our last day with a car. Tomorrow we will drive it to HQ and deliver it up unto the senior couples, who are in need of enhanced mobility. We trust that the Lord will somehow provide for us!

Love you all!

Love, Elder Thomas

ELSM