The End of the Drought

Hey family! Hope you're all lovin' the Christmas season and spreadin' the Christmas cheer!

Great things happened this week. The experiences over the past few days have been real turning points for me in my mission and my life. For starters, we were privileged to attend the temple with our mission president last Thursday. After a year without going through, it felt so good to go back and feast on the Spirit that was there. I didn't realize how much I missed the temple until I was actually inside! I got some great direction and counsel concerning the remainder of my mission, and I'm confident that I will be able to accomplish what the Lord wants me to do. Good things are coming. So that was the end of the temple attendance drought.

One of those good things is our investigator, John Paul. He is firing on all cylinders over here and will be baptized on January 28th...how crazy is that? We've literally taught him twice and he's basically ready to be baptized already. God has blessed him a lot recently. We're excited for him. Now I just hope I don't get moved to a different area in the meantime! Keep JP in your prayers. So that was the end of our baptismal date drought.

We've had a few other extremely powerful teaches. We taught a recent convert's friend and we really tried to focus on her and follow the Spirit as we began teaching. The Spirit helped her to share some experiences and also helped us to understand her needs. In fact, the Spirit was so strong that she became overwhelmed, broke down and started crying. We sat in silence as the Spirit comforted her and bore witness of our message. Such a special experience!

I love sharing these things with you! What a powerful week it's been. Christmas time is definitely an interesting time for missionary work and it is definitely not quite the same as the rest of the year. If you're like me, you feel a nice, fuzzy, warm feeling as the holiday season goes by, and I've noticed that others feel that as well regardless of their race, ethnicity, culture, background, or belief. We speak to many people each day and, interestingly enough, even those who don't believe in Christ have this same gut feeling! Their smiles are a little brighter and their loads are a little lighter. My solution to this can be found in the scriptures! They teach us that the Light of Christ "is given to every man, that they may know good from evil." You'll all agree that there is nothing bad in the slightest about Christmas. Everything about it deals with love and light and is therefore from God! It is the Light of Christ which gives us these feelings and helps us to know what is from God and what isn't. I'm grateful for the Light of Christ...He is the light, and we never have to walk in darkness without him. He has commanded us that we are also to be the light so that others may find their way to Him. This is the reason I am serving a mission and this I know to be true. In the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.

I truly hope this email has lifted you and blessed you in some way. Love you all so much!

Merry Christmas all the way from London, England!

Love, Elder Thomas

ELSM