The Best Kind of Service and On the Road Again

Hey there, folks!

Wow...what a ride! This week was insane. And, of course, stupidly fast at the same time. We are already at the end of another transfer and nearly a year has come and gone since I left the promised land. I love working alongside such devoted fellow warriors like my companion and others in the mission.

My short, blessed time in Bournemouth has come to a close. President called last week and asked me to serve as a zone leader in the Staines Zone. I accepted, though I must admit I was a bit nervous and excited at the same time. Zone Leader will be a very stretching position for me, but I have inquired of the Lord and He told me that this is where He wants me to be. So that news put a new spin on the rest of the week. We were rushing frantically trying to get things done and get packed and teach people at the same time. I loved my time in Bournemouth though! But I will now be expected to drive a car here in England. I just barely arrived in Whitton after a 3 hour train journey from the coast. My new companion is Elder Senkans from Latvia. He's a real Viking! Excited to work with him. I've learned a lot from Elder Gilbert in the last 6 weeks.

Top moments of the week:
-some solid service
-really sunny
-zone conference in Poole
-exchange with Elder Mccombs from West Jordan. He finishes this week.
-special musical number hymn #98 at the sisters' baptism
-had one last Spanish conversation
-got moved

Did some great service this week. Bishop Birch's family called on Monday with an emergency: their freezer door had been left open, causing their food to have defrosted, and they needed us to help them eat it all. No problem! So we cruised over and helped eat their food along with 2 other families. We don't mind that kind of service at all. One of the many things I've learned in Bournemouth is how to eat!

Other service we did involved laying outdoor tiles in 90 degree weather, moving furniture from a third floor, and helping some non-members move into their new house. Not only does service break up the hours of finding time, but it also seems to give substance to my soul. I'm sure you know what I mean, but service is the best!

I've had some extra fire in my bones this week because we had tri-zone conference in Poole. President delivered a very moving message there that stirred my heart. He told a story of a young man who had regrets on his mission but he couldn't go back and fix it. It made me want to work my heart out every single day so I can stand blameless before God at the last day. I don't want any dirt on me! With that in mind, I will give everybody the opportunity to hear this blessed restored gospel. I won't be restrained!

I love this mission and am touched that the Lord allowed me to come here. It's time for a shoutout to all the missionaries going home tomorrow. A lot of them have made a difference in my development and the course of my mission. They've been superstars. Special shoutout to Elder Wagaman, I love that Elder. Missions are golden years!

Love you all, have a good week!

Love, Elder Thomas

ELSM

Saying bye to Josh Williams, member

Saying bye to the chapel

Bye Elder Louder and Elder Mccombs

Hello Elder Senkans!

Venezuela and the Driver's Test

Hi there!

Elder Thomas here. What a beautiful day it is here in Bournemouth today! Although street contacting in the rain is the quickest way to repent, it's nice to work in the sun for a change. People are more receptive when it's sunny, too! When it rains, people are more hardened and rude. Maybe it's a lack of vitamin C or something.

This week has come and gone in the blink of an eye. I get really anxious when I think about time because my year mark is coming up... and I'm not ready to be halfway done! Nevertheless, the Lord's hand has been visible this week:
-another great district meeting
-sunshine in my soul and all throughout the week
-another baptismal interview
-chapel tours
-taught lots of Arabs
-investigator!

On the other hand...
-failed my driving theory test
-lots of flogged appointments

We've had a breakthrough! In terms of investigators lately, we've been in a drought. Elder Gilbert and I decided to evaluate ourselves, and we concluded that our faith to find wasn't where it needed to be. So we prayed hard and had a firm belief in miracles the next day. I made sure to keep my plea in my heart all day. We talked to literally everybody in sight: on their doorsteps. In the stores. On their houses. Through windows. In their cars. Under their cars. Hiding from us behind their cars. Anywhere! As the day drew on, we found saw a man behind a car and talked to him. I sensed that he was Latin, and it turns out he's from Venezuela... a remnant of Lehi's seed! I immediately switched into Spanish mode and he was impressed. He told us that he had been praying for a sign that God was there, and we were his answer. We taught him everyday for the rest of the week and he loves El Libro de Mormon. Excited to work with him. Not only were we an answer to his prayer, but he was an answer to ours. Cloomber is his name.

District meeting's theme this week was our personal commitment to the Lord. It went really well because we do a lot of scripture applications. Bible stories are so good for meetings! We had some Nutella cheesecake afterwards. :)

Another miracle was Harry. He's the sister's investigator and he's gonna get baptized on Friday! I got to interview him and he is a star. The harvest is here!

One night we were contacting in faith with 2 hours left of the day. The first person we spoke to was a Swiss man here for studies. His first words were "I don't believe". We ended up teaching him at the chapel. His last words were "that's an amazing message!" He accepted to read the Book of Mormon. Sadly, he returns to Switzerland in 2 weeks. But he was a miracle! They're everywhere.

My much anticipated theory test was this week. Apparently I was 1 point not ready enough... that's right, I failed by one single point! It tore me in half... gotta take it again now.

I'm almost done with the Book of Mormon again! We are reading it as a mission right now and are supposed to finish on August 1st. I read Ether 2 today and absolutely loved my study. I learned about the necessity of spiritual preparation. After the Lord chastens the Brother of Jared for not calling on his name in prayer, he begins to prepare him and his family for their extensive journey across the great deep. If there was no preparation, the Brother of Jared and his company wouldn't have made it: everything had to be perfect. Likewise, we must be prepared spiritually in our testimonies and conversion to be able to survive the "waves of the sea" because we inevitably will have to face them. Our testimonies must be solid. This can only happen when we call upon God, because only His hand--or His finger in this case--can give us the strength we need. I testify that we are nothing without Him, but can do everything with Him in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.

Have a great week!

Love, Elder Thomas

ELSM

Our flat

Kitchen

Front room

Study area

Bedroom

Our church building

Me and my comp - Elder Gilbert

Trial and Error

Happy Monday everybody!

Mondays really are a good day, especially a sunny day like this one. Monday (preparation day) is no excuse to kick back and not work because it is still part of the time which I have devoted to serving the Lord--It's still His day, not mine. But it is a much needed time to unwind physically and mentally so I can give a 100% effort for the rest of the week. Apart from preparation days and Sundays, everyday is virtually the same! Preparation days and different colored ties are the only variation we Elders get...and preparation day is the only time to get different ties. Honestly, without preparation day I'd probably pull my hair out.

But it's crazy to think that another week has come and gone! Time seems to go faster and faster each week. It's a little scary because I love my mission and don't want it to end! His week has been a good one though. Here's some highlights:
-zone BBQ on July 4
-cut my own hair again (third time) no mess ups!
-exceedingly long leadership council on Tuesday
-really good district meeting on Wednesday
-found some new investigators!!!
-more Spanish

The first few days of the week was 100% finding. Whitewashing has taught me that the only way to teach is to find people to teach, and the only way to do that is just to dive in and get your hands dirty. You've just got to discipline yourself to working until you have people to teach. So that's what we did! It took a lot of effort, especially on the first days of the week. We literally tried everything... football and English class didn't work out too well this week, so we just keep being creative to see what works and what doesn't. Hence, trial and error. But by the end of the week we had success! The Lord didn't make it easy, but He sure did make it possible. We are now teaching Natasha and Joe. We hope we can continue teaching them so they can progress. I know that not only hard work pays off, but smart work pays off. Teaching is what we are called to do!

The middle of the week was meetings! In zone leaderships council we talked a lot about the Season of Miracles (or the second harvest in this land). President Gubler has assured us that the Season of Miracles has not just ended abruptly. It's still here and it will come more fully as we become more converted. I'll admit, I haven't given as much thought to the Season of Miracles as I used to. I used to have complete faith in the Season, and I have my trainer to thank for instilling that in my heart at the beginning of my mission because he was on fire about it too. As a mission, we came to the conclusion that we need to believe more actively in the Season for it to come! I'm excited to "own it" again.

District Meeting went really well too! I have been told that some of my district meetings are a bit dull and that they need more life to them, so I resolved to make this one great! Instead of me talking at everybody for most of the time, I planned to have more people participate and to do a fun hands on activity. And it totally worked! Since our district needs to work on finding and a lot of people are visual learners, I made an activity that taught us how to find. Good things are coming for the Bournemouth district...we're going to baptize the nation!

On a sad note, our friend Alcides from Columbia is no longer with us. He's totally fine, but he went back to Spain this week to be with his family again. He had come to England to find work, but he decided it was better for him in Spain. So we had our last Spanish conversation and said our goodbyes. Fortunately, there are thousands of other Spanish speakers here so I'll be able to keep it up!

I feel to share a personal spiritual thought this week. I received a letter from my grandparents this week and it made my day! Emails are great, but I love getting letters for some reason. I read the letters over and over again, and Grandpa Ralph said something that really spoke to my heart. First of all, I love Grandpa Ralph. He's an old man (93), but he's one of my heroes. I'm probably his biggest fan. But he told me that his main goal is to be here when I get home from my mission.  As those words touched me, the Spirit came to me. He told me that my Heavenly Father feels exactly the same way--His main goal is for me to come home into His loving embrace. Then I happened to read Elder Christofferson's talk about Fathers that morning. It's not Father's Day, but I have a real appreciation for my parents, both earthly and Heavenly. I know they want to see us all come home and I say that in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love you all and have a good week!


Love, Elder Thomas

ELSM

Vitality Stadium

Team Bournemouth

Fourth of July party with the Poole crew

Exchanges and the 4th!

First of all, happy 4th of July everyone! What a blessed day this is, in memory of a blessed land. Many of you may wonder if I will be celebrating since I'm in the UK. Although I haven't celebrated the 4th on American soil for 4 years and counting due to surgery, work, and vacation, the answer is... why, of course! We've got a few American missionaries over here, so we are getting together to celebrate. Burgers, hot dogs, and everything except fireworks. That one will have to wait. But I hope you enjoy your day! America is great, but it is missing out on one thing: Indian food, especially curry. We eat a lot of that over here and it's delicious!

Good things happened this week. Here's some highlights:
-Went to Vitality Stadium last Monday, home of AFC Bournemouth.
They're in the Premier League!
-Taught a Brazilian family in Spanish :)
-Exchange with Elder Wilfley from Sacramento, California
-Got stalked by a crazy guy
-Exchange with Elder Louder from Kamas, Utah.
-More football
-Teaching the youth
-More Spanish
-More dinner appointments

Somehow, most of the exchanges this transfer fell into this week. Exchanges are a good opportunity to serve with and learn from other missionaries around you. It's also good to see more parts of the country. The first exchange was with Elder Wilfley and we had the car! It made me want to finish all this driving license stuff so I can get rolling... literally. It's kind of a nightmare, though. Exchange #2 was with Elder Louder. He's a Kamas boy! After talking for a while, I figured out that he knows the Woolleys because he fixes their snowmobiles. Small world!

After getting back from the football stadium, we hit the streets. We came across a Brazilian family who invited us into their yard and we taught them the Restoration. The cool thing is, they understand Spanish so I got to teach a lesson in Spanish! I'm pretty rubbish still, but I'm getting there. Sadly they didn't invite us back, but it was a good learning experience. The gift of tongues is real!

More contacting and knocking followed, as that is our absolute focus right now since we've got nobody to teach. We're trying everything to find people right now. One thing that seems to work is Saturday afternoon football at the chapel. The English love their football (soccer), so we figured that we would keep doing it! We had a pretty good turnout of members and non-members on Saturday. We plan to keep doing that as well as the English class.

Elder Gilbert and I have had the privilege to teach all the youth in the ward over the last couple Sundays. I'm so impressed with them! It's cool for me to be able to teach and interact with so many future missionaries. One of them was here on holiday from France, and funnily enough she knows Elder Raveneau! But teaching is definitely my favorite thing to do right now :) I love serving with Elder Gilbert because he's a master teacher! He promised to teach me 3 things: how to teach better, how to eat more, and how to do the Hakka. Looking forward to it.

That's all for this week though! Thank you all so much for all the help you've given me and all that you do for the Lord. I promise that whenever you feel alone, He will always be there to comfort you. He is aware of your situations and always willing to help you fix things. I leave that testimony with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love you all!

God bless America!

Love, Elder Thomas

ELSM

My football team of dogs

Me and Elder Louder from Kamas

Football and Tender Mercies

Hi folks! Hope you're all doing well and making good choices. Thanks so much for your emails and letters of love and encouragement! It's the best!

I guess I'll start off this email the way any other conversation begins in England... with the weather! Honestly though, English people love to complain about the weather. I don't complain as much because I'm fascinated by it! It literally rained three different time whilst we were on one street. Go England! Down here on the coast the weather is really unpredictable, but I can always count on the salty ocean breeze greeting me each morning when I walk outside. It's pretty nice here in Bournemouth.

Speaking of Bournemouth, I've nearly been here two weeks! I'm still adjusting. Moving areas is tougher than I thought! Thanks to the amazing members and my awesome companion, I'm getting the hang of things. As I mentioned before, this "town" is huge! It's more like a city. I anticipated more elderly people, but there's actually a lot of youth here because there's a university. It's also extremely diverse
here.

This week has brought more miracles and blessings!:
-Zone Training in Bournemouth
-First ever Bournemouth English Class
-Spoke more Spanish
-Random investigator came to church
-Played football (soccer) with a part member family
-Got 56 referrals

Some members and investigators don't speak any English, so we decided to give the English class a try. A few of the members came, but sadly no investigators made an appearance. But I really enjoyed teaching English to Hispanic people! It was a good service opportunity and I got to learn more Spanish in return. Never thought I'd be a language learning missionary, but I guess I kind of am. We'll get more people there next week! There are so many Hispanic people here and they love to hear the Gospel. They always light up when they hear that the Book of Mormon was set in their part of the world. Mexicans are plentiful, and we are teaching one called Jasmine who actually showed up at church! Unfortunately she came too late, but she's determined to come to the English class. We feel that she will get baptized.

Alcidaas, our Columbian friend, also came to church. It was good to see him there. He has an important phone call coming up this week and has invited me to be his translator.

We are working with a part member family and the children love soccer (called football here). So we decided to set up a big football game at the chapel, and the family came! We had some good fun and made some more friends. There are some things we need to work through, but we want to help every family in the ward to become more unified through the ordinance of baptism. I love families.

I'll leave you with a bang:
While knocking a road that the Spirit told us to knock on, we accidentally knocked into a member's home. After some small talk we expected him to carry on with his day, but we were wrong. He asked us if he could come knocking with us. As it turns out, this old man knows everybody in his neighborhood, so he took us to every single door and invited the residents himself to hear our message. He did this for over 2 hours.... obviously filled with the the strength of the Lord! He gave us over 50 referrals and we are set to teach a few of them. Members can do wonders--go knock a street with the missionaries! You will feel good and The Lord will bless you for it. I understand that it's pretty hard to knock a street in Utah without running into members, but be creative. There is no more important work than this and I'm touched that the Lord would bless me with such a calling. I cherish my mission!

It's been a good week and we are looking forward to becoming better instruments in the Lord's hands this next week. Love you!

Love, Elder Thomas

ELSM

No pictures this week... :(

Service and Spanish

Hello everybody! Happy late Father's Day to all the Fathers out there. I especially want to send my love to my grandpas, Ben Thomas (earthly father), and my Heavenly Father for all they've done for me. I would not be here without them. Fathers are the best! 

Week one here in Bournemouth is officially done and gone! It feels like a really long week but it's gone by super fast. So much has happened. Here's some highlights:
-the whitewashing experience
-lots of dinner appointments
-did a bunch of service
-mowed a lawn
-spoke A LOT of Spanish
-went to the beach

The move to Bournemouth has been a huge change from Witney. I've never actually moved areas on my mission until now! It's been quite the adjustment with a new area, new ward, new people, and a new companion...I'm still trying to get my feet on the ground! We've been lost a few times and taken some wrong buses, but we're learning. Whitewashing is pretty tough as well. This is round 2 for me, but this time I'm leading the area. It's a big responsibility! I can't really complain though. Our flat is massive (2 bathrooms) and it's surrounded by golf courses :) so I'm alright.

The ward here is a huge blessing. Most of them are missionary minded and willing to let us into their homes. We had 4 dinner appointments last week, which is more than I'm used to! I'll try not to put on too much weight over here, but we'll see. In a couple months I might literally be rolling through Bournemouth. Ward council was also intensely effective. There are a lot of recently returned missionaries and a lot of part member families for us to work with and baptize. Exciting!

I also did more service last week than I've done in my entire life! The Bournemouth sisters had to move flats, so on Friday we spent ages moving everything from the second story into a van, then back up another 2 stories. It was a lot of hard work and we weren't even in service clothes. The office elders came down to help out, so I got to see Elder Donaldson, my MTC comp! Good times! Moving pretty much took the entire day.

On Saturday we had "helping hands", which is a Mormon service opportunity that I don't know much about. We were to paint stuff and clean other stuff at one of the local schools. I was surprised when we arrived--nearly the whole ward turned up! It was great to work alongside them and build some friendships. This ward is like a big family. We got to paint some tables, some benches, and I'm proud to say that I painted a gazebo. It was good to meet the members. Later that day we did some more service at another member's home. She needed her lawn mowed. I've been going through some lawn mowing withdrawals lately, so I was definitely willing to help out. And I loved it. Never take advantage of the smell of freshly cut grass, someday it might be gone.

The real miracle came when some elders gave us a call and told us to visit a Columbian man who moved to Bournemouth the same day we did. So I gave the guy a call and all I heard from the other end was a bunch of Spanish! Fortunately I was able to pick out a few words, so we ran over to his house. Turns out he's living with a Columbian family. Their house is literally on the other side of Bournemouth so we pretty much ran to Columbia to get there. They let us in and we tried to teach them all, but the language barrier was too thick. None of them spoke a lick of English. Nevertheless, we kept trying to teach them. And then it happened: we were given the gift of tongues! My formerly-learned Spanish was recalled and Elder Gilbert--who only knows hola--began to understand the language and even chime in. It was crazy! Things became clear and we taught that family and are still working on them today. Colombians are the best and the gift of tongues is real! Who knew that Jr high Spanish would pay off. Bournemouth is full of miracles! The church is still true here.

I know from experience and can testify to all of you that nothing is impossible with the Lord's help. Whether it's adjusting to a new area or speaking Spanish, God will help you in all of your struggles if you just turn to Him. Turn to Him and come closer to Him by reading your scriptures every single day, praying, being like The Savior, and going to church. Do the basics! I know it works and I leave that testimony with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Bournemouth is just as racially diverse as Oxford, if not more so. We found out that there's actually loads of Spanish speaking members and investigators who want to learn English, and there's also some English people wanting to learn Spanish! So we're going to set up an English class here soon and maybe a branch in the future. I never thought I'd be teaching in Spanish on my mission, but that's how it is here in
Bournemouth!

I love my mission! Thanks so much for your letters and emails. Love you all!

Love, Elder Thomas

ELSM

Squinty eyes at the beach

Classic badge on the beach photo

Bournemouth beach

London, Elder Oaks and Transfers!

Hello everybody! Elder Thomas here. A lot has happened this last week and we've been literally all over the place. It feels like I was emailing you all just yesterday! Anyways, I hope you've had a good week. You'll find the events of this week interesting...

Highlights!
-Trip to London on Tuesday... so cool!
-Dual mission conference with Elder Oaks
-12 hour leadership meeting in Staines
-worked in a trio companionship
-saw Elder Oaks again
-exchange with Elder Watson from Scotland
And.....
-got moved!

The week began with our trip to London. Our route from the train station took us right past Buckingham Palace, of which I have photo evidence. We then made our way to the Hyde Park chapel for our conference with Elder Dallin H Oaks! Our mission and the London mission were there, and I've never seen so many missionaries in my life. It was fun to see old friends from the mtc, but the real fun was getting to sit at the feet of an apostle of the Lord and listen to the words of Christ. It was a life changing experience! The most profound thing that I learned is that the number of baptisms you have doesn't really matter. Although baptism is a desirable outcome of this work, we are really called to teach repentance. As long as I'm doing that and keeping the mission rules, that's it. Numbers don't determine success, but the condition of your heart does. What a treat it was to listen to one of the Lord's anointed! Others there were both mission presidents and their wives, President Kearon and his wife, and Elder Herbertson of the Seventy and his wife. Sister Kearon advised us to keep smiling every single day, so I've taken that to heart. The Spirit was so strong! I will never forget experiences like these. It was cool to be sitting in the Hyde Park chapel, where my family and I had visited just one year ago. I also bumped into Sister Croft, whom we saw there last year. She's still at the VC!

After a dozen trains, we got to a place called Whitton in Greater London. There I worked in a trio with Elder Whitehead from Draper and Elder Taochy from France (I love those Frenchies!). It was cool to all work together! That night we stayed in a 12 man flat... it was more like a house though. The next morning we had MLC (mission leadership council) and there was a lot of effective discussion about how we could improve as a mission. We have some really great thinkers in this mission, but unfortunately I'm not one of them!

Thursday was very interesting. We knew that Elder Oaks was scheduled to come speak in Oxford in the morning and we really wanted to go! He was speaking on religious freedom at one of the colleges. The only thing stopping us was our firmness in our callings: public affairs required that we take our badges off in order to go. Easy choice: keep the badge on, preserve the calling and don't go! The Oxford Elders ended up going so we just stayed in Oxford until district meeting. Eventually we had to storm into the college because the Oxford Elders had the keys to the flat where we have our meeting. We went inside to get the Elders while Elder Oaks was speaking but we were stopped by officials when they stopped our badges. Anyways, we saw Elder Oaks again!

Friday was the big day: moves calls. I was determined that I would stay in Witney for a year, but my time has now come. I have left Witney and come to a new place: Bournemouth! A lot of bittersweet goodbyes were said...the Suttons were tough. Brother Sutton came home from his camping trip early, just in time to say goodbye! The Suttons have been like family to me and they still are. I also had to say bye to the Rathbones, which was also a tough one. I will miss them so much and it was an honor to watch them accept the Gospel.

I arrived and got my new companion about an hour ago and we are happy as can be. My companion is Elder Gilbert from New Zealand and he's huge! He played rugby back home. So far I haven't had any American companions!

So sorry for the short emails and the lack of responses today! I've never moved before and it's really crazy. I'm excited to be working right on the coast! Thanks for your support and your prayers, I feel them every day. Love you all!


Love, Elder Thomas

ELSM

Going to London!

On every bus...

The gates of Buckingham Palace

Elder Phelps!

Elder Wagaman goes home soon

The district

London underground

The whole mission

Had to!

Bye chapel

Ready to roll!

One last sponge cake

Bye Sutton family

Bye Rathbone family

Bye Elder Reynolds

Hello Elder Gilbert!