DECEMBER!!!

November 30, 2015

Wall Art

I can't believe it's December tomorrow! Thanksgiving was good. As a kid I always hated Thanksgiving and as a missionary... well, we ate a lot so I didn't enjoy it so much either. Aside from all the food, it was really fun to go into other people's homes and see how they celebrate and what they are thankful for. We had three meal appointments aka "I felt like a beached whale by the time we got to our apartment." 

We found a shopping cart in the church parking lot.  The Elders were late so we had some fun!

Since I've been up here I have acquired a few nick names... Our ward mission leader is black and his name is Brother Johnson.  I call him "Brotha Johnson."  He loves it.  At coordination we were sitting there talking and he was talking to Sister Painter about where she was from and he thought she was from the hood.  Then he points to me and was like "In Louisiana where I'm from they call girls like her Princess Ann."  He told Sister Painter that she would be a servant to "Princess Ann".  I was slightly offended.  Whenever I need something at the apartment I always tell Sister Painter "Bring Princess Ann her water bottle."  She doesn't think it's very funny.  Our district leader also calls me "Wednesday Adams".  Probably because I act like her when I'm around him. Rude. 

Decorating my first Christmas tree!

Sister Painter got sick this week so we stayed in for two days. I was bored out of my mind by 3p.m.  I taught myself how to juggle. I finished an entire puzzle. I read in the infinite atonement.  I marked all of my English scriptures finally.  I also made a box for my mini-scriptures and I took a lil' napicita.  We also had an exchange and Thanksgiving this week and so we literally didn't get much done but member work and the investigators we already have. 

I burned a skirt for my half way mark :)

Karl is doing really well.  He went to Dallas for the week and so we didn't have much contact with him.  We went by Christina's and she has been sick too. I think she is the one who got Sister Painter sick.  We decided that we are going to go ahead and get Matthew baptized and not wait for the parents to get married. They have been together for 10 years but the dad won't get married.  Silly.   We are hoping that seeing Matthew take those steps will be an example to his parents and that hopefully we will be planning a wedding soon. So pray for that.  Other than that I don't have much exciting news this week! This transfer is going by really fast and things are good. I'm enjoying now because I don't know what next transfer will bring! I love you all. Have a happy week! 

Hermana Thompson 

HALF WAY!!! 9 MONTHS Y'ALL

November 23, 2015

Cicily Oblad, Ally Oblad (my sister's sisters-in-law) and Elder Thompson

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hit 9 months on Wednesday!  That's a really weird feeling actually. Some days it has gone by so fast and other days I die a little thinking there's 9 more. The mission is great though. Our area is really swell too. The other day we took an Animo break and drove to the beach. I took a swim with the sharks and dolphins. Not really, but we did go to the beach. It was pretty. 

This is Elder Hodgson.  He wouldn't let me cut his hair and trusted another Elder to do it. The other Elder made it look REALLY bad and I was humble enough to fix it for him;) I told him he should have just let me cut it in the first place. 

We have been teaching Karl a lot lately. I don't remember if I told y'all about him. He is 35 and not married. He is partially paralyzed but can still walk and he coaches basketball which is really inspiring. He came to church yesterday for the last hour. They had a lesson on home teaching. We went over to his apartment later that night and asked if we could have a prayer and he told us because it's his house that he gets to choose who says it. We had a good laugh because he said that's what he learned at church. Tonight we are meeting him at Barnes & Noble for hot chocolate and we are going to teach him the plan of salvation. It should be good. He has a special place in my heart. I really do love the people we teach and being able to help them be happy. I love that moment when they learn about things they didn't even know or could feel without the gospel. It's rewarding. 

I've been practicing the piano and this is my little set up. Yes mom, you were right that I would regret quitting when I'm older. 

Our leaders had a meeting in McAllen for 3 days of this week. Our district leader Elder Felix put sister Painter in charge as the new "DL"  So we called it "3 day P-day" because all the leaders were gone.  I think he regretted that decision. Not really. We did go to lunch with the other elders and we had some role plays and trainings too. It was a good time.

It's actually starting to get really cold down here. It got to 61 the other day but with the humidity I was freezing! I'm ashamed at how easily I get cold now; the struggle is real. I bought a sweatshirt and a coat the other day too.

We also had a member take us to PF Changs. I was a very happy person to say the least!  It's always awkward when people ask us (frequently) "So how does God feel about the school being blown up the other day or the shooting that happened?" I'm always like "....Well, first off I didn't even know about that!" Sometimes it throws me off because I forget that Texas isn't the only place in the world.

My companion is really cool though. We have the same sense of humor. She is probably more sarcastic than I am. It's nice to be able to say what I want and know that she won't cry and be offended. We have the same teaching style too and that has made it easy to help the people that we have. In fact, Karl always points out when we say the same thing at the same time or when we finish each others sentences. It's really funny that he notices that actually. Sister Painter is from Chicago.  She played basketball and she went to BYU before the mission. She graduated in 2012.  She has a torn ACL (for her whole mission) so we don't bike at all. Bitter sweet. She is a hard worker too and cares a lot about making others happy.

The only picture of us

I love you all. The gospel is true. The mission is great. God loves you. Jesus loves you. I love you. Have a good week! 

Con amor, 

Hermana A. Thompson 

CORPUS CHRISTI

November 16, 2015

I feel like i just wrote yesterday! I'm almost out of time but I'll give a few of the good high lights this week. 

We had to take a family photo with the Barbies 

My companion and I have been trying to work a lot with our members and less actives lately. I told you a little bit about Brother Brunwick last week. His wife died about a year ago. He hasn't been to church in over four years. He gets pretty lonely. This Saturday we are going to set up his Christmas for him. It should be fun. It will be the first time I've ever decorated a Christmas tree in my life! We took over the Lopez twins to go with us on Saturday because we can't go in his house alone. They are 15. They talked about video games and things and had a good time. He also has this really awesome massage chair like the ones in the mall but way better, so I may have enjoyed that for awhile, it was the most magical thing of my life. We then shared a message and I had the thought to invite him to fast. It didn't really have much to do with our message but I followed the prompting anyway and he agreed. We then left and a few hours later he texted us and said, "Well,  if I'm going to fast, I may as well go to church too. What's the address and time?"...... and he came to church yesterday too!!!  I was SO happy to see him there. I felt like a proud parent or something like that. 

My sister's husband's brother! The Oblads meet in the same building as the Ward I am serving in. 

Also, I just got an email from Paco. He is in the Rexburg South Stake. You guys will have to hunt them down and feed them! How crazy. 

All of my companions

Pictures of the Sisters Conference:

Well that's all I have to say. Also, thank you Mom for the pictures of the baby. People ask me how many nieces and nephews I have and i just tell them I don't know anymore. Landon could have a kid for all I know. I sometimes get the thought that I'll have a similar experience as that missionary did on that one dumb RM movie.  You guys didn't move houses did you?!;) Just kidding. Kind of.

Well,  I love you all. Have a great week. Thank you for the love and support!

                                     

Love Hermanita Thompson 

TRANSFERRED!!

November 9, 2015

So I'm sitting here in the Library in Corpus. Oh yeah,  by the way I got transferred to Corpus Christi. My new area is Everhart. My new companion is Sister Painter.  Back to my story. I saw this lady walk past me with her two boys 30 minutes ago and I was thinking to myself, "That looks like Ally Oblad."   Story short --  I emailed Sara and she texted Ally to see if it was her and it was! We scheduled a dinner appointment for the 22nd of this month because Cicily will be there. Haha how crazy! 

Ally (my sister, Sara's, sister-in-law who lives in Corpus)

Transfers was bitter sweet. I was really sad to say goodbye to Sister Tovar but happy that I was leaving too. She helped me a lot last transfer. I feel like I  am in a new mission! There are a lot of rude white people here that's for sure! I didn't realize how awkward I have gotten until I came up here. Teaching in English has been different and a little bit hard. My companion is pretty cool.  She is from Chicago.  She talks like a black person and I love it.  We get along really well.  Our goal this transfer is to "Blacktize" (baptize only black people). lt's going really well. 

Hermana Barton (my cousin, Kierstin's friend who I found at transfers)



My new District in Corpus Christi

We met this man named Robert.  He saw the Elders not too long ago at a gas station and talked with them.  He is in our area and so we went by to get into contact with him.  His son just came home from a mission in Utah but he is not a member.  When we went by he told us that he was leaving in a few minutes for work and so we rescheduled and left.  We were contacting his neighbors and about 20 minutes later he came driving back up and said that he called his boss and told him he would be late so that he could talk with the missionaries.  I thought that was really awesome.

We have actually had lots of miracles this week.  I don't have time to share them all.  I already love the people here a lot.  I feel like a new person. Our ward is full of corky people and it makes me happy.  There is this lady who has dreams about the missionaries coming into her area and God tells her what kind of blanket to make them. She told me that I was a girly girl and a tom boy at the same time. So my blanket is blue and yellow. There is another man who is a geologist and is retired.  He was in the special ops and has 67 confirmed kills. He is super cool to talk to. He is less active and so we are making friends with him.  He is really interesting.

We have been teaching this cute little family that Sister Tovar and her companion actually found a few months ago. The husband has been sick so we haven't been over there in a few days. She is really cool. I play polly pockets with her 6 year old daughter while Sister Painter answers her deep doctrine questions. 

Polly Pockets wore her out

The work is going great already.  I'm determined to make this one of the best transfers yet. God has been good to me in letting me see what i need to learn in each area and who I need to help. He answers prayers. I wouldn't be here in Corpus if he didn't;) just kidding.  I  hope you all have a happy week. i love you! 

Hermana Thompson  

NOVEMBER

November 2, 2015

I can't believe that it is November already! Blows my miiiind! I feel bad but I don't have much to write about this week. My companion and the other two sisters got sick at different times during the week and so with that I've had to stay inside the apartment a lot. it was nice. I drank hot chocolate and did nothing.'My companion has bronchitis and we spent one of the days in the doctor's office.  It rained a lot this week too. We were taking a picture in the street because it was flooded and this guy drives by in a city truck and was like "You guys know the sewer is right there don't you? You're standing in poop water" We went home and showered.  It didn't stink or anything but it was still gross. I almost threw up. 

Standing in the poop water

We will find out sometime today about transfers.  Hopefully sooner than later. Tomorrow is transfer day. This area has ended up being pretty good but I think I'm about done. I feel like I have knocked on every door in this place! 

Sister Tovar wants to be under my umbrella 

I let Timmy paint my nails. He begged me!

Halloween was pretty lame.  Not as lame as my 4th of July. We had to be in by 6.  I dressed up as a Jehovah's Witness. (I just took my tag off)  I bought a Halloween Mad Lib book. I felt like I was in 3rd grade again. It was so funny.  We had a good time with that. 

My cute Mexican Spider Man

I'm teaching my recent converts my ways 

On Halloween day we went to a baptism of one of the elders in our district. It was of this father who has been on parole and he has a son who is 30 or so who has down syndrome. His name is Aaron. Aaron has been begging the missionaries to be baptized for over a year but since he is a perfect being he didn't have the need to. The family said that it was okay and the elders talked to the Bishop and they let him be baptized. It was one of the coolest baptisms I've been to. Afterward he was standing in the water and he looked up and said that he could see his family. He than hugged the guy who baptized him and just cried. It was cute. 

Aaron's Baptism

This transfer has been great.  I have learned and grown a lot. The people here are amazing and we see miracles cada dia. The biggest thing I've learned this transfer would be the Lords hand in our lives. How he almost always answers prayers through other people. Missionary work is hard but it's the most rewarding thing ever. 

The elders give us their pants to sew. What they don't know is that we always try them on afterwards hahaha

Paco and Sergio

Fat lady skirts

I love you all. Have a great week!

Love Hermana A.Thompson

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

October 26, 2015

What a fabulous semana. We had some crazy rain storms from the hurricane in Mexico. Everyone was freaking out. Weslaco got pretty flooded. We had some good sized puddles too.  It was a blast to bike in. People think we are nuts. I love their reactions as they drive by us.  I'm sure we look like weirdos. 

On Sundays we have been helping the Primary President teach because sometimes the teacher doesn't show up. Some of the kids don't understand Spanish very well so yesterday I translated the whole primary lesson. It was fun. It was about the sacrament and how we make sins during the week and it makes "little stains" on our white baptismal clothes and so when we take the sacrament it makes them white again. Some parts were hard to put into English so I made them up:) 

We have been working a lot with the Montez family. (the four kids that we converted) It's sister Montez and her husband. They have 4 kids. April who is the real mom of the kids that Sister Montez adopted and we converted. Then there is Eric who is in prison. And Gabriel who is 26 and David who is 28 and they live at home. When we first came over to teach the Montez family, Sister Montez told us that her husband wouldn't sit in on lessons and things because he wasn't interested and he didn't.  He would go outside and drink or kind of hang out until we left. David and Gabriel would do the same thing.  They actually remind me of Tyler a lot. They wouldn't talk to us much either.  Over time they have really started to warm up to us.  David even took us to lunch at Wing Stop the other day and then we went and bought the paint for their house.  Afterwards we painted their house and It was fun.  In the back of my head I could hear Tyler telling me how to do it;)  He would have had a crap attack if he saw the way we all painted it.  It ended up looking pretty good.  The mom is a member and her husband isn't and neither is Gabriel. David is less active.  April is on drugs somewhere in Houston. (I hope all that made sense)  Last night we went over there and they were watching a football game. Sister Whitten was talking to Sister Montez, and so I started to talk with her husband. I secretly taught him the restoration without him even knowing it. I then asked him if I could show him a video and he agreed so we watched the Restoration video with the whole family and the dad stayed the entire time of the lesson. I was so pumped after we left!  They had their niece over as well. Her name is Faith and we have been teaching her too.  She conveniently lives across the street. That's nice. The kids were so, so quiet during the movie. They were good at church too. Usually S'ister Montez is getting after them because they are wild and she wouldn't want to go to church either because of it but yesterday she made the comment on how they all have been changing. It's crazy to see the difference being made in this family. I hope that the spirit was able to touch the dad's heart. Sister Montez wants to be sealed so badly to her kids. My focus especially with this family and in the mission has changed.  I'm not here to just get them all baptized and go to church but to get them to the temple and help them work towards that. It's been a good focus and their family is great. We go over there almost every day. Sometimes I feel like I'm at home with my family. It's super cool. I guess when It all comes down to it, we are all family! 

Everyone the church is true. I love you all. Have a good week! 

Love,

Hermana A. Thompson 

8 MONTHS

October 19, 2015

Hello. 

I always forget that it is October! It is still in the 90s down here. Last night I had a hard time falling asleep because I was so cold. I think our apartment was like 75 degrees.  I'm becoming a baby. 

I made Sister Tovar give me a pump after service

This week we did a service project at the branch presidents house. He lives on a pretty cool ranch. The rama is doing a garden for all the members on his property. It's pretty cool.  We rototilled the garden by hand with shovels and I used the pick ax. (I probably shouldn't have because of my shoulder but it was too fun. I couldn't resist. It was for a good cause though). The garden is probably the size of Dad's but the dirt felt like the dirt in Idaho in maybe March, like frozen clay. I always enjoy the service projects we do! 

This dog followed us home so I decided to bring him in the other sisters' room for a surprise when they got home. Hopefully he didn't have fleas haha!

The further I get in my mission the more I realize I'm becoming my parents! Every morning I make a big bowl of oatmeal with raisins. Whenever I see a butterfly I always think of Dad's voice. "Oooh look at that butterfly!" Or a sunset I hear mom "What a beautiful sunset."  During workouts in the morning the moon is still and I always see "Venus the morning star!"  There are more but I'll leave it at that. 

Transfers 

On Saturday we were looking for this less active family, the Rodriguez family and for the Mendoza family and they weren't home or we couldn't find them. On Sunday we got to church and were talking to this family and we asked what their last name was and it was the Rodriguez family that we had been trying to find. Then we talked with this other boy after church who ended up being the Mendoza kid.  He hadn't been to church in 2 years! Ask and ye shall receive. 

This past transfer I've been having lots of dreams for some reason. The other day we went with a member and were going by less actives and getting to know them. We went to this one lady's house in Harlingen and her granddaughter opened the door. My immediate thought was "Oh, I know her, she and her grandma have come the past few weeks to church" Then we got in the room and I immediately recognized the grandma and we started to talk with her.  As the conversation went on I realized that they hadn't been to church in several months. I leaned over and asked the granddaughter if they had been to any activities or anything in the past several months and she told me no that she goes to church with her mom somewhere else now because the grandma had been sick. (The little girl is nine and is not a member and neither is her mom). I then realized I had a dream that I had forgotten about until that moment of this little girl being at church with her grandma and them walking past me and then of her baptism.  It was the weirdest feeling and almost unexplainable!  We will be working with them more often! 

Elder Browning and I

The work here is great and it's been a privilege to be a part of it and to learn more about myself in the process of helping others. The Lord is so mindful and detailed in all that he does. The big picture is truly amazing. 

I love you all and have a good week 

Hermana Thompson 

We found a giant diaper.  I decided to try it on.  Don't worry I think it was clean!

QUE HONDA?!

October 12, 3015

HOLA MY PEEPS.

Today I have an MRI at 4. I'm actually excited about that because I get to take a fabulous nap and I'll be going on exchanges with Hermana Tovar. She is my favorite and we get along super well.  She went with me to my doctor's appointment last week and we had a ball. We talked to some crazy old people in the waiting room. I told her that I had to go to the bathroom and I got up and the door was locked and one of the old people told me I have to go ask the front desk.  I did and was standing there waiting and they were all telling me what to do. It literally turned into this big ordeal of old people telling me who and where I should go to use the restroom.  To be honest, I didn't have to pee that bad but the entire lobby got involved and so it would have been more awkward just to go sit down. One of the old ladies was like "Just pee right there on the floor, that'll teach em!"  I didn't know what to say!  They all made fun of me because my face went red.  It was a hoot.  After we went to Sonic and got Nerd Slushies and that made my entire week. I miss those. I also realized I have a doctor's appointment every Monday this entire transfer.  Woof!

I think I worked with my companion like twice this week. It's been weird but I've actually had a good week!  I was on an exchange with Hermana Tervort on Tuesday and Wednesday.  We were in our area so I got to pick everything we did and who we needed to go see.  We went by the last appointment of the day, Hermano Del Angel; my 60 year old boyfriend.  Well, one of them.  We had a good lesson and ate chicken in the middle of this trailer park with no lights.  Afterwards we were biking home.  Side note:  Hermana Tervort has not been in a bike area her whole mission and every time I looked back she was like a half mile away out of breath.  I felt bad.  Also, Mom will you send me bigger garment bottoms? My legs are now too buff.  Send me the carinessa ones Small-A. 

I was a little ways ahead and we were biking home.   It was pretty dark and we were on the shoulder of the main road -- Sunnystrip 77.  It's one of the busier roads, a five lane road and it's pretty sketchy.  I was just biking along minding my own business and I looked to my left and there was this big SUV who came out of no where from this parking lot. the fool wasn't going to even stop!  It was like slow motion and I was about to get T-boned and splat into this busy road. She slammed on her brakes literally like 8 inches away from me. I don't know how or if she even saw me because she was on her phone but it was literally as if something was between me and the car.  It was as if she hit something else. We made eye contact and then I just kept peddling. and she took off. I had to stop for a second because my heart came out my bum!  It was so scary. Now I really do know I'm invincible!!  That wasn't the moral to my story. It was just proof to me of how important this work is to the Lord. I literally should have been hit. 

Welp, the church is true everybody. This life isn't a coincidence, there is more to it then taking it day by day.  A lot more goes on than we realize. God is mindful of our potentials and who we can become and who we were before this life. Satan is also aware of it.  We are in a spiritual battle. Don't wait to almost get hit by a car to let it "Wake you up!" ;) this time is so precious and what we do today determines our future. 

I love you all. Thank you for your love and support and your prayers they obviously work daily! Have a good week!

Love Hermana Thompson

HELLLLLLOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

October 5, 2015

This week flew by! We had a lot of meetings and our exchanges and conference so we stayed busy!  My district leader found out that I was sleeping on the sidewalk during morning exercises. I was telling some missionaries a story of when I was laying on the sidewalk. It was when school had started so kids from the apartment would come out to their rides to school in the morning. This girl and her group of friends were walking by across the lot and she saw me and stopped in a panic and I think she thought I was dead.  It was really funny. I sat up so she wouldn't have a heart attack. My district leader overheard me say that and so now our whole district gets up at 5:30 every morning to work out together. It's awful and I complain every morning.  We meet at the school fields between our apartment complexes  The other morning we got there before the elders did so naturally I laid in the parking lot and fell asleep. The elders got there and we started to walk onto the field when a cop pulls up! I guess that someone called the cops because someone was laying down out by the school.  We all had a good laugh.  At least I did.  I'm turning into Dad.  I can literally sleep anywhere I sit down. It's awesome!

We ate at olive garden before conference- haha kind of made me homesick sadly!

This transfer has been really good so far. I love the sisters we live with. Sister Tovar and I get along really well and we always have good talks together. She served in La Joya too. I am learning a lot, especially about loving people. My district leader also found out that I am not fond of hugging people and so he makes me hug my companion all the time.  

Our Zone

Conference was great though. I loved elder Holland's talk about mothers. He always goes hard and I love how blunt he is. He made the comment how mothers carry us for 9 months and they continue to carry us now and the true love of parents and Christ. I love how he tied it into seeing everybody through their parent's eyes. How much more love we can have for people. Everything starts with love. If you don't love you won't serve, if you don't serve you won't be humble.  If you're not humble you won't be faithful, and if you're not faithful you cannot progress. Everything starts with love and a lot of my mission is teaching me how to love people.  Love what I do and love every moment.  Like I love that I hate working out at 5:30 am!;)   

I cut this old mans yard with a machete it was awesome then he gave us his debit card to go by cokes at the store

Someone in our branch makes piñatas for a living. This one is bigger than I am!!

Chilling with my chihuahua friend

There is a man sitting behind me here in the library talking to himself and it's really funny so I lost my train of thought.

My new little friend

I love you all have a good week!

Love Hermana Thompson