Hola from Mexas!!!

I feel like I just wrote y'all!! This week flew by! Our area is progressing very well! My companion told me that she thinks I will be training soon. I hope not. This week we found 10 new investigators. Eber was confirmed on Sunday. I felt like a proud mom. Our area touches the Rio Grande River. I can officially say I've biked to Mexico;) We got lost in a field the other day down a dirt road because we thought there would be houses....there wasn't.

So tales to tell from this week.... There is this crazy dude in our ward who the Bishop has specifically told us not to go by their trailer (he's in our area). He's pretty nuts --  I wont go into detail. About a week and a half ago this guy, at one of the ward activities gave us a referral and told us to go by it. I wrote it down but didn't really pay much attention to it. A few days later he asked us if we went by and talked to the family.  I told him that we hadn't had the chance yet. He was very persistent that we go by but I still kind of brushed it off.

A few days later on Wednesday, we were doing the usual and one of our appointments texted us and cancelled.  We were sitting in the car kind of debating what we wanted to do and the thought came to me to go by this referral from the crazy guy in the ward.  I told my companion and she said she had thought the same thing!  We call the number he gave and went to the street. The number of the house didn't really exist.  I asked a guy who was outside on his lawn if he knew where it was and he told us that the house was farther back on his property and that he rented it out.  We walk back there and it's this little shack, no joke I could have built it.  It was literally a frame and plywood for the walls.  We get in there and its like 100+ degrees. The lady we talked to on the phone earlier to get the address from got another phone call and left. The dad wasn't really saying much so we started to talk to the girl that was there. She is 18 and her name is Alexis. I asked her how her parents knew the family at our church (the one that referred us to them) and she was like "Oh they aren't my parents."  After talking more with her it turns out that she is friends with the family's son (who was at work at the time). She had come the night before to their house to live. She got kicked out of her house or something along the lines of that because of family problems and she wasn't going to go back. I asked her randomly if she prayed and she said she did. I asked her what she prayed about and then I told her that we were the answer to her prayers. I told her that we were asked to come by that house over a week ago and that we didn't until that day. I then helped her notice that is was not a coincidence that she had come there the NIGHT before we came. She shared with us that she didn't think that she had a purpose in this life. It broke my heart. I shared the most sincere testimony that anybody will probably hear from me, that God loves her and she does in fact have a purpose. I can't wait to start teaching her more about her purpose here.

We are also teaching this big ole Mexican man named Jesus. He is like a giant teddy bear. He has such a strong testimony and has the biggest desire to be baptized. His spirit is ready but his body is not.  We are helping him to stop smoking. He was chewing nicotine gum instead, one every two hours.  Now he is down to one a day! We went to the gas station the other day after we had a lesson with him and I bought him 14 little packs of regular gum that is the same flavor. I want so badly for him to quit and he does too!  It's hard to see something as silly as smoking keeping him from being able to make the promises with God that he so badly wants. I just know that it's going to make him even stronger than ever! I don't have time today but I'll share some more stories about Jesus and keep y'all updated!

Well everybody, I love you all! The Lord's hand is in everything, always remember to notice it! There are no such thing as coincidences, just tender mercies. Everything we should be doing in this life is all for love and nothing for reward. Have a good week!!! Te Amo!!

Love,
Hermana Thompson

HOLA FAMILIA Y AMIGOS!!

I don't have a whole lot to write this week since I got to talk to y'all yesterday! It was good to see everybody! You guys definitely keep me out here. It was hard to say bye. I told my comp that I feel like I'm being torn towards two places at once. I want to be home so bad but I also want to be here so bad. Sometimes it's hard.

For those who didn't get to hear, we are teaching a boy named Julio. He is 17 and has been talking with the Jehovahs Witnesses for two years. The other day when we went over we asked about it and he said that about three weeks ago the guy just randomly stopped coming by. I told him that we started to come by three weeks ago and I pointed out that it wasn't a coincidence. He is such an awesome kid and is progressing so much. He is getting baptized next Sunday. He also told us that he wanted to serve a mission which makes me so happy!

The other day it was 104 degrees outside. I was so sweaty and gross by the end of the day. We had a ward party as well. I must admit Mexican ward parties are a little different! They had Spanish music as loud as the speaker would go! We also had beans and rice and tortillas. Surprise surprise! One of the members had a longboard and so I rode it around the parking lot in my dress. They loved it. Some of them told me I was their hero because they can't do that -- sillies.

Also the Jehovahs Witnesses came by our apartment and tried to bible bash with us. The lady was like "Do you know God's name?" and I was like "Yeah I do, it's GOD!" and she was like "No, its actually Jehovah" then I said, "No, it's not, it's God. Why does it matter his name? He is your creator and you don't need to know it for your salvation" My companion had to tell them goodbye because I couldn't help myself but I did get her to take one of our cards!! Maybe she will look up the church and realize how smart I am. Who knows?

While tracting the other day we went in this one lady's house and started to talk with her. She had to go for some reason so we asked if we could leave with a prayer. Sister Kingsford said the prayer and as she was in the middle of her prayer the lady cut her off and started saying some crazy person prayer like super loud. I was trying so hard not to laugh!!! The lady finished and then Sister Kingsford waited and finished her prayer. It was so awkward. We both left thinking, "What the heck just happened?! "

Some little girls who are less active because their mom won't take them to church because of her papers asked if we would come by and help them make Mothers Day gifts. So we did. I made a fancy little flower card. They had this folder with colored paper in it and on the outside it said "colored shits" the "i" in Spanish makes an "ee" sound. It gave me a nice giggle. They also made sister K and I cards. They were so cute. It's hard to see all of these kids who don't get the opportunity to go to church because their parents are afraid. They told us they wanted to come too. I still am thinking of wanting a school bus to take them all to church. One day.

I don't have much to say this week. It's been a super off week and we have had our ups and downs, but we have lots of work to do and we definitely stay super busy. We are teaching a lot of people but a lot of them aren't progressing either. I'll be sure to keep updates on those who are. I love tracting the most. You never know who you are going to meet. One guy told me that he was thinking he was going to shoot me when we were walking on his property.

We work in the hot sun all day and at the end of the day we know we did a hard days work. I go to bed at 9:30 almost every night. I love you all. The church is true. I'll try and have a more adventurous week to write about next week! Thank you for all your love and support and for your prayers. Have a great week!!
                                             
Love Hermana Thompson