Out with a BANG!

August 22, 2016

This week was super nuts!!!!!!!!! It's been hard saying goodbye to people. I couldn't have asked for a better last transfer. 

Saying bye to the Guerras

The Bojorquez family.  We are helping the little girl to be baptized

A few days ago I was saying my nightly prayers. I asked God to please let Sister Eggett and I to have another baptism together even though I don't deserve it. It was a sincere prayer but I was a little skeptical but I just put things in his hands.

Saturday night we dropped Miguel. He had been sending us texts all week long saying that we were selfish missionaries and that he was going to call the temple to tell them that we just force people to do things. I had a good laugh about that. So Saturday he texted us that he was sorry and that he had been talking to someone at work about us and they had told him that the Mormon missionaries do a lot for the community and they told him how much we actually do as missionaries. He felt pretty bad and then texted us and apologized. I texted him back that we forgive him and that we are not mad. Then I was like, "You have sent some rude messages to us in the past few months and so I'm going to ask you to not text us anymore." He never replied. 

The next day (yesterday) we got a phone call at like 9 in the morning from our zone leaders saying that Miguel was at the church with his clothes ready to get baptized! He didn't want us to be there because he thought we were mad at him but that he still wanted to be baptized. After two hours of phone calls to the District leader, the Zone leaders, our Branch President, and Miguel, we finally decided that he could be baptized in our Branch after church. We were going to do it before church but the Elders had a baptism too so we planned on 4:00. During church I called our District leader to ask him if the font was full yet before we started heading over there (we don't have a font in our building). He told us that the church had flooded and that the font was filling with sewer water!! SO we arranged it to be at another building and so we had to rearrange everything. Everyone knew but Miguel! We went over to the church where he was supposed to be baptized and told him what was going on and so he followed us to the other church! 

Miguel following us to his Baptism

It was seriously the most stressful and yet rewarding day of my mission. I have been teaching Miguel for 4 months and it was a joyful moment for me to be a witness of his baptism! Right before he got baptized he was standing in the font and yelled "VIVA MEXICO!" hahahaha! And then his sins were gone. 

He finally did it!

I am grateful for my mission and for the things that I have learned from these people. I have learned to love others the way God loves them. I have learned the importance of always following the Spirit and being worthy of it. Everything we do must be to invite the Spirit. I know that because Jesus Christ and God can't be with us here in person that we have the Holy Ghost who is a God to help us along the way. God is so merciful and full of grace. I am grateful for the miracles that I have been a part of: for the hell, tears, sweat, blood and pain that I have felt to help me experience the most TINY bit of what Christ went through. I'm grateful for the pure bliss that I have felt as a result of the trials I have gone through. I know that we are here to learn. I know that Christ carried a cross a lot heavier than our heaviest burden. A lot heavier than my backpack full of copies of the Book of Mormon. I know that this is His church. That he is in the details of our lives. Rock bottom is the foundation on which I have built the rest of my life and I know that God will always be my rock. I know that people are put into our lives for a reason. Angels are among us everyday. I know that we have a living prophet and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I am grateful for having an eye-opening experience such as this so that I can help others. I am truly grateful for my parents and the example they have shown me. I know that I wouldn't be where I am if it weren't for the choices they have made in their lives. 

In college I took an auto class thinking there would be cute boys and there wasn't!  So I had to pay attention.  Little did I know that I learned something from that class to use on my mission.  Our car died like five times so I had to jump it!!

The Falco family got me a tres leches cake for my birthday mmmmmm mmmmm mmmm

My family in the background (my mom sent head shot pictures of everyone in my family for my birthday)
My mom sent me Gushers for my birthday.  When I opened them I found this bag of oatmeal from my brother, Tyler.  He ate all my Gushers!

My favorite members took me out to Denny's for my Birthday.  Sister Artega told me that she brought me here because it was a very "white person" place ha ha!  I love these people

At Denny's

Happy Birthday to me!  It was Elder Hawkins' birthday too.  We celebrated our birthdays together last year too haha!

I love you all. Thank you for the love and support! 

Con amor, 

                                Hermana Thompson

One Week Left!!

August 15, 2016

Hola!!

This week was crazy!

So Miguel has been acting super weird with us. We had a lesson with him earlier in the week and he asked us for $100 dollars for gas or he wasn't going to make it to his baptism. We told him that we couldn't give him money as missionaries and that we were probably more poor than he is because we don't work. Sister Eggett asked him if he had eaten that day and he said no and so she gave him a coupon for a free taco that a member gave us. He has been making excuses every week for why he can't make it to his baptism so finally i just told him, " Miguel we will be at the church at 3:00 on Saturday with everything ready and we will wait for you and hope you make it to your own baptism." Then later that night he texted us a super rude text saying that he got sick from his (FREE) taco and that he was mad at us..... (he does stuff like that all the time). We still waited for him at the church the next day and like 25 people showed up but Miguel didn't. We haven't heard from him since. I don't think I've worked with anyone in my mission as long as I have with Miguel. We have been teaching him for about four months now. It just made me sad that he chose to not come. He has a super strong testimony but is literally choosing to be unhappy. We did all that we could and I still hope and pray that he will choose the right path.

We have found some awesome families that we have started to teach. One of them is a family with 6 boys! They are awesome. We found them contacting last week. We also found another family that we randomly knocked on their door because we got lost and it turns out that the husband is a member and was baptized in Mexico. He is super inactive so we are going to reactivate him and baptize his wife and kid! :) 

Yesterday we had a crazy day. We worked for two hours before church and then we got in our car to go to church and our battery was dead. So we got to church just in time for Sacrament. We had the other sisters come and get us. Then we were supposed to teach the Gospel Principles class and Relief Society (we found out that morning) so we were super stressed out. We ended up having the Senior couple teach the Gospel Principles class so that we could prepare something for Relief Society and not look like idiots. It went super well though. I feel like it would have been a lot easier in English but i think that was the point. We learned a lot. Then we went on an echange because some of the sisters were having problems. One of them was really homesick and depressed and so they had me go with her (I'm not homesick and depressed). That's always a lot of pressure. I always freak out a little with those exchanges because whatever I say and do is either going to help them or make it worse. During our exchange we went to one of our member's houses and while walking through the gate a huge pit bull came and started fighting with their dog. It was actually really scary. The sister got out the hose and sprayed it and the dog still wouldn't leave. So I went inside and got a broom and came out and tried to scare it off and it wouldn't leave. So I started to hit it with the broom and our member kept freaking out that it was going to bite me. Her kids were outside like hiding behind things to not get bit and I didn't want her to get bit either! I eventually got the dog out by pulling on its collar and dragging it out the gate and then we closed the gate. Then after, her son sprayed me down with the hose! Little punk- haha. Yesterday was nuts. 

Shocks, pegs, lucky!

Our members are so great here! They take such good care of us! We went to one member's house and she insisted that Sister Eggett and I take a nap! We were like "No we can't we have to go work!" She was like, "It's too hot today to work." Little old Mexican ladies are agressive! She made us sit on her couch and she lifted my feet up to lay down haha so Sister Eggett and I pretended to take a nap for like 15 minutes! When she would walk out of the room we would whisper funny things to each other.  The membetrs always feed us like crazy too! Though I'll miss free food, I wont miss feeling like a full whale riding my bike in the hot sun! It sometimes feels like you feel after thanksgiving and then being in an oven while someone blows a blow dryer in your eyes!

Well everyone I love you all! I hope you have a great week! Thank you for everyting and for all of the love and support! 

Love

Hermana Thompson 

Howdy!!

August 8, 2016

This week was super great! We had interviews again with our president. His advice for me to end my mission was to love the people that we serve. To show them love and to feel the love from them. I loved that advice. This work is nothing if you have no love. 

My little homies

I got to see Sister Lance this week too! That was fun! She came down with her family and we went to Taco Bell with them. We had a good time catching up about La Joya and all of our good adventures down there. 

Sister Lance and me

Also the other day I got a phone call and the person on the other line was speaking in Spanish and kept laughing and asking for me. It took me a second but I realized it was Sister Whitten- another old companion of mine! She is down here in Texas and got our phone number and so we talked for a minute! It was so fun to hear from both of them! They are doing great.

The Elders washing our car

We are still working with Miguel. He has been a little depressed lately and some things came up so we decided to tell him we are moving his baptism until he feels better. He agreed that would be a good idea. He is doing a lot better now and we are still meeting with him here at the library frequently. 

Church selfie with Miguel

Our new mission president is having a huge focus on getting a temple down here. The church just released a video about him from when he was a Stake President in Guatemala. You'll have to look for it it's super good. He is having us work a lot with reactivating families in the Branches and Wards that we serve in. There are several families that we have been working with and I must tell you it is such a rewarding feeling having families come back to church who havn't gone in 2-6 years and knowing that we were a small part of helping them to come back! Our Branch is slowly growing bigger again.

On exchanges with Sister Espinoza

Sister Eggett and I have been taking out the youth a lot to come with us and do missionary work. It's so fun to see them bear their testimonies to the people that we are teaching. I always like to make them give the message too. Just something simple like sharing their favorite scripture. They always love it and do such a good job. My goal is to get their missionary fire going so that they will share the gospel with their friends and be comfortable doing it and to also have the desire to go on a mission! There is a boy named Rigo who we take out with us and he is 15. He is excited for school to be back in because he is bored with summer. The kids down here all say that-probably because it's so hot down here to do anything so they are stuck inside all day. We have been taking him out with us to get him out of the house and it's been fun getting to know him and his family too. I really love working with the youth and the members too. These people have my heart. I have noticed that a lot of people just don't know how to do missionary work and it's been a joy showing them how easy it is. I love watching their eyes light up when they share their testimonies. That's my favorite part. 

We had to wait for our ride outside the Elders' apartment since we can't go inside

Then the Elders came to our apartment and we all ate Jack Fruit as a District.
It tastes like candy!

This week has been a good one! We had lots of meetings and random things to do so I feel like nothing super cool happened! I'm super happy to be here and I have loved my mission so much and all of the things that it has taught me! I love these people and I love this work. It makes me ill to think of how close I was to not coming out on a mission and all that I would have missed out on. 

We went out to Chinese food as a District

We never stop sweating!

I love you all. Thank you for your continuous love and support! Have an excellent week!

Love, 

Hermana Thompson

**AUGUST**

August 1, 2016

We went to the zoo for P-day again. It's always fun!

I can't believe that it is August already! Then again yes I can because its super hot outside!
Miguel has been sick and wasn't feeling good enough to be baptized. He still came to church for sacrament meeting so that was great. So THIS Sunday for sure! 

A dog we saved.  The family had moved out and left their dog there all tied up in the hot sun so we found it food and water.

I went to court on Wednesday. The prosecuter gave me 3 options: the first being that I could still try to fight it against the judge but if I lose, the ticket would be like 400 dollars. The second was to take a driver safety class and pay the court fee and the third option was his "offer" of just paying the court fee and having ten days of probation. I asked him if I could see the video of me driving and after thinking it over I chose the probation. Haha! So Sister Eggett has been driving us around for the last little bit. After we left, one of the Elders was like " Man I'd pay money just to see Sister Thompson go at it again with the prosecutor. That was awesome!" I guess I still have some sass left in me. 

Me vs. Texas

We also had a zone conference this week with our new mission president. It was really good. He talked a lot about the natural man and how to control our thinking. He said that our mind is like a stage. Thoughts come in and thoughts leave. Whether they are good or bad. He says that it is normal to have bad thoughts come in because that's part of the natural man but it's up to us whether we are going to "entertain" those thoughts. He talked about having a song to sing when that happens or a back up plan so to speak because if you don't you will be in trouble. It makes me think of a quote that I like: "It's too late to start digging a well when you are thirsty." So it's being prepared mentally for when unwanted things come onto our stage. Something as simple as a hymn can kick the thought off stage. Bad things don't want to dwell with good things. There is no in between. It was a great zone conference. I enjoyed it. 

Our district at the zoo

We also had the Elders come over to Elizabeth's house with us this week. (Jennifer our recent convert's mom). We had a super good lesson with her. I know that she will one day be baptized but it's more of just a matter of when.

The other day we had lunch with a less active member. He is divorced and lives in south most and so he comes up here every week to feed us. We were talking with him about finding a wife. He said that he only wants the best wife who is strong in the church and has a strong testimony and a calling. I told him that if he wanted a wife like that then he needed to start going to church and doing the same thing! Haha. While we were talking I had the thought to invite him to teach us instead of us teaching him something. I haven't really done that before but I kept fighting with the thought and I knew Sister Eggett was going to kill me but I told him that we wanted him to teach us. He took awhile but finally found a scripture and a story and he shared something with us about obeying the commandments. I wanted him to teach something because a lot of times people know what they need to do and it's easier when they hear it outloud from themselves. And if that didn't help him, it would help him to share the gospel better in the future. After our lesson we left and went on with our day. I apologized to Sister Eggett for randomly changing plans like that and she had had the impression to just go with it- that I knew what I was doing and that I was probably following the spirit. Well later that night when we got home we got a phone call from this member and he thanked us for the things that we talked about. He told us that he had been thinking a lot about it and that we were right. (the Spirit was right). He said that he was going to be better too and try and find a wife. It was a happy moment to see the Spirit talk to all three of us in totally different ways but how connected it was. God is in the details. 

I got a phone call from the STLTs the other day. Sister Eggett answered the phone and they asked for me. My first thought was "Oh no- what did i do?" But it was Sister Hortal (she came out with me) and she was like, "Sister Thompson, guess who i am with?" She was with my greenie in the mission, Sister Castro, who happens to live with Sister Kindall. So I got to talk to them both. Sister Kindall was telling me that she would share stories of Sister Castro in Uncle Drew's sunday school class before she came out on the mission because she had read my blog. It was a little tender moment that I got to talk to them. God has been so good to me in my mission and has let me be a part of so many miracles. I'm super grateful for this work and for second chances. Jesus Christ not only Atoned for our mistakes but so that we could rejoice with Him. I love you all! Thank you for your examples to me! Have a great week!

Love,

Hermana Thompson

17 MoNtHs!!!!!!!!!!

July 25, 2016

I can't believe how fast time has gone!! This week has been a good one! 

Miguel will be getting baptized this upcoming Sunday! So keep that in your prayers. He had an interview with the district leader and they both decided that this coming Sunday would be best. He is doing super great. He came to all of church yesterday too so that was awesome! He has been reading out of the Gospel Principles book. He also gave us a referral to a lady's house that he painted. She has cancer and so we went by and shared a message with her. She isn't in our area so we had to pass her off to the other sisters. I feel like all of the solid people we have been getting lately we have to pass off! But I'm happy that we are finding some great people down here! 

We made caramel apples

P-day downtown

This week I went to traffic court for my speeding ticket. That was fun. We joked that we were like Peter preaching in jail! The judge asked if I pled guilty or not guilty and of course I told him "not guilty" and so he asked if I wanted to be tried by a jury or a judge. I had like five seconds to pick so I picked the judge. I have another court date this Wednesday to find out if they will drop it. So hopefully I'll baptize the judge this time around! So that's still going on. 

The other day we were on an exchange and we were super hungry. So we said a prayer that someone would feed us. We kept working and we went by a member's house to see how they were doing. In the middle of talking she randomly was like "I have egg salad sandwiches do you want one?" We told her yes and after eating we told her our prayer and how she answered it. She looked so happy because I think that we were an answer to her prayers too. She told us that she had been praying to be able to help people. I love that the Lord always answers even the simplest of prayers and through other people! 

On exchanges with Sister Phalwane

This week has been super busy. Nothing really too big happened but just a lot of little miracles that always seem to add up. We had 3 inactive/less active families come back to church yesterday. That was a happy moment. We have been working with them for awhile. One family hadn't been to church in almost a year. We were talking about them during branch council and one of the members was like "they always use the excuse that their car is broken" then another member was like "they always make it to work or activities they need but they can't ever make it to church" Then another member was like "well apparently their car is Mormon because it always keeps the day of rest!" I laughed a little too hard at that one! I love working with these people! This Branch has grown so much since I've gotten here (not because of me) but I love being able to see growth and progress in people! Our Branch members are amazing and they take good care of us! 

The work is going great! We have been busy busy busy and I love it! I love you all! Have a wonderful week! 

                           Love Hermana Thompson 

We had a hard day so we did masks!

Stories from Brownsville

July 18, 2016

Howdy!! 

This week was another good one!! We passed off Julio to the other sisters who are in YSA. He came to two different sessions of church! 6 hours! Miguel is getting baptized this Sunday!! We are hoping that Julio will too:) Miguel told us that he will do it this Sunday if there is music at his baptism. I have been practicing my opera singing so I can sing a solo haha- no I haven't but we are super excited for him! On Saturday we were on bikes and we had a lesson with him at the library and then we rode our bikes a good distance to our area. We had been working for about 2 hours when we realized our phone was gone. We looked and looked and finally came to the conclusion that we left it at the library. We biked all the way back and when we got there we found out that it closed 20 minutes earlier! The library didn't open until 1:00 the next day and our church starts at 1:00 so we were going to have to go get it after. During church I told Miguel that we didn't have our phone! He was super worried about it! Well during priesthood when we weren't with him he sneaked off to the library and asked if they had found our phone! They didn't. He went in the computer lab and called it and found it under a desk! He showed back up to church (we didn't even know he left) and handed us our phone!! It was a huge tender mercy because if we would have went to the library we wouldn't of found it! We were also worried that it wouldn't look good if people saw the Mormon missionaries at the library on a Sunday. So it all worked out! It's crazy how such a little thing came out to be a huge blessing for all of us! God is in the details even when we do dumb things! 

Me reading a Spanish story for district meeting about cockroaches

Before church yesterday Sister Eggett and I were sitting in the car for a minute talking before we went in because we were super early. This guy came up to our window and we talked to him. He told us that a belt in our car sounded like it needed to be fixed. We got to talking with him and we told him that we were missionaries and we were going to church. I invited him to come and he said he had somewhere to be so we told him it ended at 4 if he wanted to come to the last part. He said he might. We didn't think much of it because we have heard that a thousand times ha! So during church towards the end we look over and it's the guy! He came back and stayed the last hour of church! It was super awesome! We got his information and he is probably going to be baptized soon;) 

District picture

Can you find the cat? :)

There is this lady named Mariel who has just gotten out of prison. She is a member but hasn't been to church in over 14 years. Yesterday was her first day back at church. After church we went to visit some members and she was there. She has been staying in this little camper in their neighbor's backyard behind their trailer. We were talking to her and asking her how her first day back at church was and she told us that she was sitting in the second class and she didn't want to comment or say anything. She wanted to leave but something told her to stay at church. She was called on to answer a question but wouldn't talk. During third hour sister Eggett and I taught Relief Society. She commented a lot during that class. While preparing for the class I was super nervous to teach it in Spanish! I have always not liked teaching in bigger groups but as a missionary it's not about what I like. Mariel told us that our class brought back a lot of memories for her and that she felt the Spirit! She told us that she has a 12 year old daughter who isn't baptized and she wants her to grow up in the gospel and be baptized! It's so amazing to me that God works through our weaknesses. I know it wasn't anything that I said during the class but the fact that I was able to grow from the experience and be a part of helping someone else to feel the Spirit and have the desire to be better. 

We got locked in the apartment!

Well I love y'all a lot! Have a great week! Thanks for everything! 

                     Love Hermana Thompson 

We look hot and tired! ha ha!