16 MoNtHS!!!!!!!

June 20, 2016

Digging through ties at the Bodega

Que honda?!! 

Things are just getting better and better down here in Brownville! Our investigators are doing really great! We had several exchanges this week and we were in a trio at one point. It's been super crazy!

A turtle I found

 Odon had surgery this week so he wasn't able to come to church. We went by the less-active member's house that he was staying at and they kept saying that he would be home the next day and so finally after a few days we just asked what hospital he was at and went and found him. He was SO happy that we came and found him. He has no family and i dont think he had any visitors. He told us that he didn't want to leave the hospital because living in the shed has been miserable for him. He has one pair of clothes. I think that we are going to go to Goodwill and buy him some clothes. When he has to use the bathroom he has to go knock on the door and sometimes they don't let him in. He was telling us that he enjoyed the hospital because of the food and he gets to talk with the nurses. Yesterday when we went by, Sister Eggett, Espinoza and I sang him "Soy un Hijo de Dios" while Eggett played the Ukulele. People were walking by in the hallway looking in- it was super cool. He loved it. We later went and sang for other people in their rooms. It was a little tender moment for me. I love how something so simple can bring the Spirit so much. One man was in tears when we left his room. 

Visiting Odon in the hospital after surgery

Teaching Odon how to play the ukulele

Miguel finally came to church yesterday!! Woot woot! He took notes too! Some of the Elders in our zone had a baptism and so we invited him to come to that and he did. It was great! I love having non members go to them because they get so much out of it and it brings the Spirit so well!! After the baptism he leaned over to me and said, "Thats all?" I told him "yep!" I think it eased some fears that he had. It was cool to see. We are meeting with him on Tuesday and he is going to teach us how to play the guitar. He is an amazing song writer and sings for us all the time in the middle of lessons! He loves music and has helped me to develop that love and appreciation for it too. The other day we had a lesson with him in the library and I showed him the Joseph Smith's first vision hymn and he was blarring it super loud in the middle of the library. We told him to turn it down and he was like "No everybody needs to hear this!" Then the librarian came over and told him to turn it down haha. 

Texas sunset

This week I had an exchange with a sister in my old area in San Benito! It was super weird to be back there! It's not a bike area anymore which is super lame but we biked the whole day anyway:) I got to see my 3 converts from there. They went to the temple a few weeks ago!! The grandma who we also reactivated is also working to get her endowments out. It was such a rewarding feeling to see that they are being taken care of and still progressing. I seriously love this work so much! 

We taught this guy at the library.  We saw him drawing and so of course I had to talk to him.
I bought a drawing from him for $10 :) It's a portrait of Michaelangelo.

A few days ago we got a phone call from "INV Rosie" so she was an old former investigator that had been taught and was saved in our phone. I didn't know who she was but she called us and told us that she needed help and so we told her that we could come by the next day. So the next day we went over to try and find her and her apartment address was 4135 but we went to 4125 on accident. This guy opened the door and we asked for Rosie. She didn't live there and so we told him that we were missionaries and he said that he had been taught by missionaries in Dallas a few years ago! So we asked him for water and he let us in (best trick ever). We got talking with him and I was so excited about this miracle! He was telling us about his comics and other random stuff and then he was like "oh yeah by the way I have schizophrenia." And then he was telling us about how they were making movies of his dreams and that people were watching him. He told us that when he eats while watching tv the people in the tv are getting a good meal too and that they can taste it. It just kept getting more and more bizarre! It was still super fun to talk to him and we are probably going to go back but it caught me off guard so bad! I just love knocking on doors and not knowing who is going to answer and what we are going to hear. One of the biggest things I've learned on the mission is that you can always learn something from someone. Doesn't matter who it is but that everyone has something to offer and everyone knows something that I don't. I just love hearing people's experiences and what they know and how they think. Everyone here on earth has the same dilemma; we all just have different monsters. Thats the beauty of it, is that the Gospel applies to everyone. It doesn't matter what we are going through or what we have done but that we are all learning and we all have potential. 

Sister Eggett's warrant for arrest.

Well everyone I love you a lot! Things couldn't be any better down here! Thank you for the love and support that you give me always! Catch ya on the flip side!

                                Hermana A. Thompson