I hope y'all had a good week. Mine was pretty good. I am really liking my new companion, Elder Ruelas. He is a cool guy. It is a big change getting a new companion. It takes a while to get to know them, and I've decided that he is pretty sweet. He is so funny and a loves to work hard. So this week has been great.
Last Wednesday, we had an appointment with Marta. We drove all the way out to Blackwell's Corner in Lost Hills, which is about a 40 minute drive. Just as we were pulling into her drive, she called us and told us that something came up and that she couldn't make it. We decided to reschedule for the next day. We are given a certain amount of miles to try to stay within during the month, and this month isn't looking to good for us! But, we gotta do what we gotta do. So we went back to Marta's house the next day for a lesson and I am glad that we did. It was great. We asked her if she had a chance to read the Book of Mormon in the past week, and she said she had read six chapters and she loved it. Sweet! That is one of the hardest things with people, to get them to actually read. It is always awesome to hear that they did, especially six chapters! We had a really good visit with her and we talked about Jesus Christ. Once we started to talk about baptism, it felt right, so we invited her to be baptized. She said yes, and we set a baptismal date for May 31st. She is really excited to be baptized. I am grateful for the opportunity we have to work with Marta. She has so many things going on in her life right now and I know the gospel will bless her. She is a sweet lady and I am so excited for her. The only problem is that she lives 40 minutes away from church, and she has no license. We are going to start teaching the whole family, and hopefully her Mom or husband will be able to come to church too.
It has been a super cool week. Being on a mission is hard. I miss my family every day but one thing I have always been able to do is count on my Heavenly Father. He is always there. I know it. He hears my prayers and helps me out. There have been times when I have been bummed out because I see people who are having a really hard time or because I am missing my family, but God has been there with me every step of the way. I really am so grateful for that. Well, I've got to go now. We are heading to Bakersfield to go play basketball with the rest of the Zone! I hope y'all have a great week!
Much love,
Elder Chad Thompson