Hey everyone,
Things are going REALLY well. This week the weather was awesome again. Yesterday it rained about half the day. I haven't had a day like that since last year, so it was pretty awesome! The area really needed the water too, so everyone was happy. It has been a lot cooler too, so missionary work has been a hundred times easier.
We started this week off with an exchange with our beloved Zone Leaders in Oildale. I love Oildale. It is probably the most ghetto area in all of Bakersfield. I have done a bunch of exchanges in that area since last March. I think this was my sixth time in Oildale. You meet the craziest and most awesome people! I went with Elder Burke. It was a little weird at first because we don't have much in common. It got better later in the day, we had a lesson with this lady we found while knocking doors. She was playing country music inside while we were having the lesson outside. All of my favorites came on. Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Brad Paisley, Tim McGraw and a couple others. It was awesome to hear some of those songs. It had been a long time. Anyways, after the lesson we figured out that we both love country music. So that gave us something to talk about for the rest of the day. hahaha It was a really good exchange though. We found this Hispanic guy and I got to teach the message of the restoration solo. That was a lot of fun and it was good practice. He is a really nice guy. The Zone Leaders are going to refer him to the Spanish missionaries.
Later in the week we found Jose in McFarland. This makes the third Jose currently in our teaching pool. He says he really loves listening to people talk about God because he is taking care of his wife who is ill and doesn't get the chance to go to church. He is curious and teachable, which is awesome.
Eliceo is doing great. That guy is just on fire! This week we taught the word of wisdom and he loved it. We didn't even start the lesson yet before he told us that he totally agreed with it. He had read the part of the pamphlet we had given him that says that we do not partake of drugs, alcohol, coffee or tabacco. He said he wanted to do that even before either Elder Myers or I could say anything. We asked why and he said he knew he needed to be healthier. I just love how willing this guy is. We ended up teaching the lesson about the blessings that can come from living the word of wisdom. He also came to General Conference this Sunday and he really liked it.
Anderson and Jeremy are doing well and are now officially in boy scouts at the church. They have gone the past two weeks. And by some miracle, Anderson's dad came home from El Salvador (where he has been for two years) and its now possible for us to get his permission for Anderson to be baptized. This is such great news.
General Conference was this Sunday and it was awesome. This was my fourth, and last, General Conference in the mission field. Conference is always a really uplifting experience. It was great to hear from the Prophet and all of the Apostles. In the past couple months there have been a few Apostles who have passed away. That was pretty sad, but they called three new Apostles this weekend and they all spoke. They all seem really great. Of all of the talks given this weekend, I really loved Jeffrey R. Holland's talk. He spoke on the importance of mothers. It was so powerful. I thought it was amazing. He talked about a mother's unwavering love and how much of a difference they can make. He talked about how they endure, sometimes suffer and serve selflessly. It made me think of just how much parents sacrifice for their children. I am lucky and so grateful for the two awesome parents that are mine.
Well we have to get going, but I hope you all have an awesome week. Its crazy, we went to Walmart today and they already have Christmas stuff out. That blows my mind! Take good care.
Love and miss you all,
Elder Chad Thompson
Things are going REALLY well. This week the weather was awesome again. Yesterday it rained about half the day. I haven't had a day like that since last year, so it was pretty awesome! The area really needed the water too, so everyone was happy. It has been a lot cooler too, so missionary work has been a hundred times easier.
We started this week off with an exchange with our beloved Zone Leaders in Oildale. I love Oildale. It is probably the most ghetto area in all of Bakersfield. I have done a bunch of exchanges in that area since last March. I think this was my sixth time in Oildale. You meet the craziest and most awesome people! I went with Elder Burke. It was a little weird at first because we don't have much in common. It got better later in the day, we had a lesson with this lady we found while knocking doors. She was playing country music inside while we were having the lesson outside. All of my favorites came on. Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Brad Paisley, Tim McGraw and a couple others. It was awesome to hear some of those songs. It had been a long time. Anyways, after the lesson we figured out that we both love country music. So that gave us something to talk about for the rest of the day. hahaha It was a really good exchange though. We found this Hispanic guy and I got to teach the message of the restoration solo. That was a lot of fun and it was good practice. He is a really nice guy. The Zone Leaders are going to refer him to the Spanish missionaries.
Later in the week we found Jose in McFarland. This makes the third Jose currently in our teaching pool. He says he really loves listening to people talk about God because he is taking care of his wife who is ill and doesn't get the chance to go to church. He is curious and teachable, which is awesome.
Eliceo is doing great. That guy is just on fire! This week we taught the word of wisdom and he loved it. We didn't even start the lesson yet before he told us that he totally agreed with it. He had read the part of the pamphlet we had given him that says that we do not partake of drugs, alcohol, coffee or tabacco. He said he wanted to do that even before either Elder Myers or I could say anything. We asked why and he said he knew he needed to be healthier. I just love how willing this guy is. We ended up teaching the lesson about the blessings that can come from living the word of wisdom. He also came to General Conference this Sunday and he really liked it.
Anderson and Jeremy are doing well and are now officially in boy scouts at the church. They have gone the past two weeks. And by some miracle, Anderson's dad came home from El Salvador (where he has been for two years) and its now possible for us to get his permission for Anderson to be baptized. This is such great news.
General Conference was this Sunday and it was awesome. This was my fourth, and last, General Conference in the mission field. Conference is always a really uplifting experience. It was great to hear from the Prophet and all of the Apostles. In the past couple months there have been a few Apostles who have passed away. That was pretty sad, but they called three new Apostles this weekend and they all spoke. They all seem really great. Of all of the talks given this weekend, I really loved Jeffrey R. Holland's talk. He spoke on the importance of mothers. It was so powerful. I thought it was amazing. He talked about a mother's unwavering love and how much of a difference they can make. He talked about how they endure, sometimes suffer and serve selflessly. It made me think of just how much parents sacrifice for their children. I am lucky and so grateful for the two awesome parents that are mine.
Well we have to get going, but I hope you all have an awesome week. Its crazy, we went to Walmart today and they already have Christmas stuff out. That blows my mind! Take good care.
Love and miss you all,
Elder Chad Thompson