Hey everyone,
I hope you're all having an awesome Fall, wherever you are. Bakersfield has been really, really nice. It has been in the sixties pretty much all week and I have had to wear a sweater or jacket every day. Today, we left the house and I forgot my jacket and felt freezing cold, but when we got to the car, it showed that it was only 65. I am probably turning into a baby about the cold. When I get home, I'll be in for a big surprise.....
Things are going well! This week has been awesome. There are these two kids, Oscar (17) and Litzy (15) who joined the church almost a year ago. They are great kids and are really strong in the Church for being so new in their faith. Well their parents younger siblings never got baptized. This Sunday was so cool because the entire family showed up at church. I was so happy. We talked to them at church and they invited us to come by that evening. So we went over to the Nunez home later that night and shared a message with them. I love this family. They were so nice to us and we talked for a while before getting into the lesson. It turns out that the whole family was learning about the Church for a while, but the parents decided to stop taking the lessons. They have four kids. They all wanted to be baptized, but only the older two were allowed because Hermana Nunez wanted to give the younger kids more time before they make that big decision. It was really funny though, the Hermana told us that for Crysta's 11th birthday, she asked her mom if she could be baptized. Isn't that the sweetest thing? They really are the coolest family. As we taught the lesson, we learned that the parents, are still pretty set and don't want to be baptized. They love the Church though and say they want to go as a family every single week. They recently went to the temple in Los Angeles and loved it. This is definitely a family that we are going to continue to work with. I have learned that a missionary needs to be is persistent and patient. Whether it is in talking to someone at their front door as they slowly close the door on you, or with an investigator who is struggling. We should be patient, but never give up. So with the Nunez family, we are going to be patient, yet persistent. And hopefully one day soon little Crysta will get her birthday wish.
We have also been visiting with the Malinas. I don't know if I have mentioned them yet, but they are a really cool family we are teaching. They are trying to prepare to get married and then be baptized. We have gone over with various members of the ward, including the Bishop, to help them make that big step. But there is one member of the family who we haven't really been able to help, and that's Michelle. She is a really sweet 18 year old girl. She is deaf, so we have never been able to talk to her. She always waves and shakes our hand, but we haven't been able to really communicate with her. We mentioned it to the Bishop after a lesson one night. My companion and I have been trying to find someone to help us with her. One night we were talking about what we could do to find someone to help and out of nowhere we got a text from a girl named Crystal. She is a member of another ward who knows sign language! And she is the same age as Michelle. She offered to help translate for us. It was an awesome miracle that literally came out of nowhere! I know if I try my best, the Lord will help me.......and He did. We are so excited to go over there and finally be able to talk to and teach Michelle. It will be a new and awesome experience.
Everyone else we are teaching is doing really well. The members here have been really helpful this week and we've been able to take lots of members to lessons with different investigators. Little 10 year old Luis is doing great! Marta is doing well also. We had a really good lesson with her. She was also able to come to a baptism and she really enjoyed it.
Okay we've gotta bounce! I hope y'all have a nice day and keep warm. I love you all. Take good care.
Much Love,
Elder Chad Thompson
I hope you're all having an awesome Fall, wherever you are. Bakersfield has been really, really nice. It has been in the sixties pretty much all week and I have had to wear a sweater or jacket every day. Today, we left the house and I forgot my jacket and felt freezing cold, but when we got to the car, it showed that it was only 65. I am probably turning into a baby about the cold. When I get home, I'll be in for a big surprise.....
Things are going well! This week has been awesome. There are these two kids, Oscar (17) and Litzy (15) who joined the church almost a year ago. They are great kids and are really strong in the Church for being so new in their faith. Well their parents younger siblings never got baptized. This Sunday was so cool because the entire family showed up at church. I was so happy. We talked to them at church and they invited us to come by that evening. So we went over to the Nunez home later that night and shared a message with them. I love this family. They were so nice to us and we talked for a while before getting into the lesson. It turns out that the whole family was learning about the Church for a while, but the parents decided to stop taking the lessons. They have four kids. They all wanted to be baptized, but only the older two were allowed because Hermana Nunez wanted to give the younger kids more time before they make that big decision. It was really funny though, the Hermana told us that for Crysta's 11th birthday, she asked her mom if she could be baptized. Isn't that the sweetest thing? They really are the coolest family. As we taught the lesson, we learned that the parents, are still pretty set and don't want to be baptized. They love the Church though and say they want to go as a family every single week. They recently went to the temple in Los Angeles and loved it. This is definitely a family that we are going to continue to work with. I have learned that a missionary needs to be is persistent and patient. Whether it is in talking to someone at their front door as they slowly close the door on you, or with an investigator who is struggling. We should be patient, but never give up. So with the Nunez family, we are going to be patient, yet persistent. And hopefully one day soon little Crysta will get her birthday wish.
We have also been visiting with the Malinas. I don't know if I have mentioned them yet, but they are a really cool family we are teaching. They are trying to prepare to get married and then be baptized. We have gone over with various members of the ward, including the Bishop, to help them make that big step. But there is one member of the family who we haven't really been able to help, and that's Michelle. She is a really sweet 18 year old girl. She is deaf, so we have never been able to talk to her. She always waves and shakes our hand, but we haven't been able to really communicate with her. We mentioned it to the Bishop after a lesson one night. My companion and I have been trying to find someone to help us with her. One night we were talking about what we could do to find someone to help and out of nowhere we got a text from a girl named Crystal. She is a member of another ward who knows sign language! And she is the same age as Michelle. She offered to help translate for us. It was an awesome miracle that literally came out of nowhere! I know if I try my best, the Lord will help me.......and He did. We are so excited to go over there and finally be able to talk to and teach Michelle. It will be a new and awesome experience.
Everyone else we are teaching is doing really well. The members here have been really helpful this week and we've been able to take lots of members to lessons with different investigators. Little 10 year old Luis is doing great! Marta is doing well also. We had a really good lesson with her. She was also able to come to a baptism and she really enjoyed it.
Okay we've gotta bounce! I hope y'all have a nice day and keep warm. I love you all. Take good care.
Much Love,
Elder Chad Thompson