Hey everyone,
I hope all is well. So false alarm about the cool weather. Last week I think that I mentioned how cool it was getting, but this week it was back to the heat! We still have our nice car with A/C though so its all good. This week has been pretty good. Earlier in the week we did some service for Amerika and Rustom's family. They are doing really well. We went over to help them move a ton of rocks from their front yard to the back yard. Well Elder Myers and I worked on the rocks while the other Elders were doing something else. So for two hours or so we worked on that and the entire time I felt fine. But I guess I must have been lifting the rocks wrong or something because afterwards, my back hurt like crazy! From Tuesday until this weekend, my back has been killing me. I always have had a really bad habit of lifting with my back, not my legs. So, that was probably my problem. All week I have felt so ridiculous getting out of the car and even sitting down and standing up. I feel like an old man. hahaha....... Other than that we have had a really good week.
We spent a lot of time in good old McFarland, visiting the investigators we have over there: Adan, Vanessa, Pedro, and Edwin. We also found two new investigators over there as well, Junior and Tanya Mayhew. We were knocking doors and when they opened the door, they invited us in. It was really crazy finding two white people in McFarland! That is seriously not something you see everyday. They are both from Texas and have really thick southern accents. They are a really nice older couple. They opened up to us about their son who passed away eight months ago. He had been sick for a little while and was living with them. They said one day he was feeling a lot better and the next, he passed away in his sleep. It is always really sad to hear about a parent losing a child. The death of their son has definitely taken a big toll on them. So we shared the message of the plan of salvation with them and talked about how families can be forever. The spirit was so strong in their home and I know that it was something that they needed to hear and that brought them a lot of peace. They are such a sweet couple and we are excited to keep visiting them.
All of our people in Delano are doing great. Eliceo is awesome. He has been reading the scriptures, praying, and came to church again this week. He loves what he is learning and is so committed. We visited him a few times, but we talked a lot about prayer earlier this week. It was something he said he didn't feel really comfortable doing because he never learned how. So we taught him how to pray and he offered the last prayer for our lesson. An amazing thing that we get the chance to do as missionaries is to teach people how to pray. It amazes me that people can go their whole lives without praying or even knowing how to pray. For me, it has always been so simple and I know I have taken it for granted. Sometimes when I'm having a rough time or when I feel like I really need help, I feel like prayer is the best resource I've got. I am more grateful for prayer than I have ever been. I am so happy to be able to share that with people. It is an amazing thing to get to watch as people learn to talk to God.
Jeremy, Anderson, and Jaimey are doing great. They came to church this week and we brought them both ties to wear. Those kids are so funny. I am going to miss them a ton when I leave Delano.
Oh and I forgot to mention something last week, but I am sure some of you may have already heard. The week before last I got my green papers. Those are basically the papers missionaries get in the mail from the mission office when they are getting close to finishing their mission. It tells you your release date. So my release date (the day I will be coming back home) is January 6, 2016! It was just so weird see that paper and realize on that day I will be home. It is bittersweet. Over two years ago I received my mission call telling me I was going to the California Bakersfield mission and now I've got a letter telling me when I am going to leave.
Well I hope you all have a great week. I miss and love you all. I'll see ya January 6th!
Much Love,
Elder Chad Thompson
I hope all is well. So false alarm about the cool weather. Last week I think that I mentioned how cool it was getting, but this week it was back to the heat! We still have our nice car with A/C though so its all good. This week has been pretty good. Earlier in the week we did some service for Amerika and Rustom's family. They are doing really well. We went over to help them move a ton of rocks from their front yard to the back yard. Well Elder Myers and I worked on the rocks while the other Elders were doing something else. So for two hours or so we worked on that and the entire time I felt fine. But I guess I must have been lifting the rocks wrong or something because afterwards, my back hurt like crazy! From Tuesday until this weekend, my back has been killing me. I always have had a really bad habit of lifting with my back, not my legs. So, that was probably my problem. All week I have felt so ridiculous getting out of the car and even sitting down and standing up. I feel like an old man. hahaha....... Other than that we have had a really good week.
We spent a lot of time in good old McFarland, visiting the investigators we have over there: Adan, Vanessa, Pedro, and Edwin. We also found two new investigators over there as well, Junior and Tanya Mayhew. We were knocking doors and when they opened the door, they invited us in. It was really crazy finding two white people in McFarland! That is seriously not something you see everyday. They are both from Texas and have really thick southern accents. They are a really nice older couple. They opened up to us about their son who passed away eight months ago. He had been sick for a little while and was living with them. They said one day he was feeling a lot better and the next, he passed away in his sleep. It is always really sad to hear about a parent losing a child. The death of their son has definitely taken a big toll on them. So we shared the message of the plan of salvation with them and talked about how families can be forever. The spirit was so strong in their home and I know that it was something that they needed to hear and that brought them a lot of peace. They are such a sweet couple and we are excited to keep visiting them.
All of our people in Delano are doing great. Eliceo is awesome. He has been reading the scriptures, praying, and came to church again this week. He loves what he is learning and is so committed. We visited him a few times, but we talked a lot about prayer earlier this week. It was something he said he didn't feel really comfortable doing because he never learned how. So we taught him how to pray and he offered the last prayer for our lesson. An amazing thing that we get the chance to do as missionaries is to teach people how to pray. It amazes me that people can go their whole lives without praying or even knowing how to pray. For me, it has always been so simple and I know I have taken it for granted. Sometimes when I'm having a rough time or when I feel like I really need help, I feel like prayer is the best resource I've got. I am more grateful for prayer than I have ever been. I am so happy to be able to share that with people. It is an amazing thing to get to watch as people learn to talk to God.
Jeremy, Anderson, and Jaimey are doing great. They came to church this week and we brought them both ties to wear. Those kids are so funny. I am going to miss them a ton when I leave Delano.
Oh and I forgot to mention something last week, but I am sure some of you may have already heard. The week before last I got my green papers. Those are basically the papers missionaries get in the mail from the mission office when they are getting close to finishing their mission. It tells you your release date. So my release date (the day I will be coming back home) is January 6, 2016! It was just so weird see that paper and realize on that day I will be home. It is bittersweet. Over two years ago I received my mission call telling me I was going to the California Bakersfield mission and now I've got a letter telling me when I am going to leave.
Well I hope you all have a great week. I miss and love you all. I'll see ya January 6th!
Much Love,
Elder Chad Thompson