Hey everyone,
I hope all is well. Things are going great out here. We got transfer calls this weekend and Elder Dee and I are both staying for a fourth transfer in Lake LA! Four transfers with one companion, that almost never happens in this mission. I was almost all the way packed when the call came. I was sure that I was being moved. I am so pumped though because Elder Dee is awesome and we work well together. I am excited because this is his last transfer so I'm going to see him end his mission. It will be a lot of fun and I am so excited for him. It is a little bit of a bummer though because the English Elders are leaving and there won't be any coming to replace them. So Elder Dee and I will be covering all of Lake LA, English and Spanish. We will be going to the Englsih Ward and the Spanish Branch. That is a lot of church! We are looking forward to it. We will have so many more people to teach. It's going to be fun. It is weird, when Elder Dee and I started here back in November, we covered a tiny little area in the center of Lake LA, only Spanish. Now we cover the entire city, English and Spanish. We are up for the challenge and really looking forward to it. I remember getting here and not really liking it because it was really small and in the middle of nowhere. I remember telling my Mom during our call on Christmas that I would have liked to leave the next transfer. Now Lake LA is like my home and I know I am going to be really upset the day that I have to leave this place. I love it here and I love the people.
Our week went well though. Manny is doing well. We haven't been able to meet with him in a couple of weeks because his family is not allowing him to visit with us. They are threatening to kick him out if he keeps meeting with us. He texted us this week asking if we wanted to meet at the park to have a lesson. So a member, DJ, drove us by to pick him up and instead of Manny meeting us at the front door, we met his older brother. He wasn't very happy to see us. He was yelling at us telling us how wrong the Church is and how we need to stop filling his brother's head with ideas about Jesus Christ. It was really weird. I thought it was so sad. It must be really hard for Manny to live there. We are giving him a little bit of space for now, but we call him and text him everyday to make sure everything is going well. We hope his family can soften up a bit. We will see what happens, but we will keep supporting Manny any way we can.
This week we also had a really good lesson with Dulce. She is going through a really hard time after the miscarriage of her son, so we decided to have a lesson about Christ's sacrifice for us and how he knows and understands everything that we go through. We shared a scripture about the Atonement, Alma 7:11-13. She loved it. It is a really beautiful scripture about Christ and His sacrifice and how He not only suffered for our sins, but for our pains and afflictions as well.
Victor is doing as awesome as ever. This Saturday we had a great lesson with him about baptism. He knows that it is what he wants to do and he is so ready. I don't think I have ever met anyone so willing to make the changes he needs to in his life to come closer to Christ. I am so lucky to be here and be able to teach him. He made us some awesome Columbian empanadas that were delicious. I love Victor.
The rest of the week was great. We had some excellent Mexican tamales. The family that made them, the Ruizs, are going to teach how to make them before we leave. We are sad to see the English Elders go. I have been serving around Elder McKnight for the past five transfers. We served in the same District in Bakersfield and we both came out here together. They are going to be closing down our house and we will be moving into the English Elder's home. If you would like to send me a letter, my Mom will have the new address. I hope you all have a great week. Love and miss you all, take good care!
Much Love,
Elder Chad Thompson
I hope all is well. Things are going great out here. We got transfer calls this weekend and Elder Dee and I are both staying for a fourth transfer in Lake LA! Four transfers with one companion, that almost never happens in this mission. I was almost all the way packed when the call came. I was sure that I was being moved. I am so pumped though because Elder Dee is awesome and we work well together. I am excited because this is his last transfer so I'm going to see him end his mission. It will be a lot of fun and I am so excited for him. It is a little bit of a bummer though because the English Elders are leaving and there won't be any coming to replace them. So Elder Dee and I will be covering all of Lake LA, English and Spanish. We will be going to the Englsih Ward and the Spanish Branch. That is a lot of church! We are looking forward to it. We will have so many more people to teach. It's going to be fun. It is weird, when Elder Dee and I started here back in November, we covered a tiny little area in the center of Lake LA, only Spanish. Now we cover the entire city, English and Spanish. We are up for the challenge and really looking forward to it. I remember getting here and not really liking it because it was really small and in the middle of nowhere. I remember telling my Mom during our call on Christmas that I would have liked to leave the next transfer. Now Lake LA is like my home and I know I am going to be really upset the day that I have to leave this place. I love it here and I love the people.
Our week went well though. Manny is doing well. We haven't been able to meet with him in a couple of weeks because his family is not allowing him to visit with us. They are threatening to kick him out if he keeps meeting with us. He texted us this week asking if we wanted to meet at the park to have a lesson. So a member, DJ, drove us by to pick him up and instead of Manny meeting us at the front door, we met his older brother. He wasn't very happy to see us. He was yelling at us telling us how wrong the Church is and how we need to stop filling his brother's head with ideas about Jesus Christ. It was really weird. I thought it was so sad. It must be really hard for Manny to live there. We are giving him a little bit of space for now, but we call him and text him everyday to make sure everything is going well. We hope his family can soften up a bit. We will see what happens, but we will keep supporting Manny any way we can.
This week we also had a really good lesson with Dulce. She is going through a really hard time after the miscarriage of her son, so we decided to have a lesson about Christ's sacrifice for us and how he knows and understands everything that we go through. We shared a scripture about the Atonement, Alma 7:11-13. She loved it. It is a really beautiful scripture about Christ and His sacrifice and how He not only suffered for our sins, but for our pains and afflictions as well.
Victor is doing as awesome as ever. This Saturday we had a great lesson with him about baptism. He knows that it is what he wants to do and he is so ready. I don't think I have ever met anyone so willing to make the changes he needs to in his life to come closer to Christ. I am so lucky to be here and be able to teach him. He made us some awesome Columbian empanadas that were delicious. I love Victor.
The rest of the week was great. We had some excellent Mexican tamales. The family that made them, the Ruizs, are going to teach how to make them before we leave. We are sad to see the English Elders go. I have been serving around Elder McKnight for the past five transfers. We served in the same District in Bakersfield and we both came out here together. They are going to be closing down our house and we will be moving into the English Elder's home. If you would like to send me a letter, my Mom will have the new address. I hope you all have a great week. Love and miss you all, take good care!
Much Love,
Elder Chad Thompson