I am so happy! I love the area that I am in (I havent missed a meal since coming here, and the members are super great!) and am starting to see some real changes in the way that the work is going. I am still not teaching as many lessons as I was in my other area, but we now have 3 Baptismal dates!!!! October 2nd is the date for all 3 and I am so excited for all of the people that we are teaching, it is a totally different approach than earlier in my mission where we could teach someone for 3 weeks and then baptize them. Here we are looking more towards long term connections that will lead the people to baptism. The 3 guys that will be baptized in october have been involved with the church for years! I dont know why the sisters didn't get it done, they did a great job, but maybe they needed us to be here in order to really click with someone. I feel so blessed with all of the people that are supporting me and that cheer us on. Either the people back home or the ward members here. They are so excited to have baptisms here because the last time that they had one in our area (4 wards) was a year ago. and in the last 4 years there have only been 5 baptisms. So 3 in one year is going to be a great boost for everyone's attitude toward missionary work.
Wanted to quickly mention a talk that I have been studying from Elder Jeffery R. Holland (my fav apostle) called "Safety for the Soul" - this talk is truly amazing! I would strongly suggest to read his testimony at the end and think about that this week!
Elder Bickmore and I decided to take our bikes out on Saturday instead of the car and it was one of the biggest mistakes I have made on my mission! The forecast said that it was going to be about 98 degrees, which now for me feels like a cold day! the actual temperature was something like 107 I think and by lunchtime we were dying! Soaked in sweat and it was so bad that I actually took a shower during lunch and changed my clothes! But it was a good time being on my bike again. Loved it, but it was just too hot!
We were able to wake up at 4:20am this morning to go for a hike as well. We went to Cammelback mountain, which is in Phoenix and it was one of the steepest hikes I have ever been on. (I dont hike much, so i cant really compare it to anything) I love the view from the top once we got up there about an hour later! I took some pictures and hope that you enjoy them. The way down was a lot faster, but more painful for my bad joints and foot. (doesn't help that I only have sneakers to wear) There were about 30 Elders that did the hike and I was right in the middle of the whole group, which is good, I thought I would come to the top last for sure. It is a cool rock, you all should look it up online to see how big it is because I am not exactly sure on the size.
I want to leave you all with my testimony. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, he wants us to read it, to think hard about what it teaches us and to apply that to our families. I promise you all that if you do this that your families will be blessed for your efforts and that great, gospel-centered, habits will form in your home!
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Elder Thomas
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