What? It's August already?? NO! It's going too fast!
What a week it has been! I love my new area! The members there are so great! It is strange because since we whitewashed the area we didn't have ANY appointments set up for the week, we were on our own to figure out what to do and how to do it. We decided to make it a priority to contact the members of the local wards and figure out who they are working with. Last Tuesday we were driving around and saw a guy outside his home, we stopped and talked to him, he was a member of the Ridge ward and he let us in to get to know him. Long story short he ended up feeding us for that night and the next night! Brother Jackson was his name and he is a great guy, he has a big family and they were really nice. That is the same response we have been getting from all of the local members of the church, they are so nice! It has been 5 years since they have had Elders in their wards and they are very excited to have us there. They miss the sisters, but not too much! My new area is from Gilbert Rd to Stapley Rd, and from the Salt River Indian reservation border to Mckellips Rd. I moved about 2 or 3 miles to the Northeast in Mesa. I also cover a cool little farming community in Mesa called Lehi, it is just a bit more rural and I have seen some crazy animals that I have never seen in my life - like a Toad the size of a soccer ball! it was huge! the area overall is about 1.5 square miles (not very big).
We have met all of the Bishops in each of the 4 wards that we cover and are getting to know more and more members each day. The people of the area are completely different than the ones in my last area! They actually work during the day here and know a little bit about our religion. Most of the people here aren't friendly, but that is okay, we are here to find those that are prepared to hear the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, not to force it upon those who aren't ready. There are still some very promising people that we have come into contact with this past week. I can honestly see about 5 baptisms happening before the end of the month.
My dad wrote me and said that "the work will probably be more difficult and you might have to tract a little more" and he is so right, yesterday we spent the whole day tracting, but I love to tract, my companion - not so much, but I know that the harder I work to find the people that are ready than the more the Lord will bless my efforts. My dad also advised me about working out so that I don't gain weight - Let me tell you about one of the members we came into contact with. Brother Freeman - he is about 6 feet tall and weighs in at about 255! He is a workout machine!!! Guess what else, Elder Bickmore and I have been working out with him every other morning, (3 times so far) I am so sore, but I have also lost more weight even though I am in a car! I am excited because I have always wanted to have a personal trainer and now I pretty much have one. He gave us a workout plan on how to gain some serious muscle and we have been doing pretty good at it. I will probably put on some weight from that, but that's okay with me. His whole basement is pretty much a movie theater and a workout station! ( Watch out Brandon and Clark, I am going to get bigger)
It is funny to see the change from a more humble area to a pride full area, because the members are wayyy more involved here, but the investigators are much more difficult. I am committed to keep baptismal numbers up here and to work as hard as I need to in order to obtain those numbers. If President Ellsworth trusts Elder Bickmore and I enough to do this, then it has to be possible, otherwise he wouldn't have been prompted by the lord to do so!
Something very cool happened at the Mission Presidents Fireside on Sunday night. I was talking to some of the Elders that I haven't seen for a while when this guy walks up to me and asks " do you remember me?" I remembered his face but not his name, he told me that he was Elder Davidson! He served in my home ward when I was either 16 or 17 years old! He lives in Phoenix and was there as transportation for some other Elders. - funny story that I remember about this Elder. He and Elder Vanlueen were teaching priest quorum one Sunday and they asked me if I was preparing to go on a mission... I sternly told them "No." and that was the end of the conversation. Now look at me, I am on my mission and Elder Davidson was freaking out! He is going write his companion and tell him about me. He was asking me how Matt Robinson and Sister Swan were doing, I guess he was really close to them? Anyway it was really good to see him and I was happy to let him know that I made it on my mission!
I am having such a great time on my mission and I am striving to be the most obedient missionary in the field. I know that this is the only way the Lord will know that I am here to work and to be successful. I am following every rule with exact obedience with the faith that I will be rewarded for it. Elder Bickmore and I haven't been in a fight and I don't feel like we ever will be. He is a lot like me and we both have a laid back personality. I am so thankful for him and everything he brings to the table for our companionship. He came down from Heber Arizona (up north where it is cold) and is getting used to the weather down in the valley. He didn't have as many teaching opportunities up there as I did in my last area so he is getting back into the swing of teaching again. I feel like we both have different things to offer, but that we are working well together so far! Pray for us!
If you have any questions for me or want to know anything about the area I am in, just ask!
Also to the members back in Oregon - Watch out for some elders that I was in the MTC with - Elder Mackey, Vance, and Rowley! They are great, if you see them tell them hi for me.\
I want to say thank you to my family, They are so supportive of me, my mom and dad email me weekly and I cannot thank them enough for that. I know that they have been busy, but they still find the time to email me at least once. I love them and thank them for all that they do.
My friends have been great too! I receive letters and when I do it makes the end of my day so great! I don't check the mail til night time because I don't want to wonder what is in the letters that I get. I stay focused and then read them just before bed. I need to get better at printing out pictures of the area, I have limited money and it goes by pretty fast so sometimes I don't have enough to print them out, but now that I am being fed really well here I will hopefully be able to save a little cash for it.
Love,
Elder Thomas
6265 N. 82nd St.
Scottsdale Arizona 85250
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