Meeting Elder Jestes' Mom

Hey There Family and Friends!

I would like to start out by telling you about an opportunity I had this morning! Before I left on my mission I was able to meet an Elder Jestes serving in the Ashland ward in Oregon and he was from Mesa. He and I got along great and then one day I was able to tell him that I got my mission call - to Mesa Arizona! He was stoked and told me that he will show me around once he gets off his mission. So this morning I tracked down his family, knocked on their door and met his mom! ha ha, she was glad to hear that her son was doing well and I was even able to look at some of the pictures in his house! I found out his first name and talked about him with his mom for a while! She had no idea that her son could eat 10 waffles in one sitting! ha ha I loved that experience and it was good to see her face light up as I said "I am from Oregon and I know your son"

I have had a great week and we were able to make a lot of progress with our investigators! We have 3 baptismal dates for October 9th and we will be setting another one for the 16th tomorrow! We taught more lessons this week than any other week in the area so I was happy about that and to top it off I have just been in a great mood! One of our investigators - Dustyn T., went out with us last night for 2.5 hours, we took him with us to fix a members computer because it had no operating system and Dustyn is a computer genius! He somehow got a copy of Windows seven and put it on the computer so that it would work. As he did a simple service to someone his whole attitude changed, he went from someone that was kind of in his shell to someone that was making jokes and laughing with the missionaires! It was really good for him and I am happy that we took him along.

I love this area (a little sick of 100 degree weather) , but I know that I was sent here by God, to teach the people here about what I know to be true! I have gained such a greater understanding of the gospel as I read the Book of Mormon, I am focused and will be finishing before the end of this year (just like one of my bishops challenged the whole ward to do). I love reading everyday to be able to gain something out of it. I understand my purpose clearly now, I will now go to help others find theirs.

Love

Elder Thomas