Week 69: California Traffic?

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been pretty good. It was a bit slow and there was not a whole lot of excitement but it was still a good week.It has been interesting trying to learn the area as fast as i can, but it is coming along slowly.There are lots of great people here and hopefully we can get the work progressing here quickly.

Zone Conference was Tuesday and President and Sister Manion gave a great training on consecration and serving with all of our heart. We then gave a training on Internet proselyting and goal setting. It was a really great meeting and hopefully everyone came out of it feeling motivated to do a little bit better and to work a bit harder. Im grateful for all the trainings i have received and will receive that have and  will shape me into a better person, and motivate me to work harder.

The most exciting experience of the week was Thursday when we had a decent sized snow storm. We got to shovel lots, but the best part of the day was when we were stuck in traffic for 2 hours. We were only going 4 blocks... we were moving so slow that occasionally Elder Monks would have to get out and scrape off the windshield while walking along side the car. Fun times. Reminded me of some nights back home coming back from an Angels game.

We got to teach our investigator Bissrat this week. He is from Ethiopia and understands things really well. We were able to teach him the Word of Wisdom as well as the Law of Chastity this week, and he took it really well. Hopefully he can receive and answer about baptism and decide he wants to follow Jesus Christ.

Scripture of the week is Moroni 7:47-48

"47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.
 48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love "

As develop charity towards all mankind, it will be well with us at the last day, and life will be so much more enjoyable!

Hope everyone is doing well!

Keep it real,

Elder W.Chad Thompson

Week 68: Love the City

Hola,

Hope everybody s weeks was great! Our week was super busy. Lots of meetings and what not as a zone leader in the beginning of the month, so I'm super tired. But it has been fun. Nothing too crazy has happened in the zone yet, and we have really good missionaries in our zone so I'm not too worried. Our Zone overs about half of the Bonnie Doon stake and it goes all the way out to part of  Saskatchewan.

So my area is pretty big. we cover from the heart of Edmonton all the way to the east side of Sherwood Park. Not as big as an outlining area, but its a good size for the city. We cover the entire Bonnie Doon stake since we are YSA. Our apartment is down town in a high rise and we are on the 12 floor and it is basically the celestial apartment of the mission. We have a really nice gym in our apartment along with 2 washrooms and covered parking. We share it with 2 other missionaries, so it has been really fun. My first day here we got rear ended by some guy that wasn't paying attention, but thankfully there wasn't too much damage to the car. And something that really clicked this week for me, is the great dislike I have for cats. I just think they are super gross, and it's usually really dirty people that have cats. usually.

My companion is Elder Monks. He is from Mesa Arizona and he has been out for 20 months so hopefully I get to kill him off. he loves dirt bike racing, and I guess he is really good. He is a great guy and I love his sense of humor! We are going to have a great time together.

Scripture of the week is Ephesians 4:32 " 32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you." Why should we be exempt from forgiving when God forgives us way more than we will ever forgive anybody who does any wrong to us. No matter the circumstances, we should always forgive everybody so we don't have to hold a grudge, because that's really not all that fun at all.

Have a great week!

Keep it real,

Elder W.Chad Thompson

Week 67: Transfer Calls!

So transfer calls were today, and we got one, which is good because I packed about half way last night. I am going to serve in the Mill Creek YSA as a Zone Leader! My companion is going to be Elder Monks, and i have only heard good things about him, so I am super excited! 

We had a pretty great week that was filled with short sleeves and great weather. It was consistently +5 all week so it felt super good. But I have a feeling that February will be a pretty rough month, but we will see. We had some exciting experiences this week with tracting in the freezing rain. That was fun. We pulled out our dance moves we didn't even know we had as we were slipping everywhere! but neither of us went down, sure we wobbled a bit, but we did not go down!  We got in some good service this week as well with chipping ice off a coupe of drive ways. I should have taken a pic, but the ice was a solid 6 inches. But service always makes you feel great afterwards no matter what it is.

We had our open house for our chapel this past weekend and it was a success. In total, over 220 people went through and about 170 of them were non members so that was amazing. We are really excited about the potential of this area even though I am leaving. We had the dedication for the building last night which was also a cool experience. it was the first one I have been to (or at least the first I paid any attention to) the spirit was super strong there and the work will for sure hasten here in Beaumont.

Quote of the week is from Joseph Smith, talking to people who said they wouldn't persecute the church if they were to ever go away from it. "you don’t know what you would do. No doubt these men once thought as you do. Before you joined this Church you stood on neutral ground. … When you joined this Church you enlisted to serve God. When you did that you left the neutral ground, and you never can get back on to it. Should you forsake the Master you enlisted to serve, it will be by the instigation of the evil one, and you will follow his dictation and be his servant’”

Scripture of the week is Alma 5:49 " 49 And now I say unto you that this is the order after which I am called, yea, to preach unto my beloved brethren, yea, and every one that dwelleth in the land; yea, to preach unto all, both old and young, both bond and free; yea, I say unto you the aged, and also the middle aged, and the rising generation; yea, to cry unto them that they must repent and be born again.

Pretty self explanatory. I'm grateful for the time I have had to serve in Beaumont, to learn the things I have learned, and to meet the people I

have met. I know that the work here will hasten and that the people who accept our glad message will be blessed. I'm excited for what the future has in store for me.

Keep it real,

Elder W.Chad Thompson

One of the great families in the Beaumont ward. We always had a great time over here. The rest of the pictures will come next week. we took this one yesterday just in case since they are going on a 3 week vacation