Week 78: Sisters Mission Completed

Hello everyone! hope everything is going well for you.

It's really a weird experience seeing the sisters I came out with go home next week. I'm actually really happy that I still have 6 months left to work! 18 seems too short too me. Maybe that's why elders serve 24 months haha.

Not much went down this week. I had a great birthday. We started with weekly basketball, which is always fun. It's nice to get the ysa guys out and some non members as well. We had dinner at a buffet with 2 of our favourite members which was super good. Elder Monks blew up some balloons and wrote on them and one of the things is the quote of the week. "Jesus Loves Bill!" Haha he thinks it's funny that I don't go by my first name. so he calls me Bill. We had an investigator lesson, but the best part of the day, was we got to go to a baptism! So Cassandra, who I found and taught in my last area decided to get baptized and it happened to be on my birthday! So President Manion let Elder Winnie and me go since we started teaching her. It was such a great experience! I'm super happy for her and I'm grateful for the covenant that we make at baptism/every week with the sacrament. That is what will carry us throughout this life. My favorite part is always remembering and acknowledging the Saviour for what he did and does for us. That is where true strength comes from.

Cassandra's baptism April 11, 2015

Cassandra's baptism April 11, 2015

First plate of buffet dinner

I'm excited to be entering the last part of my mission. The home stretch. I will work harder, not that I haven't worked hard up to this point, but now is the time to use 18 months of hard work as experience, to push myself harder than ever before, and truly do all that I need to do to leave everything out on the field. I love serving the Lord as a full time missionary and will miss it deeply (along with all the benefits :) ) but for now, I still get to go out everyday and do my duty. 1 Corinthians 15:58 " 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye ^asteadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." This is not the time to quit, or to coast. That is for the quitters, for the weak. This is the time for exactly the opposite.  "Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just NEVER give up." 

"You are never a loser until you quit trying." I will, with the help of the Lord, win the fight and accomplish what he needs me to accomplish.

Keep it real, 

Elder W.Chad Thompson

Edmonton - The City of Potholes

Hello everyone,

Transfer calls were today and we got sad news. Elder Monks is leaving for his last transfer and I am getting Elder Liddle. He is from England and that is about all I know!! haha so I will have to get him to say a bunch of Harry Potter quotes!

As for this week, it has been a good one. We weren't able to meet with all our investigators, but we were able to meet with William, our hippy investigator. a funny quote from that lesson, was when we were talking about miracles and he said "oh yeah, Jesus walking on water? Ihat was a yogi practice. It just requires breathing patterns. There are manuals for that." haha He is a strange/awesome guy. We also picked up a new investigator this week that is blind! completely! Like stick and all! and he is super solid so I'm super excited for him. Hopefully he will stay in our area (he is moving) but he is super cool. Maybe we will even get to learn how to read Braille! 

Other than that, there is not much to report on. We had a lesson with a member who has a very low form of autism, so he is fully functional, but still has the attitude of a child. We talked about a lot of random things so I'm not sure how we got on the topic of vegetables, but he said "Broccoli and mushrooms are pornographic vegetables! They are nasty and gross!" haha we both just lost it!

Scripture of the week is Matthew 18:9 " 9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire" We need to always remember that it is better to go through life having maybe a little less comfort or "fun" and receive eternal life, rather than indulge and receive the wrath of God. Because that really isn't all that fun ;)

Keep it real,

Elder W.Chad Thompson

Week 76: Work Paying Off

Hello everyone, hope all is going well down south. Things up here have been great! The weather has been super nice all week. All the snow again is gone and the grass even looks a little greener. Too bad Canada will soon again destroy its hopes and dreams. But its nice while it lasts and we will definitely take it! So this week it seemed like the work just exploded! it was really nice. We picked up 3 new Solid investigators who will all progress and then last night, we went to one of the YSA girls farewell party and there she introduced us to her friend who wants to take the discussions! So we will be teaching her this week! Its always awesome when all the work of the member pays off for them and they see some of the fruit of their work. 

On a lower point of this week, we found out that one of our progressing investigators who we have taught everything, doesnt even live in our area. he just goes to school in our area. He made a comment about how it takes him an hour to get to school, and we were just like, whoa, you probably dont live in our area. So we have a lesson this week where we get to pass him off to the missionaries where he lives. hopefully all goes well with that.

We also started up a Saturday basketball day with the ysa that we could bring some investigators to and meet there non member friends. Im really excited about that :)

Quote of the week:

" The trouble with an opportunity is that it always comes disguised as hard work"- Will Rogers

Scripture of the week is 3 Nephi 9:14-15 "14 Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me.

 15 Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the beginning. I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name.

​ " The cool thing about Jesus Christ is that his arm of mercy is always extended towards us. I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and the blessings that we receive as we go to him and trust in him."

​Keep it real,​

Elder W.Chad Thompson