So I Guess it Really does work Then, Eh

This week started off really slow again. Nobody would talk to us, and it was really frustrating. But good news is it picked up! Last week we had a passover lesson with the french elders and it was all in French. So i just sat there with my thumbs up not really sure what to do haha. But it was good. We also went to the pizza hut buffet, twice. so that always makes for a good week.

We had a crazy Tuesday as well. We were at the bus station and we had missed a bus by like 2 minutes so we had to wait another 30 and there was this lady that came in and yelled "I just want to tell all of you that Jesus loves you, even though all of you are sinners and might go to hell, Jesus still loves you and there is a chance for you" but thats not even the best part. After that she walked back and forth through the hall singing this creepy song in a really creepy tune. So we took the next bus that came. Then later that night we went to a member's house to set up an appointment, and I have never met this family before.We got there and we are talking and he says want to see my snake? Without waiting for our response he goes upstairs and comes back with a 6 foot python and I just about peed my pants... I freakin hate snakes! But he didn't force it on us, plus I made sure Elder Ripley was always between me and the snake ;)

We received a lot of advice about our missions from a guy that got back 6 years ago and it was really great! I knew that it helps for life, but the way he explained it shed much more light than what I had thought about previously. It was really good and I will probably think about that for a while.

This week we had a mission wide fast for more people to teach. So's not just this area, it's the entire mission. After the fast we had time to visit two potentials who had been contacted in 2009. We went and what do you know, they were really interested. Then the next day we did a lot of tracting and got 5 more potentials with return appointments that they set up without us prying. So I Guess Fasting Works Eh? Its a really great thing that we have and it really built my faith and my testimony of fasting because I have been in this area for 4 months, and it has been really dead. But it picked up immediately after, which was really cool.

In other news, we have 3 dinner appointments this week while the Spanish and French elders who cover the entire city have a couple from our ward as well as the entire city. It must be pretty rough being a foreign language elder and getting fed every day. Its really frustrating when the ward doesn't feed you or even the sisters. It's times like these where I am just fed up with this ward, but I'm sure it will pick up. As President Hinkley's father put it "Forget yourself (or dinner appointments) and go to work." I also touched a snake yesterday at the same snake house. So yeah I'm pretty much on top of the world. Today I am going to wear American flag socks with my obama t shirt for pday. And it has nothing to do with the fact that my comp is Canadian... We also got told that our religion is silly and that Joseph Smith just made up a bunch of silly stuff and made a book...with his 3rd grade education and writing it in only a couple of months.... Plus we were told that we can only read the scriptures, the missionary library, and talks by general authorities. So we can't even study the teaching of the prophets books, so that is really going to be hard for me. I'm a peackock you gotta let me fly! haha jk

But I was able to have really good studies this week. There is a quote from Elder Holland that I really like "The atonement will carry missionaries... When you struggle, are rejected, are spit upon, cast out, and made a hiss and byword, you are standing with the best life this world has ever known... You have reason to stand tall." So that is how I am going to look at things when we have a rough day. I also really like that Hinckley quote that i shared earlier that I found in Our Heritage. I was able to read that this past Friday/Saturday and it is a really good book!

We were able to go to the temple today(that's why p-day is today) and it was such a great experience! I love being a missionary! My zone leader asked me on exchanges how I keep going in this dead area and not just give up, and all I could really tell him was there wasnt a reason to give up yet. I was put in this area for a reason and I am grateful for the things that I have learned here. I have learned even more patience and perseverance which I know will definitely come in handy later on.

Keep it Real!

Elder Thompson

These are my zone leaders.  They are both from Idaho in case you didn't get that already.

That's exactly what you think it is.  A tub in the front lawn.  It's a really nice addition.

See any joy in this picture?  This is where we go to be happy.  

There is this English dude that seriously wears this... so naturally I had to get a picture

This is one of the reasons I love the Anderson family.  Their kids made us valentines.