A Spiritual High

Sorry It's kind of long. But I definitely recommend reading this one. 

This week has been awesome! I have learned so much and have had some amazing experiences. The first that I want to share is an experience that I had on Monday night. It is the coolest experience that I have had to this point in my life. I am just going to type what I wrote in my journal because it sums it up pretty well.  "At a class later this evening, I had the coolest experience. So, our district was a little bit rowdy. We took a 10 minute break to study and bring the spirit back. Then another teacher came in and taught about his family and their conversion story. He taught about how he now knew that his family could live together forever. I thought about my family and especially about the twins my mom mis-carried before I was born. I know that they are as much a part of my family as my family is here on earth. Also on my mind a lot recently has been thoughts about how I struggle to speak Tagalog. I know that I should not have these thoughts because I have only been here for 2 weeks and am not expected to speak Tagalog, but they keep coming. I then hear a voice in my head as clear as I have ever heard a voice to this point in my life. I am 100% sure that it was my older brother from the other side of the veil. He said "we will see each other again. Your job now is to learn Tagalog so that you can teach the people of the Philippines this same truth." I completely lost it. I cried in class for like a straight 20 minutes. My comp asked what happened and I honestly could not put into words the feelings that I felt and the experience that I had. I know that I will be able to learn Tagalog. I know that there are people in Baguio Philippines prepared to hear the message that I have to share. I know that whom the Lord calls, he qualifies. I know that I will live with my family again after this life. I know this without any doubt in my mind. God has a plan for everyone and he wants nothing more than for us to return to live with him. He sent His Son to atone for our sins and die for us to make this possible. Joseph Smith was a prophet who did indeed restore this gospel on the earth. I love the peace it brings and I can't wait to share it in the Philippines." 

Another Elder in my District (Elder Finau) who is an offensive line BYU football commit shared an amazing story. He talked about his dad who passed away just 5 months before he came on his mission. He shared his testimony of eternal families and of the plan that our Father in Heaven has for us. I had never felt the spirit so strong. I love this gospel and the peace that it brings. 

This week, I have worked on memorizing the first vision, Moroni 10: 4-5, the baptismal invitation, and the missionary purpose in Tagalog. I am really close. It is amazing. I know that the gift of tongues is real. There is no way that I could do any of this in 2 weeks if it wasn't for help from the other side of the veil. We teach lessons to our "investigators" every day now. It is awesome. They only speak Tagalog and they really stretch our vocab. Sometimes we just have to pretend we know that they are talking about and move on. We asked one of our teachers what the funniest thing we had said to this point was. She told us that one of the companionships (she didn't tell us who) had told her in the first lesson that they were Catholic. haha. She asked them if they were also catholic because they had some similar beliefs. They must not have understood the question because they just nodded and said "opo" (which means yes). It was only the 3rd day in the MTC when it happened, so things like that are kind of expected. But it was pretty funny when she told us about it. 

I love the gospel and the peace that it brings to my life. I love the spirit that I feel as I learn more about our brother and Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that we will live with our families again as perfected beings for eternity. 

I love you all. I think about you. I miss you. And I keep you in my prayers. 

-Elder Thomas

July 20, 2018

What an amazing week!! I can't believe that I am already writing another one of these letters. But, I also feel like I have been here forever. It is a weird feeling. A couple highlights from the week were Elder Ballard coming for a broadcast and teaching our first "investigator."

On Tuesday night, Elder Ballard came to the MTC. He gave an incredible talk about Joseph and Hyrum Smith. He talked about the work that they brought about in the latter days and about how they were a model for all companionships. It was amazing. 

We have been teaching our first investigator. She only speaks Tagalog to us so sometimes it is a little bit rough. In our first lesson, We basically just read a lesson to her and tried to understand what she was saying when she asked questions. In our second and third, we tried to do the lesson with less notes. One of them was super rough. The lesson was spent in awkward silence and attempts to guess what she was saying as we asked her questions. But, our fourth and fifth lessons were incredible. We prepared a couple of bullet points we wanted to talk. But, both lessons took a totally different turn. It was scary at first because we did not think we had the vocab to teach a different lesson. But with the spirit and the best "taglish" that we could come up with, we gave amazing lessons. They were both like a 20-25 minutes long and I have no clue how we did it. The spirit can do amazing things. 

I see kids from Lone Peak everywhere here. I have seen 16 kids I knew before the mission. It is so fun to see familiar faces. 

I love it here, but the more that I learn about the Philippines, the more I just want to go there. I found out that my departure date is Aug 29. This means that I will be in the field on that date. Assuming that I get my visa, I should fly out of here like Aug 22 or so. I have one more month and I could not be more excited to learn all that I can. 

I love all of you and keep you guys in my prayers.

-Elder Thomas

Pictures of the amazing sunsets here at the MTC when we finish class every night. I have a few more pictures of my zone and teachers I will send next week.

Kumusta Po! (Hello)

I finished my first full day at the MTC!! I have almost been here for 48 hours and I love it. It all started so fast. They wheeled me up to my room and I just dropped my bag by a bunk and then took off for a class room. Our teacher there (a RM) was only speaking in Tagalog. It was crazy. But he pointed to words on the board, did a lot of pointing, and slowly started to add more English so that we would understand. He speaks a lot of "taglish" which is super helpful. They then told my to go and write you guys and tell you that I made it here.

Right after I sent that email, I met my companion back in the classroom. His name is Elder Nelson. He is awesome. He is from Murray and just graduated form Murray high. He played baseball, plays the organ, piano, and the saxaphone. We get along very well. 

We also have two other Elders in our room. They have been here for 3 weeks and are at the half way point in their MTC stay. We are following them around today because we have the whole day to kind of do what we want for P-day. Our first meeting today is at 6:30 tonight. But, me and Elder Nelson don't have a lot to do because we just got here. (no laundry, haircuts, etc. yet). Today is the first day that we have exercise time. So, that will be good. 

Our first two days were packed with learning procedures, rules, tagalog (kind of) and gospel study. Our days kind of slow down after this. We will generally have a 3 hour class in the morning and a 2 1/2 hour class in the afternoon. With some kind of devotional at night. And lots of time in between for companion, personal, and language study. I will spend a lot of extra time today doing language study. We are supposed to learn 470 words by next Saturday. It is a lot and is kind of overwhelming, but I know that the gift of tongues is real. I have already picked up some basics and have only been here a few days. We will see how it goes. 

I also found out from Sister Pollard, that 9 of the 14 missionaries in her zone (going to the Philippines) finally got their Visas. They were all reassigned, mostly to Texas, but most of them got their visas just before they leave (in 4 days). That is good news. They also found out that they fly straight from San Francisco to Manila. All of the missionaries in our district are super happy for them. 

Being here in Provo is awesome! I have seen like 8 different Elders and Sisters that are from LP. It is nice to see familiar faces. 

And I even took a few pictures. (you're welcome mom). One of them is of me and my comp. Elder Nelson. One is of all of my roommates. And one is me with Elder Baker Wilkes. 

I love you all and keep you in my prayers. I'd love to hear from you and answer any question that you guys have. Kitakits (goodbye/see you later)

-Elder Thomas

Elder Nelson & Elder Thomas

L-R Elder Nelson (comp), Elder Thomas, Elder Halverson & Elder Palmer (roommates)

Elder Thomas and Elder Baker Wilkes

I made it

Well... I'm here. I got a room and they threw us all right into it. All sorts of phrases on the board with some guy spouting off at about a 100 miles an hour. But it is awesome. My companion is not actually here yet, but his name is Elder James Nelson. And my P-day is Friday (your welcome mom). They told us to just keep it short to parents and siblings. Love You guys!! (and I haven't picked up a good sign off yet) maybe in the next email :)

-Elder Thomas