...And a Happy New Year

This week was awesome!! It went by way too fast and was full of food and parties. But, the highlight was the 3 baptisms that we had. 3 of the grand-daughters of our recent convert were baptized. She was probably more excited than all 3 of them. There was also another kid baptized from the group that is under our branch. And an 8 year old kid whose family are members. So, it was an awesome service. Super cool to be a part of. 

We also went around for Christmas and handed out little bouncy balls to all of the kids. It was probably one of my favorite things that we did this whole week. It really is so cool how even the littlest things mean the world to people who have so little. People out here are all so happy and it has little to do with the material things that they have. 

This week, we spent a lot of time talking about making new year's resolutions. The new year is a good time to take a look at our lives and make sure that we are heading in the direction that we want to be. If we aren't, then it is a good time to change. 2020 will definitely bring some awesome changes. 

One that I am really excited for is the Come Follow Me topic. It will be so fun to really focus even more on the Book of Mormon for a whole year. And the new Book of Mormon videos are awesome. We have used them a ton as we share with members and investigators. It has given lots of them a new desire to really read from the Book of Mormon.

I hope that you all have an awesome New Year and find a way to be just a little bit better. 

Love Elder Thomas

-Baptism of LJ, MM, and Mariel

-my shoes have done well until now and a little tape might let them last just a little bit longer :)

 

Merry Christmas

This week was awesome!! It is so fun to go around and talk to everyone. Talking about the gospel is sooo easy and natural as we get closer and closer to Christmas. 

One of our biggest successes this last week was actually with an inactive couple. They have only been members for like a year and a half, but haven't been to church since 2018. I have been teaching them on and off for the last 5 months. We finally decided to watch the new Book of Mormon videos that the church has produced. We went twice a week until we finally got to the video of the tree of life. They easily related to the video and realized that they were part of the group who had once tasted of the fruit, but had wandered away. They actually came to church on Sunday!! It was awesome! 

I was also one of the speakers on Sunday. I read a little bit from the accounts of the time that Christ was born from Luke 2 and 3 Nephi 1 (and Helaman 13-15). I talked about the message that both Samuel (in America) and the angel (in Jerusalem) brought to the people. They both said that they had good/glad tidings. They both told the people that Christ would be born. And because of that, we need not fear. 

That is the amazing message this Christmas. That Christ was born. He grew up and Atoned for our sins. Eventually, he died for us and was then Resurrected 3 days later. I hope that at sometime this Christmas season (behind all the presents, food, and traditions) that you will take a second to remember why we celebrate Christmas. He is the reason. And He is the way for us to have hope and light in a world that continues to get darker and darker. I love you all and hope that you have a Merry Christmas!!

Love Elder Thomas

Jesus is the reason

Whelp... I am not sure how it happened. But, we just made it through another week. 

This week was solid. We started with our Christmas Conference which was awesome. We met with half of the mission which is always super fun. We had presentations, games, lots of food, gifts, and watched the movie "Coco." It was super fun.

Then we got right back to work. It is seriously an awesome time to be a missionary!! The holiday season makes it so easy to naturally talk about the gospel. Everyone focuses on our Savior during this time of year. We found a lot of awesome new people this last week just asking people about what they are going to do to celebrate Christmas. Then we ask them 'why' they celebrate Christmas. It has led to some awesome discussions about why we do what we do this season. If it weren't for the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, then we really wouldn't have a reason to celebrate Christmas. 

So, behind all of the awesome traditions, food, and gifts, make sure that you take some time to remember why we celebrate!! Jesus is the reason. I know, without a doubt, that Jesus is our Savior. He suffered for all of our sins and died on the cross. But, then, 3 days later... he rose again. He showed us what to do and then prepared the way for us to do it. The gospel and plan of salvation lay out the steps and give us the ability to live happily in a world that is getting ever more wicked. 

Go Light the World!! Take your light and this knowledge and share it with someone. Merry Christmas!! 

Love Elder Thomas

Ingat Dox

Well... I am not sure how, but I am back here again in the computer shop. This week went by super fast, but we really didn't do a ton of work in our area. Last Monday, I got my new comp (Elder Urmeneta). He is awesome!! He is my first Filipino companion and we get along super well. He is the only member in his whole family and has been a member since he was 14.

Then Wednesday we met the rest of our zone where we introduced our new goal of "every companionship bringing a new disciple to the waters of baptism per transfer." It is super exciting. Our mission is on a huge upswing and the work is definitely hastening out here.

Thursday night we traveled to the mission office for our meeting with all the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders. Friday was our meeting and it was awesome!! The big focus was on the new handbook that the church released for missionaries. It will be super cool to see how this new direction will be implemented in our mission. 

Saturday we had our branch activity which was super cool. It was at a resort way up in the mountains and we had 5 of the people that we are teaching attend. Then on Sunday, we had 7 of them at church. We were super excited!!

The work is hastening and it is an awesome time or year to really focus on the reason. Christ is the reason and should be the very focus of our lives, not only during the holiday season. Find ways to 'light the world." I love you all!! Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. 

Love Elder Thomas

-Elder Urmeneta

-travel to the branch activity

-we got kidnapped and taken back to our area in the trunk of a car

17 months later

Well... Transfers came and my comp took off to Australia. He was super excited the whole time leading up to the day that he would leave, but as he was packing the night before, he was definitely a little bit scared haha. But, I will finally get my first Filipino companion. The sisters in my batch will go home in the next transfer. So, I almost made it 18 months with straight American companions (and 1 Australian). But, I am super excited. It will be a good experience. I will hopefully start to learn more and more about this awesome culture and language. 

Other than that, we also had a baptism this week. Elder Maurer baptized Genalyn Blaza on his last full day in the field. It was super cool. We are also still teaching her dad who is slowly progressing at his own rate, but attends church almost every week. We also put 3 of the grandkids of our recent convert officially on date. They hope to be baptized on the Saturday after Christmas.

Not gonna lie, I hardly even realized that Thanksgiving was last week and it just kind of passed by. Sad. But I am excited now that it is December and we can focus on Christmas. We are now in our 4th month of Christmas out here which means that we are close.

We also watched the Light the World video which is awesome!! Go out and find the 'one.' They are out there and it is our job to help them. 

Sorry it is kind of short. We are about to go find some of the missionaries showing up to our zone right now. Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers!

Love Elder Thomas

I plan to kill my comp this week

Whelp... This is the last week for my comp here in the mission. So, I will kill him off and send him back home. By Saturday, I will know who my new companion is up here in Banacao.

This last week was pretty solid. We have had a lot of success with the part members in our area. We just started teaching a bunch of the grandkids of one of our recent converts. She is awesome. She has the coolest desire to share the message of the gospel with her family. Every time we go over there they tell us that they sat down with the kids and taught them the lesson that we were supposed to teach. So, that has made our job a lot easier. That is really the way that it is supposed to be. Because the missionaries will transfer, but the family and friends will be there forever!!

This week we did probably some of our best work while BRT'ing (Building a Relationship of Trust) with the monkey that lives around the corner. A few weeks ago, he would growl at us if we got near him. Then we were slowly able to feed him. And then just the other day, he started to climb all over us. I just with that we could have as much success and progression with some of our investigators and we did with this monkey. That would be neat. 

But, in all seriousness, the work up here is awesome. We teach a lot of lessons and find lots of people that we know that God is preparing for us. I am beyond grateful for this short time that I have to devote all of my time to the most important thing that is happening on the earth today. We all can be a part of it. The world is getting more and more wicked which means that the second coming of our Savior is close. So, especially as we get into the holiday season, look for something that you can do to help someone!! I just reread some conference talks and love this quote by Elder Holland "There is no shortage of suffering in this world, inside the Church and out, so look in any direction and you will find someone whose pain seems too heavy to bear and whose heartache seems never to end. One way to "always remember him" would be to join the Great Physician in His never-ending task of lifting the lead from those who are burdened and relieving the pain of those who are distraught." 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Love Elder Thomas

 

Mission Tour

This week was awesome. We honestly didn't get a ton of work done in our area, but it was a super good week. Elder Wokolo of the Seventy came and presided at our mission tour. It was super cool. We focused the mission tour around finding answers to the "questions of the soul" from the Book of Mormon. Using the Book of Mormon in every phase of the work is the way that we see miracles. We also talked about what we can do to hasten the work. The work needs to be hastened because every day brings us closer to the second coming of our Savior. It is our job to be prepared, and help others prepare for the day that he will come.

We also had a meeting with all of the zone leaders in the mission. It was super cool. Elder Wokolo led a discussion about working with members and working with faith. He told us that every time that we get out of the house, we need to know in our mind that God has prepared someone for us to meet that day. God is preparing people always!! We are all a part of this great work and it is our job to help our siblings inside of the church and out. 

This week we were also blessed with a baptism to cap of the awesome week. Justin Blaza was baptized. He is the 6th member of his family to be baptized over the last 2 years. They are all awesome, but have progressed at their own pace. He was finally ready and was super excited. He is super shy, but bore a short and powerful testimony about how the Spirit helped him to change. 

I love you all and am grateful for the thoughts and prayers.

Elder Thomas

He's dead but then I came back to life...

This week was nice. We got some super good work done in our area. It did start with a little stumbling block. Me and my companion were riding bikes down a pretty good hill on the way back to our area. I decided it would be fun to turn some of the bumps into little jumps. About half-way down the hill, I hit a bump and ended up a little bit higher than I wanted to. When I landed, my front tire popped. It was also raining and so the path was fairly muddy. So, I very quickly ended up on the pavement. My elbow took the bulk of the fall and I got some nice little scratches on my hands. But, we still had places to go, so we taught one more lesson and then made our way home to get cleaned up. Some people saw me walking home with my bike that night and word quickly spread around the area that one of the white dudes took a spill on the bike. 

The next day, early in the morning, we starting exchanges. I went to one of the other areas here in the zone. So, my comp went around our area telling people that I had died after the bike crash. It gave some people a pretty good scare and lots of people believed it. 

Then the next day, when I was back in my area, we went around telling people that I had come back to life. It was pretty funny. 

But, in all seriousness, we had a pretty good week this week. We taught a lot of lessons and had lots of people that we teach attend church. The work here is quickly progressing and we see God's hand in the work every day. We were studying the Come Follow Me manual with some of the members in our area and one of the young women said "It would probably be easy to follow all of God's commandments if Satan didn't exist." We kind of laughed but realized how true it was. Satan is very real and wants nothing more than for us to be miserable. But, the power of our Savior is sooo much more. God prepared a way for us to be happy in all aspects of our lives. But, it is not easy. And the blessings come because of our obedience to the commandments. So, find something in your life that may not be in exact harmony with the laws of God. And then change. That is what the gospel does. It changes people. And one day, we will all stand before God and be worthy to live in his presence. I love you all and am grateful for all of the thoughts and prayers. 

Love Elder Thomas

-I found a Christmas beetle

-We found a snake

Nanay Blanes

Well... This week really capped off some nice work in the past month. Nanay Blanes was baptized by her son which was definitely the highlight of the week. She has been taught by missionaries for like almost 2 years now, but it was finally her time. She was sooo ready. It was awesome. And then she bore an awesome testimony after her baptism. There were also 3 youth from the group under our branch that were baptized. It was an awesome service. 

The next day, we were at church and we ended up with 10 of the people that we are teaching attend church. It was the craziest surprise. We started a district fast on Saturday night with all the other missionaries for all of the people that we are teaching and for the branches that we are serving in. It was awesome!!

I honestly don't remember a whole lot more about this week. We didn't teach as many lessons as we usually do, but the lessons that we taught were awesome!! The spirit does sooo much to change lives when you give them opportunities to feel of its power. 

This week was also Halloween. Halloween isn't really celebrated here, but they celebrate "All Saints Day" or "Day of the Dead." It was an awesome chance for us to teach a lot this week about the Plan of Salvation. We taught some super cool lessons about the knowledge of eternal families and the perfect plan that God has for each of us. Thanks for all of the thoughts and prayers!!

-Elder Thomas

...and thats how we ended up in jail

This week was seriously wayyy too fast. It got off to a super crazy start. Transfers were last Monday. My comp (Elder Maurer) showed up. Within the hour of his showing up, we got a call that some of the missionaries in our zone got into a tricycle crash. One of them was in the hospital. So, we raced over to give him a blessing. That night, we didn't have time to get back to our house, so we slept at the Elders that are closest to the hospital. The next morning, we went on exchanges because the Elder in the hospital has baptisms on Saturday that they still had to interview. So I spent the day at the hospital. (He is ok now. He is healthy and back to work)

Then we got home to our house and introduced Elder Maurer to all the members and people that we are teaching. It was awesome. I am really excited for this transfer. 

Thursday, we hopped on a 4 hour bus ride down to the mission office for Leadership Council. It was awesome. I seriously love President Oldroyd and come away from all of those meetings super inspired. That took the whole day Friday and my some miracle, we actually got a trike that would take us to our area late that night. 

Then Saturday, one of the members told us that she was going to visit her husband in jail the next morning. We were both super excited for the invite. So, the next morning we woke up extra early and went with her to visit her husband. Turns out, they were having a giant festival at the jail. There were tons of native Filipino tribal dancers and stuff. We just sat right down in this giant line of inmates and watched the whole thing. We were there for like 3 hours and it was super fun to talk to all the people there. 

On Sunday, we did Come Follow Me study with a bunch of the members from our ward. This week's topic was awesome. It was about all of the recent converts which is awesome for our area because most of the 40 or so members in our ward were baptized in the last 2 years. I loved when it said something about how "faithfulness in the past will not be enough to face the storms that will come." We need to all be doing the little things that will give us protection in the days to come. Keep it up!! I love you all. 

Love Elder Thomas

Pics of MLC