May 28th 2013

Hello mom!

   Glad to see that they got you on some medication, that sounds rough! And i see they had a Branch fish fry, that is nice! Wow! They are doing great in quiz bowl then huh? That is awesome! How is the weather in Arkansas right now? 

Hi! Lots of miracles this week!

On Wednesday my companion ad trainer, Elder Clark, headed on home. Transfer meeting was amazing, the spirit was so so strong. Elder Clark had a rough time finishing a song they were singing because he was tearing up. President Cook gave some amazing remarks and we all felt the spirit very strong. This mission is awesome. It was an awesome transfer meeting.  My new companion is Elder Bunker who has only been out just under 5 months. He is awesome! He is very accountable, has lots of strengths as Elder Clark did, is a hard worker, and is focused. We are enjoying the work here! On Thursday night we had an awesome lesson with a family who are returning Less Actives and more. We talked about the Melchizedek priesthood and we brought Pres. Snell with us. He talked about how both the man and the woman receive the benefits and blessing of the priesthood when it comes to raising there daughter and bringing her into this life. He mentioned how (in a round about way) the daughter needed both the man and the woman and both roles are important rather than just the  mans because he has the priesthood. He said that the woman carried her daughter and bore her into this world. And what a blessing that was for their family. And then how her father helped her to be re-born into another world( he baptized her.) Without the woman she wouldn't be here and without the man she couldn't be reborn into the kingdom of God. Both are divine roles. Missionary work is the best!  I am assuming the age change will bring alot of new missionaries in soon!

    We also saw alot of miracles this week. Today, I will be going on exchanges with Elder Thompson from Idaho. Yes, that was on purpose. Actually it might not have been. Elder Thompson and Elder Thompson. On Wednesday we have cleaning inspections for our apartments, so we need to get scrubbing! I love the people here they are awesome. 

And mom, Thanks for the CD'S!

May 21st 2013

Mom: THAT IS SOOO AWESOME ABOUT JORDAN GOING WITH THE ELDERS!!!! Haha that is awesome about Zachary also! and goodluck! That is great Brianna is sewing her own dress! Oh ya and mom I have been eating lots of California fruit it is great1 Holy Cow this was such a GREAT letter!! NICE! And I heard about James and his Dad that is awesome! When does Jordan he go to ASMSA? And sorry mom, I meant times are tough financially for the world.

 

         Things are great here in California! My Companion is getting transferred today (going home) he has been a great companion and has taught me a lot! He is a great Elder.  He has been packing and gave me some ties. I also inherited his fruit snacks. Last night we went over to 3 member families to say goodbye. We also got to say goodbye to a few others in the last few days. We also went over to the Bishops house to talk about the Ward. I will get my companion today in Vista, CA at about probably around 4:30.  This ward is awesome! I am enjoying it soo much. We have to also get to meet with the housing when we get a new companion so we will do that tomorrow.

         In sacrament meeting elder Clark gave his testimony and the spirit was pretty strong. He talked a little about Charity and other things.  It was a great sacrament meeting. We also had a sister who stood up and talked about the how the Holy Ghost prompted her to share a book of Mormon. And another man who gave a great talk on becoming the "uncommon man of Christ" It was based on the story where the Savior was asked; "What manner of Men ought we to be?" "Verily, I say unto you even as I am." Something like that. Anyways I have a while to go haha..a long ways.  It has been slightly warm outside however it is starting to cool down some more. We ride bikes Friday and Satudray and walk on Sunday. The work here is going great. The sprit is awesome. There are some cool people here that are helping us out. Trying to lose myself. We have a great Ward and Ward Council. Starting to love these people cant deny that. Oh ya and we had an awesome zone conference a while ago that was just awesome.

      Well, I have to go, we have transfers today so there are still a few more things we have to do! Lots of cool experiences but I should probably go! See ya! Lots of people who need the Gospel and they are ready here in Temecula!

Love,

Elder Thompson

May 14

Hi!

Nice talking to you also!

I wouldn't mind having a few CD's . Jericho Road spiritual and a song called Come thou fount of every blessing possible from vocal point.. but it can probably be from any one. But times are tough also. I think i will send some pictures today in the mail.

May 7th, 2013

Oh my goodness you guys are soo funny! haha! The bread! Ohh man. I am not taking 15 anymore. THAT IS GREAT to hear about ASMSA! ANd i just ran out of granola this morning(I ration: egg sandwhich, granola, sometimes fruit) SO i would LOVE some more! Because yours is the best! Ohh my family. Glad to hear about the daycare lady!  Will Jordan be rooming with the LDS kids? I am glad to hear everything is going good! and funny ohhh. goodness. Things are going great here I love it. We got to experience a baptism on saturday and it was amazing to see people completely change their lives. There was a whole family of Less Actives that showed up and the spirit at the baptism was soo strong. The talks were great and everyone felt the spirit. THere was one lady who we think was a non member who showed up who i could tell was feeling the spirit. One of the speakers talked about how she was led to the Gospel after her fathers death and how she was able to be sealed to him for eternity. It was a great day. AT the baptism we played the last five minutes of "LAborers in the vineyard" by Jeffrey R. Holland. It was just pretty intense. All of the family members and Less Actives that showed up enjoyed it because of the spirit they felt. I think they all knew what needed to be done and they felt the love of Jesus CHrist i hope.We hope this family ( the family of the girl who got baptized) will be sealed in a year. It has been a great week. I am loving missionary work and sharing the gospel. Bringing the lost sheep to JEsus Christ is what it is all about regardless of where you are called. THe spirit has been strong. HOpe everything else is going great with everyone! And thanks for sending the emails! See you all later! Tuesday!! WOop woop! ohh i miss my family.

Elder Thompson

Temecula, California

Haha,

  Oh my gosh!! aren't they great! I didn't know they had those in Arkansas ha ha.  

Ha ha ooh my gosh.

 

So this week has been a great week here. Lots of miracles again. At stake conference our mission president spoke with his wife and gave a cool demonstration on member work and how, simply, if they are ready and prepared than the gospel will have a familiar "ring" to them. They will want to learn more, and things will make sense. They will "resonate" when gospel principles are taught to them because they are ready. "Mine elect hear my voice and know the name by which they are called." Those who are ready and prepared are the elect of God. In member work we need not be afraid when someone does not show interest in the gospel as much as we had hoped. They just are not ready yet. They have not become "elect." Member work becomes alot more easier or simpler when we understand this principle. That those who are ready are those who will show interest when we have a casual conversation with them about a gospel principle or when they are invited to do something. As missionaries, we are called to "bring the gathering of mine elect" we are called to find and teach the elect of God. It is alot easier to share the Gospel in casual conversations, and when a person is ready and are the "elect" they will show interest in the Gospel. Our (members and missionaries) job is not to convince, but to help convert. Those who are elect are those who will convert. When a person is elect that means they have been prepared and are ready to receive the Gospel. This is very true, me and my companion are teaching a girl named Cherise. She is elect, she has been prepared by the lord to receive the Gospel. When we first started teaching Cherise she loved the idea of temple marriages and families being together forever. She stated that the Book of Mormon "fills in all the missing holes." The holes that she didn't know were there. Things make sense to her. She is prepared, the gospel has a familiar "ring" her and she "resonates" with the Gospel. So, lots of miracles going on here in the California, Carlsbad mission. Member work is easier than we think it is. With Cherise, she didn't show interest when first talking to her , although she wanted her baby to be blessed on the 1st visit, but when we discussed a Gospel Principle, she showed interest.

 

  It's getting warmer here in California! I hope everyone else its having a great week also! See ya next week!

Oh ya we are also teaching a lady named Ahnna who is also been prepared. On the very first real visit she started asking a bunch of questions. She stated: "Why am i here? Where am i going? I want to know" " I have been searching for something for so long, i just don't know what it is"

Ohhh OK nice! will do and thanks for the package!! It was sooo nice of you! i loved it! I just opened it a few hours ago it is awesome thanks soooo much and tell Jordan thanks to! I probably wont be able to write letters today because we have a district activity and a few other things. But thanks! from everyone and i didn't get to read Jordan's sticky notes he sent yet cause we had to go to the Grocery Store but i will. And tell Zachary awesome and Brianna good job and dad that's great and you AWESOME!

Loving Temecula

Family!

  THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE LETTERS! I was CRACKING UP. Thompson humor hahaha. Ohhh good times..someone crack a joke. Anyways. Serious though. Holy cow Busy at home huh? Mom thanks for the e-prep package! By the way mom i have to tell you...i eat all kinds of Ryan's mashed potatoes from "banquet" frozen food! hahahaha I just had to tell you i eat it all the time. I bought around 9 boxes of the frozen dinners today. And you have been right all along! Almonds are great! I now am starting to eat alot more almonds and nuts because they are slower carbs or something like that and i feel aLOT better! kind of balanced. Ohh my family...good stuff good jokes. Is the Shitzu you were talking about teddy? i shall write everyone back because i just bought some envelopes   It was so nice to hear from you all! GREAT birthday present one of the best!  Oh ya and mom tell Deanna i got the EMPower and thanks for it!!! and the letter!

The missionaries in the apartment are awesome!! But anyways, they also have these cookies here called Maria's that i got 2 for 3 dollars! It was a GREAT week! Soo many great things and miracles happening here in Temecula! we just got a new Elder in the apartment who is right out of the MTC. Also the members are still running strong! We are teaching a lady from a Part member Less Active family who pretty much has stopped drinking coffee altogether! She is legit! Thats a miracle! She was born the same day i was and is now getting baptized the same day i was! And her son reminds me of Ethan and she kind of reminds me of Chantelle...for some reason i cant quite put my finger on because she is nothing like Chantelle ha ha  Pre-mortal plans!  Great things are happening here! They are awesome! It is amazing. The members give referrals pretty good and this ward is full of awesome member missionaries!  And thanks everyone for all the birthday packages!! That was sooo nice of you! I will write back!  We usually have at least one member lesson a night so that is pretty cool! Last night me and my companion had to go back to our apartment for something (his diabetes thing, we rarely go back to the apt. and we live 2 mile outside our area) And just as we got in there we saw that the other companionship was at the apartment also. Anyways the new companion had an allergic reaction to some pie that he ate to be nice and needed a blessing. And we all just happened to be there at 8 o'clock on a Monday night and were able to give him a blessing. The lord puts us where he wants us all the time, and we don't even realize it. That is where he needed us last night and we went. Have a good week!

Oh, tell Jordan good luck with everything and that he should check out some new Jericho Road CD's. Oh ya and Jordan..I had the most AMAZING burger yesterday that i have EVER had in my whole life! It was amazing! it was from this lady who is sooo nice and a little less active but anyways she also cook like she is from SC. BUT this is what she did and it was amazing i mean it was perfect with all the juices and amazing. She just took regular meat and then i scoop of cheddar shredded chess and mixed it together. But then...she put BBQ sauce and mixed it all together and formed a patty! and it looked like a regular patty and tasted amazing! The juices stayed inside and gave it a perfect not to BBQ is taste! 10 out of 10. 

And tell dad GREAT job on the Tulips! 

And Zachary ..NICE! 3 miles everyday!! THAT IS HEALTHY!!! Go run a 5k anyways if mom lets you! We run like 2.2 or so miles each morning so nice! Keep it up!

And Brianna: I am glad you made a blanket! .

Chantelle: Thanks for all the letters!!!

 

Elder Thompson

More from Temecula :)

Mom,

  Big Interview? hmm nice!

 That is sooo cool about the guy from Biscoe!! That is so cool! And you were friends with them! cool! 

That is great about younique!! 

Birthday was awesome The bradshaws were very awesome! That was very very nice of her! Had a good time! Very nice of her she has the kindest heart. Ohhh she is funny. But the food was so amazing and they got me 2 ties!!!! Sooo nice of them!  and i had a GREAT birthday!! Crazy missionaries and awesome members! They are soooo cool.

General Conference was amazing! Things are still awesome here! General Conference was amazing! Totally cool!   I learned soo much at general conference though! Go to conference with some questions, they will be answered!

If you sent it through the email i did not get it. We have not received the mail yet but they will get it today at transfers and we will receive it tomorrow   And i am going to try to sign those papers.Sorry about that!

 I am learning a little about the gift of charity and why it is so important in our lives. Like I always say, the members here are just way awesome! We are teaching a family and the mom is getting baptized the same day i was. They are awesome. I think by July the mission will be up to 250 missionaries. Good stuff! Alrighty!

 Tell everyone in the branch i said hi!

Alex's Birthday Surprise!

Words can not even describe my joy in this post!  What a wonderful blessing to have a family love Alex so much!

Hi Sister Thompson,

My name is Wendy Bradshaw, mom of Paul who sent you the picture of your son on Monday.  I just wanted to tell you how much we love your son!  He is such a delightful addition to our ward.  He is so wonderful with my boys and such a GOOD example.  We are so blessed to have him serving in our ward. 

It was so neat for us to find out that your son was 18.  My oldest, Paul, will be 18 in September.  Your sweet son has been so encouraging to Paul- telling him how important is to graduate, calling him to come and teach them, reminding him read his scriptures.  It is WONDERFUL!  Your son is reaching Paul in ways we can’t.  Thank you for sending him to us and letting him bless our lives!

I have a tiny favor to ask.  Could you tell me some of your son’s favorite foods/treats?  I want to make him a dinner he really likes when he and his companion come for dinner.  Your son is so polite and he won’t tell me what his favorite dinner is.  I know what Elder Clark likes, but your son always says anything is fine.  He is so kind!

You have a wonderful son!  We love him so much!

Love,

Wendy

Janae’ and Gwen,

We thoroughly enjoyed having your sons in our home today to celebrate Elder Thompson’s birthday!  Elder Thompson and Elder Clark are such great missionaries and we love having them in our ward and in our home!  I have attached some pictures we took today of them in our home as well as a video link of us singing Happy Birthday to Elder Thompson.

We wanted to let you know that your sons are doing very well and we are so impressed with both of them!  They love the Lord and are such good, dedicated missionaries and great examples to us and our children.  We are preparing our oldest son to leave on his mission later this year which we are very excited about.

Have a great evening!

Regards,

Hello from Temecula!!!

   This has been an AWESOME week here. Definitely a week of miracles in the gospel and in missionary work!

We met some people who wanted there Baby blessed on Sunday. They are awesome! We accidently ran into them a few weeks. The baby is 5 months old and we got to take part in that! HE is awesome and the family is cool too. The mother of the baby is getting baptized on May 4th! The day i was baptized! and she was born on April 6th also! Been having some cool discussions! Although, if it goes well that means that we are not converting but the spirit is. So not us.

Such a great week though! We met some great people! We also had a baptism last Saturday! She is a 14 year old girl whose parents were pretty less active for about 15 years or so. And long story short they started meeting with the missionaries after a member kind of hooked them up and here she is. I might send a pic if it will hook up. Anyways great stuff such a spiritual baptismal service! She got confirmed on Easter Sunday!

WE also helped a recent convert move out this week headed to Plano, Texas. He is funny, his name is Steve.

There are some GREAT members here! We had dinner last night with the Hribars, the WML and his wife who had invited a family over with us! They didn't make it but it still ended up great because they got other people to come also!

The work here is great! The members are beginning to grow and are already missionary Pro-active!!! So great! It has just been a great week!

We are also teaching a man named Billy Evans who is awesome! He is just kind of starting over.

President Cook is awesome also!

Our Easter service was sooo spiritual. There were sooo many people that showed up and a lot of LA's because of the baby blessing. It was just sooo amazing. Great talks and great musical numbers. The spirit was very strong.

We also have an appt with a less active later this week who is going to feed us some lunch.
Great things are happening here in Temecula, California! The Lord has opened doors!

Have a good week thanks for everything!

-Elder Thompson

3rd P Day in Temecula

Awesome!

No I Didn't give the blog post to anyone from Murrieta but that is where alot of the members of our ward live. The boundaries are funny, because Murrietta is out of the mission. 

Glad you liked it it  was a funny moment. We were just talking about things in Arkansas and I mentioned Toad suck and then they were like.... toad suck.? Aha it went from there! The Bradshaw's are awesome.

 I hope things are good. I got the package THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!! I needed granola!! SO thank you it was sooo good to have again! And i was about to buy astringent today cause the other stuff wasn't working! But you sent it!! Ha ha seriously, amazing! And the candy sticks and the note Thank you soooo much! And the muffins are AMAZING!!!!! I had 3 this morning ha ha or 2.5 not sure. But they were so good. Did you put some kind of a buttery drizzle on top? It just tasted amazing. 

Our district is pretty good The members are awesome here and I think we are going some where for Easter to the Evans families house where they will give some candy! I love it here!! The Ward is great like I said. 

Also did you get all the Candy? Ha ha I sent some just not sure if it made it. Also, I am pretty much out of EMPower. Did you ask DeAnna about that? :/ 

Oh I hope everything is going good! Is Chantelle still there? I assume she is I hope you are having a BLAST ( good time :) ) with her and Ethan  Eat some pizza for me :) 

WE ate alot of pizza this week from Papa Murphy's because members own it and all. We had breakfast for Dinner last night. Ohhh the people in California are pretty cool. Did I tell you we are basically in one of the hottest parts of the Mission? Its the 2nd hottest I think. 

Anyways I hope you all have a good one and enjoy family time and by the way ...the Taylor's  Awesome. Oh ya, TEDDY? ha ha have a good one.

Love

Elder Thompson

Oh ya, I figured out coke does miracles. Cause  got sick and drank 3 liters of coke and anyways ..Better now! ha ha 

Tell Jordan hi! and keep it up! ha ha glad you got the Candy. 

Our District here is awesome too k cya!

Its a small small world!!

Check this out! A ward member where Alex is serving sent me this picture! Said they love Alex and even gave him some Easter Candy. I loved loved loved getting this.

My late Birthday Surprise!

2nd Pday in Temecula

Mom: Thanks for the email and you too! Ohhh mom, what a NICE email!!!! Things are good here in California! Our ward has about 200-300-400 members..not really sure! The weather is nice!! There are a lot of Avocados here from what I have heard but here in Temecula I have only seen one fruit tree....crazy! I am going to start eating a lot healthier and stuff so i can feel better! So I will be eating fruit in memory of my mother! And mom GREAT missionary moment!!! That is sooo cool! Also how is James? We bike ALOT Fri and Sat. WE get the car Mon-Thur and then trade it with other companionship. I am trying to think what else to tell you....Missionary work is pretty cool. It gets pretty dry here though so I had to learn to hydrate more the hard way. But I get to eat better now! All things shall work together for your good! I had a remembrance of the promise in Malachi 3:10 where the lord promises to pour out a blessing upon those who pay tithing. Jordan had told me about Katie. Good Stuff. I'm glad you liked the pictures. Ok so nice talking! Love ya! Oh ya and all of the stuff you sent me with was smart because I have used a lot of it(medicine) OH YA AND I EXPERIENCED MY 1ST EARTHQUAKE YESTERDAY!!! IT WAS SOOOO COOL! it was TINY but we still felt it ha ha it was awesome. California.Awesome So my letters will probably be pretty brief. .I hope that is OK..... :) Starting immediately we will have an adjusted email policy as follows: Missionaries are to write to their families each week and are also authorized to communicate by email with friends, priesthood leaders, and new converts. Chantelle: Thats good a quilt will be cool! I am glad Ethan has a new friend I am sure he will Love that. Have fun at the Thompsons house! And I hope Ethan has a good time at the daycare! Emily: Hi! The ward is probably around 200-300 people! And i couldn't eat all of the cupcakes but I gave one to an Elder that was having his b day in the MTC! Daily Schedule: 6:25 wake up, 6:30 Run 8:00 Personal Study 9:00 Comp Study 10:00 12 weeks program Usually between 11 and 12 we eat lunch and then from 12-5ish we do missionary work and then again from 6-9 pm. Fried chicken! nice! Girl passing out? Crazy! . Perm..NICE and I need a haircut! So, my healthy sister. I have found that when I eat healthier and exercise and stay hydrated I feel better!! Good stuff. And I hope you saw some pictures! EMILY NO MORE PLASMA!!!! And she needs to drink more Gatorade! Oh Emily.. OK gotta go! And snuggles needs some more gummy bears
Jordan Nice! Zach.
Nice! Brianna is pretty awesome! Bye! 

Temecula, California Pictures March 4, 2013

I love him so much.

Provo, Utah February 23, 2013

Temecula, California February 29, 2013

Obviously this is his companion studying in his first apartment :)

Provo Pictures from February 18, 2013

Mission Pictures February 17, 2013

Provo, Utah Temple

 The beautiful Utah mountains.

 Just another picture of the many Alex takes of his camera that don't make sense to me but he was obviously fascinated with the grass?? LOL

Provo Utah Pictures 2-16-13

This is the MTC, or part of it anyway. 

 I stuck this on here because he sent several things like this... Total Alex style.. Always something to see through his eyes with his camera, or at least what he finds interesting.

Provo, Utah Pictures February 13, 2013

These are photos Alex just sent me on an SD card. I am so very very excited to see them!! I don't have a letter or explanation to go with them but they are pretty self explanatory. I am not going to post every single one he sent, but I will post most of them here and a few on our family site as well.

This is our son in law who drove down with Emily (his wife and our daughter) and Chantelle (also our daughter) :) from Idaho to pick up Alex in Utah and take him the rest of the way to the MTC.

 And this is Ethan!! My precious grandson who also traveled along on that trip.

 Chantelle. The Driver.

 I am thinking pretty positively that this was Alex's companion in the MTC :)