Where in the Mission is Sister Thomas Going?

So, Saturday night was Transfer call!!!  Up until Friday night I thought Nanto and I would stay together in Kitsap Lake, really thats what I hoped, but I knew after that night I was gonna leave....the only question was where, I felt like Tacoma since I've been sick so much and I'd be closer to the Weavers, and well I was right!!!!.....I'm transfered to the Highland Hills, Tacoma Area!!!

I'm really excited but also nervous b/c I hate change!!!  What's cool though is that Highland Hills is the AP's area, and we're the first Sisters in the area, and you may not know this but people, especially women, LOVE SISTER MISSIONARIES.  Elder Parry one of the AP's said he had never seen a Bishop's wife more excited in his life.  So, I know we'll be loved.  My companion is Sister Crosby, who came out the same time I did, I don't really know her, but everyone says I'll love her so I'm praying we'll get along well, I was super spoiled with Nanto.  I'm really sad to leave Kitsap Lake though....We had finally started picking the work up, and we have so many strong investigators, and it made me feel good because tons of people, I didn't even know well, came up and told me that I helped them alot and they would miss me....I really needed that b/c I felt like hardly anyone would care, so that felt good!!! 

Oh Family! I told Nanto that when she goes to UVU in August that she should come meet you because you would love her and she'd love you, so yeah....she may come knocking on the door one day!  She doesn't leave til July so you've got at least til then :)

Well, this last week has been really hard.....like extremely hard.  On Wednesday we were texting Ty, and all of a sudden he started getting inappropriate, like sexual harassment inapropriate.  So we asked him if he knew he was talking to the Sister Missionaries, and he said "YUP!"  We then told him we would not meet with him anymore.  It was awful, I have never felt so objectified as I did then, and it really affected Nanto b/c of things in her past.  We then saw Danille and we ended up having to tell her about it....she said it was the last straw and that she was kicking him out.  We heard from Jamey Housman in our ward that they had gotten into a huge fight, the Cops were called and Ty had escaped out the back window.  We asked if he thought we were in danger and he said, "No, that wanna-be wouldn't try anything, plus I talked to my friends that are still on the street and they're watching out for you, plus you've got me"  Man, it's good to have an ex-gang leader as a ward missionary....We knew we'd be fine after that!! 

Oh, fun news!! We did this March Madness thing with PMG, and we got to go Bowling if we did it....so today we went bowling!!!  And guess what, miracle! I got over 100 every game!!! It's so unusual!!!  Well, I can't think of much else that happened this week, it was kind of a hard stressful week,but it was fun too!  Well I hope you all have a great week!! I love you all very much and I pray for you everyday!!!  I LOVE YOU!!!

Sister Thomas

Just another Week!!

Hey Family and friends!!!

How are y'all?  I hope everything is good!! I hope you all watched and loved conference as much as I did....I just love that we are able to hear from God's prophets 2 times a year, it's such a blessing that I think I've really taken advantage of over the years.  I loved President Uchtdorf's talk about leaving the dark and coming into and finding the light.  It was exactly what I needed for myself, and for the work. 

So this week has been a weird week.  We did a lot, we had 23 lessons, which is about 3-4 a day, and we got lots of new investigators, but Sister Nanto and I feel like we didn't really do much, it's very strange.  We didn't realize what we had done til we turned in numbers last night, we were both shocked.  I think it's because we didn't get to talk to Ty and Danille really b/c they were on Spring Break and they were our main investigators.  I think we were just very emotionally drained as well b/c we've pretty much been marriage councilors this week.  Sarah's husband randomly decided he wanted a divorse, and it was hard on her, and she needed blessings, and friends, and the gospel, and just so much, and its hard when someone is crying and saying, "This lonely is just such a bad lonely....at least when he was on deployment he had to be, now he's choosing to not be here"  It's really hard, she talked to the Bishop though, and is working on getting her Patriarcle Blessing, and making herself good and clean.  I felt like half the talks in conference were directed to her, and she thought so too, she loved them.

Oh funny story.  So on the 5th I was pretty sick, and was throwing up (yeah no fun) but I was not letting it keep me from tracting b/c we haven't been able too, so I said we were going to tract one street, even if it killed me.  So we went out on the voyage....It was good at first, but we weren't having much success, then I threw up, no success, I threw up again, no success, and I threw up one more time, and still we weren't having success.  My companion kept saying...we're going home, but we only had 6 houses left and I was going to finish this street, so we did.  The next house we knocked was Devin, he asked for a BOM and he said he would be baptized on April 26....we were pretty excited.....We knocked on the next door and met Tasha, she took a BOM and also said she would be baptized on April 26.....now we were very excited.....the next house was empty, but the next house was James who loved that we could trace back our priesthood and he too said he would be baptized on April 26.......by this point we were shocked in amazment.  The last few houses no one answered and we went home and slept b/c I was pretty sick by this point.  But, I learned that if we show God how willing we are to do His work he will bless us.  We have return appointments with all of them, and hopefully their desire will remain.

Well, that's about all that has happened this week, I hope you are all well, and that you know how much I love you, but more importantly how much your Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ love you!!!  I pray for you daily, I love you all!!!!  Hopefully next week will be more exciting and these pills will stop messing with me.  LOVE YOU!!!!!

 

Sister Brittany Thomas

Happy (and stressful) Easter!

Hey Family and Friends,

First off, I want to say thank you for the Easter pkg.  I got it on Saturday night and it came at the perfect time, because I was feeling pretty homesick with Easter coming and everything so it was exactly what I needed so thank you!  It sounds like you got my pkg so thats exciting, I hope everyone enjoyed the candy I picked for them, Emily was the hardest (since she doesn't like good things, aka Reeses) jk but it was hard :) 

So this week has been the best, hardest, most spiritual, stressful, fun, dumb, amazing week yet.  I'll start with Tuesday's miracle that has been stressful, but so amazing.....

So, Tuesday morning we went to see a LA (less-active) member at an apartment complex.  She wasn't home so we decided to tract the apartments by buzzing rooms and saying, "Hi we're missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, would you like to hear a message about Jesus Christ?"  We had done this to 3 rooms with no success, and then we buzzed room 104, said our little speal, and a man said, "Yeah, I'll be right down."  Nanto and I stared in shock at eachother, we didn't think we'd actually get someone to agree, and especially not so soon!  So he comes down, his name is Ty West by the way, lets us in, and we go up to a lobby and talk to him.  He tells us about his day, So he had been reading the bible (yeah crazy right) about Gethsemane and how Jesus asked Heavenly Father to remove this cup from him.  He then realized that's what he needed to do and he started to pray to know how to do it.  Right as he said Amen, we rang his apartment.......Yep, if anyone was doubting, God is there, and he knows what he's doing. We read Alma 7:11-12 (about the atonement) and then had him read 13-15 (about repentance and baptism) and then we asked him what he needed to do.  He said, I need to repent and be baptized NOW!  We said, yeah, you do!  We set up a CT (church tour) for the next day at 12.

Wednesday, 12 comes and we had brought Jeffy (a recent-convert) to be fellowship for him on the CT.......Ty isn't there!!!!  We were really sad, because we knew he wanted to change, and he told us not to flake out.....so we texted him to see where he was.  He apoligized and asked if we could change it to 4, we said of course.  That actually ended up being a blessing in disguise b/c then we were able to get the fellowship we really wanted!  Jamey Housman, who I think I've mentioned before, but if not then I'll just say, he is the best fellowship b/c he was a full on gangster, he dealt and used drugs, was in a gang, and so much more I don't wanna know about.  Anyway, he was able to come on the CT and he was perfect for Ty b/c he's kind of like that, but Jamey refers to him as a wanna-be gangster.  So we went on the tour, Ty felt the spirit a bunch when we were talking about baptism, and he brought up the Law of Chastity and Word of Wisdom.  Apparently Jamey had told him about those when they drove over to the church, which made it a little easier for us to just confirm, yes you have to give that up.  That's when we learned about Danille, Ty's girl that he lived with and had 2 girls with.

Thursday, We met with Ty again and told him he would either need to leave Danille or get married.  He said he would marry her but he didn't know how she felt.  We told him to ask her if she wanted to learn to and if she wanted to get married,  he said we would and we told him if he didn't drink, smoke, deal, etc he would be blessed, and he said he wouldn't.

Friday we got a text from Danille saying that she wasn't gonna marry Ty, but that she wanted to learn too.  So we set up an appointment with her and taught her about the Book of Mormon, and how she's a daughter of God and he loves her.  She told us about how Ty treated her and it was really sad, she told us the night before Ty had gotten upset and went out and drank even though he said he wouldn't and he didn't come home for hours.  It was really sad to hear that, and it made us feel really bad for Danille.  They have a 2 year old and a 10 month old, and she is just having a hard time with everything right now.  We promised her that the gospel would help and she agreed to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it, and she said she would come on a CT. 

Saturday, we took her on a CT with the Bishop as our fellowship.  It went really well, she felt the spirit so strong, and she said she couldn't remember the last time she was so happy.  We taught her how to pray and she said the closing prayer.  The spirit was soo strong. 

Sunday, Danille came to church, Ty didn't b/c there is this member that lives in their complex that is causing lots of problems, and spreading rumors about them to the ward, which is frustrating b/c they're trying to change and its hard when people know your past, and well lets just say we've been very stressed out about what to do about the whole situation.  But Danille came to church with her 10 month old, and she loved it, she said she  was happier then she'd been the day before, it was great.

Well I'm near bout out of time so I love you all, I hope you're all doing well!!!

Love,

Sister Brittany Thomas

PS oh here is the easter story in the words of Beckham Burnside a 7 year old boy......Jesus was in a rock, and then angels came and got him out after 3 days, and he lived happily ever after, THE END!  You've gotta love little kids!!!  Anyway, I love you and pray for you every night! Sorry this was all about Ty and Danille but that was pretty much my week!!

At last I see the Light!

Hello ALL!!

I hope everyone is doing well! I am finally starting to feel better!!! YAY!!! The doctor put me on new medication so the pain is going away, he said it will be a couple days to get into my system and to feel completely better, but I'm already feeling better so I'm happy!!  Despite all the pain this last week has been pretty successful.  Nanto and I got 5 New investigators, 3 of which are on date to be baptized in the upcoming weeks! 

Last night we got together with the Seabeck Elders (Elder Burt and Elder Bullough) and we put on a Youth Fireside with both our wards, it went so well!  The spirit was so strong.  The topic was S.M.I.L.E (Spiritually Minded Is Life Eternal, which is 2 Nephi 2:29)  so we each gave a 10-ish minute talk relating to that.  It was really great! 

Another funny thing that happened this week was on Tuesday.  We were looking for our investigator Jamey's house, we had only taught him at a members home, but we knew he lived near that member so we thought we would knock some doors in the general area to find him.  I had this feeling and pointed to a house and said, "THAT ONE" we went and it wasn't that one, BUT at that door we met this girl named Carly Quiriarte.  She was so sweet and cute, she was about 18 or 19 and we talked to her about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon.  She seemed super interrested so we asked her to read the Book of Mormon and then to pray to know if it was true, she said she would.  Then Nanto asked the big question, "If you find out that this book is true, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ, and be baptized by someone holding the proper Priesthood Authority?"  She said yes, so Nanto followed up with, "we're holding a baptismal service on the 31 of March, if you find out it's true by that date will you be baptized then?" then Carly responded in a very shocking way...she said "Yeah, what time?"  We kind of stared and said "um, 6?"  It was so awesome, unfortunately she hasn't been home to visit with us and she didn't come to church yesterday so the date will have to be moved back, but she seems like she is ready to learn and grow in the gospel, we're excited to get to see her and teach her more!  I'll keep you updated!

Well I'm like out of time, I don't know where it goes, but it just leaves!  I love you all and wish you all the best of luck!  I pray for you everyday and I know that god loves you and wants the best for all of you!!!  Trust in him!  He will make your pathways bright!!  He loves you!!  I love you all and miss you!

Love,

Sister Brittany Thomas

Oh funny story, our Zone Leaders have a baptism set up for this guy named Joseph Smith, and it's gonna be on April 6th....is that hillarious or what!?  I think it's pretty funny!!!

Keep Moving Forward!!

Hey Family!!!

So this week has been quite the week.....really it's been the hardest week of the mission to date.  So here's the story.  Monday night I start feeling the regular cramp pain on my right side ovaries.  I figure it's nothing, and that I'll be fine.  Well, Tuesday comes and it starts getting worse, I take some pain meds and feel alright so I just go on with life, but by 5 pm, which is when we usually start tracting I am in so much pain I can't really walk so we decide not to risk it and go home and rest.  I put heat on it and went to bed.  Then Wednesday the pain was worse, I can't remember the last time I was in so much pain, I think it had to be when I had the cyst burst when I was like 15, needless to say I was not feeling good, but its not my time, its the Lords time so I kept pushing and doing as much work as I could.  I called Sister Weaver to get a Dr. appointment because it didn't feel right..  That night we went went with Manette Sisters and did tracting, and by we I mean Sister Nanto went with one of them for an hour while the other sat with me, and then they switched for the other hour.  It was awful, I did read the whole book of Jacob though, and I actually understood chapter 5! WHAT?! So Sister Weaver calls me back and says that the Dr. near us doesn't want to see me but wants me to double my birth control and then stop taking it completely......because he's CRAZY!!! He didn't even know what was happening...AHH I hate doctors.  So she tells me to take Ibuprofen and put heat on it and sleep it off and see what happens.  I did and the next morning it was worse.  So she called the doctor in Tacoma and he refered her to a OBGYN in Tacoma and set up an appointment.

We drove down to Tacoma on Thursday (about a 40 min drive) and went to see the doctor.  While I was there he decided he needed to do an ultrasound to make sure my ovary hadn't flipped, luckily it hadn't but I did have a large cyst, so he gave me Tylenol-Codeine, and told me to watch it and write about what went on and if it continued through my next month that I need to go back and see him....so far, sadly, it hasn't improved too much, and the Tylenol-codeine has made me very spacy....it's funny because Sister Nanto is also really sick with we don't know what, a super sore throat and such and so we are the living dead, but we've still been doing missionary work to the best of our ability!!

We got 3 new this week and all 3 of them are on date.  Their names are Kathryn, Kenny, and Kathryn....yes 2 kathryns.....Kathryn and Kenny are dating, and Kathryn is more open than Kenny.  She was a former of Sister Nanto's, and she seems golden so I hope everything will work out!  The other Kathryn is 9 and she really wants to be baptized.  Her mom is the problem....her dad and step mom, who are super awesome, are dealing with custody stuff right now. 

We also saw Kay and Patty again this week.  They are just so cute, and they're changing, it's hard because old people don't like change but each time we go we see a little change and that's all we can ask for.  Oh question, are we related to a Bill Thomas who was married to a Vivian Thomas?  Kay and Patty knew them, and those names sound familiar but I wasn't sure, Bill died a bit ago, but vivian is still alive.  Anyway let me know!

Well that's about all I've got this week. If there is one thing I've learned this week it is that no matter what is thrown at you, you have to KEEP MOVING FORWARD! Yes it's hard, yes life is tough, but if you keep moving forward you will see miracles and you will know that you are loved by your father in heaven!!  Another thing I learned is that we can never give up on anyone.  I met a lady the other day that was baptized at the age of 90!!! Yes it's better if you accept it a little younger, but the fact that she was willing to change and come unto Christ after such a long life just shows you that it's never impossible, there is always a chance to learn the Gospel, its never TOO LATE!!! 

If anyone reading this wonders if God is there or if he loves you, I can promise you that he is there, and that he loves you more than you will ever know.  And he loves you so much that he gave his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, to come down to this earth, to atone for our sins and make it possible for us to repent and return to him.  Praying and Reading the Scriptures will bring more joy than you can imagine.  Try it out, it won't hurt, it can only help!! 

I love you all and I hope you all have a great week! 

Love,

Sister Thomas

 

P.S. I'm sorry if this doesn't make sense, the pain meds I'm on kind of make me loopy and spacy, so I hope this makes sense.  Love you all!!

I love the mission!!!

Hey!!! So this week has been like the best week ever!!!  So on Tuesday we went to transfer meeting and we got our new companions.  Mine is Sister Nanto!!  She is SO AWESOME!!!! I don't even know how to explain it, like day 2 we were best friends and its kinda insane!  The last couple nights we've gotten home at 9 so we had some time and so we've been jamming. :)  Our ward gave us a keyboard that has some sweet beats and so we've been rap singing some disney songs to them, it's really fun!!  It's definitely a good way to cool down after the very long days we've been having.

So this week has been the most physically draining week of my life!  We came into the new area, Kitsap Lake Ward, and after visiting the couple of investigators we had, we realized we didn't really have anybody.  Brother Hodgdon said maybe in a year he might change, but he doesn't even want to believe there is a god right now, so we won't really teach him much, just visit Sarah and bring the spirit into the house.  Everyone else kind of fell through too so we don't really have anybody, which means we have been tracting about 2-7 everyday, yeah 5 hours of people slamming their doors in your face isn't so fun everyday, but it's what you've gotta do!

We have had some awsome miracles this week though:

Miracle 1: So to start off you have to know that Sister Nanto used to serve in this area about 8 months ago, so she knows a lot of people around here, which is awesome since I don't know the area....anyway, we went and visited one of her formers who had been anti-ed by someone, and we taught her the restoration again, and we resolved her issues and she's going to be baptized on the 17!!!  It was awesome!

Miracle 2: There was this kid that came to church last week with his grandma because she wants to start coming back to church.  He didn't enjoy it last week, so we decided to teach him a lesson during sunday school to get him more excited.  He didn't want to come but one of his neighbors said he'd come with us so he agreed.  He is 12 years old and is named Jamey.  We taught him the first lesson, and talked about the Book of Mormon, and Brother Hausman, the most legit fellowship ever, helped him see that the gospel can change lives, and how special it is.  Then, I put him on date for baptism on the 23 and he said YES!!!!  It was the first time  I had put someone on date, and it felt so good!!! 

Miracle 3: There is this guy, Joseph Rose, who we have been trying to teach.  We finally got a hold of him, and he wants to find something to change his life, like a church.  We told him, well, we've got that something.  So we talked to him, gave him a Book of Mormon, and he is kind of on date for the 23 as well....he was unsure, but we're meeting with him tomorrow and we think he really wants this, it's really exciting.

Well, I think that is the big stuff.  I am just so happy to be out here serving the Lord, and helping God's children come unto him and see the joy they could have by being baptized.  I love my Savior Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father.  I can't think of a better way to be spending my life! 

I love you all and hope all is well.  I will try to send pictures home next week, I forgot my camera. But look on thebeautifulwa-tac.blogspot.com Sister Weaver takes pictures all the time!!  Oh I didn't even tell you about how we got to see Sheri Dew.....I'll have to add that into my next weeks letter because I'm out of time.  But I got to shake her hand, and stand on the stand with her with all the other sisters, it was awesome!

I love you and miss you!!!

Sister Brittany Thomas

One Transfer Down!

So this week has been a great week! 

Monday was just a good P-day, oh and we got out pictures taken.  There's this lady in the stake that is a photographer so she offered to take pictures for Sister Jensen because she was leaving and then she took mine to because I was there.  They're pretty cute, I'll have to send them to you sometime.  I haven't figured out the best way to send pictures yet so hopefully I'll find a good way.

Tuesday we went and saw the new apartment that we are moving to.  Oh, so you know how I've been over the 2 wards (Kitsap Lake and Seabeck) well for my transfer call I found out that I am now just over Kitsap Lake!  And my new companion is going to be Sister Nanto, who I've met once and she seems super awesome and I'm told she's super awesome so I'm excited.  She was also already in the area before so I'm not as scared about not knowing the area, because she'll be able to help me out.  Anyway, so even though I'm not leaving my area, I still have to move, so that's a pain, but it's alright.  The new apartment is super cute, it's just a small 2 bedroom basement apartment that is underneath a members home.  Members also own it and they are already super good to us.  The church is such an awesome organization.  They post on Facebook that they need furniture and dishes and such for the missionaries, and next thing you know you've got not only the necessities, but an electric ice cream maker, a rice cooker, a magic bullet, a keyboard, and so many other awesome things!  Plus, the mission bought us brand new mattresses that are super nice.  I'm way excited! I move in tomorrow!!  So Tuesday we went and helped move things in there and move the furniture around and clean up a bit.  

Also on Tuesday was Josephine Eichel's baptism.  It was so incredible!  She's been investigating the church for so long, and seeing her finally make that step to being baptized was a MIRACLE!  She was so happy she was smiling from ear to ear!  Then yesterday to see her receive the Holy Ghost was just another amazing experience.  Funny story, so at her baptism the Sister in charge of giving the Baptism talk wasn't there and we couldn't get a hold of her, so Sister Jensen informed me I would have to give it if she didn't show up, so I started reading a little bit and looking up scriptures and then right as the ward mission leader (WML) gets up to start the meeting, the lady walks in, and I have a big sigh of relief......She gets up and thought she was speaking on the Holy Ghost so she talks about that.  Then the WML gets up and says, now Sister Thomas has some words to share about Baptism....so I freak and get up, and somehow, well it was obviously the spirit, I give a talk on baptism.  It was such a terrifying amazingly spiritual experience.  I'm grateful I had that opportunity, it's true that your testimony grows the more you share it with others.

Wednesday was a pretty slow day we went to District Meeting, which was really long since it was the last one of the transfer, and then we went to visit a bunch of people, but none of them were home, it was frustrating.  We went finding with little success, but we did find a less active member with a non-member husband and they said we could come back next week so we'll see what happens there.

Thursday was my first park day, which is where you have to walk....EVERYWHERE....unless a member offers you a ride.  So we started out and walked about 2 miles and then a member of the Relief Society Presidency pulled over and drove us the rest of the way, we have the best ward ever by the way....I know that if they hadn't picked us up that there would have been 4-5 others behind them to do so.  It's so cool to see how much they love the missionaries up here.  So we went and visited a bunch of people in the ward, actually only like 2 since we had to walk between the houses.  It was fun actually, until my knee started being dumb....but all is well with it now, it's just sore.  When we were finding we found this guy named Jason who had read 1/2 the Book of Mormon just because he has nothing else to do on his ship, he's in the navy like everyone here, and he said he had questions but couldn't talk then, so I'm excited about that one.

Friday was full of driving from house to house.  We went and did visits with Sister Stanger, the same woman that picked us up the day before, and we got to know lots of the new people in the ward.  We met one less active member named Linda who is super sweet, she's 45 and had a stroke so the left side of her body doesn't really function great, but she still walks around, with a cane, and is such a strong and amazing woman.  She has 5 sons, 4 of which aren't members but they love learning about it so we have an appointment set up with them for tomorrow night, hopefully it will go well. 

When we were finding we met this kid that was really funny.  His name is Chase and he's 21.  The first thing he said to us was I'm Catholic my church says I shouldn't talk to you, and then 45 minutes later he said we could come back anytime and talk to him and his roommate.  We talked to him about lots of the church, but mostly the Word of Wisdom.  He was shocked that we had never had even one beer before.....he then offered us a beer, and we rejected and it was just a funny, spiritual conversation.  We taught him the importance of living right, and keeping your body healthy and clean.  He seemed to think that was really cool, he even said he'd check out church on Sunday but we told him it was at 11 and he said he works every Sunday 7-2, so we're gonna bring the YSA elders because it starts at 2:30, hopefully they will connect with him. 

Saturday was Transfer Call day!  Besides the transfer call, which wasn't until about 9:30 at night, we went and saw Kay and Patty, who are just so awesome.  And we saw the Hodgdon's again.  It was really funny, David was playing Minecraft, which I don't know if Adam or Andrew has played that but it's actually kind of cool, I think Dad would actually like it, it makes you think, I don't know it seemed cool.  But he paused it to listen to our message and we brought the spirit, it was great.  

That night we went to a members house for dinner and it was their sons birthday so we got him little dollar store gifts because he was turning 2 so he didn't really care, he loved them.  The Vaughts, another member family there told us a funny story about how they were at the store and the cashier offered them a coupon for coffee.  They said they didn't drink coffee and the lady said "Neither of you? Wow, what are the chances of two people that don't drink coffee finding each other?"  They were just thinking to themselves....We could actually show you a lot of that....Its funny the things people view as strange or different.  

Sunday was just an awesome Fast Sunday.  I got up in the Kitsap Lake ward and bore my testimony, it felt awesome!  We visited some families so Sister Jensen could say goodbye, and left her last words of love and advice to them.  It was a great, yet exhausting day.  

Well I hope you are all doing well.  I love you all so much!  I pray for you everyday! 

I want you to know how grateful I am for being able to grow up in this Church, surrounded by so many wonderful examples leading me and guiding me to the point where I was able to learn for myself the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I said in my testimony yesterday that I have learned more in the month of my mission than in the last 21 years of my life.  I think the reason for that is because I have seen here the joy and happiness that comes from living the Gospel.  My testimony of the Book of Mormon has been strengthened tremendously.  I know that if you read the Book of Mormon EVERYDAY that you will be blessed in every aspect of your life, and you will learn, if you're not entirely sure yet, that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ's church restored to this earth through the prophet Joseph Smith.  I challenge everyone who reads this, and I mean EVERYONE, to read even just one verse of the Book of Mormon a day for a month, and see if your life doesn't improve.  I promise that if you do you will see a change in your life and it will be for the better.  I promise if you pray, as well, that God will answer you and you will have his spirit with you. Just try it please, it can only help, I PROMISE!!

Well I love you all, have a great week, I miss you but I'm so grateful to be here serving the Lord, and it's already going by so fast.  I'm 1/13 done!!! WHAT?!? Oh and I found out I come home on July 23, 2014, which is Amy's sweet sixteen!!! also, WHAT?!?  

Well, that's all now, I love you so so much!!  Stay happy and healthy!! 

Sister Thomas