2-26-24 No hablo Espanol

 This week started off the best way possible!! As a district we went to a nice restaurant called Cheddar. I had their ribs and they were delicious! Best part is that Sister Howe paid for all of us!!! On Monday we also had to switch vehicles because my companion decided to hit the side mirrors. So we now get to drive around in an Equinox instead of a Ford Maverick :/

Tuesday we did an exchange with the Zone leaders which meant I got to go to their Spanish area in Decatur. Since I don't remember anything from high-school Spanish I got to just sit there in our lessons. Well except one lesson, he spoke English. We also got to teach an English class that night... it was just more of me sitting in silence. Oh and while I was gone my companion invited one of our friends to be baptized and he said yes!!

My companion said In the middle of the night on Wednesday I started sleep teaching a lesson. That's pretty crazy...

Thursday was a pretty normal day, we had 2 lessons with two of our friends who are on baptismal date. We also had our interviews with our mission president which went really well! 

Friday my companion wasn't feeling too good so we stayed in most of the day. We had a lesson with our friend Preshay in the evening and well we invited him to be baptized and he said yes!!! As of now we have 3 of our friends scheduled to be baptized March 23rd!

The weekend was pretty cool too, we attended a baptism of a friend of the YSA sisters. Our friend Joshua was able to come and check it out which is awesome!!

"...that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God" (Mosiah 2:17)

Pictures:

1. District Lunch!!

2. These ribs were good. 

3. Texas Speedway

2-19-24 Chug

 This week has technically been shorter by a day because we had our Pday on Tuesday! The reason for that is we were able to go to the Dallas Texas Temple and do an Endowment session. I loved it!! 

On Wednesday we found and planned lessons with 6 new people yesterday!!! It's crazy how many people we get to meet on campus... and I'm starting to actually enjoy talking to new people. Only a little bit though. We also had a lesson with our friend Preshay, he's super cool!!

Thursday we did a lot of walking around on campus, we were supposed to have 4 lessons but they either canceled or never showed up :( We had volleyball that night which pretty sweet but our ward mission leader almost broke my finger... OK maybe not but it hurt a lot when he tried spiking it while I was in the process of setting it.

Friday we had a couple lessons and did some more walking on campus. I also gave someone a Book of Mormon for the first time!! His name is Josh and he's looking for a church to go to and seemed super interested in checking it out!

Saturday we did a lot of tracting at apartments. We also went to a really cool local soda shop called "Chug". Its actually owned by members so of course we got a discount. It's really cool because it's a food truck style and it looks like an old covered wagon from pioneer days! 

Sunday was cool of course, we were able to go to church and we were able to watch Elder Soares' devotional as a ward! We had some kind of berry cobbler after and it was reallllyyy good!!!

Pictures:

1. The temple trip

2&3. Chug!!

2/13/2024 Fort Worth Forty

 I'm starting love it here in Denton! Especially being in a ysa it's super fun. We have events everyday of the week except Saturdays. On Monday for FHE we had a nerf war at the church gym which was awesome! There is always volleyball on Thursday nights, I'm definitely looking forward to playing twice a week, once during zone pday and also with the ysa.

On Wednesday we had zone conference, I didn't know what to expect going into to it, but for my first time I really enjoyed it. In one of the workshops taught by my mission president and his wife they talked about... spiritual ping pong? Essentially they went into the idea that we are playing ping pong with Heavenly Father and that he is always giving us opportunities to grow spiritually and that all we have to do is embrace the opportunities and play the ball back to God. The conference was focused on becoming a master seeker and developing skills to understand the scriptures better. Oh and President John also made a comparison with March Madness and well because of that he showed us video clips of some of the greatest ncaa tournament games! 

We did a lot of walking around UNT campus this week, honestly it's been hard for me. Like most of yall know I'm a pretty introverted person so talking to strangers is definitely something I'm working on. We also did some knocking at a couple apartment complexes and it's weird because I enjoy doing that way more than walking on campus.

We have a friend named Damonte that I just barely met but he's super cool. He plays football and is trying to walk-on to UNTs football team. On Friday we had a lesson with him and well he wants to be baptized so we scheduled him for March 9th!!

so yeah my first week in Texas has been a good time, a lot different than what I was expecting but still a great place. I'm eating real good here. Other missionaries have mentioned the "fort with forty" basically meaning you likely gain at least 40 lbs while here... I hope I don't but the food is so good that it's a risk worth taking.

We also went to Braums yesterday! The burgers were actually pretty good. What's even better is that they have the "bag of burgers" which is 5 cheeseburgers for $8. I wasn't able to eat all 5 but you know more for later! I know for a fact that Colby Madsen could easily eat 1 or maybe even 2 bags of burgers...

"For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round"- 1 Nephi 10:19 

I hope all y'all have a great week!

-Elder Thompson 

P.S. Feel free to email me whenever you want I will respond as best I can! 

Pictures

1. Bag of Burgers!

2. Random poster at the Library

3. My District!!

Feb 2, 2024 Welcome to Fort Worth by Sister Jamie John

 They’re here!! We welcomed 9 new missionaries to the TFWM! This is their time!!! We already love them so much! Hope of Fort Worth!!

Zone Conference Feb 2023 by Sister Jamie John

 We had an incredible zone conference last week! We focused on becoming a Master Seeker and accessing His power to experience miracles in the TFWM! We were privileged to have Brother Maughan, our mission health counselor, give a breakout on owning our Mental Health. The Assistants gave a wonderful training on how to use PMG more fully in our comp and personal studies! We will start to incorporate Kahoot! as a fun way to learn and be familiarized with PMG! Our last breakout was how to be a master seeker in the scriptures through playing “Spiritual Ping-Pong” with the Lord! We love seeing our missionaries connecting with heaven as they begin to “see” and “taste” for themselves the miracles brought through the joy of the gospel of Jesus Christ! Are you ready to play?

2/5/2024 Mean Green

 This last week has gone by so fast! I can't believe I've already been through the MTC! Honestly, I'm so glad only went for two weeks, I don't think I could have handled 8 weeks like my dad. The food is well food... it's not very good. The only good foods were the cheesecake and the byu creamery ice cream...

On Sunday our district was in charge of the sacrament which was cool. We again had the "go and do" experience, it was really enjoyable. I had the chance to ponder and study the question "How can I develop a closer relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?". I was able to study a talk by President Nelson called "The Everlasting Covenant" it is a great talk and I highly recommend yall read it too!

Monday we took an adventure to Insta Care again... and because of my companion's results we had to go again on Thursday :(

Tuesday we were able to hear from Elder Palmer a member of the General 70! He talked about how as we should teach repentance to others and that true repentance leaves no traces, tracks, or scars from past sin. 

Also on Tuesday we had a departing workshop and instead of them talking at us they put on a play that was actually pretty good. Obviously nothing close to what Franklin Theatre Company could produce! 

On Thursday most of our district had left so it was just my companion and I and two sisters, so classes were definitely different. I also had the chance to meet up with my cousin, Sister Taylor, who just got to the mtc on Wednesday! 

Friday was our travel day! Sister Stuart and I were the only ones in our MTC district going to Fort Worth, we didn't know anyone else actually headed to Fort Worth and not Dallas until we got to the airport! OK and fun fact Sister Stuart is from Preston Idaho, where one of the greatest films ever was produced...Napoleon Dynamite!!

Anyway, I met my trainer! He's super cool and knowledgeable. I'm serving in the Denton YSA! And from what I've been told, we will be spending most of our time on North Texas' campus. I never thought I was going to college but I guess here I am! 

"Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do"- 2 Nephi 32:3

Pictures

1. My MTC district and leaders 

2. Sister Taylor!

3. first time on UNT campus. Go Eagles!