Elder Almen Thorpe - February 2, 2014

Elder Thorpe

 

Ninja Ties

 

Hey!! so this week went by fast! 

   This weekend on Saturday my companion and I had a service project for Danny and Bionca! It went great. About eleven or so people in our ward showed up to help out on the project. Danny and Bionca had a pretty decent pile of trash in their backyard. We decided to help them move their trash, mow their laws, clean their driveway, and pick weeds! I know this might sound weird but I miss doing weeding and mowing the lawn. It  felt really good to be back into working mode.

Brother Taula, who is the president of the Elders Quorum was there to help us with half our Elders Quorum. It was great to see them all there to help us out. I could tell that the members were there to make Danny and Bionca feel comfortable. My companion and I were able to only stay there for an hour.....(oh, by the way this service project was in the morning at eight) we were sad because we wanted to stay for awhile but in our white hand books, the rule says that we are only allowed to stay at service projects for an hour. The rules are from our mission President. He not only comes up with the rules but we have to get permission from him if we are doing a project like this.

Later on that day we went back to Danny and Bioncas house to see if the job got done, and wow, did it look great! The members did a great job at taking care of everything. The house doesn't even look like their house. It looks like a brand new house, not only did it look good but going through this experience with Danny and Bionca really got us close to them. Our ward mission leader (brother Latu) told us that Danny and Bioncas daughter Jade, during the service, came up to him and said "I want to be baptized". Wow, hearing a thirteen year old girl saying that without being shy!!!! We are going to go back and talk to Jade, Bionca and Danny to see when Jade wants to be baptized. Jade's mom, Bionca also wants to be baptized really badly but we want them to get baptized when Danny and BIonca are married. Danny is a less active in the church but we can't have them living together without being married because of the law of Chastity. I have dealt with marriage but...wow this is hard work just helping these two to realize that marriage is essential to Heavenly Fathers plan. 

We had a talk with Danny and BIonca before the service project about marriage. At first it didn't start off too well but my companion and I held in there and had faith that Heavenly Father would help us in this situation, and before you knew it Danny and BIoncas feelings towards the whole this changed fast!! We told them that having contention between the family is part of Satan's work. He wants us to feel that anger towards each other and not feel that peace at home. As soon as we told them that, their feels towards each other changed. They smiled at each other and ever since that conversation their attitudes towards each other and around the house have totally changed.

It's amazing how the Lord can help us in situations like these, Just build your faith in him and he will help us all the way. There's a scripture in Alma 32:21 that's about faith, it says that we don't have to have a perfect knowledge of faith, all we need to do is have that desire to have Heavenly Father to help us. My faith has seriously grown and being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ Of Later Saints is the best!

Love being here on my mission and helping those who are in need. This Sunday was fast and testimony meeting and I went up and bore my testimony! My heart was beating hard but I had to say what I needed to say and that was that missionaries can't do missionary work without the ward members. No one in the church is higher than anyone. We are all the same, we help each other, we enjoy being ourselves and most importantly we are happy to know that our lives are on the right path as we take everyday to improve ourselves. 

There was a lady that got baptized in our ward. She said the coolest thing. She noticed that the bishop and his counselors eat with plastic spoons and plastic cups, just like everyone else. She then cried because back in her old church, the ministers would all need special cups, special seats and such but not in the Church of Jesus Christ Of Later Saints because we are all the same we love one another. I just wish some of our investigators could see that as the she did then they would see what the truth is for them. Its been hard to get investigators to come to church, but my companion and I won't give up until they come and join us. We are going to try everything we know to bring them to church. We have about fifteen people we are teaching right now, so we have a lot of work to do before transfers, a lot of new investigators and a lot of old ones, wish us luck!!! SAVING SOULS WEEEEEEEKKLLLLY!!!

 

LOVE YOU ALL!! And miss you all. Hope the week is great! Elder Thorpe