Letter Dated October 27, 2014 - Fun, Service, and a Baptism!!

Hey Party People! 

Happy Halloween!!! I hope you're all going to do something fun! Think of me while you're out doing all that fun fall stuff! :) haha I'm dying to go to a haunted house, or a corn maze...or anything Halloween related at all. :) haha only one more year! lol

This week was a super awesome week! :) We had a week full of Service!!

We did Exchanges with Beaver on Monday to Tuesday...which actually turned into Wednesday morning. I was with Sister Wilde, and we had a lot of fun! We spent most of Tuesday doing service.  We had one appointment that morning, and then went to thins thing called Bundle up Butler, and it's a thing that the community comes together and donates a lot of different coats and things to bundle up in, and then people can come through and get one coat in their size, and for their children and things, all free of charge. And it was a really neat experience. :) I just LOVE doing service! I feel like when I do service, I truly forget about myself, and I'm able to feel a portion of what the Savior must have felt with helping others. And it was a good day for people to come get coats...because the weather was FREEZING that day! Oh man, I was so cold! But the past few days have been really nice...so that's a plus. :)

After serving a little bit at Bundle up Butler, we went to a members house and helped her clean her new house.  She and her husband just bought a new house and they're doing some remodeling and reconstruction stuff and she has had a really sensitive nose lately, and the dust and stuff from the reconstruction has been irritating her nose breathing and stuff, so we were able to go up and clean up all the saw dust stuff, and the dust from drywall, and clean widows and things like that, it took us a while, but it was a lot of fun!! :) Her husband is super nice! He's not a member of our church, and he was just floored that people would come in and do things like that for free. haha he kept insisting to his wife that they needed to pay us. So his way of paying us was he brought a bunch of stuff up for us to make sandwiches, and he brought us drinks.  It was super sweet, and it was really yummy! Then we had volleyball that night with some ward members, and we had them bring our investigator Shana and her siblings to come play! It was a blast! Our District Leader and his companion were blitzing the elders area so there were six of us missionaries there playing, with several people who weren't members of our church, and a few others who were members. It was a blast! :) I personally think that is the best way to do missionary work. :) haha! It's fun! and it's not threatening, but we stilll get to talk about the gospel.  And the family that started the volleyball group thing always start and end with a prayer.  It's awesome! :) But anyways, the exchange leaked into wednesday morning because Sister Jones and her companion in Beaver had an appointment that went over too long and they didn't have enough time to drive back to Butler before it was too late. haha so we just had another sleepover. :) 

Wednesday morning Sister Wilde and I drove out to Beaver to switch back, and then we left straight from there to a couple different missionary meetings, and when we were done with our meetings we went to help  make mints for Brother T's baptism at Joe and Robertas house. :) It was a lot of fun! I had never made mints before, and Sister Jones and I were having a good time and we were just busting up with Brother T's wife, Jeanette. :) 

Thursday we did more service at that members house...We were painting this time though. It was fun! I really enjoy painting! I think it's like super relaxing! :) Sister Jones and I were having a good ol' time! haha the member left and ran other errands, so we were singing, and laughing. :) I seriously love doing service! :)

Friday we had a really good lesson with one of our Investigators.Him and his wife had us over for dinner (his wife is a member and is a TOTAL BOSS! :)  I love her!! :)) But it was super good, because we read out of the Book of Mormon with him, from the reading assignment he hadn't completed, and he really enjoyed reading together.  We've been working really hard to know how to help him progress.  And he finally expressed that he doesn't like reading, but he enjoys reading with a lot of people because he's able to understand what is going on in the scriptures. So, we have a new method to try...this next time we're just going to read with him out of the Book of Mormon. :)

Saturday was Brother T's BAPTISM!! :) :) it was awesome! :)

We started that morning by doing more service! :) there was a stake activity of service in the park, so we all gathered together at Moraine State Park, and we did a lot of different service activity things. :) We went and did painting,and we painted this whole huge building! :) It was awesome! Sister Jones and I got to get on the roof and paint from the roof down, because there were only limited ladders, and we had run out of things to edge...so we got to climb up there with the park ranger. :) it was fun! and I got to wear one of those awesome Yellow Vests for the Mormon Helping Hands. :) it was sweet! I've never got to wear one of those before! :)

And then we had Brother T's baptism! :) it was super awesome! :) There were quite a few people that showed up, and it all seemed to go pretty smoothly! :) Sister Jones and I sang a musical number for part of it...that was nerve wrecking, but it turned out okay. Brother  T was crying when we sang to him. :) He loves it when we sing. It was amazing to see his wife's reaction to his baptism. :) She was just crying and crying, and you could tell she was overwhelmed with the spirit, and happiness! And Brother T was excited the day had finally come! :) It was definitely a highlight of my mission! :) No questions asked. 

And Sunday, he was confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. :) It was such an awesome moment! :) Brother T was moved by the spirit a lot in his blessing. It was super great! Happy moment! :)

We also taught Shana, and picked up her mom as an investigator as well. :) I'll keep you posted on that as well! :)

well, Transfers are on the 7th of November, so I'll probably be getting transferred.

I love you all so much! :)

The church is so true! :)

The Gospel is great! :) 

hope all is well with all of  you! :) Love and miss you tons! 

Love,
Sister Thomas