First Official P-Day, a Guitar Request, and a Naked Guy!

Dear Family,

Hope you have received my letter by now and given my address to Grandma.  Anyway, I think I may have already said this but I was able to leave the ccm fine.  H. Hathaway and I were together all day and we were able to bond a lot more it was great.  I was so glad that we had the same mission from the start! Yep, I had to be to reception at 2:30 am and we flew to Houston! I'm so surprised that we were able to take off because it was still raining severely! Not sure if I mentioned this, but H. Schaffner had her flight canceled so she had to stay another day at the mtc. 

We met President at the airport and he took us straight to the monuments for pictures, maybe Sis. Huntsman sent some?  It made me so happy to be back here and to see all these things again :) I'm glad to just be back in America.  That's right, we had Cafe Rio at the mission home for the first night and its right down the road for me now!! So good...

Elder Coburn is great and he's from Highland.  His mom is Trish Coburn so there, now you can be friends on fb. E. Coburn has been out for 14 months today!  I still need to get to know him more.  Our district is made up of Elders Biehn (as in bean) and Pickett, me and Coburn and Hermanas Bliss and Harley who's also new like me.  Elder Biehn is our district leader.  I look forward to getting to know the area...it's SOOO different here, it's all forest! Trade our mountains for more trees and that's what it is! It smells like the golf course 24/7 here so I love that!  It's so green...and humid. D:  

We've already done a lot of tracting and I've quickly discovered...that Latino people are so much more nicer than white people haha really though! We haven't been able to get inside to teach yet but we will.  I've already seen my first naked guy while knocking doors hahaha

Mom...I'm going to ask you something that I have been thinking about.  I don't know what you will think about this...but because I'm actually able to.......I would really like my acoustic guitar mailed to me. Sounds crazy and expensive but you could even put me under contract to pay you back later because idk how much that will cost. 

But I'm allowed to!!! One elder has 3 haha.  The only thing President advised us with instruments is space during transfers....but we have a car and so it won't be a problem.    

If you think it's okay, don't send it yet!! Tell me what you think and then I'll get back to you on how to go about doing that. Pleeeeeaase???

I've been typing most of this on E. Coburn's IPad...I don't have mine yet but this week I will! I don't have it yet because the church is in the middle of switching from Apple to Samsung so I will be getting the last wave of IPads! Yes! No me gusta Samsung tablets.  I'm such a spoiled missionary.  We got iPads, a phone per companionship and a car! But above all those, I have the BEST members in our ward ever! Everyone helps us out with missionary work and feeds us it's crazy.  I like our ward mission leader a lot too.  I've never seen a ward that has so many members focused on missionary work...

Yesterday I was able to go see the temple again!! I only went to the visitors center with a less active but it's so awesome to see the things I loved seeing over a year ago! Oh! And Rossylyn is in my area and we drove past my hotel!!! That seriously blew my mind! It was so good to see those things otra vez!  I'm so happy here.  It's p day now and we just went shopping at Walmart.  We're in traffic :p ...DC traffic is actually pretty bad if you get stuck in it.  We went to Great Falls for a hike with Rudy. Ah Rudy...I need to tell you about him another time :) 

I'm about all written out I think...tell me what you think of my guitar.  No need to say any national news cuz I know haha.  Oh and Anna, the answer is 10....10 of them didn't eat the chickens bahaha, I'm weird. Oh, and Elder Carling from the district I joined for a day gave me a card reader that he didn't need, so I can upload pictures now!!! Wow, he was an answer to a prayer.

Ok...now I'm on the Mac in the front of our apartment and so I've read your letters now...I figured Ryan and Bridger would be home now.  That's so insane...everyone says the mission flies and I believe it.  Tell Sara I say hi I guess...and you know what, tell her I'm kinda sorry for not ever talking to her haha.  Alright, I need to go...here's a ton of pictures of my life the past week and a half.  Love you all, and hope everything is okay.  Try to stay happy even when it seems hard to.

Love,

Elder Thompson

He Made It!

Your delightful and sweet son, Elder Thompson has arrived safely in the mission field. President Huntsman and I picked him up inside the airport terminal along with the other missionaries in his group. We then drove into Washington DC and walked around the Lincoln Memorial. He told us of his visit here recently with his high school and seemed happy to be returning. He particularly was excited to hear that Arlington National Cemetery was in our mission boundaries. He told of his experience at the tomb of the unknown soldier.

We then drove to the mission home, where we ate dinner, wrote letters, played getting to know you games and enjoyed each other's company. He should now be fast asleep. He will meet his new companion tomorrow.

We have been anxiously waiting your sons arrival. Thank you for sending us your Christmas card in the mail a few months ago. It has made it so we have looked at him often and thought about him, prayed about him, and recognize the loss he has recently experienced. We will be mindful of what he has had to already deal with in his young life and be sensitive to him as he grows and develops into the wonderful, loving man that I can only imagine your husband represents to all of you. We are proud of him already and look forward to our time together serving in such a special place.

May you as his mom be protected and at peace knowing his service and love of the Restored Gospel will be a gift he brings into the lives of others. Missions are incredible places for growth and development and we stand waiting for any help, love and support he will need out here in the field. We can tell by your family photo he has a loving support system back home. We pray Elder Thompson will have the added comfort of knowing his earthly Father is now with our Heavenly Father and His Son, the  tender love pouring down upon him from above will prove to be especially personal and intimate  to him as a missionary.  May it be a source of strength for him as he serves the ones who's presence his earthy father is now in.

Thank you for sharing your son with us, and all those he will meet and share the Gospel with in Northern Virginia.   We understand fully that this is where you want him, and it's where he wants to be, but it is truly a sacrifice on the home front.

Our love to you as you continue to send your love and prayers to Elder Thompson as a representative of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

We love him already!  Which is easy to do!
President and Sister Huntsman

Week Six--Ready For Change

Dear Family,

So....sorry for having this a day earlier, I threw everything off haha but...none of us are sure exactly what we're doing, because it says on the schedule that P day is tomorrow, but I guess it's today.  Sorry.  I'm super tired right now because we stayed up almost all night because there was almost no point in sleeping.  We wanted to have an awesome last night chat with E. Wilson.  Me and E. Wise hugged him goodbye at 2 this morning.  He's off to New York, New York!  I'm on a split with E. Wise right now, E. Brown is with E. Hinckley today for some reason we know not haha.  But E. Wise leaves at 12:30 today, so he has a few hours.  He will be in Ogden tonight.  I will be with E. Brown and E. Hinckley I guess until tonight and then out of all 3 districts it will just be me and H. Hathaway tomorrow because we have the same mission.  I'm glad that's the case.  I have to join a different district for a day, not a fan of that but, oh well.  Maybe it's one less crazy day in the field...and one more day of food freely given to me :D haha

Friday, we were all in meetings ALLL day.  We had our In-field orientation and that was literally all day long.  We learned lots though.  I learned that working with members is critical and we just had a lot of learning that day.  Saturday was our last day with our teachers and so we got more pictures, but you'll have to wait until I'm in the field for pictures of my last week here because I'm still frustrated I don't have a cord to the camera.  How much are they?  I'll be able to get one right?  

Yesterday was the Sabbath.  I blessed the bread in Spanish for my sacrament meeting and E. Brown had to give a talk haha they don't say who's giving the talk until right then so, that makes everyone have to prepare a talk.  Also in sacrament meeting, E. Wood played the piano for us, and we sang our thing.  I was the loudest Elder.  We did the separate parts in Spanish and then together in English and it was super cool.  I also played the same song for the 4 hermanas in my district that wanted to sing it again just before the weekly Sunday devotional and we did!  I played without music and it was nice.  Last night was our night!  Our pictures were displayed of our districts since were leaving.  We were finally sung to; the weekly God be With You Till We Meet Again.  And after the weekly video, we got to have our testimony meeting in English for once.  It was the best testimony I've had because it was so great and all of my friends were feeling the same feelings.  I told everyone my story of dad, and it was the first time E. Brown had heard it, so I shocked my district a bit.  I made so many others cry and shared with them..  I said I'm going to tell you how much I know this gospel is true...then I said what had happened in my life....and I said 'I know the church is true because if it wasn't 100 percent true and correct, I would not be here.  I would have changed my mind on coming on a mission once my dad passed'.  So many people came up to me after, because my testimony was the only one really like that.  E. Brown caught me off guard though...I didn't think he would cry haha. But he had a touching testimony as well.  I love Elders Wilson and Wise.  E. Wise came up to me after and said to write him up when I'm having those depressed feelings because his girlfriend took her life a year ago, and so when we came home last night we were able to trade funeral programs and talk about it and the resurrection and connect, it was so great :) My story has touched lives. I know that.

I've written notes to everyone in my district and given them secretly kinda in private.  I wanted to do that.  Anyway...these are my last few days in Mexico.  Can't wait to be back in the Estados Unidos.  I will either be able to call or at least email when I arrive.  I have to be at reception at 2 in the morning Wednesday with H. Hathaway ugh...I can do it though.  Can't wait.  Hope everything's been fine at home, because I won't be able to know what happened until next week :\  And I can'wait to have an AMERICAN keyboard again!!!! Hahaha sounds weird but it's true.  Did you guys look up the answer to that riddle?  You better not have haha but I'll give it to you now anyway.  

Answer: A casket

Right?  It blew my mind to think about it but it works.  I'm actually pretty sad right now because I love my district, they are my friends and were saying goodbye today and tomorrow.  If you're in Ogden sometime look for E. Wise :) (He says look for a really confused elder who can't speak Spanish hahaha)  He just said that.  Well...this is it...this is the end but it's only the beginning.  I love you all and can't wait to hear what happened este semana.  I'm so grateful I stayed here because I have learned so much...can't write it all, you can only know by going through the experience here. :)  Love you miss you gotta go bye.

Love,

Elder Thompson

Last Full Week at the CCM-haha

Dear Fam,

Ooohhhh my....Anna driving!? And in the Pontiac? Well...the cemetery was one thing but I didn't think you would get your permit so fast, Anna!!! Well wait...I've been gone for 5 weeks already...and that means I am in the middle of my last full week here in Mexico.  Tomorrow we don't have classes, but we have in field orientation classes all day.  Its so funny that we are all new missionaries here in the CCM but the age factor, I guess you could call it, takes place because we've been here the longest...Cant wait to be back en los Estados Unidos...Im telling you guys, first thing I'm going for in the airport in Texas is good o'l McDonald's hahaha!!  I got my flight information and this week we are going to weigh are luggage and check to make sure our debit cards work and stuff like that before we go.  Hermana Hathaway and I will be the only ones left of the whole group that came here on the 9th.  Everyone leaves Monday and Tuesday :P  I have to be at reception at 2 in the morning Wednesday :(

Oh and before I forget...next week my P day will be on Tuesday.  So my last day here I will be able to write you.  

Poor Penny...how did the microwave go out?  I thought that thing would have stayed strong forever! Haha next is the dishwasher...spirit of prophecy right there haha jk everything does seem to be breaking, but we can't be breaking.  

Wanna hear some stories? Good haha, you guys would be so surprised at how my story of me being in a metal band has SPREAD across the whole CCM minus the latinos of course haha but....I have had so many missionaries say oh you're Elder Thompson you're the one in the metal band, right?  I guess it's that cool!  So many people have said that to me.  The other day, Elder Brown and I played a little prank on Elder Wise haha it wasn't even that big of a thing, but while he was gone E. Brown took his closet key because he left it in there, and hid it somewhere...then Elder Wise came to the casa and thought he lost it so he went to go get another one from reception so we put his old key in his closet visible and shut it, leaving it unlocked of course...and he seriously thought he unlocked his closet even though it was already unlocked to find his key in there so he was so dumbstruck haha! He spread that story around and people were confused.  Turns out, Elder Wise has been praying for funny things to happen in his mission, so I was an answer to his prayer haha!  Oh yeah, and the other day, a bird flew through our classroom building and smashed into the glass door frame and died!! Crazy...Saturday I missed class because Elder Brown was sick this time.  I did mine and other Elders' laundry. I cleaned our whole casa almost, I was cleaning as a Cluff haha  Lately, we've been playing so much fooseball haha Elder Wise and I call ourselves The Foosfighters like the band Foofighers haha.

I've learned so much here, I can't believe its my last week already.  I'm ready to be done here though.  I've learned so much about teaching, how to teach and what to teach.  My skills are so much better than before.  I've been wondering why I even went home teaching because that was nothing compared to this haha  I have had the BEST teachers here ever because Hermano Amador is the director of our building so he's really good and I really like him...going to miss my teachers.  We've been all trying to get Hermano Lara, our afternoon block teacher, to bring tacos al pastor...the ones that you like, Kyle; they're his favorite too.  Sometimes teaching can be hard because our language improves at our own rate, and sometimes its hard to teach when one of us aren't the best Spanish speakers. We will be fluent though...Yo sé que.

Today we are going to the temple again!  Although the temple takes a lot of time out of our P day, I do enjoy going because its....it's just good.  I like  being there so much...and being able to be there more.  Although...last week I almost fell asleep during a ceremony...good thing we interact haha

This Sunday, our district will be singing Oración de un Niño in sacrament meeting, and the hermanas asked me to learn it on the piano for a different one they want to do for a devotional....so I learned A Child's Prayer in 2 days...of course now I don't need the music haha everyone thinks I'm inhuman for not needing music :)  Anyway...I kind of slacked in writing in my journal this week so that's why there's not as many good things haha   We haven't destroyed Spongebob yet...and I don't think we ever will haha we don't want to destroy him!  Maybe well hand him down generation to generation haha  Anyway...I don't know what else to write....I think I'm over my hour 0.o  Tell everyone thank you for praying for me, its something you can feel when you're in a calling like this!  This Sunday our district will be on the powerpoint because were this is our last Sunday here. Crazy...If you give a man a fish, he´ll only know the taste just once, but if you teach him how to fish, he will know for a lifetime.  That's a quote I liked from this week. That's our job...I love my family so much! Hasta lugo, nos vemos

Love,

Elder Thompson

P.S. I heard a riddle this week:  The manufacturer doesn't need it, the buyer doesn't want it, and the user doesn't know he has it....what is it? Its tangible.  Answer next week bahaha

Week Four--A SpongeBob Birthday!

Dear Family,

This week FLEW by really fast!  The days are all the same, so time is beginning to pass.  Well, my district (mainly Elder Wise) wasn't kidding when the said we should build a pinata for me haha.  So on Saturday 4/2, we took a look around and saw that we had some cardboard boxes from care packages, a big yellow poster board nobody was using, markers, pencils, and tape.......so we starting making a SpongeBob pinata!!!! hahaha We took like our whole P day after emailing building him.  We finished him last night, so it took a while, but now we don't want to destroy him haha.  Were thinking of doing that next week just to have him around in the classroom longer haha.

Before conference on Sunday, there was a musical number done during a devotional by an Hermana and Elder and it was SOOO good!  I wrote in my journal that it was and still is the BEST musical number I've ever heard for people my age.  Hermana Pyatt and Elder McBride sang Savior Redeemer of My Soul in Spanish.  They sang the Josh Groban version, its the song that plays at the end credits of 17 Miracles.  It cant say how many times it was amazing, their voices were like...idk...so perfect--it just sounded like it was coming from a recording!!  I really loved that.

I really liked general conference, and to some this may sound disappointing haha but this was the first conference where I took notes on every speaker in every session.  They had the sisters watch last weeks broadcast during Priesthood. Anyway...I marveled at how the prophet is looking these days, I hope he can continue on.   Oh, and Anna, yes I did see The Deaf signing the hymns but...I'm really sad that my ASL is faltering because I only got the word Christ out of it haha.  

But, I have stars on my notes by the talks of Russell Nelson, Neil Andersen, and Paul V. Johnson.  I really felt The Spirit so strong when that man was talking because he, and a lot of others, talked about resurrection.  At one point in his talk, I was crying silently to myself because it was so relevant to me.  This conference was the only one where I said out loud, that conference was for me.  It was the first time I listened with a few questions in my mind and they were answered.  I am here in the CCM because I'm choosing the harder right.  A lot of people talked about resurrection with having Easter recently and that's what made me feel like conference was for me.

During our weekly video/devotional that evening, Pres. Lyons wanted the singers to sing their number again.  It was so good, they sang it twice in one day.  It made a lot of Hermanas cry it was just so....you just had to be there to feel the music...I really admired their singing.  But Elder McBride left this week so no more of him tho haha.  

Here's a story that might make you sad for me...so conference Sunday, 4/3, the Comedor served burgers with curly fries and they were good!  But...a few hours after eating that I did not feel good at ALL!!  To cut to the chase, I had the worst case of diarrhea that night, and I felt SO sick when I woke up in the morning, and I didn't sleep at all!  Elder Brown and I went to the Enferma and Dr. Harston was slammed!!  He gave me medication that helped, but what Im saying is that I was not alone.  Almost half of the CCM is sick now, and a ton of the other Elders in the other rooms were up all night too.  So the Comedor is taking a lot of pressure now, they've installed multiple new hand sanitizing stations and stuff like that...its like the CCM is in a health crisis right now.  I took my medication except the Pepto...I will refuse to take Pepto!!!  I had to skip my morning classes and I rested all day, but I made it to my afternoon block.  Amazingly, I got better in 1.5 days so I was back to almost normal on my birthday!!!

Have you ever had a birthday where you forget its your birthday?  Yep...that was this one.  Im sure the older you get, the more that happens haha.  My class did sing to me in Spanish and some of my district bought my treats at the tienda.  I was able to get the Crush sodas exactly on my birthday so thanks Mom :)  Theyre soo good, everyone en mi casa is wanting to trade haha Nothing special on my birthday...other than, we got to hear Hermana Pyatt sing again!!!! Haha she sang Where Can I Turn For Peace?  That made my birthday way better!

I had another dream with dad in it this past week.  

I told you I would have pictures with the temple but that will have to be next week because...were going at 12 today.  Sorry.  Día de preparación...woo hoo.  Well, again we finished Spongebob last night...I feel so accomplished that we built something here in the MTC haha!  Bob Esponja.  Well...I'm out of things to write now.  I always bring my journal into the lab now...because I always forget stuff.  You're welcome.  Zions sounds super cool and fun.  Tell everyone Hi!!

Love,

Elder Thompson