The Master is Calling! : October 19, 2015

Dear family and friends,

Wow, first six days in the field. This is also the first Preparation day I've had in 9 days. I am so exhausted, today is definitely needed.

We have spent a lot of time here looking for new investigators. We have three investigators, one on date for baptism, and tons of potential investigators. People don't answer there doors much here in Newcastle and if they do, they're usually associated with another religion. There is a super strong belief in Christ here and I really love that, but I wish they'd listen to our message. Why, you might ask? Um cause I'm a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ and the message I have to share may just lead them to eternal salvation if they'll listen and accept it!! Geeze Louise. :) There are some times when I just want to grab a box and stand on it in the middle of the sidewalk shouting 3 Nephi 5:13 (look it up!) at the top of my lungs. That would be sweet, but probably wouldn't do much besides get me shunned... Haha but hey, maybe it's worth a shot!

I do love the lessons we get to teach though. I love feeling the spirit and knowing how to help them. This morning we got to eat breakfast with one of my favorite people ever. His name is Dallas. When the missionaries found Dallas 3 years ago, he was only a week away from becoming a catholic priest. He had been catholic his whole life. Dallas never finished becoming a priest but instead became LDS. Dallas loves the missionaries and has them over for breakfast a lot. The first time you go he washes one of your feet as Christ would. While washing your foot he explains the symbolism behind it. The symbolism and meaning behind it is that the master of the house in old times would wash your feet to let you know that you were always welcome in his home. He is such a good soul and everything in the church is very sacred to him. His calling is as the music coordinator. He gets the topics of the talks, goes to the topics section of he hymn book and prays about which of those hymns is needed. Many individuals have had amazing spiritual experiences during sacrament meeting because the Lord knows which songs they needed that day. He also just got called as the teacher of the 13 and 14 year olds, something that's very big for him. Today we were able to sit with him after breakfast and talk about the fact that God trusts him and will qualify him for that work.

In other good news, there is a young man named Trent that we gave the last three lessons to last night. He has been and still is working toward baptism on the 31st. He has great faith.

Our newest investigator is named Tasha. We found out about Tasha when studying the area book. We found that she had been tracted out by missionaries before and had agreed to more appointments but she had cancelled the next two appointments. The book told us that she worked in the phone store on Main Street so we went and found her there. We talked to for a bit and she said she would meet with us the next day. When we met with her and her daughter at a little restaurant, she said she didn't want to take "the lessons" but that we were allowed to share a message with her every so often. That is currently our plan, and we hope the spirit will touch her heart and that we'll have opportunities to bear testimony of the church.

It's been a busy week and I hope we have another one next week. I love you all! Keep up the good work:)

Love,

Elder Thomas

P.S.:

We live in a teensy little cottage in the middle of the woods. It's
super fun. My bed is made out of memory foam :O

The picture of me throwing wood was a service project we did for an
elderly member of the ward, Brother Moody. He is a really cool guy but
he refuses to call me Elder Thomas and only calls me by my first name,
Neal. Weirdo haha. We also provided service at a senior center this
week. We do it once a week. We dish up their food and then we dish up
some for ourselves and go eat with them. Afterward, we clean up the
kitchen.

I love this ward. Everyone is so kind and helpful all the time.
They're so much fun.

BLOG P.P.S.:

If anyone sent me a letter by long hand while I was in the MTC and it
got to the MTC after I left, it's gonna be a super long time before I
get it cause they'll mail it to the mission home in Montana and then
the mission home will mail it to my residence in Newcastle Wyoming.
Therefore, the letter might have to travel from Utah, to Montana, and
then to Wyoming.

For the next six weeks my actual address is 351 East Wentworth, Newcastle WY.

Anyways, love y'all!

PICTURES:

This is my mini house

These beetles are everywhere and they're always getting into our

house. We call them "Apple bugs" because they smell like apples when

you... y'know, do what you do to bugs.

Elder Hatton's many shoes. And a few of mine.

The kitchen and living room.

Study Room

Bedroom

Bathroom. This bathroom smells weird.

This is Boo. He's the neighbors dog. Our neighbor is the only other
person on our secluded dirt road and he just roams between our two
houses:) they gave us a house AND a dog!!