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Monday, December 21, 2015

Weirdest Week Ever

Dear Family and Friends,

This has been the weirdest week so far on the mission. This week we
had Zone Conference in Billings, Montana! Billings is 6 hours away,
even longer when the roads are snowy, icy and windy. We were to drive
up Monday, stay the night in the mission home, go to Zone Conference 
Tuesday morning, and then head home to Newcastle that same afternoon.
The drive there was exciting because we saw snow, and the Southern
part of the mission hasn't gotten much snow. Most of the drive was
quite smooth. When our vehicle got to the mission home at 7:30 that
night, we all got out and began working to clear the parking area
behind the mission home. Elder Bird and I stayed out there for two
hours. We were both exhausted and we're happy to find pancakes and hot
chocolate inside. I think one of the most enjoyable things as a
missionary is being with a bunch of other missionaries. It is so much
fun to laugh together and tell stories. That was a happy night in the
mission home.

The next day we had Zone conference, and that was super fun. We were
each asked to prepare a three minute talk on the atonement. I knew
when I walked in there that day that I was gonna be called up. I was
thankful for that because it gave me time to get over my nervousness.
Sure enough, I was called up! Later during Zone Conference I had the
opportunity to sing a duet with my close friend, Elder Tippetts. It
was so much fun to be able to sing my heart out again with this
beautiful arrangement. It feels like a long time since I have been
able to do that. After all the beautiful talks and musical
performances we got to eat delicious food and mingle with all the
other missionaries for about an hour or so. It was awesome. Then began
the trek home.

I could tell as we started driving home that Elder Bird was exhausted
from driving and shoveling the walk the day before. We drove in the
caravan with the rest of the vehicles in our zone this time, which
made things quite a bit slower. We stopped and ate in Sheridan Wyoming
at about 7 and didn't get to Gillette until 9. To give some
perspective, Gillette is still an hour away from Newcastle. We ended
up staying the night in the Zone Leaders apartment in Gillette. There
are three beds and two couches in the apartment. There were six of us
sleeping in this apartment. They didn't have any blankets so Elder
Bills and I slept on the couches without them and Elder Bird slept on
the floor on a little pad. Elder Tippetts got the bed upstairs. I
slept pretty well, but when I woke up in the morning, Elder Bird was
curled up in a little ball and looked miserable.

On the way home I could tell Elder Bird was sick. When I asked, he
confirmed my suspicions and said he felt miserable. I felt so bad for
letting him take the floor! He was sick for the rest of the week and
we were ordered by the health supervisor to keep him inside all day.
We stayed inside for THREE DAYS! It was made better by listening to
Christmas music and decorating the house with the stuff Mom sent in
the Christmas package! It will be SO nice to get back to work again.
Despite his feeling miserable, we were still able to get in contact
with a less active named Mikey and teach a lesson to Trent before we
got our orders to keep him inside.

Mikey is the coolest! He is about 25 and has a little bit of a mental
handicap but he has so much faith in the gospel. He hasn't been active
for a little bit because some in his family didn't want him to be but
his mom has been able to get him back to church. The lesson was super
cool because we were able to answer his questions. We have also begun
reading the Book of Mormon with him because he has confessed he didn't
totally understand it. He is a great man.

We are a little worried about Ashton. She had to cancel this week and
she didn't come to church yesterday. She is not getting a lot of
support from her family which is super hard for her. I have a firm
testimony in the power of prayer and I know that she would be very
blessed to be included in all of your prayers.

I love this work! I know this is where I need to be, and I love it
here. I hope you all have a very VERY Merry Christmas!

Love,
Elder Thomas

Me being a balancing ninja because I can :)

Billings!

The sun is out while it's snowing?

Christmas decorations! Thanks Mom :)



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