We'll Harvest this Field from Sunrise to Sunset!

Monday, February 1, 2016

Gonna have to be a quick one.

Dear Family and Friends,

It's Monday, Preparation Day. Today we get to do something we don't
usually get to do, we get to play laser tag! A man in the stake
somehow owns all the equipment necessary and he offered to let all the
missionaries use it. Somehow we'll be doing it in the stake center, I
don't know if they're setting up the arena in the gym, all I know is
that we're playing laser tag, so this email may be a little shorter
than normal. So excited!

This next week is going to be a little different. We are going to be
staying in Laurel, Montana with our district leader, for 7-10 days.
The transfer before I came out, Elder Ross' last companion crashed
into a fence and dented and scraped up the whole left side of the
truck. It's bad enough that it will be in the shop for a whole week or
more. So next week, I'll be writing about Laurel instead of Red Lodge.

One of the best experiences this week was visiting a less-active, the
Scharnowske's with our Red Lodge branch mission leader. His wife is
active but he hasn't come for a while. It was fun to just talk to them
and get to know them. He told us a few of his stories from Vietnam,
and wow, you have to be really tough to do the things he did. He
really opened up, which surprised the ward mission leader and his
wife, and he said we could come back any time.

When we went to the Pratt's house this week, all three of them had
read. We were so excited. We both felt we needed to read with them
again but we will be moving on with the lessons next time. They also
attended church yesterday!

Last week while we were standing at the counter in a gas station, a
man came up to me, put his hand on my shoulder and said, "where is the
nearest church building?" We responded, "In Red Lodge." The man then
promptly walked out of the gas station hopped in his idling BMW and
drove off. Elder Ross and I gave each other a surprised look, then we
turned to the two cashiers behind the counter. They laughed to see our
confusion. I said, "I hope he didn't need an address!" We just hoped
he would be able to find the church without our help. That Sunday, we
attended the Absarokee branch but the ward mission leader told us the
man made it to church. The man was staying with his friend out in the
town of Boyd. His friend had just moved in and he told us that the man
had been thinking about getting active in the church again. So, we
went and visited him! His name is Allen Cattaneo and he is simply the
coolest. He strikes me as a "Santa" kind of guy. He opened the door
and gave us a big smile. He invited us right in and said he was glad
to see us. We had a pleasant conversation and got to know each other a
little bit. We couldn't stay long because Elder Ross and I had a
dinner appointment, but we're praying for him.

We were also able to attend another basketball game! This time the
kids were already familiar with us and came right up to us to talk. It
felt like every time we sat down, there were 5-10 kids surrounding us 
within five minutes. It was crazy and we answered a ton more
questions!  These kids are so curious and they just want the truth. I
also think they think we're super weird, but they can see we're
different, we're always happy and we know exactly what we believe. I
think that is a new concept for them. We love these kids and I hope we
can make a difference. We know from a member that was there that other
people are seeing us to. One less-active told us they like having our
presence at the games and a member boy told us that the basketball
team has started asking why these two guys keep dressing up for games.
We're being seen!

I love this work!! I know that what I'm doing is right and I'm
enjoying every second of it! I love you all very much, stay strong in
the gospel, IT'S TRUE!!!!

Love,
Elder Thomas

My District 

 RUNNIN'



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