The Master is Calling! : 2 Decades Down, and Conference!

Dear Family and Friends,

What a crazy couple of weeks it has been! I am sorry I did not write
an update last week, I was busy buying A cowboy hat with my birthday
money! I can't even tell y'all how much I love this thing, makes me a
little sad that I'm not a legitimate cowboy haha.

First off, my birthday was last week and I received so much love from
all of you, it was almost overwhelming! Thank you all for your well
wishings, gifts and cards! It meant a great deal to me. As previously
mentioned I bought a cowboy hat with that money, as well as some jeans
because I ripped my old ones a couple weeks ago doing service with the
Stuart's... Anyways. I'm also looking to buy a new dog kennel for the
Gardners friend because I sat on the one they were borrowing from
their friend and broke it... I must be getting fat. Anyways thank you
all for making my birthday great!!

In the last two weeks we have been doing so much finding! We have
mostly been turned away but we've still just been working our heads
off! As long as you are doing your best, God blesses you. Elder
Christensen and I both have tons of fun knocking on doors, even when
someone is rude or short with us! We have the funniest conversations
as we walk around. They usually make no sense haha.

We've been working pretty close with a less-active named Barb. Barb is
a super cool lady that comes from a very active family but has never
been active herself. This last week we went and visited Barb at her
re-consignment shop again and were able to provide service by pressure
washing the alley that her shop is on. Barb is a cool woman, she
listens during lessons, is sensitive to the spirit, and she serves us
constantly! Please keep her in your prayers as she continues to make
this incredible climb upward.

General Conference was this week, and it was absolutely incredible! I
think my favorite talk was by Elder Sabin. I love the way he presented
the information, I love the idea of being "all in." The other thing
that really stuck out to me was when Elder Nelson talked about
spiritually stretching beyond anything you've done before. I want to
be all in! I want to spiritually stretch beyond anything I've done
before. I want these last few months to be completely given to the
Lord. I know Christ will help me as I strive to achieve this goal. He
has before, and always will.

Some quick finding miracles from this week. As we were trying to
contact some less-actives given to us by the ward, we found a new
potential investigator! We knocked on the door and this kind woman
answered the door. She wasn't able to talk long because she said she
was making dinner, but she asked us to come back when we could! When
we were on exchanges this week, Elder Pierce and I felt the spirit
tell us that there were 4 different houses we needed to visit that
day. So, acting on faith, we hopped in the truck and let the spirit
guide us at every turn. After driving for a while we felt that we
needed to stop, and we also felt like we were supposed to knock on the
door directly across the street. We did so and a wonderful lady named
Joan came out and greeted us. She was pretty closed at first, but we
showed her the video "none were with him" by Jeffrey R. Holland and
she softened up quite a bit! We gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon
and she told us she would read it, and to come back. We then felt we
should walk across the street and knock on the door directly opposite.
They also answered the door! They were not quite as open, but they
said they were willing to have us come back. The spirit then directed
us down another street and sure enough, the first door we knocked on,
they invited us in! Their names were David and Kelee. They were
incredibly kind and friendly. They both served missions of their own
for their churches and were completely supportive of what we do,
though we had different beliefs. This isn't luck, these are miracles.
The last door we knocked on, a kind man named Joe answered the door.
He said that he didn't know how interested he would be, but that his
kids might be interested! We're hoping to get the whole family.
Anyways, that was kind of a crazy night, Elder Pierce and I were both
stunned. Miracles happen! These things are too much of a coincidence
to be a coincidence!

I love you all so much. Remember to be "all in!"

Love,
Elder Thomas

COWBOY HAT!!!