It's Been A Transfer In Corvalis Already????

Dear Family and Friends,

Today is going to have to be extra short unfortunately...

This week was awesome. We had Zone Conference in Helena on Tuesday
with Elder Wilford W. Andersen and his wife, it was amazing. We
learned so much and I wish I could just tell you all everything, but
I'll just cover up one of my favorite parts. We learned that we need
to focus on getting families to the temple through the gospel of Jesus
Christ. It's so exciting to imagine our investigators in temple
clothes! That's the goal, ETERNAL FAMILIES ARE THE VERY BEST THING
EVER!!!

Speaking of families, Joel and Marilyn are still doing great! They are
going down to Utah this Tuesday to have their second interview, this
time with a general authority!!!! Mervin B. Arnold will be
interviewing them. This is a huge step, please pray for them.

So we don't have much time so I am going to write the next few
straight from the lesson reports.

Last week Brother and Sister Temple gave us a referral by the name of
Jim Neaves. We stopped by and his wife directed us to his shop behind
the house where he makes custom wooden bows. Jim was very friendly, he
let us in and showed us around his shop. He shared his beliefs with
us, and he started talking about his conviction on how the earth was
created in exactly six days. He started talking about The Flood,
Noah's Ark, Dinosaurs, and Adam. He is very knowledgable in the bible.
We shared a couple Book of Mormon scriptures with him from Alma 12 and
Helaman 5. We promised him blessings from reading the Book of Mormon,
even blessings for his family. We testified of the divinity of this
gospel and the restoration of it. We gave him a restoration pamphlet
and Book of Mormon, and invited him to read the introduction and
testimonies. He took it very well and demonstrated a willingness in
meeting with us again. Great guy!

We stopped in just to see if he would be interested in meeting with us
and he came out and had a conversation! We did a little fellowshipping
and then asked about his new baby. Both the baby and the mother are
doing well. We talked a little bit about the Plan of Salvation and how
that meant he could be with his newborn baby forever, that he would
never have to say goodbye. That seemed to touch him. We gave him and
pamphlet, invited him to pray and set up a time to come back. He
seemed so willing and interested.

And that's all the time I've got! Love you all!

Love,
Elder Thomas

Best district ever

It was a beautiful drive to Helena

The zone at Zone Conference! I love them.

Elder and Sister Andersen!

Did service for a member who has done some really weird hunting

Some more crazy animals!

THE JOEL AND MARILYN JESSOP FAMILY!!!!

God Does All the Hard Work

Dear Family and Friends,

I have gotten a few requests to tell about the miracles I see every
week. Pretty much everything that happens is a miracle. So, instead of
just mentioning what happens, I will also try to point out the
miracle.

The first is Linda. Linda is a woman that has just moved in to
Corvallis and is trying to get settled. She lives in a little trailer
house and has the sweetest little shih-tzu. The issue with this is
that she has no fence and her little dog can't run around, so we've
been trying to find someone that can provide her with a fence. We made
a few inquiries his Sunday and found a member who had plenty of, and
was willing to donate, the supplies she needed! Heavenly Father has a
way of setting things up at the perfect time and place.

A week ago Sunday, we met a wonderful woman named Victoria. She shared
some amazing experiences with us, including one of the most precious
dreams I have ever heard. She told us that she shared those
experiences because it is her duty to share these special experiences
after she received them. We told her that's why we're here, to share
the amazing things we've experienced. She opened up pretty fast at
that point. We shared this story this week with a woman named Deb and
her boyfriend Patrick. We used this to explain why we wished to share
the message of the restoration with them. They opened up a lot more
after this and we were able to schedule a solid return appointment!
The miracle is that God places the words of eternal life in the mouths
of two 19 year old boys who are not eloquent or knowledgeable in any
shape or form. It's a miracle that God works through us.

Joel and Marilyn Jessop are still holding strong! Joel is a very good
man and he and I get along very well, which usually results in us
laughing at one of our jokes and everyone else being confused. He is a
good man and has sacrificed a lot of pride to be where he is now,
which is a hard thing to do as a man. Marilyn is fiery. She teases
often and loves being teased, though you need to be careful because
her comebacks are quick and sharp. She is full of faith and has really
pulled her family through this whole process. They have four little
girls, Rachel, Kloie, Molly and Olivia. Rachel is about 8 and she is
very shy, but has warmed up to us and now talks quite a bit. We taught
her the sign language of the Ten Commandments (hand signs to help us
remember) last time we were there and she had them memorized when we
came back! She is the sweetest little girl. Kloie is 6 and is very
inquisitive. She loves to draw and will often draw a picture of
whatever we are teaching about that day. She loves to tell us stories.
Molly is 4 and she is a talker. Her parents say she was born making
noise and she hasn't stopped since! She loves to act like she wants to
give me a high five but as soon as I go for it she moves her hand,
little stinker haha. Olivia is 2 and she is a bowling ball. She has
little scratches and bruises everywhere, she drives her mother crazy.
She also doesn't like it very much when the attention isn't on her.
She is the cutest and sometimes makes it very hard for me to focus on
the lesson. This family is a miracle in our lives. They bless us so
much and we absolutely love teaching them. They have each, especially
Joel and Marilyn, had so many miracles to bring them to this point.

One of the biggest miracles, this week was the Walkers! We felt a very
distinct prompting to go to a group of apartments here in Corvallis
called the Courtyard. We tried a few places and no one answered, then
we noticed the Uhaul truck. We could see a family moving stuff out of
the truck so we offered help. They were super thankful because the
father had some really bad back problems and he couldn't help them.
They thought it was cool because they had been praying for someone to
stop and help when we showed up. How much fun it is to be an answer to
someone's prayer! We gave them a pamphlet, bore our testimonies and
told them we would stop in again.

When we met with Will and Kara this week, something had changed. There
was just a light about them that hadn't been there before. They asked
a few questions and then they gave us the surprise, they were ready to
start the interview process. WHAT???? Neither of us saw this coming at
all. They had done their part and they received their answer. So, now
they need an interview with President Wadsworth. They're so ready.

We taught a great restoration lesson with a potential investigator
this week. We've been trying to get in this whole transfer and we were
finally able to get in. It was a super good lesson and he is searching
for truth. He wants us to come back and he is super excited about the
Book of Mormon. His name is John Reed. His kids were a little
distracting; whenever their dad says no, they come ask us. Kids are
cute and amazing and all, but sometimes they just want to be loud! If
any of you have any ideas of how to distract children or something,
please let me know. It was a good lesson though!

The last experience I want to relate was our dinner last night. At
church, the couple we were having dinner with approached us and told us
they were going to bring us to a family party in Pinesdale. Just so
you understand, Isaac Jessop, the one we were having dinner with, has
30 siblings. We weren't quite sure how we'd be received. We had barely
arrived when we were received with love and kindness! It was kind of
like an extended family reunion, except it was just one family. I
spent most of my time talking to Isaac's mother, she was a very cool
lady. I love the people of Pinesdale. They are wonderful. I was sad to
leave. Also, their fish is divine.

I love you all! Keep doing missionary work, someone is waiting for you
to touch their lives.

Love,
Elder Thomas

The Bitterroot Mountains 

The Lake Como hike was unrealistically beautiful

Photo-bombing Elder Kellogg's photoshoot

Just me in Montana.

Chillin' by the waterfall

Elder Kellogg, Elder Angle, and me!

The Zone

Soooo pretty

Pics on the way back

Still Busy? Yep.

Dear Family and Friends,

Today we go to see Lake Como here in the bitterroot mountains. I'm SO
TOTALLY STOKED because I haven't been hiking for EIGHT MONTHS. It's
about time.

So some of the super important things:

Andy and Michelle are doing really well. We taught them about temples
and ordinances this week, they were extremely receptive. Erica, the
little 9 year old, said she would like to go in the temple some day!
Usually at the end of the lesson Andy and Michelle ask their deeper
questions. This time they asked us what happens if we break our temple
covenants. We explained covenants and their significance, as well as
repenting of whatever transgression broke the covenant. To add some
context, when Members of the AUB go through their "endowment house" in
Utah, it's a very fearful experience for most of them, not joyful or
peaceful. It was interesting for Andy and Michelle to hear how
peaceful we felt when we got our endowments. They want that peace in
their life really bad! Andy also confessed to us that he had wanted to
call off the missionary discussions a few times but he knew in his
heart that would be the wrong thing to do. We love them! They're in
Utah this week, so we won't get to meet with them, but we sure will
pray for them!

Will and Kara are progressing as well. Will is completely ready to be
baptized, but Kara is having a harder time. We feel that she wants to
be baptized but there are some things that are just so ingrained into
her that she needs spiritual confirmation on those little things
before the bigger things. Her father was LaMoine Jensen, the late
leader of the AUB group and what they consider to be their prophet. So
as you can imagine, she has a lot of muck to work through. But, she is
patiently wading through and finding answers. We have faith that she
will one day get to the other side of this big mess, and her husband
Will is with her every step.

Joel and Marilyn had their first baptism interview! The way it works
with former members of the AUB is that they must meet with the mission
president, a general authority, and then the mission president again.
This process normally takes forever! So, on that note, Saturday night
we shot President Wadsworth a message, that we had some investigators
ready for him to interview, not an hour later, President Wadsworth
called us and told us that he just happened to be up in Kalispell and
that he could stop by Sunday afternoon to interview them. CRAZY!
Usually this step would take one to two weeks! So, yesterday Joel and
Marilyn had their first interview. Next step, a general authority! I
love this family and have become very attached to them. What a gift it
is to be a missionary and get to be a part of so many wonderful
people's lives!

That's all I've got time for. The miracles this week were everywhere,
as usual. It was amazing. I wish I could convey to each of you how
remarkable it is to be a missionary here, but I can't. Just know, it's
humbling to see how unimportant we are as missionaries because God
prepares them and the Holy Ghost teaches them. We're just a conduit
for the spirit, which is also extremely encouraging, because the work
is in God's hands! Then why should we fear? I'm so grateful to be
here, I think I'd just stay forever if I could!

Love,
Elder Thomas

Just wearing suits.. And our candy leis... In the middle of the woods... Haha jk, we went to a Polynesian members graduation celebration! 

MORE beautiful Montana.



I like how this picture turned out.

I LOVE CORVALIS

Dear Family and Friends,

I want to go in depth and tell you everything about all the lessons
that happened this week, but I can't. Just know that I have a
testimony of prayer and miracles and we have seen SO MANY this week!
Every day is just another miracle after another.

We had the incredible opportunity of meeting with Joel and Marilyn
twice this week. We asked about their testimonies right at the
beginning and learned that they all had a testimony of the basics of
the gospel. The lesson went smoothly and they received everything very
well. We asked if they had questions and concerns and Marilyn asked
about the "law of introduction," which is the idea that we are
unworthy to communicate with Heavenly Father without going through a
bishop or someone else like that. This doctrine is taught in the AUB
group. We explained that we can have a personal relationship with our
Heavenly Father and that he gives personal revelation to us. This
meant a lot to Marilyn. She bore her testimony on her search for truth
and that she knew this doctrine was true. It was very special and we
loved being a part of helping her find that truth. They all showed
increased faith and excitement and committed to read the talk we gave
them. They are making an incredible amount of progress.

We got to meet with the Allred's again! It was a cool lesson because
they have so much to look forward to. The lesson was mostly about
setting goals and looking forward. They have a goal to get to the
temple and be sealed, they also want to go and do baptisms for the
dead as soon as possible. Jean will be 12 in a few months and she is
so excited to be old enough to do baptisms for the dead. His brother
was there, Jeff Allred, and he had many questions. Jeff lives in
Riverton, Utah and he is still part of the AUB, however, he has been
having the missionaries down there visit him. Those poor elders, I
wouldn't be able to answer a single one of his questions if it weren't
for all the experience I had in this area. He seemed surprised that we
could answer his questions because apparently they had stumped the
other elders. It's easy to answer the questions when everyone in
Pinesdale asks about the exact same stuff.

The next time we taught Joel and Marilyn, we taught two couples at
once. Joel and Marilyn Jessop, as well as Will and Kara Jessop. Cary
Jessop, Will's mom, was also there (they have a lot of Jessop's in
Pinesdale). The lesson was held in the home of the members Bill and
Jennifer Jessop, Bill is a convert from the AUB group and Jennifer was
already a member. So in short, Elder Angle and I were surrounded by
Jessop's. We had planned to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ
discussion. The lesson was amazing! These good people are searching
for truth and they have so much faith. We definitely know that God's
hand was in it because they were all answering each other's questions
and the spirit was incredibly strong.

Elder Angle and I have made it a goal to talk to everyone, so when two
nice old ladies out on their front porch waved at us and smiled, we
pulled right over and asked for the directions we were in need of. We
had an awesome conversation with them and will be going back to see
them soon!

On Saturday we were headed back from a ward baptism and we felt
prompted to go visit an investigator named Debbie Herzog. Instead we
found her 19 year old son David at home. David was extremely excited
to see us because he had just been fighting the temptation to indulge
in an addiction he is fighting and he was going to call someone. He
invited us in and made us dinner. He kept mentioning how crazy it was
that we showed up, right when he needed someone. Throughout dinner we
chatted about missionary work and we mentioned the baptism we had just
come from. He asked about baptism and we told him about all the
amazing things it could do for him. He casually mentioned that it
sounded like something he needed. WHAT??? YES, WE ALL NEED IT!!! WE
CAN HELP YOU!!! We didn't say that, but we felt that. We talked about
his addiction and how a personal relationship with God and the
atonement are so necessary in breaking an addiction. We talked about
the Book of Mormon and why it is so important as well as the power of
the Book of Mormon and how it helps us fight against temptation.
Before we left we blessed his home with a constant presence of the
spirit and set a date for his baptism. He kept saying, "wow, I just
feel this overwhelming peace!" We are SO EXCITED FOR HIM!!!

Anyways, love you all!

Love,
Elder Thomas

All of us came out together

Gorgeous

Idunno, this is just a fun picture.

More beautiful Montana



Understanding by Faith

Dear Family and Friends,

Last time I tried to give some historical context about my area, but I
messed a few things up, so this time I will give a more accurate
accounting.

When the church released the first manifesto, renouncing the practice
of polygamy, a man named Lorin Woolley began to see an opportunity to
lead away a number of the saints. Lorin Woolley made a claim that
before John Taylor had died, he had set him and seven others apart to
continue polygamy and he was the last living person that had been at
that meeting. A few followed his deception and they named the group
the Apostolic United Brethren, we call them AUB for short, Because of
a charismatic leader many years later named Rulon Allred, it became
known as the Allred group. So the AUB broke off of the LDS church and the
FLDS broke off of the AUB. For many years the leaders of the AUB were
decided by process of seniority, just like the LDS church. However,
just before the late leader, LaMoine Jensen died, he appointed someone
to be the leader rather than allow the process of seniority to pick
the leader. The current leader's name is Lynn Thompson. Lynn Thompson
has been convicted of child molestation and was caught stealing
tithing funds. Because of this, many are leaving the AUB group. Some
are staying away from religion, some are forming another break off
group, and many are coming over to the LDS church. We are SO busy.

We have had a lesson almost every night this week, usually two. It has been
insanely busy, here are a few of the highlights.

This week we taught a young man named Garrett Weidow. Garrett is 20
years old and he has SO MUCH faith! He wants to be baptized but he
knows he needs a testimony of the prophet and the Book of Mormon
first. He knows this will give him direction and purpose in his life
and he has said that he wants that. We are so impressed with him, many
20 year olds would rather party than investigate which church is the
true church. In the last lesson we had with him, we focused on the
Book of Mormon and setting a goal on how fast he's going to read it.
Our member present, Brother Jackson, was so perfect. His testimony was
so needed and added a great perspective.

We also taught a young couple named Andy & Michelle, and their
children. Andy and Michelle live up in Pinesdale and they have been
getting sick of all the confusion that is going on up there so they
asked the missionaries to come and give the lessons to their kids so
the kids can realize that it's all about Christ, not who is right and
who is wrong. Up in Pinesdale, much of the teaching is about why they
are right and the church is wrong, not about Christ and his gospel,
yet another reason many are leaving the AUB group and coming to the
church. We prepared for this lesson with much study and prayer. One
cool part of this was that we wrote down a bunch of members we thought
would be good to bring with us for the lesson, then we prayed. After
the prayer we each pondered separately on who we should bring and we
both felt the spirit prompt us to bring the Chapman's. When we called,
they answered right away and said they could come. That NEVER happens.
Andy and Michelle have already had the first two lessons, The
Restoration and The Plan of Salvation. This time we were teaching the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. The lesson started out and went really well,
we focused on Christ and the similarities in belief between the two
religions (which are many). The lesson went really well, the Chapman's
were great, and the spirit was very strong. At the end of the lesson
Elder Angle felt prompted to ask if they had any questions, Michelle
admitted that she did have one. She asked, "Does Andy have the
priesthood?" This issue is huge up here. So many of these amazing
people have been healed after a blessing which only confirms their
belief that they hold the priesthood. I felt impressed to share the
story of the woman with an issue of blood who was healed by touching
the hem of Christ's garment and shared Christ's words, that it was by
her faith that she was healed. The Chapman's were truly very necessary
during this portion of the lesson. Their personal experiences were
perfect for the situation and they really helped Andy and Michelle
understand. More questions about priesthood power, authority and keys
came up. We all brought our knowledge to the table and shared it in an
effort to resolve all questions. Scriptures, experiences, quotes. It
was not easy, but we eventually resolved all concerns. Right at the
end we felt prompted to give them a quote that would help even more.
Joseph Smith said, "I will give you a key that will never rust, if you
will stay with the majority of the Twelve Apostles, and the records of
the Church, you will never be led astray." They loved this quote, and
it was obvious that it helped quite a bit. It was a powerful,
spiritual lesson and an incredible opportunity to be a part of this
wonderful families growth.

The last lesson I think I'll have time to talk about this week was our lesson
with Joel and Marilyn Jessop. This family is amazing and we love them so
much. Like many other families I've talked about, they're ready for truth,
and a lot more ready than most. We took Brother Adam Allred with us, a
convert from Pinesdale that just got sealed to his wife and three daughters
in the Salt Lake temple. Adam is such a good man and he is so excited
for all the change that is going on in Pinesdale. Joel and Marilyn had
invited another woman in the community, Cary, to come hear the first
lesson. Cary is currently someone's second wife, but she is feeling like
she needs to get out. It only took about 5 minutes for Cary's greatest
concern to come out, "How have all these amazing miracles happened in
Pinesdale if not by the priesthood?" I was amazed to hear this question
because it was apparent that she already knew the Pinesdale group didn't
have priesthood, all she was trying to figure out was how these amazing
events had happened after prayer. We shared many scriptures including
James 5:14-15, which discusses the order of giving a healing blessing.
Even Joel Jessop helped us teach her, and he's not even a member yet! At
the end of the discussion, everyone understood that priesthood power,
authority and keys were not the same thing as faith. By our faith we are
healed, but the priesthood gives us the power and authority when under
direction of someone who holds the keys. This week I made a list of
about 15 scriptures about the priesthood for each of them to read and
will be giving that to them next lesson. Joel and Marilyn have shown so
much faith. They are just so ready to be baptized into the church that
holds all the priesthood keys of this dispensation, and is led by someone
who was "ordained by some one who has authority" (D&C 42:11).

I know that the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is God's church
on the earth. I know that the prophet Thomas S. Monson holds all those
keys and unde rnone other can God's true church operate. I know these
things by the Holy Ghost who has made them known to me after much
prayer and pondering. In the name of He who presides over this church,
Jesus Christ, amen.

I love you all!

Love,
Elder Thomas

The Zone

We thought these pictures were cool

Only in Montana

Miracles, Polygamists and a Baptism

Dear Family and Friends,

New Address:

Elder Neal Thomas
308 E 1ST ST Unit B
Corvallis, Montana 59828
United States

Oh. My. Goodness Gracious. I don't know how I am going to be able to convey the enormity of this week in writing, but i'm going to do my best.

First of all, my companion rocks. The moment he looked at me and said, "Elder, let's be EXACTLY obedient," I knew we were going to get along. It took about eight hours of driving to get to Corvallis from Billings. Elder Angle was waiting for me at the stake center in Stevensville. We headed straight back to the apartment and discussed our individual and companionship goals for the transfer. What a great way to begin! Elder Angle and I have agreed on almost everything related to missionary work and we are having so much fun working ourselves silly!

Also, our bishop rocks. Bishop Criddle is the most missionary minded bishop I have met or heard of so far in this mission. We had dinner at his house my first night there, Wednesday, and he got me so excited! He is very involved in the missionary work and incredibly helpful. It is obvious he has been through Preach My Gospel more than once. That night we tried to follow the spirit in everything we did and we both feel that we were exactly where we needed to be the whole night.

On Thursday we did weekly planning. Weekly planning was intense because there are SO MANY NAMES. This place has so much work going on and we have to work our heads off just to keep up with it. A little bit about this area: In our area is a little place called Pinesdale. Pinesdale is a community based on the Mormon religion, but it is not the Mormon religion. Those in Pinesdale are a group broken off of the FLDS religion which broke off of the LDS religion. They see The main body of the LDS church as the organizational part of the church, and they see themselves as the priesthood. They feel that polygamy should still be practiced and that only white people should hold the priesthood. They feel that because the LDS church does not do these two things that we lost our priesthood power. None of this phased me much because of two things.

First, Christ taught that by their fruits shall ye know them. The fact that many of their church leaders have been convicted of things such as sexually abusing their children, stealing tithing funds, forgery and many other crimes tells me that something is amiss. Many of those in Pinesdale are starting to feel the same way.

Second, many of the people in Pinesdale are sick of feeling confused. When we have talked with many of them they tell us that the main thing they feel when others of the group tell them they are feeling the spirit testifying of truth is just confusion. Just like the stupor of thought talked about in D&C Chapter 9.

Pinesdale is going through a mass exodus. Many of those who have been raised in this community have never practiced polygamy and many more are seeing the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers. One of these families is the Allred's. Charlie and Julie Allred were both raised in polygamist homes. They both have talked about how their parents were good people but that they know their beliefs are wrong. Charlie and Julie live in Pinesdale with their 11 year old daughter Jean, 9 year old daughter Anika, 6 year old son Quincy and almost 2 year old son Ted. About three months ago they began the process of being baptized and confirmed in the LDS church. This process is harder than for most investigators because they must have an interview with President Wadsworth and a general authority before they can be baptized, but they went through all the steps they needed to. I met this amazing family on Thursday and fell in love with each of them immediately. We went over there to have them try on the baptismal jumpsuits and to have a testimony meeting. It was amazing and before the night was over the 11 year old, Jean, had asked me to confirm her a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Words can not express my excitement.

On Sunday they were both baptized and confirmed. I don't understand fully the reason it happened on Sunday. It was one of the most incredible and unique experiences I have ever experienced. An astounding 190 people showed up to the baptism, many of which came from Pinesdale. The spirit was so strong and both talks were by Pinesdale converts who boldly and beautifully bore their testimony of the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers and the purity and peace found in the true church. Elder Angle got to baptize Jean and when the time came, I was able to confirm her a member of the church. What an incredible experience, to have the Spirit place words in my mouth and to see how promising and bright this young girls future was. After the blessing Jean stood and began shaking the hands of those in the circle. When she got to me I reached out my hand for a handshake but instead got a big 11 year old hug. It was not fair for her to make me cry like that in front of everyone.

I'm afraid I don't have time to write about the multitude of other miracles we saw this week, but hopefully I will have more time next week.

I LOVE YOU ALL!

love,
Elder Thomas

A clever idea Elder Angle had. We left one but didn't take one :) 

Can you spot the Book of Mormon?

A cute little grass couch an investigator had in their yard

I always get the prettiest areas in the mission.

We saw these cool cars when we dropped off the truck at the auto shop this week.

THE ALLREED'S (Charlie and Julie are the parents, Jean has brown hair, Anika has blonde hair)