...about all I have to say this week is

 LOVE YOU!<3<3<3

And for the sake of fonts, I'll leave it like this because it's kind of fun for a change. It'll probably be normal next week :) 

 

So this week - Oh! This week we focused on CPR - Church, prayer, reading (scripture study). We made little notebooks for some of our investigators with "how to receive revelation through CPR", and some specifics of how to make these things a habit and a more useful experience - it was kind of fun :)  These habits seem too simple and easy, but it's like the bricks and mortar that help you to build a strong foundation; it's easy to tell which families have their center on "the rock of our Redeemer". (Helaman 5:12) R___ was really excited to get the notebook :) And she's been doing great at reading on her own and thinking about it! 

 

And S___! We asked her to read 3 Nephi 11 in the Book of Mormon, and she came to us with questions about baptism, which is always exciting! (I find it interesting that the Savior's first topic when he appeared to the Nephites is baptism - how important!) There's still a lot to consider and explain, but she said she'd talk to her husband about it, which is always a good sign :) 

 

The elders had a baptism this week for a soldier, whose girlfriend came from out of town, and she played a simple piece on the piano and Sister Fuller and I...drumroll.. played a flute duet! Super simple, but it was a little miracle that we found two flutes :)

Love you all! LOTS!

Sister Thomas the Elder

“If you think you are too small to make a difference, you haven’t spent the night with a mosquito.” ~African proverb

Hehehe.
I've gotten lots of mosquito bites :)

And it was such a beautiful week with such wonderful people!!

We do a lot of checking up on people in this area, which doesn't always translate to a lesson, but usually does to strengthening them and the ward. It's great! 

 

Oh, oh! And I gave a talk on Sunday on Sister Rosemary Wixom's talk in General Conference            ( https://www.lds.org/general-conference/print/2013/04/the-words-we-speak?lang=eng ), with a focus on the empowering element of covenants, the Holy Ghost, and the temple. More preparation time would have been nice, but it went decently well :) 

 

Families keep leaving the branch! The overturn in military branches is high, and they're stopping sponsorship of families on this particular army base, so the ward will change a lot. We said goodbye to the Stewart family - just a home gushing with normal-ness and goodness :)

Oh, oh! A story about being led - we were roaming the streets last night talking to people, and saw S___, our recent convert sister! She just came from Book of Mormon class at the Pihl's home (senior couple) and was going home, said, "I'm just going to pick up some things at the mart!" and we said BYE! and then we said "Oh No! Its the Sabbath!" and then we ran back to save her! And ran into a man who stopped us, who's name is K___ - who is a less-active member! That we didn't know. But we ran in to save S___ first, and brought her out to talk...and they used to work together! And then he left (after some awkwardness...) and S___ said a little guiltily/laughingly she did know that she wasn't supposed to shop on the Sabbath, but Heavenly Father sent us to remind her :) 

 

Anyway. Fun little miracles. B___ is chock full of them~

 

Angels are with us! I've have lots of experiences of people saying right what they need to, being sent right to the right place, what we call in Korean 일사전리, (il.sa.jol.lee) or that time when everything just seems to be arranged right and fall into place. I promise it is Heavenly Father who does that, and is truly in every aspect of our lives. He will lead you and guide you and walk beside you (often when you can't see that guidance!), but it all turns out in the end!

LOVE YOU ALL!
Sister Thomas the Elder!

M___ and H___, H___ and M___ and E___!

Because they are the cutest miracle family :)

But I told you mostly about them in my letter to President. But still. LOVE THEM SO MUCH! 

Also, they're fantastic - their friend, who just had a baby, they said they're going to invite her to come to church. We've met them a grand total of 2, 3 times? The Liberians are such good, faith-filled people in tune with the Spirit. We were asked to teach the Gospel Principles Sunday School class about and hour before church and decided to teach about the sacrament - (by the way, discussion is highly more effective than talking the doctrine - that's when it becomes teaching and strengthening! Lots of experiences with that this week :)) and ended up having a really good discussion on feeling the Spirit, recognizing the Spirit, and how, when we keep commandments, we can always have it to be with us. They shared wonderful stories about the quiet whispering of the spirit, and it helped me to recognize again what a beautiful gift it is! 

 

Oh! It was the fourth of July! And we learned after the fact that we could have watched the fireworks... we were by the army base and everything.

 

Oh! Another "typical" missionary story that finally happened! We met some Peruvians on the street and said, "Hi! We're misisonaries! We're teaching a happy message!" (slightly more naturally :)) and they said, "Hey! We're going to lunch, but come back sometime!" Happy day! So maybe we'll get to teach Peruvians in KOREAN! because that's what the sisters speak :) It's a hope!

Also, we had a number of experiences being approached by men this week. Uncomfortable. One of them asked Sister F___ on a date to the city night life, and one of them asked me if I was married and was really insistent on meeting again. But we're protected as missionaries :) The elders happened to walk into the same store one time and took him off our hands. And we did the same thing for them last night with an overly flirty Korean sister. Teamwork! Hehe!

 

Out of time! There a lots of miracles out there! Keep your faith strong, and focus on Christ, like Peter trying to walk on water. When his focus was on Christ, all was well. Love this work; love you all tons! 

 

Sister Thomas the elder!