Elder Thompson: Veracruz, Mexico/ Bakersfield, California Missions: week 49: welcome to Bakersfield

I found Andrew Baird's cousin's name on our whiteboard.

All the missionaries that have lived here sign the board before they leave!

Well, I'm officially back in the field. For those of you that haven't heard I was reassigned to the California, Bakersfield mission. I got here last Tuesday and a lot has gone on.

So I got sent to a ward named La Cresta with my companion Elder Robison. We're white washing, which means neither of us have served here. I'm not gonna lie, we've had a lot of difficulties come up. We have this app called area book and it wasn't loaded with our area, so we only had a paper with some names and numbers to work with. We called a ton of people. That was the bulk of the week. We also had a slight money problem...the problem was that we didn't have any of it. My companion's mission card got left in his old car and was promptly driven back to his old area. I also didn't have a card because mine hasn't come yet. We ended up using my debit card and bought like 30 dollars worth of food. We lived off that and the variety of canned food at the house. This morning we got real food at Walmart so don't worry.

Since my comp lost his wallet, I got to drive for a few days while he waited for his card. Now things should be getting normal, so we'll see what goes on. Today we had a district activity and we all visited the Tehachapi Train Loop, which in case you didn't know is one of the 7 wonders of the railroad world...exciting stuff! We watched a train go around it and talked. That was about it.

--Elder Thompson

bits and pieces from family phone calls:

I'm in a Spanish speaking area and so glad I get to use my Spanish!

There is a facebook page for our mission where we will be posting videos/thoughts each week. It's called: iglesia de Jesuchristo en Bakersfield.

It's hot but not humid which is great...we also have ac and a washer/dryer...a few things I missed in Mexico.

We're working hard trying to find people...it's tough, but we're hoping to see some changes this week.

Pray for us to find people who want to hear our message or that we can serve!