week 87: the work moves forward!

Hey Everyone, I hope your week was great. Ours was! 

    Unfortunately, Allie did not get baptized this week. She had some stuff come up and we pushed it back. She'll definitely be baptized this week. We're still working hard, but honestly, not a lot of new stuff is going on. We gave talks in sacrament meeting and it was pretty good. We spoke about youth activities that helped us get closer to God. On Saturday we had exchanges with the zone leaders. We decided to try a new restaurant. It is a local place and it was good. They have these big burgers that are so good. That's all I've got for this week. 

--Elder Thompson 

bits and pieces from family phone calls:

Allie had some family conflicts this weekend, but no worries, she's on track for this Saturday.

Pray for Allie's kids! They want to be baptized but right now their dad isn't so sure.

In my talk this week, I shared about my experience of going to the temple every early Wednesday morning at 4:30 for several years. I grew in so many ways from that. 

I also shared about a winter camp we did with all the young men up at Heber Valley. We had a really awesome boy lead testimony meeting in our cabin and it was truly one of the times I've felt the spirit the strongest.

Things are good here!

This week I will have been in the Bakersfield mission for 9 months, the same amount of time I spent in Mexico!

week 85: things are fantastic

a new kind of zone picture

Hey Everyone,

     Another week has flown by. Since we had P-day on Tuesday last week the whole week was just weird. I always felt like it was a day earlier than it actually was. This week was still absolutely amazing. There's this girl we're teaching named Kandace who's ten. Her grandma is a member and the first time we went over she was just crazy. Bouncing off the walls not paying attention and tons of other stuff. Last week something changed and all of the sudden she was paying attention, listening and even asked when she can be baptized. She's on date for March 7th right now. Then there's the Whisler family. They have Covid, and luckily, their baby doesn't. If he had, it would have extended their quarantine and that sucks because Allie is going to be baptized on Saturday. Everything's okay and she nailed the Baptismal Interview so this Saturday she'll be baptized. We also got her two kids, Charlie and Evelyn, back on date because they went out of town and other crazy stuff. 

     There's a lot going on right now and it is awesome. We're very blessed to have so many people to teach. It's been a lot of work, but it is so worth it. We had in person church again, and this time we also had a second hour. We finished church and had branch council, and to finish it all up we had some stuff to do with the branch president. We ended up being at church for about 4 hours. It was awesome! I missed church so much, and hopefully I'll keep going until the end of my mission. Things are fantastic out in the wonderful town of Lone Pine. Till next week. 

--Elder Thompson

bits and pieces from family phone calls:

I'm teaching! Lots of teaching and it's awesome!

We got some great Valentine cookies from my grandma and mom...sooo good!

The Whisler family is going to try and come out to Utah in July which means Elder Busche and myself will get to see them since we'll be home..so awesome!

I'm happy here and loving being busy and working so hard. 

cookies from grandma!

week 84: iron man

   Hey Everyone, things are going great up here in Lone Pine. 

    To start off, I better tell you all who my companions are. It's Elder Busche and Elder Hayes. That was cool because Elder Busche actually went to high school with me. We're teaching tons of people here. There's a family, the Whistlers, that are super cool. The mom, Allie is going to be baptized in a couple of weeks, and the dad, Dougan, is working towards it. I haven't met the kids yet because they were out of town. We're also teaching Dougan's sister Mandy and she's getting close to her baptism too! There is a family and the two daughters, Olivia and Isis, got baptized recently. We're working with the rest of their family. They live in a town called Keeler and the population is about 50 (that's what the sign says but a new family moved in). We're teaching a few other people and it's awesome. 

     This week we also got some sad news. An Elder in another part of the mission is going back to his original assignment, and Elder Hayes is being transferred to take his place. A quick story, the family that lives in Keeler turned their yard into a mini skate park, and Elder Hayes wanted to ride down it one last time. He tried to show off a bit and ate it. We were dying! He was fine and tried one more time, luckily he made it the second time. So yesterday we made the 4 hour round trip to meet up with his new comps. It was a ton of driving. We also had a huge miracle. Church is back in person! Saturday we got the news and the next day we were sitting in the chapel. I've missed it so much. Things are honestly going amazing here. I love it and can't wait to let you all know how this week goes. 

--Elder Thompson 

bits and pieces from family phone calls:

Lone Pine has about 2,000 people...when I say it's small, I mean it. 

We got to visit the place where the big explosion scene in Iron Man was filmed...legendary. Don't worry, there are pictures. 

The mountains here are huge! We have the tallest peak in North American except for a mountain in Alaska. 

It feels so good to be teaching and be busy. I've missed that.

Really looking forward to the coming week!

I know, I know. 

You weren't sure which picture was me and which one was Tony Stark.

sometimes there are random paintings on giant rocks

The view from the front of our house...the mountains are awesome!

 

week 83: off to Lone Pine

 

Just a corner sign in Mojave

Hey Everyone,

    Transfers came yesterday and I'm out of Cal City, and on to my next area. 

    We had a pretty slow last week in Cal City. We were able to teach Diana again and things are going great with her. Other than that, not a lot happened. We got a call Wednesday night letting us know Elder Bahlmann would be training. I figured I'd be leaving, and Friday I found out I'd be leaving and going to Lone Pine. Lone Pine is a little more in the middle of nowhere than my last area. It's a small town and just a branch but it seems pretty cool.

I'll tell you more about it next week once I actually know a bit about it. 

--Elder Thompson 

Bits and pieces from family phone calls:

Lone Pine is tiny, but there is quite a bit happening here with missionary work!

I'm in a trio...one of the Elders is Elder Busche from American Fork...we went to school together from elementary on, so it's fun to be with someone from home.

I was transferred here because they have found a few new friends that need to be taught in Spanish. So I'll be teaching Spanish, but my comps are English speaking, so we'll be teaching both languages.

We live in a small house. It used to be a hospital on the Indian Reservation so it's an interesting little place. 

The church where we meet up with our district for Sundays/pdays is about an hour away, so we'll be driving quite a bit.

I'm excited to see how things are moving and working here!

We've had a great time together in Cal City!

These elders are some of the best!

you're welcome 

All the bunnies running around here...this is our front yard!