March 4th, 2019

Wow I can't believe another week has already passed! This week has been pretty good. I'm still not even sure what a normal missionary day should look like, all the days are so different. We don't have anyone we're specifically teaching right now so it makes things a little hard. We just go door to door knocking and hoping that someone wants to listen to us and hear theeee greatest message in the world. We also meet with the members multiple times a day. I really enjoy meeting them and hearing each of their conversion stories.

I had my first zone conference on Wednesday. it was really nice to hear from President Whitney and his wife, and to meet and get to know all the elders and sisters in the two zones that met there.

Friday night we drove about an hour to a town called Lometta to meet with a part member family. They own a restaurant on their property so they fed us some good Texas BBQ which was very nice of them. We ended up helping them close, so we washed the dishes, moped the floor, and then afterwards they ended up giving us a whole rack of ribs and leftovers from that day, which was very kind of them.

Also one night me and my comp decided to organize this HUGE stack of church magazines that was in our apartment. At first we were just going to straighten them up a bit but that led to us organizing them by year. All the way from 1989-2019. So after all our hard work doing that we made them into a circle and took a picture lol, it was the most pointless thing I have ever done but it was a night I will never forget haha. 

I have decided that (so far) my favorite part of every day is when we have personal study time. I have grown to have such a greater love and appreciation for the Book of Mormon as I have been out here on my mission. I don't know how I went days without reading it. the spirit that it brings and that you feel is amazing. As you read the Book of Mormon the spirit will constantly be testifying to you that what you are reading is true. And each and every one of you can feel it if you really strive to listen to and understand the words of the prophets and the words from the book of Mormon.
I wanna invite you all to read Mosiah 27. It's about Alma the younger and how he came to have a testimony of the gospel. It is one of my favorite chapters right now in the Book of Mormon because of how strong I felt the spirit while I was reading it. I would highlight something in almost every verse because of how powerful the spirit was testifying to me that it was true. 

A cool experience this week tho was last night, we were teaching this girl named Sidney. Her friend (Trinity) was over at her house so we invited her to come and sit in with us if she wanted to. She said yes and so we started teaching the restoration of the gospel to both of them. As I was reciting the first vision account, I was just looking Trinity straight in the eyes and I watched her tear up and I could feel the spirit soooo strong in that room and I knew that she knew that what I was saying was true. This little 12 year old girl who had never heard the name Joseph Smith before was feeling the spirit testify to her of the truth. It was such a powerful and amazing experience for me. And I just want you all to know that I know without a doubt in my mind that this church is true, I wouldn't be here in Texas if it wasn't. And I know that no matter how far off the path you may think you are, that it is never too late to come back on it. Christ is here with open arms always. The only way to eternal life is through Jesus Christ and through living His gospel to its full extent. And I know that to be true. I love my savior and I love this gospel and the happiness it brings to my life.
I hope you all are doing well and have a great week!!

Love, Sister Thorpe