Manukau & Papatoetoe Zone Conference November 28th

E-mail to Mom November 24th

Hey mom and dad! Well first thing is that I got the camera to work! But the bad news is I don't have a clue how to up load the pictures. Sad day for Elder Thorpe...I'll figure it out soon.

Anyways, thanks so much for emailing me and for the early Thanksgiving present. I love the nerf guns!!! My companion and the two other companions living with us in the flat also have nerf guns. We sure use them quite often. Tell Amy and Spencer and their two sweet little girls that I LOVE LOVE LOVE the pictures they drew for me of thumbprint turkey's. I had a huge grin on my face. I'm a happy uncle.

My companion is Elder Jarnagin as you probably know from the email that the President sent to you. He's from Arizona and is very funny. For being a trainer he's good at teaching me on what I need to do and what I shouldn't be doing. We are working on how to communicate, learn from each other and how to help the souls in need. Auckland mission has a memo, it is to "save souls weekly". On my first day out in the field I had the opportunity to ask an investigator to be baptized and he accepted it. We also had another one on Sunday who said he would be baptized. We also had a baptism on Saturday with a nine year old. His name is John Thomas. Now he and is family are active in the church. Talk about all happening right away in the start of the mission! I'm still trying to get the hang of this mission life as well. Every day I'm learning something new, not just for myself but also for the people we talk to. Me being shy, well that's gone cause now I talk to almost everybody who we see or who is walking on the same side of the road as us.

Today is P-days for us and I'm happy to hear that the family is doing very well! Oh and everybody here is having a hard time saying our last name on my name tag, so my new nickname is "Elder Thor". I know right...cool, all I'm missing is my hammer. All the families here are lovely, they don't have much but they still have the smile on their faces and are happy to be in the gospel.

MOM! They don't have a dryer so we have to air dry our clothes. I'm blessed to have a dryer at home but I'm learning the new ways in New Zealand to dry the old school style.

Love you guys so much!, lots more to come! Give the fam hugs and kisses for me! Love your son Elder Thorpe

E-mail to Dad November 24th

Hey Dad! T

Today is P-day! I'm very excited to hear that the Seahawks are doing well! I'll make sure to keep my fingers cross. Well my companion is funny, smart and a really good first trainer for me. He is teaching me what I should do and shouldn't do and I'm learning by listening. Its funny- ever since wrestling season I remember coach saying "listening is the key to success" and I can compare that to the mission field because we do need to listen to those who are in need. The members down here are having a hard time with my last name so they came up with a nick name for me....here it is "Elder Thor." Too bad I didn't bring my hammer with me. I told them I had to leave it home with you guys so I wouldn't scare off the investigators.

On my first day out in the field, we got a kid that was friends with one of the families in the ward to accept to be baptized. This was on my first day out in the field! I so happy I just couldn't control myself until I got to the flat. Oh by the way they call apartments down here Flats. Pretty cool. Well on Saturday we baptized another kid who was nine years old, his parents were inactive but after Saturday they all showed up to church the next day. We also had an investigator come to church, he was a friend of one of the members in the church who was converted a couple months ago by other missionaries but we taught his friend and he also accepted to be baptized. 

Well dad that all happened and I've only been out in the field for five days! I love that quote you said and it is true. I miss you tons. Give my love to the family!

 

Love your son Elder Thorpe.

Letter and pics from President Lekias

21^st  November 2013

Mom and Dad received an e-mail today from Almen's mission president- President Lekias. Almen has been assigned to his first area- Manakau. His trainer is Elder Jarnigan. He said Al is in good health and is ready to begin his missionary labors. We are all so excited to see these two pictures. We haven't 'laid eyes' on Al since he left, so it's good to see him with his mission president as well as some of the other missionaries he will be serving with.

E-mail to Amy November 18th

Hey amy!! The temple was great!. Such a beautiful place where it sits. I can't describe how beautiful it is but I do have some pictures that I'll have to upload sometime. I leave tomorrow- Wednesday morning to the mission field. It's crazy how its come here so quick. To be honest I love being here at the MTC and made so many friends but there comes a time were you have to say good bye to them and go do the Lord's work. Love you guys so much.

p.s. tell Spencer I've been working on my basketball skills a little bit so he better be ready when I get back

Handwritten letter mailed November 11th

Hand written and mailed Nov. 11 (we received this letter on Nov. 16)

Hi,
Once I made it to the MTC safely, our first day arrival we all had a lot of free time to relax and have fun after Being up all night. During that time, I got to meet my roommates. I told you last time I'd get their names down. Their names are, Elders Aumua, Faaifoaso, Seiuli, Pennington, and Escott. The first two are Samoan. Seiuli is from Wellington, NZ, Pennington flew with me and Escott is from Australia. Seiuli played rugby and is a really nice kid and funny as well.

Elder Escott, my companion has really taught me a lot. His story and background has shown me that you don't have to grow up and have an LDS family to share the gospel. How cool is it for me to be partnered in the MTC with a convert?

I've got one week left in the MTC and I'm off into the field. The MTC is just a wonderful place to be. There are a lot of Samoans, Fijians, Tahitians, Americans, Australians, New Zealanders and one from South Africa here.  The spirit here is so strong because all of them came from a different back ground but want to teach the gospel. I've already made close friends with the elders and sisters here.

This gospel has blessed my life and I want to thank each and every one of you for helping me and to not give up on me. My first day of class we learned about what our purpose of being a missionary is. Going through the lesson and talking about it really got me thinking. In our classroom we have a poster that reminds each of us every day what our true purpose is. It says, "Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end." This touched me and woke me up because this whole work I'm doing right now is not about me. It's all of out the investigator that I will be teaching. As my teacher would say, "There's no more I."

A side track to all of that, we are all writing to our families. As I am writing I thought I would share this with you guys. We all just got on our knees to pray because Elder Aumua was missing his brothers a lot. He first talked to me while I was writing and I told the others we should all get down and pray with him. Even though he said his prayer in Samoan, I still felt the spirit in the circle. This all happened while I'm writing to you.

I believe so much in Heavenly Fathers plan for all of us. It's because He loves us. As we practice teaching our teacher, it is such a neat way how they show us how it is going to feel in real missionary work. Love being here in New Zealand. Love this gospel and what it really can do to change many people's hearts. Miss you all oh so much.

I just want to close this letter by saying my testimony. This church is true. Anybody with the desire can and will feel that same happiness. So many things have accrued in my life that all led to my decision to go on this mission. My heart is full of happiness and smiles.

Love you family! Miss you guys a ton. I hope everything is going well, Elder Almen Thorpe

E-mail to Mom and Dad, November 10, 2003

DAD and MOM!!!!! I miss you so much!!! Thank you for being such a good example for me over the past years of my life. Elder Christensen is such a funny kid, we hang out a lot during lunch, dinner and breakfast. We don't have p-days because we are only in the MTC for a week. Not this coming Tuesday but the next Tuesday I'll be going into the field. Right now we are all practicing how to invite investigators into the gospel. We do a lot of role play by going into different rooms with our companion and talking to the investigator. By the third visit they want us to ask them if they want to be baptized. My companion is cool, he's from Australia and is a convert and has been a member for four years. Neat story because he's the only LDS member in his family and he's dedicated to help them and is hoping this mission would change their minds about joining the church.
I've learned that I'm blessed to go to seminary and waking up at six in the morning everyday helped so much. Without that I don't know how I would do with this schedule of waking up. Thanks for pushing me to do the best and not giving up on me. I'm feeling like I've almost grasping the true meaning and lesson that my MTC teachers have been teaching me. One lesson I've learned so far while being in the MTC and I hear it from the teachers too and its been on me for awhile is that this work I'm doing is not all about me it's about the person I'm going to teach and the Lord. The words that will come out of my mouth are the words of the Lord. I have a testimony that Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us and He wants us to be happy as he was and that everybody has a purpose in life and those who don't know that purpose are needing help. That's where missionaries come in to help those who are lost. through us Heavenly Father can speak to the investigator.
Everybody here can feel that spirit everytime they go into class. It's amazing to hear from all the kids that have the some beliefs and same goal in life as I do. I have six roommates, two are Samoan, ones from Wellington, NZ, one is an American like me and the other is from Australia. We help each other and get alone so well, its like we are a family but who come from different places. Its amazing how he can get a group of kids from all over the world to work together to bring happiness to others. I've been writing in my journal and I know the elders and sisters names pretty well so far...you can say their names are very unquie. The elders and sisters here say that I have a funny accent which I don't blame them because it is kind of funkey if you think of it. I'm learning some Samoan language for fun from the elders. Also we have learned this beautiful song in the New Zealand language that everytime we sing it I start to cry. I'll have to show you the next time I email or something.
There's a sister here from Australia that asked me one day where I was from and I said from the Marshall Islands. She said her friend was going to serve a mission there. I was very excited that there are some people that go there. She said it was cool and actually meet some Marshallese. I also learned what the language was from another elder but.....I forgot it I'll get it next time. Most everybody here knows where and what the Marshall islands are.
This Thursday we will be going to the New Zealand temple in Hamilton. It's an hour drive from the MTC. They have been telling its a beautiful place and such a neat expereince. I'll make sure to take some pictures for you so that you can see them. I love being here even though some days are hards. Sometimes I get homesick and miss you guys a ton. I love you guys so much and you are in my prayers everynight. Love you mom and dad, I'll see you the next time I email you. It's great to hear the family is doing well.

from Elder Thorpe
p.s. My companion is shorter than me!!! Looks like im not the shortest one!!!