Letter home 11-30-2014

Hello Family and Friends!! 

Well, this week is transfers week, we will be finding out if we stay or if we move. I have been here in Whangarie for about four to five months. It's been awhile but I love it out here in the country. The Moria people are really nice and spiritual. They don't mind talking about God because they believe in these things and they are big into family history. Hopefully I'll be able to stay another transfer because Christmas is coming up and the members are putting something together for us missionaries and it will be a great Christmas up here.

Last Monday we had a Zone P-Day. Our mission president has changed a rule that we missionaries are able to have a Zone P-day once a transfer. We decided all the elders and sisters to go up to the Whi-Pu caves, where we were able to crawl, jump and walk through water in the pitch dark cave. It was a good thing we all had head lamps. The caves were massive and really dirty. We were all in the caves for two hours or so. We had this one moment were everybody turned their lights off and looked up towards the caves and could see glow warms that glowed in the dark. While oohing and ahhing we started to sing in the dark. It was great!! We sang "Nearer my God to Thee". We could hear the echo going through out the caves. It was just an amazing moment to never forget. We were able to bond ever closer together as a Zone and as friends. We may be weird, but hey its two years of being weird. 

During the week, Elder Hall and I were able to go on splits with two of our members. The member and I were able to go to one of our former investigators house to see him. We knocked on the door and he was very, very, very happy to see us and was wondering where the missionaries went. His name is Bruce, a single dad with two teenage kids. Bruce had his wife pass away from cancer and grew up in a very rough life. He went through a lot of trials and difficulties. He has a strong Christian background and his knowledge about the God is really strong. He has a lot of knowledge but doesn't know how to get a firm foundation that can be useful. Sterling, the member and our recent convert, was able to ask him to come to church on Sunday because we were having a special sacrament. This special sacrament was happening all over the Pacific area. It had to do with the Atonement of Jesus Christ. That following Sunday we were able to see Bruce walk into the chapel with a big smile on his face. He was able to sit during the whole sacrament and listened on the talks. Later on Bruce told us that one of his appointments canceled and that it was meant to be that he came to church that day. Another member of ours came up and introduced himself to Bruce and we were able to go to Gospel Principles class with him and really get to know him. This member and Bruce hit it off really well, it was as if they knew each other and could relate to one another. Both of them had their wives die in a similar way. Seeing them both talk, I could image both their wives talking to each other about how their husbands should meet each other. It was a great moment to see both of them talk and express their thoughts about Heavenly Father. Bruce is a work in progress. He will probably be a long one before he joins the church, maybe not when I'm up here but someday and when that day does come I will be very happy to see him in the temple someday.

That some day Elder Hall was able to teach other investigators of ours. She was very happy too. She has a partner who is a less active member and has two little ones. Her name is Sarah. She is wanting to stop smoking. She expressed to Elder Hall her thoughts about baptism. Sarah will probably be a long one before she becomes a full member of the church. It was a great week and a week of laughs and jokes and wonders. I still can't believe that December is almost here and is going to be gone in a blink of an eye. Hopefully I'll stay here another transfer and be able to see more miracles. The members are great, they are funny and love us missionaries and are taking good care of us and our health as well. There are a lot of new changes here and there and new missionaries coming and old missionaries leaving to go home. I hope you all have a great week, a week of fun times to always remember. Thank you and will catch up again the following week. 

Until me meet again, Elder Thorpe!! p.s I'll be coming home in October instead because of some changes in the mission!!

Elder Thorpe hit his year mark!

Hello family and Friends! This week was my year mark, it is weird to think about it and how fast the year has gone by but there is still one more to go and this is the time to buckle down and keep on going. It has been a remarkable year being out here in New Zealand and being among all the Islanders! So many stories and many more to be coming. On Friday the sisters and the Elders in our district gave us a surprise one year mark birthday song. You could say that the singing was not quite as good at the Mormon Tabernacle, but it was a good try on their part. While they were singing us the song our zone leaders also showed up at our flat joining in with the fun. It was Elder Halls idea to get the district together to sing the song. 

The start of our week my companion and the zone leaders and another pair of elders had to drive all the way down to Auckland on Tuesday night to make it to a Leadership meeting. No I'm not in a leadership position but my companion is, which meant that I went for a car ride, so I thought. It was a great road trip that we had a head of us because the car ride was about three hours from where we were. It felt like a group of missionaries taking a road trip from Utah to California. Yes there was some lip singing going on in the car but most of it was coming from the two zone leaders. After using up all the extra energy that we had in the car we were able to show up to the flat that was used by a couple of different missionaries. We got in about ten o'clock at night and surprised those elders by giving them a little scare. There were ten missionaries total under one roof. That night we didn't get much sleep because there was more singing and pranks going on. We got up the next morning around five to get ready and be off to our meeting with all the leaders in the Auckland mission and. to meet with the president. The companion not in a leadership role were also involved in the meeting with the mission president. Something that President Balli talked about during our nine hour meeting was knowing how to set our person goals that will not seem to high or too low but goals that we can reach and push ourselves to our limits. He put in a perspective of how our life should be, because in life we all set goals. Some goals are goals that we want to reach and some goals are goals we all wanted when we were kids. I thought about this, started thinking of my goals and life and I had none. I didn't realize how important it is to know our goals in life and how they lay out the path of our lives. Then President Balli talked about "planning" and how planning is essential to reaching our goals. We returned to our flats at nine at night and said a prayer and began our planing for the next day. This didn't hit me until president Balli talked about planning and how every night as we plan we are taking our time each night to really think hard and look at the tools we have in order to figure out where Heavenly Father wants us to work in his vineyard. For myself I was never the planner, I just went with the flow and did things as they came. Sometimes it worked but most of the time it was not as successful as it would have been if I would have taken the time to use what heavenly father has given us to ponder prayerfully what he wants us to do. It really goes along with doing "his will" not ours. We may think we are doing the right thing but we sometimes get in Heavenly Fathers way in helping us get those blessing we need in order to reach our goal. We should be asking not what we want but rather what is it that he wants us to do for us to be able to fulfill those blessing and promises that he made to us. It takes a prayer and a willing heart to have Heavenly Father help us to reach our goals and to help us plan for those goals. It was a great meeting. I was able to leave with an impression of working on my goals and what I need to do so that Heavenly Father can help me.

This Sunday I was able to reflect on my patriarchal blessing to see what I need to do in order to have those blessing come true. I was able to read a part of it that said "become ACQUAINTED with your heavenly father". I was pondering and I have read my patriarchal blessing many, many, many times and that little verse I skipped and never really took the time to read and ponder what that meant. After reading that I went and read a book that is from President Joseph Fielding Smith. He said that he got acquainted with the Lord by studying and expanding his knowledge about the gospel by reading the Book of Mormon and the Bible and other church materials. I was about to pray to ask what I needed to do in order to get closer to Him to help me on fulfilling the blessing and promises that he promised me and that was to study about the gospel more and expand my knowledge of him. It was great because we were able to go to church and listen to our teachers talking about doing the Lords will and how we can do that. We were able to also see the primary program which made my companion and I laugh and reflect back on how that used to be us singing and how our voices were really, really high pitched back then. All the members had a great time and were able to laugh and just help the primary kids. They sure do love us Elders in the ward, the primary kids love us and it is great to hear that the parents can trust us. 

We didn't get much work done in our area this week because my companion and I were in Auckland. When we got back I went on a trade off with another pair of elders in our district and then the next day we went on another trade off. I was in the other area helping Elder Christensen while his companion was with mine. On the good side my companion was able to see some miracles on the trades off's with the other elders! He was able to see an older investigator of ours on the street and was able to catch up with him and invite him to our ward beach party. We were able to see him there at the ward party and see him surrounded with the members making him feel welcome. It was a beautiful day to have a party on the beach. We were able to be there to enjoy the day with the members.

Sterling our investigator is going through a hard time right now but we have the faith and the members to help us. We aren't sure if he will be ready by Friday. He will be ready when he is ready. Keep him in your prayers. Other than that, he is doing great in the church and still having fun! It is important to us is that he is enjoying the church!

Thank you all for the prayers! One more year left!! Always from your friend, Elder Thorpe!

Have a great week! Remember to smile!

The district leader bought him a happy meal because he is SO happy all of the time.

October 19th, 2014

Hello family and Friends!!!

Monday on p-day we went hiking as a district. Yes, even the sisters came with us

hiking and surprisingly they kept up with us. We went hiking at Mount Minia. This was a two hour hike that we went on. The height of this hike was astonishing! The view was great and you could see the whole area of Wharagire. It was also a nice day, we all hung out at the top of the mountain and just glanced at how far we came. It is a good thing we took some pictures and I will be able to up load them soon. 

This week went by way too fast! We are still in a three pair companionship, only until Thursday though. On Thursday we have transfer day where we get to find out if we are staying or moving to a different place and that is also the day where Elder Christensen will be getting his new companion..FINALLY! He has been waiting for awhile. We have been bouncing from one area to another covering both our areas and meeting all the members from both different wards. We had a rescue night at the chapel on Wednesday and we were able to go on a trade off with one of our members who is the Ward mission leader. Rescue nights are nights were members and missionaries of that ward get together and go out to bring back recent converts, less activities and to also strengthen the members more. It was a fun night, Elder Hall went with our ward mission leader, brother Hurakie and I went with Elder Christensen to his area. We were able to split and go visiting members in both areas. Elder Christensen and I saw his ward members playing touch at the fields. Knowing us Americans love to play sports, we decided to park the car and go join them in a game of touch with the rugby ball. We joined up with the adults and played against the youth. The adults that played with us the first game were kind of not coordinated but I'm guessing they did that on purpose because the next game we played against the other youth group and using rugby language, we SMASHED them. I was surprised at how well the adults on our team were able to keep up with the youngsters. They may be old but they had old school rugby style of game and were a little bit wiser at making the moves. It was a great night to bond with the members and the youth. At the end, the adults, which would be our team, won both games! woot woot!! 

The next day which was a Thursday, Elder Hall and I were able to finally work in our area as just us two because Elder Christensen went on a trade off with the zone leaders in their area. It was quiet without a third person but also nice because we were able to work a whole day in our area. While going through our list of former investigators Elder Hall and I stopped at one of our former's house that used to be taught by past missionaries. We knocked on the door and a dad about in his thirty's came out at the door. We talked to him for awhile and he expressed, "its been almost a year since you boys have been around." Elder Hall and I just looked at each other, smiled and said "sorry for the hold up." He laughed and asked us what we could do for him, we were looking for his flatmate that lived with him, he told us that she moved to a different area. She was good friends with him and his partner. We were able to talk to him and find out that he has been to jail six times in his life and right now there are some trials he was going through. We expressed how God is our loving Heavenly Father and that he cares about every one of us. Then an impression came to my companion and I to share a scripture, he invited us in and also invited his partner to come listen to us. We expressed the importance of the Book of Mormon and how the Book of Mormon can help their family. Their names are Taylor and Trinity. Trinity, the girl told us that her dad was going through heart surgery and has cancer. Listening to her we could tell that they needed that moment with us to help them out how and to get on the right path. We gave them a commitment to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. Taylor said "You know, I like the way you two talk. It's comforting and uplifting". We were able to get a return appointment with them on Wednesday and we will be able to have the opportunity to teach them. Elder Hall and I got back into our car and said a prayer of thanks and gratitude of the miracle that we were able to experience and be there at the right time and moment. 

On Friday we were able to go see our progressing investigator named Sterling who is 18 years of age. Well, I have been teaching Sterling since September but this time with Elder Hall. We had an appointment with Sterling that afternoon with me, Elder hall and Elder Christensen, all three of us. All of us showed up to his house and were able to catch up with him, a little bit of recap is that Sterling has been going through an addiction of smoking and has been working on it ever since. He has been going to his addiction recovery classes that we showed him and he has been getting involved with the members and church a lot. On this particular visit Sterling expressed to us that he read 1 Nephi, chapter eight the last time we were at his house and he had read it right after we left. We were able to go over the chapter, and explain to him about the tree of life and how the tree of life represents Heavenly Father and his goodness. We also explained the importance of the iron rod and how by following his teachings we can overcome the mist of darkness and temptation that is around us. Sterling, with a little help, was able to understand the passage of scriptures and really apply it to himself. Elder Christensen then had an impression to share another scripture which talked about the anti-nephi-lehis digging up their weapons of war. He asked "sterling what is your weapons of war", sterling replied "my cigs" and he asked him boldly "sterling will you bury your weapons of war!?" Sterling nodded and was up and ready to go outside with us to his back yard and dig a hole and put his box of smokes in the ground for good. We were able to go out exactly as the story said and Sterling started digging his hole and dropped his cut up smokes and put the dirt on top!!!!! Afterwards he was shocked and told us that his heart was pounding the whole time he was digging the hole. At that moment with the inspiration of the Book of Mormon, Sterling was able to make a commitment to stop smoking and hasn't smoked since then!!! WHAT A MIRACLE AND A CHANGE HE MADE!!!! 

        On Sunday night at a fireside Sterling came up to us and said "I wanna get baptized on the 15th of November at nine o'clock in the morning". He grandmother was there to hear it come out of his mouth and we were all excited that he said that!!! 

It was a fast, fun and moments to always cherish week! I love this area and hope I don't get transferred  because I can stay a couple of more months before I'm ready to go. So hopefully I stay and I have a good feeling I will! The people are wonderful, the members are great and helpful! A lot of Elder's and Sisters are leaving this transfer to go back home! It is weird to think that they are already finishing up. Shows that the work still moves on no matter what! Lesson that I learned this week is just like in the Bible, "love the Lord with all thy heart, might, mind and strength" the same as to your neighbor. If we have that mentality to love our Heavenly Father with all we have then he will be there to help us up from our burden's and our trails to show us his blessings. Always remember to look for help that you can do for someone, you never know what impression you might leave when you help them.

Letter home 10-5-14

Kira ora (means hello in Maori) family and friends! 

Where to start...well this week was one of those weeks were the unexpected popped up out of nowhere. We have had some things happen in the zone with a companionship that is pretty sensitive. This is a problem that our mission president and the area presidency of our mission is dealing with. Elder Christensen, a good friend of mine, is in my district and the one that I flew down here with on the plane, is now without a companion. His companion ran away, is still in New Zealand but nowhere to be found. That means my companion, me and him are in a threesome. Long story short, because elder Christensen has asked me not to share what has happened to his companion, he is now in our companionship for awhile. We are covering his area, our area and plus another area that we go down to cover usually on Sundays, so that is three areas that we are covering. We are waiting for the call from our mission president to see what the next step is. If elder Christensen is going to have a new companion or just going to stay in a threesome companionship until transfers. We just have to wait to see. It was a eye opening week for us because we were able to turn to each other for help and comfort. One of our brothers that is going through a rough time. This is something that we didn't suspect would ever happen. I have never seen someone so strong before, to have something hard like that happen to him and keep his head high and his back strong, focused on the Lords work. What an example his is being for all of us elders in the Whagarie Zone. 

That was what happened to us on Thursday. On Saturday we also had another eye opener. During the afternoon after visiting one of Elder Christensen's members we decided to go back to the flat and grab our coats because it was getting cold. All three of us are staying in one flat for right now. Just going about our normal day, I walked into our room to grab something and noticed that the blinds were blowing. Joking around as if one of the elders opened the window I decided that it would be a good idea to close it. To our surprise the window is shattered, there was glass all over on the ground on the outside and glass on my bed. There were muddy footprints on my bed and on our floor. We just looked at each other astonished, with no words. We started to call our mission President and one of our couple missionaries and told them what had just happened to our flat. They were saddened and told us to call the cops and they would talk to the landlord. After the call we looked around our flat too see if the person that broke into our flat took anything, the muddy footprints led to the room where our bikes where...well...more like were our bikes used to be. The man came in and had stolen our bikes. We were just happy that it wasn't anything too valuable but still we were shocked that someone would go through the trouble just to brake into our flat to steal missionary bikes. Looks like I will not be having a bike for the rest of my mission, same with one of the zone leaders because that was the other bike they had stolen. You have to love being in New Zealand, thought this would never happen to us but there is always a first for everything. Lesson learned....that is to..be thankful for the things you have because you never know when someone might want it and try something funny to steal it or borrow it, you never know.

Last Monday after our p-day activity as a district we were able to go to McDonalds and get some food. While leaving the parking lot I thought it would be funny to put a funny sticker on the sisters car. Well not being the smart person I am, the sister backed up and their front tire was crushing my foot! I didn't scream or anything, just looked at the sisters and said in a calm voice, "you might want to pull forward because you are on my foot". She then stopped and parked it on my foot, the whole ton of the car was directly on my left foot. They pulled forward really fast and started apologizing. To my surprise, I wasn't in any kind of excruciating pain, just smiled and said "all goods".  The sister that ran over my foot was sister Daynes, from Utah, but that is okay because her prayers helped my foot heal. I was able to play some basketball with a couple of kids while in our white shirts and ties the following day at a park. We where able to build friendship. She felt bad but the foot was protected and so was I. Thank you for the protective prayers. They sure do come in handy. All is good and my left foot is never better! I can play sports today for P-Day. 

With all that happened to all three of us, it was hard to work but we were able to keep up with all of our areas to help with the members, investigators, and less actives. We were able to tell them what our week was like and everybody that we saw told us they would keep an eye out for who stole our bikes and would tackle them if they see them riding it. Even though some aren't members they are still willing to help the missionaries, it is a good feeling to have when the culture and people love you for who you are. We were able to get some lessons in during the week. They were pretty much lessons with less actives and recent converts that have barely joined the church. We were able to play games with them, catch up and hear their stories. This was the week of just trying to listen to those who are needing help to return back to the church. As missionaries we are always happy to help others.

Elder Hall and I had an experience, it was a very quick one but we were able to see the good out of it. While driving we noticed that an old man was struggling to get up and back onto his sitting stroller. We saw him out of the corner of our eye and pulled over fast to run up to help him. He fell down twice but we were able to run to him on time to help him. He is in his 90's and at that time Elder Hall and I were in our regular cloths not our ties and white shirts. A lady that worked for the hospital was able to assist the old man too. After we helped him we asked were he was going, he said "to the gym". Elder Hall and I just smiled and laughed, the old man was still wanting to workout at his old age. That is some dedication that he has and sounds like me when I will be his age. We laughed and shook his hand but before we left the lady told us that she looked at our name badge's and noticed who we were, I had a questionable looked on my face, looked at my companion and he was wearing his badge. She smiled as we told her, "yes, we are missionaries but just not dressed as one". Even though we didn't share anything with her, the simple act of helping that old man stood out to her. As members we are always looking for something good to do for someone. 

It was a week of up and down but in all, it was GREAT!! You've got to love being a missionary. You are not a true missionary until you make your mom a little nervous. When she is, then you know you are a true missionary and that you have been out for awhile! When things come out of nowhere which we all will experience in our lifetime, we just need to not worry but to keep our heads up high and look on the good side of things. They happen for a reason and some of those reasons are to teach us a lesson, mine this week was to let things happen in the Lords hand and not be scared but to exercise that faith in Him that everything will be alright. Thank you all for the encouragement, I am really enjoying my mission! Memories to always keep and look back and laugh at.

Letter home 9-14-14

Hello Family and Friends! Hope you all had a fantastic WEEK! It must of been a good one because all of the e-mails I have been receiving from everyone have been happy. Sounds like the weather is starting to change at home from summer time to winter time, that is okay with me because the sun in shinning over here in New Zealand and the tanning season is starting once again, YES!!!!!

My old companion Elder Long left and went down to Auckland, he is serving in the very first area that I started my mission which is Manakau. Surprisingly I still remember the name of the first area I served in. He is in the Nui program which is a language program. You are all wondering "why is it that Elder Thorpe is getting new companions!" well..that is a good question because I don't know why...maybe it is because they get jealous of my wonderful smile or hair style. Who knows but the mission president is always inspired. We both said our goodby's, little tears here and there and laughs. Elder Long was happy to leave Whagarie because he has been here for six months, so half of his mission, it was good to see him happy but at the same time I was sad to see him go. My new companion is Elder Hall, it is an easy name to say which is already a check mark off the good companion list. Elder Hall is from England!!!! Chip Chip Cheeryooo!!! He has a hard proper English accent, not like American English because nothing is more proper than the American language. He is the best! Funny story is that when I was in Henderson in Auckland with my old companion, Elder Lewis was in the same place were I met Elder Hall, so we pretty much knew each other before we got put together. Elder Hall is the new district leader, this is his first time being a district leader, he told me on the car ride up here that he was so EXCITED to be my companion....so honored to be loved by other missionaries. 

This week was a fast week because of transfers! Elder Hall and I, on our first night together, went out to go teach a lesson already set up with an investigator and we brought a member with us. This investigator we taught, his name is Sterling a 18 year old boy who is looking to change his life. Background story of his life, is that Sterling grew up playing sports, was talented and could have possibly of gone pro. He hung out with the wrong group of kids that drew him down the wrong path. My last companion and I met him a couple of Sundays ago, found out that his grandparents he is staying with are active members in our ward. Going to the lesson on Thursday night just after getting back from transfers meeting in Auckland which was a three hour drive, we were ready to teach Sterling. Brother Maxwell a recent convert to the church came out with us that night. Brother Maxwell never was interested in the church, but his wife was always a member, long story, short, brother Maxwell decided to take the discussions with the missionaries and be baptized. My companion, me, brother Maxwell and Sterling started having a discussion. In the middle of the lesson brother Maxwell started bearing his testimony to Sterling. We sat there watching Sterling's expression when brother Maxwell told about his testimony and his story of joining the church. Knowing about brother Maxwell's background, Sterling felt at peace and comfortable. He told us later that he would like to take the discussions to see where he should be. Sterling is so humble, he will sit there and listen to every word we tell him and he takes it to heart. An 18 year old who is looking to change, is humble and welling to do anything to change his past is an 18 year old looking for the Savior!

On Sunday we went to the branch that we covered instead of our ward. We had planned already to go to Pie Pie Wie. The branch was having the primary program. It was amazing to see the little ones go up and share their talks. There was this one primary song that I really got into. When I say that what I mean is that I could have gotten up in the middle of church and started dancing, but I didn't. I forgot the name of the song but it was a good song. We were able to meet two investigators at church and found out that both have been coming to the branch all their life. One is 16 and the other is 18, not brothers and don't know each other but have been coming to church. The 16 year old boy, which I have forgotten his name, is gay but knows about the family proclamation is looking to change his life. He had an interview with our bishop and understood the circumstances and is wanting to change. We will go by next week to his moms place to ask if we could possibly start teaching him. I don't see him any different than a brother who is wanting to change his ways and we as missionaries are here to be guides to help those understand the teaching of our Savior and how his teachings can help us change.

     The 18 year old is Abraham and he is MASSIVE, not too round but fit and TALL!!!!!. We went to our members house that he was staying with. His partner, who he had his baby boy with, is part of the member family that Abraham is staying with, so she is the daughter of the our second counselor of the branch presidency. Elder Hall and I started talking to Abraham and asking him about his understanding about the church. Found out that he used to be taught by our zone leaders, knows everything about the church. We asked him what was stopping him and he told us that getting permission from his dad is something he wants to do and having that family support. Elder Hall and I sat there and waited for the spirit to tell us what to say to him, then without an hesitation we challenged Abraham, before the 18th of October, to ask his dad's permission to be baptized. Then we asked him to be baptized on that date and he said yes, without thinking at all. We were BOLD towards him but not over baring that the spirit was able to touch him. Sometimes it just takes those simple words of love and encouragement to tell those we love and care for to show how much the Lord is wanting them to take that next step to change. Not us, but the Lord. 

I have learned this whole week that CHANGE....is not scary but change itself means that we are willing to forget the past and move on forward. I used to think change is something that would be easy but looking back, the mission life has changed my perspective of the church. All the teachings of the church are all about having the will to change, just like when our Savior said to our Heavenly Father "let thy will be done", those words were coming from our Savior saying to our Father, I am ready to do what you ask of me, this is your will and I am ready to do it, to change, to become a better person, or to be who you have always seen me as. I have never been so happy in my whole life, the changes that have come in my life are remarkable. Stories, friends, and families that I will always cherish because they have all changed me.

     My words of advise to all those who are not serving a mission or are, is that you don't need to be on a mission to change. There are plenty of ways that are provided for us to have that chance to change, we just have to be willing to ask for help. Don't be afraid of changing, there is a quote I have been going by on my mission, "change shows that you are spiritually growing" or in other wards change means you are becoming that person that you have always where, are, and will become. 

Have a fantastic week! Dont forget to smile and to laugh once in awhile! 

From Elder Thorpe, the short Elder

Letter Home 9-7-14

Hello family and Friends!! it is good to write to you all once again. This week we have transfers coming up on Thursday....cross your fingers that no one gets transferred this week and that my companion and I stay together for another month or so..hopefully no longer than six months because that would be just too long to be with one companion. We are also having conference coming up in the next month but that is a while before that comes up.

This week my companion and I decided, well I didn't have any vote in this, but we decided to go on three trade offs in a row. On Wednesday the zone leaders wanted to go on a two hour trade off. I went with Elder Tibbits and we road on bikes. Elder TIbbits is from Utah and his family is from Morgan. In the two hours that we went tracking we were able to find two new investigators to teach. There was this girl name Kasey who just recently came out of jail. While talking to Kasey we were able to find out that while she did her time in jail she read a little book. The book that she was reading was a bible, while in jail she would take a read in the bible when she felt down. Elder Tibbits and I were able to share with her the importance of the love that Heavenly Father had for her. Having a scripture in the Bible pop in my head we then decided to read it out to her and it is found in 1 Samuel 16:7 which talks about how the Lord doesn't look at us for our "stature" or of how people look at us because the "Lord doesn't see as man seeth, but looketh on the heart". Kasey then felt really comforted and we could see in her expressions that she felt love and comfort. She later told us that she has a family of nine kids....NINE KIDS that is a handful of kids to be looking after. We were able to set an appointment with her to come back to talk more about the gospel with her and the family. 

Elder Long I had a baptism this weekend!!! It was the eight year old girl Qunisha!!! She was so excited and looked beautiful wearing all white. There were about forty people that showed up to her baptism. Qunishas mom, sister Cooper was very happy to see her little daughter be confirmed and baptized as a member of the church. While waiting for the time of her baptism just thinking, I had the feeling of comfort rather than being nervous. Meeting her in the font was an amazing experience that I will always remember!!! We both later agreed that being the font was warmer than being out of the font. She is the type of eight year old that I wish I could have been. What an example she is too all of us and the hearts that she has touched of all the members and her friends. The following Sunday we were able to welcome her as a member by all raising our right hands. 

Thank you for all the help and uplifting e-mails, the two years are going by fast and there is still a lot of work still to be done. One thing I would  like to say is...DON'T FORGET TO SMILE!! 

Hope you all enjoy your Month of September!! 

Elder Thorpe, A.K.A  "The Island boy on an Island!" 

Letter home September 1st

Hello to all those who are back home! 

This week was full of running around in the car and on our bikes! Winter is still here in New Zealand. Instead of snow we get rain, upon rain, upon rain, poured down on us.

To start off the week we had one of our members come out with us this week, his name is Brother McClougage. He is a convert to the church, was baptized about a year ago and now is our ward clerk. Brother McClougage is very smart, plays rugby, and is not Maori, but is English.  We were able to take him out with us to go visit one of our investigators named Lisa. Lisa is a single mom, her partner just left her to go to Australia and she is now currently taking care of three little kids. Brother McClougage was a big help because he and Lisa clicked. They are similar and both are not Maori. Lisa is the type of person that has a lot of questions, which is good for us missionaries but sometimes we have to  be careful with her and not loose her by giving her too much information. Lisa told us, "I know a lot about other religions but I don't know much about the Mormons." Having the impression to teach her briefly about the restoration, brother McClougage, Elder Long and I took turns explaining the restoration. Having brother McClougage there with us was very helpful. He was able to share his conversion information with us and to share his experience. It was good to have a member with us to show Lisa that not only us missionaries know this gospel is true but also someone close to her background found out for himself.

 Elder Long and I later on this week decided to do a service project for one of the less actives. Her name is Katalina. She is a single mom with an eleven month old baby. We didn't tell Katalina that we would mow her lawn for her, we decided to surprise her and show up on her front door with a  lawn mower. My companion and I knew that if we asked her ahead of time, she would just give us the reply that everyone tends to give us which is "no Elders, there is nothing you can do, you are doing enough by visiting us, " true, but hey Elder Long and I were cleaver enough to just show up ready to do service. This time her reply was different, it was more of a shocked response that she couldn't say no. In her own words "Elders you don't have to do this, but thank you." Just hearing her say thank you was enough for Elder Long and Me. We saw she needed help and without any hesitation we acted together to help one of our sisters. Doing that service for her started our day off nicely. 

On Saturday Elder Long and I attended a members baptism. It was a wonderful to see how happy this eight year old girl was to be baptized! She had the biggest grin on her face and was happy to be a member of the church. She couldn't baptized earlier because she was going through some stuff and the member that was supposed to baptize her got sick and didn't show up. Back up plan was for elder Long to baptize her, good thing we heard about all this ahead of time because we were already at the chapel at five thirty in the morning filling up the font for the baptism which was later on in the afternoon. We were able to go get Elder Longs whites and return in time before the baptism started which was at nine. We didn't get any tickets for speeding, thank goodness. After that baptism was over we went to another baptism that another Elders in our district were holding in Dougaville, which was about an hour away from were we were. This is the part in our weekend that we did a lot of running around. Showing up to Elder Anderson and Elder Fermaus baptism was interesting. The investigator that was being baptized was in his fifties and didn't want a lot of the members to be there, just the bishopric. It totally it was just Elder Fermaus, Elder Anderson, Elder Long, and me at the baptism with the two zone leaders and bishopric. Out of all of us there, we were able to see one of our brothers join the church.

After all that was done we had to drive another hour back into our own area. Mind that we have been awake since five thirty in the morning and our eyes, while in the car, were getting a little sleepy, but it's a good thing we rolled down our windows to keep us awake. We were able to go see other person later on that evening around six. Her name was Marama Anderson, she lives right next door to our ward mission leader who apparently called us one day telling us that his neighbor wanted to blessing for her baby.  She couldn't meet with us last Tuesday because of a death in her family. We felt the impression to go see her late on Saturday. While walking up to her house Elder Long and Thought that because she knew our ward mission leader and she wanted a blessing for her baby a week ago, we thought that she was a member. We found out that Marama is not a member, but because she has known our ward mission leader her whole life, he took care of her. Marama's family are all members of the church just not her. She never was too interested at that time to be baptized. Her story is that because she is a single mom, has four children, ages 20, 17, 16, 14, and a partner. She is getting to that point in life were she wants to make sure that her kids grown up in something that will help them to better kids. She has seen a lot of deaths in her family and she doesn't want to die without knowing that she could have been part of something her whole life. She also didn't want her kids not knowing about the Mormon church. Then later on, in the middle of our conversation said "I want to be baptized in the Mormon church." Marama also said she wants to pursue this goal but knows that she would have to give up playing sports on Sundays. She is so inspired to change her life it was an amazing experience. 

Sunday rolled around, we had four investigators come to church. One of them named Tom, is really excited to be baptized this month on the 22nd. Tom has a crazy, one of the "ahh" moment stories. We found him because of our two zone leaders. Elder Tibbits and Elder Larsen were hungry and wanted to go get some food. While getting some food, in the process they saw Tom just leaning against the wall. Elder Tibbits before that had an impression to go get an Ensign in the back of their car. They talked to Tom, invited him to go eat with them and they opened the Ensign on the page with all the Apostle and the Prophets. They started teaching Tom about the restoration and Priesthood authority. Elder Tibbits and Elder Larsen took Tom back to the chapel to a baptism that the sisters were having. The sisters also talked to Tom about the restoration and Jesus Christ making such a wonderful sacrifice for us. Tom was asked to be baptized by the zone leaders and he accepted, putting his fist in the air!! They asked to go see him later that night. Elder Long and I were in a teaching appointment with Qunisha, the eight year old girl, the phone rang and Elder Larsen and Elder Tibbits told us we needed to meet up with them to go teach a lesson with Tom. That very night we were able to meet Tom, and found out that his parents died. Tom is a little slower than most people but has the heart to change and to learn more about Jesus Christ. 

What a week!!! Full of surprises and amazing moments to always remember. This all happened because as a zone we fasted about three weeks ago to find the elect souls! On top of all the that, eight year old girl Qunisha, that I talked about in my last e-mail is having her baptism this weekend!! She has asked me to be the person to baptize her!! Even though I have only known Qunisha for about five weeks, she wanted me to do it for her. What a privilege it is for me to be able to do my very, VERY! first baptism her in New Zealand. This will be a member baptism but I will take this as an honor for her to be my first. She even showed up this Sunday and sat with us in sacrament. What a blessing it is to see this little girl and her determination! Wow, wow, wow, wow is all I can say. The lord will prepare us in his time. 

Thank you for all the prayers and e-mails, hope you enjoy your week and remember to always SMILE!!  Have a fantastic week!

Elder Thorpe

 

 

 

 

Letter Home Aug. 24, 2014

Hello to family and friends, all the way from New Zealand the long lost cloud, a place of memories!

This week was a good week full of going out on trade off's with the different elders in the district and finding new ways and ideas to meet people. My companion, Elder Long and I have a baptism coming up in the next two weeks! Her name is Quanisha, she is an eight year old girl and full of joy and laughter. Quanisha used to have a cast on her left arm but finally got that off so we were able to finally sit down with her and set a date for her to get baptized. Her mom, two older sisters and an older brother are members but are less active right now. Quanisha on the other hand will come to church no matter what. If her family comes or not, you bet this little eight year old girl who has this determination to be part of our big family will do anything in order to make it to her baptism date. This little girl is an example for me on how much faith she is expressing to her Heavenly Father to take that covenant of being part of the fold. She is everything I wished I was when I was eight years old, just listening to her and how she tells stories in our visits with her just brightens my day. This Sunday we saw her and she came right away and gave both for us a hug. It was nice to see that little kids like her are still able to give us hugs and that makes us feel good because we know that it won't be long before she passes us on our heights so we are taking advantage of being tall as much as we can. Overall she is very excited and so are we!! 

Something that I have noticed in our ward is that we have a lot of single adults not Young single adults but SINGLE ADULTS who are in their sixty's to seventy's kinda somewhere around there. There are more single moms in our ward than any ward I have ever been in, and this is something that is big not only in our zone but other zones in New Zealand. The rate of single moms is an eye opener for all us missionaries. Just a little visit from us members and missionaries really goes a long ways for the single mom because they really do appreciate the time we give to just see them. These moms are strong, and hold onto that faith of theirs. They are so much fun to be around, it is funny to see how much we get picked on (joking wise) from them but Elder Long and I just take it. The work is going great and moving. Not much happened this week but we are finding new investigators to teach. The members do really appreciate the work that is going on in the area. 

The best wishes to you all and hope your week is full of miracles but mostly more on the fun side though. Tell me meet again, talk to you next week! Elder Thorpe

Photos- Henderson Zone, P day at the beach, convert baptism

letter home August 18th, 2014

Hello family and friends! again..! :) 

Well this week was very exciting and funny at the same time all because of my companion. The two of us equals double the trouble! 

Monday on our P-day our district went out to a place called Ocean Beach, might I say it was beautiful! The sun was out, the birds were flying and a group of missionaries were up to no good, sounds like a perfect P-day. We decided to go out because it was one of the sisters birthday on Sunday but because it was Sunday we couldn't do much so going hiking was on all of our minds. Somehow on the way up we took a wrong turn and ended up by the beach. The time was coming to an end, it was close to five o'clock, we were all ready to get into our cars and call it a day. Well my companion decided that he didn't want P-day to be over so he accidentally locked our car keys in the trunk of the car. In his words "oops..." as soon as we all heard those words come out of his mouth, all was silence. He asked me if I had the keys but because I smile a lot he thought (I tend to smile a lot) I was pulling his leg. We got our exercise in though.. we ran up to the nearest home we could find to ask for help. Elder Long and I didn't realize how out of shape we were, we thought because our white shirts still fit us we were in shape. Guess we were both wrong. The man came out of his house and saw us. We told him about the situation and how we locked our keys in the trunk of our car...he first asked us if it was automatic locks, we said yes and he then handed us a hammer. Elder Long and I just starred at him thinking "what is he wanting us to do with this hammer?" Found out that he wanted us to smash our window to get into the car, this is how i guess Kiwi people open their cars. That idea we didn't like so we told him it wasn't our car, so we borrowed his phone, called the mission office and told them what just happened. They laughed at us (in a good way) and said they would send a person over to open the car. The sisters being as nice as they were stayed behind with their car to wait for us but it was more like they said they didn't know the way back and were afraid to get lost. After two to three hours of waiting the man finally showed up and opened the car for us! We were off to the races back to our flats to get back to work. I don't blame my companion but he sure did learn his lesson...that was to not relax too much on P-days. 

The next day rolled around and we had trade off's, I was with Elder Anderson, and yes he is from the best city in the world!!! SEATTLE, WASHINGTON!!! You could say we got along really well...a little too much. We had a fantastic trade off! We got side tracked because I had to take a driving test by the zone leaders to get certified to drive in New Zealand...watch out!! After that was all done we went to go see a family that was not on the schedule. As we were walking up the hill, yes we decided to walk on that day because its pretty safe to say I was a little hesitant of what would happen if I got back on the bikes again. Going up the hill a car honked at us and waved us to come over to their house. This car happened to be one of our investigators. You can guess their last name is pretty famous! The name of the family is THORPE! I didn't know that there was a family that could, maybe, possibly be related to my family in New Zealand. It was a mind boggling moment for me.  We went up and met the family, and met the son, his name is Hamish and his girlfriend Zoe. They were the two that waved us over to come to their house when they drove by. We met Hamish's mom and she was shocked that I looked a little different then them...because of the color of my skin..so was happy that her family could possibly have some Samoan decedents. I sadly broke the news with her that I wasn't Samoan and that I was adopted. She still accepted me as family. We started talking to Hamish and Zoe. They are both in their twenty's and found out that Hamish is not a member and neither is Zoe but the mom is the only member in the family. Elder Anderson and I started teaching Zoe and Hamish, we thought we would teach the Restoration and how the church came to be, but in the middle of the lesson we asked Zoe "what is one thing you have always wondered in your life?" she replied, "Even though I grew up as a Catholic, and I never did feel like the Catholic religion was something for me, I keep looking and I'm opened minded about other religions but still kinda kept close to the Catholic Church. I had a question of what was my purpose in life and no one could answer that question for me". Elder Anderson and I looked at each other, nodded our heads, put the restoration to the side and started teaching her the plan of salvation. The feeling in the room was just indescribable. We could tell that we were not the ones teaching Zoe but the Holy Ghost and the Spirit were. In the middle of the lesson she explained "I liked the way you describe God because you describe him as someone loving instead of someone scary and also the plan is comfortable not scary". Those words that she said haven't left my head this whole week...here is our sister sitting in front of us and we were directed to go over that day to not only teach a lesson but teach her the importance of life and the Atonement and how Jesus Christ is the center of that wonderful plan that brings comfort to all of us. Zoe and Hamish were happy after the lesson and felt really comfortable. They both accepted to be baptized but not on a specific date but both said they would give it a go and learn more before making that commitment. All the glory goes the Heavenly Father for qualifying Elder Anderson and I to be an instrument for Him. The joy we feel when we see the investigators, members, and friends smile and say "I feel comfortable". That miracle adds on to my testimony about the gospel of Jesus Christ and the marvelous work he has in store for all of us!!! 

This weekend Elder Long and I had a baptism with an eleven year old girl name Charlese. The story with Charlese is that she is with a foster care family who happened to be members. Charlese was excited about her baptism and the better part was that her dad was going to show up and this would be her first time ever meeting her dad face to face. Saturday rolled around and the day came, and you can tell our minds were anticipating for the moment of her baptism. We waited at the chapel for a couple two hours for her dad to show up....after some time of getting to know the members and little kids her dad finally showed up. Okay I have to admit Elder Long and I were a little bit scared he wouldn't show up but we wrong. The baptism started and we went out to a river in the forest to do her actually baptism because the chapel we are in doesn't have a font. This is because we also cover this branch which is a small group of people. Elder Long and I cover a ward and a branch, Saturday we were up with the branch in Pipe Wie which is 45 minutes from Whagarie. You know that moment were in the movies you have people baptizing other people in the river...well my companion not only got to live that moment in real life because he actually baptized Charlese in the river. What a beautiful moment it was to see our little sister becoming part of the family. Elder Long did the honors and baptized her and she is now officially a Latter Day Saint. Elder Long said the water wasn't cold more like it was warm....but that was a lie because we could all see he was shivering. 

Sunday rolled around and it was a day of relaxing...it would be if Elder Long and I were home but not until  next year!! We had a great lesson in gospel principle and our topic was about the "natural man" in other words pride. It was a great discussion and how we should all be careful of being prideful . At times we can have many miracles happen to us, and other times not many and sometimes complain "why is this not happening right now?" Looking back at our week I think that all of this probably wouldn't have happened if my companion and I were prideful, complaining and not giving thanks. Heavenly Father gives us trials, afflictions, and troubles in life to have us wake up and to say, "hey where is my thanks or why is it being this way". We have many trails in our life, it comes down to the scripture passage in Alma 36:3 "whosoever puts their TRUST in God, shall be lifted up in the last day". The key word is trust, it comes down to how much trust do we have in our Heavenly Father? How much are we giving him all the credit? How much are we letting him work through us to have him bless us with these miracles in life? It comes down to putting of the natural man which the scripture passage is found in Mosiah 3:19, "for the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam and will be unless he yields to the enticing of the holy spirit and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, and willing to submit to all things that his father gives him." I might have worded that wrong but it means we need to get out of the way and move over so that the Holy Ghost can teach us all things, what is right and what is wrong. Also there is a promise in the scripture Alma 36:3 and its the key word "shall", shall means it will happen, that heavenly father will give you this promise as long as you are willing to let him show you. Heavenly Father gives his promises at the time that is the right time for all of us. All these stories, miracles, and moments that my companion and I will always cherish because we have been trying to be obedient to the mission rules and commandments Heavenly Father has given us. If we want to be "exactly" obedient there are two ways of doing it, one we are being exactly obedient by coming to church ,pay our tithing, go to youth nights and etc, or we are being exactly obedient by showing our love to our fellow members but helping them to be exactly obedient as you are trying to be as well.

Our mission president showed us "if you are being exactly obedient and your companion is not and you are thinking of yourself and he is trying his hardest but is sometimes late to get out of the flat because he is getting things ready, or late to bed but you are ready, is that being exactly obedient?" We need to help those who are having a hard time in understanding what obedience is and help those who are struggling. It can be the less actives, investigators, and members who are active to realize that showing your love to your fellow members by helping them is showing that you are not being selfish. 

The lesson that my companion and I have learned is to show each other appreciation, to help those who are struggling, understand that they are loved by Heavenly Father and us, and to always give thanks to our Father in Heaven for all the miracles we do get. My testimony is growing by seeing the examples of members, investigators and less actives everyday. It is the love for others that drives us to do good! Love your companion, love your members, love your family and most importantly love yourself for who you are!!! 

Thank you all and hope you have a wonderful week! Elder Thorpe (Islander boy that never stops smiling)

Pictures of his new area

 driving to Whangarei my new area!

the area

More pictures from Henderson

 The Ice Challenge

 His district- minus the sisters

 Saying goodbye to the Cilva family

 Saying goodbye to Diamond and Dontay

 Saying goodbye to the Toala family

Pictures from his last day in Henderson before transfers

The boyfriend of a less active member owns a barber shop and gives the Elders free haircuts

These are pictures from my last destrict, we decided to go up to peha on our last Pday in Henderson

Pictures from on top looking towards the beach going down to Peha! 

 

 

 

 

 

Letter Home Sunday August 3rd

Hello family and friends!

wow it sounds like a lot has been going on this week! dad is doing great with his job(still looking like the young man he was 50 years ago), mom is getting to take free plane slash vacation rides with dad, the Watts family are always up to no good and having too much fun, Kara and josh sound like they are finding themselves and still enjoying each others company and Megan and Selina are working hard and loving life each and ever single day. Sounds like the Thorpe family to me, still all moving around doing stuff to keep themselves busy, good old family love you all! just one question when are all of you going to just relax or is relaxing not in your vocabulary?!?!  You are all in my prayers and there is not a moment were not one of you don't come up in my head and I think back of how blessed I am to represent my wonderful, silly, and outgoing family and friends! thank you once again for all you have done for me and to help me get were I am today. 

Mom asked a really good question when she e-mailed me "what has been going on with you?" just want to say that was a very inspired question...what have i been doing..? well A lot spiritually, mentally and psychically but not all in that order.  My last area was in Auckland in an area called Henderson and my ward was Henderson valley ward, the members over there were great, they loved helping out with the missionary work and accepted any challenge that they were asked to do. The bishopric was great and were all in-tune in helping out with getting those less actives back into church and making the investigators feel welcome. That was on the spiritual side part, the psychical was that I had to ride my bike all around that area, which wasn't too easy because not only did I gain leg muscles but I also gained a little bit of stomach muscles(yes I am gaining just a little weight but not too much that is noticeable). Also we were doing a lot of getting to know the youth and YSA(Young Single Adults boys), that was riding bikes while being pulled on a razor scooters, going on hikes with them, and playing basketball or touch rugby we were there with the youth and YSA boys because we felt that getting to know the youth and showing them that missionary work is not only just finding people to teach but was also all about having fun in times were it was most appropriate(sometimes).They loved being around my old companion and I that they would call us up to just to go do missionary work with them and visit less actives, members and investigators with us. Those were the physical and spiritual part of my last area but the mental part is that there wasn't much thinking that went into me doing all this it was by the spirit and the spirit worked through my companion and I. I will always cherish the moments in Henderson and never forget the time my old companion and I had together with the members, investigators and less actives. 

Before I left Elder Matua(my old companion) and I were teaching a family name the Toala, Mel and her two kids Dimond and Dontay were getting ready to be baptize in three weeks. Well it is sad to say that I have left that journey with the Toala family and left it with my old companion Elder Matua to finish the job up. I trust him with all my heart and soul that he will do a great job at helping the Toala family reach the waters of Baptism. Please keep him and his new companion in your prayers he will be needing all the help and support he needs from family and friends back home and here but they will do a great job. As you would of all already guessed I was called on Wednesday afternoon to be transferred to a new area with a new companion. On my last night while packing up Mel that is sister Toala, her twelve year old son Dimond and her eleven year old daughter Dontay came to mine and Elder Matuas flat that night around six, and because I was leaving the next day in the morning they wanted to come say goodbye. Dimond came and gave me with teary eyes and a smile on his face the BIGGEST HUG EVER! i hugged him back and had tears come down on my eyes too. This twelve years old boy even though he barely met me not knowing much of me gave me a hug that i will never forget and cherish for the rest of my life. Dimond was like a little brother I never had, both of us would make jokes at each other ever time we would be over at there place, and something that stood out to me while teaching at his house one day was these words that came out of his mouth..."I want to serve a mission when i get older", even though he still has some years to go i know that Dimond has that determination to go on a mission like when he first did when he heard about the story about Joseph smith, and he hasn't been stopping on reading the book of Mormon and wanting to learn more ever since. My last words to Dimond were these "don't give up, no matter what you do, don't give up". It was a heart felt moment for me and Dimond i will miss him but i know that goodbyes are not forever! I will see him again! It wasn't me that changed Dimond it was heavenly father, it wasn't my example that he was following it as heavenly fathers, and it wasn't my teachings that him and his family were following..it was our heavenly fathers teachings.

I am now in my new area Called Whangarei, the way you pronounce the word in the beginning is with the letter 'F', i know it is kind of weird but that is cause I am out in the country side were all the Mario people are. I am not in Auckland city anymore, I am just out side about four to three hour drive out in the country side. I made sure to take some pictures while in the car ride down here, and there is tons and tons of green out here! My new companions name is Elder Long, from you called it California!! He is the district leader and because our are well the zone is so spread out we drive a car!!! woahh! finally who ever prayed for me to get a car I just want to say thank you! all the championships in Whangarei zone have a car beside one companionship which their area is in the town. All the districts are also spread out by a an hour away from each other...so P-days consist of just one district or usually just a two or three companionship's. It is just absolutely beautiful out here! love it love it love it! My companion and I also found a family name Thorpe s also...so we will be looking into them to see if they are related somehow with the family. 

On sunday we took the mission prep class out with us, i went over to one of the students mates house with a returned missionary, so there were three of us going to one of the students mates house. It was a great experience because the kid name Aaron was preparing to go on a mission and this was his first time ever bringing up the gospel up to his mates. He grew up making trouble with these his friends, and had a change of heart and decided to prepare to go on a mission. It was great, Aaron did great and his friends were open to him and what he had to say, later after we left Aaron said that he wasn't positive what they would say but was happy they were opened to what he shared. Aaron had more strength then I ever did because wanting to share the gospel with my friends was something I never wanted to do but seeing Aaron someone who didnt know much about missionary work and him sharing his testimony was something spectacular! Here was thing eighteen year old boy talking about the gospel with his mates that he grew up with and having the spirit or strength to change and trying it for the first time on his friends...talk about courage. Just sharing his testimony to his friends and hearing it from him opened my eyes that you don't need to know a lot of things in order to have a testimony about the church. 

My lesson this week was on change, and love. The two go together perfectly putting it in my foot of missionary work, we had to change ourselves and our ways in order to be more converted ourselves. It also came down to three things, love, duty, and fear, are we getting up every day for work, school, and ect. for the love of it or because it is our duty to do it, or because we fear if we don't do it we will get in trouble. It really hit me with this question, are we as members going to church ever day and being representatives of Jesus Christ because it is our duty to, or it is our fear or is it because we want and love to!? I reflected on that question and asked myself am I doing the missionary work because it is my duty, or because I have a fear of it or because I love it and it is the will of my father. That is something I will have to find out for myself while still out on my mission, the mortal is that is are we doing all we are doing because we love to do it or is it because it is our duty or because we have fear of what might happen if we don't.  Go to church because you love to go to church not because you feel like it is a duty or because you have a fear what might happened if you dont but go because you love your heavenly father and want to do his will. I just want to leave you all a question to think about, What am I doing everything for...LOVE?...DUTY?...or FEAR??.. we have to be willing to do everything out of love not because it is our duty or because we have a fear of what might happen if we dont. 

Thank you all for you encouragement and the help you have been giving him, thank you for being good examples to me! hope all your weeks go great and all is well! Remember have fun, smile and laugh a little!

from Elder Thorpe