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