Letter home January 25th

Hello family and friends, 

Its seems to me that there are always lessons to be learned, even if we are not seeking them. There are lessons that our Father in Heaven wants us to learn on how to improve. My new area is great! Full of Samoans, Tongans, and Maori people. It is not in the city, city of Auckland but it is the same as my first area when I started my mission. The community is great, they know us as "brothers" or in other words that is what they like to call us when we bike by in the streets. My companion and I do not have a car which is okay because being in a car you don't get to see as much as you would on a bike. For example, having little girls that are seven to eight years old (these are some of the members daughters) who can barely fit on the bike but they somehow manage to reach the pedals and start going the distance which is not far for my companion and I to catch them as if we are running. Yeah, so being on a bike is beyond more exciting than being in a car. It is much easier to get out and talk to people rather than randomly parking the car on the side of the road and getting out of the car where it might seem a little scary for some people have two young men getting out of the car with white shirts and black name tags, just to talk to them. We missionaries are definitely not afraid of awkward moments that frequently happen to us. But that is okay, being weird means you are happy! 

Elder Fitzsimmons and I have had a great week of finding people to teach. Mostly the people we are finding is from just stopping on the side of the road and introducing ourselves to them. Most of the time they said "nahh all goods keep going" but sometimes they are "hey brothers, hot day to be riding on bikes, what are you two up today?" My companion is by far the funniest  person I have ever met who knows how to be down to earth to the Islanders we see.

We were able to find some of our less actives. We found an 18 year old named Loma, big Tongan kid who looks like he should be in his twenty's or thirty's but is diffidently not. Loma expressed to us how he hasn't been coming to church and shared with us how back when he was 15 he was motivated everyday to go but as the years went by things just started to change for him. We had one of the members out with us. Being a returned missionary he was able to help us with Loma. Loma expressed that he still wants to come to church and wants our help. The member was able to invite him to play a game of touch rugby on Monday with him and some of his buddies. With that invitation we could tell that Loma is just wanting help in his decisions in life. Later that week we went back and taught him a lesson about three things:

1.) Church

2.) Prayer

3.) Read

We used three cups and three knifes to teach this lesson.  We put the cups in a triangle formation. We told him to try to connect the knifes all together without having the knifes touching the opposite cups but somehow constructing them together so that the book could sit on the knifes in the middle so it doesn't fall. They tried all different ideas but just couldn't get it so that the book could be held. So we showed them, that when the knifes are all connected, overlapping each other at the end, the book did not fall through but was held by the knifes. We showed him that the cups represent church, prayer and reading scriptures and that when we miss one of those it is hard to be able to get back into that better routine of ours. He was able to see what he needed to work on, it was amazing to feel Heavenly Father using us as instruments in his work.

Later on in the week went by to see one of our investigators named Peter, a 16 year old who is giving up drinking and smoking. He has been sober and not smoking for the last eleven weeks. This is coming from someone who grew up around smoking heaps. Story...Peter's dad wanted to know where his grandfathers side came from because he had no clue where his dads family came from. We were able to show him the "My Family History" website. He logged on and through the my family history website, he was able to be lead by the spirit and found his dads side of the family. To be able to see the look on Bryan's face (Peter's dad) was very emotional. We could see the Lord softening his heart and seeing how he wasn't into the church that much to now being someone just wanting to find his family. It was amazing and absolutely unforgettable how that all came together just by talking about families and having an interest in finding who we are. 

That is something I have always wondered in my life, who I was, where did I come from and why am I here. It is a peaceful feeling to know from the gospel of Jesus Christ and His teachings that we are able to build a solid foundation for our families to be built on. Doctrine and teaching skills that can help every single one of us when we are all different and unique. In all my lessons this week, being patience and doing the will of our Heavenly Father more than doing what I want to do kept coming up. Patience is something we can develop but is very hard. One needs to go very deep in order to achieve this attribute. It is something I am working on. Sometimes I think, why isn't this happening, or why is this happening to me and I forget that the heavenly virtue of patience is needed. We may want things to happen faster than we want them to but it really comes on the Lords time. I love being who I am, I love being out on this mission and able to learn from each companion and the different areas, and most of all accepting Heavenly Father's will rather than my own will. He will not force us into doing something, he will guide us. It is just up to us to understand those feelings in our heart and to follow them. 

Thank you all for everything! Words cannot express how thankful I am! 

Remember to have fun, laugh and joke around cause that is what we do all day everyday.

From a.k.a Elder Thor have a fantastic week! :)

Elder Thorpe and his new companion

A surprise visit...

Colin and Shelyle Beckham came for a visit on Sunday. Colin is the ward mission leader in a ward that Almen often went on splits with Elder Christensen (another missionary from Layton).
It was such a joy to meet people who love our son. They told us that Elder Thorpe works hard every day and plays hard on P-day.

Elder Thorpe got transferred

Hello family and friends! Well looks like our mission president couldn't keep me away from Auckland....see you later North, hello Auckland again! I am no longer in the great North were all the Maori people are but I am back in Auckland were all the great Samoans, Tongan, and Maori people, multi culture mix. My new companions name is Elder Fitzsimons and yes he is from Utah. He is way too funny of an Elder. Funny story is that Elder Fitzsimons and I met each other when my last companion Elder Hall and I had to stay at one of the flats during that long night before the temple trip. W ended up at Elder Fitzsimons flat with him and his companion. It was a very happy moment for my companion and it was a very shocking moment for me. It is going to be a fun transfer and one to always remember. My new ward is Glenn Innes. The ward is great, fun, and really excited to welcome me and this other elder into the ward. We are double covered in the ward. Our bishop is Bishop Roos. He knows a couple of my old companions as well.

On our first day in the area my new companion and I were walking down the road because i didn't have a bike, but that problem is fixed. We saw a lady sitting on her porch with her little boy. We decided to go up and talk to her without any clue what might happen, we thought it would be a quick hi and bye but to our surprise it was more than that. We got to know her and her partner as well. Halfway into our conversation she told us that her last name with Smith. In my mind I thought it would be a long shot to ask if she knew this man named Leo that I was seeing up in the North. She said "yes that is my uncle!!!" My companion and I just were blown away, we told her how I was teaching him about the church and how he knew all the Mormons but he just wasn't a member. That opened them up and they were comfortable with us. They forgot what name we were wearing on our name bag and just saw us for who we were. It is amazing to see what miracles come when you listen to the feeling in our hearts. Even though we didn't teach the family, even though we didn't invite them, I know that visit was something that family needed to be introduced to the gospel. We have a return appointment with them in a couple of weeks, which is long but worth the wait.

After that we were able to continue our night to go over and teach this 17 year old boy named Peter who is interested in the gospel. Peter's story is that his older brother is a member of the church and seeing the change in his brother got him interested in wanting to know what he did to be who he is today. Peter has a smoking and drinking problem, but with his own will and us just inviting him, he has been sober for seven days. He is changing little by little each day. We told him that the spirit works when we are changing ourselves. We may not know it because we expect a big boom but the spirit works when we just take a minute and find ourselves and see what changes we have made to come this far. What an example this kid is to me, he is quiet, really humble and willing to change. We are hanging out with him later on today!! 

On Sunday this other Elder and I had to get up in the middle of sacrament and introduce ourselves. I went first, wish I had gone second but this is what I said to the ward,"Hello, my name is Elder Thorpe, I was born on the Marshall Islands, adopted when I was six, grew up in Seattle Washington and now living in Utah....cool story aye?" The members were really laughing so that I had to wait a few minutes before it was quiet again. That is pretty much how I have been introducing myself to everyone in New Zealand, it is a mouth full and long. Some think I'm Samoan, Tongan or even Mexican but they would have never guessed that I was from the Marshall Islands unless they looked at my height. The ward is great, the members love us and are always enjoying our weirdness which is always good. I'm going to love this area a lot, and love being around my Islander brothers. They are just too funny to be around.

This e-mail is going to be short because of my limit on time. Until we meet again next week!!! Thank you all for the help and support, best of luck this following week! 

Elder Thorpe... Mormon Crew in New Zealand!


Saying goodbye to the Elders in his last area

Letter Home 1-12-15

Hello family and freinds!

I hope everyone has been having a great week. It was a fast one here. I can hardly remember what happened this week. Sunday felt like it was Friday and Friday felt like it was Monday, the weeks and days just don't match up in my head. It has been really hot, sun is high in the sky and there aren't any clouds in the sky. The members have been telling us that this is only the prep of the start of summer...If this heat is not summer then I can't imagine how hot it is going to be when summer does hit. Other than that we have had a terrific week of teaching, finding, contacting, and re-activating less actives.

A lot of work was done this week and a lot of intersting moments with people. We met this man name Jeremiah from North Idaho, the first, at least for me, real country cowboy person I have met in New Zealand. He was funny, came up to us with a big smile and called us Joseph Smith. It was funny, this guy was stright up about what he believed and didn't believe in religion but had respect for us. We were able to talk to him for a good twenty to thirty minutes about hunting and America. He wasn't too interested so we didn't want to force gospel topics on him but it was a great feeling to talk to him. We were able to get his home address and he told us we could stop by but it would be really hard for us to catch him, we told him its part of the fun like playing hide and seek.

We were able to go around to teach Cherie this week with one of the moms in the wards. Our ward has a lot of single moms that are strong and have amazing conversion stories or stories of coming back at activity in church. We brought sister Tamihona out with us and she brought her tweleve year old boy with her into the lesson. Cheire and her two girls and little boy were there too. It was good to be able to teach her the plan of salvation, which goes over the reason for the family and what our purpose on earth is. She was able to understand and have that feeling like she knew what that plan was for her and her family. It felt good to be able to teach her and invite her to continue reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. Sister Tamihona was able to share her story about becoming less active and re-activating back into the church. It was amazing to hear her stroy about how its been five years since she has been back to church. Now she is going to the temple and has a purpose and role to play for her kids, teaching them what they need to learn. It was a great lesson and one to learn from.

This Sunday Elder Hall and I were going through our plans, we were working in the hot weather on Sunday and were both talking about how if we were both home we would both be sleeping in the afternoon after church but since on the mission napping has to wait. We showed up to one of our potential investigators house and were able to meet with him, his name is Leo Smith. Leo is 71 years old and is a Cathloic. He has been meeting with missionaries ever since back when they used to show up to his house on horses. Leo knows all the members in our ward, knows a lot of members, and has family that are members and has been going to church sometimes. Elder Hall and I didn't know what to teach him. We were able to use a little time we had to come up with an idea of what to share with him, when Leo returned from the bathroom we resumed our conversion. We just sat there and listened to him, we would ask just one question and listened with love on what he needed to share. From what we heard his sister just recently died, same with his brother a long time ago and same with his parents. Leo is a family person and cares for his family, we were able to also find out just by listening carefully that he didn't know his purpose in life. He told us a story that he had to go to the hospital because he had a heart attack, while in the hospital he told us that he dreamed that his mom told him "no Leo, its not your turn". He thought he was going to die but he didn't and woke up. Not knowing why it wasn't his time, he has been wondering and trying to find that answer his whole life. We shared with him the plan of salvation and how the plan gives us our purpose and what we need to do while here on earth. He said "well if this is the answer then I will read and find out because it is something I have been trying to find even in prayers, but it is still going to be hard to convert me from Catholic to Mormon". We told him we just wanted to share how we have found our purpose in this life from the plan of salvation, didn't ask him to change religion, didn't force it on him all we did was invite him to find out for himself. 

The ward is doing great, we have been helping bishop with the ward list and contacting people. We are just a few names from being done and updated with the list so that we all know who is active and who we need to focus on. Its been great to be able to work with the leaders and to see how much help they need and how helping them helps them move onto the next step in the ward. The ward clerk and us have been updating the list and have them all printed out and ready for the ward council leaders to have so they know what they need to work on in their quorums. Its been great to see that done and over with and seeing the blessing that come through doing the little things for the members and heveanly father. Its been a hot, fast, but remarkable week! Can't wait for another one of hard working.

This week is transfers and we will find out if I move or stay, I have been here for six months, it might be time for me to go. Thank you all for the support and help! Wish you all a great month of January. Tell next time!!

Elder Thorpe

Christmas photos

Al's Christmas letter

Hello Whanau means family in Maori language. This week was an interesting week for all of us missionaries. We were all able to call our families which made the week even better. It was good to hear from family and to hear that everyone is still keeping themselves busy. This year has just gone by fast and seeing people grown and seeing a lot of different challenges being thrown at us. There is probably no harder work that I have ever done in my whole life and missionary work is the toughest, now I know why people say "it will be two years of a life time of experience". While on the phone with my family I was a little bit tired but that is okay because just hearing their voices gave me back that extra boost to keep on going.

On Christmas eve we went to breakfast at our Stake Presidents house with all the other missionaries. We all met up at his house around nine in the morning and were surprised with the food that was laid out for us. It was a good time for all of us missionaries to spend time with one another and the members. We started playing this hand game that my companion and I learned from little girls so we introduced it to the other missionaries, it was a game to never to be forgotten. Lets just say that I didn't come in last place in this game, representing the Thorpe family pretty well at card games and hand games. We later had to leave to go to the chapel with two other Elders to spend Christmas with their bishop and his family. The Christmas music was up, the family were taking nativity pictures, and kids and adults were dancing to the music. We were then asked to go up to the breakfast table to load our plates up with food, round two of food was not as bad as I thought it would be. Elder Hall and I then went to another members house of ours and had lunch with them. You could say lunch was longer than usually because our stomachs were already getting bigger. The McClugages family played some card games with us while we were waiting on another member to come up to take us to their house. We played three to four hands of cards that I finally at the last hand did come in last place. After hanging out with the McClugages, my companion and I headed to the farthest part of our area, near the bushes on the edge of the Island were we can almost touch the water. We spent our last visit with the Mahaga Family eating, yes last but not least, dinner. Surprisingly we were hungry enough to eat all of our food on our plates. Elder Hall and I played more card games with the kids and the adults. The Mahaga have seven kids. The oldest is 23 years old and the youngest is seven years old. We later went outside in their yard. The view is awesome, you could see the whole ocean, they lived on top of a hill and it was beautiful, the sun was coming down and we were all playing four on four rugby touch. Nothing like playing rugby during the night time in the bushes to call it a Christmas. The members took good care of us and gave us gifts each time we would be at their places, we didn't ask for any but the moms here do take good care of us. Best Christmas I have ever had in a long time, traveling from place to place, playing games, and remembering the importance of Christmas, spending time with the families and always remembering our Savior.  

During the week Elder Hall and I were able to see some miracles. My companion had an impression to go by one of our former investigators house to go check up on his dad but really instead of the dad, their son Jerome who we gave to the sisters to teach because he earlier moved in the sisters area is now back in our area. He told us that while living in his new place he was being bullied by other gang members. He had all his stuff stolen, tv, food, and bed gear. Jerome also told us that he didn't have his family to spend Christmas with because they were all gone. Right there at that moment he started to cry, he was lonely, scared and could not reach us and he wanted to call us but didn't have any credit to. I went over and gave Jerome the biggest hug ever. Here was this 23 year old looking for help and we were able to follow the spirit and be directed in his direction. I am so grateful to be able to be worthy enough to hold the priesthood because right there we offered a blessing to Jerome and he felt the burdens light on his shoulders. We are now going to be teaching Jerome once again but this time he is back in our area. He wants to see us three days a week and expressed that he wants to become a member of the church. It is wonderful to be an instrument in the Lords hand. When we are able to be used to go over to gave one of our brothers who is having a hard time our Heavenly Fathers love and encouragement. Even though we can't see them, they are able to use us members, if we are keeping ourselves worthy enough to be able to follow the guidance of the spirit to help others. 

My companion and I have learned a valuable lesson this week on how important it is to be in tune with the spirit. It was a week to stay true to our purpose and to focus on others rather than ourselves. Heavenly Father loves us so much, enough to cut us down so that we are able to humble ourselves to receive the guidance we need to help in the work. It was a fun week, a week of many blessings and a year to never forget. Still having fun, smiling and always making others laugh once in awhile. Thank you all for the letters, pictures and for being there for us missionaries. Have a wonderful week and always remember to smile. 

Elder Thorpe