Elder Coleman Thompson: Some pictures this time!

Hi guys!

Just so you know - I always LOVE reading the e-mails you guys send me, so keep sending them! But there's a lot of questions you guys ask and I always have the answers in my head, but then I often forget about them when I'm writing my e-mail back. So If I haven't answered a question that you really want to know - just ask again and hopefully I'll remember!

Anyways, my week. My week. Well... this week was pretty hard again. We taught two lessons this week - but yes mama, we see a lot of less actives in our ward. There's a guy who we saw this week who was baptized four years ago, but hasn't gone to church for a few years and has been imprisoned as well during that time. This guy still has a testimony and wants to do what is right, but for other reasons, he can't come to church right now and he is fairly depressed. Well last Saturday Elder Dickson and I were in his area and we felt impressed to knock on his door (we'd tried before but he'd never been in) and he was there and really happy to see us. We talked for a bit and then he asked ''What made you guys knock on my door today?'' and we were like ''I don't know'' and he told us that that day was the 4th anniversary of his baptism and he was planning on calling us, but he'd kept forgetting. We're seeing him on Thursday this week again.

So I know that Elder Dickson and I are being led by the Spirit of the Lord in all that we do. But as much as we are being guided - we have still this week not managed to find anyone else to teach. I know the Lord is teaching me patience especially when there are scenarios like this one:

On Tuesday night after a full day of trying to find people - we were again knocking on doors at 7 at night. We knocked on the door of this middle aged woman who after a brief chat let us in! So we taught her and her 17 year old son all about the Restoration of the Gospel and they loved it and we committed them to be baptized and they said they would! So Elder Dickson and I left after that and were SO excited! We skipped all the way home.

We'd planned to go see them again Sunday night (because they weren't able to make it to church) again. They were all excited for us to come again and everything - and we introduced a little bit of the plan of salvation, saying that this was what we were going to talk about next time, but when we went to their house, the mother answered the door and stated that they had changed their minds and did not want anything to do with us and asked if we please not return ever again.

So understandably, Elder Dickson and I were pretty disappointed. Especially since they were one of only two lessons that we were able to teach the entire week.

That's just one example of the disappointment we've been facing in this area, and it's easy to say ''oh that's all right we're just going to keep trying'' when it happens once. But it hasn't happened just once - it has happened probably 9 or 10 times with different people in the 2 months or so since I moved to this area.

Now. The struggle is real. But I know that Elder Dickson and I are just trying to be instruments of the Lord, and we are. I've seen miracles in this area as well, but the challenge is learning to be patient. In Chapter 6 of Preach my Gospel it talks all about Christlike Attributes - which I've been studying thoroughly and regularly throughout my mission, and there is one line in the 'Patience' section that has been going through my mind all week:

''Patience is the capacity to endure trials, challenges and opposition without becoming angry, frustrated or anxious. It's the ability to accept God's timing over your own'' (Or something like that)

So is the only reason I'm in Wharfe Valley to learn how to be patient? Maybe. Well not really but it is certainly one of the reasons I'm here.

Another story, there is a woman in the Ward here who was baptized some 13 or so years ago, who now is completely inactive and refuses to accept our invitation to come back, but Elder Dickson and I have made a really good relationship with her and her partner who is not a member. Their names are Margaret and Keith. So Keith has these really nice guitars and Ukulele's, and so every time we go I've played some songs for him on the guitar - namely: arrangements of hymns such as Joseph Smith's first prayer (to the tune of Come Thou Fount), I Stand all Amazed, How great thou art, I am A Child of God and others. And I've played some pop songs with him as well. So Keith loves us.

Margaret is really into family history - and just something she told me as well. She lived in England during the second world War, and when she was really little, she and her family lived right by the air base where all the Canadian pilots were based. The pilots used to bring her mother food, and then her mother would cook these huge meals for them and they would gather round the piano afterwards and sing songs.

Anyways - Margaret also wrote this poem about one of her ancestors that died during the war, and she knew that I played guitar and asked me if I could write a tune to her poem. So I took it and I did and she loved it! She's going to buy a little recording box to record it next week. Also when we went this week we asked if we could practice teaching our missionary lessons with them and so we taught them the Restoration, and I could have sworn that Keith had a tear in his eye as we taught the first vision. They love having us so much that next week they are going to feed us lunch on Saturday.

So good things are happening! Elder McBride really liked to sing too so we used to go and sing hymns on the streets to people - it didn't really work all that well but we loved it!

And hey do you remember when I played guitar for the stake Cantata last year? I really enjoyed that.

Also, there is a special mission meeting this friday, and there is a seventy coming. We have been informed that the meeting is going to be about how iPad's are being introduced in the England Leeds Mission. That is as much as I know. I will let you know the details when I know them- hopefully at this meeting we'll learn all about it.

Love you guys!

Elder Thompson