One More Month Done!

Hi guys!

It's almost December time again I can't really believe it, I barely remember what I did at all last December...

And I love to hear the good stories about home teaching - and about hearing what's going on in the home ward right now - there are so many people there who I just took for granted that I knew, but when I think about it there are a lot of amazing people in our ward at home.

Sam, the story that Brother Bishop told about not enough equipment, I remember that story he told it to me in Sunday School too! I love that guy his stories were always so helpful. I remember he always talked about music and harmony and how we need to be on the same wavelength as heavenly father. But also that's something that I remembered here on my mission in a real sense - that the cold means nothing if you have the right equipment! It's getting colder here and we have to bundle up to stay warm.

This week for Elder Boswell and I was sooooo cold. It's freezing cold here, and sooo rainy. It rains every single day and it's freezing cold and humid. It's like no cold I've ever experienced in Canada because this cold gets right inside of your bones because of the humidity! And then on top of being freezing cold I'm also always soaking wet from the constant rain and wind, and umbrellas are useless because it's so windy they just break.

But nevertheless we were able to do lots of good things this week, and see lots of nice people!

Probably the highlight of the week was last night - one of the members of the stake Presidency held a new member fireside at his home (which is super nice he is a dentist and has a big house) and a lot of missionaries and investigators and new members showed up and it was really nice! We talked about the 3 degrees of glory and the Plan of Salvation and it was really helpful for lot's of people. And then at the end of the fireside President Siswick just says: ''and now Elder Thompson is going to sing for us, a couple verses of a hymn'' and I was like ''uh.... ok'' and I stood up and sang 'I know that my Redeemer lives' and it was really nice - but totally out of the blue. Afterwards lots of people said it was nice and he thanked me for being willing haha.

So yeah once again all the members know that I can sing and constantly call on me to sing things. I sang a solo at remembrance day and Elder Boswell and I sang at that baptism a few weeks ago etc.

There is a lady who I taught last week when I went on exchange with Elder Larson who has recently had her husband pass away, and then a week later the missionaries knock on her door who came to the fireside last night as well, and who came up to me afterwards and thanked me for the singing and said that it had touched her, and she really has been looking for some peace in her life and coming to the fireside helped her really feel the Savior's love for her, and I talked to her about how music is good and it can touch people's hearts and it's meaningful because we really believe in what we sing.

And that's something that I have come to realize on my mission especially - when you sing something and you really mean it, the spirit is there. When I sing songs like 'I believe in Christ' and 'I know that my redeemer lives' I really mean it. I know that he does live.

I know that that's the same testimony I say in every e-mail home, but I have once again been thinking about it a lot - I really know that Jesus Christ lives.

I have a lot of people who will tell me on the streets ''Well nobody can really know that God is real. we'll only find out when we die''  but that's not true. This week again I've had the opportunity to really talk to my heavenly father in prayer and receive answers from him. Prayer isn't just a one way channel, it's a two way communication. If you open your heart and listen, the spirit will whisper truth to you. And that truth can lead you to believe and then to know that he's there.

I know that my Redeemer lives.

I love you guys, I hope you have a good week!