Life on the Azores and 2 Baptisms: Weeks 4/4, 4/11, 4/18, 4/25

4/25/2016

This week has been ALOT of walking and tracting. We have a lot of areas we haven't been to and we we wanted to find new people but the only problem is how far away they are and my comps bike broke so yeah.....feet are pretty sore! It's all good though! We have actually found 2 people who will be getting baptized hopefully on May 8th. One is a girl who has been talking to the missionaries for 18 years haha, and the other is a polly guy from Brazil. We're really excited and hoping we can make it to the end with them. Everything has been pretty good here. We went on a big jungle hike today and saw a lot more of the island. We're running pretty low on food cause of how expensive things are here and plus every zone or district meeting we have to take a bus and the bus rides cost a lot so a lot of our money goes there haha but no worries, me and my comp have gotten pretty good at making sandwiches and plain spaghetti!!:) haha I dont have much time to write today because we have some appointments to get to but just wanted to let you all know that I miss ya. Have a great week. The Gospel Is True and Missions Are Life Changers!

Elder Thomas

4/18/2016

Hey guys, 

I dont have much time to write today cause our P-Day got shortened but everything is good out here in the jungle! :) Been working hard and finding a lot of new people and have some marked for baptism this upcoming week. Food is great, especially the pizza here! I'm going through a couple of shirts a day because of how much it rains! I also almost got bit by a dog! The accent here is still pretty hard to understand but it's coming. Pretty soon I'll be talking like an Azorian. I hit 6 months and burned a tie. Actually mine blew up haha long story but I had to use one of my comps....good guy! haha We are sticking with our faith out here and searching for those who will accept the truth. I also turned 19, almost forgot when that day came but just a BIG shout out to my friends and family who were a huge support and an even BIGGER shout out to Lexi Roberts for making the best present anyone could ask for. I love and miss you all and I hope you have the best week. CONTINUE ON THE PATH peeps. 

COM AMOR,

Elder Thomas

4/11/2016

Hey guys, 

So this week it was a little hard to do the work because I had to fly to Lisbon for a couple days and stay there to do some stuff for residency and then after I got flown in the middle of the night to Sao Miguel, another island, for zone conference. It felt so awkward being alone on every flight and in every airport because for the last 6 months I've always had a companion with me. It was also hard at times not to get homesick but McDonalds took those thoughts away! Thank you McDonalds, I'm lovin it! Going back to my island was a little crazy because the plane I was flying in felt like it was just about to fall apart mid-air. I could have sworn I even saw some parts of the plane duck taped. haha When I got back my comp and I worked hard and the Lord seriously poured out another miracle upon us. Ana Beatriz was a girl we marked last week for baptism and because I knew I was going to leave we felt horrible because she would somehow have to progress and prepare for baptism by herself so we left some reading assignments and some other things to try and help her. We just prayed the entire week that somehow the Lord would just tell this girl that she needs to be baptized because she was unsure before......and well the Lord answers prayers. She called us up one night and told us that after reading she said a prayer to ask God if these things were true. She said she got such a clear answer that it was and that she felt good to be baptized. So, yesterday afternoon at 1:10 pm this miracle happened. We told her after that when we call back in 2 years after our missions we want to hear that she is still strong and she just looked at us and said, "Elders, I won't miss a single Sunday!" It was so awesome to hear that. Now her and her little baby girl can recieve the blessings that come from this amazing gospel. I'm so happy to have a part in the lives of these people. Most of all I'm so happy to know how much the Lord cares for all of us. MILAGRES ATE O FIM.

To celebrate all this me and my comp went to some pretty amazing places on the island. I'm loving the AÇORES!

Boa Semana todos,

Com Amor

Elder Thomas

4/4/2016

Hey everyone, 

I don't have a lot of time to write but just want to say I'm lovin this place!! It's a little hard going into a new area especially somewhere like this but its an amazing place and one of the prettiest places I've ever seen. Pictures don't do it justice. Our area called Praia is Half the Island so it's Ginormous basically. We get to ride bikes here. I never thought I'd have the chance to ride bikes on my mission. There is a lot of farmland and the ocean is right by our house. It's almost like a little beach hut that we're living in. It's sick! I love it! Me and my new comp Elder Haroldsen have been working extremely hard this week and are turning around the success of this area because for a few years now it has been really unsuccessful and close to shutting down. I truly know the Lord blesses those who work hard and put him first before everything else. My comp has yet to see a baptism so it was time to change that. So as we have been working and putting our trust in the Lord and learning from our experiences we have come to found a girl named Isabel who was taught in the past by others but has been dropped because of other reasons I don't have time to explain. We worked with her this entire week and after many difficult situations, and some very humbling moments, the Lord blessed us and gave us the things we needed so that Isabel would be able to be baptized. At 6:45 yesterday night, we were able to see the hand of the Lord more powerfully as Isabel entered into the waters of baptism. One thing up until now on the mission that I've seen and learned the most from, is that our will is truly nothing compared to the will of the Lord. It is and always will be above our own. I'm so happy to be here sharing the Lord's gospel and gaining my own testimony of these things every day.

Funny story, as my comp and Isabel went into the font it turned out that the font was draining accidently and the font only had about 2 feet of water. So after 7 or 8 times of dunking this poor girl and using every technique we could think of....she was finally fully emerged while sitting on the floor of the font and being gently pushed down barely clearing the line of water. It was another miracle for us !!;) haha. I love this gospel and the amazing things I learned at General Conference this weekend from inspired men of God. 

Have a great week everyone! The gospel is true and don't any of you punks forget that! 

Love, 

Elder Thomas 

Baptism and off to the Azores Islands! Compilation of Updates.

Hey everyone! This week has been crazy and a lot has happened! First I just want to say that this last week was truly miracle after miracle and one of my favorite weeks! My companion and I started off the week with no success, none! We really wanted at least one more baptism by the end of the transfer to meet our goal but just didn't know how it would be possible to find someone that quick. We were a little discouraged again and had no idea what to do. All of a sudden we got a call from Helena (our most recent covert from last week) and she said she had someone she wanted us to meet. So we headed over to our chapel to meet this person, and it turned out to be her son. He had already been taught by missionaries in the past and had been to church but said he really wasn't interested. All of this changed when we started teaching and when the spirit took over and really started testifying to him during the lesson. At the end of the week he asked what he had to do to be baptized. So this past week we have helped him quit smoking and he asked me to baptize him. So on Saturday at 7:30 p.m., the day before Easter, Augusto was baptized. One thing I won't forget as we were walking out of the font, he completely stopped and looked up at me with tears in his eyes and said, "I'm clean." It pierced my heart when he said this. We sat there for a few moments and just hugged. It really opened my eyes to know how powerful and how important baptism and salvation is. I'm so grateful to see the Lord's hand in this. It was the biggest blessing and it it filled me with joy to see him like that. It was truly an amazing day for him and his mom. They sat and hugged each other when we were done. The next day his mom and him were confirmed members. This is the best part about missions; seeing these kinds of miracles. 

Now for some other news! I have been in this area now for 5 months so I thought for sure I was leaving and it turns out I was right. My companion and I are both getting "white washed" which means we are both leaving the area. He will go to Evora and for me....well, I'm going to the AZORES! I don't really know what to think right now. I actually have to leave and catch a plane so I'll have to write you more later! The gospel is true and missions are amazing! I love you all and hope you all have a great week! 

COM AMOR,

Elder Thomas (AÇORES bound)

Next Update: (Brock was able to write a little the next day because he had to fly out on P-day) 

So as of right now I'm in the AZORES! A lot has happened since yesterday! It's so amazing and I'm loving it here! I feel like I'm in another world. My companion is really cool and he's the first person I've been around that is my age. Our house is close to the beach and it seriously feels like a beach house. It's small but I love it because I feel like I'm living in a hut in Hawaii or something. The language here is completely different so this will be a big adjustment! People who speak Portuguese can't even understand the people here. 

Facebook Mission Page 

Brock's mission has a Facebook page so I can get information on there and ask questions and talk to other parents which is great! I don't know what island Brock is on until he writes me next P-day but here is what I've learned about the islands: 

Out of the 9 islands, they usually stay on one and will travel/fly to another just for zone conference. All the parents agreed and said the language is very different there. Portugal Portuguese has a french influence which is different than Brazilian Portuguese but on the islands there is even more of a french influence. The ethnic and religious demographics of the islands are different from Portugal. Many of the people who originally lived in Portugal emigrated to other european countries and Portugal now has many immigrants from other countries including a large African, Brazilian, Ukrainian, and Romani (gypsies) population. The Azores were inhabited by the Portuguese people whose descendants have more so remained there. They also had Flemish settlers (French/Dutch) and why the stronger french influence. They are also very staunch Catholic so the work there is harder. 

Here are some pictures from he baptism:

Weeks 2/22-3/21

Weeks 2/22, 2/29, 3/14, 3/21

2/22 New Companion! 

Hey everyone, 

So I got my new comp! His name is Elder Justin Viehweg. He is from Idaho, he likes dirtbikes, and he loves his country! Ill share some pics later to help you understand what I mean. Anyway this last week has been really good. We have some pretty high goals this transfer so we both have been working really hard. We have been contacting everyone we see and so far have 3 new investigators! They are all from Cape Verde. The people there are honestly so nice and so accepting. I love them! Its been fun to show Elder Viewheg around because apparently our area has been titled the scariest part of the Lisbon Portugal Mission. I havent seen anything too crazy yet but he doesn't know that. haha So everyone we would see I would tell him to walk the other way and don't look people in the eye or else they will mug us! haha He totally believed it too. It was fun for awhile but he knows now. I still thinks hes a little uneasy. Things are going really well here.  We have a lot of people with potential. We just need to work really hard these next weeks to keep it that way. The language is hard but I'm starting to understand a little more. It used to sound like just noise but now I can actually pick out words haha. Anyways thats about it for me this week. I love you all and thanks for all the emails and support. Have a good week! 

Elder Thomas

2/29 Starting to Have More Success! 

Tudo bem..? 

This week has been pretty awesome but because there's so much that happened and I only have a few minutes to write, I will just give you a rundown. SO to start off...we marked 3 people to be baptized this week. We have been finding a lot more investigators and teaching a lot more lessons lately! We have been working hard at "on road contacts" and its been paying off finally! We also started teaching Anicy again who was a girl we stopped teaching a while ago but now she has a lot more interest so we're working with her and will hopefully baptize her within these next few weeks. Something crazy happened this week but it's top secret! I'll have to tell you all in a couple of years! Remind me. Anyway just wanted to say how good God is. Night after night our prayers have been focused on having more success in this area and we know that God has heard them. One thing I've learned out here is that God truly does care and wants to give us what we ask for. We just need to do our part and sincerely ask for them having faith that we will be given them. I'm happy to be on this mission and it has honestly brought me closer to the knowlege of how great our father in heaven is and how much he really does love and care about each one of us. I hope you all have a great week this week,

Much love, 

Elder Thomas

3/14 Five Month Mark! 

Hey everyone, 

Well apparently it's my 5 month mark. This week has been a little crazy! There's so many things that happened but it's so hard to write them all so I'm just gonna give a short little spill. So we let go of a lot more people this week because one thing we started noticing out here is that people lie and lead you on. They are really nice but they say things to make you happy. So that's been a little rough but we haven't let it get to us and have been working harder than ever because the transfer has a few weeks left and we really want to reach our goal. So from working hard we have 10 new investigators. Five of them are Gypsies who are a little sketchy but they have been doing everything like going to church and reading the BOM. We also have a girl named Margita marked for baptism on the 27th. She believes everything about our church exept that she needs to be baptized again so we have been working with her and she's starting to understand that without the proper authority, a baptism will not count in the eyes of God. This is why we have the restoration. We have also been helping a couple of inactive families come back to church and they are coming now! 

Love you all and hope you all have a great week. FORÇA. 

Com Amor,

Elder Thomas

3/21 Miracle/Baptism! 

So to start....this week was a week of miracles! This was a week I won't forget! 

As many of you know, the last few weeks have been a little rough. Success one day would be lost the next. We were getting discouraged. We tried not to let it effect our work though. Day after day we worked really hard but nothing was happening! When we finally felt like giving up, a miracle happened! Let me just say, that God wants you to push until the very end or until the last minute, and if you do, you will honestly see miracles! I feel like he does this so we know the blessing came from exercising faith in him. It's a trial of faith and if we don't give up, he lets us know he's there, and that he's in charge. 

So here's the story. Last week we were waiting for some people at the bottom of a predio and a car passed by and suddenly slammed on it's brakes. The lady who was driving got out of the car and came over to us and said, "are you guys mormons?, because I've been looking for you and want to learn more about your church." We were in shock. So we talked to her and then she invited us to come back and teach her. She seriously accepted everything we taught her. We taught her a few lessons and then she even accepted to be baptized next week on the 27th. We knew because it was a little ways away not to get our hopes up. Then yesterday as we were filling up the font and getting things ready for another baptism but soon after the elders told us that their investigator bailed and that the baptism wasn't going to happen. We felt a little down and didn't know what to do because we had everything already set up. We were then inspired to call the girl we were teaching (Helena) and ask her if she felt ready to be baptized today. We expected her to say she needed a little more time but instead she went silent, laughed a little and then said to our surprise, "Elders, I'm ready right now." "I'm ready to be baptized." 

Well, after one hour of planning and me having to prepare a talk and tons of other things, Helena Suate entered into the waters of baptism at 4:25 and was cleaned from her past sins and mistakes and took upon her the name of our Savior Jesus Christ. The look on this woman's face is something I'll never forget. She said, "Elders, my soul is filled with joy and I feel clean from my past." "I know this is the right path." Then she said, "I'm 53 and yet I feel as clean as a baby!" haha It's hard to explain in just writing it but it was seriously a miracle when you know everything that happened! 

This was also the first baptism my companion has had in over 4 transfers. He was crying after. We have realized and it was made known unto us that we really are nothing in this work. We do NOTHING. Everything is done by the Lord and he has been forever merciful to us. He has blessed us without restraint and we have been filled with joy! We are in his hands. This is not everything but this was the highlight of my week! God is real and he loves every one of us! I hope you all have a great week! 

Con Amor, 

Elder Thomas

I just have to add my testimony to this because this has happened in my life many times through challenging experiences. There is a talk or audiobook called The Fourth Watch that I love. It explains how the disciples of Jesus had rowed against a fierce wind on the Sea of Galilee all through the night before Jesus finally came to their aid. He did not come until the "fourth watch," meaning near dawn. My testimony is that sometimes the Lord answers our prayers on his timetable and sometimes it's not until we have reached our extremity. In doing this it increases our faith and patience. We should never assume that he doesn't hear our prayers or that he doesn't care. He often works with us this way. His tender mercies and miracles do come if we press on with faith and patience! 

Weeks 1/18-2/15

1/18

Hey everyone! All good over here in Portugal! So far this week we have been called Satan 3 times, had a crazy drunk guy who had no clothes on try and give us a hug, saw a mini car crash, got yelled at countless times by random people because they think we worship Joseph Smith....and lots more haha! Our spirits are still high though! It actually just makes me laugh that people think we are so bad. All we are trying to do is help them. It’s sad to see how big of a hold satan has on some people, especially when you are doing something good. I have seen that a lot now and can recognize it more easily. A lot has been happening with one of our investigators. Her name is Anicy, and she is super humble and super accepting. We have had many lessons with her this week. She knows this gospel is true and even started crying at one point after I bore testimony. She had to go out of the room and come back. After Anicy left the room she told us that she knows it’s true but time after time when we leave she starts to have doubts again. There have been several occassions where she committed to going to church with us but she always ended up not coming because doubts started creeping in. Yesterday though she finally came! We don’t know exactly what’s going to happen but I know that she knows there is something different about this church. I want to testify to all of you that it’s true. This church is God’s church which is why Satan will do anything in his power to try and prevent God’s children to know that. Even though he tries, I know that light will always overcome the darkness. There is nothing the Lord can’t do. I’m happy to be given a reminder of this every single day here. I hope to have some good news for you all next time concerning the situation. I hope you all have a great week this week. Miss and love you all. Amo Voces.

Love, 

Elder Thomas

Part of Brock’s message to me: I really want this mission to change me so one day I found this talk that is called the 4th missionary. Please read it. You will understand more about what I want. Anyway, I have been reading and pondering about it. It basically talks about how the 4th missionary is the one who truly changes on his mission. He is the one who truly gives himself to God. He gives his dreams, desires, wants, everything!  He gives his will to the Lord and serves with all his might, mind and heart. I have been thinking about this a lot and what I need to do to become this type of missionary.

1/25

Hey everyone! So not much has happened this week. Right now things are a little slow and we haven’t been having as much success as we would like but this next week is going to be different. Our entire mission however, has been doing really well.  Yesterday we had 4 baptisms at our chapel. I love seeing baptisms! It’s one of the greatest experiences seeing people’s entire lives basically change right before your eyes. The happiness on their faces afterward is incredible. I love this gospel and I’m grateful that I can be here. During this mission I have seen lives change but while doing so I have felt a change in my life as well. I love my Heavenly Father for the opportunity to do this and to help his children return back to him. I love all you and hope everyone has a good week!

Love, Elder Thomas

Part of Brock’s message to me: This week I have continued to read the 4th missionary over and over because I really want to be that type of missionary. It’s been in my head these last few weeks and it’s all I want to focus on right now.

2/1

Sooo… just a normal week here in Portugal! To start off I went on a division with our district leader and it turned out to be pretty fun because we got into about 20 different debates with all these anti-mormom people haha. They think we worship Joseph Smith. The debate would usually stop after we told them to just look at our plaque on our church building which cleary says the The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter Day Saints. It got pretty interesting at times and I even had an older man who got right in my face and at one point thought he was going to spit on me. Anyway the rest of the week was pretty normal. We are trying to find new people to teach but it’s challenging. We won’t give up though! Another funny thing that happened this week was a couple days ago when we were teaching an English class. We started teaching about foods and we started going down the food pyramid with them. We usually have them repeat what we say out loud so they get a feel for it. Well, when it got down to DAIRY I took over....I felt really bad but I just wanted to see if anyone would get it. I had them all repeat me but I told them instead to say Diarrhea. I do feel bad but it was seriously the funniest thing because they just sat there after and didn’t know why we were laughing,  Well that’s my week for ya! Don't take after my bad example! I love Missions and I love these people even more. I love you all and hope you all got a kick from this story. Have a good week!

Love, Elder Thomas

Comment from Me: Oh my goodness BROCK!!!! Yes bad example! haha I have to remember these boys are still young and immature!

2/8

Hey everyone! This week was really good. It started off by marking the Mom of our last baptism, for baptism. Her name is Luisa. It was actually super difficult haha. My companion and I both ended up having to baptize her because she’s about 90 years old, totally blind, and can’t walk. We had to carry her into the font. It was hilarious because the entire time she kept saying "Is it done?” “Am I baptized?" haha then when she actually got into the water she yelled out "ITS FREEZING, I was already baptized…get me out of here!"….then we dunked her. It was so awesome though and she was happy after. It made us feel happy knowing that she now has a chance to live with her daughter forever. The rest of the week went super smooth. We celebrated "Carnival" this week, which is this huge party that they have for 4 days in a row. We had this party with all the members which was super fun because one of my favorite members Samuel dressed up like some gangster and danced to every song haha. I love the members here! Transfers are next week and I honestly hope I stay because it would be sad to leave them but we will see! Already going into my 3rd transfer pretty soon and FINALLY I’m done with training. I’m excited to see what happens. Anyway thats about it here, I hope everyone had a fun SUPERBOWL weekend! (sorry Panthers) Love you guys, Ate logo.

Love, Elder Thomas

2/15/16

Hey Everyone! Sooo not too much has happened this week. We have started to teach some of our investigators again that we stopped teaching because they weren’t progressing but now they seem totally different. We had a really powerful lesson with Anicy (remember her?)  and I feel like she will definitely be baptized within these next few weeks as long as we keep moving at this same pace. It’s funny how the Lord does things sometimes. He knows who is ready and who is not. It’s about putting trust and faith in him and letting him guide you. We can’t see the way, but he can. Oh and the lady we baptized last week that was in her 90s, she was confirmed this week and during her confirmation she kept saying, “Yes, thank you Senior Padre,” which means “Sir Father OR Lord Father.”  She’s funny! So one thing I’ve been trying to work on more this week is trusting the Lord and letting him be my guide to those people who he knows are ready. Another thing that happened this week are transfers! It turns out that I will be staying in the same area but I will receive a new companion tomorrow. It’s going to be crazy because now I have to be the one who shows him around everywhere but it will be good! I also hit my 4 month mark! It’s crazy how fast it’s gone but then again it really has felt like a lifetime but I’m loving it here! I’m finally done with training also haha! Anyway, I hope everyone had a good week. To all you lovers out there, I hope you had a good Valentines Day! Miss and Love you all, Ate Logo. 

Com amor, Elder Thomas