Hey mom and family!

How is everybody! I am doing awesome. We had a great week. We were hoping for a few baptismal dates, but the people just aren't there yet. We tried to get a date for one guy this week.  He knows he needs to be baptized he's just not ready. So now we've got him praying about a specific date. We also read Enos with him. He was intrigued and wanted to read it again by himself. So now we're praying that as he wrestles before the Lord that he will receive a witness from the Holy Ghost that he is ready. I've been praying hard for him to get an answer. I have faith that however it goes is God's will. Agency is sometimes a trial for us missionaries. If we could just make people do it things would be so much easier! I see how God thinks about us when we choose to sin. We have our agency and He won't make us follow Him. But He really does want so bad for us to choose the right. I can see how much love he has for me in a small way in the love that I feel for the people I am teaching. 

Obedience and hard work are the things that bring me the most happiness out here. Things do stink sometimes, days can be slow, people can be mean, but I am happy! And I know it's because I'm trying my hardest to live a high standard of obedience and confine myself to the work of the Lord as Alma did when he gave up the judgement seat to administer to the people. 

How are things going for you in good old Idaho? It's sort of weird to not be THAT far away. But only for another three weeks. March 11th is when I leave for Australia! I can't remember if I've told you guys or not but the President called me one night telling me my Visa got approved and at the end of the transfer I'll fly out. I'm pretty psyched!  I'm not going to lie, it makes it a little harder to focus when you're thinking about being in another country in the next three weeks. I'm still loving Blanding though. We were hoping to give a few people baptismal dates this last week, but it didn't happen like I was hoping it would. I love these people and I want them so bad to accept these things. It's hard to not get discouraged. But I can keep looking up because I know that I'm doing what God wants me to do. If I can just keep doing that, I know I can look up with hope for the future.

I love you guys and thank you so much for the valentines notes and gifts! 

Love

Elder Hayden Thieme

Here is Elder Thieme and his new companion, Elder Amott.

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Dear Dad,
It's been a fast week for me too. We've been working hard and I am just exhausted at the end of every day. It's a good feeling. I really think the work is progressing well here. This last week and a half or so I guess I'd felt like I was working so hard, doing my absolute best, and I wasn't seeing the fruits of it. I was praying for Heavenly Father to help me to see it. I had felt like I am working so hard for these people and they're not going anywhere fast. Then on Sunday, we had a family of four investigators come to church. The Larsen family has been taught for a while. The mom is starting to get more and more interested, the step father has come a long way. He was a heavy drinker and smoker. He's still working on tobacco, but he really has come a long way, and I was so surprised to him there with his wife and their two 11 year old boys. He's a snowboarder and his only day to go is Sunday. It also dumped snow all Saturday afternoon until Sunday evening. I was so happy to see them there. It was like the Lord saying, "don't get discouraged because no one is getting baptized yet. Be patient." The Lord said to be patient in your afflictions, THEN you will have success. I guess patience is something that I've been learning and that I'll have to learn even better as I go to Australia eventually (a brother who served there tells me all about his mission when they feed us dinner). It's not easy to be patient though.

We've been talking to  recent convert here about temples, trying to get him there to do baptisms for the dead. Then in his ward, all the talks in Sacrament meeting were about the temple. I thought that was cool. I miss being able to go to the temple with you and mom.

We got a call from the hospital again to go give someone a blessing. It was an elderly lady who had just found out she had cancer and didn't have a lot of time left. Her family was pretty shocked. It is just great to be able to have the priesthood and bless the lives of others.

I'm excited for this week. We hope to set a few baptismal dates today, and more later in the week. I trust in the Lord that if I keep working hard and giving him my heart, might, mind, and strength, I will be an instrument in bringing many souls to salvation. Even if I don't see a baptism while I'm here, although I would love to, it's the Lord's work and it'll be on his time. Love you dad. I hope work and everything is still going good. Tell everybody I love them.
Love,
 Elder Hayden Thieme

Hey mom!
Ya. I've been pretty anxious to find out what was going to happen. Sometime last week or mission president came up to Blanding for a bishops training or something like that and he snuck up on us while we were eating dinner at a restaurant. He told me I'd be in Blanding for another transfer, so another five weeks at the least. What happened was the Australian Government changed their whole application process or something so they had to start all of them over in January. So that's where the hold up is. I'm actually pretty grateful for some more time in Blanding. People keep asking if I'm disappointed to have to stay, but I am happy that I GET to stay. There are people that I want to work with just a little longer. We met a guy maybe my second week. We knocked on his door and he wasn't real friendly. Then we offered some service and now we're like really good friends. We see him around and he likes to talk to us. Then we went over and met his wife and kids. She is a less active member and she accepted to have us over to teach them. I feel optimistic for this family and I'm so excited to start teaching them. So then we expected my companion to stay as well but he got called to Flora Vista in New Mexico. It's near Farmington. 
Man, I haven't heard about the flooding in Australia. I think I heard about fires and things going on but not the floods. It kind of sounds like someone is being stirred up in the ways of remembrance of their God. I hope that all the service opportunities can help to move the work forward. I definitely know that service does open doors.
Tell everyone that I'm doing amazing, that I love being a missionary, and I love the work and the people and the everyday experiences of seeing the Lord in my life and in others. Also tell them that I love my mom, and that I am who I am because of my amazing parents.
My companion was sick for a few days. He was having some kind of stomach problem. It was no fun for him. I gave him a blessing and he's been doing pretty well. It stinks being sick. You don't want to stop working. Hopefully the kids get better soon.
Girls night out huh? That sounds like fun. Especially now that Kenzie is getting older, that's great for her to be with her big sis and mommy.
Man, I miss Kenzie a lot. I love all her little letters and drawings. I put them up on the wall by my study desk. I miss everybody. I hope you guys are doing well. I love and miss you all. Let me know how everyone's doing. Thank you for you letters and prayers. I love you so much Mom,
Love, Elder Thieme

 

Here is a picture of Hayden near some ruins they hiked to.  The weather has been a little warmer and drier for him.

28 January 2013
We email at the college computer lab. The college also feeds us free lunch at the cafeteria once a week, so it's cafeteria food, but it's free. We gave a blessing to the grandmother of an investigator we have. She lives on the res and they are having a dispute with their neighbors apparently over the llamas? But I guess they're neighbors sorta came over and attacked them and punched the old lady in the stomach and stuff. It's an all around crazy situation. The grandma also has cancer, so she has to go to Salt Lake or something for treatments every month. So now she has to go to court or something and their family is just going through a crazy time. It makes me grateful for always living in a nice place where I'm not afraid my neighbors might try to kill me or "witch" me.
So I sent an email to Miranda talking about something I ate this week. Friday I had menudo, a Mexican soup. It's usually got pig's feet in it but this one was made with hominy, corn stuff and tripe. The tripe was slimy and chewy. It was like eating nasty beef flavored jello that you had to chew for a long time. I only ate one bite of it about the size of a postage stamp and I nearly threw it up. I was literally gagging trying to swallow it. Then Saturday, the same family had us over again for dinner (we had menudo at 10:00 am Friday, so yes, for breakfast) and this time they made pho, pronounced like huh with an "f". It's an Asian beef noodle soup with rice noodles, beef, tripe, green onions and bean sprouts and cilantro. You make the broth with the meat and then put the cooked noodles in it and top it with onions, sprouts, cilantro, hoisin, and sriracha. It was super good. The tripe was even easier to eat because you could just eat it with a bunch of noodles and pretend it's not there. Tripe has a weird flavor that I'm not a huge fan of though, besides the awful texture. I told Miranda I'd take a picture of the leftovers they gave us so you could see it. Saturday we also had a lesson over there with them and the grandpa, an old Navajo guy who is an awesome member of the church, said the opening prayer in Navajo. Navajos prayers are really long. It's like a cultural thing. He prayed for at least eight minutes, no joke! So I've had tripe twice in the two days in Blanding, UT.

We've had a good week. The days fly by incredibly fast. It feels as if I just left the MTC. This is the beginning of our seventh week. This transfer is an extra long one due to the Holiday season. They're usually five or six weeks I think.
We have still been working with a lot of less active members and its been so great to see so many of them coming to church. Good things are happening. People are coming to church, they're reading the Book of Mormon, its just exciting. With investigator we've got a couple younger Native boys who are foster kids, I think orphans, living with their aunt and uncle. The aunt is a member, the uncle is not. The boys are awesome, they want to be baptized, they know all their stuff, but the aunt and uncle don't want them to get baptized until Spring. Apparently that's a good time for it in Navajo tradition, even though in Navajo tradition there isn't really baptism. But anyways, they want us to wait there. Then there's Jonas who is doing great and is making some big changes in his life. We had an appointment scheduled and we were going to give him a baptismal date but they canceled on us. But we totally think he's ready. We're going to see him and his family this evening.
We've had a lot of rain. Saturday it dumped all day long. It was like a mini flood. It's been raining continuously since then, only it turned into snow this morning, and it's still coming down.
Holy cow! I saw the pictures of the family room and the kitchen. It looks pretty awesome. It seems way different though, like more than just the color of the walls. Yesterday morning, I woke up a little before the alarm went off and I thought I was home. It was so weird, I totally thought I was in my room for a few seconds as I was halfway between sleep and waking up.
I've had another great week. Transfers are coming up. I guess I'll know whether I'm staying or going by Saturday. I got an email from the travel office saying they're still working on the Visa, they appreciate the work I'm doing here and they'll notify President Batt as soon as it's approved. That's all I know at this point so I'm a little anxious to see what happens.
I've seen that as I've been striving to be closer to my Father in Heaven and to be more Christlike my prayers have become more and more sincere, more and more meaningful. I really know He's there, He's listening and He's helping me. Thank you so much for your letters and more especially your prayers. I love you all and I've kept you in my prayers as well.
Jackson and Evan good luck in your running and basketball!
Elder Hayden Thieme

Hey everybody! Sorry I didn't email or anything last week. We had a zone conference come up and we left for Farmington in the morning. They had vehicle inspections up there too so we had to wash our truck before we left. We just never got time to email or write, so I got your letters in the mail though thank you so much. I also got a Christmas card from Gma and Gpa Thieme. That was nice to hear from them.

I loved that story about Jurgen Mumm, that's awesome. Things like that happen and they are never coincidence. God works in mysterious ways sometimes, but everything happens for a purpose and His hand is in all things. This is His work. That is why these small miracles happen every day. A couple weeks ago, we were talking about the service section in Preach My Gospel that talk about using service to find people. We knocked on some trailer door that day and the guy wasn't real interested and a little weirded out by us, but then we just asked if we could chop some of the wood outside his house that we'd seen. He was still a little leery but he said yea and he came out and we talked and he turned out to be really cool and friendly. We haven't taught him much yet but we've developed a friendship with him that may open the door to that soon. It just showed us that as we do the things that we are supposed to, like search the scriptures and follow preach my gospel that the Lord is with us and he will lead us to opportunities to find His sheep. 

Yesterday we went to visit a recent convert at the college and we usually leave the phone in the truck when we visit people but my companion had a thought to grab it, so he did. We were there for a few minutes when we got a call from the hospital. There was a very sick elderly woman being life-flighted to a bigger hospital and her and her family wanted to receive blessings. I guess Navajos really like blessings, whether it be for healing, strength, or for their homes. It's pretty cool. So luckily we had the phone on us and we rushed over and I was able to give a healing blessing and two blessings to her daughter and her granddaughter who were traveling with her. I think these were the first blessing I'd given since confirming Bryson and it was so cool to be able to use that Priesthood power to help other people. Well that was last night and we haven't heard any news about her yet. Oh ya, we also had this family who wanted blessings for their kids. I got to bless their little three year old girl. She is super cute and when she talks you have no idea what she's saying to you.
Happy Birthday Jackson! 15 dude! Things are going to start happening to you now!
It sounds like you guys had an awesome New Years. We had to be in by seven, so no partying for us. We just went to bed listening to other people shoot off fireworks.
Man, I can't believe your painting the house. Just curious, what have you guys done with my room so far?  Will I even recognize the house when I get back?
 

So you guys are going no dairy? I usually don't get to choose my meals but I've tried to eat well by buying carrots and those snap peas and stuff. I even have oatmeal that I enjoy on cold Sunday mornings. I eat plenty of fruit for breakfast too. My companion only buys whole milk though so I'm not exactly cutting back on dairy yet. Well that's great for you guys. It sounds like a really good thing.
Ooh we had this one salad at a member's house last night. It was carrots and apples chopped up real small with craisins and then mixed with some real cream. It was so good! I thought maybe you could substitute something for the cream maybe. But this stuff was so good. I thought it sounded weird, but it was amazing.
That's good that you got to visit Lorraine. I feel like we haven't seen any of their family for a long time. 

So last Monday was my first and only zone conference in the Farmington New Mexico mission. We got ready, did a few things and the drove to Four Corners to take some pictures and stuff. I got a picture of Flat Stanley in all four states. It was pretty cool. Not super exciting. It's the only place where four states touch in one spot or something like that, so I guess it was pretty exciting. Then we drove to Farmington from there and ate at a Mexican restaurant and then we had no idea where we were supposed to sleep that night. We had to call the elders in the area to find it and they had no idea anyone would be coming. There were like four companionships in this house for two people. I slept on a recliner and my companion slept on the floor. Oh ya, that was the day I was sick too. I had a cold for a couple days last week. I just had a runny nose and congestion and stuff. But I'm all better now. That night was not much fun though. I didn't get much sleep.
So we've had some good things happening. We've been finding some new people to teach and we've got some of our less actives to come to church. There was a baptism this Saturday for Aaron Tree. He's fourteen. My companion and the ones before me had taught him, but now he is in the sister's area. But we went to his baptism so my companion could be there for him. It was awesome. When he went under the water and then came back up, I felt something I'd never felt as much before. It was like pure joy. I was so happy that I was like, excited. I could feel the Spirit telling me that was Aaron was doing was what He wanted him to do. What he was doing was stepping through that gate and onto the path that leads to Eternal Life. It was so cool. And I hardly knew this guy. Bryson has done the same thing recently and Kenzie is getting closer. its such an important thing, I wish I could remember mine more. 

We also were talking to a recent convert named Rhoshondalynn and she was talking about wanting to serve a mission. It made both me and my companion so happy to hear her talk about that. She'd been praying about it and God has answered her, and she's decided that after a year, when she can go to the temple, she wants to go on a mission. She already shares things she learns from the Book of Mormon with her family, her mom not being a member. It is so cool and it strengthens my testimony to see her righteous desires growing. As we learn the truth of this glorious Gospel for ourselves and we learn to love people with a Christlike love, we can't help but want to share it!
I'll tell you some stories in a letter.
I love you all! Love you Miranda, Jackson, Evan, Bryson, Kenzie! Love you mom! Love you dad! Send all the rest of the family my love and let the staff know how I'm doing once in a while. I miss you all.

 Here is Elder Hayden on November 28, 2012, being dropped off at the Missionary Training Center in Provo by Bryson and Mona Laine Jones!  He flew down from Boise and they treated him to good food and good donuts!



Here's a little note from one of his email's in the MTC.

 They had us fill out another form for our Visa applications yesterday, so I still don't know for sure how that process is going. There's two companionships going to Brisbane. There's me and my companion Elder Telford. He's a great guy. He's really chill and easy to get along with. Then there's Elder Nelson and Elder Hodges. I'm short on E-mail time so I'll write you some fun stories and things later. Have a great week everybody! It's getting closer to Christmas time! I am having such a great time and I am learning so much. It feels like I've been here for months. Its like time goes by slow, and the date has no meaning. I never thought I could stand to sit in one class for three hours at a time and have so much fun and learn so much about the Gospel and about Christ. Jackson, take advantage of Seminary! Raise your hand. The teacher will love you if you share spiritual comments and feelings. Same for you Evan, next year. I can't believe you'll both be in high school! I wish I could have overlapped with you guys.

     Mom and Dad, I love you both so much. Thank you for your testimonies and examples.

     I can't wait to get into the field! I love it here in the MTC but I can't wait to get out and start doing it for real! I know I'm becoming what the Lord wants me to be. I love the Book of Mormon! I love all of you! I'll send a letter. Miss You guys!

 Here is Hayden showing his two mission areas once he found out he was going to be shipped somewhere else for a time.  Assigned to Australia, Brisbane, and sent to the Farmington, New Mexico Mission when his Visa did not go through.  

So, he arrived in the mission December 17 and was assigned to labor in Blanding, Utah, about 100 miles from anywhere.  It was about 12 degrees.   All his clothing and gear was for Brisbane, which has a climate like Miami, Florida.  

24 December 2012

Hey! How is everybody? It's been sort of a crazy week. The trip was pretty uneventful. Except for our flight getting delayed from Denver to Durango. It was because of snow. But we got here and they drove us to Farmington to the mission president's home. President Batt is awesome. They fed us pepperoni pizza with green chiles. Then we had like an orientation thing. Turns out I won't get to drive while I'm here. All the companionships have a vehicle. We have a truck, a Chevy Silverado. We stayed one night in Farmington with all the new Elders and then we had a meeting where we found out about our assignments and all that. I'm with Elder Lewis. He's a convert of about a year and he's been in Blanding, UT all three months of his mission so far. He's pretty awesome. We have the same sarcastic type of humor. So anyways we're in Blanding. It's so small. It sorta reminds me of Shelley, Idaho a little. Everything is close and there are a lot of single wide trailers and small homes. There's also a lot of Navajo families, but we're not like on the reservation. A larger part of the community is LDS, so we teach all the investigators we can find and we teach a lot of less-actives and a few recent converts. There are really great people here. The members are all super nice and they feed us a lot. We get a free meal once a week at Subway and some steakhouse and a place called patio burger. Every other day patio burger is half off. We ate there today, Monday is the free meal day there. Thats also our P-day. Their hamburgers are pretty dang good. We had a district meeting in Monticello and we ate at a place called pj's afterward. Their burgers were awesome. They also feed us free. Man, none of them are like Mainstreet Burger in Meridian though.

So yes we are allowed to skype. I'm not sure how we set it up together though. Maybe when I call we can figure it out. We do it at a member's house. The Arthurs. They own patio burger and they feed us every Sunday. They're awesome people. Brother Arthur makes knives. He picked it up a few months ago and now he makes awesome home made knives. I might have him make me one.

It's been pretty dang cold since I got here. If I didn't have that peacoat I'd be dying right now. Sorry Jackson, you won't get it for a while. I'll take nice care of it though. The first day I came it snowed a couple days. I taught like five lessons on my first day! We just dove right into the work as soon as I got here. It was so cool! I seriously love all the people here. Most people are real nice. Then again, most people are members so...

We get up early to go to the high school gym where they let us work out. I've already put on a little muscle since I've been pumping iron, plus there's a pull up bar in our house. But one morning we drove to the gym and the truck said it was like 7 degrees. Well, I look forward to calling tomorrow. I'm not sure when I'm gonna call. We just use our cell phones. But I'll either call in the afternoon or in the evening probably. Sorry, I'm still learning how everything works around here! Love you all!

 31 December 2013
Hey! Merry Christmas and a happy new year. My companion is super pumped for tonight because we have to be inside by 7:00. I think its to keep us away from all the parties and crazy people. Ya it was great to see and hear from everybody. Thanks for the uplifting letter as well. That was my first official letter in the mail out in the field! I was so excited! My Christmas was great. I've put all those socks and the boots and the hat and the water bottle to good use. I hung my calendar too. I love all the pictures in there. I haven't used that sweet camera stand thing, but I can't wait to use it. Sometimes they go hiking so if we ever do that I'll be sure to bring it.
     Give Gma and Gpa Thieme my love and all that. How are they doing? That would be cool to Skype with them. It would also be cool to talk to like the Bradford's and other people we don't see a lot like that. I was kind of nervous before I did it with you guys but I really like being able to almost feel in the same room as you.
     Man, Mom won in bowling? That's a shocker. She always wins. She's like good at everything. Bryson beat both Evan and Jackson? That's embarrassing. Haha Just kidding. Way to go B! Show 'em how it's done! I was always terrible at bowling. At some point I would stop caring and start throwing behind the back or between the legs and messing around.
     So you and mom are chaperoning the New Years Youth Dance? Are you going to stay up all the way 'till one to do that? That'll be fun. Is Jackson going with you? I remember the New years ones usually being pretty fun.
     Ya Blanding weather is cold and dry. We do have snow, but the air is very dry. I don't know what I'd do without my little wool socks and peacoat.  Thanks for sending the warm clothes!
     Church is so fun in the field. We went to three different wards two Sundays ago and then this Sunday we went to four Sacrament meetings and visited the singles branch. Man, it is just so cool to be a missionary. I've had some really cool experiences with people. I'll write some cool stuff that's happened in a letter today.
     Thank you for your prayers. I know for sure that God wants me here at this time for a reason. So far the word on the Visa is that I'll probably be here the rest of the transfer, but that's just the rumor. So I'm working my hardest and doing my best to make a difference to somebody while I am here. And though I may never see the fruits of my efforts, I still know that there is a purpose for me being here, possibly just for me to learn something. I love the book of Mormon so much. I can even say book of Mormon in Navajo now. I don't know how to spell it though. I've been reading about the prophecies about the Lamanites and how the Book Of Mormon will be brought to them by the Gentiles. We are fulfilling prophecy in bringing this great work to the descendants of Lehi. The Lord loves ALL of His people.
     Oh, I gave a talk in Sacrament meeting too this week. Both me and my companion did.
Tell all the family I love them,
 Love you dad,

Elder Thieme