26 August 2013

G'day everybody!
Another transfer has gone by and another is just starting. Elder
Christensen and I will be staying together here in Somerset ward for
another transfer. This is the only time so far on my mission when I
didn't attend the transfer meeting. This will also be the longest I
have stayed in one area, and the longest I have had one companion.
Before now, I had a different companion every transfer and hadn't been
in an area for more than three months. I was a little bummed that I
didn't get to go to transfers because our district leader, Elder
Forester, who attended Middleton High School, is going home. But I am
glad to be staying with Elder Christensen. We've been having a great
time together and the area seems to be showing a little promise, after
a bit of a dry spell.
Evan lost his Smith's? Where did we get those? Those aren't the ones
we found in Payette Lake are they? That would be funny. My Ray Bans
have been starting to kind of fall apart. The left temple is pretty
loose where the plastic connects to the hinge. They are still
wearable, and I kind of fixed them with super glue, but I'm not sure
how long they'll last me. I think my head got fatter too, because they
feel tighter on my head than usual. It must be all the knowledge I'm
gaining.
I've made a goal for myself to stop eating Macca's and getting subway
instead when we have to eat out. I never really liked Macca's at home,
but I guess when you're on a short budget cheap fast food tastes
better.
We had a pretty good week. Not the best, but a good one. We had to mow
our lawn and deep clean our house since it was the end of the
transfer. Our lawn is massive, so it took ages to finish with the
little push mower we borrowed. I don't know why we have such a big
yard.
We found some good people. We also taught this young man from Sedan on
Saturday. We decided to bring a reactiveating priest age young man
along with us to the lesson. Turns out they knew each other from
school. They came to church together and it seemed to go pretty well.
We taught another lady yesterday on her doorstep. We tracted into her
a few weeks ago and she was just leaving her house, so she told us we
could come back another day. My impression was that she was just being
friendly, like a lot of people will do. But we decided to follow up
with her and she was asking all the right questions. It just led right
to the Restoration. She gratefully accepted a Book of Mormon and said
she would like to come to our church the next time she gets a Sunday
off work. It was such a great feeling afterwards, because I know that
both my companion and I were given the things she needed to hear. I
hope that she will progress down the track.
We met another lady who only listened to us after we had established
we weren't the Jehovah's witnesses. We taught her about the Book of
Mormon and gave her a copy with a commitment to read a part of it. We
have been flooding the earth with the Book of Mormon lately. I love to
teach and testify of its truth and divine origin.
Benny has still been dodging us, so we'll put him on the backburner
for a while. Thanks for your prayers. We will just take a step back
and let the Lord work on him for a while.
We got our bikes back but we haven't ridden them much yet. When our
bike rack was installed it wasn't attached tightly enough. It's one
where the attachment goes under the trailer hitch, So you just screw
the ball back on top of it. Then the A-frame that holds the bikes can
be removed easily. So we put the bikes on the rack and when we got
halfway out of town we realised it was swinging around behind us.
We'll just have to borrow a big wrench from a member to get it snug
and then we'll be good to go. I look forward to using the bikes more
when we get that fixed. I feel like then I'll be more like a real
missionary, instead of a spoiled one that sits in a car all day.
The weather has been real nice the last few days. Not too cold in the
mornings. It gets a bit hot sometimes during the day, but there's been
a nice breeze that keeps it from feeling too warm.
I discovered a new favorite food. I had seen one of my companions,
Elder Paia'aua, put mayonnaise, barbecue sauce and a fried egg on
sausage (just one that tastes like a beef hot dog) and bread. Here
they don't buy hot dog buns, they just fold bread around their
sausages. And they never use American mustard. It's always either
tomato sauce or barbecue sauce. So I decided to try this combination
and I ended up loving it. I don't think my arteries love it much
though. It's also good with bacon or a hamburger patty instead of . I
think the fried egg makes it.
My little black and white nixon died the other day. I kept thinking
time was starting to go really slow and the day would never end. Then
I realised time had carried on but my watch had stopped at three
twenty. I will see if I can get the battery replaced today, depending
on how much it costs.
I am still waiting to get my mail. It has been at least a month since
our zone leaders last got it to us. They should give it to us this
Thursday. Hopefully.
I feel bad for not writing many hand-written letters, so I will try to
write a few today.
Thank you for your prayers and everything you have done for me. You
are the best family in the world. I love and miss you all! Thank you
for your prayers for me, and I pray that you will be safe and blessed
in all things. Have a great week everyobody!
Love, Elder Thieme