Feliz Navidad! Mission Week 9

The time has just about arrived! I hope everyone has had a great week leading up to Christmas Eve and Christmas! Hopefully you all had great Sacrament meetings yesterday with great songs and scriptures of Christ. 

 We spent a lot of time this week inviting people to our Christmas service yesterday and giving Christmas messages to members! Lots of people have family over so sometimes it was very efficient to give a message at a house. One family, the Hawkins, have 8 of their kids over for Christmas and they had 1 other family from the ward with them for a dinner. We happened to stop by so we gave a Christmas message to 9 families at once! Talk about efficient. 

I went on exchanges this week with the Zone Leaders since my companion is District leader. Elder Hall and I had a swell time attempting to find people that were home. Basin City was like a ghost town that day, we didn't see a soul for like 5 hours. Not even a car!

We had our special Christmas zone conference which was so much fun! I totally forgot to take pictures! There was a talent show first which was pretty great. There were some interesting zone talents we saw! One zone sang "In our Lovely Deseret" while inhaling helium every 2 lines. It was honestly really funny to watch, I was dying. Our zone sang "Follow the Prophet" with some funny verses about old testament prophets we wrote. We also did a skit of the story of Jacob and Esau and the Birthright, with some last minute adjustments that made it chaos. It was pretty funny and I was narrating so it was super hard for me to not just laugh the whole time. 

After that the Relief society in the Pasco Stake fed us some really good potatoes with gravy and stuff. We actually had fruit and cooked veggies, it was really good. I'm still trying to figure out this whole "eat healthy on $25 a week" thing :) 

We had a short Christmas program after that and we talked about the Book of Mormon and heard some great testimony's from soon-to-be departing missionaries. Overall, a great day!

I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas! Spend time with family and remember what Christmas is all about! Also remember that Christmas can be hard time for people who are alone or have bad memories of this time of year. Be friends to those who need it! 

Love you all have a great Christmas! 

- Elder Thompson

Fotos: 

I had one, but I forgot to get it from Elder Hall. I'm setting a goal this week to take 3 pictures with me in it! (So they count) Thanks Marilee :) 

I'll also repent that I don't have pics. 

Andele Pues.... Mission Week 8

Pues.... Feliz Navidad and all that. Apparently, Christmas is next week or something!

This week has been great as usual! 

P-day was pretty fun. As a zone we played some games in the gym and wrote some alternate verses to "Follow the Prophet" as our zone conference talent. Found out last P-Day that most Subway and Costa Vida in the mission give missionaries 60% off, so that's pretty great. I finally got to meet the members we live with since they got back from their 10 day cruise to Tahiti. They're pretty nice and love the missionaries! 

This week we tried to get in contact with all the members of the Spanish Branch because we have some events coming up. That helped a lot with my Spanish because we've been doing a bit of English work too. It is funny how much Hispanics hate the cold here! Some people won't even open the door they just yell, "Quien?" when we knock then say it's too cold to open the door. The people I got to meet were super nice and excited to meet me. Since not too many people would open their doors to us, we were driving all around our area. I've kinda got a feel for it now, but it's so dark and we 'andele pues bounce' between places so fast I am not super familiar. 

We started teaching a new family this week, hopefully it continues to go well. They've talked to missionaries off and on for nearly 8 years so we have to make sure we are very proactive and bold when we speak to them. Pray for Raul y Karina! 

One really cool thing we did this week was we helped out at the Food Bank. For a few hours we made up boxes and boxes of food. It's amazing the sheer amount of stuff that gets donated during the holidays! It was really fun to work in the assembly line and meet a bunch of the Hispanic families in the area. 

I got to speak in the English ward this week. I spoke on Christlike Attributes and how we can develop them. Everyone said I did a good job and I felt pretty good about it. Edgar came to all We've got big plans this next week as we come closer to Christmas!

Remember to pray and read Scriptures every day! It's amazing the power such little things have. 

Merry Christmas! ¡Feliz Navidad! 

Elder Thompson

Foto: A field (Sorry only one, I kinda forgot to take pictures we were just so busy!)

Campo Semana 1! - Mission Week 7

¡Hola!

I have safely arrived in the beautiful area of the Kennewick, Washington Mission. Let me tell you a little about it first... My first area is a little pequeñito pueblito called Basin City, Washington. It might not even pull up on a map because it actually isn't a real city! It's about as close to Othello as you can be without being outside the mission. Basin City proper is only 5 streets. We have one burger place and one little store so not much shopping options (They have some poppin pan dulce though :) )  This place reminds me a lot of Delta, UT. It is muuuch smaller (people wise) than Delta but it has the same vibe. I'll try to get some better pic's next week, but It has just been really foggy. Basically it is miles and miles of rolling hills and farms. There's all sorts of orchards; cherry, apple, more apple, and more apple. Honestly I think my Henke side of the family would absolutely love it here. 

Saying goodbye at the MTC was bittersweet. I had the best teachers, district, and companion! I wish all of them the best of luck in their lives and missions. It was amazing to have such good friends in the MTC. 

Back to day one, we made our way through UTA all the way to the airport no problem. In fact, we even met someone who has a son in this mission right now! He sat down next to me and we started talking in Spanish and when we told him where we were headed he just said, "OH! MY SON IS A ZONE LEADER THERE!!" I'll probably meet him some time. The only thing I'll say about the little plane we flew on is that it was not exactly... me sized. 

President and Sister white were waiting for us at the airport and we headed straight to the mission home. They are really nice and I can tell their main focus as mission president is happiness and obedience. It get's dark really early here in the winter (~4pm) so they have everyone take vitamin D3 every day to compensate. After a day and a half of training and getting to know people, we were introduced to our new companion! Elder Barlow is my trainer and he's a swell Elder. A Swelder one might say. 

Elder Barlow has been out for 14 months, so he's got a pretty good handle on things. Great at Spanish and over all a motivated missionary. Our area is actually one of few places were you stay with members. We live in the Casper's basement and it has it's upsides and downsides. Upside, our beds are actually really nice. Downside, we don't have a kitchen. We have a microwave and 2 plug in hot plates. It will definitely be an adventure figuring out things to cook here, especially since the whole Northwestern region of missions has discontinued member dinners! Wish me luck! (Send me easy, cheap recipes if you want, as well. You'll get blessings and stuff)

We spent most of the week trying to get to know people in our area. Elder Barlow has been here for one transfer already but that's not too much time. Since it gets dark at 4, it's pretty hard to get into people's houses. We haven't been able to teach a full lesson yet. Luckily towards the end of the week we got into Edgar's. Edgar has been getting lessons for a few months so we're trying to help him do what he has to do to get baptized. He came to all 3 hours of Church yesterday so that was a great miracle this week! 

 Some other stuff about our area, it is what is called a 'Zebra' Area. Basically this just means we do both Spanish and English work. We cover 1 of 2 English wards in BC and then the Spanish branch we share with the Hermanas that cover the other English ward. This will probably make it a little hard to learn Spanish since I'm not usually speaking it but I'll do what I can. 

On Thursday we were knocking around trying to meet people and these 2 friends let us into their house (come to find out it was their duck hunting cabin). One of them started to shoot out some rough questions about controversial things in the Church. I was kinda freaked out but luckily Elder Barlow is a beast and had that on lock-down, no problem. Eventually they realized we just wanted to talk with them so they had us sit down and we avoided a bashing sesh. It turned into a really good conversation later about faith. One of them happened to be a member, he just hasn't gone to church in 30+ years. They fed us some Duck Poppers (Duck, jalapeño, cream cheese, and bacon. Smoked) that were way good. By the end of it we definitely improved their view on The Church and Missionaries. 

Friday I got to go with the missionaries in Connell for a day. Elder Barlow is District Leader so he had a meeting. It was a great time and I'm friends with 4 more elders now! One of them I already knew, Elder Farmer. His little brother Dallin and I grew up together so that was sweet to hang with him for half a day. I went with Elder Farmer and Elder Stopa on a Church tour for one of their people they are teaching. I also got to practice piano a bunch that day since they had a keyboard in their apartment and they were planning for their area. 

Other notable things this week include:

• I found a suit at the mission office that was my size! Honestly it is more comfortable than the one I brought out so that was a great blessing. 
• Elder Barlow taught me how to solve a rubix cube! 
• I ate pan dulce! 
• I shared my favorite scripture in Spanish! Alma 26: 35

The thing I'll leave off with is about Light the World! If you haven't yet, go to lighttheworld.org. This year light the world is a bit easier to keep track of. It's not 25 different things to do in December, not everyone has time for that. This year it is broken up into 4 themes, one a week. I encourage you to watch the video and do something this week! It's super easy to do. In fact, how about this... This week is light your community! Do something to light your community this week and send me a picture! It will make my day, but more importantly it will make someone else's day. It will show your love for the Savior by serving others as he did. 

Love you all! 

Elder Thompson

Housekeeping things: 

New address is this: 

Elder Chayse Thompson

Washington Kennewick Mission

8202 W. Quinault Ave, Ste D

Kennewick, WA 99336

P-Days are Mondays, I have 1.5 hours to email/message. We are allowed to use google hangouts during that 1.5 hours so if you wanna chat, just get the app or go on a computer. I do emails in the morning, usually around 9:30 - 11 MST. 

Fotos: 

1. Our travel group selfie
2. Nuevo Compañero, Elder Barlow
3. Foggy day
4. Class with Hermana Truman
5. Class with Hermano Durrant

Finding Friends and Familiar Faces

On Friday, Dec. 7, just a couple days after Chayse arrived in Washington, I received a text from Sister Kelly with this picture saying: "Just finishing a church tour with these fine Elders. Wanted to show their moms that two friends found each other in Connell, Washington! Also in the picture is Karisma, who is on date for baptism this month!"

Elder Thompson's companion was in meetings today so he joined these Elders on exchanges. The missionary in the green tie is Elder Farmer, the older brother of one of Chayse's friends that he grew up with in Layton and the son of my friend, Diane, that I used to play basketball with all the time in Layton. Fun small world moments!

Safe Arrival Email

Dear Family,

We are thrilled to inform you that your missionary has arrived safely to the mission field.  Elder Thompson appears to be healthy, and in good spirits, and seems eager to get to work. He will be staying the evening in Kennewick, and will be meeting his Trainer on Wednesday morning, and then after some orientation and more training, will be traveling with his companion to their new area Wednesday evening.  Thank you so much for raising such a fine young man in such a way that he is willing and worthy to serve a mission. 

Elder Thompson is in good hands!  Just so you don’t worry, he is writing a handwritten letter tonight to be sent to your mailing address tomorrow. Also, his Preparation Day will be on Mondays through the end of his mission, emails will be exchanged then. Elder Thompson will let you know, in advance, if a Preparation Day changes due to a Federal Holiday or a special temple visit.

Do not hesitate to email or call if you have any questions or concerns, as we are here to ensure that your missionary is happy, healthy, and successful.

Warmest Regards,

Sister Finch

Mission Secretary

**Photo with President Doneal L. and Sister Claudia Esplin White from Mapleton Utah.**

Ha llegado el momento - MTC Week 6

Hola Familia y Amigos! 

Well, it's just about time for me to leave the MTC! I leave on December 4, at around 6am.  This email will probably be short because I'm supposed to pack today, my next email will be from Washington! 

The week has gone by so so fast. There were lots of "last" things this week. Last Pizza Friday, last volleyball game, last Language Assessment, last P-Day, last Tuesday devotional, etc. It's a bittersweet time for everyone in our district. We've all become so close and such good friends, it's like another family! We're all sad to leave, but mostly excited to start the real stuff! 

We're sitting in the Computer lab right now and our entire zone is writing our emails, we're just laughing and having a good time with all the stuff we've learned in Spanish. Our volleyball squad is splitting up now and they're saying it won't be the same without us! 

I got to see some of my friends from Middle/High School at the MTC this week. I knew Elder Ari Lacanienta would be coming this Tuesday so we looked for eachother at lunch and luckily I got to say hi! I'm super excited for him, he's gonna do great! It was a surprise to see my friend Elder Adam Lore from middle school at gym time! He's headed to Bolivia in ~4 weeks.

One of my favorite things from this week was memorizing 'The First Vision' in Spanish! I'll quote it for you right now (I promise I'm not cheating :)  )

Vi una columna de luz, mas brillante que el sol directamente arriba de mi cabeza. Y esta luz gradualmente descendió hasta descansar sobre mi. 

Al reposar sobre mi la luz, vi en el aire arriba de mi a dos personajes, cuyo fulgor y gloria no admitten descripccion. Uno de ellos me habló, llamándome por me nombre y dijo: Este es mi Hijo Amado. ¡Escuchalo!

Estoy agradecido por la opportudad estar en el CCM y por mi distrito y genial amigos! Yo se que La Iglesia de Jesucristo de Los Santos de los Últimos Días es verdadero, y cuando oramos, Dios contestará nuestras oraciones. Estoy agradecido por mi familia y amigos, y el amor ellos me dan. Ojalá, seré un misionero bueno. Tengo la fe en Cristo y su Expiacion. Yo se que la Expiacion puede ayudarnos con todas cosas en nuestra vida. 

Los amo a todo! 

Elder Thompson

Fotos: 

1. There are full-wall murals on every floor in the new classroom buildings. This one is of Moses crossing the Red Sea
2. Our precious District
3. The Classy Elders

Well family, I hope everyone is home safe and sound from Cali at this point! I was glad to hear about all the fun times, sounds like a memorable vacation. I'm jealous of the warm weather you had! It was raining/snowing a lot these last few weeks in Provo. 

I have a fun surprise for everyone! I bought a "call card" so I'll be able to call you guys and talk for a bit when I'm at the airport. I'm there for like 4-5 hours so If possible be ready for a call around 7-8am or so. I guess most of you will have school but I'll try to catch you when I can. Let me know if there's a specific plan/time you want to shoot for. 

There should be a special surprise in the mail for Ruby and Mom sometime soon! 

I've got to go pack/ clean our room so email me if you wanna talk about anything specific. 

Love you all! 

Elder Thompson