Scottie and his fellow Elders at Thanksgiving dinner

Thursday - Thanksgiving!! 

The missionaries with the Thompson Family

Today was an awesome Thanksgiving. We all (all four missionaries in his apartment) got up and went over to play sports with the Volta Ward (Samoan ward in the area). We played basketball from 7:30am to 11:30, which was awesome. We went back to the apartment and showered and changed and got presentable. We then had an awesome Thanksgiving meal with the Thompson family, the wml (Ward Mission Leader) for Ghramm and Moleli (Elders Ghramm and Moleli serve in an English speaking congregation as opposed to a Spanish congregation like Scottie)  and they made amazing food: turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, sweet potato casserole, green beans, stuffing, and more.  We were joined by his whole family (including a 101 year old grandma) and after we ate we just posted up in the living room and let our food settle while his daughter played some songs on the guitar. They're a really nice family; it made it easier being away from home. We had another dinner at 5:00 with the Reyes family, and they were super nice as well. Then, we ran back over to the Volta building and played basketball and volleyball for another few hours, and it was a pretty solid day. No worries about us not having enough food, Elder Moleli's family came over and dropped off TONS of food: chicken, turkey, potatoes, ramen, the works. I have a lot to be thankful for, I definitely missed everyone back home and I hope y'all had an amazing day!

The Samoan Ward at play

I am so thankful for you and the family, way more than I can express in words. 

Friday: 

We had a pretty good day today, up and working and studying and then at 9:00 we taught Juana. We had district meeting and the assistants joined us, so that was a surprise! Sis. Vang and Sis. Martinez made us some awesome Oreo truffles, I ate a bunch, and then we went and grabbed lunch. We taught Geovani, and then we went to finish weekly planning. We finally got to update the iPads to iOS7 so that was kinda cool (his mission is one of the test areas for new technology) then we had a delicious dinner of steak and potatoes and pecan pie with the Christensen family. We had a wonderful visit with all 5 of the Espinoza’s and now we're in the apartment. Elder Mau (AP) (assistant to the mission president) is staying with us tonight, so that'll be fun!

Saturday:

Today was an interesting day! We got up, did some workouts (all 5 of us, lots of fun), and then we did some studying. We had choir practice and I got to see Elder Burgin (his former companion) again, so good to hang out with him. After practice we got to go eat lunch with Burgin and his new companion, Elder Quiles, and then we had some afternoon visits and such. Our dinner was hilarious because we showed up, she'd forgotten, she brought her less active son out so we ended up just teaching him and then leaving and heading to the apartment to grab a quick bite to eat, but then Hermano Thompson from our branch called us over and just randomly fed us....divine intervention right there haha. We left and had a great lesson with the Rocha family. We were all sharing scriptures we liked and I had a prompting to share

3 Nephi 15:9 -

• Behold, I am the law , and the light . Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life. 

 When I did she broke down crying saying she'd heard that exact scripture in a dream but she never knew where to find it. She said she wanted to start coming to church again so her family could feel those blessings, it was super powerful! We're really hoping to see her tomorrow!

Sunday:

Today was great! The Rocha's came to church, which was great! We had a powerful fast and testimony meeting (monthly meeting where congregation members fast and have the opportunity to stand and bare their testimonies of Jesus Christ and the Gospel), and we really felt the Spirit strongly. Today was a mission wide fast for the hastening of the work, thousands of people participated! Want to hear a riddle I heard today? "The rich need it, the poor have it, if you eat it you will die." Answer? "Nothing." We had some afternoon visits, and then went on splits for the night so that Biggs (Scottie’s companion) could stay and teach and I could go to the Spanish Devotional. Sabath went with me. The songs and testimonies were really good, and Elder Arnold and his wife (from the Quorums of the Seventies) (Seventies are called to proclaim the gospel and build up the Church) came and gave testimonies too, in Spanish! It was powerful, and I'm really thankful I was there!

 Want to hear something cool? I think David A. Bednar (a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) is coming to speak to us on Friday, it’s a special mission meeting, we'll find out more later on this week!

Thank you so much for that box, that was amazingly sweet and the treats were delicious and I shared with all the elders and they wanted me to send my thanks! (I sent a “Thanksgiving” box of treats to share with his fellow missionaries)  

Box of Thanksgiving treats from home

(His response to my asking him if he had any new/interesting dishes for Thanksgiving): No ma'am, but there was jello....I've had more jello since I got out here than I ever have in my entire life haha, that's for sure. The turkey was very good though, very tender, apparently Bro. Thompson is like the master chef of his family. They didn't have mac and cheese though!

P.S. The picture of you and daddy together almost put me in tears. (I sent lots of photos from our Thanksgiving gathering) I'm so thankful to have parents who love each other so much and who are such good examples to me. I want that one day, I want to get married in the temple and I want to have a family that's active in the church. I've met way too many people out here that have become less active and their lives have fallen apart. I'm really growing in my testimony, thank you for helping me get to this point. 

Scottie's parents on Thanksgiving Day!

Love always,

Scottie

(From his email to his Aunt Tammy):

Hey Tía Tammy!!!!

It's so good to hear from you! I didn't get to get on (the computer) on Thanksgiving, but your note made me smile!

I bet the food was amazing! We ate until we were stuffed....and then ate again haha, it was delicious but not quite southern Thanksgiving ;)

I love you so much, thanks for everything you do! I'm so thankful to have you as an Aunt!

Word of the week: tormenta - storm. Sometimes, life comes at us like a storm, but if we keep our faith and keep pushing forward, we'll make it through!

Love,

Scottie