November 25, 2013

Hey Thorne Fam!

So today's email is going to be super fast seeing as we have so much to do today! Sister Sperry still needs to pack, we need to clean, I need to get organized and we need to do some shopping. Phew. So here goes. 

I am doing fantastic out here in Morehead! Transfer calls came and I am training again and still staying here in Morehead. That means I will get to spend Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years here and more likely than not, I will also be here for my birthday!!!! I am also SO excited to train again! This will be my 6th trainee. Phew. I think I'm getting too old for this. :P And then Sister Sperry is being transferred to Edmonton, KY aka Metcalfe County, aka the most Southern area of the mission. Population: 1500. She's gonna meet some hicks and she's hoping she'll get a shotgun pulled on her. :P Oh man how I love her. :) She is also going to be companions with Sister Black!!! My oldest living child! Do you remember her? She was just after Sister Junk. I am so excited that they will get to be together! It's going to be a good transfer. :) 

As for investigators: Kat, Tung, Sandy and Danielle are progressing.

Kat is getting baptized this Saturday and I get to go!!!! Yay!!!!

Tung came to church yesterday for the first time in several months. He fell asleep.... but we're working on that. We talked over a bap date for him and taught him the LoC and WoW and he said that he has to pray about those because after he decides to live them, he won't ever go back. So he's praying about that this week.

Sandy also came to church! He is still reading and going good but he says that he wants to move out of his parents place and back to Lexington and then come and visit Morehead once a week. We are kind of worried about his continued sobriety with that decision so we will see.

Danielle wasn't able to come to church but she should be there next week. We weren't able to meet with her but we were able to drop by. We are meeting with her tonight. Turns out she's related to some members here in Morehead so perfect fellowship!

As for others, Nancy canceled. She may be dropped this coming week. Jeannie still didn't come to church. We're meeting with her tonight. Ranger we haven't heard from. He may have moved. Bill we finally dropped. We had an... interesting lesson with him Monday and dropped him Saturday. Someday though. 

As for your email:

1) the basement looks gorgeous!!!! Oh my goodness! It is totally your dream basement isn't it Mom? And the bookshelf took my breath away. Sigh... love it! And Grandpa is going to do a mural of Marsh? On what wall? That will be SO pretty! I'm so glad you're getting it done. :)

2) Josh: I am so proud of you! What an example of keeping your baptismal covenants and righteously holding the priesthood. That's my stud muffin! :D

3) Sounds like Thanksgiving is going to be a blast! Take lots of pics for me! We should be having a ton of fun here too. We will be spending the morning at Bishop Green's, then we will eat at the Ratcliff's, then we will stop by for pie at the McCurdy's and then end the night with some more awesome food with the Smedley's and Wallace's. It should be a blast! And a lot of food.... guess I better start running more!

4) AUSTIN I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!! Please give him a giant hug from me. I miss my lil bro SO much! I'm so proud of you. :) 

As for my spiritual thought:

This morning I was reading Alma 26 (when you have time, please go read the whole chapter, it's SO good). In this chapter Ammon is explaining why he is so filled with joy right now. Now you've gotta think about it, just a few years ago, Ammon was going about trying to destroy the church. Now, they are coming home from their mission among the Lamanites. Some of my fav verses are 12, 23-24, 27, 29-31, and 36-47. But I wanted to focus on verse 37, the final verse. Ammon says, "This [bringing souls to repentance] is my joy and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever." Seeing the light of Christ come into someone's life is truly the greatest joy that can be felt in this life. I thank God for the opportunity every day. I know that as we continue in Thanksgiving to God every day and pray for the experience to bring but one soul unto Christ, that God will grant us our plea. Thank Him every day for your missionary experiences and then pray for more. In this is found true joy. I say that in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  

I think that's all. Gotta run! Love you all lots!!! Be good! 

Love eternally,
Sister Thorne

 This Carter County border is actually the Mission border as well so we took some fun cute pics next to it. Don't go over the line!!!

 Sister Sperry and I being absolute dorks. :)

 LOOK HOW LONG MY HAIR IS GETTING!!!!!!

Sister Sperry taught me how to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on the violin. Lots of fun!

November 18, 2013

Hey Thorne Fam!

So... pday got moved back to Monday and Zone Conference is now Wednesday.... so confusing. But it's all good! It's good to hear from y'all! Things are getting chillier down here in Morehead but don't worry, leggings and boots are where it's at. :) We are also both safe from the big storm that came in last night. I think we both slept through it. But all is well! This week has been both a good and bad week. So... pretty average for a missionary. Yay missionary life!

As for our investigators: we have 7 progressing. Kat, Nancy, Tung, Jeannie, Ranger, Sandy, Bill.

Kat has her baptism all planned out and it has been approved by the bishop. Her interview is scheduled for Tuesday and she has received 4 of the 5 new member lessons from the members. So she's doing really well!

Nancy we still haven't managed to meet with. We've called her about 5 out of the 7 days this past week and talked with her, but she has been pretty sick so we haven't been able to get over there. From what she says, she is still reading and praying though.

Tung we had to cancel as well. There is a member in the ward who is moving and only had about 2 1/2 weeks notice and they asked if we could come help pack. So we moved Tung to later this week and helped out the very frantic member. We have called and talked to Tung and he is continuing to pray about baptism.

Jeannie we dropped by. She was totally planning on church but... then canceled on us the day before. We dropped by and she said she couldn't say why she couldn't come, just that it was some work reasons. We're not really sure... but we are meeting with her later this week and she said she may be able to come to church this Sunday.

Ranger came to church! We met him outside the library and he has been coming to institute every week for about 3-4 weeks. He loves what he's learning and he came to church this past Sunday for the first time. He said he will pray about baptism but he won't commit to a date.

Sandy is still heading strong. Still sober. He is decreasing his smoking and he has a plan all laid out to be completely keeping the WoW in 2 weeks so that he will be prepared for his bap date in December. We talked about agency and how to use it wisely. We also are having Brother Hamm (a newly activated member) be his new fellowshipper and that is working out really well!

Bill... still didn't come to church... we called and he said he had prayed about baptism and he had heard a voice say "Bill, you've already been baptized." So he doesn't want to get baptized anymore... we are talking with him tonight and we will see how things go. We have a really good plan talking about the restoration of the priesthood and we role played it out and the spirit was strong.

As for your email:

1) Yep... this may be our last week together... but I'm hoping things will work out that I get transferred to Owingsville (right next door, there were Elders there but they were taken out last transfer) so I would still be in the ward and I could reopen the area. I see a lot of potential there and Owingsville really needs sisters. There are a lot of widows that the Elders can't get to. So Bishop Green is email President Woodbury to recommend me and then I am going to try and talk to President about it on Wednesday. We'll see how it goes. :)

2) Tung is moving back to Vietnam permanently. He was just here for a year at Morehead State University and then he'll go home and start his own business. He has really big dreams. :) Abdullah won't answer any of our calls or texts. We've stopped by several times but he won't answer the door. It's been about 4 weeks since we last saw him.

3) CONGRATS on the basement!!! That is so exciting! I hope that I'll get some pictures of all the family there in it all finished next Saturday? I'm so excited that it'll be done for the winter. That will be really nice.

4) I actually did have something specific for Christmas. A really cool thing that a lot of missionaries are doing now is bringing an iPod or MP3 our on their mission. Just like one of those little nano shuffle ones that can't connect to the internet. Then they just put all their music on it and bring out some cheap $10-$15 speakers. Then they can listen to it and their CD's don't get scratched (I already have one I can no longer listen to it skips so bad... :( ) So I was thinking maybe you could find a real cheap MP3 and then put a bunch of Christmas music on it. Like the Motab Christmas's Brian Stokes Mitchell, David Archuletta and Alfie Boe. Those one's are my favorite. Sister Sperry says Cecil too. But then I would have all my Christmas music to listen to and I could add all my CD's onto it too and then have that for the rest of my mission. If it's not plausible, I understand. Just an idea. As for anything else, I can't really think of anything.... oh! Stamps. Either that or money for stamps. I would like to send out those cute missionary Christmas cards, but that requires stamps. That would be way awesome. Other than that, I'm really quite happy. Really all I want is to talk to you all. I can't wait for Christmas. :)

5) LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

As for my spiritual thought:

This week I have a challenge for everyone. It's something that our stake is really stressing right now. It comes from last conference. Elder Ballard said, "We are simply asking all members to pray, knowing that if every member, young and old, will reach out to just 'one' between now and Christmas, millions will feel the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what a wonderful gift to the Savior." Christ taught and touched hearts "one by one" (3 Nephi 17:21) Reaching out to just one person is not difficult. It only takes one invitation to an activity (and with Thanksgiving and Christmas there are a lot of ward activities coming up), one line testimony (I know that families can be together forever), one new friend, or an upliftment of one old one. If we go about the Work of Salvation touching souls one by one, millions WILL come to the knowledge of the gospel and as Elder Ballard said, "What a wonderful gift to [our] Savior." I invite each person who reads this to reach out to one person before Christmas and then see what the Lord can do with you as you are His hands. Miracles will happen.

Love you all infinity! Talk to you next week!

Sister Thorne

This morning we woke up to snow!!! Crazy right??? 

November 12, 2013

Hey Thorne Fam!

Hello from good ol' Morehead, Kentucky! Out here in the Far East we are doing absolutely fantastically! We have seen so many amazing incredibly miracles this week that I don't even really know where to start. But for now, I will say for certain, The church is true!!!

As for our investigators: we currently have 6 progressing. Kat, Nancy, Tung, Jeannie, Sandy, and Bill.

Kat is amazing and has her batism all planned out. She has received 3 of the new member lessons from Brother Curry and Brother Monnett.

Nancy is still reading in her Book of Mormon and she has started praying daily but she had to cancel our meeting this past week. So we have been calling her ever other day or so to stay in Daily Contact with her, but we haven't actually gotten to meet and teach her again. More on her next week.

Tung we met with this past week and talked about L3. We ended with baptism. He told us he is going back to Vietnam January 3rd and wants to be baptized before he goes home. He has been praying about baptism like once a week but hasn't gotten his answer yet. He said that he is now to "80% knowing that God is real" up from the 70% 2 weeks ago. So his is coming. Now we just need to reteach the Restoration with an emphasis on the Priesthood to ensure that he doesn't just go get baptized in anothe church. :P

Jeannie we met with last night and talked about prayer. We also talked about why we pray and how we recieve answer to prayers by coming to church. She committed to come to church this Sunday! Her first time!

Sandy we met with yesterday as well. We talked about the basics of the restoration really focusing on prayer and personal testimony. He said that he doesn't know for himself that it is true yet, but he hopes that it is and he is leaning on Sister Gibbs testimony right now. We talked to him about Elder Holland's "Lord, I Believe" conference talk and expressed a desire for him to gain his own testimony. He has real intent. So he is including that in his prayers this week. He's still sober!

Bill is the last the best of all the game this week. So he still didn't come to church this past Sunday. We talked with him and he basically said we could meet with him one last time but that he wasn't interest in being baptized so we basically would just stop coming around at that point. We prayed and fasted before his lesson and decided that we need to talk about prayer and then have Bill pray about Baptism right there with us. We got into the lesson and he expressed his thought that the church has "fallen" from it's origianal glory. I told him that if President Monson is God's prophet then this church is still run by God. So that was really what he was asking, if Thomas S. Monson was God's prophet. So we got down on our knees with him and he asked God right there if he was. We were all silent for a while adn then Bill said, "I got my answer. The same as when I prayed to know if tithing was a commandment from God. God told me 'Listen to these people. They are my servants.' " I started to cry as I was able to testify to Bill that God has just spoken directly to him. So we then proceeded to set a baptismal date with him for January 12th. He said that he will pray about being baptized this week. So we went from a drop lesson to setting a baptismal date. The church is true. God is in charge. I know it. 

As for your email:

1) Mandy: you failed the driving test??? haha! Oh man, how I love my adorkable Manda-lou. You go girl. :) Study it out and pass that baby next time okay! I'll be your cheerleader. :)

2) Josh and Brandon: Congrats on grades! That's my boys! I am so very proud of you. Keep at it dudies. :)

3) Sounds like y'all had a really fun weekend. That thankful tree is such a cute idea! Where did they get the paper for it? How is Grandpa Ralph doing? Good job on everythin Brit! You are such a hard worker and my spiritual rock. I look up to you lil sis. :) You keep those standards high. Just as God has told you, you are going to do amazing things in this church. That's my sister!!!

4) Daddy: an iPad huh? For "work"? ;) haha sounds like a fun family toy. I don't think I could even work it. :P I tried playing with Emily's new iPhone and I couldnt' figure it out.... Man. I am such a missionary. :P You'll have to teach me when I get back okay? :) Love you Daddy!

5) Mom: fun timeline! 16 races huh? Wow. You are incredible. It's hard to believe I was actually able to run half marathons at one point. I feel like I'm dying after one mile. I am so very not in shape.... I'll work on that when I get home. ;P

6) Brother Curry showed me that video. So cool!!! It gave me the chills. Plus, the song that is on there is actually Sister Sperry and I's jam! We listen to it all the time!

7) Also, as a side note, P-day next week will also be on Tuesday because Zone Conference is on Monday. Just so you know.

As for my spiritual thought: this week my thought comes from Moroni chapter 7. I will be taking pieces from verses 27, 29 and 37. In this chapter Mormon is speaking to us. He asks us a question. He says, "Have miracles ceased because Christ hath ascended into heaven?" This week I have gained a testimony that miracles have not ceased. I know without a shadow of a doubt that miracles still happen every single day of our life. Mormon continues, "Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men. For it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men." Sister Sperry and I have fasted every Sunday for the past month and a half for Bill to be able to get his answer. As we went into this lesson, we were planning on dropping him, that this would be our last time. And then, as we prayed with him, I literally put everything into God's hands, trusting that somehow Bill would get his answer. Praying and hoping for a miracle. And we got one. But it was according to our faith. I testify that miracles happen every single day. I know that as we exercise faith in Jesus Christ, he will bless us with more miracles than we have ever seen before. I know that angels truly are round about us, ministering and preparing people for us. I would invite everyone this week to start exercising your faith, putting your trust in God and looking for those daily miracles. Especially and Thanksgiving is coming up, thank God each day for those miracles he provides you. I know that as you do so, you will be blessed with even more and will be able to develop an attitude of grattitude.

I love you infinity!

Sister Thorne

We had some fun raking leaves for a member.

November 4, 2013

Hey Thorne Fam!

Another week has flown by and what a week it has been! It is so weird how different weeks can go. This week I have truly gained a testimony of Ether 12:6. We receive no witness until after the trial of our faith. Last Sunday was certainly a trial, but this Sunday we were able to witness many miracles. :)

As for investigators: 7 are progressing: Kat, Bill, Jeannie, Tung, Sandy, Nancy and Deandra.

Kat is still doing amazing. Planning her baptism.

Bill is back! He came to church this past Sunday and he said he still misses the preaching but he felt the spirit a lot more and liked Elders Quorum a lot better than High Priests. And he has almost finished reading through the D&C. We watched the full Restoration movie with him this past week and he really felt the spirit and I think his testimony of Joseph Smith is growing.

Jeannie has come to a head. We talked to her this past week about baptism and she said that she has thought about it a lot. She said she loves everything about the church except for how the women don't get the priesthood or leadership positions. She said it feels like "separate but equal" and she's fought against that her whole life and couldn't join a church that sponsors that. And we don't really know how to respond to that concern. But she still is reading in the Book of Mormon!

Tung is coming back as well! At our meeting last Monday, we talked about what a testimony is, how we gain one and why it is important. He commited to read and pray about the truth of the Book of Mormon every day. And if he didn't get an answer, keeping trying because God will answer him eventually. It was a cool lesson. :)

Sandy is back from rehab! He got back Saturday night and was at church Sunday. He also came to Gospel Principles and Sacrament Meeting. 2 hours versus only going to Sacrament as usual! Progress! He seems like he has really started that mighty change of heart process and is much more serious about God and religion. We just have to make sure he stays sober now and keeps the fire burning.

Nancy we weren't able to meet with, but we will be meeting with her this coming week. We have called her and she is still reading in the Book of Mormon, but not much to report other than that.

Deandra is amazing! We've met with her and her husband Gustavo. She had her baby last Wednesday and 4 families in the ward have volunteered to take her dinners with us. So Sister Watson met her this past week and Sister Bowman, Sister Kappes and Sister Curry will meet her this coming week. Deandra has been reading in the Book of Mormon everyday and both her and Gustavo have a real desire to know if it is true. We will be teaching the Restoration to them both this coming Sunday with Brother Alvarez since Gustavo doesn't speak much english and we don't speak much spanish!

As for your email:

1) Wow! Sounds like everyone had a pretty fun and crazy week! So many adventures! I hope they are all being written in journals. ;)

2) EMMA IS PLANNING ON A MISSION?!?!?!? AAAAAHHHHH!!!!! Oh my goodness! I am so stinkin proud of my amazing girls! You go Brit and Em! Take the world by force! WOOT!!!

3) Mom, your shirt nearly made me cry. Thank you so much! I am so honored to have this opportunity to be a missionary. Thank you. :')

4) I still have Steve and Nat's address, I will do my best to get a letter written out to them today. Also, please thank them for me. I hope they are receiving all the blessings in the world because they have no idea how much that means to me. :) I love them so very dearly. :)

5) Everyone looked adorable in their costumes! Mandy and Maddie: stinkin cute idea! And Mandy, may I mention yet again how utterly gorgeous you're getting. You've got to stop! :P Josh and Brandon: loving the ninjas! You two look very dangerously spiffy. Mom: Not having the time to make costumes anymore? ;) haha You all look super cute! It was also so good to get to see Grandpa and Grandma Thorne. :)

6) BELLE IS ADORABLE!!!! That is all. :)

7) So for our Halloween. That picture was taken the night before Halloween. That Wednesday, the ward had a trunk or treat. So the p-day before, I made some cat ears out of construction paper and then modified SIster Sperry's very large witch hat so it wasn't big and obnoxious. We have been planning our costumes for about 3 weeks now. It was really fun to get all dressed up. :) Then for the actual Halloween night, we proselyted up until 6pm then there was no more proselyting allowed so we went to Krista Smedley's and hung out all night. :D They basically are my family out here. Krista is even talking about coming to Utah for my homecoming! And her son Ayden is basically my nephew. I love them with all of my heart. So at Krista's, we made carament apples Rocky Mountain Chocolate Store style. We put caramel, white chocolate and crushed up Butterfinger. They were seriously good. Then we ate those while we watched the Emma Smith movie. Such a fun night! Plus! I got to wear sweats. Ah.... :) So that was our Halloween. :)

8) I got your package on Saturday and everything is indeed safe and sound. We've been listening to Jessie pretty much non stop since it came. Oh how I've missed her songs! I cried the first time we listend to I'll be Worthy to Stand. I thought of you Mom. :) And thanks for the candy! Super fun and yummy! Bill, Sister Gibbs and Rachel said to Thank You for the MoTab CD's. They really love them. :)

My spiritual thought for the week comes from Ether 12:6 as mentioned above. My favorite part of this verse is "ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith". I have really gained a testimony of this phrase this past week. A testimony or a witness is a very precious thing to gain. It is truly one of the greatest gifts of God. And just like all gifts, we must be worthy of and work for a testimony or a witness. That is why trials come, why doubts enter our heart, why God allows hurt into this world. Because it is through those hurts and trials of faith that we gain our witness or knowledge. So my inviation this week is to change your perspective and to keep on keepin on. Things will get hard, they are hard. But I know with all the intensity of my heart that light is always waiting at the end of the tunnel. There is always reason to hope and to press forward for we have a Savior who understands our every pain. "You have reason to stand tall and be grateful that the Living Son of the Living God knows all about your sorrows and afflictions," said Elder Holland. So keep going. Don't give up. And thank God for your trials. Because every trial will make us stronger.

Love you all eternally! Talk to you next week!

Sister Thorne

The mountains turned all colors. It was so beautiful! Now they are starting to fall.

Our goofy Owinsville ward missionaries. You've got The Wicked Witch (Sister Sperry), the Sassy Cat (Sister Thorne), Arrrrrthur (Elder Lowe), and Gunter (Elder Green). 

 Me and Sister Sperry. This is my absolute favorite picture of us.

Us and Ranger. I miss the leaves! They're basically all gone now and it's getting cold!!!

 We had dinner with some members and they have 3 beautiful horses. So we painted them with "war paint" and we took pictures. So much fun!