The Quest of a Lifetime: October 7, 2013

Hey Thorne Fam!

Oh my goodness! Such a long, crazy, busy, amazing, fantastic, stressful week! I feel like I've just rode one of the craziest roller coasters ever built. But, ain't that missionary work? :)

As for me: I am doing so wonderful! I had a bit of a struggle with homesickness preparing for and then seeing Daddy at conference. I did cry. Several times. The worst one was Abide with Me. I thought of Grammy the entire way through. Then of course, they had to show Dad's face on the line "I cannot commune with thee." And then I lost it. It was bad... And just as I pulled myself together for the final moment, they showed him as the final close up. Man.... I REALLY lost it. Poor Bill sitting next to me gave the most worried look and then the Elders in front of me, just laughed. Oh Elders. But the wonderful thing is that Dad is part of the big reason why I am out here. I know that he is so very proud of me and I know that he wants me here because he knows how much it will benefit me, he having been there before. And so I am doing really good now. :) I feel renewed after the many things I learned from conference and I am ready to go for this week. Let's baptize!

Oh! I also got to watch Music and the Spoken Word! A member invited us over to watch it so I could point out Dad and then we got to stay and watch Sunday Morning session with them. It was so cool because they had an in-your-face close up of Petey! It was really cool to get to see him and Dad. :)

As for our investigators: We have 2 with a bap date!!!! Stephen and Kat. Progressing is: Bill, Jeannie and Abdullah.

So we met Stephen (pronounced Stefen) late last weekend. He lost his mother in law last November, his wife last February (with only a month's notice. She had cancer) and then his father last May. We went back on Tuesday and took Sister Jex with us. We talked about being sealed in the temple and how the power of the priesthood has been restored. In every things we talked about we mentioned baptism, just as the APs taught us. Then we challenged him to be baptized! Second lesson! He said he wasn't sure yet. He was very hesitant but we got him to agree to setting a goal of November 3rd. He was going to watch conference and we are calling him to see how that went and his BofM reading as well. I love the spirit!

Kat is as amazing as ever. She is receiving the lessons again from Brother Curry and Brother Monnett. So far so good. She watched all 4 sessions of conference from her dorm room and she particularly liked Elder Dube's. She's awesome. :) And Eric is her boyfriend near fiancé.

Bill!!!!! I am 99% sure Bill is going to get baptized. He came to the church to watch all 4 sessions of conference and he watched Priesthood session from home. We fasted for him Saturday and he fasted Sunday as he received his blessing. Cool enough, there was actually a baptism of Sariah Bowman (an 8 yr old) between sessions that Bill got to watch. Then, since they were there, the bishopric all participated in giving him his blessing. So we had all 4 Elder's and the bishopric. Elder Allen was the voice and it was so beautiful. Bill said after, "Those were not his words. They were the words of God." Miracles. :)

Jeannie is an investigator. If you go back to my first email from Morehead, we helped her move into her new house with the Elders. She works with Brother Curry on campus and so he enlisted us in helping her move and from there we were able to form a friendship and start teaching her. She is probably in her 40's? She is a single lady. She's amazing. I really love her. :) And she is doing pretty good. We met with her Wednesday and talked about the Restoration. Still mentioning baptism. It's kind of like inception. She also watched conference this weekend. Her only thought we could get out of her was that it was "interesting" We plan on dropping by sometime soon to see what she thought of it all.

Finally Abdullah. He totally brought another Muslim friend to our lesson this week! His name is Muhammad. We went with Rachel and talked about the Restoration. Muhammad had some really good questions and we were able to follow the spirit in helping him understand the answers. He is very intelligent and Abdullah said it was a really good review for him as well because everything made more sense the second time around. I don't know if they were able to watch conference. We need to follow up on that.

Also one side note: Tung came to Saturday morning session of conference! We then had an amazing lesson with him, Bill, Sis Gibbs and Bro Nelson between sessions. We talked about what was said and connected everything to church attendance and why we go to church. He said he will be in DC this coming weekend but he is going to try to come to church the next week! I'll keep you updated on that.

And no, we aren't teaching Erin any more. She is now going to Crosspoint. You should Google it here in Morehead. I'm.... not a fan.... We have 4 different investigators that are struggling with church attendance because of that great and abominable church. Yes, we are still friends. :) Always. :) She should be asking to be my fb friend soon. We see her probably once or twice a week as we are coming and going. She may be moving soon though to a better apartment. We'll see.

In response to your email:

1) BRIT!!!! EMAIL ME BEFORE I POUND YOUR LITTLE BUTT! Anyways, sounds like you are having a lot of fun adventures and I love getting the pics. :) You are amazing and you are going to be an incredible missionary. Ask Sis Sperry, I talk about you at least once a day. I miss you tons and you one of my rocks out here. I love you, you dork. :)

2) Mandy: I got a letter from Melissa this week!!! I was so stinkin’ happy! I miss that girl like mad. I plan on writing her back today. Please tell her I love her and give her an extra big hug for me. As for you you cutie. You are more and more gorgeous each week. I know I say that all the time, but that picture of you and Melissa is stunning. Keep the boys away! haha Love you. :)

3) Josh: Good job on grades dude! You're following after your big sister huh? That's my boy. :) I'm so proud of you. Keep it up!

4) Brandon: Still being a stinkpot I hear? Good. :) haha Your hair still flips right? Good. That's how the cool kids do it. ;D

5) Mom: I think that is so cool that you looked at conference that way! It's amazing what a difference looking at things through a nonmember or less active's eyes can make. It's the same for scriptures too! They take on a whole new meaning. :)

My spiritual thought comes from conference. Here are my fav quotes:

"Never look back. Look at what we still have to do." -Edward Dube

"Come, join with us!" -Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"Faith over fear. Hope over despair. Light over dark." -Boyd K. Packer

"We need women who are tender, kind, refined, faithful, good, virtuous and pure." -D. Todd Christofferson

"Hope is never lost!" "We are infinitely more than our limitations." -Jeffrey R. Holland

"there is not one of us He does not desire to save. There is not one of us He has devised means to save. There is not one of us who does not have Holy Angels guarding us." "I gave them to you because you could and would love them no matter what they do." -Henry B. Eyring

"Decisions determine destiny." -Russell M. Nelson

Also, I noticed that at least 6 different talks mentioned something with the word "come". Elder Dube and President Monson said "Come unto me." President Uchtdorf said "Come, join with us." Elder Valenzuela said to "Come unto Christ." Elder Dyches said "Come follow me." And Elder Vinson said we should "Come and see." This must be important because as President Uchtdorf said we should pay attention to repetitions. So as I was pondering this, I discovered my thought and invitation for this week. Are we doing all we can to Come Unto Christ? Are we doing all we can to invite others to Come Unto Christ? What are we doing, that needs to be "prioritized" as Elder Oaks says? I would invite each of you to look at your life and discover what is keeping you from coming unto Him Who Always Beckons. He is waiting for you. He will never give up on you. His love is always there for you. It just is. I know that as we look into the tiniest of details and work to truly align our will with God's we will find the well of all peace and joy.

I love each of you infinitely! Have a wonderful week! :D

Love always,

Sister Thorne