February 24, 2014

Hey Thorne Fam!

Hello hello hello!!! First and foremost, I love Beckley, Kentucky and Sister Smith!!!!! This area is so beautiful and so full of potential. There is so much about to happen here and so much currently happening! I am so excited to be able to be a part of this beautiful work! My new comp is Sister Smith (I'll send pics). She's absolutely adorable, almost a year younger than me, from Minnesota, the only girl of her family, very sarcastic and absolutely nutty just like me! I just love her! Our area is called Beckley, but the town we live in is actually called Middletown, KY. Try looking up that one instead. No, I am not an STL. I am actually just a normal missionary!!! It's SOOOO amazing! You only have to work on your area and worry about your one comp who is already super experienced (she's hitting her 9 month mark this week). AND.... *drum roll* our church building is the one across the parking lot from the temple!!!!!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!! I got to see it twice this week! And we go to the temple every 6 months and that 6 month mark is March so we should be able to go soon! I can't even describe my joy! :D

Also cool info about Beckley, it was whitewashed about 9 months ago by one of my daughters!!! Aka Sister Black! Do you remember her? I was comps with her in Jasper after Sis Junk left. She then came to Beckley and whitewashed it! So I am following up on her work! I actually found some of my notes that I gave her floating around the apartment. So cool!

Sis L is staying in Morehead with Sister Hodges, one of my really good friends. She came out with me and we were in the same district in Evansville so I know her really well. She was an STL for a while so she's a super hard worker and she is going to do so much with Morehead. :) I'll update you with all I hear.

Also, these computers have more of a time limit on them so emails won't be as long now. But I'll try!

As for this area:

WE HAD A BAPTISM YESTERDAY!!!!! Rachel got baptized! She has been taking lessons for almost a year and Sister Peterson (the sister I took the place of) and Sister Smith finally got her to fully commit to baptism. Sister Peterson was so glad that she was able to come back up to that baptism. We are so grateful to see how cemented Rachel's testimony is and how much she truly loves this gospel and these people. What a sweetheart. :)

We also have one bap date which is Gabe. He is 9 years old and his mom is LA. He is so very bright and he came to church yesterday and got to witness Rachel's confirmation. We have that bap date set for Mar 8th. He's been taught and understands everything so all we really need to do is get his interview done and plan the baptism! Yay!

Also progressing is Debbie. She is an older lady who was found by Sister Peterson and Sister Smith through service! They helped her move into her new apartment and now they are teaching her. We taught her L1 this week by watching the Restoration movie and committing her to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. She said she will. We are shooting towards setting a bap date this next lesson and then getting a ride for her to come to church.

Finally is Tracy, Josh and their son Gavin. This is actually a member referral. I haven't actually met them yet, but I've talked to Tracy on the phone. They're family has been taught L1 and L2 but haven't been able to get to church yet because of Tracy's crazy work schedule. This weekend we are having a lesson in the Reasor's (active members) home where we will be setting a bap date and getting them to church!

As for your email:

1) Congrats on the motorcycle! I want pics!

2) Congrats Scott!!!!!!!! AH! I had a member in Morehead from that mission. He said it was hard, but so incredible. Good luck! Let me know if you need anything!

3) *deep breath* AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BRIT! I'm so excited for you! I can't believe you will be opening your call the day after my year mark! That is so crazy cool! I can't wait to hear all about it! You'd better send me like a billion pics! AH! Write me soon! I can't wait to hear from you!
4) As for visiting after my mission, I was actually thinking about it and I really want to come home and get released before coming back to visit. There are so many men who have become my good friends that I would really like to be able to give a hug. But I have to get released before I can do that. Then I was thinking we could drive! It would be cheaper and that's always better. And I was also thinking that maybe we could go in December? Or maybe Spring Break? What are your thoughts?

5) Yes on all fb requests. :)

Love you all lots!!!

Love forever, Sister Thorne

 My final FHE with my awesome Morehead Institute family. Back row: Jamie, Hannah, Leslie, Rachel, Rebecca. Front row: Jordan, Sister Thorne, Emily

 Our cute new apartment! It's a lot smaller than before and has some pretty crazy quirks. But I love it! You walk into the door to the living room (seen in pic) and the kitchen is in front of that (back of pic). Then turn right to get to our bathroom and bedroom!

 Sister Smith and I. Aren't we adorable?!

Rachel's baptism!!!!!! :D

February 17, 2014

Hey Thorne Fam!

Wow. This is my last time emailing you from Morehead, Kentucky. Only God knows where I'll go next! I'll find out Tuesday at transfer meeting. It's a very bittersweet moment. I am going to miss my family here desperately. I have grown to sincerely love so many people and it will be so weird not to see them everyday. But I have been itching to get somewhere new, meet new people, a new ward, everything! So I'm so excited and so sad to get transferred. The crazy roller coasters of life. :)

As for investigators: there are 6 progressing; Yoyo, Janice, Leslie, Pam, Crystal

Yoyo is back!!! We got contact with her last night when we dropped by her house! Apparently she doesn't have any minutes on her phone and she has forgotten her security question to get in to her bank so she can't pay her phone bill.... so we set up a new mode of communication! We are bringing a laminated envelope that we are periodically checking and leaving messages in for each other. So hopefully we can stay in contact that way! She still wants to be baptized but has gotten confused by some powerful baptist and catholic influences around her.

So we have moved her bap date to Mar 30 and are working on helping her find her answer through prayer. Woot!

Janice is awesome! We found her tracting a bit ago and met with her and Sis Jex this week. They clicked immediately and we had a really powerful lesson. She is reading on her own and has read up to 1 Nephi 5. She has great questions and truly has real intent. No bap date yet, but that should be coming soon.

Leslie didn't come to church but is still reading her way through the Book of Mormon and Bible. We are meeting with her again tonight. We meet with her once a week to answer her questions and help her out in any way we can. She is coming to Institute FHE nights on Monday night so that's good too! Some good fellowship should help her.

Pam has started reading in the Book of Mormon but still won't come to church. I'm not sure if she's just curious or really wants to learn... we'll see.

Crystal is a new investigator that we found while contacting. We taught her L1 this week and she seemed really interested. We set a bap date for Mar 30. She is reading and praying this week and should be coming to church within the next week or two. She's already super active in her church (cross point. Argh). But she has a lot of questions and has been looking for answers. She's married and really wants to have a christ centerd home.

As for your email:

1)AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EMMA!!!!! I'M SO EXCITED FOR YOU! YOU WILL HAVE SUCH A BLAST! OH MY GOODNESS! I CAN'T EVEN CONTAIN ALL THE ECSTATICNESS I'M FEELING RIGHT NOW! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!! *cough cough* anyways, Congrats Emma-sue! I am so very proud of you for making this decision to go on a mission. You will do such amazing things. You are going to change lives. Stay strong! You're amazing! And speaking of, when does Brit get her call?! I wanna know so bad! And also ditto all of the above for Jennica. I'm so proud of my sweet girls!!! :D (P.S. Jen- there are some AWESOME members of our Morehead ward that just moved down to Baton Rouge. She is the Provost of the Louisiana University Systems. Her name is Karla Hughes and her husband is Colonel L.R. Hughes. I'm still in contact with them so I'll have to tell them to keep an eye out for you!)

2) I will be thinking of everyone tonight as I'm packing and all day tomorrow through transfer meeting. You are all in my thoughts and prayers. Thank you so much for the strength you have lent me and the example you have shown. I know that Grandpa is watching over me and now he can have a first hand witness to the work I am blessed to do each day. He is my guardian angel. I am so grateful for the love he has shown me and the example of a life he led. I will miss you Grandpa. Until we meet again.

3) Oh no! Josh's doesn't fit?! Man... my little boy has grown a lot... I'll make another one and get it to you by your bday. No worries. :) The glass dish stem shattered? :( :( :( That was given to me by Sister Hughlett in Jasper and I don't have room to pack it so I was hoping it would get home safe. That makes me super sad... but I guess everything happens for a reason. Speaking of, y'all should be getting another package this week of a bunch of stuff I don't need and don't have room to pack. Keep it safe for me? :) Love you!

4) I did get the package! I made it through everything until I opened up the envelope to Lori's letter. I looked and it and just started crying. I read her letter through the tears and felt the spirit confirm to my heart the love she wrote of. I will be replying to her letter soon. :)

5) Both sweaters were amazing! I love them! Thank you so much!!! I also got Amy's package on Wednesday too! It was SO cute! She had balloons with dollar bills, those new years streamer popper things, some adorable sticky notes and a cute notepad, along with a couple presents! I felt so spoiled!

6) Yep! Hair cut!!! :D Sister LeFevre talked me into it. It was also because if I did trim it, it would need to be trimmed about 4 inches because the split ends were so bad. So I just decided to cut it all off! The back is cut to just below my neck so it's a super cute a-line cut. Krysti Pignolet (a member) cut it for me. She's awesome! She started off cutting hair and now she looks after all the smart styles hair salons in the Walmarts all over Kentucky and all the surrounding states. So she's seriously a pro and knows what she's doing and I figured I'd better have it done when I can get a pro cut for free! And she gave us a bunch of free hair products to style it a bunch of cute ways! We seriously had over $200 worth of product. I love that family!

7) Tell everyone hi for me today at the birthday party! I miss them all dearly!

As for my spiritual thought: my thought this week is on how important the spirit is. Sister LeFevre and I had a pretty awful experience this week where we were teaching someone and the spirit was not there. At all. We even said the first vision and it was the first time I have said it without feeling the spirit. We couldn't understand it afterwards. If we were representative's of Jesus Christ, endowed with power, why couldn't we bring the spirit into that situation? As we were discussing it later with our District Leader, he had us read 2 different stories: Mark 9, Moses 1. In Mark 9, the apostles have tried casting a devil out of this boy and they couldn't. When the Savior came, He was able to cast it out immediately. When they asked why they couldn't do it, He replied that that power comes from much fasting and prayer. So we must truly dedicate ourselves to fasting and prayer to gain more power and there are just some instances were we are simply not ready or not powerful enough to over come Satan in that circumstance. In Moses 1, Moses commands Satan to leave 4 different times. The third time he calls upon God to help and the final time, he commands him to leave in the name of Christ. Finally, he does. So sometimes, the time is just not right and we need to be patient and continue to call upon God until it is time for us to be delivered. So as I pondered about this experience I learned a couple different truths. 1) I NEVER EVER want to lose the spirit ever again. It's an awful feeling. 2) I know that I can get the spirit back, no matter what I've done to lose it. We are never too far away from God's love. 3) Patience is a heavenly virtue and sometimes required for us to learn the lesson we need to. But God will always give us the strength we need to get through until our patience is rewarded. So a lot of really good lessons this week. I would invite everyone to really look for the spirit in your daily life. Notice when it touches your heart and listen to it. Give thanks when you hear it. Then it will continue to grow stronger. 

Love you all so much! I'll let you know next Monday where I am! Woot!!!

Love forever, 

Sister Thorne

 Playing spoons. It got a little crazy.... someone almost died. I think. :P

 Book of Mormon. Mint Oreo style. Even DQ is spreading the word!

 My Valentine. Yep. That's her! ;D

 A hug I haven't gotten in a long time! Such a cute idea! Loved it Manda-lou and Britney too!

My awesome heart attacked wall! I had to put them all away for transfers. :( But they'll be going up again soon! :D

February 10, 2014

Hey Thorne Fam!

This week has been a really good week! We had a couple rough patches, but every week is a roller coaster as a missionary! With the bad, always comes the good and the miracles with it. I am so very excited for this week and whatever will come with it. It's going to be awesome!!! :D

Also, I did just find out about Grandpa Great. It was quite a blow but it's something that mom and Grandma told me to prepare for even before I left. And it's very interesting that when I saw and talked to him a bit on Christmas that the thought came to me "This will be the last time. Don't forget him." I tried to deny it, but the Lord and His Spirit were preparing me even then. It's a very sad thing to realize that I won't be able to be there with you all, but I also feel peace in the knowledge of my Savior's Atonement and that he truly does understand all that I am going through. And my testimony of the Plan of Salvation which tells me that I WILL see my Grandpa again. There is peace for the burdened in the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

As for our investigators: we currently have 4 progressing: Leslie Williams, Tiffany Breeding, Connie Sparks and Harley Fultz.

Leslie came to church! Though she no longer has a bap date..... she has decided that she wants to read through the entire Bible and BofM before making a decision. I understand her preface, but she has felt the spirit so strongly and loves coming to church. So no more set date, but still moving in the right direction.

Tiffany we saw this past week for a quick moment. She was in the middle of studying for some exams so we quickly talked about courage and how the Lord will bless us when we make time for him. She wasn't able to come to church because she went home, but we are hoping to be get her there again soon.

Connie and Harley! Harley and her sister Jasmine came to church again and loved it! They still haven't made a decision about baptism, but they are both still praying about it. Connie still won't come to church.... we'll work on that. 

Chris got confirmed yesterday! It was so cool and the spirit was felt very very strongly. What an amazing experience. :)

Yoyo we lost contact with.... so hopefully we'll be able to find her again this week. Haven't been able to meet with Christine and Sean but will see them this Friday. Michael has completely dropped us. But a seed was planted! Malcolm and Brittany still don't have a bap date, but we'll keep working.

As for your email:

1) Thanks for supporting me in my decision to try and be healthier! I've lost 3 lbs over the past 2 weeks! Hopefully they stay off.... :P Thanks for the money! I'll have to think about what I'd like. :) You all are the best!!!

2) Please accept Liu and Tung. They are friends from here. Thanks!

3) The mural is looking amazing! How much left is there to do on it?

4) AAAAHHHH!!!! BRITNEY!!!! I can't even believe that it's already time for you to turn in your papers!!! I will be thinking of you all transfer day! So do you know when abouts you'll get your call? Maybe around the first week of March? That would be so cool because that is my year date! So fun! Is that pic mom sent me your mission pic? You look so gorgeous!! Holy mackerel! Have you lost more weight? You look tiny! And awesome ribbon worky thingy! You look so amazing! Way to go girl!

5) Please congrats Heather for me on her graduation! That is definitely not an easy thing to accomplish.

6) Please get this to Grandma Kathy and Grandma Great. Hey my amazing Grandma's! I just wanted to send a special thank you for both of your amazing examples. I miss you both more than words can express and I wish ever so badly that I could give you both a giant hug right now. Please know that I am praying fervently for each of you. I love you so much. You are so very strong and I hope to one day be like you both. I love you.

My spiritual thought for this week was actually just given to me moment ago by my dear Momma Deborah. She told me that as she was on her mission, she also lost her Grandpa. She then sent me D&C 84:88 which says, "And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up." She then bore testimony to me the there are angels bearing me up and she's sure that Grandpa will be one of them as well. The spirit touched my heart as I read that. The spirit bears witness of truth. These things I know. I know that the Plan of Happiness is real. I know that everything happens for a reason. I know that God is aware of each one of us. He knows our thoughts, our pains, our joys and our sorrows. I know that my Savior's Atonement is infinite in scope and encompasses all that I have ever felt. He understands. I know that this gospel is truly a gospel of peace and joy. I know this because I have felt it. Every single day. Even when I don't even know it. I know that there are angels watching over each of us. My Grammy, Anna, Lisa and now my Grandpa Great are just a few. I know that one day, we will be able to speak with them and truly realize how deeply involved they were with our lives. These things I know and I know that God knows I know and I WILL NOT deny them. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love always,

Sister Thorne

 HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!!!

 Our crazy awesome district. First row: Elder Green, Elder Magleby, Elder Behling (no he's not standing on a chair. Yes he is that tall.), Elder Gerard. Second row: Sister Airmet, Sister Logan, Sister Thorne, Sister LeFevre. I'm gonna miss them all!

 That is indeed wild turkey's roaming in the woods behind someone's yard. Apparently this is what the native's call "normal". And a big huge giant one too! I call it delicious Thanksgiving dinner.

I have recently picked up crocheting. As you may have noticed from the package I send home. I made this awesome hat and then I made one to fit Joey! How cute!

February 3, 2014

Hey Thorne Fam!

Holy cow this week has just flown by! I think I say that every week... but this week seriously did! Before I knew it we were at Chris's Baptism Interview and then his baptism! Whoa! But what an amazing week it has been. :)

As for investigators: we have 5 who are progressing Yoyo, Leslie, Tiffany, and Connie and Harley

Yoyo has been reading in both her Chinese and English Book of Mormon but she was out of minutes this week and we tried to drop by and she wasn't home so she wasn't able to come to church or the baptism. We will try and get back in contact with her this week.

Leslie is still progressing wonderfully! She doesn't have a for sure baptism date yet, but she almost came to church, even though Hannah wasn't able to come! We will be meeting them this week and are hoping to set a solid baptism date with Leslie then. She is currently praying to know for herself.

Tiffany went home this weekend and was going to try and come home for church, but then decided to stay home to watch the super bowl instead. But we did set a baptism date with her this week and she seems really solid about it! We taught L2 and discussed why it is so important to know if this church is true, using the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith's experience.

Connie and Harley are both reading! They just haven't come to church yet.... Connie is really ill and it's difficult for her to get up in the morning and Harley doesn't like going without her grandma. Maddie is out of the picture for now. She has decided that baptism is not essential to get to heaven and she WILL NOT budge on the idea. At all. She's completely closed up and we're not exactly sure why. :( Hopefully as Connie and Harley can be good example, Maddie will come back around.

Also in the wings, we weren't able to meet with Malcolm and Brittany because of their crazy school schedule, but we are meeting with them today and praying to set a baptismal date!

Christine and Sean, we set a baptismal date with Christine (Sean is LA) and we were hoping to get them to church and the baptism but they didn't make it... but the spirit was so strong in our last lesson! And Christine is still reading from the Book of Mormon. We are meeting with them again this week and getting them to church this Sunday.

As for your email:

1) So if all goes as planned, we will have a baptism nearly every week of March. We have Yoyo Mar 2, Leslie Mar 9, Tiffany and Christine Mar 16, and Connie and Harley Mar 30. Crazy huh?!? I'm hoping and praying that I'll get just one more transfer here... but it probably won't happen. But at least I played my part and am fulfilling the role my Father gave me. :) Michael we still haven't been able to meet with. He seems to be avoiding us. We taught WoW last time so we think it may be that... keep praying for him.  

2) Yes, it did warm up! I was actually warm Saturday and Sunday! And then we woke up this morning to an inch of snow on top of 2 inches of ice. It took forever to scrape off our car this morning and the roads are awful! We've heard rumors that over the next few days we could get up to as much as 13 inches. Kentucky weather... wait 5 minutes and it'll change. Literally. :P

3) Sounds like y'all have had a fun busy week ending with a fun crazy party! I'm sorry the Bronco's lost... though I wasn't even aware they were playing. ;) But still sounds like everyone had fun!

4) Gus is going to IRELAND?!?! And... Chinese speaking?.... That... is definitely a weird combination. I didn't realize there were so many Mandarin speakers in Ireland and Scotland. I will have to tell Sister Saunders though, she will *flip* out!

5) Thank you so much for the thought on the spirit Mom! I am going to print off that quote and post it on my wall so I never forget. And thanks for the encouragement. It was a difficult week, but things always get lighter. The Son always comes again. :)

As for my spiritual thought: Sister LeFevre and I are going to memorize 2 Nephi 4:35 this week. She found this scripture and I just fell in love with it. It says, "Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I ask not amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice unto thee; yea, I will cry unto thee, my God, the rock of my righteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God. Amen." I think it beautifully illustrates 3 principles that I want to work on. First, that God truly is aware of us and will give liberally or gladly to all who ask (James 1:5 which is also a scripture that changed the course of history). He is our Father and is so eager to pour out blessings upon us. We need only to ask. Second, prayer is essential. We must pray always if we expect to be able to get through each day (D&C 10:5). If we want to be able to put on our armor and even deem ourselves ready to face Satan each and every morning, we must always have the shield of prayer girt round about us. Third, God is our rock. He must be our rock (Helaman 5:12). If we are built upon any other stone or foundation, we will surely fall. I would invite each one of you to go and study 2 Nephi 4. There is something to be learned there for each of us. 

Love you all so much! Thank you for the pictures!!! Hope you have an awesome week! 

Love,

Sister Thorne

 Hard at work making cake pops with Tiffany.

 So cute!!! So... turns out that you had to refrigerate the cake pops for 20 minutes after rolling them into little balls and ain't nobody got time for that. So we decided to form them all into one giant penguin! We also added orange eyebrows afterward to make him and owl so he's a penguowl because Tiff LOVES owls. It still tasted good and was so much fun!

 We washed Larry (our car) on Friday because we knew it would be snowing again on Monday and he hasn't been washed in over a month. So we deeply cleaned him and vacuumed him! Look! He literally shines! He's all dirty again now... but this is proof that he *was* clean if only for a moment.

Christopher's baptism!!! Elder Marshall (used to be a bishop in the Owingsville ward but is now a service missionary with his wife here in Morehead), Sister Thorne, Chris and Sister LeFevre