The True Work of the Mission

 

So, this week has been super cool, and we got to see Romulo get baptized. I´m way pumped, and he´s a great convert.  We have another baptism this week of a young man named Gerson.  He´s really funny.  Already has a great relationship with the rest of the young men, and is memorizing all 13 articles of faith with them in church.  He practices on us while we´re there, and I laugh and make fun of him cuz he messes up a lot.  I´m a horrible person.  But it´s okay; he´s my friend.

My relationship here with the members and the investigators I feel like is better than in any area I´ve ever been.  I´m really just learning to get along with people better and to be myself.  Sometimes, I think the best advice you can give to a missionary is to just not take yourself too seriously.  I figured out early in the mission that sometimes, seriousness is a sign of spiritual immaturity.

Gustavo is one of my best friends here.  He reactivated in December after years of innactivity.  I called him on Saturday and told him that Romulo was getting baptized.  He just responded really positively and excited because he knows Romulo (he was one of our main member fellow shippers in Romulo´s visits).  He said that he would come to the service.  I then asked him if he would do the baptism... silence.  haha.  Then he chuckled a bit and said yes, very nervously.  It was his first time ever baptizing someone.  I was pumped for him.  We get there, and the zone leaders had a baptism at the same time.  I did the interview for their investigator, and then we started getting ready for the service.  Then they go up to Gustavo and ask if he can baptize their investigator as well as ours.  No big deal right... but here´s the catch.  This guy only had ONE ARM!  haha.  And he was big too.  Poor Gustavo.  He´s a short, skinny guy.  And he had no experience.  hahahaha.  But in the end, he only had to repeat the ordinance one time.  ;P.

Things continue to move forward.  I love you all, and am grateful for you prayers and emails!  Written letters are always appreciated as well, if you ever feel like taking the time.  Somewhat slower, but they pretty much always get to me... I think.  haha.

Love,

Elder Thalman

Highs and Lows

The high this week was... 96 degrees... right now it is 91 but because of the humidity it feels like 104. Just so you know. The low (which is my high) is around 75 at night, so please don't complain about the heat unless where you are it is hotter than here. Honestly, this week I felt like it has been cooler than normal.

Concepcion Chile. This week, my sources say it stays around 60 to 65 degrees. Sister Berbert, you are killing me. haha.

Paul said that he loves weakness, because when he is weak, Christ makes him strong. If I can work my hardest through this mission and get over my weakness despite the heat, I know that I will be made strong. If the heat cant kill me here, then I can get through anything! And should we die before our journey is through... jk.

I send my condolences to my poor suffering parents, who are undergoing withdrawal. They are currently residing in the mainland of the United States after their trip to Hawaii. Poor things.

Alright, sarcasm isn't very missionary like, so I tell some incredible stories now.

Victor get baptized this week! He is way cool, but the worst part was that we forgot to take pictures... I feel really bad about it. But it is all recorded in heaven, so its all good. But my kid cant send photos to his family because of it. I am such a terrible father!

Honestly, after all was said and done (baptismal services are always stressful for missionaries it seems, as my esteemed colleague in Chile has also concluded), I was able to really feel the Spirit. It was a great experience, and I got the feeling that all of this really does matter. This young man really is going to live the gospel and stay active. He is doing this for the right reasons, and he understands. It was a real feeling of comfort and approval more than anything. The Lord loves and looks out for His missionaries, and I am so grateful to be in his service.

Josue is getting over some family opposition, but I think he is going to get baptized. I really really really really hope so. He is one of my best friends that I have had on the mission, and I want him to be able to do this. His mom is totally against it, but he thinks that if she understands, she will change her mind. So I am doing divisions tomorrow to go to another area in my district and talk to the mother. haha. True faith knows no boundaries! (thats not to say that rules don't apply. Geographical boundaries... and metaphorical, social boundaries...).

We moved this week to a smaller, cheaper house, and it is better. I think it is cooler too, but that might just be this week. We will see with time. But the best is the neighbors. The first councilor of the branch and his wife live right across the street, and they own a little shop. she lets us go in every night and make ourselves dinner. She says she is too busy, so she just gives us the ingredients and lets us work and wash the dishes. We don't do it every night because I don't want to take advantage of the situation, but I think that she would actually prefer if we did. People really have the mentality of, "I am going to get blessing for feeding the missionaries!" haha. I don't mind. But on Friday I was making the food, and using a cast iron pan... I am not used to the handles not being plastic. I grabbed it for about a split second and zap fried three of my fingers! It hurt soooo bad! hahaha. I had my hand stuck in the freezer, and I didn't know how I was going to sleep because if I took my hand out, my thumb started burning again. I'm so dumb... So I called the nurse and got some advice. I slept with a rag on my hand, and in the morning my hand was fine, and I had three really cool scars... They are already almost gone. Too bad...

Well, the work goes on, and I am as happy as ever! Healthy too! And who knows, if I get to bed on time this week with everything that I have to do, maybe I will even be wise.

Love you all so much!

Elder Kent Thalman

Changes

 

So, lots of new and unexpected things.

We went running this morning a five AM with Gustavo. He's so cool. I'm so pathetically out of shape. haha.

We're moving today to a new place. That's been in the plan for a while now. We also have a new cook and laundry lady as of today. We are also just getting used to everything... Pretty much lots of ... different.

But the work continues. We lost our baptism this week because Josue moved out of nowhere. But luckily he's in the boundaries of my district. He's getting baptized this weekend. We are also going to have the baptism of Victor this weekend, who is young man (21) who is really smart. He came to church on his own because he has serious health problems. But he sacrifices always to make his way to church and is excited for baptism. A great guy.

Romulo finally got to church this week, and he's just killer. He loves telling about his change by leaving coffee. He wasn't even taught the word of wisdom. We just told him in advance that he'd have to stop if he wanted to get baptized. He later got very sick to his bed for two days. He couldn't even leave the house. He told us later that it was basically withdrawal from coffee. He then, about three days later, told that he was "cured" from coffee, and that he felt better. The pain he had in his knees is gone and he walks better than ever. He also says that he feels more energy and that he can pay attention to things better. AMAZING! What incredible faith to just do it. I have often thought that NIKE had a really great motto. Romulo caught the wave. haha.

I love this work, and the great experiences keep coming. Even though sometimes really hard things happen, it's all so worth it. I love this mission and I love the Lord.

Love,

Elder Kent Thalman

Drowning is an Effective way to Learn to Swim

So I forgot just how hopeless puppy-ish these new guys are... haha. Was I like that? I don´t think so. From what I remember, I´ve always been the fluent, confident, hansom guy that you all remember. Did I not speak Spanish before the mission. Could it be that I didn´t understand what was happening... ? I don´t remember not understanding... Oh yeah, I was ugly before the mission because of those $5 hair cuts I got a BYU... I guess I really have changed.

If you can´t tell, I´m training a gringo from la fabrica de los misioneros, UTAH baby! Brigham City, Elder BRIAN DEAN. My dad´s name followed by my brother´s middle name... weird. I was talking to my zone leader about how these new guys basically shine with testimony coming out of the MTC like Moses´ face coming down from the mountain. We decided that they should send us back there every 8months or so just for a spiritual boost. haha. I just try and help him participate, but he´s not super confident yet. Then I hand the lesson over when you get to the first vision and he´s got this, "I know this part!" look on his face. Then he opens his mouth and the whole room gets quiet and the Spirit just starts lighting the walls on fire. Like I said. They´ve got glowing faces coming out of that place. He´s basically going to be the best missionary in the mission after we´re through. Hopefully that luster lasts. I love this elder.

This week, we had no baptisms, but we have one coming up. I´m excited for Josué, a 19 year old who we´ve been teaching. He´s the neighbor of one of our branch presidency members, and considering the fact that we´re moving apartments finally, we will also be neighbors with him... Mormons are taking over the neighborhood! Sí hombre, jeee!

I´m a little loopy today if you can´t tell. Too much responsibility can do that. You can either crack under the pressure, or be happy... or both. Hmmm.... I might be crackin´.

Conference was cool I guess... I´ll have to download it and listen to it again because of all the tech problems we had. Oh well. Kinda like the last one. I know we´re not supposed to gossip about who´s going to climb the leadership scale in the mission... but can I throw my vote in that Tad Callister is for sure going to be the next in line for a position in the 12. That´s my personal revelation I got from conference this week.

Sorry if this hasn´t been the most Spiritual blog... honestly, I am feeling great, and the work is moving forward. This area is on fire! I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and that He has sustained, and continues to sustain me throughout every trial and challenge. I can tell how He´s helping me so much with these new responsibilities, and it is really exciting to see just how much I´m growing.

I love you all!

Elder Kent Thalman

Speedbumps are for Speeders

 

Well, I guess that tough things happen when you're driving this fast... The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Alright, enough of all that crypticness.

This week we lost time and didn't kill it like in weeks past, so our future prospects have fallen a bit. Consequences I suppose. One of our three baptisms this week fell, but I knew it was going to. She wasn't ready yet. But the good news... we had two baptisms!

Marco Tulio is pretty much awesome as usual. Isabel is cool too, but we are in the process of helping her understand the doctrine. It will come.

Last night we had a really cool experience with Juan Carlos while teaching him the restoration over again. Before, he never really understood the doctrine super well. That's why you have to review the lessons after they have the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was really amazing to see how he just had a light of understanding in his eyes. I love that guy. He is super funny.

We are teaching a family of four whose dads name is Victor, as well as the oldest son. We just refer to them as familia Victor... haha. They are all really sick and poor, but a good family. If we work hard, they, and other families are going to get baptized this April.

A really good friend of ours in the branch named Gustavo gave us another family as a reference yesterday. Carmen and Danilo. They lost three sons, all killed. Pretty crazy, but Gustavo said that he really felt that they needed the Gospel. In the end, they were totally ready. We got to know them for a few minutes, and then just promised her, that we were there so that in the next life she could have her three sons again together forever. She seems very very interested in that idea, and they both accepted marriage and baptism, and a date. In the first contact. That's whats up! haha. So cool.

Gustavo recently activated again in December after several years of inactivity. He is probably my best friend in the branch. He has an incredible testimony and just got the higher priesthood last week. Yesterday while visiting, Maria who just got baptized last week was in serious pain again. She asked Gustavo to give the blessing, and you could see shock on his face. He had never given one before. But he did a great job for a first blessing. He is really motivated to learn how to magnify his calling and his priesthood. If every man in the church had his attitude, I don't think that women would suffer so much heartache from irresponsible men in the church. He is the best.

I love you all! I'm doing great, so don't worry about me. Just write me!!!!

Love,

Elder Kent Thalman