Don´t Freak Out. I´m Alive and Baptizing.

That´s right... we had a baptism finally!!!  That´s the first baptism in this area for seven months!  There hasn´t been one since January.  So we´re happy about that, and we are going to have more coming up soon.  One got baptized once and never got confirmed... and there is no record of her baptism, so we have to do it again.  haha.  How weird.  So that´s that, and we will baptize her without complaining. 


This week has been great, and I´ve been totally healthy!  However, one of the brethren in our ward hasn´t been so healthy.  He´s getting a tumor removed, so please pray for him.  His name is Antonio, and he is the most interesting person I have ever met.  When I met him the first time, I was shocked at how well he understood all the doctrine considering he is a convert.  He´s really quite old, and can´t even walk to church.  He was attacked by three men with machettes several years ago, and was hit three times in the neck, so his voice is really soft and a little raspy.  But also epic.


So we were talking to the Bishop about him, and he asked us if we knew his conversion story.  I thought I did, but I´m glad the Bishop told us anyway, cuz it turns out I didn´t.


When he was a lot younger, he worked in a factory, and Nuevo San Juan didn´t even exist yet.  There were no members in that area at all.  One day on the floor at work he found two pages of an unidentified book.  One was the testimony of three witnesses, and the other, a random page that had the words 2 Nefi on top.  He read them and immediately recognized that they were from God.  He tried, but had no way of finding out where the book was, or anything about it.  But somewhere in the pages he saw the word, "Mormon" and it stayed in the back of his mind.


Several years later, he returned home and greeted his wife.  She informed him that two younge men had just come by on bikes with some messages.  They were called Mormons.  He asked her which way they went and then bolted after them on his own bike.  He finally found them and yelled after them.  They stopped and he got to talking with them.  He showed them the two pages and asked if they could identify them.  They showed him The Book of Mormon and where the pages fit in.  They gave him a copy, and as he held that book in his hands for the first time, he stood there a wept.


Later, he was baptized and worked with the missionaries to try and establish the church in the area.  He worked with them all the time, and came under heavy criticism by his former religious friends.  He´s still a very active member (for his weak cercumstances) and his testimony is super powerful.  My comp and I went to visit him before his surgery to comfort him.  We just spent 30min listening to him share his testimonies of simple clear truths.  But the powerful spirit behind his words just left me and my companion in a dumb awe.


I love Antonio, and I am talking to the bishop about recording him sharring his conversion story and testimony on tape and video.  We want the church to publish it, because we know that it would be a powerful missionary tool all over the world.  I´ll let you know how that all goes soon.


This mission is amazing.  If I came here just to get to know that man and share his story, then so be it.  That´s why I´m here.  I hope his story will carry on, changing hearts as an eternal legacy of the Gospel truths that this man represents.  He never served a mission becuase he never had a chance, but how great was his mission.  God truly will let that man´s life stand to confound the false doctrines of the world and bear shinning testimony of the truest book on earth!


I love and miss you all, and hope that you will read that book!  How rare a possession it is! There should not a single day pass by without spending time within its pages.  I bear my own testimony that the Book of Mormon is the word of God.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.


Love,


Elder Kent Thalman

Moving Forward...

So, no huge huge news for the week, but some cool experiences as Elder Vega and I are trying to boost the area as best we can.  Things are proving harder than we thought as this week we had only two investigators in church, way way less than we were expecting.  We are realizing that we will have to boost the strength of the members here first if God is going to trust this area with new converts.  Tough, but we will not become discouraged!


An update on an investigator named Hector.  This week, we talked to him about how he´s doing with quiting smoking.  He said that he has gone from about 20 cigs a day to 5!  And he hardly drinks coffee now too.  He´s made incredible progress for just one week.  We gave him a blessing, and then commenced to teach lesson one... that turned out to be a funny experience.


We started if he had ever heard the word prophet before.  "well, I think they are people called of God to lead and direct us here on the earth."  That was a little to much of a perfect answer, and my comp and I actually started to laugh a bit.  Then my comp just straight up asked him, "so what do you know about the life of Jesus Christ?" 


"Well, He organized His church, primarily upon the blocks of prophets and apostles, whom He gave His authority to act in His name."  What the!?


We asked him how he knew all that, and aparently he was listening in the other room when the missionaries spoke with his wife when she was baptized.  He didn´t remember too well about the Book of Mormon, so we gave him one and we will see how he does with reading it.  Easiest lesson one I´ve ever taught.  Haha.  I am blown away by the faith of this man!  I really love Hector.


We also have a baptism scheduled for a little girl named Leivi!  This will be this Saturday because she´s come to church for four weeks straight, and we´ve only just now gotten to talk to her.  We didn´t even know if she wanted to be baptized.  We talked to here and said we got permission from her Dad to baptize her, and she just smiled.  We asked if she would like that, and she just smiled and noded her head yes emphatically.  The next day in the lesson, she said she had a dream that she was being baptized and that she can´t wait.  Haha!  How cool is this kid!


We don´t really want to get a reptuation for being baby baptizers as they say, but this girl wants it and this will be the first baptism in Nuevo San Juan since January.  Almost seven months.  Pretty cool.


We´re still preparing many really great investigators, and families!  Byan and Marisela are still really good, and they came to church yesterday minus Bryan.  He said for sure he´ll come next week.  We´re getting them started on family prayers and the Book of Mormon.  I love how much we´re using the Book of Mormon now in the work.  That´s def how it should be.


I love this mission, and can see the hand of God ever in this work and in my soul.  I feel Him changing me, and I´m starting to feel more capable of enduring the trials before me.  That´s what I think David Bednar means when he used the phrase, "enableing power of the Atonement of Christ."  He doesn´t just take things away when they´re hard, but rather He gives us the strength to overcome them through the Atonement that we might grow. 


I have hope that this week will be even better than the last.  I love my companion.  I love this mission.  I love the people here, and mostly, I love the Lord Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father.  I also love and miss you all, and pray that you will try this week to experience the sweet fruits of missionary work in your every day lives this week.  Try and put more effort this week to help someone learn about the gospel and then write me about it! ;)  haha, but seriously.  do it.


Les Quiero mucho,


Elder Kent Thalman

MIRACLE

So, it´s finally happening again.  I´ll explain...


Wednesday, I got my new companion.  Let me first explain some back story.  In my first area, I remember several of the missionaries in my zone.  I really like Colón, and it was an awesome zone.  One of those missionaries was Elder Vega.  He was pretty tall, and honestly, really crazy.  I remember just watching him and thinking, "wow, he seems like he´d be a really immature companion to have."  I didn´t really think about it too much from there. 


At the changes meeting on Wed in San Pedro, I was nervous.  Nervous.  Almost everybody is to get a new companion.  You know me, jittering and twitching, and moving all over.  They keep calling name after name after name... where´s my comp?  Finally they call "Elder Vega...".  He stands up. 


"Elder Vega´s gonna be my comp," I said to Elder Baldwin. 


"...has been to assigned to serve in Nuevo San Juan with Elder Thalman."  I knew it!


Haha.  He might be my favorite comp so far!  A really fun guy, but we W O R K.  And that feels good.  I´m really happy to be talking with everybody again, and I can just see the miracles happening.  You´ve just got to open your mouth, and people will listen.  I´m learning a lot about the kind of missionary I want to be with him.


Saturday we contacted a guy who was just sitting on the grass outside his house reading the paper.  Seemed normal.  We talked for just a moment, and he seemed pretty receptive, and we started to get bold.  Elder Vega asked if he had ever read the book that was in my hand.  I realized I was holding a Book of Mormon, and I handed it to him.  He was immediately interested and was looking at it and skimming its pages the moment I handed it to him.  He said he´d read it and come to church the next day for sure.  We asked him if he´d ever been baptized and if he thought it was important.  "No, but I would say it´s really important."  We asked him right there if he would follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized.  He said he would, and we left.  It was a really cool experience!  I love it when stuff like that happens.  He didn´t come to church, but I am sure we can work with this guy to help him progress.


We´re working with two other really great families.  One is a reference from a member.  This member is a little bit like a little girl dispite her having four children, but that´s really normal for all the people here.  However, she is really helpful with these references, and this family is awesome.  We´ve got them to agree to prepare to be married.  Hopefully we´ll be able to help them accept baptism soon, but We´re convinced they´ll progress.


The other family is a street contact, they too are so awesome.  Immediately we met the husband and were talking with the two of them and laughing like we´d been friends forever.  It only took like 5 min to establish a relationship with Marisela and Bryan.  It was probably the most fun I´d ever had in a lesson ever.  We got them to accept to be married, and they are super interested, and seem more responsible than most of the people here, so their commitment to come to church means a little more I feel.  Such a cool family.  I really love them, and am just having so much fun here.


We´re also visiting less actives more diligently and working with the active members as well.  I feel like we are going to start changing this area a lot, and I know we are going to start baptizing a ton.  The fact that this area hasn´t baptized doesn´t mean we can´t do it.  To me, it means that no one has put forth the effort for a really long time here to do it, and now that it´s been so long, there are tons of people prepared.  I feel like we contact really likely baptismal candidates every day now.  It´s only been four days, and I feel like our relationship with the members is excellent, including our communication.


We are looking for a new house, because the water is making my skin break out still with a bacterial infection... so yeah, we´re gonna look for something better.  This place is pretty ghetto to be honest, but I don´t mind it.  My comps last area, as well as mine, were pretty nice.  His was a tourist site, and on the beach.  Trujillo.  The best.  Really really nice.


So yeah,  Elder Vega and me.  He´s from Nicaragua, and he´s totally insane and focused on baptizing tons of people.  Yeah man!  Also, he´s really tall and weak, so I´m taking him to the gym in the mornings... make him strong.  I just wish he could tell me how to get taller.  Haha.


This mission´s the best, and I´m super excited for the next 6 weeks with Elder Vega.  I´m praying that I´ll have to changes with him. 


I know that this work is changing people´s lives.  I am so grateful to God for the oportunity to share these things with everyone I meet.  So grateful for the ways I´m learning and growing, and for the relationships Im developing.  I sent out a few letters.  Thank you so much to those who have written me.  I´m trying my best to write people, but I really don´t get much time.  I´m doing better, so please be patient in getting a response.


I know that Jesus is the Christ.  I know that God calls prophets.  I can´t believe the power I feel whenever I listen to or read the words of our living prophets, seers, and revelators.  I love the Book of Mormon and testify with all my soul that it is true.  Let it change your life.


Les Quiero mucho!


Elder Kent Thalman

They´re Everywhere! Part II

Sooo... first, Elder Tavita has a transfer this week!  Ugh!  So this means that in four changes, I will have had four companions!  I really want to know who my next comp is goin to be.  I hate waiting.


This week has been a lot of fun, and I´ve been having so many great, personal, spiritual experiences.  That´s the point of the title!  Spiritual experiences and miracles ARE EVERYWHERE!  We should have them and recognize them Every Day.  Last night, I finished with everything a little early, so I decided to watch some Preach my Gospel videos about how to help people read the Book of Mormon.  One of them just really helped me figure some stuff out, and I realized that I could be focusing on the Book of Mormon more in this work right now.  At the end of the video it showed a clip from Elder Holland´s famous talk where he really testifies boldly of the Book of Mormon.  I´ve seen that one before, but for some reason, this time something really stuck out to me.  He said something really close to no member or investigator can come to full faith and full conversion in this church without knowledge and conviction of the divinity of this book!  How true!


When I heard those words, once more (and this really hasn´t happened too often for me in my life) I felt a powerful witness in my heart of the truth and divinity of the Book of Mormon.  The feeling was rather transcending this time, and I am confident in saying that it was probably the most powerful witness I´ve ever received concerning this thing.  Don´t misunderstand.  Since the beginning of about highschool I think, I´ve known without a doubt that this book is true.  But what I think made the difference this time was simply prayer.  Recently I started including in my prayers to have my testimony of certain things fortified, that I might with more conviction help these people feel the Spirit concerning our message.  I have only very very recently started praying for that the last couple of nights, and did I ever receive an answer!  If God so quickly answers these prayers, I think I will continue asking, in this and other Gospel aspects.


I testify to everyone reading these words that I know for myself that the Book of Mormon is the word of God!  It truly is the very keystone of my testimony.  Because I know that it is God´s word for me in my life, I know that Jesus Christ truly is God´s Son and my Savior.  That´s what the whole book is about.  I also know that Joseph Smith was not a liar.  On the contrary, I know that he most surely was and is the prophet of this last and great dispensation!  How wonderful it is to know these few simple truths in my life!  I want everyone to know and feel these things.  I want the blessings I have because of these things to be a part of everyone elses lives.


I invite everyone to read the Book of Mormon.  If you´ve already read it, please read it again.  If you read it with the Spirit, and prayerfully, it never gets old.  I invite everyone to ask God, in the name of His Son Jesus Christ if it really is true.  If you´ve already asked, ask again.  I testify that He will strengthen whatever conviction you already have of it´s divinity.  Even if that conviction is zero.


So, will you read the Book of Mormon tonight, even just one page, and then ask God to know if it´s true.  I promise you that if you do, you will know, just as I do, that it is true, and that it will bless and guide and change you life forever.


I´m not just saying it.  It´s a promise.  It´s God´s promise.  Prove Him.  In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.


Love,

Elder Kent M. Thalman

They´re Everywhere!

The title this week is to draw attention to this very fact: people who are ready to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ are everywhere!  Pretty amazing.  All the members of the church think, "yeah, they are probably in South America or something." But that´s not true.  They really are in all parts of the world.  How do I know?  Well first, I talk to people on the bus, street, etc, and all the time there are people who are interested.  If a member of the church were to help these people come to church and get to know this message on a "friends" level, they would progress much better.  My comp and I are focusing on this right now. 


So what are you doing right now to help your area progress??  Before the mission, I never thought about that stuff.  But guess what... one of my best friends just got baptized!  I knew him since like 7th grade and I don´t think I did much at all to really help him come to church or talk to the missionaries.  They are there.  Just help them.  Sometimes I think about myself before the mission and realize that I had so many friends that I really didn´t talk to much about the church.  I could have probably had a friend at church every other week if I wanted.


It´s hard.  Especially for the people out here, to talk to their friends about this stuff.  There is a sister in our ward name Rosa, and she´s awesome.  All the time, she talks to us and says, "hey, I´m going to go visit a friend right now.  Wanna come?"  Ummm... yes.  haha.  She is a true friend.  Why?  Well, the definition of a friend is, "someone who helps you live the gospel of Jesus Christ."  I forget which prophet said that... sorry.  But that´s so true.  What´s the greatest gift of God?  Eternal Life.  If we have a true hope in salvation through Jesus Christ, how can we stand blameless and not share that with others.


Maybe I´m getting too preachy.  Sorry.  But it´s really true; they´re everywhere!


We finally contacted a family the other day that was a reference from a member named Franklin.  This couple is preparing to get married.  This actually shows a high sensitivity for the Spirit on their part because most people here just don´t care about getting married.  We talked to them, and they were incredibly receptive.  Why did we find them?  Because a member told us where they live.  It was that easy.  Every person I´ve had the oportunity to see get baptized has been a reference of a member of the chruch.  Every single one.


I testify that there is more that we can be doing.  I know that this church is true.  More than that, I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world.  He suffered and died for you, for me, and for your friends.  Help them accept this sacrifice which the Lamb of God gave for them.


I love and miss every one of who are reading this.   Yes, you!  :P  And I want Kyle to know that I´m so proud of him.  Reading about you baptism this week gave me so much motivation to keep moving forward this week.  Take care of yourself and send me a letter!  Haha.


Les Quiero mucho,


Elder Kent Thalman

Start From the Beginning and Don´t Skip Steps and Keep Moving Forward.

So the title is a personal thought that I had several weeks ago.  Sorry for the silence last week.  I literally had no time to write a blog... kinda stinks. 

Honestly, I have no idea what to write about this week that I can really share.  A lot of personal stuff this week, but not much else.  I´m going to start loosing readers if I keep this up.  Haha.

The other day I was on a bus, and I decided to talk to a lady who sat by me.  Contacting on the bus can be really nice because they can´t run away,  and you can really get to know them before sharing anything.  When you´re  on their porch, you kinda have to cut to the chase sometimes... haha.  But you know they´re not busy if they´re on the bus.   I was talking to this lady named Liliana, and she had a little boy named Owen.  I asked if she knew the actor Owen Wilson... you know me! 
She actually said that she did!  Haha, I was surprised.  And she knew the movie Midnight in Paris, which really made me happy........... okay, ADD moment sorry.


I started talking to her about her family, and how she felt about it.  Turns out she´s already legally married!  That´s really, really rare.  She seemed pretty receptive, so I talked to her about eternal families, and that God wants her and her family to stay together for time and all eternity.  Some people just think, "amen brotha, adios." but this lady really seemed to comprehend that this was something that only our church had to offer.  She called us later, and I couldn´t help but think of the scene from Best Two Years... "it´s him!"  Haha.  That was really cool, and I can tell this family is a great possibility.


I´m getting to the point where I can tell when people get our message and accept it, when they know it´s true but are too afraid to change, and when they just don´t get it.  Sometimes the last one is frustrating... we´ve got an old lady that we´re teaching; yesterday was her 70th birthday or something.  She gave us cake, which was awesome, but the lesson was pretty tough.  It´s really hard for her to understand, and she can´t see enough to read.  Bummer.


But some people just straight up know it´s true and refuse to change.  That´s hard to see, because you can just tell that they know.  But they just won´t accept it.  And the majority just don´t care. 
But God always seems to lead you to the people who really want to change.  From there, it´s  your job to be worthy of the Spirit, and to work hard so you can help them.  That´s the whole key.  There´s really not much more than that.


I had a pretty sudden Spiritual experience randomly this week.  I´m not sure what it was, but I was listening to a cover of "I Stand All Amazed" and the words just hit me.  It just became very clear to me, and I was just filled up inside with love for my Savior. 
Directly after, it seemed to give me a clear mind to want to be obedient for that reason.  I feel like I´ve been really obedient so far my whole mission, but I´m starting to understand why God gave me that added witness.  Lately there seems to have been a total and complete attack on my resolve to be obedient.  And everytime, it seems ever so simple.  Because of the love I have for my Savior, and the gratitude I feel for His atonement, I simply can´t disobey.  Sometimes the last written words of Nephi will fill my head.  "I must obey, amen." 
It´s incredible, but I really feel that way sometimes.  I just keep having it made clear that if you truly love, you will obey.  Nothing is possible in this work without the Spirit.


I testify that Jesus is the Christ.  There really is no doubt in my mind anymore that He infact came to earth, suffered and died for all sins and all people.  He specifically did so for me.  I know it.  I can not deny it without calling upon myself the greatest of condemnations from God, reserved for those with a witness.  I really just can´t even imagine denying it.  It´s true, and my heart bursts with great joy and confidence before men because of it.  I feel no fear to be obedient.  No fear to try and be like Jesus Christ.


I love and miss every one of you!  Congrats on your call Brian!  You´ll do great out there.  and you´ll be able to teach me German in two years :P 


Until next week,


Elder Kent Thalman

180 degree shift. that´s not just the weather here...

So, new area.  New everything.  I´m in Nuevo San Juan, 1hr outside of San Pedro Sula.  My comp is named Elder Tavita from Hawaii.  But most recently he´s from St. George, UT.  Haha.  He´s pretty awesome, and totally nuts.  He´s a big Polenisian guy who loves football and rugby, and he´s got some pretty crazy stories.


Basically my life is now totally different.  He´s a lot more chill than my last comp.  We worked our tails off with Elder Gomez, and this elder is much more relaxed.  Honestly, I still feel like we have the potential to baptize, and we are working on reactivating a TON of inactives.  So I´m convinced that it´s just a matter of how well you work, not so much how hard.  But I sometimes feel like we could work a tiny bit harder, but there´s just got to be balance in all things.  We learning how to blend our two styles, and we´re pretty much already super good friends.  At least I think so.


There´s not even a branch in this area.  we´re an extension of a ward and we meet in a house, not a church.  We should have a building soon, and then we´ll be a branch.  Elder Tavita and I feel like the elders before in this area baptized a bunch, and then just left it.  It was only opened 6 weeks ago, and almost everyone has gone inactive.  Missionaries need to stay in contact with their converts!!!  Don´t just ditch ´em!  So a lot of damage control.  there haven´t been any baptisms here yet since it´s been opened, but I know that Elder Tavita and I will baptize.  It´s a good area and there are some great people.


In Olanchito (and in general thoughout Honduras) the problem is that no one is married... if you remember.  Well, here is Nuevo San Juan, the problem is that everyone is married to someone else, and then they have their real family and kids and stuff.... so that stinks cuz it´s like impossible to divorce people out here.  But we´re not going to give up because some of these people are just too amazing to just leave.  Progresing investigators who go to church and keep all their commitments and WANT to be baptized... but we can´t do it.  I pretty much hate the work that Satan has so effectively executed down here.  We are going to work with the ward to set up a fund for divorces for those with great desires to be married and baptized.  Obviously we´re trying to do this with all wisdom and direction from the Lord, because with stuff like this, you could really cause some problems.  So there´s that.


We have an awesome cook out here.  Her food is incredible, but we only pay her for lunch.  I eat less out here, and work out a lot more.  Being such an athletic nut, Elder Tavita is sort of a nut about it, so I´m very grateful for that.  I think that I have already reversed the damage done from Olanchito as far as getting fat.  Haha.  I feel great.


Honduras is as awesome as ever.  Next week I´m sure that I will have more stories about specific people.  It´s been slow going the first few days.  My comp was a little sick, but now we´re full throttle again.  This place truly is amazing, and I´ve never learned so much in my life.  I truly feel like I´m changing significantly, and I just feel better about myself to be honest.  Much more relaxed and effective.  The Lord truly can do anything.  He is guiding my life so closely, and I pray that through my obedience I can allow His hand to work more miracles in me and around me.  I love this mission more than anything.  And I love my Heavenly Father more than anyone.  I´m only now starting to understand faith and repentance this week, even though I´ve taught those "lessons" to a hundred people now (more like several hundreds, which is crazy to think about).  Funny how that works, huh?


I love and miss you all.


Les quiero mucho!


Elder Kent Thalman