Elder Justin Thiel

December 18, 2014

This week has really be a humbling experience for me. It was a good week and we still got a lot of things done. It was mix with a lot of the spirit reassuring me of myself.  We spent a lot of this week trying to study how to make our teaching more effective by learning how to ask better questions, to keep our investigators more involved in the lesson.  We got it to the point of where we had the investigators talking more, then we were in the lesson but they were teaching themselves, so it was really good, and I felt like they understood what we were talking about.  We also tried to focus on finding out what the investigator needs and focusing on how the gospel could help them in their different situations.  I realized more and more this week, that as a missionary you can't just rely on yourself to teach people.  It's not about the eloquence of the speaker or anything like that.  It is about bringing the spirit, and letting it teach the people, and really just getting out of the way as a missionary.

We had a sad moment this week.. on Sunday we were talking with Brother Kirkland, Benjamin's father, and he said that we needed to move his baptismal date and that we could talk about setting one after the first of the year.  He didn't really give us a clear reason for this, other than his family is going through some hard times!  So I hope something hasn't happened.  We are still going to keep working with him.

We were able to put a kid on date for baptism, named Nathan Owen.  He is the grandson of a less active that spends most of his time over at their house.  His mom is okay with him being baptized, and his date is on the 1st of January.  He even came to all three hours of church this Sunday, and that is a big accomplishment! He is really shy though, and seems like a kid that would get picked on in school... it just breaks my heart to see kids like that.  There are a couple in the ward.  I just want to be friends with all of them, just to let them know that someone cares about them.  And then go and talk to the kids who pick on them, to try and help them understand what damage they could cause to that kid, which could change the course of their life..

We had the ward Christmas party on Saturday and it was pretty good, not nearly as big as the ones in Utah, but it was still good.  We had some of the best ham ever there, and they had lots of different rolls and southern foods.  I love some good old southern corn bread!! Mmmm!!!  They also had some awesome deserts.  The program consisted of one of the primary kids getting up and telling Christmas jokes to everyone there, some singing by a new couple, and Santa coming so the little kids could come sit on his lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas.  Overall, it was really fun!!

On Sunday, we had our weekly lunch over at a members home, named the Bush's.  They invite all of their family to come over as well, so there is a good group of us over there.  They always serve us really good food and after lunch we have a corn hole tournament.  Corn hole is a bean bag game where you have to toss bags onto a board that has a whole near the top of it.  There are 2 people on each team, with two boards facing each other about 20 feet away!   Each team has one player standing near one of the boards with a member of the opposing team standing with them.  The other team members stand next to the other board so that they are facing each other. It is really hard to describe... it's one of those games that you have to play to understand.  Anyway, it is kind of a big deal and really competitive.  My rival, is the man who taught me how to play the game, named Bug Island. He is a wealthy man in the ward.  This Sunday, he won against me so there was a lot so smack talk going on...

I'm sorry to hear about grandma and grandpa and I will be sure to keep them in my prayers

I am out of time, so I am sorry that I didn't get to comment more on the things that you told me, but I did read them.  I love you guys and make sure that Matt gets me some ideas for Christmas.  I also bought an electric blanket on sale for $25 and a sweater for $17, I think, so that I will stay warm.. I am still in the trailer, but we do have some small heaters now.

I hope you all have a good week!

love,

Elder Thiel

Elder Justin Thiel

November 9, 2014

This week was very interesting. I was transferred to Phoenix City, Alabama.  I am serving in the Fort Michael area of Phoenix City.  I live in a trailer that has a cockroach infestation. I have an elder that sold pest control before his mission and he sprayed the place and that helped but it is starting to wear off.  When I got to the trailer, it wasn't very clean and looked like it hadn't been vacuumed for weeks, so I got to work and did some basic cleaning and now it isn't so bad, but the heater doesn't work.  We are going to be moved into an apartment before the end of the month, so we shouldn't have to endure much of the cold. A sister missionary also gave me her electric blanket to use until we move out.  My new companion is named Elder Sorenson.  He is from Grace, Idaho and he has been out for 6 weeks, so I am finishing the rest of his training.  When I got to this area, we were out of miles on the car, so we had to bike and I don't have a bike. I borrowed a member's bike and the one that I am using is a racing bike.  It is super nice and it can get going pretty fast. Over all, I think this is going to be a good area.  We are struggling with people to teach, but we can change that.  Every one in our area either lives in a trailer park or in a giant house.. and most of them are military.

This week we didn't get to teach very many lessons, but we did bike all over the place.  My part of the area is out in the country, so there are some dirt roads and everything is very spread out.  We did run into a woman, named Debra, while we were trying to see a less active, and we stopped and talked to her.  She and her husband have been looking for a church that they can both agree on.  They have had bad experiences with churches in the past.  I told her about the Book of Mormon and how I can help both of them in there search.  She seemed very excited to read it and we will be meeting with them now.

We had a "Trunk or Treat" at the church this week on Thursday.  They had a pretty good turnout and before they had a big chili dinner.  During the meal, the sister missionaries in our district sneaked out and TP'd our car with one of their investigators...I couldn't just let them get away with that, and I remembered that we did have some shaving cream our car, so we put it to good use.  We covered their windows with it (making sure not to get it on the paint because it would damage it) and wrote "clean up" on driver's window along with some other messages. They were not very happy to see their car in that condition, and they had some trouble getting the cream off, but on the up side, their car did smell like Old Spice haha!!

So the woman that hit us was supposed to buy us new bikes on Friday, but when Friday came along she said that should couldn't get the money.  I don't have any control over the situation now, and my ward mission leader is working with my last companion to get our bikes replaced.  They are going to go after the insurance to get our bikes replaced and I don't know how that is going to work out.

I'm sad to hear about your hands, but at least you now know what was the cause of all of that.  I hope that the treatment will work. I will keep you and dad in my prayers.

Who's name am I going to have for Christmas so i can plan for it?

Just so you can be looking.. this Christmas I would love it if I could get a camera...unfortunately mine is lost and also all the pictures that I had along with it for the first half of my mission...I had it with me to take to church one day in my last area and I think that I left it in a members car, and when I went to find it, it was gone.

I hope that you all have a good week!

Love,
Elder Thiel

Elder Justin Thiel

October 27, 2014

This week came with lots of adventures for me and my companion. I did get your package and I loved it. Thank you for all the treats and contacts. They were sorely needed.  And tell Matt thanks for the gift card.  I have yet to use it but I will in the coming week. 

This week we were able to see Jeffery and Nicole.  They are still doing great and are progressing toward baptism.  We watched the "Joseph Smith, Prophet of the Restoration" video with them and they loved the whole thing!  After seeing what the prophet had to go through in this life, and for nothing but the cause of truth, put the importance of this work into their perspective.  They were unable to come to church so we had to move their baptism date to a week later then the past date. 

We were able to see a man named Jimmy that me and Elder Hunsicker taught back in July.  We were only able to teach him the restoration before we lost contact with him, so then we taught him.  We taught him the restoration lesson and he really liked it and said that it made a lot of sense to him.  We focused big time on the need for baptism and repentance in the lesson, and invited him to be baptized.  He said "yes" immediately, which surprised me.  He said that he has never been baptized, and has been putting it off for far too long and that he would loved to be baptized.  He is going to be baptized in December.

So the biggest event of this week and the scariest... was that me and my companion were hit by a car this week... we were off the side of the road and were going to throw away some trash that we had in the apartment dumpster, when a car came up behind us.  I had just put up the kick stand and got off my bike when they pulled over so that they could throw away their trash.  When I saw the car slowing down, I thought nothing of it and was about to start walking toward the path to the dumpster, when I heard the car engine rev.  I looked back with one thought in my mind: there is no way people hate missionaries this much in Georgia. I looked back just in time to see the car speeding toward me, and my first reaction was to turn around.  I was hit by the car and flipped over the hood of the car.  The impact caused me to travel with the car about 5 feet before completely going over the windshield and landing on my back in the middle of the road.  Luckily there weren't any cars coming down the road at that time.  I got right up and walked back to my companion, who was on the ground next to where I had been hit, and asked him if he was okay.  He said he was okay, but didn't get up.  The lady pulled back around and when she got out of the car, we saw that she was about 70 years old and was shaking, only repeating the phase: "Oh no!" over and over again.  My bike was trashed and so was my companions bike, but we were fine. My bike got a vengeance on her car and ripped the bottom of the bumper off and punched a hole in the side of her car.  We called the mission president and the police.  The lady said that she would replace the bikes and helmets.  We didn't go to the emergency room because we didn't feel like we needed to.  This was Thursday. This happened around 12:30 in the afternoon.  We went back to apartment and rested until 6 when we went out with a member to go teach some people that we had planned.  We went to the doctors the next day with a member and they checked us out to make sure that there wasn't anything wrong with us. The only injuries that I had was a bruised hand, and my butt on the left side was sore from where I took the impact.  That was it!!  The doctor said that I was extremely lucky that we got out the way that we did.  Most people don't come out of something like that with nothing wrong, let alone walk away from something like that!!  My companion said that I jumped into the air, but I don't remember that.  I'm pretty sure that the angels of God carried me and protected me from the crash.  It is estimated that she hit us at about 20 mph and my glasses didn't even come off my face and there wasn't even a mark on her windshield from where I hit it.  We will be getting new bikes on Friday.

I found out Saturday that I will be being transferred to a new area.  All I know is that I will still be training and will be a district leader.  My mission president is going to come on my behalf and pick up my new bike and bring it to me.  So I was tempest tossed and transferred this week! 

I hope that Jacob does well in his basketball. That is awesome that you got to see that movie!  I wish I could see it again.  I hope that you all get to enjoy Halloween!  We have to be in our apartment at 6 pm that day for the night, so I don't know what I will do yet.

I love all of you and hope that you have a great week!

love,

Elder Thiel 

Elder Justin Thiel

October 14, 2014 at 1:16:21 PM MDT

This week was pretty good!  We had one of our investigators get baptized, named Robert Jones. I had been teaching him since I got to Warner Robins, so it was great to see him get baptized after almost 6 months of lessons.  I was able to confirm him and that was a very special experience for me.  His baptism was a catastrophe.. it started out like this... his baptism was at 10 am so we went over to our ward mission leaders house at 8:45 to leave for the church.  We got there just fine and left on time but half way to the church, we found out that our ward mission leader had left his keys to the font at his house, so we turned around and got them.  When we got there, we worked on printing out the programs for the baptism and our ward mission leader started filling up the font. Well by some miss communication.. we ended up with 20 copies of each side of the program instead of 20 double sided copies so we had spend time fixing that.. when I went to check on the font, our ward mission leader had only turned on the hot water so the water was at 100 degrees. So after fixing all of that, it was10 am.  So we all waited for Robert to arrive.  At 10:15 he still hadn't arrived,  so we went over to his house and he had been running late so we headed back to the church with him following behind us.  When we got to the church, we had him and the man baptizing him get dressed and we headed back into the Relief Society room to wait.  Twenty minutes had got by and they still hadn't come back in yet, so now it is at 10:45 am... we go to see what wrong and it turns out that because of another miscommunication, they had been waiting in the font for everyone to come witness the baptism..  So we had an opening prayer with them in the font and then they performed the baptism.  Our ward mission leader was a little flustered, but we went along with the program as if nothing had happened.   When they were dried off and in the relief society room, I gave a talk on Baptism and the Holy Ghost and we ended with a closing prayer..that will be a baptism that no one will forget.. 

In church this Sunday, I had the opportunity to sing a special musical number as a solo.  I sang, "If The Savior Stood Beside Me."  I hadn't had very much time to work on it because of our busy schedule, but the ward members came up to me afterwards and said I did great!!! and many said they were shocked I could sing and asked me why I had been hiding my talent?  I'm sure the Lord helped me and that is why is sounded good.

We were able to meet with Jeffery and Nicole, our investigators, this week and we had an awesome lesson!  We taught them the Plan of Salvation and the whole time Nicole was commenting that it made a lot of sense.  At the end of the lesson, Nicole said, "Man, I want to be a Mormon!" which I'm not going to lie, that was what I was hoping for her to say..:)  We put she and Jeffery on date for the 7th of November.. The only problem is that they are only engaged and living together and they both use the vapor things instead of smoking, so we have some commandments to work on, but they are great!

Our investigator that was set up to be baptized on the 1st of November fell off date because he didn't come to church this week.  We haven't been able to meet with him since our first meeting, but he has been reading the Book of Mormon every day and says that he gets a great feeling every time that he does, so we just need to meet with him again and we are good! 

I'm sorry to hear about everyone getting sick.. that is great to hear about Jacob's accomplishments!  Man I can't believe that he has already been through "Set Your Course!"  He is getting so old!  He is probably a lot taller than he was when I last saw him.

I'll be excited to receive that package and I am glad that you are working on reading the scriptures as a family and praying together.  I have learned the lesson that obedience brings blessings and that the Lord blesses us for our righteous efforts!

I love all of you and hope that you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Thiel  

       

Elder Justin Thiel

This week was better then last week. I found out on Saturday that my companion is going to be transferred on Tuesday and that I will be training a new missionary again.  I'm more excited about it this time around.  It should be a great experience. 

One thing that Elder Kopischki told us to do when he came, was to memorize 42 scriptures for the 42 principles that we teach as missionaries, so I have been working on that all this since Friday.  I have 10 memorized so far. The ones that I memorized were: Malachi 2:10, Genesis 28:14, Amos 3:7, Isaiah 59:1-2, John 3:5, John 3:16-17, John 15:16, Ephesians 2:19-20, Hebrews 5:4, Moroni 10:3-5.  I still have a long way to go, but we are to use the scriptures when we talk to people, so that should really help me out in the work.  (Maybe you all could look them up and memorize them too!) :)

We had some awesome experiences this week.  We were sitting at the end of a street trying to figure out what we were going to do on Tuesday around 2, because an appointment had fallen through, when someone who we taught 2 months ago pulled up in a car next to us and asked if we could come to his house to teach him.  My companion and I were a little shocked at this, but we readily agreed.  When we got to his house, we taught him and his girlfriend who seemed really interested in the Restoration of the Gospel.  We taught them again later in the week, about the Book Of Mormon and the girlfriend had some really good questions and really wanted to read it.  It was a really cool miracle!

We had a church tour with our investigator, Lee, this week.   We showed him around the building talking about the different organizations in the church and explaining some of the pictures and what they represent.  The most powerful part was when we got to the chapel.  We talked about the sacrament and invited him to pray.  After he prayed, he got up and asked if he could say something and we agreed.  He said that he could feel the Spirit of Christ from the moment that he walked into the building, and that he now feels comfortable with coming to church and bringing this family with him.  Unfortunately, he wasn't able to come to church this Sunday, but we have high hopes for him.

I'm sorry to hear about Matthew.. I know how he feels, because I have had many of them myself and I know that it is not fun.  How did he get it?  It sound like things just weren't working for you guys this week, with dad's back and the dryer.. that's awesome that Jacob gets to go to the dedication of the temple!  That should be a really cool experience for him.  Did he get to go to one of the open houses?

I hope that the weeks start to get easier for you guys.  I love you and I will keep you in my prayers.

Love,

Elder Thiel 

Elder Justin Thiel

This week was another pretty hard week numbers wise. We had a lot of our appointments fall through, but we did end up meeting an awesome guy named Chris.  We met him on the street and he was on his way back from buying some beer, but we stopped and talked to him anyway.  He set an appointment with us and initially he missed his appointment, but we caught him on the street again and set another appointment and he kept this one.  We taught him about the Restoration of the gospel and he really felt the spirit.  We invited him to be baptized and he had never been baptized before so he was willing to set that as a goal.  It was a super cool miracle!  He didn't end up coming to church this week because he hurt his arm at work, but he said that he would come to church this week.  We are seeing him again on Tuesday.

We had another experience with a man named Walter.  We called him on the phone because he had met with us before and he didn't want to meet with us at first.  He said that he read most of 1st Nephi in the Book of Mormon and said that it was really boring, because he said that he had heard the message of repentance already in his life multiple times.  I ended up persuading him over the phone to let us come talk to him again, using parts of the plan of salvation to convince him.  When we met, we taught the Plan of Salvation.  He didn't seem very interested in what we were saying.  When we taught about the kingdoms of glory, he said that he would most likely go to the teletial kingdom, and he said that this was okay with him. He has a very negative personality, kind of like Eore from Winnie the Pooh.  We are still working with him..

We didn't get to see Lee this week because he went out of town, but we are seeing him on Tuesday.

We ate dinner at a member's home and the member's name is Brother Burch.  He is a co partner in a security business.  He is a really cool guy who served a mission 10 years ago.  He has a young family and work is what brought him out here.  He fed us a home made, Cafe Rio. and it was super good!  He said it was a treat for me because all Utah missionaries apparently always miss that while on their missions.  He said that I could work for him after my mission, but I would have to move out there with him to help him with his work out there, and I don't know if I want to live out here, haha!!  He went out teaching with us after dinner, and we taught Sona and one of his friends that happened to be there with him, that was studying to be a Jehovah's Witness.   We have to save him!!! haha!!   Our lesson was awesome and that member really taught me some good resources for teaching. He served in Brazil and while he was there, it was the highest baptizing mission in the world.  He said that he would teach me how to do that here.

I am still a 34 waist.  Chocolate cookies would work for me.  Thanks!!!

I might have a member order me T-25, Shaun T's new work out program, for me to do in the morning using the birthday money that I got.  It's a workout that is only 25 minutes long, perfect for a missionaries morning schedule!

I'm sorry to hear about the hardships that Matt is going through.  Tell him that he needs to drink more water.  Also he should be taking protein once or twice a day to help him recover from everything that he is doing.  He could also start taking some amino acids to help him.  Also if he is doing all that, make sure that he is stretching all his muscle groups everyday!  If you need so ideas for some stretches for him to do, look some up.  He should be doing them everynight and right before he works out.  Those are some things that might help him.

Love,
Elder Thiel

Elder Justin Thiel

August 3rd

We were very busy this week with all that happened to us. On Monday, we had a lesson with our recent converts, the Cottmans.  Their dad is living with them for the time being and we have been teaching him ever since he got there.  They had us over for dinner and after we ate we decided to watch the "Joseph Smith, Prophet of the Restoration" video.  The movie was awesome, as it always is, and the spirit was really present.  After the movie we bore testimony of the restoration and the prophet Joseph Smith.  I felt the need to invite him to baptism after that and to ask him if he felt that Joseph was indeed a prophet.  He answered yes and agreed to be baptized. We haven't set a date with him yet and he has a word of wisdom problem, but he loves the church and what it has done for his daughter and wants to be baptized now.  It was an awesome miracle.  We had some more lessons with the young man named Sona.  There was an awesome miracle with him as well.  We met with him and taught him the gospel of Jesus Christ.  When we talked about how he feels about all this, he said that his prayers have been answered.  He related an awesome experience that he had with the Book of Mormon and he said, " I already knew it was true, but I needed the Lord to tell me it was true and He did."

We had an awesome zone conference with the mission president this week.  We had many speakers including the Assistants to the President, members of the mission presidency, and the mission president's wife.  There were a couple of things that really struck me.  The first speaker was a member of the mission presidency named President McCoy.  He talked about miracles.  He talked about living worthy of the Lord's miracles and to expect them.  He talked of the faith and love that we must have to see such miracles and shared some of the miracles of the Savior and some of the miracles that were happening in our mission.  It was very inspiring to hear.  The other talk that inspired me was by the mission president.  He showed us the video of what was happening in Brazil.  He then gave us 2 questions to think about. Why not here? and Why not now?  He talked about how the promises of the Lord are extended to everyone and that these things can happen to us if we are faithful and live worthy of the Lord's help.  That was one thing that was stressed a lot!  Living the Lord's standards with exactness!

I got the package on Sunday ( because the missionary couple over the mail in my mission is in my ward so they brought it to me)!   Thank you so much for the cake and things that are in it.  My companion is going to bake the cake for me on Thursday.  One of the members in my ward is getting me a replica of the first edition of the Book of Mormon.  I think that will be really neat!   It isn't in verse form and I hear that it reads very differently.  Also a member is having us over for dinner on my birthday and they are having a barbeque.  It should be a fun dayI

I'm sorry to hear about all the things that went wrong this week for you, but you are right about the attitude thing. We always have to keep an upbeat attitude with everything that we do.  It always reminds me of the talk that Elder Uchtdorf gave in conference about gratitude.  It's an awesome talk.

Thank you again for the birthday stuff!  I hope that you all have a great week!!!

Love,

Elder Thiel

Elder Justin Thiel

July 20, 2014

Man this week has been pretty good.  We had an awesome lesson this week with Anna and her sister!  We watched "Special Witnesses of Christ," with her and talked about living apostles and prophets.  At the end of the lesson we bore powerful testimony and after the lesson, Anna said "I want to be able to say that I know that this is true just like you guys, and I think that the path that I'm on will lead me to that."  That was super exciting for us, but, she didn't end up coming to church this week.  We also had a lesson with a man who has been named an eternal investigator ( someone who will keep investigating the church but will not join).  We also watched "Special Witnesses of Christ," with him and after the lesson we began to ask him some questions.  We found out that he had been going to church for 3 years straight, but what we got out of it is the biggest reason that he hasn't joined the church is because of sweet tea.  He doesn't want to give it up, but he would if he found a replacement.  There is a man in the ward who had that same problem so we will be taking him with us to we can resolve his concern and just get him baptized so he can go to the temple.  We had a lesson with a woman named Esther.  She is about 70 (we think anyways) and we have been teaching her for a couple of weeks now. She has never been baptized and the reason for that is because she is afraid of the water.. me and Elder Hunsicker will help her get over that!  We are going to try and do more finding this week to find some more great investigators.

Around the end of the week, some of the members of the ward took us out to dinner.  On Friday, we went to this southern barbecue place which had all you can eat ribs, so we of course all got that!  We had a little contest to see who could eat the most and I won!! haha.  It was delicious!  On Saturday, after my eye doctor appointment, the member that took us to Macon, also took us out to eat at Ihop, and then later that day the Ramsey family (one of our recent converts) took us to an all you can eat Chinese buffet.  Needless to say, that we ate way too much food this week and by the end, I was sick of going to restaurants, but I am grateful that they fed us!  On Sunday, we ate at another members house and we had some grilled salmon.  It was my second time eating fish and I have decided that I don't really like it.  It just has like a fishy taste to the meat that I don't like.

We found out that I-pads are going to be officially released to all of the missions in the United States and that they estimate that all will have them before the end of the year.  They have also given out the cost of them and it's $400.. that was more then I expected it to be, so please make sure that you guys are able to do that.  We don't know when they will be available to us.  The things that will be available to us when we have I-pads are amazing though.  They will be a big help to missionary work.

I hope that you all have a great week!  I will keep dad in my prayers as well as the rest of you!

Love,
Elder Thiel

For those of you interested in viewing the video mentioned above, "Special Witnesses of Christ,"
please go to:
https://www.lds.org/prophets-and-apostles/unto-all-the-world/jesus-christ-ushered-in-the-restoration?lang=eng

Elder Justin Thiel

 This is the Ramsey family ( Patrick was the one baptized) he was baptized last Saturday

Sunday, June 29th 
This week we helped our star investigator quite smoking using the 15 step program and he is getting baptized this Saturday!!!  His wife is a member that was baptized in the Philippines, but then went less active.  They have the cutest little 5 year old daughter that is also Filipino.  They came to church this last Sunday and they already look just like the perfect little Mormon family.  They treat us like celebrities at their house.  They always give me some crackers and a glass of orange juice when we come to there house.  In the Philippines apparently they really honor the missionaries for their sacrifice so we get a taste of that at their home.  I love them to death!       

It was super hot here this past week.  It got up to 101 one day and with all the humidity, it just felt like riding a bike in an oven.  We had someone in an ice cream truck call us over to them and when we got to the car, the woman handed us each a water bottle and she said she felt bad for us being out in the heat.  Most the people out here are really kind. 

We found some new investigators this week as well.  It was an over all good week.  I am really glad that I have had the opportunity to be out here and feel the spirit as I have.  I have been so blessed to learn everything that I have and now I know the importance of daily scripture study.  I hope that you are having that as a family everyday.  Not just reading the scriptures together but really studying together as a family with a purpose, looking for the understanding of a principle such as faith or something like that.  It is crazy how the small things make such a difference.  There is a talk by Hartmon Rector Jr. about receiving revelation.  If we want the Lord to speak to us then it has to be on his terms.  We have to keep even the smallest of the commandments.  It can be the difference the influence of the spirit can make in your lives.  I have been studying about meaningful prayer in Preach My Gospel.  I would invite you to as a family to read it together.  It is in chapter 4, then look at the activity on the other page that has a scale to judge how meaningful your prayers are.  Look at it and check yourselves. Then use those tools to make prayer a better experience.  Then see the difference it makes in the spirit that is present during prayer.

I will try to get an appointment with the eye doctor as soon as possible.  I'm glad that you had an good time at girls camp last week.  I miss going to scout camps and things like that.  I hope that you can have a good time with Jacob even though the other kids are busy.  That will probably be hard on him.

I hope that you all have a good week!  I'm sorry that his email is so short.. but I'm out of time for right now.

Love,
Elder Thiel

This is the Cottman family that we baptized on may 31

Elder Justin Thiel

You'll just have to send the contacts to the mission address because I don't know the address to my apartment and my companion doesn't know it either.. This week was pretty good. We had a lot of our appointments fall through but the Cottman family is still getting baptized this week so we will have 6 baptisms on Saturday!!  My bike tire popped again this week so I had to go get a new tire.  We got a member to take us to the bike shop and the member took us out to lunch too, so that was really nice of them.  My new tire is an aggressive road tire.  (it just looks like a mix between a mountain and road tire) It rides a lot nicer now.  
We had a very powerful lesson with a less active this week.  The less active was a 15 year old boy and we talked about the last week of the Savior's life.  He broke down in tears at the end of the lesson and excused himself. when he came back (because we ate dinner with them too), Elder Hunsicker asked him about his baptism and he said that he felt clean and warm that day and today was the first time that he had felt that since.  It was a really powerful moment for all of us. 
We didn't have to bike as much this week as in past weeks.  We had a man come to church this week who is awesome.  His name is Tavorious and he is ready for the gospel.  Elder Hunsicker was teaching him before I got here.  He has quit smoking now and when we told him about he law of chastity, he went home that night and told his girl friend that things had to change.  He found a separate place to live so that he can get baptized.  His girlfriend and him want to get married in July, so they did this until they can.  That guy has some dedication!  He also came to church with us on Sunday and he said that he loved it!  
I'm really enjoying it here so far.  This week we found a brown recluse spider in our apartment.  The brown recluse is a cousin of the Hobo spider and is just as dangerous (its bite does the same thing).  It's called the recluse because it likes to hide and not be found, so they like to hide in cloths and bookshelves.  They're really fast but we killed it without a problem. 
I listened to an awesome talk this week by Jeffery R. Holland, and it was based around one scripture, Luke 17:32.  I want you to look it up and tell me what you think it means.

I'm glad to hear that grandpa is getting better and that everyone is excited for school getting out. The schools here got out last week. I don't know how I will find the eye doctors place, so I can get a new prescription. I might try to plug the name into my GPS and find the nearest one.  If you can, see if there is one in Warner Robins or in Macon.  What did the letter from Sister Applegate say?  I'm curious, but if you can't tell me that is fine.  I'm glad that things are looking up for all of you!

I hope that you all have a great week!

Love,
Elder Thiel

Elder Justin Thiel

This week was a little interesting. On Monday I got that package that you sent me with the Easter stuff inside. I also got the bread. I shared it with the missionaries in Albany and at first it tasted amazing but.. pretty soon we all got a vile taste in our mouths and we realized that it must have gone bad. Luckily none of us got sick. Next time that you want to send food to me we're going to have to have you send it to my actual address so it gets to me fast enough. Also that day I got a cramp in my leg so I stood up really fast and pulled my inner quad on both legs. As soon as I stood up, it felt like both my legs were on fire. It hurt so bad.. so I couldn't walk all of Monday let alone bike. 
On Tuesday we had a great day though. We taught some of our investigators and we put 2 people on date for baptism.  On Wednesday, my companion got sick so we didn't go too far!  We helped with a church tour though. Thursday we taught some more people and we put 2 more people on date for baptism so we are excited for that.  Friday was my companion's birthday and we also had Zone Conference that day. The zone conference was 2 hours away and we couldn't get any of the members to give us a ride because of the time it was at so what happened was the zone leaders took us there and the AP's took us home. The drive as well as the conference took up the entire day so we didn't get anything done on that day. We had a ward Easter party on Saturday and we had an investigator show up to that so we were happy. They served us chicken that was pretty good and we spent some of the time playing with the little children of the ward in the nursery. At the end of the party one of the kids jumped on my back ( these kids were a little older) so I started running with him on my back and pretty soon all the kids wanted a turn.. that night the sisters doorbell ditched us and left us some Easter baskets. In the Easter basket they gave us some treats and such but there were also some hair ties because of a little game that I started. A short while ago one of the sisters hair ties fell into my possession, so I shot it at one of them and the only natural thing to do at that point was to shoot it back!  So that's what she did and now it's a little game. The game is to shoot the other person when they aren't expecting it. It's pretty fun. On Sunday we had church and one of the sister missionaries investigators came that was a male so we took him around with us. After church one of the members invited us over to their house for an Easter lunch.  They fed us ham, bread, mashed potatoes, and green beans and it was delicious.  After that they gave each of us a Easter basket with treats, a puzzle and other fun stuff like that so it was really great.  We had dinner with our ward mission leader that night as well and the meal we had there was equally divine.  We had turkey, rolls, potatoes, and some blueberry cobbler for dessert. Our Easter was great and we we're really taken care of.

That was the majority of my week.  That's great to hear about the anniversary. 24 years is a long time.  Our lesson this week in Sunday School was on eternal marriage.  I am determined to get married in the temple now and I hope that I can have a marriage someday that is as strong as you and dads.

I hope that you all have a great week and that everything calms down for you. I love all of you!

Love,
Elder Thiel

Elder Justin Thiel

3/24/14

This week was an interesting one. Full of ups and downs. I'll start first with the great things that happened. We had some great spiritual lessons this week. We had one great one with a woman named Mary. Through the course of the lesson my companion offered to give her a blessing and at first she said that she didn't want one but then I explained what a blessing was and after that she accepted. The second that we started the blessing, a street sweeper went driving by and seemed to slow down right next to where we were, making it impossible for Mary to hear the blessing. After that I felt prompted to promise her that she would be healed of a mental condition that she had, if she was baptized. And she questioned it, saying that doctors said that she couldn't be cured. I exhorted her to have faith that God can do anything. We then had a prayer, during which she said that she felt something touch her and she opened her eyes and said that she saw the thing return to heaven. At that point she broke down in tears, saying that this is real and that she needs to be baptized. 
The next powerful thing that happened this week was with the man that we met in Walmart. We had met with him 3 times previous to the time that I am going to talk to you about. Our past discussions had been what I call a gentile Bible bash. It basically consisted of us stating our beliefs and then the other trying to prove it wrong using the Bible. It was getting us no where. Finally I told him that we had a message to share. We taught him the Restoration and all was well until we got to the great apostasy. He then told us that the scripture in Amos was talking about the apostasy that was going to happen before Christ and not one after him. I then took him to places in the New Testament about the coming apostasy and he shook them off saying that, that is not what the scriptures meant, but eventually we got past that concern. We then got to Joseph Smith and he said that he doesn't believe that he could be a prophet, but then I asked him what if God told him that he was. And he then said that if that was true, then it would change his whole view of the Bible and how he views God. I then testified that this was true but I felt prompted to share with him my whole and complete testimony using a special experience that I had as a youth. I told mom my experience, if she remembers. After that he said that the devil can send visions as well, and that I had been deceived. My companion then shared a special experience of his own, which with the two together did shake him to the very center. The spirit in the room was so strong that he could not shake it off of him. His expression was one of almost fear. You could tell on his face that he could tell it was true. He then said that he would read the Book of Mormon, but that he wanted us to read the Bible and look for things that would tell us that our faith wasn't true. I told him that I would do it if he read the Book of Mormon. What he doesn't know, is that I've already read the Bible and anyone who truly understands what it means would know then that this is the only true Church by following what is written in the book with exactness. But the key is the understanding. 
There were many things that happened this week of which were miracles. We also used the priesthood to heal a member in the ward of his pain. I do not speak of these things to boast of myself for I know that if God wasn't there with us at those moments, that these things wouldn't have been possible. I know the priesthood to be the very power of God and that when used with faith and complete righteousness all things are possible. 
The one downside was the loss of our car this week and on Saturday, we had to bike about 40 miles and we got fried doing it (sunburned). We need to get some sunblock. Now it seems that we are being tried to see if we will crack because our legs always seem to be tired as well as the wind seems to always be against us. One thing is certain, I will have thunder thighs by the end of this.

I hope that those medical issues will be resolved and that you will be well again soon. I have not been back to that Bible study group yet because you can't get there by bike, so we would have to get a member to come with us. I hope that things will keep going well with all of you and that you can be a blessing in someone's life. Keep trying and keep having faith and things will work for your good.

Love,
Elder Thiel

Elder Justin Thiel

3/17/14

So I found out on Saturday that we will be loosing our car and that this area is becoming a bike area this week.. I have a bike. I got one that an elder left behind so in that way I'm good. It needs some new tires though. This is going to force the ward to have to take action though, and I think that is why the Lord took away the car. Most of the people we see live 15 miles away and can't be reached by bike because you have to use a high-way to get there, so members are going to have to take us there. Me and the other missionaries are going to teach the combined 5th Sunday lesson and its going to be on missionary work. We are going to talk about some things as well as teach them how to teach the first lesson and how they can approach their friends with this kind of stuff without it being threatening.

This week we had some interesting things happen. I felt that we needed to go to Walmart. So we did. I wanted to get an I-tunes gift card so that I could get some music that I can listen to on the mission because I have none, (that's why I wanted the I-tunes info). So we went to get one and I couldn't decide on how much I should get. So we to some other things and I grabbed on in the front of the store and we were going through the self checkout. I realized that you have to go through a line to by an I-tunes gift card, so I went to a line that was a little longer than the rest. My companion wanted me to go to one that was shorter, but I felt like we should stay in this line. A man got in line behind us and started talking to us. He knew who we were and asked how long we had been out. He then told us that he had just moved here and had talked to elders in the past. He said that he is a Baptist that is looking for the truth. He said that we had been on his mind for a long time and that he wanted us to come to his house and talk to him. So we got his info down. We saw him this week too, and he's really cool. He is a little set in his ways but I feel that the spirit will work on him.  He said that if he is wrong that he wants God to correct him. We had some other experiences just like that this week where we were lead by God to people who we wouldn't of found on our own. Referals from the Lord are the best!
These next weeks are going to be the make or break-point for this area. We are going to try our hardest to make the most of what we have been given. I have a feeling that the Lord is going to take care of the rest. The Lord is trying to work hard with this ward to bring it back to what it once was and we are going to help it get there.

I hope that you all have a great week!

Love,
Elder Thiel

Elder Justin Thiel

This week was pretty good. Me and my companion did a lot of tracting but we did find reasonable success while doing it. This week we got a lot of new investigators. One of them is named Johnny Goodman. He is working to be a minister at his church. He was a refferal that we got last Monday. He wanted a free bible from us, but he also agreed to hear the message that we share. It was a good experience, the first lesson went over well. We went back the second time and that was an interesting time.. so we found out that he is an Aristotle ( its kind of like a penicostal). We taught him about the Book of Mormon and he started bringing up some scriptures in the bible. One of them was in Timothy. It was Paul talking to Timothy about some slaves and following their master but putting the Lord first. the way that he used this was that we can follow any "master" or church as he put it, as long as they follow God. This guy took it completely out of context.. he also told me that God was a spirit and that God and Jesus Christ are the same person etc.. I've heard it all before. That really bugs me when they do that. The guy thought that he had won and baffled me but I wasn't going to have it. I tend to be really bold and blunt with people and I tend to sometimes be overbearing because I can't stand false doctrine. I was about to attack the guy's logic using his bible but the spirit made me hesitate.. So I held my peace because I felt that the Lord was going to show me the way I needed to go but I had to wait for something. So then he went from scripture to scripture and then asked me if I knew the 7 denominations of Christ's church that he set up. At that moment the spirit was just like he's all yours now. So I told him I didn't know of 7 denominations that Chirst set up. I told him I only know of one church that Christ set up. I then went to Eph 1:10 and some other scriptures about to apostasy. After that I testified boldly about Christ's one true church and how it has been restored and this guy was totally baffled. I testified of the Book of Mormon and its importance. I used the analogy of a point and how with one point you can't draw any line through it any way you want and I told him that this was the bible and that's why there are so many churches. Then I showed him what happens if you draw a second point. I showed him that you can only draw one line through it. I then told him that this is why the Book of Mormon is so important and one of the reasons that God brought it forth. He then said that he would really read it and pray to know if these things are true. He also wants us to go to his church with him this Saturday. I have high hopes for this guy and I feel that this guy is going to be a catalyst for something that's supposed to happen in this area. We had some other awesome experiences like this one this week.

As district leader I have to conduct district meetings on Tuesdays and decide who is going to teach us during them and what they have to teach on. I have to collect everyone's numbers in my district for the week to report in to the zone leaders. I have to come up with goals for my district as well as give help to anyone in my district who may need it. I also have to be an example to everyone in my district and my area is supposed to be a example to everyone in my district. In all honesty being a district leader isn't very hard at all. 

So that was a little bit of my week. There is so much that happened this week that I could fill a book with things to say. One thing I will talk about though is something I found while in mormon.org time this week. I read a talk called out of weakness he will become strong or something like that. The talk is about Joseph Smith. While I was reading this it really just hit home. The talk describes some of the weaknesses that Joseph had, like his limited education and art of speech, and how that only through God he was able to overcome them. The talk then goes through some scriptures like Ether 12:26 I think that talks about why we have weaknesses. It then talks about how we have weaknesses so that we can understand that we need God but once we know this, if we turn to God with full purpose of heart then with the Lord make those weaknesses strengths. I just felt the spirit just whisper to me and chastise me in the most loving way. Thoughts came into my head. They said you need to stop relying on yourself. Your weakness in your knowledge. If you want the success that you desire you need to solely rely on Me. I will tell you what to say and speak, and then will you have the spirit of power. It went something like that. I realized that my confidence in my understanding of what I teach has lead me to pride. There is still so much that I need to work on. The Lord humbled me and I plan on keeping it that way. I'm going to start leaning on Him more as I teach as well as when I contact people. The second that you realize that you are weak and on your own, you can't do it. Then will the Lord make you strong and you shall accomplish it. I have a sure testimony of this now. I would invite all of  you to take some time and read this article on your own. It's on lds.org the picture of it has Joseph Smith in like a patriot suit, in the church history section.

I hope that you all have a great week and I love all of you!

Love,

Elder Thiel                  

 

We had an interesting week this week. We didn't get as much done as we could have because of zone conference on Thursday as well as interviews with the president on Friday. We have quite the drive to get there. It takes us about an hour one way and then zone conference was 3 and a half hours long so that day was basically used up with all that. The same with Friday.
We did go to a Bible study with Johnny at his Aristotle church.. that was interesting. The pastor there is a woman and the spirit wasn't there at all. We also had a "prophet" in our mists while we where there. People were given the opportunity to bear testimony before the meeting started so I took that opportunity and I bore testimony of the Savior. They asked us if we wanted to teach, but since it was the first time there we said that we just wanted to observe this time. The pastor wasn't very prepared so they just took us to a random chapter in Isaiah. They asked us to come back and next time we can teach so we are going to take that chance. I think that Johnny felt the difference in when we teach and when his pastor teaches because he wants to come hear my companion teach in church in 2 weeks so we have high hopes for that.
This week we are going to try and get the ward here more involved in the work. We are going to try and get the bishop to come out teaching with us and other ward members. For the work to move forward here, the members are going to have to get more involved so we're are trying our best to give them opportunities where they can.
Me and my companion are going to work harder this week. We both have the feeling that there is more that we could be doing here then we are currently doing. I'm praying and fasting to know what and how to do it. We have found more people to teach then ever before but the biggest struggle is to get them to church. If they don't come to church, then they cant be baptized and if they don't come to church, baptizing them won't mean anything. The members are very hesitant to give rides here and it doesn't help that most people in this area don't have transportation. It's a puzzle that we are trying to solve.
That's really cool to hear about Johnny! You should give them my email and give me theirs so we can keep in touch while we're in the mission field. He leaves really soon. They didn't give him much time to prepare, haha. I can't wait to hear where Jordan is going. You need to get me his email. I want to talk to him before he leaves so as soon as possible please.
As for that scripture, it is truth. Many people like the ones you talked to are trapped in a world where there is no hope, joy, purpose, or direction, their hearts fail them. That's because in the world, those things don't exist. Those things only come from one place and often the answer is right in front of them but they just cant see it. Satan works this way to bring down many. The only thing that can help them is Jesus Christ. Many people don't think that this is the solution they're looking for, in fact it is the last thing they think would help sometimes, but once they let it in the solution becomes clear. Using the atonement of Jesus Christ can do more then just heal us of our sins it can also heal us from ourselves. Living and following the gospel of Jesus Christ can change behavior faster and better then the study of behavior itself can. It is said in the scriptures by Jesus Christ "come all of you that labour and are heavy laden, and i will give you rest" (Matt 11: 28-30). Those who want to be healed need only seek it, but the key is desire. I hope that could be of any help. I wish I had more time to speak on the matter for I have personal experience with it, but this I can bear short testimony of: I know that if any wish to be healed from these afflictions, you must come unto Christ and seek it. You can seek medicine but that only nulls the pain and doesn't fix the problem causing it. If you turn to Him who is mighty to save, you will be healed of anything. I know that through utilizing the power of His atonement, that our burdens and sorrows will become light. His atonement has real power that we don't fully comprehend. If we live what he taught and search the scriptures, we will find where the true happiness, purpose, joy and peace lies. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
I hope that you all have a great week! I love all of you love,
Elder Thiel