Turkey Lurkey

Hola!
Well, Family. It is almost Thanksgiving. We currently have three different invitations to member’s homes in the ward. It will most definitely be interesting. I don't know how much I will want to eat because we are on bikes this week. That combination makes me a little nauseous. And I don't really want any more vomit stories for the mission. One will suffice : )My goodness, the scriptures are amazing! I love being able to read them every morning. I know that if I didn't have a firm testimony of them, there is no way I would be doing what I am right now. Missionary work is hard! I have been reading from the beginning of Alma the last couple of days. Alma is a stud! He knows so much about the Plan of Salvation. He understands what our roles are in this life and what we need to accomplish. Yall should read the first 12 chapters of Alma if you get the chance to this week. I LOVE Alma and Amulek. We will be having a Missionary Christmas Concert for the month of December. I am greatly looking forward to it! I get to sing Alto. We had a practice after Zone Conference this last week and we will be practicing after transfers again on the 2nd of December. I love music. It is so uplifting, especially when it talks about the Savior. I love Thanksgiving! I have been thinking about what I am most thankful for the last little while. I have compiled a list.... a little dorky, I know.1. My Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that I would be nothing without his sacrifice. I know that He loves me and wants me to keep trying to be more like Him everyday. I am grateful for His willingness to take upon Himself my sins and transgressions.*2. I am thankful for my family and friends. I know that it is through your continued thoughts and prayers that I have made it this far both on my mission and in my life. What a great blessing it is to have family that I know will support me through thick and thin. This last little while has been more of a trial than anticipated and I know that your letters of encouragement have helped me through it. 3. Prophets and the Book of Mormon. I know that this is one of the greatest ways that God has shown His love to His children. We are blessed with men holding the authority to help us understand the Doctrine of Jesus Christ. It is so simple and sweet. 4. The Plan of Salvation. I know that I am forever bound to my husband Tyler because of my Father in Heaven's Plan of Happiness. What a wonderful blessing! I was at a member’s house last night talking with them about their missionary efforts. They asked me about Tyler. I talked with them and shared my testimony of how I know that he is doing the same thing that I am right now. He is teaching everyone that never had the opportunity to hear of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Isn't this miraculous!?! Heavenly Father gives us so many chances. He loves us that much.*Speaking of transgressions, Sister Day told me the other day that Tira Missu has coffee in it! How come no one told me!?! I think I ordered some when I was with the Thackers for lunch one time.... totally embarrassed! I went into the bathroom right after I learned this from Sister Day and repented... Ooops!Well all, I love you and will miss being with you this Thanksgiving. If nothing else, know that my prayers are with you. May God's work continue forward here in the Latter Days. We have been blessed with so much as members of His church. We were foreordained to be representatives of Him because He knows of our talents, abilities, and testimonies and their influence on the world around us.With love, Sister ThackerP.S. Joni- Tell Nicole congrats from me! That is awesome that she got married! I need pictures!

Here's Jon's letter to Cassie and her response:


Dear Cassie,
I guess mom already sent you a letter, but she didn't mention anything about the BIG GAME on Saturday. The Thacker's are crying in their cherrios the last few days. Utah beat BYU 48 - 24. It was an exciting game and was fairly close the first half. But, BYU had 6 turn overs to Utah's 0 turnovers. Lots of interceptions. It could have been 68 - 24. Utah had the better team this year. It us our turn.Have a happy U of U day... ;-)Dad

Dad,
I have been crying in my cherrios as well. Sad week for the BYU fans. Dad, Patrice, Allen, Juan, Ryan, Terry, Jeremy, Brian, Scott, Guillaume, Robb, Heather, Elizabeth, Erik, and James: I don't want to hear anything about it. : ) I am a missionary, I am more Christlike than I was last year... so no need to get me back ; )I love you all!Sister Thacker

Thank you Sister Turner!

This is a photo from Sister Turner's Blog, they all got to go to the Cheessecake factory!

Bikin' Belle

Ok. For the record... Bellevue is part of Nashville. It is in the southwest corner I believe. It is right outside of downtown Nashville so we have a whole mixture of people. I have never seen so many different denominations in one place: Catholic, Methodist, Jewish, Baptist, Hindu... you name it.We are now part-time car in Bellevue (this is a first for Sisters in the Tennessee Nashville Mission) so we have spent this last week biking and riding the bus. It has been hard, especially in the cold and rainy conditions, but I am thoroughly convinced that the Lord will bless me if I do not complain. : ) I am getting some amazing leg muscles with all the biking though, there are a lot of hills here. That was a really sad story about moms work. : ( Heavenly Father wouldn't have taken that old person home though unless it was time. We actually go to Old Folks Homes quite frequently. We like to visit with them and sing them Hymns and prepare them for the spirit world. I love the South, down here that is a perfectly normal thing to do and they love it. In answer to Momma's question, we do get to listen to music. They are quite liberal on what we can listen to. Personally, I like to stick pretty close to the Hymns however because that is what helps me feel the Spirit most easily. I actually was going to ask for more CDs for Christmas. I have a lot of stuff on my IPOD at home that I would like to have, I think all the CDs are there somewhere too. If you check in my storage unit, the box is labeled 'Media'. Anyway, Mom, I do want to have a copy of that Jenny Oaks Baker CD that I gave you before I left (the violinist). There is also one song that I would really like to have by James O’Neil Miner called "First Dawn" (I think) maybe it is "First Light" it is that pianist that we saw in Nauvoo. That is the only song that I really really enjoy of his. Also, I don't know if you could talk to Joni but there was a Tribute to Joseph Smith that we went and saw last Christmas at Temple Square that was completely composed by a graduate from BYU. This tribute is not to be confused with the "Nashville Tribute to Joseph". It has a song in it called "How Great the Goodness of our God" that I absolutely love! I love the entire CD. They might have it at Deseret Book. We can also listen to talks on CD. I have a lot on my IPOD again. Aunt Julie and Toby actually have all my tracts from my IPOD on an external hard drive so they could burn CDs from those files... that way you wont have to spend any money. Oh, and I get to play the piano at District Meetings... so pretty much once a week.The only other thing I was really going to ask for Christmas was a new Missionary Bag. Sister Day has one that I really like. She got it from Sister Missionary Mall but I think it was a little over-priced there and I don't want you to spend that much on a bag. Maybe you could find on EBay or Amazon. It is basically a bag that has hip straps so all the weight is not on your shoulders. I will attach a picture of it. It is a smaller bag too so I wont be allowed to put so much in it... my back is starting to get a little angry with me from my backpack. Thanks for all the updates on the fam again. It is nice to hear how everyone is. I am praying for you everyday and it sounds like those prayers are being answered. Send me some pictures in the mail for the Holidays. I want some updated family and friend Photos. Keep praying for me. Pray for our mission. Pray that we will be able to bring 70 people to the waters of baptism this month. We met our goal of 50 last month and we are well on our way this month. Pray that the people in Bellevue will be spared from the fiery darts of the adversary and Anti-Mormon Literature, which is our biggest battle. I have to keep reminding myself that we can conquer anything over Satan; we have Jesus Christ on our side. We have the testimonies of the Prophets in the Bible backing us up as well as the Book of Mormon. This is Christ's Church, and it will not fall again before the Second Coming of the Lord. I look forward to that day!Love,Sister Thacker

Bellevue... the Beautiful

Dear Family and Friends-Well this week was interesting. We keep seeing little miracles everyday. The Lord has required more diligence from us as missionaries than in any other area it seems. I have also begun to understand a value of a companion. Sister Day wasn't doing so well emotionally and spiritually this last week which made it difficult to keep going on my own. I did though... The Lord wanted both her and I to realize that it must be a unified effort. He knows how to teach. : )After hearing the results of this election I must admit I was a little scared as well. Luckily, our government has a ‘checks and balances system’ so the power cannot be completely in one man's hands. I think you are exactly right Mom, ‘If we are prepared, we shall not fear.’ I know that things may get harder, but I also know that what ever comes our way can be handled with the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We have been given power to overcome anything that comes as long as we remain faithful and never deny what we know to be true both in spirit and deed. I keep reflecting on the words from the Prophets at General Conference. I can't wait to read those talks again, we get supplies somewhat slowly. It was interesting how at this last General Conference they didn't mention Food Storage. Personally, I think they have given us enough warning and now it is up to us to heed the council or not... same with Family Home Evening and Temple Attendance. The warnings have been sounded in regard to each topic and we will be held accountable for what we sincerely listened to and acted upon at judgment. I have been reading the Book of Mormon again at a fairly quick pace. I wanted to finish it by the end of the year. It is cool how when I read it quickly, the story line connects a lot more easily. We are so blessed to have such a record! It is sad that so many members of the church take it for granted; everyone should be reading from it daily!It is getting really cold here! It is a different kind of cold. It is much worse than Utah because of the Humidity. Because of this, fashion is somewhat on the back of my mind now... sad to say: I have turned into a Frumpy Sister Missionary!Well, I guess that is all for this week. The Elders are with us again and they are getting impatient. : ) Gotta love the Elders.Love,Sister Thacker

CRAZY Bellevue!

Hi Family!
It looks like yall had a really fun Halloween! Mom, you are awesome. Sister Day thought your hole was totally cool! (BTW: Have you lost weight mom? you are looking awfully thin!)
Bellevue was interesting this week. We are getting to know the members really well. It really is such a small world. I found out this weekend that our Bishop's wife, Sister Haglund served her mission with Grandma and Grandpa Thacker in the Washington D.C. Visitor's Center! Isn't that crazy!?! I thought so. She loves them so much. We talked about what great people they are. Her maiden name is Sister Thomas... I think. Anyway, Joni, ask Grandma and Grandpa if they remember her. I am giving her their address information because she wants to write them.
This ward is awesome! It is like Mt. Juliet all over again. There are some really strong families here and they all do their callings. Imagine that! They are all very young and have two kids each so it is difficult to remember all their names. Working on it. We have been working with the members very heavily this time around. We are following the advice of our wise Mission President. The only problem is we don't see direct results, or changes very quickly. This kind of missionary work takes more time because we play the role of a cheerleader for the members than anything else.
We rode the bus the other day. That was... interesting. We talked to quite a few people. We also stayed in the mission home the night before last. A Spanish speaking sister, Hermana Munoz had her appendix taken out. President and Sister Hutchings had to leave for the night so they asked us to stay there with her. It was really nice to sleep in a good bed; I have kind of forgotten what that feels like. I suppose my grumblings mean nothing to my readers who slept on the floor throughout their missions. : (
Do you remember those members that I really connected with in Franklin when I was there for a week last transfer? Well, they found out that we had moved to Bellevue and that we had nothing. They came to our apartment and gave us SIX BOXES of food and supplies!!! I couldn't believe how kind they were to us. I wanted to cry. I wish I had their address so I could write them a thank you letter. Their generosity is so great. I hope that I will be able to repay them someday.
That is cool that Jared has come home. Tell him he needs to write me. Did he ever get my letter? I want to ask him questions so I can become a better missionary.
I was reading the Book of Mormon the other morning... (imagine that!) and it blew me away. If you want to know what it is like in the south... the kind of people that we deal with daily... read 2 Nephi 25-29. I KNOW that these prophesies come from our day! Sometimes I wonder if they saw me... I have heard these exact responses from people here... it is CRAZY! The South is so different than any other place on earth. If anyone ever wanted to see the major effects of the Apostasy: ie false churches, confusion, distortion of truths, etc. all they need to do is come to Tennessee.
Anyway, I forgot my camera today, sorry there aren't any pictures. I will send some next week. Sister Day is in that group photo I sent a couple weeks ago. She is a brunette, round faced, very cute. : )
I love yall and hope that my e-mail finds you well. Keep praying for me. Pray that we will be led to those that are ready for the gospel. I know they are here somewhere. I will keep looking. Yall just keep praying.
Love, Sister Thacker