Mi Familia y Amigos-

I am back in Mt. Juliet again! This time I am with Sister Williams! Hooray! I love that Sister. We have been having a lot of fun together. I will be here on exchanges until Thursday of this week. Transfers are a week from Tuesday and some crazy things will be happening then. We are loosing some excellent missionaries this transfer. One of our Assistants is going home, as well as one of the Office Elders and a Couple Zone Leaders. Our Mission President is such a good man. I respect him so much. He has a lot on his plate right now.

Sister Buhler (my MTC companion, awesome sister) had to go back to Salt Lake for a surgery. She had to get her gall bladder taken out. She will be returning to the mission next week I think.

We had an awesome lesson with a couple the other night. They fed us dinner and asked us a whole bunch of questions. I feel bad for people in the South sometimes. All they want is truth. There are so many around us here that come close but are still so far away. These people have all been so burned out by churches and their 'almost truths.' This couple didn't think it was possible to find a church that they would be able to agree on everything. But the lesson was very very good. The Spirit was there so strong and Sister Williams and I taught a whole bunch to them. Practically all the lessons in one setting because of all the questions they asked. They are golden. I wish I could stay here to see their progress.

I think I will be leaving Bellevue this transfer. There are a few rumors going around about it. But I will let yall know next Monday!

Love ya,

Sister Thacker

2009

Well...

I can't believe it is almost 2009! We had an awesome Christmas. It was great to hear the fam on the phone! Don't worry Dad, I am not too trunky from it. I think it actually had the opposite effect. I am super excited to keep going now!

Last night I think I had one of the most spiritual experiences I have had on my mission. We were teaching a man named Clarence that lost his wife about 2 years ago. He has become a little bitter and has lost a little faith because of it. In the middle of the lesson I shared a scripture from Alma 7 about how Christ suffered for every injustice that this life has to offer. I began bearing my testimony of how I knew that this was true. The words that preceded this were completely of the Spirit. I have never felt like such an instrument as I did at that moment. I know that the words that came from my mouth were completely what God would have Clarence hear at that exact moment. I cannot even recall exactly what was said but by the time I was finished everyone was crying.

I know that we can be instruments for the Lord if we will just remain worthy vessels. When we keep our end of the Covenants that we make with God, many things will happen that are unexplainable and far to spiritual to ever relay in our human language. I am so grateful that our Heavenly Father loves us enough to allow mortals such as ourselves have immortal experiences. What a great blessing it is.

There is a quote that was in the bathroom of a member's home that I really liked, I am paraphrasing of course:

"We are not Mortal beings having Immortal experiences, we are Immortal beings having the Mortal experience."

Have a Happy New Year... Party wisely for me!
Attached are pictures of Christmas Eve.

Love,
Sister Thacker

Christmas full of Joy!

Family and Friends-Confession: I have been a little home-sick this Christmas. Our Father in Heaven is so mindful of all of His children: even a little missionary like me. At church on Sunday we had a Christmas program. Sister Day and I sang "Oh Come All Ye Faithful". Prior to our musical number, one of the Sisters in the ward gave a talk on her Christmas experience in the mission field in Venezuela. She was talking about how lonely she was and how upset she was to be spending Christmas Day with no where to go and without her family. Her and her companion were walking down the road Christmas Day, feeling sorry for themselves when they saw a man walking towards them. They began to teach him. They sat down and taught him the first discussion by the beach. She said that as he walked away from them with a Book of Mormon in his hand, she realized that this was the sweetest thing that she would ever experience on a Christmas Day. Through that book, that man was going to learn more about Christ and His true nature. Through that book, he would come to understand his Heavenly Father's love for him and the great sacrifice that was made to show that love. I was a little emotional after that talk. But, we got up and sang. It felt like the angels of heaven were around us as we sang the words to that beautiful hymn: "Oh come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord". Multiple women came up to me afterward and said that they wished they could have recorded it and sent it to my parents so they could see that I was doing ok and I was taken care of.As I was sitting here, wondering what to write to yall. I opened my scriptures randomly to see what the Lord would have me know at this time. I started crying when the scriptures fell open to Jacob 5:75 that reads, "...And blessed art thou; for because ye have been diligent in laboring with me in my vineyard, and have kept my commandments, and have brought unto me again the natural fruit... behold ye shall have joy..."I hope yall have a Christmas full of Joy. May yall think about the amazing blessings we have because of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know He lives! I know He loves us all. I know that because of His sacrifice, I can be with my family and my God again someday!Merry Christmas!Love,Sister Thacker

Addison as Joseph in Primary Program (beard lips)

Puddles

Dear Family!

Ahhh, the chicken from the Farewell. I was actually thinking about that chicken just this last week. How much more do you have? I still feel bad about that... Addy looks so FUNNY! Who made that beard? I must say it was quite comical.

Well, this last week has been crazy sauce. There are so many things going on. Our ward is absolutely amazing! I love the members here. We set a baptismal date with a man named Robin. I don't know if I told yall about him. He is the nephew of the Russell family. He is almost 50 and VERY spiritual. I feel so blessed to be able to teach him. He wrote Sister Day and I a letter of how much we are loved by the Lord and how much He appreciates our service. I am going to get a copy of it. Yes, it made me cry.

Robin is so fantastic! I have never seen someone ask all the right questions or get all the right answers so quickly. It is like the ideal teaching environment. He reads all the assignments that we leave for him 2 to 3 times. He writes down questions that he has. He already has a testimony of the Book of Mormon and we have only taught the first lesson. He is so ready for baptism. If yall could pray for him that would be great. We all need your faith through your prayers.

I had one of those miserable days that everyone talks about in the mission. We didn't have the car this last week and it was FREEZING cold. We were walking all day and I bought a cheep umbrella at the Kroger. (Kind of like a Smith's). It was raining non stop. At first it was a little comical and Sister Day and I were handling the weather with a smile on our faces. But as the day progressed, we became miserable. At the peak of this misery, a car went through an oversized puddle right next to me and wall of water came crashing towards me... needless to say, whatever dry part that was left previous to this happening no longer was held sacred.

I am sure I didn't look to great, I certainly didn't feel it. All of our appointments fell through. There were snow warnings so President asked that all missionaries return home for the evening. They don't get snow out here, not like at home. It just rains a lot.

I know that this was just a test. The next day I found a new investigator in the Walmart who seems like she will be a good one. : ) Hooray!

Sister Albert, our Relief Society President, took us the the Opryland Hotel today for our Preparation Day. It was totally awesome. I will be sending some pictures home of that.

I love yall so much! I hope your Christmas festivities are leading your closer to a stronger testimony of the Savior. He loves us so much and wants us to come unto Him.

Love,
Sister Thacker

Christmas Time is Here

Dear Family and Friends-

What a week. It has been absolutely crazy with all these goals for the mission. I am getting so wrapped up in missionary work, sometimes I forget my first name. : ) I suppose all missionaries get to that point. It is weird to see it in letters and e-mails. It is kind of nice though too, to remember that I am still a person, not just a missionary. Kind of a weird thing...Things with Sister Day have gotten drastically better. We still don't agree on everything but we are both trying and the Lord is blessing us with understanding for each other. We have seen quite a few miracles in the last little while and I know it is because we are trying to make it work within the companionship. Thanks for the package Momma and Dad the candies were absolutely delicious! Thank you Thackers for the Christmas presents as well. I told my companion about my problem with curiosity and she has agreed to help me: The gifts yall sent are currently at the Elders Apartment... I figured that would be the only way to be good and also "Prove Larry to be right". : ) I know, I know, I am aweful! But it is working.Last week, Sister Day and I went over to one of the members homes and we made Raspberry Thumbprint cookies. They were absolutely delicious. Sister Day loves them so much that she bought all the ingredients and is making them again today. She is funny!We had a wonderful zone conference yesterday and I learned a lot. It was all about the Savior and the true doctrine in why we are sharing the news of the Restoration. It is so amazing how by learning about the Savior and the Atonement specifically that one can feel so different. I walked away wanting to be better. I wanted to share those feelings with others. It helped me to understand just how much the Savior really loves every single one of us. For me at times, love of this magnitude is incomprehendable. The Christmas season truly is such a special time. I hope yall can set apart some personal time to regain your testimony of the Saviors love for you and the importance of trying to change and repent everyday because of it. God just wants us to come home.Well my loves, I suppose that is all for now. Continue praying for me, things are definitly looking up!

I love yall!

Love,Sister Thacker

Home for the Holidays

Don't get too nervous. I am not coming home to Utah for the Holidays...I went on exchanges this last week with Sister Smith in Mt. Juliet!!! It was such an answer to our prayers. It was a very long exchange. We went from Monday to Saturday. Everyone involved had a positive experience and I think that Sister Smith and my friendship was strengthened 100 fold. I learned so much and was able to see a lot of friends from my birth-place. I came back to Bellevue just in time to teach the Gospel Doctrine/Gospel Principals/Youth Sunday School class. That was an interesting and somewhat positive experience.Sister Smith asked me about traditions that we had back home for Thanksgiving. I told her that we would decorate the Christmas tree that evening. When we got home that night, she pulled out a squished up tree that she had received from her sister the year before. We had fun decorating it... it took about 2 minutes. She is so sweet like that. Transfers are on Tuesday. Sister Day and I are staying in Bellevue. It has been hard but things are starting to look up. Our companionship is getting a lot better through a lot of prayers, blessing, and compromise. I know that the Lord has been stripping us of pride, it has been a very humbling experience for the both of us. Sister Williams and Sister Smith are switching places. So Sister Cordon and Sister Smith will be in Clarksville and Sister Williams is going to Mt. Juliet with Sister Neilson. Sister Buhler is finally leaving her Greenie Area. She will be switching places with Sister Zeller who was in McMinnville. Going back to the goals that were set as a mission for Oct. Nov. and Dec., I am not quite sure that I explained this before, so I will do it now. President Monson promised the Missions in the USA and Canada that they could double their baptisms for the last three months of this year from last years totals if they would start using the members to actively find people to teach. President Hutchings took that quite literally. We had 105 baptisms combined for Oct. Nov. and Dec. of 2007. To sustain this prophesy, our mission would need to get 210 by the end of the year in the last three months. We decided as a mission that we would baptize 50 in Oct., 70 in Nov., and 90 in Dec. Keep in mind that the highest number of baptisms this mission has seen in one month is 56. That was this last June. So we went forward with faith and in October, we reached 50, right on the dot! We were so excited! I just received an e-mail from President Hutchings that we had 64 baptisms for the month of November!!!We were 6 shy of our goal, but that number is a mission record! We need all of your prayers for December. We need to get close to 100 baptisms. It is so exciting to think that there are that many people that are accepting the gospel at this time! 104 people have been added to the records of the church in the Nashville Tennessee Mission in the last 2 months! We are so excited! Pray for us, we need it. Satan has been working SO hard on companionships these last two transfers. All the Sisters have been having problems and I know it is because the Adversary does not want us to succeed. Once I figured that out, I was determined not to let him win. Don't let Satan win!I have a challenge for yall. Will you invite the missionaries over to your home to teach you the first lesson? I know it will be great for all parties involved. Do it by the end of the month. I want to hear how it goes from everyone.Well All, I suppose that is all for now. Keep praying for us and I will do my best to find the Elect. I love you all and hope that yall had an excellent Turkey Day!Love, Sister Thacker