Hi everyone,
Alright. There is more exciting news.
Sister Lugo went back to Temple Square : (. Sister Winder and I were feeling it the day after. We felt a huge whole in the companionship. I LOVE that girl. But anyway. At about 4:30 on Wednesday (a day after she left), I
got a call from President Hutchings. There was a new sister missionary coming in from Temple Square and guess where he decided to send her! That is right... HERE! We were so excited. Then he reminded me that she knows nothing about proselyting. She just talks to people, gets referrals, and gives tours. So basically, I have TWO greenies! I got really nervous. And the first two days she got here she really didn't talk all that much... so that made me even more nervous.
I got a Priesthood Blessing. Things are going so well now. Her name is Sister Yao. It is pronounced like the guy on 'Mulan'... (go grab Jane and Holly) At the pond scene where they are bathing and the guy says "I'm Yao: King of the Rock, and theres nothing you girls can do about it".
What a fabulous week this has been! I went on exchanges to McMinnville this week for a couple of days. Things are going so well there! As I told you, in this month Melissa, Allie, Brian, and Angel have already been baptized there. I don't know if I told you much about Donna and her 4 children. But while I was there on exchanges, we set baptismal dates with her three sons! Jenifer already had a date for this last saturday. Donna is still trying to quit smoking but we knew that this would be great motivation for her to join her family in this covenant. I also got to see Paul, a man that we found in the walmart parking lot about 3 weeks ago. Anyway, Jenifer, Ethan, Anthony, Johnathon, and Paul were all baptized this last weekend!!!! That is 9 new followers of Christ in the McMinnville Ward! At first, Satan was really working hard on me... telling me that they were baptized as soon as I left. But after really praying and asking Heavenly Father why I was on the exchange and why all of these people getting baptized after I left, the Spirit taught me that Heavenly Father was blessing me with a chance to be a small part of the fruits of my labors. It is so funny how Satan can twist things. After I received that witness from the Holy Ghost, the Adversary's kniving pokes didn't affect me anymore. Sister Lugo is leaving us tomorrow so I will be taking over the area. I am feeling alright about it. But, I am certainly going to miss Sister Lugo. I love that girl! She is rockin awesome. She is going back to her mission on Temple Square, so if any of yall want to go see her there, I am sure she'd love to meet you. Trent and Allen, you could take a tour from her in Spanish. : ) She gives English tours too. She has very good English. Anyway, nuff said. I love yall. Thank you so much for all your support... that being temporal, emotional, and spiritual. Here are some pics, since I promised some. Love, Sister Thacker
What a crazy week! My goodness, I love this work!
Things are good here in Cookeville. We had interviews with President Hutchings this last week. He issued an interesting little idea for our companionship. He wants to try it with our trio before it becomes effective with the rest of the mission. I hope that we will be a good representation of what will really happen when this idea spreads to the masses. : )
NO MORE TRACTING! That is right. For the next two weeks we are not allowed to tract at all. I must admit that the Spirit was preparing me for this one. We usually tract a total of 2 hours a day. It is 15-20 minutes here and there so it really wasn't bothering me. But, when the Prophet tells us that the most effective use of our time in finding people to teach is by working with the members, it got me to thinking. Of course it only works when referrals are given to the missionaries, but they are much more valuable.
So, here is my plug this week... GIVE THE MISSIONARIES REFERRALS! And if you don't have anyone to give them, start expanding your social circles. Get out in the community, share your testimony. Your brothers and sisters NEED this!
Alright I am off my soap-box. But we had a neat experience this last week with a member-referral... well, two actually. One of them was Hispanic so we gave it to the Spanish Elders. They have a return appointment with the referral and her husband tomorrow! We were given another referral and he asked us to give him a copy of the Book of Mormon! Just think, even if these two individuals don't accept the Gospel, they will at least have heard/read the message! They've already seen the fruits of it because these two members are AMAZING examples. I know that member involvement in Missionary work is KEY.
Anyway, I will step down from my soap-box. But pray for us, we need to have just as many new investigators as we have in the past. We are still allowed to street-contact, but no more knocking on doors. And quite frankly, you wont catch me crying... I am so excited! It will be a new adventure.
I want to let Emily Williams, Emerald Smith, Kacey Jo, Brittney, Elizabeth, and anyone else who sent me a letter recently in the mail, that I will be writing you today. I love yall, sorry it is taking so long.
Oh, and I love you Sis. Gieseke, Sis Turner, Sis Lasson (and Parker), Sis Frost, Sis Gregory, Sis Elliot, Sis Hathaway, Sis Mitchell, and anyone else that is looking at my blog from Mt. Juliet!
If you could keep Travis, Herbert, Ashley, Edmond, and Nasser in your prayers that would be great.
Oh, Angel was baptized on Saturday from McMinnville! I worked with her a bit before I left! Her mother will be getting baptized soon too! They are such a great family!
Love you!
Sister Thacker
My goodness, what a whirlwind this week has been. I am pretty sure that at some point in the past I have entitled my e-mail "Opposition in all things", but it is SO TRUE! I will alternate between the pleasant and not-so-pleasant events so you can see what I mean...
I actually have two new companions! Sister Lugo is from Mexico. She is a Temple Square Sister and she is SUPER cute! She has such a likeable personality. She will be heading back to temple square at the beginning of next month. : ( Sister Winder is my new little companion. She is fromBlanding, Utah. She is really awesome. She is going to be a rockin' missionary.
Still no sign of my wallet. I am pretty sure that it is floating around in McMinnville somewhere since the last time I used it was on Monday at the Walmart. It is sad because it had my Driver's license, my debit cards, my temple recommend! Ahh! But I have felt alright about all of it. Lets just hope that I won't have my identity stolen. Sorry for all the hassle mom and dad. I am calling the DMV with permission from President Hutchings today. You will probably be receiving a phone call from Sister Denton if there is anything else that needs to be done from your end. It is probably even more difficult since I don't carry the same last name as yall either. : ( Sorry for all the hassle.
Burgess Falls is a rockin' place. I have had a couple of neat dreams to help me understand the responsibility that has been placed on my shoulders as far as the future of the area, members, and missionaries goes. Pray for me... I need to rip up this place.
So in the midst of switching areas, stressing about training, and baptizing, and loosing important items, and the like... I was diagnosed by a Doctor in the McMinnville ward with Eczema. Yep. My finger-tips are ridiculously tender. I don't know if you remember Mom, but about two years ago my finger-tips started pealing like crazy and no one knew what was wrong with me. Well, it did it again. It is quite a nuisance. I have been praying that my fingers will be healed. They look pretty bad and it is a little embarrassing. I have been putting massive amounts of lotion, Cortisone cream and Neosporin on them. Hopefully it will go away soon. Ahhh!
Oh, best news ever! Melissa Tate and her daughter Allie in McMinnville were baptized yesterday. I have been working with her for all 4 months that I was there. President Hutchings let me go back for the baptism. It was the first one that I cried at. Her journey to water's edge was similar to that of LeeAnn's in Mt. Juliet. I was SO HAPPY to see her finally make that commitment to God. It was definitely one of the happiest days of my life. She knows it is all true. She is going to keep her covenant with Heavenly Father!
I'll send pictures of the baptism, my new companions, and if you are lucky, my deteriorating fingers (Ha!) in next week's e-mail. I left my camera in McMinnville yesterday... Yes, I am loosing my mind. I feel like I am turning into a crazy person. Well, I guess I have always been one, but it is becoming uncontrollable. ; )
I love yall so much. Say a couple prayers for me. My goodness, missionary work is a blast. It is a good thing that I know the things I do about Heavenly Father. All of this stuff is actually quite funny in that light.
Love,
Your crazy Tennessee Sister,
The Thack-Attack
Crazy news!
1) Brian P, got baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can you tell I am excited! It was so fabulous. He has changed so much. He still has a lot to learn but lucky for him, he gets the Holy Ghost!
2) So transfer calls came! I am leaving Mac Towne... : ( I am so sad about that. But, I am going to the Burgess Falls Ward located in Cookeville, TN. It is a hopping place! Not far from McMinnville. There are FOUR SETS of missionaries there right now. It is booming! The crazy part is... I'm pregnant! Ok, ok, Mom, Joni, and grandma's: not REALLY pregnant, but I am going to Train! I am so excited for my new little missionary.
So here is the scoop. Sister Lutz is leaving and she has been basically 'field training' a Temple Square Sister (Sister Lugo) for one transfer in that area. My greenie and I will be in a trio with Sister Lugo for 2-3 weeks before they ship her back to Salt Lake City to finish the rest of her mission. So basically I am white-washing the area and training. I am scared, but excited. PRAY FOR ME!!!
Sister Williams is going home this transfer. : ( My goodness I am going to miss that girl. But anyway, Sister Goff, my comp now, will be training here in McMinnville too. I am so excited for her. She is rockin'. I made her promise to get Melissa K., Melissa T., Donna and the fam, and Angel baptized. I am going to miss this place so much. I love the ward, I love the work, I just love the people.
In answer to your question mom, I got a picture in the mail from Amy. It is SO cute. Sister Goff loved it! You can feel free to send me more though to look at if you so desire. Don't worry about sending the pants. I can make it that much longer without them. Really.
I'm glad you and Addison liked the birthday card! Yay! My companion was glad to see that one mailed off... I opened it about 4 times a day for the two weeks that I had it. : )
Tell everyone hello, including Grandpa Dick and Patrice since they are now a part of the house hold. Give all the family of mine big hugs from me: Mom and Joni.
I love yall. Pray for me. I have a lot expected of me in this upcoming transfer. Ahhhh!
Love,
Sister Thacker
> Just Pics for the blog this week.
> Pray for Brian P., Melissa T, Melissa K, and Donna and
> children.
