71 | Farewell

Serving the Lord in the Kansas Wichita Mission was and always will be the best decision I have ever made. My heart is full of gratitude for my experiences, the wonderful people I met, President and Sister McCuistion, all of my wonderful companions, fellow missionaries, our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. I was blessed with experiences that have changed my life for good. It was here in Kansas where I have come to know that Jesus is the Christ, The Book of Mormon is the word of God, and that we have a loving Heavenly Father who does answer our prayers and listens to us. We are all children of God. I will always remember my time here in the heartland of America and will thank my Father in Heaven everyday for my mission. It is because of our Savior, Jesus Christ that I am who I am today. He has changed me. I will always remember that if the Lord commands us to do something there is always a way! 1 Nephi 3:7 ( In the Book of Mormon ) says, ” And it came to pass that I, Nephi said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he hath commandeth them. ” I know the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true. I love my Savior and I know He lives! I love my mission in Kansas and will be forever grateful. Thank you everyone for your prayers, support, and love. See you all soon ❤️

71 | The Miracle of My Mission

Hello friends and family! I hope and pray you all had a wonderful week. It’s been beautiful weather here in Kansas. I love fall so much! 

This week our investigator that is working toward baptism Bryan is doing wonderful. He has been smoke free for 4 days. What a wonderful miracle. He is working toward being baptized later in October. He is reading and praying daily which is wonderful and such a blessing. We’re so grateful that the Lord placed him in our path. Throughout his life he has been prepared by the Lord to hear this wonderful message. He also came to church with us again and that was wonderful. We quickly realized that he needs fellowship and so we are prayerfully considering who he specifically needs. 

Serving with Sister Howell has blessed my life so much. She is an incredible missionary who is diligent unto the Lord. I will miss her dearly. We clicked when we first saw each other and it’s been the best ever since. She is one of my best friends and always will be. Unfortunately Sister Howell will be going to another area as the Junction City branch is being closed to sisters this transfer. Our hearts break as we have so many lovely people here but the elders will take good care of them. I want Sister Howell to know how much I love her and how much she has grown in her first six weeks. She is an incredible missionary who has changed my life for good. Thank you Sister Howell. I love you. 

I would love to say thank you to each and everyone of you and for those who are not reading this. Over the course of my mission I have felt many prayers not only on my behalf but those precious souls who were learning about the gospel. Thank you so much. Your prayers rescued me throughout my mission. Thank you for your letters, packages, emails and love. I will be eternally grateful for you all. Thank you for the love and support you showed my family. You all have changed my life for good. 

As I reflect on my mission my heart swells with gratitude to our Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ. I have been refined, changed, and blessed because of my mission. Every single person I met on my mission has blessed my life in an unique way that will never be forgotten. Being an instrument in the hands of God has been such a miracle in my life and I promise I will continue to be an instrument as I return home and for the rest of my life. How grateful I am for my mission. I will never forgot this time in my life.  Every moment on my mission has made me into the person I am today and this is all Because of our Beloved Savior Jesus Christ. I love Him. I know He is the Living Son of the Living God. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know Joseph Smith did see God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ in 1820. Because Jospeh asked such a sweet and sincere question we have the knowledge today that we can be with our families for eternity and that we can live with God again. We also know that it is the Atonement of Jesus Christ that makes Salvation possible. It is by the Spirit that I know these things to be true. I felt Peace, Love, and Joy as I have come to know the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored. As I read the Book of Mormon daily I feel a confirmation that is is true. Jesus Christ is at this head of His church. We have modern day prophets and apostles who reveal the Lords will to us so we may know how we can live with God again. I testify to you as you sincerely ask God to know these things are true or if you ask Him anything with a sincere heart and real intent He will answer you. We are His children. I will thank Him everyday for these precious truths and my mission and I say these things in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ Amen. 

See you all soon ️

Pictures: 

• It was 45 degrees and we look miserable but we do love the cold!! 
• Yay for having a cold during interviews ️
• Her first interviews with President! YAY! It was a great experience 
• Pray for Sister Howell as she deals with a sick companion hahaha no wonder no one answered their door that day. Yikes. 
• I just love her so much. 
• Butterfly season in Kansas is the best 🦋
• A wonderful sabbath day in the heartland 

70 | Come to Church

Hello everyone! I hope and pray you all had a wonderful week. This week’s email will be super short!

We had three wonderful people come to church! Bryan, Linda, and Ryan! They are all doing wonderfully. The Lord has truly been blessing us here in Junction City.

Please keep Bryan in your prayers! He is working toward baptism in the next few weeks!

This week I was really focusing on trusting the Lord. Our district leader invited us to read a talk by Elder Holland called ” Lord I Believe ” I would invite you all to read it. It’s so powerful and helps us to remember to always trust the Lord. I will post the link down below. Have a good week everyone!

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/04/lord-i-believe?lang=eng

I am so grateful to be here in Kansas and meeting all these wonderful people.

Pictures: 

• I am from California but my heart is in Kansas ️ 
• It’s not a great blog post without a car picture of Sister Howell & I. 
• Rainy days are our favorite ️☂️
• This is what we feel like at the end of Saturday night. We are ready for the sabbath 
• Sabbath Day pictures as always 

Week 69 | The Heavens Are Open

Hello hello everyone! It was such an incredible week to be a missionary! Oh my word! Words cannot express how happy being a missionary makes me. Lots of wonderful miracles happened this week! Wasn’t general Conference wonderful?! Oh my goodness. My prayers go out to Sister Hales and her family. I am so grateful for the Plan of Salvation. This round of General Conference I went in with three specific questions and all of them were answered throughout many talks. I am grateful to have experienced receiving direct revelation from a loving Father in Heaven. General Conference is truly the Lords Conference. 

Some miracles this week! My favorite part to share with everyone! Because this gospel is a gospel of miracles and we know and worship a God of miracles. We are working with a guy that we met last week! He is so sweet and just full of light! When we first met him he expressed he didn’t really believe in God and now 2 weeks later he is praying daily, reading the Book of Mormon daily, and he came to General Conference! We had some powerful lessons over Facebook video chat with him this week and we’re able to invite him to start living the word of wisdom! It was wonderful. We are so grateful the Lord let us to him. He is on the path to becoming a new creature in Christ. 

Another wonderful miracle we experienced was we were driving and there was a man walking on the side of the road. Sister Howell pulled over ( she is awesome! ) the prompting to talk to this man hit us like a ton of bricks. We got out of the car and started talking to him! We introduced the message that we share and we also invited him to General Conference and he came to the Sunday morning session! We were so happy to see him there. He is wonderful and the Lord has prepared him to hear our message. 

We didn’t get a chance to see the sweet Micronesian family we’re working with this week but we look forward to seeing them this coming week! And maybe we will each them a hymn and sing it with them! 🙂 

We had 4 investigators join us at General Conference this weekend. What a miracle to see them all listening to the Spirit and one of them even took notes! The Spirit was so strong as we were sitting there with them. 

My heart is full of gratitude that the heavens are open! God is communicating with us today! The question is do we have eyes to see and the ears to hear the messages He is sharing with us. I would invite you all to ask God what He is trying to teach you that day. We are His children and He loves us all so much. I know that Christ lives and again this Gospel is a gospel of miracles and we do worship a God of miracles. Have a great week! 

Pictures: 

• We matched for DM! And it’s getting colder ️ 
• Went to lunch with some of our district after District Meeting. #thebest
• This is the face we make when we knock doors. Just kidding!  
• Walmart has cool Wonder Woman PJs so we bought some! 
• So the past two weeks our branch mission leader has given us the opportunity to train members on how to share the gospel. Some people got to the meeting early so I decided to try and draw their favorite animals. I failed so badly so they wanted a picture! 
• Our Skype lesson with Bryan! 
• This is Chewy’s Halloween Halloween costume and I LOVE IT! 
• This Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is amazing and it is limited! Go get it 🙂 
• We love visiting Linda ️
• Falling in love with Junction City 
• My reaction when Sister Howell’s mom sent us Saturday Warriors’s MUSIC! THANK YOU! I totally lip synced to Sailing On! WE LOVE YOU! 
• I couldn’t be happier. Everyone needs a Sister Howell in their life. Shoutout to her first general Conference as a missionary! 
• We love each other so much we are so dysfunctional together 
• Sunday night dinner with the Whites! We love them 
• Super happy to be a missionary 

 

Love,

Sister Thompson 

Kansas Wichita Mission

7011 E 13th St N 

Wichita, KS 67206

Week 68 | I Need Thee Every Hour

Hello! 

I hope you all had a good week! 🙂 This week was wonderful! We had Zone Conference and saw so many miracles! Here are some from the week! 

We have been working with a young mom.  And she is super awesome. She lives on post and is open to the gospel we put her on date ( she is preparing to be baptized )  for Oct. 21st! And she came to church this week with her whole family!!! She is married and has 4 children all under the age of 5! We have been communicating with her over Facebook and have a messenger group chat with her and a member. The Lord is truly hastening the work and I am so grateful for this wonderful opportunity! 

We also are working with a young couple names Miriam and Terri. Terri’s step mom is a member of the church and he has been exposed to it a couple of times. Miriam is from Puerto Rico and is so sweet. We have taught them about the Book of Mormon and they surprised us by coming to church! It was so wonderful! Elder Lorenzo ( our district leader )translated for Miriam and it was awesome, she loved it. We are going to meet with them this week. 

We also working with a family from Micronesia and we taught them the Plan of Salvation this week. And they had tons of questions which was so awesome. There some questions that I didn’t understand and got scared because they were just looking at me but then the Spirit whispered ” bear your testimony of the Plan of Salvation ” As I started to bear my testimony the Spirit came back to the lesson and the Spirit was so strong when Sister Howell bore her testimony as well. After that they asked us to sing for them! Haha so we sang ” Nearer My God to Thee ” and it was a great lesson! We love them! 

On Sunday I had the opportunity to sing, ” I Need Thee Every Hour ” in sacrament meeting and I love this song so much. During the song I was pondering on all the moments throughout my life where I have needed the Lord and how He has always been there. I am grateful I have had the Lord in my life it is because of Him that I have lasting eternal happiness. All of you can have the same. Let the Lord be there with you. He is willing and waiting. I know He lives and loves us. Have a great week everyone and may we all find lasting happiness through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

Pictures: 

• We love visiting Dawn 🙂 
• We are dysfunctional companionship but boy do we love each other! 
• Some of our district at Zone Conference just missing Elders Miller & Bassett 
• OUR MISSION GOT SMART PHONES & we love oreos & apples 
• We were dead on tuesday so we took a picture then we got super pumped for the rest of the week! 
• Sister Howell my long lost sister ️
• The Brinkerhoffs are the missionaries for the military relations and they are LEAVING! We’re so sad and WE LOVE THEM SO MUCH 
• Zone Conference! The picture is way blurry! So sorry 🙂 

Week 67 | Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ

I hope and pray you all good week! We sure did. I love my mission so much and can’t say that enough. 

Major Miracles that happened this week! 

The beginning of this week was rough! Like I mentioned last week Sister Howell & I have been experiencing lots of rejection everyday. There were 4 days in a row where no one wanted to listen to the message we share. My heart began to break as I felt lost to know what to do. Then on Thursday we had exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders. I was staying in JC with Sister Goss and I was scared because of the rejection we had been experiencing. As we began driving I just told her everything that had been happening and how I could feel my faith beginning to weaken because nothing was happening in this area. We talked for a little bit about Faith and how the Lord will deliver us. We then said a prayer and went out knocking doors. Within 10 minutes the Lord blessed us with two people who were willing to listen to our message. We continued to go out finding that day and we just focused on talking to everyone. By the end of the day the Lord had blessed us with 6 people who were prepared to hear the message we share. I was in pure shock. This was the Lord saying to me, ” I am with you, this is My Work and I promise you as you work diligently and if it is my will they will be ready to receive you ” I love my Savior and know He Lives. 

We had a lesson with two of our investigators Jon & Julie they are from Micronesia. President Wells ( our branch president ) came to the lesson with us. It was an awesome lesson about the sacrament and about the sabbath day! We invited them to come to church and they came! It was an amazing miracle! The Spirit was there in that lesson. I am so grateful for Member missionary work! 

Kansas is amazing and I love it here. Serving the Lord is a blessing. I love it so much. I am grateful for my Savior and for my mission. 

Have a good week everyone and remember the Lord is with you! 

pictures: 

• We like willow trees 🙂 
• I can hold baby rats as long as they are not trying to raid my apartment 
• I feel I am serving with my long lost sister! I love you Sister Howell! 
• If you zoom in you can see all butterflies 🙂 
• Had an amazing exchange with one of our STLs Sister Goss ❤️
• As you can tell she is super happy to be with me ❤️ 
• Happy Sunday for the JC branch sisters! 
• The brinkerhoffs brought us a snack when we went to 5 hours of church  😍

 

Week 66 | I am so happy

Hello friends & family! 

May I just say how much I love my companion, Sister Howell. She is full of light, joy, and love. I know we are supposed to be together in Junction City plus she’s a great driver. 🙂 I truly do love her. I know I am gonna learn so much from her. 

We had lots of rejection this week but I know the Lord is preparing lots of people here in Junction City! I feel He is also seeing if he can trust us. We are striving our best to talk to everyone and feels so good to do this! No matter how many times people reject us I know the Lord is with us. 

We had a couple of miracles this week! On Saturday we had an MBP to find at least 2 new investigators before dinner and we went out and started knocking doors! The second door we knocked Patrica answered! She came out and we happily told her that we share a message of hope and healing from the Savior. That we have Savior that loves us and He can heal us from all things. She then expressed she couldn’t sit down and talk that day but that she would love for us to come back on Wednesday at 3pm! We are so excited! 🙂 what a miracle! The Lord is amazing and I love Him so much. 

On Sunday all of the people we committed to church canceled. We prayed then we went to church and a young man walked in looking very confused. We quickly walked up to him and he expressed how his girlfriend in Kentucky goes to this church and he wanted to try it out so he looked it up and he came! He was very nervous so we said” here come sit by us!” Right when sacrament was about to start he left to go to the bathroom. Sister Howell and I  got so nervous because we were afraid that he was gonna leave! So we prayed hard! Then he walked in again! 🙂 our hearts were SO HAPPY! Oh my word! After church he stayed so we could tell him more! He lives on Fort Riley ( army base ) and we expressed that He has had a loving Heavenly Father who has watched over him his whole life and he was touched by that. We are meeting with him again on Friday! We’re are so excited! WHAT A MIRACLE! The Lord provided! He guided this young man to us! 

I love my mission so much! Christ lives and loves us. Have the best week everyone! 

Pictures: 

• Sister Hansen & I 🙂 
• saying goodbye to the best part of the dream team. I love you Sister Curran. You served an amazing mission! 
• Sister Howell & I ️ she is amazing! 
• Our cute bedroom! 
• We wanted to match on floral Friday 
• Of course we study in our proselyting clothes with just a couple extra layers… 
• walking the streets of this sacred heartland & meeting God’s children is my favorite 
• We found an awesome junk yard that reminded us of lady & the tramp 
• This is Sister Howell. I love her and she is a blessed person & is BEAUTIFUL
• It was Elder Miller’s birthday! Happy Birthday! We celebrated as a district and went out to dinner! What do you do when there is no party hats you buy paw patrol masks… 🙂 
• We keep matching! 🙂 
• Happy Sabbath from the Junction City sisters! & Sister Petersen! 
• Having the best time on p-day with the best ️

Love,

Sister Thompson 

Week 65 | The Lord is Hastening His Work

Hi family and friends! 

This week lots of exciting things happened! As most of you saw the Kansas Wichita Mission got Facebook and now we are able to get in contact with those that we are teaching and send them scriptures and videos throughout the week! It’s been an awesome experience so far. 

Alright, miracle time! 

We had three wonderful investigators come to church with us yesterday! Ryan, Mike and Linda! They all loved it. It is an amazing opportunity to be able to work with them and teach our message to those you are ready to here it. We have met some amazing people here in Junction City. We are working with lots of people who are excited to continue learning more about the message we share. 

We had a miracle last week! A member told us about a friend he had at work and told us to go visit her! We went and met her last week and she is so sweet! She had met with missionaries in Virginia and took all the discussions then moved! Her name is Chanel and we love her and her family. She invited us for dinner on Saturday and we’re gonna start the discussions with her then! We’re so excited! Yay! 

Oh my goodness Mike just warms my heart! He is doing so well! He is reading the Book of Mormon everyday and loving it! We had a ” break the fast” after church yesterday with the branch and it was so fun! Mike met lots of new friends and we all enjoyed yummy food together. We are going to see Mike later this week and I am so excited! 

We are also working with a man named Ryan who is so awesome! The sisters have been working with him for a while and he is progressing so well! We look forward continuing working with him! 

I feel so blessed. Last night I received a call from the assistants that I will be training a new missionary here in junction city. I thank the Lord and President McCuistion for this amazing learning opportunity. I love my new companion already. I am so excited to learn from her, with her and to see tons of miracles daily! I am grateful for my time with Sister Hansen she taught me lots and we had a great 2 weeks together! She is returning to one of her old areas and reopening it. I am so happy for her.

I just would like to express my gratitude for our Savior, Jesus Christ. He lives and loves us. He knows us by name and is always with us. He is not the one who walks away from us, we are the ones who walk away from Him. Stay with him and walk with him. Have a good week! 

Pictures: 

• silly faces with Little A 🙂 
• Held a snake at a members house, I loved it. 
• This is one of my favorite pictures of our Savior, Jesus Christ 

Week 64 | An Apostle of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ

It’s hard to put this week into words. Being in the presence of an Apostle of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ was a life changing experience. As I shook his hand and looked into his eyes I felt I had a personal interview with him. What a moment. We sat in the front row!! My eyes began to fill with tears as I watched him greet fellow missionaries. We also had the amazing opportunity to hear from Elder Brett K. Nattress of the quorum of the seventy. As well as Elder Rawsen who is our Area authority seventy. 

Many great inspired principles were taught. The Spirit pricked my heart multiple times throughout the meeting that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God, The Book of Mormon is the word of God, I have been called of God to labor in the Kansas Wichita Mission, We have a loving Heavenly Father who loves us so dearly, The Atonement of Jesus Christ makes Salvation possible and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has been restored in these latter days. I want each and everyone of you to know that I know these things are true, the Gospel of Jesus Christ blesses us not only as individual people but as families. 

So many miracles this week! Oh my word my heart is just so happy to be here with my wonderful companion Sister Hansen and to be in a city of miracles. Let’s talk about these miracles! 

Mike Shaw! He is such a good man! Oh my goodness. He has been meeting with the sister missionaries for little while and is just so awesome. His heart has been so prepared. We had an amazing lesson this week on the Gospel of Jesus Christ! We had two recent converts there and their testimonies were so powerful and really helped Mike! He then came to church on Sunday and loved it! He stayed for all three hours and will be coming with us next week. Yesterday we went over to his home and talked about keeping the commandments of God and how all the commandments are for our benefit! We invited him to read 2 Nephi 31 and he was so happy! He just makes my heart so happy. I can’t say that enough. 

Patrick Magaña was baptized and confirmed this weekend! It was so good to meet him! I don’t know him very well BUT he was truly prepared to hear this message! He is truly a kingdom builder and will be a great strength to the branch! 

Junction City is wonderful. I am so grateful to be here and I love my mission. Christ lives and walks with me everyday He also walks with each and everyone of you. 

Pictures: 

• REUNITING WITH SISTER SHIPLEY! Sorry the photos are blurry 🙂 ( they are coming from a video ) it was a great moment 
• Exchanges with Sister McArthur! 
• William Dickman is from Sherwood! And most missionaries who served in his ward! 
• This picture is from a while back in Maize. But this is how I feel everyday while serving our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ 
• This is Mike. Mike is amazing and he wants to come closer to His Savior. 
• On Saturday Patrick Magaña entered into the waters of baptism. Saturday was an amazing day! Yay for Patrick! ( He is the one in the purple shirt & I am holding Sister Hogan I replaced her in Junction City and she taught him ) 
• Jammin ‘ out to Circle of Life by The Mormon Tabernacle Choir in the car wash! Yay for p- day 
• Our mission with Elder Dallin H. Oaks and Elder Brett K. Nattress 

 

63 | Junction City

Blog Title: JUNCTION CITY, KS 

Hello friends and family! This week went by crazy fast and lots of great  things happened! I got to go on two exchanges this week! One with Sister Nail and one with Sister Bender! We had Zone Conference this week. It was an amazing revelatory experience. I love being able to be taught by President, the Assistants, fellow missionaries, and the Spirit! 

After zone conference President asked if he could speak to me. He sat me down and I said, ” President I’m not gonna lie I am little scared right now…” He began to laugh and said, ” you already know what I’m going to say…” In that moment I totally didn’t haha! He said, ” Sister Thompson I am releasing you as a Sister Training Leader. It is hard having a Sister Training Leader companionship that cannot drive ” Immeaditly I began to cry not only because I knew I was leaving this wonderful area, but my companion, the sisters in these three zones, and the people in the ward and in the area. He thanked me for my service on the Mission Leadership Council and with the sisters. He informed me I would be going to Junction City, KS with Sister Hansen. Junction City is up by Manhattan. At first my heart was so sad but once I let the news settle in I began to feel peace about it. 

I am grateful for all my time in Bel Aire and grateful for the last three weeks with Sister Setoki, I feel so blessed to have gotten the opportunity to serve with her and learn from her! She taught me diligence and accountability unto the Lord. I love with her all my heart and she will do amazing things in Bel Aire! 

Speaking of amazing things! The Kansas Wichita Mission this Saturday will be visited by Elder Dallin H. Oaks. Oh my goodness! What an incredible opportunity to hear from an apostle of the Lord. I feel so blessed to be here at this time. 

I hope you all have a great week! Sorry this email is so short. We have had a crazy week. Love you all! 

This scripture  is gonna help me out tons this week and I hope it will help some of you! 

Mosiah 7:33 ” But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage. “ 

Pictures: 

• Ms. Lavonne Blair. We love this lady and grateful Maggie could come with us to visit her! 
• Last time to get BOBA in Bel Aire with my favorite people! I will miss all of them! 
• Exchanges with Sister Nail! We loaded Lavonne’s cigarette box with pictures of Christ. It was so fun! 
• Zone Conference picture! 
• I love the Cashmans! I will MISS THEM ️
• Our District! My last picture with them 😦 
• Knocking apartment complexes 🙂 
• Sister Cashman gave us water bottles. Thank you Sister Cashman! 
• Taking pictures of the land I love  
• Exchanges with Wichita West Spanish Sisters! 
• Saying goodbye to the Sants, the Atwood’s, and Sister Laham 🙂 
• The Bishop and his family! 
• Saying goodbye to Sister Setoki