The Baptism of John

So this last week was really interesting, hard, fulfilling and insightful. It started out with all of our investigators dropping us. about 10 dropped us so we are down to one haha. I am laughing because it is funny. seriously what can be more funny than to look at yourself swinging away and nothing is happening. I think Humor is key to enduring to the end. I think we have all had these kind of weeks. I think that Winnie the pooh's friend, Eeyore, said it best, "It can only get worse." haha I am just messing. It will all pay off.

Elder Furko and I seemed to be running a lot of errands this week that we wont see the harvest of. (Which is fine, because I have seen the harvest of someone else's planting at times in my mission). We were going to a super old and beautiful town named New Lanark, to hunt down a referral. Sadly the guy wasn't interested, but he did take a Book of Mormon on CD because he is blind. We were helping some Romanions who were kicked out of their flat. We had to go to these social service agencies for them and kind of be their advocates. Haha they are good now though. 

Friday night came around after a long day and we got a phone call from the sisters in East Kilbride. Telling us that the guy that was going to be baptizing John, Through out his back and was unable to baptize him. John then asked if I could do the baptism! I was so excited. It is fun because I found him after he had stopped investigating the church several years ago and started teaching him. The sisters finished teaching him and I was able to Baptize him. It was a very special day. It seems like those downer weeks always lead up to something great.

I have been thinking a lot about mediocrity and Excellence. I don't hate too many things but I hate mediocrity in myself. I hate it because it is that vice that nobody will call you to repentance for. It is so subtle! It always says to you, "You have met the requirement, you don't need to do anything more." It is the worst. Mediocrity is just going through the motions to satisfy. It is just to survive - not to achieve. God has planned our potential long before we were even here on earth. We are eternal beings. We can someday become as like God. "Mediocrity is the enemy of excellence. God is Excellent," Therefore Mediocrity is the Enemy to God and to us. Mediocrity's highest aspirations is to have approval from man. The worldly standard is easy that is why we settle for it. But if we put off the natural man, dig down deep and look for what God has planned for us we can achieve Greatness.

 Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, "This was their finest hour."                                                         - Winston Churchill

Ether 12:27 and if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto man weakness that he may be humble and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me, for if they humble themselves before me and have faith in me I will make weak things become strong unto them.

I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

Elder Thayne

From Ukraine to Hungary

So we had moves call this week. I am getting a new companion, Elder Furko! He is from Hungary and he has been out on the mission for a year. We will have fun time together :]

Elder Agafonov is leaving to the northern most point of the main land of Scotland, Thurso. It will be so cold up there and he is so scared of the cold so it is kind of funny :] He is a great missionary and he has taught me so much. I will miss him for sure :]

Halloween was fun. We were able to cook a full chicken with home made stuffing and potatoes :] We were all alone which was sad but that is ok :]

We have been working hard this week. a lot of appointments falling through which is sad, but that is ok because this week will be better. We some investigators we would like you to pray for. They are living together and thy have little baby girl named Maddison. Calum is taking care of Maddison while Chloe is in the hospital. There were some complications during the delivery. Calum also had his wallet stolen. They are having a hard time. Satan is really trying to keep them away from seeing us. Pray for them.

We had a great meeting with the Glasgow and the Paisley zones. President Donaldson came and spoke to us. It was an amazing spiritual experience. I swear that I have the best mission president in the World.

I love you all. Have a great one. Pray that we can find good people. Life is good, remember that. Life is good.

Elder Thayne

Some Portadown Missionaries: Me, Elder William, Elder Harker, and Elder Able

Chicken Dinner on Halloween Night

Our library at night.

Man vs. Food

So this week I have had some good food! Members here are awesome. Monday, chicken and tatties; Tuesday, 8 Hamburgers in 15 minutes; Saturday, spaghetti baloneys; Sunday, Café Rio sweet pork burritos!!! Some Americans made it for us :]

Tuesday night was great. Bishop was driving like fast and furious to get us to the train on time. We pulled in and saw the train pull away so he took us home haha. On the way though he received revelation about how he can increase the accountability of the ward and their missionary work. He said he would love to push it through the quorums so that way it wont seem self serving if we push it. Elder Agafonov and I were totally fine with that haha.

We had a great Lesson With Mark this week. We met him and the library and taught him the restoration. It was amazing because he felt the spirit so strongly. We had him read the Joseph Smith History about the first vision. Most of the time you just read it out of the pamphlet to leave out the part of Satan attacking Joseph, but for some reason we felt like he needed to read that part as well. As he read it he felt the spirit so strongly. He asked if he could have a picture of Joseph smith to put up in his house. He says, "If anyone comes in my house they always ask about my pictures. So when they ask about this picture I will be able to tell them the Joseph Smith Story." It was Powerfull.

Elder Agafonov was dressed up like the Brother of Jared because he was helping out with the primary book of Mormon hero that week. So he came in and told them about his story. He was totally going for it haha. He was super theatrical and excited. He got to the part where he was talking about the barges and the said, "They were shaped like unto a jar, and they were rounded like unto a jar and they were tight like unto a jar." All of the kids started laughing. I guess a jar and a dish are the same word in Russian. Oh man I love having a foreign companion it is so funny.

I love my life. I am so happy. I love my mission and I want to soak it all in. Please go share the gospel. You will feel so happy if you do.

Elder Thayne

(No pics.  Got a new camera but forgot the disc reader. :( )

Promise

This week was absolutely amazing. It started out with me last Monday going to the top of this tower. I felt the spirit really strongly. I was looking over Motherwell in the East and Hamilton in the West. I could even see to Craignuek in the south and Bellshill in the North. I felt, really strongly, that I needed to pray. I felt so good as I prayed. I know that God answers prayers. I had a renewed zeal about my work. I was ready to hit this week hard.

Tuesday we had several appointments made. Every appointment held! it was amazing. We got 3 new investigators just that day. They are solid. We went over to a members home thinking the husband was just less active but it turns out he is a nonmember. I will call them the Jefferson's to protect their identity. The Jefferson's remind me of an investigator I taught in Portadown, Chris Stevenson. He is an amazing man. He is a Scotsman who is into blacksmithing and he has a ponytail and a beard. This week Chris was Baptized in Portadown. I am so happy for him. I have been blessed to find out that 3 of the people that I had taught in Portadown have been Baptized: Chris Stevenson, Zach McTammy and Tatianna. 

anyway so that was great. Wednesday was amazing as well. All of our appointments fell through though. As we were finding we taught someone on the spot and taught a couple other lessons. That night we only had like 30 minutes after getting home from a members and we were looking at the street we had planned to chap (tract). It looked too far away. We decided to go to it because we had already planned for it. We saw a guy holding a hawk so I went up and started to talk to him about Falconry. I told him that my next door neighbor back home, Zach Fossum, was a falconer. He was pretty excited and we walked him home. He invited us in and we taught a lesson. The spirit was strong. I think his hawk even felt it.

Thursday was all Scotland and that was awesome. I got to see a lot of friends that I haven't seen in a long time. The rest of the week was full of miracles. There were so many I won't tell you them all. I am just so happy though. 

Just happy to be on the Lords Errand. "Shall we not go on in so great a cause?" I love you all. Sorry there are no pictures this week. Keep it real

Elder Thayne

Miracle/Spiritual Thought

This one will be short because I don't have too much time.

Miracle:

So this week has been pretty good. So as you know we have been focusing on member missionary work. We have been doing quick drop in's with people that are in the area that we are working in. We were in one particular members house this week when we got an impression that we needed to go visit a LA. We had never seen her in the 8 weeks that we had been in Motherwell. We looked her up on the map and found out she lived just around the corner. We went to her house but no one was home. We left a note and walked away. We started GQing and got some cool people that we are going to be meeting up with. Then the Less active that we went by was driving and she saw us in her car. She pulled over and we started talking. She said that she has 2 sons that she wants us to start teaching the lessons. We were so excited. We will be meeting up with them this week. if you could pray for the Ritchie family I would really appreciate it.

Spiritual Thought:

I have been thinking about prayer lately as well. I have been reading 3 Nephi 19. I was wondering why we pray in the name of Christ. In the bible dictionary it says when we pray in his name our desires are his desires, our wishes are his wishes and his word is in us. I want to refer to prayer like you are sending a letter. We all know who we are sending this letter too so at the top it says, "Dear Heavenly Father." The Holy Ghost is the Mail Man who gives you Gods letters and takes your letters to God. In 3 Nephi 19:24 it talks about how we know what to pray for through the Holy Ghost. This Knowledge will give us righteous desires. When we end our letter we write Jesus Christ's name instead of ours. In 3 Nephi 19:23 Jesus prays unto the Father for us. When our desire and wishes are his desire and wishes it is as if he is sending the letter himself. When we pray Like this: To the Father in the name of Christ and by the power of the Holy Ghost our prayers will always be answered. We will receive our desires. The Post man came to us and told us what God's will. We begin to write a letter back to God. Before you give it to the post man to send off you pass it off with your mediator. He looks over it with a careful eye. When he knows that you letter expresses his will, he will sign his own name at the bottom. He says in affect, "Father I have read over this request. This is my desire as well. Please grant unto them their desires." I know that when a totally pure son who has never done wrong in his life, who has always done his fathers will, asks something of his father, he will be answered. Our prayers are always answered when in Christ name. 

Love you all. I am so happy to be hear. Sorry there wasn't too much today.

Elder Thayne

Now is the time...to unite!

This last week was great. We handed everything about East Kilbride off to the new sisters there and left. wow it is nice that we don't have to worry so much about 2 wards any more. I am proud of the sisters, they are really working hard and they are not getting down when discouraging things happen. One of the greatest things about them though is that they ask for help when they need it. It is great because that is how we can unite as a district.

This last week has been a lot work. We have been trying to visit as many members as we can if we are working in their area. We got a map and the ward directory and marked where everyones house was. We would call by if we were near them and share a wee thought, ask for referrals and leave them with a commitment. We did the Family Mission Plan with the Tailors, our gospel principle's teachers. We are just trying to help people catch the fire. 

There is a analogy that Karl Monson-Elvic told us last week. Tigers are known to be shy when there are humans around. If they can somehow get a taste of man though, then suddenly they become more bold and they want more so they will wonder into villages looking for some more. If we can get the members to taste missionary work then they will catch the vision. They will become more Bold and they will seek out opportunities to share this glorious message. We want members to be man eating TIGERS!

Wasn't this last conference inspiring? Elder Oak's and Elder Anderson's talks weer great. All about member missionary work. Some of the things they said were almost exactly what Elder Agafonov and I would talk about. I loved it so much. It really confirmed my feelings and our actions about the work in this area and this district. We are really going to be working member missionary work whenever we can. I know that we have been led in this direction for a purpose and I am so thrilled that I am finding it out a little bit at a time. 

I love the mission. The message we teach is one of forgiveness and healing. It will improve a life that seems perfect anyway and turn it into something better. The atonement is real. I know that it can help the entire human family. Would you all do me a favour? would you look for  a missionary oppurtunity this week and report it to a friend or a parent? I promise that the spirit will be in your life more. Go in faith and you will see. Go get'm TIGER.

Elder Thayne

Called to Swerve

Fountain of Living Water

Less is More

So this week has been an amazing one. We have been tested and we have seen the hand of the Lord. It started with an incerdibly spiritual district meeting where 2 districts joined together. Elder Lindsey and Elder Horneburger, 2 of my really good friends, gave their last testimonies to us before they went home. The spirit was there and it told everyone individually something they needed to hear.

We had a really good day planned for Thursday in Motherwell. We were on the bus going to find when we got the impression that we didn't need to be there. We got off the buss and crossed the street and jumped on another. We felt like we needed to go to East kilbride. We got there and started finding. It is a hard place to find because there isn't really any place where lots of people are, but through the grace of God we were able to set up 5 appointments for the next day. We found this guy named John and pulled him into the library and taught him. Turns out he was taught by missionaries years ago and he loves the mormons.. The spirit was there and we met with him the next day. He brought all of the family history that he has done. He even had his parents, grandparents and great grandparents on temple cards and all of their ordinances were done. Now all he needs to do is help himself so we set him with a date to be Baptized. It was quite a miracle.

MORNING WORKOUT: Elder Agafonov and I wrestled for Morning exercise. Have you ever wrestled a russian? it is like wrestling a bear. Afterwards we had to put the beds and couches back in place.

Sunday came around and we got our  moves call. We are staying together in Motherwell. Sisters will be moving to East kilbride, which is good because the East kilbride flat is way too girly. I will be the district leader. It will be sad to not be teaching any of our people in East Kilbride anymore but that is ok. We were preparing it for the sisters. The good news is now we don't have to cover 2 wards so we can focus more on Motherwell, but now I am district leader so I guess I have more responsibility. Hence LESS is MORE.

Well I want you to know that this church is true. I know that it is the little things that we do that determines whether we have light in our lives. It is the littles choices that prove whether we will be intune enough to hear and listen to the spirit. I want you to know that the greatest feeling you can have is to listen to the spirit and do what it tells you to do. You know without a doubt you are doing the Lords work. His approval trumps every taunt or mock that the pride of the world can throw at us. I Love the Restored gospel. I know that Jesus is my personal redeemer. I love you all. 

Elder Thayne