Choosing joy

The temple <3

Did I mention I love Sister Edwards? Well I adore her.

the 4th of July in a castle on the bank of the Mississippi

This week was beautiful in a tougher kind of way. There were so many happy moments and I made some of my favorite memories of my mission. I also had some harder moments. The great thing about these tough moments though is I am able to turn to the Savior and rely completely on Him for joy and strength. I am a firm believer that we can choose joy, that we can choose faith, and we can choose to move forward in a positive direction. Thank goodness for the gospel.

It's impossible to explain all the good things that happened this week so I'll start with a few:

·         We got to meet President and Sister Varner on their first day in the mission! They took us out to dinner at Canes (classic Louisiana) and then we got to take Sister Varner out teaching with us. It was so fun to see her excitement for the work. She and President Varner are on fire! We took her tracting and were able to teach a couple lessons. It's fun that she is so new because she thought everything we did was amazing! We'll see how that changes when she has more experience haha.

·         I got to go to the temple for the first time in a year. It was beautiful and brought some much needed peace into my life.

·         We got permission to watch fireworks last night in downtown Baton Rouge. We were on the roof of the old state capitol building (it looks like a castle). It was a blast and one of my new favorite memories!

We saw Alex almost every day last week and it has been amazing to see the transformation in her life. The gospel is literally lighting her world and she is so converted. Sadly there have been a few bumps in the road and the adversary is throwing everything in her path to keep her from receiving that light. She won't be getting baptized this Saturday. We love Alex so much - she has become our best friend here and we are doing everything we can to help her find her way. Sometimes Heavenly Father has a plan that is greater than what we can see. We are choosing to trust in that and move forward in faith. Everything will be okay! 

"Missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience." - Elder Holland

I love y'all! Let me know if there is anything I can do for you. I hope you have an incredible week and choose joy <3

Love,

Sister Thomas

Tracting with Sister Varner

The Varners are so perfect for this mission. We had a mini zone conference
with them and I don't know if I've ever felt so proud to wear my name tag.
I can't wait to see the miracles they bring to this mission.

Heart attacking the Varners

Celebrating Sister McKinney's funeral with the district