Finding the sunshine through the clouds

Yesterday we taught primary, a Sunday school class, and bore our testimonies in testimony meeting. Just another average Sunday in our little Chalmette branch! It's cool to be able to do a lot of these last minute sub-ins. Before my mission I would have been stressed and nervous to walk into a class without any prep and teach, but we are sure thankful for the spirit that carries God's message through! 

What a happy week it has been. It was one of those weeks where we had a lot of appointments fall through, we were tired and cold, and the work was slow. But it is cool how even though all of the plans we make may fall through, we get to see God's plan always moving forward. We were able to count our blessings and find the tender mercies in each day. I know there will be miracles in this area. We are just continuing to work like it all depends on us, and pray like it all depends on God (which it does).  

One tender mercy is our investigator Leonard. This guy is a trooper! During one of our lessons with him this week we got antied hard by a lady that lives in his same building. Sister Smeltz and I prayed a lot and somehow the experience didn't even phase him. He is still excited to keep learning about the gospel and he even committed to get baptized on February 4th! We'll be working with him for that date. 

As we turn to God, he truly does make our weaknesses stronger. I have a long ways to go, but I can testify that Heavenly Father knows us perfectly and calls us even though we are imperfect. Our weaknesses keep us humble which is a spiritual strength. Even if we don't overcome all our weaknesses now, turning to the Lord makes us stronger than we ever thought possible because we are relying on Him.

Keep on finding that sunshine through the clouds! It is always there :) I love y'all and am so thankful for the love and support. Y'all are in my prayers :) 

Love,

Sister Thomas

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Downtown New Orleans near the St. Louis Cathedral

Cute Sister Smeltz eats canned smoked oysters every Sunday. She's adorable, even if I think they taste nasty

  Yum!

It was beautiful to be able to spend Christmas sharing His message. We were able to find people who were alone on Christmas and we stopped by to sing hymns and share scriptures. I think it will always be one of my favorite Christmases <3

Chalmette is poppin, Sister Smeltz is the kindest soul, and I am blessed to be sharing the greatest message of all time. Life is good :) The funny thing about serving a mission is that it is full of challenges, heartbreaks, and trials, but there is an overall feeling of joy. That joy can be hard to feel sometimes but it is always there as long as we stay anchored in Jesus Christ. (This is a lot like life). I've been blessed to feel a lot of that joy these last couple weeks as we celebrated Jesus' birth and the excitement of another year to serve Him. 

Here are some of our adventures the last couple weeks:

·          I did the Pepper Palace Challenge! (Flash bang hot sauce, supposedly the hottest in the world! Anyone who knows me knows how big of an accomplishment this is for me lol)

·         We ate bugs at the insectarium in New Orleans

·         We went Christmas caroling with our friends at the First Baptist Church

I hope y'all had a lovely Christmas and are enjoying the new year. When I think about all of the good people I have in my life I am overwhelmed with gratitude. I am so thankful for each one of you and for the love, support, and prayers given. I think about y'all and am always praying for you. Keep smiling and when you don't know what to do, just move forward :)

"Courage isn't always grandiose. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says, 'I'll try again tomorrow'." - Thomas s Monson

I love y'all!

Sister Thomas

 The famous French Market - PEPPER PALACE

We had to sign a waiver to try the hot sauce hahaha

Our room in the back of the Lutheran church where we have sacrament meeting each week

Family comes together via Skype for Christmas!

"Families are Forever"

Merry Christmas and Happy Transfers!

I <3 Sister Gelwix

 I'll miss Jamie, even though I'll be happy to never be flashed again!

Hey y'all! We got news this morning that I am being transferred out of Opelousas. (We won't find out where I'm going until we drive to Baton Rouge tomorrow). It will be heartbreaking to say goodbye to all my family here in Opelousas. I love these warriors with all my heart and I'm sad to leave, but I know that wherever I am going there is work for me to do and Heavenly Father will give me the strength to do what he asks of me. I'm excited for this new chapter and I'm ready to go where the Lord wants me to go (even if I cry a good bit lol). 

I am so happy for Rebecca. She is getting baptized on Saturday and I have never met anyone so prepared for the gospel. She told us she wants to bring a bed to the church and just live there! Here is a sample of some of the things she has told us this week:

      "My life finally has happiness and meaning"

      "I can't wait for God to give me my mission and place in the church. I am ready. No more wasted time."

She has a strong testimony of this gospel and the Book of Mormon and she has already been doing missionary work! She has given copies of the Book of Mormon to her family members and is inviting them to come to church. This week her granddaughter Ny'asia, who we've been able to teach one lesson to, came and it was incredible! Opelousas had better get ready for Miss Rebecca because she is coming in with a bang. I love this lady and I'm really going to miss her!

MERRY CHRISTMAS Y'ALL! 

Love, 

Sister Thomas

Ny'asia, Rebecca's granddaughter at church!

Rebecca always gets silly and so so happy after church <3

Joy to the World

Rebecca with the "Holy Ghost giggles" after church. This sweet lady is ready and excited for her baptism on December 17th! (and Michael will follow right behind)

 Jazmine spilled makeup on herself and exclaimed, "Look! I changed colors! I'm white!"

Happy December y'all! Sister Gelwix have been enjoying the Christmas spirit in wild and wonderful Opelousas. Here were some of our highlights:

1. Rebecca bore her testimony in church yesterday. It was only her second time at church and she boldly told the congregation, "I know this church is true. Whatever God asks me to do, I'm ready to do it." Needless to say she is very excited about her baptism on December 17th! 

2. I know I've said this a thousand times, but we meet some crazy people in Opelousas. We were visiting a less active lady this week who was giving herself a sponge bath as we talked with her. That's not normal, but at least she had her clothes on. Not for long! We were reading a scripture with her when all of a sudden she pulled off her shirt and just sat there like that. We love this big crazy lady but she just sat there topless for about five minutes. Sister Gelwix bolted to the bathroom and I started fixing her blinds and doing other things to keep busy. It was nuts! Classic Opelousas

3. Sister Green has some bones that are sticking out of her body and making her bleed. She is determined, however, to go to church and fulfill her calling. When she was told that she didn't need to go to church if she was bleeding too bad, she responded with "Did you think I was going to not do my calling because I'm sick? Jesus didn't stop when he was persecuted. I'm going to church!" What a warrior.

This Christmas season is the perfect opportunity to reflect on our Savior, Jesus Christ. I love the first lines of the hymn Joy to the World:

Joy to the World, the Lord is come! 

Let earth receive her King

Let every heart prepare Him room

The "good tidings of great joy" we feel this Christmas season come not only because Jesus Christ was born, but because He lives. Because of Jesus Christ we can live again! There can be joy in the world and peace on earth because of who He is and what He did for us. Let us all "prepare Him room" in our hearts and focus on others this Christmas season. As Jesus Christ lifts us up, we can lift others. 

I love y'all! Have a blessed week!

Sister Thomas

 Decorating the Jarnagins Christmas tree 

Light the World (and glow for Jesus!)

The view from the shack each night <3

 S/o to my mom for sending cute Christmas decorations so we can deck "the shack" with boughs of holly (the "shack" is what missionaries have nicknamed our apartment)

 Sister Green decided to start wearing sunglasses so when people look at her "they won't know I'm blind, they'll just think I'm being cool!" <3

This week was beautiful and packed full with miracles and tender mercies. I hope y'all are enjoying the holiday season! 

A few highlights from this week:

Heartfelt prayer. We were visiting a lady named Jamie and she gave a 23 minute closing prayer! I've heard some pretty long prayers on my mission so far, but this one set the record. So many of these people have a close and personal relationship with God. Way cool!

Superhero church calling: Sister Green is in constant pain and has been going blind. The doctors don't know what is happening and aren't doing anything to help so she's been going through a really hard time. But she was given a calling last week as a ward missionary and I don't think I've ever seen her so happy! She lights up when she talks about her calling. She is going to be a superhero in this ward. She has a list of people to call and told us "I am going to get them to church if it kills me!" I've never seen someone so devoted to serve and fulfill their calling. She is an inspiration.

Glowing with the light of Christ: Our investigator Rebecca is on date for December 17th! She soaks up everything we teach her and always yearns to know more. She calls us her "glowies" and tells us that every time we come she glows a little bit more. She can't wait to be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost to really "get that glow"! 

Miracle of the week: Rebecca and her husband Michael have absolutely nothing. They lost everything in the flood and she was telling us that the only clothes she has are the jeans and shirt she wore to church and a couple pairs of pajamas. She's not one to complain but she really wants a skirt or something to wear to her baptism. We really want to help her so we asked her to text us her size and we could have a clothing drive at the church. She called us after she got home from church and told us that there were three garbage bags full of clothes sitting on her porch! She has no idea where they came from because she didn't ask anyone for clothes. She said they are beautiful and there are clothes for Michael to wear to church too! This is nothing short of a miracle. God is watching over sweet Rebecca! She is excited for baptism and has been sharing the gospel with all her family members and neighbors. 

I am so blessed to be serving in Opelousas, Louisiana. There are so many people here I consider family and it is a blessing to have them at this special time of year. Sister Gelwix and I are excited to spend this holiday season serving Jesus Christ. What better way to celebrate the birth of our Savior than to love and serve Him? The church has created an awesome service program following the example of Jesus Christ and His service. There's a cool video that talks about it and there will be videos posted every day in December leading up to Christmas. I encourage y'all to watch the video and think of ways you can #lighttheworld by doing 25 acts of service in 25 days. Watch it here!

https://www.mormon.org/

I love y'all and I'm so thankful for the prayers and support. I am always praying for y'all. Happy holidays! Remember the reason for the season <3

Sister Thomas

Proof that Louisiana really does have Autumn (even if it gets a late start)

Bacon wrapped deer meat and bacon wrapped green beans for dinner last night!

Blessings and serenity

Pictures don't do the Louisiana skies justice

 Nathan, a recent convert just received the Aaronic Priesthood! He was so proud and ran up to show us. He sure loves the sisters! (ft. Nathan putting his arm around me and me awkwardly leaning away)

Happy Thanksgiving y'all! 'Tis the season to remember our blessings and give thanks for all we have. Gratitude brings true joy. No matter what stage of life we are in I am sure we all have more blessings than burdens, so let's give thanks to our loving Father in Heaven!

It was a blessed week. This week:

·         We walked Opelousas: We cover a large area and we are blessed to have cars to drive. We're allotted an amount of miles for the month, and we're running low. Since our bikes were stolen a few weeks ago, in order to save miles we walked across the town! It took an hour to get from one place to another but we had fun on this little adventure :)

·         I hit up the city: Sweet Sister Gelwix took over Opelousas and I went to Alexandria on exchanges for 24 hours. Missionary work in the city is sure different than in the country! I met some rockin members and we volunteered at Salvation Army. God gives us exactly what we need and I learned a lot about myself and areas I need to improve. What a blessing to get a glimpse of God's love for me and how He wants to help lift me higher. 

·         Sister Green practiced being blind: We were working in Opelousas Friday evening and all our plans kept falling through. We thought about seeing Sister Green but it didn't make sense because we had just seen her the day before. But the thought kept popping up so we decided to give her a call and stop in. She was in bad shape. This darling lady never complains or lets others know when she is hurting but she was in bad shape. She couldn't move any of her limbs, she was in a lot of pain, and her eyesight was going. The Elders were forty minutes away so we called a member of the ward to give her a blessing. Sister Green is a warrior. Since then her eyesight has gone in and out but she is practicing dialing her phone, using her computer, etc. with her eyes closed so she will be prepared if/when she loses her sight. I am blessed to have this special lady in my life. 

I am humbled to serve in Opelousas, Louisiana. This place has opened my eyes and changed me. It has helped me see how blessed I truly am. There are some days where everything seems to feel out of control. Like when our investigator with cancer goes to the hospital because she is malnourished and doesn't have the money for food or water. That is humbling. As missionaries it is hard for us to lift people out of these circumstances. I always wish I could do more for these warriors. But Heavenly Father always reassures me that the most important thing we can do to help these people is to bring them the message of the restored gospel. I might not have much experience, but I know this gospel is true. I know God loves His children and I know He has restored His truth to the earth again. I am blessed to get to share this message every day.

                                                

There is a "serenity prayer" that is popular around here:

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

I hope y'all have a beautiful Thanksgiving and remember where all our blessings come from. Life is beautiful! Thank you for the love and support! My prayers are always with y'all <3

Sister Thomas

The 9 primary kids celebrating after the primary program

A friendly sign we found on our walk