TALL Mission Tales: Crazy, not too crazy!

April, 25, 2016

Hey!

This has been a crazy week. The great news is that Frank got
baptized this week!!! I really didn't know if it was all going to come
together at the end. He had some issues about paying tithing, so
Monday night we watched the Joseph Smith movie with him and the next
day he said he was ready to totally commit! The downside is that they
held the baptism at 9 am on Sunday and that was the exact same time as
the sacrament meeting in my new ward. So unfortunately I couldn't go.
But President Taylor called me afterward to tell me that everything
went smoothly and that Frank bore a powerful testimony of his
conversion to the gospel.

Although not Polynesian, my new area and companion are both really
great. My companion is Elder Petitta, he is from Atlanta Georgia and
apparently he's an incredible baseball player. Like good enough that
he has worked out with professional teams, spent winters training in
Puerto Rico, and signed to pitch for LSU on national signing day. Then
two weeks later he tore his shoulder apart and he took that as a sign he
needed to serve a mission

My new ward is awesome as well. Our bishop is the CEO of a fortune
500 company and one of the most spiritual, happy, go-lucky guys I have
ever met. Not to mention our ward mission leader looks exactly like
Daniel Cornelius, served in Guatemala, and gives us nightly calls to
help with anything we may need. This ward is awesome!

We live with members, the Ravenbergs, and we have a pretty sweet set-up.
Sister Ravenberg is what I imagine Annie Pugsley to be in like 70
years, ha. She keeps fresh fruit and sugar-free cookies on the counter
for us at all times and about 70% of her remarks toward us are sassy
comments about how we need to make our beds more or do more yoga in
the morning.

Other than that, this week hasn't been too crazy, just a lot of
getting to know new people and saying goodbye to old friends.

Thanks for everything,

Elder Thomas