I am a real missionary now!

So, it has been over a week since I got mail, making me a real missionary now! Woohoo!! I thought it would take a little longer, but it's okay. This past week has been pretty good. It has been wicked hot, but I guess I shouldn't complain at all. It's much nicer now, a little overcast, which is really good, and in the lower 20's. It makes dooring much nicer than when it is 33 degrees or some other ridiculously high number.

Things with Elder B are good. We really get along well, and he is a really nice person. He just has a really nice Amerrrrrican accent. Haha! But I really like him. I have learned a lot of valuable things this week. For example, if you zone out while a member is going on a rant, don't just nod and smile without knowing what she is talking about. You may volunteer yourself for things that you don't want to do, or that you don't even know that you do volunteer for and then they just think you are a retard. I am very excited for the day when I can understand this language. Hopefully it will happen soon. It is getting much better though! And I think people can understand me, which is good. Understanding them through their accents is a whole other story.

The main investigator that we have been working with this week is M. Yesterday we went to pick her up for church and she slept in so she couldn't come to church and then hung up from her apartment phone before we could ask her to come to sacrament (Church is a 9:00 with Priesthood, then 10:00 with Sunday School, then 10:50 Sacrament starts) Then later that evening, (yesterday) we had an appointment with her. We go walking and then find a bench to sit on and talk since we aren't allowed to be with her without another man present, but if we are outside it's allowed, and then we were planning on teaching her the Plan of Salvation. It was interesting because we didn't plan to, but both of us started talking about baptism a lot and other things, and then by the end she said that she was so sorry she hadn't been reading and coming to church and that she was going to do it starting today. She always is very concerned about her children and talks about them in our lessons and so she really wants her children to join the church, when we told her that she could help them by being an example I think something just clicked. Hopefully we will be able to have some better lessons with her now. I think now that we have a goal (baptism), and we both know what that goal is we will have much better lessons and everything.

As a general note, all missionary work is awkward in my opinion. I would never go up to random people on the street and start talking to them about religion. I would hardly ever talk to my good friends outside of the church about religion so to do it with total strangers is even more awkward. However, you just sort of have to embrace the awkward/ weirdness and go for it. The people we talk to react very much to how we feel. If we feel bored about something, they are bored. If we feel hesitant to give a committment, they are hesitant to keep it. If we are excited and bold then they will be excited to boldly keep their committments. I am growing more and more to love what we do. To talk to so many different people everyday is probably something that I won't do again, and when I talk to angry people, I am pretty happy that I won't. But when you meet cool people, even if they don't want anything to do with the church or anything, then it is still fun.

Speaking of people who are cool. We taught R again which was awesome. When we came over he was playing some video games. We met with him and answered a lot of his questions about the Bible and what not. He studied with Jehovah's Witnesses for 8 years and has their version of the Bible, so there are somethings in their that aren't in our Bible. When we explained to him about the different versions he was pretty okay with it, and even was good with the JST, which was really cool! He has been reading in the Book of Mormon and is now about halfway through 2nd Nephi. It's exciting to see him change. At first he was like 'This is not holy scripture at all!' And wouldn't even acknowledge it in our lessons, but now he is opening up a little more to it. The only problem is that he is Islamic, so if he converts to Christianity then he can be in a lot of trouble. He's still one of the funniest people I have ever met though.

We have been talking to a lot more people this week and I think that is will pay off soon. I am much better at talking to people so it is getting better. Everyday I feel a little better about my German, about talking to random people, about everything.
I had a bad migraine all weekend, so that sort of slowed us down, but we still got quite a bit done considering. It's better now though. Luckily I brought some medicine with me because it's really expensive here. The Gs said that it costs about 30€ for about 30 IBUProfens. So I will use them sparingly. They just get their kids to send them the giant Costco bottles. Haha! I love the Gs, they are so funny. We use them a lot for Joint Teaches because there aren't many members that live right in Innsbruck. It might be like how Slave Lake is with Jason, but most members live away from Innsbruck. The Branch President for example lives 2 hours by train away.

Things here are going really good. I love it. It's hard but I love it. I got the letters from the other missionaries and it was really good to read. I hope you are all doing good. And I miss you, and love you.

As for cravings, I had a bunch but I forgot. I will let you know next week. No chocolate or anything, it is way better here. I can't think of anything else. Love you guys a lot! Say hi to everyone for me!

Sincerely,

Elder Connor J. Thompson

August 22, 2011

Hey Family!
Everything has been going really well this week, except it's been smoking hot. Above 30 every day this week, and then I think every day next week too. This is a big change because like the first 5 weeks I think we maybe had 2 days where it didn't rain. Which I was okay with. So either way we were all wet by the time we get home, rain or sweat. I think I actually prefer rain. Haha!!

Elder B is awesome. He is super funny, and understands that things aren't so black and white and that people are real people. And very focused on people. Instead of just giving people a Pass-Along Card and then walking away, we stop and actually talk to people. We talk to everyone for longer times now, so sometimes we miss a person here or there because we are talking to people, but the people we do talk to it's much more meaningful and I think that we will have a lot more success. I am really excited. We are changing the way that we are sort of doing things and are going to be using what we have here. The Gs are awesome, and the JAE center is really great so we are going to be using those more and doing things that will help people more, not just get us numbers.

So I wrote on Tuesday, so not a whole lot has happened since then, but here goes.
Wednesday, was the big day! We had to get up at 5:45 so that Elder H could be ready to leave at 7:00. And so then we dropped him off at the Train Station and then I hung out with the Gs all day. It was good. They are really good people. So Wednesday, after we picked up Elder B we dropped our stuff off and went dooring, and then helped with the JAE activity. Since the summer is coming to a close there are going to be more and more people there which is exciting! It really is a great way to get people to come to the church, and the change is happening in the younger generation. It's so interesting. f

Thursday we got to know the area better because I don't really know it that well. For example, the bus routes and everything. I know what to do now, but those first two or three days were rough.

I need people to write me! Speaking of which, I got two more letters from you, and one from Janine. It was nice to get those letters. Thanks for the Motivational Sneaker. It made me think of Dad a lot. I am not going to lie.

On Friday we had our street display. Which is always fun. Especially when it is like 33 degrees outside. Who doesn't want to talk to two twenty year old boys in formal clothes who are gross and sweaty in the sun. I can't think of anyone. Haha! As much as I complain it wasn't too bad. Luckily I didn't get any burns on my head. That is a miracle considering the small amount of hair there. Haha! As I mentioned before, Elder B is helping me to be more focused on people so I felt like instead of just standing there and giving out cards we were able to have good conversations with people and set up a couple of appointments. It was good.

Saturday we had our planning and went dooring a lot.

Sunday was another really good day. We confirmed the C family and I was able to confirm T, the youngest. It was such a neat experience. With their family, I am averaging about 1 baptism a week. So maybe I should just quit while I am ahead? Actually, no I won't, but just fun to say. Elder B hasn't been here for a baptism, and he's been out just over a year, but we will have one this transfer! I know it! It was a really cool experience though! You just feel so good. I am so excited for the Cs. They are getting more integrated into the ward and their kids are great. They all want to serve missions, which is so exciting, and I know that they will really be able to help a lot of people on their missions, and even here with their examples.


As for our apartment. It's super tiny. Maybe would fit in your bedroom. For sure your bedroom and your ensuite. The next Zone Conference is the 1st which is exciting. I will get the mail then, and get to see the missionaries in our Zone. Two of the people who I reported with are in our Zone so I am excited to see them.

Say hi to everyone in the Ward for me. And Norton's too. I am really happy Ivy finally got a little Sister. Haha! I miss you guys a lot. And love you a lot!

Can you believe I have been here 2 months, that sounds like nothing, but sometimes it feels like it's been 2 years already. Haha! Things apparently speed up at about 3 or 4 months and then before you know it, the time is gone. Just something to think about. Spencer has been gone 9 months!

Sincerely,

Elder Connor J. Thompson

Our homes, our hygiene and our teeth.

Things here are really good. My very first transfer calls were on Friday, and I am staying here in Innsbruck. Elder H is going to Vienna to be a Zone Leader so I probably won't be able to see him before he leaves for Utah in March.

My new companion is Elder B. I think he is from Utah, and he goes home in March as well. I have heard he is really nice, and that we may have some things in common, which would be nice. And I have heard is a good missionary. I am excited!!!

This week was really busy! So, Monday we had an exchange with the Assistants to the President (Not AP's) and it was really good. I just assumed everyone knew what an exchange was, but it is where for 24 hours you have a new companion. Either you go to their area and teach their investigators, or they come to yours and help with your investigators. You only do exchanges with the leaders. So District Leaders will only go on exchanges with people in their District, Zone Leaders only go with people in their Zone (Usually the District Leaders), and Assistants usually go with the Zone Leaders so that the underlings (or not leaders) can learn from people in leadership because those are the good missionaries. So we were very fortunate to get an exchange with them! I am not going to lie I was terrified because I thought that they were going to be judging me and then reporting back to President M about everything I did wrong and it would be a bad time, but they weren't like that at all! Elder B (The AP) and I were companions and we had an appointment with the C family. We made sure that they were okay with the Word of Wisdom, and then made sure everything was good with their baptism. After that D made us soo much food! It was ridiculous! It was delicious Zimbabwe food (that I actually liked!) but there was so much. Elder B said it was the only time on his mission that he wasn't able to finish everything (He is a big guy too. Not fat big, but just a big guy). I almost felt sick because it was so much, but when D left I snuck some to Brother C so he finished it. We laughed about that, and it was really good.

Tuesday, was also an awesome day! The Assistants left a little early (Around 12-ish) and they taught about study and using our time better. We have 3 hours of study a day, so we have lots of time to learn and so we can get a lot out of it. Not that I wasn't studying well before, but it was good, not great. However I think that now I am learning a lot more and so it makes it much more exciting. After they left we had an appointment with R and we talked about the Restoration and SET A BAPTISMAL DATE!. He is such a cool guy. I am so excited for him! That was really the highlight of the day. Because it takes so long to get to where he lives (about a half hour bus ride) we didn't do too much else that day. Just got rejected by angry Austrians. Awesome!
Wednesday we met with an investigator M (I think I have talked about her before? ) We talked a lot about baptism with her and set a date for the 18th of September. She said she needed to know more, but if she learned more and felt that it was right then she would prepare for that date. I should also mention that is what R said too. We don't just commit people. We commit them to do it when they know that this message is true and that when they have an answer for themselves. Just thought I should clarify that. After that we got some more doors slammed in our faces, and yelled at by angry old people. And then we met with the C family. We taught them about Thomas S. Monson and shared the Ensign message from the month. It was all about families, which is perfect for them. They have such a strong family and have been through so much! J came here 8 years ago by himself and started working to get enough money to bring the family over. Their oldest son, A has been here for over a year, but D and the two younger boys, T and T have only been here for three months. So for almost 8 years J and D didn't see each other, but kept in contact over letters and now they are together again (might make a good chick flick?). They are awesome. While we were there they told us that English was like Diarhea, you never know how to stop it once you start. I laughed so hard. After we got back we did some dooring, and then the homeless people starting yelling at us. There are so many of them here in Innsbruck, I don't know why, but it certainly makes things more exciting. We decided they were mad/jealous of us because of our homes and our hygiene and our teeth. I know that sounds super bad of me, but Austria is really socialized. There is lots of help for people so they do not have to live on the streets, but these people do, so either they won't get help, or something else. It's strange. And rude to us. They usually yell things at us as we walk by, but luckily my German is too bad to understand it. Haha!

Thursday we didn't really do a whole lot. Just lots of dooring, with no success, sadly, and then we organized the area. We set it into Zones so that we know when we have appointments in certain places then we can go stop by former investigators who are in the same area. It took a bit of time, but I think it will help a lot because those are people who had some interest and maybe just had things happen in their life so they had to stop investigating the church. If we go back to them maybe things have changed or something will interest them again and make them want to learn again. It is easier to do something that is half done than to start completely over.

Friday was transfer calls, which was good. We did some dooring, but to no avail again. Hopefully this just means that we will have tons of success next week! Haha! And then the Zone Leaders came to do the C's baptismal interviews. And they all passed! We knew they would, but it was still a little nerve wrecking. It was so awesome, the Zone Leaders said they were awesome, and it was especially good because they were a family. Something that doesn't happen that often here. They will be such a strength to the Branch here. I am so excited!

I love you guys. I will write more next week. It is a crazy Catholic holiday today so everything is weird. Love you!!!


Sincerely,

Elder Connor J. Thompson

August 8, 2011

As for cooking, we mostly cook for ourselves. I am eating a lot of yogurt, buns with ham and cheese, and pasta. It's hard to have things that you can make and eat in an hour that would be too hard to make or expensive. The food is a little different than on my exchange, but maybe in Germany it is the same. There are some similar things, but it’s a little different, and I stick to the basics so that I won't get too fat and won't spend too much money. Hopefully.

This past week we had two eating appointments so we got some typical Austrian Food. The first was sort of a roast that was way more tender and actually more like a steak. I don't really know what it was. Haha! I am really bad with knowing what things are like that. I just usually eat them. Which makes me sound really dumb, but worse things have happened. Haha! We ate that with Knudl (At least I think that's what it's called). They are sort of like dumplings, and made of potatoes, and are super heavy, as in I eat one and then I can't eat for 2 hours. Except the ones we had were made up of buns. So it was like buns ripped into tiny pieces, and then rolled into balls with butter and cream and then cooked. It seemed like it was like 5 buns per ball of Knudl, so it was heavy. But sooo delicious. All hopes I have of not coming back fat are slowly dying in Milka bars and Knudl.

The other was this thing that tasted sort of like Meat Loaf, only Meat Loaf from Heaven. There may have been cheese in it. I don't know exactly. It was just really delicious. We had that and some salad, and I am proud to say that I ate like 7 olives in the salad. Which is 7 more than I have ever eaten in my life, and maybe 7 more than I would have liked to eat in my life. Nonetheless, I ate them. So I am getting better at not being picky. Which again, doesn't help my not wanting to be fat goal. Such is life.... haha!

So as for my week. Last week on Monday we had P-Day, so we went to a Castle with the G’s. They took us because it was Elder H's birthday. They are awesome. You would love the G’s. So since it was his birthday they took us to this castle. Tratzberg is the name of it, and it is super cool and old. After that we went by and saw a couple of our investigators. We went by and saw P and M and L and A and just saw how they were doing because we didn't see them at church on Sunday. That is the most frustrating thing in the world for a missionary. Waiting at church for an investigator. At like 8:30 you are so excited, and then as you get closer and closer to 9:00, and then closer to 9:30, you feel more and more disappointed. But we just need to have faith. I think missionaries sometimes overlook that people have their own lives and everything, and they aren't just so simple and when we say ''Do this'' they do it, and when we say ''do that'' they do it. It is so easy to over simplify things and forget that these are real people who have real concerns and problems in their lives, but when we do that then we aren't as effective. We also went to visit the C family, who is being baptized on the 14th. I am so excited for them! It's so exciting, and will be so nice to have a family in the ward. Most of the members are single sisters, or just older people, so younger people, especially youth are greatly appreciated.

We also had our District Meeting, with the G’s! Which was nice to have them. Haha! We mostly planned for the C's baptism, and did other things. Then we met with M at the church and were going to commit her to baptism, and then she got distracted. After that we had FHE with the JAE's and some of our younger investigators, as well as two of the C boys came (We had it with the young women and young men as well). We played some Ultimate Frisbee and just some other games. It was really fun.

Wednesday we went on an exchange to Salzburg. Sooo beautiful! Haha! We were tracting, and then we looked across the lake and BAM The Von Trapp Mansion. Right there! It was crazy. And I am not even exaggerating. It was really cool to see. We were with the Zone Leaders, Elder W and Elder W, who are a lot like Jordan and Spencer. It was so much fun. They have obviously been out for quite a lot longer than I have been out and so they know what to do and how to do it much better than I do, so I learned a lot from them.

On Thursday we came back to Innsbruck from Salzburg, and then we taught the C’s again. It was so great. I love them. Even in the short time that I have been here, it's amazing to see how different they are because of the church in their lives, and how much happier they are. After that we had some planning and didn't really do much else that I can remember.

On Friday we got to have our Street Display again! They are always interesting. We got in our place by the Animal Rights Activists again, and Elder H and I started to go to work. It was much more interesting with only us two and wasn't as successful, but that Branch President asked us to do it, and so we do it. I am always amazed at the people we talk to and some of the answers they give us, and just how rude people are. I understand that they might not have any interest and I am fine with that, but to go out of your way to make someone feel bad, is just lame. Unfortunately (sarcasm) it started raining so we had to end the display a little early and then we went to our eating appointment (this is the second one, the first was in Salzburg). It was really good, we brought one of the C sons because he had said that he wanted to go on a mission and because we need to have a joint teach with us when it is just a woman at home. We talked quite a bit about missionary work because Sister L, the woman whose house we were eating at, served a mission in Austria (she is from Germany) and baptized her husband, and all of her children have also served missions. She talked about the blessings that it brought her, and it was great to see her testimony.

On Saturday we met with some of our less active ward members and then had our weekly planning. We also taught P again and tried to commit her to baptism, but she wasn't too sure. We also met with M again, but were interrupted by things, and so we couldn't set a date with her either... Next week though!!!

Then it was Sunday! I love Sundays. The branch here is so great. They are very small so they all have to have more than one calling, like Relief Society President, and Counselor in Primary, or things like that, but they are sooo strong. And they are so close because they are so small. It is not easy to be a member here, and I know that I say this often, but every day I am more amazed by the people here. After church we had a big supper at the church because the G’s had 3 of their children here, and we had an American family move here, (He is singing in the Innsbruck Opera, and his wife and him and their two kids will be here for at least a year. They are super nice and everyone is really excited for them to be here.) and so we thought we'd have a small dinner. Somehow a bunch of people came and so there were like 30 people eating at the church, but it was really good. I wish we had stuff like that happen in Medicine Hat, but I don't think it would be the same. After that we tried to see some investigators but nobody was home and then we had our study and companionship inventory. Transfers are next Wednesday, calls come this Friday!).

All in all a really good week. I really love it here. I wish that you guys could experience so many of these things that I have already, and I know that this is just the tip of the iceberg. I am so happy that you always encouraged me to come on a mission, and I love you guys a lot. Thanks for all your support!

Sincerely,

Elder Connor J. Thompson

P.S. An Empty Mailbox is a sad missionary. Just think about that... Haha!!!