Week #21

Heeyyyyooo! It's me! I'm just grillin and chillin here in Mount Vernon!! I have been transferred and I'm now on the complete opposite side of the mission than I was before. I'm now way up north, like 3 hours away from Chilli. I really miss Chilli, but it's alright, because I already love Mount Vernon so much. The weather is a lot nicer here. It's not as humid, which is nice. Apparently, Mount Vernon is the area that all the missionaries want to go to, so I guess I'm pretty dang blessed.  Mount Vernon is home to lots of Amish people.  They ride everywhere on their horses and buggies.  I love it. Sister Flora is my new companion and she is so cute, I love her so much. She is very obedient and such a hard worker.  I am already learning so much from her. Sister Flora is from Saratoga Springs, and we know a bunch of the same people, so we are pretty sure that we have seen Each other before the mish. It's cool. She's cool. 

My apartment here is wayyyyyy nice. We have a washer and dryer and a dishwasher!!!  No more laundromats for awhile, which is nice but we always found people to talk to at the laundromat.  The only lame part is that we don't have WiFi because none of the missionaries here have asked their neighbors if they can use there's, so we have to sit and email at the church. :/ Yes, we freeload WIFI off of the neighbors. 

Mount Vernon is a great place to work!!! We have an investigator on date named Ashley, and she is woohoo wonderful. Mt Vernon is a really cute, tiny place, but it has it's rough areas and those rough areas are surrounded with drugs of all kinds. It's really sad. Ashley is from the rougher part of town and she has already overcome so much! She has overcome many addictions, and she is just the best mom ever. Her kids are so cute and she loves them so much.  She works so hard and she just wants the best for kids. She loves the gospel, and she wants to be baptized.  She has prayed about the Book of Mormon and she attends church. We just need to help her kick her dang smoking habit. We have been making her these "spiritual cigarettes". They're hilarious. They have scriptures on them and they're so cute. Every time she wants to smoke, she just pulls out a spiritual cigarette and reads the Book of Mormon. Its awesome to see her progression. I am so excited for her!! Remember Ashley and her children in your prayers.  I know she is strong enough to do this!!!

There are a lot of recent converts in this ward and they are just so cool. I love seeing so many people from different walks of life come together to pray and take the Sacrament. It's just a testimony to me that God doesn't care who we are or where we come from, he loves us all the same. That is so comforting to me. I love this gospel so much and I can't wait to meet all the strange humans that live here in Mount Vernon!!!! I already met the "cat man." He's just this mysterious old man who carries around a bell with him, Everyday at 2:00 AM he rings his bell, and all the cats in Mount Vernon follow him and he takes them to his garage, and then he feeds them, and then he rings the bell again and sends them all back home... , there is some good "member" potential there.  It's so strange here I love it! 

Side Note - Sister McClellan let me know that Thomas passed his baptismal interview and will be baptized on Saturday the 1st!  I'm so happy and excited for him.  He's going to be one amazing member.  Thank you for your prayers on his behalf.

Anyway, God is good and so is Ohio. 

Helaman 3:27-28 says: Thus we may see that the Lord is merciful unto all who will, in the sincerity of their hearts, call upon his holy name.

Yea, thus we see that the gate of heaven is open unto all, even to those who will believe on the name of Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God. 

Remember that God is merciful always and he wants us all to make it back to him! That's why we should always come unto Christ, and strive to be perfected in him!! 

Love you all! Have a good week! 

--Sister Hannah Thomas 

NEW ADDRESS:

1575 Yauger Rd. Apt #24 
Mount. Vernon, Ohio 43050

Week #19 & #20

#20

HI world!!! It's been a crazy week! I had a couple of asthma attacks this week and I only felt like I was dying a little bit, but it's fine now cause I got it all under contol!!!! It's fine!!! I'm fine!!! We're fine!!!🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃 I have allergies really bad and the swamp coolers and humidity made the allergies worse.  All is well and the mission medical missionaries took really good care of me.  Sister McClellan has also been struggling a bit with her diabetes as well.  But we have persevered and worked and took care of the Lord's business.  I think the adversary didn't want some things accomplished but we got it done!

 I got the news about transfers and I am unfortunately leaving Chillicothe. I am very VERY sad about this.  I will not be here for the baptism of Thomas. Which, by the way, we have all planned out and it is ready to go.  He is doing awesome. Thomas had asked me to sing at his baptism and so he is sad I won't be here to do that. I know that the ward and the missionaries will take great care of Thomas.  He is loved. I am also sosososososososososososososo sad about leaving Sister McClellan.  She is the most amazing companion and missionary.  I have learned so much from her and we are truly soul sisters.  I will miss her sosososososooooo much. We became so close so fast. She is such a wonderful missionary. Sister McClellan is staying in Chillicothe and training a new missionary...again!#PRAY4SISTERMCLELLAN (that's what she has requested). Saying goodbye has been rough.  I have shed lots of tears.  Which isn't normal for me.  I have developed some great friendships and I will miss so many of the great and kind people in this area.  I visited with Bill, a recent convert and my friend, and who has been suffering from cancer. I was able to teach him for the last time and it was hard.  But, he is officially cancer free and feeling so great.  So that is good news! I have decided that transfers are going to be the hardest part of the mission. But I know wherever I will be next will be a great adventure! 

We did it!  The missionaries sang at the baseball game.  Singing at the Clippers baseball game was soooooooooooo fun! I love being in Columbus. It's so pretty there!! I really felt like the spirit was so strong as we sang the "Star Spangled Banner" for everyone in attendance and for the baseball players.  Some of them had tears in their eyes.  It was a truly great way to do missionary work.  sharing our talents is truly an effective method of spreading the gospel.  It was a spiritual experience for me and for all the missionaries that participated.  I am so happy that Sister Daines posted the video on FB.  That way you all can see us performing. The baseball game so super fun. AND they played some Twenty One Pilots at the game it was THE BEST. Hahahahahaha! Sister McClellan and I could not stay for the entire game, because we had to drive all the way back to Chillicothe and make it home in time for curfew. But we got some Dip N Dots and sat down and watched the game and then dipped out of there. Hahaha! Sister Andersen was THERE! Her comp played the violin while we sang, so it was fun to be able to hang with her for a while! Also, TØP is currently in Columbus!!!!! Evil!!!! But I will avoid temptation and not try to look them up and teach them the gospel UNTIL I am transferred to their area and then I will do that! #missiongoals

Anyway, that's not important.

What is important is all of the miracles I have been able to see this week with Thomas! He is doing so well and he is SOOOOOOO ready to be baptized. The Word of Wisdom has been difficult for Thomas. He decided he wanted to get a priesthood blessing to help him quit smoking, and holy poo it was THE most spiritual blessing I've ever been able to witness. The spirit was so strong, and Brother George, the ward mission leader, said some things in the blessing that Thomas had not ever mentioned but were troubling him. Thomas felt the spirit so strongly and had some questions answered in the blessing.  He also feels so much stronger now. I know that blessing didn't come from man. It came straight up from God. We are now currently fasting with him. This is the first time he will go 24 hours with smoking a single cigarette. He has so much faith. He told us that the gospel has helped him to realize that there is so much good and beauty in the world. He just couldn't find it until he knew God. :') Tender moments. I am PUMPED for his baptism!! I visited Thomas to say goodbye and  we also made sure he was still fasting. He told me he was looking at lds.org (his new fav pastime) and he found my video on the Mormon Channel. He told me that depression and suicide are two things that have always haunted his brain. He has suffered from depression at different times in his life. He watched my video and said "I don't feel the sadness anymore. Your message spoke directly to my heart and It's like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders." I kind of just sat there because I didn't know what to say. I knew the spirit had spoken directly to him and he knew it too. He told me he knew that God had sent me to him and to Ohio for a reason and that was to help him receive the gospel. I've never felt so touched by someone in my entire life. In that moment I knew that Thomas was right.  He was one of the reasons I have been called to serve a mission. Missionary work is tough and sometimes I don't feel like I'm contributing much to help build God's kingdom, but when you get told something like that, it makes you feel pretty good. This work is 100% not about me, but it's good to feel like you have had a small part in helping someone come unto Christ. It makes all the sacrifice and difficulties worth it! I am so sad to be transferred, but excited for Thomas and all that God has in store for him. He is going to do so many great things.

There is a less-active family in our ward with 9 KIDS. They are a mixed family and they are busy, busy, 24/7. I love going over to their house it's so chaotic and fun hahahahha! It reminds me of home with all our friends and family at the dinner table! They have two kids that are baptism age. One is 8 and the other is 9 and so we have been going over there to try and reactivate the family and get the kiddos baptized. We had a really spiritual LESSON with the WHOLE FAMILY + THE DOG this week, and we extended a baptism challenge to the two kids, they accepted and so they will be getting baptized in a month and the family is excited to get back to church!!! Yay!!! I'm so excited for them! Saving ordinances are DOPE and they help families be together forever!!!!! The gospel is true folks, no doubt about it!

Anyway, life is crazy, but it's also pretty dang beautiful! My heart is so full. I am so greatful that I am able to be a missionary for the Lord, and that I am able to meet so many new people. Each person I meet touches and changes my life and I'm so happy I get to be apart of this amazing work.  I am so grateful to be a missionary of the Lord and to be sharing His message in Ohio.

Also, my comp and I saved a cute lil' box turtle this week. He was in the middle of the road and we took him to the woods by our house. Pics to come of our turtle rescue mission!  Not much in the awkwardness but I am sure that there is more of that forthcoming!

ALSO Sister McClellan and I may or may not have prayed for one of our less-active members to lose his job so that he could come to church instead of work on Sunday. He lost his job and is now coming to church on Sunday. #Godanswersprayers.

I'm gonna miss Sister McClellan and our prayers.

I LOVE YOU ALL.

Peace out, CHILLI. You will be missed.

- Sister Hannah Thomas 

#19

Hello!! This week was CRAZY! We had our last zone conference with President and Sister Daines. 😣 I am sad that they are leaving so soon.  I love them so much and they are so good at leading our mission.  However, I'm excited to meet my new mission president and his cute wife!  They will be here in July.

We had the opportunity to go to the temple for part of Zone Conference last week. It was amazing. You never truly know how much you need the temple until you actually have the chance to go. I love the temple. Especially the Columbus temple. It's so tiny, and beautiful and has such a lovely spirit. It was a much needed trip for me. I truly do love to see the temple.

MIRACLE OF THE WEEK: Well, actually two miracles. THOMAS'S WIFE GAVE HIM PERMISSION TO BE BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are so happy!! She is definitely not interested in the gospel (yet), but she doesn't want to stand in the way of his happiness. Which is so wonderful. She says she recognizes the change in Thomas and she thinks it is amazing. Also, Thomas took the Elders out for dinner this week. Lol. He told them that he had some questions that he didn't want to ask us...and we were like....What? So, he took the Elders out for dinner and started asking them questions about polygamy, and exaltation and Kolob. The Elders were like hecka nervous with all if his deep doctrinal questions. After talking with them for TWO HOURS and Thomas says "oh, alright. That's cool. Just so you know, none of my questions were dependent on whether or not I get baptized. I just want to wanted to know the answers so when dumb people ask me those questions, I can answer them easily." ????? THOMAS!!! STOP DOING THIS TO ME!!-!!!  He was scared to ask us about polygamy because he didn't want to come off as a creep or something.  He didn't want to disrespect us in any way.  He is so stalwart.

LESSON LEARNED THIS WEEK: So, Sister McClellan and I were out working and we met this man named Joe.  Joe was soooosososoososososo argumentative! He wanted to argue with us about everything and show us passages in the bible that proved us wrong as a church. Instantly, my brain went, "Sister Thomas, this is your chance to shine. This is what all this bible study has been for, YOUR FIRST BIBLE BASH." I was so ready and I whipped out a ton of scriptures to try to prove him wrong. And I was feeling pretty GOOD about it. I'm the most argumemtative person in the world, as you know, so I was loving life.  Except for the fact that he still wouldn't listen to me!!!! And he was still arguing with me. WHAT THE HECK DUDE???? In the middle of this, I remembered how contention is of the devil and then I felt like a jerk cause I was totally being Satan and not very Christ-like. So then my heart filled with love as I thought about him being one of Christ's lost sheep and I just stared at him and smiled and began sharing my testimony. And you know what??? This guy literally couldn't say one word!!! He just looked at me while I testified and said "I know that these things are true." Of course I had tears coming down my face so that may have been why he was staring at me.  But that experience is definitely something I will remember for the rest of my mission, and probably forever. When we share our testimonies and do it with love, no one can say a thing. You can't argue with a testimony. You can't argue with the spirit. I know that to be true.  This was a powerful moment for me.  

I also had an allergy attack this week.  That was nice.  Sister McClellan and I were at a members house for dinner and they have a farm.  It is such an awesome place.  So naturally, I was playing with all the baby animals because they were so cute!! Afterwards, I broke out in hives and I was having a hard time breathing so I took some Benadryl.  But, I took WAYYY too much! The Benadryl worked but I was pretty loopy.  Sister McClellan called the doctor and was like, "my companion accicentally overdosed on Benadryl so now what?"  Hahahaha!  The doctor was like, I'm glad she made it through the night...me too!

We also have been visiting a lot of less active members this week.  At the home of one family we were watching one of the new children's Bible videos for a message with the less active family and of the daughters pointed out that the fisherman in the video, who was called to be an apostle by Jesus, was not very modest.  She was upset because he was not wearing enough clothes.  He didn't have on a tie.  Hahahahahaha, she is quite observant for a 3 year old.  However, it turned in to such a great opportunity to discuss modesty in dress and in thought and with our actions.  It was such a great lesson and the spirit was really strong. The family was like, we really appreciate this message.  "Out of the mouths of babes..."

AWKWARD MOMENT OF THE WEEK (there is always at least one): SO. EVERY. SINGLE. ZONE CONFERENCE I have to get up and do something. I should just prepare for it because President Daines, without fail, will always ask me.  This time, President had a white board and he was making people get up and teach the Plan of Salvation to the entire ZONE on the white board. I am a 20 year old missionary, and when I see a white board and a marker in my face, I get like all nervous with like "Vietnam flashbacks," and I get cold sweats and super stressed and I basically can't function. I panic, okay! 🙃

Well, President Daines asked me to stand up and teach the Zone on the white board about Adam and Eve.  Oh dear, I'm no artist.  So, I get up and I draw a stick figure Eve, with a cute little dress and curly hair.  Then I draw Adam but by now I was shaking so badly!! I start drawing a cute stick figure Adam and I make his body a little bit longer than it should be, and I put his legs a little too high, so then WHAT was supposed to be a stick figure Adam turned into something from a male anatomy book.....DID I MENTION THIS IS IN FRONT OF PRESIDENT AND SISTER DAINES AND A BUNCH OF MISSIONARIES???? I start to hear giggling behind me, so what do I do?!?! I take my finger and just kind of try to nonchalantly erase his....well...you get it. 🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃  It was the worst! Everyone started laughing and I wanted to curl up in a ball!  Hahahahaha! It's fine. I'm THAT missionary! 🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃 I'm sorry to our first parents Adam and Eve!!  Anyways, my life is an AWKWARD mess. If I have learned anything from my mission, it's that there are two things in my life that will never change: 1. The church is true 2. My life is sosososososo strange and full of awkward moments!

Nonetheless, I love the people here so much.  They are so full of goodness. Next week is transfers.  It will be our last transfers with President Daines.  PRAY I DON'T LEAVE THIS PLACE JUST YET! I AIN'T READY TO LEAVE CHILLI TOWN and I want to be here for the baptism of Thomas.

Be good.  Choose the right.  Don't argue with a Joe and keep the peace! I love you.

--Sister Hannah Montana

Week #18

OOPS. MISSED A WEEK. I'M SORRY, IT WAS PAGEANT WEEK AND I WAS REALLY BUSY. 

Hi Utah!! What's good???? Before we get the missionary stuff I would just like to say..ONE OF MY OLDEST AND BESTEST FRIENDS IN THE WHOLE WORLD GOT ENGAGED THIS WEEK!!! CONGRATS LAUREN AND DAWSON!! LOVE YOU BOTH LONG TIME!! 

It has been an odd week filled with happy moments and some not so happy. We experienced a lot of rejection. Which is not fun, but you just gotta laugh at it so you don't cry!!! Lol jk. It's not that bad. But it's not fun either. It's never fun to get a door slammed in your face or to be called names. But on the bright side, we met some awesome new investigators, some really good ones!! Also, Thomas is amazing. With his baptism date coming up, he's really praying hard. He came to Book of Mormon class this week and we had an awesome lesson about the priesthood with our Bishop. It was so spirit filled and awesome. He kept trying to tell us that he shouldn't come to church until he is completely living the Word of Wisdom and Sister McClellan, the Bishop, and I were all like "UM NOPE. GET YOUR BUTT TO CHURCH SO YOU CAN BE BAPTIZED." So he did. He came to church and we were blessed with an amazing testimony meeting.   Which is surprising because normally in the Chillicothe ward at least SOMEONE gets up and says something crazy or reads a poem or chants. There were testimonies about being blessed for reading the Book of Mormon everyday, repentance, the healing power of the Atonement, and that the Lord sends missionaries to those who are ready.  EVERY SINGLE TESTIMONY SPOKE TO THOMAS.  After the closing prayer of the meeting Thomas looked at Sister McClellan and I and said, "I felt like all of that was directed at me, like God was speaking right to me."  "Yes, Thomas, God was speaking to you," was all I could say with tears in my eyes. 

Sister McClellan and I were hecka nervous that Thomas wouldn't show up to church, so we decided to fast for Thomas. We started our fast for Thomas Saturday after dinner. Then we got home on Saturday night from the WORST DAY I'VE HAD IN MY MISSION SO FAR (so much rejection and stress), and I went straight to the freezer, grabbed the ice cream out of it and started digging in cause I needed COMFORT. My comp comes into the kitchen and she's like, "WHAT THE CRAP ARE YOU DOING WE'RE FASTING FOR THOMAS."  HOW DID I FORGET?? I instantly fell to the floor and started CRYING because I thought Thomas would not come to church because of me forgetting about our fast. The next morning I was sick to my stomach. I was feeling complete guilt. We went to the church and we waited and waited for Thomas and 10:00 AM came around and he WASN'T THERE. I literally thought God was smiting me for EATING ICE CREAM. I prayed so hard in my heart for forgiveness. Then all of a sudden he showed up and said "Sorry I was just running on Mormon standard time today." ?????? WHAT??? THOMAS NO. NOT THE TIME!!! Anyway, I learned from this experience. I know the power of fasting is real. I know God is aware of all of us and He knows what is in our hearts.  And I didn't mess it all up because I accidentally ate ice cream. Thomas is so ready for baptism. His wife is just a little...hesitant...so that makes me nervous, but it's all gonna work out because God wants him to be baptized!! Remember Thomas in your prayers.

Also, we have a new investigator named Vicky and she thinks she has the priesthood authority!!! Who's gonna tell her the truth, because I don't really want to??!!! I guess I am about to learn something new this week.  You gotta love the mission field!

*Awkward moment of the week (I know you live for these): This one just happened today. We were on our way out of ALDI, and this lady comes up to me holding a bag of clothes and says  "I lost a bunch of weight and now I can't fit into my old clothes. They look like they could fit you. There's even a swimsuit in here I got at Walmart. Here, you can have all of it!" She then shoves the bag of clothes into my hands and walks away. ???? I didn't know what to do or say so I just said "Thanks?" Why do these things always happen to me? I carried the bag of clothes out to the car. I looked in the bag and guess what I found?  A bunch of double D size bras and a swim suit from Walmart...I don't have any words. Now, I just have this random bag of double D bras just sitting in our apartment and I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT.

Anyway, If you're having a bad day, just read this email and say "At least my life isn't as awkward as that of Sister Thomas!!" Because you would be very correct when saying that!! 

"You are known and remembered by the most majestic, powerful, and glorious being in the universe! You are loved by the king of infinite space and everlasting!" --Dieter F. Uchtdorf 

Don't forget that God is way cool and that he knows you all and loves you all more than you can imagine. I have felt His love and I have seen His love change the lives of so many people.

Be good. Have a gr8 week! I love you.

-Sister Hannah Thomas