I bring gift for your church. . .

Tuan Tran

He came! Tuan came to Sacrament Meeting.  We told him we would meet him at the church at 10:45 but when it was 11:00 and time for church to begin he hadn't come.  We went inside to attend the meeting and watch for him from the chapel.  We had barely found a seat when we saw him entering at a quick pace, wearing a big smile, his long grey locks flowing held back with a cord, and with his Bible in hand and his violin under his arm.  He spotted us and sat down on the bench beside us while the strains of the opening song filled the chapel.

Tuan's violin nestled in the Hymn book holder patiently waits it's turn to testify 

We didn't know what to expect.  He had told us he wanted to give a gift to our church - a song from Psalms 118.  Elder Thatcher felt that when the time was right he should bear his testimony and introduce Tuan to the people and explain that he wanted to give them a gift.   That is what happened.  We don't know what the ward thought but they were very kind to him after the meeting.   It was an interesting few minutes.

There is a sweetness in Tuan Tran.  We love and respect him greatly.  His life could be the story line of an intense novel.  His sincere searching has brought him to a love of God as he learned about him from the Bible.  He seems sincerely thankful that he is learning more through the Book of Mormon. He spoke a minute about the Book of Mormon and then began to play the violin.  It wasn't like hearing Jen play, not that polished.  It had a kind of oriental tone.  The violin paused as he began to sing the words from Psalm 118:5-8, which I believe is a little biographical for Tuan.

"In my distress I come to the Lord, ( little more violin)
He answer me and set me in a place
Help is He, (something, something, something,) 
It better trust in the lord than depend on man 
(Something something something) (little more violin before it fades away)

When Tuan sat down I wrote him a little note on my planner, "That was a beautiful gift Tuan.  Thank you"  I showed it to him and he immediately began to wipe tears from his eyes.  

Tuan Tran attends a church with his 'community'.  We assume they are a group of Christian people from Viet Nam.  He must have some type of leadership role in this 'community' because he had responsibilities that he needed to meet after he left the church.  Throughout the rest of the meeting we looked around at the ward.  The benches were pretty full yesterday and the people were most definitely mainly of Samoan or Tongan descent.  Many of them would make 4 of Tuan.  We wonder how he would adjust to the church, to the ward.  Would he feel apart?  Would he feel lonely or isolated here?  Would anyone be able to understand him?  Perhaps he will have to bring his whole 'community' with him into the Church.  

We know that he is in the Lord's hands.  The Lord has preserved his life through war, hiding, starvation, imprisonment, flight from his country, and resettling in a foreign place.  Truly, 'in his distress, he has come to the Lord.'  And he knows that 'it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.'  Tuan Tran's testimony, though differently expressed was a witness of truth given by a man who loves the Lord.  It will be long remembered by Elder Thatcher and myself.  After Sacrament Meeting we walked with him out to his car and took this picture of him.

Tuan Tran in the parking lot after Sacrament Meeting

Elder Thatcher and Brother Tran 'You my miracle . . .'

As we bid farewell he turned to us and said, "You my miracle.  Everything I pray to God, answered."

It wasn't that we alone have been answering his questions but we also gave him the Book of Books - the Book of Mormon and from its pages his questions are being answered.  

3 Baptisms

We had a little fun with President and Sister Briggs this week.  Missionary work can be pretty discouraging.  Appointments can be hard to come by and often when you go to an appointment the people aren't there.  This has happened to them a lot lately and they were a little discouraged.  To rub salt in the wound we sent them an email;

"We have 3 baptisms this Saturday.  It's about time.  We've worked hard for these.  We kind of had to baby them along but we feel they are ready and will be good members of the Church.  Sadly we won't be able to attend the baptisms because of Presidency Meeting."

They got quite a laugh out of it when they found out we were talking about 3 grandchildren.   Carly, Claire and Michael were all baptized on Saturday.  It was hard to miss this great day but we are so happy for them and loved receiving pictures of the momentous events. 

Claire and her father - both look pretty happy

Paul, Ivie, Grace, Millie, Claire, Jen, Ty

Emily, Mark and Michael, Michael and his Dad,  Rachael, Michael and Josh, Rachael and Michael
Congratulations Michael

Melissa, Noah, Carly and Joe

Carly and her father

Claire and Carly - cousins baptized on the same day
Congratulations Claire and Carly

We feel as happy about these baptisms as Joe does
Photo Credit - Alex Thatcher 

Group at Carly's baptism - The Alex Thatcher family, the Jason Howell family, The Joe Howell family, the Paul Thatcher Family, the Matt Thatcher Family

Tracting Report

Yes we still go tracting.  It has been on Elder Thatchers list since the holidays because our families have been on vacations or busy with company and we haven't had as many appointments to teach.  So. . . . . we went tracting to try to increase our teaching pool.  President Howes from the MTC always tells the missionaries that tracting isn't a very effective way to do missionary work.  But then he will add, 'unless you are the Thatcher's.'  I think it amazes him that we seem to have such success while tracting.  I have learned that when Elder Thatcher says we need to go tracting, I go.  It isn't as frightening to me anymore but rather has become an adventure.

Elder Thatcher - tracting book in hand - knocking doors

Last Wednesday one of our appointments fell through so Elder Thatcher thought we should tract.  We started at the first house on Vitori Place and within an hour we had appointments to teach three new families.  We had also met a man named John who visited with us for about 20 minutes.  He told us that he thinks the word BIBLE stands for 'Basic Information Before Leaving Earth'.  He was delightful and of a happy disposition.  He had met many missionaries and said he loved them all.   We keep thinking of things we want to teach him but wonder if we would make any progress.  He isn't seeking.  He loves the Bible and the Lord and seems to believe everything anyone says - it is all good he thinks.  It makes us realize that enquiring minds are precious.  Seeking minds are what we are looking for.  People who will want to learn more.  I guess I am trying to say humble people are rare and precious.

Saturday we taught all three families that we had met.  When we meet with a new family it seems that the Lord pours into us a love for them.  We taught the nicest man named Toni with 3 daughters, Kirsty-Ann, Kaylee, and Karla, one of which is autistic.  There was great love there.  His wife was sleeping because she works night shift but the lesson went well.  We left them a Book of Mormon. And will go again in a week.

We also taught Agnes, a young woman in a wheelchair who was so kind to us while tracting. She had forgotten we were coming and only had 10 minutes for us to leave a message but invited us back again.

If no one answers I take pictures of flowers - 'aren't daisies just the friendliest flowers?'

Our last new family consists of a father named Matthew and his wife Margaretta and their children, Trinity, Tristan, Matty, and Dakota.  This is a father who is seeking to know if there is a God and feels deep inside him that there is something out there.  He quit believing in God as a young man and had lived a wayward life without God until he met his wife and had children.  He has quit drinking and doing drugs and loves his family.  You can feel the love in the home and see how the children love him.  We had a nice lesson and are going back tonight to teach them again.

We never know how things will turn out but we always feel that we were meant to meet these people.  We love them.  We pray for them.  We are so grateful for the privilege of bearing witness of the love of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.  What a message of hope we carry.  It truly seems that the Lord has gone before us and prepared hearts and minds.  We just never know which ones will listen and accept.  As Elder Thatcher says, 'there is so much work to do here!'


We also love the members of the church that we meet.  These two boys were at the church when we went on Tuesday night.  They are not from our ward but from another ward that meets in our church. Their ward was having a game day to celebrate the new year.  There were dominoes being played in one foyer and a rousing game of volleyball happening in the gym.  We sat in the foyer and practiced the Articles of Faith together.  They will be mighty fine missionaries one day.   They told us they wished we were in their ward.

two new friends D'metrius and AJ - we practiced the Articles of Faith together 

We heard this week that Aaron's scans were great.  That made our week.  Aaron said Dr. Akerley couldn't be happier that there was no progress in the cancer.  Yes!

We love hearing about all of you back home and getting to talk once in a while.  We loved seeing that you are being watched over by loving people.

Aunt Mary and Aunt Rosie made a visit to see baby Maylee

We love you all.  We are so grateful for the blessing of family and the love that binds us.  We are grateful to be missionaries and to have the experiences we are having and feel the feelings we are feeling.  We love the Lord more and more.  We love the people around us and want so to share the beautiful truths that have been restored.  We invite all of you to dive into the Book of Mormon and to ponder what you read there.  It is ever new in its life and beauty and each day that we open it's pages is a day with greater light and direction.  What would we do in this world without the spirit to light our way and fill our hearts with hope and love.

Be true and we will be too.

Mom and dad,
Grandma and Grandpa
Elder and Sister Thatcher