Thompson Times

Dear family and friends,

So many cool things have happened in the last little while that I hope I can at least explain part of it. I apologize for not sending an email last week as we were cut on our time. On preparation day, we have a very specific time to do our emailing because there are always lots of things to do. Summer vacation has just started for the kids in Puerto so all the kids like to go to the computer places and play video games all day during the times that they used to be in school. It makes it pretty difficult to find a place to email but we were able to find a place today. I will try to explain what has happened for the last two weeks.

We had a special visit to Palawan by Elder Snow, the current church historian and member of the seventy, Elder Haynie, of the Philippines area presidency and member of the seventy, and Brother Nielson who is the assistant church historian. We had the opportunity to hear from them twice, once in a fireside for the members and also once in a special meeting for the missionaries. During the member fireside, our branch choir sang the song "Joseph Smith's first prayer" and I was the accompanist. It's interesting because I didn't know how to play that song before hand but while I was helping the choir to learn the song, I was able to learn the piano music myself. It was seriously nerve racking to play the piano in front of two general authorities and my mission president but it ended up sounding really good and we had some good complements. They talked all about church history, mostly about the restoration and also the history of the church in the Philippines. The Philippines is really such a good place for missionary work because it is almost entirely a Christian country already plus there is a pretty strong English influence here which really helps to build strong leaders. Another cool thing about the church in the Philippines is that is has grown from zero to half a million members faster than any other country in the world (aside from the US). I feel really blessed to be a part of the work here. During the missionary fireside we had the opportunity to shake hands with each of them. I have met Elder Haynie before when he came for a meeting while I was serving in Manila so I was curious to know if he would remember me or not. When I went to shake his hand, I found that he didn't remember me because we had the exact same conversation as we had before. 

Elder: Where are you from elder? 

Me: I'm from Kaysville, Utah. 

Elder: Kaysville? That means you graduated from Davis High? 

Me: Yep, Davis High.

Elder: Oh I'm sorry to hear that! I graduated from Bountiful high. That means you went to the wrong school.

Me: Heyyyy! Not true! :)

It was a pretty funny experience.

Saturday and yesterday we had district conference. Elder Adduru, also from the seventy came to speak to all of the members. It was such a cool experience so see all of the happy, cheerful saints from the entire north half of Palawan come and hear the word of God. It was cool to listen to the experiences, testimony, and council from Elder Adduru. He has a very strong knowledge in the scriptures. Palawan has so much potential and we really hope to see a stake here within the next year. Who knows, it's totally possible to have a temple here as well some day. Our branch choir performed again singing "The Morning Breaks" which I also learned just by practicing with the choir. It went pretty well.

We also had a zone conference for all of the missionaries last week. President Ostler and the assistants came and gave us some amazing training. It's always good to hear from our leaders.

Last week we had a service project of cleaning a "fish pond." When I was first informed about what we were doing, I didn't quite know what to expect. In America a fish pond is usually something made out of concrete that you go into and clean out with a pressure washer once a year or so. When we arrived there, I quickly discovered that they meant to say a fish farm, not a fish pond. There are members that own a massive fish farm where they raise all kinds of fish for people to eat. At this part of the year, the fish have been harvested and most of the water has been drained. We needed to clean it so that they can grow some more fish. Our task was to go out into the bottom of the pond and pick up as many snails as we could find and put them in the sun so that they would die. The reason we had to remove the snails is because they eat a huge amount of the fish food if you let them stay in there. There was still a little water in the pond and lots of mud. We spent several hours walking in mud up to our knees and harvesting snails. The pond also had a pretty strong sulfuric smell. It was definitely an experience that I will never forget! After our service, we had the opportunity to walk over to the beach and wash the mud off of our legs and arms. 

Almost every single week somebody emails me asking if I know anything about my visa and the answer is always no. But today nobody has asked me and I actually have a different story. President Ostler came up to me during zone conference last week to inform me that my Indian visa has been approved. Yes, that's right, I got my visa. The news surprised me so much and I have some very mixed emotions. As much as I want to get back to curry, mustaches, nose rings, saris, monkeys and stray cows, I have come to love the Philippines just as much as I love India. I've really felt the love of the people here and have finally started to learn enough of their language to connect with them. I will miss the Philippines so much but can't wait to get back to my own mission. There are millions of people there that need to hear the gospel and so many friends that I can't wait to go see. A bunch of my fellow missionaries from Angheles mission have had their visas approved at the same time as me so hopefully I will meet them in Manila and we will have the chance to travel back together. I should be leaving right after Easter. 

Speaking of Easter, check out https://www.mormon.org/easter if you haven't yet. What a wonderful time to learn more about our Savior and his sacrifice for us.

Love you all!

-Elder Kent R. Thompson

Here I am with Elder Wolcott after a few hours of work.

The fish farm. The snails live on the edges of the water.

Washing off at the beach.