Hello

Hey Everybody,

This week was really great. We did some really fun things and visited some really cool people. We were able to pick up some new investigators as well as visit a ton of current investigators. Teaching with Elder Cloward is really fun. He's a really great teacher. Our friend Megha has been coming on exchange with us at least once a week. I feel bad to take him so much but he is always available. He's a 41 year old guy that is pretty much always home and ready to come with us. Also, he knows just about every home nearby to him so it's so helpful. We were out finding the other day and we were asking everybody where this brother's home was and nobody seemed to know. It's hard because the streets are not labelled very well and the door numbers are pretty much just random numbers. It's hard. We took Megha with us the next day and he took us right to this brother's home. He's got to be one of my favorite members.

One of our recent converts, Mehesh, gave us an awesome referral named Asha who is his wife's sister. We met with her at Mehesh's house the other day and had a really great lesson. We could honestly call her a "golden investigator" meaning she was super interested and asked a ton of questions. The best part was that all of the questions she was asking led right into the next thing that we would want to share with her. I would love to keep teaching her but the only problem is that she lives in the zone leader's area. We'll have to make sure they keep good care of her. 

Valentine's day was fun. Nobody really celebrates it but it was fun to joke around about it with some members. 

I don't really have any crazy stories or anything too exciting for the week other than we taught a ton of people and had tons of fun. Being on a mission is such a great experience. 

Here's a few pics from the week. The first is a chicken that I saw the other day that looks just like our chicken named Steve from back home. It was fun to this this little guy running around. Also, another classic example of why my English is going downhill. 

Hope all is well back home.

Love,

Elder Thompson

Steve's Indian twin

More Indian grammar 

Zone Conference in Indiaranagar

What a Week!

Hello,

We had an awesome week and were able to teach tons of people and find a bunch of new homes also. We did some finding and it was so great. I guess something I have learned on my mission so far is how to ask for directions or help. It's so much easier to ask than try and figure it out on my own. We found a few homes of inactive members and had good visits with them. Hopefully we can work with them and help them come back to church some day.

On Wednesday we had zone conference and I saw two of my batch mates, Elders Hymas and Armstrong. They have been waiting for their visas in Ventura, California. It was cool to finally see them here in India. Now all of my batch is here in India except for Elder Harris who was my MTC companion. Hopefully I will see him soon. 

On Thursday we rode our cycles to a hospital in an area called Koramangala to give this guy a blessing. He recently had surgery on his nose because he fractured it about a year ago. The hospital reminded me of the one that I worked at in Ecuador with my dad a few years ago. Big but sort of ghetto. 

On Saturday we met with some new investigators that we met last week. A member named Megha came with us. Megha was so nice because I believe he came with us three times last week. He was really helpful. Our investigators fed us lunch and it was probably the nicest meal I have had at someone's house. They fed us egg noodles, this stuff called chicken kebab, fruit salad, fanta, and ice cream cones at the end. They even gave us glass plates and a fork! It was quite heavenly.

Yesterday we had a nice time at church. Elder Cloward and I are teaching the primary children how to sing "I know That My Savior Loves Me." It's a great song but we have to teach because they don't have it on the cd and I'm the only person that can play the piano. Figures. Elder Cloward is really good with the kids so it works out. Last night we saw a few other people and finished off the week with a lot of success.

Here are a few pics. A few shots from our adventures of cycling and finding and also a classic example of why I think my English is getting worse and worse. 

Everything is great here in India. We've had some really fun times and so many laughs in the last little while. I've had a little bit of a cold but other than that my health is great. 

Love you all, 

Elder Thompson

Indian traffic

Cycling and finding

A classic example of Indian grammar

Big Changes!

Hello,

This has been a really good week with many exciting changes. At the beginning of the week, a former investigator that I have never met before randomly called and told us that he wanted us to teach him. I was on exchange with a guy from Visak named Elder Bandi, so we had a good time teaching him. During the rest of the week, I spent time with the Zone Leaders waiting for my new companion and also running errands. Transfer weeks are pretty insane. Elder Grimmett left on Wednesday morning and Elder Cloward didn't come until Thursday evening. 

When Elder Cloward finally made it we were pretty happy. We are basically the same person! We like all of the same things, except that he likes country music and I don't. I even found out that he likes to burn incense in the apartment just like I do. (A weird habit that I picked up from Elder Grimmett) But yeah, we have had a super great time so far and have been tearing it up as far as teaching people goes. Elder Cloward came from Hyderabad which is a city that doesn't have many of the luxuries that Bangalore does. He has been pretty excited the past few days! Today I am going to take him to some huge malls and maybe get some western food. 

We're still working with our progressing investigators, Shilla and Sam. They are really cool and are willing to make commitments but, they have a hard time getting Sam out of the house because of his mental disorder. Hopefully they will be able to make it soon because they are awesome.

We found out last night that Elder Cloward and I are really good at teaching in unity. He knows his stuff really well too so I'm excited to learn from each other. 

I got a call from one of the elders in the mission whose home is in the area that I am serving right now. He told us to go visit a sister down the street that hasn't come to church in quite a while. We stopped by on Saturday and we couldn't go in because there wasn't a brother there.  We were able to simply say hi. She came to church the next day so that's exciting. I guess all it takes sometimes is to let someone know that you care about them. 

It's been weird being the only one that knows the area. It feels good though and so far I haven't gotten us lost at all. Also, we have two other elders living in the apartment with us now. Elder Anderson, who just finished being an AP, and also Elder Peter, who is brand new from New Delhi. His skin is completely white and the only reason you would recognize that he is not American is from his accent. A really nice guy though. He's also a vegan because he's allergic to most animal products so we will have to be really careful. The other day Elder Cloward made dinner, and accidentally stirred the eggs and the noodles with the same spoon and it made him sick. Poor guy. 

All but one of my batch mates have safely arrived in Bangalore. The one that is still in the states is my MTC companion, Elder Harris. He says he likes it there so that's good at least. I hope he gets his visa soon. I had the chance to see one of them, Elder Singh in the mission office while I was there earlier in the week. Also, I saw a young man from the branch that I'm serving in that just finished his training in the Philippines. I saw him at the mission office as well. His name is Harish and it was weird to refer to him as "Elder Thambi". He is now in Hyderabad. 

I think that's about all for this week. 

I didn't take any pictures, so here's one of me and Elder Cloward.

I hope you all have a great week!

Love, Elder Thompson

Elder Thompson and Elder Cloward emailing on P-day

Last Week of My Training

Hello all,

This week brought many exciting changes, but also some really good times.

Last Monday we got our transfer calls. Elder Grimmett is going to Hyderabad to be companions with the only other elder from my batch who got his visa, Elder D'vaz. Those two will tear it up! Two awesome elders. I am going to be with Elder Cloward, who right now is in Hyderabad with Elder D'vaz. Elder Cloward is from Elder Grimmett's batch, so they are just switching places. I met Elder Cloward on my first day here, and he is a super awesome guy. He's from Layton, Utah. I'm excited. Also, Elder Anderson, (who is currently one of the AP's) will come serve the other half of my area, training a new Indian Elder. That will be a relief, because right now our area is literally half of Bangalore. We are excited! I will also have a lot to learn from Elder Anderson. He's been out for a pretty long time, and is pretty much a legendary missionary. Elder Grimmett flies out on Wednesday and Elder Cloward should also come on Wednesday, I think.

Oh, and a little side note, here in India, in order for people to understand you saying the word Wednesday, you have to pronounce it how it is spelled. ex. "I'm leaving to Hyderabad on Wed-nes-day". It's kinda funny. 

Anyway, I learned that when people find out that you are leaving, they ALL want to feed you. I think we got fed dinner/lunch/or simply snacks just about every day last week. We also have a dinner appointment tonight with some of our favorite members, the Kanagie family. Sister Kanagie is cooking us beef biryani. (Which is pretty much every missionary's favorite meal. Yum!)  We had a really really good week and taught more lessons than we have any other week my entire mission. It was awesome.

On Friday, we had specialized training in Whitefield with President Berrett. We practiced asking investigators inspired questions from the Spirit. It was a little tricky for me because I tend to always just keep thinking of the next thing that I can teach. President Berrett came to listen while Elder Grimmett and I were practicing. I got pretty nervous but he helped me out. He told me that the only way to get good at teaching with the Spirit is by practicing over and over again. So that's what I have been really trying to work on. The concept is called "Teach People, Not Lessons." It's a pretty important concept so hopefully I can get it soon.

Last night we went and taught our investigators, Shilla and Sam. They have been doing really well and Shilla read about 15 chapters in her Book of Mormon since last week. Not only has she been reading, but she has underlined a bunch of verses! Awesome! We didn't teach the second lesson yet. I think we will keep fellowshipping them and helping them at least for one more week so we aren't throwing too much overwhelming info in their faces. Right now they go to "Infant Jesus Church", which is where just about every Christian around here goes.

Sorry for my poor spelling and grammar.  I think those two skills are starting to decline just because I talk so slow and simply to people here. Especially to people that don't have the best English or hearing impaired people. Like if I was talking to a hearing impaired person I wouldn't say "can you help your girlfriend come to church", you would say "help gf come church." It's interesting. Even talking to people that can hear. You wouldn't say "Do you think that we could have a closing prayer before we go?" You would say "So, we can have one closing prayer?"

I just got an email from the mission and it looks like we are going to welcome three new Indian Elders, one new Indian Sister, and six Americans that have just finished their training and have finally gotten their Visas approved. Awesome! I'll update you all next week on who those are but it sounds like I may be meeting my MTC batch, or at least part of it. 

Also, we just got a new senior couple here. They will be working in the mission office for a while. Elder and Sister Bedke. Super nice people. They are from Sandy, but Elder Bedke is from Burley, Idaho originally. We were able to talk about Albion and Burley for a little while. Pretty cool.

I took a bunch of pictures this week, so hopefully I can get them all to send. Here's the first three: A cool sunset, our last district meeting together (Elder Gotipati is also going to Hyderabad.) and I picture from church yesterday.

Have a good week!

Elder Thompson

Specialized Training in Whitefield with President Berrett

The last district meeting before transfers

Dalton Kanagie eating his soup on a motorcycle

A typical Bangalore street

There are some mighty fine sunsets in India.

Dinakaran Manjula's birthday 'function'

In India it is customary to feed others your birthday cake.

Elder Grimmett and Elder Thompson with a few Convent Road Branch members

Hello

Hello Everybody,

This was a really good week. We started out by playing some basketball last Monday, and I also did some yoga that evening. Elder Grimmett made fun of me, but I did it anyway. :) 

On Tuesday, we went to visit our friend Joseph in a place called Gottigere. It's on the outer edge of the city, and is right next to what looks like a jungle. I saw a monkey while we were finishing the appointment (you've gotta love the garbage. It's weird what you will see in the garbage. Here you see some dude's shoes. Haha everybody wears sandals anyway, so who needs them?). Later that night we visited the Lawrence family. They have this super energetic dog named Jazz. It was fun to play with him and we did our best to have a spiritual message. 

Wednesday was our Hearing Impaired friend Karthik's birthday. We had an appointment in the evening but it cancelled so we went over to visit him. We had a good visit with him and also the Kanagie family. 

Last week, we also did some finding. Finding is when we have an address of a member, and we go and find them. Many of the addresses here are bad, so it's a little tricky, but it's fun because all you need to do is ask someoone on the street. If they know where it is, they will show you, but if not, they will say "nope, I don't know where this is, but let's go and find them." It's pretty fun to go on scavenger hunts with random people from the street.

I'm still teaching piano to a boy named Benjamin. He likes learning, and we are starting to learn the notes on the staff. It's going well, and I think he is learning a lot. (Now I just need to get him to practice at  home. That's the hard part.) 

Yesterday, there were about 4 or 5 people from America at sacrament meeting. Our building is near the hotels that many of them stay in for work trips so it's not uncommon to see them at church. I talked to one of the guys and he was only about as tall as me but he looked like a giant! I guess I am getting so used to talking to short, skinny, brown people every day. Later that evening we went back to the area called Ejipura with our friend Keerthi Sagar. We visited our new investigators, Shilla and Sam. We had a really spiritual lesson with them and answered questions from the last lesson. We also introduced the Plan of Salvation to them and gave them a pamphlet to read. Next week we can go over there and go over the lesson. It was so cool because Shilla told us that she felt different ever since the last time we came. She felt peaceful and her son Sam, (who has a mental problem) is doing a lot better. We gave Sam a blessing last week to help him out. I am beginning to realize more and more how the Spirit works. It's so cool to see people feel that peace and love. 

I attached the picture of the monkey from Gottigere and there is also a pic of Karthik and me. I'm wearing his hat. 

Things have gone by so fast. It's insane. Transfer calls are today and we will find out what will happen to Elder Grimmett and who my new companion will be. I can't believe that it's come this fast. Things are going so well and I am loving my time here as a missionary in Bangalore. Thanks for the support that you all show to me. I really appreciate it. 

Love, Elder Kent Richard Thompson

A monkey near Gottigere

Happy birthday, Karthik!

Hello

This week was a really successful and enjoyable week for Elder Grimmett and me.  We were able to have a lot of success with visiting people and sharing the gospel.

On Monday, we went to a bunch of different stores. We found a store that is kind of like a Whole Foods market back home. They had all kinds of imported fruits and veggies, and just everything really. I got myself one of my favorite snacks, iceberg lettuce. Yum.

On Tuesday, we visited three recent convert/less active members. It was awesome. It's great when we get three lessons in one day, because people tend to bunk appointments pretty often. 

On Friday, we visited the Lachmanan family. Their daughter is leaving in March to the Temple Square mission! That will be super cool for her.

We visited many other people during the week and I taught piano on Saturday.  That was exciting because the boy that I'm teaching usually doesn't show up.

Yesterday, on our way to church, we were walking past a mall by our house, and saw a Krispy Kreme truck pull in. The guy that was driving it was a member named Vishnu. We've visited him before, and he's a super nice guy. The only problem is he needs to deliver doughnuts just about every Sunday. He told us that he could spare an hour to come to sacrament meeting, so he met us there. It was great. While I was playing the closing hymn, the power went out. (Which is not unusual here in Bangalore.) We got to finish singing the song a capella because it's an electric keyboard.

After church, we taught the second missionary lesson to our hearing impaired investigator sister named Kat. She is really solid and is preparing to be baptized in February. I've also been making a ton of progress with my sign language. I'm almost to the point where I can say a prayer without any help from Elder Grimmett. Then, our hearing impaired friend Karthik came over, and I made him some mashed potatoes for lunch. He had never had them before, and thought they were pretty good. Later that night, we had plans to meet with our friend Keerthi Sagar to visit some families. We met him in a place called Ejipura, and he was there with three other priesthood brothers. So the 6 of us had an awesome time going to visit some families. We also got some new investigators that evening, and I taught the restoration. I'm getting more and more confident in my teaching abilities.

I took a few pictures this week. The first is of a member named Clinton. We went to visit him and his family. He's trying to look cool. :) The second is us at a really great restaurant called Sridevi. They bring out all the rice and curry that you want, and also curd and a sweet all for about $1.50. It's called a veg meal. Super delicious. There is me, Elder Grimmett, Elder Gill (the huge guy), and Elder Gottipati (the brown guy, who's actually from Ogden.) We had a good time.

I think that's all for this week. Everything is going really well here in India, and I'm having a great time. Time is flying by. I only have two more weeks left in my training. Wow. 

Love you all,

Elder Thompson 

A branch member named Clinton

Elder Thompson, Elder Grimmett, Elder Gill, and Elder Gottipati eating at Sridevi, an all you can eat rice and curry joint.

Happy New Year!

Hey Everybody,

I hope that you all had a great holiday season. We had a pretty fun time teaching the gospel as well. We have picked up a few new investigators, and one of them is a hearing impaired sister. She is pretty stoked about the gospel and wants to be baptized already. She's been coming to church with her boyfriend, so as soon as we finish teaching the lessons to her, she can be baptized. Looks like I will have to learn a little bit more sign language so that I can teach her when Elder Grimmett leaves. Last night, we had a really spiritual discussion with a guy named Money. Two of his brothers are members, but he is going to a different Christian church. He had a lot of questions about the gospel that we were able to answer. Hopefully we will be able to continue to teach him, and have him feel the Spirit. 

I went on exchange with Elder Gill this week, and we had a good time. He showed me some of his area, and we got to talk about ways that I can improve myself as I continue to learn how to be a missionary. It was great. 

Elder Grimmett and I have joined a gym called Chisel. We've been going to work out almost every morning. I've been lifting a ton of weights, and pounding down eggs and peanut butter, so hopefully I can bulk up this skinny body of mine a little bit. 

New years eve was pretty great! We went to a members home and ate some delicious dinner. It was weird to go to bed at 10:30. Haven't done that for a while on New Years. 

Some of our favorite people in the branch, Derga and Margaret, and their little boy Jeffrey just left to head to Utah. Derga is going to go to school in Sandy, and will later head to BYU I. Bummer. Derga was also the BML. They will have some awesome adventures though.

I didn't take a ton of pictures this week, but I saw a nativity scene out on the street the other day that was kinda funny. So apparently Baby Jesus was born in a mansion... Good to know :)

Thank you all so much for the Christmas wishes and mail. You're all great, and It's so nice to know that people are thinking about me. I'm doing well, and am enjoying things here in India. 

Love,

Elder Kent Richard Thompson

An interesting twist on the Nativity

A mansion?!?