Lord's Hand In His Work

Tuvimos bautismo!! Geovanni was our miracle. He showed up on his own with a sincere desire to learn. He had a hunger for the peace that only the gospel can bring. He has progressed so fast and has huge potential. I was reminded that Heavenly Father is who prepares the people and when it is their time miracles happen. ​

    It has been incredible seeing the Lord's hand in His work. I know that this is His work and His gospel. I am so grateful for the opportunity and blessing I have had to be a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I can't hardly believe that this time is ending. This is the last time I will write as a missionary. Thank you for all of your love and support. For writing and sharing your lives with me and allowing me to share with you.

     I just want to take advantage of the opportunity to share that I know that God is our Loving Heavenly Father. He loves us so much more than we can comprehend. But even though we may not be able to fully comprehend the extent of His love, we can feel it. He hears and answers prayers. He is a God of miracles and if we take time to be still and trust Him we are able to see His hand and feel His love.

     He loves us so much that He sent His only Begotten Son to pay the ultimate price to bring us back to His presence and become like Him. Jesus Christ was the only one who could of performed the Atonement. Finally it has clicked for me that in order to access the full power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and become perfected in Him we have to make covenants through true priesthood power. That power and authority were restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith.

      I know that there is power in the Atonement. I have felt the strength that can only come from above carrying me through my hardest moments. On the other hand, my happiest moments here in the mission have been witnessing someone else access that same power in their own lives. I love being a missionary!!

      Thank you again for all of your love and support! Nos vemos pronto!

Love,
Hermana Thacker

Chicken Feet

Bueno... I'm not sure what to share or how to even express how I feel. So.... Fun stuff this week.

 -This week we have been experimenting with the pedometer. The highest count we got was 17,257 steps or 7.61 miles.

 -A dog tried to eat me. My companion laughed, and the next day a dog tried to eat her too. As the Apostle Paul exhorts, ''Guardaos de los perros.'' (Philippians 3:2) I guess this isn't a new problem for missionaries... :)

 -I thought I was going to be able to slip by through my entire mission without eating chicken feet. Then it happened.

I took my courtesy bite, but I couldn't finish it. So we asked for it to go...

 -One of the youth gave us a reference of one of his friends. This friend, Alex, has turned into one of our best investigators. Cristian(the young man) has come with us to visit him every time and even invited Alex to be baptised. It has been so neat to see Alex progress, and to see how Cristian's testimony has grown as he shares this experience with his friend.

 -Our other golden investigator is also a reference of a member. It is incredible how much impact the support of a member friend or relative can have in the life of our investigators. She has been working hard to prepare Geovanny for a whole lot more than just get baptised. I am so excited for him because of the support he has. He has great potential to stay active.

 -Oh, and we found a family! One that is actually married and very attentive!! I finally feel like everything is progressing again in my area. While it will be so very hard to leave it behind, I feel confident that things are lining up for my companion to have a successful cambia.

Bueno, hasta la proxima... ya mi ultima vez.

Hermana Thacker ​

Be Still and Know That I am God

     So, last Sunday I was a little discouraged and worried about my area and how it wasn't progressing like I was hoping it would. I wasn't sure what to do, so I tried putting it aside to read my scriptures. I was reading 1 Nephi 22 and when I got to verse 11...

     'Wherefore, the Lord God will proceed to make bare his arm in the eyes of all the nations, in bringing about his covenants and his gospel unto those who are of the house of Israel.''

     It really struck me... and brought to my mind another scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 101:16 

''Therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning [Honduras]; for all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that I am God.''

     I felt at peace and we got to work. We have had some of the longest days this week and many hours without sitting down to have a lesson, but we have seen progress. We have investigators that have started progressing, we have been receiving good referrals, and we have had lessons filled with the spirit. I have seen Heavenly Father's hand working in our area. He knows what He is doing and little by little we are learning our part in it. I love it. I love it here. And I love being a missionary!

Love you all!

Hasta la próxima!
Hermana Thacker

Semana Santa=Vacation Week

     This week has been a little more exciting. It involved Semana Santa and the beach, contacting in the park, a GIANT Book of Mormon, and General Conference!!

     Semana Santa=Vacation Week. This is touristic and the best thing everyone says it has to offer is la playa. So this week the city was flooded with tourists. It was crazy!! Semana Santa tourists inspired the Webbs to organize a week of contacting in the park...

     This is Elder Webb with the big poster they had made. They got a whole bunch of copies of the Book of Mormon and pamphlets galore. The Zone Leaders organized everyone into shifts and we all took turns in the park contacting. This was one of our days...

     ​And here we are with the giant Book of Mormon and Indira. I'm pretty sure I told you about her. She came with us to help out. It was a fun adventure and a good change. The goal was to find references for all over and take advantage of the surge in tourists, but in the end more than 90 percent were people from here. About 50 of those were for my area. :) We have a lot of work to do these next few weeks!

     And then we had General Conference!! I love General Conference. For me there was a focus on the Plan of Salvation. It reminded me who I am and what Heavenly Father wants me to accomplish. One of my favorite talks was the one about Shiblon and the other about learning to hear the music of the spirit. What did you learn watching conference?

     Well, that's my week in a nutshell...

Hasta la próxima!
Love,
Hermana Thacker

Sleep Talking In Spanish and Learning English In Honduras

I think this week was a little calmer. I did get a little sick and we had divisions with the sister training leaders, but other than that it was pretty calm.

Cool things I learned this week:

 -following up is how we show the people we teach that we love them and have faith in the promises God has made.

 -the bus system is a lot more convenient than I thought. Mom, you asked about that. We usually walk. Before we always took taxi to go to centro and to our meetings. Now that I am learning how to use the bus system I hope we can take those more often.

 -helping someone with their English homework I learned when and how to use a/an. Who knew that would be on the list of things I would learn in Honduras...

 -Hna. Maria (she just barely hit one year of being a member) has a very powerful testimony. We had a lesson with her and her daughter. We asked her to share her experience and the spirit was strong as she invited her daughter to pray and ask if these things are true.

 -When I sleep talk my companion obeys me. :) Apparently I dream in Spanish :) I just told her that she needed to get up and go to another room because someone else was coming. She had just gotten back from a bathroom break and was half asleep. So when I told her to go she did! Once she got to the study table with her blanket and everything she finally woke up enough to think about what she was doing and realize it was silly :)

 -I had missed thunderstorms.

 -even though I haven't practiced in 6 weeks I can still make a decent tortilla :)

 -Linda is so happy and progressing very well. I am sad I am not going to see her baptism, but I know that is the day she needs to get baptised. I can see it in her face!

 -There are lots of cool scriptures in the bible. ex. ''Guardaos de los perros.'' (Philippians 3:2) and 2 Thessalonians 2:10-16 (This one is actually a really good one.)

 -In seeking the spirit your mind and body will be renewed.

 -I still have people I need to find here before I go home. So now I have to get to work applying everything I learned this week. I hope you enjoy your Semana Santa and General Conference this weekend!!!

Hasta La próxima!
Love,
Hermana Thacker

Getting On The Same Page

I have a new companion!!!! And I am back to working in my area!!!

But I forgot the pictures... So you'll have to wait.

This week has been crazy.

     Tuesday the hermanas dropped me off in la Lima where I was going to wait for my new companion. Then they cancelled the flight of all of the new missionaries that was coming in. The MTC sent them later on a flight that came in at 10:30 pm. That meant I had to figure out what to do in the meantime. So the hermanas from Porvenir offered to let me come with them. So I got to go back to Porvenir for a day!

     Wednesday in the morning I got dropped off in la Lima again to pick up my companion for real this time. And we got back to work!

     We have walked and walked and walked, gotten sun burned, had a good number of appointments fall through, (you know all of the usual stuff) but I am so happy to be back in my branch. :) The neatest thing I have seen is how Heavenly Father has continued to prepare His children. It has been interesting to see who has progressed without us and who has not. I was kind of surprised.

     One investigator we have been working with for more than two months has struggled with accepting a baptismal date. In our absence she has made plans with her aunt and they set a date. Our investigator is happily progressing.

     Another used to participate in the Gospel Principles class saying that he and his family is Evangelico and that he was only coming to church for his wife. This Sunday his participation was filled with, ''I used to be Evangelico, and I used to come for my wife...'' topped with invitations for all of the new investigators to pray and ask God. Testifying that they would get an answer.

     And then we have a new investigator. He showed up with his aunt and basically said, ''Here I am. Teach me. I want to know more.''

     Heavenly Father really is the one who is preparing the hearts of the people we are teaching.We just have to learn to get on the same page as Him. It never ceases to amaze me how perfect Heavenly Father's plan is. What miracles have you seen this week?

Hasta la próxima,
Hna. Thacker

We Can Feel The Atonement Work In Our Lives

Last week the Area President... This week an Apostle.

     We had a huge multi-mission conference with the missions San Pedro Sula East and San Pedro Sula West. Elder Andersen came with his wife, Elder and Sister Maynes, Bishop and Sister Davies, and Elder and Sister Ochoa. It was so cool!

     I learned a lot about the power and influence that just one person can have. It was a good reminder that ''the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.'' We talked about how important it is to help the people we are working with have a change of heart. That is the repentance that they need to become truly converted and stay active and progressing in the gospel. We talked a lot about the Atonement and how Jesus Christ is the center of everything we do. It was powerful hearing a Special Witness of Jesus Christ bear his testimony of Jesus Christ.

     Sorry this is so short!! But I'll end with my testimony. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. He came to atone or us, and because of His atoning sacrifice we are able to become clean again and return to live with Heavenly Father. I love studying the Book of Mormon because it has helped me come to know and love my Savior. And I know that as we study it with real intent and put it into practice, we can feel the Atonement work in our lives.

Pues, hasta la próxima!
Love, Hermana Thacker

Oh! and this week I get a new companion! I am so excited! Oh! and the picture is a picture of our district...