Week 85- Meetings and Miracles

Hoi!

We were crazy busy this week, but it turned out really well! Transfer day went fairly smooth, everyone traveling across country in the beautiful train system here, and all of the beginning of the transfer meetings were super uplifting and inspiring.

Along with that we had a last minute meeting with Bishop Waddel on Sunday. He is the Second Counselor in the Presiding Bishoprick, and also a super cool and inspired person. He talked to the leaders of the mission about faith in teaching repentance and baptizing converts. It was really good, and I excited to let the Lord guide me a little more in his work.

Remco came to church again, and said the closing prayer in Gospel Principles. It was incredible! He is progressing so much!

The other Remco dropped us... :( We were pretty bummed about that. He said that he just couldn't believe in God, and I wish he would give us just one more chance. Hopefully he will be more ready later on.

We were so busy, and we had found almost no one as we were nearing the end of the week, so once we finally had some time Saturday night we hit some apartment flats super hard. As we were walking up to them it looked like almost no one was home, so I doubted the inspiration we had to knock there for a bit, but as we started knocking everyone opened up, and we found 3 new investigators! It was a pretty great tender mercy.

I love all of you!

-Elder Thornton

Picture: We had a Harry Potter themed Zone Competition, so we made wands for District Pday!

Week 84: Lots of exchanges!

Hallo!
This week has been really busy, but we still saw a ton of cool things. We went on 3 exchanges this week, so Elder White and I were barely together this week.
On Valentines day this week we were knocking later on and may have interupted a special date... It was pretty awkward.
Later in the week we finished up working in a 10 story apartment building, and as we were leaving we saw some women struggling to move a couch. We came over to help them, and got it pretty quickly to the elevator. Unfortunately the couch didn´t fit... So Elder White and I carried the fairly large couch all the way up their apartment. Thankfully they only lived on the 4th floor (5th floor if you were in America).
Another funny story is that we accidentally knocked into a member on exchanges, and I did not recognize them immediately. I figured it out quick enough that I didn´t make it too awkward, but I did feel pretty awkward.
Church was really good this week! The spirit was super strong and the lessons were really good.
We also got to meet with Remco later that night, and he is still doing really good! He continues to impress me.
The other Remco is also making a ton of progress. He is one of the few investigators I have had who has read all the way to 2nd Nephi already. And he said a prayer for the first time ever in our last lesson, so that was pretty amazing.
I will be staying in Apeldoorn with Elder White for this next transfer, so we are excited to kill it again!
I love you!
Love,
Elder Thornton

Pictures:
Windmill!

 We made Valentines boxes for zone Pday. It was pretty fun!

 Remco´s huge dog! 60 kilos or 130 pounds

Week 83! Tons of Meetings

Hallo!
We had a ton of fun this week! Even though we weren't in our own area for most of the week, we still found a bunch of success and we learned a lot from all of the meetings we went to.
We visited all of the district meetings in the zone and taught about the Book of Mormon. The many experiences and testimonies strengthened my testimony of the book even more, and it make me even more excited to share it. We also had interviews with President and Sister Bunnell, and I learned a lot from their council.
On Friday we went to MLC (Missionary Leadership Council). It took the whole day, but we learned a lot and discussed and solved several problems that are currently affecting the mission. It was a open council, so if you know me well then you would know that I participated a pretty ridiculous amount. I have changed a lot on my mission, but I still have some pretty strong opinions... I guess we all have some things to work on. :)
On the two days we spend in our area we had a ton of appointments and still managed to find a few new investigators. We are planning on seeing quite a few of them in church this next week, so keep on praying! Our teaching pool has gone from 0 at the beginning of the transfer to several progressing investigators with even more with a lot of potential.
Remco was in church again, and I am so excited for him. He has been praying and reading daily, and loves meeting with us. His desire to change amazes me, and how much he has changed amazes me even more. With the amount of effort he is putting into finding God he will get his answer very soon!

I can't send any photos this week, but I will make sure to send them next week!.\
I love you all, and I hope you all remember the incredible opportunity you have to know the gospel. It makes me so happy to see people discover it for the first time!

Love,
Elder Thornton

Week 82 Stake Conference!

Hey people!

Yet another great week! We got to spend a lot of time this week just working, so that was pretty great. We have been working in some huge apartment building, and we have found quite a bit of success. We had several good lessons with return appointments, so we are finally going to be able to see some people progress, which is super nice since when we started this transfer we had no solid investigators. Now we have 5 or 6 who are progressing, one of them being our Jewish investigator I have mentioned a couple times. She is still doing great, and even though she has been sick we have good contact with her.

We had zone conference this week which was pretty fun, if not a slight bit stressful with the couple trainings that we had to do. Thankfully the Assistants did most of the work, so it wasn't too bad. Just super spiritually uplifting.

We also had Stake Conference this week, and it was really good. I was really impressed with the talks, especially one from a recent convert. The member of the Seventy had some really good stories in the Saturday night session. I got so into it that when he annouced that he would like to hear from some of the missionaries in the congregation, I just got a little confused, and thought,"I wonder who. There aren't very many missionaries here." We were actually the only two missionaries there because we had to bring an investigator in order to come, and it was in our city so it was a bit easier for us. I was then very suprised when called Elder Thornton and Elder White to come up. He asked us to tell why we came on a mission. I went first so I had no preparation time, but thankfully I was guided on what to say.

And now that I say that, I'm not sure if very many of you know why I came on a mission. So I guess I will share a little about that.
To be perfectly honest, I came out on my mission because of Duty. Also because it was something that my parents wanted and something I had been planning on for my entire life. I knew logically that the church was true. But when I got to the MTC something changed. I have never really struggled very much in my life. School was always easy, my social life was never too tough, and I was blessed with a wonderful family. But in the MTC I found out that I was not capable. For the first time I couldn't do it on my own. So it came to the point where I had to figure something out. I prayed hard for help, and for a general confirmation of God's presence.
And I recieved it. And that help and affirmation has continued to grow as I have been out here.
I understand now that I truly am nothing. Just a tool in God's hands. And through the many blessing I have been given I can help him in his work. This church is true. We are led by a modern day prophet. God loves us and wants to help us, we just need to let him do that.
My reason why I am here has definitely changed. I am here because I love it. I love the growth it has brought in me. I love to see the people around me come closer to Christ. And I am super grateful for it.

I hope this email wasn't to long and that people are still reading at this point ! :) I love you all! Good luck with all of the craziness in life, and don't forget to rely on God!

Love,
Elder Thornton

Photos:
Our zone after we won the mission wide competition :)

 Pday in Europe!