The Best 2 Years: Elder Jace Thompson in Omaha/Japan: October 2024

"Boom, you looking for this?"

Starting with Monday, we went to a meat buffet (しゃぶしゃぶ) with some of the sisters in our area. After we finished eating, we went to the church and played ping pong, chilled, and talked with everyone. Again, it was another light P day.

Tuesday, we had District Council, and then at night, we went to kobe for exchanges with the APs. We spent the night there and it was pretty fun because there were a lot of missionaries in the apartment.

Wednesday, I was on exchanges all day! I went with Elder Holmes, and we used to be comps back in Uwajima (the promised land😉). We had a pretty good day and found lots of people! At night, we went to institute and before we did institute we played a bunch of different games and sports for about an hour. While I was playing some games, I saw an old friend walk in the door... Makoto 姉妹！She was the first person I was able to see get baptized in Japan! It was all the way back in my first area about 10 months ago! I hadn't seen her since I left, and it was SO good to catch up with her! We talked for a while, and she was surprised that I could actually speak Japanese now 🤣🤣🤣. The rest of the day was good, and we stayed the night in Kobe again, and it even more missionaries came, so it was a blast!😆

Friday, we had Eikaiwa, and it was a lot of fun! We played 'would you rather' the whole time and would talk about why some people would want to pick one thing over another... It was really funny because I asked a lot of very unserious and random questions. It made for a fun night.

Saturday, we had a game night, and our friend Chika came! We played soccer, ping pong, football, and basketball, and then after we all went to McDonald's together (this week was better.... We only went like three times). Chika is super awesome, though, and I could see her get baptized next transfer, so let's hope for the best!🙏🙏

Sunday we watched General Conference!!! 😆😆

We watched the Sunday sessions from last week, and it was so awesome!! 😁😁 I especially loved Elder Holland's and President Nelson's talks!! They were both SO good, and I loved also hearing about the 17 new temples that were announced!! The rest of the day, we had lots of calls and meetings and stuff, but for dinner, I made fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy for all four of us! 😋😆😆 They all loved it, and two of the guys had never had gravy before, and they loved it so much 😁😁

Spiritual Thought:

Alma 41:4

And if their works are evil they shall be restored unto them for evil. Therefore, all things shall be restored to their proper order, every thing to its natural frame—mortality raised to immortality, corruption to incorruption—raised to endless happiness to inherit the kingdom of God, or to endless misery to inherit the kingdom of the devil, the one on one hand, the other on the other

"If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this."

—C. S. Lewis

Well, that's all I got this week! Feel free to email me!

That's all, folks.

Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy😋😋

Back at it with the old comp, #76

McDonald's with the gang

Service day last week!

"Boom, you looking for this?"

Starting with Monday, we started out the day by calling the fam and then met up with some other elders, and we were planning on spending the day with them. But, they came by train and didn't have bikes so they had to walk everywhere so they hung with the other elders all day and my comp and I went to some stores and then McDonald's for some milkshakes. We ended up going to a park and played a bunch of football and soccer so it was a fun day. We ended the day by meeting up with everyone and went to McDonald's for dinner. Solid day.

Tuesday, we were on exchanges, and I went with Elder William. He's from Indonesia and a pretty fun dude! We had a pretty chill day and saw a lot of success together! We also had District Council, and it went really well! It was really nice not being the one planning it anymore😁😁 That night, we all met up for dinner and went to McDonald's

Wednesday was another day of exchanges! I went with Elder Marntinson (he's one of the elders that we live with), and it was a lot of fun! We had a good time talking (in English, which was a nice change of pace) and did tons of stuff! It was a really good day, and it was fun to work with him for the day. That night for dinner, we hit up McDonald's.

Thursday was a pretty normal day. We did studies, went to find people, and planned for the week. At the end of the day, we were a little hungry, so we decided McDonald's was a good idea for dinner.

Friday, we were sick of getting McDonald's for dinner, so we instead went for lunch. We also had English class and a couple of lessons, so it ended up being a really good day. We were super busy, and it made the day fly by...

Saturday, we got up early and went with a member to do some service... He picked us up, and we drove over to the place. While he was driving, we hit a straightaway, and out of nowhere, Jump by Van Halen started BLASTING in the car. The member just shouts, "HERE WE GO" (in Japanese), and floors it. We were picking up speed for a solid 10-15 seconds before we hit an absolute RAMP in the pavement... We got like two and a half feet of air and came CRASHING down... After we hit, we all had to collect ourselves and calm down a little since we basically just flew. So, it took us a minute to realize that one of the wheels was clearly scraping against something and that the car started to smell pretty bad. So we pulled over to see the damage, and one of the hydraulics had been slammed all the way down, and the tire was scraping on the fender. The member had done this before, but he forgot to account that one of the missionaries was pushing 260 pounds and another one was about 230 lbs. Plus, two more missionaries, his two kids, and himself. Yeah, we were lucky that car didn't shift earth's gravity and knock it off its axis when it landed. To say the least, he had to leave us four missionaries in the middle of nowhere, (because we weighed too much and the tire was scraping because of us) and take his kids back home and pick up a new car. Yeah.... We didn't make it to the service project. But it's okay because we had another service project after that, and we made it to that one. We were weeding a member's farm, and the mosquitoes were BAD. I ended up getting just over 20 bites, but I got to rock my Noah's Ark overalls, so it was worth it... After service, we were pretty hungry, so we hit up McDonald's for lunch. After that, our ward had a Halloween party, so we played lots of games and did tons of fun stuff! We had 3 of our friends, and one returning member came, and they all had a lot of fun! After the party we (all of the missionaries and then two other friends from the party) met up with one of our other friends, and went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner! I've got lots of pictures and videos from today, so go check them out if you want to see my costume and stuff.

Spiritual Thought:

Mosiah 18:8-10

8 And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;

9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—

10 Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you

But, it is said, "If belief in Christ is the way, why is peace so elusive in the western world where people profess belief in Christ?" The answer is simple: Professing is not enough. Men must accept him for what he in fact is—the very Son of God, man's Redeemer. They must have sufficient faith in him to take upon themselves his name in the manner he prescribed. Specifically, the believer must (1) repent of his sins—that is, bring his conduct in harmony with Christ's teachings; (2) enter into a covenant with God, that he is willing to take upon himself the name of Jesus Christ and always remember him and keep his commandments at all times and in all things and in all places. This covenant he must solemnize by being baptized.

All who, through faith in Christ, conform with these requirements receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

—Marion G. Romney

Well, that's all I got this week! Feel free to email me!

That's all, folks.