The Best 2 Years: Elder Jace Thompson in Omaha/Japan: the one where dreams came true

"Boom, you looking for this?"

Starting with Monday, we had a big sports night as a ward, and it was a blast!! 😆😆 We played lots of basketball and volleyball with everyone and we had some friends come too, which was super great! 😁

Thursday was a busy day! We went to lunch with one of our friends from Nepal named Deepak, and he is a super cool dude! After that, we had some time to plan for the week and then we went to dinner with another one of our friends. It was our first time meeting up with him, and he is awesome! He has a lot of interest in English and next time we meet he wants to bring his wife! Good stuff! After him, we went to second dinner with another friend and he also wants to learn English from us! He's only 18, but he's a pretty sick dude!

Friday, we taught English and made really good friends with a new guy. He came last week but my comp and I weren't there and he and I got along really well! He said he wants to come every week, and he is super cool!

Saturday, we started the day by going to a member's house for lunch, and they are a fun family that has 4 kids who are all pretty young! It made for a chaotic and fun meal. After we ate, we played a card game with all of them and just had a good time! After that, we went to the church, and we had a game night that the ward had put on. We were separated into 4 teams and did a bunch of competitions. It was absolutely hilarious and we also had one of our friends come, which was super great! After the game night, we went to dinner with a recently baptized member, and it was super fun! He's been wanting to take us out all transfer, but we couldn't find the time, so it was a much awaited dinner. After that, we all went back to the church because two of the kids in our ward got baptized! It was super fun, and one of my favorite things is that while they wait for the person who got baptized to shower and change, we all just sing hymns as a ward. Anyone can just call out a Hymn, and then we sing the first verse together! I've done it twice since being in Japan (they don't do it at every baptism) and it is hands down one of the most amazing spiritual experiences I've been able to be a part of.

Sunday was magnificent. One of my dreams for the mission finally became a reality. While we were welcoming everyone into church, we saw an old married couple sitting at the bus stop waiting for the bus. My comp said we should go talk to them, so we did and invited them to come to church. They said they couldn't today but that they would come next week or the week after. We felt great about that answer since that's much more than what we usually get and went back inside since church was starting. Church had been going for about 5 minutes when I see the old couple walk into the chaple escorted by one of our amazing members. I quickly ran over to them, and we sat together and enjoyed sacrament meeting together. Near the end of the meeting, the husband started coughing, so I took him into the hall to grab a drink. He took the opportunity to tell me a little bit about his life. He used to go to a baptist church about 30 years ago and that Christ changed him into a better person. Before he found religion, he was in the yakuza (the Japanese mafia) and did some REALLY not good things but that he quite literally did his time and then found religion and changed. We talked a bit more and then went back in to finish sacrament meeting. After the meeting had finished, some of our members had introduced themselves to him, and he was telling them how much he loved church and that he was so happy to have met me. We then went to second hour and he and his wife loved it and we were also able to do a short lesson with them after. They said they wanted to come to church every week. We were thrilled to hear that, but we explained that this was my companion's last week before he goes back to Brazil and that as missionaries, we transfer pretty frequently. He asked how long I was going to be here, and I told him that I just got here, so I should be here for a decently long time. He was so relieved and gave me many hugs throughout the day. He also gave me his phone number and told me to call him if I ever need anything. 😆😆 And that's the story of how my dreams came true, and I became best friends with a member of the Japanese mafia. 😆😆😆

In our ward, there is also a senior missionary couple, and after church, we went to their house and had brunch together! 😁 They made great food and FIRE sourdough pancakes. 😁😁 After that, we had a couple of calls with other missionaries, and then we went to dinner with our friends Jennifer and Paige! They wanted to throw a little goodbye party for Lopes since it was his last week and we ate Bangladesh food since that's where Jennifer is from and it was pretty fun because she showed us the tradional way to eat their food which is with your hand😆😆 So yeah it was a pretty fire day 😆😆😆

Spiritual Thought:

Mosiah 2: 16-17

16 Behold, I say unto you that because I said unto you that I had spent my days in your service, I do not desire to boast, for I have only been in the service of God.

17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God

"This is the service that counts, the service to which all of us have been called: the service of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Along your pathway of life you will observe that you are not the only traveler. There are others who need your help. There are feet to steady, hands to grasp, minds to encourage, hearts to inspire, and souls to save."

—Thomas S. Monson