Elder Jantsen Thorpe August 2017-2019: Another great week in Joliet!

Hey Gang!

This week on #whatsmysnack we have, in honor of Halloween, a scary bag of Haunted Ghost Pepper tortilla chips! These were given to us by a philippino family in our ward. Apparently they got a couple bags and the son tried a chip and was like, "Dad, these are too spicy. I can't eat them. Give them to the missionaries!" haha! So he did and we all tried them and daaaaang! Luckily I only had about half a chip, but my face was sweating bullets after that! The warning on the back pretty much says it all!

So we had another great week in Joliet! The temperature is beginning to drop over here, the warmest it got this past week was 43 degrees, and that wind is a killer! I am in need of a good warm beanie to keep my ears warm, so the newer missionaries in Joliet are going to get some winter stuff today. In the mean time, however, I got really good at riding my bike with no hands so that I can cover my ears while I ride, to keep them warm haha! One of the highlights of the week (outside of our awesome missionary work) was that a member took Elder Kish and I to the Harrahs casino, never thought I would go to a casino on the mish, but I did! We went for the buffet they have there. It was so good! They had crab legs and I was in heaven! The member who took us, brother Ranchero, asked me how I could possibly eat so much and still be so skinny, haha.

This week I gained a strong testimony that I truly was called by God to serve in this exact location! I know without a doubt that this is exactly where I'm supposed to be right now, and that there are specific people here that I can influence and who can influence me! The first experience I had was in a couple lessons we had with Louie this week! He was asking some difficult questions and I wasn't sure how to answer them, so while he was asking them I prayed to have the Holy Ghost with me and that words would be put into my mouth. Almost immediately after I prayed, an experience I've had with sports came to my mind. I shared the experience and it was perfect, Louie said a couple times, "yes, exactly, that's how I feel!" It was awesome. I know I was sent here to help Louie! The other experience I had was with a member. I've mentioned before the amazing Abbene family who feeds us every Thursday. I can recall the first dinner I had with them and I remember Sister Abbene looking me in the eyes for a little while and saying, "I really like you, I just met you, but I really like you." I thought it was a little weird at the time haha. But at church yesterday she came up to me and said, " Elder Thorpe, I've been wanting to tell you ever since you walked in my house for dinner the first time, I've felt very strongly connected with you." She told me she has never felt this connection with any other missionary (and she has been feeding missionaries every Thursday for about 7 years). She kept saying to me, "I know that we are related, its either that or I feel like we knew each other and were very close in the pre existence!" It was a pretty cool experience for me because she is such an amazing woman with a super super strong testimony! Anyways, I know that Heavenly Father is working in my life, and he has put me right where I need to be! I hope everyone has an awesome week!

Elder Thorpe