Elder Jantsen Thorpe August 2017-2019: "It's so amazing to see fruits from our efforts from so long ago!"

Hey gang! This week on #whatsmysnack I'm tossing it back a few weeks. Back in Hyde Park we were helping a member move with the bishop and he was coughing so she asked if he wanted something that could cure his sickness. He said yes and so she pulls out this big jug with no label on it full of this thick yellow liquid. She dumps it in a cup and adds some water, stirs it up and gives it to him. She said it was her own little concoction of turmeric, lemon, ginger, honey, and chili pepper. I had been really sick for 2 weeks straight and so I was like...get me summa dat!! Man did that clear the sinuses. So strong and spicy, I almost puked, but I held it down! The stuff worked miracles.

Solid week in the burg! Cold as crap tho! We got 5 inches of snow and the temperature was in the teens all week. Makes tracting super fun! We did meet with a Nigerian couple and it made my whole week! Ebenezer and Fola are so solid. We got in there, taught a bomb restoration, spoke a little Yoruba and they love us now! They are on date for February 16th! I love Nigerians.

We got antied pretty hard this week...Lol. A couple of born again Christians set up an appointment with us...lunch at Whole Foods, it was good food, but not the best lesson lol. We thought something was up when one of them came in with a hand full of papers. They went off on us...telling us we believe in a different Jesus and we are trying to earn heaven. Then they showed us a 15 min video of an ex-member who became a "born again" on his mission. Lol we couldn't help but laugh. Stuff like that just strengthens my testimony of the apostasy and the restoration!! I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet and he did in fact restore the one and only true church of Jesus Christ!!

I received some of the greatest news last night. I don't know if any of you remember, but way back in 2017 when I started my mission, Elder Kish and I found and taught a man named Louie. He progressed really well and had asked me to baptize him, then I got transferred and then he fell off and ended up not getting baptized and the missionaries dropped him. Last night I got a message, from one of the members in Joliet who came with us to a lot of his lessons, saying " Hey elders! I hope all is well. I’m not sure if you are allowed to use Facebook messenger, but I wanted to let you know that Louie came to church today out of the blue. He came up to me and said that he wants to be baptized. I introduced him to the Sister missionaries and he is on date for 2/16. It was pretty cool. I hope you are both doing well. If you aren’t allowed to respond to this message, I understand. Louie told me that he no longer finds joy living the type of life he is living. He remembered that we told him about the joy of living the gospel and wants to have it in his life. Sometimes we plant seeds and the fruit comes later. You are both great missionaries. Keep working hard -President Guluka"

It's so amazing to see fruits from our efforts from so long ago! I love this work!! I hope y'all have a great week!

Elder Thorpe