July 13, 2015

Dear Family,

It has amazed me to see how fast time has gone by on my mission and it is such a blessing to have this time and be able to look back on all of the experiences that I have been able to have. I have been so blessed to be able to have had this last year in Peru and to have been able to see countless blessings in my life and in the lives of others. I am truly grateful for the time that my Heavenly Father has given me to serve him and to serve his children. This week I gave a class on service this last Sunday, and it made me reflect on how blessed I am to be able to serve. Many people think that service is a task, but I don't ever think I would be able to see it like that. Service is a blessing and if we are ever so fortunate enough to have the opportunities to serve, we should realize how much our Father in Heaven wants to bless us.

This last week was really good! My companion and I were able to give a zone training on Wednesday which went really well. Our focus for our zone is that we may be able to search for incomplete families. We have such a unique message that Families can be together forever and we feel at this time that this stake that we are serving in really needs this message. I feel like everyone needs this message always, but especially now that I am able to not only work with one ward, but an entire stake, I am able to see a more clear vision. It has been such a blessing to be able to serve as a zone leader for the past month and to be able to see what so many people in the stake need.

We are super excited for a bunch of our investigators that are progressing a ton! We are teaching some of the most inspired people that I have met in Peru. They are people that are searching for the truth and want to do what is right, not only because we tell them to do it, but rather because their hearts are in the right place and understand their potential as children of God. 

I feel blessed to serve in such a great zone with a great companion. At times we feel a little overwhelmed with everything that we have to do and at times we feel stuck, but it has always been clear to me that as we trust in the Lord and allow him to guide the work, everything else falls into place and the load that we feel like we have on us, suddenly becomes lighter until the moment that it is lifted from us.

I love you all and hope that you have an amazing week!

Love,

Elder Thorpe