August 4th, 2015

Dear Family,

It has been increasingly easier to see Heavenly Father's hand in my life since the day I got on my mission until now. It has been evident to me that little by little the Lord has opened up to me and has allowed me to see more clearly the vision that he has for me in this time of my life. I'm not completely sure how to explain it in better words than, I know that He loves me.

This week for me was incredible. Nothing majorly changed throughout my week, but I have felt that my vision and love of the gospel has raised to a level that I can not deny nor mistake for anything else. This week we had a baptism for Hermana Martha which was so great. She has been an investigator for about 4 or 5 years now and finally was able to receive the light and inspiration needed to come to accept the gospel in it's entirety. She was baptized last Saturday and Confirmed on Sunday. A day that the Dominguez familly had been waiting for a while now.

On Wednesday my companion and I found a member that owns a hamburger shop in our area and so he gave us a deal that we can have hamburgers for free once a week! We are super excited for that! My companion and I are eating like kings here in Moche and only have to eat rice every once-in-a-while! We don't like rice too much... haha Church on Sunday was really good as well as the rest of the week! Sunday night I gave our bishop a blessing which was really cool because I love the bishop here in Moche so much! 

On Friday we had Leadership training which was so great! I learned so much not just by what was said, but rather what I felt and didn't hear. It was such a great experience and we are super excited to share a little bit of what we learned with our Zone this next Thursday! We are even throwing in a surprise for them! (PIZZA)

Something crazy that is going on is that our electricity went out about a week ago and so don't have power. Living in the dark has been a little rough but we manage to live through it and just say, Well if the Pioneers did it, so can we! So we use candles.. 

Today for P-day we went to the Temple, which was incredible. I love the temple so much! I have never had more of a clearer mind than when I am in the Temple. I can truly testify that it is the House of Lord. I know that he resides in his house and his presence is felt. After the temple we went to the Mall to eat, which my companion and I ate some pretty good steak as well as some Frozen Yogurt! (That is really hard to find by the way) 

Well I hope you all have an amazing week! I love you all so much!

Love,
Elder Thorpe