My Brother Len and His Beautiful Family!

Len and oldest Lindsey, 17!
Lindsey will be a senior this year!!!
Woo Hoo!

Len and Lindsey and Nikki
Two beautiful and talented girls.




Austin, Len, Nikki and Lindsey!
Such a wonderful Family!
Talented, athletic and Kind!
We love and miss them so much!

Len and Nikki at her Orchestra Concert.

Len and Lindsey at her Varsity Choir Concert!

Len and Austin and a BYU vs TCU basketball game.
Jimmermainia!!!

WE LOVE YOU!!!

Just Met You...

This is how I see my son!  

Brave and  even willing to sing and dance.

Maybe this could be a musical!  

Hot and Cold!

Hello from HOT California,

This week the weather has been VERY strange. One day its over 100 and HOT then the next day its 70 and cool then its HOT again for a few days then its drops back down i think one day this week it dropped under 70. then the next day it was 102. I don't get it. Its another sign that Christ is coming. They keep telling me its going to get hotter but then it never does. This week despite the heat we have seen MIRACLES and fortunately for me discovered some areas of improvement in developing myself and my character. It has been a sort of emotional week. Good and bad. Turns out I'm not perfect after all. who would have thought?

So this week Elder Grantham and I killed it. We had an awesome week. One of the best that I have had so far on my mission. This past week we picked up two new investigators and we committed them both to baptism and one with a date. One was a part member family that we felt we should go visit then the ward council talked about going to visit them and so they could invite them to take the missionary lessons but they weren't sure how. so the next day Elder Grantham and I took the initiative and went and invited him to take the missionary lessons and we were met with warm open arms he has truly been prepared to accept the gospel. Now he is praying about the Book of Mormon. He said that he would be baptized and that he would do whatever it took to have his family be eternal if he found out the Book of Mormon was true. He is by exact definition a honest seeker of truth. We are excited. Then yesterday we met with another one of the investigators we picked up earlier in the week. I saw her at church during fast and testimony meeting and as soon as I saw her the spirit prompted me to go and talk with her and invite her to be baptized. so after sacrament meeting we talked with her about meeting with us. she wanted to and was excited. We had an awesome lesson with her yesterday and she had been coming to church with a recent convert family. she accepted the invitation to be baptized and we set the date for the 28th of this month. she told us something that was awesome she said that the reason she wanted to be baptized was because she noticed the change that attending church had on her life. (she has been about 7 times) She said that she knows that being baptized can and will make her happier and that it will give her a fresh start. she is amazing and eager to learn we are excited for her. This past week as you can tell has been full of wonderful miracles and the Lord is truly giving us the children He has prepared. All this because of our obedience. this past week has been our most obedient and consequently our most productive. I'm thankful for the work that has been entrusted to us. It is amazing how the Lord has used us as his tools. He truly led us to His children that He prepared to accept the gospel. 

Katy and Ramon are progressing wonderfully. Katy has totally quite smoking and they are both super excited to be baptized. Katy told us that she is determined to not let anything keep her from being baptized. She met with our mission president yesterday for her baptismal interview and its a GO for Saturday. we are super excited. 

Elder Grantham got his visa and he is leaving the 16th for Brazil. I have NO idea what is going on but i guess i will find out soon enough. the next transfer is the 31st of the month about two weeks. I have a feeling I'm going to be transferred VERY soon. president has been dropping hints. 

I'm glad Danie and Tay are getting some sister time. Hopefully Avery come soon, I know Arli wants her to be here already be sure to let me know asap! I have not received an email from dad in two weeks I'm sure he is working hard. I cant wait to know what Steve said. I will be looking forward to it. I have been praying very hard for him and I know that it is making a difference.

This week I have been really trying to refine myself and get better and develop more Christ like attributes. I have especially been focusing on D&C 121 I have been struggling with trying to stop habits that I have developed. 

Fire!

This is the fire near our house.

We are waiting to hear if we get evacuated.

We might be told any time.

We are packed and have our stuff in the car.

I cant find my important papers yet.

I know what they are in, but I cant find those folders!

UGH!

We are a little nervous.

But so far we have not been given the get out orders~

We will let you know what happens.

Elder Thorne 6-11-2012

David is training an Elder from Florida.  This Elder has to wait for his visa so he is in CA until it comes through.  I am sure it is a great experience for both of them!  His Mission President must have a lot of faith in Dave to have him training so early!  I hope and pray each day that Heavenly Father will Bless him to be the best trainer possible!  Enjoy...

Ma,

Keep working hard. I know that the lord will bless you. Everything will happen when its supposed to. You just have to keep having faith and TRUST in God. You will recieve all that you need. 

This week has went by so fast. training is going good. its hard but its going. He is from florida, we have been having communication issues, but nothing serious. We are working on them. I Think i talk to fast for him. He is from a small town in north florida, about 10 mins from georgia and I am almost positive my Jersey Pace is hard for him. He is a good missionary but he moves slow talks slow and thinks slow. NOT necesssarily a bad thing! Im learning to slow down and he is learning to speed up. its working out. I dont HAVE to learn portugese but im going to try. He is waiting for his Visa so he can go to Brazil.

 I think that Avery is coming the first week or two in july. Mark it down that i said so!! IM GOING TO WIN THE BET!! ILL HAVE THE BRAGGING RIGHTS and LIKE ALWAYS ILL BE RIGHT AGAIN!!!!!!  Some things NEVER change! :D

We had a baptism on tuesday and our investigators are progressing nicely! Kaity and Ramone are excited for their baptism. Its July 14th. I cant wait. I dont have much time but I LOVE YOU and ill email next week. 

Elder Thorne 5/28/12

**I love this letter...it goes to show you that our Heavenly Father is a Forgiving Father!!! **

Hey,

So the past week and a half has been crazy. So since the begining of the transfer Elder Christensen and I have worked hard, but we were met with adversity from the very begining. we decided that we were going to work on less actives and part member families because we didnt have any promising investigators who were really progressing. about that same time we were asked by our mission president to meet with our High Council rep and discuss the missionary effort in the ward. So we a few weeks later we Finally met with our High Council rep. After we met we were invited to start were working with the High Priest group leadership and the Elders quorum presidency as they made visits to ward members every tuesday. We Jumped at the opportunity. After that point I think they then began to understand how hard we were really working and how much were were getting accomplished. They said that everytime they made a visit to someone they learned that we had already met with them or had been meeting with them for a long time. they were very surprised. They thought that they should Unite with us in our efforts to meet with members so that we could be more effective with our visits. about three weeks ago we were having a horrible slump (i guess you could call it). we were working super super hard doing EVERYTHING we could. Somehow we werent seeing the fruits of our labors. We had lesson after lesson cancel and went two whole weeks without one single lesson with Investigators. It was really rough, we had investigators stop meeting with us we had litterally NO non-member work. So we decided to really focus on the less-active work in the ward. I was getting down about not seeing any success but I quickly realized my sin and prayed and asked for forgiveness. I knew I needed to be more dedicated. As we dedicated ourselves more fully to the Lord we started to see something change. We have an investigator named kaity. Her fiance was in jail and we taught him before we taught kaity and before he went to jail. because he went to jail kaity started to meet with us. So we taught kaity and we taught paul but we hadnt taught them both together. The begining of last week paul got out of jail. We had a weak commitment from kaity to be baptized but we hadnt met with her in two weeks so we were nervous. Wednesday of last week we finally met with them and to our surprise they were both VERY prepared. They both agreed to be married in the end of june so that kaity and her son ramone could be baptized begining of July. Paul is going to be baptized in september because he cant be baptized until he is off parole. Then on thursday we get a phone call from a member telling us that they needed to talk to us immediately. So we called them up and they told us that they have a friend that is in the army and is coming back into town for a couple weeks and wants to be baptized His name is Tim. so the next day at church we show up and a member brought 2 non members to church we met them and sat by them. they asked elder christensen during sacrament meeting what they needed to do to be baptized! We also had Paul, Kaity and Ramone attend and I sat by them. They had a great time. Then we had Tim and he sat with the family that brought him. We had 6 investigators at church and they all want to be baptized. Tim is progressing well and he has been meeting with missionaries at basic training, he is so prepared and he is being baptized next week. Kaity and Ramone is set for the 7th of july and the other two its going to be awhile till their baptized due to parole. I know that this is all because we were diligent. We have been working hard and just as soon as I gave more to God and relyed on the attonement even more than i was before i started to see the blessings unfold. I am so grateful for my savior and what he has done for me. he has truly been watching over me. I know that as we continue in patience with ourselves and with the lord it is after all we can do that we see the blessings come. I know that the Lord is in my life and has a plan for all his children. We must be obedient and diligent in all we do to see the fruits of our hard work. I LOVE this work! I Have seen SOO much change in my life and i know its because im giving more of myself to my savior. sorry im almost out of time ill answer all your questions on monday. Elder Christensen goes home early friday morning.

Love you keep working hard!!

David 5-22-2012

Dear Ma,

Thanks for the encouraging words. Keep working hard. I'm glad you took the job, that is a blessing from Heavenly Father. Who knows maybe it will lead to another job. Just keep your head up and I know that the Lord will bless the family! Remember to do all the small things so that you bind the lord to bless you. If you pay a full tithe, are reading your scriptures, praying every morning and night then the lord is bound to bless you. "If ye do what I say then I am bound, but when ye do not what I say then ye have NO promise." I know your working hard.

I had a great week. It went by fast. It was really good to see you all and I'm so thankful for the gifts. I had a GREAT birthday. The camera is AMAZING! You definitely spoiled me. I have been taking pictures like a mad man. Its much more fun to take pictures with a good camera. When i send my memory card back please put the pictures on the computer then delete the pictures from them memory camera, so i have more space. Seeing the pictures dad sent makes me homesick especially the one of Devin getting married. I wish I could have been there. I miss him. That's so awesome that Chris baptized his dad. Be sure to tell them congrats. Arli I love the room. I did not know that Ty Detmer what inducted into the college football hall of fame. It makes it that much sweeter. Ty has always been my guy. OH.. if you could email Steve's email address i would appreciate it.

This week has been extra wonderful not just because I got to see you, and celebrate my birthday, but also because I went to the temple this past Wednesday. It was such a breath of fresh air. The temple was amazing and I had a wonderful experiences there. I did initiatory for the first time since i did my own and it was incredible. There were a few names that the spirit was so strong and I knew that they were waiting for the work to be done and that they had accepted it. As if to hear a voice I felt as though someone whispered in my ear thanking me for being worthy to do those ordinances for them. They were indeed grateful. We continue to work hard and have had some success but the work here in Roseville is hard. I suspect that Ill be here till the middle/end of June. Elder Christensen is getting Super Trunky! But its understandable, he is excited to see his family. Yesterday was his birthday and we got to celebrate it with a solar eclipse. It was weird. It got dark and it was just really weird, we saw it through a pinhole thingy. It was cool, I tried to take pictures but it didn't work.
I read a quote this week by David O Mckay it says that " the privilege to work is a gift, the power to work is a blessing and the love of work is success. I've thought a lot about that this week and its so true. The lord put us here to work, even when its exhausting and your tired. The first thing the lord commanded Adam and Eve to do as soon as they were cast out was to work and till the ground. I have been trying to look at things from a different perspective. Really trying to be  Perfectly obedient because being here on a mission working for the lord is truly a privilege and it as been given me by Him. I feel Everyday the strength that is required to do the work that is needed given me. Even though I'm super tired and I feel like i want to just take a break or slow down I realize that I am on the lords time and I cant, then next thing you know I'm biking harder and teaching more. The Power I receive is a wonderful blessing that I know we can all receive. When I have done those two things then I begin to love the work more and more. I slowly start to see more success, not just baptisms but more importantly success in developing the attributes I want to have as a Husband and Father. I'm so blessed to be here on a mission and I am overjoyed at the opportunities I have to help the sons and daughters of God understand the plan of Salvation. I am Saddened at the wickedness and the hardness of the hearts of the people and it reminds me that Christ is coming and i feel the urgency for the work. I'm Excited to keep working!

I know that this work is important and we must always be mindful of the times we are living in and keep working hard at our jobs, our families and ourselves.

Love you all