You too can become fishers of blackberries & students

As echoed in the lyrics of the 1969 pop song called Space Oddity,

“Ground control to Major Tom. , , , Planet earth is blue and there is nothing we can do, , ,”


The sky today is perfectly blue. Mount Rainier looks spectacular. September is absolutely splendid!

Yet, September at the Seattle Institute is also a very odd month to be a missionary.

Just as all of Europe takes August off for “Holiday,” it seems all of Seattle takes September off for “Weather.” The Institute itself was closed for the Labor day weekend. Students and investigators are all but non-existent. But have no fear, we remained at our post. Well, sort of, , ,

Here is a picture of our final summer class, held down in West Seattle last Tuesday:

Actually it is a picture of only about half the class. The other half already left last week to go to various places, like BYU – I.

Down in West Seattle, most students are facing some pretty hefty challenges. But face and grow from them they do.

For example, the one gal in the middle, (dressed in green sweater, purple shirt, pink shoes,) just got her mission call. She is about as out-going and positive of a person as you can possibly imagine. And she just finished graduating from BYU – Provo. She also put her charisma to work as an EFY counselor. She is just great with kids.

So what is her challenge? Guess where she got called? The Provo, Utah Mission! Once she got over the initial shock, (the only mission she was fearful to be called to), she wrapped her heart, might, mind and soul around it and got way excited for her mission again. She realizes this is not her work and humbly accepted where the Lord wanted her to go – even if it is back to the very place she just spent the last 4 years going to school and working.

She will be a great asset to any mission! In fact the girl in red and black plaid standing next to her is just one of the many less-actives or investigators she routinely brings with her to our class and to church. She is going to be a great missionary. We are just honored to have had the opportunity to discuss the gospel with her this summer and all the other great students in West Seattle.

Speaking of greatness, take another look at the summer class picture above. If you look closely at the person sitting on her knees, you just might recognize her. Even though she fits right in with all those “young,” single students, she is actually a mom of four, a wife of one – a friend to all, a big happy 25-year anniversary salute to Michelle Wimmer and her husband Greg!

Greg and Michelle came and visited us this past Labor day weekend:


Greg had to leave after the weekend (something about work, work, work, to feed and clothe their naked & starving kids, yada, yada, yada,) but Michelle stayed a few more days and pitched right in and whipped up a wonderful dinner for our “last class of the summer.” It was a Thai curry dish that everybody LOVED. She also sat through our teaching of the last class without falling asleep. In fact she sat right by a less-active student and helped her with scriptures and thoughtfully answered her questions. Thanks Michelle!

Bonus; She even cleans up after herself! That is an art Michelle and I have tried and tried to teach our current companions, but with only limited success. Wait a minute, maybe Michelle and I can go on exchanges! Greg and Mike can go and do that which they do best. You know, “talk, talk, talk, , , clear your throat and pontificate really deep thoughts like, , , ‘back in our single mission days,’ bla, bla, bla, then BYU football talk, then more mission talk, talk, talk,, ,”

While, Michelle and I, “chatter, chatter, chatter, , , ‘wouldn’t so-and-so student be so CUTE with so-and-so?, , ,’ giggle, giggle, giggle, more chatter, chatter, chatter, , , ,” BUT at least we do the shopping for the Institute while yammering. Because, as everybody knows, although we are created equal to men - we just so happen to be “more” equal when it comes to “Multi-tasking.”

And Look! Here Michelle and I are multi-tasking while actually doing some missionary work with a cute couple on their bicycles.

We invited them to Church on Sunday and can you believe it, they came!
Okay, so it was kind of easy to get them to come to church. They were visiting from Alpine, Utah and were already looking for a place to come to church. But, we do what we can and the black name tag does the rest!

We were just thinking, do you think Greg & Michelle’s four kids would miss them very much if we kept them to help with the Friday Feasts until December? After all, about ½ the recipes we tried on the kids last fall came from the Wimmers.

It was such a delight to have Michelle and Greg join us. But, like we said, with the students gone right now, they really did not get the full effect. So to compensate, while the Institute was closed in observance of the Labor day weekend, we took off to visit some of our favorite places:


And of course, we had to stop and pick blackberries that grow like weeds everywhere around here:

But then, as soon as they came, they were gone. Not the blackberries, but the Wimmers.

Now we wait for the students to start coming back. We think it is kind of like the fishermen waiting on the river banks for the salmon to return each fall. Until then, we will keep our lines in the water and work with what we’ve got. We’ll keep preparing for the fall classes and keep picking a handful of blackberries or two.

And for a limited time, we are now taking reservations for those who want to come and help with a Friday Feast this fall. Especially if UW was your Alma Mater! Of course, you have to pay all your expenses to get here. And there is no monetary pay for the work. You have to be subservient, humble and willing to take orders. And Friday hours are, well, long. But besides all that, it is a LOT of fun! Open slots are limited and filling fast, so sign up early. October is already mostly filled. LOL! Remember, this is our final term!

Well, from the all-to-quiet Institute in Seattle, we leave you with the immortal last words of David Bowie, “Ground control to Major Tom. Hellooooo!!! Is anybody out there???? Can you hear us? Is something wrong? Is the circuit dead? , , , may God's love be with you, , ,”

Until we meet again,
Elder “Mike” & Sister “Jenny,” Thornton
Fishers of Blackberries & Students


P.S. Do you think David Bowie, aka, “elephant man” actor and pop star would have ever thought he would be quoted in a missionary email?