Well Friends, that is right, the inevitable has happened. I will be leaving Korat tomorrow. I can't even tell you how bittersweet this parting is. So Heavenly Father blessed me so so much by allowing me to be on a members switch off (it was actually only my second one ever) with Nok. I feel like my emails have not sufficiently expressed the deep love and friendship i have with her. She is without a doubt my best friend in Thailand. She has been with me since the very beginning and has helped me so much with Thai and just feeling like i have a place here. I love her so much.
So we took a bus out to Chok Chai which is a good 45 minutes away. It was so fun to just have Nok and I together! Coincidentally we were just talking about how I wasn't going to be moving for a long time. I have compiled pictures in an album for her and told her i would give them to her when i moved and she said, no i don't want them, because you aren't going to move. So we went to teach Mae, she is the single mom who has the problem getting baptized, I talked about her a few weeks back. The lesson was going great, Nok was doing such a good job filling in the parts I couldn't because of the language, when Mae's phone rang, it was Sister Hulme. She told me that Elder Milton was moving and that Elder Lilly was training, and I was like, cool! But then she said, You're moving. My heart dropped.... Sister Hulme was balling! She said, I'm not ready for you to move! You can't go! and I was just in shock. Well, the conversation was in English so Nok and Mae had no idea what happened but knew something was wrong. I could barely even get out a feeble, sister tong yay (I am moving) and then I had one of the sweetest moments I have had on my mission. The three of us just sat there and wept together. Bittersweet tears of joy for the time and the spirit we have shared together and sadness that it would be coming to an end. Mae broke the silence by saying she didn't want the people who taught her to move and Nok just didn't speak but cried. Saying bye to Mae was so hard! I hated it. But I know that's just the life of a missionary. :(
So after that I had the greatest blessing of my life to be able to spend the whole bus ride home just talking to Nok, reminiscing on our good times and crying because we both knew life would never be the same after this. I am so close to her. She will truly be my friend forever.
So by the time we got back, Sister Hulme wasn't crying anymore but was still really sad that I am leaving. We had a final sweet experience at Sister Dims (the less active family that I met just a few weeks into coming) and it was so good to be able to really express my love for the gospel and for their family to them. I felt like it was just a culmination of the area. It was so sweet.
OK so that was all just a few hours yesterday!! I still have the whole last week to talk about!! So first off, I just need to say how absolutely incredible my last Sunday in Korat was!! Three baptisms, one confirmation, 4 of our regular attending english students, who we want to teach SO bad, but are not interested coming to church, and 10 investigators total. Wow, I dont think it gets much more amazing than that!! Especially since 2 of those baptisms and the confirmation make 1 eternal family. What a blessing it has been for me to see the way the gospel has bless the lives of Brother Em, Sally and their daughters Ooy and Eve. It will be hard to tell them I'm leaving. I have seen the whole family get baptized since I have been here. My favorite part has to be the fact that Em got to be the one to baptize his wife and daughters and he was so nervous!! He messed up twice with Sally and then with Eve her foot popped up, but Ooy only took one time! It was really cute. :) I love that family. Ahh, how sweet this experience has been!
OK. so the final thing I want to share with you is first how much the Lord is truly with his missionaries and secondly how much the atonement is truly applicable in our lives. I had a really great experience to actually live what I teach and rely on the Lord during a time of much hardship. So Saturday, I don't know what I ate, but it did not agree with my stomach. About 3:30 we were taking the bus back from SiKu and it was packed. my stomach was upset and I thought it was just being on the stuffy bus, but when I got off it didn't get better. We still had 3 more appointments. As we went to the first one I was feeling worse and worse. I thought, well I could be a baby about this, complain a lot and ask to go home, or I can stick it out and pray a lot. I chose to pray! As we went throughout the night it only got worse, but I can't even tell you how much my testimony grew as I literally felt the influence of the spirit in my heart and was able to teach and travel despite my weak condition. Angels were carrying me through that night. So I basically had the worst night of my mission, bathroom at least 7 times and throwing up once (but I made it count) I woke up the next day still sick. It's funny because I wasn't feeling good during church, but looking back now, all I can remember is the amazing spirit that was there and the incredible love I felt for everyone. After the baptism the ward practiced singing and there was just no way I could sing with them. Sister Hulme had to play the piano so I went into the corner by the piano (basically under it) and slept. It was a great nap! OH and then if that's not enough, on Monday, when I was better but still really weak, I burned my leg on the exhaust of a motorcycle! It's pretty bad. I took pictures but this internet place won't let me upload them, sorry. next week. so yea. it was kinda hard. but I promise you all, the Spirit kept me going the whole time and I am truly a better person because of it. I love the way God works in our lives!! :)
OK. I feel like there is still so much to say, but I guess all good things come to an end, like serving in Korat, and this email. Special Birthday shout outs to Uncle Ed and Uncle Gary who by some amazing circumstances are actually getting younger every year! Good job guys. Love you both!
Well, until next week when I tell you where I go (I am REALLY hoping for Chang Mai with Sister Lo... But will go where the Lord wants me to go) Sawatdiiiiiiiiiiiii Kha!
Love you all,
Melissa
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Fa la la la la la la la la
Sawatdii Family and Friends!
Another great week in Korat has come and gone. The highlight of the week was definitely the baptism of Sally, Em's wife. Their two daughters Ooy and Eve just passed their interviews last night and are scheduled to be baptized this Sunday along with another 10 year old girl named Kanoon. I just feel so blessed to be a part of this families conversion. After this sunday I will have seen all of them get baptized and become an eternal family. I have such a strong testimony of eternal families and the way the gospel blesses families. I got the chance to bear my testimony of the love and strength I was able to receive by having parents who raised me in the gospel. It is so great to see the way Sally loves her husband and children and just makes me think of how grateful I am for a mother who loves me the same. Ah, I miss you mom!
Well, you may notice that I only say the baptism of Sally and not Penapha. She has struggled with a smoking habit which is not completely ended yet, so she will have to wait longer before she can be baptized. I would have thought that would have totally bummed me out for her to not get baptized, but it actually did not at all. She has such a strong testimony and has already been through so much to get her to the point where she is able to go to church, now this trail is just one more step the Lord needs her to take to show him how committed she really is. She is so incredible. One of my favorite lessons I learned in the MTC was that the Lord will put specific trails in our lives so that we will gain a specific spiritual quality that we could not have had had we not gone through that specific trial. I know that the Lord is carrying Penapha through every one of her trails, she knows it too. The day she gets baptized will be incredible. I know it. I just don't know when that day is.
The spirit has been helping us so much this week. Friday was an incredible day. I had a recent convert, Sister Wan, on my mind for a while and felt prompted to go visit her. Well, she lives 2 hours away. She wasn't answering her phone. But I know where she works and felt like that is what we needed to do. Even though it was uncertain what would happen, I felt a very peaceful assurance from the Lord that that is right where we needed to be. That is always good! So we get out there and it turns out she changed her number. She wasn't able to go to church because she had been sick, but was still reading scriptures and praying and was doing very well! Well, as we taught her, our bus went by. They said another should come, but weren't sure and we needed to get back for some important lessons in Korat that night. Because we had to wait for the next bus, we had the time to teach her neighbor who got goosebumps because he said he felt like what we were teaching was true. He is an amazing guy! His name is Somchai. Sister Wan wants to share the gospel with all her neighbors! So as we waited for the bus we started to get worried, but I knew the Lord would provide. Somchai ended up giving us a ride about a half hour into Korat and right as we turned the corner to the place where the bus would pick us up for the rest of the way, the bus was right behind us!! It was a miracle. We made it back JUST in time to teach Kanoon who could not miss the lesson we had prepared or else she would not be ready to be baptized this Sunday, and then made it to Sally's to finish teaching Ooy and Eve so they can get baptized this week too. The Lord got us right where He needed us. We even had time to teach Nok! :) It was an amazing day and I just know the Lord was with us that whole day.
I love this gospel. I love that I am a witness of Christ and his true church on the earth today. Life is so good.
Thank you for the love and support you all give to me. It means everything to me! Please keep writing me!! :) It does make a difference!!
AND a big birthday shout out to my wonderful Grandpa who is 81 years old today!!! :) I love you Grandpa and am so grateful for your choice to accept this true gospel which has blessed my life, my family's lives, including my aunts, uncles and cousins, plus many generations to come! It's amazing how one persons choice can effect so many other people! I know we ALL love you Grandpa! You're the best. And we love Ginny too! :)
โชคตี!!
Love Always,
Melissa
Another great week in Korat has come and gone. The highlight of the week was definitely the baptism of Sally, Em's wife. Their two daughters Ooy and Eve just passed their interviews last night and are scheduled to be baptized this Sunday along with another 10 year old girl named Kanoon. I just feel so blessed to be a part of this families conversion. After this sunday I will have seen all of them get baptized and become an eternal family. I have such a strong testimony of eternal families and the way the gospel blesses families. I got the chance to bear my testimony of the love and strength I was able to receive by having parents who raised me in the gospel. It is so great to see the way Sally loves her husband and children and just makes me think of how grateful I am for a mother who loves me the same. Ah, I miss you mom!
Well, you may notice that I only say the baptism of Sally and not Penapha. She has struggled with a smoking habit which is not completely ended yet, so she will have to wait longer before she can be baptized. I would have thought that would have totally bummed me out for her to not get baptized, but it actually did not at all. She has such a strong testimony and has already been through so much to get her to the point where she is able to go to church, now this trail is just one more step the Lord needs her to take to show him how committed she really is. She is so incredible. One of my favorite lessons I learned in the MTC was that the Lord will put specific trails in our lives so that we will gain a specific spiritual quality that we could not have had had we not gone through that specific trial. I know that the Lord is carrying Penapha through every one of her trails, she knows it too. The day she gets baptized will be incredible. I know it. I just don't know when that day is.
The spirit has been helping us so much this week. Friday was an incredible day. I had a recent convert, Sister Wan, on my mind for a while and felt prompted to go visit her. Well, she lives 2 hours away. She wasn't answering her phone. But I know where she works and felt like that is what we needed to do. Even though it was uncertain what would happen, I felt a very peaceful assurance from the Lord that that is right where we needed to be. That is always good! So we get out there and it turns out she changed her number. She wasn't able to go to church because she had been sick, but was still reading scriptures and praying and was doing very well! Well, as we taught her, our bus went by. They said another should come, but weren't sure and we needed to get back for some important lessons in Korat that night. Because we had to wait for the next bus, we had the time to teach her neighbor who got goosebumps because he said he felt like what we were teaching was true. He is an amazing guy! His name is Somchai. Sister Wan wants to share the gospel with all her neighbors! So as we waited for the bus we started to get worried, but I knew the Lord would provide. Somchai ended up giving us a ride about a half hour into Korat and right as we turned the corner to the place where the bus would pick us up for the rest of the way, the bus was right behind us!! It was a miracle. We made it back JUST in time to teach Kanoon who could not miss the lesson we had prepared or else she would not be ready to be baptized this Sunday, and then made it to Sally's to finish teaching Ooy and Eve so they can get baptized this week too. The Lord got us right where He needed us. We even had time to teach Nok! :) It was an amazing day and I just know the Lord was with us that whole day.
I love this gospel. I love that I am a witness of Christ and his true church on the earth today. Life is so good.
Thank you for the love and support you all give to me. It means everything to me! Please keep writing me!! :) It does make a difference!!
AND a big birthday shout out to my wonderful Grandpa who is 81 years old today!!! :) I love you Grandpa and am so grateful for your choice to accept this true gospel which has blessed my life, my family's lives, including my aunts, uncles and cousins, plus many generations to come! It's amazing how one persons choice can effect so many other people! I know we ALL love you Grandpa! You're the best. And we love Ginny too! :)
โชคตี!!
Love Always,
Melissa
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
It's beginning to look a lot like Chirstmas!
Hello and Sawatdii Kha!
Life is so good over here on the other side of the world. It is "cold" aka the weather is perfect. As much as I know I will miss Christmas at home it sure is nice to be in this great tropical weather!
So first a recap on Thanksgiving! It started with Sister Hulme and I running a 5K! (I forgot to tell you last week!) Gotta keep the tradition. I saw the pics you sent of Dad and Jake running it. Too bad Scott had to work! You KNOW I was totally thinking about you and wishing I could have been there. Last year was the best to have all 4 of us kids there. That won't happen again for a long time again. Anyways, we ran the 5K in 28:19! Pretty good I think. It was fun and SO beautiful because we got to watch the sunrise (and we're in Thailand...) Then for dinner we had the Thanksgiving feast at a European restaurant, so it was a little different, but still way good!!
OK, so I HAVE to tell you about the cRaZiEsT dream I have had since being in Thailand. It was mostly crazy because it felt SO SO real. I seriously have never felt so much emotion in a dream before in my life. I really think it was a blessing though. OK so in the dream, President Smith called me and told me I was going home, and next thing I know I am at home and it was the HAPPIEST homecoming ever. Seriously. Mom and Dad, Kurtis Scott and Jake were there and everyone was just filled to the brim with joy that I was home. We were at the house and everything was exactly as I left it. I can't even describe how completely happy I was to be home. It was incredible. So then I start thinking about talking to some friends and I think, oh, I'm gonna go get on Facebook and tell people I am home (sad... i know...haha) and THEN it just hits me like a ton of bricks, I DIDN'T FINISH MY MISSION... I fell to the ground in the living room and was just sobbing like crazy because I knew I needed to get back to Thailand to finish my mission. I asked dad what I had to do to get back and it turns out that because there is going to be a shortage of missionaries in Thailand, dad had to send someone or else I couldn't go back. (haha) So dad said he knew someone he thought could go but I just knew it wouldn't be the same. I had already come home. I can not even express how utterly dismayed I was. It was terrible. And SO SO real. I honestly had no idea I was even dreaming. Well needless to say, I have never been so happy to wake up in my bed still in Thailand, still serving my mission. And I think that dream was such a blessing because, first of all, I got to see my family! I got to hug them and rejoice with them (which will come one day) and then I got to have the motivation to really not take this time for granted. I promised myself that I would work my very hardest now so that when I do return home I wont be distraught, but so happy because I did my very best. Ah, I will never forget that dream.
Well as for my week... It has been SOO good! The highlight was definitely the baptism of Khana. I am not sure how much I have told you about her story. She just turned 8, so according to mission numbers we didn't have a convert baptism this week, but for me personally, she was. When I met Khana back in August she did not want to go to church, refused to pray, and was not the most obedient child. Her mother, Sister Duan, who is actually her adopted mother, was in tears as she explained that Khana would go to church when she was younger, but when Sister Duan's mom got sick, she stopped going for a while. Khana got out of the habit and then refused to go. Sister Duan said there was so much she could not do for her daughter, not being her real mother and all, but one thing she knew she did want to do was give her the oppurtunity to have the gospel in her life and the eternal blessings that come from it. I could tell through her sincerity that her mom had been praying earnestly that Khana would soften her heart and accept the gospel. Well, it was a very slow process. She was not always easy to teach, but slowly slowly, she started to pray. Then she would read scriptures, and two weeks ago, for the first time, she went to primary and stayed for the full two hours. She began loving the lessons we prepared for her and even wanted to pray. To see that little girl in white on Sunday, being baptized by her father with a big smile on her face, made me feel like life was just complete. Like I had fufilled my purpose, more importantly God's purpose. This is truly the work of angels. I feel so blessed to be a part of it.
Lastly I want to tell you about an amazing woman named Mae. Again, I am not sure how much I have told you about her. She is living a really bad situation. Her husband cheats on her openly and beats her. They have a son together and because she is not tecnically a Thai citizen, she needs his money to take care of her son PJ who needs medicine for his heart. She has the strongest testimony and is on her second time of reading the Book of Mormon. She loves Nephi because he struggled like she is now. Her problem is because she is not a Thai citizen yet, she can not be legally married and thus can not be baptized. She is in the process of getting citizenship, but even if she does, she doesn't want to go through the legal process of marriage if she will just one day get a divorce, just to be baptized. So on her own, without us challenging her, she fasted last week for a way to get baptized. Please pray for her. She has such a hard life, but loves the gospel so much. She told us once, through all the pain Pj's dad puts her through, God is always there for her. I had a huge grin on my face Sunday as one of the speakers finished their talk "In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen" and her son Pj, who is only a year old said loudly, AMEN! He has such a good mother and I just want with all of my heart to see her make it through these hard times and just be happy in life! She deserves it.
OK, well I hate ending these messages because I just feel like there is so much more to say. But I love you all and would sincerely love to hear from all of you. Thanks so much for the recent letters! You'll be hearing back from me soon!
Love Always,
Melissa
OH! and congrats to Kinner for being pregnant with baby # 3 :) Babies Babies Babies!! :) Especially boy babies! Congrats Chris and Annie on your son!! I can't wait to see them all when I get home! I loved the pictures from the cabin! Everyone looks great! Miss you all!
Life is so good over here on the other side of the world. It is "cold" aka the weather is perfect. As much as I know I will miss Christmas at home it sure is nice to be in this great tropical weather!
So first a recap on Thanksgiving! It started with Sister Hulme and I running a 5K! (I forgot to tell you last week!) Gotta keep the tradition. I saw the pics you sent of Dad and Jake running it. Too bad Scott had to work! You KNOW I was totally thinking about you and wishing I could have been there. Last year was the best to have all 4 of us kids there. That won't happen again for a long time again. Anyways, we ran the 5K in 28:19! Pretty good I think. It was fun and SO beautiful because we got to watch the sunrise (and we're in Thailand...) Then for dinner we had the Thanksgiving feast at a European restaurant, so it was a little different, but still way good!!
OK, so I HAVE to tell you about the cRaZiEsT dream I have had since being in Thailand. It was mostly crazy because it felt SO SO real. I seriously have never felt so much emotion in a dream before in my life. I really think it was a blessing though. OK so in the dream, President Smith called me and told me I was going home, and next thing I know I am at home and it was the HAPPIEST homecoming ever. Seriously. Mom and Dad, Kurtis Scott and Jake were there and everyone was just filled to the brim with joy that I was home. We were at the house and everything was exactly as I left it. I can't even describe how completely happy I was to be home. It was incredible. So then I start thinking about talking to some friends and I think, oh, I'm gonna go get on Facebook and tell people I am home (sad... i know...haha) and THEN it just hits me like a ton of bricks, I DIDN'T FINISH MY MISSION... I fell to the ground in the living room and was just sobbing like crazy because I knew I needed to get back to Thailand to finish my mission. I asked dad what I had to do to get back and it turns out that because there is going to be a shortage of missionaries in Thailand, dad had to send someone or else I couldn't go back. (haha) So dad said he knew someone he thought could go but I just knew it wouldn't be the same. I had already come home. I can not even express how utterly dismayed I was. It was terrible. And SO SO real. I honestly had no idea I was even dreaming. Well needless to say, I have never been so happy to wake up in my bed still in Thailand, still serving my mission. And I think that dream was such a blessing because, first of all, I got to see my family! I got to hug them and rejoice with them (which will come one day) and then I got to have the motivation to really not take this time for granted. I promised myself that I would work my very hardest now so that when I do return home I wont be distraught, but so happy because I did my very best. Ah, I will never forget that dream.
Well as for my week... It has been SOO good! The highlight was definitely the baptism of Khana. I am not sure how much I have told you about her story. She just turned 8, so according to mission numbers we didn't have a convert baptism this week, but for me personally, she was. When I met Khana back in August she did not want to go to church, refused to pray, and was not the most obedient child. Her mother, Sister Duan, who is actually her adopted mother, was in tears as she explained that Khana would go to church when she was younger, but when Sister Duan's mom got sick, she stopped going for a while. Khana got out of the habit and then refused to go. Sister Duan said there was so much she could not do for her daughter, not being her real mother and all, but one thing she knew she did want to do was give her the oppurtunity to have the gospel in her life and the eternal blessings that come from it. I could tell through her sincerity that her mom had been praying earnestly that Khana would soften her heart and accept the gospel. Well, it was a very slow process. She was not always easy to teach, but slowly slowly, she started to pray. Then she would read scriptures, and two weeks ago, for the first time, she went to primary and stayed for the full two hours. She began loving the lessons we prepared for her and even wanted to pray. To see that little girl in white on Sunday, being baptized by her father with a big smile on her face, made me feel like life was just complete. Like I had fufilled my purpose, more importantly God's purpose. This is truly the work of angels. I feel so blessed to be a part of it.
Lastly I want to tell you about an amazing woman named Mae. Again, I am not sure how much I have told you about her. She is living a really bad situation. Her husband cheats on her openly and beats her. They have a son together and because she is not tecnically a Thai citizen, she needs his money to take care of her son PJ who needs medicine for his heart. She has the strongest testimony and is on her second time of reading the Book of Mormon. She loves Nephi because he struggled like she is now. Her problem is because she is not a Thai citizen yet, she can not be legally married and thus can not be baptized. She is in the process of getting citizenship, but even if she does, she doesn't want to go through the legal process of marriage if she will just one day get a divorce, just to be baptized. So on her own, without us challenging her, she fasted last week for a way to get baptized. Please pray for her. She has such a hard life, but loves the gospel so much. She told us once, through all the pain Pj's dad puts her through, God is always there for her. I had a huge grin on my face Sunday as one of the speakers finished their talk "In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen" and her son Pj, who is only a year old said loudly, AMEN! He has such a good mother and I just want with all of my heart to see her make it through these hard times and just be happy in life! She deserves it.
OK, well I hate ending these messages because I just feel like there is so much more to say. But I love you all and would sincerely love to hear from all of you. Thanks so much for the recent letters! You'll be hearing back from me soon!
Love Always,
Melissa
OH! and congrats to Kinner for being pregnant with baby # 3 :) Babies Babies Babies!! :) Especially boy babies! Congrats Chris and Annie on your son!! I can't wait to see them all when I get home! I loved the pictures from the cabin! Everyone looks great! Miss you all!
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Oh how blessed I really am...
Wow, Thanksgiving time again! Ah, and life is just so good. I seriously can not understand how the Lord can possibly bless me as much as he is doing right now, I am happier than I have ever been. I just keep asking myself, Does it really get better than this? I never think so and yet it always does!! There is so so much to tell you all! I will get started.
First off, no, no one here celebrates Thanksgiving. Most people haven't even heard of it. So we are going to a restaurant owned by a Swedish man who is having a Thanksgiving special (we'll see how that works out) But it's all good because yesterday at Zone Conference we had chicken (I don't think they eat turkey here...) gravy, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin and apple pie. It was amazing!! :) And the conference was incredible! Elder Pratt of the Seventy came and gave us great counsel on the importance of praying on our knees and asking investigators to offer a kneeling pray at the end of the lesson. He also recounted some facts from church history and I felt so grateful for all that the early saints did! My favorite part of the day was the drive home when Elder Lilly, Elder Milton, Sister Hulme and I had an amazing discussion of the things we learned. Gospel discussions are always great on the mission, but this one felt especially amazing because it really motivated me to conquer some of the weaknesses I have in my faith and let the Lord strengthen me to preform his will.
And speaking of the Lord using me to preform his will... WOW I am so blessed. It's incredible. OK so Friday... we go to teach Sally. Sally is Em's wife, who we have been teaching for a while. We gave her a baptismal date and when it came she said she wasn't ready. We died, we thought, oh no, we must have rushed her into it. The next Sunday she didn't come to church and we thought she was lost... But on Friday when we taught her, the lesson went really good and we could tell something was on her mind. Sister Hulme asked if she had any questions and she said, how long do I have to wait before I cant get baptized... WHAT?! oh man, we were so happy!! So she might wait until December 13, which is when her 2 daughters will be ready to be baptized, or maybe December 6th with Penapah!! (BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!) PLUS Khana, the little 8 year old girl passed her interview and will be baptized this Sunday. So this will be the first investigator that I have taught the whole way through who will be baptized! A glorious day! Then Penapah, then Sally, then her girls, then Mint (hopefully if her mom will sign the paper) then Waree who is totally ready but says she wants to wait for the new year... SO basically the Lord is just POURING out blessings in the way of baptisms.
And really the lesson I learn from this is the power that comes from both faith and love. Everyone of these people who are getting baptized I can honestly say I love with all my heart. Everyone of them had their own specific set of obstacles they needed to overcome, but in every instance I placed my tremendous faith in them and in the Lord that he would prepare a way and how amazing is it that he has! He really has! Friday night after Sally, Ooy and Eve accepted to be baptized I couldn't sleep because I was just so incredibly happy! I got up at 3 in the morning and studied humility and learned that a humble person accepts that everything they do in life is not of their own strength and power, but of the Lords. There is absolutely no way I could have overcame these things to help these investigators receive baptism by myself, NO way. All of it was the Lord. And it was all dependent on the Faith I put in him. The faith I had to do and say the things he would have me do and say. And after I felt sufficiently humble, I read Alma 26 and just gloried in God. Yes. I am so blessed and love my life.
OK, I know you're not going to believe this, but it actually gets better!! (YES REALLY!) So it's friday night and Penapah calls us to say that we can not go to her house the next day to teach her son and neice and nephew (who also wants to get baptized!! the blessings are seriously getting unreal- in a good way) because she has to go harvest rice on her older sisters farm. Bummer! After Sister Hulme got off the phone I got some inspiration. I said, wait, we have done that before... why don't we call and tell her we will come and help. Basically she was ecstatic. They really needed the help. We arrive the next morning and Penapah is practically jumping out of her skin in excitement that we were there. Her sisters were really nice and kept saying "God sent you to us!" It was cute. :) Well, little did we know, the next day in church Penapha breaks into tears in relief society and tells everyone about how her sisters weren't all that supportive of her Christianity but because we came and served them, they not only accepted the Lord, but now they want to come to church also!!!! OH MAN! The Lord truly does take our faith and makes miracles happen. AMAZING!!!
AND what's more, on Sunday, because we have so many people to teach, we went on splits with two members of the ward who are 19 and 20 Sister Lek and Sister Daa, and I led the lesson for Penapah's kids for the first time ever!!! Luckily the elders sat in and helped some (because they will be the ones teaching the kids all the lessons... they already said they wanted to be baptized... Penapah has so much faith!) But it was a great experience for me to actually teach and not just testify of what Sister Hulme teaches. I still have a lot more to learn, and because I was nervous, my grammar was all messed up... but the lesson went great and I already have so much love for Luugtan and Mak (her niece and nephew... Penapha's son wasn't there)
OK last story because it was just too good to not tell. On Saturday we taught Sister Dim, who is the less active we have been trying to reactivate, and her daughter Mai. It was really an amazing lesson and it really felt like a turning point for me, because I was able to really express the love I have for their family and how I surely know that the Lord, through his missionaries, is reaching out in love to their family. They have a son who died at age 5 who is now sealed to them for time and all eternity who is waiting for them to come back to the straight and narrow. I KNOW it will happen. I have all the faith in the world. AND I see the correlation between having true Christ-like love for someone and being able to speak the language to communicate those feelings. I TRULY had the gift of tongues that night. It was incredible.
SO as you can see... I am so good right now. Those were just the big things that happened this week. That's not to mention all the tiny little miracles that happen every single day here! My challenge to all of you who love me enough to get to this point of my email, is to really look at the miracles the Lord blesses you with every day and thank him for them. Put your faith in him because he WILL provide! I know because I am seeing that in my life now.
I love you all and would LOVE to hear anything about everyone! Write me!! :) I miss you every day, but wouldn't want to be anywhere but right here.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!
Love Always,
Melissa
PS Happy 16th Robert! Hope it was awesome! :)
First off, no, no one here celebrates Thanksgiving. Most people haven't even heard of it. So we are going to a restaurant owned by a Swedish man who is having a Thanksgiving special (we'll see how that works out) But it's all good because yesterday at Zone Conference we had chicken (I don't think they eat turkey here...) gravy, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin and apple pie. It was amazing!! :) And the conference was incredible! Elder Pratt of the Seventy came and gave us great counsel on the importance of praying on our knees and asking investigators to offer a kneeling pray at the end of the lesson. He also recounted some facts from church history and I felt so grateful for all that the early saints did! My favorite part of the day was the drive home when Elder Lilly, Elder Milton, Sister Hulme and I had an amazing discussion of the things we learned. Gospel discussions are always great on the mission, but this one felt especially amazing because it really motivated me to conquer some of the weaknesses I have in my faith and let the Lord strengthen me to preform his will.
And speaking of the Lord using me to preform his will... WOW I am so blessed. It's incredible. OK so Friday... we go to teach Sally. Sally is Em's wife, who we have been teaching for a while. We gave her a baptismal date and when it came she said she wasn't ready. We died, we thought, oh no, we must have rushed her into it. The next Sunday she didn't come to church and we thought she was lost... But on Friday when we taught her, the lesson went really good and we could tell something was on her mind. Sister Hulme asked if she had any questions and she said, how long do I have to wait before I cant get baptized... WHAT?! oh man, we were so happy!! So she might wait until December 13, which is when her 2 daughters will be ready to be baptized, or maybe December 6th with Penapah!! (BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!) PLUS Khana, the little 8 year old girl passed her interview and will be baptized this Sunday. So this will be the first investigator that I have taught the whole way through who will be baptized! A glorious day! Then Penapah, then Sally, then her girls, then Mint (hopefully if her mom will sign the paper) then Waree who is totally ready but says she wants to wait for the new year... SO basically the Lord is just POURING out blessings in the way of baptisms.
And really the lesson I learn from this is the power that comes from both faith and love. Everyone of these people who are getting baptized I can honestly say I love with all my heart. Everyone of them had their own specific set of obstacles they needed to overcome, but in every instance I placed my tremendous faith in them and in the Lord that he would prepare a way and how amazing is it that he has! He really has! Friday night after Sally, Ooy and Eve accepted to be baptized I couldn't sleep because I was just so incredibly happy! I got up at 3 in the morning and studied humility and learned that a humble person accepts that everything they do in life is not of their own strength and power, but of the Lords. There is absolutely no way I could have overcame these things to help these investigators receive baptism by myself, NO way. All of it was the Lord. And it was all dependent on the Faith I put in him. The faith I had to do and say the things he would have me do and say. And after I felt sufficiently humble, I read Alma 26 and just gloried in God. Yes. I am so blessed and love my life.
OK, I know you're not going to believe this, but it actually gets better!! (YES REALLY!) So it's friday night and Penapah calls us to say that we can not go to her house the next day to teach her son and neice and nephew (who also wants to get baptized!! the blessings are seriously getting unreal- in a good way) because she has to go harvest rice on her older sisters farm. Bummer! After Sister Hulme got off the phone I got some inspiration. I said, wait, we have done that before... why don't we call and tell her we will come and help. Basically she was ecstatic. They really needed the help. We arrive the next morning and Penapah is practically jumping out of her skin in excitement that we were there. Her sisters were really nice and kept saying "God sent you to us!" It was cute. :) Well, little did we know, the next day in church Penapha breaks into tears in relief society and tells everyone about how her sisters weren't all that supportive of her Christianity but because we came and served them, they not only accepted the Lord, but now they want to come to church also!!!! OH MAN! The Lord truly does take our faith and makes miracles happen. AMAZING!!!
AND what's more, on Sunday, because we have so many people to teach, we went on splits with two members of the ward who are 19 and 20 Sister Lek and Sister Daa, and I led the lesson for Penapah's kids for the first time ever!!! Luckily the elders sat in and helped some (because they will be the ones teaching the kids all the lessons... they already said they wanted to be baptized... Penapah has so much faith!) But it was a great experience for me to actually teach and not just testify of what Sister Hulme teaches. I still have a lot more to learn, and because I was nervous, my grammar was all messed up... but the lesson went great and I already have so much love for Luugtan and Mak (her niece and nephew... Penapha's son wasn't there)
OK last story because it was just too good to not tell. On Saturday we taught Sister Dim, who is the less active we have been trying to reactivate, and her daughter Mai. It was really an amazing lesson and it really felt like a turning point for me, because I was able to really express the love I have for their family and how I surely know that the Lord, through his missionaries, is reaching out in love to their family. They have a son who died at age 5 who is now sealed to them for time and all eternity who is waiting for them to come back to the straight and narrow. I KNOW it will happen. I have all the faith in the world. AND I see the correlation between having true Christ-like love for someone and being able to speak the language to communicate those feelings. I TRULY had the gift of tongues that night. It was incredible.
SO as you can see... I am so good right now. Those were just the big things that happened this week. That's not to mention all the tiny little miracles that happen every single day here! My challenge to all of you who love me enough to get to this point of my email, is to really look at the miracles the Lord blesses you with every day and thank him for them. Put your faith in him because he WILL provide! I know because I am seeing that in my life now.
I love you all and would LOVE to hear anything about everyone! Write me!! :) I miss you every day, but wouldn't want to be anywhere but right here.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!
Love Always,
Melissa
PS Happy 16th Robert! Hope it was awesome! :)
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
I Love My Life!
Friends and Family,
I'm kinda thinkin' life just doesn't get better than this!! I have a new companion. Her name is Sister Hulme from Houston, Texas and she is AMAZING!! We really have so much in common, both big time planners. Our nightly planning sessions are incredible. It's great how much we just instantly clicked! The other cool thing is that Sister Bradfield and Sister Hulme just switched places, so now Sister Bradfield is in Bangkok with my MTC companion Sister Young!! There will for sure be some awesome reunion parties after the mission!! :)
OK so moves meeting was awesome! It was SO good to see Sister Young, Sister Akagi and all my elders again... FINALLY! It's funny how the MTC seemed SO long ago, and yet once I saw everyone it seemed like it was just yesterday that we parted ways! As for the home front, (home being Korat) I can't even tell you how much I am being blessed. I was worried about leading the area... knowing everyone and everywhere to go... but I feel so much closer to all of the members now that they only know me and we haven't gotten lost at all! I really know my way around this place! I am talking on the phone and setting up appointments, which has always really scared me! I'm just doing way better than I thought I would be. I know the Lord is answering my prayers and yours too! Thank You all SO much! :)
OK. I just need to tell you about the amazing experiences we had on Monday when in district meeting Elder Lilly told us that President Smith wanted us to get off the bikes and start walking more so that we can invite. I'm not gonna lie, we don't do a lot of inviting because we are so busy teaching all the time, but we decided to walk to the church instead of riding our bike and it was so inspired! First off, this song came into my head that reminded me of this great investigator we have that we haven't seen in a while, Fern. We don't see her a lot because she doesn't come to church. But I thought, we need to call her and set up an appointment. She was very happy that I called and we made an appt. for Friday. About 10 min later as we were walking down the street, we see Fern on her motorcycle! (everyone drives motorcycles here) She told us how grateful she was that we called her and saw her because her daughter had drank lighter fluid and had to go to the hospital and Fern was just having a hard time. She told us how she prayed for her daughter and how much it strengthened her testimony to know that Heavenly Father would help her! She is so great! We never would have seen her had we not walked!
THEN!! We were inviting a woman with a baby on the side of the street and a man pulls up next to us and says (in English) Are you mormons? And I said yes! And he asked where the church was and for our number because his friend was coming from Australia and she is LDS and wants to come to church while she is here!! His name was Will and her name is Mary and she will be coming in about a month or so! He said I saw the guys with the ties riding thier bikes last week but I couldn't keep up with them! Haha. I just know that was right where the Lord needed us to be. I have such a strong testimony of following the spirit because as a servant of the Lord, if you will only be worthy of his spirit he will always lead you where he needs you to be!
Well life is just so good here. I miss you all so much! I wrote Robin! I am so excited for her!! AHH. The MTC is just great! I really really miss Brittany. (hope she is reading this!) How is William!? I want pictures! And I love how Tony and Eric write me (NOT)!!
Haha, ok until next week. Life is good. The gospel is everything.
Love,
Melissa
I'm kinda thinkin' life just doesn't get better than this!! I have a new companion. Her name is Sister Hulme from Houston, Texas and she is AMAZING!! We really have so much in common, both big time planners. Our nightly planning sessions are incredible. It's great how much we just instantly clicked! The other cool thing is that Sister Bradfield and Sister Hulme just switched places, so now Sister Bradfield is in Bangkok with my MTC companion Sister Young!! There will for sure be some awesome reunion parties after the mission!! :)
OK so moves meeting was awesome! It was SO good to see Sister Young, Sister Akagi and all my elders again... FINALLY! It's funny how the MTC seemed SO long ago, and yet once I saw everyone it seemed like it was just yesterday that we parted ways! As for the home front, (home being Korat) I can't even tell you how much I am being blessed. I was worried about leading the area... knowing everyone and everywhere to go... but I feel so much closer to all of the members now that they only know me and we haven't gotten lost at all! I really know my way around this place! I am talking on the phone and setting up appointments, which has always really scared me! I'm just doing way better than I thought I would be. I know the Lord is answering my prayers and yours too! Thank You all SO much! :)
OK. I just need to tell you about the amazing experiences we had on Monday when in district meeting Elder Lilly told us that President Smith wanted us to get off the bikes and start walking more so that we can invite. I'm not gonna lie, we don't do a lot of inviting because we are so busy teaching all the time, but we decided to walk to the church instead of riding our bike and it was so inspired! First off, this song came into my head that reminded me of this great investigator we have that we haven't seen in a while, Fern. We don't see her a lot because she doesn't come to church. But I thought, we need to call her and set up an appointment. She was very happy that I called and we made an appt. for Friday. About 10 min later as we were walking down the street, we see Fern on her motorcycle! (everyone drives motorcycles here) She told us how grateful she was that we called her and saw her because her daughter had drank lighter fluid and had to go to the hospital and Fern was just having a hard time. She told us how she prayed for her daughter and how much it strengthened her testimony to know that Heavenly Father would help her! She is so great! We never would have seen her had we not walked!
THEN!! We were inviting a woman with a baby on the side of the street and a man pulls up next to us and says (in English) Are you mormons? And I said yes! And he asked where the church was and for our number because his friend was coming from Australia and she is LDS and wants to come to church while she is here!! His name was Will and her name is Mary and she will be coming in about a month or so! He said I saw the guys with the ties riding thier bikes last week but I couldn't keep up with them! Haha. I just know that was right where the Lord needed us to be. I have such a strong testimony of following the spirit because as a servant of the Lord, if you will only be worthy of his spirit he will always lead you where he needs you to be!
Well life is just so good here. I miss you all so much! I wrote Robin! I am so excited for her!! AHH. The MTC is just great! I really really miss Brittany. (hope she is reading this!) How is William!? I want pictures! And I love how Tony and Eric write me (NOT)!!
Haha, ok until next week. Life is good. The gospel is everything.
Love,
Melissa
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
and she that thrusteth in her sickle...
FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!
Wow, life is so amazing! So many great and amazing things have happened this week!
First, I will address the pictures! SO that is right, in Thailand, right now, the fields are white, already to harvest. And lo, Monday the most amazing district Korat has ever seen thrusted in their sickles with ALL their might that we may continue this marvelous work that has come forth among the children of men! We Kiewed Khaw (harvested the rice) and it was so much fun! I will send more pictures home, but basically, we got down in our scrubbs (bare foot) and cut the rice from the rice patties! I even bought a sweet rice harvesting hat!! :) The whole process is very labor intensive and we were so tired after!
After we were done we went to the branch presidents house (he’s the one who is a rice farmer) and had one of the best lessons I've had on my mission. He is an amazing, humble man. The next picture is Sister Brad and me with Noah, Prataans son. We sat on this bench while we had an amazing gospel discussion about Faith and Hope. As tired as my body was after kiewing khaw, my spirit was so energized and I really understood so much of the conversation, pretty much the whole thing! My confidence is really growing in the language. But still some days are better than others.
The last picture is of me and Sister Brad last week holding a snake. It was way sweet! :)
OK. Are you ready for the best news in the world: PENAPAH IS GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! November 22! The best day of my mission! haha. The Lord is finally pouring out blessings to her and William and the branch in Korat will never be the same because she has the fire baby! And is ready to share the gospel with everyone! We are going to her house on Saturday to teach her son and niece and nephew! OK so here is what happened. William and Penapah are amazing and have been ready to be baptized for a while, but because they don’t have enough money and because William couldn’t ride the bus because of a knee problem they could never come to church and couldn’t get baptized. They prayed incessantly and had so much faith. When they couldn't make it to church last month to get baptized, I was crushed, but knew this was the time to not give up, but double my faith. I have prayed and prayed for them to find a way to get baptized. Well, finally the prayers have been answered and William got a way to go back to England, to raise some money, and come back to Thailand to start up their farm again which failed before. And because William is gone, Penapah can now come every week on a bus. It would have been so much better to see them both baptized together. But William is very excited to share the gospel with his sons and mother in England and will get baptized there. It will also be nice for him to go to church in a place where they speak his own language, even though Elder Lilly translates for him here. So they are both getting baptized and are so, so very happy. We taught an amazing lesson to William about the prophet Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and his faith is the strongest it's been. We were in tears as William offered a sincere heartfelt prayer thanking the Lord for allowing them the opportunity to be baptized and get their money situation back in order, they have suffered so much from their losses, but found the Lord in the midst of all their trials. Penapah then told us about a great lesson she learned from the Book of Mormon that involved taking money from corrupt people who were trying to buy their vote. She said she didn't feel good about the money and read in Ether about the corruption of men in the government and felt that it was an answer that she should not take that money. She stood up for virtue and she chose to not support corrupted people. I was so proud of her! She is amazing!! :)
OK, so that was definitely the highlight of my week. But other good things happened too. We have been teaching Waree, the woman who came to church on her own and loves it. We were worried at first because she just was not understanding what we were teaching her. But on Tuesday we taught an amazing lesson with Sister Tuu (who just happened to be at the church when we taught her) and we ended with Waree offering an amazing prayer asking forgiveness from the Lord for not being able to attend church this week. OH man, she is amazing! Life is so good.
I just can't believe how incredibly blessed I am to be serving the Lord in, quite literally, the best mission in the world. Seriously! What an amazing chance it is to be immersed in this amazing culture with some of God's most humble, giving people in the world. My life has changed.
OK, so moves. Its tomorrow, so I don't have a new companion yet, I will tomorrow. But she is so lucky whoever she is because we have two baptisms coming up for sure (Penapha and Khana- the little girl) and we will be giving Waree a date the next time we teach her, probably Dec 16 and then Sally, (Em's wife who just got baptized) will hopefully be ready too! The work is on FIRE!
But the other sad news is that Elder Blaustine is moving too. We totally weren't expecting it. He has been here since I have and it just won’t be the same without him!! But, I guess that's just the way mission life is! OK, so more news next week as the work continues in Korat!! :)
Finally I just want to end with my testimony of how much the Lord really does hear our prayers and answers them when they are according to his will. I had an amazing amazing experience this past week of the Lord answering my prayers. I will write it in snail mail and send it to you.
OK well, I love you all so so much and am grateful for each and every one of you!! :)
I love you,
Melissa
Wow, life is so amazing! So many great and amazing things have happened this week!
First, I will address the pictures! SO that is right, in Thailand, right now, the fields are white, already to harvest. And lo, Monday the most amazing district Korat has ever seen thrusted in their sickles with ALL their might that we may continue this marvelous work that has come forth among the children of men! We Kiewed Khaw (harvested the rice) and it was so much fun! I will send more pictures home, but basically, we got down in our scrubbs (bare foot) and cut the rice from the rice patties! I even bought a sweet rice harvesting hat!! :) The whole process is very labor intensive and we were so tired after!
 |
| From Melissa's Mission |
After we were done we went to the branch presidents house (he’s the one who is a rice farmer) and had one of the best lessons I've had on my mission. He is an amazing, humble man. The next picture is Sister Brad and me with Noah, Prataans son. We sat on this bench while we had an amazing gospel discussion about Faith and Hope. As tired as my body was after kiewing khaw, my spirit was so energized and I really understood so much of the conversation, pretty much the whole thing! My confidence is really growing in the language. But still some days are better than others.
 |
| From Melissa's Mission |
The last picture is of me and Sister Brad last week holding a snake. It was way sweet! :)
 |
| From Melissa's Mission |
OK. Are you ready for the best news in the world: PENAPAH IS GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! November 22! The best day of my mission! haha. The Lord is finally pouring out blessings to her and William and the branch in Korat will never be the same because she has the fire baby! And is ready to share the gospel with everyone! We are going to her house on Saturday to teach her son and niece and nephew! OK so here is what happened. William and Penapah are amazing and have been ready to be baptized for a while, but because they don’t have enough money and because William couldn’t ride the bus because of a knee problem they could never come to church and couldn’t get baptized. They prayed incessantly and had so much faith. When they couldn't make it to church last month to get baptized, I was crushed, but knew this was the time to not give up, but double my faith. I have prayed and prayed for them to find a way to get baptized. Well, finally the prayers have been answered and William got a way to go back to England, to raise some money, and come back to Thailand to start up their farm again which failed before. And because William is gone, Penapah can now come every week on a bus. It would have been so much better to see them both baptized together. But William is very excited to share the gospel with his sons and mother in England and will get baptized there. It will also be nice for him to go to church in a place where they speak his own language, even though Elder Lilly translates for him here. So they are both getting baptized and are so, so very happy. We taught an amazing lesson to William about the prophet Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and his faith is the strongest it's been. We were in tears as William offered a sincere heartfelt prayer thanking the Lord for allowing them the opportunity to be baptized and get their money situation back in order, they have suffered so much from their losses, but found the Lord in the midst of all their trials. Penapah then told us about a great lesson she learned from the Book of Mormon that involved taking money from corrupt people who were trying to buy their vote. She said she didn't feel good about the money and read in Ether about the corruption of men in the government and felt that it was an answer that she should not take that money. She stood up for virtue and she chose to not support corrupted people. I was so proud of her! She is amazing!! :)
OK, so that was definitely the highlight of my week. But other good things happened too. We have been teaching Waree, the woman who came to church on her own and loves it. We were worried at first because she just was not understanding what we were teaching her. But on Tuesday we taught an amazing lesson with Sister Tuu (who just happened to be at the church when we taught her) and we ended with Waree offering an amazing prayer asking forgiveness from the Lord for not being able to attend church this week. OH man, she is amazing! Life is so good.
I just can't believe how incredibly blessed I am to be serving the Lord in, quite literally, the best mission in the world. Seriously! What an amazing chance it is to be immersed in this amazing culture with some of God's most humble, giving people in the world. My life has changed.
OK, so moves. Its tomorrow, so I don't have a new companion yet, I will tomorrow. But she is so lucky whoever she is because we have two baptisms coming up for sure (Penapha and Khana- the little girl) and we will be giving Waree a date the next time we teach her, probably Dec 16 and then Sally, (Em's wife who just got baptized) will hopefully be ready too! The work is on FIRE!
But the other sad news is that Elder Blaustine is moving too. We totally weren't expecting it. He has been here since I have and it just won’t be the same without him!! But, I guess that's just the way mission life is! OK, so more news next week as the work continues in Korat!! :)
Finally I just want to end with my testimony of how much the Lord really does hear our prayers and answers them when they are according to his will. I had an amazing amazing experience this past week of the Lord answering my prayers. I will write it in snail mail and send it to you.
OK well, I love you all so so much and am grateful for each and every one of you!! :)
I love you,
Melissa
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Sabai Sabai
Hello Family and Friends!
What a great week it has been! I can't believe it is November already! How crazy that a year from now I will be getting ready to come home. Don't worry, I am definitely not trunky. I'm loving every minute I have here! OK, so much to talk about! First off, I moved! President Smith didn't like us living right next to the Elders, so we moved into the cutest house ever!! It is quite a bit smaller than our last house, but it is brand new and SO nice! It's pretty standard for America, but for Thailand it is way way nice. Because of the weather all the houses I have ever been in have been... not dirty, but not, well... i dont know, it's not that bad, just not that good. But this house is brand new! and so cute! We aren't quite moved in yet, but when we are, I will for sure send pictures! We moved on Halloween and I was pretty bummed because I didn't see anyone celebrating it!! :( oh well. We were elders for halloween! haha. It was fun. We wore white shirts and black skirts and ties :) It was fun.
The real fun was the festival on Monday, I don't remember the name of it, and I couldn't spell it either... haha. It's a festival commemorating the end of the rainy season and everyone gets these really pretty little boats made out of leaves and flowers and floats them down rivers (or in our case the lake) and there are fireworks and food and ahh! it was so fun! AND! to make things all the better, the weather was amazing!! It was windy and at night, it was actually kind of, sort of a little bit COLD!! It totally feels like fall! Which is my favorite season! So yea, God really loves me because he gave me the fall I was missing at home! It's probably getting chilly in Sacramento by now huh? But yea, the weather has been very pleasant.
Sunday was SO amazing! We had 8 investigators come to church, 8!!! And two of them were William and Penapah!! (The two that live very far and can't make it to church or they would have been baptized already) They found a way to come for now, so we will see if they can get baptized. Oh boy am I praying for it!! :) 3 others were Em, who got the Holy Ghost this week, his wife and 2 girls who are doing really well and will be getting baptized when they learn all the lessons! :) Another was Mint who is 16 and can't get baptized only because her mom won't sign the papers yet. But we taught a way sweet lesson to her on Monday and she thinks she can get baptized on Christmas day!! What a great Christmas present!! I just hope I am still here!!! :) I should be. Waree was another investigator who is crazy! But in a good way. It's hard to discribe Waree, she is just so fun and enthusiastic about the gospel! I love her so much!! :) :) We are going to eat dinner at her house tomorrow. And lastly we had Khanna who is the cutest little almost 8 year old. We teach her every Saturday night, the cutest lessons! It's really preparing me for being a primary teacher! She has improved so so much! When we started teaching her she never wanted to go to church and wouldn't pray. Now she gladly prays and is very excited to get baptized on November 29th! We made a count-down for her, one with the links :) it's cute. the Sunday links are a different color to remind her that she needs to go to church and there is a special one for her birthday, but the nicest one is her baptismal date. :)
So basically the work is going great!! I am loving life! We had the greatest district meeting too on monday! Well, actually our district meetings are always amazing! Elder Lilly is an amazing teacher and we are always just so motivated to get out and work hard afterwards! We got to share our testimonies in this meeting and it just felt so good to share the very strongest testimony I have ever had that this church is true and this is the greatest work there is! :) ahh, life is so good. I miss you all tons, but am very happy.
Take care! Write me! :) PLEASE!
Love Always,
Mel
PS I cant believe I almost forgot! Today I held a huge boaconstricter!!! (snake) It was awesome, pics to come!! :)
What a great week it has been! I can't believe it is November already! How crazy that a year from now I will be getting ready to come home. Don't worry, I am definitely not trunky. I'm loving every minute I have here! OK, so much to talk about! First off, I moved! President Smith didn't like us living right next to the Elders, so we moved into the cutest house ever!! It is quite a bit smaller than our last house, but it is brand new and SO nice! It's pretty standard for America, but for Thailand it is way way nice. Because of the weather all the houses I have ever been in have been... not dirty, but not, well... i dont know, it's not that bad, just not that good. But this house is brand new! and so cute! We aren't quite moved in yet, but when we are, I will for sure send pictures! We moved on Halloween and I was pretty bummed because I didn't see anyone celebrating it!! :( oh well. We were elders for halloween! haha. It was fun. We wore white shirts and black skirts and ties :) It was fun.
The real fun was the festival on Monday, I don't remember the name of it, and I couldn't spell it either... haha. It's a festival commemorating the end of the rainy season and everyone gets these really pretty little boats made out of leaves and flowers and floats them down rivers (or in our case the lake) and there are fireworks and food and ahh! it was so fun! AND! to make things all the better, the weather was amazing!! It was windy and at night, it was actually kind of, sort of a little bit COLD!! It totally feels like fall! Which is my favorite season! So yea, God really loves me because he gave me the fall I was missing at home! It's probably getting chilly in Sacramento by now huh? But yea, the weather has been very pleasant.
Sunday was SO amazing! We had 8 investigators come to church, 8!!! And two of them were William and Penapah!! (The two that live very far and can't make it to church or they would have been baptized already) They found a way to come for now, so we will see if they can get baptized. Oh boy am I praying for it!! :) 3 others were Em, who got the Holy Ghost this week, his wife and 2 girls who are doing really well and will be getting baptized when they learn all the lessons! :) Another was Mint who is 16 and can't get baptized only because her mom won't sign the papers yet. But we taught a way sweet lesson to her on Monday and she thinks she can get baptized on Christmas day!! What a great Christmas present!! I just hope I am still here!!! :) I should be. Waree was another investigator who is crazy! But in a good way. It's hard to discribe Waree, she is just so fun and enthusiastic about the gospel! I love her so much!! :) :) We are going to eat dinner at her house tomorrow. And lastly we had Khanna who is the cutest little almost 8 year old. We teach her every Saturday night, the cutest lessons! It's really preparing me for being a primary teacher! She has improved so so much! When we started teaching her she never wanted to go to church and wouldn't pray. Now she gladly prays and is very excited to get baptized on November 29th! We made a count-down for her, one with the links :) it's cute. the Sunday links are a different color to remind her that she needs to go to church and there is a special one for her birthday, but the nicest one is her baptismal date. :)
So basically the work is going great!! I am loving life! We had the greatest district meeting too on monday! Well, actually our district meetings are always amazing! Elder Lilly is an amazing teacher and we are always just so motivated to get out and work hard afterwards! We got to share our testimonies in this meeting and it just felt so good to share the very strongest testimony I have ever had that this church is true and this is the greatest work there is! :) ahh, life is so good. I miss you all tons, but am very happy.
Take care! Write me! :) PLEASE!
Love Always,
Mel
PS I cant believe I almost forgot! Today I held a huge boaconstricter!!! (snake) It was awesome, pics to come!! :)
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