A treat!

Hello all of you sleeping people on the other side of the world!
Another amazing week has passed! Funny how the MTC seems so far away! Well I have an amazing story to share with you and some cool "firsts" I've had in Thailand this week!

So, we have two investigators named William and Penapah. William is from England and is married to Penapah, who is a khonthai. They have an incredible story, and the best part is, it's still in the making! I met them the first week I was here and thought they were pretty awesome. We visited them again yesterday and had such a great spiritual experience.

They first found the elders some months ago. Penapah says she was so depressed. They live on a farm about an hour outside of Korat near Sii Kiaw. The farm failed and for two years they were just always down and depressed, sleeping all day with nothing to do but think about how sad they were. But one day, they were in Korat for some reason and they saw the Elders. Penapah is just beaming as she tells me, they had such a light about them. I knew right away that they were happy and I wanted to be happy like them.

So the Elders made the hour long trek and began teaching them. They LOVE the gospel. They have the New Testament in Thai and English (in the same book) so they can read it together. They both have last May's Ensign and Penapha told me that she reads the talks over and over and every time she finds new things that she loves. She showed it to me and it is all marked up with highlighter and notes.
We taught them about Baptism and the Temple and they ask us great questions. They understand the gospel so well. It is amazing to see the excitement in their eyes as they learn more. Every principal we explain just clicks right away, as if we were only reminding them. I just can't even tell you how much I love these two!
Ok, so here is the catch. They are poor. They don't have a car. William can't ride a bus because of a problem he has with his leg. They could borrow a car on Sunday's but just don't have the money. All they need to do is come to church and then they can get baptized, and they want to so bad. It is amazing to see that even in the situation they are in, they are so happy and upbeat. They love the gospel and they spend a lot of their time studying.

So the most amazing experience I have had on my mission so far... William gave the closing prayer, and it was so humble and heartfelt. He prayed for the Lord to prepare a way for them to get to church so they could get baptized. I just know the Lord will bless these humble, faithful people to get to church. I told Sister Bradfield as we were leaving, how much I wanted to buy them a car!! What an example of faith they are!

Ahh, the mission is great! The church is true. I love Thailand! Ok, here are some of my firsts... The one I am most proud of is my first time using the sqatter... it was a success!! I can't tell you how nervous I was, but I survived! hahaha. (That's a bathroom for those of you who don't know!) OK, so I also saw this way cool grass called shy grass... it has open leaves and when you touch it the leaves close up! haha I thought it was cool...

Umm I ate my first pickled mango... wan't really a fan. But I also had ice cream on a hot dog bun... YES ice cream on a hot dog bun! It was actually good! It has rice in it too, of course... Here, when someone asks you if you have eaten yet they say: kin khaaw ruu yang? which literally means: eaten rice yet? Even if you don't eat rice, that's how you say it.

We also got to visit a lot of hospitals! One because a recent convert was in the hospital, so we went to see her, and another (on the same day) because we were visiting an investigator who was watching her little nephew who has a tumor in his brain. It was so sad to see the little kids all on these tiny little beds all next to each other in a big room. There were probably about 50 or 60 in this big room. It was cute thought, a little boy who had a bandage on his head looked at me and just smiled. I smiled back. Everytime I looked at him he smiled at me as if it were the first time he saw me. So i went and talked to him. He hurt his head playing soccer. He said he had been there a week! Poor thing. He seemed fine though and I think I made his day, because he was so happy to see me!

Well, the work is great. I love it here! I miss you all at home, but would rather have you all just come here with me! :) Thank you for the prayers, they are greatly appriciated! Love you all!

Love,
Melissa

PS Everyone needs to do a youtube search for this guy: Biethstar....he is like the Thai Michael Jackson. I am totally buying this CD before I leave. People love him here!