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!