Hey family!
How is life going? Are you relieved that the quilt show is over? Great job on the ribbons! :) (Mom entered some of her quilts into a quilt show this past weekend. Two of them won first place in their sections.)
Mom's
comment about killing a missionary: we use that phrase too. Your first
area is your birth place. Your first companion is your mom or dad
(though President Senior has asked us to stop referring to them as that,
because that means the greenie is a child and that doesn't do wonders
for their confidence). Your last companion kills you--because I was
Sister Zatarain's last companion, I killed her.
Speaking of the Sisters, how is the work progressing for them in Scotch Plains? Are things getting better?
Fun
fact: In the "I am a Child of God" video that Dad mentioned (in the
General Women's broadcast), Thai is at 24.59 and 25.31 :) All those
Sisters are in a branch in Bangkok. Interestingly enough, their
meetinghouse is where we have transfers (moves). We haven't watched the
Broadcast yet (translation takes about a week) but I just went on lds.org to find the song.
Thailand
lately has been very hot. A weekly average of 102. And there is
humidity. And it's bright. My companion and I are pretty sure we are
going to melt. Luckily, New Jersey has trained me well for this. But
still. It's hot. This past Sunday, we even had an investigator that
didn't come to church because it was too hot. Weather is actually a
really common excuse here in Thailand. Raining or too hot? No need to go
to church. It's so frustrating because she was planning on getting
baptized yesterday. It's also hard to have sympathy because we have to
ride our bikes in every weather.
Speaking
of monks (Mom's letter), we are currently teaching an ex-monk. He is 27
and was a monk for 9 years. His mom is the hospital with cancer and
wants to know if God can help. He also likes the idea of being cleansed
from his sins. But it's hard for him because old habits and traditions
and beliefs die hard. But he still comes to church every week even after we told him that being baptized would completely change his life.
Good stuff. He is also really funny and all the members love him.
To
mom's comment on thinking about Christ more and truly taking upon us
His name: I suggest Preach My Gospel. It is such an inspired book. There
is a whole chapter just on Christlike attributes. It talks about how for
missionaries (and really for all members), who we are is more important than what we
say. It says it a lot more elegantly than that though...
But yeah. In order to take Christ's name upon us, we need to become more
like the way Christ is. Yay Christlike attributes! Christ invited us all to
come unto Him and become perfected in Him. I am currently working on the
section on charity in Preach My Gospel.
Interestingly enough, one of the hardest things for
me on my mission so far has been working with other missionaries.
Pre-mission, if I didn't get along with someone, I just didn't spend a
lot of time with them. Easy as pie. On a mission, it isn't that easy.
You are with the other missionaries all the time. Also, pre-mission, I
never really failed to get along with people (that I remember - maybe I did
but now, just don't remember it). It's kinda shocking when it's hard to
get along with other missionaries. That's okay though. Patience. And
charity. Great things we can always improve on. And prayer always helps
everything.
Dad talked about the high school. Is anyone I know
(that you know as well) a senior right now? Faegan is a junior right?
That's terrifying. Truly and utterly terrifying. I swear she is still in
Beehives. (I just reread that and realized how confusing that last
sentence must be for people who are not Mormon.) (Thus, for non-Mormons, a Beehive is a 12- or 13-year-old girl.)
So I feel the need to update you on what I am doing here in Thailand.
My days are filled with
inviting people on the streets to be cleansed from their sin and also
teaching people. Yup. Missionary work is truly quite simple in that if
you aren't teaching (or eating), you are out inviting. If you aren't
inviting (or teaching or eating), you are doing something wrong. Haha :)
We are truly trying to talk to everyone. Even at stop lights. If we are
biking and see someone on the side of the road walking, we stop and
talk to them. Travel time has increased quite a bit. haha (or as the
Thais would write 555) :)
My companion
has a goal of helping me overcome my directionally-challengedness - or
at least that's what she says. I think that she just likes getting lost.
She keeps on trying to get me to lead while biking but then she always
has to race ahead of me when I, of course, make a wrong turn or fail to
make a turn. She loves teasing me and laughing with me when I get turned
around or when my attempts to speak English fall apart like a cookie in
milk. Dude, spoken English is soooooo hard. I can't do it. When I get
home, I am taking a small white-board and white-board marker around with
me because I can't speak. Or, apparently, type either. Sister Yim keeps
on telling me that she agrees with Mom that my grammar is shot. Haha.
Thai is better anyway. The grammar is so much easier.
Another thing my companion laughs at: me talking
about everything in war terms. Whenever I am trying to overcome a
situation, I say that I am trying to conquer it and I make a battle
plan. In my defense, the scriptures talk about wars a lot. And the Lord
says that the word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword. So yeah.
She also laughs
at the fact that I am so easily amused. We once walked past a park
bench that had painted flowers on it and I got really excited and said,
"Oh! Flowers!" There are many other instances like that too. She likes
to joke that she is often reminded that she is 5 years older than me. I
don't mind. I am serious when I need to be and silly when I can be. But
always mature and appropriate.
Just in case Stuart is curious, his influence is
very wide-spread. Everyone here teases me. Members. District Presidents.
Missionaries. The Mission President. Investigators even. I'm fine with
it. If they are okay teasing me, that means they like me. And we all end
up laughing. Good times.
From my
personal study this week: The first two steps of the gospel are faith
and repentance. People cannot be baptized if they have not faith and
have yet to repent. In order to teach towards the cleansing ordinance of
baptism, we need to teach towards faith in our Savior Jesus Christ and
His atonement and we need to sincerely repent of all our past sins. This
also applies to those who have already been baptized and are about to
renew their baptismal covenants through partaking of the sacrament. We
have to have faith and repent. I love repentance. 3 Nephi 7 is a great
chapter on this.
Oh, side note.
There is a lot of silk stores here. Are there any preferences? Women
(that includes you Samantha), would you like long or knee-length skirts?
Men (that includes you two Jon and David), any particular style of tie?
Data. Data. Data. I cannot build bricks without clay. (Name that
movie).
Um...I think I
am out of things to report. OH! That girl that is coming in June! Would
she like me to start emailing her so that she can get a heads-up about
Thailand? If so, I'd be happy to email her (meaning that I need her
email). If not, that's totally okay. If the rumors are true, she is
going to be a solo sister in the MTC meaning that she is the only sister
coming to Thailand at that time. She have a companion in the MTC with
someone in a different district.
P.S: there is no longer a ban on
wearing yellow and red. Everything has been really peaceful for a
while.
I LOVE YOU ALL VERY VERY VERY MUCH!!!!!! =D
PS: the movie is Sherlock Holmes
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