I am sooooo happy about Diego. Like seriously soooooo happy I'm still smiling about that. That is soooooooooo cool! =D (Diego is one of Abbie's friends from high school who showed up at
church last week on his own. He ordered a Book of Mormon from
Amazon and read it, then decided to start attending church.)
This week has been really good and so I shall take you through day by day.
Monday. So you know how there is a church wide rule that you can't have activities on Monday
nights at the church? So we got permission from the bishop to have an
exception to that rule (not like anyone follows that rule in the first
place because I don't think many people - especially missionaries -
remember that rule because literally all of us teach at the church on Monday night but anyway...). Now every Monday
night we will be having FHE at the church for single adults because the
majority of our recent converts are males that fit into this category.
We want them at the church as often as we can get them there because it
is a safe place for them. Also we need them as strong as we can get them
because Satan is working hard on them because they are the future
Melchizedek priesthood holders that we need for a temple. We want them
to be really unified amongst themselves so that they can strengthen each
other too. We've had it twice already and it is a lot of fun. They are
all sooooooo good! If anyone has any good FHE ideas, I would love to
hear them. We've already taught and reviewed everything we need to so
now we are just sharing scriptures stories and conference talks. so
yeah.
Sad news about Monday is that we found out about transfers. Sister Embley was told that she was moving.
Tuesday.
District meeting (including ice cream at Swensons afterwards because we
can get it half-off) and English class. Had an RC help us teach one of
our female investigators. She's super cute. We are pretty sure that he
has a huge crush on her. She got baptized this Sunday
too so can anyone say temple marriage (in a year)? :) Haha. What?
Missionaries playing match maker? Of course not. What would ever make
you say such a thing? We obviously don't sometimes pick the member to
help us teach based on whether they would make a cute couple with the
investigator. I claim all innocence in the matter. I plead the fifth.
Moving on. :)
Wednesday.
We had a really cool lesson today with an investigator (the one from
above). She really really really wanted to get baptized but there was
only one thing holding her back: her job. Lets just say it wasn't super
in harmony with the commandments. So on Wednesday
(after we realized that it wasn't in harmony), we asked her to change
her job. Members told her it would be hard for her to change because of
the nature of people who work at places like that. You know what her
response was? Sure. She was totally willing to! We taught her about
fasting so we fasted with her to be able to find a new job. She found
one, and it's one where she can choose her own hours. She is sooo happy. She has
so much faith. So much desire. She's soooo good. Taught some other
people too.
Wednesday Sister Embley packed.
Thursday. So usually we have to be at transfer meeting by 9am
so we have to wake up early to leave early to avoid traffic. This time
though, the new missionaries' flight got delayed so they weren't going
to get there till the morning so we didn't have to get to transfers till
2pm (unless you had to go to the training meeting at 10am which we didn't). So we planned to leave the house around 10:30 or 11am.
Right as we are getting ready to walk out the door, I get a call from
my district leader. "Hey, where are you guys?" At home. "So...you're
training and you are supposed to be at this meeting right now." You are
kidding me, right? So, he gives the phone to President who confirms that
yes, I am training. President makes some joke about needing new APs
because they forgot to tell me (and a couple of other missionaries) that
we were training. Right afterwards I get a call from an AP. He said
sorry and asked if there was any chance we could get to the meeting
within the next 30 minutes - no. After that he said that I would be
training a Thai sister who would be coming in another three weeks so we
didn't have to go to transfers unless we wanted to. This got me really
confused because Sister Embley was told she was moving - of course we
would have to go to transfers. I mention this to him and then he got
really confused why Sister Embley thought she was moving (...because you
guys told us she was...). They decided it was because she will be
moving in three weeks and they just told us incorrectly. So yeah. That
was the craziness about transfers. Sister Embley and I are soooooooo
happy to still be together. Like literally walking on cloud 9. I love serving
with her. We work soooo hard and have seen soooo many miracles. Before
transfers, we joked about telling President that we couldn't go to
transfers so that we could stay together. We were soo excited that our
stay together was extended by 3 weeks.
Friday and Saturday. More lessons and miracles that I don't have time to tell right now.
Sunday. Three baptisms! These three have repented soooo much to get to this point. It was amazing.
So...basically out of time again. So...I have to include my letter
to President again so you see the some of the miracles from this week. I
LOVE YOU ALL SOOOOOO MUCH!!!! =D
"Dear President,
...
"I guess the main thing I have to report on
about this week is that it has strengthened my testimony of the power of
the Atonement. One of the main reasons I love being a missionary is
because I love seeing how the gospel can change people.
"A
couple of weeks ago, one of our RCs (อู๋) was really struggling because
of past addictions and stuff like that. He told us how he knew he was
slipping and was scared of himself. We have been working hard with him
and he has been working really hard with himself too. Yesterday he
baptized three of our investigators. Last night he called us and said
thank you. Thank you to God for saving him. I reminded him of that one
phone call awhile ago and asked him how he felt now. He said he felt
like a child - สงบ. He said he wasn't scared anymore.
"We also have another
investigator (who พอดี happens to know อู๋) who has had a really tough
past. He drives a motorcycle taxi, is some type of loan shark, and a
tattoo artist. He also told us how he accidentally killed before. He
came to church this Sunday and while before he wasn't too sure if he wanted to be baptized, he seemed really excited to know that he could be baptized next Sunday (after he repents and changes his jobs and all that stuff).
"This Sunday
we had three baptisms. Two of them changed a lot about their life to
get to this point. One was severely addicted to coffee and porn. Another
was a pole dancer. Both repented instantly and changed their lives to
be in harmony with Christ's teachings as soon as we asked them to.
"The Atonement. It
works. This gospel is so true. There is no way it can't be. This many
people cannot change their lives on their own this quickly. It just
doesn't happen. And what would they be changing it for if not for the
cleansing and saving hope that the Atonement brings. I am so grateful to
be a missionary in this the Thailand Bangkok Mission. I am so grateful
to be on the Lord's errand, spreading the good news with all that want
to hear it. There is no place I'd rather be but here."
I
love you all soooo very very much. I know this is true. There is no way
it can't be. I love being a missionary. I love my badge and never want
to take it off. One of the hardest things about transfers is seeing all
the missionaries that have finished their time and are going home. It's
scary. There truly is no place I'd rather be but here. I love seeing the
power of the atonement alive in people's lives.
I love you all so very much! Have a great week! =D
~Sister Slaugh
"These are the types of shoes we sisters usually wear here in Thailand. And these are my lovely feet in case you forgot what they looked like."
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