November 17, 2013
so for the weekly review!
there is a sign on the door of the internet ron (ron = store) - you basically say food-store (restaurant), internet-store... i like the simplicity of the words most of the time.
the sign: it says... something in thai. i don't understand. but then it says 10 hours for 80 baht. that's like a little over $2. it made me think about josh and brian with $2 and unlimited internet time....
our mission has an facebook page! i know they post a lot about the new missionaries, but if anyone is interested in what's going on... you can check it out!www.facebook.com/
so our mission president wants us to finish the book of mormon by christmas. i'm definitely on my way to getting it done! i am in 3 nephi... which is such a great place to be. my favorite scripture the other day was 3 nephi 12:13. and thinking like a missionary.... we stand out. i used to wonder why heavenly father would send a tall blonde amazon to a land of... not-so-tall, not-so-blondes. there are always people that see us... "oh yeah! i see the two "poo-ying" (women) riding their bikes down tiwanon all the time!" yup. that's us! you teach about jesus christ? yes. ohhhhh. sometimes that's as far as it goes. other times, creepy taxi drivers ask me for my phone number. good thing i have people in the car that know more thai then i do. so they give them the number for the elders. gotta love trainers...
but we are different. we are sent somewhere to stand out. something that i've learned over this last week is that missionary work is not for a bunch of clones. it isn't because he wants us to be a specific missionary and teach a specific way. i need to come up with my own words and my own way of teaching. which, i have learned... often requires a few bumbles and "pood-pits" (things said wrong) i'm pretty sure how much everyone knows how i hate making mistakes. and how i avoid looking stupid at all costs. it isn't a commodity i get to have here. i talk to people. and i sound like a baby. a very cute baby apparently. my favorite thing was that i thought that i would get away from all of the "sweety" and "honey" type terms of endearment.... i think the fact i can't talk and just sit there and smile makes people say it more. "na-rak" means cute/loveable... i get called it a lot.
it's great being a missionary. it's cool when people look at you and know that you are different. that you live differently than they do. and when they WANT that too.
so. being a missionary is all about the service. even when you walk into the church and get asked to do a special musical number for a wedding/funeral. you still do it. i just pray that my sub-par piano skills (of which i regret every single moment i ever wasted sitting at the piano... which is a LOT) still manage to invite the spirit. the bride was crying... so i either did a good job or i ruined her wedding. i like to think it was the first one...
we have some pretty awesome investigators. boat and lipi were supposed to get baptized... yesterday. we ended up moving it again because he had to get his cast off of his hand. (did i mention that he was shanked the first time they were going to get baptized? i don't remember.) he just got the cast off saturday. they'll be getting baptized this saturday. we told him no soccer until AFTER this baptism. just to cover our bases... then we have another investigator named cherisa. she is amazing. we gave her a date last sunday... and she is so excited to get baptized! i just can't believe that people fall into your lap like this! she's getting baptized in december.
we had another interesting visit. with a man that wasn't so interested in the gospel.... but he sure does love uncle sam. he says that he will always put americans first. since uncle sam was so good to him. he was a hoot. and told us to call him uncle vis. alright. this really is too much. i was thinking about all of our investigators... donut. cake. boat. may. see. soup. these names here are ridiculous. but i love them so much! (the people...)
last night was loy krathong. it is a festival... and i don't really know much else about it. but we went and put little bread boats into the water... and sent some prayers/wishes out with them. only to watch them get devoured by gigantic catfish. there is a reason people don't swim in this water... you can't see anything... and you would most likely get eaten. but it was great. we went and sang hymns for a while and then invited people to be baptized. the whole time they had floating lanterns rising up into the air... so the sky was full of them! we sang a little "at last i see the light..." and then went back home to do some numbers.
i can't think of a whole lot else to say... it is being a missionary! the hardest, and yet most rewarding thing i have ever done in my whole life! and i can say that with complete confidence! the only thing that i think is easier... is that i actually get 8 hours of sleep every night. with makes the rest of the stuff much more manageable! i can definitely see WHY bedtime is so important. there are nights when i know that i want to go to bed before 10:30. what is happening to me??? ;)
i love you all. thank you for your love and support! in everything!
i'm sending prayers your way!
sister ellis
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