The Craziness!!!

Nov 1, 2014 The Craziness!!!  you know how sometimes i have nothing to write? it's because missionary work itself doesn't change... you still go out, like a superhero, and try to save people's lives. (just their spiritual ones most of the time...)  but some weeks... life DOES change.  like getting a text late tuesday night telling you that you are moving. (we already knew it was happening. don't know how... but we totally did.)  so we spent the next days packing... getting ready... then when we showed up at the church to meet with our RCs... a shower started! literally... i did rain. but i got so many random gifts from people. i... felt so loved i could hardly stand it! it was the sweetest thing.  it wasn't easy to say goodbye. it never is. i think i startled a few of our investigators when i told them goodbye over the phone. one of them even called back later to apologize because "he didn't know what to say the first time." personally, i just wanted to be a magician and pull a magic act... but sister brown wouldn't let me. i'm glad i didn't just disappear though. i love them ALL so much. and it was really good to know that they love me too.  they then kept changing what time we needed to show up at transfers. we heard 7:30... then 8. 9. back to 8:30... transfers didn't even start until 11. is it just an opportunity to catch up or what? we also think that there were changes still happening up until the time transfers started. (BABABABO in thai means crazy. it was crazzzzzzy.)  lots of the girls from my mtc district are training. everyone moved.  and i came back to my greenie area.  now THAT was weird. i saw DON MEAUNG come up on the screen... and i didn't know what to think. maybe it was a mistake? nope. i don't believe in mistakes here. but i did have the chance to talk to president. to clarify.  besides. who doesn't like american-style dinners?  their de besssst. (so. just so you know. my first area WAS pakkret. but since then they have combined my area with the other neighboring area. so all of the missionaries work in ALL of the wards. oh. yeah. that too. they are wards now. not branches!!!! so the cool thing is that now i can say that i've served in ALL of those three wards legitimately. not that i just know them all...) it was really fun going back. we ARE whitewashing in... but it didn't feel like it. there are about 40 new RCs that WE are looking after that weren't here a year ago.. but it still feels largely the same. ah! i'm so excited.  so this last week was a lot of getting settled. my new companions name is sister zoller. she's from wisconsin. speaks thai like a boss (and she just barely graduated greeniehood...) i feel super duper blessed.  random things that happened. we get a call from the relief society president that we are going to go visit a cambodian member (this is with the ENGLISH branch) and they need an interpreter. ended up that they brought someone else that could speak thai too... so i ended up just being there to hold her hand and to deliver the "fluffy messages". it was good.  then on sunday they decided that they are going to start having a sunday school for the cambodian members. THE COOLEST THING EVER! a cambodian couple that was coming when i was here a year ago STILL COMES!!! they haven't been able to get baptized because they don't have papers. but they still come. that.... was cool. i can't even describe it. i had no idea what or how we'd teach the class.... turns out that we'd teach in thai, and one of the cambodians speaks thai really well. so i taught in thai. he translated into khmae. and then the other couple read from their scriptures in vietnamese.  strangest lesson ever.  but the spirit was there ridiculously strong.  he said that he prays every day that god will open the path so that he can get baptized. and i know he will. it just reminded me of king limhi's people who also had to wait to get baptized. personally... i don't think that is my favorite story... since i just want EVERYONE to get baptized NOW! but.... some people DO have to wait. and he will. that is what made me so happy. it showed me that this work is TRUE! and when people find it... they never let it go!!! one cool thought from a baptism yesterday. the bishop was talking and said that Jesus Christ is in the NAME of the church... but more than that... he is in EVERY ASPECT of this church.  i love this gospel. and jesus christ is it's leader and he is everywhere in it.  i love you! sister ellis Its always hard to say goodbye!! Sister Zoller---My new companion in Pakkret

This week. was fantastic!!!

Oct 26, 2014

this week. was fantastic!!!

a little bit of a strange one. lots of random things happened... like mission tour... lots of random things that we spent a lot of time NOT in our area. (we left about noon on wednesday, got back at exactly 10:30, left at 6 AM on thursday and didn't get back home until around 6 that night. wow.) 

it was a really great meeting. we spent a lot of time talking about the sacrament. and it reminded me of how important it is. not only to remember how important it is as a member that goes to church every week... but.... that sometimes it is hard to remember that when teaching ABOUT the sacrament. it's easy to teach it as a list of things that we to do before they get baptized. but we (especially ME) needs to remember that we are teaching them HOW to worship. we are teaching them what they should expect from church. not just a list of things 'to do'. 

"oh remember, remember!" 

i've been thinking a lot about remembering lately. about how remembering is how we are able to repent. to stay free from sin. it is what alma repeatedly says in his teachings - that he REMEMBERED what the angel said to him. REMEMBER. 

so i'm working on it. remembering. it's hard. 

(says me... the person that has no more brain... my planner has turned into my brain for the last year...) 

i learned something. i want everyone to try it.

it's called "the bus test"

it goes like this: if you can love EVERYONE on a stinky, smelly bus the way that the savior loves them... then you know that you have charity. 

i tried it. it's a pretty hard test. and i had to be brutally honest with myself. cuz honestly... i DON'T always love them all like that. to throw another scripture into support: jesus christ said that we must love people like WE LOVE OURSELVES. and apparently i love myself a lot. 

the rest of the week was good.

:) 

TONY GOT BAPTIZED!!!!

he was... a black horse? if you can call it that... 

he called us this week, telling us that he was back in town and wanted to get baptized. apparently he thought that he just needed to come to church once... but... we knew that WE needed to know how much he believed/remembered/knew. we reviewed... everything. and he remembered it. we just always end up going back to the commandments. in telling him how important it is to keep the commandments... not half heartedly. we need to be avid? extreme? zealous? in keeping the commandments. (sorry if i come back home a zealot family....) he's a flight attendant, so he spends a lot of time in the air, away from home, etc etc etc... but he promised that he would find churches wherever he is. and the cool thing is... he didn't promise us. he knows that this is more than just a commitment to a couple of sister missionaries. it goes way deeper than that. 

i love this work! i love this gospel!!!

and i love YOU.

keep it up.

sister e

Organize my thoughts on a Sticky Note!

Oct 19, 2014

This week. i had to write it all down on a sticky note to help me to organize my thoughts. they were.... all OVER the place. and anyone that knows me... knows how i LOVE my stickies!

some days... i feel like a headless chicken. but for whatever reason... this headless chicken seems to "bump" into a lot of good things. so i've pretty much decided that it has nothing to do with poultry or food production... but a lot more to do with the spirit. 

the cool thing about serving the lord is when you are TRYING to do what god wants... he makes his will simply happen. no matter how much you seem to be bumbling around. 

for example. sometimes my companion and i get a little antsy and want to try new things. he. he. he. so we decided we were going to go try a huge market that is open on weekends. (we think the temptation of going to invite on sundays might be a little too... well... we decided saturday was a better option.) so we go... with the intent to eat lunch. we get there.... and no lunch. or very little as far as edible food options. BUT! we ran into a recent convert while we were there. see? god knows what he is doing. ALL THE TIME. so even when little sister missionaries have a desire to go and see a shopping place... he still makes it worth while. 

it's just funny to me, the things that end up happening in lessons. 

like teaching someone how to pray... and them asking if they can pray for a husband. hmmmmm. 

you can? but.... we couldn't guarantee and answer. it was pretty funny. 

we also got a cd from an investigator. it has 396 songs on it. a pretty hysterical cover... and we can't listen to it. thanks though.

the hardest part of missionary work is stepping back. and letting people make their own choices. but sometimes i feel like it is when we step back, and give people a little space... that god finally has enough room to give us someone else who is ready to learn. it's so weird. sometimes me (as a missionary) tends to cling to what i have. like i won't get anyone else if this person doesn't get baptized!!! but when we finally decided to let our investigator take his time... according to how he felt... we had a random person show up at church! (she showed up a few weeks ago with her dad... neither of them were members... but they were awesome!) she showed back up. and wants to be baptized. WHAT? sometimes i just have to pick my jaw up off of the floor. 

and the second miracle of the day was when a random contact from the bus stop ACTUALLY came to church. AND asked me what it was he had to do to change religions. more sweeping my jaw off the floor. 

that usually happens when god's plan supercedes mine. 

i love this work! it is the coolest! (to use a less than articulate phrase...) 

i love the fact that church in thai has actually become enjoyable... and not just an extended version of my language study. that was probably one of the lightbulb moments for me. was sitting in a gospel doctrine class... and realizing that i UNDERSTOOD what was going on. *fist pump!* 

i loved the lesson from yesterday... we talked about love. 

and i realized how much more love i feel now. unconditional love... that i know isn't innately present within me. it isn't just a natural thing for me to feel. there is a lot of love that is coming from heaven. to help me to know how god feels about his children. 

we read the commandment: to love others like we love ourselves. 

now THAT is something. 

i love myself a lot. i didn't realize it... until i heard that. i do! i think we all do. but how often do i love others as much as i love me? not very often. 

anyway.... i'm working on it. 

love is MORE than a feeling. 

love has a lot more to do with how we act than simply how we feel. if we don't do anything to show our love... it doesn't really have any meaning. 

a really cool thing this week was that mark and boss got confirmed! they both showed up a little late to the meeting... so in all, we had 3 confirmations... that happened at 3 different points in the meeting. ha. 

it was cool to see the change. i don't know if i felt it at 8 years old. it was just natural. but to watch the holy ghost come into the life of someone who hasn't had it before... was an amazing transformation to see. they were definitely the happiest people in the whole church building. 

gosh. i love them!

that is all that i have for today. 

except i wish i could just pour all of the miracles and feelings into this email. 

then everyone would understand. 

but... like moroni... you have to deal with the awkwardness of my hands in typing. (since i only get to practice my typing once a week.) 

hopefully there is something worthwhile in here.

i love you all.

i pray for you. and god is looking out for you.

you just need to ask him for a miracle. and he WILL give it to you! (we prayed for a songtaw today. and we got it 60 seconds later.) 

god is real. he loves us. 

sister ellis

ps. 

we found a new investigator. i don't know if he's interested in the church or my blood.... (if you download this... it is SUPPOSED to be upside down)

This week. Wow.

Oct 12, 2014

This week. Wow.

So here in thailand... we do not get to watch conference with the rest of the world. we must wait a week for it to be traslated. and if you are in my district, it doesn't get downloaded until 6 on sunday night... enough time to watch one session before heading home. and then you finish watching it on monday. (today)

so far so good! 

we were talking with one of our investigators... we brought an investigator who is from uganda to church (because we ASSUMED we would have it in english... oops.) so we watched mormon messages, the restoration video (after we taught him the restoration), and then started 17 miracles while we went to go and deal with our other investigators in the regular thai session. it was a stressful day. but we really didn't have to worry about moses. he hung out until noon. then decided that he was ready to go home. (yes. his name is moses. made teaching about prophets REALLY easy!) 

while we were teaching him, we were talking to him about prayer, and asked him how he prays. he said, "i ask god to go before me. and when he reaches that place before me, to prepare the people i meet for when i get there." 

i don't think he knew how profound that was! 

we indeed pray for god to go before us. all the time. and to help those who he is preparing for the time that we will meet them. 

on saturday we DID get to see all of conference. and wow... gotta love it! i got a lot of different answers than the ones that i had been asking for... but i am starting to rely on god's vision rather than my own. i think i need this, this and this. he can see a little bit farther and says, actually - you need THIS. it's a pretty awesome and humbling experience to realize that he knows me better than even I know myself......

the one thing that i think i've learned from a year (*gasp?!* when did that happen!?!) of serving... is that you make a plan... and then leave it up to god. sometimes... like friday... we make a plan. we leave the house... and the plan........ i don't actually know what happens to it. all i know is that we keep trying. and god makes miracles happen. 

on thursday i went on a switch off. my feelings toward switch offs has definitely changed... 

i remember hating them because it all felt like a test. of me needing to prove myself. my language... all of it. and then spending days fretting about and mourning over the switch off that was to come. (i hope i have learned my lesson...) i am excited for switch offs now. mostly because i love being able to see how other missionaries work. and to hopefully... in some way... help them to increase their testimony of the savior and of his cause. which now, is OUR cause. i see the ability to work with other missionaries as an opportunity to share my testimony with them in a more relaxed, drawn out setting than just in a 5 minute testimony. it is something that i look forward to in being a "member missionary"... i've realized how much MORE effective i can be at sharing the gospel... with my friends. we meet a lot of people through contacting. we change lots of lives in that way... but it still isn't the most effective way. one of our investigators got baptized yesterday. her name is Cin. (sounds like SIN but is short for CINDERELLA...) the miracle is that she was a referral from her sister. at the beginning, i think a lot of it was simply interest in what her sister was doing. but eventually... it turned into HER testimony of jesus christ. HER testimony of the gospel. so what we do when we share the gospel isn't fruitless. many times it just TAKES TIME. it means more than we think it does. 

on tuesday we got a little preview of conference... 

i loved president monson's admonition to not simply walk WHERE jesus walked (been there, done that) 

but to walk AS jesus walked. 

i thought that was profound. as i've studied more about jesus christ, i've come to know him. but as i've tried to LIVE my life in the way he did... that is what has truly changed how i feel about jesus christ. we truly come to know him as we serve him. and we serve him by serving our brothers and sisters. 

NOTHING ELSE CAN MAKE US WHAT HE CAN.

i know that this gospel is true. 

i was thinking about it the other day. this life... is HARD! all of it. and my life definitely is not the hardest one... but i know that is it the hard things in life that have made it so that i know what real happiness is. it is because of the trials that i have experienced that i am able to feel true joy. 

i wondered why i am so happy. but i know it is because i suffer more, i repent more, and i seek god more. 

i love you all. and i pray that we can all seek him and strive ever more to become like him!

sister ellis

ps. monday i saw alligators. and got hugged by an elephant. :)

You know it is a good week when:

Oct 5, 2014

you know it is a good week when:

you can't remember everything you did

you thought that monday just happened. and here it is AGAIN?

you have so many progressors that you don't know what to do with them...

you have too many blessings to possibly count. but we still try.

you find direct guidance from God in the scriptures.

you study about VISION.

you BRAFT like a crazy missionary.

you realize that this work is not just work... but a cause. 

you realize that English idioms... acutally sound really funny to other people. (who actually picked butterflies to be the things that fly around in your stomach???) 

you eat lunch with an investigator and his 76 year old mom. who then comes to church and spends the rest of the night with the youth... even though he is at least 20 years older then them all... 

you realize that "persuasion" is more than just a jane austen book. 

and finally... sunday. you pick up an investigator and walk him to church.

you have too many investigators you don't know what to do with.

you get a hand massage from the sister sitting next to you... yesssss...

you get to bear your testimony. 

and watch conference. (the RS session.) 

and you realize that you understand about 80% of what is going on. which is WAY better than the last time... when you understood just 20% and slept the rest of the time.... 

life is so good! 

we had a lot of miracles this week. 

#1 mark got baptized! 

we've been teaching her for about 3 or 4 months. pretty much as soon as i got here. she... has so much faith! and it has been a journey in teaching her. of watching her change. and seeing her willingness to follow the commandments and endure to the end. no matter what the cost!

#2 boss got baptized! (he's a boss.) 

a referral from his friend suki. a guy that got baptized only a month ago. who baptized his friend yesterday. it was a special moment. especially when suki had to help his friend down the stairs of the font (he took his glasses off because he couldn't wear them to get baptized... who knew that he was as blind as a bat?) 

#3 simple things come from prayers. we have a simple desire to work with members more... and then god sends us the means to work on them. he grants us more of the vision that we need to see HOW we can reach our goal. 

#4 i'm not good with lists... so i'm just going to say there were plenty more that i can't remember!

i had a couple of overriding thoughts this week: 

how wonderful this work is. 

how important members are.

and how important VISION is.

seriously. nothing we are doing makes any difference. we were counting all of our daters/progressors... and NONE of them came from contacting. except maybe one. the rest... were referrals from RCs... or LAs.... or they called us! It blew my mind. it made me think - hey! you have been doing EVERYTHING that you can. you can't give up and stop contacting... but look at how much heavenly father has been blessing you for simply trying to do his work! 

which leads to my next thought. members. are indispensable. (i spelled that wrong... yay for spell check!) 

this last week has pounded into my head over and over and over again how much the member have a role in what we are trying to do... and it is so easy to forget them! 

i don't really know how to fix this problem... other than to reach out to them more. to tell them how necessary they are (YOU are) in this work. in just being YOU. and inviting. 

lastly. VISION. president senior came to our district meeting on tuesday. that was freaky... giving an accountability of all of our investigators... with president in the same room.... my brain was like ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! 

we were talking about accountability. and about goals. 

then he stood up and started talking about goals. about how he hates them. 

and what is missionary work but goals????

seriously though. 

but what he said really impacted my thoughts on it. 

goals... once accomplished... actually become DEmotivating. once a team wins the superbowl... they get a ring and then they are done. and if they don't make it to the superbowl... they are a failure. so president encouraged us to start thinking more in terms of having a VISION. with goals merely as a stepping stone. and more than just focusing on the goal, to focus on the PROCESS. when we do that... everything else. the goals. the vision. just fall in place. 

i loved that thought. and it changed how i look at missionary work. it is more than just being able to write a "1" by the baptisms at the end of the week. it is looking forward in this persons life. to the temple. to exaltation. to eternal life. 

then goals... aren't as daunting. they become something to work for, but when accomplished, lead to bigger and better goals!

well. that's all for today. i love you so much!
keep the faith! 

stay strong!

jacob 4:12. my favorite of the week!

Sept. 28, 2014

this week. wow. this week has been a bit of an interesting one. 

i am so very blessed this week... with a lot of learning, a lot of humbling... a lot of joy, stress... and smiles. 

sister brown and i decided that we were going to do what president asked us to do: become "all-purpose" missionaries. still trying to work out the exact recipe for that one... i'll let you know when this french baker (oh wait - that's whitney... aka sister ellis #2! shout out for the soon to be missionary!!!) figures it out. but it seems like i bumble into a lot of good things. god seems to lay the path out before me as i do what i feel like he wants me to. i seek the inspiration, i try to follow the spirit... but i feel like he knows how little i know and how hard i am trying. and he helps to make up the difference. 

you ready for a story? i love stories!!! ;)

we decided that we were going to find some less actives this week. didn't know a thing about finding them... other than walking around... asking people if they knew where this street was, were this house was... yada yada yada. well. we knew that our houses were around the mall, so we planned to eat lunch there, then to head out and find our people! but stuff happens. (you know how that goes...) we walked out of our house. talked to some people. got to the mall later than planned (at which point we were getting pretty dang hungry)... and as we were waiting for sister browns blizzard at dairy queen, we see a member frantically waving at us from next to the pond that's right smack dab in the middle of the mall. so we ran over to talk to her. i love this member so much. she's the one that prepares all of the baptism suits for sundays. we started talking to her, and she introduced us to her husband. (who i've never seen before.) turns out... he's a less active. she invited us over this coming week to meet her at her house. (i sense a scheme coming on here... ) and then she told us that there is a less active woman that lives down the street from her. 

wow. 

essentially... all the time that we had planned to go find "our LA" was gone. we had to sprint back to the church for a lesson. but... i was taught a very valuable lesson. god knows who he wants in his church. he knows the people that need the help. and if our intentions are good. if we are doing what we need to be doing.... he fills in the gaps. he gives us success. the thing that has astonished me more than anything is the amount of blessings that i seem to receive... for not doing more than getting up at 6:30 in the morning. 

i went on a switch off this week with sister jax. i love that girl! she is like me... in din deng. only better. (i don't know if she feels the same way... but i'll tell it to the whole world! she can retract it later if it is untrue...)   it was really fun to change it up. it always is. it was a wonderful day of learning. of remember what it was that i love about missionary work. you see... because i had been stressin. a lot. trying to figure out what it was about missionary work (the BEST work in the whole world) that i wasn't completely and utterly happy with. that was frustrating me. the fact that i wasn't completely loving everything. 

but i found answers. in the scriptures. through prayer. and through (as usual) perfectly timed companion exchanges. it was wonderfully revelatory! and i came back home so excited for the work. so excited for the next day. no matter what was going to happen. 

i am so grateful for a heavenly father that loves me so much. and i think it gives me a little bit of a glimpse at how much he loves each one of you! 

just a little one. 

another crazy lesson we had was with mama. we've been meeting with her for a while, but it was always more of an "acquaintance" level. she told us that she wanted to learn english... we told her the only way we could teach her was to teach her the gospel too. so we planned a lesson. tried to use as many english things in it as we could... but about halfway through the lesson... english was forgotten. and the real concerns came out. i feel like there was a lot of interest in the gospel hiding under the disguise of learning english. i could feel it in her telling us about her problems. she wants something more to believe in, something to give more meaning to her life instead of "rice in the morning, rice at night." (a saying here) it means there is never any change. and i realized! wow! this gospel - it gives people a meaning to their lives. sometimes... we pretty much have to work every single day. but how is it then that i am the happiest i have ever been? i still haven't figured that one out. 

all i know is that it is true. 

saturday we decided to be total americans. and make somtam. 

while contacting. 

it was hilarious! 

all the thai people were walking around, laughing at the "farangs" making somtam. you know it! 

lots of pictures taken. i'm a star! not really... just a spectacle. and i'm so happy doing it. 

the thing i learned - we look different. whether or not we're a white person in thailand making somtam, or a member of the church keeping the law of chastity when the rest of the world says it's ok to do otherwise... we look different. and people will stop and ask why. and then we point them to jesus christ and tell them why. 

i love you all! 

keep pointing to jesus!

sister ellis

fhe in thailand. 

this is nothing like playing the piano!!!!

my plea for forgiveness...

this is my email.

apparently the crappy err.... less than nice email place that we used last week... sent no email from me. i distinctly remember writing furiously to get it sent! 

irritating. just a little bit....

maybe it was the spirit saying that the last part.... was too apostate and it wouldn't send it. 

ha. we'll see. 

(this was part of last week's email)

 

September 14, 2014

 

this week. was a week of miracles.

it started out by getting stuck in traffic. (gotta love the big city life! or not... but i do wonder what this transfers week will bring.... it's always interesting for sure!)

tuesday was pretty typical. sister brown tells me that i talk in thai in my sleep. i don't quite know how i feel about that. especially since she can't tell me what i said. ;) 

wednesday. we went and paid 40 baht to eat lunch at an LAs restaurant. (the kind that is a bunch of umbrellas and tables set up in the side of a parking lot.) i'll pay 40 baht a week to see someone come back to church. besides... the food is fantastic. we had a goal to find some other LAs this week... but so far, everyone is LONG gone. like 6 years gone. before "the flood" gone... it's a bit of a bummer in trying to find these people... but we got some good contacting in talking to their neighbors.

another cool thing of the week was having T show up at church. he called us

on tuesday and said "i'm at the church." we didn't think we'd see him again until sunday. so we sped walked from big c all the way to the church. i would have run if it would have seemed more respectable. 

thursday we studied. made lunch. long planned....... makes for a looooong day inside. but it is necessary. got stood up. *sad face* coordination meeting. but them met with an awesome investigator (the one that came to FHE with us a few weeks ago.) now THIS is a cool guy. we met him contacting a few weeks ago. he was only interested in english class. but he would always come and pay attention. he even seemed to like our spiritual thoughts. so we invited him to meet with us again. and then... it rained. i was pretty sure that he wouldn't show up. (typical story in thailand... it rains - no one shows.) but he came! walked in a little wet... but happy. and we had the best lesson. sister brown and i have been working on teaching with the spirit more this week. in really focusing on the needs of the investigators and trying to follow what the spirit is telling us. we've had some really amazing lessons too. chai's lesson was so good. doesn't have a date yet, but he will very very soon!

the other miracle of the week is sister mark. 

(end of email. i don't remember what else i wrote so i will move on to this week!) 

September 21, 2014
 

this week was GOOOOD! 

man. i'm still angry at that computer for not sending my email! makes me think of all the tears my mom and my fans probably shed for not being able to hear from me this week... ;) 

i'll do my best to make up. this week... though was a little strange. 

as is every week of transfers. turns out. i'm staying. 

i love it when you FINALLY know. it's the waiting part that is difficult. i'm staying. i'm happy. and i'm with my incredible companion. so life is good. 

monday: was an ADVENTURE of epic proportions. for all you history buffs... does "the bridge over the river kwai" ring any bells? been there. done that. almost got run over by a train in the process...

 

 

 

 

we also went and hiked some legit waterfalls... hung out with RCs... everything that is good in life. (pictures to come.) the best part... was that hiking is not considered "an activity that can reasonably be done in a skirt..." you can imagine my glee...

 

just so you know how much i sweat here.

 

in district meeting on tuesday, we did the "christlike attribute" assessment. always a good check on how you are doing. then it tells me that i am uncharitable... ouch. so i've been working on it. and then it's always funny to see how you are able to grow. and the opportunities that god gives you to work on these things! 

i don't even remember what happened on wednesday... 

thursday was transfers. i didn't move. but the elders needed help getting all of their "stuff" to the meeting. oh darn..... do we really need to take an extra taxi? ok fine. i'll sacrifice...!

transfers meeting was SO good. we are having a lot of changes happen in the mission. not changing directions so much as we are now focusing more on being an "all-purpose" missionary, as president called it. it makes sense though. an extreme of any kind is too much. and we work and serve better as we achieve moderation in all things. so not only are we focused on baptism, but on teaching, finding, retention and activation. (i speak as though this is only my mission. it isn't. it is the constant quest of every missionary around the world! to learn to be the same kind of missionary that Jesus Christ was.) 

i always feel like i have missionary work "figured out". that i know how to do it. and then... something happens. i will move areas... i will get a knew companion... and it changes again. the work we are doing is still the same, but we can't do it the same way. but we get better. we apply what we have learned and we get better at teaching, at finding, and helping others... it's awesome. that's about all i can find to say about it. 

it's the best thing ever.

my favorite thing is when we have plans... and then you look at the plans at the end of the day and wonder - what happened? that seemed to happen a lot this week. but we still did the work. the only unfortunate part to the week was the bout of food poisoning that i got on saturday night into sunday morning. not the kind where i was throwing up.......

'nuf said. 

 

shrimp on a stick. i don't know why i found this so funny.....

(the food poisoning... was not very funny afterwards...)

but i'm amazed at god's ability to direct and coordinate his work. we've seen so many random (?) miracles happen... that you know that they can't be random. these people that call us, that want to be baptized... god leads them here. and we just have to be doing what we are supposed to. then everything works out. 

i don't think we have any new news about our investigators. noone baptized last week... but what we are really working on now is for them to be truly converted. not just come... and then leave. it's such hard stuff! but i always love a challenge! (and the best part is... that we don't have to do it alone...)

ok. hopefully that made up for the sin of me not writing last week....

forgive me mom? :) 

i love you all! 

 

mexican food exists in Thailand!

the cemetery.