Sawadii Wan Chrisamas!
It was lovely to talk to everyone this morning! I'm pretty sure you're all in bed now that it's probably 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning over there.
You were asking what we did for Christmas and I don't think I explained that well.
Ok, on the 24th we woke up and rode our bikes to the hospital first thing (sounds exciting or maybe scary, I know). Here's the thing. In Thailand, the hospital and the doctor's office are the same thing. Sister Roper, Elder Todd, and I all had to get a second physical to get work permits. I think I forgot to tell you I had a physical in like October. Anyway, when I got the first physical they didn't make us get our blood taken so that's why we had to go again on Saturday. Our work permits couldn't be completed until we sent in the results of our blood test. I don't have syphilis, in case you were wondering. The work permit thing is a new deal. I guess the government wanted to keep a closer eye on voluteer missionaries. Anyway, you know how much I love needles so that was fun.
After that we went about our usual day of study and teaching but we stopped proselyting around 5:30 to go get ready for the big gitchagom (activity) at the bode (church). Just like the Ward Christmas party at home (ok, not just like it) they have them here. The entire week the members had been rehearsing, and planning, and sewing, and decorating. They go all out over here. So the church parking lot looked awesome. They built a stage and a cattle stall made out of palm leaves. It was pretty cool. So that night they had the members reenact the Nativity story with narrators and everything. They had the missionaries sing and they had some fun talents after dinner. The young men/young women did a skit on the prodigal son and the Relief Society did a traditional dance. And they had this yummy homemade ice cream. Way fun! It was pretty cold though. It definitely dropped to like 60 degrees... It was great to see a lot of part-member families there and some new faces as well. We got some referrals and new potential investigators so that was exciting.
On Sunday we woke up to presents from Santa (Mom) in our stockings and yummy pancakes made by Sister Roper. We rode our bikes to church and had a lovely Sacrament Meeting. After that we got to see Sister Noy get baptized by recent convert Brother Sing. It was awesome, though they did have to try three times before she went completely under. Afterwards she shared the testimony she had written out all by herself. So sweet! We ate lunch and then watched the Christmas devotional in Thai. I will be watching it again later tonight in English. Once that was finished we went out to work as usual. At 6:30 we went to a members street restaurant for Christmas dinner with a bunch of members and investigators. I love them all so much!!!! They are so great! Sister Dograck, the member who owns the restaurant, made mashed potatoes and spaghetti along with the usual Thai food. So good! After that we got to go home and relax after planning. I'd say it was a pretty good Christmas!
This past week we had the chance to go to Khong Ken for Zone Training with President and Sister Smith. They wanted to visit every Zone for Christmas. We focused on receiving and discerning revelation through the Holy Ghost and the role of the Holy Ghost in Conversion. Good stuff! Always something I can use help with. It was fun to get together with the rest of the Zone too. There are quite a few missionaries in the Udon Zone. Our District has only 7 people in it but it's one of the strongest in the Zone. Elder Todd as in Bryan Todd who went to elementary with Jordan, Ruth Todd's son, is in my district. That's what I was trying to say. Anyway it was a great meeting and I LOVED how President Smith talked about Christmas. He took some time to share a thought about Christmas and read through a lot of 1 Nephi 11. I'd never thought about it as a Christmas chapter but it was awesome. President called it his Ultimate Christmas Story. Check it out.
I love this Gospel so much! The Spirit is like the most awesome thing ever and just watching people get things is probably my favorite thing in the world! So now Bukie is getting baptized a week earlier than scheduled and she has received, recognized, and accepted answers to her prayers and therefore our prayers have been answered too (following Elder King's lead on this line). It's all so true! Nothing else makes you happy like this. There is nothing about it to hurt you if you fully accept the Gospel and Jesus Christ. How great is that? Well, you heard a lot more than usual from me this week so I'll leave you to the snow and regular life. I'll be here in Thailand, just being happy!
Love you all!
Sister King
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
Letter Home 12/18/11
Sawadii kha!
Is everyone ready for Christmas over there? Do we even have a Christmas tree yet...
Roi Et is pretty great. It doesn't really feel like Christmas but the members are still ridiculously excited about the activity they're planning so it should be fun. So I thought we would ride our bikes more out here but we actually don't. We still use them but 2 of the members are samlaw drivers. This is a different vehicle Dad, I think we should get one :) It's like a songtow (the truck with seats in the back) but it's all on the back of a motorcycle instead. They're pretty fun.
Yesterday we were outside at the church just talking with some members and this giant centipede came crawling up out of one of the drains in the parking lot. So gross!!! I got some pictures I'll send to you and it was definitely nasty but I was brave and tried to get some good pictures.
On the 17th it was Sister Maxwell's birthday so we celebrated by making a pineapple-upside-down cake at the church. It was way yummy and one of the cute members who helps us all the time came in and so we wanted to share it. It was pretty funny. She took a bite and said that it was really sweet. We started laughing way hard. You could tell she didn't really like it so we told her she didn't have to eat it but she just said "no, it's way good!" She was like shoveling it in her mouth and wouldn't let us take it away. She totally hated it haha. Our deserts are way sweet to khon thais. Another interesting thing they don't like is cinnamon. You can't find anything cinnamon here so when we get it we love giving it to them because it is way to spicy for them. It's way funny.
So we have some pretty great investigators at the moment. We're working with 5 people who have dates and a bunch of others who are really close. One of these daters is Ma By. She is about 72 and probably the cutest little old lady ever! Our only challenge with her is that she is deaf and she can't read. No worries though. For some reason she understands. It's kind of incredible because there is a member in the ward that grew up with someone that was deaf so she can communicate pretty well with Ma and is able to tell us what she is saying. Apparently she has had dreams and answers to prayers about the different things we teach and she is just such a sport. She comes to church every week even though she can't hear anything. Pretty amazing!
Anyway, I'll have to share more next week, I took too much time figuring out skype and emailing you about it. But I will be seeing you next week and I am so excited!
Merry Christmas! The Gospel is true! Love you!
Sister King
Is everyone ready for Christmas over there? Do we even have a Christmas tree yet...
Roi Et is pretty great. It doesn't really feel like Christmas but the members are still ridiculously excited about the activity they're planning so it should be fun. So I thought we would ride our bikes more out here but we actually don't. We still use them but 2 of the members are samlaw drivers. This is a different vehicle Dad, I think we should get one :) It's like a songtow (the truck with seats in the back) but it's all on the back of a motorcycle instead. They're pretty fun.
Yesterday we were outside at the church just talking with some members and this giant centipede came crawling up out of one of the drains in the parking lot. So gross!!! I got some pictures I'll send to you and it was definitely nasty but I was brave and tried to get some good pictures.
On the 17th it was Sister Maxwell's birthday so we celebrated by making a pineapple-upside-down cake at the church. It was way yummy and one of the cute members who helps us all the time came in and so we wanted to share it. It was pretty funny. She took a bite and said that it was really sweet. We started laughing way hard. You could tell she didn't really like it so we told her she didn't have to eat it but she just said "no, it's way good!" She was like shoveling it in her mouth and wouldn't let us take it away. She totally hated it haha. Our deserts are way sweet to khon thais. Another interesting thing they don't like is cinnamon. You can't find anything cinnamon here so when we get it we love giving it to them because it is way to spicy for them. It's way funny.
So we have some pretty great investigators at the moment. We're working with 5 people who have dates and a bunch of others who are really close. One of these daters is Ma By. She is about 72 and probably the cutest little old lady ever! Our only challenge with her is that she is deaf and she can't read. No worries though. For some reason she understands. It's kind of incredible because there is a member in the ward that grew up with someone that was deaf so she can communicate pretty well with Ma and is able to tell us what she is saying. Apparently she has had dreams and answers to prayers about the different things we teach and she is just such a sport. She comes to church every week even though she can't hear anything. Pretty amazing!
Anyway, I'll have to share more next week, I took too much time figuring out skype and emailing you about it. But I will be seeing you next week and I am so excited!
Merry Christmas! The Gospel is true! Love you!
Sister King
Monday, December 12, 2011
Letter Home 12/11/11
Sawadii Kha!
Hello from the Isaan!!! No, I am not yet a trainer, thank heavens and luckily I probably have at least 2 more transfers before that's even a possibility. Yep, I have moved yet again. Though this time I'm not a refugee. I am in a threesome again though so good thing you prepared a Christmas package for 3!
Okay, so here are the details; I am now serving in Roi Et, the small city with the largest freestanding Buddha in the world. Kind of ironic to be sharing the message of Christ in it's shadow haha. I love it so far though! I have now been to all 3 parts of the country; Bangkok, the North, and the Isaan. My companions are Sister Maxwell, who was companions with Sister Yinn and Sister Tano in the MTC and then Sister Roper who was in my group. You talked to her mom while we were in the MTC I believe. We also have Elder Todd and Elder Heap in our district, two of our phii thais from the MTC, so there are a lot of familiar faces. One of the weirdest things about this moves is that President ended up whitewashing two sister areas and one of them happened to be mine. Whitewashing is when both missionaries in the area are moved and the new missionaries have to take over with only the help of what the old missionaries left for them. Kind of intense and President usually tries to avoid it but he had to do it this transfer to make everything work. I'm glad that Sister Knight went to Saphan Sung to take care of it though. I was sad we had to leave it like that. Luckily our area book was up to date and we had time to make extra notes to help them know the investigators better. Sister Yinn also got moved to the Isaan, she is now in Ubon with Sister Carper. Two sisters from our group are now in a companionship with a Khone Thai (native). Sister Monterrosa is in Bangkapi (Bangkok) with Sister Alisa and Sister Murray is in Udon (Isaan) with Sister Rochana.
So I never thought I'd say this but the last 3 days it has been freezing here! I know, crazy! We all had to pull out our little sweaters and jackets from the bottom of our suitcases. During the day it's a comfortable 60 degrees but at night it drops to about 50. All the Thai people are walking around in their parkas and always ask us if we're cold. They say it gets a little chilly here occasionally but that it has been unusually cold this week. It seriously feels like fall or something. I love it! Thanks for the fall leaves by the way. They smelled like Utah in the fall :)
By the way, I got my Halloween package, my Christmas package and all the cards you sent. Did you say there was a seperate birthday package or did I misunderstand. If there was I haven't gotten it yet but yeah, if not then no worries!
What about Roi Et? you ask... I am so excited for this transfer! I love this place and I absolutely love the investigators here already. It's actually kind of strange how much I already love them.
There are these two, Beautiful, 17 year-old girls named Buki and Wan and I honestly adore them. They are both super mature but so fun and so amazing. Buki has a date and Wan is soooooo close. They love meeting with us and love the message. Buki is super fun-loving and likes to goof around a bit but she loves the gospel and is really gaining a testimony for herself. Then there's Wan. Wan is incredible. So smart, so beautiful, and so good at understanding the gospel. She has a testimony and has received answers but we know she is scared to recognize it. Every summer she is a monk and right from the beginning she told the sisters, she's Buddhist, she isn't going to change religion but we know she feels the Spirit every time we teach her and we know she wants to be baptized, she's even admitted it. But she is scared to admit that the feelings she has are an answer to her prayers. She's close though. We had a great lesson with them last night about the Law of Chastity and then about Baptism and we almost got her to commit. She almost gave in to the Spirit and she even told us she was scared to get an answer (see, she already knows the answer :)) but I was kind of overwhelmed by the love I felt for them in that lesson, I definitely got a little teary.
We also have an investigator named Noy and she has a date as well. Her mom is actually a recently baptized member and Noy lives with her. Noy is about 40 years old and is handicapped in some way. She doesn't really talk very much and sometimes needs help understanding but she is so sweet. Apparently she used to leave the room whenever the sisters would visit her mom and she was super shy and kind of scared of everyone but they got her out and the more they taught the happier she got. She is still really shy and kind of hesitant but she has a lot easier time answering questions and she can finally read the Book of Mormon out loud and pray without any help. I love visiting her. She's just got that purity that people like that have, that innocence. The Spirit can be so strong because of her and you can see it has made her happier.
I can definitely see a change in myself, especially when it comes to charity and humility. I know that the mission has helped me develop into a more Christlike person. I love this message that we are sharing and I know it's true. Nothing else could change people like it does.
Love you,
Sister King
Hello from the Isaan!!! No, I am not yet a trainer, thank heavens and luckily I probably have at least 2 more transfers before that's even a possibility. Yep, I have moved yet again. Though this time I'm not a refugee. I am in a threesome again though so good thing you prepared a Christmas package for 3!
Okay, so here are the details; I am now serving in Roi Et, the small city with the largest freestanding Buddha in the world. Kind of ironic to be sharing the message of Christ in it's shadow haha. I love it so far though! I have now been to all 3 parts of the country; Bangkok, the North, and the Isaan. My companions are Sister Maxwell, who was companions with Sister Yinn and Sister Tano in the MTC and then Sister Roper who was in my group. You talked to her mom while we were in the MTC I believe. We also have Elder Todd and Elder Heap in our district, two of our phii thais from the MTC, so there are a lot of familiar faces. One of the weirdest things about this moves is that President ended up whitewashing two sister areas and one of them happened to be mine. Whitewashing is when both missionaries in the area are moved and the new missionaries have to take over with only the help of what the old missionaries left for them. Kind of intense and President usually tries to avoid it but he had to do it this transfer to make everything work. I'm glad that Sister Knight went to Saphan Sung to take care of it though. I was sad we had to leave it like that. Luckily our area book was up to date and we had time to make extra notes to help them know the investigators better. Sister Yinn also got moved to the Isaan, she is now in Ubon with Sister Carper. Two sisters from our group are now in a companionship with a Khone Thai (native). Sister Monterrosa is in Bangkapi (Bangkok) with Sister Alisa and Sister Murray is in Udon (Isaan) with Sister Rochana.
So I never thought I'd say this but the last 3 days it has been freezing here! I know, crazy! We all had to pull out our little sweaters and jackets from the bottom of our suitcases. During the day it's a comfortable 60 degrees but at night it drops to about 50. All the Thai people are walking around in their parkas and always ask us if we're cold. They say it gets a little chilly here occasionally but that it has been unusually cold this week. It seriously feels like fall or something. I love it! Thanks for the fall leaves by the way. They smelled like Utah in the fall :)
By the way, I got my Halloween package, my Christmas package and all the cards you sent. Did you say there was a seperate birthday package or did I misunderstand. If there was I haven't gotten it yet but yeah, if not then no worries!
What about Roi Et? you ask... I am so excited for this transfer! I love this place and I absolutely love the investigators here already. It's actually kind of strange how much I already love them.
There are these two, Beautiful, 17 year-old girls named Buki and Wan and I honestly adore them. They are both super mature but so fun and so amazing. Buki has a date and Wan is soooooo close. They love meeting with us and love the message. Buki is super fun-loving and likes to goof around a bit but she loves the gospel and is really gaining a testimony for herself. Then there's Wan. Wan is incredible. So smart, so beautiful, and so good at understanding the gospel. She has a testimony and has received answers but we know she is scared to recognize it. Every summer she is a monk and right from the beginning she told the sisters, she's Buddhist, she isn't going to change religion but we know she feels the Spirit every time we teach her and we know she wants to be baptized, she's even admitted it. But she is scared to admit that the feelings she has are an answer to her prayers. She's close though. We had a great lesson with them last night about the Law of Chastity and then about Baptism and we almost got her to commit. She almost gave in to the Spirit and she even told us she was scared to get an answer (see, she already knows the answer :)) but I was kind of overwhelmed by the love I felt for them in that lesson, I definitely got a little teary.
We also have an investigator named Noy and she has a date as well. Her mom is actually a recently baptized member and Noy lives with her. Noy is about 40 years old and is handicapped in some way. She doesn't really talk very much and sometimes needs help understanding but she is so sweet. Apparently she used to leave the room whenever the sisters would visit her mom and she was super shy and kind of scared of everyone but they got her out and the more they taught the happier she got. She is still really shy and kind of hesitant but she has a lot easier time answering questions and she can finally read the Book of Mormon out loud and pray without any help. I love visiting her. She's just got that purity that people like that have, that innocence. The Spirit can be so strong because of her and you can see it has made her happier.
I can definitely see a change in myself, especially when it comes to charity and humility. I know that the mission has helped me develop into a more Christlike person. I love this message that we are sharing and I know it's true. Nothing else could change people like it does.
Love you,
Sister King
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Letter Home 12/5/11
Sawadii kha!
I don't get Sister Poulter and Sister Davis' emails directly so thanks! I love reading them!
This week has been kind of weird. Being back is nice but it's been kind of hard because a lot of the other investigators we had a month ago, ones who maybe were close to progressing or just starting to progress, seem to have lost interest in learning. The Elders took care of all 3 areas while we were gone and did a good job, but the focus was obviously on the people who were really progressing. So we're really grateful for their hard work, getting Meow and Gib baptized and keeping track of everyone but it's rough having an almost blank slate to work with otherwise. We have a lot of time to fill so that means jagging (handing out) english flyers and inviting, my favorite activity as everyone knows. So far we've had a little bit of success but 3 of the really great people we found are from other areas in Bangkok, thus, we get to hand them over to the Elders in Asoke. Kind of a bummer but the goal is to help all of Thailand grow, right!? We have two new Sisters coming in on Thursday and it will be interesting to see what happens with that. There is a chance that Sister Yinn or I could move, nothing is nanon (for sure). It's been great to see Sister Meow again, I haven't seen Sister Gib yet, but Sister Meow is doing great. She's going to be a huge strength to the ward here. She really wants to go to the temple. It's going to be rough to wait for a while.
Before I forget and in case we aren't together much longer, about my companion, Sister Yinn. Sister Yinn is from Stockton, California. She's been in the field for 7 months. She is a convert of 3 years and the only member in her family. Her family are Cambodian refugees and her parents can't read or write and only speak Cambodian and Thai. She grew up Buddhist. I believe 3 of her older siblings died in the genocide in Cambodia. She is half Thai because both of her parents are half Thai and then she is part Cambodian, Chinese, and Vietnamese. Many of the people we speak to think she is Khon Thai (native). Sister Yinn grew up speaking Cambodian and English and went to a Cambodian ward in California. It's cool to see the perspective of a convert and a Buddhist convert at that. I think it helps me understand the members here and Thai people in general. She's great and has a way strong testimony. She has a real desire to help people and to understand the Gospel better. She's super smart and always willing to help me with language and things like cockroaches :) It will sad if we change companions on Thursday. Hopefully we'll get to spend Christmas together but she'll be training in one of the next two transfers so either way we won't be together too much longer. I'm trying to soak it all in while I can.
So, today in personal study, I was reading in 1 Nephi 13 and 14. Every time I read these chapters it's like physical evidence to me that this Gospel is true, that the Book of Mormon is true. Maybe it's my love of history, but the fact that Nephi, in 600 B.C. is writing about everything that happened after Christ and we know that it happened according to what he says... How can anyone deny this Book?! Even if you look at it logically, scientifically, intellectually, which I do sometimes, scholars admit that this is an ancient record. How then, did a man in 600 B.C. predict the Great Apostasy, the finding and founding of America, and so forth. Blows my mind. And this is just looking at it logically.
I think the thing I've learned most thus far; the simplicity of the Gospel. I got it before but it's like I say, "Duh!" to myself everyday. Teaching people who are generally not Christian, or their basis of Christianity is usually not very deep, has made it necessary for me to only teach the basics and thus I learn them over and over again. It's interesting to understand more of church because over here, though they dig deeper in Sunday School and Relief Society, I still feel like they focus more on the simple, basic necessities. I think, maybe because that's what they learned that's all they had in the beginning. At home we know so much, we get bored with the primary answers; prayer, scriptures, church. But honestly, we need to make sure those are the foundation of every lesson, the focus of what we teach each other. Reminding people to follow those commandments because that is how we receive salvation. Not by understanding everything. Why do you think the subjects of General Conference are always the boring basics? If you haven't noticed, we've heard the majority of Conference a million times. If we truly believe they receive revelation from God we should realize what they teach and focus on those same things in our teaching, studying, and applying.
Sorry it's a little short this week.
Love you all!
Sister King
I don't get Sister Poulter and Sister Davis' emails directly so thanks! I love reading them!
This week has been kind of weird. Being back is nice but it's been kind of hard because a lot of the other investigators we had a month ago, ones who maybe were close to progressing or just starting to progress, seem to have lost interest in learning. The Elders took care of all 3 areas while we were gone and did a good job, but the focus was obviously on the people who were really progressing. So we're really grateful for their hard work, getting Meow and Gib baptized and keeping track of everyone but it's rough having an almost blank slate to work with otherwise. We have a lot of time to fill so that means jagging (handing out) english flyers and inviting, my favorite activity as everyone knows. So far we've had a little bit of success but 3 of the really great people we found are from other areas in Bangkok, thus, we get to hand them over to the Elders in Asoke. Kind of a bummer but the goal is to help all of Thailand grow, right!? We have two new Sisters coming in on Thursday and it will be interesting to see what happens with that. There is a chance that Sister Yinn or I could move, nothing is nanon (for sure). It's been great to see Sister Meow again, I haven't seen Sister Gib yet, but Sister Meow is doing great. She's going to be a huge strength to the ward here. She really wants to go to the temple. It's going to be rough to wait for a while.
Before I forget and in case we aren't together much longer, about my companion, Sister Yinn. Sister Yinn is from Stockton, California. She's been in the field for 7 months. She is a convert of 3 years and the only member in her family. Her family are Cambodian refugees and her parents can't read or write and only speak Cambodian and Thai. She grew up Buddhist. I believe 3 of her older siblings died in the genocide in Cambodia. She is half Thai because both of her parents are half Thai and then she is part Cambodian, Chinese, and Vietnamese. Many of the people we speak to think she is Khon Thai (native). Sister Yinn grew up speaking Cambodian and English and went to a Cambodian ward in California. It's cool to see the perspective of a convert and a Buddhist convert at that. I think it helps me understand the members here and Thai people in general. She's great and has a way strong testimony. She has a real desire to help people and to understand the Gospel better. She's super smart and always willing to help me with language and things like cockroaches :) It will sad if we change companions on Thursday. Hopefully we'll get to spend Christmas together but she'll be training in one of the next two transfers so either way we won't be together too much longer. I'm trying to soak it all in while I can.
So, today in personal study, I was reading in 1 Nephi 13 and 14. Every time I read these chapters it's like physical evidence to me that this Gospel is true, that the Book of Mormon is true. Maybe it's my love of history, but the fact that Nephi, in 600 B.C. is writing about everything that happened after Christ and we know that it happened according to what he says... How can anyone deny this Book?! Even if you look at it logically, scientifically, intellectually, which I do sometimes, scholars admit that this is an ancient record. How then, did a man in 600 B.C. predict the Great Apostasy, the finding and founding of America, and so forth. Blows my mind. And this is just looking at it logically.
I think the thing I've learned most thus far; the simplicity of the Gospel. I got it before but it's like I say, "Duh!" to myself everyday. Teaching people who are generally not Christian, or their basis of Christianity is usually not very deep, has made it necessary for me to only teach the basics and thus I learn them over and over again. It's interesting to understand more of church because over here, though they dig deeper in Sunday School and Relief Society, I still feel like they focus more on the simple, basic necessities. I think, maybe because that's what they learned that's all they had in the beginning. At home we know so much, we get bored with the primary answers; prayer, scriptures, church. But honestly, we need to make sure those are the foundation of every lesson, the focus of what we teach each other. Reminding people to follow those commandments because that is how we receive salvation. Not by understanding everything. Why do you think the subjects of General Conference are always the boring basics? If you haven't noticed, we've heard the majority of Conference a million times. If we truly believe they receive revelation from God we should realize what they teach and focus on those same things in our teaching, studying, and applying.
Sorry it's a little short this week.
Love you all!
Sister King
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