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
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