Sawadii!
So Chiang Mai has a nickname here, "Heaven" and that's pretty much what it is. The only place better is just a little north in Chiang Rai, that's the "Celestial Kingdom" haha. President Smith even uses these names in "moves" meetings. Sadly only 2 Elders serve in the "Celestial Kingdom. On Wednesday Sister Yinn and I fly back to Saphaan Suung. It will be good to see everyone again. I missed both of my first two baptisms but at least they happened! Everyone is moving this week to their new areas but everyone else has to take the bus for about a 15 hour ride. Apparently we're special. They said there wasn't room on any of the buses. Dang ;)
Thank you for all the Birthday wishes and Halloween cards! I had the most mail in Chiang Mai this week :) How did I get lucky enough to happen to be in Chiang Mai for my Birthday on Preparation Day? I have no clue. Today we are going to the dairy to get cheese and yes, milk. My choice of adventure for today, going to the Tiger Kingdom to hold and play with tigers. I'm pretty excited, I liked the tiger stamps Mom put on my card. Last week we went up in the mountains to the Doi Pui village and dressed up in traditional Hmong costumes for Halloween. We even had pumpkin pie ice cream. This is the beauty of Chiang Mai. I've had Israeli, Mexican, Greek, Italian, American, and Meditteranean food here. And it's all amazing! But I do miss our usual little places in Saphaan Sung.
I do hope that I have the opportunity to serve here again. If not I'm super grateful I got a little taste of it. It's been great to see a larger ward with lots and lots of strong investigators. Like I said we've seen a lot of RCLAs and actually seen a lot of improvement and growth. We have about 10 daters right now and they are all really solid. The majority, if not all, should make it to baptism.
Last night I gave a hard baptismal commitment to this really sweet lady named Hom. It was the 3rd time she'd been taught and she knows absolutely nothing about Jesus Christ. But from the moment she came into the lesson I knew we would be extending that commitment and that she would except. You could just see how pure she was in her smile and her eyes. One of the recent members brought her to learn and for both of them Thai isn't their first language but the Spirit is so strong in them and you can tell that they feel it.
We also taught Bro. Gone yesterday. He is planning on getting baptized on the 20th of November but we were worried he was still wearing praht (buddhist jewelry) and that he thought it was okay to still tombuun (donate money) to the Wats. We reviewed the 10 commandments and it seemed to clear things up for him but it also showed us that he had a firmer faith than we thought. He had questions about his work. He is an artist and he has the next 6 years lined up to work in Wats and paint historical murals about buddhism. He wanted to know if he would need to change that. He was worried about how it would look for him to do that and be Christian. We weren't sure but the Branch President let him know that it was okay because it's the statues and objects they worship, not the murals. But it was cool to hear him consider changing his future because of his belief in the church. Sister Sorge was really happy because she didn't think his faith was quite that strong.
Let's see, one of my favorite people here is this brand new member named Zhou Li (pronounce Jolie). She got confirmed last Sunday. She is Chinese and came here by herself to study and learn Thai and English. 2 months ago when the sisters started teaching her, she didn't know any English or Thai. She's still working on her Thai but she can communicate in English pretty well. The Sister who just left Chiang Mai before we came knew enough Chinese that they were able to teach her the gospel. It's kind of mind-blowing. She is 25 and the sweetest most innocent girl. It's crazy that she is here on her own. If there are even a few people like Zhou Li in China, it will be incredible to have that country open.
It is so amazing to see the strength of these people who are living the gospel without the support of anyone outside the church. There are those people everywhere but I think you just see it because it's magnified by the Buddhist culture here. I am dying to have a temple here for all these people. Not only for the members here but so that everyone else who sees it will want to know what's inside and what they have to do to get there. Pray that Thailand will be prepared for a temple because Cambodia is waiting on Thailand as well. Even though they have enough activity there to have one, the government won't let us build one there. It's up to us!
I love the perfect plan that Heavenly Father has laid out for us and put right in our hands. It is so simple, don't make it harder than it is. He has told us exactly what we need to do to have true happiness in this life and to live in complete happiness with our families after we die. All we have to do is follow that plan, do what he asks. He knows we're not perfect so he made up the difference for us. I don't know why we would want to thank him or anything. Being happy is a huge sacrifice. I can't believe that's what he wants from us! (Sorry, my sarcasm is coming out haha) All He does is love us. It's crazy and uncomprehendible but that is all that He does. I'm so grateful for that knowledge and I've got to keep spreading the word. So until next week!
Love,
Sister King
Say "Hello" to Sister Naegle for me!
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