That was Sister Weed and me this week...I’m the
one scared of the snails. Classic.
HEY ครอบครัว!
This week’s edition will be exciting—lots of
good stuff is going down in East Bangkok :)
On Tuesday we had Zone Conference!! It was way
fun; we combined the Bangkok East and West Zones. That means that Sister
Slaugh, Elder Astle, Elder Passey, and I were all back together for a few
hours. And we got to eat burritos at lunch. It was a definitely a disaster
waiting to happen because we talked so much, but it was also the highlight of
the week. Haha. I love my MTC people.
But of course, that wasn’t the only reason I
loved Zone Conference. We learned about how close we are to having more stakes
in Thailand. And how essential they are to getting a temple. We also were
encouraged over and over and over again to BE CREATIVE. Things in Thailand have
been done the same way for too long, and it’s time to try some new things. So
this brings me to my next point:
To anyone who has done missionary work—as a
full-time missionary or otherwise—I have a favor to ask:
What have you found effective in sharing the
gospel? When you were contacting, what worked? What crazy things have you
tried?
It doesn’t matter where you are in the world. I
want to know! Who’s to say what worked in Europe and South America can’t work
in Thailand? I mean, we may as well give everything a try, right?
So send me an email! Or comment on this blog
and my mom will send me the info. You are all so great! :)
This week I’ve really been working on how to
explain Christ to someone who doesn’t have a Christian background. I think it’s
going to be a mission-long adventure. I’m enjoying it quite a bit.
On Thursday we went to go visit Sister Tia
again. She is so sweet. Her little house feels like home now. I love going to
visit her. This week we were sharing about the 10 Commandments. Because she is
Cambodian, her scriptures are in Khmer. She wanted to follow along with us in
her scriptures, but she didn’t know where Mosiah was. We tried explaining where
it was but we just aren’t good enough at Thai yet haha. She plopped her Book of
Mormon in my hands and said “Sister Choo, can you find it?” (For some reason,
she has started calling me Sister Choo and I’m not really sure why? And
everyone else has started calling me Sister Q. And I point to my nametag and
think “You all can read this better than I can, it’s supposed to say Hugh...”
Hahaha such is the life of an American in Thailand.) So I cracked open the
Khmer Book of Mormon and started searching. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen
what Cambodian looks like, but it’s CRAZY. They have over 100 consonants and
they are all made to look EXACTLY the same. But I prayed really hard and I
found it :) Miracles, people! Miracles!
We also taught a lesson this week with Pa Gua.
He was our member present. I love teaching with him because he understands the
gospel soooooo well and he calls literally everyone “child” no matter how old
they are which cracks me up. But he said something pretty profound to our
investigator who feels like she will be abandoning Buddhism by praying. We
tried to help her understand that without prayer, she wouldn’t know if the
Gospel was true. Pa Gua looked at her and said, “You said yourself you feel
like you don’t understand why you’re here and Buddhism isn’t providing you the
answers. Before I joined this church, I was Buddhist, too. But I found out that
Buddhism is like pre-school. When I learned about the Gospel of Christ, I was
suddenly at a university.” HOW COOL IS HE. I LOVE THAT GUY.
An Elder Angkham quote from the week was “He
want to be baptism very soon.” :)
On Sunday, I wore the pink shirt mom sent me.
Up until that point, I didn’t have aaaaaaaaanything pink to wear as a
missionary. I don’t know why, but I don’t have anything pink with me in
Thailand. Haha. Anyway, I wore it to church and literally EVERY single person
at church told me I looked pretty. And then we went contacting at a park and
everyone there told me I was pretty, too. Also, all the little girls at church
wanted to be my best friend. So I think I figured out how to make people like
you in Thailand—wear pink and be cutesy. Works every time.
And speaking of contacting, at the park we were
at, we talked to a TON of people. But everyone we talked to was from Cambodia.
What?! That has never happened to us before. Literally everyone was from there.
I was able to use what little Cambodian I learned in the MTC to talk to them
(which basically means I knew how to say hello and goodbye, but it was still
cool.) And I guess a thing for the girls is to have diamonds implanted on their
eyeteeth? Haha. It’s funny how I haven’t been in Asia for all that long, but I
am now able to distinguish who is from what country by their faces or what they
are wearing. It’s pretty cool. So what I got out of yesterday is that I need to
wear more pink and learn to speak Khmer. Haha.
So it’s been a good week! Sister Weed and I are
having a great time inviting people to come unto Christ. Keep Thailand in your
prayers—it’s time to get this country a temple! :)
Love you!!
Sister Choo / Sister Q / Sister Hungry (I don’t
know who I am anymore...haha)
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Elder Campbell telling theeee most hilarious
story about how in his last area, there were two kittens stuck inside the wall
of the chapel, “So then this cat, I don’t know how it got in, there are no
openings, we have no idea, but this mom cat, she got in the wall and laid these
two baby eggs...” Maybe you had to be there, but it was pretty ridiculous.
Thanks for the post, I love hearing about your adventures! I have another friend who is currently serving in Russia, and they are also always trying to find creative ways to move the work forward as well.
ReplyDeleteHere is one thing they tried this past week that may or may not be an option for you!
" We have been contacting a LOT the past few days. Our invesitgator pool is pretty dried up. On Saturday sister R suggested that we sing hymns in the park as a contacting method. I had thought of this idea in the past but never really put it into action for fear that I would seem vain or just looking for an opportunity to show off. But I decided to indulge her and give it a try. So we took the elders and went and sang. We started out together and then as people would stop sister R or the elders would talk to them while I kept singing. It was really great because I felt like I was finally being useful. Often when I contact, people don't listen because I struggle so much with the language when i'm nervous, but singing has never been scary for me so singing in Russian I can bear my testimony and contact people straight through the spirit. We had a lot of very interesting experiences. One young couple loved the hymns, loved the brief resoration message the elders and sister R shared and even sang a little with me. And then they showed up to church on Sunday! They are only about 15 so we are waiting to get permission slips signed to teach them but they are amazing and love everything we have to say. Also interesting is how receptive children are to the spirit. many families were out walking and while the parents would just pass by often the children would try to linger. One little girl about four years old was getting teary eyed while I was singing a poor wayfaring man of grief. It gave a whole new meaning to Christ's admonition to become as little children. "