“I’ve just met Elder Wood, how chaaaaaaaarming!”

A British man said that to me this week after he had walked past Elder Wood. It made me laugh. Our whole district says it now all the time.

This week! I can't even remember what happened. It was both really really loooooooooong but also really really fast. I don't know how that can happen.

On Monday for p-day we went to Doi Suthep. It's this amazing temple up on top of a mountain forever away. It is all gold and it was so wonderful. There are amazing views of all of Chiang Mai from the mountain. Also it was chilly up there. Just sayin.

On Tuesday we had 6 missionaries standing in front of the church in a sort of welcoming line to invite people to come inside and look around. It was super fun. We were talking to anyone who came by. Elder Wood would say, "Do you know about baptism?" And then I would say, "It's how you are cleansed from sin!" And then Elder Cox would say, "Come into the church!" And then Sisters Woodbury, Slaugh, and Ng were all right at the gate to help people come in. We got a couple of good contacts and it was great. That was when I met the British guy who had just met Elder Wood, how charming!

On Thursday, Bombay passed his baptismal interview!!!!! YAY! He was so cute—he came out and was all, "I've repented enough to get baptized!" That kid. Our district seriously loves him.

This week we got lost a lot of times, which was fun. I didn't realize that when you whitewash into a new area, you need to schedule in time for getting lost. When we got here, I was so focused on getting to work that I didn't really take the time to think about getting to know Chiang Mai that well. I just needed to know how to get where I needed to go and that was about it. But now I'm realizing that getting lost is actually really important. It's also a great stress reliever, riding your bike to get to where you need to be and seeing all the amazing things. Sister Woodbury and I accidentally found a really amazing wat (temple) this week. I'll include a photo.

I also have been trying really hard to change my personal studies. I love personal study every morning. It's funny how much you miss things like the Harold B. Lee Library as a missionary. Anyway. Personal study is a great chance for me to not only learn how to help others increase their faith in Christ, but to increase my own faith. I have been trying to change my studies so that I can be more effective and get more out of what I read and study every day.

One of the things I loved was actually from this morning in Mosiah 2. King Benjamin gathers his people all together to share with them his dying thoughts. Over and over again, he bore testimony of how living the commandments will bring happiness and joy and blessings. God is only able to bless us when His Spirit can be with us. If we do not keep the commandments, we are cutting ourselves off from thousands of blessings because we aren't allowing the Spirit to be with us. It is when we are obedient that we can have the blessings that God is waiting to give us.

On Saturday we had 5 baptisms in Chiang Mai. It was awesome. It was only slightly stressful...we found a pair of pants for Bombay to borrow from a member whose son was baptized recently, but when she got to the church, they were like 15 sizes too small. Haha. The elders rode their bikes as fast as they could to Central (aka the mall) and bought a pair for Bombay and for their investigator who didn't have white pants either while Sister Woodbury and I stayed at the church with Elders Wood and Cox and tried to take care of everyone while we waited. It was crazy, but all turned out well. It was such a great baptismal service, everyone bore their testimonies and they were all so cute (“I feel like I am full of light,” “I feel like I could run forever,” “I promise to keep the commandments”). I loved it.

And that was our week! Lots of work, lots of helping people, lots of laughing, lots of fun.

Oh, some other pranks that took place. We made brownies that were delicious, but we also made a second batch full of salt. We all ate the good ones together and gave the salty ones to the elders to take home. Whoops? We also switched the phone numbers in Elder Nirut's phone so that everyone in our district was mixed up. That was funny and took him a while to figure out. We'll see what happens next...

All is well in Chiang Mai. I love you, family!!!!!!

Love

Sister Hughes

Sister Woodbury, Bombay and me.

Bombay and his dad, Rak.

Also a photo of him with a rose after he was baptized. BAHHH those cheeks!!!

Me and Marie, my French friend : )

Sometimes Sister Dao forces us to eat dinner with her. Ha ha.

Sometimes when you get lost . . . these are the things you find.

Doi Suthep!! SO GORGEOUS