Greetings from the other side of the world!!
This week has been crazy/crazy good! It was kinda a slower week, but still it was amazing and I love being here so much. I can't believe that Sister L is leaving and on Wednesday I will get a new companion!! :( I'm so sad. I really can't picture how my life could get any better than it is right now. I'm going to miss her so much. But all is well! The AP's called us this week and asked if we could look for another apt. I guess next moves there is going to be a trio in this area or something. But we need a bigger house. So next week I could have two new companions and a new house! I'll be sure and keep ya posted. I don't really have anything too new and exciting to tell. It's been raining all day here so it is kinda gloomy outside. But we are gonna go get some ice cream after we email so I'm excited! :)
Well I only have a couple stories for you this week. On Wednesday we decided to go up on top of the condo and play soccer with the elders instead of going running. So we get up there and within the first thirty seconds, I knocked the ball over the edge!! It was so funny! So me and Sister L ran down to the bottom to try and find it. We finally found it on the 2nd floor of our parking garage, but when I was attempting to jump down, I totally biffed it and to stop my fall I put out my right arm. It killed so bad. I was almost positive I broke my elbow. Looking back now it is funny, but at the time I was like what the heck! Why did I have to kick the ball off the roof and why did I have to get hurt? I was thinking about what would have happened if I hadn't have jumped. But I decided the lesson I learned was that we can't be scared to jump in life. Sure sometime we are going to fall and get hurt. But if we don't take that chance we will never know! If I don't open up my mouth and try talking to people I will never know if they would have been interested in the gospel. We get denied and get rejected so much. But we just laugh it off. It doesn't effect us. Sure we are disappointed some days. But we are never defeated.
My second story is about Nephi and Heavenly Father asking him to build a ship. Heavenly Father could have just given him a ship if he wanted. But he knew that Nephi wouldn't learn from that. I just have been thinking about how Heavenly Father could make me speak Thai fluently. But I would learn anything from it. Our trials are for us to learn and grow. So I've decided I need to be more like Nephi and more diligent. This week I really am going to work so much harder and go the extra mile and talk to those ten extra people. I'm sorry this is so short. Next week I'll write more! But I love you all so much! Thanks so much for all your love and support! I love being a missionary! I'm so happy!! The Church is True!!
Sister Chamber
PS- When I get home can I sleep in a hammic instead of a bed?
Monday, July 19, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
The Lord Is My Light!!
Greetings from Srinakarin!!
Well this week, on the Adventures in Thailand, is going to be pretty short, sorry. It was seriously such a great week filled with lots of inviting and teaching. Wednesday at our District Meeting, (It is just me, Sister L, Elder Day and Elder Narin in our district) Elder Day talked about how we can be better and remember our purpose always!
1st- Recognize we aren't in charge. If we are humble, Heavenly Father will help us.
2nd- Recognize that it is our own individual efforts that is key to success. I can't just sit back and let my companion do everything for me. After I have prayed and asked Heavenly Father for help, then I need to get to work! Just do it!
3rd- Compliment and Reprove when necessary.
4th- How we react to adversity is more important than the adversity itself.
5th- Lastly, have an attitude of love! Love is the motivation! That is why we get up every morning! That is why I am here!
He also talked about how we can be happy with our work, but we should never be satisfied. We can't put limits on ourselves or we will never reach our potential. It really was so great! Got us all pumped up to go do some inviting! Me and Sister L talk about Captain Moroni a lot and how he was such a stud. So every morning we tell each other that we are Captain Moroni! It helps us to be more bold and courageous. I feel like in my apt I am like, ya I'm going to talk to everyone and so excited! But as soon as I get outside I get all shy and forget that the message I have is THEE MOST IMPORTANT MESSAGE!! EVER!!! I need to be better! Any advice on how I can be more Captain Moroni like? The language is coming along great. Sister L seriously is such a great help! I'm pretty sure Thai is easier than English and German. I might just speak Thai the rest of my life. ;)
Did I tell you that the President switched our schedule? We now study in the mornings, and then are out on the streets the rest of the day. It is really different, but I like it. Saturday we were literally inviting from 12:30 to 8:30. It was so great! We were all over the city and up and down neighborhoods. We can't go door to door. That would be awesome if we could knock on their doors, especially if we could go to all the condos! But instead we just walk around and talk to the people on the streets or on the buses. It was so fun! We got home and just crashed because we were so tired. It is hard because sometimes I feel like we aren't doing any good. But as long as we are doing the will of the Lord and doing what He wants us to do, then everything will be ok. Before we went to bed Sister L made us some rice krispy treats, with peanut butter! Oh man! I was in heaven! It was the best thing I've ever eaten!
Well my dear family and friends, life is so great. I can't believe I'm really a missionary. The more I study the scriptures and learn about the gospel the more I realize how important missionary work is. The gospel is so amazing and I will never cease to be amazed at the goodness and love of our Heavenly Father. I know He hears our prayers. I know He loves each and everyone one of us. That has been something that hit me hard since I have been here. He knows everyone. He knows the man sitting at the counter over there. He knows those teenagers sitting behind me. He knows you. He knows how we feel and He knows how to help us. All we have to do is reach out to Him. It is so easy and yet we manage to make it so hard. I just think about the faith of all my cute little nieces and nephews. I need to be more like them. I have a lot of improving to do this week! So next week I'll report and let you know how it goes! I love being a missionary! I'm so happy! The Church is SO true! Love you so much!
Sister Chamber (Thai's can't say Chambers, so I'm changing my name ok :)
Well this week, on the Adventures in Thailand, is going to be pretty short, sorry. It was seriously such a great week filled with lots of inviting and teaching. Wednesday at our District Meeting, (It is just me, Sister L, Elder Day and Elder Narin in our district) Elder Day talked about how we can be better and remember our purpose always!
1st- Recognize we aren't in charge. If we are humble, Heavenly Father will help us.
2nd- Recognize that it is our own individual efforts that is key to success. I can't just sit back and let my companion do everything for me. After I have prayed and asked Heavenly Father for help, then I need to get to work! Just do it!
3rd- Compliment and Reprove when necessary.
4th- How we react to adversity is more important than the adversity itself.
5th- Lastly, have an attitude of love! Love is the motivation! That is why we get up every morning! That is why I am here!
He also talked about how we can be happy with our work, but we should never be satisfied. We can't put limits on ourselves or we will never reach our potential. It really was so great! Got us all pumped up to go do some inviting! Me and Sister L talk about Captain Moroni a lot and how he was such a stud. So every morning we tell each other that we are Captain Moroni! It helps us to be more bold and courageous. I feel like in my apt I am like, ya I'm going to talk to everyone and so excited! But as soon as I get outside I get all shy and forget that the message I have is THEE MOST IMPORTANT MESSAGE!! EVER!!! I need to be better! Any advice on how I can be more Captain Moroni like? The language is coming along great. Sister L seriously is such a great help! I'm pretty sure Thai is easier than English and German. I might just speak Thai the rest of my life. ;)
Did I tell you that the President switched our schedule? We now study in the mornings, and then are out on the streets the rest of the day. It is really different, but I like it. Saturday we were literally inviting from 12:30 to 8:30. It was so great! We were all over the city and up and down neighborhoods. We can't go door to door. That would be awesome if we could knock on their doors, especially if we could go to all the condos! But instead we just walk around and talk to the people on the streets or on the buses. It was so fun! We got home and just crashed because we were so tired. It is hard because sometimes I feel like we aren't doing any good. But as long as we are doing the will of the Lord and doing what He wants us to do, then everything will be ok. Before we went to bed Sister L made us some rice krispy treats, with peanut butter! Oh man! I was in heaven! It was the best thing I've ever eaten!
Well my dear family and friends, life is so great. I can't believe I'm really a missionary. The more I study the scriptures and learn about the gospel the more I realize how important missionary work is. The gospel is so amazing and I will never cease to be amazed at the goodness and love of our Heavenly Father. I know He hears our prayers. I know He loves each and everyone one of us. That has been something that hit me hard since I have been here. He knows everyone. He knows the man sitting at the counter over there. He knows those teenagers sitting behind me. He knows you. He knows how we feel and He knows how to help us. All we have to do is reach out to Him. It is so easy and yet we manage to make it so hard. I just think about the faith of all my cute little nieces and nephews. I need to be more like them. I have a lot of improving to do this week! So next week I'll report and let you know how it goes! I love being a missionary! I'm so happy! The Church is SO true! Love you so much!
Sister Chamber (Thai's can't say Chambers, so I'm changing my name ok :)
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Let Us All Press On!!
Family and Friends!!
Isn't life so amazing?! This last week has been just filled with so many good memories! I'll do my best to explain it, but you'll just have to take my word for it when I say that I love Thailand and I love being a missionary!
Monday June 28th- We had a picnic with some of the other sisters in my zone. It was so much fun! Plus it was SO funny to see the reaction of people when they say 7 white girls walking around this park. It was great. I love the other sisters too! It is so fun to hear all of the fun stories that they have had and to see what lies ahead for me!
Tuesday June 29th- My first Zone Conference!! Oh my goodness. It was so amazing. There were two main topics that were discussed. The Atonement and finding families. It is crazy how I have been a member my whole life and I'm still learning new things about the Atonement. I don't think anyone will ever know everything about it. It is so infinite and intimate. That is something that I think about a lot. I see thousands and thousands of people every day. And Jesus Christ know each and every one of them. He knows everything about them and He has a plan for them. It is so hard because after studying about the Atonement I want to go out and tell all of these people about their Savior and everything that He has done for them! They have no idea and just go about everyday living their life. AH! It kills me. But I've come to the realization that not everyone is ready to hear about the gospel. The Lord has prepared those who need it and it is my job to go and find them. The next thing we talked about, finding families, has also had a huge effect on me. Up until now we have kind of been teaching just random people here and there. But this week we have started to really focus on finding families and getting into our investigators homes to invite all their family to learn with them. The gospel has blessed me and my family so much that of course I want other families to receive the same blessings! I could go on all day about finding families and why it is important, but I'll just stop. :) Well it was such a fun zone conference! It is so crazy because all of the sisters and elders seem so familiar to me. I'm almost positive we were all friends in heaven. English class was great fun. I need more idea's though so if anyone has any advice, I'm all ears!
Wed-Friday- nothing to exciting. Just lots of inviting and trying to find those families! This really is the hardest thing I've ever done. Every night I come home and just crash on my bed. But I love it so much. I keep going everyday because I know the Church is true and that these people need to make time for it. Everyone here works so much and they all say "may wang!" which means like no time, it is so sad. But Christ is patient, so I guess I need to be too. I keep going everyday because I know back home I have so much love and support! So thank you so much for all your love and prayers! I have such a strong testimony of prayer. I know it works. :)
Sat. July 3rd- Such a fun day! It has been raining more and more everyday and most of the streets in the country were flooded! It was so fun to see! I'll send pictures! That night we met with Mae Nid one last time before her baptism. It was so cool because the family that got baptized last month, Phii Ooy, Phii Rat, Wun and Win, all came. I don't know if I've said anything about them before, but they are the coolest family ever! Wun is about 16 and she is thee coolest girl ever. She helps us teach all the time and has such a strong testimony. Anyways, they came and we had a little testimony meeting. It was so cool! I was crying of course. Phii Ooy was the one who baptized her, she they practiced for a bit because she was so nervous. Bless her heart. I wish I would have gone to the temple more. We were telling them about the temple and how in a year they can go and do baptisms for the dead. It made me feel so guilty knowing that at home we have soooo many temples that we could choose to go to. And here they have one, in Hong Kong, and they have to save up all year long just to make it there. Everyone please go to the temple!! And those of you who go regularly, thank you SO much! You are such great examples to me.
Sunday July 4th- AMAZING!! The baptism was seriously so cool. I feel so blessed to have been able to be there for it. I didn't do much. Just smiled and held her hand. She seriously is amazing. She met Sister L the week before I came in, and now she is baptized. It was such a great experience for me to be there and to go through all the lessons with her! It was cool that it was on a fast Sunday too! My first fast Sunday in Thailand!! Yay!!
Today has been a great P-Day! We went to the mission home and had a great party with some of the sisters! I saw Sister Jensen!! Yay!! Oh I am so filled with joy!! It was so fun to share stories with her and her all about everything! I really am so blessed. Plus it was fun to eat American food. We had potato salad, watermelon, grapes, catalope, rolls, and chicken! So yummy!! I ate so much. Well we gotta go. So much to do and no time to do it!
I think I'm forgetting something...but I gotta go so if I forgot to answer any questions just ask me again! Sure love you all! I have the best family and friends in the world!! I love you and miss you. Tell everything thanks for all their prayers. Tune in next week for more adventrues from Thailand! :) I love being a missionary! I'm so happy!! The church is so true!! Loves!!
Sister Chambers
Isn't life so amazing?! This last week has been just filled with so many good memories! I'll do my best to explain it, but you'll just have to take my word for it when I say that I love Thailand and I love being a missionary!
Monday June 28th- We had a picnic with some of the other sisters in my zone. It was so much fun! Plus it was SO funny to see the reaction of people when they say 7 white girls walking around this park. It was great. I love the other sisters too! It is so fun to hear all of the fun stories that they have had and to see what lies ahead for me!
Tuesday June 29th- My first Zone Conference!! Oh my goodness. It was so amazing. There were two main topics that were discussed. The Atonement and finding families. It is crazy how I have been a member my whole life and I'm still learning new things about the Atonement. I don't think anyone will ever know everything about it. It is so infinite and intimate. That is something that I think about a lot. I see thousands and thousands of people every day. And Jesus Christ know each and every one of them. He knows everything about them and He has a plan for them. It is so hard because after studying about the Atonement I want to go out and tell all of these people about their Savior and everything that He has done for them! They have no idea and just go about everyday living their life. AH! It kills me. But I've come to the realization that not everyone is ready to hear about the gospel. The Lord has prepared those who need it and it is my job to go and find them. The next thing we talked about, finding families, has also had a huge effect on me. Up until now we have kind of been teaching just random people here and there. But this week we have started to really focus on finding families and getting into our investigators homes to invite all their family to learn with them. The gospel has blessed me and my family so much that of course I want other families to receive the same blessings! I could go on all day about finding families and why it is important, but I'll just stop. :) Well it was such a fun zone conference! It is so crazy because all of the sisters and elders seem so familiar to me. I'm almost positive we were all friends in heaven. English class was great fun. I need more idea's though so if anyone has any advice, I'm all ears!
Wed-Friday- nothing to exciting. Just lots of inviting and trying to find those families! This really is the hardest thing I've ever done. Every night I come home and just crash on my bed. But I love it so much. I keep going everyday because I know the Church is true and that these people need to make time for it. Everyone here works so much and they all say "may wang!" which means like no time, it is so sad. But Christ is patient, so I guess I need to be too. I keep going everyday because I know back home I have so much love and support! So thank you so much for all your love and prayers! I have such a strong testimony of prayer. I know it works. :)
Sat. July 3rd- Such a fun day! It has been raining more and more everyday and most of the streets in the country were flooded! It was so fun to see! I'll send pictures! That night we met with Mae Nid one last time before her baptism. It was so cool because the family that got baptized last month, Phii Ooy, Phii Rat, Wun and Win, all came. I don't know if I've said anything about them before, but they are the coolest family ever! Wun is about 16 and she is thee coolest girl ever. She helps us teach all the time and has such a strong testimony. Anyways, they came and we had a little testimony meeting. It was so cool! I was crying of course. Phii Ooy was the one who baptized her, she they practiced for a bit because she was so nervous. Bless her heart. I wish I would have gone to the temple more. We were telling them about the temple and how in a year they can go and do baptisms for the dead. It made me feel so guilty knowing that at home we have soooo many temples that we could choose to go to. And here they have one, in Hong Kong, and they have to save up all year long just to make it there. Everyone please go to the temple!! And those of you who go regularly, thank you SO much! You are such great examples to me.
Sunday July 4th- AMAZING!! The baptism was seriously so cool. I feel so blessed to have been able to be there for it. I didn't do much. Just smiled and held her hand. She seriously is amazing. She met Sister L the week before I came in, and now she is baptized. It was such a great experience for me to be there and to go through all the lessons with her! It was cool that it was on a fast Sunday too! My first fast Sunday in Thailand!! Yay!!
Today has been a great P-Day! We went to the mission home and had a great party with some of the sisters! I saw Sister Jensen!! Yay!! Oh I am so filled with joy!! It was so fun to share stories with her and her all about everything! I really am so blessed. Plus it was fun to eat American food. We had potato salad, watermelon, grapes, catalope, rolls, and chicken! So yummy!! I ate so much. Well we gotta go. So much to do and no time to do it!
I think I'm forgetting something...but I gotta go so if I forgot to answer any questions just ask me again! Sure love you all! I have the best family and friends in the world!! I love you and miss you. Tell everything thanks for all their prayers. Tune in next week for more adventrues from Thailand! :) I love being a missionary! I'm so happy!! The church is so true!! Loves!!
Sister Chambers
Monday, June 28, 2010
Praise To The Man!!!
Family!!!!! Friends!!!!
I know last week I said that it was the best week ever, but actually THIS last week was AMAZING!! I have so much I want to share with you!! Last Monday was so much fun! Sister Livingston and I went to this huge mall right in downtown Bangkok and met up with four other Sisters. It was crazy because I saw all the places that had got blown up and such a couple weeks ago. It was so weird! But don't fret because things are fine now. It was so fun to see other sister missionaries!! We just walked around this huge mall and got some food and some ice cream! Yay!! Do we have Swenson's at home? That is their huge ice cream parlor everywhere here. Anyways it was fun to talk with all the sister's and see that it is actually possible to learn Thai. :) Well Monday night we went over to the big families house again for dinner. It was so funny! Right in the middle of dinner, one of the little boy starts talking and pointing at me. I couldn't understand him but everyone started laughing and looking behind me. So I looked. Oh man. I about died. There was this HUGE spider. Bigger than the size of my hand. I didn't know what to do!!!! Haha luckily one of the sons killed it for me. But it was so gross! Sister L just laughed and told me not to worry because I'll see bigger ones. Oh great.
Tuesday was English class again. Have I even talked about that? How I'm teaching the advanced class. Its so fun!! But hard too. Half the class doesn't understand anything I say and the other half say that I'm too easy. Oh well!! Its great fun! It started raining on the way home and it was awesome! I went out on our balcony and got soaked! The rain here is so cool! It was like so warm! It felt so good!
Oh my goodness. Haha. Wednesday. What a unique experience I have for you. We went over to this investigators house, Phii Phag. When we got there we could hear like this Indian tribal music and we both were like, oh boy. Walked into her house and it was covered with budhist shrines and all sorts of other "graven images." I was a little freaked out not gonna lie. Growing up I always wondered how someone could worship a statue. But over here, it is so normal to them. Phii Phag is a "fortune teller", that is what she does for work. So in the middle of our lesson she just starts going off. I can't ever understand her as it is, but this time I know for a fact she wasn't speaking Thai. Sister L didn't even know what she was saying. At the end she was like, someday you will understand everything Sisters. Haha oh man! I like wanted to run away! It was great.
Thursday wasn't anything too exciting. Just lots of inviting and teaching. Friday was my first switch off!! I went to Asok with Sister Larsen. She is from California and I love her so much!! It really was one of the best days of my mission so far. We get along so good and were just such a good team! I really hope we get to be companions before she goes home! It was so great! I had a coco yen, which is like the Thai's version of chocolate milk, and I had ice cream on a hot dog bun with sticky rice. Haha oh man. I love Thailand. It was awesome! We taught two lessons and I felt like I'm understanding more and more! It was so great! For our last lesson we went over to this ladies house. She had called Sister Larsen earlier in the week and told her she was too lazy to go to church and didn't haven any friends and wanted to meet with the missionaries. I was expecting like this older lady, and was so surprised when she turned out to be like young lady! Turns out she was baptized in 2001, served a mission in Thailand in 2003, and since then has married this man who isn't a member and has stopped going to church. I was like blown away. I honestly don't get it. How could someone who has served a mission and felt the spirit so strongly, just walk away from the Church?? I guess if satan can get someone to stop reading there scriptures, then to stop praying, then to stop going church, he can slowly get them to fall away. I'll never forget when Elder Holland was talking to us in the MTC and he told us that if any of us ever fell away from the church, he would punch us in the nose. haha!! It's so true though. That's how I feel too!!
Saturday was a fun day. Maa Nid had her baptismal interview! Yay!! She passed!! She is all set to be baptized next Sunday! I'm so excited! Sister L made apple pie to celebrate! Oh it was so yummy!! Sunday was great. Church is always stressful. We had 13 investigators there!! It was great! There are four girls that are just so darling! Ciab, Maay, Nim, and Phia. This week we want to start teaching their family too. The Elders baptized a family yesterday! It was so exciting! My first time watching like a real life baptism! It made me cry. The people here give up everything they have to learn about Christ. And sacrifice everything to come to church. And I think about how lazy and spoiled I was at home and could just walk across the street to church. It kills me. After we taught some lessons, we went to the big park again to do some inviting, and everyone and their dog was there "exercising" it was awesome! They have this huge sidewalk where they do their aerobics. The instructor is up on this platform and there are just women (and some men) just dancing around. It is so funny! Then they have like all these weird fitness machines. I can't even explain it. They just like to twist and turn and stretch. It's awesome. They love hula hoops too. EVERYONE hula hoops. That is their exercise. Haha it is great. The park is gorgeous!! Dave you should google it and see if you can find pictures. You can see it from my condo in some of the pictures I sent home. But it is just this huge park they built for the king. Its called Suan Luang. I love it.
I wish I could tell you about all the people we are teaching and all of our investigators. And all the members and all the crazy people that I meet. I know I have only been here two weeks, but it seems like a lifetime! I feel like I have just always been here. I have so much to learn, but I feel like my life has already been changed for ever. My whole out look on life has changed. I just wish everyone at home could see how good we have it in Utah. We are so blessed. But yet I look at how much of my life I wasted worrying about little things that don't even matter. I know that I am supposed to be here. I'm so grateful for this wonderful and amazing opportunity. It has blessed my life so much already! I sure love you all and am so grateful for all your love and support and your prayers! Thank you so much! I love being a missionary! I'm so happy!! The church is so true!!
Sister Chambers!
I know last week I said that it was the best week ever, but actually THIS last week was AMAZING!! I have so much I want to share with you!! Last Monday was so much fun! Sister Livingston and I went to this huge mall right in downtown Bangkok and met up with four other Sisters. It was crazy because I saw all the places that had got blown up and such a couple weeks ago. It was so weird! But don't fret because things are fine now. It was so fun to see other sister missionaries!! We just walked around this huge mall and got some food and some ice cream! Yay!! Do we have Swenson's at home? That is their huge ice cream parlor everywhere here. Anyways it was fun to talk with all the sister's and see that it is actually possible to learn Thai. :) Well Monday night we went over to the big families house again for dinner. It was so funny! Right in the middle of dinner, one of the little boy starts talking and pointing at me. I couldn't understand him but everyone started laughing and looking behind me. So I looked. Oh man. I about died. There was this HUGE spider. Bigger than the size of my hand. I didn't know what to do!!!! Haha luckily one of the sons killed it for me. But it was so gross! Sister L just laughed and told me not to worry because I'll see bigger ones. Oh great.
Tuesday was English class again. Have I even talked about that? How I'm teaching the advanced class. Its so fun!! But hard too. Half the class doesn't understand anything I say and the other half say that I'm too easy. Oh well!! Its great fun! It started raining on the way home and it was awesome! I went out on our balcony and got soaked! The rain here is so cool! It was like so warm! It felt so good!
Oh my goodness. Haha. Wednesday. What a unique experience I have for you. We went over to this investigators house, Phii Phag. When we got there we could hear like this Indian tribal music and we both were like, oh boy. Walked into her house and it was covered with budhist shrines and all sorts of other "graven images." I was a little freaked out not gonna lie. Growing up I always wondered how someone could worship a statue. But over here, it is so normal to them. Phii Phag is a "fortune teller", that is what she does for work. So in the middle of our lesson she just starts going off. I can't ever understand her as it is, but this time I know for a fact she wasn't speaking Thai. Sister L didn't even know what she was saying. At the end she was like, someday you will understand everything Sisters. Haha oh man! I like wanted to run away! It was great.
Thursday wasn't anything too exciting. Just lots of inviting and teaching. Friday was my first switch off!! I went to Asok with Sister Larsen. She is from California and I love her so much!! It really was one of the best days of my mission so far. We get along so good and were just such a good team! I really hope we get to be companions before she goes home! It was so great! I had a coco yen, which is like the Thai's version of chocolate milk, and I had ice cream on a hot dog bun with sticky rice. Haha oh man. I love Thailand. It was awesome! We taught two lessons and I felt like I'm understanding more and more! It was so great! For our last lesson we went over to this ladies house. She had called Sister Larsen earlier in the week and told her she was too lazy to go to church and didn't haven any friends and wanted to meet with the missionaries. I was expecting like this older lady, and was so surprised when she turned out to be like young lady! Turns out she was baptized in 2001, served a mission in Thailand in 2003, and since then has married this man who isn't a member and has stopped going to church. I was like blown away. I honestly don't get it. How could someone who has served a mission and felt the spirit so strongly, just walk away from the Church?? I guess if satan can get someone to stop reading there scriptures, then to stop praying, then to stop going church, he can slowly get them to fall away. I'll never forget when Elder Holland was talking to us in the MTC and he told us that if any of us ever fell away from the church, he would punch us in the nose. haha!! It's so true though. That's how I feel too!!
Saturday was a fun day. Maa Nid had her baptismal interview! Yay!! She passed!! She is all set to be baptized next Sunday! I'm so excited! Sister L made apple pie to celebrate! Oh it was so yummy!! Sunday was great. Church is always stressful. We had 13 investigators there!! It was great! There are four girls that are just so darling! Ciab, Maay, Nim, and Phia. This week we want to start teaching their family too. The Elders baptized a family yesterday! It was so exciting! My first time watching like a real life baptism! It made me cry. The people here give up everything they have to learn about Christ. And sacrifice everything to come to church. And I think about how lazy and spoiled I was at home and could just walk across the street to church. It kills me. After we taught some lessons, we went to the big park again to do some inviting, and everyone and their dog was there "exercising" it was awesome! They have this huge sidewalk where they do their aerobics. The instructor is up on this platform and there are just women (and some men) just dancing around. It is so funny! Then they have like all these weird fitness machines. I can't even explain it. They just like to twist and turn and stretch. It's awesome. They love hula hoops too. EVERYONE hula hoops. That is their exercise. Haha it is great. The park is gorgeous!! Dave you should google it and see if you can find pictures. You can see it from my condo in some of the pictures I sent home. But it is just this huge park they built for the king. Its called Suan Luang. I love it.
I wish I could tell you about all the people we are teaching and all of our investigators. And all the members and all the crazy people that I meet. I know I have only been here two weeks, but it seems like a lifetime! I feel like I have just always been here. I have so much to learn, but I feel like my life has already been changed for ever. My whole out look on life has changed. I just wish everyone at home could see how good we have it in Utah. We are so blessed. But yet I look at how much of my life I wasted worrying about little things that don't even matter. I know that I am supposed to be here. I'm so grateful for this wonderful and amazing opportunity. It has blessed my life so much already! I sure love you all and am so grateful for all your love and support and your prayers! Thank you so much! I love being a missionary! I'm so happy!! The church is so true!!
Sister Chambers!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
When Faith Endures!
Wonderful Family and Friends!!!
Oh my goodness!!! I wish my life was a TV series!! This last week has seriously been the best week of my life. I can't even begin to describe all the miracles I have been able to be a part of! I have admitted defeat on a couple of things though. Firstly, that I can't describe everything in this email. Sorry. Someone needs to event that thing off of Harry Potter. The thing that Dumbledore has that takes your memories out of your head. haha that would be so sweet!! Ok the next thing I have admitted defeat in, is that I physically can't talk to everyone I see. That was one of my goals and its not that I don't want to. Its just that being in the city there are people EVERYWHERE!!! So my new game plan is, to be a good example. I stick out so bad, but it works out to my benefit. Because the people see me and think, what is that farang (white person) doing here? And if they see that I am happy then hopefully they will want to know why I am here. Also its hard because all the people kinda look alike. So I can't remember all the people that I have talked to, so I just smile and say hi to everyone. Then the people that I do talk to, I have been working on sharing short messages about Christ with them. Josh and Sherrie, do you remember when we used to watch Lord of the Rings with you?? Remember in I think it is like the 3rd one, where the Dwarf and the Elf are having a competition to see who can kill the most people? And at one point the Dwarf is about to get killed but the Elf guy comes up to help him and the Dwarf guy was like, that one still counts as mine! Random I know, but that's what me and Sister L joke about. I start talking to people for as long as I can and then Sister L will help me. We are such a great team! We went to the park on Saturday and found these two amazing families!! I seriously am so stoked!! Haha ok enough of this rambling on and on about nothing, I want to tell you about some of the experiences I've had this last week!!
Remember Ma Nid? Well when we taught her on Wednesday we set a baptismal date with her for July 4th! Yay!! I'm so excited for her! I've never seen anyone as excited to be baptized as her. She truly understands the importance of it and it's because of people like her that I'm here. I know there are people that the Lord has prepared. And I know its not me that has anything to do with converting them because they probably can't understand anything I'm saying anyways. But through the Spirit they are taught and its just so humbling to be apart of this work!!
We usually teach about four or five lessons a day. And try to spend a couple of hours each day inviting. I know its only my second week, but at the end of every night I come home completely exhausted and just crash! There is no way I could do this on my own. I am so grateful for all the prayers and support that I receive from all of you at home. Thank you so much!!
Yesterday at church we had so many investigators come! It was awesome!! I have made friends with a bunch of the young girls and they are so cute and so willing to help me learn Thai! Our big family came so that was very exciting! The Grandma and Grandpa, their son, and their four grandsons. Tonight we are going over to their house for FHE and dinner again. Oh how I love Thai food. For breakfast I usually just have a bowl of cereal! Oh ya! They have cereal here Summer!! Special K and granola!! Or some yogurt and fruit. Lunch we usually grab some rice or something out on the streets from the little vendors they have. Its so cheap and so delicious. Then dinner we usually stir up some veggies or members give us food. Everything is so cheap here! We got sushi the other day, six pieces, for $1. and it was so good too!! Plus they have these jamba juice like vendors, but its real fruit and so much more delicious, for less than $1! There is just food everywhere!
For our service, last night we helped this cute little family with their fruit. The dad has a cart that he takes out everyday and sales the fruit. It was so much fun helping them! Picture this if you will. It's kind of a jungle setting. There are random chickens running around us. There are little boys climbing in the trees above us. And we are just outside setting on mats helping peel the guavas. Oh it was so fun!
These people are so amazing. The are so humble and so loving. I went to a house this week that looked very similar to camp kabomb. (the fort my guy friends built) It broke my heart. But they are still so happy. They welcomed us and and we sat down on the little boys bed, a little mattress in the corner. Oh I wish I would have been more grateful with everything I had back home. I was just so naive. Living in my little bubble. I'm so grateful that the Lord sent me here. I know that I am here for a reason and I'm so excited to serve these people! It makes me want to cry when I think about it!
Wow this has been a pretty random email. Sorry! But just know that I love it here so much and I'm working hard. I seriously am so blessed to be in this area because everyone is so nice and willing to help me learn the language. I have learned so much already. Each week I just want to be better and better. I don't ever want to have an average day, because disciples of Christ are not average! Oh I could go on and on. But I'll stop. I love being a missionary. I'm so happy!! The Church is so true!!
Sister Chambers
Oh my goodness!!! I wish my life was a TV series!! This last week has seriously been the best week of my life. I can't even begin to describe all the miracles I have been able to be a part of! I have admitted defeat on a couple of things though. Firstly, that I can't describe everything in this email. Sorry. Someone needs to event that thing off of Harry Potter. The thing that Dumbledore has that takes your memories out of your head. haha that would be so sweet!! Ok the next thing I have admitted defeat in, is that I physically can't talk to everyone I see. That was one of my goals and its not that I don't want to. Its just that being in the city there are people EVERYWHERE!!! So my new game plan is, to be a good example. I stick out so bad, but it works out to my benefit. Because the people see me and think, what is that farang (white person) doing here? And if they see that I am happy then hopefully they will want to know why I am here. Also its hard because all the people kinda look alike. So I can't remember all the people that I have talked to, so I just smile and say hi to everyone. Then the people that I do talk to, I have been working on sharing short messages about Christ with them. Josh and Sherrie, do you remember when we used to watch Lord of the Rings with you?? Remember in I think it is like the 3rd one, where the Dwarf and the Elf are having a competition to see who can kill the most people? And at one point the Dwarf is about to get killed but the Elf guy comes up to help him and the Dwarf guy was like, that one still counts as mine! Random I know, but that's what me and Sister L joke about. I start talking to people for as long as I can and then Sister L will help me. We are such a great team! We went to the park on Saturday and found these two amazing families!! I seriously am so stoked!! Haha ok enough of this rambling on and on about nothing, I want to tell you about some of the experiences I've had this last week!!
Remember Ma Nid? Well when we taught her on Wednesday we set a baptismal date with her for July 4th! Yay!! I'm so excited for her! I've never seen anyone as excited to be baptized as her. She truly understands the importance of it and it's because of people like her that I'm here. I know there are people that the Lord has prepared. And I know its not me that has anything to do with converting them because they probably can't understand anything I'm saying anyways. But through the Spirit they are taught and its just so humbling to be apart of this work!!
We usually teach about four or five lessons a day. And try to spend a couple of hours each day inviting. I know its only my second week, but at the end of every night I come home completely exhausted and just crash! There is no way I could do this on my own. I am so grateful for all the prayers and support that I receive from all of you at home. Thank you so much!!
Yesterday at church we had so many investigators come! It was awesome!! I have made friends with a bunch of the young girls and they are so cute and so willing to help me learn Thai! Our big family came so that was very exciting! The Grandma and Grandpa, their son, and their four grandsons. Tonight we are going over to their house for FHE and dinner again. Oh how I love Thai food. For breakfast I usually just have a bowl of cereal! Oh ya! They have cereal here Summer!! Special K and granola!! Or some yogurt and fruit. Lunch we usually grab some rice or something out on the streets from the little vendors they have. Its so cheap and so delicious. Then dinner we usually stir up some veggies or members give us food. Everything is so cheap here! We got sushi the other day, six pieces, for $1. and it was so good too!! Plus they have these jamba juice like vendors, but its real fruit and so much more delicious, for less than $1! There is just food everywhere!
For our service, last night we helped this cute little family with their fruit. The dad has a cart that he takes out everyday and sales the fruit. It was so much fun helping them! Picture this if you will. It's kind of a jungle setting. There are random chickens running around us. There are little boys climbing in the trees above us. And we are just outside setting on mats helping peel the guavas. Oh it was so fun!
These people are so amazing. The are so humble and so loving. I went to a house this week that looked very similar to camp kabomb. (the fort my guy friends built) It broke my heart. But they are still so happy. They welcomed us and and we sat down on the little boys bed, a little mattress in the corner. Oh I wish I would have been more grateful with everything I had back home. I was just so naive. Living in my little bubble. I'm so grateful that the Lord sent me here. I know that I am here for a reason and I'm so excited to serve these people! It makes me want to cry when I think about it!
Wow this has been a pretty random email. Sorry! But just know that I love it here so much and I'm working hard. I seriously am so blessed to be in this area because everyone is so nice and willing to help me learn the language. I have learned so much already. Each week I just want to be better and better. I don't ever want to have an average day, because disciples of Christ are not average! Oh I could go on and on. But I'll stop. I love being a missionary. I'm so happy!! The Church is so true!!
Sister Chambers
Monday, June 14, 2010
Count Your Many Blessing!!
FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!!!!!!
I'm in Thailand!!! And I absolutely love it so much!!! I know everyone has so many questions and I have so much to tell so hopefully I can get it all in!
It was so much fun talking to everyone last week on the phone! Thank you for coming over! That meant a lot to me! It was so good to hear everyone's voice. The long flight wasn't even bad. Haha I just slept the whole time. All the Elders and my comps were like, how can you sleep? And I just thought, because I am my father's daughter! Thanks dad! :) It was so much fun! It was so exciting getting to Thailand! Funniest story ever! We made friends with these 4 Thai teenagers, they were on all of the same flights as us. (starting in LA) so they helped us and we talked to them about the gospel and they gave me their addresses and said I could come find them and teach them! Ya! Anyways, so it was three girls and one boy. And at the Thailand airport when we said goodbye to them I gave the girls a hug and told them thanks for all their help, and then the boy came up and started giving me a hug! haha I didn't know what to do!! I was just like, uhh sorry! I can't hug! It was so funny. I felt bad cuz he got all embarrassed. But it was so funny. Anyways there is my funny story from the airport.
Pres. Smith and Sister Smith and the APs picked us up from the airport and helped us get everything ready. Sister Smith has a facebook page for the mission and says that she puts all pictures up on it so if you can find her she said she'll add anyone with the last name of Chambers :) They drove us to the mission office and we had a cute little American lunch. I seriously love everyone here!! They are so nice!! And I decided that Thailand is a mixture of Hawaii, California, Las Vegas, Mexico, and China. Hawaii because its so tropical. California because of all the traffic and the pollution. Las Vegas because there are so many tall buildings every where and its so dry. Mexico because its kinda ghetto in places. And China because there is a Chinese twist to everything! Haha it is so awesome! I seriously wish everyone could see what I see!!
After lunch we went on splits with some of the missionaries that are going home. I was with Sister Nielson and we went street contacting! Oh man!! I placed my first Book of Mormon and got three potentials! It was kinda scary of course because I couldn't understand anything they were saying. But I loved it!
After that we had our moves meeting. The missionaries that were going home all spoke for a second and then we got our new companions! I LOVE HER!!! I'm not even kidding when I say that everything has worked out so perfect! Her name is Sister Livingston. She is from Salt Lake and I'm her first greenie. She only has 6 weeks left so we are working so hard! She has had about 3 Thai sister companions so she speaks Thai sooooo good! I have so much to learn from her! I'm so excited!! She really is so cute! We are in Srinakarin. Its just outside of Bangkok. I bought my bike, and its so sweet! But in this area since its in the city, we don't ride bikes. So it's locked up inside the church. I said goodbye to my MTC comps and Elders and me and Sister Livingston (everyone calls her Sister L because the Thai people can't say her last name) headed home! (Sis. Harris is going to the East somewhere and Sis. Jensen is going to Loperi.)
The taxi ride was way fun! I still can't believe I'm here! We live in a huge condo. It has 23 floors and we are on the 17th. We got there and I unpacked and crashed. I was so tired. We have a little balcony and it is the prettiest view! There are no mountains, but its just green everywhere! I'm so excited to send home pictures.
We woke up and Sister L and I went running on the top of the condo. It's gorgeous up there! It reminds me of in Just Like Heaven how they have that pretty garden on top. I'll take lots of pictures to show you! We showered and got ready for the day! We got right to work. Since we aren't allowed to go door to door we just went walking and invited everyone we saw. We teach piano on Friday nights and English on Tuesday nights. So we pass out flyers for that and it helps to get people interested. Oh my goodness though I wish you were here!! It is so wonderful!! Aw!!! I can't even explain it!! So we just walked around. We can take the Santo, their version of a bus. Haha so funny. Its just a truck that has seats and a roof in the bed of it. Its cheap and its a great way to contact because they are sitting there and can't get away from us. haha. I've already taught, or should I say helped teach, so many lessons with Sister L. When we were walking to the church there were just two girls chilling outside and we talked to them about learning English and they said they were interested. then we asked if they wanted to come in and look at the church and they said they wanted to. Then we asked if they wanted to learn about our church and they said they wanted too!! So we taught them about prayer and the Book of Mormon right there! On my first day!! It was so exciting!! The church building is so cute and way nice! I was surprised! It has American bathrooms!! Hurray! Then we went to the store and bought me some food and everything I needed. It was so fun!! It's like their version of walmart. We live right next to a big mall though and its so nice!! It was the most random stores in it!
Friday night was piano and I met some of the members and investigators and it was so fun. I mostly just chilled in the back with Off, the cutest girl that just got baptized. She promised she will take care of me. And I met the cutest family that just got baptized! The Ma and Pa are so good! I look up to converts so much! Their daughter and son are so cute too!
When everyone finds out that I've only been here a couple days they just love me and love that I'm trying to learn the language. They are impressed that I can speak as much as I do. It's so cute.
Saturday morning we went running again! YA!! I love having a companion that loves to run!! We got ready and then we went to the park to contact and invite. It was perfect because there were all these families there!! So much fun!! I love Thai people!! We just walked to the park and there are all these markets and food stands everywhere in the streets. All over the city. That's how people make a living. They just sell everything and anything. So funny. But it's good for us because there are people everywhere! It is pretty hot, but not too bad. I was so tired after the park that we came back and after we planned for the week Sister L made me take a little nap. I seriously love her. She is taking such good care of me! Seriously you don't need to worry one bit!
Saturday night we went to the church to teach Ma Nid. (We call people that are older than us Ma or Pa and then there nickname or first name, or just Phii which means older) It was thee coolest experience ever! The Relief Society President came to help us teach her and the spirit was so strong. I'll be honest I didn't understand most of it. But she was talking about how she has know about the church for 20 years and it just hasn't been right, until last Saturday when she saw my companion and she knew that she needed to meet with us. She said she wants to be baptized before Sister L leaves! Oh it was so cool!!
Sunday was church. Haha oh boy. It was so cool though because we had 8 investigators at church! It was ward conference. I had no idea what was going on. It was so funny. I sat by Ma Nid and she took care of me though. Everyone came up and introduced themselves to me and they are all so dang nice! After Relief Society me and another member taught these two darling girls from piano about the Book of Mormon. They are so cute and I'm so excited from them!! Sister L and Off taught Bam-Bam, she is just getting ready to be baptized. After that we ate food at the church. I guess everyone always just brings all this food and everyone just chills at the church and eats. Oh it was so yummy!! They are so funny. Everyone kept asking me if I liked spicy food. They love ya if you can eat spicy food! After we went and visited this Ma who got baptized in Dec. but hasn't been coming to church. She has such a hard life I feel so bad. She sews and she really has like no money and just lives day to day. It breaks my heart. There are so really rich people and some really poor people in this area. Most are just about average. I was so surprised when I saw the cars here!! Everyone drives such nice cars! It really was like California Scott! All the Taxis are Corollas, (not sure if that is how you spell it) and are like pink and orange and green. haha so funny. Sunday night we went to this family that has been meeting with the missionaries for awhile. The Ma and Pa are pretty old and they have their two daughters living with them. Then I think a son. And their six grandsons. When we came they brought us out some water and some fruit and we all just sat in a big circle on their floor.SO cute!! I love the Pa!! They are so sweet and all the little boys had their little Book of Mormons and we talked to them about Captain Moroni and how he fought to defend his family and how we need to fight for our families and such. It was so cool!! Sister L does most of the talking and then I just pipe in and bear my testimony every so often! We are such a good team! She speaks Thai so good! I told her she has to teach me everything!!
Mondays are our P-days! Woot! We went running this morning for like an hour out on the streets! It was so awesome! Thai's don't run for exercise so everyone was looking at us two white girls like we were crazy. So funny!! Came home and showered and did some laundry. Studied and then came to this cute little cafe shop. These computers are so nice! its so funny! I love Thai's! They are so random! We are like in this little ghetto neighborhood and out of no where here are these samsung flat screen computers! haha. There are like 30 too! Thai's like their internet. Anways wow I'm sorry that I wrote so much. I still have so much I could say! Today during my studying I read through some of my MTC notes and it got me all pumped again! I really have so much love for these people and I am going to work my tail off to teach all of them!! Well just the women and the familes since were not allowed to talk to the men :) anyways, everything is going great! I love it here! I really am never coming home. I just do my hair curly every day, which with the humidity it is perfect! I don't wear much make-up because I sweat so much, but I love it! I don't have to wear nylons! And I don't have to ever put on lotion! My skin is so smooth! haha. Sorry random bonuses. Since we live on 17th floor we don't have any bugs in our room! Ya!! But I have seen lizards in some houses. Cats on the roofs. (Mike I thought of you!) Cats on leashes and in cages. Dogs are EVERYWHERE. Seriously like they just roam the streets. That is all the wildlife. Oh and chickens and birds. They love to put them in cages outside their doors. Haha its just so funny!!
I know it probably sounds like I haven't been very focused, don't worry. I haven't forgotten why I am here. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ and I LOVE being a missionary!!! I'm So happy!!!! I love Thailand!! Even half way around the world, the Church is still true!!!
I'm in Thailand!!! And I absolutely love it so much!!! I know everyone has so many questions and I have so much to tell so hopefully I can get it all in!
It was so much fun talking to everyone last week on the phone! Thank you for coming over! That meant a lot to me! It was so good to hear everyone's voice. The long flight wasn't even bad. Haha I just slept the whole time. All the Elders and my comps were like, how can you sleep? And I just thought, because I am my father's daughter! Thanks dad! :) It was so much fun! It was so exciting getting to Thailand! Funniest story ever! We made friends with these 4 Thai teenagers, they were on all of the same flights as us. (starting in LA) so they helped us and we talked to them about the gospel and they gave me their addresses and said I could come find them and teach them! Ya! Anyways, so it was three girls and one boy. And at the Thailand airport when we said goodbye to them I gave the girls a hug and told them thanks for all their help, and then the boy came up and started giving me a hug! haha I didn't know what to do!! I was just like, uhh sorry! I can't hug! It was so funny. I felt bad cuz he got all embarrassed. But it was so funny. Anyways there is my funny story from the airport.
Pres. Smith and Sister Smith and the APs picked us up from the airport and helped us get everything ready. Sister Smith has a facebook page for the mission and says that she puts all pictures up on it so if you can find her she said she'll add anyone with the last name of Chambers :) They drove us to the mission office and we had a cute little American lunch. I seriously love everyone here!! They are so nice!! And I decided that Thailand is a mixture of Hawaii, California, Las Vegas, Mexico, and China. Hawaii because its so tropical. California because of all the traffic and the pollution. Las Vegas because there are so many tall buildings every where and its so dry. Mexico because its kinda ghetto in places. And China because there is a Chinese twist to everything! Haha it is so awesome! I seriously wish everyone could see what I see!!
After lunch we went on splits with some of the missionaries that are going home. I was with Sister Nielson and we went street contacting! Oh man!! I placed my first Book of Mormon and got three potentials! It was kinda scary of course because I couldn't understand anything they were saying. But I loved it!
After that we had our moves meeting. The missionaries that were going home all spoke for a second and then we got our new companions! I LOVE HER!!! I'm not even kidding when I say that everything has worked out so perfect! Her name is Sister Livingston. She is from Salt Lake and I'm her first greenie. She only has 6 weeks left so we are working so hard! She has had about 3 Thai sister companions so she speaks Thai sooooo good! I have so much to learn from her! I'm so excited!! She really is so cute! We are in Srinakarin. Its just outside of Bangkok. I bought my bike, and its so sweet! But in this area since its in the city, we don't ride bikes. So it's locked up inside the church. I said goodbye to my MTC comps and Elders and me and Sister Livingston (everyone calls her Sister L because the Thai people can't say her last name) headed home! (Sis. Harris is going to the East somewhere and Sis. Jensen is going to Loperi.)
The taxi ride was way fun! I still can't believe I'm here! We live in a huge condo. It has 23 floors and we are on the 17th. We got there and I unpacked and crashed. I was so tired. We have a little balcony and it is the prettiest view! There are no mountains, but its just green everywhere! I'm so excited to send home pictures.
We woke up and Sister L and I went running on the top of the condo. It's gorgeous up there! It reminds me of in Just Like Heaven how they have that pretty garden on top. I'll take lots of pictures to show you! We showered and got ready for the day! We got right to work. Since we aren't allowed to go door to door we just went walking and invited everyone we saw. We teach piano on Friday nights and English on Tuesday nights. So we pass out flyers for that and it helps to get people interested. Oh my goodness though I wish you were here!! It is so wonderful!! Aw!!! I can't even explain it!! So we just walked around. We can take the Santo, their version of a bus. Haha so funny. Its just a truck that has seats and a roof in the bed of it. Its cheap and its a great way to contact because they are sitting there and can't get away from us. haha. I've already taught, or should I say helped teach, so many lessons with Sister L. When we were walking to the church there were just two girls chilling outside and we talked to them about learning English and they said they were interested. then we asked if they wanted to come in and look at the church and they said they wanted to. Then we asked if they wanted to learn about our church and they said they wanted too!! So we taught them about prayer and the Book of Mormon right there! On my first day!! It was so exciting!! The church building is so cute and way nice! I was surprised! It has American bathrooms!! Hurray! Then we went to the store and bought me some food and everything I needed. It was so fun!! It's like their version of walmart. We live right next to a big mall though and its so nice!! It was the most random stores in it!
Friday night was piano and I met some of the members and investigators and it was so fun. I mostly just chilled in the back with Off, the cutest girl that just got baptized. She promised she will take care of me. And I met the cutest family that just got baptized! The Ma and Pa are so good! I look up to converts so much! Their daughter and son are so cute too!
When everyone finds out that I've only been here a couple days they just love me and love that I'm trying to learn the language. They are impressed that I can speak as much as I do. It's so cute.
Saturday morning we went running again! YA!! I love having a companion that loves to run!! We got ready and then we went to the park to contact and invite. It was perfect because there were all these families there!! So much fun!! I love Thai people!! We just walked to the park and there are all these markets and food stands everywhere in the streets. All over the city. That's how people make a living. They just sell everything and anything. So funny. But it's good for us because there are people everywhere! It is pretty hot, but not too bad. I was so tired after the park that we came back and after we planned for the week Sister L made me take a little nap. I seriously love her. She is taking such good care of me! Seriously you don't need to worry one bit!
Saturday night we went to the church to teach Ma Nid. (We call people that are older than us Ma or Pa and then there nickname or first name, or just Phii which means older) It was thee coolest experience ever! The Relief Society President came to help us teach her and the spirit was so strong. I'll be honest I didn't understand most of it. But she was talking about how she has know about the church for 20 years and it just hasn't been right, until last Saturday when she saw my companion and she knew that she needed to meet with us. She said she wants to be baptized before Sister L leaves! Oh it was so cool!!
Sunday was church. Haha oh boy. It was so cool though because we had 8 investigators at church! It was ward conference. I had no idea what was going on. It was so funny. I sat by Ma Nid and she took care of me though. Everyone came up and introduced themselves to me and they are all so dang nice! After Relief Society me and another member taught these two darling girls from piano about the Book of Mormon. They are so cute and I'm so excited from them!! Sister L and Off taught Bam-Bam, she is just getting ready to be baptized. After that we ate food at the church. I guess everyone always just brings all this food and everyone just chills at the church and eats. Oh it was so yummy!! They are so funny. Everyone kept asking me if I liked spicy food. They love ya if you can eat spicy food! After we went and visited this Ma who got baptized in Dec. but hasn't been coming to church. She has such a hard life I feel so bad. She sews and she really has like no money and just lives day to day. It breaks my heart. There are so really rich people and some really poor people in this area. Most are just about average. I was so surprised when I saw the cars here!! Everyone drives such nice cars! It really was like California Scott! All the Taxis are Corollas, (not sure if that is how you spell it) and are like pink and orange and green. haha so funny. Sunday night we went to this family that has been meeting with the missionaries for awhile. The Ma and Pa are pretty old and they have their two daughters living with them. Then I think a son. And their six grandsons. When we came they brought us out some water and some fruit and we all just sat in a big circle on their floor.SO cute!! I love the Pa!! They are so sweet and all the little boys had their little Book of Mormons and we talked to them about Captain Moroni and how he fought to defend his family and how we need to fight for our families and such. It was so cool!! Sister L does most of the talking and then I just pipe in and bear my testimony every so often! We are such a good team! She speaks Thai so good! I told her she has to teach me everything!!
Mondays are our P-days! Woot! We went running this morning for like an hour out on the streets! It was so awesome! Thai's don't run for exercise so everyone was looking at us two white girls like we were crazy. So funny!! Came home and showered and did some laundry. Studied and then came to this cute little cafe shop. These computers are so nice! its so funny! I love Thai's! They are so random! We are like in this little ghetto neighborhood and out of no where here are these samsung flat screen computers! haha. There are like 30 too! Thai's like their internet. Anways wow I'm sorry that I wrote so much. I still have so much I could say! Today during my studying I read through some of my MTC notes and it got me all pumped again! I really have so much love for these people and I am going to work my tail off to teach all of them!! Well just the women and the familes since were not allowed to talk to the men :) anyways, everything is going great! I love it here! I really am never coming home. I just do my hair curly every day, which with the humidity it is perfect! I don't wear much make-up because I sweat so much, but I love it! I don't have to wear nylons! And I don't have to ever put on lotion! My skin is so smooth! haha. Sorry random bonuses. Since we live on 17th floor we don't have any bugs in our room! Ya!! But I have seen lizards in some houses. Cats on the roofs. (Mike I thought of you!) Cats on leashes and in cages. Dogs are EVERYWHERE. Seriously like they just roam the streets. That is all the wildlife. Oh and chickens and birds. They love to put them in cages outside their doors. Haha its just so funny!!
I know it probably sounds like I haven't been very focused, don't worry. I haven't forgotten why I am here. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ and I LOVE being a missionary!!! I'm So happy!!!! I love Thailand!! Even half way around the world, the Church is still true!!!
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