Monday, July 27, 2015
Miracles in Surin ต่อไป
Dear Mom,
Thank you so, so much for your words and wisdom. It really is something that boosts my motivation and enthusiasm. You are so wise in your years. Happy birthday! I'm so sorry I haven't sent you anything. I hope it was a super, super great day. Here in Surin, we had two members who had birthdays, one on Saturday and one on Sunday and our Branch president's birthday is today. I'll attach pictures of the festivities for you. Don't worry too much about late emails, it just means I'll have double the next week. Oh, and the Gospel network is growing still! (see below). I also love hearing the experiences of Hermana Sun.
I love Pres. Kent Sager's analogy of dancing and music. I really love Mosiah 5:2 which talks about a mighty change of heart. I really have studied hard about what true conversion is. What really is a 4th missionary, what real repentance is. It's the music we can feel, and not just hear. It's the message that we share with investigators. It's the true love of Christ. It's the reason for the Atonement. It's the purpose of life and the point of the Gospel. Sometimes, as missionaries, it's too easy to focus on baptism, or on future goals, or numbers, or any of the little things, but the thing that is the most important is the change, the true conversion, that happens/needs to happen in the lives of investigators/converts/members.
I really enjoy and love the power of music. Here in the TBM, we're not allowed to listen to much music, but that just makes me so much more grateful for music. We sing everyday as a district and the songs on Sunday have so much more meaning to me now. I believe on my mission, and really in my life, I can remember very few times I have cried. The majority of them have been because of the Spirit through hymns and good songs.
I'm so glad your garden is doing good. Be sure to send me a picture of the giant harvest of cucumbers!
This week has been a blast. Every week, every day, is a great day I feel like. We see so many miracles happen in the work that I'm amazed the work isn't just exploding. I feel the influence of the Spirit so strong as we humble ourselves and put all of our entire mind to the Lord's work. Whenever I read the scriptures now, I can say that I truly feel different. I see so many new and different messages from every passage of scripture that I study. My mind often takes verse and relates it to an investigator we are teaching or about missionary work in general. I love studying the scriptures. Just a few days ago, I was also reading the scriptures during language study. Usually when I read in Thai, I don't understand anything. I usually just read a chapter or two a day to say that I'm reading in Thai everyday. However, I read in Jacob 5 in Thai and I had an honestly tremendous experiences. I always remember people saying how the Isaiah chapters are the hardest to understand and a few weeks ago I had an RC ask me about Jacob 5. That happened to be where I was that day and as I read, I realized that I was actually understanding - in Thai. I was able to pull out meanings that were personal to me and could apply to our investigators. I could feel the Spirit testify to me about truthfulness of this work. Laboring in the vineyard, dunging the trees, obeying the master. I can sum it up all at once, but as I read, I had to stop numerous times because I began to feel so overwhelmed I started to cry. It was truly a remarkable experience.
Also this week, we were able to meet with several new investigators and see some powerful faith of these people who were just starting to learn about Gospel. It's truly amazing the preparation that the Lord does in preparing the minds and hearts of people to accept the Gospel. I feel it almost too difficult of a task to try to cover it all, but also that it would be doing an incredible injustice to the experiences if I didn't try.
On Tuesday, we taught a group lesson with several investigators about the Plan of Salvation. We seem to frequently run into the problem of having to teach group lessons when people show up late and others early.
Another blessing is that we are still able to meet with people that I first contacted in this area. We get people's numbers, but they always say they never have time until one day they finally meet with us. All of our new investigators this week have come from very old contacts.
One miracle person is a sister แอ๋ม (Aam). She's 17 and super nice. She also has really nice parents that we're going to try to meet with, too. She accepted everything really well and when we invited her to learn more and be baptized, she accepted without hesitation. When we met with her the second time the very next day, she had read several chapters in the BoM which she studied and marked up. She's made several friends at church already and loves learning.
We taught sister แก้ว Gaw for the first time on Saturday. We had two appointments with her before, but she didn't come both times. We made another for 4pm on Saturday, and she showed up several hours early because she had time. We fortunately had an appointment at that time who didn't show up and we were at the church. She's 17, super nice, and said that she woke up, showered, and came straight to the church. She also came to church the next day for Sacrament meeting.
We had two people who kept saying they didn't have any time to meet because they work and have school. A blessing that I've seen is being more bold in my conviction to meet with people. It's too easy to just give up/give in and just say "Oh, it's okay, maybe next time." But this time I spoke more over the phone and they said they might be able to meet immediately after work is over - they didn't give a specific time and I wouldn't have been surprised if they didn't show up. They did show up, and we did teach them. When the Spirit directs and when we have boldness with love, we can give commitments and trust in the Lord to do His work. At first they were very, very shy and were very hesitant to go into the church. During the lesson, they seemed to loosen up and feel more comfortable. The person I had called brought a friend. Both were also, 17. I'm not sure why, but so many of the people we've meet with this week are 17.
Another miracles is also related to scripture study. One morning, I was reading about the example of Moroni, good stuff. I didn't think about again, until we went and visited an LA family. We had a appointment fall through, so we had to think about who we could go visit. We called a few people, but no one would answer or weren't free. Then we called one person they said sure. The one person that answered was actually a person I had just updated in our area book the evening before. I had just found out that the person in our area book was related to this LA who also had a daughter who I knew, but didn't know was related. I had found all of these connections out just the day before we went and visited them and we didn't even plan to visit them. When we went and visited them, we ran into her daughter and caught up with her. She, I found out, was actually friends with another investigator of ours that we've been teaching and friends with another person that I had ran into and invited several times at the park by the church. It was a crazy relationship tree. The investigator was actually friends with the son of another investigator we met. Everyone knows each other, haha. When we finally visited this LA family, we were able to do some service, yard work for them, and share a Gospel message. When we first sat down and started talked with them, they said how they were reading in the scriptures everyday from the BoM for kids that has the pictures in it and had just read about Moroni last night and the wars that were happening. That was exactly what I had studied. That was a pretty crazy coincidence. This family and that visit was also probably the most American/Stateside style visit/family that I had ever seen/done in Thailand. They had a nice house - styled like American and the lesson went like an American one as well. It was such a flash back home, haha. We then played a little foos-ball with the son. It made me also realized how similar people are, no matter where they may live. The mom's concern was for her daughter and worrying about her having better friends. It really seemed just like an American visit. This whole family then came to church the next day! Last I heard, the whole family was very LA. It rained really hard the morning of church, and many, many didn't show up, but this family did; the whole family. It was such a great thing to see that this family still had faith and sought after good things.
Also, we went on switch offs with the zone leaders on Thursday. It was way good. I learned a lot about testimonies and the scriptures.
I apologize for the long letter and I hope you enjoy reading it,
Elder Sun
ขอแสดงความนับถือ, Sincerely,
เอ็ลเดอร์ ซัน Elder Sun
ผู้สอนศาสนา Missionary
ศาสนจักรของพระเยซูคริสต์แห่งวิสุทธิชนยุคสุดท้าย The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
คณะเผยแผ่ กรุงเทพฯ, ประเทศไทย Bangkok, Thailand Mission
Monday, July 13, 2015
A new week and a new transfer
Dear Mom,
I love reading the Book of Mormon every day. I find that no matter what it is that I read or study, I always find such great enlightening thoughts and testimonies from the prophets of old. There are so many amazing examples, not to mention Christ's, too. Check out Alma and read about Ammon, Aaron, and Alma if you want to know how to be a great missionary (or person). I find something new that I just really want to share with investigators every time I study. It seems that some investigators really are having problems, least of all with trying to help them have a good desire to learn, but the ones that do always seem to hit road bumps. As my last companion would always say, Satan is working really hard. He doesn't rest and is trying his best - but we have to rest, but we can always try out best, too.
I hope the reunion was fun, it sounds like it. Also, on Tuesday, there was a hugish rainstorm here, too. We had to ride our bikes home in the pouring rain in the dark. Scary. And dangerous - especially since my old bike didn't have any working brakes. But I now have my old companion's bike which works much better.
I'm still in Surin. This week has been different, as it always is surrounding transfers. The switching of companions and districts always takes getting used to. It always feels different, but I'm confident that the next six weeks will be just as miracle filled as in the past. From where I saw and have heard about Surin, last transfer really was a high point, a turn around point for the area. This transfer has started out really slow so what we'll work on next is to get all of the people we're working with to really progress.
With every new companion, I look back and feel like I can learn so much from the examples of each person I'm with. As I strive to become more like Christ, I realize that I can accomplish this by incorporating and learning from the examples of others around me, too. Elder Butler and Elder Sang moved. My new companion is another Laos person. Elder Sayawong. He studies so hard all the time. He's been a missionary for a while now, pretty close to two years, and he's studying super hard for a really hard Toeffel test that tests English.
This week, before transfers, we worked really hard up to the very last day. If it wasn't for that, we definitely wouldn't have gotten balanced this week. We're still working with groups of friends and working on teaching them. It is still amazing to see such faith in such young people, several of whom have told us that they wanted to be baptized. Sometimes a friend isn't interested, but when they bring a friend of a friend, that person may be interested. It's a miracle to see in working with friend groups. Kind of like networking of spreading the Gospel. The initial or first couple people may not progress very well, but eventually it gets to a person who says they've always been interesting in learning about Christ and accepts everything. One person came to us before English class and said they didn't actually come for English, they were just interested in learning the Gospel. What a miracle. This person is the sister of a friend of a friend of a person who is the friend of the person who had an accident on a motorcycle who was the friend of a member. Or something like that.
The day before transfers, we tried to teach a group lesson with all these friend groups together as a last lesson of the transfer with them, it was pretty much just chaos. There were around 15 people, all investigators who came together. They mostly talked to each other and played on their phones. It was hard to keep their attention. Some people would pay attention at some times, but it was very hard to teach to each of them. It was a great experience to learn from - try to avoid teaching large lessons. We continued to have miracles all the way up to the last day of the transfers - and during transfers, too, where I was able to hear about the progress of some of my RC's in my old area who are still sharing with their families and going strong.
This Sunday, four people were confirmed, and we had a long-time LA come back to church, too! We have several solid daters for next week and weeks to come. I'm very excited to see all the many things I'll be able to learn this transfer and for the miracles that the Lord has planned for these people. I know that miracles will come according to our faith and diligence so I'm going to try my hardest to keep working at a good pace - to keep the fire of faith burning and being fully consecrated on the work.
Elder Sun
At transfers, I met up with my original trainer. He has since trained another person who has trained another, too. My second trainer also has a trainee who has trained. He my old companion's grandpa - he's an awesome grandpa.
My new companion.
ขอแสดงความนับถือ, Sincerely,
เอ็ลเดอร์ ซัน Elder Sun
ผู้สอนศาสนา Missionary
ศาสนจักรของพระเยซูคริสต์แห่งวิสุทธิชนยุคสุดท้าย The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
คณะเผยแผ่ กรุงเทพฯ, ประเทศไทย Bangkok, Thailand Mission
Monday, July 6, 2015
This week was super awesome, too. Spiritual thougts
I forgot to include a few spiritual thoughts that I came across in my personal studies this week. It is really an amazing thing to be able to feel the Spirit and come across answers to questions, concerns, and problems through the scriptures, the words of the prophets, and through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Sometimes, and it seems to be increasing frequently, that I find myself on the brink of tears from feeling the guidance of the Lord day by day. I truly feel like rejoicing in the Lord like prophets of old who are overcome with the Spirit. It's such a feeling that you can't describe, but you know without a doubt that it is a divine. Something that I am confidence cannot be found anywhere else but in Christ. Anyway, a few thoughts that I came across are centered on repentance, missionary work, and the oh-so-amazing joy that comes through a knowledge of the gospel and the Atonement of Christ. I would love to hear thoughts on these verses.
Alma 5:49 "And now I say unto you that this is the order after which I am called, yea, to preach unto my beloved brethren, yea, and every one that dwelleth in the land; yea, to preach unto all, both old and young, both bond and free; yea, I say unto you the aged, and also the middle aged, and the rising generation; yea, to cry unto them that they must repent and be born again."
Alma 13:21, 27 "21 And now it came to pass that when Alma had said these words unto them, he stretched forth his hand unto them and cried with a mighty voice, saying: Now is the time to repent, for the day of salvation draweth nigh; 27 And now, my brethren, I wish from the inmost part of my heart, yea, with great anxiety even unto pain, that ye would hearken unto my words, and cast off your sins, and not procrastinate the day of your repentance;"
Helaman 5:8 "And now my sons, behold I have somewhat more to desire of you, which desire is, that ye may not do these things that ye may boast, but that ye may do these things to lay up for yourselves a treasure in heaven, yea, which is eternal, and which fadeth not away; yea, that ye may have that precious gift of eternal life, which we have reason to suppose hath been given to our fathers."
DC 6:3 "Behold, the field is white already to harvest; therefore, whoso desireth to reap, let him thrust in his sickle with his might, and reap while the day lasts, that he may treasure up for his soul everlasting salvation in the kingdom of God."
Helaman 5:11 "And he hath power given unto him from the Father to redeem them from their sins because of repentance; therefore he hath sent his angels to declare the tidings of the conditions of repentance, which bringeth unto the power of the Redeemer, unto the salvation of their souls."
Alma 34: 8-12, 15-18. This is a great excerpt on the Atonement and repentance.
Enos.
These are several scripture passages that I love so much. If I could have more time to expand on them, that would be so great - but suffice it to say that missionaries are called to preach repentance to everyone. We have the love and passion to declare this with all all of the power of our soul. We don't do this just to increase membership in the church, to have baptisms every week, or to boast in our selves, but so we can truly help the souls of those who don't know Christ so that we can lay up treasures in heaven, rest with them in the kingdom of our father. We are the angels that are sent to declare the glad tidings of repentance that, through the infinite, merciful sacrifice of Christ, we truly can receive Eternal Life. This is what I wish I could have all of the people we teach and meet feel. What I desire to share and to help others experience.
I just feel so much joy in the service of the Lord. I know that the Spirit quickens us through the power of the Atonement. Which Spirit "he has poured upon you, and has caused that your hearts should be filled with joy" (Mosiah 4:20). The overarching message in the scriptures is of Christ, the Atonement, faith, repentance, baptism, and of happiness. Of joy. The message of great joy.
Elder Sun
I apologize for writing so much sometimes and often end up rambling, but "O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!" (Alma 29:1)
ขอแสดงความนับถือ, Sincerely,
เอ็ลเดอร์ ซัน Elder Sun
ผู้สอนศาสนา Missionary
ศาสนจักรของพระเยซูคริสต์แห่งวิสุทธิชนยุคสุดท้าย The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
คณะเผยแผ่ กรุงเทพฯ, ประเทศไทย Bangkok, Thailand Mission
This week was super awesome, too.
Dear Mom,
--
I feel like this week was another week of great miracles! I truly love being a missionary. On days that are slower or on p-days, I often study about the amazing awesomeness of missionary work. The true joy that we feel and share and the awesome opportunity we have to be apart of this work. I feel the truth that this is the thing that will really bring us the greatest joy - loving people, sharing the Gospel, and helping people become familiar with our Father in Heaven.
This past Sunday we had four people baptized. Three were in a family who told us how great of a miracle it was that we found them. I talked about them a little bit in my email last week. We first contacted the mom, asked if she wanted to be baptized. When we first met with her, she called us on Saturday morning, said she was at the church, and asked if we could meet with her. We opened the church for her and the people she brought and had a great first lesson. It was very touched hearing her story. She said when we first contacted her, she had actually had a desire to be baptized and had had the chance to study a lot about Christianity, but never was actually baptized. She said it was the Lord leading her and opening the way for her to meet with us because of how she was able to come to church. She said she felt like her two daughters should also come with her. One had a skin condition that she had since she was little. Her condition caused her to be very shy and didn't have any friends. We felt very sad for this girl and we gave her a blessing right then. We found out her condition improved greatly from that day and this experience added to the faith that they already had. The three of them live pretty far from the church, but we visited them regularly and they were baptized this past Sunday. It is really a miracle and a great story that I can't adequately sum up. They have had a hard life, but have strong faith and testimonies. The mom isn't actually their real mom. She is like a foster mom who has taken the two kids in since they were around eight years old. They lived in harsh conditions, they way my companion described it, it was pretty much a prison literally on an island. There have been many miracles that we've seen in the process of helping these people prepare for baptism.
The boy baptized is the family friend of a really strong family here in Surin. He understands a lot for his age and is pretty much a bundle-of-fun 12 year old. He for sure has a great future in the church as he continues to grow in testimony and can help the rest of his family, too. He has an uncle that looks after him that is like a father to him. They have a great love for each other and I'm sure this boy can help his uncle stop drinking and be baptized, too, so they can live together forever.
This week has been a bundle of miracles and unexpected events from the beginning. We thought my companion would be leaving on Monday, but when we went to the bus station that day, they didn't have any tickets to the place where he was going to go. We ended up decided just to let him stay here and keep working until the end of the transfer. The past weeks recently have been filled with miracles and being able to stay for him was just another drop in the bucket of the many miracles of the Lord. Our area now has a lot, a lot, of investigators that we are trying to work with and help feel of the love of the Lord and progress towards Baptism.
On Thursday, we got a new mission president,President Johnson. He's an older guy who has served in Thailand in the past. I love being a missionary, helping these people, and I love you. I know the Lord is preparing people to hear the Gospel, and has prepared Thailand, to bring about many, many miracles in His church. I'm grateful for your testimony and I know that through you, the Lord has prepared me, too.
Perhaps another thing that not so much as a miracle, but a great experience to learn from is that each one of our investigators really have personal challenges and concerns. While I wouldn't call it a miracle because of the hardship that some people face, but the opportunity to learn from our trials really is a miracle. Some people the Lord has prepared so well that all we do as missionaries is teach a little, they understand everything, and come into the church quick. Sometimes it seems like we have 'easy investigators' that are prepared super well, but everyone faces trials in life. One investigator has run into a problem with her husband not supporting tithing. Very against tithing. They are okay and can support everything else, but this. We had an investigator (another one) get into a car accident and the RC driving the car now has to face their parents whose car the stole. We have some investigators who have a hard time excepting some principles here or there and some who still haven't seen the importance of religion, Christ, baptism, etc. No matter what obstacles appear, I consider it a great miracle to be able to be a missionary, learn, help others, teach, grow in my own testimony by helping build others, testify of Christ, preach repentance, baptize, develop Christ-like attributes, see the powerful examples of missionaries, members, and converts, hear the powerful testimonies and stories of the Lord performing miracles among his children, see the fruits of faith and repentance occur in people's lives, and everything everyday makes everyday just a great day.
Elder Sun
ขอแสดงความนับถือ, Sincerely,
เอ็ลเดอร์ ซัน Elder Sun
ผู้สอนศาสนา Missionary
ศาสนจักรของพระเยซูคริสต์แห่งวิสุทธิชนยุคสุดท้าย The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
คณะเผยแผ่ กรุงเทพฯ, ประเทศไทย Bangkok, Thailand Mission
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