Dear Mom,
I'm sorry to hear about the McCuen's grandma. I hope she'll recover as good as new in no time at all. I would also be interested to hear about how Sabrina is doing in the preparing for her mission, in the MTC, and then in Japan. That's super exciting.
Eyes are very strange organs. They seem to change more often than one would think. However, your spiritual eyes are always continually getting better even if your physical eyes can't make up their mind.
I also enjoy receiving emails from Diana and Tygan. I still have a hard time believing it took so long for them to tie the knot, haha.
I don't mind not being the center of attention some times. I take plenty of pictures that I don't need to be in them. I am always very impressed with the conversion stories of so many people that I get the opportunity to meet from being a missionary. So many people are converts in the church in Thailand that I sometimes feel that there are miracles all around us - and how true that is. The Lord knows exactly who He wants in His church and when. For missionaries, it is just a matter of being intune to the Lord's will and helping that come along. Sometimes we meet people who are pushed up to the wall of faith, and sometimes their faith isn't strong enough at that time. But the seeds that were planted by the missionaries in the past, members, and from experiences that they have will always begin to grow and swell in their heart. Some plants take a long time to grow and others mature quickly, but as the master of the vineyard prunes, dungs, and works according to his time, the branches will begin to produce much fruit. I was told of one investigator here who learn a lot, but then lost contact, but numerous times that person would come back, learn some more, but then be lost again. Although they were never dropped, they kept showing up on Sunday because in their heart, they can feel the seed sprouting and it leads them back. This process may happen over several years, but I know that the people who fully open their hearts and do not reject the promptings and movings of the Spirit will recognize and heed the voice of the Shepherd.
Most people who have to learn on Sundays is because they learn special. They have special school, like Saturday school, in order to get ahead in school, or make up for loss in education in the past.
That special musical number must have been really good! They are all very skilled singers. Here in Thailand, but people would agree that Thai people are not good singers. It's always interesting to sit and listen in sacrament meeting. Here, we don't have anyone who will play the piano, but I've learned how to play the piano a little bit since being out. I would recommend learning how to play the piano - it's actually a very useful skill and I've always been jealous of those who have that amazing music gift (and the patience to learn, too, because it gives me a headache.)
Last Thursday, we had transfer meeting again. I moved from the Elephant city and am now in Sakonakhorn. It's in the Northeast corner of the Iisan. In Surin there were many languages, here there are even more. I'll have to remember what Laos I can from my past companions and get to work learning some Iisaan. I didn't even get much chance to learn Cambodian or Madarin, haha. I'm very excited for this transfer and for the opportunity to be in a new area and have new experiences. This past week has been great. I feel like I ended my time in my past area strong and am working on getting to know this area. I still have the worst sense of direction in the world, but I can tell that this area is special, for sure. I'm excited to work here and look forward to what will happen next.
I'm not sure what is is about this area, but a bunch of people think I look very much like a Thai person. A bunch of members said I was very handsome and was surprised when they found out I wasn't from Thailand. They asked me a bunch of questions, asked to see pictures of my family asked about dad, told me my mom must be very beautiful and loved the pictures I showed them. Moving to this new area has really made me see how diverse Thailand is. It's pretty much like America with the diversity of languages and people even if not as diverse, it's still pretty cool to see. All of the members love the missionaries and are super nice. We ate more food with members here in the past few days that I did my first transfer in country.
I was very excited to see the pictures of the Meridian Temple's progress! That's very exciting. I can also practically envision the progress on the Thailand Bangkok temple. It feels so close, but so far away.
I'm especially grateful for Elder Holland's visit. His words are always powerful and full of inspiration. His visit definitely helped to kindle my fire more. I am often afraid of making mistakes, doing the wrong thing, or unsure what the Spirit is prompting me to do, but when I remember to just focus on the important things and make the most of every moment, there's no need to worry.
This area has a large branch and great members. I've already met so many people and even though I can't remember everyone's names, I can definitely see the Spirit and faith in them and am excited to work with them.
My companion, Elder Noyse, is so amazing, too. I'm training him, but he really already knows how to be a missionary. He's firm in his conviction and likes to work hard. He's extremely friendly to everyone around him, has a great personality, and is a great example of Christ to me. He told me about the story of his conversion and even though I don't really know him, I know it's going to be a good transfer. We have several investigators that are progressing well and even though there are not very many members, that are a lot of active ones which is great.
We ended last transfer with a buffet which was a lot of fun. When I left Surin, we had a lot of investigators who were progressing very well and had several people lined up to be baptized. I'm excited to hear back from Surin and everything that'll happen there. Because we emailed very early last week, there's a lot that has happened. I was able to go visit Surin last Saturday during the Elder Holland visit. I was able to catch up with a lot of people and a bunch of RC's. It was great to visit my greenie area again. It was basically a really busy last couple of weeks. We taught, worked, played, traveled a ton, and did a lot of packing.
The most exciting things to sum up that happened these past few weeks would be: we went to an RC and investigator's house and helped them clean up their pond. It was quite and interesting boating experience. Also, we tried to kill a chicken with our bare hands with no success.
I am training again (follow-up) training. My companion has been out six weeks, but since he was the only Elder in his MTC group, he was very prepared to come out - not to mention that he works very hard and is very diligent.
It's always hard to move, but saying goodbye is just opening a new opportunity to say hello another day. Each move (This is only my third), seems to be easier than the last, and I think of 2 Nephi 33:7 - "I have charity for my people, and great faith in Christ that I shall meet many souls spotless at his judgment-seat." D&C 16:6 "And now, behold, I say unto you, that the thing which will be of the most worth unto you will be to declare repentance unto this people, that you may bring souls unto me, that you may rest with them in the kingdom of my Father. Amen." That's why we're out here.
Love you lots,
Elder Sun
The person on the bottom right of the buffet picture is an investigator. =)
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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