Dear Mom,
We had zone conference the past couple of days. So much great training and insights. Roi-et is ready to work hard and the members are all very supportive in this effort. It was also a great opportunity to see some members that I knew from other areas. Other than the great zone training, the other highlight this past week was just this past Sunday. We had two baptisms and a good turn out at church. It was a greatSunday and overall a great week.
This past transfer, we have focused on the essential doctrine of repentance. We have talked a lot about repentance in our companionship studies and as a district here in Roi-et. The principle of repentance is something that we all incorporate into our daily lives in everything that we do. It is also something that I didn't full understand until dedicating much study to it. One thing that I am going to work on applying the most from zone conference is just that. Repentance. I want to see the change in myself and be the change that I need to be in order to be truly repentant. Our hearts is the difference between better and best. It's this repentance that changes our hearts and changes us to become more like our Father in Heaven. I was impressed by the passages of scripture in 1 Cor 13. We may give all that we have, our time, energy, and bodies, but if our hearts are not where they need to be, we will not benefit from the things we give. Being repentant, I learned, is not just giving things up or doing good things, but it is a literal change in our very nature - in our very hearts.
One investigator who was baptized on Sunday was a sweet old soul. She was the mom of the husband of a member here in Roi-et. When we taught her that we had to obey God and follow Christ in order to return to live with them, she asked us what it is that she had to do. We taught her about changing our lives, to repent, to have faith in him, and to be baptized. She showed such a great desire to follow Christ and a strong determination. She showed how humble she was before God and was willing to face and overcome anything to come unto him. It's been really cold here recently, but as the days of her baptism grew closer, she simply said how she would just have to endure the cold because of how important baptism is. The day of the baptism, the font was cold. But she, with a smile, went into the water and said it wasn't cold. Her smile was even bigger as came up out of the water.
The second investigator was someone who we had met with and taught for over a month. She had always understood what we taught her from the start. She was the older sister of two recent converts in Roi-et. We went over to their house to just sit with and teach the two recent converts. It was the second time we had ever visited them. The first visit we simply stopped by and said hello - but we also got to meet their two parents and this sister, too. We went to teach these two RCs, but as we were started, we asked if they could call her sister over. Since that day, we started teaching their sister. At first, she didn't believe in God or know very much. She showed that she could remember all the things we taught her, but it wasn't until she began praying, reading, and coming to church regularly did she know that God really did live. She said she has felt God's love and help as she has tried to keep the commandments. She has shown forth her honest love for the Gospel by invited several of her friends to come to learn with us in addition to helping us teach. She is able to explain Gospel principles in a clear, and simple way that others can understand. She is the older sister of these two RCs, but they are good examples for her.
It is such a blessing to be able to see people's faith in Christ grow as they at first say maybe this is true to being able to testify to others that it is true. We've also been able to see this powerful truth in the testimonies of others that we have worked with and are working with here.
Christ lives. He atoned for us. He enables us to overcome all of the weakness, doubt, and fear in the world and ourselves. Through Him, we can know that God loves us. That we are His children. And that He wants us to return to live with Him. I know that these are eternal truths. I know that as we reach out to Him, we will find that He has been reaching out to us the whole time. I am so grateful to be able to not just know, but to feel that He loves me. I am so, so incapable of adequately describing how I feel because God loves us much, much more than we can even understand.
-Sister Sun. A member from Buriram. What a nice name, right?
-Members from Surin. Flashbacks.
-Baptism. I don't have any good pictures. But I'll get some from the other missionaries later.
-We found a dead bird at the church.
ขอแสดงความนับถือ, Sincerely,
เอ็ลเดอร์ ซัน Elder Sun
ผู้สอนศาสนา Missionary
ศาสนจักรของพระเยซูคริสต์แห่งวิสุทธิชนยุคสุดท้าย The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
คณะเผยแผ่ กรุงเทพฯ, ประเทศไทย Bangkok, Thailand Mission
No comments:
Post a Comment