Ties in Thailand: A new transfer, old area!

Dear Mom,

This past week was such a great week. First off, I have a new companion. Elder Curtis as moved about 30 minutes away to an area called Rangsit. My new companion Elder Parker, is such a great missionary. He's such a hard worker and you can tell how much love he has for missionary work and the Lord. I am ever impressed with his diligence and quiet dignity. He is so humble, too. His example of patience and hope is so powerful.

This week we've started talking about the vision we want to have for this transfer and I'm very excited. I'm confident we're going to see much growth in the zone this transfer especially. We have a lot of new district leaders in the district and they each bring something new and great to the zone and their areas. Next month, we'll have stake conference. Every stake conference, I'm so excited. This stake conference, we have a goal to form a new stake. The formation of stakes is a huge, huge sign of growth and increasing strength in His church. I am still so excited whenever we talk about it.

At the start of this transfer, I received in the mail from the office a set of papers called 'Death Papers'. The last six months of a missionary's mission here, we are given a comitment to sign to Sprint to the Finish. Having received my 'death' papers this transfer, I've had a great opportunity to reflect on how I have changed and grown on my mission. Seeing change in ourselves is something that I feel is really hard. We often fail to see the growth in ourselves and get stuck in a rut of "Am I making sufficient progress in becoming more like our Savior". I really like the talk "What Lack I Yet" by Elder Lawrence. If we ever wonder what we lack or where we should improve, we can remember we are promised personal revelation on this. While thinking about the goals that I want to set for the rest of my mission, I've thought about where I was, where I am and how it has been getting here. I've thought about what I REALLY want to get out of my mission. I've set some 'Sprint to the Finish' goals of things that I've decided that I'm going to continually ponder on as the letter stated to do. We had a great lesson in Elder's Quorum centered entirely around 'What Lack I yet' and we talked specifically about taking time out to ponder on spiritual things. I've thought about this and also looked at Elder Curtis's example too. He was really good at self evaluation and he often mentioned about how he has changed on his mission. I've decided to take the commitment from the joping papers and Elders Quorum and really ponder on these things everyday.

We've had several great experiences with ward leaders here, stake leaders, and meetings with the ward and stake from ward council to stake training on member missionary work. I feel a great sense of urgency, excitement, seriousness, charity, humility in the work at this time. The work is progressing well. We have several investigators progressing well, others who are facing the wall of faith, and others who are just starting planting their faith.

I know that this church is true. I know that God lives and loves us. I know that the Lord has more blessings in store planned for us than we can imagine. I know that as we pray for the gift of charity (Moroni 7:48) and for the opportunity to help and serve others (Alma 6:6), the Lord will put opportunities in our path and we will see the truthfulness of the promised joy in DC 18:15-16.