Hello familia!
I forgot to
tell you last week, but we had mission tour this week! So fun! Mission tour is
when President and Sister Senior go to every zone accompanied by an area
seventy. This time it was Elder Larry Y. Wilson and his wife. So, on Tuesday we
headed up to Udon for the conference on Wednesday. It's always a nice
break to just sit on a bus and talk and sleep. I always look forward to bus
rides! haha Anyway, that night we stayed in a hotel close to the Udon church with
missionaries from Khon Kaen and Udon zones. So much fun!
Wednesday was
awesome! Meetings started around 9:00 and the main theme of the meeting was
using the Book of Mormon more in our teachings. I learned a lot! Elder and
Sister Wilson taught how we can use 1 Nephi 1 to reemphasize/reteach principles
from the Restoration lesson. I've never read 1 Nephi 1 through the lens of the
Restoration, but it's way interesting to do and an awesome tool for helping
our investigators. Elder Wilson really wanted us to have our recent converts
and less actives read the Book of Mormon all the way through within one year.
He asked us to read 1 Nephi 1 with them, then give them a "trailer"
or preview for the following chapters. He talked about how the first few
chapters are high drama with all the prophesying/ traveling/ being chased by
soldiers/ head chopping, etc... He had us split into groups and create our own
movie trailers for the first 4 or 5 chapters of 1 Nephi. Fun! His point was
that there is so much crazy, interesting stuff in those chapters that it should
really hook the reader if we present it right. So, that was interesting, and
I'm excited to use that more! Also, later on in the meeting I got called on to
give a talk about 1 Nephi 1. I felt a little silly giving it after we'd learned
all these great new insights about the first chapter, but it went fine.
Also, big news:
This mission met and exceeded its goal for the month of "Bovember!"
There were 109 baptisms this month with 80% of companionships baptizing
someone. There were also 62 rescues! So so so exciting! This is unheard of and
I'm so happy for the awesome month and how hard everyone worked. I think it has
really united us all in the mission!
So, our goal
for next month from President Senior is for our recent converts to really start
reading the Book of Mormon, fill out a 4 generation pedigree chart, and for us
to get more referrals! Exciting!
So, this was a
really, really great conference and I learned a lot. As always, it's such a
boost to meet with President and Sister Senior and see all our fellow
missionaries! For lunch, a senior couple in Udon (the Harts) put on a
Thanksgiving feast for us, complete with pumpkin cookies. In heaven!
The meetings
went pretty late, so all the missionaries going down toward Mahasarhakham and
Roi Et missed our busses. So we ended up staying overnight in Udon. So much
fun! We went with Galasin sisters to Central (a HUGE mall) for dinner and saw a
whole bunch of Christmas lights. They were even playing Christmas music inside!
That night we stayed at the Udon sisters' house. So much fun to catch up with
them. Sister Maughan from MT is being trained in Udon by Sister Sahagun. She is
the cutest! It was fun to get to know her a little better.
So, Thursday
morning we caught a bus back to Sarakham. That night we were invited to the
wedding of Brother Don and Sister Ey! They are two members in our branch and
they are just the cutest! Brother Don is in the branch presidency. Anyway,
their wedding was probably the most hi-so thing I've ever been to. Especially
in Thailand! It was held at this super nice hotel. There were hundreds of
tables and hundreds of guests. They served literally a 7 + course meal,
including shark fin soup (pretty tasty, and apparently reserved for the elite).
There was a live band and professional photographers all over the place. It was soooo fun! We sat with members from the branch and had
quite a grand evening!
On Friday we
had a nice lesson with Sister Bung. We told her the story of the Stripling
Warriors and how their mothers had raised them in righteousness and taught them
to obey God. For that reason they were courageous in going to war because they
knew God was on their side. We told her that we believe she is like these
mothers because she is raising her family in righteousness. We asked her if
she'd continue to be a good example like these mothers by being baptized on the
15th. She said she'd try! Really, really hoping!
We also had a
nice lesson and visit with Bu. She's taken up crocheting and wants to teach us!
Later in the
day we were out contacting and we saw a lady selling traditional Thai skirts
for
180 ฿!!! We each grabbed two and wore them to the Thanksgiving
dinner that night! So fun! I've been keeping my eye open for a good deal!
That night the
Thanksgiving dinner was so fun! At 6:00 we had a little program. Sister Crockett and I shared Thanksgiving
traditions in the states and then bore our testimonies. Then others came up to
share their thoughts. Brother Wright also gave a nice talk. After that we had a
great feast put on by Sister Wright! Most importantly, we had PUMPKIN PIE! We
four missionaries died of happiness! And
we got a TON of it because none of the members seemed too fond of it. Too
falang-ish! haha
So, we
definitely got an awesome Thanksgiving celebration in both Udon and Sarakham!!!
Anyway, it's
been an awesome, fun, crazy week. Oh!!! President and Sister Senior gave us
Christmas music that we can listen to until the 29th of this month! Soooo
excited! We listen to it all the time. It even has Josh Groban!
I love you all so much! Skype date coming up soon! Wahoooo!
Love, Liz
