Helllloooooo amazing family! I love you all so much!
I am
really craving that homemade Cafe Rio dinner! Muy sabroso!! อา่รอยมาก! Today for Cinco de Mayo we were going
to go to a Mexican place that has tacos and pie, but we may save that for
district meeting. haha So, today we'll just speak in Spanish (now that all I
can really remember is "hola"...)
Well, this has
been a grand week with lots of miracles! There was one investigator of the
elders baptized yesterday. Her name is Sister Pet and she is so cute! I love
this lady. She loves to travel and she wants to take us to see all the major
sites in Thailand. Maybe when we come back! Anyway, she gave a really
nice testimony. When she met with the missionaries she all of a sudden felt
like she was loved and supported and was now part of a family. She changed her
life around and is so happy to be a part of this ward family and to have the
gospel to guide her life now.
First of all:
BROTHER WOOT AND SISTER NADIA ARE BACK AND ARE GOING TO BE BAPTIZED!!!
Do you remember
these two? Well, he learned with us
(Sis.Sawangwong and me) and was about to interview with the mission presidency
when he all of a sudden left out of nowhere and we couldn't contact him. Last
Monday I decided to just give his mom a call in case he'd happened to come back
and he had! He came to English class on Tuesday and to church on Sunday. He is
excited to be baptized and he has been keeping the commandments. Such a huge
miracle!
Also, Nadia
came back on Wednesday. We taught her back in December and she returned to the
South to spend time with her Mom before she could get baptized. She ended up
staying down there way longer than she expected, and we kind of lost touch with
her because she stopped answering her phone. However, she's back! She said she
prayed to Heavenly Father every day when she was back home that she'd be able
to get back to Bangkapi to be baptized. She's been reading her scriptures and
keeping the commandments! She keeps telling us how grateful she is to God that
she's back! Amaaaazing! So excited!
Another awesome
story! So, we have two recent converts (that Sis. Orchard/Sawangwong baptized)
named Bua and Boon. They are sisters and are so cute. They love the gospel and
they love to share it. Well, turns out they have a 15 year old younger sister
who they've started bringing to activities and church. I think they've already
shared quite a bit with her about the gospel. We've started teaching her. The
last lesson we had was the plan of salvation. She loved it all and understood
it so well. I asked if she believed the things that we teach and she said she
really does. She accepted a date to be baptized. Her sisters were soooo
excited. Her closing prayer was the sweetest. She told Heavenly Father that she
really likes His Plan and that she wants to follow Him. She also asked for Him
to open her parent’s hearts to let her be baptized. It was the sweetest most
heartfelt little prayer. So, we're going to do all we can for Sister Su to be
baptized!
Okay, so last
week I contacted into a few Nigerian men who all came to church. We, and E. Black, are teaching them just because of the way things worked out, and
J. has a date to be baptized for the 18th. He's married with a 6 year old
son and has been working here in Thailand for the last 7 years. He's so
awesome! I really love teaching him. He has lots of good questions and really
likes what we teach. So many blessings this week!
Also, yesterday
Sister Boat gave the sweetest testimony. She talked about how before she was a
member of this church she would fight all the time with her mom and she felt so
bad. She said once she was baptized and confirmed and understood the gospel
better she gained patience and love that she hadn't had before and now she has
a much better relationship with her mom. She got emotional about it and I could
really feel the Spirit in the room. I love Sister Boat so much!
It's just amazing how the gospel changes every aspect of our lives.
The longer I'm out the more I understand the gospel and our relationship with
God and Jesus Christ. These are priceless truths that we have and I'm
continually gaining a better appreciation for the opportunity I have right now
to share it! I LOVE being a missionary!
In other news,
yes, Young Ambassadors came yesterday to Changwattana. I wanted to go so bad! But, we couldn't first of all, and second of all we had a lot going on
yesterday. However, Jane showed me a picture from one of their shows
previous to yesterday's fireside. I saw Taylor Morris in the picture and told
her to find him and tell him hello from me. She called me and was all excited to tell me that
she'd found him. The members here are just so cute!
Also, turns out
Friday was actually Sister Ploy's real birthday--the one we gave the "word
of wisdomless" cupcakes to (as Grandma puts it haha). So, we made her a
cake and took it to her. I think she was way pleased. Half the ward came to
drop it off at her house, too. She felt special!
E. Hartman left
a huge bag of macaroni and cheese that his mom sent him and the members wanted
to know how to make it. So, at sports day we taught them how. It was not a
hit... they all started putting ketchup, vinegar, and chili powder to spice it
up. I gave a bowl to a little kid to eat and he left the room. He came
back a few minutes later and looked a little distraught and asked where the fish
sauce was. haha So, mac 'n cheese seems to be a no go here.
On Saturday we
had some fun adventures. We decided to get our favorite Thai dish at KFC to
start our fast, and that was a good choice because we got quite a show there.
We were sitting down waiting for our food and a worker came up to us gave us
these little flags that she wanted us to wave because the workers were going to
do a dance for their boss/inspector person that was coming shortly. I was kind
of confused. haha Anyway, a few minutes later the boss shows up, Gangnam style type music starts playing and all the workers come out from behind the
counter with pom-poms and start doing this pre-choreographed dance adding in
some cheers and shouts, too. Sister Peterson waved our flags in the corner and
felt kind of weird, but it was funny and so entertaining. I just don't ever see
that happening in KFC at home... haha Great start to the afternoon. Later,
while we were contacting we found this awesome Khlong path that was so thick
with foliage and beautiful.
We are so grateful for the amazing experiences we are having here and the wonderful people we are working with!
We get
to skype next Monday!!! Wahooo!
I love you all
sooooooo much!
Love,
Sister Liz Stevenson
