Helloooooo familia that I love! I'M IN KHON KAEN!!!! Literally a dream come true and answered prayers!! I am so beyond happy you can't even imagine! My new companion is that "lucky duck" Sister Carter! Originally there were 4 elders and 2 sisters. Now they've switched up to have 4 sisters and 2 elders. Sister Carter and Sister Broeder were originally companions, but they got split up and I am now companions with Sister Carter, and Sister Broeder is companions with Sister Sawangwong!! We live in the same house! This has turned out so perfectly and even better than I ever imagined! Not only that, but Elder Heras is my DL again, and his comp is Elder Lingard. He keeps joking that he just can't get rid of me and Sister Sawangwong. haha So, I am so excited! It's only been a couple of days and I love it all so much already. It's way fun living in a 4 sister house. Never had that before and I love it. These girls are so awesome!
Last Monday
was the best birthday EVER! I just love my Bangkapi family so much. They made it
so special for me and I felt so much love. On Monday we went to Ikea and it was
a blast. We ate Swedish food for lunch and took pictures in all the display
rooms. Then I bought 70% dark chocolate. Perfect day. That evening we had
family home evening at Sister O's house. It was her one year anniversary as a
member of the church, and her birthday as well. So, it was an extra special
celebration. So many people came and, as you saw, they gave me the special
treatment. I got the cake and your amazing birthday video! That was the
funnest thing ever! I wish I could keep that somehow. But I had Jane show it to
me a few times again before I left Bangkapi. THANK YOU SO MUCH! I just
absolutely loved seeing you and the ward family! So, it seriously was the most perfect birthday. I can't even write how
extremely happy I was that day just being surrounded by these amazing people
that I love so much, and getting a surprise visit from my own family as well.
Best day ever! :)
And to add to
this amazing day, Sister Nok from Mahasarakham randomly called me to wish me
happy birthday!! Of course, her number was not saved in the phone, so at first
I had no idea who was singing happy birthday to me, but I soon figured it out.
I was so excited to hear her! I love Sister Nok so much. She really took care
of us out there in Mahasarakham and she had a really strong influence on me.
So, it was amazing to talk to her. She said that Cream and her mom, Yui are
still way active and strong. Amazing! She also said she plans on going to next
transfer meeting to meet with me, Sister Crockett, and Sister Mullen! At the
time I didn't know where I was going to be transferred to, and she told me to
pray really hard and then call Pres. Senior and ask him to send me to either Roi Et
or Khon Kaen. haha We were just joking... but I got sent here regardless! I
cannot wait to go to Mahasarakham!!
Okay, so
Wednesday was our big good-bye day at Bangkapi. After Book of Mormon class and
ward council meeting finished we all took a million pictures together, and it
sounds like you probably got to see most of them! haha Mom, that adorable
picture that you saw on Facebook was drawn by Sister Su for me. Is that the
sweetest thing ever?? I have it tucked away safely in my journal! So, it was so
great to spend a couple last minutes with everyone before we all headed out the
next day.
Thursday was
transfers and it was so much fun! Before the meeting started all the
missionaries that had made it to Bangkok by lunchtime went to Que Pasa
together. Afterwards, transfer meeting started. Lots of changes made! They reduced Bangkapi in half. They took out
Elders from Lad Phrao, as well as another Bangkapi companionship. So, there's
just Sister Peterson and Sister Barton, and Elder Heiner (DL) and his new comp.
I think with moving the church they can't really feasibly have church in Lad
Phrao anymore. So, that was interesting. E. Black is now DL in Udon, E. Heras
is here with me in Khon Kaen, E. Proctor is in Bangkae, E. Gage is in Sakhonnakon and E. Gettavong is in Samut Prakan. Also, Sister
Steele and Sister Sahagun opened up a sister area for Thonburi! They are going
to be the power companionship! Sister Mullen is going to finish her mission in
Gamphengphet and Sister Crockett is in Roi Et. She's my STL. Sis. Narayanan is
in Bangbuathong!
So, lots of
exciting changes!
So, the last
few days have been quite the adventure. There was quite a bit of chaos just
getting to Khon Kaen, but we made it safely! Since there used to be 4 elders
and 2 sisters before, and it's switched, we also switched houses! So, we are
living in a super nice house almost next door to the church! Wahoo! This may be
the nicest house in the mission, but I'm positive it's been left in the worst
condition. We literally spent at least half of Friday throwing away
junk from the last elders and scrubbing the house down. Now I know... be wary
if you ever inherit an elder’s house! Anyway, it's squeaky clean now and so
nice. There are 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, and living area and a kitchen. There's
also a large yard area- perfect for working out! Unfortunately, the previous
elders never paid their bills so they shut off our water the first day we were
here and we had to go Thai style for a few days. haha We filled buckets with
water from the church's hose and used that to bathe. Once they finally turned
our water back on, it only came out green for about a day. But, it's all back
to normal now. I'll admit, these are exactly the things that I love. So, it's been fun moving
and getting everything squared away!
So, in the last
month or so, there were 30 baptisms in Khon Kaen which is just amazing and
unheard of for this area. So exciting! However, none of them have received the
after baptism lessons, and we don't really have detailed records of them, so
we've been trying to coordinate with each other and the members to figure out
who all of these new members are. Especially after church yesterday when only
about 15 or less of them showed up. So, I think a really big part of our work
here in Khon Kaen is going to be helping these recent converts become strong in the
church. We've got quite the task ahead of us, but it's going to be fun. We were
able to meet with three of the RC's yesterday, and have appts. scheduled for
this week as well. We also got two referrals! Which is great because we have no
investigators. Seeing miracles already. Contacting here has already proved to
be much more successful than it ever was in Sarakham. I'm way excited to be here and give it my all.
Also, this made
me laugh. A couple of nights ago Sister Nok called our phone, expecting to talk
with Elder Chambers (he was here before me and we have his phone... which used
to be our Sarakham phone) and when I answered she freaked out! haha Excited to
see her at some point!
So, at our
house there is much wildlife. Inside the house we have this lizard called a
Tukee that no one can catch. It looks like a gecko and Thai people are way
scared of them. They make a funny noise and they are really cool looking. Anyway
we really need to find it and get rid of it, but a few nights ago I heard it and
then I started dreaming about iguanas. Just a random fyi.
The branch
here had 47 people at church yesterday, but just last month they had 70 + with
all the recent converts. Going to do all we can to get that back up to where it
should be. The Branch President is named P. Thongsuk and he is great. There's
really awesome leadership in this branch.
I'm
beyond excited to be back in the Esan and feel so extremely blessed. I love you
all so much!
Love,
Sister Stevenson
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