Sister Hammon: Week 11 - McDonalds Miracle and Monsoon Mayhem

What a week! Honestly time has started to fly by. The theme for this week was rain and travel and hopefully I can explain it all!

STORIES

MCDONALDS MIRACLE

Haha okay so we were planning one night (in Thai because of my Thai trainer) and we were planning our lessons for the next day and she said we would teach in McDonalds (I thought I heard her wrong so I asked to clarify if we were eating or teaching in McDonalds..she said teaching) Haha I thought it was weird but apparently it is totally normal. SO! The next day we taught the Restoration in McDonalds and it was AMAZING. The spirit was so strong and it was a testimony to me that no matter the place, the spirit will testify of the truthfulness of our message. The woman we were teaching agreed to another appointment which means we got a new investigator! That day we ended up teaching 3 lessons in McDonalds and they were all great! Also we got TWO new investigators in one day so we are basically pro. (AKA-God is pro and he lets us take some of the glory sometimes)

MONSOON MAYHEM

Okay so it is rainy season in Thailand right now. Usually about once a day it will rain really hard for about 5 minutes, then lighten up, then turn back to sunshine. So my comp and I were about to leave the church when bam, it started pouring. We waited until it lightened up and went on our way to a less active's house (thinking it would stop soon) Hahaha we were wrong. Very wrong. For the next 3 hours we walked in a monsoon. It was so fun! Thai's kind of hate the rain (especially when it gets on your head) so no one was on the street. We were laughing and it just kept raining harder and harder. SO after about 45 minutes we made it to the LA's house annnnnd....she wasn't home! Haha so we continued in the rain and it was joyous. Honestly I will never forget that day because of how much fun we had. We ended up going back to our apartment, changed, then taught another amazing lesson at McDonalds!

1000 BAHT SIGNATURE

So the group of missionaries I came in with was huge! It takes a week to get a work permit in Thailand so we all had to gather at Nonthanburi Hall to receive our permit. My companion and I woke up around 5:30, took a 500 baht ($15) taxi ride and got lost for about 2 hours then we finally made it around 8:30! I got to see all of my MTC people and it was SUCH a blessing. Goodness I love them. Anyway so I went up to the big group of missionaries talking, I was handed a paper and a man told me to sign it, I signed it and he told me I was done. We took a 500 baht taxi ride back and that was that. And alas the story of the 1000 Baht signature was born. It's okay though, I am so blessed because the Northern missionaries traveled for over 12 hours so no complaining from me!

Finally found the city hall!

We walked through a beautiful park after city hall.

MINI MIRACLE

So on my first day my companion told me that we have an investigator from Spain. I was kind of shocked but SO intrigued because my grandma is from Spain and I am 1/4 Spanish Basque! Anyway we had our first lesson with him this week (in English which was such a blessing) and not only is he from Spain but he is BASQUE just like my grandma!! The Basque population is tiny and my mouth dropped when I heard that! It is not a coincidence that I am in Bang Na! I cannot wait to continue teaching him!

Okay that is all the stories I have for you, but now here are some random things!

THAILAND

-Every taxi has seat belts but not the buckle and every time I get in a taxi I go to buckle. When I get back to America I'm going to have to put on a seat belt and I am terrified I won't remember they exist haha

-Also about the driving, it is just a party for everyone and it makes me smile haha

-Everything closes super early! Around 8 PM things just kind of shut down. (which explains why we started our fast with McDonalds when we didn't have time to get food until 8:30)

Starting our fast with good old McDonalds.

-I already said this but Thai's hate when the top of their head gets wet, so basically they hate rain

-Also they are super concerned with getting tan, so when it is sunny everyone has umbrellas...except falangs of course

-I didn't think this would be a problem in Thailand, but we have had investigators stolen by Jehovah's Witnesses! I now understand what my siblings said about them.

-This is super random, but every week we teach English and I have to teach alone because if a Khon Thai teaches it doesn't have as much validity. Anyway I taught alone (which was so crazy) but SO fun! The people are so eager to learn and happy and ah! Love it. I can't believe I get to do it every week for my entire mission!

FUNNY

-Probably one of the saddest/funniest moments in Thailand happened this week. My comp, myself, and a member were waiting for our investigator to finish buying a drink. When she finished she walked up to us holding 4 teas! Wow! Haha we all just kind of stood there in shock. Our investigator was so happy to give it to us! We took them, not knowing what else to do, the member turns to me and says "I think I am going to cry. What do we do?!" We ended up just leaving them in front of us during a lesson and then she left, not asking any questions. Haha it was just such a surprise/random thing I thought it was so funny/terribly sad.

-My comp and I were walking by an older man holding a little girl who was crying, she wouldn't stop and right when I walked by he said, "What? Is it because you are scared of falangs?" Haha the joys of being the only white person

THAI

To quote Nephi, "I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things."

Haha it is so good! I can tell I am getting a lot faster at reading but I'm still a slow speaker! I still just kind of follow my companion around but I think I am getting the hang of things! It is such a beautiful language and it will be a miracle when I can speak it!

CHALLENGE

I heard a quote this week that I loved, "SMILE - See Miracles In Life Everyday" So that is my challenge! Take a second to smile at the beautiful world around you! Life goes by so fast and missing a second would be a waste. I love my mission. It is so hard but so, so rewarding. I know that God helps me through every second of everyday and for that I am eternally grateful. After all life is so much better when you smile through it!

Have a wonderful week and don't forget to SMILE:)

Much much love,

Sister Hammon

A wat is a buddhist temple in Thailand. We see them everywhere.

Here is a wat we passed on the way to Zone Training!

Our investigator parks her car for her house by two wats. How crazy is that?? I got out my camera to take pictures and our investigator (Bo) looks at my companion and at the same time they say, "Falang" (white person) Haha they aren't even slightly interested by wats. I think it is hilarious.

IT IS MONSOON SEASON!

Again, WATERful : )

My companion doesn't have any water shoes but we had to walk through the flood

so she looks at her shoes, looks at me, puts the sandals on and says "don't tell president."

haha love her!

[open toed shoes not allowed on the mission]

After the Monsoon we tried to go back and change out of our wet clothes

and we found this tree down. haha

PHOTOS AT THE WARD HOUSE

The best members in Thailand -- aka -- THE TRIO

visiting with the Bang Na Elders

Love these people

I guess I didn't get the memo.

Every Sunday we eat on the roof so I wanted a picture of our view!

FOOD AND DRINKS

THE BEST SMOOTHIES!

No sugar added, only fruit and ice.

When my companion became a member she had to stop drinking tea,

so she now is in love with this soda from a tea place. SUPER GOOD!

Mom. I made french toast and it was probably my greatest idea yet.

SO GOOD!

We showed up to teach at a member's house and she brought out pancake mix!

Holy cow was I pumped.

FUN WITH MY COMPANION

So last P-day my companion told me she wanted to take a nap because training was exhausting her

~ Yeah I'm pretty hard to deal with ; ) ~

I thought it would be a quick nap but 5 hours later I woke her up because p-day was over!

I was wandering around the apartment so I took a selfie. The end.

Okay! So our A/C is right over my bed and sometimes it leaks water.

The night before this picture I woke up around 3 AM to a STREAM of water falling on my face. Haha My bed was basically a pool. We were both so confused because it was 3 AM.

Anyway we just turned it off and went back to bed,

but the next few nights I will be sleeping with an umbrella just to be safe ; )