So about 2 years ago in November the number of baptisms doubled if not tripled for the entire mission due to faith, prayer and WORK. That event is now known as November (Baptism + November). Every November since then the entire mission has all this energy and faith to make Bovember happen again--and we have definitely caught the wave. I don't know what it is (Bovember is in the air) but we have exploded with new investigators. We have had 3-4 in the last week! We have 2-3 baptisms scheduled for November and we are so excited! Bovember III is coming so prepare yourselves!
THAI
I forgot to mention this last week but I translated church for the first time! The elders have 2 investigators from Pakistan and Elder Bradner translated sacrament meeting, but in Relief Society it was all up to me. I was so scared, but I prayed to have the Holy Ghost. It definitely was not translated word for word, but I did it! There was this part of the lesson I had no idea what was happening, so I told her and we kind of laughed while I still tried to understand. Turns out they were talking about the ways to know if gold is real or not...haha it made me feel so much better to know that it was a super random topic and not just my lack of Thai. The gift of tongues is so real! I have learned so much these last 2 months and cannot wait to continue learning. I am so grateful to a loving Father in Heaven for investing so much time in a young sister missionary in Thailand..without Him I would be nowhere near where I am now.
NEW INVESTIGATOR--Brother Chai
Last Monday we had exactly 0 members come to Family Home Evening..so we went out contacting! Usually contacting at night in Thailand is not super effective because everyone goes to bed very early and no one is up and willing to postpone sleep to learn about Jesus. But this night was different. I don't know what it was but I felt so much power every time I spoke--and it started with Brother Chai.
We were leaving the street our meeting house was on when I saw a man (about 60 years old) on the other side of the road. Usually we will try to talk to them across the road and they will brush us off, so we will keep going, but this time I crossed and immediately started talking. I don't know why (I was being prompted) but I started differently then I usually do and asked if he had ever learned about Christ before. When he said yes I was taken back a little bit but felt prompted to reply with a question, asking him how he felt when he learned...he thought for a little bit then said "I felt...good" We kept talking and got another appointment with him! The next day he didn't show, so we called him and told him it would take just be 10 minutes. An hour after talking with us (and a member) he left the meeting house! We ended up teaching a full lesson. He was the most inquisitive investigator I have ever taught. He thought through everything we taught him trying to make sense of it (which can be very difficult for people with a Buddhist background.) He is obviously an educated man so it was fascinating to see someone so intrigued! I have so much faith in Brother Chai!
We have taught him 2 lessons (full of questions in each of them) and he came to church yesterday!! We are SO excited for him! He has learned with missionaries before, so we are praying that this time he will be ready to fully accept this message. Everything that happened that night was God directing us to find one of His prepared children, and I hope and pray that we will be the missionaries he needs. MIRACLES are happening and I am so SO blessed to be a part of them.
RANDOM/FUNNY
- Our mission is sometimes referred to as TBM (Thailand Bangkok Mission) but this week in English study Sister Bilivanh changed it to Thailand Black-shirt Mission (because we are wearing all black for 30 days..hahaha we thought it was so funny)
- We were contacting the other day when a girl walked by with a bag in English..I read it and was shocked because it said "University of Utah." I could not believe my eyes! I ran and caught up to her to ask if she did was a foreign exchange student or anything..turns out she had no idea what 'Utah' was so I assume she just found the bag at a random store. How crazy is that?
- We were helping a member (9 years old) write her part for the primary program because her mom isn't an active member. She was so cute, but she could not pronounce my name, so she renamed me...Sister Hamburger at your service!
-Primary Program-Basically the cutest day of Thailand's history. The ward only has 7 kids in primary, so a member who's child is about 1 year old wheeled her son up to the front in his stroller and propped up a hymn book to make the primary bigger. IT WAS SO CUTE. AH! Also each kid had to prepare their own talk about a topic and it was GREAT because the talks were super simple so I could understand sacrament meeting! SO CUTE!
I love you all, thank you so much for your support. I know that if we put our trust in God, He will show us where we need to go (and we won't even realize it). We didn't know why no one came to Family Home Evening, but after meeting Brother Chai, things were made clear. Trust in God and I promise things will work out!
ร้ก มาก มาก
Sister Hamburger
PS. We were just notified yesterday that if each ward in our stake (Bangkok East) doesn't baptize 5 priesthood holding men (Brother Chai can be one of them!) in the next month or so our stake has to drop down to a district next year--this is heartbreaking. If we don't have enough stakes the temple in Thailand might be postponed as well. It seems impossible but Bovember is in the air and we are ready to WORK--We are asking for your prayers this upcoming month!! Miracles can happen!
So our district leader called me to be Bang Na's English Leader... Considering I'm a greenie, I really didn't know what I was doing. I started praying SO hard for the English program in Bang Na (it was really struggling) and for me to know things I could do to help. The first week we had 4 people come, then the next week we had 9 NEW PEOPLE REGISTER. I couldn't believe it. God works miracles as long as we ask Him to!!
Memorial for the king at the church (the white and black drapes are everywhere!)
We got a picture because we looked like a checkerboard together with the black and white! Have about 15 more days of mourning (no color)
Haha this is an inside joke--but I LOVE HER!
Haha the clouds were so pretty that day so I kept looking at them--Sister Bilivanh thought I was crazy so she kept taking pictures
Again, making fun of me for taking pictures of the clouds. What a terrible companion. Ah! I love her so much!
Said clouds I thought were gorgeous.
Yay for food!
Food craving of the week--Somtdam (Thailand is known for it) It is shredded papaya with other stuff and so delicious! (If it isn't spicy...)
This is me preaching to a chicken. We entertain ourselves in a variety of ways while waiting for members to come.
Haha after I took my picture with it Sister Bilavanh said "wait I want one" then just picked it up. I obviously need to be more bold in my contacting.
How gorgeous is this sunset??
Okay so the mini snail next to it is a normal snail...then there is that guy. THEY ARE SO BIG.
Love these cute little streets
At first I definitely thought these were mini potatoes...turns out they are fruit, and Sister Bilavanh LOVES them.
Sister News (aka best member in Bang Na) went to Laos the other week and didn't get me anything, I gave her a hard time about it so the next day she brought me this! LOVE HER.
Sunday night dinners on the roof :)
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