Testifying in Thailand: 7/5/15... This week was seriously so awesome...

BAPTISM of พ่อสอ!!

family!

To start off, I just have to say... I will forever have fun, fond memories of Loretta and will never forget her sweet example and friendship towards our family. Love you guys, Mitzels/ friends and fam!

I just finished the Doctrine and Covenants this week and I love how some of the final sections really remind us of Heavenly Father's perfect plan and perfect love. One of my faves, Section 133 verse 45 the Lord reveals:

"For since the beginning of the world have not men heard nor perceived by the ear, neither hath any eye seen, O God, besides thee, how great things thou hast prepared for him that waiteth for Thee"

So good.. It gives us peace when we see loved ones go, that they are in His rest, undoubtedly heirs of all that He has, and gives us motivation to "wait" for Him, to serve Him, to love Him, till we too meet Him someday. His plan is oh so generous, and oh so perfect!

Anyways, you guys, this week was seriously so awesome. It was literally so full of this and that and I don't even know how I am going to include it all, but I will do my best! here goes......

So I know you are probably wondering, and the answer is Yes, we LOVE the Johnsons! We had our little meet and greet with them and it was so special. We were all sitting in our chairs, and as soon as they walked in we started singing "Called to Serve" (at a normal pace, not a traditional TBM pace that you have maybe seen in the videos haha!) and the Spirit just filled the room. As they spoke to us, it was exactly that confirmation that President Eyring spoke of in one of his Conference talks about how those feelings of love and adoration that we feel for the Prophet are totally a gift from Heavenly Father to sustain His chosen servant...yeah I felt those 10 fold for both of them, and I am so excited to work under their guidance and direction. No, I didn't do the robot or anything, but I did give the closing prayer, so I just took the opportunity right after to go for the tried and true classic handshake with some casual conversation..... haha!

Seriously, the best part though. So on the way there, we stop at a gas station, and I am like 'ok I way have to use the bathroom.' So I am walking at kind of a swift pace with Sister Olsen and Sister Coates behind me. I notice this little "Safety First" sign on the ledge in front of the women's restroom, thinking it is just like some campaign for a safer Thailand or something and keep walking. Well I turn the corner, and suddenly I am like sinking into this quicksand substance........Totally walked into freshly poured concrete! HAHA like what?! why was it not blocked off?! I recover from the situation, wash my shoes off successfully, etc and we make it to the meet and greet. So President Johnson gets up after their little "Meet Us" slideshow, to address us and he totally pulls out caution tape and starts his talk on obedience with a story of a coworker of his going past caution tape (aka "Safety First" sign...) and winding up stuck in this glue (aka concrete...) and how we get stuck when we go past the rules etc. HAHA we were all dying. my life....

you guys I am seriously retarded sometimes.... HA

But yeah, I think next I just have to go to the story of พ่อสอ (Pah Sah) the tuktuk driver and his BAPTISM! So we go out to the boonies to teach him one last time and to review the baptismal questions. We teach the Plan of Salvation and get going on the bap questions, and we get to question 4 about crimes etc and I ask him if he has ever killed someone and he is totally like "Yes!" Sister Coates and I just look at each other like " there is NO WAY this guy has killed someone.." He is definitely kind of old and hard to understand, so we ask some kind of probing questions and it still stood that he had killed someone. Finally, after I don't know how long, it was understood that he used to do มวยไทย (thai fighting) and was like really good.. I guess it was just some pride for his past successful fighting career like "dang right I have killed someone in the ring!" HAHA Suddenly we were all picturing him in like a Nacho Libre outfit... just so relieved that he is good to go. HA

พอ่สอ (Pah Sah) the KILLER

So fast forward a few days to Sunday. He is there bright and early wearing a collared shirt and everything! Like 10 minutes before the third hour is going to end, we get him out of Priesthood to go change, go downstairs... and Sister Coates is like "SISTERS.... WE DID NOT TURN ON THE WATER!!" The font was completely empty, we had totally spaced it. So we turn on the faucets, say a quick prayer, and go search for buckets. Lucky for us, every stall in the bathroom has a bum sprayer, so we get this total system going of filling the garbage cans, passing them, dumping them... us, the Elders, แม่s (Mahs), and YW. I kid you not, we filled the font in 15 minutes (with the brownest water ever... curse the Thailand plumbing system), a serious manifestation of the Lord's help and hand right before our very eyes...AHH!! It was such a special baptism, he bore the sweetest testimony, and is just going to be a way solid member!

fillin' that FONT!!!!!!!!

this doesn't even capture the color!!

Sunday was seriously the most magical day ever... I just sat there in his baptism as we sang "Love at Home" while he was changing his clothes, and I was watching the dad of this little family that the Elder's are teaching right now, hold and look at his little girl while he sang the song... It was like I could just hear what he was thinking, like "yes, I have finally found it, I have found the thing that is going to make this little family of mine happy forever." My heart just kind of wanted to burst with happiness. This gospel, making covenants with Heavenly Father, having love at home, are really the happiest things this world has to offer and it is so special to feel it in your own life, and see it in the lives of others. OMG

สองนีว! (two fingers!)

Other parts that made this week the BEST:

-Reviewing the baptismal q's with แม่หวาน, the sister of one of the CUTEST old members here, realizing that she totally didn't have a marriage certificate... it is Saturday. Her baptism was supposed to be yesterday, and realizing that the gov office to get it would be open for 15 more minutes... in that moment we are like "LETS GO RIGHT NOW!" we say a closing prayer right away, start following in our little bike brigade, peddling as fast as we can to get there before it closes! hahaha of course like everything possible happened to slow us down, cars pulling out in front of us, barely getting through the rail road tracks before traffic was stopped for a train, but we made it!! Turns out her husband needed to be there too, so they are going to get it done today, and she is going to either be baptized tomorrow or next Sunday... haha crazy times

there comes แม่หวาน (Mah Waan) in her tuktuk to get that marriage certificate!

-Making แกงเขียวหวาน (green curry) with แม่ตี๋ว and taking it to go visit an RCLA family here, this grandma and grandpa and their granddaughter. We have done it a few times (green curry is the granddaughters fave!) and they are seriously the cutest family... We had a way good lesson on the Priesthood, really wanting Brother อุดมศัก (UdomSak) to see his duty to lead his family in the gospel. They totally came to church on Sunday... and HE BORE HIS TESTIMONY.

cooking with our แม่! her green curry is the BEST

-ต้อม (Thom!), one of the doctors from the hospital we took Bell to at the beginning of the transfer, who I totally taught like all 5 lessons to while we were waiting for two hours (haha! he was seriously so cool!) totally came to church!

-Brother ออง (Ong, the guard at our house) came to church EARLY and was wearing a white shirt! He is seriously so so late every week, this was a serious miracle.

-Sister Tilley, a Sister who served here coming to visit with her fam. It is so so fun to talk to Americans sometimes! They were all so nice.

Sister Tilley! (too many cameras... literally not one shot where we are all looking at the same one. oops!)
She is fabulous though!!

-Speaking of AMERICA... the Fourth of July was definitely celebrated, hard!! You best believe we wore our red, white and blue... and at the request of Sister Olsen and Sister Coates, we had a S'MORES roasting party! haha not my thing, but I definitely had some American Kettlecorn. We love AMERICA (and of course Thailand)

at the AMERICAN grocery store here getting our 4th of July goods

-having all of the members say "I AM A MORMON" in English one by one at Book of Mormon. Seriously the video footage is SO priceless!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So yeah, life is good, we are loving life! Transfers are Thursday and Sister Coates is moving, and Sister Olsen and I are both staying. I don't think we will be companions anymore, but you never know!

Come what may and love it :)

xoxo Sister Morgan

love you guys, have the best week ever