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| YOU GUYS........ this week I finally did it. I ATE A BUG! They eat them here like candy or chips...a girl was eating them after church and she offered ...so what the heck. ...got the vid footage, not super gross but still yuck! |
Thanks for all of the updates, you guys are it back home! so excited for Brad's tournament and the footage of #100 on the soccer field blew my mind... what happened to little PJ who Rachel and I would dress up in her costumes after Sunday dinner? (much to Dad's dismay.................... HAHAHAHA)
Another AWESOME week! We are so busy busy busy but somehow the Lord provided a way for it to all get done! Here are the ins and the outs.....
First off, WE MOVED!! We are finally in the new house and it is basically the Taj Mahal compared to our old place. By any standards really, its so good! Way way spacious, CLEAN, and Sister Stoker-bless her heart- she got us the cutest beds and night stands and in her words "the bedroom looks like its for the 7 dwarfs!" Just like 4 beds all lined up, they fit perfectly in the room and it is SO fun. I was right in my element dejunking the old house, you know how much I love organizing and getting rid of stuff. The other night there was an activity at the church for the Priesthood and Relief Society, so Sister Mags and I loaded up a huge truck taxi thing with all of the stuff we aren't taking to the new house (as in EVERYTHING that isn't personally ours or a select few pieces of furniture, dishes etc) and we put it in one of the rooms for the members to go through and take. I kind of was having these thoughts like, "Ugh, some of this is just crap (think build up of dying missionaries for YEARS) I don't think anyone will want this!" but sure enough, it was like CHRISTMAS morning for these Sisters. We loaded up the room, and just as fast as we loaded it all in, it was gone! They were so excited about all of their new "treasures"... the funniest/ not funny at all part though was that we may have accidentally loaded up a pair of Sister Peck's shoes that she kept by the back door to wear while she did laundry. She asked about them and we were like "uhhh I think we can get them back....", show up at the church, and the Sister is totally wearing them all happy... oops!!
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| the sleeping quarters #4dwarfs4sisterssamething |
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| our new study room! YEAH for having a desk finally! |
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| the top of the stairs... more house pics to come of the downstairs! |
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| our bathroom...... |
yeah, amidst all of the moving chaos we still managed to teach and have a few baptisms too!
Sister อิ่มอุ่น (EemOon), the daughter of ดาว (Daaw) the LA we have been working with got baptized on her birthday this week! It was so so cool to see them that day, just thriving in the gospel together.. She sat up on the stand with her daughter and just had tears in her eyes the whole time. Sister ดาว (Daaw) even got a calling this Sunday to be in the Primary. YES!! Pray for her husband to open his heart, we are hoping we can start teaching him soon-- nothing better than an entire family together.
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| our girl อิ่มอุ่น! (EemOon) |
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| She is an A-N-G-E-L |
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| Sis ดาว (Daaw) and her girls on Sunday... I don't know why but she won't really smile for pics. She is SO nice and smiley though HA! |
We had the COOLEST walk in this week too-- we were teaching an LA at the church, and this girl pokes her head in the window then knocks on the door and says she has learned with the missionaries before but wants to start learning again because she remembers that she was really happy when she was going to church. So crazy how sometimes Heavenly Father just literally leads the prepared to you. We are so grateful! She has a date for baptism and is bringing her Sister to learn this week too!
Brother ไบร์ท (Bright) has been doing SO good since his baptism. He has come to all of the activities at the church, downloaded all of the church apps on his phone (he told me he listens to Joseph Smith's First Prayer over and over on the little LDS Hymns one HAAA) and has even helped us teach! We are teaching another guy, Shone, who is also Catholic. This week when he taught with us, same thing as when Imelda taught him with us, he could just relate and answer so many questions we didn't know about Catholicism etc. It was so fun to hear ไบร์ท(Bright) share his testimony of prophets and revelation, something that Shone is really struggling with. I think I have taken for granted a lot of my life that I KNOW the Lord calls and inspires men, that the heavens are open for revelation to His chosen representatives and also for personal revelation in our very own lives. I am SO excited for Shone to get to watch General Conference here so soon!
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| Brother ไบร์ท(Bright) has got some GAME... I think the nuns may have started him playing since birth because he is wayyyyyyy good |
AREN'T YOU GUYS SO EXCITED FOR CONFERENCE?! Can hardly wait-- trying no to be too jealous that you guys watch it this week and we have to wait a whole week!
Other greatest thing this week-- remember มิง (Ming), the Chinese one who came to church like our first week here and has a daughter who is Christian in Hong Kong? Well he went back to Hong Kong for a little while, so his Thai phone number stopped working... but we knew he would be back at the end of the month.. I call it on like Wednesday.. And BOOM-- HE IS BACK! Totally came to church on Sunday and brought his other Chinese friend! He will be baptized for sure! There is only one Sister in the first branch who can speak Chinese so we had set up for her to sit by him and everything--- well turns out there were like 7 Chinese investigators there on Sunday between all of the missionaries, so poor girl had like this translating complex of people to either side of her then in front of her that she was just making the rounds to for the whole meeting... so so nice of her! Seriously, it is the funniest thing not really being able to communicate with him-- In my mind if I speak Thai slower he will understand but he just still looks at me like "girl, I am getting like 55 percent of what you are saying" haha hoping for the supersonic gift of tongues to kick in on Wednesday when we teach him (or just hoping that Sister is free...... :))
Speaking of language... On Saturday night we taught this Turkish man named Anwar that Sister Mags met at the park. He is probably the first person from Turkey I have ever met, also he looks like the BFG and we taught him in English. I am not kidding people, teaching in English is probably the WEIRDEST thing ever! I kept fumbling on my words and wording things so Thai-ish-ly-- yikes. He is super sincere and nice and wants to know TRUTH.. lucky for him, we have it, it just might come out a little more awkwardly than planned these days! HAHA เป็นคนไทยหรือ?? (Am I a Thai person or??)
So awesome-- คิม (Kim) was baptized on Sunday! He was SO ready. We met with him earlier this week, helped him resolve his concerns tried to really understand what was going on with him (He was supposed to be baptized last week, but called and said he wouldn't be here.) We invited him to อิ่มอุ่น's (EemOon's) baptism on Friday, he totally came all early and was so excited. We taught him before and really talked about repentance, gave him the chance to pray alone for a while, and when Sunday came around he was just BEAMING. He is going to be such a great member. So precious/ kind of funny, after his baptism, he gets kind of flustered and nervous to speak in front of people, so he just offered to pray for everyone instead of bearing his testimony (like maybe his thought process was that his eyes would be closed and it would be less scary??) The BML (Branch Mission Leader) just looks at me after like "Ok should we just end the meeting on that?? haaaaaaaa we still did the closing song and (2nd) closing prayer for good measure. It was really cool to hear one of the Sisters who has been helping us teach him just say how much he has CHANGED from the beginning to now (He was one of the former investigators from before our area closed before we got here!)
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| คิม(Kim) ... this guy is so great! |
I would say that is one of the greatest blessing of a mission. Seeing people change and seeing yourself change. I am reading in Alma right now in the Book of Mormon, and I have been pondering on the example of the Anti-Nephi Lehis who buried all of their "weapons of rebellion" to show Heavenly Father that they were CHANGED. I see these people we teach all the time "burring their weapons of rebellion" with that same mindset-- that rather than take up arms and continue to shed the blood of their brethren (rather than continue on in Buddhism or drinking coffee or living with their boyfriend etc) they will face death ( they will face questioning and persecution of friends and family, the uncertainty of a new unfamiliar way of life etc). It is so special to see that, to play a part in helping those weapons stay buried FOREVER, and to also be able to take a look introspectively and ask, "What weapons of rebellion can I bury myself?" It is the best news that the gospel is a gospel of CHANGE, I am grateful to ever be changing out here in Thailand and to know I will be changing for the rest of my life!
With our sights on the Savior lets change together FOREVER. We are so so blessed to have this truth to guide our lives. Yep we are the luckiest.
I think the funniest extra tid bit I have for you from the week was that while we were inviting at Central I invited this guy from Hong Kong.. We are talking for a while, his girlfriend walks up, I show them a pick of the Hong Kong temple, then I give them an inviting card and tell them that they should look at mormon.org... Immediately when I show him the card both of their eyes light up and they go "WAIT, YOU ARE A MORMON??" Looking back and forth to each other smiling all big and wide eyed... "Seriously, you're a mormon?!" I am like "YEAH! I am a Mormon!" hahaha just thinking ok yes, they are totally stoked on this, bring it on people... and they are all, "ISN'T THAT TOM CRUISES RELIGION?!!!!"
ok seriously people?
hahaha I'm like umm nope, it's not.
So funnnnnnnnnnnnny sometimes out here you guys, I wish my life in Thailand was a reality tv show... its like the Office meets Wipe Out meets the District meets Gossip Girl... Gossip Girl is maybe a stretch but I just needed to throw in a good fashion aspect
ha I am digressing but that's all I have for you this week, read your scriptures and say your prayers and smile at everyone!
I love you guys so much!!!!
xxxooo
Sister Morgan
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| Sis ดาว (Daaw)had these little lamb treats from everyone at อิ่มอุ่น's baptism (Thai desserts almost ALWAYS consist of coconut jelly... why not color it like the rainbow and shape it into animals? HAHA) |
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| every worthy celebration calls for coconut jelly cake |
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| Mom, the sticker album you sent in the last package-- perfect gift for an 8th birthday! She loved it! |
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| ok this one is from a few weeks ago that Mags got on our way out to see พลอย's mom... .... too good not to include. Sometimes this work is just SO exhausting!!!!!!! |
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| I miss Olsen... Squid chips <3 |
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