Monday, January 5, 2015

Win some, lost someone

[photos down below]

Woo, another P day! Didn't we just have one? Oh yeah, we did.

Well, this time I have stories, so it's okay. We went to visit one of our RC's (Recent Converts), a Laotian sister named Khiaw who was baptized about a month ago -- she's incredible, but she has a hard time because she has an insane work schedule that pretty much only gives her enough time to come home, read her scriptures, and sleep before she does it again. So we went to visit her and read scriptures with her, and then she told us that her older brother and sister-in-law had just moved here from Laos, and that they were interested in learning with us. So she invited her sister-in-law Boonmee over...and Boonmee brought a Laotian Bible and a Hymnal! The Church hasn't translated an official version of the LDS Hymnal in Laotian yet, but the Hymnal she had contained hymns like How Great Thou Art and Come Thou Fount and all these Christmas hymns...it was AWESOME. and just because we were curious, we asked Boonmee to sing Come Thou Fount because we wanted to hear how it differed from the Thai and so Sister Boonmee sang it and it was incredible how strong the spirit was in that tiny little one-room apartment. Sister Boonmee has genuine desires to learn the truth for herself. Those are the investigators we go crazy over! It all starts with the open heart and willingness to search and learn.

Sister Khiaw has been a member for barely a month and through her we've taught approximately five other people -- her family, friends, etc. She wants so badly for everyone in her life to have the joy that comes from the gospel. I've learned so much from her example! She's amazing.
1. the aforementioned Laotian hymnal -- so cool!

Something that Sister Yanisa and I are really good at doing is having fun, even when we're doing things that we're not a fan of doing, like contacting for hours a day. Whenever that happens, we find ways to make it fun! Like last week, we turned down an alley and suddenly we were in a huge Buddhist Temple! We're not allowed to contact in temples, obviously, so we wandered around and I asked Sister Yanisa a hundred and one questions about Buddhism while we explored and looked at awesome murals. I learned a ton of things I didn't know before and took some really sweet pictures.

And on a random note...when you have eight baptisms in a month, sometimes doing confirmations in sacrament meeting takes up...almost the whole meeting, which is what happened yesterday. I love being a Thailand Bangkok missionary!

Well...on a personal note, one of my friends committed suicide last week. He was like an older brother to me in many ways -- a happy guy, a wonderful missionary, a kind man, energetic student...and an awesome friend. He will be missed. Tell those around you what they mean to you and that you love them...because, bleak as it sounds, you don't always know when it'll be your last chance. Live life with no regrets...worry less about the things that don't matter, that you can't control, and smile. Life is good.

love,
Sister Z.

2. THAILAND

3. Sister Yanisa being as adorable as ever!

4. "Inviting" water buffalo to be baptized.


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