Hey everyone!!! And Merry Christmas! I am alive and safe here in Thailand! I'm serving in an area called Ubon, which is right up bordering Laos. And it's actually been pretty cold up here, which is very surprising. The language is sooo hard!!! I've truly been humbled. So everyone here speaks "Essan" which is pretty close to Laotion....and I didn't learn that in the MTC!!!! So it's been an interesting adventure thus far.
Zone Christmas party lunch (we had American food ha)
So this is how my first day went...Arrived in Bangkok at 12:30am...made it to our hotel and to bed by 3:30am..woke up at 6:30am and it was go go go from there. We got some bloodwork done, and then we went "danjones-ing"...basically proselyting just out in the street. In our mission our President has taken a new approach to proselyting where we introduce people to baptism right off the bat and then ask them to be baptized or if we can teach them more! And I got a phone number!!!!! So that was pretty cool, and then we rushed to the mission office to have some orientations and our interviews with the mission president. And then it was off to transfer meeting.
Me and Sister Woodbury and Embley at transfers!
Companions!
Ya, it all happened so fast, and then I was introduced to my trainer Sister Orchard and were told we would be serving in Ubon, which is actually where her last companion (who is a native Thai) is from!!! So amazing. We've already seen her family and are planning on teaching them tonight!!! But then the crazy part is right after transfer meeting where we all make our way to the bus station with all of our luggage and the bikes of missionaries and travel to our areas!!! Ubon is a 9 hour bus ride from Bangkok....so ya I was traveling FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!! Then we arrived in Ubon at 6:30 am and it was time to start a new day. crazy ya?!?!?!
Sister Orchard, me, and our zone leaders at the branch Christmas party
But I have loved it so much here! The members are all so warm and inviting and they don't seem to care that I can't speak Thai yet. They just care that I'm here and trying my best to do everything that I can to help their branch and help bring more Thai people to the Gospel.
Me and Sister Yong on her baptism night!
Elders and Sister Yong and Sister Om (they both got baptized on Christmas Eve!!!)
Oh, and I'm sure you're all wondering how the bike riding is going....well it's going! haha riding alone is tricky in a skirt, but then you add in Thailand traffic...ya it's been quite the adventure, but Sister Orchard is so great and has been trying her best to help me out and keep me safe!
Me and my brand new bike!
So seeing as we got here right before Christmas, there was a lot to be done to help with the Branch Christmas program. The missionaries (aka me and my district of 6) performed a couple musical numbers, and it was just a really great time to get to know all of the members. Then on my first Sunday in the ward they called me up to bear my testimony...haha it was pretty rough, but I know the members could see how hard I was trying :) It was funny cuz I actually didn't understand that they were calling me up to speak until the elders and everyone else in the ward was staring at me intently...so that was kinda scary ha. But i survived!!!
Zone sisters!
Zone bowling!
It's truly amazing how the Lord is hastening the work here in Thailand!!! Yesterday we were teaching English, which is something we do at the church every Tuesday, and this girl Doon and her mom Jenny are so ready to receive the gospel!!! I'm excited to start teaching them!!!! She actually came up to us and told us she wanted to be baptized! And the cool thing too was that we had 2 other baptisms last night, so she and her mom got to watch them, and the spirit was just sooo strong. THE CHURCH IS TRULY EVERYBODY! haha So we are planning on teaching both of them this week :)
Me and Sister Kittima
Well, there are a billion other things I could probably say in this email, but I don't want to bore all of you to death!
I got men's shaving cream (the bottle was half empty) for my white elephant gift...and a list of pranks I could play on my companion with it ha
I'm so glad I got the chance to skype with you (aka the fam...and Jeff) today!!! I hope you all have the best Christmas and that you remember what this holiday is truly celebrating, the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. I cannot express how grateful I am for His birth and the sacrifice He made for all of us through the Atonement. This is most definitely a different Christmas experience than I'm used to, but it has really reminded me just what this season really is all about. And I hope you all remember too!
K well I love you all so much and miss you!!!
love always,
Sister Lam
ps. my p-day is now on Monday! (wednesday this week though because of Christmas)
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