MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

It's weird, cuz I just got to talk to a bunch of you over Skype, but I guess it's only fair that I send out an email to the rest of you who I love so dearly!!! Merry Christmas everyone!!!! I can't believe that I have been in Thailand over a year already!!!! It's weird that my second Christmas here has come so quickly! But sad to say...nothing really too exciting goes on here on Christmas...so me and the other missionaries will just be hitting up a buffet to celebrate together haha. Skyping home though is really what makes Christmas for missionaries here I feel like :)

Ice Cream for Elder Opad's birthday :) the Senior couple the Moleff's were nice enough to treat us all out!

District Sunday Dinner!

And we were lucky enough to see a little bit of white this Christmas...hahahahaha ok sorry the worst pun ever. But our investigator Brother สมษักดิ์(SomSag) got baptized!!! He finally overcame is coffee addiction and felt ready and prepared to enter into the waters of baptism!!! He's such a cute old man! He always calls us to tell us how he's doing and to tell us how he hasn't drinken any coffee. he's the sweetest :) And on another happy note, our other investigator Sister พา (Pha) figured out how she can come to church now on Sundays and so she too will be baptized this upcoming Sunday :)!!!!!! The Lord has definitely been blessing me and Sister Belnap this season, even though Christmas is the HARDEST time to find people to teach because everyone is always going out of town for the holidays. so yes, we feel very very blessed!

Brother สมษักดิ์(SomSag's) Baptism!!!!

I hope you all have an amazing Christmas!! I don't want to take too much of your time cuz I'm sure you're all enjoying time at home with your families, but I just hope that you all remember the true reason we celebrate Christmas :) It is because of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, with whom without, we would not be able to live, overcome our sins and return to live with our Father in Heaven again. So during this season of giving, try and give your time, talents, abilities, anything you can really and help others in need. Christ has done everything He can to help us in every thing, so I know that we can all sacrifice a little too and give back since He has given us it all.

I love and miss you all so so much!!!!! Hope to hear from you next week!!! and just a headsup, I'll be emailing again on Thursday..which means wednesday night your time because of the New year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

Love always,

Sister Lam

TRAINING!!!! :)

Yup, well if you couldn't catch it from the title of this email... I'm training a new missionary!!! Her name is Sister Belnap and she's from Arkansas, fresh off the plan this week from the MTC :) But honestly, you wouldn't think so with how amazing she already is at the language. Honestly, she's been making my life SOOOOO easy because of how good she is at just about everything!!! I definitely lucked out with this one!

Branch Christmas party and Elder Davis was Santa hahahaha

My old companion Sister Ladle finished her mission :( miss her

And so far, our first week together has started with a bang! We had Sister พลอย (ploy's) baptism yesterday!!! So her story is, she started learning with the Elders and she definitely faced a lot of trials getting to this point. Then her elders moved...so initially, she had a goal of getting baptized like 3 weeks ago, but after she started learning with us, she lost her job and got evicted...tough right? Satan definitely strikes hard when you are trying to do the right things. But after some serious fasting and praying through faith, the Lord gave her a miracle job that provided a free place to stay!!!! So this past Sunday, she was finally able to enter the waters of baptism, and I literally don't know if I've seen anyone smile as much as she did that day. Literally beaming from ear to ear, she smiled the entire time, even when she had to be dunked multiple times into freezing water...ya we let one of our new greenies baptize her...and let's just say he was pretty nervous! But it's ok, cuz she got baptized!!!!!!! And this branch welcomed her in with open arms, to which I am so grateful for. It really just is a testimony each time that members really do make the difference!!!! They are what keep people active and feeling loved!

Sister พลอย (ploy) got baptized!!!!!

New District!

So something that struck me from zone training this past week was a quote by President Senior. He said, "I would rather hope for the impossible and be wrong than not hope and be right." Hope, is something I've been focusing a lot of my studies on lately. We have this one investigator that just has lost hope because her mom is so against her learning. And because her mom is the only family she has, she hates to see her mom upset. Literally, she has just been torn apart because she knows the church is true, but doesn't want to disobey her mom...rough situation right? So I've been praying for her, and this quote really just stuck with me. As missionaries, we HOPE for the impossible every day. We hope that people will accept our message and come unto Christ. And to be frank...we get a lot more no's than yes's....which really can tear you apart inside. But that hope, keeps me going; the hope that I will meet someone who accepts our message every day, the hope that God has prepared specific people for me and my companion to meet, and the hope that we will help Thailand prepare to receive a temple! So even though right now our investigator has lost hope, I have not and will never lose hope for her. If she truly believes this is the true church of Jesus Christ restored on the earth, God will prepare the way for both her AND her mother to be baptized!!!!

NEVER LOSE HOPE!

Ever upwards,

Sister Lam

Sister Nattaya from our branch got her mission call to serve in Australia!!!!!

The end of another transfer already?!?!?!?

It still baffles my mind how quickly 6 week transfers seem to fly by now for me. But this was definitely a pretty amazing transfer with Sister Brown, especially since we went out with a bang and had a baptism our last Sunday together :)

Our last dinner together as a district :(

Yup, yesterday, Sister เจน, our 18 year old investigator joined the fold of God through the waters of baptism!!!!! She is seriously such a miracle story! At first she came to the church specifically to learn English. But once we started teaching her, we started to see how the Holy Ghost works within people! The day we taught the Plan of Salvation is the day that everything changed for her I believe. At first, ya, she wanted to learn and was interested in the things we had to say...but the day we taught the Plan of Salvation is the day the spirit truly worked within her because it answered every question she had, and by the end of the lesson, SHE was the one that told us she needed to be baptized :) And after her baptism, she bore such a strong testimony of how the Holy Ghost works within us to guide us to the truth. And ya, that's so true!!!! She was definitely a miracle for me this past transfer!

Sister เจน's (Jane) baptism

Trying to fill up the font with a hose from outside.

Other events from this week....oh ya we had zone conference, which included the fanciest buffet I have ever been to!!!! So that was a nice bonus. And it was just nice to join together as missionaries and celebrate the birth of our Savior, especially now during this Christmas season!

All of the Bangkok missionaries together for our Christmas zone conference!!

Well...that's all I got for this week! We find out tonight whether or not we're moving or staying for this upcoming transfer...so until then!!!

The public transportation we take in Thailand every day...haha

for my Spiritual thought this week...watch this video!!!

http://www.mormon.org/christmas?cid=HPFR112814529

Love you all!

Sister Lam

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!....and happy December!!!

Yay for Thanksgiving!!! And this year, our thanksgiving was actually pretty good :) We celebrated it on Tuesday actually, but the Senior couple that is in our District invited us over to their apartment for a real homemade American Thanksgiving! So save it to say...it was amazing to get some good American food for once haha. Our District was definitely spoiled :)

Thanksgiving lunch at the Moleff's apartment :)

In addition to that amazing blessing though, we had the awesome opportunity to see 5 of our recent baptisms receive the gift of the Holy Ghost in Sacrament meeting yesterday!!!! it was amazing to hear all of their promised blessings!! The one that hit me the most was the blessing of Sister Bee, who was baptized last week! Her blessing talked about how she would be a missionary to many and it would be her life mission to help others find the truth. But it also promised her blessings of an eternal family sealed in the Temple of our Lord!!!! ya....serious blessings right?!?!?! It just made me even more grateful for the things we get to do EVERY day as a missionary for our Savior. We get to see people change their lives as they decide to follow Christ, and then they share those blessing with others!!!! The Lord truly does hasten His work through His chose vessels!!!

This week, as we have been preparing for an upcoming zone conference, I've been also studying a lot about pushing through trials with a forgiving and repentant heart. One talk that I really loved from this past general conference was from Elder Klebingat. He said, "Acknowledge and face your weaknesses, but don't be immobilized by them."..."Often trials and tribulations are allowed to come into your life bcause of what you are doing right." (Glenn L. Pace). 

This week was a little harder in terms of finding new investigators to teach. We saw a few setbacks...and to be honest, we got discouraged.Hhowever...I know that God does not give us any trial that we cannot handle. Yes, we might get frustrated when things don't work out, but we should not let those set-backs immobilize us. It is for these trails and tribulations that we came to this Earth. We chose to come here to learn and grow, and what better way to grow than through our trials put specifically there for us to learn from?

So this Thanksgiving, I am very very grateful for my trials. It is from them that I've learned the most about forgiveness. It is from those trials that I truly learned of the healing hand of the Lord's Atonement specifically for ME and specifically for YOU as we chose to repent and enact this saving grace. And I am also grateful for all of you who have helped me on this path :) I seriously love all of you so much, and especially now during this holiday season I challenge each and every one of you to reflect on those things that you are grateful for that have truly shaped the person you are today!

With love,

Sister Lam

We went to Wat Arun (huge tourist attraction here in Bangkok) last week for P-day!!! 

Craziness!!

Went to find a new investigator...whose house happens to be in this random jungle in Bangkok! sooo fun! 

So this week was just a week of miracles! I'll start by telling this amazing miracle story. So last week while I was on switchoff's with Sister Beuchter, I found this amazing contact at the mall, this 18 year old kid named Wud. However, he informed me that his phone was broken so there would be no way for us to contact him...yup, bummer right?!!?!? so I set up a return appointment with him for the following Thursday, and I told him I would be there waiting for him at the church so he had better come! We prayed SO SO HARD!!!!! I've never prayed so hard for miracles!!!!! And guess what...Thursday rolls around, and me and my companion get so caught up in long-planning, we show up late to our appointment...and who is there sitting on the couch at the church when we arrive....Brother Wud!!!! The guy I contacted the week before waiting for our appointment :) Not only that, but he arrived an hour early because he was so afraid that he would be late!!!! yup...we felt pretty bad for being late, but only by like 5 minutes, and there he was, SO PREPARED for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. He accepted a baptismal date on the spot!!!! The only problem now is, that he needs to get work off on Sundays so that he can make his baptismal date goal...we're praying really hard that he has the courage to talk to his boss about it cuz he definitely is more on the shy and passive side like our last baptism Brother Ja. But with God, anything is possible, and I know God will provide the way for His children if we show faith and diligence :) I have no doubts that Brother Wud will be blessed and will be able to enter the waters of baptism in the near future!

Second miracle! Our recent convert Sister Duangamon who was baptized last week gave us a referral! Her name is Sister Doy, and she and Duangamon were friends from when they were members of the Hope Church. So we trecked out about an hour away to find her house, which happend to be in the middle of a random jungle in Bangkok, and boy was this lady prepared for us :) She knew that her last few churches were missing something, and the second we brought up the Priesthood and how we need proper authority, you could just feel the spirit. It was exactly the message she needed that filled in the holes that every other church could not! I have such a testimony of the restoration!!!!! and now, she too, has a baptismal date goal :)

Miracles are such an amazing thing we are entitled to receive when we enact our faith in the Lord and in His plan to hasten his work here on the earth! I feel so blessed to be a part of these experiences while here in Thailand!!!!

Another miracle...Sister Bee (one of the Elder's investigators who we love and adore) got baptized on Sunday after District conference! This girl literally beamed from left to right as she came out of the water, and I was lucky enough to help her in and out of the baptismal font. She won all of our hearts as missionaries, and it was just a beautiful site to see as the members rallied around her as well to support her in her decision to become a disciple of Christ! She not only won our hearts, but she really brought us together as a District as we appreciated the true reason for us being here: to help others come unto Christ. It's not about the numbers or the statistics, our job here as missionaries is all about helping others. And that is just what I love to do!!!!

Sister Bee got baptized!!!!!!!!!!

Yup...sorry for the lengthy email...it was just such an incredible week, and I wanted to share these miracles with you!!! I know as we help one another, God will bless us with miracles! So i encourage all of you to help one another, serve one another, but most importantly  love one another :)

Love always,

Sister Lam

Went bowling last P-day for Sister Her's birthday :) (yay for the selfie arm i used to take the pic)

Giant FHE selfy arm pic hahaha

The Church is True!

We had a double baptism!!!!! Sister ดวงกมล (duangamon) and Brother จา้ (Jaa) entered the waters of baptism yesterday and I am so grateful I got to help them along on their journey towards the celestial kingdom!!!!

We just had a miracle week this week! 2 of our investigators that we found when I moved to this area 2 weeks ago entered the waters of baptism yesterday! Brother Jaa is this cute awkward and suuuuuuuuuuuuper shy 17 year old, but he was just so prepared. and the amazing thing about him was that after he was baptized, he changed!!! He bore a beautiful testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, and seriously, it was the first time any of us had heard him talk so much! He seriously became a completely different person!! It's amazing how the gospel of Jesus Christ and the healing power of the Atonement really can change people :) He's a stellar guy and I'm way happy and grateful I was here to help him find the true gospel!

And Sister Duangamon was a referral from a long-time member actually. They've been friends for the past year, and she had taught Sister Duangamon everything! So when she met with us, it was really like she was teaching us :) It was incredible. She was beaming sooo soo brightly when she came out of the water, and her testimony was just as touching. She explained how she knew that the Gospel of Jesus Christ had to be RESTORED in its fullness and that no other church has what we have. So for her, the decision was easy! 

It was literally a miracle Sunday! Cuz not only did me and Sister Brown see baptisms, but so did some of the elders in our district as well! We had actually set a goal as a district to see church attendance pass 100 this transfer (cuz we're usually at around 70 or 80), and yesterday we saw 103 in attendance!!!!! 25 of them were investigators that we had found too :) Prayer and faith seriously work!!!!! We had the faith that we could accomplish it, and we accomplished our goal in less than 2 weeks!!!!!!

Yup, it was a pretty spectacular Sunday here in Bangkhae! yay for District baptisms!!!

The longer I've been here, the more and more I am amazed at the hand of God in our lives here as missionaries. As long as we are willing to be obedient and follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost, Heavenly Father will guide us in all things. We just need to have the faith and we need to truly call upon God to help us cuz we cannot do His work by ourselves!

I love you guys!!!!! 

Sister Lam

Found this at a random market hahahahah! The church is so true! God does love us!

November...

I feel like being a missionary has sometimes sucked the creativity out of me...in terms of email titles that is. But hey! I am alive and well here in BangKae and loving my new area and companion! Seriously, the work here has been amazing!!! We're finding lots of cool new people to teach, and the ward is doing their best to help fellowship everyone! Seriously, what more can i ask for :) I just feel way blessed!

This week was also the Lantern Festival...not exactly the floating lanterns you're all probably thinking about like from Tangled. But it was fun none-the-less...i actually heard that up in the North they do the floating ones...but sending them off in the water was just as fun, especially since we got to do it with a lot of the ward members :)

ลอยกระทง (Loy Gratong) aka the Lantern Festival in Thailand was this week. So I got to send off this flower lantern thing into the water :) pretty fun stuff

More of the Lantern Festival!

This week we've also seen just a ton of miracles!!!!! We have 2 baptisms scheduled for next week!!! one of them was like totally out of the blue too! Her name is Duang, and she was a walk-in in Asoke actually, so they sent her to us since she lives in our area, and she has a really good friend who's LDS who's been teaching her the Gospel for like the past year! So she came to us and told us all about how she NEEDS to pay her tithing but that she needs to get baptized first of course. haha I died. But don't worry, she's not getting baptized just so that she can pay her tithing...don't worry i checked cuz i was kinda worried about that. But God has just truly prepared her. So yay miracles happen!!!!!

District Dinner Selfie :)

Me and Sister Brown outside the church building her in BangKae...yup it's like a temple it's so beautiful!!!

And I know these miracles were made possible because of our prayers of faith and our strict obedience to the commandments. So if any of you are struggling, I just tell you to turn to prayer cuz our Heavenly Father knows what's best for us and will guide us in all things as long as we are obedient :)

Love you all!!!!!

Sister Lam

Back in the Big City

Yup...it's official...I've been transferred....AGAIN!!!! But this time, I'm only follow-up training, so I'm not as stressed...but I mean it's always kinda stressful moving into a new area and trying to remember everyone's names right?! But luckily Sister Brown is a trooper and she's been leading this area like a boss!!!!! I've been so blessed to be with her :)

Me and my new companion Sister Brown!!!!!

And we've already seen miracles in this area!!!! The other day we were teaching this 17 year old boy Brother จา้ (Jaa) and he agreed to be baptized on the spot!!!!! But because he's under 18 he needs to wait 4 Sundays, but he's already come twice and has come to EVERY activity thus far (which there are always a ton at this church) so I'm way excited to see how he progresses these next 2 weeks :)

Our new district...yup there are 8 of us in 1 branch....craziness!!!!!!  

Sorry this email is so short, pressed for time! I love and miss you all! 

Thought for the week:

"Do not pray for tasks equal to your abilities, but pray for abilities equal to your tasks." (President Monson)

Me and Sister Ladle tried to get adventurous and try this Thai delicacy....yup....eggs with partially formed chicks in them....it was gross...don't recommend it.

Then also tried these fried frogs hahahahaha...not terrible

Transfers Once Again :(

Climbed my first dinosaur!!

I seriously cannot comprehend how fast time goes here on the mission....it's already transfers again!!!! I don't know what's happening quite yet, but we will get the call as to whether or not we're moving sometime today, but we know we're going down to Bangkok for sure at least. I guess you'll all find out all the details next Monday!! But it's like really actually so sad that time seems to be speeding up now that I'm at the tail end of my mission here. But I know that God has a plan for me and for my companions here in Thailand!

Last P-day as the Kalasin tri-panionship :(

This week was a doozy! Let's see...well it was my birthday...so that was fun....but let's see what else...crazy enough, it was the bike shop owner who works across the street from the church's birthday too...so I got to pet an elephant in the middle of the street that day, which was pretty special I guess. haha. 

An elephant came to see me on my birthday :)

Brother ทอ๊ป (Top) got confirmed in our last sacrament meeting together here in Kalasin as a trio too!!!! It was so amazing to just see the change in his eyes. Truly, he has just blossomed so well in our Branch and is making friends and growing so much in his faith! It's soooo amazing being a missionary, especially knowing that these people will be a part of my life forever!!!!! :) just makes me happy.

Well that's about all the news I have for this week at least. More to come for sure next week though.

For my spiritual thought this week, I've been studying a lot about patience...it may be hard to believe, but being in a trio isn't always so glamorous and fun...so patience is something I've definitely learned time and time again as I've been in trio after trio.

So this week I was reading a past talk by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf entitled, "Continue in Patience." I seriously recommend it to all of you! But here are some of my favorite things he says...

"Patience is far more than simply waiting for something to happen—patience requires actively working toward worthwhile goals and not getting discouraged when results don’t appear instantly or without effort.

Patience is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to act because of our fears. Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something and doing all that we can—working, hoping, and exercising faith; bearing hardship with fortitude, even when the desires of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!

Every one of us is called to wait in our own way. We wait for answers to prayers. We wait for things which at the time may appear so right and so good to us that we can’t possibly imagine why Heavenly Father would delay the answer.

God’s promises are not always fulfilled as quickly as or in the way we might hope; they come according to His timing and in His ways.

Often the deep valleys of our present will be understood only by looking back on them from the mountains of our future experience. Often we can’t see the Lord’s hand in our lives until long after trials have passed. Often the most difficult times of our lives are essential building blocks that form the foundation of our character and pave the way to future opportunity, understanding, and happiness."

I know these words are true. I know they come from a prophet of God. As we consistently live our lives with a little more patience, then we will receive the rewards from God as we gain eternal life and live once more in His presence. Let us all learn from our past experiences, grow from them, and look towards a brighter future as we strive to be more like our Savior Jesus Christ.

Sorry probably a longer email than usual! But know that I miss you all terribly and pray for you always!

Love always,

Sister Lam

Dinosaur #2

Dang I really wish I knew a song that had to do with turning 23...

AHHHH I'm seriously just a mess with emotions this week! But thank you ALL for sending me amazing birthday wishes :) It was very much appreciated! I'm so lucky to have so many people who love and support what I am doing here in Thailand!

Early birthday celebration selfie!

In other news, sorry that I'm emailing a day later than usual! I totally forgot to tell you all that we had a huge tri-district conference this weekend, so our pday got moved. But the conference was amazing, and we had all of the branches/wards and missionaries from the Issan area came together in KhonKaen to meet with Elder Gerritt Gong of the Quorum of the 70. He announced that we would be changing the districts around. Instead of having 3 districts in the Issan, he combined the KhonKaen district (the one that I'm in) with the Ubon District (aka my first area), this way we can prepare to have 2 more stakes in Thailand by next year! So it was all very fun an exciting, not to mention how I got to see all of my members from my greeny area!!!!!! It was seriously just the spiritual boost that me and my companions all needed.

Tri-district conference (the RS ladies in our ward tackled us and forced these traditional Thai skirts on us...yup it's like the tightest thing I've worn in over a year...couldn't breath really well cuz I was busy suckin in my huge gut!)

Reunited with 2 of my favorite Ubon members! Sister จ๋า (Jaa on the left who got her mission call to NY) and Sister Shampoo!!!!

We also had the amazing opportunity to have an all missionary sacrament meeting with Elder Gong and of course President and Sister Senior. It was the first time in a very long time that some of these Elders got to bless and break the sacrament. It was just way cool to see the excitement in their eyes to perform this ordinance. And during this special sacrament meeting, we focused a ton on the actual meaning of the Atonement. I think a lot of the times as missionaries, we lose the actual focus of the sacrament because we get caught up with making sure our investigators are taken care of, that our members are happy, or we're worried about lessons, etc. And Elder Gong asked us 2 very important questions: How do we remember the Savior? How can we better testify of Him?

And I asked myself those questions. During the sacrament...are we really trying to remember the Savior, or are our minds focused on other things? Would I remember Him differently if I could literally FEEL the prints in His hands and sides and feet? And it just reminds me that even though I haven't felt the prints in his hands and feet, that still does not change the fact that I know what He did for me. 

The purpose of the Atonement is to correct or overcome the consequences of sin. However, it is CONDITIONAL so far as each person has faith in Jesus Christ, repents of his sins, and obeys the gospel. And as we do this, I love the way Elder Ballard describes it saying, "you will feel the wounds of the spirit being healed, and the load being lifted. Comfort and happiness come to the soul that is worthy and truly desirous of partaking of this spiritual food...our wounded souls can be healed and renewed not only because the bread and the water remind us of the Savior's sacrifice of his flesh and blood but because the emblems also remind us that He will always be our "bread of life" and "living water."

I am so very grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Without it, I do now know where I would be. I know that because of Him, I can be truly cleansed from my sins EVERY time I partake of His sacrament. Though we do not all have the opportunity to walk WHERE the Savior walked, we do have the choice as to whether or not we will try and walk AS the Savior walked. Let us all try and make our focus on the Atonement when we partake of the sacrament and not let other distractions (though honorable they might be) stand in our way of truly coming unto the Savior and forsaking our sins.

I love you all!!! Thank you for everything and making this birthday a special one :) man....i'm getting old. haha

love,

Sister Lam

Member made us dinner :)

Officially Been One Year!

It's official!!!!! Brother ทอีป (top) got baptized!!!! In between the 2 sessions of General Conference this past Sunday, we were blessed to witness the baptism of our investigator!!! He's seriously such a miracle story! Never have I ever met such a prepared soul with absolutely no issues accepting the restored gospel of Jesus Christ! He truly is a choice spirit of the Lord who was prepared for us to find him :) 

Brother ทอีป (top) got baptized!!!!

That was indeed the highlight of the week. In other news....this Thursday on the 16th marks my 1 year mark as a missionary of the Lord. I seriously have no idea how time has gone by so quickly!!!! But I am so grateful for the opportunities I've had thus far to serve others and God.

Where I live :) #sopretty

Got to help these 3 girls from our branch fill out their mission papers!!!!

And...I finally got to watch General Conference...and in English!!!! So happy :) So this week's spiritual thought will be from a couple of talks I really enjoyed. The first one was by Elder Jorg Klebingal who gave us all just some very straightforward advice. He said something that stuck with me: "Acknowledge and face your weaknesses, but don't be immobilized by them." He laid out 6 steps to help us change our lives for the better, and he really focused on how the decision is ultimately our's as to whether or not we will make these changes to improve ourselves and our well-being.

Our awkward District family photo

I'd like to share a humbling experience. As we were preparing for Brother ทอีป (top)'s baptism, we last minute realized that the pants we had set aside for him to wear did not fit....ya it was terrible. We called the missionaries in nearby other areas to see what we could do...and honestly none of them were very willing to help. After calling 2 out of like the 3 Melchizedek priesthood holders in our branch, we were at a loss because neither of them had pants that would fit. So next, we ran to Big C (aka walmart) to see if we could purchase a pair...out of stock. By this point we are freaking out, but the zone leaders said it would be ok for him to be baptized in black pants. The baptism day comes, and our branch president is furious that he is not wearing all white (ironically the branch president is the one priesthood holder we didn't call). But by some miracle, one of the relief society sisters had brought a pair of white (almost hospital scrub) pants with her, and the baptism went on without a hitch. After that though, our branch president confronted us explaining how we could have prepared better by calling ALL of the members to see what could be done about the pants situation and for asking for help as opposed to just relying on ourselves and our meager resources.

Ok...the pants weren't really the issue. Cuz Top could have gotten baptized without them because the important thing was the covenant he was making with God. However, our branch president did make a good point. We could have prepared better and tried harder to find pants that would work. As a missionary...Elder Klebingal's talk just really hit home for me because our weaknesses and flaws get pointed out almost on a daily basis. Being a missionary is hard, and we are obviously not perfect people. We make mistakes...ALL THE TIME. But we all have the ability to choose, given to us by a loving God who wanted all of us to have our agency, the ability to choose to improve and become better when given the opportunity.

Ok and I just am going to attach the other talk that I loved and would really like all of my non-member (not Mormon) friends to read :) It just explains exactly why I am out here doing what I'm doing and why I know that our message is true!

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/come-and-see?lang=eng

Enjoy! I miss you all every day and pray for you always :)

Sister Lam

Rain and Miracles

Went to a Buddhist temple for P-day

This week seriously feels like a blur...I just remember...it rained A LOT...and that I'm really out of shape with all this biking we do here.

But we saw miracles!!! So one day, we were contacting at Big C (aka the walmart of thailand) and I contacted this guy who conveniently forgot his phone number....so I'm thinking..ok moving on, he obviously doesn't wanna learn. But the guy goes on to say "but this is your number right? ok I'll call it for sure." And being a missionary...we kinda hear that a lot. So I went away thinking it was just a more polite rejection....but guess what....HE CALLED!!! He called that very same day asking when and where he could learn more about our church!!! MIRACLE!!! And he now has a date for baptism this Sunday! His name is Brother ทอป (Top) and he literally has just been so prepared! He came for all 3 hours of church yesterday and showed up 45 minutes early just in case haha, AND he let us teach him for half an our after church! I've never seen anyone so ready and willing to learn! So make sure to keep him in your prayers! Updates to come for sure!

Our P-day group...yup the elders just love us ;)

We volunteer at the hospital pharmacy on Fridays (thought you'd be proud dad haha)

Spiritual note for this week, "The most cherished and sacred moments of our lives are those filled with the spirit of love. The greater the measure of our love, the greater is our joy. In the end, the development of such love is the true measure of success in life." (Joseph B. Wirthlin)

I love this quote! The longer I've been out here in Thailand, the more I've learned that this work is all about loving others. Because when we truly love others, then do they feel God's love for them. And it is sometimes really really hard to love people, when they make dumb choices, reject you, or just look down upon you and make you feel small or insignificant. But I promise that the moments when we reach out and love others by serving them in any way we can are really when we come closer to God ourselves!

A member had us over for dinner and FHE..she tried to make us American food ahhahaa

Love you all! Hope you all had an amazing conference weekend! I'm looking forward to watching them all this week!

Sister Lam

In Kalasin!

This week...was a hard one...but it's ok cuz we had 73 people at church, which is like a record for Kalasin!!!! So at least we know we're doing something right, especially since the members did a lot of the bringing, which means that they trust us enough to teach their friends and families!!! yay for members and missionaries working together!!!!

Where I live :) it's pretty huh?

Yup we live out in the middle of nowhere...but it's fun :)

Sunday!

I feel like we were just all over the place this week...especially since we go to Mahasarakham every week for District meeting, and in addition to that travel time we had to take a few days off to go to Korat for a switchoff with Sister Du and Sister Yanisa, but it was way awesome! I was in the trio with Sister Zoller and Sister Yanisa who are both greenies, haha but it was way fun hitting up the town with them! And we definitely saw miracles and got them some new investigators down there!

Switchoff's in Korat. Tried to take a funny self-timer shot....Sister Yanisa looks like a ghost hahahaa. (4 hour bus ride from us, but I was reunited with Sister Du my old Companion so I guess it was ok ha)

Other than that, I feel like I just got to know Kalasin a bit better this week. I got to spend time with the members, got some quality time on my bike trying to figure out where everything is, and I got to work on trying to find my place in this new trio.

Cute birds chillin on my bike

Went to a Buddhist funeral

Spiritual thought for the week...THE BLESSINGS OF THE TEMPLE!!!! Everyone make sure to watch this video ok!

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/watch/2014/10?lang=eng&vid=3810258133001&cid=6

I Love you all tons and tons and tons!!! Sorry this isn't the best email....kinda pressed for time this week! Miss you!!!

Sister Lam