I'm Alive!

So this week was definitely a doozy. So I had been feeling pretty sick for the past few days..in the stomach region and just didn't know what was going on. But one day, after we left a member's house from an appointment, my stomach just started to kill! I had no idea what was wrong, but I literally felt like there were knives in my stomach, it hurt so bad. So at this point...I can't walk, so my companions and the office elders force me to go to the hospital cuz they were afraid it was my appendix...and so was I! But luckily it was just your good old fashioned intestinal infection plus dehydration. After 3 IV's and some antibiotics, I'm now good to go :) But ya that made the week pretty exciting. Had to do a lot of teaching over the phone...lame but we managed.

Me at the hospital haha

In other news! I also got to eat lunch with my Auntie Meme!!!! So that was a fun surprise! 

Got to eat lunch with my Auntie Meme!

Sadly we did not have any baptisms this week, but we're working our hardest to find those elect people! One of our investigators, Tomoe, from Japan, has been coming for a solid month and has a lot of awesome fellowshippers in the ward now. So we have high hopes for her!

So something that I read on a spiritual note this week was a talk from Elder Holland. He said: "We are infinitely more than our limitations or our afflictions....patiently enduring some things is part of our mortal education." And while me and my companions have been enduring some serious hardships this past week, reading this was just a real testimony to me. Though things may seem hard, we can learn from them. And it led me to this other quote that says, "Do not wait. Rather fill your life with service, education, personality, development, love for all, and other such meaningful traits. Live with purpose each day." (Marvin J. Ashton)

I just really hope that we can remember to do what Elder Ashton has advised. Though we have these challenges, we can do things to overcome them and to learn from them. We need to live with purpose every day!!!

Love you all!!!!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Miracles in Asoke!

This week we had such a miracle!! We have an investigator that we've been teaching at the Sinakharin church building. His name is Emmanuel, and he's from Nigeria. But because he doesn't have very much money, he could not make it on his own to the international ward in Asoke. But he really wanted to go because that is where he wanted to be baptized because he would be surrounded by people that speak English and would just have way more investigators there. So Sunday comes, and he doesn't have the money, and he just shows up to the Sinakharin church as per usual. But the elders there (who are in our district) knew how important it was to get Emmanuel to the International ward. So THEY bring him to us!!!!!! It was such a miracle. And it was especially amazing to see how well Emmanuel fit in in the Asoke ward. So next week he will be baptized in our ward thanks to the sacrifice of the Elders who so selflessly brought him all the way to Asoke! We are now on the hunt for a member who lives close to him who can pick him up every Sunday to bring him to church! Keep him in your prayers!!!

Me and Sister Jennifer :) (she's from BangNa, but goes to school in Asoke, so she helps us teach a lot!)

Hmmm...let's see...what else happened...well Sister Greenwood's health still hasn't improved, which is quite the bummer. So keep her in your prayers as well! But overall this transfer has been amazing with my 2 new companions, and I will surely be sad to leave this area when the time comes.

Me and my cute companions at church.

Oh, so in other news, we have a new investigator named Peter. He's 21 and from England. And he's quite the intellectual if you catch my drift. So teaching him has been quite the challenge as of late, but for some reason he still wants to meet with us every week...no complaints here, but it's just hard to get a read on him because he takes everything in that we teach him...but we don't know how much he really is applying it to himself. So I felt that we really needed to focus on prayer, because I think one of his biggest issues is that he doesn't really know if he is praying to anyone. And it led me to this quote by President Monson:

"All through my life, the counsel to depend on prayer has been prized above almost any other advice I have received. It has become an integral part of me--an anchor, a constant source of strength, and the basis of my knowledge of things divine." (Thomas S. Monson)

It is through real and sincere prayer that we will receive an affirmation of the truth. Peter yet hasn't felt that influence of the Holy Spirit when he prays, but he is feeling something because he is continually drawn back to the church as well as to its members. It'll be interesting to see how he progresses!!

"Our Heavenly Father, who gives us so much to delight in, also knows that we learn and grow and become stronger as we face and survive the trials through which we pass. We know that there are times when we will experience heartbreaking sorrow, when we will grieve, and when we may be tested to our limits. However, such difficulties allow us to change for the better, to rebuild our lives in the way our Heavenly Father teaches us, and to become something different from what we were--better than we were, more understanding than we were, more empathetic than we were, with stronger testimonies than we had before." (Thomas S. Monson)

District photo in Sinakharin

Love you guys! Hope you all are having an awesome week!

-Sister Lam

Half Way!

I cannot believe that I've been a missionary for already 9 months. The time has seriously just flown by it seems like. This Wednesday I will officially be half-way through with my mission, and it kinda makes me really sad! But the miracles continue!

Me and my cute companions

This week at church, brother Vin got baptized!!! Well he technically got baptized into the Thai branch...there was a lot of drama with that, but it's ok because he will be confirmed a member into the international ward this next Sunday! He's a stud!

Baptisms!

Also, our investigator Ed, came to church!!! He's been struggling a lot lately because he knows that he needs to come to church and be baptized, but he works on Sundays and hasn't been able to get out of his work contract. But this past Saturday he got into an accident, which left him with some torn ligaments in his leg, but it was perfect because he was like, "sisters!!! I hurt my ankle, but I got to go on a medical leave from work so I can come to church!!!" Haha, the Lord truly does work in mysterious ways. But it was amazing just to see the light in him as he got to go to all 3 hours of church! And he's trying really really hard to quit his job...so pray that he does? haha kind of a weird thing to say, but he knows it's right, and so do we! And if he can quit this week, he can be baptized on Sunday! And this is seriously a big deal, because he has been investigating the church for FOREVER!!!! He needs/wants baptize, as we like to say here in Thailand. Yup, ignore the poor grammar and just go with it. :)

Matching..by accident! This is me, Sister Ployfah, and Sister Sararat!

On a different spiritual note, we have a recent convert who has been struggling a lot lately. He's relapsed into some word of wisdom issues, which has now led him to doubt the teachings of Joseph Smith and other prophets. It really has taken a toll on my mind because I really do not know how to help him. But luckily we have President Senior on speed dial, and our recent convert has agreed to meet with us again before he decides to pull the plug on our church, and I know that the spirit will guide us and President Senior as to what we need to say. If he believed the church was true at one point enough to be baptized, we can get him back to that point!

But so thinking about him led me to this awesome quote by President Uchtdorf. He said, "Small errors and minor drifts away form the doctrine of the gospel of Jesus Christ can bring sorrowful consequences into our lives. It is therefore of critical importance that we become self-disciplined enough to make early and decisive corrections to get back on the right track and not wait or hope that errors will somehow correct themselves. The longer we delay corrective action, the larger the needed changes become, and the longer it takes to get back on the correct course--even to the point where a disaster might be looming."

Traditional outside the church photo ;)

So if you have doubts or an issue, figure it out now! The longer you wait, the harder it will be!

Love you all!!

Sister Lam

HEY!

Amir received the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday, and we saw 4 more souls baptized! It was an awesome week! But with success always comes a lot of opposition I am starting to realize. So yes, we did have some miracles this week, including the discovery of a couple named Amir and Summaya from Pakistan, who are some of the few lucky souls to have found work here as Asylum seekers. And because they found work, they now qualify to get work visas and can be baptized! 

Baptisms!

But after these miracles, we did face some challenges, mainly that of investigators dropping and getting more rejections than usual, not to mention Sister Greenwood's declining health. So eating food just hurts her. It's soo unusual. So basically, she can't eat anything, and the amount of traveling we do around Bangkok as international sisters hasn't been helping. We've seen a few doctors already, but nothing seems to be helping her get healthy. Keep her in your prayers! And we are trying to do all that we can for her while also trying to help in the progression of the work!

Had to say goodbye to Kita and Kevin who got placed by the U.N. in Chicago!

On a spiritual note, this is what I took away from personal study this week. "We may at times find ourselves surrounded by others and yet standing in the minority or even standing alone concerning what is acceptable and what is not. Do we have the moral courage to stand firm for our beliefs, even if by so doing we must stand alone?" That quote was taken from a talk by President Monson a few years back. And it just gave me a lot of perspective on the opposition we all face. Sometimes people will yell or throw food at you because you are a Mormon...trust me, I know. But that should not stop us from sharing what we know and standing up for what we believe in.

And that led me to this random quotation: "When the time for decision arrives, the time for preparation is past." We all need to prepare NOW! We never know who will stand in our path and try to make us fall. If your testimony is shaky right now, do all that you can to make it firm in the faith!

I love you all! Hope you all enjoy the pics from this past week :)

My first picture with an elephant on my mission!

Got to feed some crocodiles some tasty fish heads

Love you all!

Sister Lam