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

Back...to the middle of nowhere ;)

Soooo transfers came and went so fast, and I'm officially out of Bangkok and back into the Isan...aka the middle of nowhere where they speak Isan and not Thai...it's like I'm back in my greeny area all over again..except Kalasin is WAAAAAAAY smaller than Ubon haha. 

Said goodbye to 2 of my companions (both Sister Ng and Sister Barton finished their missions!)

And drumroll....my new companions...yup you read that right...COMPANIONS...are Sister Ladle and Sister Zoller! And you may be wondering..."hasn't she been in a trio before?" and the answer is YES! This is my 4th trio since I've been on my mission...I think that has to be a record of some sort. But anyways...the difference about this trio..is that I'm a trainer now! Me AND Sister Ladle are training Sister Zoller...yup super strange, but I'm rolling with it. Never really thought I was cut out for training, but I guess because I have a partner, it wont be as scary as I thought it would be.

Met my new companions: Sister Ladle (in the middle) and Sister Zoller

Both Sister Ladle and Sister Zoller went to BYU before the mission. Ladle is 23 and from Ohio, and Zoller is 19 from Wisconsin. And they're both obsessed with all things Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings....all things nerdy basically hahaha (reminds me of my brothers hahaha, love ya!).

Companionship bonding: first Sunday dinner together (made WAAAY too much french toast hahahaa)

Ok and now on to describe Kalasin...so it's a super itty bitty little town, and we have less than 50 members in our branch...AND no elders. Yup, this is a SISTERS ONLY area..so me and my 2 companions are living out here all by our lonesome...definitely a 180 flip from being in bangkok. But so far so good, I'm surviving. Not to mention how much we bike!!!!! I havent biked since Ubon basically, so I'm a little out of practice...and shape haha, so save it to say, I've been pretty sore these past few days...but in a good way I guess. 

The members here are great though, and really support us. So hopefully we will be working side by side to help build up this area! And don't worry, we're only about an hour away from other missionaries..so not really that alone mom :)

So I was thinking a lot about the theme I wanted this next transfer to have for myself and I came across this scripture that really stood out to me in D&C 81:5...."Wherefore, be faithful; stand in the office which I have appointed unto you; succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees."

I just really hope that as me and Sister Ladle set the tone for Sister Zoller's mission we help her with all of her needs and help her to see the true purpose of missionary work, serving others and helping them come unto the Savior, truly the only person that can heal us when we are down, alone, broken, helpless. Obviously, this training situation is a weird one for everyone...but I know that I am here for a reason, and I just hope that I can help both of my companions as well as myself grow closer to the Savior as we serve others :)

Miss you guys! Wish me luck!

Sister Lam

Bangkok Missionaries Conference with Elder Allen of the 70 (forgot to add this last week, see if you can find me!)

Another transfer already over!

 District Photo! "quick everyone make a funny face!"

I literally cannot believe that this transfer has already flown by! My companion Sister Barton "dies" this week, so by next week I will have a new companion and could have a new area as well. Transfer week always makes me nervous ha!

Learned how to cook like a Thai person!

But let's see..this week we just did a lot of work with members and were truly blessed to have 4 member referrals come to church! It's so awesome having ward members here that just want all of their friends to learn about the gospel that has so blessed their lives for the better! And like I mentioned last week, it's sooooooo good to work and find through the members of the church! I truly have a testimony of that after seeing how well it worked once we tried to seek out referrals this week :) the church is true!

Went tracting with this cute girl who's will be serving in our mission starting in December!

Well I feel like this is just gonna be a short email, but I'll leave you all with a spiritual thought for the day: 

So I was reading a talk by Elder Russell M. Nelson entitled, "Begin with the End in Mind." He posed a curious question..."What would you like said about you at your funeral?"....ok weird I know, but it truly just gave me perspective on what this life (our time on earth) is really about. In the grand eternal perspective, our mortal lives are just a tiny blip on our spirit's journey. Are we confident enough to say that we truly have focussed our lives on things of eternal significance, or have we left the path to pursue more worldy things? The "end" he refers to is the goal we all have (at least I hope) to return to live with God in the Celestial Kingdom. So if you think you have strayed from the path, come back! Prepare yourself now to meet God! Don't be lazy! ;)

Just a little food for thought this week :)

This week...ate meal worms...

Miss you all! Can't wait to find out what happens at transfers!

Love always,

Sister Lam

Member brought us a treat with this drawing attached...she can't really spell in English...or she just thinks I'm Sister Lame :(

Uplifted!

This past week we had the amazing opportunity to get counsel from Elder Funk of the 70 and Elder Allen, the managing director of the missionary department! Only missionaries serving in Bangkok were invited to attend, so yes, I'm feeling so grateful that I'm serving in Bangkok!

Got to see some of my favorite members when we went to Asoke (my old area) for the conference with Elder Allen.

And seriously, this could not have come at a better time. I feel like lately our mission has been getting more caught up on baptismal numbers as opposed to truly converted souls..and that is exactly what Elder Allen counseled us on.

In our mission...we are really good at FINDING, TEACHING, AND BAPTIZING. But there in lies the problem. A lot of what we do is "cold" contacting, which means we just find people off of the street who are interested. Elder Allen counseled us that, yes, this is good, but these converts are the hardest to retain! And we have seen this these past few months as our number of less actives has increased. 

It is through our recent converts and members in the ward that we should be finding the majority of our investigators because then, that person already has a support system in the church. The low hanging fruit is right in front of us many times, but we have been looking for the hard to reach fruit! So many missionaries, myself included, sometimes think we can do it on our own. But we simply cannot do it alone AND do it well. And, there is no point to missionary work unless we hold on to the fruits of that effort! So when we baptize, it should be when the person is truly on the road to conversion, as we all are. 

I think many people here believe that if they are baptized they are automatically cleansed from sin and saved...that is not true! It is through enduring to the end that we truly can be saved in the kingdom of heaven. But these recent converts can be helped by both the missionaries AND the members as we work together. President Hinckley said that new converts need 1) a friend in the church, 2) a responsibility or calling, and 3) to be nourished by the good word of God. As we strive to hold on to the fruits of our effort, we must be willing to do what we can to support them!

So yes..I learned A TON! it was such an amazing conference that just really fired me up on working better with the members and seeking referrals from them! Our goal in the mission now is to not decrease the rate of baptism, but to increase the rate of conversion! And that can be better achieved as we work through and with our members!

I'm not super good at cooking...but I know how to throw a lot of stuff in a pot :) (get ready to eat A LOT of this family when I come home)

"If we look around with observant eyes and the motive of a caring heart, we will recognize the opportunities the Lord places in front of us to help others rise up and move toward their true potential." (Dieter F. Uchtdorf)

I love you all so much, and I am so grateful for this work we have all been called to do! Keep up the faith, and we can all help in building up the Lord's kingdom on the Earth!

love always,

Sister Lam

Me with the cricket I ate (from last week's email).

I ate a bug!!!

Yup, I ate my first official bug...a cricket yesterday at church...kinda got forced to do it...but now at least I can say I did it! Definitely crunchy and gross...don't recommend it, but the Thai people love them apparently. And when in Thailand..do as the Thais I guess haha.

So this week was way fun! The bangkapi church has been closed down for the past few months, and this past saturday we had this huge open house, where like the mayor or something from this area even came to reopen our building! It was way fun! So we spent a lot of our time out on the streets, and even door to door contacting to get people in the area to come and check out our church! And we focussed on our theme of "Families can be together forever." So much of our focus was on Baptism and the temples!!! SSOOOOO good, and we got a lot of new investigators out of it! Success!!!

Putting together these gifts for our ward's open house!

The theme was "families can be together forever." So we had this awesome temple display!

Some of my favorite people the day of the open house!

So after our miracle baptism a couple of weeks ago, we've been struggling to find people. But this open house was exactly what we needed, and now we have 2 new investigators that are sooo solid! One is Sister จอ๋ม (Jom) and Brother ตูน (Duun). And both came to church on Sunday! MIRACLES!!!! We are praying really hard that one of them will be ready for baptism this next week...so keep your fingers crossed!

Some of the little girls we've been teaching!

For my spiritual thought this week I thought I'd share something I read in a talk the other day really stayed with me. "Just be the same person you are in the dark that you are in the light." This is a quote by Jabari Parker...for those of you who don't know him, he's an LDS basketball player. But how true is this quote! So much of the time we act differently around different groups of people. When in reality, we should be the same person, and not be putting up a certain front. God knows us in every way, and so He defintely knows who we are when we are in front of people and when we are alone. I hope we all are true to ourselves in every situation. Don't hide your faith!!!!

K that's all for this week!

Love ya!

Sister Lam