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