April 3, 2012

สว้สดีครับ
Hey family (and friends)! How's it going? I am doing fantastic. I hope
you all are doing well. It's been a crazy, crazy good, week. We've
been teaching Phii Dom and Phii Pragad. Dom is coming along really
well. He's stopped gambling, and he's going to "teach us Muy Thai"
haha. Pragad is a mess. We always seem to screw up on our lessons with
him and don't know what to say, but I think we'll figure it out soon.
The language is coming along steadily. I feel good about it. Reading
and writing is getting easier, but it still takes forever. It took me
half an hour to get half-way through the first verse of first Nephi
last night, and gave me a major headache. It's really tough because,
just like English, scriptural language is different than common
language.
How great was General Conference?! I loved every minute of it. It
really does make a difference listening to it as a missionary. I
recieved a lot more, probably because I wasn't passed out on the
couch. The talks I enjoyed the most were Elder Hallstrom's of the
Seventy, Elder Ballard's, and Pres. Uchtdorf's (like you, Brooke). He
really did make me want to stop judging people, which can be tough at
the MTC sometimes when it's just you and a bunch of other
19-year-olds. I feel like I'm starting to change into a different
person here at the MTC. I felt like I was a pretty good kid at home,
but here, I'm becoming so much more receptive to the Spirit. I've
really learned of the Savior's love for me. I had a cool experience on
Sunday. It was a rough day for me, because everything my companions
would do or say just pushed my buttons for some reason. I was in a bad
mood, but then Pres. Monson gave his testimony at the end of the
Morning Session, and then they sang "Come thou fount of every
blessing" (definitely my all-time favorite hymn). I just started to
cry because of the Spirit I felt. For the first time in my life, I
realized what the Savior really did for me, and I knew that he knew
exactly all of the stress and everything else I was feeling. Best
experience of my life. The rest of the day and all of yesterday and
today have been so much better because of it. Last night, Sister
Church, one of the sisters in my District, asked me to give her a
blessing of comfort because she's been struggling with the language
and other things. Elder Bartling helped. It was so powerful, and me
and Elder Bartling both agreed that we had never felt the Spirit so
strong during a blessing (wait it gets better). Then this morning, we
go to the temple. We decide to do sealings because most of us had
never done it. Me and E. Bartling were witnesses and E. Cox was a son.
After the first prayer, E. Cox said he wasn't feeling well and asked
to sit down. As soon as he stood up, he took one step, fainted, and
fell WAY hard on the floor. Me and E. Bartling and the worker rushed
over to him and decided to give him a blessing. I said it, and as soon
as I blessed that he would be healed, he  woke up and started to
stand. It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. The Power of
the Priesthood is real. I have the strongest testimony of it, and I'm
so priviliged to have the opportunity to use it. E. Cox ended up
having to go to the BYU clinic and had to get six stitches in his
chin, and he chipped a tooth (he hit his head on the leg of a chair
when he fell). OUCH! But he's doing well now
Other good parts of the past week:
Temple walks. So refreshing. Every Sunday we get to leave the MTC and
just walk around on the temple grounds after sacrament around 4. It's
way nice, and we got to do it 5 times over Conference weekend.
The B of M challenge is coming along. I'm not moving as fast as I'd
like, just because I take in and write down a lot more, but I think
I'll get it. Thanks to everyone who's doing it along with me! I know
it will bless our lives.
Right now, I'm currently at 161 lbs. Whooo! I do push-ups and stuff
every night, and I'm starting to get a little more toned haha. I got a
haircut last week, and not gonna lie Mom, I wish you had worked at the
MTC barbershop. I hated it at first, but it's grown out a little bit
and is looking better. At least it's coming back!
I can't wait for Easter next week! It's going to be sweet! We're doing
one mass MTC sacrament with 3 General Authorities (one of the drivers
that brought us home from the clinic spilled the beans on one of them
that's going to be there. Let's just say he spoke on little boys out
in the cold. But I didn't tell you anything).
Oh so get this, I guess in Thailand you can buy way sweet looking
suits for about $100 each or cheaper (I think I talked to someone
about this at home). Anyway, my teachers all bought some, and so did
the other Thai teachers. Some of them even got flames or dragons put
on the inside. SICK! So I was wondering...could I maybe do that? :)
I'd even pay for it! Let me know. I honestly can't wait to get to
Thailand! My Phii Thais leave on Monday. I'm going to miss them way
bad. I've made some way good friends. But at least I'll be able to see
them when I get there.
That's awesome that the Fridsmas came for conference, I'll bet that
was really fun. I hope Grandma is ok! Let her and Grandpa know I love
them, Grandma Sharp too! Mom and Dad, I would have never expected you
to go see taht movie haha. I read the books, and I can't wait to see
it when I get home. Oh, and about having to prepare for the BIG
reunion, did I ever tell you how great it is to be on a mission right
now? Haha. I'm sad that I'm not going to be there for it though.
Mom - thanks so much for the cookies and lotion! You really do make
the best sugar cookies, and they looked awesome. All of the other
Elders thought so too. Oh and did you get the bank thing figured out?
Brooke - Thanks for keeping me updated! And the cupcakes were
delicious, I wasn't lying haha. Yes, some of them were a
little...massacred, but they were still good. You and D have got to
keep me updated on the Master's! I'm so jealous!
Car - Who is the bagging kid's cousin?! It's been driving me insane!
Hope everything's going good at work and school :)
Laur - Thanks for the letters! I'm so glad you had such a great
birthday. Love ya!
Jordan and Kristin - Thanks so much for writing! I loved hearing from
you and finding out how you and the kiddos are doing!
All of my other siblings and fam - I love you all! Hope you're doing
well, and I hope to hear from you soon.
All of my friends - I love you too! Thanks to everyone who's written
me! (and I hope to hear from the rest of you). Kryle, I can't wait for
you to get here tomorrow, you're going to love it. Red, VK, Prest, and
Lando, keep preparing, there's nothing better you could do for
yourself.
Well my times up, hope I didn't miss anything major. I love you all!
Thanks for all of the prayers and support!

Elder Sharp