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| Elder Sharp in his penguin jammies! |
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| Elder Sharp's MTC teachers |
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| Elder Sharp, a Thai member, and Elder Raven (E. Sharp's trainer) |
Udon. It's been a crazy week, long and busy, but very productive. It's
still crazy to me that I'm actually serving a mission...in Thailand.
But it's so awesome! I love sharing the Gospel with all of the people
here. On Monday we didn't really do much, just napped and hung out.
Then went out and invited. We didn't have much success at first, then
we found a guy that let us teach him how to pray. We tried to get a
hold of him this week, but he won't answer his phone. I hate when
stuff like that happens. People need to realize how much the Gospel
will help them! Tuesday night, we teach English Class at the church.
Whenever we go inviting or are just out and about, we hand out
pass-along cards as well as English class cards. It's every Tuesday
for free, and it is awesome. I helped teach the Advanced class,
because most people in there can speak English pretty well, and I
still can't really understand Thai haha. It's way fun. We did some
grammar and vocab, and then played the Telephone game. That was
hilarious! The phrase totally got mixed up. The best part about
English class is the referrals we get. We always introduce the Gospel
at the end, and then people can ask us for a return appointment if
they're interested. We get a lot of new investigators that way. Ok,
I'm not going to tell you how each day went hour by hour, because SO
much happened, so I'll just tell you about my investigators and stuff.
Tim and Taam are doing great! They are Golden. We taught them about
Repentance and the Word of Wisdom a few days ago. They both had
problems before, but they both stopped instantly, and I don't think
it'll hinder them. They just have so much Faith, it's like they're
already members. They come to church each week and have a baptism date
set for the 23rd. It's like they're already members. We got to teach
Tim's daughter last night. She lives in Bangkok and is going back next
week, but we gave her a Book of Mormon and taught her to pray, so
hopefully she tries it out and believes like her brother and mom. Sis.
Tugta is great too! She came to church for her first time yesterday,
because she always had work, but if she comes every week, she'll be
baptized on the 24th! Nan and Nun came to church, but both left after
Sacrament. They can't get baptized for a long time because they're
both minors, but we just gotta try to keep them totally active. I
think they can do it. On Wednesday (I think) we taught a lady named
Nooy and her four kids. She only speaks Thai, but her kids only speak
English. Crazy! So E. Raven taught her in Thai, and then I repeated
everything to her kids. It was like a breath of fresh air being able
to speak in English. The oldest kid is about 12 and loves to read, so
we gave him a Book of Mormon too, and he said he'd read and pray. I
think they could all be golden, and it would be awesome if we could
get them and their dad, so we'd have the whole family. That's the
whole point of this Gospel, making Eternal Families! We also taught a
guy named Brees, and he seems pretty interested, so we'll definitely
get a return appointment. Other than that it's just been a lot of
inviting, with not much success. We've only really had one other
lesson with two girls we invited in to. They didn't seem to be taking
it too seriously when we taught them at the church, but then one asked
"So how can we have happiness if we've done wrong in our lives?" Well,
let me tell ya! We told her we could teach her how to do that exact
thing, so we'll probably be able to teach again. On Saturday, we went
to Sizzler's at the big mall here to begin our fast. We went with the
two other elders, the District President, President Sxa (he is
awesome! Only like 27 and already a District pres.), and a couple of
members. The food didn't turn out that great but it was a good time.
Then me and E. Raven headed to Gumpawapi to stay the night and go to
church in the morning. We visited with a few members, taught a lesson
to the sister and bro-in-law of a member, then headed to our hotel,
the "Gumpawapi Resort." I was nervous for how that was gonna be, but
it was actually way nice and clean. The only bad part was the bed was
like a rock. In the morning we went to church. One of the members
asked me to play the piano. Obviously I can't play hymns yet, but I've
actually been practicing a lot here and almost have a few down! I'm
going to try to play next week. Who would've thought that I would get
interested in the piano again? I'll bet Cindy would be proud! E. Raven
also has a guitar, so maybe I'll try that that out too. After the
Gumpawapi Branch we headed back to Udon, ate some lunch with the
members from the branch before, then headed to our meetings.
Unfortunately, I couldn't bear my testimony because there was always a
member up, but I bear my testimony everyday, so I think that counts
Car ;) I'll try next week. At 5, we had a fireside teaching the
members how to get referrals, so hopefully that helps. Then we taught
Tim, Taam, and Tim's daughter. So that was my week! Busy and tiring,
but I love it. So now to answer some questions...yes, Laur, pretty
much every name is like that. A lot of them are really similar, but
just a little different, so it gets confusing. They're actually just
nicknames their parents give them most of the time, because they're
real names are too long. E. Raven is great. He teaches me a lot of
stuff, and reminds of Derek, so you know it's a good time haha. The
members come and teach with us all the time, those are definitely the
best lessons. It's so nice to have a Khon Thai (thai person) there to
share their testimony and help us teach stuff and make it more clear
for the investigator, especially when the member is a new convert,
because it shows that anyone can change, ya know? Gives them someone
to relate to. Ok, so the food...I love it now. It was tough at first,
but now it's great! I mostly avoid way spicy stuff (you know me) but
there's plenty to eat that's not too spicy or not spicy at all. I'm
actually starting to crave rice lately haha. Speaking of rice, at the
Dairy Queen here, they have a Sticky rice and Mango ice cream shake.
It's SO good! They put real, warm rice in it and it is delicious. I
can't wait to come back here with you and have you try everything! I'm
getting adjusted here, getting into the routine. Sorry, I forgot to
tell you last week, but we ride bikes everywhere. I got mine the
second day. It was ROUGH riding it. I hadn't ridden a bike in years,
but I'm good with it now. If we don't take bikes, we take Tuk Tuk's.
They're like little motorcycle carriage things that guys drive around,
pretty nice. Udon's taxi's. I love Thailand!
So it sounds like you all had a crazy busy week too! Memorial Day
sounds like it was a hit. I wish I could've been there. So does
Disneyland! Haha I really wish I could've seen Carter's eyes, that
sounds hilarious. I'm really jealous of the Yanks game, bummer that
you barely missed all of the good action.
Mom - I'm gonna survive! I'm doing really good here, I don't think
I'll lose much weight. That sacrament meeting sounds so awesome! I
hope they do that sometime when I get home. Oh and could you send me
the Bishop's address so I can right the ward? Thanks! Love ya Momma :)
Dad - Ah I wish I could've been at those games with you! We definitely
have some good memories in LA. And I'm sorry to hear about Lee. That's
so sad. He was such a great guy, and I'll miss him too. I'm sorry Dad.
The good thing is that you'll be able to see and talk to him again.
That's the best thing about this Gospel. Families can be together
forever. I'm so glad I get to share that with these people. I love you
Dad!
Laur - Thanks for the e-mail and especially for your talk. That really
helps to hear that. It's something good to think about when I get
down, to always remember that God loves us and has a plan for us.
Thank you. I love you!
Car - Thanks for the e-mail too! I definitely missed not being in Cali
with my twin, but we'll definitely have more good times when I get
back. Still going to mission prep? And don't worry, I bear my
testimony everyday ;) Love ya twin!
Brooke - I hope Linc is ok! Keep me updated on everything!
Rest of my Fam - I love you and miss you all! Hope to hear from you soon!
Friends - Congrats to Karlissa and everyone else who just graduated!
And Prest...BRAZIL!!! That's so sweet! Congrats brother! I can't wait
for you to have the chance to share the gospel. It's the best thing in
the world. To the rest of my friends...The Church is true!
Well I love you all! I hope you're all doing alright, and hope to hear
from you soon!
Love, Elder Sharp
P.S. I attached some pics, but I'm going to send my SD card home soon.
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