Once again, this week FLEW by (even though it doesn't seem like it to
you Brooke)! Yes Car, I'm almost 5 months through my mission. It's
going by so fast, but I'm making a lot of good memories. This week was
a good, and very busy one. I'll try to remember everything that
happened. On Monday, we went down to Kumphawapi to see the monkeys,
and it was quite an experience. There was a monkey sitting right by me
watching Elder Maples hand out peanuts. I touched him with my foot (a
touch, not a kick), and he didn't really seem to like that. Then a
couple minutes later, Elder Thomas starts walking away, and the monkey
attacks him! He got a little bite on his leg, so he ended up having to
go to the hospital and get rabies shots. Whoops! Sorry man (but I
don't think the touch made him bite. I just think he was a crazy
monkey). Tuesday we went to Kumphawapi again to invite a little and
teach English. We didn't have much luck inviting, but we did get to
meet with Pa. She started telling us about her life and her husband,
and I guess she's had it pretty rough. I just hope she can realize the
blessings that come from the Gospel, because I know that it can make
her happier. It was annoying though, we had to cut the lesson short
because the member just got up and walked out, so we couldn't finish.
Lame. That night we taught another good English class. We only had
nine people again, but we hung a big tarp sign on the church fence on
Saturday, so we should have a lot more people tomorrow. Tuesday night
we stayed at a pretty nice hotel, and had a complimentary breakfast in
the morning. I never thought toast with butter could taste so good
(butter is really expensive, at least for missionaries). Wednesday, we
went and tried to visit some people we haven't seen for a while. We
went to Fon's first, but we couldn't see her. Apparently she had to
get her appendix out or something, so she's been recovering for a
while. Pray for her! Then we went to Tik's. She let us in and we sat
down and talked for a little bit. She said the reason she hasn't been
coming to church is because she sells stuff out of her house, and if
she's not there when a customer comes on Sunday, they'll go somewhere
else. We tried to tell her that God would take care of everything if
she kept the commandments, but she wouldn't budge. We'll keep trying
though! Then the Sisters called us and asked if we could go give a
blessing to one of their investigators who had been sick for a few
days. She was about 15 years old, and not only did she look very sick,
but also very sad. It about killed me. She said she'd just been
praying and praying and didn't know what to do anymore. I'm so glad
and grateful that we have the Power of the Priesthood and have the
ability to exercise it to help these people. It was an awesome
experience. I asked Sis. Carper about her the other day, and she said
she'd gotten a little better, hopefully her recovery continues. Pray
for her! That night we taught Nooy and Nadin (I'll talk about them in
a minute). Thursday, we got up at 4:00 a.m. so that we could be down
to Khon Kaen for Zone Conference by 8. Elder Thomas had to practice
the piano. I was beat, but it was an awesome meeting. Pres. Senior
honestly could not be better. He taught a lesson on Faith and the
importance of it in missionary work. Like I said last week, you can't
teach without the Spirit. And you can't hear the Spirit's promptings
without Faith. Faith is the most fundamental principle of Christ's
Gospel. Without Faith, nothing else matters. I've been trying to
exercise more Faith lately, and will continue to. I encourage all of
you to do the same. After all the meetings were done, the Pres. had to
interview everyone, and we were some of the last, so we didn't get
home until about 9, so we just got ready and went to bed. Friday, me
and Elder Whitaker (from Nong Khai) did switchoffs in my area. It was
a good day, and I learned a lot from him. At about 4, we were at the
house figuring out some bills and money stuff (I'm house money leader,
and it's quite annoying). I got a call from Pres. Senior, and he gave
me and E. Whitaker an assignment. We had to stay with the Sisters the
rest of the day because I guess the crazy (supposedly dangerous)
husband of one of their (former) investigators wouldn't stop calling
them, and he wanted us there in case he showed up or something. So we
had to stay at our house for a few hours while they were at there's.
At 5, the other Elders stayed there while we went and taught Nadin and
Taam, then we switched back. It was crazy day. Saturday, we went to
Kumps again. Just inviting, nothing real big happened. We weren't able
to meet with Pa, and she wasn't at church yesterday, which was a major
bummer. Sunday was pretty chill. Just a good day to focus on the Lord.
We still aren't getting many investigators. Taam, Nooy, and Nadin are
really our only solid ones. Pa hopefully will be, but it's still a
little too early to tell. But like I said, those other three are
SOLID. They all have baptismal dates for the 12 of Aug.! And I think
they are all ready. E. Raven taught Taam yesterday and he said he is
doing awesome. I taught Nadin and Nooy (we did some switchoffs with
members), and they are both great too. We're going to meet with Nooy
one more time tonight, and then they are all getting interviewed on
Wednesday when the Zone Leaders are up here for District Meeting. Pray
hard for them! The 12th is going to be one awesome day, because we
have 3 people, the Sisters in our branch have one, and the other
Elders have two. 6 new members in one day! How awesome would that be?
I'll let you know how the interviews go next week. The language is
coming along really well. It felt really good teaching Nooy and Nadin
by myself yesterday, I just have to remember to slow it down and speak
clearly and loudly (gosh, that's always been a problem of mine).
Everything else here is good. Rainy season (bleh). We got clearance to
move houses, too! I'm so stoked. Our house is alright, but it's too
big and too hard to maintain. So we looked at some townhouses where
the senior missionaries live, and I think we're going to jump on them.
Gotta go, Love you all. The church is true!
Elder Sharp
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