September 24, 2012

Hey everybody, Fam and Friends! Sawadii! How's it going? It's going
pretty good here in Buriram. It's transfer week. Crazy! This transfer
went by faster than the other two, easily. It seems like I was just
barely walking off the bus at 11:00 p.m. right into the face of an
elephant. We don't find out what's going to happen until tomorrow, but
me and Elder Segura both feel like one of us is moving. He thinks it's
going to be me, and that he could possibly train here (yikes! Buriram
is great, but kind of a tough first area for a greeny). I don't know
what to think. I could see myself moving, I could see him moving. And
I could see us staying together. Who knows? If I do move, I hope I get
to go and serve in Bangkok. Love the big city. I'll let you know next
week! This week was alright, got some good things done. Tuesday we
went and handed out a bunch of English flyers again, and....we got
four people at class! Kind of a joke, but whatever. It was four people
that had been several times, so they knew how the class went and it
was fun. It was the "English Slang" lesson. Thai people really love
slang ha. Wednesday was a looong one. We got up at 5, got ready, then
got on a bus at 6:30 to go to Ubon to have Zone Specialty Training. It
was cool to see some of the Elders there, especially Elder Bartling
(my comp from the MTC if ya don't remember). The meeting was really
good. We talked about "becoming" a servant/disciple of Christ. It
really put some things in perspective. We can go through the motions,
but if we don't really become, it doesn't make much difference. After
it was over, the Buriram elders, Surin elders, and Elder Bartling and
his comp went and got dinner at a farang (white person) restaurant.
Huge burgers, and pretty decent ones at that. Then we headed home and
got in around 9:30. 5 hours there, 3 hours meeting and eating, 5 hours
back. Long day. Thursday, we did switch-offs. Elder Adams came from
Surin to Buriram. We were able to get a lot of good things done. We
taught Ooy in the afternoon about the Sabbath Day. She didn't
understand some things, so it was good to clear them up. I also gave
her a new date! Oct. 25th. If she comes to church consistently, she'll
be able to do it. Church is the make or break. After that, we headed
to the Branch President's house. We went together to a neighborhood
and handed out fliers for a big activity that we were going to have
there tomorrow night. Then he took us to Mii's house and we taught
her. We reviewed the Restoration and the importance of the Power of
the Priesthood. She is so ready! I want her to get baptized so bad.
She reads and prays everyday, asks great questions, and has so much
faith. It's just her husband that is holding her back. We challenged
her to bear her testimony to her husband, so hopefully that softens
his heart. The next day we switched back after studies, and me and E.
Segura went to the activity at 4, which was when it was supposed to
start (and it was ending at 7). Nobody was there. Nobody showed up
until about 5:30 and the thing didn't even start until 7 (when it was
supposed to end). Super frustrating. That was a lot of time wasted
that we could have used. The activity was alright, but mostly it was
just little kids that showed up, so I don't think we're getting any
new investigators from it. Saturday, we long planned for a few hours,
then went inviting all day. We unfortunately didn't get any actual
lessons, but we got some phone numbers that we'll follow up on and
planted some seeds. Sunday was good. Ooy, Mii, and Toto all came to
church! Toto is Sis. Bad's 12 year old son. He is awesome. Comes every
week by himself, because he wants to. Sis. Bad just doesn't seem to
have much interest anymore. Super sad, but we'll keep in touch with
her. We're actually going to see her tonight and ask for permission
for Toto to get baptized, so I'll let you know what happens. P.S. Her
grandson is out of the hospital and doing well. Today is a chill day,
just hanging out at the house.
How's everything going at home? Oh, and when is daylight savings?
Crazy that September is almost over. Not going to lie, I'm gonna love
not having snow here ha. And I've almost been on my mission long
enough to have two General Conferences...now that's weird.

Well gotta go. Love you all! The Church is true!
Love, Elder Sharp