Hey Family and Friends, what is up? I'm doing great here in Thonburi.
Of course, it is still ridiculously hot, exactly the opposite of Utah
from what I hear. Do I miss the snow and cold? No, I cannot say that I
do, so I'll bear with the heat. This past week was a great one. Went
by very quickly, as it always does. Can you believe that today I have
been a missionary for 10 months? 10! It's definitely going by faster
than I expected it would, so I'm trying to live it up. Anyway, last
Monday, we went to the mall and got some McDonalds, along with a
little grocery shopping. Had to get some sparkling cider of course to
toast in the new year! We then went to the bishop's house for dinner.
His wife, Sis. Cherry, made green beans and carrots, mashed potatoes,
and barbecue pork ribs. Oh man, that was good. Definitely one of the
best farang dinners that I've had since I've been here. We then went
home, because we had to be home before 7. Let's just say that everyone
started drinking pretty early, and there were A LOT of drunk people
out. Once we got back to our apartment, we went up on the roof and
took a couple of pictures. Bangkok looks pretty sweet at night,
especially on New Years. We planned and chilled for a little bit after
that, and were planning on going to bed...we just never really got
around to it. 10:30 is close enough to midnight, right? We toasted the
New Year in with some cider, and then watched the fireworks from our
window. Bangkok was seriously exploding! Fireworks everywhere for
almost half an hour. Way sweet. Tuesday was pretty good. We went to go
and look for new houses, but forgot to take into account that it was
still New Year's Day. Everybody was closed. So we made our way back to
the church. We taught Jume again that night. We basically focused on
the fact that she couldn't be Christian and a member of our church,
and still do Buddhist ordinances. She was still a little iffy, but
understood well. We decided we should commit her to baptism, but she
wouldn't do it because apparently she is terrified of water for some
reason. Later that night, we had English class. Pretty chill, not a
lot of people because most everyone was still out of town for the
holiday. Wednesday was a solid day. District meeting in Bang Khae.
Elder Thomas gave some great instruction. He told a story of how his
grandpa restored a 1951 Chevy, and wouldn't accept anything but an
original piece. He told us that that is how we need to live our lives
and build ourselves up. Never accept anything but the best. Don't give
in to the cheap or easy things. Always live up to the best standard.
It was a great message. That night, we were able to meet Dukadan. We
decided to give her the Restoration. Man, that is a lot of information
that we threw at her, but she's a very smart person, so I'm not
worried. She's an awesome investigator, because she personally asks
the members to share their testimonies and experiences before we even
have the chance to. You can tell she really wants to learn for
herself. We also gave her a Book of Mormon, and committed her to read
and pray about it. She'll get baptized in the future for sure.
Thursday was a LONG day. After studies, we went to look for houses
again. Finally they were open, so we got to look at a couple of rooms.
We found one that would do well for us. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms (I
would love to have my own bathroom), fully furnished, etc. The only
problem is that it might be a little too expensive (MOST everything is
cheaper here, except for housing in Bangkok and electronics). We're
going to talk to Elder Jones, the Senior missionary in charge of
finances, about it today and see what we can do. If he gives us
permission, we're definitely moving this week. I do not like our
current apartment. After that, we met Bro. Bay (Pe on FB) at the
church, and the 3 of us went down to PhraPradeng, the place that we
went to last week. Took about an hour on the bus to get there, but we
had a little time to kill, so we went and saw a member. We then went
and visited Som (she's the reason we went down there). She was a media
referral, who apparently lived in St. George with a Mormon family for
a while as an exchange student when she was 15. We taught her and her
Sister. It seemed to go really well, and we were pretty pleased with
it. The next day, we called her to follow up, and she said she wasn't
interested at all. Bummer! She seemed like she was going to do so
well. Friday, we did switch-offs. I went to Bang Khae with Elder
Thomas. It was pretty good, we taught a few of his investigators. We
were also going to "soap-box" it for the first time, but we couldn't
find a place with enough people for it to work. I will definitley do
it sometime though. The next day, Saturday, one of their investigators
interviewed for baptism (she passed), so the Zone Leaders were there.
I got to talk to Elder Char, one of the elders who went into Udon when
I white-washed out. Apparently two of my recent converts there have
gone less-active. What the heck?! I hope that will change soon! I
really want to go back to Udon as a Zone leader if I get the chance.
After the interview, we went back to Thonburi. We had sports night at
the church, me and Elder Oakeson played against (and dominated)
everyone else in dodgeball. Then we were able to meet with Sis. Donut.
We reviewed the importance of the Sabbath Day and the Sacrament since
she's a member now. We then got to meet with Sis. Dukadan. Now that
was a great lesson. She had read all of the introductory stuff in the
Book of Mormon, and was about to start into 1 Nephi. All she wanted to
know was information on the Book of Mormon, so we gladly obliged. I
felt like the Introduction would be the best place, so we opened up to
it. We read a few of the beginning paragraphs to explain what it is,
and then read the last to show what benefit it would have for her. She
was very interested, asked great questions, and committed to read the
chapters on prayer that we advised. We were thinking about extending
the baptismal commitment, but neither of us felt it was right. Awesome
lesson though, and the Spirit was very strong. Sunday was great! Sis.
Dukadan was able to get out of a meeting that she had at work for a
little bit and come to Sacrament and half of Sunday school, so it
definitely showed she was committed. After church, we were able to
teach the niece of a member. Her name is Fuse (but pronounced Few),
and her sister's name is Morphine. Now those are sweet names. It was
an introductory lesson on God and prayer. Later, Jume was able to come
to the church and meet (apparently she had a meeting or something, so
she couldn't come to Sacrament). We had another great lesson with her.
When I was on switch-offs, E. Oakeson was able to teach her the
Restoration and give her a Book of Mormon. She said she had read in
it, and then had some sort of vision, so we talked about that. We
helped her see the blessings that would come from Baptism, extended
the invitation again, and she accepted! She WILL be baptized on the
27th of this month. Please pray for all of my investigators! Oh and
Champ has pretty much disappeared. None of the missionaries has seen
him around. Bummer.
So sounds like New Years was pretty chill. That actually sounds really
nice to not have all the stress of planning a big party. And Happy
Birthday Momma!
Gotta go, the Church is True!
Love, Elder Sharp
Dear Family and Friends, Sawdii Khrab! Happy New Year! Wow, this week
seriously flew by. It was so great to be able to talk to all of you on
Christmas (Eve). Everyone pretty much is exactly the same as I
remember them (except for Zack and Ava), and that is just fine with
me. Just the good 'ole fam. Ah I'm bummed though. When we were
skyping, I couldn't think of any questions to ask (you know me), but
afterwards I thought of a ton of stuff we could've talked about. Oh
well, you all keep me posted very well, so it's all good. It was
pretty hard to say goodbye, but I got refocused pretty fast, mostly by
remembering that I have the greatest family in the world and I'll be
skyping again soon. This time I'll make sure and think of stuff to
talk about BEFORE it happens. It's weird to think that's it's only
about four and half months until we'll skype again. That time is going
to pass so quick. That day, we met the Bang Khae Elders at the mall
and got some Coldstone (they wouldn't do Sizzler). It was good though!
The weird (and sad) thing was, that nobody at the mall new it was
Christmas Day, even though everything is decorated. Anyway, this week
flew by! The past two have. I can't believe this transfer is going by
so fast, but I guess I'm always saying that. A ton has happened here
already. The Sunday after I arrived, one of our investigators, Sis.
Donut, got baptized (why I didn't remember to tell you about it when
we skyped, I don't know)! It was a great service and we had a couple
of other investigators there who had come to church for the first
time, so it was perfect timing. Donut got confirmed yesterday, it's
always an awesome experience to be in the circle for those kinds of
things and exercise the Priesthood. Oh, got to play the piano in
Sacrament meeting yesterday. I didn't realize how much I was going to
miss it until it was gone. Felt good. The area is doing pretty well
right now. We're seeing a lot of miracles happen, and finding some
good investigators. Working in Bangkok is definitely different than
working out in the Isan though. Here, you find people on buses rather
than going door-knocking. It's a little intimidating, but I'm getting
better at it. Just gotta open my mouth and proclaim the Good Word. The
main investigators we have right now are name Jume, Dukadan, and
Champ. Jume is an awesome investigator, she just doesn't really know
it yet. She had come to English class a couple of times, she came to
the Christmas party, and she was one of the investigators that was at
Donut's baptism. We were finally able to sit down and teach her this
past Wednesday night and introduce prayer and God. She's really
receptive, but scared to commit to anything because her family is very
Buddhist. We committed her to pray and she accepted. She had told us
that she had been feeling pretty sick that day, so at the end of the
lesson, one of the members that was in there suggested that we give
her a blessing. It caught us a little off guard, but Jume seemed
pretty into the idea of getting a blessing from two guys holding the
Power of God. So we quickly explained what we were doing, told her it
would work according to Faith, and then blessed her. She said she felt
very good about it. The next day, the miracle showed. Me and Elder
Oakeson were going around looking for new apartments, and she called
us to thank us and tell us that she was feeling 100% better. Now if
that's not a sign from Heavenly Father, I don't know what is. We were
able to meet with her again on Saturday, and we explained more about
the priesthood and some other stuff. She said something "weird"
happened that day. She said her parents always invite her to go to the
Buddhist temple with them, but for some reason they didn't that day,
so she was able to go to the church. Come on! She is having so many
miracles happen to her. She just needs to act on her Faith. Dukadan is
also a good investigator. Elder Oakeson has taught her once, I've
never actually taught her. She came to church on the day of the
Baptism, and she loved it all. She went away this last week for the
New Year, but we should be meeting with her this week for sure. I
think she'll be baptized this month. Pray for her! Champ is a guy that
the Zone Leaders met that actually lives in our area. We met with him
once last week, just kind of reviewed what he's learned. He went away
this last week as well, but hopefully we can catch him this week. Pray
for all of them please! We have some more potentials that we're
working on as well. The Lord is definitely preparing our area. The
thing is, we realized that our area is HUGE and Pres. Senior wants us
to move somewhere more centralized. We're looking for a new apartment
right now, but there's so many particulars that have to fall into
place, it's a long process. This past week, the Samut Bragan Elders
called us and told us that they have apparently been working in our
area for quite some time now (probably a couple of years) and the
leaders wanted to fix it. We looked at a map to see where they were
working, and man...it's far. We had to go out there on Thursday to
talk to a member and convince her to go to Thonburi for church instead
of Samut Bragan. We left our apartment at 11:30 and didn't get back
home until 8:30. 2 hours each way. Hopefully we can find an apartment
that will lessen the commute, because there's some investigators we
have to visit down there as well. Doing good with the new companion,
Elder Oakeson. We don't have a ton in common other than we like to
have fun while we're working (don't worry, not too much fun, just
enough). That's fine with me though. It's a good learning experience.
The Ward is good. We have a lot of good members, and quite a bit more
organization, being that it's a ward and not a branch. It's nice to be
able to focus a little more on investigators rather than the members
than I've been able to in the past.
Can you believe it's New Years already? Goodbye 2012. We have to be
home tonight before 7. Apparently it can get pretty sketchy in Bangkok
around this time (don't worry Mom, I'll be good). What festivities do
you have planned?
Well, Happy New Years! Gotta go! Love you all! The Church is True!
Love, Elder Sharp
Hey Family and Friends (and new Sister Missionary), how are you all?
I'm doing good here in Buriram. But...it is my last day in Buriram. We
got the call at about 7:30 this morning that I am moving. I'm a little
sad, I will miss some of the members and my investigators here, but
I'm also ready to move on to the next challenge. And hopefully that
challenge is in Bangkok haha. But I have a feeling that I'll be coming
back out to the Isan. I'll let you know next...Tuesday when I Skype
with you! So I will Skype on Tuesday, and it will be Monday night,
Christmas Eve, for you. I'll try to be on between 8 and 9 in the
morning here, so it'll be 6 or 7 there. I can't wait! So this week was
another very busy one, but it flew by again. The only thing that made
it feel long was having to wait to find out where my Twin is going!
Sacramento, Cali won't know what hit them! I couldn't be more excited
for you Car. That mission is perfect for you, and you'll get to learn
Spanish along with it. That's good, because then you can teach it to
me once we're home ;) And Feb 27! Get ready, it's coming right up! I
won't even have been out a year by the time you leave, so you'll get
home less than six months after I do. Crazy! I'll be praying for you!
So anyway, this week was busy. Tuesday, we were able to see Coco and
talk to him a little more about the Book of Mormon. He (and most of
the people we talk to) said he didn't read that much because it's hard
to understand, because it uses the higher form of the language that
they don't recognize, which is understandable. We counseled him to
just keep pushing through it, coupled with a lot of prayer, and he'll
start to understand. We also committed him to read 3 Nephi 11. That
night, I had my last English class in Buriram. Nobody new came,
unfortunately, but it was fun. It was Elder Christensen's and Sis.
Dangmo's birthday, so we sang and celebrated a little bit. Wednesday,
we had District Meeting, and then...more switchoffs! Yeah, I'm kind of
sick of switch-offs ha. I went to Surin with Elder Hunsaker. We went
and taught the brother and sis-in-law of a member, which went really
well, and then visited a less-active. We also went to see a lady who
is making scripture and PMG cases for the Surin Elders. We were going
to have her make them for us to with the silk we bought at the silk
village, but E. Christensen called and said Sis. Nong in Buriram could
do it a lot better for a lot cheaper. I'll show you them when they're
done, they should be sweet! Then we went back to the Surin house and
crashed. No Mom, we don't always stay in hotels. Usually all of the
Elders will crash at the missionary apartment in the area. We only
stay at a hotel when needed, and they're suprisingly very nice. But
yes, very cheap which is good. Everything here is cheaper. We eat out
for every meal except Sundays. Thursday, I went back to Buriram with
Elder Christensen, and our day kind of fell apart. We had about 4
lessons lined up, and all of them cancelled. Major bummer, but we did
get to visit to less-active members, Bro. Got and Bro. Luya. They were
both really good visits, and I think they had an effect on them both.
Friday was a pretty rough day with a few more cancellations. We were
able to meet with Coco again. He read! He got through 3 Nephi 11 and
understood enough of it, so we committed him to keep going. We also
taught the Plan of Salvation (Car, when you teach it, I would
recommend breaking it in half, because that is a dang long lesson to
teach at one time). It took us about an hour. But he asked great
questions and understood clearly. Saturday, we taught zero lessons.
The entire day was devoted to preparing for Frank's (Sis. Nong's son
who just turned 8) baptism. We had to make a program, and trust me
that's very hard when all of the computer programs are in Thai and we
have to type everything in Thai. But don't worry, I cranked it out! We
then went to the church to clean the font and set everything up, and
by this time were were running out of time. It was a very nice
surprise when we showed up and the font and church were spotless.
Thank you Sis. Dangmo! She's probably the member I'll miss the most
here, she helps so much! So we got the water going and then went and
ate. The service started at 6 and went really smoothly. Gosh, we had
more people there than we usually have at church. Hey, and my first
time baptizing someone! And it wasn't even an investigator haha. It
was an awesome experience, and the Spirit was really strong. I'm very
honored that he chose me to do it. Sunday was pretty good, pretty much
just said good-bye to people since it was pretty solid that I was
moving. Today is just packing and chilling.
So how's it going there? Still cold, because it's around 95 outside
right now here. Is the house all set up? I want pics! And I want pics
of the call opening. Can't wait to talk to you next week!
Well, gotta go! Can't wait to talk to you next week! I love you all,
and the Church is True!
Love, Elder Sharp
