freezing there! It's pretty dang cold here too, like upper 90's...oh
wait...anyway, I'm not complaining about the weather haha. This week
FLEW by. A lot of good things happened that I'm really happy about.
Last Monday, we just chilled for the day. At night, we went to a guy
named Dan's. He's about 28 or so, and he's handicapped. Apparently,
when he was younger, he fell on his head showing off to his brothers
when they were playing some Thai sport. Pretty sad, but he's way
funny. His Dad was (or is?) the ambassador to the U.S., so he went to
a university in Boston, so he speaks great English. That's the only
language we use with him. His favorite thing to do is spell words in
English and do thumb wars (which he is nearly unbeatable at, because
the left side of his body does not work, so all of his right-side
appendages are way strong). Anyway, the reason we go over there every
Monday is because his dad met Pres. Hinckley, and Pres. Hinckley told
him that a pair of missionaries would be over to his house every week
to talk with Dan. Pretty awesome, we're on a special assignment from
the old prophet. I actually found a picture in the back corner of his
room of Pres. Hinckley shaking his dad's hand. Way sweet! Tuesday was
alright. Just did some planning and other stuff, and had English Class
at night. Both Jume and Dukadan were able to get off work and come, so
we were happy about that. Wednesday was a really good day. We went to
Bang Khae after studies for District Meeting. The Zone Leaders were
also there. Learned some good stuff on helping our branches/wards
becoming truly converted, which eventually leads to a temple in
Thailand. I cannot wait for the day that they announce that in General
Conference. We then came back to Thonburi and were able to meet with a
recent convert, Sis. Gay. Bro. Lek, another recent convert, helped us
teach her, so it was a double whammy. We focused on goals after
baptism, and told them that their main goal should be to go to the
temple. Sometimes it may seem impossible, but with the Lord everything
is possible. Elder Oakeson thinks they should get married, because
they both have kids but they're both single. That would be just too
weird for me. Later that night, we were able to meet with Jume. That
was one of the best lessons that I've had so far on my mission. We
decided to watch the Restoration DVD, and it was the perfect decision.
The Spirit was super strong the entire time, and she was way into the
story (and of course it ends with Joseph Smith Sr. getting baptized,
so that helped). At the end, we asked her how she felt. She started
crying and said that she had some of the exact same questions that
Joseph Smith asked, and she felt like she was finding the answers in
the Gospel. Yes! She is right on track for baptism on the 27th. It's
pretty crazy, Pres. Senior sent us a letter last week, and said that
we got 545 baptisms in 2012, 6 more than we got in 2011...and then he
said he wants 1000 baptisms in 2013. Whoa! But it seems so possible,
and is, because it's the Lord's work. If each Zone gets 12 baptisms a
month, then we pass 1000. We'll do it. Pray for us all! Thursday was a
little bit of a different day. We had to go downtown to the mission
offices, because Elder Oakeson had to get an ingrown toenail removed.
After he was done with that, we went and ate with the Branch Pres.
from Don Muang, one of the areas that Elder Oakeson served in in
Northern Bangkok. Really nice guy, and spoke great English. After
that, we ran back to the office and went to the Distribution Center. I
got a Thai Hymnbook, Thai Bible (We've kinda been told to use them
more, because we always say that we believe in it, but investigators
never see them), Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, and Teachings of Joseph
Smith. It was a steal! I talked to Elder Bartling for a minute since
he's an office elder, and then we all talked to Pres. and Sis. Senior
for a bit. They are a riot! He tells us stories about being aggressive
and playing hard, and then she comes back and says that we should play
nice and be nice and do everything nice. Hilarious! Pres. Senior also
gave us permission to do pretty much whatever we want to get people
interested, even selling Book of Mormons if needed. We'll try it out!
After that, we went and visited another Recent convert, Bro. Banjud.
He moved houses, but we finally found his street. After walking down
it, let's just say that I know where pretty much every shoe in the
world comes from. Friday was a long day of planning for next week and
getting the house cleaned up, because we were pretty sure that we were
going to be moving soon. But oh wait, Elder Jones, the senior
missionary who is in charge of finances, called today and said that
the house we found wouldn't work. Ahhh!!! We'll have to start our
search again. Later that night, we were able to teach Jume again
another good lesson beginning the Plan of Salvation. Saturday was a
fun day. In Thailand they have Mother's Day, Father's Day, and
Children's Day. Saturday was Children's day. The zone did a service
project together. Basically we went to the Bank of Thailand, which is
like the royal bank I think, and handed out toys to kids all day. Good
times. Children here are spoiled on Children's day! Sunday was great.
We had been fasting that we would get some investigators at church,
and the Lord definitely helped us. Sis. Jume showed up, as well as
Sis. Fuse. Unfortunately, Sis. Dukadan had work training, which was
also the reason she couldn't meet with us all week. We follow up with
her over the phone every night, but she just doesn't read in the Book
of Mormon. I know if she did, she'd have more of a desire to meet.
Pray for her! Jume had a great time at church, and we were able to
teach Fuse afterwards. She's a really shy girl, and doesn't talk that
much, but we can tell that she has a lot of Faith. That's what we
focused on in the lesson, which went well, and she accepted a soft
commitment to be baptized next month. Pray for her! Today was an
awesome day! We had Zone sports day. Dodgeball, football, food. It was
great! But I can tell that I'll definitely be sore tomorrow. Man, I'm
out of shape. Tonight we'll be going to Dan's again.
So that was my week. It basically sounds like most of everybody's week
at home was just cold. I love Thailand.
Well, gotta go! The Church is True!
Love, Elder Sharp
P.S. Pray for us to specifically find new investigators please, we
need some help with that.
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