Hey Family and Friends! How's it going? It's going pretty good here in Thonburi. Yes, I had a "banner week" last week, and no this week wasn't totally the same, but it was still a really good week. Can't expect that many MAJOR miracles from the Lord every week, he expects us to do at least some of the work, right haha? Anyway, like I said, solid week. Monday night we were invited to the bishop's house for dinner. His wife really knows how to cook, and made us tacos. Legit tacos. Reminded me of the steak fajitas that we used to have at home a bunch. So good! I miss some good Mexican food, but this gave me my fix. Tuesday was a good one, and English class was SO much better than last week. I had a smaller amount of people in my class than usual, but that's better anyway. I started off by teaching them some grammar and vocabulary from the instruction book, but then switched it up a little. I've been begging the students to tell me what THEY want to learn, and one guy finally did. He asked how to say "Can I go get a drink?" and some similar phrases, and it just kept on going. Other people kept asking stuff, and they were really interested. I had made a kind of back-up plan, if we ran out of stuff to do, to teach them how to order from a fast-food restaurant (specifically KFC and McDonald's since those restaurants are huge here), and since the sentences were rolling in that direction, I rolled with it. It was way more useful that the things we usually do, and they liked it a lot better. I'll probably stick with stuff like that. Wednesday was a really slow day. Tuesday night, our A/C officially broke, so we were DYING. We spent 3 nights with no A/C. The 3 most uncomfortable nights of my mission (even worse than the first night in the MTC). Luckily they were able to fix it Friday morning, so we're good now. Gosh I hate our apartment though. Wednesday afternoon we called our landlord to figure out what to do about the A/C and she said that our office had called and given a 30-day-moving notice. We had no clue about that, so we called the office to confirm, and yep, we have to move by the end of March. Probably a good thing, but please pray that we can find a house! We had a lot of errand-style stuff to do on Wednesday, so we were only able to teach one lesson to Soda, but it was solid. Thursday was a good day as well, but there was some very...unfortunate news that I'll share in a minute. We had District meeting and discussed some of the things that we learned in the fireside with the members of the Seventy (p.s. it was David, not Richard, F. Evans). One of the promises we received was that we would be able to baptize with more quality and more quantity if we apply the things we learn. What a great promise! It truly is amazing to see the changes that are happening with this mission and in all of the missions in Asia (and I'm sure all over the world). The Lord truly is hastening his work. Thursday afternoon and night, we were able to teach Run and Boss. Friday was our "less-active" day. We had to really good lessons with less-active members. One was with a lady named Atom. She hasn't been to church for about a year, and says she feels really bad about it. We committed her to go to church this Sunday, but unfortunately she didn't show up. We'll keep in contact with her though and keep encouraging her. We just gotta get the ward involved as well. The other lesson was with Sis. Mon (I told you about her already right?). She's awesome, and has come back and is a strong member now. We felt like we should talk about tithing, and it turned out great. The Spirit was very strong. Saturday we ate lunch and started our fast. Fasting is a great blessing that I really took for granted back home. It has a lot more meaning out here. We taught 3 lessons that day to Jiab, Boss, and Soda, which were all really good. Kind of an awkward moment in the lesson with Jiab though. First I just gotta say that she is a great member and really respects and honors Deity. Anyway, we covered the Restoration that day as part of her recent-convert lesson. Something that I do a lot to explain the Great Apostasy and show why there are so many Christian sects is take two pass-along cards that have the picture of Christ standing on the steps when he visits the Americas. I say "When Christ and his Apostles died, the Priesthood was lost" and I tear out the figure of Christ from one of the pass-along cards. Then I explain how there were disagreements between men, and tear up with rest of the card into several pieces to show why there are so many sects. And then I bring out the whole, new card when I talk about the Restoration through Joseph Smith. Anyway, as I was ripping the first one, Jiab all of a sudden busts into uncontrollable tears. At first I thought she was crying because people had disagreed so much and split off, but that wasn't the case. She was crying because I was ripping the card up. I had no clue what to say. The member there, Bro. Joe, came to my rescue and explained that it's not disrespectful, it's just a teaching tool. Gotta be careful who I do that with in the future. Sunday was good. 3 investigators at church, and yes I did get to bear my testimony. I shared about temples. I cannot wait for the day that they have a temple in Thailand. Taught Fuse after the meetings.
The investigators are doing great. We met with Soda twice this week. The first lesson we taught the Law of Chastity and then focused on missionary work. She's been showing a lot of interest in being a missionary, and we're all for encouraging her. We challenged her to give a Book of Mormon to her little brother, and she did. The second lesson we finished up her pre-baptism lessons by teaching tithing and fasting, and then talked about switching her date. She took it a little differently than expected, and was really nervous, saying she thinks it's too fast. We helped her see that she's ready, and had her go home and pray about it. Sunday, she told us she is ready to go on the 24th of March! We met with Boss twice this week, and yes, he's still a BOSS! He's going through the Book of Mormon a lot "slower" the 2nd time (and he's already in Mosiah or something). Over the two lessons we covered the Restoration and Modern day prophets, along with the WofW. He is 100% willing to follow, and we gave him a date for the 24th as well! Dukadan wasn't able to meet this week because she went back to her parents house because her mom was in the hospital (she's doing good now). We did have some good phone follow ups though and she's strong as ever. Fuse's lesson was alright. Covered half of the PofS along with WofW. We switched her date to the 24th as well, but we'll definitely have to meet more than once a week if she's going to make it. Please pray for us and her! So, the unfortunate news from Thursday had to do with Run. We had a great lesson with her that day, covering the Restoration and prophets, but then she told us that she actually is going to Singapore. She left Friday and won't be back for probably 2 or 3 months. We were so bummed! I guess she just didn't get that the complications with going the first time were a literal sign from God. God isn't going to give two miracles where two miracles aren't needed. She had her chance. Please pray that she'll eventually find her way back to the church.
Can you believe that I've been out a year this coming Thursday?! And my Twin is gone! I'm glad that it was a good setting-apart, I'll bet the Spirit was really strong. The advice I gave was for Carli, but everyone can apply it. Every time you pray, thank Heavenly Father for the Gift of His Son and the Atonement. Leatherby's...feels like that was just yesterday. And although I was pretty nervous then, I would just like to remind everyone that I got all of my meal and ice-cream down haha.
Well gotta go. The Church is True!
Love, Elder Sharp
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