May 6, 2013

Sabay dii mai khrab? Pen yaangray bang? Hello! How are you all? I am doing great here in Thonburi. A lot of good things happened this last week. Last Monday, at the Zone sports day, we pretty much just played dodgeball the entire time. Good stuff, and yes, I was very sore. On Tuesday, we got a call from the office, telling us that we had left two mattresses in the old apartment and had to go and move them out. Man, I thought I was done with that place. Me and Elder King went and took them out and set them by the garbage cans. We had called the Bishop and asked who he thought might need them, but he couldn't really think of anyone. He suggested Sis. Jiab, but we called and didn't get an answer. She called back later and said she could definitely use one, so we went back to the apartment and lugged it to the house. It was hard, but worth it to be able to help someone. Wednesday, we went back to Sis. Gay's house and helped her finish up with her boat. We also ate at a very sketchy noodle place, but hey, I guess that's the stuff we eat every day. Haha trust me Mom, you're going to love it. After that, we had a great District meeting, mostly just talking about how we can get more investigators, since both companionships were a little low in that area. Elder Buss challenged us to contact 10 people a day as a companionship, and they would too. Now, 10 people doesn't seem like a ton, but it's harder than you think. We have done it on almost  everyday, and it's improving. We all feel that if we keep it up, the Lord will keep pouring out the blessings. He's already shown it to us quite a bit. We were finally able to meet with and teach NamKeng again. He's progressing, but didn't come to church yesterday (not sure why). We'll keep working with him, but it's getting a little tough. Friday night, we (the 4 Thonburi elders) spent a good chunk of time cutting up and organizing our ward list into sections and areas so that it'll be easier to look for and find LA's. It's going to help a ton. Cool experience. On Tuesday, me and Elder King had some spare time, so I felt like we should go to this house by the church that an LA lives at that we hadn't yet met. We went and he wasn't there, so I was a little confused about why I felt we should go there. We sat down to figure out what to do next, and a lady sitting at a little store next door said "Hello Elders." We talked to her and came to find out that she is a member of 15+ years but hadn't been to church in forever, and had moved, so we never would have found her. She gave us her number and we're going to start working with her. A definite miracle led by the Spirit. Sunday was definitely my favorite day of the week. It was POURING that morning, and Sis. Dukadan hadn't shown up yet, and I was getting worried, because we were almost past the time when she could get confirmed that day. Me and Elder King were praying hard, and she walked in at the last second pretty wet. I was so happy! She got confirmed and will be an awesome member. Once church was over, we were able to teach Fuse again (finally). I don't know what happened, but she went to the youth conference thing this past week, and turned into our best investigator. We're pulling for her to be baptized on the 19th! Please pray for her! We were also able to visit a couple of LA's after church, Sis. Nina and Bro. Somsak. Sis. Nina is like 22ish and the daughter of a strong member. She has problems with some people in the ward, but we had a great lesson and she agreed to come back next week! Bro. Somsak is old and confined to a wheelchair. We took the sacrament out to him, and it was one of the most spiritual experiences I've had on my mission. I've never seen such an appreciation for the sacrament, and it makes me want to change. Today, we went to China Town for a bit, but didn't find much, mostly just wandered around. 

Sounds like everything at home is going great. Can't believe that I Skype home again tomorrow! That was the fastest five months of my life. 

Well gotta go, can't wait to see and talk to you all! The Church is True!

Love, Elder Sharp