December 9, 2012

Hey Family and Friends! How are you all? I'm doing good here. List
last week was absolutely crazy. I'm super tired, but it was a good
one. I can't believe that I'm already e-mailing you for the 5th time
this transfer. This one flew by! This is my last full week, and I
wouldn't be surprised if I moved away from Buriram. Who knows though,
anything could happen. Anyway, I spent 4 1/2 days out of my area this
week. Monday, we were able to go and visit Pa Lek. He's doing pretty
good, and was really excited for the up-coming District Conference in
Ubon that happened Saturday and Sunday. Tuesday was a good day. We
were able to meet with Isari in the morning. She only had about 15
minutes to talk before she had to leave and do some work, so we kept
the lesson simple and talked about the commandment of praying. I
actually kind of liked having to keep it short, because it forced us
to have to stick with the basics of sharing and teaching through
scriptures, and bearing testimony (which is technically how we should
teach all of the time). Later that day, we were able to meet with Em
again, the kid that me and E. Kunz found last week. It was a great
lesson. He said he had tried praying a few times, and felt good each
time he did. He still isn't sure if there's a God or not, but
committed to keep praying and start reading the Book of Mormon. He'll
get baptized in the future for sure. It's going to be tough to meet in
the next few weeks because he has a bunch of school stuff, but we'll
keep at him. English class that night was good again. One new person
came, and 3 of the 5 new ones from last week came back, so I wasn't
complaining. We just didn't have two Priesthood holders there, so we
couldn't split up and teach. Ha it seems like that always happens. If
we have new people, we have no priesthood. If we have priesthood, we
have no new people. Oh well, we'll try for it this week. Wednesday, we
did long-planning, and then I went to Surin for switch-offs. I was
with Elder Hansen. We went and did some service, went to a members
home for their home dedication, and then went inviting. We tried this
tactic out that E. Christensen said his uncle had suggested. It's
called the "Hour of Power." Basically you teach a lesson to a
member-family, tell them you're going inviting for the next hour, and
ask them to pray for you out loud or in their hearts. So that's what
we did at the home dedication. And it worked! Miracles are awesome. We
found this kid named Bong. He instantly let us in, and was very open
to our message. A great new investigator for the Surin Elders. The
next day, we were able to visit a couple of less-active members, and
teach one other lesson. It was a long day, but I think we got some
good things done. Thursday night, E. Christensen and E. Hunsaker met
us in Surin and we all stayed the night there. The next day, Friday,
we had to be to the bus station at 6:30 and go to Ubon. I'm sick of
riding buses, just saying. Friday was Zone Conference. It was awesome.
Since it was Christmas (and we had some money left in the budget),
Pres. Senior decided to make it a little better for all of us. All of
the missionaries met at a mall in Ubon and ate at a really nice
Japanese buffet. Then we all met at the church and had the conference.
It was focused on Christmas. We were taught about finding by the zone
leaders, and then Pres. and Sis. Senior gave Christmas messages. Then
we sang Christmas carols, and watched a video and had testimony
meeting to end it. It was a very spiritual experience, and my favorite
Zone conference so far. After the conference was over, we all went
back to the mall and went bowling! So legit! I got third highest
(trust me, that's an accomplishment). Ha definitely brought some Zone
unity. We all then went to a farang restaurant and had all you could
eat burgers and pizza. I was absolutely stuffed by the end of the day.
To end the night, we went back to the church and lit off lanterns
(like the ones in Tangled). Way sweet! Awesome day for sure. At first
the Zone leaders were going to make us get on a bus back to Buriram
that night, but they decided to show some mercy to us and let us stay
the night and have us go back in the morning. Well morning came
around, and they decided it was a waste of time to go back to Buriram,
and then back to Ubon that night for District Conference the next day,
so they had us stay there. We went to the church and set up for the
Saturday conference meetings, and then me, E. Hansen, and E. Redd
(senior missionary) got on our bikes and went to go and find some
less-actives in Ubon. We went to the first guy and his daughter said
he wouldn't be back until 3, so then we biked out way far to find
another kid, and his mom said he'd moved to Bangkok 7 months ago. So
then we went back to the first guy, and the sister missionaries were
just pulling out of his street after having a good chat with him.
Sisters beat us to him! Oh well, at least he got a visit. By that
time, E. Redd needed to get back to the church, so we chilled there
for a bit. Later in the night, me and E. Hunsaker went with E. Kunz to
visit an LA and an investigator. The LA wasn't home, but the
investigator was, so we had a good chat with him. Sunday was awesome!
The District Conference was great, and Isari came with Bro. Golf! She
split right after the meeting, so I didn't get a chance to talk with
her, but I really hoped she liked it. Golf wasn't able to get the
Melchizedek Priesthood because he missed the birthday deadline by 3
days, but he'll get it next time for sure. I'm just glad that he'll be
able to baptize his mom! Coco didn't go, and neither did Mai, so we'll
have to move their dates unfortunately. Pa Lek didn't go either, even
though he was so excited! And his wife even went. What the? He really
needs to come back to church. We left pretty quick after the meeting
and came to Surin. That's where I am right now. We're going to a silk
village today, and then back to Buriram.
Sounds like everything at home is going good! I can't wait to hear
where you're going, Car! This next week is going to kill me having to
wait for it (this last week was rough for the same reason)! Sounds
like the Christmas party was good, and that you got some nice
snowfall. Yeah, it's still in the 90's here, but I'm not going to
complain this time. I'd much rather be hot than cold. I'll let you
know what's happening next week, and I can't wait to talk to you in 15
days (or around that, still not sure when I'll be Skyping).
Well, gotta go! HIt me up next week! The Church is True! Love you all!
Love, Elder Sharp

December 3, 2012

Hey Family and Friends, how's it going?! It's going pretty good here
in Buriram. Can you believe that it's December already? And (you said
it Kristin) I've been out almost 9 months! Crazy!!! The time is
seriously flying by, I'm almost on the downhill. This last week was
another very busy, but good one. Yes Mom, it is much better to be busy
than not. It makes the time fly, and it makes the work so much more
enjoyable when you're always doing something to bring someone closer
to Christ. I'm over half way done with this transfer, and speaking of
transfers, the transfer date got changed from the 20th to the 18th. I
can't believe I've almost spent three transfers in Buriram. I'm
thinking I'm going to move, but anything could happen. If I do, I'll
miss this place. Anyway, like I said, this week was pretty solid.
Monday, we tried to go and visit Chade, the guy with that had his wife
and really young baby that we met last week. We knocked on the door,
and when he opened it, all he did was say "I'm Buddhist" and close the
door. Rejected! It was a major bummer, and there was no chance getting
him to talk to us that night. But at least we planted some seeds for
the future. He lived in Bro. Bob's neighborhood, the one with all of
the kids that follow us around. They all know and love Bro. Bob, so as
soon as we show up and talk to him, they love us too. So they just
follow us around. It's actually pretty funny.  Tuesday, we were able
to finally go and hand out some more English fliers. We went to our
usual spot...the University, because that's the only place with a
large crowd of people. It's so funny to see people's reactions when
they find out we can speak Thai. That afternoon we were able to meet
with Coco. He's an awesome investigator. We taught the Restoration,
and he asked a ton of questions. He's already pretty good with some
Christian beliefs because he goes to a Protestant school, but there's
plenty of things that we've had to clear up. He'll progress pretty
easily though. English class that night was awesome! We got five new
people (that doesn't sound like that much, but trust me, it's pretty
phenomenal for Buriram)! And two of them weren't even from handing out
fliers, they somehow saw the sign on the front of the church that's
pretty much hidden from view by trees and electricity wires. It was a
good class, and just saying, it's hilarious to watch Thai people play
Simon Says. Wednesday, we tried to go and see Isari in the morning,
but the member that we had planned to come couldn't find the place, so
she had to leave before we got a chance to teach. Major bummer, but we
planned to get a lesson with her the next morning. Almost everyone
cancelled on us that day except a less-active member. His name is Jam,
and he has a lot of health problems, so he hadn't been to church in a
long time. But you can totally tell that it's just because he can't,
not because he doesn't want to. The guy has a ton of faith and a
strong love for Christ. It was a good visit. That night, we got to
celebrate! It was a Buddhist holiday called Loy Graton. It's huge all
over the country. It's basically a holiday where they "thank the
rivers" for all that they do for them. Anyway, we got permission to
take the night off and hang out down at the park where all the stuff
was going on. During Loy Graton, they make these little boats out of
some kind of giant root, leaves, flowers, etc. and then put candles in
the middle of them and set them out on the "river" (I think it's
actually a sewage pond, but whatever). They also do the sky lanterns
like in Tangled. It all looks awesome! Me and Elder Christensen got to
make our own boats (with the help of Bro. Pian and Sis. Dangmo) and
send them off. Don't worry, we weren't doing any Buddhist rituals (I
hope), we got permission from Pres. Senior. Sweet experience!
Thursday, we did get to meet with Isari in the morning. We taught her
about keeping the Sabbath day Holy, because getting investigators to
church is the thing that we've been struggling with the most lately.
She kept trying to make excuses as to why she couldn't go this week,
but we finally got her to commit. That afternoon, we got to meet with
Coco again as well (I wish we could meet with him and Isari together).
We basically talked all about the Book of Mormon, and it was another
great lesson. Later that night, we FINALLY got to meet with Mai. We
also taught her about the Sabbath day. It's sad, but we're just not
seeing much of a desire from her. We're going to keep trying, but
it'll be tough. She refuses to go to church if her mom isn't there.
All she needs to do is go once and have a good experience, and I know
she'll be hooked. Friday, the Zone Leaders came here and we did
switch-offs. First we had a District meeting that was taught by them,
and then we split. Me and Elder Kunz were together. He is an awesome
missionary. Him and Elder Christensen are in the same MTC group, and
they're very similar. Anyway we went inviting behind the church, and
came to a little meat-on-a-stick cart. Within 5 minutes, E. Kunz had
the kid that was there sitting down for a lesson with us on the
street. E. Kunz was awesome to watch. He tied the kids life in with
the Restoration and the Godhead very well. The kid (named Em) agreed
to meet with me and E. Christensen again tomorrow. That night, we were
able to go and see an LA as well. It was not a pleasant experience.
When we got there, he wasn't home, and when he did show up, he was
very drunk. We'd been talking to another member that lives with him,
Bro. Sion, and when the LA showed up, the Spirit was gone in an
instant. We had been there for a bit already, so we left pretty quick.
I did not feel good at all being there. That day, Elder Christensen
and Elder Siperly were finally able to go and see Mii! She had really
been in Bangkok and got back the day before. She committed to go to
church on Sunday. One thing that Elder Kunz taught me that day was
this: I was asking him how for any tips he could give me on speaking
better and teaching better, because it showed me how inadequate I was
when I watched him teach. He said "Just trust in Christ. If you trust
in yourself, you'll fail every time. But with Him, you can never
fail." It's so simple, and we've all heard that before, but it really
stuck with me that day. Saturday was not that great of a day. Everyone
we had planned cancelled on us (or just wasn't home when we went to
teach), so we wasted a lot of time going from house to house looking
for them. Major bummer. Sunday was alright, but not a single
investigator showed up. Not Mii, not Coco, not Isari, not Mai, not
anyone. We were very disappointed. But at least Bro. Jam was able to
muster the strength to come. Oh and something else that's pretty cool.
Sis. Nong's 8-year-old son, Frank, is getting baptized in a couple of
weeks and he asked me to baptize him. It'll be an awesome experience!
Haha my first time baptizing someone on my mission, and it's not an
investigator. Today is just pretty chill. Just hanging out at the
house. I feel like my language is coming along pretty well, along with
my teaching. I'm definitely trying to put all my trust in Christ now.
We weren't able to meet with Bancha or Suwit, which was a bummer. But
Golf is going to get the Melchizedek Priesthood at District conference
this coming Sunday!
Sounds like getting ready for the holidays is in full swing there. I
can't believe Christmas is so close (especially when it's in the 90's
outside). Plus, Buddhist people don't celebrate Christmas, so there's
no decorations or anything out here. Man I'm going to miss the work
and family Christmas parties and what not. But I am pretty excited to
have my first mission Christmas. I'll probably end up going tracting
that day haha.
Well, gotta go! Can't wait to talk to you in a few weeks! I'll let you
know when we'll skype as soon as I get the info.
I love you all! The Church is True!
Love, Elder Sharp

November 25, 2012

Hey Family and Friends! How's it going? Can you believe there's only
four days until December. Bring on Christmas! Sounds and looks like
you had a great Thanksgiving weekend. We had a very good week here in
Buriram as well. Things are really starting to pick up around here,
and we're definitely being blessed for our hard work. Work=Miracles.
We've added quite a few investigators to our pool, so it's kept us
busy. Probably not going to be able to go through day by day exactly
since so much went on, but I'll try my best. Tuesday, I honestly
cannot remember what happened other than English class. It was pretty
good, but only about six people came. We had fun though, and played a
game that I'll have to introduce when I get home. Wednesday, me and
Elder Christensen were able to go and teach Golf's mom again. Her name
is Isari. We taught her the Restoration, and I feel like it went
really well. We also gave her a baptismal date! Dec. 22nd, the same as
Mai. The bummer thing is that if these baptisms go through, there's a
good chance I won't see them because I will probably have moved on the
20th. But oh well, as long as they get baptized. After that lesson, we
had District meeting, and then did switch-offs. Me and Elder Hunsaker
stayed in Buriram, and E. Christensen and E. Hansen went to Surin. We
had a big day lined up, but most of our appointments fell through. We
were able to meet with a lady named Sis. Ampon. She is the mother of a
member and has learned with the Elders before. She's actually learned
with many elders before. She's Catholic and has a tough time accepting
the Restoration story. We're meeting with her again this week and
we're going to try to clear some concerns up. The next day was, of
course, Thanksgiving. We wanted to celebrate a little bit, so we ate
at farang restaurant. I feel that it was appropriate. Once we got back
to Buriram, Elder Christensen wasn't feeling so hot, so he went to
sleep for a couple of hours. Once he got up, we decided to go and find
Sis. Mii, because she hasn't answered her phone for almost two weeks,
and E. Christensen hasn't even met her. When we got there the door was
open and there was a little chubby child playing on the computer. He
said that Mii had gone to Bangkok, that he was the only one home, and
that he didn't know what day she'd be back. Don't know how believable
that was. We tried calling her Saturday night, and her daughter
answered and said the same thing. It would just be weird if Mii took
off for Bangkok without her phone and didn't tell her kids when she'd
be back. We're still going to try and contact her everyday. Friday was
a very good day. We were able to visit 2 less-active members, Bro. Bob
and Pa Lek. We did some inviting and were able to serve a guy we found
(we cleaned out some nasty fish bowls) and set an appointment for
Sunday, and we were able to go and see Sis. Bad and her family. They
are so...odd? Sometimes they act like they don't like us at all,
sometimes they love us. This time, it was the love, so I'm not
complaining at all. They said they aren't ready to start coming to
church again yet because they have some "stuff" going on, but we'll
definitely be back out working on them again soon. To end the night,
we were able to go over to Golf's house and start teaching his younger
brother, Coco. He's fifteen, and he actually seemed really interested
in learning with us because he learns at a Protestant school. He even
said he'd bring some friends to the next lesson! I'm stoked. I would
love to get that entire family baptized. Saturday was kind of a crazy
day. We had a bunch of stuff lined out, but whenn we called to confirm
appointments, every single person cancelled on us. We were super
stressed. We had to long-plan, so that took up a few hours, but after
that we were stuck. We decided to go out to Bro. Bob's neighborhood
(which is a bunch of town-houses in the middle of nowhere) and go
inviting. It was tough at first, mainly because we had a group of
about 15 kids following us from door to door. But once we ditched
them, we got two lessons right in a row. The first guy was about 55,
named Bancha. He had some questions about life's purpose, so we gave
him one or two answers, and set a time to come back. Right after that,
directly across the street, we taught a guy and his wife (who also had
a 4 month old baby). The guy was super shy and wouldn't give in to
praying, but he did allow us to set a time to come back, which should
be tonight. I'm stoked! We have a bunch of investigators now. The only
problem is that Mii and Mai are kind of pushing themselves out of the
picture. I already told you about Mii, and Mai just won't give in to
meeting. Sis. Ooy isn't helping much either. She said she wasn't going
to be at church yesterday, but then she showed up (which is good) but
didn't bring Mai with her. Come on! We'll keep working. Sunday night,
we were able to meet with Suwit, the guy whose fish bowls we cleaned.
We taught him and his girlfriend the Restoration, and it was an
awesome lesson. Me and E. Christensen have such great unity in
teaching, and the Spirit was really strong. He's quickly becomin my
favorite comp. Today is pretty chill.
So like I said, Thanksgiving sounded great. Wish I could've been
there! But hey, less than a month until we get to skype! How's the
weather there? Still hot as ever here.
Well gotta go! Love ya! The Church is True!
Love, Elder Sharp