July 22, 2012

Hello Family and Friends! Don't worry, I'm not going to send this late
again. How are you all? It feels like I was typing my last e-mail
yesterday. The weeks are really flying by here. Things are going good,
nothing to complain about. A lot happened this last week, and a lot is
going to happen this week again. Last Tuesday, me and E. Raven went
and stayed down in Kumps so that we could teach English class. We only
had 9 people, 3 adults and 6 younger kids, but they were all really
eager to learn and asked a lot of questions. It was probably the most
fun english class I've taught so far, because we had a good time, but
they were also learning a lot as well. We headed back the next morning
and got home in time to do a little studying, then we had District
meeting. We talked about teaching with the Spirit. I've read that
chapter in Preach My Gospel many times, but each time I learn
something new, and the fact that we wouldn't be able to convert
without the Spirit gets reassured. The Spirit is the real teacher.
Everyone should remember that. Whether you're a set-apart missionary
or a member missionary, you have to have the Spirit in order to make a
difference. Anyway, after district meeting, all of the Elders went to
this really good Vietnamese restaurant with an khon Thai RM. He's
going around visiting all of the places he served and then moving to
Utah to go to school. It was a good time visiting with him and all of
the other Elders. Of course, in the end they had me try to fit
something in my mouth. This time it was a giant ball of lettuce (yes,
it did fit. And don't worry, I'm getting a Dairy Queen shake out of
it). A big mouth has its advantages. Thursday, I did switchoffs with
E. Thomas (E. Maples new companion). It was a really good day. We
taught a Recent Convert lesson to Sis. Tugta about callings, service,
and missionary work. She is awesome, and way excited to receive a
calling. Then we had to run a few errands and stuff like that. That
night, we met with Taam. He's finally reading! He reads everyday, and
the following up helps a lot. I think he's coming to know that it's
true, and should be ready to be baptized on Aug. 12. Friday, we had
long-planning and did some inviting. That night, we met with Sis.
Nadin. I think I told you about her already, but she's 18, and is
going to college down here. She's originally from Nong Khai (the other
area in our zone) and her mom just got baptized up there last week.
Nadin is awesome. She reads and really studies the Book of Mormon, and
asks a lot of good questions. Do you know how hard it is to explain 2
Nephi 1:23 in Thai? Ridiculously hard. But I think (hope) she
understood it in the end from my chopped explanation. She came to
church yesterday for the first time, and I think she'll be baptized
here soon too. We set her date for the 12th of Aug. as well. The rule
changed, and investigators only have to go to church 2 times in a row
in order to be baptized, but we're gonna play it safe and take it
slow. Saturday, we headed back to Kumps. We went inviting for a while
and met this old lady who is already a Christian. We read in the intro
to the Book of Mormon and explained how the Book of Mormon is a
companion to the Bible. She was really open to it (and it felt like
she already believes it's true and that Pres. Monson is a prophet
haha). We'll follow up with her sometime this week. After that, we
went to the church and pulled weeds for a while (I thought I'd gotten
away from that). It looks a lot better. That night, we ate dinner with
a sister (her name is Pa, non-member) of a guy who is member and her
husband. We visit with them almost every time we go to Kumps, but
they've never been really interested. After we ate, we just asked if
we could share some words about Prayer. It ended up being a 40 minute
lesson and they have both committed to read and pray about the Book of
Mormon. It really felt like me and E. Raven were testifying with true
power, and they both looked so happy when we were talking. At the end,
the guy prayed and Pa said she had goosebumps afterwards. I think we
have two future members on our hands. Great day. Sunday was great as
well. We had good numbers in both Kumps and Udon. 28 and 76! So
awesome. Two twin 9-year-old girls got baptized after the meetings,
which was sweet. Sister Carper had me and E. Raven be witnesses
because for some reason, Thai people think you have to keep the
curtains closed until right before the baptism prayer starts, and then
close them again right after they come out of the water. We made sure
they stayed open, and it was much better. Everyone got to see how
happy they were. At 7 we met with Taam again and just read the Book of
Mormon and shared things we liked. It was a good lesson, and I really
feel like my reading and comprehension is coming along well. Today,
we're going down to Kumps to see the monkeys again because some of the
other Elders haven't seen them.
Our investigators are doing alright. Taam, Nadin, and Nooy are doing
the best. They came to church yesterday, and all are progressing. Nooy
moved, and she's in the sister's area now, but we might continue to
teach her. I'll let you know what happens in the next e-mail. Tik is
not doing so hot. She's NEVER free to meet (at least that's what she
says) and doesn't come to church. Basically, someone has to go and get
her, or she won't make any effort to come. She has to have the desire
to do all she can to come, or else she hasn't received true
conversion. We didn't meet with Fon this week either because she's
been sick, or she didn't answer her phone. Hopefully this week. We're
going to meet with Nong tomorrow and follow up. This week, more
switchoffs, and we're going down to Khon Kaen on Thursday for Zone
Conference. Lot's going on, and this week should fly by too.
Friends - Happy Birthday Josi! Hope it's a great day! Hope to hear
from some of you soon!
Well, gotta go. Remember to always pray to have the Spirit with you,
and do missionary work. Members are the best missionaries. The Church
is True!
Love, Elder Sharp

July 16, 2012

Dear Family and Friends,
Sorry I didn't get this sent yesterday! It was a crazy P-Day and we
ended up not having any time to e-mail, but at least I'm getting it to
you today! This week absolutely FLEW by! So much went on. On Tuesday,
E. Raven did switchoffs with the Zone Leaders, so him and Elder
Siriphan stayed in Udon, and I went down to Khon Kaen with E. Olive.
We did a little inviting, English Class, then went home and crashed.
The next day we all met at the mall to eat, then me and E. Raven went
back to Udon. Pres. Senior was at our church when we got there. We had
a lesson with a girl named Nadin, and he asked if he could sit in on
it. PRESSURE! We taught the Plan of Salvation, and it ended up going
well. It talked to us afterward and complimented us and gave us a few
pointers. He is awesome. The rest of the week was just inviting,
inviting, and more inviting. We only have about 5 serious
investigators right now, so we're working hard to find some new ones.
We haven't had to much success, only a few lessons taught, but not
many seriously interested people. There is one girl who we gave a Book
of Mormon, and she has already read a little of it. Her name is Nong,
and she wants to start meeting us at the church. Hopefully she turns
into a good one! We didn't end up going to Kumphawapi this Saturday,
just more inviting down here. We did go down there for church Sunday
though, and we had 30 people at church! So awesome. The number keeps
growing every week. And technically about 7 were "investigators"
because E. Raven had met them in English Class when him and E.
Siriphan had gone there to teach it on Tuesday. I think the English
Class is really going to help Kumps grow. In the Udon branch, it was
pretty disappointing. We only had about 5 people when we should have
65+. And only one investigator, Taam, came to church. Nooy didn't get
baptized this weekend. She just wasn't ready. Me and E. Raven talked
about it and decided not to have her interviewed. She was alright with
it, and is willing to prepare for a later date. The problem is, she
moved away this week because she got a new job. She had told us she
would still come to our church, but she didn't show up. Hopefully we
can contact her this week and figure things out. Pray for her! We also
moved Taam's date. I taught him with Pres. Sxa while E. Raven was
interviewing a couple of the Sisters' investigators for baptism, and
we had him choose a new date. He just isn't reading and doesn't have a
strong enough testimony of the Book of Mormon. He chose the 12th of
August, and committed to read everyday. We'll be following up on his
reading everyday as well, so hopefully that helps. We weren't able to
meet with Fon this week because she was sick everyday, but this week
for sure. We gotta get her coming to church too. Please pray for all
of these people! We didn't get to meet with Sai this last week either,
but hopefully this week sometime!
Yesterday was a crazy/awesome P-Day. We had slept over in Nong Khai
Sunday night so that we could get up early and get going. We rented a
van, and the six Elders and some members all went together. We went to
this sweet Wat and took some cool pictures, then went to this big
mountain thing. There were a bunch of steep staircases that went up
and wrapped around the mountain, so that's what we spent most of the
day doing until we got to the top. It was way tiring and WAY sketchy
at some points, but definitely worth it once we got to the top. I'll
send some pics. Once we were done there, we went to this way sweet
waterfall. There were two actually, and they were way better than the
first one. Thailand is definitely the best place for P-Day activities.
It sounds like life back home is great, and that the reunion was a
success! Man I wish I could've been there. 175+ people? Awesome!
That's so great, especially for Grandma and Grandpa. Just being able
to see everything they started has got to be a great feeling. And I'm
so glad that Aunt Neva got to go too. That definitely had to have made
Grandpa happy. Gosh, it sounds like you all went even more all-out
than you usually do. A mechanical bull? Haha I wish I could've seen
that one so bad (it's a good thing I wasn't there though, I would have
beaten everyone, easily). Who did win? The Buchanan breakfast is
probably the thing I miss most. I would be in heaven if I could just
have one plate. Day after I get home, we should do that ;) You have to
send me pictures of everything! I'll bet it feels good to be getting
back into the swing of things now.
Rest of the Fam - Love you and hope to hear from you soon!
Friends - I hope to hear from all of you too! Love ya!
Well, gotta go. The church is true!
Love Elder Sharp

July 8, 2012

Hey Fam and friends! How's it going? Sounds like you all had a good
4th of July week. So did I (yes, we did celebrate it). A TON happened
this week. On Tuesdsay, we went down to Khon Kaen  in the morning to
have a Meet&Greet thing with Pres. and Sis. Senior. They both spoke
and told us about themselves, and Pres. Senior bore his testimony in
Thai. They are going to be awesome! They have a great Spirit about
them, and I can tell they are ready to work hard to keep this mission
successful, and build it stronger as well. And even though Pres.
Senior only studied at the MTC for 8 days, his Thai is awesome. Major
Gift of Tongues right there. He did sound very Japanese-like when he
spoke though. It was a good time, and E. Bartling and E. Campbell (my
MTC comp and one of the other kids in my group) were there, so it was
cool to talk to them. We're all struggling with the same things. Two
biggest...language and food. Of course. I'm getting used to the food
now though. Spicy is alright, and there's a ton of way good dishes
that I'm stoked to show you when I come home (I just hope I can find
them somewhere in Utah). On Tuesday we had a talent show in English
Class for the end of transfers. E. Maples, Sis. Carper (one of the
sisters in my area, they all live across the street), and Sis Kaw (a
girl in the other Elders' branch) wanted to practice singing "The
Star-Spangled Banner" and they needed another Elder in the room where
they were practicing. When it got time for them to sing, I didn't go
up, then Sis. Kaw told everyone to start clapping for me. You probably
would have got a kick out of how red my face got. So I got roped into
singing with them. I guess we weren't too bad, and it was a cool
experience. On Wednesday, we had District meeting and then sang the
National Anthem together and Slammed to celebrate. Slamming is where
you get this cookie call a Tim Tam, and you drink milk through it like
a straw, then eat it when it gets all soft. It's a tradition here and
in a few other missions I guess. Definitely gonna do it when I get
home, because I heard you can buy Tim Tams at Wal-Mart! Thursday was
Moves Meeting, so E. Raven and E. Patterson went down to Bangkok, and
I stayed up in Udon with E. Maples. E. Raven is now the District
Leader, so I'm going to be doing a lot of switch-offs and running our
area quite a bit. A lot of responsibility for a greenie, but I really
see it as a blessing, because it'll help me learn to be a more
effective missionary, and prepare me for when I'm a senior comp. Pray
for me though! I need it bad. Saturday we went to Kumphawapi again,
and it was a great day. We got 3 lessons off the invite within an
hour. I was focusing on having more Faith again, and being more
confident when I spoke (that's a struggle for me), and I really think
it helped! We didn't get anything else for a while, but we eventually
got one more lesson off the invite, and a lesson with an investigator.
We also got to give a member a blessing, she'd torn her achilles
tendon. I love having the opportunity to exercise the Priesthood, such
a great blessing in our lives. Could you imagine where we would be
without it? I'm so grateful for it. Anyway, that night at the
hotel...SKETCHY! It was probably around midnight, and I got woken up
by some guy screaming way loud. I was kind of out of it, but it kept
repeating and I heard bottles breaking between screams. Me and Elder
Raven looked out the window once it stopped, but couldn't see
anything. Then I saw a guy in a black shirt laying on the ground,
drunk out of his mind. He kept mumbling stuff, then a cop rode up on
motorcycle. The guy tried to throw something at him, so the cop kicked
him. It was actually pretty funny because the guy deserved it. Then a
couple other cops came in a truck and arrested him. Not going to lie,
I thought a maniac was going through the resort killing people. But
don't worry...he wasn't. Sunday, was a good day in Kumps. 27 people,
the high since I've been here, and I didn't mess up when I played the
piano! Udon...not so good. Only like 50 when we usually have around
65, and we only had 2 investigators (Taam and Nooy) when we were
expecting around 6. Unfortunate. We're going to have to move Tik's
date since she missed church. Taam I think is going to be good to go
by the 22nd, and Nooy is scheduled for this Saturday! Her interview is
on Tuesday when the Zone leaders come to do switch-offs, so we'll see
how it goes. She might need a little more time (hopefully not), but
she has a really strong testimony of the church. She'll be a good
member once she's baptized, especially with Tugta around her. Fon
didn't make it to church unfortunately, but we gave her a date for
August 5th. Church is the only obstacle, and I think she has a desire
to go, she just needs to...go. She knows it's true, so I think she'll
be ok. We didn't see Sai again last week, but we're going to try to
this week, so I'll let you know how that goes. The language is coming
along. I learn more and more each day, but I still have a long way to
go. I think it'll be another blessing that comes out of running our
area.
It sounds like everything is going great back home! 4th of July
sounded fun, and it sounds like everything is about ready for the
reunion. I'm sad I'm not going to be there, but I'll be thinking of
all of you (but not too much, I'm a missionary ;) ). Be sure and send
some pics!
Love you all! Hope to hear from you soon!
Friends - Got my first letter in country (2, actually)! Thanks
Karlissa! I'll write you back! Hope to hear from eveyone else!
Well, gotta go. I love you all! The Church is true!
Love, Elder Sharp
Pics: Me and E. Patterson, and the other elders dared me to fit an ice
cream cone in my mouth...so I did.

July 1, 2012

Temple in Thailand

Baptism of Tim and Tugta

P-Day Visit to the Waterfalls

Elder Sharp's Apartment

Hey Family and Friends! How's it going? It's going great over here in
Udon. The time is flying by! I'm already done with my first transfers
(on Thursday). This week sped by, and a lot happened. Tim and Tugta
got confirmed yesterday, and I got to be in the circle for both
confirmations. It was a way cool experience, and it literally felt
like you could feel the Spirit descending upon them. They're both
gonna be way good members. Great news! Tugta's friend, named Nooy (a
different one), is learning from us now. She's been living and working
at Tugta's shake shop where we would teach, so she's sat in on quite a
few of the lessons. She wasn't interested at first because she was
Buddhist. But after seeing Tugta get baptized and having some great
experiences, she wants to go the same way. I really think she believes
it. She's been to church the past 3 weeks, so if she comes one more
time, she can be baptized this month! We set the date for the 14th,
but we might need to move it back to make sure we can teach everything
and she gains true conversion. We'll see. Taam and a lady named Tik
(have I mentioned her?) have dates for the 22nd. We had to move both
of them back because Taam hasn't been reading, and Tik isn't very
willing to meet and learn with us besides Sundays when she comes to
church. Hopefully we can get 3 baptisms this month (or more!). We
haven't been able to meet with Dia at all, she flakes on us all the
time. We'll keep trying though. We met with Fon a couple times this
week, and she's doing great! Taught her about the Plan of Salvation
and Atonement, and she seems really interested. She had told us she
was going to come to church, but didn't show up unfortunately. Pray
for her! On Thursday, we did switchoffs with some members. E. Raven
went with Bro. Jack and I went with  Pres. Sxa. We went and taught
Taam about Following the Prophet. It was a little sketchy leading and
teaching the entire lesson myself with just a little input from Pres.
Sxa, but my language is coming along really well. The Gift of Tongues
really does work. And reading out of the Thai Book of Mormon is what
determines if I speak well that day or not. If I read, I can
speak/understand. If not, I can't. Book of Mormon really does have
awesome power. Please pray for me to keep gettign better with the
language! Anyway, after teaching Taam, we just rode our bikes down
this big road and talked to people. We didn't find anyone that was too
interested, so we stopped at a 7/11 to get a drink and head back. I
had been praying hard for the Spirit to lead me to someone, and was
pretty bummed because we didn't find anyone great. But when I walked
out of the 7/11, I saw this guy and had a strong feeling to go talk to
him. So we just started chatting and I told him I was a missionary.
Apparently he's a member already, got baptized about 10 years ago,
moved to the South and became inactive. He just recently moved back to
Udon. What a miracle! He has a son that got baptized at the same time.
His name is Sai. He's great. We visited him at the same place the next
night (he sells food outside the 7) and got his address and number, so
hopefully we can go visit him sometime. Pray for him! Such a cool
experience. The Spirit will really lead you  to where you need to go
if you earnestly pray with Faith. On Saturday, we went to Kumps. Pres.
Sxa, his wife, and Elder and Sister Hart came down there too. We did
switchoffs again, and inviting with E. Hart. It started pouring, so we
just walked around this big market for a while talking to people and
handing out pass-along cards, then went around neighborhoods after the
rain stopped. It was really cool to talk to him and hear stories from
when he served here 40 years ago. He actually served with (the former)
Pres. Smith. Then we went back to the church and had a fireside with
the members. I talked for a bit about Every Member a Missionary. It
really is important, so if any of you have the opportunity to do
missionary work...TAKE IT! Members really are the best missionaries.
Oh yeah, Saturday before we went to Kumphawapi, I got to help give
Sis. Tugta a blessing. I did the annointing, in Thai. It was sketchy,
because you have to get the tones right, but I pulled it off, and it
was a way spiritual experience. Today, we're just chilling. We did
some good cleaning of the kitchen and front rooms in our house. It
needed it so bad. Felt good to do some housework haha. Tomorrow, all
the missionaries in our zone are going down to Khon Kaen to meet Pres.
Senior. Pres. Smith finished a few days ago. I'm sad to see him go,
but it'll be interesting how the new kid on the block does. Just from
meeting him at the MTC though, I think he is going to do awesome.
So how is everyone in good 'ole Utah? It sounds like you're all doing
pretty well! I'm glad to hear that Brooke and Laur got back from
Oregon safe and sound. Sounds like it was a fun trip (poor Linc
though)! The family reunion is in two weeks? It's coming! Totally
confident that mom and dad will have the house ready though. You HAVE
to send me pictures though! I wanna see whats going on! And maybe you
could all write me a letter for one of the activites! (Haha just
kidding).
Mom - I bore my testimony! Did you? It sounds like everything is going
great at home! I'm glad the White Reunion turned out so well, that's
gotta be good for Grandma and Grandpa. Tell them I love them! And I'm
glad the RS social turned out well. With you in charge, how could it
not? Our ward is so much fun. So about me and Car (and maybe the other
sibs) singing at my homecoming...yeah...maybe just have the rest of
them sing again haha. Ok so transfers is this week. So crazy! I've
been here almost 6 weeks already. If you're going to send letters or
packages or anything, just send it to the mission home, then they send
it out to all the areas. Letters get sent around once a week, but have
to get picked up by the missionary or someone in the same area at
transfers meeting, or if someone has to go down to Bangkok for some
reason (rare). So if you're going to send a package, I'd probably do
it like two weeks before transfers, then I'd get it pretty much right
when it arrives and not have to wait 6 week. So just give the mission
home address to the ward bulletin. Oh and if you do ever send a
package, will you send some more of that collar soap? I'm running out
quick. Thanks! And thanks for the quote. That is what gives me a lot
of motivation out here. Not just baptizing one person and have one
more member, but baptizing one person and having possibly thousands of
more members. I can't wait to meet them all in the next life. I love
ya momma! I'll always be a momma's boy.
Dad - Great to hear from you! Yeah, that needle was the worst! I
couldn't imagine having to do it more than once. It sounds like work
is going great. That's awesome that you have a lot of the ward boys
working for you. Our ward definitely has good picking when it comes to
finding hard working boys. BIG HOUSE! That's so sweet! And right after
I get home! We gotta go. If Coach Whitt comes in again tell him "Go
Utes!" for me. So glad the Yanks are stepping it up. They just need to
keep cruising on through the post-season. Haha Derek has got to be in
Wonderland and Britt in a world of hurt. I'm so jealous that you're
golfing so much. Keep it up, because I wanna go with all of you when I
get home! I love you Dad!
Laur - So glad that the trip to Oregon was so awesome, and that you
all got home safe. You definitely got the answer to your prayer.
Sounds like your school is going to be awesome! Send me some pics of
it and the Summer Camp! And that's sweet that you went on a blind date
and had a good time, even if it might not go anywhere. Blind dates are
sketch, but usually turn out fun right? Not sure if we'll teach Tugta
and Tim the follow-up lessons. I think it'll be more of the ward, but
we'll probably help out some of the time. Love ya Laur!
Car - Hey Twin! How are you? Bear your testimony today (I'm sure you
did)? That's sweet that you're working so much and making some money.
Ready for school up at USU. Living out of the house is a little
different, but it's fun too! Thanks for the e-mails, they're some of
my favorites. Haha does my chain look any shorter? Make sure you get
those pics sent please! Love ya Car! :)
Rest of the Fam - Brooke, that's so sick that you're going to be in
the Ivory Homes (I know I've already said it, but yeah). 8th ward
right? That's Karlissa's ward, so that'll be sweet. Rhett, I heard you
won a golf tournament! That's so sweet man! Keep it up! Ryan, you're
baptized! That's so sweet dude! It feels so cool to be a member of the
church and have the Holy Ghost huh? Just remember to always listen to
the still, small voice. Everyone else in the fam, love ya! Hope to
hear from you soon!
Friends - Hope you're all doing good! Prest and Lando, do all you can
to prepare to serve a mission. Read and study Preach My Gospel. Most
importantly read from the Book of Mormon and pray every morning and
night (that goes for everyone). Hope to hear from you all soon!
Well, I love you all! Hope to hear from you all again soon. The Church
is True! Jesus Christ is our Savior! I know it, and so can everyone
else if they just ask.
Love, Elder Sharp