My week has been blessed with so many blessings and miracle~ I am so amazed at the extent of Heavenly Father's hand in my life!!
I don't even know where to start...
Let's start with all of the amazing people that I said goodbyes to at the MTC.
I am so very grateful to all of my teachers and all of the friends I made in our zone.
I will forever be grateful to the examples that they have set and for their love for me, each other, the gospel, our Savior and our Heavenly Father.
Sister Painter, Brother Sugi and Brother Tirrell
Brother Merkley
Brother Saunders
Sister Du and Brother Yuen
I am so blessed to have had all of these wonderful spiritual giants be my teachers at the MTC, preparing me to be out in the field!
Thank you so so much!! I will forever be grateful~
Elder Gray and Elder Biggs, our Zone Leaders!
It was a pleasure serving with these two great elders, along with Elder Munsey and Elder Allred (the Zone Leaders before these two...regretfully I don't have a picture with them!)
I learned much from their examples of leadership, service and diligence.
Good luck Elders in your field!
Question: How many family photos does it take to get a picture where everyone looks good?
Answer: IT"S IMPOSSIBLE!!!
We have definitely become family with our Nong Thai's!! I am so excited to be serving with all of these great missionaries in the same Mission!
And here we are in Thailand....
This is our Mission Office!!
Our cute little office dog~
Goodbyes to my MTC district!! We have become so unified as one!
It's going to be so weird to not see them every single day!!
Good luck to you guys!! Love you so muchhh!!!
Assigned area: Srinakarin, Bangkok Thailand!
My new companions!! This is Sister Bin (who will leave us shortly to go the MTC in the Philippines for a while) and my Heaven sent Trainer, Sister Hayes!
She is one of the most patient, loving person I have ever met. And most importantly, she LOVES the work!
Her diligence and love for the work pushes me forward!
Even though I am sometimes terrified of being a missionary, watching her talk to every one she sees and her bright smiles and optimism, and her ability to see the miracles each and everyday, makes me love being a missionary!
I want to become just like her as a missionary...being grateful for everything that the Lord has blessed us with, loving the people wholeheartedly, and loving the work!
First time on a SongThaew !
Basically it's a pickup truck with seats in the trunk...
Costs about 25cents to take a ride! ^^
Now... for one of the most beautiful moments of my first week in Thailand!
This is the home of Sister Phan.
It looks decent at this angle...but let me try my best to paint a picture of the conditions of this house...
The yard it piled high with rotting garbage...
The door step is wobbly and cracked...the door, not much of a door...
The floorboards are so old and cracked that one wrong move would result in falling right through the floor...
Most of the little home is empty except for the rotting floorboards and layers of dirt and musty air...
Most of the little home is empty except for the rotting floorboards and layers of dirt and musty air...
The only room that has life is cluttered with bags and containers and boxes piled high...a dirty, tiny little fridge...an old t.v...
But right in the center of all the rubble, on a worn, ancient looking bed, sits the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen...
Right in the heart of this crumbling home, on this old old bed, sits Sister Phan.
I don't know how else to describe her, except that she is perfect.
She is an old lady in her late 70s, who is entrapped in her bed because she can't walk...
She has tubes running out her excretes into a container by her bed...
But the light that she shines is so bright!
The spirit that she holds, fills the room and cannot possibly be denied.
By her bed is a single picture of Christ, and a picture of the temple.
She has a Liahona open that she's been reading, and a set of scriptures too.
Her smile is radiant.
This most precious, glorious, most brilliant daughter of our Heavenly Father is nothing short of perfect.
I didn't understand everything she said, but it did not matter.
Her faith, the light of Christ that she holds was so strong that I was certain it was tangible.
She cannot go to church, and lives in this lonely home... but she is happy, truly happy.
I know that this is only possible because she knows the true meaning of the Gospel.
Adjusting to missionary life is hard, but Sister Phan has given me so much courage and motivation to keep moving forward!
I am so so wonderfully privileged to get to visit her each week.
I am so excited to learn from her wondrous example!
She is a live miracle!
One of the other wonderful things about being a missionary and inviting people on the streets is the opportunity to invite those who have nothing to come unto Christ.
I have had two opportunities this week to share the gospel with homeless men.
I actually didn't say much, but listened as my companion or the member we were inviting with would share the beautiful message of the gospel...
We had the opportunity to teach a crippled old man (not the one in this picture) about our loving Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ.
We gave him a Book of Mormon and prayed with him.
To think that it was his very first time hearing that he would have a whole body after this life, one where his disfigured leg would be perfected...
What a miracle is it to be able to share the beautiful message of the restored gospel to people like him!
What a miracle the gospel is to be able fill someone's heart, even when they have nothing else.
I sincerely hope that he will be able to recognize our Heavenly Father's and Savior's love for him and that he will know that our Father in Heaven is waiting for him with open arms.
Weirdest thing I have eaten....
It was actually pretty good...but creepy looking....
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