Sisters Kwak and Mansfield: Week 28 in Field!

There's really special family here in Sisaket.

This family consists of a deaf grandmother, her two daughters, one of whom is mentally disabled, and this disabled woman's 19 year old son.

From the perspective of this 19 year old boy, his life is definitely less than ideal.

His mother is mentally disabled,his father is an alcoholic and not around, his grandmother is deaf, and his aunt who takes care of the family is a little weird...socially awkward to say the least.

From the perspective of his aunt though, she doesn't exactly have it easy either...

She's left to take care of her deaf mother and disabled sister pretty much on her own because her nephew is rarely home, and when he is, he's not much help.

In fact, this boy seems to live mostly in the cyber world, eyes always glued to his iPad.

I don't really blame him for taking such measures to escape from reality...

It's an easy way out.

But, it breaks my heart to see him waste his life away like this.

Even with the gospel's presence in his life, he seems to be missing something crucial.

What he needs most in his live right now is love and direction.

He's a good kid, but there's a stark contrast between him and his friend, who is a year younger than he is.

This friend of his has grown up in a unified family, with both of his parents and an older brother.

I am quite convinced this has been a critical influence in shaping who this boy is now.

Unlike this 19 year old boy, this 18 year old jumps up at the first signs of someone needing help and lends an aiding hand.

It's the little things like not playing with his phone during meetings or when he's helping us teach, that sets him apart from his older friend.

All I've been able to do for this poor 19 year old boy is encourage him to use as much time as possible with the missionaries, in hopes that serving the Lord will spark something in him.

What else can I do?

There's only so much a missionary can do.

I'll be honest and say, sometimes I wish I wasn't a missionary so I could not worry about rules regarding opposite gender relationships and just be his friend...but then again,if I wasn't a missionary, would I ever had the courage to talk to him?

If I had never become a missionary, and come as far as I have come now, would I have just let this situation slip by? How much love would I have had for this boy?

I know that my capacity and ability to love right now is greater than it has ever been before because of the things I have seen, felt and learned on my mission so far.

A big part of me wants to adopt this boy and others like him as my younger siblings and take them home with me to give them a fresh start in a home filled with love...to help them see that there's miracles that surround us each and everyday...

To help them understand our divine nature, that as sons and daughters of a God, we have great potential and we can accomplish so much in this life.

But, maybe that's not the answer...

What would you do?

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I was down with a fever for several days at the beginning of this past week.

As you can see in the next couple of pictures...my face is quite ugly from being blown up with a fever for a long period of time.

Last Monday, we were at our regular internet cafe, writing emails as per usual, when we had a huge rain storm!

There was a black out, and so we left to fight through the rain to get to our safe house, Sister Booyi's home!

I already had a fever to start with, so for fear of it getting worse, quickly changed into some of Sister Booyi's clothing...

Fuk and Fern soon had three moms! ;)

After being drained of energy with the virus that had given me a constant fever, we decided to go get pizza.

My favourite Thai Students!!^^

Lucky, Fuk and Jared, all in their Sunday Bests!

Don't they look sharp? :)

Lucky and Sister Laud's Baptisms!

Lucky is the 10 year old son of Sister Fone, who was baptized a couple weeks ago!

It's a huge miracle to see the members of her family join the fold of Christ, one-by-one!

Fone's mother, and Lucky's grandmother, Sister Brapit has a baptismal date for next Sunday, May 29th, and Fone's daughter who studies in a different city is interested in learning more about the gospel as well.