Monday, August 29, 2016

Mission Tour!



Hello! The highlight of this week was definitely the mission tour on Thursday. We had Elder Ringwood and Elder Cordon of the Seventy visit us. We combined with the Milwaukee north zone, and the two Madison zones. I saw almost everyone who I came out with which was a tender mercy since I haven't seen any of them since the day we got here. That was a tender mercy! Something that touched me from the conference was when Elder Ringwood reminded us that we need to see all those that we meet through the Lord's eyes. If they can feel our sincere love for them they will progress faster!

Also I got a new companion! I am on a roll! One companion each transfer so far! Meet Sister Poole! She's from Rigby, Idaho. She's a stellar missionary! She's so sweet and radiates the Spirit. She came out with my first Wisconsin companion Sister Gross. We're just having a lovely time together! 

Sister Poole and I have been getting to know so many new people from the ward list and ti feels great! We also taught this shirtless guy named Eric who had a mountain sheep dog that was as tall as me! We taught our investigator Jessica with sister Smith about the fruits of the Spirit. We were super excited when she told us thta she was recognizing answers to her prayers. She's os close! On exchanges wih Sister Nixon here in M uskego LAkes we did a otn of service and it felt great! We also got to talk about the needs of the ward with Bishop Olsen. He's great! We also got our recent convert Kathryn's daughter to start investigating the church and she even came Sunday! She said she would totally get baptized once she knows that what we teach is true! SO many miracles! I love you all! The Saviour lives! :D<3



WE 
Sister Poole & I
Wisconsin duck crossing
Exchanges with Sister Nixon getting custard yum! 









Week 42 in Field !

I can't believe it's Monday again!
It feels like this past week ended before it started...

On Monday, we biked through a huge rain storm to go Sister It's home for family home evening.
She Invited us, her investigator friend, Muay and Sister Deng and Brother Somchay. 
Even though we were soaked through to the bone, it was so worth it!
As we testified of the truths of the Plan of Salvation, with the support of the members, we could feel the power of the Spirit working in Muay's heart.
When we first started teaching her, she didn't really understand much of what we were teaching...but this past week, she has progressed in leaps and bounds!
I know that this all because the Lord has softened her heart and the Spirit is working hard to verify the truths of the message that we are sharing. 


On Tuesday, for our last district meeting of the transfer, we went over the Barlows' home for lunch and cake (The next day, Wednesday, was Elder Noyce's birthday)
I am so blessed to serve in an area where we have Senior Missionaries who open their home for us and take care of us like their own children! 


Stalking the Elders in Elder Barlow's car on the way home :P


SPY! Spy is the coolest 9 year old, and also one of our  investigators who now has a baptismal date!
Spy is so loved by all the missionaries because he's smart, and loves to learn about Christ!
He comes to English Class every week, and we taught him at his home two Saturdays in a row...
And to our absolute delight, he came to church on Sunday for the very first time!!
When we saw him walking up to the doors of our chapel, both Sister Courchaine and I literally leaped for joy and rushed out to meet him!
I am sure he was a little afraid of us ;)
We are so grateful that the Lord has softened Spy's mom's heart, has allowed her to support Spy on his search for truth.
Before we taught Spy on Saturday, we were pretty nervous because we knew his mom wasn't really interested in learning and were scared at what her reaction would be to our baptismal invitation. 
To our relief and joy, she was supportive of Spy's desire to be baptized! 



We decided to heart attack our RC, Sister Nuan's door to help her feel loved and give her a little boost!
We wrote some encouraging quotes on hearts, taped them to protect them from the rain, and stuck them by her mail box. 


Mission accomplished!
No one saw us do it! ;) 


Sister Courchaine and I somehow came upon this t-shirt that is a depiction of Sister Courchaine's mission parents!
Me: Bunny
Elder Sun: Hedgehog 
What are the chances?!
We couldn't resist buying it... 


To add to our adventures this week, we had this little mishap.. 
The wall hook we bought for our clock was too big...


And so, Sister Courchaine started to make adjustments to the clock by sawing at it with a kitchen knife! 



TADA!!!! IT WORKED! 


Our branch finished off the 40 Day Fast!!!
We have seen so many miracles as a result of it!!


Practicing our Thai reading with Brother Cruise, our new Greenie, Elder Shipp and Sister Courchaine! 



Welcome to Thailand and our District Elder Shipp!


Training on Sunday night.... It's been a crazy busy week! But we are so excited for a fresh new transfer!!!^^ 


Monday, August 22, 2016

Week 41 in Field!


Last Monday, Elder Sun, Elder Saunders, Sister Courchaine and I invited ourselves over to the Barlows' home to make cookies and play games!
It was such an awesome, relaxing, fun PDAY! 
I am so grateful for the Barlows!


That evening, we went over to teach Sister Game (one of our investigators) at her home with Sister Emelda. 
We were so grateful for Sister Emelda who also brought her daughter to fellowship Sister Game's daughters!


The rest of the week went by in a blur....
I think we biked more than ever this past week!
We went to SonSai three times for meetings... (40minute bike ride one way).
We did our best to balance our work with investigators, LAs, RCs and active members as well! 
My companion and I feel so tired, but it has been a good week, filled with lots of work. 
Saturday was my favourite day! 
After our studies, we went to go visit Spy and his mom for the first time. 
Spy is the coolest 9 year old ever!
He is a very smart kid, and loves to learn.
Even though his entire family is Buddhist, he declares himself to be Christian because he likes the teachings that he learned at his extra curricular classes at a Christian church and because he has prayed and received help from God in the past. 
His mom didn't really seem too interested in the message of the Restoration that we shared, but Spy was focused and accepted our commitments and asked great questions!
After that, I took Sister Courchaine to a pharmacy at the mall to get some medication for her upset stomach.
While there, we saw Cruise (an RC that was baptized when I was a Greenie in Srinakharin, now moved to Chiang Mai for school) squatted on the ground.
We decided to sneak up and surprise him.
To our delight, he was overjoyed to meet us as he untangled his lanky body to promptly stand up and give a cheery, "Swatdikhap Sister!"
He then proceeded to tell us that he has a Christian friend who he invited to our church.
That said, he hurried off to find his friend and introduced us to him!
Cruise is so awesome! ^^
After that encounter, we tried to find an LA to no avail, so we went to go serve another LA at her restaurant. 
We helped Sister Aoi do the dishes and shared a short spiritual message.
Sister Courchaine lead the entire lesson and all I had to do was support her with a one line testimony at the end!
I am so proud of my child!!!
We only stayed there a short while because we then went to go visit Sister Noot and Brother Mot at their home to teach a new member discussion.
I was so happy to hear that the two of them had a desire to share the gospel with their friends and encouraged them to make plans to do so! 
Then, to finish off our day, we went to go visit Brother Oom with Sister Fang. 
Sister Fang was just baptized a week ago by Brother Oom. 
Brother Oom has been a member for a very long time, and has even served a mission!
It was so cool to listen to his stories and experiences that he has had from the beginning of his membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
It was such a privilege and blessing to spend the evening with him, learning from his example and service. 
I am so grateful to the many people that surround me that are constant examples of service in the Kingdom of God. 
It's encouraging to know that there are so many people out there who love and serve others in a way that is Christlike.
It's encouraging to know that there are so many out there that have a burning desire to share the gospel truths with their friends and family.
Missionary work really cannot be done by missionaries alone, neither should it be done so. 
The Work of Salvation is every member's responsibility! :)



Today for PDAY, we got up at 3am do study for an  hour and leave at 4:30am to go and see the sunrise as an entire district...

Elder Sun and the dogs at the Buddhist temple on Doi Su Thep

As my companion says, "Chiang Mai is so big, and there's only 8 missionaries"
There is so much work to do here!



Early Morning Bonding as a District! 
With transfers in 3 days, seems a little late...but better late than never! 
















After breakfast, and another hour of studies, we went to Tiger Kingdom to hang out with some of our big feline friends! 














After that, we went off to play at some waterfalls! 



Hiking in long dresses like a boss! 














All of God's creations are so wonderful and great!