Merry Christmas from Thailand!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THAILAND!!!!! 

I hope that this Holiday Season is filled with lots of warmth and love, surrounded by loving friends and family!

I hope that each of us can take the time to focus on the "Christ" of Christmas and real reason why we celebrate this splendid day! 

lots of love,

Sister Kwak

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Week 7 in the Field!

Contacting and Teaching people on the streets!!!

This is Phii Samak!! I met him that time the little girls lead us around their neighborhood and now we get to teach him at his workplace/home! 

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Christmas Eve eating Isan food and planning our upcoming week!

Can't forget the cookiessssss~~~~

Going caroling with the members to LA homes!!! ^^

CHRISTMAS!!! Merry Christmas Everyone~~~~~

Special BONUS!
I Tim Tam Slammed for the first time ever this past week!!!

Week 6 in the Field!! - Continued

My last PDAY with Sister Hayes before transfers!

I woke up that morning to Sister Hayes asking, "Do you want to go to Ayutaya?"

And so...I got the opportunity to go visit one of the most ancient cities in Thailand! 

Learning some Thai history the fun way!

My first tuktuk! 

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Niagara Falls!

Monday - Some of our zone went to Niagara Falls on preparation day. It was us plus the Stoneycreek elders (Beddes and Ditty), the China elders (Jenkins and Lau), the St. David elders (Cragun and Vargas) and the zone leaders from Hamilton (Butler and Smith). We walked on the boardwalk of the falls and walked around the little town. Its like a little theme park! It was so cool and fun. After we took some pictures near the falls we went to Smokes Poutinerie which is Elder Vargas fave! Everyone on the mish here loves Smokes! It wasnt as ogod as home but the bacon cheeseburger was still pretty good! We were finally able to meet with our new convert for the first time since ive been here. Lets just call her Pa. Shes super sweet! She loves the Book of Mormon and shes coming to do baptisms in the temple with us on January 9th. Im so excited! Her daughter Ny also loves coming to church!

Tues - We met with one of our I's named Cor. Shes still struggling with understanding how the Book of Mormon and Bible are diferrent but go together. But we brought our den momma Melissa with us and she testified about how the Book of Mormon can help us each individually with our own personal struggles in life. Ive really seen that to be true especially on the mission when theres always so many things to improve. I really love the book of mormon! We visited with a member named Stella whos in her 90s and she have us some souvenirs spoons to remember our time in St Cats. Shes sweet! We went to dinner at the burtons. Brother Burton used to be in a band in the 80s and she showed us the flashy coat that he used to wear. Theres also another brother in the ward who was in the band with him and so theyve been friends for like 50s years. They both had some really inspiring conversion stories to tel.

Wed - We went to teach jen about faith. She does not have much of a religious background so we felt like we had to start from the beginning with her and do one principle at a time. As missionaries we are to help people increase their faith in the Saviour and so thats what were trying to do with her!

Thurs - We went to visit with a less active member named C at a members home. Weve taught him everything but he cant seem to find the motivation to come to church and to stop smoking. I felt inspired to do the twelve step program with him. Its the only thing that we havent tried so far. The first step is honesty and he finished that next week. Bro C said that it really helped him realize that he had an addiciton and that most of all he needed to be honest with himself. 

Fri - Exchanges! Sister Droge came here and Sister Bell went to Hamilton with sister Reeves. So me and sister Cook had to attempt to figure out the area for ourselves! We taught eight lessons and it was great! One of our less actives Hay referred her friend to us at the end of her lesson. She actually came with us to her neighbours house and she let us in and we taught her the restoration. Exchange miracles! Sister Droge is froem Germany random fact. 

Sat - We were able to contact a member who moved her from the canada montreal mission and set up a lesson with her im so pumped! 

Sun - We met with Brother j and he always feeds us delicious baked goods! We met with a returning member named paula who is so awesome! she hasnt been smoking for like a week and has no cravings because she told heavenly father that if he takes the cravings away shell quit. 

I love being a missionary! And i love you all! p.s. please pray for visa! :D <3

sister bell has short hair and shes from ogden! sister cook is from logan! love them!

Week 6 in the Field!!

The biggest news of the week! 

I have a NEW TRAINER!!!

Yes...it happened...When the call came that Sister Hayes was going to transferred out of Srinakharin leaving me behind...Both of us did not want to believe it! 

Sister Hayes and I had only been together for 5 weeks and I am still a Greenie, so the two of us were pretty confused and sad to find out that we would no longer be serving together...

But we decided to trust the Lord and went off to Transfers...

And sure enough, I quickly saw that the Lord doesn't just put random people into our lives, and sends us off to random places.

If Sister Hayes is my mother, Sister Blaylock, my new trainer is my "cool aunt."

Sister Hayes set the vision for my mission. Through her example of diligent service to the Lord, she helped me to engrave an image of what my mission should become.

With Sister Blaylock...I feel as if I can slowly, but surely learn and progress in order to obtain that vision.

Whereas Sister Hayes was a powerhouse, full of light and something close to that of a perfect missionary...

It's clear that Sister Blaylock recognizes her own weaknesses and is in the progress of learning and progressing.

With Sister Hayes, she seemed so very far ahead of me, and I was always running to try and keep up with her.
Many times, I was discouraged...

With Sister Blaylock, I feel like we can progress together. 

Although she has been in the country for 10 months and has much more experience than me, I feel more like her companion, and not just a lame appendage...

Maybe it's because with Sister Hayes gone, and Sister Blaylock new to the area, it's my responsibility to help her get to know the people here....

Or maybe it's because with the switch in companionship, I feel like I can take a bold step forward...

Or maybe it's because I can connect with Sister Blaylock's experiences more...

Whatever it is, I am so very thankful to my Heavenly Father for recognizing what I need on this mission to be successful...

On this mission, I was given birth by an amazing mother who will always be my role model and I will always strive to be a missionary like her...

But I have also been given the opportunity to be raised by a cool aunt who is caring, someone who recognizes her own imperfections and strives to work together with me to be successful in this area! 

With a powerhouse mother and a more laid back aunt, I am learning that there isn't just one rigid way to do missionary work! 

There are so many different ways to be an obedient successful missionary, and most importantly to be optimistic and have fun! 

Another blessing from transfers was that I got to see Sister Smith and Elder Blad there! 

It was so good to see my companions from the MTC and catch up!

Although I had seen Sister Htway and Sister Black a couple times, it was so rewarding to see my two companions! 

It was so wonderful to see that the two of them were glowing with light!

Although each of them have many challenges...they are staying optimistic and trusting in the Lord.

Their smiles were radiant. They were smiles that only someone emitting the light of Christ could have!

To add to these blessings...at transfers I surprised myself with how much Thai I could understand and how much I could respond to questions of the Thai members!

I could actually have a conversation with them!! 

This was not something I could do when I first came into the country...so it was a comforting to know that I have progressed in the language...

To add the cherry on top, I had two full conversations on the phone with members that day, something that I have never been able to do before.

This transfer was definitely a great blessing! 

Singing Christmas songs with some cute kid's at Sister Lek's Children's Library! 

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Raise the Hammer!

monday-we had dinner with the stockwells. they are so cute! poor brother stockwell wasnt feeling well so i gave him some suggestions on what he could take. keep him in your prayers please!

tuesday-we met with our investigator d at the library. he accepted to be baptized on january 8th and were so pumped! we had dinner with joey holtbys grandparents so that was a fun experience! i see his parents every sunday too and i signed his christmas card haha he will have no idea! 

wed- zone conference was the best! president and sister clayton had us sing the twelve days of christmas and had us all make up an action to go with it. then we sang hymns and president takes his conducting very seriously! i love the claytons! as missionaries we dont have much to give during christmas time in terms of material things. but what we can give christ is our will. we must turn it over to him and develop his attributes. we had a great coordination meeting! our ward mission leader read a letter to my neighbour and was really inspired to make some great changes in the ward to help with the work. yay! 

thurs-today was a good day! lots of good lessons! sister saul gave us lots of cookies and ice cream. im gonna roll out of this are when i leave :).

fri- we met with two of our investigators jen and cor. jen has commited to be batized january 9th. cor has a great desire to really come to know that the book of mormon is true. she loves studying it and has many questions yay! 

sat- we met with d. hes been reading the book of mormon yay!and he came out to church and stayed all three hours!

sun-the sabbath is a delight! i gave a talk about the atonement and the gospel of jesus christ. i was pretty calm when giving the talk so prayer works! we went to the bishops for supper and it was full of laughs!

i love you all :D <3