Week 20: Temple!

This week was a bit slow. There are odd ups and downs in missionary work; sometimes we have almost more than we can handle, and sometimes we suddenly have almost nothing. This week was one of the latter.

We ended up having to drop the Burmese investigator (that I taught my first lesson) because we can't speak Burmese and don't know anyone who can really speak Burmese and Thai. He stopped coming to our appointments (most likely because he didn't understand that we'd set one up), and we stopped seeing him. He showed up at the church again this past week, and he was so happy to be there. He gave us hugs and positively beamed. He also brought his brother who speaks Thai really well (but not Burmese) and his friend who speaks Burmese (but not great at Thai). We'll keep working with him.

One of our RC's got back into smoking, so we've been doing our best to help him. We told him to read and pray every time he feels like he wants to smoke, and we call him every day to check up. It's been a battle, but he's made a lot of progress. The other elders had an investigator who was smoking three packs a day, and quit in three days. It's neat to see people using the atonement and making real changes in their lives, and the strength that comes with a desire to do right.

Everyone here is very excited about the temple announced in Thailand! It's neat to be able to serve in Thailand at this time.

We're working hard. The language is coming along well (sometimes I don't feel that way, but many people are impressed with my progress), and it's an example of God's hand in his work.

Elder Parish

1. Harry Potter in Thai

2. My new suit.