We were hit with a surprise this week. The weather in the north is somewhat cooler, but on Tuesday it suddenly turned downright cold. Monday was the typical warm-hot, then Tuesday it was raining all day and I could see my breath. It shocked my system, to the point where I got sick and am just coming out of it. Nothing too bad; just a head cold. Thai people just shut down though, for a few days. That made missionary work kind of tough, but we got by.
Chaad's family is still doing well and progressing towards their date on the 21st. They suddenly had a funeral to go to though, and couldn't come to church on Sunday.
We met with an LA named Brother Pii. I may have mentioned him before, but I'm not sure. He's from a different city but is working in Chiang Mai. We met him working at 7/11 (for actually the second time. Elder Day met him last transfer, but then lost his number. That morning he had prayed that we would run into him again). He said that he's lost his faith and that his life is going bad. He wants to have faith again but doesn't know how. We read Alma 32 with him, and it was a powerful lesson. As we read, he asked "So, faith is a hope for things which are unseen which are true. So how do you know that what you hope for is actually true?" I felt like I should talk about gravity. We can't see it, but we know it's true. How do we know? Because we do things and see results that indicate that it's there, exerting influence (i.e. we things fall to the ground). So with God, we can't see him, so how do we know? We do the things He tells us, and we see the results He promises (i.e. it will swell in your heart, your mind will be expanded, and it will become delicious). As we were talking, those same results were manifest, and I could see that he felt it. I felt guided in the lesson. and I'm grateful for the spirit's influence.
Something funny: the title of this letter is inspired by an awesome member here in Chiang Mai named Brother Yohng. He's 23 and wants to serve a mission, but in Thailand military service in mandatory. At his age, it's one or the other. He's a big guy, so his plan is to gain enough weight to disqualify himself from military service then go on a mission. With only 3 kg to go, he proudly exclaims "Fat is the future!"
Elder Parish
1. We drove over an hour up into the mountains to a village to interview this guy for baptism.
2. Some padawan monks.
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