Week 84: Rain and Dreams

Thai people are terrified of the rain. They say that if the rain hits you'll get sick. Also they don't like getting wet. So whenever we're out working in the rain, everyone freaks out at us telling us that we'll get sick and that we need to go home right away. I never paid much heed to the belief, classifying it with their belief in a five-headed flying snake that lives in a river in Thailand, or that using a phone during a storm will cause you to be struck by lighting (Thai people believe some really strange things). But the truth is, the rain in Thailand is filthy with pollution. And despite not having any problems in the past, it got me sick this week. And when I was on the mend, I went out in the rain and got re-sick. So that was kind of rough this week. But, we still had some good things happen.

We've put a lot of focus into our English class trying to make it the finding tool it can be. And saw awesome things from it this week! We got to meet with one man and teach a first lesson, as well as set up another lesson for next week. We also had a family go to church that didn't come from English, but the English class helped build an initial relationship in a non-threatening environment.

We've seen some challenges due to the church being so far away; it makes it hard to have activities that are really good for retention and finding new investigators. Also we've had a fair amount of people decide that they don't want to go to church anymore because it's too much of a hassle to get there-- investigators and members. Ah well, that's just the way it is here.

Sister Lek is doing pretty well. We've met with her a couple more times, and have seen some good progress. She's a little nervous about leaving her Buddhist roots, but we're working with her.
We first found her after spending the evening inviting in an area that we'd selected to visit that day. It was actually pretty fruitless, and we were heading back to the bikes to go home with empty nets. As we walked by one particular street, I felt that we should try this last street before heading home. So we did, found her outside, and invited her. She gave me her number, and it all felt pretty normal.
Well, in our last lesson she shared something that cast a different light on things. Her father is very ill and she is concerned about his health. She was pondering on his circumstances one night before she went to sleep. That night she had a dream that two white young men came by her house one evening. She woke up wondering about what that could mean, wondering if it was significant. Shortly thereafter, we showed up at her home late one evening and invited her to learn about Christ.

I had to laugh a bit; that was certainly God's influence in His work. We had no idea that we were being guided to a specific place at a specific time to meet a specific person. I know that God is up there guiding our steps and watching over us always, and I'm so grateful for that.

That's it for this week!
Elder Parish

P.S. Our next P-day will not be on Monday. It may be on Saturday, it may be on Tuesday. We don't know yet.

I didn't take many pictures this week.
1. This is a bus in Thailand. An empty one, which is kind of a rare shot. Sometimes if the wood is really old and cracked the road speeding beneath is visible.

2. I'm not sure what the Google screen in America looks like today...but if it's the same as this one I want you all to know that this is a Thai sport. It's like volleyball but played with the feet, and is quite impressive to watch.