This week a few good things happened.
We visited a couple RC's and their mother, Pen. She's Buddhist and very satisfied with her religion and not really open to changing. But she is very impressed with how the other people in her house have changed since being baptized. We taught a lesson to gauge (and partially inspire) interest, and I started getting nervous that I would mess things up and she would reject (rather than resist) the opportunity to learn more. I was thinking to myself what needed to be said and as my mind was spinning trying to predict where things are going to go, I realized that (ironically) I'd stopped listening to what she was was saying so that I could respond appropriately. I remembered that what should be said would be given to us in the very moment that we needed it. I felt a sense of peace and asked for some guidance. And the rest of the lesson went well and she accepted to take the discussions. It's hard to say where she'll go from here, but it was a lesson to me to stop, trust, and listen.
Another cool insight was meeting with Sister Punnadaa's (Nad for short) family who traveled three hours for church again. After church we sat down and taught them for a bit. They started off by telling us how different our church was from what they were used to. I braced myself to defend the restored gospel and justify that just because things were different didn't mean that they should stop investigating. Until I realized that they were impressed with the differences and considered them improvements, for the most part. Sister Mai, Nad's mom, shared with us that she feels something special at church. She told us that their family is not wealthy and that has been a difficult challenge for them. She said that they've been Protestant for about 20 years, and has said many prayers but felt like God may not have been listening or the prayers weren't quite making it all the way. She asked us why after coming to our church for only two weeks made such a difference, why does she feel her prayers are making it to God now? It was a neat witness of the spirit that I feel is testifying to them that this is what they should be doing.
An LA shared with us about how she rejected the missionaries many times before finally trying it out. She said after the first lesson with the elders she went home and cried because of the love and feelings she'd felt. She said that she sought after those feelings more than anything.
Another thing that happened this week was that the king of Thailand died. He reined for 70 years (I think that's the longest reign in modern history, maybe in world history. I'm not sure). He was revered and respected by all of Thailand, almost like a father. It's made quite a stir here and people are shaken. There have been several protocols of nation-wide mourning established such as no loud music, no rambunctious parties, and many people wearing black clothing every day for one month. It's interesting to see.
1-3: We helped a member transport and stack 2,500 mushroom starts for her mushroom farm.
We visited a couple RC's and their mother, Pen. She's Buddhist and very satisfied with her religion and not really open to changing. But she is very impressed with how the other people in her house have changed since being baptized. We taught a lesson to gauge (and partially inspire) interest, and I started getting nervous that I would mess things up and she would reject (rather than resist) the opportunity to learn more. I was thinking to myself what needed to be said and as my mind was spinning trying to predict where things are going to go, I realized that (ironically) I'd stopped listening to what she was was saying so that I could respond appropriately. I remembered that what should be said would be given to us in the very moment that we needed it. I felt a sense of peace and asked for some guidance. And the rest of the lesson went well and she accepted to take the discussions. It's hard to say where she'll go from here, but it was a lesson to me to stop, trust, and listen.
Another cool insight was meeting with Sister Punnadaa's (Nad for short) family who traveled three hours for church again. After church we sat down and taught them for a bit. They started off by telling us how different our church was from what they were used to. I braced myself to defend the restored gospel and justify that just because things were different didn't mean that they should stop investigating. Until I realized that they were impressed with the differences and considered them improvements, for the most part. Sister Mai, Nad's mom, shared with us that she feels something special at church. She told us that their family is not wealthy and that has been a difficult challenge for them. She said that they've been Protestant for about 20 years, and has said many prayers but felt like God may not have been listening or the prayers weren't quite making it all the way. She asked us why after coming to our church for only two weeks made such a difference, why does she feel her prayers are making it to God now? It was a neat witness of the spirit that I feel is testifying to them that this is what they should be doing.
An LA shared with us about how she rejected the missionaries many times before finally trying it out. She said after the first lesson with the elders she went home and cried because of the love and feelings she'd felt. She said that she sought after those feelings more than anything.
Another thing that happened this week was that the king of Thailand died. He reined for 70 years (I think that's the longest reign in modern history, maybe in world history. I'm not sure). He was revered and respected by all of Thailand, almost like a father. It's made quite a stir here and people are shaken. There have been several protocols of nation-wide mourning established such as no loud music, no rambunctious parties, and many people wearing black clothing every day for one month. It's interesting to see.
1-3: We helped a member transport and stack 2,500 mushroom starts for her mushroom farm.
4-6: Strange Buddhist statues.
7: Strange bathroom sign.
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