Miracles
November 6th, 2017
5 months, 2 weeks
Thailand, Bangkok, Chaing Mai District
samuel.montague
So last week for Pday, we found a super nice internet place that we can load up on time that won't expire. We will definitely use this place each week. We went shopping and I got fabrics for ties and for a suit. Now I just need to go get it custom made - I think I may miss doing this after my mission. Our big activity was going up to Doi Suthep. We checked out the wat up there, did a little more shopping, then biked down the mountain. That was an experience for me, I'm not gonna lie, I was way scared. I'm not a huge fan of biking to begin with and my bike seems a little sketch to me, for instance the brakes seem sketchy. But there were enough people that wanted to do it that we all went for it. WOW. Fear. It was fast (someone's speedometer said our speed was 38 mph). Did I mention that the cars don't really follow the rules of the road. Everyone made it down though (miracle), and it wasn't too bad (I might've even had some fun). Later that evening, our FHE appointment was with our branch mission leader, his wife and parents. We mostly just ate and chatted.
Friday the 3rd. Happy Birthday Momma! Also, ลอยกระทง (Loi Grathong), which is a festival here. What an awesome blessing. As a district, we all invited Recent Converts (RC), Less Actives (LA), and Investigators to a member's house who was hosting us. We had great food, and made our river boats. It was so much fun. The base was a banana tree trunk slice, then we used banana leaves and flowers to decorate. I followed the sister who was teaching us how to do them, but mine wasn't looking like hers, so I did my own thing with it and it somehow came out looking ok. My companion set off some small fire crackers and sparklers with our RC's. Then we all went down to the river's edge (where everybody goes) and lit our candles on our boats, and set them off into the river.
Today was also packed with miracles! We เที่ยว'ed to the tiger kingdom with a visiting member, who happened to know one of the vets that worked there. Meaning we got in free. We went into 2 different cages, each with 2 tigers, then into a small pen with baby white tigers. ALL MIRACULOUSLY FREE (this trip would've normally costed $100/person). IT WAS AMAZING. We went to a waterfall that we went to last transfer, except now the whole track was open- rainy season is over.
5 months, 2 weeks
Thailand, Bangkok, Chaing Mai District
samuel.montague
So last week for Pday, we found a super nice internet place that we can load up on time that won't expire. We will definitely use this place each week. We went shopping and I got fabrics for ties and for a suit. Now I just need to go get it custom made - I think I may miss doing this after my mission. Our big activity was going up to Doi Suthep. We checked out the wat up there, did a little more shopping, then biked down the mountain. That was an experience for me, I'm not gonna lie, I was way scared. I'm not a huge fan of biking to begin with and my bike seems a little sketch to me, for instance the brakes seem sketchy. But there were enough people that wanted to do it that we all went for it. WOW. Fear. It was fast (someone's speedometer said our speed was 38 mph). Did I mention that the cars don't really follow the rules of the road. Everyone made it down though (miracle), and it wasn't too bad (I might've even had some fun). Later that evening, our FHE appointment was with our branch mission leader, his wife and parents. We mostly just ate and chatted.
English class was so fun! Thailand doesn't celebrate Halloween, but we are from America and do, so that was our theme for English class. My companion and I taught the advanced English class, and so we prepped them to be the "houses" visited. We did a few trial runs, then the children and basic classes (about 50 people) visited the 3 doors with 2 advanced students in each. They had dialogue they were supposed to go through and were given candy to give to the trick or treaters. They all just went around several times collecting candy. The teachers walked up and down the hall, but that got boring real fast, so we turned some lights off and started scaring the students. It was a blast!
We just had a lot of miracles this week with investigators we've been teaching, and how many people we've found who are genuinely interested. We've also been blessed with people who want and are actively working towards baptism!
Friday the 3rd. Happy Birthday Momma! Also, ลอยกระทง (Loi Grathong), which is a festival here. What an awesome blessing. As a district, we all invited Recent Converts (RC), Less Actives (LA), and Investigators to a member's house who was hosting us. We had great food, and made our river boats. It was so much fun. The base was a banana tree trunk slice, then we used banana leaves and flowers to decorate. I followed the sister who was teaching us how to do them, but mine wasn't looking like hers, so I did my own thing with it and it somehow came out looking ok. My companion set off some small fire crackers and sparklers with our RC's. Then we all went down to the river's edge (where everybody goes) and lit our candles on our boats, and set them off into the river. 
THEN THE LANTERNS. We lit our lanterns so they would float up. It was so beautiful with the river boats in the river and the lanterns in the sky. It was such a cool experience. Chiang Mai really celebrates the holiday the most in Thailand and we went to the epicenter where the most people were. With so many other people participating at the same time it really made it an unique experience. But traffic was terrible getting home555.
Today was also packed with miracles! We เที่ยว'ed to the tiger kingdom with a visiting member, who happened to know one of the vets that worked there. Meaning we got in free. We went into 2 different cages, each with 2 tigers, then into a small pen with baby white tigers. ALL MIRACULOUSLY FREE (this trip would've normally costed $100/person). IT WAS AMAZING. We went to a waterfall that we went to last transfer, except now the whole track was open- rainy season is over.
Two more miracles I want to discuss before I close. Firstly, the weather has been gorgeous. I go outside to do my studies each morning. It feels like Christmas in Texas. Nice and cool, with some wind. I love it. Did I mention that somehow I occasionally have to play the piano here. When I play it's kinda of like me speaking Thai, they need to have the Spirit so they can overlook my mistakes....
We've already seen some amazing results from our working with members and Less Actives. Something that has helped validate our focus on the work. For this week something I was impressed to share here: I read from the October 2013 Liahona this week. I want everyone to as well, especially the First Presidency message by President Monson. I want to challenge everyone to reach out to a Less Active member, or someone starting to. Maybe someone in the ward, a friend at school, or a family member. It will bring you great joy as well! Love you all (but definitely digging Thailand more)!
เอ็ลเดอรื มอนทากิว
Elder Montague
Comments
Post a Comment