Check out this BLESSON
May 6th, 2018
11 months, 13 days
Thailand, Bangkok, Surin Branch
samuel.montague
Some amazing quotes Sister Johnson gave us at this week's zone conference:
"So much depends on our attitude. The way we choose to see things and respond to others makes all the difference." President Thomas S. Monson
"The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache." Sister Hinckley
"Happiness does not depend on what happens outside of you. It is measured by the spirit with which you meet the problems of life." President Harold B. Lee
"The happiest people I know are not those who find their golden ticket; they are those who, while in pursuit of worthy goals, discover and treasure the beauty and sweetness of the everyday moment. They are those who, thread by thread, weave a tapestry of gratitude and wonder throughout their lives. They are they who are truly happy." Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf
"I don't have time to hate people who hate me, because I'm too busy loving the people who love me." Unknown
"My new word is 'Blesson'. It's when you're able to view painful lessons as blessings. In other words, a 'Blesson' is what happens when you see the blessing in the lesson that your challenge taught you." Unknown
"Life is 10% things that happened to us, and 90 % how we react." Unknown
"Perseverance: to continue in a given course until we have reached a goal or objective, regardless of obstacles or opposition. Perseverance is a positive, active characteristic ... it gives us hope by helping us realize that the righteous suffer no failure except in giving up and no longer trying." Joseph B. Wirthlin
"Don't look back! You're not going that way." Unknown
"Dare to believe that you are a wonderful and unique person. Do not compete with others because no one is in the contest of being you." Unknown
As you might gather from these amazing quotes, which I so painstakingly wrote down in my journal, zone conference was amazing. It was such a great boost, and so much fun seeing everybody and being lifted up by one another. President and Sister Johnson truly share what God has inspired them to, and it immensely helps does each time.
We've been moving into rainy season, which means somewhat cooler weather when it is about to rain, but a whole lot more cancelled appointment and less people showing up to activities (Thai people are scared of getting wet). Mixed reviews on that one.
We have seen a few miracles this week. We stopped by a recent convert's (RC) house, and she was home! She has been out of town for 2 months, and has stopped picking up our phone calls. We have been very nervous about her. But she was home when we visited her and she said she would go to church (She did but only for the last 10 minutes of sacrament
On Sunday evening we were running low on the amount of new investigators we had for the week. The standard of excellence for the mission is four new investigators each week. We only had two going into Sunday. We report these key indicators to whichever mission leaders are over us, so I report them to my zone leaders Sunday evening. With lots of prayers and some obvious blessings, we were able to find two more new investigators. They truly were a blessing.
We played some pick up soccer on Friday again, and were able to make some great contact with a lot of the neighborhood kids and even some older people as well. The aforementioned RC actually showed up with her son, daughter, and nephew- without mentioning anything. So we left and played with them for a little bit.
Sunday. What a doozy. In addition to those miracles we saw, we were also hit with some Blessons. For some reason, we had one of the lowest sacrament attendance in our branch in several months. It was really sad, because a lot of RC's and investigators did not show up. It is certainly a learning experience. We are going to try different approaches next week.
On top of this, I conducted sacrament meeting. I mentioned it once many emails ago, so all the missionaries on this now might not know it, but I was called as the first counselor in the branch presidency. The branch president finally made me conduct sacrament. It is hard enough conducting something, especially something so as important as Sacrament, in your native language. It is even harder doing it in Thai, or any other foreign language. I do not have a lot of the vocabulary needed. I also had to mention everybody that was participating in the program by name. We don't use real names often in Thailand because they are so long and hard to say. They break so many of the regular writing rules. So that all was interesting. This is also still a learning and growing branch, so there are things that might not necessarily be okay or done in America. BUT it means that this branch has so much room to grow and improve. There is nothing holding them back. They are a clean slate.
It was a really great week. I hope y'alls' week was just as good - if not better. I challenge everybody to take one of those quotes that I wrote, and share them with somebody you feel inspired to. It could lift that person's entire day. So why not?
āļั้āļĄ, a homie member
Some cool architecture at a nearby college
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