Change of title: Airport Chauffeur

July 22nd, 2018
13th month, 4th week
Thailand, Bangkok, Minburi Ward

samuel.montague@myldsmail.net (I would love to hear from you)

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"Thou shalt offer a sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in righteousness, even that of [your schedule and time. And] ... prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it. (D&C 59:8, 3 Nephi 24:10)"

This (apostate) scripture splicing has been evident in this past week, entitled the

WEEK OF MIRACLES

-We have gone to both airports in Bangkok on a daily basis. We have literally gone one or more times every day this past week except for p day and Sunday.

-We received missionaries three separate times, we delivered missionaries six different times, some of them needed to be released cuz they finish their missions, most of them were going home because they finished on not transfers, some of them were just needing help going to a connecting flight on the way to and from a temple trip.

-These trips required us to wake up at 5 everyday. It also caused us to use up much of our day, as the trips often took a long time to complete in traffic.

-We made an additional few trips bringing wheelchairs to and from a location. That one also took hours because of traffic. I really do not like traffic.

-We also got lost just about every time we ever tried to go to a destination. There's a lot of different routes to take, and the GPS kept being dysfunctional and it wasn't really telling us. Miraculously, the wrong way was often the faster way? I don't know, but we got things done in time.

-None of these trips were planned except one or two. We were essentially notified within 12 hours and needing to run people to the airport. This means that we also haven't had really any time to proselyte this week (still needing to fit in studies, meals, other office duties, weekly planning-which we've managed to get in once this entire transfer for 2 hours).

-GOD BLESSED US BACK FOR OUR SERVICE

- there was a day we were able to go on splits with two other missionaries in our area. Meaning we were able to gain an extra 4 hours of work.

- this last week we gained an additional 5 new investigators, we were able to give dates to 11 new people, we had six people show up to church, and we had a baptism. On top of that, it's looking like we'll have 2 baptisms next Sunday.

- this is all literally the Lord's hand. We did not have the time to contact and teach these people on the basis we would have needed to to get these kinds of numbers. Especially since they were drastically lower last week.

-last Monday I also started my 40-day fast. There's a talk this floating around our mission entitled The 40-day Fast, and it's basically about a missionary who asked a general Authority how he could be more spiritual in lessons. The general Authority said to fast from food for a day, to make a list with the Lord about things he needed to stop doing during that food fast, and then fast from all of the actions on the list for 40 days. I've done this in my 3rd to 4th transfer when I was in Chiang Mai, and I'm doing it again. I only have five things on my list this go-round, and the two biggest ones are that I need to sacrifice my desires for the Lord's and I can't speak English unless it's necessary. It's definitely hard, but I also feel like it's easier than the last time I did it. I'm certainly keeping it a lot better. I think it's because I have a better why this time around that makes it easier for me to want to abstain from my list. As I pray daily about it, keep an accountability with the Lord, and strive to keep my fast going, I've seen a lot of blessings from it. It even seems to be easier to do everyday.

-Sister ฝน (Fon=rain) was baptized this last week. She's been learning since a transfer or two before I came, and she's been wanting to be baptized for just about all that time. She's a referral from her longtime best friend and her son is just about ready to be baptized too. She's such a sweet and humble woman who's desires are to better know the Lord and to humbly follow him.

-I also got my driver's license this week! That was an experience: me, an AP, the mission president and wife all went to do it. Except none of us has gone before so none of really knew what we were doing; we had a page of instructions we followed. It was definitely odd. But I took the best picture I've ever had taken for anything official!

“I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don’t set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential. When one learns to master the principles of setting a goal, he will then be able to make a great difference in the results he attains in this life.”

–President M. Russell Ballard, PMG

အယ္လ္ဒါ ေမာ္ထကရူ (my name in burmese)