board games are lyfe
October 8th, 2018
16th month, 3rd week
Thailand, Bangkok, Thonburi Ward
samuel.montague
Hello all! This week was much the same as last- including pday. Both today and last monday -the district decided to go to a board game cafe, which has been the right decision. It is super cheap and we stay for hours because there are a variety of games (our favorite has been this one called Clank). Today we went with members which is an excellent idea as it lets us to get to really know them. It has rekindled my love for board games, and I may or may not be in possession of three board games condensed into card format (Monopoly, Life, Cluedo).
But board games isn't what I'm here for!
Last Monday I went to the house of a member of Thai Royalty. He was involved in an accident years ago that left him physically and mentally impaired. Because the late President Gordon B. Hinckley was apparently very good friends with the royal family, he blessed and promised him that missionaries would visit weekly for the rest of his life. And so I switched off with one of the other elders to continue the weekly fulfillment of the blessing. It was super fun and we go in and talk with him and get to learn more about him. Three of his nephews and their mom came in and made things more interesting! They fed us super good. The miracle of the night though was getting there on time: they are pretty strict about when we have to be there; if we are late we don't get in. Their house is a pretty far away and inconvenient to access at the appointment time - as the roads fill with traffic. At the time we we left, we should not have made it there. We prayed the whole time through, tried calling their house (there is a small grace period), and once we were close enough got out of the taxi and ran the rest of the way. (I am so out of shape- send me to a biking area!). We made it! Barely. I shamelessly prayed again, this time in thanks.
On Wednesday I had my switch off with the District Leader, Elder Watene from New Zealand. It was an interesting day. I had so many appointments prepared (3x more than what we normally set) and I tried confirming them the night before. But we still had gaps and hours of free time. That is stressful for because on a switch off I want to be at effective as I can. Fortunately, he had an appointment the he really wanted to go do which fit into the gap quit well. So once his appointment was done we did some inviting. We taught several new people, and after my initial natural reaction to keep them all because it was a switch off in "my area" (we share the same area, but have different people we watch over); I realized that that was not a good way to think. We are both part of capable and effective missionary companionships. We are both doing the Lord's work in Thonburi. His success is my success, because this is a team effort. And besides, the follow up appointment is always the sketchiest and unsure; we were in the area for his appointment so he would for sure return to the area and have appointments, regardless if the new people showed up or not. So I gave them all away.
One of the people that my district leader's companionship teaches in that area is deaf, and so they've been learning Thai sign language to help. That day, we ran into so many deaf people, it was really weird (I've previously run into two or three my whole mission. Today we talked to 5). But พอดี I happened to be with a decently good speaker. And I was blessed to understand the majority of what was being said.
Thursday was zone conference. So much fun to go back to Asoke and see everyone. I also got so much out of it.
The rest of the week was fairly typical. People are slowly starting to merge out of our big teaching glob as interested. It is nice to start seeing progress!
16th month, 3rd week
Thailand, Bangkok, Thonburi Ward
samuel.montague
WOW SORRY I FORGOT TO SEND THIS OUT LAST WEEK. SURPRISE TODAY YOU GET 2 EMAILS.
But board games isn't what I'm here for!
Last Monday I went to the house of a member of Thai Royalty. He was involved in an accident years ago that left him physically and mentally impaired. Because the late President Gordon B. Hinckley was apparently very good friends with the royal family, he blessed and promised him that missionaries would visit weekly for the rest of his life. And so I switched off with one of the other elders to continue the weekly fulfillment of the blessing. It was super fun and we go in and talk with him and get to learn more about him. Three of his nephews and their mom came in and made things more interesting! They fed us super good. The miracle of the night though was getting there on time: they are pretty strict about when we have to be there; if we are late we don't get in. Their house is a pretty far away and inconvenient to access at the appointment time - as the roads fill with traffic. At the time we we left, we should not have made it there. We prayed the whole time through, tried calling their house (there is a small grace period), and once we were close enough got out of the taxi and ran the rest of the way. (I am so out of shape- send me to a biking area!). We made it! Barely. I shamelessly prayed again, this time in thanks.
On Wednesday I had my switch off with the District Leader, Elder Watene from New Zealand. It was an interesting day. I had so many appointments prepared (3x more than what we normally set) and I tried confirming them the night before. But we still had gaps and hours of free time. That is stressful for because on a switch off I want to be at effective as I can. Fortunately, he had an appointment the he really wanted to go do which fit into the gap quit well. So once his appointment was done we did some inviting. We taught several new people, and after my initial natural reaction to keep them all because it was a switch off in "my area" (we share the same area, but have different people we watch over); I realized that that was not a good way to think. We are both part of capable and effective missionary companionships. We are both doing the Lord's work in Thonburi. His success is my success, because this is a team effort. And besides, the follow up appointment is always the sketchiest and unsure; we were in the area for his appointment so he would for sure return to the area and have appointments, regardless if the new people showed up or not. So I gave them all away.
One of the people that my district leader's companionship teaches in that area is deaf, and so they've been learning Thai sign language to help. That day, we ran into so many deaf people, it was really weird (I've previously run into two or three my whole mission. Today we talked to 5). But พอดี I happened to be with a decently good speaker. And I was blessed to understand the majority of what was being said.
Thursday was zone conference. So much fun to go back to Asoke and see everyone. I also got so much out of it.
The rest of the week was fairly typical. People are slowly starting to merge out of our big teaching glob as interested. It is nice to start seeing progress!
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| Bangkok West Zone Conference |
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| Switch off with Elder Watene |
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| Prepping for General Conference |
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