Thai'd Up for 18 Months: I have a home! Week #13

Ice cream in a hot dog bun.

Being on a mission is so great! It does get pretty repetitive though. I am already struggling with thinking of things to say. Ha ha

We have a few progressing investigators. No baptisms yet. There is a rule that you have to attend sacrament twice before getting baptized or else we could have had one this week. Before church next week we are going to have a baptism with this great investigator. He is already Christian. It is so much easier to teach people who are already Christian because if they accept the restoration then they are set! But teaching people who don't already believe in God it is a little harder because everything is new to them so it takes a lot more explaining and answering questions. So this investigator came to the church to get a Book of Mormon himself and was referred to us. The only problem is he works every single day from 10 to I think 8 or 9. So we have to teach him quick in the mornings. And he can only come to an hour of sacrament before he has to run off to work. So because he works we have to baptize him before church next week. Hopefully everything goes smoothly and that works out! Beyond him we have a lot progressing. The investigator who didn't want to pray until he finished the Book of Mormon said he has been praying now and that he feels good while he does it! That was so great to hear! I see a lot of growth in his testimony. This Sunday he brought his 11 year old brother to church with him. Other than that we have some investigators who seem to like church and the lessons but aren't quite ready for a baptismal date. So hopefully this week some of them will be ready to make that commitment!

The Elders Baptisms

Pictures with the member Bow. He is a great RC who is hoping to go on a mission. We read the book of mormon with him every week. He is also really good at playing the guitar.

Teaching is great though. I don't always understand what is going on but when I do its way nice. And Sister Her is a great trainer because she always makes sure I get a chance to teach parts of the lesson. And then when I run out of things to say because I don't know it in Thai she just takes over again. Ha ha Its great. Its scary though when we have to split up and I teach with a member! Luckily we have the sweetest girl in our ward who knows quite a bit of English and is able to help me! I hate talking on the phone though. Its so hard to understand a single thing anyone says. And I can't see their face to know if it is a yes or no! Sister Her always makes me contact the numbers I get. I think I am getting just a little bit better at knowing what to say but Sister Her has to take over a lot. Ha ha

Something interesting we did this week was we went to visit an RC. It was a down poor and it took an hour in the taxi to get there! We were expecting maybe a 20 minute drive. Luckily she wanted to feed us which we weren't expecting. But it was fish... Ha ha. And not just normal fish you would eat in the States but a whole cooked fish just sitting on a plate... And she kept giving me more and I kept having to tell her I wasn't hungry! Ha ha. But it didn't taste as gross as I was worried it would. After dinner and our spiritual thought, she took us upstairs to her dance studio! She dressed me and Sister Her up in some fancy traditional Thai outfit... Im not really sure what it was. Ha ha. Then we watched her teach her dance class for a minute before heading out. And like I said, it was a down poor. One of the major roads flooded so there was a ton of traffic! It took us two hours to get home! That was an expensive taxi ride... Oops. We just barely made it home in time for our 9 o'clock curfew.

that is the fish I ate at the members house

All dressed up in traditional Thai

Other than the teaching and the contacting one of the things I like most is our Sunday dinners. We makes spaghetti at the church with the Elders. It kind of feels like Sunday family dinner. One of the members asked us what we were doing when we started cooking and one of the Elders said, "we are making Sunday dinner." The member was like, "what is Sunday dinner?" Ha ha even on Sundays I think they get their dinner from street vendors. Its oddly a lot cheaper than actually cooking your own dinner. And in Bangkok I am not sure what kind of kitchens people even have. Ha ha.

Sunday dinner with the Elders

Sunday with the members. The one with Sister Her and the girl and me, that is Sister May. She is the one who helps me teach!

Now for some things that are still different to me in Thailand... The way they drive... I have gotten over the craziness of cars but the motorcycles freak me out! There will be a dad driving and a mom holding a new born baby side saddling on the back! And I have seen a two year old just standing in between the legs of his driving dad. I don't know if I am ever going to get over that one! Another thing is the size of the malls here! Sister Her lived by mall of America at one point and according to her memory as well as mine, that mall doesn't even compare! I think Energy Solutions Arena mightbe a third of the size of the Central mall here in Bangkhen. Seriously so huge!

The spiritual thought I want to leave you all with this week is about faith. I have been reading in the New Testament about Christ and his ministry. So far I have made it through Mathew. But there are so many stories about faith. It always says and through their faith they were healed. It is on our part and it takes our faith to receive the blessings of Christ. He has promised his blessings to everyone, we just have to have the faith to ask for them.

Seriously everyone should be studying the scriptures everyday. They are so awesome! If you don't understand them I recommend two things. Either pray and ask for help and understanding from God. Or look at your life. What things are you doing that are preventing you from feeling the spirit to the full capacity you could be. Since I have come on my mission and aligned myself more closely to the will of God and I am living the mission standards which invite the spirit, my understanding of the scriptures has grown immensely. I thought I understood them before, but I can't get enough of them now! Seriously, read the scriptures everyday! :)

Well I hope all of you have had an awesome week! Love you all!

-Sister Nethercott

I told her about an amazing pork roast her dad smoked and this was her reply, "I already miss American food. Thai food doesn't have much variety. Its like eating a stirfry with a slightly different flavor for every meal... This might be a long year and a half.

And I got your email... Were there more questions? All I remember is Sister Her does not know anyone from El Dorado Hills. And I did make my bed... And the best thing I ate this week... Probably the spaghetti that our district makes on Sundays. Ha ha.... I seriously eat rice and a different kind of meat with it... Its not exciting at all. I do eat noodles, there just aren't a lot of noodle choices. I ate this dish that is like patsiu this week but it had squid in it. It was actually good. :) " She already says she has gained weight from eating so much rice. which is a good thing!

Tim tam slamming

My New Apartment!

My study desk

I asked her what her laundry situation was and this is what she said "we have a laundry machine... I am not sure how well it works. The fabirc softener did not wash out of my skirts... And then we hang everything to dry. It just kind of shakes everything... Its weird. It doesn't really spin. Ha ha. And yeah it is way nice where we live... But not homey at all. I went on a split to Dong Mueng last week and their place was a lot more homey but not as clean. So I guess its just give and take. But we have a nice gym which I like. Especially because Sister Her likes to run and this way I don't have to run with her. ha ha"

A Market Place

Riding in a taxi. . . ? No one would drive us to the mission office in asoke! Ha ha

FHE/birthday celebration for brother Bank and Brother Art.

We ran into Brother Art when we used the bathroom at Major where he works. He made us do his fitness thing... I have no idea what it is. Its also all in the metric system. But I guess I need to gain 3 lbs of muscle in my arms?

They have these statues of super heroes at malls and stuff...
If anyone knows Brecklyn, she LOVES Batman! She was jealous when I told her the Batmobiles were in SLC for the Piano Guys new video.