Thai'd Up for 18 Months: Lantern Festival- bucket list check! Week #24

First full week in Khon Kaen! And it was actually pretty good. :) I am starting to really like this area. I have accepted the fact that there aren't a billion people for constant contacting. And I really love the members here! They are so great and nice.

So I guess I will start with the baptism we had this week! Brother Bia is so great! He was already a dater when I got here but I taught him his last 3 lessons with Sister Grover. He is a pretty cool guy. He is studying law and has traveled to Japan, Germany, France, and the US. He is just a smart guy. He was asking about the priesthood and then started explaining how the church has the quorum of the seventy. I don't know how he already knew all the stuff he started going on about but he was so ready for baptism! The ceremony went so smoothly too. Nothing like in Bang Khen. Something always went weird there. Ha ha Right before the baptism we asked him who he wanted to speak and he picked me as one of the speakers. So that was fun coming up with something right on the spot to say, and in Thai. But his testimony was cool. He talked about how he felt like a new person. Good testimony. I was lucky to move into this one.

We have some other good investigators too. But one works every Sunday and says he will lose his job if he tries to get it off. We have a couple girls under 18 who can't get permission to be baptized. So the usual problem that apparently happens all over Thailand.

This week we were able to find 5 RC's at the malls they work at. They all also work every Sunday. Well one is active still. One used to hate missionaries but now she just seems uninterested. (which in my opinion is a step up!) And one was way happy to see us and took a picture but says she works every Sunday... So yep I guess that is where they were all lost to. Well not all, we still have a few whose numbers don't work and are still missing. But now I at least know who is contactable and findable and who isn't.

This week we got to go to the Loikhatong festival! Known in America as the Tangled holiday. That was cool! We made what they called boats with the members. Just plants covered in flowers with a candle. We floated those into the lake. Then we got to send off flying lanterns! Way cool! And it was really pretty! Check for my bucket list too. :) But the members were funny. They were saying for Thai and Buddhist people this is the way they worship their dead ancestors but as Mormons we just do it to have fun.

Sunday was pretty cool too. We had a pretty empty day (which never happens on Sunday) so we rounded up the RC's that were still hanging out at the church (+1 of the Elder's investigators) and we took them contacting. We split up to cover more ground. I was with one RC named Deaf and the Elder's investigator Bon. Deaf was way good and contacting tons of people. Bon was a little more timid. This week when I was reading PMG in Thai I came across a word that means to be courageous or bold. Good timing too. So I asked him are you courageous or not? After that he was the best inviter ever! Ha ha But it was really fun to see the members get involved. And we had a pretty successful day of numbers!

So something fun about being in a young district is: everyone is young. Ha ha That last lesson we taught Bia before baptism was exciting. I had only ever sat in that lesson a couple times and just bore my testimony about how much I love the temple. Sister Grover had only sat in it once. So we had to prepare for that one. Then he went into his baptismal interview. The first one Elder Finlayson has done. Elder Finlayson had to fill out the baptismal record which is all in Thai. So luckily Brother Bia was patient with us because it kind of took a while to get it all done. Ha ha

Well that is all the exciting stuff from this week I believe. So here is the scripture I am going to share today. Alma 26:12

"Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever."

Heavenly Father can help us to have the strength to do all things. He is capable of bringing about miracles. Trust Him and have faith that the miracles will come!

Hope everyone had a good week! Love you all!

-Sister Nethercott

The food out here is way better than in Bangkok! Plus since Sister Grover is half Thai she knows all the good stuff and orders a surprise for me every time I eat. I think it is probably the best part of the companionship. Ha ha