Well this week was a little crazy. Ha ha I think Sister Brown and I practically did a mission tour. We spent about 26 hours on lots of buses this week.
It started with heading to Asoke for MLC on Tuesday night. To get to the bus station we took what they call a tug tug (Its a motorcycle with seats attached to the back...? Like a carriage without the horse) to the bus station. It was late and there wasn't another option. But right before we climbed on the back of the tug tug, he starts drinking from his beer bottle. Sister Brown yelled at him, he stopped. But who knows how long that was going on before we got to him. Ha ha so we are riding in the back of this tug tug. Then these big dogs start chasing us trying to bite the tug tug and get us. He squeezes this little squeaky toy horn he has and they all run away. Its moments like that where you think to yourself, "Is this really my life right now? A drunk man is driving me in a tug tug squeazing a squeaky toy to chase off big angry dogs." Ha ha Luckily we made it to the bus station alive. Thanks to the Elders, we actually got really good seats on the bus. I was able to sleep from Roi et to Korat. I then fell asleep again from the outskirts of Bangkok til we got to the bus station. Its the best I've ever slept on a bus. But we got in at about 5 in the morning so the total hours of sleep... not very many.
Wednesday was President Johnson's first MLC. I was happy to see that certain things like the pancake breakfast stayed the same. President Johnson is so very different from President Senior. But its funny how things need to change. They send the right people for the right time. Its funny how the personalities of CEO and Accountant show through. The goal in the end is the same but the process of how to do it is different. The biggest thing I took from MLC is that President really trusts us. He has given us the freedom to choose what to do and how to do it to help the church grow. I am excited to see what things will be happening here in Thailand.
From MLC in Asoke we took a bus to Korat. We were able to get there early enough to sleep there (yay for beds and not bus seats). Korat is so beautiful! From there we went to Mahasrakham and trained them with Galasin. We had plans to take a night bus to Udorn but apparently there aren't night buses from Roi et to there. So luckily they were able to push back the training to the afternoon. We were able to spend the night in our own beds and leave super early the next morning.
Now that next morning. I was using the sink in the kitchen when out of the corner of my eye I see something big and black crawl behind our garbage cans. "Sister Brown there is either a huge spider or a scorpian behind our garbage can!" So we got on chairs and grabbed the broom. We dragged away the first garbage can. Nothing. The second one. Nothing. Next was our water cooler. I banged the broom against it hoping it would scare it out. Nothing. So we move our chairs closer and start dragging the water cooler away from the wall. I have never screamed like that in my whole life! There was a scorpion. I have never seen a scorpian so I didn't know how dangerous it actually was. Fortunately we had to leave our house to make our bus to Udorn. So we ran out of there. When 6:30 rolled around I called up the Elders and asked if they were interested in an adventure. A few hours pass by and we get a text that says, "scorpion = super exterminated". What a blessing to be an STL and not have time to hang around to kill a scorpian.
So Friday we did the training in Udorn. We had plans for switch off after until we found out buses to and from Roi et just don't come at very convenient times. So we came back that nigh and got home just in time to go to sleep. Then Saturday, we had a lot of work to do. A lot of time to make up. And on top of that, President decided to come visit Roi et and wanted to do interviews. He is such a nice man and was willing to wait and work around our schedule.
So yes it was a very busy week. But I stand by what I said before. The Lord blesses and helps those who are fulfilling their calling. We were still able to accomplish everything we needed to to reach our goals for the week.
This week during studies Sister Brown and I have been talking a lot about eternal progression. We have been talking about what kind of progression it takes in life to get to the celestial kingdom to then eternally progress. The phrase that has made itself all over Thailand is, "All churches teach people to be good." An Elder shared a story that happened while he contacted with a member. In response to this phrase, the member shared the scriptures in 3 Nephi 12:48.
"Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect."
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints teaches us more than to be just good. It invites us to progress until we are perfect. The same kind of perfection as our savior Jesus Christ and our Father in Heaven. I know that if we make the right decisions and follow the teachings of the prophets, we will be able to progress to that perfect state.
I love you all and hope you had a great week!
-Sister Nethercott
Contacting in the rain in the Issan... Not very many people.
Monday. The Elders struggling with their not even spicy som tam (papaya salad). Except Elder Lor's has 12 prick so his is pretty spicy.
Traveling with the ZLs
The beautiful views of Korat
The joys of so much traveling
Food... We found a really yummy tam sang.
And we have a senior couple! I don't remember the last time I had food that good.
(I think she means the senior couple cooked American food for them??)
Terminated
(I would LOVE to hear the Elder's side of this story!)
Sorry it is dirty! They found it in the corner under the couch....
Word just in... They did not kill the same scorpion we saw. The reason we believe it is not the same scorpion.... Luckily the Elders found the bigger of the 2.
spider!
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