"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:" Week #75

Hello everyone! Sorry if you were all expecting an email next week, this is going to be the last chance I have to email one out. (Next week she will be traveling to Bangkok on P-day TO COME HOME!)

This week was interesting (as always). I had to renew my visa (I know its silly because its only for 2 weeks) so I had to take another trip down to Bangkok. Sister Herrmann and I thought it would be easier if we left our companions working in the area while the 2 of us took care of our visas together. So we sent them to switch off with the sisters in Mahasarakham. I thought it would save time, but with the non existent bus schedule to Roiet, it probably kept us from our area longer. And those bus rides... I'll just leave them at interesting. Ha ha I don't think words can properly describe the bus rides I have taken since moving here to Roiet. So after being out of our area again, we had a lot of work to catch up on. Saturday was one of the best days though. We taught these investigators that showed up at English class. They are so cute. Its a dad and his daughter. After teaching them their first lesson of the restoration they took a date to be baptized. Sometimes when teaching investigators, it takes a lot of explaining and they still don't get it. This dad just got it. And his daughter is so sweet. They just seem super prepared. I swear he knew stuff before we even taught it to him.

The Lord truly is preparing His children for His gospel. He loves each and everyone of us because He is our Father. Serving a mission and serving the Thai people has really opened my eyes to the love that our Father in Heaven has for each one of us individually. He is aware of us and our circumstances. All He ever expects of us is that we do our best. That we love Him. As we do these things, the rest should fall into place. I have loved witnessing the atonement take action in the lives of so many. The change and joy that can come from the atonement is beyond my understanding. I love the part in a talk given this last conference when the speaker said, "Is this all I had to do in order to receive all this?" The atonement covers more than we know. It can change us more than we realize. The atonement is for everyone. No matter how old or young. No matter how many mistakes have been made or even if you are nearly perfect, the atonement can help you. It has such an enabling power to shape us to be more like our loving Father in Heaven. That is our ultimate goal, to be with Him. To be like Him. And to enjoy all the blessings which He has. This life is so small in the eternal scheme of things. It is worth sacrifice, hard work, and trials to receive what God has in store for us. Bringing others to this knowledge is so important. Being a disciple of Jesus Christ is the most important thing we can be doing. Put Him and His gospel first. I know nothing else can bring as much happiness as really fully living the gospel can. We all know missionaries are the happiest people there are. We don't really sleep, we are on our feet working all day. we get rejected and torn down, we never do anything for ourselves. Why in the world would missionaries be the happiest people? Because they live the gospel so thoroughly and they keep God's commandments so exactly. If we align our will with God's, there is nothing but peace and joy. That is more than anything the world has to offer.

I know that God lives. I know he is our Heavenly Father and that he loves us more than we know. I know that Jesus Christ took upon Himself our sins and through him we can be clean. He understands us perfectly. I know that Joseph Smith restored Christ's true church on this earth. I know this true church is still being led by a living prophet Thomas S. Monson. As we heed his words and his council, we will never fall astray. I know the Book of Mormon to be the word of God. As we read it, we will feel closer to our Heavenly Father and grow in knowledge and understanding of His plan for us. I know His plan for us includes living with our families for eternity in His presence. All we have to do is follow the example of His Son and our Savior Jesus Christ. As we do that, there is more blessings in store for us than we can comprehend.

I am so grateful for this opportunity that I have had to serve the Lord in His vineyard. I have learned so many things that have changed me. I am so grateful for all the blessings the Lord has given me in my life. I am grateful to all of you who have supported me in this service. I hope to see you all soon! I love you all!

-Sister Nethercott

2 Timothy 4: 7

"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:"

 Bus Rides

 Halloween

Dinner goodbye party at the bishops

Riding Elephants! Week #74

Hey,

I get to go ride elephants again today and I'm not really sure if we will get a chance to email. I love you! Hope you had a good week!

-Sister Nethercott :)

Well at least she sent pics of the event later. :)

 This is Roiet for ya

 (What is she thinking?!?!?!)

 Rode elephants again! So much fun!

 The elephant decided to pick me up! I want a pet elephant... It's pretty fun.

 We also saw some monkeys today but they were too scared to get any closer.

The longest and yet fastest week of my life! Week 73

I think this may have been the longest and yet fastest week of my life. So much happened. 

Monday night we left on a bus to Bangkok. Unfortunately all the nice ones were sold out. So we didn't sleep much. Then on Tuesday we had MLC. It was good. Elder Funk from the 70 was there. We got to go to Lumpini park and read the dedicatory prayer (something I wanted to do my whole mission but had never gotten the chance). I love MLC. I love the passion for the work that comes from all the missionaries. Its so good. We also had a testimony meeting which was a first. The strength of the testimonies in the mission is so firm. It was a really cool experience. After that we got to eat Carls Jr. So good. Its the only one in Thailand. (At least where us missionaries can go, I don't know about the south). We also got new phones! They are so nice, I don't even know how to work it.... Its a struggle.

Then on Wednesday morning we trained Mahasarakham, Galasin and Roiet. After that we headed on a Bus to Korat and trained there. That was rushed a bit so that we could make the bus we were all taking to Khon Kaen. The whole Issan gathered there in Khon Kaen for mission tour. It was really good. Its still a little weird to me to go back into Khon Kaen. Its like I know my way around but its not home or anything. Anyways after that we got on another bus back to Roiet. Thursday night we layed down in bed and realized it had been since Sunday night since we had slept there. It was a busy week. And that left us the weekend to work in our area (which seems to be the usual trend since I have moved to Roiet). Ha ha

Saturday we had this huge youth conference/activity in Roiet. All the youth from the Ubon zone were here. We had to take them contacting. There was probably 10 people for every 1 person. Roiet is a pretty small town. Ha ha It was kinda funny.

Something exciting going on in Roiet is this video thing they are doing. I honestly still don't really know what it is. There are farrang men here from Salt Lake making some training videos for the church. World wide. I don't know why they picked Roiet. I mean they have really good affective meetings. But still out of the whole world what made them choose this tiny place? What I learned yesterday talking to them is that I can't have a normal english conversation anymore. We kept accidently throwing in Thai and were just awkward in general. Also, I've forgotten what good ol' American humor is like. They are going to be here all week.

Something I want to share this week is what I learned from mission tour. President Johnson did an object lesson about obedience for us. He took clean drinking water and put in just a tiny bit of khlong water (Which is the river that runs through Bangkok/all of Thailand and pretty much is like an open sewer) in with the clean water. Yeah you definitely don't want to drink that unless you are trying to die or something. This applies to more than just obedience with the mission. Its the same with all sin. Even if you are just doing little things that aren't in line with God's commandments, you are still not clean. But thats ok because there is the atonement and repentance. If there is any khlong water in your drinking water, its never too late or there is never too much that the atonement can't cover it. Try to think of something this week in your lives whether its a bucket of khlong water or just a drop that you can apply the atonement and change.

I love you all so much! I hope you all have a great week! 

-Sister Nethercott

 MLC

 Mission tour... 

 Our district! :)

 Our family picture. My ลูก with Elder Taylor's ลูกs.... Ok so the way it works is if you train you are the mom or the dad. Then the oldest sister is the mom for elders. So Elder Taylor and I have a ลูก (child) from Bang Khae. Plus my child. Plus the new ลูก from Roiet. And then the grandkid from the child in Bang Khae.... And yeah family mission trees.... Good stuff. Ha ha

 The youth activity. Serving members and contacting.

 Our day finally back in our area.

 They were getting really excited about this camera. Its film... I don't know that much about this stuff. All I know is they took a picture of me and Sister Larson with this camera and apparently those pictures cost 20 dollars a picture!!! Crazy!

We ate some bugs and ... other things Week #72

Hello everyone! It was another super fun week here on the Lord's mission!

This week we went on a switch off to Korat! That was so much fun. I've always loved Korat. Since the first time all I did was drive past it in a bus. We got to visit people and teach LAs. I got to get a coconut and cut it open. (Something I really wanted to do before going home). I got bit by a dog (something I did not want to do before going home). But it didn't break the skin or anything so no problems. The dogs in Korat are mean though. I love just being able to bike all over a city and show up at peoples houses and just help them feel God's love.

District meeting this week we ate some bugs. It was the greenie Elder Christianson's first district meeting. So Sister Larson and I thought it would be fun to go to the morning market and buy a good snack for the district to share. The flavor wasn't bad at all. It was just the thought of what we were eating. Along with that, after getting back from the switch off in Korat, we found the Elders crowded around this cooked lizard. They had been trying to catch that thing for weeks with no success. Until this week. They caught it and killed it and gave it to Maa Jambi. She cooked it up just like chicken. To be honest it was pretty good. But I've always wanted a pet lizard so it made me to sad to eat so I only took one bite. 

The highlight of the week was definitley conference! It was way good! I feel like they are getting more clear and clear in explaining to us what is right and what is wrong. If any of you know me I bet it is an easy guess for you to what my favorite talk was. Elder Nelson. It was nice to hear that women's input is important. Sometimes I feel like the church can get the idea that you are either supposed to be fighting for the priesthood or sitting quietly in the corner. There is a better way and Elder Nelson did a good job explaining that.

The work in Thailand is moving forward. I am so grateful that I get to be a part of it. I am excited to see what things are coming with this next week. We have the longest MLC of my life planned for tomorrow and then mission tour with Elder Funk a couple days after. This means there will be another week with no time in my area. But I am starting to think if I spent a full week in my area I'd get bored and not know what to do with all of the time. Ha ha what a dream it would be to actually work in my area....

I want to invite all of you to go back and look at your notes or high lights of conference. Maybe even read it or watch it through again. Pick one thing you are going to do to change or apply the teachings in your life. I can't remember who said it but I loved when one of the speakers talked about praying and asking Heavenly Father what it is that is keeping you from progressing. I know that I am going to strive and do that and make the changes I need to to improve in whatever way the Lord wants me to.

I love you all! Hope you had a great week!

-Sister Nethercott

 We decided to try some new food from the market. The flavor really wasn't bad.  

It was just the thought.

 This is the house of the LA that we visited where we cut down the coconut. Its literally like a treehouse. They really don't have much and yet I am way jealous. Its cool.

 I got to get a coconut and cut it open! So fun! Yay for the switch off to Korat!

The Elders caught a big lizard outside of their house. They gave it to Maa Jambi to cook it up for them. It honestly tasted just like the chicken they sell on the streets here. Which means A) It was actually pretty tasty and B) I am now questioning the chicken I eat off the streets.

 Sister Larson getting some good directions to an LA.

 One of the shops an LA owns... Its a problem.

 Conference... Lets just say our district is a little ADD Ha ha

And our RC Brother Gade's grandpa died at the age of 91.