Thonburi is awesome!
The Work:
Story of the week: I don't know if I have mentioned Brother Dream before... but he is a man of many talents. He paints, plays guitar, loves to sing, and all around has really good vibes. Great guy! Brother Dream's story is nothing short of a miracle. This man has truly come unto Christ. Brother Dream showed up to church randomly 3 weeks ago. He felt really great after church, and we taught him about faith. We got his contact info and tried to contact him later in the week, but the number didn't work! Then, he showed up to church the next week. We didn't even have to remind him! He sat through the whole 3 hours, lunch, and listened to our lesson after church. We taught the Word of Wisdom. We challenged him to pray whenever he felt the need to smoke or drink coffee. He said he would try. We prayed and prayed that he would quit and that God would help him. We showed up to his house on Thursday. HE QUIT EVERYTHING. He said he wanted to be baptized ASAP. So we have now taught him all the pre-baptism lessons, and he is all good for baptism next week! He is so happy. He feels clean - and he believes so much in the power of prayer. One of the greatest parts of being here in Thailand is letting people know that they have a Father in Heaven who cares about them. That they can actually have a 2-way conversation with their Father in Heaven. Most people don't believe in God here. But to know that you can receive help from a heavenly being is a miraculous thing. We are so happy for Bro. Dream! I will send photos of his baptism next week (hopefully) so you can see what a STUD this guy is. I love Brother Dream! Also... he sings a great version of "Imagine" by the Beatles...He has the glasses and everything, so Dad you would absolutely love him! He first heard of God in a song. The song says something like, "I try, oh my God, do I try." Now we had to explain to him that taking His name in vain is not really a very good thing... BUT isn't it cool that he didn't know what GOD meant in English so he followed up and came to church!? That is truly a miracle. I know that God is real and that he has prepared people. THE CHURCH IS TRUE EVERYONE.
Culture:
1. AC units are everywhere - and they put them at 18 degrees Farenheit. So it is super hot outside... and then you walk into the church, and it's winter in Utah. I don't understand it but the KhonThais are not cold at all! I am FREEZING sometimes hahahaha.
2. Thai people love braces. They love them - you can actually buy fake braces to wear each day - no joke! How funny is that! I think this is a trend we should start in the U.S. for sure... it would have made my middle school years much more bearable (because that was obviously the peak in my life for good looks, right? ;)
3. There are lots of lizards and spiders. A little lizard almost landed on me this morning during our work out actually. They crawl on the ceilings and drop randomly hahaha. They don't bite - they just eat bugs, but they are really quick! Not scary - just startling. ALSO - the things that are scary - SPIDERS. We found two spiders this week in our shower area both the size of our palm. So not enormous but significantly bigger than American spiders. Hearing Elder Chamberlain yelp like a girl when he found it was incredibly entertaining... then I was screaming - so no judgement there. Good thing we have bug spray!
[Mom Comment: Spider is true to size on regular computer screen.]
4. Treats are kind of weird here. But most are really good! My personal favorite is ice cream with sticky rice, sweetened condensed milk with peanuts, all wrapped up in a hot dog bun! Hahahah it looks really weird but is so good!
THE FUNNIES:
1. A new investigator didn't know how to pronounce my name - but he finally figured it out. My last name was not Smith-Driggs... but rather Smith-DRAKE. Like the rapper hahahaha (at least that is what he said). When Thai people say my name, it kind of sounds like this: Sa-Meet Deeg hahahah. I love it - it is so endearing.
2. Quote of the week from Elder Chamberlain: "My sense of security has been flushed down the toilet along with our giant arachnid friend."
3. Another investator, on a visit to his home, served us tea! It was a wonderful surprise... and when we said we couldn't drink it, he said it was very good for us, listed the ingredients on the box and told us to drink! We said we couldn't... so he went back to the kitchen and made us another kind of tea hahahahahaha. I don't really think he got the memo about the "No tea" rule. So we decided to teach the Word of Wisdom that lesson. Hahahahaha classic.
Twin day. Had to dress exactly alike. We are sniffing essential oil tubes they sell at 7-11. They keep you awake and smell great;) [Mom Comment: Could not help but notice Elder Chamberlain is now sporting chums. LOL. Way to go Elder Chamberlain! See last post for context.]
On another note - I want to wish my Aunt Elizabeth and her STUD of a fiancé, John, a happy wedding! I wish I could be there soooo bad. I love you both so much. Please send me some of your cake in the mail so I can taste just a little bit of happiness from your wedding? ;) If not, that's ok I understand it may melt... but it's the thought that counts. Hahahaha love you guys good luck!
Spiritual thought:
First of all - our thoughts and prayers were with everyone last week as we thought of September 11th. May God bless those affected by that terrible crash just over a decade ago.
My spiritual thought of the week is something I really feel strongly about. It is something that we don't often think about but is a lesson that we all can learn from. The lesson is - "We cannot slow down." What does this mean? It does not necessarily mean that LA traffic is a little busy in the morning and we should floss our way through every car (although that would be nice) - but I mean a more spiritual sense of not slowing down our devotion to our God. Every day - I try to wake up with the attitude of commitment. I commit myself to have a good day. I cannot afford to slow down. I can't afford to slow my progression in becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ by waking up a little later - by skipping scripture study. I cannot afford to slow down. Now, this does not mean we shouldn't slow down and relax for some of the day... in fact I spend 15 minutes each night doing breathing exercises (I know, kind of strange but it actually helps). What I am saying is that we cannot slow down our progression in becoming closer to Christ. He is counting on us to be good people. He is counting on us to answer the call of service. We cannot be slow to answer that call. For when God asks us to be ready to answer the call - can we be slothful? NO - we must be ready. We must constantly be reading the scriptures, praying, and showing our love of God through our service to others.
I want to commit anyone who reads this to wake up tomorrow morning and tell yourself, "I commit to having a great day. Having a bad day is not an option." And then that day - to call someone randomly and tell them you love them...or clean your neighbor's lawn...run an errand for your bishop... buy your waitress lunch (that is my personal favorite). There are people counting on you to show your love to them - because that is how God would want you to act. YOU CAN DO IT. It is not as hard as you think. We cannot slow down. We need to constantly show our love for others. Because that is what the Lord wants us to do. John 21:17 - If you love me, FEED MY SHEEP.
Cleaning cat poop (8 cats) out of investigator's home.
Until next week...
Love always,
Elder Smith-Driggs
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