WOHOOO this week was a toasty one... you know it's hot when you step outside of your cold, air-conditioned apartment, you say a prayer to start off the day, and your shirt is already damp. 105 degrees here consistantly this week...and that doesn't account for the humidity. I LOVE THAILAND MAN!
The Work:
We saw some serious miracles here this week in Roi Et. We made an effort to visit all 102 people who came to church last week. The district (4 elders, 4 sisters) set up appointments with every single one of them for the week to visit them at their homes. And we visited 77 of them! I would say that is pretty good! We saw the fruits of our efforts immediately as random less active families started coming back to church... and our attendance went from 102 to 128. We were so grateful to God for this huge jump in attendance. We just hope we can continue to teach repentance and baptize converts the best that we can.
Thank you for all of your prayers. They are felt every day. God bless you all. All of the elders in our house are really good guys. They all work hard, and we get along super well. As I was going to bed last night I was thinking, "I think this may be one of the happiest moments on my mission. I feel pure joy right now!" The Sisters in the District are stellar missionaries. The work is going great, and God is blessing us. I pray it stays this way. Sometimes missionary work goes exactly like we want it to...other times we feel so off track, we feel like our will and God's have to be off because things aren't clicking... I just pray that God's will and the members' prayers and our prayers align this transfer. Because prayers can do wonders (see Alma 6:6).
The Culture:
The banana as a fruit is eaten here all the time. Given as gifts, eaten as a daily staple.... too bad I am allergic. (It's always awkward when you get a gift from a member and it's bananas...I don't have the heart to tell them I can't eat them hahaha.)
Classic Thai food...delicious!
There is a guy here who makes sculptures using just a few tools. Amazing.
The Funnies:
I slept talked a lot... another one of the funnies for this week. I am sleeping, and suddenly I say, "Oh yes... someone is giving me food..... mmmm... yes thank you so much Sister Blaylock! This is delicious!" HAHAHAHAH all the other elders were like - "Smith-Driggs, what in the world?"
Spiritual thought:
Elder Smith was riding his bike, and he suddenly stopped at a park. He looked around for about a minute, and he looked at me and said, "Elder Smith-Driggs, would you mind if we stopped here for a little bit? Just park our bikes and walk around?" I was like, "Sure Elder - sounds good man!".... After we locked our bikes, he turns to me and says -"The Spirit has told me we are looking for a man sitting down in this park. He is middle aged, and he will be sitting down. He needs to hear about the gospel. I know he is here." As we walk inside the park, we see a man sitting on the curb, middle aged, with his wife and his 2 year old daughter. Elder Smith goes - "That's him." We walk up to him, and Elder Smith teaches them about the Plan of Salvation and about how families can be together forever. They listened politely and then said, "We would love to meet with you. How about next Saturday?" I know that the Spirit guides us. This is a real story. It is not fake. I promise we can receive direct and specific revelation as we renew and keep our sacrament covenants each week. The work is wonderful, and I know that as we rely on God to prepare the elect as it says in D & C 4.... we begin to harvest. Thank you for your prayers. We sure feel them.
LOVE YOU ALL CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU MOM
--
Love the Lord and Laugh,
เอ็ลเดอร์ สมีธ-ดริกส์
Elder Smith-Driggs
No comments:
Post a Comment