Area: Roi-Et
Companion: Elder Yuen
Family,
Hey, Hey! Well today I am coming at you straight from Kalasin!
We came out to help do some training this morning with the Elders out here and
then after that we went and ate Essan food at their branch presidents restaurant
it was way good! And today I tried something new it’s a dish called Goy and it
is a bunch of spices with raw meat that you eat with your hands and sticky
rice. Ha I ate raw meat! It was pretty good but kinda a weird texture 55 I am
so excited for conference coming up it is going to be so wonderful!
So last Monday we went down to Bangkok and renewed my visa
and saw Sister Carter and rode the boat that glows around the khlongs in Bangkok
missionaries lovingly refer to it as the khlong monster! Then that night we
went on switch-offs with the zone leaders in Asoke who are Elder Ellsworth (my MTC
companion) and Elder Saunders (Elder Yuen’s MTC companion) that was so awesome.
Elder Ellsworth and I went and taught their investigator and gave her a date. Anshe
is way cool, I want to teach her more, and we got to teach together for the
first time since the MTC and it was really cool to see how much both of us had
grown and progressed since that time.
So 7-11 has this promotion going on that if you buy certain
things you get stamps that are worth 1 baht and then you can use those stamps
as money or you can save them up and get different stuff like an umbrella or a
backpack or a folding chair well anyway I saved up 300 stamps and next week I
get to pick up my very own backpack from 7-11 pretty stocked! 55
Anyway, on Friday we went and did service at Sis Jan's house
a big tree in her backyard had fallen down so our whole district and a bunch of
members went over and helped her cut it all up and clean up it was so much fun
we just went to town on it with saws and hatchets and machetes. I love service
projects like that! I used this one machete that’s pretty much like a short
sword and all the khon thais call it a Sparta it was sick I could chop through
a branch that was an inch thick in one swing! I really love serving people it’s
such a great feeling and it leaves you so happy especially when you can really
see the difference you made! We will be going back this week to get the trunk
out of the ground its way stubborn and has some huge roots!
Also on Wednesday night it was Bro Bo's birthday
he turned 50 so the members threw a little party for him and we watched the
restoration DVD and had a testimony meeting after and ate pizza and we gave him
a way nice leather bound triple and case that we had bought for him at the
office.
This week we saw a lot of miracles too. While we were out
street contacting we went out by a market and were walking the streets and
talking to people that were shopping or that were waiting for their wives. As
we walked I saw a tiny side sooy only wide enough to walk down but it had some
houses down there and I felt like we should check it out so we did. We walked
down and at the first house we passed there was a grandpa and a
grandma just outside chillin watchin TV like most old people do in the Essan. We
said hi and almost kept walking but then I had the thought that if I asked to
sit down and talk with them they would let us in. So I asked if we could share
a message with them and they invited us in without hesitation. As we talked
with the man we learned that him and his wife had many health problems and
their family had been all but shattered the grandmother is basically on her
deathbed the kids are addicted to drugs and alcohol and steal to get it and the
grandfather Kwanchay is trying to take care of
his grandchildren along with his dying wife on top of that he has a
liver problem and has lung damage from his smoking addiction. He was so
troubled and had all but given up he saw no way out of his situation and he was
basically waiting for death to take it all away, he felt such guilt and sorrow
for the actions in his past and the terrible toll it had taken on both his
health and his family. It was one of the few times where I saw in this man a
soul, a child of God just crying out for help. His Heavenly Father had heard
his cry seen his distress and sent my companion and I with the restored Gospel
of Jesus Christ, the only thing in the world that could help him. I felt so
grateful to be used by the Lord to accomplish His divine purposes. The next
time we saw him he accepted a date to be baptized at the end of November and
yesterday his granddaughter Batr came to church as well.
That leads me to the next miracle that of getting balanced
key indicators. Last week Bro Bo was baptized and we had to drop almost all our
investigators that hadn’t already dropped us. So we had no baptismal daters and
very few investigators, but the Lord blessed us with 3 awesome new
investigators whose families are beginning to open up as well and 2 new daters.
Yesterday in particular was amazing we had invited many people to go to church
and we needed 2 to get balance we prayed about we invited people all week even
up till Sunday morning we were calling every investigator in the
phone with no success but we were still of faith that we would accomplish the
goal. So about 5 mins before 9 we were outside of the church and Sister Batr
gets there and we take her and sit with some members and then we go back out
and see a guy walking down the street who keeps looking at the church so we
hustle over and wave him down ask him “Have you ever been to church?”
“No.”
“Do you want to come in?”
“Yes.”
“Well come in we are about to start!”
We sat him down between Bro Bo and Bro Jan (who is a boss
veteran member) and then we went back out for the 3rd time right in time to see
a LA couple that we have been working with drive in we were so excited! They
even paid their tithing too! Then 2 seconds later another LA brother pulled up
too so we had 3 Rescues! and then we finally went into the chapel with that
brother and we were a tad late but overjoyed and walked in just in time to walk
straight up and confirm Bro Bo a member of the church and give him the Gift of
the Holy Ghost. Later in the meeting he was called to be the Branch Activity Leader!
So Good! So we got balanced key indicators and so did everyone else in our
district in fact in our zone 3/5 districts were balanced!
Speaking of activities we had a sports night with the branch
it was awesome there were so many people there! Tons of investigators and
RC/LA's too!
One last miracle on Wednesday the sisters were
feeling way sick with fevers and chills and headaches, we were worried they
were getting Dengue so we went over to drop some supplies that we had picked up
in Bangkok and while we were standing outside we asked them if they wanted a
blessing they thought that was a great idea and so we administered to them and
gave them both blessings, and went to our next appointment. We found out later
that night that they had walked into their house and not 5 minutes later were
filled with energy had no fever and were able to go out and work the rest of
the day! I am so grateful for the power of the priesthood and for the faith of
those 2 wonderful sisters!
I love you all so much and I am so grateful and full of joy
from the experiences that I have been blessed to have in the past
week. I know the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way to have true
peace and happiness in this life I know that Jesus is my Savior and that
he has a great love for me and for the Thai people that I serve amongst I know
that this church is true and that it was restored through a chosen
prophet of God Joseph Smith and I know this because I have studied and pondered
the Book of Mormon and asked my Heavenly Father if all of this was true, and I
received an answer in the form of feelings that I cannot deny, I know that
these things are true!
Love
Elder Cahoon(Thank Sister Painter for these pictures, I found them on her blog.)
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| Brother Bo baptism |
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| Talent Show |
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| Service Project |
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