So this week huh... pretty eventful if I do say so myself. I'll start off and end on spiritual notes..
Yeah so I got to baptize the older man in the middle dressed in white next to me. His super cool. This was actually the first investigator lesson that I had taught and I had taught him about the Law of Tithing and Fasting + Fast Offerings (All different rules that our church follows, when we follow these rules we get blessings. and who doesn't want to be blessed. hit up lds.org) Yeah so we were like stoking. super excited cause he said he wanted to be baptized. and we had a date for him. and then like he didn't understand what I had taught him....so then maybe my thai isn't that great hahah. But because of his not understanding we had to move his baptismal date back a week :(....okay so we go and check up on him. but he doesn't have a phone. and we saw him at church but he rushed to leave cause he wasn't feeling that great so we didn't set an appointment (note to missionaries. always set an appointment) so yeah. basically he went off the grid for a whole week. that made us really sad...like this guy is amazing and he loved everything that we had shared with him. we would go and check every day but he was never home, we left notes on his door...nothing. rough life huh...yeah. So we prayed super hard to be able to see him and teach him. Fast forward after lots of praying and days passed. Its Saturday morning. We just finished study and took a quick bathroom/water break. We get a call. We answer the phone. IT'S HIM. Super relaxed and totally nonchalant he says "Yeah sorry, I had to go out of town to work, but I understand everything now, can we meet today?" And we had 7 appointments that day but decided hey. If he is ready, why should we stand in his way. So we rush over, review for his baptismal interview, gets interviewed and then he chose me to baptize him! Weehaa. What a rush. What a miracle. The church is true. Gotta love Thai people.
So yeah 7 appointments in one day planned. key word there is planned. We had a huge list of around 180 numbers that we had accumulated, from our own contacting and then left from Elder Sayavong's previous companion. Set aside some time to call all these numbers, called them, made appointments, got 20 people to commit to come to church...and then...Yeah. Rough day. 6 appointments cancel, none of the people committed came to church. But we had the miracle of baptism, and how great is the worth of a SINGLE SOUL in the eye of God.
So FOOD SECTION!
What did I eat this week...To be honest...idk....I don't ask very many question. I just chew and swallow and try not to make a disgusting face no matter what the food tastes like. So what I did know that I ate this week...
DURIAN. This stuff smells horrible, but seriously. the taste is just amazing. I just need to work on getting past the smell...Its nasty. Great tasting, nasty smell. Durian.
Bamboo and fish paste. So every Sunday the branch has a potluck and the food is always rather interesting with lots of vegetables (Hey mom! I'm eating more vegetables than I ever thought I would, aren't you proud?) Yeah so I took a bit of what I think was some sort of fried rice dish, and it had a hidden pepper....and the church was out of fresh drinking water so uh...yeah I just sat there and looked at the food and started to sweat a ton! Then I saw this stringy thing that looked like dough, asked a member, they said something i didn't understand, asked another missionary and he said "bamboo." So I ate it to try get out the spicy heat from the pepper. Then another member points and says that the bamboo is for the fish paste. So I tried the fish paste. Idk how to compare it to anything else Ive eaten. Its like.....idk. Imagine drinking a pasty version of the water at kewalos/point panics. Yeah...very interesting, salty, a bit nasty, but I held my composure, swallowed, and definitely impressed the members. oh yeah.
COAGULATED PIGS BLOOD. Its like jelly. but not really....yeah...pigs blood should not be coagulated. just saying. don't. Blood belongs in the animal and I don't think it should be eaten.
Chicken parts! Yeah chicken feet are good.
And a whole bunch of other stuff that idk what it is, but the food is spicy and made my mouth burn. sweet yeah? oh and because of poor planning I've been eating mo moon or something. its basically ramen with lime, yeah eaten that stuff for breakfast for the past 8 days cause i forgot to buy more food for the whole time.....yup.
Oh and for those that know president SXA. Yeah I met him, had dinner, he's awesome, Really random, lots of crazy stories from him about all sorts of things. Such an interesting member, but he is so cool.
Teaching English
So every Tuesday we teach English. I feel like I should actually be a student in this class hahah, teaching English to people that only speak Thai. now I understand how my teachers in the MTC felt when they taught the district Thai. Oh my. Yeah. Lots of patience with the blank looks on the students faces. But its fun, and its goes alright. I taught about nouns. Easy stuff. I think. You know, I'm not too sure if they actually understood or if they were just nodding their heads and saying yes...hmm....
DOGS
These animals are not the fluffy dogs in Hawaii. I'm confident they all have rabies. There are a few that live around our house. Its sorta gross. So you would think getting chased by a dog gets old right? NOPE, I STILL FREAK OUT EVERY TIME I SEE A BLACK DOG CHASE ME. Ive also perfected a form of cycling similar to how triathletes enter the transition zone. I build up a lot of speed and lift one leg over on to the other side of the bike away from the dog so the dog has no chance of biting me. Am i being overly cautious, yes, but I don't want to be bitten. Yeah. Chased by dogs almost every day. not a fan. I think they smell fear. Or maybe they notice my lack of a dark tan like a Khon Thai. But I absolutely love Thailand, this is such a great place with such amazing people!
Yeah so in closing. Hm. Last chapter in 4 Nephi. Studied this and just loved it. Go and read it. Its in the Book of Mormon. So yeah, synopsis. The God we have now is the same Heavenly Father, yesterday, today, and forever. If He did miracles back in the old days, then why would He cease to do miracles today. Miracles are real, you just need to open your eyes. Each day we have, each experience we go through there are miracles at play. Miracles don't always mean a huge experience like Moses splitting the Red Sea, sometimes it's the small things like the fact that those drivers were alert enough to step on the breaks and not hit me and my companion. Its the little things in life, don't forget them.
Have a good week!
Aloha,
Elder แอลลิส
Forward Ever. Stopping Never.
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