Paa Thoi's Baptism

 เสวทดิ!

Hi guys, finally updated the pics so go check em out. That's like two weeks so I think there was a lot. But yeah Its really been so great to be here. I don't know what I did to be called here but yeah its way fun! the initial shock of being here is sort of dying down its still crazy and stuff but the routine is kinda coming along. Gotta love these people though they are some of the nicest people I have been around. Especially the members. They always love to help me with Thai and they make me read and stuff. My reading is getting better I think but there is still this thing where they say stuff and it just sounds like LALALALALALALALALALALALALA. But I and getting better at recognizing the words in non-MTC accents. 

This week was great me and my comp started this week out by getting me a bike and a helmet. Its pretty cool I should have taken a pic of it but yeah. Paa Chaang drove us around I gotta get a pic of him too hes great. 

Throughout the middle days of the week we went to district conference that was four hours away. I don't love traveling a billion hours like we have done in the past week. Its just way hot and sleeping doesn't really work. We took an overnight bus there though and that was fun we played uno and POKEMON. that was a good time. I also bough this fake G-shock watch for like 390 Baht which is like ten dollars in american money. Also have eaten some spicy food all the members make it up to be like this huge thing when you try the spicy food at like the luncheons haha. Don't get me wrong I cried a little because of the spicyness, that and there was a ton of veins and bones in it but yeah its amazing! We did a lot of inviting. Which is fun! Old people are great and always smiling with their teeth half gone. They're the most humble and nice people ever. We also met with Paa Thoi before his baptismal interview and then he passed the interview! yayay! Then we played on Friday sports night with the members.

The best was Saturday! We were Inviting at night and then while we were finishing up talking to this way nice old guy who was kinda interested it started to rain. Literally within ten seconds it was no rain, to like deluge status, like BUCKES AND BUCKETS of rain I was soaked before us and this old guy in the park just started booking it to our bikes and also we got the guys number. Like it was similar to me jumping in a pool. Broke our phone also. So then we went to this nearby night market for shelter and ate and it was good. I've never seen that much rain come out of the flippin sky. Everyone was staring at us like these giant white soaked noobs who forgot rain jackets. It was the best though. 

Then Sunday.... First Sunday at the ward because last week was District Conference. So I got to bear my testimony! Scary kinda. It helps a little that we meet in a little room with a makeshift stand and there is only about twenty people who are smiling so big its crazy. The service was great. My comp is the 1st counselor in the presidency of the branch which is cool and I might be called to be the Young Men's President... Whoohooo. Scared out of my mind but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. still didn't understand but the spirit was strong. I was impressed at the members faith. They have like twenty people who share their belief where back in Utah we have massive wards. And yet they are still the strongest most faithful people. I couldn't see anything shacking their faith.

After the service was Paa Thoi's baptism. And he asked me to speak at the service!!!!! WHAT!? first, he doesn't know me all that well, and second I don't speak Thai. haha I wrote the general out like of what I was going to say and just wung it. It was amazing. I said everything. I wrote in english in Thai! which was a miracle in itself.

A little background on this guy. He was a raging alcoholic, he was a mess when my comp and the last transfer guy found him like really bad. They gave him a priesthood blessing after they found him at his house when he had another episode and he was drunk and bleeding. They gave him a priesthood blessing and he didn't drink after that. He said it tasted bad. Hes been off it three and a half weeks. He was baptized by my comp yesterday in this sweet beautiful river. It was raining but we did it anyway.

Anyways love the heck out of all of you people!

-- 

Elder English

Weekly Letter to Mission President - 18 Sep 2017: This experience has been the craziest experiences of my life! sorry I didn't get to you last week but yeah. We had a baptism this last week which was very spiritual and there is a lot of times where I'm very lost in the language but i know that if I study my butt of and work really hard heavenly father will help me. What I talked to you about when I got here is getting better. Obviously its not going to go away overnight but yeah. I haven't really been very sick yet so that makes me happy and the people are great. Gotta love elder Anderson he's really good at sort of guiding me but not pushing me. I find myself wanting to be more obedient and wanting to be more diligent without being told to. Its great being his companion. I think that getting used to this place is going to take a while. I can handle it but its just not home yet for me personally. The People are so funny though they're extremely welcoming even though I don't speak a lot of Thai. Elder English