01-05-14 Ups & Downs

01-05-14

Sawadii kha! Sabaydii may kha? 

At the Ancient City with Sisters in my zone/area!!

What a week. It was tough, I am not going to lie. I had to act as "Senior" companion and set up all the appointments/lead lessons/make the big decisions/lead in general. It was a definite learning process and there are things I could work on. But, everyone has things they need to work on, don't they? I think that's been one of the hardest part. I have realized that I am a perfectionist. I set all these high expectations of myself and beat myself up when I fall short. And more than that, I care too much about what people think of me. 

I LOVE THAILAND !

But let me back track a little. Last Monday was pretty great. It was a nice start to my "senior" week. We went to an Ancient City and saw all these cool ancient, artifacts and buildings. They weren't the "real deal" but they were copies of what else was in Thailand. But still, it was pretty awesome. 

On Wednesday, I was with Sister Ladle on splits while my companion and Sister Barton went to go get their bikes to the office. I led us and we had a really cool experience contacting. We got on a Song tow and I felt prompted to stop, and so we got off the moment I got the impression. We walked down Anut 46 (a street I had recently gone down with Sister Yim) and felt prompted again to go down a certain street. We came across this lady and her daughter talking to the grandmother through these bars. The grandmother was in a "home" of sorts and forgot a lot. We were invited to talk with them a little and we were able to share scripture passages with them. They appreciated it and said they lived in a different area. Maybe we had planted some seeds. After, I just felt prompted to talk to this guy. He said his name was "Black" and he wanted to know how to get baptized! We told him about church and he said he would go! After, I was being led left and right and having cool little successes with people. We got five numbers!!

The rest of the week had a lot of ups and downs. A lot of people didn't show up to their appointments including "Black", and I stumbled trying to teach lessons. I messed up a lot of the grammar and words in Thai but our investigators were gracious enough to help me out. I would forget little things or do some little dumb thing here and there. It was embarrassing at times but I just kept pushing through. 

I got my bike though! It's black and yellow. I knew it was love at first sight! haha! I named it Bumblebee... "BB" for short. It's silly, but my bike really is super awesome. And speaking of awesome things, our investigator Biya said that she was ready to be baptized!!! I am so, so, so happy. We have been teaching her and her sister for months now. Her younger sister, Praow, said she wants to be baptized too! Praow will be baptized on Febuary 2nd and Biya said she will definitely be baptized in March! It's such a miracle! I know the Lord had a hand in opening their hearts to the Gospel.

Yesterday, Sunday, was tough. I became too overwhelmed and let it hinder my ability to understand what people were saying in Thai. I stumbled in a lesson and struggled to listen. By the end of the night, I was able to get "balanced key indicators" but I didn't feel too successful by it. I just felt so tired. I prayed to God like a little child and called on Him as though he were my own Father on Earth. I felt His comfort immediately. He never failed on me.

 Sister Yim and I reviewed what I had done well or not. The conclusion was: I worry too much on things that don't matter. The Lord knows what He is doing. There is no way one missionary or hundreds of thousands of missionaries could mess up His work. He is guiding us all and allowing us to grow and make mistakes so that we can learn and move on. I have grown closer to God this week. I learned how to rely on Him more than I have in my life. Yes, there are lots I could work on. Tons of things. But the main thing is to take it one day at a time and breathe. No one is perfect. God loves us all and His Gospel is the only thing that will lead to true joy and happiness. I hope that I will always remember that God and His Son is always by side, watching out for me. They lift me up and give me Spiritual hugs when I need them. 

I love you all so much. Take care!

Love, 

Sister Carter

I'm on a little boat in the ancient city!!!

Look at these cool boats!!! Awesome, huh? 

Cool boats and artifacts!!

And, a banana tree Sister Ladle and I found when we were contacting!!    

And my bike! It's scary to ride on the streets though!