02-02-14 "Trust the Spirit"

02-02-14
Sawadii Kha! Sabaydii may kha? 

This week went by so very fast. It must have been one of the fastest weeks of my life. I can't believe that I am back emailing already. It's been an adventure though. I have learned valuable lessons and God has granted us more miracles. 

I wasn't feeling very good for a few days. And by "a few days" I mean 4 days of having an upset stomach with weird bouts of fever. I kept pushing through it and didn't allow myself to rest all that much. But finally my companion, Sister Yim, taught me a lot. I basically learned that if I want to do God's work, I have to be considerate of my health also. I can't just keep pushing and expect to be healed all of a sudden. I have to take care of myself. And so, on Wednesday, I slept for most of the day. I drank some gatorade and some soothing herbal medicine for my stomach. By the end of the night, I was feeling a lot better and jumped right back into the work. We contacted like normal and continued on with lessons. Don't worry though, I really am better now. And I will stand up for my health when I really need it. God doesn't want a dead-beat servant anyway, haha! 

I have also been having recent doubts of my abilities. It's been a struggle to try to lead the lessons now. Sometimes there are awkward silences because I am struggling to understand what they said in the first place. Other times, I just try to say something that I hope went along the lines of what the investigator just said. I know it's bad to do it that way, but I can't help but get worked up a bit. I am so worried of looking stupid and saying the wrong things. I don't want to mess things up. People's salvation are on the line, right? But, I have been humbled by the Lord again and again. I now realize that it's not even me at all. I have to get over myself. The only teacher that should be teaching is the Spirit. That is the only way that any lesson will be successful. And even if I say stupid stuff and completely bash the grammar... this is the Lord's work. I can't mess it up. He won't let me. I also remembered something the Zone leaders had once said in a training meeting: "Don't even try to flatter yourself. This isn't you. None of your skills or talents are converting these people. It's the Lord and His Spirit." 

So, yeah, this humbling thing is sure nipping me in the butt. That's what life is for though, right? If I wasn't learning or growing there wouldn't be any point in being here. It stings sometimes but it's necessary. I have learned so much from it. I feel like a better person. And yet, there is so much I can improve on. 

In other news, we have our old investigator Oom come back! She is having a hard time though but we are right here to help her out. She still hasn't gotten baptized in the new area she moved to. So, we are going to help her prepare her for baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. Also, one of our investigators, Biya, hasn't been feeling well. She has had really bad problems with her stomach so we suggested that she receive a blessing. The spirit was strong as we testified that she should not feel bad for asking for a blessing. The Priesthood is there to bless the lives of others. It is there to help us all.When she received the blessing, she said felt so much better. 

On Saturday, we went to the hospital to see a sister of a member that helps us a lot. The sister was not a member and she had never had a lesson with the missionaries before. The Elders came as well since Sister Maam wanted her sister to receive a blessing. We explained to the sister that faith is necessary for the blessing to work. She cannot simply receive it and not believe that it will work. It would be pointless. As she lay there helplessly she expressed honestly, "I believe. I believe in God." And so, the Elders placed their hands on her head and sealed a blessing of healing to her. I am so grateful for their worthiness to give such blessings to people in need. It truly is a gift from God. 

After, we went to the Pizza Company before we started our fast. It was such a nice break from all the Thai food I eat everyday. It was truly satisfying to say the least! haha! I miss American food. 

You know, the longer I am here, the more I miss how things are at home. The church is still young in Thailand. It does not run as smoothly as it does in America. There are so many little things that I miss about the church at home. I took a lot of things for granted. Yes, it is the same church of God, but the programs are still so fresh and new to the people. Even basic programs like home teaching, and visiting teaching is not practiced often. But... that is why we are here. We are here to help strengthen the church and build the kingdom of God. That is all that He requires of us missionaries here. He will take care of the rest, and all will come together. 

On Saturday, Sister Yim and I also took time out to clean the baptismal font for our investigators on Sunday. It was fun to get the mop out and clean the small little font where such a sacred ordinance takes place. And the next day (yesterday) we had two baptisms take place. Our investigators, เทพ, (Tabe) and แพรว (Praow) were baptized! After four months of being in Thailand, I finally understand the "joy" the scriptures talk about when we bring souls unto God. It was so neat. Praow went first and the water was too low! We waited for three minutes for it to fill up and we all sang "I am a Child of God". She ended up forgetting her dry clothes outside and ran out sopping wet while Tabe was being baptized. Haha! And then Tabe had to be baptized three times because his foot kept popping up out of the water. By the third time, Elder Merkley (the one performing the baptism) just let him "fall" into the water. haha! But when Tabe came out of the bathroom, dry and ready, the first thing he said was, "Awesome!" 

I can't believe that Tabe has only been learning for about two weeks. His desire was strong and he was so ready to be baptized. God surely prepared him for this time. He came up to me and just kept saying, "Thank you!" But, it wasn't me at all! It was all Heavenly Father for sure! God has also prepared our investigators, Zaphia and "M". They are a young couple that aren't married but Zaphia wants to be baptized sooo bad! She keeps asking about it and loves church so much. She is so gorgeous too! She came to church in a beautiful long skirt. And even though her mother is Muslim, her dad gave her permission to learn and to join whatever church she wanted. We taught her about the plan of salvation and she couldn't keep her mind off of going to the celestial kingdom! They are both willing to keep the law of chastity and word of wisdom as well. God is so good. 

I hope everyone is having a good week! Be happy and stay faithful. I love you!

Love, 

Sister Carter

P.S. Happy Birthday Uncle Quinn!!!! 

Brother Bird is such a goofy guy, but he did a great job at baptizing Proaw! 

So, whenever people are taking pictures, EVERYONE has to jump in! Thai people LOVE taking pictures! 

Praow, Sister Yim and I posing before her baptism! After three months, she's ready!

Brother Bird is such a goofy guy, but he did a great job at baptizing Proaw! 

A lady in the mall owns this dog. She pushes it in a stroller and puts a diaper on it! So fuzzy!!

Elder Winsor had his birthday this week! We all went to Swensons and he ate the "Earthquake" which is EIGHT scoops of ice cream! He ate it all!

My ice cream was so yummy! It was a nice break from all the hard work this week!

01-26-14 "God is good. He is a miracle worker."

01-26-14

Sawadii kha! Sabaydii may kha! 

This week has gone by so fast. The other week seemed to trudge by so slowly because we did not have that many lessons throughout the week. But, God has surely provided His miracles this week.

Me in front of a really fancy Thai house. 

 Show message history

We met a man named Chuchad. He is very intellectual and knows pretty much everything about every religion except ours. He recites scripture off the bat and even recites some Hebrew... recitations. It's pretty crazy and a little overwhelming at first because of his vast knowledge of the Bible. He works as a Physics tutor and teacher and he's just a very knowledgeable person. But the one thing he doesn't know about is the truthfulness of the Gospel and the Book of Mormon. The second meeting we had with him, he had marked up the Book of Mormon really good. He kept comparing it to the Bible and all these other things. He said that he isn't one to rely on feelings and would rather rely on his knowledge. But the thing is, you need to open your heart if you want to know of the truthfulness of the Gospel. It is only through the Spirit that we can testify and know that these things are true. If he only wants the knowledge of the church and does not progress, we will have to unfortunately drop him. But if the spirit in the lessons touch his heart and he wants to change for good... we shall surely be there. 

Recently though, we have been doing a LOT of contacting. It's a standard to "invite" people for 2 consecutive hours and we end up doing like 4 hours or something since we don't have that many investigators to teach in the day. It's really exhausting. We would bike A LOT and I would be scared to death as taxis and motorcycles would cut me off. And then we went back to walking and taking the small "buses" or truck things called song tows. Anyhow, we have recently been inviting in front of the mall called Sea Con. There are a lot of people there so it's more ideal to "sift" through the people. It's been a goal to find the "elect" and not create the "elect". Meaning, if they don't seem interested at all right off the bat, don't try to push for their number etc. It's not worth our time. Especially when we set appointments with them and they totally phit (bail) on us! If they are interested, then cool! So, anyway...

We were on this bridge leading to the mall and we were going back and forth going up to EVERYONE. The reactions people have are sometimes really funny. We'll be like, "hey, are you familiar with baptism?" they'll shrug their shoulders, do a little nervous laugh and walk away. Or I get the hand. Or they will say, "May pen lay" (It's alright). Or say "I'm Buddhist!" Which to that... I'm like thinking, "Well yes! 99 percent of Thailand is Buddhist. I know." Or they'll say, "May mii weela!" Or, I don't have the time. Yep. So is the life of a missionary. There was one man who I approached and did my speal about the church and baptism. I said, "You can have true happiness!" he still said no. He walked away and then came back to my companion! He said, "That other girl approached me and said something about true happiness...I am usually really busy and I didn't think I was all that interested. But, then something stopped me and said that this would be a good thing!" 

Now we are teaching him and he is so sweet! His name is เทพ (Tabe) which means "Angel". He is amazing and already keeping the commandments! It's truly a miracle! And he has accepted a date to be baptized! He is so good! I hope everything works out... I don't know if he understands the true importance of the Gospel though since he talked about encouraging his son to be a Buddhist monk... not good. Understanding will come in time. That's the important thing. We keep bumping into him a lot and one time he said, "Hey, I am going to Seven, do you want to come?" We did and he ended up buying us these drinks for us. It was so sweet. The members are taking really well to him too!

We were treated by our investigator and got Thai drinks from Seven!

I thought we would have a baptism this week, Jaky... but it didn't happen. Our investigator could not show up to his interview because he was sick. He stopped answering his calls and his friend would answer for him. We thought that he was avoiding us! He talked to the Elders though and he was set on being baptized on the 2nd of January. He didn't come to church because he was really sick. So, this next week for sure we will probably have two or three baptisms!!! I will let you all know, of course. 

This week, we didn't know if we would have "balanced key indicators". Meaning, we have to have a total of 10 lessons with a member or Recent convert/Less active lessons, two new investigators for the week, 2 people with a baptism date, 2 progressing investigators and 2 people who would come to church that week. We had everything except we weren't sure if we would have anyone come to church. Half the people we contacted this week lived in different areas and we had to give them up as referrals to different missionaries. We weren't sure if anyone would come to church! But then, Tabe said he would go! (even though he said he wasn't sure). And then a couple in our ward brought a friend to church! And then I got a call during sacrament from an unknown number. I went outside to answer and it was Zaphia! I had met her last week and she said she was interested in learning more and free on Saturdays. When I had called her last Friday she didn't sound very promising since she said she wasn't sure if we could ever meet in the upcoming week. She called and said that she was there at church! She even brought her boyfriend! I was so amazed. I couldn't believe it. From having no people say they could come, to 4! It was so incredible! Zaphia was so sweet too! I asked her if she liked church and she asked in the lesson, "So... how can I become Christian? I want to be baptized!" Perfect. She and her boyfriend (who she is living with... oops) live in a different area but we are going to still teach them since it's more convenient for them since he works here. 

Overall, God is good. He is a miracle worker. 

This week too, we have been watching this inspiring video that the mission made. It has the song "When you Believe" from The Prince of Egypt and clips of all these missionaries baptizing people in Thailand. It was so inspiring! At one point, they have a voice clip of Elder Holland that I would like to share. It's from his talk: "Lord I Believe"

"These things I declare to you with the conviction Peter called the “more sure word of prophecy.”¹⁶ What was once a tiny seed of belief for me has grown into the tree of life, so if your faith is a little tested in this or any season, I invite you to lean on mine. I know this work is God’s very truth, and I know that only at our peril would we allow doubt or devils to sway us from its path. Hope on. Journey on. Honestly acknowledge your questions and your concerns, but first and forever fan the flame of your faith, because all things are possible to them that believe."

I would like to invite everyone to exercise their faith on the Lord and not give up hope. Help hasten His work and help the missionaries in your ward. They need it. This is His work, and His Glory. Anything is possible. 

Also, I would like to share these little videos from lds.org. I love the Bible videos and the Mormon messages. I know I have mentioned this before, but I will say it again. Please watch them! They are so good! 

http://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/suffer-the-little-children-to-come-unto-me?lang=eng

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=2119328537001

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=1839005837001

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=1630305341001

http://www.mormonchannel.org/mormon-channel-daily/198?v=2176618422001

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=2484411795001

Yeah, there's a lot... but there are more! If any of you get the chance, shoot me an email and tell me what you thought :)

I love you all so much. Stay safe. Be happy. 

Love, 

Sister Carter

01-19-13 Contacting. Contacting. Contacting

01-19-13

Contacting. Contacting. Contacting. 

Sister Yim and I with our safety vests and bikes! 

The bike is awesome. It's super cool and new, and it's a brand that the mission used to buy FOR the missionaries before they told them they need to buy their own bikes. It's a good, sturdy bike. I bought lights for it, a basket, a lock, and a little bell. It's super decked out and a good thing too because it gets crazy on the streets when there is traffic. But, Sister Senior tells us to where these fluorescent vests to wear at night so people will REALLY see us. So, I'm safe. The comfy seat is sooooo good. I am so happy that I have it. I am not sore in the least and I have been biking a LOT since I bought it. I have to be careful though and lock up my bike really good in Bangkok. The seat on the bike makes it more susceptible to being stolen since they don't have ANYTHING like it in Thailand. You should have seen the guy when he put it on my bike. He was like, "This is a good seat!! We don't have these here!" 

And yes, I am actually getting muscle! I exercise every morning with my companion and we jog around the church. I do a lot of ab workouts too and then bike everywhere. I feel good. I feel healthy and stronger. 

You can probably tell that I did a lot of contacting this week. Haha. It's true though. We have been hitting the road with our bikes and coming home completely exhausted. God has been good, as always, and gives me the strength to lift up the covers and hop out of bed. I hit my knees to pray and then get ready to exercise. I wonder how my body can handle so much physical exercise in one day... or months. Our bodies are pretty incredible though. I can handle a lot, apparently. We jog around the church for half an hour and then have like a little over a half an hour to hit the shower and get dressed for the day. After studies, we get out of the house and WORK.

Sister Yim and I have been discovering new areas and walking in neighborhoods to find families. No one is out or they are hiding in their houses. We are not sure if we can really "knock on doors" since it's like a thing here not to unless you know the person. Also, they have heavy gates that usually don't have doorbells on them anyway. So, we have been looking in the gates and trying to see if people are on their patios or something. Little success has happened. But sometimes people will open their gate to talk to us more. We even found a pair of talking birds that said, "Sawadii kha!" and Sawadii khap!" It was the cutest thing ever. I took a little video of it. But, alas, I can't send it since the file is too big. You will all have to be patient till I come home! 

A day of contacting by the Klong! I thought the gate was pretty funny... so much for security for your home!

That same day, we walked down this long strip of road and found this lady who could speak English pretty well. She was pretty hard heartened though and said how Elders used to come by everyday and disturb her and her husband. She has been to church and felt like no one was being welcoming to her. In all, we just let her talk until she had her fill. Sister Yim and I did not feel impressed to share our testimonies. It would not have even affected her in the slightest. After she was done, we just said "thanks", smiled and walked away. We also had another adventure that has affected me this week as well. So, we have come across a LOT of Pakistani people who are refugees here. They speak English, they don't know any Thai, and they are barely getting by on the money they had saved up before escaping their country. They have left their homes because of the enormous amount of persecution that has plagued them for being Christian. The Muslim population in Pakistan has done terrible things to them. Killing them, robbing them, bombing their churches and so forth. It's absolutely terrible. And what's worse is that the Church can't help them since they are not "obeying the laws of the land" by being true citizens of Thailand. There is too many legal complexities if we tried to give them any money etc. There are so many of them. And one day, as Sister Yim and I were contacting, we came across a man named Cornelius and his son, Joshua on a busy road. The 13 year old son spoke more English and was translating for his dad, "Please, come to our home," they said. We tried to politely refuse the offer but they insisted. And so, they led us to their very humble home. It was a tiny little two story. One little room, stairs, and the room on top. They had two mattresses on the ground with curtains for privacy. They told us to sit down and their 10 year old son, stricken with polio, lay helplessly on the other mattress. It was such a sad sight. My heart ached as they explained that they didn't have any money to keep up with the son's medical expenses. They needed money. They wanted work. Their cousin also came into the house and said, "I have been in the hospital for three days because my little daughter is sick with a serious fever. They want her there for another week but I don't know how we are going to cover for it. I come home to get clothes for my wife, and I see you two in my home! I know you can't give us money, but you are like two Angels visiting my home. I thank God for His Angels."

All we could tell them was to have faith in God that everything would work out. He answers prayers and only He could help them. I surely hope that they can get the help they need. God will take care of them somehow. 

At one point, we went inviting by the mall on the bridge. We have come to really like inviting there since there are lots more people and more chances of finding an investigator. All of our contacting in neighborhoods have kind of not turned out at all. So, we will be visiting the busier places now. I talked to a guy who spoke English. He said, "I want to go to your church this Sunday! What time does it start?" I was so excited! I told him all about it and he seemed super interested. Unfortunately though, he didn't come to church. :/ In fact, we only had two people come to church this week when 5 said they would come. 

And so is the life of a missionary. 

All is good. We have had so many miracles happen. Little things like having the energy to go up a steep hill (on a bike) with heavy traffic, or having anyone stop and say, "yes, I want to learn more about this." is a miracle. We may have a baptism this week if our investigator, Jaky, can squeeze in the time. He said he isn't free until Sunday, but we will see if he can still meet with us or not. I pray that all will work out. It may be my first baptism! Wish me luck!

Random tid bits:

1. Sister Yim and I ordered papaya salad with one pepper... there was five in there. Hottest dish of my life!

2. Masaman is now my favorite Thai dish. It's delicious. Definite recommend if anyone goes to a Thai restaurant. Not sure if it would be the same though. 

3. I'm not sure if I have mentioned this but, I go to a Muslim food stand a lot and the lady there has now dubbed me as "daughter". It's so cute. She's like my second mom in Thailand. She gives SO much food now for the same price. I think she's trying to fatten me up...

So, that's about it! I hope that all is well with everyone! Keep the faith, share the Gospel, and feed the missionaries! I love you!

Love, 

Sister Carter

On the klong! (river thing)

Me and my new Thai "genie" pants that I bought a while ago! I love them! 

01-12-13 What I do Mon-Sun

01-12-13

Sawadii kha!    WEEKLY SUMMARY

So, I want to write this letter a little differently. Hopefully it all works out in the end and you can all see how my week really went instead of just giving an overall summary. Just sit tight and read on!

My sunburned arm... I need to be better at rubbing the sunscreen in more!

A pretty evening in Thailand

 Monday: I went on splits with Sister Ladle since my companion and her companion wanted to go to the Zone sports day. I wanted to relax at home from my crazy "senior" week. And so, I was able to run errands and actually send out some letters. I only have Mondays to write hand letters and to send them. But, we get so busy on P-days that I never have the time to do both or either. So, I apologize to any of you that have tried to write me but haven't gotten something in return. I will try to find more time to do so! But, anyway, we just looked around local markets and the mall. I bought some Thai "sabay" (comfy) pants and they are so cool! I will get a picture for you all next week! They are like "genie" pants and they are light enough to sleep in at night. 

Sister Yim and Barton came back home and we started to work again at 6:00 pm. (As usual on P-days) Sister Yim and I went to "Big C" or this huge mall-like place where the train or BTS is. There was little success that night. I got one number from a lady named Lemon who wanted to know more about English than the Gospel. Figures, right? Haha. But, as we were inviting, we just started being creative and saying anything since they weren't listening anyway. I was like, "Hey, do you want Salvation?" or "Hey, do you want to be cleansed from sin? No? That's alright. Thank you for your time!" At one point, I was talking to Sister Yim as we were standing across from each other, trying to hand out pamphlets, and this guy who I hardly looked at, gave me the hand! I was like, "What the heck? Man, I must be so good as to be rejected before I even acknowledge someone!" I thought it was pretty funny though. 

So, this is a cool little picture of a Klong, or like... really bad, stinky water.

 Tuesday: We had District meeting and English meeting as usual. English class was interesting because I thought that I was only going to teach one person in Advanced class. More people showed up though and so, I just carried on as usual. But then, Sister Senior popped her head in and was like, "Hey, can I sit in and listen?" Of course I said yes! I kept going with the lesson until the door flew open and President Senior made a very elegant/dramatic entrance. He sure does have an intense presence about him! Haha. He and his wife made comments here and there and then left to check up on the other classes. I was relieved. I was a little nervous that they were in there watching me teach by myself (with a member as my "companion). It was all good though. 

 And then a member playing a... I don't know what it is, but it was really cool!

 Wednesday: Proaw, our 14 year old investigator came to Seminary!!! She asked us to teach her in the early morning since we were already at the church exercising. It was a very quick, unplanned lesson to say the least. We did a LOT of biking. We biked for four hours around traffic and different streets. We didn't really know how to invite while biking so it was really ineffective. We changed tactics though and went to the church to take a little break. We decided that it's better to bike to a place, lock up the bikes and THEN invite people. Otherwise, it's just wasting time. 

 Thursday-Saturday: More biking, more inviting. We went all over the place and had lots of adventures biking and sweating. There is a lot of traffic sometimes so we have to be careful. We met this guy named Jekey and he is from Cambodia. He can speak Thai and our first lesson with him was really frustrating. He was countering us with all these questions and we couldn't finish our lesson with him because he was taking so much time talking. He wouldn't listen to us and wouldn't let Sister Yim finish her sentences when she spoke. It was frustrating.

Just your average day in Thailand! The man is cooking some fish on the barbecue 

 We worked hard, helped a member with her English HW, got groceries on Saturday and did some more biking. So, you could say that I am getting pretty muscley!! haha! Also, one of the days (I can't remember which) as we were biking home, Sister Yim pulled over so that we could put on our florescent vests on. (for the night time so people can see us) Just as we were going to head off again when a lady came up to us. She wai'd me and asked if I was a Sister Missionary. I was so surprised! It turns out that she was a less active from Chang Mai and she invited us into her home and everything! It was so neat! She is so cute!

Sunday: We picked up the less active to church. Her name is Sister Mai and she almost forgot about church. We walked to her place and invited on the way and even got a number out of it! We got to church and four of the people we contacted and invited to church came! I was so happy! That NEVER happens for us. Sister Yim and I split to do some lessons at the same time and I taught this man named Deng with a Member. It was a little nerve wracking to be doing a lesson by myself but the member was so nice and helpful in helping me understand. Sister Yim taught Jekey (who came, surprisingly! Sister Yim called him at 8:00 am though and basically told him he was coming! haha!) and she said the lesson was a complete 180! He was listening and told the story of how he has a whole in his heart and he could die any day. He is just confused and that's why he was asking so many questions because he wants to get it right. He said that when he met us, he never went that way because it's always too busy and there are a lot of people. But he felt like he should go that way anyway to get home and that's where we met him. After we met him he said that he was having weird dreams that prompted him to accept a lesson with us. He accepted a date for this month and he is going to try to stop drinking beer, coffee, and tea! It's such a miracle! 

We contacted later on and met this cute lady. She was like, "Oh, the missionaries, let them in!" We were like, "What the... no one says that here!" We talked for a while and she's super great at English. Hopefully she will actually accept a real lesson from us. We got her number and she said that she will be coming to English class this week!

For dinner we made spaghetti, lemon bars, and no bake cookies. It was an awesome American feast to end a good week. 

So, I hope that gives you all a more detailed description of what happened. It's pretty neat and I thought I should share more this week. We will see how other weeks go, though. Just know that the Lord is good and He is hastening His work! I love you all!

Love, 

Sister Carter

and the shoe stand is all the popular shoes that I see around Thailand. They aren't very sturdy and they break super easily though. I haven't gotten any yet but I see a lot of Sister Missionaries where them. 

This is a market we went to go inviting at. I just wanted to capture the business of it all. I wish I could take pictures that will allow you to really see what it's like here. :)

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!