HAPPY KEASTER!!!
How was everyone's Easter Sunday? Did you do anything fun like hunting Easter eggs? Did the Easter bunny visit you? Kelsie, your letter was SO cute, and thank you so much for thinking of me! You are right, my favorite color is Yellow! Thanks for remembering! : ) The pictures, sorry, I always forget to explain them! The yellow one is of these beautiful trees they have EVERYWHERE here. They look like just normal trees with leaves most of the year, but during the hot season they bloom into these beautiful yellow flowers. One of the ward members told us that when you see those starting to bloom you know it is about time for Songkran. Songkran is the huge water festival they have every year to celebrate the Thai New Year. It is coming up this weekend, and I am SO excited! Yes, that one is out front of the church, which is REALLY small. And the other one is outside at a ward party we had with everyone last week that was SO fun! And yeah I am a little sunburned! Always! The members here always laugh at me cuz I tell them that I want to be dark like them, and they are like, "But you aren't getting dark, you are just getting red". My response in English is always, "I'm Irish, ok?" And they all just laugh, cuz they have no idea what I am saying, but they know I am pretending to be put out about it! By the way, thank you so much for all of your answers to my question. I loved hearing why church is so important for all of you. And Mom, you are SO right. It is important to everyone for different reasons at different ages and different understanding of the gospel, and of what the sacrament, and the Atonement means to us all individually.
Our week was awesome! We had an FHE at a members restaurant and Sis. Tano made Japanese food, and I made American food (spaghetti) and everyone came and ate. It was way fun! It is really hard to cook in Thailand though. Then, this weekend we finally got to watch conference. We didn't really have an Easter Sunday, cuz no one in Thailand knows what that is. I don't even think half the members knew what it was. But we got to celebrate by watching conference in English, which was awesome! I feel like conference is like Christmas but better! Every talk had something that was meant for me, and all of the questions I had were answered so perfectly! I am just amazed at how blessed we are to have modern day prophets who talk to God! So amazing! So I really loved all of the talks, but here are a few (a lot) of my favorite things that were said, that really made me think.
What we do now will determine the service we will be able to give in the future. -Elder Hales
No pain will last forever.-President Packer
The way to rise through and above challenges is to remember that God has said, "I will never forsake thee".-President Eyring
It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but I knew I had to do it, so I did.-President Eyring
We are not in a race with others as to who is the most beautiful, talented, blessed; we are in a race against sin.-Elder Holland
Coveting does not elevate your standing, so be kind, and be grateful God is kind.-Elder Holland
No matter how talent-less you think you are, you are not out of the reach of God's love.-Elder Holland
Step Up! Do it for your sake, do it for the sake of those who are praying for you, do it for the sake of your Savior. It is NEVER too late.-Elder Holland
Jesus will be on your right side, and on your left side, to buoy you up. -Elder Anderson
Be not afraid, only believe. -Elder Anderson
In his darkest hour, he began to pray. -Elder Anderson
He will do for you what you cannot do for yourself. -Elder Anderson
Our souls will be riveted on the question, "What thinks Christ of me?" -Elder Anderson
All of conference was SO amazing and I feel like I have so much to work on. I was definitely shown my own weaknesses, but I also felt how much God loves me and I know without any doubt that he loves all of you more that you know. He is always there with His arms open, waiting for us to come unto Him. Mom, could you do me a huge favor and send me a copy of the Conference Ensign when it comes out next month, please? I can't wait to read all those talks again! The priesthood session was amazing too!
Anyway, I love you all SO much. Someone asked me today what my birthday wish for next week is, and here is what I said, "My wish for my birthday is that all of my family and friends will be truly happy and understand how deeply they are loved by our Heavenly Father and by me, too!" So I hope you all know that!
One last quote from conference, cuz it explains my feelings so well.
"I desire with all my heart to do God's will, and to serve Him, and to serve you." -President Monson, so what can I do to serve you, my family, this week?
Love you, and can't wait to hear from you next week!
Jess
About Me
- Sister Jessica Wallace - ซิสเตอร์ วอลเลซ
- Bangkok, Thailand
- I love being on a mission and I love my family.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Sunday, April 8, 2012
And the world will know-3 Nephi 20:12-13, 30-35;21:26-29
Hello wonderful, awesome, crazy, come with a warning label family!
I am so glad to hear that you all are doing well! I am sorry Spring Break is over, but just think, that means not very long until SUMMER!!!!! Which is funny cuz the schools here are already in bidterm (summer). They will pick back up again in May or June. Yay, soccer! It sounds like you guys are all having way too much fun with soccer! I love it! No one gets to quit playing, though, cuz I expect Saturdays when I come home to be full of watching everyone's soccer games!
This week was crazy! It went by SO fast, and it was SO fun! Sister Tano and I have some really incredible investigators that we are so excited to watch come unto Christ. That is seriously the greatest miracle ever. Watching these Buddhist people who have no knowledge of God or Christ, have no idea that they are children of God, and that He has a plan for them, do a complete 180. Watching them come to know God and their Savior, and seeing the change that makes in them and in their lives is the most beautiful, incredible thing I have ever seen. And I am so grateful to get to be a small part of that, of God's work. This week one of the Elders investigators was baptized, and it was SO cool! Not gonna lie, I cried. He bore his testimony and talked about how he thought Christianity was nuts, but his friend was meeting with the missionaries, so he came to. The Elders told him to just try praying and see what happened, try reading the BOM and see what happened, try comiogn to church, etc. And he has this incredible testimony that as he did those things, his life began to change. He came to know God and Jesus Christ, and see the blessings that come from living the gospel, and came to know that this is more than just religion. This is the truth. So great!
Sadly, Sister Tano and I have not yet been able to watch conference. We have to wait until next week when it gets translated and sent to Thailand. But I think we might get to download it and watch it in English with some phillipino members, while the other members watch in Thai. Hopefully! I really would like to be able to understand Conference! Was it amazing? What was your favorite talk?
So, really quick funny story. In thai Jesus Christ is Phrayeesuu Khrid. So we have this one investigator, he is SO funny. I think he might be gay, but we haven't asked him yet. Anyway, we were reviewing the Godhead with him, and asked, "Who is the second member of the Godhead?" and he was like, "Phrayeesuu Khrid amen". HAHAHAHA!!! He thought that amen was a part of Christ's name. I was laughing so hard I thought I was gonna pee my pants! So great!
This week I have been studying and reading a lot about the gathering of Israel, and the more I study and understand about God's plan and about how He is working adn has been working since the beginning to bring all His sons and daughters to salvation, the more I am amazed and in awe of it. God's plan is so beautiful, and so perfect. And I am so grateful to have this opportunity to have my testimony of that strengthened every day, and to be a small little part of God's work in gathering all of His children who have no knowledge of Him. It is such an incredible priviledge.
Ok, anyway, that is all I have for today. I love you all tons! Have an absolutely wonderful week! Make school great, cuz it is!! Can't wait to hear from you next week!
Love you, Jess
P.S.-I have a question. My investigators don't seem to understand the concept of NEEDING to go to church every week, so it got me to thinking, adn I would like to know what you all think. Why is it essential to go to church every single week?
I am so glad to hear that you all are doing well! I am sorry Spring Break is over, but just think, that means not very long until SUMMER!!!!! Which is funny cuz the schools here are already in bidterm (summer). They will pick back up again in May or June. Yay, soccer! It sounds like you guys are all having way too much fun with soccer! I love it! No one gets to quit playing, though, cuz I expect Saturdays when I come home to be full of watching everyone's soccer games!
This week was crazy! It went by SO fast, and it was SO fun! Sister Tano and I have some really incredible investigators that we are so excited to watch come unto Christ. That is seriously the greatest miracle ever. Watching these Buddhist people who have no knowledge of God or Christ, have no idea that they are children of God, and that He has a plan for them, do a complete 180. Watching them come to know God and their Savior, and seeing the change that makes in them and in their lives is the most beautiful, incredible thing I have ever seen. And I am so grateful to get to be a small part of that, of God's work. This week one of the Elders investigators was baptized, and it was SO cool! Not gonna lie, I cried. He bore his testimony and talked about how he thought Christianity was nuts, but his friend was meeting with the missionaries, so he came to. The Elders told him to just try praying and see what happened, try reading the BOM and see what happened, try comiogn to church, etc. And he has this incredible testimony that as he did those things, his life began to change. He came to know God and Jesus Christ, and see the blessings that come from living the gospel, and came to know that this is more than just religion. This is the truth. So great!
Sadly, Sister Tano and I have not yet been able to watch conference. We have to wait until next week when it gets translated and sent to Thailand. But I think we might get to download it and watch it in English with some phillipino members, while the other members watch in Thai. Hopefully! I really would like to be able to understand Conference! Was it amazing? What was your favorite talk?
So, really quick funny story. In thai Jesus Christ is Phrayeesuu Khrid. So we have this one investigator, he is SO funny. I think he might be gay, but we haven't asked him yet. Anyway, we were reviewing the Godhead with him, and asked, "Who is the second member of the Godhead?" and he was like, "Phrayeesuu Khrid amen". HAHAHAHA!!! He thought that amen was a part of Christ's name. I was laughing so hard I thought I was gonna pee my pants! So great!
This week I have been studying and reading a lot about the gathering of Israel, and the more I study and understand about God's plan and about how He is working adn has been working since the beginning to bring all His sons and daughters to salvation, the more I am amazed and in awe of it. God's plan is so beautiful, and so perfect. And I am so grateful to have this opportunity to have my testimony of that strengthened every day, and to be a small little part of God's work in gathering all of His children who have no knowledge of Him. It is such an incredible priviledge.
Ok, anyway, that is all I have for today. I love you all tons! Have an absolutely wonderful week! Make school great, cuz it is!! Can't wait to hear from you next week!
Love you, Jess
P.S.-I have a question. My investigators don't seem to understand the concept of NEEDING to go to church every week, so it got me to thinking, adn I would like to know what you all think. Why is it essential to go to church every single week?
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
3 Nephi 14:13-14
Hello again dearest family!
I love hearing about your week and all of your adventures! Kelsie where did you get to be so creative and cute? I hope you are all just super awesome! My week has been good and really interesting! Time is flying by way fast! So, my crazy story for this week! We had this one guy, Aam, who was a former investigator show up at the church one day, wanting to learn with us again, so we sat down and taught him. He was a little quiet, and weird and kept saying he wanted to learn with the Elders, but he is in our area. Anyway, a little wierd, but he wanted to learn so...great. So the next week we invited Aam to family home evening at a members house and he came and brought two of his friends, who were interested in learning with us too! Awesome! SO we went out to teach these two guys, and it comes out that they don't really know Aam, they had just met him that day and invited them to come with him, because He told them that he was dating Elder Doria, one of the elders in Khorat, and wanted them to meet him. So Aam is going around telling people that He and Elder Doria are married and living together. He also has been telling people that Sister Tano is married and really rich, and that I am married and used to be a famous club singer...yeah, we aren't teaching this kid anymore! Hahaha! But I am so glad that we met him, because his two friends are WAY awesome investigators!
Also, Satan is working really hard against us right now, through other crazy "Christian" religions. Actually just one. It is called Yole. I don't know if you've heard of it or not, but it is really huge in Thailand right now. Apparently, it is like a combination of all religions and this Chinese guy with a bunch of "missionaries" goes around giving people power and "the light of Christ". But they have to pay for it. Yeah...it is NUTS! Anyway this guy and his missionaries have been coming around here, so when we go inviting, people don't want to listen to us, because they think that we are part of that group. They keep telling us, "You already came here". Some of them have already joined that religion so they don't need to join again. It is really really crazy. But the ones who are prepared will recognize us as God's true servants.
So I read something I really loved this week in True To The Faith. It says, "You are a recipient of divine mercy when HEavenly Father hears and answers your prayers". That was a really humbling moment for me, to realize that I am not even worthy for God to hear and answer my prayers, because I am a "natural man". But what a huge testament of God's love, that He listens and answers anyway. I love that. And it has helped me to take my prayers more seriously; to thank more and ask for less.
Anyway, I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week! Can't wait to hear from you next Monday!
Love, Jess
I love hearing about your week and all of your adventures! Kelsie where did you get to be so creative and cute? I hope you are all just super awesome! My week has been good and really interesting! Time is flying by way fast! So, my crazy story for this week! We had this one guy, Aam, who was a former investigator show up at the church one day, wanting to learn with us again, so we sat down and taught him. He was a little quiet, and weird and kept saying he wanted to learn with the Elders, but he is in our area. Anyway, a little wierd, but he wanted to learn so...great. So the next week we invited Aam to family home evening at a members house and he came and brought two of his friends, who were interested in learning with us too! Awesome! SO we went out to teach these two guys, and it comes out that they don't really know Aam, they had just met him that day and invited them to come with him, because He told them that he was dating Elder Doria, one of the elders in Khorat, and wanted them to meet him. So Aam is going around telling people that He and Elder Doria are married and living together. He also has been telling people that Sister Tano is married and really rich, and that I am married and used to be a famous club singer...yeah, we aren't teaching this kid anymore! Hahaha! But I am so glad that we met him, because his two friends are WAY awesome investigators!
Also, Satan is working really hard against us right now, through other crazy "Christian" religions. Actually just one. It is called Yole. I don't know if you've heard of it or not, but it is really huge in Thailand right now. Apparently, it is like a combination of all religions and this Chinese guy with a bunch of "missionaries" goes around giving people power and "the light of Christ". But they have to pay for it. Yeah...it is NUTS! Anyway this guy and his missionaries have been coming around here, so when we go inviting, people don't want to listen to us, because they think that we are part of that group. They keep telling us, "You already came here". Some of them have already joined that religion so they don't need to join again. It is really really crazy. But the ones who are prepared will recognize us as God's true servants.
So I read something I really loved this week in True To The Faith. It says, "You are a recipient of divine mercy when HEavenly Father hears and answers your prayers". That was a really humbling moment for me, to realize that I am not even worthy for God to hear and answer my prayers, because I am a "natural man". But what a huge testament of God's love, that He listens and answers anyway. I love that. And it has helped me to take my prayers more seriously; to thank more and ask for less.
Anyway, I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week! Can't wait to hear from you next Monday!
Love, Jess
Sunday, March 25, 2012
March 18, 2012
Hola familia! Como estas, todos?
Just practicing my Spanish. I hardly remember any. My brain is just all full of Thai. I feel like I can't even speak English right anymore, cuz my grammer is all off. Oh, well at least the other missionaries understand me! Hahaha! So, another week flew by! So crazy! I am getting so excited to get to talk to you all again in TWO MONTHS!!!! That is coming up so fast! E-mailing just never quite feels like enough, so it will be way awesome to actually get to talk to all of you! Speaking of things coming up way too fast...HAPPY BIRTHDAY JARED!!!!!! Man, I cannot believe that you are 18 already. You are officially an adult as of Wednesday. CRAZY! And Happy late Irish Day...I celebrated by wearing green. We were gonna go eat something Irish, but...we're in Thailand, so...yeah. Kelsie, you are so stinkin funny! I was laughing so hard I was crying when I read that! Too cute! Kayla, hang in there with soccer. Your talent is a gift from God, and you have the kind of personality where everyone wants to be your friend, so hang in there, it will get better! Jennah, keep working hard on those grades, I promise it is SO worth it!
Sister Tano is doing good. We never went to get her shots, but the bite barely scratched the skin, and she seems to be ok, so that is good. We are just working really hard out pounding the pavement every day. It is great. Even though it is really hard and frustrating to be out inviting everyday, I love it because that is when I feel most like a missionary. When I am out walking around Thailand, sweating, with a Book of Mormon in my hands being rejected by one person after another after another. Those are the times I really feel like I am fulfilling my purpose. President Smith calls it "the anvil of our faith", and he always says that if we aren't being rejected we are doing something wrong. I am really starting to see how I can show my love for these people by being bold. We are here to let people know that they can be saved in the kingdom of God by repenting and being baptized. We have to let them know they have a choice, and to help make that choice clear for them, so if I can walk away from someone feeling like I have done that, it makes me feel good! Anyway, we aren't into rainy season, yet. It is still just hot. We will get into rainy season about July and it should last through about October. We only have one branch here, so we only have to go to church for three hours. Thailand is still so young in the church that they only have like 6 or 7 wards in one stake, all in Bangkok. The rest are all branches and districts. It is definately WAY different from the church in America. Our branch is one of the highest in church attendance and we only get about 80-85 people coming every week. The sad thing is that there are over 600 people on the records in our branch and only 85 of them are active. So us and the Elders are really working on visiting and re-activating less actives, and making sure our investigators are truly converted, so they don't get baptized and fall away. We ride our bikes everywhere unless we are inviting, then we park them and walk. My shoes are holding up SO well! I am way impressed with them! And they are so perfect when it rains too! If I could have anything from home....um, starbursts, skittles, cheese-its, pictures of the family...oooh, hair gel...my hair is SO frizzy here, it's gross. : ) Speaking of things from home, did you get a chance to send those letters from the kids?
Our week was crazy and way fun! On THursday we had a zone training in Khon Kaen, which was way fun! It is always awesome to get to be around other missionaries. It is always just one big party. Especially for the missionaries in Khorat since there are only four of us and all other areas have at least 6. So the pictures I am sending are of the sisters in my zone. They are SO awesome! So there is this one member here, her name is Sister Lek. She is super cute and is trying really hard to learn English, so she says some really funny things. We found out a couple weeks ago that one of the Phillipino sisters in our branch is pregnant, so Sister Lek went around telling every one in English, "Sister Lerma is pigment", but no matter how many times we corrected her, she just couldn't say it right! Then yesterday, we were sitting in ward correlation meeting, and she was talking to Elder Doria, shaking her fist at him and asking, "Do you want to eat a suckle?" Hahaha! She was mixing up knuckle sandwich and sucker punch, and came up with suckle! So funny! I just wanted to tell her, my mom is really good at making up her own language, too! HAhaha! So great!
K, well I had better end this novel now. I love you all tons and can't wait to hear from you again! Have a wonderful, fantastic week!
ซิสเตอร์ วอลเลซ
Sister Wallace
Jess
Just practicing my Spanish. I hardly remember any. My brain is just all full of Thai. I feel like I can't even speak English right anymore, cuz my grammer is all off. Oh, well at least the other missionaries understand me! Hahaha! So, another week flew by! So crazy! I am getting so excited to get to talk to you all again in TWO MONTHS!!!! That is coming up so fast! E-mailing just never quite feels like enough, so it will be way awesome to actually get to talk to all of you! Speaking of things coming up way too fast...HAPPY BIRTHDAY JARED!!!!!! Man, I cannot believe that you are 18 already. You are officially an adult as of Wednesday. CRAZY! And Happy late Irish Day...I celebrated by wearing green. We were gonna go eat something Irish, but...we're in Thailand, so...yeah. Kelsie, you are so stinkin funny! I was laughing so hard I was crying when I read that! Too cute! Kayla, hang in there with soccer. Your talent is a gift from God, and you have the kind of personality where everyone wants to be your friend, so hang in there, it will get better! Jennah, keep working hard on those grades, I promise it is SO worth it!
Sister Tano is doing good. We never went to get her shots, but the bite barely scratched the skin, and she seems to be ok, so that is good. We are just working really hard out pounding the pavement every day. It is great. Even though it is really hard and frustrating to be out inviting everyday, I love it because that is when I feel most like a missionary. When I am out walking around Thailand, sweating, with a Book of Mormon in my hands being rejected by one person after another after another. Those are the times I really feel like I am fulfilling my purpose. President Smith calls it "the anvil of our faith", and he always says that if we aren't being rejected we are doing something wrong. I am really starting to see how I can show my love for these people by being bold. We are here to let people know that they can be saved in the kingdom of God by repenting and being baptized. We have to let them know they have a choice, and to help make that choice clear for them, so if I can walk away from someone feeling like I have done that, it makes me feel good! Anyway, we aren't into rainy season, yet. It is still just hot. We will get into rainy season about July and it should last through about October. We only have one branch here, so we only have to go to church for three hours. Thailand is still so young in the church that they only have like 6 or 7 wards in one stake, all in Bangkok. The rest are all branches and districts. It is definately WAY different from the church in America. Our branch is one of the highest in church attendance and we only get about 80-85 people coming every week. The sad thing is that there are over 600 people on the records in our branch and only 85 of them are active. So us and the Elders are really working on visiting and re-activating less actives, and making sure our investigators are truly converted, so they don't get baptized and fall away. We ride our bikes everywhere unless we are inviting, then we park them and walk. My shoes are holding up SO well! I am way impressed with them! And they are so perfect when it rains too! If I could have anything from home....um, starbursts, skittles, cheese-its, pictures of the family...oooh, hair gel...my hair is SO frizzy here, it's gross. : ) Speaking of things from home, did you get a chance to send those letters from the kids?
Our week was crazy and way fun! On THursday we had a zone training in Khon Kaen, which was way fun! It is always awesome to get to be around other missionaries. It is always just one big party. Especially for the missionaries in Khorat since there are only four of us and all other areas have at least 6. So the pictures I am sending are of the sisters in my zone. They are SO awesome! So there is this one member here, her name is Sister Lek. She is super cute and is trying really hard to learn English, so she says some really funny things. We found out a couple weeks ago that one of the Phillipino sisters in our branch is pregnant, so Sister Lek went around telling every one in English, "Sister Lerma is pigment", but no matter how many times we corrected her, she just couldn't say it right! Then yesterday, we were sitting in ward correlation meeting, and she was talking to Elder Doria, shaking her fist at him and asking, "Do you want to eat a suckle?" Hahaha! She was mixing up knuckle sandwich and sucker punch, and came up with suckle! So funny! I just wanted to tell her, my mom is really good at making up her own language, too! HAhaha! So great!
K, well I had better end this novel now. I love you all tons and can't wait to hear from you again! Have a wonderful, fantastic week!
ซิสเตอร์ วอลเลซ
Sister Wallace
Jess
March 11, 2012
Hello family!
I wish I could think of a more interesting way to start my e-mails, but for now, I got nothin! I SO love hearing how all of you are doing! It makes my week! Mama, it sounds like you are so busy! I am glad your new job is taking care of you! I just hope you don't get burned out! Yay! Soccer season! I love soccer season! I am excited to watch all of you play when I come home! As for Jared and the military, I used to hate the idea, but I'm pretty sure every Elder in the Thailand mission are in or want to be in the military and listening to them, my perspective has changed a bit. It really would be good for him...BUT it is NO EXCUSE TO NOT SERVE A MISSION!!!!!! There is nothing in the world that could ever replace or make up for dedicating that time in your life to serving the Lord. It is an opportunity that no young man should EVER EVER pass up! And I think that girls should all go to...unless God tells them otherwise! : ) Ok, that is my soapbox for the day. Interesting fact about Thailand, all young men when they turn 18 are required by law to serve in the Thai military for at least two years. So all of the Thai Elders in the mission are older, because of that. Wow! That is super crazy that Kristin and Nate had another baby! How fun! Grandma Pancheri wrote me a letter (so sweet) and told me about how they were going to induce Kristin on March 9th and, phaa dee, I got the letter on March 9th! Too funny! How is Austin's foot doing? I can think of another teenage boy who one accidently shot himself in the leg...maybe they could be friends! Hahaha! But, I am really glad Austin is ok. And I am way excited for Alyssa that she didn't get cut! Is she loving waitressing or not so much? It can be a really frustrating job somedays, but the cash in hand everyday is addicting!
Well, this week was absolutely nuts! On top of trying to get our investigators taught, and find new ones, and visit recent converts and less-active members, and teach english, and everything else we have to get done, we also got kicked out of our house...yeah. We have been trying to move and we had a new apartment all set up, but we werent' going to be able to move til the end of this month, cuz the crazy land lady wouldn't let us out of the contract until the end of the month. Well, I am not quite sure what happened, but we were teaching a lesson on Wednesday, and when we got out we had like 10 different missed calls and messages from the land lady and from the mission office saying that we were being kicked out and we had until 6pm to get our stuff out of the house. So we had to cancel a few appointments (so frustrating) and miss most of English in order to get moved out. Luckily, our new landlady at the apartment was totally willing to let us move in early, and we have AMAZING branch members! Seriously, within 30 minutes of all this we had half the branch at our house, packing up all of our stuff and loading it all into cars and trucks. We didn't even tell anyone what was going on exept the Elders, and I guess they told the Branch President who called all the members. It was the sweetest, cutest thing I have ever seen! These people are incredible. They are so willing to help, and they do it happily without being asked. So great! That was Wednesday, then Thursday, we got a call from the Elders asking us to go to the church to help translate for a man from California. So we went to the church and met this man. I guess he has a friend who's wife just kicked him out of her house because he is a crazy drunk, and is now detoxing.He needed us to help him find an apartment for this friend while he detoxes. He used to be married to an LDS women, and came to the church for help because he knew we would help him with no strings attatched. Well, turns out that this man is "Buddhist" and believes that in his previous life he was Japanese, and he came to Thailand and killed a bunch of Thai and Cambodian and Vietnamese people. So he came back to Thailand in this life to visit the place he killed them all at and ask their graves for forgiveness, and next year to make up for killing all those people in his past life, he is going to come back and teach the poor Thai people how to make Thai food so that they can feed themselves. Did I mention that this guy used to be addicted to just about every drug under the sun? He was quite a character! But he is a child of God too, and he came to church on Sunday, so maybe this is an opportunity for him to turn his life around? Also, Sister Tano got bit by a dog yesterday, and we spent like 30 minutes debating whether she needed rabies shots or not. She ended up not getting the shots, so hope she's ok. So, yeah, it was a crazy week, and time is flying! As of Thursday, I have exactly a year left before I come home...NUTS!!! How did we get to March already?
K, well, I love you all! Have a wonderful week, don't worry, be happy, Hakuna Matata, and all that kinda stuff! Love you tons!
Jess
I wish I could think of a more interesting way to start my e-mails, but for now, I got nothin! I SO love hearing how all of you are doing! It makes my week! Mama, it sounds like you are so busy! I am glad your new job is taking care of you! I just hope you don't get burned out! Yay! Soccer season! I love soccer season! I am excited to watch all of you play when I come home! As for Jared and the military, I used to hate the idea, but I'm pretty sure every Elder in the Thailand mission are in or want to be in the military and listening to them, my perspective has changed a bit. It really would be good for him...BUT it is NO EXCUSE TO NOT SERVE A MISSION!!!!!! There is nothing in the world that could ever replace or make up for dedicating that time in your life to serving the Lord. It is an opportunity that no young man should EVER EVER pass up! And I think that girls should all go to...unless God tells them otherwise! : ) Ok, that is my soapbox for the day. Interesting fact about Thailand, all young men when they turn 18 are required by law to serve in the Thai military for at least two years. So all of the Thai Elders in the mission are older, because of that. Wow! That is super crazy that Kristin and Nate had another baby! How fun! Grandma Pancheri wrote me a letter (so sweet) and told me about how they were going to induce Kristin on March 9th and, phaa dee, I got the letter on March 9th! Too funny! How is Austin's foot doing? I can think of another teenage boy who one accidently shot himself in the leg...maybe they could be friends! Hahaha! But, I am really glad Austin is ok. And I am way excited for Alyssa that she didn't get cut! Is she loving waitressing or not so much? It can be a really frustrating job somedays, but the cash in hand everyday is addicting!
Well, this week was absolutely nuts! On top of trying to get our investigators taught, and find new ones, and visit recent converts and less-active members, and teach english, and everything else we have to get done, we also got kicked out of our house...yeah. We have been trying to move and we had a new apartment all set up, but we werent' going to be able to move til the end of this month, cuz the crazy land lady wouldn't let us out of the contract until the end of the month. Well, I am not quite sure what happened, but we were teaching a lesson on Wednesday, and when we got out we had like 10 different missed calls and messages from the land lady and from the mission office saying that we were being kicked out and we had until 6pm to get our stuff out of the house. So we had to cancel a few appointments (so frustrating) and miss most of English in order to get moved out. Luckily, our new landlady at the apartment was totally willing to let us move in early, and we have AMAZING branch members! Seriously, within 30 minutes of all this we had half the branch at our house, packing up all of our stuff and loading it all into cars and trucks. We didn't even tell anyone what was going on exept the Elders, and I guess they told the Branch President who called all the members. It was the sweetest, cutest thing I have ever seen! These people are incredible. They are so willing to help, and they do it happily without being asked. So great! That was Wednesday, then Thursday, we got a call from the Elders asking us to go to the church to help translate for a man from California. So we went to the church and met this man. I guess he has a friend who's wife just kicked him out of her house because he is a crazy drunk, and is now detoxing.He needed us to help him find an apartment for this friend while he detoxes. He used to be married to an LDS women, and came to the church for help because he knew we would help him with no strings attatched. Well, turns out that this man is "Buddhist" and believes that in his previous life he was Japanese, and he came to Thailand and killed a bunch of Thai and Cambodian and Vietnamese people. So he came back to Thailand in this life to visit the place he killed them all at and ask their graves for forgiveness, and next year to make up for killing all those people in his past life, he is going to come back and teach the poor Thai people how to make Thai food so that they can feed themselves. Did I mention that this guy used to be addicted to just about every drug under the sun? He was quite a character! But he is a child of God too, and he came to church on Sunday, so maybe this is an opportunity for him to turn his life around? Also, Sister Tano got bit by a dog yesterday, and we spent like 30 minutes debating whether she needed rabies shots or not. She ended up not getting the shots, so hope she's ok. So, yeah, it was a crazy week, and time is flying! As of Thursday, I have exactly a year left before I come home...NUTS!!! How did we get to March already?
K, well, I love you all! Have a wonderful week, don't worry, be happy, Hakuna Matata, and all that kinda stuff! Love you tons!
Jess
March 4th, 2011
Hello family! Another week gone by and this one actually feels like it went fast! Hopefully they all start to feel that way! Monday and Tuesday were spent getting Sister Lish packed and ready to go home. Then Wednesday we went down to Bangkok and I got to spend the day with some of the other sisters, which was SO fun! Then Thursday we had transfer meeting! I got to see half of the people who were in the MTC with me, which was awesome! I feel like they are my MTC family and it was so great to get to see and catch up with them, since I haven't seen any of them except Sis. Farnsworth in over 3 months! So crazy! So my new companion, Sister Tano, is awesome! It's kinda funny, she just got done training Sister Farnsworth and now she gets me! She is super sweet and a really hard worker. I have never been so tired since I have been out here as now, but I have never been so happy either. It is so true when they say you just need to work hard and lose yourself in the work. And we just have tons of fun as we are working. It's great! Anyway, she is from Hawaii. The weather here is hot and muggy, but it is better up here in Khorat than down in Bangkok. Bangkok is SO STINKIN HOT!! Kinda glad I am not there right now, but I am hoping that I get to serve there at some point, cuz it is way cool! The work is still kinda slow here right now, but we have been working really hard, and I know that in the Lord's time He will bless us for that.
I'm so excited for the girls to get to go on trek! I so loved getting to do that and I'm sure they will too! I wish I could go too! That would be really good if you were able to move into a different house in your ward boundaries. I have gotten a couple of letters and an e-mail from Bishop Waite, and he seems way awesome! I can tell that he really loves all of you and is taking good care of you! I will pray that you are able to stay in your ward boundaries too!
As for my favorite scripture, the one that always gets me is Alma 26:11-16. I feel exactly that way. I know that without God I am nothing. I am one of the weak things of the world. But with God I can do all things, and I can glory in that knowledge. But I feel like I have a new scripture every week that touches me, and helps me get through the week, and this week is Ecclesiastes 3:1-11. They are such beautiful scriptures! I love how it talks about all of the joys and pains and heartbreaks and stuggles and fun times in life. "A time to weep and a time to laugh: a time to mourn and a time to dance". And then "I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it". I know that God gives us good and bad experiences so that we can be molded and refined, and a lot of times that molding and refining really hurts, but, "He hath made everything beautiful in His time". And then at the end of 11. We can't see the perspective God sees. We can't see the end result, but we weren't meant too. God can see it though. He sees the beautiful person we will become at the end of this life, and He knows what we need to experience to get us there. We just have to trust in Him, be patient through the pain, be moldable and wait to see the end result, cuz it's gonna be awesome. These scriptures were just a huge testimony to me of God's love for us, and how much more I need to trust in Him and in His timing.
I love you all so much more than I could ever say, and I know Heavenly Father loves you even more than that. I know that He is watching out for all of you and that He will make everything work out for the best. All we have to do is trust in Him, and keep His commandments. Well, enough preaching for one day...til tonight when I teach a lesson anyway! Have a great week! Be safe, return with honor, don't pick your underwear out of your butt where people can see : ) and keep smiling!
Love, Jess
I'm so excited for the girls to get to go on trek! I so loved getting to do that and I'm sure they will too! I wish I could go too! That would be really good if you were able to move into a different house in your ward boundaries. I have gotten a couple of letters and an e-mail from Bishop Waite, and he seems way awesome! I can tell that he really loves all of you and is taking good care of you! I will pray that you are able to stay in your ward boundaries too!
As for my favorite scripture, the one that always gets me is Alma 26:11-16. I feel exactly that way. I know that without God I am nothing. I am one of the weak things of the world. But with God I can do all things, and I can glory in that knowledge. But I feel like I have a new scripture every week that touches me, and helps me get through the week, and this week is Ecclesiastes 3:1-11. They are such beautiful scriptures! I love how it talks about all of the joys and pains and heartbreaks and stuggles and fun times in life. "A time to weep and a time to laugh: a time to mourn and a time to dance". And then "I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it". I know that God gives us good and bad experiences so that we can be molded and refined, and a lot of times that molding and refining really hurts, but, "He hath made everything beautiful in His time". And then at the end of 11. We can't see the perspective God sees. We can't see the end result, but we weren't meant too. God can see it though. He sees the beautiful person we will become at the end of this life, and He knows what we need to experience to get us there. We just have to trust in Him, be patient through the pain, be moldable and wait to see the end result, cuz it's gonna be awesome. These scriptures were just a huge testimony to me of God's love for us, and how much more I need to trust in Him and in His timing.
I love you all so much more than I could ever say, and I know Heavenly Father loves you even more than that. I know that He is watching out for all of you and that He will make everything work out for the best. All we have to do is trust in Him, and keep His commandments. Well, enough preaching for one day...til tonight when I teach a lesson anyway! Have a great week! Be safe, return with honor, don't pick your underwear out of your butt where people can see : ) and keep smiling!
Love, Jess
Sunday, February 26, 2012
D&C 50:40-42-Fear not, little children for you are mine
Hello again family!
Sounds like you all had a really fun, crazy week! I so love hearing all about eveyone's soccer adventures. And HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALYSSA!!! Everyone is growing up so fast! Jared is gonna be 18 soon! Nuts! I am going to be 22 in two months! AAGGHH!!! How did that happen? I still feel like a 15 year old teenager most of the time! I am so sorry that Dad has to be gone so much! That is so hard. I'm so glad you look for the silver lining, though, even when it is so hard. In Ether 12:4 it talks about hope in Christ being an anchor to our souls, and how we can hope for a better world. My companion always describes that as a better world after this life, but I like to think that when we have hope and faith in Christ we can hope that this world, this life will get better. We will recieve strength in our trials, and eventually move past them, and come out better, happier people for them with an even greater hope and faith in Christ and in God's love and His plan for us. That doesn't make the trials go away though. I wish it did sometimes. It was so great getting to talk to Dad last week, though! I missed getting to talk to you, Mama, but I am so grateful I got to talk to him. Oh, and I can't wait to get to bring you back here to Thailand and show you around! That will be so much fun! OOhh! I am so excited for the girls to get to go on trek. Both years I went were so amazing! It really is such a great experience! That is way cool that they are letting Kayla go too. Malary Trautman wrote me about it also. It is a stake trek, right? Awesome. She is way excited to get to go too.
So this week two of the older couple missionary office Elders came to visit us in Khorat because we are trying to move houses and they had to approve it and sign forms and what not. One of them is a thai Elder and he is SOOO funny. He told us the same joke like 5 times! In Thailand the year right now is 2555, not 2012. So he told us that this year is the year of song and laughter, because the words in thai for 2 and 5 are song and ha, so the year is song ha ha ha! Too funny! He thinks he is pretty clever, kinda like some other boys I know in our family! This week was way stressful. It was my 2nd to last week of training, so I had to lead all of the lessons and lead planning. It was way stressful, and I spent a lot of time crying, but I learned that I can do it! Which is good because in less than two weeks we have transfer meeting and Sister Lish will be going home and I won't be moving, so I will have to lead the area for a little while. So this week will be spent getting Sis Lish packed, visiting all the people she wants to say goodbye to and getting me ready to lead. Crazy!
Well I love you all tons! I don't have any crazy stories this week, sorry! More next week I am sure! Have an awesome week!
Love, Jess
Sounds like you all had a really fun, crazy week! I so love hearing all about eveyone's soccer adventures. And HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALYSSA!!! Everyone is growing up so fast! Jared is gonna be 18 soon! Nuts! I am going to be 22 in two months! AAGGHH!!! How did that happen? I still feel like a 15 year old teenager most of the time! I am so sorry that Dad has to be gone so much! That is so hard. I'm so glad you look for the silver lining, though, even when it is so hard. In Ether 12:4 it talks about hope in Christ being an anchor to our souls, and how we can hope for a better world. My companion always describes that as a better world after this life, but I like to think that when we have hope and faith in Christ we can hope that this world, this life will get better. We will recieve strength in our trials, and eventually move past them, and come out better, happier people for them with an even greater hope and faith in Christ and in God's love and His plan for us. That doesn't make the trials go away though. I wish it did sometimes. It was so great getting to talk to Dad last week, though! I missed getting to talk to you, Mama, but I am so grateful I got to talk to him. Oh, and I can't wait to get to bring you back here to Thailand and show you around! That will be so much fun! OOhh! I am so excited for the girls to get to go on trek. Both years I went were so amazing! It really is such a great experience! That is way cool that they are letting Kayla go too. Malary Trautman wrote me about it also. It is a stake trek, right? Awesome. She is way excited to get to go too.
So this week two of the older couple missionary office Elders came to visit us in Khorat because we are trying to move houses and they had to approve it and sign forms and what not. One of them is a thai Elder and he is SOOO funny. He told us the same joke like 5 times! In Thailand the year right now is 2555, not 2012. So he told us that this year is the year of song and laughter, because the words in thai for 2 and 5 are song and ha, so the year is song ha ha ha! Too funny! He thinks he is pretty clever, kinda like some other boys I know in our family! This week was way stressful. It was my 2nd to last week of training, so I had to lead all of the lessons and lead planning. It was way stressful, and I spent a lot of time crying, but I learned that I can do it! Which is good because in less than two weeks we have transfer meeting and Sister Lish will be going home and I won't be moving, so I will have to lead the area for a little while. So this week will be spent getting Sis Lish packed, visiting all the people she wants to say goodbye to and getting me ready to lead. Crazy!
Well I love you all tons! I don't have any crazy stories this week, sorry! More next week I am sure! Have an awesome week!
Love, Jess
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