Date
December 24, 2018
Area
Kumphawapi District
Companion
Elder Ethan Sumsion
Week 18: I'm Living in a Hot Christmas
Don't take your snow for granted, we have none here and never will. Then again, we don't have to shovel snow or drive in it here, so...
Hey everyone, it's Christmas time, and New Years is coming up as well! This is a special time to remember the birth of our savior and the amazing gift that He has given us- the ability to overcome death and sin, and be with our Heavenly Father again. Here's what happened this week:
Wed (cont.) We made it to Udon for Zone Conference, and they herded us onto buses and took us to a place. We had no idea where we were going, but it was a long ride. At some point, our bus took a wrong turn, so we ended up getting there late. The place we went to was pretty neat, it was the Phu Phra Historical Park and it was a little park of an ancient civilization there. We were there for a bit, then they took us back and dropped us off at the Central (it's a mall) at Udon and told us to find something to eat. I went to Burger King, great Thai food. We were going to watch Prince of Egypt, but since we got back late, we never got the chance, which is truly unfortunate. If you haven't watched Prince of Egypt, you should watch it. If you've watched it before, watch it again. It's sick.
Thurs: At Zone Conference, we started by singing Christmas Hymns together. We received training on teaching about Jesus and how it's important for people to know the importance of His sacrifice and the love He shared for all of us. We also learned that our testimony is like a seed, but it's not entirely like the primary song. We feed our testimony with scriptures, faith, and it won't grow unless we keep putting in effort. We also did fun skits as districts, you can find them on Facebook on the Thailand Bangkok Mission group. We also did a really fun white elephant. I gave a bag of 100฿ worth of .25 ฿ coins, and I got a coin pouch of a bear, which was really lucky cause I've been needing a good coin pouch since I've gotten here.
Friday: We went to the 9/21/30 market to go inviting, and it was blasting some sick Thai tunes. We met a man from Vietnam, I said hello in Vietnamese (shout out to my Vietnamese homies) and we talked for a bit. We tried to explain our church while he was looking through his phones and showing us the pictures of Jesus that he has. He seems pretty set on his church, but we invited him and his kid to English and gave him a Restoration pamphlet to read if he was interested. We also helped with setting up for the Christmas Party.
Sat: We planned a good plan for the day, and immediately got off track by getting stuck in the bathroom with diarrhea problems and starting late. We visited a couple people and made sure they were invited to the Christmas Party. We went to Tesco (supermarket) and I bought 2 big tins of Tim Tams, one to give for a gift exchange and one for myself because Tim Tams are great. We helped set up the Christmas party more or less until it was finally time to start, and it was a good time. We started with a devotional about the nativity, and I played the piano for the songs. I'm not gonna lie, not a lot went according to plan (but I'm not expounding on that), but everything still worked out and everyone had a lot of fun! There were games, music, gift exchanges, and good cheer, and there was also a great spirit of joy and love (but no real sheep unfortunately).
Sun: We had a special sacrament meeting of only one hour and talks about Christmas and the Savior. One speaker couldn't make it, so instead we had a short testimony meeting where people could share about the effect Jesus has in their life and why they're thankful for him. It was a really great meeting! At night, we ate jaow hon (the spicy soup thing) and introduced "Come, Follow Me," the new home-centered learning program for the Church, to an LA and a member that has been really busy for the past couple Sundays and hasn't had the chance to learn about it yet. They're both really excited to use it to study and I'm excited to see the impact it has on members this upcoming year.
Mon: This morning, before the sun came up, Elder Sumsion and I went exploring by the lake, and we took some cool pictures by the docks and of the sunrise. Sick stuff.
I won't be able to tell you all Merry Christmas on the actual Christmas day, so here it is:
Merry Christmas.
Let me tell you, I've never had Christmas in Thailand before, and I've never had Christmas in a place that doesn't quite celebrate Christmas (most everyone is Buddhist here) but it feels even more special than before. I hope you take this time to remember our Savior and to spend time with loved ones and share this joy with everyone.
Merry Christmas, everyone! See you in 614 days!
--
-Elder Luangrath
1. A big dog from the market, idk where it came from
2. Sunrise picture, my hair is messy
3. Tim Tams, sick
4. Christmas Party! Sorry for the bad picture, maybe I'll find another one
5. On the docks looking at an inflatable duck