its wayyyy ridiculously hot in this gaming place im at right now, but here we goo!
the week started off super sick with the crazy buddhist cave excursions and then got even radder as the days went on!
brother da, our investigator that got baptized this last sunday at the waterfall, is such a BOSS! other than the fact that he knows the bible in and out, i think my favorite part about him is the way he ends all of our phone calls with him hahahah, "HALLELUJAH!" hahah he is such a good guy and he's is gonna be a way good leader for this branch in the years to come.
so yeah this last sunday was probably the coolest baptismal service we've had out here in p-lok. if anyone would appreciate a waterfall baptism it would be brother da. we talked to president senior about it and he was all for it. i felt like john the baptist out there it was a way cool experience i'll never forget. after all his studying, overcoming all his concerns, quitting his addictions, and then seeing him come up out of the water a new person, and the joy that was on his face- there's just nothing better. just check out the pics! come on thats just pure happiness!
we had a lot of crazy blessings from the hand of the lord and its just crazy how many new investigators he blessed us with. 12 new investigators in this one week! unheard of! and its so evident that it's coming from his hands because literally everyday this week after inviting way hard and working throughout the day not necessarily finding anyone too interested- we will be at the church teaching someone and then some random person will walk in to the church and ask to learn english, and than after some talking accept to learn more about christ with us as well. or like sunday right after church as we were all getting ready to drive out to the waterfall, one of our investigators had her boyfriend come and he was going to come just pick her up but then after some convincing we got him to come to the baptism. on the way we told him about what was about to go down and invited him to do the same thing on the 17th of this month. he accepted and asked way solid questions, and wanted us to teach him right when we got back to the church.
we had two awesome experiences with WAY less active members this week as well. one we went out to visit named sister kwan, and she hasnt been to church in over a year because of a problem she has with one of the members. we read the scriptures with her and she was just being spiritually uplifted as we read you could see her countenance change, and she accepted the invitation to come back to church. she said she would only come for an hour to "ease back into it" but she came, stayed for all 3 hours, and brought her daughter who is now a new investigator. SO MANY MIRACLES ITS CRAZY! and then another LA who i had randomly called again this week just to see if she could meet (i had called her multiple times before with not much success) but this time she said that she could meet. so we get to know her, and start talking, and then the REALEST lesson ever went down. like i think this was the first lesson ive been in where tears are being shed (actually other than sister kwan when things got pretty serious as well). anyways this other sister, sister geek, is 25ish and a nurse and works crazy hours and gets one day off every 10 days. she was getting really emotional and shared her feelings of frustration, that she felt like God wasn't answering her prayers to help her get work off on sunday, and on top of her having to provide for her family, her grandma had recently passed away and she basically blamed God for it and went back to her old christian church. anyways- some personal experiences and powerful scriptures of encouragement were shared, and although she still wasn't able to come to church this sunday, that lesson was a pivotal point in her life for sure.
i just thought of one of the contacts i had last night as i was riding to an appointment. out of all the people on the sidewalk late at night as im mobbin on my bike i feel prompted to stop and invite this one guy to get baptized and cleanse his sins. he says no, but i feel prompted to stay there and try to spend a little more time with him, thinking i could change his mind, and after a minute or so and him still not being at all interested, i start to get on my bike and ride before i ride off i invite this other guy that was put right in my path to cleanse his sins. i loved his response, "can i really cleanse my sins?" my answer was yes, you can, and looking back at this experience it makes me so grateful for the gospel of jesus christ and the opportunity that we to change, and become better, more christ-like each day. everyone in thailand, literally everyone will use the excuse that "every religion teaches us to be good people" but its only in and through christ that we can truly become like Him. and of course only through christ that we can be with and live with our families for eternity. so grateful to be the representative, and messenger of the raddest best most important message that could ever be learned.
we also have a ton of young men in our branch that could potentially be going on missions this year so elder wright and i decided to start a mission prep class every thursday so that'll be sweet.
im happy, im healthy, and i love being out here in thailand. oh yeah we also had a good time with pres. senior and his wife as they were traveling through pitsanulok, they called us and told us to meet them at swensens in 15 minutes (a way nice icecream place) and so we got to hangout with them for a while this week. he is such a stud- did he end up sending you any pictures dad?
sister daa, a sister in our branch brought us some snacks the other night at the church. my first time eating anything like a scorpion an earth worms. idk how they trick me into feeling okay about eating nasty stuff like that haha but fortunately i didnt throw up and im alive.
alright love you guys! great week i hope all is well at home.
much love,
elder chamberlin
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