To start it off we had a crazy epic adventure to the tropical mountains of khaw yay- it was way fun. Normally to get into the area- thai people pay 20 baht ( like 50 cents) and if your a white person you pay 400 baht ( a little more than 10 dollars) and so we werent about to drop 1200 baht for the 3 white people in our car- and i start talking with the lady at the like station that collects money- and she was not budging. normally since we can speak thai, we tell them we are missionaries, or like christian monks, and here serving and teaching english free, etc. and they let us in for the thai price or sometimes for the monk price (free) but this lady was wayyy stubborn. i asked to talk with her manager and she said no, he's not here. haha so i said alright we're parking and gonna figure this out- bc there were other cars waiting behind us. so i hop out of the car, and run into another park ranger type guy, tell him our spiel, and he was cooler but said that he didnt have permission to let us in cheaper- so i asked to talk to his manager, haha and he called up the guy above him, and handed me the phone. i talked to him and explained the situation, and the manager guy on the phone was way cool. he said we are good to go for the 20 baht thai price. so instead of dropping the typical 1200 baht it was only 60 baht.... ahhhhh yeahhh- thats one good skill ive learned while in thailand fasho. so that alone made our trip way worth it, and we started our trek up the mountain with smiles on our faces and feeling like champs. oh yeah and these two girls from belgium and france that are here in thailand studying, were there and asked for a ride up the mountain in the truck bed, so we took them and then it turned out they just stayed with us on our journey to all the waterfalls, and the what not. they were nice- and will hopefully being getting baptized on return to belgium and france in a few months hahaha. so that was monday-
tuesday, english class was way good, no surprise. our investigator sister pearl (the girl i met at the mall last week) brought her friend, pink, and they are both so solid its insane. like sometimes theres girls that come to the church becuase of the elders, but like she is just a straight boss! she might as well be the young womens president, or something, because she was at the church on saturday just leading the cleaning of the church, at church on sunday she's just friends with everyone on her own somehow, shes brought 3 friends this last sunday, etc. after our lesson on tuesday they asked if they could stay and hangout in the library to read. and we were like, yeah sure hahah- and they stayed just reading church books, for hours, and came almost everyday this week to come learn more about jesus christ, his teachings, and to ask questions. they are way good- and way prepared.
On wednesday we switched off with the elders from roi-et, elder taylor and Lor. they both came here to Korat and so we split up and just a ridiculous amount of work done it was way fun. First miracle was the finding of brother sun. we hadnt been able to get ahold of him for 3 daysish and his phone was off, he didnt come to any appointments we had set up before, and he straight up just dissappeared. so while i was with elder taylor we went to the place where i thought he said he worked, this hotel over in the city, and we got to a hotel, wasnt sure if it was his, but walked in to hopefully find him, and as we step in, i see his face all the way down the hall, and he sees me and just runs to me, almost with tears in his eyes, as i stand there with my arms out open to him, and give him a nice hug- as he explains how awful he has felt because his phone charger was lost (which actually seems like a sketchy excuse haha) but how he has been crazy exhausted the last couple days. he works from 4pm to like 4am and so hasnt been able to wake up at all to meet with us. but anyways we catch up with him to find out that he hasnt smoked, and is still doing way good, has read through to 2nephi 16 in the book of mormon, and was still way excited to get baptized. And he did ahhh yeaaah. And then after that visit we went to sister Faa's house, and it was this day when she said of herself that she was gonna get baptized this sunday. before that she wanted to get baptized but was always scared that she wouldnt be able to keep her covenant of going to church every sunday because of her debt that she is working to pay off. but she showed great faith as she decided to put her trust fully in God and follow his Son into the waters of baptism, along with her two kids Oi and Eve, on that special day. The sisters had 3 investigators get baptized as well. And the reason the email is titled The 16 is because....
at the beginning of this transfer we set a prayer inspired goal of 16 baptisms for the transfer for our district of Korat. At the time it didnt seem like a big goal, but it felt right, and so we set it, and stretched this transfer, and of course with a lot of miracles along the way, we saw God come through as we helped exactly 16 people learn to follow the savior, and ultimately be baptized. It was a way cool blessing and miracle.
I think my favorite part of being DL is getting to interview investigators for baptism- its a super cool experience. and yeah i guess ill just say that.
one of my favorite moments of the week was a contact i had on friday- we were waiting at a red light on our way back to the church- riding our bikes. and i pulled up next to a dude on his motorcycle. After complimenting him on his fresh "Shell" gas station jacket that he was repping, i invited him to come to church with us. Of course, Satan at work, had the light turn green at that moment, but i biked hard to keep up with him as he took off. we continued chatting as we were driving down the road at high speeds, side by side, and i bore down in solid testimony, and then he told me- "i actually really am interested..." BOOM thats what im talking about! so we pulled over and i got his number. so that was sick. there was actually another way cool contact i just remembered from wednesday. While i was with elder taylor we stopped by the post office to send off some baptismal records. as we were leaving he stopped to talk with this guy coming to the post office. i continued out of the post office and waited at the street. i invited a guy to no avail. i then was staring back at him from outside the postoffice parking lot, and at that moment someone came up to me saying in english with a thai accent, "hey do you need help?" and a guy on a motorcycle pulled up. I started speaking thai which caught him off guard because he thought i was a white kid that was trying to get directions and didnt know how to read the thai signs haha. so i started talking to him, and he turned out to be a way crazy golden contact too. and he, like sister pearl, wanted to bring a friend to the church as well. we'll keep you updated on their progress ;) good examples of following the spirit and being where God needs you to be, when he wants you to be there- i didnt even do anything to find this guy, but God straight up let him to come up to me- and everything just works out. It's pretty cool being a missionary.
Alright moving on- there was a wedding this week. Sister One, and Brother Robert from Sweden. they are RC's and are way cool. that was fun nothing too crazy to report.
And then we finished off the week with the best sunday of the transfer. Its been a good one. I had a great week out here- but if there is one thing ive learned- its that you can never be content with what you've got! So transfers this week- we find out today if we stay or move. I've got a feeling i'll be with Joyem another go around here in Korat, but we'll see what God's got in store for me.
The thing that has surprised me the most about a mission is how much you learn to love the people. 10 months ago i couldnt speak a word of thai- and all of the sudden im here, and with these amazing people, and its just like- they're my family. It's a wierd feeling but it makes moving areas hard. Alright anyways i gotta rush we head out early this morning to go do some fun stuff for Sister Johansens Bday today-
I love you guys! God lives- and like Alma says in Alma 30:44 everything is evidence of it. we have the scriptures, the prophets, the beautiful world around us, this life, and then all the miracles that come with it. God is real and he loves us. Show him some love, by keeping his commandments ;) John 14:15. Maybe even invite a friend to learn of his love too this week- He would like that. And oh how great shall be your joy if you shall bring many souls unto him!
Elder Chamberlin
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