Well its been a quick couple days since we last talked haha- but its been good.
The Water Festival of Roi-et Thailand 2016 was REAL. It was a good time and got some pretty cool footie of it- checkout the driveee
the next morning after all the festivities we had a solid clean the church service project. We surprised pa Jan that morning who normally does a lot of the cleaning by himself. He walked into the sacrament room while we were wiping and polishing the chairs and walls and he said "ชีวิตนี้ยังมีความหวัง" ... "This life still has hope!" Not as funny in english haha but it was way cute and he was super grateful. Service and sacrifice is the key to love.
That was one thing i have really prominently felt as i've been thinking about my time here in roi-et... do i truly love the people im serving? I'm scared outta my pants that i'm gonna have to leave roi-et this week, and so its taken me to some serious pondering. i came to the conclusion, YES. my greatest fear right now is that i will leave and i won't know if my beloved Investigators, and RCs, and members that i care so much about, i dont know if they will be taken care of and nurtured while i have to go on to some new area. It's a pretty somber thought. We talked about this christ-like love for our zone conf call... i love the scriptures we shared. John 15:12-13
How can we "lay down our life" for others? and then in verse 11: "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full."
So that is my message for you today. Ponder how you can "lay down your life" in a sense, for those around you. It reminds me of Matthew 16:24-26, and also of Elder Uchtdorf's talk for some reason (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/04/in-praise-of-those-who-save?lang=eng) and a quote that stuck out to me from it "divorce rarely happens when the husband and wife are happy... So be happy! And brethren, astonish your wife by doing things that make her happy." I know that as we "lay down our lives" by leaving our selfish desires behind, and give our time, attention, and love to those around us, our joy will be full, and we will be happy.
Amidst the craziness of the week we taught a ton, and it felt great. I can still remember waking up sunday morning feeling like my mind is so fresh and rejuvinated and ready to go, and yet my body is so tired ahah. The mind is willing but the body is weak. However, the Lord increases our strength and carries us forward, a sweet blessing to those who serve Him.
One of the members from Udon was here in roi-et and surprised me here so that was fun... brother Daft, he's a stud and an inspiration. His parents won't allow him to be baptized so he has been an investigator for atleast a year now, but knows the gospel better than many. He is a good dude. An investigator randomly promised me that she and her son would be faithful to God and go to church every week even after i leave roi-et, no matter the circumstance. That was way powerful.
Last thing i want to share- Elder Webb and I taught the young men this last week in 3rd hour. It was epic! We weren't informed in advance, we found out last second there was no teacher as we walked into the class. So i told Webb to go with Elder Gundry to go download Elder Hollands "Stay within the Lines" mormon message. I started teaching the boys, and we began by discussing what it means to be brothers with someone. Then we learned the word "brotherhood". A group of brothers that would do anything for eachother, that will be there to back eachother up in a fight, they will love eachother, they'll protect eachother, they will keep eachother out of trouble and look after one another. I explained that they are a brotherhood- they started getting way excited and chanted "brotherhood! brotherhood! brotherhood!" hahha, and then we discussed the priesthood. And what it is, and what kind of trust God has put in us young men. We talked about what God requires of us... worthiness? Then the stage was set for the video, and fortunately video was ready. If you've seen that mormon message you know how epic it is- anyways to wrap it all together... by the end of the class we were all PUMPED to go strengthen our brotherhood, so we went out in the van of brother Awht, and visited some of our boys that didn't come to church/ didnt come to 3rd hour. It was way good and way fun, as they would randomly chant "BROTHERHOOD! BROTHERHOOD!" hahaha. I love these boys. I would always give them random situations and be like- say brother so and so who normally comes to sports night doesnt come this friday....? What do you do? "We are gonna call him and then go find him and bring him!" and then i asked and why?? "because we are brotherhood!!!" hahahah. And what if someone in your brotherhood has girl problems? or what if someone is tempted to go to a party that isn't appropriate... what do you do? One kid answered he would tie his brother up so he cant go hahaha, but the overwhelming answer was they would go save him. and why? "because WE ARE BROTHERHOOD!" love those dudes<3
alright well it was a great week. i love you all. 4 nephi 1:15. I pray that is you<3 dont worry, be happy!
Elder Chamberlin
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