Our investigators are so awesome! Our grandma got baptized…it was such a miracle, 99 years old! So we visited her and her daughter told us that she can only meet with us at the church because when we go to their house her brother hears and gets mad. So we were planning on teaching her this Sunday and setting the baptismal date for October 5th. On Sunday she showed up at Church and told us over and over again, "I want to get baptized TODAY!" We were hesitant because she had not learned everything yet but we prayed about it and continued to teach her. She had her baptismal interview and was baptized! After her baptism when she bore her testimony she just kept saying into the microphone, "I am so happy that I am baptized,” over and over again!
Our next investigator is sister Rakdii. She is a literal ANGEL. We call her our golden investigator! She comes to all of our activities, loves the church so much and has such a strong desire to be baptized! She usually goes home on the weekend which is pretty far away. We told her that she NEEDS to come to church every Sunday! She told us, "Well I guess I just won’t go home on the weekends!!" It amazes me how much faith she has already! She is getting baptized next Sunday! There is also Aon who we found in a bike shop. He is in his 30’s and on the phone he always tells us he is too busy to meet but we still set appointments. He says, "I will come if I have time," but he ALWAYS shows up! Same with church! He is so awesome and wants to follow Jesus Christ! He is getting baptized next week too! Bother Moo’s daughters, Bell and Diaa, are awesome. They are really shy but they are learning the gospel and want to be baptized! Then we have all the girls with the momma permission problems, Aom and Baan and Uum! It is hard because their parents don't let them come to church or meet with us so they really need all the prayers they can get!! Something that stinks here is that they do extensive testing in schools for about a month which is happening right now. They study a lot on Sundays and are never free because they are ALWAYS studying!
We taught a lot of lessons this week, one right after another! So I learned a little lesson this week, FOLLOW THE PROMPTINGS OF THE SPRIT! Lots of times I get promptings to do things and I do them but I don’t see the results. On Wednesday I was riding my bike to a lesson with a less active member and passed by this girl. I immediately got the impression to turn around and talk to her but I pushed away the thought and kept going. Then the feeling came stronger and stronger! I finally stopped and turned around. I invited her to church expecting her to say NO but she said, "I have been to this church and have been thinking about it a lot lately, can you teach me more?" WOW...it just goes to show that God is in charge and knows his children. It is just so crazy how God is preparing the hearts of so many people (Alma 16:16)!
This Sunday we had a goal of getting 150 people to Church because they were doing the quarterly counting thing! The night before, we went out with the Relief Society and visited all the less active members and asked them to come to Church. We also called everyone in the whole area to come to church! The next morning SO MANY PEOPLE CAME!!! Sister Bangery, a recent convert, brought a lot of her students to church and about 14 out of 17 of our investigators showed up! It was AMAZING! We had 175 people at church! What a miracle! It was such an amazing day!
Contacting has been interesting this week! I have been thinking about changing things up a little. I tried dancing, singing, going to the gym and running (in my skirt) with people while talking to them about the gospel. Surprisingly it worked! There is this guy I gave a pamphlet to about the plan of salvation, 3 weeks ago. I explained the importance of the gospel and always check on him but he still hasn't read it. Finally, I said, "IF YOU HAVE TIME TO POOP YOU HAVE TIME TO READ THIS PAMPHLET!" Yeah, I know I probably shouldn't have said that, but I did, and he read it the next day! Too funny! I love telling everyone about the gospel! When we were contacting the other day the Elders kept calling me over and saying, "They know you.." haha, it happened 4 or 5 times! It just shows that as missionaries in Thailand, we talk to EVERYONE!
So on Friday the members asked if we could do a dance with them. We said yes and then found out that it will be in front of 100's of people and we have to get all dressed up! We practiced on Sunday which just showed me that I STINK at dancing! Oh well, I am going to do it anyway! Teaching piano is fun but definitely more difficult in Thai!
In the Book of Mormon I have been really studying the missionary work of the sons of Mosiah! Wow they are so amazing and I learn so much from them! Each story shows a different aspect of missionary work. I love in chapter 17 how it talks about how they suffered so much affliction but they still called on the Lord thinking ONLY of others’ salvation and how they can bring them to Christ! In Alma 18 Ammon is just doing what was asked of him and being exactly obedient. He showed love and service to King Lamoni which caused King Lamoni to wonder what was different about Ammon! We can be missionaries just by our example! In Alma 21 it talks about how Aaron taught by opening the scriptures and sharing them. There are so many ways to teach people about the gospel and do missionary work! We just have to use the opportunities we are given! I also love in Alma 24:27, "Many righteous were killed which brought thousands to the truth.” God sees the big picture and He knows us. He has a specific plan for each and every one of us!
I love the scriptures so much! I love sharing the gospel everyday with everyone! I love being a missionary! The missionary purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel though faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. What a great invitation! Have a good week everyone and enjoy conference!!
- Sister Tessa Herrmann
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