Tessa in Thailand: 4/20/15

So much has happened these past 2 weeks! It has been so crazy with Songkran, conference and transfers! Sister Forte and I are so happy that we are staying together here in บางกะปี! Conference was amazing! I learned so much and realized that I have so much to work on and to improve! Listening really made me grateful for my Savior and the opportunity to change and have a second chance at things! I am so excited to start applying everything that I have learned!

Songkran is a three day celebration of the New Year started Monday and went through Wednesday! It is celebrated by throwing and shooting water on everyone symbolic of washing away all sins and bad luck. So on Monday morning at 6:00 AM we woke up and we're ready to play!! We went to Siam and it was the craziest thing I have ever experienced! There literally wasn't one person not soaked from head to toe! It was like everyone in the whole country turned 12 years old again, pouring and shooting water on each other. By the end of the night we were burnt to a crisp and exhausted. The next 2 days were supposed to be normal missionary work days but it was a little hard because everyone was playing so no one could meet with us and the moment we stepped outside we were drenched! We made numerous calls and when we went to go get lunch or had to go somewhere we would get on our bikes and everyone would try to pull us off and get us to stop and play! And the best part was getting large buckets of water pounded in our faces while riding to an appointment! Haha, good times! Even an activity at the church ended up in a huge water fight...there literally was no way around Songkran! Those couple days were really fun but it was good to have them over! We were ready for all our people to come back to reality and meet and learn again!

These past 2 weeks we had so many miracles! Recently we have been contacting a lot of nice old men! One night we were inviting at the park and right as we were about to leave an old man ran up to us and said, “Ok, I accept, I'm ready to lean about this!" We got his number and made an appointment for the next day. When we met with him he told us that when he was a little child he would see the Elders inviting and riding their bikes and sometimes they would talk with him. When he saw us inviting at the park he had a small flashback to his childhood and it sparked those good memories which led him to come talk with us! He is now on the pathway to baptism! It is just so amazing to me how God really does watch over his sheep. Talking about sheep, one day we were inviting and this guy said, "Hey, I'm a Mormon too, but I haven't been to church since I was a child! I have been trying to find it!" YAY, we were so happy to find another lost sheep of God.

On Sunday I made a goal to talk to everyone in the sacrament meeting room before church started! I started with this one lady and she was so nice! I asked her if she knew anyone interested in the gospel and as soon as I said that she perks up and points to the lady next to her saying, "MY SISTER IS!!" Apparently her sister had been to church 2 times already but hadn't met the missionaries! We taught her after church and she is so excited to get baptized on the 3rd!!

Sister อัน got baptized and she was the cutest thing ever! (One of the best parts of missionary work for me is feeling the excitement and happiness of those who commit both before and after their baptism!) She is so funny, after something good happens, like someone getting baptized or receiving the Holy Ghost, she claps and says, "yaaaay!!" We also had a baptism for sister กุง! She has one of the strongest testimonies ever! I am so proud of her! A couple weeks ago at zone conference President Senior said that we could only go to Swensons (an ice cream place) after district meeting if we baptized a waitress there. We took that to heart and baptized her! Next week we have 4 of our investigators who we have been working with for a long time planning on getting baptized! It is an exciting time here in บวงกะปี!!!

With all the excitement about the temple coming to Thailand I have been thinking a lot about something I can do special for the Lord to show my gratitude! The only thing that came to my mind was to consecrate myself 100%. In our baptismal covenants we promise to take upon us the name of Jesus Christ which means we see ourselves as his, we put him and his work first in our lives, and we seek what he wants rather than what we want or what the world teaches us to want. I have been really trying to consecrate myself and so far it has been great! I honestly couldn't be happier! I love being a missionary!! Be safe. LOVE YOU ALL!!

- Sister Herrmann