7/6/15 - Is this a dream?

I LIVE IN THAILAND! Even though I have lived here for almost a year I still wake up every morning and say to myself, "I get to live in Thailand…I speak Thai…I am preaching the Gospel…Is this a dream???" I love being a missionary in Thailand!

This week we invited at a lot of different parks and markets. As I walked down the streets inviting everyone to come unto Christ I was just in awe at how good God is. We went from the most beautiful parks in the world to the coolest ghetto markets ever and no matter where we were God had people prepared to hear the gospel!

This week we had a couple of setbacks with investigators who were not progressing. BUT when one door closes another door opens. After anxiously working our tails off and praying with faith we have 4 new investigators. All of these new investigators seem so so so sincere especially Brother Man. I invited Brother Man about 4 weeks ago but he wasn't really free to meet. He called us this week and told us that he has been thinking about changing religions for a while now. We met with him a couple times this week and in every lesson the spirit was just so strong!!! It is a miracle that we invited him!! Recently I have had a hard time NOT inviting. Hahah, as I walk past people I think, "This person could be the next relief society president" or "This person's life can be changed if she is invited!!" So now if I ever miss one person I feel so guilty!! I don't know if that is a bad thing or a good thing!

This week I have had so many great experiences that have lead me to a deeper understanding of the love of God! I want to testify that I KNOW God’s love is real!! I have felt it myself, but more than that I have felt his love for others! I feel it when I talk to the homeless mother sitting on the side of the road grasping her daughter to block out the noise. I feel it for the little fragile grandma who lives in a little dirt shack who smiles from ear to ear because we came to share a thought with he. I feel it for the boy who is mentally disabled and just starts to glow when we walk in the room. I feel it for my investigator who just lost his whole family and is coping with hope. I even feel it for the people who reject me time and time again. I know that God loves every single one of his children. I don't just know but I have felt it too!! I am so grateful that God has let me feel a little of his love for his children.

"No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us."

This past week President and Sister Senior left the mission. I was present when both the “Presidents” were together for a couple hours. It was amazing, you could feel the keys being handed over. It strengthened my testimony of the priesthood power. So cool! It was sad saying goodbye to the Seniors but I know that God has chosen President and Sister Johnson for this mission at this time! I already feel so close to them! They are the sweetest, kindest couple ever! I am so excited to work with them!!!

LOVE you all, have a great week!!
- Sister Herrmann

Special lunch for President Senior. I got to eat Lasagna and I about died! I miss cheese! 

A Pday at Lumpini Park biking on the pond :)

I got a package from home!

Walking through markets chillin with pig heads and other gross things

Paa and Maa taking us for dinner then buying us food for the next day. I love them.

Meeting sister Johnson

OH MY GOODNESS I AM GOING TO MISS SISTER BLACK! I love my sisters of the mission! 

Kwan my BFF from bangnaa came and visited me

I love DukDuks!

Visiting with a member's son

4th of July! I love America!

4 baptisms on Sunday!

6/29/15 - The 9 Languages of the Thailand Bangkok Mission

How many languages does it take to serve a mission in Thailand?.... 9!!! This past week we have taught, invited, and just chatted in 9 different languages! Even though we had a lot of disappointment with investigators we learned so much and saw many miracles!!

1. English. I thought I knew this language until I started speaking Thai all the time. My grammar, vocab, and phrasing is all messed up!! You know it is bad when the bishop of the international ward asks you to pray and Thai words keep coming out of your mouth because you can't think of the word in English! 

2-5. Thai which has 3 variations including: Middle, East, and North! All these languages sound different! And don't let me forget the Thai-glish language which I have perfected!!

6. Laos. As we were contacting the other day we were in a hurry to get home. We both got an impression to stop and help the lady across the street and invite her. She just happened to be a Laos-ion grandma! She immediately wanted to know more. We called Sister News (who knew some Laos) and taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ! Unfortunately she has to go back to Laos next week BUT she is going to work with the missionaries there and get baptized in Laos!

7. Pakistani. This week we went over to eat dinner at some Pakistani refugees’ homes! All of these people have been coming to church over a year now and are just WAITING for their visas so they can get baptized! One of the brother's showed me some pictures from his country and it was a bunch of Christian homes getting burnt down. It made me so sad but amazed by the faith of these Christian families! They taught us how to pray in their native language :)

8. Cambodian. Some elders from Cambodia had to come to Bangkok for a surgery. We were able to teach some Cambodian members here with them. They taught us a little about how to bare our testimony in their language.

9. Burmese. In the past week we have picked up 6 Burmese investigators who barely speak any Thai or English. It has been interesting to me that even though they don't understand us very well they keep coming back to learn.

As I have tried to teach, invite and chat in all these different languages I have realized that there is only 1 language that I really need to know and understand and that is the language of the Spirit! "To preach my gospel by the Spirit, even the Comforter which was sent forth to teach the truth" (D&C 50:14). In half the lessons we taught this week both myself and the investigators didn't understand much BUT because the Spirit was there it didn't matter. We all were able to FEEL the Spirit.

As I studied more about the Spirit this week I started to truly understand when it everyone says, "You cannot testify of Jesus Christ without the Spirit." In this life and at this time it is essential to have to Spirit with us or we drown spiritually! The only way to have the Spirit is by 1. being worthy and 2. praying and working for it. "You will not survive spiritually without the protection (and guidance) of the companionship of the Holy Ghost in your daily life. You must pray for it and work to have it." -Henry B. Eyring. I am so grateful for the Spirit in my life. Even though I am still working on understanding the Spirit, I know that it has blessed my life and the lives of others immensely!

Fun events that happened this week:
- The past president of Thailand showed up at our church.

- The other sisters and I sang and danced to Disney songs till much too late one night!

- We celebrated Christmas’ half birthday (June 25th) by acting out nativity scenes.

- I have become an expert at saving money. MSF comes in tomorrow thank goodness! 

- I beat the elders and Brother Lod in PIG when we had sports night. All that basketball with my dad and brothers in our driveway paid off!

- Last but not least, it was President Senior’s last week here. I am going to miss the Seniors so much! They have taught me so much throughout my mission and I will be forever grateful for them! I am so sad to see them leave but I am ready to welcome President Johnson! Here I go on another crazy week! Ready, Set GOOOOOO! Have a great week everyone! Love you all!

Love,
Sister Herrmann

6/22/15- "Sister Hermet" & Sister Hassaya

Well folks the awkward/awesome trio has come to an end and I have gained a new child who is Thai!! Let me tell you about my companion because I just love her so much!! Her name is Sister Hassaya and she is so cute and little and from Chang Mai and when I say little I mean TINY! She is literally half the size of me!! She actually doesn't speak any English which has made me realize how much my Thai can improve! But I have LOVED being able to speak Thai with her 24/7. We have been together just a short couple days but I feel like it has been forever! AHHH I just love her so much!! We had a really busy week! We visited a lot of less active members and 3 of them came back to church. It is amazing how showing our love and inviting them back works! One of the many perks of being with a Thai comp is when I am lost I just hand the phone over to her and she will get us where we need to be! She is such a good sport, if any of you don't know, I am a pro speed walker. It is just a habit that I have always had. My legs are twice the length of my companions so she is basically running all the time to catch up with me. I told her I can slow down but she refused to let me do that.

I have learned that when dealing with greenies they miss home a lot so it is my job to help distract them. I realized that though I love and miss you guys, it has gotten to a point where I know you are safe and I will see you soon so it is not a sad kind of missing!

On Friday we were trying to get to a less active member’s house. We had to take a couple busses and the MRT to get there but we ended up lost in the middle of nowhere. We were talking on the phone to the lady that we were going to visit and she had no idea where we were. Then suddenly a girl walks past us and say, "Who are you looking for?" We told her and that girl just happened to be her daughter. Later we came to find out that right before she found us she was planning on going home the normal way she goes home, but she got an impression to take the long way which led her to us. (Keep in mind this girl is not a member.) Her mother kept saying, "Wow, God really did lead you guys here to me!" It was a cute experience.

This week it rained almost every day. I LOVE THE RAIN. There is nothing better than inviting everyone to come unto Christ in the pouring rain! On Saturday we had a plan to teach a new investigator. When we called him on the phone we were a little worried because he sounded drunk and he didn't actually show up until 2 hours after the appointment. But he brought 4 friends!! We found out they weren't drunk just BURMESE! (The languages of Thai and Burmese are COMPLETELY different.) They didn't speak that much Thai but wanted to learn the gospel so badly. They didn't understand a lot but they did understand the things that the Spirit was telling them. They were all so happy! After the lesson was finished we wanted to give them pamphlets to read because the Book of Mormon is not yet translated in Burmese, so all 5 of them and some members walked to the office together to get the Burmese pamphlets. It was a way cool experience!

Our investigator, Gone, got baptized on Sunday!! It was a really good baptism! He was so happy! (For some reason he keeps calling me Sister Hermet and I don't have the heart to tell correct him! haha) He was one that the Lord truly prepared! When we met him he was actually searching for the right Church. The morning he met us he was planning on going out to find a church, he prayed to God to be lead to the right church and then found us!

This week I have been thinking about how much I have changed over the course of my mission! There are the little changes such as enjoying waking up early or cleaning a house or the love of working hard! (Who would have ever thought it.) I have also changed in the sense that my whole outlook on life is different! I understand that there is something AMAZING in everyday! Whenever something is hard or not the most fun thing to do I tell myself with a smile, "THIS IS FUN!" (haha) I am having my companion do it too! I honestly can see the hand of the Lord in everything that happens! Also, I have found that lots of things haven't changed but just increased! My love for the scriptures and people and Christ have become so much stronger. It is funny, the more I change and grow, the more I see how much I still need to change and grow. I have never felt so weak YET so strong in my whole life. Through all the weakness and trial of being human, the Savior pulls through for me every time to give me that strength which slowly changes me. "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." I am so excited to devote these next 4 and a half months and then a lifetime after that to changing to become more like my Savior, Jesus Christ!

Well, have a great week everyone! LOVE YOU ALL!
- Sister Herrmann

PS There was stake conference for the other stake which has Bangnaa and Bangkapi and I was able to see a lot of the ward members! MADE MY DAY!

PSS Brim cut my hair!

PSSS I have now deeply organized the phone, area book, and house in every area that I have served!

PSSSS Happy 30th anniversary to my parents!! I am trying so hard to get my recent converts to get married! In Thailand it is a cultural thing to wait a long time before marriage…finish school, have a job and house, etc. I finally made a deal with them that when the temple comes they will be ready to get married! YAY!

My two children :)

Cleaning our house on P-day

6/15/15 - I LOVE THAI PEOPLE!

I don't even know where to start since this week was literally all over the place and crazy, I guess the most important thing to know is that the work is still moving forward!! Working close to President Senior has its pros and cons--earlier in the week we were contacting right next to where President was eating lunch, of course the moment he looked over at us there was no one on the street--I finally saw someone way up ahead and started running to them. One thing that I have learned here is that everyone is watching us! This week there was a huge flood and one of our Elders wanted to get across the street without getting wet…he got very creative using these things on the street to get across. And before you know it, 2 hours later, he is all over Facebook and the news!!

I had 2 days of zone conference this week for the east and west zone! It was President Senior’s last one. It was so good and I felt the Spirit so much I just wanted to cry the whole time!! It was all about hope and not giving up, I really learned a lot! (SIDE NOTE: President is a really spiritual man but also a really funny man. This is what he told all his missionaries at zone conference, "I know that not one of you will have a free Friday night when you get home because my missionaries know how to find and contact!")

Our investigators are awesome! Teaching them is so much fun! It is so exciting to see the gospel take over their lives! Right now we have about 12 investigators but only about 4 are strongly progressing! I met Sister Suu in English class the first week here and at first she was not interested in our message at all! BUT then she prayed and her whole perspective has changed! Brother Gone is a 25 year old guy who has studied Christianity before. He has been to church a couple times and whenever I call and follow up with him he just says, "I feel so so so so good!!!!" Brother A is a 30 year old man who is just like the character Johnny Bravo!! HAHA, he is like that suffer "cool bro" type guy! When we showed him the font and explained baptism he said, "Wow, that’s awesome...awesome!" We are teaching another lady who is actually the mom of a returned missionary. She is so CUTE and has so much faith. She keeps telling me, "My son and daughter just changed so much after joining the church. What is this change I see in them?" This gospel is so cool! I LOVE THAI PEOPLE!

Remember Lod and Ploy? They are the cutest!! They were teaching us the restoration one day and they kept going back and forth trying to figure out what a particular scripture meant. As we were discussing it Lod asked, “Why are the verses so long? I read the verse and thought to myself that it could be restated in one sentence. Then Sister Ploy said, "Haha Lod, have fun taking that one up with the Lord!" They are awesome and already have so many friends in the ward!

Let me sum up the awesomeness and weirdness of my week in a paragraph. So my investigator bought us roses? We taught a lesson through sign language. (My acting skills really came to life!) I ate ice cream 4 times a day. The awkward moment when you invite someone and you are making this ugly squinting face because sweat is dripping into your eyes. ADVICE, never sleep on a tile floor, it is painful!! People come up with the weirdest rejection excuses here…"my dog will cry if I go to church, I just can't do that to my dog!" (said in a deadly serious voice). One of my favorites is when they point one way and then bolt the other way OR when they say in English, "I am Buddha!" Ahhhh, I love it. Because so many weird things happen here we wanted to try inviting American style by knocking on doors. We were so scared but finally got up the courage to do it! We knocked and were ready to talk all about Jesus Christ, then a Muslim woman with her head covered and wearing a full burka answered. We all just stood there shocked, not knowing what to do. We took the risk and shared our message after an awkward 15 second silence. They were not interested but at least they know more about our church! I am glad I get to serve in Thailand and don't knock doors! Ahhh being a missionary is the best!

This week I was thinking a lot about hope. I tried to imagine what my life would be like without the gospel and the Church, and all my sense of hope would be lost. It all starts with the hope that we are children of God and are saved through Christ. That hope leads to the hope that we can change and help others change too. We have to let that hope push us to keep moving forward. I agree with Elder Holland who said, “Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead. Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven. But for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come."

Have a great week everyone! Love you all!!! :)
- Sister Herrmann

PS My new companion comes Wednesday!
PSS HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mom, Chase, and Grandma!