7/27/15 - Back to Sisaket for a visit!

I am only on for a couple minutes today and then I am off to ride elephants! But there are lots of pictures this week!

Many amazing things happened this week! First off I got to go to Sisaket on a switch off. I felt like I was back at home! I LOVE Sisaket! I remembered every street and every street vendor. We got to visit all my favorite people! Lots of tears and lots of love! I got to teach my recent converts and the less actives that I was working with a year ago. It was a very rewarding day for me to see the growth of the people that I have helped come unto Christ. The best part of the day though was seeing my very first RC who is now 100 years old. She is one special woman. As soon as I walked in the door, her face lit up and a tear ran down her face. Hundreds of tears were running down mine. She said, “Kab Khun Lielie” over and over again ("thank you" in the Esan language). She remembered me and her baptism. She remembered it to the day - October 12th 2014. She said she wants nothing more than to live with her family for eternity, and she will be able to:) I never thought I was going to see her again in this life. It was such a little tender mercy of the Lord. Those members of Sisaket are very very special people to me. They are nothing less than family to me.

We got to do some service at a member’s house. It was a very humbling experience. I got to cut open 3 coconuts at 3 different times this week (I have this obsession with getting coconuts from coconut trees!!). I caught a frog, I plowed weeds, I fixed a house, and I made some somtum. I love serving! I also had an amazing inviting experience! We had less than an hour and all I wanted was to get 5 phone numbers. I prayed my soul out. I worked harder than ever before and at the end of that 45 minutes I got exactly 5 numbers. I know this sounds silly but it was just a testimony to me that God is in the details IF we put in our effort. One day we went to go visit a member and it took a long hour and a half car ride to get there.

This week I have been working so hard on consecrating myself. I have been stressing out by wondering if I have done enough or what else I could have done more. I only have this year and a half to give Him 100% consecration. There is no other time in my life that I will get this opportunity to devote everything (my thoughts, time, energy) to my God! I just want God to know how much I love him. And my consecration is the way to show him! BUT I am human and fall short sometimes. I decided these next 3.5 months I am going to work harder than I ever have! “Stick to you task till is sticks to you. Beginners are many but enders are few”. I am going to sprint to the finish. I love my God. I love my Savior. I know that no matter how hard things get in life, I will never be left alone or comfortless. All I want in this life is to be a valiant faithful servant of God.

Hope you guys had fun at the family reunion. I really am sad I missed it. I Love you all soooo much!
-Sister Herrmann

Me and Sister Hayes having a BLAST taking pictures at the wat! 

Service at a members house!

My 100 year old convert. I love her!

Pictured Below: SISTER RIBBON & TUN! SISTER GIG- My RC!, BROTHER NOOY, SISTER SOMKID, SISTER MYURY, SISTER YOOOOOOO, MAAA DAW (We surprised her and the moment I entered in the house she screamed and hugged me :)

12/8/14 - Last week in Sisaket- I am so sad!

This week was Zone Conference! We traveled 4 hours to Khon Kean Tuesday morning and helped the missionaries in their area. It was a lot of fun because sister Nethercott and Grover from the MTC were there! That night we slept on the hard tile so we didn't really sleep well! Wednesday was Zone Conference and it was so much FUN! We went to a market and sang Christmas carols and then ate AMERICAN FOOD!! I didn't realize how much I missed cheese! For Zone Conference we focused on the Savior and his life. We did a lot of activities, sang songs, bore testimony, etc. It was a night filled with the Christmas spirit!

That night Sister Carter, Elder Watkins, Elder Mitchell and I were taking a duk duk to the bus station and the most awkward thing ever happened!! The wind was making my skirt a huge bubble and I noticed and was commenting how funny it was when all of a sudden my skirt flew up showing my garments! I grabbed it down as fast as possible but the look on those poor Elders face was priceless! AHH so embarrassing!! That night we went from a duk duk to a bug to a taxi and got home at 2 AM. We didn't get much sleep that night so the next day we were all kind of out of it!

Simon our investigator from Africa got baptized! It was amazing! He lives 40 minutes away from the Church which costs about 400 bat in transportation which is really expensive in Thailand! We had a couple lessons over the phone and he told us that his parents were Catholic. He was so confused because his thoughts from reading the Bible and Catholicism didn't match up. He was so willing to keep the commandments! Whenever we would ask him if he had any problems with the commandments he would say, "Well, if it is a commandment of God, of course, I am going to keep it." He had so much faith and is so good!!! It has been quite the adventure teaching him in English! I use a lot of thai-glish! It is so hard to teach in English! When he got baptized he was so happy! In his testimony he said that he knew he had to be baptized by immersion and be a part of this church to make it back to Heavenly Father! It was a good day! I am so grateful that I got the opportunity to teach him.

So this week on Friday it was FATHERS’ DAY, aka the King’s birthday! It is one of the biggest holidays here. Everyone wears yellow and celebrates the king and fathers in general! I felt so bad because we needed someone to take us to Simon’s house and the only person who was free was the Brother Somsak, the branch president! Later we found out that after helping us, he helped both sets of elders! So basically he took his whole day off and fathers’ day to help the missionaries!!

We had lots of little parties with the members which was really fun. We were served fish which was gross. They literally catch the fish, cut them open, gut them, and put them on the grill. It was a lot of fun being with what feels like family. We also had a get together Sunday night. They told me that wherever I go in Thailand to always remember where I was born…Sisagate. And that I have many moms and dads there supporting and loving me. I was on the edge of tears. I am going to miss them so much

This week I read 3 talks that really inspired me to be a better missionary and person in general. I read "What Have I Done for Someone Today", "The Character of Christ", and "The Mansion". All these talks have the exact same topic of “giving”. I think everyone knows that service and turning outward is very important but sometimes in the moment of pain and trials it is hard to turn away the natural man. In the Character of Christ it says, "Character is in the power to discern the sufferings of others when we ourselves are suffering; in the ability to detect the hunger of others when we are hungry and in the power to reach out and extend compassion for the spiritual agony of others when we are in the mists of our own spiritual distress. This character is demonstrated by looking and reaching outward when the natural man and instinctive response is to be self absorbed and turn inward." While reading, my thoughts veered to our savior, Jesus Christ. I have been studying about his life and his amazing selfless character. I think of the words in Matthew, "But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." Christ did all those things. When he was suffering more than anyone can imagine he was praying for the well being of others, seeking comfort and peace for those who needed it much less than he. Even when he was suffering, his first thought was how to help others. Obviously this Christ-like service can't come through sheer willpower. In the talk it says, "As we are dependent upon the mercy and grace of God, we are enabled to reach outward when the natural tendency is for us to turn inward." I have come to realize selfless service is a gift that you can inherent through the atonement of Christ.

As we are serving and giving of ourselves we have to make sure we are not doing so for ourselves. I read the story, “The Mansion”, about a man named John Weightman who is rich and is always "giving". But in his heart it was for his own gain in the world. At the end of the story he has a dream about getting his mansion in heaven. Others had big nice ones but when he saw his it was a small shack. He was so confused. He tried telling the keeper about all the service he did and the keeper said, “We know you did all that stuff. They were not ill done. But they were all marked and used as foundation for the name and mansion of John Weightman in the world." Later he asks, "What could I have done better? What is it that counts here?” The keeper said, "Only that which is truly given, which is done for the love of doing it, only those plans in which the welfare of others is the master thought, only those labors in which the sacrifice is greater than the reward, only those gifts in which the giver forgets himself." I love that statement so much! It is good for self evaluation. Having studied this has made me see how I can sincerely turn outward better. I have also learned so much about this through the examples of the Thai people. They are constantly giving to truly help others! I am so grateful for their example and love they have shown me! Thinking about leaving this branch literally kills me!

Well in the spirit in Christmas I challenge all of you to turn outwards and follow the example of our Savior. Ask yourselves every day,

"Have I done any good in the world today?
Have I helped anyone in need?
Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad?
If not, I have failed indeed."

I love you all! Have an amazing week! Keep me in your prayers as it is going to be a stressful week with transfers and MLC! Thanks for all the love and support!!

- Sister Herrmann
PS. I got 10 new mosquito bites on my feet!

Eating at a fancy hotel at Khon Kean

With the sisters in Khon Kean

In a songtow

Muay and Toffy. This is the last time I will see them :(

Walking with my horsy to church :)

We match! 

Mama Boom

Maa Daw!

Gig!

Simon got baptized! 

So sad- my last Sunday with Ribbon

Baptisms galore!

I love my children! 

My maaaa! She is the best! 

Last time seeing my good friend Benz!

All of my moms & dads! 

12/1/14 - Week of Miracles & little Saiya gets Baptized!

This week was a week of miracles!! So many wonderful things happened. On Monday we went to the zoo. The animals were so cute but so many of them were deformed—like they had extra legs. It was freaky weird but so much fun! We had FHE with the missionary council which was really fun as usual!!

On Tuesday it was my half birthday! We had the funniest lesson in the WHOLE WORLD with Brother Nooy! I was asking him questions about his life and we talked about his son a little. Then I asked him, "You don't live with your fan right?" In Thai "fan" means other half, not married and married. He answered back (at least what we understood), "no engaged." We were really confused. Then he went on to tell us how he stays at his fan's on the weekends. We got really concerned and instead of clarifying, we jumped into a chastity lesson! We were all mixed up and confused. Finally after 10 minutes of talking about this we figured it all out! He was talking about his son being engaged! He is married and we were going on telling him that he couldn’t do anything with his fan! It was really embarrassing and funny! The rest of the lesson we were just in tears laughing.

The best miracle ever was with Saiya! Monday night we talked to her and she said that she was going to try to get permission from her dad to get baptized. Her parents are separated and she rarely ever sees her dad. She was very pessimistic it would happen. I told her that she needed to pray really hard and have faith that he would open his heart. The next two days I prayed my heart out for her and her dad! Wednesday night we were all at the Church and Sayia comes up on her bike, jumps off, runs and gives me a big hug! Then she said, "MY DAD SAID YES!" She was so happy and just glowing. It was so awesome!! She got baptized this Sunday and it was such a special experience! She has been waiting for 5 months for this and to see it actually happen was a miracle!

We kind of had 2 Thanksgiving dinners this week! The members wanted to do Thanksgiving on Sunday but Sister Carter and I thought, “There is no way we are not celebrating on actual Thanksgiving!" That morning we woke up and we yelling to the world HAPPY THANKSGIVING! We said it to everyone we saw, while riding our bikes even while inviting. Everyone was very confused. Being outside the US, no one knows about Thanksgiving! That night we cooked a meal and ate together as a district! It was fun and the Elders really appreciated it a lot. We played our family tradition game of passing candy (at home it was candy corn but here we used these cheap Thai-styled m&ms). Each time it's passed, a person takes an M&M and share one thing they’re grateful for until it's all gone. Thai candies don't taste all that great though so...we all made faces as we shared something and then crunched on the fake chocolate. Good times. On Sunday (the other Thanksgiving) we had HAM and CAKE!!! It was delicious!

A funny thing happened when Sister Carter and I were inviting by this school in the evening. They were having this huge reunion party with a Thai-dancing concert. I wanted to go in and take a picture of the concert really quick. We just walked inside the school and all these Thai students waived to us and thought we we're English teachers... awkward. After taking the pictures we thought to make a quick escape when this guy called us over and asked what we're doing. We said, "Uhhh... we just wanted a picture." He then motioned us over and said, "Sit down! Sit down and enjoy the show!" We were trying to refuse but he insisted and we felt it would be rude to say no. He guided us to this little table with these gorgeous Thai women and said, "Help yourselves!" So, there we were…at a Thai High school, at a huge reunion, at a fancy table, with two women, sipping water. Yeah, it doesn't sound as awkward as it was. One of the women knew English and tried talking to us. We spoke in Thai back to her and she was relieved. She kept chatting to us while we were sweating bullets. Literally, we were both sweating a lot. We kept looking at each other and asking, "How do we get out of here?" We completely forget the fact that she spoke English. Awkward. She was kind of laughing to herself as we tried to excuse ourselves from the situation. I finally blurted out, "Okay, we have to go. We have an appointment! Okay! Bye!" We booked it, and that was the end of that. I wish you could fully understand how awkward it all was but I guess it's a “you-had-to-be-there” kind of thing.

Another miracle! We met this man from Africa a few months ago. His name is Simon. He said he wasn't interested but we gave him our card and forgot about him. He called us this week and said, "Hey, I want to learn from you guys." He lives over 45 minutes away and no members was willing to take us. We told him that we couldn’t and he was super disappointed. He said, "Well, I am going to church. I have to pay my offerings! You will pick me up!" We told him that we couldn’t. Sunday morning rolls around and he calls us at 8:00 am and said, "Hey, I am at the bus station! Pick me up!" We were like, "what???" So, we called a member to pick him up since we couldn’t really pick him up...with our bikes. He came to church and I translated Sacrament Meeting and the second hour for him. We taught about the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the investigator class. As we taught about baptism, he turned around to face me (I am behind him translating) and said, "I have been baptized in the Catholic Church before but I want to be baptized in this church." I asked him, “When do you want to be baptized?" "Next week." IT WAS AWESOME!!! We still have to teach him a lot but I am really excited!

I finished the Book of Mormon! It is actually the best book on this EARTH!! I love it so much!! As I was reading in Ether 12 again everything just became so clear to me and made so much sense!! I have studied this topic so much and every time I do it just makes me so happy!! We have trials and weaknesses so that we CAN use the atonement and grace of God and essentially become like him and become closer to him! "Come unto Christ and be perfected in him," Moroni 10:32. This week we also got the Ensign which means CONFERENCE! I was reading in the conference talk, "Lord Is It I?" and the whole talk fit perfectly with what I was studying. I love when it says, "But those who want to improve and progress, those who learn of the Savior and desire to be like Him, those who humble themselves as a little child and seek to bring their thoughts and actions into harmony with our Father in Heaven—they will experience the miracle of the Savior’s Atonement.” Although having weaknesses sometimes stinks in the moment, in the long run, it really does help us grow closer to Christ. On my mission, overcoming weaknesses through the grace of God and truly changing to be more like God has helped me more than anything else feel close to the Lord and truly understand the strengthening and changing power of the atonement!

Over this Thanksgiving week I was thinking about what I am truly grateful for. I am grateful for so many things but the main thing that came to me was “Change”. I am grateful that I have a Savior who overcame everything so that I can change to become more like him and live with him again. I am so grateful for this Church and the atonement of Jesus Christ. I can't imagine my life without this knowledge and that is exactly why I am here, to bring that knowledge, happiness, and hope to the people of Thailand!

Well I love you all! Thanks for all the support and love!!! Have a wonderful week!!
- Sister Herrmann

PS Remember how I said it was cooling down last week? Well it is back to BOILING HOT!!

Thailand is so beautiful!

Im getting very good at carrying things on my bike

One day we got lost and ended up in an indian village and got stuck in these trees

Cooking with my Thailand Mom

Our own Thanksgiving!

My little girl got baptized. I love her so much! We are attached to each other! 

We went to a zoo where the animals have issues. This cow has three legs growing out of its side.