11/9/15 - Forever Changed!! Last letter... see you in America peeps!

Please join us for Sister Tessa Herrmann's mission homecoming on Sunday, December 13th at 800 East 1200 North in Orem at 9:00 am.

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God is good!!! This past week God helped me have the perfect ending of my mission. I was really worried that the week would be really stressful but it was probably the most peaceful, stress free week of my whole mission. I got to meet with so many of the people I love and share the message that I love most. Every single lesson was just an overwhelming testimony to me that God loves all his children. I also felt a deeper understanding for the first and great commandment, “Love thy god with all thy heart, might, mind and strength.” I have seen so many people change their lives because of their love for God....because of it they receive strength beyond their own. For example, our Grandma Daw who can't really see and has no money to buy glasses, still reads the scriptures every night, even though it takes her 30 minutes to get through a verse. She told us that she doesn't get tired until after reading. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." I am a witness that this scripture is true. Before my mission I didn't really understand this. But now I get it. The more we love God, the more you see him work in your life and the lives of others. I have seen this up close and personal! IT’S TRUE!

I never thought this time would actually come. I have been trying to soak in every last minute--the bike riding, the duk duks, speaking Thai, eating Thai food, the culture, the members, teaching, inviting, wearing Christ’s name on my chest, testifying, everything. It’s crazy how fast the time flies when you are in the service of your God. These past 18 months have meant everything to me, my life will never be the same. I am forever changed.

"And now, I ask, what great blessings has he bestowed upon us? Can ye tell?
Behold, I answer for you for our brethren, the {khon Thai} were in darkness, yea, even in the darkest abyss, but behold, how many of them are brought to behold the marvelous light of God! And this is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon us, that we have been made instruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work.
Behold, thousands of them do rejoice, and have been brought into the fold of God.
But behold, they are in the hands of the Lord of the harvest, and they are his and he will raise them up at the last day."

I am eternally grateful for my mission and ready to be a disciple forever. I went to the land of the smiles and lived my best 18 months!
- Sister Herrmann

10/5/15 - Last Transfer! WHAT?!

This past week was transfers and I cannot believe I am on my last transfer! Time has gone too fast! Sister Jo was moving so we spent most the week cleaning, packing, saying goodbye. Monday was both her birthday and P-day so we rode some elephants through rivers, went to some waterfalls and got really lost in the forest in the pouring rain. I felt like I was on Survivor or Man vs. Wild. Transfer meeting was so much fun as I love going and seeing all my friends! These friends I have made throughout my mission will be my friends forever. I will miss Sister Jo and my new companion is Sister Nittya! She is 25 years old and a member of 2 years from Sisaket, Thailand and very sweet! That was my first area when I first got to Thailand.

We got back to our area on Friday and started working hard right away! We visited almost 20 houses that day, including a lot of the RC's who were baptized last transfer. We are going to work really hard on keeping these 9 who were baptized last transfer really strong! I have LOVED seeing their faith grow. They have completely changed, even the children. Speaking of children, on Sunday I was sitting in between First, Luugii, Kanun, Fara and Skii, I felt like such a mom, leaning over every couple minutes telling them to be quiet. At church I felt an overwhelming peace come over me as I looked out at who was in the congregation. Seven of the LA's that we have been working with were at church and 4 of them received new callings! Also every single person who was baptized last transfer was there. It was just such a tender mercy to see all these people trying to keep their commitment to Him.

It has been stressful these past couple days trying to find new people to teach but in those hard moments God was always there to perform a miracle and lift us. Saturday almost all of our investigators who were promising said they were too busy with life to learn. We decided to go visit some LA's. I had a feeling to go visit Sister Chaluie. When we got to her house I called her and before I could say anything, she said, "Sister, can you come see me?" She said she was back in the city so we went back to the city to find her. We found her in this little dump yard sitting on a stool with her old friend. This friend wanted us to teach her which was so amazing!!! An LA that we have been working with and helping come back to church felt Lehi's desire to share the gospel!! This little miracle really lifted our spirits. It was just another testimony to me that God will never leave us alone without out sending help, love and comfort—when we ask for it. And then we taught her the plan of salvation. I have taught the plan of salvation a 1000 times on my mission but this time while I was testifying to these 2 women, whose family lives are literally falling apart piece by piece, I felt different. Like I was helping put the pieces back together by simply stating what I know to be true!!! I am so grateful for the Plan of Salvation! I know without a doubt in my heart that God sent his son, Jesus Christ, to come atone for our sins so that we can be with him and our families together forever! I know that these 2 woman, who have lost children and grandchildren and husbands will see their loved ones again. Because I know this I feel SO much stronger and passionate about sharing this gospel. Giving people the hope they need and CAN have. Warning people of what they need to do. It is so important. "O how great the plan of our God! And he cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam. And he suffereth this that the resurrection might pass upon all men, that all might stand before him at the great and judgment day. And he commandeth all men that they must repent, and be baptized in his name, having perfect faith in the Holy One of Israel, or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God."
So the house we live in now has major problems and is so gross. It is one of the worst in the mission! Lots of bugs, mold, holes in the ceiling and floors etc. On the upside it is much nicer than most of the Thai people’s homes!! The other day the shower broke, (my companion showers like a Thai person and uses the bucket of water) but…I just can't do that! So as I was trying to fix the shower 10-15 HUGE bugs that happen to be poisonous came out of the floor. At this point I decided to just call someone to come fix it! My companion was just sitting there laughing at me! Ahhh, good times in the Bangkok Thailand mission.

During the transfer meeting, I really LOVED Sister Johnson’s message about happiness. This is one of my favorite topics! We have every reason to be happy! If we are going through trials we should be happy that we are learning something and getting an opportunity to rely on God. When good things come into our lives we should be happy that God is so merciful to us and gives us blessings! There is no reason to not be happy!! "As you seek to be happy, remember that the only way to real happiness is to live the gospel of Jesus Christ. You will find peace and eternal happiness as you strive to keep the commandments." So my advice to all my family and friends is to keep the commandments and BE HAPPPPY!

Have a good week! LOVE YOU ALL I’m excited to watch conference!
- Sister Herrmann

Our P-day was awesome! Elephant riding! 

The rain is ridiculous here! It POURS!

My obsession with cats and ice cream is real!

Staying in Bangkok with Sister Brown and Nethercott- and we got locked out! 

Showed up to transfer meeting wearing the same dress as Sister Alley

My new companion, Sister Nittya.

I love sister Kwan!

Giving Fara and Skii their new Book of Mormon and baptism picture

Making my favorite Thai snack at Sister Pat's hair salon. 

8/24/15 - KORAT!

Shout out to the best dog ever, Moki, who is now in doggy heaven. I am going to miss her so much but I know she is not suffering anymore and is much happier. I also heard about my friend Rachel who passed away last night after her heroic battle with brain cancer. I am so sad but happy that she is free. I will miss her.

Well, I got transferred to Korat!! It has been a crazy and fun week and really busy with packing and goodbyes and hellos. Brother Ken got baptized! He was baptized on Saturday and he couldn't be happier! I am so happy for him! Talk about life changing!

The 3 days I have been in Korat have been amazing! President told me that Korat needed me but I am 100% sure that I NEED Korat! My companion is Sister Jo from Colorado. She has been out about 10 months and is amazing and such a hard worker, which makes missionary work so much more fun! The members are all so welcoming and nice and the work is just heavy which I LOVE! We have LOTS of investigators and people to work with. This place is going to BLOW UP (spiritually)!

We have taught a bunch of lessons where the Spirit was SO strong. I feel like every lesson we teach has been blessed and we walk out feeling one step closer to heaven. We have had so many miracles, I don't even know where to start! There are so many prepared people here in Korat. My heart just keeps expanding with love! We have this investigator named Gan who came searching for the church. We found out she drinks coffee regularly and so we challenged her to fast to help her stop and the first thing she said was, "Can I start my fast tonight? I want to quite as fast as possible if it is a commandment of God!" There is this neighborhood here that is just filled with investigators. We went and visited a bunch of them and randomly saw an investigator who didn't answer her phone. She took us to her house and at first she was sad and tired looking but by the end of the lesson the Spirit completely changed her. You could see it in her eyes that she wanted nothing more than the atonement to change her life. In her prayer she thanked God that we were in the right place at the right time. There is this amazing RC who is in her 50's and is basically a missionary. She invites everyone to church. She called us Saturday and wanted us to come visit this 70 year old man she met at the market. We went over to his house and taught him, Jenny, and also invited the motorcycle driver to join us. The room was just filled with the Spirit. When we bore our testimony of Jesus Christ the motorcycle guy looks over at me and whispers, "REALLY?!?!... wow." We are also teaching this cute man who is paralyzed from the waist down because he wants to know why we are so happy. I could go on and on about how many amazing things are happing here in Korat but it would take me all day!

When I got to Korat I thought I was really out of shape because I was going so slow on my bike. One day I got off my bike to check it and my tire was completely flat. I pumped it up but 2 hours later it was flat again. It was about 7PM and we HAD to go visit someone. I pumped it up again but on the way home from that lesson it was completely flat. We had to get home before 9! I planned to just go pump it up real fast but when I got to the bike place the guy started taking my bike apart and fixing it. It was a scary place but as I sat there with my helmet in my hands sitting on the stool, I started teaching the man fixing my bike about Jesus Christ. Wearing Christ’s name on my chest, I felt we were blessed with his power as we sat there surrounded by drunk scary people. We made it home at 9PM!

This week I was studying a lot about the life of Peter! In the bible dictionary it says Peter was one of the greatest of men. It is true that the New Testament recounts some mortal weaknesses, but it also illustrates that he overcame them and was made strong by his faith in Jesus Christ. Even Peter, the great prophet, had weaknesses. I realized that we are all on the path to perfection. So how do we progress, change, and move toward that goal more every day? It is through faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement but along with that faith we must act. Perfection and change don't come if we just sit and believe. We have to do something, "By grace we are saved after all we can do", "faith without works is dead". So this week my companion and I have set a vision of what we want this transfer to be and from there set a bunch of goals to help us achieve our vision. I know that if we have a plan of action to progress, change, and help others, miracles happen! I have seen it so many times! If we fall short we apply the atonement, repent, and get up and work at it again. There is never a “too late”. There is no sin, weakness, failure that is too big for the grace of God. So we need to use it!!!! Use the gift that Christ has given us. Set the vision of what we want to do, what we want to become and then go and DO!

Have a good week everyone!
Sister Herrmann

PS Lots of bombs going off in Thailand. #prayforthailand
PSS I was told by many my house here is haunted. I think Heavenly Father wants me to overcome my fears!

Teaching English class! Im really going to miss those kids!

Gooodbye Ubon!

Sister Jo!