4/20/15 - Songkran

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

General Conference Breakfast

We didn't even plan to be matching! 

We are weird but we have fun! 

Look who we ran into!?

Funeral

Switch-off at Bangnaa

4/6/15 - TEMPLE COMING TO THAILAND!!!!!!!

This morning I was awoken by a phone call at 12:00 AM, with the words, "They just announced that there will be a temple in Thailand!!!" When I heard that my heart was overcome with joy, and I was just filled with so much happiness for the people of Thailand! I could not stop the tears from rolling down my face! I lay there in my bed and thought about every single person I have taught here in Thailand who will now have the opportunity to make covenants with God and participate in ordinances! I just know how hard everyone has been working to make this happen. I could not be more grateful. I am just SO SO HAPPY, I literally cannot describe the feeling!!

This week I learned a lot of lessons, some were stressful. Have I ever mentioned how much I love Thailand? I love it so so much--even in hot season which is hitting us hard! It is literally like a huge hot blow dryer on us 24/7or like living in a sauna which some people back in the US actually pay for. I want to make a shout out to my big brother, Spencer, who is now engaged to my future sister!! At first when I heard the news I was really sad and upset that I was going to miss my best friend’s wedding. But after studying the next day I was able to start humbling myself. In Preach My Gospel it talks about when we are humble we seek to know God’s will and do what is required, even when we desire something else. After praying I realized that this is God’s will so it has to be what I want too. Once I humbled myself, my sadness and heartache turned into love and happiness for them. It was a lesson I needed to learn!

This week on p-day we went to the weirdest Thai culture puppet show! It was probably the weirdest thing I have seen here in Thailand! Another thing I learned this week was that it’s a lot easier to feel the Spirit in a clean house! (Mom, sorry it took me this long to realize!) We spent about an hour cleaning our messy place! Now, every time we plan or study or do anything at home the Spirit is so much stronger! 

This transfer God has blessed us so much! We have so many strong, faithful investigators! It's crazy to me how prepared these people are! They are completely changing their lives through Christ!! For example, อัน changed her job, dress, the way she spends her time, what she eats and drinks, and has a new way of thinking all because of her love for Christ! Sister กุง spends all her free time at the church reading scriptures even when we don't have an appointment with her! And ลูกปลา schedules appointments with us just so she can tell us her spiritual experiences! I could go on and on! They amaze me every day!

One thing I learned this week was that missionary work is extremely hard without a phone!! (Dad, I don't know how you did it!) Our phone just got fixed after lots of struggle! But it amazes me that even without a phone for a couple days the miracles still came! Our investigators happened to show up randomly to the church just when we happened to be there! God will let nothing get in the way of the work of salvation!

I don't have much time because I have to hurry off to MLC (mission leadership conference) but I just want to share something from my studies that I read in True to the Faith which has really helped me. I was reading about agency and it just clicked in my head that we can choose to be happy. No one can make us choose how we feel! Even when we are in the hardest trial of our lives we can still choose to be happy. "Submit cheerfully with patience to the will of the Lord.” During this Easter week I realized that the knowledge I have that Jesus Christ died for me is enough to make me happy through anything! So when you start to have negative thoughts or start feel sad count your blessings and the first one can be that Jesus Christ died for YOU! Life is too short to be sad when you can be happy!

So just a little heads up, next week is สงกรานต์ (a 3 day water fight around the whole country) so I won't probably have a chance to email. Thanks for all the love and prayers! I can feel it from 8200 miles away! Have a good 2 weeks! ซิสเตอร์รักทุกคนที่บ้านจริงๆขอให้มีความสุข :)

- Sister Herrmann
PS We got in a car crash this week...it was pretty epic!! Everything is good though.

3/30/15 - Because He Lives

My mission is just flying by, it freaks me out! I feel like last week was a couple of months ago! This week was filled with a lot of spiritual moments and also a lot of fun and laughs!! It just goes to show that when you have the spirit with you, you have fun! We LOVE riding our bikes in the crazy Bangkok traffic! We get coco buns every day and are planning to open a little restaurant when we get home making and selling them. We get to go to Buddhist funerals and see so many interesting things.

I got a new camera and it was super cheap so that made me extremely happy!!! It was perfect because we went to go เทิ่ยว (site seeing?) and พ่อ (dad) took us to a Chinese wat and to this little island! My district is just so cool! We all have such different personalities but we have so much fun and work hard together! Speaking of district unity we changed the way we do key indicators! We are going to do district indicators rather than companionship indicators. So far I have loved it because we work hard together as a group instead of companionship against companionship! That night we had FHE with all of Bangkok and President and Sister Senior! We were able to watch MEET THE MORMONS! It was so much fun being with everyone and watching how people in the film changed their lives through the Gospel!

This week it has been POURING rain! One day we scheduled contacting at 2:00 PM and at exactly 2:00 it started raining. Luckily I LOVE the rain so I was over joyed to be obedient and go contacting in the rain even though we got SOAKED! This week we taught Brother Jack and his wife! It was a hard lesson because Brother Jacks is still confused about the church and his wife isn't a member! We tried to stick to the basics.

This week we had Zone Conference and interviews! It was amazing! I had to be at the church both days before and after conference to pass off RC books and pass off the teaching points for the new missionaries! (After 10 missionaries passed off those teaching points I felt like I knew them inside and out!) In Zone Conference we focused on the simple doctrine of Christ. We watched the “Because He Lives” video and its message resonated with us all. It really made us realize that we are here to testify of Jesus Christ and what an amazing opportunity we have sharing this message with a people who don't know him. We also talked about a new way of contacting in this Easter season! Instead of using the baptism picture we started using the picture of Jesus Christ in the red robe by Minerva Teichert. This picture is special to me personally for another reason. A huge framed version of this picture hangs over the front door of my house in Utah. Since I was a little girl, every time I would go out that door, the Savior was looking down upon me, arms outstretched as a reminder of His love for me. It has been so effective. Everyone we talk to is just so enthralled by the picture. Their eyes are drawn to the gentle, peaceful, calming picture of Christ and they want to know more. It is amazing how a simple picture of Christ can testify of him and his truthfulness!

On Friday morning I opened an Easter package from my family. It had a bunch of candy and fun things but the best part were the letters sent from each member of my family sharing their testimonies of the atonement! As I studied the letters that morning I didn't realize how much it would help me teach during the day. In all the lessons we had, I said something that one of my family members mentioned in their letters.

That day we taught a girl named Gun. We decided to completely focus the lesson on Jesus Christ and the atonement. It was one of the best lessons that I have ever been a part of. The Spirit was over flowing. There is nothing better than testifying of Jesus Christ to someone who is yearning for him. We have also been teaching a girl named An. She is 29 and has 2 kids who are 13 and 6. Her life has been hard because her job doesn't allow her to keep the commandments which is the only true way to happiness. Once she started learning with us she had the strongest desire to change and be clean! The first thing that I said to her was, “Sister An… God loves you so much!" She was shocked in a good way and it was such a relief for her to know that she could be clean and that she has a Father in Heaven who loves her! It was amazing!

We also taught Dik who answered every question with a scripture! At the end of the lesson she said, "Sister, after I got baptized I did receive strength but I still have trials!" My mind went straight to Mosiah 24:15 "And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord." I explained that God will not take away her trial but he will give her strength to endure and face the trial with faith! After teaching this lesson I just felt so happy! Sharing the gospel with people really does make us SO happy, I can't even describe the feeling.

This Sunday we had 2 baptisms! These 2 girls are AMAZING! The first girl was Kwan who is a ray of sunshine! She is always so happy! Both of her parents have passed away and she lives alone at age 20. Through teaching the plan of salvation, the restoration, the gospel and the commandments she has come to love the gospel! She wants to be a missionary, do her family’s work, and be a valiant faithful daughter of God! She has been so prepared by God to hear the gospel! Before we taught her about fasting we asked her what she thought it was. And she knew, it is amazing how prepared she is! Whenever she prays she smiles so big and says, "I am so happy to have found this Church!!!" Patty also got baptized! She is a friend of Kwan’s and has a 3 year old daughter. Patty has had quite the hard life as well and as soon as we started teaching her she knew that the gospel could help her! It was a special day yesterday seeing them both enter the waters of baptism! (Right before they were about the get baptized we realized that there was no water in the font, so the whole ward got buckets and everyone pitched in carrying water to help fill the font!) It really was a great day!

This week the Spirit has been poured out upon me! I honestly think this is the reason missionaries are so happy!! When you have the Spirit with you (even in times of trial) you are happy! Since my family sent me their testimonies and thoughts on the atonement I want to share my feelings as well. -- I know that God sent Christ to the earth for our benefit! He suffered for our sins, weaknesses, pains, and temptations, so that we don't have to! I know that I can call on the Lord anytime for a figurative hug because he knows exactly how I am feeling. Oh, how great is my joy to know that I can live again BECAUSE of what Christ did for me and all of us. What an amazing act of Love. I am eternally grateful for my Savior and our Father’s plan. (พระผู้ช่วยให้รอดของซิสเฅอรเอง) Have a great conference and Easter week!

- Sister Herrmann

Coco Buns for Dayzzzz

I love the rain! 

Kwan getting baptized