Artistic Elephants and A Time to Endure to the End

Hey everyone!

Today was a fun day! This morning we rode elephants, and saw an elephant show. This is the third time on my mission riding elephants, but no one else in my district had yet so off we rode. Elephants in general are probs a one time thing, but today at the show I saw them paint pictures and realized....man elephants are waayyy more artistic than I am!

This transfer is over now, and Sister Carrillo AND my whole district are all staying in Lampang another transfer! WE are so happy! We love it here. 

This week I went on a switch off with Sister Peck (she dies (finishes her mission) next transfer), and she is crazy good at Thai! Man I have a long way to go still. On this switchoff we were inviting at Central, which is the mall chain all over Thailand, and we got kicked out! Getting kicked out is nothing unusual, but this time the Lady was blowing her whistle at me saying I needed to leave immediately...so we did...classic. 

Another funny thing that happened this week was we were on a bus and this guy and his family starts talking to us in broken english.  I respond to him in Thai thinking he was Thai, he is then all, "I don't understand you." To which I continued saying the same stuff over and over in Thai. Finally, I clue in and ask, "Where are you from?" And it turns out they were from Korea....oopssss. I swear they looked Thai. They wanted to take a picture with us when we got off the bus though, so I guess it was all chill. That same night I was contacting and I did the same thing again...but this time it was someone from Nepal...oh man so embarrassing.

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One day this week when Sister Carrillo and I were going to teach an investigator, Brother S (the guy that got baptized last week), called us and wanted to help teach.  A while later, he rides up on his bicycle in a suit and starts following us all around the town... it was waay funny. 

Lately here in Lampang the weather will be crazy hot in the morning and then it will crazily rain at night...like up to your knees while riding your bike rain.... I finally bought a rain poncho at 7/11 though so hopefully I will now be able to show up a little less wet to lessons. 

I have been feeling so tired lately, it is crazy. One day this week Sister Carrillo and I were reciting these memorized quotes in Thai, and switching  back and forth with who said one. As she was saying one... I somehow managed to fall asleep...in the space of like 10 seconds, and sitting up too!  Sister Carrillo just said she watched me for a minute or two because she couldn't believe I had actually fallen asleep. Lately I feel like I have felt kinda far away, I feel like I have been here so long (In a week I will have been on my mission a year), and it feels like it has been both fast and slow. It is a weird feeling and the work feels....not slower, but more routine. I know this is just Satan though, and that when we face a trial we need to, "Point our faces to heaven and say.... I know what this is Lord, a time to prove myself...and then partner with him to endure well to the end." 

I love you all!!

Waffles and Donuts

Hey everyone!! I am super low on email time again, so if i didn't email you back...don't worry I still love you. 

This week was a great week, we had zone conference in Chiang Mai!! It was a really fun experience and some members and one of my recent converts came to visit me! I was so happy to see them!! We went to the wooden go-cart on the mountain place again (my district hadn't been, but I'd already been as a greenie) and it was good. I didn't do the cart thing again, but I did get to eat some really overpriced waffles on the top of a mountain! 

This week I realized that now only Elliott and Sawyer live at home...it was a weird realization. 

This was a good week, sadly one of our investigators with a baptismal date moved away (Thai people move so suddenly), but another one of our investigators got baptized this Sunday! I will tell you guys the story of how we met him and whatnot. 

The story of Brother S:

It was one of my first days in Lampang, and we were still figuring out the area. We were at the church to teach someone, but they hadn't shown up for  their appointment. We walked out of the church, and I saw this guy on the street. He asks me what time English class was, and I said, "Its at 630, but do you want to learn about Jesus?" He promptly replied, "Okay." The next day we taught him and as it turned out he'd had lessons with the missionaries about a year earlier. We tought him and he readily accepted everything.  When Sunday rolled around and he brought his wife and 2 kids to church! We were so excited and kept teaching him. One day he invited us to his house, and we realized that his house is the office of another Christian church where his father is the pastor, and he holds a leadership position. We thought it might be an obstacle as his father was not very happy, but in the end Brother S got baptized, and now his wife and kids are learning with us! The testimony he bore on Sunday was SOOO GREAT. He just testified of the restoration and his gratitude that we had found and taught him. The restoration is real guys, Joseph Smith really did restore this church. I am so excited to continue to teach him and his family. 

One day this week, it was totally pouring rain and Sister Carrillo and I were contacting...we felt a bit miserable and then this one Thai lady gave us her umbrella and another lady gave us juice. Thai people are sooo nice!! That same night we were contacting in the rain again and Sis Carrillo and I were talking about how we missed talking to our moms, and for some reason that made me think...."Man, all I want is a donut."  We didn't have time to go get donuts though, so we just got on our bikes to head home. We then see this white guy, and I dare Sister Carrillo to go invite him. (We hardly ever see foreigners in Lampang so we are more nervous to invite them) She proceed to say hi to him and a Thai girl with him. No sooner than she says hi the thai lady is like, "Here, take these donuts"....we were floored. They ended up not being to interested in learning with us, but we rode home floored that all we had said was hi and that lady had given us donuts. Defs a tender mercy. 

I love you guys soooo much, and was thinking about this scripture: Alma 26:27

Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success.

love,

Sister Remington

Fear not I am with thee, oh be not dismayed

Hey everyone! 

Sorry this email is going to be kinda short because I am super low on time. I am in Chiang Mai for zone conference so I am just writing this quick email. The STL's in Chiang Mai called me and also told me to come early tonight because all the members want to see me!! SO nice. 

It is so crazy to me that Wyatt is a freshman in college now! I feel sooo old. Everyone starting school makes me kinda miss it too, but I love being a missionary!! 

This week was good! It started off with the Elders doing, "The challenge". In this mission "The challenge" means:

-eat 1 large pizza from Pizza Company

-8 giant scoops of icecream from Swensons

-and slam (drink with milk) 8 tim tams

and all in the space of one hour. The Elders barfed... and it was hilarious. 

One kinda funny thing that happened this week was when I was inviting I asked someone, "Hey, do you know who Jesus Christ is?"

Their response, "One second, I'll google it for you."

It was pretty funny. 

This week we nearly had a new convert, but then he didn't show up for his baptism, so that was weird... and sad.  Fortunatley, we are teaching a couple other families right now, and they are awesome!!

This week we went and visited one of the families we are teaching only to realize... THEIR HOUSE IS AN OFFICE FOR ANOTHER CHRISTIAN CHURCH!  It was interesting...they are doing awesome though! They even gave us all their coffee to throw away. 

I was way sad one day this week, because I looked at the back of my head, and so much hair has fallen out I literally have a bald spot...so that was freaky, Hopefully I can do something about it, so I don't have to walk around like this for the rest of my life.  I think it is just lack of vitamins or something in the food here. 

This Sunday I was really impressed by the lyrics to, "How Firm a Foundation." My companion plays the piano for church and normally we all just sing along in Thai, but this Sunday I felt like when I sang, I needed to sing quietly in English. I did, and in doing so remembered the lyrics. 

1. How firm a foundation, ye Saints of the Lord,

Is laid for your faith in his excellent word!

What more can he say than to you he hath said, 

Who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?

2. In ev'ry condition--in sickness, in health,

In poverty's vale or abounding in wealth,

At home or abroad, on the land or the sea--

As thy days may demand, so thy succor shall be.

3. Fear not, I am with thee; oh, be not dismayed,

For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.

I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,

Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

In every condition we are in....sickness, health, far from home, working, starting University, or whatever - Heavenly Father is with us. In Thai the words are a bit different and essentially translate too...God will never leave us. I know he never will...no matter what our circumstances, he knows them and can help us. I love the first line of the last verse too, "Fear not I am with thee, oh be not dismayed." 

We don't need to fear. God is with us. He will strengthen us. This is my testimony, that we can pass through all trials with peace if we remember this. 

Love you,

Sister Rem

Just Do Your Best (and Auburn's 20th)

Hey everyone, this was another good week!

I found out that one of my investigators, Sister Ava, just got baptized back in Mahasarakham...so that was super happy news! 

This week I turned 20! I feel sooo old. Birthdays on missions are really weird too. But all in all it was a good day. Sister Carrillo made me some breakfast, which was Jackfruit and an "egg peanut butter and jelly sandwich". It was great! 

That night we had pizza for dinner, and then our Branch Mission leader and this other member got me a cake! We all ate the cake after English class and then we get on our bikes to go home, but unfortunately, my bike had a flat tire! So I was like run walking my bike home for like 15 minutes, until I finally got someone on the side of the road to just pump it up so I could ride really fast to get home. Good times. 

This week (to my relief) Sister Carrillo and I bought new beds! We went to this store called Home Pro (basically like Home Sense/Goods, Thai version), and I managed to order new beds for us and had them delivered to our house...all in Thai! After ordering I had this moment like, "Woah...I guess I actually speak Thai now." haha Anyways, the whole reason we got new beds in the first place was because they were like 67,328,964,839 years old, super uncomfortable, on the ground (well that's normal), and I kept finding spiders and lizards in my bed. 

I feel like I learned a pretty big lesson this week. There was one day we didn't really have any plans. No recent converts or investigators were available for a lesson, and we didn't know where to find any less active members etc.  Suffice it to say, we were planning on doing a lot of contacting. That morning in my studies I had read this story about this guy named Dave, who after his father died, inherited his business. Dave wasn't very old when he inherited, and as such was very worried about many of the decisions for the business.  Whenever he came to a decision regarding something he felt was critical to receive inspiration about, he would pray, but he wasn't getting any answers. Suffice it to say he was a little discouraged and frustrated. One night he had a dream in which he saw his Father and Dave decided to ask his Dad why none of the prayers about the business are being answered. His dad responded by saying, "Dave we don't much care about the business up here, what we care about very much is what you become because of your business." 

I loved this...it made me realize it doesn't matter so much what we do on a day to day basis, as long as we ensure that we are working towards becoming the person we know we should be. Heavenly Father always has a plan for us. 

Anyways, that day...the day with no plans, ended up being a great day!  We started off by going to give a member her phone back (she had left it at the church). That member then helped us locate where some LA's lived, and then we went and helped fold laundry at this other member's house (they have a laundromat), and then I asked that member if he could take us to see some LA's.  He was like, "when?" And I said, "Like right now?"  Immediately, he got on his bike and off we went.... we ended up finding 2 LA's, and one of them came to church that Sunday! After that we ate dinner at this AMAZING pizza place that this guy from New York opened up here, and then taught a really fun Book of Mormon class! It was such a good day. It really taught me that as long as you are trying to do your best, Heavenly Father will lead your path...and you will become. 

Lampang is really good! So many funny things happen on a day to day basis, and my comp and I have so much fun. We have a good number of investigators, and some with dates to be baptized. I will keep you all updated! 

Have an awesome week!

Love,

Sister Remington