Thailand/Lampang- week 24 I feel like I have finally found myself and who I want to be!

Hello!! 

This week was a great one! Went to Chiang Mai three times (doctor, then switch off, then doctors again!). I love that place! And the week just flew by. Pretty much the story of every week of my life as a missionary. Anyways, we've been working with Brother Santi's family. We're still trying to figure out stuff with them. Brother Santi still has one foot in his other church and his wife still doesn't want to stop drinking coffee. They just don't have a testimony though, we want to try to teach the restoration again and then see where to go from there. I dunno, we're going to work with them some more this week! We've also been working with this 22 year old who just showed up to English class about a month ago. She's a total party girl, totally into drinking and partying Friday nights and at first we really didn't take her seriously. But holy cow, she's way good! She knows everything is true. She knows the church is true, she just doesn't want to change her lifestyle. She told us a lot of her friends have told her that she's changed and different now. She really has changed a lot! She seems a lot happier and she's said that this is the happiest she's been. We've have so many long talks with her about the plan of salvation and how this is not what is going to make her happy. Yeah, she knows it's all true. She just needs the desire to change! I love teaching her though! She actually asks questions, really good questions (I love when they ask questions!) and her understanding of the scriptures is amazing! She's definitely a prepared one. She wants to get baptized but wants to wait until she can keep all the commandments. Yesterday we set a goal for her for the end of October so she has something to work on! We love her and we have so much faith in her. I know she can change. God has definitely been working with her, she's seen her life change a lot since she started learning with us. Sister Pen is our other investigator who was suppose to get baptized yesterday but has to wait until the 11th to get baptized so she can get a marriage license. Yeah it's been really hard with investigators lately. And we've contacted a lot lately and we just haven't been really seeing anything. It's so hard because I always feel like I'm doing something wrong, like not saying enough, not being spiritual enough. Everything! But we really have been doing everything we can and that's all we can do. We're trying to stay positive and keep on working hard! 

I'm still loving my life as a missionary. It's a very fast paced life. The hardest part is getting up in the morning! So crazy, I've never had such a hard time getting up in my life. But I refuse to let myself sleep in. That's definitely a promise I made to myself at the beginning of my mission, that I wouldn't ever sleep in! Most of the time wake up ten minutes early to dogs barking. They all like to howl at the same time for some odd reason. My patience for dogs has gone downhill since I became a missionary. They're very much what I would call pests here!  There's this one big golden retriever that lives by the round-a-bout in Lampang and everytime we go by that it chases us and barks at us. It literally looks like a lion. I just yell "come at me bro!" kind of childish but I really don't like dogs here. We ride our bikes everywhere. The only reason I don't like it is because it's in a skirt. And I sweat a lot!! But it's nice to get 24/7 exercise. I've gotten pretty good at biking! The other day though I wasn't so smart. I thought I could get around a car before it turned. But I wasn't fast enough and yeah, I got hit by a car. It wasn't bad! It just knocked me off my bike! It was pretty funny. But not at the time. The poor guy that hit me, he was probably more freaked out than I was! But it was definitely a blessing I didn't get hurt. I just got right back on my bike and went. But now I can say I've been hit by a car before. 

Transfers is this week! And we're all staying in Lampang, none of us are moving :) I'm super excited, I get to stay another transfer with Sister Remington and another one in Lampang! Elder Parker thought it would be funny and told us both that one of us was leaving and then wouldn't tell us who and so we freaked out and begged him to tell us. He told us Sister Rem and we about died. Finally he told us that none of us were leaving. It was a relief. But we were so mad at him haha. I love the north and especially Lampang! I have no desire to leave anytime soon. There's so many things to do here. Today we went and rode elephants. That was so fun! It took us through the jungle and walked through the river. I'm so lucky to be serving in a place where I get to do cool things like that! 

It was a way good week. I can't believe the transfer is already over. This coming month marks my 6 months in country which is so crazy! I feel like I should still be a greenie haha. But the more time goes on the more I realize how much I love this calling and how much I love these people. And how it's going to be the hardest thing in the world for me to leave it all. I'm trying to live it all up! I've realized in the past couple of months how fast time goes by. This life really is short. It seems sometimes like things are going to last forever but everything passes. Before you know it, that time in your life is over. It's kind of sad, but change is good. I've always hated changed, but without change nothing could progress. That's why we have to appreciate the moments that we are in while we have them. Every single second has been such an adventure, an adventure I will never forget. I used to think that I got the wrong call and that it was so weird to me that God would call me to Thailand. But the more I'm here the more I realize why I'm here and the more grateful I am that I was called to this place. I love Thailand! I love being a missionary! There is nothing in the world that is more important than the work I am involved in right now. 

Love you family! Keep on going forward with faith and always keep your faith and trust in the Lord. 

Have a good week! 

-Sister Carrillo 

1 Nephi 17:13

 3rd time going to Chiang Mai last week!  

We love Chiang Mai!

 

The Lampang Gang!  Staying together another transfer!

 Round 2 here we go!

I got to ride an elephant today!!  

Coolest thing ever!

 

Sister Wadsana really wanted us to take a picture with her dog. 

 So here's this haha!

 Sassy (cuz we're in Lampang with all the sassy people) & duck face!

Yeah...It's raining!!

My switch-off with Sister Lor in Chiang Mai 

involved blowing bubbles and subway!

 

Got ice cream and walked around the mall in 

Chiang Mai while waiting for the bus to go back to Lampang

Sister Wadsana, Sister Remington, Sister Miaw, and me! 

Thailand sunsets are the prettiest!!

Thailand/Lampang -week 23 This experience has just made me so grateful! I don't know how I got so lucky!

Hello! 

It was such a fun week! Chiang Mai is a perfect touristy place. It took about an hour for us to get to Maun-Jam (the mountain tribe thing). I like the weather up there a lot. We shopped and ate some pancakes on top of a mountain. NBD. It was really fun, it's so pretty up there! The north is just such a beautiful place. I ask myself everyday how I got so lucky! We had zone conference on Monday and Tuesday. President and the AP's talked to us a lot about diligence and becoming the person that the Lord wants us to be. It was really good! When I think I diligence, I think of enduring to the end. To be persistent in everything we do, even when it's hard. And I've realized that when we do that, we change. Our abilities to withstand become stronger and we overcome those weaknesses and fears that we have. Another reason I am so grateful for the atonement. I know that without it, we wouldn't have the strength to overcome but because we have a Savior who overcame everything for us, we can do it! 

I was ready to get back to my little city though. I love Lampang! This week we had some setbacks. Sister Saa called us one day and said that she was moving the next day, we were really sad. We really love her! But she'll get baptized someday, the missionaries will find her (she's going to an area that doesn't have a church.) I have faith in the Lord! We were having a hard day after that though and it was raining all day Friday and we were soaking wet and cold. We were inviting at Big C and no one was listening and we literally felt like we were going insane. We were really hungry, exhausted and were saying we just wanted our moms (haha). And some donuts! As we were walking out, we passed this white guy and his khon Thai girlfriend and we said hello to them and she was like, "hey grab the donuts! Give them those donuts in there!" she ran to her car and gave us a whole bag of donuts. They were so nice to us! We were laughing on the way home how Heavenly Father heard us whining and gave that girl some inspiration to give us the donuts. I totally believe that! I know He cares about us too and the experience that we're having. We were just having a hard day and those donuts made it so much better! We also went to go and teach Brother Santi and his wife and kids. She's still not ready to change anything but she totally supports Brother Santi and she totally adores us! We went to teach their kids though (did I mention that they live in the office of another Christian church?) and his dad shows up (who happens to be the pastor of the other church). Yeah, that was awkward. He does not like us at all! We were trying to be so nice though, because we aren't going to let him affect how we behave. He basically told us he doesn't want us going there and teaching his family. We've gone back anyways. Brother Ford wants us all to go over and try and convert him. I don't see that happening right now. For now, he just really hates us haha! Brother Santi got baptized though! We were so excited for him! He went up and bore his testimony of how he knows that this church is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet (which was amazing because for so long he was so unsure!). It was an awesome service. The Elders baptized Brother Fream who's 10 and so cute! Sister Miaw (brother Santi's wife) was there and stayed the entire time. I think his family will follow, it might just take some time! We love that family! Anyways we got a new investigator yesterday, Sister Pen. She's a friend of another member. He had given her a Book of Mormon and she's been reading it everyday and said she loves it. She didn't even hesitate when we asked her if she wanted to get baptized next Sunday! It really was a miracle! It really just amazes me how the Lord prepares people. How He's in every detail of our lives. I thought about that a lot this week as we were struggling a bit. We saw little miracles, little acts of kindness that helped us to know that Heavenly Father was with us.  After all the hardship and the trials, that's when you see the miracles and see that we really are never alone. It was a hard week but it was also a great week! I was still able to be happy and pull through. I think that's the most important part of enduring to the end. Having the diligence to do so but also, to learn how to be happy! Heavenly Father doesn't just want us to endure, endure, endure. He wants us to do it but be happy too. There's so much to celebrate and be happy about throughout life! 

It really was a great week! I absolutely love Thailand, I feel so lucky to be here. I look at all these people I love so much and think that I never would've known them if I didn't come to Thailand or go on a mission. I never would've had these experiences that were so hard for me but turned out to be such a blessing to me. Elder Holland told our mission president that when we signed up to be a missionary, we signed up to suffer. Because without suffering a little, how would we ever become like our Savior, who descended below all things. I say it every week, but I'm so grateful to be a missionary and a disciple of Jesus Christ! I love my Savior and Heavenly Father and I know that they love me too. How lucky am I to have the opportunity to bring these people here in Thailand to Christ. We've already seen so many lives changed. But that's what the gospel of Jesus Christ does to you, it changes you! 

Love you all and hope you have a great week! :) 

-Sister Carrillo 

1 Nephi 11:17 - I don't know the meaning of all things, but I know that God loves us. 

Rocking out the mountain headbands!

Inviting by our house.

 Do you wanna learn about Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world?

 

Such a beautiful place, if only the pictures could do it justice!

 

 Got some Mexican food on out way back to Lampang at Sunrise Taco's. 

I freaked out when they didn't have horchata's 

and Sister Rem was like, But she's Mexican! She needs it! It was way funny.

Yeah Sister Mags! Got to catch up with my MTC sister again.

This cow thing is a water buffalo!

 They're always in the river right next to our house. Pretty cool!

 This is probably my favorite wat (it's super close to the church) 

it's totally northern looking!

It's so pretty here! 

 Up on the mountain!

We ended up in this creepy place while inviting. 

We thought it was a perfect place to be sold into human trafficking. Sketchy.

Thailand/Lampang- week 22 "I finally understand that scripture where Christ says that whoever gives of his life will find it"

Hey!! 

I'm in Chiang Mai! We have zone conference today and tomorrow so we came up here for P-day today :) I'm super excited! We're going to try and go up to visit a mountain tribe and then you can ride in these carts down the mountain. I'm way excited! Chiang Mai is really big, there are so many white people! I'm so not used to that. It's very touristy. I think you guys would really like it. Someday we all need to come visit here! 

This week was a really good week! All my weeks just go by so fast because I don't want them to and because I love where I'm at. We've been teaching Brother Santi and his family. We went and visited their house this last week and we asked them if they wanted to be baptized this week together and they said yes. We taught them about the temple, I think that was the thing that really got them. Their one struggle was drinking coffee. They said they were having a hard time quitting. So I asked them if they had coffee still at their house and they said yes. So I told them to go get it right then and throw it away. It was really funny, here I am a kid telling these adults to throw away their coffee and stop drinking it. But Brother Santi got up and grabbed all their coffee and gave it to us. He asked if we would throw it away and then asked if we would pray for them to be able to stop. They haven't drank any since! They're so awesome! They came to church yesterday and brought their two kids and asked if we would come teach them this week so their kids could get baptized with them next Sunday. So amazing and such a miracle! A lot of amazing things happened yesterday! Brother Jeff wasn't able to get baptized but we're going to work with him for sure. Sister Saa came again and brought her sister with her. She's getting baptized this Sunday! We asked her sister if she would take a date to be baptized and she said she wanted to wait because she wants to get baptized with her husband and kids. So we're going to go teach them at their house sometime this week! They're both so great, even when I couldn't find the words to be able to say what I wanted, they always finished my sentences for me and I'd be like "yeah! That's exactly what I mean!" They're both golden, so many golden people! 

My life in Lampang is pretty great, as I say every week. I love this branch and all of our investigators! We had some training this week too and so the ZL's and STL's came from Chiang Mai. They were trying to get to our house and didn't know how to explain it to the taxi driver and the driver was getting frustrated so he waved down this catewi that owned a wedding dress shop (sorry, I have no idea how to spell this in romanized! i just know how to say it!) and they asked if she knew where two farang girls that ride bicycles around everywhere live. The catewi thought for a second and then was like "oh, I know!" and gave them exact directions to our house, even described the tree in front of our house. Yeah, that's freaky! We're pretty well known here. Me and Sis. Rem started this thing where while we're riding around everywhere we just yell hello to everyone and ask how they're doing in English. It's hilarious and khon Thai's love it! They all smile and look so flattered that we're talking to them. We've been inviting at markets all this week, which is extremely distracting because then I want to buy everything but this one market that we went to had SO MANY people. We didn't know how to invite all of them so we were just yelling to everyone that we had an announcement and that we were missionaries and asked if they wanted eternal life or wanted to be free from sin etc. We have to get their attention somehow! Sometimes we even ask if they know what Christmas is and say that Christ is the reason we celebrate it. It's really funny, everyone just looks at us like we're insane (which I totally would too) or they just avoid all eye contact and walk really fastly away. It's way fun, I always feel so cool, like Paul or something. We do get people that will come up and ask us about it though, so it works! Me and Sis. Rem try and talk with everyone! I remember when I used to hate talking to people, I would've died if I knew I would be doing this a year ago. But I love it, I'm not afraid to talk to people anymore. It's definitely a weakness I've learned to overcome! 

I really am so grateful to be a missionary! It really has changed a lot of me. My goals have changed for myself and I feel like I'm just a better person because of it. Never in my life have I just been happy just because. Life of a missionary is not easy, it's so tiring and you are constantly on the go but it's really taught me how to work. I finally understand that scripture where Christ says that whoever gives of his life will find it. I feel like I've finally found myself and who I want to be. I want to be a missionary forever! I want to continue to help the church grow when I get back and continue to be a light for others. More than anything I just want to be like the Savior. There were so many weaknesses and fears that have always held me back and I feel like I've finally broken down my walls and have let myself live. I feel like I really know how to live now though. Being a missionary has finally helped me to see. I know more than anything that this is Christ's church and His gospel. I don't think it would have the power to do what it has done for my life and thousands of others if this was all just a fantasy. It's as real as it gets. This life here isn't reality, it's just a small tiny part of our existence but determines where we will spend the rest of our eternity. My biggest fear is that I will meet Christ again someday and not feel worthy to stand in front of Him. I want to be better! I'm so grateful that I can see now though. Life isn't easy but I know that when we stay on this path, we will have happiness and we will be able to conquer. We'll have the greatest blessing that God can give to us and that is eternal life and to live with Him again! Never again will I spend hours and hours on my phone and tv wasting my life away. We have such better things to do and better ways to spend our earthly time! That's my rant of the week. 

Yeah I'm still not eating Thai food. We don't really eat at members houses, hardly ever so I don't have to worry about eating it! Sister Remington is from Calgary and she's been out four months longer than me. She's so fun! I'm going to go visit her in Canada sometime when I get back! 

You can send whatever you want in my packages! :) Especially if it's food! I miss food more than anything. 

Love you all so much! 

-Sister Carrillo 

Alma 34: 32

This girl! I just love her! We make funny faces at each other all the time.

 She's moving to L.A. next week with her mom, so sad 

Sister C-game gave us this weird fruit, it was so sour!

Friday night pizza!

Elders did the food challenge again! One large pizza, 8 ice cream scoops

 and a whole thing of tim tams. Yuck. We just enjoyed the show!

This is probably my favorite wat (it's super close to the church)

 it's totally northern looking!

Thailand/Lampang-week 21- Tender Mercies and Donuts!

Heyyy! 

It was a really good week! We found a lot of LA (less active) homes by the help of some of the members. We went to Brother Bob's house on Friday afternoon to help him and his mom do laundry (that's what they do for a living). We were asking him about people that he knew that were LA and said he knew some people that we could go visit. Which was awesome because we didn't have any plans after that. We had tried making appointments after that and nothing was working out so this was perfect! We biked all the way to the University in Lampang and just stopped by to meet Sister Mam and Sister Am. Sister Mam was really nice, it was good talking to her! She's really busy though, she's like one of the teachers there and seemed to be in a hurry so we only got to talk to her for a few. Then we went over to another building and waited for Sister Am to get out of class. We waited forever and then she finally came! She was super flattered that we had biked all that way to find her. I really liked her! She does special learning on Sunday's so she can't go to church. That seems to be a problem here in Thailand. Everyone does extra learning on Sunday's! She came to sports night that night though, which was really special because she hadn't been to the church in forever. We also found Sister Uum's house by the help of Brother Ford (the BML - Branch Mission Leader). She wasn't there when we tried to visit and so we just left her a note and a pineapple (it was Bro. Ford's idea haha). Me and Sister Rem decided to go back the next day and she was there! She was super excited about the pineapple. This poor girl though. She can't really leave her house because her parents are really old and can't take care of themselves, I think they both have dementia. So she's pretty much going insane. I feel so bad for her because she wants to get out and go places but she's stuck. We're going to go and visit her again this week. So many people here have such similar situations where they're just stuck. Like Brother Son and his family, they can't go to church because they work all day and night but he still pays his tithing which is awesome. We visit them a lot. Sister Dxan, his wife, is looking for a new job so she can go to church but she can't read or and didn't really have any schooling so she doesn't have very many options. It's really frustrating for them I think. We're trying to help them at least by lifting up their spirits. They're amazing people though, they deserve so much better! It has just made me so grateful! I don't know how I got so lucky but I've been super blessed and being here has helped me realize how blessed I truly have been. I'm only here for a short time but they live like this all their lives. I want to help and the only way I know how to is by bringing them the gospel. It really does have the power to heal! Something that I want to always remember is that it doesn't matter what I'm going through in life, because I have hope always through the gospel. Nothing is the end of the world or unrepairable. I know that if I have faith and stay close to the Savior, everything will work out for my own good. I know that that is true! 

So our investigators! We have a lot of really good people. Brother Jeff is really solid, he thanked me yesterday for calling him and reminding him to read his scriptures that night. He said it brought a good spirit into his life. He told me that I had a good spirit about me and was grateful to be able to know us. It was so nice! We also taught this girl Sister Sa yesterday. She's 19 and has a 4 year old daughter. She just happened to walk into the church a couple Sunday's before. She's been going to a Catholic church but she wanted to start investigating the Mormon church. We taught her the restoration yesterday and when we got to the part where we talk about Christ's ministry, I felt like I needed to talk about the atonements ability to heal us and how Christ already overcome everything so we could overcome it. We told her how much the Savior loves her and she was almost crying the rest of the lesson. She's had a really hard life and this definitely helped her. The spirit was definitely in the room! She's set to get baptized on the 20th! We're so excited for her! Except now she's looking for a new job, she's a janitor and it's just not a good job for her. But there's nothing really here in Lampang for her. So we're praying that she'll find a job somewhere where there is a church!

Life here in Lampang is great! Me and Sister Rem are on this thing where we're not eating Thai food and we only braid our hair and it has done wonders for me! I don't feel tired all the time and actually have energy, and my hair has stopped falling out so much! (I'm sure this is from the help of the pills too). I'm kind of scared to get a khon Thai companion because that means I might have to go back to eating Thai food. Bleh. It's rained this week. It's nice when it rains but it sucks afterwards when the sun comes out. It's like being in a sauna! It gets super humid and that's when I feel like I'm going to pass out. It's really fun. I got stuck playing the piano yesterday since Elder Parker conducted during sacrament meeting. I can play a good amount of hymns but they picked every single one I can't play. So that was a really fun sacrament meeting. I need to practice hymns more! Brother Jeff was so nice and told me I played good. Yeah, he lied. There's a lot of white people here in Lampang. I see them everywhere! It's funny because they wear like backpacking gear and look like they haven't showered in forever. They just look like they're hiking through the mountains. It's really funny. Whenever we see a white person me and Sister Rem yell, "Hey! It's a farang!!" (farang is just a white person). We think we're pretty funny. We're such a funny companionship. Mainly all of our conversations consist of talking about food. We miss food a lot haha. My Thai has gotten a lot better, kinda? Sometimes I'm so surprised that Thai is actually coming out of my mouth. And then it surprises me that there was a time that I didn't know Thai. Apparently I talk in my sleep in Thai. And apparently it's really funny because it makes Sister Rem laugh every time but she can't remember what I said! I can't wait to come home and no one knows what I'm saying. That's what I'm looking forward to the most! Haha! 

Anyways, here are some fun things that I've noticed about Thailand: 

1. Men will just walk outside of their houses in a towel all the time. I don't understand it. They also like to not wear shirts. They should really wear a shirt. 

2. They eat everything with a fork and spoon. It's as brilliant way of eating and now I have a habit of eating EVERYTHING with a fork and spoon. 

3. They're painfully bold. They'll tell you that you look fatter than you did the day before. That happened to me and Sister Rem the other day. Brother Ford told us that and all I could say was, "wow, thanks??). Haha I didn't take it personally though! 

4. Yeah along with the above one, they're obsessed with fat and skinny. They won't eat farang food because they said it will make them fat. They literally think all we eat is pizza and hamburgers. 

5. They dish up your plates for you. That is my biggest pet peeve. Like this one time I went to go get a smoothie and I asked for banana and strawberry but she thought that I'd like a different one. She told me it was soooo delicious. I said no, I want a strawberry banana. She makes me the one she wants me to eat anyways and then charges me for it. She has me try and and says, "alloy chay may?" I lied and said it was good because she was nice (except for the fact that she ruined my smoothie). It was gross too, I was so mad. If we go to someone's house they'll dish up my plate if I didn't take enough of something or putting something I didn't want on there. I try to not get mad because they're just trying to be nice, but it drives me insane! 

6. After church, we eat lunch together! Everyone brings food to share after church. I like it when people bring fruit! 

7. People will randomly ask to take a picture of you. Especially if we're eating at someone's restaurant, they want a picture of you eating their food. It's so funny haha! 

8. Monks walk around everywhere here. In Korat they'd walk past our house every morning to the wat close by. People stand out on the streets and give them food and then the monk blesses them or something. It's pretty interesting! 

9. You really do get sick after it rains. I have no idea why but it's happened to me every time it pours. 

10. Thai people won't answer the phone if it's raining. They just won't. They're afraid they'll get struck by lightening. 

That's all I got! I'll try and think of some more culture stuff! 

Hope you have a good week! Love you guys! I pray for you guys all the time! Elder Baldwin gave me a blessing last month and one of the first things that he said was that Heavenly Father is taking care of my family in every way possible. It was a good reassurance for me. I know that's true! 

Love you! 

-Sister Carrillo 

I read these talks this last week during my personal study! I loved them! 

The Justice and Mercy of God by Elder Holland 

His Grace is Sufficient by Brad Wilcox 

Alma 36 - Alma's conversion story, it's so good!

Me and Sister Rem!  We are BFF'S!!

Biking along the river!

 

Brother Bob was dancing and posing for us.  So funny!

Me and Sister Rem got dresses at the market and wore

 them the same day so we had to take a picture!

Right after it rained,  It's so green here!

This is our house!

We have this cool little Buddhist spirit house right next to us!

 

We got new beds! And did it all in Thai!  I'm finally off of the floor!!

 

We found this pizza place run by this guy from New York,  

It literally was like heaven!  My 1st legit American food in a long time!

Sister Wadsana is always is always asking me to take

 pictures with her on my camera.  So here is another one with her!

Thailand/Lampang- week 20 Things are great in Lampang! I love the members! I love the investigators! And I love the area!

Hello Family! 

This week was a crazy one. I feel like that's just every day of my life though. Just constantly on the move and constantly working towards our goals. It's exhausting but it feels great! 

Soooo I might have mentioned Brother Noy last week and if I didn't, he's one of our investigators that's already Christian and baptized and doesn't understand why he has to be baptized again (again, we have taught him a million times why!). But he said he just wants to study lots of different churches. We're working with him. I really like teaching him because he makes me think. I actually feel a challenge when I teach him because I have to learn how to answer his questions. That means I really have to study during my personal studies! I got really frustrated with him because he believes the Book of Mormon is true and I asked him straight up if he believed everything within it was true and he said yes. And then I said, "Well if that's true, then Joseph Smith translated it through the power of God, and if that's true then he truly did receive a calling from God to restore His church and be a prophet and if that's true then this church is true and has all the keys that the church did during Christ's time which means when you already got baptized you did not get baptized by the right authority, therefore you cannot go to the celestial kingdom unless you are baptized by the right authority." Yep I said that all in Thai! I was pretty proud. And he was like, "yeah, yeah I understand but....." He talks in circles a lot! I didn't really understand his answer but yeah, he's still a work in progress. We are also teaching Brother Santi who is also Christian. He has a baptismal date for the 13th next month and he brought his wife to church yesterday and she accepted a date for the 13th as well. He's improved a lot in the past week that we've taught him! He just showed up at the church one day asking when we teach English class and we invited him. Brother Jeff is another investigator that the sisters before us had contacted. He called us this last week and said he wanted to learn. He lived in Colorado for a while and had a friend that was LDS. He has a date for the 13th too! I'm so excited for all these people! They're really solid and are progressing so well! A lot of them have a Christian background. That's how it is up north, there's a lot of Christians.

 I have some other exciting news! I called Sister Jo yesterday to get my RC's numbers so I could call them and I asked about First and Yogi. She said that the Bishop in Korat took them in for an interview to see if they could get baptized this week instead of November. They passed! They came out crying and jumping up and down because they knew they had passed and they were so excited. I cried when Sister Jo told me. I absolutely love those two! I'm so sad that I don't get to be there but I'm so happy for them! I have never been so happy! 

Things are great here in Lampang. I love the members! I love our investigators and I love this area. It all just feels like a dream. We biked a ton this week! I even got sunburnt, which hasn't really happened since I've been here. The language is getting a lot easier! I understand a lot more and feel a lot more comfortable speaking. It all just gets easier each day. Things are a lot different here in Lampang. The church isn't very established, Elder Parker and Elder Lindley are in the branch presidency and will be conducting every other Sunday. We meet in a rented out building and there was only like 30 members at church this last week. SO different than what I'm used to. I feel very blessed that I get to help the church grow here. We're really trying to work with the leaders and get LA's back. It's hard work but we're determined to make a difference here! 

So I love my life here in Lampang. The people really are crazy, the culture is so different from the Issan, they have chicken statues everywhere (apparently a long time ago the leader here worshipped chickens. Interesting), and it's just a cute little town. I really love it here! I have an awesome companion too! I love Sister Rem! We get along really well and have a lot of the same personality. We switch between T25 and running every day, and eat somtam all the time. It's so great! 

Some things that I've learned is to strive to be better every single day. Be better than we were the day before and the next day be even better. That's what this life is for, is to keep making ourselves better each and every day! That's something I've been working on a lot. Learn from my mistakes and constantly be striving to be like my Savior. I feel closer to Him every single day! 

Sooo with some of your questions: yeah language is still getting there! 

It's really hard to be on a good healthy diet in Thailand. Really hard! The clothes: I've bought some new clothes if I like them or at houses sometimes girls leave their clothes behind and so I stole some of those! Life at home seems like the norm, that all seems so long ago. It's almost been a year since I started college, that's really weird to think of! I still can't believe it's almost sept! I try and take lots of pictures because I know you like them! haha! I have taken videos too, I can't wait until I go home and you guys can watch them. 

Love you all! Have a good week! 

-Sister Rio (what everyone calls me because my name is too hard haha)

1 Nephi 10:19

By the way, so to explain some of those pictures, we hiked to a waterfall today. And then we drove to a mountain wat! that was the best. They drove us to the top of the mountain and there were these wats on the side of the mountain. It was awesome, I literally felt like I was on top of the world! Thailand is so beautiful, I feel so blessed to see this part of the world!

 Top of the world and super sweaty!

 I climbed all the way up this mountain!  J/K

  They drove us halfway up here!

Our view from the top!  Amazing!!

 As soon as we saw this monk coming we

all pulled out our cameras (not that it's

a rare occasion to see a monk,  they're 

everywhere!) and started taking pictures of

him!  He probably felt like a celebrity!

This is the park that we visited!

Our District!

Buddha!

These are the hot springs! 

 It was like I was in Yellowstone again

The Waterfall!

Found this wat on the way to one of the members homes.  

Lampang has all sorts of cool sites in it.  I love it!

Sister Tip, another RC that we take care of. 

 Just decided to take some selfies while visiting her! 

 She got baptized last month.  She's 13 years old and such a doll. 

 Love her!

Sister Wadsana!  She's an RC that we take care of.  

She's so funny!  We went and visited her this week and were playing with her hats!

So this is really funny!  The BML here gave us this note.  

Apparently this is normal for him to give to the sister missionaries.  

We got a kick out of it though, it even made it up on the wall!

This was in the stall in the bathroom at Big C. 

 Guess its a problem here!  HaHa!