Sister Maisie Carrillo: Thailand/Lampang- week 25

Hey Mom!

It was another fast week, story of my life. We really need investigators so we were inviting a ton. I have never wanted investigators so bad! We were talking with everyone and inviting everyone. We know that Heavenly Father is going to help us find those that are prepared but we also know that we can't just sit there and wait for them to come. He expects us to work for it! So we worked, we wanted to show Him we were ready and willing to work hard, no matter the circumstance. We got a lot of numbers and called everyone Saturday night to see if they could come. We should've had about 6 investigators at church but none of them showed up. None of our investigators showed up! I was trying really hard not to get frustrated, we'd worked hard all week but hadn't seen any results from it. We needed two new investigators and two referrals to meet our goal for that week. And we were not even close to getting that! Then at the last second two of Brother Ford's friends showed up to the elders investigator's baptism. We got to teach them afterwards and they're really good. Sister Neey and Brother Bank, they're so cute! They're a couple and we just thought it would be so perfect because they could get married in the temple and everything (when you're a missionary you make up all different kinds of plans for your investigators, it's funny!). It really was all just a miracle! At the last second we got what we needed and finally got two really good investigators. It was a really good lesson for us. We knew that if we kept up our faith and trusted in God everything would work out. And it did! I think more than anything this week I've learned that sometimes we don't see the results for our good works for a while or even until after this life. But we just need to trust in God and know that He knows more than us. He can see the bigger picture and we can't. This week definitely increased my faith. It was a good experience!

Another thing we realized from Brother Ford is that some of the strongest members are the people that take a long time to get baptized. We've been trying to get Sister Miaw to take a baptismal date and pushing her to keep commandments but really all of that isn't getting us anywhere. She needs to grow and find out things for herself and we want her to get baptized because she wants to not because she feels like she has to. She's pretty much already a member now! She goes to institute with all the other single adults, comes to all the activities and usually calls us and asks if we could meet with her. She's really great, she's going to be a really strong member. I'm not worried about her getting baptized anymore, we're just going to continue to help her and more importantly be her friend. Yesterday Brother Santi got a calling! He's a Sunday school teacher, he'll be really good at that. I see so much potential in all these people. I'm so grateful to be able to know them.

So as I said, we've been inviting a ton alllll week. It hasn't been bad. A lot of these things I feel like are just teaching me. Even when I feel like no one is listening I try not to get frustrated. Sister Rem told me something that I thought was really cool the other day. She said that even though we sometimes don't see the results from inviting, we still do it because we love Heavenly Father and it's what we're asked to do. And somehow, in the blazing heat and when I'm dead tired, I find strength to talk to people all day and walk and bike everywhere. I think I've come to realize that this really isn't about what I want, it's what the Lord wants. And if it's what He wants then I'll do it! I'm going to apply the atonement to this just because it should be applied to everything, everyday of our lives. I realize it's how I have strength to get up in the morning, it's how I don't die from dehydration or heatstroke, it's how I get strength to walk and bike and teach and go everywhere really! Christ really is my strength in everything I do. I don't think I'd have the strength to do this work without Him but I know that it is because of Him that I'm empowered. It's the enabling power of the atonement. How grateful I am for it, I know for a surety that there isn't anything I cannot do when I have my Savior with me.

Here in Lampang it's great! I'm officially the piano player for everything! It's definitely getting me to work on my hymns! We get to watch conference this coming weekend because of the time zone weirdness and they have to translate stuff into Thai so the people here watch it a week later at the church. We go into another room and watch it in English. I'm way excited to watch it! Next weekend on the 16th we have district conference. So we get to go back to Chiang Mai and stay there for a couple of days! We're also going to have another zone conference because one of the seventy is coming to Thailand. I'm not sure who it is yet! But yeah, everything here is just peachy. I love Lampang, I wouldn't mind staying here forever! I love the branch here and the people just make me laugh everyday! So you know how one of the elders investigators's got baptized right? Well after they get baptized they get to go up and bear their testimony. It was the best thing I've ever heard. He started out by saying how he used to be a monk and how Christianity is so much better because there aren't any rules (?). And then he went on this tangent about how he was grateful to be baptized and stuff. But the best part was when he blessed all of us missionaries by the power of the Holy Ghost that our families would be safe and healthy and then he blessed Obama and his family and started naming off all the people in the branch and blessing them with stuff. It was really funny, everyone was dying laughing even though that was so not appropriate! And then lastly he requested from Heavenly Father that all of us missionaries would stay here in Lampang for the rest of our lives. Probably not. It was so funny! Brother Ford told him afterwards that isn't how you bear your testimony. But it's ok, he's a new member. We just all got a kick out of it!

So random stuff: since some of the LA's don't answer their phone or don't want us to visit them, we didn't want them to think that we forgot them or anything so we decided that we've just do service for them! So this last week we took Brother Son and Sister Oom a pineapple and then a little note with a scripture on it. It was really fun, we felt really good about it afterwards. I don't think we should ever give up on those people but continue to be their friend and serve them.

Another random thing. I really want to learn more Thai and Sister Rem somehow knows all the random words so she just randomly shouts Thai or English words at me and I have to translate it. It's proving to be very effective, I've learned a lot of Thai in the last week!

To answer some of your questions! I had the STL's grab my package for me so I should get it next week when I get to Chiang Mai. Also, I've been super stressed about ending my mission a week before I'm suppose to start school so I'm just going to talk to my mission president about it and see what he thinks. I'm wanting to leave maybe three weeks earlier but I'm not sure yet. I don't want to leave early at all but I don't feel good about the date I'm leaving. I don't know, he's interviewing me next week so I'll see what he thinks too! And don't worry I'm trying to be more careful! How come you stopped sending me pictures???? I want to see the Lagoon ones! I love that story about Carsen, he's such a sweet boy! I don't see how Heavenly Father could not answer his prayers, he's too cute and innocent! That's way cool about Alyssa! When does she leave? Also Lauren told me Emily is putting in her papers right now! So many people going on missions, so exciting!

Also in my next package could you send me some more of my crest whitening tooth paste and some family pictures. I realized that I literally have no pictures of you guys and so when people ask to see pictures of my family, I don't have any! I won't be in Bangkok for christmas unless I get transferred there. I hope I don't get transferred there though, I'd like to stay in Lampang for a while! I heard about the shooting in Oregon. I just randomly asked Sister Stoker (one of the senior missionaries) if she thought we'd be alive during the second coming. She literally told me every single problem that is going on in America and in the world. I shouldn't have listened because it kind of freaked me out. I didn't know any of that stuff was going on!! It makes me really sad. I just want to go home and things be the same not worse. But it's ok! We know how it all ends, and I feel like we were sent specifically for this time, because Heavenly Father knew that we would be the strong ones and a light for the world. I honestly feel like that is why I was suppose to go on a mission, not only for myself but for my future family as well. I'm not worried though. Everything will work out the way that it's suppose to! We have Christ with us so we have nothing to fear. Also, have you guys watching the John Tanner story? You need to watch it! It's on one of the Doctrine and Covenants dvds that you guys have at home! I watched it every week when I was a greenie because it helped me so much! I think it's called Treasures in Heaven? Watch it though! It made me cry everytime I watched it, you'll love it!

Well, that's all I got for this week! Thank you for all your prayers and for emailing me, I love hearing from you guys!

Love you!

-Sister Carrillo

3 NE 13: 31-33

Also you should read Alma 24! That's a way good chapter, it made me cry because it's so sad but it's so good!