Hold to the rod....

Saturday evening we went contacting
at a festival and for our break we rode
the ferris wheel! Wheeeee

Every week the missionaries teach a Book of Mormon class to the recent converts to help them start reading the scriptures regularly. This week was Sis Stewart's and my turn to teach 1 Nephi chapter 8. We took it upon ourselves to make the BEST activity EVER and do our own "Lehi's Vision". I remembered how when I was 16 the Oregon City Stake did that big, "The Quest" youth conference, and they did a "Lehi's Vision" activity where they had an iron rod that lead to the tree of life and you had to follow it blind-folded and if you let go you had to go to the "repentence room" and learn about Christ and His Atonement before you could go back to the iron rod. So we decked out one of the trees in the church's yard with twinkly lights and hung mango stein from the branches, and had the Elders be the tempters to get people to let go of the rod. hahahha It was really fun, and in the the end I think the members really liked it. Score 1 for team Zauggwart!

This week we went to the hospital twice! But this time it was visiting other people. The first time was to go visit Bro.Tom's dad. His dad has been really sick lately and he asked if we would go visit him to lift and encourage him. Well, Tom's dad is actually the lord of a Buddhist temple and so we had to go to a "special" hospital only for monks. We had to take our shoes off to go in and the rooms were lined with beds of sick monks wearing the yellow robes and sleeping on yellow bedding. haha It was pretty awkward, we didn't know what the customs were to address or interact with a monk so we just stood there and smiled encouragingly. Later Tom said that his dad was really happy that we saw him and started to eat again so I guess it was well worth the visit! lol

We had to translate for the Seniors
during a leadership training, but
it ended up that we spent most
of the time baby-sitting this crazy
little munchkin.

The second time was to go visit Bro Udom and his family at the hospital. Udom is the man who got baptized after he had a heart attack. He was having heart troubles again so we took some priesthood holders to give him a blessing at the hospital. He was at a government hospital and boy was it gross. They crowd so many people into one room and the hallways are all out-doors and dogs are wandering about and it's pretty sketch. But Udom is feeling better and back at home with a charge from the doctor to lose weight! haha

She was still wearing the ponytail
at church the next day.

After church we were following Sis Guulaap
home on her sweet little red wagon. The wagon's
battery started to die so we decided
to keep following her to make sure she made
it home safe and sound. lol

Our miracle this week is that we have an investigator! He's an older man named Sii Thai that Stewart found at nong prajak. He's super sweet and likes the church and he laughs like this: "Tee hee hee c:" He's got a goal to be baptized this Sunday!

This is Stewart's last full week as a missionary. I can't believe how dead she is! I hope we can make it a good week!

Love you all!

Sis Zaugg

Just gotta roll with the punches

Learned how to make som tum!
Watch out family, I'm gonna make it for you
and you're gonna LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We just keep getting punched in the gut over here in Udorn. Stew got a really bad fever while I was on a switch off in Nongkhai that took her out for a couple days, so we didn't get a lot done this week. Plus we decided to drop all of our investigators AGAIN and start over.

I'm afraid to say that there isn't much to report on this week.

The switch off in Nongkhai was fun! I was with Sis Barber, who reminds me so much of Amy it was surreal. haha She and Sis Downs have been having a fairly similar experience as ours out there in Nongkhai, so we decided to try switching things up and bike out into the boonies to go out inviting. In the end we had sore bums, intense tan lines and no numbers, but I think it was worth it. 

Ridin' out in the boonies

You can't not try new things for fear of failure. We failed pretty hard that day, but at least now we know that inviting out that way isn't worth it! Now she and Sis Downs can go explore different places and hopefully find those prepared people that they maybe wouldn't have met otherwise. :) 

It says,
"The consequences of sin are DEATH."

My sweet new tanline

That switch off actually was a blast to the past of my greenie days. We did a lot of inviting people outside of their homes and at the end of the day it POURED and all of Nongkhai flooded. I was like, "wait.... am I on the border of Laos, or am I in Don Muang?" hahah

A guy that sells mattresses

Earlier on in the week we finally got Sister Pawn to take us to a member's house that we've been trying to visit for a looooong time. When we got there the member just went on and on and on about her job for Amway. The whole time I was thinking, "Like..... Amway Scamway?" I'm not sure if it's the same, but it certainly sounds like the same company. hahaha I was wayyy confused. But she loves her job there and it takes good care of her family, so maybe it's not the same?

So uhhh.... yeah! I'll throw in some pictures to make this email worth reading. 

A member here sells ice cream
and he pulled up to the church
 during district meeting, so we all
bought ice cream from him. Yummmm!

There's a bulletin board in the church
with pictures of every member from Udorn
that's been a missionary. This is my fav picture.
Check out his sweet fat tie.

A reeeeeaaally long broom in the Nongkhai church.

I hope you all are living life and have a splendiferous time! Have a great week.

Sis Zaugg

Call Me When You're Hurting

A member told us about an investigator who really liked a Thai song that went: "Call me when you're hurting and I'll be there for you...." And that when the Elders taught him how to pray this is how he began:

"Dear Heavenly Father, call me when you're hurting."

Trying to stay dry

This week has been raining cats and dogs! We're right in the middle of rainy season now. Udorn is nice because it doesn't flood when it rains. No need to wade through sewage back-flow!

10 baht mango sticky rice

It's been particularly interesting this week for me and Sis Stewart, because we haven't had many investigators to teach to keep us in the church during the rain, so we've had lots of opportunities to explore Udorn in the rain trying to find things to do. haha One day we were trying to find a member who was supposedly selling toys in front of a school. We didn't find her, but we found mango sticky rice for 10 BAHT. Win for us! We've found a lot of cool stuff this week. We found new markets, some cool Chinese temples.... new 7/11's... a Vespa store..... 

Brother Udom and Sister Nuu!

To say the least, we haven't been experiencing a whole lot of success in the finding department, but that doesn't seem to stop the Lord from doing His work. We had two baptisms this Sunday! It was the friends of the member who came to church last Sunday. Remember when I mentioned that she had saved his life? Let me elaborate a little more.

The member who brought them is a nurse at a hospital. She noticed one morning that one of her co-workers hadn't shown up yet and thought it unusual because he had never been late to work before. She felt prompted to call him and and he said that he wasn't feeling well- that his heart hurt. She asked if he needed an ambulance but he declined. She told him to call her if he needed anything. A while later she felt prompted again to call again, he said that he was in a lot of pain and couldn't get up and ran out of minutes on his phone so he couldn't call anyone! They rushed an ambulance to his home and were able to save his life. After that experience he had a "coming to God" moment. He quit smoking cigarettes, drinking, and coffee and took his family to church on Sunday. His wife has been worried about her family for a while and felt so good at church that she decided that this is what she wants for her family and decided that she and her husband were going to be baptized.... and they did! It was truly a miracle.

Been hanging out with Sis Guulaap a lot lately.

 Yummmmmmm

Here's another miracle from this week. It makes me laugh every time I think about it! 

Getting a massage on pday!

A couple weeks ago Stew contacted a kid who was really awesome! He really wants to be Christian but we had to drop him because he goes to school on Sundays. Well, last Friday after we were feeling pretty down after we had dropped all of our investigators AGAIN, we got a call.... from this kid! He was laughing so hard as he told us a story. He said, "So I was watching the World Cup, Germany against Brazil. I REALLY wanted Germany to win, so I prayed so so so hard for them to beat Brazil..... and THEY DID!!!! 7 to 1! So uh... what time does church start on Sunday?"

HE WENT TO CHURCH!! He made time to go for one hour and then rushed back to school. That's amazing.

In other news, it was 80 degrees Fahrenheit last week and we felt chilled. So that's cool.

Have a great week!

Sis Zaugg (keep scrolling for LOTS more pictures...)

Two good old friends strolling
through the park on a Friday evening.

Tom and his tuk tuk

\

Our recent converts are so stinkin' solid!

We named her kitty "Elder"
She was like, "hahahahhahah!
Wait- she's a girl"
We were like, "shhhhhh"

This recent convert is named Boeing.
She loves lipstick and made herself this
name tag so that older members
at church would get to know her easier.
She also happens to wear it
EVERYWHERE she goes.
#mormonprideupinhere

 In Thailand there's delicious food like suki hang....

 ...But for some reason
Thai people insist on eating stuff like this.

 

 

This member got tired during Sunday
school, laid down on the bench,
then grabbed my hand and used it
for a pillow

Happy 4th!

The fruit salad!

How was everyone's 4th of July? Mine was soooooo good! For lunch we had a classic BBQ at the Browns' with burgers and dogs and fruit salad and root beer! Sis Stewart and I decided to keep some Thai spirit in the occasion by making the fruit salad out of Thai fruits. It was really fun, and REALLY delicious. :)

Fruit shopping!

Pineapple truck in Nongkhai.

'Merica

George's fam bam!

The best part of the 4th was the fact that we got to visit George's family at his house! His wife comes down to Udorn on the weekends, so we thought it would be a good opportunity to meet her and invite her to church. When we got there there was George, his wife, their two adorable kids, and George's parents. George's dad came out of his bedroom and sat down in front of us. He can't really see or hear, and he has a short memory, but we were able to hold a conversation with him! He can read and speak some English so we told him where we're from, how old we are, and that we're missionaries. He was soooooo excited! In very slow English he said, "I.... am...... very GLAD.... that..... you.... come to.... my......... HOUSE!" hahahah He said this probably like 20 times. Sooooooo sweet! He's 92 years old. That is SO old for a Thai man. Sooooo old. Hahahahah George's fam bam is so stinkin' cute. They're a real family! They take care of each other and love each other! You don't see a lot of those in Thailand.

AT MLC these two guys were there
to get set apart as missionaries!
Members from Saphaansung!
Bro Boss (left) is literally the most
Chirst-like person I've ever met here.
He will be amazing. Bro Jet (right)
is Sis Stewart's RC and is a total punk.
 I think he'll benefit a lot from a mission.
haha I'm so excited to serve with them!!!

This week was just full of ups and downs. The family that we taught and baptized our first week here's mom met with us almost every day this week. We taught her everything and she was really excited to get baptized this Sunday. She even brought her aunt to learn who also wanted to get baptized! Well.... Sunday morning rolls around and we called her and she said that she wouldn't be going to church anymore because her husband said that she couldn't get baptized. She was too passive to argue her case or to defend her desire to be a member. 

We were DEVASTATED! So sad. We were feeling kinda stressed because this woman was our only real investigator and now she was gone and we were scared and sad and didn't know what was going to happen. We haven't found anyone who is really ready to be baptized in a looooong time. So Sunday morning I was really heavy hearted. Then we went to church to welcome George's family.... and then only George showed up with his daughter! So then we were doubly bummed! So I was sitting in the back of the chapel trying not to cry, when I felt prompted to stop thinking and to just look up and watch. Sitting behind George was a recent convert who last week was really sad because she's never been married and never had children which makes her sad, and George's daughter was just giving her the biggest out-pouring of love I've ever seen. She was blowing her kisses and holding her hand and making this member giggle and smile SO big. Then I looked at the pulpit and started listening to the people bearing their testimonies, and every single one was amazing. The spirit touched me in that meeting and I felt so full of gratitude and love for the people in that room and for Thailand. I left the church that morning rejoicing.

BUT THAT'S NOT THE END.

News was at the MLC.
She made me miss Bangna so much!

We went home to go to personal study, and we got a call from Sis Roong (Top's mom), saying that this week she had saved a man's life at the hospital that she nurses at and that she was bringing him and his family to church! When we got to church the man plus his wife, daughter and grandaughter were all there. We were blown away! And then Jin our RC brought her friend, and a girl that Sis Stewart invited brought 3 friends, and a lady that I invited brought her friend, and another RC brought her daughter! We literally had a dozen investigators at church on Sunday. I've NEVER had that many investigators at church my whole mission. I just felt like crying! I could feel Heavenly Father's love and concern for us SO strongly. He is aware of us. He loves us. He has a plan. I know that our investigator who didn't get baptized isn't completely lost, we'll find her and help her come back. In the mean time, we will rejoice and praise our God for the miracles He is continually performing for us! I just feel shocked and amazed, and most importantly: completely grateful.

I hope you all have a great week!

Sis Zaugg