Week 93 - Ayutthaya: T14.W3 "ทำอะไรจ๊ะ​"

Dear Family and Friends,

I would like to begin by saying how grateful I am for my Savior. This week has been fantastic and hard as usual. But we have really been striving to plow ahead for our district vision that I had and that Elder Watkins really drilled home: 

17 Miracles means the seventeen convert baptisms needed to make our total membership from 133 to 150, thereby qualifying to be a ward in the next stake created in Thailand.

70 at Church will help us get the actual number of people here back up and give us a super-functional branch that could be a ward and support the future temple.

OFF (Operation Find Fan แฟน) is in full effect to find all the cute YSA people to come to church and find a fan (a boyfriend/girlfriend) - especially for Brother Nong, a sweet member who's pretty much the Bomb.com and taking us to go see cool stuff today pretty soon.

Some of those miracles have been emerging as our district is working smarter and more efficiently. This week we've been helping little Bah get ready for baptism. This week she prayed aloud to her Heavenly Father for the first time - tears rolled down my face to hear her sweet, fervent prayer. The next lesson, she volunteered to say the opening prayer and then she shared a scripture about faith with us. The tears came back. She also came to the activity we had for youth and made good friends with another investigator, Cake, whose a little sassafras. Elder Watkins also overheard Sister Bah invite Cake to her baptism on the 17th of this month. So sweet, and I think it made Cake a little jealous that SHE didn't yet have a baptism date hehe! Unfortunately Bah didn't come to church this week, but just to see the improvement from her mom being inactive to her teaching her daughter the Restoration without our asking is breathtaking when I think about it. THAT's why I love my Savior: He changes the things that seem impossible, and makes them a reality right before our eyes through the power of His Atonement. 

Speaking of His power, we have seen many more miracles happen. Old investigators have dates, members have been doing missionary work and finding those prepared for us to teach, and we've been seeing people waltz into church wanting to be baptized and change their lives. We found a family who was super receptive and came to an activity that the mission office couple, Elder and Sister Jones, put on for us. It was a tender mercy for me because I love them so much when I worked in the office and they are leaving this month. 

It seems as if all is going really well, right? Well, it is. We are just being blessed by the Lord in great abundance. I also got a DearElder letter from my mom (and if any one else would like to send one off to me that'd be great!! ;) ) with Elder Kaiden Worthington's experience of walking into the church and stepping through sewage buildup that flooded the church. He talked about giving it your all no matter what circumstances appear. What I really like was his focus on being desperate in GOOD circumstances. His mission president talked about the early missionaries who had nothing but the shirts on their backs and an occasional Book of Mormon in hand. They were desperately dependent on the Lord, Elder Worthington pointed out, and that it was because of the desperation that they relied on the Lord and saw miracles. They saw them because they relied on the grace of the Atonement. The Lord told Moroni: 

 

"My grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them" (Ether 12:27).

Elder Worthington mentioned that sometimes we as missionaries forget to be desperately reliant on Him because we really don't need to in the way that they needed to of old because of our money we get monthly or our warm apartments (our I would change Elder Worthington's words here to our "air-conditioned apartments").



Joseph's cousin, Elder Worthington, (left) serving a mission in Yekaterinburg, Russia

 This week in district meeting I'm excited that we will have a great guest speaker who's a Zone Leader in Russia as I share some of Bates' experiences to fuel our expanding vision with humility and reliance on the Lord.

May we all allow the Lord take our weaknesses and make them our strengths is my prayer this week. Love ya all! Please pray for Bah and her mom and for Thailand to be filled with the Love of the Lord because there are rumors of unrest here. This world needs love. May we fill it with Charity - the love that never faileth!

Love Always,

Elder Gibbons

PS: Remember Ruamsap? The sweet little Grandma I baptized in Sisaket? She is now a member for a year today! She's as strong as ever and still love the missionaries. And Somsak, Ribbin and Biew? They hit their year mark the week before. Still strong as ever and even sent me cashews and flower treats that taste kinda like burnt ear wax... You'll love 'em someday... ;)



This is Bah!  :)



This is Sister Saaw, our Relief Society President, with Sister Bah and her mother Boo!





These are little geckos that are EVERYWHERE. I'm glad I didn't come here when I was little or I would be catching them always and not focusing on anything!!!  I think Eden Cope also said she loved to catch them too! [If you can't find the gecko...look on top of his ear!!]

I think this is his companion with a gecko friend!