1st of December. When did that happen?
MONDAY:
Pday.. Again Pday's... Sister J aand I like to take things easy.. :)
Today we got pedicures.. for 100฿ which is like.... $3.50..... This
country.
TUESDAY: Zone Christmas Conference. Wow we were spoiled today. All the missionaries in Bangkok came together and...
-Sang Christmas carols in front of a mall... So many people stopped to listen and to video :) It was fun :)
-Went
to the most high class restaurant EVER.. Huge buffet.... I cried a
little.. The pictures of all the missionaries on the stairs! That's the
buffet place.. I ate had SO much sushi.. SO much sticky rice &
mangos... SO much homemade icecream... And Bread... oh bread i love
you...
-Went back to the church where we had an awesome devo with the Seniors.
-I sang a solo in front of 100+ people... ? Yeah that happened.
-We
were completely spoiled. They gave a a Christmas CD (WITH JOSH GROBAN
ON IT OMG), so many good talks (including Character of Christ by David
A. Bednar... > That's the talk that I raved and raved about in the
MTC). Etc.
-They shared with us their family Christmas tradition from Matthew 25:35-40-
35For I was an hungred , and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger , and ye took me in:
36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison , and ye came unto me.
37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39Or when saw we thee sick , or in prison, and came unto thee?
40And
the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you,
Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren ,
ye have done it unto me.
They
challenged us this Christmas year to find someone hungry.. And feed
them... Someone thirsty, sick, or in prison... And go unto them. And I
want to pass along the invite. Give back to the Savior this year by
giving to someone else..... So far....
I have given water to... A homeless man who was begging for water.
I have took in a stranger by saying hello.. inviting them to church... Being nice.
What have you done!? :)
WEDNESDAY:
Investigator didn't show up that morning even after we had changed ALL
of our plans for her.... It was supposed to happen though. Miracle: On
the way home.. We bumped into a LA (less active) who Sis J and I have
been literally been searching for our ENTIRE transfer. God is good.
thursday:
OH MAN ARE YOU READY??? Okay... Today two really crazy cool miracles
happened..... It was a a switch offs day. So I went to Bangkapi and was
companions with Sister Mamea (oh i love her!). Okay so get this.. It was
the end of the day.. We had just eaten dinner and were grabbing an
icecream cone from McD's when I see that as a topping for the icecream-
they have Boba (those weird popping jellies they have at Red Mango..) So
i go.. "Sis. M have you ever had Boba?"; Sis M- "Yeah"; Me- "They have
them at the place i used to work Red Mango."; Sis M-"Oh no way you
worked there? They have one of those in this mall." me-
"OHHASDHFAJSDKFHASJDFHASDM,MMMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYYYAREEEEEEYOUUUUUUSERRRRIOUSSSSS???"
YOU GUYS. THEY HAD. A RED MANGO. IN THAT MALL.
YOU GUYS. THAY HAVE RED MANGO IN THAILAND.
Needless
to say. i FREAKED OUT.... Wow I was so happy... Wow... This sounds
SOOOO silly but..... That was a tender mercy from Heavenly Father. That
Red Mango was built for me. I'll attach some pics.... You will see pure
joy... on my face..
Okay the other miracle :D--->
Sister
Mamea and I were making our way back to the apartment... We were
talking and laughing... still inviting.... Not too many people out
because I was dark out. I look forward for a second... And see a guy and
the thought that pops into my mind is... I am going to get that guy's
number... So we keep walking and talking... And when he comes closer....
I say "phii kha! Sonjay khaw bood may kha?" >Excuse me sir... Are
you interested in coming to church?..... He was interested. And I did
get his number... I walked away thinking. Hmm.. He was special.......
And then after that... I didn't think to much of it.. other than oh that
was really cool.. I had that thought pop in my head... And I really
believed I would get his number.. So it happened. Okay so now skip
forward to Sunday. I am back in Saphan Suung. We had our usual sunday
night conference call with the sisters in our zone... Sister Alley and
Mamea say... Sister Coates.. We had one investigator in church today. It
was Nam Leab. <---- The one. Had the thought about... The special
one. Gold. Way cool miracle there. :) He's going to be baptized.
FRIDAY:
Happy Thai Father's Day! (the king's birthday) I love you Dad! Today we
taught a TON of investigators... So that was really awesome. There is
this one... named Noot. I absolutely love her. We met her on the
street... about a week ago? She is the one that said that she could feel
something when she prayed.. and kept rubbing her arms. She is going to
be baptized this Sunday. :) I cannot wait. You guys.. Thailand is ready.
To
celebrate WanPaa! Everyone here wears yellow and there are big
gatherings to pay tribute to the king.. So sister J and I went over to a
member's house and watched it on TV! It was really interesting... They
had 100's and 100's of people. That would come up and bow to a a huge
picture of the king and give him a golden bush thing... Cool culture
experience.
SATURDAY:
Spoiler alert. Challenge revealed..... Thai is really really hard. It
comes little by little which is more than I could ask for. I overheard
some members talking about my language ability.. And at first, it made
me feel really bad. They don't see how hard I try and how often I
pray for help! But then I realized it was a miracle that I was able to
understand what they were talking about in the first place! It was a
humbling experience for me. My gratitude for the encouragement from my
family, my companion, the members and everyone has increased so much.
You have to prune a rose bush down to just sticks if you want a
beautiful rose bush. I am okay with just being a stick for now. :)
SUNDAY:
One of the Elder's investigators was baptized today... A 90 year
Buddhist man. God is real. Thailand is ready..... The man was so sweet.
He was so afraid to be baptized backwards... So he did like a forward
cannonball dive. So precious! <3 When he bore his testimony he said
"I feel so good.. I am glad to be a member of.... What's the name...
What do we even call ourselves anyways?? How do I even end what i'm
saying!?" <-- hehehe so cute. His daughter had to come tell him what
to say and help him back to his seat. :)
This
is my last week with Sister Jackson. I am so sad. But so happy for her!
And so grateful for her. We will be friends forever. Of that I am sure!
Being a missionary is so good.
Thailand is such a special place.
Thank
you for your prayers family. Thank you little Noah, Reags, &
Savannah for praying for me every night to speak Thai. Your prayers are
working! :)
Hey
guess what family? I'll see you in... About 2 weeks. :) Christmas
morning @ 9:00 for me.. And Christmas Eve @ 7:00 for you. :)
I love being a missionary.
Love you all.
Sister Coates
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