This past week we found out President Russell M. Nelson, and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland are coming to Thailand!!! It's so awesome that a prophet of the Lord is coming here. It'll help the members here a lot, especially with the temple coming soon. Also, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has always been one of my favorite speakers. So fire. I'm so excited for April 20th.
My companion is doing well. He's such a good greenie.
This past week, the mission put an emphasis on finding new people to teach and through prayer and faith we found a lot of new investigators. It was way cool. Hopefully they'll all progress and be baptized.
Cool story this week was we were going home and it was late so we had to get a taxi. 7 taxis turned us down for whatever reason and we finally got a taxi on the 8th try. We started talking with the taxi driver and it turns out he goes to church by our church and has a bunch of children that goes to church there. He wanted to go to our church because our church is closer than his church, and because we taught him a little of the Restoration. It was way cool. At first I was upset that all the taxis turned us down but in the end, it was all in God's plan.
We met this other cool guy named Guy or Chicken. He drives vans and speaks English way well. He wants to go to church because at church everyone is happy and smiling. It's cool. He told us he was going to change his work schedule to go, but he wasn't there haha.
One of our Investigators who is closest to Baptism but is still not sure about being baptized had a dream about the church, which is one of the way the Lord answers our prayers. You just have to recognize it as what it is. So she might be getting baptized soon. 😁
I don't remember if I told you about the investigator who said smoking was good for the O-Zone because it creates clouds but he decided to abandon his environmental efforts and quit smoking. He hasn't been smoking for over a week now.
Today I want to share a famous talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland which I'm sure most of you have read or heard or remember but I like it a lot. It's in the October 1999 General Conference called "An High Priest of Good Things to Come" I want to share a little portion of it.
"To any who may be struggling to see that light and find that hope, I say: Hold on. Keep trying. God loves you. Things will improve. Christ comes to you in His "more excellent ministry" with a future of "better promises." He is your "high priest of good things to come."
I think of newly called missionaries leaving family and friends to face, on occasion, some rejection and some discouragement and, at least in the beginning, a moment or two of homesickness and perhaps a little fear.
I think of young mothers and fathers who are faithfully having their families while still in school—or just newly out—trying to make ends meet even as they hope for a brighter financial future someday. At the same time, I think of other parents who would give any earthly possession they own to have a wayward child return.
I think of single parents who face all of this but face it alone, having confronted death or divorce, alienation or abandonment, or some other misfortune they had not foreseen in happier days and certainly had not wanted.
I think of those who want to be married and aren't, those who desire to have children and cannot, those who have acquaintances but very few friends, those who are grieving over the death of a loved one or are themselves ill with disease. I think of those who suffer from sin—their own or someone else's—who need to know there is a way back and that happiness can be restored. I think of the disconsolate and downtrodden who feel life has passed them by, or now wish that it would pass them by. To all of these and so many more, I say: Cling to your faith. Hold on to your hope. "Pray always, and be believing." Indeed, as Paul wrote of Abraham, he "against [all] hope believed in hope" and "staggered not … through unbelief." He was "strong in faith" and was "fully persuaded that, what [God] had promised, he was able … to perform."
Even if you cannot always see that silver lining on your clouds, God can, for He is the very source of the light you seek. He does love you, and He knows your fears. He hears your prayers. He is your Heavenly Father, and surely He matches with His own the tears His children shed."
Sorry it's a little long but I love that part a lot. The whole talk is way good and I wish I could share all of it but I'll let you all read it yourselves. He talks about some trials people go through. Through all the trials and obstacles we face in life, focusing on the Savior and his teachings will help us through the hardest of times. We need to trust in Heavenly Father and his promised blessings. We need to focus on the future and the promise of good things to come. It will make the hard times better. There have been many hardships that I've experienced on my mission, but what I noticed helped me through them is focusing on the Savior and others. God does not take pleasure in us suffering. He is our loving Heavenly Father. We all knew what we were getting ourselves into when we accepted his plan. He is sad when we are sad. He is happy when we obey the commandments and help his children. To any of you going through trials in life right now, I recommend to read this talk, and to trust in God and his plan he has for each and everyone one of you. Sometimes we don't understand, but it's all for our good. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love you more than you can comprehend. We just need to put our trust in them. I love you all and miss everyone. Have a great week.
Pics: the bridge we walk every day, FHE, brother love, and a lizard thing
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