Monday, December 27, 2010
Sup.
So Saturday was a lot of fun guys.. thanks for being there. You guys are right and i didnt even think of that way.. it was exactly like BYU with a bunch of people walking in an out haha.. Komgrid and Tawid are NOT usually that shy i swear! And Bon usually cant keep his mouth quiet long enough before a bad word comes out haha. But really, it was quite special.
So what happened in these last 2 days? A butt ton. Sister Apple passed the interview.. with flying colors i might add. But more than that, she got baptized on Sunday. Yeah, yesterday. Why? The Branch Presidency decided to do it that way 2 minutes before sacrament started. Short notice eh? Yeah.. a little bit. The members were a little weirded out because it was so short notice (and then Elders from another area had to rush over too), but all in all it went fairly well. Sister Apple chose me to baptize her and i was willing, but then i changed my mind and told her if she really wanted me to baptize her, then whatever, i would. But i told her that this was her only time in her life to do this and so i introduced the idea to have Fluke, her son baptize her. She immediately said ,"yeah.. thats a really good idea that i was just thinking too." So yeah.. fluke ran home and got their white clothes and then got back and memorized the lines and what not and baptized her. Sweet.
And then we had a bunch of lessons after the baptism and we got Bon to commit to quit smoking. Awesome. We wil see if he actually keeps the committment but he said he WOULD, instead of trying. We will meet again today in like an hour and hopefully hes doing good. BUt unfortunately they are going back to Au's house for like a week or so so we wont meet for a while. Kinda blows. But whatever.
Today we just got baack from Ayutaya.. the old capital of Thailand. And it was so much fun. I have so many pictures but theres no way im taking the time to upload those all in emails.. im trying to set up this "Picasa" account thing but its hard.. every time i try to change the language to English it goes back on me! Can you set one up for me so i dont have to read all these stupid pop up thai messages. You gotta see these pics. Ill get a few out though :)
Love ya guys. This Christmas was interesting but way good none the less. Missed ya, and got a little trunky on skype.. but only a little! Hopefully ill get my packages tomorrow but never know.. if not this week, then probably next. Thanks for the support and the cool pictures of Christmas.
Love, Elder Gudmundsen
So what happened in these last 2 days? A butt ton. Sister Apple passed the interview.. with flying colors i might add. But more than that, she got baptized on Sunday. Yeah, yesterday. Why? The Branch Presidency decided to do it that way 2 minutes before sacrament started. Short notice eh? Yeah.. a little bit. The members were a little weirded out because it was so short notice (and then Elders from another area had to rush over too), but all in all it went fairly well. Sister Apple chose me to baptize her and i was willing, but then i changed my mind and told her if she really wanted me to baptize her, then whatever, i would. But i told her that this was her only time in her life to do this and so i introduced the idea to have Fluke, her son baptize her. She immediately said ,"yeah.. thats a really good idea that i was just thinking too." So yeah.. fluke ran home and got their white clothes and then got back and memorized the lines and what not and baptized her. Sweet.
And then we had a bunch of lessons after the baptism and we got Bon to commit to quit smoking. Awesome. We wil see if he actually keeps the committment but he said he WOULD, instead of trying. We will meet again today in like an hour and hopefully hes doing good. BUt unfortunately they are going back to Au's house for like a week or so so we wont meet for a while. Kinda blows. But whatever.
Today we just got baack from Ayutaya.. the old capital of Thailand. And it was so much fun. I have so many pictures but theres no way im taking the time to upload those all in emails.. im trying to set up this "Picasa" account thing but its hard.. every time i try to change the language to English it goes back on me! Can you set one up for me so i dont have to read all these stupid pop up thai messages. You gotta see these pics. Ill get a few out though :)
Love ya guys. This Christmas was interesting but way good none the less. Missed ya, and got a little trunky on skype.. but only a little! Hopefully ill get my packages tomorrow but never know.. if not this week, then probably next. Thanks for the support and the cool pictures of Christmas.
Love, Elder Gudmundsen
Monday, December 20, 2010
MERRY... what time of year is it?
Yo sup. Gangster.
So this week was way sweet. Had a butt ton of lessons with members and had some serious progress with everyone. First off, Sister Gade.. yeah, shes getting baptized on wednesday.. woohoo! She passed everything and we got the service set up for this wednesday. We wanted to set it up for this tuesday right after english class so all those nuggets could see it, but Gades son wouldnt be able to go.. he needs to be there. He said he can make it on wednesday. She was so sweet this weekend.. she was literally brighter than a christmas tree and church and when she passed her interview? wow.. never seen someone with her age so happy. For Flukes Mom, Apple, she is almost done with everything. She learns faster than anyone ive ever met. And, it helps that fluke pretty much teaches everything for us already.. we didnt need to teach the sabbath day, the law of chastity OR the word of wisdom cause Fluke explained all of that to her when he was baptized. So, we will finish everything and then proceed with her baptism on the 2nd. On to Au and Bon... pretty sweet week. Bon is opening up to us more and more every day. He knows these things are good for him and hes starting to make the change.. first with repentance. He said something kinda funny.. in thai he said "Heart hot...'' i think you can figure that out.. i heard it and was like.. hmm... thats gotta mean hot head. It does. He gets mad pretty easily and he wants to change that. I love his questions.. he doesnt hesitate to ask either.. i love it. For Au.. Wisid and Superman had her come over to their house and they had a talk about how to treat her kids.. because she has a habit of treating them with disrespect.. not completely her fault because they dont treat her with the most respect either.. but it was necessary. Yesterday there was a big difference when we taught.. these 2, mother and child, are really starting to get along like family.. instead of enemies. Its the same change that happened with Fluke and his Mom.. the love there is so great. Oh! And Sister Gade came and helped us teach them too haha. Im afraid we wont have enough time to baptize them before this transfer is over.. everyone thinks i am moving! I will be... "sad", to censor myself a little bit. Hopefully i will stay longer.
So this week we had exchanges.. Elder Olive and I had some fun over in rangsit.. hes a great missionary.. his thai is absolutely terrible.. harsh right? Not so. I say it cause he said it first. Thats why hes so great.. he knows he straight sucks (hahah) but he doesnt let it get in the way.. he charges every lesson, every investigator, and every time we invite.. Its quite inspiring. And it was a good experience for me to lead lessons again. We had one investigator who was pretty.. "peeved" at the idea of only men getting the priesthood.. i heard it, understood her question and was just like.. dangit! I can never answer this question adequately.. but surprisingly she accepted my answer just fine. Her husband aint interested but she goes to church a ton.
I dont have a scripture of the week or a phrase.. but i do have a thought for everyone.. Reach out and help a less active member. This past sunday we had a less active who was calling people to try and figure out a way to get to Church.. but he doesnt have any money... we had nobody who could help him.. and we as missionaries cant. It was aggravating, frustrating, and agonizing to have to say no because its a rule that its the responsibility of the members. Its different here because we have maybe 2 or 3 members who have cars.. and they are usually full. We have no excuses back home. Its probably not a problem like this for less actives, but they have problems too.. be the ones to reach out and kick the butt to church to partake of the sacrament! Something i plan to fix when i get home.
K so this is all i got for now.. but i look forward to this Christmas more than usual. Yesterday i was called up to speak in church about Christmas back in the states.. Well.. i said it was the best time of the year... to say the least. There was a video by President Monson about the Sprit of Christmas (hey whaddyaknow! i got a phrase of the week): drop the last syllable and we have the Spirit of Christ. This season REMEMBER to FORGET yourselves.
Merry Christmas!
Elder Gudmundsen
So this week was way sweet. Had a butt ton of lessons with members and had some serious progress with everyone. First off, Sister Gade.. yeah, shes getting baptized on wednesday.. woohoo! She passed everything and we got the service set up for this wednesday. We wanted to set it up for this tuesday right after english class so all those nuggets could see it, but Gades son wouldnt be able to go.. he needs to be there. He said he can make it on wednesday. She was so sweet this weekend.. she was literally brighter than a christmas tree and church and when she passed her interview? wow.. never seen someone with her age so happy. For Flukes Mom, Apple, she is almost done with everything. She learns faster than anyone ive ever met. And, it helps that fluke pretty much teaches everything for us already.. we didnt need to teach the sabbath day, the law of chastity OR the word of wisdom cause Fluke explained all of that to her when he was baptized. So, we will finish everything and then proceed with her baptism on the 2nd. On to Au and Bon... pretty sweet week. Bon is opening up to us more and more every day. He knows these things are good for him and hes starting to make the change.. first with repentance. He said something kinda funny.. in thai he said "Heart hot...'' i think you can figure that out.. i heard it and was like.. hmm... thats gotta mean hot head. It does. He gets mad pretty easily and he wants to change that. I love his questions.. he doesnt hesitate to ask either.. i love it. For Au.. Wisid and Superman had her come over to their house and they had a talk about how to treat her kids.. because she has a habit of treating them with disrespect.. not completely her fault because they dont treat her with the most respect either.. but it was necessary. Yesterday there was a big difference when we taught.. these 2, mother and child, are really starting to get along like family.. instead of enemies. Its the same change that happened with Fluke and his Mom.. the love there is so great. Oh! And Sister Gade came and helped us teach them too haha. Im afraid we wont have enough time to baptize them before this transfer is over.. everyone thinks i am moving! I will be... "sad", to censor myself a little bit. Hopefully i will stay longer.
So this week we had exchanges.. Elder Olive and I had some fun over in rangsit.. hes a great missionary.. his thai is absolutely terrible.. harsh right? Not so. I say it cause he said it first. Thats why hes so great.. he knows he straight sucks (hahah) but he doesnt let it get in the way.. he charges every lesson, every investigator, and every time we invite.. Its quite inspiring. And it was a good experience for me to lead lessons again. We had one investigator who was pretty.. "peeved" at the idea of only men getting the priesthood.. i heard it, understood her question and was just like.. dangit! I can never answer this question adequately.. but surprisingly she accepted my answer just fine. Her husband aint interested but she goes to church a ton.
I dont have a scripture of the week or a phrase.. but i do have a thought for everyone.. Reach out and help a less active member. This past sunday we had a less active who was calling people to try and figure out a way to get to Church.. but he doesnt have any money... we had nobody who could help him.. and we as missionaries cant. It was aggravating, frustrating, and agonizing to have to say no because its a rule that its the responsibility of the members. Its different here because we have maybe 2 or 3 members who have cars.. and they are usually full. We have no excuses back home. Its probably not a problem like this for less actives, but they have problems too.. be the ones to reach out and kick the butt to church to partake of the sacrament! Something i plan to fix when i get home.
K so this is all i got for now.. but i look forward to this Christmas more than usual. Yesterday i was called up to speak in church about Christmas back in the states.. Well.. i said it was the best time of the year... to say the least. There was a video by President Monson about the Sprit of Christmas (hey whaddyaknow! i got a phrase of the week): drop the last syllable and we have the Spirit of Christ. This season REMEMBER to FORGET yourselves.
Merry Christmas!
Elder Gudmundsen
Monday, December 13, 2010
Wow
i have so many pictures this week its retarded.. its gonna be hard to send these tonight... the charge from today was for a mini hard drive.. 250 gigs.. why so big? Because the next one under it was 16 gigs... for 1000 baht.. i bought this 250 one for 1500 baht. would have been stupid to buy the other one. my card is full already so im dumping everything onto this hard drive so i can take more pics.. got any more cards? i have this 4 gig one, and the 8 gig one that i cant use.. ill explain that later.
Hello!
Sups. yeah.. i know, sup isnt spelled with that extra S but i kinda liked it after i erased it.. what of it.
So.. what a sweet week! We hit a butt ton of lessons.. but in the process got no good potential investigators OR new ones... suck! OH well.. we are working on that haha. The big event this week was the Christmas Stake activity.. hahaha it was SO much fun! Since we had pretty much every investigator going we got permission to go too.. and, upon getting there, i got enlisted to sing. The activity had a way high so performance inside, about the birth of Christ, put on by the members and what not.. way excellent. I only got video of it but it was seriously so good. But on the outside of the church they had a bunch of performances that were much more up beat and fun for the public... that was the one i was in. I got to the church at 530.. they said, "hey can you play the drums? you can? k youre singin with us in an hour." Woot. We sang first at 630.. we sang hark the angels sing, come all ye faithful, white christmas, rudolph, and feliz navidad.. hahaha why feliz? I dont know... maybe cause its super awesome? I added a few touches in for feliz navidad.. but unless someone finds a way for me to send video home via email, you will have to wait until i get home :) So yeah that was way fun, and they we had to go back the following night cause the activity was a 2 nighter. But, even better than that, we had investigators go both nights too! I seriously want you all to see the inside performance.. it was so good. Some reallly, really excelent singers. Kinda made me miss home though a little bit.
K so on to investigators.. everything is still pretty good.. we had so many lessons with members! Flukes mom is incredible.. she understands everything so easily.. and we met her every single day! We still plan to get her baptized on the 2 of january.. Fluke continues to impress me... his mom asks him questions all the time and he answers.. correctly. Even about the PoS! He also got the Aaronic priesthood yesterday.. so he will help us teach every day! Hes got nothing going on and what better way to prepare him to be a missionary than to take him out with us! Yeah. its sweet. Bon and Au are progressing pretty nicely.. if a little bit slow.. but she said a sweet prayer last night that was.. encouraging to say the least: "please help us as we change religions...." and then i didnt understand the rest and up until now i have forgotten to ask Elder Komgrid what else she said... hang on a sec.. ok, so she is worried about not being able to pray to buddhist idols.. shes pretty buddhist by the way.. dont remember if i have said that before, but yeah.. she is. So with Bon.. hes got awesome questions.. he doesnt wait to ask questions.. like, at all. I love it.. instead of sitting there waiting for us stupid missionaries to shut up and ask if they have questions, he just butts right in as says em.. cant get better than that. oh and they are good questions too! YOu can tell they are questions that he has been wondering for a while. On to Gade.. shes solid as ever.. didnt get to meet very much with her, but i mean shes solid. Wud, the Laotion dude.. we committed him to the 9th of January.. so far he is on day 4 without smoking, and day 5 without coffee.. not much longer and that crap is gone.. but really its gone already. All in all, these people are so ready to change.. their testimonies are growing and the members are being such an amazing hlep to us.. its kinda ridiculous how much more stoked they are on missionary work.
K so i am out of order.. phrase of the week! Been a while eh? This weeks actually comes from Krista Oakes... i thought it was amazing and i want everyone to see this.. in fact i cried right in this internet cafe. "I was taught long ago that there are counterfeits for everything except the peace that is the hallmark sign of the Holy Ghost. Within the presence of that peace it is impossible for fear and doubt to abide. There are many good feelings and emotions, and I've experienced those, too. Feelings of love and relief and joy and hope and wonder, and so on. But when there is spirit-to-spirit communication with the Lord through the Holy Ghost, it is unmistakably and undeniably set apart from these other feelings, and it becomes the only reliable source of confirmed truth. My greatest desire is to live long enough to help my children learn to access and recognize this for themselves." One of the best ways of explaining the spirit ive heard in a while.. one day her kids will read that and know, if they dont already, how do recognize the spirit for themselves. It really is true though.. the Spirit is the key.. to everything.. there cannot be anything done without the spirit.. i dont know if i have shared this scripture before, but ill do it again if i have.. 3 Nephi 11: 31.. i think thats what it is.. Jesus says that he testifies of the father, the father testifies of the Son, and the Holy ghost testifies of them both... this is pretty good on its own right? Right. But look deeper.. who is speaking in that chapter? Jesus Christ himself... he is IN FRONT OF THEIR FACES... yet he still calls the holy ghost to testify of the truth.. he descended out of the sky, and everyone saw.. yet he still said to let the spirit testify of truth. How else can you put this? Once we are able to recognize the spirit.. holy crap things get going. Its been something ive been working on in teaching.. most of the time it comes right down to shutting up, and listening.. not just listening to the investigators but also to the Spirit.. listen to what he wants to say.
K so this is all ive got for now.. sorry this is kinda late.. but you probably havent even gotten up yet.. old people! This week was an excellent week of many more to come.. i bear witness that this work is true, and if you dont have the spirit you will not work. Hope everything is all fine and dandy back home.. love you all and thanks for your support... pray for my companion.. hes taking 2 english tests on wednesdays and if he doesnt pass he has to leave the mission and be a soldier.. pray, pray pray! Hes gonna do great.
Elder Gudmundsen
So.. what a sweet week! We hit a butt ton of lessons.. but in the process got no good potential investigators OR new ones... suck! OH well.. we are working on that haha. The big event this week was the Christmas Stake activity.. hahaha it was SO much fun! Since we had pretty much every investigator going we got permission to go too.. and, upon getting there, i got enlisted to sing. The activity had a way high so performance inside, about the birth of Christ, put on by the members and what not.. way excellent. I only got video of it but it was seriously so good. But on the outside of the church they had a bunch of performances that were much more up beat and fun for the public... that was the one i was in. I got to the church at 530.. they said, "hey can you play the drums? you can? k youre singin with us in an hour." Woot. We sang first at 630.. we sang hark the angels sing, come all ye faithful, white christmas, rudolph, and feliz navidad.. hahaha why feliz? I dont know... maybe cause its super awesome? I added a few touches in for feliz navidad.. but unless someone finds a way for me to send video home via email, you will have to wait until i get home :) So yeah that was way fun, and they we had to go back the following night cause the activity was a 2 nighter. But, even better than that, we had investigators go both nights too! I seriously want you all to see the inside performance.. it was so good. Some reallly, really excelent singers. Kinda made me miss home though a little bit.
K so on to investigators.. everything is still pretty good.. we had so many lessons with members! Flukes mom is incredible.. she understands everything so easily.. and we met her every single day! We still plan to get her baptized on the 2 of january.. Fluke continues to impress me... his mom asks him questions all the time and he answers.. correctly. Even about the PoS! He also got the Aaronic priesthood yesterday.. so he will help us teach every day! Hes got nothing going on and what better way to prepare him to be a missionary than to take him out with us! Yeah. its sweet. Bon and Au are progressing pretty nicely.. if a little bit slow.. but she said a sweet prayer last night that was.. encouraging to say the least: "please help us as we change religions...." and then i didnt understand the rest and up until now i have forgotten to ask Elder Komgrid what else she said... hang on a sec.. ok, so she is worried about not being able to pray to buddhist idols.. shes pretty buddhist by the way.. dont remember if i have said that before, but yeah.. she is. So with Bon.. hes got awesome questions.. he doesnt wait to ask questions.. like, at all. I love it.. instead of sitting there waiting for us stupid missionaries to shut up and ask if they have questions, he just butts right in as says em.. cant get better than that. oh and they are good questions too! YOu can tell they are questions that he has been wondering for a while. On to Gade.. shes solid as ever.. didnt get to meet very much with her, but i mean shes solid. Wud, the Laotion dude.. we committed him to the 9th of January.. so far he is on day 4 without smoking, and day 5 without coffee.. not much longer and that crap is gone.. but really its gone already. All in all, these people are so ready to change.. their testimonies are growing and the members are being such an amazing hlep to us.. its kinda ridiculous how much more stoked they are on missionary work.
K so i am out of order.. phrase of the week! Been a while eh? This weeks actually comes from Krista Oakes... i thought it was amazing and i want everyone to see this.. in fact i cried right in this internet cafe. "I was taught long ago that there are counterfeits for everything except the peace that is the hallmark sign of the Holy Ghost. Within the presence of that peace it is impossible for fear and doubt to abide. There are many good feelings and emotions, and I've experienced those, too. Feelings of love and relief and joy and hope and wonder, and so on. But when there is spirit-to-spirit communication with the Lord through the Holy Ghost, it is unmistakably and undeniably set apart from these other feelings, and it becomes the only reliable source of confirmed truth. My greatest desire is to live long enough to help my children learn to access and recognize this for themselves." One of the best ways of explaining the spirit ive heard in a while.. one day her kids will read that and know, if they dont already, how do recognize the spirit for themselves. It really is true though.. the Spirit is the key.. to everything.. there cannot be anything done without the spirit.. i dont know if i have shared this scripture before, but ill do it again if i have.. 3 Nephi 11: 31.. i think thats what it is.. Jesus says that he testifies of the father, the father testifies of the Son, and the Holy ghost testifies of them both... this is pretty good on its own right? Right. But look deeper.. who is speaking in that chapter? Jesus Christ himself... he is IN FRONT OF THEIR FACES... yet he still calls the holy ghost to testify of the truth.. he descended out of the sky, and everyone saw.. yet he still said to let the spirit testify of truth. How else can you put this? Once we are able to recognize the spirit.. holy crap things get going. Its been something ive been working on in teaching.. most of the time it comes right down to shutting up, and listening.. not just listening to the investigators but also to the Spirit.. listen to what he wants to say.
K so this is all ive got for now.. sorry this is kinda late.. but you probably havent even gotten up yet.. old people! This week was an excellent week of many more to come.. i bear witness that this work is true, and if you dont have the spirit you will not work. Hope everything is all fine and dandy back home.. love you all and thanks for your support... pray for my companion.. hes taking 2 english tests on wednesdays and if he doesnt pass he has to leave the mission and be a soldier.. pray, pray pray! Hes gonna do great.
Elder Gudmundsen
Monday, December 6, 2010
baptism...
Pretty sweet eh? Fluke is awesome! Oh and last pday we had some fun at the rink haha.. yes, we ARE allowed to do it.
Why hello clarice
So another week has already passed by.. woot woot! Kinda crazy how fast everything is starting to go... i swear it was literally 24 hours ago that i was emailing.
So first things first... yesterday was fathers day in thai.. kinda interesting: Fathers Day is always on the Kings Birthday.. and since he has been King for almost 70 years now, its always been in December 5th. Its the biggest event for Thailand.. above all other festivals. So, since it was fathers day, Sister Superman would not let me leave Church before i committed to tell my Dad that "He has an AWESOME" son... i mean, i know you all already know that, but she made me commit to say it again ;)
K with that said and done, Fluke got baptized! Up until saturday we would ask him everyday, "are you nervous?" and he wouldnt respond, "not really." Then on saturday hes just like... "ah! so excited/nervous!" But he did great.. Fluke chose Brother Tawid to baptize him and it was quite special.... lets just say i need to repent.. for some reason i keep doubting my investigators: Sister Blessing, Bii, and now FLuke.. for some reason im always worried that their testimonies arent going to be "powerful" or "life changing" for some other investigator listening.. like im worried they dont REALLY have a testimony.. man have i been wrong for all 3 people so far.. i already told you about Bii, who by the way is doing just fine.. he got a calling to be the ward greeter (hey! like me at BYU!) and... well theres a lot more but ill get to that later. Anyway, for Fluke, we didnt even have to push him to get his family there.. when i asked if to invite his family he said he already did. And whaddayaknow.. his Mom went! When you see the pictures you will think she was getting baptized too haha. Anyway, his testimony.. holy crap.. i dont think there was a person in the Chapel not holding back tears.. President Pitsanu (branch president) was one of the people UNABLE to hold them back.. he was weaping openly. Fluke got up and was really funny explaining how before he was kind of just a zombie.. wouldnt do anything and was just kind of no one.. but then people started telling him that hes changed.. "i dont really think ive changed.. im still stupid!" That part was way funny, but then he got serious... he explained, "before, i was like that.. but then i really developed a relationship with my savior.. i also learned what the meaning of Baptism was finally (cause the baptist church didnt explain it.. they just baptized him in 1 day). Now i do believe i am a changed person... from what the missionaries introduced to me, i followed it and have repented from all those stupid things ive done before. Because of it I will keep the commandments, repent daily for the rest of my life.. Today i am sad that my dad and little brother werent able to come.. but am Happy because my Mom did.. and i realized that she has always been there for me.. and she wont go anywhere. She has always been an amazing mother but i havent been an amazing son. From this day forward i want to be a better son to an AMAZING Mom..." Are you guys crying yet? If not, you should be... if only you guys coulda been there! I dont think i need to say anymore..
K so with our other daters... we lost 2. Top, Flukes friend.. everytime we met he would just space... and then Nat keeps giving us stupid excuses... weve tried to get him off the bench long enough but hes clearly not ready.. Not a problem.. we both kinda saw this coming already. So we are down to 3 baptismal daters right? Wrong! Fluke got baptized but Wut came back! Remember him? Hes the Laotion dude? His wife said she had a dream about me once? Anyway, he went back home to Laos and finally got back on Saturday.. and hey! He has the correct visa and can learn with us and get baptized legally! We set a date for the 9th of January.. he didnt accept very easily though.. had a lot of concerns that have clearly been eating him up about the law of chastity and the word of wisdom.. but i think we asked him "AFTER all those things are cleared up, with you be baptized?" about 9 or 10 times! We committed him to quit smoking and stop drinking alcohol THAT INSTANT. We are praying that he will be able to have the faith to quit.
On to Au and Bon... still good. Au is pretty much golden.. her prayers are so sincere.. every time! Bon is a little difficult and we almost lost him.. he told us straight that he promised his Grandmother (who has passed already) that he would be a monk.. but Elder Komgrid bore sweet testimony about a similar situation with his Grandmother and that they will meet them again, but only through Jesus Christ. Bon said he was willing to set aside time monday through friday to learn but asked if we could not have appointments on the weekends so he could rest and chill with friends.. no problem! Oh by the way.. i made him cry hahah! How? You'll just have to wait another year and a half to find out haha! Au is just going up and up.. she saw fluke and told Elder Komgrid she wants to see her son like that.. well.. who knows, in 2 years he could be a missionary eh? We were kinda teasing Bon, but being serious at the same time, saying stuff like, "Ah.. we can see it.. a black name tag with 'Elder ------' written on it." I forgot his real name cause its WAY long. But it was funny.. if we get Fluke and Bon excited about missionary work, they could enter the MTC at the same time! How cool would that be?
Gade is still golden.. we meet her every single day after tuesday and shes totally gonna be ready by the 26th.. we only ahve the commandments left which we will definitely finish this week, and then reviewing! We had a sweet chance to meet her son again who didnt have work on saturday, and his fiance as well. Wow did we waste a lot of time! We were there for seriously about 3 hours! First, they both work for the same company (which is all Mormon by the way) and they were telling us all about it! Its called Tahitian Noni.. ever heard of it? Its kinda like that Acai juice stuff.. but more "high so" or something.. like 50 bucks a bottle. Anyway, they explained how they work, and we were just like.. "hah! You're missionaries! We work the same way!" When we finally got them to sit down and listen, his fiance had like a million questions! Normally we dont get people like that so we were just amped to be able to pop the Book of Mormon open on EVERY question and answer it.. was way sweet, but not exactly "using time wisely" haha. Anyway, she kept asking, "how can i know?" We read Moroni 10 4 and 5 about 8 times.. she kept asking.. so we kept answering with the simplest explanation possible haha. They both went to Church, but we havent had the chance to meet again since. She is kind of impatient and wants to SEE results "quickly." Oh, and Pet, Gade's son, is crazy! During his schpeal of how he works he said, "i have a uniqe gift of seeing peoples sincerity in their eyes.. i work with Mormons and non mormons and i can see the difference very easily." About an hour after he said that, I was in the middle of testifying and he started to smile.. then he said, "he speaks truth.. i can see it in his eyes.." WHOA! I dont really know how to respond to that, but hey.. i aint gonna disagree! We really want to get these 2 TOGETHER to be baptized.. but i think after he sees his mom baptized he will have a bigger desire. They are also pretty buddhist.. like hard core.
Ok so what else... oh yeah.. President Wisan hilarious.. his daughter was bearing her testimony and Wisan was up on the stand writing something down on a piece of paper.. so his head was down not looking at her.. while she was bearing it, she kinda had a loss of words for about 30 seconds.. President Wisan, still not looking up but continuing to write: "In the Name of Jesus Christ, Jope (finish)." hahaha and she did just that haha!
Okay so that was just a random that i just had.. and now im out! This week was way fun and Fluke is so just so awesome.. i forgot to mention that his Mom is a progressor now.. kinda interesting.. Her and Sister Nooy (Wisans wife) know each other quite well already.. forgot how, but they are friends haha. In fact, Flukes Mom knew many people at Church. We are pretty sure we can baptize his Mom this month.. she understands way easily and is home all day, like her son ahah! K so yeah im seriously out now. Love you all and i want you to know that this week had a lot of... interesting things that made me think a lot about home.. not because i miss you or anything (hahah.. sting?) but just "things." Just know I love you all I know that this work is true and is being led by Jesus Christ, Heavenly Father, and the Holy Ghost. It is so true..
Elder Gudmundsen
So first things first... yesterday was fathers day in thai.. kinda interesting: Fathers Day is always on the Kings Birthday.. and since he has been King for almost 70 years now, its always been in December 5th. Its the biggest event for Thailand.. above all other festivals. So, since it was fathers day, Sister Superman would not let me leave Church before i committed to tell my Dad that "He has an AWESOME" son... i mean, i know you all already know that, but she made me commit to say it again ;)
K with that said and done, Fluke got baptized! Up until saturday we would ask him everyday, "are you nervous?" and he wouldnt respond, "not really." Then on saturday hes just like... "ah! so excited/nervous!" But he did great.. Fluke chose Brother Tawid to baptize him and it was quite special.... lets just say i need to repent.. for some reason i keep doubting my investigators: Sister Blessing, Bii, and now FLuke.. for some reason im always worried that their testimonies arent going to be "powerful" or "life changing" for some other investigator listening.. like im worried they dont REALLY have a testimony.. man have i been wrong for all 3 people so far.. i already told you about Bii, who by the way is doing just fine.. he got a calling to be the ward greeter (hey! like me at BYU!) and... well theres a lot more but ill get to that later. Anyway, for Fluke, we didnt even have to push him to get his family there.. when i asked if to invite his family he said he already did. And whaddayaknow.. his Mom went! When you see the pictures you will think she was getting baptized too haha. Anyway, his testimony.. holy crap.. i dont think there was a person in the Chapel not holding back tears.. President Pitsanu (branch president) was one of the people UNABLE to hold them back.. he was weaping openly. Fluke got up and was really funny explaining how before he was kind of just a zombie.. wouldnt do anything and was just kind of no one.. but then people started telling him that hes changed.. "i dont really think ive changed.. im still stupid!" That part was way funny, but then he got serious... he explained, "before, i was like that.. but then i really developed a relationship with my savior.. i also learned what the meaning of Baptism was finally (cause the baptist church didnt explain it.. they just baptized him in 1 day). Now i do believe i am a changed person... from what the missionaries introduced to me, i followed it and have repented from all those stupid things ive done before. Because of it I will keep the commandments, repent daily for the rest of my life.. Today i am sad that my dad and little brother werent able to come.. but am Happy because my Mom did.. and i realized that she has always been there for me.. and she wont go anywhere. She has always been an amazing mother but i havent been an amazing son. From this day forward i want to be a better son to an AMAZING Mom..." Are you guys crying yet? If not, you should be... if only you guys coulda been there! I dont think i need to say anymore..
K so with our other daters... we lost 2. Top, Flukes friend.. everytime we met he would just space... and then Nat keeps giving us stupid excuses... weve tried to get him off the bench long enough but hes clearly not ready.. Not a problem.. we both kinda saw this coming already. So we are down to 3 baptismal daters right? Wrong! Fluke got baptized but Wut came back! Remember him? Hes the Laotion dude? His wife said she had a dream about me once? Anyway, he went back home to Laos and finally got back on Saturday.. and hey! He has the correct visa and can learn with us and get baptized legally! We set a date for the 9th of January.. he didnt accept very easily though.. had a lot of concerns that have clearly been eating him up about the law of chastity and the word of wisdom.. but i think we asked him "AFTER all those things are cleared up, with you be baptized?" about 9 or 10 times! We committed him to quit smoking and stop drinking alcohol THAT INSTANT. We are praying that he will be able to have the faith to quit.
On to Au and Bon... still good. Au is pretty much golden.. her prayers are so sincere.. every time! Bon is a little difficult and we almost lost him.. he told us straight that he promised his Grandmother (who has passed already) that he would be a monk.. but Elder Komgrid bore sweet testimony about a similar situation with his Grandmother and that they will meet them again, but only through Jesus Christ. Bon said he was willing to set aside time monday through friday to learn but asked if we could not have appointments on the weekends so he could rest and chill with friends.. no problem! Oh by the way.. i made him cry hahah! How? You'll just have to wait another year and a half to find out haha! Au is just going up and up.. she saw fluke and told Elder Komgrid she wants to see her son like that.. well.. who knows, in 2 years he could be a missionary eh? We were kinda teasing Bon, but being serious at the same time, saying stuff like, "Ah.. we can see it.. a black name tag with 'Elder ------' written on it." I forgot his real name cause its WAY long. But it was funny.. if we get Fluke and Bon excited about missionary work, they could enter the MTC at the same time! How cool would that be?
Gade is still golden.. we meet her every single day after tuesday and shes totally gonna be ready by the 26th.. we only ahve the commandments left which we will definitely finish this week, and then reviewing! We had a sweet chance to meet her son again who didnt have work on saturday, and his fiance as well. Wow did we waste a lot of time! We were there for seriously about 3 hours! First, they both work for the same company (which is all Mormon by the way) and they were telling us all about it! Its called Tahitian Noni.. ever heard of it? Its kinda like that Acai juice stuff.. but more "high so" or something.. like 50 bucks a bottle. Anyway, they explained how they work, and we were just like.. "hah! You're missionaries! We work the same way!" When we finally got them to sit down and listen, his fiance had like a million questions! Normally we dont get people like that so we were just amped to be able to pop the Book of Mormon open on EVERY question and answer it.. was way sweet, but not exactly "using time wisely" haha. Anyway, she kept asking, "how can i know?" We read Moroni 10 4 and 5 about 8 times.. she kept asking.. so we kept answering with the simplest explanation possible haha. They both went to Church, but we havent had the chance to meet again since. She is kind of impatient and wants to SEE results "quickly." Oh, and Pet, Gade's son, is crazy! During his schpeal of how he works he said, "i have a uniqe gift of seeing peoples sincerity in their eyes.. i work with Mormons and non mormons and i can see the difference very easily." About an hour after he said that, I was in the middle of testifying and he started to smile.. then he said, "he speaks truth.. i can see it in his eyes.." WHOA! I dont really know how to respond to that, but hey.. i aint gonna disagree! We really want to get these 2 TOGETHER to be baptized.. but i think after he sees his mom baptized he will have a bigger desire. They are also pretty buddhist.. like hard core.
Ok so what else... oh yeah.. President Wisan hilarious.. his daughter was bearing her testimony and Wisan was up on the stand writing something down on a piece of paper.. so his head was down not looking at her.. while she was bearing it, she kinda had a loss of words for about 30 seconds.. President Wisan, still not looking up but continuing to write: "In the Name of Jesus Christ, Jope (finish)." hahaha and she did just that haha!
Okay so that was just a random that i just had.. and now im out! This week was way fun and Fluke is so just so awesome.. i forgot to mention that his Mom is a progressor now.. kinda interesting.. Her and Sister Nooy (Wisans wife) know each other quite well already.. forgot how, but they are friends haha. In fact, Flukes Mom knew many people at Church. We are pretty sure we can baptize his Mom this month.. she understands way easily and is home all day, like her son ahah! K so yeah im seriously out now. Love you all and i want you to know that this week had a lot of... interesting things that made me think a lot about home.. not because i miss you or anything (hahah.. sting?) but just "things." Just know I love you all I know that this work is true and is being led by Jesus Christ, Heavenly Father, and the Holy Ghost. It is so true..
Elder Gudmundsen
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