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
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