I dont know how to spell that in Korean/english.
Sup. Thomas i didnt think you could get any crazier.. apparently WE ALL were wrong. Glad to hear you immersed yourself COMPLETELY in the culture.. you have to bow, take you shoes off for everything, sit in the floor everywhere too?! I love ASIANS! Except sitting on the floor kills my back.
So this weeks phrase of the week is just so fantastic! Its the word "Boss" as frequently used in english to call someone is.. well, a boss. Not a leader of a firm. But a BOSS: "Loog Phii!" Im not exactly sure how it translates to boss, cause it means "child of someone older." Anyway, we say it to everyone as we are biking and they just bust up laughing. Mainly cause they think we are BOTH foreigners and wonder how we know that word. Seriously, everyone thinks that Elder Tom is not thai.
So this week was... interesting. First of all, our District leader went to a big leadership training meeting for 3 days. His companion was with us for 3 nights but we didnt want our side of town to be the other one with missionaries for 3 days and cancel all of their appointments. So we hired members! Had 3 days of members on exchanges with missionaries for the ENTIRE day. The first member we asked is like.. the sickest guy ever. He is always so stoked to help and when we pulled him aside to ask for help, he asked how long.. "uhh... all day." "Ubuuhhhh...." His face just changed completely and its impossible to describe in words but absolutely hysterical. His name is Brother Mu, and he isnt exactly all there.. but he is an amazing guy. Uploaded some pics on Picasa. When we met him to exchange, he was going with Elder Tom, and Elder Jenson and I would be together, he looked super happy and ready.... 9, 10 hours later when we met back home.. HAHAH he looked absolutely exhausted. By the way, hahaha check out the picture where Elder Tom is not smiling... just please tell me what josh says/does.. i can see it already haha!
After that i was with Brother Ice, the brother who brought my presents back! 5 minutes after leaving the house together... he ate the sidewalk haha! I was up front and there was a red light.. he was unaware that Elder Toms bike has a very sensitive front brake and when he pulled it... well, i heard a very girly scream behind me haha.. as i turned around it was like slow much and he just went flying over the front haha! It really wasnt that back cause he caught himself and he was laughing as he got up too. After that we invited and taught all day.. was way sweet. Speaking of investigators.. we pretty much have no one right now haha.. not really, im just being pessimistic. People here are so good at canceling appointments! Im looking at my planner and we had about 6 or 7 appointments each day and taught like, 2 or 3. The 2 people that we gave baptismal invites to last week dropped themselves.. no idea what had happened, but we finally talked to him yesterday and he said the same "i dont have time" line a thousand times. We got him to shut up and asked what it really was and he said he just cant changed religions. Oh well.. we will keep going back every now and then. We didnt meet with Brother Nay at all.. very busy. We have a new guy who is cool but he is always drinking when we come by, so we dont teach. We found a new family that was cool, but when we came back he was drinking too. Pretty much the only really good investigators we have are Somchay and different family that i may or may not have talked about already. Somchay is quite funny... he has so many questions! At church there was a sister receiving a calling and he looks at me and he just says, very matter-a-factly," uh... what is this?" Later on he asked if smoking was breaking commandments. I asked him, "do you really need to ask me?" He laughed and said, "probably not." About 2 minutes after that someone in the ward mentioned the word of wisdom and how smoking is against it. Somchay looked at me with a smile and had this look on his face like, "touche." Last night he called to ask if he could pray with a friend or if that was against the rules.. hahah. Hes kinda like a kid sometimes the way he is worried about breaking rules.
Ok so i am having a brain fart and cant remember everything hah. But i dont have 1 scripture to share. Alma 4:11- "alma saw the wickedness of the Church and the example of the Church began to lead those who were unbelievers on from one piece of iniquity to another." This is very extreme, but the point is that people not of our faith saw the bad example of the Church and obviously followed it, or didnt like it. This sunday the Elders Quorum reassigned Home teaching companions and it was.. well lets just say it wasnt the best experience, especially for investigators to be there. One asked, "why is everyone so serious and frustrated with each other right now?" We hear it all the time but ill say it again, we dont know whos watching. Theres a part member family here and the mother and father wont join because of the bad example of they saw of the members once... Just make sure investigators see us the way they should.
So, all i got for now. This week was... refreshing. We had interviews with President Smith and once again the promise of Moroni holds true "we shall know the truth of all things." That truth or answer we seek for doesnt always come through prayer (i mean a voice or something like that) but can come through people or scripture. I learned so much and he helped answer so many questions that confirmed once more that this stuff is true. I had the opportunity many times to recite Joseph Smiths first vision experience to many people..each time i did, i felt the spirit very strongly that confirmed its true. It. Is. True.
Elder Gudmundsen
Monday, January 31, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
DANG
Whos that handsome man i see?! Is that you Colton! Dude you look like Seth with that due-over! And seth is a good looking guy! Good on ya!
This scripture is for you Colton: Alma 5:33 - Alma is verbally slapping the people as they are iniquitous and very naughty. Have way through he stops to say that the Lord is waiting for them to repent and return.. OR, as i like to say, He is waiting WITH ARMS WIDE OPEN! :) If any of you are confused.. ask Colton haha. But seriously.. good scripture.. we sin all the time but the Lord is always waiting for us to repent of our sins.
Ok so this week was pretty sweet.. also i spoke too soon! Its now very hot and i am very sticky. Anyway, we made some pretty good progress. Tripled our lessons with a member so that was nice and dandy. Met 2 people who already have baptismal dates. that was cool too. yeah this old guy whos like 70 and his grandson who is 17: Tongkam and Ut (yeah i dont know how to write his name in English haha). The old guy is both very professional, and also very UNprofessional.. its kinda funny. We had set an appointment to come back one day at 230 but at about 130 we were at the hospital on the other side of the city visiting an investigators daughter (and another dude that we know) so obviously we werent gonna make it back in time. I called him and told him 330 and he sounded a little annoyed.. but then we didnt even make it until 4 oclock. He grilled us for about 5 minutes straight about how we are missionaries but dont keep up our responsibility... he wouldnt shut up and we were apologizing but he kept going! Of course we both knew he was right but it was indeed annoying. Finally i cut him off and said, "okay. we said we are sorry many times now.. we feel wrong. do you want to continue telling us what we already know or do you want us to teach you like we said we would?" Then he finally shut up and said "ok its in the past.. lets learn." Since then we havent been late haha. Good learning experience though. They have a date for the 6th of March. Our other baptismal dater.. well he technically isnt one cause we had to change it but have yet to set it again. He has a small problem with the sabbath but hes golden everywhere else. We asked him last night if he wanted to get baptized now or wait until his daughter gets baptized to go together.. he didnt even think twice and said, "with my daughter for sure.. no doubt." Okay then! But, since we havent actually taught her at all yet, we dont know when it will be haha. She was sick last night so didnt get to teach her. But she has a lot of questions about karma and stuff like that.. but you can see it in her eyes.. she knows that that stuff isnt true. So remember Nay? I dont remember how i wrote it last time, but hes the really funny dude i told you about? This past week he made me cry in 2 different situations. First.. he was absolutely hysterical.. i couldnt contain myself and i was literally dying and crying of laughter. He still hasnt accepted a baptismal date, but he absolutely knows he needs to do it. He just doesnt want to get baptized and sin again haha. The first day we met he asked, "do we have to get baptized at Church? Can you just come to my house? Ill clean the pond out back and you can baptized me there! Can we?" "well, techincally we can, but we want it to be special and at the church." "Oh no problem! doesnt need to be special!" He is so serious about it haha.. but a member went and taught with us and got him to see why its important to do it at Church. Then, yesterday, we were teaching him and a mosquito landed on his face. He was in the middle of speaking so i didnt really want to interrupt him but didnt want the mosquito to bite him so i kinda pointed and he looked at me and was like "what is it Elder?!" (with a face super surprised and scared) "ahh, a mosquito Elder?..." WHHACK! He just smacked his face SUPER hard without hesitation! Yeah.. i was dying.. i seriously couldnt breathe. Right after he was like, "oo.. man that hurt! Hands of a soldier right?" Hes a way humble guy and wants to follow Christ the best he can. On a special note, he said one of the coolest things ive ever heard on my mission so far. We asked him one night how was prayers were going and he said, "Oh Elder so good! For some reason lately ive just been feeling warm, warmer, and warmest when i pray! I feel better in everything and its just great.Then when you guys come over its even better.. how do you call it? Its like you are.. Jesus Christs Disciples or something!" This is the second time i cried (actually according to time this event was first). Love this guy. He does have a problem with smoking and we asked, "how long would it take to quit smoking? "Oh Elder if i wanted to it would take 1 day.. ONE DAY. Just throw em away and thats it." "Can you start today?" "today?....... Not yet Elder!" Seriously you guys gotta meet this guy! English doesnt do justice the level of his hystericality (yeah thats a word).. in thai its really quick and just funnier.. man.
Ok so im pretty much done. Its hot and i want to eat pizza! And buy a scale cause i want to see how fat I am.. or how anorexic I am haha. We dont have one at the house. BTW was green hornet good? I saw a commercial for it yesterday and was like, what the heck is that? Looked ridiculous but kinda fun. Way to go Jake! Expecting a child already? Are you ready for that bro? Especially a girl? Oh boy. Hah! See what i did there? Ok so i gotta bail. Love ya all.. hope all is well. I Love and miss ya (a little) but the work is good. And true.. never forget that.
Elder Gudmundsen
This scripture is for you Colton: Alma 5:33 - Alma is verbally slapping the people as they are iniquitous and very naughty. Have way through he stops to say that the Lord is waiting for them to repent and return.. OR, as i like to say, He is waiting WITH ARMS WIDE OPEN! :) If any of you are confused.. ask Colton haha. But seriously.. good scripture.. we sin all the time but the Lord is always waiting for us to repent of our sins.
Ok so this week was pretty sweet.. also i spoke too soon! Its now very hot and i am very sticky. Anyway, we made some pretty good progress. Tripled our lessons with a member so that was nice and dandy. Met 2 people who already have baptismal dates. that was cool too. yeah this old guy whos like 70 and his grandson who is 17: Tongkam and Ut (yeah i dont know how to write his name in English haha). The old guy is both very professional, and also very UNprofessional.. its kinda funny. We had set an appointment to come back one day at 230 but at about 130 we were at the hospital on the other side of the city visiting an investigators daughter (and another dude that we know) so obviously we werent gonna make it back in time. I called him and told him 330 and he sounded a little annoyed.. but then we didnt even make it until 4 oclock. He grilled us for about 5 minutes straight about how we are missionaries but dont keep up our responsibility... he wouldnt shut up and we were apologizing but he kept going! Of course we both knew he was right but it was indeed annoying. Finally i cut him off and said, "okay. we said we are sorry many times now.. we feel wrong. do you want to continue telling us what we already know or do you want us to teach you like we said we would?" Then he finally shut up and said "ok its in the past.. lets learn." Since then we havent been late haha. Good learning experience though. They have a date for the 6th of March. Our other baptismal dater.. well he technically isnt one cause we had to change it but have yet to set it again. He has a small problem with the sabbath but hes golden everywhere else. We asked him last night if he wanted to get baptized now or wait until his daughter gets baptized to go together.. he didnt even think twice and said, "with my daughter for sure.. no doubt." Okay then! But, since we havent actually taught her at all yet, we dont know when it will be haha. She was sick last night so didnt get to teach her. But she has a lot of questions about karma and stuff like that.. but you can see it in her eyes.. she knows that that stuff isnt true. So remember Nay? I dont remember how i wrote it last time, but hes the really funny dude i told you about? This past week he made me cry in 2 different situations. First.. he was absolutely hysterical.. i couldnt contain myself and i was literally dying and crying of laughter. He still hasnt accepted a baptismal date, but he absolutely knows he needs to do it. He just doesnt want to get baptized and sin again haha. The first day we met he asked, "do we have to get baptized at Church? Can you just come to my house? Ill clean the pond out back and you can baptized me there! Can we?" "well, techincally we can, but we want it to be special and at the church." "Oh no problem! doesnt need to be special!" He is so serious about it haha.. but a member went and taught with us and got him to see why its important to do it at Church. Then, yesterday, we were teaching him and a mosquito landed on his face. He was in the middle of speaking so i didnt really want to interrupt him but didnt want the mosquito to bite him so i kinda pointed and he looked at me and was like "what is it Elder?!" (with a face super surprised and scared) "ahh, a mosquito Elder?..." WHHACK! He just smacked his face SUPER hard without hesitation! Yeah.. i was dying.. i seriously couldnt breathe. Right after he was like, "oo.. man that hurt! Hands of a soldier right?" Hes a way humble guy and wants to follow Christ the best he can. On a special note, he said one of the coolest things ive ever heard on my mission so far. We asked him one night how was prayers were going and he said, "Oh Elder so good! For some reason lately ive just been feeling warm, warmer, and warmest when i pray! I feel better in everything and its just great.Then when you guys come over its even better.. how do you call it? Its like you are.. Jesus Christs Disciples or something!" This is the second time i cried (actually according to time this event was first). Love this guy. He does have a problem with smoking and we asked, "how long would it take to quit smoking? "Oh Elder if i wanted to it would take 1 day.. ONE DAY. Just throw em away and thats it." "Can you start today?" "today?....... Not yet Elder!" Seriously you guys gotta meet this guy! English doesnt do justice the level of his hystericality (yeah thats a word).. in thai its really quick and just funnier.. man.
Ok so im pretty much done. Its hot and i want to eat pizza! And buy a scale cause i want to see how fat I am.. or how anorexic I am haha. We dont have one at the house. BTW was green hornet good? I saw a commercial for it yesterday and was like, what the heck is that? Looked ridiculous but kinda fun. Way to go Jake! Expecting a child already? Are you ready for that bro? Especially a girl? Oh boy. Hah! See what i did there? Ok so i gotta bail. Love ya all.. hope all is well. I Love and miss ya (a little) but the work is good. And true.. never forget that.
Elder Gudmundsen
Monday, January 17, 2011
So COLD!
Oh my gosh! Yeah.. i know that has to sound crazy.. but DANG! I wore long sleeves yesterday! Biking home at night, or biking over these bridges is so dang cold! Seriously.. I can take it better then Elder Tom (and everyone else in Warin) but its still so strange! Everyone on the streets in bundled up like there about to peace over to Mount Everest for a few weeks.. i didnt even know these people had full winter coats. Really funny actually.. everyone on motorcycles just cover their faces with whatever they can.. extra shirts, plastic bags hahah.. Its way comfortable.
So Dad... how does it feel to have gotten straight dominated by an 88 year old man? Sounds fantastic! So what did He say about your hair Josh? Theres words for that out here, cause theres a couple members with hair like that.. only a couple.
So what happened this week. It was a pretty good one. We had district meeting with the zone leaders and then a 2 days exchange. I was with my Nong on wednesday, and then with the zone leader on thursday. With Elder Jensen (my nong) we killed it! Got 6 new investigators and taught 5 lessons on the spot. Epic. Its sweet cause normally when i go on exchanges we find some awesome golden investigator but in someone elses area besides mine.. but here, i can meet them at church! Then with the zone leader, Elder Panom (yes another thai elder.. im just on a role!) back in Warin... we had.. "success." We had some fun inviting and we did find a pretty sweet family close to a members house. They are crazy.. i love em. The son and the daughter are very fun.. but a little hard to make them concentrate. Better than nothing eh? The son just had these laughing fits all the time and the dad is very funny about it.. he just starts laughing to but hes just like "what are you laughing about?! i dont get it!" The Mom is super hardcore Buddhists so that should be fun.
So right now we have 2 people with baptismal dates: 2 daddies. both old. 1 speaks so unclearly its absurd! But i love him. the first is Bulay and the 2nd is Grongjai. Something liek that.. i dont know how to spell them. Both have daughters who are starting to learn with us too.. we met Bulays daughter yesterday at the hospital because she has a fungus in her head and has halted movement to the left side of her body. While we were talking to her yesterday i dont know what it was, but i just saw her getting baptized. She had a lot of questions, but not only that, it was the way she asked them.. who facial expressions and stuff reminded me of something but i dont know what.. Its hard to described but shes gonna totally get baptized. We have 2 others that have yet to accept baptismal dates: Nai, and Mc. Nai is.. wow, he is hilarious. We both almost peed our pants one night. So, we go meet this guy at his house for an appointment: "Hey Nai! We're here!" "Yeah Elders.. ooo.. cmon up.. ah.." When we get up there, hes holding his stomach and bending over in pain." Whoa, whats wrong." "aw, Elders i got some seriously bad diahrea.. it hurts so bad! but here, lets sit and you can teach me." "uh.. okay." we sat down for about 20 seconds and he just gets up and is like, "Oh man.. im so sorry.. i gotta go to the bathroom.. oh man." And then he just peaced hahah.. he was like saying sorry the whole way to the bathroom and saying "ill read the Book of Mormon in the bathroom... wait.. is that bad?" hahaha.. i was dying. "NO! Its perfect reading material!" "OK Elder.. ill read and then we can meet tomorrow ok? Oh man.. im gonna die." We didnt get to meet him until 2 days ago (4 days after the first time) but when we called to confirm the appointment before, Elder Tom was speaking to him and i said to ask how his diahrea was.. went away or not. Elder Tom asked him. "OH man Elder Much better! But now im constipated!" Hahaha.. Elder Tom had to explain after he was done but he was about to die for about 5 minutes straight. When we did finally meet with him, we gave him the stock answers (by the way, Elder Tom knows that phrase now too!) and he accepted no problem. But for baptism, not yet. He was like "lemme compare this to someone proposing.. its a big deal! If someone were to ask me to marry them right now, i would say no, cause im not ready." "Yes.. now let ME compare that to members in our church.. do you think anyone feels ready for marriage?" "No probably not." "What do you think we do in our Church? Pray first. Then you will know if you are ready or not." He was silent for a bit and said... "Good point." So we had him pray and it was sweet.. he asked for more faith (which was funny as well cause he basically said "help me have a butt ton of faith") and then at the end... he only said Amen, and left out in the name of Jesus Christ.. so we just quickly corrected him, and very humbly he was just like, "ah crap i forgot." Hes a great guy and we are faithful that he will totally get baptized.
Okay.. so thats all i got for now... gotta peace. Im hungry. Warin is sweet, Ubon is sweet.. we ate at a place called "Hitlers" in Ubon.. yeah not kidding. Its Chicken. Fried. They took Hitlers face and put it on the Kernels body at KFC. And unfortunately.. Hitler does not make chicken as good as the Kernel. The ward here is.. interesting. to put it simply, theres some stuff that NEEDS to be fixed. Dont need to say, but we already introduced some things and things are going to change more. I know that no 2 places that serve would be the same, but when youve got a ward with 100 people and 5 lessons with them and a branch with 20 people and 30 lessons with them, theres something wrong with that picture. Anyway.. its good. Because everyone is strong enough in the Gospel, we are all willing to work together to fix what needs to be fixed, and make better what is already good so that these investigators will feel the love and jump in the water! Love you all.
Elder Gudmundsen
So Dad... how does it feel to have gotten straight dominated by an 88 year old man? Sounds fantastic! So what did He say about your hair Josh? Theres words for that out here, cause theres a couple members with hair like that.. only a couple.
So what happened this week. It was a pretty good one. We had district meeting with the zone leaders and then a 2 days exchange. I was with my Nong on wednesday, and then with the zone leader on thursday. With Elder Jensen (my nong) we killed it! Got 6 new investigators and taught 5 lessons on the spot. Epic. Its sweet cause normally when i go on exchanges we find some awesome golden investigator but in someone elses area besides mine.. but here, i can meet them at church! Then with the zone leader, Elder Panom (yes another thai elder.. im just on a role!) back in Warin... we had.. "success." We had some fun inviting and we did find a pretty sweet family close to a members house. They are crazy.. i love em. The son and the daughter are very fun.. but a little hard to make them concentrate. Better than nothing eh? The son just had these laughing fits all the time and the dad is very funny about it.. he just starts laughing to but hes just like "what are you laughing about?! i dont get it!" The Mom is super hardcore Buddhists so that should be fun.
So right now we have 2 people with baptismal dates: 2 daddies. both old. 1 speaks so unclearly its absurd! But i love him. the first is Bulay and the 2nd is Grongjai. Something liek that.. i dont know how to spell them. Both have daughters who are starting to learn with us too.. we met Bulays daughter yesterday at the hospital because she has a fungus in her head and has halted movement to the left side of her body. While we were talking to her yesterday i dont know what it was, but i just saw her getting baptized. She had a lot of questions, but not only that, it was the way she asked them.. who facial expressions and stuff reminded me of something but i dont know what.. Its hard to described but shes gonna totally get baptized. We have 2 others that have yet to accept baptismal dates: Nai, and Mc. Nai is.. wow, he is hilarious. We both almost peed our pants one night. So, we go meet this guy at his house for an appointment: "Hey Nai! We're here!" "Yeah Elders.. ooo.. cmon up.. ah.." When we get up there, hes holding his stomach and bending over in pain." Whoa, whats wrong." "aw, Elders i got some seriously bad diahrea.. it hurts so bad! but here, lets sit and you can teach me." "uh.. okay." we sat down for about 20 seconds and he just gets up and is like, "Oh man.. im so sorry.. i gotta go to the bathroom.. oh man." And then he just peaced hahah.. he was like saying sorry the whole way to the bathroom and saying "ill read the Book of Mormon in the bathroom... wait.. is that bad?" hahaha.. i was dying. "NO! Its perfect reading material!" "OK Elder.. ill read and then we can meet tomorrow ok? Oh man.. im gonna die." We didnt get to meet him until 2 days ago (4 days after the first time) but when we called to confirm the appointment before, Elder Tom was speaking to him and i said to ask how his diahrea was.. went away or not. Elder Tom asked him. "OH man Elder Much better! But now im constipated!" Hahaha.. Elder Tom had to explain after he was done but he was about to die for about 5 minutes straight. When we did finally meet with him, we gave him the stock answers (by the way, Elder Tom knows that phrase now too!) and he accepted no problem. But for baptism, not yet. He was like "lemme compare this to someone proposing.. its a big deal! If someone were to ask me to marry them right now, i would say no, cause im not ready." "Yes.. now let ME compare that to members in our church.. do you think anyone feels ready for marriage?" "No probably not." "What do you think we do in our Church? Pray first. Then you will know if you are ready or not." He was silent for a bit and said... "Good point." So we had him pray and it was sweet.. he asked for more faith (which was funny as well cause he basically said "help me have a butt ton of faith") and then at the end... he only said Amen, and left out in the name of Jesus Christ.. so we just quickly corrected him, and very humbly he was just like, "ah crap i forgot." Hes a great guy and we are faithful that he will totally get baptized.
Okay.. so thats all i got for now... gotta peace. Im hungry. Warin is sweet, Ubon is sweet.. we ate at a place called "Hitlers" in Ubon.. yeah not kidding. Its Chicken. Fried. They took Hitlers face and put it on the Kernels body at KFC. And unfortunately.. Hitler does not make chicken as good as the Kernel. The ward here is.. interesting. to put it simply, theres some stuff that NEEDS to be fixed. Dont need to say, but we already introduced some things and things are going to change more. I know that no 2 places that serve would be the same, but when youve got a ward with 100 people and 5 lessons with them and a branch with 20 people and 30 lessons with them, theres something wrong with that picture. Anyway.. its good. Because everyone is strong enough in the Gospel, we are all willing to work together to fix what needs to be fixed, and make better what is already good so that these investigators will feel the love and jump in the water! Love you all.
Elder Gudmundsen
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
YO
Wow... so. I moved. hah! Guess its about time.. was getting quite comfortable in Don MUang, but i definitely needed a change of pace.. send Wisit an email for me saying thanks will ya? Also a what up to Don Muang branch. Was interesting to say goodbye.. but hey.. when you got students at your English class crying that you're leaving... well, i gotta think i did something right, right? I love that place... But hey! Im up and out in UBON! Specifically, a city called Warin.. holy nuts this place is so different then Bangkok! First, we took a 10 hour train ride out here.. which was interesting.. first time on a train. Slept fairly well actually. Anyway, Warin is legit. And right now? its such good weather! I havent felt uncomfortable since being out here! Its pretty much San Diego right now.. about 65 or 70, and occasionally a little hotter than that, but not by much. And guess what? My new companion? Yeah, hes Thai. I got 2 in a row baby! Its interesting that your last letters were about obedience.. cause this Elder is the most obedient dude ive met so far! And its awesome. Hes also one of the most humble people ever.. we were late to an appointment by no more than 5 minutes, AND the person bailed on our appointment anyway, but he still prayed and asked for forgiveness for being late.. dang! But we are already getting along great. In fact, he shared with me some pretty sweet stuff last night.. to put it short, he said that in the time that has had the last 3 companions, and hes not saying that they were bad, hes been thinking too much and not feeling the spirit. He said hes loosened up already and feels like a "greeny" again... like hes the one being taught and led instead of teaching and leading. Craziness.. ive already learned a butt ton from this kid. Yeah.. I feel good about this guy... its way sweet.
So Warin is awesome.. already come to love these investigators.. and everyone in this town.. weve made friends with a couple of bums who chill outside the 7-11 by our house.. they always ask for food but we cant give it all the time! There is one Kid in Warin who i met in Asoke at the Christmas party.. his name is Ice. I met him out then when Elder Lesuer, a chill dude from Arizona, introduced him. This kid... well, he was baptized about 3 or four months ago by Elder Leseur and then he baptized his 2 younger brothers and like a dozen other people. I had forgotten where he lived up until Elder Tom (my companion) said his name and i was just like "no way! Hes up here!" When Ice and i met we were friends already.. this kid is astounding! Like.. i cant even adequately describe how epic and legit this kid is. He will be a missionary in october but he seirously already is one.. in fact elder Tom called him Elder last night by accident haha. Brother Ice is preparing himself in like every way possible: Watching little or no tv, spending maybe 2 times on the copmputer in a week, and only to send emails and stuff.. and best of all, sacrificing time to go out with missionaries. So our District is Ubon-Warin.. but ubon city is about a 20 to 30 minute bike ride from our house (its actually a way sweet ride cause we go through all of our city which is small, then go over 2 bridges out in the countyside- seriously, civiliation dies for about 2 miles) and then hits the big cty of Ubon), but Ice rides that bike out here no matter what. He asks US when he can come invite and teach with us, asks US who he can help talk to on a regular day.. its quite inspiring actually. Elder Tom said hes had the most fun hes had in a while last night when we were inviting.. i dont know whats up.. but we are feeling way good together already.
So a little bit about Elder Tom no? And his name isnt Tom like English Tom.. pronounce the T as if you were saying "stand" with a really hard sound. So.. hes hilarious, hes the only member in his family of 8, and hes hilarious. He speaks very little english... and thats why its so funny. Its very basic, flawed and sometimes hard to understand, but wow he can say some funny stuff! And this is actually my phrase of the week, straight from Elder Tom: "I'm High!" Yes.. it is exactly what it sounds like haha.. we were at a members house last night and the member gave us food right before we left.. he opened it and smelled it, looked at me and said "Oh... im high!" I had no idea what he was talking about, cause honestly.. i didnt think i knew what that meant! He thought he said it wrong, thus my confusion, but then i figured it out. so funny.. he just has these moments all the time where he will just say a english phrase out of nowhere... Love it. In the pictures, hes the shorter thai dude.. the tall one is our district leader. And the white kid is Elder Jensen, my nong in the MTC. This is his Greeny area. Oh yeah, and thats at a baptism for 2 people on my second day.. i told you! This place is legit!
Hey well ive used up a lot of time.. this was a great experience and although i was sad to leave, i needed to experience new things.. kinda like leaving the pressence of Heavenly Father way back when right? Yeah, exactly like that. I had it good, but i needed something new.. to learn more! I loved what President Wisit said after i said i was moving.. it wasnt sad, he didnt say "oh really" or anything like that.. he said: Congratulations. Never thought i would hear that one.. but its got a really good meaning behind it. Im excited to serve here. But now im hungry for pizza.. and Elder Tom really likes pizza. Bye bye!
Love Elder Gudmundsen
So Warin is awesome.. already come to love these investigators.. and everyone in this town.. weve made friends with a couple of bums who chill outside the 7-11 by our house.. they always ask for food but we cant give it all the time! There is one Kid in Warin who i met in Asoke at the Christmas party.. his name is Ice. I met him out then when Elder Lesuer, a chill dude from Arizona, introduced him. This kid... well, he was baptized about 3 or four months ago by Elder Leseur and then he baptized his 2 younger brothers and like a dozen other people. I had forgotten where he lived up until Elder Tom (my companion) said his name and i was just like "no way! Hes up here!" When Ice and i met we were friends already.. this kid is astounding! Like.. i cant even adequately describe how epic and legit this kid is. He will be a missionary in october but he seirously already is one.. in fact elder Tom called him Elder last night by accident haha. Brother Ice is preparing himself in like every way possible: Watching little or no tv, spending maybe 2 times on the copmputer in a week, and only to send emails and stuff.. and best of all, sacrificing time to go out with missionaries. So our District is Ubon-Warin.. but ubon city is about a 20 to 30 minute bike ride from our house (its actually a way sweet ride cause we go through all of our city which is small, then go over 2 bridges out in the countyside- seriously, civiliation dies for about 2 miles) and then hits the big cty of Ubon), but Ice rides that bike out here no matter what. He asks US when he can come invite and teach with us, asks US who he can help talk to on a regular day.. its quite inspiring actually. Elder Tom said hes had the most fun hes had in a while last night when we were inviting.. i dont know whats up.. but we are feeling way good together already.
So a little bit about Elder Tom no? And his name isnt Tom like English Tom.. pronounce the T as if you were saying "stand" with a really hard sound. So.. hes hilarious, hes the only member in his family of 8, and hes hilarious. He speaks very little english... and thats why its so funny. Its very basic, flawed and sometimes hard to understand, but wow he can say some funny stuff! And this is actually my phrase of the week, straight from Elder Tom: "I'm High!" Yes.. it is exactly what it sounds like haha.. we were at a members house last night and the member gave us food right before we left.. he opened it and smelled it, looked at me and said "Oh... im high!" I had no idea what he was talking about, cause honestly.. i didnt think i knew what that meant! He thought he said it wrong, thus my confusion, but then i figured it out. so funny.. he just has these moments all the time where he will just say a english phrase out of nowhere... Love it. In the pictures, hes the shorter thai dude.. the tall one is our district leader. And the white kid is Elder Jensen, my nong in the MTC. This is his Greeny area. Oh yeah, and thats at a baptism for 2 people on my second day.. i told you! This place is legit!
Hey well ive used up a lot of time.. this was a great experience and although i was sad to leave, i needed to experience new things.. kinda like leaving the pressence of Heavenly Father way back when right? Yeah, exactly like that. I had it good, but i needed something new.. to learn more! I loved what President Wisit said after i said i was moving.. it wasnt sad, he didnt say "oh really" or anything like that.. he said: Congratulations. Never thought i would hear that one.. but its got a really good meaning behind it. Im excited to serve here. But now im hungry for pizza.. and Elder Tom really likes pizza. Bye bye!
Love Elder Gudmundsen
Monday, January 3, 2011
Juice!
So how is everyone? Stellar huh? Fantastic.
This week was slow. New Years kinda bites it hard.. Man do Thai people know how to drink! Pretty much 70 percent of the people from Bangkok went home to other places.. everyone else stayed here and drank themselves silly. I dont know what it is about Karaoke, but now i love it! Not so much the Karoake part, but the part where everyone singing is HOUSED and trying to sing.. the picture of the cat you drew Josh comes to mind here. People are totally just not shy about it either.. "Hey whadya do for New Years?" "Drank beer." Done. Nothing else. Just drank. How much fun can that really be? Apparently EXTREMELY. Anyway, New Years eve President Smith actually changed our proselyting to have us leave the house at 8 in the morning and get home and 7 at night. Dont know how much of a difference it actually made, but its the right idea. Well actually i take that back.. that was the day we got another Baptismal dater! Hes a super old dude of 80 years old.. but hes got some serious strength behind those bones. We were inviting this one street and we went up to this gate and said hello... he at first didnt say anything but just walked over to the gate, opened it and said, "come in." We talked, taught and gave him a date for the 30th of this month. He accepted it. How determined is he? Not completely sure.. we feel that its right, but he has yet to show super excitement.. but he is determined to go to Church. He actually did go yesterday and said he really like it. More than that, he also said he would try and go every week. The only problem is that his eyes are awful.. he cant read for more than a minute or so until his eyes hurt really bad. Glasses dont really help either. So we will read for him! So anyway, New Years day was pretty quiet as well.. most people were asleep from all the partying.. which is weird cause our neighborhood was SO quiet at night.. didnt hear anything.. i was like, "Is it new years or not?" Anyway, that was all pretty quiet and we didnt get too much done.. plus we were both feeling under the weather this whole past week.. nothing serious, but enough to make us want to take 10 ish minute naps at the house haha.
For the rest of out investigators.. well, everyone went home! We saw Bon and Au a couple times, but never got to really teach anything.. on top of that, he hasnt quit smoking yet.. he made it 2 days after we first gave him the comittment, but relapsed on wednesday. He says he doesnt have a problem with Alcohol, coffee, tea or anything else.. but he knows he is addicted to smoking. He wants to.. really he does.. but he knows how hard it is. We are trying to not just say "cmon just stop, its easy!" cause its really not that easy and neither of us understand the addiction of cigarrettes. He said something really funny last night.. we knew that were gonna get home yesterday so we just went by to say hello before going home.. his mom said that if he didnt quit she would stop talking to him.. kinda harsh and definitely not anything helpful. Bon got defensive at the fact that she was trying to MAKE him stop. He thn said this (rather loudly too) "If someone forces you to eat poop are you going to do it?! No of course not.. i want to do this myself and on my own!" Like.. uhh, "if someone asked you nicely to eat poop are you going to eat it anyway?" HAHAH.. i mean i kinda get his point, but it was just super funny the way he compared the 2 situations.. plus i just learned the word for "poop" (i know what youre thinking.. just now? really?) so it took me a split second to understand it, and then i just started laughing.. no one else seemed to think it was funny though.. i thought it was hilarious! Anyway.. we will meet again tonight and watch... uhh.. dangit i forgot whose talk it is.. someone from Conference about faith and changing our character. I read it during study and thought, "oh yeah.. this can help."
So.. Sister Apple.. she got confirmed yesterday. But actually before that, she got a calling in sacrament meeting AND was already fasting.. WOW. How much more golden can you get? On a different note.. we almost had to drop Her son First.. First and Flukes father is quite the monster.. not only does he have like 5 "friends with benefits" and 5 different places that he stays at, he hasnt been giving Alemony. His second wife (who he has a kid with and she lives at the same house as Apple) saw Fluke and Apple change their lives and sees them being really happy.. pretty much shes just a jealous little (insert some word that im not familiar with) and she tattled told on her husband.. i dont even know what she ended up complaining about, but he called both Fluke and Apple to talk to them about it.. basically, he told Fluke that hes a dead son to him and doesnt care, and Apple.. well he hasnt cared about her for a long time already. But, hes not done with First and he wants HIM to be a monk in the future.. at 20 years old. So, he said to Apple and Fluke to get out of the house, and if First keeps learning with us then he will stop sending money. Well.. was a pretty bad situation and Fluke totally spoke truth.. he told him he was a horrible person (among other things) and wished he wasnt his son... But guess what? What the father doesnt know wont hurt him right? We didnt listen. First wants to learn and so we are continuing to teach.. just at other places. And then, Apple called her Mom to tell her the situation and her mom said that she will send the money for both of them. So, they are going to move out anyway, First included, and find their own place and she will get her own job. It was a way sweet solution. First learns kinda slowly, but he definitely understands.. just explaining it to us is hard for him.. and he for sure has ADD. No problem.. patience.
K so this is what has happened lately.. was a pretty sweet week all things considered. This thursday is transfers and we will find out tonight if anyone is moving.. someone is. Our District leader called us and said that the office Elders have asked everyone what supplies they will need to pick up at the transfer meeting... well, thats a message in a message eh? I want to move but i also dont.. want to experience something new, but this place is so sweet. But, alas, i know i have to go where the Lord wants me to go.. bah. Lets do this.
Elder Gudmundsen
This week was slow. New Years kinda bites it hard.. Man do Thai people know how to drink! Pretty much 70 percent of the people from Bangkok went home to other places.. everyone else stayed here and drank themselves silly. I dont know what it is about Karaoke, but now i love it! Not so much the Karoake part, but the part where everyone singing is HOUSED and trying to sing.. the picture of the cat you drew Josh comes to mind here. People are totally just not shy about it either.. "Hey whadya do for New Years?" "Drank beer." Done. Nothing else. Just drank. How much fun can that really be? Apparently EXTREMELY. Anyway, New Years eve President Smith actually changed our proselyting to have us leave the house at 8 in the morning and get home and 7 at night. Dont know how much of a difference it actually made, but its the right idea. Well actually i take that back.. that was the day we got another Baptismal dater! Hes a super old dude of 80 years old.. but hes got some serious strength behind those bones. We were inviting this one street and we went up to this gate and said hello... he at first didnt say anything but just walked over to the gate, opened it and said, "come in." We talked, taught and gave him a date for the 30th of this month. He accepted it. How determined is he? Not completely sure.. we feel that its right, but he has yet to show super excitement.. but he is determined to go to Church. He actually did go yesterday and said he really like it. More than that, he also said he would try and go every week. The only problem is that his eyes are awful.. he cant read for more than a minute or so until his eyes hurt really bad. Glasses dont really help either. So we will read for him! So anyway, New Years day was pretty quiet as well.. most people were asleep from all the partying.. which is weird cause our neighborhood was SO quiet at night.. didnt hear anything.. i was like, "Is it new years or not?" Anyway, that was all pretty quiet and we didnt get too much done.. plus we were both feeling under the weather this whole past week.. nothing serious, but enough to make us want to take 10 ish minute naps at the house haha.
For the rest of out investigators.. well, everyone went home! We saw Bon and Au a couple times, but never got to really teach anything.. on top of that, he hasnt quit smoking yet.. he made it 2 days after we first gave him the comittment, but relapsed on wednesday. He says he doesnt have a problem with Alcohol, coffee, tea or anything else.. but he knows he is addicted to smoking. He wants to.. really he does.. but he knows how hard it is. We are trying to not just say "cmon just stop, its easy!" cause its really not that easy and neither of us understand the addiction of cigarrettes. He said something really funny last night.. we knew that were gonna get home yesterday so we just went by to say hello before going home.. his mom said that if he didnt quit she would stop talking to him.. kinda harsh and definitely not anything helpful. Bon got defensive at the fact that she was trying to MAKE him stop. He thn said this (rather loudly too) "If someone forces you to eat poop are you going to do it?! No of course not.. i want to do this myself and on my own!" Like.. uhh, "if someone asked you nicely to eat poop are you going to eat it anyway?" HAHAH.. i mean i kinda get his point, but it was just super funny the way he compared the 2 situations.. plus i just learned the word for "poop" (i know what youre thinking.. just now? really?) so it took me a split second to understand it, and then i just started laughing.. no one else seemed to think it was funny though.. i thought it was hilarious! Anyway.. we will meet again tonight and watch... uhh.. dangit i forgot whose talk it is.. someone from Conference about faith and changing our character. I read it during study and thought, "oh yeah.. this can help."
So.. Sister Apple.. she got confirmed yesterday. But actually before that, she got a calling in sacrament meeting AND was already fasting.. WOW. How much more golden can you get? On a different note.. we almost had to drop Her son First.. First and Flukes father is quite the monster.. not only does he have like 5 "friends with benefits" and 5 different places that he stays at, he hasnt been giving Alemony. His second wife (who he has a kid with and she lives at the same house as Apple) saw Fluke and Apple change their lives and sees them being really happy.. pretty much shes just a jealous little (insert some word that im not familiar with) and she tattled told on her husband.. i dont even know what she ended up complaining about, but he called both Fluke and Apple to talk to them about it.. basically, he told Fluke that hes a dead son to him and doesnt care, and Apple.. well he hasnt cared about her for a long time already. But, hes not done with First and he wants HIM to be a monk in the future.. at 20 years old. So, he said to Apple and Fluke to get out of the house, and if First keeps learning with us then he will stop sending money. Well.. was a pretty bad situation and Fluke totally spoke truth.. he told him he was a horrible person (among other things) and wished he wasnt his son... But guess what? What the father doesnt know wont hurt him right? We didnt listen. First wants to learn and so we are continuing to teach.. just at other places. And then, Apple called her Mom to tell her the situation and her mom said that she will send the money for both of them. So, they are going to move out anyway, First included, and find their own place and she will get her own job. It was a way sweet solution. First learns kinda slowly, but he definitely understands.. just explaining it to us is hard for him.. and he for sure has ADD. No problem.. patience.
K so this is what has happened lately.. was a pretty sweet week all things considered. This thursday is transfers and we will find out tonight if anyone is moving.. someone is. Our District leader called us and said that the office Elders have asked everyone what supplies they will need to pick up at the transfer meeting... well, thats a message in a message eh? I want to move but i also dont.. want to experience something new, but this place is so sweet. But, alas, i know i have to go where the Lord wants me to go.. bah. Lets do this.
Elder Gudmundsen
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)