Sick...

Sent Jan. 1, 2012:

Hey thanks for writing me everyone! I got no emails to respond to. In that case, ill just have to talk about myself.

Good week. I hate new years. So annoying.. too many drunk people.. too many hung over people... too much beer. Drove past a group of dudes on Friday.. drove past those same dudes 2 days later on sunday morning.. still there.. only the number of bottles compiling up was significantly higher that before. Crazy. Is Kaoraoke rreally that fun? Guess so. Ill tell you one thing, everyone totally flees the City of Angels during this time.. the streets were absolutely DEAD. Like, it was even hard to get a taxi. I wish the City of Angels was always like this. Unfortunately, everyone is on their way back right now and the roads will once again be bumper to bumper. Boring.

As far as investigators go, well Sandy needed a little more time before shes ready, but shes super ready already.. yeah i just used those words repeatedly what of it? Anyway, she brought her 2 kids to Church! Woohoo! Awesome. They enjoyed it.. i think. The one daughter has a lot of extra studies to do (i dont know how to say it in english cause if i did i would end up saying Special Learning which makes her sound like she is a _____ you know the word Josh) and so isnt that free. Since it was new years however she was able to go to Church. We gave Sister Sandy President Uchtdorfs talk about what matters most and committed her to read it.. hopefully she will see what we are getting at when he says that love is spelled t-i-m-e TIME! If she doesnt get it, well we will just tell her she needs to take her out of special learning haha. Shell get it. Her baptism will be next week. For sure!

Tam and Nog. Studs. We learned some new stuff.. most of it good. Its nothing that will be a problem for them, its just what happened with some members. They left a few times in the middle of church (meaning between hours) and we asked them why. They said that when members gossip about their kids being loud, and do it loudly like not even lopeing it, they kinda would rather be at home. So sometimes they left. Elijah, like the boss he is, told them that his kids are way louder than theirs and that nobody cares about kids being loud, but then double taked and said "if anyone does, well who cares about them".. haha. Couldnt have said it better myself. Seirously though.. i dont know why people make such a big deal out of it.. like, ive heard this before and ive come to the conclusion that it is totally bologne: "the loud kids interrupt the spirit".. bologne! YOU getting mad at the parents OR the kids is what interrupted the spirit. I refuse to believe that the spirit with withdraw itself because of a kid that "has no responsibility" and doesnt know what he or she is doing. Thats a bunch of apostate crap if you ask me. The Savior commands us to "suffer the children to come unto him, and FORBID them not". How could it be any clearer!? I finally understand what the Savior meant when he said 'SUFFER it" to be that way.. if you literally ahve to suffer through it, you better make sure you shut up while doing it. Now, of course it doesnt hurt to take a crying baby outside into the foyer if they are having a fit-coutesy is always good- but never does a kid drive the spirit away, no matter how loud they are. If they are eight, well they arent kids anymore and are then responsible for their own actions. I think this might actually be one of my tender-ist strings to pull.. i dont think i ever want to hear anyone complain about little kids in sacrament, or anywhere in church for that matter, ever again! If i do, whoever is complaining will have a lot more to "suffer" through than a baby crying in their face. Werd. Anyway, they are studs. Great faith. Great sacrifice to get to Church. And their kids.. i might steal them. Pics are up. Their date is on the 28th.

In addition to these people, we got 2 freebie daters basically (well actually they werent freebies, and ill explain why not later). One of them was a taxi driver that drove a member to church and he came last week. Hes has always wanted to learn about Christianity and so when the member invited him to learn more (wow.. so simple.. an invite) he said yes. We taught him and he accepted the date no problem. He knows about not worshipping "dumb idols" and about the word of wisdom and what not. Way nice guy too. We only taught him once, but hes on the path. His name is Neyome.

The next one is Aum. She is from the zone leaders in Bang Bua Thong (yeah, go ahead an laugh at the name, but that is literally how it is spelled in english). Havent gotten to meet her actually but she separated from her boyfriend and moved to our area.. doesnt get much more free than that.

Now, the reason i say that it wasnt necessarily free is because there has to be a sacrifice first. The sacrifice? "The sweat of a mans brow". Simple. You get out. You invite. You sometimes teach. You are blessed. As we sacrifice by pounding pavement, the Lord will lead people to us. Its pretty sweet that President Monson talkeda bout attitude.. cause thats all it is. You want to have a good time while sweating, you will. Make jokes, have fun, be fun. Thats all it is. Do everything is wisdom of course, but you cant be hitting the pavement with a frown on you face. You can make it fun if you so desire it. Elder Furr and i discussed this and taught it in a district meeting on tuesday.. it was perfect timing. THe next day, President Smith lead a discussion in zone leader council about how the mission is slacking on inviting and pounding pavement. The Spirit is with us. Theres this myth going around that inviting will be done away with eventually. false. Of course, it should be members finding and us teaching, but frankly some places (thailand included) arent ready for that. We can barely keep hold of those who are baptized right now, at THIS rate. Some people spend hours in their homes trying to figure out a way to help the work progress and they think that it fulfills their purpose.. quite frankly, hittin the pavement is way more effective and way more efficient. Plus, you still have time to GET referrals if you follow PMG. Speaking of which, we met Sister Nang (who got baptized in november) to bring us over to meet her family. Yeah, that was awesome. THey didnt know she was Christian. "Sister Nang could you share what role prayer has had for you? Sure, so you guys dont know this yet, but im Christian. Yeah i was baptized a few months ago and...." oh man! Some of the widest eyes ive ever seen! But they accepted it well. Her testimony was strong. Her younger step sister went to be a monk for 5 days so we will teach again when shes done.

Good week. Happy New Years. Have fun not achieving your new years resolutions (just kidding). For me, well it is to continue reading the Book of Mormon every month. Finished on the 31st. 10:20. Made it to bed on time too. Im memorizing a verse a day too. Ever since i started that those verses have become even more applicable during inviting and teaching. Cool. That last one i have is i carry a small notebook around with me now.. just write everything i think of.. well not everything, but a lot. Love you guys. This work is true. So true. We are so priveleged to be a part of it (i know i didnt spell it right). 6 months! Home strech. Lets get it done!

Elder Gudmundsen