Hello everyone!
K so im not even gonna waste any time getting into the nitty gritty! We've got 6.. count em SIX baptismal daters! Fluke passed his interview so hes getting baptized THIS SUNDAY! Woot woot.. he got his divorced parents to commit to go to.. and Tawid got him excited about serving a mission as well. Awesome. Hes a sweet kid and this sunday is gonna be huge! He gave us his friend as a referral who is also baptist.. did i tel lyou about him yet? His name is Top. We committed him for the 2nd of January 2011! He accepted.. its gonna be troublesome with him cause his grandmother literally forbid him from going to church yesterday to help his mother sell crap.. but he had the desire.. just gotta work harder. So then we have Gade.. she is ALSO christian already.. the one i told you is like Joseph Smith? Confused as to why there are so many christian churches? Anyway, we had her committed for the 26th of December, but after meeting with her this past week, and yesterday, we told her we felt we could move it a week earlier to the 19th of December.. she is so sweet. She "wais" (the little bow thing) everytime we testify or do anything that she lieks.. which is a lot. She is determined to do as much as she can on her own without people asking her.. like going to Stake conference yesterday.. kinda far! But she said she would get a taxi and be there by herself. And hey.. she did. And she loved it too. Ill talk more about stake conference later. So after Gade... brace yourselves... AU, BON, NAT! All three in one appointment! BEEEYAAAAHHH!!! Just to put it simply.. Au accepted it like CANDY! Im going to write her words exactly after stake conference.. she said this to Komgrid while i was talking to Tawid about what we were about to teach them for yesterday: "When you missionaries first contacted us i didnt think the things you were teaching us were THAT important.. i thought they could definitetly help my kids.. but now its more than that. Today i saw and felt things that made me want to start reading from the Book of Mormon every day, pray every day, and have family home evening. I saw kids my sons age and families like ive never seen before. I want that. If im going to know these things are true, i need to do these things." Snap. Crackle. and Pop. She said this before we even got in the lesson so we both knew we were gonna get that committment out there.. so shared more feelings and we just got it right out there.. all three of them for the 2nd of January 2011! Bon took a little more effort but not much.. he followed his mothers example and is willing to sacrifice time for us, and Nat kinda followed Bons example too. We will see where it goes.. but we are very excited cause they should all have the opportunity to go see Flukes baptism this sunday.. including Flukes parents and little brother. Should be a good week. All in all, we are teaching more in unity and things are just awesome.
By the way, in case you didnt figure it out yet, i didnt move. Neither did Komgrid. But, we did get to participate in the Dan Jones activity that i did the first day i was in country.. did i tell you about that? Well, its where the office calls in elders to take these new greenies out on the streets for an hour and get them inviting.. was really fun AGAIN except this time i wasnt the greenie :) Got me fired up again seeing newbies come in and how far ive grown.
So.. thanksgiving.. ah it was so great! First off, we had a little dinner thing at the Church with out branch.. yeah, but not thanksgiving.. noodles? Cmon. It was really awesome though cause Wisan invited people to come up and share testimonies of thankfulness and what not.. and he picked (on) me to speak too. So.. after i was done speaking things of no interest whatsoever, and sat down, Elder Komgrid told me Wisans son cried.. uhhnyuh. This kids been having some problems lately and his parents have told us that they dont think he will serve a mission.. little bit of a turn around eh? Then, and heard this from Tawid, their son Win, spoke in stake conference.. i heard maybe 5 times from different members that everyone in the room was just astonished at how different he was.. that he wants to serve a mission and will prepare to serve it next year.. BEEYAH! Was a sweet day for him.
So we did have a sweet AMERICAN thanksgiving dinner.. so.. awesome! Oh yeah... they know you too hahaha. Yeah, they are Koreans.. they told me i looked asian as well... told em that i was half korean, but we didnt speak more than that because they were about to bless the food. After, i asked them where they were both born. She said something that i dont remember and the father said Taegu.. "oh no way, my Moms from there." "Really? Whats her name maybe i know her?" "Boon---" Both of their faces lit up brither than the Christmas tree behind them.. he stopped me before i even finished your name mom and they just freaked out.. "No way! Your Mom is Song Boonseon..." and then whatever your whole surname is.. its long (ish)! Anyway, i ate so much i wanted to die.. thats how it should be right?! Right. Elder Komgrid ate so much too.. loved American Thanksgiving. It really felt awesome that they were willing to open their house to us missionaries and feed us an amazing meal.. even more than that was the fact that i am so far away from California (and Korea for that matter) and i some how meet a family that we know?! Yeah huh... coincidence right? This is the first time theyve had Thanksgiving at their house in a while cause last year they were way busy.. but he made the decision months ago to make sure he would be home for the missionaries this year.. then even more than that, he barred 4 other missionaires from coming cause they had 12 on the list, but cut it down to 8.. lucky we didnt get cut right? Right. I dont actually know their first names hahah.. but they are brother and sister Kim. Really nice family. Hes got 3 daughters and 1 son who is planning on serving a mission next year.
Hey so other than this, i dont have anything haha.. but i just want to leave you with something Tawid said at conference (yeah he spoke): he talked about 3 important things - Daily scripture study, daily prayer, and family home evening... DO THEM. Those werent his words, but pretty much. They are so easy! Go open Alma 37: 6.. or is it 7? I dunno.. whatever, its good. Small and simple things people. K well i love you all. thanks for your supoort. I will talk to you next week!
Elder Gudmundsen
Monday, November 29, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Sup
Yo. Elder again.
So i dont have a whole lot of time this week, so i gotta write fast. This week was WAY sweet. We had a zone conference last tuesday, which was way awesome, and about the area book. Suffice it to say we blew through our area book looking for previous investigators who may be interested in learning again, and whaddyaknow... found like 4. Havent met yet but they are interested. Other than that, we talked about companionship unity and lets just say Elder Komgrid and I are making sure we are in line together.. dont worry nothing happened we just want to be more in tune. It was way cool to see some other people in my zone cause there are some way sweet people ( went bowling with 2 of them today). Other than that it was just a way good time.. nothing really more to share about that.
On to the companion exchange.. yeah! I went to Rangsit again with Elder Cline right as the zone ( but really the whole mission) introduced this new goal; this was definitely the highlight of this week by far! We have been told to give the baptismal invitation ON THE INVITE... it makes so much sense! What are we trying to get out of inviting people? Its not "potentials" thats for sure... its baptisms. We dont need to beat around the bush.. just ask right away if after they know these things are true with they follow this example and be baptized.. whats even cooler is that it actually works. We got many people who said yes. We had a first lesson later that night with a family and 20 minutes in we asked them the question.. haha, we popped the question right? Yeah, anyway... they kind of hesitated but said mostly yes.. the father then asked what our purpose was.. why did we come back. I paused.. Elder Cline wasnt speaking so i just said," To baptize you and your family." I think Elder Cline was a little surprised but why dodge it.. i literally stated the "Purpose" we memorize as missionaries: "Inviting others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gosepl through faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement, Repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the holy ghost ,and enduring to the end." Of course i explained that more after, but it was pretty much that. We havent met again yet, but thats what we are doing.. dont need to lie. This was a funny appointment because at one point they asked how long we have been in Thailand because i spoke more clearly than Elder Cline.. we both looked at each other like, "Uhhh.. do you want to say it or should i?" Elder Cline said a yea rand a half and i said three months.. hahaha. was way funny (another time inviting i had a guy say i spoke like good music to the ears.. something like that.. doesnt translate perfectly). Anyway, the exchange was awesome because i got to find out that i know WAY more thai than i thought.. and i can hold conversations, lead lessons, speak to people without my companion right next to me etc... was kinda weird but a lot of people are noticing.. the zone leader asked if this was my 3rd of 4th transfer in country.. he was surprised at it only being my 2nd.
Okay enough bragging for one day.. we have a sweet investigator (Mother of a former investigator who we never got to meet with) who is pretty much Joseph Smith.. she is Christian and she is so confused as to why "christianity has so many sects who all claim to believe in Christ yet argue one with another and speak so differently." She wants to know the truth and while i was in Rangsit, they gave her a baptismal date for the 26th of December.. yeah! So we got Fluke on the 5th and her on the 26th. We have yet to give Au a date, but we will soon.. speaking of which.. she FINALLY got to Church! And i think she loved it.. she told us she "liked" it but there is way more than just this... she is pretty crazy sometimes... in a good way. Her prayers are always so sincere and she is such a role model for her family... her 2 kids just play games and speak rudely to her, and her husband comes home from work and drinks beer all night. Last night was this huge festival that is like.. A HUGE DEAL for buddhists and none of her family went with her.. so we did. Her dad stayed home and watched 2012.. i know right?! If you are going to skip out on your wife AT LEAST watch a good movie right? I know, my thoughts exactly. Anyway.. he is a good guy.. i know he is.. but he has got some serious problems.. Au really appreciates us trying to help and when we told her we could be moving she asked if there was a way she could make sure we didnt hahaha. Well.. guess her wish was granted eh? Hopefully we can get her a baptismal date tomorrow or wednesday.. dont know yet. Oh haha on wed. i have to go back to the office to do that dan jones thing with my noongs noongs haha... so wed. will probably be a little busy too.
k well i have so much more than this to say but time is up already... and i have to go haha. K well sorry this one was so short, but i love you all the same.. i hear Cade got married right? Congrats bro! To the rest of you.. go look for referrals for your missionaries! They always need them! Find one for me too haha.. might be hard eh? My commitment to you haha. K gotta fly. Peace, love and a happy thanksgiving! Thankful for all of you and the fact that i even know you... been a blessing to think of the strength of our ENC ward and try to help branches here be like that. But that will be a while right? Yeah right. K peace!
Elder Gudmundsen
So i dont have a whole lot of time this week, so i gotta write fast. This week was WAY sweet. We had a zone conference last tuesday, which was way awesome, and about the area book. Suffice it to say we blew through our area book looking for previous investigators who may be interested in learning again, and whaddyaknow... found like 4. Havent met yet but they are interested. Other than that, we talked about companionship unity and lets just say Elder Komgrid and I are making sure we are in line together.. dont worry nothing happened we just want to be more in tune. It was way cool to see some other people in my zone cause there are some way sweet people ( went bowling with 2 of them today). Other than that it was just a way good time.. nothing really more to share about that.
On to the companion exchange.. yeah! I went to Rangsit again with Elder Cline right as the zone ( but really the whole mission) introduced this new goal; this was definitely the highlight of this week by far! We have been told to give the baptismal invitation ON THE INVITE... it makes so much sense! What are we trying to get out of inviting people? Its not "potentials" thats for sure... its baptisms. We dont need to beat around the bush.. just ask right away if after they know these things are true with they follow this example and be baptized.. whats even cooler is that it actually works. We got many people who said yes. We had a first lesson later that night with a family and 20 minutes in we asked them the question.. haha, we popped the question right? Yeah, anyway... they kind of hesitated but said mostly yes.. the father then asked what our purpose was.. why did we come back. I paused.. Elder Cline wasnt speaking so i just said," To baptize you and your family." I think Elder Cline was a little surprised but why dodge it.. i literally stated the "Purpose" we memorize as missionaries: "Inviting others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gosepl through faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement, Repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the holy ghost ,and enduring to the end." Of course i explained that more after, but it was pretty much that. We havent met again yet, but thats what we are doing.. dont need to lie. This was a funny appointment because at one point they asked how long we have been in Thailand because i spoke more clearly than Elder Cline.. we both looked at each other like, "Uhhh.. do you want to say it or should i?" Elder Cline said a yea rand a half and i said three months.. hahaha. was way funny (another time inviting i had a guy say i spoke like good music to the ears.. something like that.. doesnt translate perfectly). Anyway, the exchange was awesome because i got to find out that i know WAY more thai than i thought.. and i can hold conversations, lead lessons, speak to people without my companion right next to me etc... was kinda weird but a lot of people are noticing.. the zone leader asked if this was my 3rd of 4th transfer in country.. he was surprised at it only being my 2nd.
Okay enough bragging for one day.. we have a sweet investigator (Mother of a former investigator who we never got to meet with) who is pretty much Joseph Smith.. she is Christian and she is so confused as to why "christianity has so many sects who all claim to believe in Christ yet argue one with another and speak so differently." She wants to know the truth and while i was in Rangsit, they gave her a baptismal date for the 26th of December.. yeah! So we got Fluke on the 5th and her on the 26th. We have yet to give Au a date, but we will soon.. speaking of which.. she FINALLY got to Church! And i think she loved it.. she told us she "liked" it but there is way more than just this... she is pretty crazy sometimes... in a good way. Her prayers are always so sincere and she is such a role model for her family... her 2 kids just play games and speak rudely to her, and her husband comes home from work and drinks beer all night. Last night was this huge festival that is like.. A HUGE DEAL for buddhists and none of her family went with her.. so we did. Her dad stayed home and watched 2012.. i know right?! If you are going to skip out on your wife AT LEAST watch a good movie right? I know, my thoughts exactly. Anyway.. he is a good guy.. i know he is.. but he has got some serious problems.. Au really appreciates us trying to help and when we told her we could be moving she asked if there was a way she could make sure we didnt hahaha. Well.. guess her wish was granted eh? Hopefully we can get her a baptismal date tomorrow or wednesday.. dont know yet. Oh haha on wed. i have to go back to the office to do that dan jones thing with my noongs noongs haha... so wed. will probably be a little busy too.
k well i have so much more than this to say but time is up already... and i have to go haha. K well sorry this one was so short, but i love you all the same.. i hear Cade got married right? Congrats bro! To the rest of you.. go look for referrals for your missionaries! They always need them! Find one for me too haha.. might be hard eh? My commitment to you haha. K gotta fly. Peace, love and a happy thanksgiving! Thankful for all of you and the fact that i even know you... been a blessing to think of the strength of our ENC ward and try to help branches here be like that. But that will be a while right? Yeah right. K peace!
Elder Gudmundsen
Monday, November 15, 2010
More pics
so this... yeah.. beautiful right? outside our house... is that cat drinking? or drowning itself?
Dinner time
this is a less active member.. i dont know why he is less active.. he knows his stuff and he is way into it at Church.. and if anyone walks in anywhere who doesnt have a seat he jumps up faster than anyone else to help. and dinner from Wisit and Superman.. in cute heart shapes and christmas trees! delicious
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