HAPPY PIONEER DAYYYYYYY!!!

we celebrated with sizzlers. a little better than KFC. we figured we would make up for our lack of celebration on the 4th of July...

This week was amazing. I'm learning more and more about God's way of working with us. Every time we pick on a Christlike attribute to work on for the week, God pours out opportunities to try that attribute. We picked faith this past week. And sure enough, our faith was tried. Day after day, investigators were dropping like flies. Friday came, and we were starting to worry, and became a little discouraged. We taught the Book of Mormon class that day, and we read chapters 16-17 in 1 Nephi. I kept thinking about how Nephi was almost always alone in his faith and obedience, while everyone around him became instantly discouraged and started murmuring and doubting their faith. It was kind of a wake up call. Inflection point! We decided we could keep feeling bad for ourselves because of our 'broken bow' and the fact that we couldn't find any 'food'...OR we could put it all behind us and keep expecting and working for the miracle waiting around the corner. So that's what we did. On Saturday, we still didn't know who was getting baptized the next day. We prayed every hour for a miracle. The younger sister of one of our RC's really wanted to be baptized on Sunday, but had been sick the entire week and wasn't able to meet with us. On Saturday afternoon her sister called us and said that she was feeling better and could go to the church to interview that day. She interviewed and passed, and was baptized Sunday. She and her sister read the scriptures and pray together every night! On Sunday, her mom came to see her baptism. I can't wait to see her whole family come into the church one day.

I know that God is a God of miracles. He is so perfectly aware of His children, and nothing can stand in the way of His perfect work. I'm SO thankful to be a part of it all!

Sister Steele

Another Monday!

Where is the time going? I feel like I was just sitting at this computer yesterday. Don't really know where to start with this week, other than the fact that it went by super fast. Lots of rain lately. And if it's not raining, it's overcast...which isn't exactly my favorite kind of weather, but I guess I can't complain that we have some nice shade. We've definitely been caught in the rain a couple times this week though. Thank goodness for colorful rain ponchos from the 7/11.

Bro. Nuay got baptized yesterday!! He works as a radio host/announcer...so teaching him was interesting. He likes to talk. And only talk. He feels like he doesn't have a lot of knowledge, but he knows he has a lot of faith. And that's all that's required! Faith and desire. His baptism day was wonderful, and the Branch President baptized him. They're best buds now. Nuay's testimony was probably one of the most dramatic things I've ever heard...more like  speech actually. Like I said, he loves to talk. But the Spirit was there, and He knows that His life is changing for the better. Great guy.

Lessons I learned this week: 

Don't teach lessons at McDonald's. The music is way too loud, and the investigators eventually lose interest and don't take you seriously.

There is a friendly neighborhood salad lady just around the corner from our church. She even sold a version of croutons that was semi-delicious. 

There really are places to eat around the church, you just have to look for them first. We discovered a little Italian restaurant that changed my world. I ate pesto pasta for the first time in 18 months.

If you decide to work on a Christlike attribute for the week, it instantly becomes harder. Because all of a sudden you're provided with opportunities to strengthen your weaknesses. Fun times.

Thai people are the most loving andd happy people on this world. The worst they can do is ignore me, and I realize I've had it so easy....in comparison to the American man that told me to "Get out of the way!" the other day. That's not to say that American men aren't nice...I just had the opportunity to exercise my love and charity...and it took everything in me not to say some sassy remark right back at him...haha ohhhh i still have such a long way to go.

I learned that everyone has their agency...some people just don't use it wisely.

I learned that I have a reason to believe what I believe. Because I have seen how Jesus Christ can change a life around. I have also seen the opposite. I have learned what it feels like to see people reject Him. And it really hurts. And it took me a while to figure out why. At first I almost felt like I had been broken up with, when investigators dropped, or CHOSE not to follow Christ. But now I'm realizing it's not a personal blow to me. Not at all. Because they're not rejecting me, they're rejecting Him. And that's why it hurts. Because sometimes people don't fully understand what He did for them, and what He can continue to do for them. It's merely our responsibility to be His disciples, and to share this with the world. Because I would rather be rejected 1000 times over and have people know more about Him, then to walk silently by. Because "fools mock, but they shall mourn...". Some may not be ready for this message yet, but I am so grateful that little by little, we are gathering those that have been prepared, those that have been ready to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. And there is such joy and fulfillment in this work! Go out and share it with someone!! :) And those are my rambled thoughts for the week.

Love you all,

Sister Steele

Niw and Sing's baptism

Nuay's baptism

Happy Times in Thonburi!

"This is the Buddhist shrine where people give food to the spirits. and i just stand in front of it shamelessly, inviting people to repent and be baptized. i love my life. yay!"

I love this place! mostly missionary work is just a blast. it's definitely work. but it's so much fun if you let it be. this week has been great, and sis. sahagun and i have seen a lot of miracles. we did a LOT of street contacting this week, and by the end of each day, my voice was pretty much gone. i've been meeting a lot of christian people lately, which is refreshing. i ran into a lot of muslim people in saphansung, so i've been impressed at the amount of christians here...although it's still probably only about 1% of all the people i talk to. anyway, we've been super busy lately, so much that sometimes i don't have time to think haha. or at the end of the night 10:29 hits and i have to scramble all over the room to get my pj's on and brush my teeth and get into bed. time just flies by when you're having fun. but it flies by WAY too fast! maybe i should just have less fun?? then maybe time would pass by a little slower.

yesterday (sunday) was amazing. Niw and Suni were baptized. there were a total of 4 baptisms in the Thonburi branch yesterday...which hasn't happened in...well i don't think it's ever happened. this branch is getting really excited about missionary work, and church attendance is growing. ps sorry for my typing errors...this keyboard is a bit challenged. or maybe it's not the keyboardd...i struggle. anyway, yesterday was such a special experience. sacrament meeting was awesome, and the spirit was SO strong. we had 12 new investigators that showed up to church, and they all had a really good time. sis. Sahagun and I were in charge of teaching the investigator class this week....so hopefully everyone understood the words coming out of our mouths. the lesson was on sacrifice, and we talked a lot about Christ's ultimate sacrifice for us. We also pointed out the example of Aaron teaching King Lamoni's father in the Book of Mormon. the King was willing to give up EVERYTHING to receive the joy that Aaron talked of. it really made me think...what am I willing to give up to really KNOW God. if we truly understand WHO God actually is, we will never fall away. because we'll always be close to Him. and if we KNOW God, we will kNow Christ, because they are ONE. not one being, but they are so much the same. in purpose. if we know one, then we know the other. i love that.

keep calm and carry on.

sister steele

Sister Steele and her new apt.  in Thonburi...before moving in

HAPPY JULY!!

This week has gone by fast and slow all at the same time. It's weird to think that just one week ago we were homeless and the branch was branch president...less...and it's amazing to see how much the Lord can do in just ONE week. We are now almost completely moved in, and we are no longer sleeping with towels and skirts as blankets. It's been so good to finally get semi-settled and dive into the work.

Thonburi is street contacting heaven, and we will surely NEVER run out of people to talk to. On Wednesday we were able to finally go out and invite ALL day and it felt so good. We saw SO many miracles! Definitely had our fair share of rejection, but also met people that had been searching and praying to find a church, and were so excited to meet us. Sunday was probably the best day of the week. There was just a completely different feeling at church this week. There was excitement. Sis. Sahagun and I were just so happy the entire day about everything that happened! Church attendance was up, a new branch president was called, there were lots of investigators at church, and the members were so excited about it all. There were 80 people at church this week!! That's almost double what it was two weeks ago!! We had the opportunity to teach one investigator who had stayed til after the baptism, and she's amazing. We call her '8:59'. One night this week we were inviting close to our house and it was about time to go home. But then we decided in the 6 minutes that were left, we wanted to find one more really golden person who wanted to be baptized. So we decided we wouldn't go home until we found that one person. We continued talking to everyone, inviting every single person, and once 8:57 hit, I was a worried we'd be out there all night. But then, at 8:59, just in the nick of time, we found Suni. She came to church, and now has a baptismal date for next Sunday. We asked some older members to help us teach her, one of them being a recently returned LA. I felt like I was in a help-group or something. It was great! These women were so supportive and so excited to share their testimonies. They just needed to be given the opportunity to do so. Fellow-shipping is really the key to strong converts!

I'm so happy here, and every time I think I can't get happier, I'm wrong. I just wish I could slow time down. Either that, or tack on another 3 months. Right as I'm finally figuring out how to be a missionary, time has almost run out! Which is why we're just going to block it out of our minds and keep sprinting! I love the urgency of this work, and I can't wait to see the miracles of the coming week.

I love you all! Hope the 4th of July was great, and that everyone ate a hot dog. I miss those. I treated myself to a Krispy Kreme doughnut, which I hadn't had in ages....mostly because there are probably two Krispy Kreme stores in the entire country. anyway, it was a good day.

Sister Steele. I am Sister Steele.