HAPPY JANUARY

I don't think I'll ever forget the Thai word for January for as long as I live. For one, it's taped to my shower wall, along with all the names of all the other months (great study time). and two, i've invited hundreds of people to be baptized this month, in order to reach the mission goal of 200. oh and also i got hit with a random cold at the beginning week, and i think it settled for my vocal chords, because my voice kind of disappeared for a few days. which was SUPER inconvenient, considering the fact that i have to talk to everyone, all day, every day. it's finally coming back though, so that's good.

so last week i said that we should be having a baptism this week. we have an amazing investigator, who is basically perfect. she already keeps all the commandments, knows everything is true, etc. we watched 'Finding Faith in Christ' with her the night before her interview and she told us that her life was lost until now. she interviewed on Saturday and passed. of course! we new she would pass. but then came the tricky part, because for some reason she still thinks she's not ready...figure that one out. i think she's afraid to be baptized when her husband isn't ready yet. we've been teaching him too, but he's not at the point she's at, and i think that scares her. eventually, it's gonna have to be a choice that she makes herself. so more news to come on her. she's awesome though. 

another investigator told us that he knows the BOM is true, reads it every night before he goes to bed, etc. but then he said one night he saw Buddha's face, so he thinks Buddhism is the way for him to go right now. but he wants to keep the BOM and keep reading it....? huh? all i can think of is SATAN. it's gotta be Satan getting to these people and putting that little seed of doubt there. with every ounce we put into the work, Satan knows something amazing is about to happen and so he throws his forces at us.

BUT. despite Satan and his scrunchy faced minions, God's work cannot be stopped. we are seeing miracles, all the same. we were riding a songtaw on Friday, and i was sitting next to a random lady that told me she was Christian even before i started talking to her. we didn't have a lot of time to talk because she had to get off at her stop. after a few minutes i realized it was our stop too...haha yeah i'm still directionally challenged. by that time she was a ways ahead of us, walking into the store. and then, i don't really know why, but i was running after her. just chasing her. yeah that's not weird at all. when i caught up to her, she was kinda shocked, a little surprised, but willing to sit down and talk to us. she basically accepted our invitation to come to church out of pity, and i could tell she wasn't really gonna come. she said she had to go to her other church. by sunday, i had kinda ruled her out, but then she called me and said she was on her way to church. everything we learned at church yesterday was so PERFECT. it was all about the plan of salvation, and it was really investigator friendly. as the hours went on, i could tell she really FELT it. she got more and more excited, and would reach over and grab my hand every once in a while. we taught her a lesson right after church ended and she accepted a baptismal date for the 26th of this month. when she prayed for the first time, she cried. she told us that she's excited to start her "new life." that she hopes her "new life will be happier and better than her normal one." and it will. because a life with Christ is the only way. Christ isn't our last chance, he's our only chance. i've learned so much from the people that i teach, and they don't even know it. i love seeing the light that turns on in someone's heart when they recognize what it is that they've been missing. I read Jessica Powell's letter this week, and i loved what she said, and i couldn't say it any better: 'i'm so lucky to pin the name of Jesus Christ on my puffy coat, put on my mittens, and then go out and work.' how thankful i am for the same thing, and how thankful i am that i don't have to wear a big puffy coat:)

love you all!

sis. steele

I learned a lot this week!

hey everyone! and hello to half of my family that is probably on a plane to AFRICA right now...??!!??!! also thank you for sending me pictures of Paris. i'm a little bit jealous, except for when i saw doonis all bundled up and freezing, and then i remembered i'm in thailand where it's warm and wonderful. but i'm sure you'll be enjoying some of that same weather in a day or so. by the way how hot is it in mauritius right now??

so here's some things i learned this week. some of them are kind of dumb and petty. some of them are really deep. like things i wished i had learned way sooner. but even though i'm slow, God is always showing me new things. oh isn't life just beautiful. anyway, here they are:

so there is a certain market street that we go contacting on ALL the time. like every day. and i learned that there is a crazy man who lives (actually i don't know if 'lives' is the right word) on the street. but anyway, he's always around. and i think he has a weird obsession with me or something. my first encounter with him: he walked really close by me and then jerked his elbow up in front of my face, making me jump back, obviously. and then he just laughed, and laughed. and laughed. and then i saw him a few more times that day, and every time he saw me, he would kind of jump toward me, because he knew it was hilarious if he could scare me. so i learned to just ignore him. he walks around without any shoes and is always wearing crazy outfits. the next day i saw him, i was talking to someone on the street about baptism, and i see him marching down the street. like literally marching. and his hand was pointed in a gun shape. and he was marching straight toward me. i think i almost hid behind the person i was talking to...i didn't know whether to laugh or to run. the next day i saw him he was walking in the middle of the huge busy street that's in front of our church, with cars passing on either side of him, honking and swerving, as he yelled things at them as they passed. well he must have gotten out of that safely, because i saw him again today. he was yelling something at me in Thai, and i didn't really understand it at all. then he started throwing coins at me. he followed me into the 7/11 and gave me 5 baht. luckily sis. holmes and i were able to sneak out while he wasn't looking. so he keeps our lives interesting.

i learned that i am VERY out of shape. actually i think i already knew that. but we had a zone sports day today, and we had it at a school that the one of our members teaches at. all of the sisters found an indoor basketball court where the school team was practicing. they wanted to scrimmage against us so we agreed. hahhahaha. that was our first mistake. after a few times running up and down the court with all the quick little thai girls, i was about to dieeeeeee. we didn't really keep score, but i'm pretty sure they beat us. long story short, i'm definitely taking a nap today.

since this email is becoming way too long, here's the last thing i learned. i am NOTHING. this is God's work. I've always thought that if i worked hard enough and long enough, if i'm skilled enough and teach well enough, then we will have success. but it's not true. not at all. rather than grinding myself into the ground, i've learned that it is about faith. i need to have more faith that God can do all things, and He WILL. i still don't really know how, but i'm working on giving him my WHOLE self, my whole heart. our mission has a goal for 200 baptisms this month. that's impossible. if we work alone. but God will do it. we just have to be His hands. And that's why I'm gonna tell you right now that we're going to see a baptism on Saturday! Her name is Da and she is amazing. Here's a little quote that I really love from Elder Eyring..."I won't give up, shut up, or let up  until I have stayed up, stored up and paid up for the cause of Christ. I must go till he comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till he stops me. And when He returns for his own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My banner will be clear." 

Love, Sister Steele :)

Sis Steele & Sis Phavadee--served together in Korat

Missionaries in new area, Saphansung (suburb of Bangkok)

These critters greeted them at their new apt. in her new area...uggh!

Emily's new companion--Sister Holmes from Sandy, UT

Moving from Korat with all their stuff on the bus

Back to BKK

Dear family.

Whoa. That's really all I have to say about this area. We've seen a lot of amazing things happen and I know this area is full of people that are prepared. I kind of feel like when I came here I got on a treadmill that was going 100 miles per hour and I keep falling flat on my face. But then I get back up I'm able to go a little bit faster each time. Oh yeah, let me actually tell you where i am, etc. because transfers were about a week ago, and it's been a while since i emailed. i'm back in Bangkok, in Saphaansung, and it is the most successful area in the mission right now, as far as baptisms go. no pressure. when i was in srinakharin i came here for district meetings, and i always kinda wanted to serve here, and now here i am! oh and i'm training again. her name is sis. holmes and she just got here a week ago! yay for greenies! i was one once. she's from sandy utah and is 19, just out of high school. she's very mature for her age though so that's good. I've learned so much already from being here, mostly about how to invite. So here's how we do it. we're like little vultures that circle around the market place, just waiting for the golden investigator to come along. We pick a spot, have our little pictures of baptism, and stop EVERYONE to talk to them. We ask them if they have seen the picture before, tell them what it is, and that they can wash their sins away, and ask them if they want to do it. If they're not interested, they usually walk away after 'Hello.' But if they are, we have them walk to the church with us, right then and there. We usually do contacting really close to the church, because if we can get them into the church, they feel the spirit. we usually have members there all the time, and we're able to teach them a lesson with a member too. we've already found about 2 or 3 people that are ready to be baptized. Sometimes I'll go hours without meeting a single person who's interested, but we find at least one person every day who is golden. And I decided that it's not just this area that is booming. It's not just this area that has so many people that are prepared. EVERY area can be like this. When I came here, I automatically EXPECTED to find somebody, anybody, whoever they were, that would follow me back to the church and accept a baptismal date. Because I know it's been happening, so it can continue to happen. And it has continued to happen. And it really made me think that if every missionary everywhere 100% expected to find people that God has prepared, then they will find that one person. I've decided that my perspective of missionary work has just changed. Before, I thought that God would specifically tell me exactly who I would need to talk to, and that person would automatically be interested. Now I know that those people that are prepared are out there, but I don't find them until I talk to, quite literally, EVERYONE. It really is like fishing. You have to cast your line hundreds of times before you find that person/people who have been searching for the truth, but didn't know where to find it. I'm thankful that God sent me to this area, where I am now learning how to put every ounce of my physical/spiritual strength into this work.

oh and we had a baptism on Sunday! His name is Red. and he's a miracle child. he's 14 and his parents are muslim. he wanted to be Christian so he moved out. then he lived at a protestant church with a pastor. he's like Chancho off of Nacho Libre. he's living with his uncle now though. he followed the sisters to the church one day, and said he is leaving protestantism and never looking back. so he was baptized yesterday! and he's SO solid.

also, i never told you about my christmas day...it was SO perfect. the best part was skyping with all you lovely people. after that, we went and ate ice-cream as a district, and then went bowling. if you know me well you know i usually hate bowling. but this time it was kind of fun. and our team won, so the other team had to buy us ice-cream. yeah we ate a lot of ice-cream that day. but it was Christmas so it's ok. then we went to a member's house to have christmas night with their family. we had taco night. YUMMO! and they had gotten us eacha little stocking it was so nice. we sang christmas songs and watched the nativity movie. all of it was so simple. but i loved only having one thing to focus on. Jesus Christ. And I'm so thankful to have this time to give all of my heart to Him. 

love you all!

Sis. steele

Hi.

Before I forget....i get to skype next weeeeeekkkkkkk!!!!! ahhhhhh yayayayyaayay. so here's about all the specifics i know. (oh and ps. get ready, because i'm 95% positive i'm about to move, so i may be a bit bummed next week...just because i know i'm gonna miss this place like crazy.) anyway, it will be Wednesday morning for me, so Tuesday night for you? Which is your Christmas Eve right? sorry to pull you away from all the festivities. i'm not actually sure what time exactly, because it might depend on my new companion too. i would plan on anywhere from 6-9pm...sorry i know that's not specific. if i remember right, by skype name is emily.steele6. What skype name should i look for?? hopefully i'll be able to send a quick email right before. can't wait!!

Every day of this week was good, and I'm so thankful to be a missionary. On Tuesday we talked to one of our investigators from English class. She's a mom with 2 little boys, who works ALL time, while trying to take care of her sick mom too. Her husband died 10 years ago, so she's a single mom. She works a lot, and hasn't been able to come to church yet. She's basically one of those investigators that's already Mormon, and if she could just come to church, she'd be baptized right away. She actually reminds me a lot of you, mom. On Tuesday she told us that she asked for a day off on the 29th, and she knew exactly what she was going to do with her day off...come to church! She wants her 2 boys to be missionaries when they are older, and she is so excited to be a member of the church one day. So that was our miracle for Tuesday. On Wednesday we rode our bikes to Joho. Yeah I should have listened to Elder Ghettavong when he told me it was 'really far.' I think it was about 30+ km round-trip. We met one of our RC's out there, because she wanted to go visit members with us. She's going to be a great missionary. Then we biked another 5 km out to another RC's house. She was baptized about 2 months ago, along with her two little kids, and just found out she only has a few months left to live. She was diagnosed with cancer a while ago, and it's spread to the point where the doctors don't really know what to do anymore. On Wednesday I felt like a representative of Jesus Christ. Rather than just going through routine, checking off my 'to-do's', or racking up numbers, I really felt like I was where God wanted me to be. I know that as missionaries, we are truly 'His hands.' Although I felt so sad to see this woman in the state that she was, I could tell she wasn't in despair. She had hope. And not necessarily hope that she would experience a miraculous recovery, or that her pain would disappear, but hope that this isn't the end. I was surprised at how happy and upbeat she was, even though all she can do is lay in bed. She knows that she's found God now. She knows that she made that covenant with Him that if she is faithful, all will be well with her in His kingdom. 

I know I am here to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that's what I do every day. But in the process, I am learning so much from seeing the faith of these people. They're teaching me!

Until next time,

Sis. sTeele

Can time slow down please?

Happy December.

This week we did a lot of traveling...which is ok sometimes, but when you have long bus rides week after week, it starts to get old. we had to go to Bangkok to renew sis. Phavadee's VISA so she wouldn't get kicked out of the country. it's been pretty crazy in Bangkok lately because there have been some political riots going on. i really don't know much about it because i'm way out here in Korat, and i'm not exactly allowed to watch the news or anything like that, so i'm kind of in the dark. anyway, we spent pretty much a whole day in Bangkok, because the buses were super full that day, because it was Father's Day in Thailand.

We started teaching a new investigator this week, and she said she loves coming to the church because she feels better than she feels in any other setting. She said that the members are different than any people she's ever met. She's so excited to keep learning, and  is progressing really well. We taught her on Sunday about the Restoration. One of the members in our ward (she is from the Philliphines) wanted to help us teach, even though she knew she couldn't speak Thai. She shared her testimony in English, and we translated, and the Spirit was so strong. I know our investigator came out of that lesson REALLY wanting to learn more and to read the Book of Mormon, because of the Spirit. No matter what language we speak, the Spirit speaks all languages. And I know that this investigator knows that God loves her.

I can't believe how fast time flies. Sometimes I wish I could slow it down. Korat has been my refiner's fire, but it has also been my little heaven on earth. I love these people more than I can say, and I am so happy. I am so thankful to God for the opportunity He has given me to be a missionary, and to see His hand all the way over here in Thailand.

Hope you have a fabulous week!

Sis. Steele

Bangkok at Christmas time!  (She was there renewing her visa.)

Open wide!

PLEASANT AND PERFECT!

December 1, 2013

wow what a week. everyone here keeps saying how cold it's getting...and i'm absolutely loving the weather. it's not cold at all. it's actually perfect. but now i'm starting to see the members come into sacrament meeting wearing full on coats, and sis. phavadee is asking if we can turn-off the air conditioning because she's cold. i just keep telling everyone they're crazy. whenever we arrive at our destination after a long bike ride, i'm still hot and sweaty. i would still consider this weather more warm than cold. but it's "cold" compared to the hot season i guess. it's perfect.

so i actually went through my planner this week so i could remember what happened this week, because a week here is an eternity and sometimes i forget little things.

Monday: FHE with one of the members. She's a recent convert, and married to a farang (foreigner) he's from the U.S. so we usually have Thai/English lessons when we visit them. anyway, FHE lately has been fun. i've been introducing the game "Don't Eat Pete" to everyone lately. i don't know why i didn't think of it sooner...everyone loves it, and they're usually super confused about who 'Pete' is. the only bad thing is that i have to keep buying M&M's, which are considered an 'expensive' food here.

Tuesday: we had to go to Udon for Mission Tour. so we spent most of the day in a van. much better than a bouncy bus.

Wednesday: Mission Tour. Elder Larry Y. Wilson of the 70 came with his wife, and the theme was 'Principles of the Restoration: found in 1 Nephi 1. It was really good, and it made me realize there's still so much i don't know about the scriptures. Also, another really cool thing: the Thailand Bangkok mission had over 100 baptisms in November. I know every mission is different, and some missions baptize like crazy. But this was the first time this mission has EVER hit 100. That's basically a whole new branch in Thailand!

Thursday: we taught Saychon. i think he must have some memory problems or something, because as much as i think we've explained things thoroughly, for some reason he still thought that we came from monkeys...

THANKSGIVING!! how could i forget? we went to a member's house with the Elders, and we tried to have a traditional thanksgiving dinner (chicken, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, rolls, watermelon, and pepsi.) YUMMO! (by the way, i've got everyone saying Yummo now, it's hilarious.) 

Friday: we taught a new investigator. 1)she's really old. 2) she's already Christian. I've found that these type are actually the hardest to teach, because they're stuck in their previous Christian ways. in our lesson, we had one of the members say the opening prayer, and during the whole prayer our investigator was crossing her chest and whispering 'hallelujah', 'khob khun phra-jaw!' (thank you god!) the whole time. yeah i think she might take a while to convert....

Saturday: May was baptized! Miracle: she's been an investigator for 3 years now, off and on. i didn't actually meet her until about a month ago, because she hadn't showed up to church in a LONG time. so it turns out that the first missionary who taught her was Erica Eyestone! small world. May is baptized and confirmed now, and i've never seen her more happy. she wants to be a missionary in a year too. she's really become one of my best friends so far.

Sunday: our whole mission had a 'Thanksgiving Fast'. i've never really done that before; fasted with the sole purpose of giving thanks to God for all the miracles we have seen this past month. i feel so grateful. i feel so blessed. i feel so happy. i can't even really describe it...just that i feel so full. God is GREAT. i love you all so much. thank you for your prayers!

sis. steele

Sis Steele and Sis Phavadee having fun!

It is now a mission rule that we wear these at night: it says: I'm a MORMON in Thai. i thought this might help you sleep peacefully, knowing that i am bright green and reflecty on my bicycle.

May's baptism
May was first introduced to the gospel 3 years ago by Erica Eyestone!  

IT'S ALMOST DECEMBER!

hello!

well, there wasn't a lot that happened this week, so this letter might be kinda short. i've been kinda sick this week, so that's been fun. food poisoning again. it took me a little longer to get over it this time, and it's probably because i didn't really have any time to get over it. plus we went on companionship switch-offs in the middle of the week, which meant i spent 8 hours on a bus one day, and 7 the next. i think i'm gonna stay away from buses for a while. especially the bouncy ones. 

Miracle for the week: we had an investigator, May, pass her baptismal interview on Saturday. She's getting baptized on the 30th! we celebrated by making two pans of brownies.

I can't really think of a lot more that happened this week, so here's some random thoughts that are going through my head...enjoy....

i'm really hungry right now.

sis. phavadee and i made up a rap to remember how to say 'we are forbidden from looking at pornography in any form.' thai is really fun to rap to.

i finally bought some multi-vitamins this week, and i've already seen them work wonders.

we were at a market this week and a random drunk guy made me stop so he could sing and do a dance for me

i think i have a total of 20 mosquito bites on one leg

it's about to rain, and i'm very upset about it

i found the christmas CD 'joy to the world' at our house, and i've been playing it over and over, just so i can listen to the music..(yeah i'm starved for entertainment)

i really miss waldo, but i think it's going to take me a while to like dogs again. the ones here are infested with fleas and they like to chase me on my bike. the other day, one jumped out of the bushes and caught me off-guard, causing me to scream out loud and swerve my bike into on-coming traffic. don't worry i'm ok.

well that's about all i have for today, but i can't wait to send pictures of May's baptism. It's truly a miracle, and i'll tell you more about it.

love you all! oh and happy thanksgiving! i'll probably be having a KFC feast that day.

Sis. Steele