Elder Porter Rawlinson Blog: Week of 14: Halloween and Bronchitis

We were able to meet with quite a few people this week. However, some of the baptismal dates we had for our investigators fell through. Last week, I talked about two of our investigators- Brother Chaw and Brother Bank. Like I said from my last email, Brother Chaw has been working a lot at the hospital so it's been hard to get a hold of him (and his phone broke). We went to the hospital to see how he was doing and he looked really stressed with things. He told us that he wouldn't be able to meet with the missionaries for a couple months until things cooled down at work. His baptism will have to wait. I know it'll come sooner or later; now is just not his time. For Brother Bank, we met with him last Monday and taught him about the Book of Mormon. I'm not sure how interested he really is in learning anymore but we'll have to see how he's doing this week to really find out. It's just that he's always way busy with school and work like Brother Chaw and it's hard to find time to meet with him. I hope this doesn't sound to depressing haha, it's just that people here in Thailand are always so busy (or at least they say they are) and so finding time to meet with them can get pretty hard.

So aside from all of that we had our Halloween party on Friday! It was awesome! We couldn't wear any costumes but a lot of the other members dressed up and it was a great time. For some reason, the theme was on the Plan of Salvation and the members decked out the whole room with clouds and fake birds to make it look like heaven. It was really creative, I just didn't get how it had anything to do with Halloween! This week, I had to go to the doctor to get my cough checked out. It turns out that I have bronchitis again (last time I had it for two months and it sucked). I'm not gonna go into detail since it's not important but yeah, they gave me some medicine and it's been getting better. Mom, no need to worry lol. Hospitals aren't like the ones back home. Here in Thailand, they're almost like refugee camps with people laying on beds in the hallways etc. It's dirty but I think it's pretty cool how third world it is (not sure if that makes sense).

I want to talk about one other investigator before I sign off. A couple weeks ago, Elder Anderson and I went to Tesco (the local market in Ubon) to go contacting. I got a number from a guy in his 20's named Army. He works at a jewelry shop at Tesco, so we called him up and taught him in front of the parking lot where he worked. Anyway, he told us that he lives and works with his girlfriend, Tengmoo (which literally translates to watermelon in English). People here just have funny nicknames, I don't know. For one of our visits, we were planning on teaching him the Law of Chastity. We met up with him at the market again and saw Tengmoo as well. With a big smile on his face, he told us that his girlfriend was pregnant. I told him congratulations etc, but inside I was just like "ohhhh boy I have no idea how this lesson's gonna go". Seriously, I was freaking out because I didn't know how he would take the Law of Chastity. Anyway, we ended up teaching the Plan of Salvation instead because it was something he still didn't know about. We're going to teach him the Law of Chastity this week. He told me at church on Sunday that he's planning on getting married before the baby comes so that was a bit of a relief. A lot of people in Thailand don't understand that they need to get married first before they should have kids. If the girlfriend gets pregnant, the couple usually gets married sometime afterward. This is a problem all over the world, but I'm starting to see how missionary work can change all of that. Families are so important in the gospel and the knowledge we have of being with our families forever is extremely powerful. It can change a person's complete outlook on how they see their family. Honestly, it can change a person's entire life. So for all of you who are reading this, please never take for granted the knowledge we have of what we know to be true in this gospel. Since I've been a member my entire life, I think it's sometimes easy for me to overlook the power that comes from the teachings of the gospel. However, the Lord has blessed me with a knowledge of families being together forever, of Jesus Christ and his Atonement, and of the Plan of Salvation. I just need to remind myself of the blessing it is know all of those things everyday. Hope you guys all have a great week, love you all!