Week 40: Trip to Ubon!

สวัสดีครับ! It's been about a week and a half since transfers and Elder Lindley and I have been able to see a lot of cool things happen here in Surin. We actually had to go to Ubon on Wednesday for switch-offs with the zone leaders there. If you guys remember from earlier in my mission, Ubon was my first area, my home away from home! I was so happy to go back for a little bit and see my RCs there. I was able to see Brother B, Sister D, Sister W, Brother J, and Sister C. I've missed them a lot. Brother B actually just moved to Bangkok and will be going to a military school there for about two years. He has to do some sort of boot camp for like 2 months but after that, he'll be going to church in Bangkhen. Brother J read through the entire Book of Mormon and is currently re-reading it! He's doing great. Sister C and Sister W have been working a lot. They haven't been going to church every week but they still try to go. My RCs are kind of like my kids in the mission. I just want to make sure they're doing well and still going to church and doing what they're supposed to haha. I love Ubon and I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father wanted me to serve there. Even though I was sometimes a pretty stubborn, big-headed missionary there, the Lord still allowed me to see a ton of miracles.

Anyway, Surin has been awesome as well! Elder Lindley and I have three daters for this month right now. Two of them are the grandkids of one of the members here. They're so much fun! They've been the first investigators that I've had that are kids so it's been interesting trying to teach them. We've basically been trying to teach very simply so that they can understand what we're saying. They have this pet squirrel that they let crawl all over them and it's so funny and kinda weird at the same time. But yeah, our other dater is Sister B and she's going to get baptized on the 15th. She's been pretty good but she lives about an hour from the church, which makes things a little hard. I'm so glad that I get to be here in Surin right now. The members here are so funny and even though they make fun of me a lot, I think that means I'm just getting to be closer friends with them haha... Something really important I've learned on my mission is the importance of being happy and having friends. I think happiness is a choice and as you choose to be happy, others will want to be around you and they'll start to trust you and joke around with you and help you out when you need it. Even if you're going through something really hard in your life, decide to be happy and trust that things will be ok. I've been frustrated so many times over things that I can't control here, but one thing I can always try to control is my attitude. Come what may and love it. I hope you all have a great week! I know that God loves us and wants us all to be happy! The church is true!

Elder Rawlinson

Dinner in Ubon with some of the fam and me and my com, Elder Lindley!