Week 76: Service and Identical Twins

Hey everyone! Hope you all had a good week. Last P-day, Brother Geng (one of my favorite converts who works under the government) took us to a place called Wad Arun and some other places as well with Buddhist buildings and royal stuff and it was pretty cool. Brother Geng was basically like my tour guide haha he seemed so happy to take us around.

We did some service with the sisters for one of their LAs named Sister Maam. Sister Maam is such a nice lady! She teaches English and I think that might be the reason why she can't come on Sundays but anyway, she's just a nice little old lady that lives with her dogs. She had this tree out by the front of her house that we worked on. Elder Miyagi, and I, and also Sister Palmer worked on getting this tree cut down with a little saw. We also did some other things out by her house and overall, it was a great service experience. 

Right now, Elder Miyagi and I have three investigators that are really awesome. Sister Uud, Buy, and Gif. Sister Uud was a referral from a member and she's about 40ish? I'm really not sure so I could be off but anyway, she knows that the gospel is true and she loves it. Since we met with her the first time, every week and she wants to get baptized. I invited Sister Buy one day by a huge shopping center and we've been meeting with her since last month now. She's about 45ish? I'm not sure either but she's way nice and she gives us food. And she's progressing! Sister Gif was invited near a huge mall and so she came to church and believe it or not... her identical twin came as well! They look so similar. That was the first time I ever taught twins together. Very fun haha. Sister Gif came to church and she seemed to really like it. She's progressing as well. Her twin didn't come to church on Sunday but hopefully she'll come this upcoming Sunday. 

Personally, I want to work on having more faith. I've made it a goal to be more sincere in my prayers and to read scriptures everyday. In Helaman 5:12, it says "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." I hope you all have a great week!

Elder Rawlinson

 From last P-day when we were with Brother Geng!

 

And also from service 

Week 75: A New Year!

Happy New Year! It's a new transfer and I'm staying in Bangkapi again! Wow, this is the second area that I've been in for a fourth transfer. Last year, I got to Surin in March and this year, I'll be leaving Bangkapi in February. That means I'll have been in two areas for almost an entire year! I'm glad that I get to stay here and serve in this area. I'm pretty close to some of the people here and I don't want to leave them yet. 

We had a miracle happen this week. Brother Geng finally got baptized! I want to say thank you to everyone who prayed for him. He's really come a long way. What a blessing it was to see him dressed in white and ready to make a covenant with our Father in Heaven. He's been investigating the church since September but regardless of how long he's taken, I know that he's changed and that he'll be blessed as he decides to follow the Lord. Out of his coworkers, he's the only Christian. Can you believe that? He's just so awesome. 

Speaking of yesterday, I lost Elder Miyagi. We were on a bus headed to a lesson with Brother Goh and I got off of the bus and noticed that he wasn't with me. I assumed that he was behind me and that he followed me off of it but nope! He stayed on! And I had the phone! Brother Goh met up with me and we got on bikes to look for him. Before too long, I get a phone call from Elder Tuttle telling me that Elder Miyagi was going to the church. Brother Goh and I go back to the church and wait for him and eventually he showed up in a taxi. What a relief. He used someone else's phone and called the phone number on an inviting card he had and it was Elder Tuttle's number. That's how I knew he was going to be at the church because Elder Tuttle called and told me. He fell asleep and went all the way to the end of the bus travel line. I can assure you all that this will never happen again so please don't worry, especially mom if you're reading this. Let's just say it was an experience I won't forget.

Elder Miyagi and I are teaching an investigator named Sister Uud. She was a referral from one of the members here in Bangkapi. Sister Uud is seriously so awesome. The last time we taught her, I noticed that she was getting emotional during the lesson so I asked her how she was feeling. She didn't say anything. The entire room was silent for a moment as she cried. It was a powerful moment in the lesson. When I asked her to be baptized, she agreed wholeheartedly. She wants to be baptized. I'm grateful I get to know this lady. She's so prepared and humble and ready to follow the Lord. 

Guys, I'm finishing my mission this year. I don't want to leave yet but when I do, I want it clear to my Father in Heaven that I love Him- that I truly love Him. I want God to know that I worked hard in building His kingdom here on earth. I know He lives and I hope you all have a great week and YEAR! 

Elder Rawlinson

 We found this waterfall the other day (I think it was in a buddhist area)

 We went to an Aquarium with the other missionaries and some members last P-day

 Brother Geng's baptism!

LA hunting

Week 74: Christmas in Thailand

Sawadii Krap everyone! I hope you all had a great Christmas. We had our Christmas party with the ward including a performance of the nativity so this past week, we've been preparing and practicing for it a lot. I was one of the wise men with two other missionaries. Even though I'm not someone that really does shows and stuff like that, the whole thing actually went pretty well. It was fun and it helped me feel more of the Christmas spirit.

This past week, we've been able to teach some new people! The other day, I was inviting close by a shopping center and I started talking to a lady named Party (Thai people have interesting nicknames) who was with her friend named Pan and she seemed interested in wanting to learn English. We ended meeting a day or two afterwards, showed them the church a bit and had a lesson on the Restoration. After the lesson, they took baptismal dates for January 8th. Yay! They're still pretty new investigators but hopefully they can both progress towards they're date. 

There are some great people in this area and I love them! Brother Goh is one of them! He invited me to a Christmas party in his neighborhood and I thought it would be great to go to. This neighborhood's not the same as a standard neighborhood in Gilbert. There are huge apartment buildings close by each other kind of like slums. It's a poor neighborhood. It was Friday night and Elder Miyagi and I get to the neighborhood and we see all these kids and Brother Goh wearing Christmas hats. We walk together to a nearby park and believe it or not, a section of the park was just completely decorated for a Christmas party. There was a Christmas tree, haystacks, a random tent, a small little fence with what looked like Christmas tree cut-outs on the top, and food. After we got there, we waited for Santa to finally arrive. Santa was a fat kid that lived in the neighborhood dressed with with a beard on and everything. He was so awesome! He came into the party with Brother Art and Brother Mighty.  What was so cool about all of it was that the entire party was basically set up by Brother Mighty. As far as I know, no adults were a part of getting this party together. The kids that went lived in the same neighborhood (pretty sure same building) as Brother Art, Goh, and Mighty. They had Christmas music and singing and it was just so awesome. Here we were in a poor slum neighborhood at a Christmas party full of these kids and teenagers. A lot of the kids that went came to our church party the following day. I know that our Savior loves those that were a part of that party. It was the highlight of my Christmas and something I'll never forget. 

Have a great week everyone! I know that this church is true and that this work is real. God loves us all.

  The first three pictures are from the party that Brother Goh invited me to and the last one is from the Christmas party. Both were great!