Two Elephants

Sawadeeka family & friends!

I hope you have all had a great week! Greenwich is as fantastic as ever!

One of the great things that I've been learning here is that everything will always be eternally okay if we follow Jesus Christ. With Him, nothing is beyond healing. It may seem that a lot is required, but those who live the Gospel can attest that the requirements themselves are gifts from God. Happiness that goes soul deep, peace that lasts through any trial, strength to overcome human imperfections, forgiveness that leaves no trace of sin, and hope of eternal rest with those we love come in and through Jesus Christ and His Gospel. 

"A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation;" - Joseph Smith

Let's rise up. Let's remember. 

Who are you? Why are you here? Where are you trying to go? 

Please, if you know the answers to these questions, live according to that knowledge. Please continually correct your course through eager daily repentance. Please forsake whatever distracts, dulls, or distances your relationship with God our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ our Saviour. These relationships are worth any sacrifice. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not an event or an organization, it is a way of life that makes us whole. 

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS!

-Sister Ruengurai & I were in charge of the YSA FHE last Monday. We had a great lesson on the Book of Mormon and then got these suckers to play bobbing for apples.  #almostdrowned #byun&chaoMVPs

-A new girl came into English class this week. Her name is Yulia, she is from Taiwan and made me cry laughing because she is so cute. We taught her some English, got to know her, and taught her about the Gospel. She told us that she is moving (south mission) but wants to stay in contact. We said goodbye to her after games night on Friday as she was leaving Saturday. :( Then Saturday, as we were talking to one of our investigators outside the shops, I heard someone squeal and felt arms wrap around me. Yulia! I got to say goodbye to her once more and we're sooooooooo referring her to south missionaries.So blessed to get to meet the people here! 

-I had trade off this week with the lovely Sister Ihler! She is the sweetest person EVER! She follows the Spirit, she is easy for the people to love, and she works hard. She set a strong example for me and showed so much love! So happy to be able to learn from this sister. Also working in Sydney was amazing! So many people to find. We worked along Darling Harbour and China Town and had opportunities to teach so many people, almost every one of them were willing to meet us again! 

 

-Once again, my companion. We are both so stubborn and always fight to our point across lol, but ultimately we know we both understand and love each other unconditionally. There is never a time I am not grateful she is with me. We laugh all day every day, we have some of the deepest gospel discussions, we have a constant friend and support. She has become my family! I'm so grateful for the gospel that unites us. #lukemaaaauuuuw

-We finally got to meet David (our miracle investigator who contacted us) again. We read the Book of Mormon with him and he soaked everything up. He said "I believe this Book can bridge the gap between human nature and the teaching of Jesus Christ...This will help me to follow Him." We were like um wow. We taught him more about baptism and he agreed to be baptized in December as he reads more in the Book of Mormon. I love this work! 

Have a great week everyone!

Rak na!

S

Happy Halloween from GreenWITCH

Sawadeeka family & friends! It's been another great week here in Greenwich. SR & I are continually getting more guidance for the people we're working with here as well as how we can continue to reach more people!

I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Many people have tried to disprove us this week. It has been a wonderful experience for Sister Ruengurai and I to testify of what we know and how we know it. We will never argue, we will always listen and respect their opinions, we will even let their questions effect our Gospel study and personal prayers, but we cannot deny what we know and feel. The Church itself is not what our faith is centered on, it is the true Doctrine of Christ. And the Doctrine of Christ is our Saviour's Atonement. When our faith is built upon this sure foundation, we cannot fall! (Helamen 5:12)

We all need the Atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ to cleanse and heal us. We all need His divine mercy. But the only way we can truly receive His Atonement fully into our lives is by making promises or covenants with God. We promise to trust Him and to keep His commandments, and He promises never to give up on us, He allows us to receive His Son's grace. These covenants are made by us receiving ordinances (a sacred religious ceremony ex. baptism). This shows our willingness to follow God. To perform ordinances, we need God's true power and authority - the Priesthood. All of these things: ordinances, covenants, and Priesthood, can only be truly accessed through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This has been God's truth since the foundation of the world. These are the same principles that have always been taught to God's children to lead them to Salvation. This is God's purpose. And though I don't understand the meaning of all things, I trust God and know He loves us. 

I want to invite you all to find an opportunity to bear your testimony this week! There are so many who need to hear it. 

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS!

-Service for the Kaimur family. They are an absolute delight. The wife Loris is 89 and Aussie. The husband Pip is 90 from Estonia. They treat us like royalty when we come do service for them. Pip makes heaps of Grandpa jokes that crack us up, and Loris gives us life tips. It's kind of like heaven. 

-I do impressions of the other missionaries in our area (who are all like hilarious cartoon characters) and it never fails to make Sister Ruengurai laugh SO hard. It's too easy and so funny. 

-Heaps of amazing finding! Our lessons are getting so much deeper. We are learning to help people open up to us and how to administer the Gospel in a way that they can understand. It's the best!

-Halloween party! So fun to see the ward together. 

-I just love the YSA here! We are pretty close with a lot of those who just recently got baptized. It's so amazing to see their journey and their faith. We had lunch with Telle this week and she's just the cutest. 

I hope you all have a great week!

Rak na!

SF

"This Country is Killing Me" -SR

Sawadeeka family & friends!

I hope you are all feeling fantastic and had a wonderful week! This week was challenging, but we saw so much progress! The coordination between the ward and the missionaries continues to tighten. The vision SR and I prayerfully gained at the beginning of our time here has been realised by the leadership in the ward. And the best part is, we have goals and plans of what we will do to actually achieve this vision. 

I'll try to keep my sermon short this week. I just love our Saviour. He has never failed me. His Atonement is more than enough for us, no matter how great our weakness, mistakes, or trials may be. He has conquered! Sin, death and whatever you are facing right now have all already been overcome by Him. I'm so grateful for the moments when I have felt hopeless, alone, or broken, because these are the times when I have seen a loving Saviour heal me. I testify that I have felt the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ relieve me from pain. This is a tangible experience that has ingrained my belief in Him into a part of who I am. But this experience is only made possible through initial Faith in Jesus Christ. I invite all of you to trust Him just a little more. Please let Him help you a little more fully. He wants to help. He is there. Give Him your load and He won't fail you either.

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS! 

-We had an awesome lesson with Andrew this week! A member came (from another ward but has a class with Andrew) and we were able to all teach together in unity! I was the question ask-er, Dana was the question answer-er, and Sister Ruengurai was the testifier (along with the Spirit lol). It was a powerful lesson that allowed us to understand Andrew more. I'm not sure how long it will take, but I know he will be baptised one day. 

-My crazy companion. She is so lovely, so funny, so caring, so happy. I just love her! Funny story this week: We were walking to the train station from the chapel as a group of missionaries and investigators. I was walking a little ahead of SR talking to someone and she was behind me talking to Sister Chao. Up ahead, I could see two wild turkeys. Some of the missionaries began pointing them out. I know my companion loves turkey and is crazy. I sighed and said to the missionary next to me "She is going to chase that turkey." 

I literally slo-mo turned around to see my companion slo-mo beginning her run after this turkey. Sister Chao accompanied her of course. It was so funny. P.S. She did not catch the turkey. 

-One day this week Sister Ruengurai and I had a strong feeling to change our morning plan. We had a feeling we needed to stay in the flat and work on the crusty, old, former area book full of people who were taught years ago. We prayed about it a lot because we really would rather go outside haha, but our answer was clear. So we began to work on the area book and call people. It was mostly just cleaning up old records (ex. number disconnected, moved, STILL not interested, "will contact us"). 

After 3 hours of this, we reached an old teaching record for a Vietnamese man name Hue. We called and a woman answered saying no one by that name lived there. We felt like we should keep trying so we began listing off information we had from our teaching record trying to identify him. Finally after reading his wife's name which was listed on the record, she realised who we wanted to speak with and somehow connected us with Hue. 

He. was. so. excited. He doesn't speak English very well, and is 74. He said "wow thank you to remember me!". We asked when we could visit his family, and he said, "2 o clock today. I will wait for you." It was already 1 o clock so we quickly began travelling to his home. When we got there, he was literally waiting outside for us. It was so cute! We talked to him and it was difficult to teach because of the language barrier, but it was amazing to see that God is so aware of His children! He provided a way for us to visit Hue and be able to brighten his spirit and teach him the Gospel!

-Telle got baptised!  It was such an exciting day! We have come to love her so much even if she's not our investigator. #wardunity. She was glowing and her testimony was so cute! I love watching people accept the Gospel here. It's such a leap of faith for those who were taught their whole lives that God is not real. She kept saying "I am a Mormon! Life is full of surprises." hahah, she is the cute girl in the red dress in the picture of all of us. 

I love you all so much! Have a great week.

Rak na,

SF