Is it really Turkey Time already?

Hello people of the world.

Sorry this email is coming a day late! We had mission tour yesterday, which means that President and Sister Senior, a member of the Asia Area Presidency, and all the missionaries from surrounding areas (Chiang Rai, Phitsanaloog, and Lampang) were in Chiang Mai yesterday. It was great! We learned a lot about using the Book of Mormon in our teaching and really stressing the importance of getting a firm foundation on it, not only for our investigators but for us. The Book of Mormon truly is the word of God and it really is the keystone of our religion! Without it the rest of it falls too, but with an increasing number of witnesses testifying of its truthfulness, that truth is becoming more and more undeniable. The only way people are going to know that it is true is if they read it and sincerely ask God, in the name of Christ, if it is true. You may not feel anything the first time, but keep at it. God will answer.
President Senior said something that really stuck out to me - he told us that every time he opens The Book of Mormon, he feels the Spirit bear witness that it is true through his thoughts and feelings. I made the commitment to myself that I want to feel that same way. I don't want to have a single time where I open that book without feeling the power of God made manifest through it. They are His words, this is His true restored Gospel - the only true Church of Christ on the earth today. It is the same church that Christ established during His own earthly ministry. This church holds all the gifts, powers, ordinances, and blessings that Christ's church should have. It was restored by a prophet, Joseph Smith, in this last dispensation, and it all started with a question and a prayer. How grateful I am that Joseph Smith prayed so humbly in that grove of trees and that God answered his humble prayer. How thankful I am that Joseph was willing to endure persecutions and death for the things that he knew were true. I am on a mission because I know it is true and that nothing can stop the forces of God from touching every human heart. He has proclaimed "Preach my Gospel" and I am simply heeding the call made ages ago.

My favorite part of yesterday, though, was the Sisters' meeting. We talked about how we shouldn't compare ourselves to others. There is a natural bell-shape curve and it is human nature to want to compare ourselves to both ends of the scale, which results in one of two things: Pride or Discouragement. We talked about two scriptures, 1 Corinthians 4:7 and 2 Corinthians 4:7. It is natural to have weaknesses. Imagine an old clay vase, much like they would use in Biblical times. Imagine it cracked and battered and used. This is how we are because of the Fall of Adam and Eve. We have weaknesses. We are subject to sin and death. We are imperfect vessels. We can spend all the time we want plastering over our cracks and faults to make the outward appearance better. But imagine putting a light in this patched vessel and putting a lid on it. The light is contained. Now imagine a humble vase, full of cracks and chips - experience and mortality. Put a light in this vessel and put a lid on it. The light shines through the cracks. Everyone has been given this precious light, but whether or not we let it shine through our imperfections - that is up to us. God knows we are imperfect. He knows that we are weak. He knows that we mess up all the time. But He still loves us. He loves us with our faults, and loves when we are humble enough to know that it is okay to have them. We can try to hide them all we want, but God knows what and who we are underneath it all. So does it really matter if we try to patch it all up in the first place? After we die, the plaster and paint will fade and we will be left with the same vase that we all are. We are all made equal. I want to make sure that what I do in this life reflects my love for the Savior and not simply seeking approval from mankind. I want to embrace my faults and slowly work on fixing them through the hands of the Master, who is the ultimate Healer. He is the only one that can fix our cracks infinitely and eternally. He will help us heal them once we are humble enough to let our light shine through them first.

I think this is what I have really learned on my mission. I am sure I have said it a million times already, but God really does call us for us. He needs each of us the way we are. He gives us cracks, not so we can fix them ourselves, but so we can rely on Him to let His light shine through them and so we can learn to rely on the Healer's art. The Atonement is sufficient for all, and after all we can do it is by grace that we are saved. We cannot fix all our faults in this life, but when we stop trying to withstand the will of God, we can find true joy through sharing the light we are given. The vessels are imperfect, but the light is infinite and eternal. His merits are mighty to save. It does no good in trying to hide your faults - God knows they are there and He wants to help us become perfect vessels for His light. I love that during this time of precious service I am learning to embrace my faults. I can't be perfect right now and I certainly can't even begin to achieve it without relying on my Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son Jesus Christ. I have felt the power of His love and Atonement more and more in my life as I have learned to rely on Him and give Him everything I am. I am nothing but a light-less clay pot without Him. See the difference? We are all clay pots, but without Christ, there is no good that comes from having imperfections. I realize more and more that when I recognize that my faults are part of my human nature and that it is okay to have them, that is when I am happiest. I know that all things are possible through my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

God has called each of us to be his servants. I love that even though He knows we are imperfect, He entrusts us with so much. He entrusts us with not only ourselves and our individual decisions, but we have the power to influence others for good or bad. He knew that when He sent us here that all of His children would not return, but He would never consider the thought of taking away our ability to choose. That is not what He desires. He knows that we are happiest when we choose for ourselves, through our actions and thoughts, where will we go after this life. He chastens His children only because He loves us. How we respond to His chastening reflects our true feelings for Him.

I have especially learned this week that a lot of what we get out of our trials (aka whether they harm us or strengthen us) comes from our attitude in facing them. I know that complaining is easy, but I have learned that when that is all I do, I just feel even more unhappy. I don't feel like a worthy conduit for the Spirit. I feel lifted up in pride and I feel like my internal light is not just as bright. But I know that instead of complaining, if we simply consider solutions and put them into action, it makes the world of a difference. And it all starts with one thing : Attitude. When we complain we are saying that we are stuck in this situation, and we only look for the bad. When we consider solutions, we are looking to improve the situation. We are in control of our agency. Don't wait for a change in situation to become determined to learn and grow. Consider your attitude, and if it is not where it is should be, change it. I can promise that even if nothing external changes, internally it will make a huge difference.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving! Be safe and eat lots of turkey for me! :)

I love you all, and don't forget to let your light shine (through your cracks of course) before men and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.

Love,
Sister Norrell

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

She has a dream!

Well, I did see the floating lanterns gleam.  I'm in Chiang Mai.  What more could I ask for?  Oh yeah.  A baptism!  This week was my lucky week!

Well, first things first.  The logistics of this past week.  Sister Zatarain, the Sister Training Leader for our Zone finished her mission this week.  We've been working together since I first got to country!  She is the best.  (Don't worry, her legacy continues.  We are all so thankful for the clothes that she left behind for us to sort through and wear like new! Hehe :) Anyways, so that left us with an odd intermittent transfer.  No one was coming into country, and she was the only one leaving.  So her companion didn't have a new companion.  She got two!  That's right we are a trio!  We are working in both branches in Chiang Mai.  Sisters without boundaries!  We are also referring to ourselves as the "Three Muses", courtesy of Hercules (the cartoon).  Yeah, we have a TON of fun together.  Plus its odd because we are a trio of 3 generations.  We all had overlapping MTC times.  SO FUN!  Sister Slaugh (from New Jersey...no Utah people still - WOOT!)  and I were pretty close in the MTC as well.  I love Chiang Mai and being in a trio is pretty fun.  Looks like I might be cursed with it from now on though.  Sister Ng and Sister Slaugh were both in trios in the MTC and Sister Ng was also in one in her greenie area part of the way through her first transfer.  I guess only time will tell if the trend will continue or not!  

Last P-Day we went to Doi Intanon - supposedly the highest mountain in Thailand.  It was sweet!  Apparently it is more like a tourist destination for Thai people and not so much for...furongs.  (White people).  It was super fun!  We loved getting out of the gross polluted air and into the cool fresh mountain air.  It only made me realize even more that I am going to die my first winter back.  Oh well!

It's actually pretty nice.  We get to in multiple places at the same time as long as there are female members present (which is nice since we are taking care of both branches.  6 hours of church is killer).  Plus, if we have overlapping appointments, it is possible to teach multiple people at the same time!  I think it is all going to work out really well!

In other news, we are currently trying out a new contacting method we got trained on this week!  Basically we take baptism pass-along cards, go to heavily crowded areas, and talk to everyone.  We introduce baptism and then extend a baptismal date for them to accept right then and there. When we first got trained on it on Tuesday, we Sisters were a little skeptical.  We thought it sounded more appealing and easy for Elders to do than Sisters.  That's just not really the way I work.  Granted I do understand the reason behind it.  We are not called to give fluff and be friends with people before getting our purpose across to them only for them to reject us.  It just seems weird to me to not have any established relationship with people before getting to the good stuff.  We tried it out quite a bit this week!  Like every day since Tuesday.  For 2 hours each day.  It honestly goes by relatively fast.  The ultimate goal of this style is to sift through those that aren't prepared and find the ones hungry for truth.

So far so good!  We love it!  We are still trying to figure it all out, but so far so good!  We are getting phone numbers, but the hardest part for us right now is seeing if the people that agree are actually sincere and not doing it because they feel bad saying no.  It feels good to do this kind of contacting.  I love getting our purpose across and not wasting time with people who aren't ready.  We went on switch offs with the Lampang Sisters on Wednesday and when Sister Ference and I went contacting we saw some pretty good success.  We got quite a few numbers, and I really enjoyed seeing how she did things (since she and Sister Reedy had a little more experience with it).  Sister Ference and I finished our two hours but then still had about 15 minutes before we needed to leave for the church.  In those 15 minutes we decided to keep contacting - we got 2 more phone numbers in that short time that we remained diligent.  Granted, both the appointments we made with them fell through, but we are going to keep trying.  Even if they aren't super prepared, we can always put them in the area book for someone else to contact later down the road!  

Right now we are working on getting more comfortable with the thing we face most as missionaries, especially in this new method of contacting: REJECTION.  Sometimes I can just tell that people aren't interested in the message I share with them.  But usually instead of saying they don't understand, they either look at you funny, or say they don't understand (when you can tell they really do, but they just don't care and want you to go away.)  I have found that telling people to just tell me straight or that they don't need to feel grangjay about it, it makes them more comfortable.  (Especially when there are three of us standing there looking at them waiting for an answer).  One guy in particular that I talked to listened for a little bit, then told me he "didn't understand".  I could tell he did, so I responded "meaning you're not interested, right?".  He chuckled and nodded his head.  His wife starting talking to me about how her husband is a Buddhist teacher.  I told her "Perfect, I am a teacher from a Christian church!".  We laughed and I gave them an English card, thanked them, and left.  I find that just talking to people makes me so much more comfortable.  Ultimately I am trying to give them something of great worth, but I hate feeling like a robot or a salesperson with no emotion and the same recited phrases to tell them about baptism.  So I'm going to make it my own!  God called me for me and I'm going to keep smiling even when I get rejected.  I want people to think of us missionaries as personable people and not people that they never want to meet again.  I want people to like the missionaries and feel comfortable with them, that way one day when they are interested, they will remember that the missionaries are people who are happy and smile, and actually care about PEOPLE.  So that's my personal goal - to not be a baptism-hungry robot missionary.

In other news, we had a baptism yesterday!  Brother Ford, a 16 year old boy who was so so SO prepared.  That kid has the best testimony.  He had to go to a special thing at school in the morning so he was going to come at 12 to get baptized then go to the second branch.  However, as 11 rolled around I was feeling so stressed and nervous.  I couldn't focus on anything and the feeling wouldn't go away.  No one else seemed stressed that he wasn't there yet, but I couldn't shake it.  I prayed so hard, but it wasn't going away.  I could find no comfort.  I tried calling him again (for the 5th time since that morning before church) and he still didn't answer.  I was pretty much freaking out.  I tried telling myself that he would come, but he still hadn't showed up.  I talked to one of our RC's who he is really close to, and we prayed together in the back of Relief Society together but silently.  Then after it was over, we went out and she tried calling him again.  The first time: nothing.  The second time he answered!  Apparently there was a misunderstanding and he thought he was getting baptized at 3 and not 12:15.  I'm not really sure why.  I bet that gave him quite the shock!  Sister Dao and Brother Nick went to get him from school, he got baptized, and everything worked out just fine!  He told us later that he had his phone on silent and even know that we called, but he was sitting in class and had the feeling to check his phone.  Prayer really does work!  We were praying so hard.  We waiting so long for this day and we weren't going to let it pass without Brother Ford getting baptized.  It had such a good turn out since it was in between Branches, and I am so glad he had so much support.  I can't wait to get him more involved in the Branch.  After that, we all ate and talked together, and we felt so loved by the members.  

Honestly, when we first got to Chiang Mai, I didn't think the members would ever love us so much.  But I have been proven wrong once again!  The Lord has been helping these people and us especially to work with these people, and we really feel that if nothing else came out of our work here in Chiang Mai, we definitely have more Branch unity, and the people appreciate missionaries more now than when we first got here.  How grateful I am for that! 

This weekend we are so incredibly blessed to be in Chiang Mai.  This weekend is the Loi Gratong festival - or floating lantern festival.  It's the best.  Like real life Tangled!  Yesterday we were so fortunate enough to have members who love us and want us to have fun too!  They got all the stuff for us and we have a ton of fun!  We made water floating things out of banana tree stalks, leaves, and flowers.  Thai people are super crafty - it's awesome!  I hope it will rub off on me ;)  Then they helped us send off the floating lanterns!  Good thing too - they know how to do it!  Plus, I feel so much better doing these touristy things with Khon Thais.  That way I don't look completely like a tourist.  :)  It helps that we speak Thai too!  

Guess what!  You're lucky and I finally have pictures to send!  :D  Have a great week everyone!  (Weird, Thanksgiving is really soon.  How did that happen?  They have Christmas decorations up here already...which is odd considering everyone here is Buddhist.  Oh well! )

Until next week!

Love,
Sister Norrell

Planting Seeds

Dearest people who are so unfortunate to read my letters each week, ;)

This week has been hard.  On the bright side, Brother Ford passed his baptismal interview and is getting baptized on Sunday!  He's so excited.  He said he was really nervous about the interview, but he has such a strong testimony of everything already.  He relies on prayer before he relies on anyone or anything else, and he loves reading his Scriptures.  He is always so willing to share the Gospel with everyone.  We talked about Enduring to the End (he read all about it in 2 Nephi and in the Gospel Principles book he borrowed) and we talked about his friend, Sister Ja, who learned a few lessons with us and then pretty much rejected everything.  He talked about being patient with her and just working little by little with her until her heart was opened enough to receive it.  Honestly, I think he teaches us more than we teach him.  He even helped teach our recent convert yesterday.  He always has something inspiring or encouraging for us, and when we feel like giving up, he just tells us to keep going because God will help us.  He prays for us all the time, and he even asks for us to be able to find new investigators.  He is the best. 

We found out yesterday, that Elder Pyne was the one that gave him a baptism pass-along card that got him really thinking about it and the Book of Mormon.  So it was a simple contact that turned into a baptism.  (We are currently asked by our mission president to go out each day and do 2 hours of contacting each day...its hard to know where to go and what not). It wasn't really a "street contact" because Ford came to church on his own wanting to learn English, but I am so thankful that Elder Pyne gave him that card.  He planted the seed, and even though he's not in Chiang Mai anymore, his work continues to bless the lives of the people here!

 That story to me in itself was a testimony of contacting.  I've heard lots of missionaries say that they have never got a baptism out of contacting, but Ford's story gave us hope - even if we do not baptize the people we contact, other missionaries might.  Contacting is planting seeds and preparing the way for other missionaries to gather the crops.  This work isn't about immediate and instant gratification.  It takes time to find those that God has prepared right now, and we have to be patient.  I have learned that patience isn't just enduring trials, it is having hope for the future.  That is not only true for missionary work, but for all work.  Everything we do in this life should be done with an eye single to the glory of God, and thus it should be done with faith, hope, and charity.  

Sometimes I feel like an inadequate missionary.  Like I don't love the people I serve enough or like I have little to offer them since I myself rely on the Lord's strength daily.  But I know God gives us what we need to carry on.  He gives us all we need to do what He has asked us to do.  He doesn't ask us to do anything without preparing a way for us to be able to accomplish it.  If He asks me to love someone, He gives me the capacity and love He has asked me to impart.  There is nothing in this work that has not been blessed by His presence and grace.  He is in this work, He is nothing short of perfect, and I know that I can rely on Him to be able to do what He has asked.  

I love you all so much!  Sorry I don't have lots of time today, but I will try to write more next week!  We will see how the picture deal goes.  I guess if you get some, you'll know!  ;)

Love,

Sister Norrell

Another week in the neighborhood

Hello other side of the world!

Today is odd because I'm having difficulties remembering spans of time.  As in what happened this week and what happened last week...after a while it all seems to run together.  Like this little tid-bit of information Sister Ng reminded me of this morning:  Christmas is next month.  WHAT??  I get to Skype with my family next month??  How's that for a nice surprise!  Apparently in Thailand they play lots of Christmas songs.  I find it odd and ironic, but hey, if they want to spread Christmas cheer for all to hear, have at it!  It is still weird though.  It's still hot here - not quite as rainy but still hot.  We talked about weather in English class this past week and I thought it weird that most of our students like Winter the best.  I'm not quite convinced that their winter is the same as ours...

What else, what else.  Well, we got a Senior Missionary couple in our area this week!  They're from Orem and super nice.  Turns out they will probably stay in Chiang Mai most of their mission!  Sister Ng and I met them at the church when they first arrived, and it was an odd feeling being a "more experienced missionary" receiving the "greenies".  Heh.  And I just finished training this past week!  Happy 3 month mark in country to me!  We took them out for dinner at the same restaurant I went to my first day in Chiang Mai. I think they survived!  We also had to break the news to them that neither of us have ever seen a clothes dryer in Thailand.  Even in appliance stores.  WELCOME TO THAILAND!

Yesterday we had quite the surprise.  An investigator that we dropped over a month ago called us.  At 6:25 in the morning.  Neither of us were awake enough to answer it.  Then she called again at 8:20 and told us she was at church.  We were SHOCKED.  She came on her own.  The Elders gave her a baptismal date for this month.  We'll see how she progresses!  She said that last time we saw her (which was a complete disaster and almost resulted in us being stranded 45 kilos away...remember that?  Yep, same person) she felt really really guilty.  She knew that she had rejected the things that she knew to be true.  Yep, she came back, on her own!  

I think the biggest thing I learned this week is the importance of being myself and working as the Spirit directs.  Sometimes we feel like people see the way we work and know that they would do it differently, but I know that we are doing what God wants us to, and that's all that matters!  We are simply made to be instruments in His hands, and as long as we strive to do as the Spirit directs, then we can't go wrong.  We are called to be who we are, not who others think we should be.  I am reminded of the Mormon Message about the currant bush.  Sometimes God cuts us down because he knows what we need to be.  He has a vision for us that sometimes we can't clearly see.  But he is molding us every day to become more perfected servants.  That's all I can ask for Him to do - to help me be what He wants me to be, even if that includes poking and prodding at my faults until I decide to do something about them.  

Well, I can't believe I'm out of time already!  Sorry it was "short" this week but know that I love you all!

Love,
Sister Norrell