Happy New Year!

 Sorry there wasn't a letter last week, but this should be sufficient right?

Last last week I found out that I was leaving Chiang Mai.  I had to stay a little longer to help out with the Christmas festivities there, so we missed transfers meeting.  They decided to fly me to my new area instead of having to go through Bangkok and then all the way out to Udorn.  I got to Udorn on Saturday, we stayed in Khon Kaen that night then made it to my new area on Sunday morning - Mahasarakham in the Isan.  Leaving Chiang Mai was hard, but I am excited to see what new adventures await Sister Crockett and I in Mahasarakham!  It is one of the first areas in Thailand ever opened.  It is a slow paced small town and really laid back.  Lots of rice fields, weird Thai cows, dirt roads and water buffaloes.  

My companion is Sister Crockett.  She's awesome and I feel like we are pretty similar!  not to mention our birthdays are 5 days apart.  Yeah, it was meant to be - we're going to have lots of fun!

Christmas here was pretty uneventful.  We skyped families (YAY!), tried to make pancakes and hot chocolate at the church with the Elders (tried being the key word), took naps, and then went caroling.  We were led by motorcycles on our bikes.  I don't like biking at inhuman speeds, I discovered. It was rough, but we survived!  The bad news, I think I am becoming like an old lady on my mission.  Don't be surprised if I have grey hair in the next pictures of me you receive!  :)

I feel like lately I have been realizing just how much I was prepared to come to Mahasarakham.  I feel like I have the exact skill set that is needed to work here.  Upon arriving, I am excited that Sister Crockett and I have made the decision to focus on building up members and strengthening the branch.  We have lots of willpower and motivation to get that much done!  Apparently in the past, the investigator scene has been pretty slow, but we are determined to change all the stigma that Mahasarakham may have.  We firmly believe that as we work hard with the members, and try to bring in active and full-tithe paying Melchizedek Priesthood holders, the investigators will come.  We will be doing our part, of course, but right now we feel that the Branch and already existing members are what demands our attention the most.  It does no good to have 100 members if only 30 come to church, right?

The amazing part - as we changed our focus and our perspective about the work here, we actually made balanced key indicators this past week! (10 lessons, 2 new investigators, 2 people with baptismal dates, 2 investigators at church)  That is something that hasn't happened for the Mahasarakham Sisters since Sister Crockett first came here 9 weeks ago.  I believe that the windows of heaven are ready to burst and right now we are only experiencing a trickle of what is to come.  I am so excited to see miracles!  I know the Lord has great things in store for this area.  Even though it may seem a little slow progressing, I know that this field is just as white as all the rest, even Bangkok.  There may not be a ton of people, and they may not all be interested, but there is work for us to do here!  If there wasn't, then we wouldn't be here.  Even if there is only one prepared soul, we are here to find them and we will find them through the help of the Lord! 

This week we were blessed with 2 new really good investigators.  We are excited to see how they progress.   We met them for the first official time yesterday at their house about 20 kilos away.  It is a man about 60 and his granddaughter, who is 10.  They seemed really interested in learning!  We didn't have a lot of time so we taught them about prayer and committed them to pray every day.  They asked a lot of questions, and we hope to see him at church this Sunday!  Going to his house was an adventure in itself...at first he wasn't answering the phone so we almost just turned around and went home.  Then he called back and said "No, I really want you to come!  Everyone is waiting!"  We were confused.  Really confused.  But it was all good!  We made it and they were having a party, but amidst it all, he was really focused and interested on what we were telling him and not just what was going on in the background.  We are excited to see miracles happen!  Hopefully he can meet us at the church more regularly though.  The member that was with us described the area that he lived in as "Lehi's Wilderness".  "Look, there is the River Laman!!"  Haha :)

Here are some pictures of us:

At the 3D art exhibit in Chiang Mai

 Making hot chocolate in the toaster oven - Thai Style!

 

Until next week,

Have a Happy New Years!

Love,

Sister Norrell