Roi Et

Hello all! 

Nothing super exciting happened this week...there's a huge market that made its way to our sleepy college town...the traffic is insane.  We are trying out lots of new detours, that's for sure.  But we are going shopping today, so I'll take the traffic if it means our P-day is going to be more exciting than normal!  ;)  Yay for shopping!  

This weekend we got to go to Roi Et for District Conference.  SO FUN!  I love seeing other missionaries and just having fun!  Plus getting fed and staying in a hotel with nice mattresses is ALWAYS a perk!  :)  It was fun going to Roi Et because that is where Sister Ng (my trainer) was "born" - her greenie area.  I got to meet two of her Recent Converts who were baptized after she left.  We were about to board our sketchy bus back to Mahasarakham when they were like "Come sit next to us!"  I told them I was leaving and they asked where I served before coming to the Esan.  I told them Chiang Mai and they about freaked out.  "We knew it!  You know Sister Ng right?? We recognized your face from the pictures she sent us!!"  So funny.  It made me miss her and Chiang Mai!  But I think I will always miss it - nothing really compares to HEAVEN!

We had 3 Brothers from our Branch sustained to receive the Melchizedek priesthood this District Conference.  SO EXCITING.  Khon Kaen (our District) is well on its way to becoming a stake!  :)

The big news of the meeting - supposedly if we get 1000 people temple worthy and with recommends, getting a temple should be pretty easy!  Now it is just time to make it work!

Nothing really else happened this week...we are setting a goal for an investigator to get baptized this week...we worked really hard, set our goal, now we are going to pray like crazy for a miracle!  :)

Sorry this week wasn't more exciting...and the fact that I think my memory is failing me.  There's way too much to think about as a missionary sometimes.

I love you all!

Sister Norrell

Pictures:

We had a conference in Roi Et - the missionaries in my Zone right now that were also in my MTC Zone! :)

Our view from the hotel window.  Yep, this is the Esan!

Our ride home from Roi Et.  A really colorful bus, with the doors open the entire way home.  (about 45 minutes).  Yep, gotta love Thailand!

Me and my new favorite book - about a girl who loves her 3 cats way too much.  SO FUNNY!  It has become quite the obsession.  The stories and pictures are really just too ridiculous, especially since I can't understand it all because it is all in Thai.  Best use of my money thus far!

We made it through the wilderness

Me at church yesterday

Yep, we indeed did make it through.  Our week was...weird.  We are hoping that this upcoming one will be normal.  I got sick Monday night with a fever that lasted until Tuesday night.  I think it might have been a sinus-related infection.  I am still slightly feeling the effects, but it is a million times better than it was earlier this week.  We didn't leave the apartment really at all on Tuesday, except to go to the church for training (the Zone Leaders would come from Roi Et when I was sick...).  I felt really bad because I still had a fever, and I was not happy to be there at all.  I'm sure they thought I was the biggest brat because I didn't participate at all.  At the end they said "Okay, now let's get out and work!" - almost immediately after which, Sister Crockett says "Okay, let's get you home."  I did not feel bad for not working, since moving at all in my bed took all my strength and will-power.  But I am better now, so don't worry! 

Thankfully I have a great supply of medicine from the States!  :)

This week seemed to be really empty and weird.  Not a good thing when it comes to missionary work.  But this week we are determined to find the prepared people God has waiting for us!  Mahasarakham has been a relatively slow area, but yesterday the Elders had 7 investigators at church!  SCORE!  Next week, we hope to have even more!  :)

Have you ever felt like when you resolve to be better, some obstacle always seems to be put in your way?  Or the better you try to be, the harder it gets?  The closer we get to God, the more stretched we become as God raises the bar more and more each time.  We use everything we have to get to the bar, only to find that it is a little higher than we thought it was each time.  I know it is all part of the mortal test.  I know what I agreed to, when I decided to come to earth, but I don't think any of us really knew what it would take.

Our journey into the wilderness.  Gotta love Thailand!

The good news is that there is always something better to look forward to.  With recent news relayed through my mission president about Granny's passing, I can't help but to reflect on how thankful I am for the knowledge of God's plan for His children that I have.  I searched the scriptures and the words of prophets and apostles for a little more inspiration on the matter.  I have prayed and I feel comfort in the fact that I know I am exactly where God wants me to be.  Going on a mission was not only my decision, it was God's plan.  I feel confident that He knew that this would happen when He made it known to me that I needed to serve.  He always knows.  He gives us no trial that we are unable to conquer.  He knows that it is going to be hard and testing, but He also knows what good comes out of them. 

I am not sad to hear about her passing, because I know that she has moved on to the next step in God's plan for His children.  Life on this earth is hard, and sometimes it seems like it will never end.  Sometimes we don't understand all that happens here, and we are often faced with choices and decisions that are hard to make.  That is the purpose of this life.  We aren't meant to be here to make money or have worldly possessions.  This world is merely a stepping stone to the greater things God has prepared for us.  It is not His design for us to remain here forever - there are greater things that we have to prepare for and look forward to.

Even though I will not see her again in this mortal life, I know I will see her again.  Where that other worldly sphere is, I do not know.  But I don't have to know to have faith.  That's the point.  I don't have to see it to believe that it is there.  We agreed to come here knowing full well what would be required of us.  We knew at some point we would be left behind by loved ones, and that at the end we would also leave people behind.  But that is not the end.  I am sure that if only we knew what kind of joy and rest she was experiencing, we would hope to be there with her too.  But remember that we still have a work to accomplish here on earth.  A legacy to build and leave behind.

My favorite scriptures right now:  Doctrine and Covenants 58:2-5

 2 For verily I say unto you, blessed is he that keepeth my commandments, whether in life or in death; and he that is faithful in tribulation, the reward of the same is greater in the kingdom of heaven.
 3 Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation.
 4 For after much tribulation come the blessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand.
 5 Remember this, which I tell you before, that you may lay it to heart, and receive that which is to follow.

And: 2 Nephi 9:18
 18 But, behold, the righteous, the saints of the Holy One of Israel, they who have believed in the Holy One of Israel, they who have endured the crosses of the world, and despised the shame of it, they shall inherit the kingdom of God, which was prepared for them from the foundation of the world, and their joy shall be full forever.

And then a quote by Elder Nelson from this past General Conference ("Decisions for Eternity")
"The aging process is also a gift from God, as is death.  The eventual death of your mortal body is essential to God's plan of happiness.  Why?  Because death will allow your spirit to return to Him.  From an eternal perspective, death is only premature for those who are not prepared to meet God."

I know that this life is not the end.  I know we have the grand destiny of living with God again with the eternal family unit, if only we life worthy to receive it in this life.

I love you all!

Sister Norrell

Here are some pictures from our last p-day "feast". Of course, the food....

Moo yaang - a really tender pork.  So good.

Fried Green Papaya Salad with delicious peanut sauce

My new best friend.  He lives at the internet store place that we email every week.

5 Months???

Hello!

Good news, I got the packages!  Getting them home was interesting, but I'll just send pictures for that.  The Office Elders sent them by bus to Mahasarakham, so after going around trying to find them, we located them and then had to get them home.  I LOVE IT ALL!  Sister Crockett and I are going to get fat, for certain.  But I'm sure the Elders wouldn't mind sharing the spoils with us...and then there's always the Black Market.  American candy would sell for so much!  But it is a way too valuable commodity for us to even seriously consider doing anything like that!

 

Getting packages home from the bus station...Thailand has taught us how to be resourceful.  I think we were Boy Scouts in our previous lives.  :)

This past week marks my 5 month mark in country and my 7 month on my mission.  I was starting to get a little weird-ed out by how fast time goes, but then I remembered that I still have 11 more months to go!  I can't wait to see what miracles this next year holds, especially with a January full of miracles awaiting us!

We saw another miracle this week!  Our investigator got baptized yesterday!  Her husband's whole family, a lot of whom are less-active, also showed up and were very supportive.  She has been an investigator for over a year, and the time was finally right for her to be allowed to get baptized.  (Yes, we prayed really hard for a miracle.) We could not be more excited for her.  And she was so happy as well!  She was radiating (in a good way) the entire day.  It is so refreshing to see prepared people finally able to follow their Savior as they have desired for so long.  Things do work out for the good of God's children according to His timing.  I know there are people in Thailand that need it, and I can't wait to go out and find them.

 

BAPTISM!  Boo, her husband Tim and their cutest little daughter ever - Sen-Sen!

Yay for miracles!

Each morning we start our day with an hour of personal study.  Usually I only have time to study a conference talk, a chapter in the Book of Mormon, and maybe some in "Jesus the Christ".  This week I have learned a lot about Christ-like attributes and repentance.  On my mission I have come to consider repentance my best friend.  As a missionary, all your faults and mistakes and weaknesses are huge.  And glaring.  And sometimes overbearing.  But I have learned that the more magnified they are, the easier they are to work on.  Therefore, repentance has become a much needed and much cherished principle of the Gospel.  I am thankful that God has prepared this time for me on earth to better myself and refine myself so that I will be fit for His kingdom.

One of my favorite talks from this week: "Bind up their wounds" by President Eyring from this past General Conference Priesthood Session.  He says: "The Lord knew you would have such days when he called you to this position, so He gave you....______."  He says more, but I just fill in that sentence each night before I go to bed.  I just have to keep reminding myself that He is completely aware of our individual situations and the callings and crosses we are called to bear.  Christ has felt them and more.  They know everything that would come to pass not only in my service as a missionary, but also in my entire life.  Therefore, He has placed the tender mercies and miracles in my path, just like He has in the lives of all His children, to remind us who is really in control.  I know that no matter what comes our way, we are in good hands.

I love you all!

Sister Norrell