Someone (un-named) disrespecting
me with their feet.
Some absolutely delicious Thai food
that I ate today.
An ugly dog of our neighbors.
Out working and I saw all these cats on a balcony.
Me at one of those night markets where they
sell a bunch of food and good stuff.
Sunset that was cool.
Letter:
This week was very short because we had transfers. Our mission president assigns us to a new area and companion, or we could stay where we are and have the same companion. It is fun because everyone has a chance to move and we just sit there and wait for a call from our Mission President. Whenever we find out who is leaving we all freak out. For these transfers it was kind of boring though because not a single person in my district moved or did anything. Our call was super short because he said "Hello, all of you are staying" and then he hung up. Very anticlimactic. Lol
This week, we had a surprise zone meeting in Asoke, Bangkok, Thailand. We got to go listen to an amazing speaker and General Authority named Ted R. Callister. He taught us on the importance of being a good teacher. This is definitely something that I need a little bit of training on. For me, the most difficult part of teaching is involving the person who I am teaching and making them interested in what I am saying. Especially in Thai, I need to get better at sparking an interest as a teacher.
A few days ago, our district leader decided to make this upcoming week a really good missionary work week. We decided to call it "Heaven Week." This is a play on words from something in the US military called "Hell Week." In the military, this is a week where you are worked to death. You have to hike at least 10 miles or more a day, you always have to wear a super heavy pack, you get about 2 hours of sleep a night, and they try to make you do things that would "break" you mentally. For us we are calling it “Heaven Week” because we are planning on getting out of the house earlier, finding more people to teach, spending a substantial less amount of time wasted during eating, studies, or traveling, and basically anything that will physically work us to death so that by next week, we will be exhausted. I can't wait to start!
This week as I was studying in a book that explains the Old Testament of the Bible very in depth, I read a section that made me think a lot about my own personal study of the scriptures. The scriptures consisting of The Bible and also The Book of Mormon, both have this in common. They’re many teachings coming through parables. A parable is a short story that uses objects in the story to convey a larger and more meaningful point. These parables can be confusing and unclear, but as we study the symbolism and try to understand each piece to the story, we receive more knowledge than we thought was there in the first place. This brought me to the question, "Why can't God just give us the straight answer and tell us what to do?" This is the same reason we were sent to this Earth in the first place, but only on a smaller scale. If we have a reward handed to us, we don't grow and become better to get it. We need to work towards something to get the reward and the more we practice at this thing the greater is the reward. “His purpose, however, in telling these short stories was not to present the truths of his gospel in plainness so that all his hearers would understand. Rather it was so to phrase and hide the doctrine involved that only the spiritually literate would understand it.” (Mormon Doctrine)
I know the more that we work towards strengthening our relationship with God, the more we will be blessed in everything we do. There is an unimaginable amount of happiness that we will receive through studying and following the teachings of God through the scriptures.
3 Nephi 24: 10
"...prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it."
Everyone have a great week!
-Elder Barron
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