Elder Killian is a great guy.
This will be a fun transfer.
Sister Pimsawan is new to our district. I'm still taller with no shoes when she stands on a chair.
These are the 4 guys that live in
our apartment right now.
This is our district.
A dog we found while out inviting.
A big tire
I got to see one of my good friends Elder Lowe
at the transfer meeting.
This is a bridge that goes over the road.
They are everywhere.
Weekly Update:
This week was crazy. Every six weeks, we have transfers, where we have the opportunity to either change companions in our area, or go to a new area. It is basically one of the most exciting times for missionaries because we just wait for a call to come that will tell us where we are going or what we are doing for the next month and a half. So last week, Elder Steele and I got a call that Elder Steele was staying in his area and training a new missionary that just barely came into Thailand just like I did 6 weeks ago. So, I basically knew I wasn't going to be companions with Elder Steele for the next transfer. Then we got another call, that I was staying in Bangkapi, the same area that I was already in, but my new companion was going to be Elder Killian! It was a funny experience for the first time I met him. We were both at the mission office just doing busy things that we were supposed to do, and we just bumped into each other and said, "Oh hey!" and we kept walking doing what we were doing. Haha!
It was interesting being in my area with someone who had never been there before. I had to remember where everyone's house is and which bus's to take around Bangkok to get places. There was one time we were going to an investigators house and we were on a pretty long bus ride, so it was hard for me to pay attention to where we needed to get off the bus. I accidentally missed the bus stop we were supposed to get off at, so we got off at the next stop and walk about a mile to the investigators house. Luckily I had a feeling that would happen so we would have been about 30 minutes early, but we ended up using every minute of it walking. I guess that's a good lesson learned.
One thing that Elder Killian introduced to me that he liked was soy milk. For some reason I didn't like soy milk that much the first time I had it, but I actually really like it now. It is fairly cheap too so that is a good plus.
Elder Killian and I were out teaching people we found about the gospel of Jesus Christ and we were walking through a neighborhood that was kind of hidden from the main road. I had gone down most of the streets around where we live, but I just had a random feeling to go down this small street. When we walked down it for a while, there turned out to be this really big neighborhood. I thought it was so cool how we just walked past it every day and we never knew it was there. While we were walking around, I saw some children playing badminton outside and I really wanted to go play. (Ever since I was young I dreamed of being on my mission and playing sports with random kids. It's kind of a weird dream I had, but I just wanted to really bad) Anyways, I asked them if I could play and they kind of freaked out and started laughing because this massive, white guy walks up and wants to play with these kids. Then one of them ran up to me and handed me a racket. We had tons of fun playing with them. After we played for a while we invited them all to come learn English with us at the church. I hope some of them decide to go.
It is interesting being with a new companion in an area that is new to him because I seem to get a lot of more opportunities to speak up and practice my language more. I am thankful that I get this opportunity because I know it will help me be better. It is pushing me.
There is a new Sister Missionary here in my area, Bangkapi. Her name is Sister Pimsawan. She is originally from Thailand and everyone makes fun of us because she is super short and I am super tall. She is literally like a little more 4 feet. WE had fun taking pics together.
Lately, I have been doing my personal studies in the scriptures. I finished reading The Book of Mormon a while ago, so I have started studying in The Old Testament of The Bible. I love reading about the stories of both of these books because I know they are both true. I was very interested about the story of Noah and his ark. In this story, the earth is covered with sinful people and God chooses to have Noah build a boat and get all the righteous people upon the boat while God floods the entire earth to get rid of the evil people. When the Earth was flooded, everything was completely covered in water, even the tallest mountains. This represents the baptism of the Earth. The Earth had sin and evil upon it, just as every single person who has ever lived, except Jesus Christ. When we are baptized, we completely go under water to signify all of our sins being completely washed away, just as the Earth did, but when we are baptized, we still do sin. None of us are perfect. It is sad but true. Sin can continue to be in our lives. So after we are baptized, we are blessed with "baptism by fire." this is where someone who holds the priesthood, or power of God, places their hands on your head and gives you the Gift of the Holy Ghost. This gift helps us to choose the right and repent throughout our lives so throughout our lives, we can continue to become more perfect as God is. When Jesus Christ returns to the Earth, all it is said in the Bible, that all of the wicked of the world will be burned (As is speaks of throughout Isaiah 24). This symbolizes the "baptism by fire" which I just spoke of. As the Earth will eventually become perfect and sinless, we can do this personally as well through baptism.
Thanks everyone who reads my emails. I hope you have great weeks.
-Elder Barron
