Random dogs are all over the place in Thailand.
Some people that we are teaching.
A huge buddha statue that we saw on Prep Day.
People here hide from the sun a lot.
The mangos here are sooo good.
Riding on the bus.
Wearing my friends glasses. =)
Salted egg flavored potato chips!
How my week went:
I've never been much of a writer. It
has been a challenge to write these weekly emails because of that. When I send
these on P-day, we are already super full of other things to do like visiting
some cool Thai historical sites, eating food, washing clothes, buying
groceries, and whatever other special thing we do that day. But the more I am
writing, the more I like it. It's getting better!
There was a little bit of
disappointment with our investigators this week. There was a few who told us
they were not interested to continue learning, or they just weren't progressing
as we taught them. It is hard because we are trying to do our best to bring
others unto Christ through baptism, and we do this all day every day. It can
get difficult to remember our role and the faith that we need to have. A lot of
times I just wish I could make people listen, and I can tell that they have
been sitting on their front porch for the past few hours every day not doing
anything whatsoever. There are so many people that I don't understand how they
are alive because they literally just sit in the same spot all day every day. I
don't know how they get money or food. Then, I try to say hello to them and
they refuse to speak or say they are busy and can't talk. It is so sad to just
walk away from these people because I know I can help.
So on a happier note, I have been
able to practice the piano a bit in my free time before I go to bed. I remember
when I was in kindergarten/first grade ish and my parents tried to get me to
play the piano. I hardcore refused and the harder they push for me to do it, so
did I to not play it. I don't know I guess they gave up on making me play or
something because I have no idea how to play. I don't blame them though, I was
stubborn. It's okay because it is never too late to learn. I might take a video
of me playing my song when I have mastered it and maybe you will all see it
somehow I don't know.
There is a recent convert into the
church who Elder Lemone and I are pretty good friends with. Her name is บี (Bee). She is way awesome! Bee
invited us to go eat at her house this last week, and this was my first time
over there. When we got there, I saw that she has 9 dogs! So many! These dogs
seemed as though they were all circling around the house, and whenever someone
would walk by or ride by on their motorcycle, the dogs would go on attack mode.
The only reason we survived was because we were with Bee. It was way
cool.
So we found this new investigator
named คัน (Kun). This guy
probably has the longest hair I have ever seen on a man. He runs a parking lot,
so he just sits there and waits for people to want to park their car. It looks
like a pretty boring job, and Kun seemed very lonely. He really wanted us to
come back and be friends with him. So we did. We came back a few days later,
and it was getting dark outside. We didn't find Kun where he was sitting
before, so we started walking around to find him. There was a shack over on the
other side of this parking lot, so we went to check it out. It sounded like a
band was playing inside. I knocked on the door, and out walks Kun. I could tell
he had been jamming out. Kun invited us into his shed. There was a giant
speaker. I want everyone to imagine the life of this man for a second. First of
all, he has not cut his hair for years. He runs a parking lot so he works 24
hours a day and 7 days a week. He works whenever a car drives up. His house is
a shed beside the parking lot. When I say shed, I mean I could probably lay
down inside like a star and touch each corner of the shed with my hands and
feet. This is his living space. Kun decides to have a massive speaker in one
corner and a disco light. He also has a ton of rolls of colorful sticky paper
where he makes stickers and bumper stickers. How does he get food? Well, on the
other side of his parking lot, there are some street vendors who sell during
the day. That's all he eats. Kun never leaves the parking lot for anything. So
we went inside his shed and he starts jamming out to some tunes. It was very
different. I asked him if I could play a song on his phone, so I looked up
"I am a Child of God" by the Bonner family. It was way fun! He loved
it!
I am definitely getting better at
eating spicy food. I can start eating some of the stuff that all the Thai
people eat and the spice is starting to taste way good too.
One of our recent converts to the
church asked us to give her son a blessing. It is cool to give blessings in
Thai. It just feels so different, but then I realize it is the same power being
used. It all depends on the faith of the receiver. I love being here in
Thailand having these opportunities to help the children of God in
Thailand.
One thing on my mission that I think
is important is realizing where your weaknesses are. I think almost every
missionary hits the point where they feel like, wow I am doing so good, I'm not
sure I can get much better than this. But in reality, they are just blinding
themselves from the truth. That is why some missionaries get depressed, the
feeling of not being able to improve. In reality, that is the definition of
damnation. If you are damned, it doesn’t mean you are thrust down to hell, it
means you are in a state of no improvement. You will stay the same forever. We
have to always remember that WE ARE NOT DAMNED! God has made if for us so that
no matter what, we can ALWAYS IMPROVE! If we can find our weaknesses and work
on making them strengths, we will improve, and we all have weaknesses. You know
what they are deep inside.
My favorite scripture
Ether 12:27
And if men come unto me I will show
unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and
my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if
they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak
things become strong unto them
Everyone be humble and have
faith!
Have a great week, I love you
all!
-Elder Barron
