Week 16: บางนา

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2. Goodbye Chiang Mai!!

Hello! So last Wednesday night I left Chiang Mai to go to Bangkok, my new area. A bunch of members from the ward came and said goodbye to us as we got on the bus and it was sad. It is amazing how much you can grow to love people and a place in just 6 weeks! I am grateful for my time in Chiang Mai and I want to go back! 

So we got on the bus and headed to the mission home in Bangkok where I said goodbye to Sister Kham and met my new companion Sister Ballif who is super great! She is from California and we have a lot in common. It was fun to go to to the mission office and see everyone else who was transferring, including some people from BYU and people from the MTC. 

So for those of you who don't speak Thai, บางนา is Bangna, the name of my new area! It is right by Bangkok and totally different than Chiang Mai. It is loud, fast paced, and busy. People are way less likely to talk to you if you say hi to them on the street. But I love it here too! I have already learned and progressed so much since I have been here.

The ward is great here too, although it is way smaller and almost no kids or white people. We have a bunch of great investigators here so it is awesome to be here. I don't have my bike anymore, we walk and take public transport and taxis here. It is great for inviting and talking with people! It is also way more diverse here. I have met some people from Laos, Cambodia, Pakistan, etc. 

We have some investigators from Pakistan who are amazing. Since they speak some English, we teach them in English (we don't speak Urdu and they don't speak Thai). They have so much faith and so many issues. They are refugees and they struggle to find work and it can be hard sometimes when they ask us to help them with work because there is not really anything we can do, but they make clothes so maybe I will buy some clothes from them. Anyone want a Pakistani dress? I know a guy (well a girl actually). They are so nice, offering us food when they have nothing. 

Here are some other highlights from the week....

-some random person asked if I was pregnant and when they found out I wasn't they said I was fat, which was funny because the person who said that was not skinny. I love Thailand.

-we went and visited a member and she fed us an entire plate of brownies and would not let us stop until we ate them all. This is why people ask me if I am pregnant haha

- Saturday was Child's day in Thailand! The whole country had a party and we got to eat free food and invite a lot of kids to English class which was fun. Thai kids are so cute!

-met the coolest old grandma here and I will attach a picture below. She and her husband were painting their fence together and they were so cute!

-today we went to the Chonburi, another area in the mission, and went to an island and went to the beach and saw a giant Buddha with some other missionaries in that area and some members. 

So life is good here! Different but good. I read some great verses this week in Doctrine and Covenants 88: 

"And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things.

Therefore, sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God, and the days will come that you shall see him; for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will." (Verses 67-68)

I love these verses. I have been trying to eliminate things from my life that take away from the spirit and take my attention from the glory of God, whether it be something little like humming a pop song or not studying as diligently as I should. I also have been repenting for these little things right away so that they don't detract from the spirit. I encourage you to think about the little things in your life that you can eliminate that will help you have the spirit more fully. 

I love you all! If you have any questions, shoot them my way! Sorry I have been so bad at emailing recently. Have a good week! 

Love,

ซิสเตอร์ ลาห์ที 

1. Some BYU friends 


3. Sister Ballif and I

4. Cool Grandma lady: we asked if we could help her paint her fence and taught her about the Book of Mormon 

5. บางนา

6. Beach





 

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