A Very Interesting P-day.

Sorry for the late e-mail.   Usually by now you've received word but today we had some bad luck with the Internet.   We came here around 11am but for 15 minutes I sat and waited for the Internet to start working.   Luckily, I was able to read your e-mails and print them but when it came time for met to begin writing mine, the Internet died completely.   The Elders walked in after coming from a different Internet Cafe and said that one was out too.  So we just went with a back up plan and made sure we put time in our schedules to email home later. :-)

Real quick, I got a lot of mail this week!!! :-) I got the “Rice Krispys,” chocolates, the Ensign, the blouses you sent, the cards and pictures as well as letters.   Thank you very much mom, dad, Trina and Travis.  I know you all are very supportive and I am very happy to have all of you back home and always sending me your love and encouragement.

  

Dad - Do you know a Drew Thompson?  He work at BYU as an OIT accountant.  He's my district leaders dad. 

Trav - HAVE FUN IN GEORGIA ... you can mow the lawn at our house too ;-) bahahahha jk,jk 

Trina I wrote you a letter and I'll send it out tomorrow or Wednesday.  :-)  Good Job on the spelling bee!!!  :D I know you worked hard and studied a lot.  Have fun with summer and learn a new skill or hobby :-) 

Mom - You're the best!! I think the letter I wrote to you should arrive this week or early next...it was about 5-6 pages so maybe it’s slow because of the weight? I hope you get it...if not, I wrote you another one this morning and I’ll send it out when I send Trina's as well :-)

This week was a little harder than last week. It's almost as if things are slowing down but life is still great as a missionary!  Just to clarify real quick, I'm still in Chiang Mai and Sister Murray is still my companion.  Because I'm in training, we are together for two transfers.  And then, when I'm doing training, I'll most likely stay for one more transfer in Chiang Mai making it a total of 3 moves.   I'm totally okay with it since that’s just how it works here in our mission.  That just means in 5 week, I'll need to lead the area when a new companion comes.  -_-   It'll be good though... I'm learning a lot.   Anyways, Sister Bon and Bam are still learning with us and I'm not sure if I ever told you that their date changed but Bon will be baptized in June and Bam later in the year.   Bam is finishing her last year in college so her school schedule is difficult and she has class on Sunday.  The AP's told us that technically that's breaking the Sabbath and she will need to wait till the term ends and that will be in October.   The day we went to teach them and tell them that information, they took it so well!  Both of them! They said that it's what God wants and at first, she was thinking that learning in a month was fast but now she has more time to understand and be converted before she is baptized.   It seriously so amazing how much faith they both have.  We are working to encourage them to get their parents to sit down with us and learn because they are around when we go teach anyways, but they want to wait till their daughters learn.  Ah…patience.   I'm learning a lot of it on a mission.  I just love it. 

In other news, our numbers and lessons were few this week.  Many of our investigators dropped us and people don't answer their phones.   It's been very sad but we know that Heavenly Father just has a different time table for them, and in time when they are ready, they will learn with us again or when other missionaries are inspired to pull them out of the 'formers' pile.  

Anyways I'm going to try to send pictures from this morning.   We went up the mountains in a Roddeng... I got sick but we washed the drivers car off with my water bottle.  Heh... sorry, TMI.

Also, some random facts for the week: 

Father's day here (The king’s birthday) is my birthday December 5. 

My branch asked me to speak in Sacrament... Pray for me please!!!! The other missionaries that have been here longer haven't given one but I know it'll help me with Thai. 

Mom to answer your question, my district leader is awesome...really strong testimony and good example.  Zone leaders are quirky by also very kind. 

I LOVE YOU ALL. 

Have a great week!!! 

p.s. we went out proselyting for 3 hours before emailing and we found potentially 3 new investigators. SO GOOD!!! :) 

You're always in my prayers and I love you so much!! Thank you for all you do, I know Heavenly Father watches over you as much as He watches over me. 

Love Sister Yeo

Transfers already!!!??!

Today we had a very different schedule because we were trying to do a lot of other errands to get ready for the week. Basically, the goal is to be as efficient as possible.   I made a really big sticky note of all the things I want to share so hopefully, I'll get it all in.  

Real quick, Mom, I went through the list of letters you sent me and I checked dates and everything and I got them all.  I also got the GRANOLA BARS!  Sooo good :-) This Thursday is transfers so I'll get the other packages you sent! :-) Thank you, thank you, thank you! I also got the bookmarks and custom made cards you sent! Those are so cute!! I almost want to keep them and not send them to people. Hehe.   So I read through all your letters!  I’m excited for Trina that she got to the spelling bee finals!!! Work hard squirt!  Everyday, I learn new vocabulary too over here!   I even have a mini spelling bee of my own.   In Thai, there are 20+ vowels and so my companion will test me the way mom tests you and then she'll correct any mistakes.   It makes learning fun!   Good luck!  I know you'll do great and work hard to meet your goals!!   I'll be cheering for you from Thailand! :-) 

I'm so excited that Auntie Sheila is here in Thailand! I really wish that I would have the opportunity to see her and give her a Book of Mormon... I thought about giving our number to you so you could e-mail it to her but this week I've been thinking a lot about obedience.   And according to the white handbook, we are not supposed to give out our number.   I'll ask President Smith in my email so that maybe, in the future, that can happen but as for now, I know that if I obey with exactness and if I'm meant to see Auntie Sheila here in Thailand, then Heavenly Father will make it happen.  

So, overall this week was harder than most but it was very, very rewarding.   Bon, our investigator passed her baptism interview!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  She's seriously so amazing!   She's noticed how much the gospel is changing her life that she invited her sister to come and learn too and now both of them are getting baptized on the same date!!!! IT’S AMAZING!  It's my favorite way to start the day.   We have been teaching Bon at the library and three weeks ago, she wanted us to come and teach her everyday; so for the last... actually, it's been a month now we've been going to the library every day and for this last week, we've been able to teach the two of them with Zhouli (member who introduced Bon to the gospel).   I love all three of them.   Her sister's name is Bam and she's my age.  She came to English class last week and during the class, we met with all the new people for 5 minutes and shared with them a quick spiritual thought and our purpose here as missionaries.   So she spoke with Elder Thompson and she told him, she was ready to change religions.   The Lord has prepared her.  You can just tell by the way she keeps her commitments and her willing heart.   Oh, and I found out that Zhouli had read the Book of Mormon 5 times and she's about to finish her 6th time!!! She was baptized in February of this year!! I don't think I've even read the Book of Mormon twice in one year.   But each one of them is such great example to me of faith and obedience.   The two of them will be baptized on June 23rd!! :-)   p.s. Bon's date moved back because she wanted to get baptized with her sister.   Oh and when we were teaching them one day, her mom came over and said we want to learn as well but we are going to have the girls learn first.   WHOLE FAMILY BAPTISM PARTY!! WOOT, WOOT!   So great! 

I realized that in the last few weeks I've mentioned a lot about Bon so I want to share stories of other investigators we are working with.   We have been teaching a lady named 'Fon'... (I don't know how to spell their names in English so these are my best guesses) but she is 42ish and her husband is Doon (37ish) and they have a little girl named Jup Jeep and she's about 7 year old.   We started teaching all three of them together but know we are just teaching Fon.   She is already Christian and we met here while we were out inviting so she was interested to learn more about the Church.   One of the members has been fellowshipping her the whole time we have been teaching her.   This week we have to work on her progress towards baptism because originally they had a date to be baptized on June 30th but at this point they won't make it because they have not been coming to Church.   That and because this week they said that they want to wait till they learn more then make the decision to be baptized.   It was really hard but I'm happy this is the way it worked out.   My companion and I talked about it and we want to make sure that she is learning with us because she wants to come closer to Christ and to repent and be baptized.  We think the husband would be super golden, but he doesn't have the Christian background as strong as she does.  He is SUPER nice and he leads us out at night with his bike/lights because it's usually dark by then.   We just need an opportunity for him to sit down and feel the spirit and I'm sure he'll do great! 

Lolee is the other investigator I wanted to tell you about.  She is 15 and she is half Thai and half German/American.  We teach her in English, which I really appreciate, ha.   Joke.  I love Thai because it sounds like English now.... or has become more...normal?  I'm not sure what word I'm looking for.  Speaking of English:  I've been called to be the English leader in our district; I'm excited.  I basically help organize and make sure English class runs on Tuesday nights.  So anyways, Lolee has been through a LOT!!  I'm not sure how she handles it all because she is so young but she is very smart and mature for her age.   She opened up to us the other night about something very personal and we have this rule about teaching minors; basically, we need a parent to be there.  So she needed someone to talk to because it's a matter of life and death so we didn't break rules but just sat outside of the church and talked to her... all four of us, sisters.   We shared Alma 7 with her and that the Atonement can heal her.   I wanted so badly for her to understand that she isn't going through her trials alone and the Gospel, especially the Atonement, is what's going to help her most. She been meeting with the missionaries since last September so she knows all the lessons and she comes to church every week.  For her, it's a matter of applying what she learns.   I call her everyday and share what I learned or just say, “hi” because she is really sweet and deserves to have so much more that what she has now. 

Well, I've learned a lot of little lessons this week and one thing I've been coming back to frequently, is faith and obedience.   During personal study, sometimes I wonder, “Why do we... pay tithing, read scriptures, go to the temple, kneel in prayer etc.”   It's because we are commanded to and when we do it, it's an act of faith.  I see the different levels of faith in each of our investigators and I'm starting to understand a little more why this is the first principle of the gospel.   It's just so foundational. <--- is that not a word?

Time is almost up and I would just encourage our family to go to the temple once a month together.   I thought about the temple this past week and I miss it a lot.   There is no temple here in Thailand and the members are so eager and save so much so that several years later, they can just go at least once.   In Provo, there will soon be two and I know I didn't always go when I had the chance and need to repent because we draw so much power from heaven by going to the Lord's house.   That and it's just a special place to be away from the cares of the world and look to the eternity.  That's one of the reasons I love Sundays here, I was reading a talk about the Sacrament by President Packer and he talked about a time for self-inspection.   I like the way he described it because here in the field we are always talking about BIQ's (baptismal interview questions) so we can check the progress of investigators towards baptism.  So as members, sacrament is our form of checking our progress towards eternal life.  

I studied this a little more this morning and maybe I'm stretching it, but I know that we are renewed each week through the sacrament and through the Atonement of Christ. 

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!  

Sister Yeo 

p.s. mom I sent you a letter and one to Grandma .. did you get mine and did they?  If not I've written you one that I will send out this week. 

Oh, and I'm still reading with the family ..  I'm in Alma 2 ... Where are you all"?! :) 

Ah, really cool experience with Sister Bon I'll have to share next week 

More Pictures From Chaing Mai

This was Family Home Evening a few weeks ago.  Basically FHE = eat together.   Steamboat style. 

We teach English every Tuesday.

The sister in the middle is now a missionary in Thailand!  She is awesome!   There were 11 Khon Thai's (Thailand Young Adults) that are now serving here.

:-)

Sitting in a Roddeng.

I rode an elephant... hehe.

Teaching English again.... I taught by myself for the first time and got 3 new investigators ...woo! 

The two girls sitting by me are our investigators.  SO CUTE!  It reminds me of teaching primary.  I love it!!

Sister Yinn and I at a super American restaurant.

I color coded my scriptures ... just thought I"d share. haha.

hehe .. sorry :P 

Thailand is Smileland

It's already another P-day! And I've already been in country for a month! What?! 

This might be short because sending pictures took an eternity and my computer froze 4 times and then once it gave me an error screen when I was half way through.

THANK YOU for sending me the family history record.   We had a specialized training about it and I'm super excited to be able to use it in missionary work!  I translated it into Thai and later today, I'm going to shrink it to keep a copy in my scriptures.   

So, it's been raining a lot lately, which is a month or so early for the rainy season, but I LOVE IT!  So much fun riding in the rain and then, people are more inclined to invite you into their homes out of the rain and then, what do you know... “Can we share a quick message about the gospel so on and so forth?”   But we are in good health, always safe always wearing my stylish helmet.... haha.

I did make a note to thank Travis for letting me use his mission bag.  This think is amazing.  It's like it's built for missionaries!  It has all the right pockets AND it's waterproof.  Usually all my stuff is in Ziplock bags anyways but again this bag is awesome!  

[Sidenote] Tomorrow we have zone conference with the mission president so it's a big deal.  Partly because it will be his last one before he returns to the states.   They asked us to play a special musical number.  Luckily, one of the members has a flute so I've got to play for a baptism this last Saturday and practice for this song.  It's so pretty and I love the way music just helps invite the spirit.   

Yesterday was so awesome!  It was fast Sunday, plus we had different opportunities to serve in the ward.  It was so cute because now that I'm more comfortable talking to people, there's this one sister who I was talking to yesterday and she asked me, "what do you think your purpose is in life?"  A very valid question so I gave her my answer and then she said, “I think your purpose is to smile.  Because, God gave you a very nice smile and through that you will get a lot of investigators.”   They say that Thailand is “Smileland.”   She is so cute and she helps me with my Thai because her English is very good.  She wants to be a missionary too so we talk about that and about life, etc.

OH YEAH.  Mother's day!  We are going to go to the Internet cafe at 8 a.m. so I think that's about 9 p.m. your time on Sunday night... Sorry, I don't know exactly what time it would be in Utah but we will be here Monday morning 8 a.m. :-) 

Our investigator Sister บอล is progressing sooo much.  Last week she told us an experience she had with an answer to her prayer.  She was absolutely beaming.   He friend got in an accident because of the rain and was probably going to die so she prayed that he would be better and recover.  She called him the next day and he was ok!   God hears us and the desires of our hearts.   She shared her excitement and we shared our testimonies.   A few days later, after we were done teaching, she asked if we could come teach her everyday.  She said that her days are better and it's easier to make good choices when we come visit her.  So we teach her just about everyday.   You can just see her testimony grow right along with her desire.  A few lessons ago, it was so simple but she took out some notes and instead of sitting at the usual table (which tends to cause distractions because it's where she works and she has to help customers), she moved us to a different room where it was quiet and we can just feel the spirit. 

There's only 3 minutes and I’m sure I could tell you about another hour or 2 worth of things but just to be sure that this e-mail get sent... 

Things are so great!!! I love being a missionary!!! Everyday and every hour ... even in the heat or rain.  IT'S FANTASTIC! 

This work is God’s work and we only know that through prayer and scriptures and the spirit! 

LOVE YOU ALL!  I hope you have a wonderful day/week! 

Love Sister Yeo 

P.s.  When the General Conference ensign comes out, can you maybe send me a copy please?