Sept. 27, 2010

Hello everyone!

It's been a great week here, and I'm happy to hear that you've all had a great week too.

First thing's first! We got transfer calls today, as this is the first day of my third transfer, and.... drum roll please.... Sister Silva and I are staying here in Antelope for another six weeks together. Which is so good. We get along great, despite not having ANYTHING in common, and we teach well together. We are also seeing a lot of success in the last month, and in the next month or so to come, so it's good that we're both staying here to keep the stability of our investigators going. So, things are good. :)

We had a lot of great lessons this week too. We met with Pupe again, which, it turns out, her real name is Rungnapa (Napa for short) and Pupe is only her childhood nickname, kind of like "Sweetie" or "Pumpkin." So that will take some time to get used to, I think... lol. Anyway, her husband, Brother McArthur came too. We taught about the Law of Tithing, because this sunday's lesson in Gospel Principles was Tithing, and we wanted to prepare her for it. It was a pretty rocky start, with Bro McArthur talking about how he didn't have the money to pay tithing, but we focused on Napa, and on the blessings that she and her family could expect if they started paying an honest tithe. We especially showed Napa how her faith would grow (which is something she really wants) if she pays tithing. Brother McArthur kept saying how he didn't think they could do it, and then Napa turned to her husband and said, "if you don't pay your tithing, Eddie, how is your faith going to grow?" -- Yeah... Napa, who is not a member, is teaching her husband, who is a member, about faith!!! --- It was a great lesson. We found out yesterday that after we left, Napa and Eddie had a serious talk about their faith. He was asking her about her testimony, and how she got it. She told him to read the Book of Mormon, and Pray, and Pay Tithing. So when we saw them at Church yesterday, the first thing Bro McArthur said to me was, "I've been reading the Book of Mormon all weekend!" It's been so amazing to see the change in their family over the last several months.

Also, Bro, McArthur had an interview with the Bishop yesterday after church, and when we had dinner with the Bishop last night he said, without divulging any details, that Brother McArthur is a totally different person than he was 6 months ago, and that he'll be ready to be ordained to the office of Priest so that he can baptize Napa by the 16th! YAY!!!

Also, Napa came to our appointment with San this week. We taught her the Plan of Salvation, with Napa's interpretive help. We were so amazed at the fellowship that these two women have for each other. The Thai culture says that family is very important, and usually, the grandmother of the family lives with one of her children. Napa's mother lives in Germany, and can't afford to immigrate. And San's only daughter lives in LA, and San can't live there because her husband is here. So these two women have adopted each other, and it's so great. The lesson started out with us suggesting that San move her baptism date by one week, since we have a ton to teach her, and there's an understanding barrier... She agreed, since her daughter will be out of town on the 9th. So my first baptism with be on the 16th! ... Anyway, we then let Napa and San just visit for a bit in Thai... It was pretty cool. And they started telling each other their testimonies. It was cool that we could tell by the spirit what they were talking about, even though we couldn't understand the words they were saying. :) Then we taught the Plan of Salvation to San. We would start out by talking for one or two minutes about a part of the plan, and then Napa would translate what San didn't understand. The cool part was that Napa always talked way longer than we did, and San asked questions, and Napa wouldn't even translate, she'd just answer them. It was the coolest thing to watch our two investigators, whom we love dearly, teach each other the gospel. It was an amazing experience! I just know that they're going to adopt each other as family. In fact, they sat together at church yesterday, without us prompting them at all. It was AMAZING!

I love being a missionary! If for nothing else, than for this lesson. For the rest of my mission (which I know can get even better) this lesson with San and Napa will make everything worth it!

Anyway, time is short for me today, because one of the other sisters in our zone goes home tonight, so we are in a threesome until the new sister comes tomorrow. Which means that I've got to be going. I love you all, and I miss you all, and I hope to hear from you as often as possible. =) Thanks for all your love, support, and prayers. They really help!

Love, Sister Reid