Monday, June 24, 2013

Rats!!!

June 23, 2013

Companion: Elder Flanary

Hello People of the World,

This week has felt different. I'll explain. President Senior last week asked us to change a few things in our work to make things better(?), so we did. It has gone smoother this week. We were asked, for one thing, to go and contact for 2 hours, if possible, every day. We went one day and had some successes. We decided that going to the bus stops would probably work. The first man that we talked to was very friendly and stopped to talk with us for a bit, we exchanged names and numbers and hopped on a bus. Side note: it was a free bus, no need to pay money. We went towards the grocery store, Big C and just tried talking to everyone, and it worked. We found a nice man named Egg, he wanted to know if Christianity really can cleanse us from our sins. I told him yes and we talked for a half hour about the Plan of Salvation and how Jesus is our Savior. 

A couple days later while inviting again, I tried to talk to these two ladies selling some food. They clearly weren't interested, as shown that they were making fun of my Thai and made fun of the fact that I was trying to talk about Christianity to them. In their eyes, they think it is useless, because they are Buddhist and need to be Buddhist to be Thai. Figure that out. Luckily a man and his wife called me over to talk about Jesus, because they were Christian. They wanted to know where a church was, so I told them ours, because ours is the one that will bring them salvation, and it is the true church. We talked forever, and I gave them a Book of Mormon. 

Sadly, later that same day and the next, I got discouraged and depressed. I didn't think that contacting every day for 2 hours was doing anything for us. I honestly, am not a big believer in contacting, I have never seen anything come from it. I talked to my companion about it, and we decided that we need to be diligent in our work, and to make sure and do more than just "talk" to people on the street, we needed to be messengers and representatives of Christ. 

We have a couple of investigators that are doing very well. Their names are: Guy and Bay, (remember, I have to think from Thai to English to write these names). Guy is an English student that was invited by a member to a baptismal service that ended up not happening, (she wasn't ready yet), but he came anyway. He is interested to learn more, and really likes our activities. Guy was also with us in the choir for Stake Conference, which if you saw my Facebook, there is a video of us singing. I don't remember where he stood. Another one is Bay, he was given a Book of Mormon by the same member that invited Guy. Bay is interested to learn more off of curiosity, he also likes our activities. Both were committed to be baptized and both said that they weren't ready/not interested in baptism. That is okay. 

We are going to start doing Less-Active member work this week. We have talked to a few older members that have been members for a while about a list that we have to help us find out more. They have been helpful, all we have to do is to take action, and to help these members "come again unto [Christ]" and return to Church. 

This week should be a good week, and I hope everyone has a good one.

Elder Anthony Susi

I forgot:

There is some other things that I forgot to talk about.

At Stake Conference yesterday, I got to see many members from the Bangnaa Ward that I served in. Many of them are doing well, and my recent converts from there are doing well. I, and Elder Simonsen, are apparently talked about a lot by them to the other Elders and Sisters there. It is nice to feel loved and remembered by them. There is a sister there that is getting ready to go on a mission! She leaves in August to the Temple Square Mission! Wow! I will have to go say hello.

We have pests in our house, mostly because it is messy. We found evidence of rats/mice in our house, so a trap was set up. This morning, we got up and I opened the door, and a rat was in the trap right outside my door! The other Elders put it there. Rascals. What do you do with a rat in a trap? You fill a bucket full of water and put the trap inside it and let the rat drown. Sad day. It needed to be taken care of though, it was making a mess. 

That is all.

Stake Conference Choir

Testify of Christ

June 16, 2013

Companion: Elder Flanary

Hello People of the World, 

This week was just kinda mashed together. The most exciting thing was that we got to go to a Zone Conference, in which all the missionaries in Bangkok and surrounding areas got together and learned about doing missionary work. It was good. I enjoyed it. 

We were required to have a day where we only went out and testified of Christ and what He did for us. We weren't supposed to have any lessons planned. It was really hot and we got way tired. There are many, many people out there that didn't want to hear what we had to say, and many others didn't like what we said. Not that we offended them, they just didn't like hearing about Jesus. I really don't know what else to say. 
Life is good, I am losing weight, and I. . . just feel different. 

Elder Anthony Susi

Nifty new suit

June 9, 2013

Companion: Elder Flanary

So, this week we did a good amount. We did get our new suits, and mine looks pretty nifty. Not quite like Doctor Who (10), but I still like it. It fits pretty well, and I am sending pictures with this email. We have had a good time teaching English class, Elder Flanary and I got some new investigators from it. We went to visit one of them yesterday and she gave us spaghetti and garlic bread. It was a really great dinner and hopefully something more will come out of them. We had a good District Meeting in which our district talked together about concerns that we have about each other and now our district is very close. Our time spent with members and investigators has been good for us, because it shows that we are doing something right and are being more obedient. We are glad that we are doing this work and want to continue doing it. 

Have a good week

Elder Anthony Susi



Power of Prayer


June 2, 2013

Companion: Elder Flanary

Hello People of the World,

This week seemed awfully long. I don't know why. It could be because we did more than I have done in the last three transfers (15 weeks). It wasn't even that we did a ton of work, but we were out there trying to talk with people. I am grateful for the gift of quick healing. This week, Saturday, I came down with something. I had absolutely no energy, I was sick to my stomach and I had some bad diarrhea. I ended up staying in bed all day, and didn't want to go anywhere or do anything. I know that every time I woke up, I prayed to be healed and I know for a fact that there were many prayers in Thailand for me to get better. I love that power of prayer. 

I had some good learning experiences this week. I learned that faith needs to be worked, or the blessings that you want to come to you won't come. I learned that, seeing a friendly face, even if they are strangers, can make you feel the best ever. I learned that if we are not paying attention, there are many opportunities that will be missed to share the gospel with someone that is ready. 

I want everyone to know that y'all in my prayers.

Elder Anthony Susi

Investigators


May 26, 2013

Companion: Elder Flanary

Hello People of the World,

Well, I don't know what to say. Our work was meeting with different members, and investigators. We have actually had difficulties with all of our investigators. We have tried our hardest, but it doesn't feel like it when you can't teach your investigators. We were able to meet with one lady that has been given up on by the Elders and even a few members. She is a very nice lady that works at a factory selling ramen-like noodles that is addicted to coffee. She will never admit to being addicted, saying that she only drinks it every day at the same time in the morning because she likes the taste. She also has a hard time reading and praying on the daily because she works nights and sleeps during the day. We are going to continue to work with her. 

Our branch has some fun members. I don't know if you noticed, but there have been more posts tagging "Elder Anthony Susi" on Facebook in the last week, then there has since I've been on my mission. They really love the Elders and Sisters here. We just had a double birthday happen with two of the Elders, and they both got some good presents, including 22 cct gold lined cuff links. Wow. Fancy. 

I hope everyone is being and staying safe. Don't worry, I pray for you.

Elder Anthony Susi