taryn 5.17.10

Hello~
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CADSTER!!!! you are a teenager?!!!!!! what?! i hope you had such a good day.
Man we are so busy here. I am so tired! it is so so so hard to get up in the mornings lately, racing from apt to apt in the intense heat, sometimes not even having enough time to eat is wearin' me out! by the time the long day is over i lay down and am asleep. the area is doing awesome! we had 12 progressing investigators, 7 with a baptismal date, 24 lessons, for thailand that is really good :) our area is big, we cover two elder areas, we need to start using our time more wisely, maybe doing certain days in certain areas to get more teaching in and less biking. Heavely Father is blessing us so much. Ive never noticed the Lords hand working so much in my and others lives as i have at this time. the past few weeks i have seen His influence in everything we do. I have never felt this tired/wiped out, this accomplished, or this kind of happiness before. its such a different happy. its not an overjoyed kind of thing, but more of a constant assurance that i am working alongside the Lord. I never imagined one of my areas doing this well in thailand, especially in udon. 2 months ago i would have laughed if someone told me. I hope and pray that things will keep going this way and we can keep it up.
Church was really neat last week. it was district conference so the branches from sakonakhon, nong khai, kumphawaphi, and lao came. these are people with incredible faith. it was amazing to see 40 people pull up from lao on songtaws and little old vans, all dressed in their nicest/fanciest outfits. so cute. the had 15 baptisms last year, more than any of the other branches. they dont have missoinaries and arent even able to talk about the gospel outside of church. that is truely the Lord right there. miracles.
cute nong phloy got baptized yesterday. cutest baptismal service, everything was done by the primary except that i played the piano. she bore her testimony after and said how she wants to be a missionary when she grows up.
guy wasnt able to get baptized:( she and her husband arent legally married and he is in isreal for another year. were trying to figure out a way to do it, but it looks like shell have to wait till next year. saturday i sent her husband a bom, some pamphlets, and a gospel principles book (she asked me to sent that, she loves reading it!) this is going to be an eternal family someday. she is someone really special to me, she is the first person that i have felt that if i wasnt here and wasnt listening to the Spirit she wouldnt know about the gospel for awhile longer. about 2 months ago we were inviting in the early morning. we passed a street and then i had the prompting to go back, even though my comp at the time was in one of her bad moods. as i biked down the street i way cute little boy ran out of his gate into the street with his mom chasing after him. she is now patiently waiting to get baptized. she is so golden! last week she was telling us about how she was reading about Christ and she was crying. my district leader said of her interview that she passed with flying colors. the gospel is amazing!!!
Weve begun teaching 3 girls -jin, jiap, and beer- 14-15 years old that are tutored by sister noi, an amazing lady who has introduced the gospel to many converts now. they have come to church 3 weeks in a row now, even though they are the only YW in the branch. they are darling! they keep asking us so many questions like, "what is a member?" "how long do you have to learn until you can be a member?" and "can i be a missionary like you?" jin is the most golden, in our last lesson on sat she told us that she new this message was true from the moment sister noi talked about it. the first time teaching her the thought entered my mind that she will be a missionary someday, though i didnt say anything. then last week she said she wants to be exacly like us. she asked a million questions about missionary work and said she wants to be one. the problem her dad is the only one that has an issue with her changing religions. her goal for bap is the 6th of june, were going to pray a lot and hopefully she can get permission!
we are also teaching a few people that cant read right now, such a barrier in life. we are so blessed. they are having a hard time figuring out prayer, but hopefully they can soon. how wierd would it be
Today we went to nong khai, on the border of lao. we took a boat almost to the other side of the mekong, and also walked the friendship bridge to the border, a sign saying "haam phaan" or "dont cross." i never thought in my life id ever be that close to lao!
times up:(
i love you! i miss you! not too much longer, crazy. stay safe!
love, ชิสเตอร์ ยัง

mom, did you ever get my card sent?