Saphaan Sung 7.29.13

Hey family!

This week was pretty sweet.  Our branch had 3 baptisms this weekend: 2 on a Saturday and 1 yesterday after church.  Sweet Business.

Tender Mercies: Our investigator, Ooy, was baptized yesterday.  Her gospel journey started 5 months ago in Bangna.  E. Terry and I started teaching her there.  But she was living with her boyfriend.  No bueno.  So we taught the Law of Chastity and told her they would have to get married or move out.  So she moved back home with her mom...in Minburi.  We thought she was just going to be there temporarily until she found a new house in Bangna.  So we kept seeing her every so often.  Then the Lord transferred me here.  When I got here I realized Minburi was in my area.  So the Bangna elders sent us her new address and we started teaching her.  Yesterday I baptized her.  The tender mercies of the Lord.

The burger master family went to church again (well the burger master himself, Andreas, didn't go).  Su, the mom of the family, is awesome.  She gave us 7 referrals this week.  She invites everyone she talks with to come to church.  She has encountered some serious oppostition though.  More than I've ever encountered in my life.  One day we ate at their place and she asked us if we ever meet people that hate the church.  We rarely meet anyone that knows there is more than just Catholic and Protestant (aka we almost never meet people that hate mormons).  She told us how she was at work and one of her longtime friends saw her reading the Book of Mormon and rampaged.  Su said the lady ripped it out of her hands and threw it in the trash.  (I'm thinking "Oh no she didn't")  The lady then told her we were of the Devil, that the Book of Mormon was a copy of the Bible distorted by the thoughts of man (Uhh...irony?) and to never go back to our church.  Luckily Su is resilient as a rock and retrieved her Book of Mormon when the lady wasn't looking.  Most Christians we teach talk to one friend or one preacher about the church and are done.  They never meet with us again.  Su had a friend throw her Book of Mormon in the trash but is still meeting with us.  Yesterday she had a rough time at church though, she didn't feel like this church has as much love as her last one...oh no.  She also is struggling with how different it is.  We visited her yesterday and she said she just needs to know for herself whether this church or her old church is more true.  We helped her see that by reading and praying about the Book of Mormon she can know for herself.  At first we thought it was bad news bears, but then we realized it is great that she is experiencing this.  She will receive an answer from God and then she will know.  She said once she receives her answer she will follow it 100%.  She is sponsored, realtalk.  Pray for her though.

Pop's questions: No, the old man that Su took us to when we first met her is not her father.  Why the burger master is in Thailand is unknown.  Out of the nine last week, five came again (Su and her 3 kids and Ooy).  Yes, most people are surprised when they see how many people are coming to church.  Sorry about the ski scare.  As far as I know, I was cool as blue steel flying through the air because I can't even remember it (that probably isn't any more comforting...).

Thanks for the green light on another suit mom!  I'll ponder not getting shorts...they just look so fresh though.

Much Love

Elder M. Riley Creer
The Only