Transfer Season: Cold Season!!!

Before I start my email... I just want to give you all my new mission address!!! 
They are preparing the mission office for the groundbreaking of the temple early next year. Here it is:

72 Asoke Montri Road (Sukhumvit 21 Khwaeng Khlong Toei Nuea Khet Watthana Bangkok 10110 Thailand)   

So for your letters/packages, just send them there if you want to make a sister missionary smile! #birthdaytransfer #Christmas hahahaha because "donations are appreciated but REFERRALS are better"

anywho...

.

.

.

Hello, Everyone!

Transfer season again and guess what? I'm staying in Sisaket! We are both staying so that's great coz I get to stay with the awesome Sister Shipp :)

The week was full of joy and service opportunities.

On our last pday, my companion and I didn't go with some missionaries to ride elephants because we were too tired to go so we just decided to stay home and relax. We needed it and I think that helped me a lot! hahaha! we just went to a member's house and she taught us how to cook sweet and sour vegetables. it was so good. It has cucumbers and pineapples and tomatoes so I can do it even back home. I'm so excited for that. 

We had Switch Offs with the Sister Training Leaders last Wednesday so it was all fun and also productive as we got to visit a lot of people too. That day, it was sad to drop one of our investigators. (dropping is when you stop teaching someone because they are not progressing) She used to go to church but never kept commitments. Last Sunday, we had to drop 2 of our daters too. Their date is really close but we had to drop them because they cant go to church anymore. They are two old women who tries to keep commitments but some of their neighbors are trying to threaten them if they keep coming to church. Their neighborhood is sort of a black Magic neighborhood and some people said they are going to kill them if they continue to meet with us. One of them cried because she wants to be baptized and come to church but so afraid that her family will be harmed. The members also asked us not to visit the neighborhood for it's kind of dangerous. So all of that was so sudden and weird. The members kept on saying that once investigators progress, the adversary will always work hard to keep them from walking on the right path. true though. 

But then again, miracles do happen as long as we seek for them. Last night was our Halloween party and we got to see some new people at church. I was so excited for the party because we invited a lot of people. Also, it was the end of the transfer so last chance to hit our goals! The people last night were awesome and we took the chance to talk with more people. At times, it can be tricky and scary but we found two prepared people and extended baptismal dates. They accepted! We knew for sure that there is Heavenly help right there. Miracles!

Yesterday, we also got to visit an old member. she's 102 years OLD!!! WOW. She is so skinny and small. We sang for her and she liked it. (I think she liked it lol) She reminds me of my grandmother who is now 93 years old. It made me miss her! tomorrow, we're going to her house again to help wash her and her room.

This week, we also did some gardening. Here in Thailand, it was my first time to use the heavy grasscutter and hoe and I think im pretty good at it. hello pa!!! We worked under the heat so double fun!

Cold Season is almost here! Christmas is almost here! AAAAAAAAAAAAH I love you all. Keep serving other people because if we serve them, we are also serving Him. I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior. This is what I've got for this week. message you all on Monday!

p.s. I can reply until 6pm

Love, 

Sister Gagarin

PHOTOS!

Grace of Christ

Indeed a crazy fast week and it's almost the end of the transfer! AAAAH so fast! 

This week was one of my best weeks so far! So many service opportunities, visited and shared with a ton of people, and learned a looooooooot! I feel like I hit this milestone in my 10 months of service as a full-time missionary (I just realized that!!!! Woah). This week, I learned a lot from all the experiences I've gained and from all the people I've met. I loved yesterday's Sacrament Meeting. Because I have felt how much Heavenly Father loves me so much. I was humbled by all my weaknesses and I felt grateful for my Father in Heaven. I'm grateful for His plan for me and for giving me someone who can help me feel loved and feel strengthened -Someone who understands me. I know that Christ is my Savior and that He loves me enough - to remind me that in life, there'll be failures, mistakes, times when I will not reach my weekly goals, and things will sometimes not go according to what we've planned. That it's okay, and that I am enough. Efforts were great. But also, I have learned and I know that He loves me enough. He loves me enough to not let me stay the same but to learn and improve: to prayerfully set goals, to make plans with faith. He loves me enough to help me be better than who I was yesterday because He believes in my divine potential. OUR divine potential. He's helping us reach the best version of ourselves and that's through the Grace of Christ. And that's a wonderful plan right there. As what Sister Kearon has said, He loves us in our beautiful messiness. All of these are possible as we follow the examples of our Savior and as we exert prayerful efforts each day. I know that if we willingly and faithfully take every step towards the Savior, He gladly and lovingly meets us more than halfway. I love Him so much! 

Ended the week and we reached our goal! Miracles. My companion is so awesome and I look forward to the weeks to come! 
So, for this email, I want to share about some things that help me in this journey!!! Like what we do every day to help us in our every day work. (That my help my friends too who are preparing for a mission)

1. STUDY!!!!!
Well, because my companion is in her 1st transfer, we have 3 hours of study!!!!!! Yay. I love studies. We have Personal, Language, and Companionship studies.
PERSONAL: 
I make sure to 
• Study About Christlike attributes for 5-10 minutes
• at least 1 general conference talk
• Book of Mormon/PMG
• Study for investigators
• And if I have extra time, I'll read from The new testament and more talks :)
LANGUAGE
• Read Thai Book of Mormon (almost done! Helps me a lot with my language!!!)
• Read church magazines in Thai ( because the language here is more conversational, it's usually where I get my 5 words a day)
• Listen to talks in Thai 
• Read the Thai Book of Mormon with my comp

COMPANION
• Sing in Thai 
• Read Missionary Handbook and Safeguards
• Recite stuff in Thai
• ROLEPLAYS
• And share what we've learned from our personal study
• Training

2. PRAY
• My prayers have changed and I try to really communicate with Heavenly Father. THis is what helped me tha most! 
• Pray as a companionship! Pray for the goalzzz
3. OPEN YOUR MOUTH
• The golden rule that's จำเป็น. Because nothing happens in missionary work unless you have someone to teach. Find someone to teach by opening your mouth. (That's me telling myself 555)
4. LOVE THE PEOPLE
• Serve your companions and the members and basically everyone. 
5. JOURNALSSSSS
• "We all have had experiences that promote and build faith. They should be remembered and passed down to future generation" Elder Maxwell so... #JournalsAreImportant I strive to write everyday! Right now, I'm on to my 4th Journal through the mission. Sometimes I study them and just laugh at myself. Just kidding.
6. WORK HARDER and SMARTER and be Exactly Obedient: I'm grateful for my companions because I've seen their example of obedience. They inspire me! 

I might have more but this is all for now. Maybe next time I'll email about... WHAT'S IN MY BAG? hahahaha I'm just kidding I love you all!

By the way, Our challenge for this week and for the rest of the year is Presdient Nelson's challenge which is to study and finish the Book of Mormon by the end of this year! I'm si excited for that. If you're not a member of the church, you can get yours for free here: mormon.org

Also, sad to say but we haven't found the ONE or หนึ่ง. He was just gone. And we cant find him. I pray for him and I know he'll come back in time and learn with missionaries again and eventually accept and live the gospel. 

I รัก you all

Sister Gagarin
ซิสเตอร์กาการิน

I dont have photos these week (yes kuya, wala hahaha) but here's noriii

WHAT'S UP

Have I told everyone how much I love Sisaket yet?

I LOVE SISAKET!!!!!

I have learned so much from this area: from my companions, the members, and from all the people that I meet each day. 

This เขต is สุดยอดมากๆๆๆ 🧡 something that I learned from the past week too is Working with Members. It helps the work move forward and helps people to #stay. :)

I know I haven't been emailing so much but here are some new stuff:

• LONG SKIRTS SEASON IS OVER!!! Aaaah! we've been wearing ankle-length skirts for almost 6 months so let's rejoice it's finally over.
• WE BOUGHT A FRYING PAN! WE CAN FINALLY COOK! Made Filipino food for my companion and she said it's good. I miss Adobo so I made it! Waaaah!
• GENERAL CONFERENCE. I am so thrilled for all the new revelations and changes. I feel so grateful for being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Learning from the Prophet and from the leaders of the church inspires me. So, I've prepared some "great questions of the soul" before the conference and all of it were answered! As I study more on the General Conference talks, I'll try to include it on my emails. :) I love how the themes emphasized ministering, shepherding :) and striving to be Ambassadors of Christ. All the talks are available at Lds.org <----

I haven't been so good at emailing lately. But starting next week, I'll be back at it! We'll probably go to a computer shop because writing my long emails just with my phone is kind of hard hehehehehe!

Before I end this, I just want to bear you my testimony ว่า I know that we are all children of God and that God has a plan for us. If we will open our hearts, we will be able to feel His love for us. The past week was amazing and testifies of how God loves His children so much and wants us to know what to do to go back and live with Him again. I testify that President Nelson is a true prophet of God. I invite you all to read General Conference talks, ponder about it and ask the Lord yourself if it is true. I KNOW that as we apply these things in our lives, we will be able to feel God's love and be more like Him each day.

I love you all and Have a great week ahead!


รักนะ
Sister Gagarin



Photos:

Went to Cambodia-Thailand Border this morning
Puppies 

Brownies from my Old area!

ISAN, THE CITY, AND SOME INSECTS

Such a busy week! 

Last Monday's pday was fun. We bought and painted some small sculptures and they all sit on my desk right now. That was relaxing! We mostly just stayed at home for pday. Cleaned the house and talked with each other. Hahahaha perfect pday for me. Also a #MiracleMonday because we found an investigator named Charita who asked where the church is. Sometimes, we meet these investigators who randomly come up to us and ask amazing questions. It is so true that we'll either find them or they'll find us! 

Like a lady who sells drinks in front of the school last week who asked about the Book of Mormon? We met with her last Wednesday! And guess what? She's read up to 4 Nephi!!! She is so awesome we had an appointment with her at her stand and she really loved reading the Book of Mormon said that she knows it's true. Awesome! 

On Wednesday night we had to go down to Bangkok so we took an 8hour bus ride! Just me and Sister Shipp. Differeny city. Different country! It amazes me how I understand people now. I can still remember earlier this year when my trainer and I went to Bangkok for my work permit! After about three signatures, we're on the way back to Siskaet via sleeping train. But before that, Sister Shipp and I tried to eat at this Hongkong Place. I attempted the Spring Rolls hoping it would taste like LUMPIA but it didn't! Hahaha nevertheless the Pork Bun tasted like SIOPAO so that was good. It was an 8hr sleeping train ride back to Sisaket. Went home then took a nap and then went back to work. Such a busy day still.

So I've been in the ISAN for about 7 months now. I cant speak much Isan but I think I understand more now. Last Friday, we visited an investigator who sells smoothies and taught the Plan of Salvation with her. She just really have problems personally also about prayer and the scriptures(commitments) but she's always been very kind to us and has been going to church this past month. One of her customers asked her about us. I kinda overheard it in Isan. The guy asked her if she is changing religions and she was defensive about it and said she isn't and that we're just visiting. Well, that made me really sad because after that conversation, she didn't want to speak with us anymore and ค่อยๆ made us leave in a nice way. I love her and I've always been praying for her. I know it's like nothing personal when people reject the gospel but it's still sad at times. She's amazing and I hope and pray that everything goes well for her. We were walking home and my companion asked me what just happened and so I told her. But the work continues, the search for the elect is still on and the faith to find shall not falter ;)

This week was about service too! We went to another town to help weed a member's yard and also fill a hole with logs for charcoal, I guess. I've seen it twice back home because my father made charcoal once in our farm(before). I was so tired because I used a hoe while working and I think I did a pretty great job weeding hahahahaha after that we spent time to pack everything in our and move to our new house which is way closer to the church. Also has kitchen so I'm so happy I'll be able to cook again!!!!!

Alsoooo Me and my companion chose to fast for this transfer and for Miracles yesterday and พอดีว่า when we went to Sacrament meeting this member asked us to sit with a referral! Miracles. Miracles. We met a not so old lady and went to her house yesterday too. 

I want to bear my testimony that there are miracles every single day - that God is a God of miracles and if we will open our hearts, we'll surely open the door where miracles are. Also, we can help others open the doors of miracles too! And that begins with Love. 

In Moroni Chapter 7 it says

48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

I know that Love in our hearts can do so many miracles! Let us pray for love every single day. 
I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ loves us so much. Heavenly Father sent His son because of His love for us. Jesus Christ sacrificed because of His love for us too. 

So my challenge for everyone this week is to think of someone you love- be it a family or a friend. Why do you love him/her? And we'll continue the challenge next week!


Love you all! 

Photos:

This week I Actually tried to eat an insect and some worms. Not so bad

BKK photos

Drinking BUKO without a straw 555