Click on the link below the pictures, watch the video and spot Elder Jesse Bundy!
Elder Jesse Bundy shares his testimony and what he has been studying this past week. He writes, "….the other day I was reading from the Book of Mormon in Helaman 12:
23 Therefore, blessed are they who will repent and hearken unto the voice of the Lord their God; for these are they that shall be saved.
24 And may God grant, in his great fullness, that men might be brought unto repentance and good works, that they might be restored unto grace for grace, according to their works.
......I know that as I continue to repent myself and as I bring other souls to repentance through love and kindness, it is a promise that through the grace of God, after all we can do, we will be saved! We will have eternal families and eternal happiness and the only thing God asks us to do is to hearken to His voice, repent, and act. I really do love teaching this message because I know it is true!"
Elder Jesse Bundy and Elder Tew going to work in Bangkok
Elder Bundy shared some of the day to day concerns of missionary work in Thailand and learning to work in the city verses in the small country town he served in before. He writes, "This week was good! We have
done a lot of street contacting... I’m really tired, but it’s a good
tired...lol. We have 3 REALLY solid
investigators who are on the road to baptism and we meet with them as often as
possible. Other than those 3, we’ve been
having a hard time adding new investigators and finding lessons to teach…..being in the city is definitely a different culture than in the country where I was. In Plok, people walk around because they don’t have things to do, in Bangkok, people are walking to get somewhere. Or, if they’re not on their way somewhere, then they are homeless and drunk or high...…..it’s way sad!"
Elder Jesse Bundy is finding that he needs to learn about and adjust to the differing cultures he is encountering in Bangkok in order to teach the gospel there. He writes, "....we have been trying to come up with different ways to approach things......Yesterday, we took a member of the ward street contacting with us. This helped me, personally, a ton! It was definitely a great add in. He was able to give us a lot of suggestions on how not being so straightforward that we scare people away as well as other little things. What you told me mom, about people not caring what I know until they know how much I care keeps always going through my mind. I really like that......I really am trying to apply that more and more as I meet people. And….we just don’t get opportunities, other than teaching english, to do much service here….so I definitely think we need to find more ways to do that......it’s just so different here than in America…..sooo much different culturally. But that’s no excuse for not trying…. Another obstacle we have is that everyone here works from 7am to 8pm and they don’t make any extra money….soo it’s just hard, but we will figure it out."
Elder Tew and I with some members at the church
Elder Bundy gets permission for himself and the other elders in his apartment to work out with a professional muay thai fighter every morning. He explains, "So, this past week we stumbled across a Muay Thai gym that is
right behind our house! Now, every
morning between 5:30-7:00 we go train…..all six of us elders go every morning! It’s insanely awesome! It was hard at first getting sore and stuff
but we are loving it! We have a real
Muay Thai fighter who personally trains us... and NO worries mom, I am always
obedient…lololol….we asked for permission.....we were told that as
long as we’re not stupid – like fighting each other or letting it interfere
with the work and stuff, it’s okay....... It has been really good. Muay Thai fighters are like worshipped over here! Seriously…so I think it will help
us in talking to people while street contacting. But, I’m not gonna lie, it is so much
fun! It’s great knowledge as well! Like, I am really becoming confident in my
ability to defend myself and others at this point, if I need to…..lol… Our trainer is about your
height mom and weighs a solid 150. The
other day, he and I sparred with pads on and he kicked my butt!! He is way good, but he also fights for a
living......The gym we
work out in is on the top floor of a little coffee shop/sewing factory….with
some matts like the ones we have in the garage at our house in missouri....It’s just him and us six elders every morning, 6 days a week!"
Elder Jesse Bundy showing the neighborhood he lives in
He goes on to tell about the area President, Elder Funk's visit last week, "....Oh yeah, meeting Elder Funk and
hearing him speak was sooo good! He is
the area president for Asia. He was way
cool and I got to visit with him for a bit…I will just say it was pretty
awesome! When he spoke, he talked a lot about
the importance of planning ahead of time, teaching with the Book of Mormon, being wise and using good judgment. Oh, and thank you SO MUCH for the pics of AOA!!
They were way pretty....."
Elder Bundy then had a couple of random thoughts, one about his new favorite thing to eat in Thailand and the other about a water monster! First,
Elder Jesse Bundy eating his new favorite food?
".....ice cream and sticky rice on a hot dog bun is now my favorite food ever over here!! (see above picture, yuummm) I eat way too many of them though....lololol.....and...
You can see the monster's head under the bridge with his tail making waves to the right!
He goes on, "...oh my gooodnesss……we saw a water monster lizard thingy in the klong (big river that runs through the middle of bkk that also has yucky sewer in it) the other day! I took a picture.....it was like 6 feet long!!! It was seriously gross and scary!"
Elder Jesse Bundy goes on to discuss his plans after his mission and what they are going to do for PDay. He writes, "In thinking about college, if I’m going to play football, I want to
play for Utah State....if I wrestle, I only care that it is a d1 school......as for PDay today, we are going to
take it easy. We need to rest up with
our new work out schedule..lol…clean the house, do laundry and stuff......
Ohh, and someone asked me about Halloween over here. They kind of celebrate it…..they just
do what they see Americans do….they don’t go knocking doors or anything
like that, but they dress up and have parties.
We’re having an activity at the church…."
Elder Jesse Bundy believed he was helping someone who needed help, and did, but then realized there was only one problem?
Elder Bundy helping?
He explains, "Sooo, the other day we were walking home after a long day of finding
and an old man was struggling, trying to get up an overpass….actually almost
falling down a couple of times! So, I
rushed up and tried to help him out.
I offered my assistance and he gladly accepted! About half way across the overpass, I noticed
that I was carrying liquor for him!?!?!....lol…Elder Tew noticed what I was carrying and took a picture. I had the old man promise he wouldn’t drink
it….oops!!...lol.."
He ends this week's letter with, "....we’re getting ready to go. I love you and dad a bunch! I love my family!..... Tell everyone how
much I love them all!
I love you guys!
Elder Jesse A. Bundy
