February 29, 2016

Elder Jesse Bundy ponders over 2nd Kings Chapter 5 in the King James Version of the Bible, enjoys fishing and continues spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ in Thailand

The Sisaket Squad.. except one! Sister Coats, Elder Weaver, Elder Hunt, Elder Jesse Bundy, Sister Coats' companion.  Sister Coats looks just like my sister, Shae, haha!

Elder Jesse Bundy shared with enthusiasm his week of teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Thailand and working with some really great missionaries!  He writes, "....On Tuesday, we had District meeting.  We talked a lot about giving baptismal dates and helping our investigators truly gain a testimony and really commit to change before getting baptized, as well as working with less active members in the area.  Elder Bundy shared Alma 17 in the Book of Mormon with the missionaries and compared Ammon with their district and King Lamoni with God as they look after the sheep, sometimes meet robbers, or experience difficult trials.  He went on to explain that they can follow Ammon's example, NOT THE SERVANT'S example (sitting back and weeping), but face problems, have no fear and trust in God.....Elder Weaver and I then went on a contacting extravaganza and met a lot of great people, when all of a sudden we ended up on a dead end road where a HUGE german shepherd popped out of the bushes!!  It chased us down!!  So.....Elder Weaver tased it, hahaha!  It has not given us anymore problems.  We also taught a family who lives in the jungle....straight jungle people!  The husband brought in a sack of bugs and we had to eat some......NASTY!  That night in English class, we taught the, 'Monkey's Jumping on the Bed' song.  I am loving my mission!"

I LOVE the little children here!  Two of the kids in one of the families we are teaching

"On Wednesday, we went in search of a family out of the city, about 3 kilos, and found some men standing around a construction site.  We invited them to go to church and learn English....one of them is very interested.  I don't know how it came up but out of the blue, one of them said, 'Aren't you two white people being in the wilderness out here, worried you will get killed by Thai people?'  I was like, 'Should I be?'  Elder Jesse Bundy added that he has felt completely safe and well received by the people in the Sisaket area.  That he has not been afraid even once other than the occasional dog chase.  He continued, ".....the family wan't at their house, so we went back to town and bought some coconuts to drink.  The man selling them was C R A Z Y!  He was Cambodian and very drunk, but his coconuts were very reasonably priced, so they were very hard to turn down.  Anyway, he'd ended up trying to sell us his daughters for wives......soooooo, that was AWKWARD and so wrong on so many levels!"......Elder Bundy added that they bought the coconuts and left as quickly as possible!

Elder Jesse Bundy and Elder Weaver with one of the favorite families they are teaching

"Thursday, I did a switch off with Elder Hunt.  (A switch-off is where he trades companions with another set of Elders in the area for the day.)  I have started setting an alarm on the phone for every hour, on the hour to remind me to get down and do 30 pushups.  It comes out to be around 420 pushups a day.  So, I've been doing that for the past couple of weeks.  Elder Hunt is my bud.....he is hilarious and a boss!  He is from Riverton, Utah.  I have been really impressed with how he handles difficult situations and I love working with him..."

Elder Jesse Bundy multi-tasking, lol.......on the phone, giving Elder Weaver a ride on his bike because he had a flat tire.  He added, "Elder Weaver gets flats frequently..."

"Friday, we did SWITCH OFFS IN UBON!  Elder Weaver and I were up at 4 a.m. to catch a train to Ubon, which is an hour and a half train ride from here.  But the train we got on looked like it was taking us to a concentration camp...hahaha!!  It was soooo ghetto!  I sat on the seat and it broke in half!!  But.....the switch off was soooo good!  I was with Elder Mitchell from Payson, Utah.  He taught me a lot and we did some serious work! We were blessed to teach a boat load of people and were able to get a BUNCH of phone numbers!  It was just awesome all day long working with him.  He has the same personality as my brother Jake and he even looks like him!  I'll get you a picture of him some time!"

Elder Jesse Bundy riding the train to Ubon to work with Elder Mitchell

"......Saturday morning, we were up at 4 a.m. once again to catch the bus in Ubon back to Sisaket.  Now.....I thought the train was ghetto, it had NOTHING on the half-a-bus we got to ride on, on the way home! Not only was it ghetto, but it had no windows and it was SO loud!!  It was a VERY uncomfortable experience and I was sooooo tired......but all in all, it worked out."

"We took Sister Dang, an older member who is way good at Lao and Eisan languages to teach the jungle family with us.  When we got there, something was off.....the husband was slightly drunk and his wife was very uncomfortable.  Sister Dang took the wife aside and spoke with her for a second.  When they returned, Sister Dang completely destroyed the husband!  She just spoke very plainly to him about being drunk and for being a terrible husband and father....Elder Weaver and I just looked at each other and were a bit uncomfortable at the entire situation.  Sister Dang didn't know these people for more than 5 minutes when she just stood up and began chastising their behavior!  After a very uncomfortable 2 minute silence, the husband just broke down and said, 'I want to change!  I know I am terrible and I can't do it anymore.  I want to change!'.....Then Sister Dang pointed at us and told the husband that we would tell him how, then said, 'Elders!  Tell him HOW!'......Elder Weaver and I were stunned for a minute, thinking 'OH MY GOODNESS,' but then we were able to teach them about repentance and Jesus Christ and how we can become new people!  The spirit was so strong and they are just SO ready to change and repent!  It was NUTS!  After that AMAZING experience, we went to another family behind the church.  Sister Dang, again with NO FEAR told them that even if they don't go to church or get baptized, that they need to let their kids go......then asked how old they were? We found out that they were all over 8 years old.  She said, 'Oh good, they can be baptized and they will be so well behaved!'  It was awesome, but I was like, 'calm down Sister Dang...haha...Anyway, what do I know...they are all doing good and progressing little by little."

Elder Jesse Bundy

"On Sunday, four of our investigators showed up to Church!  Wizzy, Sister Buu (she has children and is gaining a strong testimony and will be baptized this next Sunday), and one of our other families (Le and DitO.  Our District met the mission standard AGAIN, which is called balanced.  This hasn't happen in Sisaket in a very long time! I am working with some AWESOME missionaries here!  And....the Sisters witnessed Bummi, a 9 year old little girl get baptized this week!  After Church, we taught Sister Buu more about preparing for baptism through repentance, took Brother Phrong, (who is a brand new member and just received the Holy Ghost), to visit an old member and then took our family, Le and Dit, to eat at the Bishop's house!  It was just an AWESOME Sunday!!"

"In my personal study, I read a story in the Old Testament about a man named Naaman this week.  It has really stuck with me and has helped me a lot!  What I took from the story was that it's not only the big things that God asks us to do that make a difference in our lives, it's all of the little things He asks us to do every day that really counts..... I love the story, which is in 2 Kings, Chapter 5 of the King James Version of the Bible." 

 Elder Jesse Bundy stops along side of the road to get a picture while looking for a fishing hole

 "Today, we woke up at 3 a.m. AGAIN!"  (This is unusual as this day is their p-day and are going off for a day of fun on their day off.  Missionaries typically get up everyday during the week at 6:00 a.m.),  he continues, ".....this time, the other Elders came with us as we went in search of a better water source with bigger fish and hopefully some water buffalo that we could ride.  Needless to say.....we got lost!  We biked 7 kilos out of the city in pitch black, in hind sight - we won't be doing that again.  We were led to a road that was full of dogs, UFO's and cows!!  LOL....Thankfully, Elder Weaver had his taser, I had my stick and Elder Hunt had cooking pot to cook the fish in....We had to fight out way out of that situation, but thankfully, we found a river and threw a line in.  Sadly, no luck again!  I swear...the only way to catch 'em is with a net!  Anyway, today has been a BLAST so far...we are having a really good time after a very busy week of missionary work!" 

 Elder Weaver and Elder Jesse Bundy FINALLY fishing after surviving the dog fight!

Elder Jesse Bundy added, "I kind of enjoy the dog chases!  It gets the adrenaline going and it's a nice switch up from the day to day stuff.  The locals always tell us where to go fishing, but I swear, the fish here are SO hard to catch!.....We just don't use the right bait I guess.....Then we found the water buffaloes!  They are called Kwaay in Thai.  This is a picture of my unsuccessful attempt to ride one.  They are just nasty, weird animals.....and here in Thailand, if someone calls you a Kwaay - it is really bad! lolol....."  

Elder Jesse Bundy unsuccessfully attempting to ride a water buffalo!

"Well, I don't have a whole lot more time left.....that's about it for me this week.  It sounds like you guys are all doing good!  Make sure to tell everyone that I love them and to pray for Buu, Dit, Le, Wizy and Bly."

"Okedokie!  See you next wee...I LOVE YOU!!!"

Elder Jesse A. Bundy