The Gospel Light Shines Through Us

Elder Ganjanakrid, Brother Yut, Elders Appleyard, Gibbons, Sister B, Elders Tzanis, Davies

All members in Thailand have a conversion story. Few adult members were born into the church. In fact, I haven't met one over the age of 25. But all have special conversion stories. A great percentage of converts come from the English classes offered at every LDS meetinghouse on Tuesday nights. Sister B is one of those converts.

Sister B is a lovely girl born in Laos. Her father passed away when she was 10 years old. She left her mother and sister and came to Bangkok at age 16 to live with an aunt and work in Bangkok. Three years later, she came with friends to the English class at the Asoke chapel and met Elders Segura and Appleyard. She told me later she was afraid to talk with them at first. That first night she marked on her English class application that she was interested in hearing about the gospel.

The special thing about B is her spirit. When we first met, she seemed shy and frightened, but she continued coming to English class and missionary discussions. Elder Sowards and I sat in on a discussion where she talked about her reluctance to commit to baptism, and said she needed more time to pray about such a change in her life. She'd be the only member of her Buddhist family, and that concerned her. I believed it would take a few more months for her to develop a strong enough testimony of the gospel to step out on her own.

The next time we saw her—a week later, she was all a-glow. The change was obvious. Her smile, radiant! She had bounce in her walk. Where was the scared little girl I knew?

“I’m being baptized on Saturday!” she told us in her Thai/Laotian. I was in awe! It was a great reminder that only the gospel can make such a change in a person. Only the joy of accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and allowing Him into our life brings increased hope and true happiness.

The baptism was two weeks ago and she is still glowing.

Late note: Though we were not able to attend her baptism, here is a photo of her with Elders Tzanis, Davies, Ganjanakrid, and member Ronnie.