July 26th Letter

Howdy family,

This week was really awesome. I'm not quite sure why, maybe it is because there were only 6 days in between p-days, I don't know. All I do know is it was sweet. We had a bunch of lessons and stayed busy, so it went by really fast. I hope your week has been equally as fantastic. I don't have too many stories, but I can share a few experiences. Our two investigators that got baptized last week, only one was able to get confirmed this week. Sister จิ๊ด, was in the hospital. She has some sickness that the doctors can't figure out, it is sad. We did have the opportunity to go to the hospital and visit her though. As soon as we walked in she asked for a blessing, it was really nice. We then said we would send over some Liahonas to keep her occupied. I have to be honest though, after seeing the Nong Khai hospital, I'm very grateful for American health care. All the people are just bunched into one room here, no matter how sick you are. I think you get sicker after you go to the hospital then before. Anyway, my goal while I am here is to never have to go to a hospital for myself. Wish me luck!

I have one funny story that I just remembered. We were teaching this lesson with a guy named Chaat. He is about 65 years old and very hyper active. Anyway, we got to the part where we wanted to pray with him, so we explained what we were going to do and how he didn't have to do anything just listen and then say amen at the end. We then told him that out of reverence we close our eyes and "clasp" our hands. He thought this meant hold hands, so he comes up and starts holding my hands in the most uncomfortable way. Thai people are very touchy feely with their friends so we were too close for comfort!!! His hands where in my lap!!! I was so uncomfortable. Anyway Elder Greene started to laugh, and then I started to laugh, and then throughout the whole prayer that I was trying to say, I was laughing. And it was our first prayer with him. I think we ruined our chance. It was terrible. Ah...

I will share another experience I had. I was praying and I have tried to do something new as I have prayed. After I pray I like to sit and ponder. I have always been told to pay attention to my feelings and thoughts because that is how the Holy Ghost will answer your questions. I guess I have always kind of struggled with this. I have never been a person to recognize a spiritual prompting right at the moment. I know they exist, but I always just felt that whatever I was doing was working. I had never received an answer that I have recognized so clear, until last week. My companion and I have gotten along this whole time, but I felt that we weren't really connecting. I felt like he was struggling with me and I couldn't figure out why. So as I prayed. I asked to know why, and instead of just asking for it to be fixed I asked what I could change to fix it. As soon as I finished my prayer, I continued to kneel and listen, and there it was – the answer! It felt like some one had inserted it into my brain. It is not something that I could have ever thought of myself but I did. As soon as I recognized it I prayed again and then wrote it down. Ever since then he and I have been like brothers, we get along great. We both became very optimistic all of a sudden. In Thai it is called มองโลกในแง่ดี. You can ask Brady what that means. This moves is going to be great. I'm so stoked.

It sounds like Kasey gave a great talk. I'm glad he is home and doing well. He wrote me while I was in the MTC but it was too difficult to send a letter to Ecuador – by the time I would have sent it he would have been home before he got it, so I haven't written him back yet. And now I'm pretty sure if I do write him back he won't write me back, but he sounds like he is doing great so I am happy for him. And for your info I have written Ashley but not in a long time. I sent her a letter last week so it should get there in a little bit. I felt bad because it has been too long since I wrote her last, but it is coming.

It is cool that Ryan is the second counselor in his Branch Presidency. It is a tough job. At least it is here, and I'm sure it is there too. The Elders here have a ton of responsibility; the ward really relies on them. But our mission president is trying his hardest to change that. Elder Greene is the last elder in Thailand to be in a branch presidency. And next week we are getting our older couple and we were just informed that he would be replacing Elder Greene in the branch presidency. This guy is a stake Patriarch in Japan, but has been living in Salt Lake for a few years. It is going to be great for the branch. Have Julee and Kevin give Ryan my best. Can you believe he has less then a year left?

That is really sad about Bennet. He just seems to be getting further and further off the path. I hope he can find himself in the next little while. He needs something to go really right in his life. He needs the Gospel! It changes people’s lives; I see it here every day. There is a kid here in the ward, His name is Brother Ice. He is 26 and has been a member just over six months now. He helps us teach probably 3 times a week. He is amazing. He had no direction in his life. Now he is helping us bring people to baptism. He is such a great member.

That reminds me Have Maren log in to my facebook and keep it updated. I have people from the ward here that added me so we can stay in touch later. Brother Ice told me to have Maren do it ASAP, so have her do it today would you?

Another thing I need is deodorant, I'm not out but packages take for ever, so if you send it now I think I will get it by next moves meeting. That would be great.

For your other questions: The last week has been really rainy here and about 85-90 degrees, so I have been shivering all day. I really never thought I would get this way, but I am so cold now. I bet you guys never thought you'd here me say that.

The language is coming. I'm not as frustrated about it anymore. I can understand enough to get along. Talking is really hard but I try in every lesson, eventually that part will come too. I am now able to understand scriptures as people read them so I feel blessed in that way.

Other than that I think that is all I have. I am glad you are all doing great. Good luck with your next surgery mom. I will pray for you. Don't forget next Sunday is Fast Sunday. So utilize its amazing power. Good luck with your work dad. It will keep you busy so the time will go by super fast. I love you all have a great week.

July 20th Letter

Alright so you are probably wondering why you didn't get an email yesterday. If you are, it is because the president changed our P-day this week due to the moves; however, the lonely pair of elders up here in Nong Khai are not moving, so it doesn't affect us much. But something cool is happening this next week. We are getting a senior couple up here. This will be sweet because they will be able to help out with the Branch, that way my companion and I can do more missionary work and less branch work (in case you have forgotten he is the second counselor in the branch). Our Branch President is currently living in Provo; therefore, my companion has a lot to do – which reminds me, I never told you about our Branch President. He is a United States citizen. He owns a house and a restaurant in Provo. It is called the "Thai (something) garden" you should check it out. If you saw him you could tell him that your son is a missionary in his branch. That is cool about Brady's friend. I'll bet his picture is the first one on our wall. It is really cool that he opened this area. It is special up here, but everybody’s first area is their favorite, so I'm a little bias. I will send some pictures maybe next week. I have a few from my First 2 baptisms!!! YEAH! IT is a couple too which means family, and that’s our goal, Families! But I'm way excited about it. They both had a great experience on Sunday.

Anywho, Back to the email, I will start with that question about the money. I didn't forget i just had a few dollars left over from when I came so I used that to buy a few things, I'm sure I will take some out in not too long. We are supposed to always have a little bit of extra money at home in a safe place incase of emergencies so we can get down to the mission home if we need to. I won't have a problem getting it out; I just need to find some time to go get it. And then mom asked a question about the alligator farmer. He takes the blood from them and sells it for medical research. He is making very good money.

This week has been pretty weird. It was a low week for us with pretty much everything. We didn't have a bunch of lessons and we didn't have a whole ton of people interested in us either. But it is ok, we still had fun trying. Plus we had some really really weird lessons. Our first one was with a guy his name is อาดีสัก (Aadiisak). He is a guy that works in Laos but lives here in Nong Khai (there are lots of these). We sat down to teach him and he got out all his picture books, and started to tell us his life story. He told us about his vacations and then about his work. It was weird. Anyway, we went on to teach about prayer and how it helps us through our difficulties, and he was like "I have a million baht debt, can it help with that?" And we were like "Sure! But you have to work for it too." He then took us to his back yard and showed us these bags (like 20 sand bags) but instead of sand they were filled with gold. (I thought to myself, NO wonder you are in debt.) Anywho we sat back down and tried to teach some more and he brought out a whiskey bottle. We were both like "No! We don't drink" But he kept saying "Bee" We couldn't understand because we thought he was speaking Thai, turned out he was speaking English. The Whiskey bottle was filled with honey. He gave it too us as a gift, for coming and teaching him. He was weird!

And the next cool story from this week is about a guy named สุพกีด (Suphakiid). We went and taught him and his family, and started with a prayer. We are the first missionaries who have taught him and this was our first lesson. Anyway, after the prayer he started to tell us about his beliefs. He talked for like 15 minutes and then started drawing us a picture. He said that he has studied a lot of religions like Christianity, Buddhism, Muslim, etc. Anywho, he drew us a picture of what he thought life was all about. We looked at it, and it was almost identical to the plan of salvation. He had different names for everything, and some of the ideas where a little skewed, but he practically drew us the plan of salvation. So we just decided to show him our little card of the plan of salvation. He took one look at it and was like, "This is Correct!" It was amazing. He looked at our card and described what happened at each place. He was flabbergasted that anyone else knows the plan. He took pictures of us because he thought it was so amazing that we knew that Plan of Salvation. It was so funny. We told him that we had been taught this our whole lives and this is what our church is all about. I think he is going to be great.

That is really all that happened this week. It went fast here like I’m sure it did at home. I can't believe I have already been here for 1 move. (6 weeks for those who don't know) I'm sure the next six weeks will go just as fast as the last. (and after that it is 6 months, 1/4 of the mission, This is going to go too fast. Every day has to count!) I'm glad everything is going great at home. Tell Judd happy birthday for me and tell Maren also. And everyone have a happy 24th also. We have a cool holiday happening up here on the 26th. IT is the candle festival where everybody lights candles and sends them down the river. It should be way sweet. Too bad i will be inside sound asleep by the time that happens.

Anywho i love you all. I'll talk to you next week.

July 12th Letter

Hey mom and dad,

I will start this off by thanking you for all the uplifting stories. The language is pretty difficult and it is really easy to get discouraged. I feel pretty much the same as all the other missionaries that learn foreign languages I suppose. I always thought I was a pretty patient person, but that is not true! I really have to grow on that Christ-like attribute. This week has been a big learning week for me, at least in my personal study. I've tried something new with my prayers. I have noticed that they were pretty similar, every time. It wasn't that I was giving the same old routine prayer, it was just I have been lazy in my prayers. Not being specific, and honestly being pretty selfish. I noticed that I was asking for more blessings than I was giving thanks for. So the last week I have tried doing things a little differently. I have tried to make my prayers longer that way I know if I’m being specific, and I have started thinking of all my blessings, that way I can acknowledge them in my prayer. It has changed my whole outlook on all these difficulties. Instead of thinking of them in the murmuring kind of way, I consider it a blessing and thank my Heavenly Father for them, even though I don't always know how they are going to bless me, I know that he only gives us challenges to help us learn and grow. So it has to be a blessing and one day in the future I will be able to look back and understand why.

Your stories have been really helpful; I plan on remembering them over the next week and seeing how I can change my outlook on my situation. I know there is a reason for why I'm here, even though I don't know what it is yet. I’m not exactly sure what you guys said to my family but all of a sudden people started writing me, it was really nice. I haven't heard from most of them in a long time. Everyone told me that over time the letters and emails would just stop coming. But I was hoping it would be longer then a month after I was out!

I guess it is my turn to share a story or two.

This last week we had a lesson with a guy named เบค แคม, I don't know exactly how you would say it in English but it would be something like this Bake Kam...ish. Unfortunately, I understood everything he said, because he said the same sentence for 30 minutes straight, "you speak Thai not well!" (Thai format) I’m not lying it was that same sentence for 30 minutes, he is lucky he is fifty or else I would have stood up and screamed at him... in English! After the lesson my companion just kept apologizing over and over again. I felt so down that day I didn't want to speak Thai ever again, but then our investigator who is the Crocodile farmer, Eddy, made me feel good. He just kept asking me to speak a lot and helped me through the sentences. He kept telling me I spoke well, I'm glad some people are still nice! This reminds me, I have a cool story. We watched him feed his Crocks the other day. I was reminded of that story when you guys went to Florida and saw the alligators, and dad just hoped that one of the little kids would fall in so it would get interesting, I experienced that. Every time they would throw the meat in the crocodile would snap at it so hard. It was so awesome!

Our two investigators that got married last week got interviewed this week. Next Sunday they are getting baptized! I'm wicked excited for them! That is really the only thing new that has happened this week, just a lot of the same old missionary things. Sorry I don't have any more cool stories. This week went by faster than usual.

I'm sorry this is a pretty short letter. I just don't have more to share! But I’m grateful for both of your letters. I'm super glad mom is doing well. Stay strong and keep up on your exercises. I hope you are having fun all day with aunt Leslee! And I’m glad your busy work stuff is all finished up dad, now you can return to living the สบาย life! Grandma doesn't have to go to dialysis anymore? That is wicked cool. I bet she is the happiest person ever. It sounds like everyone at home is doing so well. I'm happy to hear it. FYI, I still have not received pictures of the new living room or coal! Or the family for that matter!

Anywho I love you all! Have a good week! (sorry it is shorter then usual)

P.S. Where is the Ukulele music?

July 5th Letter

Alright, so I got your letter today. I thought I'd start off with that. It takes about 2 weeks before I would get it up in Nong Khai. I got it earlier because I am down in Bangkok today. This weekend has been very long. We started off on Friday at 3:30 hiring a van to take us down to a place called Koong Khean (I think that is how you spell it in English) We then stayed in a hotel there with the rest of our zone. That was wicked awesome because it was nice to finally be around some other Missionaries. It is lonely up in Nong Khai. We then had zone conference all day Saturday and then took the three our van ride back. The roads in Thailand are very bumpy too so it was less then enjoyable; however, we persevered. We finished out the night there with a couple of lessons and then President Smith came up and interviewed us in his hotel.

Side note, President Smith is a great guy. He reminds me a lot of you, dad. He is a very fun loving man that is strong in his beliefs. He tries to help everyone out even if it is just by saying something to lift you up. He is a very firm believer in the statement: "When something isn't working, change it!" He is changing everything around the mission all the time. He knows that different areas need different things and same with missionaries, so he works around everybody’s needs. He is an out of the box kind of person. It was really fun having him at church. He gave a great talk telling all the members that they need to make goals to go to the temple, and then make a plan to reach them. He talked about how the temple builds spiritual strength and if they want a temple in Thailand then they need to try and become endowed.

Back to my weekend, we had church Sunday and had to do tithing and all after, then send the tithing, and confirm people to callings - it was pretty hectic. But when all was said and done we had a couple of lessons that night and then had to get on a bus and 8:00 pm to come to Bangkok. So we slept on the bus. And we spent the day down here with another companionship that also had to renew visas (that is why we are down here, Elder Greene's visa was almost out) and we travel home tonight 8:30 pm... Another night on a bus, Yay! It will feel good to be able to sleep in my bed and not worry about going anywhere or doing anything extravagant.

We haven't had a lot of time to see the family that was showing some progress but we have continually kept calling them so they can stay focused. I think that will be good. We found another potential family on Saturday so I'm really happy about that. The guys name Is "Moo"... which translates over as Pork (i know go figure).

We also had 4 investigators at church. It was sweet. Somyod came and really enjoyed it. He went on line and got the music to some hymns and started playing them on his guitar. He is doing so great. We are going to give him a hymnbook tomorrow. Also Yo and Jid (the couple that was supposed to get married) THEY DID! They are being interviewed on Saturday! How awesome is that?

I'm Glad to hear about mom’s progress. It was also nice to get an email too! It is good to hear that everyone is taking really good care of her. I'm also glad that Aunt Leslee is home. That will be really fun for the two of them to have each other’s company. I really enjoy getting this stuff it helps so much. I don’t get to communicate a lot because I don't speak the language and nobody speaks English so sometimes I feel pretty excluded.

I am also getting the feeling that my companion thinks I am lame. He is the typical male and I am... not. He doesn't listen to me very often, probably because I am a greenie and everyone thinks we don't know anything. But, that is kind of hard to deal with. It is also hard to state that you have a problem with something when you need him to be able to do anything. I love Elder Greene but I feel that I have no input. Hopefully that will get better. I think the lord is trying to teach me patience and perseverance. I definitely think this will help me grow.

I love hearing about all dad’s mission experiences. It is a great boost to helping me continue on in my missionary work. If you have more stories please continue to share them. They are a big help.

Alright I don't think there is anything else. I love you all. Keep taking care of my mother. And good luck at work and with everything dad. Happy 4th of July! Yesterday...

P.S. I need to learn how to play the ukulele. I have one at the house and it is a great use of time on p-day, so if in my next letter, you wanted to send the cord information in an attachment, I wouldn't complain. Or some books in a package wouldn't be terrible either. Tell Maren I got her letter I will write her back on the bus so she should expect one in about 2 weeks.