August 16th Letter

Howdy mom and dad.

Your emails were very fascinating this week. They went right along with some of the things I wanted to tell you. This week was very fun, it went by way too fast. For starters, I have to say, “ Dad I'm glad that you don't have an arrest warrant; however, it would have been way funny if that story ended with you calling mom form jail.” I would have laughed myself sick. Your week sounds very interesting. Maybe you should try to stay out of construction zones.

It is too bad Leslee is gone now too. I hope she makes it back all safe and sound. I guess this will give you two a lot of time to spend together. Dads story about the Star Trek movie reminded me; I bought that movie in Thai. I am sending it home in a little bit. But I'm way stoked to watch it in 2 years. Movies here are way cheap, it only cost like $3.00.

I'm glad you liked the pictures, I have like 500 pictures on this card right now. I had a hard time deciding which ones to send. Soon I will send the card home with some other things I have, then you can look at all the pictures and a few videos. I have the coolest video of me eating an unborn chicken. What they do is boil the egg after the chicken has already grown and is about to hatch. It is way gross but funny also. Next Monday we are going to go eat shrimp that are still alive. They call them กุ่ง เด้น (gung deen) = dancing shrimp because they flop around on your plate.

Ok, so i have one way awesome story to tell you. It is incredible... kind of. I'm impressed at least, I hope you all are too. Yesterday, Elder Greene and I went with a member family to see the two that we baptized last month. She has been in the hospital since her baptism so she hasn't been able to come to church, so we thought it was important to go see her. She is home now. Anywho, as we are sitting there having a very great chat, the member, his name is brother เทอด, asked her if she would like a blessing. She of coarse said Yes! So they are getting ready to give the blessing, and i'm just hanging out waiting, and Elder Greene turns to brother เทอด and say's "I think Elder Warner should do it." I was “NO!!! I can't do that.” They both proceeded to “gang up” on me and told me that they had faith that I could do it. And “made” me do it. But yeah, I gave my first blessing in Thai yesterday. (And this wasn't just concecrating the head and oil thing. This was a legit blessing.) I was way nervous. But I did it without even messing up, maybe one day I will speak Thai. There is hope!

Anywho, that is my big story for the week. We also had zone conference this week. We talked about the Book of Mormon and how important it is in every aspect of missionary work, it was great. I love going down with more elders. It really is way lonely just the two of us up here, and our Senior Couple that doesnt speak English. What a riot!

I have a few questions:

1. I have not heard any news about andy and maren getting interviews... What is that all about?

2. Where are my tennis scores?

Those pictures of the BYU practice/game were way sweet, I can't wait o hear how JJ does. He is going to get more playing time now that Unga isn't there. Way awesome.

I love you both. And everyone else at home. I'm greatful for your testimonies every week. I love hearing them, they are a great boost. I don't really know what else to say. but thank you for all your support. I love you I will talk to you next week

August 9th Letter (8/9/10)

Note from Mike - Updated pictures on his other blog

Dear mom and dad.

I would like to start by saying rude. Mom has surgery, and still can muster up the energy to write me. Dad doesn't have surgery, but no letter, SAD!!! You better have been busy taking care of my mother.

So this week I don't have a whole lot to respond to but luckily I brought my camera so I will take the time to send some pictures. To answer some of your questions mom, every night I hang up my clothes in side to let them dry, and then put them on and go get wet. At first I thought it was kind of fun being wet all the time, but now I do not enjoy it. It is hard to find people to teach when it rains because everyone goes inside and doesn't want to visit with us. Plus it is cold, but no worries, we will overcome. I have some cool pictures of the road being all flooded because of the rain. There is so much water on the roads that fish swim around in it, it is way cool. Elephants – the place with elephants is up in Chaing Mai, But there is one elephant that walks along the river everyday. So I see it almost everyday, it is way cool too. I can’t wait for an opportunity to ride one.

Ok so I just got a letter from dad. It was weird you must have been on at the exact moment that I was on – cool huh?

I'm glad to hear mom is doing a little better the last few days than the first few. I know that in no time you will be back to running around, but more comfortably this time. Anywho, yes i liked that story from your mission. Some things are just plain stupid, but it is all part of the experience. I love it. I wouldn't change this for the world.

I will share one experience I had this week that was way awesome, and then a funny story.

We were teaching this recent convert her name is sister (jiab), her husband has been a member about a year now. He is a Laotian, but he lived in England for about 30 years. He was there when you were there dad! Cool little fact. He speaks great English also. Anywho, as we were going to their house to teach we decided to share the Proclamation on the Family thing. As we were finishing up she told us that her husband and son haven't been getting along, and she has been praying for something that would help recognize how important family is. She said this lesson was her answer. I was the answer to someone’s prayer. It was kind of a humbling experience. This new member had enough faith to pray for the help, and the Lord blessed her through us, and really blessed us to be able to convey the right message. It was a very nice experience.

The funny story might not come off as funny, I'm not sure, but we laughed ourselves sick almost. As we were riding our bikes yesterday, a white guy on a little scooter pulled up along side us and then pointed his hand at us (in the shape of a gun) and then said "Bang, Bang!" "I shot you both!" And then sped off! It was way funny. The white people here really don't like us. But this was very random and unexpected. It brightened our whole night.

I think that is about it. Oh but I remember one thing, I taught my first lesson by myself this week. I took one of the members, his name is Brother Troy. He is about our age, and we went and taught a lesson while Elder Greene was in a Branch Presidency meeting. It was so cool, but I was wicked nervous. I did pretty well I think. We went back last night and taught him again, he had been reading in the Book of Mormon and he understood everything that I taught the time before so it was cool.

And I saw a picture of Bennet and Megan in this months ensign, it is on page 32. The column is called mutually benefited. It is a way old picture but you should tell their parents, I laughed a little bit.

Anywho, I love you all I appreciate your love and support. Mom, get feeling better. Dad I hope this next week at work will be more สบาย (great). I'm sure it will.

Tell Maren I have not yet received a letter but it will probably come this next week sometime. They take about 2-3 weeks to get here. Lame, I know.

August 2nd Letter

Hello Family,

So another week is down can you believe it, It is august. We are right in the middle of rainy season. It rains everyday and I'm always wet!!! Next season is cold season. (I know I was shocked to hear they had a cold season too!) But apparantly you freeze at night. I'm so stoked. I'm glad you guys had the opportunity to see those pictures and talk to brother Ice. I'm shocked he talked to you, He told me he was to scared to talk to family! Anywho, how was his english. He comes to the english class we teach every tuesday. He is getting way good. (unlike me, He is just being nice, I'm still terrible at thai) No i do not have blonde streaks in my hair! I'm just in the sun all day so it has gone pretty light. I'm not sure if you saw pictures of the baptism or not. But this week I forgot to bring them again so hopefully next week. I'll get better at remembering eventually.

I'm glad you all enjoyed the funny story. Elder greene has thouroughly enjoyed sharing it with everyone here. Including our zone leaders who cracked up. Which reminds me, We did another switch of this week. But this one was special, they both came up to nong khai and worked in our area with us for a day. So I went with Elder D. (he is the oldest zone leader, he will be จบing at the end of next moves) But we went out inviting all day. It was so awesome We found 8 Potential families. Our goal is to only be teaching whole families. Because that turns one lesson into 4 or more new investigators. This is the way that the church will progress the fastest, so we went out and found a bunch. A good day for finding is like 5 to 6 people. But we found 8 families. It was spectacular. And then elder greene did the same thing with the other zone leader (elder Richie). It was a great day. We Have got a bunch of new investigators because of it. Then they stayed at our house that night. It was way fun havng four elders there. It is always fun to get a change.

Ha that story with maren is pretty funny. I giggled. It reminded me of a story here. Singing the hymns in thai is fun. Reading is one of the easier things to do in thai. Once you know what sounds everything makes. reading is easy. And in the Hymns You don't have to worry about tons so it is even better. Anyway to my story. We got our senior couple in this week. and they are japanese. They speak a little bit (Very very little bit) of english. And nobody here speaks japanese, anyways, we were with them at church yesterday and we were getting ready to sing the opening hymn, so I handed them a hymnbook (in thai) and the sister was like no thanks, I can't read that. And pulled out a japanese one... Wow, that was hard. Thai people aren't the best singers to begin with. especially since they don't know the hymns very well. So when she started singing in japanese. it through everyone off. And on top of all that. NOBODY here can play the Piano!!! Yeah that was a fun. Anywho after that we found out she actually could play the piano so she went and played and didn't sing the last two hymns.

that Article about thailand wasn't lying it is way pretty here. All the people in Nong Khai like to brag that it was rated the number 7 best place in the world to live. You should look that up. Everyone here says that, but nobody can say where it was published. I'm not sure I believe them.

Also i really really really hope byu does that. That would be so sweet. Forget all conferences and go and play whoever. That would make for some pretty sweet games. Also It would make us look really awesome. We would be trend setters.

Oh my gosh, I forgot it was marens birthday this week. (don't tell her) But tell her happy birthday. I'm glad she had a good one. It is great that Jenny and ted came over too and had fun. It sounds like everyone is still having a blast. All of you healthy go getters back in utah... I have been eating nothing but greasy delicious thai food for 2 months and i love it! Plus the bonus, I haven't gained any weight. I also have been utilizing the half hour they give us to work out in the morning. It is a goal to start though.... Some day. YOu know how I always did with going to the gym.

You asked me about the answer I got to my prayer. IT was a really complicated answer it was just that I needed to change my attitude, and do the best that I could. This past week I have found out a little bit more about it. He is my trainer. and The truth is he really hates training. you have to do quite a bit, especially since the JR. cant speak thai very well. And he doesn't like having to do that. he didn't want to help out much. So he has been frustraited that he has to do so much. But that isn't something I can help with. I do as much as I can I even teach some whole lessons by myself. I know that as I do as much as I can I will be blessed by the lord and that He can atleast see that I'm putting my all in to it and be a little less flustered. But just even in the last few days I feel like I have grown more with the language then in the whole 2 months I've been here. Elder D really helped out alot. And I think it was a nice break for elder greene. I think it is just helping us both grow and be patient. We get along great, I just think when he looks back on his mission this will be his least favorite part. But I love it and I'm having fun so I think we will both be good. He Only has this moves left up here anyway then he will get changed around and change is always good. I just know he is praying he doesn't have to train again.

Thanks for sending that package. I'm not sure when I get it. We usually don't get our packages until moves meeting so probably the last week of august or first week of september. Hopefully what you put in it will last a little bit. But I'm way excited to get it I use the chap stick everyday so that will be nice.

Anyway I think that is all I have. I love you mom and dad. Mom good luck on your surgery tomorrow. or later today for me. I will pray for you. I know everything will go well.

P.S. I found a scripture the other day that I loved. IT has a ton in it. if you want to read it it is Haggai 1 :4-5 IT is good.

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.