November 15th Letter

HOWDY

So guess what, Nope – guess again. OK, stop guessing and I will tell you. Today we are back in Udon. I have to tell you about my last week, because it was crazy. Not really crazy it was just really fast. So, as you already know last Monday we came down to go bowling and then do switch-offs. On Wednesday we had a district meeting and then switched back. I got back up to Nong Khai at about 5:00pm. Then we got a phone call that night and we were told that our Zone Leaders want to switch off with us. So I am the person that is picked to go down to Khon Gaen in the Zone Leaders area. I stayed down there until Saturday. Once again I got home about 5pm. Now it is Monday, and I am back in Udon. It went by so fast. I was only in my area this week for one full day. I have no idea what is going on there. I don't know any of our new investigators, it is kind of sad. But wait, listen to this week. As I said, today I'm in Udon, I will go back to Nong Khai tonight at 5. On Wednesday we will come back to Udon for a District meeting, then we will go back home. Thursday night we will come back down to Udon because Friday we have a Zone Conference in Khon Gaen; however, no bus leaves Nong Khai in time so we have to spend the night in Udon. Friday we will get back to Nong Khai at about 6pm. Anywho, it just so happens that this week is District Conference for the branches up here. So we have 2 meetings in Udon on Saturday and one on Sunday, which means both days we will be traveling down to Udon. Then next Monday we are all going to go to the water fall, and the following Wednesday is moves. So all in all I have 2 days until moves when I will be in Nong Khai all day, and both of them are Tuesdays. And it just so happens that every Tuesday night we teach English class. This is going to go by so fast.

I can't believe you guys have already had your Ward Christmas party. It isn't even Thanksgiving yet, that is just weird. Why do they do it all bizarre? I remember when I was a young chap and we did the Christmas party around Christmas, ah for the good old days. That reminds me, I know can you believe it, on November 24^th I will have been a missionary for 8 months. It just goes by way to fast.. I have already been in Thailand for over 5 months, where does the time go?

So guess what I am going to go do today, OK we have already played this game, you don’t have to guess. Well first we are going to drive to Gumpawapii (the city were brother Sakhaa's family lives). We are going to play with monkeys, see a giant water buffalo, eat some sweet Isan food, see a cool Buddhist temple, and then finish it off with some ping pong. It is going to be a sweet day. I'm really really excited. (Mike’s note: I looked Isan food: fried locusts, fried lizard, silkworm stir fry, and ant egg soup – sounds delicious!!!)

Yeah so I think Brady is right. I haven't served in Bangkok so it is probably my turn. I kind of want to go there, it would be nice to be in a city that is bigger and with more people. I love Nong Khai a lot but I am ready for some change. My companion and I aren't necessarily best friends but we aren't at each other’s throats. We just realize that we have to be together for the next two weeks so we might as well make the best of it. So I think it is going pretty good.

Thank you so much for sending stuff. I hope it will get here before November 25^th. If it doesn't that is ok, then I will get it on January 2^nd, which is closer to Christmas any way. And, I'm not sure I would be able to not open it. MY curiosity gets the best of me sometimes.

So yeah, that is about all for today. I love you guys, have a good week!

November 8th Letter

Hello,

Move date is 25th of November, yes it is on Thanksgiving. All the people that finish their mission go home the day after Thanksgiving, sad huh?! Luckily we don't have to worry about that because I will finish in April. The best news that I have ever gotten is that University of Utah lost. In my President’s letter that I am about to write I will be able to make fun of him. It turns out that he is not only a Democrat he is a UofU fan, JUST my luck right. JK

Ok so I don't have a whole lot to say. This week was not very good, I mean as a missionary. We only have one progressing investigator so that is kind of sad. I feel like I have completely killed the area I am serving in, but that is ok. Everybody says we are in the re-building stage. I'm not exactly sure what that means. But the sweet thing is in the last 3 days we have found 40 potentials, so hopefully some of them will turn into progressors. It was a way sweet end to a terrible week.

Other than no investigators we are doing great. Something really good happened this week. We got a new translation of the Book of Mormon. It isn't in Thailand yet but it is on its way. This should be really sweet. They use new words that are supposed to be more correct. In case you didn't know Thai has a language called rachasap (something like that), but it is the language you use when you talk to the king or a God. So it is like a whole new language. It should be way sweet to read though. I'm excited to get it.

So today for P-day we came to Udon. It is really fun we are going bowling again, I'm very excited. After p-day we are doing switch offs. I am going to be with the district leader this time, it should be fun. I'm looking forward to a break from Nong Khai. It has almost been six months in one area, whoow!

Oh yeah... Brother Troy was wondering why you would text brother Ice back but not him. He says you should write him. Brother Troy speaks English almost perfectly, but Brother Ice struggles a little bit. He showed me what he wrote you. It was funny I told him it was correct, you may want to speak a little bit simpler with him.

There is something else that I wanted to ask for, new music. President Smith has said that we can't listen to anything that has "back beat" which has been translated as drums. So, pretty much all the music I brought is off limits; but, there is a group out there called Vitamin String Quartet. They redo all music into string quartet, so we can listen to it. They do all popular music and past music, it is really cool. If you could burn me some CDs, with sweet music and send it then it would be good.

Anyway that is all. I love you guys. Thanks for your letters they were great.

Love,

Chris

Ps. Mom, I looked at those words, and yeah they didn't make sense at all.

November 1st Letter

Hello,

I'm sorry about last week. It isn't that I don't love getting long Emails. I just didn't have a whole lot of time last week to email back, but this week will not be a problem. I have tons of time.

Q&A's:

1. Flooding in Thailand? Yes, Thailand is having some bad flooding because of some kind of storm down south, but Nong Khai is way too far away! In fact the river is going down. So no such problems up here.

2. I'm not going to lie, things with my companion could be better. I think I have just about driven him crazy. It all started yesterday when we were out inviting and we were just have a friendly conversation. Our conversation got onto the subject of sports some how. Eventually he told me he thought competitive sports where bad for missionaries. Of course, I corrected him and said that competitive sports where only bad if the missionaries let it get TOO competitive, but playing a competitive sport is healthy. It then got a little out of proportion and somehow he got to the point that he thought all competitiveness was contention and of the devil. I corrected him again by telling him that God’s plan is a competition. We have to over come our mortal desires to sin and become more aligned with God. That is a personal competition. He continued to argue, which I thought was humorous because he was trying to beat me in the competition of who was right about competition. I didn't tell him that I thought it was funny because I just done talking about it. In our companionship study we got on another topic that we obviously don't see eye to eye on and started a little argument. I was just a little bit fed up with him consistently trying to one up me, so I called him out. I said, “you are trying to tell me that you hate all compitition but everyday you argue with me and try to one up me!" Yeah, I pretty much called him a hypocrite. I feel a little bad! He hasn't really talked to me since, but I am sure I will get him to open up a little bit. I feel bad but It had to stop. I feel like it was just a companionship inventory. I know you probably wont have time to email me back in time buy if you have any suggestions I'm all ears.

That is way sweet about elder Blaustien’s new companion (Uncle Cliff knows his dad). I met him for a little bit on our way up to Nong Khai. We took the same bus after Transfers Meeting. He is a nice kid. Did you know he is half thai?

I'm glad you got my package too! I was trying to find things that everyone would like. Did you give the พักอาวมา (lava lava) to TJ? He will really be all the rage in the MTC if he wears it. I'm glad you liked the pictures. I thought you would especially love the unborn chicken. Something else you will be excited to hear – Today, in 40 minutes, I am going to go eat Dancing Shrimp! I know I'm pretty excited it should be okay.

As for seeing the fireballs coming out of the river, I didn't see them. They do that about 45 miles down the river, so I couldn't really get out there because it would have taken a lot out of prosalyting time; however, I saw a lot of the cool things happening in the city, that was fun. I guess we will have to come back and see the fireballs after I get home. Which reminds me, I was going to tell you about the season. It is way cold. I would never have guessed that it gets cold, but at night we don't use an air conditioner or a fan and I still freeze. It has just gotten cold in like the last 2 or 3 days. It hasn't rained at all, it is just always cold. Like right now, my hands are cold as I am typing on the keyboard and it is almost noon. I have even considered buying a jacket, but then I remember that I am in Thailand and that would be ridiculous.

As for the primary thing, the easiest thing would be a CD. Before Elder Greene left, he gave me his CD player, so I have one now. It is pretty nifty.

Ok so I did something way fun yesterday that I thought I would share with you. The Branch President asked Elder Takara (senior missionary) To speak in sacrament meeting. Anywho, in order to speak in sacrament meeting they needed a translator and he asked me to do it. So I said yes, which usually isn't that big of a deal, but he told me he was going to speak in Japanese. Yeah, he wrote a talk in Japanese and then translated it into enlish for me, then I translated it into Thai. On Sunday he got up and gave his talk in Japanese, and I said it in Thai, it was so cool. I had a little microphone and I sat in the corner. He put a number everytime he was going to break so I knew where we were. It was so much fun. I felt really legit having the talk actually in Thai to read instead of just getting up and trying to say what he says in broken English. It was a really good talk to. I think the members really felt the spirit.

Anyway. Thank you so much for your letters. I love you. Have a good week.

I know it is probably late, because the party has already happened but send my love to the rest of the family too.

October 25th Letter

So I have to tell you about this week a little bit, it was the coolest thing ever. This week was a huge, huge, huge festival up here in Nong Khai. It is called the Dragon Festival or Fire Ball Festival (I don't know exactly in English), but it was way sweet. I took tons and tons and tons of pictures and videos so I can remember it. It was way sweet. People have been lighting fireworks for 3 days straight. All Day!!! It has been a crazy huge party in Nong Khai. We have people here from all over Thailand. It is way cool. I forgot my camera today so I will have to send them next week, but is is way sweet. (Mike’s note: I think he liked it.)

Also today the Udon Elders came up to hang out for a bit. And then we are doing switch offs, and I am switching off with a greenie. Yeah! It is going to be so much fun. We are doing member switch offs. I remember how much I hated it my first moves in country. It is way sweet to see how far you have actually come. He gets to go teach a lesson by himself up in an area he doesn't know. I feel slightly bad for him, but I am still making him do it.

Your emails were really good today but it took me a long time to read them so I wont have as much time to email back. I'm KIND OF sorry. It sounds like everything is going well in Utah and with the family. You had a question about that member that is in all the pictures. His name is Brother Troy, he is the one with the BYU tie. The other man in the picture with the senior missionaries is Brother Direk. He lived in mesa arizona for 40 years. He speaks English better then Thai. He loves the elders so much, I think it reminds him of when he was baptized in the states. He is such a strong member. I'm glad he is here, he helps out alot.

I don't have time to read the talks but I will print them off and read them at home. I am pretty excited, I love hearing talks from people in America. T he talks in Thailand are really really different. We had a lady get up and tell how special she was because she got baptized twice. A while back they closed the Nong Khai Branch and when they opened it again they had no proof of some people’s records so two people had to get baptized again, she and her friend. So she talked about how special she was.

So yeah I don't think I have much more. Thank you for your emails. Tell everyone at home I love them. I will update more next week.

Note from Mike: Here is a link for the Dragon Festival. It looks/sounds way sweet . http://www.thailand-travelonline.com/thailand-destinations/northeast-thailand-isaan/nong-khai-naga-fireballs-the-mysterious-phenomenon-on-mekong-river/1447/

October 18th Letter

Hello,

So yeah, I didn't get moved! I kind of wanted to because Nong Khai is really small and when you are in a small area for a very long time you start to feel like you have invited everyone, but that is ok. Not very many elders get the opportunity to stay in Nong Khai 6 months and I will, which is kind of cool. I did get a new companion however. His name is Elder Nelson, he is from Las Vegas, Nevada. I have yet to have a companion from Utah, and over 60 percent of the mission is from Utah. One day I will get somebody. This one is going to be a little difficult. I have loved all my companions so far, but this one is very hard to get along with. He has been in the country for one month longer than I have. This does have a positive side, we are both experiencing new things together. He is really focused on being P (sr. companion) and doesn't want me to forget it. This is too bad because up until this point he hasn't led a lesson in his mission, and I have. When we teach he looks at me to know what to do instead of vice versa, and then after the lesson talks about how awesome he did and how I need to be more like him. I am a little glad that I know I won’t be here for more than 6 weeks. I know I can be nice and loving for that long. It is a lot different than with Elder Blaustein. He and I were always on even ground. I really did feel like brothers with him. Oh well everyone gets it at least once on their mission, right?

So I was under the impression that you guys were talking this Sunday. I was excited to hear how you did. I guess I will have to wait until next p-day. T he suspense is killing me. Are you going to send your talks? I loved dad’s talk that he gave at that funeral. It was way forward. I have noticed that since I have become a missionary I am a lot more forward. I am not afraid to call people to repentance (lovingly of course). But I loved how straight forward it was. I am glad that people told you they liked it. It was way good. I also liked that little story about Esther from mom. That is a way sweet story, one of my favorite from the Old Testament. I don't study it too much because it is hard to share Old Testament with Thai people. But that is one of the best in my opinion, I'm glad you like it too. How did your class respond? It sounds like everything is going well at home. It is pretty cool that you guys bought some toys for ไรลี่ (Riley's name in Thai) I can't believe he is close to walking; I really can't believe it has been more than a year since he was born. I really can't believe he will be over two when I get home. Boy time really does fly by now.

I really just don't have a lot more to tell you. This week was good. We should have a couple of baptisms coming up. I hope they will happen while I am here, but I will tell you more about those when they happen.

I was thinking about what I wanted as a treat. To be honest I don't know. But two things couldn't hurt, Yoohoo and burnt peanuts. I don't know why but I have really been craving those for the last little while. So that would be pretty sweet. I also thought of something else I could use but if it is a hassle that is ok. I broke that clear cover case on my ipod, and I think I would like a new one. If it isn't too much of a hassle. I would like that. I did get the last package, and I am loving the suckers, that was brilliant. If you just wanted to send those I wouldn't complain. Definitely my most favorite candy, ever!!! I think the shirt is sweet. I don't have a lot of time to wear it but I definitely will today (p-day). Thank you so much for everything.

No, I forgot to write Bennet and TJ, I'm terrible I'm sorry. It is just hard to write more than one letter, and I only write on p-days. I will try way harder to write them.

I love you all. Good luck next Sunday, you'll do great.

October 11th Letter

สบายดี family ทุกท่าน

So I'm glad to hear how well everybody is doing. It sounds like everyone is having the time of their lives, as am I. This week was way cool because it was conference week; however, it was way weird. It is a completely different thing here in Thailand. I can't even explain to you how bizarre conference was. On Saturday, in all three sessions, we had 4 members there along with 4 missionaries and our branch president for a grand total of 9 people. 1 of the 9 was 9-year old and one was Brother Ice. It is no wonder why there are 13,000 less active members in Thailand. None of them think it is important to listen to the Prophet, but the good news is none of them can get offended by what President Packer said because none of them know it. Honestly people are ridiculous, I hope the people who were upset about that are non members; otherwise, they are apostate, and they should know better – Oh boy don't get me started.

But conference in Thai is way sweet. You certainly don't learn as much as when you listen to it in your own language (I think it is easier to get distracted, and harder to stay focused) but it was still fun. It also could be due to the fact that It was Elder Blaustein and I plus our branch president who just finished a mission here about 2 years ago (26 years old and been branch president twice, he is so strong). So, we might have been a little rowdy. I understood more than I thought I would though, which was cool.

I'm thinking this next week is going to go by fast. I'm still not sure if I’m moving. We find out tomorrow so then I’ll know for sure. I do know, however, that lots of things in the mission are changing this moves. They are merging a bunch of the zones; they are making 6 zones into 2 zones. That should make zone conference next moves a good time. But I don't know about anything else. Once again my companion and I are up here in the boonies, so we don't hear anything.

As for souvenirs from this place – I am stumped, but our goal is to go out and find something from this place. I know that we will do it, because we are determined, and because we have nothing better to do today.

Anyway I'm not sure if there is anything else for today, I hope this letter isn't too lame. I’m proud of BYU P.S. you never said if they won or not - let me know.

And that is way cool about Max, JJ, and Austin. I can just tell that big things are going to happen. It is way cool that members are getting some jobs in popular positions. Even if they are breaking the Sabbath to do it. JK

Give my condolences to the two families in our ward that have lost loved ones, and anyone else who needs it. I'm taking your talk dad and will read it this week it looks way good though. I'm sorry about work mom, I hope things start to pick up. Your busy time is coming (end of the year) so hopefully business will be better.

I love you all, Have a good week.

จูบจูบ

Oh yeah, I forgot.

One story is of the first counselor in the branch presidency. He has three children and a wife. He and his wife and his daughter were baptized all together. He also has 2 kids that haven't been baptized. One day about 8 months ago his wife told him that she didn't want to be a member anymore, and that she wanted the whole family to leave with her. He told her politely, “No, and that he and the kids were going to stay in the church.” So one day he woke up and she had packed up and left. She left all four of them there by themselves. She took the money, she took everything. This guy is probably the strongest member in Nong Khai. He was acting branch president for 4 months and is relatively young in the church. He has only been a member 3 years. He and his daughter are still active and way strong he has no Idea where is wife is, but through all of this he never blamed the church or God. He has kept a firm testimony all the way through, and just grew from the experience.

The other is a lady here name is sister Lek. She is about 45 years old. She has two sons. One is 16 the other is 9. She is the member that was there for conference on Saturday. She has absolutely no money, NONE! The three of them live in one room. Not a one bedroom apartment, but one room, smaller then my bedroom at home, and actually smaller than our bedroom here too. She is the only member that has given me a referral. She is the only female member that has asked to help us teach. She has nothing, and she is still giving everything she can to the church. She is a full tithe payer and never misses a week of church, even though she needs that day to make money so she can afford food for her kids and rent that probably costs her 500 baht a month ($15.00). She struggles to pay her rent, and on top of all that she is the Institute Teacher (calling not paid). Every Thursday night she teaches Institute instead of working. She is so strong and has so much faith that she will receive blessings because she is faithful. Because of that, she is happy. She has found the true happiness that lasts not the worldly happiness that fades away. She is such a great example.

I hope these helps with your talks. I'm not sure if this is what you were looking for or not.

October 4th Letter

Hello family,

Ok, so I have a few things that would like to share. That scripture in D&C (121:7) is one of my all time favorites, no lie! Elder Holland gave a great devotional while he was president at BYU, at least I think it was him I can't remember exactly, about the lessons we all can learn from Joseph Smith’s imprisonment at Liberty Jail. It is way good, if you have some time you should look that up. I also like the promise in D&C 61:36 because of what it says is, "What I say unto ONE, I say unto ALL." That is the lord telling us himself to liken the scriptures unto ourselves. And then it goes on to say how he is with us and hasn't forsaken us. I think they both go hand in hand. We can endure anything because of the knowledge that we have. We know that Christ is with us always, no matter what. Anyway, I have some great stories about some members in Nong Khai that have truly endured hardships, and the only thing that got them through was their faith. I'm not exactly sure right now how to explain it to you, but I will write it out during the next week and then send it in my next email, sound good?

As for this week, it was way long, once again inviting all week. But, it was cool this week because we found some new families, and even more importantly than that, we are teaching some part-member families. They are so good. The next time we go and see them we are giving like 10 people baptismal dates. It is so sweet. I guess the awful weeks pay off. I have a little bit of bad news, remember me telling you about สมยศ, he was the one that was trying to quit smoking, and wanted to take a week break. Yeah he told us last Monday that he wasn't ready to learn anymore. He wanted to be done for good. That is so awful. He was my very first investigator in Thailand. I thought for sure he was going to get baptized. Hopefully he still will.

We had something else that was pretty cool this week. It was a special training in Udon. President Smith came up and trained our zone how to teach better. Apparently he has seen our numbers and thought we needed some help, it was a way good lesson. It helped Elder Blaustein and I out a lot! Some other news came out of that training too. President Smith is a Liberal. Can you believe that? In the white hand book it specifically says that missionaries are not to talk about politics, but at this training, there was a way heated discussion between the president and Elder Anderson. Elder Anderson is from Delta, Utah, so you know he is a hardcore conservative. It was way funny, both of them were upset. It got to the point where one of the sister missionaries told them both to knock it off. NO lie, I thought that sister missionary was pretty gutsy to tell the mission president to knock it off. Anywho, it turns out that President Smith is a hardcore Obama fan, who would of thunk it?

Alright, to answer your question about the Ice cream and my lactose intolerance – After the things that I have been eating for the last 4 months, my stomach is already destroyed. I have probably joined with all the other missionaries here in having worms. I love it, it doesn't matter what I eat or how it goes in, it all comes out the same way.

Last week sizzler and bowling was awesome, I loved it. It was way cool to hang out with the other missionaries and do something fun. We don't have any bowling allies or anything like that up here in the boonies. So it was fun to see civilization.

Thanks for all the information about general conference. I think we are going to print some of the talks off today if they are online so we can read them throughout the week. I'm really excited for next week’s weekend, it should be pretty exciting. I watched a devotional yesterday with the branch that was really good, and quite funny. It was a young single adult fireside, which was weird because the elders were the only two there that were in that age group everyone else was like 50+.

That really blows about BYU, I hope they get it together and finish strong. They need to do something good if they are going to keep their contracts when they go independent. I'm way sad that USU beat them. That is downright pathetic. I also saw that IND. Lost, what happened and how did Collie do?

Anywho, I think I got all your questions and concerns except for the green thing. Yes it is a long bean. I had something I wanted to ask for too, in a future package. I want a shrunken Preach My Gospel. A lot of the missionaries here have them and they are way handy when you go to zone conference or trainings. So if you could look at something like that, I don't think they make them I think you have to go and have them shrunk. If that is possible I sure would like one.

I'm also glad I heard from mom today too. I am glad you are back at work and everything is going well. Keep up the good work with your knee. I know you will be back to 100% in no time. I had an idea I wanted to see what you thought. I was thinking about getting a shirt from each one of my areas that says something about the area, what do you think or should I do something a bit more creative? Let me know. Word is I’m leaving Nong Khai next Wednesday so I suppose I have to start thinking about this stuff.

Anywho I hope you all have a great week. I love you and appreciate your support.