Joped

Elder Lilly is now home and was released as a full-time missionary on September 3rd, 2010. Thank you to all who have visited this site and shown support through letters and prayers.

Last one then Jope.

Dear Family,

 

I got all of your E-mails.  I'll see what I can do.  Money is a bit tight right now, but oh well. 

 

The members in Srisaket were all so nice as we left on the Train to Bangkok.  A lot of them came to see us off.  It was very nice to see their smiles and give a last good bye/Sawasdii to them. 

 

Tomorrow Elder Booth and I will have our last full day of work together.  We decided, since we are in Bangkok right now again, that we will travel to Bangkhae, my first area, and work there for the day before moves meeting.  What a treat that will be.  And Elder Tom will be there. I like to call him my loog (son).  I think it will be nice to talk to some of the members that I once knew from back when I was first struggling to speak Thai.  I still remember the first lesson that I ever taught, it was the same evening that I first arrived in my first area.  Elder Booth also served there once too. Good times.

 

Luckily today is a pretty sabaay day for us. 

 

Elder Booth and I went and picked up our suits today. They look pretty, pretty nice. 

 

There's not much more to say. I'll talk to you all on Friday.

 

Love,

 

Elder Lilly

 

P.S. My luggage is going to be pretty lampak (difficult) to carry. One of the bags doesn't have any wheels, and It's 50 pounds.

The road goes ever on and on back to the door where it began...

Dear Family,

 

Well, I can officially say that the time is near at hand. Tomorrow is another day of training, then Friday we will probably mostly be traveling, then planning. Sunday will be a full day of work minus church--and I get to give a talk, then Monday will be packing and Tuesday I will come back down to Bangkok again for preparation and then moves meeting is on Thursday. 

 

The training is really good.  I really enjoyed it a lot.  They won't be starting this kind of training in the MTC until May.  I'll be able to train Brandon and Justin before then. :P  I like the section about the Book of Mormon.  There is no doubt in my mind that the Book of Mormon is true. It is clear evidence of Jesus Christ's divinity, of Joseph Smith as His chosen Prophet and Revelator, and of how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints is the Lord's Kingdom once again established on the Earth.  The Spirit has witnessed to me that the Book of Mormon is true. By the Power of the Holy spirit I know it.  Everything in this Church depends upon the truthfulness of that Book.  When I read it, and pray with sincerity, it is as if the book becomes alive with precious guidance that I needed at the time. And then when I read it again, with the changes in my life, new things stand out and it enlightens my understanding.  It's really a good book. And it came from God. It also contains the fullness of the Gospel.

 

A while back Elder Booth and I were headed to the bus station from the Sky train. It was raining outside.  We went through a few stops and each time a new group of people entered the train. At one of the stops I saw a large white man (we like to call them farangs) wearing a white shirt and a tie. He was holding in his hand a Bible in a plastic bag. I thought to myself "that's funny that a preacher from another religion would end up standing right next to us." The Preacher never looked up but he proceeded to open the plastic bag and pull out his large Bible. Then I thought to my self "Oh no." He then proceeded to flip through the pages until he came to a certain chapter in Ephesians. It was Ephesians 1:7 or something like that.  He then read the verse out loud to us making sure to stop at particular parts to throw in a comment.  He said something like this: If any man Preach another Gospel "like the Book of Mormon" ...whether he be given it by angels, "like the Angel Moroni" let him be accursed. "let him be accursed," he repeated, "that's scary stuff huh?" He had a funny lower sounding voice.  I told him that I believe that the Bible and the Book of Mormon contain the same Gospel in them. He said that he didn't. I asked him what his name was and where he was from. He said that he was the guy that Joseph Smith warned us about and told us that he has been going around Preaching in Thailand for 10 years, but he can't speak Thai and he doesn't have his own church but he goes around from church to church.  After he answered I asked him if he had ever read the Book of Mormon and he said no but he had heard about it.  I told him that he shouldn't believe everything that he hears and advised him to read the Book about it. Unfortunately he refused and said that the verse that he just read alone would be incentive for him not to read it.  His words didn't have any validity to me because he had never even tried to read it before.  But if he would read it sincerely, with the intent to obey it's teachings were it true and truly came from God, and then pray with faith, he would receive an answer that it were true, and he would rejoice in it.

 

I feel very grateful that God loves us and speaks to us, and speaks to His Holy Prophet, just like he always has. Our Savior lives! And He will bring us back into the presence of the Father to be judged of our works.

 

The Gospel is so true!

 

I will be excited to see you guys next week. Until then I'll be enjoying my last few days!

 

Love,

 

Elder Lilly

 

Fruit Snacks

Dear Family,

 

Unfortunately the Internet web site wasn't working on thursday in the several different internet shops that we went to. And so today is also not preperation day and will thusly not be a full letter.

 

The Zone Sportsday was pretty fun. Everyone was very enthusiastic about it the whole time. I think it went very well. We mostly played football, Basketball (yesss) and ping pong. Everyone was pretty dead tired the next day which was Zone Conference. But nevertheless the Zone Conference went very well, and we received possitive feedback on it. Partway through the meeting President Smith announced that all of the Leaders and Trainers will be doing a training in Bangkok on Tuesday and Thursday. That means that preperation day will be changed to Wednesday for this next week as well.  I am kind of glad that he moved it to next week instead of next moves. Now I will get to train about the new focus'/changes that are coming up. From the looks of it it will simplify teaching while still using, and actually better applying, Preach My Gospel.

 

The following week will be the week I return home so I'm preparing again for another adventure.

 

Sorry this one is so short...

 

Love you all more than I can say,

 

Elder Lilly

Dear Family,

 

This one will be short. We moved our Preparation day to Thursday this week in order to have a Sports day with our Zone. I will E-mail a full letter on Thursday. I have an appointment in a few minutes anyway!

 

This past week has been amazing.  We had a special lesson where the Spirit gave us word for word what we needed to say.  The Lord has blessed our area greatly. And things continue to look up.

 

Love,

 

Elder Lilly

Sabaydii baw der

Dear Family,

 

Another school year is starting. That's pretty crazy.

Last letter I forgot to wish Jennifer a Happy Birthday. Happy Birthday Jenn!  I'll get to Celebrate Michael's Birthday pretty soon too. August 13 is my two year mark as a missionary!  I remember the number thirteen was also my cubby number in kindergarten.

 

This past week has been great.  Elder Booth and I had the opportunity to talk to our Branch President and ask him how his work was going and how we could help him. We were able to give him some good suggestions and he was very grateful for them.  I'm excited for the new changes that he has made. 

 

Speaking of changes, I remember when President Smith came out with big changes in how we do missionary work and watching the missionaries who were returning home look disappointed that they couldn't be a part of them.  Ironically there are some very big changes coming up soon. They have changed the way that they teach missionaries in the MTC a bit too. That will be good for Brandon. :)  President Smith informed us and trained us on how we will apply these new changes in the Thailand mission. He said that we will help to start that "Legacy" just before we go home.  And when I say we I mean about two thirds of the current zone leaders. In two moves (this one and next one) about that many of the zone leaders will have been replaced.  Some of the things that we learned through trial and error and by the Spirit they have analysed and will start teaching new missionaries. And the great thing is that all of the principals for these things are in Preach my Gospel already. Truly Preach my Gospel is "the way" to do missionary work.

 

We recently taught Sister Nok who just got baptized. We taught her about missionary work. She wants to be a missionary!  She said that she would pray about it. There is another sister in our Branch who is preparing to be a missionary and she just happened to walk in and help us teach. We weren't expecting that.  The Lord is in the details of our lives.

 

Keep being awesome and working hard.

 

Love,

 

Elder Lilly

Earthquakes' a comin' ...Yup.

Dear Family,

 

 

This week has been really great.  The work is progressing on. And I just feel like the Lord is blessing us and the Zone that we are responsible over. Yesterday evening we were traveling on our bikes in the overcast when it started to rain. I said a prayer in my heart that the Lord would allow the rain to help us in the work somehow. We went a little ways further out when the rain picked up even more. I decided that we needed to stop to the side for a second in order to put my things away into a plastic bag for protection. When we stopped on the side of the road Elder Booth asked one of the owners of a small shop for a bag for his things.  We just happened to have stopped at the same shop of a man that we invited yesterday. We had set an appointment with him for today in the afternoon. He invited us to sit down in front of his shop. As we sat down waiting for the rain to stop we talked to him about the Gospel. He said that he wanted his friend to come sit down too, and in a few minutes she came and did sit down with us. After that miracle had happened we continued on and soon the rain started again. This time our possessions were already bagged up and protected, so we said a prayer together and moved on talking to everyone we saw as we went. Despite the rain, we found another three families and set appointments with them for this evening and tomorrow. The Lord is truly merciful.

 

I feel even more blessed to have been raised by such awesome and good parents.  I feel grateful for your great sacrifices on my behalf and for your teaching me the Gospel and correct principals.  I rejoice in the happiness that comes from the Gospel and righteous living. I feel sickened by many of the things that I've seen people do and say. Sometimes it's refreshing to just talk to one of the members of the church who seem so much happier and full of light than what I normally see.  I also feel grateful for all of my loving siblings and their different personalities.  

 

Yesterday (Sunday) we taught the first lesson to Sister Nok after her confirmation into the church.  We taught her with the Elder's Quorum President and the Relief Society President. They were so welcoming and they shared their testimonies and willingness to help out.  Nok seems pretty excited to share the Gospel too. We invited her to help us teach another investigator and their at their house.

 

Love,

 

Elder Lilly

 

Happy Birthday to Nanna Pooh! 23 Already. Happy Birthday to Eli too! Born just a little bit after Diana. :p

Dear Family,

 

Hey!!!!

 

Well, here I am again sitting in an Internet store surrounded by kids and teens playing silly video games that are all at least 10 years old. It just rained outside. The air is very thick today.  It reminds me of the chapter I recently read in the Book of Mormon about the vapor of darkness that was so thick you could feel it.  This evening we have an appointment scheduled to meet a recent convert who is struggling a bit. But now that we were finally able to contact her she has opened up to us about her trials.  Our appointment with a new family will be moved to tomorrow because they will go to Ubon to celebrate Wan Khaw Pansa which is a Buddhist festival. It's supposedly similar to that one day of fasting that some Christian sects follow. Although I forget It's name. Unfortunately instead of fasting like they traditionally should be doing many just drink more. Ubon is going to have a massive celebration. Many people from all over the world will be going to it.  Despite the rain today, truly Thailand is having a drought.  Usually it rains so much that it floods everywhere. That's what they are used to. Many people say that Thailand is a place that is UdomSombun which means... it's bountiful, the land is fertile and the nature is thriving-- so much so that many people are careless and lazy.  Perhaps there is some truth in that. But as far as the economy is concerned they are struggling.  I think that if they and we do not prepare then the need for food storage will come right to our doorsteps and we will regret not giving enough heed to the warning.  Although it's hard to imagine that it would happen to us.

 

Elder Booth and I are very excited for this my last moves period.  At the beginning of each moves we set a vision for our zone.  I remember setting a vision for my life for the day that I Jope (end) my mission and go home. Now I get to look back and see what I had envisioned actually happen.  I have said before that if we aren't happy when we are doing missionary work then we aren't doing it like we should be.  At times it's a struggle.  But oh what a difference it makes in our work when we are grateful, happy, and rejoicing.  Particularly last moves it seemed that the leaders were reproving people for their lack of progression. Some people got discouraged. Others humbled themselves and kept working on. Personally I think that I am my own biggest judge. But I rejoice in the opportunity to set goals and improve. I can never be satisfied with current levels of progression, and I always fall short of Christ's standard. Therefore even in the days of great success there is need for repentance. Why should I let my weaknesses get me down?  I hope to help those people in the places that are struggling to enjoy the time that they have, so long as their heart is in the right place.  I recall that those times that I was the happiest were the times that I was receiving the most spiritual guidance.

 

So Elder Hood has moved to Korat where I used to be and Elder Taphithak has moved in his place. Elder Taphithak reminds me of Aaron a little bit.  He's pretty laid back, has a similar sort of smile, and he has a cool watch.

 

Tomorrow is Elder Booth's Birthday.  His favorite treat is chocolate flavored raisins.  His family sent him some macaroni and cheese in a package.  I like cheese.

 

We are doing well.

 

Love,

 

Elder Lilly

P.S. We had another Baptism!

Dear Family,

 

 

How is everyone?

 

Today's E-mail is late because they switched our Preparation day from Monday to Tuesday for this week due to moves meeting being changed to Wednesday instead of the normal, Thursday.

This morning we got the phone call from the assistants about who in our Zone is moving so that we can inform them all. Surprisingly enough Elder Hood in our District is moving.  But I am not! Yesss. That means that my entire mission I had only 4 areas (although it feels like more because we travel all over our zone). I was able to enjoy about 6 months in each of my areas.  But it also means that I'm down to my last moves.  Time truly is short.  The rest of my group excluding Elder Young are all dead, or rather they went home.  The Assistants to the President do a companion exchange with the zone leaders once every moves.  Elder Young planned it out (since he's the assistant) so that he and I will switch-off together this moves. He said that it will be our "Trunky Switch-offs" together. It should be fun.  But no worries, we are going to go out with a BANG. :p

 

This past week has been a complete adventure. We spent some time in Surin helping out some Elders who were sick in the Hospital--one of which was diagnosed with Dengue Fever.  We interviewed some investigators, one of which was from the Elders in Srisaket who will be getting baptised this Sunday.  We invited in all of our spare time, sometimes for the majority of the day, and found some families, one of which is waaaaaay interested and awesome. It's been a good week.

 

Last moves there were sometimes that we got behind in time and felt a bit rushed.  When that happens I feel it is good to spend some time to analyse what happened and set some new goals and a new resolution to do better. The times that we feel so good we're on fire are also the times that we feel on top of the time. That's something we did recently, and it truly helps. When preparing to make changes and repent it helps to do some cleaning around the house too.  If you walk into the same room and sit in the same place and everything is a bit messy like before than you will probably get the same feelings as before and fall into the same old rut as before.  Making the physical changes helps to start anew.

 

Love Ya!!!

 

 

-Elder Lilly