Dear Family,
Life is going well here in Thailand. We had a Zone meeting yesterday in Petchaburi. It was a great opportunity to assess how well we were doing and think of some ways to improve. We also had interviews with President Dodge. I was actually a bit excited to interview because when you measure progress then progress increases, and when you measure progress and report it then the rate of progress increases. We had another Zone meeting today except it was more of a Zone activity/get together and we all played some games. It was a good experience. The funny thing is that right now I would rather be studying. There's a lot to absorb and learn in the Gospel and I want to teach it the best I can. The more familiar with the scriptures and Preach my Gospel I am the better. Preach My Gospel is the way. It is truly an inspired book. And speaking of learning in the Gospel, this week we taught one of our investigators who is working on quitting smoking. He also has Tuberculosis. The Doctor suggested that he quit smoking after he was fully (not just partially) healed from TB because while he adjusts to quitting his body becomes weaker until it can heal. We already have taught him almost everything he needs to know before he is ready to be baptized. After we taught him this week he was manjai or in other words, he was ready to quit then! He wanted to fight fight! It was so awesome to see his spiritual strength. When I first saw him he could hardly walk and he had to wear a mask. Now he is up and kickin'. He can jog and ride a bike, he doesn't need a mask, and he wants to quit smoking. The Gospel has blessed his life so much. The power of healing and cleansing is one of the great blessings that we can witness before our eyes. There's another man who teaches the investigator/recent convert class at church who is a great example of the blessings of the Gospel. When the missionaries first started teaching him he was a drunkard, pretty lost in life. With only four years of schooling he had only a basic knowledge of reading and writing. Through the commitments to read the scriptures and pray for the spirit, he learned. His Spiritual appetite grew and he gained a desire to learn and feast upon the Words of Christ. His life has completely turned around for the better. He is happy. He is healthy. And as a bonus he is skilled too. He has helped Elder Ewing and I teach investigators a few times already and he was super grateful when I gave him a copy of the Liahona conference talks edition.
For Thanksgiving this week I'll be going to someones house and eating a sweet dinner. That's about all I know about it right now. There's an international ward in Thailand which is basically the source of the Thanksgiving festivities.
As far as the Earthquake goes... oh yeah, it was good. Eight scoops of delicious ice cream, all of my choice, and fudge. I ate it and was full to the brim. Elder Ewing ate it and almost exploded. It was a stretch of capacity for sure... kinda made focusing while we were buying food difficult. But it was worth it. The thing about Thai food is after a while I start craving something of substance... something meaty. A Cheese burger starts to sound reeeeal friendly. I can has Cheese burger? :D *cough* Anyway, last night we decided it was about time, so we bought all of the ingredients, breaded our own chicken and all until we had an awesome construction of complete American origin. Ohh yesss. Course that was after a little smoke fiasco as my companion learned the hard way that the oil doesn't need to be boiling for it to be REALLY hot. But it was, also, worth it all; really filled the spot, if you know what I mean.
As for other business, I checked up on the E-mailing rules and it looks like every E-mail needs to go through my parents E-mail address, and they will forward it to me. Likewise I will just E-mail my parent's address and they can then forward it to everyone else. Everyone can still contact me and I everyone only it will be through my parents first (loren.lilly@gmail.com).
The Judy Clan Thanksgiving reunion sounds like it is going to be awesome, I can't wait to get some pictures of it's greatness.
As it is thanksgiving somewhere in the world it's a good opportunity to remember how blessed all of our lives are. I am grateful for you Mom and Dad. I am grateful for The Spirit. I am grateful for my family. I am grateful that I can focus everything I have to serving God for two years. There's a lot of people who focus on trying to make enough to support their families. I am grateful for great friends and family who write me, for prayers. ...cheese burgers, carpet... :p
Love you all
Have a Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Birthday Spencer!
-Elder Lilly
Nov 26, 2008
Nov 18, 2008
Email 11-18-2008
Hello!
Today I am going to some sort of Ice Cream store to eat an Earthquake. Supposedly it feeds 8 Thai people. We are ordering two...
I don't like posting the number of Baptismal dates very much because the road to baptism is long and Hard. We try to visit each of our investigators about twice a week to help them continue to be committed and feel the spirit. The Gift of the Holy Ghost is important to the max. (that's how you would phrase it in Thai). Plus we give the baptismal commitment very early and they slowly learn more about it until they are ready. The most obvious thing that you find out about Thai people reeeally quickly is that they don't like to reject you politely. Meaning, they don't like to reject you nicely right in front of your face, instead they typically tell you they don't have ANY time or they will accept your invitation and then avoid you at all costs. Which fact gets really bad when they set up an appointment that they avoid when they live an hour away. That has only happened twice, (the same guy). That's not very typical however, usually they will say they are busy and cancel the appointment over and over again.
But I have to say that they do it because they don't want to reject you harshly or openly. There are so many awesome people here. Last night is a great example. We had taught an investigator only once before and left him and his wife a book of Mormon and a pamphlet. They didn't have a phone so the only way we could contact them was through a less active member who actually referred them to us. Calling her wasn't working out so we decided to drop in for a short visit and hopefully set another appointment. This was a week after our first appointment, a long time especially for only meeting once. So we dropped by and the first thing I noticed was the pamphlet open laying on the floor because they were just reading it. As we explained we were just dropping by for a short visit they told us it was fine and they were open. Then the Husband explained how he was on page 37 (in the book of Mormon) and that when he read about the Prophet being rejected and the people not listening to his words he cried. Woah, that's awesome. And then he and his wife talked about what they had read about with the vision of the tree of life and the fruit. Most investigators have trouble understanding the Scriptures with it's old style of writing. Needless to say the lesson went great and they told us that they believe and are going to church this Sunday for sure. And they are going to have a child soon. Wow.
As far as the language is concerned, it's been pretty tough trying to converse with people like I wanted too. My companion wasn't very good about letting me start a conversation. (I guess he forgets I'm still new sometimes) But I made a goal to always testify or at least contribute to every conversation. When we are sitting down talking about the gospel I do great. When they start talking about random other things it gets more difficult. Also we made a goal for me to invite at least five people a day. So, I'm doing it. The thing about language is it's mostly about faith. If I don't open my mouth, then I don't exercise my faith and I don't help very much. If I do and I screw up then the Spirit will either testify or the person will be hard hearted and not accept anyway. Either way I have to have the desire and the spirit or nothing will work out. Sometimes I can speak so well during a lesson I forget I'm new. Other times I feel really weak in speaking. The spirit is the real teacher whether It helps me speak or not.
It's tough tough tough tough tough. Sometimes I wait for the right time to speak, I think of what I'll, say but that feeling never comes. I can't just not speak! So I have to just use my best judgment and testify.
Anyway,
Thank you all for your support and prayers. I'm excited for the awesome Thanksgiving that is going on back home without me. I can just imagine all the pie and the rolls riiiiight now. Oh yeahhh ...I need to go eat my earthquake.
Today I am going to some sort of Ice Cream store to eat an Earthquake. Supposedly it feeds 8 Thai people. We are ordering two...
I don't like posting the number of Baptismal dates very much because the road to baptism is long and Hard. We try to visit each of our investigators about twice a week to help them continue to be committed and feel the spirit. The Gift of the Holy Ghost is important to the max. (that's how you would phrase it in Thai). Plus we give the baptismal commitment very early and they slowly learn more about it until they are ready. The most obvious thing that you find out about Thai people reeeally quickly is that they don't like to reject you politely. Meaning, they don't like to reject you nicely right in front of your face, instead they typically tell you they don't have ANY time or they will accept your invitation and then avoid you at all costs. Which fact gets really bad when they set up an appointment that they avoid when they live an hour away. That has only happened twice, (the same guy). That's not very typical however, usually they will say they are busy and cancel the appointment over and over again.
But I have to say that they do it because they don't want to reject you harshly or openly. There are so many awesome people here. Last night is a great example. We had taught an investigator only once before and left him and his wife a book of Mormon and a pamphlet. They didn't have a phone so the only way we could contact them was through a less active member who actually referred them to us. Calling her wasn't working out so we decided to drop in for a short visit and hopefully set another appointment. This was a week after our first appointment, a long time especially for only meeting once. So we dropped by and the first thing I noticed was the pamphlet open laying on the floor because they were just reading it. As we explained we were just dropping by for a short visit they told us it was fine and they were open. Then the Husband explained how he was on page 37 (in the book of Mormon) and that when he read about the Prophet being rejected and the people not listening to his words he cried. Woah, that's awesome. And then he and his wife talked about what they had read about with the vision of the tree of life and the fruit. Most investigators have trouble understanding the Scriptures with it's old style of writing. Needless to say the lesson went great and they told us that they believe and are going to church this Sunday for sure. And they are going to have a child soon. Wow.
As far as the language is concerned, it's been pretty tough trying to converse with people like I wanted too. My companion wasn't very good about letting me start a conversation. (I guess he forgets I'm still new sometimes) But I made a goal to always testify or at least contribute to every conversation. When we are sitting down talking about the gospel I do great. When they start talking about random other things it gets more difficult. Also we made a goal for me to invite at least five people a day. So, I'm doing it. The thing about language is it's mostly about faith. If I don't open my mouth, then I don't exercise my faith and I don't help very much. If I do and I screw up then the Spirit will either testify or the person will be hard hearted and not accept anyway. Either way I have to have the desire and the spirit or nothing will work out. Sometimes I can speak so well during a lesson I forget I'm new. Other times I feel really weak in speaking. The spirit is the real teacher whether It helps me speak or not.
It's tough tough tough tough tough. Sometimes I wait for the right time to speak, I think of what I'll, say but that feeling never comes. I can't just not speak! So I have to just use my best judgment and testify.
Anyway,
Thank you all for your support and prayers. I'm excited for the awesome Thanksgiving that is going on back home without me. I can just imagine all the pie and the rolls riiiiight now. Oh yeahhh ...I need to go eat my earthquake.
Nov 12, 2008
Email 11-12-08
Today is a Buddhist Holiday. Stores everywhere are selling these spherical dish things made out of banana trees with a variety of candles. Tonight there's going to be a huge gathering of people and at some point during the night they are going to cast the spherical objects that are tight like unto a dish off into the rivers. I have no idea what the significance is yet... I haven't asked, but It's interesting none the less. But the difficulty that arises from this crazy holiday is that all of the Church members want to participate in it. Despite the fact that it's fun to watch and participate in, and it's partly a cultural event in Thailand, it is a Buddhist Holiday. We aren't asking them not to go. It is indeed getting harder and harder to be a Saint. We ask so much of our investigators, changing their lives. We hope so much for them. And though being on the path to Salvation is hard, it is more rewarding than we can realize in our own lives. Being clean is one of the best gifts we can qualify for. And through the Gospel and the struggling there is Happiness and Peace. Elder Ewing and I have visited tons of members hoping to support them, and investigators hopping to teach them. Yesterday was the second time we have visited a member who was really struggling with his Mom who doesn't want him to go to church or be a member and He is stuck living at home trying to support her. He wants to go back to his home in Chaeng Mai. But after our visit and encouraging him he really did exercise his faith and read the scriptures, on our second visit he is the happiest I have ever seen him. Awesome. Last week I had a great Family home evening with President Tip and president Nope-adone, their families, and an investigators family who had 3 kids and 2 grand kids. We sat on the family room floor and had an awesome dinner with som thahm Thai style and Laotian style and gaeng mahtsamaahn and all kinds of amazing food. By the way carpet doesn't exist over here. Near the end of the night the investigator, sister Myoori, who is diabetic, fainted. She was out cold just before we were about to go home. We had just before taught a difficult lesson on Tithing and Fasting and this was an interesting opportunity to show faith and the blessings of God. So, Elder Ewing and I gave her a Priesthood blessing. Just a few moments later and she awoke and arose.
The Gospel truly blesses families. Salvation isn't easy, it can't be easy. It wasn't easy for Him. But there is so much joy in the Gospel. I've only been here for a couple weeks but I've seen a lot of miracles already. And I've also seen some of the craziest things that you never see back home. ..Random rat in the street that got ran over and is crusting day-by-day right by my house, the craziest houses, houses in swamps, there's these skeletal dogs that lie around the streets all day (at least they're not being eaten), tons and tons of plants that I never even seen in books before, a random guard house, and tons and tons more, I can't list them all. Spencer knows what I'm talking about. And I've eaten some weird things too. I'm one for trying them all.. mostly. The fish gut dog biscuit smelling ones I avoid if I can. They only have two kinds of cereal here: frosted flakes and corn flakes. Can't find any good cereal anywhere else in Thailand, or so my companion tells me. There's also a certain lack of chocolate. I think I have some coconut gelatin in the fridge right now...
Buuut I'm still doing well and working hard. We are up to 20 investigators with a baptismal date but we might lose a few who are having trouble with finding time to see us and getting through their struggles. We came up with a great method of getting the members more prepared to teach with us and we are also working on Preach my Gospel outlines that we can design lessons from with scriptures and impression included. It should help with preparing for our days a lot.
Well, I'm out of time again. Stay true!
-Elder Lilly-
-P.S. I need recipes from home pretty badly. Especially banana bread... I have some plans for that one. (getting that one soon would be helpful.)
-p.p.s I think Thai people think that cough drops are candy and candy is medicine.
The Gospel truly blesses families. Salvation isn't easy, it can't be easy. It wasn't easy for Him. But there is so much joy in the Gospel. I've only been here for a couple weeks but I've seen a lot of miracles already. And I've also seen some of the craziest things that you never see back home. ..Random rat in the street that got ran over and is crusting day-by-day right by my house, the craziest houses, houses in swamps, there's these skeletal dogs that lie around the streets all day (at least they're not being eaten), tons and tons of plants that I never even seen in books before, a random guard house, and tons and tons more, I can't list them all. Spencer knows what I'm talking about. And I've eaten some weird things too. I'm one for trying them all.. mostly. The fish gut dog biscuit smelling ones I avoid if I can. They only have two kinds of cereal here: frosted flakes and corn flakes. Can't find any good cereal anywhere else in Thailand, or so my companion tells me. There's also a certain lack of chocolate. I think I have some coconut gelatin in the fridge right now...
Buuut I'm still doing well and working hard. We are up to 20 investigators with a baptismal date but we might lose a few who are having trouble with finding time to see us and getting through their struggles. We came up with a great method of getting the members more prepared to teach with us and we are also working on Preach my Gospel outlines that we can design lessons from with scriptures and impression included. It should help with preparing for our days a lot.
Well, I'm out of time again. Stay true!
-Elder Lilly-
-P.S. I need recipes from home pretty badly. Especially banana bread... I have some plans for that one. (getting that one soon would be helpful.)
-p.p.s I think Thai people think that cough drops are candy and candy is medicine.
Nov 5, 2008
Email 11-05-08 - NOOOOOOOOooooo
I wrote this huge heartfelt letter for the last hour and a half and it all got lost! I'm soooooo sad. Oh well...
Dear Family (we're all family),
Hello,
I'm so grateful for all of your prayers and stories. It's always good to get a boost from home.
Basically (since I used all of my time already) My flight was Long and had crazy neat Chinese ladies wearing green Uniforms who served us Chinese Dog food or tuna fish or something and reminded me of Diana for some reason (we would have had so much fun on that flight). Then I sat in front of two Thai ladies on the way to Taipei and being a MTC certified missionary, I took full advantage of the situation. We talked about fruit and Thai food and I bore my testimony and I was very grateful that they spoke English too (except one of them was harder to understand in English than in Thai).
By the way Spencer, I couldn't understand anything the announcers in the plane were saying but I could tell that it was Thai!
I can view the pictures you sent. I can get packages from united postal services and have no extra fees but most other regular companies will charge a ton. And I can listen to most church music that is uplifting and that's about it.
President Dodge is very great and loving. The missionaries who greeted us were all way overdressed with custom pin striped suits and different colored interiors. Apparently all of the missionaries take advantage of the cheap suits so it's kind of an eventuality... Any suggestions? :p
My companions name is Elder Ewing and we are serving here in BangKhae. My companion is awesome. We make a great team. The Traffic here is great. Everyone pushes their way through the white and yellow lines and the speed limit are "more like guidelines than actual rules." It's super humid and rainy here so sometimes we will be riding in the rain (we try to avoid that) and we will be riding in between cars and weaving around traffic. Then the jam lessens and the cars fly around us. I'm grateful that I am doing the Lords work and am in His Trust. The Taxi drivers are the worst. Then there are the Song thaos which are mini trucks that load tons of people in them and drive them around. And more motorcycles than you've ever see in your life.
Right now we have 17 investigators with a baptismal date. That is a ton. I want SOOO much for all of them to progress and make their baptismal dates and move along the plan of salvation! And I still want to get more.
The work is HARD.
I'm surprised by how much I'm able to understand and pick out words that I know. The problem is that I don't know enough words. I can teach the gospel and testify but I can't small talk at all. Which is actually very important to open the hearts of the people who are talking to us strange farangs (foreigners, also means guava).
Since I'm a greeny and I have a great excuse to fail at Thai I've asked my companion to let me do all of the talking. If he starts talking (and he's way good) then they will either think that I'm good too or I can't speak at all. Then I start talking and they assume I know exactly whats going
on and I probably don't. But If I start talking then they lower their standard more to my level and then I can get experience and my companion can save me. :) That's my plan at least, we'll see how well I do!
I got really lucky with my house, I think I have the biggest house in the mission.
Another blessing is that the Thai tastes so good and I haven't gotten sick yet. Yet. Dad's Chili has indeed prepared me well.
I need to go I used a lot of time but I am SOOO grateful for you guys and your prayers. The scriptures say that If we keep the commandments and believe we will receive and ask in faith then we will receive. This is what we ask of our investigators and It's how they are able to change their hearts. There are 70 members in my ward and they sacrifice soooo much to make it work. I can honestly say I already Love the Thai people (I think I said that before but It's true!). So Keep up your prayers of faith!
Love you guys,
Elder Lilly
Side Note: Whats better a black suit or a grayish one...
Dear Family (we're all family),
Hello,
I'm so grateful for all of your prayers and stories. It's always good to get a boost from home.
Basically (since I used all of my time already) My flight was Long and had crazy neat Chinese ladies wearing green Uniforms who served us Chinese Dog food or tuna fish or something and reminded me of Diana for some reason (we would have had so much fun on that flight). Then I sat in front of two Thai ladies on the way to Taipei and being a MTC certified missionary, I took full advantage of the situation. We talked about fruit and Thai food and I bore my testimony and I was very grateful that they spoke English too (except one of them was harder to understand in English than in Thai).
By the way Spencer, I couldn't understand anything the announcers in the plane were saying but I could tell that it was Thai!
I can view the pictures you sent. I can get packages from united postal services and have no extra fees but most other regular companies will charge a ton. And I can listen to most church music that is uplifting and that's about it.
President Dodge is very great and loving. The missionaries who greeted us were all way overdressed with custom pin striped suits and different colored interiors. Apparently all of the missionaries take advantage of the cheap suits so it's kind of an eventuality... Any suggestions? :p
My companions name is Elder Ewing and we are serving here in BangKhae. My companion is awesome. We make a great team. The Traffic here is great. Everyone pushes their way through the white and yellow lines and the speed limit are "more like guidelines than actual rules." It's super humid and rainy here so sometimes we will be riding in the rain (we try to avoid that) and we will be riding in between cars and weaving around traffic. Then the jam lessens and the cars fly around us. I'm grateful that I am doing the Lords work and am in His Trust. The Taxi drivers are the worst. Then there are the Song thaos which are mini trucks that load tons of people in them and drive them around. And more motorcycles than you've ever see in your life.
Right now we have 17 investigators with a baptismal date. That is a ton. I want SOOO much for all of them to progress and make their baptismal dates and move along the plan of salvation! And I still want to get more.
The work is HARD.
I'm surprised by how much I'm able to understand and pick out words that I know. The problem is that I don't know enough words. I can teach the gospel and testify but I can't small talk at all. Which is actually very important to open the hearts of the people who are talking to us strange farangs (foreigners, also means guava).
Since I'm a greeny and I have a great excuse to fail at Thai I've asked my companion to let me do all of the talking. If he starts talking (and he's way good) then they will either think that I'm good too or I can't speak at all. Then I start talking and they assume I know exactly whats going
on and I probably don't. But If I start talking then they lower their standard more to my level and then I can get experience and my companion can save me. :) That's my plan at least, we'll see how well I do!
I got really lucky with my house, I think I have the biggest house in the mission.
Another blessing is that the Thai tastes so good and I haven't gotten sick yet. Yet. Dad's Chili has indeed prepared me well.
I need to go I used a lot of time but I am SOOO grateful for you guys and your prayers. The scriptures say that If we keep the commandments and believe we will receive and ask in faith then we will receive. This is what we ask of our investigators and It's how they are able to change their hearts. There are 70 members in my ward and they sacrifice soooo much to make it work. I can honestly say I already Love the Thai people (I think I said that before but It's true!). So Keep up your prayers of faith!
Love you guys,
Elder Lilly
Side Note: Whats better a black suit or a grayish one...
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