hmm

Hello Family,

The Myldsmail server is down, so I went for the alternative.

I am doing well today. We spent the night in Lopburi in order to go to what we call the Monkey Temple. We had a good time playing with a temple full of monkeys. They crawled all over us. They picked stuff out of our hair. They especially liked to jump all over me.

I received a unexpected call from President Smith. He set up a special switch between Elder Correa and Elder McCoy. That very day we made the switch of and just like that Elder McCoy was gone. His progression was awesome. Now we welcome Elder Correa who was one of my pals from the MTC. I am curious how long he is going to be with us. We will have fun and use our time as effectively as possible.

I learned some interesting things about Preach my Gospel. I learned that the two parts of it's creation that took the most time and are considered extremely important are the creation of the missionary purpose and the creation of the baptismal commitment. And from this last zone conference that we enjoyed yesterday we will now use the exact words used in preach my Gospel in order to give the Baptismal commitment. The reason why I bring this up is because it is extremely important for the investigators that we have, particularly for Sister Pawn and Sister Id. They need to be committed to baptism. Then they need to figure out a goal as to when they could get baptized.

This zone conference they explained that the most important time in the entire day starts from the moment I wake up to when I get out of the house; because it is within that period of that my own testimony is strengthened and I receive strength and inspiration from the spirit. It is the time that I learn from God through the scriptures. Then as soon as I leave the house I then become the teacher and can lift other people through my testimony. Daily scripture study and personal revelation are going to be extremely important in the near future.

Here is a short summary of some of our investigators. Currently we are teaching some one named Win. He asked us when he could get Baptized. He has a lot of faith. But now he needs to find the strength and desire to quit smoking. Then there's Id who knows that she has received many blessings through faith and prayer, but, she needs faith enough to be able to go to church, to stop drinking coffee, and to no longer take part in her old faith and old traditions such as what we call GanWaiPhra. Which is to say, bowing/worshiping Idols. As she gains a witness of the truth of our message she said that she would be willing to obey.

It is not uncommon to meet people who accept all religions. There is a very common phrase that we hear a lot in Thailand which I believe is a misused quote from the King who said "all religions teach us to be good." Some people believe this and use it as an excuse to give little importance to religion. Others use this with their friends so that they will not make fun of them believing in Christ. The beliefs of the Buddhist religion and Thai culture lead people to be very lax about certain things in life. Their goal is to get away from suffering. Unfortunately so many people struggle with worldly things. Even many of the members have to make the choice to choose faith and rely on God or to choose what may seem like worldly security seeking to solve their money issues before they go to church or pay tithing. But surely we can take security in the covenants of God.

Well, I need to go already!!!


But I love you all!

Elder Lilly


missionary prep Tip #2: Study the scriptures every day, start to study Preach my Gospel and be familiar with the lessons.