Dear Family,.
It was good talking to you all.
My companion is awesome 'possom. He is adjusting really well to missionary life. He is humble and so willing. I am confident that together we can find the Lord's will and accomplish it.
I love you all,
Elder Lilly
Dec 28, 2009
Dec 23, 2009
Dear Family,
Merry Christmas!
Our awesome and crazy neighbor, Dennis, cooks food and gives it to the missionaries. He is full of crazy stories, yet the more I get to know him the more I call see how he knows what he is talking about. He has helped a lot of missionaries prepare for their future jobs. He has a lot of connections too. Well, we made friends with him really fast and every once and a while will drop bye and say hi to him. He has always given nicknames to the missionaries. I know other missionaries who have served in Korat before. There's Jew boy, Magic Man, Red, Wimpy the hamburger man, Sister Arizona, and others. But for some reason he has not given me a nickname. He calls me Elder Lilly. Then one time one of the sisters asked him why he didn't give me a nickname and he said it was because I am so old. I don't know what that means but he respects us and is very nice to us. We were talking about clothes a couple weeks ago and he found out that I am a big fan of vests. Just recently he gave me his own "lucky" blue vest and a couple of his own Ties. He's sweet.
Right now I am in SapanSung. Tomorrow I will meet my new Companion.
I feel good. Recently I have been working on simply befriending people and being sincere with them. Most people aren't open hearted at first. They are friendly, and nice, but not openhearted. It's amazing to be able to talk to someone and befriend them. They start to talk about things that they care about and things that are on their mind. Almost everything they say can be brought to a gospel principle. But there is a balance between boldness and overbearance. The Thai people usually don't have a Christian background. Most of them look for good things and accept good things. And they can easily recognise that we are good people. But they might not understand how practical and applicable the Gospel is. Simply testifying straight out usually doesn't enter their hearts. I think there needs to be a desire to seek after the Gospel first. Ammon sought to serve king Lamoni first, then later the king opened his heart. So, hopefully I can become better and better at being more like Ammon.
Another thing to work on is using the scriptures more. I use them in every lesson, but, I can still improve. Sometime missionaries get discouraged about using the Scriptures in Thai because it uses a higher form of the language and it's hard for people to understand. But that is only a minor challenge. The Book of Mormon is our greatest tool in conversion. I believe that a large part of my own conversion came from reading the Book of Mormon. There is a lot of Power in the words of the ancient and modern prophets. And anyone who prays and is open hearted seems to get something from reading them.
Well,
I love you guys.
The best time to call me according to my schedule would be your Christmas morning or your Christmas evening. If you plan on calling during your Christmas eve evening then just know that I have an appointment to teach at a school at 8:00 am my time. Okay?
Love,
Elder Lilly
Merry Christmas!
Our awesome and crazy neighbor, Dennis, cooks food and gives it to the missionaries. He is full of crazy stories, yet the more I get to know him the more I call see how he knows what he is talking about. He has helped a lot of missionaries prepare for their future jobs. He has a lot of connections too. Well, we made friends with him really fast and every once and a while will drop bye and say hi to him. He has always given nicknames to the missionaries. I know other missionaries who have served in Korat before. There's Jew boy, Magic Man, Red, Wimpy the hamburger man, Sister Arizona, and others. But for some reason he has not given me a nickname. He calls me Elder Lilly. Then one time one of the sisters asked him why he didn't give me a nickname and he said it was because I am so old. I don't know what that means but he respects us and is very nice to us. We were talking about clothes a couple weeks ago and he found out that I am a big fan of vests. Just recently he gave me his own "lucky" blue vest and a couple of his own Ties. He's sweet.
Right now I am in SapanSung. Tomorrow I will meet my new Companion.
I feel good. Recently I have been working on simply befriending people and being sincere with them. Most people aren't open hearted at first. They are friendly, and nice, but not openhearted. It's amazing to be able to talk to someone and befriend them. They start to talk about things that they care about and things that are on their mind. Almost everything they say can be brought to a gospel principle. But there is a balance between boldness and overbearance. The Thai people usually don't have a Christian background. Most of them look for good things and accept good things. And they can easily recognise that we are good people. But they might not understand how practical and applicable the Gospel is. Simply testifying straight out usually doesn't enter their hearts. I think there needs to be a desire to seek after the Gospel first. Ammon sought to serve king Lamoni first, then later the king opened his heart. So, hopefully I can become better and better at being more like Ammon.
Another thing to work on is using the scriptures more. I use them in every lesson, but, I can still improve. Sometime missionaries get discouraged about using the Scriptures in Thai because it uses a higher form of the language and it's hard for people to understand. But that is only a minor challenge. The Book of Mormon is our greatest tool in conversion. I believe that a large part of my own conversion came from reading the Book of Mormon. There is a lot of Power in the words of the ancient and modern prophets. And anyone who prays and is open hearted seems to get something from reading them.
Well,
I love you guys.
The best time to call me according to my schedule would be your Christmas morning or your Christmas evening. If you plan on calling during your Christmas eve evening then just know that I have an appointment to teach at a school at 8:00 am my time. Okay?
Love,
Elder Lilly
Dec 17, 2009
Big Change
So,
I got the pictures. Very nice. Also, I just got a pretty sweet looking package from Crystal. Thanks so much! It would probably be easier and cheaper to send money in the mail for me to buy a camera, but that's all up to you guys. Getting packages is always fun.
Yesterday was moves day. Moves was a week early in order to allow the fourteen Elders to go home for Christmas. There are three new missionaries coming in this next Thursday. And I am called to train one of them. Also, he is a native Thailander. In mission life/language I am a dad. But now this leaves a good week without my companion. Therefore am I switching off with Elder Jolley for a week who is also training but in Bangkok. We are going to be in Korat till Monday. Then we will go to his area in Supansung. Finally we will go to Pakkret in order to meet our new companions. But the catch for me is that my companion will not have gone to the MTC to train yet. Therefore he will be trained by the Assistants to President Smith and I will take a part in helping him from ground zero. We will be back in Korat for Christmas on the twenty fifth.
As soon as this next group of missionaries goes home all of the remaining missionaries will have been under the direction of President Smith longer than President Dodge. And there are a lot of changes being made. Starting on the 28 of Dec. our preparation day will be on Mondays. This means that you will need to change the day that you write e-mails to me! There are several several more changes but they will not take effect until that day as well.
Also, the number of missionaries in the country is going to go down from 140 to 94 in the next few move periods. That alone changes a lot. I am excited to take on the challenge and to be an even more obedient missionary.
One more thing. Because I am training, Elder Milton moved to Sesagate. If I count Elder Correa who was and Elder Jolley who will be companions with me for 1 week then the new Elder coming in will have been my twelfth companion.
One more thing. A killer wale can swim up to thirty miles an hour... that's fast.
I need to go work more because today is not preparation day, but I love you all very much. And I am excited to talk to y'all soon.
Love,
Elder Lilly
I got the pictures. Very nice. Also, I just got a pretty sweet looking package from Crystal. Thanks so much! It would probably be easier and cheaper to send money in the mail for me to buy a camera, but that's all up to you guys. Getting packages is always fun.
Yesterday was moves day. Moves was a week early in order to allow the fourteen Elders to go home for Christmas. There are three new missionaries coming in this next Thursday. And I am called to train one of them. Also, he is a native Thailander. In mission life/language I am a dad. But now this leaves a good week without my companion. Therefore am I switching off with Elder Jolley for a week who is also training but in Bangkok. We are going to be in Korat till Monday. Then we will go to his area in Supansung. Finally we will go to Pakkret in order to meet our new companions. But the catch for me is that my companion will not have gone to the MTC to train yet. Therefore he will be trained by the Assistants to President Smith and I will take a part in helping him from ground zero. We will be back in Korat for Christmas on the twenty fifth.
As soon as this next group of missionaries goes home all of the remaining missionaries will have been under the direction of President Smith longer than President Dodge. And there are a lot of changes being made. Starting on the 28 of Dec. our preparation day will be on Mondays. This means that you will need to change the day that you write e-mails to me! There are several several more changes but they will not take effect until that day as well.
Also, the number of missionaries in the country is going to go down from 140 to 94 in the next few move periods. That alone changes a lot. I am excited to take on the challenge and to be an even more obedient missionary.
One more thing. Because I am training, Elder Milton moved to Sesagate. If I count Elder Correa who was and Elder Jolley who will be companions with me for 1 week then the new Elder coming in will have been my twelfth companion.
One more thing. A killer wale can swim up to thirty miles an hour... that's fast.
I need to go work more because today is not preparation day, but I love you all very much. And I am excited to talk to y'all soon.
Love,
Elder Lilly
Dec 9, 2009
Christmas in Korat (that could be a movie)
Dear Family,
Thanks for the short update on how things are going with our family. Some of the news is exciting and some sad. But truly the Lord is looking out for us. I didn't think about it before but I wrote down a seven step pattern of success that I have found in my mission (coming from me and no official source) that I would like to share with our family.
1. Envision
2. Pray
3. Study
4. Sacrifice
5. Endure
6. Show gratitude
7. Increase Mightily
Each of these steps are deep and applicable to every situation I have found myself in. Often times I find myself doing every step at the same time. I will try to explain and expound simply on each of them as they apply to missionary work.
Envision. Vision is the first step. It is the eye of faith. We need to work out our vision with God and ask for His inspiration. Our vision could be distant or near at hand but we need to be able to envision what sort of changes we want to see in our lives or in the lives of others so that we can apply our faith to making the vision become reality. My vision for Korat included an increase in happiness of each of the members, excitement in spreading the Gospel, and an increase in church attendance, etc.
Pray. Pray mightily. Don't give up after a week or two. Pray several times per day. Praying can be a spiritual experience. How do you want Heavenly father to feel? We can't accomplish our goals without God's help. The prayer of faith is how we invite the Spirit to be with us.
Study. Eat the scriptures up. Our preparedness and intensity makes it powerful. We can find personal direction and revelation from studying the scriptures. Scripture study is another way that we can find the spirit and God's will for us.
Sacrifice. Sacrifice your sins, your time, your pride, obedience, hard work, and anything else it takes. Sacrifice is a principal of power. Sacrificing is how we show our faith.
Endure. Endure through the trial of our faith. There's definitely going to be a trial of our faith. Sometimes it takes time before we get what we want. Sometimes we go on in the dark and it doesn't seem like things are going according to our plan. We must pass through the trial. That means we need to be willing to give up everything and accept God's will. After we prove that we are willing, usually God gives us according to our desires. But not always. Sometimes we can't see the effects of our sacrifice but we can be assured that God will take it and use it for good. God will prompt us and let us know that we are on the right path. That's how we know that we still need to endure.
Show Gratitude. Even if we worked really hard, really the one who really did everything and gave us the strength we needed wasn't us. It was God. Gratitude is important. It is a sin to not be grateful. God blesses us with more when we are grateful. Gratitude goes a long way.
Increase Mightily. This is my favorite step. Increase your faith. Increase your commitment, sacrifice, humility, love, strength.... God want's us to learn from our experiences. So take every trial as an opportunity to grow. And make it mighty!
Yesterday I interviewed 3 more investigators. 2 of them passed and the other will be ready before this coming Sunday. Em and Sally's 2 kids Eve and Oy will be getting baptized this Sunday. God has blessed us a ton.
When would be the best time/day for you to call for Christmas? I suppose it doesn't really have to be Christmas.
I love you all so much.
Love,
Elder Lilly
p.s. I didn't get the Thanksgiving pictures. Also I wasn't the one behind the camera for Christmas, I've been grabbing other peoples cameras and using their pictures. I would like a really nice digital camera that I can go crazy with and take a lot of sweet pictures with for Christmas. That would be the greatest.
Thanks for the short update on how things are going with our family. Some of the news is exciting and some sad. But truly the Lord is looking out for us. I didn't think about it before but I wrote down a seven step pattern of success that I have found in my mission (coming from me and no official source) that I would like to share with our family.
1. Envision
2. Pray
3. Study
4. Sacrifice
5. Endure
6. Show gratitude
7. Increase Mightily
Each of these steps are deep and applicable to every situation I have found myself in. Often times I find myself doing every step at the same time. I will try to explain and expound simply on each of them as they apply to missionary work.
Envision. Vision is the first step. It is the eye of faith. We need to work out our vision with God and ask for His inspiration. Our vision could be distant or near at hand but we need to be able to envision what sort of changes we want to see in our lives or in the lives of others so that we can apply our faith to making the vision become reality. My vision for Korat included an increase in happiness of each of the members, excitement in spreading the Gospel, and an increase in church attendance, etc.
Pray. Pray mightily. Don't give up after a week or two. Pray several times per day. Praying can be a spiritual experience. How do you want Heavenly father to feel? We can't accomplish our goals without God's help. The prayer of faith is how we invite the Spirit to be with us.
Study. Eat the scriptures up. Our preparedness and intensity makes it powerful. We can find personal direction and revelation from studying the scriptures. Scripture study is another way that we can find the spirit and God's will for us.
Sacrifice. Sacrifice your sins, your time, your pride, obedience, hard work, and anything else it takes. Sacrifice is a principal of power. Sacrificing is how we show our faith.
Endure. Endure through the trial of our faith. There's definitely going to be a trial of our faith. Sometimes it takes time before we get what we want. Sometimes we go on in the dark and it doesn't seem like things are going according to our plan. We must pass through the trial. That means we need to be willing to give up everything and accept God's will. After we prove that we are willing, usually God gives us according to our desires. But not always. Sometimes we can't see the effects of our sacrifice but we can be assured that God will take it and use it for good. God will prompt us and let us know that we are on the right path. That's how we know that we still need to endure.
Show Gratitude. Even if we worked really hard, really the one who really did everything and gave us the strength we needed wasn't us. It was God. Gratitude is important. It is a sin to not be grateful. God blesses us with more when we are grateful. Gratitude goes a long way.
Increase Mightily. This is my favorite step. Increase your faith. Increase your commitment, sacrifice, humility, love, strength.... God want's us to learn from our experiences. So take every trial as an opportunity to grow. And make it mighty!
Yesterday I interviewed 3 more investigators. 2 of them passed and the other will be ready before this coming Sunday. Em and Sally's 2 kids Eve and Oy will be getting baptized this Sunday. God has blessed us a ton.
When would be the best time/day for you to call for Christmas? I suppose it doesn't really have to be Christmas.
I love you all so much.
Love,
Elder Lilly
p.s. I didn't get the Thanksgiving pictures. Also I wasn't the one behind the camera for Christmas, I've been grabbing other peoples cameras and using their pictures. I would like a really nice digital camera that I can go crazy with and take a lot of sweet pictures with for Christmas. That would be the greatest.
Dec 2, 2009
Diesel Time
Dear family,
How was thanksgiving? For thanksgiving we went to a Farang restaurant that we reserved. They pulled out a very very European styled dish that started with smoked salmon and continued on to turkey, gravy, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. It was delicious. It was only missing Mom's rolls, jam, pie, the rest of our family, and seconds.
But I would like to express how awesome Thailand is. But I can't because it's so awesome. Elder Prat made an interesting observation when he visited us. He said that us missionaries are now sealed to Thailand. He instructed us to love the people, the place, the culture, the language.... And I am sure that he could make the same observation and give the same advice to all missionaries around the globe for their own specific missions. I am glad that mine is Thailand. There is something special about it to me personally. A mission is the greatest thing.
In another three days The Kingdom of Thailand will be celebrating father's day, the King's Birthday.
So, I am curious. I have been left in the dark for a long time. How are our cousins?
A few weeks ago I had the special opportunity to interview one of the Sister's investigators for Baptism. I read through the list of questions and asked questions to get an idea of the strength of her testimony and the sincerity of her repentance. She has a strong testimony. I felt the spirit as she testified. But then as I came to a certain question I knew instantly that there was a problem with this one. I got a sort of sad, even sickly feeling as I read it. So I asked the question and then pressed a little further to understand what the problem was and sure enough there was a problem. After finishing the rest of the questions I came back to that one and we discussed what she needed to do in order to prepare herself further. That experience was a strong witness to me about God's love for his children. He needs us to be clean, 100%. Sometimes we might have a doubt or a question that we avoid facing because we don't want to. But it's the best feeling to be able to face our fears and come out conqueror clean. When Jesus traveled through the crowd it was Virtue that came out of him and healed the woman because of her faith. Then the Savior came back to her and told her that she was clean. Virtue has power. We can be confident in any situation if we have virtue.
I love you all. Always.
-Elder Lilly
How was thanksgiving? For thanksgiving we went to a Farang restaurant that we reserved. They pulled out a very very European styled dish that started with smoked salmon and continued on to turkey, gravy, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. It was delicious. It was only missing Mom's rolls, jam, pie, the rest of our family, and seconds.
But I would like to express how awesome Thailand is. But I can't because it's so awesome. Elder Prat made an interesting observation when he visited us. He said that us missionaries are now sealed to Thailand. He instructed us to love the people, the place, the culture, the language.... And I am sure that he could make the same observation and give the same advice to all missionaries around the globe for their own specific missions. I am glad that mine is Thailand. There is something special about it to me personally. A mission is the greatest thing.
In another three days The Kingdom of Thailand will be celebrating father's day, the King's Birthday.
So, I am curious. I have been left in the dark for a long time. How are our cousins?
A few weeks ago I had the special opportunity to interview one of the Sister's investigators for Baptism. I read through the list of questions and asked questions to get an idea of the strength of her testimony and the sincerity of her repentance. She has a strong testimony. I felt the spirit as she testified. But then as I came to a certain question I knew instantly that there was a problem with this one. I got a sort of sad, even sickly feeling as I read it. So I asked the question and then pressed a little further to understand what the problem was and sure enough there was a problem. After finishing the rest of the questions I came back to that one and we discussed what she needed to do in order to prepare herself further. That experience was a strong witness to me about God's love for his children. He needs us to be clean, 100%. Sometimes we might have a doubt or a question that we avoid facing because we don't want to. But it's the best feeling to be able to face our fears and come out conqueror clean. When Jesus traveled through the crowd it was Virtue that came out of him and healed the woman because of her faith. Then the Savior came back to her and told her that she was clean. Virtue has power. We can be confident in any situation if we have virtue.
I love you all. Always.
-Elder Lilly
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