Let's Go.

Dear Family,

I decided to stay till September 3rd, even though I will be one of only two people from my group who are staying. I know that it would be nice to jump right in to school, but I feel like I need to stay. There is work to be done here.

Yesterday night was a good time. Our next door neighbor (the very same one) gave us a huge mound of food. ‘Twas a smorgasbord. He gave us a huge pan of pork, several cans of beans, peas, fruit, and corn, and some bread, and two gallon bags of lentil beans and red-neck soup. He just happened to give us this gift of food on the same week that we had bought hamburger ingredients. I was ready to make Elder Tom and me-self some cheese burgers. And I did.  It was a great feast.

We've been switching off weeks for who makes the Sunday night dinner. And of course if I ever make hamburgers I am always reminded of Michael. Mike always made the best hamburgers. And Elder Tom needed to know what a real hamburger tasted like.

Cheese is expensive.

Elder Tom and I are practicing speaking English together.  Thai uses a vowel between every consonant. And there is no such consonant as V. That makes words such as harvest very difficult to pronounce. It’s been fun teaching him English.

Last week I mentioned how we had a successful Branch Counsel meeting where we made plans for the members to go out and help fellowship some families in the ward. This week Elder Tom and I made plans to go and teach the members about how to teach. If we want to serve God then we need to study, become child-like, and prepare.

One of the members in Korat has been a powerful example of becoming like a child and serving God.  Every time I speak to him on the phone he asks me to teach him something that I learned from being a teacher.  He has been a member for less than two years but he and his wife know more about the Gospel than most people do.  He quit his Job in order to serve his father for a period of time, but the Lord always provides everything that he and his family need. He is as obedient to the commandments and to his great store of light as he can be. As a consequence he has blessed the lives of many people. And this week his father (our 88 year old investigator) is getting baptized!

All of the members are amazing people. Some of the members are strong examples Sunin’s certain principals that we can learn from. Yesterday I went with the Branch President and Brother Dam to Pah Sunin’s house. He is 80+ years old, lives alone and is amazing….

love elder lilly