Dear Family....

                         This week fleeeeeeeeew by really really fast. I read your e-mails and I think that it's always good to hear that our cousins are still doing activities together often.  I think that our cousins are all so awesome and that we are very very fortunate to have such a large family living in close proximity to each other.  I think that we can be a great and positive influence on each other. 

                          I'm sure that Mom did an excellent job speaking at church.  Sometimes after I teach a lesson to the missionaries, for instance zone conference last Saturday, I am tempted to ask myself the question which is found in the title of a certain hymn called "Have I done any good?"  Sometimes It's hard to tell how well we did without getting any feedback.  But when you bear your sincere testimony you can never fail.

                          I would like to pose the question... what would you do if you couldn't fail?

                          This past week Elder Booth and I have been so busy that we haven't had enough time to even wash our clothes. Don't get the wrong idea, we washed our clothes. But Elder Booth had to take some of his dirty clothes to Yasothorn and then get them washed while we were on switch-offs there. Planning things out is imperative. Without it we would be lost. We plan our days out to the point that we should never have to ask ourselves that question: what should we do right now? 

                           I've found that a big part of our lives is our expectations. If we didn't expect to have to do chores on Saturday then when the unexpected chore gets assigned to us then we might not like it. But if you've already devoted your time to doing chores on Saturday then there's no feeling of injustice. I'm sure we've run into that situation before... even though we should always be willing to give up our time. In missionary work it is the same. We set the expectation to teach families, and then we start to see a lot more success in teaching families. We set the expectation for our investigators to get Baptized and then a lot more people get Baptized. And there is no feeling of mistrust nor fear of the unexpected. I'm sure going to church would be scary for the first time, unless they knew exactly what to expect.  ...And there's nothing worse than Dad and Mom looking at you in the face with that disappointed expression saying that they expected better of you.

       

                          Right now Elder Booth isn't feeling too well. I had the great opportunity to give him a Priesthood blessing yesterday.  There is such a power manifest in the ordinances of the church.  I felt comfort and strength from the Holy Spirits presence during the prayer.

                          I know that where the Lord calls the Lord qualifies. I've never been afraid of getting a calling on my mission because I am sure that the call comes from God.  I wish all of the members understood that divine call and never have a problem with their leaders.  And I wish all of the leaders understood that they need to depend on God from whom the call was extended. Life is pretty simple. We need to learn who God is by obeying His voice. And eventually we will have Eternal life.

  

                                                                       Love you all,

                                                                       -Elder Lilly 

P.S. What would you say about me getting a suit cut before I return home?  It could be around 150-200$

Dear Family,

 

Life is good. Candy is sweet. The entire mission is on fire right now. We have had the most amount of new investigators that we have ever had before. And now we are working extra hard to help to get people to come to church.  We are finding families. And that's what Thailand needs in order to get a Temple. We are so fortunate to have a Temple nearby.

 

A few days earlier I went on a switch-offs with Elder Blaustein who was my old companion from Korat.  He has changed so much. It's great to see his progression.  We were just full of joy throughout the whole day.  Right now he is companions with elder Tyrapong.  I feel glad to of had the opportunity in informing him about some of the things I learned from being companions with a native Thai.  He appreciated the advice and the new understanding about how to work with the Thai people.  They (usually) resolve problems in a completely different way than foreigners.  Understanding each other is so important. There's no problem that can't be fixed through correct understanding and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Recently we sat down and talked to a man who felt satisfied with his life. He has money, but not too much money, he has a "happy family", he has "enough happiness", he does good things, he is a good person, he has "enough" of everything that he needs. He refuses to consider the future because today is enough for him and whatever happens after death, to him, it doesn't matter now.  Well, meeting him helped inspire me to do some more considering about how we can help those who are as the scriptures would say hard hearted and blind minded. How do we help someone who is satisfied with his life's progression?  I still am not finished on studying about this subject.

 

I feel way grateful to have the time leftover on my mission that I do right now.  The Lord has been so merciful unto us in the past few weeks. We are spending every available moment in working towards our goals and increasing our service. I do feel the spirit of urgency as I go out to share the Gospel.  From every experience I ask myself... What does the Lord want me to learn from this experience?  And when I do so I have found that there was something that the Lord did indeed have for me to learn. Every time.  It reminds me of something that I noticed from Moroni 10:3-5. This of course is Moroni's promise to the world about how we can gain a spiritual witness of the truth.  In verse 3 he asks us to consider how merciful the Lord has been to the children of men from the time of Adam down until this time, and then ponder these things in our hearts. In 1 Nephi 1:20 Nephi explains that he will show unto the world that the tender mercies of the Lord are extended to all those who whom He has chosen because of their faith. This remains a theme all throughout the Book of Mormon. We need to remember how merciful the Lord has been to us and our fathers. Those whom we teach must notice and ponder the tender mercies of the Lord which is the message that the Book of Mormon has about Christ and His atonement and then they will receive a witness that those things, which they pondered in their hearts, are true. I think that it's remembering and recording the tender mercies of the Lord that helps us to fulfill the promise that the Spirit will always be with us. And then we can overcome all of the temptations and power of the devil.

 

I hope that all makes sense.  It seems that the scriptures are a journal of the tender mercies of the Lord. And through that we can follow those ancient peoples examples and learn who God is and how He is. "And this is life eternal that they might know thee the one true God and in thy son whom thou hast sent."

 

I love you so much! If you have any questions that you would like to ask me then feel free to ask them.

 

Love,

Elder Lilly

 

I translated for Elder Chen.

 

"If you put fish in a small tank then the fish stays small. If you put the fish in a big tank then the fish gets big.  Don't put your fish in a small tank! Let it grow. Let them grow!" -Elder Volk (talking about helping members to do depend upon themselves.)

Dear Family,

Thanks for the E-mails.

 I'm so glad that we get to read from the best book ever for an hour everyday. I've learned so much studying the word of God and looking at it from different perspectives. And then to get to spend another hour talking about it and applying it into our work is even better. I find myself rejoicing in the new light and understanding that I have been given as I discussed the Book of Mormon in my companionship study. When I get married I would like to have a companionship study of the Book of Mormon.  Lately I've been so busy with zone leader business that I haven't had much for free time. Usually I get home, plan, race to get ready for bed/prep to talk to the district leaders on the zone and then I gather the nightly results from the zone and send it in then it's already late and I need to get to bed. So I decided to wake up an hour early in order to study extra and to write in my Journal. Afterwards I feel so refreshed and the morning seems so much more peaceful.  I feel more ready to go out and do the Lord's work. Morning study beats study at any other time, hands down.

Also, I feel like I am starting to really understand the Thai culture and how to apply that knowledge to teaching.  The more I work on it the more I learn about it.  There are simple little things that we can say or do to help them understand clearly and be more open hearted to our message. For instance if we say that we are religious teachers than it sort of brings to them the feeling or idea similar to their schooling where they are forced to sit down and listen respectfully to the teachers without asking questions until the teacher calls for them. And we probably want money for it because we do it for a living.  But if we say that we are religious advisers or rather that we come to advise about religion, not teach about religion, then they get the feeling that we will come and advise about a religious path and that they can choose whether or not they will accept what is taught and apply the teachings to their life. Another example is what I talked about before that they need to have an understanding about the Plan of Salvation and get a taste of what restored truth is before they will really understand the restoration. Then we can go back and teach the Plan of Salvation in detail.

Yesterday and Saturday was district conference. My new companion Elder Booth and I got a call from President Smith informing us that they have no translators for the area seventy that was coming and he needed us to go and translate for him all day. So we did. Then on Sunday we did the same. It was crazy and kinda fun. While translating for the congregation I couldn't remember the word for light house.  I looked back to my companion and he gave me a word but it wasn't quite a light house. The congregation understood, but I will never forget the word for light house again. Praphakhan. Yeah. The area seventy was quoting from the hymn Brightly Beams our Fathers Mercy.  Unfortunately they don't have that hymn in the Thai Hymn book.

This moves is moves number 15/16. Elder Elwood moved out of the house, Elder Typagone went back to being a normal member, and Elder Hood got a new companion straight from the MTC, Elder Furr. I'm proud of Elder Hood. Other than that there are two more new missionaries in the Zone. Everyone seems excited about the opportunity to train.

President Oaks came to Thailand around the time of all of the Civil unrest. He gave a blessing to Thailand and it's people. He blessed Thailand to have peace. Ever since then there has been no problems that I have heard about. The Peace came so quickly and suddenly. So the work goes on. I sure do love being a missionary and doing the Lord's work.

Love,

Elder Lilly

P.S. PhatPhetPhrikMaMuang is way delicious. I could eat it everyday.

Dear Family,

 

We are looking for families to teach. There is a certain word in Thai that English doesn't accurately express. The word is graengjai. It is the feeling that you get when someone offers you help with something but you feel like you would be asking too much if you allowed them to. It is the feeling when you don't want to ask because it involves bothering someone else.  Most Thai people are very greangjai.  Usually people are way willing to help but too graengjai to have anyone else help. Unfortunately that feeling rubs off on missionaries too.  There might be one piece of cake left and you want to eat it but you feel too greangjai to ask for it. In our look for families we are forbidding our missionaries to feel graengjai about asking for other family members to sit in on the lesson.  But rather we are setting the expectation that the family should be together. If we come and they aren't together then we may ask to come back again later when they are.

One of the sad facts about the work here in Thailand is that there is a very bad percentage rate of people who stay active in the church. A family is a support system. Finding families is another way that we are going to help Thailand to retain those precious souls who join the church.

 

I have noticed that it is difficult for many of the Thai people to fully understand the restoration.  Most people aren't prone to considering abstract ideas such as faith. They haven't been raised with a background of Christianity. When we ask them what they think the purpose of life is or what they think will happen after death the average person says that they have never thought about it, or they thought about it a little, couldn't figure it out and then abandoned the effort to try.  But also, many of the Thai people are extra interested in the Plan of Salvation.  I think that that simple background of who they are, why they are here, and where they are going helps to prepare their minds for understanding other Gospel truths.

 

There is a funny little saying that every missionary who has come to Thailand knows and probably dreads which is that "every religion teaches us to be good."  I have explained this saying before, and I have thought of several different methods of moving the conversation forward after they use this as an excuse to be satisfied with what they've got. But ultimately when we come and talk to people on the street we are not trying to prove our point but we are working to prove our love. When we come with love in our hearts and a smile on our face then we already have the advantage of having something that they want even if they still don't understand that we teach truths of salvation rather than simple good teachings that help us be a good person. I hope that as we live our lives that we will be good examples that others can see.

 

I have explained that we are looking especially for families. Well, yesterday we were on our way to go teach a family that from a numbers perspective would look very good to get a family full of new investigators.  Not that we ought to be motivated by numbers but you can see how there is a strong temptation to go over and teach them all. But as I prayed to ask for the Lord's permission to go and teach this family, against all logic I felt like we shouldn't teach them. But we had already set an appointment to meet them, and their phone was off as there was a storm coming in. So I talked to my little companion friend to ask about his impressions on the matter. But he said that he felt okay about going to teach this family. Therefore with the time short as it is, and a storm coming, rather than go and teach them we went to go talk with them and perhaps set up another appointment but at least we would go to the appointment according to our word. SO we prayed together and it felt right. So we went.  Soon I realized the reason for feeling as I did. It turns out that the father of the family and the mother had just got out of an argument together and they weren't on good terms at the time.  The patriarch of the family was not ready to hear the word and lead the family.  Because of this understanding and the impressions that I had felt before we left I was much more aware of the situation. Our visit there was short and we set up another appointment asking for the mother to invite the father in on the appointment.  From this little experience I learned a lot of principals.  I was confused about those first impressions. And I had even prayed and asked again if we should/could go. I realize that my question should have changed to asking for understanding.

 

 

I know that the Lord is leading His work perfectly and with His perfect timing. I know that he is protecting and leading His missionaries. I thank you all for your prayers for me. They bring me strength beyond my own, and protection from our loving Heavenly Father.

 

I love you all,

 

Elder Lilly