Dear Family,

 

Hey!!!!

 

Well, here I am again sitting in an Internet store surrounded by kids and teens playing silly video games that are all at least 10 years old. It just rained outside. The air is very thick today.  It reminds me of the chapter I recently read in the Book of Mormon about the vapor of darkness that was so thick you could feel it.  This evening we have an appointment scheduled to meet a recent convert who is struggling a bit. But now that we were finally able to contact her she has opened up to us about her trials.  Our appointment with a new family will be moved to tomorrow because they will go to Ubon to celebrate Wan Khaw Pansa which is a Buddhist festival. It's supposedly similar to that one day of fasting that some Christian sects follow. Although I forget It's name. Unfortunately instead of fasting like they traditionally should be doing many just drink more. Ubon is going to have a massive celebration. Many people from all over the world will be going to it.  Despite the rain today, truly Thailand is having a drought.  Usually it rains so much that it floods everywhere. That's what they are used to. Many people say that Thailand is a place that is UdomSombun which means... it's bountiful, the land is fertile and the nature is thriving-- so much so that many people are careless and lazy.  Perhaps there is some truth in that. But as far as the economy is concerned they are struggling.  I think that if they and we do not prepare then the need for food storage will come right to our doorsteps and we will regret not giving enough heed to the warning.  Although it's hard to imagine that it would happen to us.

 

Elder Booth and I are very excited for this my last moves period.  At the beginning of each moves we set a vision for our zone.  I remember setting a vision for my life for the day that I Jope (end) my mission and go home. Now I get to look back and see what I had envisioned actually happen.  I have said before that if we aren't happy when we are doing missionary work then we aren't doing it like we should be.  At times it's a struggle.  But oh what a difference it makes in our work when we are grateful, happy, and rejoicing.  Particularly last moves it seemed that the leaders were reproving people for their lack of progression. Some people got discouraged. Others humbled themselves and kept working on. Personally I think that I am my own biggest judge. But I rejoice in the opportunity to set goals and improve. I can never be satisfied with current levels of progression, and I always fall short of Christ's standard. Therefore even in the days of great success there is need for repentance. Why should I let my weaknesses get me down?  I hope to help those people in the places that are struggling to enjoy the time that they have, so long as their heart is in the right place.  I recall that those times that I was the happiest were the times that I was receiving the most spiritual guidance.

 

So Elder Hood has moved to Korat where I used to be and Elder Taphithak has moved in his place. Elder Taphithak reminds me of Aaron a little bit.  He's pretty laid back, has a similar sort of smile, and he has a cool watch.

 

Tomorrow is Elder Booth's Birthday.  His favorite treat is chocolate flavored raisins.  His family sent him some macaroni and cheese in a package.  I like cheese.

 

We are doing well.

 

Love,

 

Elder Lilly

P.S. We had another Baptism!

Dear Family,

 

 

How is everyone?

 

Today's E-mail is late because they switched our Preparation day from Monday to Tuesday for this week due to moves meeting being changed to Wednesday instead of the normal, Thursday.

This morning we got the phone call from the assistants about who in our Zone is moving so that we can inform them all. Surprisingly enough Elder Hood in our District is moving.  But I am not! Yesss. That means that my entire mission I had only 4 areas (although it feels like more because we travel all over our zone). I was able to enjoy about 6 months in each of my areas.  But it also means that I'm down to my last moves.  Time truly is short.  The rest of my group excluding Elder Young are all dead, or rather they went home.  The Assistants to the President do a companion exchange with the zone leaders once every moves.  Elder Young planned it out (since he's the assistant) so that he and I will switch-off together this moves. He said that it will be our "Trunky Switch-offs" together. It should be fun.  But no worries, we are going to go out with a BANG. :p

 

This past week has been a complete adventure. We spent some time in Surin helping out some Elders who were sick in the Hospital--one of which was diagnosed with Dengue Fever.  We interviewed some investigators, one of which was from the Elders in Srisaket who will be getting baptised this Sunday.  We invited in all of our spare time, sometimes for the majority of the day, and found some families, one of which is waaaaaay interested and awesome. It's been a good week.

 

Last moves there were sometimes that we got behind in time and felt a bit rushed.  When that happens I feel it is good to spend some time to analyse what happened and set some new goals and a new resolution to do better. The times that we feel so good we're on fire are also the times that we feel on top of the time. That's something we did recently, and it truly helps. When preparing to make changes and repent it helps to do some cleaning around the house too.  If you walk into the same room and sit in the same place and everything is a bit messy like before than you will probably get the same feelings as before and fall into the same old rut as before.  Making the physical changes helps to start anew.

 

Love Ya!!!

 

 

-Elder Lilly

Dear Family,

 

Elder Furr and Elder Hood really wanted to spend some time on this preparation day to go to Surin and see the Elephant show. But renting a car would have been much too expensive for the two of them and for other reasons Elder Booth and I decided to go too.  So I got to go see the Elephant show and ride elephants again. :p The shop there had some pretty good classic Thai items that would make good soveniers so I bought some.  I sometimes feel a bit weird spending money on that sort of thing. It's not something I normally do. But, it's all good. 

 

This past week went by faster than usual... and that's saying something. We went to Bangkok again for our Zone Leader council meeting. On our return we traveled to Buriram and switched off there for a day. We saved a lot of time and a long journey by going to Buriram first. But the sacrifice was not being in our own area for a longer period of time which is hard on it's progression. Some of the people that we wanted to visit had to wait for us to come back which makes following up with them even more difficult.  After we contact someone for the first time it's best to follow-up with them or try to visit them again within a day or two. But the Lord is merciful and he let Elder Booth and I to meet a couple new families on Saturday and Sunday.  I hope to help at least one more family to come unto Christ before I return home. If I don't move next week then it's possible for me to accomplish that. 

 

I know I've written about how important it is to know the culture, and about how I've been trying to notice it and record it for posterity's sake. During this last Zone Leader council meeting President Smith talked about the mission culture. He explained that it's the zone leaders that set the culture of the mission. Which culture is sort of a series of beliefs that drive our actions. I was pondering about the mission culture and about how I would like to see the mission culture change.  Currently there are two days set apart where everyone is supposed to speak Thai or for the Thai missionaries English and only that for the entire day. Or at least it was that way before and now it's not 100% clear as to what we should be doing.  I would like to see all of the missionaries immersing themselves in the culture and motivated to speak Thai all the time and then maybe English inside the house. I would like to see missionaries eating the weird meals and trying out some of the things that Thai people do differently. I have grown a lot of love and appreciation for the Thai people, esspecially when I am immersed in the culture.  These things are important to me, partly because I'm part of setting the missionary culture.  Whether it changes or not I hope every one learns to love and understand the people.  They are so funny too. Heh heh

 

I'm glad the reunion went well. I find it ironic that Diana get's married to a Dentist and now she has braces. I'm glad that the Lord provided the means for our family to return home safely. I'm sure there was something that we could learn from that experience. The Lord's tender mercies are great. He certainly is in the details of our lives. I've been recording the Lord's tender mercies in my journal and it is quite amazing.  

 

I gotta go now. Later.

 

 

Love,

 

Elder Lilly 

Happy Independence Day

Dear Family,

 

There is something special about leaving America that makes you more grateful for your freedom.  We celebrated Independence Day. Elder Booth and I have been under the weather for a couple days. We went back home after church on Sunday and rested. After we awoke we went down stairs and made huge cheese burgers, and fruit salad for us and the other Elders. Then we all sat down together and sang all three verses of the National Anthem which was amazing.  I've always been a fan of the last verse. If I can remember correctly it goes a little something like this...

Oh, thus be it ever, when free men shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation!
Blessed with vict’ry and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land
Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust!”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

After we sang the hymn, we said a prayer, and had a feast. I have recently been reading in Alma about captain Moroni. He said that the cause found in the Title of liberty is the cause of God. I think that freedom and family and religion are inseparably connected.  True freedom supports the family and religion. Therefore it is freedom that connects our government to religion. And If wicked men separate government and religious/moral principals then they are taking away our freedom because it is the proper glue that binds them. If we are free to sin and kill without punishment then we are not truly free nor do we have peace.  Then we are left with chaos; and what is the point of government?

 

Anyway, I really like that our fathers trusted in God and successfully established a free nation. And how blessed have we been.

 

It's good every once and a while to consider what is important to us, what is truly important, and what our vision is for our future.  That's something that I've always enjoyed doing here in the mission field.  I get to see all kinds of lives and people both rich and poor, happy and miserable.  There's a completely different feel in the church verses outside of it and the people in church seem so much happier then those out of it. These things help expand my understanding and vision of what's really important or not.  There was one point in my mission when I was thinking about what I was going to change for when I return home from my mission.  Then naturally the thought of video games came into mind. I had a small struggle inside of myself considering this subject. I really enjoy video games. I wanted to come home and play some sweet multi-player games with my brothers and sisters. But there are many games that I've played before that I like that perhaps weren't the best. And where do you draw the line? At length I came to the conclusion that I was willing to give up video games completely if the Lord required it of me and I especially wouldn't play any games that would distract me from being able to feel the Holy Spirit's presence.  So I committed myself to that and considered it a sacrifice with a blessing connected to it, and indeed even then I suddenly felt at peace inside and I felt free from a certain burden. I feel like since then my spiritual sensitivity has increased, and my eternal perspective has deepened.  What a blessing! At any rate I don't see when I'll have time to play video games when I get home... there's way too many books that I want to read and things that I want to accomplish. Balance is key, but the Spirit is the guide.

 

The same guidelines go to music and other forms of entertainment. It's not too big of a deal now but I think there remains an effectual struggle to be made. Yet my mind is fixed with a resolute determination.

 

Well, that's all I have for now. Happy Independence day!

 

Love,

 

Elder Lilly