Dear Family,
Last Sunday our investigator named Em got Baptized! I forgot to mention that he passed the interview in my last letter. Oh well. The speakers called Em their brother as they spoke to him and bore their testimonies. Em's entire family came to the Baptismal service. Early on Sunday morning Brother Tahm prepared a large bouquet of flowers to be placed under the stand for Em's Baptism. Altogether the members really made the Baptismal service a special occasion. I think that the Branch in Korat is growing. There's a fire in the members. More and more we are seeing members serving each other and asking us for opportunities to serve.
I believe that in my last letter I spoke about praying for three names from a list of each of the members in order to find out God's will concerning which members we need to teach. Our aim was to teach them in order to receive referrals from them. But two of the names that we prayed about were not on eachother's list of three. So instead of teaching a referral lesson we decided to visit those two names and have family home evening with them. So last Monday we planned to go visit brother Owe. The hour before our appointment another one of our investigators called us and we met him and taught him at the church. This unexpected appointment put us behind in our plan and we therefore did not have enough time to bike over to Brother Owe's house. Instead, we called a Tuk Tuk driver to come pick us up. But we didn't call just any Tuk Tuk driver, we called our investigator named Guu. Guu is so poor. He lives or rather sleeps in a small hut. He has to pay rent on his car that he uses to ferry people around like a Taxi. Between the rent on his hut and his car he has very little money left over to spend on food and other necessities. Some days he might make good money, but then another day he might not get enough money to even pay the rent. If he doesn't make enough money during the day then he needs to drive during the night too. Usually he gets about 4 hours of sleep. So as you can tell, he rarely has time to come and learn with us anymore. But on this most auspicious of nights, he stayed. Brother Owe was just what he needed. The lesson we taught was about the power of faith. Guu has already learned all of the lessons necessary before Baptism but he is struggling with quitting smoking. Because he wasn't progressing , we set him aside for a time, and stopped teaching him. I think that this Family home evening lesson helped Guu in his need. But we might not have thought about holding a family home evening with Brother Owe had we not prayed about the list of names.
The Sister's are experiencing many mighty miracles as well. The last lesson that I taught in our District meeting was about Faith. I used several principals that I learned from a certain talk by Elder Greg Cook that I got from Aaron to help in teaching. It was a powerful lesson. The Sister missionaries said that they were filled with faith during the day when they needed it. They are teaching Em's wife named Sally. Sally has a goal to be baptized on the last Sunday before moves. She needs to meet with the sisters 3 times a week in order to succeed in her goal but her only day off is Sunday. Any other day is not sure. But, thus far they have been able to meet with Sally on every appointment. When all goes as we hope, Em will be the one to baptize her.
Love ya,
Elder Lilly
Oct 28, 2009
Oct 21, 2009
Reporting in
Dear Family,
This Morning our hair cut took about two hours long. That is including the hair washing before and after the cut. I feel like my hair is cut so evenly that it could take the scrutiny of a Hollywood camera up close. And it smells good.
Yesterday we enjoyed sharing experiences with each other at our zone lesson in Mahasarakham. One of the main topics of discussion was about prayer. I feel amazed as I look back at the multiplicity of my prayers that were answered in the past year. The Spirit really can direct our prayers and we are sure to get an answer. Our prayers really can be a spiritual experience, especially when accompanied by scripture study and pondering. I am reminded of the story of Enos whose soul hungered. He was brought to pray all night and all day until the voice of the Lord came into his mind. But then he was not satisfied with his own salvation alone but he prayed for his brethren the Nephites. The answer he received was that the Lord would bless the Nephites according to their diligence to keeping the commandments. Enos let the answer to his prayer increase his faith, and his soul was still not satisfied. Finally after the third time the Lord grants an answer to Enos' prayers according to Enos' desires because of his faith in Christ. What I find to be especially interesting is that Enos' desires were that if the Nephites just happen to be destroyed and the Lamanites not, that God would preserve the records so that they might bring the Lamanites to faith in Christ--which is in history what actually happened. How in the world did he know to pray for that? His prayers must have been directed by the spirit.
The more I read the scriptures the more I feel the truths of the Gospel sink in to my soul. So often I will be talking with Elder Blaughstein and we will be discussing about simple truths that we learned from the scriptures. And the truths seem so much more evident. Then what we discussed from our personal studies together has so often been the exact topic that those we teach needed. Then the spirit confirms the things that we talked about from that morning one more time in the lesson. As we leave from that appointment I feel the need to say a prayer of thanks and I can't help but smile at my companion in amusement and feel grateful that we had the spirit with us in our studies that morning. These kinds of experiences are very special to me. And I feel obligated to work harder for being blessed with them. One of the impressions that Elder Blaughstein and I feel to do is to pray for service opportunities. I hadn't thought to do that before. All our work is service. But serving as you're serving on a mission is even better.
Thanks to the simple advice of my oldest brother from when we lasted talked on the phone together, Elder Blaughstein and I had another special experience. We separated into different rooms with a list of over 30 names of all the brethren in the Branch. Then we prayed to find three names of people who God would have us teach. When we came back together and looked at the names that we prayed about separately, two of the three names were the same.
I love you all!
Love Elder Lilly
P.S. We found a house and the Sisters are going to move in. Then we will move to the sisters old house. Also our neighbor is crazy!
This Morning our hair cut took about two hours long. That is including the hair washing before and after the cut. I feel like my hair is cut so evenly that it could take the scrutiny of a Hollywood camera up close. And it smells good.
Yesterday we enjoyed sharing experiences with each other at our zone lesson in Mahasarakham. One of the main topics of discussion was about prayer. I feel amazed as I look back at the multiplicity of my prayers that were answered in the past year. The Spirit really can direct our prayers and we are sure to get an answer. Our prayers really can be a spiritual experience, especially when accompanied by scripture study and pondering. I am reminded of the story of Enos whose soul hungered. He was brought to pray all night and all day until the voice of the Lord came into his mind. But then he was not satisfied with his own salvation alone but he prayed for his brethren the Nephites. The answer he received was that the Lord would bless the Nephites according to their diligence to keeping the commandments. Enos let the answer to his prayer increase his faith, and his soul was still not satisfied. Finally after the third time the Lord grants an answer to Enos' prayers according to Enos' desires because of his faith in Christ. What I find to be especially interesting is that Enos' desires were that if the Nephites just happen to be destroyed and the Lamanites not, that God would preserve the records so that they might bring the Lamanites to faith in Christ--which is in history what actually happened. How in the world did he know to pray for that? His prayers must have been directed by the spirit.
The more I read the scriptures the more I feel the truths of the Gospel sink in to my soul. So often I will be talking with Elder Blaughstein and we will be discussing about simple truths that we learned from the scriptures. And the truths seem so much more evident. Then what we discussed from our personal studies together has so often been the exact topic that those we teach needed. Then the spirit confirms the things that we talked about from that morning one more time in the lesson. As we leave from that appointment I feel the need to say a prayer of thanks and I can't help but smile at my companion in amusement and feel grateful that we had the spirit with us in our studies that morning. These kinds of experiences are very special to me. And I feel obligated to work harder for being blessed with them. One of the impressions that Elder Blaughstein and I feel to do is to pray for service opportunities. I hadn't thought to do that before. All our work is service. But serving as you're serving on a mission is even better.
Thanks to the simple advice of my oldest brother from when we lasted talked on the phone together, Elder Blaughstein and I had another special experience. We separated into different rooms with a list of over 30 names of all the brethren in the Branch. Then we prayed to find three names of people who God would have us teach. When we came back together and looked at the names that we prayed about separately, two of the three names were the same.
I love you all!
Love Elder Lilly
P.S. We found a house and the Sisters are going to move in. Then we will move to the sisters old house. Also our neighbor is crazy!
Oct 14, 2009
ghgg
Dear Family,
I am listening to conference right now. Heh heh heh...
I am so grateful for the opportunity to be on a mission. I have felt so happy and learned so many little important lessons that help me and will be a blessing to me for the rest of my life. I feel grateful that our family can receive blessings for my faithful service. I don't fear the future. I feel excited and humbled to do the lord's work.
Our vision for Korat is that we hope to spread the happiness of the gospel to the new converts, the less active members, and especially to the strong active members. We hope to spread the messages taught in the scriptures about giving service and following Christs example. Yesterday we taught one of the recent converts a very short but powerful follow-up lesson. He connected the principals from both lessons and as soon as we felt the spirit strongly we prayed together and left. I know that the spirit had confirmed our testimonies and had been the teacher of that lesson. I could feel it. I could see it in his eyes. I hope that he will apply what was taught.
We had a great opportunity to have family home evening with the Branch President. He is such an important person; has such an important role in the church. We ate together and read certain scriptures that were meaningful to us which spoke about trust in God together. Then we visited a less active member together. I hope of all people that he will feel of our love for him. I hope that our service will lesson his burdens.
Working with Elder Blaughstein has been really fun. Today we carefully planned out a day full of activities. This morning we woke at our usual morning hours and immediately cleaned the house up. Then we changed clothes and set out to play basketball again. We invited our investigator and his friends, our branch mission leader (he's a short Filipino guy), and a few other guys that were around who we invited to play too. It was great fun, and as usual we did very well together. Then we came home, showered, ate some food and set out to "the Mall" with one of the members named Ratana. We ate Ice Cream with him and his Nephew. It was pretty amusing to see him eat his super sweet Ice cream with a smile on his face. Then we invited him over to the "free massaging chairs" in the Mall and we just sat down for about 20 minutes getting a massage. I couldn't help but laugh as the chair started shaking Ratana back and forth. He seemed a bit out of place in such a huge expensive mall. His home is more of a shack with chickens feeding around it.
Speaking of chickens. In Zelda they have really weird looking chickens that have their back tail feathers sticking straight up. I've seen some of those chickens up here. I'm no expert, but I'd venture to say that those are Asian chickens.
To Kara, I found a package and I'm sending you the Guitar. Happy Birthday. And for Mom, I think that it's great that you are receiving a calling in the relief society presidency. I certainly understand much more about the importance of the Relief Society in the ward from my experiences here. The Elder's quorum President is like the Branch President's right hand. But If he want's to get anything done all he needs to do is give the Relief Society President a call. Then there's sure to be action.
Unfortunately this year we didn't have an opportunity to watch conference in English. We were very disappointed as we were all looking forward to conference with excitement, hoping to see it in English. The Thai is okay, but a monotone translation doesn't do justice to the conference talks. Yet even through the language barrier I still felt impressed by the spirit. But then I felt sorry for Elder Blaughstein and Sister Larson as they are both new to the country. My translating the translations back to English did not do any justice to the talks either. As Sunday came around we prepared. We printed out a copy of all of the talks in English. Then we read them together.
I love you all, I have some great experiences I would love to share with you. And We have some good investigators.
Love,
Elder Lilly
I am listening to conference right now. Heh heh heh...
I am so grateful for the opportunity to be on a mission. I have felt so happy and learned so many little important lessons that help me and will be a blessing to me for the rest of my life. I feel grateful that our family can receive blessings for my faithful service. I don't fear the future. I feel excited and humbled to do the lord's work.
Our vision for Korat is that we hope to spread the happiness of the gospel to the new converts, the less active members, and especially to the strong active members. We hope to spread the messages taught in the scriptures about giving service and following Christs example. Yesterday we taught one of the recent converts a very short but powerful follow-up lesson. He connected the principals from both lessons and as soon as we felt the spirit strongly we prayed together and left. I know that the spirit had confirmed our testimonies and had been the teacher of that lesson. I could feel it. I could see it in his eyes. I hope that he will apply what was taught.
We had a great opportunity to have family home evening with the Branch President. He is such an important person; has such an important role in the church. We ate together and read certain scriptures that were meaningful to us which spoke about trust in God together. Then we visited a less active member together. I hope of all people that he will feel of our love for him. I hope that our service will lesson his burdens.
Working with Elder Blaughstein has been really fun. Today we carefully planned out a day full of activities. This morning we woke at our usual morning hours and immediately cleaned the house up. Then we changed clothes and set out to play basketball again. We invited our investigator and his friends, our branch mission leader (he's a short Filipino guy), and a few other guys that were around who we invited to play too. It was great fun, and as usual we did very well together. Then we came home, showered, ate some food and set out to "the Mall" with one of the members named Ratana. We ate Ice Cream with him and his Nephew. It was pretty amusing to see him eat his super sweet Ice cream with a smile on his face. Then we invited him over to the "free massaging chairs" in the Mall and we just sat down for about 20 minutes getting a massage. I couldn't help but laugh as the chair started shaking Ratana back and forth. He seemed a bit out of place in such a huge expensive mall. His home is more of a shack with chickens feeding around it.
Speaking of chickens. In Zelda they have really weird looking chickens that have their back tail feathers sticking straight up. I've seen some of those chickens up here. I'm no expert, but I'd venture to say that those are Asian chickens.
To Kara, I found a package and I'm sending you the Guitar. Happy Birthday. And for Mom, I think that it's great that you are receiving a calling in the relief society presidency. I certainly understand much more about the importance of the Relief Society in the ward from my experiences here. The Elder's quorum President is like the Branch President's right hand. But If he want's to get anything done all he needs to do is give the Relief Society President a call. Then there's sure to be action.
Unfortunately this year we didn't have an opportunity to watch conference in English. We were very disappointed as we were all looking forward to conference with excitement, hoping to see it in English. The Thai is okay, but a monotone translation doesn't do justice to the conference talks. Yet even through the language barrier I still felt impressed by the spirit. But then I felt sorry for Elder Blaughstein and Sister Larson as they are both new to the country. My translating the translations back to English did not do any justice to the talks either. As Sunday came around we prepared. We printed out a copy of all of the talks in English. Then we read them together.
I love you all, I have some great experiences I would love to share with you. And We have some good investigators.
Love,
Elder Lilly
Oct 7, 2009
Hello
Dear Family,
I am very very excited about my new area. I moved out east in the Isan to a place called Korat. I believe It's the second biggest city in Thailand other than Bangkok. If you would like to take a look at it from Google earth then you would need to type out it's full name... Nakhon Ratchasima. I'm here with my companion Elder Blaughstein and then we have two sisters in our district: Sister Bradfield (she was in the group behind me in the MTC) and Sister Larsen (She is being trained by Sister Bradfield.) We are a happy district. Elder Blaughstein is a big guy. He was a serious football player back home. He has a scholarship waiting for him to get home, but he's not sure if that's the path that he want's to take. Where ever the Lord leads him, he'll go. When I said he is a big guy I meant his thick bulging muscles. He's actually about 5ft 5inch tall. Some Thai people are even taller than he is. Some. Today we romped some of our Thai friends at basketball. It was the first time I've played in a long time. Right now I'm sore. It feels good. I was the tallest.
I love Korat already. The people are different from those in Bangkok. A lot of people speak a different dialect. The members are amazing. There are a few members who are such great examples to everyone. They love the gospel, live the gospel, and serve with willing hearts. A few days ago one of the sisters in our branch fasted for more opportunities to serve God. She then came to the sisters and asked when their appointments were so that she could help teach. After she helped teach she then asked when the sisters had appointments for the next day so that she could go help again. That's the spirit.
As usual we started the moves off by forming a vision of where the work can go in the future. Do you remember when I referred to President Dodge's request for us to make a vision for our lives? How are we doing at fulfilling our vision? I am excited for ours. I hope that you are still on the path to fulfilling yours too. God certainly has prepared a mission for us to accomplish in our lives that utilizes our talents and abilities. How great God's trust is in us.
This Moves I have learned a lot about how a branch is supposed to function. We are setting plans that will heavily utilize our time with members. We will be teaching and strengthening the members that we have (and especially the recent converts) and always asking and encouraging them to take part in service and missionary work. We are going to try and have a member present in all of the lessons that we teach. We have always tried to invite a member to help us, but we will work even harder to accomplish that goal now. I realized from helping sister Pawn in Ayutthaya that it is soooo important that the investigator has a real friend that will love them, and sit by them, and help answer all of their questions. Well, now I know what kind of a member I want to be when I get home.
Another great thing about Korat is that there are about 80 people who attend church every sundaym and there are plenty of Priesthood holders.
Well I gotta go,
I am excited for conference!
And I got the paper Mom, and signed it. I still need to find a way to scan it and send it in.
Also we are looking to move our house here.
Love,
Elder Lilly
I am very very excited about my new area. I moved out east in the Isan to a place called Korat. I believe It's the second biggest city in Thailand other than Bangkok. If you would like to take a look at it from Google earth then you would need to type out it's full name... Nakhon Ratchasima. I'm here with my companion Elder Blaughstein and then we have two sisters in our district: Sister Bradfield (she was in the group behind me in the MTC) and Sister Larsen (She is being trained by Sister Bradfield.) We are a happy district. Elder Blaughstein is a big guy. He was a serious football player back home. He has a scholarship waiting for him to get home, but he's not sure if that's the path that he want's to take. Where ever the Lord leads him, he'll go. When I said he is a big guy I meant his thick bulging muscles. He's actually about 5ft 5inch tall. Some Thai people are even taller than he is. Some. Today we romped some of our Thai friends at basketball. It was the first time I've played in a long time. Right now I'm sore. It feels good. I was the tallest.
I love Korat already. The people are different from those in Bangkok. A lot of people speak a different dialect. The members are amazing. There are a few members who are such great examples to everyone. They love the gospel, live the gospel, and serve with willing hearts. A few days ago one of the sisters in our branch fasted for more opportunities to serve God. She then came to the sisters and asked when their appointments were so that she could help teach. After she helped teach she then asked when the sisters had appointments for the next day so that she could go help again. That's the spirit.
As usual we started the moves off by forming a vision of where the work can go in the future. Do you remember when I referred to President Dodge's request for us to make a vision for our lives? How are we doing at fulfilling our vision? I am excited for ours. I hope that you are still on the path to fulfilling yours too. God certainly has prepared a mission for us to accomplish in our lives that utilizes our talents and abilities. How great God's trust is in us.
This Moves I have learned a lot about how a branch is supposed to function. We are setting plans that will heavily utilize our time with members. We will be teaching and strengthening the members that we have (and especially the recent converts) and always asking and encouraging them to take part in service and missionary work. We are going to try and have a member present in all of the lessons that we teach. We have always tried to invite a member to help us, but we will work even harder to accomplish that goal now. I realized from helping sister Pawn in Ayutthaya that it is soooo important that the investigator has a real friend that will love them, and sit by them, and help answer all of their questions. Well, now I know what kind of a member I want to be when I get home.
Another great thing about Korat is that there are about 80 people who attend church every sundaym and there are plenty of Priesthood holders.
Well I gotta go,
I am excited for conference!
And I got the paper Mom, and signed it. I still need to find a way to scan it and send it in.
Also we are looking to move our house here.
Love,
Elder Lilly
Sep 30, 2009
Comings and Goings
Hello....
So, tomorrow I am moving. Where to? I have no idea. The members in Ayutthaya have been so nice. They all want to feast with me before I leave, and some of them bought gifts for me.
--------I'll be back but I need to switch places....
...so,
Today is a bit hectic. I just finished shopping and I got a hair cut. This morning I did a bunch of packing. Every sixth week on the Wednesday before moves we hold a special English class that we call showcase night. During showcase we review the things that we taught over the past six weeks, play games, and have treats. Today we are preparing a sort of scrabble type game that requires you to dunk your hand in icy water to pull out letters with which your group competes against other groups to put the letters into words. Then the winning teams will lead the next activity where the groups race against each other to answer the English questions and then eat a donut (or apple) on a string. I hope that they will enjoy it. If not, I will eat all the donuts.
I am way excited for Conference, although I won't get to watch it until the tenth/eleventh of October (happy birthday Kara!). I could never fall asleep during Elder Scott's talk, because he is one of my favorite speakers, even though his voice is so soothing.
Concerning the Guitar, I received the money, I just need to find a good safe way to send it. It will take me a bit to find a suitable... basket. Or box.
One of the interesting things about studying the scriptures is how my perspective changes after I learn more. I think that the more I learn the clearer and truer the things that I teach will be which will then create a better atmosphere for the spirit to confirm the things that I am teaching. I like to read from the Doctrine and Covenants doctrine manual on preparation days. I hope everyone back home is reading and studying the scriptures personally. I've noticed from the last conference that the prophets warned about the importance of personal revelation, how that it will be very important for us in our future in the church. Along with enduring with faith through hard times I would say that they are preparing us for hardships to come. The gospel holds a pattern for living which gives us all the strength and direction that we need so long as we follow it.
I'm excited to hear how conference was for you.
I have many more things to do...
I love you,
-Elder Lilly
So, tomorrow I am moving. Where to? I have no idea. The members in Ayutthaya have been so nice. They all want to feast with me before I leave, and some of them bought gifts for me.
--------I'll be back but I need to switch places....
...so,
Today is a bit hectic. I just finished shopping and I got a hair cut. This morning I did a bunch of packing. Every sixth week on the Wednesday before moves we hold a special English class that we call showcase night. During showcase we review the things that we taught over the past six weeks, play games, and have treats. Today we are preparing a sort of scrabble type game that requires you to dunk your hand in icy water to pull out letters with which your group competes against other groups to put the letters into words. Then the winning teams will lead the next activity where the groups race against each other to answer the English questions and then eat a donut (or apple) on a string. I hope that they will enjoy it. If not, I will eat all the donuts.
I am way excited for Conference, although I won't get to watch it until the tenth/eleventh of October (happy birthday Kara!). I could never fall asleep during Elder Scott's talk, because he is one of my favorite speakers, even though his voice is so soothing.
Concerning the Guitar, I received the money, I just need to find a good safe way to send it. It will take me a bit to find a suitable... basket. Or box.
One of the interesting things about studying the scriptures is how my perspective changes after I learn more. I think that the more I learn the clearer and truer the things that I teach will be which will then create a better atmosphere for the spirit to confirm the things that I am teaching. I like to read from the Doctrine and Covenants doctrine manual on preparation days. I hope everyone back home is reading and studying the scriptures personally. I've noticed from the last conference that the prophets warned about the importance of personal revelation, how that it will be very important for us in our future in the church. Along with enduring with faith through hard times I would say that they are preparing us for hardships to come. The gospel holds a pattern for living which gives us all the strength and direction that we need so long as we follow it.
I'm excited to hear how conference was for you.
I have many more things to do...
I love you,
-Elder Lilly
Sep 23, 2009
Marathon
Dear Family,
Diana has been married for three months already? Where did three months go? Have they had any success with finding work?
Once again I find myself sitting in an Internet shop full of rowdy teenagers playing computer games with their friends. All the noise is a bit distracting. We were eating dinner with one of the members in our branch, brother Gang, when a group of rowdy teenagers left from the table next to us in a big group. Brother Gang turned to me and told me that when he was that age he was juuust like them. I was thinking... rowdy? Then he said that whatever he did he did it in a group. He was always in a group and always following the society or social group that he was in. And when he had to go home, there was another group of people that he went with whose houses were in the same direction as his. Then he continued to explain that if he wanted to be a better person than he would have to change his social group to be with better people. Unfortunately there is a lot of truth in what he said. Even though smoking is against the rules in the Buddhist religion, people follow the society, and the society embraces smoking. There are SOOO many people who smoke here. How fortunate we are to have been raised in a society of such high standards and to have friends with such high standards. Being a member in Thailand is not easy at all.
Last Sunday Elder Panom and I successfully executed the fireside that we had been preparing. The theme was enduring to the end. It started out with a recording of me talking with music in the background (as an intro to get their attention), then another song played while the projector showed the lyrics in both Thai and English until the song got intense when we showed pictures from the scriptures up close on screen. Then we showed a short video and concluded with a slide presentation and an activity at the end. The electrical genius of it goes to brother Gang for helping put it all together. Thanks to the Church office for the projector. :) In the fireside we connected the gospel principal of enduring to the end to following the example of Jesus Christ and developing His attributes. Preach my Gospel reviews and teaches about the Christlike attributes that we should be striving for. The presentation was nice and smooth. We are going to talk to the members about which Christlike attribute they are working on and helping to encourage them in their efforts.
We are back to finding more investigators again as we just discontinued teaching a bunch of people who weren't ready. That's an interesting aspect of missionary work that I think perhaps a lot of people don't consider very often. It's true that everybody needs to eventually hear the gospel, but, there are a select few who are ready to obey it. Not that they need to be ready to obey all of it at once, but they need to be ready to accept change and exercise faith.
I thought that the restoration would be more important in a place where there were several sects of Christianity present, but I found that it's even more important here. There are people who accept multiple religions, and believe in simply being a good person. For instance the man I invited yesterday said that Christianity is good and Buddhism is good and we can live together. But Islam is it's own good and they are on their own. (They like to bash on Islam) That man said that his ancestors were Buddhist and they won't accept Christianity. He also said that we need to follow our ancestors beliefs, but we're all good, and can live together. That's just one example from yesterday.
But it is easy to smile when I look around and think of where I am and how funny the people are. Heh heh heh. So funny. You'll just have to come see for yourself. Every moment is a classical moment that I wish I could take a picture of here. Heh heh
I think that the more I get into awkward situations and go out of my comfort zone to share the gospel with these awesome people the better.
I love you guys,
Elder Lilly
Diana has been married for three months already? Where did three months go? Have they had any success with finding work?
Once again I find myself sitting in an Internet shop full of rowdy teenagers playing computer games with their friends. All the noise is a bit distracting. We were eating dinner with one of the members in our branch, brother Gang, when a group of rowdy teenagers left from the table next to us in a big group. Brother Gang turned to me and told me that when he was that age he was juuust like them. I was thinking... rowdy? Then he said that whatever he did he did it in a group. He was always in a group and always following the society or social group that he was in. And when he had to go home, there was another group of people that he went with whose houses were in the same direction as his. Then he continued to explain that if he wanted to be a better person than he would have to change his social group to be with better people. Unfortunately there is a lot of truth in what he said. Even though smoking is against the rules in the Buddhist religion, people follow the society, and the society embraces smoking. There are SOOO many people who smoke here. How fortunate we are to have been raised in a society of such high standards and to have friends with such high standards. Being a member in Thailand is not easy at all.
Last Sunday Elder Panom and I successfully executed the fireside that we had been preparing. The theme was enduring to the end. It started out with a recording of me talking with music in the background (as an intro to get their attention), then another song played while the projector showed the lyrics in both Thai and English until the song got intense when we showed pictures from the scriptures up close on screen. Then we showed a short video and concluded with a slide presentation and an activity at the end. The electrical genius of it goes to brother Gang for helping put it all together. Thanks to the Church office for the projector. :) In the fireside we connected the gospel principal of enduring to the end to following the example of Jesus Christ and developing His attributes. Preach my Gospel reviews and teaches about the Christlike attributes that we should be striving for. The presentation was nice and smooth. We are going to talk to the members about which Christlike attribute they are working on and helping to encourage them in their efforts.
We are back to finding more investigators again as we just discontinued teaching a bunch of people who weren't ready. That's an interesting aspect of missionary work that I think perhaps a lot of people don't consider very often. It's true that everybody needs to eventually hear the gospel, but, there are a select few who are ready to obey it. Not that they need to be ready to obey all of it at once, but they need to be ready to accept change and exercise faith.
I thought that the restoration would be more important in a place where there were several sects of Christianity present, but I found that it's even more important here. There are people who accept multiple religions, and believe in simply being a good person. For instance the man I invited yesterday said that Christianity is good and Buddhism is good and we can live together. But Islam is it's own good and they are on their own. (They like to bash on Islam) That man said that his ancestors were Buddhist and they won't accept Christianity. He also said that we need to follow our ancestors beliefs, but we're all good, and can live together. That's just one example from yesterday.
But it is easy to smile when I look around and think of where I am and how funny the people are. Heh heh heh. So funny. You'll just have to come see for yourself. Every moment is a classical moment that I wish I could take a picture of here. Heh heh
I think that the more I get into awkward situations and go out of my comfort zone to share the gospel with these awesome people the better.
I love you guys,
Elder Lilly
Sep 17, 2009
Sep 16, 2009
It's a beautiful season
Dear family,
I feel good today. Sister Pawn's baptism went very smoothly. She bore her testimony and it was a very special occasion. I wish her family could have been there too, but I'm sure that they will notice the changes that will occur in her life, all the happiness and joy from the spirit. I sang If You Could Hie to Kolob as the special musical number for her baptism because all of the ward members love that song even though it can only be found in the English hymn book. Elder and sister Peterson might've been the only people who understood the words but the song has such a powerful melody to it. Sister Jiw took the sacrifice and played the piano for the baptism. She is the only member besides me who knows how to play... and you know I'm no good. She was a trooper.
A few days ago Sister Pawn came to the music class that I was teaching for the ward (so that they don't have to depend on the missionaries) and I found out that she has a great voice. Her voice reminded me of mom. She's got that sweet rich alto voice. I was impressed.
So Kara was asking about foods. Thai food in general is good. The vegetables are weird. They don't really have salad. Salad is considered American food, and is expensive to buy. They do Amazing things with Beef, Pork, Chicken... Mmmm, and rice. And eggs, and they make Gangs or rather Curry soup. Eggs are in almost anything and if it's not in it then you can order it on the top. Almost always it will be fried in grease. If bread and butter is the standard for America then rice and spicy pepper sauce is the standard for Thailand. Also, like brother Trasdhal commented, they drink soda in bags and use straws to drink everything. We never use a fork and a knife to eat. We use a spoon and a side-fork to eat. The spoon is a great invention. I've eaten salty crab in pepper papaya salad, all sorts of different curry, barbecued chicken, spicy pork strips, and a bucket of sticky rice. I've tried rat too, it was eatable apart from the mass of little bones left in it. I have a tendency to run into/notice every time there's a bone or a piece of something weird in my food. A simple good meal is called Khaiasai. It's got sweet sauce and meat in the middle of an omelet burrito style. Eat that with some plain rice. It's good. From my experience people either go crazy for sushi or are indifferent about it. Most Thai people love sushi and Japanese food. What food do I miss from home? Hah, everything. Sandwiches. Real bread. There's a delicacy to making a big juicy sandwich that is just not understood nor appreciated here. And Thai candy=cough drops. If you like cough drops then great.
Also, I've got a guitar for Kara. It will cost about 65$ to send home. Do you want it? Actually I have two guitars. Does anyone want the other one? Same price.
I am going to be moving out of Ayuthaya for sure in another two weeks. In two weeks I will have been here for 6months. I'm pretty fortunate to have been able to stay in my areas for 4moves each (6months each). I got to see to a lot of progression in Those areas and I got to be good friends with the members. But at the same time, It will be nice to move.
Thanks for your love and letters (especially to Dad who writes great letters, even if he forgets what he wanted to write about once he got to the computer). I love you all. You guys are the best.
Elder Lilly
I feel good today. Sister Pawn's baptism went very smoothly. She bore her testimony and it was a very special occasion. I wish her family could have been there too, but I'm sure that they will notice the changes that will occur in her life, all the happiness and joy from the spirit. I sang If You Could Hie to Kolob as the special musical number for her baptism because all of the ward members love that song even though it can only be found in the English hymn book. Elder and sister Peterson might've been the only people who understood the words but the song has such a powerful melody to it. Sister Jiw took the sacrifice and played the piano for the baptism. She is the only member besides me who knows how to play... and you know I'm no good. She was a trooper.
A few days ago Sister Pawn came to the music class that I was teaching for the ward (so that they don't have to depend on the missionaries) and I found out that she has a great voice. Her voice reminded me of mom. She's got that sweet rich alto voice. I was impressed.
So Kara was asking about foods. Thai food in general is good. The vegetables are weird. They don't really have salad. Salad is considered American food, and is expensive to buy. They do Amazing things with Beef, Pork, Chicken... Mmmm, and rice. And eggs, and they make Gangs or rather Curry soup. Eggs are in almost anything and if it's not in it then you can order it on the top. Almost always it will be fried in grease. If bread and butter is the standard for America then rice and spicy pepper sauce is the standard for Thailand. Also, like brother Trasdhal commented, they drink soda in bags and use straws to drink everything. We never use a fork and a knife to eat. We use a spoon and a side-fork to eat. The spoon is a great invention. I've eaten salty crab in pepper papaya salad, all sorts of different curry, barbecued chicken, spicy pork strips, and a bucket of sticky rice. I've tried rat too, it was eatable apart from the mass of little bones left in it. I have a tendency to run into/notice every time there's a bone or a piece of something weird in my food. A simple good meal is called Khaiasai. It's got sweet sauce and meat in the middle of an omelet burrito style. Eat that with some plain rice. It's good. From my experience people either go crazy for sushi or are indifferent about it. Most Thai people love sushi and Japanese food. What food do I miss from home? Hah, everything. Sandwiches. Real bread. There's a delicacy to making a big juicy sandwich that is just not understood nor appreciated here. And Thai candy=cough drops. If you like cough drops then great.
Also, I've got a guitar for Kara. It will cost about 65$ to send home. Do you want it? Actually I have two guitars. Does anyone want the other one? Same price.
I am going to be moving out of Ayuthaya for sure in another two weeks. In two weeks I will have been here for 6months. I'm pretty fortunate to have been able to stay in my areas for 4moves each (6months each). I got to see to a lot of progression in Those areas and I got to be good friends with the members. But at the same time, It will be nice to move.
Thanks for your love and letters (especially to Dad who writes great letters, even if he forgets what he wanted to write about once he got to the computer). I love you all. You guys are the best.
Elder Lilly
Sep 9, 2009
Not the applebars!
Hey Family,
Pawn is getting baptised this Sunday!!
We did an all day switch-off which gave her another opportunity to interview. Elder Heiley held the interview and he said that she was so ready she passed with flying colors. Because she closed her store completely on Sunday, a bunch of customers have come and questioned her about it. She said that she has a few referrals to give us from interested customers. She is way excited. I am way excited. The next matter of importance is that her family is super super busy on Sunday. She is concerned that her sister and her husband won't have the opportunity to go to her baptism this Sunday. There's not much that we can do about that besides pray with faith for the Lord to work miracles.
That same switch-offs I was quite thankful that we had four elders in our area. We had a service project in which we hauled great pieces of car, truck, and tractor parts into a truck and unloaded the parts into their new shop. We lifted some of the worst desirable shaped and heavy objects. There were cut buckets that had no handles and a smooth surface and were too small to be conveniently held by two people which were loaded to the brim with dense bolts. Those were particularly fun. The project lasted for about three hours. We were very enthusiastic about loading everything. We came, we served, and we left. I felt very happy about our efficiency with time.
Then the next day we just happened to have another larger, planned out service project. We woke up early and travelled to U-Thai to move another two dump truck loads of dirt under sister Noy's house. This time I specifically asked permission to buy wheel barrows and shovels. It was well worth the 1500 Baht. Only this time the night before rained and when the dump trucks came they unloaded sticky clay instead of dirt. It was almost easier to lift large chunks of clay with our hands than to try ti use any tools. I soon found myself crouched under the house, making and throwing clay chunks to fill in the rest of the mosquito ridden water as best as I could. The next day was fast Sunday.
I know that this is God's work that I'm doing. A service project is easier than teaching and helping investigators. It takes a lot of prayer and focus and giving of ones self to help an investigator. Luckily in the process of learning and trying to obey God does the miracle and grants us success. I still have a lot to learn. One thing that helps is singing hymns. Not like we are allowed to listen to anything else but that's just the trick! You have to learn to love the work and the music and the people, or else it's just hard. It's supposed to be hard and fun.
Ooh I just remembered... roast marshmallows are delicious and Marshmallows weigh almost nothing. They would be good to send in a package no?
I love you guys.
Elder Lilly
Pawn is getting baptised this Sunday!!
We did an all day switch-off which gave her another opportunity to interview. Elder Heiley held the interview and he said that she was so ready she passed with flying colors. Because she closed her store completely on Sunday, a bunch of customers have come and questioned her about it. She said that she has a few referrals to give us from interested customers. She is way excited. I am way excited. The next matter of importance is that her family is super super busy on Sunday. She is concerned that her sister and her husband won't have the opportunity to go to her baptism this Sunday. There's not much that we can do about that besides pray with faith for the Lord to work miracles.
That same switch-offs I was quite thankful that we had four elders in our area. We had a service project in which we hauled great pieces of car, truck, and tractor parts into a truck and unloaded the parts into their new shop. We lifted some of the worst desirable shaped and heavy objects. There were cut buckets that had no handles and a smooth surface and were too small to be conveniently held by two people which were loaded to the brim with dense bolts. Those were particularly fun. The project lasted for about three hours. We were very enthusiastic about loading everything. We came, we served, and we left. I felt very happy about our efficiency with time.
Then the next day we just happened to have another larger, planned out service project. We woke up early and travelled to U-Thai to move another two dump truck loads of dirt under sister Noy's house. This time I specifically asked permission to buy wheel barrows and shovels. It was well worth the 1500 Baht. Only this time the night before rained and when the dump trucks came they unloaded sticky clay instead of dirt. It was almost easier to lift large chunks of clay with our hands than to try ti use any tools. I soon found myself crouched under the house, making and throwing clay chunks to fill in the rest of the mosquito ridden water as best as I could. The next day was fast Sunday.
I know that this is God's work that I'm doing. A service project is easier than teaching and helping investigators. It takes a lot of prayer and focus and giving of ones self to help an investigator. Luckily in the process of learning and trying to obey God does the miracle and grants us success. I still have a lot to learn. One thing that helps is singing hymns. Not like we are allowed to listen to anything else but that's just the trick! You have to learn to love the work and the music and the people, or else it's just hard. It's supposed to be hard and fun.
Ooh I just remembered... roast marshmallows are delicious and Marshmallows weigh almost nothing. They would be good to send in a package no?
I love you guys.
Elder Lilly
Sep 2, 2009
Today is Part of Eternity
Dear Family,
Thanks for the E-mails. It feels good to read them every time. :p
Having a Thai companion is great. It is a good opportunity to refine my Thai skills. I always try to speak as clearly and close to a Native Thai person as I can. I don't want the language to be a distraction from the spirit as I teach. But honestly with my new Thai companion I have been working on helping him speak English more than asking him to help with Thai. He can only say a few sentences but he understands English okay. I try to spend time working on vocabulary with him throughout the day. He is going to be one of the future leaders of Thailand. He could use the English skills.
Our investigator Pawn interviewed for baptism last Saturday but she didn't pass. She prayed to know if the things that the missionaries taught were true but she never prayed specifically to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. She was a bit embarrassed from not passing but she is a trooper and I am confident in her. She felt a lot better after talking to one of the members who didn't pass the first interview as well who told about her experience of having to interview with several people. Pawn is going to make it for sure!
Something interesting that changed from our last zone conference is that we will no longer be moving on to teaching lesson two or three until after the investigator has a testimony of lesson one. That is interesting because some people seem to connect to different doctrines better than others, everyone has different needs. But there is a strong power in the restoration and after an investigator has a testimony of that then the rest will follow through quickly and easily. Then again restoration includes more than just the Joseph Smith story.
So Elder Panom and I have made a vision for Ayutthaya, set goals, and made plans. We are going to hold a special fireside about Enduring to the End and about building God's kingdom. We are going to help the members set goals and work to develop the Christlike attributes which is part of enduring to the end. We will also give them some direction and help in applying the gospel principals. Also, we are going to get Sister Peterson and Elder Peterson to help us inspire all of the single females in the ward to go out and find a boy friend for us to teach. We are quite lucky in America to have so many members and Priesthood holders. These poor girls in Thailand don't have so many ready options. Their next step and responsibility in their progression in life is to raise a family! Sister Peterson was telling me about the trend that's going around the world to remain single and "free." I personally feel like as soon as I'm home, re-adapted, She's ready and I've found her then we're good to go. :p (we'll see when I get there.)
For hump day... well that day was moves day so there wasn't very many options but my companion and I successfully made it to the only Mexican restaurant in the Country and ate there for dinner. It's nothing close to Mexican food at home but it's still satisfying.
It's been interesting going out and focusing on only missionary work. It's way hard work, it really takes something out of you if you are doing it right. I've noticed how Satan can influence our thoughts if we let him. I am glad the I have a personal testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel and about life. Whenever I let a bad thought enter my head then I can recognize it's source because I am always sure of truth. Then as I follow what I know to be true (like the commandments) then I feel free to choose to be happy. Happiness is a fun choice. But if we don't obey then it's hard to make it.
I love you all and I pray for you always.
-Elder Lilly
Thanks for the E-mails. It feels good to read them every time. :p
Having a Thai companion is great. It is a good opportunity to refine my Thai skills. I always try to speak as clearly and close to a Native Thai person as I can. I don't want the language to be a distraction from the spirit as I teach. But honestly with my new Thai companion I have been working on helping him speak English more than asking him to help with Thai. He can only say a few sentences but he understands English okay. I try to spend time working on vocabulary with him throughout the day. He is going to be one of the future leaders of Thailand. He could use the English skills.
Our investigator Pawn interviewed for baptism last Saturday but she didn't pass. She prayed to know if the things that the missionaries taught were true but she never prayed specifically to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. She was a bit embarrassed from not passing but she is a trooper and I am confident in her. She felt a lot better after talking to one of the members who didn't pass the first interview as well who told about her experience of having to interview with several people. Pawn is going to make it for sure!
Something interesting that changed from our last zone conference is that we will no longer be moving on to teaching lesson two or three until after the investigator has a testimony of lesson one. That is interesting because some people seem to connect to different doctrines better than others, everyone has different needs. But there is a strong power in the restoration and after an investigator has a testimony of that then the rest will follow through quickly and easily. Then again restoration includes more than just the Joseph Smith story.
So Elder Panom and I have made a vision for Ayutthaya, set goals, and made plans. We are going to hold a special fireside about Enduring to the End and about building God's kingdom. We are going to help the members set goals and work to develop the Christlike attributes which is part of enduring to the end. We will also give them some direction and help in applying the gospel principals. Also, we are going to get Sister Peterson and Elder Peterson to help us inspire all of the single females in the ward to go out and find a boy friend for us to teach. We are quite lucky in America to have so many members and Priesthood holders. These poor girls in Thailand don't have so many ready options. Their next step and responsibility in their progression in life is to raise a family! Sister Peterson was telling me about the trend that's going around the world to remain single and "free." I personally feel like as soon as I'm home, re-adapted, She's ready and I've found her then we're good to go. :p (we'll see when I get there.)
For hump day... well that day was moves day so there wasn't very many options but my companion and I successfully made it to the only Mexican restaurant in the Country and ate there for dinner. It's nothing close to Mexican food at home but it's still satisfying.
It's been interesting going out and focusing on only missionary work. It's way hard work, it really takes something out of you if you are doing it right. I've noticed how Satan can influence our thoughts if we let him. I am glad the I have a personal testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel and about life. Whenever I let a bad thought enter my head then I can recognize it's source because I am always sure of truth. Then as I follow what I know to be true (like the commandments) then I feel free to choose to be happy. Happiness is a fun choice. But if we don't obey then it's hard to make it.
I love you all and I pray for you always.
-Elder Lilly
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