Sunday, November 30, 2014

Super short and to the point ..... November 23

It was a fun week. There was lots of walking and talking, as missionaries do. It was quite fun! I love walking and talking with those that are Thai. 
 
Well, super funny moment in church... the opening prayer was the Lord's prayer. It was really funny. As he starts, I am sitting there and as he starts it sounds somewhat similar to what I had read in the scriptures.... and well he said," Lord forgive us as we forgive our debtors"... and then it all clicked and I was taken aback.

You are telling me this year has sailed by. Before I even know it, I will be in a plane.... aghh.
Time flies here! It's super fun!


I love my comp. He is a awesome! It's a very fun time serving with him. I love this work. It's the Lord's work and it is to bring them back to the fold.
 
Adventures of the week..... well, we had a wild pig the size of a cow appear by the church. The beast was massive! Well lets see what happened that was super exciting hmm...... well I ate blood-filled food... I also found out that I  cannot eat squid. It makes me super sick,,,,,,
 
This week was a week of going out and hunting down those that are lost already and finding those that are ready.We went and invited as hard as we could. We were striving to achieve a goal of having 100 at church well we fell short 35 people. Ouch!
 
I have slowly come to the conclusion why I am here in Attuyaha. There are a few families here that I have known since Kumpahwapi. I am here to bring them back. I am also here to help out this white  man and his wife come back.  They are a fantastic family. He was a soldier and told us that God has sparred him to be here to help the work in Thailand. He was blown up once, was shot 5 times through many wars and he was bayoneted. 
 
I am here in Thailand only for a short time now. I have so little time now its not even funny. I am not looking forward to coming home and facing the real world and all its darkness. I am so close to finishing. Christmas is almost here. This month is almost over. It's scary. I don't want to see the evilness in this world. I have started to realize  that I need to focus more on bringing those back that have strayed from the path. It's not good to leave the fold.If you leave you may never come back, unless you have help from the Lord and help from members.
I love this work. I know it to be true.

Elder Khanakam's visit- a true inspiration November 16

HELLO!
Hahah yeah I was going to mention it(just the minor detail that he had a camera crew follow him and his companion, Elder Howard around while they were talking to people on the streets of Bangkok.... )but I forgot sorry! It was quite fun. I really liked it to be honest .... I felt famous lolz ....that's why I am in Ayutthaya  to be a secret ninja! Hahah

People serving missions its the best! It makes life so super duper!! AAHHAHAHAHAH I am so glad Spencer is going on a mission. Miracles happen when you believe and have the faith to do it!
It was a way good week- well actually a very tough one- but ended very well. This past Sunday Elder Khanakam, who is a very good friend of mine ,(he is the Thai seventy) came and surprised our branch with a visit. I got to teach with him WOOAH! It was super fun. I had flashbacks to when I was a "greenie" with him in Khonkaen, He has a power around him. He is an awesome man. We spent the whole day talking with him and him teaching us. Oh so much fun, feeling the spirit and YEAHH!!!! 
Sister Khanakam, his wife, had me share what it feels like to see someone change.
We were sitting in a branch counsel when she asked me to do that and I shared it with the members. The spirit was so strong there. It was an amazing experience. I felt the spirit literally burning n me like a fire  oh so cool! Elder Khanakam told the ward council that he wants us to be a ward by December 30.
The miracle of the week..... so 2 weeks ago our cellphone was destroyed by water while an investigator was calling it. We still have no clue how it happened.  Anyhow, the phone did not save her number and last week she did not come to English class. We had no way of contacting her. So on Wednesday Elder Beebe is like,  "Hey lets walk to the church to teach a Recent Convert", and I'm like...OK.. We get to to the church teach the recent convert. We finish teaching her at about 8:50 pm, so we close up the church and walk back. It's about 9:10pm when all of the sudden we hear someone shouting," ELDER ELDER!!!" We turn around and see this investigator pulling up in her car. She then asked if she could give us a ride and we told her no. But we were so excited to see her because we hadn't seen her in like 2 weeks. We got her phone number and sprinted home WOOAH!  MIRACLE! I LOVE THE GOSPEL!

Aaron on Thai TV. He can be seen throughout the show.




Going up the mountian holding on to the iron rod...... November 9

Well my new area is a freaking funtastic. I love it! It's super fun. It is super fun to go and explore it. The members are super willing and they love us. Sorry that this email came so late. I went on   freaking crazy hiking today. It was awesome! We climbed up to the top of a mountain. It was a super cool similitude of life. There was a iron rod in the middle of the path and in the beginning I didn't rely on it. But as the going got harder I would rely on it more and more until i was using it to heave myself up the mountain side as sweat was pouring down my whole body! As we came closer to the top we could see the gate to the wat and oh man it was a very happy time! We relied on the rod even more. As we all know the rod is the word of God (1. Ne 11:25).  In the begining you rely on yourself and as you go along in life you rely more and more on that word and core beliefs that push you on and on...That is my little soap box about the adventure 5555!



  

 (I am following a Facebook page called Unseen Thailand. I had just shared a picture of a special Buddha- unbeknowst to me- Aaron visited that very Buddha during that time....)
My new comp is just like me.... spunky crazy and super willing to go to work and bring those back into the Kingdom of God.The world is a very small place and it well has some fun things happen in it.
So this past Saturday I was basically swimming in a swamp, pushing lily pads out all day long it was nasty- mind you Iam in a boat yeah! We live in a 100 percent Buddhist place. It's very pretty and there are many wonderful things here. I ride my bike daily and there are 4 of us here. We have Elder Gandun and Elder Heiner, two people I really like a lot! We also have good food everywhere. It is super yummy! 

Transferred to Ayutthaya November 2

I have been transferred. I  am no longer in Bangkhae. I am in Ayuttya the the old capital of Thailand. It is super Buddhist probably about 250 Christians, yeah its gonna be great!
 
So this past week revolved around transfers. After I moved here, I went and helped  built a bridge in someone's backyard, got in a boat in the the pond that we built a bridge in and pulled out weeds while in a boat! Super fun! So yeah it was good! I went to church yesterday. We had like 48 people but the spirit was so strong in the room. I  felt like I was with a big family. It was super cool!  
 
Then we made the mistake last night of telling each other ghost stories and wooha bad idea when you are in a super funky spiritual area.  something was awry last night and none of us could sleep, so we sat and read Scripture's 555! We learned our lesson not to ever talk about ghost before bed because they are real and are out there WOOOH!
 
So this past Halloween was "meh" again nothing happened at all...  I just read wore a orange tie that was it!
This past transfer all of my sisters (MTC district) finished and I received the "death papers" (information for goal setting and getting ready to come home....) and I  am sad so I  have not read them yet! hahah I need to do it asap, but I don't want to because that means I will be a "dead" missionary super soon! AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH
 
I want to be a Mission President because of him. I will ask him how it is done! (This was in reference to commenting on how fun President Senior looked in one of the transfer meetings)
My comp had no idea that he was transferring so I had to wait 6 hours for him to get down to Bangkok and then we got in a car and drove 3 hour.  His name is Elder Beebe, he has been on his mission for 6 months There are ancient ruins everywhere her in Ayutthaya. There are wads(Buddhist temples) on  every corner. It's like ward buildings in  Utah- one on every corner.  Except Buddhist style! WOO! That was the week not much really happened.
 
 

Friday, November 28, 2014

A quick reminder October 27

When your missionary struggles-you struggle. I have always been so impressed with Aaron's positive attitude. There really only has been on email without any positive thoughts in it. Considering the fact that he has been on his mission for 18 months now, that is quite an achievement. The loss of the memory card was rough, October in itself was one of the harder parts of his mission for me. He worked so hard without any success. But then he sent this to us and I have to be honest, I bawled like a baby. To have such faith. What a blessing he is to his family.

"The Lord always is there through thick and thin. I love this gospel. It is the best news the world has to hear. Trials come our way to make us come closer to God to make us like him.
There is a quote I wrote inside my planner. It says "The key to know God is to struggle". I testify of the truthfulness of that quote. I struggle daily and I see how I have come to know God even more. I love these people and I see the flaws in myself that I can improve. I see how this world God created, is to help us become like him. To struggle is the only way to grow and fulfill our potential. Trials are the way to become perfect."

The Lord's hand is always there... October 27

Well today is Monday the 20th you will receive this the 19th..... we are time traveling. I am "calling" from the future you are from the past isn't it odd???!!!

I saw the preview for that movie on the churches website. It looks so cool!!!! i want to watch it so bad..  it's not even funny!  9 we went and saw the movie "Meet the Mormons" this past week)
Well, well, well... This week was so tough again... just another week in paradise we have been giving it our all and well- it's tough having no investigators!  BRIAN is soo freaking tall. OH sounds way fun. It just sounds like you kids had some way fun time together I am happy! (we went to San Francisco for 5 days in October)

Mum just remember that if you study your scriptures, pray, keep the Word of Wisdom, you will be able to receive blessings out the wazoo! 
Well it was  a very tough week of walking out of Bangkok and back into Bangkok. Yes that is  right. I  walked out of Bangkok into the city called "Genesis".  Nakhon Brathom is its name in Thai! 
Besides that we just were talking to everyone who had a face. They were very hard hearted. Heck, yesterday I almost got my face punched.... wooho! 
So what happened was that I invited this man who had just done crazy eyes to his wife. I invited him to learn more about the gospel. He got way upset and started yelling at me," No no no no!" and then I said in Thai you don't need to have bad manners about it. HE FLIPPED OUT! Staggered to his feet and started to come to me cussing. Then his wife intervened. She looked at me and said in English, "Sir sorry " then "switched to Thai to tell me that they had just been fighting. I looked at her and said that I was sorry and that I will pray for her. She stared crying and said,"God bless you."  Some days I hate being just a mere mortal man. It was a pretty tough week.
I have been enjoying training. It is quite a blast. To be honest, it helps me feel like I'm giving back to the Lord by training a new missionary and helping him be prepared for whatever comes his way. I feel like Elder Susi. I say a name of a missionary and Elder Howard has a blank look in his eyes. All my friends are "dead" (have finished their missions) and the sisters from my MTC district finish in like 2 weeks. It is so crazy! 

The work on our side appears to have hit a brick wall, but our district  itself is getting more and more baptisms. It's awesome! While we may not have success, we can still rejoice in the success of others.
The branch itself is still growing. Step by step... they are all so willing it's awesome.
The Lord's hand is always there. Guiding me and making sure I don't do dumb things a lot. He pushes me just enough to change and become someone better daily. It's awesome! 

The one where the memory card with all the pictures of his mission was lost...... October 19

(I am 6 weeks behind when it comes to updating Aaron's blog. I won't lie- October was a tough month for our missionary. He loved training Elder Howard and being a District leader. He really struggled with the fact that they could not find any new investigators.---And then he lost his memory card-it contained all the pictures of his mission. I won't leave you with a cliffhanger.... he never did find his memory card. We are all quite sad about it.)

Well this week was a very hard week, to be honest. It started out with me losing my memory card with all my pics from my mission. So I know it is silly to ask but will you pray that I can find that because it is very important. I need to print out some pics for A. I hope it will bring him back. (As sad as it has been that he has lost his memory card, I was really touched by the fact that his main concern was that he had hoped to print out some pics to help someone remember the good times they had had and to hopefully remind him of the importance of the gospel.)

Well it was a very hard week again. We had what appeared to have zero  success again. We had no one come to appointments again but oh well. We must do it all again this week and bring those that the Lord has prepared back to the fold.
Well, it rained pretty hard this past week. It was enough to cause the road by our house to flood with ankle deep water that was coming from the Khlong (sewer system).  Wohoo walking through that was quite fun! 

 When I think of this week, I feel it was so tiring. I am quite ready for a break !
General Conference... woot ....was super fun, but we still have not watched all of it. We still need to get to watch the Sunday morning session.
So I wrote questions down for conference and wow they were all answered. It was super cool to see! I knew the lord was watching over us and teaching us how to be better missionaries and just better people.
I  want to challenge the whole family to exercises because that is a commandment of God. Just go on a walk together as a family before dinner instead of just watching TV. Give it a shot!
Challenges they are never ending. It seems I always seem to be be challenged daily and I am a little worn out.  But I must press on and fight. J have become battle weary as the man of Antipus in the scriptures. But I know that the Lord is sending us reinforcements whether they be angels or new missionaries or even a seventy coming and lifting our spirits. We are in a great and glorious war that started in Heaven and is still continuing here on this earth. This war.... well we will win it because that's what we do as LDS members we bring the fight to the forfront 
I have met people that look at me and hate me for the name-tag that I wear. I kill them with kindness and then they feel silly for being so angry at me.
I love this work mom. It is the best job ever! It's tough, but we can do it!




Go forward in faith even if your shoes break.... Ocotber 11

This past week we were going hard all day and seriously I felt like we were doing everything we could do and well it was tough. I felt like I was back in Khonkaen again with Elder Susi.  No easy moments, always struggling to rise to the challenge because we are here to bring those who are ready to the gospel. You must find the light. You must have faith to rise up and become a true disciple of the Lord. Yeah that's how I feel right now.
"How glorious are the feet of those that proclaim the gospel... If you could see my shoes right now.... and you will see them... don't worry you will see them in 6 months or so... Oh yeah missionary life is the life of continuous growth and change. The world is so close to falling apart, it's not even funny. This world is so dark but the Lord is increasing the amount of light he is pouring out right now.

It took 30 min to get there ( His district went and visited a col wat-temple)It was away cool! It's pretty nice and I ran into a member from Japan there and talked to him about the gospel and asked him why he was here. He was studying , so yeah! 
Well our district goes hard all day every day. You're right I need to step back and see how far we have come. Because it is awesome to see how far we have come. I have seen myself change as well. Yeah 
that's life Jim!
I love the gospel. I know it to be the most true thing ever. I know with every fiber of my soul that iI cannot reject this glad message. It is to good. It is delicious and has changed my life for the better.
Oh yeah this past week Elder Howard baptized the sisters' investigator. He has been here for 2 weeks and he speaks Thai super well.  I think he is a champion!

Visiting a Wat (Temple) October 4th







Saturday, October 4, 2014

Som Dom

Well this week was a very tough week, but I know this week is preparing me for something. The whole week, all of our investigators refused our calls and refused to come to church. I know that we can rise, interestingly enough, this happened about 1 year ago in Khon Kaen. The Lord is reminding me to put all my faith in him again.
 
This past Sunday Elder Khanakam (area seventy)came to our branch and gave us an inspiring message. It has inspired the members more than we ever could have. It was a blessing from Heaven. It was awesome!
 
This past week we tried a new style of inviting. I remember when over a year ago Pres. Senior challenged all of the missionaries to make Som Dom(papaya salad) to invite people to learn more about he gospel.... and we did. It brought 10 new investigators to the church. It was an astounding thing! The sisters would sing, we would make Som Dom. We then would teach anyone that came to see what we were doing, so cool! They were interested ate Som Dom and were spiritually fed as well.  It was really cool to see them open their hearts and come to church. All because we were doing something out of the ordinary to make something extraordinary happen!
 
So that was my week... mum it was way crazy literally zero  investigators right now for Elder Howard and I personally, but 10 new investigators for the district. Yeah, it was tough but we will rise!
 
Elder Howard

Som Dom
 

Being a Trainer September 21

My new companion is a boss.(Elder Proctor is training a "greenie"- a new missionary. The new missionaries come pre- trained ! So, I am respomsible to help him become a better missionary then I am. I need to help prepare him to become the best missionary there ever was! We have a 12 week program that he has to do. He will be learning how to become the best kid on the street ever! He speaks Thai better then I did when I was the new kid in town! Well, we study until 12, so it eats up a good amount of our time. His name is Elder Howard and he is from Lehi. (As I was reading this email from my missionary, I couldn't help but think back how I felt when I received Aaron's first email from Thailand and fondly thought of Elder Howard's mom)He played basketball and  has played against Herriman before, so he knows where it is!  He is eating Thai food like a boss. He takes it good strides. (We saw Elder Howard in tears as we were watching the transfer meeting- he was in tears because of the spicy food he had been eating) Yesterday I made him Pad Thai and he was so happy, because he was like..... This is the first meal I have had that is not spicy!!
All the other elders from my district transferred out. Elder Hogan is in my district now, it's awesome!! Elder Kettawong is with us as well. Now he has the opportunity to teach his sister!
Sadly, no baptisms this week. We are actually trying to find people again.... wooha!  
It is a time where the devil grabs them and pulls them away we try really hard and they get pulled away. The devil is trying to stop us from getting a temple here.
I ask you that you pray that we can achieve our goal this Sunday of feeding the 5000. We need it so bad! We want 5000 members around Thailand at church, at the same time! 
Pictures from the final outing as a district to Erwan National Park. The missionaries hired a driver to take them there and they had a great time. They found information about POWs that were in that area during World War II. Elder Proctor found the area very fascinating.






Elder proctor's mom thought....YIKES!!! when she saw this picture.




Sunday, September 21, 2014

Letters from home.....

These pictures were sent to me today from a sweet missionary sister who captured Elder Aaron opening a letter. It was not from us- but it served as a reminder how important letters are to those sweet missionaries. So, take a moment and write a missionary this week.


Brother and Sister Proctor,

On Thursday, September 18, we had Transfer Day.  This was our first experience as we have only been in Bangkok for one month.  We are serving as a senior couple in the Public Affairs Thailand Bangkok Mission.   As I was sitting on a chair in the lobby of the church, your son picked up his mail and sat down on the couch right next to my chair.  He turned the envelope over in his hands several times before opening it.  I don’t know who it is from, but I know it was a letter from home.  So I pulled out my cell phone because I didn’t have a camera handy and took these photos.  eally, there is nothing like letters from home for these young people serving missions so very far away from home.  I just thought you might like to see Elder Proctor’s reaction.  He is a fine young man.  Very pleasant and happy.  I’m just grateful that I was in the right place at the right time to capture this moment.

Sincerely,

Sister Irene Smith

Monday, September 15, 2014

Riding the Bike in a Miraculous Way

Well as you may notice...... this email is coming at a time earlier then usual. It is because right now O am traveling around on the last  Pday as a district! We are going to go see a waterfall yeah!
 
So a miracle that happened this week was that whilst I was riding my bike I shifted a gear and all of sudden my bike seized up and would no longer go.  Mind you... I' m on a busy road.....so I drift to a corner and just started pushing my bike, just thinking what do I do now?? I  had a thought to get back on my bike and just go. So I did. When we arrived home, my bike started having problems again. I thought nothing of it and went inside to go to sleep because it was night time. The next morning I inspected my bike and saw that the back tire had fallen out of its position. I could have died because my tire was not connected to anything. MIRACLE.....I think so! (Yes, his mom blanched indeed thinking of all the horrible things that could have happened, but thanks to being super blessed nothing did happen)
 
Anything is possible mum, I could move(it is transfer week) I could stay who knows but the Lord!  I am so "old" in the mission its not even funny. There are so many people that I do not recognize in this mission any more....... it sucks! 
 
Right now my investigators are an older man. He has a baptism date for this Sunday. He is an awesome guy. The Lord has prepared him to enter the fold. And we have sister  who still needs to get married  She has moved her house so she no longer lives with him! 

I love that I am a super agent of the Lord during one of the most vital points of the Bangkok mission. I feel like I am a general protecting a vital point from evil...(if you wish to understand how I feel watch Lord of the Rings the battle called "The Battle of Helmsdeep") 



God speaks with us always. Today while I was studying the scriptures, I felt that he was speaking to me and letting me know that I had been forgive of my sins. It was quite a great moment!

"Run" in with a car....and a broken stomach.....

Well to put you in panic mode already...... I got hit by another car! Don't worry..... I fought it off by kicking the foul beast in the side, making it quiver in fear and shudder in pain. (Translation- the car almost crushed him- so he decided to kick it with full force to keep the driver from doing so-it sounded as if he actually dent the car. The driver got out and started chewing Aaron out and Aaron chewed right back. I think he was scared out of his wits! But he never said if he got hurt....we assume he did not.) The next day Satan struck me down with a very severe case of food poisoning. I had the "broken stomach" (Decided not to edit this because it sounds so funny...I wonder how long it will take him to speak "proper" English. :-) from 5:50 am in the morning until about 2 pm  in the afternoon. That is when I went to the hospital...... yeah it was an awesome week of awesomness! Whaaaaaa! (So we later found out that he went and saw a gastroenterologist who gave him a bunch of pills. Aaron took a couple of them and felt better soon after. )Well all is well that ends well right?

Well yeah this week we had a baptism.  It was a great moment! This guy has been learning about the gospel for a bit. After he gets the priesthood, he will move to Phuket. He can help the church grow there, because he has the faith of ten horses!


 I get tired some of the days but you know what there always is repentance if I mess up I can change and become someone better! Yes, this is the Lord's work some days everything come down on  you like a pile of bricks. You can either retreat and fall back or rise to the challenge and thump Satan in the face and say not today "Zurg!".
 
 
Here I am giving an investigator a ride to the Branch President's house. I switched bikes with my comp who was giving him a ride first. (So, I asked how the two bike's were different he told me his was black....huh???? He then later explained that his companion's bike had special flaps and something else that made it easier for the investigator to ride on the back)

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Hit by a car......and a miracle...August 31

I recommend reading the Preach my Gospel manual. It will help you in you life. You can learn a lot of principles of the gospel and it will help Brian prepare to be a freaking awesome missionary! TRULY! I wish I had studied it harder before going on a mission. I studied just enough, but it still is teaching me many ways to be a better missionary and person in general!

Well this week was a lot of just inviting people and praying that we would have a wonderful miracle occur this week......which happened! We had an investigator who passed her baptism interview last week and then she disappeared. We were at a loss and then she popped up this week at our English class. And then it rained very hard right as she left, so her phone was destroyed. We had no way of contacting her and then we called her again 2 days later and her phone worked again! We then called her every day to make sure she would come to the church and then this Sunday she was baptized!!!!! WWWAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

Other than that it was a ver

So you already know, I was hit by a car, but it was going like 2 mph tops... LOLZ . The "Joker "was trying to kill me! It was actually very funny- so we are talking about how our area is kinda like Gotham City... So we are talking about the Joker and as we are walking across a road, this car is moving forward while we are crossing the road and bam..... HITS ME !! I guess it's really hard to see a 6 foot white guy.... LOL...... Don't worry I was not really hurt at all- just surprised! As of now I have been hit by a motorcycle(Well...this was the first I heard of this...it happened during Songkran- in April....) and now a car. All I need next is a bus... LOL! In fact there was a missionary in our mission who was hit by a bus. It destroyed his bike and broke his hand.

I am remembering how much fun Thailand is. I mean you can always find the bad in every situation no matter where you are. You just need to remember there is always good in this world!
Something that strengths my testimony is giving district meetings. It helps me feel the Spirit and come unto the savior more. I also was told yesterday by our Zone Leaders that I helped change this area -I was happy to hear that.

Remember everyone is a child of God!

Gotta Catch Them All! August 24


Well I am doing ok! LOLZ.... Well this week we had a baptism. It was good. This kid has been learning for about a year.  It was a very good time! 



This past week was a very long week of just walking and walking and walking and let say walking and very little success..... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Yeah it was one of those weeks.......
Let's see....... this past week we spent the days on the ground just walking and talking with every one and well, honestly getting bored with the same answer I get every day...... I is bored so I changed the way I think! 

I think that I am playing Pokémon ,  so I don’t go insane..... I imagine them as an Pokémon that need to be caught...... sad I know right but I am getting bored with the walking and walking.

Hey this past week I made papaya salad without papaya I did it with a mango. Then I made pad thai this past week it was very delicious!


 
This transfer ends the 18th of next month and then the next one ends the 30th of October
Yep just playing poke man daily. I FOUGHT SATAN EVERY STEP OF EVERY DAY! We got 4 people as a district baptized I have been interviewing up a storm and feeling the Spirit every day.
I laughed when I chased elder gandun with my shoe each

"But I, ElderProctor, have written what I have written, and I esteem it as of great worth, and especially unto my people. For I pray continually for them by day, and mine eyes water my pillow by night, because of them; and I cry unto my God in faith, and I know that he will hear my cry."

Guess what I am eating.......yep, Duckbill....

Hope is a thing that is hard to say. I receive hope daily that we are going to have a temple. The Zone Leaders said we are close so close! I fought the devil and came closer to God.
Seeing people baptized sets me on fire!

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Jobs of a District Leader- August 17

It's so weird that he has finished(his cousin just finished his mission). That means I am going to "die" soon! (missionary lingo for finishing a mission.It's so odd to see how  time can change someone so much and to see how the gospel makes you  a better person, no matter the circumstances!

Well our week was basically... us fighting the devil with all of our tools and all of our weapons....  :-) but alas we did not get a baptism..... but we can do it! Well this past week we were inviting all day and whenever we had a chance we were teaching.... It's the life of "I"
We are trying to make this area into a stake, so we can get a temple announced this October- that is what we are gong for!
 
Well as a District Leader, I have to prepare a meeting every Tuesday and I have to interview people for baptism. I also have to call and followup with every companionship. It's awesome!

Well I have started taking videos about my daily life as a missionary.  I saw a video on  from one of my friends who just finished serving here. She helped me remember that I need to have fun! LOL!
Both of my companions are learning English. I feel like a teacher some days.... LOL! I do have a Book of Mormon in Laotian - that I am studying. I can't pray in English... I think in Thai as you can tell by my awful writing.... (Note from his mae(mom)- a lot of editing goes into this blog.....)

Happy Mom's Day August 10

In Thailand Mother's Day falls on the Queen's Birthday and Father's Day on the King's birthday. :-) This had been a week full of bad news in our lives and Aaron respond as always with much faith.

Dear mumzy!
HAPPY MOMS DAY
well that is not very happy news to hear but he will be fine because he has two grandsons on a mission. Their prayers will be heard and he will get help. I will pray for her. Don't fret mum, the Lord is on our side!
So the hike did not happen. Instead Elder Gandun and I went back to the house and I took a nap, that was much needed. If I had not taken that nap I would have had a very hard Sunday.
But on a way awesome note.... We had an awesome baptism! 
So we take a taxi for an hour to go to  transfers meetings. Some times buses and sometimes trains. It's all up to where you are.
When the Savior comes, I so want to be caught living the gospel. I want to be surprised right in the act of spreading the faith and doing something good. I want the Savior to say to me: “Jeffrey”—because He knows all of our names—“I recognize you not by your title but by your life, the way you are trying to live and the standards you are trying to defend. I see the integrity of your heart. I know you have tried to make things better first and foremost by being better yourself, and then by declaring my word and defending my gospel to others in the most compassionate way you could.”
“I know you weren’t always successful,” He will certainly say, “with your own sins or the circumstances of others, but I believe you honestly tried. I believe in your heart you truly loved me.”
Jeffrey R. Holland

That is how I want to go out!|


"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts" Churchill
I love Churchill he is a champion of awesomenes! I know that quote to be true!

I now have two companions. Elder Gudun from Thailand and Elder Sayawong from Laos
So our convert  has been coming to English class for about 7- 8 weeks. Elder Gandun asked her to be baptized and she said yes.She was baptized yesterday thanks to much prayer and faith.

Sister K.

Cutting my own hair..... August 2nd

Well this past week went by in a blur......  just inviting like champions and just making the world spin as we tried to bring those precious souls back into the fold it is a hard work but in the words of Joseph Smith " And as for the perils whicham called to pass through, they seem but small thing to me, as the envy and wrath of man have been my common lot, all the days of my life; and for what cause it seems mysteriousunless was ordained from before the foundation of the world for some good end, or bad, as you may choose to call it. Judge ye for yourselves. God knoweth all these things, whether it be good or bad. But nevertheless, deep water is what am wont to swim in. It all has become second nature to meand feel, like Paul, to glory in tribulationfor this day has the God of my fathers delivered me out of them all, and will deliver me from  henceforth" 

That's how I feel! Ha ha the world may try to destroy us and hate us for who we are, but in the end righteousness will prevail always! I miss you too,  just think I have 257 days left..... so little time!
I am so happy that you are having a good time... Yeah I needed a haircut but then since I was low on  money and since it was not Monday, I took matters into my own hands and cut my hair myself......
I look dang good :-)

So this past week, we have tried getting new people but it seems that something hardened their hearts but there is always a way. God provides a way! I encountered very angry farang (white person) this week. I invited him to be baptized and he was not to pleased. Then I said "We can help you become better". He then flipped a lid,  just went on a rant and stormed off accusing me of calling him a Moron. It was odd!

 The thing is, we learned from this transfer more about ourselves and how we can become better because I have worked the hardest I have ever during these two transfers to have what seems to be no effect when it came to our numbers. yet, this is the work of the Lord and it is hastening and can not be stopped!