"We get to watch Conference on Sunday, so I still have a whole week before seeing it. I know that there was a man called to serve as the first Thai Area Seventy. His name is Wisit Kanakam, who was the first Stake President in Thailand. It is very cool for all the members here because that puts us even closer to getting a temple in Thailand! I am really looking forward to watching Conference, even more than I am the water festival, which is coming up next Monday. I may not have a long email next week either. I listen to Conference talks every morning. I really have big joy in listening to them. I still really love Elder Holland. He is such a powerful speaker and very straight to the point. No wonder he is in charge of the Asian Mission which is the most straight and to the point mission in the world! haha"
"I heard Brian got called to the same mission as dad in TEXAS! That is so cool!! I am so happy for him. He literally leaves a year after me. This means I won't see him for three years and that stinks, but it is for the better. All the other mission calls are way cool too!"
"They are expanding the church building here. Every morning we have to go open the gate for the workers to come in and take apart the church. It's ironic that we have been called to build the Kingdom of God when we open the doors, but now it's so people can come in to destroy the church. haha Funny, I know! The other day we went to the church to make some steps out of the rubble, because some people came and destroyed the front of the church, making it impossible to get in. We made a nice walkway and a place to park for the members. There are some cool pictures of us doing that, but it might look like we are destroying the church. haha"
"We did a lot of visiting members this week. The Zone Leaders came down and trained us on inviting. I have switched around my contacting style and promising blessings with baptism and it is working really well. We were also told that we need to smile more and find joy in the work, which I have been able to do. I have seen blessings from it. We have been constantly contacting. From visiting the members, we were able to get a lot of referrals, so we'll see how that goes."
"I went to go to this referral's house to visit their family and it was super far away on our bikes. On our way back, I ran over a toothpick and it destroyed my bike tire. We had to walk all the way home! It was so hot and we were dying of heat, but we didn't complain. We talked about how sometimes things like this happen as Heavenly Father's way of putting us in the way to find people. On the walk home, we met a Catholic man that was very interested and we were able to meet with all the LAs. They even came to church on Sunday. Never blame the Lord for anything that you are experiencing, because we know nothing and he knows everything. I'm sure some amazing things are about to happen! I love you all so much!"
Elder Jacob Smith
