"Sorry for being a day late. I went site seeing and didn't have time yesterday to write, so we got special permission to email today. I really don't have much time, so I'll keep it short."
"We had Zone Conference this Friday. It was really good and we talked about repentance and the Godhead. We learned that repentance is a change of heart or life style. It is not a list of things that we need to ask for forgiveness from, although it is a part of it. It has really helped to make the investigators understand the importance of repentance. We also learned from the Area 70, new ways to work with the members and leaders in the ward. It was cool to see him. Then I had an interview with President Senior. I talked to him about how much my mission has changed for the better in Rangsit. We had a great talk about how God prepares us and how we need to use Faith. I think he has seen a change in me as well. He said when he first saw me, "Elder Smith, something is different about you, but I don't know what it is." He then asked me and I said, "I don't know!" haha The interview was probably the best one I've had so far. I feel like I am finally the missionary that God wants me to be. I feel more experienced and know more of what I need to do. My desires have changed too. I love contacting and everything gospel."
"Monday we went to Lopburi. It was so fun! I played with the monkeys and climbed a huge mountain. It was a crazy experience. The monkeys were climbing all over me and one even peed on my leg. haha The mountain had 3752 or something steps to reach the top. It was so high and steep. We also forgot to take water with us which caused a lot of problems. At first I was like, yeah I got this and was speeding up the mountain. Later, I realized that wasn't the best idea because I didn't stop at the rest areas long enough. We got half way up and were all dying of heat! We were sweating bullets. Elder Lodwick was the worst. We started talking about how dangerous it was to do this without water. We almost turned back, but then Sister Pawadee said that there was water at the top, so we kept going. We got like 3/4 way to the top and now the situation became dangerous. Two of the Elders had to stop because they were going to pass out from dehydration. I yelled to Elder Kohler and said that we needed to get to the top fast and bring down water for the others. It was insane! We sent Sister Naray up the mountain first because she is a long distance runner and had good endurance. We all knew she would make it. I was dying for sure. I was just about to give up when I finally could see the end. I kept thinking about the other Elders and knew that I had to get water to them. We made it to the top and grabbed some water and started running back down the mountain. Luckily the other Elders were alright and we gave them water and helped them get to the top of the mountain. We all made it and the view was great. The water was terrible, but life saving. There were a lot of temporal and spiritual things that we learned from that experience. I will have to tell you about it next time. Don't let me forget. It was something that I think God wanted us to learn. I love you all and I'm out of time."
Elder Jacob Smith
