Seeking Faith

"Last week we went to go siteseeing. It was us 4 Elders and the 4 members who invited us to go. We went to a mountain and it was beautiful! We were so high that all you could see was the forest and fog. It was awesome! The weather was really nice too. It wasn't hot and the wind was blowing, so it was a great day for the trip. We took pictures, but with the other Elder's camera, so I will try to get them for you."

"This week we had zone conference. We were in Chiang Mai on Thursday and Friday. We were visited by Elder Gong. I even had a special opportunity to be interviewed by him. He is a really nice man full of love and charity. He knew me quite well and was impressed by my mission and the things that I have learned throughout. He talked to us about the Atonement of Christ, the Plan of Salvation, Plan of Redemption, and Plan of Mercy. It was truly inspiring for the entire mission. We were also visited by some church history people. I heard that there is a new exhibit in Utah on the Foundations of Faith. It sounds cool and I really want to see that."

"We had some miracles happen as well. Elder Parker and I have been trying really hard to get new investigators. This last Sunday, we had no one show up for Sacrament. We were sad but we did have one of our LAs come back, so that was great. During the second hour, two girls walked in. It was a mother and a daughter. They are from another church. We talked to them and asked if we could teach them about our church and they said yes! I found out that they are from a place out of town, but they would be here every weekend. They were looking for a church to worship and came across the Hope Church. They entered there and felt like this was not it. Then they saw our church and came in and felt great, so they decided to stay. They were very open to the things that we were teaching them, such as Prophets and the Book of Mormon. They said that they would read the book and then pray about it. We asked if we could meet them again and they said yes! We can only teach them on the weekends, but that is just fine with me. They are great and also have a son who did not come to Phitsanulok with them. They were brought here by God and we need to help them. Also, we must be doing something right for him to just send them right to us. haha"

"We also have another investigator. She is friends with some of the RCs and doesn't care about some of the problems going on, because this is her decision and she understands that. It is amazing that she is like this because it can be really hard sometimes. However, she is having a hard time with Faith. She can't believe something unless she can see it. I tell her about Faith all the time, but we are still working on it with her. The other day, she comes up and tells us that her sister is Catholic and just left to serve a mission. She was emotional and asked why God would make her sister throw away her family, if he is all about family? She asked me why I would leave my family to be a missionary? First off, we clarified that we are two different churches and then told her that her sister didn't leave her family and that they would receive many blessings because of her service. Elder Sayavong was with me and shared his experience about not being supported by his family in this decision. He brought the spirit in so well. She then told us about her mom being sick with cancer and we shared about miracles and that even miracles are an act of Faith. We then prayed with her. She was emotional and the spirit was very strong. After that day, she contacts me a lot wanting to know answers to tons of questions. I can't wait for her to finally received an answer and to understand it, so she can make the decision she needs to."

"I hope that you are doing well mom. I'll pray for you! I'll have to take some pictures of the house for you. It is nice but super messy and there is mold all over the ceiling. No one cooks. I eat khao soi a lot here. It's some northern dish and really good. I snack on chips and cookies. I don't need any white shirts, but I'll just buy them here if I need to.  I will get another suit made if that is ok? That is really cool about Andrea Wood's homecoming. I agree with her about how true the importance of following the promptings of the spirit is. I love you all so much and I'll send pictures, but it will have to be later though."

Elder Jacob Smith 

5 Baptisms in Phitsanulok!

"This letter will be short because I don't have much time today. We are going site-seeing with the members and we're leaving real early. We were able to get 5 baptisms here in Phitsanulok this week. It was a straight up miracle because of what happened earlier in the week."

"Monday, I tried talking to a recent convert who was feeling down about something. She just got up and left. I guess there is a lot of gossip that was going on in the branch. I told everyone that I didn't think that they understood what family means and then things went crazy! I said that they need to be a family and that families love each other. That night we get a call from all 6 of our daters to tell us that they were not going to get baptized or go to church. They had all gotten together and decided to drop. This put our whole district in high distress! We were up all night trying to fix it and nothing was working. I was really upset because I felt that I had failed. I cried! I did! I couldn't believe that gossip, lying, and stupid little things, could cause 6 investigators and another 5 new converts to fall away from the church. I felt that no matter what I did, it wouldn't change anything. I felt no spirit and I was frustrated with myself. I could only think to pray to God and have him fix it. And of course he did. The next two days were heck trying to talk to these emotionally wrecked teens and just tell them to stop doing what they were doing. Then God stepped in and fixed it. He got them all together and they argued for hours until they finally forgave each other. That was good."

"Then I had another new member come up to me and said that she was fed up with the church and that she was going back to her old church because the members here did not care enough for God. I talked with her a long time until she finally said her decision was made and thanked me for being a God fearing man. I had thought that she had a great testimony and was doing awesome. I can honestly say that I have never been so angry/sad/sorrowful/and who knows what other emotion. I got on my knees and cried to my Father in Heaven. I told him that I don't know what to do. I needed him. I asked where art thou? Then softly I had an answer that said, "Don't worry. I am with thee." Even though I heard the answer, I had a terrible sleepless night. The next day I get a call from that member and she tells me that she wants to come back. It was funny because in Thai she said that she wanted to go back to her old church. I thought she meant her other church. I said, "Yes, I know. You told me last night. Why are you calling me again?" She then repeated it and I gave the same response again. Then she said, "Do you know what I mean?" I said, "Yes!" and she said, "No!" haha  She meant she is coming back to our church. She had prayed that night and read in the scriptures and received confirmation again that the church is true. She is a nurse and she said that right now the church in P-lok is just sick and needs assistance. She is now good and converted and continues to come to me for advice."

"This was the miracle and chastisement that I received. I realized that I needed to rely on the Lord more and stop being so stressed. I need to use faith and listen to the promptings of the spirit. Everything is better now and yes there are still problems, but I face them differently and with more faith in the Lord. The 5 were baptized this Sunday and the other one is on the way. The ward is struggling but through faith all things are possible. I love the Lord and I know that he is real and answers every prayer. He shows us our weaknesses to make us stronger."

"Conference was great, but I didn't watch it in English, so I'm going to do that this week. I ride my bike everywhere. It's nice but my butt hurts and my bike is all rusty from not using it for the last year. There is one thing that I would really like to do. I want to come back and go to the temple with my RCs in July. They really want me to go with them, however, that requires me going to Thailand, then Hong Kong, and then home again. If that is possible, I would really like to do that. I love you all so much!"

Elder Jacob Smith