"I was just called to be a Zone Leader in Pakkret! Can you believe that? I was only a District Leader for one transfer and now I'm a Zone Leader. It was crazy how it happened. We got a call last Tuesday from the Zone Leaders telling us that no one in our District was leaving. We told all the members that we were staying and they were pretty happy about that. I still had to go to Bangkok to renew my Visa and had the other Elders go with us because we had to pick up some supplies and it would be fun. I called the Elders in Rangsit to arrange a place for us to stay overnight and then headed there around 2:00 in the afternoon. We got there around 7:00 in the evening and met up with Elder Bassett. It was fun being back in my old area again, but I wasn't able to see any of my RCs. That night was a hard night for me. I had a hard time sleeping and woke up at 3:00am. I could not go back to sleep and something was keeping me up, but I didn't know what. In the morning, we headed down to the transfer meeting. Along the way, I got a call from the Zone Leaders telling me that I was moving and that Elder Sayavong was getting a new companion. CRAZY! I was so surprised and instantly nervous about what was going to happen. When we arrived at the building, President Senior came up to me and told me to go to a room and wait for him there. Later, he walked in with two other Elders. He told us that last night he woke up around 3:00am with a feeling that something was wrong. Then he received revelation and wanted to call us to be the new Zone Leaders. I was soooooo surprised and even more nervous now! I didn't tell anyone. When my picture came up as the new Zone Leader over Don Mueang, everyone was cheering and said, "NO WAY!" and "HOLY COW!" haha They were all surprised too and came up to me and congratulated me saying that I was a fantastic missionary and was ready for this. I am over the areas of Don Mueang, Rangsit, Bangken, Lopburi, and Ayuthaya. Everyone that I will follow-up with is older than me in the mission. They are the senior missionaries from the MTC and some that will finish their missions in a couple transfers. I will get to follow-up with everyone everyday and see how the mission and Zone is doing. It will be nice to know what is going on everywhere. Talking to all the Districts is super fun and I want to encourage and inspire them. This will be a fun adventure for sure! It was a little frustrating too because I had to go all the way back to Phitsanulok to pack my stuff and then return here. I did a lot of traveling this week. I feel bad that I had to leave my boy, Elder Parker, but he will do great finishing his training with Elder Sayavong. They also put Sisters back there and that should be great. P-lok will do just fine."
"I am now over three wards that use the same building. They are Don Mueang, Pakkret, and Chengwattana. Chengwattana is a foreigner ward. It is super busy on Sundays trying to get every ward some investigators. I went to Sacrament meeting 3 times and was here and there and everywhere, and I still have no idea what member is in what ward. haha Hopefully, it will come to me. I really hope Heavenly Father knows what he is doing by calling me to this. My new companion is Elder Cutler. He was my Zone Leader when I was serving in Rangsit. He is really cool and such a hard worker. He told me straight up that we are going to do work this transfer, so I looked at him and said, "Alright, as long as we stop to eat!" haha He is from Layton, Utah and his family owns Cutler's Cookies, if you've heard of that. I'm really excited to be serving with him. He is a great speaker and an even better teacher. He also has a twin serving in the Philippines. The place I live in is huge and in the middle of Bangkok. I have everything I could ever want here. I'll just buy it. haha I really like it and the church here is huge and very close. We already had a baptism and are constantly getting numbers from people on the streets. Everyone is so nice and the Bishop is a returned missionary who is gung-ho about getting things going better. I am excited to be an example in the mission and helping to make miracles happen."
"That is really all that happened this week. I was able to follow-up with the new Greenies and it was fun to get to talk to them and see how they are all doing. I read a verse in the scriptures about, "many are called, but few are chosen." I will do all I can to be the one who was chosen. This was a great week with more to come for sure!"
Elder Jacob Smith
"P.S. - My camera broke. It won't turn on any more. Also, I've changed how I spell my name in Thai. I met a man whose name is Smith and he spells it a little differently. I like it better and apparently it translates to mean, success and righteousness. I thought that was way awesome as well. haha I love you all!"
