"On Monday, we really didn't do anything. We got haircuts and went to buy tickets to go back to Bangkok for Mission Leadership Council. Tuesday, we had our first District Meeting with Elder Tamang. It was the first that he's done and it was really good. We then taught some RC/LA lessons and went contacting. Elder Bannakorn has a bad back so he had a hard time contacting. However, we were able to see some members too. Then we taught English class. That was fun because Elder Black and I did a little skit to help the students with their listening skills. I pretended to be Iron Man and it was really funny. Everyone had a blast. That evening we got on the bus with Sister Lam, the sister training leader, and headed to Bangkok again."
"We arrived in Bangkok around 9:00am and headed to the mission office. On the way, Sister Lam had an allergic reaction to a mosquito bite and had to make a quick stop at the hospital, but she is doing fine. She was only upset that we saw her puffy face. haha She said that I helped her to feel better by making her laugh. At MLC, we talked about making good records and updating our area books. Then we talked about how to teach families effectively. President Senior had me get up and roll play how not to do it. haha It was funny and totally set up. Afterwards, we headed up to P-lok to train and do switch offs. We trained Gamphengphet as well. I had to call everyone to repentance for making better records. It was probably my best training so far. Elder Black talked about the spirit of Elijah in helping us to receive help from the other side of the veil. Very powerful as well. I think the Zone really understood the importance of what we were saying. Our Zone is ready to see miracles and create miracles as well. We headed back to Chiang Mai and got home about 1:00am. The next day we trained the rest of the Zone. After the training, Elder Heiner said that I should be a motivational speaker in the future. haha It made me feel good because all I really want to do is to inspire the missionaries to work hard. I also asked Elder Bannakorn to share his last testimony as a missionary and it was awesome!"
"That afternoon we went to teach Elder Khanakham's older sister. Elder Khanakham is the first area seventy in Thailand. His sister lives alone and likes it when people come to visit her. She is moving along slowly and we will keep working with her. We then met with another family of a strong member in our area. It is his younger brother's family. We taught a great lesson on eternal families and I used the pictures of all of us to explain my point. They all accepted dates but didn't come to church, so we still need to work with them. I have a feeling that they will be baptized as a miracle for the ward to know that their families have a chance to receive the gospel as well."
"On Saturday morning, we headed up the mountain to see Elder Bannakorn's family. It was so much fun. We met with his mom, brother, sister and Aunt. His Aunt was crying when she saw him because she was the one who took care of him when he was a child. We taught his mom and she said that she would be baptized. She just needs some time to learn. Knowing how diligent Elder Bannakorn is, I'm sure that she will be baptized. His sister is recently married to a Chinese man and lives in Taiwan. They had come down to see Elder Bannakorn. They were interested in the gospel and got some information to take to Taiwan. We took some pictures of us wearing Elder Bannakorn's mountain tribal pants. haha"
"On Sunday, Elder Bannakorn was realeased. I love that kid. We exchanged emails to stay in touch and he made me promise to come back to visit him. He is going to try to learn at BYU-Hawaii. He stayed the night with us and left this morning. He is such a great Elder. About his back; it has hurt him throughout his mission. He worked at a hotel and did a lot of heavy lifting to save money for his mission. It hurts him a lot and he can't even sit through a lesson without needing to stand up. He can't ride a bike and contacting is really hard on him. These last two weeks have almost been unbearable for him. It is worse than when I was with him in Rangsit. Traveling literally kills him. When he was released, a member asked him about his back and said that he knew someone at the Chiang Mai hospital that could help him. So they went on Sunday and he came back feeling a ton better. The weird thing is that he went to doctors many times while on his mission and nothing they did really helped him. It wasn't until he was released that his back was made better. Crazy! He endured two years with that pain. He is really happy and sad to go home. I'll miss him."
"It looks like everyone is having fun back home and I miss you a lot. Love you all!"
Elder Jacob Smith
