"Elder Roberts and I have not been able to do a lot of contacting because we haven't been able to get his bike. His ATM card wasn't working and he couldn't get any money out. He's been emailing his mom and the bank so hopefully, we'll get it working today."
"This week we had District Conference in Udorn. It is about two hours from Khon Kaen. During the general session, I was sitting in the back with Elder Roberts. I could tell that he was really bored from not understanding anything, so I started talking to him. Then in the corner of my ear, I heard my name called. I looked up and the District President was looking at me from the pulpit. He asked if I would come up to the stand. I pointed to myself and he nodded. I was so confused and walked to the front. They wanted me and a few other people to talk about how we were personally going to help in the work of the Lord. Apparently, everyone else was told about this beforehand, except me. President Senior made a last minute decision to call me up. As I sat there, the other missionaries were making faces and laughing at me, because they knew. haha I just sat there and said a prayer to say something that would help the members understand the importance of the work. I was the last of 5 people to speak. I got up and told everyone that I will do what I have always done and invite everyone I see to come unto Jesus Christ and be baptized. I looked around at the other missionaries and said that I think I speak for all the missionaries. We are ready to work and to serve. We are here to help. If they need help in the work of Salvation, then that is why we are here. If they need help home teaching, then we will help them. Don't be afraid to ask us. I then said that they need to work as one with the missionaries. There isn't missionary work and then member work, but only God's work and we need to come together in order to perform miracles in the lives of the people in Thailand. I then bore my testimony and sat down. The rest of the day, I had people come up to me and tell me how much they loved what I shared. They told me it was inspired and just what they needed to hear. President and Sister Senior told me that was exactly what they wanted the members to hear. It felt really good. The members also told me that I spoke super clearly and clean Thai. It was comforting to know because, most of the time when I am nervous, I don't speak as well."
"I got to see Elder Vance again at District Conference and that was really fun. I haven't seen him since he left for Laos. He came up to me and was so happy. It was nice to see him as well. He told me a story. About a year ago, he was at the Que Pasa restuarant when he got the call that he would be going to Laos. He was freaking out about it and needed to quickly go and tell his mom and get everything ready and settled as soon as possible. He saw the line to pay and it was really long and he started to panic. He was praying for comfort when I looked at him and said, "Hey, here let me just pay for you. I got you!" He then handed me the money and left. He said it was an answer to his prayer that everything would be fine. After sharing this story, he hugged me and told me that he wished he could go back to the MTC and be my companion again. Just goes to show you that you don't know how much good you really do. It was really nice talking to him. I didn't really see anyone else. I realized that I am so old in the mission that I don't know a lot of the missionaries. haha"
"Elder Roberts and I decided to go contacting one day. We said a prayer and then Elder Roberts looked at me and asked where the Spirit was telling me to go? I said I didn't know, so let's go left. haha We started walking and were trying to find a short cut that took us to another street we saw. We passed one street and Elder Roberts asked if this was the short cut? I told him I thought it was a dead end, but he thought it was the right street, so I said let's just go and see. The whole time I knew it was a dead end, but I felt that we should still go. The first and only person we saw was at the last house at the end of the street. It was a little old lady who had not been able to go to church because it was too far away. We told her about our church and that she wouldn't have to walk far to get to it. She agreed to go next week. That was an interesting guide of the Spirit. It gave us motivation in our contacting. Hopefully, she will witness the spirit and be baptized."
"We have another lady investigating as well. She was going to come one day, but then had her boss call to tell us that she couldn't make it. It was weird. She made another appointment for the next day and showed up and brought her boss too. They started to give us a sales pitch for their job which is a full on triangle scheme. They talked for about 20-30 minutes and at one point, Elder Roberts and I looked at each other and decided to just leave. Then the boss said she had to go run some errands and left us with the investigator. She quickly finished up what she was telling us and told us that she was ready for the church tour now. We were surprised and brought her in and she loved it. She accepted a date to be baptized on the tenth! Way cool!! She even brought out paper and pencil to take notes as we taught her. What a miracle because we have been trying really hard to get some daters. We got some training from the Zone Leaders and they want us to get 4 baptisms per companionship in the month of May. I believe we can do that."
"I know that I need to go hard core these last few weeks of my mission. I will not slow down. I will make sure that Elder Roberts knows what a successful missionary is before I die! I love you all so much!"
Elder Jacob Smith
