Children's Day

It was a holiday in Thailand called Children's Day. A member took the Elders to the Airbase for an air show. Jake thought it was ironic that the children were able to play with a missile launcher. He said it was fun and he is learning a lot and having a great time as a missionary in Korat.

"First to answer some of your questions, I would love CTR rings in Thai. That would be the best thing ever! I want a lot of them because there are so many kids here that would want one. Maybe even half of them in English would be cool too. The ward here is a branch, but it is really big and I think could easily be a ward. The members help out the missionaries as well. They take care of us a lot! The church building is about the size of the gym back home. And yes, we do gather after church and eat together. The food here is so good because it is Esan food! haha"

 "This week was exciting and fun. Not much happened on Monday for p-day, but we went over to Brother Bees house for family home evening. We played Signs and I won!!! That's right, haha!!! It was really fun and there was a member there who's name is Brother Oh. He gave me the nickname Elder Law which means, Elder Handsome, so hahaha!"

"Tuesday was really busy, but it was my favorite day. We taught 4 lessons! It was awesome because I felt that we were doing good missionary work. We also had district meeting where we talked about sharing testimonies to help teach people to come to Christ. We then taught English and one of my investigators showed up. His name is Brother Adule and he brought his daughter, Dangmo. They are both solid. They think that I am a good teacher because I make English fun and they laugh while I teach and they love it. The ward mission leader wants us to get a lot of people at English class, so that is what I am working on. I love to teach English!"

"Wednesday, we went to the Mall to buy a book for Elder Sanguansak. After that we got on our bikes and took a very long ride to a referral who ended up not even being there. I was upset because I even risked my life to get there. I was chased by dogs three times! Plus my seat was hurting really bad. haha  We went home and taught one of our investigators that lived an hour and a half away by bus. We teach him on the phone a lot and he said that he would come to church on Sunday. Then we taught Sister Jeep who is our recent convert."

Elder Smith's Johnny Lingo moment

"Thursday was a huge bummer. This morning we went to the hospital to visit a member's mom that is really sick. I don't like going to the hospital in Thailand. Everyone just looks so sick and dying. Then we had a bunch of lessons scheduled in a row and would you believe it.., they all didn't show up! We waited at the church for the longest time. It was very disappointing. We finally got one lesson with our investigator, Brother Sun. He is really cool, but I'm not sure he has a desire to change his religion. He likes both Buddism and Christianity. I just keep bearing my testimony to him. We then headed to Sister Gode's house and taught her family and then went to teach Sister Jiji. She was suppose to get baptized on Sunday, but she couldn't get to church this week."

"Friday we planned together for the first time. I have been expressing the importance of planning together and I think Elder Sanguansak finally got the message. haha  We had plans to go teach Sister Dukdaa, but she was looking so sick. We gave her a blessing and I led. It was nice to lead, but it was hard to see her this way. It reminded me of Grandpa Lloyd. I told Elder Sanguansak that we need to take her the Sacrament on Sunday and he agreed. We then went to teach a new investigator, Brother Gone. He is very interested in the church and we invited him to go to church and straightaway he said he would be there."

"Sunday we had four people show up for church! It was awesome and even the girl that we met contacting came. She lives right next to the church and she loved going. She is golden! We then took the Sacrament to Sister Dukdaa and she really appreciated it. I really want her to be happy and to start getting better. We then went to teach Brother Sun and had a long discussion about Buddism and Christianity. I think it was good because he is starting to like Christianity. We are going to take a member who use to be a strong Buddist to help teach him. We then headed over to Sister Gope's and I actually made Somtam. It was awesome and very good! haha"

 "That was my week. I love and miss you all. I am doing the Lord's work and he will bless us all!"

Elder Jacob Smith

Happy New Year!

Jake is loving his experience in Korat. He enjoys the countryside and especially the food. The members take such good care of the missionaries. He is staying busy and having much success.

"Hey Family, Happy New Year! This has been an interesting week, however we did get a baptism, which is super awesome!!"

"On p-day we didn't really do too much. We went to the mall to get supplies, played some air hockey and then headed to the church to meet with the members for family home evening. We all went to this hut and it was so fun! It was straight up Esan and in the countryside. There was food like sticky rice and music. I have pictures of me singing Thai songs and completely just ruining it because I had no idea what I was saying. I just acted while I sang and everyone was laughing and having a great time."

"Tuesday, we did our studies and then headed to the church for district meeting. We talked about dealing with people's concerns. Afterwards, we went to the Save One, which is a huge market that has everything. We switched a BB gun that Elder Sanguansak bought because it was broken. We then went inviting and met a girl that spoke perfect English. It's funny, but you don't meet people here like that every day. I invited her to church. We went to teach English and no one showed up because of the New Year. New Years is huge here and everyone goes on vacation this week."

"Wednesday, we taught a recent convert and then went over to a member's house. Her name is Sister Gope and she feeds us every day and calls us her children. It's really awesome. She is always inviting us over to eat and she is a great cook. We found two people contacting and taught them."

"Thursday, the Zone Leaders came to train us from the meeting they had in Asoke. Their names are Elder Gibbons (from Alta!) and Elder Williams, who is Khon Thai. Sister Jeep also had her baptism interview. She will meet with President Sangsawan on Friday for a final interview."

"Friday we taught two more investigators and then helped Sister Jeep set up Skype for her interview. We had another appointment scheduled for the same time as the interview, so we had to split with the Priesthood. I went to teach Sister Dukdaa. I wasn't prepared for the lesson so I don't think it went too well. I was discouraged because I struggled teaching in Thai. I know that I need to prepare to be able to teach by the spirit. When I got back to the church, I found out that Sister Jeep passed her interview and we rejoiced together!"

"Saturday, we met with a member that lives about 1 hour away. We left at 8:00 in the morning. The member is really strong, but can only go to church once a month. He lives in the countryside. He lives so far away and doesn't have the money to get there. After teaching, he fed us some sticky rice and I was able to lay in a hammock. We also explored the farm and found a Samarai sword and a cross bow! We had fun and there were so many cool things to see. I love the Esan! We traveled home on a bus that was so crowed that I was literally standing on the stairs. The ride was super hot and then we got stuck in traffic for 3 hours. It was terrible! We got home about 6:30 and went to clean the church for Sister Jeep's baptism and helped Sister Gope get ready for Sunday."

"Sunday was very busy. We had to get everything ready for Sister Jeep and then teach three lessons to get balanced for the week. We were running around like crazy. It was also fast Sunday, so I was starving all day. haha  We taught our lessons on the Restoration and it went really well. I made a picture book to help them understand what we were teaching and it worked great. It was a hard week, but we got things done!"

"I love you all so much!"

Elder Jacob Smith

Transferred to Korat!

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve visit with Jake on Skype. It was the highlight of our holiday. We found out that he had been transferred to Korat, which is East of Bangkok and the 2nd largest city in Thailand. He is serving with Elder Sanguansak from Thailand. There are only two Elders and two Sisters serving in Korat, so they are super busy and cover a large area. Jake is excited for the change and the challenge ahead.

"I don't have much time today and already talked to you on Christmas, so I will just tell you the highlights of the last week!"

"Yes, I have a Thai companion! It is going to be such an exciting transfer. I am going to get so good at the language because I will have to use it all the time. Elder Sanguansak is awesome and very funny. He is a little trunkie but that's ok because I am not and I'm here to work. He will just have to work with me. haha  He is Esan, so he speaks Lao as well. I hope I will be able to learn it so I can communicate with Grandma when I return home. It's hard, but also very worth the challenge and I am up to the task. God is only trying to improve me and I've already learned so much being in this companionship. We have good conversations about family and things that have happened on our missions so far. It is way cool!"

"Korat is very fun. It is nice actually having a church building to teach people at. The area is so huge! We have so many investigators that we can't teach because they live too far away. There is a branch in Korat and the members are very nice and inviting. We get a lot of referrals from the members. It seems like everything done here is much slower. President Senior said that it's time that we start doing things different than how it use to be. I'm going to change the way things were done. We are going to get Korat moving a lot faster for sure. I have plans to get many baptisms here and many more coming to church."

"I have already seen a lot of miracles here. This morning we had a lady come to our house. She said that she was having problems and that one day last week, we said hello to her as we biked pass and she knew that we were people of God and could help her. That's right! It's very cool! Even the language has been a miracle. I still struggle a little but I have been able to communicate a lot lately and understand a lot too. I asked the Lord in my prayers that if he would give me the gift of tongues, I would make sure to do his work the best I could and I'm pretty positive he answered my prayer. He is doing it his way and because of that, I have to make sure I give my all for Korat. I just hope I will be able to get it all done in my time here."

"On Christmas, after talking to you, we had to go to the mall and sing Christmas songs for all to hear. It was fun. Then we taught a lesson to an investigator who is planning to be baptized this Sunday. Her name is Sister Jeep and she is way solid."

"English class has been awesome because they now have English people teaching them and I made it fun. I don't think it was really fun before. I have plans with the ward mission leader to get about 50 more people going to English. The ward mission leader is way awesome! He is so willing to change things. We had a meeting with the entire ward council and we talked about the ward baptism goal and everyone said 24 because the sisters will get one and the elders will get one. I was all haha... no! We will get two a month! Everyone was all surprised and then got super pumped. The ward mission leader leans over to me and says, "It's possible and I know how to do it." He is way cool. He wants to make a class where the RCs go to during church to learn all the lessons over again because that is what the Preach My Gospel says new converts need. It is going to be way cool in Korat! I can just feel it!"

Elder Jacob Smith

December 16, 2013

"Last P-day we were able to go to the Big C and ice skate! That's right, ice skating in Thailand. It was very strange and really fun though. The ice skates here hurt much more than the skates in America and they also stink really bad. haha  We also had family home evening and based the lesson on Christmas and it's true meaning. We all shared a little passage that testified of Christ for each of us. It was very spiritual and a fun day."

"On Tuesday we had Zone training meeting. The Zone leaders told us that we got 110 baptisms last month and almost every single companionship got one. It was so awesome! The real purpose was to get the entire zone praying and unifying eachother. I really think that happened. Then they told us that President Senior wants everyone to get balanced this week and get one baptism and one rescue. That is so much! President Senior is going to put really high expectations on us now that the temple here is so close. In the month of January, he wants to have 200 baptisms, which means every companionship needs to get three baptisms each to achieve this goal. So I'm like, "Let's do this!" It's totally possible. This temple is going to come and it's going to be awesome! Afterwards, I was so pumped up that we went inviting and I got two names that were pretty solid."

"Wednesday, we went to meet with the Bishop and he brought up a concern about Lat Phrao. The only members that go there are the members that already go to Bangkapi. We need to start getting the less active members there. Then we had a meeting to discuss the ward missionary training we were going to do. We are going to train them on how to read the scriptures with less actives and recent converts. We basically act out the first four chapters in 1st Nephi. It was really good and we got everyone laughing. We did this because we want to make the scriptures fun and for them to want to read it. That is what Elder Wilson from the 70 told us to do. It was a real success I think. Everyone loved it and is on board to help with the reading."

"Thursday we did our weekly planning and then headed off to find a less active members house. We found it but it ended up being in Bangkapi, so it doesn't help our Lat Phrao, but that is fine. Then we went to teach Sister Biw. She is an investigator that wants to be baptized, but she goes to school and can't get to church. She has a huge testimony of the plan of salvation. Her dad died and she received an answer that she will see him again. I know that she will be baptized for sure."

"Friday we were finally able to teach Jirasak! He fell off the radar ever since he went to the hospital. Then we went contacting and taught Sister Biw again before heading to the Christmas play in Asoke. The play was fun to watch and we had to sing Christmas songs during the intermission. We did pretty ok for a couple of white boys. haha  We didn't get home until about 10:15 that night."

"Saturday, we did a service activity where we had to carve away the paint off a wall. We had four lessons in a row planned but they all cancelled on us. It was super frustrating. I noticed my language getting better because I had to call a bunch of people and I actually was able to talk to them and make appointments. I even got one person to go to church the next day. It was so cool! We were able to teach Sister Yewy and the skater kid Joe who committed to go to church and he actually showed up! Then we went to eat at a member's house and they made spaghetti.., of course!"

"Sunday was a good day. We had two investigators at church! One was Joe the skater kid and Nok, who is a lady I contacted and invited to church. We didn't have much time so the Sister missionaries had to teach her. We taught Brother Oat about Samuel the Lamanite. He likes all the stories. Then we headed to Lat Phrao where I was the speaker and spoke on Christlike love. I had planned it on Friday, so I was able to speak Thai enough to actually do a good talk. I was really happy and everyone said it was fantastic. I was really blessed for sure. Sister Biw showed up and we were able to teach her. We told her that she could be baptized next week and she lit up so brightly. It was a week full of miracles."

Elder Jacob Smith

December 9, 2013

"This P-day we went shopping for hard drives for Elder Hartman and Calderon and then we went to the church to watch videos and transfer stuff to the hard drives. Nothing too exciting. We got a call from the Zone leaders saying that we have to be home at 6:00 because of the things happening in Bangkok."

"Last Tuesday, we went to get Brother Graph and headed out to the Big C to find some people to teach. Our appointments canceled on us so we contacted more and then went home to make calls for teaching appointments. Our teaching class was on emotions and it was so fun. Elder Yuen says that I always make it fun. All you have to do is play some fun games and be really outgoing like in PLT. The people love to play the games. If you are happy and laughing, the students like it and keep coming back."

 "Wednesday, Elder Hartman got really sick and had to stay home. Elder Calderon and I went contacting at the University until we got kicked out. haha  They were surprised that we could speak Thai. Afterwards, we had district meeting in Lat Phrao which was really good because Elder Yuen is a champ at these meetings. We talked about using time wisely and planned church and FHE. Then we went to find Brother Oat. His friends that he works with have been trying to get him to smoke and we had to tell them to stop. They listened to us and Brother Oat was happy about it. Elder Yuen asked me to stay home with Elder Hartman so that he could go to correlation meeting with Elder Calderon. So I stayed home the rest of the day. We just studied and watched Mormon Messages."

"Thursday we met with the Bishop and was taught Thai by Sister Sawangwong. I love learning from her and just wish that we had started sooner. We went to eat at a Vietnamese place that was so good and not expensive and then went to teach a new investigator. He is pretty solid. He didn't go to church this week because he was out of town, but he will be there next week. Afterward, we did splits again with Elder Yuen and this time I went with him to a teaching appointment. We taught a new convert, Brother Jom. He wanted to know why the Prophets of old carried walking sticks everywhere? We just said that it was symbolic because we really didn't know. haha  It's funny what people ask us. Later, Elder Calderon and I went to find this skater kid that we have been working with to come to church. He seems real interested and I feel that he will go this week."

"Friday we went contacting and then to teach Sister Yewy. We taught her about the law of chasity and expressed the importance of baptism. Then we taught Sister Mee Lek again. I love going to her house because she feeds us so much fruit. We also had sports day where we had two investigators show up. They are Brother Oat's friends. We are going to keep working with them."

"Saturday we had a service activity. We cleaned a member's English classroom. We showed up late because we picked up Brother Graph and then got lost finding the place. We worked for three hours and found a duk gah. It is a huge lizard and if it bites you, it is over! It latches on and you have to go to the hospital to get it off. We were all scared when it started to hiss at us. We finally chased it away, but it was an intense battle. haha  That night we went to this really high society place where everyone is really rich. We met a family that is interested in going to the Christmas activity in Lat Phrao. I may never see them again, but that would be so cool to baptize an entire family."

"Sunday none of our investigators showed up at Bangkapi or Lat Phrao. It was a bummer, so we taught our recent converts and then headed off to go contacting with the members. We went to the university and I got two names that seem interested. It is really fun going contacting with members. It is a different experience, but I like it. That was my week."

Elder Jacob Smith

Thanksgiving in Thailand

Jake is so happy and excited this week! They met the November mission baptism goal the very last day. He had much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving in Thailand! Jake mentions eating spaghetti that he didn't like. Just some FYI, he has never liked spaghetti in any form.

"It has been an awesome week! Monday, we sat at home and watched movies like "The Testaments". The Elders from Bangkapi came over and we went over to Lat Phrao for family home evening. They really helped us out. The Sisters also came to play games like charades, but the opposite where everyone gets up and tries to act it out. It was really funny because we used a lot of words that the Thai people didn't really know. haha  Brother Graph was the funniest!"

"Tuesday we met with the Bishop like normal and then were taught by a Khon Thai that serves in Bangkapi. She taught me a lot of things that I didn't quite know. It was really good. After that, we met with the Bangkapi members to plan Thanksgiving dinner. They asked if anyone knew how to make pie and I said I could if you give me a recipe. They all just laughed at me. Then I said I'd make jello and I thought I knew how, but I think I'm mistaken. haha  We headed over to English class where we had a good lesson on communication. I love to teach English because we always have fun and laugh a lot. They will ask the weirdest questions sometimes. haha  We watched our production of Johnny Lingo and it made everyone laugh. It was so bad and I am a terrible actor! haha"

"Wednesday was Brother Oat's baptism interview. We had district meeting where we talked about corrupt communication and how we could apply this talk in the Lat Phrao Ward. It was really good and I really love Elder Yuen. He is such a good leader and reminds me a lot of Dallon. We went to buy the jello we had to make from Tesco. We couldn't really boil the water, so we put it in the microwave for awhile and then added the mix. We stirred it, put it in the fridge and then headed out to teach Sister Yuy. We then went to Bangkapi for coordination meeting and Brother Oat's interview. I said a prayer that he would pass and he did!!! It was such a great feeling and he could get baptized this Saturday!"

"Thursday was Thanksgiving! We cleaned the apartment which was sooooo dirty and nasty and I just had to clean it. Then I checked the jello and it was liquid. I just said, "Yupp", and put it back. haha  We weren't even phased. We knew that the jello wasn't going to work. We went to teach Sister Yuy and pick up Brother Oat and take them to the Thanksgiving activity. It was so fun. We told the story of the Pilgrims and made puppets with members faces on them. It made everyone laugh and we used them to tell the story of the first Thanksgiving. I like what they call it in Thai. They call it "Thank you God Day". We ate lots of chicken and some pie and a Chinese dish that I didn't know what it was. We also had mashed potatoes and ice cream with corn in it. It was a nice meal."

"Friday was mission zone conference, so we headed to Saponsune. We had a member of the 70 speak to us about using the Book of Mormon the most effective way. They told us something awesome, which was that our mission got 100 baptisms in one month and still more because the week wasn't over yet. Normally it is about 40 baptisms a month, so it is a big improvement! We then were fed Spaghetti. It was awful! Thai version of American spaghetti. That's not right! We didn't get home until about 6 and then we had a lesson with Sister Yuy. The President also gave us two cds to listen to. One was a Christmas cd that we can only listen to until the 31st and then it has to be destroyed. haha  The other was church music and it wasn't the Mormon Tabernacle Choir! haha"

"Saturday was a way awesome day! That morning we had a service project at a members house where we helped make her classroom nicer. We painted and found out that her roof was about to collapse because of termites. It was bad. Then we went to the white man neighborhood where Elder Hartman was born to have Thanksgiving with his family friends. It was like being in Utah! White people everywhere, a nice toilet, carpet, couches and everything. It was so nice! The food was amazing and I got so stuffed. We finally left to go to Brother Oat's baptism. It took us 30 minutes to get there and we were stopped dead in traffic at one time. I said a prayer to ask God if he would separate the cars like he did the sea for Moses and after that we started to move. I was so happy! God really does answer prayers and sometimes not like you want him to. We made it just in time and I gave a talk on Faith. Apparently, it was the best speaking I've ever done. Then Brother Oat was baptized and it was the most amazing thing. The blessing of seeing him grow and be baptized made me so very happy. Another soul saved and I felt that God was proud of us. It was so cool!"

 

"Sunday we taught enough lessons to get balanced this week. This has been a really successful week. I asked the district to give me a blessing to help me to understand the language and Elder Calderon did it for me. I've been feeling discouraged and now I feel much better. I know I can do this with Heavenly Father's help. I love you and can't wait to talk to you at Christmas!"

Elder Jacob Smith

Red Shirts/Yellow Hat!

The missionaries are doing so much work to try to meet the baptism goal for November. Jake is doing his best to accomplish the goal and has had some fun experiences to share this week. The worst of it was that his ATM card was shredded at the bank and he ran into a Red Shirt gathering wearing a yellow hat!

"Monday we had a chance to go to Asoke and speak with President Senior. He told us that the mission is like a roller coaster and that the funnest part is the way down and told us to enjoy the way down. He also said that the reason for "Bovember" was not that every companionship got a baptism, but that every companionship felt loved. The mission would be unified by everyone checking up on eachother to see how they were doing and it really did work. The entire mission is praying that we will be able to get a baptism in November. President Senior said that the baptism is just the bonus.  He said to not worry about it, but not to stop trying to get a baptism. After, we had family home evening and it was fun. We just hit eachother with bang and it was everywhere. I didn't get any pictures because my card is full. We had an investigator show up too. We didn't get a chance to teach him though."

"Tuesday we went to meet with the Bishop and then went back to Lat Phrao to have a district meeting. Elder Yuen is a fantastic district leader and he really knows how to bring the spirit to his lessons and meetings. We are lucky to have a missionary like him in Lat Phrao. At English class, we acted out the play Johnny Lingo and it was so funny. Everyone was laughing and having a great time. We even did makeup because one of the members is a makeup artist. I was Mr. Harris. Afterwards, we taught our investigator. He is going through a hard time and is super depressed. We just talked to him for an hour and told him that the gospel was going to help him. We bore powerful testimony."

"Wednesday we finished our studies and decided to go to a stadium to contact. What we didn't know was that this was where the Red Shirts gather. They are the people against the King and they all wear red shirts. We were biking by and, at first, I thought it was like a football game or something. When we got to the middle of the place, we realized that it was a Red Shirt riot and they are violent people. The scary part is that the other party is the Yellow Shirts and Elder Calderon looks at me and says, "Dude, you are wearing a yellow bike hat!" AAAHHHHH! I was freaking out! I looked around and everyone was looking at me really angry. We booked it out of there as quick as we could. haha  That was quite scary. Later, we went to teach the ward missionaries about how the change in finding was happening and we did a little activity where the missionaries were the regular people and they had to come and try to get us to accept the gospel. It was fun to see them come up with different ideas on how to share the gospel. It worked really well and they all enjoyed it. They now understand that what we are doing is very important and they will help us even more."

"Thursday was Brother Graph's birthday. Instead of partying, he spent the day helping Elder Calderon and I teach from 12 - 9. That was amazing! He is a great member. We taught this girl who works for Brother Israel as a maid. She said that when she cleans, she would read the Book of Mormon and that it always made her feel good, so she wanted to learn from us. She is super solid and hopefully she will be able to be baptized. We then went and to do a finding activity where we wrote "Do you believe you can be cleansed from sin?" on it. We had people vote and then would introduce Baptism and it worked pretty well. We got about 5 people who were interested. One was named Boss and he really is the Boss! haha  At the end of the day, we had a lesson with Brother Oat. I told him that he needed to stop smoking. There were about 7 other people there who shared words of encouragement with him. I then gave him a picture called "Lost and Found" and told him that we would all leave the room so he could be alone. I asked him to pray to God and write down his covenant with him. When I left, I fell to my knees and prayed to Heavenly Father for Brother Oat. I felt the spirit so strongly. When Brother Oat let us back in, I took his card that he had written his covenant on, and told him that he did not make this covenant alone. I had everyone there sign it too and that we would always be there with him. We are his family and he can count on all of us. He has stayed true to his covenant and has an interview on Wednesday! YESSSS!!"

"Friday we went contacting and then to eat with Brother Graph. We taught Sister Yuy (the maid), and Sister Lek and then headed to sports day. There we taught Sister Wasana and played some fun games."

"Saturday we taught Brother Boss, Sister Yuy and Sister Mone. Afterwards we went to the ATM and that was where the machine shredded my card. It froze up and never gave my card back. We had a Book of Mormon class which was super good, but right in the middle of the lesson, my chair broke and I fell. Everyone was laughing and I will never hear the end of fat jokes. haha  We taught another lesson with Brother Oat about the plan of mercy and told him that even if he messes up, he can always ask for forgiveness."

"Sunday was quite the day. We had no one show up for church. Everyone was gone and it was really frustrating. We headed to Lat Phrao and went around for an hour and a half just looking for people to go to church with us. I had to translate for Brother Isreal and it was really hard and I'm hoping that what I said was close to what he said. haha  We had a meeting with him afterwards and he said that my language is getting a lot better. We went contacting at the mall and then to the skate park where Elder Calderon showed off some of his moves."

"It's been a good and stressful week, but it was full of blessings for sure. We have plans for 3 baptisms in December. I love and miss you all so much!"

Elder Jacob Smith