Family in Thailand

This week Jake was able to meet and visit with his family in Thailand. He met his cousin Tone's family and spent a fun day getting to know them. Tone is Jake's mother's 1st cousin. Jake calls him "Uncle" Tone to show age respect. Unfortunately in such a moment, Jake forgot to take pictures! Really?!!

Cousin Tone and Nang

"First of all I was able to visit Uncle Tone! He was super excited to see me. He lives far away, so it is very hard to see him because we don't have a car. He drove 35 km to get us and take us to his house. We talked a lot about our family and he told me that mom's nickname is Mem. hahahaha Mem! Funny! Uncle Jeff's is Air. haha Super Funny! They also fed me beetles. It was so weird, but strangely good. haha  I was also able to talk to Uncle Jeff on the phone. I knew you would be jealous mom, so I told them not to tell you, but they did anyways. tsk tsk  I realized on the way home that I didn't take any pictures, sorry. I invited Uncle Tone to come to church and they said that they were not free. I then told him that I want them to be happy and to feel the love of God like I do and then they said that they would go this week. I am super stoked and hope they come! I would like Uncle Jeff to call them and share his testimony and experience with them and try to help them come to church as well. I feel that would help a lot."

"We taught English on Tuesday and I taught about the "ch" sound. Apparently, I guess I taught it really well because afterwards they all nodded their heads and some even said, "Wow, really good. You can teach very good."  I liked that. haha  I like to teach English here. It is fun to have people laugh and have fun learning the language. Their humor is the same as mine and they make me laugh so much. It's super funny to hear their accents. It's like talking to a bunch of my grandmas. haha"

"I actually had a problem at the beginning of the week. I just could not say anything and I got really frustrated. I didn't let it stop me though and I just continued on and kept trying. Now I actually feel like I got much better. It's strange how the Lord works. He cuts you down, so you can grow much stronger. The last three days, I feel that my language skills have improved so much."

"Sunday was another day of translating for me. After Sacrament meeting, I was called into the President's office to translate for one of the furlongs in church. He was having his temple recommend interview. It was his first one to go take out his endowments. I was a little nervous because I didn't want to translate wrong and make it seem like he wasn't worthy or something. But all went well and he passed. Then we went and showed "17 Miracles" to our RC and I translated the entire movie. Elder Sanguensak was really surprized and said that I translated the best I ever had. He understood everything! Whoot! Then we went to an English meeting and I had to translate a children's story with Sister Muller. We are still not done and it is really hard to translate into English. The story doesn't make sense translated. We have to know the exact translation, so that we can answer questions the students might have. Soooo hard!"

"Korat is huge and normally there are only 2 Elders in the area. Elder Sanguensak says that we will probably have 4 Elders next transfer. My language is growing a lot and I was happy to be able to understand Uncle Jeff in Thai on the phone. I can't wait to talk Thai with the whole family."

Elder Jacob Smith

Translating

Jake's letters are getting harder to post. As he is becoming better at speaking the Thai language, his English spelling and grammar have gone out the door. He feels that he is still struggling with speaking Thai, but he is able to do amazing things and is translating a lot lately. The ironic thing about all this is that he loves to teach English class!

"The ward here is fun and everyone is very kind. About 70 people come to church each week. Korat is in the middle of nowhere. It is called the door to the Esan because it is between Bangkok and the Esan. We have about 25 people coming to English class. I really do love teaching English. I try to make it really fun and sometimes I might get a little over dramatic in my teaching, but the Thai people really like it."

"This has been a good week full of work. It started out really sad because our recent convert that was sick passed away. We were never able to see her in the hospital and it made us really sad. I know that she is resting peacefully and no longer has any pain."

"We had our first family night with the members that didn't have families and our investigators came too. It was really fun. We played a game where we have two teams. One team stands in the middle of the field and the other team stands on both sides of the field throwing balls at them like dodgeball. It kind of has the same rules. Super fun, but we are all sore now. haha  Then we played the game bong, where we sit in a circle crossed legged. One person starts by saying something and then says bong and bows to another person. The object of the game is to not smile or laugh, so you try to say something funny to get others to laugh. I was really bad at this game. haha  We plan on getting a lot more people to come."

"We have three new investigators this week and that is awesome! Elder Sanguensak and I have the most baptisms in the zone! We work really well together. I really like Elder Sanguensak. I'll be sad when he leaves and I get a new companion. The president told him that he will be made a zone leader the next transfer, so I will be getting another companion. The good news is that I'll be at the transfer meeting when Matt comes!"

"This Sunday we had three Marines from America come to church and I had to translate for them. I did really good and I even amazed myself. I didn't get everything, but I got most of it. One of the Marines wanted to share his testimony and I translated for him. After we finished, one of the members that could speak English ok and does translating for the Philipinos, said that I did really well and gave me a handshake. That was a big confidence boost. I don't think I will ever know how good I am, until I am a senior companion. Then I will need to know what I am saying all the time. haha"

"I love you all and can't wait for Matt to get here. I saw his name in the weekly newsletter from the office. It was cool to see his name. There is also another Elder Smith coming and that will make three of us here in Thailand. Whoot!"

Elder Jacob Smith 

Meetings and Meditations

"Sundays are the busiest days on the mission. We have to get everything ready for the next week, get our investigators to church, and help members and less actives. It can get crazy sometimes. President Senior was at our last baptism in Roiet because it was State Conference. I let him know about Matt coming. I am super excited because I will probably be at the next transfer meeting. Elder Sanguensak may be made a Zone Leader, so that means I will get a new companion too."

"We weren't able to do a lot of teaching this week, which is sad, but we had a lot of other things that needed to be done. There were a bunch of meetings on Tuesday, which made a long day, but it was fun. I like to be able to understand things and learn new words at those meetings. Brother Dream also taught me how to meditate. He suggested that I meditate to help me concentrate on understanding more and to pray with meaning. Meditation is hard because there is always so much going on in my head and you have to be able to not think. I'm suppose to pray before and after I meditate. I'll try it sometime and see how that goes. haha"

"Our investigator Sister Puhng was baptized this week. That was a miracle for sure. She was beginning to have doubts and backed off a little. She called us on Monday and told us that she didn't want to learn anymore. Her friends were giving her a hard time and she didn't want to lose them. We told her to keep praying and reminded her that she had friends at church. We prayed every night for her. Then she called us out of the blue and said that she wanted to continue learning. It was way cool! I'm so happy that she was baptized. She even traveled 5 hours to a church in Roiet to be baptized. She has strong faith and has been befriended by everyone. Elder Sanguensak baptized her and another lady that was the Zone Leaders' investigator. It was a way awesome day!"

"Thursday we went to Buriram for Elder Sanguensak because he had to meet his parents and go to the hospital in Surin. He will be going into the Army and had to get a physical. His mom is so sweet and gave me a handmade Thai silk called a pakoma. It is so nice that I don't want to use it and ruin it. haha  I love it! We got to the hospital and they told us that we needed to go see a doctor that lived in Korat of all places! haha  We went there on Friday and were told that the doctor was only in Monday through Thursday, so we had to go to the hospital again on Monday. Elder Sanguensak said that it was so annoying, but it was really funny."

"Saturday we went to the Roiet church and we didn't find out about it until Friday night. We went with the members on Saturday morning and they didn't have enough seats to fit us all. They got a small plastic chair and I sat on it in a van for 5 hours. My back was killing me. haha  It was a fun ride with the members though. They always make the same jokes about my name being Smith and then Joseph Smith. At Roiet, we had lots of meetings about the new way of contacting and why we are focused on baptism. We got to stay in a hotel that was so nice. The bed was soft and clean and was awesome! The shower didn't have any hot water though, but it was a good way to wake up. haha  The next day was church and the baptisms, so we didn't get home until late. It was fun to see the other missionaries. I hung out with the Khon Thai Elders and they accepted me, Yes! I don't know a lot of the Elders in this Zone. I knew one Elder before his mission from Bangkapi. His name is Elder Firm."

"I love it here in Korat and I'm sure I'll love everywhere I go. It was a good week!"

Elder Jacob Smith

Baptisms in Korat

Jake was so happy about the baptisms this week. He says that this is the best part of being a missionary. He knows the gospel brings happiness and loves hearing the testimonies of the new converts. It was a miracle week.

"This was a very successful week! We didn't really have a p-day on Monday because we had more important things to do. We had an interview for one of our investigators named Jeje. She is 14 years old and loves to dance hip hop. She is pretty good at it too. She was an investigator before I got here, but she didn't have permission from her parents to be baptized. One day, out of the blue, she told us that she talked to her parents and they said that she could be baptized! She passed the interview and walked out with the biggest smile on her face. She couldn't even speak because she was so excited. This is the reason I love being a missionary. There are people out there that know that this gospel is going to make their lives so much better. Jeje knows that she will be blessed. It is way cool!"

"Tuesday we spent the day getting ready for Sister Jeje's baptism. Then we taught Puhng, who is the girl that I found contacting last Saturday. She came to church and really liked it. She got along with everyone and liked the little children. We gave her a baptism date for the 23rd and she accepted! It was awesome. We also invited her to English class and to see Sister Jeje's baptism. It was after the English class and we invited everyone in the class to go. Sister Jeje bore her testimony and it was so strong. She could hardly speak because of the spirit. I love baptisms because I always feel God's love. It is like he says, "I'm so proud of you."  Sister Jeje was so happy and Sister Puhng said that she looked so beautiful. I think it will help her to get baptized too."

"Wednesday we went to the mall to print off papers and pictures for some members and then went to teach. We helped Sister Gope with her house and then taught Sister Puhng again with Sister Gope. We taught the plan of salvation. We also went to teach Brother Sombaught. He is way solid, but we can only teach him on the phone because he lives about 2 hours away. The Zone Leaders came here again. I really don't know why and wonder how they are able to teach their own investigators when they are here so much? Elder Sanguensak calls them because they are good at getting the investigators to accept a date. I told Elder Sanguensak that we can be as good at doing it too. Everyone has their own strengths."

"Thursday we had a meeting with the Zone Leaders about the attributes of Christ. It was a really good training."

"Friday we taught Sister Kim who is 14 years old. She came to us and said that she wanted to be baptized too. She saw Sister Jeje's baptism. We taught her and Sister Puhng."

"Saturday we went to the church early to prepare the water for baptism. Then we went to teach Sister On, who is a referral from the Zone Leaders. We also went to a funeral for a member and comforted the people afterwards because a lot of them were not members. After we went to teach our RC, Sister Jeep. She is doing really well and we told her to keep it up. Brother Sombaught had his baptism interview and passed and so did one of the Sister's investigator. We are having both of them baptized on Sunday. We are all so excited!"

"Sunday was very busy with the baptisms. It was awesome to hear their testimonies. We went home to celebrate by making cookies. They were so delicious! haha"

"We went to Save One this week. It is a huge market with really cheap stuff. I bought a tie and belt with a dragon on it. It is so sick! haha  I can't wear it now, but I sure will when I get home!"

Elder Jacob Smith

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