The Final Stretch

"We are coming into the final stretch. The sprint to the finish of my mission. This will be the last week I will be in Khon Kaen. I'll make sure to work really hard to pave the road for the Elder who will replace me here."

"I had a good week. We were able to get two baptisms. One was Meow, the little old lady that we met at the dead end street, that I told you about, and the other was a young girl named Ploy. Ploy was taught awhile ago and decided to be baptized. She finally gained a testimony of the atonement of Jesus Christ. She prayed and said that God answered her prayer in a weird dream. She said that this dream and the interpreter of dreams (myself) helped her to decide to be baptized. haha  She will be a faithful member. After her baptism, she asked me if I saw the air go into her nose? She said that she did and it was the new breath of life. haha  It was really fun."

"Elder Roberts is doing fantastic with the language. I am super glad that we are companions and now know why we were put together. He is a really good Elder. I gave him a blessing last week that was probably one of the most confident I've ever given. I think it really helped him. I want him to love his mission as much as I've loved mine. I'm trying to show him everyday that the work is happiness and joyful and fun."

"A funny story that happened a couple Saturdays ago. The other Elders have an investigator who is a teacher at the University. He invited us all to lunch with him at the school. He introduced us to some of his friends (who were not interested in learning about the church) and then gave us a tour of the University. He took us to see some real brains, livers and fetuses. It was really gross and felt weird. I realize that I do not want to be a doctor! Then he took us into a room with dead bodies. While we were there another man came in and opened up a body tray of a body that was cremated and the skull just falls out and rolls on the floor! haha  Then he opens up another bag with a body still inside and let me just say that I was super glad that we had eaten first! Super gross!"

"I have been working with Brother and Sister Lyon in the Branch to try to get things up and running again. There are a lot of activities which could be doing better but aren't because no one has taken the time to do it. I feel that Brother Lyon trusts me. He told me that ever since I got here, the area has been doing really well. That made me feel good and was really nice to hear. haha  We had a Book of Mormon class where we had the members and Elders act out the story. It was really funny and way fun. I have some pictures but I spent most of the time filming it."

"I'm more nervous to go home more than anything, but I feel like I will be fine, so no worries. I am actually really scared about going home on the airplane. The ride over here was super crazy and I don't know if I'll survive another one. haha  This week has been a good one and it is all still just hard work! I love you all."

Elder Jacob Smith

District Conference

"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    

Khon Kaen

"As you already probably know, I am in Khon Kaen. I am a District Leader and training. My thoughts about this are "thank goodness!"  I love being a DL. It is less stressful and I feel that I can do more to use my ideas to help the area. After being a ZL for six months, it is nice to only have to look after one area. It is weird to not know what is going on around the mission though. My new son and companion is Elder Tyler Roberts! I already know that he is Tori's friend. He told me that he talked to her before leaving on his mission. That is really cool. He showed me pictures of him in Nitro Circus and he is so insane! Elder Roberts is doing really good and we get along great. The District is a little different than what he is use to hanging around, but he is starting to understand the humor and it is fun to see him adjust and change. haha  The other missionaries in the District are Elder Nelson, who was a Greenie in Rangsit with me, and Elder Bush. I was his ZL in Don Mueang, so I already know them and have already started to implement some ideas to help the branch here. One is to start a mutual youth program. There is also a Senior Missionary couple serving here. It is Elder and Sister Lyon. Elder Lyon was the 22nd missionary to ever serve in Thailand and he speaks Thai really well. He is also the first counselor in the branch presidency. Sister Lyon is always so happy and is really funny. She makes such delicious treats that I will get fat! I think they really like that I came in with ideas and ready to work. I really like them and will enjoy working with them. I feel like I came into this area really well. This is where Matt (Elder Boonmee) and Elder Parker served last. the members here love them. I already have people that know who I am because of them. It is really funny hearing all the stories about them. Matt was a ladies man and had some investigators fall in love with him. haha  It is really funny!"

Grandson (Elder Nielsen), Son (Elder Parker), Father (Elder Smith), Son (Elder Roberts)

"I played in Songkran, but didn't take any pictures because they would have been destroyed! It is crazy in Chiang Mai. It was way fun though and we got soaked! We only celebrated Monday and then had to go back to work which was hard. Then having to travel down for transfers took us from 6 am to 8 pm. It was the longest bus ride ever and I thought I would die! At transfers, it was weird seeing Sister Holmes go home since I saw her come in. I'll be following her out soon. This really sucks that it is so close now."

"The sister of Elder Khanakam (the first Thai Area Seventy), that we were teaching, should have been baptized, but I'll have to wait for some news on that. I'm sure she did because I told them and she was interviewed already. We did a lot to prepare her and I would have liked to be there for that."

"This last week has been great. We have really gotten a good start. This area is recovering from some bad Elders about a year ago which really hurt the branch and lost their trust. I immediately want to show all the members that we are here to lift the burden. We have the good support of Elder Lyon too and he is doing a lot. As a District, we have come up with some ideas to help the branch. I made sure that the missionaries here are focused on baptism and member relationships. I also made a goal to see as many families as we can that the Branch President wants us to. I feel that having good relations with the members will give us lots of referrals. This is what we are working on at the moment."

"I'm way happy to be in the Esan. The food is so good!!! I don't really have to learn Lao too much. It is all pretty basic. I'm sending you some pictures from my trip to Myanmar. I love you all!"

Elder Jacob Smith

   

The Lone Zone Leader

"Sorry it has taken me so long to send an email. These last two weeks have been great and so busy!"

"First, I'll tell you about my visit to Burma. We left on Tuesday morning and got there around 6:00pm. The Elders picked us up and we headed straight to the church. This is where they live. They gave us some longyis (pronounced loan-jis) to wear. It is a tube of fabric that you wrap around yourself to wear instead of pants. It is traditional Myanmar clothing. The missionaries have to wear it with a white shirt and sandals. They can't wear socks, shoes or a tie. These are considered rude because it is showing off how rich we are and doesn't help the image of the church. What was worse is that I couldn't even wear my name badge because I was only visiting and didn't have a work visa. At one point, we went to this market and it was really fun. The streets there are so insane! I almost died because no one stops for you and you have to pay attention. We helped teach English class and met a lot of members and investigators that I was able to help teach. They are really cool people and it was so fun. They told us the history of the church there and it was really interesting. At one time, the church was super successful and then went so apostate that all the members were excommunicated. I'm glad the church is back there now. Leaving was really sad." 

"Right after we got back to Thailand, Elder Black was called to be an office Elder for the last two weeks of his mission. We went to MLC which was all about preparing the people for the temple. When the announcement came, we were on our way back to Bangkok. It was midnight and everyone was freaking out. They told us to tell all of our districts, so I called everyone. They were not too happy to get woken up until they heard the good news. haha  It was way cool. Then all of a sudden, I had a confirmation that this now is crunch time. I need to do everything that I can to fight against Satan because he will be working really hard to destroy the work. We are all excited to get this temple and it makes me feel that I did something good to help this to happen. I'll be working as hard as I can this last transfer to be super consecrated to the Lord. We show our gratitude for the temple by getting to work and setting a goal to get 200 baptisms this month. That's how we celebrate here in Thailand!" 

"I am a lone Zone Leader at the moment. haha  I am in a tri-companionship with Elder Tamang and Elder Hinkley. This last week was really busy because of transfers. I had to coordinate a bunch of people by myself. Because of Songkran, President Senior doesn't want anyone that doesn't need to go to transfers to go, including the companions of missionaries as well. I have to find out who is leaving, get them a companion and get them to transfers. This is hard because tickets are sold out everywhere for Songkran. Super stressful and I am still making plans right at this moment, but I got it. haha  Also, I am moving so I don't know where I'll be going."

"Happy Songkran! I'm going out to play in the water!"

Elder Jacob Smith 

Last Zone Conference

"P-day in Chiang Rai was super fun! We rode ostriches! I almost fell off mine. haha  Those birds are evil for sure. They look at you and you know that they are going to peck you. haha  Scary! We also rode some elephants."

"We were able to get a Balanced Zone again! I had an interview with President Senior last Friday during Zone Conference. It wasn't very long because we will be talking again in another transfer for my dying interview. He told me how great our Zone was doing and that it was a really good indicator of the Zone Leaders. He said that because of me, the Zone has been doing really well. He said that I bring a lot by my example and faith which shows that I am a great leader. Then it was over. He closed by telling me he was going to kick my butt in basketball on Monday morning and he did so shoooootttttt! haha"

"When we were at the Mission Leadership Council, Elder Black was joking around and said that he had a desire to serve in the mission office. Then right in the middle of the meeting, President Senior looked at us and said that we should probably go do switch-offs in Burma first. He told us to talk to him after the training. It was crazy! He told us that he wanted us to do switch-offs in Burma and so we have been getting everything ready for this trip over the last couple weeks. We have been working with Elder Meeker with our visas and passports. We are good to go and will fly down to Bangkok and then to Burma tomorrow. We will spend all day Wednesday there and fly back on Thursday. The Burma Elders said that we will be teaching a lot. I don't know how that will go because we don't speak the language. haha  It will be the first time Zone Leaders do switch-offs in Burma. This is so exciting and wish me luck!"

"We had to do so much stuff to get ready for Zone Conference. We had to order catering and make sure that everything was in good working order. It turned out really good. We talked about the new initiative called, "Because He Lives." Do you know about it? The mission department came up with it to help with the work all over the globe. Make sure that the whole family is a part of it and work together because it is revelation from God. We also talked about the fundamentals of missionary work such as; prayer, scriptures study, church attendance, etc. The best part was that we got to watch, "Meet the Mormons." I really enjoyed that! We had members join us for the movie. I was asked to give my dying testimony because it was the last Zone Conference for me. It was a hard moment for sure. I didn't cry too much, so that was good. haha"

"We also had District Conference. It was cool to see a bunch of people who still remembered me from Phitsanulok. We had to translate for everything and we were really busy the whole time. We had to help set everything up and plan with the District President. I do pretty good at translating because I do it all the time here and get a lot of practice. It is weird to think that I am one of the oldest missionaries in the mission and oldest Zone Leader as well. Because of this, I have a lot of responsibilities that fall on my shoulders. I have to make decisions on what to do, where to go and translating. I was also able to see Elder Bannakorn again! He doesn't shave anymore and has a calling as first counselor in the branch presidency. I even met his girlfriend! Two weeks and he already has a girlfriend. haha"

"We did a short switch-off in Chiang Rai. We had bus problems so we were only able to be there from 1:00 to 5:30pm. It seems like a fun area to serve in. I helped teach a new member and shared my testimony with some investigators. One of them I met again at District Conference. She is about 24 years old and very sassy. She is a cousin of a 19 year girl who really wants to be baptized for three years now. Her mom doesn't like the church and burned her copy of the Book of Mormon. The mom has cussed out Elders and members who try to talk to her daughter. She will disown her daughter if she joins the church. Super crazy! The cousin is on her own and goes to church, so hopefully this could be a pathway to help the girl be baptized. I talked to her for awhile and taught her the importance of  what she is doing. I testified of God and that she needs to find him by truly asking in prayer. She says that she feels good after praying but that she isn't sure about the source of that feeling. I then told her about the Holy Spirit. It was a really spiritual lesson and I hope that she felt the spirit as well to help her with her answer. It will be the means of many coming into the church."

"We are teaching the Somphet family. It is Brother Somchia's younger brother's family. They all want to be baptized but have a hard time coming to church. It is frustrating. The family is very poor and last week we went to go teach them and ended up helping them build their house. It was super fun! I was welding things and walking on roof beams. haha" 

"I was asked to write a letter to this kid in Utah. His older brother came to Thailand and after sacrament meeting, he asked me to write to him. He is thinking about not serving a mission and isn't quite sure about what to do. I wrote him a letter and will send it today. Hopefully something I say will help him to make the right choice."

"Love you all so much and I'll send pictures!"

Elder Jacob Smith

A Quick Note

"I only have about ten minutes to email today. I am about to get on a bus to head up to Chiang Rai for p-day. I took about 1000 baht out for the trip. I will be with Elder Hinkley because Elder Black is staying behind with Elder Tamang. Elder Tamang has already gone and didn't want to go site-seeing, but Elder Hinkley wanted to go."

"This week was good. I'll have to tell you about it next week. Remind me to tell you about: Balanced Zone, switch-offs in Lampang, Zone Conference and District Conference coming up this weekend, and teaching the Somchai family. I also will be flying to Myanmar (Burma) on the 31st to do switch-offs with the Elders there. It was a request from President Senior. I'll have to tell you more about that."

"Until next week, I love you all!"

Elder Jacob Smith

'Til We Meet Again

"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