Forbidden to be Scared

The missionaries were able to watch conference this week. Even though Jake felt that he didn't have much happen, the things he did experience were amazing and he shares such a strong testimony. He is excited about his investigators. Transfers are next week!

"I really don't have that much time today because we got stuck in traffic. It has been a really slow week."

"Monday, we just stayed home and rested, which I really needed. We had family night and showed up late because we we had to finish a Preach My Gospel questionaire and we had to go to an internet place to do it. At family night, I showed everyone a magic trick and all the Thai people freaked out and asked me how I did it. I told them that I did it with the Priesthood and the other Elders called me Apostate! It was really funny and I never showed them how I did it because a true magician never reveals his tricks! haha"

"Tuesday, we had to go meet with the Bishop in Bangkapi and stayed afterwards to eat with the other missionaries there. When we went home, we handed out flyers for our English class and taught. That was about it that day."

"Wednesday, our correlation meeting was canceled, so we were able to go meet with one of our daters, Sister Wasana. She is the Boss! Sister Oh has really helped prepare her to learn from the missionaries. Sister Wasana talks of her baptism date all the time and I can't wait for it it happen."

"Thursday, we spent the entire day packing because transfers are this Wednesday! I still don't know where I am going and I may even stay, I'm not too sure? We taught an English class, but no one showed up except for Brother Oat and Brother Jupjep. We are working with Brother Jupjep a lot. I can tell he is already changing and Brother Oat helps a lot too. He is an awesome investigator!"

"Friday, we had a normal day. We met with Sister Mahlek and had a quick lesson because we had things to get ready for sports day. We were in charge this time and we played a game called, the fruit game. Everyone has a fruit name and when someone calls your fruit name, you have to yell another fruit name before a person throws a ball at you. It is really funny because I can't pronounce some of the fruit. haha  Afterwards, we gave Brother Oat a blessing and Brother Jupjep was there also. We shared our testimony with him and the spirit was so strong! I really feel that they both felt it too. Brother Jupjep said that that he felt so good. It was amazing!"

"Saturday, we spent the entire day watching the Priesthood and first and second session of conference. It was just the four of us. It was a good conference and you girls need to watch yourselves! haha"

Sunday was totally amazing! We went to Bangkapi to watch the rest of Conference. In between sessions we were resting and the Bangkapi Elders said that we were going to give a blessing, so I just said ok and started to clear a place to do it. Elder Houghton looked at me and asked me to give the blessing! My first thought was... ahhhh, I don't speak Thai! But with Faith, I got up and said I would. The lady getting the blessing told me that I was forbidden to be scared! I gave the blessing and I felt the spirit so strongly that I started to get emotional. It was like nothing I had ever felt. I don't know what I really said, but she said that she could feel it in her heart. It was the most amazing experience of my mission so far. Then we taught an amazing lesson to Brother Oat. I told him that if he stops smoking right now, I promised that he would stop. He is leaving for 2 weeks and I said that if he stops, then when he comes back, he will be baptized. I am praying that he stops."

"The last thing I want to say to you all is... I forbid you to be scared! You are forbidden to be scared to share the gospel! You are forbidden to be scared to befriend someone or scared to ask for a blessing. I love you and miss you all so much. I want you to know that I know that God lives and he will always help us."

Elder Jacob Smith

I Am Happy!

It was a short letter this week. Jake shares that his days are full with teaching and he is happy to be busy sharing the gospel. His language is improving and he is confident and optimistic about their progress in Lat Phrao. He is going to visit a big market for p-day, so his email time was short.

Baptism day of the Sister's investigators

"This has been a really successful week because, once again with the love and blessing of our Heavenly Father, we have gotten balanced! It's awesome!"

"Monday, we spent the entire p-day going to make suits. The member who took us had a problem with his store's power and had to fix it, so we waited around for over 3 hours for him. Then we went and got the suits made. It used up our whole day. My suit is black and I think that I'm going to look so good in it! haha"

"We finally started our English class in Lat Phrao and me and Elder Johnson are in charge of it, so we are the teachers. I have to teach in English, so it is not too bad. We don't have many people, since we just started, but it will get better. We actually have two students who are potential investigators. They will need to come and want to learn from us. We teach our class on Tuesdays and Thursdays."

"On Wednesdays, we really just try to teach as many people as we can on the streets. We have been super busy with our lessons and our days have been full of people to teach. That night we skipped our correlation meeting with the ward mission leader to go study the scriptures with our dater Brother Oat. We have not had a free week and he needed a day to just read with us. We all went to the church and read. It is hard for him to do this on his own because everyone around him bugs him constantly about the religion. He is so ready to learn and already loves to share the gospel. He goes contacting with us a lot."

"Thursday we did a lot of studying, teaching and contacting, and then English class again."

"Friday, we went to teach Sister Malek. She always gives us weird stuff to try. This time she gave us a pill that is suppose to help when you are sick and told us to eat it. We did and I don't think I have had anything so bitter tasting in my entire life! It was soooooo bitttter! haha  Sister Malek just laughed and laughed and then gave us a couple to take with us. We then went to sports day where we got to teach a friend of Brother Oat's named Jupjep. He accepted a baptism date, but we are not sure if he really has a desire to learn. He usually is never around on Saturdays or Sundays. It just makes us wonder what he is doing? We are praying that he will come unto Christ and change his life."

"Saturday was just a lot of contacting and teaching. We went to the Book of Mormon class and I actually understood a lot about what we were talking about. I can actually read and understand what is being said or at least get the main idea from the verse. Then Sunday, we went to church and taught probably about 5 lessons. It was so much, but so nice. I understand a lot more and I love to teach because I know how it can help them. It is also helping me with the language. We went contacting with Brother Oat again and he is so eager to share the gospel. I can't wait until he gets baptized. We even got to teach Brother Israel's wife. I sure hope she starts to come to church."

"That is so cool that you are doing the FHE thing at our house! They are so fun here. Make sure to befriend the investigators because that is super important from the members. The other day a man came up to us and told us that he use to investigate our church, but he stopped because he felt the members were very cliquey and didn't befriend him. The members must help or none of the work can be as effective as it can be. Members are super important!"

"We have to wait about 2 weeks until conference can be translated and shown to us. I am happy and that is probably because I am finally starting to see improvement to my speaking. I still make mistakes and can't speak too well, but my confidence is way up and I need to try to keep it there. The gospel makes me so happy and some of these people don't even know who Jesus Christ is! They need to know and I am here to tell them. Love you all!"

Elder Jacob Smith

Mission Arrival Video

We received the following email and video this morning. What a special surprise to start the day!

"Dear Parent’s of the August Group of Arriving Missionaries to the Thailand Bangkok Mission:

We pray that you are all well and are pleased to report how wonderful it is to work with your missionary.  We thought you might like to see a video produced relating to their arrival and first assignment.

Thank you for sharing your missionary with us.  They are a light to Thailand and are wonderful ambassadors of the Savior.  May the Lord bless you and your family."

Sincerely,

President and Sister Senior

Balanced!

Jake worked hard this week and it paid off. He also got to explore some new flavors. All work and some play, made this a successful and fun week.

Eagle Scout skills!

"This was a full and successful week. We got balanced! This means that we have a standard for each week, which is..: 2 daters, 2 at Sacrament, 10 lessons with a member or recent convert, 14 other lessons, and 2 new investigators. It is the hardest thing to do and we have only gotten balanced once and it was at the last minute. We got the last dater on Sunday and the last new investigator at 7:00pm on Sunday night!! Crazy! We are super happy and it may be the only time we do it this transfer."

"P-days go by faster than light! We go to Tesco for food and then the next thing we know it's 6:00 pm! This Monday, we are going to make suits and go to a big market. Next week we are going to go to a big zoo, if the Zone Leaders let us. Then we are going to go to a Tiger place. I don't really know all the details, but it sounds super fun! The plans were made last minute."

"Tuesdays we have to leave our area and go meet with the Bishop of Bangkapi and then teach English class there. Beginning this Tuesday, we will finally have our own English class in Lat Phrao, so we are super excited and hope that it will be successful. I do like going down to Bangkapi because all the missionaries will go and get a bunch of chickens and have a feast. We eat chicken, rice and milk mostly, but it is so delicious. We also will watch a bunch of Mormon Messages and Bible videos. Oh by the way, could you get the two Mormon Message dvds and send them to me? I'd like to use them with our investigators."

Bangkapi Ward fun!

"Wednesday we didn't have much to do, but we were still low on our key indicators, so we did 5 hours of contacting and man, was it tiring. Then we had to go back to Bangkapi for correlation meeting with the ward mission leader. However, he was late and so were the other missionaries, so we were trapped outside the church for almost an hour waiting. We played with some stray cats which were nasty and I didn't dare touch them. haha  Finally they showed up and there were about 15 other people waiting there with us. We all started cheering when they arrived and it was funny. We started a little member party in the dark in front of the church. haha"

"On Thursday, we had weekly planning meeting which takes two hours and then we had to go teach Brother Israel Thai. Afterwards, we went home and got the rest of our studies done and made phone calls. We had about 40 calls to make and the worst part is that most of them aren't any good. We got maybe one promising lead and we will meet with him on Tuesday. I'll be crossing my fingers."

"Friday came and we were still low on our key indicators. We had planned two lessons for the day. After studies, we went to a less active member's home. She is an older lady that I think is less active because she has a hard time getting to church on her own. But, she showed up on Sunday which was good. I lead the lesson. I taught about having faith in Jesus Christ in order to receive miracles. It went really well. We also talked about all kinds of strange foods that she and the other members with us had eaten and it was gross. haha  She told us that she had fermented egg and I said I'd eat it, so she brought it out! We ate fermented egg... so nasty! Afterwards on our way to sports day, we saw a little park with a playground and it looked super ghetto, but we went and played on the things there. It was really funny and I've got pictures for you. We also went to a market to buy some food and we saw a guy selling live shrimp to eat, so yes, we ate live jumping shrimp! haha  It was so weird!"

They found a playground!

Enjoying a live shrimp snack!

"We taught Brother Oat again and the lesson was super spiritual. We asked him if he would fast with us and he said yes, so we fasted together on Sunday. Brother Oat is so ready for baptism. He has learned so much and has already gotten an answer that this gospel is true."

"Saturday, we did a lot of contacting again. We taught a recent convert and then went to a Book of Mormon class that we started. I really just sit there and have no idea what is going on because I don't understand the royal Thai language too well and that is how the Book of Mormon is written. I follow along the best I can. We taught Brother Oat a quick lesson about the Army of Helaman and then went home."

"On Sunday, we taught 4 lessons after church and one was with our new dater, Sister Wasana. She is Catholic, but wants to learn more because of her friend, Sister Oh, who is so nice and happy. We asked her to be baptized on October 20th, so hopefully we'll get there. We were so tired because we had been fasting and were busy all day, but I know that the Lord blessed us. We had church in Lat Phrao, taught Brother Oat and went contacting again. When we finally got home, we said a prayer because we needed one more new investigator to be balanced. We called the first person and made an appointment, so we were balanced! We were so happy! We could finally lay down and relax and talked a long time until we went to bed. It was a busy and crazy week with many benefits. I love and miss you so much!"

Elder Jacob Smith

1st Zone Conference

Jake is enjoying the adventures he's having. One month has passed and he seems to already be entertaining the mission. He had quite the experience at his first Zone Conference. His spirits are high and he loves teaching the people. He is working hard on learning the language, so that he can be prepared for his cousin to arrive in February.

Riding the Klong Monster

"I love coming to email, so that I can tell you about all the adventures I'm having! They aren't really big, but they are still great. It feels like time is going really slowly at the present, but when you look back it's gone by fast. I still don't feel like an experienced missionary, but I'm sure I'll be there soon. Usually during the lessons, I'm just trying to follow where the lesson is going, so when Elder Johnson hands it over to me to teach, I know what comes next. I do the best I can and then Elder Johnson will make sure to explain what I said more clearly to them. I say the prayers because the Thai people like to hear me pray because it is so simple and they get a laugh out of it. haha  Now that I know Matt is coming, I have been trying really hard to get the language down. I contribute more and more every day. I just need the confidence to take the reins before Elder Johnson gives them to me. English class is super fun because I can speak English and we make it fun with jokes and always being upbeat and happy. It's funny to hear the Thai people not speak English well because then I can get payback for all the times they make fun of my Thai. We really do teach and because it is the advanced class, they like to learn by having conversations."

"Some missionaries whom I've met in this area are: Elder Campbell, Elder Creer, Elder Haughton, Elder Wheeler, Sister Orchard, and Sister Slough. They are all great and super cool."

"We had Zone Conference on Tuesday. It was a long day. I had to prepare a talk on faith in miracles to give to Sister Senior. She said it was good, so that went well. Then during the conference, I had to stand up in front of the whole zone and say the missionary purpose in Thai. I got up and struggled a little, but got through it and was so relieved. Right when I was about to relax and sit down, everyone stood up! I thought maybe they were all going to start chanting something in Thai to me about passing the test and becoming a real Thai missionary. haha  However, what I was suppose to do was lead everyone in the missionary purpose like the Pledge of Allegiance. I think they did that to me on purpose just to pull a prank. haha  I didn't know what was suppose to happen and it was funny. Then during lunch break, Sister Senior asked everyone who was having their first Zone Conference to stand. There was about 8 of us. One by one, she asked us a question and when we would answer, we'd get a piece of candy and sit down. Everyone got really easy questions. Then it was my turn and she asked the hardest questions like, "What does the white bible say about dedicating homes?" and "What prophet said this in the Preach My Gospel?"  They were so hard that even the Elders who have been here awhile said that they didn't know! I was up forever and couldn't answer one question and Sister Senior would ask another and another that I didn't know. Everyone was just laughing and even President Senior! He finally looked at me and said, "Elder Smith, What is your favorite color?" I looked at him and answered, "I don't have one!" Everyone about died laughing and he gave me a candy, so I could finally sit down. I guess people now know who Elder Smith is. Don't worry about it making me look bad. I talked to President Senior about it and he said it was so funny and all the missionaries just loved it. That was my first experience at my first Zone Conference. haha"

Elders Passey and Smith with Sister Ewe

Game Night!

"We taught a lot of lessons on the street this week and 3 people seem promising. One has agreed to come to sports day. I went on switch offs with Elder Creer and it was crazy. We taught so many lessons, plus we gave one of their investigators a blessing and I annointed the oil in Thai. Also, we rode bikes everywhere and I had to use Elder Campbell's, so let's just say that I had a wedgie all day Friday. haha  He is so tall! We talked to so many people and Elder Creer said that he was impressed that I am not scared to go up and just talk to people. He said that most Greenies are very shy at first, so that made me feel good."

"Saturday, I was home all day because Elder Johnson got food poisoning while on switch offs and was in bed all day. I got a lot of studying done and watched a bunch of movies with him. I also read a lot of Jesus the Christ. It was an alright day, but super long and boring and it was really weird to not be going out to teach people. I know that normally I would love to just sit at home for awhile, but not here! haha"

The view from the dining room.

The washer machine. Clothes are hang dry.

Elder Smith's bed is unmade as usual!

The dressing closet

"Sunday, I got to teach the Sunday school class for about 5 minutes because the teacher asked me to. I talked about Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost, and everyone said that they were impressed because I don't speak the Thai language well, but I taught in the language of the Spirit. I may not have been able to say everything perfectly, but I was able to say what needed to be said, so that everyone could understand my testimony and feel the spirit that was with me."

"Well that was all this week. I can't wait to experience what other adventures that will come my way. I love you all so much!"

Elder Jacob Smith

Cousins Serving Together!

Jake was so excited to hear that his cousin was called to serve with him in the Thailand Bangkok Mission. They will be reunited in February. He had his first interview with President Senior which was interesting and he was happy to finally pass off his teaching points. He also asked us to send some Skittles and Starbursts to share with the children because they don't know the candy.

"Whoooooo hoooooooo! I can't believe that Matt is coming to the Bangkok mission!! I'm going to ask President Senior if I will be able to train him, but I'm not sure that if I ask, or he finds out that we are cousins, that he will never put us together. Now I have to learn the language even faster, so that when he comes, I can speak Thai to him and freak him out! haha  Way crazy!!"

Elders Johnson and Smith making cookies?

"I've only had one meeting so far and an interview with President Senior. At the meeting, I had to give all ten teaching points and then they checked my planner and gave me a B grade on it. I don't know where they got that, but I apparently have to do better. haha  I did however pass off my teaching points. It was so hard, but I actually knew more of it than I thought. I passed them all off and the stress went away. I hope my language studies will be better now that I don't have to spend the entire time memorizing. My interview was interesting. I go in and President Senior set down a timer. He looked at me and said that he didn't believe that I am struggling with the language. He then gave me some inspiration by telling me that I'm much better than I think I am. I told him of the success we've been having and he was happy. He then looked at me and asked, "Are you jeeping with any of the girls there?"  I thought he said "sleeping" at first and answered, "Alay na? (what?! say that again) Then he said, "Ruujak jep?" (do you know the word jep?) I said no and it means flirting. haha  I was all, "noooooo way!" haha  Then he said good-bye and I was out the door. I don't know why he asked that question, but I think that we will get along just fine and he is a really cool man."

"We have church at the Lat Phrao branch every week after church at the Bangkapi ward. It starts at 3:00pm and is mostly for less active members. We need the members in Lat Phrao to go and help give some support. The first meeting was a mess. We forgot the hymn books and I almost tripped passing the Sacrament. Elder Johnson gave a talk and Brother Arthone taught a lesson on tithing for gospel study. It was fun and actually went really well. We meet in a room about the size of a bedroom. The second meeting, we remembered the hymn books, but forgot the bread! We started late because we had to wait for the bread. I had to bless the sacrament and that was a challenge. haha  Then Elder Marshall surprised us by saying that we were going to teach the gospel doctrine class together. I'm like "What?!" We went down the line, each taking a turn, talking about the Holy Ghost. I was last and had to think of something different to share after all of them and I hardly knew how to speak the language! I had 30 minutes to take up because they all only took a little time. I'm thinking how am I going to do this?  I began by sharing about how I feel the spirit and then I asked why they think that it is called a gift? I got a good discussion from that and then before I knew it, the time was up! Sweeeet! I got through it! haha  Apparently, Elder Marshall had something to share too, but he was totally fine with me teaching. haha"

"During English class on Tuesday, it started to thunderstorm. We saw lightening strikes that were so close to where we were standing! One lasted like 10 seconds and we watched it from beginning to end. It was Epic! All the missionaries were looking at it and going nuts. I'm sure the members and Thais that were watching us, thought we were crazy "falungs" (foreigners). We were a bunch of white kids outside going crazy and speaking a different language every time the lighting struck! haha"

"On Wednesday, we went to get grammar books copied for a member that only speaks Thai and is in the Stake Presidency. He wanted to learn English so we said that we would teach him. We teach him every Thursday. After that, we went contacting and taught a lesson to Brother Oat. We found out that he smokes, so we have to wait three weeks before he can be baptized."

"Thursday, we went over to teach Brother Israel and taught him how to pray in Thai. His wife is Thai, so he knows a lot of regular words, but not much gospel words and grammar. He is really cool. Dad would love him because he is all about the protein shakes and made us one from mangos. It was so good! He and Dad have a lot of the same interests."

"Friday, was the meeting I told you about and I went on splits with Elder Passey. We went around to his appointments and taught 4 major lessons. It was super fun since I've only been out one month and Elder Passey, two. The lessons went great and then we ate something that I don't even know what it was. It was kind of sketchy. We had to eat a little and then said we had to run and left. haha  Good thing too because I think that guy we ate with got sick. haha"

Elder Marshall's Grandma's Birthday

"Saturday, we spent all day traveling to Elder Marshall's Grandma's birthday. It took us a long time to get there. We ate sooooooo much food and fruit and then they brought out a cake! The frosting was like whipped butter. We ate the whole thing because they asked us to and they love it when we do. We all finished the entire cake with courage and left with bad stomach aches. haha  I'm fine, but I had to do a lot of exercising with Elder Johnson to make up for it. haha  We then taught a lesson to a less active who had dangue fever. Dangue fever is really bad and I hope I never get it. It comes from mosquitos. Only one Elder has gotten it so far that Elder Johnson has heard of, so I'll be looking out for that. Luckily, I've not been eaten here, so that's good. haha"

"I miss you all and the language is coming along so well. I can't wait until Matt gets here!!!"

"I'm going to cheer for BYU this week! I'm still so upset with Boise State, but they will always be my team. haha"

Elder Jacob Smith

Lat Phrao Branch!

Jake told us that he was sending pictures but then we never received any. We found a couple from Elder Johnson's facebook of the first Sacrament Meeting in Lat Phrao. Jake is sitting in the back row. He looks happy and healthy being a missionary.

"It has been another pretty normal week. I didn't really do much other than contacting. Monday after talking to you, Elder Johnson and Elder Marshall went to get haircuts. Me and Elder Passey just walked around the market. There wasn't anything other than knives and clothing that we don't wear. Then we met up at the the Mall. We bought some super cool ties for cheap and then went home to rest before heading to eat with our new investigator Brother Oat. He is so cool. We ate Esan food and it was so good! I had som dum, meat and lots of sticky rice."

"Tuesday we studied the entire morning and prepared to begin an English class in Lat Phrao. There was a problem with the English class in a different area and they needed two Elders to go teach the beginner's class. Elder Johnson and Elder Marshall went, so Elder Passey and I had switch offs again and we taught the advanced English class alone. Since the class was mine, I had to take charge and lead the class. It was good because they all speak ok English and so I only had to speak a little Thai. I had to teach about syllables and vocab. It is hard explaining these to the Thai people and we always go off on huge tangents. This week the topic was friends and forgiveness. At the end, we had to give a spiritual thought on forgiveness and it was awesome!"

"Wednesday we had to go meet with the Bishop in Bangkapi and had to stay there the entire day. We had maybe 4 or 5 meetings that day! The meetings cut into our time because they don't tell us ahead of time, so we have to adjust our schedule at the last minute. We had no time to study at all that day. Our last meeting was at 7 and lasted til 9. We got home late and didn't even have time to plan for the next day. It was such a long day and super hot!"

"Thursday we we took the morning to study and plan for the day, since we couldn't the night before. We then had to go get some Bible videos for our lesson we were going to teach. We had to get them off the computers, but we are timed, so we only had an hour and it was a race to the finish. We went back home to try it out on the DVD player and it didn't work, so oh well. haha  We made some phone calls. I had to call a guy named Johngreat and he was very hard to understand because he has such a thick accent. I couldn't really understand the Thai people either. I had to hand the phone to Elder Johnson once because it was so confusing. After that we went contacting which is always fun. We go outside to talk to people who are not interested and then go inside again. I try so hard to get them interested, but they just want to leave when we approach them. I know we do get blessings from being obedient, so I will keep doing it."

"Friday was sports day! It is a normal contacting day until about 5 pm and then we get to play. We always show up late because it takes us an hour to get there. We played this game like basketball and I was pretty good, but Elder Johnson is just so tall! haha  We also played a game called, "never have I ever." I'm sure you've all heard of it. I was terrible because try playing that game in another language! haha  I was always it because I didn't know what they said and had to switch. haha  We had some people from the English class come. It was super fun. I'll try to take pictures there next time."

"Saturday it poured down rain and we were stuck at the house for 2 hours just studying and adjusting our plans. After that, we went contacting again and then met at Brother Isreal's house to teach a lesson to Brother Oat. Later, we went to a farewell for one of the members named Brother Firm. He is going on a mission to Thailand and leaves on Thursday for the Phillipines MTC. His farewell was at Pizza Hut. Like I said before, it's all about the "falung" food. The pizza had fake seafood on it and no sauce. I guess you are suppose to pour ketchup on it...ewwww! I ate it plain and it was alright, but maybe I was just super hungry by that time."

 

"Sunday we left early to try to find Johngreat. When we found him, he said that he had last minute plans and couldn't go. It turned out that he is Christian and really just wants to learn Thai so he can get a work permit. Oh well too bad. We went to church in Bangkapi and told everyone that we are having a little branch in Lat Phrao and they all went crazy! There was even a meeting after church about it. The Bishop said he knew nothing about it, even though we told him 3 times! It is sometimes hard here because the older people expect to be listened to and they have a hard time with the fact that the Bishop is younger than them and in charge. The church leadership can sometimes struggle."

"I haven't had any Zone meetings yet, but there is one coming up on Thursday. District meetings are nothing really because we all live in the same apartment and already know what is going on. We just get together to make goals. I don't remember the names of all the foods I eat, but I'll try to write them down. I have eaten many fruits and let me tell ya...Turian is super nasty tasting! It is so gross! I haven't seen any of my mission buddies and have not seen or heard from President Senior. The language just sort of keeps coming along. That was my week. Not much is there yet, but I still have two years! I love you all so much!"

Elder Jacob Smith