Here Comes the Sun (more pics)

Fwd: Here Comes the Sun

From: Colby John Decker <colby.decker@myldsmail.net>

Subject: Here Comes the Sun
Date: February 26, 2017 at 8:43:35 PM PST
To: Robin Decker <Robinlynnd@gmail.com>

Another awesome week down. The temperature is getting hotter and it's getting more and more fun to ride bikes haha. I didn't realize how hot places can really get. But yeah the week was awesome. Last week for P-Day we went to some place on our bikes that had these stairs that went up to a temple. There was like 300 stairs and everyone thought it was funny white people were doing it. It was really cool though. 

On Tuesday I went to Surin for a switch off with Elder Shipp who is a transfer older than me too. Our district is so young the oldest person has been out for a year. It's the city of Elephants but I haven't seen one yet. But yeah it was really cool to serve in a different area. It's a little poorer than Buriram and a lot more people. But the people are so nice and cool. 

This week has been good. A lot of miracles. Brother Egg accepted a baptismal date and he's so cool. We've seen a lot of good things happen because when you work hard, the Lord blesses you. This last Sunday, we watched a video from Hong Kong and I had no clue what was going on because the email was translated from English to Thai so they were using some hard words haha. 

A guy named West Win came in who is an eternal investigator, and I couldn't translate for him cause I had no clue what was going on. He's really cool, he's this black guy from I forgot where but he raps in Thai and is like an Attorney here. It's crazy he comes to church.

Well I don't have that much time but I'll leave a little spiritual thought. When times get hard, we can always look to the Lord to help us through these trials. Having a prayer in your heart really does help and God doesn't want to see us unhappy, He made a Plan of Happiness so we can be happy because who doesn't want to be happy. When times get hard here, I can always look to the Lord for help and you have to be humble enough to call unto the Lord for help. 

I love you all and miss everyone!!!!

Elder Decker
เอ็ลเดอร์ เดคเคอร์
Thailand Bangkok Mission

Biking in the rain! 

Fwd: Jehovah Witnesses

From: Colby John Decker <colby.decker@myldsmail.net>

Subject: Jehovah Witnesses
Date: February 19, 2017 at 8:53:53 PM PST
To: Robin Decker <Robinlynnd@gmail.com>

The J Dubs live on our street and we pass them every day. Sometimes our investigators accidentally go to that church because it's so close to ours haha.

Fwd: Another Week in Buriram

From: Colby John Decker <colby.decker@myldsmail.net>

Subject: Another Week in Buriram
Date: February 19, 2017 at 8:52:39 PM PST
To: Robin Decker <Robinlynnd@gmail.com>

Hello Ewybody! This week has been pretty cool. I'm starting to get used to Buriram. It's really different from Bangkok and people speak so differently here. But the work is coming along. It's getting really hot here and biking is becoming more and more fun haha. It's really convenient but the dogs like to chase after you and you don't wanna get bit haha. It's a lot more pretty than Bangkok though that's for sure. There are a lot of buffalo here and it's offensive to call people a buffalo so you gotta be careful. Also, I met one and almost died because it got really aggressive but I biked away. I have a pic of it. The members here are really cool they actually make funny jokes that I understand. Sometimes they say stuff and I don't know if it's like a Thai inside joke but I don't understand why it's funny. I'm starting to understand more so it's definitely a miracle and because of all the prayers from family and members around the world.

So this week, we did a lot of biking. Like a lot. It wasn't my bike ride amount but it felt like a lot. We were visiting a lot of the sick people in the ward that can't go to church. They have so much faith they just can't get to church because it's hard to get a ride there and they're just not physically capable to. We also visited a lot of Less Active members because there are so many lost sheep here. We actually had a miracle. Brother Rod who the elders have been trying to get a hold of finally talked to us when we went to his house and he got chairs for us. Apparently before, he would just ignore them or he would say he was someone else, tell them he was going home and walk down the train tracks even though his house was right there haha. He would walk back after 15 minutes and go into his house and close the door. He built his house and it's like a little shack. He's so buff he built his own weight lifting stuff out of cement. He also has this little garden. He doesn't really have much and works everyday so he says he can't come to church. We gave him ice cream one day when we caught him leaving his house. He's a really nice guy with a lot of faith. We just have to keep praying for him.

We trimmed a members tree and helped put up a fence for her. Her dad was there and he speaks straight Laotian so I had no clue what he was saying. It's similar to Thai but the tones are different and they don't have as many letters. I didn't know the vocab for it so I did a lot of pointing and yes/no questions haha. But yeah it's different work than in Bangkok so it's good. The food is so SPICY. 

We watched a missionary conference from Bangkok because we're too far away to go and I think the new Primary President talked and Elder Evans from the Seventy talked. It was really good. They talked about following up with people and helping them understand what you're asking them to do and seeing if they know why it's important. Also about working with Church Leaders because sometimes they do stuff that isn't the way you would do it but you have to do it because they have the keys. It was really good.

There's this old member named Brother Tian. He's a straight boss. He plays these two instruments and he's like 85 years old and can't come to church because it's too cold now I guess. But he's so cool. He talks about his 45 year old son who lives at home all the time haha. He said he's the only one in Buriram that can play them and he got so happy and I was impressed. I have the videos. But yeah he's my favorite.

So we're having problems getting investigators to church. A lot of them have a testimony that the Book of Mormon is true they just don't come to church so they can't get baptized. We're trying our hardest to get them to church but they just don't show up. It's so frustrating haha but salvation shouldn't come easy. Just gotta keep praying and doing your best and miracles will come. It's so true. 

We met this former instigator named Danni and he speaks the craziest Thainglish. It's so hard to understand but he's really cool his family lives in Texas and he said he'll read the Book of Mormon. He reads Warren Buffett hahahaha. I saw it on his desk, I don't know too much about him though. 

So this week in my studies I was reading Helaman 5 and it's such a good chapter. In Helaman 5:12 it says 
 12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

If your foundation is built on Christ, you literally can't fall. You build a strong foundation by doing the basics (reading scriptures, praying, going to church, keeping God's commandments). On these things your foundation is built. I love 1 Corinthians 10:13

 13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Every temptation you meet can be overcome. God doesn't send us to earth to fail. He wants us to succeed and come back to live with Him again because He loves us and wants the best for us. He has given us ways to overcome temptation and that is to pray always. If you always have a prayer in your heart, Satan has no power over you. If you do the basics and build that foundation of faith, you can overcome any temptation. I love teaching the Thai people the basics to help them develop their faith and overcome temptation that everyone faces. It's so cool to see the Atonement work in the lives of people. This work is God's work and I see miracles everyday. Miracles aren't always these huge things. They can be small - we just don't take time to step back and realize what it is. 

I love you all and miss errybody!!!

Elder Decker

เอ็ลเดอร์ เดคเคอร์

Thailand Bangkok Mission​

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Fwd: Buriram! Buriram! and Biking

Hello everyone. This last week has been good and full of change. I got transferred to Buriram which is a province on the border of Cambodia. It's a big soccer place because they have the best soccer team in Thailand here. I also had to buy a bike because it's a biking area. I just love biking haha. But it's pretty cool and the weather is cold right now it's all the way down to 80 degrees. All the people here have on coats haha. They speak really unclear here and it's a different dialect so it's really cool. They're more friendly than the Bangkok people. My companion is Elder Manwaring and he also is a transfer ahead of me so we're both really young still haha. It's a two Elder area so it's just us here. He's really cool and he's a white guy from Southern Cali. 

So I left my greenie area finally. The members in Rangsit sang God Be With You Till We Meet Again and said they'll miss me, so I'm glad they liked me. Brother Tea left his work to give me one of his omelettes which are so good. But yeah last Thursday I left Bangkok on a bus to Buriram which took 7 hours and made a couple of stops in the middle of no where. The food here is so much more spicy. Our days here are really cool. We actually meet at member's or investigator's houses here instead of the church. We visit a lot of Less Active member houses because Buriram is a ward but only 30 something people go every week. It's really funny. Church starts at 9, and it was 9:08 and there was one person there. Apparently everyone thinks church starts at 9:10 here because everyone just showed up at that time and church started at 9:10. I asked my companion if it was normal and he said yeah so it's gonna be a fun couple of transfers here haha. We're trying to get more priesthood members back to church so there's actually enough people to have a Bishopric and also so we can split the stake and bring the temple to THAILAND! But yeah the members here are so cool and actually make jokes and I sometimes understand them. We were teaching this former investigator and if you don't say his entire full name with his title he'll correct you even during the prayer. I can never tell if he's serious or not. But yeah. That's Buriram. 

So this week during my studies, I was studying in Alma 42 about mercy and justice and it's really interesting. Adam and Eve broke the commandments of God so that we can exist and have a body and experience mortality but because of that we need someone to save us because we all sin and are unclean. We can't return to live with God again if we have sin, so He loves us and sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to suffer and die for the sins of all mankind and make it possible for us to return to live with Him again. In the chapter it says if there was no law against sin, people wouldn't be afraid to sin. But there is a law against sin and there is a punishment but God is also merciful, so through Jesus Christ we can be saved and clean from sin through the Atonement. We can use the Atonement everyday in our lives. It doesn't cost anything for us. We just have to humble ourselves and ask for forgiveness and God is merciful and will forgive us of our sin if we do it with sincerity. He will not remember it. People here don't know this. They don't know they can be clean from sin. They don't have a knowledge that Jesus Christ atoned for their sins and you can use it everyday. You don't have to have these feelings of guilt and shame. Repentance brings people happiness and changes their lives. No one can ever fully understand the Atonement. In Alma 36, Alma was talking about his conversion story and he was talking about how he remembered all the bad things he did and was tormented by them but in verses 18-21 it says:

  18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.

  19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.

  20 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!

   21 Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy. 

My faith in Jesus Christ grows each time I use the Atonement. Everyone sins every day. No one is perfect. Use this gift that Heavenly Father has given us and feel the joy that comes through the Atonement. I love everyone and miss you all!!!

Pics:My bike is the red one it's American It's probably fake haha and the other picture explains Buriram.

Elder Decker

เอ็ลเดอร์ เดคเคอร์

Thailand Bangkok Mission

Pics of the Day to Ratchaburi

This is a place in the western part of Thailand that we went to last P day (last week) when we went to Brother Day's grandmas house.

Fwd: 6 Months Down Already

Begin forwarded message:

From: Colby John Decker <colby.decker@myldsmail.net>

Subject: 6 Months Down Already

Date: February 5, 2017 at 7:20:10 PM PST

To: Robin Decker <Robinlynnd@gmail.com>

Hello Everyone! This week has been good like usual. I passed my 6 month mark which was weird. It hasn't felt that long but it also has felt really long. I don't know how to explain it. Last P-Day we went to Ice Skate again at Future Park and it was cool. I'm not really good at it. But Tuesday, I had an interview with President Johnson and he's such a cool guy. He's like 6 foot 6 or something and said he played basketball with Michael Jordan sometime but idk. He was behind schedule so we had to take the toll way to get back home in time for English Class. I don't know why I like teaching English so much it's such a stupid language that doesn't make sense haha.

We got a new investigator named Brother Keem. He's another Cambodian who speaks Thai as his second language, so it's good to have someone else to translate some of the words he doesn't know. It's cool we're getting a lot of Cambodian Investigators.

A cool, weird thing that happened is we got a referral from some Elders in Bangbuatong about a former investigator that lives in our area. So we set up a dinner appointment with him because he really wanted to cook us dinner. We get there and he's not even there yet. He shows up late and than we sit down with him and he offers us wine haha. I couldn't tell what he was saying because I thought he was saying a Thai word for wine but he was just saying wai and didn't add an n so I was so confused. He starts making food and his daughter and son show up and they're super nice and not surprised that we were there. The food was good and they're a super polite family almost like too polite if there could be. They were really accepting of the Gospel and said they would read and go to church. They also had a dog named Charcoal and it's a mix of a Lab and Husky.

A miracle that happened is we had a bunch of appointments cancel on us so we were in Future Park and something told me to go up the escalator to the 2nd floor and we met Brother Tai and he had a new phone so that's why he wasn't answering. So we got his number and now can contact him. It's crazy how the Lord works.    

Saturday, we met with Brother Tea, Brother Angkhan, and Brother Keem, and had like a little Cambodian squad. They're so cool. I'd be down to hang out with them after my mission cause they're that cool. But Brother Tea who just got baptized last Christmas keeps on inviting his friends to learn about Jesus and getting people to learn with us. They all have dates for baptism and it's such a blessing to have these people I get to teach. These people I teach are actually teaching me more than I teach. We're still teaching Sister Ice and she's slowly moving along. She's been an investigator for a long time. 

We brought food over to the Vietnamese because they're sick. They're doing better. I met the Dad for the first time and his leg was hurt or something. We have to bring a translator with us every time we go but we met another guy who walked in on the lesson who wanted us to go to his house to see his 1 month old baby. So we went there and it's his wife and little cute baby there. He can't speak Thai but his wife could and during that lesson we had more people show up and we invited them to church and English class and it was so cool. So we're working a lot with the Refugees here and the Cambodians and Vietnamese. I'm really blessed to to be able to have this opportunity to teach them about the Gospel. 

So this week during my personal studies I came across this story about faith in Alma 32:27-43

 27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.
 28 Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.

I love this story about faith. When you get taught the Gospel and hear about the truths and have the spirit testify to you it's true, your faith grows. Your desire to learn more and keep on having those good feelings increases and your life begins to change. But you first need to plant that seed or nothing will happen. If you don't exercise your faith, it won't get stronger. The seed, or your faith will lie dormant in you if you don't water it. You'll remember the feelings and the truth still because you can't ever forget that feeling but it won't grow.

 41 But if ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life.
 42 And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.
 43 Then, my brethren, ye shall reap the rewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you.

If you do nourish the tree and exercise your faith, it will grow and you will see great change in your life. You will see the effects of the change and it will be only for good. Eternal life is more important than worldly happiness. This time on earth is short. Eternity is longer. Keep on exercising faith in Christ and you will get the reward of Eternal Life. I love you all and miss you all! Sorry for the long email.

Elder Decker

เอ็ลเดอร์ เดคเคอร์

Thailand Bangkok Mission

Papaya Salad. It's actually really good. It's pretty spicy and you eat it with sticky rice

We live in the green house!