Week 2 Transfer 7

Hello Everyone. 

The days have been flying by. I'm almost at my year mark and I still can't speak the language haha. But these days have been good ones in the office here in Asoke. We got lost a lot of times last week driving here but Heavenly Father has his hand in these things and I always find a way home. It really was finding through the spirit. The streets aren't that well organized so it's difficult finding places here. 

I have a new companion Elder Hatch who is from Nampa, Idaho. We had to take all the dying missionaries to the airport. It was cool. And we took all the vans to get a recalled part.

We had Zone Conference the other day and the Office Elders had to prepare a presentation about Baptismal Records and House money because people aren't doing their baptismal records right and sending them in late. It was very interesting presentation haha. I love speaking in front of big groups of people. Hahaha.

We went to the gym for P-Day and did the free trail thing and this huge asian guy on steroids took us on a tour and tried to sell us this expensive membership. It was pretty funny and the gym was really nice but that gym just isn't for me.

This week, we found a lot of cool new investigators. One of them is named Sister Aom. She is a christian sort of and she is really cool. She is so interested and accepted a date for the 2nd of july. This guy named Frank which I found when I was carrying a box of Books of Mormon came and brought 2 of his friends (Guy and Jem) who are really interested to. They actually asked questions. They're studying at a university here about being a doctor. 

We brought our little Burmese friend, Noy, to Stake Conference and back. He's so cool always asks when he's going to get baptized. So sad but God will find a way for him to be baptized whether in my time here or after. We have an investigator named Milk who does all of the commitments, but feels nothing from it. We even taught about the Holy Ghost and stuff and she still doesn't feel anything. But she's cool and plays basketball, so she'll be baptized for sure. Jean or Yean, is getting baptized today and she wants to be a missionary already. She was so prepared to learn about Jesus Christ and his Restored church. Also, my little 11 year old investigator from Buriram got baptized. He's so cool.

This week I was studying in Mathew Chapter 16 verses 13-18. It says:

13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Cæsarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

I love these verses. It talks about Peter knowing that Jesus is the Son of God by faith not by him actually being there. Just because you see something doesn't mean you will have faith in it. Faith in Jesus Christ is more than just knowledge. You have to have action too or it's just useless. If you have a lot of good thoughts and say a lot of good things but don't ever do it, it has no benefit. Faith in Jesus Christ is more than just knowing that he is the Savior and Redeemer of the world. It's about trying to be more like him and following his teachings. We need to follow his example and follow his teachings. We all need to strive to be more Christlike in our lives. I know that by doing so, we will have the most happiness in our lives and will be able to return to live with him again. 

Love y'all and miss everyone! ขอให้มีสัปดาห์ที่ดี

Pics: Brother Moss who baptized my buddy from Buriram, Some pics of Asoke, action shot of me bowling, the subway, and the Bangkok Transportation System (BTS)


Elder Decker
เอ็ลเดอร์ เดกเกอร์
Thailand Bangkok Mission

Fwd: Transfers

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

Subject: Transfers
Date: June 12, 2017 at 8:27:58 PM PDT
To: Robin Decker <Robinlynnd@gmail.com>

Hello everyone. This week has been good. It's transfer week so we're preparing for the crazy week. I don't have much time to email but these past couple of days have been good. 

This last Sunday, Sister Ying got baptized after learning about the church 25 years ago. It was so cool and the testimony that she bore was so good. It's really interesting how God prepares people way before we met them. 

We went bowling for family night with a guy named Francis who's from Ghana. He's so cool. He cant get baptized because he's technically not supposed to be here but he goes to church all the time. He's funny. 

My companion is leaving the office because everyone usually does 2 transfers here so I'll be getting a new companion soon. Next transfer the Office Elders are doing trainings at the Zone conference so it'll be a fun transfer. 

God knows each of us and he loves us more than we can imagine. God is real, and his son, Jesus Christ, gave his life for us so that we can be clean from our sins and return to live with God again with our families for eternity. This testimony is simple but there are millions of people who don't know this and are searching for this knowledge. I'm happy to be here in Thailand, spreading this good news to God's children that are here trying to find that missing piece in their life. 

I love you all and miss everyone! Have a good week. 

Pics: 1.) By our apartment 2.) Hans from Switzerland 3.) Sister หญิง Baptism 4.) Francis 5.) Bowling 

6.) Swensons

Fwd: Thai Driver's License

Sup everybody. It twas a gucci week. Another fun week like always. Asoke is a good area I really like serving in the heart of Bangkok. It's where I get to see all the Returned Missionaries and members from all around the world. We met a mormon family from Utah the other day at a Mcdonalds so it was pretty cool. A lot of miracles happen here.

 
This week we had to move a lot of boxes. I went to get my Driver's license and it was so weird. They check your heart rate and have you do 4 tests before you get it and watch a video. Test 1 is you say colors red, yellow, or green. Test 2 is you try to line a stick with another stick. Test 3 is you press the gas pedal when the light is green and press the breaks when it turns red. Test 4 is there is colors on the sides of you and you tell them what colors they are. Than you watch a video about driving in Thai which was like an hour long and than you get your license. So there's no driving involved. It's pretty funny. But now I'm legal to drive here haha which is a lot of fun. Don't really want to talk about it haha.

 
This week we met with the kid Shell again and he's so cool. Found out he's Thai but can't read in Thai only in English. He's such a homie. One of our investigators, Sister Ying, passed her interview for baptism. She was an investigator for 30 years and finally wanted to be baptized.  Sister Jean, our other investigator, sent me a text saying "Sunday18 I will baptism" and she wants to be a missionary. She's so cool. We met a lot of people this week who are potential to be baptized. There's this cool guy named Hans who's from Switzerland but born in some country in Africa. He says Sodom and Gamora was nuked by a UFO. He's here to play soccer and he's black and I like him a lot. He wants me to be roommates with him, which is very tempting. He also said he became a vegetarian because he watched Man and Beast Part 3. I see why. Brother Noy still can't get baptized cause he's still not married but he keeps on asking us. Such a cute little Burmese man just wish he could get married here. I love him. We're teaching a lady who sells grilled pork outside the church who's from Laos. She's cool. 

So this week in my personal study I was reading in 2 Nephi 32:3 which says

3 Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.

I love this scripture a lot. It's not saying eat the words of Christ it's saying feast upon the words of Christ. It's more than just a little meal. It's a whole feast. There is so much of Christ's Gospel we can find in these days with the internet that is a spiritual feast. There's so much we can learn from the words of Christ each day. When we set apart time for the Lord we will be blessed. God loves us and the way he answers our questions is through exercising faith in him so we should be feasting upon the words of Christ and praying each and every day to receive the answers and help in our lives. Miracles are brought about by faith and faith is more than just a belief, it's action. We shouldn't be expecting an answer or help if we aren't doing something to get it. God loves each and every one of us and wants us to be happy. I know this church is true and am blessed to be serving his children here in Thailand. I love y'all and miss everyone. 

Pics: 1. Cool statue in a mall 2. Our RC's in a little lesson 3. Going to the Sky train 4. Old Pic of the baptism service awhile ago 5. old pic of our district on the beach I forgot to send out

Elder Decker
เอ็ลเดอร์ เดกเกอร์
Thailand Bangkok Mission

Fwd: "I Wish that Mankind Won't Go Extinct"

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

Subject: "I Wish that Mankind Won't Go Extinct"
Date: June 2, 2017 at 9:55:45 PM PDT
To: Robin Decker <Robinlynnd@gmail.com>

Hi everybody! I hope your week was as good as mine but probably not cause I'm in the best place on Earth. Haha just kidding but not really. This week was actually really good. We met a lot of cool people contacting and have a lot of cool new investigators that are interested in the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and accepted Baptismal dates. It's really cool how God has prepared people way before they met us. It's just our job to find them and teach them repentance and than baptize them as converts. 

One of my Investigators that was in Buriram just got baptized last Wednesday, and I had the chance to talk to her. Her name is Sister Deek. She's so cool and she was so excited to be baptized. It's crazy how much the Atonement of Jesus Christ changes people. The mission is so cool!

Last Sunday, President Johnson invited our district over to dinner and we had potatoes with stuff on them I don't know what it's called but it was nice to eat some American food. I love President and Sister Johnson. They're so cool and they sacrifice a lot for us. 

We had Zone Conference last Friday and it was really good. It was about teaching simply and the Doctrine of Jesus Christ. I also learned that we need to get referrals from everyone even people on the street who aren't interested in learning about Jesus Christ and being saved.

A Filipino Member came to Asoke to visit the church while he was on a business trip and he helped us invite and teach. He was so cool. He followed us around for a part of the day and took a video of us inviting and said he'll show it to his Young Men to encourage them. He was so cute. We met this girl named Jean who's a referral from Salt Lake and she's so cool. She spent the whole day at the church and helped us go out and invite people. She's so prepared and she said "She loves Mormon" so she's so ready to be baptized. Anyone that loves Mormon should be Mormon. This other Investigator named Brother Gang bought us cookies for missing his appointment. We found our little Burmese Investigator, Brother Noy, on the street and we set up an appointment with him again. He said his Burmese friend who's name he doesn't know, asked him to go to a Burmese church so he went last week but now he won't listen to him because The Church of Jesus Christ is the only one he will go to now. He's so cool.

We were inviting in front of the church the other day, and we met this 16 year old named Shell and invited him to come into the church and learn a little about Jesus Christ. He speaks English pretty well too and he was a cool kid. We taught him the Restoration and he was interested to meet again so we set up an appointment and we asked if he could say a prayer. He said he didn't know how to pray in English so we explained what prayer was and asked if he wanted to pray and he said yes. In his prayer he said "I wish that mankind won't go extinct." At first I thought it was funny because he was praying about mankind not going extinct but now that I look back I can see what he was talking about. Mankind is going downhill. Wrong is becoming right and people are becoming more and more worldy. It's not cool to chose the right and be a good person anymore. In Alma 45:11-14 it says

11 Yea, and then shall they see wars and pestilences, yea, famines and bloodshed, even until the people of Nephi shall become extinct—
12 Yea, and this because they shall dwindle in unbelief and fall into the works of darkness, and lasciviousness, and all manner of iniquities; yea, I say unto you, that because they shall sin against so great light and knowledge, yea, I say unto you, that from that day, even the fourth generation shall not all pass away before this great iniquity shall come.
13 And when that great day cometh, behold, the time very soon cometh that those who are now, or the seed of those who are now numbered among the people of Nephi, shall no more be numbered among the people of Nephi.
14 But whosoever remaineth, and is not destroyed in that great and dreadful day, shall be numbered among the Lamanites, and shall become like unto them, all, save it be a few who shall be called the disciples of the Lord; and them shall the Lamanites pursue even until they shall become extinct. And now, because of iniquity, this prophecy shall be fulfilled.

Let's not become like the Nephites and become extinct. We have to stick to the basics and pray and read our scriptures everyday. Only this will help us in these days where sin is common and good is looked down upon. God hears and answers our prayers always. We just need to listen. I love you all and hope your week is a great one!

Pictures are: 1. In our van 2. Going to fix President's car 3. Our sick umbrella hats 4. A market we invite at 5. Dinner at a member's house who's family aren't members, and 6. Sister Deek's baptism

Elder Decker
เอ็ลเดอร์ เดกเกอร์
Thailand Bangkok Mission