Couple of pics from contacting
Elder Decker
เอ็ลเดอร์ เดกเกอร์
Thailand Bangkok Mission
Elder Decker
เอ็ลเดอร์ เดกเกอร์
Thailand Bangkok Mission
May 28, 2018
pics-- Me llamo Felipe
Funny signs and names of buildings. It's pronounced Isis even checked the Thai. It's not as good as they say haha. A cow, and a dinosaur
Elder Decker
เอ็ลเดอร์ เดกเกอร์
Thailand Bangkok Mission
Elder Decker
เอ็ลเดอร์ เดกเกอร์
Thailand Bangkok Mission
Me llamo Felipe
Hello again. Shout out to whoever reads these still. I can't stop now that I've done it for the past 2 years so they'll keep coming.
Tuesday, we had a district meeting, which includes Sakon Nakhon which is like 4 hours away from us. It's a big district. They video called in because it's unreasonable for them to travel 8 hours for district meeting. We met with one of our investigators who can't really walk but she has a family and likes to pray and read in the scriptures. English Class... still can't teach or speak English.
Friday, we met with the investigator that wants to fight in the U.S. war in the Middle East. He's funny. He's willing to keep the commandments though so he'll be good. At night, I had to interview someone for baptism but stuff happened so I didn't have to at the last second and he shows up to the church and asks us if we want to go drink some milk. So we go out and get in his car and his girlfriend is there too, so we had the opportunity to meet his girlfriend and get some shakes.
Saturday, same stuff.
Sunday, church, and good green curry. We went to this member's house to give him the sacrament who helped start the church in Thailand and bring it to Khon Kaen. He is in pretty bad shape and is blind and going deaf and can't walk. But he's still excited to be able to partake of the sacrament and in his prayers he's always blessing missionary work and even asking for missionary opportunities himself. His testimony is still strong. He's the only member in his family but his children respect him and his faith. It's way cool to see but also sad that his family hasn't opened their hearts yet to the Gospel.
My week was awesome. It rained every single day with no fail. I guess it's rainy season.
Monday, we went to this temple for P Day. There's a lot of those in Thailand kinda like Utah but less mormony and more buddhisty. For FHE, we went to this member's house that is through a small alley and stuck in between two houses, who is missing a hand. She recently has been baptized and loves reading the scriptures and gospel related stuff.
Tuesday, we had a district meeting, which includes Sakon Nakhon which is like 4 hours away from us. It's a big district. They video called in because it's unreasonable for them to travel 8 hours for district meeting. We met with one of our investigators who can't really walk but she has a family and likes to pray and read in the scriptures. English Class... still can't teach or speak English.
Wednesday, we contacted a whole bunch.
Thursday, we had a lot of canceled appointments but we met with a guy that we've been trying to meet with for awhile. He drives taxis and we taught him when he was driving. He's interesting and likes to talk. But he wants to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ which is awesome!
Friday, we met with the investigator that wants to fight in the U.S. war in the Middle East. He's funny. He's willing to keep the commandments though so he'll be good. At night, I had to interview someone for baptism but stuff happened so I didn't have to at the last second and he shows up to the church and asks us if we want to go drink some milk. So we go out and get in his car and his girlfriend is there too, so we had the opportunity to meet his girlfriend and get some shakes.
Saturday, same stuff.
Sunday, church, and good green curry. We went to this member's house to give him the sacrament who helped start the church in Thailand and bring it to Khon Kaen. He is in pretty bad shape and is blind and going deaf and can't walk. But he's still excited to be able to partake of the sacrament and in his prayers he's always blessing missionary work and even asking for missionary opportunities himself. His testimony is still strong. He's the only member in his family but his children respect him and his faith. It's way cool to see but also sad that his family hasn't opened their hearts yet to the Gospel.
Which leads to my spiritual thoughts or thoughts that I've been thinking about lately.
Nearing the end of my mission I've had the opportunity to meet and teach many people of all different sizes, shapes, colors, backgrounds, etc. My purpose as a missionary is to bring the Gospel to the people here in Thailand. There has been more rejection than acceptance, of course, of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ here. Not everyone is going to accept the Gospel and Jesus Christ. They all have their agency. It's a beautiful thing, Agency. It's a gift from God. It's the only way we can learn how to become like God. The sad part is when they reject you, they aren't rejecting you as a person, but the message you have which is Jesus Christ. People will make good and bad choices. We can't control other's actions. Sometimes I wish I could, especially knowing that the Gospel will bring them happiness. It will bring them Eternal Life. The hardest thing on my mission hasn't been the heat, or the rain, or waking up at 6:30 everyday, or even being away from my family (sorry mom). It's been when I've invited people to come unto Christ, and they've rejected it. They have rejected happiness and Eternal Life. They've rejected the blessings that God has in store for them. He's been watching them all their lives and waiting for them to open their hearts and accept his son Jesus Christ and pour his blessings down his blessings on them. That's what has been the hardest part of my mission. They're missing out on all of His blessings. But the greatest joy I've ever felt, which far outweighs the sadness, is when someone opens their heart, and accepts Jesus Christ. They accept His teachings. Being able to see the conversion in people's lives has been so amazing to me. The change the Gospel of Jesus Christ has on people's lives is a testimony to me that it's all true. Jesus is the Christ. Keeping the commandments brings blessings and happiness. God is our loving Heavenly Father. Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God and restored the Church of Jesus Christ. The Book of Mormon is true. Helping people come to this point, in their own personal testimony, has been something I never would've imagined before my mission. It's such a beautiful thing. I'm grateful for my time as a missionary and for all the blessings I've received. My hope is that everyone, in their own time, will accept Jesus Christ, and return to live with our Heavenly Father again. Maybe it's not now, maybe it's a little farther down the road. Hope is what keeps me going, even on the roughest of days. Thank you all for you prayers! I love you all and hope everyone has a superb week!
Pics: Temple we visited, the year of the ox, I had lasagna for the first time in years, and Khon Kaen Traffic
Elder Decker
เอ็ลเดอร์ เดกเกอร์
Thailand Bangkok Mission
Pics: Temple we visited, the year of the ox, I had lasagna for the first time in years, and Khon Kaen Traffic
Elder Decker
เอ็ลเดอร์ เดกเกอร์
Thailand Bangkok Mission
May 20, 2018
Week Number Something
HELLO! My week has been fantastic. I got a new companion named Elder Todd. He is from Kaysville, Utah. He's been missionary since last July, so he'll be hitting his year mark soon. He plays piano which means I found my replacement. He's also runs and stuff. He's way cool. Very chill.
We didn't have to go to Bangkok because his last area is pretty close to Khon Kaen so we got more time to work this week which was good. We've been trying to find Less Active and Members' houses by using the pins on our maps but all the pins are out of place so it's pretty hard finding the actual houses. Finding houses in Thailand is very difficult. The number system makes no sense. If we can't find the members house we just street contact by their houses.
Well one day when we were doing this we went to a little pin to find a member but the pin was way off and we had no clue where to go to find the house so we decided just to invite people in that neighborhood. While going down a street we ended up passing a side street and we went down the next one. After going down the street and getting a lot of people telling us they're not interested, I got a feeling we needed to go down the street we passed so we went back down the street that we passed and there was no one there. On the way back out of the street, however, we saw two people in their house sewing shirts and stuff. We talked to them and eventually they let us into their house. They said we could come back again. Definitely a miracle. It was another sign to me that this is the Lord's work we just need to follow the promptings of the Spirit even when you're not sure if it's just yourself thinking them.
Last Sunday, we had District Conference, so all of the Udorn District went to Udorn which includes Udorn, Laos, Sakon Nakhorn, Khon Kaen, and Nong Khai. It was way good. It was President Johnson's last time going to the Udorn District Conference because he's finishing his mission next month which is way sad. Definitely the best mission president.
Today I want to talk about a book by Elder Henry B. Eyring that's called To Draw Closer to God, which is like a bunch of his talks rolled into a book. I forgot to bring the book with me, but there's one I would like to share. He talks about making the most our of our sabbath day. If we feel like we're not getting a lot out of church or want to get more, he recommends 4 things. 1. Pray diligently. Pray for the speakers and the people who are preparing lessons to be blessed with the Holy Ghost and be inspired to speak what God wants you to hear. 2. Study. Study the lessons and the scriptures beforehand so you can participate in the lessons. Sometimes the things you say in class are the answers to someone else's prayers so it's good to be prepared. 3. Service. Instead of asking yourself "how is this person trying to convince me" ask yourself how you can help with the lesson and help the teacher. 4. Live Righteously. Living righteously will allow the Holy Ghost to be our companion which is the greatest teacher. Only through the Holy Ghost can we learn and develop our testimony of Jesus Christ's Gospel. You will also be able to receive revelation not just for yourself, but also for others. We sometimes forget that the answers to prayers and questions come in different ways from God. We might receive it through prayer, through reading the scriptures, or even a dream. But sometimes we forget that other people can answer our prayers and questions. Doing these 4 things will make Church so much better and we'll get the most out of it. God wants to speak to us. We just have to be willing to listen and to work towards receiving revelation from Him.
I love you all and hope you all have a great week!
Pics:Pics
Elder Decker
เอ็ลเดอร์ เดกเกอร์
Thailand Bangkok Mission
May 16, 2018
Another One in Khon Kaen
May 7, 2018
ลาบเป็ด
Good week like always. I'm into the double digits of days as people like to tell me. Time is flying.
Last Wednesday, we went to a members house that lives in the middle of nowhere. We got there and he tells us to catch the duck and kill it haha. So we caught it killed it, feathered it, gutted it, cut it up into pieces, and made it into a Thai dish called Lab Ped which is like a spicy minced duck dish. It was pretty good. I can't say it was the cleanest thing though haha. Very fun. Much happiness.
Thursday we went to Udorn for Zone Conference.
Friday, we had interviews and I interviewed with President Johnson for the 90 day temple recommend they give missionaries when they go home and it was way cool answering the questions again. They have so much more meaning now that my testimony has grown so much. It was a cool experience. I miss the temple so much!
Saturday, we had Zone Conference. It was way good like always. Learned a bunch of cool stuff to help me be a better missionary!
This week I want to share a verse in the scriptures in Jacob 6:12. I'll have you all read it for yourselves but the verse gives the best advice.
I can't wait to Skype you all next Monday! Miss all of y'all. ขอให้มีสัปดาห์ที่ดีนะครัช
Pics: Me and my companion Elder Xaiyavong (Laos), Zone Picture, Me and a duck and a waen, another one.
Elder Decker
เอ็ลเดอร์ เดกเกอร์
Thailand Bangkok Mission
ลาบเป็ด pics
Elder Decker
เอ็ลเดอร์ เดกเกอร์
Thailand Bangkok Mission
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