Fwd: The Office

Begin forwarded message:

From: Colby John Decker <colby.decker@myldsmail.net>
Subject: The Office
Date: May 7, 2017 at 4:46:36 PM PDT
To: Robin Decker <Robinlynnd@gmail.com>

Hello Everyone! This week has gone by really fast. I got transfered out of Buriram and got assigned to labor in the Office in Asoke. My new companion is Elder Kekauoha and he's from LA. He's pretty cool.  So I'm in downtown Bangkok right now. It's crazy going from a little small Esan town to Bangkok. It's a lot of fun though. Except traffic is terrible. The server has been down in the office so we have been outside doing a lot of inviting which is so much fun. There are a lot of people here. So many people. If you talk to everyone, you will find investigators and people to teach. It's really fun and you see a lot of cool things in the city. We work in the Mission Office with the President and the AP's and share a house with the AP's. It's really fun.

This last week, we met this Filipino guy named Larry and we taught him about the Restoration. He said he always wondered what the true church was and now he has found it. It's weird teaching in English. But he said his family is coming to Thailand and they'll be going to church. Miracles happen everyday.

For church, there was so many people there. We went to the English ward at 9 A.M. because some of our Investigators go to that one and we have to translate for them. They go there because they have to work when the Thai ward starts. At the Thai ward, I met someone from Vegas. She lives by Sahara and Durango or Decatur I can't remember. It's funny there's a lot of people from Las Vegas in Asoke. Such a small world. 

I was reading in 2 Nephi Chapter 9 this week and came across verses 50-51 which says:
50 Come, my brethren, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price.
51 Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your a labor for that which cannot satisfy. Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I have spoken; and come unto the Holy One of Israel, and feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness.

I really love these two verses. The Gospel and the scriptures are the things that Jesus is talking about. It has no price and you don't need to spend any money to have it. Daily Scripture study is the most important thing we can do each day. It strengthens us to face the temptations that everyone faces everyday. It'll strengthen us and help us overcome trials and challenges that we'll face in life. Every time you open up the scriptures, there is power to it. I find something new and something to help me right now in my life every time I read the scriptures. The scriptures are true and this is the true church. Joseph Smith was a prophet and we have a living prophet today named Thomas S. Monson. I love you all and miss everyone!

Elder Decker
เอ็ลเดอร์ เดกเกอร์
Thailand Bangkok Mission

 

Check out the fat dog at the bottom! There are 3 of them that live at the 7 Eleven HAHAHA

Fwd: 9 Months and the Office

Begin forwarded message:

From: Colby John Decker <colby.decker@myldsmail.net>
Subject: 9 Months and the Office
Date: May 2, 2017 at 8:50:14 PM PDT
To: Robin Decker <Robinlynnd@gmail.com>

Hey moms. I wanted to let you know i'm alive and well. I'm moving to the office in Asoke haha. President called me yesterday saying he's got a special assignment for me. Which means i'll be on the computer more. I will be doing like paperwork stuff and the online portion of the mission like weekly emails and baptisimal records, we live with the AP's idk where though, we serve in the Asoke area. We still proselyte and stuff. But yeah it's my 9 month mark today. Not much has happened this last week. 

We met new investigators the other day who live way out in the boonies. Just kidding but they live far away. They're Cambodian and the Oldest guy there just finished being a monk. What was weird is they were a referral from some member. The member was talking to some lady at the train station and the lady said that she had cancer and was gonna die soon and the member was like we have the priesthood we can heal you so she got in contact with us but either we weren't free or she wasn't free so we didn't get around to it till last Monday. we found out the lady died but the family is like chill with it, it was really weird. 

Another member invited her friend who was having troubles at home to learn with us and she talks a lot. She talked for 50 minutes straight haha. We gave her a date and she went to church. The funny thing was in third hour we were all combined and talked about Tithing. It was funny. It's usually a hard subject to talk about. especially when she's having money problems but she didn't have any questions about it when we met with her. So that was our week pretty much.

I don't feel like sending a group email out. Elder Quentin L. Cook is coming here this month. I'll call you on May 15th for Mother's Day in Thailand. I'll be in the office so it'll be fun haha. I probably have to limit it to 30-40 minutes like the handbook says but I probably won't 555. It'll be cool to see you guys. Anyways I love you lots mom and miss you!

-- 
Elder Decker
เอ็ลเดอร์ เดกเกอร์
Thailand Bangkok Mission

P.S. This is a member's dog who was LA (less active) but not anymore. The dog is so cute. In thai 5 is ha with a tone so it sounds like laughing or saying hahaha so thai people use it as laughter.

Fwd: Zone Conference

Begin forwarded message:

From: Colby John Decker <colby.decker@myldsmail.net>
Subject: Zone Conference
Date: April 25, 2017 at 10:09:52 PM PDT
To: Robin Decker <Robinlynnd@gmail.com>

สวัสดีตอนบ่าย! Happy Tuesday and welcome to my email. This week has been a really good week apart from Family Home Evening. We got a lot of referrals from this fire member right now who is a High Councilor in the Stake. It was funny because he just walked around and was like "this guy is interested" and we got his number and kept on walking and getting numbers. It was pretty cool. We have to be out of the house by 8:30 either inviting or teaching so it gives us opportunity to meet new people and experience new experiences. One of these experiences was we were in a village inviting before an appointment and I had a feeling to take a left down this street and I saw there was no one on it, so I was like maybe we should turn back but just then a guy popped out of the trees with a machete and mangoes in his hand so I thought this was the guy. He had a Baht in his ear for safe keeping and I started talking to him. He then asked me if I wanted a mango and I said I'm good. He then was like I guess you're gonna give me a card now and I was like yep and gave him a Jesus inviting card. I thought it was pretty funny and made my day.

We had a lot of Potential Investigators cancel their appointments so it's been kind of frustrating. We haven't had a new investigator in a long time. It's testing my faith right now but I know eventually we'll find some of God's children who's been prepared to receive the Gospel. We went looking for homes of people who have gone less active and couldn't find them. It's hard finding places in Thailand. But we did find an old guy who knows who Donald Trump is. 

Last Sunday, we had a lot of people who don't usually come to church come to sacrament. It was really cool because the YSA in the ward are going around visiting people who haven't come in awhile and it's starting a fire here in Buriram it's great. I even got to see my favorite 9 year who taught me how to play rock paper scissors.

After church we took a 3 1/2 hour train ride to Ubon for Zone Conference and interviews. It was fun. For Zone Conference we talked about being converted to the Gospel and how to help our investigators become more converted to the Gospel. Just because you're active in the church doesn't mean you're active in the Gospel. You have to be living what you're teaching. Then we talked about teaching really simply in a way that they can't misunderstand and we focused on the Plan of Salvation. Elder Dallin H. Oaks said that you should extend the invitation of baptism when you're teaching about the Plan of Salvation. I realized that there's some stuff that you don't need to say at first because it'll probably just confuse them or they'll just forget it. We have to teach them through the Holy Ghost because it is only through the Holy Ghost that people are converted and learn. We have to do all we can to bring it unto the hearts of the investigators so that the investigator can bring it into their hearts. It was a really good conference.

So for this little spiritual thought that I'm about to drop, let me start off with saying that I'm starting to feel more towards the love of the Savior and coming more and more to the realization that this work is the work of God. God wants all his children to be happy so he sets them in the path of the missionaries to help them get on the right path to happiness and joy. I want to talk about one of President Thomas S Monson's talk in General Conference about Kindness, Charity, and Love. I thought it was interesting the things he talked about in conference. He didn't talk that long or that much but he talked about Kindness and Charity and Love. I was thinking why is this really important for the world to hear at this time. It's important because if we all love our neighbors there wouldn't be any conflict in the world. All of the problems of the world would be solved if we just love each other. We are all Heavenly Father's children. We need to teach others with love. I noticed that on my mission, once you start serving others you begin to love them more. When you're not thinking about yourself, you are more receptive of the love of God. I love being a missionary here in Thailand and wouldn't want to be anywhere else. This is God's work and I'm blessed to be out here serving the Lord. I love you all and miss everyone!!!!

Elder Decker
เอ็ลเดอร์ เดกเกอร์
Thailand Bangkok Mission

Fwd: วันสงกรานต์ (Songkran) Pics

Begin forwarded message:

From: Colby John Decker <colby.decker@myldsmail.net>
Date: April 16, 2017 at 10:18:24 PM PDT
To: Robin Decker <Robinlynnd@gmail.com>
Subject: วันสงกรานต์ (Songkran) Pics

​​​​​​

Fwd: วันสงกรานต์ (Songkran) and Easter

Begin forwarded message:

From: Colby John Decker <colby.decker@myldsmail.net>
Subject: วันสงกรานต์ (Songkran) and Easter
Date: April 16, 2017 at 10:13:50 PM PDT
To: Robin Decker <Robinlynnd@gmail.com>

Hello Everybody! This past couple of weeks have been really good. I went on a switch off with Elder Feller who is from St. George Utah. He's a really cool dude. Than last last Sunday, I went on a switch off with the Zone Leaders in Ubon. It's a 3 1/2 hour train ride there and we had to stand for all of it because it was packed with people traveling home for Songkran. I switched off with Elder Wannasri who's a Thai from Udorn. He's hilarious. It was really good having to speak Thai more. I also learned a lot about how to be a better missionary from him. One of the members here got her mission call to Thailand. 

So, this last week was Songkran which is the Thai New Year. It's for 3 days and it's pretty much a big water fight and a time when you go home and spend time with your family. It's a water fight because it's the hottest time of the year and also religiously it's like washing away all the bad stuff for people. It's like a Buddhist thing. People wear Hawaiian shirts or floral shirts kind of like the kind Grandpa wears. I had to grab one to fit in. I'm not quite sure what Songkran is supposed to symbolize but a lot of people take it as a time to party hard and do a lot of worldy stuff. Proselyting is really hard because everyone is either throwing water at you or they're drunk haha. So we did a lot of inviting off of English. On the second day we got to play and we went to the Stadium and there was fire trucks with hoses and some foam stuff and stuff like that related to water. It was really fun. Really Interesting too. People go around in trucks and have like buckets of water in the trunk and have wars with the people on the streets. It's really fun. For us it was nice because it was really hot and the water was cold. They liked to target me because I'm a white foreigner. They didn't really go after my half Asian companion. 

In Thailand, the Thai people don't celebrate Easter and most of them don't know what it is. It's really interesting living in the complete opposite culture than what I was born and raised in. But we went and gave sacrament to the old people that can't go to church and visited one of our investigators, Sister Ann. She can't come to church because her mother is sick and she has to take care of her. Her mother is a member so we bring her sacrament every week. She's like 84 or something so it's hard for her to get to church but also hard because Sister Ann wants to go to church but can't because she has to take care of her mom. It's a complicated situation. 

Since we just had the chance to watch General Conference last week, I wanted to talk about one of the talks. It was by Elder Ronald A. Rasban called "Let the Holy Spirit Guide". I noticed that a lot of the talks were about the Plan of Salvation and The Godhead. I really liked this talk especially the part where he talked about acting on the first prompting the Holy Ghost gives you. He says "We must be confident in our first promptings. Sometimes we rationalize; we wonder if we are feeling a spiritual impression or if it is just our own thoughts. When we begin to second-guess, even third-guess, our feelings—and we all have—we are dismissing the Spirit; we are questioning divine counsel. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that if you will listen to the first promptings, you will get it right nine times out of ten." 

If it is good it comes from God. If it not it comes from someone else. If the spirit is telling us to do something good, and we don't do it, we will receive less promptings of the spirit. But if we start to follow these promptings the first time, and keep on following them, eventually we become on the Lord's errand. 

I sometimes think is this the Holy Ghost talking or just own thoughts. On my mission, especially recently, I've been trying to follow every impression I receive right when I receive it so I don't miss out on the blessings that come from it. Sometimes it doesn't really lead to anything but it shows God that you are willing to follow these promptings. It was one of my favorite talks in conference and I'd recommend you all to read it. Easter is a special time to remember the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ lives and leads his church today through a living prophet called by God. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is a miraculous thing and shows the love that Jesus Christ has for us all. I want to close with my testimony that I know Jesus Christ lives, and that he loves each and every one of us more than we can imagine. If we have faith in him we can do all things. I love you all and miss everybody! Until next time...

Elder Decker
เอ็ลเดอร์ เดคเคอร์
Thailand Bangkok Mission

Fwd: 8 Months

Begin forwarded message:

From: Colby John Decker <colby.decker@myldsmail.net>
Subject: 8 Months
Date: April 2, 2017 at 9:20:17 PM PDT
To: Robin Decker <Robinlynnd@gmail.com>

Hello everyone. This week has been good. The 1st marked my 1 year mark since I got my call and today is my 8 month mark as a missionary and 6 months in Thailand. Time is really flying by fast. I feel like I just left the Las Vegas airport but it also feels pretty far away. I don't know it's weird haha. But yeah my week was really good. I'm still learning Australian, probably the hardest language I ever learned. It takes me a minute to realize what my companion says haha. 

Last Monday for P-Day, we went to this Board Game place called Level Up and played a bunch of games with the members. We can't really do much now because the Senior Couple isn't in Surin anymore (they had a car). It was fun though I actually really enjoyed it. Today we're doing the same thing haha. We were going to go to a Buriram soccer game but stuff happened so we can't go anymore. They were playing a team that has most of the Thai National Team soccer players. 

Our English Class was pretty big last week. Most the people are pretty good at English so we don't have to translate that much. I love English. The more I teach it the more I realize I can hardly speak it and the grammar is stupid haha.   

We teach all the potential missionaries how to be missionaries so I guess it's called mission prep. We joked with them that we had an actual investigator coming in at 1:30 and at 1:30 exactly we got a call from an RC (recent convert) that she was at the church and had a friend she wanted us to teach. The RC lives in a different province and is Less Active. So it's funny how little stuff like that happens on the mission. You see a bunch of miracles that happen because God wants to bring His children back to him in Heaven. It's so cool. They got to see a live demo haha. 

Sunday, we had 9 Less Active members at church. It was crazy it was the most people in Sacrament meeting since I've been here. Miracles are happening here in Buriram. This transfer is gonna be so much fun. We gave sacrament to a bunch of old people again. I love Old people. We gave the sacrament to my favorite member, Brother Tiam. He played his instruments for us again. When I'm old hopefully I'm as happy as him. These past couple weeks I've been the happiest I've ever been and it's pretty sweet.

So, since General Conference is coming to us in a week, I decided to read some Liahona articles in the past and I came across one from March 2009. It was an article by President Thomas S. Monson called "Come unto Him in Prayer and Faith". It was a really good. One of the stories in it was really interesting. It said.
"We live in troubled times. Doctors' offices are filled with individuals who are beset with emotional problems as well as physical distress. Divorce courts are overflowing because people have unsolved problems. Human resource administrators in government and industry work long hours in an effort to assist people with their problems. One human resource officer assigned to handle petty grievances concluded an unusually hectic day by placing facetiously a little sign on his desk for those with unsolved problems. It read, "Have you tried prayer?" What he may not have realized was that this simple counsel would solve more problems, alleviate more suffering, prevent more transgression, and bring about greater peace and contentment in the human soul than could be obtained in any other way."

Before my mission I never really understood the power of prayer. Prayer is such an amazing thing. It solves all problems, answers all questions, and increases our faith in Jesus Christ. Another part of the article I liked said "Satan trembles, when he sees the weakest Saint upon his knees." If we are feeling temptation, if we are having a hard time, we can get on our knees and pray to our Father in Heaven. Satan doesn't want us to pray. He wants us to be unhappy. He wants us to be sad and depressed because he's sad and depressed. Why ruin your chance of Eternal Happiness for a moment of pleasure. For things of the world. In the article it talks about how a family that prays together stays together. Families are ordained of God. In the family we can feel comfort and happiness that resemble what it's going to be like in the Celestial Kingdom. Family Prayer will help families get through times of trouble and hardship, increase happiness and love in the home, and strengthen each others faith. Families are a blessing to have and I know that we can only have true happiness when we follow the teachings of Christ. 

I love all of you and miss everybody! Until next time.

The pictures are from when we were inviting and came across a sick college. Also some guy on the electrical wires.

Elder Decker
เอ็ลเดอร์ เดคเคอร์
Thailand Bangkok Mission

Fwd: Another Transfer in Buriram

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

Subject: Another Transfer in Buriram
Date: March 26, 2017 at 10:15:28 PM PDT
To: Robin Decker <Robinlynnd@gmail.com>

Hello Everybody! My week has been another good week like usual. We went to this ruin place called Phanom Rung I think I don't remember what it's called but it was cool. Saw a lot of stuff. We had transfers last week and I'm staying another transfer in Buriram. My new companion is Elder Hunt and he's from Australia. He was my DL in Surin but they white washed Surin and he came here. He's cool. He's half Korean. I have to learn two languages now, Australian and Thai. It's pretty rough.

There has been a lot of rain here for some reason and it's not even rainy season so it's even more hot and humid but I love it here. It will be this bright sunny day and all of a sudden it starts pouring buckets. But then it's cold. The members here are so cool. Some people here are bats though haha. I don't really remember what happened this week. The weeks are going by faster and faster. The language is coming along even though everyone here speaks so unclear haha but I can understand what people say now so I'm pumped. I'm still white so I have to speak super clear or they won't understand. 

We helped Brother Tiam with his Banana Farm again and I still don't understand why you need to warm the trees. I didn't know banana trees got cold haha. But yeah he's doing good. We're trying to find him a ride to church, he might just have to hop on the pegs of my bike. 

Sunday Brother Egg got the Holy Ghost and said he wants his daughter to get baptized too. He wants us to visit her at her house but make it seem like it's not an appointment but we're just homies stopping by to chat with him. Our goal for this transfer is to meet with all the members in the ward and try to get them more involved with missionary work. It's the best way to get active converts because they already have a friend that's strong. It's one of the problems here in Thailand or it's because they work or it's because they don't like someone in the ward. I feel like that's everywhere though but it's pretty common here. The sad ones are the people that don't come to church anywhere because their other family doesn't like Christianity. But I actually love to work with Less Active members. It's probably why I'm here haha. 
This week, I was studying in Alma 29:9 and it says

9 I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy.

This scripture is one of my favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon especially right now because it applies to my mission. It's an amazing experience to be out here in Thailand serving God and being an instrument in his hands. My faith has grown so much over the past couple of months because I've had to trust the Lord more than I ever had before. When you humble yourself, you will see blessings and God will help you. He doesn't like when his children are sad. God wants us to all be happy, that is His perfect plan that he has prepared for us. Being an instrument in his hand and helping his children in Thailand has brought me more happiness than I have ever felt before. It's a beautiful thing to watch the Atonement of Christ change people's lives. People here don't know about Jesus Christ and it's my duty to teach Christ crucified to the people here in Thailand. It's such an amazing experience and I love all the ups and even the downs of missionary work. I love you all and hope everyone has a great week! 

Elder Decker
เอ็ลเดอร์ เดคเคอร์
Thailand Bangkok Mission

Fwd: More pictures

The Trees are Cold

สวัสดีครับทุกคน. This week has gone by so fast. Let me start off this week with a bang. There's this Less Active member I've talked about named Brother Rod. We caught him last Tuesday outside cooking some fish so we were like hey let's go say hi to him. We went over and started talking to him and he wasn't liking it say he doesn't have to to receive us (I don't remember the right word in English). So we were like freak okay let's figure out why he doesn't like the missionaries so I asked him why and he says something under his breath that we don't understand and than throws water at my companion and tells us to leave right now. So we dipped out of there haha. 

But yeah this week was fun. A lot of traveling. We had to travel to Ubon for Zone Conference which is like 3 1/2 hour train ride there. The seats are pretty much wood and no air conditioning. But it was good. Stayed in a hotel that made American AND Mexican food. I haven't had Mexican food in awhile. The Zone Conference was about the Atonement and Miracles. It was really good. 
We visited the Cambodian village on the side of the road and went to go teach them, and when we showed up there was like 20 of them so we sat in the middle and held a picture of Jesus Christ and tried to explain the Atonement in really simple Thai. It was fun. I love Cambodians. 
We had a Stake Sports day in Roi Et which was another 3 hour trip in a สองแถว or a truck that has two rows of seats. It was fun. We lost every time but I got to see some people from my group and the members had fun so it was good. 
One of our investigators received an answer to her prayer when she almost died from choking on a seed but prayed to God as soon as she started choking and someone helped her out. She said God answered her prayer and she knows that Heavenly Father is real. Answers to prayers come in unexpected ways.   
So, we got to help this older guy named Brother Tiam who can play those sick instruments with his Banana Farm. We couldn't find this guy's banana farm but we started asking around and it was literally behind his house haha. But yeah we got there and he's all decked out with boots and a hat and the whole outfit. We asked him what he wanted us to do and he got like a shovel thing and started piling leaves on the trees and we weren't sure what he wanted us to do and he forgot his hearing aids so he didn't know what we were saying. But yeah he started saying something about how the trees are cold so we need to warm them up by piling stuff on them and seemed amazed we never worked on a garden before. But it was fun. Brother Tiam is the homie.
At church, when we were teaching the future missionaries of the ward about being a missionary, the homie West Win popped his head in. He's been an investigator for a long time now and his dad is from South Africa and he speaks English. He's raps in English and Thai and does like graphic design or something. He didn't want me to translate for him because the members were roasting him for not speaking Thai and he's been here for 3 years haha. They were like look at these two guys they've only been here for 6 months. But yeah he's cool. He said he's been thinking about getting baptized so we'll see how that goes.
So this last week I was studying in the Doctrine and Covenants Section 6 and in verse 7 it says
7 Seek not for riches but for wisdom, and behold, the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto you, and then shall you be made rich. Behold, he that hath eternal life is rich.
This verse really stuck out to me because a lot of people think life is about getting as much money as possible and than they'll be happy. But once you start getting what you want, you'll keep on wanting more and more until you're never happy with what you have. The thing we need to be focused on is gaining wisdom, in the Gospel and in life because those things will stay with you after this life. The mysteries of God can be unfolded unto us if we have study the Gospel with faith, and pray with faith, and we will receive an answer to all our questions. God wants to answer our prayers but if we don't humble ourselves and ask him and put in effort, we won't get what we want. Faith is a principle of power. When we exercise faith we will get from God. The stuff we get in life won't come with us after life. In Mathew 6:19-20 it says
19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.
Eternal life is the most precious treasure and gift we can ever have. It will bring us the most happiness. It's a blessing to be out here in Thailand helping the Thai people come unto Christ. I know that the Savior lives and he loves each and every one of us and that God will answer our prayers if we ask with faith believing that we will receive. I love you all and miss everyone! โชคดี  


Elder Decker
เอ็ลเดอร์ เดคเคอร์
Thailand Bangkok Mission

Train Station

a random rice field on the way to Roi Et

Fwd: Thunder Castle

From: Colby John Decker <colby.decker@myldsmail.net>
Date: March 12, 2017 at 10:06:48 PM PDT
To: Robin Decker <Robinlynnd@gmail.com>
Subject: Thunder Castle

สวัสดีทุกคน!!!! This week was another great week on the mission. I'm over 7 months now and still going. The week was good. I had another switch off in Surin last Tuesday with the District Leader there. He's from Australia and his name is Elder Hunt. He was a greenie in the same area as me. He's a really good missionary and just hit his year mark. Really Gang at Thai too. But yeah it's hot over there too. People buy certain color cars for the day they were born here. Apparently I'm born on an orange day so i have to get a orange car. If it's not the color they have a sticker saying this is a red car even though the car is black. 

Wednesday, We went to a soccer game. It was really fun and they're pretty good. It was Buriram vs. Korat and Buriram won 4-0 so it wasn't close but we sat front row so it was pretty cool. We saw our neighbor who plays for them.

Friday, Brother Egg had his interview for Baptism and he passed! Ever since he's met with us he's been changing. The Atonement of Jesus Christ really works miracles in people's lives. He used to drink and smoke but now he's quit and is becoming more and more happy. He got baptized this Sunday, and he was so happy. This place needed some fire in the work. Just needed a little push to get the work moving here in Buriram. Miracles still do happen based on the faith of the people. I had to pass the sacrament for the first time in a long time. We found a little Cambodian Village on the side of the road and they are so nice. We found Investigators there that are interested but they speak only a little Thai so it's something I'm used to. It was another miracle we found it because we weren't even planning on going over there stuff just fell into place. That was pretty much this week. The next week is gonna be filled with meetings and travel haha fun stuff. 

Since it's zone conference this week, I was reading the talk "The Atonement" by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland that he gave to Mission Presidents in the MTC and it was really good. The atonement of Jesus Christ is the most important thing that has ever happened on this Earth. He talks about how it's not all about baptisms. It's about getting Investigators to have faith in Jesus Christ and to Repent and than comes baptism. You should focus on the Atonement in all the lessons because through the Atonement we are all saved. One of my favorite parts in it is when he talks about when the missionaries bear their testimony of the Gospel, they hear echoes of their testimony before this life, when they were in the Pre-mortal World and heard the councils in heaven and accepted the Plan of Salvation. Everyone here has accepted the Plan of Salvation, received a body, and has been on Jesus's side. We're just here to help others remember that testimony that they all have. He said they start to think "I've heard this before." In Corinthians 1:23 it says: "We preach Christ crucified..." and that is what we are called to do. To be witnesses of the Savior and spread his message, even to people who don't accept Him. I was studying in D&C before I read this talk and came across Doctrine and Covenants 100:4 which says:

4 Therefore, I, the Lord, have suffered you to come unto this place; for thus it was expedient in me for the salvation of souls.

Jesus Christ has suffered for all the pains and sins of the world. He has felt all of my sorrow and rejection and disappointment. He has suffered me to come to Thailand and to preach the Gospel unto the people. There will be sadness, there will be disappointment, but Salvation doesn't come easy. I was thinking of that before I read the talk and Elder Holland echoed my thoughts. Salvation shouldn't come easy. It wasn't easy for the Savior. The Savior asked God if there was another way. Why should it be easy for us if it wasn't for him. The Atonement of Jesus Christ really does change people's lives. I love studying The Atonement because no one will every fully understand the topic and it's the most important one. I love this mission and being an instrument in God's hand to bring Salvation to the people here in Thailand. Christ lives and he loves each and every one of us no matter where we are in the world. I love you all and miss everybody! Until next time,

Elder Decker

เอ็ลเดอร์ เดคเคอร์

Thailand Bangkok Mission

Elder Decker's Elephant riding pics