4th "Moves" in Bang-na 3/11/09

Hey guys!!!
So this moves (transfer) has been pretty good so far. I've made a lot of goals and have been keeping them really well. "Talk to more people and invite more", including taxi drivers especially when we have long rides through Bangkok. So, funny story, we made fried chicken on Sunday night, and it was way good! But, about 2:00 in the morning I woke up, (I think it was because of the chicken) and couldn't get back to sleep. I was really thirsty, not to mention Elder Frischknecht was sleep talking again (he says some really funny things!) so I decided to go downstairs to get a drink, and while I was downstairs, I was pondering the results of the last week of the move, and was comparing them to our goals for this next week, and I thought "we need to kick it up a notch!" So, we really have been this week, we have got a ton of inviting done, and some potential investigators as a result. Sweet! It's a start, and its working. I did finally go back to bed, don't worry!
On Monday, our district went to Bungapi (another area of Bangkok) for the Zone Conference. and every missionary here loves zone conference. It is a great, uplifting experience! We get to hear some awesome messages from President and Sister Dodge, the assistants, and other missionaries who are assigned to prepare talks. The theme of this conference was "The Spirit is the Key", and basically they talked about how it is really important to teach with the spirit, and the Holy Ghost will work through us when we bear a powerful testimony of the Restored Gospel. In teaching investigators, in inviting, teaching recent converts, the Spirit can be the greatest teacher. I had a really good time at zone conference, and Elder Frischknecht and I walked away with many new ideas and commitments to fulfill on a personal level, in order to increase in effectiveness as missionaries.
So, Mom asked last week about how zones and districts work. A zone is made up of several districts, which are spread out into several different areas. I am in the Bang-na District, in the Bangkok West Zone. The BW zone has 26 missionaries (elders and sisters) covering areas like Asoge, Bang-na, DinDieng, Thonburi, Samut Prakan and so on. The Bang-na District has 2 elders (Elder Frischknecht and yours truly) and 2 sisters, Sister Scalf and Sister Crapes. She is new in the mission, just got here last week, and she's speaking Thai alot, I don't hear her speak English very often. That's the way to learn it!
Well, Wiroon passed his interview, and he is getting baptized this coming Sunday, yeah! I think it is so awesome, and he just finished reading the Book of Mormon for the 3rd time! So yeah, his baptism is coming up real soon. I will let you know how that goes.
So its been a great week, still hard, really hot, but I don't complain, its so great here, lots of fun! We went bowling with some members today, and that was great! I'm actually getting alot better at bowling, this is the third time I've been bowling here since coming to Thailand. Oh, last week Elder Frischknecht and I were out inviting and we ended up playing a game with some kids, it's called "Degraw". It's like volleyball, only you play with your feet, it's way fun, everybody here plays it!
Well, like i said, this move has been great so far. I really like what was talked about at Zone conference about having the spirit present. There are many things that can make that happen. I mentioned bearing testimony already, and that is so important, because in teaching principles of the gospel, it is important to show that you strongly believe in what you are teaching is true. Another thing that will really help have the spirit present, is having obedience. As missionaries, we are given rules and guidelines in order to keep us safe and protected. And not just applying to missionaries, but to anyone, as we follow guidelines and rules that we are given, we can all be safe and protected, not just physically, but spiritually. The Commandments from God are a real blessing, because our Heavenly Father loves us very much, and wants us to be able to return and live with Him again. And He has given us the Commandments, in order to make that possible. I would like to Bear my testimony that I know these things are true. I am grateful for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and His teachings, and I love being here and being able to represent Him. GodSpeed!!!
Elder Schulte