Warin- first week of 6th move 6/4/09

Hey everyone,
I made a list of things that I wanted to write about in the email this week so I don’t forget anything. First off, this area has been progressing so well! Early last move we lost some really great investigators who had had baptismal dates, so Elder Palmer and I decided that we would work like crazy. The Lord really puts people in our paths. We now have 2 investigators with a bapitsmal date, 7 progressing investigators, and many potential investigators, our board at home is getting really full, it is super exciting! Elder Palmer and I weren't able to go to the moves meeting because we are really far away from Bangkok. We will be together another move. Elder Wiser is staying here, this being his final move before he heads home, and he is just pushing forward like always. He’s a really awesome missionary, and it has been great to work with him. His new companion is Elder Webb, who was in the group ahead of me at the Missionary Training Center, so I know him pretty well. He's a fun guy. Sister Bradfield moved to another part of the Isan and Sister Wanpan’s new companion is Sister Richens. It is her 3rd move in the country.
President and Sister Dodge (the Missiona President and his wife) will be heading home halfway through this move, and our district just had interviews with him in the new church building!(which I will talk about in just a sec). President Dodge is an incredible man, with an incredible love for missionary work. It has been great to have him as president of the mission, and he will be missed greatly. Everybody here loves them a lot. President Smith will be coming in very soon, and I wondered about how a new mission president decides on who goes where in his first moves. President Dodge says that when he first experienced that 3 years ago, it was one of the most spiritual experiences ever. You rely completely on faith to decide who goes where. A mission president recieves revelation about where to send each missionary. It is true. You go where the Lord needs you to go.
Well, the new church is complete. This is an incredible church building, and we used it last night to teach English, and had interviews in it this morning. Wow, and it is big too, and very beautiful!!! I will get pictures of it to you very soon. When President Dodge flew into this area this morning, the contractors were giving him a tour of the building, and when he was done, he came over to us as we were sitting down and said, “I think it’s a keeper!”. I agree. I'm really excited to have our first church meeting here on Sunday.
Another thing that I want to tell you about is the new Thai translation of the Book of Mormon that is coming out in about 7 or 8 months. A team is working on it at the church office in Pakkret in Bangkok right now, and it is coming along really well. The first edition in Thai was translated by a woman who lives in Srinakharin( district of Bangkok) near Bang-na. She first translated the Book of Mormon in the early 70’s and it is the same edition that is used today. Elder Frischknecht and Elder Palmer both had the opportunity to meet her while they were serving in that area, and I hope I get that opportunity as well. It sounds like translating the Book of Mormon was an incredible experience. Well, also, the name of the church is going to change here in Thailand (a new translation of the name Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), about the same time the new translation of the Book of Mormon is released. So new tags, pamphlets, everything! It will be crazy, but it will be great!
We went on a trip back to Kong Jiam, the national park on the edge of the river that divides Laos from Thailand. We went rock climbing and water fall exploring. There are many incredible things to see in this part of the country.
Right now , it is the rainy season. It has been raining a little bit, and some days a lot, each day for the last 3 or 4 weeks. But its not really a problem, most nights after rain it gets very cool out. The thai people like to talk about weather a lot, as well as food, which I think is awesome! Oh, something else that is really unique here is all the elephants that walk around. There are guys that ride elephants around, and you can pay to feed the elephants sugar canes. Its a great business! So that’s all for now. I'm running low on time, but if there is anything else, let me know. I tried to get in as much as possible. Take care!God Speed!-Elder schulte