News from Yasothan 10/28/09

Hey!

So here are some answers to your questions:
1. The couple missionaries that came actually came just to inspect the house. This is the responsibility of the financial secretary and his wife. They go around the country to various missionary houses and inspect them.
2. I think that Warin and the Yasothon city are about the same size. We eat out alot. Food is so cheap here, and a big thing here in Thailand are the Rans(food stand/restaurants along the side of the road), which serve really cheap but really good food.
3. There are differences in the food between this part of Thailand and the Bangkok area. Just like the language, I mean, the people in Bangkok like to eat certain things, that alot of people in this region don't really make. I've been wanting to meet up with some members on a p-day and have them teach us how to make Thai food, but I havent taken the time to do it yet.
4. The mission has a teaching program for members and basically anyone that wants to learn English. The classes are every Wednesday night at 6:30 and go for about an hour and a half. They are free and anyone can come. This is the set time basically for all the wards and branches. Class sizes vary, in Ubon, there were probably about 80 that came every wednesday, and we divided it into 3 classes, for each companionship. Here, there are about 15-20 that come each week.
So Diaw, is the friend from Ubon I was telling you about a while ago, he was trying to get in contact with you on facebook, mom. He is from Ubon, he's trying to get into BYU-Hawaii. Really cool guy! He speaks english pretty well. I thnk he might want some help finding college info. See what he is up to!

We had a sweet lesson with Peng, Yuu's wife, the other day, and she is on fire right now, and will be baptized by the end of the month, like i said, they have both changed alot, and she has been reading and praying alot, some thing she really hasn't done until recently, when she cut ties with her other church.

Yeah, I know Elder Willey. He's a really funny guy. I'm going to miss him alot. There are alot of people going home at the end of this transfer who I'm really going to miss.

Thanks so much for everything!

Oh, the Buckwalter's Baby will be a boy, born Feb 11th, 7:30 pm, 7lbs, 20 inches, and for a boy, "Jacob", for a girl "Rachel".
Thanks guys! Take care!
-Elder Schulte

Great time in Yasothon 10/21/09

Hey Family,

Thanks so much for your last letter. So, do you guys have any questions about
anything in the mission,in Thailand,or anything? I think I might have missed
some questions in past letters so if there are any, ask away, I'll start making
answering questions become the first part of the letter.

That story about the family in Colorado is way funny, but they both must be
pretty dimwitted to not second think something like that. Its still pretty
funny. It looks like football has been going great, I bet you're both pretty
excited to have it be over. I have really enjoyed your pictures. So Mike what
do you want to study at BYU? I have a letter coming to you and James pretty
soon.

We had a huge project at the cemetary last Saturday. A ton of members from the
district came to help, even some members I know from Ubon. It was really cool to
see them again. We got a lot done, and were there kinda late. So. this past
Sunday was the baptism of PiiYuu, it went really well!, Afterwards, Piipeng came up
and was like, "I want to be baptized too". Its so awesome! Their countenances have
changed since commiting do learn and be baptized. I remember the first night I
came to Yasothon. We went to visit them at the dalad(market), and they had
already been learning a while with elders. I went to introduce myself to
Peng and she was kinda like "uh yeah, uh religion, heh..." and then we went to
set a time to come visit them during that week, and she turned to Yuu and was
like "yuu! the frangs wanna come over some time" and he's like "huh? why?!" Since then, they have been going uphill, we went and taught them, we brought
a member over who is best friends with Peng, and has been a huge influence
on helping them get to this point. They are so much happier, you can see it so
clearly, I'm serious! Yuu is a really funny guy, and last night we went over and
made pasta with them, because they've never had pasta before, and we sat down,
ate, and had a great time with them. We also taught Peng and the little sister
of Sister Maam, there that night. Her younger sister has been
learning, her name is Nongmae, and we gave both Nongmae and Peng a commitment
to be baptized on Nov 29. And they both accepted.

This morning has been alright, but things that have happened here have
really made it clear, the necessity of fulfilling the goal that we have
set for this area, which is less dependancy on missionaries for everything.
Some calls that took place this morning really solidified that goal that
we have. Its kinda crazy, but a perfect example of why places like Ubon,
Sisagate, Mahasarakham, are working machines and now have church buildings,
because members do their part.

So that's about it, Elder Jenkins is going to send you a picture of PiiYuu
just before he got baptized, and also a picture of us at the cemetary at the
end of the day. Thanks for everything, I love you guys alot, Take care guys!

-Elder Schulte