Hi!
So i was just kidding about going squid fishing, but we did go regular fishing again today with brother Yodying out at Thanon Theparak, and Elder Frischknecht made the catch of the day, it was huge! Things are fine, its getting hotter and hotter. Wiroon will have his baptismal interview on Friday, so that's cool. I won't be around that day because I will be in Asoge on a switchoff with the new zone leader. He will be baptized on March 1st instead. Yeah! Well, this move is flying by so fast, I might be moving to another area at the end of this 6 week period, or staying for another 6 weeks, to see Nooii get baptized on the 29th of March! Yeah! So last saturday we had a Valentine's/cowboy themed party, and it was kinda weird, but alright. I got a guitar last week,
cause they wanted me to play cowboy songs at the party so I went and found a nice acoustic guitar, case and extra strings all for about 70 bucks! Sweet! Well, we are teaching a new family now, and they are great, we have already taught them twice, and it is a dad, mom and daughter. We went and met with A and O's family last night, had dinner with them, and taught about faith in Jesus Christ. We met with Meedta earlier and he is doing fine, he had some more questions about the plan of salvation. He is the one that has been really stressed about stuff and just sleeps alot. Yeah Elder Frischknecht is great, he's cool about everything, and is really fluent in Thai. We eat out alot and on Sunday nights make American food for dinner. I haven't really learned to make any dishes yet, 'cause we mostly eat at restaurants on the side of the roads. I do want to get some Thai recipes from the members, so I am going to do that this week. Thanks for the pictures on kodak gallery, everybody looks great! I'm sending the picture disc this week along with a really long letter. Today Elder Frischknecht and I are going to take some fun panoramic pictures, remember those? I will make a video of me bearing my testimony as well. Cool! Thanks so much for all of your support and I will be writing alot of letters this week. I still haven't gotten your package yet, but the sisters are at the office in Pakkret today and said they will look for it.
Love you all
thanks so much!
GodSpeed!!!
-Elder Schulte
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Getting Ready for a New Companion 1/20/09
Hey guys!!!Got your email this morning, the house looks awesome, thanks for all the pictures! Sounds like things are going great in the US with Barack Obama being sworn in, I'm kinda sad to see President Bush go. The Thai people like Obama alot and think America is awesome. I sent the picture disc a few days ago, so it will come soon, along with a 3 page explanation of the pictures. Well things are alright here, we got a call monday morning from the ZL's saying that a Elder Jenkins, a missionary who went home 6 weeks ago, was killed in an avalanche while snowmobiling in Idaho, so all the missionaries in Thailand are writing the family. Its a really hard thing, and I really feel for that family, so keep them in your prayers. We have moves meeting tomorrow in Pakkret, and Elder Jones and Sister Sucharit are leaving, so I've been cleaning the house while Elder Jones has been packing. Yesterday, we went to Bangkok to get our visas renewed, which took awhile, but we got back and went to various appointments, and we went to see some of the families which will probably be the last time for Elder Jones to see these guys for a while. we went to Ohm's house and talked with them for a little while, I really like that family, and before we left we got some funny pictures with them, which will be on the next disc! We went and taught Wiroon, he is so close, still hasn't come to church yet but very soon. And finally Sister Pab, Brother Jack, and their daughter Pan, and they are doing fine. This is a family that Elder Jones and Elder Law baptized shortly before I got here. Everythings great! I am healthy. Its starting to get hotter again. Study is going well, I like the conference issues of the Ensign, I have a bunch of old ones in the house and I just tear through them every week, I highly encourage you guys to read those. Well, gotta go get a haircut, and ready for english classes. Thanks for everything, I'm excited for you guys to get that picture disc, there are some awesome pictures. Yeah, I know Elder Lindman, he went to Carroll high school in fort Wayne, but was born in Utah, and grew up in Rochester NY. He's awesome, he is Elder Evans companion(from my MTC group).Thanks so much for sending the socks, I will keep an eye out for them, I have the meeting tomorrow, so we'll see what happens, maybe I will get a thai companion!
GodSpeed!!!Elder Schulte
GodSpeed!!!Elder Schulte
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Bang-na Rocks! 1/14/09
Hey everyone!
Things are great here, just the usual. Bang-na is starting to repopulate after New Years, and things are starting to pick back up as far as finding people to teach, we have several new investigators now, and Nooii, one of our investigators has been coming to church so that's been cool. We have done a ton of inviting, and have taught many lessons over the last several weeks. This mission is a lot of fun!!! Studying is going well. I have been learning alot of new words. I use Preach my Gospel to learn new words, as well as the Thai Book of Mormon.
So there was some fun stuff going on the last few days. Yesterday we went to find a guy that we invited a few days ago. We went to a road that had a guard on duty, and we waited there for a few minutes waiting for "Egarad", when the guard came over and said that he wanted to try riding my bike, and Elder Jones is like "its okay just let him try it", so I did, and all of a sudden the guard takes off with my bike down the road! and we're like "where is he going?!" and the bikerider sitting nearby says "oh, he's just going to get some drinks" and he comes back 10 minutes later with sodas for Jones and I.
Well, one of the trees at the church has a nest of huge red ants, and we sprayed the nest with a hose yesterday, and the ants got mad and attacked us, but we sprayed them out of the tree, and we came back today to spray them again because they came back. These things hurt if you get bit by them. On Monday, the zone leaders announced a zone luncheon for P-day, but Elder Jones didn't want to go today, because we've had several zone activites this move already, so today, Elder Jones and I went fishing! We went to a small lake out by Teporak road, and I made the only catch of the day, a small fish that looked like a bluegill.
Well we have had a lot of fun, this is our last week before moves meeting, and Elder Jones might be going to a new area, which means I will probably be here for one or 2 more moves, but I will have several new responsibilities, with showing my new companion around and helping him get to know the area. Bang-na rocks. I'm making a new picture CD. I've got a ton of new pictures from the last several weeks and I will mail those very soon. I have pictures of fishing, switchoffs in Bangkok, the Christmas party on the Chao Phraya river, and other pictures. Godspeed!!!-Elder Schulte
Things are great here, just the usual. Bang-na is starting to repopulate after New Years, and things are starting to pick back up as far as finding people to teach, we have several new investigators now, and Nooii, one of our investigators has been coming to church so that's been cool. We have done a ton of inviting, and have taught many lessons over the last several weeks. This mission is a lot of fun!!! Studying is going well. I have been learning alot of new words. I use Preach my Gospel to learn new words, as well as the Thai Book of Mormon.
So there was some fun stuff going on the last few days. Yesterday we went to find a guy that we invited a few days ago. We went to a road that had a guard on duty, and we waited there for a few minutes waiting for "Egarad", when the guard came over and said that he wanted to try riding my bike, and Elder Jones is like "its okay just let him try it", so I did, and all of a sudden the guard takes off with my bike down the road! and we're like "where is he going?!" and the bikerider sitting nearby says "oh, he's just going to get some drinks" and he comes back 10 minutes later with sodas for Jones and I.
Well, one of the trees at the church has a nest of huge red ants, and we sprayed the nest with a hose yesterday, and the ants got mad and attacked us, but we sprayed them out of the tree, and we came back today to spray them again because they came back. These things hurt if you get bit by them. On Monday, the zone leaders announced a zone luncheon for P-day, but Elder Jones didn't want to go today, because we've had several zone activites this move already, so today, Elder Jones and I went fishing! We went to a small lake out by Teporak road, and I made the only catch of the day, a small fish that looked like a bluegill.
Well we have had a lot of fun, this is our last week before moves meeting, and Elder Jones might be going to a new area, which means I will probably be here for one or 2 more moves, but I will have several new responsibilities, with showing my new companion around and helping him get to know the area. Bang-na rocks. I'm making a new picture CD. I've got a ton of new pictures from the last several weeks and I will mail those very soon. I have pictures of fishing, switchoffs in Bangkok, the Christmas party on the Chao Phraya river, and other pictures. Godspeed!!!-Elder Schulte
Happy New Year! 1/7/09
Hey Everyone!
First of all thanks to everyone who sent letters, I got them all on Christmas day, and I enjoyed the newsletters as well. Christmas was a lot of fun! Oh, and I did get the letter from Sis. Fischer, and several members of the ward, thanks so much guys!
So 2 days ago the zone leaders came to Bang-na to spent the night, and the next day we did a switchoff, where Elder Jones went with E. Sorensen and I went with E. Hansen, and we went around Bang-na. Right before we left, E. Hansen said "Elder Schulte, get ready to see miracles." And I saw a lot yesterday.
First we met with a less active man named Ude, who was baptized 2 years ago , but hasn't been to church in forever. We taught him about our life on earth, as well as the atonement, and it went really well, we are going to try and get him to come again. Later we went to visit a man that I invited 2 days ago, and we introduced him to the Book of Mormon and taught him about praying, and we committed him to read, and we have another appointment with him later this week. Later Elder Hansen and I went to see Wiroon with another member, and we taught him about God and Families, and he is progressing alot, we are still trying to get him to church though, but I think he is really close. After that, we went all the way to Bearing 40/2, and met with O, a guy that Elder Jones invited a few days ago, and the member, Wirapong , came along too. Instead of only introducing him to the Book of Mormon, we taught him the entire first lesson, and then committed him to reading and praying, and we have a return appointment this week with him. We returned back to the church a little while later and then switched companions back. Last night we got back to the house, planned, and I crashed cause i was so tired, we went everywhere yesterday. And I did see miracles.
Things are starting to pick up a little bit. Most of Bang-na left to go north for the New Year's celebration, but the whole town is back now, and we are starting to find more people to teach. The spirit is with us where ever we go, and I am thankful for the Lord, in helping us find people who are prepared to hear the gospel.
Well, this morning, the entire zone came to Bang-na, and we rented a field to go play sports at. We played soccer, frisbee, and American football for a while and then ate pizza, it was a blast. Right after that we came here to do email. Things are great with me, I am staying healthy, some of the zone members got sick from eating Subway a few days ago, but they are better now. Its Jan 7, and it is 75-80 degress here.
Bangkok is really big, way bigger than New York or L.A. and I think there is about 10 million people. Bang-na district has about 150,000 people. But I love it here so much, the people are great and the food is so good. So it sounds like things are great at home. I hope everyone had a great Christmas. Sounds like things are alright in Kokomo too. Once again thanks so much for all the letters and support you guys have given. I'm gonna be sending a bunch of return letters out, so keep an eye out for them guys! Oh, I will be putting more pictures up so mom will put them on the blog!Godspeed!!!-Elder William Christopher Schulte
First of all thanks to everyone who sent letters, I got them all on Christmas day, and I enjoyed the newsletters as well. Christmas was a lot of fun! Oh, and I did get the letter from Sis. Fischer, and several members of the ward, thanks so much guys!
So 2 days ago the zone leaders came to Bang-na to spent the night, and the next day we did a switchoff, where Elder Jones went with E. Sorensen and I went with E. Hansen, and we went around Bang-na. Right before we left, E. Hansen said "Elder Schulte, get ready to see miracles." And I saw a lot yesterday.
First we met with a less active man named Ude, who was baptized 2 years ago , but hasn't been to church in forever. We taught him about our life on earth, as well as the atonement, and it went really well, we are going to try and get him to come again. Later we went to visit a man that I invited 2 days ago, and we introduced him to the Book of Mormon and taught him about praying, and we committed him to read, and we have another appointment with him later this week. Later Elder Hansen and I went to see Wiroon with another member, and we taught him about God and Families, and he is progressing alot, we are still trying to get him to church though, but I think he is really close. After that, we went all the way to Bearing 40/2, and met with O, a guy that Elder Jones invited a few days ago, and the member, Wirapong , came along too. Instead of only introducing him to the Book of Mormon, we taught him the entire first lesson, and then committed him to reading and praying, and we have a return appointment this week with him. We returned back to the church a little while later and then switched companions back. Last night we got back to the house, planned, and I crashed cause i was so tired, we went everywhere yesterday. And I did see miracles.
Things are starting to pick up a little bit. Most of Bang-na left to go north for the New Year's celebration, but the whole town is back now, and we are starting to find more people to teach. The spirit is with us where ever we go, and I am thankful for the Lord, in helping us find people who are prepared to hear the gospel.
Well, this morning, the entire zone came to Bang-na, and we rented a field to go play sports at. We played soccer, frisbee, and American football for a while and then ate pizza, it was a blast. Right after that we came here to do email. Things are great with me, I am staying healthy, some of the zone members got sick from eating Subway a few days ago, but they are better now. Its Jan 7, and it is 75-80 degress here.
Bangkok is really big, way bigger than New York or L.A. and I think there is about 10 million people. Bang-na district has about 150,000 people. But I love it here so much, the people are great and the food is so good. So it sounds like things are great at home. I hope everyone had a great Christmas. Sounds like things are alright in Kokomo too. Once again thanks so much for all the letters and support you guys have given. I'm gonna be sending a bunch of return letters out, so keep an eye out for them guys! Oh, I will be putting more pictures up so mom will put them on the blog!Godspeed!!!-Elder William Christopher Schulte
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
December 30, 2008
Dear Family,
It was so great to hear from you on Christmas day! Yeah the connection was bad, but I could actually hear you guys really well, it didn't break here, but I will share with you some of the things that have happened over the past fews days. So on Christmas day, all the Bangkok zones got together on a boat and we got to have a christmas party while floating down the Chao Praya River through Bangkok. I am sending pictures of some of the shrines we passed by and cool lokking boats. It was a lot of fun, we did a white elephant christmas exchange, and President Dodge's son, who just returned from a mission in Germany/Austria mission came to the party. I asked him later if he had been to Graz and met the Suppons and he said he had so that was cool.
Well anyway, I got the package you guys sent with the pants and the charger and food, that was great to get on Christmas day. I opened the package you guys sent earlier, thanks so much for everything in it, and I think the portable ping pong set and Blokus is awesome! Elder Jones and I are going to the church today to play for a little while. Oh, he liked the Kokomo Tshirt, he wears it to bed everynight. Gr. and Gr. Webb sent a Christmas package and they sent a string of Christmas lights that I added to your felt tree. That was great. I sent a picutre of it. I recieved a package from Gramps and Nana with beef jerky and and candy, that was great to get. And i recieved several gifts from Elder Jones's family, like a bike light and a bike seat cushion, so i will write them and thank them. Christmas was a lot of fun!
Well here in Bangna we have a couple progressing investigators that we are teaching. We are still teaching Wiroon, we are able to meet with him frequently in the evenings, and he is reading and praying alot, but we are still trying to get him to come to church. the investigators are out of town for new years so we wont see them for a few days. other than that, we are actually having a hard time finding people to teach. we have done a lot of inviting over the last several days, but thats pretty much all that we have been doing because most of our investgators are out of town. So Elder Jones had an idea yesterday day and we went out and did it. We have a huge stack of Liahona issues in Thai from over the past several months, and we went around to local shops, and left them on top of the magazine stacks in the waiting rooms of these shops. We taped information flyers on the back of them, so if anybody reads the magazines and wants to learn more, they can call us. so we will see what happens. We just need to keep finding and talking to people.As far as study goes, i have been reading in the Book of Mormon, and right now i am in Mosiah 21, near the end of the record of Zeniff. Other things that I do for study includes reading from the ensigns and liahonas(we have so many here at the house) and keeping a study journal, and I write down thoughts about various things I study in the morning, like Christlike attributes, the Atonement and what it means to me, and thoughts about ways to be a better missionary, and while I was writing some of these things down, I had an idea of, rather than just writing down thoughts, put them in the form of a question, and ask myself these things throughout the day. So, I made a card with the following questions: What is your attitude like today? What hymn are you thinking about today? Have you learned 10 new vocab words today? Did you consider Doctrine and Covenants 58:27 today? How many people did you talk to today? Did you boldly share your testimony today? Did you remember the name of Christ today? Are you striving to fulfill your daily goals? Did you compliment your companion today? Are you standing up tall today? So I carry this card around, and when it feels like the day is starting to drag, I look at this card and remind myself that I need to be talking to more people and boldly sharing the gospel with Bang-na. This mission is fun but very hard at times, but I am striving to have a positive attitude. So if you guys have any suggestions of how to keep going, write back about any ideas you have. Well, Im sending more pictures of the christmas party and around Bang-na. Thanks for all of your support, I wish I had more right now. Oh, about two weeks ago, Elder Jones and I were really sick, and I had a really deep voice, I could sing all the way down to a really low C. Elder Jones and I did a switch off one day with the zone leaders, so I got to go to Asoge for a night that was a lot of fun, I'll tell you guys about that in the next email. it was great, but I'm out of time! I'll send pictures.
Love Elder Schulte
It was so great to hear from you on Christmas day! Yeah the connection was bad, but I could actually hear you guys really well, it didn't break here, but I will share with you some of the things that have happened over the past fews days. So on Christmas day, all the Bangkok zones got together on a boat and we got to have a christmas party while floating down the Chao Praya River through Bangkok. I am sending pictures of some of the shrines we passed by and cool lokking boats. It was a lot of fun, we did a white elephant christmas exchange, and President Dodge's son, who just returned from a mission in Germany/Austria mission came to the party. I asked him later if he had been to Graz and met the Suppons and he said he had so that was cool.
Well anyway, I got the package you guys sent with the pants and the charger and food, that was great to get on Christmas day. I opened the package you guys sent earlier, thanks so much for everything in it, and I think the portable ping pong set and Blokus is awesome! Elder Jones and I are going to the church today to play for a little while. Oh, he liked the Kokomo Tshirt, he wears it to bed everynight. Gr. and Gr. Webb sent a Christmas package and they sent a string of Christmas lights that I added to your felt tree. That was great. I sent a picutre of it. I recieved a package from Gramps and Nana with beef jerky and and candy, that was great to get. And i recieved several gifts from Elder Jones's family, like a bike light and a bike seat cushion, so i will write them and thank them. Christmas was a lot of fun!
Well here in Bangna we have a couple progressing investigators that we are teaching. We are still teaching Wiroon, we are able to meet with him frequently in the evenings, and he is reading and praying alot, but we are still trying to get him to come to church. the investigators are out of town for new years so we wont see them for a few days. other than that, we are actually having a hard time finding people to teach. we have done a lot of inviting over the last several days, but thats pretty much all that we have been doing because most of our investgators are out of town. So Elder Jones had an idea yesterday day and we went out and did it. We have a huge stack of Liahona issues in Thai from over the past several months, and we went around to local shops, and left them on top of the magazine stacks in the waiting rooms of these shops. We taped information flyers on the back of them, so if anybody reads the magazines and wants to learn more, they can call us. so we will see what happens. We just need to keep finding and talking to people.As far as study goes, i have been reading in the Book of Mormon, and right now i am in Mosiah 21, near the end of the record of Zeniff. Other things that I do for study includes reading from the ensigns and liahonas(we have so many here at the house) and keeping a study journal, and I write down thoughts about various things I study in the morning, like Christlike attributes, the Atonement and what it means to me, and thoughts about ways to be a better missionary, and while I was writing some of these things down, I had an idea of, rather than just writing down thoughts, put them in the form of a question, and ask myself these things throughout the day. So, I made a card with the following questions: What is your attitude like today? What hymn are you thinking about today? Have you learned 10 new vocab words today? Did you consider Doctrine and Covenants 58:27 today? How many people did you talk to today? Did you boldly share your testimony today? Did you remember the name of Christ today? Are you striving to fulfill your daily goals? Did you compliment your companion today? Are you standing up tall today? So I carry this card around, and when it feels like the day is starting to drag, I look at this card and remind myself that I need to be talking to more people and boldly sharing the gospel with Bang-na. This mission is fun but very hard at times, but I am striving to have a positive attitude. So if you guys have any suggestions of how to keep going, write back about any ideas you have. Well, Im sending more pictures of the christmas party and around Bang-na. Thanks for all of your support, I wish I had more right now. Oh, about two weeks ago, Elder Jones and I were really sick, and I had a really deep voice, I could sing all the way down to a really low C. Elder Jones and I did a switch off one day with the zone leaders, so I got to go to Asoge for a night that was a lot of fun, I'll tell you guys about that in the next email. it was great, but I'm out of time! I'll send pictures.
Love Elder Schulte
December 9, 2008
Hi Everyone!
Thanks for the pictures, That picture of Drew Hansen (dressed as a tree) and Michael (with Winter Dance date, Amanda) is so funny, oh my gosh!!! That must have been a fun night! Well this week went well, the moves meeting is tomorrow, and I found out yesterday that Elder Jones and I will be in Bang-na for 6 more weeks. Sister Bileen will be moving somewhere else, but we dont know where yet.I sent a package full of letters for the family and the Thai letter for Paige to take to her class, also there is a CD full of pictures, from the MTC, and from my first 6 weeks in Bang-na. One of the letters in the package is an explanation of some of the pictures. The Elephant pictures and videos are on there too. So we have had many appointments this week with investigators and recent converts. A new investigator, Nooii, came to church this week. He is really cool, he has been reading and praying alot lately, and we have had several visits with him already. Wiroon is progressing alot since seeing the Finding Faith in Christ video. We havent seen Chatchay in a few days because he is out of town. I liked all the pictures of Austria you sent that are so cool and I recognize all those places. Well, not much else right now, I will keep an eye out for the packages. thanks so much!LoveElder Schulte
Thanks for the pictures, That picture of Drew Hansen (dressed as a tree) and Michael (with Winter Dance date, Amanda) is so funny, oh my gosh!!! That must have been a fun night! Well this week went well, the moves meeting is tomorrow, and I found out yesterday that Elder Jones and I will be in Bang-na for 6 more weeks. Sister Bileen will be moving somewhere else, but we dont know where yet.I sent a package full of letters for the family and the Thai letter for Paige to take to her class, also there is a CD full of pictures, from the MTC, and from my first 6 weeks in Bang-na. One of the letters in the package is an explanation of some of the pictures. The Elephant pictures and videos are on there too. So we have had many appointments this week with investigators and recent converts. A new investigator, Nooii, came to church this week. He is really cool, he has been reading and praying alot lately, and we have had several visits with him already. Wiroon is progressing alot since seeing the Finding Faith in Christ video. We havent seen Chatchay in a few days because he is out of town. I liked all the pictures of Austria you sent that are so cool and I recognize all those places. Well, not much else right now, I will keep an eye out for the packages. thanks so much!LoveElder Schulte
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
12/3/08 Elephant on the Loose!
Hey Everyone!Its been a great week, there are a lot of things that went on. First off, Both airports (Don Muang and Surinaphom) are both closed because the anti government group have taken them over, along with several goverment buildings. It just so happens that Surinaphom airport is in our area, about 6-7 miles from our house. On Friday night Elder Jones and I were on our way back from an appointment when we got a call from the zone leaders saying that all the missionaries need to be in their houses by 8:00 because the situation at the airports was getting out of control. The Thai army and police force were on their way to the airports to try and get them out. But the "yellow group" (the name for the antigovernment group) Has held the airport for several days, and I dont really know whats happening there now, because apparently the airports are supposed to open up really soon, the yellow group must be running out of food or something. Well, thats whats going on with that, but the missionaries arent in any danger. There have been no planes in the sky over this area for the last few days, only military helicopters. All flights and military planes have gone to other airports throughout Thailand .
Well many funny things have happened, Elder Jones and I are inviting a lot of people, and we have made many return appointments in the last few days, and have several new investigators. One of our investigators was baptized last week, and will be confirmed this coming sunday. The Sister missionaries in our district have 2 baptisms coming up real soon. Elder Jones likes to mess with people he meets, so what he does is go up to people and speak to them in english, and pretend that he is a foreigner who cant speak Thai. He will speak to them in english and say stuff like "Hello, what is your name?" and they will say something in Thai, and he will respond with something in english like "I cant understand Thai, can you speak english?" and they will try to speak english, and then he will start speaking in Thai and say "hah, just kidding i speak Thai." and they're all blown away that a "farang" can speak with them in extremely good Thai. So he has had some fun with that.
Well, last night Elder Jones and I were riding home from an appointment, and on the way we stopped at a store to make copies of some flyers. so we pull our bikes up to the curb, and the following conversation went like this:E. Jones: "Hey Elder Schulte, wanna see an elephant?"E Schulte:"Yeah I wanna see an elepant!"E Jones: "well turn around, there is an elphant behind you."E. Schulte:"hah, yeah right"( i thought he was just joking)E. Jones:"Well you said you wanted to see an elephant, so turn around and see the elephant"E.Schulte:"Yeah, like theres really an elephant behind me"E.Jones: "Yeah turn around and find out"E.Schulte:"Sure right what ever"OHMYGOSH!!!! THERE'S A GUY RIDING A FREAKIN ELEPHANT DOWN LASAN STREET!!!!!so i jump off the bike, and am like"we gotta go get pictures of it!!!!!!"So we go make copies and then, (OK this part Beth added from an email from William's mission companion's mom- William said, "Elder Jones let's go follow it, I HAVE to get a picture" So we started to go down the street and after about 10 meters the elephant started to cross the street and went right in between the two of us. He hurried and stopped, parked his bike and went running after it, handing to me his camera case as innocent as could be of where he had just parked his bike. As he was getting a video/picture of the elephant, I watched him(behind me) and the bike 20 meters or so in front of me from a safe distance. He came back with some great pictures and a awesome video of the elephant eating an entire stalk/bunch of bananas whole. And then after showing me, I said..."Well that's great but do you realize where you just parked your bike?" and he said..."yeah right there why?"...and I said "Well it's right in front of a 'sawng' " and he replied "What's a 'sawng?' " And then he turned around and saw all the flashing Christmas lights and ran and grabbed his bike and we got out of there. Anyways, we still can't stop laughing about the story. Holy cow! (Note from Mom, we still have no idea what a "sawng" is.)
Well, Thanksgiving was great! we went and ate with an american family(church members) in Bangkok, The Beck family is staying in Thailand because bro. beck works at the embassy in Bangkok. They have 3 kids. it was a lot of fun, there were other missionaries that came over, including Elder Volk, who was in the group ahead of me in the mtc. Dinner was wonderful, and dessert was great but the pumpkin pie didnt have any flavor, but we didn't say anything. One of the boys said"Mom this pumpkinpie doesnt have any flavor!" Sis Beck: "Oh, honey! thats because your dad made it!" Well, we had a great time, they are such a nice family, and I gave Sis Beck, your email address Mom, and she said she would send pictures of dinner sometime, I don't know if she's done that yet.
The blog sounds great! I've gotten letters from the Webbs, and I will respond to those soon! Yeah, encourage everybody( family, friends) to write letters. I enjoy responding to all mail. I havent gotten the 5 letters yet, but they will be coming soon. I am anxious to get the newsletter.
I study hard each day in scriptures and language, and as i talk to more people my ablilty to communicate in Thai increases. The spirit has been really strong, and I know that if I keep trying hard, the Lord will help me to be able to speak even better as the mission progresses.I found out that i can take my memory cards to a local store and they will put them onto a CD, so i will send you a CD full of pictures and videos, including pictures and videos of the elephant. I really like reading the general conference issues of the Ensign and Liahona. we are able to get them here, and i have some from previous conferences too. they are so good!!! and i would highly encourage you guys to read and ponder the issues of the last 3 conferences, they are extremely good issues,and i find myself reading a little bit from them each nightI saw that Elder Joseph B. Worthlin Died yesterday, do you know who they will call next? Keep me informed. Thanks for all your prayers and support, I feel like my prayers have been answers in recieving help and guidance and that the spirit works and prompts in many unusual ways, but we must listen when it does. Love you all!!!-Elder Schulte
Well many funny things have happened, Elder Jones and I are inviting a lot of people, and we have made many return appointments in the last few days, and have several new investigators. One of our investigators was baptized last week, and will be confirmed this coming sunday. The Sister missionaries in our district have 2 baptisms coming up real soon. Elder Jones likes to mess with people he meets, so what he does is go up to people and speak to them in english, and pretend that he is a foreigner who cant speak Thai. He will speak to them in english and say stuff like "Hello, what is your name?" and they will say something in Thai, and he will respond with something in english like "I cant understand Thai, can you speak english?" and they will try to speak english, and then he will start speaking in Thai and say "hah, just kidding i speak Thai." and they're all blown away that a "farang" can speak with them in extremely good Thai. So he has had some fun with that.
Well, last night Elder Jones and I were riding home from an appointment, and on the way we stopped at a store to make copies of some flyers. so we pull our bikes up to the curb, and the following conversation went like this:E. Jones: "Hey Elder Schulte, wanna see an elephant?"E Schulte:"Yeah I wanna see an elepant!"E Jones: "well turn around, there is an elphant behind you."E. Schulte:"hah, yeah right"( i thought he was just joking)E. Jones:"Well you said you wanted to see an elephant, so turn around and see the elephant"E.Schulte:"Yeah, like theres really an elephant behind me"E.Jones: "Yeah turn around and find out"E.Schulte:"Sure right what ever"OHMYGOSH!!!! THERE'S A GUY RIDING A FREAKIN ELEPHANT DOWN LASAN STREET!!!!!so i jump off the bike, and am like"we gotta go get pictures of it!!!!!!"So we go make copies and then, (OK this part Beth added from an email from William's mission companion's mom- William said, "Elder Jones let's go follow it, I HAVE to get a picture" So we started to go down the street and after about 10 meters the elephant started to cross the street and went right in between the two of us. He hurried and stopped, parked his bike and went running after it, handing to me his camera case as innocent as could be of where he had just parked his bike. As he was getting a video/picture of the elephant, I watched him(behind me) and the bike 20 meters or so in front of me from a safe distance. He came back with some great pictures and a awesome video of the elephant eating an entire stalk/bunch of bananas whole. And then after showing me, I said..."Well that's great but do you realize where you just parked your bike?" and he said..."yeah right there why?"...and I said "Well it's right in front of a 'sawng' " and he replied "What's a 'sawng?' " And then he turned around and saw all the flashing Christmas lights and ran and grabbed his bike and we got out of there. Anyways, we still can't stop laughing about the story. Holy cow! (Note from Mom, we still have no idea what a "sawng" is.)
Well, Thanksgiving was great! we went and ate with an american family(church members) in Bangkok, The Beck family is staying in Thailand because bro. beck works at the embassy in Bangkok. They have 3 kids. it was a lot of fun, there were other missionaries that came over, including Elder Volk, who was in the group ahead of me in the mtc. Dinner was wonderful, and dessert was great but the pumpkin pie didnt have any flavor, but we didn't say anything. One of the boys said"Mom this pumpkinpie doesnt have any flavor!" Sis Beck: "Oh, honey! thats because your dad made it!" Well, we had a great time, they are such a nice family, and I gave Sis Beck, your email address Mom, and she said she would send pictures of dinner sometime, I don't know if she's done that yet.
The blog sounds great! I've gotten letters from the Webbs, and I will respond to those soon! Yeah, encourage everybody( family, friends) to write letters. I enjoy responding to all mail. I havent gotten the 5 letters yet, but they will be coming soon. I am anxious to get the newsletter.
I study hard each day in scriptures and language, and as i talk to more people my ablilty to communicate in Thai increases. The spirit has been really strong, and I know that if I keep trying hard, the Lord will help me to be able to speak even better as the mission progresses.I found out that i can take my memory cards to a local store and they will put them onto a CD, so i will send you a CD full of pictures and videos, including pictures and videos of the elephant. I really like reading the general conference issues of the Ensign and Liahona. we are able to get them here, and i have some from previous conferences too. they are so good!!! and i would highly encourage you guys to read and ponder the issues of the last 3 conferences, they are extremely good issues,and i find myself reading a little bit from them each nightI saw that Elder Joseph B. Worthlin Died yesterday, do you know who they will call next? Keep me informed. Thanks for all your prayers and support, I feel like my prayers have been answers in recieving help and guidance and that the spirit works and prompts in many unusual ways, but we must listen when it does. Love you all!!!-Elder Schulte
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