Hey guys!
First off, Happy Birthday Michael!!!!!!!! 18! Yeah!!!!!!!!!!
Elder McConkie and I are in Warin right now, We found out last night that I was
moving, and last night we had our showcase English class. So yeah, I am moving.
No idea where I'm going, but this has been a great 8 months on the Eesan, lots
of fun, great companions, great 2 areas, great friends. Man, this is the end of an
era, seriously! We are getting on a train in Warin tonight.
This last week has been great, but on Thursday, I was a little sick, and got better on Saturday thankfully. Thursday was not fun at all, but I got over it. Yasothon is going great! There is a lot of progress with investigators and members, WOW! Peng is not ready yet for baptism. I think its gonna be a while, for a lot of reasons, she wants to do it, but they are still having a hard time selling (they own a store) lately, so they don't come to church, so its not so hot with them right now. Keep praying for them that things will get better.
Missionaries didn't have to help pass the Sacrament last Sunday. There were enough priesthood holders to do it. Yes! So concerning the clerk, things are good with him. Actually what happened with him was the branch president sat down with him some time last week, and basically said, "look man, I need your help, this place can't run off one active priesthood holder and 2 elders" and this past Sunday he came to church, passed the sacrament, participated in sunday school, taught the priesthood class and it was a great lesson! But he didnt quite complete, 'cause he left before he could help with tithing, but that's okay for now, he's really close, I think this past Sunday was a good step.
Things are great! We have solid, solid investigators, PawGaow, Nong, Nats
family, Peng, a man named Yongyuut, which I will tell you about later, that was
a cool experience. We have let go of alot of people who weren't progressing,
found a lot of new guys, have got members involved. We talked to Branch
president about organizing a priesthood sports activity, and he's really excited
about that. Wow! great times!
There have been some great finding experiences
this move. Oh, and one of the families we are teaching, their son who is a
member, is preparing with us to go on a mission. Wow. Elder McConkie has been
a great companion, its been a pleasure working with him, This has been a great
experience, I really feel like this was my first real time being a Pee (senior missionary). I also learned alot from him as well, about how to be more effective as a missionary. This has been my favorite move so far. I am understanding Thai
really well these last several weeks, and I reallly want to complement it with
being able to speak better and teach better this coming move. There are a lot
of things I am really going to hammer out this next move to be even more
effective.
Um, Dad your email this week was hilarious "you'll shoot your eye out..." and also the story about Larry, and also you line about "Goverenor Daniels, Congressman
Donnelly, and my buddy the mayor will all be in attendance as they unveil
the plan for the the new business we just won. " Way funny!
Hey! Elder MConkie and I went caroling this week, I will tell you about that
later. Time is running out, but I will write you from my new area! Merry
Christmas guys!!! love you all!
-Elder Schulte
Monday, January 11, 2010
12/8-09 District Pres. Visit
Hey guys!
This week has been a stellar week, wow! We had some really sweet lessons, and
some daters! (This means some investigators have set dates to be baptized) Teaching partial families has been going great. We are teaching the father of a
less active member, PawGaow. We had an awesome lesson about the Book of Mormon last
night, and I've never had an investigator with a notepad out asking "hey yeah
maybe you guys could give me some homework to do, you know like reading? you
guys should come over more often! " Oh yeah! And last week we set a baptismal
goal with him for January 24th, and last night we talked some more about that
and he was like "hold on just a sec, let me write that down, 24th right?"
Anyway the Book of Mormon lesson went really well, he really liked how when you
read, and when you really study it "the spirit really carries it to your heart!"
He is gold, and Elder McConkie and I really hope this will help bring Yoke back as well.
Sister Nam is the Bomb right now. She has really done an incredible job in
helping us coordinate going to see Nat's family, and 2 nights ago, we went to see
his family, as well as another family in the same neighborhood that she knows, so
we had some double team action the other night, E. McConkie split off with
another priesthood holder to go see that family, and I went with Brother Nat to
teach his Uncle and Mom, and we now have 2 new daters, Uncle Ung and Mae On. It
was an interesting experience, because Nat told me before hand that they don't
understand Thai very well, only Isan(the Thai/lao dialect). So I just spoke to
them in Thai, and Nat translated things that they didn't understand into Isan.
The Uncle understood pretty well, and Nat and I taught about baptism, and they
both accepted a commitment for January 31st.
The District presidency paid a special visit to Yasothon this past Sunday. The Presidency is made up of men from Sisagate and Ubon. These guys are absolutely amazing! I can tell they really , really understand how to run a district. Well, I was a little embarrassed, because the meeting started, and there were more men from Sisagate and Ubon in our meeting than there were men from our own branch. 3 priesthood holders from Yasothon came in the morning, none of them dressed in Sunday clothing, and after sacrament meeting, all ran home or went to work. The District president leaned over to me at some point during the meeting and asked me, " were is everyone?" The meeting after church with the Presidency was interesting. They talked to President Tawan about this issue. They want to see more activity here, like fire sides, and priesthood holders doing their assignments. They are also going to have some talks with the councilors, and clerk about fulfilling their callings.
Well, This has been an incredible week. The district presidency really wants to
help Yasothon get back on track. This week we are in now is the last week of
the move. This has been a 5 week transfer, President Smith is in Burma/Myanmar
this week, there are a couple branches there that he has responsibility for, so
he is going to check on their progress. The ball is really starting to roll
here. Elder Jenkins called from Srinakarin in Bangkok this morning. his
companion, Elder Harmon in Chiang Rai is going home next week, so he was there
also with Elder Palmer, who is going home next week as well. They called and
I was so excited to tell E. Jenkins about all the stuff that is happening here.
I remember the last 2 moves going to Bangkok, and previous Yasothon missionaries
asking "so, how's Yasothon going? Whats new there?" and I really wouldn't have a
lot of good highlights, cause members were having problems, Priesthoog holders
weren't coming, we didn't have a lot of progressing investigators, but now it
doesn't have to be like that anymore. I can tell these guys that we have a sweet
teaching pool, new investigators, guys with dates, the district is gonna be
stepping in to help strengthen the leadership in the branch, members more than
ever are helping find and teach, and especially teach part member families. Oh
my Gosh! I dont wanna leave here!!! I need another move here. Pray that that
happens.
Weve had some really awesome studies lately, about effective study, teaching,
Elder McConkie's Thai is getting really good, My understanding has gone way up!
We've met some interesting people lately. Elder McConkie and I invited a guy who
was out selling water purifier equipment. He told us he has died three times
and come back to life three times. How he came back to life, we are not sure
how, but he told us that the first time he had been shot, the second time was in
a car wreck(he had this crazy scar up the side of his face), and the third time
was a natural death. he told us that one of those times, he went to hell, and
the devil asked him, "What are you doing here?!" and he sent him back. Woah!
Well i am really excited to talk to you guys in 2 weeks
God Speed!!!
This week has been a stellar week, wow! We had some really sweet lessons, and
some daters! (This means some investigators have set dates to be baptized) Teaching partial families has been going great. We are teaching the father of a
less active member, PawGaow. We had an awesome lesson about the Book of Mormon last
night, and I've never had an investigator with a notepad out asking "hey yeah
maybe you guys could give me some homework to do, you know like reading? you
guys should come over more often! " Oh yeah! And last week we set a baptismal
goal with him for January 24th, and last night we talked some more about that
and he was like "hold on just a sec, let me write that down, 24th right?"
Anyway the Book of Mormon lesson went really well, he really liked how when you
read, and when you really study it "the spirit really carries it to your heart!"
He is gold, and Elder McConkie and I really hope this will help bring Yoke back as well.
Sister Nam is the Bomb right now. She has really done an incredible job in
helping us coordinate going to see Nat's family, and 2 nights ago, we went to see
his family, as well as another family in the same neighborhood that she knows, so
we had some double team action the other night, E. McConkie split off with
another priesthood holder to go see that family, and I went with Brother Nat to
teach his Uncle and Mom, and we now have 2 new daters, Uncle Ung and Mae On. It
was an interesting experience, because Nat told me before hand that they don't
understand Thai very well, only Isan(the Thai/lao dialect). So I just spoke to
them in Thai, and Nat translated things that they didn't understand into Isan.
The Uncle understood pretty well, and Nat and I taught about baptism, and they
both accepted a commitment for January 31st.
The District presidency paid a special visit to Yasothon this past Sunday. The Presidency is made up of men from Sisagate and Ubon. These guys are absolutely amazing! I can tell they really , really understand how to run a district. Well, I was a little embarrassed, because the meeting started, and there were more men from Sisagate and Ubon in our meeting than there were men from our own branch. 3 priesthood holders from Yasothon came in the morning, none of them dressed in Sunday clothing, and after sacrament meeting, all ran home or went to work. The District president leaned over to me at some point during the meeting and asked me, " were is everyone?" The meeting after church with the Presidency was interesting. They talked to President Tawan about this issue. They want to see more activity here, like fire sides, and priesthood holders doing their assignments. They are also going to have some talks with the councilors, and clerk about fulfilling their callings.
Well, This has been an incredible week. The district presidency really wants to
help Yasothon get back on track. This week we are in now is the last week of
the move. This has been a 5 week transfer, President Smith is in Burma/Myanmar
this week, there are a couple branches there that he has responsibility for, so
he is going to check on their progress. The ball is really starting to roll
here. Elder Jenkins called from Srinakarin in Bangkok this morning. his
companion, Elder Harmon in Chiang Rai is going home next week, so he was there
also with Elder Palmer, who is going home next week as well. They called and
I was so excited to tell E. Jenkins about all the stuff that is happening here.
I remember the last 2 moves going to Bangkok, and previous Yasothon missionaries
asking "so, how's Yasothon going? Whats new there?" and I really wouldn't have a
lot of good highlights, cause members were having problems, Priesthoog holders
weren't coming, we didn't have a lot of progressing investigators, but now it
doesn't have to be like that anymore. I can tell these guys that we have a sweet
teaching pool, new investigators, guys with dates, the district is gonna be
stepping in to help strengthen the leadership in the branch, members more than
ever are helping find and teach, and especially teach part member families. Oh
my Gosh! I dont wanna leave here!!! I need another move here. Pray that that
happens.
Weve had some really awesome studies lately, about effective study, teaching,
Elder McConkie's Thai is getting really good, My understanding has gone way up!
We've met some interesting people lately. Elder McConkie and I invited a guy who
was out selling water purifier equipment. He told us he has died three times
and come back to life three times. How he came back to life, we are not sure
how, but he told us that the first time he had been shot, the second time was in
a car wreck(he had this crazy scar up the side of his face), and the third time
was a natural death. he told us that one of those times, he went to hell, and
the devil asked him, "What are you doing here?!" and he sent him back. Woah!
Well i am really excited to talk to you guys in 2 weeks
God Speed!!!
11/25/09 "Whoa, You San Speak Thai?!"
Hey Family,
Where do I begin about this past week? We went to Warin Friday night and stayed
at the house in Warin. Saturday morning we had our mission zone conference,
in which the Asia Area Presidency from Hong Kong, consisting of Elder Pratt of
the Quorum of the Seventy, and one of his councilors, Elder Stanley Wan, attended and presented trainin. They are amazing men, and it was really great at the district conference the next day as well! All the branches in the Ubon district, Ubon,Yasothon,Sisagate,Buridam, Surin attended. I was kind of sad, because there was a special meeting for new members after the first meeting, and all these areas had recent converts stand up and bear testimonies, and I'll never forget the testimony of a young girl from Sisagate, I was listening to her bear her testimony, and I am serious, I knew that she absolutely new this gospel was true. And it hit me, "I WANT TO SEE MEMBERS AND INVESTIGATORS HAVE A TESTIMONY LIKE THIS GIRL!!!" I was sad, because these areas each had 5 or 6 recent converts and families.
Yasothon, had only 2 women who were recently baptized come, and it great,
butit seems like there are alot of people in Yasothon who are slowly falling away,
We have really buckled down in our finding efforts. On Saturday, Elder
MCConkie and I talked to President Smith. Basically, what's going
down in the mission right now is that Church leaders all over Thailand,
Bishops, District leaders, Branch Presidents, Ward mission leaders, have just
received training on how to organize member missionary work, which will get
members involved in finding friends and families that will be interested in
learning. The mission president and church leaders did training sessions with
branch leaders on Saturday to prepare the church in Thailand on how to do this.
This is going to be how it is from now on. Members working to find, and
missionaries teach. This is going to really increase the progression of the
church in this country. So anyway, what I was saying was that President Smith wants us to right now just focus on our 5 family list, and our personal finding efforts.
We talked to him about how were going and seeing all these less actives on a weekly
basis( we had a big list of guys), but he wants us to just work on our finding
efforts. And found some way cool guys yesterday.
Man, i really like inviting upbeat energetic people. So yesterday, we met a guy at a fruit store, and he was really excited to talk to us, ("Whoa you can speak Thai! very good very good! It takes white people years to speak like that whoa!") and we started talking to him about what we teach, and he says, "Oh yeah I like to study, I
study about history, maps, religion..." and he wants us to come back and speak
with him more, his name is Noy, and I cant wait to see this guy again. Later was
a guy named Wirasak, and he was the same way, he was like "oohhh very good, you
can speak Thai? whoa, it takes white people forever to speak like that! ooohhh
very good!" and we talked about what we came to do, and he says, "oh yes come
back I want to keep talking to you guys, oooh very good!" I love finding people
like this.
A while back An 18 year old in the branch (our congregation) came up to me and asked me what does he need to do to go on a mission. So, last week we sat down with him and started teaching him how to teach the first lesson, and he was really into it. The next time we sat down with him, we did a role play, and it was sweet! He doesn't live at the house, his mom and sister live on the other side of town, but apparently on Sunday night, Nad and a woman in the branch who is a member of the church went to visit his mom and sister at their house. He said they had
an incredible discussion about religion, and apparently they are both interested in
learning now about the church now. Whoa!
Next, Elder Jenkins and I found a less active member of the church during the last move who owns a photo shop in town. His name is Yoke, and he's a really great guy! He's started to come to the English classes wee teach with his 2 kids. We've started seeing him regularly. We went to see him last week and he was out of the shop, but his Dad (who isn't a member of the church) was there! He said, "Oh I really like the Elders, yes i like studying, I want you to come
back and teach me more!" Great! So we worked it out with Yoke to come see them
both, and last night we met with both Yoke and PawGaow(his dad), and taught
about the Book of Mormon and as we were sitting here, it was a sweet father son
moment, Paw Gaow was explaining to Yoke how God works and and has all power,
and it was so cool! and we have a return appointment for Friday with PawGaow
and Yoke.
Next is Sister Nam and her dad, she told us last week that her dad is
interested in learning. Thats really exciting! So this will be a great adventure,
We now have several partial families to work with. That will be great because
the members can really help get their non-member families learning, and that's
what we really want to see in this branch, is member families.
Elder McConkie and I had a sweet experience at about 9:00 last night. We
stopped at a store to get some food, and some guys were sitting out front. Elder
McConkie started to talk to some guys about the Book of Mormon, and I started to
talk to a guy who was selling Buddhist amulets at this table. He and I started
talking, I introduce myself, where I'm from, all that, and then we started
talking about the Plan of Salvation, and for the next 20 minutes, we had a sweet
discussion about the Plan of Salvation. He was really into it. When I got to
resurrection, he's like, yeah I wanna know about this,keep going, so I told him
about how our bodies and our spirits will be reunited, and that this has to
happen before judgement. I then talked about the 3 degrees of glory, and how our
goal in this life is to try to get there, the celestial kingdom, to be with God again, with our families, and have happiness, forever.
There was a small pause, and he was like, "yeah, that's my goal too, I want to
go there." Wow! So, he invited us back to see him again, along with the
other guys that Elder McConkie invited as well.
Stellar week so far. Use the scriptures, open your mouth and talk to people.
Speak.
Thanks for all of your support,
I gotta go. Thanks guys. I love you!
-Elder Schulte
Where do I begin about this past week? We went to Warin Friday night and stayed
at the house in Warin. Saturday morning we had our mission zone conference,
in which the Asia Area Presidency from Hong Kong, consisting of Elder Pratt of
the Quorum of the Seventy, and one of his councilors, Elder Stanley Wan, attended and presented trainin. They are amazing men, and it was really great at the district conference the next day as well! All the branches in the Ubon district, Ubon,Yasothon,Sisagate,Buridam, Surin attended. I was kind of sad, because there was a special meeting for new members after the first meeting, and all these areas had recent converts stand up and bear testimonies, and I'll never forget the testimony of a young girl from Sisagate, I was listening to her bear her testimony, and I am serious, I knew that she absolutely new this gospel was true. And it hit me, "I WANT TO SEE MEMBERS AND INVESTIGATORS HAVE A TESTIMONY LIKE THIS GIRL!!!" I was sad, because these areas each had 5 or 6 recent converts and families.
Yasothon, had only 2 women who were recently baptized come, and it great,
butit seems like there are alot of people in Yasothon who are slowly falling away,
We have really buckled down in our finding efforts. On Saturday, Elder
MCConkie and I talked to President Smith. Basically, what's going
down in the mission right now is that Church leaders all over Thailand,
Bishops, District leaders, Branch Presidents, Ward mission leaders, have just
received training on how to organize member missionary work, which will get
members involved in finding friends and families that will be interested in
learning. The mission president and church leaders did training sessions with
branch leaders on Saturday to prepare the church in Thailand on how to do this.
This is going to be how it is from now on. Members working to find, and
missionaries teach. This is going to really increase the progression of the
church in this country. So anyway, what I was saying was that President Smith wants us to right now just focus on our 5 family list, and our personal finding efforts.
We talked to him about how were going and seeing all these less actives on a weekly
basis( we had a big list of guys), but he wants us to just work on our finding
efforts. And found some way cool guys yesterday.
Man, i really like inviting upbeat energetic people. So yesterday, we met a guy at a fruit store, and he was really excited to talk to us, ("Whoa you can speak Thai! very good very good! It takes white people years to speak like that whoa!") and we started talking to him about what we teach, and he says, "Oh yeah I like to study, I
study about history, maps, religion..." and he wants us to come back and speak
with him more, his name is Noy, and I cant wait to see this guy again. Later was
a guy named Wirasak, and he was the same way, he was like "oohhh very good, you
can speak Thai? whoa, it takes white people forever to speak like that! ooohhh
very good!" and we talked about what we came to do, and he says, "oh yes come
back I want to keep talking to you guys, oooh very good!" I love finding people
like this.
A while back An 18 year old in the branch (our congregation) came up to me and asked me what does he need to do to go on a mission. So, last week we sat down with him and started teaching him how to teach the first lesson, and he was really into it. The next time we sat down with him, we did a role play, and it was sweet! He doesn't live at the house, his mom and sister live on the other side of town, but apparently on Sunday night, Nad and a woman in the branch who is a member of the church went to visit his mom and sister at their house. He said they had
an incredible discussion about religion, and apparently they are both interested in
learning now about the church now. Whoa!
Next, Elder Jenkins and I found a less active member of the church during the last move who owns a photo shop in town. His name is Yoke, and he's a really great guy! He's started to come to the English classes wee teach with his 2 kids. We've started seeing him regularly. We went to see him last week and he was out of the shop, but his Dad (who isn't a member of the church) was there! He said, "Oh I really like the Elders, yes i like studying, I want you to come
back and teach me more!" Great! So we worked it out with Yoke to come see them
both, and last night we met with both Yoke and PawGaow(his dad), and taught
about the Book of Mormon and as we were sitting here, it was a sweet father son
moment, Paw Gaow was explaining to Yoke how God works and and has all power,
and it was so cool! and we have a return appointment for Friday with PawGaow
and Yoke.
Next is Sister Nam and her dad, she told us last week that her dad is
interested in learning. Thats really exciting! So this will be a great adventure,
We now have several partial families to work with. That will be great because
the members can really help get their non-member families learning, and that's
what we really want to see in this branch, is member families.
Elder McConkie and I had a sweet experience at about 9:00 last night. We
stopped at a store to get some food, and some guys were sitting out front. Elder
McConkie started to talk to some guys about the Book of Mormon, and I started to
talk to a guy who was selling Buddhist amulets at this table. He and I started
talking, I introduce myself, where I'm from, all that, and then we started
talking about the Plan of Salvation, and for the next 20 minutes, we had a sweet
discussion about the Plan of Salvation. He was really into it. When I got to
resurrection, he's like, yeah I wanna know about this,keep going, so I told him
about how our bodies and our spirits will be reunited, and that this has to
happen before judgement. I then talked about the 3 degrees of glory, and how our
goal in this life is to try to get there, the celestial kingdom, to be with God again, with our families, and have happiness, forever.
There was a small pause, and he was like, "yeah, that's my goal too, I want to
go there." Wow! So, he invited us back to see him again, along with the
other guys that Elder McConkie invited as well.
Stellar week so far. Use the scriptures, open your mouth and talk to people.
Speak.
Thanks for all of your support,
I gotta go. Thanks guys. I love you!
-Elder Schulte
11/18/09 It's Getting Cold?!
Hey Family,
We are back in Yasothon, after the moves meeting last week. We went to Ubon on
Wednesday, and got on a train later that night, and woke up as we pulled into
Bangkok, the moves meeting was great, Elder Jenkins moved to the most northern
part of Thailand, Chaing-Rai, and my new companion is Elder Daniel McConkie, the
grandson of Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the 12(no, seriously).
We've hit it off pretty well. He's a really hard worker, in his 3rd move, and
these last 5 days have been some of the best I've had so far in my mission.
I'm actually going to be sending you a written letter and a voice
recording to explain why. So expect that pretty soon, as well as some Christmas
gifts for each of you. But, wow, its been amazing, these last few days we have
really worked hard, and the Spirit has been leading us so much throughout the
days. We have gotten a lot of stuff done lately and it feels really good. Its
been neat to work with the Branch President. We are really trying to keep up the
trust relationship, by doing everything he asks and getting things done on time,
and that's been really good.
There is a conference this weekend in Ubon. We are leaving for Ubon Friday night, and the mission zone conference will be Saturday morning, and then the district conference for members will be held Sunday morning. We have a window of opportunity to come back to Yasothon and work after zone conference on Saturday evening, and then just get a ride on the big truck that members use to ride up to Ubon from Yaso on Sunday morning
Ive been really excited to get outside and work these last few days, we have 2 new investigators since last week. We've seen a lot of priesthood holders that are less active, who we are trying to bring back into activity. Oh man, this just keeps going, and these past 2 days we've had some really incredible experiences. (Seriously, stay tuned for that recording. I'd rather tell this than write it).
These last few days have been a really awesome opportunity to really step up as
senior missionary, Its been great to help E. McConkie with language, how to do
general missionary stuff,and get around. I was worried for a while, that when I
would get to this point in the mission, would I know how to do this stuff and be
able to explain things, but now I'm not worried at all. I know how to get around,
and its been cool as I've been showing E.McConkie the ropes of the area, I
realized, I do know how to do this stuff! Well this is great, E. McConkie is a
blast! Man, this is the best mission in the world, and these Thai people are
awesome!
Hey its getting cold! I'm serious! When we got done with work last night, we went
to eat at a foodrawn outside the house, and it was cold. Elder McConkie wasnt cold,
because he hasn't been in the country very long, but it was really windy last night,
and these Thai people were all bundled up in winter jackets...and I was wishing
I had one at that moment!!! But, we got inside and were okay after that.
Thailand is a fun country. The train ride back was nice, we awoke a little
while before pulling in to the Warin train station to a woman walking down the
aisle selling chicken and sticky rice for breakfast. So delicious!
Thai people ask a lot of weird questions, remind me to tell you after the
mission, this isn't a good time...
Well, time to go. Thanks for all your support and letters. Keep them coming!
-Elder Schulte
We are back in Yasothon, after the moves meeting last week. We went to Ubon on
Wednesday, and got on a train later that night, and woke up as we pulled into
Bangkok, the moves meeting was great, Elder Jenkins moved to the most northern
part of Thailand, Chaing-Rai, and my new companion is Elder Daniel McConkie, the
grandson of Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the 12(no, seriously).
We've hit it off pretty well. He's a really hard worker, in his 3rd move, and
these last 5 days have been some of the best I've had so far in my mission.
I'm actually going to be sending you a written letter and a voice
recording to explain why. So expect that pretty soon, as well as some Christmas
gifts for each of you. But, wow, its been amazing, these last few days we have
really worked hard, and the Spirit has been leading us so much throughout the
days. We have gotten a lot of stuff done lately and it feels really good. Its
been neat to work with the Branch President. We are really trying to keep up the
trust relationship, by doing everything he asks and getting things done on time,
and that's been really good.
There is a conference this weekend in Ubon. We are leaving for Ubon Friday night, and the mission zone conference will be Saturday morning, and then the district conference for members will be held Sunday morning. We have a window of opportunity to come back to Yasothon and work after zone conference on Saturday evening, and then just get a ride on the big truck that members use to ride up to Ubon from Yaso on Sunday morning
Ive been really excited to get outside and work these last few days, we have 2 new investigators since last week. We've seen a lot of priesthood holders that are less active, who we are trying to bring back into activity. Oh man, this just keeps going, and these past 2 days we've had some really incredible experiences. (Seriously, stay tuned for that recording. I'd rather tell this than write it).
These last few days have been a really awesome opportunity to really step up as
senior missionary, Its been great to help E. McConkie with language, how to do
general missionary stuff,and get around. I was worried for a while, that when I
would get to this point in the mission, would I know how to do this stuff and be
able to explain things, but now I'm not worried at all. I know how to get around,
and its been cool as I've been showing E.McConkie the ropes of the area, I
realized, I do know how to do this stuff! Well this is great, E. McConkie is a
blast! Man, this is the best mission in the world, and these Thai people are
awesome!
Hey its getting cold! I'm serious! When we got done with work last night, we went
to eat at a foodrawn outside the house, and it was cold. Elder McConkie wasnt cold,
because he hasn't been in the country very long, but it was really windy last night,
and these Thai people were all bundled up in winter jackets...and I was wishing
I had one at that moment!!! But, we got inside and were okay after that.
Thailand is a fun country. The train ride back was nice, we awoke a little
while before pulling in to the Warin train station to a woman walking down the
aisle selling chicken and sticky rice for breakfast. So delicious!
Thai people ask a lot of weird questions, remind me to tell you after the
mission, this isn't a good time...
Well, time to go. Thanks for all your support and letters. Keep them coming!
-Elder Schulte
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Heading to Bangkok for Moves 11/11/09
Hey family!
We are in Ubon today, Elder Jenkins is moving from Yasothon, so we packed up all his stuff, got on the back of a truck and hauled it all down to Ubon because we are going to get on a train tonight, you know the drill!
Its been a really great time with Elder Jenkins in Yaso, and a lot of changes are happening in the mission. No special calls for me on Tuesday, just that E. Jenkins was leaving, so I will be back on Friday (in Yaso) with a new companion. The members are all anxious to see who it is! A big group is leaving (heading back to the states) this moves, along with some people leaving early from the next group. I enjoyed the article you sent about the Thai group that came in. I know one of those sisters from Ubon, its really cool to see members you know become missionaries! When I was in Bangna, there was a Thai sister in my district, and when I came to Ubon, she had just finished her mission and moved home to Ubon! Small world huh!
Well anyway, this Thai group is really awesome.
We have a few hours before we get on the train, so I am going to write some letters, and answer those questions! Riding on the truck coming here today was really cool. This region looks amazing during this season. Farmers are out gathering up rice, especially for the next 2 months or so, and someone we know who works at the food market next to the city hall asked us last night if we wanted to go try gathering rice sometime. I've wanted to do that for a while, so when I come back with my new companion, we’re gonna go do that. When I was in Ubon with Elder Volk, we got to go transplant rice crops, which means you take the grown rice plant and transfer them to another area of the field. Way fun! Rice is a big deal here, a ton of people I've talked to lately have been like “yeah, Im going to work out in the fields, it’s the big harvest of the year!”
Have you guys ever read “Articles of Faith” by James E. Talmage? Great book!
Well. I’ll go ahead and try to answer some of your questions. Yeah, we ride bikes pretty much everywhere; to members houses, our area covers the city and basically this entire jungwat, but we are not able to go super far, so we work mostly in the city and in the surounding area outside of the city.
We ride on the left side of the road. That’s how driving works in Thailand, and people drive cars that have the steering wheel on the right side. The city is kinda small, there is some modern stuff. You can hear the sounds of loud cars and motorcycles (people really like to soup up the vehicles here). Its sometimes smelly in the city, outside of the city is kinda quiet, especially out at the cemetery, and the Branch President's farm. Hey, a ton of Thai students came in. This pace is getting really busy, so I'm gonna have to go here pretty soon, so I will print out the email ,and answer the rest of these questions in a letter. Love you all!
Take care guys!
-Elder Schulte
We are in Ubon today, Elder Jenkins is moving from Yasothon, so we packed up all his stuff, got on the back of a truck and hauled it all down to Ubon because we are going to get on a train tonight, you know the drill!
Its been a really great time with Elder Jenkins in Yaso, and a lot of changes are happening in the mission. No special calls for me on Tuesday, just that E. Jenkins was leaving, so I will be back on Friday (in Yaso) with a new companion. The members are all anxious to see who it is! A big group is leaving (heading back to the states) this moves, along with some people leaving early from the next group. I enjoyed the article you sent about the Thai group that came in. I know one of those sisters from Ubon, its really cool to see members you know become missionaries! When I was in Bangna, there was a Thai sister in my district, and when I came to Ubon, she had just finished her mission and moved home to Ubon! Small world huh!
Well anyway, this Thai group is really awesome.
We have a few hours before we get on the train, so I am going to write some letters, and answer those questions! Riding on the truck coming here today was really cool. This region looks amazing during this season. Farmers are out gathering up rice, especially for the next 2 months or so, and someone we know who works at the food market next to the city hall asked us last night if we wanted to go try gathering rice sometime. I've wanted to do that for a while, so when I come back with my new companion, we’re gonna go do that. When I was in Ubon with Elder Volk, we got to go transplant rice crops, which means you take the grown rice plant and transfer them to another area of the field. Way fun! Rice is a big deal here, a ton of people I've talked to lately have been like “yeah, Im going to work out in the fields, it’s the big harvest of the year!”
Have you guys ever read “Articles of Faith” by James E. Talmage? Great book!
Well. I’ll go ahead and try to answer some of your questions. Yeah, we ride bikes pretty much everywhere; to members houses, our area covers the city and basically this entire jungwat, but we are not able to go super far, so we work mostly in the city and in the surounding area outside of the city.
We ride on the left side of the road. That’s how driving works in Thailand, and people drive cars that have the steering wheel on the right side. The city is kinda small, there is some modern stuff. You can hear the sounds of loud cars and motorcycles (people really like to soup up the vehicles here). Its sometimes smelly in the city, outside of the city is kinda quiet, especially out at the cemetery, and the Branch President's farm. Hey, a ton of Thai students came in. This pace is getting really busy, so I'm gonna have to go here pretty soon, so I will print out the email ,and answer the rest of these questions in a letter. Love you all!
Take care guys!
-Elder Schulte
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
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
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
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
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
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
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