Hey!
Things are fine as usual. I'm in the same area. This is my last area, and I got a new companion, a Thai companion, finally! His name is Elde Chai-ah-wat, and he is from Nonthaburi, and has been in the mission for a little while. Its been great to work with him these last several days, I finally get a comp who I can speak nothing but Thai to, yeah! Anyway, these last several days have been interesting. I didn't get to go to moves, but that's okay, the zone leaders brought my new comp back here. The moves meeting was supposed to be on Friday, and we were supposed to go down to Bangkok early, early Friday morning. On Wednesday night the zone leaders called and said, "hey you need to get to Kongaen, to get on a bus ASAP!!!" Agh! Elder Martin hadn't packed yet because we thought it would be on Friday. President smith had moved the meeting to Thursday at the last minute. We raced home from the church, packed, had the Branch president take us in a truck over to Kongaen, and spent the night there. The next morning, the movers (the missionaries who were changing places) went down to Bangkok, and I spent a day in Galasin with Elder Evans until everyone got back. Everything worked out.
We had to let some people (investigators) go this week, and we will be letting those 2 boys with the weapons go for sure. Teaching has been really great these last few days. I have really enjoyed teaching with Elder Chai-ah-wat. He is a hard worker, and he's a really normal guy. He's really cool. He has been a member of the church for about 4 years and is the only member in his family. His mom is Thai and his dad is Chinese. He has been in the mission for about 9 months, He has a great understanding of the gospel. I have definitely learned a lot from him in these last 3 days, as far as language, and watching how he teaches. Sweet!
So hey, today we are going to go look for a Pin, it is a Thai musical instrument, that looks like a guitar, but is small and has three strings. It has a really awesome sound. We are going to go look for one today. That's really awesome that James is learning to drive, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMES!!!! Holy cow, you are 16? Wow! Yeah, the Soccer championship in South Africa is a big deal here, but I'm not sure who is playing who. Thanks for filling me in on things. Hey, this a really awesome branch. I am really impressed with the Branch President, the councilors, and a lot of people here. There are a lot of awesome families. This is a very great branch to be in, and the members are very close, and really work together. The branch council is great, and are really good at getting home and visiting teaching done. Because of their efforts there were 106 people at church 2 weeks ago. This past Sunday attendance wasn't as high because some regulars were gone this week. People get stuff done here, and its great! Hey, I have to go, but thanks for everything. Man I wish you guys could come here and see this place! This country is really great, and the people are awesome! Take care guys!
-Elder Schulte
Monday, June 14, 2010
Back to the Rainy Season 6/7/10
Hey Guys,
This is the last week of this move, and I am going into my last transfer. This week is the moves meeting. It has been an interesting moves (6 weeks). I really like being out in the Eesan again. Its been hot, and also we are starting to enter into the rainy season, so it has been raining once everyday, and raining hard. Fortunately it mostly rains during the study time, so no problem.
Hey I really enjoyed the graduation pictures. I recognized a lot of people there, a lot of Michael's friends, but the majority of Michael's class I didn't recognize! Anyway, it looks like you guys had a great time, Mike, you've turned out to be a really awesome guy! You already were, but I am really proud. Seriously, I've been telling a lot of people this week, "Hey, my brother just graduated!" I looked back on this week, and there were definitely a lot of things that could have gone better. The week was fine, but teaching people could be better, meaning, teaching people, not lessons. When I say that, I mean teaching in a way that the restored gospel helps people. I looked back on this past week, and realized that that could be a lot better. Pray for my companion and me that we might be able to do this.
Thanks for all your support! I got moms letter last week, but I haven't gotten the birthday package yet. When I go to Bangkok this week, I will look for it.
Hey next week, I am going to look for a Pin, a special Thai guitar that has three strings, and I'm going to ship it home.
Love.
-elder schulte
This is the last week of this move, and I am going into my last transfer. This week is the moves meeting. It has been an interesting moves (6 weeks). I really like being out in the Eesan again. Its been hot, and also we are starting to enter into the rainy season, so it has been raining once everyday, and raining hard. Fortunately it mostly rains during the study time, so no problem.
Hey I really enjoyed the graduation pictures. I recognized a lot of people there, a lot of Michael's friends, but the majority of Michael's class I didn't recognize! Anyway, it looks like you guys had a great time, Mike, you've turned out to be a really awesome guy! You already were, but I am really proud. Seriously, I've been telling a lot of people this week, "Hey, my brother just graduated!" I looked back on this week, and there were definitely a lot of things that could have gone better. The week was fine, but teaching people could be better, meaning, teaching people, not lessons. When I say that, I mean teaching in a way that the restored gospel helps people. I looked back on this past week, and realized that that could be a lot better. Pray for my companion and me that we might be able to do this.
Thanks for all your support! I got moms letter last week, but I haven't gotten the birthday package yet. When I go to Bangkok this week, I will look for it.
Hey next week, I am going to look for a Pin, a special Thai guitar that has three strings, and I'm going to ship it home.
Love.
-elder schulte
What the Heck?! 5/30/10
Hey guys,
Wow Mike, congratulations! Oh my gosh, you just graduated!
Hey as far as this past week, there was some fun stuff, We went to Kongaen and watched a special broadcast for missionaries. A member of the Seventy, Elder Hallstrom and his wife came to Thailand. They held a special conference which was broadcast out of Bangkok, and was broadcast all over the country and also other countries that are part of the Asia area. Afterward he held a Q and A session, and the Bangkok zones got to sit in on the session. Later that week we went back to Kongaen and had our zone conference. President Smith talked about the broadcast, and talked about how it was an absolute miracle that this conference, and several others took place. We only saw the one that Elder Hallstrom hosted, but there were several others that involved trainings for bishops and branch leaders across the country. This is the first time in the history of the church in Thailand that there have been four General Authorities in the country at the same time. One of the other ones was Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the 12, who gave training to the leaders. The miracle was that 2 weeks ago, the violence in Bangkok was really heated. The leaders were getting very worried that it would be bad enough that the authorities would not be able to come. President Smith said that the headquarters decide to go ahead and send them. The day that Elder Hallstrom arrived, there was peace and tranquility. The violence had stopped. "Because" as president Smith said, "this session had to happen, these messengers of God had to be here, and nothing would stop that from happening." Anyway, that was a really cool thing. Things weren't as bad as the news was portraying it, but it was still making President Smith and others worried.
As far as this week, its been interesting. Some of our investigators are starting to get kinda sketchy. The one from last week that lived in Austria, we're going to have to let go. Another two(on Sunday) showed up to sacrament meeting, were both way noisy, and then after sacrament they left and dissappeared for the second and third hours. Then, after church, we found them in a room just kinda "hangin out", and they had brought realistic looking airsoft guns and a military bullet proof vest(what the heck?!) So...we had a little talk with them, and made sure that doesn't happen again. Anyway, my time is running out. take care, bye! Elder Schulte
p.s. Congratulations, Mike!
Wow Mike, congratulations! Oh my gosh, you just graduated!
Hey as far as this past week, there was some fun stuff, We went to Kongaen and watched a special broadcast for missionaries. A member of the Seventy, Elder Hallstrom and his wife came to Thailand. They held a special conference which was broadcast out of Bangkok, and was broadcast all over the country and also other countries that are part of the Asia area. Afterward he held a Q and A session, and the Bangkok zones got to sit in on the session. Later that week we went back to Kongaen and had our zone conference. President Smith talked about the broadcast, and talked about how it was an absolute miracle that this conference, and several others took place. We only saw the one that Elder Hallstrom hosted, but there were several others that involved trainings for bishops and branch leaders across the country. This is the first time in the history of the church in Thailand that there have been four General Authorities in the country at the same time. One of the other ones was Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the 12, who gave training to the leaders. The miracle was that 2 weeks ago, the violence in Bangkok was really heated. The leaders were getting very worried that it would be bad enough that the authorities would not be able to come. President Smith said that the headquarters decide to go ahead and send them. The day that Elder Hallstrom arrived, there was peace and tranquility. The violence had stopped. "Because" as president Smith said, "this session had to happen, these messengers of God had to be here, and nothing would stop that from happening." Anyway, that was a really cool thing. Things weren't as bad as the news was portraying it, but it was still making President Smith and others worried.
As far as this week, its been interesting. Some of our investigators are starting to get kinda sketchy. The one from last week that lived in Austria, we're going to have to let go. Another two(on Sunday) showed up to sacrament meeting, were both way noisy, and then after sacrament they left and dissappeared for the second and third hours. Then, after church, we found them in a room just kinda "hangin out", and they had brought realistic looking airsoft guns and a military bullet proof vest(what the heck?!) So...we had a little talk with them, and made sure that doesn't happen again. Anyway, my time is running out. take care, bye! Elder Schulte
p.s. Congratulations, Mike!
Monday, May 24, 2010
Aftermath of the Red Shirts 5/24/10
Hey Guys,
We had a lock down one day this past week. Apart from all the stuff that happened in Bangkok (which was absolutely ridiculous by the way), the red shirts managed to burn down several goverment buildings through out the Isan, including Ubon, Sisagate, Kongaen, Mahasarakam, and there was a warning for our area, Roiet, as well, but the army stopped anything from happening. The sister missionaries gave me a big scare as well. They were supposed to go to Udon, a city about 6 hours north of here, and switch off with some other sisters. Well, they told me the night before, but they weren't sure when they were going to leave. On the day that they were going to leave, I had been trying to call them since the morning, but they didn't answer their phone. Then (Wednesday) at about 1:00 the zone leaders called to tell us that the red shirts were going to burn down the building in Udon, so I was supposed to cancel the sister's switch off. I couldn't get in touch with them, so we decide to race over to their house and see if they had left yet. We got to their house and their door was locked, their bikes were chained up, and the gate was locked. Oh No! It just kept getting worse! I called the zone leaders back, and told him to stop them if they got to Kongaen first. The next little while involved racing to the bus station to see if they had left, and finally they answered their cell phone and were like "oh no, we were just teaching, we decided to walk" Oh My Gosh!!! Well, the zone called back during that scramble and said the mission had ordered everyone to get in their houses, and stay there the rest of the day. Everything was fine after that.
I seriously still can't tell that anything is going on. There really are no signs, other than stuff from news reports and people on the streets, but it sounds like the government is really cracking down on this, and the worst of it is over. Thank goodness! We have been out working like normal, and had a great week.
Right now we are in Kongaen after watching a special broadcast from Bangkok, of Elder Hallstrom. I will tell you more about it next week, but anyway, we are fine. Things really weren't as bad as it seemed, but they really did do a lot of damage. Seeing the pictures in some newspapers around town here of the destruction really reminded me of all the pictures of 9/11. People here just want this thing to be over. Anyway, sorry, more spiritual stuff next week. We really had some awesome suprises this week, and a really great family that came to church. Finding new investigators has been going really well. Well, I have to go. Thanks for everything!
love -Elder Schulte
We had a lock down one day this past week. Apart from all the stuff that happened in Bangkok (which was absolutely ridiculous by the way), the red shirts managed to burn down several goverment buildings through out the Isan, including Ubon, Sisagate, Kongaen, Mahasarakam, and there was a warning for our area, Roiet, as well, but the army stopped anything from happening. The sister missionaries gave me a big scare as well. They were supposed to go to Udon, a city about 6 hours north of here, and switch off with some other sisters. Well, they told me the night before, but they weren't sure when they were going to leave. On the day that they were going to leave, I had been trying to call them since the morning, but they didn't answer their phone. Then (Wednesday) at about 1:00 the zone leaders called to tell us that the red shirts were going to burn down the building in Udon, so I was supposed to cancel the sister's switch off. I couldn't get in touch with them, so we decide to race over to their house and see if they had left yet. We got to their house and their door was locked, their bikes were chained up, and the gate was locked. Oh No! It just kept getting worse! I called the zone leaders back, and told him to stop them if they got to Kongaen first. The next little while involved racing to the bus station to see if they had left, and finally they answered their cell phone and were like "oh no, we were just teaching, we decided to walk" Oh My Gosh!!! Well, the zone called back during that scramble and said the mission had ordered everyone to get in their houses, and stay there the rest of the day. Everything was fine after that.
I seriously still can't tell that anything is going on. There really are no signs, other than stuff from news reports and people on the streets, but it sounds like the government is really cracking down on this, and the worst of it is over. Thank goodness! We have been out working like normal, and had a great week.
Right now we are in Kongaen after watching a special broadcast from Bangkok, of Elder Hallstrom. I will tell you more about it next week, but anyway, we are fine. Things really weren't as bad as it seemed, but they really did do a lot of damage. Seeing the pictures in some newspapers around town here of the destruction really reminded me of all the pictures of 9/11. People here just want this thing to be over. Anyway, sorry, more spiritual stuff next week. We really had some awesome suprises this week, and a really great family that came to church. Finding new investigators has been going really well. Well, I have to go. Thanks for everything!
love -Elder Schulte
Monday, May 17, 2010
More Red Shirt Activity 5/17/10
Hey Guys,
About the Red Shirt activities... there are warnings for a lot of places outside of Bangkok...including Roiet where we are serving. We have to avoid a lot of public places, like government buildings here in town, and banks. We will be on alert. Just pray for us today.
Anyway,this past week was great. I was really glad to talk to you, for the last time here in Thailand, Wow! So you asked if members feed us. Yeah, actually the landlord and his wife are both members, and they feed us on Sunday nights, we actually live right next door to them . They are really nice ,and she makes great food. Everyone is officially back from the temple. There were about 30 people that went over these past two weeks, and that's way sweet. I'm really impressed with this branch. There were a lot of people at church this past weekend. Oh,and some investigators came. In fact, its really cool, there is a guy that we are teaching right now, and he came to church. This guy is awesome. He lived in Austria several years ago, on a foreign exchange program, and man he's been everywhere that we've been. He lived in Vienna, has been to Burgenland, Salzburg, and Innsbruck. Man, I just couldn't get enough of this. It was really awesome. He had a really good experience at church, and we are going to see him again and teach tonight. He is progressing a lot even though we've only taught him about 3 times, and all in this past week. His name is Nung.
Another guy that we are teaching is A, and he couldn't make it to church this weekend because he was stuck in Kongaen. He felt really bad because he couldn't get back in time, but I am also really impressed with him. We watched the Restoration DVD with him, and when we got done, I asked him" so do you have any questions about this?" and he sat for a minute, and said "Joseph Smith is pretty important, isn't he?" Yes sir.
I'm running out of time. Thanks for keeping me updated. I am still getting the "weekly Cape Cod" I have really enjoyed that. Grandma Linda is good at describing beautiful Cape Cod weather and scenery. Tell her I said that!
We will stay safe and be on the alert.
love- Elder Schulte
About the Red Shirt activities... there are warnings for a lot of places outside of Bangkok...including Roiet where we are serving. We have to avoid a lot of public places, like government buildings here in town, and banks. We will be on alert. Just pray for us today.
Anyway,this past week was great. I was really glad to talk to you, for the last time here in Thailand, Wow! So you asked if members feed us. Yeah, actually the landlord and his wife are both members, and they feed us on Sunday nights, we actually live right next door to them . They are really nice ,and she makes great food. Everyone is officially back from the temple. There were about 30 people that went over these past two weeks, and that's way sweet. I'm really impressed with this branch. There were a lot of people at church this past weekend. Oh,and some investigators came. In fact, its really cool, there is a guy that we are teaching right now, and he came to church. This guy is awesome. He lived in Austria several years ago, on a foreign exchange program, and man he's been everywhere that we've been. He lived in Vienna, has been to Burgenland, Salzburg, and Innsbruck. Man, I just couldn't get enough of this. It was really awesome. He had a really good experience at church, and we are going to see him again and teach tonight. He is progressing a lot even though we've only taught him about 3 times, and all in this past week. His name is Nung.
Another guy that we are teaching is A, and he couldn't make it to church this weekend because he was stuck in Kongaen. He felt really bad because he couldn't get back in time, but I am also really impressed with him. We watched the Restoration DVD with him, and when we got done, I asked him" so do you have any questions about this?" and he sat for a minute, and said "Joseph Smith is pretty important, isn't he?" Yes sir.
I'm running out of time. Thanks for keeping me updated. I am still getting the "weekly Cape Cod" I have really enjoyed that. Grandma Linda is good at describing beautiful Cape Cod weather and scenery. Tell her I said that!
We will stay safe and be on the alert.
love- Elder Schulte
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Moved! 5/3/10
Hey Guys,
I moved to "Roy-et". It's a jangwat back in the ee-san. It is next to Maha-sarakam and Kongaen, not too far from Yasothon where I served before. My New companion is Elder Martin. I am the district leader, and there are sisters in this district, Sisters Meyers and AmnuayChoge. Roy-et is a nice town. Alot smaller, quieter than my last area, and a really great branch(congregation). They had about 20 people go to the temple this weekend! That's awesome!
Moves meeting was great. I did meet Elder Larsen. (This is a grandson of a friend in our Kokomo Ward) He has a Thai companion for a trainer. It will be fun! His companion doesn't speak a lick of English, and Elder Larsen has only been in the country for about 5 days, so that will be interesting. He's a cool guy, we talked about his grandma. He's from out in Utah, and has been to Indiana, and has been to our ward a couple times. Anyway, I met Elder Martin (my new companion) for the first time when I got to Roy-et. His trainer finished his mission this week, and I am Elder Martins second companion. I was with Elder Jenkins's (my old companion) new companion for the rest of the moves day before we got on the train, and then we just went to Maha Sarakam first to switch companions. So Elder Brix and I just hung out with Elder Larsen and his new companion for a little while. It is kind of a funny companionship actually, His companion would say something in Thai to him, and he was like "uh, yeah!(what did he say guys?)"
So there is a lot to do here. I don't really get much of a preparation day as I have a lot of stuff to do today, and I'm still trying to unpack. Hey, we have a really nice house! I will send you pictures of this area very soon.
Love you all, Elder schulte
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my little sister, PAIGE!!!!!!!!!!!!
I moved to "Roy-et". It's a jangwat back in the ee-san. It is next to Maha-sarakam and Kongaen, not too far from Yasothon where I served before. My New companion is Elder Martin. I am the district leader, and there are sisters in this district, Sisters Meyers and AmnuayChoge. Roy-et is a nice town. Alot smaller, quieter than my last area, and a really great branch(congregation). They had about 20 people go to the temple this weekend! That's awesome!
Moves meeting was great. I did meet Elder Larsen. (This is a grandson of a friend in our Kokomo Ward) He has a Thai companion for a trainer. It will be fun! His companion doesn't speak a lick of English, and Elder Larsen has only been in the country for about 5 days, so that will be interesting. He's a cool guy, we talked about his grandma. He's from out in Utah, and has been to Indiana, and has been to our ward a couple times. Anyway, I met Elder Martin (my new companion) for the first time when I got to Roy-et. His trainer finished his mission this week, and I am Elder Martins second companion. I was with Elder Jenkins's (my old companion) new companion for the rest of the moves day before we got on the train, and then we just went to Maha Sarakam first to switch companions. So Elder Brix and I just hung out with Elder Larsen and his new companion for a little while. It is kind of a funny companionship actually, His companion would say something in Thai to him, and he was like "uh, yeah!(what did he say guys?)"
So there is a lot to do here. I don't really get much of a preparation day as I have a lot of stuff to do today, and I'm still trying to unpack. Hey, we have a really nice house! I will send you pictures of this area very soon.
Love you all, Elder schulte
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my little sister, PAIGE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Monday, April 26, 2010
4/26/10
Hey Guys!
Sorry, I'm writing kinda fast. Great week! We now have 3 guys with dates for June and July. I am way excited for these guys! Bog is coming along really well, and two others that we have been teaching for the last three weeks, are now preparing to enter the water. Sompong and Bird. These lessons were really great! I will tell you about them in my next written letter, coming soon. I can't tell you how excited I am for these 3 fine gentlemen. Way smart, hard workers. Please pray for them, that they may be able to overcome challenges, and be able to continue to work towards baptism. Sounds like you guys had a really crazy, great week. Yeah, Sompong told us about the volcano in Iceland, that's crazy!
To answer your question, Mom... For the birthday package you're sending, can you just put a bunch of snacks and stuff in it? Combos are really good, are you guys able to get macadamia nuts? Chex Mix, Gardettos, I have a lot of mac and cheese already,
Hey, so it was about 11:30 last night, and I was laying in bed, when there was a really freakin loud explosion not too far from our apartment, and then about 20 minutes later a big fleet of ambulances and police cars go flying by, holy cow. So this morning we were going out the door, and I asked one of the guards what happened. There was a little red shirt battle not far from the apartment, and someone fired an M-79 Rifle/ grenade launcher, wow, way loud. I guess that's not the first. This past week has been chaos in a lot of places. It was Wednesday when over in the See-Lome district, there was a big clash. The red shirts against the police, army, and as one person we talked to put it, "every other color in Bangkok!" I don't know, our side of the river seems to be really blessed, and I know it will stay that way. Anyway, no need to worry, we don't ever go over to see Lome, its in the other area, and it doesn't seem like during the daytime there is any action. I talked to the Zone leaders about this. Things will be alright. Anyway, I am actually running out of time. I may be moving this week. I'm not sure. Tommorrow we'll find out.
Love you guys,
Elder Schulte
Sorry, I'm writing kinda fast. Great week! We now have 3 guys with dates for June and July. I am way excited for these guys! Bog is coming along really well, and two others that we have been teaching for the last three weeks, are now preparing to enter the water. Sompong and Bird. These lessons were really great! I will tell you about them in my next written letter, coming soon. I can't tell you how excited I am for these 3 fine gentlemen. Way smart, hard workers. Please pray for them, that they may be able to overcome challenges, and be able to continue to work towards baptism. Sounds like you guys had a really crazy, great week. Yeah, Sompong told us about the volcano in Iceland, that's crazy!
To answer your question, Mom... For the birthday package you're sending, can you just put a bunch of snacks and stuff in it? Combos are really good, are you guys able to get macadamia nuts? Chex Mix, Gardettos, I have a lot of mac and cheese already,
Hey, so it was about 11:30 last night, and I was laying in bed, when there was a really freakin loud explosion not too far from our apartment, and then about 20 minutes later a big fleet of ambulances and police cars go flying by, holy cow. So this morning we were going out the door, and I asked one of the guards what happened. There was a little red shirt battle not far from the apartment, and someone fired an M-79 Rifle/ grenade launcher, wow, way loud. I guess that's not the first. This past week has been chaos in a lot of places. It was Wednesday when over in the See-Lome district, there was a big clash. The red shirts against the police, army, and as one person we talked to put it, "every other color in Bangkok!" I don't know, our side of the river seems to be really blessed, and I know it will stay that way. Anyway, no need to worry, we don't ever go over to see Lome, its in the other area, and it doesn't seem like during the daytime there is any action. I talked to the Zone leaders about this. Things will be alright. Anyway, I am actually running out of time. I may be moving this week. I'm not sure. Tommorrow we'll find out.
Love you guys,
Elder Schulte
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