Merry Christmas

Hello!

Wow, time sure flies by around here. It is going to be Christmas on Saturday. That is pretty nuts. Not even close to feeling like it around here. Sunny and hot every day. We did have a day that was like 60 degrees or something. It was pretty crazy. Me and Elder Chapman wore our long sleeves shirts all day. I am going to die going back to the States in a year and a few months.

Monday: A swell day. Spent the day in Surin. Actually, from Sunday night until Thursday morning I was in Surin with Elder Campbell's greenie. That was fun. Unfortunately we did not get any lessons taught. It was rough.

Tuesday: We had a good District meeting from Elder Campbell. We watched some training videos that were really helpful. Ended up not teaching English because there was not anyone that came. According to Elder Mondragon (Elder Campbell's greenie) that has been happening lately. It was a fun day.

Wednesday: Still in Surin. We had planned to teach several lessons, but at the last minute they all cancelled on us. We tried to get out and teach some lessons and nothing came from it. What is great for Surin is that one of there families are getting baptized on the 24th of this month. It is so cool. Apparently they are a really cool group. They spent quite a bit of money and all the guys in the family went out and bought suits for Sundays. Way cool.

Thursday: Got back to Buriram in the morning to work in my own area. Funny story. On Wednesday, my companion totally crashed his bike. Well his bike is okay, bu he did a Superman slide across the road and really messed up the palms of his hands. Thing was he was riding downhill and with no hands...opps. That was then a 20 min bike ride to the hospital with 2 injured hands. All I can say is adrenaline rush. Oh and I was still in Surin. This happened on Wednesday. Although his left hand got the brunt of the rocks and such. His right hand was saved by the white handbook that somehow came out of his shirt and ended up in his hand. I call that divine help. It was pretty cool. The cover for the book is all messed up and it took a pretty big rock that would have gone into his hand. Oh well. Good times as a missionary. Taught a couple of lessons. One was like 5 minutes into proselyting. That was pretty cool. Really wants a Book of Mormon. Then taught our two people Deang and Own who are getting baptized on the 24th. They are pretty sweet for sure.

Friday: A good day as well. Taught a family on a return appointment. Then taught a Filipino family in English. That was pretty crazy. It is really weird having to teach in English. I have all the Thai words I want to use but then have to think of the English word instead. It was fun.

Saturday: Another okay day. We taught an Irish guy from England. Does business here and has a Thai wife as well. He was a really cool guy. Some one who I feel is ready for the gospel. He even said he prays and reads every now and then. It is quite funny. He is really scared of Buddhism so he is holding onto Christianity very hard. He told us at the end of the lesson, he could feel the Spirit coming from us and then the disappointing part. Said he was Methodist and doesn't need to change. It is okay. We planted a seed and knows who we are and what the Book of Mormon is all about. Taught our family Deang and Own again. Went over what the interview was going to be like.

Sunday: Well only one person at church. Own the 16 year old son of Deang came to church. It was good. I feel he enjoys the gospel and learning with us. But we did teach a lesson after church. Gave a book to that guy on Thursday. Pretty happy to have a book. That was the only lesson for the day. Then the Surin elders came again to interview Deang and her son.

That is all folks. Next I will be able to tell you about a baptism! :)

Love,
Elder Ackerman

Wow, these 6 weeks have gone by fast...

Hey One and All,

So this is the last week of the transfers, well really it is only half a week because everything changes on this Thursday. We find out tomorrow what is going to be happening. I am hoping I get to stay with Elder Leyva another moves. He is a way cool guy. But he has been here for 3 transfers already so probably not.

Monday: Well that was a cool day. We went to Surin for some sweet stuff. Saw some way cool stuff. Took some cool pictures around the city. Got to chill with the way cool Elder's in Surin. Elder Campbell made us a way good dinner. Some like Italian Pasta thing. It was very delicious.

Tuesday: Another good day. We had our weekly District Meeting and headed back to Buriram. We had a little time before English, but did not have much success. English was a sweet class. It is always way fun and I know that I say it every week. Oh well :) Taught our really cool family afterwards. They are way sweet. They are cousins. And one of them has a 16 year old son. They are way excited to be baptized in December.

Wednesday: A pretty good day. We got some lessons done. Taught our other people who are going to be baptized in December as well. Actually on the 11th. The husband is working on quiting smoking and he is doing really good. He quite drinking after 4 years of it. He quit by himself! It is way good. This week, or the next few days, he is going to be doing one cigarette. Actually, what Thai people do is buy the tobacco, and role their own joints. He rolls on and take one puff and throws it away. Lately he is doing that 2 times a day. He used to smoke 30 in one day. He is doing great! This change has been happening after receiving a blessing from the branch president and the first counselor. It is way sweet. Seeing someones life change in front of your eyes is very rewarding.

Thursday: Today, I had exchanges with our District Leader, Elder Campbell. The day was kind of a flop. We had time to find for a couple hours with no success. Got a referral from the branch president that happened to be 40 km from the city. We went not very smartly. The appointment fell through. So we spent 3 hours in a car. Darn it. Then we had time to eat, prep for Coordination meeting, and have the meeting. And our last appointment fell through because the investigator was sick. Oh well. There are days like this as a missionary.

Friday: Another flop day. We did our long planning for the week. Should have done it on Wednesday...but we had time to go out and work and we got nothing. Except for a lesson with the investigators who are going to be baptized on the 11th of December. It was a good lesson for sure.

Saturday: Another even worse day. No appointments and no lessons off of a find. A long day of a lot of walking around. It was way hard. It is hard to believe, but missionaries have bad days too :)

Sunday: A better day for sure. 3 lessons for the day. They turned out really good and we had an investigator go to church as well. It was the guy who is quiting smoking that I talked about. He likes church and is really making friends with the members. Then we had the Surin Elders come over for P-Day.

That is all for this week!

Elder Ackerman
เอ็ลเดอร์ แอ็คเคอร์มัน

Hey all!

Hey Everyone,

Well this week has been pretty cool. There is so much that happens around here. I can only tell so much!! Oh well.

Monday: Pretty sweet day. Did all the cool harvesting the rice and such. Then after I had sent my email, on the way home I got to feed an elephant! :) Yeah, it was way cool! Other than that, not too much. Just the normal everyday go out and find new people to teach.

Tuesday: The Elders from Surin came to Buriram again. Only a hour long bus ride between the cities. That is always fun. We have a great district! We all get along really well and have fun. Being a missionary is such a blessing. I am always glad to hear that I am not missing much back home.

Wednesday: Wow, this was a full day. We had 6 lessons planned, but only 3 of them went through. They all went really well. We have a family getting baptised on the 24th of December which is really cool. It would have been on the 25th, but the Branch is having an activity that evening. Oh well. Christmas Eve is just as good. This week has been really bad for finding new people to teach unfortunately.

Thursday: No work got done. It was a day of studying and traveling to Ubon for Zone Conference. It was fun. Elder Leyva and I got to stay in a hotel overnight. :) It was way nice and comfortable. A very good nights sleep for the both of us. Oh and had interviews with Pres Smith as well. The new Book of Mormon in Thai is out and for moves, President ordered all the missionaries a cheap triple combination. It is way sweet.

Friday: The fantastic Zone Conference. I always forget to bring my notes. We mainly talked about planning effectively and did some role playing for teaching as well. It was a great day. No work got done because of all the traveling. Oh well. There are days like this that happen.

Saturday: A day of a lot of walking around and not findng anyone. Taught only one lesson and that was at 800pm. Like I said, sometimes there are just really bad days.

Sunday: It was a better day. Taught 2 lessons right before rushing to the bus station to go to Surin for P-Day and District Meeting on Tuesday. Oh and it is the yearly really big Elephant festival in Surin :)

That is all folks!

Love,
Elder Ackerman
เอ็ลเดอร์ แอ็คเคอร์มัน

Rice Harvesting

Wow, fun week.

Hey Everyone!

Well I guess of with the start of this week. I am doing awesome here in Thailand. Perhaps it is way too much fun...

Monday: It was a relatively sweet Monday. Got all of our rest in for the day. Did the usual shopping as well. We went to a buffet for dinner where you cook the meat in front of you on top of coals. It was pretty sweet and tasted way good. Went and taught a lesson to Ang and An. It went really well. We taught the whole Plan of Salvation to them and they understood it all. It was way cool. They still really want to be baptized. It is way cool. Elder Leyva and I are way happy. Plus they are making great friends with the members of the branch.

Tuesday: The Elders from Surin came for our usual District Meeting once a week. It was way cool. We went and got pizza for lunch before going to the church to have the meeting. It was very good pizza. It is usually pretty expensive but we went for it. Was way fun. Had a good meeting and then went out finding and taught a couple lessons off of the find. It was really cool. Meet some sweet people. That is what I love about going out and walking around. You meet some very interesting people. Then we had the weekly English class. Always fun :) After that went and taught a way cool lesson to our other sweet family. They are doing way good and very excited about the gospel. I don't want to jinx it, but...they are pretty golden if you ask me :)

Wednesday: This was a pretty busy day I would say. We did a lot of inviting and a lot of traveling. It was good though. We taught Ang and An again. Doing good as usual. They really like having us and the members over. I don't think they have ever really been fellowshipped like this before and they really like it. It is great. Then I got to go to Surin for companionship exchanges :) That was very fun.

Thursday: Well the day in Surin was way fun. I got to be with another 3rd transfers missionary, a guy in Elder Leyva's group. Elder Ahlstrom. He is a way cool kid. He is in the Army Reserves and we talked a lot about going through Basic Training and all that. He has a lot of cool experiences. Helped teach some pretty cool lessons with there investigators. I guess I don't have much to talk about for that day.

Friday: Traveled Friday morning to go back to Buriram. Then we had our usual Long Planning for the week. Then went out and worked for the rest of the day. Taught a lesson with Ang and An again. We talked about having faith in Christ and An was like I already have faith in Him. It was way cool. Talked about having faith the be cleansed from sin and all that and tied it back into the Plan of Salvation. They really get it :) Then on the way home, the Branch President saw us while driving, picked us up and took us home. Saved like 20 minutes of bike riding. It was really cool.

Saturday: A pretty normal day. Taught two lessons after walking around for hours and not finding any success. Taught a lesson but found out they are not really interested at all, just being nice to white guys. Oh well. Then taught a way good lesson with Deng and Yaw. They are so good. They really want to go to church, and we set up to go help them harvest rice on Monday :)

Sunday: Only Deng was able to go to church because Yaw was stuck working out in the rice fields. It was way good and she made a lot of friends with the members. Oh and the new Thai Book of Mormon is out. That is way sweet. It is so cool. Finally an update from when it was printed back in the 70's. It is way cool. The members are excited too. Went out to find and not a lot of success. Taught a lesson with 6 people. All one big family. It was way cool. They are pretty interested I would say. Gave us some food to try. I now know that clam/oyster tastes terrible. Oh well.

Monday: Today was sweet. Went out to work in the rice fields!! It was way fun :) Our branch president took us out with a few other members to help gather the rice. It was great. The weather was really nice and there was a good breeze to keep us cool. Had lunch with them too and it was pretty delicious.

That is all for this week!

Elder Ackerman
เอ็ลเดอร์ แอ็คเคอร์มัน

Hey (written Oct 31, 2010) (I'm slow again)

Hey everyone!

Well so this week was pretty good I guess you could say. I will go right into it!

Monday: A pretty relaxing day around here in บุรีรัมย์. It is always so nice to wind down a little bit to rest and relax from a week to week. We did teach a lesson with a guy who used to work in the south at really nice hotels. He learned English by talking with white tourists and all. He is way good, but knows pretty much all slang. It is pretty funny. Then we grabbed a bus to go next door to สุรีนทร์ (Surin) for the night.

Tuesday: After sleeping the night in Surin we had our usual weekly District Meeting given by Elder Campbell, our fearless District Leader. It was good. Mainly just training on how to use the Area book effectively. I had made oatmeal no bakes on Monday, and I brought some of those to share with the other Elders. After a good 1 hour long bus ride home, we had time to go out and work before English. English was good as usual. 15 students which is much bigger than usual. That was way good. Then we went to go teach a short lesson at 830. It went really well. Elder Leyva and I are pretty pleased with them. They have been investigating Christianity and are really excited to learn with us and to go to church.

Wednesday: Our best day for the week. We went and taught 3 lessons. They went pretty well. We saw a new family and they are kind of in between whether or not to learn more with us. Then we saw another family who was just the same. Only a little frustrating. Then we had a sweet lesson with Ang and An. They are the closest to baptism and have a goal for on the 27th of this month. They are doing way good. This lesson was actually pretty funny. We were going to watch Finding Faith in Christ with them. We borrowed the churches DVD player, had the movie, were at the house and all set up ready to watch and go figure, we forgot the remote. Without the remote we couldn't change the settings to play it in Thai. Opps. That was annoying. So we did a quick of pulling a lesson out of nowhere. We taught about the life of Christ from Mosiah chapter 3. It went a lot better than expected. We were both really pleased with the lesson considering it was all on the fly :)

Thursday: Our usual day of planning. Then we went out to work. Taught one lesson with a recent convert and it went pretty well. We mainly have just been clarifying doctrine and answering questions. Then taught another lesson with a Christian investigator. I think I mentioned him earlier. Read the Book of Mormon over one night. We watched the Restoration with him and it is hard because the vocab in our church is different than in other churches. He is just getting way caught up on it. Although this next week we are going to try and give him a baptismal date to go for. He said in an earlier lesson that he wants to get baptised.

Friday: Ugh a pretty hard day I have to say. A long day of all inviting and nothing to show for it. We probably could have taught a few lessons off of the find but we weren't really feeling it. Later our zone leaders said that when ever we have a chance to teach a lesson, we need to take it. Since we are so young in the mission, it will be good practice. Then we taught Ang and An again. This time we actually did watch a movie, but we watch the Restoration instead. We felt it would better answer her question why are church is so different than all the others. It was good because we were able to testify about the Restoration of the Priesthood and we had some sweet members helping with the lesson. Ang and An get excited to have us over.

Saturday: A pretty bad day as well. We had to go to the hospital to get my last vaccination shot for rabies. That took a good 30 minutes. Then we went out to work. Taught a lesson off of the find, but that was our only success for the day. We got on a bus around 5pm to go to อุบล for District Conference. That was a fun 4 hour bus ride. A lot of sleeping :)

Sunday: We stayed the night in a very small house, packed with 8 people. That was the most uncomfortable night ever. Ugh. I slept on a skinny, very flat mat and a very small blanket. Thank goodness that Elder Leyva and I packed pillows. That made it a little better. So we went to District Conference and then went home. After waiting at the bus station for 2 hours and then another 4 hour bus ride back to บุรีรัมย์. We got home at 8pm when we go home usually on Sunday. Home in time to have a very small dinner. We forgot to get stuff on Saturday. Opps. But it was good. PB&J all the way!!

That was the summary for this week. I am doing fantastic!

Love you all

Elder Ackerman
เอ็ลเดอร์ แอ็คเคอร์มัน

Well, another sweet week has gone by...

Hey All!

Wow, the time can really fly by around here. Me and Elder Leyva have been having an awesome time.

Monday: A normal P-Day around here. We spent a lot of the time cleaning the house and throwing old stuff away. That was fun. Then we went out to do our normal proselyting. Pretty much we did not find anyone interested in learning more. Oh, well. There are days that are like that.

Tuesday: Went out to work in the morning and perhaps it was the most unsuccessful day of my mission. Only found one person the whole day who was maybe interested in learning more. Then we had our usual English class. It was fun. We only have like 10 students, but it is okay. Then we had to get on a bus to go to our neighbouring city, Surin, for our weekly District meeting.

Wednesday: Yeah, District Meeting. We had the Zone Leaders attend and they gave the lesson. It was really good. Then we had one of our zone leaders come with me and Elder Leyva and we returned to Buriram. We taught 2 lessons off of talking to some people right on the street and got a new investigator from it. It was a way sweet day and some good training from a zone leader.

Thursday: Another awesome day. Elder Fowles, one of our zone leaders, was still with us. We taught 3 lessons. And all of them turned into new investigators. Our best lesson of the day was our last one. We had taught a lesson to him the other day, and he came to meet us at our church for a lesson. He is already Christian and has a way strong testimony of Jesus Christ. We watched Finding Faith in Christ and found out later that he read the Book of Mormon in one night!! Pretty crazy. He really liked the movie and we had a good rest of the lesson. The other zone leader and the Elders in Surin joined us that night in our house.

Friday: A little bit of a slower day. We were still able to teach 2 lessons. But did not find anyone new to start teaching later. We did teach our investigators that have a baptismal date. It was an excellent lesson. It is amazing how the Lord can work through 2 inexperienced missionaries. It is amazing.

Saturday: Another good day for us here. We got 2 more lessons during the day and taught a recent convert. We did not find anyone new, but teaching lessons feels pretty awesome. We taught that guy that read the Book of Mormon in one day. We taught him about Joseph Smith and the restoration. That was a pretty crazy lesson. We invited him to church on Sunday, but he said he was going to go to his normal church. Which happens to be 50km from the city. Oh well.

Sunday: A normal Sunday. We had 2 investigators at church! That was way cool! The members were way excited. Then I got called to bless the Sacrament. Well, it went good I suppose...they didn't ask me to do it again haha. Then we had to teach the Gospel Principles class on temple work and family history. That was hard...but we got through it all okay. Then we went out to work. Taught a couple lessons and found 5 new potentials. It was a good day.

That is all for this week!

Elder Ackerman
เอ็ลเดอร์ แอ็คเคอร์มัน

Funny thing happened. . .

Hey Everyone!

So yeah, funny thing happened this last transfer. I moved!! Yes, only 6 weeks in one area of the mission. Not a very common thing. But it is okay. I have a pretty sweet new companion. I will tell more about him in a little bit.

So Monday: A very normal Prep day in สกลนคร (Sakon Nakhon). Did the usual washing the clothes and shopping and such. We had time for some inviting because our lessons fell through. Got a new potential.

Tuesday: A relatively good day. Then we got the call as we left the house that I would be moving. That was weird. I did not see it coming at all...We taught a lesson with a sweet new family for Elder Peacock and his new companion. Then we had the usual English class. Then I had some real fun. I got to eat heaven meat or dog meat :) It was actually quite good. I would eat it again for sure. Now that you are all grossed out...

Wednesday: Good morning. Had time to pack for moving. Got to the bus station at around 4pm to go down to Udon, then to get on another bus to go down to Bangkok. It was way fun. I got to see Elder Martin from my group and Elder Anderson and got to talk with them on the bus to Bangkok. It was a long ride and I got a good nap in. Then at about 7 in the morning, outside the church that we meet at, the bus sprung a leak and the engine died. Go figure it was a gas leak. Funny thing is, we had a huge tour bus, and the street the church is on is a one way, and the bus dies right in front of someones house. And they had to go to work. Needless to say they were frustrated. We got all the stuff off of the bus and the drivers were able to fix the problem. A fun experience.

Thursday: Well I talked a little about Thursday morning already. Moves was way cool. 16 missionaries going home and 18 coming in. 60% of the mission is now under 5 transfers. My group is now one of the older people. Way weird. So I got a way cool companion and I went Senior Companion, on moves number 5!!!! Way early. Everyone in our group went senior and Elder Larson is the senior in a threesome. Way cool. So I am now in Buriram ( บุรีรัมย์ ). It is a cool area. The house is pretty nice. So a little about Elder Leyva, my new comp. He is on moves number 3. He is from Sparks, Nevada. Right next to Reno. The second one in his family to go on a mission. I swear, he is my spirit world twin. We have almost everything in common. Our favorite movies are the 3 Bourne movies. We both like working out in the morning. It is going to be an awesome 6 weeks for sure!! We are both way excited.

Friday: We had our long planning for the week and I got to get more familiar with the investigators here. And then we got rained on. That was fun. Had a lot of time for inviting but did not get any potentials. We had our coordination meeting with the branch mission leader. He is pretty cool.

Saturday: A day full of zeros once again. We had a sweet day. Got trapped by the rain for like 3 plus hours though. Not a lot of success. We met a sweet white guy from Tennesse. That was cool. He is a Veitnam vet and after talking with him, he is so ready for the Restored Gospel, but he straight up told us he wasn't going to convert. He was still way cool. His nickname was Tank, that he has had since High School. Then we literally ran from the rain...We could here it coming and it was hitting house tops in the distance and moving closer. We ran to our bikes and the rain was right behind us. It really was a wall of rain. We barely made it under cover before it just poured. Literally milliseconds. We had a good laugh. Then we went to BigC to eat some dinner and got stuck there until like 830pm and then it stopped raining so we could go home.

Sunday: Church was really good. The members here are really fun and easy to get along with. We had some lunch at the church and went home to get changed and eat some more. Then it rained for an hour and we couldn't leave. Then we had inviting time and we got a lesson done! It was good. Now I know better how to help this couple.

That is all I got for this week. I am having a way fun time here. I love you all!!

Elder Ackerman
เอ็ลเดอร์ แอ็คเคอร์มัน

Hey all

Hello!

So it was a pretty normal week around here. As normal as it gets being a missionary I guess.

Monday: Well, a pretty normal P-Day around here. An excellent time to take a nap. By the end of the day, I am way tired. Sleep comes so quickly every night. We were able to teach a couple of lessons. But that is all.

Tuesday: A good day. Really long. We didn't find any new potentials and we only taught one lesson. English was great again. As usual. My students are so much fun. A lot of little kids, but they are all pretty good at English.

Wednesday: It was a pretty good day around here. Actually everyday is. We had our usual Wednesday District meeting. It was really cool. We took a look in the New Testament about how Jesus taught and how we can improve on teaching. We taught 3 lessons and got 2 new investigators out of it. And found a few more potentials. Wow, I am really not writing a lot for these days.

Thursday: We had our usual long planning for the nest week in the morning. We did a lot of street contacting and we taught 2 lessons in the evening. Got some new investigators too. One guy we taught, his son like a week ago drowned and left behind a daughter and a wife. It was pretty sad. We had a good opportunity to talk about the Plan of Salvation. Then on our way home. Elder Peacock got bit by a dog. Go figure. Didn't draw any blood, but had to get shots any ways. It was a weird experience. 3 dogs jumped out of the back of a truck and started chasing him. It was him in front, then the dogs, and then me. I saw the whole thing and Elder Peacock didn't realize that they were after him until he had gotten bit. Oh well.

Friday: We went to Udon all day. We had a 3 hour training with the Zone leaders and with President Smith. It was way cool and we learned better ways for teaching a first lesson and we got to practice as well. Then another 3 hour bus ride home. We got back in time to teach 2 planned appointments. They both went well. All in all a good day. When we were in Udon I got to get some McDonald's. We don't have any up were I am.

Saturday: An okay day, we had a few lessons planned and all of them got dropped except for one. And that lesson was not even that good. We really needed a member present to help us teach them. Next time for sure.

Sunday: A relatively better day. It was a usual fast Sunday. It was a pretty good 3 hour block. We taught our best investigator and her daughter after church and then later in the day had another lesson with a new family. They were both good lessons. Other than those, nothing else really.

Well, All in all, I am having a great time out here in Thailand!

Until next week!

Elder Ackerman
เอ็ลเดอร์ แอ็คเคอร์มัน

Hey (written Sept 26, 2010)

Hello Everyone,

So this was a pretty sweet week I have to say (as are all my weeks here). I will jump right into it.

Monday: Well the rest of the Preparation-Day was pretty uneventful. We didn't have any lessons to teach, so we spent the rest of the night inviting before we had to go home.

Tuesday: The usual Tuesday. We went to the hospital so I could get another shot of the rabies vaccination. Nothing too special. We were able to teach one lesson with a family that has been learning with the Elders for a while. I feel with them when need to help them understand our purpose more and why we are here to teach them about the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. We had our usual English class. It is always fun and a good break. Not really a break, but it is fun.

Wednesday: So we changed our weekly District meeting to Wednesdays now. At least it is for me and Elder Peacock. Tuesday's are already pretty full and we don't have a lot of time. It will help us manage our time more effectively. He had prepared a lesson to look at how Christ invited others to learn. So we learned some cool things that we can do to help our street contacting go better. Taught 2 lessons and found 4 more potentials for the week. One of our investigators we taught is doing really well and has a baptismal date for the 24th of October.

Thursday: A pretty slow day. We long planned as usual for the next week. Then we went out and went walking/biking/talking to people. It went well I guess you could say. We taught only one lesson, but got some new investigators out of it. It was pretty cool. It is a grandmother and her two granddaughters. They are fun and have some very good questions that we are always excited to answer.

Friday: A way good day. We had a member from Udon help us teach all day. His name is Brother Geng and he goes all around Thailand and always helps the missionaries wherever he goes. It is way cool. So he helped us teach 4 lessons. Before we went around with him, we went out inviting. Out of one of the lessons we got a new investigator. A fun day overall.

Saturday: Another effective day. We taught 3 lessons right in a row, but unfortunately did not have a member with us for any of them. And out of that we got 5 new investigators. 2 new families to teach. It should go well with them. We have faith that it will. It was a pretty normal day.

Sunday: Well we were able to teach all of our lessons with a member. Having a member at the lesson is excellent. It really helps us as missionaries to have a normal person present (not that we aren't normal), but I think you get what I mean. We taught some new people and got some new investigators. It has been going really well for us here. Unfortunately we had to drop a family. Riding a bike all day is not hard. Being stuck in the rain is not hard. Being chased by big angry dogs is not a problem. Being on a mission is not too terribly physically hard. The hardest part is when the people you grow to love do not accept the Gospel of Christ. And having to drop them and stop seeing them is the hardest thing we do as missionaries.

Well that is all I have for this week. Thanks so much for your prayers and all.
Love,

Elder Ackerman
เอ็ลเดอร์ แอ็คเคอร์มัน

Bit by a dog!

Hey everyone!

So this week I had a ton of pretty cool experiences. I will get to them all as I report the days! This was probably the coolest week of my mission.

Monday: Okay. So I didn't say anything about Monday last email for a reason. Monday at around 530pm, we got on a bus to go 3+ hours to Khon Kean to stay the night in a hotel. The next morning we were going to be having a meeting with Khon Kean zone as well as ours. Slept pretty comfortably. It was weird being in a hotel.

Tuesday: Okay. A very cool day! We get up at the normal missionary time to go to the chapel in Khon Kean. Our meeting was part of the mission tour of Elder Perkins of the Seventy. He is the area president for all of Asia. It was the most fantastic meeting. And before the meeting I got to interview with him for about 10 minutes. Just mainly wanted to talk to some Elders to find out what he wanted to talk about to the 2 zones. It was so cool! He is a great man. I felt very blessed to sit down with him for a few minutes. It was a little intimidating at first. I got told Monday night and my zone leader, Elder Dee told me not to lose too much sleep over it. I don't have my notes on me to share what I learned from the meeting. We were here from about 9 am to 3 pm. I just can't explain how cool it was. Then I got on a bus to go to Udon to do switch off's with the Zone leaders and Elder Peacock went back to Sakon Nakon with Elder Brown. I was in Udon until Friday morning.

Wednesday: Well I was in Udon. I don't remember much unfortunately. We had a district meeting with the Sisters and other Elders in Udon. What is way cool is that Elder Anderson in my group (in the MTC) is in Udon. That was way cool to see him for several days. The day was a fun day. We were able to teach a few lessons and find some potentials.

Thursday: Still in Udon. Taught some lessons and went out finding. We had a lot of time to work around. I also saw an elephant walking down a street!! I didn't have my camera to get a picture. It was way cool!

Friday: Got up at about 5am so we could get on a bus at 620 to get back to Sakon Nakhon. Took about 3 hours to get back. The Zone Leaders then gave a District meeting for me and Elder Peacock. It was good and then they headed back to the bus station to go back to Udon. We were able to teach 2 lessons the rest of the day.

Saturday: Well this was a fun day. I guess it depends on your definition of fun. It was a pretty rough day. All of our appointments got dropped and the only lesson we taught was about an hour before we had to go home and it was off the invite next to his house. It was a good lesson and we will go back and see them again. So on the way to go get food and go home, I was bit by a dog while riding my bike. I was pretty surprised as well! So we headed to the hospital and got home around 1130pm. It was a lot of waiting at the hospital to get the rabies vaccination. Don't worry, I am alright! I am not sick or anything. It really isn't that big of a deal. Just frustrating, a little frustrating.

Sunday: We went to church and it was pretty good. Were able to teach a lesson after church. We then went about from appointment to appointment for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, we taught only one more lesson. It went well. He was interested about the Plan of Salvation because his son had died 5 years ago at the age of 19. He wants an opportunity to see his son again. The rest of the day was normal.

Well that is all for this week. I am having an awesome time and I love you all!

Elder Ackerman
เอ็ลเดอร์ แอ็คเคอร์มัน

Well I moved!

Hey everyone.

So to start out the email I guess I should let you all know that I moved areas! Now this move was not a 1 hour long taxi ride. It was an all day bus ride to the northeast of the country!! That is right. I am in the Isan! It is way cool up here! So needless to say I got a new companion. He is Elder Peacock from Orem, UT. He is pretty cool and I am sure we will get along just fine up here. The area I am in is สกลนคร or Sakon Nakon. You will have to look it up on the map, but it is very close to Loas. The people up here speak a little different dialect of Thai, but I should be able to get a hold of it soon enough. So I guess I can explain about the past week.

Tuesday: Pretty much waiting for the call if I would move from สะพานสูง (Saphaan Sung) or not. We got a lot of work done and Sure enough the call came. We then went and taught English. Well, I love teaching English. It is so much fun!

Wednesday: It was a last day of work and a little bit of packing. Actually a lot of packing. But thankfully it did not take too much time out of our schedule. I really can't remember all that happened. A lot has gone on the past few days.

Thursday: We went to moves meeting in the morning and thats where I found out where I was moving. I got to see Elder Nelson from my group and I got to see Elder Larson as well. That was way cool. Both are doing pretty awesome. Plus there is now a Thai AP! That has not happened for colse to 10 years now. So at about 11pm, we got on a bus and arrived at อุดร (Udon) to stay the night before traveling again the next morning. That's when I got to see Elder Anderson from my group. I was pretty happy. So we stayed the night there before moving on the next morning.

Friday: Left the house at like 540 to catch the 600 bus to สกลนคร. That was another 3 or so hours on a bus. Needless to say, when Elder Peacock and I got home, we were pretty tired. But I am excited to be here and serve. We had a long planning session and went out and worked.

Saturday: Well this was a good day. Taught a couple of lessons and did a lot of inviting. Up here in the Isan is a lot different than being in Bangkok. There are a lot less people. But the results don't really change. It is just here you really do talk with everyone. I also got hit on by a very drunk guy. You need to understand, here when poeple are drunk they start speaking in English, or as much as they know. It was a very awkward experience needless to say.

Sunday: Well, my first Sunday here. There are about 30 people in the branch that are active. A lot smaller than in Saphaan Sung. The members are great, plus we had like 10 investigators at church. That was pretty awesome. The members love it. There was a time for about 18 weeks where there were no investigators coming to church, but that was a while ago. I am very happy I am here.

Well that is all I have for this week!

Love,
Elder Ackerman
เอ็ลเดอร์ แอ็คเคอร์มัน

Short Week!

Hey one and all!

Well this was a very short week between emails! Mainly because time really flies around here and because the last Preparation Day was on Wednesday. So I apologize if this email is short.

Thursday: Okay, so I told you about having to show around a "greenie". I use that term very carefully considering I am still in my greenie area. But needless to say I had a blast and learned a lot. So Thursday I was working in Bangna with Elder Hardy. It was an alright day. We only got one lesson done and we didn't find any potentials. That evening, about 5:30pm, or so, we get in a taxi to go pick up our real companions. They were in a meeting all day for training. I got to see my trainer who is a zone leader up in Chiang Mai. An overall pretty cool day.

Friday: So, since we were busy on Thursday, we had our weekly planning session Friday after our morning studies. Not a lot to plan for except where we will be going inviting everyday. We seem to be low on the amount of investigators we have...that is what inviting is for. To go out and find them! We taught one lesson with a relatively new investigator. It went way well. I would say he is pretty excited about the gospel, which makes it slightly easier on our part.

Saturday: Well, it was a day full of inviting. No lessons or anything. We did find 4 new potentials for the day. We did a lot of walking up and down streets. But it is fun. You get a lot of time to think and to talk with people on the street.

Sunday: It was a pretty fantastic day. Going to church is always a good experience whether or not I understand everything people are saying. But it is all good. That is what the Spirit is for. To help us understand. So we were able to teach 3 lessons, find 8 new potentials and go to a dinner appointment. It was a great day. The lessons turned out well, and dinner was delicious. The members here are so fantastic. I will find out on Tuesday if I am moving or not. I personally hope I am not. I love it here.

Monday: Since it is the last P-Day of the moves, we are doing a good cleaning of the house. So it is going to be a pretty chill day. We have some appointments tonight and we will see if they work out or not.

Well that's all for now.

Elder Ackerman
เอ็ลเดอร์ แอ็คเคอร์มัน

Time flies...6 months as a missionary

Hey all!

Wow, has the time flown by or what! So on the 10th of August will be my 6 month mark as a missionary. It has just been crazy how the time flies when you get busy and throw your life into the Lord's work. This last week has been another great week here in สะพานสูง. The work has slowed down a little bit, so we have lots of time to go find people who are interested in learning the gospel.

So Monday to start: Nothing amazing, just another P-Day and a chance to sit and rest for a little bit. We have time at the end of the day to go inviting or teach lessons. We had neither. By that I mean, we had no lessons and no new potential investigators.

Tuesday: Well, another not so successful day. Only 1 new potential for the day. The Zone Leaders came and did a District Development Meeting with us. It was an excellent lesson on faith and using the Book of Mormon in every lesson. Since that is why we are here, to testify of the Book of Mormon and the restored Gospel. Then at the end of the day, we had a good English class. I taught a class of 10 people by myself for the first time. That was fun :)

Wednesday: So, it started out as a pretty good day. Studies were good that morning. We head to the church to teach our first lesson for the day with เพิ่ม, and then we notice something strange. The church had three broken windows. During the night, the church was broken into. We figure the first broken window was to get in. They get in and notice that the Sacrament room is locked and also find the clerk's office. They go back outside and break both those two windows to get into the rooms. Nothing missing from the Sacrament room, but the computer was stolen form the clerks office. That is not so good, since that computer contained all the records for the member's of the branch. So for the past week, there has been at least one security guard on duty 24 hours. We did still teach the lesson with เพิ่ม. Other than that the day was a little exciting. We go to eat lunch and just as we start to eat, we get a call from a potential we had called earlier, saying that he was at the church ready to learn with us. So we shove the food down as fast as possible and get to the church and teach him. It was a very excellent lesson. We taught another lesson that day and then still only found one new potential unfortunately.

Thursday: Another slow day here. We long planned for the next week. We were only able to teach one lesson with an investigator and then we taught ประกาสิทธิ์ (our most recent baptism), so that was just a recent convert lesson. We didn't find any potentials.

Friday: Now this was a very fun day. We had only 2 appointments for the day, lunch and dinner. We spent the whole day inviting. We taught one lesson off of an invite and found 9 potentials through out the day. I can't decide whether it went really fast or really slow. We break the time up into 1 hour sections and that really helps. We had some cool experiences, one where at about 400pm, a lot of clouds were coming over us where we were inviting. We start heading back to the bikes because it looks like it is just going to pour. Then the wind just blows it over and no rain. So we keep walking towards the bikes and then past them. After that we got 3 really good potentials :) It was a way cool experience.

Saturday: We had our weekly correlation meeting with members of the ward and the branch mission leader. It was way good and we got a lot accomplished. So it was almost the same as with Friday. Inviting all day! So we head out and around 300pm it is just about to rain. We park our bikes and get under some shelter. Just right when we get under a roof (it was a big indoor market thing), it begins to rain. And when it rains here, it rains, hard. It just wasn't cats and dogs. It was elephants! So we get stuck for an hour while it rains. We run to a store next door and get a little wet, buy an umbrella (which we really didn't need), grab a taxi and make it to our only appointment for the day. Then we walk back to our bikes (took about 30 minutes and by this time the rain is done). We head to the next place we want to invite and it is flooded beyond all reason. It was about 5+ inches of water throughout the whole neighborhood. At that point we turn around and go and invite in the neighborhood around the house. No potentials for the day.

Sunday: Woohoo! Baptism number 2! Our investigator เพิ่ม was baptized. We now do not have any investigators. At all. So we spend a lot of time finding. Well Sacrament meeting was fun. It is Mothers Day here on the 12th, so the primary kids sang for the moms and it reminded me of home. It was fun. We were able to teach 2 lessons after church and then went inviting until the end of the day. We got 5 new potentials and one of them we are seeing tonight (Monday 8th).

All in all a cool week. I really got to practice my Thai and had some good time walking down streets. Thailand is awesome and I love being here as a representative of the Lord.

Sincerely,

Elder Ackerman
เอ็ลเดอร์ แอ็คเคอร์มัน

WooHoo!!

Hey Everyone!

Well, I guess I can go ahead and start off the week. It has been pretty cool here in สะพานสูง. I can share the exciting news later in the letter.

Monday! Well the first day of the missionary week. And it is also a P-Day to prepare for the upcoming week. Well it wasn't that astounding. Just a normal day of grocery shopping and writing any letters. Just a good day to restart. So P-Day ends at 6pm and then we had 3 hours of inviting to do. Out of that we only got 3 potentials for the day.

Tuesday. So it was supposed to be a pretty full day. Go figure all the appointments get dropped and we are left with time to invite before going to English at 530pm. We were only able to obtain 2 phone numbers. English was a good class. Elder Elwood and I taught the ABC's class, which is the basic of the basic. It was fun. Elder Elwood is an excellent teacher.

Wednesday. For some reason this day is the most successful day of the week. We got 2 lessons with a member present and 1 other lesson. And then we found 4 new potentials. A pretty good day. We had a lesson with เพิ่ม (Pum) one of our baptismal daters. It went way well. He is such an excellent studier. If he has a question about in the Book of Mormon about what something means, he will search for the answer in the book and pray about it before asking us for an answer. It is so cool! He is a great example of study and he isn't even a member!! We also had a lesson with สิทธิ์ (Sit) about his upcoming baptism and it went well.

Thursday. A not so successful day. We had our planning for the next week as usual. We invited for several hours and only got 1 new potential. We did have one other lesson with สมพล (Sompon). He is doing alright. He reads and prays which is excellent. He didn't come to church this week for the baptism which was disappointing.

Friday. Alright. Switch-offs with the Zone Leaders. I went to ศรินครินทร์ (Sinakarin) with the new zone leader Elder Chiu. Don't be fouled by his name. He speaks perfect English. He is from Virginia and his parents are Chinese. He is just a cool guy. Joined the Marine Corps. when he was 17 and we had some good talks about the military and what not. It was just a way awesome day. We taught a couple of their investigators that are doing pretty good. Had time for some inviting too. We met some success for the day. I don't remember how many potentials. Elder Elwood and a Thai elder, Elder Narin were in สะพานสูง and Elder Narin interviewed เพิ่ม (Pum), and he passed! So he will be getting baptized on the 8th!

Saturday. We had our normal studies and then went inviting for an hour and found 1 potential. Then we went to the church at 1 and did not leave until 630 for some quick inviting. We found 2 potentials and then headed back to the church for a lesson with สิทธิ์ (Sit). So for 5 hours, we had our correlation meeting and helped move stuff around at the church, checked the font and cleaned it, and then helped Brother เอ (A) with organizing the clerks office. Brother A is the Branch Mission Leader and Clerk. He is so cool and works so hard. So we help where we can. Then after the lesson at 7pm, we had time to invite and were really blessed by the Lord and found 4 more potentials. It was way good.

Sunday. Yeah, the first Sunday in the new church. It is very beautiful and everyone who lives nearby knows about it. So, สิทธิ์ (Sit) got baptized!!! YEAH!!! It was a great day. Everything worked out great, plus we had a lot of people attend. The branch usually had 60 people attend sacrament, but that day we had 80 people and almost all of them were there for the baptism! It was way cool :) We then had a lesson with a husband and wife and it went really well. We also found 4 more potentials for the day before going to Brother กอด's (god, ha, that is how it is pronounced, more like gawd) and it was a fantastic dinner as usual.

Well...that is all for the week! I am loving it here in Thailand. Love and miss you all! This is the Lord's work!

Elder Ackerman
เอ็ลเดอร์ แอ็คเคอร์มัน

Saphaan Sung

Hey Everyone.

Okay. Well all is going well here in Saphaan Sung. So I will just start off the week. Some pretty big news is that we are moving to the new church building just down the street!! Next Sunday will be the first day in it. Plus I have some other big news I will talk about a little bit later.

Monday: Well, it was a weird day, but I already talked about it a little. Pretty much a whole day off walking around and not finding very much success. Only 4 new potentials.

Tuesday: Okay. So Tuesday was P-Day this week. The schedule for the new missionaries coming in was weird. They came in on Wednesday, so President Smith changed the P-Day around. It was a good day. We still taught English. That was a crazy class. So the new missionaries were in Thailand, just at the mission office and at Presidents house. The moves meeting was on Wednesday. Okay, I am going all over the place! Okay, first thing we did was go and extend our visas, that took about 3 hours plus. Then we went and did all our P-Day stuff. Then we had English at 630 pm. That was crazy. Our Sisters were still in Pakkret helping out the new missionaries. So Elder Elwood and I got to teach English by ourselves. That was great because we can't split up, and we have 2 different classrooms. So we taught to different classes in the same room. That was fun. I only had 4 people teach. They were from the advanced class. And then Elder Elwood had everyone else. It went pretty smoothly I guess.

Wednesday: Moves Day. We didn't go. But one of our Sisters moved. And so Sister Lifferth is training this moves before she goes home/dies. This was the better day of the week. We got 2 lessons done and found 8 potentials. One of investigators that we taught, เพิ่ม, is going to interview this next Friday! He is doing way awesome.

Thursday: Wow, that was a crazy day. So in the morning we had our usual studies, and then planned for the next week. Pretty much a normal day. We went out inviting for a couple hours before a lesson. It was WAY hot. You have to understand. If it is really hot and there a still clouds, it is going rain for sure. So we predicted rain. We went and taught another lesson with เพิ่ม and it went way well. We left to go grab a little snack from a nearby 7-11. By this time the sky is dark and clouds are moving in way fast. So we still need to go home to grab a few items of paperwork for the upcoming baptismal interview, We get home at about the time it starts to POUR! It doesn't rains cats and dogs here. It rains elephants. The streets flooded within minutes and we are stuck inside. So after about 30 minutes, the rain slows down enough to walk outside without getting drenched. So we start to make our way to the church, which is not very far from the house. We get stuck at a 7-11 and have to walk through a flooded area. That was way fun :) We went into 7-11, asked for some bags to put on our feet and then we go walking. The funny thing is Elder Elwood still can't get his foot wet because of the ingrown toenail. Thankfully it wasn't a problem. So we get to the church, and lo and behold, it is starting to flood inside. So we have about 1 and a half hours before the baptismal interview. We start cleaning and pushing the water out. We see water coming down the stairs and go up to investigate. We get to 5th floor and start hearing a woman's voice that is getting louder and louder. We start going down and meet a 25 year old woman and her older brother. The woman had a problem with her brain and she wasn't quite all there. It took about 30 minutes before they were actually able to leave. The older brother was so patient with her and I was way impressed with him. So after that all happened, the zone leaders came to interview. And about an hour later, สิทธ์ had passed his interview. So we are having a baptism on the 1st of August!! Elder Elwood and I are so excited.

Friday: Another kind of crazy day. We taught Gift again and he is still held up on the fact that Jehovah is Jesus Christ. The translation from English to Thai is not very good with the I AM and all that. So next time we are going to teach him from an English Bible to show him. We will see how that goes. Then we went to the hospital for Elder Elwood and his toe is all good. We found only 4 potentials.

Saturday: It was a pretty terrible day. All day to invite and only 2 potentials to show for it. It was pretty bad. But we had a good correlation meeting with our branch mission leader Brother A. He is so awesome.

Sunday: Well, Sunday is always a good break. Elder Elwood spoke in Sacrament meeting. He got the assignment last week. And he only got to speak for 7 minutes or so because the branch president wanted to speak as well about the new church building. Oh well. We only had 2 investigators at church. Then we only found 1 potential. A very unsuccessful day. Well, I then made dinner. Hamburgers. They turned out well, but I burnt the fries and put to much salt on. Oh well.

Monday: P-Day. Today will be another day of relaxing!

A pretty crazy week if I say so myself. Until next week, this is Elder Ackerman, signing off.

Still in Saphaan Sung

Hey all!

Wow. So this last week has just been crazy. Well...more like the opposite. I was sick from last Monday until Thursday. Not a very fun experience. So needless to say, no work got done on those days. If I was feeling up to it, we would go teach a lesson at the church. But nothing really exciting happened. Just some vomiting, diarrhea and a fever. I am all better now! Well, some news. This week is moves week and I will still be here in สะพานสูง (Saphaan Sung). It has been just a blast here with Elder Elwood. We get a long way well and are doing a great work.

Monday: Sick beyond all reason. Slept most of the day and began a fever about 12 pm. Left the house only to email.

Tuesday: Felt a little better. Had a DDM by Elder Elwood on the Atonement. It was most excellent, for what I got out of it. I was way tired and trying to pay attention. Being sick just doesn't go away quickly. We did go to English class at the end of the day. It went all right. I did a little teaching, but was way exhausted.

Wednesday: Well, still sick. Mostly on the recovery. Still had a slight fever. Did not leave the house at all, except to go get Elder Elwood food.

Thursday: Recovery day. No fever but I did not want to go out an work and end up getting sick again. We planned for the next week. We did go teach a lesson because I felt up to it. We taught พี่สีทธี์ (Sit) about the interview and asked him half of the questions. He is doing way well and will get baptized on the 1st of August.

Friday: We went to the hospital...not for me though! Elder Elwood had an ingrown toenail that needed to be taken care of. So that took a few hours. We then taught Sit in the afternoon again.

Saturday: Ah, finally a normal day for the week. We started a branch fast at lunch. We fasted for the help to bring 36 more people into the church this year (the goal is 40). It is quite a daunting task and will take a miracle. But with faith, all things are possible! We had our weekly correlation meeting with some members and the branch mission leader, who is way awesome by the way. He's 21 and the branch clerk. He is doing an excellent job. After that we had a lesson with a guy who had walked into the open church. We had learned with the Elders about 3 years ago. He is already Christian. It was a way cool lesson. Although, we isn't ready to accept that Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father are 2 separate beings. We can hope that in the future he will accept it. We then went and taught a lesson with สมพล (Sompon) and his wife. They are doing well, although it has been like 3 weeks since we had last seen them because of work. It was a good lesson and thy said they will come to church this next Sunday.

Sunday: Wow, an even better day. We had a good 3 hours of meetings and had several investigators come. There were some great lessons and we then broke the branch fast after the meetings to eat at 12. It is very normal here in Thailand to eat after church as a branch. It helps the unity since there are so few members here. We then went and taught a lesson with the guy we talked to last week who wanted to do what it took to become Christian. It was a way excellent lesson. This week we are going to try and see him and his wife. Then we walked a lot and did inviting. Although we did not find anyone. We then had dinner at a members house. It was most excellent food :)

Monday: Well P-Day got switched on us. We had a DDM on Faith, Hope, and Charity. It was good and then we had pumpkin pie that Sister Lifferth made from memory. It was delicious. We did a lot of inviting and only found 4 new potentials.

Tuesday: Ah, P-Day. Well, this morning we went and ต่อed ("daw"ed/ extended - only in this sense, its a weird word) our visas for the next 90 days. That was a long taxi ride to and from. And now we have the rest of the day to write letters and what not.

Ah, well that's all I got for this week. Love you all!

Elder Ackerman
เอ็ลเดอร์ แอ็คเคอร์มัน

Happy Birthday America!

Hey all!

Well, first off I need to wish America a happy birthday! That was fun to celebrate here in Thailand. We sang all the "American" hymns in the Hymn book and did a TimTam Slam :) It was way successful. Okay time to jump into the past week.

Monday. Pretty much a normal P-Day around here. Email, grocery shopping for the week, writing letters and the sort. We spent the rest of the evening inviting around a neighborhood. We only got 4 potentials out of it which was a little disappointing. All in all, it was a fun day! I am so thankful that we get a day to slow down a little and "restart" for the next week. Kind of like "defrag"ing the hard drive each week.

Tuesday. That was a very long day! We had Zone Conference. We left the house at around 7:30 in the morning and didn't get back until around 6 in the afternoon. The conference usually only goes from 9 to 1, but we had interviews afterward with President Smith, and I was the last one to go. Overall it was a very awesome conference. We found out what we needed to do to get a temple built here before I and President Smith leave Thailand (since he has been here for a year and they are called for 3 year missions). We need to concentrate a ton on finding families. We should essentially have 75 people with dates (15 families of 5), and then in 2 years, a temple should be announced. We have A LOT of work to do. We also had English class again. That was way fun. It is another time when we can take a little break. But not too much. Some of our best investigators come from the English program. So no lessons and no potentials at all that day.

Wednesday. We taught only 2 lessons that day. And found only 2 potentials. Kind of a slow day around here. We had DDM and since Elder Elwood is District Leader, he gave the lesson. It was way good! We taught 2 investigators whose dates are the closet to coming. They were way awesome lessons. Not much else happened.

Thursday. Another slow day. We taught only one lesson and found only 2 potentials. Not a lot of success. Elder Elwood and I feel it is just a test of our faith by the Lord. We also had long planning in the morning. That took about 3 hours to finish.

Friday. Well, this week has not seen a lot of success. Only 1 lesson, but we did find 6 new potentials which was better than usual. I almost got eaten alive by 5 dogs. That was quite the rush. It started with just one dog rushing me and me trying to scare it away and then 4 other dogs joined to star down. And then the owner came out and yelled them back into the house. All during this time, Elder Elwood is on the phone with an investigator. It was way intense. Something with animals and missionaries just doesn't mix...Don't worry mom, I am okay. No bites :)

Saturday. Ugh. No lessons and only 3 potentials. It was a very hard day. All of out appointments were dropped and Elder Elwood has been a little sick. It has been a little of a downer for us.

Sunday. A very good day if I say. We had a good fast and testimony meeting and we had 4 investigators at sacrament meeting, and 1 come later. It was way good. I asked one of investigators after the 1st hour how he felt and he said he felt way good inside. It was so awesome! So we had 2 lessons that day, and found 3 new potentials. One of the lessons we taught was with a new family. It was way interesting. In their home, there was no "phra" or Buddhist stuff around. It was completely empty of it. So I hope that that is a good sign. Had dinner at a members house and that was way good food!

Well, this week has been hard, but this next week will be better!

Love and miss you all,

Elder Ackerman

Week...I have lost count...

Hey Everyone!

Wow, we had a pretty crazy week I guess you can say. Put that is pretty normal around here. So this last Monday, we just relaxed at the house and cleaned some. We taught a couple of lessons and had time to do some inviting as well. I am slowly getting better at speaking and having others understand me. Mainly it is just a confidence issue.

Then Tuesday was a good day. Those days are great because we get to teach English, which is an awesome break. It is so much fun! And plus we get some very good investigators from the class as well. Although we didn't teach any lessons. We had a lot of time for inviting. Plus on Tuesday we created our vision as a District this moves. That was great and an excellent way to show our faith to the Lord. Elder Elwood is the District Leader and is doing an excellent job. He is very diligent.

Well, Wednesday was probably our most excellent day this week. We got 11 new potentials and taught 4 lessons. Plus I also did a whole invite by myself! I sat down next to the guy, introduced myself, talked with him about families, got his address and phone number, and set up a return appointment for on Sunday. It was awesome!!! I felt so good after wards. Elder Elwood said I did a good job. I will talk more about that family on Sundays paragraph.

So then Thursday. We had a lot of inviting time that day too. Then we long planned for the week. It went well and then later in the day, we taught 2 lessons. We have on investigator, Ohn that came from our English class. He is about 23 or 24 years old and way smart. He is way interested in the gospel and in learning. That was about all that happened on that day.

Friday was an awesome day. I went to Sinakerin to do switch offs with Elder Narin, a Thai elder. It was way fun. I found out I can speak more Thai than I thought! All day just ended up being inviting time. All of the appointments got dropped on us. But it was way good. I also tried Thai ice cream for the first time. I have to say, it is pretty delicious. Put some sticky rice with it and it is quite good.

Saturday was another cool day. Elder Elwood got to interview 5 of the Zone Leaders investigators for baptism. It was a whole family! And they will be baptized this next Sunday!! It is so cool to see how the gospel changes peoples and families lives for the better. We also found out from the ZL's that the mission as a whole had 350 new investigators for the week! Not counting Sunday. That is a record breaker right there. The Lord is truly pouring out His Spirit here in Thailand.

So Sunday, we had 8 investigators at church. A family came and several other people! It was so great! And then we got to go teach that family that I invited! They are way awesome, although we will probably give them to the Sister's because it is the husband and then all girls. We feel it would be better for the Sister's to teach that family. But needless to say, it was a great day.

Well that is all I have for this week!! Thailand is an awesome place and the people are so ready. I love you all!!

Elder Ackerman

Onto moves number 2!!

Hey one and all!

What can I say. Thailand is way awesome! Well, I did not move. I am still in Saphaan Soong. But I have a new companion! Elder Wilson moved up to Chaing Mai by the way and is now a Zone Leader over all of the city. There are 4 areas and like 12 missionaries. It is so cool. He is such an awesome guy! Well my new companion is... Elder Elwood from Delano, MN!!!! Crazy I know!! He is way cool and a very diligent missionary. These next couple of moves are going to be way awesome. He has lived in Minnesota all his life, and in the same house. Consider how much I have moved around the US, I think it's kinda weird. I guess I am just used to moving around.

Well, I am not sure what to write about this week. Sunday had a lower attendance this week than usual. Only 52 from the usual 65 to 70. Plus we only had 2 investigators at church. Kinda of a disappointing day. This last week has been pretty crazy too. Moves was first going to be on Friday and then it got switched to Thursday at the last minute. All thanks to a canceled flight at LAX. The flight got rescheduled, but the new missionaries arrived Thursday morning, with the moves meeting that afternoon. They just got thrown right into the work. I feel kinda bad for them. We got to spend the first night in President Smith's house. I can't imagine how tired they were. That's the life of a missionary. Always tired.

So this week, we had some pretty good lessons. We have a few investigators that are progressing really well. We are very excited for them. The only thing hindering a lot of our investigators, is going to church on Sunday. They say they will go, but don't. It's very frustrating and hard. But we keep inviting and stressing the importance. We also have a ton of time on Sunday's to find more potentials. All of our appointments usually get dropped and we are left with a lot of walking. And it is very hot out. But, I am getting used to the heat more. And I have to say, I have gotten pretty tan. We get a lot of sun. And a lot of rain. Although, apparently, northern Thailand is in a drought. I didn't know that was possible in a country like this.

This last moves, President Smith gave us a scripture that can help combat the phrase, "Every religion teaches us to be good." It is in Moroni 7:16. The Spirit of Christ is given to us to judge good from evil. We have to use that knowledge and find out for ourselves, not just go with the flow of society. I thought that was a really good point. We do hear it a ton around here.

Well, that is all I have for this week. I am loving it here in Thailand! I love and miss you all!!

Elder Ackerman

"Every religion teaches us to be good"

Hi all!

So wow, I have been in Thailand for one whole transfer. The time has just gone by so fast! Well, this week we actually taught a few more lessons than usual. We also had a lot of time to go inviting. We usually can find a lot of people, but here in Thailand, a lot of people feel "obligated". There's a word we use for it, but that is the closest translation. They also say whatever will make us feel good, so most of the time they aren't interested. It would make our lives a lot easier if they told us right up if they weren't interested. Oh well.

This week, we had an investigator ask which of all the churches are right because there are so many. That was the perfect question for us to answer! We are way excited to keep teaching him. This week at church, we actually had investigators come! 6 people! It was way cool! The past few weeks, we have been only having 2 or even just one person come. Hopefully this can transfer over to next week. We also had another baptism this last week. It was one of the Sister's investigators. The branch here is so excited to have more members.

Also, this week I have been keeping track of how many times the phrase, "Every religion teaches us to be good." Thai's say it all the time! It is crazy. They also profess to respect/worship all religions, which can't be right. I heard the phrase or variations of it 17 times this week. I am going to keep track of how many times it is said for my whole mission. That should be fun.

It is so awesome when investigators call us when they can't make an appointment. No one does that here in Thailand. It is so awesome. They also turn out to be awesome investigators. It makes our life so much easier when we know ahead off time that they can't make an appointment. Just how it is here in Thailand.

Well, not a ton else has happened. It is starting to rain more here though. And when it rains, it pours!! Streets flood and everything. Makes riding a bike way fun! This last Monday, Elder Wilson and I went to Patrunam, close to like the center of Bangkok. It was so cool. We saw one of the buildings that had been burned and we were able to buy some cool stuff. Namely 20 Baht (less than $1) ties.

Plus we rode on the "khlawng" boat. Pretty much "khlawng"s are the sewer system here in Thailand. It is really disgusting! But it was a cool experience. There is a big "khlawng" that goes through Bangkok that a lot of people ride. It's like a bus system on water with stops and everything. Way cool. Plus most the time we ride "khlawng paths". The paths go next to a "khlawng" and we ride on them with our bikes. And the paths are not very thick. But its fun and we get around much faster than taking the normal roads.

Well that's all I have. Thailand is so awesome and way fun. The work is hard, but very rewarding! I love it!

I miss you all.

Elder Ackerman

Another week gone by. . .

Hi Everyone!

So wow. I definitely don't have a ton to write about this time. All I can say is that we have been busy. We have quite a few investigators, and still have time to find people. And our finding has been going a lot better this past week than before. We feel it is so because of all the protesting that has been going on has left a lot of people asking questions. The Thai people are becoming more open to the Gospel. Thailand is still way awesome. I still can't believe that a whole month has already gone by. I am loving being here. This last Friday, we had switch offs with the Zone Leaders again. What can I say, they are awesome! I went with Elder Hunt and we stayed here in my area. We had on amazing experience. We had about 10 minutes before our last appointment for the day and we had one more Book of Mormon that we wanted to give away. So we said a prayer together asking the Lord to help us with these 10 minutes to find someone who is prepared to receive the Gospel. 2 Minutes later, we found a couple that invited us into their apartment and for about 7 minutes we talked about eternal families and about the Book of Mormon. The wife got way excited about the eternal families. We are going to see them tonight. It was such an awesome experience! My faith in pray and my testimony have grown because of that. I can't wait to have more experiences like that.

It is unfortunate sometimes though. A lot of Thai people are of the opinion that every religion teaches people to be good. While that is true, not every church has the truth. It is very hard to teach someone who agrees with all religions. Most the time we end up not teaching those people at all. They are just to hard-hearted and closed to the Gospel. Hopefully in a future day, they will be open to the gospel.

This last Sunday, we had a baptism!! Although it was one of the Sister's investigators. But it was still way cool. Although, we only had one investigator attend church and that same guy stayed for the baptism. It was a way cool experience. The branch here loves it when some one gets baptized. We just need to baptize a bunch more to turn this branch into a ward. That's what we are hoping for!

Well that's all I have to talk about for this week. Sorry that don't have anymore. I am having a great time here! I miss and love you all!

Elder Ackerman

It's a long one!

Hi everyone!
Wow, this week in Thailand has been pretty crazy! Well, let me go throught the days of the week first I guess. Last Monday, Elder Wilson and I went to this huge market in Bang Kapi. There was so much stuff!! And a ton of people too! It was way fun to walk around and look at everything. For lunch I tried this Japanese place where you get to cook your own food right in front of you. They have a coal heated grill and you cook your meat and then eat it right off of the grill. It was way good! Next time I will have to grab a quick picture and send that home.

Then Tuesday was another good day. We only taught 3 out of our four lessons. We had a District meeting as well and on Tuesdays we teach English at the church. We actually get a few investigators in English. One guy, Sid, that we are teaching, came from England, and he is doing pretty well and progressing as an investigator. In our district, there are four of us. Me, Elder Wilson, Sister Crepses (who is going home this next moves), and Sister Urisa (she's a native). The sisters are doing way awesome. Lots of investigators and quite a few almost ready for baptism.

Wow, Wednesday was the craziest day! After we got home to do studies at 1pm, we were told to stay inside the rest of the day. The red-shirts were going to split off into groups and go all around the city and riot. So President Smith told everyone in Bangkok to stay indoors. Then until last night, there was a curfew at 8pm. They also burned down one of the biggest malls in Bangkok, and according to Elder Wilson, it is Huge! ((Bigger that Mall of America)) Plus there had been a lot of people getting shot and no one taking the blame for it.

Then Thursday we had our Zone Conference, which was way awesome! I learned a lot from President Smith, Sister Smith, and our Zone Leaders. President Smith talked a lot about "vision". He also said that all this conflict in Thailand has been creating a spiritual vacuum and we are here to fill it. Which is way awesome! Then Sister Smith spoke on family history work. And about how family history work, temple work, and missionary work is all the same redemptive work. I thought that was way cool. Then I had my first interview with President Smith. He is such a great man and very visionary. He has a lot of hope for Thailand and the church here. So at the beginning of Zone Conference, I was assigned to recite Doctrine and Covenants 4, from memory, and in Thai. It went great! I didn't miss a single word, and I had 3 days to memorize as well. A lot of people were way impressed.

Then Friday was a "normal" day. As if we ever have a normal day. We taught all the lessons we planned for and most of them went great. We have this one investigator, Dawng (I can't type in Thai, so this is close to what it sounds like, the sound of a heavy church bell.) He is pretty new, but reads the scriptures everyday and prays! It is way awesome. We got him from some other Elders to start teaching.

Well, on Saturday, Elder Wilson started to get sick a little bit. We did a ton of inviting that morning (I got a little burnt), and then went and interiewed one of the Sister's investigators for baptism. We only taught 2 lessons out of the 6 that we wanted to do. We went home a little early to plan first and so that Elder Wilson could go to sleep. Before bed, he had a 101.5 degree fever.

Then Sunday morning it was up to 102.4. So we stayed home all Sunday. He slept and I did a lot of studying. It was a very long day, for me at least. We both missed going to a Stake Conference that Elder Hallstrom, of the Presidency of the Seventy and Bishop Burton, of the Presiding Bishopric both attended. Appearantly, it was way good. We also got a ton of rain on Saturday ad Sunday. It was crazy. Elder Oaks only came to Bangkok for the leadership broadcast and then left Sunday morning and is now in Cambodia. So, President Smith, said that at the leadership broadcast, Elder Oaks left a blessing on the city and the country. This is the first time that 4 General Authorities have been in Thailand at once. Elder Pratt was also here, accompaning Elder Oaks.

And finally, today. We had a mission conference with Elder Hallstrom. I was able to shake his hand and talk to him for a little bit. He gave any amazing talk. I would write about it, but I left my notes at the apartment. Next week, if I remember, I will write about it. So, I am not sure what we are going to do the rest of the day. Probably relax and finish up laundry. Well, being here in Thailand has been way awesome. I love it here. The people are so amazing. I miss you all!

Love,
Elder Ackerman

Thailand!!

Hey everyone!
So it has been pretty crazy here. I don't even know where to start!! Well, this last Friday, Elder Wilson and I did switch offs with the Zone Leaders. I was with Elder Day in his area, and Elder Hunt came to Saphaan Soong. It was way fun and hard work. I still can't say much in the lessons, but it is better than when I first got here.

Although we have had a couple days were we don't end up teaching anyone. Sunday was like that. It was way hard. It is frustrating when people don't realize the importance of our message. So we have a great example that we use to teach the investigators about the importance of keeping commitments. We compare it to the "taang duawn" or the freeway. Keeping the commitments, keeps you on the freeway, and the freeway leads to happiness. It's way awesome! It seems to work pretty well.
We have a lot of investigators we are teaching and it gets hard to keep track of them all. Thank goodness for the area book!

So, the political situation here in Thailand is pretty crazy. It is been pretty contained in the center of the city. We don't feel any of it out here. But it is talked about a little. The Sky train and the subway have been shut down, and ton's of stores as well. It is just crazy. There are grenades that go off and lots of burning cars. It just keeps getting worse. So we are even wondering if Elder Oaks is still going to come to Thailand next week or not. I hope he still does. It would be great to have an apostle here and be able to listen to him speak. But, this next Sunday, there is a special stake conference that Elder Hallstrom of the Seventy is speaking at. That should turn out to be way good.

OH! And I also saw a 1973 Mustang for sale here for 687,000 Baht ($22,500). It looked way sweet :) It was even left hand drive and a 5 speed! Elder Wilson and I thought we would buy it and turn it into a mission car :) So here in Thailand, you eat with a spoon in your right hand and a fork in the left. Use the fork to shovel the food onto the spoon. It is way effective. Makes eating rice an easy task. Sorry, I am kinda going all over the place.

Well, the work goes on and there is nothing that can stop it from progressing. The members here are way awesome. That's about all that I have to report on this week. It is so hard to remember all that I want to say! I love you all!!! I have a feeling these 2 years are going to just speed right by! Talk to you all next week!!
Elder Ackerman

First Prep Day in Thailand

Hey Everyone!!!

Wow, I still can't believe I am in Thailand on the other side of the world! It is so crazy! All I can say is that 14 plus hour flight was a real drain! It was so long and we followed the night the whole way to Taipei. We didn't see the sun once the whole way there. Needless to say, the first night at the Mission home, I hit the pillow and was out! And that first night seemed to just fly by! It was so crazy walking outside the airport. You just hit a wall of heat and start sweating immediately. Crazy hot. Today has been fine though. It has been raining a lot though this morning. It has been the rainy season for a few weeks now and will last until October I think...oh well. I will need to buy an umbrella :)

This first Sunday was cool. I got to meet all the members of the branch and since it was fast and testimony meeting, I bore my testimony. In the branch, all new missionaries to the branch bear their testimony. It was way fun and a little scary. The members are all so nice and it is a great comfort to know the church is the same no matter where you travel.

We have done a ton of biking and I am surprised that my legs are not at all sore. My shoulders on the other hand are. Carrying a bag every where with scriptures and pass along cards gets really heavy after a long time. But I really shouldn't be complaining. I am going about doing the Lord's work among the Thai people. My trainer is cool. His name is Elder Wilson and he is from Alberta, Canada. He does a great job keeping us motivated even thought the day may be hard and when we can't find anyone to invite. And we have had a couple of those days. It is okay though, our work is not in vain :) And everyone here talks way fast! I am having a really hard time trying to understand them, but with time I know that I will be able to.

Oh, and next P-day I won't be emailing because of Mother's Day. Wow, I don't know what else to talk about. All I can say is that I love Thailand even though it is super hot and humid. It is a very cool place to be :) And I would not choose to be anywhere else. The food is so amazing and the fruit is to die for!!! I tried Mangosteen for the first time as well. Very good! Unfortunately, I just missed mango season. Oh and just use the address on the blog for me in Thailand. They send out the mail from the mission office to all the missionaries. I love and miss you all!!!

Elder Ackerman

He is on his way!

We just talked to Elder Ackerman. He was in Salt Lake. He sounds great and is thrilled to be on his way. He was able to talk to us in Thai and it sounded so cool! He read from the Thai Book of Mormon. For those of you that have seen it, you know how crazy it looks. He has been reading it for about 2 weeks he said. I am going to try to post a recording of him reading 1 Nephi 3:7 if I can figure out how. He will arrive in Bangkok about 11:00 pm on the 27th (Central Time). In Thailand, it will be 11:00 am on the 28th. Might take a little adjusting. I'll post his first email from Thailand as soon as we hear from him.

Elder Ackerman's mom

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is crazy!! We are actually going to be leaving the MTC! We all thought that our mission call was to stay at the MTC and learn Thai. But it isn't so. We officially leave on the 26th of April at 4:30 in the afternoon! This will be my last email home from the United States.

Well this week has been awesome! We taught the message for the restoration for the third time in Thai and it went really well I thought. This Saturday, we teach the Plan of Salvation again. It should go really well. This next Sunday, in sacrament meeting, we will do a musical number as a district in Thai. It's going to be way fun. We are singing, "I Need Thee Every Hour". We are excited. I have been able to read Thai so much faster. The Lord truly blesses us here!

Last Tuesday, we had a really awesome devotional given by Elder Pace of the Seventy. It was on how our Heveanly Father loves us and on the Spirit World. It was so amazing. He shared a lot of very personal experinces and the spirit was very strong. It lasted only an hour, but I would not have minded if he had kept going on for a couple more hours. Every one in the meeting was spiritually filled. Well, today is the last time to go to the temple for a very long time. I'm really quite disappointed. The feelings I experience there are so amazing!

Thanks for all the support from everyone!! My stay here has truly been amazing!! I love and miss you all!!!

Elder Ackerman

Wow

Okay, so we are really tripping out here! Only 2 more weeks until we leave for Thailand!! It is so crazy!! This last Saturday we taught a lesson in Thai for the fourth time. I thought it went really well. This next Saturday, we teach about the Restoration, and the next week, about the Plan of Salvation. So in Thai, I am probably the fastest reader of the script. It is so much fun to read the Thai Book of Mormon and get a small idea about what I am reading. The language is a ton of fun.

It has been quite an amazing experience here! The Elders and Sisters here are so fun and cool! I am still a Zone Leader, but this week, the Branch Presidency will be picking some new Elders to replace us. Oh! We are most likely getting our travel plans this week!! The Cambodian Elders, who come in a week ahead of us, got theirs last week. We are way excited to find out when we are leaving. We also get to Host tomorrow for new Elders coming in. That will be fun I think.

So I was going through some of the stuff that I need to probably send home this week, and I don't have a big enough box for my coat. It snowed today!!! It is so weird! I was not expected to have to wear my coat any more, but I am having to! Well, I don't have much else to report on this week. It's pretty much been normal and fun. I love and miss you all!!!
Elder Ackerman

I don't even know what week it is!

Uh oh. I don't even know what week it is! It is so true though. All the weeks seem to mesh into one. It is crazy how fast the time flies here! Well the language is going pretty awesome I have to say.

This Saturday, we get to teach the whole first lesson in Thai! The teachers haven't decided if we get to bring some vocab help or not if we get stuck. We practiced yesterday to teach about the 3rd and 4th part of Lesson 1. We were supposed to speak for 5 minutes without any help, with the vocab we knew. I spoke for the almost the whole 5 minutes.

Well, not this Wednesday, but on the next, we get the 12 other missionaries going to Thailand! It is going to be so cool. Finally a district that we will be able to get to know longer than 3 weeks! And since I am a zone leader, I get to meet them first which is so awesome! Being a zone leader has been pretty fun. I'd say everyone in the zone likes me. So Elder Nelson and I made a goal, for the whole rest of the time here at the MTC, we are not going to drink anything carbonated. It has been going really well and I can notice a difference.

I can not wait to get out to Thailand!!

Oh!! Caleb Bills is coming in tomorrow! He wasn't able to get his visa on time, which is disappointing, but it will be cool to see him! And last Thursday, we met an Elder Fast, who looks pretty much exactly like Will Ferrel, the actor. It was really funny and Elder Anderson, Elder Nelson, and I all got pictures with him for fun. It was great! Well, I love you all!! Love, Elder Ackerman

Week. . . I don't know. . .

Wow! What to say this week that hasn't already been talked about! Thai is still pretty awesome. It is SOOO nice not having to conjugate verbs! The language is so much fun though! My teachers are still amazing.

Well, three of the elders in our district, me, Elder Nelson, and Elder Anderson, got up at 3:30am to see off yet another set of missionaries! This will be the last time we'll do it though. We just get so attached to the elders, its so hard not to get up and see them off. Two of the elders were from Canada and one was from Utah. They are all serving in the Toronto Canada mission. Elder Ferland (one of the Canadians) is a professional violinist!! He is so amazing! He played at the last sunday devotional and he arranged the song himself. It was "I Know My Redeemer Lives." It almost brought tears to my eyes, it was so beautiful. It is so amazing that he is going to give 2 years to the Lord with that amount of talent. He is 25, the oldest allowed to go on a mission. He is so smart and so fun to get a long with. All the elders we meet are such awesome guys. We have had some sisters in our branch and they are really cool, but they left this morning.

On Wednesday we are getting 3 more elders and 4 more sisters. And since I have became a zone leader, I get to orient them on the MTC. Well, this morning I got to see Elder Sutherland get on the bus to the airport. His visa finally went through, so he is headed off to Brazil. It is way exciting! I can't wait for the 8 more weeks we have until we leave for Thailand. Oh and I met an Elder Politis from Sandy, UT who says he knows Caleb Bills and one of the sisters who left today (Sister Nelson) was from Sugar Land, TX and knew who the Harris's were! It is such a small world that we live in. It was way cool to find that out.

Oh and I have had the opportunity to bear my testimony in Thai to several people. It is short, but I will be learning more to say. Well, the district is getting along really well. We have a lot of fun together. In the next couple of weeks, I will send home a memory card with lots of pictures. Elder Anderson and I get along really well. He is a die-hard Chevy fan. It's so much fun to talk cars with him. Finally!, someone who understands me!

Ugh, I can't think of anything else to write on. When I get to Thailand, these letters will get longer for sure. I love and miss you all!! Elder Ackerman