"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