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
Monday, November 22, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
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
Monday, November 8, 2010
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
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
Sunday, November 7, 2010
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 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
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