Week #86

Dear Everyone,

So this was a pretty good week. I did not spend a lot of time in my area though. Thus is the life of a Zone leader.

Monday: Spent the day in Bang Khen. There is a mall there that had bowling. So we went and played a few games with the other Elders in Bang Bua Tong. It was way fun. I lost all of the games, but that is okay. We had Sizzlers which is always way good. It is a little expensive so we do not go very often at all. We had done service in the morning as our proselyting hours, so we just relaxed the rest of the day. I also had to go to Pakkret to do an exchange with the Assistants. I went there with Elder Larson, so happens to be in my group, and Elder Warner stayed here with Elder Komkrit.

Tuesday: I spent the day with Elder Larson. It was a lot of fun. We got to talk a lot about the mission and our experiences. Way cool. I spent most of the day training how to be a Zone leader with him and we had a little time to go out and teach a lesson. We got a new investigator from it. We went and set up for the English class and that was when Elder Warner came to pick me back up and go to Bang Bua Tong.

Wednesday: We spent the morning in Pakkret again doing service at the church. We were putting stickers on mosquito nets. That was fun I guess. There are a lot of mosquito nets. Oh well. We had lunch at a good Mexican restaurant that all the missionaries go to. It was delicious. We spent the rest of the evening going over investigators and preparing for a training meeting.

Thursday: Elder Warner and I presented a training meeting on the Role of the Holy Ghost in Conversion. It was a 2 hour meeting and it went really smoothly. After the meeting, we sang Christmas songs as a zone and President and Sister Smith both gave thoughts. It was way good. We had that Mexican restaurant cater for us and it was really good. It was technically our Christmas dinner with Pres Smith. We taught a couple lessons in the evening that went well. Okay, so only one of them did and I will explain why. The second lesson was to a Cambodian family who can't really speak Thai. The brother who usually helps us translate was gone, so we tried to go on our own. That was a failure. It was the hardest lesson I have ever had to teach.

Friday: This was a long day. We spent the time cleaning on of our investigators houses. We got the walls and the floor clean. That was the hardest part, but thankfully we had a power washer. For about 3 hours of it, it was just me and Elder Warner and the investigators neighbors. It was a lot of hard, but good work. We went and got Pizza Company for dinner and she paid for it. That was way nice.

Saturday: So, I was again out of my area and into another area in Pakkret. I was on an exchange with the District leader there. You might remember Elder Ahlstrom from when I was in Buriram and he was in Surin. That was a lot of fun to go on an exchange again. We invited in this apartment complex and got 4 lessons and 5 new investigators. All in around 2 hours. That was sweet.

Sunday: I was in Pakkret for church and we had a good turn out. One of the people we taught yesterday came to church and that was way awesome. After 3 hours of church, he was wondering what he needed to do to prepare for baptism. Elder Ahlstrom now has a pretty good investigator in his hands. Went back to Bang Bua Tong for about an hour before we had to go back to Pakkret and practice singing for the District Christmas party. That will be great to go to.

That is all for this week!

Love,
Elder Ackerman

Week #85

Dear All,

So this was a fun week I have to say. I did write the last email on Tuesday, so I will start from Wednesday and share my week.

Umm, Elder Chamberlain and I finally went to the Rangsit house. It actually took a little to get in. The front door was wood and had expanded from the water and was stuck in place. We had to break into the house form the second story to get in and kick the stuck door open. That was a lot of fun. The house had two cabinets that were on the first floor that got destroyed. It looked like they melted. They were made out of the cheap plywood, and they do not do very well in water. Everything the cabinets was destroyed. A lot of books are gone and such. We spent the time cleaning, well more like scooping up junk and putting it in a pile in the courtyard. We couldn't clean or scrub because the water to the house was not flowing. That was going to have to wait until Saturday.

So then Thursday morning came. We all went down the Pakkret for the transfers meeting. I was announced as the new Zone Leader and later I was announced that I would be going to Bang Bua Tong with Elder Warner. Elder Warner is only one transfer behind me. We spent the day long planning and getting to know investigators.

On Friday we had service set up and that all went well. More cleaning of houses. Oh and Bang Bua Tong is in the same district as Rangsit. I just moved a little bit over. That was nice. I did also finally get all of my stuff to my area. In Ayutaya I was living off of about 4 pairs of clothing and my toiletries for 4 weeks. Elder Warner and I have gotten back into teaching a little. We have some great families that we are teaching and they are doing well. They are both Cambodian families who moved to Thailand and can only speak a little Thai and no English. They are really good and really taken to reading in the Book of Mormon and going to church. It is pretty awesome. We have another investigator who has suffered from polio and undergoing surgeries and is confined to a wheelchair. She doing well and loves coming to church.

So I can tell you a little more about Bang Bua Tong. Some parts of it are still flooded and returning to normal. The Branch Presidents house is still underwater and he is currently living at the church. We live in an apartment that is really small, but comfortable. An A&W is right across the apartment. It is a really big area. The branch has 50 so attending, but 15 of that was investigators. There are 4 active priesthood holders and 4 missionaries. A pretty small branch I would say. Umm, that is all I have to report on this week. I love you all!

Elder Ackerman

Week #84

Dear All,

So this was another unproductive week. Well, I mean as when it comes to teaching lessons. It has been pretttty quiet around here. We have been still doing a ton of serving. I still don't even know where to start. I am pretty sure we cleaned 2 more houses as well as 2 schools. That was actually a lot of fun. I have been super tired, but it seems everyday I still have the strength to go out and serve. We had a health meeting at the Ceangwatana building. The Area doctor and his wife came to our mission and we had a 2 hour meeting. It was cool and everyone in Bangkok was present, so that was way fun to see a lot of people, even though I did not know who half of them were. Oh well.

We went into Rangsit for 2 days. One to do a members house and the other to help clean our Branch mission leaders house. There were also some members from the International branch that came and helped. Oh and the BML can speak English way well and works for a Canadian company as a tax analyst. He is way busy. Umm, other than that, not much to report on this week. Oh, so transfers is on Thursday. I also got the call last night from Pres. Smith. The call was for the assignment to be a Zone leader. I did accept, but it is going to be a huge jump in responsibility. Oh boy. So yes I am moving from Rangsit and after only 4 weeks with Elder Chamberlain. Pretty sad. I was looking forward to serving longer with him.

I love you all and thank you for all of your support!

Love,

Elder Ackerman

Week #83

Dear Everyone,

Well, yet another week of service and surprise, a lesson as well. I am still in Ayuttaya. The word on getting back to Rangsit is still being debated. Actually it is not due to the flooding. There was still around a foot of water in front of the house when we past by on the motorway.

So this week was fun. I will start with Tuesday because I emailed Monday night last week. We served a lot through out the day. We found a couple new people to try and start teaching as well. Set up appointments for the next day. We also went out and passed out English flyer's. That was less than successful. Oh well.

On Wednesday in the afternoon we found a school to serve at. We spent a good several hours scrubbing walls cleaning of all the gunk and water lines. The other Elders went out and taught a lesson and got 6 new investigators as well. It was at a house we served at earlier in the day.

On Thursday we returned back to the school and did a lot more cleaning. We also went and served at a Sisters house that was nearby as well.

Friday we had to head down to Bangkok to interview with Pres Smith. I got my temple recommend extended. It was cool because he did the interview all in Thai and the recommend card is in Thai as well. Pretty cool. The end of the day was the best. We had a most excellent Thanksgiving dinner. IT WAS SO GOOD!!! I forgot how good that kind of food is.

Saturday we served at the same sister from Thursday again and this time we had a lot more to do.

On Sunday we actually did not watch General Conference again. We just had Sacrament meeting and then went out and cleaned a relative of the same sister's house. That was fun and took up all our time. Oh and Saturday night, E Hanni and E Chamberlain went to Lopburi. I have been here with E Raven. It has been fun. So Sunday night we taught a lesson. It was weird. I have not taught a lesson for 3 weeks now. Crazy. It was nice to get back into it. That was this week. Thanks for all of your support and prayers. I love you all!

Elder Ackerman

Week #82

(The picture is of what used to be a rice field)


Dear Everyone,

So this was another week full of service. I do not know where to start really. All the days lately I have not been able to keep apart at all. We seem to wake up, do service, come home and eat and sleep. It is actually a lot of fun, so don't worry. Umm. Since I emailed on Tuesday night, I will start with Wednesday. Actually I really don't remember at that we did this week. I mean, I don't remember what was done on each day of the week. We cleaned a couple of more houses, helped people move stuff back to the original places, did some scraping of walls to prep for painting, did some actual painting, etc. It has been pretty tiring and napping during the day has been becoming a lot more attractive (no I have not napped at all). Sunday turned out to be okay. We watched the Asia Area Stake Conference, again. This will actually be Elder Hanni's 4th time watching it. Here in Ayutaya, they have not seen General Conference yet even. That will be happeing this Saturday and Sunday. That will be fun to watch again in Thai. Umm, I really do not have a lot to report I am sorry. The flood waters are going down, but as far as I know, Rangsit is still flooded, but getting better. We also got invited to go to a Thanksgiving dinner in Bangkok on this Friday. I hope that it still all goes through.

I guess I can also introduce my new companion. He is Elder Chamberlain from Boise, Idaho. I am his follow-up trainer. He is starting transfers 3 and even though we have not done any teaching together, he is a very driven missionary and a good example to me. The other 2 Elders here are Elder Hanni and Elder Raven. They are both pretty awesome and having 4 Elders in a house again is way fun.

I am sorry, but that is all I have for this week. I love you all so much!!

Elder Ackerman

Week #81

Dear Everyone,

So this was a pretty crazy week. I do not even know where to start. All of the days rushed into to one, so I am not going to separate the days apart.

So from last Monday, we traveled to Ayuttaya. We did a lot of shopping for stuff since the Elders have not been at the house for about a month. We bought a lot of clean drinking water as well since the city water in unreliable. So we went put from Tuesday to Saturday doing service everyday. We have cleaned around 5 houses. They were really dirty. The whole city was practically underwater. It was like a modern day Atlantis, but not quite. On Sunday morning we traveled to Bangkok to attend church. On Monday we had a Zone Conference with Elder Gong of the Area Presidency in attendance. That was really cool. It was an excellent meeting. We had our P-day on Tuesday. I am writing this email at 8 pm and I am very tired. Lots of traveling and very little sleep. I am doing well. Thank you for all of your prayers and thoughts.

Love,
Elder Ackerman

Week #80

Dear Everyone,

So this was a pretty fun week. A lot of exciting things happening.

Monday: So we had a pretty good P-Day. We relaxed did the usual napping and such. We went out to Nong Jig for the evening and taught a few lessons. Our investigators out there are doing alright, but still need some work for sure. It was an overall good evening.

Tuesday: We had a good proselyting day, well I guess we did. We had a lot planned to do through out the day and it all fell through. We had a couple investigators that we wanted to go visit and none of them were at home. That was alright. We taught a lesson before English started. That turned out well. The English class was fun and we had a good turn out. Our lesson that we wanted to teach in the evening fell through, so we just went and had dinner.

Wednesday: We had another pretty okay day. District Meeting was a lot of fun. It went well and I got a couple complements from the missionaries that I am over. Lots of finding time during the day, but not a lot of finding people to teach. We talked to several people, but it is sometimes hard to get into there house and teach a lesson. We went out to Nong Jig again and taught a couple of lessons.

Thursday: We had a good couple hours of weekly planning to get on the same page. We taught a couple of lessons. We went and visited a recent-convert family. Actually it was the family that I baptised. They are struggling a little bit with going to church, but we are working on it with them. I love that family so much and want to see them really preparing to go to the temple. We had a really effective Coordination meeting with the branch as well.

Friday: Friday evening was the only teaching that we did for the day. Visited another 3 recent converts out at Nong Jig as well. They are doing well. I also got a call from the Assistants that I would be moving from RoiEt Sunday night. Elder Todd had to go down to renew his visa and I was moving. It was a little shock because it was so soon and not very well prepared on my part for it.

Saturday: We spent the afternoon packing and cleaning up the house. Took about 3 hours to take care of. We had also planned for the day to go with Brother Suteb and his wife to go to Suwanapum to teach some referrals and a current investigator family. It was about an hour away by car. We did teach a couple of lessons and got some new investigators as well. It was good and we got dinner as well with our family down there.

Sunday: Had the normal church block. Had 5 investigators come to church. That was a success. We taught a lesson afterwards and then went to the house to eat some lunch. We went and contacted a referral from a member and that turned out okay as well. We spent sometime finding, taught that recent convert family again and told them I was getting on a bus at 930 pm. They were kind of bummed, but they will do just fine. We then went back home and had dinner made by our member neighbours. That was so good! Then went to the bus station with Brother Suteb and his wife and went down to Bangkok.

I am now going to be serving in Rangsit, but at the moment it is flooded, so I do not know where I am going/ what I will be doing. Something maybe about going to Loburi and doing some service. I don't know. Well I love you all!!

Elder Ackerman

Week #79

Dear All,

This was a pretty fun week. I think that the longer it goes on, the more tired I become. This week really showed through a little.

Monday: It started off as a pretty good week. We had a party as a District and made some cake together. It was really really good and very rich. We chilled the rest of the day and then took the trip out to Nong Jig. We taught a couple of sweet lessons.

Tuesday: Turned out to be an alright day. We started it off with teaching a guy off of the invite. Got to sit and teach him for about 10 minutes. He did accept a return appointment which was nice. We taught another investigator, Bubpaa, before going over to English class. The appointments that we had set up for after English fell through so we went and got some good food for dinner. I had some Jaeger Schnitzel mit Spaetzle. It was fantastic.

Wednesday: The day went really well. I think I forgot to mention, but Mahasarakam got 2 more Elders from Bangkok to help. So I now look over 8 missionaries. That is fun. We had a good district meeting on the Book of Mormon. Our appointments all went through in the evening, but we had to set a couple to the side, due to no progression and not keeping commitments. Other than that, a good day.

Thursday: We had a good long planning session for the day. We did teach a lesson in the evening and that was it for the day. We taught Alma 32 to Bubpaa. It turned out really well and fit well with her concern.

Friday: A couple of our appointments fell through in the morning. I was able to interview one of the Sisters investigators for baptism and he passed. He could not really read until he started in the Book of Mormon and he cold turkeyed it for smoking and alcohol in 2 days. Pretty sweet. We taught a couple of lessons in the evening that went well.

Saturday: We spent from 9am to 4pm doing a service project in Nong Jig. It consisted of painting a wall and a building. It was a great project and lots of fun. We did not have any success finding wise and teaching.

Sunday: Turned out to be a great day and the Sisters investigator Sing was baptised. Sing translates to lion. Pretty cool name I would have to say. We had a few investigators at church. We were blessed in the afternoon by being able to teach a couple lessons and get 4 new investigators as well. The Lord gives us so much. We just need to realize it and thank Him so we can get more.

I love you all!

Elder Ack

Week #78

Dear One and All,

So this was a pretty okay week. Lots of stuff going on here in Thailand. For all those who have seen Thailand in the news with the flooding, I am doing alright. RoiEt has not flooded. We are too high up. Missionaries are moving out of the flooded areas to work in non flooded areas. Everything is all good. It is in the Lords hands.

Monday: This week started out well. We had a good preparation day and actually got around to cleaning. It was one of those "round to its". We also had a good amount of time to relax and get some needed rest for the coming week. We taught a couple of lessons in the evening as well.

Tuesday: We went to the former branch presidents house to continue doing some service for him. We moved a lot of dirt from one side of the fence to the other. It was fun I suppose. We taught the usual English class in the evening and were able to teach a couple quick lessons afterwards.

Wednesday: We had a good District Meeting in the afternoon. It was on the missionary purpose and about baptism. I guess I can say it was good because I gave it. You will have to ask the other missionaries if was actually good or not. Taught a couple lessons in the afternoon and evening.

Thursday: We had our usual long planning which went well this week. We were able to squeeze in a couple of good lessons before going home for the evening.

Friday: We went to the former BP's house again to do some more service. We built up a sewer drain again with brick and concrete. That was actually a lot of fun. Some good hard out door work. We taught 3 lessons through the evening to finish it off. We found a new investigator as well, teaching him in his house.

Saturday: A little slower of a day for us. We were able to teach a Recent Convert lesson in the morning and then a lesson to finish out the day. We actually had a lot of lessons set up for during the day, but they all fell through in the end. It was a little sad.

Sunday: For this Sunday, we unfortunately only got 2 investigators at church. We are not sure what happened to the rest of them. We taught a couple lessons in the afternoon. It was a good end to the week.

That is all for this week. Transfers is not happening on Thursday and will not happen until further notice. Probably only 2 weeks though.

Love,
Elder Ackerman

Week #77

Dear Everyone,

So this was a pretty down week. I was down and out for a couple of days due to getting sick. Ugh.

Monday: The week started out okay. We had a good preparation day. It was very relaxing. We went and got pizza for lunch at his legit Italian restaurant. Pretty stinking good I'd say. They had the best garlic bread I have had in a long time! So got home and had good relax time. We went out to Nong Jig and taught a couple of lessons. They turned out okay, but they could have been better.

Tuesday: During the morning at around 12pm, I had a slight fever hit me. It was not too bad, so we decided to continue on and I was not going to give in and stop working for the day. I was going to finish out the day, whether or not. It got way bad before English and I sat the class out with a high fever and the chills. I layed on the ground for a little while and I think I knocked out. Then Sister Itow felt my head and got Elder Todd and told us to go home, to which I did not argue. Turned out to be the worst night of sleep ever. Oh well. We did teach one lesson before English.

Wednesday: The sleep I finally did get was during studies when my headache went away for a little bit. That was nice. I was so tired through the day and had some stomach issues as well. We taught one lesson in the evening, but that was it for the day. I did sleep a little better. but waking up in the middle of the night with diarrhea is annoying.

Thursday: We got up nice and early in the morning to get on a 2 hour bus ride up to Khon Kean for some training. The meeting turned out to be really good. It was on how to begin teaching and we learned/reviewed (in my case) what it should be like. It was fun and we got to practice a lot. We went to lunch at Sizzlers afterwards and that was fantastically amazing. I had not yet had it here in Thailand, but Sister Itow commited me to eat it. So I did. So worth it. A little on the expensive size for a missionary, but whatever. Traveled back to Roi Et with Elder Hardy for an exchange. Managed to teach one lesson for the evening.

Friday: We spent the morning studying and Elder Hardy trained me on some stuff, mainly on being a better District Leader. It was good and I learned some good pointers. We sat down with a brother who had been a member for about 20 years here in RoiEt and we had a list of all men who were 18 and older. We found out who was in which area and now I have a list of people to find and baptise their families. We taught a lesson in the evening out in Nong Jig. Lots of fun.

Saturday: We exchanged back in the morning with Elder McDonald and Elder Todd. Then we spent the rest of the day planning for the next week. We had not any time to plan the whole week. It went a little long, but it was good. We taught a lesson or two before heading back to the house.

Sunday: We had a pretty good Sunday. We taught a good lesson after church to a couple of our daters. We also taught a lesson off of a find to a soldier. That was an okay lesson. He did not accept a return lesson with us. Oh well. Agency is a good thing. A gift from God.

That is all for this week.

Love,
Elder Ackerman

Week #76

Dear Everyone,

So we had an alright week. It for sure ended good. I love General Conference.

Monday: So during the day before we started our normal proselyting hours, we went back to the former Branch Presidents house to continue doing service. It was a blast and they had an activity made from it with the youth. It was a lot of fun and some good hard work. We had a couple lessons in the evening and taught some new investigators.

Tuesday: We had an alright day going for us. We really did not have a lot of time due to the fact that we had to work on the new visa paperwork. That was fun. Not really. A lot of time wasted and all that good stuff. Oh well, it needed to happen. We were able to teach a couple of good lessons and teach our English class as well.

Wednesday: This was actually a really nice day. All of our appointments went through in the evening and we had a lot of fun teaching. We had to spend more time in the afternoon to go inviting and try to find some new investigators. It did not go very well.

Thursday: Another busy morning. We had our usual weekly planning and that went very well. We then headed over to the hospital (that is where are all the doctors are, there are not any real clinics) to get a physical done for the visa. That took only an hour and the physical consisted of the doctor listening to my breathing and check my lymph nodes. That was it. Way easy and way cheap haha Only 1 dollar and 10 cents. Fantastic. It was a joke of a physical. We taught a couple lessons in the evening. I also had to travel to Mahasarakham to do an interview.

Friday: Took care of that interview in the evening. Elder Jensen and I had some good inviting time considering all of the set up appointments fell through on us. Oh well. It was fun. Giving interviews for baptism are always a good experience.

Saturday: Okay, now for the good stuff! General Conference! It was such a fantastic conference. It was also the first time I have not fallen asleep for any of the sessions. That was quite the accomplishment! At least I felt good about myself. All I have to say is that Elder Holland punched us in the face and exploded our minds. Like usual :) I also really enjoyed Elder Uchtdorf's talk on our potential to be like God. Pretty sweet. We taught a lesson afterwards and then ended the evening with ice cream (can't help it, tradition).

Sunday: Another most excellent day. We did the whole conference thing and then went out to go teaching. At first all of our appointments fell through, but they were made up by our finding efforts. It was good. We taught a less-active and his 2 friends. They are now both new investigators. We also found a small family. It was very awesome. We ended the day with a good dinner from the members.

I am so thankful to be a missionary of the Lord Jesus Christ. I know this church is true and that President Monson is the Lord's representative here on the earth.

Love,
Elder Ackerman

Week #75

Dear Everyone,

So this was a pretty fun week. Our work was not at its highest, but we were pretty pleased for the week. The Sisters have been doing well recovering from a week in the hospital. They destroyed there area this past week. Quite an incredible bounce back into the work.

Monday: We had a pretty good day. We were able to chill around the house, clean a little, take a nap. It was very nice. We got out to teach a couple of lessons in the evening. I did an exchange with Elder Christenson. It was fun. I will be with him until Wednesday.

Tuesday: We were able to teach a couple lessons. It was a fun day. It was weird having studies cut short. Elder Christenson no longer has the extended schedule, so I had the normal studies for in the morning. Kind of weird. The English class was fun and we had a lot of people show up for it.

Wednesday: In the morning, the Zone leaders came to the church to give us some specialized training. It was really good and I learned a lot. The focus was on chapter 11 in Preach My Gospel. We taught another couple lessons in the evening after switching back with Elder Todd.

Thursday: We taught a couple lessons and had a cool experience too. While we were walking down this one street, we had a guy on a motorcycle come to us and told us to come to his house. You could smell alcohol on him, but we decided to appease him. We showed up and had an interesting lesson. We were able to set up a return appointment. Just reminds me in PMG chapter 9, talks about how they will be led to us, or we will be led to them.

Friday: Another good day. We set up a lesson with one of the members grandparents. It was good and they have turned into 2 new investigators. They are out at Nong Jig and live right next door to another member family. I hope that the teaching turns out good.

Saturday: We were only able to teach one lesson. It was really good and the investigator is doing good. We spent some time inviting, but we were not met with any success.

Sunday: Well it poured this morning. I am surprised we had anyone at church. Rain deters a lot of people. Kind of annoying. But, we did have a couple come from another town, an hour and a half away, in the rain, on a motorcycle. That was pretty cool. The rain stopped during church and it was all good afterwards. We went the the branch presidents for dinner again. We had a good meeting and requested some stuff from him. He is a little overwhelmed and did not know where to begin. He was very grateful that we gave him some stuff to do. Dinner was delicious.

That was all for this week!

Love,
Elder Ack

Week#74

Dear Everyone,

So this was a pretty good week. We got lots of lessons taught and even got some one baptised.

Monday: We had a pretty good evening here in ร้อยเอ็ด. Life is going smoothly with no real bumps in the road. We had a nice time to rest and prepare for the next week. We both got haircuts. We taught a few lessons in the evening with our people out in Nong Jig. They went well, but we did have to set and investigator off to the side. He was not progressing very well and told us he would let us know when he wanted to learn. That was sad.

Tuesday: We had a training meeting given by President Smith today. It was a sweet meeting. I love hearing President Smith. We spent about 4 hours in the meeting. Elder Todd and a couple other missionaries went out to do proselyting work. We taught a lesson before English, taught a quick English class, and then went and ran stuff around for the Sisters while they were both in the hospital. That was fun I guess.

Wednesday: We had our usual District Meeting and we had it in the hospital with the Sisters. I don't know if that was bad or not, but it was fun. I did an exchange with Elder Jensen afterwards and spent another hour running around doing stuff for the Sisters. It was great fun. We then taught another 4 lessons before the day of over. And it poured like crazy. We got pretty wet.

Thursday: We exchanged back and Elder Todd and I worked on our weekly planning. We taught a lesson before it rained and thankfully it stopped so we could teach a couple more. It was pretty awesome.

Friday: We had an alright day. We taught a couple lessons in the evening out at หนองจิก. Lots of fun.

Saturday: It was a pretty slow day. We were only able to teach one lesson but it was really good. After which an investigator of the Sisters was baptised. That was great. Other than that, it was good.

Sunday: We had 7 people attend church. That was pretty fantastic. It is just going really well for us here in RoiEt. Taught 4 more lessons through out the day. Ended it with a really good dinner.

That was all for this week!

Love,
Elder Ackerman

Week #73

Dear One and All,

This was a pretty good week for us here in RoiEt.

Monday: Was a pretty normal P-Day. We went out to Nong Jig as usual to teach several lessons. Nothing too exciting, just a couple of recent converts to teach and then another lesson to a referral that we got from the members out there. We also had dinner. Elder Todd ate a whole red pepper. That was pretty sweet.

Tuesday: We had a pretty good day. All of our lessons should have fallen through. Thankfully they did not. But they all went through at the last minute. It was a little stressful but pretty awesome. The English class was good.

Wednesday: It was a pretty slow day. We have to have District meeting later than usual now due to the training. So we got in maybe 2 hours of proselyting time before having to go out to Nong Jig. We had a good time out there and taught 3 more lessons.

Thursday: We had a pretty good day. Not a lot of time due to the fact that we had to weekly plan and then it rained a lot. It has been doing that lately here a lot. Oh well.

Friday: had a good day. We taught several lessons and got a couple new investigators. We are finally beginning to teach the mom of one of the girls that was baptised last month. We have just not had anytime out at the Nong Jig to teach them. Time is one thing we don't have out there. I can't get out there anymore than we are now, because we have people to teach in the city.

Saturday: A pretty bad day. A lot of dropped appointments and not a lot of people to replace them. Oh well. You have those days. But, we set up some good return appointments for on Sunday to make up for it.

Sunday: We had 5 investigators attend church as well as getting 2 more people baptismal dates. They were a couple of pretty good lessons. One of them practically gave themselves the date.

That is all for this week. Love you all!

Elder Ackerman

Week #72

Dear All,

Wow, the weeks just keep passing by here in Roi-Et.

Monday: We had a pretty full evening actually. It was crazy. Not a lot of time for much. That was mainly at night out at the usual spot. During the p-day hours, now that was a different story. It was really nice to relax and nap a little.

Tuesday: We taught a couple lessons in the afternoon and before English class. That was it for the day. Found out that Sister Itow would be training and that Elder Merrell would be moving from Mahasarakam. It really wasn't too surprising that Sister Itow would be training. She is a really good missionary. The English class was fun.

Wednesday: So normally I would have gone down to Bangkok to renew my visa. It was not to be that way this transfers. Elder Todd and I stayed up in RoiEt to work the couple of days. We taught a couple lessons in the evening and it was a pretty good day.

Thursday: We had our usual long planning session and it went really well. We went out to work in the afternoon and taught some lessons. One was a woman from English and she is turning out to be pretty good.

Friday: We taught a few good lessons through out the day. I was shocked by the first guy of the day that we sat down with. It was crazy. He was questioning our motives and frustrated by our answers. It was quite an eye opener. i had never experienced that in my year and a half as a missionary in Thailand. I guess there is a first for everything. The rest of the day turned out well though.

Saturday: We only taught one lesson during the day. It was actually our last lesson. It was really good and I am impressed with the investigator. He is 21 and always asking questions and really trying to understand what we are teaching. It is great.

Sunday: We had 5 people attend church and 2 of them came from a part member family that we are working on right now. We taught them afterwards and were able to give them baptismal dates for in November. They live and hour and a half away from the city and come to the city for church on Sundays. We can only teach them on Sundays. They are pretty sweet. We taught another 3 lessons in the afternoon to some cool investigators.

That was it for this week!

Love,
Elder Ackerman

Week #71

Dear Everyone!

So this was a pretty good week. We got a lot of good work done here in Roi-Et

Monday: We had a good day to rest and relax and prepare for the upcoming week. We went to the usual place on Monday evenings and we taught a couple good lessons to our recent converts out there. They are doing fantastic. We also had a really good dinner prepared by the members.

Tuesday: I felt that we had a pretty good day today. We did not have any lessons planned and that meant a lot of inviting time for us. We were able to teach 2 lessons and get 2 more new investigators. It was fun. We taught the usual English and it was a pretty good success for us.

Wednesday: We had our normal District meeting, after which I headed to Mahasarakam to interview a baptismal candidate. I always enjoy doing interviews. This time it was with someone that I had never met before. It was a great experience. Elder Merrell and I taught a couple of lessons as well. Found some new investigators for them as well.

Thursday: Headed back to Roi-Et in the morning and Elder Todd and I did our weekly planning. Thankfully the rain only fell while we were inside. We taught a couple lessons in the evening and got a new investigator. Not too much happened.

Friday: This was a pretty busy day. We had 6 lessons planned out to start, but as the day went on we were only able to teach half of those. They were good lessons and the ones we taught out in Nong Jig were member referrals. They are always the best. Hint Hint Oh and we also got poured on. Twice. That was a blast.

Saturday: We taught a 19 year old guy that we had met a week ago. Finally got a lesson with him. That was a great one actually. I feel that he is someone who has been prepared by the Lord. We got pizza for dinner and had ice cream too. Fun evening.

Sunday: Got up early so we could get to the church and get a ride to Khon Kean for District Conference. Elder Watson of the Seventy was there as well. That was cool. I was also chosen by the ZL's to translate part of the meeting. That was hard! We got back with a little time to proselyte. Was able to teach a lesson and get some new people.

Well, that is all for this week!

Love,
Elder Ackerman

Week #70

Dear Everyone,

Monday: It was a pretty good day here in Thailand. We had a nice short preparation day. Elder Todd and I had to travel to Mahasarakham to exchange with the Zone leaders there. Elder Todd went up to Khon Khean while I stayed here in with Elder McDonald. We had a good evening. Taught a couple of really good lessons with the investigators out at Nong Jig. We also got dinner while out there too. I got to eat a straight pepper. That was hot but not too bad.

Tuesday: We had a pretty successful day. It was me and Elder McDonald. We taught a couple lessons and got into a couple of houses. They have been some of the best lessons that I have taught. It is really nice being with someone who has been a missionary as long as I have and to teach lessons together. It was pretty fun. Way spiritual lessons. We taught English and Elder McDonald interviewed three more people of mine for baptism. They all passed with flying colors.

Wednesday: We had our weekly District meeting taught by the Zone Leaders. That turned out well. Then I chose to do a last minute exchange with Elder Christensen in Mahasarakham. That was great. I had to run to the house, grab clothes and get back pretty fast. We did not have a very successful teaching evening, but it was still really good.

Thursday: I was still in Mahasarakham for the day. We taught a couple of good lessons in the evening. There is one family that they are teaching that was I was very impressed with. Except that the kid of the family is a little brat. Oh well. It was fun. Elder Todd and Elder Merrill met us in Mahasarakham because on Friday morning we have to travel to Khon Kean for Zone Conference.

Friday: Traveled early in the morning to get to Khon Kean on time to attend Zone Conference. It was really quite fantastic this time. It was on the power of the Book of Mormon. President Smith is a fantastic teacher and mission president. We got back to RoiEt at around 630pm. Just in time to head out to Nong Jig and teach a couple of lessons.

Saturday: We taught 2 lessons in the morning and then had to hurry over to the church to do interviews with Pres. Smith. I had a really good interview with him. President Smith is a great man. The rest of the evening, we were busy with a lot of other stuff and did not have much time to do any proselyting work.

Sunday: We had 4 investigators attend church. That was really cool. As well as having 5 people walk in to the church. It was a single family. Pretty awesome. I thought that they were visiting from another branch because they looked so confident walking into the church. That was a cool experience. They are actually in the sisters area. So they taught them. We did our weekly planning as well and taught a lesson.

That is all for this week. I am glad that everyone is doing awesome!

Love,
Elder Ackerman

Week #69

Dear Everyone

This was a pretty good week. Two of our investigators were baptised.

Monday: Turned out to be a pretty normal preparation day. Got our ride out to Nong Jig to teach a couple of good lessons. The lessons were to the next 5 people to be baptised in this month. They are doing pretty well. It was a really relaxing day.

Tuesday: We were able to teach a few lessons in the morning and got ourselves a new investigator. We taught the usual English class with success. Umm yeah...

Wednesday: The only lessons we taught were the ones out in that neighborhood we go to a lot. And we go to that one a lot for a reason. Soon to be lots of members there! A good day missionary work wise. I went on exchange with Elder Christenson. He came to RoiEt and Elder Todd went to Mahasarakam.

Thursday: Oh boy. Did not get a lot done teaching and finding wise. We did have a great long planning session. A lot got accomplished and I was pretty pleased with how it went. We spent a little of the evening proselyting and that was it.

Friday: Taught a couple more lessons in the evening. While we were out at the neighborhood, we had the chance with the Branch President to give a blessing to a member. Her father could not do it yet. But he will soon be getting the Melchizedek Priesthood in the next District Conference. So that was cool to help. I was the one to do the anointing in Thai. Only the 2nd time I have done that. The hard part is remembering the full name in Thai.

Saturday: We taught a recent convert lesson to Sueb and his family. They were baptised last Saturday. They are doing really well. They understand that they are no longer Buddhist, which is good. Some members don't fully understand that yet. A really good lesson on the Priesthood and the organization of the church. It is sometimes easy to forget that the people you are teaching have not grown up in the church and that a lot things still need to be explained.

Sunday: We had 6 investigators attend church. That was pretty cool. Our investigators Cat and B were baptised after church was over. It was a great experience. They will do really well in the church. They both want to serve missions in the future. Good strong testimonies. We taught a lesson that was a referral from a member. Can I say how much I love referrals! It was a good lesson. She has been to church about 4 times already and likes it and said she will most likely keep going.

A pretty good week overall.

Love,
Elder Ackerman

Week #68

Dear All,

So I am not going to lie. The mission has really just flown by here in Thailand. I had been doing some reflecting and thinking back and it kind of just hit me how fast it has gone.

Monday: We had a pretty normal Preparation Day around here. I was sick all day, so sleeping was the highest on my list. It was pretty great. I was feeling better in the evening so we went out and taught a couple of lessons. Our investigators are doing pretty well.

Tuesday: Turned out to be a pretty good day. Elder Todd and I had a lot of time to go out and do some proselyting work. Although, thanks to this new training, I also have a different schedule to follow. From 8am to 1030am we do our regular personal, companion, and language study. Then later in the day at 330pm to 5pm we do specialized training (from me) for an hour and then have another hour of language study. But this is only for 4 out of the 7 days of the week. Needless to say, it leaves us with less time. We taught a couple of lessons from street contacting and got a new investigator. The English class was fun.

Wednesday: We had a better day. I am stilling recovering. No fever but a sore throat kicked itself in. Oh well. Just sucking on cough drops to keep it slightly numbed helps a lot. We taught 3 lessons in the afternoon. One to our family that will be getting baptised on Saturday. The other 2 were for our other 2 groups of people soon to be baptised. It was a pretty good day.

Thursday: We had an alright day. We spent the morning doing our weekly planning session. Had quite a bit to update in the area book. Being sick did not help with my effectiveness at night. Fell a little behind. We taught a couple lessons during the day.

Friday: Another day with a couple of lessons. It also happened to be Mother's Day here. It was very quiet around the city. I imagine every one went out of town to go visit their mothers. There was an activity that we attended at the church with the members. It was pretty cool.

Saturday: We taught a lesson during the day. Then it came time for the big day. Our family of 3 was baptised. It was a small program but it was really good. I was the one to baptise all 3 of them. I wish that a member would have but I am grateful for the opportunity. 2 of our other people being baptised passed their interviews with the Zone Leaders. Excellent.

Sunday: It was a pretty good day. We had 6 investigators attend church. The family of 3 was confirmed as members of the church. I spent a good part of the afternoon meeting with the Branch President with paperwork and helping the youth practice singing for District conference in Khon Kean. That was a lot of fun. I am like the only one in the branch who can kind of play the piano. So I am always on call. Oh well. We then spent an hour and a half in the car to go to another district of Roi-Et to teach a lesson. And then we spent another hour and a half going back. Pretty fun.

So we had a pretty good week. I was pleased with the results.

Love you all!
Elder Ackerman

Week #65

Dear Everyone,

So this was a pretty eventful week.

Monday: So yeah, Monday was lots of fun. Planting rice was a blast. Very muddy too. We then went back to that neighborhood in the evening to get some teaching appointments done. They went well and we got permission for another teenager to get baptised. The next step is to work on the parents.

Tuesday: Turned out to be a relatively good day. We found a new family that actually lives in Chonburi where there is not a branch currently. Dang it. Oh well, perhaps in the future. Taught two other lessons and had a successful English class.

Wednesday: We had a good district meeting. Lots of good discussion and a little role playing. We taught 3 lessons for the day. One was with our family that is soon to be baptised. They other were out at the usual Mon,Wed,Fri, neighborhood. A good day.

Thursday: We had a training meeting here in Roi-Et given by President Smith. It was really good. It combined 2 zones and all the leaders from them. Got to see a few friends from other zones. Taught a few lessons in the evening during an exchange with Elder Pimsuwan, the Khon Khean zone leader. That was fun.

Friday: Had another good day with Elder Pimsuwan. We taught several lessons and he took me to some houses that had former investigators. That was good. Hoped to get some new investigators at the end of the week.

Saturday: Elder Pimsuwan interviewed the family we have been working with and they all passed. But we are going to wait a few more weeks. Then it consisted of travel all day to go to Khon Khean and pickup Elder Buckner and go back.

Sunday; 12! Yes, 12 people at church for me and Elder Buckner. That was a record for sure on my mission. It was a good day. Taught a couple lessons. Went to dinner at a members house. Very good food.

That is all for this week.

Elder Ackerman

Week #64

Dear All to whom it may concern,

So this was a pretty fun week. I guess I will just have to tell you more about it.

Monday: So it was actually a pretty bad P-day as P-days go. When we went to the music store, they were out of ukuleles. And then I got bit my the owners Chihuahua (maybe that's how you spell it?). Oh well that was pretty terrible. Had to spend sometime a the hospital and get some shots. Ugh. We then went out to the normal place for Monday night and taught a couple lessons.

Tuesday: Turned to be a better day. We taught a few more lessons that all turned out well. Taught the normal English class. Being companions is way fun with Elder Buckner.

Wednesday: The only lessons we taught were in the evening. They turned out well. This week has been a little slower on the teaching lessons side. This is when I bought the ukulele. I know not on a P-day. They are kind of going through a trend right now, so they are hard to find and sell out quickly. Other than that a good day.

Thursday: Another good day. We got our weekly planning done and then went out to teach a few lessons. They turned out great and at this point we still haven't found any new investigators...

Friday: Taught 2 sweet lessons. We got 2 more people with baptismal goals, bringing our number up to 6 as a companionship. It is going great here in Roi-Et.

Saturday: The weekend was way slow teaching wise. We tried to help serve our family that should be baptised in a week or so, but that kind of flopped. Oh well. We hard a good coordination meeting with the branch mission leader.

Sunday: Well, 8 people at church! That was a sweet thing to see. Our investigators are doing really well. We just need to find new people. We did find a new guy to start teaching thankfully. Had a really good dinner at a members house as well.

Well that is all for this week!!

Love,
Elder Ackerman

Week #63

Good Afternoon to those who are perhaps on my side of the world,

So this has been a pretty good week. I am still so surprised by how fast the time goes by as we work hard.

Monday: Turned out to be a very relaxed Preparation day for us. We got done with everything we needed to do for the day at around 100pm, so we just stayed at the house and chilled for a good few hours. That was way nice. We then went out to Nong Jig, which is were we go every night 3 times a week. We do have a member take us out and that is great because they can then help us teach. We have some good investigators out there right now.

Tuesday: We had a pretty good day. Taught a few lessons with some help from members. Our main family that we are really focusing on is Sueb and Oi. They are doing really great and accepted a baptismal date for the 30th of July. They have been accepting everything with no problem and they also see the improvement in their lives as well. We taught English again. Every week. That is always fun.

Wednesday: Best day of the week. We taught out at Nong Jig. That seems to be where we get the most of our lessons we to week. Umm, there was not much else eventful. Having Sisters in the District is great. They made chocolate no bakes with peanut butter for district meeting. That was pretty awesome.

Thursday: Elder Buckner and I did our weekly planning and then got on a bus to go to Mahasarakam. I was going to stay the night there to spend the rest of Thursday and half of Friday there for and exchange. It went really well and we did a lot of teaching. We also had some good scripture discussions.

Friday: Spent some of the morning inviting before getting on a bus to head back to Roi Et. We then had a good rest of the evening in Nong Jig, yet again. It is always so much fun to go out there. taught only 2 lessons unlike the usual 3 or 4. Oh well.

Saturday: An even slower day on our part. We taught only one lesson, but that was after a lot of business we had to take care of. Oh well. It was still a good day.

Sunday: Wow, we had 8 investigators attend church. That was awesome. We even had someone from Nong Jig bring a friend. That was sweet. There was also a member baptism after church. Then Elder Buckner and I presented a lesson in a Teacher Improvement Fireside using "Teaching, No greater call". I highly suggest reading that book for all you teachers out there! Had a good rest of the day.

That is all for this week folks!

Elder AcKeRmAn

Week #60

Dear Everyone,

So this was a pretty fantastic week. A very big change from the previous week.

Monday: So this turned out to be an okay day. I said last week that we would be going to an aquarium. That was false. Well, we were going to go, but it turned out that it is closed every Monday. Dang it! Oh well. We just went home after that. Taught a couple really good lessons in the evening. An overall good day for us.

Tuesday: A way good day. We 4 lessons, all with members present. They were all way good. We even got a new investigator who is turning out to be way good. We taught the usual English and we had a good turn out this week as well. We taught a way good lesson after English too this family that we have been trying to teach for a few weeks. It is a mother and her daughter. They are interested and really like going to church as well. The daughter comes to the activities every week as well.

Wednesday: Another fantastic day. The Zone Leaders came to Sisaket for a surprise visit to our District meeting. That really was quite the surprise. I am glad that I had one prepared. After that I did an exchange with Elder Nelson again. That was great. We taught 3 lessons and got a few new investigators for them. It was a fun day.

Thursday: Another good day her in Sisaket. Elder Grover and I did our weekly planning. It was really good. I always like doing weekly planning. I feel much more prepared for the next week. It means I don't have to think as hard :) We taught a few lessons in the afternoon that went well for sure. The members here are such a great help to us.

Friday: A most excellent day as well. Taught another 4 lessons with members. I can't believe how much the Lord has blessed us this week with people to teach. Elder Grover and I have been having a lot of fun.

Saturday: Consisted of 4 more lessons with members. It seems though that we taught very short lessons because something came up at the last minute. There is a woman who we are teaching (the same ones from Tuesday night) who works at the prison. She got a last minute call to go into work to be with a woman who was addicted to some hard core drugs. That was a little frustrating for us because we have been trying to find a set schedule to teach them. A pretty good day. Then there was a church activity that we attended with some investigators. It was called "Sisakets got Talent." It was way fun. Got lots of video of Thai style dancing and skits and such. Way fun.

Sunday: It always seems that Sunday is our slower day. We had 4 investigators come to church. That was cool. Then we only taught one lesson which happened right after church. Other than that, nothing else. Although I was very pleased with the amount of work from my District. They are all a bunch of great missionaries.

That is all for this week!

Love,
Elder Ackerman

Week #57

Hello Everyone,

Well, this was an eventful week.

Monday: Okay, time to start it off. So it turned out to be a good day. We taught one of our daters and she is doing great and on track to be baptised on Sunday. Then we went to a Family Home Evening at the family of a return missionary. Her parents are not members and the branch wanted to introduce us to them. We will see how it goes.

Tuesday: It was Zone Conference again. It turned out really well. I think though that my interview with President Smith was the shortest it has ever been. But, he is a really busy man. We found out the he has the Assistant to the President all planned out until the new mission president comes in. That is a long time! We taught our English class, Too bad it rained. But it was fun anyways.

Wednesday: We had quite a few lessons planned for the day and all but 2 fell through. It was pretty disappointing. We did teach Nuot, and she is doing well. Just is needing to wait to get married to her boyfriend or not. Then we taught the woman from Monday again. A really good lesson as well.

Thursday: Unfortunately, only 1 lesson for the day. We did have an excellent weekly planning. It turned out well and I feel really prepared for next week and teaching. We taught a girl that came from the English class. She is 15, lives with her uncle and aunt and her mom lives 40 km from the city. The uncle has no problems with her learning and we still need to talk to the aunt and the mom. Other than that, we gave her a baptismal date for the 18th of June. I pray that everything will work out. Since she began learning, she has not missed a day of church and is making good friends with the members.

Friday: So I got to go on an exchange with Elder Nelson in my area! That was way fun. We taught 5 lessons in total and had some great experiences. This is the first time since the MTC that I have been in the same district as him. We are pretty good friends. Almost exactly the same person.

Saturday: We taught a couple of lessons. Taught one man in the morning for a short lesson in reading from the Book of Mormon. We also taught the girl from English again. Good lesson on the Plan of Salvation.

Sunday: Ah, 2 baptisms in the Sisaket branch. It was a great experience and even a members 8 year old daughter was baptised. It was most excellent. We also got a referral from a member. He is her son and he is 13. We set a date with him for the 10th of July. It takes so long because we have a lot to teach and he is free only on weekends.

Well that is all for this week!

Love,
Elder Ackerman

Week #53

Dear Everyone,

Well, it has been a pretty fun week here in Sisaket. I will get started on what has happened so far.

Monday: Started out as a normal P-Day. And it ended normal too. We taught some cool lessons at the end of the day. One was to a friend of a return missionary, and she accepted a baptismal date for the 28th of May. It has been pretty exciting to be getting these friends of members who want to be baptised. Plus the English class has been getting us alot of investigators as well.

Tuesday: A good day as well. We taught a couple lessons in the morning. They all turned out well and English went well as well. I also learned how to make my favorite Thai dish from a member. They even said that it turned out well. I am excited to try it out more! I also need to take a picture of it as well. Nothing too out of the ordinary.

Wendesday: Another good overall day. We had time to go finding as well as time to teach several lessons. We also started teaching the daughter of a recent convert as well. I am sorry. This week does not have much exciting going on.

Thursday: It turned out to be one of those days full of teaching. We taught 5 lessons through out the day,as well as having to do weekly planning. The Lord sure makes up for not having much time. We taught a less active woman, who really wants to get back to church, just doesn't have a way to go. A member who came with us offered to pick her up, which is the first member to offer since we began seeing her 2 months ago. I was so thankful for that member.

Friday: So, I found out on Wednesday that I would be going to Buriram for 3 days! So in the morning, Elder Cotrell and I traveled to Surin to pick up Elder Chapman and then head on to Buriram. Elder Chapman has a Thai companion who went to the Philipines for the MTC experience. It was so cool to be back, if only for a little while. I love Buriram. We were in a threesome the whole time. It was way fun.Taught a few lessons. Plus an investigator Elder Chapman and I found is being baptised on the 1st. So I get to be there for that.

Saturday: Another day full of fun. We went inviting all day and taught 4 lessons and got a new investigator for them as well. It was fun.

Sunday: This was a cool day. So first off, all the members are way shocked to see me. That was fun. Then the water supply for Buriram shut down. So that meant no water for the font. Then Elder Chapman went with the Branch President and went and got a fire truck to come and fill up the font. That was cool! The baptism was a success. So then we all got on a bus after getting home and packing up to go back to Surin and on to Sisaket. What an excellent weekend.

So that is all for this week. I love you all!

Elder Ackerman

Week #52

ear Everyone,

Well, it is crazy to think that I will have been in Thailand for a year in a few days. Talk about time flying!

Monday: Well, it was a pretty good Monday. We had a good time just relaxing for a few hours. It really is very comfortable her in Sisaket. We taught one lesson with the 12 year old. We read the scriptures with him and are helping build his faith more. It is only a matter of time until he is baptised, but perhaps after I have left.

Tuesday: Now this was a busy day! We taught 6 lessons and got 2 new investigators as well as contacting a few referrals. It was way crazy, considering we also had English to teach. It was a very fun day. I can not tell you how much easier it is when members give referrals to missionaries. It make teaching a huge difference and saves a lot of time.

Wednesday: A little slower of a day, but not much. We taught 3 more lessons, one including a referral from a return missionary here. It turned out to be a very good lesson. It also rained crazy hard for like an hour. That was fun being stuck and not being able to do anything...

Thursday: Wow, more lessons. Only one new investigator. I feel so blessed by the Lord for all these opportunities to teach and help His children along the path to salvation. One of our investigators is getting baptised on the 7th of May. It is way exciting. I feel that she has truly been prepared by the Lord for baptism.

Friday: Ugh, no work got done. We had to go to Ubon for several hours for a training meeting from the Assistants. It was good. We got back in time for some dinner and then our Coordination meeting with the members. Then it rained again and we got stuck at the church until we had to go home.

Saturday: Only a couple of lessons. We taught the woman being baptised on the 7th and taught another man during the morning. They were good lessons. That was all that happened during the day.

Sunday: This was a scary day. Only half the members were present and then the second half came ten minutes after the meeting had started. Pretty scary. Considering the branch is only 75 members big that come regularly. We had 3 of our investigators come to church. Taught a few lessons after all the meetings were done. Oh and for dinner I got to eat dog again :) Some members went up to Sakon Nakon and I asked for them to buy me some meat. We had it for dinner. It was also Elder Grover's first time eating. It was delicious :)

Well that is all for this week! I love you all!

Elder Ackerman

Week #51

Hey everyone,

So this was a pretty good week here in Sisaket. Although not a lot was done due to the water festival. That was way sweet by the way.

Monday: So we moved our P-Day to Wednesday, so we could go out and play. It was an okay day. We taught like 3 lessons, but none of them turned into new investigators. There was one guy we met who attends another church, but I was very impressed by his faith, we just couldn't get him to really pay attention to the Restoration. We left him a Book of Mormon and hopefully he will read it.

Tuesday: We were able to teach a couple lessons. They turned out well. There was nothing really special that turned out of this day.

Wednesday: Ah, Song Gran, or the Water Festival. Now that is sweet. I was able to participate in probably the biggest water fight in the world. It is celebrated for 3 days EVERYWHERE! It is so much fun. There is just so much water everywhere! We spent most our P-Day in front of a members house, throwing water on the people passing by in the back of trucks and people going by on motorcycles. Too bad I only get to celebrate this in Thailand once. I was in the MTC for the first one. Oh well. We were actually able to teach a lesson.

Thursday: This was a good day as well. Elder Peacock and I did an exchange in my area.That was weird to go out working with him again. We had some success. We found a cool new investigator, and taught some other lessons as well. They turned out well. We also got wet several times during the day. It actually felt really good because it was way hot out.

Friday: We taught some more lessons. Again, I felt like I was soaked all day long. Oh well, it felt way good. We taught our investigator who was baptised on Saturday. They were some good lessons. We also met her daughter who should turn into an investigator here soon.

Saturday: Taught a couple more lessons and then our investigator was baptised. It was an excellent service and she truly has been converted to the Gospel. It has been really good to be apart of the process. Then we had to drop one of our investigators, because his grandma and his mom forbid him from being baptised. But he can continue going to church and meeting with us. It was the saddest thing. He really wanted to be baptised.

Sunday: It was an okay day. All of our investigators seemed to disappear. Oh well. We had one guy come. He is quite interesting and has lots of problems. It is going to take some time with him. But we are here always happy to help. Other than that, that was the only lesson we taught.

So that is all for this week!

Love,
Elder Ackerman

Week #50

Hey everyone!

Well, we had an okay week this week. We have been getting a lot of help from the members in teaching. It has been going really well here in Sisaket.

Monday: Just a normal Monday around these parts. Elder Grover is a great companion. Oh and this last week, actually on the 2nd, we had to go to the hospital. Go figure, another one of my companions has gotten an ingrown toenail. So that was fun to go to the hospital everyday for like 5 days to get his dressings changed. Other than that is was an alright day. We weren't able to teach any lessons. I feel like I haven't gone out finding for a couple weeks. The last 2 weeks of last transfers, we were just teaching lots of lessons with members, so not a lot of time to find. I can tell that my skills have gone down.

Tuesday: It was another alright day. We taught 2 lessons. One was with a single guy. We are not really sure why he keeps coming back. He has o problems with life. We are just not sure what his concern is. We will keep teaching him and try and find out. We also taught another lesson to Gae. She is quite the interesting person. She asks lots of questions and is in the process of trying to get everything straight. She studied philosophy in college, so she is used to questioning religion. Although she does know that it is all true. Just trying to help her keep that in mind. They are very fun lessons.

Wednesday: Turned out to be a good day. We had a district meeting by Elder Peacock. That was weird considering I was his companion like 6 months ago. Wow, I just realized how long ago that was. Then we taught a couple lessons. They turned out really good. One woman is getting ready to be baptised on the 16th. She is doing great.

Thursday: An okay day. We did our weekly planning and taught one lesson. Taught Gae again. She is really close to getting a baptismal date. It has been really fun teaching her. Other than that, not much of a day.

Friday: Turned out to be a much better day. We got several lessons with members. They were all really good lessons. Umm, not much else to say.

Saturday: Yeah! 6 hours of General Conference in Thai! Ugh. That was hard to stay awake for. It was really good and we had several investigators attend. We taught Gae again and now she has a baptismal date!! For the 7th of May. It was hard, but she agreed to the date. Then our investigator Deem was interviewed and she passed! Now we have a baptism again for this week on the 16th.

Sunday: Another okay day. General Conference was good and lots of people attended. We taught a few lessons after it was all done. It was a good day overall. I made dinner for me and Elder Grover. I guess it turned out all right. It was rice with a Thai omelet. It was good :)

That's all folks!

Love,
Elder Ackerman

Week #49

Hey everyone,

Wow, so the time has really flown by. We had a great week this week. Oh and I am still in Sisaket for those who were wondering.

Monday: Oh boy. What a fun yet tiring day! We spent 3 hours in the morning in Ubon playing some soccer. It was way fun. It was white people verses the Thai missionaries. We, the whities, barely won. It was great. We taught a lesson that evening as well.

Tuesday: Turned out to be an awesome day. We taught several lessons. Taught one woman who has turned out to be a great investigator. She has lots of questions, but shows that she is willing to act as well. Those turn out to be the best. We had a fun English class. Got to share some of the Skittles I got in the last package. A lot of Thai students didn't like them. It was kind of funny. They don't have anything like Skittles here.

Wednesday: Another fun day. Oh and on Tuesday, we found out that Elder Brix and Elder Siriphan would be moving. They are both great missionaries. We taught some lessons and spent the rest of the time packing to go to Bangkok. We had a bus come pick us up, pretty much right outside the house. It was very nice. Got to go down to Bangkok as a zone.

Thursday: Well, Elder Brix moved to Saphaan Sung (my greenie area!!! as a district leader), and Elder Siriphan moved up to Udon. Then I got a Thai companion again. Well, he is from Idaho and his mom is from Thailand and his dad is American. He never learned to speak Thai. But he is great. The name is Elder Grover, from Idaho Falls. We are going to have fun together for sure. Elder Cotrell's new companion is Elder Peacock, my old companion. Kind of weird to be in the same house again. He is a great missionary. I am excited for Sisaket.

Friday: Our finding efforts this week were a little week. We got lots of lessons with a member, but that was about it. We had to do some weekly planning and then go teach some lessons and that took up the rest of our time.

Saturday: Another baptism here in Sisaket! She will be a great member here in the church, considering here younger sister just got back from being a missionary here in Thailand. Actually 2 people came back. Brother Gongla and Sister Urisa. They were both fantastic missionaries. On Sunday, Brother Gongla went out to visit less-actives on his own time and invite them to church. It is great.

Sunday: Another great day. Got some good lessons taught. The next baptism we will have here will be on the 16th and then the next on the 23rd and then another on the 30th. This has been the most succesful time for me as a missionary. I am thankful to God everyday to be a missionary and a tool in His hands.

Well, that is all for this week!

Love you all!
Elder Ackerman

Week #48

Hello!

Well this was a pretty interesting past week.

Monday: A pretty normal Monday around here. We taught a couple lessons in the evening. Nothing too exciting I guess.

Tuesday: We taught 3 lessons for the day. One to a new guy that we will be seeing right away in the morning every time that we will teach him. We picked up an old investigator who had gone out of town and the Elder's had lost contact. She is turning out to be alright. She really wants to help here family. Then we taught the 87 year old woman named On, and helped prep her for baptism.

Wednesday: This was a good day. Elder Fowles came from Ubon to be with Elder Siriphan for a couple days. I was with Elder Cotrell, while Elder Brix went to Ubon, with the other Zone leader. I spent the whole day in the other area with Elder Cotrell. It was good. We taught several lessons and they are doing great. We also had to teach a lesson in my area, that Elder Siriphan and Elder Fowles wouldn't make it to.

Thursday: Around lunch, Elder Siriphan and Elder Fowles left to go to Sisaket. He had an interview to take care of. They were able to teach some sweet lessons before they left and found our area a new family of 6. We will see how teaching them goes. Other than that the day went down hill. No other lessons.

Friday: Spent the whole day in my area because that was were all the lessons were set up. We taught 3 lessons and visited other investigators. A pretty successful day.

Saturday: Pretty much no work got done. Elder Cotrell and I got up at 5am to get to a meeting in Ubon by 8am. The meeting lasted until 1030am or so and then we had to go each lunch and get back to Sisaket. We then had to have Coordination with the Branch Mission Leader and then Elder Brix had to interview one of our invesitgators for baptism. And then at 6pm we had the baptismal service for 3 people. The 87 year old, one person from the other area (he was 16), and then an 8 year old from the branch. It was an excellent service.

Sunday: It was a good Sunday. Only a few investigators at church. But all 3 people got the Holy Ghost. It was great. We then got to teach 3 more lessons for the week and we also had to take time to plan for the next week as well.

Sorry if it is short. I got up at 5am again to go to Ubon and play some soccer. I am very tired. Okay, I love you all!

Elder Ackerman

Week #47

Hello to the other side of the world!

Wow, what a great time to be in Thailand. It was a fantastic week here in Sisaket.

Monday: Just another P-Day on this side of Thailand. Went to a store to get a suit cut. I have a feeling it is going to turn out well. We went out to do some teaching but our appointments all fell through. We did find someone to teach, but he was not that interested. It was a pretty quiet night on the proselyting side of things.

Tuesday: Not much better of a day for teaching. We got a couple lessons done in the morning, but they were only return appointments. No one new to teach. One of the appointments was with a 23 year old guy. Too bad he was done with school and moving back out of the city to be with family. Ugh. It seems like stuff like that happens all the time. Oh well. English was a fun experience. The power went out from a rain storm and thankfully the church building had 2 emergency lights in the hallway. That was cool. So we taught English to 10 or so students under a dim light. It was fun. Then when the class was over the power some back on for good. Go figure.

Wednesday: So to make up for the beginning of the week in lack of lessons, the Lord must have decided to fill in the rest of the days. The rest of the week averaged 5 lessons a day. It was a busy week going around and teaching. We did have time to find some new people as well. One guy we are teaching is trying to stop smoking, so that will be fun to help him get through. He really does want to stop.

Thursday: A little slower of a day because of our weekly planning that has to get done. We found a sweet new guy that told us he doesn't know where to go in life and is kind of lost. He just finished schooling, looking for a job, and not sure what the purpose of life is. Good thing we stopped by and taught him a lesson about the Gospel of Christ. That was a cool lesson.

Friday: Oh boy. 7 lessons. That was a fun day. We found two new guys to start teaching. One of them has a family and he wants more happiness to be in his family. The rest were with investigators that have been learning for a while. We have a couple who are close to baptism. We are teaching a guy waiting for approval from the First Presidency and he told us about a dream that he had before meeting the Elders. He had a dream about Christ and when the Elders handed him a pass along card with a picture of Christ and he recognized Him as the man from his dream. That was way cool.

Saturday: Taught a few more lessons. More like 5 lessons. We found a guy who doesn't really care about this life and doesn't care if there is a next life. He pretty much has no hope. We really hope that we can help him to have that hope and faith in the next life.

Sunday: A pretty crazy day. We taught 3 lessons after church and we got a new kid who wants to be baptized. He is 13 years old and wants to be baptized. It was quite amazing sitting down with him. We only got 2 new persons to teach, and the other one is the step-sister of the guy we taught on Thursday. It was a good lesson. Gave him a Book of Mormon to start reading. He also wants to go to church on Sundays. Also our 87 year old woman is getting baptised. I think it is a record for the mission...

Well that is all for this week!

Love,
Elder Ackerman

Week #45

Hey everyone,

Well so this has been a pretty good week. I will get right into it.

Monday: A pretty normal day for the 4 of us here in Sisaket. It is really fun being with 4 Elders in a house. We were able to teach a couple lessons before the night was over.

Tuesday: It was a pretty normal day. We changed around the schedule for the summer months when it is really hot. We now study in the middle of the day when it is the hottest. It was good. We got a few lessons but no one was interested in learning more. It gets hard sometime trying to help people see the truth and maybe they feel something about what we are talking about it, but are too scared to act on the feelings. So we taught several people, but nothing from it. We also had a good English class and got a couple people who want to start learning the gospel.

Wednesday: It was a better day. We taught 4 lessons and we also got some new investigators as well. It turned out well. Elder Siriphan and I have been spending a lot of time trying to teach and find more families and individuals to share the gospel with. Most of the time it is slow work, but I am constantly surprised at how fast the day goes by. We now also have an 87 year old woman who is learning with us. She speaks only Isan, a dialect of Thai, so that is a problem. Her daughter is a member, so she helps translate for us. It is very interesting teaching.

Thursday: Another good day. We have started getting more involved in less-active teaching. It has been turning out good. It just increases my testimony that Preach My Gospel was written by apostles of the Lord. If we do it the Lords way, we will always succeed. We taught 4 more lessons. 2 of them were with some less active members. It is very sad to see how destructive Satan can be to families. They just get pulled about and shredded to pieces.

Friday: We taught some more lessons. We just did not get anyone new to begin teaching. We have a few people who are progressing nicely and moving towards baptism. It is great. I love being able to see the change in peoples lives. This work is so important.

Saturday: This was a fun day. One of the lessons we taught consisted of me entertaining a very disprutive drunk man while Elder Siriphan taught the investigator. It was a first lesson with the man and thankfully he let us back for another visit. It was fun, although I was not able to participate in the lesson. It was an interesting experience. We started teaching a members older brother who learned with the missionaries before. He is pretty cool. He is my age and he has been doing well, reading the scriptures and such.

Sunday: It was a good day. We had 3 investigators at church. Sisaket has been doing really well. We taught another few lessons. The guy from Saturday night we taught again. I swear that guy lives around only crazy and drunk people. Oh well. It turned out to be a good lesson. HE told us that when he was in school he always felt better learning about Christianity compared to Buddhism and Islam. That was cool to hear. For dinner Elder Cotrell made some meatloaf and mashed potatoes. That was really good.

That is all for this week folks!

Love,
Elder Ackerman

Week #44

Dear Everyone,

So I am doing pretty awesome. Sisaket has been treating me nicely as well as a baptism. So here is the week!

Monday: Pretty good Monday. We went to a members house for a Family Home Evening and they asked me to share a lesson/spiritual thought. I chose to speak on the Atonement. If you are ever called to speak on what ever you want. I suggest the Atonement. There is so much surrounding it. We also got another lesson in as well for the night.

Tuesday: We had a pretty good day. We had our weekly district meeting given by Elder Brix. It has been a while since I have had a District Meeting in Thai. Actually since my first and second transfers in Saphan Sung. Wow, time flies huh? We got 4 total lessons in. I have to say the Lord has been really blessing us. We taught the English class. Well I taught and Elder Siriphan was a participant. Here they have it split into 2 classes. I am teaching the Advanced class like I was in Saphan Sung. It has been fun. One of our investigators is the older sister of a missionary serving in Thailand right now. That is really cool. She is waiting to get baptised when her younger sister (the missionary) returns. I was also in the same district as Sister Urisa (the missionary) when I was in Saphan Sung.

Wednesday: It was a really good day. We taught 5 lessons. I have never on my mission taught more lessons than about 14-16 in one week. This last week we got 25 lessons. It has been really good. The Lord is just pouring out His Spirit on Thailand. And in not too long a temple should be announced. That is President Smith's goal before he finishes his mission. I am so excited to be a part of creating the way for a temple to be built in Thailand!

Thursday: Another day of lessons. We had our usual long planning for the next week and then we went out and taught. We got another few lessons. We found one family who the wife had met the missionaries 9 years ago in Surin. She never learned with them, but knew who we were. She was very quick to invite us in and sit down with the family. Unfortunately, they are content with there life right now and don't want to change. It was still cool to be called over. Taught another woman who we could tell was not very happy with life. It is strange how people won't or choose not to accept something that will change there life. For the good of course.

Friday: Another day of a few lessons. We found some new people. Taught one guy who knew that all of this was true, but was afraid of his friends getting after him for changing his life for the better. He wants to continue drinking and being with his friends. It was just too sad. Taught some of our regular investigators.

Saturday: Ahh. A baptism. Sister Deang was baptised. She was baptised by a return missionary from Thailand who served in Salt Lake City South Mission (they got 250 baptism in one month before, it is also the highest baptising mission in the world). He is also the branch mission leader, which is really good. It was an excellent service and Sister Deang was very cheerful and happy. She introduced us to one of her friends as well. This friend was actually the one who told her to investigate the church. We are in the process of getting him to investigate and meet with us, but he is one of those 2nd Nephi 28: 7-9 people.

Sunday: Well, this branch has 70 to 80 attending regularly. It is quite a good branch and there are a lot of people who are very good with fulfilling their callings. We taught a few lessons, but they also did not turn out to much. It's okay. We have the next week.

Well that is all for this week. I love you all!

Elder Ackerman