Monday, July 26, 2010
Saphaan Sung
Hey Everyone.
Okay. Well all is going well here in Saphaan Sung. So I will just start off the week. Some pretty big news is that we are moving to the new church building just down the street!! Next Sunday will be the first day in it. Plus I have some other big news I will talk about a little bit later.
Monday: Well, it was a weird day, but I already talked about it a little. Pretty much a whole day off walking around and not finding very much success. Only 4 new potentials.
Tuesday: Okay. So Tuesday was P-Day this week. The schedule for the new missionaries coming in was weird. They came in on Wednesday, so President Smith changed the P-Day around. It was a good day. We still taught English. That was a crazy class. So the new missionaries were in Thailand, just at the mission office and at Presidents house. The moves meeting was on Wednesday. Okay, I am going all over the place! Okay, first thing we did was go and extend our visas, that took about 3 hours plus. Then we went and did all our P-Day stuff. Then we had English at 630 pm. That was crazy. Our Sisters were still in Pakkret helping out the new missionaries. So Elder Elwood and I got to teach English by ourselves. That was great because we can't split up, and we have 2 different classrooms. So we taught to different classes in the same room. That was fun. I only had 4 people teach. They were from the advanced class. And then Elder Elwood had everyone else. It went pretty smoothly I guess.
Wednesday: Moves Day. We didn't go. But one of our Sisters moved. And so Sister Lifferth is training this moves before she goes home/dies. This was the better day of the week. We got 2 lessons done and found 8 potentials. One of investigators that we taught, เพิ่ม, is going to interview this next Friday! He is doing way awesome.
Thursday: Wow, that was a crazy day. So in the morning we had our usual studies, and then planned for the next week. Pretty much a normal day. We went out inviting for a couple hours before a lesson. It was WAY hot. You have to understand. If it is really hot and there a still clouds, it is going rain for sure. So we predicted rain. We went and taught another lesson with เพิ่ม and it went way well. We left to go grab a little snack from a nearby 7-11. By this time the sky is dark and clouds are moving in way fast. So we still need to go home to grab a few items of paperwork for the upcoming baptismal interview, We get home at about the time it starts to POUR! It doesn't rains cats and dogs here. It rains elephants. The streets flooded within minutes and we are stuck inside. So after about 30 minutes, the rain slows down enough to walk outside without getting drenched. So we start to make our way to the church, which is not very far from the house. We get stuck at a 7-11 and have to walk through a flooded area. That was way fun :) We went into 7-11, asked for some bags to put on our feet and then we go walking. The funny thing is Elder Elwood still can't get his foot wet because of the ingrown toenail. Thankfully it wasn't a problem. So we get to the church, and lo and behold, it is starting to flood inside. So we have about 1 and a half hours before the baptismal interview. We start cleaning and pushing the water out. We see water coming down the stairs and go up to investigate. We get to 5th floor and start hearing a woman's voice that is getting louder and louder. We start going down and meet a 25 year old woman and her older brother. The woman had a problem with her brain and she wasn't quite all there. It took about 30 minutes before they were actually able to leave. The older brother was so patient with her and I was way impressed with him. So after that all happened, the zone leaders came to interview. And about an hour later, สิทธ์ had passed his interview. So we are having a baptism on the 1st of August!! Elder Elwood and I are so excited.
Friday: Another kind of crazy day. We taught Gift again and he is still held up on the fact that Jehovah is Jesus Christ. The translation from English to Thai is not very good with the I AM and all that. So next time we are going to teach him from an English Bible to show him. We will see how that goes. Then we went to the hospital for Elder Elwood and his toe is all good. We found only 4 potentials.
Saturday: It was a pretty terrible day. All day to invite and only 2 potentials to show for it. It was pretty bad. But we had a good correlation meeting with our branch mission leader Brother A. He is so awesome.
Sunday: Well, Sunday is always a good break. Elder Elwood spoke in Sacrament meeting. He got the assignment last week. And he only got to speak for 7 minutes or so because the branch president wanted to speak as well about the new church building. Oh well. We only had 2 investigators at church. Then we only found 1 potential. A very unsuccessful day. Well, I then made dinner. Hamburgers. They turned out well, but I burnt the fries and put to much salt on. Oh well.
Monday: P-Day. Today will be another day of relaxing!
A pretty crazy week if I say so myself. Until next week, this is Elder Ackerman, signing off.
Okay. Well all is going well here in Saphaan Sung. So I will just start off the week. Some pretty big news is that we are moving to the new church building just down the street!! Next Sunday will be the first day in it. Plus I have some other big news I will talk about a little bit later.
Monday: Well, it was a weird day, but I already talked about it a little. Pretty much a whole day off walking around and not finding very much success. Only 4 new potentials.
Tuesday: Okay. So Tuesday was P-Day this week. The schedule for the new missionaries coming in was weird. They came in on Wednesday, so President Smith changed the P-Day around. It was a good day. We still taught English. That was a crazy class. So the new missionaries were in Thailand, just at the mission office and at Presidents house. The moves meeting was on Wednesday. Okay, I am going all over the place! Okay, first thing we did was go and extend our visas, that took about 3 hours plus. Then we went and did all our P-Day stuff. Then we had English at 630 pm. That was crazy. Our Sisters were still in Pakkret helping out the new missionaries. So Elder Elwood and I got to teach English by ourselves. That was great because we can't split up, and we have 2 different classrooms. So we taught to different classes in the same room. That was fun. I only had 4 people teach. They were from the advanced class. And then Elder Elwood had everyone else. It went pretty smoothly I guess.
Wednesday: Moves Day. We didn't go. But one of our Sisters moved. And so Sister Lifferth is training this moves before she goes home/dies. This was the better day of the week. We got 2 lessons done and found 8 potentials. One of investigators that we taught, เพิ่ม, is going to interview this next Friday! He is doing way awesome.
Thursday: Wow, that was a crazy day. So in the morning we had our usual studies, and then planned for the next week. Pretty much a normal day. We went out inviting for a couple hours before a lesson. It was WAY hot. You have to understand. If it is really hot and there a still clouds, it is going rain for sure. So we predicted rain. We went and taught another lesson with เพิ่ม and it went way well. We left to go grab a little snack from a nearby 7-11. By this time the sky is dark and clouds are moving in way fast. So we still need to go home to grab a few items of paperwork for the upcoming baptismal interview, We get home at about the time it starts to POUR! It doesn't rains cats and dogs here. It rains elephants. The streets flooded within minutes and we are stuck inside. So after about 30 minutes, the rain slows down enough to walk outside without getting drenched. So we start to make our way to the church, which is not very far from the house. We get stuck at a 7-11 and have to walk through a flooded area. That was way fun :) We went into 7-11, asked for some bags to put on our feet and then we go walking. The funny thing is Elder Elwood still can't get his foot wet because of the ingrown toenail. Thankfully it wasn't a problem. So we get to the church, and lo and behold, it is starting to flood inside. So we have about 1 and a half hours before the baptismal interview. We start cleaning and pushing the water out. We see water coming down the stairs and go up to investigate. We get to 5th floor and start hearing a woman's voice that is getting louder and louder. We start going down and meet a 25 year old woman and her older brother. The woman had a problem with her brain and she wasn't quite all there. It took about 30 minutes before they were actually able to leave. The older brother was so patient with her and I was way impressed with him. So after that all happened, the zone leaders came to interview. And about an hour later, สิทธ์ had passed his interview. So we are having a baptism on the 1st of August!! Elder Elwood and I are so excited.
Friday: Another kind of crazy day. We taught Gift again and he is still held up on the fact that Jehovah is Jesus Christ. The translation from English to Thai is not very good with the I AM and all that. So next time we are going to teach him from an English Bible to show him. We will see how that goes. Then we went to the hospital for Elder Elwood and his toe is all good. We found only 4 potentials.
Saturday: It was a pretty terrible day. All day to invite and only 2 potentials to show for it. It was pretty bad. But we had a good correlation meeting with our branch mission leader Brother A. He is so awesome.
Sunday: Well, Sunday is always a good break. Elder Elwood spoke in Sacrament meeting. He got the assignment last week. And he only got to speak for 7 minutes or so because the branch president wanted to speak as well about the new church building. Oh well. We only had 2 investigators at church. Then we only found 1 potential. A very unsuccessful day. Well, I then made dinner. Hamburgers. They turned out well, but I burnt the fries and put to much salt on. Oh well.
Monday: P-Day. Today will be another day of relaxing!
A pretty crazy week if I say so myself. Until next week, this is Elder Ackerman, signing off.
Still in Saphaan Sung
Hey all!
Wow. So this last week has just been crazy. Well...more like the opposite. I was sick from last Monday until Thursday. Not a very fun experience. So needless to say, no work got done on those days. If I was feeling up to it, we would go teach a lesson at the church. But nothing really exciting happened. Just some vomiting, diarrhea and a fever. I am all better now! Well, some news. This week is moves week and I will still be here in สะพานสูง (Saphaan Sung). It has been just a blast here with Elder Elwood. We get a long way well and are doing a great work.
Monday: Sick beyond all reason. Slept most of the day and began a fever about 12 pm. Left the house only to email.
Tuesday: Felt a little better. Had a DDM by Elder Elwood on the Atonement. It was most excellent, for what I got out of it. I was way tired and trying to pay attention. Being sick just doesn't go away quickly. We did go to English class at the end of the day. It went all right. I did a little teaching, but was way exhausted.
Wednesday: Well, still sick. Mostly on the recovery. Still had a slight fever. Did not leave the house at all, except to go get Elder Elwood food.
Thursday: Recovery day. No fever but I did not want to go out an work and end up getting sick again. We planned for the next week. We did go teach a lesson because I felt up to it. We taught พี่สีทธี์ (Sit) about the interview and asked him half of the questions. He is doing way well and will get baptized on the 1st of August.
Friday: We went to the hospital...not for me though! Elder Elwood had an ingrown toenail that needed to be taken care of. So that took a few hours. We then taught Sit in the afternoon again.
Saturday: Ah, finally a normal day for the week. We started a branch fast at lunch. We fasted for the help to bring 36 more people into the church this year (the goal is 40). It is quite a daunting task and will take a miracle. But with faith, all things are possible! We had our weekly correlation meeting with some members and the branch mission leader, who is way awesome by the way. He's 21 and the branch clerk. He is doing an excellent job. After that we had a lesson with a guy who had walked into the open church. We had learned with the Elders about 3 years ago. He is already Christian. It was a way cool lesson. Although, we isn't ready to accept that Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father are 2 separate beings. We can hope that in the future he will accept it. We then went and taught a lesson with สมพล (Sompon) and his wife. They are doing well, although it has been like 3 weeks since we had last seen them because of work. It was a good lesson and thy said they will come to church this next Sunday.
Sunday: Wow, an even better day. We had a good 3 hours of meetings and had several investigators come. There were some great lessons and we then broke the branch fast after the meetings to eat at 12. It is very normal here in Thailand to eat after church as a branch. It helps the unity since there are so few members here. We then went and taught a lesson with the guy we talked to last week who wanted to do what it took to become Christian. It was a way excellent lesson. This week we are going to try and see him and his wife. Then we walked a lot and did inviting. Although we did not find anyone. We then had dinner at a members house. It was most excellent food :)
Monday: Well P-Day got switched on us. We had a DDM on Faith, Hope, and Charity. It was good and then we had pumpkin pie that Sister Lifferth made from memory. It was delicious. We did a lot of inviting and only found 4 new potentials.
Tuesday: Ah, P-Day. Well, this morning we went and ต่อed ("daw"ed/ extended - only in this sense, its a weird word) our visas for the next 90 days. That was a long taxi ride to and from. And now we have the rest of the day to write letters and what not.
Ah, well that's all I got for this week. Love you all!
Elder Ackerman
เอ็ลเดอร์ แอ็คเคอร์มัน
Wow. So this last week has just been crazy. Well...more like the opposite. I was sick from last Monday until Thursday. Not a very fun experience. So needless to say, no work got done on those days. If I was feeling up to it, we would go teach a lesson at the church. But nothing really exciting happened. Just some vomiting, diarrhea and a fever. I am all better now! Well, some news. This week is moves week and I will still be here in สะพานสูง (Saphaan Sung). It has been just a blast here with Elder Elwood. We get a long way well and are doing a great work.
Monday: Sick beyond all reason. Slept most of the day and began a fever about 12 pm. Left the house only to email.
Tuesday: Felt a little better. Had a DDM by Elder Elwood on the Atonement. It was most excellent, for what I got out of it. I was way tired and trying to pay attention. Being sick just doesn't go away quickly. We did go to English class at the end of the day. It went all right. I did a little teaching, but was way exhausted.
Wednesday: Well, still sick. Mostly on the recovery. Still had a slight fever. Did not leave the house at all, except to go get Elder Elwood food.
Thursday: Recovery day. No fever but I did not want to go out an work and end up getting sick again. We planned for the next week. We did go teach a lesson because I felt up to it. We taught พี่สีทธี์ (Sit) about the interview and asked him half of the questions. He is doing way well and will get baptized on the 1st of August.
Friday: We went to the hospital...not for me though! Elder Elwood had an ingrown toenail that needed to be taken care of. So that took a few hours. We then taught Sit in the afternoon again.
Saturday: Ah, finally a normal day for the week. We started a branch fast at lunch. We fasted for the help to bring 36 more people into the church this year (the goal is 40). It is quite a daunting task and will take a miracle. But with faith, all things are possible! We had our weekly correlation meeting with some members and the branch mission leader, who is way awesome by the way. He's 21 and the branch clerk. He is doing an excellent job. After that we had a lesson with a guy who had walked into the open church. We had learned with the Elders about 3 years ago. He is already Christian. It was a way cool lesson. Although, we isn't ready to accept that Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father are 2 separate beings. We can hope that in the future he will accept it. We then went and taught a lesson with สมพล (Sompon) and his wife. They are doing well, although it has been like 3 weeks since we had last seen them because of work. It was a good lesson and thy said they will come to church this next Sunday.
Sunday: Wow, an even better day. We had a good 3 hours of meetings and had several investigators come. There were some great lessons and we then broke the branch fast after the meetings to eat at 12. It is very normal here in Thailand to eat after church as a branch. It helps the unity since there are so few members here. We then went and taught a lesson with the guy we talked to last week who wanted to do what it took to become Christian. It was a way excellent lesson. This week we are going to try and see him and his wife. Then we walked a lot and did inviting. Although we did not find anyone. We then had dinner at a members house. It was most excellent food :)
Monday: Well P-Day got switched on us. We had a DDM on Faith, Hope, and Charity. It was good and then we had pumpkin pie that Sister Lifferth made from memory. It was delicious. We did a lot of inviting and only found 4 new potentials.
Tuesday: Ah, P-Day. Well, this morning we went and ต่อed ("daw"ed/ extended - only in this sense, its a weird word) our visas for the next 90 days. That was a long taxi ride to and from. And now we have the rest of the day to write letters and what not.
Ah, well that's all I got for this week. Love you all!
Elder Ackerman
เอ็ลเดอร์ แอ็คเคอร์มัน
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Happy Birthday America!
Hey all!
Well, first off I need to wish America a happy birthday! That was fun to celebrate here in Thailand. We sang all the "American" hymns in the Hymn book and did a TimTam Slam :) It was way successful. Okay time to jump into the past week.
Monday. Pretty much a normal P-Day around here. Email, grocery shopping for the week, writing letters and the sort. We spent the rest of the evening inviting around a neighborhood. We only got 4 potentials out of it which was a little disappointing. All in all, it was a fun day! I am so thankful that we get a day to slow down a little and "restart" for the next week. Kind of like "defrag"ing the hard drive each week.
Tuesday. That was a very long day! We had Zone Conference. We left the house at around 7:30 in the morning and didn't get back until around 6 in the afternoon. The conference usually only goes from 9 to 1, but we had interviews afterward with President Smith, and I was the last one to go. Overall it was a very awesome conference. We found out what we needed to do to get a temple built here before I and President Smith leave Thailand (since he has been here for a year and they are called for 3 year missions). We need to concentrate a ton on finding families. We should essentially have 75 people with dates (15 families of 5), and then in 2 years, a temple should be announced. We have A LOT of work to do. We also had English class again. That was way fun. It is another time when we can take a little break. But not too much. Some of our best investigators come from the English program. So no lessons and no potentials at all that day.
Wednesday. We taught only 2 lessons that day. And found only 2 potentials. Kind of a slow day around here. We had DDM and since Elder Elwood is District Leader, he gave the lesson. It was way good! We taught 2 investigators whose dates are the closet to coming. They were way awesome lessons. Not much else happened.
Thursday. Another slow day. We taught only one lesson and found only 2 potentials. Not a lot of success. Elder Elwood and I feel it is just a test of our faith by the Lord. We also had long planning in the morning. That took about 3 hours to finish.
Friday. Well, this week has not seen a lot of success. Only 1 lesson, but we did find 6 new potentials which was better than usual. I almost got eaten alive by 5 dogs. That was quite the rush. It started with just one dog rushing me and me trying to scare it away and then 4 other dogs joined to star down. And then the owner came out and yelled them back into the house. All during this time, Elder Elwood is on the phone with an investigator. It was way intense. Something with animals and missionaries just doesn't mix...Don't worry mom, I am okay. No bites :)
Saturday. Ugh. No lessons and only 3 potentials. It was a very hard day. All of out appointments were dropped and Elder Elwood has been a little sick. It has been a little of a downer for us.
Sunday. A very good day if I say. We had a good fast and testimony meeting and we had 4 investigators at sacrament meeting, and 1 come later. It was way good. I asked one of investigators after the 1st hour how he felt and he said he felt way good inside. It was so awesome! So we had 2 lessons that day, and found 3 new potentials. One of the lessons we taught was with a new family. It was way interesting. In their home, there was no "phra" or Buddhist stuff around. It was completely empty of it. So I hope that that is a good sign. Had dinner at a members house and that was way good food!
Well, this week has been hard, but this next week will be better!
Love and miss you all,
Elder Ackerman
Well, first off I need to wish America a happy birthday! That was fun to celebrate here in Thailand. We sang all the "American" hymns in the Hymn book and did a TimTam Slam :) It was way successful. Okay time to jump into the past week.
Monday. Pretty much a normal P-Day around here. Email, grocery shopping for the week, writing letters and the sort. We spent the rest of the evening inviting around a neighborhood. We only got 4 potentials out of it which was a little disappointing. All in all, it was a fun day! I am so thankful that we get a day to slow down a little and "restart" for the next week. Kind of like "defrag"ing the hard drive each week.
Tuesday. That was a very long day! We had Zone Conference. We left the house at around 7:30 in the morning and didn't get back until around 6 in the afternoon. The conference usually only goes from 9 to 1, but we had interviews afterward with President Smith, and I was the last one to go. Overall it was a very awesome conference. We found out what we needed to do to get a temple built here before I and President Smith leave Thailand (since he has been here for a year and they are called for 3 year missions). We need to concentrate a ton on finding families. We should essentially have 75 people with dates (15 families of 5), and then in 2 years, a temple should be announced. We have A LOT of work to do. We also had English class again. That was way fun. It is another time when we can take a little break. But not too much. Some of our best investigators come from the English program. So no lessons and no potentials at all that day.
Wednesday. We taught only 2 lessons that day. And found only 2 potentials. Kind of a slow day around here. We had DDM and since Elder Elwood is District Leader, he gave the lesson. It was way good! We taught 2 investigators whose dates are the closet to coming. They were way awesome lessons. Not much else happened.
Thursday. Another slow day. We taught only one lesson and found only 2 potentials. Not a lot of success. Elder Elwood and I feel it is just a test of our faith by the Lord. We also had long planning in the morning. That took about 3 hours to finish.
Friday. Well, this week has not seen a lot of success. Only 1 lesson, but we did find 6 new potentials which was better than usual. I almost got eaten alive by 5 dogs. That was quite the rush. It started with just one dog rushing me and me trying to scare it away and then 4 other dogs joined to star down. And then the owner came out and yelled them back into the house. All during this time, Elder Elwood is on the phone with an investigator. It was way intense. Something with animals and missionaries just doesn't mix...Don't worry mom, I am okay. No bites :)
Saturday. Ugh. No lessons and only 3 potentials. It was a very hard day. All of out appointments were dropped and Elder Elwood has been a little sick. It has been a little of a downer for us.
Sunday. A very good day if I say. We had a good fast and testimony meeting and we had 4 investigators at sacrament meeting, and 1 come later. It was way good. I asked one of investigators after the 1st hour how he felt and he said he felt way good inside. It was so awesome! So we had 2 lessons that day, and found 3 new potentials. One of the lessons we taught was with a new family. It was way interesting. In their home, there was no "phra" or Buddhist stuff around. It was completely empty of it. So I hope that that is a good sign. Had dinner at a members house and that was way good food!
Well, this week has been hard, but this next week will be better!
Love and miss you all,
Elder Ackerman
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Week...I have lost count...
Hey Everyone!
Wow, we had a pretty crazy week I guess you can say. Put that is pretty normal around here. So this last Monday, we just relaxed at the house and cleaned some. We taught a couple of lessons and had time to do some inviting as well. I am slowly getting better at speaking and having others understand me. Mainly it is just a confidence issue.
Then Tuesday was a good day. Those days are great because we get to teach English, which is an awesome break. It is so much fun! And plus we get some very good investigators from the class as well. Although we didn't teach any lessons. We had a lot of time for inviting. Plus on Tuesday we created our vision as a District this moves. That was great and an excellent way to show our faith to the Lord. Elder Elwood is the District Leader and is doing an excellent job. He is very diligent.
Well, Wednesday was probably our most excellent day this week. We got 11 new potentials and taught 4 lessons. Plus I also did a whole invite by myself! I sat down next to the guy, introduced myself, talked with him about families, got his address and phone number, and set up a return appointment for on Sunday. It was awesome!!! I felt so good after wards. Elder Elwood said I did a good job. I will talk more about that family on Sundays paragraph.
So then Thursday. We had a lot of inviting time that day too. Then we long planned for the week. It went well and then later in the day, we taught 2 lessons. We have on investigator, Ohn that came from our English class. He is about 23 or 24 years old and way smart. He is way interested in the gospel and in learning. That was about all that happened on that day.
Friday was an awesome day. I went to Sinakerin to do switch offs with Elder Narin, a Thai elder. It was way fun. I found out I can speak more Thai than I thought! All day just ended up being inviting time. All of the appointments got dropped on us. But it was way good. I also tried Thai ice cream for the first time. I have to say, it is pretty delicious. Put some sticky rice with it and it is quite good.
Saturday was another cool day. Elder Elwood got to interview 5 of the Zone Leaders investigators for baptism. It was a whole family! And they will be baptized this next Sunday!! It is so cool to see how the gospel changes peoples and families lives for the better. We also found out from the ZL's that the mission as a whole had 350 new investigators for the week! Not counting Sunday. That is a record breaker right there. The Lord is truly pouring out His Spirit here in Thailand.
So Sunday, we had 8 investigators at church. A family came and several other people! It was so great! And then we got to go teach that family that I invited! They are way awesome, although we will probably give them to the Sister's because it is the husband and then all girls. We feel it would be better for the Sister's to teach that family. But needless to say, it was a great day.
Well that is all I have for this week!! Thailand is an awesome place and the people are so ready. I love you all!!
Elder Ackerman
Wow, we had a pretty crazy week I guess you can say. Put that is pretty normal around here. So this last Monday, we just relaxed at the house and cleaned some. We taught a couple of lessons and had time to do some inviting as well. I am slowly getting better at speaking and having others understand me. Mainly it is just a confidence issue.
Then Tuesday was a good day. Those days are great because we get to teach English, which is an awesome break. It is so much fun! And plus we get some very good investigators from the class as well. Although we didn't teach any lessons. We had a lot of time for inviting. Plus on Tuesday we created our vision as a District this moves. That was great and an excellent way to show our faith to the Lord. Elder Elwood is the District Leader and is doing an excellent job. He is very diligent.
Well, Wednesday was probably our most excellent day this week. We got 11 new potentials and taught 4 lessons. Plus I also did a whole invite by myself! I sat down next to the guy, introduced myself, talked with him about families, got his address and phone number, and set up a return appointment for on Sunday. It was awesome!!! I felt so good after wards. Elder Elwood said I did a good job. I will talk more about that family on Sundays paragraph.
So then Thursday. We had a lot of inviting time that day too. Then we long planned for the week. It went well and then later in the day, we taught 2 lessons. We have on investigator, Ohn that came from our English class. He is about 23 or 24 years old and way smart. He is way interested in the gospel and in learning. That was about all that happened on that day.
Friday was an awesome day. I went to Sinakerin to do switch offs with Elder Narin, a Thai elder. It was way fun. I found out I can speak more Thai than I thought! All day just ended up being inviting time. All of the appointments got dropped on us. But it was way good. I also tried Thai ice cream for the first time. I have to say, it is pretty delicious. Put some sticky rice with it and it is quite good.
Saturday was another cool day. Elder Elwood got to interview 5 of the Zone Leaders investigators for baptism. It was a whole family! And they will be baptized this next Sunday!! It is so cool to see how the gospel changes peoples and families lives for the better. We also found out from the ZL's that the mission as a whole had 350 new investigators for the week! Not counting Sunday. That is a record breaker right there. The Lord is truly pouring out His Spirit here in Thailand.
So Sunday, we had 8 investigators at church. A family came and several other people! It was so great! And then we got to go teach that family that I invited! They are way awesome, although we will probably give them to the Sister's because it is the husband and then all girls. We feel it would be better for the Sister's to teach that family. But needless to say, it was a great day.
Well that is all I have for this week!! Thailand is an awesome place and the people are so ready. I love you all!!
Elder Ackerman
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Onto moves number 2!!
Hey one and all!
What can I say. Thailand is way awesome! Well, I did not move. I am still in Saphaan Soong. But I have a new companion! Elder Wilson moved up to Chaing Mai by the way and is now a Zone Leader over all of the city. There are 4 areas and like 12 missionaries. It is so cool. He is such an awesome guy! Well my new companion is... Elder Elwood from Delano, MN!!!! Crazy I know!! He is way cool and a very diligent missionary. These next couple of moves are going to be way awesome. He has lived in Minnesota all his life, and in the same house. Consider how much I have moved around the US, I think it's kinda weird. I guess I am just used to moving around.
Well, I am not sure what to write about this week. Sunday had a lower attendance this week than usual. Only 52 from the usual 65 to 70. Plus we only had 2 investigators at church. Kinda of a disappointing day. This last week has been pretty crazy too. Moves was first going to be on Friday and then it got switched to Thursday at the last minute. All thanks to a canceled flight at LAX. The flight got rescheduled, but the new missionaries arrived Thursday morning, with the moves meeting that afternoon. They just got thrown right into the work. I feel kinda bad for them. We got to spend the first night in President Smith's house. I can't imagine how tired they were. That's the life of a missionary. Always tired.
So this week, we had some pretty good lessons. We have a few investigators that are progressing really well. We are very excited for them. The only thing hindering a lot of our investigators, is going to church on Sunday. They say they will go, but don't. It's very frustrating and hard. But we keep inviting and stressing the importance. We also have a ton of time on Sunday's to find more potentials. All of our appointments usually get dropped and we are left with a lot of walking. And it is very hot out. But, I am getting used to the heat more. And I have to say, I have gotten pretty tan. We get a lot of sun. And a lot of rain. Although, apparently, northern Thailand is in a drought. I didn't know that was possible in a country like this.
This last moves, President Smith gave us a scripture that can help combat the phrase, "Every religion teaches us to be good." It is in Moroni 7:16. The Spirit of Christ is given to us to judge good from evil. We have to use that knowledge and find out for ourselves, not just go with the flow of society. I thought that was a really good point. We do hear it a ton around here.
Well, that is all I have for this week. I am loving it here in Thailand! I love and miss you all!!
Elder Ackerman
What can I say. Thailand is way awesome! Well, I did not move. I am still in Saphaan Soong. But I have a new companion! Elder Wilson moved up to Chaing Mai by the way and is now a Zone Leader over all of the city. There are 4 areas and like 12 missionaries. It is so cool. He is such an awesome guy! Well my new companion is... Elder Elwood from Delano, MN!!!! Crazy I know!! He is way cool and a very diligent missionary. These next couple of moves are going to be way awesome. He has lived in Minnesota all his life, and in the same house. Consider how much I have moved around the US, I think it's kinda weird. I guess I am just used to moving around.
Well, I am not sure what to write about this week. Sunday had a lower attendance this week than usual. Only 52 from the usual 65 to 70. Plus we only had 2 investigators at church. Kinda of a disappointing day. This last week has been pretty crazy too. Moves was first going to be on Friday and then it got switched to Thursday at the last minute. All thanks to a canceled flight at LAX. The flight got rescheduled, but the new missionaries arrived Thursday morning, with the moves meeting that afternoon. They just got thrown right into the work. I feel kinda bad for them. We got to spend the first night in President Smith's house. I can't imagine how tired they were. That's the life of a missionary. Always tired.
So this week, we had some pretty good lessons. We have a few investigators that are progressing really well. We are very excited for them. The only thing hindering a lot of our investigators, is going to church on Sunday. They say they will go, but don't. It's very frustrating and hard. But we keep inviting and stressing the importance. We also have a ton of time on Sunday's to find more potentials. All of our appointments usually get dropped and we are left with a lot of walking. And it is very hot out. But, I am getting used to the heat more. And I have to say, I have gotten pretty tan. We get a lot of sun. And a lot of rain. Although, apparently, northern Thailand is in a drought. I didn't know that was possible in a country like this.
This last moves, President Smith gave us a scripture that can help combat the phrase, "Every religion teaches us to be good." It is in Moroni 7:16. The Spirit of Christ is given to us to judge good from evil. We have to use that knowledge and find out for ourselves, not just go with the flow of society. I thought that was a really good point. We do hear it a ton around here.
Well, that is all I have for this week. I am loving it here in Thailand! I love and miss you all!!
Elder Ackerman
Sunday, June 13, 2010
"Every religion teaches us to be good"
Hi all!
So wow, I have been in Thailand for one whole transfer. The time has just gone by so fast! Well, this week we actually taught a few more lessons than usual. We also had a lot of time to go inviting. We usually can find a lot of people, but here in Thailand, a lot of people feel "obligated". There's a word we use for it, but that is the closest translation. They also say whatever will make us feel good, so most of the time they aren't interested. It would make our lives a lot easier if they told us right up if they weren't interested. Oh well.
This week, we had an investigator ask which of all the churches are right because there are so many. That was the perfect question for us to answer! We are way excited to keep teaching him. This week at church, we actually had investigators come! 6 people! It was way cool! The past few weeks, we have been only having 2 or even just one person come. Hopefully this can transfer over to next week. We also had another baptism this last week. It was one of the Sister's investigators. The branch here is so excited to have more members.
Also, this week I have been keeping track of how many times the phrase, "Every religion teaches us to be good." Thai's say it all the time! It is crazy. They also profess to respect/worship all religions, which can't be right. I heard the phrase or variations of it 17 times this week. I am going to keep track of how many times it is said for my whole mission. That should be fun.
It is so awesome when investigators call us when they can't make an appointment. No one does that here in Thailand. It is so awesome. They also turn out to be awesome investigators. It makes our life so much easier when we know ahead off time that they can't make an appointment. Just how it is here in Thailand.
Well, not a ton else has happened. It is starting to rain more here though. And when it rains, it pours!! Streets flood and everything. Makes riding a bike way fun! This last Monday, Elder Wilson and I went to Patrunam, close to like the center of Bangkok. It was so cool. We saw one of the buildings that had been burned and we were able to buy some cool stuff. Namely 20 Baht (less than $1) ties.
Plus we rode on the "khlawng" boat. Pretty much "khlawng"s are the sewer system here in Thailand. It is really disgusting! But it was a cool experience. There is a big "khlawng" that goes through Bangkok that a lot of people ride. It's like a bus system on water with stops and everything. Way cool. Plus most the time we ride "khlawng paths". The paths go next to a "khlawng" and we ride on them with our bikes. And the paths are not very thick. But its fun and we get around much faster than taking the normal roads.
Well that's all I have. Thailand is so awesome and way fun. The work is hard, but very rewarding! I love it!
I miss you all.
Elder Ackerman
So wow, I have been in Thailand for one whole transfer. The time has just gone by so fast! Well, this week we actually taught a few more lessons than usual. We also had a lot of time to go inviting. We usually can find a lot of people, but here in Thailand, a lot of people feel "obligated". There's a word we use for it, but that is the closest translation. They also say whatever will make us feel good, so most of the time they aren't interested. It would make our lives a lot easier if they told us right up if they weren't interested. Oh well.
This week, we had an investigator ask which of all the churches are right because there are so many. That was the perfect question for us to answer! We are way excited to keep teaching him. This week at church, we actually had investigators come! 6 people! It was way cool! The past few weeks, we have been only having 2 or even just one person come. Hopefully this can transfer over to next week. We also had another baptism this last week. It was one of the Sister's investigators. The branch here is so excited to have more members.
Also, this week I have been keeping track of how many times the phrase, "Every religion teaches us to be good." Thai's say it all the time! It is crazy. They also profess to respect/worship all religions, which can't be right. I heard the phrase or variations of it 17 times this week. I am going to keep track of how many times it is said for my whole mission. That should be fun.
It is so awesome when investigators call us when they can't make an appointment. No one does that here in Thailand. It is so awesome. They also turn out to be awesome investigators. It makes our life so much easier when we know ahead off time that they can't make an appointment. Just how it is here in Thailand.
Well, not a ton else has happened. It is starting to rain more here though. And when it rains, it pours!! Streets flood and everything. Makes riding a bike way fun! This last Monday, Elder Wilson and I went to Patrunam, close to like the center of Bangkok. It was so cool. We saw one of the buildings that had been burned and we were able to buy some cool stuff. Namely 20 Baht (less than $1) ties.
Plus we rode on the "khlawng" boat. Pretty much "khlawng"s are the sewer system here in Thailand. It is really disgusting! But it was a cool experience. There is a big "khlawng" that goes through Bangkok that a lot of people ride. It's like a bus system on water with stops and everything. Way cool. Plus most the time we ride "khlawng paths". The paths go next to a "khlawng" and we ride on them with our bikes. And the paths are not very thick. But its fun and we get around much faster than taking the normal roads.
Well that's all I have. Thailand is so awesome and way fun. The work is hard, but very rewarding! I love it!
I miss you all.
Elder Ackerman
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