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