Experiences in Thailand on Our Mission

After the Flooding, Huge Humanitarian Effort

After the Flooding, Huge Humanitarian Effort
In Front of The New Chapel in Bangkok

In the Chapel putting Relief Bags together

In the Chapel putting Relief Bags together

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Happy New Year Brothers and Sisters!

It is the New Year now, 2009 and our goals are the same with the whole church:

To Teach the Gospel to the World

Strengthen the Membership of the Church wherever they may be

To Move Forward the Work of Salvation for the Dead

We have nine people we are currently teaching the plan of salvation. Our golden contacts are: Brother Tick, 27 years old, and his girlfriend, sister Orm. She is about 25 years old. We met her first at the market and asked her to come to church with us. She came and brought brother Tick with her. We have been teaching this couple for three weeks now and have been inviting them to attend Sunday meetings with us. So far, they have accepted our invitations. Brother Tick has set his date to be baptized on the first of March and sister Orm would be after him a couple weeks thereafter.

We also met sister Nong, 32 years old. When we met her, we found out that she has been seeking for the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ for a year and has gone to meetings with other Christian churches. Since we have been able to teach her about the Plan of Salvation, she felt it would be good for her to join us each Sunday and come to Church with us. She came last Sunday and she told us that she loved it. She also asked us what she needed to do to become a member of the Church. We will continue to teach her the missionary's lessons. Her plan is to be baptized in the middle of March.

We also have visited three less active member families. One of them is Brother Pai, whom is a returned missionary, and his non-member wife. We will continue to visit him and we will teach his wife. Brother Jeap is a member and his wife is not as well. Sister Seangsuwan and I have been visiting these families twice a month and will teach his wife as well as brother Bob. He asked us to help him remember.

We are in Buriram right now and it is quite a distance away from another branches that we visit. We have to travel 4 hours for the Leadership meeting. We also take 5 hours trip to Khonkan for our Missionary Zone Meetings. It seems to us that we have to take more trips to the conference for members and as well as missionary meetings. We have learned a lot about being great missionary. Our testimonies have been strengthened. Sister Seangsuwan tells me each day how much she loves the people and the service. We love this work and will continue to love it. We have talked to our mission President that we would apply for another mission and return back to Thailand in the future. We will see how that goes.

Sister Seangsuwan has another calling as the Assistant to the Family History Center Director. She will be helping members for the whole district with their geneology. It is new experience for her. She has been trained from the two Senior Sister Missionaries for this special calling. She seems to love it.

We been praying to find new people who been looking for the truthfulness of the gospel and we have been blessed to have found several families so far. It is truly a blessing to actively take part in the missions of the Church and we encourage everyone to take part in these blessings.

Have a Happy New Year and we love you all!

Love,

Sister and Elder Seangsuwan

Thailand Mission Photos

Preston and Tanner Saying Hello to Grandma and Grandpa


It was a great time at Ching Mai that all Seniors there, and would like to post their names as follows; Elder and Sister Oldham, Elder and Sister Cook, Elder and Sister Facer, Elder and Sister Gonzales, Elder and Sister Greenwood, Elder and Sister Hatch, Elder and Sister Jones, Elder and Sister Laing, Elder and Sister McPhie, Elder and Sister Sitivong, Elder and Sister Snow, Elder and Sister Wasson, Elder and Sister Jones, Elder and Sister Meakley

January 27, 2008 to Present

We have been assigned to work in the Udonthani District. We have been given assignments to teach new and less active members by using book "Preach my Gospel." We work with less active members and we take part in humanitarian service. We have also been teaching teens on drug and alcohol prevention and keeping the law of chastity and the word of wisdom.

Sister Seangsuwan and I have also been asked to help with the training of the church leaders in this area. We have been in Udon since Jan 27. and do not know how long we will be in this district, it is up to the Mission President. We love the people here and love working with the other missionaries.

We have contacted about 44 families which 7 families are being taught the discussions. Our Mission President asked me to preside and train the leaders in Udon district on March 8. He and his wife are very happy to have us working with the people in this area. We are really happy and enjoy our assignment. For the most part the Thai people in this area open the doors and let us in to teach there family members. They are humble and happy to see Senior Missionaries come to their homes.

Our testimony has grown due to our assignment of teaching the truth of the gospel of the Lord to His children. Our most memorable moment so far is when we introduced ourselves to them that we are from Utah and come to serve the Lord in Thailand, eventhough, we miss our children and grandkids. Serving and leaving family is such a small sacrifice for such a great purpose. It helps us understand more of the great work that we are doing. We work each day and love to serve. Sister Seangsuwan loves to study scripture more and more and is doing her best to learn how to teach the gospel. She still loves to talk alot and share her testimony. We should teach only 30 minutes, but she still goes on and on and the converstation ends up over one and half hour each family.

I told her not to worry about the family at home. When we work hard we know that the Lord will take care of them. So far, we love to serve the Lord in Thailand as well as eat the Thai food. Wednesday is our Preparation day. Sister Seangsuwan does alot of window shopping but does not buy anything. She just likes to look around and I love to follow her. In the evenings, we return back to Church to help young missionaries teaching ESL and we also are able to meet new people to teach. In class, the last 10 minutes, I was introduced as Guest Speaker to teach something that I have learn in the US and answer their questions.

We have had a great experience on our mission and love all of you! Thank you so much for your support! More comments and pictures to come.