Dear Brothers and Sisters!
The past few weeks we have been working with less active families and talking to as many relatives as possible. It has been good and we will pray for the best. Our first couple's mission will be coming to an end soon. We hope to continue to serve as when we go home. We are coming home July 15, 2009 arriving in the Salt Lake International Airport at 9:15 PM. We will be speaking in two weeks. Stay posted for directions to the church!
We love you and we will see you soon!
Love,
Elder and Sister Seangsuwan
After the Flooding, Huge Humanitarian Effort
In Front of The New Chapel in Bangkok
In the Chapel putting Relief Bags together
Monday, July 13, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
June 16, 2009
Dear Families and Friends!
Time has definitely gone fast for us! We have not had internet access for over 3 months now! Sorry for the delay in updating our blog, but rest assured, we have been working hard and have many great spiritual experiences. We were in Buriram for 7 months and we loved it every minute of it. We have now been transferred to our last area, Bangkok, where we can now talk to may friends and relatives about the gospel as well.
But before we get into that, we would like to share a few experiences and blessings we received while serving in the Buriram Branch. During our time there, Sister Seangsuwan and I had the opportunity to teach many people. We were able to see three people walk into the waters of baptism and become members of the Church.
One of the new members was Brother Pituput. He was a 22 years old young man and loved to read the Bible. He had been reading since he was 16 years old. We met him in the streets one day when we were handing out pamphlets and inviting people to come learn English during our service on Wednesdays. He also had a girlfriend name Sister Pranom.
Sister Pranom was 19 years old. She came up to Sister Seangsuwan and asked her about the gospel. After a few messages about our Savior and the Plan of Salvation, she asked us she and her boyfriend could come to church. We advised her where the meetings took place and also made an appointment to visit with them the following week. After our first visit, they were interested in hearing more about the Plan of Salvation and other lessons that we had. After teaching them for 3 months and bringing them to Church, they asked if they could be baptized. After much praying and assistance from the Branch Members, Brother Pituput and Sister Pranom were baptized on March 22, 2009. It was such a wonderful blessing for us and a great feeling.
Another great experience we had was actually on our Preparation Day. Sister Seangsuwaan and I needed to go to the hair salon to get a haircut. After we did that, we decided to walk around towards the shops to look around. Sister Seangsuwan loves to shop! As we were walking out of the hair salon, we noticed a nice lady and her little son walking in to get a haircut as well. He was so cute! We smiled at them and walked out to look at the store nearby. As we left, we walked out again and saw the same person and her son. This time, she smiled at us both and said to us, “May the Lord bless you both.” Sister Seangsuwan stopped and looked at me in amazement. She must be Christian we thought. As we continued on, Sister Seangsuwan said to me that she had a very strong feeling that we need to go back and talk to her. We looked back, but didn’t see her. We went back and asked a person in the hair salon if they had seen a lady. They said they had and told us that she lived just around the corner. He asked why and we started to talk to him about the Gospel. After we noticed he had no interest in hearing more, we decided to go and find her. We went to her home and she wasn’t there. I told Sister Seangsuwan that we would come back another day, but she insisted that we stay and look for her. As we went back around the corner, we noticed her son standing in front of a nother shop. We went over to him and looked for his mom. Sister Seangsuwan had a strong feeling that the this lady may have been someone the Lord had prepared to hear the Gospel and she wasn’t’ going to give up. We found her and asked her if we could share a message with her and her family. She agreed and invited us over to her home.
When we arrived at her place, we found out that she had been a Protestant for over 10 years. We asked her if she had ever seen two young missionaries in white shirts and ties, and she said that she had. We told her that we were like them and that we taught others about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Her name was Sister Siri-aksorn. She had two children, 4 and 2 years old. Her husband has been teacher at the Technical College for many years. We talked to her more about the gospel and about families in the Plan of Salvation. As we bore testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel and the importance of living prophets, she gained more interest. We told her that we had a living Prophet today that leads and guides us. She asked many questions about that. We also bore testimony of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and what role the Holy Ghost plays in our lives. A lot of what we taught her was new to her even though she had been a Protestant for 10 years. We gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon and highlighted some scriptures to read and asked if we could come back. She said okay and we made an appointment for the next day. We were able to visit and teach her and her family twice a week. She seem so exited and so faithful to search and study the scriptures on her own. We learned soon that she loved to read from the Book of Mormon. After several months of teaching her and her family, she agreed to be baptized. She had received a witness and gained a testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel. She was truly prepared for us to teach her. On May 24, 2009 Sister Siri-aksorn was baptized. We moved to Bangkok on May 26.
We have been given permission to visit all the wards and branches in Bangkok and Nonthaburi. Our plans is to visit people, friends and family to teach them the gospel before we go home on July 15th. Wherever those family and friends would be, our goal would be to would bring them to Church and ask the young missionaries to follow up with them when we have to go home. We have been visiting four families so far, and also our own families here in Bangkok. We hope and pray that we can bring our own families to the truthfulness of the Gospel.
Bangkok is the city of traffic. It can take us a few hours to visit one family and all day to work with them. But we know how important it is to have them to listen to the Plan of Salvation. We have also been able to gather up more information for our family history work. Our goals are to visit 10 families in the last 45 days.
Brothers and Sisters, we love this work so much and have had such a great time sharing the Gospel and being an instrument in the Lord’s hands. We have see miracles and received so many blessings. Our testimonies have grown as well as our desire to continue serving.
It is so wonderful to serve our mission in Thailand where we know the language and culture well. We will see you soon. If we have time, we will try and post one last message and tell you of the great things the Lord is doing here in Thailand.
Love you all!
Elder and Sister Seangsuwan
Thailand Bangkok Mission
Time has definitely gone fast for us! We have not had internet access for over 3 months now! Sorry for the delay in updating our blog, but rest assured, we have been working hard and have many great spiritual experiences. We were in Buriram for 7 months and we loved it every minute of it. We have now been transferred to our last area, Bangkok, where we can now talk to may friends and relatives about the gospel as well.
But before we get into that, we would like to share a few experiences and blessings we received while serving in the Buriram Branch. During our time there, Sister Seangsuwan and I had the opportunity to teach many people. We were able to see three people walk into the waters of baptism and become members of the Church.
One of the new members was Brother Pituput. He was a 22 years old young man and loved to read the Bible. He had been reading since he was 16 years old. We met him in the streets one day when we were handing out pamphlets and inviting people to come learn English during our service on Wednesdays. He also had a girlfriend name Sister Pranom.
Sister Pranom was 19 years old. She came up to Sister Seangsuwan and asked her about the gospel. After a few messages about our Savior and the Plan of Salvation, she asked us she and her boyfriend could come to church. We advised her where the meetings took place and also made an appointment to visit with them the following week. After our first visit, they were interested in hearing more about the Plan of Salvation and other lessons that we had. After teaching them for 3 months and bringing them to Church, they asked if they could be baptized. After much praying and assistance from the Branch Members, Brother Pituput and Sister Pranom were baptized on March 22, 2009. It was such a wonderful blessing for us and a great feeling.
Another great experience we had was actually on our Preparation Day. Sister Seangsuwaan and I needed to go to the hair salon to get a haircut. After we did that, we decided to walk around towards the shops to look around. Sister Seangsuwan loves to shop! As we were walking out of the hair salon, we noticed a nice lady and her little son walking in to get a haircut as well. He was so cute! We smiled at them and walked out to look at the store nearby. As we left, we walked out again and saw the same person and her son. This time, she smiled at us both and said to us, “May the Lord bless you both.” Sister Seangsuwan stopped and looked at me in amazement. She must be Christian we thought. As we continued on, Sister Seangsuwan said to me that she had a very strong feeling that we need to go back and talk to her. We looked back, but didn’t see her. We went back and asked a person in the hair salon if they had seen a lady. They said they had and told us that she lived just around the corner. He asked why and we started to talk to him about the Gospel. After we noticed he had no interest in hearing more, we decided to go and find her. We went to her home and she wasn’t there. I told Sister Seangsuwan that we would come back another day, but she insisted that we stay and look for her. As we went back around the corner, we noticed her son standing in front of a nother shop. We went over to him and looked for his mom. Sister Seangsuwan had a strong feeling that the this lady may have been someone the Lord had prepared to hear the Gospel and she wasn’t’ going to give up. We found her and asked her if we could share a message with her and her family. She agreed and invited us over to her home.
When we arrived at her place, we found out that she had been a Protestant for over 10 years. We asked her if she had ever seen two young missionaries in white shirts and ties, and she said that she had. We told her that we were like them and that we taught others about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Her name was Sister Siri-aksorn. She had two children, 4 and 2 years old. Her husband has been teacher at the Technical College for many years. We talked to her more about the gospel and about families in the Plan of Salvation. As we bore testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel and the importance of living prophets, she gained more interest. We told her that we had a living Prophet today that leads and guides us. She asked many questions about that. We also bore testimony of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and what role the Holy Ghost plays in our lives. A lot of what we taught her was new to her even though she had been a Protestant for 10 years. We gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon and highlighted some scriptures to read and asked if we could come back. She said okay and we made an appointment for the next day. We were able to visit and teach her and her family twice a week. She seem so exited and so faithful to search and study the scriptures on her own. We learned soon that she loved to read from the Book of Mormon. After several months of teaching her and her family, she agreed to be baptized. She had received a witness and gained a testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel. She was truly prepared for us to teach her. On May 24, 2009 Sister Siri-aksorn was baptized. We moved to Bangkok on May 26.
We have been given permission to visit all the wards and branches in Bangkok and Nonthaburi. Our plans is to visit people, friends and family to teach them the gospel before we go home on July 15th. Wherever those family and friends would be, our goal would be to would bring them to Church and ask the young missionaries to follow up with them when we have to go home. We have been visiting four families so far, and also our own families here in Bangkok. We hope and pray that we can bring our own families to the truthfulness of the Gospel.
Bangkok is the city of traffic. It can take us a few hours to visit one family and all day to work with them. But we know how important it is to have them to listen to the Plan of Salvation. We have also been able to gather up more information for our family history work. Our goals are to visit 10 families in the last 45 days.
Brothers and Sisters, we love this work so much and have had such a great time sharing the Gospel and being an instrument in the Lord’s hands. We have see miracles and received so many blessings. Our testimonies have grown as well as our desire to continue serving.
It is so wonderful to serve our mission in Thailand where we know the language and culture well. We will see you soon. If we have time, we will try and post one last message and tell you of the great things the Lord is doing here in Thailand.
Love you all!
Elder and Sister Seangsuwan
Thailand Bangkok Mission
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
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
Monday, December 8, 2008
Happy Holidays!
Time seems to pass by faster and faster. We have been in the Buriram Branch for over a month now. We have been very busy visiting all the member families from the branch. We are so blessed to have wonderful counselors. We have been doing very well in this branch. They have helped us with our transportation needs to members that live further away. Some members live far away, over 75 miles! Some drives take up to three hours to get there. They have helped us visit less active members and have also helped introduced us to new families whom they knew teach the gospel. Several less active member have returned back to church. We also spend time serving in the community and with the members. We have been helping two family members w/other missionaries and some other members clean their yards and cut down bananas from their trees. It was so fun! We love doing these type of service and activities.
At this time, we do not have a car, but we have enjoyed walking every day. Exercise is important to us.
Buriram is smaller than the Udon district, but we love working here just as much. We also travel to leadership training and meetings in other nearby cities and towns.
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. Sister Seangsuwan prepared for our member families a feast to remember. They had never had an “American” Thanksgiving meal before or learn how to cook those types of foods before. Sister Seangsuwan showed them how to cook different recipes. She got all the recipes from her son, Osmond. Instead of Turkey, we had chicken. We made stuffing, some desserts and other easy to cook meals for Thanksgiving. It was quite interesting and amusing. The members said that American food was not spicy enough for them like Thai food. They asked for chili to add on the meal. You know we always need a little spice in our lives!
We love the members here and enjoy working in Buriram very much. We live a little distance away from church, about 2 miles. We love to walk there in the morning on Sunday and make sure to get there before church starts at 9 a.m. However, we do expect to get a car by the end of this month.
Sister Seangsuwan enjoys teaching class in the Relief Society meetings when asked and they love hearing her testimony.
We both love and enjoy teaching new families and bare our testimony to them. Its gets easier and easier and our testimonies grow stronger and stronger. Our goal here is to see more members come to church and that they may be able to have their own meeting house like in Udorn. Currently, all of the branches in this district have rent the spaces from offices for the church meetings.
In the month of November they have several festivals for the people in the town. They enjoy and celebrate their culture holidays.
During this time of year, it has been nice thinking of our families and friends. We hope all is well and that everyone is feeling peace and love.
In a Christmas Devotional, President Hinckely said,
“Christmas is more than trees and twinkling lights, more than toys and gifts and baubles of a hundred varieties. It is love. It is the love of the Son of God for all mankind. It reaches out beyond our power to comprehend. It is magnificent and beautiful.
It is peace. It is the peace which comforts, which sustains, which blesses all who accept it.
It is faith. It is faith in God and His Eternal Son. It is faith in His wondrous ways and message. It is faith in Him as our Redeemer and our Lord.”
May we always remember Him and share this message with all!
We love you all!
Happy Holidays,
Elder and Sister Seangsuwan
At this time, we do not have a car, but we have enjoyed walking every day. Exercise is important to us.
Buriram is smaller than the Udon district, but we love working here just as much. We also travel to leadership training and meetings in other nearby cities and towns.
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. Sister Seangsuwan prepared for our member families a feast to remember. They had never had an “American” Thanksgiving meal before or learn how to cook those types of foods before. Sister Seangsuwan showed them how to cook different recipes. She got all the recipes from her son, Osmond. Instead of Turkey, we had chicken. We made stuffing, some desserts and other easy to cook meals for Thanksgiving. It was quite interesting and amusing. The members said that American food was not spicy enough for them like Thai food. They asked for chili to add on the meal. You know we always need a little spice in our lives!
We love the members here and enjoy working in Buriram very much. We live a little distance away from church, about 2 miles. We love to walk there in the morning on Sunday and make sure to get there before church starts at 9 a.m. However, we do expect to get a car by the end of this month.
Sister Seangsuwan enjoys teaching class in the Relief Society meetings when asked and they love hearing her testimony.
We both love and enjoy teaching new families and bare our testimony to them. Its gets easier and easier and our testimonies grow stronger and stronger. Our goal here is to see more members come to church and that they may be able to have their own meeting house like in Udorn. Currently, all of the branches in this district have rent the spaces from offices for the church meetings.
In the month of November they have several festivals for the people in the town. They enjoy and celebrate their culture holidays.
During this time of year, it has been nice thinking of our families and friends. We hope all is well and that everyone is feeling peace and love.
In a Christmas Devotional, President Hinckely said,
“Christmas is more than trees and twinkling lights, more than toys and gifts and baubles of a hundred varieties. It is love. It is the love of the Son of God for all mankind. It reaches out beyond our power to comprehend. It is magnificent and beautiful.
It is peace. It is the peace which comforts, which sustains, which blesses all who accept it.
It is faith. It is faith in God and His Eternal Son. It is faith in His wondrous ways and message. It is faith in Him as our Redeemer and our Lord.”
May we always remember Him and share this message with all!
We love you all!
Happy Holidays,
Elder and Sister Seangsuwan
Friday, November 7, 2008
November 5, 2008
Sorry we haven’t updated our blog until now. We have moved into an area where our internet isn’t readily available as our last area. Our mission President advised on 10/13 that our new assignment would be in Burirum which is in the Ubon District. I was called to be the Branch President where Sister Seangsuwan and I could help the members increase activity. The area is about an 8 hour trip by bus from out last area. The next Sunday we spoke in both of our branches. The members were surprised and did not want us to move away. We have been in Udon for 9 months and really enjoy working there with members. We became part of their families.
On that Sunday, two were baptized and one of them was sister Panwara Pongsri. She is 21 years old. We were privileged to teach and be a part of her baptism. She is a niece of our old friend who was a member in Thonburi. We have now been in Burirum since October 24. We were welcomed into the branch last Sunday. I was then called as the Burirum Branch Prsident. There are about 125 members but only 35-40 members came to Church on Sunday. We know that one of our main jobs is to visit the less active members an also searching for new investigators to teach. Burirum is smaller than Udon. There are 4 young missionaries. No sisters missionary and we are happy to be working with them. We will continue to enjoy the work of the Lord in the new area.
A little bit about home. Our second son was married while we are here in Thailand. Armstrong was blessed to take a beautiful daughter of God into the Hawaiian Temple and be sealed for all time and eternity. Though we missed such a wonderful and special occasion, we are blessed to know that they made the right decision. Arm's wedding in Hawaii temple was on October 11th and they later held a reception in Salt Lake City on the 25th. Our Anniversary was on October 28th but we spent time in Buriram working. We have yet to have a formal cerebration for us. We are so excited for them and cannot wait to see their beautiful family grow. We had many family and close member friends that supported them at their reception in our absence and we are grateful for them.
One other interesting story that I would like to share was during a street meeting that we held at the park in Udon the last week before moved. We met a good family who is Christian. The husband first came to listen to our message. He kept asking questions about our message. He told us that he had never heard of Joseph Smith and that his family could be together for eternity. We talked about our temple work and we talked about the Book of Mormon. He told us that he read the Bible often, but would be interested in getting a copy of the Book of Mormon. On the Wednesday before our transfer he came with his family to our church building where we could meet and give him a copy of the Book of Mormon. We invited him to meet with the other missionaries since we would be leaving the area and they agreed. We hope that they continue to learn and prepare themselves to feel of the Spirit and know of the truthfulness of our message and the Gospel. We will continue to pray for them.
Continue to keep us in your prayers. We hope all is well and that you are getting ready for the Holidays where families are together and people are happy! We will continue to work hard! We love you!
Elder and Sister Seangsuwan
On that Sunday, two were baptized and one of them was sister Panwara Pongsri. She is 21 years old. We were privileged to teach and be a part of her baptism. She is a niece of our old friend who was a member in Thonburi. We have now been in Burirum since October 24. We were welcomed into the branch last Sunday. I was then called as the Burirum Branch Prsident. There are about 125 members but only 35-40 members came to Church on Sunday. We know that one of our main jobs is to visit the less active members an also searching for new investigators to teach. Burirum is smaller than Udon. There are 4 young missionaries. No sisters missionary and we are happy to be working with them. We will continue to enjoy the work of the Lord in the new area.
A little bit about home. Our second son was married while we are here in Thailand. Armstrong was blessed to take a beautiful daughter of God into the Hawaiian Temple and be sealed for all time and eternity. Though we missed such a wonderful and special occasion, we are blessed to know that they made the right decision. Arm's wedding in Hawaii temple was on October 11th and they later held a reception in Salt Lake City on the 25th. Our Anniversary was on October 28th but we spent time in Buriram working. We have yet to have a formal cerebration for us. We are so excited for them and cannot wait to see their beautiful family grow. We had many family and close member friends that supported them at their reception in our absence and we are grateful for them.
One other interesting story that I would like to share was during a street meeting that we held at the park in Udon the last week before moved. We met a good family who is Christian. The husband first came to listen to our message. He kept asking questions about our message. He told us that he had never heard of Joseph Smith and that his family could be together for eternity. We talked about our temple work and we talked about the Book of Mormon. He told us that he read the Bible often, but would be interested in getting a copy of the Book of Mormon. On the Wednesday before our transfer he came with his family to our church building where we could meet and give him a copy of the Book of Mormon. We invited him to meet with the other missionaries since we would be leaving the area and they agreed. We hope that they continue to learn and prepare themselves to feel of the Spirit and know of the truthfulness of our message and the Gospel. We will continue to pray for them.
Continue to keep us in your prayers. We hope all is well and that you are getting ready for the Holidays where families are together and people are happy! We will continue to work hard! We love you!
Elder and Sister Seangsuwan
Sunday, September 21, 2008
September 2008
Hi you all, Can you believe that nine months have passed by already? We are definitely keeping busy with the work of the Lord and we continue to enjoy it. It makes us feel great. Brother Fiet, his real name is Pichitnun Nimvilya, was baptized and confirmed two week ago. Sister Seangsuwan and I had the opportunity to teach and fellowship him. We have also seen six investigators come to church. We are planning for two of them to be baptized soon; Sister Jittra, a school teacher and Brother Wanchai, a local salesman. They have been waiting for our District Leader to interview them.
We also coordinated with Senior Sister Missionaries for Family History, and there were 15 members that have started their genealogy projects. The Temple ready names will be submitted to the Hong Kong Temple.
With our reactivating service, Brother U-Thai and his two sons have returned back to church, they have been very active since. In fact, Brother U-Thai was called to be Branch Mission Leader. There are five members have been called to be branch missionaries to work with full time missionaries and help fellowship the new members and other members. In the meantime, we continue to look for more families to teach.
This month, on 5th, we went to Zone Conference at Khon Khean, we were visited by Elder and Sister Watson, a member of Area Seventy Presidency from Hong Kong. It is always great to meet a General Authority of the Church. Their service inspires us to serve more.
We also use street meeting at the public park in Udon for our proselyting schedule. There are many people at the park to meet and talk about the Plan of Salvation.
We had a little car problems and had to fix our car this month. The gas prices here have been high as well, but not as bad as what we here in the United States. I hear things are getting better though. However, we continue to follow our monthly budget.
We enjoy receiving email from Senior Missionaries from other missions in other countries, those who were in the same group when we were at MTC, Provo. They all are working hard to serve the Lord. If you are reading this blog, we miss and love you!
We will continue to keep you updated. We hope that all is well and that you are excited for General Conference!
Love, Elder and Sister Seangsuwan
We also coordinated with Senior Sister Missionaries for Family History, and there were 15 members that have started their genealogy projects. The Temple ready names will be submitted to the Hong Kong Temple.
With our reactivating service, Brother U-Thai and his two sons have returned back to church, they have been very active since. In fact, Brother U-Thai was called to be Branch Mission Leader. There are five members have been called to be branch missionaries to work with full time missionaries and help fellowship the new members and other members. In the meantime, we continue to look for more families to teach.
This month, on 5th, we went to Zone Conference at Khon Khean, we were visited by Elder and Sister Watson, a member of Area Seventy Presidency from Hong Kong. It is always great to meet a General Authority of the Church. Their service inspires us to serve more.
We also use street meeting at the public park in Udon for our proselyting schedule. There are many people at the park to meet and talk about the Plan of Salvation.
We had a little car problems and had to fix our car this month. The gas prices here have been high as well, but not as bad as what we here in the United States. I hear things are getting better though. However, we continue to follow our monthly budget.
We enjoy receiving email from Senior Missionaries from other missions in other countries, those who were in the same group when we were at MTC, Provo. They all are working hard to serve the Lord. If you are reading this blog, we miss and love you!
We will continue to keep you updated. We hope that all is well and that you are excited for General Conference!
Love, Elder and Sister Seangsuwan
Monday, July 28, 2008
June and July 2008
Update for the month of June and July – Sorry its taken so long! We had several meetings with our Mission President. He had asked us to focus a lot more on less active members and help return them back to Church. We visited Brother Sutep and his family with two boys. Brother Sutep and his wife are returned missionaries. We found out that Brother Sutep has also been a Branch President before. We are working with them to remember the blessings they received when they were active. We have also been visiting Brother Thanin and his family. He is 72 years old. After befriending them, they felt like returning back to church would help them to progress in the Lord' kingdom.
Our Branch attendance has increased from 50 to 65. There are more investigators attending meetings with us as well. The new Branch President has been working hard. He is a business man. He has his own shop near the community school, his wife is a nurse, and they love to serve. We also love to work with the members in our branch. Home teaching for 6 families is also our assignment.
We worked with 5 people in the branch that have been trying to visit the temple in Hong Kong. It is the closest Temple and not easy to for them like it is for us back home. They work hard to save money and prepare their trip to the Lord’s house. They have gone and been spiritually uplifted. They share their experiences with us. In the group were our Branch President, President Apiwat, 40 years old and his wife. Sister Rapeeporn and her mother, which was their first time attending, and Sister Jitra a returned missionary. That was her second time visiting the Temple. To think of the wonderful blessing we have in Utah and how we take it for granted is sometimes sad. May we work to serve the Lord more in His home.
Working in the Branch Presidency and proselyting daily keeps us very busy. One of the methods of proselyting we have seen success with has been holding street meetings in the public park. Many people come to the park with family to relax and have fun. While many of them play and rest, they tend to see our table with pictures and come ask us questions about the church. We do this twice a week and have met many people to teach.
We also try and work with the other missionaries in our district. We have a meeting with the young missionaries each week on Monday. In these past two months, we have been blessed to take part in two baptisms, with another one in a week.
On our Service days, we help the community and families around us in their farms. We have also been teaching English classes. We are assigned to teach ESL classes on Wednesday evenings from six to eight for basic or beginning classes for non-members. Many of then turn out to be our investigators. We love doing this service because it makes us feel like our English is actually good.
We will continue to enjoy the Lord's work in Udonthani.
Take care and continue to pray for our brothers and sisters. We love you all!
Elder and Sister Seangsuwan.
Our Branch attendance has increased from 50 to 65. There are more investigators attending meetings with us as well. The new Branch President has been working hard. He is a business man. He has his own shop near the community school, his wife is a nurse, and they love to serve. We also love to work with the members in our branch. Home teaching for 6 families is also our assignment.
We worked with 5 people in the branch that have been trying to visit the temple in Hong Kong. It is the closest Temple and not easy to for them like it is for us back home. They work hard to save money and prepare their trip to the Lord’s house. They have gone and been spiritually uplifted. They share their experiences with us. In the group were our Branch President, President Apiwat, 40 years old and his wife. Sister Rapeeporn and her mother, which was their first time attending, and Sister Jitra a returned missionary. That was her second time visiting the Temple. To think of the wonderful blessing we have in Utah and how we take it for granted is sometimes sad. May we work to serve the Lord more in His home.
Working in the Branch Presidency and proselyting daily keeps us very busy. One of the methods of proselyting we have seen success with has been holding street meetings in the public park. Many people come to the park with family to relax and have fun. While many of them play and rest, they tend to see our table with pictures and come ask us questions about the church. We do this twice a week and have met many people to teach.
We also try and work with the other missionaries in our district. We have a meeting with the young missionaries each week on Monday. In these past two months, we have been blessed to take part in two baptisms, with another one in a week.
On our Service days, we help the community and families around us in their farms. We have also been teaching English classes. We are assigned to teach ESL classes on Wednesday evenings from six to eight for basic or beginning classes for non-members. Many of then turn out to be our investigators. We love doing this service because it makes us feel like our English is actually good.
We will continue to enjoy the Lord's work in Udonthani.
Take care and continue to pray for our brothers and sisters. We love you all!
Elder and Sister Seangsuwan.
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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