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.