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