Busy in Chiang Rai training Elder Haughton

Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2012 
Subject: 7 กรกฎาคม 2012
From: bryan.todd@myldsmail.net

Hey How are you all?

This last week was the Fourth of July, which didn't really mean anything for us here. We did sing the Star Spangled banner at the outset of companionship study though. It is in the Hymn book, after all. 

It's really weird, I feel like I was just sitting here e-mailing you yesterday. Time is a fickle friend. It just goes too fast. And when we want it to slow down, it just speeds up! But our time is short. And we need to make the most of it. We need to do our absolute best every day, even if we may not see direct results from it. 

That's one thing that I have been thinking about here in Thailand, just really trying to give my best everyday. It's hard. Since I've been given the trust of training another missionary, I have noticed that I have a whole lot of things that I need to improve on. I remember Elder Wagstaff said to me that he learned so much from training Elder Tolman. It's true. Both trainer and trainee learn so much. That's something that I really have thought about my whole mission. 

In the 50th section of the Doctrine and Covenants verse 22 we read "Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that recieveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together." We learn from this revelation that when the Spirit of the Lord is with us, those who teach, and those who receive will both learn. If we as teachers think that we cannot learn from those we teach, or think we teach because we have such a great knowledge, then we need to look to Alma 5:28 which says, "Behold, are ye stripped of pride? I say unto you, if ye are not ye are not prepared to meet God." 

Humility is a key attribute of disciples of the Lord. It's something that we as members of the church must emulate to help others see that we don't esteem ourselves above them because we are a chosen people of the Lord. Don't be like the Zoramites who fell into apostasy. But be willing to improve and always look for the ways in which we can. I'm not saying that you're apostate.  This is just what I have been reminded of this week.

Our investigators are doing well. First of all there is Leck. He is really excited to get baptized in August. He is still struggling coming to church because he has an apprenticeship with one of his professors at his technical college. But he said he only has one more Sunday left before he can come to church. Then after that he is determined to come forever. So that's really solid. 

Next, is our investigator Taa. He is doing well. His parents like us. His dad was really happy because apparently no other house in their village had ever had Americans go visit before. But more important than that, his dad has already read to Alma 58 in 1 Week! He does have some good spare time while he is waiting for his rice crops to grow. But it's good! Taa loves coming to church, and to church activities. He goes to them, even though he lives 23 Kilometers away from the city. He has a date for the beginning of August!

We haven't seen Nim since last Monday. That's been one challenge here in Chiang Rai. We can't seem to meet with our investigators more that once a week. It's making it hard for us to help them in their progression. Sometimes I feel like since we can only see them weekly, we have to give them a lot of information. But it's more important to teach them according to their needs. If anyone has any good ideas, please let me know! 

Naen is doing alright. She comes to church, but only for Sacrament meeting, then she has to go to work. I feel like that's really hindering her progress too. We're going to focus on her and how we can help her. We're thinking that she's just going to have to find a new job. So we'll see how that turns out. We're planning on going over the tree of life with her this week, and helping her to choose which side to be on. So that should be good.

We're also trying to do a lot of new finding ideas. Finding is something that's really important. And tracting, well we just aren't seeing a whole lot of success from it. So we're trying new ideas, even if they haven't been tried before. As with all tools, if we just use one over and over it will get dull. That's the same with tracting. We need to cycle through, to keep them as sharp as they can be.

Well, I love you all so much. Be safe and faithful!

Love,

Elder Todd