Week 5

Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2011 11:23:18 +0700
Subject: Week 5

Hey family! How is everyone?

I'm so happy to hear about the G's! That's going to be such an awesome experience for them!

This week was a pretty good week here in Roi Et. I really am loving it here. It's such a wonderful place and I wish you all could come see it! We had transfers this week. I stayed with Elder Ackerman here. That's how the new training program works--we stay together 12 weeks. But we did get a new sister here. Sister Roper. She was in the younger Thai district in the MTC. It's wonderful to see someone else here that I knew before I came in country!

We have been doing a good amount of teaching and inviting. Inviting still isn't the best way to do this work, but we actually found this man and his daughter and we have taught them twice. They seem pretty good, but we will see. He is probably in his 40's and I'm not sure what he does. His daughter is 10 and speaks really good English! We are trying to get her to our English class that we teach every Tuesday night. It's our weekly service project that President Smith has outlined for us. We also have a new investigator from English class. Her name in Pohn. She seems really good. We have only taught her once though. She wouldn't answer her phone yesterday when we were trying to set up an appointment. It would be great if we could get her husband to come learn with her, but he has a really unsure work schedule. That's one thing that has really surprised me about Thailand; there is no weekend unless you're a teacher or work for the government. Everyone else is just open every day of the week pretty much. It can make it difficult for getting investigators to church.

One thing that really hit me this week is the importance of attitude. I have always known that your attitude is a very important part of who you are. I was just riding my bike down the street and I thought to my self, if I have a bad attitude, I'm not going to be an effective missionary. This gospel is a gospel of joy. If i am not happy, how am I supposed to share the unique, joyous message of the restoration with someone?

I had an interesting experience this week. We were out inviting, and we got into this one guys house. We asked if we could start with a prayer and then he kind of got mad at us. He asked us, "Why are you doing this?" We told him we were missionaries because we know the gospel is true. He said everyone says that what they have is true. Then he asked us what the real reason we were on missions was. He couldn't accept the fact that it is because we love this gospel and know that it is true.

I got an interesting letter from one of my friends. In it, she said that she has seen the hand of the Lord too many times for faith shakers to come into her life and break her faith. That really made me think. I looked back on things, and I realize that the Lord has blessed me so greatly! He has been so merciful to me. There is no way that I could deny that this gospel is true. With that knowledge, we can look at every trial as a blessing. I believe that if we look at life with a true gospel perspective, looking at life the way our Redeemer does, that we should always find reason to rejoice. We should take on every trial, and instead of thinking, "this is hard," we should be thinking, "what does my Loving Heavenly Father want me to learn from this?" "How is He helping me grow into the son or daughter that He needs me to be?" And then, after that experience, we must not forget to thank the Lord and to acknowledge that He has helped us grow. I believe that when we thank Him for trials that grow us, He will see that we recognize His hand, and then will give us more experiences we can grow from.

We had a lesson with our progressing investigator, Bubphaa yesterday. She has been progressing well, giving up coffee. But she won't accept a baptismal date. She has great faith, and she seems like she is truly penitent, but we just can't figure out her concern. Also, we have two more investigators with a baptismal date. Atid, and his daughter June. His wife is a member already. The hard thing with them is they live 60 Kilos outside the city, so we only teach them on Sundays. But he is making progress in quitting smoking. In three weeks hes gone from like 8 packs a day to two! Its so amazing to see the faith and commitment of these people here. I really love them, and I think its the people here that makes me love Roi Et so much!

Here are some scriptures that I came across in study this week that I really liked.
First of all D&C 107:99-100. I love these two scriptures SO much. They really are helping me to have the right outlook.
Mosiah 28:3
D&C 6:36
Hebrews 5:4
And a quote
"Our leisure, even our play is a matter of serious concern. That is because there is no neutral ground in the universe. Every square inch, every split second is claimed by God, and counter claimed by Satan."
C.S. Lewis.
Joshuah 24:15. Choose ye this day whom ye will serve.

I love you all, and I hope that you will serve God. keep up the good work! You're the best family, you're in my prayers!
Love,
Elder Todd

Monsoon Season

Hey Family!

Well, this is the start of my fifth week here in Thailand! I can't believe it. It's gone by pretty fast, looking back on it all. This is the last week of this transfer since its a short transfer. It doesn't really mean anything for me though. We should be getting two new people in our district. We should be getting one of the sisters from the younger district I was with in the MTC, coming here to Roi Et. That will be way fun to have another missionary I already know here! Also Elder Merrel up in Mahasarakam is moving, and Elder Christiansen is going to get a new companion.

This week is the first week where we haven't had any investigators with a baptisimal date. So it was kind of weird not to have the usual people to teach. But we found 8 new investigators which was great! I feel really good about them. Four of them live out in a neighborhood where there are 14 other members, which is pretty high for Thailand. So it will be really good if we can focus on that area and find a lot of new members there.

Yesterday was district conference and one of the men out there got the Melchizedek Priesthood! He is the only one out there with it, but its so good to have that power there! Earlier this week I was getting a little frustrated with finding people. It was just such a difficult process. But then I remembered something that Elder Bednar said to us at the MTC. He said, "This work is never about you, and it is never about me. Get out of the way so the Holy Ghost can fulfill His purpose." Once that thought popped into my head my entire attitude changed. And even though we didn't find people to teach, the rest of the day went differently. It was so much better when I just tried to focus on the needs of others.

I also realized that there is a difference between knowing my purpose as a missionary and internalizing it. When we internalize the missionary purpose we will forget about oursleves entirely. That's something Dave told me. He said that I'll forget about things like my birthday because when you have true missionary purpose instilled in your mind, all you care about is the eternal welfare of the souls of those around you. Its how Alma, Amulek, Ammon, Aaron, Omner, Himni, Nephi & Lehi and all of the great missionaries were able to have so much success. They are such great examples to look up to, even in regular life.

There was this one lesson we taught this week that was really great. We had been teaching another investigator at this sisters' shop, and a 21 year old boy came in and was waiting for his mom. While he was waiting, he sat and listened to the lesson. Afterwards, we got his contact information. This was last week. Then this week, we called Him up. We had an appointment with him on Wednesday, but he had to cancel because of the rain. So we rescheduled for Thursday. We talked to him about God. We asked if he believed in God. He said yes he did, because his aunt had told him there was a supreme creator. We taught him how to pray and about prayer. The concept for him clicked on the first lesson. It was amazing to see how the spirit worked so well with someone who had been prepared by the Lord for the gospel. It was so amazing.

Also, something way cool happened on Wednesday as we were out inviting. We were in this neighborhood where we hadn't planned to go. We were walking down the street when we heard, "Elders! Elders!" We turned around to see this 20 something year old man chasing us. He is a less active member that only remembers how to pray. He said that life has been really hard for him lately, and that he wants to learn the lessons again and come back to church! It's so great to see the way that the Lord will work with His children. It truly shows that He does care, and does love all of us.

We had some pretty crazy rain this week. We're deep in monsoon season. It's such a blast getting caught it the rain, but it makes it really hard to work. Well, all is well here, I hope all is well at home! Thank you for all of the letters and pictures! They're wonderful! Be safe and smart! Don't do stupid things!

Love,

Elder Todd

Fabulous Feast Thai Style!

Bud told us this wonderful Thai meal was prepared by this lovely family. They are members of the church who have very little themselves, but happily and generously share with the missionaries. They are so good and faithful. As parents, we are grateful for a family thousands of miles away that is taking such good care of our elder!

Oh, he's off, on a mission...

A Happy Surprise :)

Bud sent some pictures home on a photo card and look at this great surprise that popped up! How fun to have a picture of darling Elder Todd and the fabulous Korean Language MTC Trainer, Wess Musso (our cousin-in-law). Wess, we love you and thank you for being so good to Bud during those MTC weeks. He absolutely loved running into you!

In Country!

From: ruthtodd@hotmail.com
To: catechristison@gmail.com; dave.christison@gmail.com; johnlangelandpearson@gmail.com; jennifertpearson@gmail.com; brookertodd@gmail.com; laurentodd13@hotmail.com
Subject: FW: Week 3
Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2011 22:52:47 -0600

Sounds like he's getting into the groove more and more. Keep him in your prayers. Love you all xoxoxoxx Mom

Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2011 21:21:43 -0700
Subject: Week 3
From: bryan.todd@myldsmail.net
To: ruthtodd@hotmail.com; btodd@amsource.com

Hey Family!

So today is the start of the fourth week of the transfer! Its crazy how quickly things are starting to go! I made that comment to one of the zone leaders who goes home on the 8th of Sweet September. He said the first year feels like four months, and the second week feels like two weeks. I really am beginning to LOVE Roi Et. It's a pretty great place!

This week was kind of crazy. I was on two exchanges. Last Monday I went up to Khon Kean with one of the Zone Leaders. It was really interesting to see what they have to do. It's a really busy job. They don't get very much time to do missionary work because they have to arrange all the logistics and stuff to make sure that the zone is running smoothly. It seemed pretty stressful. I'm sure part of it was that we had Zone Conference on Saturday. I'll talk about that in a minute. I had my first Big Mac in Khon Kaen. It was SO good! I don't know if it was just that it was American food or what. Then we came back to Roi Et for district meeting which was great! Then Elder Ackerman decided that he needed to go on an exchange with the Elders in Mahasarakam. So I stayed in Roi Et with Elder Merrel from Wednesday to Thursday night. That was hard. Then Thursday we headed up to Mahasarakam and slept there, then Friday morning we headed up to Khon Kaen again for Zone Conference.

In Zone Conference President Smith talked about how he is happy with the work we are doing. He said, "be happy, but never satisfied." Then he talked to us about the revelatory power of the Book of Mormon-- how it is a divine witness of Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith truly was a prohpet of God, and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true church on the earth today. He then played Elder Holland's talk on the Book of Mormon. I'm sure you all remember that. it's SO good! President Smith then gave us an assignment that I would like to inivite all of you to do.

Get a paperback Book of Mormon with no markings. Then read it once through with a red pencil. Mark all of the names and pronouns used in reference to Jesus Christ. Once you have done that, read it again and with another color (I'm doing yellow). Mark all of the verses that talk about the Doctrine of Chirst (Faith, Repentance, Baptism, The Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End). Then, once you finish the Book of Mormon that second way, take another color(green) and mark the words spoken by Chirst. His direct words and "thus Saith the Lord:" When you finish that, read it a fourth time, and with another color (blue) mark all of the Christlike Attributes found in Preach My Gospel chapter 6. So four readings of the Book of Mormon. I want to invite you all to do that by the time I get home. I know that you all can do it. It may take some time, but It will give so much more meaning to the Book of Mormon.

We had the last baptism of the month yesterday! Knot, Net, and their grandma. It was pretty funny. Net is 9 and really small so there weren't any baptisimal clothes that fit him, so he was wearing HUGE clothes. I feel so blessed that I have seen 8 people enter into a covenant with our Father in Heaven. I am so grateful for His mercy, and that through Jesus Christ every one can be cleansed so that we can live with God again.

I got all of your letters! Thank you so much! They meant a lot to me. I hope all is going well and that you are all well and safe! You're in my prayers. Be safe. Be smart. Be faithful.

Love,
Elder Todd

Got some pics from MTC in the mail!

Date: Sun, 21 Aug 2011 21:23:36 -0700

Hey Everybody!

How are you all doing? Things are pretty good here! I got your emails and I really appreciate them all. I'll try to write back to them if I have time today. Brooke and La, I'm sorry you have to go back to school. But its good for you.

Well, this week has actually gone by really quickly! It's good. I've been working a lot more on my Thai. I've been focusing on learning the teaching points in the "How To Begin Teaching" section of chapter ten in Preach My Gospel. They are really good points, and they are really helpful. Preach My Gospel is so amazing. We have been studying how to begin teaching the people concepts, not lessons, and those things are so important.

We didn't do so hot on finding people this week though. We did get one referrral from a member which was really great! It was the first one I have received. Member referrals are the best way to do missionary work. So, you should give the missionaries referrals if you trust them. It's important to have trust with the missionaries. I have been trying to talk with the memebrs in the branch here. Its hard, and I don't understand very much, but I understand more and more each day.

We taught our recent convert family this week. It was great! We were teaching them about temples and they asked some questions about other Christian churches and when they found out no one else has temples they were very uninterested. They also said that they are no longer Buddhists, but they are Christians which is really good. Thai culture and Buddhist culture seem to be very intertwined. I think it's a big challenge for members when they have to give up Buddhism. I had a cool experience when we were teaching the family yesterday and Sister Oy asked about Alma 7:6 and idol worship. I was able to help them understand, by turning to Mosiah 13:12. It's where Abinadi is giving the 10 commandments to King Noah. I didn't know the 10 commandments were also in the Book of Mormon until Brother Miles showed me one day in the MTC. So we cleared up Idol worship which was good. They didn't understand that the pictures of the Savior are to help us remember Him, not to worship Him. It really is such a testimony builder to see the willingness of the people to change. They are awesome! A lot of the younger branch members are doing great, and are working hard.

Yesterday I was blessed to see the baptism of two teenage girls who we had been teaching. Cat and Bee. They have both been learning for a while, even though their parents aren't the biggest fans of the church. But their families have seen the change that has come over their children, and they see that it has been for the better. This gospel truly is a gospel of becoming. We change from what we used to be--the natural man. We go through the refiner's fire to become who God needs us to be. Steel is made from ore through heat. Fine steel is made with more heat. The harder the challenges, or the more we have to sacrifice, the more we submit our will to the Father's will. When that occurs, the finer we become. We grow into the children He wants us and needs us to be.

One of the things I realized during a hard time this week is that in the end, everyone has their own agency. Investigators choose to accept or reject the gospel. Companions can work with the spirit or not. Sometimes, the choices made by others do affect us. But we shouldn't sit back and wait for them to figure things out before acting ourselves. We need to be proactive, and do something. We can choose for oursleves, and oursleves only. But we can try and influence those around us for the better. Don't let others' choices affect you negatively. Choose to be happy. "Choose ye this day whom you will serve." Joshua 24:15!

I was reading in Alma 43:18-21 today. I think it is so interesting to see that the Nephites are concerned about protection. They prepare with armour. The Lamanites prepare with weapons. They are all about destruction. In this great conflict, those of us on the Lord's side are not the ones on the offensive.

This week I went on exchanges in Mahasarakham. It was fun. Except we were late to our appointments. I'm going on another exchange today actually down to Khon Khaen with the Zone Leaders. I don't know what to expect.

John, bringing that sleeping bag was a good call.

All is well here. I love you all very much, and you're always in my prayers. Its weird, yesterday was Nate's 13th month mark! You'll see him soon! haha Have fun, be safe! I love your emails, and hearing from you all!

Love,
Elder Todd