9-24-17 Nong Khai Thailand

Hey hey there Dad!

Hope everything isn't too busy at home! Or stressful at least. Being busy helps time pass by faster. Sitting on our hands doesn't help time move very fast at all. Only when we're engaged in good work does the time seem to pick up it's pace.

So this last week was Zone Conference! I was super happy to be able to hear from the the Zone Leaders, the Assistants to the President, and President Johnson. I can feel the desire they have to be better missionaries, and for us to be caught up in their wave as well. It's a great feeling to know that there is more than just the two of us all the way out here in Nong Khai, but an entire mission working hard as well! On a sidenote: The Assistants to the President are actually one of my old Zone Leader and my trainer/breaker/follow-up trainer! Elder Hunt, and Elder Bastian (respectively) so it was great to see them both again! I feel like I actually know the character of the Assistants this time around (not that it's really important to know, but its fun for me) so I'm glad! 

In Zone Conference, we learned about how the Book of Mormon is the sickle as said in D&C 4, and it will help us bring those people who are prepared to receive the restored Gospel. President was the one who was presenting this training and he proceeded to tell the story about the person who translated the Book of Mormon from English to Thai. In the beginning, the people called to serve here were actually transferred from two places: Hong Kong, and Taiwan. 6 Missionaries total, and they were expected to try to learn Thai, having studied Chinese before, and then go preach the Gospel with no materials whatsoever. So, one companionship goes contacting, door knocking even, to go find those people. They meet one lady, who was probably relatively well-off because: 1. She had servants (who she paid of course) and 2. She spoke really good English, much to the joy of the Elders who had found her. They left an English Book of Mormon with her, which she read, and read, and read, and was thus converted through the power of the Book of Mormon. It was a great story to hear, and a great testament to the power of the Book of Mormon. So, we're now all committed to using the Book of Mormon better in our work. All the training we received was great, including one about planning and choosing our attitude, but most of all using the Book of Mormon stuck out to me. 

Zone Conference was also a great time for us to watch "The Testaments" together in the Lao Elder's room, about 14 people, in their hotel room (we were also in a hotel) which was fun. The other fun part was the fact that we got to ride back to Nong Khai with a bunch of missionaries because the Lao Elders have to pass through Nong Khai to get to Lao(s?) and it was all fun.

Oh, and after Zone Conference, I got to see some of the awesome members from Sakon Nakorn just for a little bit, such as Sister Tun, Sister First and President Jack! It was fun to actually talk to them and understand what they were saying... I'm glad they still remember me! Though it doesn't feel that long... it's been a little while since I've been there! It was a ton of fun seeing them! 

These last couple of days, we've just been going super hard on inviting, and trying our best to find the people the the Lord has prepared. And we got buckets (or in other words, saw miracles)! Over the last two days we found 2 new investigators, one who is already Christian (which is a blessing here in Thailand to be sure) and another who learned with the missionaries 5 years ago! It's been so great to see/find these people. We actually saw a lot of people yesterday as well, so we have a lot of people to meet this next coming weekend! 

I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that God loves us, and that He has restored this Gospel to the Earth. The Gospel and Church is true, and the Spirit will guide us if we allow Him to. We will see miracles based upon our faithfulness, our willing obedience, and our desire to work. I love this work, I love Thailand, and I love our Savior, and our Heavenly Father.

Love you lots! Talk to you soon!

--

- Elder Collin Decker

Thailand, Bangkok Mission

9-17-2017 Nong Khai Thailand

Hey Dad!

Sorry this one came out late!

We went and played soccer this morning! It made me realize how much I miss turf... like on the soccer/football field at high schools. I miss the smell and the convenience of them. It reminds me of tracks... hahaha. I don't need to get caught up in all of that though! Needless to say, it was a ton of fun, and I finally learned to properly kick/pass a soccer ball. I actually made a goal! (I think for the first time in my life....) So I was pretty happy, but we had to go to Udorn to play (but it was with other missionaries so it was a ton of fun.) I got some nice blisters on my feet, but my feet are already used to it, so it's all the same to me! Just like with ultimate frisbee... hahaha

The work is going! We're trying to find new investigators at this point in time, but it is difficult to find them. They seem to be hiding from us... But we keep praying, and fasting! I know that as we are obedient, and try our best to talk to EVERYONE we will see miracles. Unfortunately we haven't met with Brother Tom yet... but we'll keep calling! He might have blocked our number... Hopefully not! The members do seem to like us though!

Missionaries need to open their mouths with everyone. Not necessarily to find new investigators from that time we invite, but to find new investigators from all sources. "But how can inviting help me get referrals from members when we're not working with them?" might be a question asked. My answer to that would be: Opening our mouths with everyone is important in finding new investigators at that point in time, but more importantly it is an exercise of our faith. When we open our mouths with everyone, we show Heavenly Father that we are willing to do what ever he asks of us, and really try to help the people. (On a sidenote: if these things are done without pure love, unfeigned, towards the people, you won't see a lot of success. We are nothing without charity). Then we receive the Spirit, which will let us know what we need to say. The Spirit, in turn, consecrates us and edifies us. Consecrated missionaries know the will of the Lord, and can call down miracles in the Lord's name, (think: Nephi, the son of Nephi, in the book of Helaman and 3 Nephi). Consecrated missionaries will do everything that needs to be done to save the human soul. That's what I'm striving for right now, which seems a little big, a little boisterous, but I have desires to serve, and intend to serve with all of my heart, might, mind, and strength, fearing no man and being the best servant of the Lord that I can be. 

Sorry there's not much to this one! Last week was pretty uneventful. Well, except that we ate alligator (thanks members!) and some weird fish thing but... it was delicious, so no complaints!

I love this work, and I know that as missionaries and members are obedient, indeed, even unto the very end, we will receive miracles and the Lord's blessings will rain upon our lives like the rain during Cross Country season in Washington State (especially at Twilight...). This truly is the Lord's work, and we will keep working hard to honor the Lord's name!

Love you! Talk to you soon!

- Elder Collin Decker

9-10-17 Nong Khai Thailand

Hey there Dad!

Things are going pretty good here! Not much happened this last week since my last email! Just going out, trying to teach the investigators that we already taught before, and helping them to progress in their knowledge of the Gospel! Going out and seeing members, a little bit like Home Teaching to be honest... I'm glad I had an opportunity to go home teaching with Brother Manwaring while I was at home! I see how important home teaching is, how home teaching really does help! In retrospect, I wish I had taken a little more thought in my home teaching, but I'm glad that I did do it! (Pass that on to Kai so he does better than I did... hahaha.)

(Sidenote: My 'V" key doesn't seem to work in the lower case form, so I'm trying to aVoid words with the letter "V"... really sad....)

We're trying hard to keep working here! It seems to me that the branch likes us here more! They're pretty relaxed here in Nong Khai, and the people really are different in the way they act compared to people in Bangkok. But I like it because you can just sit down and talk to just about anyone if you can quickly identify something to talk about. Super friendly, if you are super friendly (for the most part, some people just don't seem to eVer want to talk to anyone...) and if you aren't really friendly, then neither are they. So we be happy, and haVe a good attitude. trying to help the people smile! Then they are more open to the message we bring to them, because they can feel the light of Christ from us!

For example: Yesterday we went contacting (YES! I love contacting by the way, especially here because [see aboVe paragraph]) and I was simply talking to any person that we saw. In their houses, on the street, especially on the street. Not biking too fast at all, and flipping a U-turn each time I saw someone with their gate open. So much fun, and a little funny when the people look confused about why you're there... unfortunately, there are no magic words, and sometimes you might come off as a salesman (which I detest by the way, because what we teach is much better than any worldly product). So we come across 2 people sitting at their table outside of their house, and I start talking to the older lady first, because in general, older ladies appreciate talking to us. I saw they had two dogs: one chihuahua and one Husky (score!) and I just started talking about their dogs. There was a younger man sitting at the table as well, and I wasn't sure how interested he was going to be if we just started to talk about religion right away, so I sat and talked to them about their dogs, and his work, and how he had actually seen us before, and the whole bit! It was a lot of fun, and then we got to teach him a short lesson in the end, about Prayer, and God, and we got to set up a return appointment with him! He said his name is Tom! (Yes, he's Thai as well). So it was sweet, and I love him already. It was a miracle that we found him, and it was so awesome. I LOVE INVITIIIIINGGGGGGG!

Otherwise, we have about 3 people who are starting to progress well, so we're going to extend a date to them very soon! I hope that they will continue to progress and learn!

Everything is going good, and I love the work, and Thailand! This truly is God's work.

Love you lots! Talk to you soon!

- Elder Collin Decker

09-05-2017 Nong Khai Thailand Transfers Elder V

Hey Dad!

Sorry, no title line this time.

So this week is the week of transfers! And so the whole story this time around is... no one is moving from this district. Except one Elder who got sent to Lao. But the two sisters in the district are now training! And the replacement for the now Lao Elder is a greenie. So, we'll have 4 greenies in this district for this transfer! One of them is on his second transfer here, and the others just got here!

Nothing much really happened this week... Last P-Day I actually did get to take a nap, for once, so that was fun! But on Tuesday, after District Meeting, we met with our investigator with a baptismal date, in of which she told us that she would be moving... and she doesn't know where! That was really sad for her and us, but we told her to pray to move close to the church, and that we would pray as well! So no baptism... but we'll keep working hard with the people that we do have!

Outside of that, just working hard and proselyting! Went inviting and visiting members. Members honestly do help a lot! We're hoping to be able to have them help us more, but we'll see about that! 

No plans for today, just relaxing, and lunch with one of my companion's RCs. Should be fun!

Had a cool thunderstorm yesterday, where we saw a bolt of lightning come down from the sky about 200 meters away, so the sound only took about half a second to get to me... and it was loud, and scary. But a lot of fun! We happened to be outside, and thunder like that sounds like a falling tree, which then results in an earthquake... so it was lots of fun!

Oh, and I also went on a switch-off last week, where I was with the DL's companion, Elder Truman, who is great! He has great fire, and great desires. It was the first time actually being someone who is younger than me in the mission so... that was a first! I realized very quickly that I was expected to understand our investigators, almost all of it, so that was fun! We managed to find 2 new investigators for that area, so I hope that they'll progress well!

That's it for me this week! Love you lots, and hope to talk to you soon!

- Elder Collin Decker

8-28-17 Nong Khai Thailand

So We Went Running (Oh and it was my birthday).... (Adventuring and Whitewashing pt. 5)

Hey Dad! 

I actually got on before midnight today... so that's a first! We'll actually have time to talk! But we'll move internet cafes soon, to a better one that opens later, so we thought we would just get these big emails off first!

So this morning we went running, and I quickly realized a couple things:

1. I'm out-of-shape, running-wise, so that's sad.

2. My feet like to blister when we run, so that is also sad.

3. For some reason or another, I can still sprint, so that's actually a plus.

I haven't actually gained weight here, but I think it would be good to actually be able to run faster than we did so... that will be a work in progress. But I'm exhausted now... I'm ready to just take a nap, hahaha.

Not much to talk about last week other than the last P-Day, which we talked about already! But we do have one investigator who is getting ready to be baptized this coming Sunday, so we're excited for that! Sister Nam Waan been super great from start to finish, and she doesn't really have any problems at all! Besides the reading thing, but we're working on that. The member who is fellowshippping her was actually a school teacher, so she should be able to help with that, more or less. So we're getting her ready to be interviewed this week!

Last week no Solar Eclipse... I would know because we're out in the sun all day... My arms are pretty tan now! My watch tan is pretty prominent though... But on Friday, we went down to the Finisher's Meeting (because my companion is finishing next transfer) so that was fun to be back in Bangkok again! I didn't realize that I would miss Bangkok until I left it... It seems that it will be that way with almost every area, so I think I'll get used to it now. But I got the opportunity to go see one of my old RC's, Brother Ji! My companion also invited some of his RC's to eat Ice Cream with us, but it was good to see him again for sure. We actually got to go to Sport's Night when we were there, so that was also fun! But we took a night bus there, and back, so I hadn't slept on my own bed for about 2 days.... I think I'm still recovering from that, but that's ok!

Otherwise, just hard work, biking around, and helping people in the Gospel! And then yesterday the Members got me a cake, so that was nice of them, and had some other people I met as a missionary, mostly from my last area, call me and wish me happy birthday, so that was all fun! I have yet to eat the cake because I need to bike back with it somehow... it will get done!

I love serving the Lord, and I love this work! I do miss home from time to time, but I know that this is God's work, and I know that God loves everyone! This is God's truth, and we are his servants, to help bring is Gospel unto everyone.

Love you! Talk to you soon!

- Elder Collin Decker

8-21-17 Nong Khai Thailand

Adventuring and Member Miracles (Whitewashing Pt. 4)

Hey Dad!

Sorry that this last email got off a little late (what is it, like 2 in the morning over there? It's not that late/early... hahaha). Looks like I'm going to have to write a lot to make up for the time that we bought.... oh well! Didn't really have an opportunity to send a warning email off this morning, none of the internet shops were open at 6 in the morning so... we didn't really have a good way to warn you guys in advance, sorry about that!

The other thing: Prepare for the flood of pictures/videos. Hopefully that makes up for the lack of time we had to email. I probably won't take more of those biking videos but... it was fun while I did it!s

So this week has been a blast for sure! It's been a lot of hard work in this area, but we're happy to be serving here for sure! This week has been kind of boring to be honest... so I'll go day by day (more or less) and see what I can come up with to share.

Last Monday we actually did prepare for the week... So we bought food, got haircuts and the whole bit. Then we called a lot of people that night, trying to set up appointments with the people that we wanted to meet with.

Tuesday was District Meeting, which is in Udorn. That means that we have to take a van to get to there every single time we go to there, and it takes an hour or so, so it's a little difficult on the time part, but it all works out. Afterwards, we had lunch with President Tiger (He's apart of the mission presidency) who used to be Branch President in Nong Khai, so we had the opportunity to ask him a lot of questions about where/how the missionaries before saw success in the work. Not saying we want to follow them exactly, but it was nice to know! I really think that getting whitewashed in is a good way to find out what really does work and what doesn't in any given area. We have our basic tools and techniques, but we have to build from ground zero as far as finding or anything goes. We're here to infuse new ideas into the area and help the area grow! That's what I think anyways. So, we put out our best effort and try our best. After that we traveled back and studied, invited, and taught English.

Wednesday, we invited, almost the entire day. We met two new investigators! But I'm not sure how interested they really were... but we can still help them through teaching about Jesus Christ and his Gospel so... they don't need to be interested completely. They just need to be willing it learn with us and have a heart open to feeling the Spirit! So that's how that day went...

Thursday... I can't really remember what happened. Needless to say, we invited in the morning, did studies, and then biked about 30 minutes out to our investigator's house. So... that was fun! We got to see some people on the way there that are potential investigators but... none of them really wanted to learn, so that's how it goes! 

Friday, we went and served one of the members early in the morning! It took a little while to get to his house, but we woke up and he picked us up from our house! He actually gave us food to eat in the car on the way over. Then, we helped clean up the street he lived on that had flooded and was now growing grass, everywhere! So we did that, and then he was nice enough to feed us lunch, and we got to know him, and his wife better! Brother Somlak is the 1st Counselor in the Branch Presidency and he's super funny. He can speak English just a little bit, but enough to form some decent sentences. The only thing is that usually they're funny comments about random things. I can't even remember all of the things that he said, but just random bits here and there. Then, somehow, the rest of the day was filled up with other bits and things to do. Had to go buy a mattress for a switch-off that we were doing, and studies, followed by Book of Mormon Class plus Sports Night, so... that's how that goes! We had a fair amount of people there, but not a whole ton...

Saturday, we had a switch-off with the Zone Leaders here in Nong Khai! I got to see the good example of Elder Santeco while we served here. He's so happy all the time, so it's nice to see how he loves the work, and the people! It helped me to remember that I can still enjoy the work and work hard at the same time! No need to stress all of the time!

Sunday we went to church and we didn't have a real opportunity to plan in the morning to plan... but we headed off to church, and then the miracles started to happen! We get to church and find that one of the members brought an investigator along to learn and to be at church! This investigator Nam Waan, had been to church before and had already been keeping the Word of Wisdom! It was really amazing to see someone like her. We still need to help her overcome some other problems, but she had no problem accepting a date to be baptized! We're going to work with her a lot over the next couple of weeks to help her get ready! Then later on, we taught a member family, and tried to help them with inviting their friends though using the Plan of Salvation. That was more of Elder V's idea, but I'm glad we did it! I didn't oppose at all, but we ended also receiving some advice on people they want us to visit (this family is the family of the 2nd Counselor of the Branch Presidency) so we'll be trying to work with those people! The people they identified were RC/LA members, so they definitely are a higher priority! When we baptize, we want to retain, not simply just baptize them and let them fall off the radar! We teach Repentance and Baptize Converts. Later on, we had some members call, and they wanted us to go teach some people that were at their house that day! It was a couple that we met, and they were super ready to hear the message of the Gospel! Now as to whether or not they're golden... I couldn't say. But they're pretty solid! So we'll keep working with them! Miracles, worked through members! Members are a great help to us honestly, and we're glad to have been able to gained their trust to this extent!

Earlier today (Monday) we went adventuring with the District! We went to see a "Skywalk" which was a Wat on top of a mountain, but it was foggy, so we couldn't see anything... Then we went to go see a cave that was super narrow... but super awesome! It was a ton of fun! I have pictures/video, so hopefully you'll be able to see that... Then we went to see the river that divides Lao and Thailand (again... because I see that on a daily basis... hahaha). But it was at a Wat, and it was quiet and pretty peaceful! Then we had an opportunity to go see a waterfall! So got some good pictures there too! Lots of pictures, so hopefully you enjoy them!

All right, that's it for this week for me! I really do enjoy the work, and I'm glad that I have an opportunity to be a missionary here in Thailand! I know that this is God's truth, and I know that I am doing the Lord's will here! The Lord will bless us for our diligence and continued dedication to this work! 

Love you lots Dad! Talk to you soon!

- Elder Collin Decker