5-20-18 Samut Prakaan, Thailand

Hey hey there Dad! my departure date is November 2nd

Sorry for getting on late. I just had to send some big letters to President Johnson as well. Good stuff. 

This last week was a blur! Just doing everything so quickly, and trying to get up to speed in a new area. It's a lot of fun, but a lot harder because biking areas are easier to understand, by far. 

My companion is a lot of fun! His name is Elder English and he's from Utah. Still fairly young in the mission, but then again so am I. Actually I just got here and I'm on my first transfer... still another two years! 😀

The ward is a good medium size! About 40 or so people going, so I'm pretty good at working in these type of places. We're working hard on getting new investigators as well so we can start baptizing! The Sister missionaries, one of which I already served with, just had a baptism! So that is great! Came from a member referral so I'm super happy for them! 

The church is actually outside of our area so that's a little bit troublesome but we'll deal with it.

Otherwise, not much else to say! Besides adventure stories:

1. The house is really big and used to have 6 Elders but now there are only 2. We have a ping pong table.

2. Rats sometimes get in the house. So my companion used a bug spray and a match to make it go away. Very scary.

Lots of walking, and lots of talking, but it's all good and fun in the life of a missionary! Remember this:

"At times the wisdom of God appears as being foolish or just too difficult, but one of the greatest and most valuable lessons we can learn in mortality is that when God speaks and a man obeys, that man will always be right." (President Thomas S. Monson April 2012 "Willing and Worthy to Serve")

We will always be right as we obey God exactly. We will see miracles if we do so. Why? Because:

"...when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated." (D&C 130:21)

Does it same some blessings from God? Or most blessings? No! It says any blessing. The Book of Mormon gives us the laws which we need to live by, in addition to the other standard works. For missionaries, we also have different handbooks that we need to follow. But a book of law, given from God, is actually a book of blessings. God is simply revealing unto us how to receive blessings. So let us be obedient, even exactly obedient.

Love you all lots! Talk to you soon! Hope everything is doing well and that you recover quick Dad!

- Elder Collin Decker