1-15-2017 Sakon Nakhon Thailand

Hey there Dad!
Wow! It still seems super cold in Washington... It is "cold season" here but really, it's like summer in Washington. It was a pretty good time for me to come here! Solid 80 degrees doesn't really bother me at this point. So pretty mild!

Hey hey, I'm glad Mom is getting better! Lots of people got sick here too, just last week or so. Must be a Thai people thing... :) And plan good! I can take you only around Sakon Nakhon right now... but that's ok! We'll see about after my mission!

Oi, Kai got his driver's license? That's weird! At least he can drive himself to school now! That should be lots of fun! Just hope he keeps working hard in math, and don't let it get him down! I realize how much I miss the simpleish life of school, but I wouldn't trade it for now! Just a little reminiscing.

As for the SongTao, it's the TukTuk you were talking about! So pretty self-explanatory from there. In reality, it is a little less than a Song Tao, but it almost looks like one!

Otherwise. this week has been a blur. One thing I do know is that inviting is not fun right now... but it might be in the future na? Being rejected isn't my problem, not at all. My problem is what happens if they do want to talk, and then I don't understand what I am hearing... It's tough! It's important to respond to their needs but it is difficult to keep track of the conversation! Such is the nature of learning the language. I don't know if this really counts as a serious affliction, the the Lord said that "[He] will consecrate [our] afflictions for our gain" (somewhere in 2 Nephi 3 or so). I might have paraphrased a little. But its tough! It is not easy by any means, nor did I ever expect it to be easy. But really, the #2 item on my prayer list, constantly, is the ability to understand what people are saying to me. I can get by in a one-sided conversation just fine, but a real conversation? That's tough, but I know that this takes time. The Gospel and learning things here takes time. Teaching, and understanding both take time to develop those skills right. Speaking as well! So, I know that I have to bear my afflictions and be patient, but it isn't the easiest to gauge "How am I doing?" But faith and trusting the Lord, as I have learned, is what is necessary here.

On to the week. Last P-Day? Didn't do very much, because volleyball didn't pan out, but that's OK! Probably won't do much today either, but that's how it goes! There's always next week.
We had to drop one Sister because she said she wasn't "ready" to read the Book of Mormon by herself. Alas, such is the life of missionaries. We tried hard to have her keep it, but she just gave it back to us. Maybe she'll be ready in the future. We're called to harvest, but sowing seeds along the way makes the work far more productive, and good for the people who come after us!
Brother N is doing great. He's come to Church twice now, and he's receiving the lessons well! He says he is going to try to quit drinking coffee! We just need to get him ready and strengthened for a baptismal date!

Otherwise, the big news is... Sister If got baptized! It was all really cool, but very surreal as well. She passed the interview, but she'll be confirmed next week on Sunday. She has a little 11 year old daughter who we gave to the Sister Missionaries to teach because we both feel that they will have more success than we will there. We had our font outside, water kind of cold, but my trainer did the Baptism! My Great-Step-Grandpa (My trainer's, step-trainer's, trainer) helped him along the way with the words. We dunked her three times... but that's OK! It was great for her, and the Spirit was definitely there. We're super happy for her. We just want her to stay active and strong in the church, and keep her testimony.

We got a new investigator called Peter! Cool experience. We were just street contacting (as usual) and we came across this guy in his shop. He invited us to sit down when we started talking to him, and we ended up teaching a pretty simply Restoration lesson! At the end, we said (I said) "Joseph Smith received a record of past prophets, a Book from God, called the Book of Mormon. We know it will help us in our life, and yours, and we would like you to have it." At first he denied it, and I couldn't understand what he was saying so I thought "shoot, too early!" But Elder Bjarnson understood that he was saying, "I can't take this! It's too important!" That was pretty sweet to hear. He pointed out his goosebumps and everything. So we'll see how that goes!
Alright, that's it from me! Missionary life is difficult, and the language as well, but all these things take time and faith! I love you lots, and talk to you soon!

- Elder Collin Decker

1-8-2017 Sakon Nakhon Thailand

Hey hey Dad!

One full week In-Field done! It went by pretty quick, but also pretty slow if that makes any sense.
So after we sent emails last P-Day, we went to a Wat over on a mountain! I can't remember exactly what it was called, but it was great, and I took a lot of pictures there, so I'll be uploading those shortly! Some cool spiders, lots of cool carving and buildings though! The culture here is pretty amazing, and cool!

As far as the language is going, it is getting a lot better! I went from last week, not understanding the Gospel Principles class at all, to understanding a lot, a good majority of the words being used! At this point, I'm trying to "think in Thai" as one of my MTC teachers (Brother Staten) advised us to do. It is difficult, at times, but I feel as though it is really helping! It is just a strange concept to "fundamentally" know a word, and not its translation in to English, but that's how it goes! If learning a new language was easy, why would we have spent 2 months in the MTC? Reading is still somewhat slow though... but I'm working on it! It has been a lot better as of late, but I can always improve. Everyday, when I wake up, I feel like I understand more and more, even though I might not know what the people may be saying word for word, that's OK! Just have to rely on the Spirit after that. Well, always, but really rely on the Spirit after that!

We got two really cool investigators last week! We were contacting in this little neighborhood (kind of creepy because there is this one lady who smells like alcohol and chews Betelnut, which is a highly addictive nut with Nicotine that turns your mouth blood-red...) but there were a lot of cool people there! One guy said he really liked to study religions, so we gave him a quick lessons, talked about the Book of Mormon, and set up a return appointment later! His name is Brother N, and he even came to church with us yesterday! During Gospel Principles, Prathaan Jack (our Branch President) was talking about the temple, and then he was saying we can prepare, and then proceeded to list all the commandments we teach about as missionaries in their entirety... So Elder Bjarnson and I were just thinking "Well, shoot, we really hope this doesn't scare him!" It turned out great though, and we taught a lesson just after church, and clarified any questions he had, as well as teaching the Plan of Salvation. It was great!

We also have another investigator called Sister N. She can read the Book of Mormon so fast! In our lesson with her yesterday, she read 5 Chapters from the Book of Mormon in about half an hour or so! It was pretty insane, and she seems really interested! We'll see how our future lessons will go!
Our baptism didn't follow through this last Sunday! Our District Leader, when interviewing he said that she didn't quite understand Repentance all the way, so we should re-teach her that principle. Which is fine! Just teach her, and help her clarify and concerns she might have about Baptism! She has a strong testimony already, but we just need to clarify, that's all!

The members are so great here! They're really friendly, and are always willing to talk with us! I like talking to them because I don't feel particularly weird about asking them to speak slower so I can write what they're saying down... That would be a bit weirder in a lesson! Just always asking me questions has been helping me grow, and learn more quickly! I'm glad to be serving here, and to be here with Elder Bjarnson! Missionary life is difficult, but always rewarding!

Talk to you soon! Take care, love you!
--
- Elder Collin Decker
Thailand, Bangkok Mission

1-1-2017 Sakon Nakhon Thailand

Hey hey there Dad!

So its actually around 10:00 here right now, in the morning. Weird, huh? So I bet you'll be receiving an email from me somewhere around late at night, or maybe not. So where to start?

After I called you guys from Dallas, it was good! We boarded the plane to Hong Kong finally around 11;45 Dallas Time. Didn't realize that we would be flying over Alaska and Russia and the sort! I suppose that is one way to go around the world. Hard to imagine that we did though! So crazy. 

The flight itself was good. I appreciated the space that we had! International Flights were as big as I supposed that they would be! Two Aisles and the whole bit, but my carry-on was too big to fit directly over me, so it went toward the front, so I didn't have any snacks on the plane... just the ones they provided. I did study for a solid 6 hours total though! Not all at once, just for a little bit! We were there for a whole 16 hours there on that plane. Too long! They fed us meals though, but I felt as though they were a bit small... Oh well! I survived. I got up and walked around for a little bit, often. Most of the time was devoted to translating the Book of Mormon. Perhaps I'll do that a lot more! I want to try to start reading faster here. I slept a little bit, but only around the same time people should be sleeping around here.

Got to Hong Kong. The airport there is huge! It looks like it anyways. Hong Kong Dollars confused me a little bit. Everything was worth around $10,000 or so! In Hong Kong dollars. It was fun! Didn't buy anything though. The bathrooms were also kind of weird as well! The flight was short, but I really tried not to sleep, and then sleep when we got there! No studying then though.

Arrived at the airport! Was really weird. Got my bags and everything, all safe and sound. But going through all the immigration lines was complicated and long. But we did, and we exited to where they were to pick us up. They were holding up an Angel Moroni, so it was hard to miss them! The AP's and Prathaan Johnson plus Sister Johnson came to pick us up! It was fun, but we arrived in Bangkok at around 12:30 at night, so it was dark, and there was no one in the streets really! So it was good for traffic. Went to a weird little hotel.

Oh! I forgot to mention that our district got split, but I think I already said that! I was in a room w/ Elder Hamilton and Elder McClellan. Went to sleep at 2 in the morning our time. 

Woke up, did the whole formal entrance into the Mission Office (the videos you always see!) That was fun, and there were a whole bunch of Elders gathered around because it was transfers too! The day kind of went by in a blur after that! Got blood work done, signed some papers, and went to some meetings with Prathaan Johnson. 'Twas fun! Then we met our trainers. 

My Trainer is Elder Bjornson! He's from Utah, and he's been out here for about 4 transfers. He pretty much understands most things that people are saying here! I, on the other hand, am not understanding a whole ton... but that will come with time! I am learning a lot, but some people speak weird, or differently! Back to the timeline, so we immediately took a taxi to the bus station we were going to go to. There I found out I would be serving in the same area as one of my Phii Thais! Her name is Sister Gibbons, and she was one of our Sister Training Leaders in the MTC. So It was fun meeting her again! She's in our district, and we only have 6 people in it, so our district is pretty tight. We ended up taking a bus to my area which I'm in: Sakon Nakhon, which is waaaaaaay far out to the Northeast of Thailand. Here they speak Thai and Issan, the Northeastern dialect of Thai, somewhat of a mix between Laos and Thai, since we're so close to the border here! 

Its pretty great here! It's not hot at all! Probably around 70ish or so degrees all the time! Its a great area for NoongKhiaws my trainer said (young green). Seems like it! The members are all super friendly! But my trainer said I'm already doing pretty well in the language! I'm good with the gospel words, but all the conversational stuff gets a little complicated sometimes!

Good story here: We were on the Bus for 14 hours. Its way out here! We almost missed our stop, so we stopped the bus right after we missed it, and got my bags out. After that, we ran across to a Song Tao Station, and waited there, where we were taken back to Sakon Nakhon (a Song Tao is a truck with a weird passenger thing attached to the back of it! 

We have a baptism coming up next Sunday! I just barely got here, but I'm excited for her! Her name is Sister Eef. She's doing pretty well about the Gospel! She seems pretty willing to learn! Things are going great, I just need to keep progressing! Onward and upward, as always! Just keep learning and progressing, practicing talking, reading, and listening!

Alright, Hope to talk to you soon! I love you guys a lot! (By the way we can email back and forth apparently, and there's no time limit on my emails!) I'm safe out here, don't worry! Love you!

- Elder Collin Decker