oh man! i dont have much time . im going to go play tennis again! the members we play with are amazing.
well last week was a really bad one. our whole teaching pool was destroyed. people are moving and everthing we are trying to clean everything up find new investigators.
transfers are next week, i will know weather i go or stay next friday.
no that was not me dressed up in the dutch costume.
ok i will hopefully be back to finish this email.
e robert
hello im back
we just went and played some tennis. it is sooo hot outside. but its nice to play any sport.
so last week wasnt very good. it was pretty rough. patrick our most progressing investigator got kicked out of his house by his sister. cherrisa was sick all week. zin ching is moving to rotterdam. we have a spanish speaking investigator who is having a hard time and doesnt want to meet.
we did a lot of finding, we need new investigators. man we are in the busses and tram and metro all day and it is super hot inside of them. i want to start riding bikes. its not as handy because we have investigators all over the city.
nederland plays today vs slovakia. the city is going crazy again. there is water canals all over the place here and it is such a temptation to jump in.
i miss you all, thanks for everything. i need some pics, send some pics of the fam or something geez ha ha. mom tell chandler he has to write me a letter, i want to know how he is doing and all the other siblings. well amsterdam is still dominating i hope i get to stay here but we will see. thanks e robert
7.11.2010
morgan 6.21.10
Bonjour à tous,
Wow, so this week was pretty sweet. It was the baptism of Bruno Bellanti yesterday. It was the most bizzare baptism that I have ever seen. Okay, so here is the story; Bruno was introduced to the church by his friend Serge 8 months ago. Bruno has always had the desire to be baptised but just couldn't seem to give up smoking. He has had more than one baptism date cancelled because of that. So when I got here he was kind of just known as Serge's friend who we teach once in a while. We had a couple rendez-vous with him and he honestly didn't seem too golden. One day we decided to listen to the teachings of our Mission Pres. and give each person we teach an engagemet to baptism. So, we read Mosiah 18:8-10 with him and asked him if he wanted to be baptised the 19 june. He said yes. We then came up with a plan of how we are going to get him to stop smoking. All we did is gave him a calander of sc's to read, daily contact and a lot of prayers. The night pefore his interview with the President he smoked his last cigarette. He has stopped completely thus far. Very cool! He decided that he wanted Serge to baptize him. It was cool to have his best friend baptize him. The reason why I said it was the most bizzare baptism i have ever seen is because Serge has never baptized anybody before. He is not the smartest person in the world either. So him trying to baptize Bruno was like trying to give a dog a bath. Really. It took 3 times to finally get him under. The first 2 times he didn't even get close. haha. But he finally got under and it was a really good experience for them both. I just had to do some explanations to our investigators who were there that it is usually only 1 baptism. And it is usually alot more natural.
Running the other day was so cool! There was one of the most beautiful sunrises I have ever seen! I was so mad that I didn't have a camera. Speaking of camera, some kid that was in my photo class is in my district. So weird! He just got here. His name is Elder Nicholes. He is a funny kid.
Our ami Vanessa is really into making little things like on Ash's blog. She is going to make me a scripture case. I am so excited!
Thankyou so much for all the emails! I love you all so much! Happy Fathers day to all the Grandpa's but most of all for my Dad. I love you!
Elder Wimmer
Wow, so this week was pretty sweet. It was the baptism of Bruno Bellanti yesterday. It was the most bizzare baptism that I have ever seen. Okay, so here is the story; Bruno was introduced to the church by his friend Serge 8 months ago. Bruno has always had the desire to be baptised but just couldn't seem to give up smoking. He has had more than one baptism date cancelled because of that. So when I got here he was kind of just known as Serge's friend who we teach once in a while. We had a couple rendez-vous with him and he honestly didn't seem too golden. One day we decided to listen to the teachings of our Mission Pres. and give each person we teach an engagemet to baptism. So, we read Mosiah 18:8-10 with him and asked him if he wanted to be baptised the 19 june. He said yes. We then came up with a plan of how we are going to get him to stop smoking. All we did is gave him a calander of sc's to read, daily contact and a lot of prayers. The night pefore his interview with the President he smoked his last cigarette. He has stopped completely thus far. Very cool! He decided that he wanted Serge to baptize him. It was cool to have his best friend baptize him. The reason why I said it was the most bizzare baptism i have ever seen is because Serge has never baptized anybody before. He is not the smartest person in the world either. So him trying to baptize Bruno was like trying to give a dog a bath. Really. It took 3 times to finally get him under. The first 2 times he didn't even get close. haha. But he finally got under and it was a really good experience for them both. I just had to do some explanations to our investigators who were there that it is usually only 1 baptism. And it is usually alot more natural.
Running the other day was so cool! There was one of the most beautiful sunrises I have ever seen! I was so mad that I didn't have a camera. Speaking of camera, some kid that was in my photo class is in my district. So weird! He just got here. His name is Elder Nicholes. He is a funny kid.
Our ami Vanessa is really into making little things like on Ash's blog. She is going to make me a scripture case. I am so excited!
Thankyou so much for all the emails! I love you all so much! Happy Fathers day to all the Grandpa's but most of all for my Dad. I love you!
Elder Wimmer
taryn 6.21.10
Hey
we had a loooong week of inviting this week. oh man it was long! but because we were inviting that whole time, we found 10 new investigators, and beat the assistants goal of getting 40 potentials in a week with 44 potentials. The mission has a big focus right now to find families, so that is what we are really searching and praying for. We have found a few potential families that will hopefully become our new investigators. we also had tons of cancelled appointments. hah honestly nothing too exciting happened this week. We will hopefully be teaching a few people from Burma this week and also get lots of new investigators.
Friday we went to Yaay Laay's, we met her across from Chaing Mai University, she had a songtaw (a pickup truck with benches on the sides and a cover- a main form of trasportation here..) waiting for us, loaded our bikes in, and then we went up the mountian to her house. my dreamhouse as a child. it was in the middle of HUGE trees with HUGE leaves, a pond, and the the house was built on a steep mountainside and has been built piece by piece over the past 40 years, it is just a big treehouse. all different levels, sometimes having to duck down (well i had to..) to get through rooms, one of the rooms you had to go out and across a skinny bridge, and to get to one of the bedrooms your had to go up some wooden rickety stairs to a bathroom, and then there was stairs in the bathroom as well that led to the door of the bedroom. Im amazed at this little old lady that can climb all that all day long! She is really sweet, but I dont know what is going to come of it. She is one of the head people in her christian church here in chaing mai, but she is reading the book of mormon and hopefully she will be sensitive enough to feel the Spirit and the greatness of that book. For some reason there are more christians in chaing mai than ive ever seen in Thailand. Several of the people that we found last week are Christian. Teaching them is a lot different than what i am used to, its hard! I am used to explaining who God and Jesus Christ is, and helping them understand prayer.
We had interviews and zone conference as well. so motivational, but then it is time to go outside in the melting heat and work yourself to death and try to find investigators. its hard to keep up that motivation in that heat and getting denied. We are working really hard though to try and get this area going. MIssionary work is so hard sometimes!
Church threw me off this week, we have about 20 BYU students here for an internship/study abroad. It made me miss America so much! It was so wierd seeing normal, white, mormon byu students. Im trying to stay focused here, but sometimes my mind wanders and a long for the time that i get to see you all and get to be back at the Y! I know my attitude will change soon once i get to know and love these people, but it is hard being in a new area and not having an attatchment to anyone or anything around you. Its hard to not think about those that i love so much, who i get to see in 4 months. I know im still needed here so im not ready to go home just yet, but man it will be an awesome day when it comes!
Im sorry this letter is so short, im not sure what else to write, its been a lot of just the normal thailand missionary stuff: sweat, dirt, getting turned down, hearing the same thing over and over all day-"all churches teach people to be good.". seeing miracles, finding those that are ready for the word, missing home, eating bugs and other crazy things, feeling the love of Heavenly Father for all his children, and working hard.
I love you so much. I miss you!!!! Keep doing the little things that brings happiness: reading the scrips, praying, and serving!
love, sister young
we had a loooong week of inviting this week. oh man it was long! but because we were inviting that whole time, we found 10 new investigators, and beat the assistants goal of getting 40 potentials in a week with 44 potentials. The mission has a big focus right now to find families, so that is what we are really searching and praying for. We have found a few potential families that will hopefully become our new investigators. we also had tons of cancelled appointments. hah honestly nothing too exciting happened this week. We will hopefully be teaching a few people from Burma this week and also get lots of new investigators.
Friday we went to Yaay Laay's, we met her across from Chaing Mai University, she had a songtaw (a pickup truck with benches on the sides and a cover- a main form of trasportation here..) waiting for us, loaded our bikes in, and then we went up the mountian to her house. my dreamhouse as a child. it was in the middle of HUGE trees with HUGE leaves, a pond, and the the house was built on a steep mountainside and has been built piece by piece over the past 40 years, it is just a big treehouse. all different levels, sometimes having to duck down (well i had to..) to get through rooms, one of the rooms you had to go out and across a skinny bridge, and to get to one of the bedrooms your had to go up some wooden rickety stairs to a bathroom, and then there was stairs in the bathroom as well that led to the door of the bedroom. Im amazed at this little old lady that can climb all that all day long! She is really sweet, but I dont know what is going to come of it. She is one of the head people in her christian church here in chaing mai, but she is reading the book of mormon and hopefully she will be sensitive enough to feel the Spirit and the greatness of that book. For some reason there are more christians in chaing mai than ive ever seen in Thailand. Several of the people that we found last week are Christian. Teaching them is a lot different than what i am used to, its hard! I am used to explaining who God and Jesus Christ is, and helping them understand prayer.
We had interviews and zone conference as well. so motivational, but then it is time to go outside in the melting heat and work yourself to death and try to find investigators. its hard to keep up that motivation in that heat and getting denied. We are working really hard though to try and get this area going. MIssionary work is so hard sometimes!
Church threw me off this week, we have about 20 BYU students here for an internship/study abroad. It made me miss America so much! It was so wierd seeing normal, white, mormon byu students. Im trying to stay focused here, but sometimes my mind wanders and a long for the time that i get to see you all and get to be back at the Y! I know my attitude will change soon once i get to know and love these people, but it is hard being in a new area and not having an attatchment to anyone or anything around you. Its hard to not think about those that i love so much, who i get to see in 4 months. I know im still needed here so im not ready to go home just yet, but man it will be an awesome day when it comes!
Im sorry this letter is so short, im not sure what else to write, its been a lot of just the normal thailand missionary stuff: sweat, dirt, getting turned down, hearing the same thing over and over all day-"all churches teach people to be good.". seeing miracles, finding those that are ready for the word, missing home, eating bugs and other crazy things, feeling the love of Heavenly Father for all his children, and working hard.
I love you so much. I miss you!!!! Keep doing the little things that brings happiness: reading the scrips, praying, and serving!
love, sister young
jordan 6.21.10
well as you might know nederland won there second game in the world cup soccer. it was made clear to us buy many outragous drunk men raging through the streets of amsterdam dressed in orange with a beer in one hand and a horn in the other. oh little morgy porgy, i dont think france is doing so well thats weird.
anyway missionary work went well this week. our baptismal date patrick is serious about being baptised. we found out that he is addicted to smoking ciggaretes and the other green stuff. but who isnt around here. we are workin with him to get of of it . it is nice to see progress in our investigators. its been a while. patrick is shooting to be baptized on 24 july.
cherissa is doing well also. we found out that she has no parents they both passed away. she lives with her brother. she and patrick both came to church yesterday . and we taught them both a lesson after church. we went to cherissas house and her bro was there. we taught him to. i think cherissa has some trauma in her past. we gave her a blessing because she cannot sleep because of things from the past i think. she is very nice.
ive come to the realazation that here in amsterdam the world has a great hold on people. and its hard to pull them from satans dirty old hands.
well this transfer i have given more blessings than i have given my whole mission. probably 4 times as many. it has strengthened my testimony on the power of the priesthood. weve seeen so many miracles out of it, healings, strenght, reactivation, love, everything.
today we are gong to play some tennis with the zwaan sisters kim and joyce. it will be super nice to play.
ohhh yeah i almost forgot. yesterday in church im in the investigator class minding my own buisness. when david ( a good friend and young adult) comes into the class and askes me if i have an investigator by the name of, i cant remember the name something really weird. i say no. and he said well he just walked in the church and i told him to go to the duch class but maybe it would be better if you went and got him and brought him into the gospel principles class. ok sounds good so i went to the dutch class and there were not to many people in there. because the man that walked in was an islamic dude and he was telling everybody that we are wrong and we need to worship allah. he was very creepy. all the wemen took there children and got out of there. i was kinda like in my mind should i take this guy out? karaty kick? round house? full nielsen? no i just bought a brand new suit and i dont want to ruin it ha ha j.k. ( ps mom i bought a new suit at h&m my suits are struggling hope thats ok its a lighter gray.) so he was talking about mohamed and we needed to worship him kindof face to face with the teacher.the teacher said well we belive in Jesus Christ and we respect what you worship you should respect what we worship. he sais that Jesus was not the son of God and then this super cute old lady in the class sais well we believe in Jesus Christ in her old grandma voice it was so cute, finally one of the councelors came in and we went out in the hall. then the other councel and then the bishop. he just kept telling us that we need to worship allah and they said we have the same God we just choose to worship him differently and you need to respect that. then he was escorted out. he was a well mannered man didnt yell but just creepy and kindof quiet. well it was just another day in the amsterdam ward. i thought though that everyone of us wouldve stood up for what we believe no matter what. even until death. Jesus is the Christ and there is no other way.
g2g love you all
elder robert
anyway missionary work went well this week. our baptismal date patrick is serious about being baptised. we found out that he is addicted to smoking ciggaretes and the other green stuff. but who isnt around here. we are workin with him to get of of it . it is nice to see progress in our investigators. its been a while. patrick is shooting to be baptized on 24 july.
cherissa is doing well also. we found out that she has no parents they both passed away. she lives with her brother. she and patrick both came to church yesterday . and we taught them both a lesson after church. we went to cherissas house and her bro was there. we taught him to. i think cherissa has some trauma in her past. we gave her a blessing because she cannot sleep because of things from the past i think. she is very nice.
ive come to the realazation that here in amsterdam the world has a great hold on people. and its hard to pull them from satans dirty old hands.
well this transfer i have given more blessings than i have given my whole mission. probably 4 times as many. it has strengthened my testimony on the power of the priesthood. weve seeen so many miracles out of it, healings, strenght, reactivation, love, everything.
today we are gong to play some tennis with the zwaan sisters kim and joyce. it will be super nice to play.
ohhh yeah i almost forgot. yesterday in church im in the investigator class minding my own buisness. when david ( a good friend and young adult) comes into the class and askes me if i have an investigator by the name of, i cant remember the name something really weird. i say no. and he said well he just walked in the church and i told him to go to the duch class but maybe it would be better if you went and got him and brought him into the gospel principles class. ok sounds good so i went to the dutch class and there were not to many people in there. because the man that walked in was an islamic dude and he was telling everybody that we are wrong and we need to worship allah. he was very creepy. all the wemen took there children and got out of there. i was kinda like in my mind should i take this guy out? karaty kick? round house? full nielsen? no i just bought a brand new suit and i dont want to ruin it ha ha j.k. ( ps mom i bought a new suit at h&m my suits are struggling hope thats ok its a lighter gray.) so he was talking about mohamed and we needed to worship him kindof face to face with the teacher.the teacher said well we belive in Jesus Christ and we respect what you worship you should respect what we worship. he sais that Jesus was not the son of God and then this super cute old lady in the class sais well we believe in Jesus Christ in her old grandma voice it was so cute, finally one of the councelors came in and we went out in the hall. then the other councel and then the bishop. he just kept telling us that we need to worship allah and they said we have the same God we just choose to worship him differently and you need to respect that. then he was escorted out. he was a well mannered man didnt yell but just creepy and kindof quiet. well it was just another day in the amsterdam ward. i thought though that everyone of us wouldve stood up for what we believe no matter what. even until death. Jesus is the Christ and there is no other way.
g2g love you all
elder robert
6.14.2010
morgan 6.14.10
okay I am so sorry i have almost no time. sorry grandpa larry. my grammar is gunna be awful. okay so this week was incredible!! we have been so blessed. so we have a baptism this saturday his name is Bruno. and other than him we have 4 more baptismal dates. the Lord has blessed us so much. it is rough. we work a lot!! but it is good.
we played basket ball on saturday and the french are so bad!! i was like mj to all of them! their jaws were on the ground. i was dropping 3 left and right. i won everytime! haha. i think my giant comp was getting frustrated.
okay well today we are going to vanessa. her and her little sis. both have a baptismal date. she is 28 and her sis is 23. they are so cool! she reminds me of ash with all the stuff she makes and her house. but she is black so she doesnt look much like her.
okay well we have a rendez-vous so i really have to go.
I love you all!
Morgan
we played basket ball on saturday and the french are so bad!! i was like mj to all of them! their jaws were on the ground. i was dropping 3 left and right. i won everytime! haha. i think my giant comp was getting frustrated.
okay well today we are going to vanessa. her and her little sis. both have a baptismal date. she is 28 and her sis is 23. they are so cool! she reminds me of ash with all the stuff she makes and her house. but she is black so she doesnt look much like her.
okay well we have a rendez-vous so i really have to go.
I love you all!
Morgan
taryn 6.14.10
Hey!
Oh man last week was so crazy!!!
It started with Monday night at the President of Branch 2's house -prataan brichaa- 2 of our investigators camem, it was an awesome night, snacking on bugs before the meal, the kind you have to pull the wings off before you eat them. That night it took me a long time to get to sleep, just hoping that i wouldnt have to leave these people. they are amazing.
tuesday at the time when the call was supposed to come saying if we were moving or not, the elders called and said that moves was postponed until friday so we wouldnt find out until wednesday. we taught a ton of lessons, racing from place to place, and then english on tuesday night: 1/2 of it in the dark and way way hot because the power was randomly out so no lights or air (happens every once in awhile.) of course it was the day that we had about 70 people show for class, more than i have ever seen at english class before.
Wednesday the call finally came in the afternoon and told me that i was moving! right after studies we went to grab something to eat and then the elders called again while we were eating and told us that the meeting was moved again, that we would be leaving that night at 3 in the morning! we raced home, grabbed the d&cs and christ pictures that i had bought to give a few people and then went all over town delivering them and saying goodbye. so hard. we got home at 9 and then the packing began. its not easy packing up everything you own into a few small suitcases! sister niw (one of my favorite members ever. i love her.) and her husband came to pick us up in their truck at 2:30 in the morning, it was POURING rain. when we got to the bus station one of my investigators who is getting baptized in august and her new boyfriend King (a member who met her through us!) were at the bus station to say goodbye! so sweet. we piled on a bus and headed for bangkok, stopping all the way there picking up other missionaries. i got about and hour or 2 of sleep that night.
so now i am in chaing mai!!!!!!! ive had the best areas ever. i got the best area in bangkok, got to head way out to the essan (the east) and now i am in the only companionship of sisters in the northwest. ive gotten everywhere! i couldnt believe it! it is beautiful here (sorry the only pic ive taken so far is this morning with my comp) the bus ride up was crazy. we went on a public bus (after speeding there in the APs van- and i thought the taxi drivers were crazy- we were way late. i thought i was going to die!) we headed out at 10 pm, i finally got to sleep and then at 2 am they turned on the lights, blasted music, and made everyone get off and eat a meal while they filled up gas. im sorry but any food, especially thai food, does not taste very good at 2 in the morning. we got back on and then watched the beautiful sunrise and scenery of the north, driving through the hills. chaing mai has mountians!(well more of hills) i have missed mts.
im back to the start here. there is nothing! it is just a TON of inviting. we have found and taught a few people so far, 2 families who are from some hill tribes, the parents dont speak thai, they speak one of the hill tribe languages, so the kids have to translate. every once i a while i see a tribe family down in the city for some reason, all wearing their brightly colored beautiful clothing. crazy! i asked one of them how much it would be to buy an outfit, she said it would take two years to make first because they are all handstitched with tiny brightly colored stitches.
Yesterday we went to a funeral of a member whos family is protestant. oh man that was interesting. a thai-protestant funeral out in the boonies surrounded by bamboo, huge crosses on every grave (only about 30 of them). and old rickety truck pulled up with four thai men in the back holding the casket. the preacher doing crazy things with guitars and singing in the background. the other graves had food, water and alcohol on them, they are still a little mixed up with the buddhist way of offerings for the ancestors to eat. oh thailand.
this next week is going to be suuuuuper long, im not too excited for inviting all day long in the heat, but hopefully soon we can get this area going with the Lord's help!
i love you so much! i miss you!
love, t
Oh man last week was so crazy!!!
It started with Monday night at the President of Branch 2's house -prataan brichaa- 2 of our investigators camem, it was an awesome night, snacking on bugs before the meal, the kind you have to pull the wings off before you eat them. That night it took me a long time to get to sleep, just hoping that i wouldnt have to leave these people. they are amazing.
tuesday at the time when the call was supposed to come saying if we were moving or not, the elders called and said that moves was postponed until friday so we wouldnt find out until wednesday. we taught a ton of lessons, racing from place to place, and then english on tuesday night: 1/2 of it in the dark and way way hot because the power was randomly out so no lights or air (happens every once in awhile.) of course it was the day that we had about 70 people show for class, more than i have ever seen at english class before.
Wednesday the call finally came in the afternoon and told me that i was moving! right after studies we went to grab something to eat and then the elders called again while we were eating and told us that the meeting was moved again, that we would be leaving that night at 3 in the morning! we raced home, grabbed the d&cs and christ pictures that i had bought to give a few people and then went all over town delivering them and saying goodbye. so hard. we got home at 9 and then the packing began. its not easy packing up everything you own into a few small suitcases! sister niw (one of my favorite members ever. i love her.) and her husband came to pick us up in their truck at 2:30 in the morning, it was POURING rain. when we got to the bus station one of my investigators who is getting baptized in august and her new boyfriend King (a member who met her through us!) were at the bus station to say goodbye! so sweet. we piled on a bus and headed for bangkok, stopping all the way there picking up other missionaries. i got about and hour or 2 of sleep that night.
so now i am in chaing mai!!!!!!! ive had the best areas ever. i got the best area in bangkok, got to head way out to the essan (the east) and now i am in the only companionship of sisters in the northwest. ive gotten everywhere! i couldnt believe it! it is beautiful here (sorry the only pic ive taken so far is this morning with my comp) the bus ride up was crazy. we went on a public bus (after speeding there in the APs van- and i thought the taxi drivers were crazy- we were way late. i thought i was going to die!) we headed out at 10 pm, i finally got to sleep and then at 2 am they turned on the lights, blasted music, and made everyone get off and eat a meal while they filled up gas. im sorry but any food, especially thai food, does not taste very good at 2 in the morning. we got back on and then watched the beautiful sunrise and scenery of the north, driving through the hills. chaing mai has mountians!(well more of hills) i have missed mts.
im back to the start here. there is nothing! it is just a TON of inviting. we have found and taught a few people so far, 2 families who are from some hill tribes, the parents dont speak thai, they speak one of the hill tribe languages, so the kids have to translate. every once i a while i see a tribe family down in the city for some reason, all wearing their brightly colored beautiful clothing. crazy! i asked one of them how much it would be to buy an outfit, she said it would take two years to make first because they are all handstitched with tiny brightly colored stitches.
Yesterday we went to a funeral of a member whos family is protestant. oh man that was interesting. a thai-protestant funeral out in the boonies surrounded by bamboo, huge crosses on every grave (only about 30 of them). and old rickety truck pulled up with four thai men in the back holding the casket. the preacher doing crazy things with guitars and singing in the background. the other graves had food, water and alcohol on them, they are still a little mixed up with the buddhist way of offerings for the ancestors to eat. oh thailand.
this next week is going to be suuuuuper long, im not too excited for inviting all day long in the heat, but hopefully soon we can get this area going with the Lord's help!
i love you so much! i miss you!
love, t
jordan 6.14.10
well hello fam and friends. this week was good.
mon we ate crepes and yes we made white syrup ha with the help of cate.
this week we are having a fiesta. i made a pinyada last night. its pretty cool. we are going to eat navaho ( icant spell) tacos.
last week we had some good apointments and some bad ones and some fell through as usual. we had one with this black dude we met on the bus he was really excited to talk to us. he loves Jesus. well we went over and taught him the first lesson. he started to argue with us when i bore my testimony that i know that this is the only true church and commanded me "in the name of Jesus"with black man emphasis that i can not bare my testimony. but we learn as members of the church that our testimonies we give are recorded in heaven and someday will help people now or later.
our baptismal dates are doing ok but kindof flakey. we have one really solid one sharissa. she is a black "model" she is super nice and now we are teaching to of her friends. she hopefully is coming tonight.
yesterday we had a speciall stake conf for europe. bednar and pakker spoke via sattelite. bednar gave a really good talk except for he gave the same talk pretty much exactly one year ago when i was in the mtc.
ok its world cup soccer in south africa as you may know. you would think its here though this place is covered in orange the streets have orange flags everywhere. today nederland playes denmark. everybody is wearing orange.
im doing good. i think i might need some new shoes. mom i bought some plain toe shoes at di last year you could send those to me if you want i think it might be cheaper. dad should know which ones.
i love you all thanks so much for the emails!
love 3-p
mon we ate crepes and yes we made white syrup ha with the help of cate.
this week we are having a fiesta. i made a pinyada last night. its pretty cool. we are going to eat navaho ( icant spell) tacos.
last week we had some good apointments and some bad ones and some fell through as usual. we had one with this black dude we met on the bus he was really excited to talk to us. he loves Jesus. well we went over and taught him the first lesson. he started to argue with us when i bore my testimony that i know that this is the only true church and commanded me "in the name of Jesus"with black man emphasis that i can not bare my testimony. but we learn as members of the church that our testimonies we give are recorded in heaven and someday will help people now or later.
our baptismal dates are doing ok but kindof flakey. we have one really solid one sharissa. she is a black "model" she is super nice and now we are teaching to of her friends. she hopefully is coming tonight.
yesterday we had a speciall stake conf for europe. bednar and pakker spoke via sattelite. bednar gave a really good talk except for he gave the same talk pretty much exactly one year ago when i was in the mtc.
ok its world cup soccer in south africa as you may know. you would think its here though this place is covered in orange the streets have orange flags everywhere. today nederland playes denmark. everybody is wearing orange.
im doing good. i think i might need some new shoes. mom i bought some plain toe shoes at di last year you could send those to me if you want i think it might be cheaper. dad should know which ones.
i love you all thanks so much for the emails!
love 3-p
6.11.2010
amsterdam kite
these videos were sent to us from our new friend, cate.
these videos make a missionary mom very happy!
one day jordan got a gift.
it was from a member in another city.
this amazing kite.
jordan and members trying to figure out how to fly it!
enjoy.
white syrup
jordan wanted to make white syrup for a fhe group in amsterdam.
pam e-mailed the recipe and that night he made it.
jordan in amsterdam
pictures of jordan.
amsterdam.
by cate, a kind, sweet member of the church.
sent via e-mail from cate to pam.
jordan showing off his cast that he took off himself.
typical.
*
*
amsterdam.
by cate, a kind, sweet member of the church.
sent via e-mail from cate to pam.
jordan showing off his cast that he took off himself.
typical.
*
easter weekend.
showing off easter chocolate.
*
doing a little service work.
easter weekend.
*
*
*
jordan and his favorite companion.
elder howell.
*
outside of church in amsterdam.
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it seems that everyone from the netherlands is good-looking.
it seems that everyone from the netherlands is good-looking.
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outside of the temple.
the hauge.
*
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a bird.
perched on top of the statue moroni.
*
jordan's favorite companion is home now.
jordan's favorite companion is home now.
his new companion is 2nd from the right.
6.07.2010
taryn 6.7.10
Hey!
Well we have transfers this week, everyone keeps telling me im outta here (udon) i hope not. things are going incredible! i have an awesome companion that works hard and also knows how to have tons of fun. We have 9 investigators with baptismal dates and we will hopefully get another 2-3 this week!! hah on thursday we were racing everywhere, didnt have enough time to even get all our studies in! we taught 8 lessons that day! its really rocking here. its amazing to look back in my old journals and see how you if you endure through the hard times you are truly blessed. that is definitely the theme of my mission. looking for the rainbows through the storm and then experiencing the peaceful cool beauty once it lets up. Its the storms that humbles us and keeps us remembering our Heavenly Father, and helps us appreciate the beautiful moments. I wish i could be better and learn to be humble at all times, depend on the Lord at all times. But, were human. the natural man starts to seep through and we need another reminder from Him.
elder booth, and elder that 'dies' or finishes his mission with me was telling a member that he only has three 'moves' or transfers left. that hit me, i didnt realize how little time i have left. crazy. i cant believe that. exciting and sad at the same time. thats as much time as i have been in udon!
thank you for the birthday package! the zone leaders went to bangkok for a meeting and brough it back. thank you thank you! delicious and so cute. it was perfect! the bad so cute, im wearing the headband right now, for the 4th day already. the candy and cake, american! the letters, the best. thank you so much! coops, thanks for the chinese lantern:) ive been gone for 3 of the past 4 birthdays, last year there 4 days before the mtc! hah i wonder where ill be next year?
last tuesday morning we were inviting and got into a house teaching them when the assistants called us twice in a row, we left quicky because we thought that it must be really important and called them back. They called because the zone leaders were telling them about how good my peanut butter cookies were on Sunday and were reserving a batch for thurs night when they would be coming on switchoffs. Elders!!!!! Luckily before we left we got their number and went back on Thursday. Hah 3 of them werent too interested, they would stop talking and then left to buy illegal lottery tickets, but noi stayed and learned with us. she is awesome! im really excited about her.
We dont have much time:( I wrote the above a few hours ago, but as we were writing the power went out, so we went and served/visited an investigator and now we're back, though now dont have much time!
We found and taught a man named Win and his family in a catholic school the other day! It felt wierd teaching about our as ours. I havent taught many christians. Its so hard! im used to teaching who God and Jesus Christ are and about prayer for the first few lessons. His wife isnt interested, she is way catholic so well have to turn him over to the Elders:( It was neat though, we asked him why he wants to learn with us and he said "yong my im phrakamphi" or im not full/satisfied with the scriptures. he feels like there has to be more. It is such a blessing to be able to tell him that there is!!!!
ok im running out of time, but want to quicky throw in a few "only in Thailand" things:
we were visiting our recent convert guy's mom's house (her mom and family thinks that she is wierd for always reading scriptures and going to church so we went to be friends with her) haha she is scared of us! she would hardly even talk with us! she is scared that we will convince her to change too... :) anyway, we were there and an old lady with like 2 teeth came by on her rickety bike selling dead bats that she had caught for people to eat.
Also, one of our recent converts always wears a necklace that looks like a little case with seashells in it. i commented on how i liked it to be nice. she told me that they were a few of her mom and dad's teeth! hah sorry mom and dad, im not doing that...
Before i forget, can you send me a lasagna and a taco recipe, a member asked me for one and i said id ask my fam to email me one:)
ok g2g the church is so so true. it is the way to true happiness if we will just follow its teachings!!
i love you so much!
love, t
Well we have transfers this week, everyone keeps telling me im outta here (udon) i hope not. things are going incredible! i have an awesome companion that works hard and also knows how to have tons of fun. We have 9 investigators with baptismal dates and we will hopefully get another 2-3 this week!! hah on thursday we were racing everywhere, didnt have enough time to even get all our studies in! we taught 8 lessons that day! its really rocking here. its amazing to look back in my old journals and see how you if you endure through the hard times you are truly blessed. that is definitely the theme of my mission. looking for the rainbows through the storm and then experiencing the peaceful cool beauty once it lets up. Its the storms that humbles us and keeps us remembering our Heavenly Father, and helps us appreciate the beautiful moments. I wish i could be better and learn to be humble at all times, depend on the Lord at all times. But, were human. the natural man starts to seep through and we need another reminder from Him.
elder booth, and elder that 'dies' or finishes his mission with me was telling a member that he only has three 'moves' or transfers left. that hit me, i didnt realize how little time i have left. crazy. i cant believe that. exciting and sad at the same time. thats as much time as i have been in udon!
thank you for the birthday package! the zone leaders went to bangkok for a meeting and brough it back. thank you thank you! delicious and so cute. it was perfect! the bad so cute, im wearing the headband right now, for the 4th day already. the candy and cake, american! the letters, the best. thank you so much! coops, thanks for the chinese lantern:) ive been gone for 3 of the past 4 birthdays, last year there 4 days before the mtc! hah i wonder where ill be next year?
last tuesday morning we were inviting and got into a house teaching them when the assistants called us twice in a row, we left quicky because we thought that it must be really important and called them back. They called because the zone leaders were telling them about how good my peanut butter cookies were on Sunday and were reserving a batch for thurs night when they would be coming on switchoffs. Elders!!!!! Luckily before we left we got their number and went back on Thursday. Hah 3 of them werent too interested, they would stop talking and then left to buy illegal lottery tickets, but noi stayed and learned with us. she is awesome! im really excited about her.
We dont have much time:( I wrote the above a few hours ago, but as we were writing the power went out, so we went and served/visited an investigator and now we're back, though now dont have much time!
We found and taught a man named Win and his family in a catholic school the other day! It felt wierd teaching about our as ours. I havent taught many christians. Its so hard! im used to teaching who God and Jesus Christ are and about prayer for the first few lessons. His wife isnt interested, she is way catholic so well have to turn him over to the Elders:( It was neat though, we asked him why he wants to learn with us and he said "yong my im phrakamphi" or im not full/satisfied with the scriptures. he feels like there has to be more. It is such a blessing to be able to tell him that there is!!!!
ok im running out of time, but want to quicky throw in a few "only in Thailand" things:
we were visiting our recent convert guy's mom's house (her mom and family thinks that she is wierd for always reading scriptures and going to church so we went to be friends with her) haha she is scared of us! she would hardly even talk with us! she is scared that we will convince her to change too... :) anyway, we were there and an old lady with like 2 teeth came by on her rickety bike selling dead bats that she had caught for people to eat.
Also, one of our recent converts always wears a necklace that looks like a little case with seashells in it. i commented on how i liked it to be nice. she told me that they were a few of her mom and dad's teeth! hah sorry mom and dad, im not doing that...
Before i forget, can you send me a lasagna and a taco recipe, a member asked me for one and i said id ask my fam to email me one:)
ok g2g the church is so so true. it is the way to true happiness if we will just follow its teachings!!
i love you so much!
love, t
jordan 6.7.10
hello. this week was a good one. the museums were amazing. i think i like the van gogh museaum better. the rijks was amazing but a little repetative. although the Rembrants were unbelievable!
this week we had a lot of joint teaches set up with our baptismal dates. but a lot of them fell through. it is really frustrating when you have somebody come along to help teach and the person we are teaching doesnt show up. on the other hand we have alot of investigators. and they are serious. they are reading and praying everyday to find an answer. except for one guy who says he wants to recieve an answer without reading the book of mormon. he sais he doesnt want the book to convince him. he doesnt undarstand. he got into a lot of weird anti stuff and has a hard time believing. on the other hand we had some great lesons. we had kim come with us to teach a girl. they really connected. kim is a recent convert of 3 months super stronng.
one of our investigators is chinese. great guy. its nice to teach somebody that is smart. he really thinks about things and has good questions. he is reading everyday and praying 4 to 5 times a day! this one will be baptized. we have another south american girl we are teaching who only speaks spanish! we have to take a translator. we promised her if she were to read in the BoM for thirty min eveyday for a week she will recieve an answer. on sunday she told us she has been reading for 15 min each week and is going to do it for 2 weeks. ha ha. man its hard to get people to come to church out here.
this week we as a companionship had 5 in church. its not bad but we can do better.
well today for pday we are going to go eat at my new favorite restaurant. it is a tall glass building. and it is on stilts above the city. its a 360 degree view of amsterdam so cool. you cant see it from the ground. i didnt even know it was there. a member took us there this week.
MOM ok i need the recipe for the white syrup that our family makes for crepes! i need it now because we are going to make them tonight with all the young adults and i am going to blow their minds and taste buds off. so will you send the recipe with instructions right when you read this to *************** its catherinas email she told me to tell you to send it to her. her and her sister tried to call you yesterday to get it ha ha they are awesome. they gave me a 1 year present, a tie and some drop ( black liccorice!) tell them thank you.
i was on the computer the same time as morg today!
chandler you need to right her on facebook(cate)!
thank you so much for the package! i already read the joseph smith book! its good. went and taght kids how to skate this week. im starting to get in with the family.
love you so much e robert
and yes i can get pics mom but i didnt get the ones you sent.
this week we had a lot of joint teaches set up with our baptismal dates. but a lot of them fell through. it is really frustrating when you have somebody come along to help teach and the person we are teaching doesnt show up. on the other hand we have alot of investigators. and they are serious. they are reading and praying everyday to find an answer. except for one guy who says he wants to recieve an answer without reading the book of mormon. he sais he doesnt want the book to convince him. he doesnt undarstand. he got into a lot of weird anti stuff and has a hard time believing. on the other hand we had some great lesons. we had kim come with us to teach a girl. they really connected. kim is a recent convert of 3 months super stronng.
one of our investigators is chinese. great guy. its nice to teach somebody that is smart. he really thinks about things and has good questions. he is reading everyday and praying 4 to 5 times a day! this one will be baptized. we have another south american girl we are teaching who only speaks spanish! we have to take a translator. we promised her if she were to read in the BoM for thirty min eveyday for a week she will recieve an answer. on sunday she told us she has been reading for 15 min each week and is going to do it for 2 weeks. ha ha. man its hard to get people to come to church out here.
this week we as a companionship had 5 in church. its not bad but we can do better.
well today for pday we are going to go eat at my new favorite restaurant. it is a tall glass building. and it is on stilts above the city. its a 360 degree view of amsterdam so cool. you cant see it from the ground. i didnt even know it was there. a member took us there this week.
MOM ok i need the recipe for the white syrup that our family makes for crepes! i need it now because we are going to make them tonight with all the young adults and i am going to blow their minds and taste buds off. so will you send the recipe with instructions right when you read this to *************** its catherinas email she told me to tell you to send it to her. her and her sister tried to call you yesterday to get it ha ha they are awesome. they gave me a 1 year present, a tie and some drop ( black liccorice!) tell them thank you.
i was on the computer the same time as morg today!
chandler you need to right her on facebook(cate)!
thank you so much for the package! i already read the joseph smith book! its good. went and taght kids how to skate this week. im starting to get in with the family.
love you so much e robert
and yes i can get pics mom but i didnt get the ones you sent.
morgan 6.7.10
okay so this week we got 2 baptismal dates. president carter is big on commiting our investigators to baptism each lesson. so we tried it. it worked with one. and then we were kinda scared to do it with this other girl because we had only taught her twice but we had a sweet lesson and she really felt the spirit so elder mayer says simply "we can set a baptismal date if you want." haha she did!! i have never heard someone give a baptismal date like that. we will see if they pull it through. today we are really hoping to get another date today.
okay so this week was really cool. it was a blessing from our rough week last week. we had 6 amis at church ( not much to jordans 17 but its alot for here. no worries jord we will get there!) yesterday was really cool. we had a really really good testimony meeting. testimonies here are really scary because we dont know what some of the crazy members are going to get up and say. but it was good.
also yesterday after church we went up to the castle and contacted all the way down to the river and along the river trail. it was rough. alot of denial. ALOT of denial. haha so i said a little prayer in my heart to find someone. right as i said that a family comes waking around the corner. haha i was so happy i walk up to them and say "hey me and my collegue.." i didnt get a chance to finish before the dude says he doesnt want anything to do with it. well the next person was sitting down on a bench he says "hey your the mormons" which is really rare here because everyone thinks we are jahovas witness' so we say "yeah we are do you want to hear our message" and he starts laughing and says "NO!! your a sect!!" haha so we explained our message anyways and he was interested. thats not the end.. haha so we try like 20 more times and we stroll across 2 24 year old dudes. drinking of coarse. we start off the contact and then ask if we can talk to them another time. they told us why not now? so we sat down and gave them all 3 lessons in an hour and a half. ones dad died recently and they are cousins. we gave away 2 book of mormons to them both and the one whos dad died askes us if he can get another for his mom. haha so we tossed him another. it was so cool. they are coming to play soccer with us saturday and have a lesson after. they are also coming to stake conference. i am so excited!!
okay so anyone who doesnt know, my mom is awesome!! she just ran a 50 mile race!! haha and about 5 miles in 2 feet of snow. I love you mom!! thanks for all you do! talk to you all next week!!
morgan
okay so this week was really cool. it was a blessing from our rough week last week. we had 6 amis at church ( not much to jordans 17 but its alot for here. no worries jord we will get there!) yesterday was really cool. we had a really really good testimony meeting. testimonies here are really scary because we dont know what some of the crazy members are going to get up and say. but it was good.
also yesterday after church we went up to the castle and contacted all the way down to the river and along the river trail. it was rough. alot of denial. ALOT of denial. haha so i said a little prayer in my heart to find someone. right as i said that a family comes waking around the corner. haha i was so happy i walk up to them and say "hey me and my collegue.." i didnt get a chance to finish before the dude says he doesnt want anything to do with it. well the next person was sitting down on a bench he says "hey your the mormons" which is really rare here because everyone thinks we are jahovas witness' so we say "yeah we are do you want to hear our message" and he starts laughing and says "NO!! your a sect!!" haha so we explained our message anyways and he was interested. thats not the end.. haha so we try like 20 more times and we stroll across 2 24 year old dudes. drinking of coarse. we start off the contact and then ask if we can talk to them another time. they told us why not now? so we sat down and gave them all 3 lessons in an hour and a half. ones dad died recently and they are cousins. we gave away 2 book of mormons to them both and the one whos dad died askes us if he can get another for his mom. haha so we tossed him another. it was so cool. they are coming to play soccer with us saturday and have a lesson after. they are also coming to stake conference. i am so excited!!
okay so anyone who doesnt know, my mom is awesome!! she just ran a 50 mile race!! haha and about 5 miles in 2 feet of snow. I love you mom!! thanks for all you do! talk to you all next week!!
morgan
5.31.2010
morgan 5.31.10
aight. so my comp is a stud! so we are both really young missionaries. he is in his 3rd transfer and i am on my 4th. i am his 2nd comp but he is my sr. comp and i am his polisher. it is really weird how that works but it just shows how amazing he is! he is a super hard worker!! i feel bad for him because i am still not super with the french so i ask a lot of questions. i hope it doesnt drive him nuts. but he is patient with me.
so Carcassonne is sweet!! it is really small so we walk everywhere. no busses usually unless we go to a city that borders it. we have a nice apt. but not so nice of a shower... haha it is tiny!!! so you have to sit down on a seat and get the shower head and spray yourself off. BIG difference from my palace over in Nimes!! haha but we have a proprietere named Doctor Balbary. he is so funny!! he is not a member, but has known the missionaries for like 20 years. so like right after dad left. he brings us down to his office on the 1st floor every day for a prayer. he also takes us to his beautiful house on the french country side to go pick cherries. he has TONS!! so we pick tons of cherries and do more yard work as our service. it is sweet cuz then we give the cherries to our investigators. it is service both ways!! we also go with the red cross to go feed the homeless each friday. it is so much fun!! there are some of the funniest old men who work with the red cross. so it is increadible here! i really really like it! it is known for being the "hard ville" but i love it!! we see alot of potential with our amis!
each monday wednesday and friday me and elder mayer get up at 6 and got run for an hour. the first day we circled the castle and took a little run through it, it was sweet. the next time we ran along a river it was cool also and today we ran along another river.
the ward is cool alot of people moving but oh well. so i met an english family from alpine utah!! i told them to stop by thanksgiving point and ask for traci or kendall wimmer. so if they do hook them up if you can!! haha
so elder mayer makes some sweet tartes and is showing me how also!! i love it!! thanks for all your emails!! happy birthday rich!! I love you all!!
Morgan
so Carcassonne is sweet!! it is really small so we walk everywhere. no busses usually unless we go to a city that borders it. we have a nice apt. but not so nice of a shower... haha it is tiny!!! so you have to sit down on a seat and get the shower head and spray yourself off. BIG difference from my palace over in Nimes!! haha but we have a proprietere named Doctor Balbary. he is so funny!! he is not a member, but has known the missionaries for like 20 years. so like right after dad left. he brings us down to his office on the 1st floor every day for a prayer. he also takes us to his beautiful house on the french country side to go pick cherries. he has TONS!! so we pick tons of cherries and do more yard work as our service. it is sweet cuz then we give the cherries to our investigators. it is service both ways!! we also go with the red cross to go feed the homeless each friday. it is so much fun!! there are some of the funniest old men who work with the red cross. so it is increadible here! i really really like it! it is known for being the "hard ville" but i love it!! we see alot of potential with our amis!
each monday wednesday and friday me and elder mayer get up at 6 and got run for an hour. the first day we circled the castle and took a little run through it, it was sweet. the next time we ran along a river it was cool also and today we ran along another river.
the ward is cool alot of people moving but oh well. so i met an english family from alpine utah!! i told them to stop by thanksgiving point and ask for traci or kendall wimmer. so if they do hook them up if you can!! haha
so elder mayer makes some sweet tartes and is showing me how also!! i love it!! thanks for all your emails!! happy birthday rich!! I love you all!!
Morgan
jordan 5.31.10
ok well T.Y. Thailand sounds crazy. everything is burning. be carefull. you should be getting a letter from me.
Morgan! what the poo! thats the coolest city ever! Right under Amsterdam. your comp sounds rad. only speak in french to him.
well i got a new comp as you know. ive had him before. seeing elder howell go home was one of the hardest things on my mission. mom be expecting a phone call i gave him our house number. he is going to come visit. its very quiet in our appartment now not much action going on. its going to be different. we now are in charge of two companionships investigators. last sunday we, as in all of amsterdam, had 17 investigators in church. thats pretty good. we have 3 baptismal dates and there are a couple more that will be baptized besides them. busy busy.
today we are going to the Rijks and van gogh museum. it will be rad. mom cate is a girl from eindhoven. she works here in in a-dam. she is rad. the other girl that looks like her is her sister natalie who goes to school at byu. they are good friends.
My cast is off! right before i went int the hospital i cut it off bucause it was bugging me. but they x rayd it and its not broken. but there it a little piece of bone between my radial and scaphoid just flouting around. they said it should be fine. its not really bugging. well see what happens. richy i heard about the old through the hands bounce off the head and swish trick. gets em every time.
well love you all . its been one year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
elder robert!
Morgan! what the poo! thats the coolest city ever! Right under Amsterdam. your comp sounds rad. only speak in french to him.
well i got a new comp as you know. ive had him before. seeing elder howell go home was one of the hardest things on my mission. mom be expecting a phone call i gave him our house number. he is going to come visit. its very quiet in our appartment now not much action going on. its going to be different. we now are in charge of two companionships investigators. last sunday we, as in all of amsterdam, had 17 investigators in church. thats pretty good. we have 3 baptismal dates and there are a couple more that will be baptized besides them. busy busy.
today we are going to the Rijks and van gogh museum. it will be rad. mom cate is a girl from eindhoven. she works here in in a-dam. she is rad. the other girl that looks like her is her sister natalie who goes to school at byu. they are good friends.
My cast is off! right before i went int the hospital i cut it off bucause it was bugging me. but they x rayd it and its not broken. but there it a little piece of bone between my radial and scaphoid just flouting around. they said it should be fine. its not really bugging. well see what happens. richy i heard about the old through the hands bounce off the head and swish trick. gets em every time.
well love you all . its been one year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
elder robert!
taryn 5.31.10
It rained every evening this week. It was wonderful!
We had an awesome week. We started it off last monday going to jin and jiaps, 15 and 16 year old girls who are all stars! they are so good. we are also trying to teach their families. they are cousins that are students of maa noi (she tutors kids. everyone hear "learns special" or goes to extra learning after school), the relief society president. maa noi (she has helped many through the years into the church. she is amazing. she also helps us teach a lot. the most humble sweet lady ever.) mentioned the gospel and jin said as soon as she said something about it she knew it was something special. she is hoping to get baptized this week, but we have to get her dads permission first. we went to their house on monday and had a little family night with them, we taught them the gospel under their traditional thai wooden raised house, sitting on a little wooden platform, and they taught us how to make somtam (see pics) putting in whole huge black crabs and bubala (fish sauce that they bury for 3-4 months to let it rot!) then their aunt came home from the rice farm with fresh beetles. a delicacy... they catch them themselves because the ones in the markets "arent as good". of course we had to eat those too:( atleast they werent as big as the cockroach i had to eat a few months ago!)
tuesday was full of lessons and teaching english as usual. we are trying to figure out who of our investigators are the ones prepared by the hand of the lord, trying to get quality instead of quantity, though it is so hard to drop them! we taught one of our recent converts, yaay bua, who told us all about how in the old days she was pregnant she would be out working in the rice fields until her stomach started to really hurt, she would go home, kneel on her hands and knees and deliver the baby herself. then someone would hear the baby crying and come in the room. crazy. we are so babied now days.
we have a few investigators right now that cant read. what a burden. what a blessing it is to be able to read, the whole world is opened to us. i cant imagine what it would be like.
thurs we taught guy, my investigator that wants to get baptized but has to wait until her husband gets back from isreal next year. she was talking about how she tried to pay tithing but president told her that she had to wait. then she told us how she wants fiat, her 18 month old son to be a missionary. after that we drove down to khon kaen for interviews, and friday zone conference. president commented after my prayer in the interview how good my language is:) he also commented on how well the area is doing. friday evening right when we got back we raced back to jin and jiabs where we found out a parade was going on in celebration of the big buddhist holiday, had to slowly get throught that, and then got to teach them again. it was pretty cool to see though! on the way back as we raced to our last apt of the night we got to see a naked old lady bathing in her front yard in the thai way of a big ceramic pot of rain water and a little bucket to pour over. i dont think i can count the number of naked people ive seen here! usually old big ladies...
my birthday was so good. i love the people here. we taught a lot of people in the morning, and then sister niw (one of my favorite people ever) took me to lunch at a nice place for my birthday and gave me an udonthani t-shirt like the one that i gave her for her birthday (see pics:)), but she got cute stuff written on the back too. i heard so many of the thai rendition of 'happy birthday' sung to me that day. during studies apple, one of my cute investigators called me and said she was leaving the next day for awhile and wanted to meet with us before she left. we re-arranged our appts a little and then rushed over there for the last appt of the night. we started talking and she told us to wait just a minute because we had food coming. i thought that was wierd, but didnt think much- though i was really hungry, it was 745 and we hadnt had time to eat yet.. then the lights went out and a few members that we have taken to her house to teach with us came out singing happy birthday with a cake and candles. so sweet! i love them so much. then sunday quite a few members gave me random little gifts of all sorts- 2 of which were hair things- a bright pink headband with a big bow on it and also a scrunchie thing that has little pompoms coming off it all over. of course i had to wear them both, they even put them in my hair for me. haha i felt like a walking present.
today we went to a little town about 30 minutes away and bought some fun bags and things, it has been a good day so far! im excited to get back out there and work though. this work is amazing. i am so tired, but it feels so good. such a priveledge to be a missionary, especially a missionary in thailand. i love you all so much!!! thank you for the sweet birthday emails. i miss you and am excited to see you! i cant believe we hit a year this week. crazy! be happy, be safe, choose the right!!
love, ty
taryn's companion holding a crab they ate.
the bug they ate.
We had an awesome week. We started it off last monday going to jin and jiaps, 15 and 16 year old girls who are all stars! they are so good. we are also trying to teach their families. they are cousins that are students of maa noi (she tutors kids. everyone hear "learns special" or goes to extra learning after school), the relief society president. maa noi (she has helped many through the years into the church. she is amazing. she also helps us teach a lot. the most humble sweet lady ever.) mentioned the gospel and jin said as soon as she said something about it she knew it was something special. she is hoping to get baptized this week, but we have to get her dads permission first. we went to their house on monday and had a little family night with them, we taught them the gospel under their traditional thai wooden raised house, sitting on a little wooden platform, and they taught us how to make somtam (see pics) putting in whole huge black crabs and bubala (fish sauce that they bury for 3-4 months to let it rot!) then their aunt came home from the rice farm with fresh beetles. a delicacy... they catch them themselves because the ones in the markets "arent as good". of course we had to eat those too:( atleast they werent as big as the cockroach i had to eat a few months ago!)
tuesday was full of lessons and teaching english as usual. we are trying to figure out who of our investigators are the ones prepared by the hand of the lord, trying to get quality instead of quantity, though it is so hard to drop them! we taught one of our recent converts, yaay bua, who told us all about how in the old days she was pregnant she would be out working in the rice fields until her stomach started to really hurt, she would go home, kneel on her hands and knees and deliver the baby herself. then someone would hear the baby crying and come in the room. crazy. we are so babied now days.
we have a few investigators right now that cant read. what a burden. what a blessing it is to be able to read, the whole world is opened to us. i cant imagine what it would be like.
thurs we taught guy, my investigator that wants to get baptized but has to wait until her husband gets back from isreal next year. she was talking about how she tried to pay tithing but president told her that she had to wait. then she told us how she wants fiat, her 18 month old son to be a missionary. after that we drove down to khon kaen for interviews, and friday zone conference. president commented after my prayer in the interview how good my language is:) he also commented on how well the area is doing. friday evening right when we got back we raced back to jin and jiabs where we found out a parade was going on in celebration of the big buddhist holiday, had to slowly get throught that, and then got to teach them again. it was pretty cool to see though! on the way back as we raced to our last apt of the night we got to see a naked old lady bathing in her front yard in the thai way of a big ceramic pot of rain water and a little bucket to pour over. i dont think i can count the number of naked people ive seen here! usually old big ladies...
my birthday was so good. i love the people here. we taught a lot of people in the morning, and then sister niw (one of my favorite people ever) took me to lunch at a nice place for my birthday and gave me an udonthani t-shirt like the one that i gave her for her birthday (see pics:)), but she got cute stuff written on the back too. i heard so many of the thai rendition of 'happy birthday' sung to me that day. during studies apple, one of my cute investigators called me and said she was leaving the next day for awhile and wanted to meet with us before she left. we re-arranged our appts a little and then rushed over there for the last appt of the night. we started talking and she told us to wait just a minute because we had food coming. i thought that was wierd, but didnt think much- though i was really hungry, it was 745 and we hadnt had time to eat yet.. then the lights went out and a few members that we have taken to her house to teach with us came out singing happy birthday with a cake and candles. so sweet! i love them so much. then sunday quite a few members gave me random little gifts of all sorts- 2 of which were hair things- a bright pink headband with a big bow on it and also a scrunchie thing that has little pompoms coming off it all over. of course i had to wear them both, they even put them in my hair for me. haha i felt like a walking present.
today we went to a little town about 30 minutes away and bought some fun bags and things, it has been a good day so far! im excited to get back out there and work though. this work is amazing. i am so tired, but it feels so good. such a priveledge to be a missionary, especially a missionary in thailand. i love you all so much!!! thank you for the sweet birthday emails. i miss you and am excited to see you! i cant believe we hit a year this week. crazy! be happy, be safe, choose the right!!
love, ty
taryn's companion holding a crab they ate.
the bug they ate.
*
zone conference.
*
birthday gift from a member.
*
buddhist holiday parade.
5.24.2010
taryn's birthday
taryn's birthday is this saturday.
what a great gift if everyone sent her an e-mail saying
happy birthday!
her address is to the lower left.
(be sure to go into your e-mail when writing, don't use the link.)
what a great gift if everyone sent her an e-mail saying
happy birthday!
her address is to the lower left.
(be sure to go into your e-mail when writing, don't use the link.)
message from kendall
Morgan was just transferred to Carcassonne! I re-opened Carcassonne and served there for about 6 months some 25 years ago—my last city prior to returning home. Carcassonne is very much in the South--not far from Spain. Very hospitable people with distinct southern drawl. He’s got a French companion (see picture below) and seems very happy about the move.
Carcassonne is home to Europe’s largest existing fortified ville which consists of a double ring of ramparts and 53 towers. The main city center and town sits just outside the old city.
Carcassonne is home to Europe’s largest existing fortified ville which consists of a double ring of ramparts and 53 towers. The main city center and town sits just outside the old city.
morgan 5.24.10
hey hey!
okay so this one has to be kinda quick. sorry.
well i got transfered. i am going to miss Nimes but thats okay. so I am in Carcassone!! Dad did you serve here also? i thought i remembered you saying that? thatd be sweet!
okay so my comps name is elder Mayer. he is french and he is big and really happy!! haha he is a stud!! such a difference from my last comp.
okay mom in my package. hold back on the white pants. i dont need them. i need some of that sumo hair stuff you got me. it DOMINATES!! i just got here and we are at a tahitian families house and they are waiting for me to come eat. sorry it is so short. i love you all!! i miss you! talk to you next week! good luck on the 50 momma!! I love you! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TY!!! jord sorry to here about the wrist. chan, papers??
morg
morg
taryn 5.24.10
Man what a crazy week!
I dont know how much you heard in America, but Thailand had a pretty crazy week last week. We knew things were getting pretty bad when we saw a few soldiers on the corners outside the government buildings, but i thought that they were just being a little over protective. Last wednesday my companion and i had just finished up our plate of rice and a wierd chicken combination, biking home to study when i saw a bunch of smoke and heard sounds like gunshots. i was joking around and said "oh man, the redshirts.." but was thinking it was just a yard fire that got out of hand (they usually burn their garbage and their plants in their yards. 2 minutes later we got a call from our panicked zone leader telling us to get home. the redshirts burned down the town hall and another govt building in udon, and 4-5 others in other cities, and then they burned central world in bangkok, the 2nd biggest mall in asia!! it was huge!!! this all went down at 12:00. all the missionaries in Thailand were on lock down for the rest of the day. it made me realize how important food storage is. a few months ago we got told to buy food for 4 days, so we bought some, but just basics like oatmeal and stuff. i was really wishing that we had better food, especially cuz we had no idea how long we would have to stay in. moral of the story: get good food that you will want to eat for your food storage! luckily an amazing member and her husband called us at like 730 after we had been eating off the scraps that we could put together in our and the elders house and she brought us a bunch of stuff. sister niw is amazing, she calls us a few times a week and drops off khaw niaw mamuang (mango and sticky rice- everywhere right now). anyway, back to crazies. we now have soldiers with big guns, everywhere, especially lining the area around the government buildings, and then have random big army trucks driving around the city. the entire country has a curfew of 8 right now, if you are home later than that they can shoot you!!!! what is really amazing is that everything was so crazy until friday, the day that elder oaks and 3 other general authorities were supposed to come to thailand for a leadership training for the asia area, a stake conference, and to speak to us. we thought that they werent going to be able to come, but everything went peaceful right in time for them to come. It was a true testimony of when the Lord needs something done, it gets done, no matter how hard Satan tries.
We just got back from a broadcast with all the missionaries in bangkok and surrounding areas (we didnt get to go:( too far..) elder hallstrom of the 70 came to talk to us. it was awesome. he told us that our area, the asia area, not including asia north like korea and those countries, has the most muslims, hindus, and buddhists out of any other area, even the middle east! also he mentioned that the asia area for the church is 1/24 in the world, but we have more than 1/2 of the population of the world!!! he said that this area is the frontier right now, we are on dawn of something huge! He talked a lot about after you finish your mission and how you have to stay strong, even when you wont have the scheduled study times. it has gotten me really wondering what is going to happen when i get home, its crazy thats in not too long! ive been wondering about my major, what i want to do in life, whats going to happen with dating, all that fun stuff. i have no idea what is going to happen! its nive i dont have to really worry about that for still another few months.I liked something that elder hallstrom talked about. he said that the "purpose of life is not to be easy". if it were easy we wouldnt grow! if life is easy you are doing something wrong. life is learning to find happiness while having to grow and be streched. i noticed in the book of mormon awhile ago how only a very small portion of it is when things are happy and easygoing. there are a few verses here and there, but then it skips years and goes into the trials again. its the trials that we learn from!
The area is still doing awesome, we are seeing lots of miracles. We had some huge black clouds in, we were expecting a big storm. we were in iang and her 2 daughters house (one of our investigators) when it started to downpour on her metal roof. super loud!!! we couldnt hear anything, so we thought we might just have to leave, but it rained for about 20 seconds. stopped for a minute, started again for about 10 seconds and was finished. thailand. We had 15 progressing investigators last week! it is just amazing me how much the Lord is blessing us. we have 7 investigators with bap dates, but were hoping to set some more this week. i looked through my planner from my first moves here in udon and was laughing, 1 investigator with a date, 1-3 progressing investigators, and on average about 6 lessons a week. it was hurting so bad. it is amazing to see what a little elbow grease and A LOT of the Lords help can do. every week when the elders get our numbers they comment on how incredible we are doing. it feels soooo good:) though i am getting really tired and my body worn out! what a blessing to be a missionary. we learn and grow so much while we are actually focusing on others. funny how that works.
i hope everyone is so happy and healthy right now. i love you and miss you! crazy im 22!!!! also crazy it is the end of may.
love you so so so much. im deeply grateful for all of you! This church really is the true church. The book of mormon is the book that will bring the most happiness to ones life than any other book in the world!!!!
love, ty
I dont know how much you heard in America, but Thailand had a pretty crazy week last week. We knew things were getting pretty bad when we saw a few soldiers on the corners outside the government buildings, but i thought that they were just being a little over protective. Last wednesday my companion and i had just finished up our plate of rice and a wierd chicken combination, biking home to study when i saw a bunch of smoke and heard sounds like gunshots. i was joking around and said "oh man, the redshirts.." but was thinking it was just a yard fire that got out of hand (they usually burn their garbage and their plants in their yards. 2 minutes later we got a call from our panicked zone leader telling us to get home. the redshirts burned down the town hall and another govt building in udon, and 4-5 others in other cities, and then they burned central world in bangkok, the 2nd biggest mall in asia!! it was huge!!! this all went down at 12:00. all the missionaries in Thailand were on lock down for the rest of the day. it made me realize how important food storage is. a few months ago we got told to buy food for 4 days, so we bought some, but just basics like oatmeal and stuff. i was really wishing that we had better food, especially cuz we had no idea how long we would have to stay in. moral of the story: get good food that you will want to eat for your food storage! luckily an amazing member and her husband called us at like 730 after we had been eating off the scraps that we could put together in our and the elders house and she brought us a bunch of stuff. sister niw is amazing, she calls us a few times a week and drops off khaw niaw mamuang (mango and sticky rice- everywhere right now). anyway, back to crazies. we now have soldiers with big guns, everywhere, especially lining the area around the government buildings, and then have random big army trucks driving around the city. the entire country has a curfew of 8 right now, if you are home later than that they can shoot you!!!! what is really amazing is that everything was so crazy until friday, the day that elder oaks and 3 other general authorities were supposed to come to thailand for a leadership training for the asia area, a stake conference, and to speak to us. we thought that they werent going to be able to come, but everything went peaceful right in time for them to come. It was a true testimony of when the Lord needs something done, it gets done, no matter how hard Satan tries.
We just got back from a broadcast with all the missionaries in bangkok and surrounding areas (we didnt get to go:( too far..) elder hallstrom of the 70 came to talk to us. it was awesome. he told us that our area, the asia area, not including asia north like korea and those countries, has the most muslims, hindus, and buddhists out of any other area, even the middle east! also he mentioned that the asia area for the church is 1/24 in the world, but we have more than 1/2 of the population of the world!!! he said that this area is the frontier right now, we are on dawn of something huge! He talked a lot about after you finish your mission and how you have to stay strong, even when you wont have the scheduled study times. it has gotten me really wondering what is going to happen when i get home, its crazy thats in not too long! ive been wondering about my major, what i want to do in life, whats going to happen with dating, all that fun stuff. i have no idea what is going to happen! its nive i dont have to really worry about that for still another few months.I liked something that elder hallstrom talked about. he said that the "purpose of life is not to be easy". if it were easy we wouldnt grow! if life is easy you are doing something wrong. life is learning to find happiness while having to grow and be streched. i noticed in the book of mormon awhile ago how only a very small portion of it is when things are happy and easygoing. there are a few verses here and there, but then it skips years and goes into the trials again. its the trials that we learn from!
The area is still doing awesome, we are seeing lots of miracles. We had some huge black clouds in, we were expecting a big storm. we were in iang and her 2 daughters house (one of our investigators) when it started to downpour on her metal roof. super loud!!! we couldnt hear anything, so we thought we might just have to leave, but it rained for about 20 seconds. stopped for a minute, started again for about 10 seconds and was finished. thailand. We had 15 progressing investigators last week! it is just amazing me how much the Lord is blessing us. we have 7 investigators with bap dates, but were hoping to set some more this week. i looked through my planner from my first moves here in udon and was laughing, 1 investigator with a date, 1-3 progressing investigators, and on average about 6 lessons a week. it was hurting so bad. it is amazing to see what a little elbow grease and A LOT of the Lords help can do. every week when the elders get our numbers they comment on how incredible we are doing. it feels soooo good:) though i am getting really tired and my body worn out! what a blessing to be a missionary. we learn and grow so much while we are actually focusing on others. funny how that works.
i hope everyone is so happy and healthy right now. i love you and miss you! crazy im 22!!!! also crazy it is the end of may.
love you so so so much. im deeply grateful for all of you! This church really is the true church. The book of mormon is the book that will bring the most happiness to ones life than any other book in the world!!!!
love, ty
jordan 5.24.10
ok well hello.
so the news is im staying in amsterdam. it was kinof scary because thay said they were going to take one companionship out of a-dam. because they are short on elders this transfer. well they sent one elder from the other comp to a different city and my comp is going home so the stuck me with the elder left over. im companions with elder sticht again. i was companions with him in breda 6 months ago. it will be good we will have the work of 4 elders to do with only us. its going to be sad to see my companion go. he is an amazing person.
oh yeah so last week we got a call from some buisness man and he tells us he wants us to come eat with him at his hotel. so this last night he called and so we went this morning to his hotel right out of town and we got to eat a really nice breakfast. we were a little late because it was hard to find so he couldnt spend much time with us because he had a meeting but i find out he is in the Magnesses ward! he knows all the magnesses! ha ha it was so random. i didnt ask him if e knew anybody else but he probably does! his name is John Edmunds. well thats about it for this week.
my cast is getting really annoying i might cut it off soon. ha ha oh yeah i got a cast on tuesday. my wrist got a little injured well see you next week!
happy b day taryn!
elder robert
so the news is im staying in amsterdam. it was kinof scary because thay said they were going to take one companionship out of a-dam. because they are short on elders this transfer. well they sent one elder from the other comp to a different city and my comp is going home so the stuck me with the elder left over. im companions with elder sticht again. i was companions with him in breda 6 months ago. it will be good we will have the work of 4 elders to do with only us. its going to be sad to see my companion go. he is an amazing person.
oh yeah so last week we got a call from some buisness man and he tells us he wants us to come eat with him at his hotel. so this last night he called and so we went this morning to his hotel right out of town and we got to eat a really nice breakfast. we were a little late because it was hard to find so he couldnt spend much time with us because he had a meeting but i find out he is in the Magnesses ward! he knows all the magnesses! ha ha it was so random. i didnt ask him if e knew anybody else but he probably does! his name is John Edmunds. well thats about it for this week.
my cast is getting really annoying i might cut it off soon. ha ha oh yeah i got a cast on tuesday. my wrist got a little injured well see you next week!
happy b day taryn!
elder robert
5.17.2010
morgan 5.17.10
salut everybody!!
so this week was really cool. I worked really really hard on trying to be diligent with my contacts especially on the bus. we found 5 new amis to teach. one of them is SWEET! he came to church and everything and wants to come again after his vacation. so cool!! my comp is still very negative but i am most likely going to be getting transfered next week so i just gotta hold tight. and if i dont get transfered i will have to hold a little tighter. oh yeah so if i get transfered and it is a long ways away i will have to do emails on tues. so dont freak out mom if you dont get an email on monday. it will come.
okay so i bought some pants here for 25 euros and then i had to buy some food for 10 because my other stupid card doesnt work. the pants are really really cool and go a little bit better with my black suit. sorry if i am using too much money. if so just let me know mom.
okay so last week we had a french sister in our district go home. i dont know why she did but it was just really hard for her to be here. very sad!!
so andie, who is this dude you know coming to my mission?? there are only like 80 missionaries and the numbers are dropping fast. so it isnt too out of the question for us to be companions. when does he leave? you will have to keep me updated!
oh wow so this could be my last email i send from Nimes. very sad! i am going to miss it alot!! i said goodbye to out ward mission leader lastnight. he was like my best friend here, he was a stud. I also said by to a man from portugal with like 1 tooth haha he is a stud. but i might try and go get another photo with him and tell him to smile BIG so you can see his pretty tooth.
well this week in Nimes there is this thing called La Feria. it is a big 5 day party of just drinking all day and night lond. In the past missionaries have been taken out of the ville but we just have to be in by 5. but we also live smack center of centre ville. ahha so we might have to wear casuals for the week. it starts wednesday and goes to sunday.
mom dad my address here in Nimes is 33 rue fresque. but DO NOT WRITE ME HERE. haha if you do and i leave it is going to take like 2 months to get a letter so just if you wanna look up where i am on google earth sweet but dont write me with my real address. our apartment is kind of a mess right now so i think that is what we might do during the feria is just clean it spotless!! well HAPPY BIRTHDAY CADE, SAGE AND SADIE!!
i love you all! thanks for all you do!
morg
so this week was really cool. I worked really really hard on trying to be diligent with my contacts especially on the bus. we found 5 new amis to teach. one of them is SWEET! he came to church and everything and wants to come again after his vacation. so cool!! my comp is still very negative but i am most likely going to be getting transfered next week so i just gotta hold tight. and if i dont get transfered i will have to hold a little tighter. oh yeah so if i get transfered and it is a long ways away i will have to do emails on tues. so dont freak out mom if you dont get an email on monday. it will come.
okay so i bought some pants here for 25 euros and then i had to buy some food for 10 because my other stupid card doesnt work. the pants are really really cool and go a little bit better with my black suit. sorry if i am using too much money. if so just let me know mom.
okay so last week we had a french sister in our district go home. i dont know why she did but it was just really hard for her to be here. very sad!!
so andie, who is this dude you know coming to my mission?? there are only like 80 missionaries and the numbers are dropping fast. so it isnt too out of the question for us to be companions. when does he leave? you will have to keep me updated!
oh wow so this could be my last email i send from Nimes. very sad! i am going to miss it alot!! i said goodbye to out ward mission leader lastnight. he was like my best friend here, he was a stud. I also said by to a man from portugal with like 1 tooth haha he is a stud. but i might try and go get another photo with him and tell him to smile BIG so you can see his pretty tooth.
well this week in Nimes there is this thing called La Feria. it is a big 5 day party of just drinking all day and night lond. In the past missionaries have been taken out of the ville but we just have to be in by 5. but we also live smack center of centre ville. ahha so we might have to wear casuals for the week. it starts wednesday and goes to sunday.
mom dad my address here in Nimes is 33 rue fresque. but DO NOT WRITE ME HERE. haha if you do and i leave it is going to take like 2 months to get a letter so just if you wanna look up where i am on google earth sweet but dont write me with my real address. our apartment is kind of a mess right now so i think that is what we might do during the feria is just clean it spotless!! well HAPPY BIRTHDAY CADE, SAGE AND SADIE!!
i love you all! thanks for all you do!
morg
taryn 5.17.10
Hello~
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CADSTER!!!! you are a teenager?!!!!!! what?! i hope you had such a good day.
Man we are so busy here. I am so tired! it is so so so hard to get up in the mornings lately, racing from apt to apt in the intense heat, sometimes not even having enough time to eat is wearin' me out! by the time the long day is over i lay down and am asleep. the area is doing awesome! we had 12 progressing investigators, 7 with a baptismal date, 24 lessons, for thailand that is really good :) our area is big, we cover two elder areas, we need to start using our time more wisely, maybe doing certain days in certain areas to get more teaching in and less biking. Heavely Father is blessing us so much. Ive never noticed the Lords hand working so much in my and others lives as i have at this time. the past few weeks i have seen His influence in everything we do. I have never felt this tired/wiped out, this accomplished, or this kind of happiness before. its such a different happy. its not an overjoyed kind of thing, but more of a constant assurance that i am working alongside the Lord. I never imagined one of my areas doing this well in thailand, especially in udon. 2 months ago i would have laughed if someone told me. I hope and pray that things will keep going this way and we can keep it up.
Church was really neat last week. it was district conference so the branches from sakonakhon, nong khai, kumphawaphi, and lao came. these are people with incredible faith. it was amazing to see 40 people pull up from lao on songtaws and little old vans, all dressed in their nicest/fanciest outfits. so cute. the had 15 baptisms last year, more than any of the other branches. they dont have missoinaries and arent even able to talk about the gospel outside of church. that is truely the Lord right there. miracles.
cute nong phloy got baptized yesterday. cutest baptismal service, everything was done by the primary except that i played the piano. she bore her testimony after and said how she wants to be a missionary when she grows up.
guy wasnt able to get baptized:( she and her husband arent legally married and he is in isreal for another year. were trying to figure out a way to do it, but it looks like shell have to wait till next year. saturday i sent her husband a bom, some pamphlets, and a gospel principles book (she asked me to sent that, she loves reading it!) this is going to be an eternal family someday. she is someone really special to me, she is the first person that i have felt that if i wasnt here and wasnt listening to the Spirit she wouldnt know about the gospel for awhile longer. about 2 months ago we were inviting in the early morning. we passed a street and then i had the prompting to go back, even though my comp at the time was in one of her bad moods. as i biked down the street i way cute little boy ran out of his gate into the street with his mom chasing after him. she is now patiently waiting to get baptized. she is so golden! last week she was telling us about how she was reading about Christ and she was crying. my district leader said of her interview that she passed with flying colors. the gospel is amazing!!!
Weve begun teaching 3 girls -jin, jiap, and beer- 14-15 years old that are tutored by sister noi, an amazing lady who has introduced the gospel to many converts now. they have come to church 3 weeks in a row now, even though they are the only YW in the branch. they are darling! they keep asking us so many questions like, "what is a member?" "how long do you have to learn until you can be a member?" and "can i be a missionary like you?" jin is the most golden, in our last lesson on sat she told us that she new this message was true from the moment sister noi talked about it. the first time teaching her the thought entered my mind that she will be a missionary someday, though i didnt say anything. then last week she said she wants to be exacly like us. she asked a million questions about missionary work and said she wants to be one. the problem her dad is the only one that has an issue with her changing religions. her goal for bap is the 6th of june, were going to pray a lot and hopefully she can get permission!
we are also teaching a few people that cant read right now, such a barrier in life. we are so blessed. they are having a hard time figuring out prayer, but hopefully they can soon. how wierd would it be
Today we went to nong khai, on the border of lao. we took a boat almost to the other side of the mekong, and also walked the friendship bridge to the border, a sign saying "haam phaan" or "dont cross." i never thought in my life id ever be that close to lao!
times up:(
i love you! i miss you! not too much longer, crazy. stay safe!
love, ชิสเตอร์ ยัง
mom, did you ever get my card sent?
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CADSTER!!!! you are a teenager?!!!!!! what?! i hope you had such a good day.
Man we are so busy here. I am so tired! it is so so so hard to get up in the mornings lately, racing from apt to apt in the intense heat, sometimes not even having enough time to eat is wearin' me out! by the time the long day is over i lay down and am asleep. the area is doing awesome! we had 12 progressing investigators, 7 with a baptismal date, 24 lessons, for thailand that is really good :) our area is big, we cover two elder areas, we need to start using our time more wisely, maybe doing certain days in certain areas to get more teaching in and less biking. Heavely Father is blessing us so much. Ive never noticed the Lords hand working so much in my and others lives as i have at this time. the past few weeks i have seen His influence in everything we do. I have never felt this tired/wiped out, this accomplished, or this kind of happiness before. its such a different happy. its not an overjoyed kind of thing, but more of a constant assurance that i am working alongside the Lord. I never imagined one of my areas doing this well in thailand, especially in udon. 2 months ago i would have laughed if someone told me. I hope and pray that things will keep going this way and we can keep it up.
Church was really neat last week. it was district conference so the branches from sakonakhon, nong khai, kumphawaphi, and lao came. these are people with incredible faith. it was amazing to see 40 people pull up from lao on songtaws and little old vans, all dressed in their nicest/fanciest outfits. so cute. the had 15 baptisms last year, more than any of the other branches. they dont have missoinaries and arent even able to talk about the gospel outside of church. that is truely the Lord right there. miracles.
cute nong phloy got baptized yesterday. cutest baptismal service, everything was done by the primary except that i played the piano. she bore her testimony after and said how she wants to be a missionary when she grows up.
guy wasnt able to get baptized:( she and her husband arent legally married and he is in isreal for another year. were trying to figure out a way to do it, but it looks like shell have to wait till next year. saturday i sent her husband a bom, some pamphlets, and a gospel principles book (she asked me to sent that, she loves reading it!) this is going to be an eternal family someday. she is someone really special to me, she is the first person that i have felt that if i wasnt here and wasnt listening to the Spirit she wouldnt know about the gospel for awhile longer. about 2 months ago we were inviting in the early morning. we passed a street and then i had the prompting to go back, even though my comp at the time was in one of her bad moods. as i biked down the street i way cute little boy ran out of his gate into the street with his mom chasing after him. she is now patiently waiting to get baptized. she is so golden! last week she was telling us about how she was reading about Christ and she was crying. my district leader said of her interview that she passed with flying colors. the gospel is amazing!!!
Weve begun teaching 3 girls -jin, jiap, and beer- 14-15 years old that are tutored by sister noi, an amazing lady who has introduced the gospel to many converts now. they have come to church 3 weeks in a row now, even though they are the only YW in the branch. they are darling! they keep asking us so many questions like, "what is a member?" "how long do you have to learn until you can be a member?" and "can i be a missionary like you?" jin is the most golden, in our last lesson on sat she told us that she new this message was true from the moment sister noi talked about it. the first time teaching her the thought entered my mind that she will be a missionary someday, though i didnt say anything. then last week she said she wants to be exacly like us. she asked a million questions about missionary work and said she wants to be one. the problem her dad is the only one that has an issue with her changing religions. her goal for bap is the 6th of june, were going to pray a lot and hopefully she can get permission!
we are also teaching a few people that cant read right now, such a barrier in life. we are so blessed. they are having a hard time figuring out prayer, but hopefully they can soon. how wierd would it be
Today we went to nong khai, on the border of lao. we took a boat almost to the other side of the mekong, and also walked the friendship bridge to the border, a sign saying "haam phaan" or "dont cross." i never thought in my life id ever be that close to lao!
times up:(
i love you! i miss you! not too much longer, crazy. stay safe!
love, ชิสเตอร์ ยัง
mom, did you ever get my card sent?
jordan 5.17.10
hello family!
well this week went by super fast. emailed on thursday last week so there is not mutch but. so last week an elder from assen where i used to serve said he had a package for me. i had no idea where or who it was from. so he brought it down to amsterdam. it was huge. it ended up being from the Blijelevens. Ramons dad. we baptized ramon in assen and got to know his parents very well. the are good friends. but ramons dad is the one who sent the package. (he is the one that took us to fly the power kites, the kites that are huge like a parachute) any way i open the package and there is a giant backpak and inside the packpack is a full size power kite. its like 12 feet long has handles the whole shebang. i was speachless. he is the kindest peron. that kite aint cheap. they run in the i think aroung 1000 euros. sorry about that one christian. i think i might be sending it home sometime.
we had a sport day on sat and i took it we went to museamplein its a huge grass field right where the rikes and van gogh museam are. we didnt fly it because there was too many people. but i do think i fractured my wrist again. i landed on it pretty hard. it is still useable. its the same bone and wrist i broke skateboarding. i know thats not what you want to hear. but im wondering what to do. i thiink i will wait one more day to see if it feels better. but maybe i need an x ray. i need some advice on what to do. my body is falling apart. and if you could get some of that stuff for my arms i would really appreaciate it.
well our investigators are doing good we have met a few new people this week that sound really posotive. next week is transfers. i will know who my new comp is. pray for me.
well i love you all so mutch. Sam Nyman congrats on your mission call! that is so sweet! you will absolutely love it. dad and mom thanks for the letters. you guys are awesome! chip to bad the trip fell through! rich you are the man, chan you are even a bigger man keep shreading. cam keep painting and climbing. Chad spears your Freakin rad do you get my emails love ya man,dud you are married! Chris did you see the giro d' italia? started in a-dam!, alex word up doggy!, Jann you are coming home!!!!, Billy thanks for the email! taryn you are amazing! morgan hows the french?Wade you betterbe practicing, kendall we have the same manerisms ha ha, Joe you better polsh up all you skills in everysport because i think i can beat you in all of them, mike you the man your going to be getting some nice p.t.a. by the pool pretty soon, jared you should probably work on your pta with mike ha ha
ilove you all elder robert
ps sisters i love you all too!!!
well this week went by super fast. emailed on thursday last week so there is not mutch but. so last week an elder from assen where i used to serve said he had a package for me. i had no idea where or who it was from. so he brought it down to amsterdam. it was huge. it ended up being from the Blijelevens. Ramons dad. we baptized ramon in assen and got to know his parents very well. the are good friends. but ramons dad is the one who sent the package. (he is the one that took us to fly the power kites, the kites that are huge like a parachute) any way i open the package and there is a giant backpak and inside the packpack is a full size power kite. its like 12 feet long has handles the whole shebang. i was speachless. he is the kindest peron. that kite aint cheap. they run in the i think aroung 1000 euros. sorry about that one christian. i think i might be sending it home sometime.
we had a sport day on sat and i took it we went to museamplein its a huge grass field right where the rikes and van gogh museam are. we didnt fly it because there was too many people. but i do think i fractured my wrist again. i landed on it pretty hard. it is still useable. its the same bone and wrist i broke skateboarding. i know thats not what you want to hear. but im wondering what to do. i thiink i will wait one more day to see if it feels better. but maybe i need an x ray. i need some advice on what to do. my body is falling apart. and if you could get some of that stuff for my arms i would really appreaciate it.
well our investigators are doing good we have met a few new people this week that sound really posotive. next week is transfers. i will know who my new comp is. pray for me.
well i love you all so mutch. Sam Nyman congrats on your mission call! that is so sweet! you will absolutely love it. dad and mom thanks for the letters. you guys are awesome! chip to bad the trip fell through! rich you are the man, chan you are even a bigger man keep shreading. cam keep painting and climbing. Chad spears your Freakin rad do you get my emails love ya man,dud you are married! Chris did you see the giro d' italia? started in a-dam!, alex word up doggy!, Jann you are coming home!!!!, Billy thanks for the email! taryn you are amazing! morgan hows the french?Wade you betterbe practicing, kendall we have the same manerisms ha ha, Joe you better polsh up all you skills in everysport because i think i can beat you in all of them, mike you the man your going to be getting some nice p.t.a. by the pool pretty soon, jared you should probably work on your pta with mike ha ha
ilove you all elder robert
ps sisters i love you all too!!!
jordan 5.13.10
hi it is a late email and i dont have much time. wow it was so good to hear everybody. thanks so much for the support.
it sounds like everybody is doing great. this week we had a zone conference. it was good. my comp goes home in two weeks its weird.
cam i saw your paintings they are so rad. whit thanks for sending those. sky and say say! i cant believe you are in the ensign crazy! your famous.
well i think its going to be a short one today. mom and dad it was so good to hear your voices. i love you guys so mutch! i will be writing on mon. thanks for all the emails. chip are you stuill coming out? it was weird to see all the hansons just walking down the street. alright g2g till monday!
e robert
it sounds like everybody is doing great. this week we had a zone conference. it was good. my comp goes home in two weeks its weird.
cam i saw your paintings they are so rad. whit thanks for sending those. sky and say say! i cant believe you are in the ensign crazy! your famous.
well i think its going to be a short one today. mom and dad it was so good to hear your voices. i love you guys so mutch! i will be writing on mon. thanks for all the emails. chip are you stuill coming out? it was weird to see all the hansons just walking down the street. alright g2g till monday!
e robert
5.12.2010
letter from neighbor
this is the 2nd letter from a friend that saw jordan in amsterdam.
Hi, Pam.
It’s Pam here. I’m chuckling because I thought his hair was pretty cute today. Some of our BYU students, who are supposed to also be nice and clean cut, have got the facial hair thing going, one has a borderline mohawk, and one even told me today he was growing out a Mother’s Day moustache. Actually, I did notice today that a couple of the other missionaries had a teency weency bit longer hair than usual. Perhaps it’s a mission thing, where the president doesn’t come down as hard on them as others? Maybe? :)
I just kept looking back at him today at church and wishing I could have hidden you in my suitcase. He seemed so very genuinely happy to be there and said the work is going well. At one point he had his legs crossed and this expression that I have seen Kendall do every once in a while at church. Jordan even had his notebook out taking notes during church. Afterwards, we talked about Morgan and his baptisms, and the very interesting meeting there today. We brought 40 extra people, including our non-member bus driver. Peter is from up north, but it was fun to hear the two of them speaking Dutch. Jordan has got it down!
One lady gave a talk in Spanish, it was translated into Dutch, then into English for us. Another lady gave a talk in English, which was translated into Dutch, and one regular ole guy gave one in Dutch and it was translated for us, too. Then at one point, the Bishop called for all the men in the audience, including Peter, to come up and sing “Oh My Father.” (On Mother’s Day). They all went up. Pretty much half the congregation. They sang wonderfully. I even shed a few tears—it was so nice. Jordan was up there with a big ‘ole smile on his face.
We had a little chat with him after church, took another picture I’ll have to send to you, and he seemed so calm and so happy. I’m so glad you get to talk to him today, and I’m remembering when Nick was in Zimbabwe and how much I ate up every little morsel of anything we could hear about him.What a sweet boy. What a wonderful missionary.
Ooooh, I hope you get to come here. It’s beautiful! The garbage men are all on strike so it’s really filthy around the city. But I’ve always loved Amsterdam. We went to the Anne Frank house after church, and that is always incredible. Makes me feel so grateful. We’ve taken these kids to Normandy, Bastogne, and we’ll also visit Dachau in a few weeks. So they’re getting a dose of WWII as well as hopefully some arts, shopping, and lots of BYU-type partying. They are good kids. I think Mark and I are going to need a vacation after this, though!
Have a wonderful visit with him tonight. It looks to us like all is well and he’s doing a wonderful job!We hope all is going well there.
Love,
pam
Hi, Pam.
It’s Pam here. I’m chuckling because I thought his hair was pretty cute today. Some of our BYU students, who are supposed to also be nice and clean cut, have got the facial hair thing going, one has a borderline mohawk, and one even told me today he was growing out a Mother’s Day moustache. Actually, I did notice today that a couple of the other missionaries had a teency weency bit longer hair than usual. Perhaps it’s a mission thing, where the president doesn’t come down as hard on them as others? Maybe? :)
I just kept looking back at him today at church and wishing I could have hidden you in my suitcase. He seemed so very genuinely happy to be there and said the work is going well. At one point he had his legs crossed and this expression that I have seen Kendall do every once in a while at church. Jordan even had his notebook out taking notes during church. Afterwards, we talked about Morgan and his baptisms, and the very interesting meeting there today. We brought 40 extra people, including our non-member bus driver. Peter is from up north, but it was fun to hear the two of them speaking Dutch. Jordan has got it down!
One lady gave a talk in Spanish, it was translated into Dutch, then into English for us. Another lady gave a talk in English, which was translated into Dutch, and one regular ole guy gave one in Dutch and it was translated for us, too. Then at one point, the Bishop called for all the men in the audience, including Peter, to come up and sing “Oh My Father.” (On Mother’s Day). They all went up. Pretty much half the congregation. They sang wonderfully. I even shed a few tears—it was so nice. Jordan was up there with a big ‘ole smile on his face.
We had a little chat with him after church, took another picture I’ll have to send to you, and he seemed so calm and so happy. I’m so glad you get to talk to him today, and I’m remembering when Nick was in Zimbabwe and how much I ate up every little morsel of anything we could hear about him.What a sweet boy. What a wonderful missionary.
Ooooh, I hope you get to come here. It’s beautiful! The garbage men are all on strike so it’s really filthy around the city. But I’ve always loved Amsterdam. We went to the Anne Frank house after church, and that is always incredible. Makes me feel so grateful. We’ve taken these kids to Normandy, Bastogne, and we’ll also visit Dachau in a few weeks. So they’re getting a dose of WWII as well as hopefully some arts, shopping, and lots of BYU-type partying. They are good kids. I think Mark and I are going to need a vacation after this, though!
Have a wonderful visit with him tonight. It looks to us like all is well and he’s doing a wonderful job!We hope all is going well there.
Love,
pam
5.08.2010
jordan in amersterdam
Some neighbor's of Traci's were in Amsterdam today, they got
off the bus, walked about 10 minutes and saw Jordan!!! They
e-mailed Kendall and told him what happened and they sent a
picture.The husband writes first and then his wife, Pam, writes!
off the bus, walked about 10 minutes and saw Jordan!!! They
e-mailed Kendall and told him what happened and they sent a
picture.The husband writes first and then his wife, Pam, writes!
We arrived in Amsterdam and the bus dropped us off.We walked about 10 minutes down the very busy main drag in Amsterdam between the Central Train Station and the Dam Square. The group said, "Hey there are the missionaries!" I looked up and it was Jordan. He couldn't believe he was seeing someone that he knew. I couldn't believe it either.He looked great. He's healthy and happy.We will see him again tomorrow at Church.
Okay, here's Pam now: He looked wonderful! He was so happy and smiling and so glad to see us and I'm afraid I broke a mission rule but I gave him a big hug. He was so cute. He and his companion looked like angels; they were absolutely glowing. They had our 37 students all crowded around them so excited to see them, and I'll bet it was nice for them to see a whole slew of American kids, too. I kept thinking of Pam and I wished I could have plopped her in my pocket--I'm sure she would have fit--and had her see him.But here's a picture we took. We look forward to seeing him tomorrow. He said he was looking forward to talking to home, as well.
Please tell Pam how wonderfully happy he looked!!!
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