tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44726082536222295202024-03-12T22:32:10.978-07:00Elder Daniel BrownElder Daniel Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14018205927883868516noreply@blogger.comBlogger81125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472608253622229520.post-30503046671927707742011-06-12T22:19:00.000-07:002011-06-12T22:24:30.749-07:00june 12th, 2011-Last Post-Astoke<span style="font-style:italic;">Danny will be coming home so soon! We are very exciting to have him back!!!!!!!!!!!!! He has been very busy lately and is trying to get every ounce out of his mission experience. I hope he does not run too fast....<br />This may be his last post:<br /></span><br />Well. I've got a week left.<br /> <br />Yesterday was Stake Conference. It was a very surreal experience. I ran into so many people that I had met over the last two years. Many people whom recognized me but I couldn't remember them. It was interesting to see so many people that I hadn't seen for so long also knowing that I will probably never see them again.<br /> <br />People say that the only thing in life that doesn't change is change. That really has to be the case. If we think about the purpose of life... the purpose of life is not to sit in the same spot and be as comfortable as possible. The purpose of life is to learn and to grow. Once we have done something, once we have experienced for ourselves, the only thing left to do is to do something else.<br /> <br />My mission experience is almost over. <br /> <br />I'm tired. Really, really tired. I come home every night exhausted, I wake up and when I leave the house I am still exhausted.<br /> <br />I am so tired that I can't even close my eyes while I pray or else I will fall asleep. I have fallen asleep while praying out loud with my companion and he has to wake me up.<br /> <br />I am so tired that I have to eat top-ramen spice packets during studies and stand on one leg so that I don't fall asleep.<br /> <br />I still have time to make a difference. I still have time to meet new people and impact them. I do it on a daily basis. God is still preparing people for me to find and teach. I run into them at their house, on the streets, on the subway, etc. I don't feel like my work is worthless. I know that my work will have great worth, even up to the very last day.<br /> <br />I wish I could do more. I wish I had more strength and energy.<br /> <br />I don't wish for more time. I don't have regrets. I know that God has given me this two years and only these two years. He has prepared a work for me and I did it. I feel that what I have done and what I will do in the next week is all that I can do. I really know what it means to serve with all your heart, might, mind and strength.<br /> <br />Literally, it feels like it is all gone. It feels like I have worked until there is nothing left. Not because I have given up, but because I have fulfilled what I had to do. And when I reach the end, I will be done.<br /> <br />I know that God has prepared things for me to do after my mission as well. With the end of every page, a new one opens.<br /> <br /> <br />See you soon,<br /> <br /> <br />Elder BrownElder Daniel Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14018205927883868516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472608253622229520.post-90575461188852528842011-04-02T11:46:00.000-07:002011-04-02T12:08:36.690-07:00Apr-5-2011<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0of-dgcb3ct8UN4UzggctAsjn9GF1bVCPtOgYalh0SKWBuwodTMe3QibTpcGWxKVz6mbaXnBJ4xYL0MlEyEf67ifLL1tgnoT5TTMkC6oQQUZ2aYw5hs6hV8gqGz3doQJBLrjWEzwD2MA/s1600/%2523Sister+Sri%2527s+DVD+March+2011+007.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0of-dgcb3ct8UN4UzggctAsjn9GF1bVCPtOgYalh0SKWBuwodTMe3QibTpcGWxKVz6mbaXnBJ4xYL0MlEyEf67ifLL1tgnoT5TTMkC6oQQUZ2aYw5hs6hV8gqGz3doQJBLrjWEzwD2MA/s320/%2523Sister+Sri%2527s+DVD+March+2011+007.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591063160454121154" /></a><br /><br />President Smith visiting with Sister Sri,and presenting her with a copy of the DVD made for the church history department. It was a wonderful interview with her sharing her story of being raised by the Queen, reading the Book of Mormon and joining the church, and translating the Book of Mormon into Thai. The Lord prepared her from the very beginning of her life to be able to do this great work for the Thai people. The mission president knew her 40 years ago when he was a missionary in Thailand, and we feel very humbled now to visit with her and feel her love for the Book of Mormon.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQWqf8Wo197vHkCeXni_85bhdzpMd_NKqNZbR34jAbN2uIVvvH0tw4aXLvm4krPYbTvl2GWknbSCgRxuFX0_bB6auBwADZGieU2D6-Zavb_BmtR6LroxbtGz9TiVNY0HhmVxBPAeozu_s/s1600/kenganddanny.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQWqf8Wo197vHkCeXni_85bhdzpMd_NKqNZbR34jAbN2uIVvvH0tw4aXLvm4krPYbTvl2GWknbSCgRxuFX0_bB6auBwADZGieU2D6-Zavb_BmtR6LroxbtGz9TiVNY0HhmVxBPAeozu_s/s320/kenganddanny.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591064591151997090" /></a> 'Keng' a member in thailand that helps the missionaries a lot, had this picture taken of danny and him and then sent it to me on facebook!Elder Daniel Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14018205927883868516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472608253622229520.post-33728066819617947382011-03-26T10:17:00.001-07:002011-03-30T18:40:53.626-07:00mar 23th 2011-Danny tells us that they have been flying all over Thailand doing a lot of training!! This is a picture from sister Smith in a training meeting at Chiangmai. It has the 2 current assistants and the 2 previous assistants. She has good things to say about all the assistants and enjoys the training meetings that they help run.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTSeATjheYIjI_vKuxYeB3Ad7RcJPO8jH6lEr3y22Vp3y9LgqBxHvvtfcwBNifVnhudaECrnrhAJ4CGll4TldU1qkc5HUXVBssraA-32BjndRAuKvUxucJhzDkPyFmYMWda1FWax6T-Rc/s1600/%2523+Pres+%2526+Sis+Smith+%2526+AP%2527S+March+2011+010.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTSeATjheYIjI_vKuxYeB3Ad7RcJPO8jH6lEr3y22Vp3y9LgqBxHvvtfcwBNifVnhudaECrnrhAJ4CGll4TldU1qkc5HUXVBssraA-32BjndRAuKvUxucJhzDkPyFmYMWda1FWax6T-Rc/s320/%2523+Pres+%2526+Sis+Smith+%2526+AP%2527S+March+2011+010.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588439495760541266" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFpHRPh14zhITZUwN7Iqzoti9lSDCrlJiCqqbBtQZa8RpwgS5JnXUp5DcjPWJ9ISfskVzKignIWWmB1wamb9_jZG-8FCRQsMu-HZD38k3aHTu4N5fuZIEnzJJr4dp14KiwgxW6y3prXTw/s1600/Trainings+-March+2011+004.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFpHRPh14zhITZUwN7Iqzoti9lSDCrlJiCqqbBtQZa8RpwgS5JnXUp5DcjPWJ9ISfskVzKignIWWmB1wamb9_jZG-8FCRQsMu-HZD38k3aHTu4N5fuZIEnzJJr4dp14KiwgxW6y3prXTw/s320/Trainings+-March+2011+004.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588444386542809298" /></a><br />According to sister Smith,"These meetings have been wonderful and centered on the Missionary Purpose... (The Doctrine of Christ)" and Revelation through the Holy Ghost. The AP's have spent hours doing role plays with the missionaries teaching them better language skills and teaching skills and learning to follow the spirit of inspiration.Elder Daniel Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14018205927883868516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472608253622229520.post-65060724442683758102011-03-15T20:17:00.000-07:002011-03-26T10:56:46.446-07:00mar 15 2011-Pakkret<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNbrignRpHzlvFrONIfDI1yB6rEMX50p26SKUHbbSImcoKaQvgp3FDr30ICA1DidjoyhB0QwQT41LWFW06zWVDHttZF9rEgFkaQhMuujP9TzB6RK_PYPP0NxVlmupbJP_9YkdbdfBCqws/s1600/DSCN0774close.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNbrignRpHzlvFrONIfDI1yB6rEMX50p26SKUHbbSImcoKaQvgp3FDr30ICA1DidjoyhB0QwQT41LWFW06zWVDHttZF9rEgFkaQhMuujP9TzB6RK_PYPP0NxVlmupbJP_9YkdbdfBCqws/s320/DSCN0774close.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588449104036689458" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMGQteinoBuYxcytKohao5fvaHmIfQGHQDz8rBog6pjPUCe-5ZqaJqCLmqkXJEwGOABWcM_Ph9lNPTUIX2TYx_fz4L-8uofklVa20_wDgGMD3hjombe91kQK4sfmwGtZkQU_8ay22d0vU/s1600/bangkokskyline.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 212px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMGQteinoBuYxcytKohao5fvaHmIfQGHQDz8rBog6pjPUCe-5ZqaJqCLmqkXJEwGOABWcM_Ph9lNPTUIX2TYx_fz4L-8uofklVa20_wDgGMD3hjombe91kQK4sfmwGtZkQU_8ay22d0vU/s320/bangkokskyline.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5584517282448742114" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgXH-WKq4SON-sa1eC9PVYYiCpyK9vaNKBHixaAH57OVjP1k_m05AKU3QHaqUokYtpIbgGPGdGBGJ5ItkU1Xf6SeJYT4SZBKpsYUPQSAEZDaWbA3UGY7i-wW_48KlNr_MLPpoWY1K3X18/s1600/baptism_bahn.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align:left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgXH-WKq4SON-sa1eC9PVYYiCpyK9vaNKBHixaAH57OVjP1k_m05AKU3QHaqUokYtpIbgGPGdGBGJ5ItkU1Xf6SeJYT4SZBKpsYUPQSAEZDaWbA3UGY7i-wW_48KlNr_MLPpoWY1K3X18/s320/baptism_bahn.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5584514231449584786" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Well I was planning on writing a bigger letter today, but time is so precious, and I seem to have less and less of it. I just remembered we are on Summer schedule so instead of having 40 minutes to write, I only have 10 minutes. So oh well.....<br /></div> <div> </div> <div>This week was full of new experiences. Just when I thought I had experienced everything, it changes- it is always good to see new challenges and have new experiences to face.</div> <div> </div> <div> Today we had a baptism for a woman named P. The baptism went great, except for the fact that the whole priesthood body had an activity today and none of them could attend. I ended up conducting the baptismal service. I have never conducted a baptismal service before, it was interesting to be on the other side of the stand for the service. The room was really hot, I was nervous, and was wearing my suit coat. Not a very good combination, but it went really well.<br /></div> <div> </div> <div> Tomorrow will also be a first... the first time I personally baptize someone. A month ago we started teaching an investigator named Kha. We taught her all the way up to the point where she was to be interviewed. That day we found out that she lived one road outside of our area. So we decided it was best to give her to the branch that she belonged to.<br /><br />The Elders over there took over and interviewed her. She passed and they asked her who she wanted to baptize her, and she picked me. Normally when I teach someone about baptism I ask them the question<br />"Which member would you like to baptize you Brother A, Brother B, or Brother C?"<br />That way, they never choose the Elders. I feel that it is important for them to have someone in the ward baptize them, it helps to connect people and keeps them active.<br /><br /><br />But when this missionary asked, she picked me. One rule, when someone picks you, it is rude to say no. So I guess I will have the opportunity to baptize on my mission after all. I am honored to do it, but am always glad when a member has the chance.</div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div>That is it for today. We need to get out and work.<br />I am sending some photos,<br /><br /><br />enjoy,<br />Love,<br /></div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div>Elder D.E.B.</div>Elder Daniel Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14018205927883868516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472608253622229520.post-36610323643808047822011-02-21T13:31:00.000-08:002011-02-21T14:18:10.026-08:00mon feb 21-2011-leadership training bangkok<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZsZcMoDVYi6ROuM7nkqY0ti98wxCyH3GuAoIpupk21pEIHADeZfClAn5Np79Oz8IEwSFqv1jpo3O7x5t9c6iflhAm7XTIK4374Rm02XAxXv7xCK6JXx30viXiMq__FSWPAoCKM5wb_I8/s1600/Dinner+in+Ubon+-+Jan+2011.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:left;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZsZcMoDVYi6ROuM7nkqY0ti98wxCyH3GuAoIpupk21pEIHADeZfClAn5Np79Oz8IEwSFqv1jpo3O7x5t9c6iflhAm7XTIK4374Rm02XAxXv7xCK6JXx30viXiMq__FSWPAoCKM5wb_I8/s320/Dinner+in+Ubon+-+Jan+2011.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576263822485820754" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBxcBE3Uj4EcOiZKoyueMsfdTm4KNr_nNBVpAYCH32da5nwtydaGJCutFtDRvgKnnwtEDPbJVDPpxIlbZd-z3dVfIh4IQbLoEsMgnwUTNHRnyVZ1c9JuYBg-4Tc5dyPEl3exY2URmBUyc/s1600/%2523+Bangkok+leadership+trainingdan1Jan.+2011+002.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBxcBE3Uj4EcOiZKoyueMsfdTm4KNr_nNBVpAYCH32da5nwtydaGJCutFtDRvgKnnwtEDPbJVDPpxIlbZd-z3dVfIh4IQbLoEsMgnwUTNHRnyVZ1c9JuYBg-4Tc5dyPEl3exY2URmBUyc/s320/%2523+Bangkok+leadership+trainingdan1Jan.+2011+002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576259126938759954" /></a> <span style="font-weight:bold;"></span><br /><br />these postings came from pres. smith's Wife's website; Elder Brown is traveling a lot with the President, they are keeping very busy!<br /><br />"<span style="font-weight:bold;">Leadership Training for the Bangkok zones</span><br />This week we had 3 days of leadership training in the Bangkok area zones. The training went very well. President Smith and his assistants (Yea Elder Brown!)did an awesome job. This coming week we will be doing the training in Roi Et for the Isaan zone leaders. Our missionaries are awesome and we love them all"......<br /><br />...."This past week has been incredibly busy. The highlight was the Leadership Training in Roi Et for the Isaan leaders and trainers. I have attached a picture of the group in Roi Et after the meeting, and one of the Roi Et missionaries at dinner with us. We are in Chiangmai for zone conference next WEEK"......<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih4chBo6bd_iAorJXsBHT0dwZQBALW_0yfMx1oBab9-K1eGNqfunD264ww8KAK5Lvy7RD9cpI5QnYCg5YRRyOE0ElmajmV_9jc2UOsoX9UcaOjkk0PBKTMbORR88a7JUEAblBrIVE6qCI/s1600/Thailand_Roi_Et_locator_map.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 182px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih4chBo6bd_iAorJXsBHT0dwZQBALW_0yfMx1oBab9-K1eGNqfunD264ww8KAK5Lvy7RD9cpI5QnYCg5YRRyOE0ElmajmV_9jc2UOsoX9UcaOjkk0PBKTMbORR88a7JUEAblBrIVE6qCI/s320/Thailand_Roi_Et_locator_map.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576260596091824738" /></a> <span style="font-weight:bold;">Roi Et Province</span><br /><br />FROM Elder Brown:<br />....It is crazy busy here!!!! Yes, my old companion, Eider C. left for home, (I will miss him) and my new companion-and the newly called AP, is Elder Mc. I knew him in my group at the MTC before we ever came to Thailand. and I am excited to work with him! We are traveling a ton and teaching the zones as well as still teaching the gospel whenever and wherever we can. <br /><br />...Oh yeah. We still do missionary work every day. We still baptize like crazy. Elder C and I had 5 baptisms two weeks ago, 1 baptism last week, and 2 baptisms this week. Elder Mc and I are looking to find 6 baptisms in March. We are really busy, but not too busy that we can't baptize. It is not easy to find people in Thailand that are ready to hear and commit to Christ, but we have been so blessed ......<br /><br />later,<br />Elder BrownElder Daniel Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14018205927883868516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472608253622229520.post-66523656585828890942011-02-06T20:31:00.000-08:002011-02-06T20:42:58.898-08:00Feb 2011-travel<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgj57F2FF5r1q8oLWutrQ5gPV88ojbYmXf8W3UB2xW7rBTvStva69jeiu4FFYYvVcky_HFQ_FvIrSUqUWKRYOoKoEpPJZtgrwQWOsehqVdRG7qqx0PSD8bNKlkBBKRvWm5mVSE9pjgdVY/s1600/Chiang+Mai+Zone+Conference+4trolleycarFeb_1_2011.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgj57F2FF5r1q8oLWutrQ5gPV88ojbYmXf8W3UB2xW7rBTvStva69jeiu4FFYYvVcky_HFQ_FvIrSUqUWKRYOoKoEpPJZtgrwQWOsehqVdRG7qqx0PSD8bNKlkBBKRvWm5mVSE9pjgdVY/s320/Chiang+Mai+Zone+Conference+4trolleycarFeb_1_2011.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570801572474656002" /></a><br />Last week I went and exchanged in Mahasarakham with Elder T. Pretty interesting exchange because that is my greenie area and also one of the missionaries that I trained. We traveled over to Mahasarakham and got to the house. We sat down and started to talk. We did some roleplays. There was just a lot of training that had to be done. We ended up not leaving the house the whole evening. I felt that we spent our time really well though. Sometimes training opportunities take place outside on the streets, but sometimes more valuable opportunities are in talking, practicing, and training. For dinner we ate at a restaurant that I really liked. Also saw two members Sister Nog and Brother Yong. It was interesting to be able to communicate with them. When I was in Mahasarakham as a greenie, I couldn't really understand them very well.<br /> <br />I've had a couple more exchanges the last few weeks... <br /> <br />Yesterday I was in Kohn Kaen. I exchanged with my old companion, Elder R. He has 13 days left in his mission. It was a good exchange. We talked a lot about the mission, the zone, his companion, and life. I gave him some good ideas of how to propose to his girlfriend. We also taught a really sweet lesson to a woman named Toy. She is the Aunt of these two people we baptized while I was there. One of the best lessons I've ever taught. We were really unified and the Spirit was really strong. We taught about having faith in Jesus Christ and conforming our lives to His teachings. She is really caught up in Buddhism. Basically every aspect of her life is heavily rooted in Buddhism: school, family, work, etc.. I've got a lot of hope for her.<br />Have a good week.<br /><br />Peace,<br />Elder BrownElder Daniel Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14018205927883868516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472608253622229520.post-86493483137143856322011-02-06T20:15:00.000-08:002011-02-06T20:39:03.148-08:00feb 4 2011-zone conference<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpFqmz-b1wLyIttw9hbYu4kJOnun4flfsLmHPDmltZ_zGF1oDtwQ60QBIx4adS95SK19NDlSs26K1FUknDNboxrI-ixGdaVukd-7CfjYeMOpTB5ZEAjOPGVLySBFJiVY6d_tLOwycqAEc/s1600/Pakkret+Zone+Conference+b6Feb_2_+2011.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpFqmz-b1wLyIttw9hbYu4kJOnun4flfsLmHPDmltZ_zGF1oDtwQ60QBIx4adS95SK19NDlSs26K1FUknDNboxrI-ixGdaVukd-7CfjYeMOpTB5ZEAjOPGVLySBFJiVY6d_tLOwycqAEc/s320/Pakkret+Zone+Conference+b6Feb_2_+2011.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570799695267817618" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRncXqHgqrNkwtPPVGNMpm93EecaqaMcfkYiFN0w_UwfQG0ZuOZxDtLHOky_jL_kTzmM8Vpr-FjLlDdWn63vcyrOF78asjxtKhc3h9khTVef_M9SZty9Oj41jm3VChHkVppDFczGC-DzY/s1600/Wat_Arun_%2528Temple_of_the_Dawn%2529.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRncXqHgqrNkwtPPVGNMpm93EecaqaMcfkYiFN0w_UwfQG0ZuOZxDtLHOky_jL_kTzmM8Vpr-FjLlDdWn63vcyrOF78asjxtKhc3h9khTVef_M9SZty9Oj41jm3VChHkVppDFczGC-DzY/s320/Wat_Arun_%2528Temple_of_the_Dawn%2529.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570797994816334306" /></a><br /><br />Hello. Wow it's February.<br /> <br />Things are going by so fast, it feels like a whirlwind. It's really hard to even write emails anymore because so many things happen. Even if I wrote a daily email, it would be hard for me to keep up.<br /> <br />I guess one interesting update is last week I went to my first Buddhist temple. Yeah, I know. Pretty pathetic that I have been in one of the most dominant Buddhist countries for the last year and a half and have never been inside a temple. On preparation days I am always doing stuff such as helping people get baptized or other such silly things. On feb 2 we had the Pakkret zone conference, after zone conferences the mission has zone activities, so we ended up going to a temple. It was interesting. After lunch at the church we drove the office vehicles to the Grand Palace and then took the ferry over the river to the “Temple of the Dawn” or Wat Phra Aran. It was awesome, but the stairs were unbelievably steep.<br />Haha. It might have been cooler, but President Smith was there and he didn't want us climbing up the high staircase. Not sure what is at the top, maybe it is cool.<br /> <br />Zone conferences are only once a quarter nowadays. The conference was pretty good. I was really tired, I wish I could've got more out of it.<br /> <br />Sorry,<br />I am out of time, <br />got to go,<br /><br />Love<br />Elder BrownElder Daniel Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14018205927883868516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472608253622229520.post-17452046982582405322011-01-21T23:34:00.000-08:002011-02-06T20:15:03.817-08:00pakkret-Jan 22-2011<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh9nSef8CLeFBGWFYfR4X7olhmgSMmDQs19E30FMDTj87aBeZXLm722NQlr9sPhyphenhyphenQp1IG71PYHZwwscB7kLTrOZVShhM2OHIwJ5qpQ_Ud9AYzksyZG5Ejj9bwcyAS-3aAyBe_N9lFaJI0/s1600/%2523+Bangkok+leadership+training+Jan.+2011+010.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh9nSef8CLeFBGWFYfR4X7olhmgSMmDQs19E30FMDTj87aBeZXLm722NQlr9sPhyphenhyphenQp1IG71PYHZwwscB7kLTrOZVShhM2OHIwJ5qpQ_Ud9AYzksyZG5Ejj9bwcyAS-3aAyBe_N9lFaJI0/s320/%2523+Bangkok+leadership+training+Jan.+2011+010.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570796345394533010" /></a><br />Hi!<br /><br />Well I'm tired! Definitely more tired than I have been on my whole mission. You know they say that being tired is good, because it means you are working hard. Yesterday I was translating at a leadership meeting. Translating from English to Thai for the Thai missionaries that were wearing headsets. At one point I fell asleep mid-sentence and my companion had to reach over and wake me up. It was pretty funny. I didn't really know that it was possible to fall asleep while talking, but apparently it is.<br /> <br />So, I got my drivers license. Pretty terrifying. The thing that is the hardest for me right now is just driving such a big van into such small areas. The streets are so small and are packed with cars and people. Very hard to not crash into anything. Luckily, there are crash sensors in most of the cars here so whenever I get close to crashing into something the sensor lights will turn on. In terms of the driving etiquette here. I actually like it. There are three main rules to driving in Thailand.<br /> <br />1: Pick - Pick is really important. If you don't know how to pick, you basically will never get anywhere. In America we refer to picking as "cutting someone off" but in Thailand it is fair game. As long as you can get your front bumper in front of traffic, you have the right-of-way.<br /> <br />2: Flow - Flow is hard to get used to. Regardless of how crazy people are driving. Example: Driving on the wrong side of the road, cutting across multiple lanes of traffic, six lanes going down a four lane road, etc. You just go with the flow. Don't ask questions.<br /> <br />3: Big - This one is simple. The bigger your car is, the more right-of-way you have. Buses hit their brakes for no one. So when you think about pulling out in front of traffic, you have to see if you are pulling in front of something small like a motorcycle or something big like a bus. Luckily, we drive a really big van so often times we win the battle.<br /> <br />After I was cleared by the embassy and got my documents it was ridiculously easy to get a license. There was no driving test, no written test, they didn't even check to see if I could read Thai road signs. There was a slight vision test, but not like any vision test in America. They checked long-distance color-blindness, weird. They tested reaction speed, really really easy. Lastly, they tested peripheral color-blindness. I totally couldn't do this last test at all, but they passed me anyways. I paid a couple of bucks then I was on the road.<br /> <br />So I've been in the office for two weeks now. I'm starting to understand my role a lot better. I'm still pretty lost, but there is a lot of change that I need to start assimilating quicker. Another three weeks and Elder Chiu will be gone and I'll have to run it by myself. This is basically our schedule: <br /> <br />Monday: In the morning we might be with President Smith for about two hours. We talk about the previous weeks efforts. We talk about individual companionships, districts, zones, and the mission as a whole. We discuss business that needs to be taken care of and other things that we need to do. Monday then turns into an office day. Lots of administrative tasks: calendars, emails, travel plans, hotels, interviews, exchanges, etc.. Then we call all six of the zone leader companionships to talk about their results and responsibilities. It serves as a weekly accountability interview. We try to make it out of the office by 5-6 to go out and work in our area.<br /> <br />Tuesday: Similar idea. We finish up all the stuff that we were given to do on Monday. We tend to get out to work in our area a lot quicker. One bonus about being here is that we don't teach English Class. Yay! One less thing to think about. The district leader takes care of English class for us.<br /> <br />Wednesday-Friday: Usually should be normal days. However, recently we have been having three-day leadership trainings all over the country so basically all these days have been shot. Those should be over soon so we will be getting more time in our area soon.<br /> <br />Saturday: Preparation day. Kinda. Basically preparation day doesn't really happen. We send email, but sometimes we just send it from our cellphone. Preparation day ends at six, but typically we are doing missionary activities the whole day anyways.<br /> <br />Sunday: We come into the office at around seven or eight to start collecting the missions weekly results. We call all the zone leaders and collect their individual key-indicator results. We also take the names of the people who are baptized. We put all the information into the computer. After making some graphs and lists we print them off and stumble home at around midnight.<br /> <br />That is our weekly schedule, but that doesn't really include some other duties. Every month we have to exchange with all six zone leader companionships for at least 24 hours a piece. Sometimes it is slightly hard because three of the companionships are over six hours away so often times we have to travel. Luckily, the common choice of travel for us is airplane. Aside from the zone leaders we exchange with other companionships that are struggling or companionships that President Smith assigns us to exchange with.<br /> <br />We collect daily key indicators from the zone leaders every night before going to bed. This usually keeps us up pretty late every night. We also talk to them quickly about questions or help that they need.<br /> <br />Once a month we organize transfer meetings. I haven't done this yet so I'm not really sure how much of a role we play. I know that we have to organize travel and stuff. Make sure everyone gets down here ok and help them get visas. Also we have to pick up new missionaries from the airport and send old missionaries to the airport. The first day the new missionaries come in, we get to work with them for an evening.<br /> <br />Once a month we have a zone leader council meeting where we get to train the zone leaders and follow-up on their goals. Several days a month we have specialized training meetings where we have to translate and also evaluate missionary roleplays.<br /> <br />We also get a lot of calls from members and missionaries that have questions. Basically we serve as a filter service for President Smith.<br /> <br />Yeah. As for now, that is a short list of what I am doing. It is pretty fun, kinda exhausting. We still get to work in our area fairly often. We still find, teach, and baptize investigators, just some of the other time gets sucked up by new responsibilities.<br /> <br />Anyways. I'm out of time. <br />Sorry, This email was kind of boring.<br /><br />Elder Brown<br /> <br />Bye!Elder Daniel Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14018205927883868516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472608253622229520.post-72094186320046743422011-01-07T23:18:00.000-08:002011-01-11T17:01:35.671-08:001/7/2011-Friday- Pakkret<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3mrNlqz5GfRozsc5o8bjcf3IEUHYdsaL76bSoYRA0Zx8TfqfCAVjYlNwgY5GCR78exWekcAzunPA5z7nYz9-pCsKG7M4NNkQQCohhfoIOTpOfoEOgS3AGDQ0wSnaVZo4CqCzi_Gbx7Js/s1600/daa+in+udorn.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3mrNlqz5GfRozsc5o8bjcf3IEUHYdsaL76bSoYRA0Zx8TfqfCAVjYlNwgY5GCR78exWekcAzunPA5z7nYz9-pCsKG7M4NNkQQCohhfoIOTpOfoEOgS3AGDQ0wSnaVZo4CqCzi_Gbx7Js/s320/daa+in+udorn.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561098264321250850" /></a><br />Hello. <br />I'm all moved in here in Pakkret. Too bad I'll have to pack up and move again soon. I won't be moving areas, but we are moving houses real soon. We will probably change houses in about two weeks. As for me, I am really tired! The last few evenings I have been dead tired. Not really quite sure why, just really exhausted. I guess that is a sign that I am working hard.<br /> <br />My new companion is Elder C. He is a missionary that I have looked up to for a long time now, I am really glad to be able to serve with him. He was in the group ahead of me in the MTC, so I have known him since then. He was also my zone leader for a transfers while I was serving as a district leader in Bangnaa. He grew up on the East Coast and he is half Chinese. We live in the same house with the office elders. The companionship in the office right now is Elder P and Elder M. I knew Elder M from my student ward at BYU. Also serving as our district leader is Elder H, he was my companion in the MTC.<br /> <br />Here in Pakkret it is much hotter than it was in Kohn Kaen. We are just north of Bankok, we are touching the city so it is hard to even distinguish a difference between here and Bangkok. The first few days in an area are always a little bit weird. I don't know anyone, I don't know where anything is, and I don't know what any of my responsibilities are. I always feel bad for my companion for the first week or so. I pretty much am forced to watch and try to assist where I can.<br /> <br />This coming week will be my first trip up north. Everyone has always said that Northern Thailand is the best part of the county, but we have such few missionaries up there that I have never had the chance to serve there. However, I will be going up there to assistant in the leadership training meeting. In the month of January there will be three meetings. One in Chiang Mai(north), one in Asook(bangkok), and one in Roiett(isaan). Each one of these meetings is three days long. Each day is about ten hours long. That right there is nine days out of the month in meetings.<br /> <br />I am excited for my new duties as an assistant. A lot of time is spent out of our area, but we still have enough time in the area to scrounge together some investigators and baptize them. The assistants had three baptisms last transfers, so it seems like we are still able to baptize fairly well. <br />I think we are going to always try to email Saturday afternoon. But I bet there will be times where that will change. For example next Saturday I will be on a plane coming back to Bangkok around this time. So not quite sure what will happen...<br /> <br />Yeah. I still get to do a lot of on-the-street missionary work. Probably actually more than my last assignment. The thing is, about half of the work that I will be doing will be in other areas. We just have to travel so much.<br /> <br />I'm not really sure what my assignment entails yet, I'm going to have to work for a week or two to see. We still have an area, we still get to teach. Sometimes it is just abroad. As for when we are in our area, some of the deadhours(afternoon time) will be spent in the office. We will always be working on the streets in the evenings though.<br /><br /><br />On Monday I will be getting my drivers license. I am kinda scared for that. A couple of reasons:<br /><br />1. They drive on the left side of the road here.<br />2. The steering wheel is on the right side of the car.<br />3. Driving etiquette in Asia is way different than driving etiquette in America.<br />4. I haven't driven anything but a bike in like two years.<br />5. Bangkok traffic is frightening even as a pedestrian.<br /> <br />Well that's about it. Wish me luck.Elder Daniel Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14018205927883868516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472608253622229520.post-57323065885799152182011-01-03T18:06:00.000-08:002011-01-03T18:08:48.302-08:00Jan 03-2011<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7tivfqLjr9eMej7AgSu4D38EWjuNQCyP64zs7EQ6qb5vgMzYb_1sq5UJkky3MIhXxAzsneGwkt7vqK-9E-nxiKVAv9QmHXLcSMhjRsIxmYsZzDlg7h6B8YCfeC0zPepDIY6NGc2DrqMU/s1600/bom+in+bangnaa.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7tivfqLjr9eMej7AgSu4D38EWjuNQCyP64zs7EQ6qb5vgMzYb_1sq5UJkky3MIhXxAzsneGwkt7vqK-9E-nxiKVAv9QmHXLcSMhjRsIxmYsZzDlg7h6B8YCfeC0zPepDIY6NGc2DrqMU/s320/bom+in+bangnaa.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558146909326055298" /></a><br />Hello!<br /><br />Well somehow transfers number twelve is coming to an end this week. I now am a teenager! Transfer number thirteen is about to start up. Elder Ritchie will be staying in Kohn Kaen and I will be moving to Bakkret. I really will miss Kohn Kaen. I was here for less than three months but I feel very close to the area, the branch, the converts, and the members. This week Kohn Kaen will be having another baptism. That makes eleven baptisms in the last six weeks. The work really has exploded here. We were talking to President Smith last night and he was mentioning the possibility of new buildings. One of the possibilities for future buildings he listed off was Kohn Kaen. The Area Supervisors were a little bit skeptical because Kohn Kaen's membership is still pretty low but he told them that Kohn Kaen now has families. That made me really happy to hear. Kohn Kaen is the District Center but it has always kinda struggled. I hope that this is the chance to change that.<br /><br />I really don't know what to say about the work. It seems like so much has happened and it is really hard to express it concisely and in a manner that you could understand. Suffice to say, I have changed a lot the last three months. Not just as a missionary or in terms of missionary work, but as a person too. I haven't changed this much as a person since winter last year in Ubon. Last year was more of a forced change, this year was more of self-motivated decision. A lot of these changes have to do with communication. There were some specific weaknesses in the way that I communicate that I am really trying to fix. I feel that these things have helped me motivate and uplift the missionaries that I serve. A lot of these changes have to do with faith. I feel I have made leaps of progress in understanding the principle of faith and have figured out ways to build and use my faith. A lot of these changes have to do with pride. I'm a prideful person. It has to be my greatest weakness. This last month I have really come to terms with this weakness and have made a lot of progress towards being meek and humble.<br /><br />I was realizing the other day one thing that I have learned on my mission. Just how every single person is unique. More unique than I previously thought. There are countless amounts of attributes, gifts, talents, etc. and everyone has a random assortment of them. Some people have a lot, some people have a few. Everyone has something that they are given. Everyone has the ability to increase the things that they struggle with. They also can hone the skills that they already have and make them even better. I'm grateful for the gifts that I have been blessed with.<br /><br />On a lighter note. My old, disgusting helmet got stolen. Not sure who in the world would want to steal a two year old helmet that only fits an American sized large head. But oh well. I was too cheap to buy a new one, so Elder Ritchie and I have been riding helmetless for the ten days. I didn't want to buy a new one because I thought next transfers I wouldn't need one. Bangkok doesn't really use bikes. My foresight paid off. I just hope I don't hit a car in the next two days. Cross your fingers!<br /><br />Last thing I want to talk about today is the guy who is getting baptized this week. His name is "M" and he is thirty-two years old. It's very interesting because as I have been striving to teach more efficiently I have noticed that God has prepared people to meet our teaching ability. Before I met M I thought that I had met prepared people, but this guy just blew everyone out of the water. He showed up at the church building last Sunday. He came in the afternoon hoping that there was a church service. He had been to one of our church services in Bangkok a year previous. He saw the name of our church and recognized it and was impressed to come in. On the first day we talked about baptism and committed him to be baptized in two weeks. He was very excited and accepted. The next time we met him we were on an exchange with President Smith. It was a pretty short lesson, only about twenty minutes but we taught the whole restoration message, parts of the gospel, the word of wisdom, the law of chastity, and many other things. He sucked it all up and was able to recite it all by memory. We met him for the third time this last week. Finished teaching him in about an hour. His comprehension and memory was absolutely out of control. He was able to grasp onto concepts such as the fall with ease without us ever teaching him. His main concern in life is to get married and have a family. We committed him to live the law of the sabbath and he agreed even though this week he went back home to be with his family for new years. That didn't stop him, he traveled over 100 kilometers from his house into the city and found a member to stay with that night in order to attend church the next morning. He is going to be interviewed today and I am confident he will pass. We only taught the guy three times. I know God prepares his children.<br /><br /><br />Anyways,<br /><br />Elder BrownElder Daniel Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14018205927883868516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472608253622229520.post-17745961173972689032010-12-20T14:10:00.000-08:002010-12-20T14:16:04.868-08:00Dec 20th 2010<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9pyQalgKXfTg1EVPmNj8IXMEcJCe0QkFMDdrBFhRO8HOfLlTHcY1v3dLd9fDNzYlflUSohgtBX6jdDCmzb3sbMvuhGi0Ps-CXbKIGcYzSQAU5JTv70_Nvjtz5Fen3rGAXmCLjEm0Ix6M/s1600/dannypiano.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9pyQalgKXfTg1EVPmNj8IXMEcJCe0QkFMDdrBFhRO8HOfLlTHcY1v3dLd9fDNzYlflUSohgtBX6jdDCmzb3sbMvuhGi0Ps-CXbKIGcYzSQAU5JTv70_Nvjtz5Fen3rGAXmCLjEm0Ix6M/s320/dannypiano.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552891147679823410" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">It was so fun to find this picture on facebook of danny playing the piano at some meeting! Nice to know he is still really alive and well!!!! I knew there was a good use for facebook! I will find some time next week to post up a couple of letters!<br /></span><br />Danny would love to hear from you for CHRISTMAS! It is <span style="font-weight:bold;">not</span> too late, feel free to write him!<br /><br />Please Write Danny! He loves your letters!<br /><br />All letters go to the mission home in Thailand.<br /><br />Elder Daniel Elling Brown<br />Thailand Bangkok Mission Home Address<br />50/829-832 Muang Thong Thani<br />Chaengwatana Road, T.<br />Ban Mai A., Pakkret, Nonthaburi 11120<br />ThailandElder Daniel Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14018205927883868516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472608253622229520.post-85183223073867473412010-11-29T22:06:00.000-08:002010-11-29T22:37:50.641-08:00Nov 29 2010 - kohn kaen<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXccG3fHO9CSaHMYrLcO24hkIW9nJPH4gt8EAn-ttC9yyNtuC4iS4GTQGPQjLkXWQbuqXakPfIUYJ1nAKSn-1t5SR6tsImTgsPIo7V0ZVquxJF9rrs1e4EZ9yxHLoLtktcSIaaFZV8kUE/s1600/pakkretmovespicsistersmith.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXccG3fHO9CSaHMYrLcO24hkIW9nJPH4gt8EAn-ttC9yyNtuC4iS4GTQGPQjLkXWQbuqXakPfIUYJ1nAKSn-1t5SR6tsImTgsPIo7V0ZVquxJF9rrs1e4EZ9yxHLoLtktcSIaaFZV8kUE/s320/pakkretmovespicsistersmith.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545225610059008706" /></a><br />Hello all,<br />Sorry not much time left to write, you can post the following that I wrote to Nate and parts of my letter to the Mission president...<br /><br />I am still serving in Kohn Kaen which is out in the sticks. I am Serving in the country over by the Laotian border. This is where I have been for almost all of my mission. I had a few months outside of the southern tip of Bangkok but then they threw me back into my homeland. It is odd that I have been out here so much, simply because the majority of the missionaries serve in Bangkok, and I still haven't been in the main part of the city my whole mission. The city I am in is called Kohn Kaen. It is a pretty main city. We have shopping malls and all that jazz. I am serving as a Zone Leader which I have really enjoyed. I was called as a Zone Leader about 3-4 months ago. It was a big change! I trained for a very long time. Then they moved me with a veteran companion. I feel like I am still learning so much! I will be here for another 5 weeks then I will be transferring. I will most definitely be heading to Bangkok. I don't really have any other option at this point. That should be an adventure.<br /><br />Danny tells us that he is excited to speak at an upcoming Zone Leader Council.... ...It is on a topic that I feel very passionate about. I have caught a new vision and I hope to be able to share it with everyone. That is one thing I love about being a Zone Leader is the opportunity to train. Sure, being a trainer was an opportunity to train; train the basics in finding, teaching, and planning. But the training as a Zone Leader is different. I have learned so much about my responsibilities as a Zone Leader the last few months. I love being able to see a problem, after identifying the problem I love to make plans and receive revelation for the District Leaders. Then after that is the hard part, being able to implement the will of the Lord in a loving way so that they will actually accept it. I love seeing changes. I love seeing people repent, whether it be investigators or missionaries. I love the perspective that I have been blessed with.<br />Missionary work is not hard. We must be personally worthy, seek the will of the Lord, and be humble enough to learn and grow in the ways that the Lord wants us to. If we do it any other way, then it is hard.<br />I feel so blessed!<br /><br />Elder BrownElder Daniel Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14018205927883868516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472608253622229520.post-88707741645848106462010-11-08T22:58:00.000-08:002010-11-08T23:02:13.529-08:00Nov 8th 2010-Kohn Kaen<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5319BNQ7cLiYsn0bEYZwNgXf-2uNHnAxVWINVXiKO_Rwv1VVOSd6DWtuc1R0vnftsgQfaR1kXrCMO8UsdvyPeTQ4CGduZCD4by-aPz-lK4Ycepx1wSVvQTL7WWGPYzKqZov2O9EH6mik/s1600/dannyandelderrichie.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5319BNQ7cLiYsn0bEYZwNgXf-2uNHnAxVWINVXiKO_Rwv1VVOSd6DWtuc1R0vnftsgQfaR1kXrCMO8UsdvyPeTQ4CGduZCD4by-aPz-lK4Ycepx1wSVvQTL7WWGPYzKqZov2O9EH6mik/s320/dannyandelderrichie.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537441565835127090" /></a><br /> Hope all is well and that life isn't too crazy.<br /> <br /> <br />This week went by very quick. I was only in Kohn Kaen for one day this week, Sunday. All the other days I was on the road. Many, many hours spent this week traveling.<br /> <br />Time on a bus: Tuesday to Bangkok 6 hours, Wednesday bus home 6 hours. Thursday bus to Udorn 3 hours, Friday Bus home 3 hours. Saturday bus to Korat 3 hours, Saturday Bus home 4 hours. Sunday bus to Banphai 1 hour, and 1 hour home. Yeah, I spent about two entire proselyting days on a bus. Oh well.<br /> <br />With all of this traveling and training I have really become to appreciate the time that I do have in my area. It makes it necessary to use every second that we do have. It is fairly common to be on splits with members every night that we are actually in Kohn Kaen just trying to get investigators taught. <br /> <br />Everything is going well. The weather is fantastic. The new Book of Mormon is out.<br /> <br />Speaking of which, a few copies released this week. The main shipment should be coming within a couple of weeks. <br />It will be great to have. Let's hope the translation is accurate.<br />Later<br />Love <br />Elder BrownElder Daniel Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14018205927883868516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472608253622229520.post-40252719145690742382010-11-02T09:52:00.000-07:002010-11-02T09:58:30.518-07:00Nov -2 -1020<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7l3wDLnKKf1M-ARFHS6oZtNolpDswErIP93zNs1s0o-2k0PSkFC01QALXuj1hJrAOHUu2NR9NFX1RzcDW7TfW7KzM7Gm373vtU_WjpDtqukntWwcw_MmUd1KrYdGhNFFhjpNb2hXxWY4/s1600/conferencemay2010.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 144px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7l3wDLnKKf1M-ARFHS6oZtNolpDswErIP93zNs1s0o-2k0PSkFC01QALXuj1hJrAOHUu2NR9NFX1RzcDW7TfW7KzM7Gm373vtU_WjpDtqukntWwcw_MmUd1KrYdGhNFFhjpNb2hXxWY4/s320/conferencemay2010.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534997827028233090" /></a><br />Hello<br /> <br />This week was pretty busy. I spent 4 days in Roiett for training. <br /> <br /> <br />On Tuesday we went down there to teach a district meeting about how to find people to teach. It was a really good meeting. We started out by talking about our purpose as missionaries. We taught from 2 Nephi 31 and talked about the Father's purpose, Jesus Christ's purpose, Nephi's purpose, and how our purpose is related to theirs. After that we talked about the importance of showing love for the people we meet. Then we talked about the importance of extending specific and firm commitments when contacting people on the streets.<br /> <br /> <br />I want to talk a little bit more specifically about those three things.<br /> <br />Our purpose as missionaries is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. Yeah, it is a mouth full. It is very interesting to note that this is the mission of God as well, we as missionaries simply play a different role in this mission. The Father is the creator. He came up with the plan. It is His kingdom and His eternal life. He has made the rules. Jesus Christ is the way. Jesus Christ filled in all of the holes and made it possible. He showed us the way. The purpose of the prophet is to guide mankind and show them how to follow Jesus Christ. Being perfect is quite hard and simply seeing the example is oftentimes not enough. God has given us prophets to guide and direct us in following the example of Jesus Christ. We as missionaries have been called by the Prophet to help him with this work. We are guides to help people find, understand, believe, use, and follow the restored teachings of Jesus Christ.<br /> <br />Love is a harder thing. It has always been hard for me to love people, especially when I don't know the person. One thing that has really helped me is my love for Jesus Christ. Even though sometimes it is hard for me to love everyone, I do know that Jesus Christ loves everyone. So I can feel confident that when I approach people that if they can't feel my love, at least they can feel the love of Jesus Christ.<br /> <br />Lastly, the importance of commitments. Commitments are things that go hand-in-hand with missionary work. It is going to be very hard for me to go home into "normal life" and not give people commitments to repent and to change. Everything we do, regardless of it is teaching, finding, or simply calling on the phone, we are committing people to change their lives. One important thing that I have learned about commitments is asking people very specific and direct questions. This ensures that you are giving them a clear choice and that they can actually use their agency to pick between choice A or choice B. In Thai it has been difficult to break out of habits of asking lackadaisical questions and starting asking direct questions. Whenever missionaries are struggling, usually the first thing I suggest is to change their commitment pattern. Be bold. Be direct. Always invite people to repent.<br /> <br /> <br />We went back home Tuesday night to teach English and got a phone call from the Assistants that we would have additional guests staying with us that night. We have been trying to clean our apartment the last few weeks, and it was still a mess. We ended up having 8 people stay at our house. The next morning we headed back to Roiett for a Leadership Training Meeting with President Smith. The meeting lasted three days and focused on teaching more effectively. The hotel we stayed in was way swanky. The breakfast in the hotel was incredible. They even had bacon. A lot of it.<br /> <br />We got back to our area Friday night. We went companion exchanges with the Assistants. I worked with Elder C(he was my zone leader a couple of months ago) and Elder Ritchie worked with Elder G. The exchange was pretty good. Taught a lot of lessons. Extended a baptismal commitment to a new family I found last week at the market. They are very excited. This family consists of a mom, a daughter, a grandmother, and other assorted relatives. They seem really interested and we have a goal to have them baptized by the end of November.<br /> <br /> <br />Anyways,<br /> <br />Elder BrownElder Daniel Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14018205927883868516noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472608253622229520.post-11820215824748411372010-10-25T16:28:00.000-07:002010-10-26T11:58:46.878-07:00Mon Oct. 25th 2010<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicg78Vd8ZF5ajXcc3IUegEOFf6upMeFufi97yyiwMeWgAh0bRbone1WNg7EFdIUiO7pv8EYSOUB5ed83do4zE68P4pwA8V_4_S9Uu55Gi7GsijAmI8IC1B6CF_rQQY3dD-VcagRy4uZ3M/s1600/flooding.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicg78Vd8ZF5ajXcc3IUegEOFf6upMeFufi97yyiwMeWgAh0bRbone1WNg7EFdIUiO7pv8EYSOUB5ed83do4zE68P4pwA8V_4_S9Uu55Gi7GsijAmI8IC1B6CF_rQQY3dD-VcagRy4uZ3M/s320/flooding.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532430467323087602" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtZ5wR8XkoxaQqwyijQUae0AaPRgrIflT_uNYnr25TSdiVhBuYlEf3m5W1vzoSRnUFalwh7Oa-0St-P1HPA_wCGT4XvsYr5rdcBir53RZWyyc9mXJlQFQrpTCdi7FFP2V1Adaeovx08js/s1600/floodingkorat.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtZ5wR8XkoxaQqwyijQUae0AaPRgrIflT_uNYnr25TSdiVhBuYlEf3m5W1vzoSRnUFalwh7Oa-0St-P1HPA_wCGT4XvsYr5rdcBir53RZWyyc9mXJlQFQrpTCdi7FFP2V1Adaeovx08js/s320/floodingkorat.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532429793129973314" /></a> There has been a lot of flooding in Thailand in Oct. Here are a couple of pictures. President Smith is standing in what was a field.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> <br />This week has been crazy busy and the craziness is only getting crazier. I really feel that my life as a zone leader has actually started. Before the change to merge zones together, zones were too small and the role of the zone leader didn't really exist. Now with the combined zone, suddenly zone leader are no longer just some sort of glorified district leader. I've come to discover that the role of a zone leader is very similar to the role of a trainer, except for the fact that I live in different cities than my district leaders, work in different areas, and never see them.<br /> <br />I finally had a chance to meet a couple of our investigators in this area. There is a sweet family whose names are Jeep, Bee, and Boom. Jeep is the father, Bee is his wife, and Boom is their little son. They are both teachers at a local college and have been learning with the missionaries for over a month now. I have seen them once and we taught about praying as a family. As I have been teaching families for awhile now, I have really found that the commitment to pray as a family is so very important. I think it is overlooked by a lot of people, but I think it helps so much because it involves a principle of accountability. One thing I have learned on my mission is: if something is not working the way it should, it is most likely a problem of accountability. I'll explain. When we have fathers and mothers take the responsibility to teach and pray with their kids, it makes the parents study and do the things they are teaching their kids. It makes them the teacher, not the learner. Also it makes them accountable to their kids for the things that they are teaching them.<br /> <br />I met another investigator named Oobah. She is female in her mid-twenties who was referred to us by a member. She has been learning for about a month and has had an interesting learning experience. She has lots of friends who are members of many different sects of Christianity, so she has been "shopping around" for awhile now. Fortunately for us, she had the chance to talk to Elder Perkins, of the Seventy, for about half an hour last week. She has almost stopped learning several times but I really feel that she is almost converted. Right now we are really trying to help her build a relationship with God. She believes in God. She thinks that God can help her, but without a clear belief of who God is and how He relates to us it is almost impossible to get an answer. God is not running or hiding from us. Contacting God is not a difficult search that we have to read many books or study with many teachers to accomplish, but contacting God simply is humbling ourselves to the point that we actually believe that it is easy enough as to ask and receive. Sometimes this humbling process takes a long journey, but it most certainly does not have to be long or hard at all.<br /> <br />I also met a cute little family. The fathers name is Bradit and the moms name is Noy. They have 4 kids. Three adolescent girls, and a baby boy. Also their grandma lives at the house too. The grandma is absolutely hilarious. She is really old and has a hard time hearing so oft times she will say things that are absolutely off topic. She always tells us that we are really good people and that she likes us, which is actually really interesting for the older generation. Typically the very old generation is more shut to ideas of Christianity or ideas of listening to foreigners, but she is convinced that we are holy men that can help her family. Bradit was actually taught by the elders about two years ago. He finished the Book of Mormon but never really attended church. Things just never really worked out. I'm excited for them and feel that there is a lot of potential in that family. Noy really opened up last lesson. I feel that she has been really left out of the whole thing for too long and now she feels included.<br /> <br />Kohn Kaen is very busy. The next two weeks are going to be hectic. This week I will only be in Kohn Kaen for 2 days. I will be spending most of my week training or getting trained. President Smith is coming up for a couple of days to do another training. That should be good.<br /> <br /> <br />Elder BrownElder Daniel Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14018205927883868516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472608253622229520.post-61497354680063547782010-10-18T10:06:00.000-07:002010-10-18T10:30:19.454-07:00Oct 18-2010-Kohn Kaen<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj58aAgWHXu_wnSsC9OuQjF6e34xmyua8W-SeBhW-IykVWsGuIT7vYdBoLfbUSss19Y236FLLxYrN5bBsj6p5nz-bb5ssXYeBdg3JcSfoox5lAnZGCuRSsGsfTQl_C3Wdkn_qsLbAyxlDM/s1600/udontraining.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj58aAgWHXu_wnSsC9OuQjF6e34xmyua8W-SeBhW-IykVWsGuIT7vYdBoLfbUSss19Y236FLLxYrN5bBsj6p5nz-bb5ssXYeBdg3JcSfoox5lAnZGCuRSsGsfTQl_C3Wdkn_qsLbAyxlDM/s320/udontraining.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529434569002082786" /></a><br /><br />Just as I predicted, I moved to Kohn Kaen with Elder R. We are now the zone leaders for a huge new area with 30 or so missionaries to watch out for. We have no free time cause this district is so large and spread out; Some of the areas are 5 hours away from us. (a long way on bikes) We have to sacrifice two full days to do baptismal interviews or companionship exchanges.<br />---- I think we need a private plane-- :> Also we need to work with the companionships a lot more than usual simply because they are all so new. We have some companionships that have a senior companion that has been in country for only 3 months!!!!<br /><br />Even though Kohn Kaen is 2 hours down the road from Udorn, I still traveled 8 hours to Bangkok to transfers meeting. The trip was a little crazy. In the past the mission has used trains for traveling to Bangkok but recently we have just been renting very large tour buses. This puts the responsibility on us for getting all of the craziness figured out. The bus driver this time was completely clueless. The biggest problem was that the drivers compartment was not connected to the area that we sat in (it is a double-decker bus) so, we were unable to communicate with him. Often times he would get lost and simply pull over and not do anything for a long time. I've never been a bus driver, but I swear its not that hard. All you have to do is follow the big green signs that say "Bangkok."<br /> <br />The funniest part about the whole trip was when we were finally arriving at the chapel in Muang Thong. We were pulling down the street that goes to the church and we hear the buses engine die. I was confused... because typically you want to park the bus before you turn of the engine. I made a joke that it would be funny if the bus died. We hear him try to start the engine, and yes. The bus was dead, about 10 feet from the church. Pretty good place to break down, except for the fact that we were on a little tiny 1 line road blocking everyone from leaving their driveway and going to work. I got off the bus and noticed that there was gas all over the ground so I had everyone evacuate. The genius bus driver went outside and let up a cigarette. He then stuck his head under the bus, while continuing to smoke the cigarette, only to find out that the gas tank and tubes were leaking like crazy. Yeah, not the smartest guy ever. I'm just glad that God was looking after us.<br /> <br />The transfer meeting was pretty hectic. Many, many people leaving and many, many people coming in. In the end our zone was renamed to the "Isaan" zone and was given almost 30 missionaries, the majority of which have been in country for less than 6 months. Needless to say, the mission lacks training and we have very few people that can give that much needed training.<br /> <br />After renewing my visa we got the bus all packed up and headed back to Kohn Kaen. The ride home was just as much of a joke, the driver got lost. I arrived in Kohn Kaen late on Thursday night. Today is Monday and I still have not worked in my area! Friday was shot because Elder Ri was really sick. Saturday was shot because we had to go to Sakonakorn (which is a 4-5 hour bus ride one way) where I interviewed a baptismal candidate. Sunday was used at a two hour branch council meeting followed by a very long, but very needed planning session at the house. Hopefully tonight I can get out and work in the area.<br /> <br /> <br />Anyways. I'll give you an update next week.<br /> <br /> <br />Love,<br /> <br />Elder BrownElder Daniel Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14018205927883868516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472608253622229520.post-86295793605738318792010-10-12T15:06:00.001-07:002010-10-14T09:45:28.508-07:00Oct 12th 2010-Udon<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieO9vkmUXRQPpzfH5G77oFh16PkF9M-wihGDJFBkpHfrV3B8bbEa-TmVl-xfa9cCmma2tW6F27ap47CIGk2cG5zlZcd3hoPxdtWzwrY8C071vqCzm6HhpPKFZUsVhvR-ixZeDEvotWwXk/s1600/newmissionaries2010_n.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieO9vkmUXRQPpzfH5G77oFh16PkF9M-wihGDJFBkpHfrV3B8bbEa-TmVl-xfa9cCmma2tW6F27ap47CIGk2cG5zlZcd3hoPxdtWzwrY8C071vqCzm6HhpPKFZUsVhvR-ixZeDEvotWwXk/s320/newmissionaries2010_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527943509927944322" /></a> New arriving missionaries!<br /><br />Hello.<br /> <br />This week I headed down to Bangkok for my first Zone Leader Council. This meeting was newly implemented about 6 months ago as a mandate of the new missionary curriculum. Since then, I have always heard from the Zone Leaders how great Zone Leader Council is. Although the travel time from both ways from Udorn to Bangkok is about 17 hours on a bus, the 2 hour meeting was worth the ride.<br /> <br />The meeting started with a Bishop from Bangkok stressing the importance of helping our zones get their investigators involved in the seminary and institute programs of the church. After that we gave an accountability of the zones baptismal results and goals for the next two months. As a mission in the month of September we baptized 30 people. The goal for October was 39, but the goal for December was over 100.<br /> <br />After that we had a couple of trainings. The first training was on how to use the Introduction to the Book of Mormon. You might ask, why are the missionaries in Thailand just training on using that page? Well, because we don't even have it in Thai yet. The new edition of the Book of Mormon in Thai is finally coming, for serious this time. The mission ordered 10,000 copies and they will be here in November. I am really excited for the new book, not only because it will have a dictionary, index, and introduction, but it will also be a lot easier to understand by the Thai people.<br /> <br />The other training they gave us was on resolving concerns with the baptismal commitment. We took a poll in the mission and came up with the three most common concerns that are given by investigators. They were: 1. I'm buddhist, 2. I'm not ready, and 3. I don't understand. We talked about the various ways to resolve these concerns and specifically we emphasized the importance to train our missionaries to answer these common concerns using the scriptures.<br /> <br />After the trainings we received a big announcement. The mission areas/zones/districts are changing dramatically. Currently in Thailand there are 8 zones: 4 in Bangkok, 3 in the Isaan, and 1 in the North. After this transfer there will only be 6 zones. There will only be 3 in Bangkok, 2 in the Isaan, and 1 in the North. The reason why this is significant is because one of the zones that is closing is the Udorn Zone. That just happens to be where I am serving right now. So yes, I am moving. Where I am moving to? Well, I'm not sure but the obvious guess is that I am moving to Khon Kaen to be companions with Elder R. The reason why this is the obvious guess is because the Kohn Kaen zone and the Udorn zone are combining to be the "Isaan Zone." Elder R is Elder D's companion before I came, so that would be fun. Not only are there going to be a lot less zones, there are going to be a lot less districts. Most zones will now only have 3 districts. The reasons they are doing this is because the mission is VERY young right now. The majority of missionaries have only been here for a couple of months, so we will have a lot less leaders. I am really excited for these changes because it will make training and accountability a lot more effective.<br /> <br />This is Elder D's last week as a missionary, so his letter was pretty short so he wants to leave, so that means that I have to leave. Remind me next week to tell you a story about someone named Ploy.<br /> <br /> <br />Bye,<br />Love,<br /> <br />Elder BrownElder Daniel Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14018205927883868516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472608253622229520.post-56630370128790220482010-10-04T14:59:00.000-07:002010-10-07T10:48:07.078-07:00Oct 4th 2010-Udon<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmYos9HWYIjGRUPd16s9hatQGQRCn41bZRfHTNDEyWKF3aDLfVo0_UoUMojnrgmbkjSw6jiTWgw-hXgAdJeC1K1xdVpK1tCZ3WN7ktdmF5vR_CG5c5LJSTd0kXbtVOdDTz_PXkZy4Prm0/s1600/Zone+Council+Oct.+2010+012_4x6.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmYos9HWYIjGRUPd16s9hatQGQRCn41bZRfHTNDEyWKF3aDLfVo0_UoUMojnrgmbkjSw6jiTWgw-hXgAdJeC1K1xdVpK1tCZ3WN7ktdmF5vR_CG5c5LJSTd0kXbtVOdDTz_PXkZy4Prm0/s320/Zone+Council+Oct.+2010+012_4x6.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525362353119222226" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Hi.<br /> <br /> <br />This week Moot's wife, Bow, had her baby. The baby had to be C-sectioned. The birth was also complicated by a fairly large tumor. In the end the baby was born without any problems. They named her Eve. (actually in Thai the name Eve is translated to Aewaa) We went and visited them in the hospital the day after; they were very happy. We taught them about the importance of families and gave them a nice copy of the proclamation to the world. We talked about temples for a little bit and Moot informed us that he already has a goal to attend the temple with his family in a few years. They are doing really good and will be baptized soon.<br /> <br />Friday started off with a new "specialized training." Every month we will have a training inside the zone on specific teaching skills. Elder D and I gave the training. It was pretty easy because all the trainings are standardized lessons from church head quarters, so we pretty much just have to read a paper. This training was on "How to Begin Teaching." I feel that the zone really benefited from what we had to say and feels a lot more confident on first lessons. After the training President Smith came and worked with Elder D and I. We had four appointments, but two of them fell through. President Smith drove us around in his car and taught the other two lessons with us. It was really good to talk with President Smith. He is a man with a lot of experience and he likes to talk.<br /> <br />This week will be a pretty short week. Tuesday and Wednesday will be taken up by traveling to Bangkok for Zone Leaders council and then the weekend will be taken up by General Conference. I hope we can get some work done this week.<br /> <br /> <br />Sorry, I tried to type more this week, but the Internet cafe's internet kept crashing! Sorry did the best I could before I ran out of time.<br /><br />Catch you next week,<br /> <br />Elder BrownElder Daniel Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14018205927883868516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472608253622229520.post-80225189066263143232010-09-19T23:13:00.000-07:002010-09-19T23:26:45.431-07:00sept 20-Udon<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJxvCJhdVLF8K5WfPOSshmggPf7qTlYmlJS-NukE-HngrxiMIvcpESNOCmMDYe9mU-96NGWJsDGJRsBlb1OoZ86nDZOhciupIj-dEtNmOyuvQ8_9cis0_w1ZGRRSwEX4pFbJpyty_VLKQ/s1600/udonshrine.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 212px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJxvCJhdVLF8K5WfPOSshmggPf7qTlYmlJS-NukE-HngrxiMIvcpESNOCmMDYe9mU-96NGWJsDGJRsBlb1OoZ86nDZOhciupIj-dEtNmOyuvQ8_9cis0_w1ZGRRSwEX4pFbJpyty_VLKQ/s320/udonshrine.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518877983527558978" /></a> This is a shrine in udon.<br /><br /><br /><br />HI,<br />I thought I would fill you in on a few things in Udon:<br /> <br />The food in Udon is pretty similar to the rest of Thailand. One interesting point to note is that they serve soup with almost all of their meals. This is unique to Udon and the surrounding areas. The plain soup that they have is a bland chicken broth that is jammed full of MSG and other substances. I like eating my food with soup because I like to pour the soup on top of the rice; I think it makes everything taste better.<br /> <br />Udon is a pretty big city for being in the middle of nowhere and it has a lot of white people. Udon is basically a haven for all the old, retired, white men to come and find a new wife and live a happy life. I think they like it because it is out of the city and it is very close to Laos so they can renew their visas easier. So with that being said there is a lot of foreign food. (foreign food meaning American food) American food is fantastic. Burgers, sandwiches, steaks, fries, etc. they are all just so good. Thai food is good, but as of lately I really like eating a good ol' American (kinda) burger.<br /> <br /> <br />We actually don't have an apartment here. It is a house that is rented. It is a pretty nice house that the Elders have lived in for a long time. It is at the end of a street behind a nice gate. Inside the gate there are two houses, the sisters live in the one on the left and we live in the one on the right. The house is two stories. It has 3 bathrooms and about 4 bedrooms. It also has a full kitchen. Almost the entire house is air conditioned. There are four of us Elders that live there. <br /><br />I'm having a great time with my new companion. Elder "D" (he goes by Elder D because no one can say his name, most people have a hard enough time pronouncing "Elder") is a fun guy that is really easy to get along with. It has been fun to be "trained" again. This is my first moves as a Zone Leader so it is his job to help me understand all my new responsibilities. Unfortunately, after this moves he will be going home and I will be left as senior companion for the rest of my mission because all the Zone Leaders that are older are all going home. It is very likely that my next companion will be from my MTC group.<br /> <br />It has been so relieving to work with an experienced missionary. I have been working with brand new missionaries for a long time which made it so I had to teach and talk a lot. I like talking and I like teaching but unfortunately when I talk and teach it gives me very little opportunity to think and to listen. As I have been working with Elder D I have really had the opportunity to teach as a companionship and to teach a lot more effectively because I don't have to make everything up as I go; I can take a couple of minutes to ponder about what I am going to say.<br /> <br />We are teaching a lot of good families right now. This week we had 13 investigators at church, which is great. We have a family that is scheduled to be baptized on the 10th. The family keeps growing and growing. Right now we are teaching six members of that family, but we hope to add another 4-5 to that group.<br /><br />We also teach an English class each week. <br />When we teach English we are mandated to teach a gospel lesson as well. But I usually just make the entire class oriented to the gospel. All the activities and readings that I use come from scriptures or liahonas. At the end I also give a 10-15 speel about what we come and teach. English class used to be a great finding tool for the Thailand Bangkok Mission. As of right now, I feel it has become less effective because 1. we find/invite a lot better and 2. most of the students at English class are young and don't have families(we only teach families now) But that is ok, it is still a fun service opportunity that we have every week.<br /> <br />A couple more details from this week.<br /> <br />Elder Perkins from the seventy toured the mission this week. We had the opportunity to hear him and his wife speak. It was a pretty good meeting, but I didn't get much out of it because I was translating almost the whole time. It was interesting that they chose me to translate for the conference just because I am still pretty young. It wasn't too hard except for when we got to the "questions and answers" part, then I was overwhelmed. People were asking ridiculously deep questions and I simply didn't have the vocab to translate correctly. Oh well. At the conference we learned that our mission is now on par with the world in getting investigators to church! The average missionary in the world gets 3-4 investigators at church. This is amazing that Thailand is now on par. Just one year ago we weren't even close. I'm excited to see what will happen in the coming year.<br /> <br />This week in sacrament I gave a talk. It was pretty interesting. I talked about charity and how it leads us to share the gospel. If we understand the atonement, we will have charity and we will want to help others come unto Christ. I used examples from 2 Ne 31, Enos, and Mosiah 27.<br /> <br />I had a chance to work and train the district leader in Sakonakorn for a couple of days. The district leader out there is named Elder P. It was a good switch offs. I like Elder P. He is a hard worker and knows how to do missionary work. Unfortunately, I did not get the chance to eat dog. Maybe next month I'll have that experience.<br /> <br />Oh and my bike exploded. I hope I can get it fixed... It will probably be expensive.<br /> Sorry,<br /> <br />Ok. I'm out of time.<br /> <br /> <br />Elder BrownElder Daniel Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14018205927883868516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472608253622229520.post-16138309923896952652010-09-06T14:14:00.000-07:002010-09-06T14:54:15.928-07:00mon-Sept 06-10-Udon<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPJ8xAGr6bRjog4yUIHPX6HlpqVpQXXv7Nup-V5jJhRMFNyVss73ku370n0p3XHCQsFAMYl0LnJqSbh1U7pYqh70KXZe2wg0hDfVbVPU-ZGjqKyINQ42hC1_PkGC93YViKWDmgmYBq52g/s1600/udonbridge.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPJ8xAGr6bRjog4yUIHPX6HlpqVpQXXv7Nup-V5jJhRMFNyVss73ku370n0p3XHCQsFAMYl0LnJqSbh1U7pYqh70KXZe2wg0hDfVbVPU-ZGjqKyINQ42hC1_PkGC93YViKWDmgmYBq52g/s320/udonbridge.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513921794237808594" /></a><br /> - Udon<br /><br />Temple in Nongkhai<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZWGcVLSVpo9WXAqSVOsWSnhDyVRjE3n9J7Q1CD2FJ28wv8tvgnUbUBEQbSsPsxWDJBMO1nAH14IkI9SLieVuiZuH3iJ3k5nUMENTffXNri0yBtBlYsyQ4pn0Nudih9b7Y8x7AvQL_Lc8/s1600/nonhitemple.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 263px; height: 192px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZWGcVLSVpo9WXAqSVOsWSnhDyVRjE3n9J7Q1CD2FJ28wv8tvgnUbUBEQbSsPsxWDJBMO1nAH14IkI9SLieVuiZuH3iJ3k5nUMENTffXNri0yBtBlYsyQ4pn0Nudih9b7Y8x7AvQL_Lc8/s320/nonhitemple.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513919563265264210" /></a> <br /><br /><br /><br />Hello Hello<br /> <br />Well I moved. Finally. I was getting very antsy to move. I'm not really quite sure why. I loved Bangnaa. The area was on fire, the ward was fantastic, and all the areas in the district were doing great. Sometimes I just need a change and I got it. President called me last we and asked me if I was having a good preparation day, I said I was. After that he told me that I probably wouldn't be having preparation days anymore because he wanted to call me to be a Zone Leader. So now I'm a Zone Leader serving in an area called Udon. It is a pretty big city but it is definitely in the sticks. I'm glad I have been studying Lao for the last few moves because it is definitely coming in handy out here.<br /> <br />The zone is pretty small. In our zone there are only 10 missionaries, making it the smallest zone in the mission; however, it includes some fun areas that I am excited to work including Gumpawapi, Sagonakohn, and Nongkhai. Gumpawapi is the smallest city in the mission; they have no convenient stores and they only have one 7-11 that was just built a year or so ago. Sagonakohn is famous for its unique choice of animal meat; yes I will be eating dog within the next few weeks. Nongkhai is the newest opened branch in Thailand. It is literally connected to Lao; you can look down the street and see Laos.<br /> <br />I am starting to get used to the Isaan again. Lots of people from Laos and cars from Laos too! It is weird to see cars from Laos because in Laos the steering-wheel is on the left side of the car instead of the right.(yeah, same as America... that is weird to me) The Branch here is actually really good. The church building is the only building in all of Thailand that has more than one branch meeting in it. There are two branches that meet there; one morning block and one afternoon block.<br /> <br />I am really enjoying being a Zone Leader. It is so different working with an experienced missionary. I have been with young/green missionaries for the majority of my mission and now I am with a companion who is about to go home. I have a lot more time to get everything done, simply because the work is now divided in half. I just hope that I can be effective at doing my new responsibilities as a Zone Leader simply because about half of the missionaries in my zone are older/more experienced than I am.<br /> <br />In terms of an update, that is all I can really think of at the moment, but I will share a thought I have been thinking about lately. I would encourage all priesthood holders, and specifically missionaries to read Alma 13:1-9 and ponder on its significance, particularly verse 3. How great is our responsibility. I don't think that there is any way that we can grasp or understand the magnitude of our calling. Such few people get called to labor in the high priesthood. Our call has been given to us and we have been prepared. This is why we are on this Earth. We are here to serve. I am convinced that this life, particularly for priesthood holders, is all about service. Sometimes I feel that we focus too much and think that this life is about ourselves; proving ourselves or fixing ourselves. But I now feel that our main purpose is <span style="font-weight:bold;">to reach out and bless others</span>. I don't want to explain much more than that, but I strongly encourage everyone to read Alma 13 and ponder.<br /> <br />Yeah, I'm out of stuff to say. Later.<br /> <br /> <br />Love,<br /> <br />Elder BrownElder Daniel Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14018205927883868516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472608253622229520.post-71038263243755164622010-09-02T10:32:00.000-07:002010-09-02T10:58:29.041-07:00Sept 02 10 -bangkok meeting<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiy9-PV1BBKR5B25Pc1K8IRyrKhbjV84R2fHIiKOtTkRG6rA_PXmahVib1lv8TRsYLDi9k_yDEJE0Y-D7cgkkJqoynFUbLVlYk8jpNxGaywj6e1jiNYtkHVZ6SkVnGaEIlwbrARGzAmZU/s1600/zoneconference2010bangkok.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiy9-PV1BBKR5B25Pc1K8IRyrKhbjV84R2fHIiKOtTkRG6rA_PXmahVib1lv8TRsYLDi9k_yDEJE0Y-D7cgkkJqoynFUbLVlYk8jpNxGaywj6e1jiNYtkHVZ6SkVnGaEIlwbrARGzAmZU/s320/zoneconference2010bangkok.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512377027925478002" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ZvMgF-g7YxxKNlN9iH3dNvp80q8Gl9eO8L_WJsvVwcTDiF9izg_oiJynzHlX72CXF62jL3hzmf0nLx1sGnaQR3JuTqJ2wIPelCttvyueLCfU_vrNd9ixwh7qndz0GlIYodAuwE2Y_1c/s1600/dannyeating.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ZvMgF-g7YxxKNlN9iH3dNvp80q8Gl9eO8L_WJsvVwcTDiF9izg_oiJynzHlX72CXF62jL3hzmf0nLx1sGnaQR3JuTqJ2wIPelCttvyueLCfU_vrNd9ixwh7qndz0GlIYodAuwE2Y_1c/s320/dannyeating.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512376154647862962" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDdH4kNCu6c6mKE8HsOPUSMKPWprxXlvKawURBOXWE8Hd5eHuqWXuLwg34NgN09tU6yZg0SjC1ov4u3SPYmE8U9B3fq5pE9Uxht-Yx69JS0SUrLfU53NKVqRWoGyGX0tTkqbRHc-Id7L4/s1600/grouptraining.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDdH4kNCu6c6mKE8HsOPUSMKPWprxXlvKawURBOXWE8Hd5eHuqWXuLwg34NgN09tU6yZg0SjC1ov4u3SPYmE8U9B3fq5pE9Uxht-Yx69JS0SUrLfU53NKVqRWoGyGX0tTkqbRHc-Id7L4/s320/grouptraining.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512372241416265378" /></a> Leadership training meeting this past week! 12 hours of training a day, such Fun! It was good though. Here are some pics~!<br />Elder BrownElder Daniel Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14018205927883868516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472608253622229520.post-37108762608570184942010-08-25T08:22:00.000-07:002010-08-25T08:25:54.055-07:00Aug 25th-2010-bangna<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-6I8ryQX914P9MbtGzVusMzDtLYMGHPFofIfOONtBMfkrlfAqyNt4eR_AVbejno4LLYHv1Gu8yt287bCQGGB7lbqtRPDXKBmp8cnHuLAAdKupLJyuWAQQveZGsFSp5PTjbjMcstyHEzI/s1600/danandtemple.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 218px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-6I8ryQX914P9MbtGzVusMzDtLYMGHPFofIfOONtBMfkrlfAqyNt4eR_AVbejno4LLYHv1Gu8yt287bCQGGB7lbqtRPDXKBmp8cnHuLAAdKupLJyuWAQQveZGsFSp5PTjbjMcstyHEzI/s320/danandtemple.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509369067809963442" /></a><br />Sabaay dii<br /> <br />1. This week it rained a lot. That probably doesn't mean very much to you, so I will describe what raining "a lot" means. On Friday we headed out of the house at around 11:30 to go eat and teach an appointment at 1:00. As we were teaching this appointment it started to rain. Thailand rain storms typically last for a very short duration but the rain is very hard. We waited in this guys house for about an hour before it cleared up and biked to a nearby mall. Over there we proceeded to contact some people. As we started to contact it started to rain again. This time it rained for about 3 hours. After all was said and done, the streets were flooded. Once the sewers fill up with water, the roads just flood like crazy. All of the main roads were flooded with about two feet of water. Bangkok traffic + two feet of water = problems, yes lots of problems. We had two appointments at the church that night, so we proceeded to bike to the church. At this point it wasn't raining anymore so at first I attempted to try to stay on my bike and stay dry. But after biking I realized that the task of staying dry would be impossible. While biking the water from the road would reach up my shin almost to my knee at times. Yeah, dress pants and leather dress shoes. I'm sure we looked ridiculous as everyone looked on at us wearing their shorts and flip-flops.<br /> <br />2. Zone Conference was this last week. The topic was the Book of Mormon. It is a good book, you should read it or if you are too lazy to read it at least watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkKblIMfmjI - I know this book to be a true book. <br />This is Jesus Christ's book. Jesus Christ commissioned it, wrote it, and preserved it for thousands of years. There is no other book that can give you more faith and hope than the Book of Mormon. The Bible has confused people for thousands of years. Their misinterpretations of the law caused the Jews to miss their Messiah. The Bible still confuses people in the present and has caused many devout Christians to miss their Messiah again in these last days. The Book of Mormon is a rock. It plainly testifies to the divinity of Jesus Christ and the restoration of his church through his prophet Joseph Smith. Through reading it we will know the truth of all things.<br /> <br />Elder BrownElder Daniel Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14018205927883868516noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472608253622229520.post-67252994444748205272010-08-17T10:13:00.001-07:002010-08-22T20:48:51.070-07:00Aug 16th- 2010- Bangna<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE-L794mUe3EEBKLsXR6laTqZxnB-UnLvaIBu5DRqNMIdLyZGmRL30XyuAVZJPJAB8mZR_jm56VEG5mJLXGiizutcskGU6pjWMuVxUI5GRtERTRRtajJCW6pRwDX9fUeGwjMaUPgiNbus/s1600/dan.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 217px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE-L794mUe3EEBKLsXR6laTqZxnB-UnLvaIBu5DRqNMIdLyZGmRL30XyuAVZJPJAB8mZR_jm56VEG5mJLXGiizutcskGU6pjWMuVxUI5GRtERTRRtajJCW6pRwDX9fUeGwjMaUPgiNbus/s320/dan.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508447193120850034" /></a><br />Well today I am a little bit tired.<br /> <br />Last night right as we were turning off the light to go to bed we noticed that there was a rat in the house. (this happens way more than you might think, pretty sure this is part of Satan's plan to make me more tired and keep me from working as hard as I could with a full nights rest) So Elder Hardy and I went through the regular procedures of catching this rat. We got our trusty broom and our trusty bucket. The strategy is to close off all the exits and to sweep it into the bucket so that we can throw it out of the house. So as we were doing this, this rat was fairly resilient. It manages to escape all of our efforts for nearly 20 minutes. After repeated attempts we trapped it back behind a cabinet with two exits. I was on one side with my broom and Elder Hardy was on the other with his broom. The rat was trapped. It was scared. It had nothing else to do. It finally made a break for it across the ground towards the bathroom, but on the way it suddenly stopped and fell over. It had a heart attack and was on its back with all its limbs pulsing in and out. After about 5 minutes it finally threw up and died. Not a pretty sight. Well it is still in my head. No animal cruelty or anything intended here, it just died!<br /> <br />So yeah. Pretty good week here in Bangna. Things are going really great. I feel that my understanding of missionary work and teaching has grown amazingly in the last few months. In the last six weeks as I have been focusing all of my efforts on finding families, we have 4-5 progressing families that are very serious investigators. This is such an obvious change from how missionary work was done when I arrived in Thailand. I am very excited for the future of Thailand, especially for the future of Bangna. I have been here a long time. Six months is a really long time. I love the place, but to say that I'm not area-trunky would be a lie. Bangna has been a special place for me simply because I have seen growth and progression here. In my other areas I always felt that the work and the area was heading in a backwards trend, but in Bangna I have seen remarkable improvements in the ward mission program and in the priesthood organization. I am grateful to have been a part of the progression in this ward.<br /> <br />Yesterday evening we had a couple of hours in the evening free to go out and contact. This was wonderful because we are almost always busy in the evenings, especially on the weekend. We went over to an area that I thought that I had invited every street. (after being in the area for 6 months, I have been down every street and know pretty much every shortcut in the entire city, Elder Hardy is always amazed how I can navigate through small alleyways and shortcuts to get us to a destination in half the time) We got to the end of a little soi, that is the Thai word for street, and I started to talk with a couple of people at the end. They wondered if I had come to give them money. They had us confused with the last christian group that came through. This soi was next to a Lutheran Church/School. After talking with these people, I learned that this soi was MUCH bigger than I thought. What I thought was a dead end actually was a tiny alleyway back into a giant ghetto. I didn't really want to back there, but my curiosity got the best of me. We decided to take a walk back there. We were met with mobs of begging children, adults, and elderly people that just wanted us to give them money. It was fairly depressing. The lack of misunderstanding was impossible to breach; all they wanted was money. (which we aren't allowed to give) They did not want to listen to us. God really wants to help these people. God wants to help all of His children, but sometimes they refuse to let Him help.<br /> <br />Being on a mission is a very unique experience simply because it gives you such an opportunity to gain experience without having to face any of the usual consequences of experience. The transition from childhood to adulthood has to happen for everyone, but typically it is a painful experience resulting in addictions, debt, unexpected children, pain, etc.. However, on a mission the transition takes place in an artificial reality; it is completely outside of the realm of my past and the realm of my future. In the last month I have learned so much about parenting. After making a focus on teaching families, I have been able to see the inter working of families, lots of them. I go up and talk to a 20 year old couple on the street with a baby on the way and ask them if they are scared to be parents. The typical answer is no. They just say they are going to "go with it." No plans, no preparation. If they even had the slightest clue that one day they are going to be accountable for the individual stewardship of each one of their children, they would be scared silly. Punishing and beating children is looked very down upon here in Thailand. I challenge anyone who is against punishing their children to come look at the family situation in Thailand, you will be convinced. Justice is a law that must be satisfied. Mercy cannot be applicable in all cases and in all situations; look at the Plan of Salvation, if everyone received absolute mercy, would there be a point?<br /> <br />So we accidentally ran into Jesus-Shirt man again this week. He was less drunk this time, but just as crazy as ever. He asked me to say a prayer for him, so I did. In the prayer I attempted to cast the demons out of him. It may have worked, afterwards I committed him to pray about Joseph Smith being a prophet. We will see if he shows up to church.<br /> <br /> <br />Love, peace, and rainbows,<br /> <br />Elder BrownElder Daniel Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14018205927883868516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472608253622229520.post-88524878125436911032010-08-17T10:03:00.000-07:002010-08-22T20:54:37.438-07:00Aug 2010- Bangna<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixD9YyUNkNQGC42tzozUrOun1JfzSFsuPl8DiMDFfiMkLxFvuy0KkkWXTdRKQg5pQkxiLXx1KJ3lyZ54vctHmp3_d0vlq7UNfgIwrf6VSauxOuTmhMHC8SdHThQJwwh112HjMmMSJ9bZg/s1600/dan1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixD9YyUNkNQGC42tzozUrOun1JfzSFsuPl8DiMDFfiMkLxFvuy0KkkWXTdRKQg5pQkxiLXx1KJ3lyZ54vctHmp3_d0vlq7UNfgIwrf6VSauxOuTmhMHC8SdHThQJwwh112HjMmMSJ9bZg/s320/dan1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508448745304600818" /></a><br />Hi.<br /><br />More interesting things.<br /><br /><br /> 1.<br /><br /> This week I was out inviting and I found a guy who was pretty interested. I offered to give him a ten minute message about the Book of Mormon and he accepted. We went up and talked on his porch. I told him that I wanted to start with a prayer so we prayed and after we prayed I opened my eyes and there was this big African man standing in front of me with his wife. He said, “Hey! Were you just praying?” This kinda took me off my guard. He was way excited to see that people were teaching about Jesus in Thailand. He pushed his wife over to try to learn with us. In the end I got his number and handed it off to the international Elders. It is really fun talking to people from Africa. All I have to do is go up to them and say in a really excited voice, “We teach about JESUS!” and then their eyes light up and get way excited.<br /><br /><br /> 2.<br /><br /> Last week we were biking towards the church and I hear someone shout at me “Hey Elders, whats up?” This was a little bit strange so I turn to see this really muscular white guy talking to us. I thought that this was very strange. I examined the man; about forty years-old, maybe 300 pounds, looks American, his entire body covered in tattoos and his head and eyebrows were shaven meaning that he was just a monk. I start talking to him and find out that he is from Philadelphia and is friends with the Elders over there. He is Buddhist and comes to Thailand like once a year. This was pretty weird but then this situation was interrupted as this crazy crazy old Thai man comes in. I quickly examine him; about 60 years old, looks like he hasn't bathed in AT LEAST 60 years, and he is wearing a T-shirt with a giant picture of Jesus on the cross. He started talking crazy stuff. He was telling us that he used to go to our church a number of years ago, but then he found a new church that gave him three new T-shirts, so he changed religions. At this point there was just too much weirdness for one contact so we said bye and biked away. I guess the moral of the story is: the church that gives you the most free T-shirts is the best church.<br /><br /><br /> 3.<br /><br /> Well I got a new greenie this moves. After training Elder Tibbetts for 3 months I guess that God decided to give me another chance to do better. Hopefully this time I won't fail or else I might end up training again! My new companion is a guy named Elder Hardy. He is 23 years-old and was just in the Air Force for 4 years. He is a really good worker and should be really easy to work with. To this point in my mission, I still have never had a companion that is younger than me. He is doing what your average greenie always does. Falls on his bike a lot, says funny/inappropriate things to locals on accident, and is confused when members call him a “greenie” in Thai. I guess that is one word they don't teach you in the MTC.<br /><br /><br /> 4.<br /><br /> So last week Niwad was confirmed a member of the church and was given the priesthood. The Bishop chose me to be the one to confer the priesthood to him. This was an interesting experience. This was the first time I had ever done it, typically recent converts are given the priesthood by the bishopric without the involvement of the missionaries, but I was happy to do it. I have ministered a confirmation, a confirment of the priesthood, priesthood blessings, etc. but I still have never baptized anyone. I have a goal to never baptize someone on my mission. Baptizing people isn't very good in terms of the long run. The person who baptizes them creates a unique bond that they will always remember. I would much rather have that be a member than have it be me. This week at church Niwad showed up in his newly purchased white shirt and tie to be able to minister in the sacrament. It was really cool to see just because of how quickly he progressed. I invited him just over 2 months ago and he already is administering the sacrament. It made me feel really good to see him glow like that.<br /><br /><br /> 5.<br /><br /> For the last month or so a phrase has been going through my mind a lot. The phrase is “A hope for a better world.” It has just been ringing in my head for a very long time now. I actually ended up writing a song based off of that phrase. Interestingly enough this week I was reading the scriptures in Ether(I haven't read Ether in about three months) and found the phrase in Ether chapter 12 verse 4. I am positive that I didn't read the phrase in the last several months, but it was just floating in my head. When I saw this scripture it really shocked me. I really think this scripture might be my very favorite scripture in all of the standard works. “Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.” I really like this scripture because the Thai people have no hope. None at all. They have no goal for today, tomorrow, or next week. They just wake up and go with it. This is because of their belief system rooted in reincarnation. They have no focal point were they can focus their efforts towards. But when we believe in God when we believe in His plan of happiness this gives us a hope for today, a hope for tomorrow, a hope for next week. Through our faith our life is held strong and we are filled with light. I know this to be true.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Love,<br /><br /><br />Elder BrownElder Daniel Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14018205927883868516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472608253622229520.post-73683792370066197772010-06-28T12:17:00.000-07:002010-06-28T12:26:54.250-07:00June 28th, 2010-Bangnaa<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEDhXiXnApQVlkqte10D3zkS0s9N2NYooqBqT928derWonF4b4cLujlavHR9k25eV5T93ZuO9gUKhIEgIV5gRldj6D9O7RQzdX_IEb0uubPDU4CtRoUb74oCXnoGv4zAM7oZgciDfVPkE/s1600/Bangnaachapel.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEDhXiXnApQVlkqte10D3zkS0s9N2NYooqBqT928derWonF4b4cLujlavHR9k25eV5T93ZuO9gUKhIEgIV5gRldj6D9O7RQzdX_IEb0uubPDU4CtRoUb74oCXnoGv4zAM7oZgciDfVPkE/s320/Bangnaachapel.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487907362045333986" /></a> LDS Chapel-Bangnaa <br /><br /><br />Hola.<br /> <br />Couple of interesting things from the last two weeks.<br /> <br />1. Well last Sunday started out pretty normal. We woke up at 6:00 A.M. like we usually do. We got ready and studied like we usually do. We walked into church 30 minutes early like we usually do. But as I walked into the sacrament room last week there was something unusual. Elder Pratt from the Seventy decided to drop in on our Sunday meetings. I received the opportunity to pass the sacrament to him, which was a good experience; however, through that he noticed how unpolished my shoes were. He talked to us afterwards and gave us some advice. He told Elder Tibbetts that he needs to polish his companions shoes more often. Oops.<br /> <br />2. This passed week I had the opportunity to teach one of the funnest lessons of my life. Unfortunately I am a bad missionary for doing it. The whole lesson was over three hours long. (which in case you are unfamiliar with missionary work, that is an absolutely ludicrous amount of time to waste on one person) The lesson was with a man named Brichaa. Brichaa is a man I've been teaching about once every other week for the passed two months. He is in his early fifties and is extremely intelligent. He has degrees in law and in business. He has been a devote Christian for the passed 33 years and knows the Bible. The man REALLY knows the Bible. The Old Testament and the New. He has read them in Thai and in English more times than I could even imagine to ever read them. I met him and introduced him to the restored gospel and the Book of Mormon. The first few times I met him, he was very quiet. He wouldn't ask or say much, he would only listen. He is about to finish the Book of Mormon, and he has a goal to read it again. This last time I met with him we talked about so many things, he had so many questions and I just gave him the answers. This experience really impressed me. This learned man... very intelligent... very studied could come to me, a twenty year-old kid and I could tell him things that I learned in primary in my youth and he is absolutely dumbstruck with how much I know. Sometimes I forget how much we have that most people don't have. He asks me about translation, transfiguration, angels, Zion, temples in Jerusalem, resurrections, etc. and I can answer. Multiple times in that lesson his mouth and his eyes were left wide-open. We have these answers, all of the answers he has ever wanted. At the end of the lesson he finally hit an epiphany and was convinced that the Book of Mormon was not written by Joseph. He says he is not sure who wrote it, but he said it was either God or someone who was very very learned and intelligent. He told me that if God answers his prayers he will change religions and do everything he can to convince all of his friends to do the same thing too. At the end he just wanted to hug me and tell me how much he loved me. He told me that when I get transferred to a new area that he will drive and come and find me so that he can learn with me still. I hope God answers his prayers and he can have the chance to be baptized.<br /> <br />3. Yesterday two of our investigators got confirmed members of the church during sacrament meeting. This was all fine and dandy until the Bishop called me over and told me I was going to be the one administering the ordinance. I was kind of shocked because I've never seen anyone besides the Bishop or a councilor confirm new members. I was willing to do it, but I wish I would've had some time to prepare! I was unprepared because I thought missionaries were not involved. I did well, the Spirit gave me utterance and overall it was a very good experience for me. I like being put on the spot in high pressure situations, especially when it is in a strange language that sounds like throwing pots and pans down the stairs.<br /> <br />4. I washed the dishes.<br /> <br /> <br />Love,<br /> <br />Elder BrownElder Daniel Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14018205927883868516noreply@blogger.com1