Week 14 Samut Prakaan

Dear Friends and Family

This past week was good! I have to tell you that we tried our hardest this past week. This past week our mission president wanted us to have 5,000 people at church though out Thailand. This has never been done before but all the Elders and Sister took the challenge. We had the responsibility for all of the members to receive a phone call to know about church and that we have this goal to have 5,000 people at church and to invite one friend. Elder Klein, Elder Nelson and myself took this challenge. We call the bishop and ward presidents to get involved. We took about 3 days to call every single member in our ward. It took a long time. Then we called all the Recent Converts and Less Actives and then we just went on inviting people to come to church! We would know if our efforts paid off on Sunday. We got to Sunday and at 8:55 am there was about 15 people at church and I just thought what did we do wrong to have this many people at church! I said a prayer just to have more people this week then we did last week. As time went on more and more people came. We ended up with 71 people at church. We had more than last week! For the mission we did not reach the goal of 5,000 but we did set a new record for church attendance this past week at 3,830ish people. It showed that everyone was involved. There was a lot of work done to get this many people. 

We did have a family come to church this past week who are investigators. A husband, wife and their small child. They were very willing to come to church and I was thankful that they came! They then came to investigator class and then they had to leave right after but that is okay. We did set up another time to meet with them. Over the past few days we were able to talk to them over the phone and have a phone lesson with them. This man explained that he has no money and that they would be getting kicked out of their home soon. We asked to meet with this man and his wife just the other day. He told us that he has about 3 more days to pay the rent or they will be kicked out of their apartment. He said that if only the person could wait till the 5th then we would be able to pay it but they cannot wait. He then asked us if we would give him the money to pay it and he would give us his bank card and we would be able to take out the money that we need. He really said you could just take all the money. This man is willing to do a lot for his family. We explained to the man that we are not allowed to that. It is a rule of ours that we cant do that and he just said okay. So we talked about faith and about how he can quite smoking and that can help him a little with his money problem. He said he would try and quite. We did tell him that if you look toward Jesus Christ and follow that commandments then you and your family will be taken care of. We asked him to say a closing prayer and what you said almost made me cry! We said thank you God for sending me these teachers and thank you for sending me this challenge so that I will be able to learn and grow from this. That was all that he said and it was the most humble prayer I have ever heard! This man does have a christian back round so he truly knows that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will help him! I really want to do all that I can to help this family.Please pray for this family. I wont give you there names at this time. 

Other than that I was able to have a great Christmas. I was able to Skype my family and that made my day! I am so thankful for my family and all they do to support me. Along with all of you who support me as well. I want you all to remember Jesus Christ this Christmas and just to remember that it is better to give then to receive! I love you all and hope you all have a wonderful CHRISTmas this year! 

Love Elder Hinckley

I never thought I would see Choosing the Right in Thailand but I did ha

 

 

 

Merry Christmas from Thailand 12/14.

Thailand loves their trees big.

Elder Hinckley skyping us from Thailand on his Christmas Day. Josie thought he was a pilot for a second and then she knew who it was and said, "Hey, I love him!"

This was what Elder Hinckley saw from his end in Bangkok.  His loving family. We had a great time talking with Elder Hinckley.

I never thought I'd see this in Thailand! Ha!

 

Week 13 Samut Prakaan

Dear Family and Friends

This week was such a crazy week to say the least! We had transfers this week and the out come was very different from what I was expecting! Elder Gage and I had a feeling that we would be put into a tri companionship with another Elder in our house, that is not at all what happened. We see that our area comes up on the screen and I look at Elder Gage and say well this will be another good 6 weeks. His name didnt come up on the screen, Elder Nelson who we thought would be in the 3 some was on the screen, my name and our new companion Elder Klein! We are or I am still in Samut Prakaan. I really like this area. Elder Klein has already shown to me that he wants to build this area up a lot! And gosh dang it that is what we are going to do. We are going to get Less Actives back to church, get our Recent Converts callings, get a ward mission leader (Well I think we already have one now) and get ward missionaries! We are going to get work done in Samut Prakaan! I am way excited to be here another 6 weeks! As of right now we only have 2 stakes in Thailand but we think within the next 6 months we will be preparing for 2 more stakes to form. With a total of 4 stakes we could maybe see a temple, no promises though. We will just build up the Kingdom of God one person at a time! That is all we can do. Speaking of one person at a time we had a baptism this last week! It was an awesome experience! I think this is why I was sent to Samut Prakaan!

About a week and a half ago I asked a man named Doughnut to come to church and he was totally open to coming! As I made follow up calls we asked if we could met with him a day or two before church and we was totally up for that. We were able to meet this man, and when we got to the church he was waiting outside reading his bible. So from that we decided to teach him the Restoration. We asked him how he liked reading the bible and he said that he loved it. He has read it all the way through about 3 or 4 times so that was really good. He knows a lot about Jesus Christ already which was a good foundation. At the end of the Restoration lesson we gave him a Book or Mormon and asked him to pray to know that it was true and to pray to know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God. By the next day when we were able to meet with him again we asked if he had a chance to pray and ask if what we taught him about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon was true. Without us asking if he received an answer he told us that he got an answer that everything that we taught him was true! We only asked him to read the introduction and by Sunday he had read a lot already. One of the last lessons that Elder Gage and I were able to teach him he explained to us that he really felt that this church is true. He explained that he had gone from church to church and that he had not felt anything. He got baptized in a church, I dont know which one, but he said that it didnt seem good to him. He said that none of the churches that he went to offered him anything. He said that it didnt seem like none of the churches were for him. He said that since he has met with us and I think it was the the Gospel of Christ when we talked about Baptism and the Holy Ghost is what did it for him. He said that there is so much more for me here and I know that this is true! After we had taught him the plan of Salvation in a earlier lesson. Then we was able to get baptized theSunday after transfers and he asked me if I would baptize him and I was joyed to say yes. It was such a great baptism day! When I baptized him he liked jumped into the water and got some of the members wet! ha that was the high of the day! After the baptism Elder Gage and I had a gift for him. It was a triple combination! He was so happy to get it he gave me a great big hug! We were then able to teach him after church yesterday and it was such a great day for him. He was able to tell me how he felt about his baptism! I asked him to pray at the end of our lesson and he said the word hallelujah! It was such a sincere prayer. The member after Bro Doughnut had left said that he prays like he has been a member for a year! All I can say is that people are prepared for us everyday and we have to be ready to find them and met them! I know this is why I was sent to Samut Prakaan! Something that I left out was that most of his family is already LDS! He said he wants to get sealed in the temple! What a great goal! 

Well that is all for this week!

Take care!

Love Elder Hinckley

Oh yeah we have Shawarma! You all know from Anvergers! So good! 

 

 

Elder Hinckley baptized Brother Doughnut. He was so excited to get baptized. He jumped right in and splashed the people. Elder Hinckley has two new companions, Elder Nelson and Elder Klein. 12 - 14 - 14.

Elder Hinckley enjoying the ride on a Song Thow.

Hey, do you remember Shawarma?  It's here in Thailand.

Elder Hinckley found his super hero all the way over in Thailand, The Green Lantern.

 

Christmas in Thailand

 

Click on the following link, and then on the pop up to watch video interview with Elder Hinckley around the 7 minute mark.

 

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=854055047960112&set=vb.335601019805520&type=3&video_source=pages_video_set

 

 

 

 

Week 12 Samut Prakaan

Dear Family and Friends

It was a harder week this week. Appointments didnt fall through, no one wanted to talk and just some minor other things. None the less we were able to have a good week! 

This week we had a confirmation of the sister that we baptized about 2 weeks ago, sister Peem! She is so great! We had a after baptism lesson with her and she is just great! She told us that she is going to bring two of her friends to English this week and that one of them said she wants to be Christian. The other one wants to study it first. Elder Gage and I have to hop on this because we have transfers this Thursday so we need to get the most out of this week as possible! Sister Peem is already a missionary! I love it. She is a lady who doesnt really know what is going on but gosh dang-it she is doing all she can! She is trying hard to get her son and her husband to come to church so that they can feel of the love Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have for them. I really hope that she can get them to come! 

I met a man last week, his name is Doonat (doughnut) and when I first met him I thought he was 22 or 23 but he is really 40+! I was a little shocked. Anyways we were able to meet with this man and we went over the restoration with him because he has a really good Christian background. He told us he has read the bible about 3 or 4 times. When the restoration lesson was over we gave him a Book of Mormon and asked him to read the introduction and pray about if the Book of Mormon is true and if Joseph Smith was a prophet. By the next day ( when we met with him) he told us that he had received an answer that it was all true. For some the answer will come quick and others it will take some time. When we asked him where we had read to, he had read to first Nephi 2. We thought wow that is great! We taught him the Plan of Salvation and he said was like yeah this is great, I believe this! I forgot to mention that in the first lesson we gave him a baptismal date for the 14th and he accepted it. So then Sunday, he came to church and stayed the whole 3 hours! I asked him where we had read to in the Book of Mormon he has said 2 Nephi 5!! What the!! He is reading so fast. I wonder how much he is getting, like how much he understands. He said he didnt have any questions so that can be good and bad I guess. I cant really say much about his situation but what I can say is that we think that he has family that is already LDS and goes to church every week. We will be investigating the matter further. 

Other than that we had other lessons and they went really well! I am thankful for the Spirit that is with me and then for the help that I receive from members and other Elders and Sisters. One Sister taught me how to ask some to go to church using sign language and I thought it would never come in handy but they were about 3 people that were using sign language and I was able to ask them. The Lord works in mysterious ways! I love it! This past week Brother Won the member here that has the same birthday as me taught me how to play the piano ha. I can play one song ha! I can play Sweet Hour of Prayer ha! Who would have guessed that I could play the piano ha Other than that this week Elder Gage got invited to a Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner. He had no idea how he got invited or what it was for but he did and I got to go! Some how this girl here knows his brother and she invited us over. It was like an American Thanksgiving with Christmas decorations and it was in a real house! With couches and a fake Christmas tree with lights! It was great! I am soo grateful for that, why? It was like I was home! It made me really appreciate the family I have and the time we get to spend together for the holidays! 

For our Zone Christmas Conference we had it was really good. We were enlightened on why we should remember our Savior this holiday season. It was really good! She had some fun games and then we were able to hear from missionaries who will be leaving the mission this transfer. Before all of this we were able to sing Christmas songs somewhere in Bangkok for all to hear. So many people stopped to video and just to listen. It was really nice! It brought the Spirit of Christmas! Then after that we went to have dinner in this hotel. I dont remember where or what it was called but let me just say that I had a lot of sushi! and other food ha! It was nice and we all were able to enjoy each others company!  

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and try to help others have the spirit of Christmas as it soon arrives. It is a time of year to share our light and the Light of Christ with others. To give and not receive! To give service to those in need! I love this time of year! I hope you do too! 

Well until next week

Love Elder Hinckley 

The pictures are of some guy that is making us some Gwateow, I dont know how to spell it! Another is of the seafood I had with the sushi! Another is of our newly painted house, It is green and I think it looks good! The last picture is of me and the corn we are stocking up on! I guess you could say that it is our food storage ha. A food storage is a really good thing to have. I suggest if you dont have one to start one! I will tell you what, when something bad happens you want to be prepared. Im just saying ha 

Week 11 Samut Prakaan

Dear Family and Friends

This week was a really good week. Nothing to exciting happened. We were able to teach our new investigator AAron. He is way good as I told you before! He is a miracle I never saw coming! We taught him the restoration and when he heard what the prophet Joseph Smith about what happened when he prayed, AAron said that he got chills! Ha that was really cool! AAron is way good! He is praying and reading the scriptures! He is a really good guy. He is about 21 and can speak English. He is planning on going to New York in a year for school. Other than that I dont know a whole lot about him. We are also teaching his friend, Fang. So pray for him, because AAron and Fang have been best friends for a long time and I would like to see the both of them get baptized and share these experiences together. 

Other than that we taught our newly baptized sister, sister Peem. She is way good. She said that ever since she has gotten baptized her and her family have gotten along so much better. She also told us that since that happened her husband has started to drink less and that is great! She just has this glow about her! You can tell that the gospel has blessed her life. It is way cool to see. We also taught another newly baptized sister, sister Boo. She tells me every time I see her that I am getting better at speaking Thai. I guess I will take her word for it. We taught the Restoration and she is so good! She has questions about what she reads in the book of Mormon so that is great! We try and answer her questions the best we can. She also has son children that we will try to work with as well. Some people you can pray for are sister Nam, sister Booie, sister Peem, brother AAron, brother Fang, sister Soy, brother Way, brother Gong, brother Boy, brother Danny, brother Laap, sister Ice and sister Ing. 

So my Thanksgiving was um...good!! ha No it was really good. I am thankful for the season of giving, I will get to that in just a little bit. But we all gathered at our church. Which I have never said is a rented building if that makes a difference. Anyways members from the ward all brought something to eat. Before we ate we all had an opportunity to share our testimonies with one another. It was really good, but as you know sometimes testimonies will turn into a story time ha It was good though. After that was over we got to eat. You will never guess what I ate for my Thanksgiving dinner! Can you guess? Well I will tell you that I had my first chicken claw ha one of the members said that I had to eat it so I did. It was pretty good, considering it tasted like chicken. We also had a Thai salad which was pretty much col slaw and some rolls. When we were done we helped clean up and then we were about to leave when a member gave me half a chicken to take home and eat. I said thank you and went on our way. On our way home my other companions wanted to stop my a 7-11 to get some thanksgiving desserts ha Well on our way across the bridge that we took to go to the store I saw a homeless man just laying on the bridge. I looked at what I had, I thought about how much I have been given and about Jesus Christ. I gave this man the half chicken that I had received. Now I had asked this man to go to church before and he said no. But that is not the point. I still thought about how grateful I am to have food and give thanks to all that I have. I thought to myself, I will do what Jesus Christ would do. I felt happy for what I had done. This season is for giving not receiving. Thanksgiving here made me think of a lot of things I am thankful for and things that I miss. My family, friends, sports, my truck to name a few. I guess you dont really realize you miss people or things until they are gone. It made me think of all the people that sacrificed a lot for me while I was growing up. I am soo grateful for that! To my parents and to those others that helped me I am ever to grateful!! Thank you very much and I will not be to repay what you have done for me. Thank you!

Anyways that is about all for this week! Oh yeah before I forget to tell you... I rode an elephant this past Monday! Ha it was really fun!! I wonder what some of you are thinking! Ha I enjoyed it. Transfers is coming up so we have one more will until that is! Well until next week. I hope you all had a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving! I encourage you all to read a great chapter out of the Book of Mormon that I read this past week. 2 Nephi 9, it was a great one!

Love Elder Hinckley

Plbstttttttttttttttttt

I had a yummy chicken claw for my Thanksgiving meal.

Week 10 Samut Prakaan

Dear Family and Friends

This week was really good! I was buying some chicken on a stick and some sticky rice when a guy on his motorcycle drove up to me and asked if we taught English. I said heck yeah we do and I pointed down the street to our church. I didnt have a English card to give him so I gave if a baptismal card. We ended up seeing this guy at English and so I asked if he would come to church on Sunday and he said yeah. He speaks really good English for a Thai person. So I was able to have a good conversation with him. Anyways he came to church with his friend and I asked if we could teach them after the baptism that we had the day and he said yes. So him and his friend were able to see a baptism. So when we got to the teaching part we taught about the Gospel of Christ, Word of Wisdom and Law of Chastity. We showed him a picture of the God head and he said that is God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost. Elder Gage and I looked at each other and were pretty amazed! Then when we taught about the two commandments he was mouthing what is forbidden while we were saying it all. So Elder Gage and I were like okay where did you learn this? He said the internet. We asked where? He said Mormon.org. I was very impressed that he did that. It was revelation to give him a baptism card. He is way good! I hope we can teach him and his friend some more. His name is AAron and his friend is Fang. 

Then Elder Gage and I went to visit a recent convert. This lady we went to visit has been a member for about 8 months. She all of a sudden tells us that she work is more important than the Sabbath Day. We know she has quit reading her scriptures because when we asked where she was reading she told us that she was in a certain spot, which was the same sport as before when we went to visit her. She is really struggling. All we can do in love, support and pray for this sister. For this cause I dont think it is appropriate to say her name. This lady does need prayers though. 

Also this week Elder Gage and I were able to teach a lady that we have seen since last transfer. She comes to English class and after about 4 times of coming to English we finally ask her to come to church. I dont know why we didnt ask sooner. So we were able to meet with this lady her name is sister Peem. She is very nice and works on a bus. Well Elder Gage and I were able to teach this lady everything and she was able to be baptized yesterday. She was sooo happy. You cant see it in the picture but you could see it. I dont know why people dont smile in pictures, weird. Anyways Elder Gage and I got another baptism. I know that I was sent to this area to help there people come unto Christ. I love the work that I do and I am thankful to be serving. I do all! 

I read 2 Nephi 7 today. A lot of it was hard to understand, it was only 11 verses but it was good! We need to become as flint, strong and able to take many strikes. Take a look at it. 

Well I hope you all have a great week!! Take care and have a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

The Lord said to take the gospel to all creatures, his Mission President said no on this one.

Elder Hinckley trying to prove his manhood in a foreign land.

Elder Hinckley chillin after a ride on Dumbo.

Bovember baptism with Sister Peem.

Love Elder Hinckley