Week 3 Bang Khae

Dear Family and Friends

As far as the area that I am in Elder Chamberlain and I get to work with the District President. We have been able to talk about things that need to get done as far as creating a new stake in the West of Bangkok. We hope to have another stake in the coming months. This is very exciting! Yes but a lot of things need to be done before that happens. So we shall see what happens. 

About a week or so ago I invited this lady who was kind of interested in learning with us. She is other another church and wasnt to sure if she wanted to. As we got to our stop I asked the lady if I could have here phone number so we could call another day. I had gotten off and as she gave it to me the truck started to pull away and she yells,"Ill text you." Yeah well that hardly ever happens here. That night I prayed that that lady would text us so we could find a time to meet to help her know where the truth is at. Well we didnt get our answer until this last week. She texted us! We set a time to meet and she came. As we taught her about the Restoration she said,"I still feel like I am on a search for the truth." Well you found it. The point Im trying to get at is prayer is real. I will relate another experience about prayer. 

On Saturday before Elder Chamberlain and I left the house today we prayed for a miracle to happen today. We went to the church to meet some new investigators but they didnt show. We decided to find out some other information about a church down south. A member calls us on the phone and says," A man is here and he wants to learn." So we stopped what we were doing and went downstairs. A man who was referred to us from a former branch president was sitting waiting for us. He said," My friend told me if I ever wanted to learn about Christianity to come here. What do I have to do?" As we sat down with this man the spirit confirmed to me that our prayer we said this morning was answered. I felt so happy as we taught this man. This man is prepared! My testimony of prayer as grown so much! I testify that Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers. It takes faith and effort on your part though. We inquire on the Lord to tell us where He wants us to go to do His work. If I could not pray I dont know what I would do. Id be lost for sure. 

I learned something great from a recent convert this past week. We watched a short video (Treasure in Heaven: The John Tanner Story) and then talked about sacrifice with him. As we ended our lesson with him he expressed the following," I think since the time that I was born I have gone to a Buddhist temple maybe about 8 times. When you go there isnt anyone to teach you or explain anything to you. You just dont learn. As I have come here to learn with you over the past 3-4 months I have learned so much. Even in short lessons I end up learning a great deal." I learned that he realizes that he has learned a lot since coming into the church. I know that every time that he comes here he learns a little more. That is how is should be. We should learn more every time we go to the church or learn with members/missionaries. If you dont learn something new each time you go to church there is something that is wrong. Were you spiritually prepared to accept what was taught? Were you willing to have the Spirit work on you? 

As I thought about that experience with that recent convert I thought about Christ Church. I thought about two questions, What has the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints given you? and Where would you be if you didnt have it? As I have pondered these two questions I thought about all that I have received and thought where Id be if I didnt have His true church in my life. I can make a list and tell you of all the things that have blessed my life but I think I want to encourage you all the take a few minutes, sit down and make a list of what His Church has given you. I think it is good to do this from time to time because we should give thanks to our Heavenly Father for all His blessings and for Christs Church. Everything I have ever been given is from Heavenly Father and following His Son, Jesus Christ. I am so grateful!

We were blessed to have Elder Gary E. Stevenson here with us yesterday, along with Elder Gong of the presidency of the seventy and Elder Khanakham who is an area seventy. Wow do those men sure know how to bring the spirit! Members all over Thailand either watched on a tv or listened in person from what these servants of the Lord had to say. They talked about the blessings the Elder Gordon B. Hinckley blessed this land with. Also what blessings does the future hold for Thailand; more families, more missionaries and more stakes. The words that Elder Hinckley spoke 50 years ago are still blessing Thailand today. As Elder Stevenson spoke I could feel the spirit testify to me that the work is real. If it wasnt real I wouldnt be here. He said," Thursday I was in the temple with President Monson and President Utchdorf. President Monson knows about this meeting and he wants to know how you are doing." One thing that really stuck out to me was when he said," No one else, or no other church, has a restoration. That is why our missionaries teach the Restoration." I guess I had never really thought about that before. This is the church true because it was restored. If you have never learned about the Restoration take time and learn from members or missionaries. They will tell you why it is so important for a Restoration to take place. 

Love 

Elder Hinckley 

Week 2 Bang Khae

Sorry if this didnt get to you last week. 

Dear Friends and Family,

At English class this last week we had a new lady show up that had never come before. After English we asked her if we could sit down and talk to her for a little bit. This lady has a daughter how has cancer and while we were teaching our lesson we told her that this restored gospel would be able to heal her daughter. Now we were not able to explain all that we wanted to in that first lesson but we will meet with her again and finish teaching. Now we have to understand that her daughter being healed us up to the will of the Lord. I am really excited to meet with this lady again. There is so much we can help her know. I truly believe that we can help change the way that she views things right now. So I have a lot of faith with this lady and her daughter. 

As zone leaders we have to get training from President and the assistants once a month. So we were traveling down to the office the other day when I saw something that you dont normally see here in Thailand. The morning was cold and I saw this mother preparing her daughter to go to school. She made sure she had her jacket on and her pant legs pulled down. She just started to love her little child. She hugged and kissed her repeatedly. You dont see that here. It wasnt out of control or anything, I just thought it was awesome. As I have been here in Thailand I have seen probably a lack of parenting and love for one another. This is not all people. I know that the world is getting away from the family or love within the family. Abuse, fighting, a spouse leaving the family and so much more. Ill make it a long story short. The family is most important. It is where you grow up, learn and make family relationships. I know that that mother loved her child very much. I felt like if that was the last time they saw each other the mother would want the child to know that she loved them. I feel like we need to say love, show love and love our family! A lot of families dont have the love that should be there. I know that I could have spent more time with my family when I was younger. I regret that. Well I will change that. I know how important family is. I learned about family since I was little and I hope to be better. Do you love your family? Is there anything that is stopping your family from time being together? How are family relationships? Why do you want a family? I testify that families can be together forever. I know that is true!

During our training with President Johnson and the assistants we were greatly trained on some good things. Ill just explain part of the training. He wanted to know why we were serving missions. As we gave our answers he said that those answers were all very good. So next he opened the scriptures to Matthew 22:36-39. He said," Why should we do missionary work?" The next big question he asked was,"Why do you do what you do?" That is a great question. It really all came down to whether or not we love God. Why do we go to church? Why do we do home/visiting teaching? Why do we do missionary work? Is is because He just asked us to do it? or do we do it because we love Him? What is your motivation? We should do all things to please the Lord. We should do all things because we love Him. 

Then they talked about inviting with real intent. A story was shared how one Elder said," I am so fake! I only do it out of duty or because I was asked it. I am so fake when I invite. I talk to people everyday but I am soo fake with my inviting." I think you can see where this will go. Well we opened up the scriptures to D&C 60:2-3, 7-8. It explains it quite well. I thought those scriptures were pretty bold. I found a great scripture this morning, Philippians 1:14. Part of the reason some wont open their mouths is because of fear of man. Well dont think about what others will think if you are to talk about Christ on a bus, train, on the street or in a restaurant. If you get kicked out so be it. Just know that you did the will of the Lord and proclaiming the gospel and about His Son, Jesus Christ. I am not afraid to open my mouth to anyone anymore. I was afraid before. I just dont care what others think. All the foreigners that I see, yeah I invite them too. Do it with real intent or I guess you could say, dont do it at all. Are you going to give it 100%? Something I will suggest is that you need to do it with a smile on your face. People open up to people who are happy, so give it a try. 

One investigator came to the church and when asked why he came he said,"It is peaceful here." Well that is great! The church is a great environment to feel at peace. I thought can we make our homes that way as well? 

We met with a less active this last week. He has been less active probably since he was baptized, so sad! He told us that when we was learning the people who baptized him really persuaded him. So even though he was not ready to get baptized and that he didnt understand everything, he got baptized. We expressed our apologies to him. We told him that we would teach him everything again, slow, to his needs and to his understanding. Make sure those you teach are ready to make the next step before they take it not looking. 

This guy came to church yesterday. I invited him this last week and told him to come learn about Christ. Well he came. Now I am judging the man but to my best knowledge he is not all the way there mentally or he was drunk. He came in and sat down. I kept my eye on him the whole time. I said a prayer that his man wouldnt be disruptive. Well he stood up and started to do something with his pants and then he almost took off his shirt. Well I ran over to help that man sit down. He would talk to himself and point at people. I felt like everyone was looking at us and thinking, "Who in the world invited that man?" Well I did. At one point I thought he was going to start smoking in the church. He got up and we followed him out. He left after that. The branch presidents first counselor told us,"Some people would not have accepted him, but I am glad that you did." I know that all people are different but all people need the chance. Christ can make a difference in anyone's life. 

I talked to a man on the way home last night who I would say was in the world. As we talked he said," I am not free to come learn about Jesus. I have to work and get money." He explained all this other worldly stuff he has to do. I asked him," What if Jesus Christ came tomorrow what would you do?" He said, "I would follow Christ." I told him,"Well it could be too late. You need to repent and follow Him now!" "I have a job. I have to get money. My boss said that I dont need to worry about God." I said,"You can sacrifice! Why, because Jesus Christ sacrificed everything for you, so you can sacrifice time or a job. I know people who have quit their jobs to follow Christ." "If I quit I will not have money to eat," said the man. "The Lord will provide." and the man just laughed at that. This man was like just me, Ive been living a while I know. Well I dont have to live a long time to know that what I am telling you is the truth. I wasnt yelling or fighting with this man. As I talked to him I learned a few things, The scriptures are true, for sure!! There is a lot of pride in the world. I gave him the change to accept what I was telling him because we cant force anything on anyone. Well I told him this is your choice and then he walked away. Well give everyone the chance to accept or reject. 

Elder Chamberlain and I are still looking for some investigators here. Please pray that we will be able to do the Lords will and find those searching for His gospel. 

Love 

Elder Hinckley 

 

Elder Hinckley with another Elder in his Zone.

An H for Hooray!!

Bang Khae.

A railroad track of some kind.

Elder Chamberlain and I with some members.

Beautiful sunset in Bang Khae.

A big garden in Bang Khae.

Lots of apartments with lots of motorbikes for transportation.

 

Week 1 Bang Khae

Dear Friends and Family,

Well I spent my last few days in Bangna this last week. President called me and told me that I would be moving to the other side of Bangkok. We dont have transfer meeting anymore which isnt a big deal. He told me that I would be a zone leader which I am happy to be. We got up really early the day of transfers and drove to the office. I found my new companion and was out of there in less than 15 min. That was it. Elder Chamberlain is my new companion and him and I are in the same group which is nice. All I can say is that Im ready! 

I dont know if any of you remember sister Lee, well she got baptized!! She got baptized the day that I got transferred which was sad because I didnt get to be there. That is okay! I called her today and she was so happy! Sister Lee was a very good investigator from the start! We taught her for about 5 weeks which was great! We made sure we followed up with her as much as possible and in the end she has a great testimony of Jesus Christ, His church and His prophets. It makes me happy to help people repent and become prepared to make covenants with Heavenly Father. Elder Joy and I both believe that sister Lee will stay in the church forever! 

This week while inviting I had two experiences that were pretty much the same. I met a man who I asked if he wanted to learn about Jesus Christ. We talked for a min and then he asked what church I was with. I told him The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. "Oh, Mormon!? Oh no I dont want to", said the man. Then he takes off running. The other man I met read on the card I gave him the word "Mormon" and pretty much the same thing happened. "Oh your Mormon?" "Yes I am", I replied. That man walked away. The Lord was right when he said that only a few would come unto Him. Well if you all want to know, Yes I am MORMON! Now you know. I was called to teach repentance to Heavenly Fathers children. I know that this is the true Church, the other Church of Jesus Christ, which was restored those His prophet Joseph Smith. If you dont believe in that I encourage you to learn with the missionaries and ask Heavenly Father for yourself if The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is Christ Church on the earth today. I promise you in you pray sincerely you will get an answer confirming your question. You have nothing to lose if you try. I tell so many people that on the street that if they learn with us they wont lose anything. If anything you will gain a knowledge and a testimony of Christs true Gospel. You will find that through the restored gospel we have knowledge about the plan of salvation, which is a huge factor of why I am on my mission. My mother was converted by the plan of salvation. If she wasnt I would not be here and that is that. This is true! I am come to know these things more and more throughout my time as a full time missionary. I would not give this time up for anything. I dont have a lot of time left as a full time missionary but when I get home my service doesnt stop there. I challenge each and every single one of you to learn of Christ and His church. Learn how you can be forgiven of your sins and how you can live with your family again in the eternities. 

A member called us just the other day. She wanted us to come over and teach her about the temple. She asked," Elder what do I have to do to go to the temple?" Love questions like these! As we talked about what she needed to do we told her she needed to talk to the branch president. He would help her more and give instructions. She would need to do some of the basic and very fundamental principles: read the scriptures, pray, go to church was all the we really mentioned to her at this time. I told her the temple is such a wonderful place to go and to be. We learn about life, the plan of salvation and about families. So much can be learned in there. We also told her that she needs to be worthy so if you need to repent, repent. She said she would. We are doing all we can to prepare for the temple here in Thailand. For all the surrounding countries it will be a huge blessing! I want everyone who is in this branch who is worthy to hold a temple recommend to have a temple recommend. Show the church here in Thailand that we are ready to have one. I miss the temple dearly, I really do. I havent been able to go since I left America. I feel deprived. I want to go to the temple so bad. I believe the temple to be the place where I received my testimony. I knew the work I was doing in there was helping so many people I knew that I wanted others to go to the temple as well. My friends and I sacrificed sleep to go to the temple regularly. I wouldnt change that for anything. I know that others were blessed! I challenge you to go to the temple this week, next week and as often as you can. Do it, its worth it!

Love 

Elder Hinckley

All I can say is that when you have one bike you don't let that stop you ha! 

I've got this, no problem!

Our ward member went with us to help with an investigator. They rode my companion's bike and my companion rode with me.



Try to keep up, okay!

A family's pet.

I love to climb trees, even in Thailand!

The view is sweet up here.

Our chapel is huge here in Bang Khae!

We even have an elevator!

And it works, too.

Healthy veggies!

Paired with some chicken, makes a nice dinner for me!

Week 15 Bang Naa

Dear Family and Friends

This last week Elder Joy and I saw a lot of miracles, some were big and others were small. I tell you what we worked as hard as we could this last week and I tell you that we saw the results. The Lord works in mysterious ways. It may not be the way that we want but it is always what is needed! 

In one of our lessons our investigator asked us if he could pray for thanks and pray for his family. He said well of course you can. He thought all he could do is ask. Pray is not just asking. It is showing your thanks, talking about problems and praying for others. He just misunderstood that was all, after he felt much better knowing he could pray for whatever he wanted. 

One day while inviting we were getting of the trains and I was walking down the stairs when this white guy started to talk to me. He said,"Jesus, why do you find a real job." He laughed as he said that. Well that hurt me a lot! I didnt say anything to him or the two other friends he was with. I didnt say anything because what I would have said would not have been nice or what Christ would say. I just stared at him until he was out of sight. That was like a knife to the heart! I felt so bad after that I couldnt invite. Do you even know what Jesus Christ did for you? Do you know that you are indebted to HIm? I think if he knew he wouldnt have said what he did. 

Just a few minutes later I met this man (who spoke English) who is a preacher of other church. He asked me if I knew his church but I said I did not. He asked if I was Mormon and I said I was. Okay yeah I know you. Well I proceeded to talk to this man and he asked if we wanted to sit down and have a drink. I told him yeah we can sit down and talk. As I told Elder Joy we would go sit down and talk to this man he asked,"So would you like a beer?" "No that is against the word of wisdom," I said. He asked what that was so I proceeded to tell him through latter day prophets who have received revelation from Heavenly Father, He was given us the word of wisdom. We will not use alcohol( of any kind), smoke, tea, coffee or illegal drugs. He thought well that is just stupid. He asked,"Where does is say in the bible not to drink alcohol?" Well Mr. I cant tell you where is says. Then he went on to ask do you know what Christs first miracle was. Turning water into wine. He bought us chocolate shakes and he drank a beer. He said look here, in this bottle of beer is 5% alcohol, in wine there is 12% alcohol. He said more than one bottle of beer is too much. I asked him why. He said,"More than one and I will not be able to control myself." Then he said well doctors say a little bit of wine at dinner will heal the body. I was like you may believe that but I believe in prophets. He told him how the prophet Joseph Smith received revelations on the matter and he got the answer through what is now the word of wisdom. He said he didnt believe in prophets. I asked if his church had prophets and apostles and he said yes but wouldnt tell me their names. We told him the names of our prophet and apostles. Then he got on the fact about the Book of Mormon. I asked,"Have you ever read it?" He said he had but wouldnt tell us what he thought. "Trust me you dont want to know what I think," he said. To make a long story short I said I challenge you to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. Do it and you will know it is true. Oh boy this guy wouldnt give into anything we said. He could know if he threw away his pride and prayed sincerely to know. From that I guess I can say someone offered me alcohol and we said NO! 

Our investigator sister Lee is great! She texted us one morning to tell us she received a testimony. After failing an interview for work she went home and prayed. She prayed to feel the spirit. Well she prayed and slept 3 times and on the third time she felt the spirit. Then she woke up in the morning and read Mosiah 3:4. The Lord has heard her prayers, now she can rejoice. Members have really helped with teaching her. She is asking questions, listening, reading, praying and keeping commitments! One of the only things she is not certain about is Joseph Smith and Thomas S Monson. We had two great lessons two nights in a row! A lot of the first lesson was about prophets but the second lesson was all about prophets. A member shared how he knew the prophets were really. He said,"Those guys are old! They need to rest, but they arent. They are out giving their service to others. Prophets are really because they have warned us of the temptations of our day. Internet, technology and this changing world." Prophets are important far more important than we can imagine because all of us have grown up with prophets and apostles all around us. Yeah we can receive personal revelation but as said in Amos 3:7 "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealth his secrets unto his servants the prophets." Without them we are blind in this great big changing world. Well she understood more about prophets after that lesson. We even shared the "Dare to Stand Alone" video about Thomas S Monson. She loved that as well. Sunday after church she was interviewed for baptism and she passed! She was really happy! She doesnt know when she wants to get baptized yet but she can any day! She now has a testimony that is beginning to grow. Elder Joy and I know that is what we spent our whole transfer doing, building testimony. 

On our way home last night we were walking by this abandoned market. I saw man who was sitting there and felt impressed to go talk to him. As we talked I asked if he wanted to go to church 20 yards away and he said yeah. This man is homeless but he was willing to come. We showed him around the church and asked if he liked to read. He said he did, so we gave him a Book of Mormon. We invited him to come to church this next Sunday. If he takes some time to read he will come to know that Jesus is the Christ. He was a really humble man from everything he told us. Today at church one of our investigators brought her daughter. She came up to us after and asked for the Book of Mormon so she could read it. This little 10 year old girl comes up and asked for a Book of Mormon. "I want to read it," she said. Wow! Never had that happen before. She is a really smart! In primary she listened as they read and liked it. She wanted it so we gave it to her.

As I read the scriptures I see that a lot that is said and described in the Book of Mormon is real. People harden their hearts and dont want to listen. Excuse after excuse, not keeping ones word when we set up appointments, grown adults acting like children in public and on the phone. Let us to be grown ups here and be honest please! There is a lot of great things that happen though. We had a lot of great lessons this last week and some people we hope will learn with this more! Please pray for our investigators Sister Noi and her daughter Jxng, Sister Ann, Bro Stamp, Bro Daa, Sister Lee, Bro My, Bro Mungdra, Bro Dungmay, Sister Bow, If you can please take their names to the temple. 

Love 

Elder Hinckley  

You just don't know how tired you are until you sit down for just a moment.

We're both exhausted!  Just keep going!