Week 7 Bang Khae

Dear Family and Friends,

I feel as if this last week Elder Hartung and I talked a lot about prophets and conference. With one meeting with a RC we talked about that such topic. As we come closer to another conference with the prophet and apostles we need to be prepared to hear what they have prepared for us. As we talked to this RC we asked him," If you could ask the prophet one question what would it be?" He had to think about it for a minute until he came up with one. We can do the same. I feel as if he have questions about commandments, about our lives and so forth we need to write them down. Then when it comes to conference weekend watch and listen to our leaders as they speak. I love conference weekend! It is a time to get pumped ha! Also a time to hear what Heavenly Father would have us hear. I encourage you all to watch as many sessions of conference as possible and to possibly take a friend as well. You never know what one talk or one session could do for someone you love. 

One day as we were going back to the church and while inviting I met a lady on a Songtaw. This lady was trying to get directions to a building that is by our church. I turned around to tell the lady that is was the same way we were going and Id tell her when to get off. As I talked to the lady she told me that she was going to eat and watch a movie. Anyways I told her what we were doing here and this and that. I tell her to get off at the next stop and we get off. About 15 min later she calls us asking if she can come to the church. So she ending up skipping her movie and came to the church. We explained what activities we have at the church and she ended up staying for Book of Mormon class. She really liked that as well. I just thought that was really cool, nothing way awesome but it was nice to see that an invited leaded to someone coming to the church. You never know who will hear you out. 

As we were inviting in a neighborhood this last week I saw something I have never seen since I have been here in Thailand. This was a shock to me but a miracle as well. We went to a restaurant to visit a lady that we invited about a week ago and thought it was time to come back. Well as we sat down to talk we were having a nice conversation. Well the member that was with us thought that he recognized her. As they talked the member knew her son which was funny. So she called her son to come over and her daughter who was down the street. She asked them to come listen to our message. It was very simple and short. We told them about the God Head and prayer. The mother looked at her kids and told them that it would be nice to goon Sunday. They decided that they wanted to go on Sunday! Yeah!! The son looked at James, the member, and says,"You're a Christian?" "Yeah I am. Its way good! ", James responded. On Sunday the son and the daughter came which was better than no one coming and James did all the fellow shipping! I thought it was very interesting how the mother called her kids to come listen to us and they really listened. They werent preoccupied with their phones or other distractions. I thought wow this is a great family! I have faith that we can make our families like this as well. When the home teachers come over or when the missionaries come over everyone gathers to listen to what they have prepared. When families learn together they grow together. 

As we sat down to talk with Brother Tin this past week he was telling us of some problems that he was having. Not huge problems but big enough to get to him. He was feeling a little down. I will just say that having members help you teach needs to be a priority. We had the branch president in our lesson with him and he was the teacher that day. He told us of his personal conversion and how things worked out when he used faith and repentance. It was exactly what Brother Tin needed. He needed the words of the branch president to convert him. It was soo much that I cannot begin to explain what he said. I will testify that having a member at all teaching appointments is a good idea. If you have never taught with the missionaries before, ask when their next appointment is and go learn/teach together. Experience is the best teacher. I think many of you understand that concept.

One story he related to Brother Tin was when there were new trees planted at the church. For two or three days the wind was just pounding them and they feel over but just two. The branch president worked in a orchard before and realized that the back surrounding the roots was not taken off. So he took them off and replanted them. The way he compared it to his life was when he was growing up he was Catholic. At one point he met the missionaries that started to teach him. A lot of things happened in his life and it wasnt until he accepted what the missionaries encouraged him to do then things changed for the better. If you keep that bag on it could choke you but if you take it off you can grow to indescribable heights. He ended up going to the church feeling the spirit and ended up getting baptized. The branch president is a very good influence to so many and has a strong family. He has a strong family because he has worked on it for years. If you want a good strong family you need to work on it. Lets take the bag off and see what you can become. He also told Brother Tin that changing religions wasnt easy either but it was the best choice he ever made to be baptized. 

Our investigators are Tin, Bon, You-Gee, Gaab and her family (Egg and Uin), Om, Sunny and his family, Poon, Cheian, Eggy, Mote, Boom, Katie. 

I just want to say something about Easter. If it wasnt for Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the birth of Jesus Christ would have no meaning. Yeah we would know that he was born but if He didnt do what he did then no point. Christ over came the grave so all of us will one day over come the grave as well. John 18-20. 

Love 

Elder Hinckley 

 



Elder Hartung with some cute Thai children.

 

 

 

Week 6 Bang Khae

Dear Family and Friends

I am sorry this week will be shorter than others but I just didn't have time. 

Elder Hartung, my new companion, and I went to visit a family of ours who are investigating the church. We traveled a while to get to their house and waited for them to get home. We thought it was weird that they werent there at the time they said they would be. Their neighbors came out and talked with us in the hallway (they live in an apartment). They gave us water and some chairs to sit on. As we talked we asked what we could do for them. They asked,"What can you do?" We can teach you about Jesus Christ", we replied. After they talked to their mother they came back and asked,"Do you have a picture of Jesus Christ we can have?" Good thing I had one in my pocket. That is all they wanted. I hope they put that picture on the wall so they can look at it everyday. I think all homes need a few pictures of Jesus Christ. I know in my home we have a few. I think it would be great to have one on your desk at the office ha. 

In one meeting this week Elder Hartung and I went to McDonald's to meet an investigator. I thought."Well this will be a first, teaching inside a McDonald's, but okay." We taught the Restoration to a lady who is interested in learning and while the first vision was being said you could feel the spirit very well. That was a testimony to me of how powerful the first vision or the Restoration is. It again happened a few days later when we met a new investigator in the middle of a food court where it was very loud. The same results happened. It doenst matter where you are you can feel the spirit when you teach!

Another one of our investigators, Brother Tin, is progressing very well! He knows the branch president and members at the church. As we taught the Plan of Salvation to him he said,"Wow! that answered my questions." Well that made me happy. This man is ready to be baptized and he could either get baptized the 3rd or the 10th. We will let him decide. He asked a question I didnt know the answer to, that was,"Why does Heavenly Father allow people to be born with deformities?" I really didnt know the answer to that question but I have thought about it for a while. There is a boy who lives right across the street from us who is handicapped. His mom rides a bike with him just about everyday. That makes me very happy to see his loving mother do that for him just about everyday. 

Last night as Elder Hartung and I were walking home I felt impressed to go talk to a lady who was sitting down on some stairs. As I approached her I noticed that she was crying. I almost walked away but I felt impressed to stay. I asked if I could do anything to help her and she just said,"I have a problem with my whole family." I told her that everything would be okay. I told her I know how it can be hard at times but it will all be okay. I told her about what Jesus Christ taught will help her family have better family relationships, help them be happier and help them fix problems. She just listened as I told her this. I showed her a picture of my family and told her,"Even though at times we may fight, I still love them and know we can get though anything." That is the first time that I have had an experience like that on my mission. I always wondered if I would have an experience like that or not. I know all I could really do is show Christlike love to her. 

Right now our investigators are, You-gee, Tin, Boon, Cheian, Jeep, Eggy, Egg, Chew-git, Poon, Sunny and his family, Mote, Boo-bay, Dong, Jang, May, Katie, Un, Oom. I just hope and pray that they all get an answer that what we teach is true. 

Love 

Elder Hinckley   

 

Elder Hartung napping.

Elder Hinckley's companion, on his last transfer before going home, has reverted back to childish behavior.   Hopefully Elder Hinckley will not do such things.

Elder Hinckley and Elder Hartung with the beautiful children of Thailand.

Bang Khae.

Somebody forgot to put on their armor of God.

 

Week 5 Bang Khae

Dear Family and Friends

We got our transfer calls yesterday and it ends up that I will be staying and Elder Chamberlain will be moving out to the E-San. I will be getting a new companion who at the end of this next transfer will be going home. This Elder already served here in this area when he was a greenie fresh out of the MTC ha! 

Elder Chamberlain and I had some great lessons and some tough people to work with since Monday. One lessons we had was with a family. We really only met with the parents and I wanted to meet with the whole family. As the parents talked to us they told us that they had something that was causing their family the hardest time. They told us and showed us a rent bill that was very expensive. As I listened to the parents speak I wanted to help them but as some of you may know missionaries have rules. We are not allowed to give money. As we talked to them we told them that all we can do is teach them the Gospel and how to rely on the Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for help. I told them,"I know that this may not be the answer you were looking for but it is the only answer that we can give you at this time." The parents looked very sad. They tried to say,"Well sometimes you have to break a rule or two..." "No we dont...we want to be obedient to our mission and church rules",we said. It wasnt a very good situation at that moment. The Gospel is all we can give them. By keeping commandments of our Heavenly Father we can see blessings come our way. Now it may not be a blessing that will take that rent bill right away but it will be the way that Heavenly Father wants things done. Trust the Gospel, His way and His timing. 

We had quite a few appointments that didnt come this week and it was very sad! Some people dont keep their word and others wont call to say they arent coming. Its really not that hard. Anyways as we tried our best to fill time, I had a thought that came to my mind. It was to people who are Christian. As I invite other Christians a lot of the time I get a blank stare, a hand in the air or the "every church is good line". The thing I dont understand is if you were really Christian you would want to talk about Jesus Christ and the blessings that you have received from Heavenly Father. I just dont understand! I think that if you are Christian and your neighbor goes to a different church you should be able to talk about Jesus Christ and have no problem. As most of you know, Christians church dont all teach the same things. Do all Christians know about the Plan of Salvation? Do they know that Heavenly Father has again reached out to His children in love by giving us a prophets, apostles and additional scripture? I just think that people who are Christian should not criticize other Christians or down grade them. Yet I will say that there is only ONE church of Jesus Christ. One that is not only good but it is CORRECT as well. One that teaches correct doctrine, one that has living prophets and apostles and I could go on. I will say that if it wasnt for my mom meeting two Mormon missionaries who gave my mother hope with the Plan of Salvation then I probably wouldnt be out here teaching the gospel to so many others. All I have to say is that if you are Christian give a ear to what we believe. If you dont like it all that was wasted was a little time and some oxygen. Give it a chance, it could/will change your life. 

Going a long with that we have to follow up with the greenies on language milestones to help them progress. Some of them are introduce the Book of Mormon and prayer. If you had to introduce the Book of Mormon or prayer how would you do it? What would you say? I encourage you to make it meaningful. Dont give some that is rehearsed because no one will want to hear a sales pitch. Why do you read it and why do you pray? Just for thought. 

Elder Chamberlain and I taught this investigator new yesterday. She is Thai but lives in the United States. As we sat down and talked about the Restoration she said things like,"Oh I never knew that. So the Joseph Smith is a prophet. The Book of Mormon is additional scripture." It was great and we had no problems until the end. We told her that she can prove these things herself if she will pray and asked Heavenly Father herself. We asked her to finish the lesson by praying for us. Now you have to know that Heavenly Father has given us a CORRECT way to pray to Him. That is: Heavenly Father, express your thoughs/feelings/ask questions etc., and finish with in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Well she said that she could not do that. "I say the Lords prayer", she said. "Well you can pray like this", we said. "No I cant!", she said. She would accept it. Well we never force anything on anyone so I prayed to finish the lesson. She said that she would have to take forever to study the Book of Mormon to know if it was true or not. I just thought that is ridiculous. Do all people have the same problems? Do we all have the same questions/thoughts? Are all people the same? No. So why would we all pray the same prayer over and over again? You can pray from your heart to Heavenly Father and express anything you want. You dont have to give rehearsed prayers why, because Heavenly Father wants to talk to you individually. We need to listen as well. Listen to what Heavenly Father has to tell us. Well we will meet with this investigator again.

Our investigators are: Dong, Poon, Sunny and his family, Chew-geet, Oom, Bon, Eggy, Cheian and his wife Jeep, You-Gee, Dia, Tin, Jang, May

Today for our P Day we went to the ocean! It was windy and I like it so very much! We ate some good sea food and had a good day ha! 

Love 

Elder Hinckley         

 

 

 

Bang Khae at sunset.

We are feeding the monkeys peanuts.

Monkey Town Thailand.

Out on pier at the ocean.

My long walk on the short pier is finished.

A market of some sort.

The head of some unfortunate animal that is kept on ice and will be eaten soon.

 

Week 4 Bang Khae

Dear Family and Friends,

We saw many miracles happen this last week which strengthened my testimony and my faith. It all started with the training that us Zone Leaders got from President Johnson and his assistants. 

The training really focused on a few things such as: teaching the Restoration, extending baptismal commitments and receiving a testimony or confirmation that the Book of Mormon is true. There were some talks that we read in preparation, The Grandeur of God, Safety for the Soul and Becoming True Millennials, all of which are wonderful talks. If you havent read the talks before I really encourage you to read them. The Grandeur of God talks about the God Head and how Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are all SEPARATE beings but one in purpose and their different roles. Safety for the Soul talks about the Book of Mormon and Elder Hollands testimony. Becoming True Millennials is such a great talk by President Nelson. That talks about how us ( True Millennials) were trusted enough to be sent to earth during the most compelling dispensation in the history of the world and how we are preparing the world for the second coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It outlines things that we can do to be a True Millennial. 

The training we received was something that we all needed in my opinion. I will just tell you about a few of the things that we went over and you can do them too. In PMG pg 29 the first sentence says we are to study, believe, love, live and teach the essential doctrines, principles and commandments found in chapter 3. I never thought about that before. President asked," How are all of you doing personally with this?" Well time to reevaluate ha. No worries it is something that we need to get us going again. We have made PMG a central focus to what we study and teach from. Also when we teach dont be afraid to extend a baptismal commitment. That is just you being honest with them. Then finally how they need to receive a testimony and a witness that the Book of Mormon is true. That is vital because if they dont then they have no reason to get baptized at all. There was a lot of things we talked about that some scriptures that we shared were, James 2:17-26, 1 Nephi 8:24-30, D&C 121:45. 

After the training Elder Chamberlain put what we were learned into affect. As we taught the Restoration to about 4 new investigators this week it was clear that the spirit was leading the lesson! For me it seemed like it had filled the room at many times! We just did our part to create an environment for the spirit to be in. As we extended the invitation to be baptized I was not afraid at all. We extended it powerfully and with seriousness behind it! They all agreed to be baptized. We told them that receiving a witness that what we have taught is vital. They need to read and pray about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith as well. After those lessons Elder Chamberlain and I just felt really good about what we just did. The training was just what the whole mission needed. We were in a lull so to say. 

This past week at English Class a man just 2 years older than myself, during the spiritual thought, asked,"What is the Book of Mormon?" "Well that is a great question, would you like to know?", I said. He agreed and just this last week we sat down with him and discussed about the Restoration of the church and told him how the Book of Mormon is central to him getting an answer that what we talked about is true. We challenged him to be baptized and he accepted. We told him the Book of Mormon is, like it says on the front cover, Another testament of the Jesus Christ. It helps to know that Jesus Christ visited his other sheep in America. That was a miracle right there!

During our fast this last week we fasted for one thing specifically which was miracles. We had a family of 5 come to church and 3 more investigators as well. All except one who have a date for baptism. After church we sat down with one of our investigators named Tin. He was a referral/walk in. He wanted to know more about the Word of Wisdom or Law of Health. He wanted to know about all the commandments or rules of the church. We explained that we cant teach all of it at once but we taught a big chunk of it. We explained about the 10 commandments, Sabbath Day, Law of Chastity and the Law of the Land. He said I can do all of that. Well that is what Heavenly Father loves to hear. We told him we have one more commandment and this baptism. We read in 2 Nephi 31:5-7 with him. His response/question was,"Does that mean I need to get baptized?" Yes that is exactly what that means! We read on until verse 13 and he said, "Okay so when can I get baptized?" He understands! We told him we dont want you to get baptized for us or because we said. We want you to get baptized because you want to follow Jesus Christ. He wants to get baptized! That was one spiritual lesson with him and he accepted the spirit as it came to him. He still needs to pray and ask Heavenly Father himself if these things are true. 

I see the Lords hand and the Holy Ghost in the work more and more. I feel it more and more! Elder Chamberlain and I were talking and we know that we have a great group of investigators that we are teaching. We know that is all credit goes to our Heavenly Father, His son Jesus Christ and to the Holy Ghost. We are just the workers in the vineyard. Our investigators are: Dong, Poon, Sunny and his family, Chew-geet, Oom, Bon, Eggy, Cheian and his wife Jeep, You-Gee, Tin, Jang. A lot of them have the potential to be baptized here really soon. Please help pray for them. 

Something interesting that happened this week was a lady gave us mangos for free from off the street. She was selling them and gave us some. She told us," My daughter is going to Australia for a while and I want others to take care of her while she is there. I think that by giving to others, others will give to her." I thought about that and how just about every parent who send a missionary off or a college student off wishes that others will watch out for them. You dont have to worry, others are taking good care of your children. Mom, dad I am doing well! The people here take care of me just like I am one of their own! 

Love

Elder Hinckley 

We sent a care package to our Burmese or Myanmar Elders. It was much needed! They love it!  

 

 

 

A care package that Elder Hinckley put together for the Elders in Myanmar.

Elder Hinckley and Elder Chamberlain, Zone Leaders.

Wind chimes made by taxi drivers when they're bored.