Karsten's Adventures in the Kingdom of Thailand: 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!