Week 50 - Khonkaen, Thailand (Feb 8, 2015)

Elder Matt Boonmee indicated that, finally, people in Thailand are recognizing him as a Thai.

"It will be very fun to be serving with these missionaries in Khonkaen. I will keep all that I do in line with what the Lord has in store. It's possible that there is a reason why I am staying in the อิสาน for most of my mission. But all I know that the Lord knows where he wants me to go and I will do..."

We told Elder Matt Boonmee about Elder Martin's homecoming, his former companion from Sakonakhon.

"...Jeremy Martin is a great missionary. He was my district leader in สกลนคร He really showed how to be a dedicated missionary. He did some awesome things there. Also, Christian VandenBergh, I have been in almost every single one of his areas. I have followed his areas since บางเขน all the way until now. His last area was Chiang Mai so it's possible that I go there next.

...


I haven't done anything too exciting lately. We have been working hard here in Khon Kaen. We are working to get 65 people at church this next month. I think it will be a great start. My greenie area, สกลนคร has brought the weekly members up to 90 people! IT's incredible. The members in สกลนคร are great. So we will be trying to do what they do there and go out and find our lost brothers and sisters.

Something cool to study is to look into the book, the duties and blessings of the priesthood. It's an Elder's Quorum teaching booklet and talks about a lot of deep stuff. Really cool studies.

Anyways, I don't have much. I love you all and say hello to everyone for me!

Elder Boonmee"

Week 49 - Khonkaen, Thailand (Feb 1, 2015)

Khon Kaen is a good area. On a weekly basis there is about 45 people at church. We are going to try and build it up a little more as well.

People in my district is Elder Parker, Elder Pratt, and Elder Nelson.

Elder Parker was trained by Elder Smith.

......

One insane event happened on Saturday. Elder Parker and I went to the walking market to go inviting. So we parked our bikes turned around and started inviting. After I had invited about 3 people, I turned to find some more people. I made eye contact with some one and I looked away.

She looked familiar so I looked back and turned out it was my Recent Convert from Sakon Nakhon Sister แบม! I just went crazy! The thing is, is that she went less active when I was still there. We lost all contact with her because she had some problems in her life. But I was so happy to see her! We talked for a little bit and I got her phone number. She said she was just in town for testing, but is still in Sakon. She said she would go tell one of the members in Sakon that we ran into each other. Hopefully that will be the way she gets back to church. It was one of the most incredible things ever. I'm not sure, but I think the Lord planned for that. I might have to check up on if she went back to church in Sakon or not. But it was so awesome to see her here in Khon Kaen.

We have been teaching lots of lessons, but are having a trouble holding on to them. But that will just be part of the diligent work. Just doing it. The Lord has a plan and is preparing people and we are just working continually. I know the Lord is almighty and that He knows everything, and that everything that happens, is because of Him.

I love you all

Elder Boonmee

Week 48 - From Surin to Khonkaen, Thailand (Jan 25, 2015)

Transfers was good. I guess I will just start out with what happened this past week.

So on the last few days of being in Surin, I started to realize I was really going to miss them. They are great people. Surin is one my favorite places, if not the favorite. It was a hard place but I learned so much from the area, as well as loved the members.

After we left Surin at 12 in the morning we got to the place at about 6 in the morning and headed to transfers. Saw a lot of past companions and all that stuff. I got a photo with some of the past companions. Then we had transfers meeting. I have a new companion who is actually Elder Jacob Smith's trainee. So I guess it's like I'm his step uncle or something like that. He is a funny guy. And that I was headed to Khon Kaen. Still in the Isan. I have only been out of the Isan for 12 weeks when I was in Bangkhen. I guess I'm just an Isan kid. I've been working on my Isan so hopefully I can speak to grandma.

I've been to Khon Kaen twice for zone conferences so I'm a little bit familiar with the area.

I can't wait to see what is in store. The district is pretty young. I'm the district leader and the rest are pretty young in the mission. It's really different, I realize I'm getting a little old now a days.

Anyways, love you all and I will see you on December 18 which is my finishing date.

Elder Boonmee

Week 46 - Surin, Thailand (Jan 11, 2015)

It's been 4 month in Surin since the transfer. Smaller ward with some challenges but he is doing well and enjoying the challenges. We told him about our upcoming trip to India and our plan to stop in Thailand to visit with my wife's family and perhaps a drop by to attend church with Elder Matt Boonmee as well. We told Elder Matt Boonmee that we sent our request for permission to visit hi to President Senior (Elder Matt Boonmee was adamant about us getting the permission first.)

In addition, our dear friend, in Thailand, was involved in tragic accident in the recent week. We asked the mission office if it was possible that they send missionaries to see our friend and give him a blessing.

On the other side of Thailand, in the province of Sisaket, one of our Thai family member, for the first time, went to church to learn English with the missionaries.

The following are some of  the responses and comments from Elder Matt Boonmee's email to us this week.

"...turns out that the Elders in Thonburi it has Elder Tanner! He was just with me not too long ago. The redhead. He just told me about what happened. I will copy what he said.

"Hey today we were able to go give your dad's friend a blessing in the hospital. I'm not sure if you knew about it, but it was really a great experience. Elder Wheeler, Elder Chambers, Elder Frodsham and I went to the hospital and we really didn't know what to expect. We met with your dad's friend's mother, who is this sweet little Thai lady. She showed us into where this man was laying. He looked pretty bad. No bandages or anything, but he was laying there with kinda a blank stare. I could tell his mother was very worried about him. She said he'd been like that since December 11th or 12th. He had to have surgery done on the right part of his brain because apparently he had been in a motorcycle accident. We asked his mother if she believed that Jesus Christ could help her son, and she said she believed. We told her what was going to go on, and then I was able to anoint the blessing and Elder Wheeler gave a powerful blessings stating that he would become better. We explained where the church was and how to pray to his mother and told his mother that she can pray for him as well. I have faith that it will all be through the will of God. And the interesting thing was that after the blessing was performed, he took a couple of big breaths and his eyes started moving more. Please tell your dad and family to keep praying for them. This will be a great way that this family will come to know who Jesus Christ truly is"

... it is very much possible that I would be moving. I have been here for the same amount of time I was in Sakhon Nakhon. But who knows!"...

... 100% true, that if we give all that we can to follow whatever the Lord asks of us, we will be forever blessed. We don't have any idea what is in store for us in the future, but the Lord does. He does EVERYTHING for us. 

For this week we didn't really have all that much happen. I forget to send a photo of Brother ป๋อง He is our most recent convert. I met him in front of a store. Turns out he had learned with the Elders before and was nervous to come back after not coming for so long. So it was planned that we were supposed to see him again. When we taught him, he was once again, golden. He had no problems. This man will be a future branch president. He has a family. A little 7 month year old baby and his wife. I got to meet his little baby daughter. Such a chubby little cute girl. I can see the gospel blessing him and his family. 

Anyways I love you all and that is all!

Elder Boonmee"

Week 44 - Surin, Thailand (December 28, 2014)

Well, we had a great time talking to Elder Matt Boonmee on Christmas Eve. With today's technology, GotoMeeting, we were able to conference uncle Steven's family, grandma, grandpa, his sister Kelly, nieces Lilly and Daysie into the conversation.

For the first time, we were able to speak to Elder Matt Boonmee in Thai. His Thai was awesome, other than his American accent. He was able to understand everything we said to him and visa versa. He has grown much. Needless to say, we are very proud of him. Unfortunately, we were too excited and busy trying to talk to him that we forgot to capture the screen of Elder Matt Boonmee so we can post it here.

Due to the mix up of schedule during Christmas, we didn't not receive any update from Elder Matt Boonmee until December 31, 2014. The following is what we finally received form him.

"It sounds like a pretty fun Christmas in Utah!

All is well here. The work is getting a little harder because everyone was gone for new years and what not. Last night was New years eve so it sounded like World War III outside. But apparently I'm the only one that woke up when it happened.

On Christmas, I just took a nap and then ate moogratat เข้าใจไหม? (HotPot)

Haha that is too funny. I can't belive how old they look now. Lilly looks like a ฟรัง (white/Caucasian) completely. and Daysie is sassy! haha I can't wait to see them again! They are such little funny ones.

Holy cow you guys bought those things? That iphone 6 plus thing is massive! How do you fit it into your pocket? I feel like a normal is just fine.

Yeah, just call president Senior first and talk to him about it (He is referring to our plan to drop by and see him on our way to visit our YooFoo office in India).

That's great to hear that Jacob is back and happy! Tell him I said hello, if I don't get the chance to.

I'm assuming mom never made that email haha

Lately they just came out with a rule that we can't PLAY songs that aren't hymns. The past few months I've been singing and playing hymns with the guitar at church, but now we can't do that either. what a waste of such an angelic voice (His personal joke).

Anyways, It's new years for you all! Hope all is well! Love you all and happy new years!

Love Elder Boonmee"

Week 42- Surin, Thailand (December 14, 2014)

Dear Family,

We've seen videos and pictures of Elder Matt Boonmee and Elder Reid playing guitar and violin, posted on facebook by members of the Surin branch and asked if they have been asked to perform at any of the  church meetings.

"...I'm still in Surin, nothing has changed. Only one elder came in and it's ELDER LINGARD one of my companions in the MTC! He is with Elder Reid. Then for the song, I played the guitar while Elder Reid played the violin. "

And when asked about his last haircut his response was: "Oh yeah, I was furious when I saw my hair. I still am currently in an awkward state of my hair. I look like I have a fuzz ball on my head. I can't do anything until the top is long, then I will just cut the sides. "


"...Once again we are still working as normal, but we did meet a new investigator that was actually a past investigator. HE IS GOLDEN! He has no problems nor does he have any problems. He should be all ready for this Sunday! I just want to talk about the way we invite. We say, "Hello! Have you seen this photo before?" (With baptismal photo) We explain to them that it is the way to be cleansed from sin. And ask them if they would like to be baptized. 

Now it might sound weird, I also feel weird doing it, but how many times has it said in the Book of Mormon, The Holy Bible, Doctrine and Covenants to testify BOLDLY? Countless! This is what we are doing. We aren't missionaries that are here to plant seeds, though we are doing that no matter what we do, but we are here and "the field is white already to harvest; wherefore, thrust in your sickles, and reap with all your might, mind, and strength." (D&C 33:7)

We are here to harvest those white (golden) investigators. By that being said, I had invited a man that way. I had no contact from him throughout the week. Then yesterday, he walked into the church all ready to hear whatever he needed to do. He then asked, "When can I be baptized?" The Lord is always preparing our brothers and sisters. We need to just have the faith that the Lord is doing his part, and we will see the outcomes of his work and through our obedience. 
Missionary work is awesome and I love every second of it!

Tell everyone I love them! God is Love.

also, here is a photo of Elder Ngaw and I.

Elder Boonmee"

Week 41- Surin, Thailand ( December 7, 2014)

So last Monday I got my haircut REALLY short. I didn't intend on it, but that's what the barber thought I said... (Elder Matt Boonmee is really particular about his hair. We used to call him Mr. GQ at home. His hair has never been out of place. So this is really big for him. We could only imagine how disappointed he was when we saw this email from him)

Yes is was a version of hot pot stuff. We really didn't do anything special for thanksgiving. We just did normal work, then ate at that place.

Yeah, there are always alteration places everywhere so I should have no problem. Thanks!
This week we had Zone training in Khon kean. We went out to eat at what they call a "Buffet".... more like, "all you can eat!......until the first tray is gone, then we have no more." It was some pretty awful food, and it was Thai food as well. I had better food on the streets than in this "Fancy" hotel. After that we went to the Church and had the devotional and what not. As a gift for us, president Senior had a blueprint for the plan of salvation. Pretty much what God would have planned. I will have to show it to you later. It is amazing.

I met up with almost all of my district except two elders. I also got to play a musical piece for it on the guitar. I played my favorite Christmas song, "O Holy Night" Other than that, not too much happened this week. I love you all, and hopefully you saw the other email about the calling.
also, what is my blood type? I have no idea. And did you do that social security thing that I sent you? If not can you send it to me in Thai english? I need that ASAP.

Elder Boonmee

Week 40 - Surin, Thailand (November 30, 2014)

For thanksgiving we went to a restaurant that was basically a ton of raw meats and boiling water.

Proverbs 3:5-6
5 ¶Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thineown understanding.

 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Sometimes as I go day by day, talking to everyone you see, getting denied harshly, your faith breaks down a little bit. But all you have to do is remember that everything that has happened and that is happening, is from he Lord and He is always trying to help us.

I sometimes forget that I'm a Missionary. One of those Young Adults with a white shirt and tie with that signature black badge. There was a time a few transfers ago, I was in what some people call a dry spell. A time where the baptisms don't come along as easy as before and most of the time spent is out contacting in the hot streets of Thailand. I got to a point where I felt, why am I doing this? I'm supposed to be helping the Lord but the Lord isn't putting forth his part. I felt lonely as if I had just made a huge mistake by serving a mission. I soon remembered that I have a journal for all my spiritual experiences. I guess my own small plates. And I looked at the first page and read my first spiritual experience. When I had prayed to the Lord and asked, "If you are really there, just let me know by placing a cloud in the sky." I know this sounds like a really dumb question, but it's what a young kid asked. The Lord was more than willing to answer me. So as I remembered that experience, I thought, "Well, I'm in that same place. Why not do it again." So I prayed. I asked the Lord for guidance and direction in what I should be doing. Asking for help and why the Lord hasn't helped me in these times as a missionary. As I sat there pondering and praying I received a clear answer. I had a voice in my head, and it was my own voice say, "Matthew, I know what you are going through. There are elect people out there, I know who they are, I know them by name, but if I told you who and where they are, WHAT GOOD DOES THAT SERVE YOU?" I sat there and realized, all the problems and trials I've had in my life, and on my mission have been trials of my faith as well as what have molded me into what I am today.

This has been something that has helped me throughout all of my mission. Even when people deny my invites, I know that those aren't the elect. I take that as a great opportunity. To continue on, to find the ones that the Lord has prepared.

Another time as we were at the last Zone Conference, we had the opportunity to be with Elder Gong of the 70 to lead a devotional. Something special that we got to do, was partake of the sacrament. As we sat there in silence waiting for the sacrament to be passed, once again I heard a voice, "I know your trials, I've partaken of the bitter cup. I have experienced every one of your trials. Have faith in me and you will have nothing to fear."

The Lord Jesus Christ did not take the sins of the world all at once. He did as he taught, One by One. The Lord atoned for our sins, One by One. Experiencing everything that we have and will do. The Lord knows best and we should always rely on him.

Elder Boonmee

Week 39 - Surin, Thailand (November 23, 2014)

Thanksgiving not alot of update from Elder Matt Boonmee. Lots of his email were about his personal requests for the upcoming Christmas, dress pants and etc.. So, below is all we got.

"Tell everyone I say hello! 
This week was a whole lot of hard work. We have been inviting more than 4 hours and teaching as hard and as faith filled as possible. We are trying to meet our goals as much as possible. Once it came down to the last few days we weren't going to be able to meet our goals. But the Lord prepares ways. When the last day, Sunday, came around we had a ton of new investigators and past people come to church. It was amazing to see. We will be able to meet our goal for the month, but we need to our best, and keep our faith strong to meet this goal. The Lords provides ways. Other than that, that was pretty much it.

One thing also, You need to stop talking to the members here. It is like we are having constant contact and President Senior asks that we don't do that. Also the reason why I don't write very long is because I don't know what to talk about. You guys send letters that are really short so I don't know what to say, so my letters are the same length as your letters. 
Well that's all! 
Elder Boonmee"

Week 37 - Surin, Thailand (November 9, 2014)

So last week, not too much happened. The biggest thing that happened was ลอยกะทง!! It was way cool to see! If you have seen "Tangled" There is a part where they all send up lanterns, that was what it was like! We got to send up a few of our own lanterns. In the belief of Buddhism, this is actually a form of getting rid of sins. BUT we did as missionaries always do, and we invited about baptism! We tried to explain the importance of Baptism and much more.

Here is the studies that Elder Beebe and I have had in his own words. I can't type that long.

Tell everyone I love them!






"The title of this email speaks for itself. I'd like to share some notes and understanding I received from Heavenly Father in some of mystudies this past week. (These are just my feelings, thoughts, and
notes I've recorded and you can take, change, add to what you want.)

In my email that discussed the Plan of Salvation and the Good Samaritan can also be used with these studies. Mainly because the Plan of Salvation is expressed and taught all throughout the Book of Mormon and Bible. For example, the story of the family of Lehi leaving Jerusalem to go to the Promised Land, Moses and the Children of Israel, The Brother of Jared, and like mentioned before, Good Samaritan. I want to just talk about my studies on the story of Lehi leaving his Land of Inheritance in Jerusalem. I feel as though the Spirit has led

these studies as my understanding has been built upon and it is my testimony that God has created these beautiful stories in the scriptures for the world.

As we read in the scriptures we see that the Lord speaks and teaches through parables. A parable by definition in the Merriam Webster dictionary is; a short story that teaches a moral or spiritual lesson; especially: one of the stories told by Jesus Christ and recorded in the Bible. It says that it is both a moral and SPIRITUAL lesson. As we read in the scriptures we see that  it talks about how the Lamanites felt they were robbed when the Nephites took the plates from them into the Wilderness. Why would they feel robbed? Sure they are made of Gold and Brass compounds but why other than that would they be of worth? As we see in the scriptures, people and nations dwindle because they are illiterate. The plates of Nephi are the teachings for ALL people. To help them become literate. While people aren't literate they dwindle and eventually lose all talents. We read about this in the Book of Mormon as well as in other historical books. (There is a ton more on this that I haven't written down). The scriptures both have spiritual and moral benefits. In the Bible we read about how Noah built the Ark in Genesis, right? Well he had to get those instructions from somewhere. As we read about that story it explains the exact measurements he needed to make the Ark. Same thing as the Brother of Jared, when he goes and builds submarines for his family and those following him. SUBMARINES. How do we know that it is a submarine that was built? Because the Lord commands him to create VESSELS that are tight. (Ether 2 discusses this story.) When the Brother of Jared goes
to build them he sees that there will be no light in them, so the Lord says to build a window in the ships. The word window is symbolic in this scripture, but how? As we read about the word window in the Bible, Genesis 6:16 it talks about a WINDOW. As we check the footnote about the word  INDOW it explains where the Brother of Jared got his idea to bring the stones

to the Lord in the mountain to make the submarines lit while under the water. These ships the Lord teaches these faithful followers are as Nephi states in 1 Nephi 17:8, " And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying: Thou shalt construct a ship, after the manner which I shall show thee,that I may carry thy people across these waters." No other man has ever created this before, so it obviously had to have come from the Lord to work the way it did. The scriptures have both moral and spiritual meaning to all people. So they are of the most worth in these times to keep nations from falling apart, to keep them all literate and smart! The Lord knows that without these plates, His word would be gone very quickly. Back in the time of the scriptures, the way stories and info was passed down was through oral means. The word of God would have been lost and messed up so fast. So, he teaches through interesting
meaningful, symbolic stories. Most humans learn through visual aids and creating images in their minds. As dad makes up those Bobby stories at night, I'm sure we all remember those stories better than math problems because we created those stories in our heads. It's the same with the scriptures, the Lord couldn't rely on men to relate 1000's of verses day by day to people while they weren't literate. I think it's pretty fair to say that we are all pretty literate and are able to read and write fine, but we can only memorize up to 10- 20 verses word for word. Teaching by stories and interesting parables is the most simple, yet complex way the Lord teaches us all through the Prophets. He is a brilliant author.

So, now onto the the story of Lehi. This is a brilliant story about how a family in Jerusalem leaves the city to go into the Wilderness to keep their lives and eventually lands in the Promised Land. (I've
capitalized the word Wilderness and Promised Land for reasons which I have reasons for.) So we see this great story about Lehi and his family traveling in the wilderness and overcoming trials and death and all these things. It's a great story because it talks about the Plan of Salvation and Jerusalem, and the Promised Land, and the Wilderness. So, as I stated the Good Samaritan story talks about Jerusalem and Jericho, Jerusalem being symbolic of Heaven and Jericho being the World. In this story it can be used in the same way. Jerusalem is the Holy City, Holy Land, and or Heaven.

The Wilderness has many meanings, it could be our lives now, the path of repentance, or trials in our
lives, etc. We all have tons of times in our lives when we feel as though we are in a Wilderness, so you can relate that to your own life. At this time in our lives, we have had many wars happen and that
are happening now over the Promised Land or Holy Land, which many people feel as though is Jerusalem and the area around it. I don't feel as though the Lord would tell us where the Promised Land or Holy Land is and the exact boundaries and would want people to war over it. I feel like the Promised Land is the happiness, joy, enlightened understanding we get from the processes of repentance, it is not a specific area on this earth or a certain land. It is symbolic of where we first started in the Plan of Salvation and where we will end up in our highest state of exaltation along with the happiness and joy through the Power of the Atonement.

I talked about the Wilderness in the past few paragraphs which is symbolic in and of itself. Now, the Lord will not EVER forget or apostate from us. If so, he would cease to be God. The people ALWAYS
will apostate from Him (if that makes sense. We will forget, throw away the teachings etc.) But in Isaiah, we read that ,"His hand is stretched out still." This is the promise of the Atonement, that no
matter what the Lord will pay for all sins of the world. "His hand is stretched out still." While in the Wilderness, we are currently lost and searching for the Promised Land. In the Story of Moses and the
Children of Israel, they travel through the Desert. What Desert could that have been in Egypt? Sahara maybe? They saw blessings and miracles such as water pouring from rocks and manna being fed to them daily. In the story of Nephi and Lehi, why don't they have this happen? Why don't they have rocks full of water and manna walking around daily for them? Because their Wilderness was different from that of the Children of Israel. Nehpi and Lehi and their family were in a Wilderness where there was water, so consequently, there will be animals. Moses didn't need a bow and arrow and a Liahona, but Nephi and Lehi did. They traveled through different Wildernesses to get to the Promised Land by passing through a body of water or multiple times in the case of Moses and the Children of Israel. Nephi and Lehi needed different tools to get through their wilderness because they were in different parts of the world. There were animals to hunt and etc. In Moses' case there weren't. In our Wildernesses, we will need different tools to get through and to fight through to get to the waters to cross into the Promised Land we so much desire.

We may not need to have bows and
arrows or a liahona. But one thing that all these great stories fell on in the end was the basics of Faith and keeping the commandments. The Lord will prepare ways for his covenant people to make it to the Promised Land that the Lord promised with those people. He will NEVER not let covenant people into the Promised Land, if they do their part. The Lord's word must ALWAYS come to pass. If it doesn't He will cease to be God.

Onto the Water that we must cross to get to our Promised Land. In these stories, we see that they all had to cross great waters to get to the Promised Land. Throughout these stories, we see that the Lord
doesn't say where it is or what it is or how long it'll take, He just says that he will take us to the Promised Land.

We must have faith to cross the Waters in our lives. To take that leap of faith to follow our Lord in the Wilderness and to finally cross that finish line, the Great Waters, into the Promised Land or blessings. As the faith of the family of Nehpi lacks the Liahona doesn't work, the Lord will NOT help them. But, as Nephi's faith strengthens, the Lord forgives and works with Nephi to bring his family into peace and the Promised Land. Also, I've heard tons of people say, including myself, that Nephi and his family founded the Americas. But, that is absolutely false!! How could
there be wars and wars within just a few years of being in the Promised Land if it was just Nephis family, Zorams family, and Ishmaels family (including sons and daughters of the wives of Laman,
Lemuel, Nephi, Ishamel, etc.) There had to be others in America before them to have all these wars. (I'll talk about this in another email. Because all clues are in the Book of Mormon, you just gotta look
closer. :) )

As we cross into the Promised Land, we gain that peace and love from our Heavenly Father that He promised us at the beginning of our journey. I'm convinced that the Lord didn't intend for Jerusalem to be the Holy Land or to make it known unto us. It isn't THAT easy. We must go through our own wildernesses in our lives to reach the many "Promised Lands" we will meet in this life. We may have many Wildernesses that take a few days, years or lifetimes to get through. But, we must rely on the Gospel of Christ, that is FAITH, REPENTANCE, BAPTISM (or taking the Sacrament each week), living worthily for the GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST, and we must ALWAYS ENDURE TO THE END."

Week 36 - Surin, Thailand (November 2, 2014)

Well this week was full of stuff.

Last Monday we went to Wad Phanom Rung up in Buriram. That was fun, we also saw some stuff there that looked like temple things...

Tuesday we found out nobody was moving from our district! We were pretty happy that we get to all stay for another transfer!

Then on Thursday of transfers the Zone leaders called us and told us, "Hey can you do us a favor? Elder Beebe pack up. You're moving." So the transfer meeting was about an hour after that phone call. So we packed up and headed out to Bangkok. We didn't make in on time so my new companion,

Elder Ngaosuwan, and Elder Reid went back and Elder Tanner and I swapped companions and stayed in Bangkok so Elder Tanner could do his Visa work. I learned that Jacob is a Zone leader in Pakret!

Then we finally got back at about 2 am and went straight to sleep. The next day I finally got to talk to my companion. He is from Bangkapi. He is a pretty fun guy. This past Sunday we had Sister ไวน์ (Wine) baptized! She is awesome! She has actually been an investigator since I came into the country. But the missionaries that taught her, just lost contact. Elder Beebe and I got in contact and she was golden! She had been praying all that time and still was reading the scriptures.

She has a step father that is Islamic and a mother that is Buddhist. It will be quite the household for her. But she is awesome. She told us that she was so stressed before the missionaries met her. She almost was going to commit suicide, but perfectly, the Sister missionaries invited her. She will be an amazing member for the branch.

This week we had 53 people at church, we are trying for a goal of 60. Two weeks ago we had 41 people at church, so the members are doing some great work.

Anyways, that's all I have!
Elder Boonmee

Week 35 - Surin, Thailand (October 26, 2014)

Dear Family,

Once again I wont be able to expound on my personal studies of the Book of Mormon, because I am headed to Buriram pretty soon. It would be cool if I could see some photos from that conference because we don't see anything about that anymore.

...

Well this week was very eventful. On Tuesday our Thai family came to see me. It was little odd because I don't remember any of them. They all remembered me, but I didn't. To me, it was the first time seeing everyone. They also came back another time on Saturday, but not all of them. Just the two aunts and their family.

Elder Beebe and I brought up the Plan of Salvation. We taught them a bunch of things. It was all new things for them so I'm sure they felt odd a little bit. But I told them to pray and other things as well. I'm really hoping that they try it. It would awesome to see them be baptized. The thing is, is that they live in Korat. So it was a 4-5 hour drive to come here.

Then on Sunday we had a baptism. Sister พิมพ์ has been a long going investigator. She has been waiting about 3 months to be baptized because her dad wouldn't give her permission. This whole transfer we have been trying hard with her, and finally she got permission.

A little back story of her is that the missionaries didn't contact her. She walked straight into the church. She said that she just felt that Buddhism wasn't right, so she just decided to go to a Christian church. She asked a friend that had seen our church or something. But when she was looking for the church, she just parked her scooter and was thinking about where the church was. Turns out she was right in front of the church. So as time went on, and she was awesome. She should have been baptized a long time ago.

The Lord was helping her with everything. For sure. In the end, her Dad even came to support her for the Baptism. It was awesome to have a small part in conversion.

I love you all and tell everyone that also!
Elder Boonmee

Week 34 - Surin, Thailand (October 21, 2014)

So last Monday we went to Elephant city. It was awesome!! I can't believe the elephants are so huge.

While there, we got to see the little show that they had, but the best part wasn't in the actual elephant place. We walked out a little bit further out of that area, and just found a person and asked him if we could ride his elephants, and he said yes! So we got to ride four elephants, I got my own. As we rode around we just kept seeing more and more elephants. I also rode the elephant into a little lake as well. It was amazing, we just rode them bare back.

Then on Tuesday we went to Buriram for district meeting. That was just pretty normal.

For Wednesday we taught a couple of lessons. We called a past investigator and turned out she was awesome! She is so ready, the only thing is that her dad is Muslim and doesn't want her to be Christian. So we will wait for that.

Thursday was a normal day. We went to teach lessons and inviting.

Friday we went on switch offs with the Buriram Elders, I was with Elder Burke who is in my group, he was just in the other district, so we are pretty good friends. Later in the night we just prepared for this huge meeting in khon kaen.

สองแถว

Saturday we rode a สองแถว
for the whole 4 hours. It was awful. Then once we got there, we had the opportunity to see all of the three different districts. SUCH AS SAKON NAKHON!!! I got to see everyone again. It was so awesome to see them! I missed Sakon Nakhon. So it was awesome to catch up and talk to them again.

Then on Sunday we had the main meeting which was the biggest change there. We found out that they are making Khon kaen and Ubon become one district. It will help us get closer to stakes, then to a temple. After that we got to eat and once again I talked to Sakon Nakhon and got a photo with them all.

My people from Sakon Nakohrn

Then the missionaries went to the Khon Kaen Church and we had a special devotional with Elder Gong, and we also had special permission to partake of the Sacrament for this event. Before we had the sacrament, Elder Gong gave a wonderful talk about the atonement. The Spirit was so strong. He explained how we can always remember the savior. Elder Gong quoted this talk, "This do in remembrance of me". We should always have a spiritual experience whenever we partake of the sacrament. Then on Monday we had zone training. Elder Gong instructed us on what needed to be done before we could get to having a temple. It was a great week here.

Hope you weren't too worried that I didn't email yesterday. Tell everyone I love them!
Elder Boonmee

Week 32 - Surin, Thailand

For English please see below.

อาทิตย์นี้ไม่มีอะไรมากนัก ผมส่งรูปมาฝากสองรูป รูปกลุ่ม เป็นดิสตริคท์ของผม

วันจันทร์ เราได้รับอบรมเกี่ยวกับการเป็นผูสอนศาสนา

วันอังคารเราก็ไปอบรมดิสตริคท์ที่บุรีรัมย์ รูปแรกเป็นรูปที่เราถ่ายจากบุรีรัมย์ ที่ยืนอยู่เป็นน้องใหม่ ที่นั่งอยู่เป็นรุ่นพี่

วันพุธ เรามีการท้าทายนิดหน่อย คือมีชายคนหนึ่งที่ชอบมาลุ้นกับพวกเรา แต่ไม่ต้องเป็นห่วงครับ เขาแค่อยากทดลองความรู้ของพวกเรา

วันพฤหัสบดี ก็อบรม zone มีหลายอย่างทีกำลังเปลี่ยนแปลง

วันศุกร์ ก็ติดต่อและเชิญชวนผู้สนใจ พอดีตอนเย็นก็เป็นวันกิจกรรม ก็เลยมีการเล่นเกมนิดหน่อย ไม่ทราบว่าเป็นเพราะอะไร วันนี้รู้สึกว่าทุกคนดีกับเรามาก อาจเป็นเพราะว่าเราไม่ได้แต่งตัวก็ได้ 555 เพราะเราเล่นกีฬา

วันเสาร์ก็เช่นเดียวกัน ติดต่อและเชิญชวน แต่วันนี้แปลกนิดหนึ่ง ขณะที่เรากำลังเดินทางไปติดต่อและเชิญชวน ตอนระหว่างทางมีหญิงชรากำลังถกเถียงกันอยู่ เราได้รับดลใจให้หยุด (จะบอกว่าหญิงชราโบกให้หยุดก็ได้ 555)  อย่างไรก็ตาม เราได้หยุดและคุยกับยายจนได้ทราบว่าท่านเคยเป็นสมาชิกเก่าแต่ไม่ค่อยได้มาโบสถ์ ในขณะเดียวกัน เรายังได้คุยกับหนุ่มอีกคน ซึ่งก็เคยเป็นสมาชิกเก่าที่ไม่ค่อยได้มาโบสถ์เช่นกัน แต่หนุ่มคนนี้เขาบอกว่าเขาอยากจะกลับมาโบสถ์อีก เชื่อไหมครับ เขาก็มาโบสถ์จริงๆ ผมและเพื่อนดีใมากครับที่ไดเห็นพระหัตถ์ของพระเจ้าในงารของพระองค์

วันอาทิตย์ ก็ไปโบสถ์

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It's been couple weeks since his transfer from Bangkhen to Surin province. So far, Elder Matt Boonmee is doing well and getting used to being a senior companion. He still feels inadequate in his new role, but is taking it in stride. He loves his companion and his district. Due to the new mission rule, we weren't able to get much update from him. The mission is discouraging chat style emails so the following is what we have to share with you.

"Last Monday we received new training about how we should be doing missionary work. It was a great thing to watch. 

Tuesday we went to Buriram for district meeting. We just talked about the training and also got this photo. (Top row from left to right: Elder Beebe, Elder Burke, Elder Reid "Junior Companions) (Bottom Row from left to right: Me, Elder Martin, Elder Tanner "Senior Companions") Our district is called Suriram.

Then on Wednesday we went to return a package to an Independent Baptist at his church. We found that he loved Bible bashing. That seemed to be his only goal. He keeps saying he just wants to talk as friends but he was just a little much and this wasn't our mission anyway. We tried to be polite and didn't fight back. We thanked him and left. He is a smart guy, but he is only getting our material to find something to challenge us with. So we continued with the work we were called to do.

Thursday we just went out and also got training from the Zone leaders. It was a big change here. There is a lot of difference in the work here. 

Friday we had inviting, as always, but then we had sports night near the end. For some reason everyone was so friendly when we walked by, but it was because we weren't in our missionary apparel...

...Saturday we just had a lot of teaching and inviting. However, prior to the inviting and teaching, we were riding by the Park when we stopped because we had this spiritual prompting, or in other words, we saw some people (elderly) arguing. And a lady started waving us down, turned out she was a less-active member, We got to talking with her a little and hope to continue again at a later time. The biggest surprise was, as we were talking with this elderly woman, we saw another less-active member, so we talked to him as well. He said he would come to church, and he did! He also gave us a lot of referrals. 

It's such a joy to know that God places things in our way so that we may be able to contact his children. If it needed to be an argument to get our attention, so be it. haha 

Then Sunday. It was a good old Sunday as always. We haven't seen General Conference quite yet, it will be next week.

Just me

Anyways that is all I can think of. Also some other news, President Senior has stopped Facebook proselyting for a while. Also he asks that when we email, we don't get into a "chatroom" style email. As in I email, and we just reply back and forth. 

Love you all and I hope you have a good week!

Elder Boonmee "

Week 31 - Surin, Thailand

วันนี้น้องลิลลี่เขาบ่นคิดถึงอาแม็ท ผมเลยบอกเขาว่า งั้นเรามาถ่ายรูปให้อาแม็ทซิ ที่เหลือก็เป็นอีเมลจาก เอ็ลเดอร์แม็ท บุญมี
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We came home from church today and Lilly told us how much she misses her uncle, Elder Matt Boonmee. To help her, we asked if she wanted to take some pictures to send to her uncle (since Sunday is Elder Matt Boonmee's P-Day).

"We took couple pictures of her and sent them to Elder Matt Boonmee.  In addition, we also updated him about our ward and about the opportunity we had, to substitute in CTR 3-7, Daysie's primary class, as teachers. The lesson was on "Paying Tithing". We told him about the games and activities we had in class with the children. Below is Elder Matt Boonmee email to us.

Keep sending photos, I want to just see them as they are (referring to the picture of his niece, Lilly). 

Yeah I just got an email from him (Elder Drew Jex, who returned home to Provo, Utah after he trained elder Matt Boonmee), I haven't read it yet but I'm excited.
...
The area we are in is a branch. The members are a little funny and loving,

but we will work hard to try to make this a more functioning branch. It's been a little hard on the work, this pass week,  because we have to do a lot of moving and getting things out of the Sisters old apartment. But we received some new instruction on our missionary work. President Senior sent a video that was talking about our mission. It really helped me become a more faith filled missionary. Sometimes, you feel that the work is a routine and redundant, like a check list we go through from day to day, but really,  it's how much faith you have in the Lord. All things are possible with the Lord. I am constantly reminded that this is not our work. This isn't some vacation, but this is the work of salvation. Helping our Brothers and Sisters come back unto Christ.

That is all I've got for today. I don't have much else. Tell everyone I love them!

Also that black mask thing is a liquid latex thing. Elder Beebe and I did it. It was pretty funny."

New investigator brought us donuts

Being goofy

Yeah! its me

Us being weird

Another goofy picture of us