Hello Family,
Well this week was great! Ya I got the letters from the Young Women's. And I am so happy you get to speak at church Mom that will be awesome! I will be thinking of some stuff for you to share!! What type of stories you looking for? Contacting, Families, pray, member missionaries, etc.? So ya thanks for being a great mom.
One thing for sure is, some of the people here have such a sad perception of life after this one. This past week I was talking to a man about the Plan of Salvation. And how he could live with his 3 little children again. And as we shared our message on living with our families again. He shared what he believed. How his 3 daughters aren't actually his.They are just people, with no special relationship to him. He just helps the cycle of life. He cares for their needs and buys them stuff. But they are a person who has been around forever. And they have no value to him. If they die, so be it. They will be born again. It is the cycle and it doesn't matter if he sees his children or not. 6 transfers ago in Bangna I was talking with an elderly man, his wife passed away a week before. He was depressed, sad, and didn't know what to do now that the only person he loved had died. So I talked to him about my grandparents and how my grandma had recently passed away. He listened as I shared more about my family. I told him that I will see her again. I will be able to be with her and all of my family. He asked me how did I know this. I said, all you need to do is read this book. The Book of Mormon. He replied. I am to old to change my beliefs young man. It was sad. Because the people here want to hear about this message. They want to be with their family again. Knowing that we are with our family again gives us hope for the life after. It lets us look beyond the grave. I know that having this knowledge of the Plan of Salvation has helped our family. I can see it in how we act and how we show our love. People here are great. And I am here to give them hope for there future. That they can see their family again. That they can be sealed with their loved ones. Granted everyday is hard, we talk to literally everyone and only a few will here our message. It is the hardest and most rewarding work I have done. I don't love anything more than seeing the smile on a persons face when they learn that we will see your families again.
So besides that I have really appreciated all that you guys have taught to me. This past week with my companion has been great! We have contacted for easily 25 hours this past week. Where we just talk to as many people as physically possible. And guess what! No new investigators from it! Crazy huh!? But I tell you what. I have never felt better in my life than going out and bearing testimony that Christ lives, he loves us, and we can return to him. That the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that our Church is the only true church. Rejection can be hard. But everyone needs to know that Jesus is the Christ. And I don't care how many rejections it takes. But I will find those who will listen to our message! There has been nothing more rewarding in my life than being a missionary. I have seen the blessings. And I know that every soul must hear our message. I am so grateful to serve here in Thailand. It isn't easy, I know that. But it has helped me build a foundation of the Gospel. Because I know why I am here and where I am going. And I really want all my brothers and sisters here in Thailand to be right there with me.
This past week was great. I really had some great experiences. We have been meeting Joy and Eeam they are awesome! They are so cool. Eeam has already read 1 Nephi. And she is doing great. She wants to be baptized on August 10. Her husband Joy is doing okay. But they really want to live with there two little children again and they love our message. Their only problem is they aren't married by the law. Married by society. So they need to get legally married. But they are great! We also met Mat. She is awesome. She loves the Book of Mormon. We gave it to her on the first day we met her. She was so happy. She was just staring at it and smiling. All three of these people are awesome! But everyone has problems in life and our message can help them. It is true. And I know they can change if they ask Heavenly Father for help. They are sweet people and I am praying for them. So Saw is doing great still. She came to church yesterday. She is doing really good. Still has a date for the 4th of August. She just needs to be taught everything.
Also we met this sweet new guy this week. While we just finished walking and talking for 2 hours and we get into a little taxi truck thing and head home. All the sudden the driver stops his truck. Gets out comes around to the back and says come sit up front and talk to me about Christ. So we were like ok!! And long story short Matthew came to church yesterday! He is so awesome! What a stud. It was so cool to see the blessings the Lord gave us. It wasn't through contacting. But we saw them in other ways. The first three people I talked about are all member referrals! From Brother Woot! He is so cool and loves doing missionary work! This past week we saw lots of great success.
I love working with Elder Pyne he is so thankful for all that I taught him recently. As I stated his trainer is 100% opposite of me. This past week he has opened up a ton! And is really a fun guy! He just said that he thought missionary work was something that wasn't supposed to be fun. You weren't supposed to make friends with people. He loves the mission now. We go and tract for hours a day. And get rejected. And that is fun!!! You laugh you have fun. You be yourself. That is something that is important. That you be who you are. Because you were called for you. Your weren't called to be something you aren't. It isn't called the best two years because you frowned the whole time and didn't laugh or have fun. It is the best two years. And the only way you can do that is going and doing the Lords work using the talents he has given you. Talk with people be their friends. And share the gospel. It is why we are here. And I am so grateful to be here in Chiang Mai and to serve my fellow man and my God. I love it here. I love my family. You taught me so much. I learned that I could be myself. That because of who I am I can help people. It is a characteristic that you have helped me develop. Thanks for being my family and friends. I love all of you and I know that the Lord has great things in store for all of us. He just asks us to be his disciples and to follow him. Have a great week! I loved this past week! It was great!
Love,
Elder Landon SImonsen
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