Chiang Mai-ty Mountains

September 25th, 2017
4 months, 1st week
Thailand, Bangkok, Chaing Mai District

samuel.montague@myldsmail.net (I would love to hear from you)

I guess the pun titles are back? At least for a while I guess- Chiang Mai (pronounced chain with a g sound at the end, my) has so many easy possibilities.

Last Pday, we tried doing a few things but the highlights consisted of getting my feet eaten by fish then touring Wat Phrasing (the super famous temple in the North. The church building is right next to it, so we always reference it). The fish tickled so much, I was afraid I might accidentally kill some as I couldn't keep my feet still.  The Wat (Buddhist temple) was so much larger than I expected, and we went right in time to hear the prayer. So that was a fun experience. 

We went to go eat at a meat buffet place, but weren't there for long when one of our recent converts called us and, in tears, requested we come to the hospital and give a blessing to their 3 year old son they just brought in. So we left immediately to give him a blessing and followed up again the next morning.  This service is just as fulfilling as the physical service we did last week.  It turned out to be an inherited blood disease, and thankfully he was able to be released a few days later.

English class was so fun! Our theme was soccer (futbon), so we started with stretches, moved to actions in the game, jersey, players, etc.- giving them vocab all on the way. We then broke everyone into 4 teams, and had them play a few games, each only a few minutes long. Throughout, everyone had to use vocab that was learned- it was great fun. At the end, we gathered all of the classes together and taught and performed a lit cheer! I am going to try to attach as many videos and pictures as I can- words literally can't do it justice.

We've given ourselves quite a bit of time to devote to weekly planning and organizing our area book and investigators. There's so much work to do, we still haven't even finished. We continue to work on them though, and plan that before the end of the transfer we'll have it all sorted out and completed.

Saturday was super fun! After going home teaching with two members, where we were fed a delicious lunch, we went to our branch youth activity. When we got there, there was a 12 year old boy just biking in the parking lot, and we got him to end up staying for the activity and he returned the next day for our full day of church (turns out he lives in the other branch's boundaries, so we sadly turned him over to the other elders). It was put on by our Young Men's President, Troy Thorup and his family. They're from CA, but have been here for 3 years after moving for work. It was so fun.

The activity was a nerf war, but instead of guns we had half a meter of PVC pipe, so they were blow guns! We all got so into it, and played a few games of Capture the Flag, then a few more modified versions of it. In true Montague fashion, my team won the majority of the matches.  However in the true spirit of fellowship, we let the teens have a few victories - but don't let them know. We had a good American meal afterwards - hot dogs, bell peppers, carrots, chips, brownies. Then we gathered again and played a few rounds of fruit basket in Thai.

Sunday was more exciting than the past couple of weeks, partially because of our investigator's attendance. For second hour, we ended up going to Primary and helping translate (there are a lot of white people, excuse me non-Thai people up here). Third hour, my companion and I split with members and I ended up teaching Young Men's class without any preparation! It was still good- most of the class spoke English, and my temporary companion was a recent Thai RM (served Utah Ogden Mission). I followed up from last week's commitment (we attended), then worked on Duty to God with them. I think everyone enjoyed the lesson overall- it helps that I was provided a healthy supply of candy to hand out 555.

Today for Pday, we ended up going on a trip to see cool rock formations in the mountains with a few members and investigators. It was cool, then we went back to the church for a small picnic. All the missionaries then went to our internet place, and you are now caught up to my current circumstances!

I had a lot of really cool experience and understanding from scripture study this week. Check them out:

We met with this non-Thai family in our neighborhood early in the week. Elder Hanks had previously placed a copy of the Book of Mormon with them. And after much pleasantries, I experienced my first bible bashing! They remained polite and civil, as did we, but she was just attacking the validity of the Book of Mormon - without having read more then the introductions.  The wife's main issue (who was the dominant speaker) was a lack of archaeological evidence, the seeming plagiarism, and how the Bible contained the fullness of that which is needed. We did our best, but they had obviously hardened their hearts against the complete truth (they were devout Christians in Thailand doing some of their own missionary work- the case with most non-Thai people here). The next 2 days, in scripture study, I read from 2 Nephi 28 and 29. I invite you to read these two chapters and see how they apply to this situation, and why I laughed when I read them (they were almost direct quotes).

We also read in 2 Nephi 29:11-12 the following:

11 For I command all men, both in the east and in the west, and in the north, and in the south, and in the islands of the sea, that they shall write the words which I speak unto them; for out of the books which shall be written I will judge the world, every man according to their works, according to that which is written.
12 For behold, I shall speak unto the Jews and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the Nephites and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the other tribes of the house of Israel, which I have led away, and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto all nations of the earth and they shall write it.

Does this not seem to hint at the possibility of many scriptures that we do not know about or have possession of (which is confirmed in several places). So I pose that just as the Lord did not forget His people in the Americas, He too didn't forget about His people in Africa, Asia, Australia, the Pacific Islands, New Zealand, etc. That they too had prophets (there were often multiple prophets on Earth at the same time due to inability to communicate with all) and that they received revelation and scripture. This is something I've been pondering, and is not official doctrine, but how cool would it be?

Love y'all,

เอ็ลเดอรื มอนทากิว

Elder Montague