Elder Montague's Mission

December 11th, 2017 7 months, 1st week Thailand, Bangkok, Chaing Mai  District samuel.montague @myldsmail.net (I would love to hear from you) So we had zone conference this past week, which was a blast!  On Wednesday , we had a zone pday, hence the late email. As a zone, we went up to Mon Jam and took pictures and shopped a little bit. We came back and got our phones.  As an activity we also exchanged white elephant gifts, which is always fun with the "stealing" that goes on.  I ended up walking away with some treats and a framed picture of President and Sister Johnson. A fun little thing of the night: I was chosen to play Santa, so I dressed up, entered the room after everyone finished the white elephant activity, amidst them singing Jingle Bells for me.  I had a blast giving everybody little goodie bags with their phones from the mission. Afterwards we received training on setting up and using phone. Thursday  was the actual zone conference and...

December 11th, 2017 6 months, 3rd week Thailand, Bangkok, Chaing Mai  District samuel.montague @myldsmail.net (I would love to hear from you) We started the week with a switch, and I was with my น้อง (the MTC group below me), Elder Thornock. It was SO much fun, and I was  actually  the senior missionary (I've had a few similar experiences when I led the area, but this was created more responsibility for me and I enjoyed the experience taking me out of my comfort zone). We had a blast together! So the email title. Even though I have been in Chiang Mai for 3 transfers, and this is my second time leading the area, I managed to get us terribly lost 6 times this past week. I don't know how, and I don't know where I went wrong, but I just kept taking the wrong turn and putting us way out of the way.  This caused us to do a lot more biking than we would've needed to. You know how much I love biking in a tie and pants - so I frustrated myself. BUT, we must've be...

December 4th, 2017 6 months, 2nd week Thailand, Bangkok, Chaing Mai  District samuel.montague @myldsmail.net (I would love to hear from you) Still here in Chiang Mai! My Wednesday  evening and Thursday  consisted of getting down to Bangkok, picking up my new companion, and returning to Chiang Mai. It took literally so long, but that provided ample time to begin getting to know my new companion and district members. I feel bad but I really don't have too much to talk about. Between the travels, shortened time between Pdays, and the fact that we spent a lot of time getting to know the area through weekly planning and some appointments. We've had lots of good meetings and another hospital visit (to a member). I had an interesting experience where we went on splits where I helped with tithing and my comp went to the hospital to give the sacrament. My new companion is Elder Joseph "Joe" Holland from Tigard, Oregon. He will be reaching his year mark in countr...

November 28th, 2017 6 months, 1st week Thailand, Bangkok, Chaing Mai  District samuel.montague @myldsmail.net (I would love to hear from you) Finding Joy I had a really cool experience last Pday after reading  Finding Joy in the Journey  by Thomas S. Monson and watching a few videos. This extended to  Tuesday  in District meeting where we discussed the talk. It was just a change of heart and perspective shift for me on things that bother me and my struggles to something greater.  Focus on love for the people and my happiness along the way. It was super cool.  For our advanced English class, our activity was to have them haggle and barter random things to "attend" English Class.  There responses were so hilarious. "Oh you're so handsome, will you lower the price for me?", "My father is in the hospital with cancer. Buy these for more so I can pay for him", "New from Korea! Come get some!". Just their tone and rhythm in talking made i...