Buckle Up

December 31st, 2018
1 year, 7 months
Thailand, Bangkok, Thonburi Ward

samuel.montague@myldsmail.net

I apologize for last week's TERRIBLE email. I was so done and was a tad occupied at the time. I will make up for it this week. Let's break it down y'all.

MONDAY

So last Monday was both our pday and zone conference (pday=kinda our day off, zone conference=meeting with an organized-by-area group of missionaries). All the missionaries in Bangkok came together for this Christmas Eve spectacular. I feel bad and slightly pessimistic to have compared it all to my Christmas/ Christmas zone conference of last year when I was in the blessed lands of Chiang Mai, but I did do that all throughout this season. It was good though.

We only had a few hours of regular pday, which I filled up with all kinds of last minute administrative tasks I had to do because I volunteer for things because of the perks and benefits associated with them (they aren't enough but I bet the spiritual blessings make up the gap

). So like I barely talked to my family as we traveled to Asoke, then zone conference basically started when I showed up.

We played some interesting games, but what was more important was the mass of homies I had strewn throughout. God is really interesting in how He runs things sometimes. He throws a bunch of young single adults together and forces them to be glued to one another or in close proximity for 6-18 week at a time. I don't know how, but it mostly works out well. So I has all kinds of friends at the party and was constantly entertained through some interesting games by them.

There was a very sweet devotional. Sister Hammond essentially gives the same talk every transfer; she bears her testimony in Christ, changes the mood and talks about dress, grooming, and rules, then finishes with more testimony. President Hammond gave a great sermon that flowed into commitments that will help us and the people work with increase in faith (see: Alma 32. The experiment is planting the seed, the word of CHRIST, into your heart. Not faith.). There were some rough songs, then we went into the other room for some rough but surprisingly decent skits. My district performed a lip sync to Beyond5's boy band rendition of Angels We Have Heard On High. It was slightly awkward but amazing. We were then blessed to watch the Prince of Egypt

TUESDAY

It felt slightly anticlimactic for Christmas because it was a working day and because I was also sick the whole day. We went out for Shabu as a district (I ate popcorn and drank water555) where we also exchanged secret santa gifts and did a white elephant. This was also slightly lame because there are only 6 of us in Thonburi so we finished so fast. We had English class though and I didn't really care about teaching English so much as having a bomb as Christmas party. A good and unexpected amount of people came. We sang for them, then rotated through 3 stations of Christmas related games, and finished with a fun and energetic round of White Elephant. My highlight of the day, though, was the greater push we felt as we truly strived to give everyone the chance to learn about the Savior on His birthday! There were a few good lessons.

Wednesday

We were able to call home! I will be harsh saying this, and I know Big Brother is watching, but I don't even care. I hate church technology. As a missionary, that is the only technology I am allowed to work with for the most part, and it is so frustrating. Our phones melt down so often and a new problem crops up every other week because of the monitoring app. I had had pleasant experiences using the computer at this church facility before, so I figured we could do our calls here. WRONG. We ended up both just using our phones. And the wifi was less than stellar.

We also taught scripture class this night. Like nobody showed up, except for a few random people. It was weird. We had this cute activity of like a scavenger hunt. They were supposed to be looking for "Jesus" in the room, but we didn't actually put Him in there. After a minute or so of fruitless searching, I started playing "Stars Were Gleaming" and singing along to try to subtly hint the members to look at the backs of the stars I had put along the wall. They weren't getting it, so we just played and sang the phrase "Stars were gleaming" over and over. They caught on to start looking at the stars, but they were not understanding so I played the song over and over, making up lyrics on the spot, instructing them to "look at the backs of the stars, the backs of the stars have the instructions, just look at the backs and follow them...". That still took them a hot second, but they finally found the star that said to look at the back of my tie. . . where another, larger star hid instructing them to go into a separate room. We read from the scriptures and enjoyed our evening.

Thursday

I went to the hospital again. I have had this weird pressure in my throat for like 2 weeks so we finally went to go check it out. After the customary 10 hour wait, I was admitted to a general practice doctor who said I wasn't sick and was breathing fine so I was. What a headache. I'm literally like, I'm not fine because I have functioning nerves that say otherwise. She said okay, I'll give you this medicine but you are fine. You can visit an ear, nose, throat specialist, but you're fine... I snatched that and visited one. She checked me out (on the inside of my throat

) and surprise! I have an upper respiratory infection. I got all kinds of medicine, but it hasn't really been hurting it's just been uncomfortable. We did have all kinds of success in inviting today!

Friday

A member came into Bangkok from Surin for some business and decided to come and visit me! That was a very sweet moment that i very much appreciated. We also did some weekly planning and teaching, but nothing that particularly stands out (just some small miracles that hopefully lead to even bigger ones. We were very blessed to be taken on a wild adventure of exploration and inviting by the spirit the culminated in a beautiful family that wants us to teach them, their children, and their college. Like what even.).

Saturday

Saturday was such an emotionally and physically draining day. We start with visiting some new people we teach, and they just completely overloaded us with food. They served us like 2 meals, with another meal and a whole bunch of thai treats to go. We went from there to someone else we just met, who was in the middle of her grandma brunch. They invited us to sit down and eat and chat and it was so cute and fun. We fed the other missionaries with all our leftover food. Then we've gone through and cleaned up our area book. We went by so many people (all the kids and their families) and asked them and made them answer straight up if they were interested in continuing to learn with us. We have dropped so many people now, it was hard to do. There were a handful of surprises of people that did want to learn though. I was just drained.

Sunday

This was hilarious. So it is our last day of 3-hour church before switching to the new schedule. But in Thailand, New Years is celebrated similarly to Christmas. No one was home- they all went back to their hometowns or out on vacation to not Thonburi. So there was like NOBODY at church. The elders quorum president presided over sacrament. Missionaries prepared and blessed sacrament, gave the talks, and one was playing the piano. I took up half the time for the combined Young Men/ Primary. It was interesting.

We were prompted to go visit the Sunday School President. He comes to all of the week day activities and brings a game called Werewolf. Everyone knows him. He just doesn't come on Sunday. We had a very spiritual and inspired discussion about him, and about how he doesn't come for fear of his calling. There were just too many things coming perfectly into play to be an accident, including giving him a random section of D&C to read and pray about, looking up a particular quote to try to see how it translated and coming across "Teaching In the Savior's Way" manual (instructing people how to teach in....), and more. The Spirit was strong.

We finished the evening with studies and gathering with the other missionaries to put together a make shift dinner. It was okay food, but honestly it was the camaraderie and love that made the moment.

That is something I have really thought about treasured this holiday season. Family. In this season of many family-oriented holidays mushed together, spending time with so many of my mission family, and calling home and talking with my family, it is easy to see why this has dwelt so largely on my thoughts.

I am so thankful for my family:

Extended family// This is a shoutout to Nana, Anita, and Don for being so loving and supportive of me, though y'all might not understand it all. I love you! A shout out to Dawn and Dan and fam for emailing me and loving me from afar, and being such great examples of enduring to the end through a plethora of unplanned life happenings. To Scott and Michelle and all those cousins, for your endearing examples of pure love and charity and sacrifice and family. To Todd+crew for reaching out to me and instead of focusing on our differences, embracing and treasuring the truths and similarities, being so sweet and friendly when no one would expect you to even be sympathetic. To all my other aunts and uncles and cousins, who even though they no longer or haven't been able to know and follow this church, still love and show great examples of family ties.

Grandma & Grandpa// Thank you both for accepting the Gospel all those years ago. I am sure it wasn't easy, that you had many doubts and fears, but you made the right decision. So many have been blessed as a result of your faith and example. Although all of your children haven't stayed in the fold, none of them would've even had the opportunity to exercise their agency to make that choice if you hadn't. You are both wonderful, kind, and so loving. You give so much and even now you teach me how to be a missionary!

Isabelle & Kolton// Thank you both for loving each other and weathering the unknown path to prove that their is in adventure found in stepping into the unknown. You are both pioneers and have always been made of durable stuff. I am grateful that you chose and accepted my sister, Kolton. I am thankful for the wonderful example you provided Isabelle, how we were able to get over our disagreements and grow into best friends. I am thankful for the movies we produced (which everyone should go watch. they are on her youtube), secrets and language we shared, and the bond we have.

Matthew// Thank you for being my playmate and best friend growing up as well. I know that I did as is stereotypical of young but older siblings and probably tried to exclude you, but thank you for sticking it out and helping me push myself to become greater. I value the time we spent growing up, all the shared video/ computer games we were able to play together, and even the shared friends.

Ava// Oh my goodness what a vlogging queen. No one else that reads these will understand it if they aren't a member of the immediate family, but I love your videos. You are hilarious and are growing up into a strong, independant, young woman. You are tragically not better than me at volleyball (even if you did win a tournament), but you are developing into such a fantastic person. You are probably doing missionary work better than I am too.

Olivia// What a cutie. You are a peculiar girl, but if you have done your studies, we are a peculiar people. You are so fantastic, such a ball of energy, and you have the benefit of having 4 people to have walked the path ahead. Thank you for being so loving with everyone. I remember changing your diaper.

Father// What a stellar head of house. Though not perfect, nor was our relationship, I look back and can feel and see the love which influenced your hand and mouth in the things you said or did. You did your best to provide everything we wanted or needed, while helping us maintain humility. You taught us some valuable lessons about being the right type of person. I am thankful for your leadership, stewardship, and how you honored your priesthood.

Mother// Behold my mother. What an amazing woman. She sacrificed so much to raise us with love and care in a way she didn't necessarily know. She was brought up in a very different place and standard, but accepted the Gospel into her life and let it shine on he path. You taught us, fed us, reared us, and loved us. You gave a sacrifice of your heart, might, mind, and soul. You want the world for us. Thank you for all that love. What a great example.

I am thankful for all the lessons I have learned this past year and past decade of life. I am (gross) so old. But I'm not dead yet. So I am not going to stop learning through the lessons God throws my way (even when I don't like them). I am going to set some radical goals for this upcoming year, because now, after a year and a half of being a missionary, I know how to actually set goals that I will keep. It isn't something I really did before, but I highly recommend it to everyone. Goals are so important and can move you along at an accelerated pace that you would be unable to achieve without them. I leave with you a modified portion of Chapter 8 of PMG:

How to Set Goals

Goals reflect the desires of our hearts and our vision of what we can accomplish. Through goals and plans, our hopes are transformed into action. Goal setting and planning are acts of faith. Prayerfully set goals that are in harmony with the Savior’s command to “teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19).

Set goals for personal development. Do everything within your power to achieve your goals while respecting the agency of others. The ultimate measure of success is not in achieving goals alone but in the service you render and the progress. Goals are a means of helping you bring about much good among Heavenly Father’s children. They are not to be used to receive recognition.

“I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don’t set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential. When one learns to master the principles of setting a goal, he will then be able to make a great difference in the results he attains in this life.”

–President M. Russell Ballard

Talk given to Salt Lake Area young adults, Oct. 18, 1981

Carefully considered goals will give you clear direction. Challenging goals will help you work effectively and lead you to stretch and grow. Follow the guidelines below as you set goals:

Follow the Spirit.
Be specific and realistic, but set goals that will make you stretch.
Set daily, weekly, and monthly goals.
Set goals for personal and companion study, including language study if you are learning another language.
Measure your progress each day, each week, and each month. When you fall short of a goal, evaluate your efforts and seek for ways to accomplish the goal. If needed, adjust your expectations.