Back in Laos... For Good

So this week was great. I am back in Laos with Elder Smith-Driggs. He was here with me in Lao before. He has about 3 months left in his mission. So, the two of us got moved back up here to stay.

This week was pretty good. On Tuesday is when President called and asked me to go back up to Lao and Wednesday was filled with packing and visiting some people. We went and got to eat dinner with a bunch of members. We ate at this buffet place. It was a lot of fun. We had to leave early though so we could get to Udorn for the night.

From Udorn I met up with Elder Smith-Driggs and we went over to Laos so that was good. It is weird right now. We don't have a house to stay at so we are just at a hotel. We have found a new place to live and if everything goes right we will be moving in tomorrow, so that is great.

Church here is great. The church doesn't actually own the building yet, but the owner lets us use it one hour each week for Sacrament Meeting. It is good, but we can't really teach any investigators until we own the Building so we are just trying to build good relations with investigators in the meantime. 

It is fun to be here with Elder Smith-Driggs. He is really fun. Funny thing that keeps happening is that everywhere we go, people ask us if we are twins (I guess we are both tall and white). This has happened like 7 time in the last few days we have been together and it has happened 3 times this morning. 

We are here on tourist Visa's for the time being so we don't have any English teaching yet. We should get going on that in a few weeks, though. Right now, we are just using all of our time to visit members and find a place to live and stuff like that. 

So everything here is going great right now. We are doing fantastic  

-- Elder Cheney

ฉะนั้น, หากเจ้ามีความปรารถนาจะรับใช้พระผู้เป็นเจ้า เจ้าก็ได้รับเรียกมายังงาน
เอ็ลเดอร์ ชีนีย์

ແລະ ຈົ່ງເບິ່ງ, ຂ້າພະເຈົ້າບອກພວກທ່ານເຖິງເລື່ອງເຫລົ່ານີ້ເພື່ອພວກທ່ານຈະຮຽນຮູ້ກ່ຽວກັບປັນຍາ ເພື່ອພວກທ່ານຈະຮຽນຮູ້ວ່າ ເມື່ອພວກທ່ານຮັບໃຊ້ເພື່ອນມະນຸດດ້ວຍກັນ ພວກທ່ານກໍຮັບໃຊ້ພຣະເຈົ້າຂອງພວກທ່ານນັ້ນເອງ
ແອວເດີ ຈີນີ

Surprising Swinging Snake

This week went by pretty fast. I don’t have that much time to email but this week was good we got new investigators. Two of those are a couple they are really good and we are excited for them. 

Our converts are doing good. Mo just moved down to Bangkok but she went to church there yesterday and the missionaries there have started working with her so that passed off cleanly. The Trio who got baptized a few weeks ago are doing well and they are good at holding each other accountable. This week Summer was talking about being a missionary when she turns 19, so that is really cool. As I mentioned, we got more new investigators this week. We are excited to work with them all.

This week we visited a Less Active member who lived far away and as we were biking back a pretty weird thing happened. I saw this guy run out into the street with a large stick and then he started beating this snake with it. I had not noticed the snake before, but it was way huge; probably 6 feet long and 6 inches thick. He started jumping around, fighting this snake and then his stick had broken off so he only had a few inches to work with so he threw it on the ground and jumped around. Then he grabbed the tail of the snake and started spinning in circles, having this snake spin around parallel to the ground. Then after about ten seconds of this he slams the head of the snake into a wall. Then does the same thing again, two more times. The snake died and this guy just grabbed the snake body and got on a bike and left immediately after. I wish I was faster on the camera, it was really intense. All I got was him biking away. 

In answer to your questions, people don't have nearly as many pets as they do in America. Mainly people have animals that they are raising, like chickens. There are also many dogs here but most of them don't seem to have owners, they are just strays. There is technology is here as well but there are a few different classes of people that use the technology. A lot of younger people will have smart phones, and are pretty addicted to them. The people who are about 30-50, they usual have a phone for practical uses and a lot of people 50+ will not have a phone at all. Also almost all the people that live out in the countryside will not have the much technology at all, either. Also people never really have a personal computer in their homes. The only real places with computers are at stores like the one we use to send our emails.

I really love Thailand, but really loved Laos, also. The people there are just so faithful and amazing. I am also really optimistic that Laos will be even better with the availability of a church building to teach the gospel.

We work in the city here in Khon Kaen, most days, but we do have people that we travel out into the countryside to teach. Most of those people are already members. Like last week we went out to two different members that live far outside of the city.

Well I am doing great and missionary work is amazing

--Elder Cheney 

ฉะนั้น, หากเจ้ามีความปรารถนาจะรับใช้พระผู้เป็นเจ้า เจ้าก็ได้รับเรียกมายังงาน
เอ็ลเดอร์ ชีนีย์

ແລະ ຈົ່ງເບິ່ງ, ຂ້າພະເຈົ້າບອກພວກທ່ານເຖິງເລື່ອງເຫລົ່ານີ້ເພື່ອພວກທ່ານຈະຮຽນຮູ້ກ່ຽວກັບປັນຍາ ເພື່ອພວກທ່ານຈະຮຽນຮູ້ວ່າ ເມື່ອພວກທ່ານຮັບໃຊ້ເພື່ອນມະນຸດດ້ວຍກັນ ພວກທ່ານກໍຮັບໃຊ້ພຣະເຈົ້າຂອງພວກທ່ານນັ້ນເອງ
ແອວເດີ ຈີນີ

Finding New Contacts

We got a lot of investigators last week but sadly most of them were not that free except for Cherry. So that was a little sad but despite none of them being able to meet it was still a pretty busy week. 

Last Monday, for p-day, we went out and visited this Buddhist temple. It is 9 stories tall. It was a cool cultural experience. 

Tuesday, we had District Meeting and English class. It was a good.

Wednesday, we went and visited a less active member. It was a little sad, he just said he was waiting to see what his life would be like without the church, then told us if he saw a miracle he would go back to church.

Thursday, we visited a member family that lives about an hour south of the city. That was a fun day, to see a good example to a faithful family raising their family in the gospel.

Friday, we got to teach Sister Mo. She is doing great. Sadly, she is moving to Bangkok this week so she will be going to church there from now on. It was funny, we accidentally taught the Sisters investigator at the same time as Sister Mo because they were both just talking at the church when we came in so we though Mo had brought another friend to church. Then we started teaching and it ended up being the Sisters investigator so that was a little funny. We had to apologize for stealing the Sisters lesson.   

Saturday was super crazy. The Zone Leaders gave us a goal to get 25 phone numbers that day. As a comparison, I usually get about 3 numbers a day, so 25 is a whole lot. On top of that, our day was filled with teaching members, investigators and other meetings, so we did not have any real time to go inviting. We worked with faith and relied on Heavenly Father’s help to allow us achieve the goal. During the day I was able to see miracles where we were able to talk to people that were willing to accept . At the end of the day we were exhausted and had gotten 26 phone numbers. It is amazing what faith can do. 

Yesterday was a good day at church. We saw a lot of less actives come to church and we also had Cherry come. She is doing really well. 

Well I am doing great and loving the work.

  

-- Elder Cheney

ฉะนั้น, หากเจ้ามีความปรารถนาจะรับใช้พระผู้เป็นเจ้า เจ้าก็ได้รับเรียกมายังงาน
เอ็ลเดอร์ ชีนีย์

ແລະ ຈົ່ງເບິ່ງ, ຂ້າພະເຈົ້າບອກພວກທ່ານເຖິງເລື່ອງເຫລົ່ານີ້ເພື່ອພວກທ່ານຈະຮຽນຮູ້ກ່ຽວກັບປັນຍາ ເພື່ອພວກທ່ານຈະຮຽນຮູ້ວ່າ ເມື່ອພວກທ່ານຮັບໃຊ້ເພື່ອນມະນຸດດ້ວຍກັນ ພວກທ່ານກໍຮັບໃຊ້ພຣະເຈົ້າຂອງພວກທ່ານນັ້ນເອງ
ແອວເດີ ຈີນີ

New Investigators

This week was great as far as the work goes. We were able to pick up a lot of new investigators which is great because most of our other ones got baptized or were dropped. 

The first investigator we picked up is named Sky. He is not to be confused with the Sky that was baptized about a month ago. This Sky is a boy who is about 17. He is Summer’s cousin. We taught him and he was very interested and doing good. His only problem is that he is Hindu and said he couldn't change religions. 

Next, is a man we met while we were inviting one time. His name is Gock. He fixes clothing on the side of the street and we got to teach him 3 times this week at his stand. His only problem is when he has a lot of work to do he doesn't have any time to learn. 

We met this other really cool guy while inviting. His name is Tone Gla. He is basically the Thai version of me except he isn't Christian (yet). He is super tall. He is actually taller than me (the first Thai person I have ever met taller than me). He is also really into running and he runs marathons. He also has a goal to climb Mount Everest as well, so he is pretty cool.

Our next new investigator was a referral from one of our investigators. His name is Eat. He is interested, but he lives really far away from the city.

Then last, but not least, we picked up two new investigators that are a Mom and Grandma. The Mom’s kids are both members in Bangkok and have introduced their Mom to the Gospel. The Mom’s name is Cherry. She is doing good and she introduced us to her Mom (the Grandma). Both of them came to church yesterday and Cherry has a baptismal date for the 26th of this month.

So, this week has been very rich in our ability to find new investigators. 

Also, Sister Mo, who was baptized last Sunday, was confirmed a member of the church yesterday. So that was great. 

Last week for P-day we went up to ride water buffalos. This is one of the last things I have on my personal ‘To Do’ list for Thailand, so it was cool to be able to do. Riding water buffaloes was a lot of fun. The ones we rode were pretty tame but we went over to some different ones and they lowered their horns and chased us away. So you have to get the right buffaloes. I still have left on my list to hold a monkey. I have seen a few, but none of them have been tame enough to hold. I also want to go down to the Triangle of Thailand, Cambodia and Laos but that one will be pretty hard and probably won’t get done. 

Mom, you were asking about the video I sent home about the bag of bugs that I brought home from the market. You don’t have to prepare them in any special way, you just eat the bugs plain. I got them at a market which is outdoors. There are grocery stores too, but they are not used too much. Usually only for by higher class in Thailand or for special occasions. Most people just go to the outdoor market.

The missionaries still do not have visas to go back into Laos. They should be ready in about 2 months but they might send two Elders up at the end of this transfer on tourist visas. I actually didn't get to go up to Lao today because all the Lao Elder’s passports are getting full so they need to wait and get new ones before we do that much going in and out of countries.

Our new members are doing great. Two of them received callings yesterday as Branch missionaries so that is great. 

As for the 12 investigators that we were teaching in a group, nothing has come of that, sadly. We only taught them that one time and since then they have not shown much interest. 

In answer to your question about my favorite scripture and experience, I think my favorite lesson I ever taught was to an investigator back in Chiang Mai. It was a great lesson. When we had the members help by sharing their testimonies, the investigator was really able to feel the spirit. My favorite scripture right now, I would have to say is Matthew 16:24-25. I do feel like my favorite scripture changes frequently, but this is my current favorite.

Not much else happened this week that was really notable. 

-- Elder Cheney

ฉะนั้น, หากเจ้ามีความปรารถนาจะรับใช้พระผู้เป็นเจ้า เจ้าก็ได้รับเรียกมายังงาน
เอ็ลเดอร์ ชีนีย์

ແລະ ຈົ່ງເບິ່ງ, ຂ້າພະເຈົ້າບອກພວກທ່ານເຖິງເລື່ອງເຫລົ່ານີ້ເພື່ອພວກທ່ານຈະຮຽນຮູ້ກ່ຽວກັບປັນຍາ ເພື່ອພວກທ່ານຈະຮຽນຮູ້ວ່າ ເມື່ອພວກທ່ານຮັບໃຊ້ເພື່ອນມະນຸດດ້ວຍກັນ ພວກທ່ານກໍຮັບໃຊ້ພຣະເຈົ້າຂອງພວກທ່ານນັ້ນເອງ
ແອວເດີ ຈີນີ

Laos has a church!!!!!!

So this week was way awesome. The first thing that is awesome is that all the members in Laos now have a place to go to church. This is the best news I have gotten in so long and it makes my really happy. Also, I get to go up to Laos next Monday so I am really looking forward to that. 

Our week was really busy we had Zone Conference on Friday and Saturday and then we had a broadcast for all of Asia yesterday. 

 Along with that, we also had Sister Mo get baptized yesterday. The Sisters also had a baptism, so Sunday was a really great day.

So it has been really busy and this week, but it was a great week. 

Sadly, today I do not have time for a super lengthy email because we traveled to Roi Et. It is a different city in Thailand. We came here so that we could ride some water buffalo's for our P-day. It was really fun.

 I have included pictures of the building in Laos to make up for the short email.  President Johnson went up there for church Sunday and sent me, and the other Laos Elders, pictures of the new building.  It is a real blessing for the members there to finally have a building to meet in after so long.

--Elder Cheney 

ฉะนั้น, หากเจ้ามีความปรารถนาจะรับใช้ พระผู้เป็นเจ้า เจ้าก็ได้รับเรียกมายังงาน
เอ็ลเดอร์ ชีนีย์