teaching and working according to our purpose

Area: Bang Bua Thong

Companion: Elder Xiayawong

February 25, 2013

Dear Family,

Sorry that last week’s letter didn’t send. I took a look at it again and unfortunately that was a pretty lame letter. I was sure I wrote more than that, but in any case this week I will improve.

First off: Congrats Teddy on getting your license! You drove the jeep?? wow you’re way gang! That’s Thai for skilled เก่ง it has a down tone :) I miss driving. That is an amazing first dance!

Chrissy - that sounds like a rough week. I’m sorry. Don’t get down though you’re so awesome I love you heaps!

Mikaela - are you working with Natalie full-time now?

Kendra - that’s crazy cause I’m in Helaman 6 right now! You wanna race? We will report every week. Thanks for the scriptures they are way good you definitely put some time into finding them! My scripture is Hel 3:35 and my question is how do we give our heart to the Lord? let me know what you think and ask mum and dad about it.

Ben - you had a way fun week, make sure you don’t spend too much time on the computer and video games. Keep going with your scripture reading buddy!

Jeana - you are so cute, I love those things that you are learning in primary, you have a great teacher. One of the less-active members we visit has a daughter your age and she is wayyy cute just like you we played together and I told her about my little sister Jeana that lives in Canada.

Olivia - gosh I love you kiddo!

This week I went on switch-offs in Rangsit with Elder King he is half Thai he has been out 4 months but he is way solid and works really hard on his Thai. They have some awesome investigators that have faith that is just beautiful. One man is in his seventies and just had his leg amputated half way up his leg but he is such a happy man despite of it and he got baptized yesterday.

It made me really want some investigators of that calibre, we have a few investigators but it’s been rough here. So I started praying for it, praying for a family to teach that would be prepared for the gospel. This Sunday after sacrament meeting those prayers were answered when in walked a mum and a Dad and their 4 year old daughter. They are Buddhist but not really and have 3 young kids the mum is a teacher and the dad works with computers. They are looking for a religion for their family. They had a friend who isn’t a member tell them about our church, and so they came. What an answer. They stayed for the last 2 hours of church but had to leave a few minutes early so we couldn’t teach them but we set up an appointment for this week. 

On Saturday we had a special meeting in Asoke for all the missionaries in Bangkok, Elder Evans the director of the missionary department, and Elder Gong from the area presidency came and taught us, we got to shake their hands before the meeting and were taught by them and by the spirit for over 2 hours. He had wonderful advice on teaching and working according to our purpose, as well as asking EVERYONE for referrals and finding new investigators according to Preach My Gospel which is not tracting, tracting is almost at the very end of the chapter on finding. He asked us to have the faith to change the way we find new investigators. It was remarkable!

I love you all so much! Please search for ways to share the gospel in your daily conversations with others!

Love,

Elder Cahoon

เอ็ลเดอร์คาฮูน

P.S.  Everyone here knows me as Elder cow puun which is lao for kanom jene which is a type of white chinese noodle haha people here have a hard time saying Cahoon

I live in Thailand pretty nuts eh!

Area: Bang Bua Thong

Companion: Elder Xiayawong

February 18, 2013

Hello Whats Up fom the other side of the world!

NBD isn’t that way weird that I live in Thailand pretty nuts eh!

I just have to mention that I am in an internet raan right now and there is this guy that fell asleep and he is snoring ridiculously loud like full mouth open snore its hilarious!

All right so this week in Thailand was solid we are slowly but surely finding more investigators, and we are finding some great success in working with the members here especially part-member families! The good news is everyone here has a member of their family who is not yet a member and we have got to teach several of them this week which was great. This week we had 6 less-active members come back to church from visits that we made, now we just need to get better at the records and working with the leaders so they stick, and so we can count them next week.

Oh ya we didn’t end up getting to the palace and wats and stuff last Monday that will have to wait for another day. In other news we found a Thai children’s song book in our apartment and its got chords with it so we have been learning a bunch of primary songs on the uke and guitar at nights after planning and journaling. Hey I’ve got a question about the brownie recipe, every time I make it they come out way hard and dry, I’ve made them 3 times and tey are the same every time I made some for English class on Tuesday they tasted delish but were hard on the jaw. Should some water or milk, or maybe lower the cooking time? Any suggestions?

Love,
Elder Cahoon

Wearing our pa kao mah, that's right!!

Learning some Lao. Loving the gift of tongues!

Area: Bang Bua Thong

Companion: Elder Xaiyawong

February 11, 2013-02-25

Hello Everybody! 

Happy Birthday Teddy!!! Happy Birthday Jeana!!! Sounds like some exciting stuff going on busy with basketball as usual playing, reffing and watching! Tedora are you gonna go get your license!? That’s so crazy your fourteen!

Mums Answers

Varicose vein nothing it’s not really much of a bother but I’m still looking for a compression sock. I have still never written that letter but I really need to. I’m trying to be the very best missionary I can be I’m setting goals and working on them. It really is all about becoming, becoming a missionary, becoming a new creature in and through Christ. I just have to take a second and say how much I love Personal study it’s the best hour of my day every day I learn so much even scriptures that I have heard and read a million times are taking on a whole new meaning. The spirit teaches me and reveals greater light. I will defs write some letters. 

This week Elder Xaiyawong got an eye infection, he had a surgery on it like 3-4 months ago and is still recovering but it got infected so we have been back and forth to the hospital somewhat often. It’s funny when Thai people find out you can speak Thai they freak out but when they find out you can speak Lao they just straight up lose it! Elder Xaiyawong has been teaching me so much in that past week Thai, Lao, and slang its crazy that I can remember all of it but the miracle is I can and it’s not really confusing either, it’s just comes so simply man I wish I had the gift of tongues back when I was learning Spanish or French! I would have had it down in no time. haha but I will give all the glory to my God because from my experiences with learning French and Spanish that learning a language should be so much harder than this. We went to teach a less-active and her non-member friend this week and they are both khonlao that was a fun lesson, I didn’t really understand too much but luckily they at least understood my broken Thai. Anyway the sister had a BOM in Lao and elder Xaiyawong taught me the Lao alphabet on like day 1 so I decided I would give it a shot so I opened to a random verse and with a little help with tones from my companion I could read it, I’m sure it sounded terrible and I didn’t quite understand every word but I could read the Book of Mormon in Lao! Crazy! I was pretty pumped! Sunday I finally got to meet the whole branch and surprisingly quite a few of them remember me from when I did switch offs there when I was a greenie, we have got a way fun branch they have quite the array of characters and they are all so funny and loveable. Well I gotta go. We are going to the kings palace and some of the way famous wats in downtown Bangkok today next week expect some sweet pics! I love you guys so much!

Love,

Elder Cahoon

P.S. Chinese new year in Asia is way legit!

Talk about miracles! Four Elders serving in Laos

Area: Bang Bua Thong
Companion: Elder Xaiyawong
February 4, 2013

Dearest Family and Friends,

What’s up! We have had probably the single craziest transfers the Thailand mission has ever seen! This week has been ridiculously exciting to say the least! For starters for P-Day we had the FHE with Pong and Jan and their daughters and learned to make some way delicious food!

Wednesday we got the call that Elder Gilley was moving and then came the unexpected news that he wasn’t the only one moving Elder Cahoon was too! And I was like wait a second I know that name. Then we proceeded to freak out a little cause we had to get everything ready for getting whitewashed but then a few hours later we got another call from the Zone Leaders this one telling us to call our landlord and prepare our top 10 records for investigators and less-actives because our area was getting closed! In fact 3 out of the 4 areas in Ubon were closed and of our district of 10 missionaries 9 of us moved it was crazy especially getting everything to Bangkok. A bunch of members and Pong and Jan caught wind that we were all moving and came to send us off but it was sooo sad Pong and Jan and their family were just bawling, it was rough leaving Warin after almost 5 months it really felt like home! I will defs miss it! So what happened was they took out everyone but the Redds and sent out 2 zone leaders who are way awesome and they are going to running all of it, each companionship made a top 10 selection of who we were working with and then compiled a master area book. I really hope it works out for Warin all right it’s really off the beaten path.

Then there was transfers meeting literally every single missionary aside from senior couples was at the meeting and the mission got shook up there was like 6 areas closed and everyone was moved around, Pres Senior changed up the mission culture so that the zone leaders are in 2 different companionships and trainers are the oldest most experienced missionaries but the came the biggest announcement, and I don’t think you guys are ready for this . . . The first 4 full-time missionaries were sent to the country of Laos!!!! Let me clarify they are not allowed to proselyte and Laos is not open nor are we recognized there as a church but as pres Senior said "the door is not open to Lao, but the handle is turned and there's a crack.

The following comes from Pres Senior:

“By invitation, the Thailand Bangkok Mission received approval to have four young service volunteers to labor in Vientiane, Laos.  These service volunteers will work with Deseret International Charities under the direction of the Senior Couples who are located in Vientiane, and will be involved in a variety of humanitarian and educational service opportunities, including clean water projects, hygiene, neo-natal education and English language instruction.  The young volunteers will also support the Branch activities of the Laotian Saints in Vientiane, Laos.  The Church is not yet officially recognized in Laos and this recent activity is for the purpose of providing additional educational and humanitarian service.”

WOW!!! Is that cool or what?! Also they just finished the translation of the Book of Mormon into Laos! Talk about miracles!

Welll in other news, my pa is dead my trainer Elder Siperly has gone home but I got to see him one last time and he got to be here for all the excitement.

As for me I have been transferred to Bang Bua Thong which is in Bangkok in fact its right across the river from Pakkret it’s also where Elder Gilley was born. The best part is my new companion his name is Elder Xaiyawong he is from Lao of all places! One of 3 khonlao in the mission one is a sister. He is hilarious and is way good at like everything he can play instruments way good he’s helping me out with my uke he makes amazing food, he speaks Thai great his English is pretty impressive needless to say he is teaching me to speak Lao, as well as helping me with Thai 24/7! So awesome I really wanted a khonthai companion but I hit the jackpot and got the sweetest khonlao ever!

Another fun part of the week was it just so worked out that this Sunday was district conference and so we went to church in Pakkret, all the missionaries sang in the conference, and then after i got to see and talk to everyone in Pakkret it felt like going home it was the best feeling ever! I saw everyone and Sis Tuun was there ahh it was awesome. I could actually finally talk to everyone and man I just love that branch so much. I also got to meet the Bang bua thong branch and they are phenomenal I had met quite a few of them before and they are way funny and way solid it’s going to be an amazing transfer here!

Oh ya Elder Murray is in the Essan but in a different section I hadn’t seen him for 5 months until we met up again at transfers, he is a solid missionary so of course he is loving life!

It’s crazy elder Gilley and I were in Warin for so long together way out in the corner of the Essan we haven’t seen anyone outside of the 20 missionaries in our zone and coming back to Bangkok after 5 months was a bit of a shock too it’s just so huge and so different, and I never realized but has a very distinctive smell I don’t know how to describe it it’s just Bangkok smell! haha

Love you all,

Elder Cahoon

I know I saw that light and I know God is real!

Area: Warin

Companion: Elder Gilley

January 28, 2013

Hello Family!

I have had a great week! We started off by going to Yasothon and seeing some cool markets and buildings and the countryside, which by the way is beautiful and we even saw a mountain! ok ok it was really just a large hill but it’s the biggest thing I’ve seen in a year; it was pretty exciting haha. We also stopped and made food at a little rest area. We built a fire and cooked our food; it was like being in Kananaskis again. Which brings me to an interesting point, it almost always smells like we are camping here in Warin, because they are like always burning stuff! usually garbage but sometimes like whole fields and if they're not doing that then they are cooking stuff over a fire or barbequing so we smell a lot of smoke in the day. I had switch-offs with Elder Radmall and it was awesome.

On Tuesday we went and taught our investigators Pong and Jan, they're daughters are members that were less-active when we found them but are now going to church again and we’ve started teaching their parents Pong and Jan. They are both way funny and they love the missionaries but for some reason the missionaries never taught them and just lost them but we found them and started teaching them, Pong was a ranger in the Thai army and fought down in Cambodia for several years, and he loves anything American (but he’s starting to warm up to Canada haha) and he loves making delicious food for us! Jan is just a way funny lady she’s got the funniest laugh and sometimes she like cackles and its hilarious it makes laugh just thinking about it! haha she loves feeding us even though she admits Pong does all the cooking. Pong is really interested in the gospel and he LOVES to read he knows like everything about the pioneers and Brigham Young and he is eating up the Book of Mormon he has like study sessions with his 16 year-old daughter Bee. Jan isn’t quite as interested and is kinda just along for the ride. But this week they have some awesome progress! On Tuesday they told us that last week they were praying to know if God was real Jan had already gone to bed but Pong went up and prayed and asked God to let him know if He was real when he finished he saw a light in his room for about 5 seconds and it kinda freaked him out and so he checked everything out checked the light checked the phone checked the street: nothing. He was like I wasn’t drunk I’m not on any medicine, you guys might think I’m crazy but I’ve been a soldier, I’ve been to war, but in all of my 50 years I have never seen anything like this, I know I saw that light and I know God is real! Wow! And then it got better because the same night Jan woke up and while she was up she had an almost identical experience and all of a sudden she is very interested and sincere about learning. Another experience she had was she gets migraines (kind of like Mum) and she took some meds but it didn’t do anything, then she tried some Buddhist prayers but that didn’t work either finally she prayed to God the way we taught her and as soon as she said amen her headache went away and she was able to sleep and she was fine the next day too!

Wow! I love miracles! I love Pong and Jan they have made huge changes already in just a week they came to church with their daughters this Sunday too! That’s a really big deal here it’s really hard to get people to church in Thailand but especially in Warin. Tonight we are going to be having FHE at their house and Pong is going to teach us to make Thai food and we are going to teach them how to make pizza! I can’t wait!

We have had some more miracles with finding more less-actives it’s amazing to look back and see how the Lord guides you to exactly the right place at the right time! 

We went to the Redds for dinner last night we had spaghetti they are so awesome they showed us a picture of a replica of the Calgary temple that one of the workers made out of LEGO!! Have you guys seen it? How often do you guys go to the temple? I can’t wait to go again when I get back! Its soo beautiful!

I’m glad to hear that basketball is going well and the Raymond trip sounds way fun! I love Southern Alberta and the Essan reminds me of it a lot! Good job Chrissy and Mikaela on the driving that’s great to hear! Caroline’s going to London??!! Awesome!! Tell her congrats! Are you kidding me Braeden is getting back that soon! That’s incredible! He is such a stud! Mum I hope those meds work out that sounds kinda rough I will keep you in my prayers!

I love you all heaps and bunches!

Elder Cahoon

Lao from a distance

Area: Warin

Companion: Elder Gilley

January 22, 2013 

Hey Family!

I am so excited for Ben way to go buddy!  I love your suit it looks so sweet! Also quick thank you to Gr Pilkington for the letter you will be getting a reply shortly. That’s way exciting to hear about the missionary calls flying around back home sounds way exciting!

I have had a crazy busy week it’s been way fun! Wednesday I went to Yasothon for switch-offs it was a hoot it’s a pretty small town but it’s awesome and has some hilarious members! Got back from that and had district meeting then Friday all the missionaries in Ubon went up to a town called Tragaan its north of Ubon about an hour. We went and taught at an English Camp for a school that one of the members works at! It was a hoot teaching all day there but I have decided that the profession of a teacher is definitely not for me. Don’t get me wrong I LOVE teaching but teaching the gospel and teaching as a profession are two very different things. That night we had mutual again it was way sweet. Sat morning we drove down to Sisaket for the District Games! The entire district (the equivalent of a stake) got together and played a bunch of crazy funny games like rice sack races, stilt races, tug of war etc but the best was defs the eel relay race! yep eels! You had to run and grab an eel out of the little swimming pool and then runback without dropping it and put in a bucket of water and whoever got the most eels in 2 mins won! haha it was hilarious eels are ridiculously hard to hold on to and so there were eels all over the place! I also ate snail right out of the shell for the first time it kinda looked gross but it wasn’t too bad if I had to describe it I would say it was slimy yet satisfying! haha name that film?! Sunday out in Tragaan they had sacrament meeting for the first time in years and there were 20 people there! They are going to be opening up a branch up out there asap! so exciting!! Finally today we went back out to Yasothon with the elders out there and the zone leaders and Sis Nam took us to a bunch of cool places like the largest all-wooden church in the world, and then we went out to Mukdahan which is right on the border of Lao, I could see it across the river! Mukdahan has a way sweet market where you can get some crazy stuff for way cheap it was way cool! and now we are back and we switched off again this time with Elder Gilley in Yasothon and I am with our district leader Elder Radmall, he's a stud he was companions in the MTC with Elder Richardson!

I will defs pray for the exams and doctors appointments and I hope everything goes well with both of them! Mikaela 16 games WOW! Raking in the dough! haha Jeana and Olivia are absolutely gorgeous in those matching dresses they are too cute! Chrissy what is Dragon Heart! Sorry my memory of home is kinda fuzzy haha I a so glad to hear that FHE and daily family prayer and scripture study are going well keep up the good work guys!

Love,

Elder Cahoon

I want my family to receive the blessings the Lord has promised!

Are:a Warin

Companion: Elder Gilley

January 15, 2013

HELLO!! Hey Becky :) 

Happy birthday Chrissy! I think Dad is going to have to give himself a shotgun for your birthday. haha jk I will need to get the deets on that first date have a ton of fun! Sounds like a great week back home, basketball back in full swing and a bunch of parties I like Bens cake! Go Celtics! I’m also glad to hear everything is going well for the baptism. Our baptism is not going nearly as well we have worked, fasted and prayed but we aren’t going to have anyone ready to be baptized this week. I’m glad to hear that Ben and kayla are doing so good on reading I actually read D&C section 1 this morning. Kenny thanks so much for the weekly scriptures. Hey kayla I need an update on the the mission progress please and thank you I’m so excited for you this is has got to be one of the greatest times to be a missionary ever! That sounds like some crazy stuff going on the Byams moving and the Shipley’s and the news about Justine wow that’s nuts! I thought about that trip when you guys sent me those doritos, I’m sure he is a very lucky guy. Also way to go Becky Cali that’s way legit!

Well for this week we had a baptism!! It wasn’t our baptism but still it was very exciting I haven’t seen one in 2 transfers, that is a really sad statement, especially considering we have 10 missionaries in one branch that’s the most missionaries in one branch in all of Asia! That’s because this Ubon district has to become a stake asap! They are starting a new branch in a small town north of us about 70 km and then they want to split the Ubon branch as soon as its ready too. Way exciting stuff going on here! We also started up mutual in the branch again they haven’t had it in years and we have a ton of awesome youth its way fun! The branch is finally starting to get more excited about missionary work and just service in the church in general, we saw some way great changes this week, and there will be many more in the future.

This week in Thailand was kids day it was just like mother’s day or father’s day but for kids it was crazy there were all these carnivals and free stuff for kids it was crazy way fun I guess its their way of making up for Christmas haha. Christmas is defs better but kids day is pretty sweet too.

I love you guys and I just want to remind you to hold FHE every week and have daily family and scripture study, I want my family to receive the blessings the Lord has promised for those who do these things!

Love,

Elder Cahoon

Surin Elephant Village

Area: Warin

Companion: Elder Gilley

January 8, 2013

Hello Family!

So yeah I don’t know if I mentioned but we went to the ELEPHANT VILLAGE it was so cool there were elephants all over the place just loose and walking around. It was awesome we got to ride to sit on them and I played with a little baby one sooo cute! They put a big show and the elephants were painting pictures throwing darts playing soccer and basketball and they even gave my companion Elder Gilley a massage! Then we went and saw a snake show that was crazy the guy was in a little ring with 3 cobras and these guys had fangs and venom he showed us after the show it was nuts he barely had control of them and he even kissed one on the mouth . . . . sketchy!!! Then he pulled out an anaconda and it was ticked we thought he was gonna get bit for sure but he made it out all right it was so crazy another only in Thailand kinda thing. I also bought an ivory ring way cool probably one of the few places you can buy ivory that’s legal cause it’s from the elephants there. We got home really late which is why I wrote late but it was such an amazing trip and the whole thing only cost like 30 bucks. 

This week we started off the New Year by getting another less-active back to church. Hers was a really cool story she hadn’t been to church in over a year but we went caroling at her house and then went back on Saturday with the ward mission leader Br Niwat and his son Br best (sweet name right!)  Anyway we talked to her for a bit she is way solid and a way nice lady her name is bow dan she’s like 62. We asked her to share her favourite scripture with us and she shared 3 Nephi 13:33-34 which is all about how we shouldn’t give thought to tomorrow but do things today. It was absolutely perfect! So we invited her to stop putting off and procrastinating church but to do it today obey god and receive blessings today! And she did! She came to church and was so happy to be there, we are going to go serve and do some yard work this week and she invited us to have FHE at her house next week! So awesome the Lord is helping us herd His sheep back into the fold it’s such a miracle we have seen at least one less-active member come back every week for the past month! I'm so blessed to help and have a role in changing these peoples lives. How are your reactivation efforts coming along? It’s honestly so much fun you just invite your friends who are literally your brothers and sisters!

This week while we were inviting at night, inviting at night in Warin is extremely difficult it’s a just a small town and everyone gets up at least 6 am and most people are in bed by 8pm and the ones that aren’t, are waaay drunk. Thus is the dilemma that is 8pm in Warin when you have no one to teach, everyone is on their way to bed and they think you’re a little nuts if you’re not doing the same, haha. However this week we have been blessed with finding lots of people at night in fact just the other night we found a family helped them put up a sign they were hanging and then talked with them and found the mum Naang, is like the mayor or governor whatever of all of Warin and area! She was way nice and is extremely skilled at everything she does and she has got a great family. Way cool the Lord blessed us a lot and service opened a great door.

Good to hear that home is doing well and that Ben is getting all prepared for his baptism and taking the lessons and it sounds like you have some awesome missionaries in Mckenzie right now please pray for them like you do for me they need it. I have one other request please have family home evening weekly, the prophets have asked us and I can see the difference that it can make out here. Mum I hope you feel better and girls and Ben please take better care of our mummy she needs you be the kids she raised us to be please find ways to serve each other. 

Thanks so much for the packages I got them all this week it was way funny and I was very impressed with all the scriptures and I know have a Canada pin on my backpack and Sis Redd said that she bought Peter the exact same Canada towel and the ukulele music is awesome I’ve just about got Silent Night down! 

I love you guys soooooooooo much!

Elder Cahoon