Training in Kalasin and Khon Kaen - Branch members back from the Temple

Area: Roi Et

Companion: Elder Wilson

Hi Everybody!

Well another week bites the dust. We had a great week full of hard work and its accompanied craziness. Some of which included doing a training in both Kalasin and Khon Kaen on the same day back to back! Elder Tirrell is the district leader in Kalasin he is my nong and we were greenies in Pakkret together! He is so great way focused and he is exactly what that area and the district needs I love him we still talk about the one time we went on switchoffs when he had been in country for 4 weeks and me for 10! This week the assistants gave us all a challenge to get 2 new daters this week in order to prepare for every companionship having a baptism in the month of  November. This week we were blessed greatly and 3 of our investigators received dates to be baptized at the end of next month! 2 of those are Batr and Baw the grandchildren of Kwanchay who have now been coming to church for a month now finally accepted dates! Our inviting this week has been going really solid lately Elder Wilson is way good at it and is really fun and creative while doing it too! Sometimes he will go up to a person say hello in English hand them a baptism egasan and then just stand there and wait for them to say something, they usually try to giver it back and then he breaks into Thai and the conversation proceeds as such:

Will you do it?

What? (you speak thai?!!)

Will you do it?

No

Why not?

I don’t know what it is!

Well let me tell you . . .

and he proceeds to explain baptism and invite them to prepare themselves to be baptized. Pretty clever and pretty effective we have had several people say yes to the invite to be baptized and the remainder well we sifted through them really quick in order to find those who are truly prepared.

We have been teaching lots of wonderful people lately and most days this week it felt like there wasn’t even enough time to eat! Sunday was absolutely wonderful over a dozen members just returned from the temple many of them went for the first time and were sealed and it had been long awaited some for 17 years and they all bore their testimonies it was beautiful, also Elder Tatton and Elder Thomas had a baptism the first one the district leaders area has seen in almost a year! She was super awesome 11 years old part of a part member family (the big family that Pres Senior and visited) and so solid I got the privilege of interviewing her she said she wants to get baptized so she can be a missionary and go to the temple like her grandparents, she is way adorable and so sincere it was awesome! 

Q&A BOX:

Ruler - it’s just really handy especially in planning for lessons in your planner I would suggest a mini one though

Card Reader - best and fastest way to upload pics from your camera its defs not a necessity but they cost like 3 bucks over here so it was pretty good

Voice recorder - I know quite a few people with them fun for sending messages to your family and recording practicing teaching and memorizing and many other things!

I will ask Pres Senior Today about the endorsement letter

I love you all so much!

Elder Cahoon

P-day activity: Trip to an Aquarium.

One last adventure with Elder Yuen - New Companion Elder Wilson

Area: Roi Et

Companion: Elder Wilson

Hey Hey

I am still in Roi-Et!!!!! I am so happy to have stayed this transfer could not have worked out better but it was a little crazy as usual. Elder Yuen moved He is training! It’s his first time we are all so excited for him and he of course is stoked his trainee is the luckiest greenie in the mission! He was the only one in our awesome family of the 101 LA Squirrels! Which means another 9 weeks of awesomeness with Sis Painter, Sis Packard, Elder Tatton and Elder Thomas! I love those 4 soo much they really are family and we are life-long friends! 

So Monday we get a call from Pres Senior telling Elder Yuen he is training and that we need to pack tonight to go the trainers meeting the next morning at 9 so we finished P-Day and went to Sis Prew's house for FHE and at the end he announces he’s moving and Sis Prew starts bawling and everyone is sad and they take us home we say goodbye to the District the sisters cry he packs everything in 20 mins and Bro Bo takes us to the bus station only to find out all the busses were full sooo.... we had to go home and we missed the meeting. The next day was district meeting and the sisters still didn’t know we were still here so we go running into the class in the church and Elder Yuen is like "where is my backpack" runs over to the cupboard grabs it and runs out. Well when the sisters saw him run in they screamed and looked like they had just seen a ghost! It was hilarious and everyone was very happy to see us!

That day we gave Kwanchay and his wife priesthood blessings  it was such a sweet moment we explained blessings to them and asked if they had the faith to be healed they said yes they believed that Jesus could heal them and so we blessed them with healing both physically and spiritually and it was beautiful we asked them how they felt after and they said "I felt a power rest upon my body as you laid you hands on my head" and the other "I felt a warmth come from the crown of my head and flow from there into my arms and legs" I love the priesthood and feel so grateful to hold and use it in the service of others.

So it also turned out that Sis Packard and Elder Thomas needed to renew their visas so we had a family roadtrip and got in at 4 in the morning and went to the Chaengwattana church and slept on the couches and talked and waited for others to show up, some of the first were from Chiang Rai. Elder Hill is moving I ran and gave him a big hug he brought my suit jacket and letters from members Chompoo was baptized the deaf lady disappeared Bro Jagaw got the melchizdek priesthood and Ann and Ivy started learning again and have a date for baptism. Lots of good news. I saw Elder Vandenberghe and Elder Omer too. Elder Omer is training and Elder Vandenberghe is in Nong Khai right by Lao. Elder Yuen went to whitewash train in Bangkok an area called Lat Phrao which is not even a branch it’s a unit he is going to do so great there! Me and Elder Gilley were both way nervous for our new companions but not to fear I got Elder Wilson and he is so sweet he is only on transfers 9 but so solid he is a great addition to our 101 family! And he was Sis Painter's district leader in Udon. Also funny story it was pouring rain and me and Elder Yuen were hungry before the meeting so we head out with umbrellas to find the street is flooded so we took of our shoes and rolled our pants up and crossed through some nasty water and then walked on the Bangkok sidewalk barefoot to 7/11 so we could get breakfast it was a great last adventure!

Our whole district got balanced key indicators again the 3rd week in a row! We have been blessed with quite a few new investigators and daters lately. Elder Wilson is way good at inviting he is just really creative in the way he doesn’t like sometimes just giving a pass along card for baptism and not saying anything until they ask about it and then asking them so are you going to do it? Way funny but it really gets them interested and asking questions. It is going to be another great transfer! I LOVE my mission! and I LOVE Roi-Et!!!

Love

Elder Cahoon!

The District 101

General Conference Report and more exciting work in the mission

Area: Roi-Et

Companion: Elder Yuen

Hey Guys! 

Conference was so awesome!!! wow I love our leaders! They are such inspired wonderful men of God! Elder Hales right off with teaching us how to learn from Conference and how we should really take notes. It helped so much! I loved Edward Dube's talk he is full of faith and passion for the Gospel it was really energizing! I loved when he said it doesn't matter where we serve but how. Pres Uchtdorf was so quotable this weekend both of his talks were so excellent. Also some other favorites were the Australian Elder Vincent, and Elder Funk (he is in the Asia Area Presidency) as well as Elder Eyring in the priesthood session helped me so much with the questions and that I had prepared about receiving a change in my countenance and in ministering to others. I have recognized in the past couple weeks that the change that I desire the man and the missionary that I desire to become is accompanied by an inherent change in physical countenance and this change of countenance is what I want so bad and I am working towards it daily. I feel like if I can receive that change in my countenance and the Christlike attributes that accompany it than I will have succeeded in my missionary labors and have been forever changed by my missionary service. I learned from Elder Funk that in order to receive a change in countenance I need to have a broken heart and contrite spirit and love my Savior enough to give him my heart. Especially in the area of a broken heart that the broken heart will also include accepting the Lords will and letting my will be swallowed up in the will of the Lord. I really learned from Pres Eyring about ministering, especially in the part where he taught that I don't know my missionaries in my zone and their needs perfectly but our Heavenly Father knows them perfectly their needs fears and challenges and if I will ask him he will instruct me specifically on what I can do to minister unto them in the way the Savior would. 

Another part of General Conference that I loved was all the talks on the Articles of Faith I have resolved to give those greater study and to memorize them in Thai and then start using them in inviting and teaching. They are so simple and powerful statements of testimony!

This week our District all got balanced key indicators again for the 2nd week straight! This is our last P-Day together and we are all kind of in denial that we are going to be broken up. This past transfer has been so filled with joy and miracles together more than any other time in my mission!

This past week I was able to some training in the Mahasarakham district and go on switch-offs with both Elder Kohler and Elder Chambers they are both really solid young missionaries coming up on their 6 month mark in the mission. They are both really excellent at street contacting and are really natural with their approaches Elder Chambers needed help with hope. It appears that he had a rough go in Ayuthaya and he let it get him discouraged and so we had a great study on Hope and talked about how he can let that trial build him and help him be stronger and rely on the Lord even more.

On Sunday Kwanchay's two grand kids Baw and Batr came to General Conference and they even brought a friend too! Her name is Fon (which is rain in Thai) Also on Sunday we had 2 other really uplifting experiences the first was that we had a district fast that we might meet our baptismal goal for this month and then after General Conference we had a giant conference call where all the districts were gathered and then we called the district leaders and had a zone prayer where we prayed for each person to be baptized asked for specific help in assisting them overcome their concerns that they are facing.

Elder Yuen's Grandpa got baptized!!!!!!!! The pics his family sent back are so awesome!

Thanks so much for sharing the moments in the truck those are super cute and way funny!

I’m so excited for Mikaela that she will be going through the temple soon! That’s crazy only 6 weeks! That’s less than a transfer! I had another couple ideas for mission prep: a voice recorder, a camera card reader, a ruler, letter to self, (that really is a good idea)

I am working on a bit of a package home for y'all I think I will be sending it via boat probably next week it takes about 2 months but is half the price. Thanks so much about the suit! I have been thinking about getting another one made there is no place here in Roi-Et but if I ever went back to Bangkok I could definitely get one it wouldn’t be any more than 4,000 baht that would be a high-so one. That is so awesome that you are facebook friends with them, Sis Prew that I helped be baptized here requested me on facebook could you accept her please? Also you could be friends with her too she is way good at English and would love to talk to my Mother! 

Bow River had got some sweet new uniforms did we change from the Laker colours though?

I love you all heaps and bunches!

Love, 

Elder Cahoon

P.S.I got my 7-11 backup today and it’s awesome!

Travel to Kalasin, Many Miracles and a Strong Testimony

Area: Roi-Et

Companion: Elder Yuen

Family,

Hey, Hey! Well today I am coming at you straight from Kalasin! We came out to help do some training this morning with the Elders out here and then after that we went and ate Essan food at their branch presidents restaurant it was way good! And today I tried something new it’s a dish called Goy and it is a bunch of spices with raw meat that you eat with your hands and sticky rice. Ha I ate raw meat! It was pretty good but kinda a weird texture 55 I am so excited for conference coming up it is going to be so wonderful! 

So last Monday we went down to Bangkok and renewed my visa and saw Sister Carter and rode the boat that glows around the khlongs in Bangkok missionaries lovingly refer to it as the khlong monster! Then that night we went on switch-offs with the zone leaders in Asoke who are Elder Ellsworth (my MTC companion) and Elder Saunders (Elder Yuen’s MTC companion) that was so awesome. Elder Ellsworth and I went and taught their investigator and gave her a date. Anshe is way cool, I want to teach her more, and we got to teach together for the first time since the MTC and it was really cool to see how much both of us had grown and progressed since that time.

So 7-11 has this promotion going on that if you buy certain things you get stamps that are worth 1 baht and then you can use those stamps as money or you can save them up and get different stuff like an umbrella or a backpack or a folding chair well anyway I saved up 300 stamps and next week I get to pick up my very own backpack from 7-11 pretty stocked! 55

Anyway, on Friday we went and did service at Sis Jan's house a big tree in her backyard had fallen down so our whole district and a bunch of members went over and helped her cut it all up and clean up it was so much fun we just went to town on it with saws and hatchets and machetes. I love service projects like that! I used this one machete that’s pretty much like a short sword and all the khon thais call it a Sparta it was sick I could chop through a branch that was an inch thick in one swing! I really love serving people it’s such a great feeling and it leaves you so happy especially when you can really see the difference you made! We will be going back this week to get the trunk out of the ground its way stubborn and has some huge roots!

Also on Wednesday night it was Bro Bo's birthday he turned 50 so the members threw a little party for him and we watched the restoration DVD and had a testimony meeting after and ate pizza and we gave him a way nice leather bound triple and case that we had bought for him at the office. 

This week we saw a lot of miracles too. While we were out street contacting we went out by a market and were walking the streets and talking to people that were shopping or that were waiting for their wives. As we walked I saw a tiny side sooy only wide enough to walk down but it had some houses down there and I felt like we should check it out so we did. We walked down and at the first house we passed there was a grandpa and a grandma just outside chillin watchin TV like most old people do in the Essan. We said hi and almost kept walking but then I had the thought that if I asked to sit down and talk with them they would let us in. So I asked if we could share a message with them and they invited us in without hesitation. As we talked with the man we learned that him and his wife had many health problems and their family had been all but shattered the grandmother is basically on her deathbed the kids are addicted to drugs and alcohol and steal to get it and the grandfather Kwanchay is trying to take care of his grandchildren along with his dying wife on top of that he has a liver problem and has lung damage from his smoking addiction. He was so troubled and had all but given up he saw no way out of his situation and he was basically waiting for death to take it all away, he felt such guilt and sorrow for the actions in his past and the terrible toll it had taken on both his health and his family. It was one of the few times where I saw in this man a soul, a child of God just crying out for help. His Heavenly Father had heard his cry seen his distress and sent my companion and I with the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, the only thing in the world that could help him. I felt so grateful to be used by the Lord to accomplish His divine purposes. The next time we saw him he accepted a date to be baptized at the end of November and yesterday his granddaughter Batr came to church as well.

That leads me to the next miracle that of getting balanced key indicators. Last week Bro Bo was baptized and we had to drop almost all our investigators that hadn’t already dropped us. So we had no baptismal daters and very few investigators, but the Lord blessed us with 3 awesome new investigators whose families are beginning to open up as well and 2 new daters. Yesterday in particular was amazing we had invited many people to go to church and we needed 2 to get balance we prayed about we invited people all week even up till Sunday morning we were calling every investigator in the phone with no success but we were still of faith that we would accomplish the goal. So about 5 mins before 9 we were outside of the church and Sister Batr gets there and we take her and sit with some members and then we go back out and see a guy walking down the street who keeps looking at the church so we hustle over and wave him down ask him  “Have you ever been to church?” 

“No.” 

“Do you want to come in?”

“Yes.”

“Well come in we are about to start!”

We sat him down between Bro Bo and Bro Jan (who is a boss veteran member) and then we went back out for the 3rd time right in time to see a LA couple that we have been working with drive in we were so excited! They even paid their tithing too! Then 2 seconds later another LA brother pulled up too so we had 3 Rescues! and then we finally went into the chapel with that brother and we were a tad late but overjoyed and walked in just in time to walk straight up and confirm Bro Bo a member of the church and give him the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Later in the meeting he was called to be the Branch Activity Leader! So Good! So we got balanced key indicators and so did everyone else in our district in fact in our zone 3/5 districts were balanced!

Speaking of activities we had a sports night with the branch it was awesome there were so many people there! Tons of investigators and RC/LA's too!

One last miracle on Wednesday the sisters were feeling way sick with fevers and chills and headaches, we were worried they were getting Dengue so we went over to drop some supplies that we had picked up in Bangkok and while we were standing outside we asked them if they wanted a blessing they thought that was a great idea and so we administered to them and gave them both blessings, and went to our next appointment. We found out later that night that they had walked into their house and not 5 minutes later were filled with energy had no fever and were able to go out and work the rest of the day! I am so grateful for the power of the priesthood and for the faith of those 2 wonderful sisters!

I love you all so much and I am so grateful and full of joy from the experiences that I have been blessed to have in the past week. I know the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way to have true peace and happiness in this life I know that Jesus is my Savior and that he has a great love for me and for the Thai people that I serve amongst I know that this church is true and that it was restored through a chosen prophet of God Joseph Smith and I know this because I have studied and pondered the Book of Mormon and asked my Heavenly Father if all of this was true, and I received an answer in the form of feelings that I cannot deny, I know that these things are true!

Love

Elder Cahoon

(Thank Sister Painter for these pictures, I found them on her blog.)

Brother Bo baptism

Talent Show

Service Project