Riley Pictures

Translation: "Like Thai People" ----- Someone dropped a bomb on our district. Only Elder Grover and I survived the blast. Last District Meeting with Elder Pilpat, Elder Leyva and Elder Banta (Elder Kao had already left for Australia)


Beautiful day right? Not for long ... One hour later!

The New Companion. Some saw we look pretty thug.

Khon Kaen 5.28.12

Hey family!

This week has been bitter sweet. I got a new companion. Elder Pipat became a zone leader and was transferred. It was a bummer. He was so funny. But my new companion, Elder Warren, is sweet. He is white which makes communication 10x better. He works hard though and is teaching me a lot, so it's great. He is from Lehi, Utah and served in the army since he was 17! He is thinking of switching to the Air Force when he finishes his mission. So yeah...he's a pretty cool guy.

The beginning of the week was switch off mania! Monday night I was with Elder Grover, we passed out flyers for the english class and did some inviting. He's a great elder. I learned a lot about inviting from him. The next day I studied with Elder Grover (part of the switch off) but then exchanged with Elder Banta (his companion was waiting for an Australian visa and left earlier in the week). E. Banta and I went to Kalasin to teach english Tuesday night and gather his stuff (he got transferred too). We came back from Kalasin Wednesday morning, I studied with E. Pipat one last time and then we went out teaching. It rained like crazy. It was so fun. It was a good last day with my pa. Wednesday night the bus to Bangkok came, everybody got on it but me and my new companion (E. Warren) got off. So in a couple days I had 4 companions...wow.

On Tuesday after district meeting we went to another sushi place. It was a lot better. I found out sushi is way better if you dip it in the sauces they give you. Without the sauce it tastes alien, with the sauce it tastes great. I feel like you could dip anything in that sauce and it would be tasty though...so I'm still not sure how I feel about sushi. Everyone raves about it but I think they should really be raving about this miracle sauce that turns awful food into great food #profound.

So we taught this new family this week for the second time. The first thing the dad said when we sat down was that he wanted to get baptized. He is a rockstar. But we taught him the restoration and I feel like it was the best lesson E. Pipat and I (E. Banta was there too) taught. I feel like we were finally understanding each other enough to teach with unity and then he got transferred...#nuts. But the family is stellar.

We have one investigator with a baptismal date for the end of June. He is ÍÔ¡¤ÔÇ (EQ) and way cool. He works a ton of overtime though which makes it hard to see him. Yesterday he wasn't at church which was a bummer. We went and visited him and turns out he went but didn't see anyone outside and was too shy to come in so he left. He was so close to coming! But I'm starting to understand how foreign the church can look to an outsider. I think if I hadn't been going to church since I was a little nino and some random white guys invited me to church I probably would be really nervous about going. Investigators really just need a guide, a friend that they can turn to and ask questions, someone who will take them under their wing. This church really does have it's own culture and language.

Thai this week was ok. It's still a hard language to learn...that hasn't changed. But I know that through the Atonement I can be strengthened. One thing I have learned on my mission is that there is a lot of stuff I can't do on my own (like learning Thai). But I don't have to do it by myself. Because of the Atonement, Christ is here to help me all along the way. I love reading in Mosiah 24 about how the Savior strengthened the backs of the people to bear the burdens placed upon them.

Well I still love you all. Thailand is still awesome. The pineapple still tastes like candy.

Answer time:

Yes dad, church is all in thai. My religious vocab is pretty good so I can get the gist of talks and lessons. The worst is when they ask me a question...I'm never quite sure what they ask me. Sometimes I just throw an answer and pray that it is right. Other times another elder will translate the question for me. But not completely understanding makes gospel essentials class very interesting.

I'm eating well. I think I'm figuring out which thai food I like, so eating isn't dreaded as much. I'm getting better at handling the spicy business too.

No mom, I have not received your package...but the ZL's are going down to Bangkok next week so hopefully it is there and they can bring it back with them.

Yes I'm doing my laundry.

#Hashtags:

Found out there is a cobra village near Khonkaen...#Hittinthatupforsure

#thatmomentwhenyourealize your companion-sized GPS called Elder Pipat leaves and you have to get around town. #Yikes

New companion #Leggo

Much Love,

Elder M. Riley Creer

The Only

Pictures 5.20.12

Thai Ronald

You know you're a gangsta when your shirt still has the tag.
Believe or not, a member gave me that shirt.

Mini Party with some members before the ZL's baptism ------------- 7 fries... seriously?

The duk duk... so fun -------------------The bikes... pretty fancy no?

The church....Pretty exciting stuff -------------------- Home sweet home

Khon Kaen 5.20.12

Hey Family.

This week has been full of adventure!

Firstly, I tried sushi this week. True story. It was weird. Not particularly bad or particularly good. Just weird. But apparently the place where we ate it didn't have good sushi and I guess we are going to a better place tomorrow. So stay tuned for more sushi updates! But I don't really understand how people rave about it, I thought it just tasted strange...maybe I'm just strange. Oh well. But to all you who thought I would starve in Thailand because I'm so picky: Kiss it. :)

Cool story: We are riding our bikes to an 8 pm appointment when out of no where this man on a scooter rolls up and stops E. Pipat. We met him last week while inviting and got his number and said we'd call to set up an appointment. Well he stops us and asks "Why didn't you call me? You said you'd call." So E. Pipat made and appointment for the next day and then he drove away and we continued on to our appointment. Fast Forward to next day. We go teach him and his wife. We tell him about baptism. He says he wants to be baptized! #MONEYINTHEBANK. It was sweet. It is cool how the Lord puts people who are prepared into our paths. I'm way stoked to see how he and his wife progress.

This week E. Pipat exchanged with E. Kao this week in Kalasin and E. Banta was with me in our area...which means I had to lead our area...which means I had to get us to investigators' houses and make effective plans for the next day. It was bad news bears. I was way pumped to lead the area and show everyone how good of a missionary I was and how I could lead and all that jazz...then the Lord humbled me. I forgot how to get to an investigator's house (yikes), called a member to come teach with us but forgot to confirm the appointment first (it fell through (double yikes) but luckily the member was chill about us wasting his time) and I made impossible plans for the next day (turns out serving at a government office doesn't work when they are closed). E. Pipat saw the plans I had made for the night after we switched back and just laughed. It was humorously bad. So I learned that when my eye isn't single to the glory of God I fail. I also learned that I still have a lot to learn. It was a great day.

I have made it through my first transfer. It is weird to think that it has been 6 weeks here. It is like a dream. But I love it. Teaching the gospel everyday is pretty awesome even when they don't accept it. Having one hour to read the Book of Mormon each day is amazing. The Book of Mormon is supreme, no matter where I read I learn something new and something that applies to me and my investigators. I know it is true. I know Joseph Smith translated it by the power of God. I know that by reading the Book of Mormon we come closer to Christ. That's what this life is all about I think, coming closer to Christ. That's why we go to church, pray, read, sing, go home teaching. We do it all to come closer to Christ and help others come closer as well.

Mission life is great. I recommend trying it.

Much Love,

Elder M. Riley Creer

The Only

Hashtags:

This week the house got 4 letters...and 4 of them were for me. #thanksforhollering

#thatawkwardmomentwhen: all the members are laughing and looking at you but you have no idea what they are saying...#ifonlyispokethai

One of our investigators is 50ish and dating a 17 year old girl...#eeewwwwwhhhhaaaaiiiiittt

Riley Pictures...

President Smtih and his wife are finishing their mission next month so they cut everyone's ties.

Service... with machetes #now your talkin. This crazy member just handed me the hat... classy right? The blue shirt missionary is Elder Thomas, he was on exchanges with Elder Grover.

More service.. that's sweat. #GoinHard
"The work is done." - Elder Pilpat

Khon Kaen 5.14.12

Hey Family!

It was great to be able to see you and talk to you! Our family rocks!

This week has been great. I went on exchanges with E. Leyva on Tuesday. He is awesome. He and I are super similar too. It's weird. He's from Nevada too (Sparks), he does martial arts, he is SCUBA certified, he went skydiving, he loves the show White Collar. We are like identical...except he's much more ripped than I. But it was a good day, he is way funny. We taught some lessons with B. โอ (pronounced O) and then ate KFC with him. Then we did some zone conference preparation business that wasn't too exciting. But it was a fun day.

This week has had a lot of canceled appointments though...it has been kinda rough. A lot of our potential and new investigators dropped themselves too. It was a little discouraging. But then I read in Alma 26:27. Boom, spiritual encouragement. It was great. After one day of a lot of cancellations E. Pipat and I splurged and went to McDonald's for dinner. It was delicious. We met this Italian guy that has been in Thailand for 20 years! Crazy. Then we met this guy from Michigan who has been here for 3 years. His Thai knowledge level: .5. I felt like a champ knowing that I have been here for a month and could already speak better than him #holleratthegiftoftongues.

Thursday we had zone conference...5 hours of it. But it went so fast and was so good. I really enjoyed it. To make things better they gave us ice cream...in a cone. Yeah buddy.

Sunday, E. Pipat was able to see how I feel in almost every lesson. We met this farang (from London) and he invited us in to tell us the story about how he met his Thai wife (apparently he thought it was a good one). He was a really spiritual guy...sorta. He had studied a lot of religions and knew a ton about them but was covered in tattoos and drank and smoked. But he prays all the time, he said he just pours out his heart. It sounds like he has an awesome relationship with God. But his family relationship is in the garbage, he said his mom basically hates him. It was pretty sad. But E. Pipat was trying to share a scripture in english. He was introducing one about how God gives us trials to test our patience and then the farang says, "I don't really understand what your saying..." and looks at me. E. Pipat was in shock. So I translated the broken english to normal english and then read the scripture. It was pretty funny. E. Pipat got to experience the frustration I get all the time when I say something in Thai and the investigator just looks at E. Pipat waiting for clarification. It is super humbling when it happens. But Anthony wants us to come back so he can read the Book of Mormon, I think he just wants to read it so he can compare it other religions though. Hopefully the spirit will touch him though and he'll realize this is different.

That pretty much sums up my week though...

Oh nuts! I forgot about the service project on Saturday (pictures to follow). So we chopped down some trees in front of the church. It was sweet. We used one of those saws that most people only use at boy scout camps or pioneer experiences (yeah they still use those in Thailand). And then we used these machete things that were SICK! They chopped through anything. But my favorite part was the beginning...we're just standing there looking at the tree we're about to cut down and this guy takes off his flip flops, ties a rope around his waist and just starts climbing the tree. He climbed that mess like a monkey! It was crazy. But then someone tied a machete to the other end of the rope and he pulled it up and started lopping off branches left and right! It was awesome. Then he tied some ropes around it so we could guide it when it fell. Then I got to tag team the trunk with a member and the ancient saw. It was pretty epic.

That's all I got. Thailand is awesome. My mission is awesome. The gospel is awesome.

Pound it. Kiss it. Peace it. Slap it.

Elder M. Riley Creer

The Only

hashtags:

#theprideyoufeel when your grandma puts a hashtag in her email to you. #MyGmaIsHip

Feel like I'm living in a McDonald's commercial...#ImLovinIt

Pictures from Riley

Our companionship in a nutshell...only sometimes haha

Companionship Love

The Rain... Wow

Riley Pictures 5.7.12

Where is the Farang? The Wedding Couple, yeah the food was intense.

Where is the Farang?

Payed the church back for my bike. Rollin in the benj...wait what's the king's name again?

Khon Kaen 5.7.12

Family!
This week was great. There was a wedding. Some rain. Some more rain. Lots of canceled appointments which meant lots of inviting (#yesssssss). And an investigator who agreed to be baptized in June #yeahbuddy.

So the wedding was pretty interesting. This 50ish retired green beret married a 30ish Thai woman. It was pretty cool. The best part was the beginning though, the groom was led by a parade to the chapel. The parade carried tasty desserts with little flags stuck in them. I've never seen anything like it! And I got to be in it (pictures to come)! It was funny, I was the only white guy in the line (besides the groom of course). So I had a little taste of Thai culture this week, super cool.

The rain: CRAZY! It dumps. Saturday night we were inviting and it started and within 5 seconds we were soaked. The streets started to get huge puddles/lakes all over. One intersection was flooded with about 2 inches of water. It was sweet riding our bikes through it though, when you are already soaked puddles become a lot more fun. We road to the Fairy mall to pick up some food and were drenched. We walked inside looking like we just fell in a pool with our clothes on. Then I realized I still had my helmet on (#thathurtstheteam) so we ran back out to the bikes and then went back inside. This employee was mopping where we had just walked two seconds before and here we come, still soaked, right through her mopping job. It was bad news. She probably hated us. We left a trail of water everywhere we went, it was great.

This week Elder Pipat and I treated ourselves to dinner at Pizza Company one night. It was great (thanks mom and pops for footing the bill). But Farang food is pretty pricey (480ish baht>30 baht) so we don't get it often. But if you convert that into dollars it was a steal! We ate a 4 course meal for $16. Yeah...Thailand is pretty sweet.
The language is still coming. This morning I passed off some of the milestones (a memorization checklist the mission has) with Elder Leyva and he said I was doing really well. He was super impressed I had memorized D&C 4 in Thai this early (Elder Pipat told me to memorize it one day...so I did). He gave me some great advice though and told me some areas I can work on. So I guess I'm doing well with the memorization and stuff, the part that is super frustrating is when I can't understand investigators. I get so lost in lessons. The worst is when I teach a principle and the investigator is looking at Elder Pipat the entire time waiting for him to clarify. It is #lowkey depressing. But I'm slowly understanding more and more.

Yesterday (sunday) it rained again. It rained so hard we couldn't go out and work (apparently people don't let you in to their house if you are soaking wet...go figure). So that was a bummer, we just studied/memorized D&C 4. But after it stopped dumping we met one of our investigators named กิคิว (sounds like EQ) and taught him about finding out for himself if this gospel is true. Then we challenged him to baptism on the 26th of June and he said yes! WOOHOO. It was sweet. I'm stoked to see him progress to baptism.

The church is still true. Never forget it!

Hashtags:
The fruit here looks like it came straight out of Mario Kart. #thatgreenspikeyballisafruit? #googledurian
#thingsilove: Thunder that #literally shakes your house. Oh yeah...and Thailand.

Much Love
Elder M. Riley Creer
The only