Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Christ Lives.  I know it.  He has shown the way to eternal happiness.  Through His atonement we are cleansed but only when we keep His commandments and are baptized.  Our mistakes and sins can be washed clean.  It is possible.  It is possible through Christ, our Savior.  I love sharing this message with others.  It brings me joy.

Much Love.

Elder M. Riley Creer

the only

Pictures 12.24.13

 For Christmas, President Senior gave us what we all really wanted...fancy buffet at the Grand Hyatt.  Oh baby.  All the missionaries in Bangkok in one place.  Crazy.  I pitied the servers.

Our companionship Christmas photo.  

No those aren't our presents.

 E. Campbell and I.  He's now my zone leader.  Yeah buddy.

After the hotel, we went to the church to decorate 

Christmas cookies!  Delectable.

 Nothing classier than sipping eggnog with gingerbread cookies on Christmas Eve.  Especially when it is President's private stash.  #perksofbeinganassistant

Pimpin Shirt...99 ฿  

Creepy Puppet...200 ฿

Buying yourslf an Indie Christmas...Less than priceless,

 just 299 ฿.  Bargain Baby!!

Pictures 12.21.13

E. Pipat!  I saw my trainer at the stake Christmas party.  

He is getting married!  Wow.

Me and E. Suan.  He is from Burma.  They told me to look for a tall and skinny burmese kid at the airport.  Well, he was certainly skinny.  He slipped by us somehow and we all wandered the airport for a while until we finally met up.

E. Davies and I tapping into our inner wolf.

Sending off the จบers.  

These 4 get to open Kamphaeng Phet.  I'm lowkey jealous.  They will be baptizing in a river!  How epic!  I'm bummed E. Davies and E. Bartling are leaving too, it was so fun living with them in the same house.  TimTam Slams out the wazoo!

Asoke 12.21.13

Hey Family!

This week was nuts!  That new area opened.  E. Davies and E. Bartling were sent there.  They are going to have a blast there.  I have a new companion: E. Harris.  He is from Spanish Fork.  He is ripped and an amazing missionary.

To answer your questions Dad, we are assigned to an area.  It is massive.  I'm still fuzzy on where it ends and the neighboring areas start.  But the average week we have time to work in our area, finding and teaching investigators.  Yes, I wish we had more time.  That is something E. Harris and I are going to try and change, getting out of the office faster and into our area.  And Greg Madsen is in the Bangkok North zone.

So this week was transfers.  Boy am I glad it is over.  Here's the rundown of how it went:

Sunday: E. Fronberg and I went to pick up this new missionary from Burma.  He will be serving in Australia but stopped off in BKK to be set apart by President Senior before heading to the MTC in Provo.  He was hilarious and spoke English like a champ.

Monday: We spent all day in the office planning and preparing for the new missionaries and transfers.

Tuesday: We had a training meeting at 10 AM with the new trainers.  Then we helped President finalize the transfers board.  We also remade the transfers powerpoint which took forever.  Instead of sleeping we went to the airport with President and Sister Senior to greet the new missionaries.  5 sisters and 1 elder.  We took them to their hotel and then hit the hay at about 3 AM.

Wednesday: We woke up at 6:30, as usual, and took the new missionaries to get their blood drawn and photos taken for their work permits.  Then we took them to the office for their orientation stuff.  We finished preparing for transfers and left the office for chaengwattana around 12.  I was driving the van full of new missionaries.  E. Marvel was my navigator.  Well, I made the mistake of following the GPS instead of my natural compass.  We got lost.  Way lost.  An hour and 2 GPS destination points later we made it to the church where transfers was held.  Becuase I got hecka dayz lost, transfers started 40 minutes late (Yikes!).  It was a good meeting though, everyone was pumped for their new areas.  After the meeting, we took the dead missionaries (those who were going home) back for dinner with the Senior's and got all the luggage and stuff together for the Kamphaeng Phet elders.  Eventually we got some sleep.

Thursday: We woke up at 2:00 AM to send the dead missionaries off at the airport.  It's always weird to see them go.  We went home and got a few hours of sleep and a little studying in before heading back to the office.  We pulled up, walked inside and walked right back out to load up the van to take some more missionaries to the airport.  Due to visa problems they couldn't fly out that day and would have to wait a few more days.  So we ate lunch with everyone at the airport and then headed back to the office to make some reports.  That night we took the 4 elders opening Kamphaeng Phet to the bus station to send them off.  Amazingly, I found our way home without a GPS or a guide.  Prayers are answered.

Friday:  We had a normal day.  We studied, weekly planned, hit the office for about an hour, then hit the streets to find some new investigators.  I feel like my street contacting skills have atrophied.  I watched E. Harris get numbers after numbers while I got rejections after rejections.  I guess that's why we are together, so I can relearn how to declare repentance and baptism.

Saturday:  We took the missionaries who previously had visa problems to the airport again at 5 this morning.  This time everything was squared away and they were able to fly out.  E. Harris and I got home, fell onto our beds and were out.  The week of craziness finally caught up to us. 

Nutshell:  This week was nuts.  I went to the airport 5 times.  Straight up nuts.

Now we are looking towards January.  The mission's faith flame is stoked for the new year (holler at that imagery).  I know this gospel will roll forth to fill the ends of the earth.  Mormon 8:22.  How lucky are we to be a part of it.

I love you tons.

Elder M. Riley Creer
the only

Pictures 12.14.13

 The baptism!  Phet is the guy, E. Davies baptized him.  His last name was a mile long.  I couldn't help but chuckle when E. Davies asked him what his name was and he rattled off a 9 syllable tongue twister.  Good luck!  I baptized Fon.  She was so scared of going under multiple times.  Before we went into the font she was asking me to do it right the first time so she would only have to do it once.  It went well, only one dunk was required (is dunk too crass?  only one immersion sounds weird though...just insert whatever word you prefer).

The biggest joke of a Christian church I've ever seen.  

It looks exactly like a Buddhist temple.  

I'm sure they get Buddhist people wandering inside all the time.

We sang some carols and hymns at a nearby hospital.  Super fun.

Us postin' up with Santa Bear!  Holler.

Due to unusual circumstances, we had some extra missionaries spend the night at our house.  Total we had 10.  5 were in our room.  E. Bartling is a Tetris champion and was able to make all the mattresses fit.

 We be suit shoppin'.  He be couch droppin'.

Asoke 12.14.13

Hola!

Phet and Fon were baptized!  Yeah!  They both shared excellent experiences about how reading the Book of Mormon and praying built their faith.  They are stellar.  The day after Fon was baptized she called us and told us she wanted to share the gospel with her family.  Her parents are in France and her brother is a province that doesn't yet have a branch.  We'll have to figure out how to get in touch with them.  It is interesting to see the change that occurs in people as they accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  This gospel is true.  It changes people in impossible ways.  How lucky are we to be involved in this?  Way lucky.

Behind Enemy Lines:  Wednesday, 1500 hours.  President Senior was thinking of opening a new area in central Thailand.  We found one province that already has a Melk. Priesthood holder there.  So he sent E. Davies and I on a reconnaissance mission.  We booked a flight leaving the next morning at 0700 hours.  The plane ride was uneventful, the greatest threat being the barely edible food they served us.  We landed in one of Thailand's ancient capitals.  The airport was tiny.  It didn't even have a control tower.  Or walls for that matter, the whole thing was open air.  The best part: next door was the zoo.  As I walked off the plane I spotted zebras.  Then giraffes.  A whole zoo.  This country amazes me.  Back to business.  We met our "associate" who acquired a car for us.  He even slapped on a rental logo sticker to make it look legit (ok... it may have been a perfectly legitimate rental car service).  Nobody would suspect a thing.  We drove the 80 kilos to the selected province to begin the recon.  We found our hotel, parked the car there and went for a stroll to scope the area out.  We quickly found Tesco Lotus.  We bought a half-dozen donuts as we perused the place, you know to keep our cover.  Next we checked out the market.  It was big.  Loaded with potential.  Perfect for Operation: Dan Jones.  Then we started the real work.  Finding a possible headquarters in the city.  We asked around.  The word on the street led us to a supreme spot.  Right on the busiest street in town.  We were taking reconnaissance photos when our contact arrived.  He showed us around the town, giving us a good feel for the place.  We checked out quite a few other possible locations before our contact couldn't take the heat anymore.  We took him back to his car so he could get some R&R.  Desperate to find a possible house, we radioed into the Big Guy for guidance (aka we prayed).  Within an hour we found the perfect place.  Close to the proposed HQ.  Close to Tesco Lotus and KFC.  To finish off the mission we headed to the local park.  It was bustling with activity.  After chatting up some locals and gathering some great intel we decided it was time to call it a night.  Suspicious that someone was tailing us we canceled our hotel reservation and drove to the next province.  Pretty sure we lost em.  We found a hotel there, it was a little bigger  and a little less glamorous than a hole in the wall.  Perfect to hide out until morning when our evac would come for us.  The next day we landed safely back in BKK, mission accomplished.  We'll have to wait and see if president decides to open this new area or not.  Transfers are next week...oh boy.  Stress emergency.  Leggo!

Messiah Monday:  The President and Sister Senior took all the elders that work in the office and the senior couples to see Handel's Messiah performed at a nearby church.  The food was hi-so.  I ordered a chocolate banana frappe.  It was heavenly.  Tasty business.  Then we headed to some Catholic church to watch the performance.  The church was ridiculous.  It looked just like a Buddhist temple except with a cross on top.  Talk about apostate.  The actual performance was pretty sweet.  I may or may not have dozed through portions of it, but I enjoyed it.  They had 5 soloists that would sing some stuff and then a huge choir that would come in on other parts.  On the program they described one of them as a countertenor.  I'd never heard of that so I was interested to hear how he sang.  Well when his part came up he stood, opened his mouth and a female's voice came out!  He sounded just like a woman.  Everyone was doing double takes.  Hilarious.  He sang really well though.  We bounced after the Hallelujah chorus.  Fun night.

I got your Christmas package.  Thanks!  Don't worry I haven't opened the wrapped stuff yet. I'll put it under our festive Christmas tree.

My P-day will be Christmas day here.  What time should I skype?  I will be free all day until about 4 PM Thailand time.  Just let me know.

So... I love you all.  A lot.  You are the best.  For real.

Elder m. riley creer

the only 

Pictures 12.7.13

 The 5 December is the king's birthday, so it also becomes Father's day for all of Thailand.  I saw this bad boy and had to take a picture.  Dad...you should grow a mustache.

After a Swensen's run, we saw these bikes hooked up to the lights on this tree.  By pedaling you turned on the lights!  Wicked.

I call this my Limited-Edition-Christmas-Tree-Lighting-Bike-Pedaling face.  Patent pending.

 The view from their balcony.  Whoa.

 Look at that mess!  OH BABY.

A photo with a world renowned conductor plus 2 free books.  Score!

Asoke 12.7.13

Hello Family

The focus of this week was Missionary Leadership Council.  That consumed all of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  It was a great meeting and everyone is killing it.  Because of the progress of the mission, President Senior wanted to treat the missionary leaders to a little treat.  So after the meeting we went ice skating!  It was a blast.  We tried to replicate the Mighty Ducks when they tied the team up and had them skate together.  We tied neckties together and rounded everyone up.  We were hoping to go with the "come together and move forward" object lesson.  Well it turns out neckties are not the best thing to use when roping missionaries together...the makeshift rope broke.  So we switched the application to "breaking the bonds of Satan" and called it good.  After the skating we hit up a Japanese meat buffet.  It was delicious.

Good News:  Two of our investigators passed their baptismal interview.  YES!  They will get baptized on Sunday.  Their names are Phet and Fon (pronounced phone with a wacky tone).  They are supreme.

Tonight is the ward Christmas party.  They decorated the entire church building.  The walls are covered in fabric making it look like ancient Jerusalem.  Pretty fancy stuff.  The service center set up a Christmas display in the office lobby that explains the true meaning of Christmas.  It has a candy bowl so I love it.  Hotels and shopping malls are setting up lights too.  BKK is looking pretty festive these days.

This week we went to eat a Thanksgiving dinner at the Ungrangsee's house.  They are in the international ward but invited all the missionaries in our house to dinner.  They live on the 27th floor of a condo high rise.  Pretty swanky stuff.  The dinner was amazing!  They had pumpkin pies!  It was tasty business.  Bundit, the dad of the family, is the famous conductor.  He showed us his office and gave us each some copies of the books they have written (apparently he has focused most of his time on writing inspirational books as of late).  It was pretty cool to see all his sweet conducting pictures.  He even conducted Mormon Tabernacle Choir once!  That means he has made it big time in my book.  They sent us home with an entire pie!  Yeah buddy.

Lately I have been studying about Desire.  I have come to the conclusion that desire is the difference between success and failure, in the gospel as well as life.  I realized that God's desire is focused.  It is specific.  He wants one thing: for us to have eternal life with Him.  Everything our Heavenly Father does relates back to that root desire.  His desire is so strong that He is willing to do anything to accomplish His goal.  Even send His only Son to redeem us, making God's goal and design possible.  Looking at successful people, they are filled with a similar desire.  Similar in the fact that they are driven by their desire to make sacrifices in order to achieve their vision.  Of course their sacrifice doesn't compare to the sacrifice of God but the idea is the same.  When we desire something to the point where we make sacrifices to get it, then we can be successful.  God grants us our desires, whether they are evil or good is up to us (Alma 29:4).  So I guess what we need to ask ourselves each day is "What do I truly desire?"  and then go out and rely on the Lord in making it happen.  That concludes my inspirational message for the week.  Thank you.  Thank you.

Life is good.  The Book of Mormon changes lives.

Much Love.

elder m. riley creer

My Pictures 11.30.13

 We needed a creative way to tell President Senior about breaking 100.  So we took a picture of this and emailed it to him...then left it for the office elders to find...and clean up.

 celebratory slam. Adrian!

The Wilson's with our Book of Mormon Arch.  They are amazing people.  I learned a lot from them in the 5 days of Mission Tour.

 I saw Greg Madsen!  He is doing great.  Such a champ.

E. Cosper and I decked out in our thuggery.

Mission Tour Day 5: what we looked like at the translation table.

Asoke 11.30.13

Hey champs

This past week was mission tour.  Elder Larry W. Wilson of the Seventy came.  It was awesome.  It was fun.  It was exhausting.  And now it is over.  Relief.

E. Davies and I were the schleppers for the week.  We hauled the microphone equipment, projector and Book of Mormon arch all over Thailand.  We also translated all the meetings for the Thai missionaries.  It was hard work and stressful too.  But we had a blast.  Translation nightmares from the week: movie trailer, chiasmus, law of undulation, radioactive core.  After the first conference we figured out movie trailer but for the other words we were done for.  Sunday night we flew up to Chiangmai for the Monday conference.  Monday night we flew back to BKK.  Tuesday morning we drove to Northern BKK for the West and North zones' conference.  Wednesday morning we flew to Udorn (we woke up at 4 AM...yep, it hurt the team).  The bonus there was the lunch: Thanksgiving turkey, homemade cookies, yeah buddy.  That night we flew back to BKK.  Thursday morning we flew to Ubon (another 4 AM day).  There we also had a Thanksgiving  lunch complete with pies.  Then we flew to BKK again that night.  Friday we drove to East BKK for their zone conference then took Elder Wilson and his wife to the airport.  It was the most flying I've ever done in my life!  Each time we checked 2 bags, one had the microphone equipment and one was the BOM arch pieces.  The keystone piece wouldn't fit in the bag so we carried it on and forced it into the overhead compartments.  People gave us some pretty strange looks as we trudged through the airport with a giant cardboard sign that read "The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ".  Classy business.

The conference focused on using the Book of Mormon with our investigators.  Sister Wilson talked about reading 1 Nephi 1 with investigators and reteaching the Restoration while you do it.  Elder Wilson had us make movie trailers for 1 Nephi 2-4 to help investigators want to continue reading (they were hilarious).  I learned that I need to do more to help investigators and new members read the Book of Mormon.  It truly is the iron rod.  If they don't grab hold of it they will be lost in the mists of darkness.  We and they cannot make it through this life with all its pits, obstacles, and temptations without the Book of Mormon.  It is our anchor to righteousness.  Elder Wilson shared an experience that he had before he moved to Hong Kong where he read the Book of Mormon from start to finish with a recent convert in his ward.  He said the change that took place in the recent convert was remarkable and that he, himself gained a lot from reading with this man.  Now the recent convert is returning the favor by being a reading mentor for another recent convert.  It helped me see that the Book of Mormon changes people for the better.  When we study the Book of Mormon, likening it to our lives, we grow.  We understand who we are, who God is, and what He wants us to do.  And we will want to do it.  The Book of Mormon is the word of God, it is spiritual bread that we must eat or we'll spiritually starve to death.

Other than mission tour not much else happened...Psych!  Our mission had over 100 baptisms this month!  (Last year the highest month was 72)  And 70 out of 86 companionships have seen a baptism.  It is amazing.  The Lord has performed miracles all over the country!  The mission is more unified, we are now all on the same team.  I'll tell you how we found out.  Sunday morning.  E. Davies and I were counting up all the companionships that were expecting a baptism that weekend.  We thought we'd be at around 95 by that night.  Well when everyone started reporting the companionships that had a baptism we saw that it was 98!  I was freaking out!  We called to tell president the news and he told us that the tiny branch in Myanmar had someone get baptized so it was 99.  I was losing my mind I was so excited.  Two days later, after Tuesday's zone conference we were in the office working on some reports.  That's when we found out the Laos elders had a baptism that past Sunday.  We had broken 100 baptisms and didn't even know it.  Our goal was 86.  Not 86 baptisms but 86 companionships who felt successful by baptizing 1 person.  In the end we got 70 companionships with more than 100 baptisms.  E. Davies and I were speechless as we drove home that night.  We were reflecting on what a great accomplishment it really was.  This month has been an inflection point.  Now the missionaries know that we can do it, we can follow the Spirit, we can teach with convincing power and we can see miracles.  I love this work.  And I know it is God's work.  And He is helping us do it.

To celebrate that night we slammed some TimTams with the others in our house.

Well I love you all!

Elder M. Riley Creer

The only

Pictures 11.23.13

 Whoa.

Perfectly framed? Awwwwh Yeaaah.

E. Davies on the poor man's rameumptom.

Who's turn is it anyway? Standard traffic light in Thailand.  

Aka chaos.

Me showing E. Cosper who the alpha male is.  In reality, I think he is a wrestler and could probably toast me over the fire and eat me but I caught him off guard (they call that a "Surprise attack from above!").

Asoke 11.23.13

Hello Family.

You guys rock.  Except for all your trunky comments.  You're killing me smalls.  But I still love you!

Last Sunday was Looy Gratong (the floating lantern business).  Before you get all excited and expect an epic photo of lanterns shooting up into the sky you should know they don't allow lanterns to be sent up in Bangkok.  Bummer times 10 I know.  I guess it just means I'll have to come back someday and take that epic photo.  Despite the lack of lanterns, we went to a park in our area where they were letting off some candle boats.  It wasn't as sweet as I thought it was going to be, maybe because the park's pond didn't have a current so the boats just floated there until the candle went out.  I got some pro status photos though (Get on my level, Sam and Katie).  The festival turned out to be a stellar inviting opportunity.  We had a giant sign with a picture of baptism, some hymnals, loads of baptism pass-along cards, and 12 missionaries.  I got rejected by almost everyone.  Gotta love it.  At the end of the night though, we found some excellent potentials (one of which we met the other day...keep reading for that story).  It was a blast.  I love declaring repentance.

Thursday.  We headed out to meet that potential family from the park.  We met them at the market where they sell plants and stuff.  We asked if we could sit down with them and share more about Christ.  They accept and the dad starts laying newspaper out on the ground for us to sit on.  Score.  So after talking for a few minutes we realize they need to hear about eternal families.  We told them they could be together forever as a family, never to be separated, and that baptism was the first step.  Then E. Davies turns to me and whispers, "There's rats."  I looked up and saw this foot-long rodent trudging behind the family.  Oh boy.  Trying my best to not look at the rodent invasion, we kept teaching.  Well I kept teaching.  E. Davies was a goner.  He was a little to my left and said he could see tons of em.  Apparently he had a bad experience as a child so he couldn't really focus, something about rats and Cheetos bag (I may or may not have just made that up).  Needless to say we kept the lesson short.  The dad, named Neung (1), will come to church with us on Sunday.  Yeah Buddy.

Most of this week was spent preparing for Mission Tour next week.  Elder Wilson in the Asia Area Presidency is coming to visit.  Next week will be full of early morning flights, long meetings, free lunches and heaps of spiritual enlightenment.  You could say I'm pretty excited.

Much Love

Elder M. Riley Creer

the only elder with a suit that says "the only" on the inside

Pictures 11.16.13

Baptism!  Woohoo!

This is elder Sukhan.  He just came into country.  His parents are Thai but live in Utah.  We picked him up from the airport on Saturday night and he spent Sunday and Monday with us.  He will be a great missionary.  And he has great ties.

Asoke 11.16.13

Hello Family

Life is splendid.  Way splendid.

We had a baptism on Sunday!  Her name is Lue (I have no idea how to spell it in English, you say it like queue but with an L).  She bore an awesome testimony about prayer.  It was marvelous.  I love hearing recent converts testimonies.  Hearing them share life-altering experiences with prayer is priceless.  Just last night we asked her to help us teach some investigators from English class.  She nailed it.  She bore a sweet testimony of prayer and giving up Buddhism for something better.  Nutshell: Listening recent converts' testimonies are my paychecks.  Worth far more than money.

The mission is exploding with miracles right now.  This month is really an inflection point.  Things are changing.  The Lord truly is hastening His work...so are we.  Up and up from here.  It is exciting to be here in Asoke working with President.  We get to hear all the miracles and stellar stories.

Our November goal of each companionship with a baptism (aka Bovember) is unifying the mission.  Districts and zones are pulling together to help out the companionships that haven't had a baptism yet.  We are becoming one.  We are realizing that this is God's work not our own.  And we want everyone to be successful laboring in His vineyard.

aka: The mission is killing it right now.  Oh baby.

That hurts the team moment: I was riding the MRT (subway) with E. Davies.  We were coming back from a teaching appointment near Chinatown.  The train was packed.  I had talked to everyone in my immediate vicinity.  No success.  I saw a small gap in the masses with a teenage girl on the other side.  I felt like I needed to talk to her.  So I slipped through the gap and started a conversation about being cleansed from sin.  After explaining, I asked her if she would like to wash her sins away.  Before she could answer this woman behind me taps me on the shoulder and asks, "Are you bothering her?"  Taken back I answered that I wasn't.  Not satisfied she asks the girl with whom I was speaking.  The girl responds similarly.  Still not satisfied she asked me, "Have you asked her yet if you are bothering her?"  So I asked the girl.  She said I wasn't.  So the interrupter turned around and went back to her iphone.  It was bizarre.  I wish I would have sang that song "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter or turned and started asking if she wanted a better life through baptism.  Perhaps it is better that I didn't.  Anyway, the whole exchange was awkward and left me baffled that she would get so upset that I was talking to a girl about remission of sins.

Miracle Moment:  We went to Bangbuathong (west BKK) to help them find someone who wanted to be baptized.  I went with E. Pyne to declare repentance by a market.  We were there for a couple hours.  They were a rough couple hours.  We got rejected the entire time.  Either they didn't want to be cleansed from sin, didn't have sin, or thought they were cleansing sin by praying to their statues.  Feeling a little disappointed we boarded a bus to head back to the church to meet the others.  On the bus I sat there praying, asking for help, asking for miracles, when opened my eyes and looked up.  The first thing I saw was a man sitting in the front of the bus with space next to him.  I got up and moved to talk to him.  I pulled out a baptism picture as I went.  Amazingly the girl sitting next to him whispered, "baptism by water."  I was stunned.  99% of Thai people think the guy with his arm raised is going to whack the other one, or he is checking his pulse.  They never know what it is.  So after I talked with the man I originally saw, I turned and chatted with the girl.  They were both willing to meet again and talk about baptism.  The Lord answers prayers.  Pray without ceasing and you will see miracles without ceasing.  Holler.

Don't forget.  The Book of Mormon is the word of God.  It testifies of Christ.  So do I.  He lives.

Lotsa Love

Elder M. Riley Creer

the only

Pictures 11.9.13

We went to lunch last P-day with the whole crew.  The thai man in the grey shirt is Ronnie, he works for the translation department and is our ward mission letter.  He is hilarious.  Anyway, when the waitress split our receipts she wrote on the top in thai so she would know who to give it to (for ex: tall guy, wearing glasses, fat guy, mine was "white fat."  I guess she thought I was the fattest chap in a white shirt.  Awesome).  She was super embarrassed when she realized we could read thai.  So we made her take a photo with us holding up our receipts.  

"If this happened in America...I would sue her!"  --Brother Ronnie.

 MLC preparation McDonald's party!  E. Bartling and Fronberg are the media elders, they helped make the videos.  Champs.  We ordered double big macs.  I regretted it.

Cramming in a Tuktuk to go fabric shopping at Chinatown.  #ILoveThailand

Asoke 11.9,13

Hey Family.

This week rocked my world!  It started with a stress attack.  Wednesday morning we had MLC (missionary leadership council).  It is the monthly meeting with President Senior, Sister Senior, the assistants, the zone leaders, and the sister training leaders.  The last month's goals are reported and then President and the assistants give training.  Well the days leading up to MLC were busy business.  We had loads to do!  We had the Social Media elders make an inspirational video (it's hecka dayz inspirational (aka I'll be inspired for hecka dayz)) and a training video where we dissected this new finding approach.  Then we had to burn the videos onto 30 DVDs for all the district leaders.  Nutshell: Monday and Tuesday were long days in the office.

The Meeting:  I now know that I am Michael Emory Creer's true son and that I wasn't adopted.  Why?  Because I started getting emotional!  I don't know if anyone noticed really, but I was pretty amazed at how easily my rock-like stoicism was crumbling.  The topic of the day:  Baptism.  Repentance and baptism.  We talked about the importance of baptism.  Throughout the meeting there were moments where I felt illuminated by the Spirit.  I felt wonderful.  I knew that the direction we were about to go was the direction God wanted.  And it made me get all choked up!  Turns out I do have feelings...weird.  We split into groups and gave each group a question that they were to answer with a verse of scripture.  The questions: 1 What was the first thing Christ taught when He appeared to the Nephites?  2 What was the first thing Christ taught after being baptized?  3 What was Christ's last instruction to His Apostles before ascending to Heaven?  4 What did Christ tell Saul to do when he appeared to him on the road to Damascus?  What did Saul do when he got there and was healed by Ananias?  5 When does the Father speak to us? What are the circumstances and what does it teach us about what the Father thinks is important?  6 What question lead to the restoration of the priesthood?  7 What are the first fruits of repentance?  All these scriptures helped me see that baptism is crucial.  It is beautiful.  And God thinks it is incredibly important.  So why don't we?  The new plan:  Invite everyone to be baptized.  We watched a video of E. Campbell and E. Engle (same group as me) inviting everyone they meet to be baptized.  Within 20 seconds of conversation they invite them to be baptized on a specific date.  And it works.  Most people say no.  So when they do, they move on.  But by asking everyone to be baptized they know who is ready and willing (aka elect) and who is not.  It is a new way to sift through the masses of people to the truly prepared of God.  It is super effective.  Then President Senior introduced the inspirational video.  We watched it.  Everyone was speechless.  The Spirit was so warm I felt like He was setting up camp in the middle of the room roasting mallows over the fire.  It was brilliant.

The training in action:  To help every companionship see a baptism this month we sent a battalion into one district to help them find solid investigators.  There were about 20 missionaries in this one area of Bangkok.  We rampaged.  By the end of the day 34 people had agreed to be baptized on the 30th of this month.  34.  One day, 34 people.  Oh baby.  I met this cat that was money.  As soon as he said yes he wanted to be baptized I asked him if he worked on Sunday.  Nope.  Do you smoke? no.  Do you drink?  no.  How 'bout coffee?  yes.  Alright well here is a pamphlet that will help you quit and we'll meet you tomorrow to explain more.  He said he'd meet again.  This new technique of finding is genius.  It is all about inviting them to repent immediately.  Find where they can repent and then invite them to do it.  This morning while studying with E. Davies we compared it to a seed.  When we share the gospel we are planting a seed in someone's heart.  Each heart will have weeds that grow up trying to choke the seed we plant.  When you see the weeds do you wait a week before you pull them out?  No.  That's dumb.  You pull them out immediately so the seed can be nourished and grow better, faster, stronger (sly allusion to Daft Punk).  I wish I was working like this my entire mission.  Oh how effective I could have been.

Well, turns out I get really passionate about repentance and baptism.  Who knew?

Other news:  I bought a new suit today.  I searched everywhere for some zebra fabric that would work for the lining.  Couldn't find it.  Bummed out of my mind!  Maybe next time I go suit shopping I'll have more luck.  Did I get shorts cut too?  Well, I'll just leave you in suspense.  And yes Mom, I forgot my password for BYU.  Yikes.

Much Love

Elder M. Riley Creer

The Only assistant that has a cackle laugh

Pictures 11.2.13

The Flex of Gold: How's this for a Christmas card pic?  We saw this little beauty out front of a wedding photography place.  

I'm still trying to figure out how it is related to weddings... 

The suit pursuit: where can I get the best suit?  

The real question: which place has zebra fabric?  

This cat has been making suits for elders for so long he named his shop after us.

Asoke 11.2.13

Hey Family!

Mom...I got some news that you just aren't going to like.  Because our mission switched to 9 week transfers all of our missions were either shortened...or extended.  Well my mission has been extended a few weeks.  My last day is now February 21, 2014.  Yep.

This week I have felt a little like I'm on tour.  We went to Khonkaen for some exchanges (that's my first area in case you have forgotten) and then right after that we went to Korat for another exchange.  It was all sweet business except for the sleeping arrangements (I slept on 2 chair cushions and used my backpack as a pillow).

The first day of exchanges I was with E. Pearson.  He is a very funny elder.  We had a great time.  Miracle of the Day: We went to a park to invite people to be baptized.  We started with a prayer asking God to guide us to a family that was prepared to be baptized.  Well as soon as we said "Amen." we saw a family sitting nearby.  We talked to them and showed them a baptism card.  The mom says, "You are missionaries?  I want to change religions!"  So we gave her and her family a baptismal date for the 24th of November.  It was the first person we talked to!  And basically the first thing she said was that she wanted to change religions.  Oh Baby.

The next day I was with E. Weaver in Korat.   He is a champ.  He is just finishing up the 12 week training program (aka he is a greenie).  We had a ton of fun and spent most of the day walking the streets and cruising this exercise park inviting people to be baptized.  We found loads of people who were interested.  Small world part: He is from Salt Lake (Sugar House area) and went to Tufts University before the mission.  Bizarre business.

Thinking back on the week, all I can remember is the exchanges...well I guess that's all folks.

The other day I restarted the Book of Mormon.  I read the first few chapters looking for humility in the life of Nephi.  It was some really interesting stuff, I believe Nephi was incredibly humble.  He possessed humble faith that helped him overcome his challenges with his brothers and retrieving the plates.  I think Laman and Lemuel were prideful and that's why they didn't spiritually progress like Nephi did.  What did I learn?  Pride is some bad news bears stuff.  When we have pride we are in danger.  Aka resist pride.

Yes, I'll be getting some more suits here in a bit.  Zebra stripes?  In the words of Gus,"You know that's right!"  Hopefully I can find some good threads at china town.  Pray for me...my future swag depends on it.  I'll keep you updated on how much I need.  I think I've got some cash hidden in some books at home so I'll check that mess first.

We live with the office elders and the social media elders on the 4th floor of an apartment building that is right next to the church and a 5 minute walk to the office.  President lives in a different apartment building a 5 minute walk in the other direction.  Our house is pretty swanky.  I love it.

Well I love you all lots.

elder m. riley creer

the only

Pictures 10.26.13

 We sang all the hymns at the funeral.  B. Direk is on the left in front of the curtain.  

He lived in America for decades and is awesome.

 Leaving my mark on Thailand.

Check that mess out!

Supreme Shot.  Elephants...check. Old stuff...check.  Two handsome white kids...check.  Crooked tie...check.  Just send this one off to National Geographic with a note that says, 

"There's more where that came from."

Before my mission many people told me I'd find myself while serving the Lord.  Well I did.  I may or may not be the name of a Billiards club in Thailand

The view from my window.

I feel like I'm in Gotham City.  This is the university campus that is right next to our church which is right next to our house.  

AKA this area rocks.  

Priceless faces.  E. Davies and E. Fronberg.  Trying to fight their way through the onslaught of words.  

I was able to sneak away and snap this baby.

The Snoozers!