Creepiest welcome to McDonald's I've ever received. Probably the only welcome to McDonald's I've ever received too.

 Tallest building in Bangkok

The klong...nasty business.

 Sketched out in some dark alley...yeah buddy.

 The tailor. He looks like Harry Potter getting fitted for his robes.

  Oh no...

That is not the American Standard that I know.

Bangna 3.25.13

Hey family!

Here in the Bangna(sty) it is pretty nuts. So many people. We don't use our bikes...at all. It has stayed locked up at our apartment building. We probably could use our bikes here, the traffic isn't that bad, but E. Terry is banned from his bike (Doc's orders). So we walk everywhere, use buses, the skytrain, taxis and tuktuks. It is pretty exhausting. My little legs get real tired.

Sam, your week sounds way fun. Ridiculous. Which resorts did you hit up? Are you really doing a study abroad in Paris? As for suits, I haven't bought one yet. But my companion did. See the pics.

Mom, Happy Birthday! Did you buy a house? Where is it? Does it have a secret cavern where I can stash my batman memorabilia?

Dad, you are a great example. True story.

Katie, did you get your fellowship? How is the Spanish branch?

Jeremy, you are so rad, especially in your white coat. Did you flex on the audience after they put it on you?

Gma Creer, I have always thought dish washers had a very relaxing, easing hum to them.

I had my first district meeting this week. It went well. The zone leaders were there too...pressure! We talked about teaching simply. It is our responsibility to teach these people simply enough that they can use their agency to make a correct choice. We are to prepare them to use their agency wisely, help them see the consequences. So to practice this, we did a role play where we pretended to teach a 10 year old the message of the Restoration. It was pretty challenging. After district meeting, I exchanged with one of the zone leaders (E. Raven) and went to Asoke. Asoke is the beast. Imagine the dog from The Sandlot...then imagine him in city form. Just kidding, that doesn't make any sense at all. Anyway, it is the busiest part of Bangkok. There are tons of people and the traffic is nuts. The buildings are huge. It is chaos.

My favorite scripture of the week is D&C 97:8. It tells us what Christ expects of us. He expects us to sacrifice...in all things that he commands. That is quite a sacrifice, but when we think of the blessings that are waiting for us, it is completely worth it.

2nd favorite scripture is D&C 64:34. Christ doesn't want our obedience. Or our actions. He wants us. He wants our hearts. And our minds. In fact, he requires it. It is up to us to give it to Him.

Everything is great. I love you all.

Much Love,

Elder M. Riley Creer

The Only

Riley Pictures 3.18.13

 Dear Nongkhai Football Team

Yes I'd be thrilled to play for a team with such a longstanding tradition of winning like NFT. However, for the next year I will be focusing on serving the Lord. Thank you for understanding.

Sincerely,

Elder M. Riley Creer

The Only

 

 Magnum.

 Goodbye Nongkynonks

Hello Bangna

 Artsy pic of the week: A rainy day in Bangkok and a sad sombrero.

 Couches on the side of the road...I felt tempted to throw it in a taxi and drop it off in the Bishop's lawn.

Bangna. That's the church down there with the brown waterfall design.

We discovered a sweet spot on the roof of our apartment building. Score.

 That dark shape was a Giant elephant that escaped from the zoo and rampaged through the city. Realtalk: it's a giant 3 headed elephant statue. It's real big.

Me and my new comp. E. Terry...the Legend.

Random Thai men that wanted to take pictures with us. They probably thought we were celebrities or something.

 "Yeah my name is George Clooney."

 Oh no...That hurts the team. 

 That is definitely not how you spell Daily.

 Even the dogs ride scooters in Thailand.

Into the BKK 3.18.13

Hello family.

Big news. I moved. I moved to Bangkok. I'm in a place called Bangna. It is actually a ward! And now I'm district leader. Oh boy. And next transfer I'll be training a new missionary. Next transfer 35 new missionaries are coming. CRAZY. So they told all the people who will be training next transfer so they can prepare. Yeah I'm lowkey freaking out. The combination of all three of these things (1. moving to a gigantor city, 2. becoming district leader, 3. knowing I'll be training a new missionary next transfer) is pretty overwhelming. Feeling inadequate doesn't begin to describe how I feel. But don't worry, like President Monson says, the Lord shapes the back to bear the burden. So everything will be great!

Leaving Nongkynonks was a bummer. I really loved that place. The members were so great. I think the branch was just starting to really understand how a branch needs to work too. But Bangna is pretty sweet so far. First of all, the ward is one of the oldest in Thailand apparently. The thing I really love though is the bathroom! In Nongkhai we didn't have flushing toilets and the water pressure was pretty awful. I walked into the bathroom in our apartment and almost shed tears of joy. The toilet flushes. HOLLER! The shower is magical. It is one of those shower heads that is directly over your head. Basically it is like being caught in a torrential down pour of rain, except you can control the temperature and make it stop whenever you want. Heaven.

My new companion is E. Terry. He is hilarious. For some reason all my companions are stinkin hilarious. Or I am just really good at laughing. But we have had a pretty good time so far. E. Terry quote of the week: "Do you think anyone has ever been killed by a Book of Mormon?" Classic.

Lately in my studies I have been dissecting my patriarchal blessing. So I have been cutting the individual lines out with scissors and pasting them onto colored paper depending on the relationship between word count and number of punctuation symbols. It has been a really spiritual experience. PSYCH. But I started making a cause and effect chart for my blessing. I wrote down a point of guidance or instruction and then the promised blessing from following that point. It is really neat. It really helped me understand what the Lord wants me to do in this life. It also helped me see very clearly how the Lord promises us blessings when we obey. There were a couple parts of my blessing where it gave just instruction without linking an effect. I'm excited to see what blessings I receive from following that instruction. I just hope I record it!

I know Christ is our Savior. He suffered for our sins. He suffered because He loves us. If we want to show our love for Him, we need to obey. Obedience is the first law of heaven. If we are truly thankful for Christ's sacrifice and atonement, we will gladly obey Him.

Life is going good. Bangkok is real big. The Book of Mormon is true.

Much Love

Elder M. Riley Creer

The only (district leader with a size 7.5 shoe)

Riley Pictures 3.11.13

 Friendship bridge! woohoo.

They helped us hang it! What classy guys.

Nongkhai 3.11.13

Hello Family.

This week was pretty interesting. It was great. So fun. I feel like E. Jex and I laughed through the whole week. He is really funny. Katie, your first date story was not near as scandalous as mom and dad's. But I guess curly fries are pretty romantic too...more so than normal fries anyway. Dad, what is a mote? Mom, don't worry, I was joking about extending. Sam, how's the snow? Jeremy, Your a champ. True story.

Kitten Killer: Saturday we went to visit a less active sister that lives in the boondocks. Her granddaughter was there, she is about 3 or 4. She had a baby kitten. It was probably a week old. She was playing with it like it was an action figure. She would grab the poor things legs and jerk them around like it was fighting off bad guys. It was hilarious. There was one moment where she had both cat's front paws in her hands and was holding it hanging behind her head. Then she whips it forward over her head. It was vicious. The little guy is not going to survive the week.

Warning: The following story is not for the faint of heart.

Circumcise Surprise: Sunday. Church just finished. We are mingling, about to teach some investigators before the branch council meeting. S. Nom rushes out and grabs B. Boonhom, spits out some Thai that I don't understand. B. Boonhom rushes into the kitchen where we can hear a little boy screaming. We ask what happened. S. Nom explains. The boy was zipping up his pants and got his wee wee caught in the zipper. Oh no. A few minutes later we see them carry the little boy to a car and rush him to the hospital. They couldn't get the zipper unstuck. Yikes. The hospital took care of it. The little guy is ok now. Probably the most hilarious, awful, wince-inducing story ever.

This week in Nongkhai there is a fat, huge, crazy carnival. It is massive. We went there a couple nights this week to pass out English Class cards. We found this stall that was selling knock-off jersey's. Perfect. Just my style. Immediately I saw a bright yellow Thai national jersey. I liked it...a ton. So I bought it. That night, I went to try it on. Too small. It was a large. Apparently my pectorals and shoulders are extra large. ARG! Curse my massive muscles. So I gave it to E. Jex. The next time we were there, I saw the same stall. Again I saw a bright yellow Thai jersey. I liked it...a lot. So I bought it. The guy gave me 10฿ off too. Yes, that's like 30 cents! Nutshell: now E. Jex and I have matching jerseys. So cute!

Analogy: We are gods in training. Our Dad has a really cool job, in fact the coolest job ever. It makes Him incredibly happy. We went to be like our Dad. So our Dad sent us to a boarding school, called Earth. If we study hard and follow the rules we can become like our Dad and have that wicked sweet job. In the school we have teachers, they are called prophets. They help us learn what we need to learn and understand the rules. Sometimes the teacher retires, when that happens the students are lost, confused. Because our Dad loves us he makes sure that a new teacher comes and teaches. The teachers give us textbooks to help us learn. If we read the textbook we find the answers to our questions and know what we need to do. In reality, the teachers get the textbooks from our Dad, He wrote the textbook on how we can become like Him. If we study hard and learn everyday, when we leave the boarding school we become like Dad. We become happy, forever. If we don't study and learn, when we leave the school we don't become like Dad. It's that simple.

Life is good. I love you all.

Elder M. Riley Creer

the only

Riley Pictures 3.4.13

 Oh baby.

 More Mexican than ever before...or is that just the lighting?

 The We-Teach-For-Free-Thumbs-Up-Bug-Slap Combo.

"My name is Dave and I like to party." #namethatmovie

Killer Smores, Free Masons, and Green Lasers

Hello Family.

Thanks for your sweet letters. Congrats Jeremy on getting a white coat...with your name on it! #sponsored. I bought a Thai soccer jersey and put ThugFreeWilly on the back...yeah I'll be stylin' for hecka dayz to come. K&J, I'm still waiting on your first date story. Dad: I liked your email. Thanks for the lyrics. As for Buddhist people, a lot of them get excited about Eternal Families. One investigator who has come to church a ton loves that fact that when she prays she can pray for whatever she wants instead of reading out of a Buddhist prayer book. But also, in Buddhism there is no way to be forgiven from sin. So the Atonement and forgiveness definitely float their boats. Sam...you are a chump. How many pairs of skis have you bought this season?? Jj's? Wow. You are so hi-so. Since when are you going on a study abroad to Paris?? What type of study abroad is it? Mom, good luck finding a house. Make sure it has a bell tower for when Quasi comes to stay.

Last Monday, E. Jex and I went to visit a family in the branch and have FHE with them. We took Smores stuff for the treat. They loved them...almost. The dad made one and started to take his first bite. He inhaled some cracker dust as he bit down...he started choking/coughing. Then the mom took a bite right after. She started coughing too! The dad coughed for about 5 minutes, drank some water and then coughed for another 2. Then he said they should change the name to ÊÓÅÑ¡ (which means to choke). It was hilarious. The 2 daughters really liked them though. Thai people think smores are fantastic...except when they almost choke and die.

Free Masons: E. Wilamas and I were on switch offs. We had an appointment with Richard (name has still been changed), the farang from Virginia. E. Wilamas doesn't speak English...aka I had to do all the teaching. We read an article in a recent Liahona about how we need the Church of Christ, how it is necessary. We had an interesting discussion. Then he flips to the table of contents and asks if Joseph Smith was a free mason (free masons came up I think the first time we met him and I said "my mom told me once Joseph Smith was a free mason"). I told him that my mom told me once that he was. Game Over. He goes on this 7 minute rant about how he hates Free Masons and how they are the most evil organization in the world. Way confused, I ask him if he wants to know the Book of Mormon is true. He says, "I already received my answer," as he holds out the Liahona to me. It was opened to the Table of Contents. I don't get it. So I ask for clarification. He points to a picture of a man building a cinderblock wall. Then we open to the article, it's by Tad R. Callister and about Integrity and Christlike Attributes. Apparently Richard saw the picture as a sign that the Free Masons have infiltrated the only true Church of Christ. Yikes. I don't even know who the Free Masons are?! I tried to tell him my knowledge of the Free Masons was limited to the movie National Treasure, but that got him started on a rant about how they have infiltrated Hollywood too. I testified of the Book of Mormon. He didn't listen. He was stuck on Free Masons. He is letting his hate of some random organization keep him out of the best organization in the world. So sad.

Animal encounters. E. Jex had the brilliant idea to buy laser pointers to blind the dogs that chase us on our bikes. We bought some high powered green babies from the market that may or may not be a little on the black side. They are SWEET. You can see the beam go for miles. I felt like a jedi the first time I tried it out. The best part: dogs hate it. They run like crazy when we zap em in the face. Nutshell: Our nightly bike rides just got way more fun!

Life is good.

Much Love

Elder M. Riley Creer
the only

Riley Pictures 2.25.13

Yeah! We love concrete!

 "And breathe. Now slowly swan dive down and jump back to runner's pose." -P90X yoga (it left a serious imprint on my life)

  I love Thai construction.

 On the edge of the world...well at least the edge of Thailand.

  I'll give it until rainy season then it is done for.

 Not quite Hershey's and Honeymaid Grahams...but it'll do.

 Roast that bad boy! Roast it!

 The finished product. Oh Baby.

 

"Eat that [smore]. Shove it in your mouth." -Katie Clover (random quote from my childhood that still makes me laugh. backstory: we were driving somewhere, Katie and I were in the back of the van. We stopped at a stoplight. Katie and I look over and see this lady eating a burger in her car. She was going to town on that thing. Then Katie said that. We laughed...a lot.)

Nongkhai 2.25.13

Dear Family,

First off, sorry I missed your birthday pops. I'm an awful son. I'll repent though. So Happy Birthday! This week was pretty sweet. Elder Jex and I have a ton of fun everyday. He is a funny kid...I mean elder.

This week S. Muay wanted to build a stand by her house so she could sell snacks and food in the mornings. So she asked the priesthood quorum to build it. So the quorum asked us to help. In less than 12 hours they constructed a shelter pavilion thing in front of her house. It was pretty cool to see and help out a little bit. When we showed up they were digging the holes for the 4 corner pillars. In between the digging I took a look at the pillars. They were concrete, color me impressed. Then I took a closer look and realized they were falling apart! Pieces were crumbling off one of them. Big pieces. We expressed our concern but nobody else seemed that worried about it. They said they would fix it later. To further my uncertainty, they only had 3 concrete pillars. What were we going to use for a 4th? Well luckily they found a decaying log that was tall enough to be the 4th corner. No worries, don't fret, we found a sweet log. Oh boy. In the future if her little canopy collapses it will make a great metaphor for gospel teaching (fractured pillars can't support a roof, neither can a fractured marriage; Need to stand firm in the faith or else collapse). Enjoy the pics.

Elder Jex and I stumbled upon a beach. Yes a beach. It's under a bridge. The Thai-Lao friendship bridge. It is way sweet. Back up a couple hours: Elder Jex wanted to check out the friendship bridge. It is on the other side of the city from our house. I didn't want to go. Rumor was we couldn't even walk to the middle anymore. Sounds boring. But I endeared him and we went (is that how you use the word endear? The only time I've ever heard it is when mom calls me George, I protest and then she tells me it is "endearing"). We rode to the base of the bridge and then saw a gate directly under the bridge with some guards out front. We decided to check it out. The guards let us in (they were more interested in their soccer magazine) and we rode to a spot to park our bikes. Then we realized what we had discovered. A beach. YES. We walked down to the waters edge and started snapping pictures. Nearby were some nearly-drunk Thai people. We asked if one of them could snap our picture for us. He did. Then his drunk friend decided we needed a picture with him as well. So he came and stood in between us and his buddy took another picture for us. Super random. Unfortunately the picture taker was too tipsy to actually take the photo (I think he just focused the camera bud didn't actually take the photo) so we don't have the photo to go with the story. Bummer. I was really stoked to have a picture with a random drunk Thai guy on a beach under a bridge in Thailand with Laos in the background. So epic.

The sweet moments: For the past while I have been craving smores. Perhaps it is because in the isaan they cook food over charcoals all the time so I just have that campfire smell tempting me µÅÍ´. So last pday I bought some marshmallows and chocolate at Tesco. They didn't have graham crackers. So we called the district president in Udorn. He comes up to Nongkynonks every week to teach institute class. We figured Udorn had to have graham crackers and he could bring some to us. Well calling a Thai man to buy us an american classic was a bad idea. He didn't know what they were. Even after describing them to him he couldn't find them. Failure. Determined to eat some sort of smore, we went to Tesco and bought the closest thing we could find. Then we waited for Sunday. That was the hardest part. Waiting. Waiting for that marshmallowy goodness. Sunday finally came and we devoured them. They were surprisingly good, even with 2nd rate chocolate and weird crackers. E. Wilamas was amazed. He'd never eaten a smore before (he's Thai). He was asking us where we learned to make them, who taught us, who started making smores and all these questions. Super funny. Probably just changed his life forever.

Well life is great. I love you all! Oh and pops, your first date with mom story was classic. I busted up laughing. I never knew my dad was such a sneaky mom. Katie and Jeremy, your turn! What happened on your first date? Jeremy did your kiss her right off the bat? Or wait for the right pitch? Sam, get married so I can ask you this question too.

Much Love

Elder M. Riley Creer

the only