Reed's Mission - Khon Kaen

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=110 BGCOLOR="#336666" TEXT="#080000"> <div> Mission Experiences of Reed B. Haslam - Thailand Bangkok Mission          </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >  </FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>  </B></FONT><B> </B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >   </FONT><IMG SRC="04d44320.gif" border=0 width="68" height="50" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=190 BGCOLOR="#336666" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Reeds Mission Front Page"><U><B>Front Page</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="photo_album.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Reeds Mission Photo Album"><U><B>Photo Album</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="mission_companions.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Reeds Mission Companions"><U><B>Companions</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="mission_reunions.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Old Heads Mission Reunions"><U><B>Mission Reunions</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <B>===============</B></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.LDS-Thailand.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.LDS-Thailand.org"><U><B>LDS Church</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.LDS-Thailand.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.LDS-Thailand.org"><U><B> History in Thailand</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.translatingscripture.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.translatingscripture.com"><U><B>Reed's Book</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.theHaslams.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.theHaslams.com"><U><B>theHaslams.com</B></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=370 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Khon Kaen, Thailand</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Week # 10 August 12-18, 1973 - Bangkok and Khon Kaen, Thailand</B></div> <div>  </div> <div> The next day was Sunday and we all attended the Thai branch at the only church meetinghouse in Thailand. There were 3 Thais for Priesthood meeting and 30 total for sacrament meeting (mostly single adult sisters).  The other Elders in my group could tell there was something wrong with me (Culture Shock), they were in shock as well, but did not show it like I did. In the afternoon I had my initial interview with President Morris. This was the "get to know you interview" so he could make a decision about assignment to our first companion. We also attended the meeting of the English-speaking branch at Asoke, where the attendance was better - about 80 people.</div> <bR> <div> Sunday evening we gathered at the mission home to say goodbye to the 11 departing elders. The place was very nice and the food was great. </div> <bR> <div> Monday was a national holiday in Thailand to celebrate the Queen's birthday (August 12).  Many places were decorated with lights just like Christmas back home.</div> <bR> <div> On Monday (my first P-day) we were informed of our first assignment. Elder Martell from my group and I were assigned to Khon Kaen in the northeast.  Our companions were traveling the country doing a musical show so we would not meet up with them for a week. We met our senior companions at Asoke as they </div> <div> were headed to the northern part of the county.  Elder Brewer and his new companion from our group Elder Montogmery would take us to Khon Kaen and we'd do our best for a week. When our companions returned Elders Brewer and Montgomery were off to open a new city on the gulf of Thailand called Chonburi. Before we left Elder Martell and I got to give the second discussion (the new discussions) to an investigator.</div> <bR> <div> On Tuesday the 14th we packed and prepared to leave. One of the assistants Elder Israelsen picked us up and took us to get our railroad discount cards (religious minister) and purchase tickets for tonight's ride to Khon Kaen. Before we left I had time to go to the military Base Exchange and purchase a radio/tape player combination and a new watch (my fancy Pulsar had run out of battery).</div> <bR> <div> I remember on the train trip up to Khon Kaen I wondered if there would be any electricity in Khon Kaen.  At 3am the next morning as we awoke to depart the train I was happy to see there were electric lights in KhonKaen.</div> <bR> <div> On Wednesday evening we taught English class using the chapel and classrooms next door. The Landlord built a chapel and rents it to the church as well as the home we live in. The small adjoining home had been converted into a few classrooms. I was really impressed with the facilities. After English was M.I.A. which I conducted (just announced the song and the prayer). There were 25 teenagers in attendance. Elder Brewer conducted the activity.</div> <div> On Thursday Elder Martell and I went business tracting. How brave we were going out to speak Thai when we were so green. Here you go down the street from business to business and introduce yourself to the owner who generally lives above his store. The whole week was difficult without senior companions and with Elder Brewer not doing much as he was just our baby-sitter so to  speak.</div> <bR> <div> On Saturday Elders Brewer and Montgomery left at 2:00 AM and our senior companions Elders Rock and Graves arrived at 4:00 AM. The next day we went out for 3 hours mostly to meet members and arrange for Sunday meetings.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="3" CELLSPACING="3" WIDTH="312" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 195 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="0662ebd0.jpg" border=0 width="302" height="189" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 38 WIDTH="294"><div> Some Water Buffalo play outside the gate to our home in Khoin Kaen</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <B>Week # 11 August 19-25, 1973 - Khon Kaen, Thailand</B></div> <bR> <div> On Sunday Elders Rock and Martell went to Udorn to be introduced to the members up there. Elder Graves and I held meetings with the members.  Six at priesthood including ourselves. I attempted to give the priesthood lesson. The topic "13th article of faith - and seeking the best gifts" Elder Graves helped me out of holies in the lesson when my language led me into them. After the Thai sacrament meeting we went outside town to a Marine base at Numphong to hold meetings with the servicemen there.  I was the speaker! It was really impromptu.</div> <bR> <div> On Monday I opened an account at a local bank for check writing. The bank was a real nice place - but what bank isn't? In the evening we visited the English teachers at the Thai German technical institute, where Elder Graves got some help with words for a lesson this week on chastity and modesty. After that we spent 3 hours with a German family where Elder Graves enjoyed speaking German. I wrote "a pleasant evening, perhaps sowing some seeds".</div> <bR> <div> On Tuesday we went to the Army communications station for 20 gallons of free water (it seems that should have been a P-day activity). In the afternoon we teach our class at the Thai-German Technical School to a group of electronics students. All students in Thailand wear school uniforms.</div> <bR> <div> One day we really went out in the jungle to visit an investigator. Where we went the Palm trees and vegetation were very think, much like I expected the jungle to be.  So few foreigners get out in that area that the people just stopped and stared wherever we went. The investigator had a wood shack on stilts. At the end of the discussion we had a prayer. I thought how unique that was out in the jungle.</div> <bR> <div> We taught sister Phatthaa the 6th of the old discussions (on keeping the commandments). It all went well and we did a full discussion in one sitting (which is unusual in Thailand). Elder Graves thinks she could be baptized by the end of September.</div> <bR> <div> On Friday I saw a doctor for a sore throat.  Nice office, he seemed to know his stuff. His conclusion, "a cold with no complications". The charge was $1.25 including the medicine! I got worse before I got better and felt lonely since I cannot understand the people and some of them don't understand me.  I told Elder Graves how I felt and his reply was "that's understandable". After a long night's sleep I felt better the next day.</div> <bR> <div> On Saturday we went several miles outside town to visit a member. When the busses stop they don't stop for long. It started moving just as I was getting out the door causing me to roll on my back (I was not hurt), just a graceful roll in the dust. Of course everyone nearby was laughing at the foreigner. </div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Week # 12 August 26 - September 1, 1973 - Khon Kaen Thailand</B></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="308" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 233 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="07228e30.jpg" border=0 width="296" height="227" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 76 WIDTH="296"><div> Elder Graves (left) and Elder Haslam (right) outside the gate to the chapel in Khon Kaen, Thailand. The land lord for our home built a chapel next door just for us.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> I gave a talk in sacrament meeting and wrote "I could tell they did not understand me well". On our P-day we spent most of the time doing regular missionary work - I wrote "people wanted to see us today so we made time for them".   One new investigator went so far as to pray at the end of the discussion; this was remarkable since prayer is so foreign to them.  I wrote that being a good Thai required one to be a good Buddhist (that's how many people thought any way).  I also wrote that many Thai's have strong superstitions; those who are more educated have less of these hang-ups and are easier to teach.  Finally and I had forgotten this; President Morris visited with the APs and actually went with my companion and I to visit the teachers at the Thai-German technical school where we assisted in teaching English. He then interviewed all of us. Not clear if they drove 200 miles back to Bangkok after that or stayed in a hotel somewhere! And oh yea, everywhere we went the kids would call out farung! farung! which means foreigner. Some times they would say farung keenok (foreign bird dropping) that is the term the use to deride foreigners. Many people were understandably suspicious of us because we clearly were foreigners!</div> <bR> <bR> <div> As I read my journal about my first full week in KhonKaen Thailand  (after our real companions returned) a few things stood out.</div> <bR> <div> (1)     My memory of my companion Elder Graves (age 26) was that we got along quite well and I was happy to have a more mature senior companion; however, my journal reminds me that at times I felt like he was not helping me enough with the language; with which I was still struggling.  In looking back on this I understand that it is difficult for my companion to converse with the people we meet and simultaneously pay any attention to me or help me with the language.  I continued to study the language each day; but some days I'd feel like I understood some things and other days I'd feel like I could not understand anything.</div> <div> (2)     Elder Rock was branch president of the KhonKaen branch with a local professor Dr. Bunthom (a protestant convert) at the University of KhonKaen as 1st counselor.  In retrospect I do not think that we developed local leaders fast enough. We had to proselyte as well as prepare for and conduct most meetings, as well as do most of the home teaching to local members!</div> <div> (3)     The first Sunday I tried to give a Sunday school lesson on the 13th article of faith. It was tough and when my language would fail me Elder Graves jump in and help me out.</div> <div> (4)     We had a chapel 30x50' (next door) that our landlord built and rented to the Church; there was also a small detached building with a few classrooms.  Most places church would be held in the living room of the house that we lived in.</div> <div> (5)     On Sunday afternoon we went about 30 miles to a US marine airbase and meet with LDS servicemen.  I think we did this more to have steak dinner than to help them.</div> <div> (6)     We went everywhere by bus and we had contacts and members (we did most of the home teaching!) scattered all around the area. I noted that one day as I got off the bus it started too leave just as I got out and it spun me around and I rolled on the ground. People laughed and I did too because I was not hurt by the incident.</div> <div> (7)     I had a sore throat that got pretty bad during the week. Elder Graves took me to a local doctor where for $1.25 I was examined and got medicine.  I had one bad day but then got better and we kept up our schedule though I went to bed early.</div> <div> (8)     We would have breakfast at about 8am and dinner at 3pm both prepared by our maid.  At the conclusion of the day we would often stop at a local restaurant to get some fried rice or noodles.</div> <bR> <div> My mission diary review reminded me how the language would be good one day and bad the next.  For 4-6 months there are good days and bad ones as far as the language goes.  I gave a talk in sacrament meeting and wrote "I could tell they did not understand me very well". On our P-day we spent most of the time doing regular missionary work - I wrote "people wanted to see us today so we made time for them".   One new investigator went so far as to pray at the end of the discussion; this was remarkable since prayer is so foreign to them.  I wrote that being a good Thai required one to be a good Buddhist (that's how many people feel any way). I also wrote that many Thai's have strong superstitions; those who are more educated have less of these hang-ups and are easier to teach.  Finally and I had forgotten this; President Morris visited with the APs and actually went with my companion and I to visit the teachers at the Thai-German technical school where we assisted in teaching English. He then interviewed all of us. Not clear if they drove 200 miles back to Bangkok after that or stayed in a hotel somewhere! And oh yea, everywhere we went the kids would call out farung! farung! which means foreigner. Many people were understandably suspicious of us because we clearly were foreigners!</div> <bR> <div> For meals we lot of rice, but our maid can also make some American style food as well. </div> <bR> <div> We did not have much fish in Thailand; but the part I found hard was when the full fish (head and all was placed on the rice) for breakfast!</div> <bR> <div> The phrase we always heard in Thailand was "All religions teach man to be good".  The earlier King taught the people this when he decided to allow missionaries into Thailand in the 1800s.  If I had 5 Bhat (a quarter) for every time I heard that one!</div> <bR> <div> Notes from my mission experiences in Khon Kaen Thailand……</div> <bR> <div> (1)     got a hair cut in the best place in town (air conditioned even!) Cost $0.35.</div> <div> (2)     visited a school on Saturday to view a dance performance to benefit the Red Cross.  Some of our English students invited us to come.  We also handed out tracts and English class invitations at the event and met the Governor of the "state" of KhonKaen.</div> <div> (3)     frustrated by my inability to converse easily in the language; frustrated by my companion who did not give me more chances to speak.  I did teach Priesthood meeting with the help of Dr. Bunthoom (1st counselor in the branch presidency). The following week I spoke in Sacrament meeting again. </div> <div> (4)     Visited Udorn a town to the north where the US Air Force was still busy. Tried to teach a second discussion under the approach of the fighter jets.  There were a few members in Udorn where missionaries had recently been pulled out; including a sister who the military taught and baptized. She was translating "Book of Mormon stories" for children.  [NOTE: Today there are 2 branches of the church in Udorn Thailand].</div> <div> (5)     We had to learn the 1st and 2nd discussions again since they decided to use the Bangkok translation rather than the ones our teachers had done at the LTM in Hawaii.</div> <div> (6)     In the northeast the people prefer to speak Laotian, but most can speak Thai as well.  When I realized this I figured that perhaps some of my problem in comprehension is that these people often used the Laotian words. Thai and Laotian as quite similar but many words are different.</div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="386" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 478 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="06a6ed80.jpg" border=0 width="366" height="472" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 62 WIDTH="374"><div> The Elders perform at Khon Kaen town square. From left to right, Elder Martell, Elder Haslam, Elder Graves, and Elder Rock.  Our hit song was "The Bus Grabow"</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> (7)     The 4 elders put on a musical program at the town square (goal - get more people to know about us).  It was a song and dance type thing like my companion and Elder Rock were doing traveling around the country when I arrived. The program was live in town and broadcast over the radio. The DJ even interviewed all of us on the radio. He offered us 1000 B ($50) for the performance but we asked it be given to charity instead. We then invited everyone to our upcoming open house.</div> <div> (8)     We went to Bangkok (all 51 missionaries) to hear from Elder Howard W Hunter who visited for one day. With some free time I accompanied the native Thai in my group across the street from the chapel in Bangkok. There is a very modern bowling alley located there. Elder Hunter basically said "you are our pioneers on this edge of the world; between you and 8 Elders in Lebanon we have no missionaries". He said, "Continue to plant seeds. I feel a missionary generation from now (I guess 19 years) others will harvest what you have planted". We left for Bangkok on Sunday night and returned Monday night (Monday was P-day). To my surprise on this trip I now found Bangkok to be a huge "clean", "beautiful" city and not the unbearable slum that I experienced when I arrived.</div> <div> (9)     Many of our appointments were missed and we spent a lot of time going back to find people to see if we could set up a new appointment.</div> <div> (10)     This period was my most homesick as I though of the new quarter starting back at the university.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Week # 13 September 2 -8, 2006 Khon Kaen, Thailand</B></div> <bR> <div> On fast Sunday the 2nd we fasted for a couple of investigators, both of whom attended church.  President Morris and his assistants Elders Israelsen and Brown also attended church with us. Four or five members shared their testimony and then President Morris stood and did the same in the Thai language.  I'm sure he's the first mission president in Thailand who's able to speak the Thai language to the people. Elder Martell my fellow "greenie" and I also shared our testimonies. I wrote, "I'm sure we butchered the language, but we did it anyway." Some how another fellow greenie and his companion returned. I wrote, "Elder Montgomery and I are becoming good friends. He was the first Thailand missionary I met at the Mission Home." When President Richards set me apart he promised that I would make great new friends during my mission.  Elder Montgomery and I even talked about returning home through Africa and Europe. [Kind of early for that kind of talk, but we did in fact return home together, but we visited Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo instead. Also I'd say that he is my closest friend among my group of twelve missionaries today.]</div> <bR> <div> Sunday afternoon we visited the U.S. Marines at the Num Phong air base outside Khon Kaen.  There were dozens of trucks lined up to haul thing away. The base will soon be closed and these Maries will go home (for the most part).  The base itself will be turned over to the Thai military.</div> <bR> <div> On P-day we went shopping (100 or so miles north) in Udorn at the Air Force base there. My dependant's card got me into the commissary the Base Exchange. We purchased things that are hard to get otherwise like toiletries and film.  The city revolves around the base and the military has had a negative impact on the morality of the town.</div> <bR> <div> On Tuesday I bought my mission bicycle $40. They built it while we waited.  There were some problems that I had to take it back and have them fix. I wrote " it should last 2 years if no one steels it".</div> <bR> <div> I noted that since we were not real busy my mind wondered to thinking about school starting back home.</div> <bR> <div> I noted that I started to learn the discussion again, this time using the "official translation". We challenged our investigator Sister Phatthaa to baptism, She has been an investigator for 9 months, however, and she said "no" since she did not feel like she was ready. We don't understand why she is not ready. </div> <bR> <div> I wrote, "Teaching about prayer is something special, these people know nothing like it. When the finally offer a prayer it is a special experience". We held a street meeting where we take a board out with some pictures and gospel topics on it such as "Christ", "Prophets" etc.  People walk up and look at the board, but they don't understand it. Everything on it is so foreign to them.  We then have the change to engage them in conversation and discuss these or other topics with them.  Often even after our discussion they walk away still not understanding our message. On Saturday a full family came to English class. Elder Rock had met the mother at a street meeting. At the end I asked the father "how would you fell if you could be with your family for ever." He stared for a minute, it must have been a weird idea for him, and then he said something like "marvelous".</div> <bR> <div> <B>Week #14 - September 9 - 15, 1973 Khon Kaen Thailand</B></div> <bR> <div> I went with Elder Rock (my district leader) to Udorn on Saturday evening. We spent Sunday in Udorn, the city to the north where a large U.S. Air Force base is still operating.  We met Sister Grace Chaimanee who was baptized by the servicemen.  When we met her she said, "Had you not come today I was going to return to the Catholic Church.'  I think she was kidding, but she did have a cross around her neck. President Morris had pulled the missionaries out of Udorn when my group arrived in Thailand.  The few members in Udorn did not know what they were going to do.  Elder Brewer who had spent some time in Udorn with Elder Montgomery suggested that meeting be held at the home of Sister Grace.</div> <bR> <div> On Sunday morning we attended the Udorn servicemen's branch, where me met with 45 U.S. servicemen in a beautiful chapel inside the Air Force base. The group leader told us that President Morris requested that the local Thai members meet with the servicemen.  The problem with that was no one told the local members. Afterwards we spoke to 3 local Thai members.  They were feeling hurt by the loss of missionaries in their city and uncertain that they could enter the base to hold church meetings.</div> <bR> <div> We left in the afternoon to visit Num Phong the marine base near Khon Kaen. When we arrived there was not much left of the base. We found one LDS serviceman to meet with. For the sacrament we used Kraft Caramels rather than bread, because we could not find any bread!</div> <bR> <div> One mistake I made was taking my new Pulsar watch to Thailand. It was one of the first digital watches ever made. It used Light Emitting Diodes to display the time. It had run out of batteries so on Monday we went to a store to get new ones. I was amazed that we found batteries that worked and the watch shop was able to put them in the watch.  The owner was amazed at the new technology, while everyone in the store looked on. I also bought a necklace for my girlfriend Rachel back home for $9 and sent it to her.</div> <bR> <div> We taught a discussion on Monday night showing the filmstrip "Man's Search for Happiness". On Tuesday September 11, after we'd been out a couple of hours, we found that many door steps had carts of food on them also decorated with lights. One person said it was like Christmas, but only the lights reminded me of Christmas. We later found that this was in celebration of a Chinese holiday.</div> <bR> <div> We started to practice for our musical performance on October 6 at the town hall.</div> <bR> <div> On Thursday it was back to Udorn for more work with the local members and to meet an investigator family. Our efforts were often interrupted with air force planes coming in and out. I received a final letter from an old girl friend Sue Isaacson who was getting married the next day to a police officer.</div> <bR> <div> We'd been teaching Sister Phadthaa, however, after 9 months of effort she said she was not ready for baptism. Her husband brought her to church so we feel he is not against her being a member.</div> <bR> <div> Some of our English students said there was going to be a bizaar at the school. On Friday we left early to go see what was happening. We found 2000+ girls at the girl's school, all in their daily uniforms. There were hundreds of other people there. It was more than a bizaar it was some kind of celebration. There was food and drink for sale everywhere. We got to enter the school early with the dignitaries and met the governor of the province of Khon Kaen. The whole thing seemed something like spring festivals at schools back home. I purchased a necktie for 75 cents. Back outside we saw girls dancing to American songs like jingle bells, and old McDonald's farm. Other girls performed traditional Thai dance.</div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B>Week #15 - September 16- 22, 1973 - Khon Kaen, Thailand</B></div> <div>  </div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="324" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 240 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="06e36ea0.jpg" border=0 width="310" height="234" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> The Marine Base at Num Phong Thailand</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> On Sunday I taught Priesthood meeting, there were the 4 Elders and Two Thai brothers in attendance. I did my best to teach on the Book of Mormon. My language skills are not yet good enough to survive on my own, but Dr. Boontham explained those things I had trouble with.  This was my 3rd lesson and I don't know why Elder Martell who came out with me has not yet been assigned one. In any case it was a good experience. This Sunday I also blessed the sacrament for the 1st time in Thai.  It is a much longer prayer in Thai than in English. Sister  Phatthaa brought a friend with her to Sunday school and Sacrament meetings.</div> <bR> <div> After church we went off to Nam Phong to visit the marines. We found the base was almost deserted. I noted that in two months in Thailand I'd spent $841.83 and needed to tighten up and get down to the $135 a month we are supposed to spend.  We spent our own money as missionaries, cashing checks against our U.S. bank accounts as needed.</div> <bR> <div> On P-day we spent much of it doing missionary work, including a trip to the University to see if we could find one of our investigators.  As we were leaving our bus passed him riding a motorcycle on the way to campus. At bedtime I thanked the Lord for my parents and all they had done for me, seeing that Thai parents don't seem to do that much for their children.</div> <bR> <div> On Tuesday evening we went to the Thai German technical school to share the gospel with two of the English teachers there.  We showed "A Man's Search for Happiness" and I could tell they were overwhelmed by it all." My companion Elder Graves got excited by their interest and dove in even deeper.  When I tried to add something to the conversation he pretty much cut me off. At the end he asked them if they would listen to the discussions. They said "yes". He was quite stoked since he'd been helping them teach English at the institute for several months.</div> <bR> <div> On Wednesday we were formally "booked" to perform at the town square and on the radio a week from Sunday. Yes I said Sunday. We started to practice for that event. Elder Rock and Elder Graves told Elder Martell and myself that the cornier the better in this performance.</div> <bR> <div> On Thursday we went to Udorn (since next Sunday evening we must travel to Bangkok to have a meeting with Elder Hunter).  We taught brother Ken's wife the plan of salvation as fighter jets flew over every few minutes interrupting the discussion.</div> <bR> <div> On Thursday I had a long talk with Elder Graves about how I was feeling about the language and being left our of conversations and how he and Elder Rock always made disparaging comments about this or that in Thailand. After an hour I felt much better and I hope he did also.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Week #16 - September 23-29, 1973 - Khon Kaen, Thailand</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="336" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 279 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="06c3f110.jpg" border=0 width="319" height="273" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 38 WIDTH="324"><div> My study area on the 2nd floor of the home in Khon Kaen, Thailand</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> I wrote on Sunday September 23rd, "This is a day I will have some memories of for a long time." I spent the morning preparing my talk for Sacrament meeting. During priesthood (which came before Sacrament), I arranged to go with Dr. Boonthum to do some home teaching. My talk in Sacrament meeting was OK; I doubted that I was yet speaking very clearly. I did speak longer than expected and longer than 2 Thai brothers who spoke (Brother Ubon and Dechai). The people in this part of the country are more comfortable speaking Laotian, rather than Thai, but they certainly can speak Thai.  Some would prefer if the meetings were in Laotian. </div> <bR> <div> Even though it was Sunday, today was the time for our performance at Khon Kaen town square. The performance was also broadcast over the radio.  When we arrived there were about 1,000 people there. The announcer Whitchay welcomed us at 4:00 PM sharp. When we went on he complimented Elder Rock for how well he spoke Thai. Then he came to me and asked my name. "Elder Haslam" I replied. He then asked, "What state are you from?" "Utah" "How old are you?" "19" "When will you return home? "In two weeks". Then Elder Rock came over and corrected my mistake "2 years he said". We sang "Cotton Fields", then "Country Roads" and I felt good with that one as an international ambassador for West Virginia. Then we had a 10-minute break before our last part. I spent the time talking to a young boy who was fascinated by us. Next we sang the song Elder Graves wrote about the ticket taker on the bus (Bus Grabrow). Elder Rock introduced it as a story from America (so that would not take offense to it). The 3 of use sang it English and then Elder Rock would sing the line in Thai.  THEY LOVED IT! Next was "Rollin on a River" and "How many roads must a man walk down?" I got the boy I'd met to take some pictures of us on stage the last time. He was excited to do so. We sang "Holy Holy" and then Elder Rock did a Thai song while the rest of us faked Thai dancing. Again the audience loved it.  They were laughing their heads off. Then Whitchay thanked us and offered 1000 Baht (about $50) for our performance. We requested that the money be given to a Thai charity. He then announced our open house on October 6 and invited everyone to come. Then Elder Rock explained how we teach English for FREE. Whitchay said, "these guys are just difference and they're great!" To finish the show Elder Martell did a guitar solo, followed by Elder Rock's Indian dance.  I got my camera back fro Sombad. He was so excited it seemed like he wanted to worship us.</div> <bR> <div> After returning home the neighbors came by and said they heard us on the radio. We then played the tape I had made. I wrote, "We sounded awful, you would not even want us at a ward party!" After listening to our tape we had to prepare to go to Bangkok to meet with Elder Howard W. Hunter of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles.  </div> <bR> <div> When we arrived we went to the Elder's home in Samsen to shower and write letters and then off to the church at Asoke. There I met the Thai Elder who came to Thailand with us. He had been assigned to a threesome in Chiang Rai way up north. They said, "things are going great in Chiang Rai - we have nothing to do". This Elder Sunan wanted to go across the street and go bowling. No one would go with him and so I did. The bowling alley was beautiful, just like in America. I asked Sunan to ask "How much per game?" The lady answered in perfect English "10 Baht (50 cents)". After 3 games where our scores got better and better we went next door to a dirty restaurant where Sunan ordered a true Thai lunch for us. After returning to the church President Morris arrived with Elder Hunter and his wife.</div> <bR> <div> At our meeting in the chapel, President Morris explained the status of our mission. He told Elder Hunter, "I'd like to have more missionaries here in Thailand, but slowly." The assistants, Elders Israelsen and Brown explained out visa situation and how translation was progressing. Elder Hunter explained he was returning to Salt Lake after attending two stake conferences in Australia. He told us, "You are pioneers here on this edge of the world. There are no missionaries going to the west until you reach Lebanon. The quorum of the Twelve has wondered how the gospel would be taken to tall the world. We now see it happening in a natural fashion. Some time there will be missionaries between here and Lebanon." He last remark was, "I hope you are happy here and are thankful for this opportunity to be pioneers in this part of the world. You are planting many seeds, few of which you will ever harvest. You may feel you are not a success, but a missionary generation from now they will have success, much of which will be your success. When the general authorities meet on Thursday I will have a good report to make about this mission. There is something about you that I did not feel from the Elders in Australia". At the end of the meeting there was time for handshaking and picture taking before Elder Hinter departed for the airport at the end of a 1-day visit to Bangkok. The visit let us know that were not forgotten among the missionaries of the world. Later we caught a taxi to the train station and hoped a ride home back to Khon Kaen. I wrote, " today I saw Bangkok differently, it was now a huge, clean, modern city; nothing l like the actual stomach ache of those first days seeing all the squalor among the mansions. I expected Khon Kaen to have maybe 7 light bulbs, but rather most every home had 2 light bulbs. I guess it is what you expect, before you get there, that taints how you see what you see.</div> <bR> <div> I wrote, "It was a great preparation day - "social visits, recreation, and spiritual uplift from Elder Hunter". I was grateful that we had some investigators, and many others from my group had told me they have no investigators at all.</div> <bR> <div> On Tuesday we taught sister Phatthaa again and she cried. We hoped that the spirit was testifying to her and that she might soon desire baptism. On Wednesday we went 10 km outside town to find an old investigator. When we gave up looking for him we returned to get a bus and found him there. On Thursday we went to Udorn to visit members and do some teaching. We found Sister Grace is better spirits. She said she had almost completed the translation of "Book of Mormon Stories. We had hoped to teach Brother Ken's wife, but she was not home.</div> <bR> <div> Friday was final examination day for our class at the Thai-German technical institute. We'd been teaching them English the whole term and now it was time for the final examination. We'd also been trying to share the gospel with their assigned teacher Miss Aruni, but we never got very far doing that.  The teachers asked Elder Graves if he had seen a doctor for his heat rash. He said "no, I've had that for 8 months". They said make sure you've had your shots; there is an outbreak of Cholera going on here in Khon Kaen. This was a little scary to me, but I put my trust in the Lord.  I asked myself, "Do I tell Mom about this in my next letter? Wouldn't she just worry?" The average score on our test was 57 out of 100. The students were electrical technicians and many could not answer this question in English "The resistance to the flow of electricity is called ______?" </div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="346" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 437 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="07046af0.jpg" border=0 width="326" height="431" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 38 WIDTH="334"><div> Khon Kaen Branch outing to the jungle to see the monkeys and float down a river.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> On Saturday we had a branch outing to see the monkeys in the jungle. I think this was sort of Elder Rock's going away party since he had been branch president for several months. It was a group of 12 members and 1 investigator along with the 4 of us. Brother Daengchai had brought his whole family with him on this outing. This was the first time in Thailand that I'd seen a whole family together. We'd don't often see full families in Thailand do anything together. </div> <bR> <div> The monkeys attacked us for the bananas we took to feed them.  We were way out in the country and came to a small town. The people stood and starred at these strange white men in white shirts walking down the road. I thought, "This may be the only day that Mormon Elders visit this small jungle town."  We went down a river on a small boat dodging tree limbs in the river from recent rains.  Later I tried to jump a puddle and ended up missing and splattering mud on my white shirt. Later as we were crossing back over the river on a raft Elder Rock fell in.  I said, "Elder Rock, you could have taken my shirt and washed it with you!" It took me some time to laugh about my situation, but after Rock fell in the river I had no problem.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B>Week #17 September 30 - October 6, 1974 - Khon Kaen Thailand</B></div> <bR> <div> There was a "cholera" outbreak going on in KhonKaen.  It did not bother us much (we'd all had our vaccinations); but people we'd talk to would tell us about it and advise us to be careful.  One day a telegram came for Elder Rock (DL) saying call the office.  He went down to the telephone office (other than Bangkok and ChiangMai we never had a telephone in our residence and if we needed to use one we had to travel to the local telephone office). Sister Morris (mission Mom) just wanted to tell us to be careful what we ate. We also found out during this call that Elder Rock would be going home; my companion Elder Graves would be going to Bangkok to be branch president (of the largest branch in all of Thailand) and Elder Martell and I would be getting new companions.</div> <bR> <div> Sunday services were good and we again went 125 miles to Udorn to visit the members up there.  (The missionaries had been pulled out of Udorn because of the bad influence of the US Air Force base that was located there. Today Udorn has 2 branches!).</div> <bR> <div> The marines left the area in nearby Numphong. They were the last combat troops to leave Southeast Asia (I read this in Newsweek and thought it strange I was an eye witness to the event!). A Mormon service man in the area (not part of the Marines) joined us for a day of missionary work; he said he needed to do something positive!</div> <bR> <div> We visited the English teachers at the Thai-German Technical School who we helped with their class. The teacher for the 1st time said she wanted to know more about the church so we taught part of the 1st discussion and she prayed at the end of it.</div> <bR> <div> We talked to a policeman on the bus to Udorn. I wrote I did not understand him very well but my companion did.  For 4 months it's up and down with the language particularly understanding what they are telling you. The next day we visited the Governor of KhanKaen province to see if he could help us with our visa problem (we had to leave country and re-enter every 10 weeks!) That day I wrote - wow I seemed to understand much of what was said today.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B>Week #18 October 7 - 13, 1973 - Khon Kaen Thailand</B></div> <bR> <div> We held an open house which was attended by about 50 people; some from English class, some from the Thai-German technical institute, and as I noted "2 adult men". One young women (age 19-20) who we were teaching brought her boyfriend. I noted that in public the Thai's always dress very sharp. I also noted that you can also see young boys urinate in public such as the ones we saw at the end of the road where we put up a sign for the open house.  The few members we had helped with posters and the like. We showed the filmstrip "Man's Search for Happiness". I noted we obtained more contacts from the event but added "we really didn't need more contacts". In retrospect we talked to lots of people but few of them were "serious investigators".  On Sunday our senior companions who had been in KhonKaen 7 months said good-bye as they left - one for home and the other for Bangkok to be branch president there. There was a turkey given to us, which one member killed and cleaned and the neighbor who was married to an American cooked for all our friends and us.  The turkey disappeared in a hurry. Many people came to the house and the train station to see us off for Bangkok. The train ride ended the next morning with the train hitting a car about 40 miles north of Bangkok. We got off and soon meet other Elders who were traveling to Bangkok as well. We were all headed to Bangkok not just for transfers but also for mission conference. Monday was to be play day at a national park call Wantakrai. So the chartered bus for the event came up from Bangkok to pick us all up. After playing at the park (soccer, softball) we got drenched by rain and it was a cool damp 2-hour bus ride back to Bangkok.  After showering we ate dinner served by the English branch relief society. We also had skits put on by every district. The next day was the instruction part of the conference at one of the nicest hotels in Bangkok.  The Hotel was so beautiful I wrote "I never expected to find anything this nice in all of Thailand". The highlight of the conference was the testimony meeting 56 Elders 5 about to go home was a marvelous experience with the spirit. Elder Mongkol who had taught the language to all the Elders in Thailand had just arrived to be a missionary himself. (Month's later we were companions for one special week). It was at this point that I became fully satisfied that Thailand was where I was meant to be and I'd now had enough experience with the country to know that I could physically survive in the environment, I was pretty much over the worst time of home sickness (September) and was excited about the possibilities for the future.  President Morris challenged us to master the new discussions; saying it was only through knowing and teaching them that we could bring Thai's into the gospel fold. I was so impressed by the testimonies of all the other missionaries I recorded "I proud to be a part of this effort."  Serving in the Lord's kingdom always brings happiness. I felt it at this time on my mission and have felt it when filling many other assignments since then.</div> <bR> <div> The Lord's kingdom roles forth across the world - one convert at a time.  We know it is true and our efforts to share it are worth it even if most of those we pass by each day won't stop to have a look.  </div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B>Weeks # 19 October 14 - 20, 1973, Khon Kaen, Thailand</B></div> <bR> <div> In Thailand our food schedule was: breakfast at about 8-8:30am, dinner at 3:30-4pm (these were prepared by our maids). Then when we concluded our day (about 8:30pm - Thais go to bed early!) we'd stop at a small food place for fried rice or fried noodles to end the day.</div> <bR> <div> In Thailand there are two areas where the spoken language is different that common Thai. In the northeast where I served my first 4 months many people speak Laotian (which is similar to Thai but different). Also in the south (where we had no missionaries) the spoken language is different in that all the tones are reversed from normal Thai. </div> <bR> <div> I just read 2 weeks from my mission journal in October 1973.  After the riots in Bangkok passed things took a few days to get fully back to normal.  My senior companion felt like he was not ready to be senior companion and I did my best to boost his confidence. After he gave a good talk in Sacrament meeting I told him that it truly was the best talk I'd heard by an Elder.  We also taught the 1st discussion to a bright college student who was home from the University in Bangkok - due to the riots. She'd had the discussions before but since it had been a while we gave them to her again (besides these were the "new" discussions).  Her parents prevented her baptism. At MIA we played a game about gospel knowledge and when she excelled we were both pleased. We had a good companionship meeting and shared our testimonies and our goals and things went better after that (until it was time for my Cholera shot).</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="233" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 419 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="0742f9d0.jpg" border=0 width="303" height="413" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 57 WIDTH="221"><div> Elder Haslam speaking at the pulpit inside the church in Khon Kaen, Thailand.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> We had so many responsibilities - run the Branch in Khon Kaen  (Elder Grange was branch president)- visit the members of the church 100 miles north in Udorn (where missionaries were removed) and try and keep them in touch with the church. Home teach all 65 members of the local branch (most inactive). We learned a new reason for the inactivity at this time - seems the Elders used to help the members with school and travel expenses (personally!). We had one brother ask for money to send his wife and kids to Laos to visit her dying father. Another brother then asked for money to send him to school.  Elder Grange denied both requests and then these brothers started to complain about how Elder Grange was running things.  In retrospect it seemed to me that we should have helped the brother whose family needed to travel to Laos to visit her dying father; but I suspect we were under instructions not to do so.  So there was bad feelings and backbiting in the branch. I went home teaching with Dr. Bunthum.  He was educated in the U.S. and was a professor at KhonKaen University.  Previously he was protestant and was converted in the U.S.  He wondered why we visited these members who could not ever remember their baptism.  This man could have been branch president but he did not have much respect for most of the members or even for typical Thai customs.  He felt being so educated he was above everybody and everything. Why more effort was not applied to make him up to the challenge of being branch president (or today district president) I do not know. He was primary translator of "A Marvelous Work and a Wonder" into Thai (this was the first full church book printed in Thai).  Sister Sri and I reviewed his translation when I worked on the translation committee. I made my first trip to Cambodia to renew my "visitor" visa in Thailand.  It was 600 miles over 3 days.  Elder Martell (Elder Grange's companion) and I traveled together. On the way back they dropped us at this desolate intersection with instructions to "hop on the next bus to Khon Kaen". (We had traveled to Bangkok by train). In Cambodia I could speak French to the government workers. That was kind of-fun.  Our biggest problem with our investigators was deciding which ones were sincere and which ones just thought it was cool to have foreigners over. The other problem we had would be un kept appointments.  It seems we'd have one or more of these every day.  Our home did have Southeast Asia's first baptismal font in the front yard - a converted fishpond!</div> <bR> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B>Week #20 - October 20-27, 1973 - Khon Kaen Thailand</B></div> <bR> <div> On Sunday the meetings were good, but the number in attendance had dropped significantly.  I taught priesthood meeting to the 4 Elders, Brother Boontham and Brother Kriankrai. The topic was the 10 commandments. The low turnout was due in part to brother Daengchai not getting church financial assistance and he is trying to pull other members away including Brother Brakob. Visiting with Brother Brakob in the afternoon he said he could see through it, however, he was not coming to church either.</div> <bR> <div> Monday evening we challenged Somsak to study and pray about what we had taught him. He agreed to do so, but I was skeptical. We also scheduled with another former investigator to teach her the new discussions. I was feeling plretty good at the end of the day. As Mom said in her letter, "You are really having some special experiences there in Thailand"</div> <bR> <div> Tuesday was the start of a new semester at the TGTS.  We discovered that things had changed radically.  Rather that stand up when I entered the room, I was ignored.  After I made it to the front of the room about ¾ stood up and said a sloppy "Good morning teacher"! In general they were unruly, which I had never experienced before.  They didn't want to learn anything more they just wanted to chat and ask when they would receive grades for the last semester..</div> <bR> <div> Why the change in attitude? After the students in Bangkok overthrew the government they now feel like they rule! Our supervisor Miss Nampring old us that now they were demanding more freedom!   </div> <bR> <div> Later we visited one of the teachers at the TGTS. Elder Graves and I had introduced the Book of Mormon to her. So I offered to sell one to her for 10 Baht (50 cents). She then came up with reasons why she didn't want one, "no time", "no money", "I don't have to buy one do I?" I responded, "No you don't, but you had agreed to sudy religion with us". Her next response was, "I prayed like you said, but I did not feel anything!" I then explained, "That is good, but you have to study more and pray longer, it won't happen the first time".</div> <bR> <div> I remember traveling to Udorn a few times, but according to my journal we went about every other week!  Udorn you'll remember was a city about 100 miles north where there was a large US Air Force base.  During our trip this week we taught a discussion to the wife of a Thai man (Brother Ken to his air force friends). The discussion went well.  She told us that when she has questions she asks her husband. I wondered to myself just how well her husband understands the gospel having been taught in English by the servicemen. We were also teaching a lawyer there and visiting Sister Grace a Thai woman who was quite good at English who had also been baptized by servicemen.  We suggested she attend church on base with the servicemen but she said she would not be comfortable doing that. </div> <bR> <div> Later in the week we also held a Halloween activity that was attended by about 50 people / 30 of them children. We had a spook alley and the Thai's so believe in ghosts that these kids were terrified by it all.  It was hard for them to go home afterwards.  In the end we realized that we'd played into the old missionary habits of providing food and fun for our Thai friends. No wonder they've come to expect such from us.  Attendance at church continued to decline as Brother Deengchai began to lobby other members to leave the church.  One brother we talked to said he could see right through Brother Deengchai and was not concerned.  As we visited the Thai-German technical institute for our 1st English class of the semester we found it to be very different.  The students used to stand and welcome us as we walked into the room, this time some of them did so but in a scornful tone.  Talking to their teachers we found that after the revolt in Bangkok a few weeks earlier the students now felt that they held the power and no longer needed to respect their schools or teachers. This was a dramatic change to the way things were.  I noted in my journal that having companionship planning meeting each week and sharing our testimonies helped us work better together.  I was able to help Elder Merritt feel like he could really be senior companion.  We had lots of people to teach and to visit, but as I said before it was not always easy to tell who was truly interested in the message.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Week # 21 October 28 - November 3, 1973 - Khon Kaen, Thailand</B></div> <bR> <div> This week from my journal - my companion was called to Bangkok for his trip to Cambodia to renew his Thai tourist visa.  Thus I was in a 3-some for a couple of days.  We were busy trying to keep both companionship's appointments.  We taught English at the Thai German technical school (TGTS) and they taught English at a local high school.  The students were still restless trying to assert their newfound authority.  We were teaching the discussions to a couple of the teachers at the school (TGTS) but this week it became more apparent they were not truly interested but enjoyed having these foreigners come and visit them.  We also held a street meeting where we'd put up a display board with information/questions on it and trying to start conversations with people.   This time we had a gal who had studied religion come and talk to us. She was most interested in showing us how much she knew.  Another man came up and gave the popular line "All religions teach man to be good". King Mongkut popularized this phrase when he decided that Thailand needed missionaries to help bring Thailand into the modern world. "Religions are all the same" it must be true the King had said so. We visited a nurse and her family and asked if we could meet with her together with her husband. She said "we're never home at the same time".  We seldom had opportunities to teach families - but this changed after Elder Tuttle visited in April 75 and said - yes you can do this and gave us some ideas how. After that visit we started to see families join the church particularly in the Northeast of Thailand that is where KhonKaen is located</div> <bR> <div> <B> Week # 22 November 4-10, 1973 - Khon Kaen, Thailand</B></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="285" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 342 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="07608500.jpg" border=0 width="264" height="336" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 57 WIDTH="273"><div> Elder Haslam with Dr. Boonthum. Photograph appears to have been taken at Khon Kaen University.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> On Sunday the only members that came to church were the Boontham family. We had some bad feelings among some other members that were preventing them from attending church. Dr. Boonthum is the professor at Khon Kaen University who became a Christian while attending school in the United States. After church my companion Elder Merritt and I headed to Udorn to do some teaching. We taught brother Samruang the 3rd discussion. He took it all in like a lawyer. He asked a few tough questions. I wrote, "I wondered if he was laughing inside?" and at other times I felt he was feeling the truth of our message. Following that we went to Sister Grace's home for a fireside with the U.S. military. . At the fireside some audiotapes were played of general conference.</div> <div> It was interesting being in a small home in Udorn with about 40 big U.S. military men, sister Grace and a couple of Thai members sitting on the wood floor listening to conference in English.  I tried to he translate for the Thai members who did not know much English the best I could which at this point left a lot to be desired.</div> <bR> <div> At the Thai-German technical school the students behavior was improved.  They stood as I entered and left the classroom.  I asked if anyone had read the assignment. No one indicated that they had; yet they all handed in the homework that goes with the reading. I wrote, "Just like in America these kids try to get by doing the least amount of work required to do so.</div> <bR> <div> Later we went to visit the teacher of the class Miss Arunii.  She told us that she asked the class, "How many don't smoke? (1), How many don't drink? (1), how many don't visit houses of prostitution (1).  Let's just suffice it to say that the one was not a Thai, but of another culture. I wrote, "The devil has got his hands around many of these people". After this cultural discussion we started the 2nd discussion.  Elder Grange led out, but when he got lost I had to jump in and take over. (Elder Grange is the other senior companion in Khon Kaen - I was with him and Elder Martell because my companion Elder Merritt had not returned from his visa renewal trip to Cambodia. At one point she burst out laughing.  I must have said something wrong. When I asked he what it was she explained, "When you first came you couldn't or wouldn't speak much, and now you are leading the discussion and your Thai is much better." She seemed to understand the message, but dud she accept it, that was the question. She then explained that she'd be busy for a few weeks since there are so many weddings in November in Thailand.</div> <bR> <div> At a street meeting on Wednesday one female student from the University walked up and asked me, "What were the names of the 12 apostles". I replied, "I could not name them all". She agreed that the true church would have 12 apostles, but when I indicated that we did have such she left.  She probably just wanted to show off what she knew about Christianity. Another man came up and insisted that all religions were the same and that they all led to the same place.</div> <bR> <div> On Thursday one boy we taught actually said the prayer and asked God to let him know the truth.  It is always a special experience when that happens.</div> <bR> <div> On Saturday we went to Udorn to teach brother Ken's wife Dogthead the 4th discussion that I had tried to learn. Brother Ken was not home when we arrived but we did find them later in the day.  We discussed the Bible and the Book of Mormon and explained the difference between them, they said they were having family prayer and would attend church tomorrow on the U.S. Air Force Base. We also completed the 3rd discussion with the lawyer Samruang. He seems to believe in prophets.</div> <bR> <div> On the bus ride back to Thailand I met a young man my age that said he's Muslim. I asked him what he believed and he could not tell me. He just said it was a lot like Christianity! After the bus ride back to Khon Kaen as I was riding my bicycle home I ran into to a 3-wheeler. Which is a bicycle with a passenger seat in back over two wheels.  The 3-wheeler did not have a light on and so I didn't see him.  The collision was pretty hard and my wheel was all bent out of shape.</div> <div>  </div> <div> <B># Week 23 November 11 - 17, 1973 - Khon Kaen, Thailand</B></div> <bR> <div> With Elder Merritt the best part of each week seemed to be our companionship planning meetings.  On November 11th I wrote, "I just finished one of the most special things that I experience each week - our companionship planning meeting, It was just wonderful to sit down together and talk of our accomplishments, plan the next week and set some goals." We always ended by sharing our testimonies with each other. I concluded with, "Elder Merritt is just a humble beautiful person." We had a couple of new investigators join us for church.  We often measured our week's work by home many peoiple we could attract to come to our meetings. </div> <bR> <div> In the afternoon we went home teaching with Borther Boonthum. Today he wanted to know about the "Re-organized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints". We were able to explain to him all about them in English since he is quite proficient in the language. At this time we were facing a feud in the branch between Brother Daengshai and another brother in the ward.  We had to be careful with each one, as they wanted to blame us for the problems.</div> <bR> <div> On Monday before we left the house for a thiaw (travel/vacation), we mailed our letters and I received 2 letters from home at the post office. In one of the letters my father finally wrote me. It was a short note. He said he was happy that I was healthy and busy. He added that the new job at Jordan High School was going well and he felt it would improve our family's financial condition greatly.  He got the contract the same day I left for Hawaii. He concluded with "keep us the good work buddy". I always loved it when he called me buddy!  It touched me so much I cried.</div> <bR> <div> We went north past Udorn to see the Mekong River that is the border with Laos! My journal says it was a 1-½ hour bus ride from KhonKaen to Udorn, In Udorn we met the other companionship who had stayed there over night.  From Udorn we took a dirty old crowded bus to Nong Khai, which is on the Thai side of the river. The Mekong River was impressive, 1000 miles from the ocean (Saigon Vietnam) it was a mile wide (but not deep).  It was chocolate brown carrying lots of dirt with it. We ate lunch at a restaurant overlooking the river.  I noted in my journal that I could see a few buildings on the other side of the river and that I even observed a single car over there.  Perhaps Laos was not quite as primitive as I imagined.  We could not go over the river - a trip to Laos was not authorized; but I could now say I've seen Laos and the Mekong.  Up river not that far away is Vientiane, the capitol of Laos. There were boats ferrying people across the river, most of which flew the Thai flag. We noticed a language difference in Nong Khai, there was more Laotian spoken here. The trip back to Udorn was not as uncomfortable as the bus was not crowded. One man who worked at the American air force base sat by me and tried to impress me with all the English he had learned from the American servicemen.  This trip was at the height of the 1973 gas crisis.  The bus stopped at 3 gas stations on the way to Udorn, but none of them had any gas.  Back in American people had to line up for hours to get gasoline and it was expensive. This gentleman then found out I was a missionary and he had to impress me about what he knew. He said he had gone to Catholic school and I was about to think he was Catholic, but when he got off he said, "No I am Buddhist, religions are all the same anyway."</div> <bR> <div> On Tuesday at the Thai German Technical School - school was suspended. Why?  War broke out between that school and the Thai Trade School in town.  The reason - the trade school had lost the basketball game!!  We'll you know how some fights can break out after High School games here; but this was WAR.  The students had made the wickedest weapons I'd ever seen.  In shop they built long rods with all kinds of spikes in them.  One blow by such a weapon and you could kill a person.  Not knowing what had happened we ventured out to teach English class there and found all the students lined up at the gate ready to defend themselves and their school.  As we went out there we did see a small bomb go off at the other school.  They let us in because some of the students recognized us. We went to talk to the teachers and they were scared for their lives!  The other school had said, "Tonight we bomb your school"! I did not feel in danger BUT the weapons the students had made were just horrible.  We asked what the police were doing about this? The teachers said they couldn't do anything the students are in control!  This standoff went on for a few days before tempers settled down.  I don't know if anyone was killed during the fracas, but I could not believe the weapons and the rhetoric, it was something I've never seen anything else like in all my life!</div> <bR> <div> On Wednesday the Assistants came for a two-day visit they explained we needed to spend more time proselyting and less time working on running the branches in KhonKaen and Udorn. They asked us to spend no more than 1 day per week working with members and running the branch.  On the second day President and Sister Morris flew in to visit. We visited with a contact that worked at the airport just prior to their landing.  For sister Morris this was her first trip to the Northeast.  She brought us 4 new pillows (I recorded these were hard as rocks) and napkins and placemats for out dinner table.  President Morris said we needed to focus more time on proselyting.  The APs took us out tracting and I had to admit to them that we'd done no tracting except for the little bit Elder Martell and I tried to do during the first week we were in town.  When I asked my 1st companion Elder Graves if we should do some tracting while we were waiting for my bicycle to be built - he said "No- its not worth it". He really felt the best work we were doing was with the faculty at the TGTS.  I noted the week before that it was becoming more apparent that the teachers at the TGTS were not truly interested in the gospel. At the end of the two days I really felt bad about what we had been doing.  The APs said that there were some baptisms coming up shortly in Korat and Bangkok and that we should be doing the same.  President Morris also brought the sad word that Elder Sunan - the native Thai in my group had resigned as a missionary.  He was not interested in doing the work.  He wanted to find a wife and be a basketball coach so he had resigned.  My group of 12 was now just 11 and before we went home we lost another Elder to transgression.  In my interview with President Morris I told him how I felt like we'd wasted our time. He said no its not time wasted - you've learned much more about the language and now we just want you to focus more on sharing the gospel than running the branches in KhonKaen and Udorn</div> <bR> <div> At this time the price of OIL was sky high. When we went to Udorn the buses would stop often to get any gas that they could. I noted that the price had doubled and the price of bus tickets, while still cheap by our standards, had doubled too. The fuel shortage is in my view the main cause of the economic slowdown. When I learned of the scarcity of gasoline I become a bit concerned. I asked myself, "When my mission is over will there be enough fuel to get me home?"  Well long before I finished my mission the Arab oil embargo ended and the price of gasoline dropped and became plentiful again; however, for about a month I tried to convert Baht to Dollars and liters to galleons to try and see just how expensive gasoline was. I never completed the conversion, just as well I guess. Late 1973 - the world's first oil crisis.</div> <bR> <div> Saturday began with my companion being sick and us staying home for a day.  The young man who delivered a new propane tank to our home asked me questions about the religion we represented.  He asked if we had anything he could read - so I gave him a tract or two (we had about 7 tracts in the Thai language at that time). He asked where we held meetings and I pointed to the church building next door. He said he'd come to church the next day (but did not show up). We did hold our companionship planning meeting that day and as I've told you we had great experiences during these meetings. The spirit was particularly strong at this one.   </div> <bR> <div> <B>Week # 24 November 18-24, 1973 - Khon Kaen, Thailand</B></div> <bR> <div> On Sunday it was Mom's birthday. I wrote, "Mom's Birthday", I must have thought about that 2 or 3 times today. At the meeting in Khon Kaen we had 7 people, Dr. Boon hum, his daughter, and our investigator Brakoob. Elder Merritt and I then went to Udorn to see if we could get any of the Thai members to attend meeting on the U.S. air force base. We were able to get brother Ken to the meeting; he was comfortable with the servicemen after all they are the ones who taught him the gospel.  We had trouble getting a bus back to Khon Kaen, but we found a nice man who flagged down the bus while we relaxed in a restaurant.</div> <bR> <div> On Monday evening we did some work at Khon Kaen University, visited an investigator and visited the Boonthums. Dr. Boonthum was preparing himself to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood. He asked, "To enter the temple you have to hold the Melchizedek Priesthood correct?" I told him that was true.  It seems like he is hoping to take his family to the temple to be sealed. On the way back we told some people that Buddha was not God, "he said so himself", somehow they were not impressed.</div> <bR> <div> At a street meeting on Tuesday our subject was a prophet. I must have spoken to 50 men who all admitted that knowing what a prophet had to say would be important, but when you'd ask if they wanted to learn more we had all sorts of reasons why they could not do so. Among the reasons, "I'm too busy", "I live far from town". One man gave the most truthful reason of all "I'm too lazy"! That was a common problem because Buddhists are taught to eliminate all desire from your lives; thus many are lazy!</div> <bR> <div> An African American visited us to see if we had a school his son (1/2 Thai ½ American) could attend. We said, "No we have no such facility".  The war in Vietnam had produced a few thousand such children - most of whom were outcasts from Thai society.  Tiger Woods is a unique standout among these thousands of war babies. In his case Dad brought him and his mom back to America, whereas most American fathers abandoned the children born to their Thai girlfriends! </div> <bR> <div> For our English class we had 10 Buddhist monks come in their orange robes. Now that was different! Our opening song was "Come Follow Me" which we sang in English. We explained to the monks what prayer is before we had our opening prayer.  My journal records that for MIA we went bowling at a local alley where 10-year-old boys were the pinsetters.  I bowled a respectable 170! A boy who said he was orphaned asked my companion Elder Merritt to be his Dad! He added, "I'll join your church!" Elder Merritt told him no. We received a happy thanksgiving card from Arisa our young woman investigator who was in Bangkok going to school. In my journal I wrote she was the most polite Thai I've met so far and overall the best investigator we had worked with. In my journal I ½ jokingly wrote - "maybe I ought to bring her home and get married".</div> <bR> <div> On Thanksgiving Day the funniest event of my mission occurred. It wasn't funny then, but it is now! [Note: Thanksgiving is NOT celebrated in Thailand it is really an American holiday. The Canadians celebrate it on November 1st]. It had been six months since my cholera vaccination at home and it was time for my 1st booster shot.  We went to the hospital to get the shot and I let Elder Merritt do the talking. They started to have me sign several forms - when I figured out that they thought that I had Cholera and they were admitting me to the hospital!  At that point I decided I'd take over and see if I could explain "no I just want a Cholera shot".  They finally called someone who spoke some English and I was able to communicate that I needed a cholera vaccine shot.  Every time we went to a hospital in Thailand they figured that we were the great white doctors from America and the patients in the hospital always accorded us the highest levels of respect. They took my vaccination card and had a doctor sign it.  I asked,  "Now where do I get the shot?" A lady took me to a room down the hall in the new part of the hospital where there was a nurse and a nurse's assistant. They asked, "What do you want?" I told them "a cholera shot".  Thinking I was a doctor she asked - do you want to give it to yourself? No I said "I want a nurse to give it to me". "Why don't you know how to do it?" "Yes but I've never done it before!" Now they got the message that I was not a doctor. Next they asked, "What kind of shot do you want?" I said "a cholera shot; are you familiar with that?" Next they showed me a bottle of vaccine that was clearly marked in English "cholera vaccine". "Is this the stuff you want?" I replied "yes". "How much of it do you want?" I replied "you should know how much but I think 1 cc will do fine!" "Ok 1 cc". I then waited while some other people received shots. The assistant then asked me if I could speak any Laotian  - I said "yes" and then impressed her with my vocabulary of 10 Laotian words and she was impressed. Then they got to me. I asked, "Do you know the procedure for giving a shot?" "Of course we do was the reply". The nurse then broke the seal on the bottle of vaccine and procured a fresh new GIANT SIZE needle and proceeded to fill the syringe with 1 cc of vaccine.  Next in English they asked me to lie down.  I said "no I want the shot in my arm". By this time I was so frustrated and in so much disbelief as to how difficult this was becoming. The nurse then said "it will hurt more but that's ok with me". I rolled up my sleeve and as it looked like she was about to give my the shot I asked "are you not first going to clean my arm with alcohol? "Oh yes doctor was the reply". She then proceeded to swab my arm from elbow to arm pit with alcohol. She put so much on my arm was it was wet with alcohol.  Then just before administering the vaccine she "blows on my arm to dry it off!" Then like throwing a dart she injects the needle. I didn't feel a thing - I even asked Elder Merritt if it went in. The assistant then in broken English said "of course you are a big boy now". We then left as quickly as possible! I was so upset by it all that I told my companion off and that made him feel bad.  That night I started feeling ill - perhaps it was the vaccine. By Saturday I was feeling better. </div> <div> We had pizza for Thanksgiving! but the American neighbor next door did send us a pumpkin pie. That night we visited Sister Phattha who was the first investigator I had ever met.  She's had all the discussions, however, she does not feel that baptism is right. Upon asking some questions we discovered that she had not understood or remembered all she had been taught.  We then had to decide if (1) we'd give her the new discussions from the beginning or (2) drop her.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B>Week # 25 November 25 - December 1, 1973 - Khon Kaen, Thailand</B></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="307" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 406 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="06825900.jpg" border=0 width="293" height="400" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 38 WIDTH="295"><div> Elder Merritt with Sister Grace at her home in Udorn Thani, Thailand</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> All of our appointments in the morning were both not home. It was not uncommon for Thais to forget about or otherwise miss appointments! We could not even find Sister Grace at home but we did chat with an LDS serviceman who was renting a home from her.  We explained to him why it was difficult to share the gospel with the Thai people. Among the reasons I listed was that as Buddhists they were told "eliminate from your lives all desire!"  They have no ambition to make something better of their lives.  </div> <bR> <div> Unlike the prior 2 weeks there was not much to write about this week.  I started the week a bit under the weather and on Saturday we spent 5 hours cleaning the building(s) next door that served as the church. In most areas of Thailand outside Bangkok, church meetings were held in the living room of the missionary's residence. In Khon Kaen our landlord made more money by building a church next door and renting it to us along with the home. We had one large building probably about 20x40' with a raised stand at one end that served as the chapel. On the same plot was a smaller - classroom building.  </div> <bR> <div> On Sunday Elder Grange and Elder Martell went to Udorn early in the morning leaving my companion Elder Merritt in charge of meetings in Khon Kaen.  The meetings went well and we had 3 investigators and 3 members attend. .  The investigators even offered prayers at the meeting.  I spoke in sacrament meeting on the sacrifices we need to make before the Lord provides the desired blessings by telling about my experience at the LTM learning the Thai language. I was not sure how well my Thai communicated the message. At the end I was grateful that Brother Boonthum gave a synopsis of my talk as he closed the meeting. We had a 19-year-old investigator named Dogmai.  We probably could have baptized him, but we felt he was just not mature enough and at the time had no job and was not going to school. The thing that impressed us about him was that he traveled 20 miles one way from outside town to attend church. We continued teaching him after church and later in the week we traveled out to his small town BannPhay to teach him not at his home but at an open-air restaurant in town (his home was a few more miles out in the country).</div> <bR> <div> In the evening Elder Merritt opened up to me and told me the difficult time he had at the LTM, including how it seemed to cause him continuing difficulties in concentration, and confidence. He said the first two months in country he refused to speak or study Thai. We spent a few hours sharing life experiences with each other.</div> <bR> <div> A highlight of P-day on Monday was the 50-cent hair cut at the most expensive place in town.  You know that hair grows on my ears because in Thailand a part of a haircut was shaving your ears!</div> <bR> <div> On Tuesday Elder Merritt had his first chance to teach at the TGTS.  He told me that he always wanted to be a teacher, and today he had his first real world experience.  He loved it.  [Editors note: Elder Merritt returned home and did in fact become a teacher. He now teaches school near Blackfoot Idaho].</div> <bR> <div> On Wednesday after teaching Brother Bramood the 2nd discussion he gave a prayer.  I'm so impressed when investigators give a real sincere prayer. In the evening we had 11 monks and a few other come to English class.</div> <bR> <div> On Thursday after teaching Sister Phadthaa about the plan of salvation we asked her what she thought.  In the true spirit of a Buddhist she said, "I don't want to be resurrected! Life is too painful". As we explained further she said, "I want to know the truth, but the angel has not visited me yet", which lead to a further discussion of how she would know the truth.</div> <bR> <div> On Friday we officially donated a copy of the Book of Mormon to the library at Khon Kaen University. </div> <bR> <div> Saturday brought another discussion with Bramood on Prophets and Scripture. I really felt like he was developing a testimony and was indeed a potential baptismal candidate within a month or so.</div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B>Week #26 - December 2 - 7, 1973 - Khon Kaen, Thailand</B> </div> <bR> <div> The 1st week of December 1973 brought "the first day of tracting with my regular companion."  We visited a nice neighborhood of homes of government workers.  We were welcomed warmly.  I wrote "In Thailand you don't need the spirit to find a friendly home, you need the spirit to decide how long to stay".  One family had a young girl who was attending Catholic school. I asked her "what are you learning about religion?" Mom was shocked - they teach you about religion over there?  They just knew it was a better school so they sent her daughter there.</div> <bR> <div> We had a young man progressing toward the 4th discussion, which includes the baptismal challenge, and we had a great street meeting near a carnival.  We met lots of interesting people that night. We went to Udorn again and missed meeting with the lawyer but he left us a fine letter written in English explaining why he missed the appointment.</div> <bR> <div> It was also a week when I decided that Elder Merritt would take the lead without any nudging from me.  One night he spent 1 ½ hours talking to a member before he realized we should be out proselyting and then he ran into the study and got me for the street meeting. It was his turn to take charge since I figured I was soon to be transferred.</div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B>Week #27 - December 7-13, 1973 - Khon Kaen, Thailand </B></div> <bR> <div> We taught a couple of 4th discussions and asked one Sister to be baptized. She said that she felt she was not yet ready and she was probably right.  It took a long time to bring a person who has no understanding of Christ to a testimony of him as their savior.  We had so many people who wanted us to visit them, but it was not always easy to determine if they were really interested in religion. One test we decided to try was this "Come to church on Sunday and we will make our next appointment for further discussion at that time."  During this week we went to KhonKhan University to install our tract box in the library there.  While on Campus Elder Merritt my companion got into a long discussion with this man who had just returned from the U.S. He taught science and he said he did not believe in God.  So Elder Merritt decided to engage in a debate with him over the existence of God.  I just cringed and kept quite as my companion revealed how little he knew of science.  Later that same day he got into a discussion with another person on the nature of God.  He said, "God can do anything". On the way home I let my frustration get the best of me and told Elder Merritt that he can't do anything he has to follow eternal laws.  So an argument ensued and it the end Elder Merritt felt again like he was a ding-dong - not ready to be a senior companion.  We stayed up to 11:30pm talking until we had resolved our problems of this day.  We met the Mom and Dad of a daughter who was a member of the church in Bangkok.  They were Christian. I remarked how different it was to go into a home where there were pictures of Christ rather than Buddha's.  We had a good first discussion with them introducing them to Joseph Smith though they asked about the scripture in Revelations about  "adding to the word of God" - wow perhaps were are not ready to teach Christians!  We started discussions with several new people who we met tracting or at street meetings.  I also noted that English class was going pretty well with 15 regular attendees. An auto mechanics teacher at the Thai German Technical School TGTS told us he wanted to study English and Religion with us.  We looked at each other like - bet he really doesn't want to study religion with us.</div> <bR> <div> The final event of the week was the "moves" letter from President Morris.  I looked to see who was in KhonKaen - Elder Pace (of my group) was with Elder Merritt and Elder Grange and Elder Martell were still together  - so where was I?  I found myself listed all alone under a city named Chacherngsao as SR, DL, and GL.  Where the heck is Chacherngsao I wondered? It was not a city with which I was familiar.  Elder Grange explained that it was a city east of Bangkok on the road to Cambodia.  It was a small city where missionaries had never been assigned before.  My companion was simply listed as NEW.  I was excited but at the same time scared - how would I find a maid, train a new companion when I'd had only 4 months experience in Thailand?  Would I have to find a place to live? Dicker with the landlord over the rental price? In retrospect I think President Morris gave me this assignment to encourage the other missionaries to do better at learning the new discussions, which I had worked hard on.  What I did not know was how small and difficult a place Chacherngsao would be to preach the gospel. It has one of the most revered Buddhist temples in all of Thailand. In fact on the weekends bus loads of Thais would come to worship at this temple.  My new companion whom I was soon to meet was Elder Kim Graham.  The weird thing about him was that he was madly in love with my 1st grade sweetheart Karen Osguthorpe - he was so consumed by her that he spent far too much time daydreaming of her.  It was the toughest thing I had to deal with as his senior companion. I could not get him to do any individual study - language or gospel - he just dreamed of Karen.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>