Reed's Mission - LTM

<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>Mission Home - Salt Lake City, Utah</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Week #1 June 9 - 14, 1973 - Mission Home - Salt Lake City</B></div> <bR> <div> Saturday June 9, 1973 - At 8:30am we met President Richards (stake president - owner of Granite Furniture) at the stake center.  We then drove to downtown Salt Lake City. My stomach was empty I thought 2 years would never end.  Upon arrival at the "mission home" (now the church computer center), we took a couple of pictures and then Mom and Dad left. At orientation I found a native THAI would be a part of my group going to THAILAND. Next I met Elder Montgomery. The three of us then went to the Deseret Gym (no longer exists - stood where the Conference Center now stands) to get "hair cuts". When I got back to the "mission home" I found a friend from High School had come to say "good-bye". My journal said we talked for 30 minutes.  I found out that 210 missionaries were reporting that day (a BIG group back then). Just before our first meeting I met my companion for 9 weeks Elder Castleton (of the Castleton Clothing Stores). We were assigned companions by last name. Of the 12 going to Thailand Castleton was 1st and Haslam was 2nd alphabetically). At the first meeting, the President (of the mission home) spoke of "Positive Mental Attitude". At that meeting was the first time I felt peaceful.</div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="412" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 315 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="0c6902c0.jpg" border=0 width="400" height="300" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 273 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="0c7900a0.jpg" border=0 width="400" height="266" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 98 WIDTH="400"><div> The "Mission Home" - Salt Lake City, Utah (1973). Top: Street Level view (North Temple). Bottom: View from the Church Office Building. This building was torn down [about 1976-77].</div> <div> [Photographs: Jay Montgomery]</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> Sunday June 10, 1973 - Up at 6:00 breakfast at the church office building at 6:15. A tour of the temple square visitor's center at 7:00. At 9:30 we attended the Tabernacle Choir broadcast. Much of the rest of the day was classes on memorizing the discussions. I was very impressed with one returned missionary from SPAIN. </div> <bR> <div> Monday June 11, 1973 - TEMPLE DAY. We went to the SL temple and then met in the upper room of the temple with President Harold B. Lee. The missionaries asked questions about the temple and then President Lee answered them all using the scriptures. This room is laid out just like the main room at the Kirtland temple which you have seen. A pulpit on one end for the Aaronic Priesthood and one on the other end for the Melchizedek Priesthood. He said they were thinking about a way to answer the most common questions for 1st time attendees.</div> <bR> <div> Here is some of the Q&A</div> <bR> <div> (1)     There is no known significance to the temple clothes except for the garment and the apron.  The rest as far as is know serves only for uniformity.</div> <div> (2)     After leaving the garden Adam represents his posterity and Peter, James and John represent messengers sent to Adam's posterity.</div> <bR> <div> (3)     The endowment was 1st written down and approved by the 1st presidency and quorum of 12 apostles at the dedication of the St. George temple.  [It had been performed previously in Nauvoo]. About 20 years ago some changes were made to the endowment as approved by the 1st presidency and quorum of 12 apostles. A new film had to be produced. Today there are two films with the same words but different people and scenery. The washing and anointing process was changed about 18 months ago. In fact I've not yet been through the new process (you have). </div> <bR> <div> After the Q&A session we went back through another temple session.</div> <bR> <div> Tuesday June 12, 1973 - Classes on (a) health, (b) driving, (c) companion relations, (d) member relations.</div> <bR> <div> Wednesday June 13, 1973 - Lots of meetings with general authorities and members of the missionary department.  More work on the discussions.</div> <bR> <div> Thursday June 14, 1973 - Departure day. The bus was late, we were all nervous about missing our family and friends. At the airport were Mom and Dad, Aunt Zetta, the Day's, the Morgans, a couple of people from the ward and Rachel (who was my girlfriend at the time). I wrote saying goodbye for 2 years was the toughest thing I ever had to do. No more than 12 Elders could go on any one plane so those going to Hawaii had to go by different routes. We went to (a) Boise, (b) Portland, (c) Seattle and then 1st class (no one else was in 1st class so they moved us there) to Honolulu. On the way we talked to the wife of a protestant minister who said her biggest problem with Mormonism was our belief that we can become as God is.  At the airport we got on Church College of Hawaii busses for the 40-minute ride across the mountains to Laie. Upon arrival we met Pres. Hill LTM president and then dinner, group meeting and bed. I wrote "Hawaii is so green and humid and the mountains go straight up. Palm trees with coconuts dot the campus".</div> <bR> <div> I noted that a letter from home told me that Dad had received a building contract for $ 750,000.  This told me that the Lord was already blessing my family back home.  I believe (but my journal does not specify) that the job he'd won was to remodel the industrial arts portion of the old Jordan High School (which of course no longer stands as Jordan Commons replaced the old building). In dollar terms this was the largest contract that Dad ever received during his career. He and his father built Edgemont Elementary school in the Jordan school district in 1958-1959 for just under $ 1,000,000.00, but at that time he and his father were partners.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Asia Pacific Language Training Mission</B></div> <div> <B>Laie, Hawaii</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Week #2 - June 14 - 23, 1973 - Asia Pacific Language Training Mission  Laie, Hawaii</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= 401 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="058008b0.jpg" border=0 width="512" height="395" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 44 WIDTH="296"><div> Elder Haslam in the inner courtyard at the Language Training mission in Hawaii.,</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> Arrived in Laie Hawaii on Thursday June 14th.  I didn't know it but 6 years later on this same day Mom and I visited Laie (Church College of Hawaii (CCH) - now BYU Hawaii) and shortly thereafter her wedding ring was stolen at a beach just 15 miles down the road.</div> <bR> <div> June 15th - Orientation with the LTM mission president including a presentation by the Japan and Korean zones who had been here a month already. Rules included - no visits to the beach, no radios, letters written only on Saturday (P-day). We picked up some supplies at the bookstore and then our first class.</div> <bR> <div> We learned that Thai has 18 consonant sounds 32 vowel sounds and 5 different tones. We learned Thai by reading Thai written using English letters with the addition of tonal marks and a few other squiggles to represent strange vowels. Our instructors included a native Thai (Mongkol - little did I know that one day he would be my companion) another native Thai Sauan (who never served a mission) and an American Elder Pratt who had served in Thailand and was attending school at CCH. I wrote I was a bit homesick in the afternoon, but it went away as I concentrated on the language. </div> <bR> <div> June 16th was a Saturday, but we were not given P-day instead it was class as usual.</div> <bR> <div> June 17th was Sunday we had our regular meetings only this time there were palm trees out the windows. We had mastered a short testimony in Thai but I was still struggling with the tones.</div> <bR> <div> June 18th - Elder Pratt told me my testimony on Sunday was pretty good, but that I had missed some tones.  This made me feel pretty good for the day. I had an interview with the Presidency (according to my journal - but I can't remember that). Later that night Elder Pratt told me that on Saturday I spoke "Oriental like" but not Thai and he was worried, but on Sunday it sounded like Thai.</div> <bR> <div> June 19th - I guess we did our wash during the week since I wrote "I did my own wash for the first time and it did not turn out too bad". I wrote "everything here except the Aloha center is built so flimisily that it is amazing the wind does not blow it over.</div> <bR> <div> June 20th - Today we started to memorize the discussions in Thai. I wrote "today we had some fun in class as funny things always come up when trying to say words in a foreign language - what would my Sister say if she knew she was my PEE SOW? We had one hour activity periods - my group generally played soccer or tennis. I wrote "the language is starting to come alive as we can put together our own sentences". </div> <bR> <div> June 21st - It was this day that I learned in a letter from home that Dad had won that 750,000 construction job at Jordan High. I was so happy I cried - some of my district  thought perhaps a grand-parent had died. </div> <bR> <div> June 22nd - Summer solstice - the sun was almost directly overhead today. For some reason I wrote about 1 year ago when I went to West Virginia for the National Youth Science camp. My host family took me to their home in Charleston and the woman of the house kept asking me if I wanted a beer.  I finally had to tell her that I was a Mormon at which point she yelled to her husband "We've got a little Mormon staying with us tonight!" In Charleston they had a dance for the 100 guys at camp - they hauled in a group of local girls for the event - I wrote "most of the girls were Catholic - some were cute - most were not!"Two delegates one from Nevada and the other from South Carolina found us "the boys from Utah" and we made plans to hold sacrament meeting each week of the camp and to share the gospel. I did record that I talked to a shy delegate from Arizona about the church during a night in a tent while we were away from camp on a hike, and shared a copy of the Book of Mormon with a delegate from Florida.</div> <bR> <div> I recorded the following… Elder Platt told me that "there are no required tones in Japanese, but the grammar is 10 times harder"; adding "I was doing Ok with the Thai grammar".  To which I replied, "perhaps I should be going to Japan".  He responded "no because the Lord called you to Thailand for a reason."  I got a testimony of my call to Thailand later that week when the 2nd counselor in the LTM presidency spoke to us.</div> <bR> <div> There were only about 120 at the LTM in Hawaii (12 sisters). 60 were learning Japanese and the rest Korean, Cantonese (Hong Kong), Mandarin(Taiwan), Thai, and Samoan. We lived in what was a dormitory, 2 stories, rectangular shape with an inner courtyard, with classrooms mixed in with living quarters. We always left the door and the window open to stay cool. Sunday morning a storm blew in at 4:30AM and the wind shut all the doors at once waking everyone up!</div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B>Week #3 June 23 - July 1, 1973 - Asia Pacific Language Training Mission Laie, Hawaii</B></div> <bR> <div> The second week in Hawaii included the following:</div> <bR> <div> (1)     I struggled mightily in learning to pronounce the tones in the Thai language.  We had 3 instructors (1) Elder Platt (former Thai missionary), (2) Mongkol a native Thai who later would be my companion in Thailand (for a short 1 week), (he was a member of the next group of missionaries who came 2 months behind us) and Sauan another native Thai who was studying at the Church College of Hawaii.  I knew I was not getting the tones of the language, but Elder Platt encouraged me to keep trying. At one point I recorded the following… Elder Platt told me that "there are no required tones in Japanese, but the grammar is 10 times harder"; adding "I was doing Ok with the Thai grammar".  To which I replied, "perhaps I should be going to Japan".  He responded "no because the Lord called you to Thailand for a reason."  I got a testimony of my call to Thailand later that week when the 2nd counselor in the LTM presidency spoke to us.</div> <bR> <div> (2)     We had more "time off" than you do.  We studied on Saturday until 12:00 noon and then got the rest of the day off as "P-day".  We did not have a P-day the first Saturday, but did have one every week after that. That first P-day the Thai zone went on a hike up the hills behind campus (and the temple) and enjoyed watermelon while looking at the beautiful view below.  I recorded "this was the first time I'd seen the ocean since we arrived". Sort of like you remarking about "automobiles" on your way to the temple.  When we came back to campus Elder Sunan "the native Thai in our group of 12" showed us how to climb a coconut tree and dropped a few coconuts down to us. We also had an activity period each afternoon or perhaps every other day (I can't yet tell from my diary exactly what the schedule was).</div> <bR> <div> (3)     For some reason I realized that one year earlier I was at the National Youth Science Camp in West Virginia.  Since I had not recorded that experience in a journal I choose to do it along with the mission entry for each day.  When we arrived in Charleston we had a host family take care of us for one night. I recorded when Ms. Lewis realized that I was a Mormon she called to her husband "we have a little Mormon staying with us!" Two delegates from one from Nevada and the other from South Carolina found us "the boys from Utah" and we made plans to hold sacrament meeting each week of the camp and to share the gospel. I did record that I talked to a shy delegate from Arizona about the church during a night in a tent while we were away from camp on a hike, and shared a copy of the Book of Mormon with a delegate from Florida.</div> <bR> <div> (4)     There were only about 120 at the LTM in Hawaii (12 sisters). 60 were learning Japanese and the rest Korean, Cantonese, Mandarin, Thai, and Samoan. We lived in what was a dormitory, 2 stories, rectangular shape with an inner courtyard, with classrooms mixed in with living quarters. We always left the door and the window open to stay cool. Sunday morning a storm blew in at 4:30AM and the wind shut all the doors at once waking everyone up!</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Week # 4 - July 2 -8, 1973 - Asia Pacific Language Training Mission Laie, Hawaii</B></div> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="275" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 359 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="054ff4e0.jpg" border=0 width="255" height="334" ALT="Elder Sunan showed us how to climb the Palm tree in search of coconuts" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="5" VSPACE="5"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 44 WIDTH="263"><div> Elder Sunan shows his skills in climbing the palm tree for coconuts.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> It's only on Saturdays that we realize we are right by the ocean. During this week I continued to struggle with the spoken tones of the Thai language.  We were working on the 1st two concepts of the first missionary discussion.  I was doing OK at memorizing the phrases, but my tones were still not coming out very well.  We would have times to "pass off" sections with our instructors.  Elder Mongkol (one instructor) was anxious to see that we did our best. He said "if you can speak the language you can bring great blessings to the Thai people". My group spent the "standard 8 weeks" in Hawaii in language and culture training.  During this period our mission president stopped and visited with us on his was back to Thailand. He was working for the US government in Thailand when he was called to be the 1st president of the Thailand Bangkok mission.</div> <bR> <div> I also noted that we had a weekly cultural fireside.  In these firesides we were taught about the Thai culture and rules we should follow in Thailand.  One rule about not crossing our legs was instituted during class periods.  If we crossed our legs the instructors would remind us with a ruler that this behavior was not acceptable in Thailand.  The reason is that the feet are the lowest part of the body and that it's an insult to point your feet at another person.  Similarly since the head is the sacred part of the body you don't touch the head of another person.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B>Week #5 - July 9 - 16 - Asia Pacific Language Training Mission Laie, Hawaii</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> This week included the following:</div> <bR> <div> (1)     We went to the Hawaii temple for the 1st time that week.  The Hawaii temple is just as close to our dorm (LTM) on campus as the Provo temple is to the MTC.  I noted that our primary instructor Elder Pratt was the officiator at the temple.  I remarked that I could see why he was in Hawaii.  Here he can teach the new missionaries Thai, live right next to the ocean, and also work in the Hawaii temple.  He did all this while taking some classes at Church College of Hawaii (now BYU- Hawaii).  Now Church College of Hawaii did not have any rigorous academics going on; it was really to help Polynesian and some Asian church members to get prepared to go to a real University somewhere else.  Elder Pratt invited us all to his home one Sunday evening where he showed us slides from his mission; this was our "cultural fireside" for the week.  To get to his home on Laie point we had to walk about ¾ mile from the LTM (it was further to his home than to the temple).</div> <bR> <div> (2)     We started to make progress through memorizing the discussions in Thai our primary focus each day.  I noted that </div> <bR> <div> a.     We were learning the "newest" version of the discussions. It seems that the church revises them every 3,5,7 years.  Our instructor Elder Mongkol translated the discussions from English to Thai for us.  We were told that this would not be the "official" translation but it would be good enough.</div> <div> b.     Each evening we were to "pass off" what we had learned that day with one of our instructors.</div> <div> c.     Elder Mongkol had hoped we could complete 3 discussions before we left for Thailand; but since the new discussions are longer than the old one 3 may be too many (We actually finished only 2; however, even the native Thai in our group did not get that far!)</div> <div> d.     Missionaries who'd be leaving in the next week for Japan and Korea shared their testimonies at the LTM sacrament meeting.</div> <div> e.     I realized just how large the task of learning the language would be after we got to Thailand.  With just 2 of 7 discussions memorized there would be much to do to just complete that assignment; let alone learn more "conversational Thai".</div> <div> f.     We were progressing at the rate of 8 lines per hour!</div> <div> g.     We had the June-August group portrait taken. I noted this took us out of class for 75 minutes.</div> <div> h.     When passing off one day's memorization I missed 22 tones; but hey this was improving.</div> <div> i.     For names of the apostles we used their German pronunciations Pedro, Yakaboo, Yohan (Peter James John) and noted that this was true of other Asian languages </div> <div> j.     I noted that often around campus we'd see LDS tourists, and remarked at one point "some of them are attractive".  We ate in the Campus cafeteria so we'd there run into many visitors.</div> <div> k.     A Hawaiian women "sheared our hair" for $1.</div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B>Week #6 - July 17-23 - Asia Pacific Language Training Mission Laie, Hawaii</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> My 5th week at the LTM in Hawaii 25 years ago was all positive as I saw it at that time; but it should not have been so.  You see come the 5th week I was at the top of the class, yea, my tones were not yet perfect; but they had improved much.  As with you I was called as district leader for the 2nd ½ of the LTM experience and so now I start thinking I'm hot stuff!   We'll here's what was wrong with me:</div> <bR> <div> (1)     I had forgotten (so soon!) that it was the Lord that helped me find a way to speak the tones of the Thai language; and by the way there was more improvement required.</div> <div> (2)     Rather than be so cocky about how I was the first to complete passing off the 1st discussion; I should have focused more of my efforts to help the others.  I noted that Elder Humphries (from the farm in Enterprise Utah) was really struggling with memorization; we played tennis together during recreation periods and I noted that he beat me all the time (not sure what cow pasture he learned to play on?). Yes, I should have quit focusing so much on my progress and spent much more time trying to help the others.  I noted that mid-week much of the group was discouraged about completing the 1st discussion.</div> <div> (3)     I should have known that good as knowing the 1st discussion was; it would probably be a long time in Thailand before I actually had the chance to sit down with some one and give it to them.  Finding people to teach for most missionaries take up far more time than actually teaching the gospel.  This is where the spirit and an arsenal of tools really comes into play!</div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B>Week #7 - July 24-30 - Asia Pacific Language Training Mission Laie, Hawaii</B></div> <bR> <div> July 21-27, 1973 - On P-day we visited the Polynesian Cultural Center next door.  Here the church offers members attending BYU-Hawaii to earn income by being performers, cooks, tour guides etc. at a tourist attraction where the cultures of 7 south pacific islands are presented.  We visited the villages of the 7 islands and then ran back to the dorms (next door) to write letters etc.  At testimony meeting on Sunday we shared our feeling's on the experience so far. I wrote "I've found so much satisfaction in this work, more so than I ever imagined possible". I spoke about how I'd gotten over the first few hills with the language and expected more mountains to climb before the language was really solid. I said that when we get to Thailand we'll find we can't understand anyone.  Later one of the other's joking said - "We'll Elder Haslam if you can't understand anyone - just ask me!" Elder Welling a member of the group then got up and said how difficult the week had been for him.  He was injured in our soccer game on Friday - he had some bone spurs and a swollen foot. He added that he felt like he had not accomplished much during the week.   In leadership meeting Elder Mongkol pointed out that the native Thai in our group Elder Sunan had not yet completed the 1st discussion and his native tongue is Thai. We talked about what we could do to encourage him. Elder Mongkol suggested the problem was that Sunan was still so new to the gospel that some concepts were difficult for him. At Sacrament meeting the Thai zone was responsible for sacrament meeting. We give prayers in the language we'd been learning. Sunan gave the opening prayer. President Hill then got up and said "Isn't it amazing what Elder's can learn here in 5 short weeks?" I gave the closing prayer (in Thai) and I was so nervous that my tones all went bad. Elder Montgomery said "Ya know its funny what a microphone can do to a person's tones"! The Thai zone was split in two so to speek - those who had completed the first discussion and those who had not.  Some Elder's were upset by their situation. Elder Woodard was so unhappy he went off and studied on his own.  Part of this I guess is due to the fact that not all people learn in the same way.  He in fact had success on his own.</div> <bR> <div> A funny thing happened after lunch on Wednesday.  Elder Castleton my comp did not go to lunch as he wanted to study and sleep. When we got back from lunch he was sleeping. I shook him and said "It's time for class". He said "leave me alone" so I did. We went next door to class and started to sing the opening song for the afternoon. Elder Castleton comes running in without a shirt on and only his garments above the waist.  He runs to a seat and sits down before he realizes he's not dressed for class. On Thursday I got a letter from the Day family. It said that Steve (who was serving a mission in Germany) was going to have a baptism.  That was great. On Friday while waiting in line for dinner we met President Morris (unexpectedly).  I thought Mom had met them while they were in SLC.  Sister Morris opened her notebook and said "I'm supposed to tell Elder Haslam "Hi" so "Hi". President and Sister Morris were on their way back to Thailand to take charge of the mission. They had visited SLC to be instructed and set apart.  President Morris told Elder Mongkol to continue his translation of the new discussions.</div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B>Week #8 - July 31 - August 6 - Asia Pacific Language Training Mission  Laie, Hawaii</B></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="445" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 403 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="056aa8c0.jpg" border=0 width="426" height="396" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 60 WIDTH="433"><div> Someone in my district had fun during a break. Pictured is myself with the caption, "Yes i can do the first discussion in 7 min. 29.1 seconds (approximately).</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> As we approached the day to depart for Thailand my group found it difficult to maintain good study habits. Perhaps it was in part due to the fact that Mongkol had such high expectations for what we should achieve.  He believed we should all complete the 2nd discussion.  It was clear that most of the group would not make this goal.  That discouraged Mongkol and all of the Elders.</div> <bR> <div> On our P-day we had the opportunity to go to Honolulu to do some shopping.  In the morning we tried to progress into the 3rd concept of the 2nd discussion.  Many complained we were going too fast so Mongkol backed off reluctantly.  At noon we went to lunch and then boarded the bus.  It was fun to see some more of Hawaii.  We stopped at a Buddhist temple (Japanese style).  Our instructor Brother Sauan told us how the temples in Thailand would be different from this one.</div> <bR> <div> We went to the huge Alamoana Shopping center. I noted that we had a rude awakening to what the outside world was like - the way people dressed and all.  At McDonalds a Hawaiian gentleman came up to us and said, "you are Mormon Elders aren't you?" We said "yes". He then said, "Why don't you spend your time solving race relations in the US before going all over the world?" We pointed out that there were missionaries throughout the US and that if people would read and live by the Book of Mormon there would not be racial problems. We gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon. He said to him God was truth and justice and most people don't have much of either.  Hawaii is a real melting pot of races Hawaiian, Caucasian, Oriental, south sea islanders etc. We returned to Laie via Pearl Harbor and the central sugar cane and pineapple valley.  We got no more than to look at these sites from the bus.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="368" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 296 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="05b58220.jpg" border=0 width="344" height="290" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 40 WIDTH="356"><div> The Thailand district were the soccer champions at the LTM is Hawaii.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> On Sunday President Morris (new Thailand Mission President) spoke at our Priesthood Meeting.  He said he felt overwhelmed by his new assignment; but added that the Lord had prepared him with lots of experience in Asia including being an early missionary in Hong Kong in the 1950s. The district leaders met with President Hill (LTM President) and he asked what the presidency could do to help the work.  It seemed our group was close nit for 5 weeks, but since then the unity had fallen apart as at times the language and discussion memorization was too discouraging. Our zone talked about taking the "Thai Only" challenge for 3 days.  Elder Woodard said he felt like it had to be an individual decision and he wanted nothing to do with it!  At this point there were such bad feelings among the Thai group, mostly due to how each person felt they were doing with the language.  Brother Mongkol had been pushing us hard; probably too hard for many in the group and on Monday things were still tense. Speaking only Thai on Monday went pretty well except for Elder Woodard.  On Tuesday the Mission Presidency came and talked with our zone. One thing I wrote was "We know you Thai Elders feel kind of left out here at the Japanese Language Training mission. You seem to have proved yourselves by dominating the Japanese group on the soccer field. We also attended the temple for our last time on Tuesday afternoon. Tuesday Thai only was the best success ever. On Wednesday we realized that we had but one week to go.  Most felt like we were not ready. We also knew that the mission life we had known for 7 weeks would be very different shortly. I noted that my mind started to drift off to thinking about what Thailand would really be like. Friday was gamma globulin shot day. Everyone gets one of these except for the Japanese Elders.  The group joked all day about how big the needle was and the size of the dose.  Gamma globulin was used back then to lessen the seriousness of getting hepatitis.  The campus nurse who gave the shot has seen the butts of most missionaries going to Asia-Pacific. It was only 5cc; but that was enough.  In Thailand we got more shots every 4 months.  As far as language study was going everyone was discouraged.  Our teachers were discouraged.  Few of the missionaries seemed like they wanted to try anymore. I noted as district leader I prayed for 30 minutes about our plight.  After 30 minutes I felt ok again, yet I was not sure what to do. The next day things were much better.</div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B>Week #9 - August 7 - 11 - Asia Pacific Language Training Mission Laie, Hawaii, Arrival in Bangkok, Thailand</B></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="257" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 285 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="05eea170.jpg" border=0 width="234" height="279" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 38 WIDTH="245"><div> Elder Haslam on the lava rock at Laie Point.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> As we prepared to leave Hawaii I see that we had to clean our bedrooms and classroom. Perhaps like you we began to prepare to leave on our last P-day (Saturday) for our Wednesday departure.  We had a farewell dinner out at Elder Platt's home on Laie point by the ocean. Elder Platt asked me where I thought I'd be sent. I said I don't know, wherever it should be OK. He told me he liked Khon Kaen.</div> <bR> <div> I noted that on our final Sunday the teachers complemented us on our testimonies in Thai. They said we'd done better than many groups. Wow this little bit of compliment helped the whole group feel better about our work over the past 7 ½ weeks. They also taught us a "door approach", but it left me asking "the average Thai person is Buddhist, how is he going to relate to this message?" I noted that the LTM mission president told us at a meeting of departing missionaries on Tuesday that we'd all experience culture shock and that we should not be worried by it but just work to overcome it". He added, "look for one or two words you don't know rather than try to remember ALL the words you don't know! Learn from their culture more than try to change it and Love the people or you cannot teach them." I noted that many in my group seemed a bit worried; but me the usual worry wart was not worried much at all.  I knew that what ever happened the Lord would be with me. On the day before departure we had a sunrise testimony meeting at Laie point.  We saw the sun come up over the ocean. I noted the testimonies we Ok as we all had other things on our minds. We saw our first Thai letters the night before we departed. I commented at that time "you need to sing to speak the language and draw to write it." A professor of Asian religions and former LTM president spoke to us on two consecutive nights.  On the second night he said "Shintoism has 3 symbols that are similar to the breastplate, urim and thumbum and sword of Laban from Mormonism.  He said there was some record from 34 AD where Christ may have appeared in Japan. His said you do find the cross in the iconography of Japan. His conclusion is that Israel was scattered into the far East. My summary feelings about the Language Training was that it was more enjoyable that I expected!</div> <bR> <div> We took a 747 from Honolulu. It was Pan Am Flight number 2 (flight 1 went around the world west to east while flight 2 did the same in the reverse. First stop was Tokyo. On the way I spoke with "a cute girl about my age" who was going to Japan to work for her church as an English teacher in northern Japan. I loved the 747 it was big an roomy. I noted we missed a visit of Gordon B. Hinkley to Laie Hawaii by 4 days. He was coming to dedicate a new Japanese section to the Laie temple visitor's center. I saw the inside of Tokyo airport for 1½ hours as we waited for the next leg of the trip to Hong Kong. Some people came up to us and recognized we were Mormon missionaries. One was a member from Taiwan the other was a member of the armed services. I guess you can spot a Mormon missionary from 100 yards. As we left Tokyo I wrote, "it seems like we are now entering a strange part of the world". In Hong Kong I noted the city lights were beautiful. It wasn't till the trip back home when we stopped in Hong Kong for a day that I found just how beautiful Hong Kong harbor is.</div> <bR> <div> There was no one there to meet us at Bangkok's Don Muang airport.  Sunan found a phone number by calling information as he could not locate it in a phone book. We got to bed at a hotel at about 2am and arose at about 9-10am.  We were then shipped off on temporary assignments around Bangkok.  I was sent to Samsen (a northern suburb of Bangkok). Elder Patterson took me tracting and then it hit me! Culture Shock! Mansions and dumps on the same street side by side. I found people selling food on every street corner that looked more like garbage than food, The sights and smells put me into real cultural shock. I did a door asking, "Is the man of the house home?" The answer came so fast I did not know what was said. Fortunately my companion did.  Back to our temporary residence those of us who arrived at midnight went to bed early 7pm. </div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>