January 1, 2017
Hey [Everyone],
I did get transferred (sadly, Kumpawapi was awesome) I don't
know too much about the area yet, but the church is a lot bigger. (For
reference, you could fit 5 Kumpawapi churches in it)! I do have a lot of cool
stuff to do in Bangkok though, but I'll wait to send those back as pictures in
a couple of weeks once I get them done (I can't go right now because my comp
lost his work visa)
It's a lot better in Bangkok (from a language standpoint) in
that people here speak a lot clearer, and it's easier to talk with the members
(since there are a lot more of them). I was in a rut before because I could
only understand a few people from Kumpawapi, but now I understand most everyone
in Bangkok which is awesome!
It's sad to hear that the Huskies lost, but hey, there's
always next year!
I hope Josh and Lettie are doing great, and tell me how the
music tour (in Nashville) goes!
In Thailand, they celebrate the Christian and Buddhist New Year,
and they usually have huge parties going on late at night so the missionaries
had to be in residence at 8:00 pm.
It's awesome that Nana has turned 80! She is now 4x older
than me! I'll be sure to write her! Sorry if I didn't right much in this email,
but the one that I sent mom addresses most of the subjects you wrote me, so
hopefully that helps!
Happy New Years!
- Elder Latimer
January 8, 2016
Hey All,
Everything is going well in my new area! The pace has gone
up a little bit, mainly because there is more to do here. But we still don't
really have investigators. We have some new recent converts though, which is
nice.
My companion is Elder Whitaker. I think he's been out for
about 6 transfers.
The wedding reception sounds like a lot of fun, it's crazy
to hear how many people getting married right now.
(NCAA) Football [Hall of Fame] sounds like a lot of fun, but
I'd be interested to visit the MLK museum at some point. I heard about Collin
Decker’s area when I was in the main offices in Asoke. I think he's in Surine,
which has a ton of elephants everywhere. It sounds like an awesome area to
serve in!
I hope everything goes well with Josh and Lettie!
Tell Jace to get better, and I hope you continue to stay
healthy!
Best of luck
- Elder Latimer
January 15, 2017
Hey [Everyone],
Don't worry about writing a little later, Usually I'm not on
till 9, but today My district is leaving to go visit an ancient city, which is
a long whiles away so I had to get up a little earlier than usual.
Glad to hear that things are getting back to normal at home,
but it is sad that all the fun has come to an end, and I'm glad to hear that
Jace is doing better.
Glad to hear that you are putting in work to get healthier!
And I'm especially glad to hear that you've already seen some results! I hope
it keeps up.
I've seen some of the crazy things happening in America from
reading the Thai Newspapers at our local food vendor places. One thing I hate
about American news is that everyone gets upset over everything, and usually
that will make the new headlines, even though it's not exactly relevant
news.
Hope I'll have some interesting stories to tell you and mom
next week.
I want to send pics, but I don't have an SD card yet. I
wrote mom to have her send me one.
Wish you the best,
- Elder Latimer
January 22, 2017
Hey [All]!
Things are going pretty well this week. Right now I don't
have everything planned for P-day, which kind of sucks, but I'm hoping to
travel down to the bigger city in Asoke to buy some more suit/tie fabrics and
get a few suits cut so that I could pick them up next transfer. Our zone is
actually the last one to get visited, so you may have to wait until the first
of February to see pics, but the good news is we have Zone Conferences every
transfer now, so you'll get new ones every month!
Last P-Day we actually went to the ancient city of Ayuhtaya
(check for spelling, I don't know how to spell it in romanized...) and it was
super cool. I actually was able to borrow a card reader today, so I'll have
tons of pictures to send! The area was super cool, and definitely a place I
would want to take the family if we ever came back here to vacation. They had
tons of cool ruins, and even a place to ride an elephant/get pictures with a
tiger (unfortunately I didn't do either, it's a bit of a touristy place so it
was super expensive). But there were tons of amazing things to see.
It's great to see that Noelle is still a lasting thing! I
was afraid it was only going to be going on for a few months! It seems like a
lot of fun!
Escape rooms are a ton of fun! I have never been in one, but
I've heard of them from a few people and it sounds like a blast! And I do
believe that I know Warren Fitch from the play. Tell him I said Hi!
That's great to hear that Jace will most likely be getting
better soon, wish him luck from me!
Be sure to tell me how your visit with Lettie goes! I'm glad
to hear that her and Josh are still going strong! Be sure to tell me when they
get engaged, I already promised Josh that I would buy him a suit if he got
married while I was away!
I heard about Trump, I'm kind of sad that I'm going to be
away to miss all the headlines over the next 2 years, but ah well. It'll be fun
to see how this plays out!
Thanks for all the extra money, and thanks a ton for the
package that your sending over!
As for stories, I've found out how to tie a monk robe, so I
have pictures of that being sent over. I have also started a fun game in which,
I see how long my Comp can keep up a conversation with himself without me
talking. so there's that
I'll try to think of some other stories as I email but until
then,
See you later
- Elder Latimer
January 30, 2017
Hey Everyone:
I read mom's email and it looked like your week in Boise was
a lot of fun! I'm glad to hear that Lettie and Josh are getting along really
well. Mom sent me the picture of you with the cow (I couldn't view the video
though for whatever reason). It looked like a ton of fun, and a bit of a hassle!
I saw the pictures from the snow festival as well, and it looks like a great
event to go to.
The work is still going slow despite being in Bangkok,
mostly because my comp and I are about an hour away from the church and the
other missionaries. So everyone we talk to either ends up learning from them,
or going over to learn at the other church in Minburi, so we still do a ton of
inviting.
Conversationally, I'm doing great at the language, I pretty much have
tones down, but I still have to work on my pronunciation to make my speech
clearer. In lessons however, I still have a bit of trouble. I haven't had too
much opportunity to teach lessons yet since we had no investigators in
Kumpawapi, and here in Bankabi as well. But recently I had the opportunity to
go on a switch of with the District Leader here, and he gave me the chance to
touch on each point in our lessons that day, so I got to get a feel for what I
needed to improve on!
Zone conference just passed by (which why I'm emailing on a
Tuesday). It was great and I learned a lot! I wrote mom about some of the stuff
that happened this week! It was great to write to you. Hope you and Mom had a
safe flight back home, and talk to you next week!
Sincerely
- Elder Latimer
February 5, 2017
Hey Everyone!
Sorry I don't have much to respond, but I sent an email to
Mom that goes over a bit!
It's crazy to think that the super bowl is going down right
now on a Monday morning here in Thailand.
I hope Physical Therapy goes well for you! I had some neck
problems at the beginning of my mission and it was the worst! So hopefully you
don't have to go through that much longer!
We still don't have many investigators, but that is mainly
because we are located in a bit of a weird area. We're about an hour away from
the other Elders and Sisters in Bangkapi, so most of the people we contact end
up learning with them, or they'll end up learning in a different area. We've
already given away 4 investigators who have gotten baptized! It's great that
they got baptized, but a bummer because we still have to contact a ton to pick
up new investigators! My areas pretty cool in that we are close to a lot of the
big attractions in Bangkok (by close I mean we'd be able to go there for a
p-day), which means we could do some pretty cool stuff. I'm still trying to get
the elders here to go with me to the Crocodile farm, to get some cool pictures
shot.
Sorry that's about all I can write at the moment, but I wish
you the best!
Talk to you next week
- Elder Latimer
Last week, my district and I had the pleasure to visit a few museums. They were both super cool. One of them had a lot of treasures from the royal family on display (Golden thrones, boats, jewelry, amazing silk stitched art pieces, etc.) The building in which it was held was beautiful as well. The inside was designed to look like the cathedrals, and basilicas found in Italy. It was amazing to go see, but unfortunately, cameras were no allowed, so I couldn't take a lot of pictures, but it is a place to definitely go visit if I come back to visit Thailand! It's called Anatasira Palace and art of Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall, so hopefully you can look it up online and find some pictures!
Coincidentally enough, I am getting suits cut today, for
P-Day! Which reminds me tell Josh to get himself measured! If he can get those
send over to me, I can get him a tuxedo cut here and send it over before the
wedding! But that's great to hear that everything is going great with him and
Lettie! It's sad that I'm not going to be there to see it, but I'll be there in
spirit!
February 12, 2017
Hey [All],
We did have transfers last week and me and Elder Whitaker
are still in Bangkapi. I believe that the zone we are in is the Bangkok East
zone.
Haha. That's funny to hear about the lake platform!
Hopefully it wasn't too much of a hassle to deal with! And Mom told me about
Best of the NW, it sounded like a ton of fun! It sounded like it had some good
talks as well.
Skiing sounds like a blast! I'd love to go back once I
return from my mission. It'd be a nice contrast in terms of weather and
recreational activities! Tell Josh and Jake I said hi!
For the first time since I've come to Bangkapi, we finally
have regular investigators (Three at the moment). First we have Brother Doi (or
Joy, he goes by both), and he has been an investigator for about a 2 months
now. He is actually an employee of one of the members in our ward, and while he
was a bit reluctant at first, he's finally accepted a baptismal date for the
27th. Our next investigator is Sister Noon, who has been an investigator for
about 4 transfers. She's really nice and really loves learning with the
missionaries, but the only problem she has right now is that she still lives
with her boyfriend. But other than that, she is amazing! Our last investigator
is a Cab driver named Gan. We ran across his number randomly while slimming
down our phones contacts (we used to have around 500, but now we're down to
about 90), and so we called him up, and his was super interested in learning
the gospel. We've taught him about three times, and he seems excited each time
we meet with him. He's super good and will probably end up getting baptized
this transfer!
That's great to hear about Josh! Wish him the best for me!
It was great to email you! Hope you continue to do well!
Cordially
- Elder Latimer
PS. and as for a missionary story, last night all the new
missionaries in our area (We had transfers a few days ago, and three
missionaries from other areas came in to Bangkapi) went to go eat dinner with พ่อแม a couple who
commonly has the missionaries for dinner. The food they make is amazing, and
they're also really good with coming up with ideas for P-day with the
missionaries. Today they're taking us to China town in Asoke, which has tons of
fabrics from all over the world (I'll probably buy another suits worth) as well
as a whole bunch of cool counterfeit stuff which is always fun to pass by.
After that, we're going to an older village with some kind of famous puppet
show, which is supposed to be really cool, so I'll update you on that!
February 19, 2017
Hey All!
Things are definitely either flying by, or dragging on haha!
It is awesome to serve in Thailand though. There's always something to do which
is great! And we as of now, we have three people preparing for baptism! All
three of them were scheduled for the 26th but only one of them is able to at
the time (one failed the interview, and the other one has some mental problems)
but the other two are still committed to baptism, so we still have that to look
forward too!
That's great to hear about Josh and Lettie! Wish them the
best for me! I know I probably won't be able to attend the wedding, but it's
great to hear that it's going to happen!
Mom told me about your ski trip last week (I think you did
as well) and it sounds like a ton of fun for everyone! I'd love to go sometime
when I get back! And Mexico also sounds like a ton of fun (especially since
Jake can now speak the language). I'm excited to see how it turns out! Have you
and Mom decided whether or not you are coming to Thailand to pick me up, or
whether I'd be flying home? It'd be a ton of fun to plan a mini vacation up
here, even if it's just for a week. I've been slowly keeping note of all the
fun tourist activities that could be done here!
I heard about the new house renovations and it sounds really
nice (and expensive)! I have not had the privilege to serve around Collin yet,
but I have seen his picture on the wall of missionaries in the mission office.
Last I checked (Friday during interviews with President Johnson) he is
currently serving in Sagonakhan, which is the place in Thailand where everyone
eats dog, cat, bugs etc. So I'm sure he has a ton of awesome experiences ahead
of him! And from what I've heard from the group below me, he's super good at
speaking Thai, so I can't wait to see where he's at when I finally see him!
Thanks to You and Mom for sending out that care package! I
can't wait!
It was great talking to you! I've sent pictures to Mom
already with the pictures I took at the Crocodile far last P-day!
Miss you lots
Love
- Elder Latimer
