May 7, 2017
Hey All!
It's great to hear that
the weather is improving back at home! As for here, It's still pretty hot, but
I think we are about to move into the rainy season, which will be an….interesting
change. A summer back home sounds awesome, I'd love to be able to swim, but for
the moment I think I'll have to just bide my time.
So as for transfers, I
have been moved from Bangkapi to Samuprakan, which is essentially the
"armpit of Bangkok" It doesn't have to much going for it except for
the Crocodile farm that they have here, so I'll probably have tons of pictures
from that! I was sad to go because I had a couple of investigators who were
progressing really well, and I got pretty close with them, but I guess I'll
have to get acquainted with a new area. My companion is Elder Duke, a very
quiet, but hard working missionary. We are in a two elder house, so I think it
is going to be a pretty silent transfer.
I heard that Tyler was
going to serve in Florida! I'm sad that he's not coming to serve out here, but
hey, at least he gets to see all of the crazy people there. I'll have to send
him some Thailand Ties, so that he could show up to the MTC in style!
That's awesome to hear
that Jace is about to get the priesthood! Tell me how his first time passing
the sacrament goes!
It was great emailing
you! I'll try to attach the few videos and pictures that I have of this week,
but the internet connection here is soooo slooowwww. But I'll do my best!
Talk to you next week
(literally)
Sincerely
Elder Latimer
More: So this transfer I moved,
which is sad because 1. I loved Bangkapi, 2. The Members (both missionaries and
church goers) were awesome and 3. because I had 3 or so investigators who were
progressing, so it's sad that I won't be able to see how they progress. I am
now serving in Samuprakan which is essentially the "Detroit of
Thailand" (I told Dad it was the "armpit of Bangkok" but I'm
trying to go for diversity in my emails). It only has about 20 members who go
to church weekly, and I haven't really had a chance to talk with them yet, so
I'll have to learn what I can about them throughout the week. My companion is
Elder Duke, who is a fairly quiet man, but he is willing to work hard, so it'll
be an interesting transfer.
Okay,
so for two stories
While I was packing, I
accidentally let a bird in and we quickly became best friends, so that
sidetracked me for a good while, and I have a couple of videos.
and also, when we were
having P-Day on monday (no one told us it had been changed to wednesday) We
managed to run in to the Asoke Elders, and AP's while we were in our street
clothes about to go Ice Skating! It was a bit awkward, but, our DL just stepped
down from AP so the other AP's were pretty chill about it.
Also the Apartment was
dirty because I had to pack up all my stuff, and now I do have a sheet, so no
worries.
Even More: All right to answer the questions in order, The
people in Thailand are generally pretty cool, but it depends on the area you're
in. Right now I'm not too sure how the people are in Samutprakan are, mainly
because there aren't a ton to talk to. That is pretty much raw sewage and
you'll see it everywhere here in Samutprakan, because it is pretty much a
ghetto like area (with a crocodile farm though). As for the foot of water, it
rained for a little bit, and since Thailand is terrible at adapting to weather,
the roads flood frequently, which is both kind of disgusting and inconvenient
since I'll have to walk through it during the rainy season. My comp is Elder
Duke from Arizona, and he's been out for a year and six months. He's a bit
quiet though, so I am starting to speak a lot more which should help me improve
my language out in country!
I think I'm going to be
calling you sometime at 9 or 10 in the morning here, which will be like 8 or 9
PM in washington, I thnik...
So I'll look forward to
that! I need to find a computer Cafe with good cameras though so that I can
skype!
May 24, 2017
Hey, so
today's P-day was changed to Thursday because we have Elder Cook coming to
visit us. So I'll have to tell you about that in my next email. Well, not too
much interesting has happened this week, we did a lot of LA finding and did not
have too much success. So as of the moment, I do not have any exciting finding
stories. haha Sorry!
But good news is, the
ties that I got cut, (the ones that I've been waiting on since Christmas) have
finally arrived, and they look sweet! So I'll be giving one to Josh, Jake, Dad,
Bishop, and Tyler (Tell Jonathan and Jace that I'm sorry, but the lady didn't
cut two small ones like I requested, I'll get them some before I leave though).
I'll be sending my "Christmas Package" back as soon as I get Josh's
watch!
Sorry that I got to
emailing a little late it rained a little bit (please note that I am not using
sarcasm) and all of the streets flooded so there was tons of traffic. Road work
was never one of Thailand's strongest features.
Well as for stories, I
jumped off of a moving bus, because the driving refused to stop, and I would
have left my companion behind, and I tried talking to some Thai Lady who at the
time I thought was talking to me from inside of the house, but it turns out I
was actually talking to her pet bird. So that was also a bit of an experience.
I'll try to send some pictures from this week, but as of right now, I have to
de-virus all of my stuff (hard drive, S.D Card) I'll write a second Email
though!
Talk to you again in
like 20 minutes!
- Elder Latimer
Hey
Dad!
It's okay. DC sounds
amazing! be sure to tell me about in your next email! I don't have too much
time at the moment!
I'm excited to hear
Elder Cook today! I'll be sure to take notes and relay them back to you.
I wish you the best and
I promise I will write you more in my next letter, but my time is about to
expire!
Talk to you on Wednesday!
May 30, 2017
Hey All!
Elder Cook did come to
our mission already (this last Monday) and it was great! He talked about the
importance of temples and about teaching short, but spiritually filled lessons.
It was great! He talked to the members as well in another conference that I got
to go to. In that one, he talked about temples as well and focused on the
importance of getting a temple recommend even if you can't go to the temple at
this time, which I think really helped the members.
The lake sounds as good
as ever and I'm jealous that you guys go to go up there this week!
It's always interesting
hearing about your work! I may not understand it all, but I appreciate all of
the work and foresight that goes into it! Please keep me up to date on how
things go! I love hearing about this kind of stuff!
That sounds like an
awesome subject! I'm going to read the talk after I email you! And Please send
my your talk when you are done with it.
It was great hearing
from you, I wish you the best
- Elder Latimer
More: The visit with
elder Cook was awesome! All the missionaries came down as well, so I got to see
my mission Dad Elder Smith, which was awesome! I wish I got to spend more time
serving around him, because he is a super awesome guy! I also got to see Collin
Decker! He seems to be doing way good! Overall the conference
was great! We mostly
talked
about the importance of temples in our visit, and a little bit about how
sacrifice brings about blessings. We also had a member meeting which I got to
go to, and he talked mostly about the same thing. Something that I really liked
was that he talked of the importance of having a temple recommend, even if we
could not go to the temple at the moment. I really liked it because a lot of
Thai people are kind of lazy, so they'll put off doing something if they don't
have to do it. So I feel like this will help them know that a Temple recommend
is essentially something that helps keep you worthy. The zone conference was
also nice! I got to talk with everybody back in Bangkapi and my old companion
Elder Man told me that 3 of our investigators got baptized! So I'm excited that
I get to call them now!
That's great that you
guys where able to have fun at the lake! I can't wait till I'm able to go hang
out up there! I miss it a ton, especially now that I can't swim to cool off!
It's crazy that Jonathan
is already starting Drivers Ed! I can't wait to see him cruising around by the
time that I get back! And it sucks that Jace has gotten sucked in with
Microtransactions! The sad thing about those is that they generally target
people who aren't patient enough to earn money in the game (usually kids or
rich adults). Be sure to keep him away from GTA online!
I'll try and send you a
full length picture next week, because right now, I'm in casual clothes! But
what color suit should I pose in? Black, Blue, Grey, or light grey? and what
Tie should I wear to correspond with their wedding colors?
Let me know and I'll
have it to you by next week!
June 6, 2017
Hey All!
Everything is going
pretty okay this week. Elder Duke and I got 3 new investigators (which is below
the standard of excellence in the mission, but outstanding for samutbrakan) I'm
glad that those other investigators I was teaching got baptized, because now I
get to call them on P-days!
That's great to hear
that you made the paper! Did you have a talk written out? If so, I'd love to
read it!
It sounds like a lot of
things are happening back at home, Josh is getting married, Jake's dating,
Jonathan is driving, and Jace is, well... Jace. Haha Just kidding, Jace is just
about to enter into middle school which is exciting! And Tyler is going on his
mission as soon as everyone else comes back from theirs! Everything seems to be
going great! Well, I have a package that I am going to get sending as soon as I
get something for Lettie, and tell Josh that I say sorry, but I couldn't get
his Rolex in time to send it with the rest of the package, but I'll be
going back down to Bangkok city again soon enough, so I'll stop by the watch
guy next time I get a chance! But the Ties I am sending to You, Josh, Jake,
Tyler and Bishop (I couldn't send them to Jonathan and Jace because they are
much too long) look awesome, I was wearing one last zone conference if you're
wondering what it looks like! And I'll be on the look out for an Elder Morgan
from Brier!
It was great hearing
from you, I'll be sending you and mom stories soon in a later email!
Until then, talk to you
next week!
