Transferred to Samut Pakran!

Elder Landon J Watkins Week 46

Week One in Samut Prakan

Monday, April 28, 2014

Hey Everyone!

Well it is official, I'm out of Nongkhai as you guys knew I was moving and I am in Samut Prakan which is south of Bangkok. I think it is the farthest area south in the mission that has missionaries since we don't have any in the south of Thailand. It is just as busy and crazy as Bangkok just not "considered the heart" of Bangkok is all, but it is nuts! We don't ever ride bikes here so that is kind of nice since it is the hot season. We ride buses, vans, and trucks everywhere we go; it is pretty cool! My new companion is Elder Wheeler. He is about 5 months ahead of me in the mission. He has been here for just one transfer before me so he is very familiar with the area.

 

Elder Watkins and his companion Elder Wheeler

Transfers were way fun, I got to see Elder Unsworth, Crump, Batey, Vandenberghe and all the friends I've made in the mission so far. I didn't get Elder Unsworth for my companion again; so that was too bad, but what can you do. That is really it for Transfers meeting except that new news is that this will be the last 9 week transfer. So starting next transfer we will be going back to 6 weeks transfers so that is exciting, I've never had one of those. I feel like the 9 week transfers cruise by so I don't even want to know how fast these 6 weeks will go by!

As for this last week nothing really happened! On Tuesday we spent all day really prepping to go down to Bangkok. Then we had English class and got on the bus and got into Bangkok at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. We took our stuff to the church in Pak Kret and showered at Elder Unsworths house which was way awesome! We went to Asoke where the mission office is and did some stuff for my companion to finish up his mission and then we went bowling for 2 hours. I went with all the Thais that were finishing their mission so that was interesting. I was the only white guy with a bunch of Thais ha-ha! But I got a turkey and it was way awesome as you can see from the score card I put up! Wednesday night we just went back to Pak Kret and I actually switched off companions and was in a tri with Elder Unsworth and his companion that was way fun so we slept there.

 

Elder Watkins is Lupe on the bottom

Thursday was transfers then Friday was my first day in the area. We taught a couple of investigators and went to the church and taught the Book of Mormon class. The members here are way awesome and I'm already way good friends with 4 kids; Brother Won and Baa who are both recent converts. And Sister Mai and Sis Min. They are way funny and just cool people! They help us teach and invite all the time it is so sweet. It is funny though because Brother Gang told everyone here to take care of me so all these members are just like saying, Brother Gang said you are awesome and so it has made getting to know the members super easy! 

 

Sister Sooy's Baptism

Saturday we were at the church all day for an end of the year seminary activity that we helped with so that was a long day at the church, but really good. On Sunday we had a baptism that was way cool I only helped to teach her once before she got baptized, but her name is Sister Sooy! She is like 40 years old and I think she is really nice. I honestly don't know much about her, but I'll try and send you some pictures! We did a bunch of inviting yesterday and that was it! 

Today we are going to Asoke to the office to get some supplies from there and go do some shopping so that should be fun! Hope you all have a great week, love you all!

Love,

Landon

Songran, Scorpions, and Transfer News!

Elder Landon J Watkins Week 45

Week Eighteen in Nong Khai

Monday, April 21, 2014

Hey Everyone!

Breaking news! We just went and grabbed some Indian food for lunch (which was way good by the way) and the Zone Leaders called. I'm moving from Nong Khai! Exciting news! I am going to have a new companion and a new area! Who knows if I will be the senior companion now as I'm getting a bit older in the mission? I'm excited Elder Unsworth isn't moving, but his companion is so we are trying to see if I can't go be his final companion! That would be the funniest thing ever if that happened, for sure! We will see what goes on! Ha-ha I hate transfers though; I'm so excited and nervous. It is unreal, so just hope for the best! 

Anyways, it sounds like you guys kind of already know about the whole Water festival-Songkran thing. It is pretty crazy! We first went and ate some lunch before we started playing because it really doesn't start until around 11 because they have to get prepared all morning. So we went and played with some members at one house then moved to another place where we met up with Brother Gang. It was at a members’ breakfast place which we eat at all the time (which was way tasty). We ate it this morning ha-ha. We played there for a bit and got bored so we went and walked through like the whole town just throwing water on everyone!!! It is crazy sometimes because they will put ice in the water and it is just freezing, but it was still pretty fun! Tuesday we tried to do some work, but it was just ridiculous how many people were just still playing water. We tried to do some stuff, but got soaked. We finally gave up and went and ate lunch with some members. Then we went to a members house and played again pretty fun! We had to be home at 6 every night though for curfew so on Monday night we ordered KFC to the house and Pizza Company on Tuesday.

 

As far as everything else goes nothing really happened too much. We have our investigator Buba who is way awesome she just can't come to church until next month, but she has learned nearly everything and just needs to come to church and get baptized. So that will be a nice baptism for the new elders that come! She really is our only super, serious investigator; no one else is doing anything special right now. We did have Sam who was way good, but we sent him off to Udorn because he said it was more convenient for him to learn there!

So as far as those scorpions you see they are real! In the sink where we brush our teeth (which is outside like in the back of our house) so we walked out there and the next thing you know we see these two scorpions and we were way freaked out; we were like are these supposed to be in our house!? Oh yeah and we found a frog in our house Monday night too; that was funny! But, anyways we are like these are probably pretty rare to see so we decided to catch them. After we caught them in Tupperware we stuck alcohol patches inside them to kill them. Then we stuck them in the freezer to freeze them so we could take pictures of them! It was kind of a cool little story!

This week at church we had 65 people which was pretty good since our last few weeks attendance has been way down. So it jumped back up which was awesome! Winay came to church but he bolted right after sacrament meeting. We were going to try and teach him everything so next time he came to church he could be baptized. Since yesterday was Easter the sisters made chocolate chip cookies, funeral potatoes, ham, chicken, and rolls for us it was pretty decent, but not as good as the mashed potatoes I made for the members on Saturday! A member here just loves potatoes and I was like I'll make some cheesy mashed potatoes (I knew I could probably figure it out)! So on Saturday for lunch I made them and we ordered KFC; it was soooooo good! There were some lumps (by the way Mom I mashed them with a pestle and mortar type of deal) ha-ha! But they turned out good and on Sunday that members ate them again because there were some leftovers! So looks like I can make one of my favorite foods, pretty decent on the other side of the world!

That's all I have though for you guys. Love you so much, thanks for your support! I'll let you know what happens with transfers!!

Love,

Landon

Songkran Festival or Water Festival

The Songkran festival is celebrated in Thailand as the traditional New Year's Day. Here is an interesting fact...it is the year 2557 in Thailand.

Elder Landon J Watkins Week 44

Week Seventeen in Nong Khai

Monday, April 14, 2014

Hey Everyone!

I'm still just postin up in Nongkhai these days, not much has changed really except the weather is way hot right now. We are hitting close to the peak of the hot season now and it is the Songkran Festival or the water festival. Luckily since this is a smaller place it isn't as wild and played as many days. Just yesterday, today, and tomorrow it will be played here. We have a curfew and we have to be inside our houses at 6 p.m. during it. We just switched around out studies. So yesterday we were lucky to get to the church before they all started playing so we had no problems getting wet then. We watched two sessions of conference which were way good and relaxing. Conference just seemed to fly by and was a good rejuvenation for our spirits. I really loved Holland’s talk it was cool. He shared such a powerful testimony at the end. I also liked Uchtdorf's and Eyring's in the Priesthood session. I liked Eyring's because he referenced baseball so much and I was able to relate and stay interested! I also liked Elder Perry’s talk and also the guy with the Brazilian accent in afternoon session of Sunday (I can't remember his name). It was just a way good conference. After conference ended people were just playing water festival like crazy so we were just hiding in the church. I didn't know how to get home because I didn't want to get my suit all wet. Luckily Brother Bang came to church here and his dad came up from Udorn to pick him up so Brother Gang’s dad took us straight to our house so we wouldn't get wet. I changed out of my suit into other church clothes that can get wet, but I didn't want to get them wet though. We were so close to sneaking all the way back to the church without getting wet, but there were just two random little kids hanging out. They were about to soak my companion and my companions says to them; Hey don't do it to me, do it to the white guys and I’m just like…What, I can’t believe you would tell them to get me…so they just soaked me! We just hung out at the church with members and had some activities. On the way home we were almost home again and as were sneaking home I was staying way back so they wouldn't know I was coming and hopefully soak my companion first and he goes through and the guy just completely leave him alone and I try to sneak by a few seconds after and the kid is just camping out like a little noob waiting for me and just dumps a whole huge bucket of water over me. Luckily we were almost home so I just went home and took off all my clothes and dried off like I had just had a shower. After that we were just stuck in the house the rest of the night because of the curfew. 

I pictured Landon getting soaked like this on his bike!!!

So today we are going to play some Songkran after we finish emailing. As of right now I think we will be going to our buddies little restaurant down the street that is where all the members will be. After that we will just wander around and play I think. Our new investigator said she will give us free sticky rice and mangos today if we go to her house so we will be heading over there for sure.

So onto our new investigator that we got this week. She is actually a friend of one of my recent converts Ice, if you guys remember she is the second person I helped get baptized here in Nongkhai. Her friend is here in Nongkhai visiting her family but lives in Bangkok. I think the new investigator name is Ann, but she will be going back to Bangkok so we will end up handing her off to some other missionaries! Maybe that is where I will move if I get transferred so I can keep teaching her ha-ha, who knows. Oh also Ice and Taew the two friends and recent convert of mine are also planning on moving to Bangkok to find work since they are just bored her in Nongkhai. 

As far as everyone else goes this week it has not been very good because of the Songkran Festival. Everyone seemed not to be free and too busy to meet. No investigators came to conference and no one is free until Wednesday.

As far as our investigators go though, Sam we are going to probably hand over to the Udorn Elders because he is down there more and said it would be easier for him to learn so we will be giving him to the ZL's which will be an easy baptism for them since he just really has to be interviewed for baptized.

Winay and his two kids are okay. We may try and baptize his two kids next week since they want to get baptized way bad. 

Transfers are next week we don't really know anything about it yet, but since my companion is finishing his mission we will probably be going down to Bangkok a day early. Yeah and if you were wondering my companion is way trunky and just wants to go home and won't do anything ha-ha so wish me luck this week, for real! He is good though I still love him, he is a boss! I have learned a ton from him!

Anyways, love you all! Have a great week!

Love,

Landon

Four new Investigators and 218 Baptisms in the Mission!

Elder Landon J Watkins Week 43

Week Sixteen in Nong Khai

Monday, April 07, 2014

What is up everybody?

This transfer is just flying by, Like to start off with that I mean transfers are in just 2 1/2 weeks already and I feel like last transfer just ended! This week on Saturday I will be into the double digits I will hit my 10 month mark, pretty good! That means about 15 more months…not too bad! I'll start off this week with 2 announcements!

First! The Thailand Bangkok Mission has broken the record for the most baptism in a month for the Asia Area with.......... 218 baptism in what they called March Madness!! WOOOOOOOO Pretty sweet! Lets gooo!

Second, President Kanankam or however you spell his name who is President Seniors first counselor has been call to the Asia Area Quorum of the Seventy. The very first 70’s from Thailand, how sweet is that!? Thailand is just booming these days, it is way cool!

Anyways, I'll start off with all our investigators this week. First with Winay and his two kids Baam and Baahm; Winay didn't come to church again because he had to work, but his two kids did so that was still good, they are ready to get baptized but can't until their dad does. We all went to his house though last night and had Sunday dinner there which was way tasty and fun and to get him to know some members. If he could just quit smoking and come to church we could have him baptized in no time! He lives way far away though it takes us an hour by bike to get there, but we had to do some serious cheesing yesterday and got there in about 20 minutes or so on our bikes which was way awesome and for the way back Winay just threw our bikes in the back of his truck and drove us home so nice! Ha-ha.

Let's see next we got Buubae! She is the girl who makes glasses. Who have almost taught her everything now after being able to  meet with her 3 times this past week. She says she feels good about getting baptized, but the only problem is getting her to church. She only gets 4 days off from work a month so it is way hard for her to get to church on Sunday because the other worker takes off Sundays to be with her boyfriend so she has to run the shop by herself. She thinks she will be able to come to church on the 20th though since she gave her boss more notice. We were trying to get her to church this week so she could get baptized on the 20^th, but that didn't happen. We got a text from the APs these week saying that if investigators come to General Conference this coming weekend it doesn't count for them coming to church to get baptized so that pretty much messed that up for all the new investigators we have to get baptized before transfers. It is all good though. 

As for the other investigators we have King and Sam who we both got from inviting on Friday. As for King we met with him Friday and taught him. He is good except for he didn't show up to his next appointment on Saturday even though he came to our Book of Mormon class Friday night! He said his parents were coming to visit him so maybe that was why. Sam is good though we met and taught him on Saturday and he came to church yesterday. He stayed at the church until 4 pm with all the members, just having a good time, so that was cool. 

The other two investigators we got are a girl named Ging and her little sister, Girl. Ha-ha. She is 24 and just finished school in Bangkok. I met her at English classed and she was really friendly and nice we taught her once on Wednesday, but she has been busy after so we aren't really sure how much she is interested in the gospel or just in English. We haven't figured it out yet, but they are way nice. 

I taught English class on Tuesday all by myself, I forgot about that! It should be the last time I have to do that by myself unless I get another Thai companion, but that probably won't happen. Brother Gang even came to English class and helped me out since my companion can't do much. Brother Gang was way good in helping me out and explained some fun games. Brother Gang is way good he will be going back to California in 9 more days I think, after Songran which is the water festival which starts next Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. This is just a big festival where people throw water everywhere, really. I don't quite understand it all yet, but that is what we will be doing next p-day since we are allowed to play on p-day! That should be fun. Brother Gang also said he'd be going to Utah again probably towards the end of May nears Mother’s Day he thinks, so he told me I could get him a present for my mother :) So I'll need to put something together for you this week Mom! :) After coming to church yesterday Brother Gang went to Bangkok he is just going there for p-day and coming back tomorrow and he said he'd be coming to English class her again. If you were wondering Brother Gang and I must be pretty good friends since he visits me 2 or 3 times a week and he lives in Udorn! Anyways I can't think of anything else to write about this week. It was a good week though with 4 new investigators! Hope you all have a great week, love you all!

Love,

Landon