Getting trunky

Hello family

I'm doing good. Well its less then 2 weeks until I get home and well.. I'm not really sure what to do. Like you said in the email, Mom, I have a lot of mixed feelings. Sad to leave the people I love, glad to come home to you, sad that not all things worked out, sad that I wasn't the one to fix all the problems of Thailand, scared to death to go back into regular society.

But in the end its what the Lord wants and needs.

I learned an interesting lesson yesterday that I think helped me know one of the things that I have to do as soon as I get home. In the church, in Thailand the word "home teaching" doesn't really exist, except with a few individuals that understand the importance of it. In the past month or two, because as the district leader I have the responsibility to work with the branch leaders in missionary work and any other thing that President Smith wants us to do, I have been working with the Elders Quorum President to get home teaching set up with the missionaries. In the last few months President Smith had authorized the Elders and Sisters to get home and visiting teaching assignments, as long as it is done in the proper requirement that he set. For example, we have to be switched off with members, we can't go and do it as a missionary companionship. President Smith's idea is that he will let us train the members in the branches that we serve to understand that home teaching is important and its not hard to do. I personally think it is a lot easier to do than to teach investigators. Any ways after a lot of persuasion AKA twisting wrists, aka, going over to houses and watching them fill out the home teaching assignments we finally got home teaching assignments last week.

Yesterday we had our first appointment with a member that has helped out the Elders more then we can thank her for. Her name is Sister Issunee. She has helped us teach almost all of our investigators at one point and is now fellowshipping M (แอ็ม). Anyways it was a good visit for us and for the member that we are paired up with. She expressed how thankful she was to have home teachers again because she said that it has been a long time since she'd had home teachers visit and she feels the love of God when priesthood holders come and visit. She also was thankful because it helps her safety wise as well. She says that just the fact that we walked in and placed our shoes in front of her home lets those in other rooms know that she has friends that are guys. That helps in that she is a single woman and has had a lot of problems with stalkers in the past to the point that she has had to move apartments several times and now lives and travels around with her cousin.

Who would have thought that home teaching could solve so many problems? Anyways I learned that when I get back, I need to repent from being the way I was before the mission and work to do my home teaching every month.


Thank you for sending me my school schedule. I see there might be a few changes for sure but that's OK. I'll take care of them when I get back. One thing I want to do is take a few refresher classes and fix some of my grades that I messed up before.
Man, I have to stop being so lazy in the morning. I think Connor and I will have to go to the rec center every morning for sure.

Well with the less active member that we found/ she found us, She didn't go back to church this last week because it was a special meeting. It was a stake/ district conference. and it was special as in they changed up the Bangkok stake and the Pakkret district boundaries. And also changed the name of the Pakkret district to the Bangkok north district. But that's a different story.


Anyways with Sister Vanta, that's the name of the less active member, she is a good friend of the Branch President, to the point that she considers him her older brother. He has been working with her for a while to help her start making her return back. She has "agreed" to come to sacrament meetings but that's it. She still doesn't feel the most confident in staying longer than that or getting involved with the branch too much. I think there is still some unkind feelings on both sides that still exist so I think it will take some more time. But Elder Merrill and I want to help her out more. I'm not too sure about her daughter, I should probably ask about that, huh? Anyways that's one thing that I think will have to be changed in Thailand. Is the importance of bringing back less active members. Because there is 2000 to 3000 members that are active out of 16-18 thousand on record. That's a big gap. Home teaching I think will be one of the biggest changes to help, next will be getting the proper branch council meeting set up and going. That is really painful to watch and work on changing.


Anyways, that's all I've got for the week.

Ii love you all

Elder Brandon John Holt

PS see you in 2 weeks


PSS yes I am getting a little trunky but not a lot.