3 baptisms

Hello Family

Well It has been a busy week since Elder Perkins from the Asia Area Presidency came through Ubon. On Wednesday night the Zone leader called me up and told us that Elder Perkins and President Smith were going to interview our zone the next day when they fly in. So on Thursday the whole zone came in and spent the day at the church.( that's never a good combination, a bunch of missionaries stuck in the church that are dying to work.) Anyways, between Elder Perkins interviewing the junior companions ( lucky Elder Lesueur 555) and President Smith interviewing senior companions, they got through us all in little under an hour and we were able to go back to work. So we helped relive the boredom of some of the missionaries that had to leave their area and Warin and we switched off with 2 another district of missionaries. It helped a lot too, we were doubled booked for some of our appointments.

The next day we had the a meeting with Elder Perkins, President smith and their wives. It was a really really good meeting. Elder Perkins told us this when he started the meeting that he didn't really prepare much to share and said that was the purpose of the interviews the day before was to receive inspiration on what he needed to talk about. The over all focus of the meeting was on using the Spirit in our teaching. But he also talked about the importance of Christ-like attributes and tied them in to the temple covenants, and then talked about the idea of being bold in teaching and inviting people. That's something that has been on every missionaries mind. He asked us to try and follow an experiment wherein we each wrote down two question that was on our minds then let the Spirit answer them in the meeting. It worked, I had one answered before the end of the meeting.

In the end it all went over really smooth, no problems. Everything went through.


So after the meeting the next thing for me and Elder Lesueur to tackle was a baptism that we decided to move up 2 weeks ahead of time. We had 3 people baptized this Saturday then on Sunday they were confirmed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Their names are Ice, Jay Jay, and James. Well, that's their nick names anyways. They are 3 sweet brothers that have been learning with the Elders for 1 1/2 months. They met us through the English program that we teach every Tuesday night. As far as I understand the whole story it goes like this. Ice who is 19 years old. Came and learned English and piano, which the sister missionaries teach here, the Elder Lesueur and his last companion asked if he was interested in learning about Jesus Christ. He was and they taught him a first lesson. They next asked if they could teach his family at his house the next time. Ice agreed and introduced the Elders to his younger brothers, Jay who is 16 and James, 13. Next they asked them to go to church at that lesson and they have been going to church plus every other activity that was at the church for the last 3 months. Ice is a great leader for his family. In the last week we took him with us to help us teach and he did a great job.

One of the coolest stories that I heard about these three is this. About three years ago Jay was doing a homework art assignment and found a card of Jesus Christ and painted a picture of the card. Well the funny thing is that that card that he paint was a pass-along card that the missionaries use of when the Savior visited the Nephites the first time. He had no idea what it was about until the Elders taught him three or four times and one day they pulled out the card for an example. Jay got up and pulled out the painting and the elders found out it was a good copy of the the pass-along card. That helped Jay get a lot more interested in the picture. They showed me the painting the other day when we were teaching them. Its really good. I'll send a picture of it in the email.

One of our biggest focus' this week was to help them get their mother to the baptism. Their mother is a single mom that makes an income by washing and ironing clothes. She hasn't been able to learn with the elders because she literally works from sun-up to long after sun-down. So in order to help her have an hour to see her three sons baptized, Elder Lesueur and I took our ironing boards and irons from our house, luckily we have 2 of both, hoped on a tuk tuk and drove over to her shop on Saturday morning. She was a bit surprised to see to white guys in shirts and ties with ironing boards and "can't take no attitude" show up at her shop. We decided if there is one thing that we are good at doing its ironing shirts. So before she could refuse we had set up our boards and had piles of cloths that we were working through. After an hour we had reduced her load enough to help her have free time to go to the baptism. It was good she went, She definitely felt the spirit that night.

Saturday night Elder Lesueur baptized the three of them and I was one of the witnesses. Elder Lesueur was way nervous to do it in ThaiIbut he did a really good job.

I don't know about you guys but I think the time is going really too fast. We are already back to the fall. Sooner than later it will be spring. Anyways, I still miss the cold a lot. I hope one day that I will get to to throw a snowball at Connor again.

Yes i got the journal in the last package you sent me. but it may not be a bad idea to send me another one. If I keep up with writing in it I should fill it up before I get home and will need another one. Thanks for sending me shoes it much appreciated.

OK quick about the photos. They are of Ice, Jay and James' baptism day and there are a few of when we helped their mom iron clothes. Other peolpe in the photo are members. and check out the painting that Jay is holding in the second photo.

OK I've got to go.

I love you all

Elder Brandon John Holt

Hey family

I hope dinner was tasty. I tried to get this email out before you went to bed. This week has been fun.

Last Monday Elder Lesueur, the Elders in Warin( the other elder area in the district), and I learned how to make our favorite Thai dish Nam tok. It is surprisingly easy. I'm finding the more Thai food I learn how to make, the more I realize that Thai food is really really easy to make. Really all Thai food is is taking rice, meat and throw it into a pot with some seasonings and presto you have a plate of food.

The next few days not a whole lot got done because we took a day off so that Elder Lesueur could recover from the flu. No it wasn't bad, but we just wanted him to recover quickly so that we can work fully with our energy. By the next day he was back to his normal happy self and we were working again.

On Wednesday I decided to take a day to switch off with Elder Baker the senior companion in Warin so that I could see if I could learn the area a little bit. Warin is about 25 min by bike ride to the south of Ubon. Between us there is a river that is really sweet view. When I get the chance I'll take a picture and send it to you. The water of the river isn't too pretty to look at but the jungle on the sides are.

Warin is a lot more like Sakon in that there is a lot less city. Its more in the countryside. But there are a lot of different neighborhoods to invite and find families. We spent most of the day in the sun. Looking for people to teach. For what Elder Baker has been reporting to me every night we found a family that night that we thought had been formal investigators but weren't but are learning and will be coming to church.

Thursday Elder Lesueur and I were back in Ubon together. Ubon has 5 investigators that have dates to get baptized currently. We saw a few of them that night. One is a lady named Mai. She is way sweet. As we have been teaching her she literally will teach herself. For example. the last time we saw her we taught her about the process of repentance. I like to use an example of me stealing bread( there is a stereo type here in Thailand where white people like to eat bread.....this coming for the guy who buys a 1 1/2 loafs of bread every week) from 7-11. So I asked her after I stole the bread what was the first thing that she thought that I needed to do to repent. She replied, Well if I was you elder, I think in order to repent I would first have to learn and know that stealing that bread was a sin. 1 recognizing sins. I didn't teach her anything before that. Next I asked her, so could I steal bread after I knew it was a sin and call it repentance, she said no, that wouldn't be true repentance. you would have to stop altogether, 2. stop sinning, I then asked her, so After I stopped then am I finished with repenting. She said no you would have to tell the person you wronged, in this case it would be the 7-11 manager and then pay for the bread and anything else that they require to make up for it. 4 fixing the wrong cause. Then we taught her about confessing the sin in prayer, 3. confession. and then I asked OK so
I repented from stealing that bread if I went in and stole a chochlate bar would I have still repented. she replyed well no because you are still stealing. If you truly repented when you tell Father in Heaven that you won't steal again its not just for bread but for everything you need to follow the commandment. Bingo. 5. Keep the commandments. She has been really fun to teach. If everything goes well she will be baptised in about a month.

There also is another investigator who recently passed the baptismal interview, his name is Bead or Duck in English. He will be getting baptized on the 25th this month. We are way excited for him. He has been learning with the Elders for the last year, and now he has made all the changes in his life to be able to get baptized. Its going to be a few really good weeks for us as our investigators get baptized.

In the coming week we are having a mission tour. And being the District leader Elder Lesueur and I have had some things to do to prepare for it. Normally when the missionaries in the zone get together for meetings they come to Ubon. So I have to find a hotel for the Elders to stay the night before, a way of feeding, and transportation for Elder Perkins from the Area presidency. Thankfully Elder Lesueur knew the area really well and the members love to help out. So as of now I think we have everything sorted out. I can't wait for Friday. That's when the meeting is.

Well I want to tell a quick story to explain the subject line. Last night Elder Lesueur and I were out after teaching a lesson on our way home. As we were riding our bike it started to sprinkle. I think we were probably 20 min or so away form our home so I didn't think we were going to have too much of a problem. Then again this is Thailand. So about 5 min later the rain goes from a light drizzle to a heavy downpour which is unexplainable to Utah standards. Within a few minutes, we were soaked through and still 10 minutes from our home. So we put our heads down and kept going. It started raining so hard that it hurt. It was a lot of fun to look on the sides of the road and see the faces people were making as they saw two white guys bike by in shirts and ties in the rain. We even got some calls of su-su or keeping fighting or ya yahm paa or don't accept defeat. The best part of the whole story is what happened when we were a few blocks from our house. as I crossed an intersection I looked up just in time to see the river of water I was about to ride into. As we went onto the flooded main street Elder Leseuer and I kept pushing forward. I had the thought that I was swimming because that water was 2 feet. We got home safe and sound and then cleaned up for bed. Its way crazy in 15 minutes the street flooded everywhere. I remember before my mission I always wanted to see flooding and now I can say that I had to ride my bike through floods to get home. lol

Anyways I am out of time

I love you

Elder Brandon John Holt

transfer to Ubon

Hello Family

Well this might be a little shocking but I am not in Bangkok yet. I have moved to the bottom corner of the Issan, Ubon. It seem that Elder Baker, the Elder that predicted that I would be moving to Ubon was right. I need to learn his trick.

So Ubon is quite different then Sakon Nakhon. First, it is huge. In the Ubon district there are three missionaries areas. The Ubon elders, Ubon sisters, and there is a district to the south of the capital city called Warin that elders are in. Next its different because it is more city. In the last three days or so that I have been here I still haven't seen the outskirts of the town. But it still isn't as crazy as Bangkok is. So I'm happy to be here.

President Smith asked me to be district leader in the Ubon district. It increased my responsibilities a little bit from looking after 2 people, myself and my companion, to 6 people, 4 elders and two sisters. I pretty much gave up all my free time at night to make phone calls and check up on the other areas as well as report our progress to the Zone leaders. Its making me learn a concept that I never have been very good with, Time Management.

My new companion is Elder Lesueur. He is a sweet missionary. He is on his third moves. So he is still leaning the language and some of the mission work but he is miles ahead of what I was at in my third moves. He can understand Thai. Anyways he is from Gilbert, Arizona, a place that is well know in the mission because of President and Sister Smith and several other missionaries from that area. Anyways he is way sweet. He has helped me a lot the last few days to learn my way around the city and meet our investigators.

The three Ubon mission areas all meet up in one branch on Sunday. They have a church building. A big church building. In fac,t it is the Largest Church Building in southeast Asia. This last Sunday was a little bit of a culture shock for me because it was in a church. I felt a little like I was back in America. There were about 90-100 members that came so that's another change coming from a branch that was struggling to get 40 people to church every week. It was fun as well.

Our investigators are sweet as well. Elder Lesueur and his formal companion did a great job with the area. There are 5 investigators that are lined up to get baptized next month, It was exciting for us and for the members.

Concerning the language. I had the opportunity to talk to a sister missionary who is from Sakon, about the language and dialect. She said that what I originally thought was the Issan language was another language called yaa but is similar. One interesting fact that I learned from talking to her was that in Sakon there is 10 plus different languages that are used. One day I hope to go back and get the chance to study the difference between them all. Anyways here is Ubon they speak Issan or Thai if you are like us and speak with them in Thai they speak Thai.

So that's the new area. I'm way excited to work here. One thing that I learned is this was one of Elder Ito's areas I asked members about him and they seem to remember him really well.

Anyways, The moves meeting was changed up a little bit, normally it takes all morning to have the meeting because of trainings that are after but, the new program changed it so that we don't have trainings after. So we just went and sat down President Smith taught a little, the new missionaries introduced themselves, the old ones said their last lines before their death. There was only Elder young and Elder Lilliy, Both really sweet missionaries that will be missed. Then President Smith released and called people to different callings. President Smith called a Thai missionary for the assistant. Everyone is way excited for Elder Gongla to be the new AP. It apparently has been about 8 years since there has been a Thai as an AP. Then he told everyone where they are moving and who their companion is. I was at the center of a few jokes which were pretty funny. President Smith said, " Our first item of business is to get Elder Holt out of Sakon Nakhon." It seems that the whole mission knows about me.

Anyways after the meeting we hopped on the bus and took a 13-15 hour ride to Ubon. One thing I have done here a lot is travel. I really will not ever complain about the drive to Laguna again. lol. I also have learned that a great way to entertain yourself is that catch up on sleep.

That's about all I have to report for the week.

Oh hey before I go. I can officially say that I have walked a pair of shoes out of commission. The heal on my black pair of eccos is completely gone. So that pair has been retired until I can find a place to get it fixed. I'm a little worried because the only places that I have found are on the side of the streets and they probably don't do the best jobs. But it will all work out in the end.

Today I did something that I have never done before. I needed to get a hair cut way bad. So Elder Lesueur took me to a members shop who is a barber. He cut my hair and then shaved my face and ears and trimmed my eyebrows. The whole time the member was shaving he kept repeating, " So much hair so much hair, You Utahn have so much hair." It was funny anyhow after the shave he gave me a really nice massage that not even the nice ladies at Sports Clips can beat. and I did it for about 50 baht or $1.25 I love Thailand.

Today a member said that she would teach us how to make my favorite Issan dish and probably my favorite Thai dish called nam tok or translated to water fall. I'm way excited.

Anywho it is going to be a great 6 weeks

I love you all

Elder Brandon John Holt

Hello Family

Hey Everyone. I’m doing great. Well this week is the week of moves. If it all goes according to plan moves meeting will be on Thursday, and outside of that I’m not really sure what’s going to happen. From the knowledge I was able to gain last week. It sounds like there are some District Leaders places opening up, in Ubon in the south east, In Chiang Mai in the north and In Non Kai or the providence above Sakon Nakon and Udorn. And of course there probably are a lot of places in Bangkok that are opening up but, I didn't want to try and figure that out. Too many areas there. My guess is that I will go into Bangkok but I wouldn't mind going to Chaing Mai or Ubon. I still can't figure out why but there are a few Elders that have predicted me to go into the Office. That brings up nightmares of when I worked at Spectrum. Oh the redundancy.

So after sending the email last week we got on a taxi and drove into the heart of Bangkok. I don't know why but I always get claustrophobic a little bit when I go there. There are a lot of people everywhere. And little places to walk. Anyways one of the most popular places for missionaries to go to is a little stand that sells Neck ties for 20 baht a piece. The Lady that sells them knows us so well that she gives missionaries a "special price" and for missionaries that go their first time an even better deal of 6 ties for 100. It a great place I bought about 6 or so ties to replace some of the ties that have stains on them for my messy eating habits.

After that we didn’t really have time to go looking for watches so I still don’t have my Rolex, But next time I’m in that area I’ll get one, and maybe a suit as well. So after eating lunch at Dairy Queen (that was a treat) we headed home back to the area that I was going to work in that night.

As I was in the center of Bangkok I caught a glimpse of the mall that was lit on fire a few months ago. Central World. A lot of the glass windows on the outside were melted. That must have been a really hot fire. Anyways they are in the process of rebuilding it now. Thankfully there is another mall close by called Siam that is just as nice, and just as huge. America has nothing on the malls here.

That night Elder Carlile and I spent the night inviting and trying to find people interested in learning the gospel. It was amazing to me there are so many people. We spent three hours walking down one street that was probably a half mile long if that and talking to everyone we saw. That probably shows that I have been out in the country too long. 55555 lol

Thursday was another day of training meetings. Sister Smith announced that they were getting too many phone calls from worried moms not getting emails on time. At that time it was up to 22, I’m sure before the day was up there was more. So in order to prove that we were alright she took a picture of us and put it on the web site. One thing you might want to look into mom is face book. Sister Smith has a face book page and says that she is always on it in the office. Connor should be able to help you find her page. Anyways ,these meetings are pretty sweet. They are taking place all over the world. I just got a letter on Saturday from Matt in Australia talking about his experience with the new curriculum. Really it is nothing new. It is a better way of teaching and understanding of how to use the spirit in our teaching. Everything that we learned was in Preach my Gospel but it was a new way of looking at it. I’m way excited to start applying it into my teaching.

After the meetings, that night we hopped back into the vans and took the same route to get back to sakon, dropping everybody off. That was a really long way home. It was about 15 hours both ways. So far that the van driver said that we had to pay 3 day payments, although we only need him for 2 we had to pay for 6. That cost a lot.

That route was fun because I have never been to any of those areas before. So I got to see different areas a little bit and see many of those that I knew. Something hit me that week. I know almost everyone older than me. Those who are in the leadership positions either are in my MTC group, in the group ahead of me or just behind me, or I have been companions with them or worked with them or close by them. That’s not a good sign. I’m getting old.

Speaking of Matt he should be getting home in the next month that’s strange. Not only that but Alex Recseck will be getting home in December. Oh man where did the 2 years go? All my friends are heading home.

Wish Jen a happy Birthday for me. That strange to think she is almost 30 that means I am almost a legal adult. I better stop thinking that way.lol

Well I’m pretty sure the next time I write I will be in a new area with a new companion. I’ll tell you all about my experience next week.

For I have to go.

I love you all

Elder Brandon John Holt

a long bus ride

Hey everybody

Sorry this letter came late this week. I'm still doing well and am well alive. Well let me explain what has been going on the last few days. It all started Saturday when Elder Peacock and I were inviting, the Zone leaders gave us a call. Because it was Elder Peacocks day to have the phone he answered and then handed me the phone. That's never a good thing, if they don't tell him or they only want to talk to me because it means its something important out of the ordinary. I said hello, it was Elder Degrafanite. I love how he talks so here is his dialogue "Elder Holt, you know how we talked about having those training meetings in the near future?" I replied yes. He said "Well I'm calling to tell you that they will be in the near future, as in next week." After that he explained that on Tuesday (yesterday) and Thursday we would be having meeting for the district leaders, trainers, and zone leaders. And they would be taking place in Bangkok. After hanging up I could only think of the headache that would come.

On Sunday after church the zone leaders called again and gave me an assignment and the path that I was to travel to get down. My job was to find a รดตู้ or a van that would carry 10+ missionaries down. Then on Monday morning I was to travel into the south of the Issan or the south part and pick up every district leader and zone leader in that area. Elder Peacock would be switching off with his old MTC companion in an area down there.

Funny think happened after I hung up the phone on Sunday is that all our appointments fell through all of a sudden and I had time to begin to negotiate a price with Private van drivers. It wasn't that fun and in the end it took another member who could speak Issan and Thai better then I could to make sure I understood everything clearly enough to be able to get a OK price. Then working through the assistants I had to try to bring the price down. In the end it cost about 9000 baut. Some of that had to come out of my personal money and MFS money so that we would have enough cash to pay.

On Monday Elder Peacock and I got on the van at 8 in the morning. Then went to a providence south of us called Yasotorn, where Elder Peacock hopped off and switched off, after that we went to Ubon, then Si Saket then Surin then to a place called Corrad. Then to Bangkok. All and all I was on that van for 15 and a half hours. After this I will never complain about the ride to Laguna again. Anyways we got into Bangkok about 12:30 that night. Thankfully the APs felt our pain and let us sleep in a really nice hotel. With an all you can eat breakfast buffet. yummy.

The next day was Tuesday. We spent all day in meetings. It was a lot like the MTC again. President Smith did a lot of training on the new program that was coming in. Its not really new. Its just taking the stuff that we know already and helping us do things better, ie, using the spirit more, asking questions, using the Book of Mormon more in our teachings. I learned a lot.

After the meetings we switched off and were paired up with elders that are in areas of Bangkok. Then we separated into those areas. I was placed in a area called Suppan Suun or translated Tall Bridge. I'm paired off with Elder Carlile who is a district leader in Chiang Rai the farthest north in Thailand you can get. Its been a lot of fun to be with him because he was companions with Elder Hawks after I left Lopburi so he has been filling me in a little bit with what happened after I left to Sakon.

Today is our preparation day and our plans our to go "shopping" in Bangkok. I need some new ties and I think I might buy a watch if I find a Rolex for the right price...lol
Anyways after today's activities Elder Carlile and I will be working in this area to invite and find some families tonight. Then tomorrow we will be going back to meeting all day.
After which We will be traveling the night back to our areas. Woot Woot another 15 hour car trip. I can't wait.

So next week is the week of moves and I will be moving this time. Its been fun to talk to other missionaries down here. They all make fun of me that I stayed 5 moves in an area. I still love it though I have seen great change in the area over the last 7 months. Talking to Sister Smith,she said that President Smith felt really bad that I stayed there that long. and that there was a mistake that was made that he didn't catch. But I still stick with my statement that I made, there was a reason whether I know it or not that I stayed in Sakon for as long as I did.

Anyways I should be able to send one last email from Sakon before I leave next week. As I came down an elder that I'm good friends with in Ubon predicted that I will be moving into that area so I can be a district leader there. In the end I don't think I really care too much where I end up just as long as its in a bigger city then Sakon. The country is nice to live in but its a hard place to do missionary work.


It sounds like it has been a busy summer these last few months. Now it's back to school. Here is a scary thought. Next time Dad gives blessings for school he'll give me one, but I'm not trunky.

That's way sweet to hear about Kaylie starting to walk and soon to be running. I can't wait to see pictures in a few weeks. I have a feeling that I will soon be hearing more adventures of Kaylie the girl and Chip the dog.

OK, I'm out of time for this week.
Before I go I read the talk that Elder D. Told Christofferson gave in the last conference. It talks about the importance of the Scriptures. They not only give us the teachings of the prophets but the standards that the Lord expects us to live in this life as well as in eternity. I am grateful for them and am learning the truthfulness of them as I teach with them more and more. I know that they are true.

I love you all

Elder Brandon John Holt

Hey Family

Mom, I'm doing fine.55555 That's a scary thought, Mom you are learning Thai text. the number 5 is pronounces ha (I cant really explain the tone very well without speaking it).So they use it the same way we use LOL to say that we are laughing or what not.

Well Its been an average week. We have taught our usual families that are progressing. The Vietnamese family from France has gone back to France. So Elder Peacock and I are going to see if there is anyway we can get their teaching record to France so they can continue to learn. They were really fun to work with. We have two or three other families that we are working with right now.

Another family is named น้อย and ปลา ( noy and blaa) or little and fish. We have been teaching them for the last 5 or 6 weeks. They have two daughters. They are a pretty sweet family the other day we started teaching them about The Plan of Salvation and the Gospel. Blaa was really interested in the gospel after we taught a little about it. I think that she will progress nicely.

I have a interesting story to tell you. In the last few weeks the rain has picked up a lot. I don't remember if I have ever told you but, the rain hasn't been falling very often. well let me rephrase that it hasn't been raining like normal. To me it rains more then enough. lol. Anyways. In consequence many people who plant rice were not able to do it until the last few weeks. The other day we were out inviting. Moments before we had had one of our appointments fall through so we were a little sour about that but that's life. So we went back to work. As we were going through an area that I swear that I have talked to everyone before, we came up to a family that were getting ready to plant rice.

Elder Peacock whispers to me as we stop, "let's see if we can help them" I not thinking much of it said OK. As we started a conversation with the farmers. we figured out that they were getting ready to plant rice the next day. Currently they were moving the rice plants from where they first planted it to grow to take them to another field to plant again. As much as I can figure out they first plant the rice to let it grow roots and grow a stalk. then after a few weeks they pull the plants out and replant them in a new field ( like the ones that I sent photos of). Anyway the Rice farmers were standing in one of the fields that is full of water as we are on the side talking to them. as I was trying to talk to one of them Elder Peacock was trying to talk to another person in the field and moved to the path that goes between the fields so that he could talk to them. Or so I thought.

Elder Peacock asked them if he could help out. and like most times we ask people if they need help, they said no and not to worry about it. Well this was not my companions idea. Next thing I knew Elder Peacock was rolling up his pants pulling his socks over his pants and walking into the water Shoes and All. I almost laughed when I saw the faces of the rice farmers when they saw a white guy who was dressed up in white shirt and tie and nice dress shoes walk into their field and started to pull up the rice as well. It was good. Anyways between the protest of "Don't worry, you get dirty," I decided to follow the example of my companion and rolled up my pants and socks and walked in.

We didn't have a whole lot of time to help but we did a little bit. In the end we talked to the one in charge and gave him our number. Whether or not he was interested I'm not really sure but, they definitely got a new impression of "the white guys that ride their bikes around the town."

After we left that area we decided to go into a new area or an area that I have never invited before. It was getting dark about this time and a storm was coming in. So everyone who was smart went home and locked up. We on the other hand went back to work. After a few minutes in this new area with not a lot of success it started to rain. There hasn't really been too many rain storms here in Sakon when we were biking that the rain comes down hard so we tried to find some cover under a tree. unfortunately the rain picked up and the tree we hid under wasn't enough to slow it down. So we decided to leave our cover from under a tree and see if there was a building or something better that we could hide and wait out the storm.

Within the 30 seconds that we ran/ biked for cover we were soaked through. I wondered if we were breaking rules because we literally had to swim through the rain. We were able to find a little motorcycle shop to hide under for a few minutes. after we got there a few other people ran and joined us as well. We sat there with the others that were with us for about 30 minutes until the rain slowed down a little bit then hopped back on our bikes and rode home in the rain. In between waiting we talked to those around us and found out that they were the employees that worked there. They were mostly young college kids a little younger than us. Then there was their boss who was about 30. We had a fun conversation with them about the Issan language. Then we invited then to come learn English with us. Then took off.

When we got home that night our street had flooded. That was sweet to see. I haven't seen flooding since I left LopBuri. Anyway I decided whoever built our house was smart because it had been lifted a few feet off from the main level of the street. So there was no flooding in our house but some of our neighbors got it bad.

That was a fun night

I recently have been trying to make a Thai dish called kai-ge-ow. Its basically a egg omelet. But its something that I like to eat a lot so I thought I would try and learn it so I can take it home.

That's way strange to think that its been over a year already. On grandpa's birthday it will be one year in Thailand. I must have changed a lot physically because every time I show the picture that we took as a family a week before I went into the MTC. People think that I am Connor in the picture. Then they are really shocked when I show them which person is me.

Anyways wish Grandpa and Kaylie a happy birthday for me.

I love you all

Elder Brandon John Holt

Hello Family


I'm fine mom. How are you all doing? This week has been filled with excitement. Especially yesterday. Yesterday was a Huge change in our area of Sakon Nakon. We had the most investigators in a very long time come to church. It might even been the most investigators that I have ever had come to church at one time. 8 people came to church. That really was only 2 families. Time after time we are figuring out how smart and how much better it is to teach families vs single people in families. The funny thing is that there was still one more family that said they were going to come but I'm not sure why they didn't make it. I'm planning to give them a call later today to talk to them and see if there is anything we can do to help them out.

We were not the only one excited about getting that many investigators to church, it showed in the members faces and testimonies, partly because many of the testimonies were focused at our investigators (We might have to have a talk about not singling people out) But that was alright I think many of them still had a good time at church. We taught a couple of lessons with our Branch president yesterday and even he was excited about it. He praised us a little bit for the work that we have been doing. Its amazing how missionary work can charge the spirit and members and well as us.


One of the families that we are teaching, is a family from France who are Vietnamese who were born in Thailand. That's fun to think about. Elder Peacock has loved teaching them because he lived in France for a long time and can speak it fluently. But the thing about them is that they are only here for a few weeks visiting family. So in about 2 weeks they will return to France. They are pretty fun to work with. The family that they are staying with is a huge family. We are going to try and teach them as well. Currently one of the daughters of the family that is here is interested and is one of the 8 people that came to church last week. So there is hope. But until the other family returns we still have a way to teach them all.

Here is a fun fact. Sakon Nakhon has many Vietnamese people here. Partly because during the Vietnam war many people fled into Thailand for protection and ended up here. So there is quite a community. There was one night that Elder Peacock and I were inviting several weeks ago were we came across a house of immigrant workers from Vietnam. They didn't speak English and their Thai was about as good if not worse then ours. So it was fun trying to communicate with them a little bit. Elder Peacock and I relied on finger pointing and actions at some points. I don't know why but I find it really funny the way people communicate with actions when they can't speak the same language. I almost died laughing after we left. A great advantage to having so many Vietnam people here is that they make some really good food. There are a few good restaurants that I have gone to for the last few months.

We have heard a little about Elder McConkie up here but not a lot. Only that he was in an accident and was in some trouble at first but now is recovering. Mom do you know more about it. could you fill me in a little bit in the next email please? We have been praying for him often as well. Its always a scary thing to hear that someone in the mission is hurt in some way especially if its someone that we know.

It sounds like Connor's 3rd eagle scout court of honor was a lot like mine. Nice little and quiet. So I wonder because he got pinned three time does that give him three times the benefits then a regular eagle scout. lol Anyways Congrats Connor On the finishing the work for Eagle scout. That really is something worth doing as you may find out in the coming years. Plus now you can drive on your dates:P that is so weird to think.


That's a good way for me to remember grandpas birth day. Is on the 12th of august last year I made it into Thailand. It also happens to be Thai mothers day. Tell grandpa that I love him as well.

Ok I think that is it for this week.

I love you all.

Elder Brandon John Holt