Baptisms!!

So last week we had Elijah's baptism and everything went alright. I got my tie and clothes wet finally... I tried so hard not to baptize anyone here on my mission but it wasn't a possibility for these boys :) Anyhow, everything went well, I only took 1 picture with him because we were running short on time. The next one coming up is Tomarr if he passes his baptismal interview. His baptism is scheduled for this Saturday. Then we have Amber; who we found and currently teaching her. She has sincere desire to come closer to Christ so we hope that the faith she has will push her to make that commitment with the Lord. 

Catch Up

Sorry, haven't posted his letters in a while. This is the first missed one from April 21st:

Unfortunately Andrea postponed her baptism. She wanted her family to attend and my companion and I thought that it was a great idea to postponed it to this coming Saturday. I firmly believe that she is committed. I have no doubt about her testimony. Actually, her parents down in Culver are meeting with the missionaries down there as well and from what I have heard. They have accepted baptism as well. I was given the opportunity to hear and watch closely on the Canacci's progression. The elders down there report back to me every now and then. I can only pray that they will come to know the Gospel as Andrea has. If you want you can totally just talk to her on Facebook. She's super open and sincere. I'm sure she would love to talk to you guys.

I miss you all and I hope everything is going well. I will let you guys know more about my week when I have more time. I'm doing really well, I'm loving it here and I will tell you all about it when I have more time. Right now I"m just in a rush trying to send out a letter to you guys so you know I"m doing alright. I will do better on sharing my missionary experiences with you!

Love,
Elder Uthaichai




This letter is from April 28th:

As I work with people here in Indiana I have come to a deeper understand of what the Gospel does and how essential it is for all of us to have it. I want to congratulate you two for your 29th anniversary. I'm sure it has been wonderful for you two to go through trails and struggles together. I still can't wrap my head around making such a commitment... Marriage is like the MOST important decision that anyone can make.. I don't know if I will ever be ready for that. Maybe I'll just take the easy way out hah and just live on my own. Being independent is my specialty after all.

So as I have told mom about Andrea, she will not be baptized here however, we feel that we've taught her everything that she needs to know and learn. She has a testimony of the Gospel and everything we taught her. We know that we did all we could for her. Now I know and feel confident that she will be baptize and make that promise with God in the near future; it will have to be on her own time and between her and God. She is the exception.

We're walking day in and day out and doing what we can to help strengthen this area and fulfilling our purpose. Actually there is something I'll share with you today. So you know how sometime you just want to do everything on your own and get it done? well that's how I feel most of the time. I feel like I'm just baby sitting a bunch of teenagers. Something that seem so logical to me doesn't quite make sense to the others and that frustrates me. I know developing love for them and allow them to fail whatever.. I'm doing that and I don't really need help or advice. I just wanted to share with ya my frustration sometime. I wear myself out by the end of the day always. I'm not sure if any of this will make sense to you but bottom line is that some of these missionaries are so "bubbly" so naive and see the world as if it was just a big old playground. 

Anyway, I'm doing alright and I hope everything goes well with you. Work wise and everything else in between. I love you guys and always pray about you. Have a great week.

Love, Elder Uthaichai

This letter is from May 5th:

I have the flu, so not much to report on this week. I feel so dead today, I haven't been able to hold anything down for the last 48 hours. As for Andrea, she had the opportunity to do so and if she doesn't take it that's okay. After the mission she'll get a rebuke from me, hah. Beside we told her that "if you make time for God, He'll make time for you". Hopefully she'll change her mind.




This letter is from May 12th:

It was really fun skyping home for Mother's day and see that not a whole lot has changed since I left. It was exciting to see the basement bathroom remodel. That was a treat. So we went over to the Rigby's. They are so kind to allow us to use their Computer(s) to skype home. Elder Lindhardt, my new companion was talking to his family as well. Like always, he had two sisters so by nature I had to introduce myself... If the one thing I have learned on my mission is you gotta ask :) 

The area is doing really well. The district is getting a hang of things so we're moving forward and teaching these hoosiers. Summer is finally here and I dislike it already. The humidity isn't my favorite. Oh well, I can suck it up and work through it. I'm sure I'll get a lovely tan after this summer. We have 2 new addition in our District well not really new... just switched. Elder Lindhardt (the one with cute sisters). Elder Bramlett and sis. Bowen. They are great elders and sister. I enjoy being around them and feel their enthusiasm and excitement about the work. 

Well nothing has really changed except everyone is leaving the area for the summer... so I will be pretty sad about that but it's okay we have some that are staying so we'll use them :) 

Love,

Elder Uthaichai

Photo Dump #14

General Conference Weekend

This week has been wonderful. Conference was definitely inspired. I love Elder Ballard talk on missionary work. Perhaps it's because I'm a full-time missionary right now or something. I just love that he stressed on following up. I think as missionaries we don't do it enough because we fear that we might come off as pushy. I know that there's a fine line between pushy and persistence. Likewise as boldness. I think one thing that stood out to me is you can be as bold as you want as long as there is love.

We went to Dana's house for conference and she was so kind to have us there. I think we had about 10 - 12 people there. All of them are YSA. Oh I failed to mentioned about our Assistance Ward Mission Leader - Jason Bangeter. Dad, he is so cool. He served his mission in seattle about the same time as E. Winterhowler did.. I don't know if you remember him. Anyway, Jason has been a great help to us and he is such a great member missionary. I definitely want to be like him when I get home. I don't think he stop missionary work after his mission. He still does it daily. I guess all I'm saying is that he's a great guy. Plus he has a lot of toys back home... which makes him 2x cooler. 

Dana Rigby is another great help for us. She always try to do her best to help us in the missionary department. I don't think she has ever said "no" to us yet and I'm grateful for that. I think that when members and missionaries work together with that mutual respect. The work flows better and missionary work becomes fun. 

Honestly, I couldn't ask for a better ward to be placed in. They each have taught me something that I can really apply in my life now and for the future. Their kindness and welcoming is lovely. 

Oh during conference's break we played Apples to Apples. It was my first time so I didn't really understand what was going on at first but after a few rounds it clicked. Not bad of a game. 

We have a lot of potential in our teaching pools but we're struggling with contacting them all. It seems like all these students are always busy with school which isn't a bad thing but we just gotta keep trying.

I don't know what else to share except the fact that i'm grateful to be in the Notre Dame ward and the opportunity I have to work with all these wonderful people and families. If I have the time to write you guys about each of these people and families it might take me a whole year!

Love,

Elder Uthaichai

Quick Update

Andrea has set a baptismal date!! She is planning on getting baptized is April 19th. Funny how that worked out. I guess the Lord is in control. She had a few "doubts" and she needed to ponder and pray about it. I have to share with you that it's such a great blessing to see someone truly getting converted. Like you look into their eyes and they GET it. She's being prepared for that first ordinance. I think these little moments that we miss as we teach. The joy that Alma felt is what I'm feeling. 

The spring is coming so I'm excited for the cool air and warm sunshine. I have no complains. We're trying to find more and more people to teach. I'm actually deepening my teach pool here at St Mary's as well as around the house. So for now it's looking pretty good so far. We have a lot of great support from the ward. Sadly most of the good friends that I have developed are leaving in May for the Summer or some are leaving because they are done with school. 

I heard lots of NCAA brackets got pretty messed up because the teams that were expected to win did the opposite. I had a few hours of watching it at BW's. I promise it wasn't intentionally. Well I guess I would be lying if I didn't say that it was an add-on to the decision of going to BW's. Well it was fun for the time being. I feel like as missionaries we find the joy in the littlest thing.

Love,
Elder Uthaichai

Perfect Time to Serve A Mission

It is such a great time for me to serve my mission right now. I don't want to spoil too much but perhaps I might have found one of the many reasons I needed to be here. I love my mission and I love the missionaries around me; sisters included although, they give me a great challenge sometime. I just don't know how much I'm able to help. Anyhow, I definitely recall you turning on the TV and encouraging us to watch conference. I use that in my teaching every time I speak on prophet.

Actually, we're teaching Andrea right now and there are a lot of good news about her. One being the fact that she's getting baptized on the 19th and I will still be in this area. I was so nervous about missing that because for some odd reason her and I really connect. Ugh I want you guys to meet her so bad. She's such a wonderful soul. It amazes me that she's willing to put God before anything else in her life. Her stories are unbelievable and it's such a testimony builder. I firmly believe that everything that I had gone through was meant to prepare me for my mission. I was able to pull from my past experiences and teach from the heart.

Right now I'm pretty focused on the work. I want to share more but I just don't want this to be a drag on email. Oh we had a basketball tournament and I was able to participate. Full court basketball hahah. We won the whole thing. Notre Dame for the championship!

I miss you guys and I hope that everything is going well. Please keep praying for Andrea and Elijah. Thanks guys.

Love,

Elder Uthaichai

Picture Over Load!

And these are only like half of what he e-mailed home: