All Better

It's so great to hear about how good everyone
is doing back home. It's so obvious to me that
God is taking part in all aspects of both of
our lives. I can't even tell you how awesome
it is to have a family like you.

Now for an update on the ear: it ended up not
being a torn eardrum; instead I have a very
swollen membrane. For a couple days I would
want to just cry every time the wind blew
because it felt like pencils in my ear. It's
not a problem anymore after taking 4
different medications (who knows if they're
legit) I'm doing great!

This week, yet again, the work has been going
great. I hate to brag but I've got to tell you
what Pres. Smith said about our area. He was
talking with the zone leaders about us and he
said "Thonburi (our area) has been a pit ever
sense I got here...I haven't seen these kind
of numbers coming out of Thonburi ever before."
It's been a lot of hard work and miracles here.
There's a good chance I'm moving out of this
area in two weeks and I'm kinda sad, but also
excited for a new area and new challenges.

I've got to tell you about a miracle that
happened this week. We were inviting one day
when I saw this man outside his house smoking.
I walked over and started talking about random
stuff then pulled out a picture of Christ. I
told him we had a message for him. He didn't
give me a number but said I could come back
another day; he didn't seem interested at all.
We switched off with the Zone leaders and we
went by to see this man. We went in and started
talking about his work. He makes candy for a
living and it as really cool what he did. We
asked him if we could sit down for a couple
minutes and share something with him. We sat
down and prayed, then the spirit began to enter
the room. I couldn't believe it, we were
teaching like natives. This man understood
really well. You could see this man's
countenance change, it was amazing. By the end
of the lesson the spirit was very strong and I
knew he was feeling it. I asked him to be
baptized... this man who didn't even want to
meet with us said "Of course I do, will you
help me prepare for it?" This man totally
changed in the course of 20 minutes. It's
amazing how this gospel changes lives.

We're entering the hot season over here which
means even hotter. It's like wearing a blanket
in a sauna some days. It's gotten as hot as 115
degrees and it's still getting hotter. It's great
though, I've got all sorts of crazy tan lines:
from my watch to the tan line in the middle of
my neck. People keep saying that this week is
supposed to be hotter than previous years
because of some weather cycle thing that has
been going on forever. It's great because
everyone invites us in for drinks and a few
minutes of shade. The Thai people are so giving,
I love it. I've started buying fruit in the
morning and trying to give it out to random
people throughout the day. This work is so much
fun.

Right now we have three people with a baptismal
date. I'll probably miss them all but that's OK.
One of them is named "bock". He's about 35 and
a really fat dude (there is nothing impolite
about saying that here) with the greatest laugh
in the world. He is a cook and man can he ever
cook. He's seen about ever American movie in
the world and knows every band as well. I don't
know very many movies or bands so Elder Schulte
talks about it with him. He's not married but
lives at home with his siblings and parents.

Well I'd better run. I love you all, thank you
so much for everything.

Tyrel

In the package...uhh... I have no requests. Up
to you!!! =) American candy is always good I
guess =)

Miracles again

It's amazing to me how never in my life (other than to take Carly
Hirst) have I been to the hospital. I've always been accident proof
and always felt blessed for that. Well sense I've been a missionary
I have been in the hospital or had surgery 6 times. I don't know
what is happening, my body is falling apart. Maybe it's that the
Lord knows there's more coming and he's trying to build me up
for the real thing!

Don't be worried, but yet again, I'm off to the hospital tonight with
a possible torn eardrum. It's totally cool though because I look
great with a swollen ear, it's almost impossible to sleep at night
but hey, in a lifetime you sleep over 25 years anyway, I can lose a
couple hours. Don't be worried though because every little thing
Satan throws at me is hitting him back twice as hard... will he ever
learn =)

This week we have had an explosion of missionary work and
miracles in our area. A really high week for new investigators is
2...this week we had 6 with tons of lessons. We received a call from
the assistants again saying how impressed they were with the
growth of our area. I feel so blessed. We really have worked like
crazy. There are days we don't get more then 10 min to eat in a
day but the small sacrifices seem like nothing when you look at
all the Lord has blessed us with. The past few weeks my language
has exploded. I'm talking like I have never talked before. I always
have members coming up saying how impressed they are at my
language. I can say, I'm now fluent in this language, I thought it
would never come!

Tell Brielle to take it easy with the dancing. I know your good but
try more grace and less rock star, ha ha! I'm so sorry and hope
you're feeling better. I remember the dance parties back home in
the living room we always were a bit out of control. I tried it once
in an elevator while singing at the top of my lungs, Elder Schulte
about died because he thought the elevator would plummet to the
ground!

This past week we were able to meet with a man who is now one
of our investigators. While talking to him we started talking about
how this gospel changes lives, we then shared the Joseph smith
story. He began to tell us about a dream he had been having for
the past couple of weeks. He said in this dream he was sleeping
and woke up for some reason and got out of bed. While walking
across his room he noticed a card lying on the ground. He walked
over picked it up and turned it over to see one of our pass along
cards. He then took the card and put it in his pocket next to his
heart. We ran into him the other day and gave him the card. He
looked at it for a minute and said he wanted to meet with us. He's
heard a lot of stuff about Christianity and is very confused on
many topics. I know he was led to us and that this experience was
an answer to his prayers, we're trying to help him realize the same.

This work is the greatest, in D&C 15 and 16 it talks about how this
work will bring more happiness and joy than any other work, and I
am a witness to that. Trials, and challenges, yes! But also the
outpouring of blessings, and love. Thank you all so much for your
love and letters.

I love you
Tyrel
ps. Tell Sara congrats for me

Up and Downs

I'm so glad you got the pictures and the package, although I will
admit none of those pictures are from me, it was Elder Evans
pictures. My pictures were on the other CD... oh well I'll have to
try that again in the next package. I hope everything is still in the
package, occasionally things end up missing in packages. Melissa
sent me a letter with a dollar in it and when I got it the letter was
there but the money was gone. I don't know about this whole
mailing system over here =)
Yes, I just got your package and loved it to death. The best part
was using my key to scrape the Carmel off of the pictures in order
to see them =) ha ha JK it wasn't that bad. I'll admit you are all
changing back home, it's crazy. I hope I'll still recognize you all when
I get home, oh and I hope Sammy does too because I think she
would gave me a run for my money now.

That's so crazy about that Jon kid Jon. I'll admit it's got me in all
sorts of a fury. That is something that is very rampant here as well,
the only difference is in America they put them behind bars, here is
just "bad luck for you"!  I can't tell you how glad I am that you
( Brielle) have been the example you are because people recognize
you as someone with integrity and who you "don't mess with".
Oh and if something like that ever happens again just show them a
picture of your DAD with his shirt off with a look of "don't mess"
on his face and they'll be gone! Yeah Yeah dad!

This week was an interesting week. It's been full of ups and also
filled with some of the worst downs of my mission. Remember
that man I told you about (nume) who we meet and I told him to
stop drinking if he wanted to learn with us. Well this week he was
supposed to be done drinking and we went to see him to see how
it was going. When we got there he was drinking. It was really hard
because he said some stuff that was really hard to hear. He
grabbed my hand and started kissing it telling me I was the source
of his happiness, and that he didn't need God he only wanted us to
come visit him. It broke my heart to hear that. He was progressing
so well and knows the truth but won't help himself. I sat down next
to him and told him we were done teaching him if he drank
anymore,  as I was talking to him trying to help him see what he
was doing to himself, I lost control and tears started falling. I want
to help this man so much but I can't do anything if he doesn't want
to help himself. We went back a couple days later when he was
sober and talked to him again. He was the same, he wouldn't give
up smoking and drinking, which made it so that we were unable to
teach him. I gave him a commitment to read Alma 5 (a little
Hell-fire and damnation) and then turned and we started walking
away. He was yelling out "Elder Parkinson...help me...Elder
Parkinson..." it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I
love this man so much, but I'm on the lord's time and I can't waste
it on people who aren't willing to change!

On a more positive note. We got a call from the assistants to the
president the other day telling us they were very impressed with
what we had (with the Lords help) been able to do here in
Thonburi, and how we had brought the missionary work from
very low to a very high. We have been able to change this area like
I can't even believe. We have no time to teach all the people we
have. Sometimes it's a problem but oh how glad I am that it is a
problem!

This past couple of days has been Chinese new year, I didn't know
there was such A thing until I woke up one morning to what
sounded like gun shots going off outside my window (with all the
red shirt, yellow shirt stuff going on I thought it was our turn for
some "excitement"). I threw back the curtains to find the source
and found a house with smoke pouring out of it. I could only see
tons of flashes through the smoke and didn't know what was
happening. Elder Shulte and I didn't know what to do, for all we
knew people were down there being shot at. Finally after the smoke
settled we saw a bunch of people come out of the house with a ton
of new fireworks to light off again. I felt pretty stupid, as did Elder
Schulte. It was quite the holiday, all sorts of fireworks that you can't
even find on the black market in America were going off all day. It
was loud but way cool.

Thank you all for the package and for your example and testimony,
you are the  greatest. I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tyrel

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