First Update from Thailand

Sunday night was pretty exciting. We started getting emails from Keyen around 10:00 PM our time. Thailand is 13 HRS ahead of us. It was so great! Keyen is doing really well. 

If you watched the videos on the Facebook page you saw that Elder Neal's companion is Elder Cooper. He said Elder Copper is awesome! He is very funny and is from Australia. He really likes him and said that since he is in training he will probably be with Elder Copper for about 12 weeks, which is awesome! 

The area Keyen is in right now is called Kamphaeng Phet. It's a small rural area about 250 miles outside of Bangkok. He said that the house he stays in is really nice and they live 2 other elders. He has air conditioning in his bedroom which is good because he said is extremely hot and humid! 

He said that the Thai people are very fascinated by him because he is white and American ha! 

He said he very busy all day every day, but that he likes it because the days go by fast. 

Here's more of what he wrote all of us about his first week...

Ok everyone my first week has been crazy!! I was in Bangkok for two nights:) The first night i just went to the airport to the hotel and crashed! Then the next day i had to do a bunch of boring stuff like blood work and orientation stuff haha. Then on Thursday i got my companion and my area! I chilled with my Comp in Bangkok for a while then At like 9 o'clock we got on a bus and drove 5 hours to get to our area:) The bus was way nice and i just slept the whole way haha:) The next day my companion and i taught a lesson to some members:) The members here are awesome! They all love the church and they all love us missionaries! There is no such thing as a lazy member in this branch! Its not even a branch yet because its so small! But i really like it here! We do a lot of stuff with the members which is fun. Anyway after we taught the members we went and bought me my bike:) One of the members took us to the bike shop and helped us out! So after i got my bike we went inviting at a market for a while:) Then that night we had sports night with the members:) We played dodge-ball and this game called Zombie which is kind of like that game sharks and minnos:) haha so that was fun:) Then we went out to eat with the members and then called it a night! The day after that we went to do some service:) So this guy Bro. Chaang has a ton of banana farms! so he asked us if we would go with him and help him cut down the bananas:) Hes like 60 years old and hes really funny! Hes the same guy who helped me get my bike:) So we went and cut down some bananas for a couple of hours and it was fun! The we were driving home and Bro. Chaang wanted us to talk to this lady whose husband is a member bur her and her kids aren't. So we went there. When we got there She was trying to build this hut thing so elder cooper and i and some members built it for her! It was way fun! We taught her a lesson after and she said she wants us to teach her again!:) So we have a few investigators and they are all awesome! 1 of then I Yammee and her dad. Yammee is 9 and reminders me of Bella! so i want to get her and her dad so bad!! But its been a crazy week!!

I'm so glad he is doing! He looks happy and seems to really love Thailand already!

Keep the love and support coming for Elder Neal!

Update From Mission President

My parents got a letter from Keyen's mission president, President Senior. He said that Keyen got to Bangkok safely and he stayed in a hotel his first night. They said that there will be a transfer meeting tomorrow where he will get his first assignment and he will still be emailing on Mondays.
He said, "He is in good spirits and is anxious to begin laboring in the Lord's vineyard in Thailand." That gives all of us a lot of comfort. I'm so excited to hear all about his first week there.
Please keep the emails coming and letters would be even better. It's about $1.25 to mail a letter to Thailand, just saying.
We love you Elder Neal!

Keyen and President and Sister Senior

He Made It!

Elder Neal left for Thailand Monday morning. We were all so excited to talk to Keyen. He first called us around 6 AM and he was with a group of about 40 other missionaries heading to the airport. They took the Front-runner and TRAX to the airport so he called us while we was on the train.
He sounded different but in a good way. He sounds like a young man instead of my little brother. He said there is about 15 of them heading to Thailand, including a couple sister missionaries. He really likes everyone except for his companion haha. He said they are just "different" but he said he is a good guy just a little bit too up tight. He will be getting a new companion in Thailand that will be his trainer so that will be good. He said that he was very excited to finally get to Thailand, but really nervous because he didn't know what to expect. I know he will be just fine. He can bear his testimony in Thai which was so cool to hear. It blows my mind what he has accomplished in 2 months. It stands as a true testament to me that this church is true.
We got to talk to him till he got to the airport and then once he got through security he called us again. I'd say we got to talk to him for about 2 1/2 hours total. My mom, dad, grandma, Austin, Sadie and I all got to talk to him for a good amount of time. I mostly gave him the sports update and Austin and him talked pretty much about Top Gear. It was such a fun morning, all of us sitting around the phone eating breakfast talking to Keyen.
He boarded his plane around 830 AM and we all gave him a last good bye. I was so sad but proud that he made it through the MTC. His flight went to Portland where they changed planes and then headed to Tokyo. The flight was 11 hrs. My mom and I tracked his flight the whole way there haha. Once he got to Tokyo he had about a 3 hr layover and then headed off to Bangkok and landed at 11:15 PM Bangkok time. His travel time was about 32hrs. Wow!! But he made it!!
Now the real adventure begins and I couldn't be more proud and excited for my brother. I can't wait to hear about all his experiences as he shares Christ's messages to the people of Thailand. My brother has strengthened my testimony by his dedication to the Lord and his children.
I know this church is true. I know Keyen knows it too. I'm so grateful to him and the other thousands of missionaries around the world who will be sharing this truth.
We love you Elder Neal! Be safe and stay strong! Can't wait for what is to come.

Also...Here are some pictures of his teachers and other missionaries in his district.

Watch out Thailand

The painful anticipation is finally over! It's official, Keyen is leaving for Thailand on Monday morning. He will leaving from SLC to Tokyo and then Tokyo to Bangkok!
We are so excited for Elder Neal!! I'm know that he has learned many valuable things while living at the MTC, but it will be so much better for him to actually get out there.
We will get to email him Sunday night and then hopefully get to talk to him for a little bit before he boards his plane for Tokyo.
If you want to wish him luck before heading to Thailand make sure you email him before Sunday night. He will still be able to email in Thailand but regular mail will take a lot longer to get to him now...obviously.
We love you Keyen and are so proud of you!!!!!!

Feels Like Azkaban

I was really happy to get to email Keyen for a little bit yesterday since I was out of town last Monday. He is still doing really well, but he is so over the MTC. I can't believe he has already been there for almost a month and a half. He said, "I can't wait to break out of Azkaban!" It's pretty funny but also sad because I know life is not always the greatest when feel trapped and bored of doing the same thing every single day. But like I told him he only has a couple more weeks to go till he will finally begin his adventure in Thailand!! He is so excited to go.
He can teach a lot of lessons in all Thai and is still leading all the classes in having the top score for the language assessment test. I'm pretty amazed by that.
He would told me he still loves all the support and love he as received and asks everyone to keep emailing and writing because it means so much to him.
I'm not even joking when I say you should write him!! Even if it's a quick little email, it would be great. Let's give Keyen that extra push to get him through these last couple weeks in the MTC.
Great things are coming to pass and I'm so excited for all the great things that he will be doing.
The church is true!
We love you Elder Neal! Stay Strong!

Prove It!

Hello family and friends! It's been a little bit since I've given you an update on Elder Neal. Keyen is doing really well in his language studies. He took a language assessment test and scored the highest in his class! He got 5.5 out of 7. His teacher was very impressed with him. Way to go Keyen!
He got some good advice from his Thai teacher. This is what Keyen wrote, "Brother Hunsaker told me something that really helped me. He told me that if I wanted something then I need to prove it. I need to prove to God that I really want something." I really liked this because I feel like that's a lot what a mission's purpose is. These young missionaries are not only serving fellow man and Father in Heaven but they are proving their faithfulness and that they truly know this Gospel is his church.
Keyen also said this, "Bro Hunsaker also told me that nothing is impossible. He told me that I can seriously bring thousands to repentance."
I can't wait for him to get to Thailand! He is almost there. He says that he still gets homesick. I don't think that he never not miss home, but that's okay. I think he feels bad that he misses home so much. Poor guy. But I know that he also remembers that it's only because he loves everyone so much and he is loved.
I sure do miss him, but I am so proud of him! Keep the support coming!
Stay strong Elder Neal!

One Month Down!!

It may seem like no big deal, but for Keyen it is HUGE. The MTC is can be very difficult some days. He had a few tough days last week, but he seems to be doing very good besides getting homesick. He has officially been gone 1 month and hopefully by March 2nd his visa will be cleared so he can finally go to Thailand.
As I'm sure many of you saw our cousin Jevin entered the MTC this past Wednesday. Jevin and Keyen have been very close since they were little. Elder Warren (Jevin) is serving in the L'viv Ukraine Mission! Very exciting stuff for our 2 guys.
When my uncle and aunt dropped off Jevin, they spotted Keyen through the gate and then the flagged him down, My cute brother was being a Host that day for new missionaries and so he got to be Jevin's! How awesome is that! I literally cried and got chills when my uncle told me. It was so cool to see these 2 together as missionaries. I'm so jealous my family got to see him! Keyen told me yesterday that he still gets to see Jevin during dinner. That makes me happy to know they have each other close by. Keyen also is really liking his companion Elder Greenwoo, he says he likes Top Gear just like Keyen so I'm sure they are best friends by now! Keyen really loves going to the temple. I am happy he gets to go often. He also is still picking up the Thai really well. He can teach a whole discussion is Thai. I think that is simply amazing after only being there a month.
Keyen really loves getting mail. It helps him so much. Even a small little card means the world to him. If you haven't had a chance or want to send another letter you should do it! It means so much to Keyen and it really helps him get through the hard days.
He got some very valuable advice from his leader. He told Keyen that Satan is working so hard on him right now because he is getting closer to leaving for Thailand. He said that Satan knows you well and he knows your weaknesses and knows what buttons to push, so don't give him that power. I thought that was so true!
I am so proud of my brother and my cousin. I worry about him all the time, but I also remember he is in the best hands possible. Satan may be working hard to get to him, but Heavenly Father is also right by his side. Satan can and never get his way with the Lord's help.
We love you Elder Neal! Stay Strong.