Tell us about your mission and the people. Tell us an interesting fact about the area of the world where you serve.
So my name is Elder Xiong and I am currently serving in Thailand Bangkok Mission in South East Asia. The food is amazingly delicious and people our wonderfully nice They constantly smile and love to talk to you. Anyone can easily strike up a conversation with random people on the street and it’s not weird at all, in fact a lot of people like it.
Why did you decide to serve a mission?
I decided to serve my mission after what I like to call my mid life crisis. I had hit a road block in my life and I felt guilt, sorrow, and bitterness. I finally then humbled myself to pray for guidance and for comfort. I never felt the spirit so strongly before and got a clear answer that I need to go on a mission to get my life on track.
What advice do you have for the youth and YSAs members of the stake that are contemplating serving a mission?
I would say, pray about it with a sincere heart and if it be in God’s Plan for you to serve a mission do it. He wants all his children around the world to have his Gospel and you can help share it
As the Youth Program of the church is changing, do you have any activities that you feel would be really helpful for future missionaries? Any activities that you’ve done with your Mission President or in your zones that were really meaningful?
A fun activity I saw in the past was in my 1st area Korat. They set a day apart where the missionaries and return missionaries would split off into groups with the youth. Then they would go and teach people or go do service. It let them see what it was like being with a missionary for a day.
Were there any fears that you had when you were considering serving a mission that you found were simply not warranted or melted away after you began serving?
My fears before my mission was that I wouldn’t be good enough. I wasn’t good enough at the language or I wasn’t as spiritual as another person. But I learned that no matter your weaknesses, God will increase your strength ten times fold and he is always by your side and always be your guide.
What lessons have you learned through your daily effort of serving the Lord and his sons and daughters?
A lesson I learned on a mission was that sometimes even when you feel the Spirit strongly but nothing happens when you follow that prompting it wasn’t useless. I have had so many times that I followed the Spirit to a dead end. Yes we were frustrated at the time but eventually we were rewarded because we followed the Spirit and wasted just a bit of time to be at the right place at the right time to find new investigators. So in life, trust the Lord and trust that even if you are lead by the spirit not knowing beforehand where to go, you will be rewarded.
Do you have any choice experiences from your mission that you’d like to share?
Yes, I have a Miracle Story. So this happened awhile back in my 3rd transfer. Me and a bunch of other missionaries went to eat Taco Bell as a send off party for an Elder because he had to be reassigned because of medical issues. While we were there we met two Americans from Idaho, who were also members of the church. Their names were Brotehr and Sister Densely. They told us that they lived down south in a city called Hua Hin and that a small group of saints meet each week for Church. There were 4 investigators down there but could not get baptized because they needed to learn from the missionaries. Turns out that the Elders in Bangkhae, where I was currently serving at the time, was the closest to Hua Hin.
So we brought it up with President and that next transfer we went down with President Hammond and his family to visit them. And as I first met all the members and investigators down there and when I felt their joy seeing the missionaries and Presient Hammond, I felt overcomed by the spirit. Their smiles, tears, laughter, joy was beyond anything I have ever seen in my life. And in that moment I thought to myself, “this must of been what Joseph Smith felt like when he first began the church”. Just a small group of believers of Christ coming together each week and loving the Savior. That night and the next day as we talked with everyone I loved so much, we ate dinner, had sacrament, one of the members daughter was baptized and we taught 4 new investigators who were so excited to learn the Gospel.
That next transfer after many video call lessons, three of my investigators would be baptized. Brother Oum, Sister Juum, and Sister Cleo are my first baptisms in Thailand. I am proud to have had the chance to teach them from start to finish and be able to baptize them. With that we made mission history as the first missionaries to baptize in Hua Hin and made my mission history as my first baptisms. I am so thankful for the chance to teach and baptize them.
I am so grateful for the Lord for letting me go on a mission and being able to witness so many miracles. I love God, I love his children, I love the Church and I love my mission. I say of this humbly in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.
