The Letter (the one all parents wait for!)

This is the "THANKS FOR BEING THE BEST PARENTS IN THE WORLD" letter that all parents wait for! And boy it is ever worth the nearly 19 year wait!  This was received 9/27/16. It was 6 pages hand written so it took me a while to sit down and type it out. 

Dear Mom and Dad,

I feel like in my emails I’m not really able to say everything that I want to to you because I don’t have enough time and if I did then there wouldn’t be an email for the family probably.  So I’ll just tell you now! I’m not writing this because I’m really struggling or I need to confess stuff to you or anything, I just think you need more details than you’re getting from the emails. You deserve it. And also, if one week I don’t respond to one of the kids or you or dad, it’s not because I didn’t want to respond, it’s because I didn’t have time! And I’d send pictures with my camera in the middle of the week but I’m not sure if that’s technically allowed or not, so I’m just going to play it safe.

So how is Elder Wilcox doing? The answer: pretty great! I’ll be honest, the last couple days have been hard as far as focus goes because we are all just ready to go, but I think I’m back on track with that so all is well. I’m really excited to get to Thailand but at the same time I know there’s a TON more stuff I need to figure out before I get there. I think spiritually and mentally I’m good to go, but there is so much more room to improve in Thai that I’m kinda nervous. In TRC lessons via Skype, I only understand about 30-40% of what our person says, and that’s with them speaking slowly and patiently, so Thailand is gonna be rough for awhile. My companion is a lot better at understanding Thai than I am which is sort of frustrating, but it’s ok cuz it’s helpful in lessons. My weakest areas are grammar and comprehension so I need to work a lot on those. I’m excited to have a companion who has been there for a while and has a decent grip on the language. I think that will be super helpful. I’m pretty good at the speaking and reading part, which is nice. Now that I know how to read it the script is way cool! And reading is fun. Basically how it works is you first locate a word (since there aren’t actually any spaces). You do this usually by finding the vowel, which will then contain a consonant inside of it. You then pronounce the consonant followed by the vowel sound. Once you learn how to do that, all you have to learn about is silent letters, implied vowels, consonant clusters, vowel clusters, implied punctuations, the four-step-process for determining the tones, and what the heck the word actually means. That’s basically it though. We mostly practice reading with the Book of Mormon, which is nice because you can use the English one to help you out. And speaking of script, we got our Thai name-tags today! I’ll send pictures on P-day, but for now I’ll just show you how it look in Thai… *********** (Elduh Wiwcog). And yeah, that does actually make sense to me.  Getting those made me even more excited as you can imagine. I’m so excited to be fluent; it’s a cool language.

So that’s how the language is coming. Slowly but surely. As far as spirituality goes, I’m please to report that my testimony (especially of prayer and the power of the Holy Ghost) has a least doubled. It’s so amazing how powerful everything is here. The devotionals are always incredible (yesterday we had L. Whitney Clayton from the 70 come and he was awesome), my teachers are amazing, and the spirit is almost tangible. It’s crazy, so many times I’ve just been sitting somewhere or doing something random and I’ll realize that I am feeling the Spirit. Half the time I just get confused because I’m not doing anything particularly spiritual. That’s just the kind of place this is. Basically no matter where you are the spirit is there.

And now, the most important thing you can get out of this letter… yes, I have gained weight! About 15 pounds to be exact. About a week and a half ago I weighed myself and it read 201.6 lbs. I topped 200!!! I was so pumped. Harry just happened to be there so I gave him a big hug and he was very confused.

So, I started this letter on Wednesday night and now it’s Friday, so sorry it takes so long for me to write these things. We get our flight plans later today, so I’ll let you know what exactly will be happening. Last night it started raining SUPER hard, so me and Elder Holland and Elder Brinkerhoff went and played in it. I felt like I was 4 again, but it was way fun. It’s weird to see what kind of things you get excited for as a missionary. I can’t wait to see the rain we will get in Thailand. We just do random stuff like that to stay entertained. I’ve started to name inanimate objects and pretend they’re my kids. So far, I have 2 oranges named Ken and Keith (I don’t like Keith, Ken is definitely the favorite child out of those 2), a yellow bouncy ball with a face on it that I named Clint, a green ball with a face on it that I named Casey, and the rubber band ball I’m working on is named Craig. Other missionaries like to babysit them and I think Clint might nave been kidnapped, but it’s all good. I’ve also gotten pretty good with a paper football.

So, our flight plans are as follows: we leave the MTC at 3:30 A.M. on the 3^rd of October and then fly out of SLC at 7:00am. We should arrive in Chicago at O’Hare at about 11:10 A.M. and we have a 4 hour lay-over there until 3:35 pm when we will leave to Hong Kong. At about 8:25 P.M. on the 4^th we will land in Hong Kong (crossing over the International Date-Line makes the time thing weird). After a 1 hour layover in Hong Kong we will fly out at 9:25 pm and land in Bangkok at 11:15pm! So, we leave early on the 3^rd and arrive almost on the 5^th. Lots of travel time, about 30 hours I think. The flight to Hong Kong is gonna take forever. If I meet someone on the plane who’s interested in the gospel, there’s a good chance I could have them baptized by the time we land. Just kidding, but that would be way cool. It’s crazy, I’ve been preparing to teach people for 2 months in Thai, so I don’t even really know what I would do if the person spoke English. And also, just the whole concept of talking to a REAL person, even in English, is scaring the heck out of me. I’m still going to pray to be able to help someone I meet, so we’ll see how that goes, I guess. Oh, and I’m flying Cathay Pacific for all flights which means I get 2 checked bags for free up to 50 lbs which is nice, but my carry-on can only be 15 lbs and with dimensions of 22”x14”x9”. So that means I’ll be sending my small suitcase back, I guess. I’m bummed about that, but I’m still way psyched for Thailand! It’ll be awesome.

And now for the real reason I am writing this letter. I just wanted to take some time to thank you two for everything you did to help me get to this point. I know I wasn’t the best kid in the world, but thank you so much for always being there for me and being such good examples of how to be Christ-like and to show me what it really means to love someone and love the Lord. Your examples are a huge reason I wasn’t ever a terrible person and the reason I’m where I am today. You helped me to know right from wrong. Not just in the eyes of the world and what most people would consider correct, but you helped me understand what is truly right and what is truly wrong, in the eyes of Heavenly Father. It’s crazy being here at the MTC because I had just assumed most Mormon homes were like ours, but I’ve been shocked to see how many missionaries think I’m so weird that I never watched R-rated movies or French kissed or grabbed a girl’s butt or that I don’t know how I would go about getting drugs or that I dated girls, not just “hooked up”. They make fun of me and say “Wow, that’s so Mormon” and things like that. They make fun of me for living in Utah and being “uncultured” and “naïve” and I don’t get it at all. Don’t worry, I’m not telling you this because I’m super depressed or I feel like I’m getting picked on. That’s not it at all. It doesn’t faze me at all, it just makes me confused and really sad for them that they think those things are all cool and normal. More than anything though, it makes me SO grateful for everything you two do for me. Thank you so much for all the small things you do for me and the other kids, for all of the times you said “no”, restrictions on our phones, and annoying little rules that we absolutely hate, but that you know will protect us and shelter us from evil. I sincerely thank you. Don’t let yourselves cave in to us kids. I know we are annoying. I know we are disobedient, and I know we are wrong 99% of the time. So don’t be afraid to tell us “no” or to be the bad guys. I’m so grateful that you weren’t pushovers. I know that I have been blessed and that I will continue to be blessed because of your faith and obedience. If I can end up being ½ as good of a parent as you guys have been to me, I’ll be lucky. Thank you for doing laundry, cleaning the house, going to work everyday, cooking meals, paying for gas, teaching me to work, helping me with homework, finishing projects I forgot about for 6 weeks and then remembered the night before, cleaning up Charlie’s poop when I was too lazy to, taking me for walks around the pond to see Azul, teaching me to love football, providing me with a car to drive which I didn’t deserve, teaching me to work, taking me to Mexico and New York and Wisconsin and California and Oregon and Ecuador and south Dakota and Nauvoo and Canada and DC and Philadelphia and Colorado and Utah and Idaho and Arizona and Washington and New Mexico, staying up way too late for me and making sure I am home and safe, all of the Christmases and Halloweens and Easters and 4^th of July’s and Thanksgivings you put together for us, the 3 “I love you’s” at night, driving 10 hours to Utah through Wyoming with 6 sick or hungry or angry or annoying kids in the back, building me a sandbox, buying me countless lego sets and Lincoln logs, waking up at 3 am to watch the Super Bowl, letting me sleep in bed with you guys when I pretended to be sick, singing songs with me in the car, being so easy to scare, having funny dreams and getting mad about them in real life, letting me go run up every walk-way and sit down on every front step, staying strong in the gospel even when friends and family falter, being patient and pretending to care when I came and told you about the cool things I did at recess, not getting too mad when I lost those 20 hoodies, taking me camping and helping me learn to appreciate nature, taking me to watch the hot-air balloons take off when it was -30 degrees (jk, but it felt like it), putting on birthday parties, driving me to friends’ houses and to football practices and to school when I woke up too late, helping me find good friends that influenced me for good, taking us to the library, teaching me to read and love books, showing me what it means to be a great spouse and parent, teaching me to ride a bike, sharing stories about your mission that helped me get excited for my own, whipping our the stiff-arms and spin moves when we tickled you, thinking you’re hilarious and laughing for hours at your own jokes about cannibalistic clowns, coming to save me from the most embarrassing moment of my life, changing my diapers and letting me throw up on you, forcing me to take piano lessons, patiently teaching me to drive a stick-shift, supporting me and not getting mad during my darkest times, bouncing me on your knee and holding me in the air like super-man, understanding my sign language for “paleontologist”, taking us to walk through the Sacred Grove and roll down the Hill Cumorah each fast Sunday, drawing “conference Bingo” boards, supporting me in football when I didn’t get playing time, writing last second church talks with me, loving me unconditionally, being patient, and the other 10 million things I don’t have time to write about. Thank you. I wouldn’t be on my mission right now if it weren’t for you guys. I love you so much!

It’s now Sunday, which means you might not actually get this before Tuesday. I’ll re-type some of this stuff just in case. I wrote this letter for you two specifically, but please feel free to share it with the kids too so they don’t feel left out.  Anything I can do to help them feel excited for their missions, I will do. This is the best decision I’ve ever made and I know a mission will bless the lives of each of them immensely. Let me know what kinds of things you want to hear about in my letters/emails or what picture you want too. Do you want me to teach you some Thai? Send pictures for the kids? Whatever it is, I’ll try my best, but we only have so much free time here so I might be limited a bit.

Send me TONS of pictures of you guys and the family, it’s the highlight of my week every time. Sorry I don’t send more pictures, I don’t really know what to take pictures of because things seems so repetitious here. So let me know what you want. Some things I need before I leave fore Thailand are a neck pillow, probably a bigger shoulder bag after all (mine doesn’t really have room for anything, even just normal notebooks, I’ll send a picture of the kind I’d need) , airplane snacks, a wall-plug air freshener (we are… stinky, because of our recreation clothes (whip sound)), more Utah and family stuff to remember you, and pictures. I’ll send my carry-on bag back home since it’s too big, with all the stuff I don’t need. Oh! And I’ve ha d “Lost in the Moment” by NF stuck in my head literally the whole time I’ve been here and there’s a line that’s actually really good but I don’t remember it, so can you email me the lyrics for that song. Please? Thank you for all you do and have done for me. I don’t know what I did to deserve the best parents in the world. I love you guys and can’t wait to see you again~ see ya in 22 months!

Love, (signed in Thai script)

PS I guess you could also send that iPod if you really wanted to. Put lots of different kinds of church music on it like piano guys, Mo Tab, youth/ EFY stuff, etc.

Thailand, Pakkret Week 2

Hey guys!

There's been a lot of stuff that's happened this last week. So last Monday we went to a giant trampoline place and that was cool. Today we are going to the biggest aquarium in Asia which I'm SUPER stoked for. Aquariums are the best. My district is really cool which is nice becuase they keep it interesting. We had a sleep over with the other elders in our area last P-day which I'm not exactly sure if that's allowed so don't tell anyone. My trainer is the DL so I guess technically it was approved. Also, the King of Thailand died on Thursday, which is kinda a huge deal... Everyone is wearing black (seriously everyone, it's pretty cool) and people will just break out into tears randomly. It's awesome that they love their King that much. I wonder if we'd be that upset if Trump or Hillary died. Probably not. The king ruled for 70 years and did tons of stuff for the people, kinda like King Benjamin. He was just a super down to earth guy and super helpful and caring. His face is on all of the Thai money and there are GIGANTIC pictures and statues honoring him everywhere, even before he died. There is a Buddhist prophecy that there would be 9 kings, and he was the 9th king, so now I'm fairly certain anarchy is immenent. If relations between the new government and the Church are harmed, we may have to leave Thailand, which sucks. His son who is supposed to take over as king is seriously hated by everyone so we'll see how that transition goes. I don't expect it to be super smooth and there will probably be big protests and possibly violence. Last night I thought I heard a bomb go of, but I guess it was just really really really loud thunder. Speaking of thunder, it rains a TON here. The first week I was here it rained every single day. It's fun to go out in the rain though so it's all good. 

In other news, we had our first baptism yesterday!!! It was so awesome. Her name is sister แกะ (ga (short "a" like in "apple")). It was kinda crazy though because 10 minutes before the baptism was supposed to start, we realized that we forgot to fill up the font which is kinda important. We turned on the water, said a prayer, and somehow were able to do the baptism only a little late. So that was really cool. There are so many small miracles like that that happen out here in the field, it's so awesome to see all of them. This truly is the Lords work. We also have one baptism scheduled each of the next 4 weeks, so I think our goal of 4 baptisms this transfer will be met. We are aiming for 6 now. It's so awesome to see the effect of the gospel in the life of our investigators, it truly blesses thier lives. 

The food is still awesome, toilets are amazing, members are super cool, and the language is still really hard but it's getting better, don't worry. I've gotten a TON better at being able to understand people so most of the time I have a decent idea of what they are trying to say. It is definitely helpful to have a companion who is fluent in the language, especially in lessons. Lessons are so much different that I thought they would be. We have members at basically every lesson and sometimes the members do more than half of the teaching and it just turns into a really great discussion. We ride around in taxis a lot because our church is a 20 minute ride away, so we have lots of opportunites to talk to the drivers. My trainer always makes me sit in the front and talk to the driver which has actually been pretty helpful. It was really awkward at first but now it's not too bad and we can mostly carry a conversation. It's still hard to contact becuase since I don't speak Thai very well people kinda just ignore me and keep walking. It's ok though, we've met some awesome people! We have some awesome investigators right now that are making progress so it's easy to be optimistic. 

In your emails to me, leave some questions you have about Thailand and I'll try to answer them the best I can! This place is so amazing and so different. Missions are seriously the best, so don't be scared of them. I've already learned so much. 

Quick spiritual thought... 

With the death of the king, many of our investigators have been sad and feeling really down during our lessons. Me and Elder Gremmillion were able to share with them 2 Nephi 2 and Alma 60:13. Each of them talk about why God allows us good people to suffer and die. I especially love Alma 60:13 because it says that when people die, we don't need to think that they are lost because we can find comfort in knowing that they are in the rest of God. It really helped them feel better about everything and they were way cool experiences. I'm so grateful for the Plan of Salvation and the peace it can give our lives. As long as we live our lives in a way that the Savior would be proud of us, we have nothing to fear becuase we have a Father in Heaven who's just waiting to recieve us unto Him. 

I love this work and I love you guys! See ya in 2 :)

Love, 

เอ็ลเดอร์ วิวล์คอกส์

Elder Wilcox

Great view of Bangkok from on top of our apartment.

This blind guy was just singing on the bridge so we got a pic.

We got bored so we burned ugly ties.

This is our pet Gila Monster. He sleeps on this tree right next to our apartment.

Some people we teach at English. 

Ronald McDonald is Thai too!

Sister Ga's baptism!​​

This guys is playing a harp thing with spoons. We talked to him and he wanted to meet with us so we might have a new investigator!

Thailand, Pakkret Week 1: First Letter from Thailand!

October 9, 2016 

Hey guys! 

I cannot even begin to explain how much cooler Thailand is than the MTC! The food is better, the living situations are kinda better sort of not really but its still cool, and the people are AMAZING! It's been a while since I've been able to email so I'll do a short little summary real quick of what's happened so far these last two weeks. 

I almost wasnt able to come to Thailand with the rest of my group because I destroyed my ankle, but luckily I convinced the trainer to break protocol and not make me go to the doctor for clearance (he definitely would have made me stay the required 5 days). So what happened was I was playing basketball 1 on 1 with Elder Holland in my district (he played in college at SVU) on our last day of exercize time so it was the last possible day I could have injured myself. We were playing to 21 by 1s and 2s and at this point I was only down 17-5 so I figured I had a pretty decent chance to come back in the last 10 minutes we had left of gym time. I shot it and missed so I jumped up to get the rebound, and when I came down on my right foot, there was apparently another loose baskeball that I hadn't seen before and I landed right on top of it. I felt my ankle pop a couple times as it snapped forward and for a second I though "hey, maybe I finally broke a bone!" but then I remembered that that wouldn't actually be very cool so I started to worry a bit. Luckily it was just a gnarly sprain, not a break, so when I was being tested by the trainer I forced myself to have full range of motion so she wouldn't make me stay at the MTC for another week since I was leaving 3 days later. She just had me wrap it and ice it and keep it elevated which wasn't too bad because then me and my companion got reserved seats down on the floor of the auditorium for conference. It got super swollen and purple, but it's all good now (in fact in a couple hours we are going to go to a trampoline park and I'm 90% sure my ankle will be fine). 

Speaking of conference, my last 3 days were crazy busy with meeting and conferences and stuff. On Friday I had "In-field-orientation" all day. On Saturday, we had Saturday morning session, Saturday afternoon session, Priesthood Session, and then district meetings. On Sunday we had Music and the Spoken Word, Sunday morning, Sunday afternoon, departure devotional, regular devotional (Vocal Point from BYU came and it was actually way cool), and then movie night. THEN on all of monday and tuesday I was at an airport or on an airplane for 36 hours. Needless to say, I was very excited when I got to Thailand and was able to move around a little bit :) 

I'm sure most of you have seen the video on Facebook of my group coming in to Thailand (if not, can you share that, Mom?). It was so much fun coming to this crazy country and experiencing this culture! There are so many things that are different and awesome! I'll list a couple of things. 1) everything is written in Thai 2) everything is spoken in Thai 3) traffic is crazy!! Not crazy as in super busy, crazy as in everybody just does whatever they want and no one really cares. Cars merge right into each other and the other cars just get out of the way and don't honk, motorcycles drive in between cars that are stopped super quickly and when there isn't room for that they just go on the sidewalks. Basically, if there is enough room for your vehicle to squeeze into a space then you do it and no one even cares. No body follows the rules here, but at the same time they are the best drivers I've ever seen. If anything that happens on Thai roads happened in America there would be totalled cars left and right and Anarchy would surely be immenent. Also, they have these nifty timer things next to the stop lights that count down how much longer the green light or red light has. It's actually super helpful. 4) The food is SOOOOOOOOOOO good!!! And super spicy too. Dad would struggle here. Literally everything that is cooked has at least a little bit of spice to it which is awesome in my opinion. I haven't had anything that isn't delicious yet and that includes pig intestines. No idea how they pulled that one off. 5) My bathroom experience has been changed forever. I'm gonna be talking a lot about bodily functions and bathroom stuff for a while, so feel free to scroll down a bit if you desire to skip this part. The Thai people do it right, let me tell ya. Not only is their toilet paper TRIPLE ply, they also have a butt-shower built into every toilet in the country! You haven't experienced "clean" until you have pooped in Thailand. Most of the problems I encountered in America came from the underlying feeling of being dirty after the restroom. That is no longer a problem. I feel pure and ready to take on the world. Mom would be so proud of me if she could see how much faster I go now. For those of you about to take a trip to Thailand (which I recommend highly) here's how you go to the bathroom with maximum efficiency. First, you wipe away the majority. After that you cleanse with the hose. It takes a while to get used to, but boy is it effective. Then you dry off with toilet paper again. Bam. You're done. HOW AWESOME IS THAT!?!?!?! Sorry for that bathroom rant, I just feel the need to share the things that I love now that I'm a missionary. And by the way, my return home is conditional upon the status of our home toilets and their hoses. 6) There are dogs running around everywhere 7) lot's of transgenders here. Very different from America in how they show it. 8) When we were at the park where Thailand was dedicated for missionary work by President Hinckley we went off to pray and ponder by oursleves and Elder Turley from our group had a guy come up to him and started yelling and throwing hot suace at him. So I guess that's a thing here. 

Now about the mission! My first companion is Elder Gremmillion, Alli's cousin. What are the odds, huh? He's 6'7" and way cool. We are serving in the Nonthaburi area in the Bangkok North Stake which is awesome! The people here are SO nice. A lot of them speak English a little bit so they are very helpful with the language because they know how to correct me most effectively. We have tons of help from the members with lessons and we have been to a member's house for dinner twice now. It's so good! 

A lot of our time is spent teaching lessons and inviting at or around the mall near our apartment. We also teach free English lessons every tuesday and thursday at 6:30 pm in a little room we rented out. Those classes are one of our most effective ways of getting ivestigators beacuse lots of people want to learn English so we have a decent turn out and then after the class we share a spiritual lesson with whoever wants to stay for it. English class was one of the first things I did when I got here so it was cool to get to do that right off the bat. We only speak English during the class so I don't have to worry about the language which is a nice break. 

Our apartment is really small and it's only me and Elder Gremmillion in there which is different than the MTC. It's got a flower painted kitchen and flower bed sheets so it's pretty cute. We heard a gunshot my first night. Great neighborhood. It's crazy being a missionary, especially a tall, white missionary because everybody knows us! Especially at the 7-Eleven. The workers there are homies. 

We have 3 baptisms so far lined up for this transfer and we are working on the 4th and 5th right now. Even though it is mostly Buddhist around here, people that are willing to listen to us are very receptive and excited about the gospel, especially the parts about baptism and forgiveness since there's nothing like that in Buddhism. Elder G baptized a cute little old man named brother Bah (nobody goes by their real names here in Thailand, everyone chooses a nickname for themselves). He is so happy and cute! Thai people in general are small which makes me and Elder G seem like giants. 

That's really all that's happening right now! It's just Thailand ;) I'll try to send lots of pictures right now. I miss you guys like crazy but I know that this is where I need to be :) See ya in 2!

Love, 

Elder Wilcox

Our first meal in Thailand!

My ankle. That's not my heel, it's my ankle...

On the bus.  

Our view from the top of our apartment.

Bangkok is busy!

Bangkok from the plane.

Me and Elder Robinson back in the MTC. He's from Jamaica.

Arrival in Thailand

Jacob made the 36 hour long trip from Utah to Thailand, leaving the MTC at 3:30 a.m. on Monday October 3rd and arriving in Bangkok at 2:00 a.m. on Wednesday October 5th. We got to talk to him on the phone while at the airport in Salt Lake and later in Chicago. He sounded great! A little nervous understandably, but excited to move on from the MTC.

05 Oct 2016

Dear Brother and Sister Wilcox,

We are happy to report that your son arrived safely in Bangkok late last night, clearing passport control early this morning. He spent what was left of the evening in a hotel room with his companion, where he will also stay this evening. He is in good spirits and is anxious to begin laboring in the Lord's vineyard in Thailand. We are thrilled to have him as a missionary in the Thailand Bangkok Mission family.

Elder Jacob Bryan Wilcox will join other newly arrived missionaries, together with Sister Johnson and me and the Assistants to the President, at Lumpini Park for a morning devotional. Lumpini Park is the site where then Elder Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the land of Thailand for the preaching of the Gospel in 1966. Elder Wilcox will have the opportunity to dedicate and consecrate himself to this most wonderful work.  The new missionaries will be trained by Sister Johnson and me, and later oriented by the Office Couple, Elder and Sister Grange, and the Assistants to the President. New missionaries will have their first experience street contacting in the area followed by dinner at the Mission Home.

Your son will receive his first assignment tomorrow morning. Preparation day will be on Monday and he will be able to email you each week.  I am sure he will have much to share regarding his experiences in Thailand, missionary activities and his first Sunday in his assigned area. Your expressions of encouragement and spiritually uplifting email correspondence will be of great support.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions during your son's term of missionary service.

Sincerely,

President and Sister Johnson

Thailand Bangkok Mission

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Then a couple of days later we found out that he was assigned his first area in Pakkret which is I think a city in the northern suburb of the Bangkok metro area. His companion is Elder Gremillion, the nephew of Jim and Sandy Gremillion our former ward members before the Shepard View ward split. 

8 October 2016

Dear Brother and Sister Wilcox,

We are pleased tell you that your wonderful son, Elder Wilcox has been welcomed by the Thailand Bangkok Mission and has been assigned to serve in the Pakkret, Bangkok North Zone of the Thailand Bangkok Mission.

The missionaries arrived happy, healthy and well prepared from their MTC experience.  Sister Johnson and I hosted the group in our home and we were able to share experiences and a fine meal together while feeling the strength and conviction of their testimony. They are very valiant and carry with them a strong spirit and desire to serve our Heavenly Father.

I have sought the direction of the Lord and have chosen one of our finest missionaries, Elder John Christian Gremillion to be Elder Wilcox's  training companion.  I believe this companion will help your son to get a great start as a missionary and to experience the joy and vision of missionary service.

Sister Johnson and I thank you for your support and ask that you continue to write weekly letters or emails of encouragement.  We promise to love and care for your son like one of our own, and to do everything we can to help him succeed and prosper as a missionary in Thailand.  We know that Elder Wilcox and your family will be richly blessed by his service here.  Please pray for all of the missionaries and for the wonderful people of Thailand.


Sincerely,

President Kelly R. Johnson
Thailand Bangkok Mission

And we thought Jake would look like a giant among the Thai people. Together they're a couple giants. He looks happy!