By KATIE WATERFALL

It was 1968 and Natthamon Limsukon was living in a dormitory at the YMCA in Bangkok, Thailand. She heard hymns every Sunday as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gathered for their weekly meetings at the YMCA. Limsukon loved the songs and later asked a friend if she could go in the meetings to listen to the music. Days later Limsukon was contacted by two LDS missionaries following a weekday church activity. She was taught by the missionaries and gained a testimony of the gospel.

Limsukon returned to her hometown of Chiang Mai, Thailand and became the first member of the Chiang Mai, Thailand Branch May 1969.

Natthamon's story is a representation of how members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sacrifice when they quit the Buddhist way of life and embrace LDS beliefs. But despite the risks involved with denying the national religion, members and investigators of the LDS Church in Thailand continue to make that sacrifice.

"Like most of Asia, the people are not Christian," said Benjamin Crowder, a missionary serving in the Thailand Bangkok Mission. "They have to change a lot of their core values to become a member of the church."

Thais are a deeply religious people, relying on Buddhism as the backbone of their society, family and community. According to the United States Department of State, approximately 94 percent of the Thai population is Buddhist.

"Everywhere you go [in Utah] you see a chapel of the church," Limsukon said. "If you were to compare it to Thailand, it's like seeing a Buddhist temple. They are everywhere. But it's a lot easier than 30 years ago. There are more Christians in Thailand now."

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints account for 0.02 percent of the Thai population and include one stake, five districts, six wards and 23 branches, according to the Cumorah Project International LDS Database. The Church's numbers continue to increase. LDS membership in Thailand is approximately 13,000 members; nearly triple the number of members in 1992.

Thailand's government does not recognize new religious faiths, but unregistered religious organizations, like the LDS Church, have been allowed to operate freely as long as they do not knock on doors to find potential investigators.

Lauren Hart, a senior from Lafayette, Calif., majoring in psychology, recently returned from the Thailand Bangkok Mission. Hart said despite not being able to knock on doors, the Thai people are still easy to approach and are willing to discuss the gospel.

"They're very kind and generous people and they love to talk," Hart said. "But we aren't allowed to knock on doors, so the standard is kind of that if you can see them, you can talk to them. It's relatively easy to talk about the gospel the first time. After that it's harder."

Josh McAdams, a returned missionary from the Thailand Bangkok Mission and a BYU student studying microbiology, said the Thai people were always willing to talk to missionaries, but they were not always interested in the church.

"They do respect the church and the missionaries a lot," McAdams said. "We're not selling anything. We teach English for free. They respect us."

McAdams said missionary work is hindered because of the strength of the Buddhism.

"Because it is mostly Buddhist, the people have a lot of a family pressure to stick to Buddhism or to be doing Buddhist practices," McAdams said. "It's just the tradition. The people loved what the church taught. They wanted to do what it taught, but so many family and friends influence them to not do it."

In addition to family and social pressures, many who investigate the church also struggle with indifference toward religion.

"Many think that every religion teaches us to be good people," Hart said.

McAdam's said this indifference is the biggest struggle for Thai people in accepting the church.

"Thai people think that every religion teaches you to be good." He said. "They say 'Daam Sabbay,' which sort of means to do whatever you feel and go with the flow. They don't want to step on anybody's toes or bring conflict into life."

Furthermore, it is difficult for missionaries to get people to go to church because the Thai people are born Buddhist. Charee - short for Nicharee -- Limsukon, daughter of Natthamon Limsukon and a sophomore at BYU, explained this difficulty.

"We're born Buddhist ... Even as Buddhists we don't really pay attention to Buddhism," she said. "We don't really care, we're just Buddhist and that's it."

Like her mother, Charee Limsukon's conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints did not come easily.

"When I was 10 and when my brother Atikhun was 15, the missionaries came to our house and taught us the discussions because my mom wanted us to learn about it," Charee Limsukon said. "My dad didn't want us to learn, but my mom said, 'Please just let them learn. They don't have to get baptized or anything, but just let them learn.'"

Charee's Limsukon's father, a strict follower of Buddhism, allowed Charee and Atikhun to be taught by the missionaries, but did not allow their younger brother to learn the gospel.

To further discourage involvement in the church, Charee Limsukon's grandmother, also an active Buddhist, made Atikhun promise to never join the LDS church. After 10 months of listening to the discussions, Charee and Atikhun Limsukon decided to be baptized.

"I always grew up being Buddhist, so I just stuck to how the custom was of being Buddhist," Charee Limsukon said. "They have certain things to worship. But that's not the way the [LDS] Church is. This church needs faith, so when I was 10, I didn't even know how faith was like, but I was afraid of getting baptized by myself later on, so decided to get baptized the same day [as my brother]."

Charee and Atikhun Limsukon became two of the few second-generation members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Thailand.

Because of the church's brief history in Thailand, second-generation members of the church are uncommon. Thailand was dedicated for missionary work by President Gordon B. Hinckley -- then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles - in 1966, but Thailand wasn't established as part of a mission until 1969. A Thai translation of the Book of Mormon did not become available until 1976. Still, as the church continues to grow in Thailand, so does the strength of the youth.

"The youth stick together, but there are still those outside pressures," McAdams said. "Second-generation members have seen examples, both good and bad, of what leadership should be [in the church]. Seminary programs are in effect now, and they are more educated and devoted. They see the great benefits of being a member of the church: the education, going abroad to serve a mission. They know it opens doors for them."

Thirty-four years after her conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Natthamon Limsukon serves as District Relief Society President and as a health missionary in the Thailand Bangkok Mission. She has also been accepted by her family and relatives because of her exemplary behavior.

Through the challenges, the gospel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has progressed in Thailand.

Gordon B. Hinckley visited Thailand in 2000 and met with government leaders as well as members of the church.

"We prayed that the Lord would smile upon this land, that He would touch it by the power of His Holy Spirit, that the way would be opened for missionaries to come here, that the faithful would accept the truth, and that the Lord would do a great and good work here," President Hinckley said in an address to the Thai members printed in the Church News. "I came back on three or four other occasions. Now it's been a long time since I was here, and I have seen a miracle, a very real miracle."



Copyright Brigham Young University 6 Jan 2004