An unexpected turn of events

We had prayer and then started out early one Sunday morning with Brother Bunthom driving President Wongsagorn, and Ray, and me to Sakon Nakhorn for branch conference. It is a long drive--about 160 kilometers--and their meetings started at 9:00 a.m. We were moving rather swiftly down the highway and were within about 20 kilometers of our destination, when a big dog ran out in front of the car. There was no way to avoid hitting it--and we could tell right away that the car wasn't functioning properly. We pulled off into a little home garage along the road to have the car checked out.

The damaged bumper is obvious. The radiator was leaking pretty bad, too. He filled it, which allowed us to limp into town for our meetings.

While he was checking out the car, we wandered around a little bit. We noticed two jars sitting on a table behind the house. This is a close up of one of them.

The wife of the mechanic was very happy to explain to us that her homemade balaa was almost ready to use. She had caught these fish in the rice paddy. She packed them whole as tightly as she could in the jars, covered them with salt and vinegar, and set them outside on the back table for just over three years now. Soon they will be ready to mash up and add as flavoring to som tam (papaya salad) and other favorite dishes.

In the meantime, the mechanic filled the radiator so we could make it into town, and we went on our way. We made it to Sakon Nakhorn in time for church and had a good time. Ray spoke and I was asked to bear my  testimony. I did my best to give it in Thai. My attempt produced many nods and smiles. After the meeting, one dear sister said she felt like she had a new friend. I have not seen her since, but Ray visited there a couple of Sundays ago and he said she asked about me and was disappointed I hadn't come with him. She was kind to remember me.

We were able to see Elder Boonmee from Riverton 2nd Ward who is assigned to Sakon Nakhorn Branch right now. It was good to see him--he looks great and is doing great, too.

A couple of members wanted their picture taken with me in front of the church. She is the family history person for the branch and doing good work.

After church, we went out to check the car. There was a big puddle of water under it, so we knew for sure we couldn't go far. The former branch president and his wife led us to a shop where we could get it checked out again.

Brother Bunthom was talking to the insurance company trying to figure out what to do; the former branch president and his wife, Ray, and President Wongsagorn.

The repair shop was a family affair--the mom took care of the kids while she ran a little drink and snack shop on the side--they had TV and everything. These kids were so cute! They were eating lunch--sticky rice in the baskets and a variety of foods to eat with their fingers. (They were keeping it covered to keep the flies off.)

It turned out that the car could not be easily fixed. We had to take it to the car dealership in town. It took about two hours to get everything worked out, and then we got a ride to the bus station from our Good Samaritans.

Instead of a private car with Tabernacle Choir or John Denver music playing, we got to have a four hour bus ride home. I wish you could hear the music. (I recorded it but can't get it to upload on the blog.) It was Thai karaoke. Take my word for it, it seemed much longer than four hours! (As a side note, it took about a month for Brother Bunthom to get his car back!)

Our view--we originally took seats near the back of the bus, but the driver moved people around and put us in the front seat. I hope people didn't think we requested the change!

Here are a few sights on our ride back:

A country soi (street into a neighborhood).

A house across the canal.

A nice country home.

Beautiful green fields.

Kwai (water buffalo) outside the fence and just off the road. We saw a lot of these.

Chicken cages for sale. (sorry it's a little blurry--taken from the bus window as we drove)

A lady selling brooms in one of the little towns we drove through. Also, lots of food carts set up on the sidewalk in the late afternoon.

A bridge across the canal from the main road is very common. There will be homes, stores, and restaurants that must be reached by crossing something like this.

It was a long and interesting day with good people, but we were very happy to get home from our nearly 12-hour adventure.