Sisters Training Meeting

The day after transfers, all of the sister missionaries had a training meeting with President and Sister Senior. We had wonderful talks from some of the young sisters, and then President and Sister Senior spoke. Each spoke about a different aspect of missionary work from this talk by President
Faust. It was so inspiring and President and Sister Senior are always so loving and wise. Really builds you up spiritually!

This is a wonderful group of dedicated, hardworking, committed, full-of-testimony sisters! We love them! (and President Senior, too!)

Transfer Meeting in Bangkok

We had only been in Udorn for six days when President Senior called all the missionaries back to Bangkok for a big moves meeting. 98% of the mission was affected either by moving or getting a new companion. Luckily, we weren't changed! :)

 The empty chairs are for the new missionaries just arriving who would be introduced in a little while. One of them was Elder Boonmee from the 2nd Ward in our Summerhill Stake. Just one new sister came with this group. Transfer meeting felt a lot like a pep rally--there was a lot of excitement, cheering, exuberant singing, and even some joking around.


President Senior got a little emotional when he announced that for the first time we would be sending a companionship of teaching elders into Myanmar. We have had humanitarian missionaries, but these would be the first teaching missionaries. We are not sure what the restrictions are, but they are paving the way for future progress. A huge cheer went up at the announcement!

We were so glad to be a part of the excitement. Actually, we were introduced as part of the new group since we had only been in country about a week. We were definitely still greenies.

Choir Practice

Udorn Branch 1 has a great turnout for choir practice. They practice three nights a week from 8-9:00 p.m.  getting ready for branch conference May 1. Despite the long distances they have to travel and the late hour, they come and have a great time together. The number of people in the choir represents about 20% of the congregation. Think of the size choir we could have in our ward in Utah with that kind of support!

This is the view people usually have of me during church. I am usually at the piano.  Hopefully that will change--right now I teaching 17 piano students.

More critters!

Two days in a row I found one of these belly up on my kitchen floor first thing in the morning. The first day, the legs and antennae were still moving. (I decided on its back was better than crawling toward me.) Ray got the privilege of sweeping them up and taking them outside for the birds to eat. We've seen some pretty big ones outside but these are the first we've seen inside our house. Gives me the creeps to think about them crawling around in my kitchen! It didn't take me long to find the bug spray and use it liberally.

Yummy fruit!

We have so many options for delicious fruit.  There are lots of varieties of bananas. The green mangoes taste kind of like apples and are eaten with salt and hot pepper spice. The white one with the purple rind is called mangosteen. It's what xango juice is made from. It has a flavor impossible to describe, but, oh, so delicious! The pineapples are less than a dollar each and very sweet. The oranges are more like tangerines. We put fresh slices in jell-o. The golden mangoes are large, sweet, juicy and cheap (about 40 cents each). We didn't have a somo to put in this picture. They are kind of like a pummello but much sweeter. We eat lots of fruit every day. Love it!

 

This is one of our favorite markets to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. It's a wholesale farmers market open 24/7. Farmers bring their produce directly here so it is the freshest possible. Vendors in other markets come here to buy their produce. We have decided to go to the source. We even found delicious apples at this vendor--they are usually expensive and mushy, but these were crisp and delicious.

The market is huge! It has every kind of fruit and vegetable. Most vendors are very specialized. There are watermelon vendors, cabbage vendors, tomato and potato vendors, hot pepper vendors, etc. Usually they sell only one or two things at each place. It's fun to wander and see what we can find.

Here I am with a tuk tuk full of stuff purchased at Muang Thong (Gold City) Market. Oranges, mangoes, pineapple, tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, carrots, onions, etc. Ray eats a lot better than the young missionaries.

 

A change in attitude and style

There was a time when I would not even ride in the car with the window down! This is my usual
tuk tuk hair!

When I get to our destination, I finger-comb my hair and go for a little bit of a messy look. Quite an adjustment for me!

Ray still tells me I'm beautiful. He's a wonderful husband!

Kumpawabi

 We had a wonderful time attending branch conference in Kumpawabi. When the meeting started, there were about six members in attendance. We ended up with about 25 counting the babies. The branch president (far left holding baby) is a wonderful young man, 26 years old, and a member of the Church less than three years. He has a tough job with this struggling little branch, but he is working hard to help it grow. We went and visited less active members with the missionaries and branch president the following Saturday. Ray loved the interaction. He is able to be much more direct in his conversation because of his age--age has some inherent credibility and respect. The young missionaries might be considered disrespectful in encouraging an older person to change his ways.

 

President Thong and his wife with their little boy, Mormon. They named him Mormon so that when people asked about his name, they could tell them about the Church. Very missionary-minded!

 

He is a cute chunk of a boy! (Just as a side note, do I look a little warm? I was! Temperatures were around 100 degrees with high humidity. Not so good for the hair! or Ray's sweat glands.)

  

There is quite a disparity in standard of living: note the beautiful, big home on the right and the shacks built over the water on the left. This is a common sight.

If you look closely, you can see the fishing net hanging over the water--just waiting for the owner to lower it for his day's catch.