A Tasty Breakfast?

The missionary couple who lived here before us left us a lot of supplies--flour, sugar, spices, detergent, soap, office supplies, etc., etc. They were really kind. One of the things they left was a box of Cheerios on the shelf. Ah, a taste of home, we thought. So I put the bowls and spoons on the table and prepared to fill them with cereal. Then I got a little whiff of the box. It didn't smell quite like I remembered Cheerios smelling, so I took a little peak into the box and began to laugh. Dead, dried jingjok (gecko) does not taste like chicken. We decided to have French toast instead!

First Sunday in Udorn

It is so far for people to come to church, and they enjoy being together so much, that they stay around for most of the day. We had church meetings from 9-12:00 with Udorn Branch Two, and afterwards those people had lunch together. Then we had church meetings from 1-4:00 with Udorn Branch One, and the people waited around afterwards for the baptism at 4:30. (There were still people waiting from the morning, too.) It was quite a celebration!

These three girls were baptized by these three young men. They were very excited and happy, and we were happy for them.

After the baptism, the rest of the people ate together and visited some more. We were at church from 8:30 in the morning until 6:30 at night, and it was great!

Wheelchair presentation

We were invited to go with the humanitarian missionaries, Elder and Sister Goodson, to Nongkhai (40 miles north of Udorn just across the Mekong River from Laos) for the presentation of 40 wheelchairs that the Church donated to a school for the disabled. The Rotary Club in the area helped out with the distribution. Over the years, the Church has donated hundreds of wheelchairs to the disabled in Thailand and thousands around the world. A wheelchair makes such a difference in the quality of life of the disabled. We are grateful to be associated with this wonderful giving to our brothers and sisters around the world.

The elders in our district sang "I Am a Child of God" as part of the program.

First day in Udon Thani

After a 55 minute flight from Bangkok, two of the Udorn elders welcomed us at the airport. Sister Phorn (pronounced pawn) from 2nd branch also met us there. The elders put our suitcases in a tuktuk and Sister Phorn drove us to our new home. We were excited to see where we would spend the next year. It is lovely and comfortable. The young sisters and elders live in the same townhouse complex--the elders two doors down, the sisters four doors down.

We unloaded our suitcases and headed for the church to meet some new friends. The sisters rode their bikes and nearly beat our tuktuk. They are really speedy.

These are such good, faithful people. They welcomed us with open arms.

We were hungry, so we walked around the corner from the church to a little restaurant for some som tum and pad thai. It was very delicious! The sister missionaries joined us. We love them already.

  

Sister Sahagun                          Sister Maughan

                                         Sister Tilley     and    Sister Her

We called a tuktuk to take us home. We went back home feeling very exhausted but happy. Our time zones had not adjusted yet so we were not sleeping well.

When we arrived at home, we found a sweet welcome note from the sister missionaries ["Welcome! We are so excited to serve with you here in Udorn (written in Thai). Heart, the Sisters"] with some cherry lifesavers. I told you, we loved them already!

Hellos!

Twenty-seven and a half hours after leaving home, we arrived in Thailand. President and Sister Senior were there to welcome us with a rousing cheer. Suchat and Udomlak were also there--Udomlak with sticky rice and mangoes in hand. We were exhausted but excited to finally be on Thai soil.

President Senior loaded our luggage in the van. He told us, "Today you are guests, tomorrow you will be working." Work is what we came to do!! They took us to the hotel to drop off our luggage. We walked across the street (Soi Asoke) for lunch of delicious fruit and chocolate shake. We enjoyed the walk down Soi Asoke to the Church Service Center, where the mission office is. We met many of the other missionaries and service center staff. Elder Jay Meeker, who works in the mission office, was a missionary Ray taught in the language school at BYU in 1976. They both look a little different now.  It was all amazing and a little unreal.

The next day we had to go to a medical clinic to have our blood drawn and vitals checked for our application for our work permits required by the government.

Lots of good-byes!

Now that our MTC training was complete, it was time to get serious about packing and getting ready to get on the plane. Saturday was a flurry of packing activity. We were allowed two big suitcases each, plus a carry on and a personal item each. We were able to get everything we planned to take in only three big suitcases plus the carry ons: our clothes, lots of white shirts, ties, and slacks for Ray, and blouses and skirts for Jeanene, of course, the books we thought we would need, a year's supply of medication and vitamins, deodorant for a year, toothpaste, the right color eye make up, chili powder, cumin, and garlic powder for Mexican food, sage for stuffing on Thanksgiving, and the one necessity--a two-pound brick of black label extra sharp Tillamook cheese. The maximum weight for each suitcase was 50 pounds--we weighed in at 50, 49, and 49. Pretty good packing!

On Sunday morning, we went up to visit Matthew, Meghan, and Emma to say goodbye. Matthew asked his dad to give him and Emma a blessing. That was sweet. The goodbye was very difficult!

We went back to Riverton and went to Sacrament Meeting and said good-bye to our dear friends at church. We had dinner with our family. Then we asked Andrew and Michael to give us blessings. It was sweet to have our sons use their priesthood in our behalf. Ray offered a family prayer in which we committed our family to God's care until we were together again. Many tears were shed.

Then it was time to say good-by to Andrew's family--they had to drive back to Idaho Falls. It was hard seeing them get in the car and pull away. I wanted to hold on tight!

At about 5:45 pm, we loaded all of our stuff in the back of my Tahoe and gave kisses all around. We got in the car--Michael and Rebecca taking us--and drove away. There is no picture to add here because I could not look back. I knew we were doing the right thing, but it was ripping my heart out. We love you: Matthew, Meghan, Emma, Andrew, Marissa, Evan, Lydia, Michael, Rebecca, Rebekah, Clint, and Brooklyn!! and the rest of our family and friends so much!

Our MTC district was awesome! We had a great time practicing our missionary skills with each other--for one lesson we would be missionaries, the next we would be investigators or less active members. We really gained perspective as we interacted in these different ways.  Our morning teacher teacher Sister Holland was supportive and inspiring as she presented our lessons. She had a cute laugh. We learned to love all of these people in a very short time and felt like we were leaving family when the week was over.

The Browns, the Swenks, the Mooneys, the Hansons, and Sister Holland

 Our afternoon teacher, Brother Lystrup, was also helpful, inspiring, and made our class fun. We even pulled a trick or two on him (Sister Holland, too). We learned so much from both of our teachers. They were amazing!

 

Every missionary needs a picture in front of the world map in the main MTC building.

The Countdown

We continued to sign in  to our missionary portal every day. We saw two days left:

Really getting nervous!! One day left:

There is no way to describe the feeling when we saw: WELCOME TO THE MTC!! Time to report-- 10:00 a.m. What's bigger than butterflies in your stomach?

So here we go----

Getting our badges at the MTC:

 

 

 

After we got our badges and identification cards, we had to go to the church just north of the Missionary Training Center. That's where we received our training all week. We didn't spend much time in the actual MTC building.

 

The countdown is over, the day has come, time to go to work!







 

A Family Get-Together with Emma

Everyone was in town for our big exit. Matthew and Meghan invited us for lunch with them in the cafeteria at the hospital, and then all the adults who were well enough went up to visit Emma. It was a special time.

The Brown Family Send-Off

The Brown family knows how to cook and how to eat! Lorin is a master of barbecue, and he wanted to cook up a big spread for a family get together to celebrate our leaving (or something like that). It was amazing to say the least, and we had a great time. We will miss you all.

 

 

Lorin, the chef (with Jessica)!

A Different Kind of Christmas

We loved having the kids home and had a good time, but it was very strange not having Matthew and Meghan with us. Andrew's family wasn't here either since their usual time to come down is New Years. We opened gifts at different times with different kids' families. We finally got together for dinner in the late afternoon. Ray and I visited Matthew, Meghan, and Emma at the hospital and took Christmas dinner to them there. In all the confusion, we didn't take a single picture--the first time in 36 years.

Emma

Two days before Christmas, our little Emma was admitted to the hospital because she wasn't eating well. Matthew and Meghan lived at the hospital that first week, and we were all terribly worried about all of them. Sunday, December 29, Emma was having difficulty breathing, so the decision was made to send her up to Primary Children's Medical Center's main campus. It turned out to be a very scary situation--she had to be put on a ventilator and life-flighted by helicopter. She was finally diagnosed with two kinds of pneumonia, but the antibiotics and treatments did not take care of her problems. She was placed on a lung bypass machine, put on paralytic and other pain medications. Later, she had to have a lung biopsy and two chest tubes inserted. She was hooked up to so many machines with tubes and IV's. It is hard to convey the worry and frustration, hopes rising and dashed. But it is also hard to express our gratitude for the kindness of so many people. There have been so many all around the world who have prayed and fasted. Hotel rooms have been paid for so they could stay close to the hospital. Many have brought food. Others have cried with us and expressed deep love and concern. Family, friends, church members, business associates, people in the community--everyone has been so kind and caring. We have appreciated every kind word and deed. At this writing, it has been six weeks since this all began, and no solution has been found. We continue to have faith that she is in Heavenly Father's care.

                                                 

The first time we were able to hold her in weeks. It felt so good to hold her close and kiss her! This is probably the last time we will hold her before we leave on our mission.

Her loving Mom and Dad, Meghan and Matthew. They are amazing and take such good care of her!

Our sweet little Emma is working so hard to get well. We continue to pray for her.

Getting Ready to Go

Ray's last full day of work was January 17th. He worked until about 7:00 that evening trying to get everything organized for his departure. He did need to go in a few times for a few hours to finish up odds and ends. We have spent days running errands--shopping, banking, getting taxes organized, sorting through things at home, taking stuff to Deseret Industries, visiting friends, parties, doctor and dentist appointments, oh yes, and did I say going out with friends. Who knew there would be so many people excited to see us go?! We went to the hospital to visit Emma, Matthew, and Meghan when it was possible. We knew our time to spend with them was growing short, and we needed to get our  hugs and kisses fix from them, too. The preparation has been a roller coaster of an experience. We gave our talks in sacrament meeting--so many people supported us; many came from far away. We love you all!

Thanksgiving

We were very grateful to have all of our kids home for Thanksgiving. We had such a wonderful time! We visited, played, ate, and visited and ate and played some more. We took some time to get our family pictures taken. It was tough to get everyone smiling, or at least not crying, but the pictures turned out great! We love our family so much!

Shopping

Planning for a year away from home is quite a daunting task! Lots of white shirts, ties, and dress slacks for Ray. Many skirts and tops for Jeanene. New shoes for both of us--we expect to be doing some walking.

We needed to get a year's supply of medications and vitamins. The pharmacists were shocked that our insurance would allow that much, but our special missionary health insurance is dedicated to helping missionaries be prepared with what they need to serve any where in the world.

We thought about what we might not be able to get in Thailand--spices for tacos, (could Ray live a year without Mexican food?), sharp cheddar cheese (available there but expensive we were told), anti-perspirant deodorant, good dental floss. I'm sure there will be odds and ends we think of as we continue to pack. When we reach our 100 pounds total weight each in our suitcases, we will have to be more selective in what we end up taking! Sounds like a lot doesn't it, but that includes clothes, shoes, hairdryer, medication, EVERYTHING for an entire year. We hope to be able to have room for some rice crispies and marshmallows for treats. I will try to remember to report how it works out when we are finally finished packing.

A loss

Ray's dad's health had not been good for a long time, and we had worried that if we left, he would not be here when we got back. On October 13, we brought him to stay at our house. One week later on October 20, he passed away. We felt it was a tender mercy from the Lord that we were able to spend his last days with him. He lived a full life of love and service to his God, family, and country. He died one month short of his 89th birthday.

He was a highly decorated war hero in World War II and Korea and was buried with full military honors at the Riverside National Cemetery in California.

An addition

We welcomed a new granddaughter to the family on October 4, 2013--our perfectly beautiful Emma June Brown, daughter of Matthew and Meghan!

We were so grateful for her safe arrival. We love our children and grandchildren so very much!

Months of preparation

More paperwork--applications for visas, communication with the travel office, concerns about health insurance. More immunizations--just two of our nine required immunizations cost us $1520! Over the next several months, we were immunized for the following diseases: influenza, hepatitis A & B, pneumonia, meningitis, Tdap (Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis), typhoid, Japanese Encephalitis, and shingles. We had no idea!

When we first signed in to our missionary portal on the internet, we saw: you have 148 days until you report to the Missionary Training Center! It sounded a long time away, but we had many things to keep us busy over the next few months. Our pre-MTC training included: read the Book of Mormon from beginning to end, study chapter 3 of Preach My Gospel, watch six episodes of "The District" (a reality show about missionary work), learn about family history work and prepare a four-generation pedigree chart and gather stories about our ancestors, set up a profile on Mormon.org, read the part of the Missionary Handbook that applies to senior couples, and go to the temple (okay, so some of these are things we work on any way, but now it was a much more concentrated effort with a time constraint).

Jeanene also contacted senior missionary language training at the MTC and started twice-weekly personal Thai language lessons via Skype. Several weeks later, Ray started language lessons as well. Our teacher was a young returned Thailand missionary, married, a hard-working student, and Elders Quorum president in his ward. He became our dear friend and we appreciated his encouragement and patience as we tried to develop our language skills.

In the meantime, Ray was still employed full-time and Jeanene still had all her responsibilities at home. We were still Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, members of our extended family, friends and neighbors, ward missionaries--making visits during the week and teaching Sunday School classes on Sunday (Gospel Principles and Marriage and Family Relations), visiting and home teachers, etc., etc. So much to think about! It was exciting to be preparing for such a great adventure, but the reality of leaving our family hadn't quite set in. It was an amazingly busy time, and mostly we loved it!