Excitement in the car port!

Saturday night the sister missionaries were here. They had said their good nights and had just closed our front door when we heard screams and the door flew open again. We couldn't imagine what all the excitement was about and the sisters didn't seem to be able to speak. We went to the door and in the corner of our car port was this:

A big, black, glossy, living, moving scorpion.

Sometimes you see them fried or skewered in the market, right next to the fried grubs and crickets and other bugs. We had never seen one in our house before.




We took a picture (first one above) and then Ray got a heavy shoe, and it became a squashed, dead, non-ambulatory scorpion.

We don't know if it tastes like chicken.

A few street sights in Bangkok

Sights in Bangkok are similar to those in Udon only 20 times more hectic--8 million people strong.

Ray said the buses are the same ones he rode in 40 plus years ago. Many of them look like they have been around that long!

Motorcyclists are not intimidated by anything. They pull right up to the front of the line in the middle of traffic. They pass on both sides of cars and wind their way around vehicles that are too close to drive past. If traffic is slow on the street, they go up on the sidewalk. You have to be careful when walking down the sidewalk because motorcycles will zip past you from both directions. Even on the sidewalk, you are not guaranteed the right of way. The crosswalks are even less safe!

They have motorcycle taxis that are very busy. Here is a stop for them on one street corner. The line never got shorter while we stood there, but one person would hop off and another get on about every minute or so. (Down about one block and across the street is the LDS Service Center that houses the mission offices, translation department, distribution center, the administrative offices for the Church in Thailand.)

The motorcycles pull up right on the sidewalk at the head of the line.

 The passenger quickly pays--the amount depends on how far they have come.

You'll notice that girls wearing skirts ride "side saddle" holding their purses and other belongings on their laps. I don't know how they keep their balance and stay on while the drivers race through traffic!

Along the streets are many vendors. You can find anything from fresh squeezed orange juice to fried chicken, sausage, or grilled chicken intestines on a stick. You can buy toys, skirts, shirts, blouses, neck ties; the list seems endless.

All of these pictures were taken from the same spot. It is a very busy corner because it is the entrance to the MRT (subway). There are thousands of people who pass here every day (including the people going to work at the Service Center).

Steer around this . . .

We were on our way to the church for district conference on Sunday morning, and had a little bit of a hazard to contend with. There were cattle but now cowboy. These usually are in a vacant lot somewhere but they found their way into the street. They were not in the least concerned about us or our tuk tuk!

 

I was grateful to have a little bit between me and this big boy even though the tuk tuk is wide open! They all seemed pretty docile, though.

Udon District Conference

On May 2nd and 3rd, we had district conference for the six branches in our district. People came from as far away as Sakon Nakorn (about 110 miles) and from a foreign country--Laos. We had auxiliary leadership training and priesthood leadership meetings at 4:00 and an adult session at 7:00 on Saturday, so many people came for those and then stayed overnight in a hotel, so they would be here for the Sunday sessions. We had a young adult session at 9:00, general session for everyone from 10-12:00, and then a new member/investigator meeting at 1:00. Yes, it was a very busy couple of days, but very enjoyable,too. Ray and I had to speak in the adult session on Saturday night, and Ray spoke in the young adult session, too. He delivered his talks completely in Thai, of course. I began my talk in Thai (about 60 seconds worth) and then had a translator for the rest. Ray did great, and I think I did okay, too. We were taught by President and Sister Senior and many of the members. It was an inspiring time. We are very grateful for Heavenly Father's loving plan for all of His children around the world.

People walked, came on bicycles, motorcycles, in tuk tuks, in cars, by bus, by song thaew, just any way they could, and they filled the church.

The choir from Udon sang "Because I Have Been Given Much" in the Saturday night session and "I Know My Father Lives" in the general session on Sunday. They sounded great, but their accompanist missed a few notes. Luckily, they were trained to just keep singing! They had angels singing with them. They did great! The choir from Vientiane, Laos also sang in those meetings and did a great job!

After the meetings were over on Sunday, lunch was served. It was a very delicious noodle soup. It is the traditional Thai way to eat together after church, and many people had a long drive home.

When everything was over, we were both relieved. (There was some stress for both of us!) However , we enjoyed being with President and Sister Senior, and with the saints. These saints are so dedicated and humble, they are an inspiration to be with!

For many, there was a long drive home ahead!

Rainstorm!

Storms develop quickly. When it rains, it pours! The skies open up and buckets of rain drench everything!

Even though our driver unrolls plastic shades to cover the open sides of the tuk tuk, rain blows into the back and front and gets thrown up by the tires under the seats. My backside, feet, and hair were pretty much done for the day! I was glad I had on waterproof shoes, though!

This lady's shop was directly across from the above picture. She was working hard to keep the water from flooding into her shop.

Lightning and thunder and pouring rain are an adventure on the streets of Udon!

One fruit I haven't tried . . .

There is a fruit that many people say is delicious, but the smell is so bad that neither Ray nor I have tried it. In fact, the smell is so infamously bad, that there are signs in hotels banning it and warning of a high fine if it is even brought into the hotel. It is called durian, and it is not a temptation to me. The signs make me laugh.

Young Single Adult Family Home Evening

The first Monday night of each month finds our apartment filled with enthusiastic young single adults. We move the couches, put mats on the floor, and set up a HUGE white board against our dining room table. 

We have lessons which we take turns teaching. This night, Sam (white pants) presented the lesson with the help of several other YSA's on following the prophets . We had a rousing game of charades--the kids are very competitive and have a lot of fun!

A very happy and fun group!

We play games. We did a "hold to the rod" obstacle course the week our lesson was about holding on to the iron rod (the word of God). We had a scripture chase another night when our lesson was about Easter. Again, the kids are very competitive but try to involve everyone!

 

We have yummy treats. We have had cookies, cupcakes, banana bread, fruit, etc.  They always disappear very quickly!!

We love our Young Single Adults!!

Dinner with the District Presidency

This was our first meeting with the district presidency: President Wongsagorn (left) and President Khampii and his wife. These are good, good people. President Khampii is from Laos so we don't get to spend much time with him. District presidency meetings are held via Skype due to the distance and hassle of crossing the border. President Wongsagorn lives just a few minutes away from us here in Udorn. We have become very close friends with him and his wife, Sister Ann (She was out of town visiting family at the time of this picture). We have dinner with them most Sunday evenings, alternating their house and ours. (also alternating Thai and American cuisine. We have fixed chili and tacos, roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, and pork chops, mashed potatoes and gravy to name a few. They seem to like most of it--Sister Ann especially likes mashed potatoes and gravy, and we learned she loves chocolate pudding with whipped cream. The Thai food they make is delicious.)

You will notice I am wearing a sweater. It was quite chilly from the air conditioning at the time, but I don't think I have worn a sweater since that night! (I know that's shocking to most of you!)

Here is a closer picture of the food. We had fish, hot and sour mushroom soup, tom kha gai (coconut/mint soup that Ray likes a lot), spring rolls, and stir-fried sprouts. I was a little uncomfortable with the fish staring at me during the entire meal. The food was mostly good and the company was great.

Udon street scenes

Just wanted to share a few pictures of scenes we see every day as we go about our city. 

This is our laundry. The lady who owns it, Nud,  has such a sweet face and is so pleasant and helpful. When she sees us pull up in front in our tuk tuk, she slips her shoes on and runs out to get our bag of clothes. Then, when she sees us coming to pick up our clothes, she carries them out to us. It costs us a little less than a dollar per shirt to have one washed and ironed, and she does a great job. She is a very hard working women--the laundry is open at least 12 hours a day--she and her family live in the back of this building. That is very common--they often live in the back or the upstairs of their shops.

Park on the sidewalk? Not a problem. Or it's common to see them park vehicles 2 or 3 deep along the side of the street.

Love the wiring system in Thailand, and this isn't really too bad. More pictures to come later on this issue. The little cauldron looking thing is a garbage can.

On street tailor shop--a jacket fitting in progress.

This man is driving his food stand to where he is going to serve today.

Here you can see his big cooking pots and fuel supply for cooking.

Some street vendors already set up for the day. A cart and an umbrella and you are in business.

Instead of choosing one spot from which to sell, some walk around the city selling their wares. Drivers watch out for them and go carefully? around.

A sam loh driver. Sam loh means three wheels in Thai.

This man makes a living by recycling what he can find. Many people work so hard for so little.

If you were to go inside Central Plaza, you would think you were in a major shopping mall in the U.S. You can see there is KFC, McDonald's (The Big Macs taste just like at home.), and there is even a Sizzler. I like to go there when I am craving salad. They have a great salad bar here, too.

Just a few sights from around the city. There are many more to come. Wish you could all be here to see, feel, and smell the real Thailand. We love it--the people are wonderful and Udorn has become a part of our lives forever.

Young Women Activity

The sister missionaries often help out with Young Women activities. One week, they asked me if I would help the Young Women learn to bake cookies. We made Snickerdoodles which they all loved. We started with washing our hands. Then we learned to measure ingredients, use a mixer, and stir in dry ingredients. They had fun rolling the balls of dough and then rolling the balls in cinnamon and sugar.  They got pretty creative by putting a twist in the top of the ball which made kind of a swirl on the top of the cookie after they were baked. They delivered them to people they thought would benefit from a little kindness. They also ate a good share of them themselves. It was a great success. You can see that the activity was attended by more than young women. Fun was had by all!

Happy sixty whath?

 There is a huge inflatable rubber duckie on Nong Prajak Lake Park here in Udon. It's something of a symbol for the city (See the previous post). This duck looks just like the one in the park but has the added feature of sound. It quacks! A thoughtful gift from an adoring husband.

At district meeting the missionaries had noise makers and the tiara along with treats.

 

 For my birthday, the missionaries taught me the "Tim Tam Slam". Tim Tams are basically a chocolate covered graham cracker. One performs the slam by biting off one corner, then biting off the opposite diagonal corner and sucking milk all the way through the Tim Tam. It's an ingenious use of both cookie and milk.

 Almost laughing at rude age comments from Ray

 One of the beautiful young single adult girls here in Udon made this pencil sketch for my birthday. It is much bigger than the picture looks. We love Ae (Kiriya Phrabang) and know she will be a great missionary. She received her call to serve in the Australia, Sydney North Mission just a few days ago.

 Our English class celebrated with us and brought a beautiful plate of traditional Thai khanom (treats).

Thai food is beautiful in its preparation and presentation. With Thai food each of the senses is included in the experience..

 The day after the "BIG DAY" we went to the one and only Mexican restaurant in Udorn (and probably within a 200 mile radius). It's a Tex-Mex style with really, really good chile. The owner, Casper, came and introduced himself. He's Dutch and taught himself how to cook Mexican from the internet. Right, a Dutch guy who is self taught doing Mexican food in Udon, Thailand. Expectations weren't very high but we were very pleasantly surprised. The prices were very reasonable and the food, all things considered, was quite good.

It was a great sixty-whath birthday!

Udorn's Rubber Duckie

One of the landmarks in Udorn is a huge rubber duckie in the middle of Nong Prajak Lake. 

Normally it sits peacefully in the middle of the lake, but not long ago we had a huge wind storm that made it go a little crazy. As you can see, it was a very stormy day. The poor rubber duckie got untethered and blew to the side of the lake and was impaled by the light pole.

Poor thing lost its equilibrium  . . .

and then lost itself!

All of Udorn mourned the loss of our rubber duckie. It wasn't long before a new, slightly smaller version was installed.