Teaching with the elders

The elders met this wonderful woman who had a great desire to learn about Jesus Christ. She lives in a little village about 60 kilometers away, so it was very hard for them to get there. They gave us the opportunity to drive them to teach her, her husband and her mother. It was a very beautiful and interesting drive.

 Beautiful green rice fields that will soon be turning brown.

 Along the roadside, there is much good food for the cattle.

Right through the middle of the village!

 

Elder Pyne, Elder Lim, Phat (the mom holding the Book of Mormon), Darunee, Suchat, and me

The husband and wife, Darunee and Suchat, were baptized on Sunday. They are really amazing! Now, we get to drive to their house once a week or so to teach them the after baptism lessons.We look forward to visiting them.

Like many Thai people, they have a business in front of their home. They run a little convenience store for the village and live behind it. A very short commute!

A beautiful new suit!

A kind sister in one of the branches wanted to give me a suit. She had this beautiful fabric and created the design herself. It fits perfectly. She is very talented. She graduated from design and sewing school using the help offered through the Church's Perpetual Education Fund. What a great opportunity for her and a beautiful result for me! I had many, many compliments on it when I wore it to church.

A visit to Brother Anan in Loei

A couple of months ago, Brother Anan came to church. He was very happy to meet with the members. He lives in Loei, a province about 120 miles away from the church, which makes it very difficult for him to come very often. He teaches ballroom dance at a school, and he also has a studio in his home where he teaches dance to adults. Ray told him that we would come out to visit him sometime. We finally made it last week.  He was so excited when Ray called to verify that he would be available, he kept saying, "Really? You are coming to see me?" The morning of our visit, Ray called again just to be sure nothing had come up. Brother Anan said that he was so excited about our visit that he had hardly been able to sleep. So nice to be appreciated!

It was a very beautiful drive!

When we arrived, he gave us a very warm drink with an unidentifiable flavor. He also gave us some fruit to bring home with us. It is called ngo (rambutan). The flavor is good, kind of like a pear, but the pit always seems to splinter so it's difficult to eat politely.

Almost as soon as we sat down, he asked us what we were going to teach him. We taught him the gospel as Christ taught it to the Nephites in 3 Nephi 27. He enjoyed it very much. He then asked if we would sing a hymn. Ray said he didn't sing, but I did. So, Brother Anan asked me to sing "Love At Home." I don't pretend to be a good singer, but he seemed to enjoy both the Thai and English versions. He recorded it so he could listen to it again. It was touching to me.

We hope he is coming to church this week.

A fun primary activity!

In spite of a rough beginning--getting to the church and no one having keys to get in (had time to visit while sitting on the step!), then waiting for everyone to arrive and starting about one hour late--we had a fun activity. (The Thai people have many endearing qualities; punctuality is not one of them.)

Sister Anne taught the children about the Faith in God program. We hope they will work on it with their families. The whole family can gain from it that way.

Then I talked about the importance of teaching the gospel in the home, and how the children can be a big part of that. (Thanks to Sister Hughes and Sister Speas for their help translating, et al.) I had put together seven different family home lesson ideas with scriptures and several pictures to color. They had a fun time working together with family members--moms, big brothers and sisters.

(Brother O (you can just see the back of him) is a very supportive counselor in the branch presidency! He was baptized about 2 weeks before we arrived here.)
When they finished coloring, each family presented a brief family home evening lesson to the entire group. Even the little ones participated. They did great!

Everyone enjoyed lunch together, and I think a good time was had by all! Primary is great!

Oh, so good!

This is the most delicious fruit imaginable, and the taste is indescribable. We have been eating a lot of it lately. It is called mangkut or mangosteen. We wish we could grow this in the United States! Yum!

Our neighborhood market

This is not too far from our house. We go here to buy fresh fruits and vegetables and often beef, pork and chicken. It's a little different than the stores at home, but we get what we need.

There are dozens of vendors here selling everything from mangoes, pineapples, bananas, coconut, and other fruit to potatoes, carrots, onions, cucumbers, etc. to all kinds of meat, bugs cooked or ready to cook, tadpoles, frogs (skinned or skin on), just about anything imaginable! (or unimaginable!)

This is our beef vendor. She sells filet mignon or the toughest roast all for the same price. To her, beef is beef. So we choose beautiful cuts of meat and have her grind some for ground beef and take some other cuts home for roast or steak. The meat doesn't taste exactly like at home, but it is still enjoyable.

Another fun Young Single Adult Family Home Evening

The first Monday of every month finds our house filled with young (and some not so young) single adults. We have a great time together. (This is actually our August FHE. We had another one two days ago, but I didn't get any pictures of that one! They are all great!)

On this night, we had a great lesson on service taught by Brother Tuy (a counselor in the branch presidency of Branch 2) and his wife Nee.

President Sitichai (Branch 2), Brother Srithai (convert of 3 weeks), Ray, Brother Tuy, Sister Nee, and me

They played a fun game of Simon says! It created lots of laughter, cheering, and and a little teasing.

So many people that we love!

The elders had fun, too!

The good treats are always a hit!

This is a great time every month!

A beautiful gift!

Brother Piak (who looks up to Ray so-o-o much) is a recent convert to the church. He wanted to express his love and gratitude by creating this beautiful painting for us.

He is a very kind, wonderful man and has developed a strong testimony of the Church and a great love of the Lord and His gospel in a short time. We love him, too!