AIT #17: March 19, 2003

Sorry there wasn't an e-mail last week; I wrote the letter but the instant before I sent it, the Internet died. So, last week on Tuesday Elder Serrao called the office and found that I'd be moving outside of Bangkok. He was released as zone leader because the Bangkapi and Srinakarin zones merged. I got up early (4:00) on Wednesday and Thursday to pack and get ready. From now on I don't think I'll unpack everything, since it takes too much time to pack it all up again. Arrived at the Pakkret church at 6:45 a.m. on Thursday and found that I'd be moving to Phitsanulok. My companion is Elder Bevell, the zone leader. Phitsanulok is in the Lampang zone and is in the center of Thailand, though it's considered to be part of the north. It's also the hottest part of Thailand (and surprise, surprise, next month is the hottest month of the year :)). Elder Wong replaced me in Bangkapi, Elder Romashko replaced Elder Stevenson, and Elder Quach replaced Elder Christiansen. Elder Applegate moved down from Chiang Mai to Saphaan Mai (in Bangkhen), Elder Bloom and Elder Nelson both moved to Roi-Et, Elder McEwen moved to Chiang Rai, and Elder Pitzer moved to Ayutthaya. Since Elder Bevell had ZLTM, I went out with the other ZL companions (Elder Pitzer, Elder Walker, Elder McLelland) and with Elder McEwen (who was on the same train as I, so he had to stick around all day anyway). We went to Dairy Queen (first time since I entered the MTC) and then went out proselyting for a few hours. Lots of fun. After ZLTM ended, Elder Bevell and I took my bags to the train station and made it a couple of minutes before the train left. We were on the train with Elder Stevens, Elder Soun (both of whom were headed to Chiang Mai), Elder Miller, and Elder McEwen (Chiang Rai). The ride was about five hours long and was pretty neat. We arrived in Phitsanulok late Thursday night. Unfortunately, my helmet disappeared on the train somewhere; the Chiang Mai elders said they'd look for it when they got off in Chiang Mai (at 5:45 a.m. Friday) conference. Oh, Elder Neves was released as AP and Elder Hansen took his place. Our new mission president will be President Scott Hansen (according to the Church News last week), as of July 1 or so.

I'm really excited to be in Phitsanulok, and I moved here at just the right time, because we have district conference (kind of like stake conference) up in Chiang Mai on Sunday, and then we have zone conference there on Monday, so I'll get to stay in Chiang Mai for a couple of days. And I'll probably get to go to Lampang too, when we go on switchoffs. There are eight elders in my zone: me and Elder Bevell, Elder Segsan and Elder Burin (Phitsanulok West), Elder Sessions and Elder Dressen (Lampang), and Elder Vue and Elder Garrison (Lampang South, I think). The branch here is a lot smaller than the Bangkapi ward, but the members are sooooo awesome. I already love Phitsanulok and don't want to leave. :)

We had correlation on Saturday. In Bangkapi there were usually 10-15 people there, but here it was just us four Phitsanulok elders, Tom (our 19-year-old branch mission leader, who is an incredible guy), and Sister A (who's getting ready to go on a mission). I'm the branch pianist. Last night I taught English and then we had Family Home Evening, which was sooooo much fun. I wish they'd had FHEs in Bangkapi... About 20 people showed up, mostly the youth (who are really strong here). The really nice thing is that the church is across the street from our house. :) Very, very convenient. Ours is a 2-man house but is fairly big, since it used to be a four-man. We have to use bottled water since the tap water is dirty.

My bike didn't arrive till Monday morning, so I had to ride a member's bike, which turned out to be rather small and didn't have any brakes. It was a lot of fun, though. On Friday we went to the phone company to pay the bill, but I thought it was the post office, so I gave the lady my mail to send. She looked at me funny and said, "Um, this isn't the post office."

I learned a few things in Bangkapi that have helped me get up to speed here: learning people's names really quickly, reading the area book (which has pictures of all the members in our area), becoming friends with the members, etc. I loooooove Phitsanulok! :) It's getting really hot here (yesterday was a furnace), but it's fun. Songkran is coming up in a few weeks, which'll be neat.

Well, that's about it for now. There's a new 20-baht bill that came out a few weeks ago. Oh, back in Bangkapi last week, we found a ripped-up Book of Mormon on the stairs of the flats. We don't know who or what did it (it could have been a dog), but that was kind of sad. Opposition in all things. I know this Church is true and that no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing. Joseph Smith was indeed a prophet of God, and the Church of Jesus Christ is once again on the earth in all its glory. Take care! :-)