AIT #2: November 19, 2002
Another week has passed. The miracle of working hard is that it makes time fly by. Every night I'm amazed that the day is already over. If I were to slack off, though, time would slow to a crawl. In my time at the MTC and here in Thailand, I've learned that if we really do serve the Lord with all our heart, might, mind and strength, meaning that we try to eliminate every other distraction from our lives, then everything goes well. Holding back, even just a little bit, makes the process painful. Sure, a mission isn't an easy thing. I don't think I ever quite imagined how difficult this would be. But at the same time I've learned how to rely on the Lord, how to really sacrifice all that I have to Him, to be able to say to Him, "Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts on high." Before coming out here, I hadn't really given my heart to God. I'm still on the road there, but already He is helping me. Things that used to seem so important in the past have faded into the background as the blazing light of Jesus Christ and His restored gospel has illuminated my life. Now, the things that matter most are God and Christ, this gospel, and families.
I never fully appreciated families until I came here to Thailand. Every time I see a family, even if I'm not able to teach them, I feel something special inside. There's something different about families, something good, something complete.
Well, I saw my first elephant yesterday. And my second. And my third. We were riding our bikes out in the eastern outskirts of our area (our area is pretty large for Bangkok, extending out almost as far as we can ride) along a rugged dirt road when we looked over to the left and saw an elephant grazing there. Nobody was near, but we figured it had an owner (a wild elephant in Bangkok would be quite a sight :)), and sure enough, a few minutes later the owner came by and got the elephant to pull some logs. Later on I saw two more on the streets. Being in Bangkok all the time, I'd forgotten that Thailand still has wildlife and jungles and that sort of thing. Seeing the elephants brought back the magic. Later on in my mission I'll probably get to serve up north or in the east, where it's not quite as modernized. I can't wait. :)
Have I mentioned the khlongs? These are canals that one finds from time to time in Bangkok. There used to be a lot more (Bangkok was called the "Venice of the East"), but most have been filled in. That's probably a good thing, since the water in the khlongs is very dirty, quite possibly toxic. To get to certain neighborhoods that would take a long time by road, we take a shortcut by riding along the khlong, on two-foot wide walkways a few feet out from the edge. We have to be very careful, because falling into a khlong would be a very bad thing. :) (The smell would take months to go away. ;)) Riding the walkways is liking playing a video game, especially when other people on bikes whiz past you.
There are soooo many dogs here. Some of them are very ghetto, with hardly any hair left. I haven't been bitten...yet. :) Other than that, I haven't seen too many animals. Nothing exotic, besides those elephants.
Ah, a few days ago we had a very interesting experience. We returned to this guy's house to teach him a second discussion. He's about 33 and lives with some friends. We sat down at his table and were about to start when he asked if he could work at the church, doing paintings. He then said that he wants to be our very best friends and be with us all the time, to go with us everywhere. He seriously wanted to move in with us. When Elder Nelson told him that was quite impossible, he asked if he could return to Canada with him (Elder Nelson) at the end of his mission. Elder Nelson explained that it isn't that easy, and that the only way that could happen would be if the man were family. He then jokingly said, "Maybe my parents could adopt you." The man said, "Really? Do you think so?" :) It was quite funny, since he was dead serious. He wanted 300,000 baht from Elder Nelson's parents to start a business in Udorn. Some people are rather weird here. :) One of the fathers that we taught last week told his daughter that Moses led the Greeks out of Egypt and was crucified during the Crusades, and that Joseph Smith was from Scotland. (He assured us that he'd studied the topic completely. :))
Pretty much everyone is Buddhist here. There are a few Christians, though -- one lady we're teaching is Catholic, and we talked with an Jehovah's Witness yesterday. The work is going decently well, though it could be going a lot better. We need more faith. I've about run out of time, though.
One last thing: last night was Loi Krathong, the annual festival where the Thais light candles, put them in lotus-shaped baskets (the size of a soccer ball), and float them in the khlong. We went for a few minutes and lit the candles, gently putting the basket in the khlong and pushing it off. Seeing all the lights on the water was very neat, very much like the ending of a movie. I'll miss Thailand when I have to leave here. But that's two years from now. :) More will come next week.
I never fully appreciated families until I came here to Thailand. Every time I see a family, even if I'm not able to teach them, I feel something special inside. There's something different about families, something good, something complete.
Well, I saw my first elephant yesterday. And my second. And my third. We were riding our bikes out in the eastern outskirts of our area (our area is pretty large for Bangkok, extending out almost as far as we can ride) along a rugged dirt road when we looked over to the left and saw an elephant grazing there. Nobody was near, but we figured it had an owner (a wild elephant in Bangkok would be quite a sight :)), and sure enough, a few minutes later the owner came by and got the elephant to pull some logs. Later on I saw two more on the streets. Being in Bangkok all the time, I'd forgotten that Thailand still has wildlife and jungles and that sort of thing. Seeing the elephants brought back the magic. Later on in my mission I'll probably get to serve up north or in the east, where it's not quite as modernized. I can't wait. :)
Have I mentioned the khlongs? These are canals that one finds from time to time in Bangkok. There used to be a lot more (Bangkok was called the "Venice of the East"), but most have been filled in. That's probably a good thing, since the water in the khlongs is very dirty, quite possibly toxic. To get to certain neighborhoods that would take a long time by road, we take a shortcut by riding along the khlong, on two-foot wide walkways a few feet out from the edge. We have to be very careful, because falling into a khlong would be a very bad thing. :) (The smell would take months to go away. ;)) Riding the walkways is liking playing a video game, especially when other people on bikes whiz past you.
There are soooo many dogs here. Some of them are very ghetto, with hardly any hair left. I haven't been bitten...yet. :) Other than that, I haven't seen too many animals. Nothing exotic, besides those elephants.
Ah, a few days ago we had a very interesting experience. We returned to this guy's house to teach him a second discussion. He's about 33 and lives with some friends. We sat down at his table and were about to start when he asked if he could work at the church, doing paintings. He then said that he wants to be our very best friends and be with us all the time, to go with us everywhere. He seriously wanted to move in with us. When Elder Nelson told him that was quite impossible, he asked if he could return to Canada with him (Elder Nelson) at the end of his mission. Elder Nelson explained that it isn't that easy, and that the only way that could happen would be if the man were family. He then jokingly said, "Maybe my parents could adopt you." The man said, "Really? Do you think so?" :) It was quite funny, since he was dead serious. He wanted 300,000 baht from Elder Nelson's parents to start a business in Udorn. Some people are rather weird here. :) One of the fathers that we taught last week told his daughter that Moses led the Greeks out of Egypt and was crucified during the Crusades, and that Joseph Smith was from Scotland. (He assured us that he'd studied the topic completely. :))
Pretty much everyone is Buddhist here. There are a few Christians, though -- one lady we're teaching is Catholic, and we talked with an Jehovah's Witness yesterday. The work is going decently well, though it could be going a lot better. We need more faith. I've about run out of time, though.
One last thing: last night was Loi Krathong, the annual festival where the Thais light candles, put them in lotus-shaped baskets (the size of a soccer ball), and float them in the khlong. We went for a few minutes and lit the candles, gently putting the basket in the khlong and pushing it off. Seeing all the lights on the water was very neat, very much like the ending of a movie. I'll miss Thailand when I have to leave here. But that's two years from now. :) More will come next week.
posted by Ben at 9:45 PM
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