AIT #6: December 17, 2002
This moves period ends tomorrow, which means I've been in-country for six weeks already. Where did the time go? I think I'll be saying that every week for the next two years. :) Well, only Sister Jones is moving; everyone else in the zone is here for at least six more weeks. I probably won't leave Bangkapi for another three or four months. We don't know yet where Sister Jones is going, other than that she'll be in Bangkok (because she needs to bring her bike with her; if she didn't need to, she'd be going outside of Bangkok). Yesterday afternoon we sat anxiously awaiting the phone call from Elder Christiansen, letting us know who would be moving. We had to wait about 45 minutes, the suspense building up each second. Just kidding, but it was fun.
This week has gone by incredibly fast. I can't even remember what happened. :) Oh, we're probably not going to be teaching at Wat Bangtoey anymore, since they changed their schedule and it doesn't fit ours. On Sunday we had a special visitor, Suchat Chaichana (the bishop of the Asoke ward). He wrote an article in the July 2002 Ensign on his conversion to the church, was instrumental in translating the hymnbook, and has been working on the new translation of the Book of Mormon into Thai. We also had a farang visit, Joseph Mills from Louisiana. He was a missionary about 10 years ago in Fresno, California, Lao-speaking. In fact, he taught Brother Chanthaphuang the gospel (Brother Chanthaphuang is the night supervisor at the MTC for Southeast Asian languages). Small world. :)
What else? We're not sure if Nat will be baptized this Sunday. Hopefully it'll work out. Last night we got another baptismal commitment, from a man named Ek, his wife Noi, and his mother Juab. We don't have a date yet, though. We're going back on Monday to plan it out. They're a really good family and it's been awesome teaching them. There's another good family, Warayu and his wife and kids, but we can't continue teaching them till January 11th or so (they felt it was too fast and wanted to take a breather). It's wonderful to teach families. Nothing better. :)
Well, we're going to be moving our house in about a month. The one we have is old and decrepit and it's hard to keep clean, so Elder Stevenson and Elder Rock found a really good one that's much closer to the church. More on that in the weeks to come. We found a new neighborhood the other day, just as the sun was setting. We were doing invites out in a part of our area that we'd never been in before, and through the trees we saw a hidden neighborhood, almost like an Atlantis rising out of the ground. We finally found the entrance and were confronted by a spirit house containing a rather freaky statue of an elephant-headed man with a black snake wound around its chest. Luckily it wasn't too dark yet. ;) It was a great deal of fun -- at times it feels like our area is small and confined and that we've already talked with everyone here. But that won't ever actually happen -- there are around 250,000 people in our area (mine and Elder Nelson's). Lots of people.
Now that I think about it, there really isn't much crime at all here. The only thing I've heard of is that Brother Chayaprik's bike was stolen yesterday. We always lock our bikes up, but here you hardly have to worry about it. I hear it's even safer in the Isan. Haven't seen any accidents yet either. Elder Nelson almost fell into a khlong the other day, though. We were carrying our bikes through a hole in a wall to get onto the khlong path (it was a shortcut), and he started sliding towards the khlong. His helmet fell in and his feet got a little wet, but other than that he survived. :) A man offered to help us wash his helmet off so he could use it again. It's a miracle neither of us has fallen off the khlong path yet. Angels really do protect us.
A lot of people think we're students, because the college students wear white shirts and black pants too. The nearby university is Ramkhamhaeng University, but that's in Elder Christiansen's and Elder Suttiphong's area, so we've never gone there. A lot of people ask us if Thai girls are pretty and if we'd like to be their sons-in-law. Goodness, if I wanted to, I could have over a dozen wives already. ;) Some questions that people ask here would sound really weird in America -- for example, "How many people live in your house?" That's perfectly normal here. Out of the 400 or 500 people we've talked with so far, only one has said, "I can't tell you; that's not safe." Other common questions are "Where are you going?" and "Have you eaten yet?". Lots of kids cry out "Falang!" when they see us. It's a great deal of fun, but they often want to shake our hands. Kids' hands are dirty, especially the left one (which they use to wipe -- enough said). We're able to drink the water people offer us, since they usually get it out of bottles. Haven't gotten sick yet, at least. :) The only real bugs I've seen so far are cockroaches and mosquitoes. No huge spiders or snakes or anything yet. I'm disappointed. ;)
We get 2200 baht every two weeks for MSF (Missionary Support Fund), which covers food, personal hygiene, and travel. It's far more than enough if you're not a butterfingers with money. One week I only spent 200 baht on food -- I was so proud of myself! :) Usually it comes out to about 500 baht a week, though. It's fun to try to cut expenses. I haven't been cooking a whole lot because there really isn't much time, sadly. That's life, though.
Well, the work is going well and I'm very glad to be here. It's hard, definitely, harder than I ever imagined. I've grown soooo much. The scriptures have become a lifeline, as have hymns. Christmas is coming up next week, so I'll be able to call home. The cheapest phone cards here are for 14 baht a minute.
In the future, letters probably won't be as long as the first one was, unless I have a lot of time. I wish I had more time, but our calling as missionaries is to preach the gospel, so that takes precedence. :) When I return home in two years, though, I'll write a book and put it up for free on my website. Thanks for all the support! This church is true and the gospel is the best thing in the world. I love being a missionary! :)
This week has gone by incredibly fast. I can't even remember what happened. :) Oh, we're probably not going to be teaching at Wat Bangtoey anymore, since they changed their schedule and it doesn't fit ours. On Sunday we had a special visitor, Suchat Chaichana (the bishop of the Asoke ward). He wrote an article in the July 2002 Ensign on his conversion to the church, was instrumental in translating the hymnbook, and has been working on the new translation of the Book of Mormon into Thai. We also had a farang visit, Joseph Mills from Louisiana. He was a missionary about 10 years ago in Fresno, California, Lao-speaking. In fact, he taught Brother Chanthaphuang the gospel (Brother Chanthaphuang is the night supervisor at the MTC for Southeast Asian languages). Small world. :)
What else? We're not sure if Nat will be baptized this Sunday. Hopefully it'll work out. Last night we got another baptismal commitment, from a man named Ek, his wife Noi, and his mother Juab. We don't have a date yet, though. We're going back on Monday to plan it out. They're a really good family and it's been awesome teaching them. There's another good family, Warayu and his wife and kids, but we can't continue teaching them till January 11th or so (they felt it was too fast and wanted to take a breather). It's wonderful to teach families. Nothing better. :)
Well, we're going to be moving our house in about a month. The one we have is old and decrepit and it's hard to keep clean, so Elder Stevenson and Elder Rock found a really good one that's much closer to the church. More on that in the weeks to come. We found a new neighborhood the other day, just as the sun was setting. We were doing invites out in a part of our area that we'd never been in before, and through the trees we saw a hidden neighborhood, almost like an Atlantis rising out of the ground. We finally found the entrance and were confronted by a spirit house containing a rather freaky statue of an elephant-headed man with a black snake wound around its chest. Luckily it wasn't too dark yet. ;) It was a great deal of fun -- at times it feels like our area is small and confined and that we've already talked with everyone here. But that won't ever actually happen -- there are around 250,000 people in our area (mine and Elder Nelson's). Lots of people.
Now that I think about it, there really isn't much crime at all here. The only thing I've heard of is that Brother Chayaprik's bike was stolen yesterday. We always lock our bikes up, but here you hardly have to worry about it. I hear it's even safer in the Isan. Haven't seen any accidents yet either. Elder Nelson almost fell into a khlong the other day, though. We were carrying our bikes through a hole in a wall to get onto the khlong path (it was a shortcut), and he started sliding towards the khlong. His helmet fell in and his feet got a little wet, but other than that he survived. :) A man offered to help us wash his helmet off so he could use it again. It's a miracle neither of us has fallen off the khlong path yet. Angels really do protect us.
A lot of people think we're students, because the college students wear white shirts and black pants too. The nearby university is Ramkhamhaeng University, but that's in Elder Christiansen's and Elder Suttiphong's area, so we've never gone there. A lot of people ask us if Thai girls are pretty and if we'd like to be their sons-in-law. Goodness, if I wanted to, I could have over a dozen wives already. ;) Some questions that people ask here would sound really weird in America -- for example, "How many people live in your house?" That's perfectly normal here. Out of the 400 or 500 people we've talked with so far, only one has said, "I can't tell you; that's not safe." Other common questions are "Where are you going?" and "Have you eaten yet?". Lots of kids cry out "Falang!" when they see us. It's a great deal of fun, but they often want to shake our hands. Kids' hands are dirty, especially the left one (which they use to wipe -- enough said). We're able to drink the water people offer us, since they usually get it out of bottles. Haven't gotten sick yet, at least. :) The only real bugs I've seen so far are cockroaches and mosquitoes. No huge spiders or snakes or anything yet. I'm disappointed. ;)
We get 2200 baht every two weeks for MSF (Missionary Support Fund), which covers food, personal hygiene, and travel. It's far more than enough if you're not a butterfingers with money. One week I only spent 200 baht on food -- I was so proud of myself! :) Usually it comes out to about 500 baht a week, though. It's fun to try to cut expenses. I haven't been cooking a whole lot because there really isn't much time, sadly. That's life, though.
Well, the work is going well and I'm very glad to be here. It's hard, definitely, harder than I ever imagined. I've grown soooo much. The scriptures have become a lifeline, as have hymns. Christmas is coming up next week, so I'll be able to call home. The cheapest phone cards here are for 14 baht a minute.
In the future, letters probably won't be as long as the first one was, unless I have a lot of time. I wish I had more time, but our calling as missionaries is to preach the gospel, so that takes precedence. :) When I return home in two years, though, I'll write a book and put it up for free on my website. Thanks for all the support! This church is true and the gospel is the best thing in the world. I love being a missionary! :)
posted by Ben at 6:27 AM
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