Merry Christmas 2013

It is hard to believe we just passed our second Christmas here! So much has happened over the past year.  Met some wonderful people, saw some exciting sites, and had some experiences we never thought we would have!  We thought we would share what our Thailand Christmas was like.

 They love to take pictures - girls and boys. And whenever there is a display, they jump in and take each other's picture.   TRUE is the cable and internet company like Comcast.  Rabbits and bears are used quite often.  Guess it means fast and strong?







 
Sometimes, you look and wonder what they are thinking. Here's a Santa octopus???We have no idea, but it's quite popular, especially with children. To have their pictures taken with octopus Santa is what Christmas is to them

This little girl held still while we took her picture. As we said, anybody will pose for a picture.  And they love to take your picture.  Neither of us will be able to send our pictures to each other.

We caught these two guys taking picture underneath the tree. We watched them for a while, as other people jump in to have their picture taken in from of the tree of lights.

We started to look close at what they were looking at because they spent a great deal of time, moving and discussing things

Here is what they were looking at.  It's a little figurine of a girl playing a piano.  It was fun then , watching how they were setting up the figurine to get just the right Christmas picture.

This is a long walkway that steps down as you pass blue light arches. If you look in the background you can see that it ends at the Christmas tree. Quite a long walk.

Christmas is all about the songs and snow and Santa Clause. They love dressing in Christmas clothes like the young girl with her Santa outfit. 

 The mission had a Christmas party after our zone conference. Lots of food and treats.  About 70-80 people.

You have to love the exuberance of young missionaries. They have so much energy, and truly love what they are doing. In November, they baptized 120 people. In December, it was 97 people.  The mission president has taken them from the lowest baptizing mission in Asia to the top.  One hundred people a month is 1200 people in a year!!   In January, they are approaching 180!!!

We  sang Christmas carols on Christmas Day in two hotels around Bangkok. They also sang at the hospitals.  Most people stopped and watched. Some actually joined our carols.  One thing for sure, they do love Christmas songs though they have never been dashing through the snow!!

The elves and reindeers

Caroling at hospital

 Christmas packages received from home for all the missionaries. A lot of work to get these to those out in country. Exciting time for them. everyone was calling the office to see if they had received a package.  We hope they all did.  Think about that with any missionaries you know that are out. They love receiving mail even in this day of Skype, Twitter, Facebook and emails.

Merry Christmas from Thailand

The Grand Palace

We were excited to finally tour the Grand Palace here in Bangkok in August.  We had heard so much about it but never had the time to go.  One day, we just happened to be in the area with nothing to do that afternoon, so WE WENT!  And it is awesome to see!  Look at the photos and see if you agree.

Now, you know why they call it the Grand Palace!!  It is pretty grand indeed!  And the man standing there in our photo?  Don't know him!  But you'd think it was planned for him to be there! :)

The palace grounds were stunning!

 

The British guards have nothing on these guys!

(Manning boys: see the elephant!  The Thais love their elephants!)

 

Elder's new buddy.  He's glad this guy's not his companion!!

Sister is, too!

 

Close

 

Closer

 

Closest

(amazing detail on these figurines!)

 

 

You get close enough to realize that what makes these sparkle in the sun are tiny individual pieces of glass (or mirrors) that are glued to the exterior of the building.  Amazing!

 

One crowded place!

 

It was a fun day in Bangkok!

 

Some people call this a temple site.  But we know a REAL temple site is nothing like this!

We long to see the day when the Thai people are introduced to the real thing.

Until then, we will continue to love the people and share the message of the gospel with them every chance we get.

 

 

 

 

 

Wheelchair ceremony in Bangnaa

We get to work closely with the LDSC humanitarian couple and thus are involved with the ceremonies involving the gifting of wheelchairs and other items to various organizations throughout Thailand.  This particular ceremony involved five different Rotary groups under the direction of the APDI, Association of Persons with Disabilities International.  The director of the APDI, Major Sirichai, is an Army vet who was disabled years ago.  As a result, he has dedicated his life to helping other disabled people have a better life.  The Church partnered with him this year in bringing wheelchairs to his group, who in turn works with the Rotaries to get the wheelchairs to the needy people in the area.  It has proven to be a great partnership - many people have been blessed as a result.  Here are a few photos from the ceremony.

Major Sirichai of APDI - very nice man

 



This Mother's care for her child was so touching.

We know their lives will be blessed as a result of this gift to them.

Same thing here - the tender care of a Mother towards her son was so heartwarming.

We wanted to learn why this young man had no legs but never got the chance to talk with him or anyone about it.  We can only imagine how his life will be blessed now that he can be mobile.

The participants always like to have a group photo.  Whether they ever get a copy of it or not is another matter!  But the Thai people love taking and being in photos!

We asked this woman if we could take her photo.  She nodded her head "yes" but looked very grumpy.  We made the motion to our mouth, asking her to smile.  Then, she gave the greatest smile!

 

This was an elegant lady who was so grateful for her wheelchair.  Though we didn't speak the language, we knew what was in her heart.  We got her email so we could send her a copy of the photo.

One question - why is Elder's hair so dark???  He claims it's the bananas - he likes them very ripe.  Maybe he's right - Sister doesn't eat ripe bananas!

The most uncomfortable aspect of these ceremonies - we have to sit up front as "honored guests."  And they always serve us a treat, but we have the most difficult time eating because no one else is usually served anything.  But it's a way for them to show us respect.  After a year of doing this, it is still uncomfortable.

 

 

These are the types of things we do a lot with the Humanitarian couple.  As the PA couple, we are to travel with them and take photos and try to set up opportunities for the media to be present.  These trips give us opportunities to meet and mingle with the special people in Thailand that we would normally not get to meet.  We've had some wonderful moments with the Thai people.

Trip to Chiang Mai

We were blessed to visit Chiang Mai with another senior couple a few weeks ago.  It's about an hour's flight to the northwest of Bangkok.  Of course, everything's about an hour's flight from Bangkok!  We had to go up for some PA business, and they had to be there for some mission business so we decided to meet up and have some R&R together.  This rarely happens, so we were excited to have some time together.  The Joneses are the mission couple, and we've really enjoyed getting to know them.  They will be leaving Nov. 18 to head back to Idaho, and they will be sorely missed.  We hope to be able to stay in touch with them - they've become very dear friends.

We visited a place called the Tiger Kingdom and were informed the tigers are NOT drugged - but I have my doubts.  How can they not be when people are laying all over them and hugging them, etc.?  We didn't pay to go in.  We just took photos from the balcony looking in.  Their paws were HUGE.  Can't imagine making one of them angry at you!  At one point, they had this stick with some tree limbs tied to it and would toss it back and forth in front of the tiger, like you would play with a kitten.  And the tiger acted like a kitten!  He would swipe at the stick and chase it.  Very cute!  Guess they're just overgrown kitties!!  VERY overgrown kitties!!  Beautiful creatures.

We also visited the Maesa Elephant Preserve.  We shared a previous blog about this trip.
Here are a few more photos about it.

Your typical tourist shot!  We don't know what the young man in the back was doing :)

We just missed the washing of the elephants!  These ladies' jobs were to scoop up the elephant poop after their baths.  Don't laugh - it's a job!  They're earning a living instead of receiving welfare.

 

 

 

Visiting the hill tribe group was very interesting.  Since most are refugees from Myanmar, they are not allowed to work in the country so they have to find ways to earn an income.  They set up their little homefront stores and sell their wares.  Plus, you have to pay an entrance fee to go in, which is a source of income for the village (about $16).  As we were walking down the "street" between the houses, which were built up off the ground, you could hear little children under the houses just laughing and giggling.  They were oblivious to what was going on - they were focusing on their games and having a good time!  So cute. 

At one home, we talked with the mother who was sitting there working on weaving a scarf, with her little son playing in a "playpen" beside her.  The scarves were so beautiful so we bought 3 - for a total of $15!  She explained that they wear the brass rings on their necks because they feel it makes them more beautiful to have long necks.  (Her English was amazing!)  They start wearing them when they turn 5.  They wear them for 2 years, night and day, and then at the end of 2 years, they add more rings and start another 2 years.  We saw some ladies with VERY long necks.  Kinda creepy.  When they have stretched their necks, they can't go without the rings because their necks are too weak to hold up their heads.  

 She demonstrated weaving the scarves.  Fascinating! (Amy would have loved it!)

 



Notice his little wooden playpen.  Look at those eyes!

 

 

Another Mother with her precious children!  Their father wasn't in the photo - too bad! 

They were a cute family.

 

Dad participated in shooting arrows - and was pretty darned good!

He even got a "thumbs up" from his instructor!

 



We saw one house that had some type of melons growing on the roof.  Very creative people!

Here's the "street" down the center of the village.

Here we are in front of a rice field in front of the village.  It's a very beautiful area.  We consider it a blessing to have visited this area and to learn a little about their culture. 

To wrap up our visit to Chiang Mai that day, we were blessed to see a "white buffalo".  Our driver was so excited to see this animal that he slammed on the brakes after we passed it and backed up so that we could take photos of it.  He kept saying "good luck, good luck", "it's good luck to see this animal."  He was SO excited!  So, we were very blessed to see the white buffalo.  And it did bring us good luck - we arrived home safely from our trip!

 

That is one healthy-looking animal!!

We must remember that ALL people we come in contact with are our brothers and sisters, no matter where they live or what they look like.  Maybe we even knew them in the spirit world and promised that we'd see each other on the earth one day.  These were very sweet people.  Hopefully, some of these people we communicated with will one day receive the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ from someone, and they will remember seeing our nametags and will think "I met some nice people once wearing nametags like that.  Let me hear your message!"  Since we're not on a proselyting mission, our prayer is that our interactions with others will set the stage for them to receive those Elders and Sisters who will one day enter their lives to teach them the restored gospel.