day 10 - sept 10
Sawadee Kaa!
We are in Chiang Mai at the BPCity hotel. We woke up early so the Strattons could put their luggage in our room since they had to check out. Then we headed down to breakfast (French toast with honey syrup, pancakes, fruit, eggs, and rice). We got an early start for the day. They wanted to show us some temples (Wats) before district conference started at 10am. It was only a short walk away. On the walk, mom noticed a flying squirrel jumping from tree to tree then running on the power lines. It was amazing to watch. There was a tall gold tower, that had elephants 🐘 on all four sides. After Doug explained some history and how elephants were so meaningful because they saved Thailand; Moms thought was that this tower represented the weight of Thailand on the elephants backs. It makes sense why there are elephant representations everywhere. There was also a park with many trees, and the trees had sayings on plaques connected to them. Many of their sayings are congruent with our beliefs.
There was a sleeping Buddha that was about 20 feet. It took up the whole building.
We headed back to the church for district conference. Elder Meurs and Another Thai Elder of the 70 presided. They spoke on happiness and that's why the gospel is here. The Native Elder spoke about the people who sacrificed (ex...Abinadi, Jospeh Smith, and the Savior) so that we have examples and he challenges us to do all we can do and have more faith. He asked us to commit to do all the Lord has commanded us and asked us to have more faith now. Elder Meur reviews and confirms, like a second witness to everything that was said in the meeting. He shared a bit about his story, how his parents were in Australia, raising their family. And two Elders were assigned to this area, told to find people and make a branch where there was not yet one and no members in this area yet either. Previously members of other churches had rumored that LDS missionaries would lead their children to hell because of their teachings. These two elders, Elder Jones and Elder Gines had knocked and tried for about 3 months with no luck of even teaching a lesson. They asked their mission president if they could dust their feet from this area and transfer. He said "have you knocked on every door and have you completed your assignment?" They said no, and got back to work. Meanwhile this small family in Australia was searching for truth. They had read the Bible and had talked to many leaders of different churches to find answers. She was baptized into the Baptist church due to immersion, but still wanted more answers. Then Elder Jones and Elder Gines knocked on this families door one day.
They shared that they had a message from Jesus Christ. The sister said that she's been waiting for them. And asked them to come back in a week due to her children having chicken pox. He prayed everyday that heh would come back. They did and taught them. The elders would start teaching, and this family would finish the teaching due to the spirit and their study. After about two weeks, they were baptized and the elders invited them to church, where it was just the elders and this small family. It grew from there into a branch. This small family was Elder Meurs family. Because of those two missionaries, thousands of people have joined and become members. Amazing what faith and the spirit and action can do. That's when he encouraged us to always be missionaries in all we do. Doug shared with us an experience he had about teaching a man to pray and how the spirit taught him an amazing lesson of teaching this man how to pray by repeating each line after him, as we do with our children. And how he thought he was the teacher when he soon realized he was the student.
After the meeting, they held a feast in the cultural hall. They do this potluck every Sunday. Food and people were packed everywhere. This was a fun way to try different foods. Some were really spicy, mom and I tried one that we could feel burning in our nose and lips and mouth; and others were really good. We kept trying other foods to take the burning away. They use a lot of coconut milk in their desserts. Yumm yumm!! We went back to the hotel and switched rooms, really good beds, but downgraded so we could save some money. We went and said our goodbyes to the Strattons and Barlows, and went back to the Wata. Their we took photos of the sayings and walked around.
We went to the night market, we started it odd with a Beary Fish Spa! We sat down and put our feet into tanks of water with Beasley fish in them. As soon as our feet were close to the water, the fish came go feast. For 20 minutes they ate our dead skins. It tickled and was such an odd feeling, after we were able to relax a bit, it felt pretty good.
We walked around the market all night, got souvenirs for family and friends. Then ate dinner in the market. We shared a chicken spring roll and mango and sticky rice. Our servers name was Ice. He was very helpful. He helped us read Thai on my phone so that we could reserve spots for an Elephant Nature Park next week. He said he wants to come to America, so we gave him a little tip to start saving up. We went into 7-11 to get some supplies to take back! Now we need to buy another bag to carry the stuff we got! It was a nice day full of familiar spirit and new experiences.
We are in Chiang Mai at the BPCity hotel. We woke up early so the Strattons could put their luggage in our room since they had to check out. Then we headed down to breakfast (French toast with honey syrup, pancakes, fruit, eggs, and rice). We got an early start for the day. They wanted to show us some temples (Wats) before district conference started at 10am. It was only a short walk away. On the walk, mom noticed a flying squirrel jumping from tree to tree then running on the power lines. It was amazing to watch. There was a tall gold tower, that had elephants 🐘 on all four sides. After Doug explained some history and how elephants were so meaningful because they saved Thailand; Moms thought was that this tower represented the weight of Thailand on the elephants backs. It makes sense why there are elephant representations everywhere. There was also a park with many trees, and the trees had sayings on plaques connected to them. Many of their sayings are congruent with our beliefs.
There was a sleeping Buddha that was about 20 feet. It took up the whole building.
We headed back to the church for district conference. Elder Meurs and Another Thai Elder of the 70 presided. They spoke on happiness and that's why the gospel is here. The Native Elder spoke about the people who sacrificed (ex...Abinadi, Jospeh Smith, and the Savior) so that we have examples and he challenges us to do all we can do and have more faith. He asked us to commit to do all the Lord has commanded us and asked us to have more faith now. Elder Meur reviews and confirms, like a second witness to everything that was said in the meeting. He shared a bit about his story, how his parents were in Australia, raising their family. And two Elders were assigned to this area, told to find people and make a branch where there was not yet one and no members in this area yet either. Previously members of other churches had rumored that LDS missionaries would lead their children to hell because of their teachings. These two elders, Elder Jones and Elder Gines had knocked and tried for about 3 months with no luck of even teaching a lesson. They asked their mission president if they could dust their feet from this area and transfer. He said "have you knocked on every door and have you completed your assignment?" They said no, and got back to work. Meanwhile this small family in Australia was searching for truth. They had read the Bible and had talked to many leaders of different churches to find answers. She was baptized into the Baptist church due to immersion, but still wanted more answers. Then Elder Jones and Elder Gines knocked on this families door one day.
They shared that they had a message from Jesus Christ. The sister said that she's been waiting for them. And asked them to come back in a week due to her children having chicken pox. He prayed everyday that heh would come back. They did and taught them. The elders would start teaching, and this family would finish the teaching due to the spirit and their study. After about two weeks, they were baptized and the elders invited them to church, where it was just the elders and this small family. It grew from there into a branch. This small family was Elder Meurs family. Because of those two missionaries, thousands of people have joined and become members. Amazing what faith and the spirit and action can do. That's when he encouraged us to always be missionaries in all we do. Doug shared with us an experience he had about teaching a man to pray and how the spirit taught him an amazing lesson of teaching this man how to pray by repeating each line after him, as we do with our children. And how he thought he was the teacher when he soon realized he was the student.
After the meeting, they held a feast in the cultural hall. They do this potluck every Sunday. Food and people were packed everywhere. This was a fun way to try different foods. Some were really spicy, mom and I tried one that we could feel burning in our nose and lips and mouth; and others were really good. We kept trying other foods to take the burning away. They use a lot of coconut milk in their desserts. Yumm yumm!! We went back to the hotel and switched rooms, really good beds, but downgraded so we could save some money. We went and said our goodbyes to the Strattons and Barlows, and went back to the Wata. Their we took photos of the sayings and walked around.
We went to the night market, we started it odd with a Beary Fish Spa! We sat down and put our feet into tanks of water with Beasley fish in them. As soon as our feet were close to the water, the fish came go feast. For 20 minutes they ate our dead skins. It tickled and was such an odd feeling, after we were able to relax a bit, it felt pretty good.
We walked around the market all night, got souvenirs for family and friends. Then ate dinner in the market. We shared a chicken spring roll and mango and sticky rice. Our servers name was Ice. He was very helpful. He helped us read Thai on my phone so that we could reserve spots for an Elephant Nature Park next week. He said he wants to come to America, so we gave him a little tip to start saving up. We went into 7-11 to get some supplies to take back! Now we need to buy another bag to carry the stuff we got! It was a nice day full of familiar spirit and new experiences.
I need to find one of those fish tanks!
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