Being a Tourist

 

Since we have been here five days and not done any touristy things, we visited the Jim Thompson House Museum. He was an American businessman born 1907 who came to Bangkok and established silk exporting, it becoming a very successful business. He provided the silk for the costumes in the movie "The King and I". He also collected ancient Thai art. His house is traditional Thai teakwood and very lovely. Jim Thompson disappeared mysteriously--an intriguing story.

 By the way, the 1956 movie, "The King and I", was banned in Thailand when it came out because of its portrayal of the king.

One of the joys we've had being in Bangkok, is that many members are coming to the temple from so many different countries. This morning we met several from Russia and a family from India. 

The family from India said they had saved for 10 years to afford to come without using Church funds. They are receiving endowments Tuesday and being sealed as a family on Wednesday.

The little girl in pink will be sealed to her family on Thursday.

Tears came while we talked with them in the annex. The Indian family are in the center of this photo, surrounded by two Russian families. My heart burned with the Spirit, knowing this was fulfillment of the Lord's plan.

We are all joyful to be together. No matter our political foundations, we are brothers and sisters in Christ.

We had a lovely Bangkok sunrise this morning.

Again, I am thankful for FaceTime and Zoom so we can keep in contact with our family. I pray it never fails us!

Day Five in Bangkok

We have been blessed to run into several friends from Ayutthaya. Many come to serve as ordinance workers twice a month. It warms our hearts that they have embraced the temple and are serving here. This photo was taken in the welcome center. It has several couches and chairs, videos on temples playing daily, showers, bottles of water, etc. Since Bangkok is a destination temple, it is well used.

Ayutthaya branch president and wife

There is so much energy among the Saints. Love abounds. I hope the enthusiasm here for the gospel and coming together never ends.

I am reminded daily of the creativity of the Thai people. These are a watermelon and a cantaloupe carved into flowers. They were on display for a class in RS to learn to do the art. (The ladies in Ayutthaya are especially skilled in flower arranging.)

Our Airbnb for the first week and a half in May was cancelled. The owner came to our hotel to apologize and give us the news that the complex had clamped down on short term rentals. Airbnb is part of her livelihood. I felt bad for her more than for us. We invited her to church. Maybe she will consider coming.

The temple from the roof of hotel

 Sunday we attended our new ward, the international English speaking ward. There are many countries represented. Most of the women in Relief Society are from the Philippines. Afterwards a potluck was held. We sat at a table with young adult men from Brazil, Pakistan, and a Thai who grew up in Argentina. I wish I had taken their picture because they were all adorable.

Potluck

Gathering for potluck after church is a monthly event for the international ward. (In Ayutthaya it is every week.) 

The members from Myanmar met in another room. Many have had to flee from their country due to the unrest. Dennis spoke to a man from Myanmar and said he heard the branch president had to flee the country. The man said, "I'm the branch president who fled."

Next door to us at the hotel, is the Russian couple who are here for a few weeks to help the Russian members. The husband is also a sealer. He does the ordinances in Russian no matter what language the participants speak. There are language cards for every language needed. I asked the sister what I should call her. She answered that her phone didn't work in Thailand. :-) We finally communicated that her name is Natal'ja. 💖

First Encounters

The annex and temple was filled with the energy of 40 returned missionaries from all over SE Asia at a special 3-day conference held for them here in Bangkok. Some received their endowments during their visit, meaning they had served their missions without being endowed. What a blessing for these young people to get together and share their testimonies of Jesus Christ, and attend the temple together.

Conference attendees gather for a photo in front of the Christus in the garden court between annex and the Temple. They are from India, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Cambodia, Viet Nam, Myanmar, and other countries of SE Asia.

You can't tell much from these two photos taken from our hotel window. The darker one was taken at 4:30 AM
and the lighter at 6:30 AM. All day long, the traffic is at a standstill. The light at Asoke turns green and it almost clears out, but then in seconds, it packs up again.

I love the free enterprise in Thailand. If you have something to sell, set up a table and sell it. This is a typical scene, mostly food along this alley to the canal where you can catch a water-bus. We stopped here to get iced chocolate and iced Ovaltine. Yum!

Motor scooters everywhere! Once the traffic stops, it is fair game for cyclers to drive between the cars to the front of the line. They drive in gutters, sidewalks, and anywhere they can squeeze through. This photo is mild to reality.

Today we did an endowment session. I asked for headphones because thought the presentation would be in Thai, but there were more non-Thai people attending so it was in English. Four people were from the Philippines, two from Malaysia receiving their own endowments, two from Russia, two were Thai, and Dennis and me. The presentation had Thai subtitles but went by so fast I'd read the first few words, and then the next line appeared. The Thai workers try their best to handle the diversity. Some live up country and can only come to serve once a month. They often forget some of their training and have to relearn it. The session was perfect enough, and still beautiful. The Spirit was there and bore witness of the importance of the work.

We haven’t found a permanent place to live yet but have several possibilities. We are hoping to know next week. We will move out of the hotel on Monday into an Airbnb a block away. Back to walking Bangkok streets! 

One of the senior full time missionary couples is assigned to work with the members in Myanmar. When we were here ten years ago, the mission sent the first four elders into Myanmar. Now there are two branches at least. The political unrest has made it hard for members.

Looking up at the temple at night.

We've met other senior couples. One couple is here for a few weeks from Russia, to help members coming for their own endowments. They have so few places they can go due to the Ukrainian war. They can come to Thailand.

We have met couples running the mission office. In July, there will be two missions in Thailand, and they both are headquartered in the annex at the Temple. We also met the Family History couple. That is a huge task since Thailand kept few records before 1940, and most people are cremated, so there aren't headstones for which to search.

We have enjoyed our time here very much, and look forward to serving in the next five months.

We are back in Thailand! April 2024

 We are back in Thailand! We hope to stay for 5 1/2 months and serve in the Bangkok temple. Only crazy people do adventures like this--leave home not really knowing how their plans will turn out, no mission call, only on a whim and a hope, and a few encouraging words. We will stay at this hotel for about five nights, an Airbnb for ten, and after that, who-knows-where.

Our layover in Taipei, Taiwan, included this
unique forest gate entrance.

After a very long trip, about 24 hours, we arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. We left Phoenix on Monday and lost Tuesday when we crossed the international dateline. After a big mixup with our Grab driver (equal to Uber in the states) that took an hour to resolve, it took us another hour to get to the hotel because--well, because Bangkok is one big traffic jam. I'm sure our driver was sorry he took our call. He spent so much of his afternoon taking us to the hotel.

We are staying at the FX hotel right by the temple, literally next door. We don't have the temple right out our window and 20 feet away, as we did for the open house, because we are on the east side of the building. The rooms on the east have a great view of the Asoke/Petchaburi intersection and high-rises, and are a foot or two feet larger than the ones on the north, which I appreciate. Right below us, our room's view is a junk heap, so we try not to look down. The room has no place to put anything, so we'll live out of our suitcases for five days.

Besides the temple, the Church built an "annex" next door. It has two stake centers, two mission offices, the Church administration offices, patron housing, MTC,
and a welcome center. It's an amazing building.

When we got to our rooms, I crashed for about two hours. Then we went downstairs for dinner. I had Tom Kaa with shrimp (coconut soup), and Dennis had Thai fried rice. I slept again until 7 AM. Today I've had no jet lag, but Anan claims it will catch up with us.

Here are the Temple front doors at night, a welcoming sight.

Below: Every car has a Buddha on the dash for blessing and safety. It's usually a little statue sitting on the dash, but I've not ever seen one like this. Considering how Thais drive, it's a wonder we don't see more accidents! They are taught very young how to maneuver tight traffic.

Below is a typical sight in this part of the crowded city. A beautiful tree's overgrown roots have destroyed the sidewalk, and
motorcycle taxi drivers in orange vests, waiting for customers. A makeshift porch cover is made from discarded banners.

It feels good to be back in Thailand. I will get used to living in the city again. Always noisy, always crowded. The smells are unavoidable. I love the Thai people, especially the Saints. That is why we are here.

We've talked with several family members via FaceTime. The littlest grandson stared at us on the screen straight-faced for a while and finally broke out in a smile. 

He must have recognized us. My heart warmed. I miss them all.

With FaceTime, I think this is doable.