12 December 2016

 These are the missionaries that are in our District that we get to see the most.  They always smile after a good meal that they did not have to pay for.  This was our way of helping those that were on a tight budget.  Elder Liaga third one in on the right will be going home this week.  He is from Magna.

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 This is brother Spy and his Mom.  He is a member at 9 years old.  He is the rock star of the Primary.  We had our Primary presentation yesterday and he gave about half of the program.  His Mom let him learn about the church because of the influence it has had on him.  She normally does not stay for meetings but she did today and was very proud of her son.  He will be a very great support for the church in future years.

Brother Phong and Sister Noi making lunch for us .  I went with the Elders to help in the yard.  What great fun to get my hands dirty.

In the mountain village to teach Sister Nok and her husband.  She is a member and he is not

They are preparing for the Christmas activity.  A maze is being built.  Walls will be erected around the poles.  Inside the maze will be signs that teach about the life of Christ.  There is only one way to get out but different ways to get in.  You must find the right path.

There are some truly beautiful trees in Thailand

1 Dec 2016

She always wanted to be in a snow globe.

We love you all.

Getting ready to leave on our raft trip down the Ping river

Believe it or not but an elephant painted this!

Elder and Sister Wong visited Chiang Mai on the mission tour.

Elder Khanakham, Area Seventy on the left, The four stake presidents of Thailand, and me at our Thailand Coordinating Council meeting.

This one loves her food.  At a school for orphans in Bangkok

Little boys and little girls at the orphanage

Kristin and two of the children dancing to the music.

12/3/2016

 These two pictures show our Christmas on the television stand.  No tree.  Maybe I can find one on the TV!

This is the rice harvester.  Smaller version of our combines.

This is a load of rice grass bales going down the road.  Twice as high as the truck.

A leisure raft down the Ping river.  Just the two of us.  Do you like our matching shirts.

Anyone for a looooooonnnnngggg neck?

This is the fish spa.  A few dollars for 30 minutes of minnows eating at your dead skin!  In between the toes for a soggy toe jam sandwich.

September 19 2016

Very colorful breakfast, don't you think.  This is one of Mom's favorite.  Watermelon, banana, juice of any kind, and toast with peanut butter and jelly.  She usually receives this in bed.  We always have watermelon and bananas on hand to eat.  The other fruits we get as they are in season and cheap.  Mangoes are especially delicious here.

This is all but licked clean.  Peanut butter is a little expensive but it is one of our staples that we have on hand for sandwiches or on toast or with crackers.

This is what you call companionship study.  this is Elder Shipp (red head) and Elder Sun.  Elder Shipp just arrived here this transfer.  He is a greenie.  This is really at our house on Monday P-day.  Elder Shipp was a little tired and he slept while we played games with the rest of the missionaries.  After a bit Elder Sun didn't want to feel left out so he joined him for a minute.

 The picture above and below is of a street market in the center of old Chiang Mai.  They block of numerous streets and vendors set up shop to sell their wares.  This is only done on Sunday evening starting at 4:00 pm until 10:00 pm.  We walked a little bit of it just to see how it was.  Loads of people and lots of interesting stuff.  Plenty of food to eat also.  No we didn't buy anything.
The picture to the right is a picture of the mailman.  They ride motorcycles.  They have bags that are draped over the seat on both sides.  The colors of the post office are like brown and reddish orange.  They wear a jacket even in the hot weather.

214 Kilometers 8 Sept 2016

In the process of helping the Elders today we went 214 kilometers.  We went north to the mountains to visit a member.  It was beautiful!  The following pictures are just half of the story of today.  The next post will have the rest of the story.
                                                 

This was the path to his little house.  He is in a wheel chair.  His wife works in a city that is about 2 hours to the south.  She goes on Monday and returns on Friday.  She fixes him all his meals over the weekend so all he has to do is put them in the microwave.  He takes care of all the yard that you see in these pictures.

          There's a little old house in the middle of the woods.  a little old man by the window stood. If we could have hung a hammock on his patio it would have been nap time.  a little fish pond just off the patio with running water.

This is the pathway from his house to the road coming in.  The house in the back is theirs also.

 This is the bigger pond that is on the side of the path.  We asked him if he caught fish and ate them.  He replied not very often because he was tired of fish.

 This was the stream that we had to cross to get to his place.  We drove through it.  It wasn't very deep but he said when it rained and the water rose you could not cross.  We left just as it was starting to rain.

This is what you saw as you crossed the stream and entered into the yard.  Pictures do not do it justice.

5 Sep 2016

This is one of the smaller billboards.  It is bigger than life though

They do have graffiti here also.  This is just on some random fence in front of an abandoned building.

In the background on the right you can see a brick wall.  This is one of the entrances into the old city.  They are called doorways into the city.

this is a building that is in the process of being built.  The scaffolding is bamboo tied together.

The 3 in front are a family being baptized.  The young man on the left is also being baptized.  The other four are those brethren that are going to do the baptism.  What a day.

This is part of the canal that goes all the way around Old Chiang Mai city.  It might look beautiful but the water is nasty.

There are little shops that sell or offer services.  The one
above also sells noodles and drinks.  The one on the right
sells all things related to Buddha.

Another shot of the canal.  The tree at the right was probably
there when I was here 45 years ago

This is a speed limit sign.
No one pays attention to them.

If you look in the background of this picture against the building, you will
see 10 machines where the motorcycle is.  These are ATMs.  They are
everywhere.  That is how everything is paid for here is with cash.

This sign was in a park.  In this park
you cannot have a dog, drink alcohol,
smoke, litter or sell anything.

This is a park to go walking and exercising in.  The bank of dirt on
the right is what is left of the outside wall of the city.  They had a
wall around the inner wall to give them more protection.  Outer wall,
canal, then the inner wall.