Testifying In Thai: February 2016

Monday, February 29, 2016

Training in Bangkok & The Wheelchair Project

This has been such a full week. After getting 4 hours sleep, we were up and to the service center at 08:30 for some orientation. This is of course was Wednesday since we missed Tuesday. It was just general information about the work in Thailand and some of the things that we needed. We really didn't have any questions because we didn't know what to ask. After that we had our interview with President Johnson. He got to know us a little bit and then gave us our assignment. We will be in Chiang Mai and helping the Chiang Mai District. It has six branches. We will be traveling to each of them, a different one each week. We will be working with the branch leadership giving them support and training. We will also be helping the elders and Sisters making sure that they have what they need and making sure they keep a clean and healthy place. We will travel north about 2 hours and about 31/2 hours to the south.

Thursday we were invited to go with 2 couples to a wheelchair project. The church had teamed up with Rotary and another organization to provide wheel chairs to several handicapped people in an area southwest of Bangkok. More about this project below. Needless to say it was amazing! This was my first chance to speak in front of a group of people in Thai. Scary!

We have been staying in a hotel close to the mission headquarters while we have been waiting for our work permits. You have to have one in order to do what we do here. You also need one to be able to get a drivers license. We will get them tomorrow. So tomorrow meaning Tuesday, we will be going to Chiang Mai! The name of the hotel is the Swutel. It is by a university.

Friday Gaylene went to lunch with the group of senior couple sisters. They ate with a princess, not direct line, of Thailand. They had a great time. I went to a mall while Gaylene was gone.

Saturday we visited with some of the other senior couples. We went to a place called the hut to eat. We met a lady from Syracuse that was super excited to see us. We are pretty sure that she was not LDS but she was interested in going to church so we are giving the elders her name and phone number to contact her.

It has been a busy week and it seems like it has been going on forever. We will be more organized this next week because we will be in our own place! I am tired so we will tell you more next week.

WHEELCHAIR PROJECT RATCHBURI 25 FEB 2016

IMPRESSIONS – ELDER BARLOW

What an uplifting experience to be able to be at this event and to have the chance to be with the people that were being helped. To have the opportunity to interact and to not just see it on the TV or in a book or newspaper.

The opportunity to serve as the Savior did, one on one. To touch and talk with and look into the eyes of people that were going through struggles right then and there. To find out in a small way, what they were going through and what they were feeling.

The language was a small barrier that was there, but as I talked with them in my limited Thai, I could feel the love and appreciation that they had for the gift that was being given them that day. Sister Barlow commented that even though she could not speak to them at all, she could feel the love that she had for them. Strangers, suffering individuals, that were going through things that were hard to comprehend, yet she loved them. She was sorrowful that they had not received help before.

Some of these individuals had support form extended family, but most were there with a caregiver. Individuals that had spent long hours in giving care to a loved one. My heart was full as I saw these caregivers bring their loved one to receive a gift that in many cases would make a world of difference to not just the receiver but to those who gave the care.

As I spoke to the audience the thing that I remember above all was the feeling of love that I knew the Savior had for them. The feeling of love that I felt for them. My brothers and sisters. I will forever remember the chance I had to pick up an adult child out of her mother’s arms and hold her until they got the chair ready for her. At the end of my talk, I simply said how much I loved them all. The person that was helping me asked me to repeat the last sentence that I said. It was “ I love you all.” That was what they wanted to hear.

Thursday, February 25, 2016

First Photo and First Update from Thailand

Our first glimpse of the missionaries!
This photo was sent to Sadie from Debra Mellot, her sister in law is serving in Thailand and
sent the photo to Sadie

Dear family,

Sorry we didn't get to you sooner but it has been a whirl wind the last 24 hours. We arrived in Bangkok sometime after midnight on Feb 24, 2016. That meant that we had been going since 3:00 am on Monday. We did get to sleep this morning at about 2:00 AM. So we got 4 hours sleep and we were up for a day of orientation. We left SLC at about 7:30 am and flew to Chicago. What a zoo transferring planes to Cathay Pacific. I think we went through security at least twice in Chicago. We left Chicago for Hong Kong. I thought that we would fly west but next thing I knew was that we were flying northeast. We flew over the top to Hong Kong. It was a big plane. The plane was not full so there was some room. Before we boarded the plane we, we were sitting with the crew of the plane. They were all young Chinese. One of them over heard us talking about Mom and her swollen feet. When we boarded the plane, this young man come up to us and asked if we would like to move to a seat that had more leg room and where Mom could put her feet up. We of course were all for that. They put us by the galley that had no seats in front of it with about five feet of leg room. It really made the flight bearable. One of the stewardesses came up to us and said Elder Barlow the captain would like to come and talk to you after the flight is underway. So after the flight was on its way, the captain came and introduced himself as Brother ______. He talked to us about where we were from and where we were going. He was from Australia. The flight was LONG!!!!!!! We flew over the top of the world. I'm on the top of the world looking down on creation. We went over Greenland and I think Siberia. The flight to Bangkok was about 2 hours. It was fun to sit among Thai and hear the language. When we got to Bangkok it was then go through passport control and get the luggage and meet up with the mission president.

We met with mission president and he gave us our assignment. It will be to help with the Chiang Mai district. We will meet with the branch president in each branch. We will train them in their duties and help them with abilities to not only administer but to minister. We will meet with the District presidency and help and train them. We will help and meet with the young Elders and Sisters. We will do house checks on the Elders and Sisters. We will be traveling from Chiang Mai 3 hours to the north and 6 hours to the south to visit these branches.

We will be on Bangkok for about a week trying to get our work permit. We will then go to Chiang Mai and get started. While we are here in Bangkok , the mission President wants us to do some research on two cities, one in Laos and one in Mirinmar and one in Laos. The information we are finding and the maps that we are creating will help with the expansion of the church in these two areas.

We are happy to be here and to be about the Lord's work. Mom is doing so good and she is starting to pick up words and her pronunciation is very good. We love you all.