Catching up

We had the opportunity of going to this national park for a senior missionary conference.  It was a great time to be away from all the hustle and bustle.  There are 9 missionary couples in the Thailand Bangkok Mission.  2 couples serve in Laos and one couple in Myanmar.  One couple serves in Eastern Thailand, 4 couples in the service center in Bangkok, and us in northwestern Thailand.  We stayed in a very nice hotel

This is a view of the grounds and some of the buildings that you can stay in.  It has an old English theme.  We stayed here for 2 days.  It was good to receive counsel from President Johnson and to discuss what everyone is doing and how they are doing it.  We do not get to see these couples very often.  Maybe once every few months.



























This is a view from inside the national park looking towards the valley that we stayed in.  It is very lush and green.  It is the rainy season so we are getting plenty of water right now.  We were able to go on a night safari one of the nights.  It was nice to get in the back of a pickup and go out with a spot light to see what animals could be found.  We saw a lot of deer and quite a few other animals that are hard to explain because I have never seen them before.  They were the size of raccoons and large cats.  There were elephants but they do not come out at night.

        Taking it easy in the park.  This is a bench to take a rest on the way to the waterfall.  Looks like Sister Barlow is give out in this one!

                                                                

14 July 2016

The work is going great.  It is the rainy season.  Here in Chiang Mai it is comfortable.  The surroundings are very green.  The rice is growing and the fruit is plentiful.



We have had some opportunities to go to different parts of Thailand to take care of mission business.  Recently we went to the eastern part of Thailand to reorganize a branch.  The mission president and the first counselor were at a District conference in Bangkok and the president asked me to go and take care of the reorganization.  What an experience.  It sure strengthens your testimony as to who is in charge of His work.  It was a great experience for the District president to go through this process.  It was his first time to be on the other side of the desk asking the questions.

These are some rice fields on the way to the branch that we reorganized

This is the city that we went to in eastern Thailand

This is what some of the roads looked like after a rain storm one morning.  The drainage system is not the best and when you have a massive rain storm, it just does not handle that amount of water.




This was a painting in an art museum that we went to in Khao Yai.  It had a label something to do with facebook.  It is very appropriate for Thailand.  Everyone is on a device of some kind.

 Chillin' at the waterfall

This is us swinging in the cabbage field on top of the mountain

In the gardens of the Summer Palace

At the art museum

We have been blessed to be here.  We have had our struggles but the good out weighs the bad.  We have had many opportunities to help teach and see the work grow here.  We have taught people from Iran and people from China.  We love it here!!!!

June 8

These are random pictures of things and places that you see on the way to church.  Temples and lots of little places to eat

This is during fast and testimony meeting.  There was a member from Japan that wanted to share his testimony.  He could speak English some, but there happened to be a visitor that had served her mission in Japan.  He spoke in Japanese, she translated to English, and the one in the suit translated to Thai.

May 23, 2016

This is the best massaman curry you will ever have. It has carrots and potatoes and chicken legs and all kinds of good spices.

This is a house that is close by our housing area. They were moving and this is what the framework looks like.

A member made these two serpents. They are made from saw dust. He mixed it with glue and then formed them. Then he carved them.

This is a fruit. Very colorful. It is a bitter melon. When they start to get a little soft, they are ready to eat. Have not tasted one yet.

This is a tree at the entrance to the church. Very colorful with orange flowers. It just keeps blooming right now.

May 19, 2016

One of the hundreds of temples here in Chiang Mai.  This is a small one compared to others. 

This is Brother Somsayam.  It was quite the opportunity to Baptize him after teaching him 45 years ago.

This is the Post Office closest to the church.  This one is 3 stories tall.  Brother Somsayam above that was just baptized recently retired from the Post Office as a manager.  Quite the connection between me and him.

The work is going great.  It is very hot here right now.  It is the hottest in 70 years.  They need water.  We are a few weeks from when the rainy season starts.  the rain will be a welcome relief from the hot.  Our power bill has been a bit high due to the air running the whole time we are in the house and all night so you can sleep.  The food is great, especially the fruit.  Watermelon, cantaloupe, mango, papaya, grapes, litchi, rambuton, oranges, bananas, dragon fruit, apples.  We mostly cook at home.  The Elders and sisters eat out most everyday because it is easier and doesn't cost very much.  We have more time than they do to fix food.

April 27th

Sister Barlow just couldn't stay out of the rain.  It was a down pour, it was warm, and it was refreshing.  She was soaked to the skin.  Not sure what the neighbors were thinking but it didn't matter.

These were on the trees at the church.  Not quite sure if dogs can read here or not?

This is Elder Bunker and Elder Stone, the Zone leaders.  This is at the funeral that we went to.  Afterwards the monks agreed to have their picture with the Elders.  Future missionaries?

 

This is at Lake Phayao.  The lake is behind us.  Because of the drought it is down about 20 feet.  This is the member whose grandmother died.  He is the only Melchizedek priesthood holder in this town.  He is only one of 3 members here.  The church is not established in this town and the closest branch is Chiang Mai about 1 1/2 hour drive away.  They were baptized in Chiang Mai and then moved back home.

This is the opening of a mission call in the local branch.  The Mom is on the right, daughter Ping Ping, is in the middle.  She is receiving the call.  The brother is reading the call.  It was opened up after a baptism with about 30 members of the branch present.  When it was read that she was going to Thailand, a big cheer was was given by all there.  Pretty good stuff.  The ones who are receiving their calls are sometimes members that have only been members for one year!  What faith! 

Songkran Water Festival - 20 April 2016

The largest water fight in the world. Even though they are in the middle of the worst drought in 20 years, they still take the time to stop and play in the water for 3 days.

As you can see from the back end of the truck, people used whatever they could to protect themselves from getting soaked.

But then there are those that just don't give up and just took it to them in the truck.

Hoses, buckets,squirt guns and cannons were used to spray water every where.  To stay out of the sun, some used umbrellas in the back of the truck.  Anyone that has a truck,  put 1 or 2 barrels of water in the back and loaded it with people and then would drive around soaking and getting soaked.  As you can tell we are in the car with the windows rolled up and the doors locked.

There is a moat around old Chiang Mai city.  That is where most of the playing took place was around the city.  If you look close, you can see the moat that they are dipping their buckets in.  Yes it is really that color, greenish, brownish, yuk.  It is filthy.  Yet there were people that got in and swam in it too.  They were probably drunk.