Thailand Trip June 24-28, 2009

Sunrise over the Bangkok Skyline. This is a vast sprawling city that some say has a population of 15 million although I can't for the life of me see how they could ever take an accurate census.
The Service Center/Mission Offices. Here we spent the day training on the fourth floor with the Rempps, our new ERS couple.
We stopped for lunch and drove a mile to the "Impact Center." The grounds were landscaped and manicured with great care.
Notice the big shrubs are all shaped as elephants. Elephants are a big deal in Thailand.
Just across the street from the Service Center and Mission Office was a big Buddhist temple complex. It wasn't hard to decide which building was ours.
This is the group that will comprise the PEF committee in Thailand if it is approved. From left to right: Arun, the country director for Seminary and Institute. He is a returned missionary with a great story. He loves his country and is a good one. Elder Rempp and Sister Rempp. He is 49 years old and she is 55. They are a great couple. Wisan, the Service Center manager and first counselor in the stake presidency. He has a great sense of humor and is as generous as can be. Sister Gibbons and Elder Gibbons.
Wisan insisted that we had coconut milk for lunch. Everyone was served their own coconut but Wisan. He had a delicious looking Mango juice drink--he ordered!
At the start of the meal. By the time we got into it, the lasy susan in the middle was full of food.
Saturday was P-day and Wisan arranged for us to have a 'little outing' to get acquainted with Thailand and her culture. We drove out of the city for a couple of hours and stopped for breakfast at a little village where our driver grew up. As we got out of the car, this monk wanted us to take our picture with him. It must be a money maker for him because he was very solicitous.
We were taken to a little outdoor kitchen-a one woman kitchen on the canal bank and this is where we were surprised with a noodle breakfast. (There were other things with the noodles and we felt is was best not to ask about all of the ingredients.)
Here is our kitchen and our cook with the makings of breakfast spread before her. When I said we were on the edge of the canal, I wasn't exaggerating.
Kathy takes her turn.
I'm only sure of one thing. This isn't bacon and eggs and pancakes!!!

The main canal was wide and before the roads were built this was a main thoroughfare. It is still quite heavily used today. There were a number of boats with big outboard motors that sped up and down with passengers and produce.
We got our boat and our motor was a rower. Kathy and Sister Rempp look great and up for the experience of going to market.
We went down the main canal past a couple of 'intersections--all canals--and then came to the famous floating market. There were literally hundreds of boats with natives selling their wares.
Much of what was being sold from the boats was produce. They load their boats full and row to market while other come to buy--including tourists like us. The sides of the canals were lined with shops selling about anything you could imagine.
It was a lot of fun.
Coconut dock.
We stopped and watched a family making sugar from palm trees. They tap the tree just like the maple trees are tapped in America except they tap the coconut flower at the top of the tree. If they do, then there will be no coconut that year--either sugar or coconut. Anyway, the syrup is then boiled and distilled into a sugar that is then taken from the vats and shaped into sugar balls. It is a lot like brown sugar in texture but while moist it sticks together into a ball and then it is sold for a natural sweetener. Interesting!!
The agriculture was intriguing. There are miles and miles of these small canal systems. They plant everything from palm trees to mango trees to dragon fruit to grapes to corn and we even saw a large 'field' of asparagus. If it is not a rainy time, then the plants get their moisture from sub-irrigating with the canal system. I can't imagine the labor that it took to build this system--and like I said it would cover hundreds of thousands of acres. One Thai told us that they will never starve in Thailand because of the abundance of food. It was easy to believe. The rice however, is planted and grown like wheat in America. It isn't like south India where it is still done by hand. Tractors and modern equipment is used for rice.
Palm trees
Dragon fruit orchards--still sub-irrigated.
We made our final stop at a local elephant ride venue. They had a bengal tiger--loose. I was encouraged to sit down by it so I took a deep breath and did. I even stroked it. After I got up, ElderRempp went to sit down and the tiger raised up on its front paws and snarled. What a huge mouth and teeth. Needless to say, we all got away and stayed our distance.
Mom learned the command to motivate the elephant to move. She grunted just like the driver. However, I think the elephant responded to the driver and probably wondered what that other sound was.
The ride wouldn't be complete without going through a water hole. Four feet of water for about 50-60 yards. Wow!
We were careful not to make this beast mad. I think that the tusks and the trunk are capable of both being formidable weapons.
On Sunday we went to church with the local saints. They are proud of their new building which the Church purchased from a banking institution.
Branch members and sister missionaries.
Always the traditional dinner after the block. However, these folks travel great distance and so spend their Sunday at the church and hold all of their meetings on one day--and it is a full day.
The Petchburi building--a four story former bank. It is spacious and we only use parts of two floors. Of course, the locals see this building as easily remodeled to become a temple. It is in a great part of the city with easy access and so the possibility always exists. But with only one stake and five districts in the entire country and no stakes in neighboring countries, it may be some time before a temple is announced.
We had a great time with wonderful saints. The future of the Church in Thailand is filled with promise.

Miscellaneous June 09

On Saturday, June 17, Elder Woolsey and I decided to hike stage 8 of the Wilson Trail. We decided to do this one at the last moment because the day was fairly clear--though hot. But we knew we would see some beautiful country and wanted to see it on a clear day and so we decided to go. At first, upon starting on the trail, we weren't sure we were on the right one because it didn't look like anyone had hiked it for years. We were to find out why before the end of the day.
Still not much of a trail and pretty country without much effort. It was a deceiving beginning.
As we started to climb, the trails department had poured cement and we had seen some signs so we knew we were on the right stage. We still wondered why it was rated so difficult.
We walked for an hour and a half this way.
We were at the highest point of the trail to this point and saw this cozy little village nestled in a mountain valley and wondered if this was 'cloudy hill.' You can see the headstones of the family burials in the right foreground. At this point we started descending to the city of Tai Wai. We walked through the city and wondered what being back in a city meant--but we followed the signs and if they were right, it was obvious now that we had not ascended Cloudy Hill.
We left Tai Wai and ascended the mountain just outside the city. We could see the trail ahead for quite a ways and it still didn't look like Cloudy Hill was too foreboding. But it was hot and we were happy we each had five bottles of water.
We reached a summit and the vista of mountains opened up before us and we could tell we were in for a hike. The haze had started to settle in by this time, but it was still beautiful and things were going well--I thought.
I set my camera on a rock and we took this picture. If I had noticed how Elder Woolsey was looking, I would have known we were in some trouble. But I was usually in the lead and so I just kept up the ascent.
This picture is only one of so many of the beautiful scenery before and to the sides of us. The hiking guide was right about one thing--this was the most spectacular stage of the Wilson Trail so far. And we were finding out that it was right about another thing. This was a difficult hike, and we had chewed it off on one of the hottest and most humid days of the summer so far.
We talked as we hiked and then things were quiet. I kept hiking up a steep incline and then stopped to take a picture--but not this one. I looked back and Elder Woolsey was down. I hurried back down to where he was and he was suffering from heatstroke and could barely put one foot in front of the other. So we stopped for a while and hydrated him and cooled him off. We started up again and I carried both back packs to spare Elder Woolsey as much as I could. I would walk for a ways and turn around and realize that he hadn't been coming and so it was back down again to give him water and rest. I didn't know for sure if we would make it because I could see that we still had several sharp inclines to make before we reached the top.
This was one of the last climbs. Luckily we found a small grove of trees and that was the first shade on this part of the trail because of a fire about 15 years ago that had burned everything, and the new brush wasn't that big yet. The trees we came to were spared of the fire. We had our lunch and it really helped to take a half hour to cool off. Finally, Elder Woolsey said he thought he could go on. This was such a surprise to me because he is the most determined person I know and he never admits that he is hurting or sore or tired--until today. He kept telling me that he was spent and couldn't make his body respond. But the rest gave him a boost and we were able to make the final push to the top.
The trail looking back didn't look too bad, but this picture doesn't really show the steepness of the climbs in this section. And the fact that we had hiked for two and a half hours in the heat before we started this part of the climb isn't shown in the picture either. But after reaching the summit, we had finished stage eight. What a crazy place to finish a stage. We could go down from there for an hour and hope for a taxi to civilization or continue on to stage nine until we got to a road. Elder Woolsey opted for the road and while it was another hour and a half, it was mostly a gentle decline on a fairly good path until we came to a reservoir where there was a road down to town. We walked down the road where we were supposed to catch a mini-bus to the train station. It wasn't there and so we kept walking. Before too long, we saw a taxi pull into a residential area ahead of us. Elder Woolsey almost ran to catch it coming out. We were able to hail it and it took us to the train station. This was truly one of those days that Elder Newell used to comically refer to as a "death march" although we never had one with him like this.

Dinner with the Returning Filipina Sisters

On June 23, we had a dinner in our apartment for the four Filipina sisters who were returning home to the Philippines from their missions. All four of them have served in the Pen 3 branch and we have grown so close to them. They are the first missionaries that we really are going to feel a loss from after they leave. We have had the Career Workshop with all of the returning missionaries and loved them all, but these four are special. Mom didn't think we could invite them without inviting their companions and so we had eight altogether. The four returning home are in front.
Sister Monsader is always smiling. Sister Masuela is such a sweet, humble and warm person. Sister Babula is so positive and is a get-the-job-done kind of person. Sister Madjos is was in the branch when we came and stayed for almost seven months. She is a favorite--well, they all are.
They loved Mom's funeral potatoes and roast beef and green salad. I had to leave early for institute and parting was a time of many tears from the sisters. It is hard knowing that we probably will never see them again in this life. The hardest part was knowing that they go home to so little. Sister Madjos has a very active family. Her brother is her bishop and so she will have support. The others have varying support. None of them will go home to a situation like our Americans go home to.

Mongolian Temple trip June 14-20

On Wednesday night while the Mongolians were here, President and Sister Goo told us that we needed to come up to their apartment after we finished our service for the night. When we arrived in their apartment, they had food prepared for us--and the Ericksons--and then a surprise. Anjanette Schofield (maiden name) from Sugar City, who was Jan's best friend over 30 years ago was there with her husband who was a missionary under President Goo when he was here as misson president. We had a great visit with them and renewed old memories of our time in Sugar City.
This is Jagar and his wife Tuvshinbayar. He is such a dedicated soul. This is his third trip to the temple since we have been here in Hong Kong. On the first one he was still single. He has been so blessed for his faithfulness. No one in Mongolia would have predicted his getting married, but he has a sweet, humble wife and now an eternal marriage. I am so happy for him.
Anand is a returned missionary from Sumara, Russia and Zolzaya is a member of the Bayanzurkh branch who we knew as a young woman while we were there. Anand is the son of Enkhtuvshin who joined the church in the early 1990's in Europe and is likely the first Mongolian to be baptized in this dispensation.
Myagmasuren served her mission in Mongolia while we were in Mongolia. Her and her husband, Sukhbaatar have a little girl who was sealed to them. But she screamed every time someone wanted a picture and so we didn't have her in this photo.
Tsog and Dashka were sealed with their children and Dashka is expecting their third. Tsog was just sustained as the second counselor in the new stake presidency in Mongolia. They have been friends for a long time and have continued to correspond with us on a regular basis. Tsog served his mission in Novasibirsk and Dashka served in Utah Provo. We had a lot of fun with them.
This is the whole group who came this time. The woman in front is Myagmasuren's mother, Khisigsuren who spent most of her time tending the baby. She and her husband, Ganbat, are very active in the Songino Ward.