We made it through our first full week in the office. I honestly can’t remember anything that happened! Well, I mean I learned quite a few things. For now I am going to be over joping. I guess that is a play on the Thai word for finish. So joping = finishing the mission. I created spreadsheets and answered emails and made myself a notebook of instructions. I shadowed Sister Belnap (the other office secretary) all over the office and met a lot of lovely people. Everything is seriously a blur. I should probably keep a little log of what I do everyday or I will forget.
Some highlights include eating more yummy food. We ate pad Thai on Tuesday. Back at the lotus food court. And we ate 18 cent ice cream cones!!! We also bought fruit from the fruit lady. We went out to eat with the Belnaps (the other office couple) and Farmers (a couple over the humanitarian projects here in Thailand).
On Wednesday, John went to Brother Belnap’s place to watch a BYU basketball game. I walked over with Sister Belnap so I could see their place! Wow do they have an incredible view!! And a pool and a gym and 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms! It's a very nice place!
Thursday we went to the temple and that was wonderful. On Friday, Sister Belnap and I went over to the mall on the other side of the metro (where we go to Lotus - the grocery store). There was a cool mall with food stalls and another grocery store (a little more high end. ). After work, we took a walk along a very busy road with no sidewalk to go get some fried rice. It was delicious! And dangerous! Deliciously dangerous! Then we bought some milk at 7-11 and came home.
Saturday we got up and ate KitKat cereal for breakfast! Yes, we went back to the store and bought a box and it was like eating candy bars in a bowl with milk. Speaking of the milk, I am pretty sure we bought a bottle of cream and now it is John’s favorite “milk” and will be the only milk we will buy for the next two years! Haha! After our “breakfast” of “milk” and cookies, we went for a long 2 and ½ hour walk exploring Bangkok and the neighborhoods where John lived 45 years ago. There were no high rises back then. Even though everything has changed so much, it was fun to walk around and have John show me his old stomping grounds! We also found a sports club that has pickleball. We hope to fit some pickleball playing in weekly! Home for lunch and showers and then back out to the store. We did a little shopping and exploring. We bought some yoga mats in hopes that we will get better at stretching and whatnot. We topped the evening off with a trip to our favorite Som Tum (Thai salad) place and a quick stop at 7-11.
Sunday, we got up early and joined the Belnaps for a trip to Chachoengsao (an hour plus drive) to attend a little branch with them. We met some lovely people. After church, there was a linger longer with lots of yummy Thai snacks to eat. After snack time, was a time to have “English” conversations with Thai people interested in strengthening their English speaking skills. It was a lot of fun to teach some English and learn some Thai. Following conversations, we traveled to a lovely neighborhood where a new member got baptized. The family who hosted the baptism in their community pool will be getting baptized in two weeks. Their 10 year old daughter is amazing! She is so excited to be a Christian! And she speaks English so well. We came home happy and exhausted, ate a bowl of homemade potato soup (kindly shared with us from one of the other senior couples) and took the rest of the evening off! It has been quite a week!
PS - We'd love to hear from you! You can message us on FB messenger, comment on Facebook, or send us an email at slbrady6@gmail.com
PPS - I will add our address to the blog page in case you want to send a letter the old fashioned way (which we would love)!
With love,
John and Shelly
PPPS - keep scrolling for pictures and descriptions!
Yummy plate of Pad Thai at the food court.
36 cent ice cream cones at KFC! (18 cents a piece!!!)!
View of the Temple Block from the Belnap's balcony. The temple is on the right.
We live in the Annex on the left. The office and chapel are also located in the Annex.
Another view of Bangkok from the Condo next door.
Bangkok Temple
Pool on the 44th floor (of the condo next door)!
A couple from Taiwan that we met outside of the Temple. We communicated with them using Google Translator on the phone. They joined the church 21 years ago. They said they were going through a difficult time and some missionaries met them on the street and invited them to learn more about Jesus.
Buying some yummy meat on a stick across the street from the Temple.
Sister Belnap and me! She is showing me all the places to explore!
Yummy "milk bun!"
Quail eggs! For just over $1 or $2 No, I did not try them!
Quail eggs or Candy Bars for Breakfast. You can see my choice here!
McDonalds! I love the Ronald McDonald statue giving us the Thai greeting!
John's old stomping grounds (nothing looks the same - except for this old over the road crosswalk!)
Maybe this was John's old street? But he can't remember since it was
nearly half a century ago! And so much has changed!
I saw several shops with FANCY chandeliers!
Chinese New Year - decorations up and down the street!
We found a pickleball gym! Yay!
Foodland!
I love the modern mixed with the old. (I am the old - haha!)
Did someone say Dubai Chocolate donuts?
Did someone say Nutella? (Don't let the 329 Baht scare you! That is just less than $10.) It is more than I would normally spend, but we will probably have to buy it in case of emergency.
Another beautiful view of the Bangkok Temple!
Church in Chachoengsao!
The Bradys, Belnaps, and our visiting Area Authority (Elder Chaichana) and his wife. We serve with the Belnaps in the office. Elder Belnap served in Thailand just after John. And Elder Chaichana served his mission in Thailand with John. It was a pleasant surprise when they showed up at our meeting. An additional surprise was learning that Sister Chaichana was baptized by Elder Nielsen the brother of a good friend of ours (Candy Nielsen Mann). It's a small world!
A Sunday Baptism! In a future member's neighborhood swimming pool.
Nam Dthan is 10 years old and plans to be baptized in 2 weeks. She is 10 years old and so excited go become a Christian (she declared)! Her English is impeccable!
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