Dear family and friends,
Happy belated Easter to all of you. We hope you enjoyed a weekend of friends, family, and an opportunity to worship. Every week when I put together the blog, I think to myself that we didn't do much, and I probably don't have much to post; but then I start downloading pictures and there always seems to be way to many! I am still so fascinated with this country we are serving our mission in, and I want a way to preserve the memories, so this blog is the place! So, for any of you who manage to get through all the pictures and notes, thank you for reading and experiencing some of Thailand with us!
Before I get to last week's adventures, I want to pause and share with you my love of my Savior, Jesus Christ! I have always had a tender spot in my heart for Jesus. I can remember when I was just a little girl reading the stories of the nativity. Later, as a slightly older child, my step-mom and dad brought me to their Christian church where I was invited to accept Jesus as my personal Savior, which I readily did. When I was the ripe age of 12, I moved to Hawaii with my mother and family where I was introduced to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I learned more about the gospel and decided to be baptized. That was 50 years ago. John grew up in the Church with pioneer heritage. He has loved the Lord for as long as he can remember. He served his first mission at the age of 19 years old here in Bangkok, Thailand. We decided early on in our marriage that we would like to serve a mission after he retired. That is the short version of what led us to serve our mission here in Thailand. If you would like to hear more or have any questions, let me know! I am an open book as many of you know :)!
Last Saturday, we decided to do a little sightseeing on our way down to Rayong. We stopped at the Samut Prakan Crocodile Farm and Zoo! This is not really a tourist spot (although I am sure tourists, like us, go) but a place that locals like to go. One of our Thai missionaries told us it was a must see! So we had to go! More details are below with the pictures!
On Easter Sunday, we enjoyed spending time with our small branch. About two minutes before church was to start, the Branch President (one of our missionaries) asked if John would sing with another young missionary. He said, "yes," of course. They had no time to practice and it was in Thai. They did a beautiful job. After lunch, the members had a little potluck (which we had missed the memo on--but fortunately had some snacks and treats to contribute). The food was delicious and it was fun to visit and get to know them better.
We left after awhile to get back up to Bangkok for another Potluck with the Senior missionaries. We had a lovely Easter dinner in the large foyer just down the hall from where we live.
Monday's adventure was an all day "well-check" at the local hospital. We will get to have two yearly physicals while we are here. We had never experienced anything like it! We went early in the morning fasting, had blood work done, chest x-ray, ultrasounds, male stuff, female stuff, EKGs, eye exams, and every test imaginable. They gave us little hospital scrubs and slippers to change into before all of this started. When we were done with all the tests, they fed us a lovely brunch! And then, after an hour or so, they had us meet with a doctor to go over all of the test results! It was the most efficient thing I'd ever seen. And for the most part, we walked out with a clean bill of health. I mean, we are old, so there is always stuff. No pictures below for this day, although I am wishing we had pictures of us in our cute scrubs!
Tuesday, we ventured out of the office to do a walk through with a landlord for an apartment the mission is closing.
Wednesday, we had a long crazy day. It was our first trip to Immigration for our Visa renewal. We woke up at 3 a.m., caught a Grab (that is the Thai version of Uber), arrived at 4 a.m. and got in line. Doors opened at 6 a.m. (the lines were really long by then, so it is good we went early) and we were given a queue number. This number assigned us to a chair (basically another line). We met with our visa expert/helper who had us sign a huge stack of papers. After signing, we were free to find some breakfast. My stomach was not happy, so nothing sounded good. Around 7:45, we headed up to our chairs. Our visa expert/helper handed us our packets filled with our passport, signed papers, and some $$ to pay for the application. We were with about 8 missionaries total. We had a good time getting to know the Harpers, the MTC Leaders, who were also there for their visa renewal. At 8:30 a.m. the next doors opened and we got up out of our chairs and headed in for another queue number. This was the number they would call when it was time for our interview. John and I were so happy that we had the lowest numbers of our group at 38 and 43. Those in our group who had higher numbers in the 50s and 60s ended up getting their numbers swapped and they all ended up finishing about 2 hours before us! Haha! Our very long day ended nearly 11 hours later when we got home. By then, I had the worst headache and some stomach troubles (I will spare you the details). Needless to say, I went straight to bed and took a two hour nap! Afterwards, I got a Thai Massage and the masseuse really worked on my neck and shoulders and it helped my headache immensely! I was so grateful! We topped off the day with a movie in a theater! We know nothing about Minecraft, but the movie was in English and directed by the director of Napoleon Dynamite. If you are fans of Napoleon (which we are), it has that same quirky vibe, and did I mention it was in English?
(Sidenote - we will get to do the visa day one more time in a year!)
Thursday was back to the office and getting caught up after being out for much of the week.
Which brings us to today. It's Zone Conference day and the young missionaries from Bangkok are here for two days (yesterday and today) playing and being physically and spiritually fed. We have been able to join them for a few meals, including pancakes for breakfast (which we had the pleasure of making this morning at 6:30am along with our friends the Belnaps).
Other highlights of the week include talking with family (my mom and my dad and step-mom, a few of our children) and friends (thanks John and Susan Standing for the phone call and Happy Easter wishes)! PS: we can't talk on our cell phone line (because it costs money), but we can text and facetime video and facetime audio call for free. We can also talk on messenger via the little phone button or video chat on messenger as well. We consider it a great blessing to be able to so easily stay connected with loved ones around the world!
And that is a wrap for this week! We love you and appreciate you and pray you are well!
With love,
Elder and Sister Brady
(grandpa and grandma, mom and dad, loved ones and friends)
Taking the little train around the Crocodile Farm and Zoo!
Crocodile Show! Yes, that man has his head in the crocodile's mouth! And the other man is holding a crocodile! He picked that creature up right out of the water!!
Zooming in a little closer for your enjoyment!
Small boy holding a small crocodile! (For a few extra $$, you too can hold a crocodile and have your picture taken! No, thank you!
A little more crocodile action!
And now on to the Hippos. They were so close you could almost touch them!
Showing off the watermelon he is eating. For some extra $$, you could feed the hippos!
Elephant Show.
I handed the handler 20 Baht (less than a dollar) and he led the elephant close to me so I could pet him!
Elephant walking by! Not an elephant reaching out to pat!
Crocodile catching some chicken a zoo visitor tossed down to him!
More crocodiles wondering why we aren't tossing them chicken!
Crocodiles resting in the sun.
Fun fact: I googled and found out that crocodiles open their mouths in the sun to cool off!
John and Shelly posing!
Beautiful view from our train ride around the zoo. Lovely crocodile infested waters!
Jurassic Era Crocodile skull (a replica).
There was a dinosaur museum at the zoo too!
A beautiful bridge we drove over on our way South!
Saturday night we decided to see a movie! We walked 1.3 miles in 96 degree heat to get to the theater. We were so excited we took a picture! And then we walked in and discovered it was showing in Thai (NOT ENGLISH)! So we walked 1.3 miles back to our hotel (we stay in a hotel in Rayong). At least we got our steps in! And if you read the blog above, you know we finally saw the movie on Wednesday!
We sat by the pool instead.
Until the Sun went down.
Our wonderful Rayong branch gathers for a photo after church.
We love these Elders and branch members and friends!
I'm not sure if this video will show up, but here is a clip of Elder Brady and Elder Jones singing.
Pot luck with the Rayong Branch! Branch President (Elder Belleza) gives a thumbs up of approval!
Photo with the Sisters!
Another Easter meal with the Senior Missionaries. This is the lobby of the 5th floor (where we live).
Elder and Sister Brady with Elder and Sister Poon
(Chinese speaking missionaries from the West Mission).
The meal - traditional ham and cheesy potatoes with rolls! It was delicious!
Here we all are! Seniors from the East and West Missions.
Walking across the train tracks to get to one of the condos we are closing.
Walking along the Klong. The flowers were so beautiful.
If you lean on the rail (at the train station), one of the security guard will blow a whistle at you. We learned this from experience. And when I say we, I mean John.
Eating some breakfast on immigration day.
Sitting in our chairs waiting to get inside the room you can see through the window behind me.
When we were signing our paperwork for immigration we came across these hideous pictures taken of us when we arrived in Thailand. After traveling for 30 hours you arrive and they take a picture of you!
This is what 30 hours of travel and no sleep looks like. Plus we were told not to smile. So we didn't.
Still waiting for our interview. Still smiling despite the headache and whatnot!
