Letter 21 - Happy Five Month Mission Anniversary

 Dear family and friends!

Friday the 13th (of June 2025) marks 5 months on the mission! It is really hard to believe. We now have as much time left as a Sister Missionary! Fun fact: sister missionaries serve for 18 months (for those who wondered) and that is what we have left in Thailand. Only 18 more months! I better get busy eating more Mango Sticky Rice and get some more Thai Massages! This time is going to fly by! 

This blog post takes us back to last week! Thursday, Friday and Saturday (June 5 - 7), we had 3 busy days of missionary house visits. Have we mentioned how much we love meeting with the Elders and Sisters?! Those days were filled with hot weather, a major bus delay, a broken down car, lunch dates, new modes of transportation, and Nutella! (See pictures below for more details!) 

Another highlight was attending two more baptisms on the beach in Rayong. We had two young men join the church, Moo and Gao. They were so excited and enthusiastic to get baptized and become members of our little branch in Rayong. They love Jesus and His gospel and are so excited to learn more about Him and follow Him. 

That brings us to this week. On Monday we started the process to get our Thai Driver's Licenses! Let me tell you that is a long complicated process. One of the Seniors (Elder Farmer) put together a document to help other Seniors go through the process. On Monday, we completed steps one and two. We did Step 1 - went to the Department of Land Transportation (via the above ground train) to get in a line to essentially make an appointment 3 weeks later (this will be on July 1) and then we did Step 2 - took a taxi to the Immigration Building where we applied for a residence certificate. That will arrive in the mail in the next week or two. Step 3 - get a physical specific to applying for a license. Step 4 - we have to watch a 1 hour video. Step 5 - go back to the first place and pass an eye test, etc. (More in pictures below!)

We love you! We miss you! We pray you are well!

We love to hear from you! Thanks for reading! 

Love, Elder and Sister Brady (John and Shelly, Mom and Dad, Grandpa and Grandma, and so on!)

Pepper Lunch (AGAIN) with Sisters Johnston and Endaya! This food is soooooo good! It is definitely our new favorite! 

Sister Brady got a pair of Keens! Look! I match with the Sisters! I needed some shoes suitable for the rainy season! See if you can pick out Elder Brady's shoes!

My first visit to Big C! This was the main big grocery store when Elder Brady served in Thailand back in the 70s. They loved to go to Big C because it was nice and air conditioned back in the day! 

Lots of great food here! (And it is still air conditioned! Whew!!)

Including Nutella!! Woohoo! Which size should Elder Brady get??

The biggest size, of course!! 

A special treat for the sisters! Here is the story: After Zone Conference the sisters wanted to take home the leftover Nutella (because according to them the Elders always take it home). 

Well, the jar was almost completely empty after zone conference. And they were so sad! 

Elder Brady felt so bad for them, he bought us all some Nutella!! :) 

Walking around the mall, we discovered this live action advertisement for these comfortable beds. 

Yes, the man was wearing face cream and had cucumbers on his eyes! (John is in the background!)

Heading to another house visit. This is a one hour bus ride away. Unfortunately, the bus that comes every 13 minutes did not come for an hour!!! At the 45 mark, we ordered a GRAB (lyft/uber), but that took forever (my phone kept updating that it was 17 minutes away). At the one hour mark, our bus showed up and we got on the bus and cancelled the grab! 

This was while we were still waiting for the bus! It was one of the hottest days we've had. SO HOT!! 

We made it to the sisters and had a lovely visit. We decided to grab some lunch with them and our transportation to the street restaurant was a Song Thao! (see picture above). 

This is us on the Song Thao! Basically, it is like a little pick up truck with bench seats and a platform on the back that you can stand on if the seats are all filled up! You pay a fare like you would on a bus.

Also us! 

Sisters Peterson and Thomas standing at the back of the Song Thao as we speed along the highway!!!! 

Here we ate delicious Esan food!! Som Tum (papaya salad), Moo Yang (barbecued Pork), and other yummy goodies with Sisters Peterson and Thomas.

Another bus ride got us to this side street where we walked about a quarter of a mile to the Klong to catch a water taxi. These old houses with beautiful gates reminded John of when he served his mission in Thailand years ago. He said he and his companion would ring the bell and the maid would come to the gate. Back then, they would ask if the man of the house was home. And the maid would say, "no." They would often see the man of the house sitting inside reading the paper! 

We made it to the Klong. 

Waiting for the water taxi. Did I mention how hot it was this day??

Water taxi ride home! 

Dinnertime. Papaya, carrots, and crackers with Nutella! 

(Not pictured: about 20 more crackers with Nutella - hahaha) 

Our trip to Rayong on Saturday included house inspections with Elders Belleza and Jones and Elders Fife and Bergstedt. We followed our first visit up with more lunch! 

This was Esan food again! And it was delicious!! 

This was a coconut dessert. There was coconut milk, coconut, and some kind of coconut pudding in it. If you know what Haupia is (Hawaiian coconut dessert), it reminded me of that. 

We got out of the first house visit and the car would not start. This happened before lunch. 

Long story but it got started and we made it to lunch! 

Hertz already had a repairman on the way, so the car got a new battery after lunch! 

and there have been no more car problems! Thankfully!!

This giant lizard was climbing the tree next to me while we waited for the car to get fixed! 

Saturday night we got out weekly Blizzards! The overloads were on special, so we had to buy them!

A trip to Wans in Rayong! I had never been down this aisle before! 

These are giant containers of cookies and snacks! 

The buffet breakfast at the hotel! We must eat our fruits and veggies to offset the Blizzards! 

Church in Rayong. Notice where Elder Brady is sitting. 

He has a new assignment as a counselor in the Branch Presidency. 

At the beach for the Baptisms of Moo and Gao.

Smile! :)

Sister Dumrong has some Durian to share with us! This is fresh right out of the fruit itself! 

Getting ready to hand us some! 

Ready, set, eat! 

This was fresh and delicious! It is the consistency of avocado or cheesecake. 

Smooth, sweet, and this time no hint of garlic! haha! 

Picnic on the beach before the baptism. 

Pad Thai!!! This was made by Sister Noy. She is the lady in our Branch who was on Masterchef Thailand (the TV show). She is an amazing cook and brings such yummy foods each Sunday! 

Sister Noi, with her friend, Nui, who is getting baptized soon, her grandson Gao, and her granddaughter Grape. In the back is Moo (Gao's friend who also got baptized). 

Another shot of our feet at the beach! 

The missionaries with those who are getting baptized. 

Also Piti, who was baptized a couple of months ago, baptized one of the young men. 

Heading out to the baptism. It was a windy day and the waves were on the high side! 

A big group hug after the baptism. It was very sweet.

Coming back to shore. 

Moo wanted to hug everyone after his confirmation. He was so filled with joy!

The Rayong Branch poses for a picture on this special day. 

This is Sister Nice and her pink motorcycle. I had to hop on for a picture!

I loved these cloud formations on our drive home!

More cool cloud formations!

This is the intersection of Petchuburi and Asoke just down the street from where we live! There are so many motorcycles!!! They often drive up on the sidewalk to avoid traffic. And the zoom up right behind you and go around you. We are sort of getting used to it by now . . . 

Waiting in line at the Department of Transportation (basically, the THAI DMV). This place was jam packed with people and so many lines! It made the DMV back home look like a Zen garden! 

On the cab ride back home, I had to snap a picture of the beautiful architecture here in Thailand! The buildings are all so unique and beautiful!

We ran in to the sisters on our way home! We had to get a picture! 

Waiting at the doctor's office for my eye surgery. (Iridotomy - google it). Although, I was very nervous, everything went well I am happy to say! 

If you made it this far, I am both sorry and thankful! 

We love you and appreciated you! Thanks for reading!