Hello friends and family!
It's Friday night in Thailand. But honestly by the time I download the loads of pictures I have this time it will be Saturday!!
This a friendly public service announcement. Ladies and Gentlemen: This blog is basically my journal of pictures to remember our mission! We love that some of you actually take the time to read through it all and even leave us a comment or send us an email! It makes our day! In the meantime - welcome to another week in our missionary life!
This one was jampacked! Between Tuesday and Friday John gave 10 patriarchal blessings to people from Pakistan and India. I cannot begin to tell you how special it was to meet these dear people and get to know them a little bit and hear their stories.
Additionally, it was the RMRT (Returned Missionaries Return to the Temple) Seminar that we had been asked to help with. We were supposed to attend and serve as mentors to the recently returned missionaries - spending time with them and attending the temple with them. We were also asked to teach a workshop at the Seminar. With the added 10 blessings, we joined the RMs as much as we could and were back and forth to the seminar, the temple, our apartment for blessings, and to the office to type up the blessings! It has been busy!
For all the details and pictures - read on!
We love you and miss you all and pray you are well!
Love,
Elder and Sister Brady (Mom and Dad, Grandpa and Grandma, John and Shelly and so on)
Dinner Cruise! (More on that below!)
With the busy week looming, I thought I would "treat myself!" I haven't gotten a pedicure in a year! And it was time (believe me!)! It cost about $9 USD! And this gal did a fabulous job! I usually paint my toenails myself. I had a lady ask me once who did my toe nails and I answered, "I do them myself!" And she responded, "I can tell!" True Story! hahahaha!
After the pedicure, I did a little grocery shopping. On may way home from the pedicure, purple bag of groceries in hand, I wait for the Subway.
Our first blessing of the week was on Tuesday. This nice man, Sarnawaz, was from Pakistan!
Another Tuesday blessing. This lovely lady, Samiya, was also from Pakistan. She is married and has 3 children. Her family was coming to Thailand to attend the temple and be sealed (a special ceremony in our temples were families can be married and be together forever).
Wednesday Blessings: Another darling family from Pakistan. This is Moniqa and Norman! Their son's name is Mormon! They were the in-laws of the Sister above. They were also here to be sealed and have their young son sealed to them.
We headed back to the office to type up the blessings and look who we ran into! Sisters Peterson and Johnston on their way back from immigration (visa renewal for Sister Peterson). They had been up since 1am in the morning and looked as beautiful as ever!
It's lunchtime!
Beautiful evening view of the Christus!
The hallway near the temple entrance all lit up at night. One of the perks of attending this conference was being able to go to the temple 4 days in a row. We usually go once a week so it was a special experience to attend so frequently.
Another view behind the Christus.
Dessert! Wednesday night's dessert was Ice Cream Sandwiches . . . Thai Style!
Toppings (or actually some went on the bottom)
are sweet sticky rice, fruit, bobo bubbly things, and nuts!
But first lets eat dinner! It was so delicious!
Hanging out with some darling RMs from Vietnam and India!
Here is a pic of the yummy dinner! Massaman Curry was on the menu and it did not disappoint!
Here is a close up pic of a Thai Ice Cream Sandwich! Did I mention all those toppings and the Ice Cream go on actual bread! Like this is seriously a sandwich!
I have to tell you! It was very good! And now I don't think I am going to want any other kind of sandwich! The only thing missing was Nutella! Haha!
This RM (Boss) decided a cone was a needed topping!
This RM went with a traditional cone!
Thursday Blessings. This wonderful couple (Martha and Ilyas) from Pakistan are the parents of Norman who got blessed the day before and are in-laws to their daughter in law who was blessed on Tuesday.
Time for the Thursday workshop. We forgot to take pictures, but one of the RMs took a picture and shared it with us. (My face when I speak - do NOT zoom in! Haha) I shared the Bill Porter story with them and talked about the challenges that Bill had and how he overcame them and applied them to some of the challenges that these RMs have when they come home from their missions.
John was my tech guy. The RM caught this picture of him and thought it was very sweet.
John is waiting for me on the bus! Making a funny face - haha! We were joining the RMs for a trip to the river for a dinner cruise! More food pics coming!
John smiles! I love the reflection of the temple annex and the palm trees on the bus!
Ready to go!
It's a sunny day in Thailand!
Bangkok Skyline!
The famous giant Asiatique Sky Ferris Wheel at Asiatique. This is where we got dropped of for the dinner cruise. It is a market full of shops along the river.
We had about 2 hours before we had to board the boat.
We discovered Jurassic World at Asiatique and thought the grandkids would love this!
This is inside the elevator! (Looking up)
More Dinosaurs!
Yes! I came to Thailand to take pictures of REAL Dinosaurs!!
The dinner cruise was 2 hours away and we were hungry! So we had to get some ice cream!
Hello!
Elders Farmer, Brady, and Davis waiting for the cruise, taking a rest from the heat and humidity!
Sisters Davis, Farmer, and Brady! Smile :). The Davis' are serving in Hong Kong and were in charge of the event. The Returned Missionary Return to the Temple Seminar is an opportunity for returned missionaries from countries where there are no temples to come to the temple, to be physically and spiritually fed (workshops and temple attendance), and to make new friends! Sister Farmer and her husband are serving as Humanitarian missionaries and are involved in all sorts of wonderful projects that help and serve the people of Thailand!
Picture time with our new friend Sai!
Waiting to board the boat with these beautiful ladies who work in the Country Office (the office that supports the LDS Foundation here in Thailand). They work on the 2nd floor near our mission office.
On the boat at last!
Time to eat!! Yum!!!!
View from the boat! Icon Siam - the gigantic high end mall all lit up at night!
Time for dessert! The green soup thing was yummy!
Another boat passes by!
Wat Arun is so beautiful! All lit up at night!
Another view!
The Rama VIII Bridge is beautiful against the night sky!
The Bradys!
Do you see the massive Asiatique Sky Ferris Wheel in the distance?
I took a video and grabbed a screenshot to post here!
It is so fun to hang out with these amazing young adults!
Tata and Airin (Pronounced Irene) work in the country office. Belle and Ratmaet are RMs.
In fact, Ratmaet served in our mission! How we love these young people - some we just met!
Another beautiful family from Pakistan got their blessings on Friday morning. This is Nisha, Abida, and Fiaz. This dear family joined the church a few years ago and shared the gospel with their parents, siblings, and extended family! Now their little branch has about 50-60 family members!
In line for lunch!
We came back to the office to type up blessings and I found this note on my desk from one of our sweet sister missionaries who is leaving soon! If I could figure out how to put a crying emoji on this I would!
Here is the group of 24 RMs from India, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and more! In the front row are the Senior Missionaries who led the event and helped with the event!
We have adopted a new granddaughter, Sister Belle!
Does this picture capture us?
I think so!
Elder and Sister Brady, General Authority Elder Johnson and Sister Johnson (Hong Kong),
Elder and Sister Davis (Hong Kong- led the RMRT event),
Elder and Sister Farmer (Humanitarian Thailand)
And like I said, it is now Saturday. We got up this morning and typed up the 3 blessings from yesterday and went downstairs to deliver them. While we were on the first floor, we got word that one more RM from India needed a blessing. He wanted a blessing so badly, but his name had not been in the system. There were some technical problems. He prayed and his prayers were answered when after weeks of trying to get his name in the system it finally happened. And so this afternoon, Elder Brady gave his 11th blessing this week to a wonderful young man named Sanjay. It was a pleasure to meet him!
And now we are putting on our PJs and calling it a week!
Thanks for reading this far! If you did, you win a Thai Ice Cream Sandwich when you come and visit us in Thailand! We love and miss you all!
Were the dinosaurs at Jurassic World statutes or mechanical… did they move?
ReplyDeleteI think some were statues and some moved! We didn't really go all the way inside. We were just checking it out! :)
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