Dear loved ones,
Is it February already? We just had our last January in Thailand. We are on the downhill side of the mission now and time is flying! The highlight of this past week was transfers and new missionary arrivals, a concert, 2 patriarchal blessings, our new senior office missionaries arrival, doctor's appointments, a bug infestation, friends from back home visiting, and zone conference! Additionally, I had a little procedure to remove 3 benign cysts, other than the pain of recovery, stitches and a little allergic reaction I am fine. Oh, I am also not fine, because I came down with a terrible cold. Thank you for feeling bad for me. I highly dislike being sick!!!!
Enough rambling! Let's move on to the pictures! But first, please know how much we love and miss you all. We appreciate the emails, and notes, texts, and phone calls (via Facetime or Messenger!)!
With much love,
Elder and Sister Brady (mom and dad, grandpa and grandma, John and Shelly, and so on)!
PS - Happy Birthday to our granddaughter, Estela! We have another teenage grandchild! How is that even happening!
Last Friday, was transfer and new arrival day! The Senior Missionaries were in charge of breakfast! Next time, I will post some pictures of the yummy breakfast!! This is the mission home!
After breakfast, it is time for training. Elder Brady is training Elders Hunt and Elder Sae Wang. We couldn't connect the powerpoint on our laptop to the big screen, but since we only had two new Elders, we just used the laptop for our training. Elder Brady is telling them all about mission housing.
Our two new missionaries and their companions! Elders Muir, Hunt, Sae Wang, and Cypers!
Elder and Sister Brady smile with the Sisters Merritt, Siri, and Jenkins. It was so bright outside we had to close our eyes, count to 3, and open them for the picture!
This is the one shot where everyone had their eyes open! Haha!
Elders line up for a massage train before lunch!
Today was one of our Thai favorites! Yummy Kao Soi!
Elder Brady usually puts an old T-shirt on over his white shirt whenever we have Kao Soi. He is a little sad he forgot to do that this time. This stain took me several washings to get out (almost out)! The stain removers in Thailand are not like the ones I have back home!
Sister Brady and Sister Lundberg. We miss the sisters when they leave Bangkok. It is always so fun when we get to see them at transfer time!
Elder and Sister Brady with our Bangkok Sisters Brooks, Polsan, and Jenkins.
Walking to the subway, we had to get this shot of the motorcycles waiting for the train to pass by. This street is right behind the temple annex (where we live).
Saturday morning, time to take care of Sister Brady's feet!
A short walk, two stops on the subway, and a little longer walk takes us to the Cultural Center.
A beautiful full moon lit up the sky. My pictures never do it justice!
The beautiful grounds of the Thailand Cultural Center.
Look who is at the concert! Our good friend Jessica!
Ready to sit back and enjoy the music!
The choir performed again in the lobby after the concert.
This is Art (holding the flowers). He works at the annex in the country office. He helps to support both Thailand Missions. He is in the Bangkok voices and the reason we came to the concert! They are a terrific choir! Art went to BYU-Hawaii and sang in the concert choir with our daughter, Katrina!
We are so excited that Elder and Sister Call have finally arrived in Thailand. After church, Sunday, Sister Brady was giving a tour of the annex to the Calls and ran into our mission leaders. They gave them a tour of their home and we took a picture on the balcony.
Sunday afternoon, Elder Brady gave a blessing to Lydia. She is such a beautiful young woman and her story and spirit inspired us. Here we are with her mom and dad.
Elder Brady also gave a blessing to Jenson who will be leaving on a mission to the Philippines soon. Here we are with Jenson and his mother. She will be getting a blessing in another week or two.
Sunday evening the Bangkok Sisters called us with a bug infestation emergency!
Bugs were everywhere!!
The Bangkok Sisters stopped by the office on their Pday! All the Senior Office missionaries pose for a photo! Those sweet Bangkok Sisters went to Cinnabon and brought us back a cinnamon roll! It made our day! And it was our dinner! And I am mad I did not take a picture of the yumminess!
Monday afternoon, Sister Brady walked with the Calls to the hospital so they could get set up with doctors, etc. for their 2 year mission here. Plus Sister Brady had an appointment herself. We found these Thai fellows working on some graffiti art!
Sister Brady had a little benign cyst removed from her arm. All is well. Except that Sister Brady felt a cold coming on!
Tuesday morning, Elder and Sister Brady wait in the lobby for the sisters to come and get us. In most of the missionary condos we cannot go to their rooms since the elevators need a key card. So we let them know we have arrived and they come and get us. We are here this morning to see the bug mess! And bugs were everywhere! The sisters have had to stay elsewhere since the infestation was so bad.
Tuesday afternoon, we ate pepper lunch with our good friends who are visiting from the USA!
Who are those good friends you ask? The Sessions! Tim and Karen Sessions are visiting from Washington State. Karen was my good friend back in Oregon. I met her my Senior year in High School and we have been friends ever since! We roomed together at BYU Provo for a couple of months. And she was part of the Elder and Sister Brady love story! She helped fix us up! The first 7 dates Elder and Sister Brady went on were with Karen! Hahaha!
Walking back to our apartment at the annex we notice window washers on
The Address Condo next door!
Here is a closer look!
The Sessions and Elder Brady head into the parking level of the annex, while Sister Brady takes pictures of window washers and them! Haha!
Next stop - Terminal 21 Mall!
Picture time in front of the Golden Gate Bridge on the San Francisco level of the mall!
Karen and Sister Brady! We both have our eyes open! Score!
Elder and Sister Brady pause for a photo on our way to the Subway. We see lots of decorations around town for the Chinese New Year celebrations!
Wednesday the Bradys and The Sessions meet up at the temple for another day of sight seeing.
First stop was at Lumpini Park where we enjoyed seeing the Water Monitors (Thai Dragons).
This fellow decided to take a little walk on the land!
Elder and Sister Brady.
Sister Brady and Karen.
Elder Brady takes a break to exercise.
Tim and Karen enjoy the view.
Central Park Mall had beautiful Chinese New Year Decorations.
The 2nd floor walkway where people stop for a great photo op.
We stopped for the photo op of course!
A beautiful view of Lumpini park from the Central Park Rooftop Gardens.
A beautiful Starburst Flower!
Another gorgeous view of Lumpini park and the Bangkok Skyline! I think I have taken this picture about 5 times now! I just can't cant!!
Wednesday afternoon, we came back to the office to find this great surprise! A box of donuts for the Senior office missionaries from our good friend, Ice, who works in the country office! I love the name of this donut shop!!
And I love the box the donuts come in! "I am CHUBBY but I am happy!" Come on! Who doesn't love this box?? This is Thailand and I love it!
There were so many amazing donuts! Most were eaten before I remembered to take a picture!
Thursday morning,Sister Brady took a walk to the market to pick up fruit for our Friday morning breakfast. This is one of the fruit stands that we love to go to!
The fruit is fresh, delicious, and all cut up for you, ready to eat!
And Taco Bell for lunch!
Elder Brady shoots some hoops with the missionaries!
He shoots! He scores!
Sister Brady goes back to the hospital on Thursday afternoon to see how she is healing She is healing well. While, Sister Brady waits at the pharmacy, she sees this mother and daughter doing a photo shoot. The little girl kept instructing her mother on how to take the picture just right by framing her perfectly in the window frames! It was very entertaining!
Friday morning, Elder Brady and Sister Brady got up at 6am to make pancakes for zone conference!
The Howards and Calls also made pancakes downstairs in the kitchen.
The cart is loaded up with Pancakes and fruit to roll downstairs!
After we dropped the food off, we sat in the lobby and facetime called our granddaughter to wish her a happy birthday! I love technology and that we can connect with family on the other side of the world! That is such a blessing for us! I brought the phone in and our missionaries sang Happy Birthday to Estela! That was so fun! I wish I had grabbed a picture of that!
Sister Brady ran into Sister Patti on her way to the temple! It was Patti's first time going to the Bangkok Temple, so Sister Brady walked over with her and gave her a little tour! Let's just say this encounter was a tender mercy!
After lunch, Elder Brady was invited to speak to the missionaries.
He shared some of his experiences of preparing for patriarchal blessings. The missionaries had lots of questions afterwards.
After zone conference, the missionaries gathered in the atrium between the temple and the annex to take a group picture! Elders Cypers, Westcott, Casinillo, Hutchoen, and Muir smile for a photo!
Missionaries enjoying some time to visit.
Sisters Brooks, Polsan, Jenkins, and Brady!
Bangkok Zone!
Bangkok Zone again!
Thanks for reading!
We love and miss you!
What great photos! Sorry to hear about your surgery and cold. We've both had/have got the crud here too, just like everyone else. So glad you're having such a wonderful time with all your busy-ness. You two are such a blessing, and I mean that several ways, to so many people. God bless you and all of us wonderful senior missionaries worldwide.
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