BRADY MISSION TO THAILAND: Letter 76 - Happy Father's Day and RMRT Week

Dear friends and family,

Happy Father's Day (last Sunday) to John, my dad, my step-dad, our son, sons-in-laws, and any other Dad who might actually be reading this Blog! We hope you had a wonderful day celebrating fatherhood!

I'm a day late posting because this past week was BUSY!! We had another Returned Missionary Return to the Temple (RMRT) Seminar that started on Wednesday and finished up today - Saturday. On top of that we had a couple of blessings from FSY (For the Strength of Youth Conference) on Tuesday. That meant we had to try and fit most of our office work into Monday.

As always, I will let the pictures tell the story. So keep on reading if you want to know more about our week.

But first, we love you, we miss you, and we thank you for your love, support, prayers, and kind words!

Love,

Elder and Sister Brady (mom and dad, grandma and grandpa, John and Shelly, and so on)

Last Saturday, we headed down to Chonburi for a house inspection with Elder Cypers and Elder Winfree. They did an EXCELLENT job! We celebrated with McDonalds for lunch!

From Chonburi, we headed down to Rayong. We stopped for a restroom break and I had to take a picture of these cute fish! They are so random!

When we got to Rayong, we stopped at a Makro. I have been to a few Makros and they are sort of like a Costco, but not really! Well, this one really was like a Costco!!! And I was so excited! We walked up and down all of the isles! There were so many interesting foods and products. And there was even a sample! Just one - but I took it! Mozzarella cheese on a meat stick! I can't believe we have never stopped at this Makro!

Speaking of cheese, I thought these Oreo cookies looked interesting. They had a Cheese filling! We didn't buy any, but I will go back and get some if you think I should!

At the checkout, we took one more picture to remember this Costco like Makro! On the way out, I bought the most delicious 8 baht coconut soft serve ice cream! It was out of this world!

Sunday morning sunrise view from our hotel room in Rayong.

Breakfast at the buffet. We always start out with healthy fruits and veggies.

And then we move on to the important foods.

A Happy Father's Day call in our hotel room! It is so amazing to be able to connect with our children who live halfway around the world! Michelle and Audrey and all of the Vernons facetime with dad/grandpa. We also heard from Katrina, Tessa, Kevin, Rikki, and Emily and families.

Sunday evening zoom fireside with all of our favorite missionaries!

Grandpa getting a facetime call from his Granddog. Emily's corgi, Allen, can't figure grandpa out.

If I spelled Allen wrong, Emily won't correct me because I don't think she reads the blog! Haha!

Facetime call with my dad in Montana! They flipped the phone so I could see their beautiful view!

Dad and Mama Linda sitting on their front porch on Father's Day - Sunday evening - on the longest day of the year. It was Monday morning for me in Thailand! Happy Father's Day Dad.

Monday morning facetime with Kevin while he took a walk. Look at those blue skies!

Monday after work, we got foot massages. This was just what my aching feet needed!

Tuesday morning patriarchal blessing. This great young man is from the USA, but lives in India. He was in Thailand for FSY. We had the opportunity to give him his patriarchal blessing. His name is Paul.

This is Paul with his family. His older brother (standing next to Elder Brady) just got his call to serve a mission in Thailand! He will get here in November! Just before we leave!

This is Carter. He was such a nice young man. He is from the USA, but living in Cambodia. He was also here for FSY and got his patriarchal blessing.

While we were back in the office, Elder Belleza stopped in! Well, I guess he is Euwan now! He is from the Philippines and served here in Thailand. He was an amazing missionary here. We worked with him in Rayong when he served their as a branch president and he was an AP in Bangkok. He was at FSY working as a counselor to the youth! We miss him and were so happy he stopped by.

Wednesday afternoon! It is time for the RMRT! The amazing Sister Packard from Hong Kong is in charge of the event. We have mutual friends (the Garlocks) back in the USA! It's a small world!

Lunch looks delicious!

It was beyond scrumptious!

The dessert did not disappoint!

Tata is one of the Country Office employees who helps with the RMRT event! She is so beautiful and so funny! We have loved getting to know her!

We get to join the event as Senior Missionary Mentors, helpers, and patriarch. There are always a few RMs who have not had their blessings and Elder Brady is able to give them a blessing when they are in Thailand.

Elder Tai speaks to the RMs during the opening devotional.

Sister and Elder Tai are such great speakers. They inspired us all with their messages and stories. I love this candid photo of Sister Tai laughing! They brought so much love and shared it with everyone.

Elder Brady and Elder White got the memo to wear blue suits and brown shoes! I had to get a picture! Elder White was one of the first missionaries to serve in Thailand back in the 60s and he later came back with his wife in the 90s to serve as mission leaders. These two Elders spoke Monday evening. I spoke also. We talked about the temple and patriarchal blessings.

This is beautiful Pui. We knew her as Sister Pathoumma. She is from Lao but she served her mission here in Thailand. It was so fun to see here at the RMRT!!

More amazing food!! We ate too much at this event!

Thursday morning, we had to do a little office work, including a quick trip to the Post Office. These Lego like characters lined the tunnel to the subway!

Next stop was a morning trip to the Temple. It is a long 1 minute walk to the temple from our apartment! I love this view of the Christus. The sun and the shadows in the reflection pool were so beautiful!

Thursday afternoon, we had the opportunity to meet the lovely Prasanna from India (here for the RMRT seminar) and give her a patriarchal blessing. The experience was so beautiful.

After the blessing, it was time to board the bus to head to the river! Lovely Tata takes our selfie!

Here we are at the River. The group likes to arrive about an hour and a half early so there is time for the YSA to shop at the Asiatique Mall for souvenirs. Everyone is told to meet back in front of the giant Ferris wheel at 7pm!

This Ferris Wheel is ginormous! You cannot miss it!

We have been here a few times now. I think it is our sixth Dinner Cruise. So we have a little routine! First, we like to walk around for awhile and then sit and people watch.

Next, we like to get our 19 baht ice cream cones. Since dinner is not served until 8pm on the boat, we need to eat something to tide us over. Keep in mind, we normally eat around 5pm!

This is our favorite bread. Crustless white bread! Why can't we buy this back in the USA?

I thought this sign said: "Wink I love you!" As you know we don't drink wine, so we don't love wine, but we do love each other!

We came across this giant compass! You can see the arrows that point to the USA! It was North/Northwest to where we were standing!

I loved this beautiful view of the skyline and the river. I was a little sad about the litter floating on the river greens.

Asiatique Merry Go Round!

Phinnapha, Pui, and Tanny take a selfie with us at the riverfront!

Another beautiful view of the skyline!

Smile!

I am sure we will find out way back to the Ferris wheel.

Waiting in line.

Finally on the cruise. Eating dinner with the Tais and the Packards.

The beautiful skyline along the river.

I love the lights on the boats that pass us by.

Wat Arun.

Elder Brady moving and grooving on the dance floor. In case you are wondering how he is feeling these days, the answer is - good enough to dance! He is actually feeling back to normal and we are so grateful!