Letter 78 - Seven Blessings

Dear family and friends,

Another week has sped by! We celebrated John's birthday, attended church, worked in the mission office, had doctor's appointments, and had seven patriarchal blessings. 

Before I go on to the pictures, here are some fun biblical trivia about lucky number seven:

The number seven frequently symbolizes spiritual perfection, divine completeness, and totality across religious and spiritual traditions, most notably in Judeo-Christian theology. It is widely viewed as God’s signature of a finished, holy work.

In the Bible, the significance of seven is established at the very beginning of creation:

• The Sabbath: God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, establishing the template for the seven-day week and holy days of rest.
• Divine Wholeness: The number seven denotes that something is complete, lacking nothing, and fulfilled. 
• Book of Revelation: The number appears over 50 times in Revelation, structuring divine messages, judgments, and the fullness of the church. 
• Covenants: In ancient Hebrew, the word for seven (sheva) shares the same root as the word for swearing an oath (shaba). It represents a heavenly promise and a binding commitment between God and humanity.

And now - on to the pictures!

But first, we miss you and love you and 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)

PS - Spoiler Alert - but you have to scroll on through to the end if you want to know the surprise!

Last Saturday, while the USA was celebrating the 4th of July, and Thailand was enjoying another orindary Saturday, we were celebrating John's birthday! We did this by going to the movies and enjoying our usual giant tub of popcorn!! Half caramel/half butter! The move was called Disclosure Day. We enjoyed it :)!

I love this AI happy birthday to John from our friend Amanda! (Amanda and Lindy were flight attendants I worked with at SkyWest, back in my FA days! Cartoon Amanda is front right, Cartoon Lindy and her son Cartoon Kaden are on the left. Cartoon me is back right! 

And of course, you see the birthday boy! 

As we roamed around the mall waiting for the movie to start, we got a Facetime call from Rayong! They were Facetiming with Elder Bordon and wishing him a happy birthday and Elder Brady a happy birthday at the same time! It was fun to see everyone!

Throwback picture - taken last December when Elder Allred (on the right) arrived. Elders Borden, Brady, and Allred all have birthdays on the 4th of July! And they all served in Rayong that transfer! 

Happy Birthday Donuts! Mr. Donut provided the birthday cake donuts! These were John's favorite donut back when he served as a young missionary in the late 70s. They were also the only donut you could get back in the day here in Thailand!

Speaking of birthdays! This is a throwback - way back - of Michelle's birthday! Literal Birth Day! Michelle was born the day before John. This was probably his best early birthday present! 

Honestly, I don't expect anyone to get the Brady family humor, so this picture is here for my memory. (Remember, if you are reading this, you are basically reading my journal of our time in Thailand). Back to the humor. The Brady uncles love to use the wrong names for our children. And our children have gotten on board! So to interpret the above: Steve is wishing Michelle a happy birthday and Michelle is thanking her uncle Steve. Hahaha!

Elevator pic ... on our way up to ...

IKEA for 4th of July Meatballs! Yum! Tessa and family Facetimed while we were there! 

View from the IKEA cafe. 

John got this lovely birthday card from one of our new friends in India. Thank you Sister Powell. 

Another throwback from our time in the MTC! We arrived in the Provo MTC on January 13, 2025. That is 3 days shy of 18 months ago! Senior missionaries can choose to serve 12 months, 18 months, or 23 months. We are serving for 23 months, but if we had chosen 18 months, we would be on our way home!!

Another throwback! Spring of 2025!

Throwback to the Christmas Zone Conference. December 2025

Christmas time in Khon Kaen, Thailand!

China town throwback. Chinese New Year 2026!

Sunday, after church. Gemma, John, me, and Jessica smile! 

Sunday evening zoom fireside with the missionaries. Hello Sister Lundberg (leaving on the 16th!!)! 

Hello Sister Siri and Sister Allen! 

Monday walk home from the doctor's office. It is nice to see John on the path instead of in the hospital. It is hard to believe 3 months ago he had been in the hospital for 2 weeks! 

Tuesday afternoon patriarchal blessings with this darling couple from India, Jayaprakash and Jasmi. The received a Facetime call from their sweet children and we got to say hello. 

Jasmi and Jayaprakash from India. 

The birthday week continues with a card in the actual mail! That is always a big treat! Thank you John and Susan Standing for the birthday card for John! 

On Wednesday, we met Maqsooda and Boota from Pakistan. They joined the church a couple of years ago, after their sons did many years ago. 

They were here to be sealed as a family in the Bangkok temple. 

This mother and father did not speak English, so their son came with them to interpret and to help us get to know them and their story better. He joined the church about 15 years ago after his older brother had joined the church and served a mission. It was so special to meet this family. 

Guess who I ran into Thursday morning! Former Sister Pathoumma and Elder Kiphibane! It was so fun to see Pui and Ivan! They are both visiting Bangkok and wanted to say hello! Elder Brady was not able to see them because he was preparing to give a blessing. 

Thursday morning we met Sania. She is the daughter of the parents who received their blessings the day before. She is preparing to leave for a mission to Manchester, England. She joined the church 2 years ago with her parents and made great sacrifices to choose Jesus Christ over an arranged marriage. She said she knows she made the right choice and is thrilled to be able to serve a mission. 

Here is the entire family from Pakistan (minus the brothers' wives and children). They came to Bangkok to go to the temple together and to receive their patriarchal blessings. They were such an amazing family to meet. They invited us to lunch on Friday! 

Thursday evening, Ivan and Pui stopped by to say hello to Elder Brady! They could not stay long, because they had to catch a train! It was great to see them! We miss these great missionaries! 

Friday morning, we met Vanathi and Mridhula, mother and daughter, from Chennai, India. We loved hearing how Sister Vanathi was introduced to the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

This is the whole family. President Billy Isaac is a District President in India. He has such a sweet family. We loved meeting them all. 

Their young son got sleepy while blessings were being given and he finally fell asleep. 

Peacefully napping! He reminded us of our grandson, Sebastian. 

Sister Sania and her mother Maqsooda prepared this wonderful Pakistani meal for us! 

The food was absolutely delicious!

We have made so many wonderful friends from around the world!

This family was so kind to prepare this wonderful food! 

This room is on the 4th floor of the Annex where we live. This floor is set aside for Patron Housing. It is where members stay when they are attending the temple. There is a kitchen and eating area for people who want to prepare meals while they are in Bangkok. 

Elder Brady made everyone happy when he learned how to say delicious in Urdu. 

Mazaydaar! Delicious! 

This is our new friend, Kaden. We thought he was the child/grandchild of our friends from Pakistan. He sat down next to Elder Brady and talked to him all about Minecraft. Then he told us he wanted us to come home with him! He joined us for lunch. I was trying to find out what he called his grandma and grandpa and our hosts finally told us Kaden was from India and not related to our friends from Pakistan! Haha! 

It is Friday afternoon in Thailand! It has been a full and blessed week! 

Next week is transfers, departures (16 are leaving), and new arrivals (7 are arriving)! 

And then we will only have 3 full transfers left!!!!

I am crying!!! 

Oh, and the surprise??? Guess who is coming to Thailand??? 

Be sure to check in next week to find out! 

Just kidding! 

Katrina and family! 

We can't wait! 

They arrive the same day our new arrivals arrive! 

It will be a busy day!

Bye for now!