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Thank you to MABEL for our special Santa Hats.

Journey to Bethlehem at the Bangkok North Stake.  It was truly amazing. We heard over a 1000 people showed up.  No pictures were allowed inside the "journey".  Outside there was food, entertainment and many Bethlehem citizens.



 

 The Elders had us over for dinner tonight!! They really are a sharp group, and we love each one.  The welcomed us into their home with suit jackets on, very classy!  The dinner was wonderful and we topped it off  with a tim tam slam.

Elder's Grange, Smith, Leininger, Wright, Webb, Cooper and Lingard.

 Elder Grange with Brother Chut Mon Khon, aka Superman.  Brother Grange loves to buy moo ping and sticky rice from his street cart right in front of the church!

 The Relief Society Presidency.

Sister Gop, Sister Grange and Sister Yui.

 

The best part...welcoming new missionaries from the Philippine MTC.

 

 

President and Sister Johnson were delayed in traffic, so I got to welcome them with the tradition lei greeting as they enter the service center/TBM office.

 Love them already!

The end, and we lived happily ever after.

 

 

FRIENDS

I really hope that this video comes through!  This is how we sing "Called to Serve" in the

Thailand Bangkok Mission.  Led by the enthusiastic Elder Davenport.

Transfer meeting 12 Nov 2015

 

 

Our friend Noi.  She works in the Service Center.  Love Her! 

And our young friend, Beth, our "luug sow" (that means daughter).  She just received her mission call to Australia Brisbane!

On my walk home I caught Elder Smith doing a little work along the way.  He has been in country for 6 weeks and is doing so well! 

Christmas Explosion!  The AP's and Office Elders went a little crazy!  I refuse to get in the spirit until we have Thanksgiving, which is totally ignored here in Thailand!

 3 Elders at my desk, writing a tender mercy for me, see the brownies in the jar on the left.  When I bake cookies or brownies they need to share a blessing or tender mercy in their life on a sticky note before they can get one.  Elder's Lingard, Smith and Webb.

Sister Blaylock, Sister Peck and Sister Herrmann.  Sister's Peck and Herrmann finished their mission the next day. 

We welcomed 6 new missionaries, 5 sisters and 1 Elder. 

Sister's Htwe (Myanmar), Kwak (Canada), Smith, Parker, Black (USA), Sister and President Johnson, Elder's Blad (USA), AP's Cooper and Wright

 

One of our favorites!  Sister Alley at transfer meeting.  She returned to Spokane, WA the next day.

Love her and will miss her!  She was an awesome, totally dedicated missionary!

This is Sausitorn, she translates for me during 3 hour at church.  She is a wonderful lady and I absolutely could not get by with out her. She speaks English very well.  I love her, but do not like pictures with her........I look like an amazon woman next to her and every other Thai woman!

 Beth and me at church.  I had to counter the horrible picture she posted of me on facebook.  She is not my translator, thought she easily could.  She has interned at the service center for the last 3 months.  She calls me her "maa"  That means mom.  Love her!

This is Elder Grange with a girl from the English class that I can not remember her name, and Pui, who we work with in the service center.  Pui is a computer whiz, I go to her for all my computer problems, which are many!  She is kind and patient!  Thai's like to do the peace sign in pictures.
Love Them!  Isn't this a great picture of Elder Grange!!

MONKEYING AROUND

We went to Lopburi last Friday afternoon with President and Sister Johnson.  Lopburi is also called Monkey City.  There are certain portions of the city that monkeys just run wild.  On Saturday we went to one area that are some old ruins that they have taken over, along with some abandoned buildings that are around it.  They are pretty well  behaved, and pretty much ignore you unless you have food.  We bought a bag of peanuts and they readily came to us, climbed up and on top.  It was really pretty cool!  We then drove to Ayuthaya the next day and saw lots of ruins from the mid 1600's.  That was interesting, but I gotta say, I loved the monkeys!!

If you look close you can see that monkeys are all around this building.

They love unfrozen otter pops!It was like being in the monkey cage at the zoo.

 

And a random Elephant Ride we saw at a park in Ayuthaya.

RIVER KWAE, KHON KAEN, CHIANG MAI AND A FEW OTHER THINGS.

This is the first time we have been in casual clothes since we have been here.  Feels weird!  It was our Preparation Day.  We drove to Kanchanaburi with President and Sister Johnson for a day  trip of sights.

This is a recreation of a picture that Elder Grange took 43 years ago at the Bridge on the river Kwae.

These cute little girls were dancing and singing for money (for their education) while their father strummed away.  The big sister below reminded me of  a little Thai Mabel.  She could really dance and was enjoying her performance.

 

We had lunch at a wonderful Thai (of course) restaurant down by the river.  It was really good, this is my pineapple fried rice and below is Elder Grange's penang curry, he said it was the best he has had in Thailand so far.

 

 Last week we went on the mission tour with President and Sister Johnson and also Elder and Sister Funk.  Our main job was to get about 100 new phones rolled out, downloaded with the right apps and then transferring the info on the old sim card to the new sim card in the new phones.  Below is the chapel in Chiang Mai.  We loved Chiang Mai.  It is green and a little less hot...I can't get myself to say cooler.  It is just not cool anywhere!

 

 A tuk-tuk ride to the umbrella factory, a wood factory with small souvenirs and beautiful furniture.  We bought a round coffee table that has some awesome carving going on in the center.  We will have it shipped home.  Daniel.............will you pick it up for us in about 3 months?

                                                 This is the dog at the umbrella factory.

                                                                  And the cat.

 

 

       Elder Grange talked up all the Thai women working there, this one has worked here for 30 years!

 

 

 Our tuk-tuk and driver.  I forget his name, he took us all over and then waited while we shopped and looked around.

The night market outside our hotel.

Leaving Chiang Mai, a familiar face, Sawatdii -ing us.

Our first visitor!  We loved seeing Gene, Elder Grange was super happy that his wife sent enough wintergreen lifesavers to last until the end of our mission.  We are so lucky!

Sorry this is out of order, but I do the best I can!  This is in Kanchanaburi, a super interesting museum about how the Japanese built the railroad on the river Kwai using prisoners of war during World War II and other Thai, Burmese, Malaysians.....  Over 100,000 lost their lives building this.