A Thai Thanksgiving

Missing Buddy

     Hello from the other side (of the world)!

     I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and a "Happy" Black Friday. I told one of the church members about black Friday and she said in English, "I want to fight people over makeup and other stuff!" I guess I didn't explain it too well.

     Surprisingly, nothing too crazy happened this week. It's kind of been the usual for us, we teach people, serve people, teach English class, and teenage school girls giggle every time us Elders walk past them because we are white and supposedly handsome. They seriously look at us like we are Hollywood stars. Weird...

     We were teaching English class one night, and we were going to play a game. After we started, a 7-year-old boy ran up to the board and wrote "No Mercy" on the board.  I'm not sure if I should be scared or not. 

     Elder Cecil and I went to go serve a church member, and when we were about to leave it was POURING rain. We had to leave quickly to make it to the church on time, and in about three minutes of biking in the rain, I got completely soaked. Completely. It's a good prep for the rainy season I guess.

The Seasons in Thailand:

"Cold" Season: November-February, It doesn't get that much colder honestly.

Hot Season: March-June, Where it is extremely hot and humid. I'm dreading that.

Rainy Season: July-October, where I will probably be soaked all the time.

     We often go and visit a man in our ward who doesn't come to church very often. He speaks a little English and loves to mess with the missionaries, especially the ones that don't know Thai very well. Last week he put his hand on my knee and asked in English "Will you Marry me?" He's a sarcastic guy.

     I have developed a hobby of killing flies. There's a lot of them at the street food restaurant we go to, and I usually grab a newspaper and go on a killing spree. The couple that run the restaurant love it when I get into it. I swear I killed about 50 flies one time. One time I didn't feel like killing any flies, and when I was walking out my comp told me that the wife said, "You didn't kill any flies today!"

     When Elder Cecil and I bike to the church, Elder Cecil grabs the end of a truck and rides it down the street to the church. He tries to convince me to do it but I tell him that I choose life. The other day he learned his lesson. He now has some skid marks and a huge open wound on his hand. He also got some bike damage. He told me he is still going to ride trucks. 

     On Thanksgiving, The Larsons took us Elders to an American restaurant for Burgers and Fries. They are honestly the best. Last night during Sunday dinner they also made us potatoes with gravy, chicken, and brownies. One more Thanksgiving left in Thailand!

     I gave a talk in church last Sunday, all in Thai. Elder Cecil helped me with writing it, but it somehow went well. Luckily Nobody was laughing at my Thai and the members said they understood. 

     Elder Cecil and I met a woman who knew a few church members a few weeks ago. Sadly, her husband died recently and wanted to meet us.  She wanted to know where her husband was now. Elder Cecil taught her the Plan of Salvation. It's great to know where we come from, and where we are going.

     Have a good week.  Christmas season can officially begin!

Elder Brinkerhoff

Fun in Udon

     I have now been in Thailand for a full month, and I have been on my mission for three months now. It's crazy to think about!

     After I sent my last email, the elders in my house and I biked about 30 minutes out of town to a small silk village, and it was super cool. There were about 15 shops lined up, and they sold numerous silk products and other souvenirs to tourists. We also saw some village women and we watched them do their work making silk. Also, there was a group of about 15 teenage school girls eating ice cream, and when us missionaries walked out of a small shop, about a third of them pulled out their phones and took pictures of us. If I had noticed about three seconds earlier I would have made one of my disturbing facial expressions to them right when they took photos. On the bike ride home it rained hard, and it was still sunny. It was really cool, to be biking in the countryside in the rain and in the sunlight. 

     Later that night the Larsons threw a Halloween Party for the missionaries and for YSAs (people around our age). We played a bunch of games, and I barely lost to my companion in a "doughnut on a string eating" contest. 

     They sell ice cream on a bun here in Thailand. I had to try it. It was delicious.

     The other day Elder Cecil visited the Mortician again. He has come back to church and we wanted to see how he was doing. Right before entering, we saw another covered dead body on a stretcher outside his office. No big deal. Then when we walked in, I made the mistake of looking at the work table, where an uncovered dead body was being worked on by the man's coworker.   

     Last Thursday all the missionaries in my town Traveled to Udon for a Mission Tour Conference (9 hour bus ride!!), where the Mission President of Thailand, and a church leader who supervises the Asia area came to talk to us. There was about 60 missionaries that traveled there. I performed my super hard piano piece while the other sister missionary played the violin in front of everyone. Somehow I nailed that piano piece perfectly. I later met so many other cool missionaries, one of which played volleyball for Ohio State, and has been to West Lafayette a bunch of times.

     I learned a lot that conference, and had a good time. We stayed there for a few days, and had loads of fun. Elder Cecil and I had to stay an extra day because Elder Cecil needed to receive extra training, and that night we had about 5 hours of free time. So us and about 20 other missionaries went to a local mall, ate pizza, and explored the mall a bit. I had no idea that they had Sizzlers in Thailand. Also they have Dairy Queen all over Thailand. 

     Udon, is also one of the areas that my mom served in when she served in her mission. And guess what? I got to meet all three of the women my mom helped convert! They showed me pictures of my mom and them, and they all were super excited to meet me. Right before I left the MTC, I told my teacher who is the daughter of one of the women my mom taught, that I would meet her. 

     I took a bunch of pictures with those three. Also one of them showed a photo of my mom and her in front of the church building, and we tried to "recreate" that photo. 

     











     
     
     I forgot to mention, that I get to do something that I have always wanted to do in Thailand today: Ride an elephant!  They don't call Surin "Elephant City" for nothing! 

     Have a great week,

Elder Brinkerhoff​

     Happy Halloween from Thailand!  Nobody celebrates Halloween here.   Except for us. The senior missionaries (they are the best) are throwing a Halloween Party for us and the ward members tonight. 

Highlights from this week:

     One night when we were riding back to our house, we were about to cross a small bridge that was over a small canal, but it was blocked. A man was walking his baby elephant across it.  That's not something you see every day!

   

 After I sent my last email, the four of us missionaries and the Larsons (the senior missionary couple) crammed into their car and drove an hour to some waterfalls. We got lost at one point since the directions were awful, but we found a really sweet glassy lake in the middle of nowhere, and got some sweet pictures. Then after about an hour of searching we found the "waterfalls." They were very small, but it was really cool to see. I also saw a worm about a foot long while walking to the falls.  

     I bought a basketball so that the four of us missionaries could play basketball during exercise time in the morning: which means I could run! When we got there the next morning, we got on the basketball courts, and I saw a massive paved road, where numerous runners/walkers/bikers were enjoying it. And guess what? I can't run on it. Mission rules state that I have to be within sight and sound of my companion. Oh well. I just ran around the three big basketball courts, and it wasn't that bad. I'm just glad I get to run. First time I have run in a month, and I was winded after 30 minutes. 

     The other day, Elder Cecil and I were eating at an outdoor restaurant. The food was amazing as always, but there were flies all around us, and it was getting really annoying. Elder Cecil said he had enough, and killed six flies in the next five minutes. After that it seems like all those flies were either dead or flew away in fear. A few days later at the same restaurant, I finished my dinner early, and I started killing some flies, and ended up killing 14. 

     

Tuk Tuk

Elder Cecil and I took a Tuk Tuk out in the countryside to teach a member, who hasn't been to church in a while. It was really cool to see, and it reminded me a lot of Battleground, Indiana, how it was in the open, and was really quiet. 

     Every morning, I eat two scrambled eggs for breakfast. One day, I was running out of eggs, so my companion and I biked over to the egg stand, and I bought 80 eggs for about six dollars. I'm set for the next month! The scariest part was trying to bike home, with two bags of eggs on each handlebar. Luckily none broke. 

     Since I play piano, I get to play every Sunday in church. Also, in a few weeks for the 50th anniversary cultural celebration, I got assigned to play seven piano pieces for that. My parents would be proud. And guess what? I get to go to Udon on Thursday for a mission tour conference (my mom served there!), so I get to accompany a sister missionary on the piano while she plays violin. It is SUPER hard, and I have three more days to learn it.  Challenge accepted.

Spiritual thought of the week:

     I started not feeling very well one day, and I was achy and fatigued. While we were teaching a recent convert and her friends at a restaurant, it rained outside. A lot. Luckily the rain stopped, and we biked home to get a few things. When we got home, it rained hard again, and I was still feeling sick and fatigued, and feeling a little down. Then my companion mentioned how it was neat how we didn't get soaked while being outside, and how that was a hidden blessing.  I then remembered reading a church book "True to the Faith" and on the subject of gratitude, it says that we should be more grateful in our lives. I was fine the next day, and now I feel great. Then I remembered that I am physically and worthily able to serve a mission, and have so many blessings in my life. Also, my companion had a frustrating day the other day, because he felt like we wasted a day due to teaching very few lessons to people. A few days later at church four people who haven't been to church in a few months showed up. 

     If you ever are feeling down on yourself, have gratitude. I see many people here in Surin living in poor conditions, yet they are grateful. I thank Heavenly Father every day that I am a missionary, and that I am able to serve the people of Thailand, and they continue to help and bless me too. 

     Have a fantastic day, and be grateful!

Elder Brinkerhoff