A Thai Birthday/Christmas

    

     It's been a really fun past few days here in Thailand. I got to Skype my family, which was lots of fun, and what made it even better is that it was at my Grandparent's house, and I got to talk to my extended family as well.  One of the things I was missing most about Christmas is tasting my Grandma's peanut brittle. And guess what I got in the mail from my awesome Grandma and Grandpa Brinkerhoff? That's right, peanut brittle and a ton of other candy.

     I got to run for like 18 minutes last week, and it felt amazing to be running again, but the problem is that my endurance is pretty much gone, and I was wiped out at the end. 

     There's been a mice problem at our church, and some of the members put out sticky traps. We caught two mice, and let's just say they met a horrible fate.

     One of the church members offered me a snack and I ate it, thinking it was dried banana chips. It didn't taste that good, and later I found out it was dried chicken skin. Yum. 

A Birthday in Thailand

   

I turned 19 last Friday, and I had a fun birthday. Elder Cecil and I went to visit a church member who owned a street food restaurant, and Elder Cecil told her that it was my birthday. She smiled and made us Thai snow cones for free. Another woman there, who was also a member, gave me a santa ornament and gave us a ton of cookies.  Some of the members, also gave me some gifts, like birthday sunglasses. Another member gave me a hat that said "Classy Snob." She knew what classy meant, but not what snob meant. 

     The Larsons also took us to dinner at an American themed burger joint, and my mom sent me some sweet gifts. One of which was a little lego toy. I used to get legos all the time as a kid, and I happily built it that night, remembering the good times I had building legos as a kid. My mom knows how to give the best gifts.

     

That night, the mission president gave me a birthday call. At first I thought I was in huge trouble, usually missionaries don't get phone calls from the President himself. 

Christmas in Thailand

     Despite the fact that nobody really celebrates Christmas here, it was a memorable Christmas. Lots of church members, and us missionaries went Caroling to numerous homes, every night for the last few days. It was loads of fun.

     We had a Christmas party as a church as well. For a congregation of about 40-50, they threw a really fun party. We had an awesome Nativity scene, and the people who created the nativity set are amazing artists. Afterwards, we had dinner and a talent show. We performed a song, others sang, and others danced. But my all time favorite performance was Pawbresai:  picture a really old Thai man who is about five feet tall, and talks quietly. Well, he decided to dance and sing for us. He even had an outfit picked out too, and he had sunglasses and a really sweet fedora on. He danced for a few minutes, and then we decided to be his backup dancers. Then he sang for a solid six minutes, and we kind of had to pull him off the stage. 

     We had an hour of Church, and then we got to spend Christmas at the Larsons'. I am very glad I am able to serve with them, they spoil us. We had a really good Christmas snacks, and I opened the gifts that my family sent me. We then visited numerous Church members and wished them a Merry Christmas. Later we went to their apartment and played some fun games, ate American food that Sister Larson prepared for us, and had a great time. 

     I had an awesome Christmas. Despite not many people celebrating it, it was fun to see all the church members come together. I had so much fun with them. 

The End of Surin?

     Transfers are this week, and there's a good chance that I will get transferred out. I could be on the other side of Thailand or in Bangkok, or maybe I will stay in Surin. I guess I will see what happens. 

I Love you all,

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,

-Elder Brinkerhoff ​

Surrounded by Elephants

     Sa wat dii,

     It's been an eventful week, there were two festivals that went on, and that was fun. 

     Roi ga tong is a Buddhist festival where people make little lantern boats out of plants, and put it in a pond to "float their sins away." Also they do floating lanterns in the sky like "Tangled," but in our town it's illegal due to too many fires it starts. I spent about an hour making my boat, and stick pamphlets of Jesus around it. We went to a large pond where hundreds showed up to float their sins away. The pond was disgusting and very dirty. I saw some children and other people swimming in it, which I thought was weird. Then I noticed that they grab the boats, basically rip them to shreds, looking for money. Some people stick money in their boats, which motivates others to get in the water. That was really annoying, but I still lit a candle in my little boat, and "floated my sins away." I hope my Jesus pamphlets will make them stay away from my boat.

     We had transfers this week.  Elder Cecil and I stayed together, but Elder Bjarnson got transferred. Going to miss the heck out of him. We got Elder Shipp in our house, he's a redhead from Lehi, Utah.

     

In Surin during our district meetings, the eight of us have an annual "district photo" where we stack chairs to indicate how many transfers we have left. I have 15 left, so I am near the ceiling and almost died to getting up there.

     Also, we have to replace our daily planners every transfer, and Elder Cecil showed me how to make a sweet planner cover. Indianapolis Temple all the way.

     Bad Timing: Last week Elder Cecil and I visited a family, and they recently purchased three massive pigs, probably weighing 300 or more pounds. Well, the other day we visited them again, and there was one pig left. When I looked over on the porch, the whole family was there working, and there were chunks of pork all over the porch, and the head and small bags of blood were in the corner. There was one last pig in the pig pen, and it knows it's fate.

The Elephant Parade

     They don't call Surin "The Elephant City" for nothing. Last weekend was their annual Elephant festival. We decided to invite people at that festival if they wanted to learn about Christ, while watching the festival. There were tables lined up the entire street, loaded with food for the elephants. Then about 80 or more elephants marched down the street and ate the food. Then after, people could ride the elephants. All of us missionaries got on the streets, and elephants were all around me. At one point I was completely surrounded by elephants. The next day was the elephant show, at a huge stadium, but we couldn't go to that. Bummer.

Set me free to find my calling

     I have had a few rough patches this week, mainly with the language. It was hard, but I knew that I would endure many trials on my mission.  I watched a BYU vocal point video called "Homeward Bound." Watch it, it's amazing.  Some of the lyrics say, "Set me free to find my calling."  Those lyrics really stuck with me. I have been "set free" from America, school, sports, etc. to serve the people of Thailand.  Matthew 10:39 says: He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life shall find it. 

Homeward Bound - Vocal Point

     Still serving, still working on my calling.

     Have a good week,

     Elder Brinkerhoff

The Weather Isn't Frightful, But Delightful!

     While many of you are in frightful weather, somehow the weather here in Thailand is very delightful. The last few weeks it's been like Florida/California weather! I'm dreading hot season in a few months though.

     We went to visit Brother Mnoon, the mortician, and while we were waiting outside of the front desk window, Elder Cecil noticed a small calendar with a racy photo of a woman on it. He pulled out one of his small Jesus pamphlets, and put a paper clip over the photo. Genius.

Shoutout to my awesome mom who sent me awesome bike lights.

     Elder Cecil and I got to do a switch-off with the Elders in Burriram for a day. It was really fun, and Burriram was a lot bigger than Surin. Elder O (he has a long last name) was my companion for the day, and we got to visit a few people. We visited one member, who lived in poor living conditions. But when I walked into her small house (it was more like a basement), I looked on the wall and it was covered in church photos: Biblical and Book of Mormon paintings, photos of temples, and other works of art. It was
amazing, and in the center of all that was a large
photo of Christ. Amazing. They also played basketball with Elder Cecil and me. We recruited some Thai teenagers to play with us. It was fun. 

     Last Sunday we woke up to having two sparrows in our house. That was an adventure.

     Last Sunday, us four elders and the Larsons went and visited a few church members who aren't able to attend church. We sang a few Christmas songs and church hymns to them, and it was amazing to see them light up. 

     That basically sums up the week! Also, the Larsons sent me photos they have taken of me riding elephants.

     I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas. I don't remember much of what I got for Christmas in the past, but I do remember the great feelings of Christmas. One of the Christmas memories I am most fond of was when I was a kid in Utah, and when my family would drive to our grandparent's house for Christmas eve. It was always quiet and peaceful out, the snow falling, and Christmas lights glowing at nearly every house. I miss that. 

     Remember Christ and his sacrifice for us. As I have been here on this mission, my appreciation for Christ and how he sacrificed his life for us means a lot more to me. I hope you can have a greater appreciation for that as well.

     Have yourself a Merry Christmas,

     Yours truly,

     Elder Brinkerhoff

Riding Elephants Is Exhausting

     

     We rode elephants again on our P-day, and this time we rode the elephants and took a dip in the disgusting pond. I was submerged to almost my neck in water at one point, and almost fell off the elephant that was almost completely submerged, and a large chunk of elephant poop floated literally two feet in front of me. Thank heavens it didn't hit me. Hours after, all of us were super exhausted.

     We had two missionaries from another town come and join us for the day to supervise us. During language study one of the missionaries wanted to make me read in Thai. Every mistake I made, I had to do 5 pushups. It's a good idea. 

     Elder Cecil was talking to a woman on the street, and I was trying to follow what she was saying but I couldn't fully grasp what she was saying. I spaced out for a minute, and then she looked at me and said, "Beautiful?" I stood there and said, "Very Beautiful!!" in Thai. Later on I found out that she was talking about her 16-year-old daughter that she wanted me to marry. So I just called her daughter beautiful, and no I'm not going to marry her. 

      There's a member in our branch who is paralyzed from the legs down, and he can't make it to church. He lives alone and in very poor conditions, but he is a happy man. He uses this old, run down wheelchair. Elder and Sister Larson, Elder Cecil, and I went to his house one day, and drove him to a store to surprise him with a new wheelchair. His smile: Priceless. 

     Last Sunday we took a bus to Roi Et, and had a stake conference (where church congregations come together for a meeting). I got to play for the choir for a musical number, and it went alright. 

     While we were in Roi Et, I met a church member who served a mission in New York. Then I realized something: In the summer of 2015, a bunch of the guys in my church went to New York to visit some church sites, and when we were at one site, two sister missionaries were our tour guides, and one of them was from Thailand. This world is too small. Now this time I am the missionary and she is not. I told her that, and she thought about it for a minute, and she said she remembers our group that came.  

     On Monday, the missionaries in our area got together to have a Christmas party. We started off watching, "It's a Wonderful Life," had a white elephant gift exchange (I got a backscratcher and candy), and had a Christmas lunch. During lunch we did the mannequin challenge, so keep an eye out for that video on Facebook. At the end we had a Christmas devotional, and last minute I was asked to play 10 Christmas songs on the spot. Somehow I pulled all of those songs off, despite not practicing at all. It was a lot of fun, and we all had a good time. We drove home with the Larsons and stopped at a 7/11, and it was infested with bugs. Completely infested. 

     Fun week and a half. Fun adventures.

     Tis the Season to give service,

     "Service with a smile!" 

             -Po's father from Kung Fu Panda

     Have a great week,

     Elder Brinkerhoff

Service, Slams and a Baptism

 

     Whoa, it's December already? Time flies when you are busy.

     Right after I sent my last email, the four of us elders went to eat lunch. And right when we walked into the street food place, all of the 11-14 year-old school girls were staring at us. Maybe it was because of Elder Shipp's fiery red hair?

     Later that day we went to the huge market near the Cambodian border and bought some cool stuff. I bought more peacock fabric to make some sweet ties. Now I just need to find someone to make them...

     The local hospital doesn't hand out water to people, so the Larsons and the four of us spent a few hours handing out bottled water to patients and their families. It was great to see people so happy to just receive some water. They loved it. And it's a good thing to show that missionaries aren't so scary (some people are terrified of us). Remember to do some service this Christmas season, honestly it made all of us feel so good doing that. 

     We had our first baptism the other day. Her name is Sister Lie, and she is amazing. She was a friend of a church member, and when Elder Cecil and I were serving her church member friend she was interested in learning more. She has this deep desire to learn about the church, and she reads the Book of Mormon a few hours a night. She quit drinking coffee in a few weeks, and was willing to be baptized. 

     A few weeks ago, Elder Cecil arrived at the Church about 20 minutes before church began. We found Sister Lie sweeping the church, along with a few other church members. I'm glad that we got the opportunity to teach her and bring her closer to Christ. 

     There's a tradition that goes around in the Thailand mission when a baptism happens. The missionaries (Tim Tam) "slam," by buying a package of chocolate covered wafer cookies

(Tim Tams), biting into two corners, and drinking milk through the cookie. So last night the four of us got to Slam. 

   

      I get to ride elephants again today!  

Have a fantastic week,

Elder Brinkerhoff