Refiner's Fire

     

 

     This week had a lot of ups and downs, but it's been pretty good.  We had to go to downtown Bangkok for interviews with our mission President, and I was super surprised to see so many white people there. I think I have been in Thailand too long already. Also turns out our area is not considered Bangkok. The area next to us is considered Bangkok, but not Samutprakan.

     The members are still so awesome. One morning Elder Headlee and I met with an older woman who hadn't been to church in a while. When we got to her neighborhood, she was buying food to make for us. We had to go to be interviewed in Bangkok, so we didn't have time to give her a lesson. She felt bad. After English class later that day, she made us a big dinner. I was sick, tired, and stressed out, and it was so great to have a member just simply make a meal for us. Also, after we taught a lesson to one investigator, one of the members that was teaching with us bought us some fried bananas and some Thai Crepes. Another member made Elder Headlee and I ties.

     

     It's mango sticky rice season! It's this amazing dessert where Thai people make sticky rice and flavor it with mango, and then put coconut syrup on top of it, with a side of fresh mango. The members serve it to us often, and I am probably going to gain some pounds just by eating this amazing stuff.

     While teaching a recent convert outside of his house, a man walked up to us and asked if we wanted to buy something. A minute later another man walked by with a baby elephant next to him. We were in the middle of a neighborhood...

     Church members in Thailand have a meal together after church, which is the best. They make amazing food. The other day one member made a delish mango macaroni dish, and I asked, "What is this called?" One member replied, "Macaroni!" 

     You know how missionaries tell stories of having large spider encounters? Well that happened the other night. Elder Headlee was going into the bathroom and a spider about the size of my hand was in the sink. After careful planning, I jabbed a mop in the sink and Elder Headlee frantically sprayed the sink with roach killer. Success. 

     While enduring lots of trials in our area, Elder Headlee and I were waiting for the bus, feeling a little down. While waiting, a woman came up to us and asked us about English class, and asked if we could teach her how to pray. That was evidence that the Lord was blessing us through some of our tough times. 

     Despite it being a pretty good week, there were lots of trials that happened with Elder Headlee and I. I caught a cold and was sick for a few days, I got a little frustrated with reading Thai; our best investigator decided not to learn about Christianity due to his parents, and many of the members aren't able to help us teach when we need them. But I know it's a refiner's fire, and I need that. Like most of the other missionaries, I want the mission to be hard, so I can be stronger and a better person when I come back home. I know that I was blessed with trials in my life, so I can be able to endure and take on any challenge bestowed upon me. Like my dad says, "missions have mountains and valleys there this is one of those (fill in the blank).  Lots of both. The mountains are more numerous than the valleys..."  

Watch this video:  Refiner's Fire

     Have a good week, 

     Elder Brinkerhoff

This Wasn't Just a Coincidence

     

     Been another week in Samutprakan. Literally we do so much walking and bus riding that I go to bed exhausted every night. One day we took eight bus rides. 

     

     One day, we went across the river again, to find a museum that we'd heard about. When we got off the boat, a small Thai man in an Old Navy shirt came up to me and stared at my nametag for a full minute. Then Elder Headlee and I asked him if he was interested in learning about Christ. He said he was Malaysian and didn't have a phone number, and he said we could go to his house. He called a taxi and we went with him to his house. (I don't think we were even in our boundaries anymore.) Then we arrived at his place, which was basically a shack.   He had us sit down and he told us that we could sleep here if we wanted, and then went to the other room for a few minutes.  Then he went outside to a street store and bought some bottled water for us.  He came back and gave us water, then he took of his shirt and showed off his tattooed back to us.  He then went to the other room for a minute, and showed off two large empty alcohol bottles, and then gave us dried mango.  He then said I looked German, and left the house for about 10 minutes.

     He came back and then did some kind of sign language to us and laughed.  We then decided to leave after sitting there for about 40 minutes.  We started walking back and he tagged along with us and put his shirt back on.  He had us wait for him at a small street store, where he bought something, and the store clerk came out with a shot glass of alcohol. He then took a shot. That explains a lot. 

     We kept walking, and a crazy middle aged woman saw Elder Headlee and I and begged us to take a picture of us and her three-year-old daughter. Her daughter was absolutely terrified of us and was screaming, so not really a successful picture. To that woman we were some kind of celebrities or something, still can't figure that out.  

     We then kept walking with the man, then he said he was going home, and I took a picture with him and we parted ways.

      (About five days later, we ran into him again while taking another boat ride to teach an investigator.)

     Later that night we had a Family Home Evening,

and invited some church members over to our house. I made Japanese curry, (My mom sent me the curry. Thanks, Mom!) and they loved it. I miss my mom's Japanese curry that she makes. Other members brought a ton of food and one member even brought fries for us to cook. We then got to teach them a lesson, and it went well. We wanted the whole family home evening it to be an hour, but it turned into three hours. 

     Contacting is pretty fun here, and exploring neighborhoods while contacting is fun as well. One day while we were walking, 10 chihuahuas saw us from their house and barked hysterically at us. Later that day Elder Headlee and I stopped for a minute, and I heard meowing, and in a cardboard box was a kitten who was only a few weeks old. 

     

     The other day we were in a neighborhood looking for a former investigator, and some kind of party was going on. We found the former investigator and she said that the neighborhood was celebrating Children's Day, a day late. Turns out, all the people in the neighborhood were giving out free food. Free food? Yes, we took advantage of that. Free ice cream, snow cones, Thai food, yes it was amazing. I also remember as a kid, my dad telling me that Japan celebrates Children's Day, and I asked my dad why they don't do that in America. He quickly replied saying, "Every day is Children's Day."

     

     Last week I found out that there's a blind man named Pronchai in my church congregation that used to be great friends with my Uncle Kent Barrus and my Grandpa Barrus. When I told him that I was related to him, he was stunned. He then proceeded to tell me how grateful he was for Kent and my Grandpa. My

Uncle Kent helped him with his Master's degree when he was at BYU, and also shared many other fun experiences that he had with Kent and my Grandpa Barrus. Later he then asked for contact information so he could talk to my Uncle Kent again. Hats off to my Uncle Kent and my Grandpa Barrus.

     There are 36 different areas/cities/towns that I could potentially serve in here in Thailand, and out of all the areas, I got to be in the same area as Pronchai, and got to meet him. I was sent here at random, and I knew that God wanted me to be here in Samutprakan, and to meet Pronchai. That wasn't a coincidence that I got to be in the same congregation as him. 

     Much love from the other side of the world,

     Elder Brinkerhoff

Elder Panda

    
     

     Hello again from Samutprakan!

     (Still trying to adapt to all these bus rides and routes. I'm not a guy for large cities.)

     Elder Headlee and I got to go to a sweet outdoor restaurant with some church members. It's a buffet where you get a bunch of raw meat, put it on your plate, and come back to your table to grill it. That's one great way to avoid a lawsuit for having undercooked food.

     Some Thai people love wearing shirts from America, despite having no idea what they say. At that restaurant I saw a man in a Jimmy Johns shirt and American flag shorts. I asked if I could take his picture and with an extremely confused look on his face he said yes.  I have seen grown men wearing After Prom Shirts, and Powderpuff (high school girls football) shirts. Others, wear shirts with words that my mom and dad taught me never to say. 

     I met a girl that the missionaries have been teaching for a while, and when I first met her she called me Panda. She calls Elder Headlee "mantis" too. Turns out she loves giving the missionaries animal names. So I guess I'm Elder Panda now.

     Since Samutprakan is right next to the river that flows through Bangkok, Elder Headlee, a member, and I decided to cross the river and do some contacting. We needed some new place to contact (find people to teach). What's fun about contacting in Thailand is that you never know what you'll run into when we walk in the neighborhoods. At one point we ran into a massive Chinese Buddhist temple. Yep, hidden treasures. While walking back to the boat place, I saw about ten 11-year-old girls staring at me from a smoothie stand. I said hello in Thai and they LOST it. It was about the same reaction as a celebrity says hello to a bunch of teenage girls. They could not believe that I spoke Thai, and one girl yelled out: "He speaks Thai!" 

     We don't have a church building near us, sadly, and we have permission to teach English and teach other people in our house. We also have a ping pong table and we invited some members to come and play with us. Elder Headlee is really good at ping pong, and when one of the members finally beat him in a match, he reacted like he just won the lottery. 

     One thing that is awesome about serving in Thailand is the church members. They are very helpful and friendly to us, share/give us food, give us gifts (a member gave me 2 knitted ties), and teach with us. One member was ordering food when we gave him a phone call and asked for his help teaching us. He immediately cancelled his order and came over to help us. They are amazing people.

     There's a man named Pronchai, and despite him being blind, he is an amazing member. He is very smart, speaks English, and even went to BYU for a master's degree. Well, since this world is too small, I just recently found out that my Grandpa Barrus, and my uncle knew him at BYU. He's going to be excited when I tell him that. 

     That about sums up the week. This week it was a little hard to adapt to a new environment, and have new responsibilities, and trying to speak/read Thai. I know that if I put my trust in God and his teachings, and strive to be obedient, that I can overcome all these challenges. I hope that everyone knows that they can do the same when tough times lie ahead.

     Have a great week,

     Elder Brinkerhoff

2017 - My Year of Silence

   

    

     And thus begins my year of Silence.  Missionaries use this term as their entire year (mine is 2017) completely doing missionary service, if that makes sense.  Anyways, I finished up being a greenie, where I am no longer a newbie to the mission, and don't need extra time for training. 

Transferred!

     I got transferred out of Surin. And boy was that hard. Three months goes by quickly, and I got really attached to Surin. I got the phone call, and 24 hours later I was all packed up, said goodbye to everyone, and got on a bus to Bangkok to meet my new companion. Numerous members gave me small gifts and photos, and even Sister Lie, the recent convert, came by church to give me some Pad Thai that she made. Elder Cecil is staying in Surin and he will be in that area for his fourth transfer, which means he will be in Surin for six months. 

     

     I am now in Samutprakan, a suburb of Bangkok, in the southeastern part. It is next to the river that goes out to the Ocean. It is pretty hectic here, instead of biking everywhere we have to take buses. There are a lot of Burmese, Laotian, and Cambodian people in this area, and we have Burmese, Laotian, and Cambodian investigators as well. 

     

     My new companion is Elder Headlee. He is from Las Vegas and has only been on his mission six weeks longer than I have, and he is a total genius. In high school he got a 35 on the ACT, had a 3.9 GPA, and took 12 AP classes. He already speaks Thai perfectly, and knows how to do everything well. He told me the first day that there were 18 investigators that we have to teach. Should be fun.

     One day we were walking and I smelled something gross, and I saw a huge pile of raw animal meat just sitting in a patch of grass. Basically sums up what happens in Thailand.

     We visited a couple and taught them, and the man gave me a yellow colored drink. I drank it and it tasted like I was drinking straight up powdered sugar, and it was disgusting. I was polite and drank it all, and then he smiled and poured another glass for me.  The sacrifices we make as missionaries!

     I Hope everyone had a Happy New Year,

     Much Love,

     Elder Brinkerhoff