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