Sunday in Thailand

Traveling to a new country and being blessed to participate with the Saints is always a joy. There is always the concern of understanding the language and being able to participate and contribute. This morning Elder and Sister Khanakham picked us up from our hotel bright and early to travel across the city of Bangkok and attend meetings before our flight to Chiang Mai.

It was such a joy to hear more about the Church in Thailand from Elder Khanakham as he told about the growth of the Stakes and Wards. We arrived early, and got there just before the bishop. The building has recently become a stake center by adding stake offices across the parking lot. The grounds and building were clean and beautiful.

Before the meetings started Sister Khanakham made sure to find the full-time missionaries to come translate for us. There are two sets of Elders in this ward, and in talking with them we had connections with three of them. Elder Rogers is from Rocklin California and is a neighbor to the Meinzers who served as the LDS Charities couple. Elder Lindley is from Utah County, and his sister served in Cambodia. We met his parents a few months ago as his sister completed her mission. Then there was Elder Allen, who translated for us, is from Lindon Utah and knows Sister Collins who is currently serving in Cambodia.

Church was a good start for the day. The Khanakhams dropped us to the airport for our short flight to Chiang Mai in the North East part of Thailand. After settling in we were blessed to visit with Chad Furness, the Asia Area Self-Reliance Manager, and Elder and Sister Ricks, Self-Reliance Missionaries serving in Thailand, for dinner. We look forward to participating in the Self-Reliance Manager conference this week.