I had a list of things to include in this letter, but I forgot it at home. I hope I can remember most of what I wanted to say.
My companion has been out for a year. I'm serving in Bang Khae, in the West Bangkok Zone. It's a relatively high-society area. We're white-washing in, which means that neither of us has been here before--and I'm being trained (though I unintentionally completed the milestones for first three weeks in the MTC). The elders that we replaced didn't have really good records or instructions on where to pick up the work. So we've been doing a lot of street contacting (knocking on doors to find investigators has been banned). So far we've only taught a couple lessons though.
Thank you for your prayers on my behalf. Combined with my efforts in the MTC, I feel very good about my language abilities at this point. I feel like I can say a large part of what I want to say, but understanding the Thai people is a bit tough still.
My first lesson was actually in Bermese. Or, we were speaking Thai and had a member who was translating the message into Bermese for the investigator. That was fun.
It is so hot. And this is cold season. Some of the members were saying they were cold, but I don't see how anyone could be cold in this. Hot season should be exciting.
I'm still getting used to sitting down at a meal and having no idea what I'm eating. But most of it tastes good.
My district showed us a good Somdam (spicy papaya salad) place. It's basically green papayas sliced into slivers with tomatoes, peppers, and some other greens. There are varying levels of heat with Somdam. The spicyness is determined by the number of peppers (pricks) in the salad, and to what degree they were crushed into the salad. My companion ordered prick 5 for us, which is allegedly too hot for most Americans. It was hot. But manageable, and fun to eat. I think I'll be able to handle the heat of the food here alright. The restaurants have tissues at all the tables so customers can wipe their nose as they're eating.
Spitting in public is considered very rude. So is picking your teeth with a toothpick. But picking your nose in public is fine, no problem there (I don't plan to be doing that though).
Street contacting is interesting. We get a myriad of responses. My companion said that he's had many people who don't believe that these two white people can speak Thai, so they'll just say that they don't understand because you're speaking English. You'll say "No, I'm speaking Thai," and they'll say "No you're not, you're speaking English and I don't understand you. Goodbye." Haha.
But it's so rewarding when they are interested and we get their number to set up appointments later on. We probably talk to 20 or more people per number we get.
The surprise in the bathroom was the lack of toilet paper, I believe. There's a hose to spray stuff off instead.
If you happen to be online at the same time as me, the mission rule is that I'm not allowed to chat, or send emails back and forth. I thought I'd let everyone know so you'll understand why I'm not responding.
Thank you all for you support!
-Elder Parish
Pictures:
1. Home for the next six weeks.
2. Down the street.
3. Breakfast one morning. Really fatty pork that is fried on a stick and eaten with sticky rice.
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