Riley Parish's Mission in Thailand: Week 61: Flashback and a Turning Point

Wow, this week was huge. We've been scraping along the past few weeks and not seen anything happen. That is, until this last week. We were richly blessed to see a lot of results, as well as acquire some great potential for the near future, and I'm so grateful. A pattern I've noticed very prominently here in Thailand is that of families in the church. Many places I've served, the core of the branch or ward is formed of one or two families that stay strong while other members float in and out of activity. So, we've been making an effort to teach more families (the teaching style in Thailand in recent history has led to largely single-person baptisms. Not to say that that's a bad thing.). This focus, as well as some changes to adjust to working in San Sai (and a whole lot of prayer), led to several new investigators that have a lot of promise. And some that have disappeared already, but that's part of the game. I'm particularly excited to see Sister Nong and her little son, and Chaad's family again this week. I don't know if I mentioned Josh's family yet, but the Restoration lesson we had with him did a lot of good. More on them later!

Of all the miracles, I can't share them all. I would like to share a very significant one: last week about Friday, my planner disappeared. That was a big problem, because I had been writing plans for the next week that I now didn't have access to, as well as the phone numbers of potential investigators and a lot of other important information, all gone. By necessity, we spend some nights at our house, and some nights the other elders' house to be closer to the church. After realizing it was missing, I searched our whole house with no success. I concluded it must be at the other house. A very thorough search yielded the same results. I began to pray very hard that I would be led to my planner so I could work effectively and previous building efforts wouldn't be lost. On Tuesday evening we went back to our house, and I had resolved to do one final search. Before going inside, I asked that I would be able to find my planner. As I walked toward the door, a distinct impression, more a crisp flash of information popped into my head, and I saw where my planner was. Instead of going inside, I walked around the side of the house and recovered my planner right where I had been directed. The feeling was so singular and bright, so clearly not of myself I'll never forget it. It was such a witness to me that God's hand is in the work and in our individual lives. Because my planner was gone, we missed our appointment with Sister Nong, but were able to re-schedule, and had an excellent first discussion.

Tomorrow marks one year in country, which kind of blows my mind. I think it would be fun to respond to expectations set up from the MTC, which I wrote in my "Week 9" letter (current responses in bold):

"We had culture training this past Saturday, where we learned about how to behave and what to expect in Thailand. Some highlights:
- Feet are lowly. Never show the bottom of your feet to anyone; it is very disrespectful. Never point at anything with your feet. Yup, that's true. A little hard to remember at first. I'm now very conscious of how my feet are positioned, and will still be upon returning home when nobody cares.
- The food will wreck you for the first few weeks. It is crazy spicy and often has hair or straight up dirt in it. I was fortunate not to get wrecked in the first few weeks. Some food is really spicy, and does often have hair or dirt in it. Also MSG, so much MSG.
- You will get sick eating at member's homes. You will have diarrhea for two years. I've only gotten sick from a member's house once. I don't have chronic diarrhea, but you find out pretty quick if you ate something wrong.
- When drinking, direct the straw to dodge the bugs and junk in your cup. This hasn't been a huge problem, but happens occasionally.
- There is something special about the bathrooms there. They want us to be surprised, so they didn't tell us what it was. Yup, there is often not any toilet paper. Instead there is a sprayer to get the job done. Also there are the "squatters" which are little more than a hole in the ground.
- It it will be hot. You just get used to being slippery all the time. So hot. The north is a bit cooler though.
- You will never get less tired. You just keep going until you're done. Yeah, that's also pretty accurate. We're always tired, but can always keep moving.
- It is the hardest, best thing you will ever do. Very hard. Sometimes not very rewarding. But when it is rewarding, it is very rewarding.
- You will see miracles. Every day. Also true. Especially if you seek and ask."

There are so many things that are so different. It's impossible to describe. As far as the language goes, I have very little problem now. Thai people are still very impressed with the missionaries level of ability. The Thai language is no longer such a stumbling block or source of frustration. My English on the other hand...

I'm doing well, and I hope you all are too. Remember that God's there and loves you.

Elder Parish

Ok, pictures:
1. That sunrise.