Week 73: National Geographic Status

Whew, it's been a while.

This past week and a half has been kind of frustrating. Nearly all of our investigators have reached a wall (or several), and we can't seem to find more. Ah well, we just keep pushing forward.

Jackie (who began to question if he'd ever actually been baptized. He definitely was taught by Elder Barlow all those years ago, but may not have actually gone into the water), has been an awesome investigator; consistently going to church and meeting with us. He had a date and had learned everything, so we reviewed the baptismal interview questions with him. Except when we asked if he believed that God was his Heavenly Father, he told us "not yet." He's been studying all these things because he recognizes that they are good, but not because he believes that they are divine. So, he's not ready yet. I believe he'll get there, but it may take a bit more time.

Chaad and Naht still aren't really moving forward. Brother Chaad said he's got questions about both Buddhism and Christianity, and want to know what's true. I did ask if Buddhism helped them answer any questions, and they said no; the deeper they studied Buddhism, the more unsatisfied they are. I also think that they'll make it, but it may also take some time.

Nong is still interested, still learning. Just really bad with her phone, so it's hard to meet with her.

In other news, we journeyed to Bangkok (a 13-hour train ride) to renew my visa. That was an adventure. Especially after we bought return tickets and were left with 80 baht apiece and 8 hours in Bangkok before our train left. We hadn't had breakfast or an adequate dinner the night before, and we had to scrape 2 meals out of 80 baht. Possible, but that would leave us with absolutely no money. We walked to a nearby university where you can get a meal for 25-30, then did studies in the library. Kind of fun.

It's Songran again! Time to go!

Elder Parish

1-2: I never thought I'd have the opportunity to see this kind of stuff, but we went to the long-neck village last P-day. Way awesome! I felt like I was in National Geographic or something.

Opps, I sent the wrong picture up there. That was a zone Tim Tam slam, an Australian cookie that you can drink milk though, and a popular snack among TBM missionaries. This was the village:

Our trip down to Bangkok. The seats converted into beds so that we could sleep. Except they were Thai-sized, and Elder Cheney is not Thai.

1. Bangkok
2. We had lunch with some monks. I drank his coke 'cause we didn't have any money.