Mahasarakham

May 27, 2012

Companion: Thai Elder Tanawut

Hello everybody,

So I guess the news is out, I have moved (Brother Ton!) Yeah, I moved to a place called Mahasarakham (มหาสารคาม), it is really nice. Kinda different, for one: it is hotter. For another: the landscape is different and the people are extremely different. I'll get to that in a minute.

So yeah, for P-day last week I went to Pu Chi Fa, (I already told you that). Um, Tuesday we went inviting for a minute by this place that we were going to contact a referall. I was way excited, until we got to this one guy's house. He said that he was Buddhist and Catholic, (does that work?) and he let us sit down to talk with him. At this point, when we sat down, I got really tired. I think it was because we hadn't rested all day. So Elder Todd had given him a baptism invite, because Elder Todd thought he was ready. The guy wanted our names because he was writing down information. He pulled off my nametag and forgot about the glass glass of water that was right in front of me. So I accidentally smacked it with my hand and broke it. I don't know how that guy is doing, but I know that I felt really,really bad. So Wednesday, we got on our bus and stuff, We finally got at the church at Nonthaburi at about 5:30 in the morning after an 11-hour bus ride. There were two other companionships there, and we talked for a while. It started to be 7:00 and nobody else was there, which was weird because, at that time there is supposed to be more people. I wouldn't know. People did show up, we only started to worry, because the headquarters is moving with the new mission president, so we thought that we may have been having it at the other church building near there. Nope. We had our transfer meeting and I was given a new companion, Elder Tanawut (ธนาวุฒิ), he is a Thai person. Super. He is actually way cool, he can play the violin, and according to everyone, way funny. So after I was told where I was going, I started freaking out inside. I didn't know where that was, or anything about it, in fact, two seconds later, I forgot where I was going.

So yeah, finally got here to Mahasarakham, and on my first day, went to jail. I'm just that bad of a person. Not. The branch president here is a jail guard and we were going to teach a group of inmates that were kinda interested. It was different, not scary, just different. Afterwards, the branch president asked, "Do you like barbeque chicken?" I said yes, and we went to an Isaan food restaurant. That's the area/section of country that I'm in, the Isaan. Anyway, the lunch was with the branch president and the guy guards. It was fun and they were really funny. The branch president turned to me and asked, "You ever try nam tog?" I said no, and he ordered some. I was happily eating my sticky rice and chicken when a plate full a meat covered in weird sauce and spices comes to our table. The branch president looks at me and says "not spicy" and promptly eats some. Now, I could tell it was spicy, and when a Thai man says something isn't spicy, it is. จบ. I ate it anyway, and almost spat it back out! It was way spicy, and then the branch president and everyone starts laughing. Then I ran away. NO, that is sillly. I drank my Coke,(I've started drinking it, they give you a drink and we should drink it. Tastes good), and cooled down. The branch president was like "I committed sin" and asked for forgiveness. Afterwards, he kept asking if I was angry with him. Really funny. Speaking of, yesterday at church. The members wanted me to eat this fruit, I can't remember what is what called, but I didn't want to. I was kinda full from my lunch. The fruit was pinkish-purple and LOOKS like it has sharp hairs. I was making a fuss, and the members were all whining and saying eat it. The branch president even did what dad does and was like, "I have the ambulance on hold in case you start dying." I ate it and was fine, I just wanted to make a fuss. After church, we went to teach an investigator named chang (elephant) and he gave us a mysterious fruit that I didn't recognize as it was. They said what it was, but for you a surprise. So I ate the mysterious fruit, with them watching carefully, and then were surprised as I took a second bite and a third and then finished it. They were like farangs usually hate that! They can't stand the taste. Elder Tanawut said that the last elder here, Elder Thacker from Australia, made funny noises and spit it back out. I ate the second one they gave me, it tastes so good. Ok, I give you some hints. It usually looks kinda big with some spikies, it is the smelliest fruit in the world, in a bad way and it gives you bad breath. It's a durian! It was so good. I give the fact that I am part Asian as why I liked it.

Also, on Saturday, I had the opportunity to get a very nice Norwegian lady on a tour of the church with our Utahn brother. We looked at pictures and talked about the pictures and each room and what we do there. At the end, we let her ask a few more questions. She asked about spiritual experiences, because we had mentioned them. We shared ours, and the Brother shared his feelings about Facebook, (it helped him find his wife). She was really impressed, I was told afterwards. He walked with her for a little bit, because she doesn't have a car, but likes walking. He told me that she had felt something good there, she is Atheist and is trying to go to another church. It didn't feel as good as our church. Sadly, she wasn't at church yesterday, but, she is highly interested. We may teach her again, or she'll wait until she goes home in July and will look, I don't know.

Well, that was my week, I hope that you all had a good week. I will talk to you soon.

Elder Anthony Susi

Chiangrai

May 20, 2012


Companion: Elder Todd


Hello,
I forgot to make some notes about my week, so this email may be a little short. We actually didn't see too much happening this week, lots of inviting and other missionary stuff. Today, we woke up at 2 o'clock to go to Phu Chi Fa, the highest point in Chiangrai. It kinda connects with the Himalayas, but is only a mile high. It was pretty, we had hoped to see the sun rise, but we didn't. Sad, I did get some good pictures though. Dang it, I wish that I had made some notes! I am so stuck! 


Still not sure if I am moving or not, we haven't a call. Most likely we will find out tomorrow or wednesday. I hope that everyone will stay safe and have fun with their summer.

Elder Anthony Susi

Picture not taken by Elder Susi

Mother's Day

May 13, 2012

Companion Elder Todd

No email yesterday, but a Skype call. He surprised us by calling very early. It was 7:30 PM when he called. We began with questions his friends had asked:

James:
How many people have you converted? 1 person
What is it like in Thailand? Hot and Humid He is in a different part of Thailand so it feels really good in the morning. Morning is like 70's and then by 11 it gets super hot and humid.
How good are you at speaking Thai? OK, but it needs work
Does he miss any of us? Of course, I miss all of you.

Brandon:
What are you eating? Farang food - MCD, Sizzler, KFC. The only Thai food he likes is a Thai Omelet.
(Kai Jeow)

Us:
How far is the cybercafe from your apartment? A two minute bike ride is the closest but they don't always use the same one.
How big is the biggest bug you have seen? Cooked Cockroaches several inches long (ewwww) He has not eaten any.
Have you seen any poisonous bugs/animals in your area? They have millipedes in their house.
What are you drinking? Water and soda He said he is still working on his water goal first and then might work on his desire to try to eat Thai food.
What time do you normally leave your house in the morning? they leave by 10:30 and return by 9 PM bed by 10:30.

It was fun to talk with him and see him happy and smiling. He seems to me to be saying the words he said to us in Thai very well. He really loves the people in his mission (They all say that, but I really think he does) And we asked him about his spending habits because he keeps withdrawing cash from his account here. Because he is choosing to eat Americanized food it is costing more money. That and he and Elder Todd recently discovered a bakery they are going to fairly often. Too funny. He was more of a candy sweet guy here so I have to wonder what they have at the bakery that he is getting.

Laura was very glad to see that he was alive ( haha).  She told him she missed and loved him. He actually said that he was missing them too. He got to hear his brother (Matthew) play a piano piece. Matthew told him how he finished the fourth Harry Potter book and that the next red Vs Blue comes out soon. Anthony was not interested in the you tube video information. It is funny how you tube and video games are so on the bottom of the importance list. Talitha told him about her solo and getting first place. Anthony was excited to hear that Matthew has his back flip and is working on his front flip right now.

The Skype feed was really good, I barely noticed a delay from when he spoke and when we heard him.
The entire family (all five of us) sat in rows in front of the camera  so Anthony could see all of us at the same time.

He lives in a house that is very far from the downtown area. They get up at 6:30, Take a shower, get dressed, Iron their clothes ( yes he says he is ironing and getting better), and brush your teeth. Then at 8 they begin their studies and go until 10:30. Then they go out and do the work.

He told us the crazy story about the boy with the dog again as being the craziest thing that has happened so far in Thailand.

We asked about his arrival in Thailand. He said that they stayed the night at the Mission Presidents home and then was introduced to Elder Hess, handed a bus ticket for 6 and said see ya. (Haha) He said the bus was actually pretty fancy, like a tour bus. The overnight buses are nicer. He said there are definitely worse buses and vehicles to ride in. We asked about if he was excited to talk to us and he said Yes he was He even thought it would be really fun to talk to us. But then wondered what we would talk about for an hour. Not to worry, we filled the time up.

We asked him about returning to Thailand after his mission and he requested we wait until he returns and then all go back after he is released.We were thinking the same thing. He said a lot of missionaries parents come to get them from in country but the missionary is not able to do all the things the  family would want to do and they are still performing their missionary duties. It is better to wait and experience all of it together completely. We told him our Stake President offered to go with us and release him in country. (Haha) Anthony wondered if that would really work. We let him know this was a joke.

We asked him how far they bike each day. His first answer was far and then he added 5 km at least. (funny he was used to metric). He does feel more hungry each day from all his exercise. He also said he is the same weight he was in the MTC and at home.

The kids asked him about his Pikachu and he told her about Brother Ton, a local member that loves to draw drew it and many others for him. They also asked who they teach, and he said everyone.

Grandma Mary called on FaceTime on the iPad and was able to see him and talk for just a minute or two. Technology is great when no one lives near each other.

Matthew told him about his Deacons Quorum and going to the movies and other things alone, including Lagoon and Anthony's response was eww boring (about Lagoon) .

PDays lately have been boring, errands and chilling. No adventuring yet. Next week they are thinking of going to the end of the Himalayas. They will ride all the way in a sǎwngthǎew which is a truck bed with a bench on each side and normally a canopy to protect from the sun. When they arrive they will watch the sunrise. He cannot see the Himalayas from where they are in Chiang Rai. 


We lost the Skype connection a few times during the call but overall it was a great call. 

Chiangrai

May 6, 2012

Companion: Elder Todd

Hello all creatures of our God and King,

how are you doing? Some crazy news in Utah! I didn't know that Heidi had a baby?! Wow! Evan looks like she is so much fun! So no more news huh? Bummer. I hope that everyone had a fantastic week. I know that I sure did.

So, on Monday, last week, I made a box for my Urim and Thummim SE-ED Edition. They are just two different dictionaries, and English-to-Thai and a Thai-to-English. I took a flap from my Easter box and got a lot of tape and made a little box. Easy.

Our Tuesday was a very interesting day. We were going to go visit an Elder that had to come up here to his home town to heal for a bit, and we needed to go get a map. After we couldn't find an updated map for Chiangrai, I started to look at my seat. The screw was bent. Oh, a few weeks ago, my bike seat broke off my bike. So, I needed a new bike seat stand, not a screw like I've gotten before. Dumb. We went to our usual bike place, but they couldn't fix it. They recommended a place across town and over the river. So, we went on a broken bike for a half-hour over to this place, and they fixed it. Story one of Tuesday complete.

So, we went inviting over behind a golf course, and we found some people, but no lessons unfortunately. We were waiting for some guy to get out of his car for a second, when a little boy suantered over to Elder Todd, and looked up at him. When I looked over, the kid was doing some weird smile. I don't know. So, after the guy didn't work out, the kid started to talk to us, and take us to his parents. Turned out the old ladies didn't want to talk to us, sad day. "Where are we going?" I turned around and the kid was following us. No biggie. So, we stopped and talked to him. He is from Australia, has a Thai mom, and a British dad, he is like 10 years old, and can see ghosts. Wait, what? "I can see ghosts." We were like shocked. "I can see a dead chicken behind [Elder Todd], it's moving. I don't know why, cause it shouldn't." We were so weirded out, this kid was like a mystic or something. We then had the privilege to discover how he obtained these powers, "I rubbed some slobber from a black dog in my eyes." For those of you who don't know superstitions, a black dog represents death, so I guess something from one helps you to see ghosts. Story two done.

The third one is easy. After leaving English class, some strange noises happened behind me. The bungie cord that was on Elder Todd's bike somehow got stuck in his chain/gears and broke. He spent a half-hour at the house getting it out, after fifteen minutes at the church getting it detatched. Done.

On Wednesday, we taught a lady that comes to English class about the Restoration. She was already interested and said that she wanted to come to church. Score. She's cool, because she and her friend work at Sizzler, so when we went on Saturday to start our fast, we had like the best Sizzler experience ever. I got the letter/envelope from the family on Thursday. It was so fun to see, and I think that the picture that has Matthew and Kobe is way funny. I like the photography class pictures too. Thursday night, we had some Eesan food for dinner, which leads to. . . Diarrhea on Friday!!! Wow, it was so bad, and both of us had it. That's all I'll say about that. Well yes, Sister Smith did make a 2L water drinking requirement. I've been working on doing it, the other day, I drank a whole liter. Only half way, water is still so gross. Yesterday, was Fast Sunday. Wow, so good. I got up and bore my testimony, and I was so nervous. I think that it's been a while since I did it willingly. Everyone laughed at me, but in a good way. Good times.

So yeah, that was my week. Great stories yeah? 

Lots of love,

Elder Anthony Susi