Saying goodbye to Sister (Her name translates to:) Small. She has been a member of the church longer then most in Bangkapi. I was sad to say goodbye because she and I became very good friends.
Eating at the market next to the Bangkapi church building.
This is the last time that I saw Brother Duhie. He is a man who has Autism. I am super good friends with him and I was so sad to say goodbye.
Our awesome neighbors in Bangkapi who love to feed us. Great people!
My parents sent me this BYU tshirt and before I left Bangkapi I gave it to my buddy Adam.
He loved it so much! I will miss that kid!
A going away meal before I left.
My new companion Elder Harding and I with some of our investigators after a lesson.
One of my favorite members Brother Dam (means "black") He helps us teach so many lessons and is a great friend. His is great at speaking english too.
We were helping a member cook her meat sticks and everyone kept freaking out about the white boys and wanting to take our picture. Haha (I have no idea who this girl is.) =)
Me helping to decorate the church for Christmas.
Someone drew this on the board. This is a monster that people believe in in Thailand. It is pronounced "soon braid". They believe that if children are evil, and do bad things to their parents, they are turned into a 30 foot tall monster who is super skinny and their mouth is so small they can only fit one grain of rice in at a time, so it is very horrible to live.
Elder Harding riding in the back of a truck on the way to teach a lesson.
A busy night market in Surin.
Trying fresh coconut.
I was surprised how sweet it was.
A huge Buddha.
First day with Elder Harding and me.
UPDATE:
So I am now in Surin! It is in the northeast part of Thailand which called the Eisan. I more specifically went to the town Surin. =) My first thought when I got my transfer call was, YES! I was really happy. I love Bangkapi a lot but I am super excited for a change. Then, I was told that my new companion would be Elder Harding. He is from Idaho and comes from the same ward as The Loveland family! ( President Loveland was the recent Mission President in Bentonville, AR.) Elder Harding is super funny and I am having so much fun being with him. I am having more chances to practice my Thai and get better. There is a different dialect out here in the country and it’s fun to try to understand.
While I was riding the bus out to Surin, there was about 2 hours straight where we were riding on a highway with straight rice fields as far as the eye can see. It was so beautiful and fun. At that moment, I was officially out of Bangkok and out in the rural area.
One difficult part about traveling out, was bringing all of my stuff, I had 2 giant suitcases, 2 smaller bags, my bike, and a guitar. (I got a guitar from a missionary who finished their mission and went home. She didn't want to bring it with her so she gave it to me. ) I don’t play the guitar. Dang it. Haha!
There are a few things that are, very different here in Surin than in my last area of Bangkapi. One of the biggest differences is the ward. There is only about 30 to 40 people who come to church each week. The church building is also 4 stories tall and really skinny. It is so interesting because I have never been to a church that was this small before. It is a fun change to have.
Another big difference is the amount of time we spend riding our bikes every day. There are no buses to ride everywhere like Bangkapi, so we just ride bikes to all of our appointments. We probably spend an average of 30% of our day on bikes. We go hard and far.
I love Surin because the house that we live in is the biggest missionary house in all of Thailand. We only have 2 missionaries living there too. I love all of the l space I get and I have more space to work out and write in my journal. Our house is about a 15 minute bike ride from the church. It is a solid bike ride, but definitely not too long.
One part of last week that stuck out to me, was we went to visit an older man who hadn't been to church in a while. When we came up to his house, we heard a weird sound coming from the window, so we went and looked inside. He was laying in his bed was looking at us and invited us inside. It was really sad because he was in lots of pain and unable to get out of his bed. It was so sad to see someone who was in his condition and unable to help himself. We gave him a priesthood blessing and helped him in any way that we could. Seeing things like that in a place that is much less fortunate than how I had grown up. I am so thankful for how I have been blessed in my life and I only hope that I can show my love to God by loving his children. Right now, I am assigned to do it in Thailand, but every single place around the world deserves the love of God, no matter their circumstances.
I will definitely talk more about Surin and this wonderful area next week! Everyone keep in touch!
-Elder Barron
