This country is amazing. I love everything about it, especially the people! I feel so blessed to be here!!! The flight to Thailand wasn't that bad! We slept a lot on the plane so we were happy about that. Our flight had to stop in Taiwan for gas so now I can say I went to Taiwan, China and Thailand! When we first got to Thailand and we were waiting for President Senior to arrive, Sister Brown and I decided to get to work right away!! We started talking to this nice old man who said he would come to church... at least I think that was his response!
President Senior and his wife came and they are the sweetest people on the planet!!! They are always cracking jokes and just make you feel so comfortable. As we were going to the mission home the AP's would just walk up to everyone and ask, "Do you want to go to church?" or "Do you want to be clean from sin?" I was shocked!!! I thought it was so weird but apparently here in Thailand that is how we contact! President Senior told me that if we contact like this then the people who the Lord has prepared will be interested! And guess what…IT WORKS! The rest of that day we got shots, had interviews and then went "Dan Jonesing". We walk outside ready to go and it starts pouring rain, but that didn’t stop us! We were out talking to everyone saying, "Do you want to go to church?" Whenever we got rejected we just shrugged it off. We actually got 5 people to give us their numbers from doing that! We are supposed to contact for 2 hours everyday! It is the most amazing thing. It shows that God really is preparing people to hear the gospel!
Than night we ate at President Senior’s and it was really good!! The next morning we were off to zone conference to get our new comps and areas. The traffic in Thailand is insane! There are scooters weaving in and out and they don't even have lanes! I thought I was going to die. All the missionaries just jay walk all the time in the middle of Bangkok, no biggie…that is how you get around!
My new Khuu is Sister Croft! She is so amazing! She is so selfless and willing to serve! I am so glad I have her as a trainer! She is such a diligent missionary and is one that always follows the rules which is good for me plus she is the least picky eater so she is going to help me a lot! I am serving in Sisaket. It is about 9 hours out of Bangkok. It is everyone’s favorite place to serve. It is so beautiful and green, and guess what else... it is in the Eson so they speak Laos as well as Thai…Of course I would be put in a place where they speak ANOTHER language hahah :) In my district there are 6 missionaries. Elder Okimoto from my MTC district is in it. I am so happy!! Also, Elder Butler from the previous Thai group (knew him in the MTC) is in my district, so we have a really young district! I am so glad to have Okimoto! It is really nice having someone who speaks the same level of Thai as you!
After Zone Conference we went to get dinner before getting on the train to Sisaket. We ate and as we were heading back to the main road to get a taxi it started pouring rain. Wow, I have never experienced rain like that before! There is nothing better than walking down the streets of Thailand in the pouring rain…(when I say pouring rain, I mean the streets were flooded pouring rain!!) We finally got a taxi and were off to the train. It took us 2 hours to get to the train station that was suppose to be 20 minutes away! When we got there we were still soaking wet and the next train that was coming was at 10:30 PM and only had seats because the beds were all sold out. So we bought tickets and waited. When the train finally came I was shocked at how “ghetto” it was!! Imagine this…4 people squished into bus type seat with suit cases in between them in soaking wet clothes and expected to sleep! HAHAHAHAHA, wow, it was quite the adventure! That night none of us got more than 10 minutes of sleep! But that didn't get us down! We still enjoyed ourselves!! (The train was slow and it took us 12 hours to get there.) A member came and picked us up and we got some Thai food. I got the usual rice and chicken BUT I did try a pepper! I also have tried a bunch of fruit that I have never seen before. The flavor is really good but the texture gets me. I have a goal to eat one everyday so I can get used to it. Everyone in my district doesn't understand how I survive with such poor nutrition (no fruits/veggies).
We did some study and then were off to get a bike for me with the members! We picked the bike out and got some dinner and were off to a ward activity sports night! THE MEMBERS ARE AMAZING!!!! They just took me in like family. They saw that I had a lot of mosquito bites and right away they pulled out their medicine stuff and were helping me. They just hug me and help me with Thai and are just the warmest loving people in the whole world!!!! We played volleyball and just talked a whole lot. Theses members are amazing! I have SO much love for them already!! That night we slept so well because we were running on 10 minutes of sleep!! My home is little. We don't have a kitchen. It is kind of like a dorm room with just 2 beds, a closet, desks, and a bathroom. I love it though! The beds are really hard but that is ok. We also have a really bad cockroach problem in our room, oh well.
The next morning we taught a lesson to 2 new investigators named Brother Yut and Brother Un. We rode over to the church which is about a 15 minute ride from our house. (The Church is SO NICE! I love it. Riding a bike in a skirt is a lot harder than I expected, also more sore. We ride our bike like it is a car which is scary. There are like always scooters so I guess it is just normal.) The investigators are about 15 years old and want to get baptized! They are a little weird around us sisters but they really want to learn. We went to a Buddhist funeral of one of our investigators grandmothers! Wow, it was really something. We were sitting at the Wat and everyone was saying their prayers almost like a song and wearing their orange monk clothes!
On Sunday we went to church and I was asked to bare my testimony in Thai! I was nervous at first but when I went up there all my nerves left. I felt so comfortable. I just felt so much love from the people. I went on and on in my testimony. People here in Thailand are so nice!! I know my Thai is pretty bad but they always say, "gang maag" which means “so much skill”! We were at the Church until about 3:30 teaching lessons to investigators and members. At 5 we had dinner at a member’s home. It was so much fun. Later we went “inviting” which is always fun…walking down the markets inviting people to learn about Jesus Christ is so amazing. We got a lot of people who are interested and want to learn! I am excited!!
Wow I love in here!!! I can't describe the love I have for these people and this place! The language is really had but it’s coming along. My tones are really bad, and the members point them out to me all the time! Everyone here in Thailand points at me and smiles and says "farange", which is like white person. A lot of them have stopped me and asked to take my picture. There are dogs everywhere here. We aren't supposed to touch them because they are diseased. I love everything about Thailand. I can't even describe it! I know the Church of Jesus Christ is true and the Lord is preparing the people here in Thailand to receive his gospel!!!
I love you all, peace and blessings!!
Love sister Herrmann
PS They don’t have cheese in this county and everything is so inexpensive. Also, the weather is really hot and I am sweating 24/7 but it really doesn't bother me that much! Also, I already crashed and ran into the back of a car...whoooops!!!
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