TBM - More Fun from Thailand !!

Hello Family and Friends, Today I'm going to share some more 'local flavor' from this wonderful country that's so endearing to us.  We're growing to love it here more and more each day. If you think it's hot where you are, notice the three vehicles on the right shown parked in the picture below.  Each one has it's wipers extended to keep the rubber from melting onto the glass - and they're parked in the shade! The truck that's parked blocking them is another great Thai tradition.  When ever there isn't anymore room in a parking lot, it's perfectly acceptable to block other cars as long as you leave your car in neutral so it can be pushed out of the way.  It happens everywhere. It's considered 'chic' to use English in advertising.  Thais love to learn and use English and our weekly classes are very popular all over Thailand.  Here's an advertising slogan that didn't translate too well.  I think they were trying to say 'GO BANANAS!' We visited the Grand Palace on one of our recent outings.  Here is a shot of one of the scenes painted on the walls.  These hand painted murals line the walkway around the perimeter of the grounds.  They depict various historical events, do not duplicate each other and stretch for over a thousand yards.  The detail is amazing. Here I am with a couple of new friends I met at the Palace. We also visited the Elephant Museum.  It's hard to capture in a picture how large this structure is.  Visitors get to go up inside the elephant. The next pictures are taken inside the BASE of the structure.  They didn't allow photography inside the Elephant, but there is an elevator that runs up and down one leg and stairways that run in the other legs. That's about all I can show you, but inside the belly of the beast, there's a large room with constellations painted on the ceiling like you might see in the night sky.  Very amazing.  We went up the elevator and down a spiral stairwell inside the back leg.  The walls are all hand painted murals.  Sorry I couldn't take pictures of them. This dragon is on the grounds at the same site.  That's one way to get more water into the air! This next picture you'll recognize, I think!  This is my favorite attraction in Thailand. Have a great week! Elder & Sister Lindorf

TBM - Keeper of the Gate

My story begins with an explanation of where in the 12 million people of Bangkok we live... Yes, this is it!  Can you believe it?  We have to pinch ourselves everyday to think that "roughing it" on a mission could be like this!  Every three towers, which you see in the picture, combine on the first floor into a united parking garage.  The only access to the towers is through the parking garage, and at each entrance there's a security guard who checks the people and cars as they come and go.  (fyi - we live in the 2nd tower from the left, on the 11th floor - it has a beautiful view of the lake!)   A few weeks ago we heard through the "Seniors Grapevine" that the Elders in our area were teaching the lessons to one of the guards at our building.  Throughout the months of coming and going, we have enjoyed a friendly association with the 5 guards who cover the various shifts at our building, so we were delighted at the news.  But which one was taking the lessons?  We didn't know.  Since we don't understand enough Thai to ask them directly, we watched each one to see if we could detect our new investigator.  Could it be the morning one, who seemed to be a little more chipper in his step?  Or was it the afternoon one, who seemed to be smiling even more than he usually did?  Maybe it was the weekend one, who was whistling as he opened the gate for the cars?  As the days went by, we watched each one carefully.  We knew that they knew who we are.  The Senior Missionaries live close enough that there are often groups of us coming and going.  So we would smile more sincerely.  We would show our love as we looked deeply into their eyes.  Our greetings were offered with a deeper bow and we would thank them a little more freely for their service. Then we got the word.  The rumor mill had one tiny detail mixed up - wrong building.  The Elders corroborated that it wasn't our "Condos" but the "Condos" about a mile away.  Of course, it was still wonderful to have a security guard taking the lessons, and many of us were able to attend his baptism, but we were disappointed that it wasn't OUR guard. It was then, that we realized the miracle that had transpired.  God had opened our hearts to the guards in our building.  It turns out that nothing in them had changed, but we changed!  God filled our hearts with love and with a vision of His Love for a handful of His children in our midst.  Elder Lindorf and I decided that we couldn't let this miracle in our hearts go to waste.  So with nothing verbal spoken, we took a Thai Book of Mormon down to the guard desk and "motioned to them" (our new, favorite language) that it was a gift for them to read in their spare time.  Because of our new-found relationship, they accepted it with interest.    I believe that one of the great purposes of serving a mission is for God to work this miracle in our hearts.  He has taught us to love the Thai people as our own.  He has given us love for His children in Thailand, just as He gave us love for our own children.  I feel the tender kinship of the family of Heavenly Father in new and wonderful ways!  It is such a beautiful miracle! I guess you know what that means, don't you?  You're family, too! Love to you, from newly softened hearts, Sister and Elder Lindorf