TBM - Daisy arrives!

Hello, dear family and friends who are family! Some of you will probably remember that our mission takes in 3 countries.  While most of our experience has taken place in Thailand, we have had a choice association with Myanmar and the saints there, for over a year.  In January 2006 we went to Myanmar with President Hansen.  They had been planning and waiting in great anticipation for him to arrive, because they had 10 candidates prepared for baptism!  What a wonderful experience it was for us to witness such a beautiful "white" day!   Daisy is the one looking our way and smiling... Among those brothers and sisters, was the first person to be baptized from Mandalay...  Daisy Kone.  She had been studying with the missionaries for almost 2 years and she was ready!  Inasmuch as 97% of the Chin tribe (Daisy's tribe) is Baptist, Daisy was raised with a Christian upbringing.  After the baptisms, they asked Daisy to bear her testimony.  I remember with clarity her complete conversion and conviction!  Interestingly enough, her father and a sister were baptized about a month later.  And then another sister was baptized later in the year.  This family has become the nucleus of the church in Mandalay.  Sacrament Meetings are held in their home every Sunday.  There are 8 in their family, and they have anywhere from 10 to 20 attend each week.  They are such a faithful family.  They even gather everyone who is handy each evening to study the Book of Mormon.  Daisy's mom hasn't joined the church yet, mostly because the Book of Mormon isn't available in Burmese yet and she can't read English.  She feels like she should read the Book of Mormon first. Meanwhile, Daisy had been dating a young man, Tom, for 10 years.  The main reason they had been courting so long (and were not married, yet) was because he lives in the United States.  He's native Myanmar, but when the current dictator was taking over the government, Tom was part of the resistance.  So he ended up fleeing the country for his life and the UN assigned him to the US as a political refugee.  He can never go back to Myanmar and some of his friends are still in jail (if they're still alive). Eventually Tom was able to get a visa to Thailand, and Daisy was able to get a visa to Thailand, and at the end of January 2006 they were married by President Hansen in Bangkok.  It was such a happy day.  Because neither of their families could be there, they told us that it felt like we were standing in for their parents.  Such an honor.    They both stayed in Thailand for a couple of months and Daisy naturally shared her new-found faith with her husband.  He took the missionary lessons and in February 2006 we were pleased to join them again for his baptism.  Daisy and Tom were both so happy.  Soon, however, their tourist visas ran out and Tom had to return to his country and Daisy returned to hers.  Meanwhile, Daisy was working toward joining Tom in the US.  Through emails, we learned that she wanted to try to get an H1 visa and that the US Embassy in Thailand might be a better place than Myanmar to apply for one.  So, Daisy came to stay with us the first of November 2006.  Working through the process of obtaining a visa for Daisy has been an amazing experience.  We have learned so much!  While the visa process has been very educational, we have learned even more through our experiences with Daisy herself.  She has been an angel presence in our home.  What a joy it has been to nourish one of God's children in the good word of God.  We have laughed and cried together.  We studied the scriptures daily and had lively gospel discussions.  We have embraced her with our hearts and she has given us a wonderful perspective of the true pioneer spirit.  Between her strong faith and people working on two continents, her visa finally came through with only 1 week to spare on her Thailand tourist visa.  Each of us witnessed daily miracles and felt God's hand in our lives. Last week, when we took Daisy to the airport, we indeed felt like we were saying goodbye to one of our children.  She and Tom are in our hearts to stay!  She arrived in Utah to experience SNOW for the first time.  What a joyous reunion it was for this young couple.  God truly blesses His children with miracles!  We love them dearly, and pray for their continued blessing in the future. All our love, Elder and Sister Lindorf