Puu Chi Faa

Hello sweet family! My letter to you this week will be short and sweet. (Except it's not now because my mom added some things I sent later.) 

We traveled to THIS mountain this P-Day morning at 3 a.m. to see the sunrise, and I am exhausted... but it was so worth it! 

I'm on top of the world!

Puu Chi Fa is absolutely gorgeous...and absolutely freezing.  But it's like the Grand Canyon...the sun rises up (sound effect of rising sun)...and ahhhh...gorgeous.  I just loved it.  It was super duper duper. 

The District - Elders Weaver, Thompson, Howard, S-D

Also last week, we went to the Burmese border [Myanmar] with Elder Stone and Elder Hartung. Super fun! So in this week, I went to the Burmese border and the tallest mountain in Thailand overlooking Laos. Gotta love Chiang Rai :) 

Elder Hartung, me, Howard, Weaver, Stone, Thompson

The Work: 

It was about 8 degrees Celsius this week [46 degrees Fahrenheit], and with the humidity I thought I was going to die. No one came out of their homes for days because it was cold and rainy, and there were a total of 80 people in SE Asia who died from the cold... That is not a joke. Sooooooo it was hard to meet with people this week... totally understandable. I would want to stay in my non-heated-cement home too hahahahahaha. But this week was sure fun! It almost felt like winter time in Utah! 

We tried to find some less active members this week.  In Thailand, that's harder than it sounds. Addresses are not the same here as in the U.S.  Instead of a street name and address in numerical order, Thai addresses have a city, then an area within a city, and then a neighborhood within that area.  Then houses are numbered in that area by when they were built. Let's say we were trying to find number 300.  So the numbering may go like this as you search -  1, 2, 3, 700 and you're like ...WHAT???  And then it goes back to 22. You can't find 300 to save your life. So that makes finding less active members in Thailand SO hard.  But it gives an opportunity to be led by the Spirit. And the Spirit leads the way!  We found the two less active members we were looking for this week after a lot of prayers and searches.  

I'm learning how to listen more effectively here. I really love the power of the listener.  Discerning is more of listening with the heart, right? Elder Bednar says, "Discerning is hearing with spiritual ears and feeling with the heart - hearing and feeling the unspoken concern in a comment or question, the truthfulness of a testimony or doctrine, or the the assurance and peace that come by the power of the Holy Ghost." As missionaries that's our goal right?  To teach with the power of the Holy Ghost. And if we don't do that, we have no way to convert the investigator or to convert ourselves. As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it's our privilege to have the ability to have the Holy Ghost with us always. And to be able to teach with that is such an honor.

The Culture: 

1. No one comes out when it is cold.... 

2. Thai food is just too good, and it costs about $1.  I'm going to miss that when I go home.  Good thing I have another year and a half.

3. Chiang Rai runs at a different pace than Bangkok. I have had to learn to understand the more laid back pace of life here in our missionary work.  You can't work effectively with a Bangkok mindset in Chiang Rai. Elder Howard has helped me to understand that a slower pace is not necessarily a bad thing, especially as we invite while we teach and we teach while we invite. I'm learning. I'm still a new missionary.

Props to whoever painted this

4. Shout out to The Hungry Wolf! One night for dinner this week, we pigged out and just ate some awesome American food.  This Australian guy owns a burger joint here.  Oooooaaahh.. it's sooooo good. Fresh burgers.  I didn't even get a beef burger because I like the chicken burgers there. They all think I'm a wuss. But I love the chicken burgers.  I think they're delicious.  So if you're traveling to Chiang Rai and want some delicious western food, check out The Hungry Wolf. It will bring you home. 5 stars.

Pretty bird

The Funnies: 

1. On the way up to Puu Chi Faa (a member took us in his truck)...I threw up all over the truck again, except I was in the back of the truck because I knew I was going to throw up. The member that was with us, Brother Dream, also threw up, so...I didn't feel too bad.  ROCK on. We had to stay in the bed of the truck the rest of the ride freezing hahahaha. We both just looked at each other going up this windy, steep road in a pickup truck.... and burst out laughing at the situation hahahahaha. I love Thai people so much. They are my best friends.  

This picture says a million words

2. We tried to keep warm by boiling water on our stove. It created a sauna-like effect. Hahahahahaha.

The well of eternal life? 

Spiritual thought: 

"It is nobility of character, that fabric of inner strength and conviction woven from countless righteous decisions, that gives life its direction." - Richard G Scott. (From: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/the-transforming-power-of-faith-and-character?lang=eng)

I read these words of wisdom this morning in my personal study, and my mind shot to someone whom I admire a lot in life, and I want to give him a quick shout out. Josh Garff is a very dear friend of mine, and all of you who know him understand how much his character defines his faith... and how much that affects other people. Love you Josh. He is currently serving in Tahiti as an LDS missionary. To the Garff family that raised him - you guys are KILLER. Character is so important. It defines what we do because at the end of the day, our choice to do what is right is all we have. It is not difficult to choose what is right... so build your character and choose the right thing. I believe in you... God believes in you. 

LOVE YOU ALL! 

Smiling's my favorite!

-- 

Love the Lord and Laugh, 

เอ็ลเดอร์ สมีธ-ดริกส์

Elder Smith-Driggs  

Skyline forever...