I put all of those dots there to show my excitement. If you feel the need you can pretend they are exclamation points. haha.
Well. first of all typing right now is kind of freaking me out because every single key has like ten different markings on it. So as long as I don't ever look at my hands I'm good. But, right now we are in an internet cafe. A whole bunch of teenagers are all around us gaming and yelling and laughing. It cost us 20 baht to get an hour and a half of computer time.
So... Thailand!!! Can you believe that? I am now in Thailand. It's kind of like a dream. Completely surreal. The flight was an eternity. Our group placed... hmm let me think, I think it was 4 Books of Mormon. We placed 4 books of mormon on the first flight to LA!!! I didn't cause I was next to Elder Davis, but it was cool nonetheless.
Those first few hours were completely nuts!! We got little lays (haha, I Don't know how to spell it.) and took a bunch of pictures. We spent the first night in a hotel and our room was freezing! 16 degrees C. It felt great though. We had transfer meeting on Thursday and I got my new companion! Elder Wilko! He is amazing! He's from... ooohhh. that's embarrassing, that city right next to... ah man! well never mind.
But he is great, he's 20 and has been here for 14 months i think. We got assigned to Udorn 2nd branch. So after the meeting we caught a 12 hour bus ride up to Udorn Thani. It should have been only 8-10 hours but there was an issue with our luggage and it couldn't all fit on the bus so they sent our bags the next day. And I lost my small bag and suit jacket. But that's all right... I guess. Not too big of a deal, nothing essential, just inconveniencing. Thank goodness it was only my preach my gospels, some toiletries, my $94 dictionary, and all my normal clothes, except my favorite shirt and one pair of gym shorts! Thank goodness for that. But it's okay. I'll survive. haha
OH! I forgot, that first day they had us go Dan Jonesing! I placed my first Book of Mormon with Elder Tirrell( Who knew! I didn't know he was in Thailand!) Oh, and President Senior said we had to go together. BTW, President Senior is the best. Don't believe anything any other missionaries say. haha
Sorry if this is kind of all over the place... Cause it is. But I'm just pretty happy and excited and trying to type quickly.
Udorn Thani is a city near the border of Laos. In the north east of Thailand. They speak a suprising amount of what is Laotian, and that's throwing me off, cause two really common words, both of which sound like mai, but with different tones, are here said b(( (haha I use the parentheses to type อ ) Hey! I can type thai stuff now!!! And they dont say their ch sounds... So I struggle a little bit to understand them. But I'm okay with it. I'd say the biggest struggle here is not being able to understand people. But I've decided to just try my hardest to understand and increase my language a little bit every day and rely on the Lord's help to learn this language. Other than the language everything is perfect.
Here's a list of all these perfect things!
-The days are busy
-My backside hurts from the bike
-I might have a blister
-We don't own any toilet paper but we have little sprayers in each bathroom....( haha )
-The food is too delicious
-The work is awesome
-My bike is legit,
-My companion is awesome
-I'm in the same house as the Zone Leaders and they're awesome too.
-The church is ten minutes away on the bike and the ride is awesome. I think I'm losing weight already.
-This city is huge, but nothing compared to Bangkok.
-The people are so nice.
-Ward volleyball is way more entertaining here than at home, and I thought it was crazy in Provo.... haha
-The chapel is on the second floor and I don't understand the entire meeting, or any of the meetings.
-One of the boys asked me what thriftshop is. haha
-We gave two blessings yesterday, one to a woman in a wheelchair, the other with a member who has been inactive for 12 years and his wife wasn't feeling well. I cried.
-One of our investigators is a dance instructor. and he is so funny during ward volleyball.
-The district president speaks english and is super funny.
-Well, everyone is probably super funny I just can't understand them. hahahahahaha
-This food is absolute heaven.
-Riding your bike on a highway with buses, trucks, motorcycles and cars is an exhilarating experience. Sounds dangerous, but we're good. Don't worry.
-Giving books of mormon to people is cool. This on guy, who we happened to ride with twice on his Tuk Tuk wrapped it up in his little cloth that he wears like a belt ( I can't remember what it's called ) because he didn't want it to get dirty or ruined.
-My reading is getting better so quickly! They have tons of weird fonts that are hard to get used to. and I thought some of the English fonts were impossible to read... haha
-I jammed my thumb at ward sports night/ ward volleyball and soccer. and i bruised the other one. So I have a discolored thumb and a swollen thumb! haha
-Food is cheap, so I don't feel bad eating all of this delicious food.
-Well everything is cheap.
-My shampoo is in a bag.
-The milk tastes weird, but I think I like it more.
-Sister Hart makes us waffles on sunday nights. Well she makes the mix and we have to make them.
-Our beds are all in the same room, just mattresses on the floor.
-It's hot here, but not too hot. And dryer than I expected.
-Brother Spooky (I don't know where he got that nick name ) is hilarious and I can't understand him. He plays volleyball like a boss and cracks jokes with me that I don't understand so I just laugh and say chai!
-Ward choir is amazing. I thought I knew how to sing, I guess not. These thai people really know how to sing. Everyone is so off tune that I can't even find my note or hear the piano. And I can barely read, so when they asked us to watch the conductor I decided it was impossible to do both, I can hardly do it when I'm singing in English. And the Sopranos... have the voices of angels. But no matter how interesting our choir sounds, it is the best choir I have ever heard.
-Ward choir is definitely no MTC choir. haha
-They had me bear my testimony in sacrament meeting. Now I understand the meaning of, "my head was swimming". Cause my vision was all over the place, it was like I just got off of a very spinny roller coaster.
Oh, Elder Wilko is also the district leader, so tomorrow we will take a bus to a different area for a baptismal interview.
-Oh, because our bags were gone for a couple days, I didn't brush my teeth for two and a half days... sorry about that. haha
Well, I'm running out of time.
I love you all!
Elder Christopher Osborn
It was pouring the first day we got here in Bangkok. And the streets were pretty much lakes. Super fun to drive.
in.
These are tuk tuks... beautiful 3 wheeled vehicles. One of our investigators drives one of these things.
This is my new bike!! Itwill not be new for very long... haha
Typical Udorn. A beautiful City :)
My desk, super dirty, but it was worse when we got here. I'll clean it today since it's pday.
These are our beds. haha awesome isnt it?
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