August 29th Letter

Howdy!

I will start with our questions. I took out a hundred dollars for a few things, I bought a bag, and then I did some fun things down in Udon whilst I was there that cost money, like eat at Sizzler. Now I know that it doesn't sound that cool, but Sizzler is one of the nicest restaurants in Thailand. I’m not lying it is so high society. A meal here is usually about 30 baht, a dollar. To eat at Sizzler it was 400 baht, 12 dollars. Still, not a lot but for a Thai person, it is a fortune. I figured I would give myself a treat because up here in Nong Khai the only Farang (white people) food we have is KFC, and I am not a huge fan. Plus it was Elder Andersons Birthday so we had to do something, but I have about 1000 baht, 33 dollars, left I'm not sure what to do with it but I'm sure I will put it to good use. I feel so guilty spending money. Compared to the other elders I haven’t spent hardly anything. I'm not sure how much is appropriate to spend but I hope this isn't too much. I am also sending a package home in the next few days, it doesn't have anything way cool in it, but I have put something cheap and simple for everybody. It will probably get there by Christmas; I will send it via boat so it should take 3ish months. To answer mom’s question, here they only have Bahts, anywhere from 30 to 33 baht is a dollar, depending on the exchange rate.

I got your package by the way. It was way sweet. Thanks for the treat. IT was a nice taste of America. Those rice crispy treats might be gone already though - I downed them. I shared though so I don't feel so guilty.

Our physical address is really hard to give you because we don't have a house number, but the road (also called thanon) we are on is called "thanon mechai" and then we are down a little street called a soi. It is "Wad Yod Gaew soi 2". IF you get Brady’s help he might be able to describe the difference between a thanon and a soi. It confused me at first but now I understand.

P-days are actually pretty lame. Sometimes we go out and do something fun like here in Nong Khai we have very popular talaad (market) called Tasadet. We go there sometimes, like today, because Elder Greene is leaving and he wants to go get a few things there, but we have seen Sala Kaew Ku - That was fun once. I'm sure I will have to go with my new companion. It seems to be one of the more favorites. We also have a huge water fall here called Chetsi. It is about an hour drive away. I think on a p-day in the future I will go see that. Elder Greene isn't a huge fan of going out and doing stuff so most weeks we just relax at home and write letters or whatever. I don't get a whole ton of letters so mostly I just sit around, I'm attempting to learn the ukulele and the piano. I am not being successful at all, which reminds me - I never got Maren’s letter - Did she even send one?

This week has been pretty fast. Because we didn't get home to Nong Khai until Friday and now it is Monday so I don't have all that many stories. But I do have a question which will actually answer one of mom’s questions. You asked about a really good investigator that we have. Their names are Waew and Ning... ish. Anywho, they have been investigators a long time but the previous elders have dropped them, but recently they started coming to church, so we figured we can't not teach them. We pray for people to come to church every day. We just need to be grateful for the ones that do. When they come to church nobody is really befriending them. I don't know how to get the members to except them. It is way hard for Ning because she is only 15 and a lot of the younger members are very excluding, and we can't sit by her and initiate her because that would really feel inappropriate. If you have any suggestions, just let me know.

I don't have a whole lot else, but about that small procedure. I'm not exactly sure what the “doctors” up here in Nong Khai were thinking. They didn't stitch it up, I suppose they thought it was still oozing, but I decided to go to the international hospital in Udon. I saw an American doctor who was just like "you’re done." He put a band-aid on it and said don't take this off for 3 days, after that you are good. He still wanted me to take antibiotics to make sure I don't get infected. He went to school in Boston, so I trust him over all the other doctors here. No need to be worried, all is good. I'm way excited for this week though, moves weeks are way exciting. It is always a surprise what happens, I hope I get a cool companion.

I love you all. Thanks for your support and your love. I will write next week and let you know who I get.