June 15, 2015

Elder Bundy riding the streets of Plok

Elder Bundy reported that he had a great week in Thailand this week.  He has been very busy and feels like he is finally getting use to the climate, the culture, chop sticks, the food and all the other new things he is experiencing on his mission.

 Elder Wright and Elder Bundy have been practicing eating spicy foods by eating a "prick" pepper everyday.  Their practicing has paid off as even though it hurts pretty bad at first, their tolerance level has increased exponentially

  

Here's what Elder Bundy has been up to this week:

Tracting and teaching?

The Bangkok Thailand Mission standard is to tract at least two hours everyday, usually right after our studies in the middle of the day.   Elder Bundy and his companion go finding, which means just talking to everyone and anyone who will listen.  The culture in Thailand is almost nothing like America.  Missionaries stand in front of people, motorcycles, run with people, anything to get people's attention and just start teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Basically, Elder Bundy said, "we do anything we can to get people to stop and listen.  Most of the time we just start yelling in crowds things like, 'who wants their sins cleansed?',  'who wants to be forgiven of their sins,'  'who wants to be with their family forever?'  Elder wright and I will get close to 20 numbers everyday.  It's pretty fun..."

Wash machine problems.

Elder Bundy said they are still without a washing machine!!  He added, "and we can't get a hold of our landlord, so we've been hand washing all of our clothes this past week...  :(  It's not very fun.."

Best experiences Elder Bundy had this week?

Elder Bundy and Elder Write go regularly to a backwoods neighborhood to teach investigators.  When they went there this past week, there were kids in the street playing soccer.  Elder Bundy hopped off of his bike and started playing with them.  He was amazed at how good they were.  The kids all looked to be about 6 years old.  He was shocked when he asked them how old they were and they told him they were all 12 and 13.  Elder Bundy added, "the kids here just don’t develop the same as in the states.  They just don't have good water, and malnutrition is everywhere. It’s pretty sad..." Elder Bundy really enjoyed playing street soccer with them this week and will send a video next week if he can.  He added,  "......we’re like celebrities in that neighborhood tho... we teach 3 people in it and a guy from there is carving an elephant statue for Elder Wright.....We play with the kids whenever we are there.......it’s hilarious, they chant our names when we roll in and make us feel really special."

This is Elder Bundy teaching a Yay, (grandma), in her house. This is a typical house here.  Elder Bundy said that they keep them as clean as they can, but they are filled with creatures.  They can't really keep them out.

This past week Elder Bundy and Elder Wright were going to baptize the 86 year old woman he told us about last week.   But when she arrived at church this week, she was super weak.  Elder Bundy writes, "She asked us for another (priesthood) blessing and after the blessing, we just felt like we had better wait a week, or maybe two." 

After they gave the blessing, they went into the kitchen at the church where a 17 year old member was preparing food for everyone.  Elder Bundy noticed that the girl's nose just started bleeding.  Her mom started explaining that her daughter has a low blood platelet count or something.  She explained that the bleeding probably would not stop.  Elder Bundy wrote, "then out of the blue, randomly... she started bleeding out of her eyes!!  It was the weirdest thing I have ever seen!  She just started crying tears of blood......Elder Wright and I immediately gave her a blessing and the bleeding immediately stopped....all of it stopped... thank goodness for the Priesthood!"

When does the new Mission President take over?  Did the Elders in Plok get to attend the meeting where they formed the stake in Ubon?

Elder Bundy believes the new Mission President takes over the first week of July, but he is unsure.   The new stake in Ubon is up and running.  He added, "it's way cool... and no, Wright and I are the only Elders in like a 500 mile radius, so we had to stay here in Plok." 

Sleep?

Elder Bundy answered, "It’s okay, we have an AC unit in our bedroom, but it's usually about 99 degrees when we come home, so, it takes a while for it to cool down.  But for the first week, I was sooooo tired by the end of the day, like in planning I was passing out."

How close is he to Bangkok and the mission home?

It is about a 6+ hour bus ride from PLOK to Bangkok.

Did the wart on his hand ever fall off?

Elder Bundy wrote, "Yes! That thing was gone the second week in the MTC... Funny story... Elder Lor, accidentally on purpose spilled consecrated oil on my hand.  The next day it was gone.... SO we always had a good laugh about that, lol." 

Riding elephants?

Elder Bundy has not yet been able to ride an elephant, but says that he is definitely going to get to ride them next week.  So watch for those pictures.

Where do they write their letters home?  Is it like an internet café in the states?  A lot of things in Thailand are cheap, but how about cameras, phones, etc.?

It’s called a ‘gaming house.’  It’s like 50-60 computers lined up for people to play video games on.  It costs them 30 baht for 3 hours use, which is one dollar US.  He added that commercial stuff like IPhones, cameras, etc., are the same price in Thailand as in the states.

What is it like singing the hymns in church?  Has Elder Bundy played the piano for any meetings?  

In Thailand, there is a sister in Elder Bundy's district who can play the piano, and that’s her job, so he hasn't been asked yet.  He added, "The hardest part is just reading the Thai fast enough, I guess.  It’s kinda nice tho, because you don’t have to read the tones."

Elder Bundy's handstand of the week.

This week's handstand is on some train tracks that they cross about 5 times a day every day to reach investigators they are teaching.  The trains come every 5 minutes.....just enough time to get this picture, then get off.