The Weekends

05/20/12 >>> We get weekends off, so we took a trip!

Saturday Morning we headed out in vans to Chiang Rai. We ended up visiting a tourist spot in the mountains called Doi Tung. I had no idea what to expect from the experience, but our country directors planned the trip and I’m really glad we did it. I learned a lot about the King and Queen of Thailand with the exhibits that were offered there. At this spot, we toured through The Royal Gardens, The Hall of Inspiration and the Royal Villa. The gardens were beautiful and it’s neat because the whole area of Doi Tung was actually a place that was made beautiful and fertile because the queen chose to focus on its growth and development. The Hall of Inspiration is a walk through exhibit that teaches about the lives of the King and the Queen. It’s also filled with great quotes and stories about them. They really are inspiring people who wanted to help Thailand become a better place and did an amazing amount of good for its people. The villa was the last place we visited and this was a great place to learn more about the Queen and the type of woman that she was. I understand now why there are pictures of the king and queen everywhere and why the people of Thailand love them so much.

Sunday, we traveled back into Chiange Rai and attended church with an LDS branch there. We had the option of listening to the meeting in English with headphones, but I really enjoy following a meeting with the language barrier. There is a different kind of spiritual experience when attending meetings like this. It’s so powerful to me to especially go through the sacrament service in another language. I still know what is going on when the songs are sung and the blessing on the sacrament is given. The savior’s atonement just seems to become more powerful in these kinds of moments. I can’t help but be amazed by how huge the world is, but it covers everyone and God is still aware of all of us (Every nation, tongue and people).
Before we went to church, we drove/hiked to the top of the tallest mountain on the mountain range bordering Thailand and Laos. It was really foggy and we only saw the sun for about 15 seconds, but it was beautiful. The picture above is one that I was able to catch. Technically, you are looking into Laos here :)

We also went to visit a Buddhist temple that Chiang Rai is famous for. It was on my wish list of things to see. Although, it was interesting to hear about the temple from the perspective of our country director (who is from Thailand). He does not see this particular temple as a real Buddhist temple. It’s really flashy and seemed like it was more of a place to make an artistic statement and to attract tourists. When we went inside of the temple, it was small and the walls made up a large mural. The mural was kind of strange because it had a lot of things depicted from American cinema… Like characters from Pirates of the Caribbean, Kung Fu Panda, and Battle Star Galactica. I think the overall theme however, was that people need to move away from evil things (like Kung Fu Panda apparently) and go toward good things and Buddha.


Weekend... 05/27/12

After we got back from visiting the orphanage, we could hear music from some kind of festival that was occurring down the river. We walked down there and it ended up being a small party. Kind of like a backyard bar-b-q/neighborhood dance party. The people believed in a spirit that would choose them individually from the crowd to get up and dance and I’m not even sure when they stop dancing. While we were there, we saw a woman who was “chosen” by the spirit and she started shaking and almost weeping. At the moment we weren’t sure if she was having a seizure or throwing a fit or what was going on.

Also… I got a ukulele today and I’m really excited about it. I got to start learning some songs on Sunday which was really fun for me. My friend whose from Hawaii taught me some traditional songs that she knew from home and I figured out how to play “Love One Another” so I’d have a Sunday song to play :)

Sunday

Drove to church in Chiang Rai. Side Details about this. Another girl and I got a little bit car sick, but ended up being okay. The group crammed into a big van, and this girl and I got seats toward the front where we face sideways/backwards. This isn’t usually a big deal for me, but we were in a stuffy van and the trip is an hour and a half long, mostly on windy roads through the mountains. I’m so grateful to have been able to go to church though! I love going. It always feels so great to go to church and the people there are wonderful. Today, there was a pretty big congregation. When people speak in church, we are able to use headsets and a missionary translates their talks and testimonies into English for us to hear. One gentleman who bore his testimony talked about how great it would be to continually have so many people in their congregation. If they had 80 members consistently for a year, they could have a real chapel to meet in for Sunday meetings.

I hope it’s not too irreverent for Sundays, but we visited the Khunkorn waterfall after church while we were in Chiang Rai. It was so pretty. It was also fun to pinch myself as I realized that I was taking a walk through a bamboo forest and visiting a beautiful waterfall in Thailand.