Dear Family and friends,
Well, New Years was just as crazy as I thought it would be. Quote of the week: " I thought it was bad in America where people set off fireworks for New Years, but here they set off bombs at every street corner, and you sleep through it!"- Sister Stack. That just about sums up New Years. EVERYONE was drunk or drinking and setting off fireworks. Sister Stack woke up at 11:58 because there was so much noise. She thought I would have woken up too, but I heard none of it. I've still got some mad sleeping skills. We taught english that night, and walking home I got offered beer twice: once by a little kid, and the other by a drunk white person.
We also had a crazy week, because we thought we were going to have a baptism this week. But sister A will be out of town this week, and sister A is Yaw's best friend, so we are going to wait for her. But Yaw interviewed and is all ready to get baptized on the 18th. We also have a new dater; we found him Dan Jonesing. Basically, I stood at one street corner, and Sister Stack stood at another, and we told everyone that walked past, "This is baptism, it will relieve you from sin - want to be baptized?" He was like, "Yeah, what do I need to do?" Sister Stack said she wanted to ask him, "Why?! You don't even know what it is really..." but I'm not complaining. He was going to get baptized next week, but he didn't come to church this week, because he was working. So that will have to change.
I don't know if I told you, but there are a bunch of white guys that sit outside our apartment and drink. Well, yesterday we had a nice long conversation with them. It was so weird to be talking to someone in English that did not have a nametag! They were almost all from Africa. They were really nice people, one of them had an uncle that lives in Salt Lake and is LDS. He said we could come over and teach him and his fiance sometime. I don't think we will be able to, but hey! maybe.
That's about all I've got. so time for culture lesson! The Thai people are very, very open and honest. They will describe people as "she's fat", or "the tall one", or stuff like that. And they are just describing, they don't think anything of it. They are also very touchy. I held hands with a woman I met only 5 minutes earlier. They also love to tell me how beautiful my nose is. They are like, "Oh I love the..." *and they point to the bridge of their nose* " Thai people don't have that," and they don't.
Sorry, that was a scrambled culture lesson, but maybe it will help you know the Thais more. Here are the pictures I promised. There's Sister A's baptism, Christmas, and our church, which really does look like a temple.
I love you all so much! Happy birthday, they bug!
Sister Barber
Well, New Years was just as crazy as I thought it would be. Quote of the week: " I thought it was bad in America where people set off fireworks for New Years, but here they set off bombs at every street corner, and you sleep through it!"- Sister Stack. That just about sums up New Years. EVERYONE was drunk or drinking and setting off fireworks. Sister Stack woke up at 11:58 because there was so much noise. She thought I would have woken up too, but I heard none of it. I've still got some mad sleeping skills. We taught english that night, and walking home I got offered beer twice: once by a little kid, and the other by a drunk white person.
We also had a crazy week, because we thought we were going to have a baptism this week. But sister A will be out of town this week, and sister A is Yaw's best friend, so we are going to wait for her. But Yaw interviewed and is all ready to get baptized on the 18th. We also have a new dater; we found him Dan Jonesing. Basically, I stood at one street corner, and Sister Stack stood at another, and we told everyone that walked past, "This is baptism, it will relieve you from sin - want to be baptized?" He was like, "Yeah, what do I need to do?" Sister Stack said she wanted to ask him, "Why?! You don't even know what it is really..." but I'm not complaining. He was going to get baptized next week, but he didn't come to church this week, because he was working. So that will have to change.
I don't know if I told you, but there are a bunch of white guys that sit outside our apartment and drink. Well, yesterday we had a nice long conversation with them. It was so weird to be talking to someone in English that did not have a nametag! They were almost all from Africa. They were really nice people, one of them had an uncle that lives in Salt Lake and is LDS. He said we could come over and teach him and his fiance sometime. I don't think we will be able to, but hey! maybe.
That's about all I've got. so time for culture lesson! The Thai people are very, very open and honest. They will describe people as "she's fat", or "the tall one", or stuff like that. And they are just describing, they don't think anything of it. They are also very touchy. I held hands with a woman I met only 5 minutes earlier. They also love to tell me how beautiful my nose is. They are like, "Oh I love the..." *and they point to the bridge of their nose* " Thai people don't have that," and they don't.
Sorry, that was a scrambled culture lesson, but maybe it will help you know the Thais more. Here are the pictures I promised. There's Sister A's baptism, Christmas, and our church, which really does look like a temple.
I love you all so much! Happy birthday, they bug!
Sister Barber