Church Services in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Yesterday the man who owns the hotel (I think his name is Sinon) was kind enough to drive me a few blocks on a motorbike to the local LDS church. There isn't one in Vietnam, I guess it isn't allowed to operate there. I was a little nervous about the ride, but at least there was a bar under the seat for me to hold onto. That is my dilemma--where do you hold on? I would feel most secure by holding onto the driver in front of me, but I'm not sure if that would be considered too "friendly". On the motorbike in the Mekong I was actually holding onto the seat but the only place I could grab was behind me--it didn't feel safe at all. Probably just takes getting used to--they don't go that fast and it's not much different than riding a bicycle.

Here is the hotel we are staying in. It is called the Little Guest House. It was recommended by the woman who was running the place in Bangkok. It is run by a couple, they live on the side above the awning. The rooms are on the other side, there must be at least 15. I think some people live here, they look like college students. But it is very quiet. The only thing is we have a room on the third floor and it's an ordeal for my mother to climb the stairs, especially in the heat. But the room is great. Her bed has satin sheets, it's really the nicest since we've been traveling. My bed is a rollaway. It actually turned out to be alot more comfortable than it looks. Happily the place also has a clothes washing machine! I bought a ten baht thing of detergent and tonight I will wash some clothes.
Here is the side entrance to the meeting house. When Sinon took me there were a few people there including a couple of missionaries. They gave me a pamphlet that had a map in case I got lost and I said I would try to be there at 9.
This is the front entrance, which is actually somewhat hidden because the church is behind a big BP hotel. But that was how I found it on the map--the BP is a big hotel and it was marked on the map, and my information said it was behind it.
There is a surprising amount of room on the grounds, compared to other places in the area. There is a big parking lot and really nice grounds.

I got some headphones and an American missionary translated the service for the 8 or 10 of us who didn't speak Thai. The building itself is pretty much like those in America, except there is not basketball hoops in the big cultural hall, just a stage and a big open area. There was a basketball hoop out in the parking lot.

There was an English speaking Sunday school class. It is team taught by a young couple from Texas who are here teaching English in a kindergarten. There were several visitors--an older couple from Oregon just traveling around, a man from Latvia here on business, a man from Vietnam on holiday, and a couple with three children--the man works at the US Consulate. So the English class was pretty full.

Afterwards we had a combined meeting back in the chapel and again there was the translation. I had to get up and introduce myself, which I always kind of dread when I am visiting somewhere but it is expected so I do it.

All in all it was a very good day. The walk to the meeting house was only 20 minutes. On the way back I stopped at a travel agent and discussed what will be next. My mother got sick from the horrible breakfast we had on the train. I also got sick but it only last a few hours for me. We had to cancel a dinner and show we were going to tonight. Maybe tomorrow we will do an elephant trek that includes rafting on a bamboo raft and riding on an ox cart as well as a lunch buffet and visit to a butterfly farm. Then the next day if all goes well we will probably take the two day trip to Luang Prabang in Laos.

I still haven't heard a peep about my G&R date, but my plan is to fly to Saigon from Luang Prabang which should put us back there by the end of the week. I hope to meet up with the other families before they move onto Hanoi.

This last photo is right near our hotel. There is a river that runs in a square around the city, and the remnants of an old wall that hundreds of years ago enclosed the city. It really is beautiful.