Welcome to the Grind

So, another week down. Yea. last p-day I was able to find an awesome flannel shirt for only 3 bucks. sweet. I will never wear it here. but, when I get home. I will be super fly. also, they got some way cool shoes here though too... might pick some of those up for when I get home too... not that that day will ever come. but, if it does, I will be prepared for the real world once again. where you can go one day without taking a constant shower in sweat!

Last p-day right after we emailed we were riding our bikes down the street and elder wheeler got hit by a car door. A lady fllung her door open and hit his handle bar and he went flying and skidded along the road for a couple feet. luckily all he did was scrape up his elbow. It was like in the cartoons.  Afterwards the lady, saying in thai, "I'm glad that you are white because if you were thai I'd be having to pay"... thinking that we didn't know thai... oops. that's awkward ain't it!

So yea, after that we went to this market where they had a bunch of trinkets that old people would like but are really of no interest to a teenage boy... except, they had some toy guns.. those are kinda cool. GUNS. 

This week we did alot more contacting, then also did a bunch of home teaching. There are hardly any priesthood holders here so they have us home teach alot of people. but that will make up for all the times I was supposed to home teach but never did before my mission!

also... hmmm. I found this old guy at the tesco(pretty much exactly like walmart) and he came and we taught him. then yesterday he went to church as well! He is way cool. when he came to our lesson he was wearing pink skinny jeans and a short sleeve almost flannel-like shirt. What a boss. He is such a chill dude. He also has a daughter he wants to bring to church because she is making bad choices in her life.. so, hopefully this can be the family we are looking for!

oh also, yesterday we were trying to find this lady to home teach. we went to this house someone, probably her son, was there and yelled to her.. she was in the bathroom. we waited on the front porch until an old fat lady came out just wearing a towel. we were like... are you sister.... luckily she wasn't... so we ran away really quickly to find the right person.

also. there was this guy that was a less active that we invited to come to a sports activity we were doing on friday. But when he came, he was high as a kite on mary jane. so the whole time he would be screaming and acting like a dofus. It was kind of funny. he actually played really well though. Maybe they do have a point with this medical marijuana stuff... ;)

ok. also, we went to get indian food from this one guy on wednesday. it was soo good! but... the next day. BOY DID I HAVE SOME DIARRHEA. That is the only time I have gotten diarrhea really bad, and it wasn't even from thai food! the heck!

speaking of fecal matter. our district leader told us about how one time he was on a squatting toilet and he had diarrhea so explosively that it got all over his shoes and his legs. he's is thai. lol! happens to the best of us.

the members are also very open about their diarrhea stories... this one member gave me an in depth description of an episode she had recently had... yea that was the last time I asked how someone was doing.

Its also hot as crap here! but what else is new :) 24 of april is transfers. so we only got 3.5 weeks left. that means only 3.5 weeks left of being a greenie!

Have a good week ya yo'z!

-Elder Mark Hamilton Smith

Another Week Another...Week

I love the mangoes and sweet sticky rice.

Ok. sooooooo this week we had ZONE CONFERENCE! yaaaaaay! we traveled to Udon which is the center of our zone, only about an hour bus ride away. It is bigger than Nong Khai. but still nothing compared to bangkok in size or amount of people. We listened to president senior talk, had lunch, and ate a crap load of Ice cream cake. It was waaaay goood!

also, I had some other interesting experiences. 

First off. I was brushing my teeth one night and somehow I accidentally stabbed myself in the nose with my toothbrush. Then, blood started gushing all over the sink and all over the dishes that were in the sink. kinda nasty... don't tell my companion! ha. I washed them ok. we're fine.

We went contacting alot, as always. And there were a few days where it was KILLER hot! then it got all rainy and stuff. which isn't normal. but right now its overcast again and slightly breezy. pretty chill!

There were multiple times where little asian girls came up to us and wanted to get a picture with us. because we are WHITE. and because I am attractive. I think... maybe not. ok most likely not.

also, fun fact about thailand. It seems as if very other person you meet is a transvestite. yea I'm serious. we see them every day. But some of them have for sure got sex changes because they have breasts and an adams apple.... there were a couple where I would think "that is a very ugly girl with broad shoulders..... why does she have an adams apple? oh gosh..."

here is another fun fact about thailand. there is this one restaurant where the water they give you comes from a garbage can. literally, they let it drip from the faucet into a big garbage can. then when they fill up your pitcher they just dip it in the can. yum! yea, I drank from my water bottle after I found that out....

Thai food is good. and surprisingly, the microwave dinners from 7-11 are really good too! and pretty cheap. only about a dollar. oh there are 7-11's everywhere! in bangkok there is one every other building. I don't know why. but It is something that has caught on in thailand majorly big. They got some really cool asian food weird stuff too. also, they got McDonalds here. but its really expensive and "classy". ha. imagine that! a plate of thai food is like 30 bot. where as if you went to McDonalds it would be 150-200 baht.

This week at church we had zero investigators show up. 4 promised they would. ha. no one else in our district had anybody show up either. the sisters were supposed to have a baptism. but the person just didn't show up. Just the thai way of saying "I'm not interested anymore".

We were only able to get one lesson with a member the whole week, also. The members are so hard to get to come, and with people bailing so often its hard to get a solid lesson through. but I assure you guys we're trying hard, so yea!

Still hanging in here I guess.

I hope you have a good week!

-Elder Mark Smith

Flash back to Karate Kid I

Zone Conference in Udon. Mom thinks I need to work
on my selfies.

these other pictures are a chinese burial garden ... cool! Buddhists don't bury their dead, 

they burn them. but not the Chinese!

Coming Up on a Month in Thailand

Live animal trap with a super, flying mouse in it.

So what did I do this week? well, a lot of missionary work. and ALOT of contacting. It seems pretty mundane, and boring. But, I do it. My trainer says im a really good trainee. and that I work hard, so I think im getting this right. I just hope I can get to the point where I love to do missionary work.. right now im just... indifferent about it. ha

Click Here to view Catfish, Sculptures and Contacting

Sheesh I really don't know what to say. This week there was some days that were really hot, and some days that were abnormally cool. Like today, its still hot, but there is a slight breeze and its overcast... but still no rain. Its supposed to get really hot soon. I don't think I am excited for that.

On the 18th i'll have been on my mission for 3 months! yea! that will have been 1/8 of my mission. most of that having been the mtc.

The thai is coming along.... slowly.. but, coming. I can read in thai really well. I'm glad I focused really hard on that in the mtc. it really comes in handy. especially when you are reading scriptures with people,  they expect you to suck at reading, then you surprise them.

so, lets see if I can come up with some weird stories of what happened this week. yesterday a weird guy asked us if we could buy him a gun from american. we were like "why do you need a gun??" he then told us he had a bunch of middle school age kids that would harass him. so we said, "what are you gonna do, shoot them??" "no, id just shoot it in the air like you guys in america always do". haha. the things these kids see on tv.

also we traveled out into the BOONIES yesterday to find a golf course that we could possibly slink around and contact people about the gospel. along the way we found a home with a lady that makes rice mixed with ants and other bugs. Its like special food for animals that has protein in it. it was kinda weird. but yea. ESAN.

Fecal Update:

my poop seems normal now. There was a time when it was diarrhea, then I was constipated. but now I got some pretty "solid" poops!

anyways. thats my week. have fun, don't have too much fun in utah!

 Elder Mark Smith

Why don't you knock on doors? --MOMOMOMOM

Mark:  no we don't knock doors... but its mainly because people don't have doors. they live in shacks. and the people with nice houses have fences that keep people out. so yea, only walking down the streets going to places with large amounts of people to ask them if they want to be cleansed from sin. yaag lang baaaab. that is what im am saying to all the people. ha yea. I try to be a goober to make it more fun. they want us to talk to every single person we walk past no matter where we are or what we are doing.

Maybe singing hymns or the new Frozen soundtrack would be better, jk. --MOMOMOM

Mark:  or dancing. I could do the Napoleon Dynomite dance. I bet that would get em.

"Mom, my retainer broke. What do I do?"

$14 Watch and now I can wake up on time and
swim with sea monsters at 100 feet below.

Why is that a flying, super mouse in that live animal trap? --MOMOMOMOM

Mark: Here, Mom, watch this and you will understand. Click Right Here

P Day Already? jk, It's About Time;)

So we did a whole lot of stuff this week! like, A LOT.  But I realized I never told you about my companion. He is 20 yrs old, been out a year and his name is Elder Wheeler. I'll send  you a picture. He is a good trainer. He works really hard. and I like that. Because I want to be a hard worker and follow all the rules. We haven't found too much stuff in common but we are working better together and its getting easier to talk to him about stuff.

Next subject. On Monday night I was washing my dishes and I found a cochroach in our clean dishes. It annoyed me, so I went and got the cockroach spray and chased it out and went HAM ON IT.  After that I found 3 more and slayed them as well. So you can just call me the cockroach slayer now.

Also, we had a meeting and they said that we need to take the inviting up a notch again. Now, we talk to every person we pass no matter what and ask them "do you want to be cleansed from sin?" if they say no we move on. Theres not a whole lot of people in nong khai so sometimes it is a little tedious. but I have no problem going up to people and saying random crap so it doesn't bother me too much. Oh, the other companionship of elders baptized a girl this sunday. We found her 2 weeks ago. She seemed really ready, such a fast baptism. Her name is Sister Bang. I'll send you a picture.

 its funny because here you set up a bunch of lessons for them to meet you at the church so you can teach them and we even confirm with them like 3 times over the phone. then they just don't show up. These thai people are wacko! I am glad the I am from the U.S where people are blunt and rude. That way at least you know for sure if they are interested.

hmmm.... what else did I do. we biked a lot! one time we were going to visit a less active member at  7 at night . It was way dark, and they were out in the BOONIES! Since thailand isn't the best industrialized place there were no street lights. and it was DARK.  we were freaking out and I had just said, " man this is sketch, let's go back". then a member driving a motor scooter showed up and guided us to the la persons house. It was definitely a miracle.

 Oh! also! I found a fat little caterpillar in my food. Ha, i took a picture. 

I asked my trainer what we normally do when that happens, he said "ask for a coke!" because apparently the coke kills bacteria and bad stuff in your stomach, because its a potent and nasty drink or something.

So yea, we have been struggling hard here, every night I usually get home and have sweat pouring down my face, Its like  taking a shower, but with my own bodily fluids! it is kinda refreshing though to sweat that much, it makes it seem like I worked hard or something. and it cleans out my pores...acne is down to miniscule amounts. ha .  so yea. If there is anything specific you want to ask just tell me and ill fill you in. I haven' t had too many amazing things happen yet but it is pretty crazy and weird down here.

I am getting better at thai. For what its worth my trainer said my thai is better than some people that are already a transfer in.. so im doing ok. always trying though. Never satisfied. That way i'll keep progressing. and yea, its sad that it takes so long for some people to get good. especially the sisters. by the time they are good they have to go home. ha! 

 I love you so much mom! you are the best :)

 and dad too! show him this letter.

love you dad

love markie

we actually have a washing machine. then we just air dry them. Its not as humid as you would think. Well, at least, our clothes get pretty dry with a fan on them

the sisters that are here in nong khai took the photos. That was right after we had a baptism in the river which is behind the sign. We were excited abou the baptism.

well it wasnt us that baptized in the river. that was the other companionship. yea. I wouldn't be caught dead in that water... well, the only way I would go in is if I was dead ... . . . . yea

We don't have good sunsets. no. all it is every day is an orange sun because the pollution is so bad. Ha. and its the exact same every day. the weather is very consistent.

yea there are 4 elders total and 2 sisters. Us 4 elders are in one APARTMENT and the sisters are in another place. (obviously ) yea. theres actually been talk that they might not have one of the elder companionships stay next transfer because 6 missionaries in a small place  is almost too much. but I think ill be moving anyways. because I am gonna have a follow up trainer and they would keep me and have the trainer move in.

so we eat out every meal except for breakfast. the members don't have wifi, but everyone has a  phone with a data plan. actually, for some reason, lots of them have 2 phones... i don't understand it. but yea, they have nice phones, nice motor scooters, and nice cars, then they live in shacks. They spend all their free money on those things that  they see american people having. personally, id rather have a nice house to live in. Its really interesting to see how they live and to see what their culture sees as valuable.

ha yea maybe. is it 11 pm there right? oh we get fed be a member every sunday night. but other than that we don't.... I think its just because its nong khai though. I've heard other places the members feed them a ton. Like in bangkok, or asoke. 

Yea, Thailand and Stuff

Salakeawku the sculpture park

So this week seemed really long, well at least every day seemed really long but now
its already another p-day! so ya! last p day we went and visitd this weird sculpture
garden, my trainer said its like one of the weirdest far out places in thailand
so i am pretty luck to go to it and on my first transfer. I was feeling sorry for
myself for getting called clear out here but I learned that this area is one of the
most sought after places. Ha, Maybe i'd just like the big city better than this place
but I am learning to like it better. While it has been pretty trying and hard, I have
been trying to work my hardest the whole time, and not get discouraged. or rather when
I am discouraged I keep working anyways.
 From both mom and dad thanks for the advice. I have faith and hope that it'll
get better, and I'm gonna keep on working. I'll just take it one p-day at a time.
or like 1 day even.
 So, for actually what I did. was alot of contacting. We contacted contacted
and contacted some more. And all you are supposed to do is go up to someone and
ask if they want to be cleansed from their sins. President senior says the people that
are ready will want this and be open to teaching. I think It has a really good point
because this way we don't waste our time trying to convince someone thats not even
interested by first asking them questions like,.... so, nice weather today eh? not that
I can even say it in thai. ha.
 Thats another thing, my Thai is coming along poorly. But i keep working at it.
at church I can't understand hardly a single thing they are saying. But they say it
will come so I am counting on that. Last week we taught a total of 2 lessons.
 also what is fun is that after church the members always get together and eat.
So they make us food every sunday for lunch. Then a lady from the ward always brings
us dinner too.
 So just for mom, I will describe the food. Its THAI FOOD! Most of it is really
good. Especially the yellow curry with chicken. Even though its kindof basic that is
definitly my favorite dish here. Other stuff is good, too. The best treat thing ive had
is like mangoes with sticky rice. Except for the rice isn't normal rice. It is steamed
with like sugar and stuff so its pretty much like candy. Then they put mangoes with it
and you just eat it all up. Its really fattening, but so freaking good. I had that my
first day here. also they have these little cake things that look like a triangle slice
of a pb and j sandwich all wrapped up but it is so delicious. Yea, maybe mom and dad will
want to come pick me up just for that :)
 Some of the food is spicey. But you can tell them how spicey you want it. so I
usually don't get it too spicey. I don't want any bad fire butthole. I had diaharea like
once or twice already, and its not too fun. But, ya know, its your average fire butthole
experience, so im used to it. Im getting more used to defecating on a toilet with no seat
and having to pour water on my own fecul matter. Its only bad when its really hot and
humid in the bathroom and I'm sweating bullets while squatting and trying not to shiz

down my leg. Ha. the internet just crapped out in this place we were in, so we had to move to

another place. But yea. So we did the sculpture garden thing which was really weird.

Today we are probably just gonna chill and buy stuff and my companion is gonna get

a hair cut. Apparently there is not a whole lot to do but there is a sand castle thing

and im sure we will find other weird stuff to do. But yea. Ill send some pictures.

Just doing my thing here in nong khai.

love, Elder Smith

PS (Mom ask Marked if he was taller than most Thai people and more details about the food.) Now that I think of it I find myself looking down on most people. Literally,not figurativly. Also, the food is almost always served on top of rice. You got like curries, then other sauce stuff that is put on rice. There is something thats like noodles but its made out of an unriped fruit.. its name escapes me at the moment. But a lot of the times it has the peanuty taste which is really good! also they measure the heat of the food by the amount of met, or peppers that are put into it. met is the classifier for seeds. but you say that when you are saying how many you want. I usually get 1 pepper in a dish of whatever stuff. But you can go up to 20. they gave us 20 met stuff on the day we came in. it was hot, we will just say that... But my favorite by far is sticky rice with mango and the yellow curry with rice. and you can buy a dish of each of those for 40 bot. Which is only about 1.5 dollars I believe. HAH! BRAD. (MOM: London is terribly expensive, but they do have toilet seats:) but with that being said we only get like 160 dollars a month for food. it goes faster than you think... because anything that isn't authentic thai is expensive. Like, nutella. here, for a tiny thing. is like 600 baht. Not that I want it, but I was like, holy crap! you gotta be kidding. but yea.

love, markie mark