Thailand Bangkok Mission

It's been over 11 years since I got my mission call, but right now it's at the forefront of my mind. Through the wonder of Facebook, I recently got back in touch with some of my old companions and have learned that our Mission President is having a reunion at his house this week. Heather and I made a last minute decision to head down to Utah, and since then, I have been looking through photo albums. I chose a few pictures to share.

I remember how excited I was when I got my mission call. Dad and the girls and I went to mom's grave to open the letter. None of us could believe where I was going.







Dad and the girls drove me down to the missionary training center in Provo. The trip itself was an adventure but it was a blessing to spend the time together. When they dropped me off at the MTC there was a short meeting (I don't even remember what it was about) and at the end, us missionaries had to leave through one door and the families had to leave through another. I am a little choked up just thinking about when I had to say goodbye and walk through that door.



Here is a picture of the Thai Elders and Sisters in my group. We had gospel and language classes together and became like family. The MTC was a great experience.



When I first got in-country I felt out of my element. Despite being so confident after two months of language training, I couldn't understand a word of Thai. The weather was different, the smells were different, the culture was so different. I thought that the food was going to kill me. Fortunately I had a patient trainer and my first area, Lampang, was awesome.

After a "moves meeting" in Bangkok, all those being transferred to a new area were dropped off at the train station. Each group got on a train bound for their particular area and by the end of the day, everyone was gone. The trains didn't stop for long so we had to load all of our earthly possessions as well as scriptures and supplies for the area as fast as we could.




Here is a photo of us teaching English in an elementary school as part of our weekly service hours. It looks like we are working on the song "head, shoulders, knees, and toes". The kids in Thailand were so cute and so much fun.




The Thai people are the kindest and best people I have ever met. They are so polite and generous. As we walked down the street, strangers would call to us and ask if we needed water or if we were hungry. Only once on my mission did someone attack my beliefs, and it wasn't even a Thai but rather an American gentleman who had started a church in one of my areas. This was a stark contrast to the treatment received by my friends who were serving in France, England, and Canada at the same time. As a general rule, I avoided contact with foreigners. I was suspicious of what their motives were for being there, and I didn't feel like I was a part of them. I felt like Thailand was my home. We lived among the people and spoke the language. I felt Thai. This picture is of a baptism in one of the branches I served in.




As you can see from the next few photos I had some fun experiences. I didn't realize until I got home, but my family went though a lot of hardships while I was gone. They never mentioned it in their letters, but at one point dad even sold the washer and dryer to get some extra money. I know that Jewel helped out a lot too. To this day, I feel a little guilty whenever I think about my mission and consider the sacrifices that my family was making at home.








I think I was tired the whole two years I was gone. Sometimes when we came in for lunch I would eat as fast as I could, then lay on the floor with my tie over my eyes, and sleep for a few minutes until it was time to get back out. Besides teaching the gospel everyday, we were fortunate to have time set aside for personal scripture study and prayer. We had to be up at 6:30 each morning and out of the house by 9:30. We could come back in for an hour at lunch time. We came home at 9:30 each night and had to be in bed by 10:30. We weren't allowed newspapers, TV, or music (except church hymns). We could phone home twice a year, Christmas and Mother's Day. It was so awesome to hear my family's voices during those calls. And it was so hard to hang up the phone afterwards.

These rules were not as difficult as they sound to me now, I loved them. I felt that every time I did what I was supposed to do, I could expect to have the Spirit with me. I have never felt as close to my Heavenly Father as I did then. I've never been so fearless; I fully expected miracles to happen and they routinely did.





By the end of my mission, I was as nervous about returning to Canada as I had been about coming to Thailand. I was perfectly at home and wanted to continue being a missionary. I extended by an extra month but even then, it was soon time to leave. I finished off my mission as a travelling assistant and it was great to see so many areas of the mission and to teach with so many of the missionaries. But it was also enough to finally kill my Sketchers (I don't remember what's wrong with my eye in that picture; however, over the two years I was bitten by a few different species of animals and was also hospitalized briefly with dengue fever).



Here is a form letter that I sent home to my family. Written by some unknown missionary it is kind of silly but I think it does a good job of conveying some of the things that were unique to our mission:






Heather and I went back to Thailand for our honeymoon and even visited the mission office. It was bittersweet. There was a new Mission President and no one had ever heard of Elder Rausch - I was a tourist and didn't really belong there the way I did when I was a missionary. I have been homesick for Thailand ever since I left. I miss the people and the customs. I still have some Thai mannerisms.

So why the long post? Probably because I'm nervous.
I'm nervous to see President Goodman after so many years. I can't wait to see my old companions; but I hope I haven't changed too much from what they remember. I hope it's like coming home.





- C