So, we have been in Thailand for two and half years! Has it really been that long? I mean it feels like just yesterday that we were stepping on that plane, not knowing what was going to happen next. Now we are getting ready to move and start our own work. If you don't mind, I am going to take a little time to think about all God has done for us during the past two and half years. :D
We got to work with real estate agents the day after we got here. Looking at houses all over the place. With the help of a missionary friend, we found a house and about a month later we found our first car. Then we started language school and Kenton and I started studying with a tutor that came to our house.
A month later was Kenton's 9th birthday. That was the day that Kenton started learning karate and we got our dog, Indy. A couple weeks later, I met my first friend, Jin. And Kenton became became friends with her brother Jun. We hung out all the time!
Thai studying went on and we were all progressing pretty well. Then we experienced our first rainy season and I started piano lessons at a school in Chiang Mai. I also began to feel convicted of being a sinner even though I had been in church all my life. To push this aside, I began teaching Sunday School in Thai. My first Sunday School was memorized word for word and I said it in 7 minutes!
We started school again and we also started studying Revelation in devotions. I was continuously convicted until one Wednesday night, September 26, 2012. I asked Jesus to come into my heart and to help me be the missionary kid that he wanted me to be. To tell others of the wondrous love of Jesus.
A few months later, I met my friend Hannah Frederick, and we spent our first Thanksgiving in Thailand with the Frederick and Sullivant families. Then Christmas and my 13th birthday came around and it seemed so different to not be with family at times like those. But it was still fun with just our family. On Christmas, we skyped our family in America and it was almost like being there except without all of the hugs and stuff.
Then came the new year. That year we progressed so much and so fast that it is very hard to remember all that happened last year. I finished language school in June and Mom, Dad, and Kenton did later in the year. Dad began preaching more and more often for Pastor Srithone. I began teaching Sunday School on a regular basis at Wiangping Baptist Church.
I met my friend Kate at the beginning of 2013. She was my first American friend that was actually my age. We became really good friends. In April, the Ballou family came to Thailand and a month later, Alisa Ballou began teaching me piano. She helped me progress in hymn playing and really helped me increase my knowledge in music.
Time went by (or I should say that it flew by) and before we knew it, we had finished the school year and had entered summer or rainy season. In July of that year, my friend Hannah Frederick left Thailand. She had helped me a lot with dealing with being in a new place and being a teenager on the mission field and really encouraged me in many ways.
Later that year, we got the surprise that we were going home for Christmas but we weren't supposed to tell anyone in America. I can't tell you how hard it was to keep that secret for 4 months. But we did and surprised our grandparents when we got back. It was an awesome day! It was so good after 2 years to see all of our old friends again.
We came back to Thailand three weeks later after having spent Christmas and New Year's with the family. We got right to work filling in for other missionaries while they went on furlough. We are still filing in for Bro. Mike Frederick and Bro. Mike Sullivant. I have also been able to play piano every service for several months now and it's getting easier and easier to do.
God is so good. I can't tell you how many memories I have made here in Chiang Mai. It is hard to believe that we have been here for so long. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us in the next few months as we move to Uttaradit and begin to start a work of our own.
We got to work with real estate agents the day after we got here. Looking at houses all over the place. With the help of a missionary friend, we found a house and about a month later we found our first car. Then we started language school and Kenton and I started studying with a tutor that came to our house.
A month later was Kenton's 9th birthday. That was the day that Kenton started learning karate and we got our dog, Indy. A couple weeks later, I met my first friend, Jin. And Kenton became became friends with her brother Jun. We hung out all the time!
Thai studying went on and we were all progressing pretty well. Then we experienced our first rainy season and I started piano lessons at a school in Chiang Mai. I also began to feel convicted of being a sinner even though I had been in church all my life. To push this aside, I began teaching Sunday School in Thai. My first Sunday School was memorized word for word and I said it in 7 minutes!
We started school again and we also started studying Revelation in devotions. I was continuously convicted until one Wednesday night, September 26, 2012. I asked Jesus to come into my heart and to help me be the missionary kid that he wanted me to be. To tell others of the wondrous love of Jesus.
A few months later, I met my friend Hannah Frederick, and we spent our first Thanksgiving in Thailand with the Frederick and Sullivant families. Then Christmas and my 13th birthday came around and it seemed so different to not be with family at times like those. But it was still fun with just our family. On Christmas, we skyped our family in America and it was almost like being there except without all of the hugs and stuff.
Then came the new year. That year we progressed so much and so fast that it is very hard to remember all that happened last year. I finished language school in June and Mom, Dad, and Kenton did later in the year. Dad began preaching more and more often for Pastor Srithone. I began teaching Sunday School on a regular basis at Wiangping Baptist Church.
I met my friend Kate at the beginning of 2013. She was my first American friend that was actually my age. We became really good friends. In April, the Ballou family came to Thailand and a month later, Alisa Ballou began teaching me piano. She helped me progress in hymn playing and really helped me increase my knowledge in music.
Time went by (or I should say that it flew by) and before we knew it, we had finished the school year and had entered summer or rainy season. In July of that year, my friend Hannah Frederick left Thailand. She had helped me a lot with dealing with being in a new place and being a teenager on the mission field and really encouraged me in many ways.
Later that year, we got the surprise that we were going home for Christmas but we weren't supposed to tell anyone in America. I can't tell you how hard it was to keep that secret for 4 months. But we did and surprised our grandparents when we got back. It was an awesome day! It was so good after 2 years to see all of our old friends again.
We came back to Thailand three weeks later after having spent Christmas and New Year's with the family. We got right to work filling in for other missionaries while they went on furlough. We are still filing in for Bro. Mike Frederick and Bro. Mike Sullivant. I have also been able to play piano every service for several months now and it's getting easier and easier to do.
God is so good. I can't tell you how many memories I have made here in Chiang Mai. It is hard to believe that we have been here for so long. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us in the next few months as we move to Uttaradit and begin to start a work of our own.