taryn 10.28.09

Hey >
This week was good. we have a lot of fun as a companionship, we work hard, and we are a powerful threesome! i have seen the Lords hand in the work every day this past week. > Gaan got baptized on Sunday! it was really neat to see her walk out of the bathroom in her white dress. i had serious doubts that i would ever see the day! she is the 13 year old who wanted to get baptized so badly, but her mom and grandpa wouldnt let her. after much prayer and fasting and faith, we were able to see the miracle of her baptism. She was so excited. we actually had 10 investigators between the elders and us there to watch it too. hah, she had to be baptized multiple times. the first time we all thought it was good, she went in and started changing, but then they figtured out that the words were said wrong and had to come back into the "boiling pot" outside which is honestly what it looks like. her head didnt go all the way under the 2nd time. the third was a charm, well almost. when she was changing, some people said that her underwear had some color and they had this big disagreement whether to count it. the branch prez finally approved it by pulling out his handbook of instruction. the three of us sang "the Lord is my Shepherd" during the program, it was so pretty! also, while she was getting dressed, i heard them singing "angels we have heard on high". hah christmas songs are fair game all year round. >
another highlight from sunday was watching 2 of the elders investigators walk in in t-shirts, one a marijuana shirt, the other with swear words written all over it. i am excited to see them in a few weeks when a change has started take place. one sad thing about clothing here is that there are alot of bad shirts written in english, but i dont think that they really understand what the shirts say.>
I have had a few khlong adventure in the past while. first, 2 weeks ago when we went to china town, as we were getting off the khlong boat, i put on my backpack and somehow my tag dropped perfectly, right into the water. the last thing i saw before the brown water took over it was my CTR sticker:( >
a big piece of the narrow old khlong path that we ride broke. there is a 2x4 piece of wood connecting that we cross, carrying our bikes over the water. scary!>
hah and the best of all. yesterday it happened. i fell in! there is a part that we usually walk our bikes down and then back up because there isa dip that is super steep. i decided that i was skilled enough and decided to ride it this time. i almost made it to the top when my bike stopped. the next thing i knew i was up to my shoulders in nasty brown water, my feet in gush with big chunks of who knows what at the bottom, and i dont want to know what else. alive or dead, that was by me. luckily it was right in the dip, where it gets submerged in the water a few inches, so throwing my bike back up and getting out was able to be done in a matter of a few seconds. hah my shoes were stuck, i wasnt about to wait for them. they floated up a little later. haha one of my elders last night said making fun of me" what a cool thing, you can tell people you swam in a thailand sewer." hah thats pretty much what it is!!! oh man i get the shivers just thinking about it! my garments are gray. one really amazing miracle is that my bag got submerged and a lot got wet, but nothing that was really important or irreplacible!! not going to lie, it felt pretty good to ride around wet. a little relief from the heat!!!>
I am going to chastize a little... please write/email me:(>
also, mom could you forward ryans email again, it didnt work.. oh, and can you send me morg's MTC and mission address? i cant believe he enters soon!!! also, thank you for the package, i got it a few weeks ago. i love the decorations, it makes me feel a little closer to home. > >
sorry, dont have enough time to write everything. I love you so much and miss you like crazy. >
love, t> >
the past week:>
number of dead frogs: 15>
bugs: HUGE cockroach. in our bedroom! mom you would have died. the thing was bigger than the one that coops made for me on his card saying "dangerous beetle, beware!">
names: cartoon, rat, new, sugar