Hi!
Yay, I have some time to write today. Hopefully I can give an update and write something interesting.
Time just keeps speeding up. The moves is over this next week! I shouldn't be moving or anything though, also I don't think Elder Panom will be moving either. If I had to guess, I would say that Elder Crowley and Sister Livingston are out, but I'm not sure. I'll probably get to go down to Bangkok anyways though, I think I have to renew my visa next week.
In terms of fun. Last week was Zone Thiaw (thiaw is the word for hangout/vaction/go out) We went up to the tiger farm up in northern Ubon in an area called Dragaan. It was pretty fun. They had lots of dangerous animals and a lot of strange animals too. Many tigers, lions, panthers, bears, etc.. They also had monkies, alligators, weird birds, 3-legged tigers, 5-legged cows. The best part about it was that their was very few safety precautions at all. The cages did not have locks on them. The cages were thin chain-linked fences. And you could go all the way up and touch them. So pretty much, if there was a crazy person they could just open up all the cages and tigers would run loose everywhere. Cool. Good news though I got to pet a tiger and a lepard. It was kinda scary to stick my hand in the cage and pet it. Oh well. All is well, right?
Ok, I want to take a little bit of time and explain my comment I made last week about scripture studying. Ok. So in the English lanuage, we have very few pronouns. Everyone uses the word I for themselves, regardless of who they are or who they are talking to. Everyone refers to other people as you, he, or she. This makes reading the scriptures in English difficult sometimes. Often times in English in the scriptures it is difficult to tell who is talking, what he is talking about, and who he is talking to. Example:
1 Nephi 20: 14 - All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; who among them hath declared these things unto them? The Lord hath loved him; yea, and he will fulfil his word which he hath declared by them; and he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall come upon the Chaldeans.
Ok, confusing right? Who is talking? Who is listening? Who is him?
If we read it in Thai, we learn that the pronoun him/he/his changes who it is referring to part-way through the verse. It actually refers to three different people in this verse.
It is great! I can compare the English and the Thai Book of Mormon to gain new insight. Whenever God talks or is talked to, the 1st and 3rd person pronoun is different. Whenever the Prophet talks or is being talked to, the 1st and 3rd person pronoun changes as well.
This has really enhanced my scripture study and is going to be a great tool throughout my life. I have really been able to understand the scriptures a lot better.
Another thing that Thai brings a better insight is with age. In thai there is no word for brother or sister. There is only a word for older brother, younger brother, older sister, and younger sister. Example:
The brother of Jared in the Book of Ether. Is he Jareds younger brother or older brother? If you look in the English edition, it does not tell you. In the Thai it does. Mohanrimoriancomer is actually Jareds little brother. Cool insight, changes the signifcance. Jared sent his little brother to ask of the Lord. Cool, yes?
Hope all that made sense!
Next thing. Last night I was talking to our recent baptism Brother Bahn and he told us that he has a goal to serve a mission. We were way excited; we have never even talked to him about being a missionary and he already is set on doing it. This was great news! If all goes well, he will be on his mission serving here before I even go home. That will be great to see!
Well I am out of time! Hope all is well. I send you my best.
Love,
Elder Brown
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