Day 23: Church in Bangkok and Hua Hin

Jacob found an English-speaking ward only five minutes from our hotel!  We caught a cab and walked into a jam-packed fast and testimony meeting.  Like our branch, there were people from many, many different countries in attendance.  Anna was impressed by an Asian girl about her age who had written out a heart-felt testimony in English, obviously not her first language.  One of Jacob's young men, Bud, is serving his mission in Thailand (up north in Chiang Rai), so he was thrilled to meet a missionary who was in the MTC with him.  Unlike the Philippines which is predominantly Christian and has 18 LDS missions, Thailand is overwhelmingly Buddhist, with less than 1% of its population claiming Christianity as its religion.    Certainly a challenging mission!  Our kids love Bud and it was fun to talk about him serving in this beautiful country.  At one of our delicious dinners, Sam proclaimed, "I want to serve my mission HERE because the food it sooooo good!"

After church we got on the road to Hua Hin, which is a beach town about 2 1/2 hours south of Bangkok.    I had stayed up until 2 A.M. earlier in the week planning our trip and booking hotels.  I found a little resort called Anantasila that got great reviews on Trip Advisor.  I was initially tempted to go with a safer option like the Hilton, but took the plunge.  As we drove down a twisting, dirt road, I started getting nervous that I'd booked us at a dive.  We pulled into the parking lot and my nervousness peaked...the whole parking lot was under construction.  However, when we got out of the car and walked around the corner we found PARADISE!  I was so thrilled and relieved.  Orchids were growing everywhere and the infinity pool looked out onto the ocean.  The staff was gracious and accommodating, allowing us to have all six of us in a poolside room (and it was reasonably priced)!  We ate calamari and Thai coconut soup on the patio overlooking the ocean after a walk on the beach.  Dreamy...