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Back in the 70s, the Thailand Bangkok Mission put together a mission band
called Sidthichon Yugsudthaay ("Latter-day Saints" in Thai). The band sang
a mixture of popular songs of the time, both in Thai and English. After a
while the group was disbanded, however. (Does anyone who was involved with the
original group want to write more about it?)
On the last day of August, 2003, I was serving with Elder Lund in Sanaam Bin
Naam (Pakkret branch). That night we got a call from President Hansen calling
us to serve in a missionary choir (seven elders and four sisters) which would
tour Bangkok. He wanted Elder Lund to sing and me to play the piano.
The following Wednesday night we all went to the mission home for the first
rehearsal. Those in the original group were: Sister Biggs, Sister Hart, Sister
Taggart, Sister Patchari, Elder Vogel, Elder Calder, Elder Pettit, Elder
Heaton, Elder Smith, Elder Lund, and I. We met in the living room and there
Sister Hansen told us a little bit about the original group. She then said
that our mission had gotten permission to start a new group, to help with
public relations. Our first fireside would be in Bangkhae three weeks later.
We spent the next hour and a half at the piano, singing through all the music
we had available to see what would work best. Elder Heaton accompanied on the
violin in addition to singing.
After another evening rehearsal we all agreed that it would be better to
practice in the mornings, so rehearsal time was changed to 9:30 on Wednesday
mornings. Wednesday was preparation day but for the most part we were content
with sacrificing that time to help build a better name for the Church in
Thailand.
On the day of our first fireside, Saturday, September 27, Pakkret flooded. The
traffic was so bad that Elder Lund and I had to get out of our taxi and walk
for half an hour to get to the office. At some parts the water was over a foot
deep. Everyone arrived in Bangkhae safely, however, and we ran through our
music until President Hansen and Elder Ho (a visiting General Authority)
arrived. To start the fireside we sang "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing" in
Thai and a member gave a prayer. President Hansen then spoke for a few minutes
and set the tone for the fireside. We sang eleven songs, including "I Am a
Child of God," "He Sent His Son," "Jesus Was No Ordinary Man," "I Stand All
Amazed," "Joseph Smith's First Prayer," "Song of Testimony," "Go Forth With
Faith," "We'll Bring the World His Truth," "I'll Find You My Friend," "I Heard
Him Come," and "I Believe in Christ." During "I Stand All Amazed" the lights
went down and a slideshow with paintings of Christ's life was projected on the
wall behind the choir. Then a nine-minute video presentation on the
Restoration (created by Elder Bloom and Elder Blodgett) was played. The lights
came back on again as the choir sang "Joseph Smith's First Prayer." The Spirit
was very strong throughout the whole fireside but especially during those two
songs and the finale, "I Believe in Christ." At the end of the fireside Elder
Ho got up and spoke about how special music is.
The next time we sang was on Wednesday, October 29, at the Center for Crippled
Children in Pakkret. Sister Hughes of the General Relief Society Presidency
came, as did David Baring of the Wheelchair Foundation. After some remarks by
President Hansen and Mr. Baring, the choir sang "Because I Have Been Given
Much." We then helped distribute about 20-30 wheelchairs to the children.
Following the ceremony, we took the children to their rooms (there were about
ten to fifteen children per room) and visited with them for a while.
Over the next several months the group changed almost every moves period, with
missionaries moving in and out. The choir sang in Bangbuathong on Sunday,
November 9, and in Thonburi on Saturday, November 15.
For the Christmas performance, we gained Sister Matheson, Sister Kravetz,
Sister Hall, Sister Redd, Sister Thitiphorn, Elder Bennett, Elder Muir, Elder
Dawson, Elder Luker, Elder Robinson, and Elder Main. On Friday, December 12,
2003, we were one of a handful of choirs to sing Christmas songs at Journey to
Bethlehem in Asoke. Pres. Daryl Garn of the Asia Area Presidency and his wife
were there and also attended the Restoration fireside in Bangkhen that Sunday.
We added some prelude songs to the fireside ("The Spirit of God," "Come,
Thou Fount of Every Blessing," and "How Great Thou Art"). Our next fireside
was in Srinakarin on Sunday, January 18. The following Friday we piled into
the two office vans and drove to Ayutthaya, about an hour away. We sang again
in Bangnaa that Sunday. Elder Lott and Elder Heaton did a violin rendition of
"I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go." President John Dickson, Asia Area
President, was in attendance and said he really liked the fireside. Our next
fireside was Saturday, January 31, at the Don Muang open house. We also sang
the next Sunday, February 9, in Bangkapi.
At the end of February, President Hansen announced that the choir would be
singing at the dedication of the new Chiang Mai chapel a few weeks later. Sang
in Asoke on Saturday, March 13. On Thursday, March 18, the group took the
night train up to Chiang Mai. We arrived there at 9:00 a.m. and spent the
distributing fliers around the city and helping prepare the open house. We
sang all afternoon and evening, providing background music. That evening we
performed the fireside. The next morning we sang for another three hours at
the open house. The Chiang Mai district conference began that evening with the
general adult session, and following that session the choir did the fireside
again. Sunday morning the choir sang "This is the Christ" after Elder Ho
offered the dedicatory prayer. One of the speakers in the morning session of
the conference became emotional as she talked about the fireside. She said
that the choir members were God's angels sent to Chiang Mai. "I asked God,
'Are you here?' Through your music, He told me, 'Yes.'" After the second
session we all got on the train and went back to Bangkok.
After the Chiang Mai tour I moved to Udorn and I'm not sure exactly what
happened, but within a month or two the new Sidthichon Yugsudthaay band was
started. I'll leave it to someone who was actually involved to write *that*
story, though.
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Adventures in Thailand is a series of e-mails I had my family send out to my friends while I was on my mission. For those who are interested, I've put them online at http://www.blankslate.net/mission/mjournal.php
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The announcement that Laos and Burma would become part of the Thailand Bangkok Mission came a couple of months after I moved to Udorn (which is in the northeast of Thailand, about an hour from the capital city of Laos, Vientiane). There was indeed a branch in Vientiane, albeit small. At that time it consisted of a couple who had lived in Minnesota for several years, been baptized and sealed in the temple there, and then had returned to Laos. There were also three other members, including Tamjai, who had been taught and baptized in Udorn by Elder Thatcher and Elder Turner in January. The branch had perhaps fifty investigators at church, however, but those people couldn't be baptized because the government wouldn't allow it. They could come to Thailand to be baptized, but it was too expensive to arrange travel, boarding, and food. At the beginning of May the senior couple in Udorn, Elder and Sister Cox, offered to let small groups stay at their house while the missionaries taught and interviewed them and to provide food for them. So Elder and Sister Cullum (Elder Cullum is the branch president in Vientiane) sent a young man named Ting over. Elder Nattapon and Elder Thacker taught him most of the discussions but decided that he would need to come back later to finish up and be interviewed and baptized. He returned three weeks later (Elder Nattapon had moved by then and Elder Ensign-Lewis replaced him). After they felt he was ready, I interviewed him and he was baptized that afternoon. A little over a week later, a group of six Laotians arrived at the bus station. There were two mothers (Wee and San, the daughters of the Minnesota couple), Wee's 15-year-old son Lix, a 16-year-old girl named Pou, and a 19-year-old boy named Noi. Elder Allen and I taught the boys and Sister Redd and Sister Clark taught the girls. We taught them all day Wednesday and Thursday, and then on Friday morning Elder Ensign-Lewis and I interviewed them and they were all baptized that afternoon, except for Sak. The second group arrived near the end of June, right after Nong Khai opened. Wee's husband, Khamyom, came, along with two of their daughters (10-year-old Mam and 12-year-old Becky), Sak, and Samniang, Sak's 19-year-old sister. Two days later I baptized Khamyom, confirmed him right there in the water, and gave him the priesthood, and he then baptized his two daughters. Elder Eberhardt baptized and confirmed Sak and gave him the priesthood, and Sak then baptized his sister. It was a wonderful experience. By the beginning of July there were seventy people attending the Vientiane branch. Those we had taught received callings -- Khamyom was called as 1st counselor in the priests quorum; Sak was 2nd counselor; Samniang was an activities worker in the Primary; Wee was a counselor in the Primary presidency; San was a counselor in the Relief Society presidency; Ting was branch mission leader; and Lix and Noi were passing the sacrament. The third group of Laotians came to Udorn mid-July and consisted of Kaew (San's husband), his daughters (10-year-old Yee and 12-year-old Yui), Khai (Wee's older brother), and his 11-year-old daughter Ueng. Khamyom baptized Khai and Elder Thacker confirmed him, and then I baptized Kaew and confirmed him and gave both of them the priesthood (all right there in the water). They then baptized their daughters. A few other groups have come to Udorn since my departure at the end of July. By October there were ninety people at church there.
This hastily thrown-together sketch doesn't do justice at all to such an intensely spiritual experience, but at least you can get an idea of the miracles that have been happening there. About the time this was all starting to happen, Elder Cullum went to talk with one of the government officials with whom they'd been working. The official granted them permission to have missionaries come teach English, which was a major step forward. That very day, when Elder Cullum got home he got a call from Church headquarters saying that they could now baptize and establish the Church in Vientiane. The Lord has been opening doors and the people are truly ready. "Searching in darkness, nations have wept; Waiting for dawn, their vigil they've kept. All now rejoice; the long night is o'er. Truth is on earth once more!" (Hark, All Ye Nations!, #264)
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Tons of weblinks to watch and listen to TV, Radio from Thailand and around the world. :P
http://www.angelfire.com/nj2/stanti/thaimedia.html
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In 1968 when the first missionaries went to Thailand since Elam Luddington in the 19th century, we travled regularly to Laos to renew visas. In 1993-94 when I was president we traveled to Laos a number of times to initiate humanitarian work there with the first shipment of humanitarian good being shipped in 1994. Burma, Laos and Cambodia were all part of the mission in 1991 when I arrived as president and continued to be when I left in 1994.
Larry White
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At times the church has had an "International Mission" with headquarters in Salt Lake City. The contries that belonged to that mission are those contries where no missionaries are serving.
If Myanmar and Laos where ever not a part of the Thailand Bangkok Mission they must have been part of the "International Mission". Another possibility would have been Singapore
since Singapore has had responsibility for many Asian countries that had no missionaries. For example Singapore
was responsible for India before the India Bangalore Mission was created on 1 July 1994. Similarly Thailand had responsibility
for Cambodia before the Cambodia Phom Penh Mission was created on 1 July 1998.
Clearly since 1973 (when the Thailand Bangkok mission was created as a spin-off of the Southeast Asia Singapore mission) when the church had anything to do with Myanmar (Burma) or Laos they did it through Thailand. In 1994 when the church made humanitarian contributions to Laos they did so throught Thailand (see Thailand in the Church Almanac)
We know that since 1973 several missionaries (usually Assistants to the President) and mission Presidents from Thailand have traveled to Myanmar on church business to meet with members and baptize those who had made requests. Typically these visits lasted a day to two.
An early convert in Myanmar now lives in California (reported at the old heads reunion in 2004). There are a dozen or so
members in Myanmar.
Myanmar has been one of the most closed societies on earth for the past several decades. You can visit Myanmar for a few days,
but longer stays are difficult.
Laos had been more open and was the place missionaries went in 1975 to renew visas after Cambodia refused entry. Later when Laos refused entry missionaries traveled in Malaysia to renew
visas.
At present I am sure there are far more Laotian church members in Utah than there are in Laos.
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Hello everybody. I saw that there were some questions about Thailand picking up the opportunity the share the Gospel with God's children in Laos and Burma. My last day as a missionary was the day we got the news.
From what I have gathered:
When the mission was first opened (not so long ago) it was under our jurisdiction but we didn't have permission to procelyte. We'll, over the years the countries were peacfully placed under the supervision of other missions. But as of April of 2004, the amazingly, greatly, wonderful Thailand Bangkok in now working to build Zion amongst the Laotion and Burmese people.
At the moment I think there might be (I'm not positive) senior couples teaching english in the captial cities of the countries. About a year and a half ago Laos did. I think Burma does right now. Thats a great thing. The senior couples, through their love, service, and the spirit they bring really open up the hearts of people.
As for when missionaries will get to go there....
Thats not my call and I dont want to start a ring of gossip or get a new missionaries hopes misdirected (Thailand should be where his heart is anyways!!!)
I hope this shed a little more light on the issue.
Thailand is simply amazing
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I could be wrong, but I thought these countries already were part of the mission boundary, but for political reasons we could not put missionaries there. President Morris used to regularly fly to Rangoon to visit with a member of the church there. As far as Laos, the Vietnam war made it an unsafe place to send missionaries back in the early 70's when I was a missionary.
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My son was just called to serve in the Thailand Bangkok Mission. Could anyone give me information on what the mission is like and what to expect?
Thank you!
A grateful but concerned mom
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Just wanted to let ya'll know that DH is doing another musical fireside this Sunday, March 7 at 7PM in Orem (1035 S. 800 E.). We usually don't do this many firesides in this area but luckily we've been invited by another stake to do a fireside. If anyone's interested in coming, feel free and bring a friend. The music is original, uplifting and centered on Christ. If you have questions, call Thai at 801.380.6666 or email me at thaisinger@hotmail.com
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