Life in Laos - 5/26/18

Elder Petterson, Elder Bunker, and I with lots of noodles (in Udon). 

Crossing the bridge into Laos. 

A large Lao flag with a communist flag.

Hey everybody!!

It's been a little while since I last wrote you guys. There's been a lot that’s gone down since transfers haha. I hope that you all have been doing well!

Okay, so on the day of transfers I wasn't really sure what was going to happen, because I wasn't told a whole lot. I kinda just showed up to the mission office with all of my stuff without knowing what would happen to me. I waited around at the office with Elder Phasay, an elder from my group who also is in Laos now, and we got to see a ton of people that we know. We stayed at the office until around 4 pm, and it was really nice to see all of my friends before I don't see them for who knows how long haha. At 4, Elder Phasay and I went to the bus station and got on a bus going to Udon, which is in northeastern Thailand. The bus ride took about 11ish hours haha.

When we got to Udon it was about 4 in the morning, and we took a tuk tuk to the elders' house there. We then went on switch offs with the elders there for about 3 days. I was able to be with Elder Bunker and Elder Petterson (Elder Petterson is in my group). They are both way awesome missionaries. We stayed in Udon until that Sunday because it was district conference, which is pretty much stake conference but for small areas, and the other Laos elders were coming down because Udon and Laos are in the same district. After district conference, Elder Phasay and I went with Elder Hansen, another elder here, to get on a bus to Laos. We crossed the border, did a bunch of visa stuff, and finally are here. I'm now the 32nd missionary to serve in Laos. 

The last week here has been really cool. I'm companions with Elder Higginson and Elder Fjelsted, and they're way awesome guys. A lot of the time here we will switch around companions because we have to fit all of our appointments around teaching English. We teach English twice a day on Monday-Friday, with various levels of classes. I still can't teach legally due to waiting for my work visa, so I've just kinda been observing the classes to learn how to. All the elders that have been serving here will finish their missions in the next two transfers, so I have to learn how to teach fast haha.

It's really cool to be here. The communism is definitely noticeable, and I've seen more communist flags the past week than my entire life so far. It seems normal to see them now. So, missionary work is interesting. We can only teach/talk about the gospel at the church. A lot of the work is working and visiting with members. We have visited a lot of people and they are all way cool. We also have a lot of really good investigators here and there are quite a few people with baptismal dates. 

In Laos, we go by our first names in public, and and we serve as volunteer English teachers. We do not proselyte.

Something also really cool that happened today is that Elder Xaiyavong, my former companion, just got back from his mission! I got to pick him up at the airport with Elder Higginson, who was also companions with him in the past. Elder Xaiyavong was such an awesome missionary and I'm glad to see him again.

The language is good! I can understand pretty much everything people say, but responding to people is strange because the tones are different and there's some new vocabulary involved as well. I also have to get out of the habit of saying khap after everything haha.

Well, that should be enough for one email! I love and miss you all!

Keep being amazing!

<3

Elder Ridd

The church in Laos.

             Elder Xaiyavong is home!!