Our first Sunday in Bangkok
The Bangkok English speaking ward was scheduled to start their Sunday meetings at 10.30am on Sunday. We'd had a late night of course, not arriving at the airport until 11.30pm, but we figured that even with a bit of a sleepin we would still have plenty of time to get to Church by 10.30am, especially when we found that we only had to go 2 stops on the underground to get there.
We went down to the foyer of the Mini R Hotel, and spoke with the person at the desk, hoping for directions to the station. Another Aussie guy nearby overheard and offered to help. He told us that the Thaliand Culture Centre railway station was just a few hundred metres down the road and we couldn't miss it. Well, we did miss it, and by a fairly large margin! Always be careful using Google Maps!
The problem is that if you search for "Thailand Cultural Centre", Google maps will show you where that is, but it won't show you where the "Thailand Cultural Centre MRT station" is. It happens to be about a ten minute walk from one to the other, using a footbridge across a very busy Ratchadapisek Rd. There's six lanes of traffic on each side and ten times as busy as Springvale Rd in Melbourne, just to give you some perspective.
We searched and walked and tried to talk to many people around the Cultural Centre. They all pointed in the same direction, the one's who could understand us anyway. It was very frustrating, very hot and very smelly. I don't think that I've ever perspired so much! The air quality here is horrible. Most people wear masks of some sort to try to filter it, which to me just adds to the unpleasantness of the whole experience.
Eventually we realized that the Station was on the other side of the road. Then we had to navigate our way around the station, buy tickets etc. We worke it all out, and then got off two stations down the line. All good! Getting off at the station and finding our way out the correct exit and heading in the right direction to Church was the next challenge, which we failed in every possible way! But before we headed to far in the wrong direction, we turned around and chose a place to cross the road.
It seems that pedestrians are second class citizens in Bangkok. We were waiting at a pedestrian crossing for what seemed forever to cross the road. Eventually the countdown reached zero, but the good thing was that while waiting for the lights to change, Margot spotted a sign with the name of the Church pointing down a side street in the direction we knew we needed to go. A two minute walk and we were "home"! It took us about an hour and a half in total to get there.
Wow, it felt good to walk in to the meetinghouse. First thing was the air conditioning. What a relief! Then we heard the opening hymn being sung. We entered the Chapel, finding a seat right up the back. It was a fast Sunday, the first Sunday of the month, and after the sacrament was passed, the Bishopric counsellor conducting, opened the meeting up for anyone to bear testimony.
There was a moment of hesitation on the part of the congregation, so I took advantage of it and got to my feet to walk to the podium. I expressed how grateful I was to be "home" after our arduous journey. No matter where I go in the world, i can feel at home among my fellow Latter-day Saints, uniting with them in worship. It feels good!
After Sacrament meeting, and a very good Sunday School lesson from Tammy Wooley, an Aussie living here, we went to the top floor of Tammy's apartment building with a small group of other visitors, to view the building site of the new Temple complex being built here. It's good to see the Church putting in the resources to help the members in Thaland. I am sure that they will all be very grateful for it.
We went down to the foyer of the Mini R Hotel, and spoke with the person at the desk, hoping for directions to the station. Another Aussie guy nearby overheard and offered to help. He told us that the Thaliand Culture Centre railway station was just a few hundred metres down the road and we couldn't miss it. Well, we did miss it, and by a fairly large margin! Always be careful using Google Maps!
The problem is that if you search for "Thailand Cultural Centre", Google maps will show you where that is, but it won't show you where the "Thailand Cultural Centre MRT station" is. It happens to be about a ten minute walk from one to the other, using a footbridge across a very busy Ratchadapisek Rd. There's six lanes of traffic on each side and ten times as busy as Springvale Rd in Melbourne, just to give you some perspective.
We searched and walked and tried to talk to many people around the Cultural Centre. They all pointed in the same direction, the one's who could understand us anyway. It was very frustrating, very hot and very smelly. I don't think that I've ever perspired so much! The air quality here is horrible. Most people wear masks of some sort to try to filter it, which to me just adds to the unpleasantness of the whole experience.
Eventually we realized that the Station was on the other side of the road. Then we had to navigate our way around the station, buy tickets etc. We worke it all out, and then got off two stations down the line. All good! Getting off at the station and finding our way out the correct exit and heading in the right direction to Church was the next challenge, which we failed in every possible way! But before we headed to far in the wrong direction, we turned around and chose a place to cross the road.
It seems that pedestrians are second class citizens in Bangkok. We were waiting at a pedestrian crossing for what seemed forever to cross the road. Eventually the countdown reached zero, but the good thing was that while waiting for the lights to change, Margot spotted a sign with the name of the Church pointing down a side street in the direction we knew we needed to go. A two minute walk and we were "home"! It took us about an hour and a half in total to get there.
Wow, it felt good to walk in to the meetinghouse. First thing was the air conditioning. What a relief! Then we heard the opening hymn being sung. We entered the Chapel, finding a seat right up the back. It was a fast Sunday, the first Sunday of the month, and after the sacrament was passed, the Bishopric counsellor conducting, opened the meeting up for anyone to bear testimony.
There was a moment of hesitation on the part of the congregation, so I took advantage of it and got to my feet to walk to the podium. I expressed how grateful I was to be "home" after our arduous journey. No matter where I go in the world, i can feel at home among my fellow Latter-day Saints, uniting with them in worship. It feels good!
After Sacrament meeting, and a very good Sunday School lesson from Tammy Wooley, an Aussie living here, we went to the top floor of Tammy's apartment building with a small group of other visitors, to view the building site of the new Temple complex being built here. It's good to see the Church putting in the resources to help the members in Thaland. I am sure that they will all be very grateful for it.
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