Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Myanmar

So, I have been traveling for a couple weeks now and it has been one incredible, strange, exhilarating, confusing, educational, fascinating, and beautiful. I went to Thailand first, then to Myanmar for a couple weeks, and now I am back in Thailand. It is pretty exhausting to have the kind of experiences that I have been each day. These kinds of days come once every year and now I am having them on a continual basis. I have met amazing people who are doing amazing things with their lives. I've already been able to see the amazing work NGO's have done in some of the poorest places in the world- and have had the opportunity to take part in some of that work- visiting villages in the middle of nowhere and sitting in the homes of strangers who treat you like you are family- handing out prosthetic legs to people who could not even think about the possibility of having a leg beforehand- visited monastery schools and sang ridiculous songs to the children who of course sang along or rather, mumbled along- helped with English classes with some of the most giggly and fun students- AND lots and lots of listening and learning from some truly incredible human beings. Myanmar is a strange country and there is quite a lot to talk about. Maybe I will find time later, but I am not checking the internet very regularly so we will see. I will try my hardest. The first day I went to the one small branch in the entire country. I talked for awhile after church with a sister named Janet. About an hour into the conversation she told me about her baptism and how she had to be carried into the font because she has a hurt hip and leg. As they pulled her out of the water she thought she had actually died because everything looked so different, so much more beautiful. After a few more minutes of conversation, I discovered she was actually the first member baptized in Myanmar. She invited about 15 people over to her house to learn from the first set of service missionaries who went to Myanmar. Everyone says she is quite the strength. She is too poor to come to church so she can only attend one Sunday a month. The taxi costs 6 usd each time.

Sister Janet is on the far right. Adorable Sister Alice is the other woman.

I don't really have much pictures loaded so I can't show you any, but I will soon enough! I miss home a lot, but everyday has been an adventure and such a learning experience so I am taking advantage of everything I can.

2 comments:

 Natalie said...

You are so cool and I am so jealous.

Shan said...

What an experience! What a special woman. I'm impressed with what you are doing Lisa-- you're amazing!