Buddha Park With Friends

There are so many wonderful people in the world. I wish everyone could meet everyone we know. They are all fantastic! YOU are all fantastic! We are so blessed to have crossed paths with friends who have taught, and continue to teach, us how to be better humans. This particular Saturday Somphone (Phone), her husband Thipphongphat (Thip), and their son kindly took us to Buddha Park and the Naga Temple. It was a beautiful day with beautiful Lao and Buddhist culture, but most of all a fun time spent with three wonderful people who are kind and generous. Phone and Thip both teach sports, Phone is also a national volleyball referee, and Thip is currently working on his PhD in sports management in Vietnam. Their son is going to school and is also interested in sports. However, he does not want to follow in his mother's footsteps and compete in boxing. Yes, Phone was a boxer. No wonder we get along so well 😄 Although she competed and I did not. 

  The tall structure in the background is from the bottom up - hell, our earthly existence, and heaven. You can go inside and look around. It has tight walkways, small and steep steps, and small entrances to different areas. There is a sign outside cautioning those over 50 years old to not go inside. That of course only served as a challenge to someone like me 😜 Craig did not try to squeeze himself through the final little hole to get to heaven, but I was determined and handed my backpack to Phone so I would make it through.

A little closer to the structure. It's nice there are "windows" so it is not so dark inside.

By the entrance, the first squeeze to get in. It is much larger than the one on top 😓

Some of the many scenes inside the structure: if I remember the Hindu story correctly, these figures show the interplay between gods and demons as they create the world. The gods, seeking the nectar of immortality, collaborated with the demons to churn the ocean using Mount Mandara as the churning rod and the serpent Vasuki as the rope.

If I am wrong, or you have more information, please let me know.

The last squeeze to get to heaven. The hole looks larger than it is. Also, the opening is smaller inside than it is on this side.

Thip found an easier way to get up to heaven. We went down this way. SO much easier!

The beautiful, but scary, view from the top.

I made it down! Hugs needed 💞

This is the Mekong river. What is seen on the opposite side is Nong Khai, Thailand. 

A picture of what the Buddha Park looked like one year ago during the rainy season. It was filled with water. We are hoping this will not happen again this year.

Leaving Buddha Park for the Naga Temple.

In front of the big seven headed snake (naga).

We all took turns hitting the gongs for luck. 

Craig's Pictures and Commentary -

[New friends, Phone, Thip, and their son took us to Buddha Park. It is a beautiful park with many different kinds of Buddhas and other statues, lots of plants, and right next to the Mekong river.]

A favorite photo of the day!

[Buddha Park is] next to a famous Naga [snake] Temple. If you run your hand along the scales you get extra luck!

Beautiful, almost haunting music from only two strings.

Nine gongs by Thip.

Three gongs on this one. It is very loud 😵

Do you recognize any of these cars?

There are many cars here that we have never seen. That is maybe not so surprising for me as I don't know much about cars, but Craig is a car aficionado and I don't think he has ever seen a car he has not recognized. That has not been the case here, but we have been here long enough where he knows most cars now. There are some interesting names for car brands as you will see. There are some American, Asian, and European car brands, but most cars are from China. I was surprised to see so many electric cars and motorcycles here. It seems that maybe one third of them are electric or hybrids. It can be a little scary with electric vehicles when you are walking, as many times you cannot walk on the sidewalk, but on the street because cars are parked on the sidewalk. Electric vehicles are so quiet that they can be difficult to hear coming up behind you.

I like the name - Leapmotor. It didnt't leap fast enough to not get hit though 😞

Pretty shiny color!

US Army? 😲

Lots of stones in the tire. The "de-stone" feature does not seem to work 😆

Geome (Chinese, by Geely)

This is probably not super safe, but I love it! So cute!

One of Craig's current favorites - ZEEKR 007. Can you see James Bond driving this?

A Chinese Jeep-like police car.

There is a law against parking on the sidewalks 😏 The fee is quite steep. I have a feeling it is not really enforced. The black and white stripes mean you are allowed to park on the street.

The yellow and white signal a loading zone - if you park on the street. Maybe not if you park on the sidewalk?

Good thing this car is parked on the sidewalk, because the red and white stripes mean you are not allowed to park on the street.

Craig's pictures with commentary:

We were pleasantly surprised by the variety of cars navigating the roads of Laos. Brands we've never seen; many bright and almost luminescent. Presenting - Fengon, HiPhi X, Zeekr, BYD (Build Your Dream), Hongqi 5, Neta, Geely, iKar from Chery, JETOUR, and ORA from Great Wall Motors.

Not sure who made this one. It's French. Great paint job! [Suzanne: This is parked right across the street from our apartment building. It's fun seeing it every day.]

FENGON [Chinese, by Dongfeng Motor Co.]

HiPhi X (sorry to hear this company went bankrupt 😕) [Chinese, all electric, by Human Horizons]

The ZEEKR 009 [Chinese, all electric, Zeekr Group, majority owned by Geely Automobile Holdings]

Wrong turn [Suzanne: this car is in our neighborhood and we admire it whenever we walk past it. I think it looks very cool sitting there!]

BYD (Build Your Dream) Seagull [Chinese, electric and hybrid, by BYD Auto]

Hongqi 5 [Chinese, subsidiary of FAW Group]

Hard working little truck and very clean: Dongfeng

Neta - this company also went bankrupt [Suzanne: This is sad as it is Craig's favorite car for when we call for an "Uber." Chinese, all electric, by Hozon Auto]

Little Geely (looks happy, surprised, or nervous) [Chinese, by Zhejiang Geely Holding]

The Chery iKar [Chinese, all electric, by Chery Automobile Co.]

This one emanates personality

JETOUR (another car from Chery) [Chinese, jet + tour = "convenient journey"]

Looks like a Ford, but is BYD [Build Your Dream, Suzanne loves this name! Chinese, electric and hybrid, by BYD Company]

The little ORA [Chinese, all electric, by Great Wall Motor]

Why Are We Serving?

We have been asked by some, especially friends who are not members of our church, why we chose to serve those we do not yet know. It's a fair question. We now live 7,647 miles (12,307 km) from our home. Although our house is a two and one half hour drive from our nearest child, and ten hours from our child who lives farthest away, it is close enough so we can be involved in their lives on a regular basis. It is tough being so far away now. So why did we make this choice? As strange as it may sound, the people in the picture below are one big reason why -

Our family 💖

When Craig retired in February of this year he wondered what he would do with all his spare time. Neither of us can sit around and do nothing for too long. It is nice to be able to do it occasionally, but we have a lot of days ahead of us still. We have known too many people whose health goes down very fast after retiring, Craig's father is one of them. He retired in March 1985 and passed away from cancer June 1988. My father did not get a chance to retire before he contracted cancer and passed away in June 1987. 

Our children were too young to get to know our fathers, and that makes us sad. They were good and loving men and their lives were too short. Knowing that illnesses are affected to a great extent by our mental health, we are trying our best to stay physically healthy by keeping positive, busy, and serving those around us. 

Our children all have families and are busy with their children and work. We love spending time with them and serving them, and they have their lives and we respect that. While we are still healthy and energetic enough we wanted to make a small difference to some people who have greater needs than us. There are many with such needs in the world, and we are fortunate to have been called to serve the physical and educational needs of the wonderful people here in Laos. 

Keeping busy by serving our brothers and sisters here helps keep our brains active and our priorities straight. Life is not all about us, but about growing by filling our brains with new and good things, relationships, and serving others. It seems simple, but it is not always easy to figure out how without making some changes in our lives. We will hopefully be able to continue learning and serving after we return home. 

The gospel of Jesus Christ brought Craig and me together, it is the reason we have our children, and has brought us many other blessings. Heavenly Father has been very good to us and although we can never repay Him for what we have been given, we want to do what we can to show our gratitude. Family has sacrificed much for us to have the gospel and beautiful lives. After converting to our faith, Craig's ancestors came by boat from Europe, were persecuted for their new faith, and walked across uncharted America in sweltering heat as well as bone chilling cold. Those who could afford them used oxen to pull their belongings, but most pulled handcarts. They saw family and friends die from heatstroke and hypothermia. The journey across the country was arduous, but because of their strong faith they sacrificed their belongings and comfortable homes, left their friends, and sometimes family, behind. We are grateful for the sacrifice they made in order for us to have access to the gospel and the peace it brings. 

Coming from a broken home, I "knew" marriage did not work, and having been abused (not by my wonderful father, but others in my life), I did not want to bring children into a world that let that kind of thing happen. It was not until my conversion I realized life did not have to be that way. The gospel completely changed the course of my life, as well as that of my brother. I married Craig and gave birth to four beautiful children. If not for the gospel, I would not have had any of them in my life, and I thank my Heavenly Father daily for them all. They, and our twelve grandchildren, are who make my life wonderful. 

It is good to live today with video calling and internet, because as much as we love being here with our new friends, we miss our children and grandchildren very much. We are looking forward to seeing them again after our 18 months here. We will still have many years to have fun with our family when our mission is complete. For now though, we both feel we are where we are supposed to be. 

Another Roadtrip!

After serving and providing those with less with nice schoolrooms, clean water, and toilets, it is nice to have a little time for sightseeing. There is so much to see and do here. This time we saw a beautiful cave and people having fun in the water. 

I have nothing to add to the pictures Craig took of the schools we visited this time. He did a thorough job 😁

Craig got a late start climbing the stairs to the cave, so I was able to get a        picture of him. It is rare to catch him in photographs. He is pretty small here though 😄

The Bairds outside the Chang (Elephant) cave.

And here is the elephant!

This is a prayer hole. People throw money into it hoping their prayers will be answered. 

It is beautiful in there.

Young people having fun in the water.

This young man wanted me to take a video of him jumping into the water. He kept telling me to wait as he gathered courage. I had taken quite a few videos anticipating him jumping in before we had to leave. When we were walking away he finally jumped in, so this is right before he gained courage.

Craig's pictures and commentary:

We were on assignment upcountry for three days. Our team assessed five schools for future renovations, checked on current in-process renovations, and nearly twice as many ongoing and potential well and restroom projects. The people, parents, leaders, and children have been so welcoming and grateful. We enjoy working together with them strengthening families. 

We also had some leftover time to enjoy the local sites. Truly a beautiful place on earth.

Around Vang Vieng, Laos. Rivers, long tail boats, paramotoring (that is not a dirt spot in the picture), and amazing scenery!

A Kindergarten teacher's desk and classroom. They have very devoted teachers.

They were so proud of their students, they asked that we take pictures of them too. 💗Such beautiful little ones. They have requested their classrooms be renovated and fully enclosed. The church will take care of this and add better lighting and cooling.

These rooms are all used up. I love how the teachers decorated the ceiling with their art projects. It's wonderful to be here to help the generous members of the church provide support to the children and families in Laos.

Today's sweetheart shot 💗

The stairway to the cave 😰

Inside the mountain caves. They were beautiful ad the only "cool" place within many miles!

Vang Vieng village view from the. top.

Top of the stairs looking down.

The bridge over untroubled water.

Everywhere is bright and green; even the cliff walls are carpeted.

Nope - this cow was not having a hug today! First contact went well; then it wanted to lick Suzanne; she refused; so the cow went into head butt mode. Pretty fast dancing on Suzanne's part 😃

In her famous elephant throne.

Boule -- many of the schools have pits prepared for playing this French lawn game. A family favorite for Suzanne's aunt and uncle.

A close up of the vegetation covering a sheer limestone cliff.

Beautiful Lao agriculture.

A countryside home just across from the school.