Flag of Laos

We have been called to serve the people of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Lao for 18 months.  

We are living in the capital city
 of Vientiane, Laos.

After 2 weeks in Provo, Utah for training in welfare services, we flew from Salt Lake to Los Angeles.  After a 3-hour layover, we flew 15 hours to Hong Kong, then on to Bangkok, Thailand.

Thailand and Laos are mainly Buddhist.  This display is in the Bangkok airport terminal.  Notice the man arranging the yellow flowers on the left.

Another display in the airport.  Bangkok is a huge city of 8-10 million people.

 We weren't sure if someone would meet us there.  Not only were Elder & Sister Meeker there, but Pres. & Sister Senior also came to meet us.  Elder Meeker speaks fluent Thai because 39 yrs ago he was a missionary here.

They took us to the mission offices, a very nice 3-story former bank building.  Inside are housed a distribution center, service center, family history center, mission offices and public affairs office with room left for expansion.

The subways are packed in this big city.

The Meeker's took us out to eat at a mall.  Food is presented very well, down to a flower made of carrot. 

After 2 days in Bangkok, we flew on to Laos -- about 1 hour north.  Vientiane is much more our style.  The city of 700,000 seemed more like being in the country after being in Bangkok.  We had no trouble getting our belongings into 5 suitcases because Lao has almost everything for sale that we would need, except maybe my size of clothes.  These people are very slender.

Richard and Susan Singly have been in Lao for over a year.  We hope there is another couple to replace them when they return to California in 5 months.  Elder Singly was a civil engineer and Susan was a teacher.  They have learned some Lao and have made good friends here.  

We are living in the Mekong Hotel Apartments, just 2 blocks from the Mekong River.

This is our apartment building, seen from across the street.

When people enter a home, or even some offices, they leave their shoes outside.  These shoes belong to the maids who take care of our apartment.

Mek and Tuu provide fresh towels and sweep our apt daily, as well as provide clean sheets twice a week.

Tuu is on the left and Mek is on the right.  Mek was transferred to the main hotel after being here for a couple of years.  We will miss her. They are always cheerful and very nice to work with.