People of Faith

My excitement about attending the Myanmar branch church services diminished a bit when my dad announced that my sisters and I would be the speakers during Sacrament Meeting a week before we left.

The only sign they are allowed to put up at the church is the LDS Charities sign. Of course, we are blocking it...but you get the point.

Knowing I had an entire talk typed out on my blog, I did little other than think about it until the day of. That morning, I printed out my talk and read through it with a horrible realization that I couldn't use it - it didn't work. The references made in it didn't really apply to any of these first generation pioneers in the gospel.

Not many people have used this font...yet:)

I also was aware that Jen and Sarah were relying on me with my printed talk to fill in the allotted time for us to speak. They had both told me their plans to give a few scriptures and then bear their testimonies. I sort of crossed out and scribbled in and left for the meeting not exactly sure what I was going to say.

Our reception was incredibly warm and friendly. As soon as we were in the door, faces and hands reached out and welcomed us. There is something about the intimacy of a branch that appeals to me. I know it would wear on anyone week in and week out, but to be huddled in a smaller room, creating the backbone for future growth in an area has sort of an old-fashioned romantic allure.

This small branch, with only about 30 in attendance in a city of 7 million, displayed great poise and strength. They come from all around the capital city and beyond, some having to travel several hours each way to attend. I found the different stories of their conversion fascinating and wanted so much for them to have the resources and support that is necessary for continued success. They struggle so much financially and I know a big concern for my parents is the temporal welfare of the saints in Myanmar.

Me and Susan. Everyone has an "English" name in addition to their given names. I don't think they call themselves or each other this, but it s kind of like when you take a foreign language class and adopt a new name. They all chose these names and some are creative...like a girl named, "Smile."

Joy and me. When I showed her this picture in the display of my camera, she responded, "You pretty. Me ugly" Can you imagine? I think she's gorgeous!

The main part of the house where the chapel is.

The Book of Mormon has not yet been translated into Burmese, so only those who can read and understand English or perhaps Thai have any opportunity to read the scriptures. The hymns that they sing are all in English and they sing out with gusto, even though I wonder if they understand the meaning. Regardless, sacrament meeting that day went smoothly as we each took our turns speaking and having it translated for the members of the branch. Having that lull between thoughts and sentences really makes giving a talk harder, though. I felt the spirit and felt like I gave the message I wanted to give, but there was a time I made eye contact with my mom and she mouthed, "speak slower!"

I also played the piano for most of the service. My dad usually does but I offered to give him a week off. They is no musical skill within the branch so my parents hope whoever they send to replace them can play and teach music. My mother has been teaching two of the young women piano. One of the girls played the closing him, "I am a Child of God" from the simplified hymns. I almost teared up thinking of her courage (just think about all of the people in your wards who can kind of sort of play but won't because they don't think they have the skills. This girl had only been learning for a couple of months and she accompanied during sacrament meeting! I was so impressed).

For Sunday School, they put on a DVD of Elder Ballard's conference talk. The branch president explained to the class that even if they couldn't understand English, they would certainly feel the spirit of the talk if they were receptive to it. Everyone was reverent and attentive and I couldn't help looking around wondering how they were feeling. I know it'd be hard for me to stay focused for twenty minutes listening to a talk in a language I didn't understand. But they watched anyway.

In Relief Society, my mother was called as the new Relief Society President, a calling I know worries her because of the saints there that do speak English, a higher percentage of those are men. She hopes to be able to fulfill her responsibilities in spite of the language barrier. The time was short, and she wanted to fill it by having the three of us sing some hymns in harmony for the rest of the sisters. We started with As Sisters In Zion ( I think) and then did How Great Thou Art. They like that hymn, as most were formerly protestant, so we had them join in on the second through fourth verse.

Realizing that they probably only choose to sing hymns they are familiar with, I told my sisters and my mom that we should sing Come Unto Him so that they could perhaps hear something new. As it isn't something we've sung much together, my mom attempted to play the keyboard while we sang (the other two were a cappella) and at about the third line, she hit some sort of rhythm button and suddenly we were singing to a beat! Being technologically challenged and not knowing what button she pressed, she couldn't turn it off very quickly and we got the giggles. What do you do?

The Relief Society in Myanmar.

Afterwards, my mom handed out some of the clothes she had asked us to bring to help some of the members of the branch who don't have much money to clothe their young children. One of the women went and changed her little boy into a little polo and shorts that Henry wore this last summer. I loved seeing it on him and wished there had been more room in our luggage to bring more.

Kelvin and Mary. They named him after the the missionary who served before my parents. He actually reminded me a lot of Henry. He was a bit wild and loud. Their family came over to my parent's apartment after church and had dinner with us and I watched Mary chew the food and then sort of "kiss" it into Kelvin's mouth already chewed up. Kind of gross...but also like a mother bird. Different ways of doing things I guess. She also didn't have him in a diaper but put him on the toilet when they arrived and he went. That, I would like to copy (except not the no diaper thing. Just the going on the toilet so young thing)...but I don't think I'll attempt to feed Henry my chewed up food.

As the numbers above clearly show, there aren't many members of the LDS church in Myanmar. Interestingly, there is freedom of religion in this severely repressed country. But there is no proselyting and no welcome mat for foreigners to come in to preach. My parents are there as members of the branch that already exists, but they are not allowed to seek out and give discussions to anyone. Other members of the branch could do this, but with their limited resources and experience, it makes it difficult. One of the huge efforts from previous couples serving there and something my parents were able to be involved with, was sending five of the young men off on missions. One of them is actually serving in the same stake where my brother is serving as bishop. Isn't that interesting? I can't help but think what a strength they will be when they go home. When I mentioned that to my mother, she responded, "maybe. There isn't much here for them to return for. They might not stay." I can see how it would be frustrating either way.

Their missionaries. This was a huge effort on the part of the previous missionary couple and the branch in general. My mom said that for most of these men, it was the first time they had worn shoes, the first time they'd had a warm shower and the first time they'd worn underwear (men in Myanmar wear what is called a Longyi - or a tube of material they wrap and cinch at the waist.)

So, besides the 30 or so members of the LDS faith, about five percent of the entire population of Myanmar falls into the Christian, Muslim, or Hindu faith. 95 % of them are Buddhist. I understood extremely little about Buddhism before I visited the country and am only slightly less ignorant after weeks of questioning. Prominently displayed in any city or village are shrines to the Buddhist faith. Pagodas, Buddhas are everywhere you look. Yangon has one of the most famous pagodas in existence and it is the pride of their country. Covered completely in gold and having several thousand carats worth of diamonds and rubies at the top, is the mighty Shewdagon pagoda. It was built about 2500 years ago when the fourth Buddha was enlightened and two brothers received eight of his hairs and returned to the city to present them to their king. The pagoda was built to enshrine these holy relics of the holy man.

The view of Swedagon from my parent's hotel.

Up close. That is covered in all gold. Not paint.

My night picture. I thought it turned out pretty darn good!

After all of my questions, this is what I understand. One, there have been four Buddhas and they are waiting for the fifth to come. Two, when Buddha left, he left them with instructions to worship him by building Pagodas, praying to the statue Buddha and to Banyan trees.

A pagoda out at Lighthouse village - where we went to check out a previous water project (and basically visited so that we could see what a rural village was like)

One of the many side attractions at Shwedagon. Many, many Buddhas everywhere.

A Buddha in a cave off of the River Kwai

A Banyan tree. I guess the Buddha was sitting by one when he was enlightened.

Those are their holy symbols. All Buddhists follow five rules. Don't lie. Don't steal. Don't kill. Don't be unfaithful to your husband or wife. And don't drink alcohol. Buddhist monks follow something like 220 rules that are as detailed as only looking a meter ahead and not eating after eleven o'clock in the morning.

The monks in Myanmar all wear this red saffron colored robe. The monks in Thailand wear bright orange robes. They are highly revered by their people.

It's more complicated than that, and I'm leaving lots of stuff out, but being extremely unqualified to present its finer points, I'll stop there. I enjoyed learning about the faith, but due to my lack of understanding, I grew weary of visiting pagodas. Especially after visiting the glorious Shwedagon, everything else seemed dim by comparison.

visiting Shwedagon with my parent's driver, Tun. He is a Buddhist and explained many things to me. You never wear shoes at a Pagoda or Chedi which worked out great when I was wearing my flip flops, but when I had worn my new Keens, which are quite possibly the hardest shoe in the world to get on, it was a much more difficult process.

We visited this Chedi, the thai word for Pagoda, on our last day there. It's the tallest one in Thailand, but we only stayed briefly because we were all pagoda-ed out.

Here is an ancient Khmer ruin pagoda. I asked our tour guide, James, many many questions about Buddhism here but still left frustratingly in the dark. But, I now understand that like Christians have different sects (Catholic, protestant, evangelical etc.) so do Buddhists. They don't all believe the same thing. Which....only made it harder to understand.

A pagoda in a traditional Mon village in Thailand. The mon people were originally from Burma, so they dressed very similar to the Myanmar people. As a tourist stop, they live in what is described as a "traditional village" only after seeing some real traditional villages, it just seemed like this depressing stop to see a people caught between two worlds. That of their old traditions and that of the modern Thai world. It actually reminded me of visiting some "Native American" tourist places, where you know you aren't seeing the genuine thing...because that way of life is long gone.

Lots and lots of different pagodas at the Grand Palace in Bangkok.

Visiting a floating pagoda built on a tiny island that you can only reach by boat.

I'm almost done blogging about this trip! The last two will be about the Burma-Thailand Death Railway and what I bought. And in one of those, I'll stick the pictures of our elephant ride. Stay with me:)