I have now lived and served in the church in 5 countries, the US, Costa Rica, Thailand, Indonesia, and China. Everywhere we went we always had a community of friends. All the Sunday School lessons, Primary lessons and even the Relief Society lessons were the same.
Yet, there were differences.
Weekly youth activities were seriously pared down and rarely happened in some of these countries. Oftentimes Sunday, the day of the sacrament, was the only day for socializing in the wards due to traffic and sometimes even civil unrest. But, we enjoyed each other whenever we could.
Serving is very different overseas. For instance, while serving in Post Falls, I never had to counsel with individual sisters for rape/abortion issues, or put a child up for adoption, or work on UN immigration status paperwork, or visit an immigration prison, or buy 1000 lbs of rice each month to feed refugees, or administer tailoring classes for Khmer sisters. All of which I did in Thailand.
I was never patted down by the police in Post Falls, or worried that I could be sent to a criminal prison if I was found to be hoarding food or giving monetary funds to non-UN approved refugees.
At times, it really felt like I was serving in a completely different world! There was such a whirlwind of different experiences! But, at its core, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the same everywhere and it is sweeping the nations!
Congratulations to the Thai saints for their beautiful new Temple!! Open house celebrations start September 1st!
krhofhiens.com 