TERRIFIC THAILAND

We've been blown away by the beauty of Bangkok and the Thai people.  We've met with three wonderful groups who look like potentially great partners for wheelchairs.  Elder Leon and Sister Katherine Noorda from Las Vegas are the hard working Humanitarian Couple here and arrived last fall just after the terrible flooding occurred here and have spent much of their time in flood relief work.

Loving Life in Cambodia

People often ask us "what is your favorite country you've worked in on your mission?"  I always think of my mom's mantra of the words to an old song "if I'm not with the ones I love....I LOVE THE ONES I'M WITH!"  This is our second time working in Cambodia and this time we have been working with a wonderful couple from St. George, Utah,  Elder Robbin and Sister Nancy Henderson.  We were priviliged to meet with them in St. George last summer before they started their mission and get them updated on what had happened in Cambodia with wheelchairs, so it was like "coming home" to meet them here in Cambodia and be able to work with them these past few days. 
LDSC will go forward with two small projects with two local wheelchair manufacturers, AARWCD and VIC.  We also met with another larger organization that we hope can do wheelchairs on a larger scale in the future.  This is such interesting and rewarding work for us.  We feel like we've made so many new friends all over Asia.  We're fascinated by the variety of culture and people in each country and never tire of pondering on the vast scope of humanity all created by the same loving, caring God whom we serve.

Ho Chi Minh City Highlights

We feel extremely honored to have met the Nguyen family who owns and runs the Kien Tuong Wheelchair factory here in HCMC.  We had a lovely meeting with them including a tour of the factory and a fantastic lunch with Mr. and Mrs. Nguyen and two of their adult children.  Mr. Nguyen is a veteran, an inventor, a poet and author and in our mind....a hero who has done so much to benefit the disabled of Vietnam and many other countries who have received his incredible wheelchairs and trikes.

Elder Felix and Sister Jan Blinn from Maine are the hardworking Humanitarian couple here and have made some connections with 3 groups who will potentially be able to attend our wheelchair training sessions in a couple of months to learn how to assess and fit wheelchair users to the appropriate wheelchair.