Hello Wonderful Amazing Family!!!
Yaaaaaaaaaay! I
finally get to email home!!! Happy Pday!!! And this is much
faster than trying to handwrite, you'll probably be able to read it
better, too!
So.... I don't really remember what I wrote in my last letters. Did you get them all? I sent three, I think!
But,
yes, there are 18 of us new Thais. 3 elders and 6 sisters in my
district. We have Elder Hogan (DL), Elder Black, and Elder Proctor;
Sisters Greenwood, Tilley, Muller, Speas, Narayana, and me! Loooooove my
district and love my zone! The "phii" (older) Thais are leaving in
about two weeks to Thailand and they have been very welcoming. So, soon
we'll be the phii thais welcoming in the noong Thais!! Dii Maag!
So, I want to answer as many questions as possible and tell you everything I can!
Sister
Narayanan is great! She's from California but she was born in India.
Her family is Hindu, but are not strict at all and totally support her
joining the church. She has a great
convert perspective that is really refreshing! I love it and can't wait to
see what I learn from her!
Also, what I learned this week: be careful what you wish for.
I was so nervous about not being able to get in a good work out once I
started my mission... I should never have worried. Sister Narayanan is a
marathoner and waaaaay into fitness! So, I was excited the first time
that we decided to go out for a run (on Monday). She knew that I did
half marathons so she must have assumed that I was in super good shape.
No. That afternoon we went on a 5 mile SPRINT!!!! I almost died, I
really was about to roll across our door into our bedroom! So, I
definitely got my wish and then some! And, we also get up a half hour
early every day to go run before we get ready in the morning... and
then we have fifty minutes in the gym later in the day. So, needless to
say, my companion is going to keep me in shape whether or not I want to!
(I do want to! haha) It's great! And kind of funny.
My teacher's name is Brother Burgess; however, he may not
be for long, I think they kind of switch the teachers around, I'm not
really sure still how everything works yet. But, he's great and I really
like class.
But Thai seriously is sooooo fun! I love love love this
language. We have taught our fake investigator, Dtam, 3 times now, and
we have a lesson with him tonight. It's definitely been a learning
experience! I can already tell that we're quickly improving. Tonight my
goal is to give the lesson without notes! We'll see how that goes! haha
We are teaching about the Plan of Salvation. Sister N. and I make the
outline of our lesson in English, pick what we each want to talk about,
then practice our parts in Thai. Our lessons are always less than ten
minutes, but we're off to a good start! I love it! Can't wait until we
are teaching real investigators.
We do a lot with the other district. Their classroom
and residence is right next door to ours, so I can tell we are all going
to be great friends. On our floor (there are 4 floors in our building)
there are about 60-70 sisters. They are all going to different places!
That is awesome what Monica said about the temple. How
awesome to be a part of this work at this time! Let's hope we all work
as hard as we can to get that temple!!!!
So, a typical day: (it changes everyday)
(6:00: go for a run)
6:30- get ready
7:30- breakfast
8:05-11:05- classroom
11:05-12:20- personal study (which we just do in the classroom)
12:20-1:05- lunch
1:05-4:05- classroom
4:05-5:20- dinner
6:05-9:30- study/computer study/personal planning/ service/ devotional.... depends on the day!
That
is sort of what a day is like... basically most of our time we are in
our classroom studying! Or outside studying if it is nice out!
I didn't realize how much unstructured time we have. We
have huge chunks during the day where we can use it to study
however/whatever we like. For some reason I always thought that we'd be
with a teacher, but we actually have a lot of time by
ourselves to study what we want... which is good and makes sense!
Also, I am so glad that you are having so many missionary
experiences/ support from friends! That is so awesome! And how sweet of
Kellie to bring over that Sees gift! So nice!
The
cafeteria has a good variety of food, but the main meals are pretty
unappetizing to me. So, they have a great salad/wrap/soup bar, cereal,
veggies, fruits... you can definitely eat healthy if you want to!
I love you all soooooooooooooo much! :)
Think of any questions you have, things I didn't cover!
Love,
Liz :)
