Hello family dear!
I have been DYING to write so I
could tell you everything that has happened in the last week! It feels like a
million years ago that I talked to you at the airport because soooo much has
happened!
So, my companion's name is Sister
Mullen and she just barely finished her three month in field training. She is
awesome, I just love her. She's from California and she is half Thai. She knows
Thai pretty well! She is really good at understanding it. She hadn't learned it
before she came to the MTC. I love love love love her! I am so excited to serve
with her for the next three months!
Aaaaannnnd, I am serving in the
ESAN!! It's what I had been really, really hoping for. I'm serving in a town
called Mahasarakham which is in the "Esan." The Esan is the Eastern
Region of the country and is a little more hill-billy. haha. Mahasarakham is probably
about the size of Kalispell. Maybe? I don't really know. In fact I don't really
know that much yet at all because Sister Mullen and I are the first sister
missionaries in Mahasarakham in about the last five years or so. So, we are
white-washing this area. Luckily, there are two elders here as well who have
lived here, so they kindly showed us where to go to find computers today!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE THAILAND! This
place seriously is heaven! It is absolutely beautiful.
The food, especially the fruit, is
amazing, and the people are so amazingly sweet and nice. I figured that an
American in Thailand wouldn't really be that big of a deal because it seems
like the whole world is so Americanized! Not true, at least not in the Esan.
People are always staring at me and will say, "halloooo" when I pass
by. People comment constantly on my pale skin and tell me that I need to wear
long sleeves so I don't turn dark. Light skin is a sign of beauty here and
women often put make- up on to look lighter. So, I attract a lot of attention.
Two days ago we were working out at a "health park" nearby and I
couldn't even get in a work out because people wanted to talk to me and
practice their English. haha They always say, "You so beautiful and
white!" haha But, it's a good missionary opportunity because they want to
know what on earth I'm doing in Mahasarakham!
Anyway, let's back track a bit! The
flight here went so fast, and we were greeted at the airport by Pres. and Sis
Senior. They are just absolutely wonderful! So full of energy and really fun. I
gave them Mom's huckleberry treat and card. Pres. Senior said, "I LOVE YOUR
FAMILY!" haha So, we spent the first two days in Bangkok and got a lot of
little stuff out of the way like visas, orientation, etc. We got to go Dan
Jonesing which was terrifying. But in the last week we've done it so much that
I’m not that nervous going up to people anymore. It helps when they want to
come up to you!
So, our district stayed
the night at a really nice hotel by the mission home, and went to transfers
meeting on Tuesday. So fun!!! There were so many people getting transferred so
a lot of people were there. A lot of my MTC zone got called to Bangkok. And to
be honest I don't really know where a lot of the places were. Sis N got called
to Esan too, but she's further up from me in Udon. So exciting. So, right after
we got our companions and assignments we hopped on a bus and rode for 7 hours to
Mahasarakham and got here around 1:00 am. The elders helped us get to our new
apartment since we don't know where anything is. Our apt is one room with a
bathroom attached. It's pretty tiny compared to other missionaries apts, but it's
pretty clean and will work great! We definitely have a bug problem, but I am
starting to think that's unavoidable in Thailand! Oh, this morning I caught a
lizard climbing up our wall!!! Made my day!
So, the first morning we were here
we had absolutely no information. We had no area book, no map, nothing! So, we did our studies, but we didn't really
know what to do because we are whitewashing. Luckily, the elders came by
eventually and gave us the area book. So that gave us somewhere to start. And,
when Sis M was showering we had a knock on our door. I was really nervous because
I knew I probably wouldn't understand anything they said. But, I answered the
door and it was a member coming to see how we were and go get breakfast for us!
The sweetest. Her name is Nok and she is a ward mission leader and has helped
us A LOT!! She's taken us to show us where people live and is always
checking up on us! Love her!
That afternoon another member showed
up at our house to take us shopping because we have no cleaning supplies, food,
my bike, etc... She helped us find our way around and get settled in. She even
was able to get me a lower price on my bike- only $200 ! Sweet! Her name is Mod
and she's a mission leader and is 23 and will be putting in her mission papers
soon!
The members here are AMAZING! In our
branch there are about 60 people. They are mostly women. Priesthood holders are
far and few between. From what people say, Thai women are much more receptive
to the gospel. So, we definitely need to work on getting more priesthood
holders here so that we can eventually get a temple! That seems to be the big
focus/vision of the whole mission: Get enough priesthood holders so that we
can have enough wards so that we can have enough stakes to get a temple here!
It's exciting, but I feel like there's still a lot of work to be done. Exciting
time to be here!
Anyway, the members. They are so so
so "sabai." Meaning, everything is just great and they are so laid
back. Meetings don't really ever start on time, but it doesn't matter because
who's in a hurry? haha I love it! On Saturday the Young Women invited us to come to the
church to make cupcakes with them! That was fun, and those are not quite what I
would call cupcakes, but I had a blast. It was so funny- the leader had bought
all the ingredients and we were ready to start cooking. She turned to us and
said, “So, how do you make cupcakes?” I
have no clue what the proportions are for cupcakes, especially from scratch! I
never realized baking should have been part of my pre-missionary training.
Since we didn't know we just made a butter cookie recipe that was on the back
of the margarine package. They were actually really good, but I don't think the
YW got the "cupcake" experience. Maybe we'll have to try that again!
haha So fun!
The members here are amazing
missionaries. They ask to take us inviting in public places with them. We give
them pamphlets with our numbers on them and they go inviting people to learn
from us, to come to church, and to come to English class. They love the gospel
and are fearless about sharing it. Such a great example to me. I hope when I
get back I can be as great of a member missionary and help the missionaries out
as well. I honestly don't know how we would have started here without the
members. They have helped us so much since we are completely new to the area!
Sunday was awesome! I understood
about 1% of what was going on, but I was given lots of hugs and encouragement
from the members. They are just so cute! Understanding Thai is so hard! I feel
like I can express myself a lot of the time, but I really have no idea what
people are saying. They talk so fast! haha It'll come, though! and Sis Mullen
is amazing! I love her! She's so sweet, funny, and so good at understanding
Thai.
We have one lady named Dting who is
getting baptized at the end of July. She was taught by the previous elders and
accepted the invitation to baptism from them. We will continue teaching her! We
don't have many investigators so we are going to have to do a lot of work
finding people!
One fun thing here is that they
speak another language. Sort of. They speak "Pasa Esan" which is sort
of "country talk" I guess. But it sounds way different than Thai and
Sis M doesn't understand it. So, hopefully we'll pick that up soon! I can
hardly understand Thai and now people are speaking Esan, too! Will be
quite the adventure! I love it!
I feel like there is so much to
write, but I just don't have time! Thank you so much for your emails and Dad, I
have not gotten letters yet, I need to talk to our DL's. You are the sweetest!
I love you all so much and am so
grateful for you! I love being a missionary and I love being in Thailand. The
gospel is true and I love it!
Picture time!
Love,
Liz :)
