Wait...I have a first name and it isn't Sister??

Hello people of places that are not the MTC! 

How I long to communicate with the outside world, even if it is only for a short amount of time.  We always joke about how Wednesdays are like Christmas.  We like Christmas. :)

Okay, so I'm not going to lie, this week was hard.  People always talk about how missions are hard, and I never really understood what it would take to be a good missionary.  It is taxing in all aspects of life:  spiritual, emotional, physical, mental...all of them.  It's hard and I got my first huge wave of realization this past week.  Our investigators (people we teach the gospel to; they "investigate" the church) weren't progressing and it was just flat out stressful.  We were in a rut and I felt like we were spinning our wheels at full speed but we were stuck in the mud.  Needless to say, it was messy.  Despite the hard nights of sleep, lots of time on my knees, and tears shed out of frustration, it is getting better.  I think the hardest thing for me is trying to balance my optimism and embracing how hard it is really going to be.  I know that this week has been full of tender mercies to remind me that everything is going to be okay.  Without them, I don't know if my poor little soul could handle it all.  I guess since I'm not a teenager anymore, I have greater responsibility (or something like that...).

On Thursday before the wave hit, Sister Downs and I got to escape the MTC for a short while to visit the BYU Health Center (it's like a 3 minute walk, haha).  But then we learned how easy it was to just leave the MTC so we stayed out for a while and got McDonald's.  Not really, but we wish! Anyways, we went to the Health Center to get some anti-inflammatories for her thumb because apparently she tore a tendon in her thumb playing volleyball? (I don't believe it was that serious, but we got to escape for a short while, so we didn't complain!)  

On Friday I saw Elder Brown from Wetumpka for the first time!  I was sooo excited to see him!  I guess I just love seeing people I know, especially when they are people that I know from outside of BYU!  Plus, Elder Brown is always so enthusiastic and it really just made my day so much better.  That was definitely a tender mercy.  On Saturday I got the package my family sent with Elder Brown to give to me.  That was great!  I love packages. :)  The pictures in there made me laugh.  The one of Josh getting kissed by the elephant - his face is priceless!  I shared with my district and they were like he looks like he's five years old!  Turns out they thought it was a picture of Brother Thrap...?  I'm not sure how they thought I got a picture of Brother Thrap in Thailand, but whatever!  But now whenever I see Brother Thrap, I just think of Josh.  :)

We got to teach another 40 minute lesson at TRC on Saturday!  We taught another khon Thai.  The only one there!  I'm not really sure how that happened, but she claimed she didn't really speak English well....we don;t know if we believe her or not. :P  Anyways, we taught on missionary work, and we thought it went pretty well all things considered!  I really feel like the things that I am learning are benefiting me so much.  And it was amazing that even though I couldn't understand her all the time, somehow I still had something to say.  I hardly ever felt at a loss for words (which is completely different from how I felt during our first two weeks!  I'm not afraid to speak anymore.  I know that as long as I try, Heavenly Father will make up for the rest and carry my message to the hearts of those I teach.  What an amazing work this is.  Heavenly Father and Christ really are there with us every step of the way, and I know that they help us teach and help those who stand in need.  God knows the people I come in contact with so well.  Even if we are not fulfilling our duty completely by finding out their concerns right away, He knows everything they need.  It's amazing to me to feel this affirmation each time I teach and strive to understand and help those I teach.  I can't believe the love I have for each of them and for the people in Thailand that I don't even know!  I know that I can love them even if I don't know them because I know that God loves them.  My ability to love has increased ten-fold and it amazes me that I am capable of doing what I am doing!  But it is not me at all.  I am just a vessel for the Lord to work through.  I am nothing without the help of the Lord.  Yesterday in our devotional we heard about how missions are hard.  How there will be those days where you feel like there is a dark cloud looming over you.  He said that Satan does not want us in our missions, and its true!!  His power decreases with each person who accepts the Gospel and comes to know God's love for them.  He talked about how even though we will have less productive days, or days where everything seems to go wrong, God and Jesus Christ will ALWAYS be there to help us carry on.  I know the strength that I have to do this work is not my own.  I hear the alarm go off at 6:30 each morning and just wonder how I'm going to be able to do this.  But then I get on my knees and I acknowledge that I need help.  I pray for the strength to carry on, and I ALWAYS make it through the day, and it is ALWAYS because of the borrowed strength I have received.  I am amazed at how much God loves the missionaries.  I never realized it until I became one.

Also on Saturday we got to celebrate Brother Booth's birthday!! Our Elders are the best and they walked around the MTC bookstore looking for random items to get him.  A few examples:  On a black ice scented car freshener tree:  "Don't slip on black ice when you're driving - we love you too much!"  Or on pop rocks:  "We know that when you're a pop, you'll rock!".  Needless to say, they are the greatest. They even had a cake that was sent to Elder Watkins for his birthday earlier that week.  It was baseball shaped and said "Happy 19th Birthday Landon!!"  So they smeared the icing on 19th and Landon.  It looked really sketchy.   Everyone was like "Where in the world did you get a cake??"  Elder Crump's reply: "Ask no questions, receive no lies."  We have too much fun!

Gifts from the Elders for my birthday.  They're punny!

Sundays are the best.  I LOVE SUNDAYS.  I guess that would be a more accurate representation of Christmas, but we already deemed P-day as Christmas and Saturdays are not good enough to be Christmas Eve.  :)  Let's call Sundays New Years because they are the day we make goals to be better this next week!  They are the boost that we need to carry on through until Sunday rolls around again.  Here are a couple highlights from meetings and devotionals on Sunday.

- I'm not just on a mission.  I am learning to become a missionary.  As I strive to do the will of God and follow his guidance, I am showing Heavenly Father that I can be trusted to do this work.  I can be trusted to teach His children whom he loves and wants more than anything for them to be happy.

- We do not know the things God is preparing for us in the future.

- As we as missionaries are praying for angels to attend us, people are also praying for angels to attend them.  Be prepared to be an angel-like messenger sent out to answer the prayers of those in need.

- Faith is the foundation for all Christ-like attributes.

-  Establish trust, be diligent, and rely on God.

Something else I learned on Sunday:  I can't pray in English anymore!  I tried to pray out loud and I couldn't even think of how to start it!  It was interesting.  It's not a bad thing, rather I'm really excited that that happened in the MTC.  But it's slightly nerve wracking.  That happened after 2 months in the MTC.  What will happen in 16 months in Thailand??  So moral of the story is a word to the wise.  If you want to talk to me when I get back from Thailand, you better start learning Thai now! ;) In the scriptures we read about the gift of tongues and how it enables people to speak and share the Gospel with people of the world in their own languages.  It is real.  I have experienced it's power and I know that without it I would not be able to learn Thai.  I would not be able to teach.  I would be completely lost.  I know that Heavenly Father has given me this gift because He wants me to be able to share this message with the people of Thailand in their native tongue.  Without His help I would be nothing but a person with the desire to teach and serve diligently.  I have felt the power that comes from this message as I strive to share it to the best of my ability.  Each time I teach I can't help but to smile!  Even if they don't feel anything the first time they prayed, even if they don't yet believe in God, I know that they are trying their hardest and that they have the desire to learn.  I am so blessed to be able to have experiences with the Gospel from all angles.  I am amazed at the skills and talents Heavenly Father has granted me before my mission and those that are intensified by a mission.  He knows that I need them and that I can help this work move along because I have infinite worth in his eyes.  He knows that each of us are special in our own ways and He will use us and the talents He has given us if only we are open to instruction and diligent in our efforts.

I know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ will carry us through our lives.  I know that Christ is right there to pick us up when we stumble and feel like there is nothing else we can do.  He makes up for what we lack.  Last night during devotional we watched a clip by Elder Holland.  He said that missionary work is hard because salvation is not a cheap experience.  I love that so much because it is so true.  Again I am reminded that I cannot truly know happiness until I know sorrow and pain.  I know that Christ can lift our burdens and make them light even if he cannot take them away completely.  I know that we are on this earth for a reason.  We are here to prepare to live with God again, and I can't imagine how much He wants to take it all away for us when He sees us suffer or sees us fall.  He will not take it all away because He knows that this is how we learn.  We receive no witness until after the trial of our faith.  A mission is but a small taste of how Christ felt in the Garden of Gethsemane and on Calvary.  His sacrifice is miraculous and more than I could ever imagine, but I have gained a greater appreciation for His great atoning sacrifice.  He did it because He loves us and wants to give all glory to the Father, and I am doing the same because I love them.  Everything I am, everything I have comes from them and Christ's sacrifice for me.  I am amazed that He loves me, a sinner, as much as He does.  We all mess up, but all that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Christ, if only we let it.  So don't be afraid to try.  Where there is trying there is success because Christ makes up for what we cannot do on our own and he delights in being able to do that. 

Just a reminder:  "When you feel like you are drowning, remember that your lifeguard walks on water."

I love you all and I love hearing from you throughout the week!  I could write forever on the things I am learning, but I guess you'll just have to wait for me to tell you everything in person in 16 more months!

Love,

Sister Norrell

Me and my birthday loot!

P.S.  I'll try to remember to write more about my birthday next week, but I'm out of time right now and I forgot the card I wanted to quote.  So you get to wait in suspense until then. :)

Us chowing down for the nighttime birthday celebration (9:30 - 10:15 pm is party time!)

P.P.S We should be getting travel plans this week!! We are stoked. :)  Also, next Wednesday is our last P-Day so I might be short on time.  Forgive me if I do not get around to writing everyone letters before then, but know that I love you!

I didn't think I was tone deaf, until I started learning Thai!

Hello outside world!

This week wasn't necessarily as exciting as last week, but I'll try to make this as interesting as possible!

Wednesday night, after P-day was over, we got some sad news:  Brother Phan (our teacher that just got married) was let go from his job due to some issues as well as some misunderstandings.  So, he is no longer our teacher, and we no longer have Sam as our investigator.  We were really heartbroken, especially since we saw him last we felt like we had let him down (he holds really high expectations of us as missionaries, and we didn't always live up to his expectations.  He pushed us to our capacities, but he ALWAYS expressed his belief that we could do great things, and he always bore his testimony about missionary work after he finished telling us how we could improve.  We will miss him so much, and it is hard not to be bitter about the circumstances surrounding the incident, but we have hope that Heavenly Father has great things in store for him and his new wife. 

Since we also lost Sam (our investigator), we got our first dose of what it feels like to lose an investigator.  It stinks.  A LOT.  We had just started teaching him again, and we LOVED IT.  He was such a good investigator, because he kept his commitments, was receptive, and had questions and concerns.  We felt like he was a real person!  Brother Phan used his own conversion story as a foundation for his investigator, so it was like it was his younger self learning things all over again!  Needless to say, we will miss both sides of Brother Phan very much, and I am really not looking forward to losing actual investigators in Thailand.

We got a new teacher, Brother Thrap this week since Brother Phan will be teaching us no longer.  Brother Thrap has taught us before, but we now have him as a permanent teacher!  Which means that we also have another investigator to start with!  We taught Phii Dxg for the first time yesterday morning and we were excited to teach him, especially since our Elders had been teaching him already from the times he had been our teacher before.  He is an awesome and super prepared investigator.  He has an 8 year old daughter named Rainbow and she doesn't speak (we think she might have a disability).  Phii Dxg is really searching for happiness in his and his daughter's lives and he wants to know about God's plan for him.  SCORE.  That's exactly the message we have to offer him. :)

On Monday, we were supposed to teach Phii Joe at 1, but he "sent us a message"  AKA wrote on the board that he didn't have time today and that we needed to reschedule.  We were really confused.  Then Brother Olsen asks us what we would do if our appointment fell through in the mission field.  We guessed that we would go tracting...so that's what we got to do.  We went to a door (that Brother Olsen hinted we try) and stood outside as we tried to figure out how to go about doing it.  So we said a prayer, gathered our courage and knocked on the door.  We introduced ourselves, asked him what his name was, and then asked if he would like to learn about Jesus Christ.  He said he already had a church, then as we stood there looking confused and terrified trying to figure out what to say next, he said "Chog Dii" and closed the door.  But this wasn't the end to our tracting.  We had to keep knocking! So we did it again.  This time a "different" person answered the door, and we started talking about English class, and he expressed a desire to learn.  We said that we could teach him English (but we have to go back tonight and make sure it is clear that we teach English at the church building not at his home.  Brother Olsen then talked to us about our experience thus far, gave us a few pointers, then sent us out again.  The third time went so much better.  We made a connection, and talked about how he could be with his family forever.  He expressed interest, but he looked a little confused, but we have an appointment with him tomorrow evening to teach him more about the plan of salvation!  Thus, we have another new investigator, Phii Tik.  YAY!  So this week has been good for investigators, especially since we have 2 new and 1 old.  Sister Downs and I are really excited to find out more about them and to implement all the skills, techniques, and fundamentals that we have learned since teaching our previous investigators.  We really are going to try to teach according to their needs and strive to better understand and get to know them so we can be better missionaries and better help them to understand how it all applies to them.

Random experience from this week:  Apparently I remind several people of native Thais.  Which could be a problem.  First there was Cat telling me I remind her of her Sister, and then there was another teacher, Brother Shipley, telling me I remind him of an investigator he taught on his mission when serving in Bangkok.  She was baptized, so that's good right?  I'm just terrified that when I get to Thailand people are going to think I'm a native and just start talking to me super fast and expect me to understand...  I'm sure it will definitely help me to learn faster because I'd be forced to speak it, but it is still scary because I know I won't understand them, and they for sure won't understand me!  Haha :)

Speaking of the language, apparently your first area determines how you speak Thai for the rest of your life.  FOR-EH-VUR.  Sooo let's just hope that I get sent to Bangkok first, that way everyone I know that already speaks Thai will be able to understand me. :)  But I know that wherever I go will be exactly where the Lord needs me! 

The language is coming slowly it seems, but it is probably because we aren't picking up at the same rate that we were before.  It's probably just because we were learning so much in the beginning and now a lot of our language study is attempting to perfect tones or reading, or just things we already know the basics of.  I'm sure we are learning so much and don't even realize it!  I think my favorite thing about learning Thai is that it no longer sounds foreign to me.  It is easy to think in it and speak in Thai-glish, and I love that certain Thai words come to mind before their English counterparts do.  It's so amazing that I am speaking, conversing, and teaching in Thai with relative ease!  That doesn't mean that it is easy by any means, but it does mean that I am learning and that the Lord is definitely on my side strengthening me, even when it comes to the language.  However, I have such a hard time with tones.  I think maybe I just need to go back and review all the tones for the words I already know...so basically relearn them!  But it will be a blessing, especially when people can understand me!  It is better for someone to know you are asking them to come than for them to think you are calling them a dog...or a horse. (All three words are Maa with different tones!)

We also found out that before we leave we get to clean the temple!  I don't think I mentioned this before, but the temple has been closed for about a month now for it's deep cleaning and it isn't scheduled to open again until a day or two after we leave.  We were really bummed!  We had gone only twice since we had been here, and one of those times I was sick.  Sooo we were really excited to find out that we had been assigned a time to clean it, especially since we will not be able to go to an LDS Temple the entire time we are in Thailand (the closest ones are in the Philippines and Hong Kong).

I'm running out of time, but I want to share a few thoughts and quotes I gathered this week, so enjoy!

- "If you want to be a real rescuer, you must be willing to make real sacrifices"

- "Never underestimate the power of being a good example"

- We will be accountable for every word we say and each consequence that comes out of it.  Likewise, if we build someone up, we will see the positive impact and also receive blessings. 

- "We are not born winners or losers, we are born choosers"

- "It is the little things you do, think, or say that will ultimately affect your heart and define who you are"

- "If you already know what you want in the end, it will make it easier for you to help others see what will ultimately bring them happiness"

- "Where there is trying, there is victory"

I am amazed at the changes I have seen in myself and in others around me.  A mission is the perfect environment for self-discovery, self-evaluation, and bettering ones self. Hopefully my emails reflect even a small measure of the miracles of missionary work and serving our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ who give us everything.  I know that without them, none of what has happened would even be slightly possible.  I know this church is true and that the message is one of hope, and it has come directly from God himself.  The Heavens have opened and truth has been restored once more!  How glad I am to be able to share this with the people of Thailand, because I know that God knows them and loves them just as he knows and loves me and even all of you. 

You're awesome, I love you, and don't forget to write! :)

Love,

Sister Norrell

P.S.  This is a picture from when I saw Sister Foote in the cafeteria last week and she actually had her camera with her!