July 3, 2013
Sawadii krabkhrua khccn Sidtee!
Saabaay dii may kha??
Sometimes I really wish I could type
better in Thai! (And in English for that matter, haha!)
So this week was really good! I
LOVED getting so much mail and DearElder letters! I think the Sisters are
finally starting to catch up to the Elders in our District, which is rather
impressive considering 1/2 of them receive like 2 letters a day from their
"girlfriends". They're seriously so great though. We love
them (most of the time. :)
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| All the Thai sisters left in our zone |
On Monday our Phii Thais left the
MTC to continue their missions in Thailand!! WOO! We are so excited for them
but we will also miss them dearly. Our section of the cafeteria,
nicknamed "southeast Asia", will never be the same! Especially
since the Spanish are now invading. I think the Phii Thais rubbed off on
us. They always hated being called "Hermanas"...and we do
too! We are not "Hermanas" we are "Sidtees"
Haha! We are sad they are gone, but at the same time, we are now able to
have quiet evenings with minimal interruptions! So anyways, they are
probably in Thailand by now, jetlagged and ready to work! We will miss
them, but if we think about it, we will see them in a transfer! (Which is only
6 weeks! :)
So I was reading through my journal
entries to figure out what all even happened this week that I could tell ya'll
about! Then I realized that almost every journal entry starts with
"Today was so much better than yesterday!" Or somthing to the
effect of "Today was like I forgot everything I ever knew".
Soo...my days are a little bipolar in the MTC, but I enjoy being here so
much! The days seem to go on forever, but before we know it it is Sunday
again then Wednesday!! Those are the days I live for. Those are the days
ALL missionaries live for I think. :)
So this past week we have had a lot
of new teachers since on of ours (Brother Phan) got married on Saturday!! One
of the other teachers, Brother Shipley, showed us a picture Monday on his iPad
(THOSE STILL EXIST??) and Brother Phan and now Sister Phan were just
adorable. Anyways, back to our new teachers. Brother Burgess, who
served about 3 years ago, told us a story about how he got kissed by a
transvestite on his mission during the water festival... he told our Elders not
to say if any of the women were pretty in Thailand, because they may not
actually be girls, and then they would have a lot of soul searching to do...it
was hilarious! He also told us that his VISA for Thailand got delayed, so
he was in the MTC for 14 WEEKS! Torture. He said that it was during
Christmas break so all their teachers had gone home, so they wandered around
the campus finding the best bathrooms and pillow and mattress
rooms.
Funny teaching story time:
Sister Downs and Sister Jackson were teacing Phii Chad (Brother Sanchez) about
baptism. Sister Downs, being the artist, draws a picture to explain
baptism to him. He showed him standing in the water with a missionary,
then she drew him under the water. They couldn't remember the word for under
so they looked it up. They said "daay" instead of
"day". Day means literally to die or be dead. SO there
she was explaining to him that we are going to kill him during baptism.
And then, not realizing what they said, they drew him standing in the water
with lines around his head like he was shining. Then they said
"Phii" with a down accent instead of an up tone which is the word for
"you". So Phii with a down tone means Ghost. So
basically, they told him when he gets baptized we kill him and then he becomes
a ghost. Oh the joys of a tonal language!! :)
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| Phii Thai Elders - Elder Astle and his companion Elder Passey |
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| Elder Smith (from my district) and Elder Schmitdz (from the other Thai district) - both are part Thai. Thai Power! |
So our main investigator is Phii Joe
since Sam is "out of town" this past week. We love teaching
Phii Joe even though he is kind of intimidating! Our second lesson, we
actually got him to pray for us!! It was so amazing! We taught him how to
(again) and then he did it! I didn't really understand what he was saying
during most of it because he speaks kinda fast in Thai, but it was an amazing
prayer. He started by addressing Heavenly Father, and then he said
something to the effect of "Hi, this is Joe." He introduced
himself and it was the sweetest thing ever! I couldn't help but to
smile. It really helped me to evaluate the sincerity and tone of my
personal prayers. It also helped me to remember that when we teach people
to pray who have NEVER prayed before, or perhaps ever thought about a God that
plays an active role in our lives, that even though they don't personally know
God, God personally and intimately knows them. He cares about them so
much, and He knows them even before they introduce themselves. It was a
beautiful prayer. It reminded me a lof of becoming as a little
child. Our prayers don't need to be complicated or deep to be heard, but
Heavenly Father seeks to hear from us and He also will answer our prayers.
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| Mountain sunrise at the Provo Temple |
Okay, highlight of my
week. Our third lesson with Phii Joe on Monday. It was beyond
amazing. Sister Jackson always says that when we prepare lessons, we give
the Spirit buckets of knowledge to pull from when we are teaching. It is
so true. Sister Bentley and I used all of our study time to the best of
our ability on Monday and we were so prepared for our lesson. We were
teaching outside on a bench and there were tons of people walking by and it
could get distracting sometimes. But I was so in the zone. In
previous lessons I have been so paralyzed by fear and anxiety about speaking
the language, I couldn't feel the Spirit directing me even when I was sure
Sister Bentley and our investigators could! But this time, the words just
flowed. Thoughts came to my mind and words came to my mouth so fast, I
could barely move my mouth fast enough to speak them all! I was so filled
with the Spirit, I couldn't help from smiling, which is definitely an improvement
from my being scared and nervous. I couldn't believe the transformation!!
And even Brother Olsen told us afterwards that the improvement from our
first lesson A WEEK AGO was astounding. There is no way we could do this
if it were not for Heavenly Father, the Holy Ghost, and the gift of tongues.
Yesterday was so hard. Like
unbelievably hard. Learning script is kind of brutal with all the tones
and rules and exceptions. It was like the first day all over
again!! But I realized yesterday something about the Atonement. I
always knew that it wasn't just for the remission of sins, but it gives us
strength and power to overcome, as well as comfort in our times of need.
Christ felt everything we ever did, and that includes learning a language!! He
knows exactly what it feels like for me to be frustrated with myself and to
feel like I can't do it because it is so hard. He knows better than
anyone ever will and ever could. He knows everything we go through, and
He knows exactly how to comfort us and strengthen us, all we have to do is ASK.
I'm running out of time, but know
that I love you all so much. I'm sad that I missed the family trip to Thailand
- it sounds like you had tons of fun! But know that I know I am exactly
where I need to be. I will be there soon enough, and I will be there on
the Lord's errand. I wouldn't have it any other way, and I wouldn't trade
even these first 3 weeks for anything in the world. I feel like I've
grown so much, and I cannot wait to see what the next 18 months brings!
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| Sister Slaugh and I - She is one of the Phii Thais from New Jersey and now in Thailand. Lucky! |
Love,
Sister Norrell
P.S. If you wrote me/sent me a
package, and haven't received a letter back yet, it is not because I
don't love you or am not thankful for your support. I promise I
have written you back, but for some reason my letters seem to be taking forever
to get to their destinations. If you could just send me
a quick Dear Elder confirming your address, that would
be wonderful. :)
P.P.S. On our walk to the Temple today (July 2nd) we saw pigs fly!
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