10/19/14... It's the Final Week Countdown to THAILAND!!! and Happy Birthday Sarah!!!

FAM!!!! Oh my gosh, so good to hear from you!! It sounds like everyone is doing so well and I loved all the pics and the vid! Thank you so much for all of the birthday wishes too!! I AM 20... What!!! 

Let me give you some highlights from the week cause it was definitely one for the books:

Monday night we got to skype with KhonThai again... seriously SO FUN!! We skyped with Wisan this time, one of President Senior's counselors, Wii's dad, the one I am friends with on Facebook, he is the coolest! He videoed us introducing ourselves so we can look back on it later and see how much better our Thai is... HAHA. Needless to say, after talking with him we just want to be in Thailand already!!!

So then last week we had this awesome idea that since everyone in our district loves Christmas (probably no one  as much as me, lets be honest) and since we won't be in the states for Christmas, that we would do the 12 Days of Christmas before we left and end on Oct 25... so perfect right??? So I made like all these decorations on P-Day... we had a MERRY CHRISTMAS banner above our chalkboard, a huge tree that Eld Frodsham made then I made Thai script ornaments and an Angel Moroni for the top, we had snowflakes on our window mirror thing, a "WELCOME TO THE NORTH POLE" sign on our door (so funny right??) Then my personal favorite... we all brought a sock to hang on the wall as a stocking and I made tags with everyones names. So we got everything put up on Mon night, and Tues morning everyone was so happy... hahaha we were all just feeling the Christmas spirit, I'm pretty sure Elder Slabaugh had tears of happiness while we were studying... like so precious. Well after lunch, we come back and our teacher had gotten there and ripped EVERYTHING down!! haha we were so sad, but it was SO worth the 3 hours of Christmas Cheer we got out of it!!

Then probably the second best thing of the week... so Elder Ridings and I share the same birthday (and mission, and Freshman ward at BYU... weird right??) Well Elder Magera bought a card from the bookstore (I seriously have no idea why it was in the MTC bookstore) to send to him from Elder Chio (Eld Ridings companion...... seriously they trump Tyler and JC for Harry and Lloyd and we love them so much for it) hahaha so He mailed it and everything and Elder Ridings got it on Saturday and it was seriously SO funny... 
The front of the card: 
The man I love is not the man everyone else sees. 
The man I love is the man that only I know.
 The man I love shares with me all that he holds inside- 
His hopes and his dreams for the future, his memories and experiences of the past,. 
All the things that make him who he is today. 
The man I love is the man who's most himself when we are together. 
He is the only man who truly knows and loves me.
Then the inside: 
The man I love is you and only you, my partner, my friend, my everything.
and he signed it Happy Birthday. Phom Rag Khun, looking forward to 2 more years with you 
From Elder Chio

W seriously DIED cause Elder Ridings was trying to be so gracious and didn't realize we were all in on it... SO classic. I am going to miss these people SO much. 

But for real, Elder Ridings and I had a super good birthday!! Mom, thank you SO much for the package... everything was so so thoughtful and exactly what you know I love. You are THE BEST. Grandma and Grandpa, Thank you so so much for the card too, you take such good care of me!! (don't worry, I didn't open it until the 19th :)) Everyone else, thanks for the birthday emails and wishes!! 
My companions decorated our door with all of these funny inside jokes we have, and Elder Frodsham totally got me all of the Jesus the Christ and Our Heritage books, it was SO nice. Then the best... Elder Chio wrote me a card from the Legendary Elder Olive that I will cherish forever... The Elder Olive story I will save for another time, haha but it was seriously a great day! Then to top it off, at our devotional, Chad Lewis spoke (from the NFL!) and it was his son's birthday, so the whole room of 2,000 missionaries sang Happy Birthday and everyone around me said "dear Sister Morgan" instead. haha what more could I ask for?? 

This week I feel like my Thai has progressed so much and I am so grateful to Heavenly Father. I memorized the first vision this week, and our teachers really stressed the TONES because if you are off on them at all, it totally changes the meaning and the phuus((ncay will be so confused. hahaha so when I am practicing it on the elliptical in the morning I get the funniest looks, but who cares right??

So something that has been on my mind this week, the tidbit that I want to share with you all.... battle. I have always loved the battle hymns of the church (think Let us All Press On, Onward Christian Soldier, We are all Enlisted, Battle Hymn of the Republic-- So good right??) There is something about them that just makes everyone sit up a little taller and get STOKED to be on the Lord's side. Well on like Tues morn in the shower a Sister was just belting Battle Hymn of the Republic. This is pretty usual here, it ranges from disney to Taylor Swift to hymns, you seriously never know what your shower soundtrack is going to be. But anyways, I am listening to her, like getting so into it, washing my hair, almost marching in place like going to battle for the Lord, and then one part just hit me

 "As He died to make men holy, Let US live to make men free."

Christ has done His part. He had performed the Atonement, He alone has literally born the entirety of every sorrow, pain, sickness, sadness, and sin of all who will ever live that we might be free, but what good does it do if we don't share it with all men that this is the case?? Or even further if we don't grasp onto it ourselves?? We need to do OUR part.

I can't even put words to say how stoked I am to be on the Lord's side... To be going to "battle" for Him in 1 WEEK (seriously people, 1 week!) to share the message of the Savior. I love this gospel. I know that what it says in D&C 4 is so true, That if you have desires to serve God, you are called to the work. The Lord needs us all to go to battle for Him, because He loves all of His children and wants them to be free. Jesus Christ is our Savior and He lives. 

I love you all so much, WE ARE TOTALLY TALKING ON THE PHONE IN ONE WEEK!! 

Thank you for all you do for me, 

xoxo, SISTER MORGAN

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