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| 22 new missionaries in the Thailand Bangkok Mission! |
Family!! What is up!? So it is official... I am in THAILAND!!
It was so so good to talk to everyone on the phone. I love hearing your voices!
It was so so good to talk to everyone on the phone. I love hearing your voices!
Anyways, life is good! I will
answer Mom's q's first then give you a little rundown of anything that has happened
since we talked that didn't get answered in the questions!:
1) How is Sister Croft?
Where is she from? Do you have lots in common? Lots of differences?
Sister Croft is SO AMAZING! So right
after the transfers basically every Sister came up to me and said "Sister
Croft was my favorite companion!" or "You are SO lucky!" or
"They call her the mission machine!" haha, so basically 5 minutes
into our companionship, I was already so excited to work with her! She has definitely
lived up to it, I learn so much from her. She is the most happy, loving,
genuine, obedient missionary. She is from Salt Lake and she is SO musical and
artistic.
2) HOW IS THAILAND!?!?!?
Thailand is CRAZY, but AWESOME!!
There are so many people everywhere!! The air is HOT (think I just got out of a
warm shower). It is kind of a mix between super crazy state-of-the-art
buildings and really run down shack buildings. I can't really describe it, but
I tried to take some pics! There are motorcycles everywhere and stray dogs everywhere
too. But you saw from the transfer vid that I am in บางนา ("Bangnaa") which is in
Bangkok and it is great!
3) HOLY COW>>>How in
the world did you handle the 16 hour flight???
So the flight from LA to Hong Kong
was SO long, but it was so lucky-- I got the front isle seat so I could
basically lay down! I slept a ton, studied, ate Asian food, and talked with the
cute Indonesian lady next to me. I am so glad I had the Saranoni blanket too, because
it was super air conditioned! (thank you so much Olsens!!) Then the flight to
Thailand, we were all a little delirious, but so anxious/excited/nervous
that it went pretty quickly!
4) What has been the craziest
thing about Thailand?
it is Thailand... everything is
crazy!!! Literally though!
5) What is your favorite thing
about Thailand?
My favorite thing is the probably the
people! Everyone is really nice and just loves life-- including all of the
missionaries and President and Sister Senior. There is a super cool energy that
they have going on in the mission, where its like, yes this is hard work, but
let'
Then second to that is the food
obviously! SO good. The only problem is that the menus are in Thai, so I am
still at the mercy of my companion when it comes to ordering, but she has never
steered me wrong... SO delicious and spicy!
6) HOW IS YOUR LANGUAGE
COMING??? I have been praying for you non-stop...
I can feel your prayers.. Thank you
so much!! It is definitely coming, but it is so humbling to go from the MTC to
being completely immersed. They speak SO fast!! The members and Sister Croft
all tell me how "gang" (skilled) I am at Thai, but I think they are
just being nice, especially when our investigator looks at me like what the
heck are you saying? haha or when I am reading so slow that everyone is falling
asleep (literally!) But I am grateful that everyday I learn something new, and
I trust that this is a process and Heavenly Father doesn't want this to be
"easy" necessarily.
7) Do you need anything?
In your arrival letter, they told us that a package will take 6 weeks to get
there and then it will only be delivered on transfers...so basically I need to
get your Christmas going!
I will email you if I think of
anything! But how crazy is that that Christmas is so soon!?
8) How is the electrical
situation? Do your hair tools work?
So the electrical situation is good,
it is more the weather situation that is the problem! Haha I don't think I will
be straightening my hair for 16 months. but its all good! I just kind of wish I
didn't bring them in the first place, but who knows, I might change my mind!
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| the church |
9) How was your first Sunday at
church?!?! Ward? Branch?
So on your first week in the MTC they
say "Just make it to Sunday" as in ok this is crazy and new and hard,
but Sunday will come and just revive you. Well that was definitely true in the
MTC (week one of the MTC feels like an eternity ago!), but it was SO much more
true in the field. Those first days after getting to your area are very
humbling. Everything is new and you are thrown right into the work (we
literally taught a lesson with one of our investigators 20 min after we got to บางนา!) I was feeling overwhelmed a little
bit and when Sunday came, it was the perfect reminder of why I am here. I love
these people. The ward is SO GREAT, I absolutely love the members... they made
me feel so loved (apparently this ward is known for LOVING GREENIES or
"noong keeyous") So sacrament was at 9 (I got to bear my testimony
since it was fast sunday!) , then there was a baptism after (I am in like all
these pictures with her, and I literally just met her hahaha, but she is the
cutest lady) which everyone stays for, then in Thailand the ward always eats
together after church every week (score right??) so we all ate together, then
we had a ward coordination meeting with the ward mission leader (the members
are SO awesome here about missionary work!), then Sis Croft played the piano
for the ward choir. Seriously the ward choir practice was probably one of the
best/funniest parts of being here so far. hahaha so Sister Croft warned me
before hand that it was going to be the longest choir practice I had ever been
to, and that most Thai people are tone deaf. But it was so great, they sat in a
circle on the floor and had a super long opening discussion, then proceeded to
sing for probably 2-3 hours, then ended with another long discussion sitting
down in their circle. Haha it was so great how seriously they took it, and I
say that it was so funny, but it really was so cool how much their testimonies
beamed through their singing. I love the spirit that music brings no matter
what language! Then of course after that, everyone had dinner together!
Seriously, I can't even explain how I
just already love these people, and how grateful I am for their love towards me
and their strong testimonies.
10) Where are you living?
Address? What is it like?
So our apartment is super nice! It
kind of doesn't fit in the neighborhood we are in, everything else is like
shacks and run down. It is great though, like the perfect size. Just 2 beds,
and a kitchen area, then a back room with a closet and two desks and a couch.
It is a 1 minute walk from the church, which is perfect because we teach a lot
of our investigators there. It is great! And address wise, I have no idea, but
mail is just supposed to go to the mission office, then they send it out!
So that is the main gist, here are some other tidbits:
I am basically falling asleep as we
plan and make our phone calls at night (being a missionary is hard work! and it
doesnt help that I am in an opposite time zone! but slowly I am adjusting to it
all!)
Everyone has warned me about
"thong sia" which basically means "losing stomach" hahaha
we have been advised to be careful about eating from street vendors and with
the ward, but apparently its more of a when than if type of thing, so I am
anxiously awaiting that! haha
I am trying to learn all of our
investigators' names and just about them in general! It is crazy because you
come in after the transfer, and there are people they have been working with,
so getting to know them is super important! Slowly I am being able to remember
their names. Right now we have a ton of invesigators which is such a
blessing!
I have really had a lot of time to
think about what I am doing here, and really been trying to figure out how to
"get the hang of it". This morning as I was studying Christlike
attributes in Preach my Gospel, I had such an answer to my prayers. I had the
strongest impression of love and gratitude for the Savior. I love Him. I know
that he loves all of these people in Thailand, and that the Lord has called me
to share His love. I know that it is true that "Charity never
faileth" That even if I am struggling with this language, or if I am
feeling worn out, or feeling insecure about my ability to teach, I need to look
outward. To focus on loving as He would love, serving as He would serve. It is
such a blessing to have His example and life to look to in all things.
One of my teachers at the MTC
reminded us "The Son of God has descended below them all, art thou greater
than He?"
These words mean a lot to a brand
new missionary in a foreign land, unable to communicate perfectly, and
wondering why it has to be this way. I know that this is a small price to pay
to share His love with people who need it.
The mission is the best. I
love what Dad said about taking in all of the "firsts" here and just
loving them. I am trying to do that!
I am excited for this week,
miracles are going to happen!
Thanks for all of the love and
prayers, I feel them everyday.
send me pictures!!
all of my love,
Sister Morgan
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| last Cafe Rio (listening to Radiate by Jack Johnson yikes!) the Lord totally blessed me with two of my very favorite things right before leaving the mother land.... so good! |
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| we helped a lady in the ward paint her whole house PINK! |
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| ...me and "Boui" she is the daughter of one of the ward missionaries Sister Gwaang and she is SO crazy, but so so cute |
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