Sawadii Khaa: MTC Chapter 1

Sawadii khaa, everyone!

I am loving it here at the MTC! Seriously, it's been so great so far. Sometimes I actually wonder if I'm enjoying myself too much... Oh well!

The first day was crazy! I have never had to absorb so much information in so little time. I met my companion, Sister Baldwin, almost as soon as I arrived. She's a music major (she actually plays the violin, viola, cello, bass, and piano!) from Safford, Arizona. We had kind of a crazy P-day together today. Her family doesn't really believe in vaccines, so we spent the morning in the travel clinic where she had to get four shots! We're waiting to see if the Area President will approve her to go to Thailand even without her third polio shot booster. Things look good, but include Sister Baldwin in your prayers!

Meet Sister Baldwin! The coolest khuu (companion) there ever was.

The other sisters in my district are Sister Adams and Sister Harris. It's so fun to be in a district with Sister Harris, but it gets confusing sometimes! The four of us share a room, which is great because they're super great. We basically spend all our time together. Sister Adams has this funny Russian accent voice she drops into a lot of the time, and it's becoming a serious part of my life. It's actually the voice in my head as I'm typing this right now.

Left to Right: Sister Harris, Sister Adams, and Sister Baldwin (my companion) enjoying some study time...

The elders in our district are awesome, too. Elder Keller and Elder Sumpsion are companions from Utah. (Utah pride!) Elder Ratelle is from Idaho, and Elder Despain is from Texas. And last, but certainly not least, we have Elder Meyer and Elder Dollery, the Australians. They definitely keep things interesting. I write down their quotes every day because they're just so good. For example, we were talking about how we could keep our District accountable for learning 10 vocab words a day, and this is what Elder Meyer and Elder Dollery volunteered in their accents: "If you don't do it, you'll have to wear Sumpsion's shoes for a week." (Background: Elder Sumpsion's shoes are a hideous dress shoe/sandal hybrid and Elder Meyer thinks they're totally disgusting.) Also, we were talking about kangaroos vs. squirrels and Elder Dollery said (in accent): "Squirrels are peasants!" I've kind of adopted that as a personal rallying cry. It gets me fired up.

The Elders (L to R: Elder Despain, Elder Meyer, Elder Dollery, Elder Ratelle, Elder Keller, and Elder Sumpsion.) I'll send you district pics as soon as Elder Sumpsion passes them along!

So, here's something crazy. On our second morning of class, we were told that we were going to teach an "investigator" that evening. Totally wild. At that point, I knew how to say "Hi" and "How are you?" But Sister Baldwin and I dutifully made our lesson plans, and, that night, we went in and met our investigator, Phii Luck. (Sidenote: 99% sure Phii Luck is a BYU student who I met at tunnel singing and who talked to me about Thailand after I got my call...) We totally BOMBED it. It was choppy and completely scripted and kind of yikes in general. No stress, though. We knew it was our first time, and we also knew there was nowhere to go but up! We've taught Phii Luck one other time, and then we taught him again last night.

Last night's lesson was seriously amazing. We started off using our scripted lesson plan, but then I realized we had enough vocabulary to start asking him questions and finding out what his concerns were. We had an incredible lesson once we left the script. Sister Baldwin said she felt the Spirit so strongly. (I felt it a little, but I think I let stress get in the way!) We talked to him about Christ's love and how to say a prayer. And guess what? He said his first prayer last night! Yay! I know he's not a real investigator, but it's exciting anyway. And speaking of things that are real, let's talk about the gift of tongues! I cannot believe how much divine help I've received with speaking the language. Last night's lesson never would have been possible without heavenly assistance. 

Oh, and I've got to tell you about my Sunday highlight! We had meetings all day, and then we ended the day with a devotional by BYU's Noteworthy group. It was really good. The true highlight of my day, though, came after that. We stayed in our seats and watched "The Character of Christ," a devotional by David A. Bednar. You guys. It was one of the most incredible talks I have ever heard. It made me want to be a much better person. If you find time in your week, I would 100% recommend you give it a watch! 

So, recap of the MTC: I love it. I am so excited that I get to spend nine weeks with the peeps in my district. The food has been totally good. It's cafeteria food, for sure, but it's definitely not horror-story material. Plus, we've had Papa John's and Chick-Fil-A (Australian: Cheek-fuh-laeh) for two of our nights here, so I reckon (Australian) things aren't so bad. As far as gym time goes, I do some running and then some machines and then I play four square! I forgot how much I love four square. It has such a special place in my heart. Also, it's safe to say I'm a champion in the making. Some day. 

Not the greatest quality pic but here's Sister Adams, Sister Harris, me, and Sister Baldwin in front of one of those really cool paintings they have in the buildings.

I miss you all lots. Thanks for your Dear Elders. They make my day! You guys are the best and I love you. Have the best week ever!

All my love,

Sister Harris 

This was our whiteboard after the first day!

Anxiously engaged!

LOTS of materials in Thai. Holy cow, the book bag must have weighed 20 pounds.

Soon-to-be masters (pray for us)

BYU campus (sort of). Love you, BYU friends!

Here's a picture of my nametag! Can't wait until I can read those squiggle letters for real.

Trying to capture the BYU campus...

This is the coolest background for your nametag shot, so I had to get in on it.