Sawadii Kha!
well, here i am again. still in the MTC. I can't remember a time I WASN'T at the MTC.... or eating these delicious cookies (thanks Nicole!)
So let's think...what can I report?
This week was eternally long and amazing fast at the same time.
Seriously. Everyday is filled with 6 hours of class and 3 hours of
personal study time, companionship study, missionary directed time, etc
etc, yadda yadda. Same as the last 3 weeks. Some new and exciting things
are the fact that now our teachers are talking to us in almost 100%
Thai...which means I'm almost 100% lost...every day....all day...
Awesome. Acutally...it's not too bad. We're learning how to read and
write script now and I'm excited because I think that will be easier for
me to understand. It makes it easier to be able to say some of the
vowels, too.. Maybe one day my teacher will stop telling me it's ok to
throw up (he says it now because we make disgusting faces when we try to
say some of them). Speaking of teachers. Our one dear Brother Parker has
left us for the land of India! (dumblydore) He is really excited but he's
kind of a nervrous wreck too. One day he came in and was like "ok---for
BOM study today can we find all the scriptures about comfort? I just went
to our orientation meeting where they told us about all the things to be
careful about in India" I'm fairly confident he felt much better after
our discussion, especially becasue the first 5 scriptures Elder Cooper
shared were all something to the effect of "least ye die a horrible death
on this earth, be not affraid.."etc, etc. K that wasn't actually
scripture, but you get the idea. Speaking of scriptures. I realized
this week that I know absolutely nothing about the bible.... "the animals
they came on, they came on by twos-ies, twos-ies" LIES!!!! ALL LIES...
only some of them came on by 2s.... And where did these Giants come from
in Genesis Chapter 7? Are they just Adam and Eve's children who happen to
get Elephantitis? I have some much to learn....I'm so excited.
I hate how much I lose everything here. If it's not my pens, or planners
(both have been missing at one point) or PMG, or my mind...it's my blue
card of good and evil..(minus the evil part). I only go to 3 different
building everyday, why is it so hard? haha.
Oh, Elder Ballard came this week! He talked about desire and it was just
simply incredible. The church is true! Last night was hilariously fun.
My comps and I decided we needed an object lesson about Lehi and his
family. Therefore we recreated his journey in the wilderness by making a
tent in our room. Best sleepover ever...and we were still asleep by
10:30 (as mandated by higher powers). I love the MTC. I love being a
missionary. I'm sad that my comp leaves next week though. She's off to
Cambodia already! Then in 2 weeks the Phii-Thais leave.... AHHH... I
don't know what I'll do.
Well time is almost up again. Thank you everyone for your amazing letters
of love and support. This week I totally won. I got 6 letters AND a
package in ONE DAY. BONUS. So thank you, thank you. Oh and a couple
things. Jill and Riles...Cracker is sooooooo cute!! I show him off all
the time. Tarlena...I need your address..so write to me! Oh, and TJ..
spider dead. Spider= your address.. Please, write immediately. :)
AHHH 38 seconds!! BYE!!!
Love you alll!!!
rag, Hilary!
May 12, 2009
May 5, 2009
Sawadii Kha!
MTC: Week 2
so after the craziness that was last weeks email adventure, I decided to use the methods they've been impounding into our tiny little brians the whole time we've been here and actually PLAN out what i was going to write to you about today. Otherwise, I might forget things. Which I have come to realize I forget A LOT of things here. Everything is always go go go! and so I find myself asking questions such as, "wait, what time is it?' "is today Wed or Sat?" "Did i write in my journal today?" is this the 7th day we've been her or the 47th?" "Did i tell you this already?" so I am sorry if I ever repeat myself, I Just i'm trying to learn so much Thai and doctrinal things, that I forgot the little things like waht I told you about last week.
The MTC still ahhhh mazes me! It is a spiritual powerhouse that never sleeps (except from 10:30pm to 6:30am as maintained from the powers that be.) Everything is starting to become more routine and more comfortable (k.... well the rooms, food, study times, companions and such..... maybe not the language). My teachers have continued to inspire and teach us an unbelivable amount and it's so fun. One of our teachers. Brother Parker will be leaving us this Friday. He's going to India for and internship with HP and he will be deeply missed. He is probably one of the best AND guirkiest people I've met to date... and you all know I've met a bunch of those, so there you go. Our new teacher [ who teaches the P-Thais (or older Thai district)] started this week as a subtitute( for Sister K who is at home for 5 days in seattle) and let me just tell you.... HE IS WONDERFUL> Seriosly... every time he speaks... I want to cry. And did... once (he told us his conversion story, ok... it was totally acceptale that I cried a little bit) He is Thai and grew up there and was a Buddhist monk for 3 years and finally joined the church when he was 21. He went on a mission to Canada and is now teaching us! YAY!
As i get to know my district more and more each day, I just love them so much. They are ridiculous. Always. 7 elders and Me. haha. As my companion( Sister Askerlund- who's going to Cambodia) and I say " If we didn't love them, we'd hate them." And sometime we do both, at the same time. So every week we're here we have a "test" which is bascially jsut a teaching appointment. For those of us learning a language, each week we have to teach more and more inour mission language. so this past Saturday was our 1st appointment and it was SO fun! Ok... sooo we only had to talk in Thai for 15 min., Basically introduce ourselves and bear testimony and then ask if we can come teach them at their home, and i guess it went ok. The people we teach are all RMs of Thailand, so they're really nice and encouraging. THANK GOODNESS. Earlier this week my Teaching Comp (Elder Blaustein) and i went to the TEC ( A center where we can go and practice teaching and learn, etc.) to get some practice teaching. The 1st time we were seriously jsut beat with a humble stick! It's harder that I thought! but the 2nd time was sooooo much better and so when our "test" finally came, we were just fine. Since I'm a solo sister and we have a trio, i switch teaching companions every week. So THIS week, I'll be with Elder Jensen, or Elder squirrel as the P-Thai sisters and I call him. I think we were both a little hesitant at first, but after one comp study with him I think it will be jsut fine. The Elders are SOOO GREAT! and they know so much. I'm the oldest and have a Bachelors degree, but these Elders know so much more than I do. I'm learning a lot from them.
AHH! I'm running out of time again! 6 min....
Ok!... P-day's are still the best. We begin by going to the temple at 7 am, then enjoy a delicious non- MTC breakfast ( oh, BTW.... the food here has actually been just fine. much better that DT was and I survived that. I love the salad bar... Yumm... so don't worry- it's not as bad as everyone cracks it up to be. albeit, some meals are. but overall it's fine.)
I'm sleeping well here... most days.. I'm having TOTALLY bizarre dreams that could take days to describe. some sisters stay up WAYY past 10:30 and we have to go tell them to be quite cause our room is right next to the lounge area. Everyday we experience "mission miracles" such as having a good dinner, not having to tell the sisters to be quiet, and our favorite one this week was finding the MTC's "Room of Requirement" Yes... like from Harry Potter. It was great. A door in the bathroom was randomly unlocked one day and we found this room with 2 beds a mirror and a TV. It came at a time when we all needed it, hence the name. I wish I had more time to explain some of the radom funny things that happen. But like i said before... The MTC makes things that aren't even funny, HILARIOUS!!!.... so... I'll just apare you caouse it probably won't be funny.
Anyhoo... only a min left. Feel free to email me. I just can't email anyone except the family back so SNAIL MAIL YAY!
OK. I love you all so much!
Love, Sister O
so after the craziness that was last weeks email adventure, I decided to use the methods they've been impounding into our tiny little brians the whole time we've been here and actually PLAN out what i was going to write to you about today. Otherwise, I might forget things. Which I have come to realize I forget A LOT of things here. Everything is always go go go! and so I find myself asking questions such as, "wait, what time is it?' "is today Wed or Sat?" "Did i write in my journal today?" is this the 7th day we've been her or the 47th?" "Did i tell you this already?" so I am sorry if I ever repeat myself, I Just i'm trying to learn so much Thai and doctrinal things, that I forgot the little things like waht I told you about last week.
The MTC still ahhhh mazes me! It is a spiritual powerhouse that never sleeps (except from 10:30pm to 6:30am as maintained from the powers that be.) Everything is starting to become more routine and more comfortable (k.... well the rooms, food, study times, companions and such..... maybe not the language). My teachers have continued to inspire and teach us an unbelivable amount and it's so fun. One of our teachers. Brother Parker will be leaving us this Friday. He's going to India for and internship with HP and he will be deeply missed. He is probably one of the best AND guirkiest people I've met to date... and you all know I've met a bunch of those, so there you go. Our new teacher [ who teaches the P-Thais (or older Thai district)] started this week as a subtitute( for Sister K who is at home for 5 days in seattle) and let me just tell you.... HE IS WONDERFUL> Seriosly... every time he speaks... I want to cry. And did... once (he told us his conversion story, ok... it was totally acceptale that I cried a little bit) He is Thai and grew up there and was a Buddhist monk for 3 years and finally joined the church when he was 21. He went on a mission to Canada and is now teaching us! YAY!
As i get to know my district more and more each day, I just love them so much. They are ridiculous. Always. 7 elders and Me. haha. As my companion( Sister Askerlund- who's going to Cambodia) and I say " If we didn't love them, we'd hate them." And sometime we do both, at the same time. So every week we're here we have a "test" which is bascially jsut a teaching appointment. For those of us learning a language, each week we have to teach more and more inour mission language. so this past Saturday was our 1st appointment and it was SO fun! Ok... sooo we only had to talk in Thai for 15 min., Basically introduce ourselves and bear testimony and then ask if we can come teach them at their home, and i guess it went ok. The people we teach are all RMs of Thailand, so they're really nice and encouraging. THANK GOODNESS. Earlier this week my Teaching Comp (Elder Blaustein) and i went to the TEC ( A center where we can go and practice teaching and learn, etc.) to get some practice teaching. The 1st time we were seriously jsut beat with a humble stick! It's harder that I thought! but the 2nd time was sooooo much better and so when our "test" finally came, we were just fine. Since I'm a solo sister and we have a trio, i switch teaching companions every week. So THIS week, I'll be with Elder Jensen, or Elder squirrel as the P-Thai sisters and I call him. I think we were both a little hesitant at first, but after one comp study with him I think it will be jsut fine. The Elders are SOOO GREAT! and they know so much. I'm the oldest and have a Bachelors degree, but these Elders know so much more than I do. I'm learning a lot from them.
AHH! I'm running out of time again! 6 min....
Ok!... P-day's are still the best. We begin by going to the temple at 7 am, then enjoy a delicious non- MTC breakfast ( oh, BTW.... the food here has actually been just fine. much better that DT was and I survived that. I love the salad bar... Yumm... so don't worry- it's not as bad as everyone cracks it up to be. albeit, some meals are. but overall it's fine.)
I'm sleeping well here... most days.. I'm having TOTALLY bizarre dreams that could take days to describe. some sisters stay up WAYY past 10:30 and we have to go tell them to be quite cause our room is right next to the lounge area. Everyday we experience "mission miracles" such as having a good dinner, not having to tell the sisters to be quiet, and our favorite one this week was finding the MTC's "Room of Requirement" Yes... like from Harry Potter. It was great. A door in the bathroom was randomly unlocked one day and we found this room with 2 beds a mirror and a TV. It came at a time when we all needed it, hence the name. I wish I had more time to explain some of the radom funny things that happen. But like i said before... The MTC makes things that aren't even funny, HILARIOUS!!!.... so... I'll just apare you caouse it probably won't be funny.
Anyhoo... only a min left. Feel free to email me. I just can't email anyone except the family back so SNAIL MAIL YAY!
OK. I love you all so much!
Love, Sister O
Apr 28, 2009
Sawadii from the MTC
We will be posting up her letters on her blog once we get them so here is the first and there are many more to come!:
Hello there dear family!
So this is my first email for the Missionary Torture Chamber and I only have 26 min and 10 sec left to write to you! They weren't kidding with their time limits and such.
ANYHOO-
Where do I begin? So just as we suspected, I am, in fact, a "solo sister" which means i am the only sister in my district. However, I do have 7 ridiculously funny Elders that I get to spend the majority of my day with. The first day here was definitely interesting. After i walked through those doors leaving you all behind depressed, crying and groaning in pain because of my departure (j/k) we were quickly herded, much like cattle, through a variety of rooms. Only 5 min into being in the MTC and I felt like I was breaking the rules because i was the only sister in a sea of Elders. I enjoyed observing everyone and the aray of emotions which were represented on all of their faces. Some were still crying, others looked like deer in headlights, and others were just overly excited asking everyone " Where are you going!? What are you speaking?! Wanna be my best friend?!" I was the 3rd, except not overly excited... just an acceptable amount of excited. So then we got shots, and room assignments and were sent off to get settled in. I am in a room with 3 other sisters, all of which have been there for at least 8 weeks already. Two, P-Thais (older Thais) Sister Christensen and Sister Liffirt ( who are just hilariously fun and oddly enough could be real sisters, not just sisters in the Gospel) and my companion, Sister Askerlund. Sister Askerlund is fabulous. She has been here as a solo sister for 8 weeks now and is actually going Cambodia on her mission (turns out she's the 9th sister mission form America ever to be called to Cambodia, so that's awesome.) We have a lot of things in common, including that we both cry when we laugh too hard. In the 6 short days that I've been here, we have had so much fun. She's even been able to help with the language because she's been stuck with all Thai sisters the whole time she's been here. Good for me, but confusing for her sometimes.
Ok- let's talk about classes. Everything here at the MTC is just amazing. The first full day just felt like it went on and on forever and a half.... but now the days just FLY by. It's weird, but I like it. I love all of the classes and devotionals and Large Group Meetings (well, those are less cool, but still good). We have two Teachers a day that come and teach us Thai. One of them, Brother Parker. He is wierd, but i LOVE IT. He's the perfect kind of weird for me. Our other teacher is Sister Kundson. I walked in the first day of class, saw her and said " hey. I know you." Turns out we were both in DT together at the same time and she was good friends with Katie Teddy, one of my first Roommates. So it was just random to see her again. She speaks incredible Thai. If you closed your eyes, you would have no idea she was white.
AHHH-- I only have 6 min. left! It's alll too fast!
So I guess I'll have to finish up quick. I hope this gave you some idea about how it's goning here. Thai is hard- but it's comming... slowly....hopefully. :) I love every second of it here, even when my elders get out of control. You know I've always wanted to go to boarding school, and this is quite possibly the best one ever. The spirit is always SOOO strong and incredible and i can't believe how much i've learned so far. Write me and ask any questions you might have and I'll try to answer them.
Well. That's all the time I have. Now it's time to go change my laundry and write letters! yay! love p-days. especially when we start if off int he Temple. MUCH LOVE!!
Love,
Sister O'Neil
Hello there dear family!
So this is my first email for the Missionary Torture Chamber and I only have 26 min and 10 sec left to write to you! They weren't kidding with their time limits and such.
ANYHOO-
Where do I begin? So just as we suspected, I am, in fact, a "solo sister" which means i am the only sister in my district. However, I do have 7 ridiculously funny Elders that I get to spend the majority of my day with. The first day here was definitely interesting. After i walked through those doors leaving you all behind depressed, crying and groaning in pain because of my departure (j/k) we were quickly herded, much like cattle, through a variety of rooms. Only 5 min into being in the MTC and I felt like I was breaking the rules because i was the only sister in a sea of Elders. I enjoyed observing everyone and the aray of emotions which were represented on all of their faces. Some were still crying, others looked like deer in headlights, and others were just overly excited asking everyone " Where are you going!? What are you speaking?! Wanna be my best friend?!" I was the 3rd, except not overly excited... just an acceptable amount of excited. So then we got shots, and room assignments and were sent off to get settled in. I am in a room with 3 other sisters, all of which have been there for at least 8 weeks already. Two, P-Thais (older Thais) Sister Christensen and Sister Liffirt ( who are just hilariously fun and oddly enough could be real sisters, not just sisters in the Gospel) and my companion, Sister Askerlund. Sister Askerlund is fabulous. She has been here as a solo sister for 8 weeks now and is actually going Cambodia on her mission (turns out she's the 9th sister mission form America ever to be called to Cambodia, so that's awesome.) We have a lot of things in common, including that we both cry when we laugh too hard. In the 6 short days that I've been here, we have had so much fun. She's even been able to help with the language because she's been stuck with all Thai sisters the whole time she's been here. Good for me, but confusing for her sometimes.
Ok- let's talk about classes. Everything here at the MTC is just amazing. The first full day just felt like it went on and on forever and a half.... but now the days just FLY by. It's weird, but I like it. I love all of the classes and devotionals and Large Group Meetings (well, those are less cool, but still good). We have two Teachers a day that come and teach us Thai. One of them, Brother Parker. He is wierd, but i LOVE IT. He's the perfect kind of weird for me. Our other teacher is Sister Kundson. I walked in the first day of class, saw her and said " hey. I know you." Turns out we were both in DT together at the same time and she was good friends with Katie Teddy, one of my first Roommates. So it was just random to see her again. She speaks incredible Thai. If you closed your eyes, you would have no idea she was white.
AHHH-- I only have 6 min. left! It's alll too fast!
So I guess I'll have to finish up quick. I hope this gave you some idea about how it's goning here. Thai is hard- but it's comming... slowly....hopefully. :) I love every second of it here, even when my elders get out of control. You know I've always wanted to go to boarding school, and this is quite possibly the best one ever. The spirit is always SOOO strong and incredible and i can't believe how much i've learned so far. Write me and ask any questions you might have and I'll try to answer them.
Well. That's all the time I have. Now it's time to go change my laundry and write letters! yay! love p-days. especially when we start if off int he Temple. MUCH LOVE!!
Love,
Sister O'Neil
Apr 22, 2009
Updates... From Little sister and Mom
We took Hilary to the MTC today. It was a cool experience... she is one of the two sister missionaries (that we could tell) going in that day. We think she is the only Sister going to Thailand!! ... So that is pretty cool!
Any way, if you want to write to her, her address at the MTC until July 6th is:
Sister Hilary Rose O'Neil
MTC Mailbox # 110
THAI-BAN 0706
2005 N. 900 E.
Provo, Utah 84604-1793
After the 6th of July she will be shipped off to Thailand!!!
we will be posting her letters up here for you to read so that you can know what is going on and what fun adventures she is having!
Lots of pictures will come later!
MTC Mailbox # 110
THAI-BAN 0706
2005 N. 900 E.
Provo, Utah 84604-1793
After the 6th of July she will be shipped off to Thailand!!!
we will be posting her letters up here for you to read so that you can know what is going on and what fun adventures she is having!
Lots of pictures will come later!
Apr 21, 2009
This is it. Don't get scared now.....
Well everyone, I'm off! For the next 18 months I'll be serving a mission in the grand (albeit ridiculously hot and humid) country of THAILAND! I can hardly believe it's already here and I'm leaving for the MTC tomorrow!!! Make that leaving for Utah in 12 hours.!!! What the heck happened to the time?! Even though I'm STILL packing and have tons to do, I'm extremely excited! This past month has just been a tornado of amazing. Seriously. I have the best family EVER. And friends, too. And I love you ALL.
This is short, yes...but seriously people.. I'm still not packed!
My blog will be maintained by my family until I return (thanks for that, by the way) so check here for updates.
OK....Farewell to Manzanar!
Take care. Peace be unto you.
Love, Hilary
This is short, yes...but seriously people.. I'm still not packed!
My blog will be maintained by my family until I return (thanks for that, by the way) so check here for updates.
OK....Farewell to Manzanar!
Take care. Peace be unto you.
Love, Hilary
Feb 13, 2009
So....... I'm not very good at this game called blogging, am I?
I blame it on Facebook and Laura Bence Essig. Facebook because it's addicting and it's so easy to keep in touch with everyone on there. Laura because she makes fun of me. "You have a blog? Why? It's only about you...how boring." And then she starts to sing that ridiculous country song that goes "I wanna talk about MeeeEEee.. Me, Me, ME, ME, ME! I wanna talk meeEEEeeee!"
Well you know what Laura, yes- this IS about me. And you love it. So take that. If you didn't like it, don't read it. So just stop now. NOW. Just TRY and stop. I know you won't.
But alas, I will try to update more. I did this basically for my family members who aren't on Facebook so that could have someone else to blogstalk. Besides, although Facebook allows you to keep in touch with everyone, sometimes it's nice to be able to read a little bit more about someone than "Fred gave Hilary O'Neil a Rabid Kosher Pig. Click here to add the Anne Frank's blind farm animal reservation application." Seriously- who thinks of those things anyways?
In other news, I printed out photos for the first time in about 3 years. 2 hours and about $50 later, I had about 400 hard copies of memories in my hands. Too bad that was only about 2/5 of the photos I want to eventually print out. The reason for this sudden printing? Scrap booking. I just got this sudden urge to get all of my scrap booking done. Which, of course, means I actually have to start. cool. So I decided I would start with the most recent things and go backwards. I bought this great spiral bound notebook with black paper at Borders (It's made by Paperchase, one of my favorite companies ever. Can I just move to London and design for them, please?), turned my room into an atelier and have had a great time reliving the trip . After about 3 hours, however, I started to suffer from a form of ennui and therefore opted to go watch 30 Rock. Overall, I've made great progress and should be able to move onto the next scrapbook soon enough.
In other, other news, I purchased my very first Disneyland Annual Pass. Having free access to the park whenever I wanted for half a year totally spoiled me and now I'm like a drug addict. If I don't get my Disney fix AT LEAST quarterly then I start to have withdrawals and become depressed (thank you Kellie for really helping this disease take over my life). So I called my friend, Estee, who has a pass, and said "Take me to Disneyland, now!" and she did. YES! So now I'm a proud owner of a SoCal Select Disney Annual Pass, which means I can go whenever I want. Except for Saturdays. And Sundays. Or any Holidays. Or July. But I love DISNEY. Best $139 spent this year. And now that I think about it, I think I'll go today! Woo!
I blame it on Facebook and Laura Bence Essig. Facebook because it's addicting and it's so easy to keep in touch with everyone on there. Laura because she makes fun of me. "You have a blog? Why? It's only about you...how boring." And then she starts to sing that ridiculous country song that goes "I wanna talk about MeeeEEee.. Me, Me, ME, ME, ME! I wanna talk meeEEEeeee!"
Well you know what Laura, yes- this IS about me. And you love it. So take that. If you didn't like it, don't read it. So just stop now. NOW. Just TRY and stop. I know you won't.
But alas, I will try to update more. I did this basically for my family members who aren't on Facebook so that could have someone else to blogstalk. Besides, although Facebook allows you to keep in touch with everyone, sometimes it's nice to be able to read a little bit more about someone than "Fred gave Hilary O'Neil a Rabid Kosher Pig. Click here to add the Anne Frank's blind farm animal reservation application." Seriously- who thinks of those things anyways?
In other news, I printed out photos for the first time in about 3 years. 2 hours and about $50 later, I had about 400 hard copies of memories in my hands. Too bad that was only about 2/5 of the photos I want to eventually print out. The reason for this sudden printing? Scrap booking. I just got this sudden urge to get all of my scrap booking done. Which, of course, means I actually have to start. cool. So I decided I would start with the most recent things and go backwards. I bought this great spiral bound notebook with black paper at Borders (It's made by Paperchase, one of my favorite companies ever. Can I just move to London and design for them, please?), turned my room into an atelier and have had a great time reliving the trip . After about 3 hours, however, I started to suffer from a form of ennui and therefore opted to go watch 30 Rock. Overall, I've made great progress and should be able to move onto the next scrapbook soon enough.
In other, other news, I purchased my very first Disneyland Annual Pass. Having free access to the park whenever I wanted for half a year totally spoiled me and now I'm like a drug addict. If I don't get my Disney fix AT LEAST quarterly then I start to have withdrawals and become depressed (thank you Kellie for really helping this disease take over my life). So I called my friend, Estee, who has a pass, and said "Take me to Disneyland, now!" and she did. YES! So now I'm a proud owner of a SoCal Select Disney Annual Pass, which means I can go whenever I want. Except for Saturdays. And Sundays. Or any Holidays. Or July. But I love DISNEY. Best $139 spent this year. And now that I think about it, I think I'll go today! Woo!
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