Familia,
(yes, Spanish words DO still pop up in my Thai...)
Just in case you thought something happened because I didn't email yesterday, don't worry. We had to switch our P-days this week because yesterday we had Zone Conference. So here I am now.
Next week for p-day we're going to a place called Aayuttya... It was lots of cool things apparently. It'll be a fun little "T.O." with some other sisters. So Just in case we don't have enough time to email (which I'm sure we'll make time for it, but JUST in case..) don't worry. I'm fine...just on a train somewhere in Thailand. :) This moves our zone is concentrating on service. So for the past 2 weeks, and the next 5, we will be serving for 3 hours each week at a local hospital. OH man, it's so random. I think maybe I told you about it a little last week? Oh no, lies, we hadn't even gone yet. But anyways, yes. While I do love to serve, the two times we've gone, I felt more like they were serving us...The had us do things that easily could have been done by the people standing around (probable cause we were doing their job) and then they feed us too and everything. Plus it's kind funny to see how people react to white people in the hospital. I'm 98% sure they think we're doctors, esp the Elders. We go every Tuesday, which is Pregnant day at the hospital. Seriously...soo many pregnant woman. Sister Wichitrra and I served in the delivery area. No, we didn't help delivery any kids, but we did make cotton swap things (chop stick type sticks that we glued cotton too with elmer's glue). All the women in the room (around 40) had all had their babies in that last 2 days... It made me grateful for our hospitals and heath care.
We're excited about this moves. We have some great potential. Hopefully we'll get ride of this "curse" with the elders. All of their investigators end up being crazies. ( One man tells us he has no brain. Another is this communist Thai guy who dresses like an American Indian...actually he looked pretty awesome, i wish I got a picture with him) But just in the past couple days we're all meet some great people. This one girl (25 years old), Cat, just became an investigator. We meet her on Monday, and last night she came to English class and was all excited about the BOM, told me she read a couple chapters already and even shared one of her favorite scriptures with me. yay! The Lord really does prepare people. The language is getting better everyday too. Just last night I was able to lead the English class (and because it's the basic, we actually speak more Thai than English) by myself and not feel stressed. Things are just becoming FUN now. I mean, they were before, but in comparison to now, this is way better.
We signed a contract for our new house. YAY! That means the first day of next moves (Oct 1) we move. So since I'm pretty sure sister W will be moving on from Bangnaa, that means my new comp will spend her first day moving the whole house. yay! Welcome to Bangnaa.. haha. It's just in time too, our current house is just getting worse. Our air conditioning stopped working for a couple days, but I fixed it. My pencil and sister Wichittra's prayer fixed it, actually. haha. And then, the other day while cleaning dishes we were getting little shocks. Turns out the new pump wasn't put in correctly, had a leak and therefore since we were standing in the water (from the leak) and electricity was running through it, we were getting little shocks. We had them come fix it again, and we discovered the source of the smell (that was also a side affect from the faulty installation). There was so much electricity running through that a poor little frog came over into our back yard and was electrocuted. And died. ("shocking, isn't it.") But don't worry. I've never been in any real harm. Don't worry mom.
Sister Wichittra's Birthday was last Sunday. We celebrated by eating taco's that the elders made. Ok, they're so good at making food.. Does any one have any suggestions for quick, good food that we can make without an oven (aka in the microwave)? (we have a good 3 min, brownie recipe that we love to make sometimes).
Well, my time is up here. I love you all. Thank you again, and always for everything. Take care and enjoy your week!
Love,
Sister O'Neil
or Sister O'Meil... I got a letter from one of sister Wichittra's friend who is serving at Temple square and she calls me that. She wrote "P.S. When did you get your Family name"? It sounds interesting..." I'm not exactly sure what she means, but I'm writing her back " Actually it's "Oatmeal" and it's from my great great grandfather, Quaker. K. Love you. Farewell to Manzanar.
Aug 26, 2009
Aug 21, 2009
Yarrgh!!
Hello again my dearly beloved peps,
Well, another adventurous week done! Last week was filled with joy and randomness. Last week was Moves meeting, and since I wasn't moving Sister W and I got to go and enjoy the game show that was the life of everyone else. The rest of the group from the MTC came and it was soooooo good to see them, Especially the sisters. YAY. we're all togeher again...sort of. Moves meeting day is always long, but this one was fun becasue we all went to a resturant called "Que pasa". It's owned by this american (less active member man, apparently) and it was simply delicious. (I forgot how much I love fresh salsa.. mmmm...yes please!) Going there after Moves is a tradition for the missionaries and now I can see why. Then this past weekend was full of sleepovers, sickness (not me, whew) and traveling. We had 3 other sisters stay with us fo a night, and it was just like a regular old sleepover.. haha. The cobbing ( finishing) sisters needed a place to crash, so we spent the weekend playing host /companions/ travel partners. It was a great experience to learn different technics and phrases from the other sisters. Siser Wichittra's been dealing with some headaches/ throwing up... I think it might be heat exhaustion or something, but we're not sure.. So that gave me some extra study/ organizing time.
Last week after I emailed you, we went back to the church for English class and caught the tail end of the ward activity. It was pretty much my favorite thing to watch ever. They were doing areobics. Everyone out side, music blasting. This one guy "instructing" was just going crazy to his OWN beat (good thing he's a thai boxer and not a dancer.)The people who were not doing areobics (i.e, pregnant women, old man(yes, only one) old women (a few) and people who just showed up) were playing the correct part of peanut gallery. and it was hilarious. I'm pretty sure the whole experience is engrained in my head forever.. especiall Bother A who yelled "sudyaad" at the end... (meaning awesome). Oh it was a good time. This really is a great family ward.
I feel like every week we end up having a theme throughout all our lessons. This week has definitely been Family week. We're read the proclamation to the world with many of our investigators and I'm just excited to see what comes in the next few weeks. Family really is
important. Thank you, Mom and Fawther for being amazing people and strong in the gospel. Your example continual blessings the lives of all your kids, as well as everyone else. I also enjoyed studying about prayer in the scriptures, as well as in True to the Faith (which is awesome, everyone should take a gander at that some time).
Well, Mom- I hope you have a good time with Dad on your little working getaway. Dad= I love you. Jenny, I hope you had fun at camp! (ironic that you had to look for pirate hats, becasue that is also a question I asked this week, as we're doing a pirate themed English Showcase tonight- hence the title of "yarrgh"... just in case you thought i was upset or something... i'm not)). Everyone else- I love you, too! thank you for the letters (Tammie, kellie, etc) (Oh Kellie! I finally DID get those letters you gave to mini-me sister. Yay! thank you. )
Love, Sister O'Neil
Well, another adventurous week done! Last week was filled with joy and randomness. Last week was Moves meeting, and since I wasn't moving Sister W and I got to go and enjoy the game show that was the life of everyone else. The rest of the group from the MTC came and it was soooooo good to see them, Especially the sisters. YAY. we're all togeher again...sort of. Moves meeting day is always long, but this one was fun becasue we all went to a resturant called "Que pasa". It's owned by this american (less active member man, apparently) and it was simply delicious. (I forgot how much I love fresh salsa.. mmmm...yes please!) Going there after Moves is a tradition for the missionaries and now I can see why. Then this past weekend was full of sleepovers, sickness (not me, whew) and traveling. We had 3 other sisters stay with us fo a night, and it was just like a regular old sleepover.. haha. The cobbing ( finishing) sisters needed a place to crash, so we spent the weekend playing host /companions/ travel partners. It was a great experience to learn different technics and phrases from the other sisters. Siser Wichittra's been dealing with some headaches/ throwing up... I think it might be heat exhaustion or something, but we're not sure.. So that gave me some extra study/ organizing time.
Last week after I emailed you, we went back to the church for English class and caught the tail end of the ward activity. It was pretty much my favorite thing to watch ever. They were doing areobics. Everyone out side, music blasting. This one guy "instructing" was just going crazy to his OWN beat (good thing he's a thai boxer and not a dancer.)The people who were not doing areobics (i.e, pregnant women, old man(yes, only one) old women (a few) and people who just showed up) were playing the correct part of peanut gallery. and it was hilarious. I'm pretty sure the whole experience is engrained in my head forever.. especiall Bother A who yelled "sudyaad" at the end... (meaning awesome). Oh it was a good time. This really is a great family ward.
I feel like every week we end up having a theme throughout all our lessons. This week has definitely been Family week. We're read the proclamation to the world with many of our investigators and I'm just excited to see what comes in the next few weeks. Family really is
important. Thank you, Mom and Fawther for being amazing people and strong in the gospel. Your example continual blessings the lives of all your kids, as well as everyone else. I also enjoyed studying about prayer in the scriptures, as well as in True to the Faith (which is awesome, everyone should take a gander at that some time).
Well, Mom- I hope you have a good time with Dad on your little working getaway. Dad= I love you. Jenny, I hope you had fun at camp! (ironic that you had to look for pirate hats, becasue that is also a question I asked this week, as we're doing a pirate themed English Showcase tonight- hence the title of "yarrgh"... just in case you thought i was upset or something... i'm not)). Everyone else- I love you, too! thank you for the letters (Tammie, kellie, etc) (Oh Kellie! I finally DID get those letters you gave to mini-me sister. Yay! thank you. )
Love, Sister O'Neil
Aug 13, 2009
Happy Mothers day 2552!
Hello there Family!
Well, it's Mother's day here in Thailand. So, Happy Mothers day mom. Sorry it's the "second"one in a row I won't be able to call you for. :)
This week was a good week! So random, but every day on a mission is. But first some orders of business: Kellie's email address is kellrocks@gmail.com. Thank you. that was a very good idea. I don't know why didn't think of it earlier. Do you forward it to the bences (laura/tara/leah) and Owens too? Tammie mentioned that she reads them on line, so that's cool. But thank you for doing that. Please tell Jake and Spencer Congrats! I'll be excited to meet their children when I get home. ;) Congrats to Jen for getting your license! You can finally be my driver. Come on over to Thai-town- we've got a couple thousand took tooks you can drive too. Finish your homework! :) I don't know why my clothes are falling off... I don't think i've lost any weight. The food is too good here for that nonsense. But yes, I'm always flushed...it's hot here and we ride our bikes everwhere and I love my life. Oh yeah mom...Ryan's girlfriend's name is Gina. It always takes me a min to figure out who you're talkng about... :) Please tell them I said "hello!!" I don't need anything really. I don't really need any money either. Things are cheap here in Thailand, and I'm a missionary, so we don't really use a lot of money. :) But thank you...you seriously are amazing! We didn't move, or haven't moved yet. Our house is just fine, it just has a lot of character (i.e. plumbing that likes to electrocute me a litte bit, every toilet leaks from the most random places, bugs..I currently have 23 bites (yes!) etc, etc). The sisters have apparently trying to move for a while (the church has lived there for 9 years now) so I get to be the lucky one to try and move us. It's kinda of a hassel, but kinda fun. Moves meeting is tomorrow and no one in our district is moving, which means I'll probably stay where I am for a least 3 more months (2 moves). I love Bangnaa, so that's exciting. This ward is great. Just today we spent all morning making food for the mothers day activity. IT was really fun, especially becasue it just gave me another opportunity to be so awkward. (yay! I love the awkward game!). I just want to tell these people "look. I promise I have a personality and am I'm not retarted at everything I do... It just can't do it in Thai yet." But everyday gets better. Random "firsts" for the week (besides making Thai good, and by good,i mean food..) Switch offs! that means I had a different company for 24 hours. However, that Thursday/Friday ended up being the day of misadventures. On our way to meet the other sisters we left our phone in the taxi. Awesome- add that too the list (Lose phone: check!) But it was quick, easy and fairly cheap to replace it. So then when my new companion (Sister Nielsen - also a junior comp who has been here for 6 months maybe?) got back to our area, we got a phone call from the other sisters who said that we had their keys to their house in the pther area. (awesome) So for a min we thought we had to go all the way back to give them the keys. but we didn't becasue then they called and said the landlord hand them too. So then about an hour later, they called from the elders phone and said "just kidding, they didn't work, and then our phone died. We're coming there." So another hour later we ended up having a slumber party! yay! Good thing we had an extra huge matress. So that acutally was kinda of fun. The whole switch off experience was good too. I had to step up a little bit and lead the area. Plus I learned that I need to work even harder. But you can only eat an elephant one piece at\ a time, right? Another first... I had to be the accomanpist for a musical number in church. they asked me right before they sang in sacrament meeting. Good thing it happened to be my favorite song. (they love If you could Hie to Kolob. It's not even in their hymnal). I still did a very bad job though.. you know the level of my musical ablilty. But i'm just glad i could help. And now I want to practice more so I can help again some other time and acutally play well.
Well, the work is going. Everyday. The start of a new moves is a fresh start, even if it is with the same companion and area and all. So I'm excited. New goals to reach (oh yes.. yay for finishing the BOM in one moves! Check!) and more work to do. It will be fun to see everyone tomorrow. This moves EVERYONE will be there. All the missionaries in Thailand, together in one place.. rare! And I'm excited to see my noong thai's again (they just came from the MTC).
I love you all. Thanks for everything. Always and forever. The church is true!
Love, Sister O'Neil.
Well, it's Mother's day here in Thailand. So, Happy Mothers day mom. Sorry it's the "second"one in a row I won't be able to call you for. :)
This week was a good week! So random, but every day on a mission is. But first some orders of business: Kellie's email address is kellrocks@gmail.com. Thank you. that was a very good idea. I don't know why didn't think of it earlier. Do you forward it to the bences (laura/tara/leah) and Owens too? Tammie mentioned that she reads them on line, so that's cool. But thank you for doing that. Please tell Jake and Spencer Congrats! I'll be excited to meet their children when I get home. ;) Congrats to Jen for getting your license! You can finally be my driver. Come on over to Thai-town- we've got a couple thousand took tooks you can drive too. Finish your homework! :) I don't know why my clothes are falling off... I don't think i've lost any weight. The food is too good here for that nonsense. But yes, I'm always flushed...it's hot here and we ride our bikes everwhere and I love my life. Oh yeah mom...Ryan's girlfriend's name is Gina. It always takes me a min to figure out who you're talkng about... :) Please tell them I said "hello!!" I don't need anything really. I don't really need any money either. Things are cheap here in Thailand, and I'm a missionary, so we don't really use a lot of money. :) But thank you...you seriously are amazing! We didn't move, or haven't moved yet. Our house is just fine, it just has a lot of character (i.e. plumbing that likes to electrocute me a litte bit, every toilet leaks from the most random places, bugs..I currently have 23 bites (yes!) etc, etc). The sisters have apparently trying to move for a while (the church has lived there for 9 years now) so I get to be the lucky one to try and move us. It's kinda of a hassel, but kinda fun. Moves meeting is tomorrow and no one in our district is moving, which means I'll probably stay where I am for a least 3 more months (2 moves). I love Bangnaa, so that's exciting. This ward is great. Just today we spent all morning making food for the mothers day activity. IT was really fun, especially becasue it just gave me another opportunity to be so awkward. (yay! I love the awkward game!). I just want to tell these people "look. I promise I have a personality and am I'm not retarted at everything I do... It just can't do it in Thai yet." But everyday gets better. Random "firsts" for the week (besides making Thai good, and by good,i mean food..) Switch offs! that means I had a different company for 24 hours. However, that Thursday/Friday ended up being the day of misadventures. On our way to meet the other sisters we left our phone in the taxi. Awesome- add that too the list (Lose phone: check!) But it was quick, easy and fairly cheap to replace it. So then when my new companion (Sister Nielsen - also a junior comp who has been here for 6 months maybe?) got back to our area, we got a phone call from the other sisters who said that we had their keys to their house in the pther area. (awesome) So for a min we thought we had to go all the way back to give them the keys. but we didn't becasue then they called and said the landlord hand them too. So then about an hour later, they called from the elders phone and said "just kidding, they didn't work, and then our phone died. We're coming there." So another hour later we ended up having a slumber party! yay! Good thing we had an extra huge matress. So that acutally was kinda of fun. The whole switch off experience was good too. I had to step up a little bit and lead the area. Plus I learned that I need to work even harder. But you can only eat an elephant one piece at\ a time, right? Another first... I had to be the accomanpist for a musical number in church. they asked me right before they sang in sacrament meeting. Good thing it happened to be my favorite song. (they love If you could Hie to Kolob. It's not even in their hymnal). I still did a very bad job though.. you know the level of my musical ablilty. But i'm just glad i could help. And now I want to practice more so I can help again some other time and acutally play well.
Well, the work is going. Everyday. The start of a new moves is a fresh start, even if it is with the same companion and area and all. So I'm excited. New goals to reach (oh yes.. yay for finishing the BOM in one moves! Check!) and more work to do. It will be fun to see everyone tomorrow. This moves EVERYONE will be there. All the missionaries in Thailand, together in one place.. rare! And I'm excited to see my noong thai's again (they just came from the MTC).
I love you all. Thanks for everything. Always and forever. The church is true!
Love, Sister O'Neil.
Aug 11, 2009
Woo!!
Well, I'm hoping this week works just perfectly. It should becasue I'm acutally at completely different location. A Tesco Lotus, to be exact (yes, it's a grocery store- I think we have one in the states...but i'm not really sure).We went to the Zone's Tiaw (vacation/trip) at our neighboring zone's church building. We just played games and talked. I wrote some letters and such. (we were the only sisters there). Sorry about last week's emails and such. Lisa said that you were all able to read my letter together and It made me wish it was more. But I do what I can, right?
Lets, see.... This week was interesting. I still feel like everyday is so long (but short weeks) and each day is so different and difficult in it's own way, but so fun and easy at the same time. And while I feel like so much happens every day, I also feel like I don't have much to report on. So here are some things from this week. I think Sunday was one of my favorite days. We went to church- My first Fast Sunday in Thailand. And just like every ward, it was open mic night. We had a lot of other Farangs there (a cute family of 3 from the States, but who have been living in China for 2 years and came to Thailand to renew their visas. And an old missionary who cobed (ended) a year ago and came back to visit) So sister Wichittra was translating for the family and so I was actually able to understand all the little details of the testimonies. My favorite was probably from a Brother who is basically the Asian version of Adrian. He's even a teacher. However, in his "testimony" he was sharing about how he used to beat this one bad student who never did his homework with a metal rod until he realized it probably wasn't the Christlike thing to do. Yay for him trying to be more Christlike. I acutally really like him, I just thought it was funny that he was sharing that story. After church, we ate with the ward, and then had correlation meeting, which basically means I sit there and get a headache becasue After 8 hours of translating in my head, I'm mentally tired. It's getting better though! Then we decided to go and preach the good word to some people and hand out a couple copies of the Book of Mormon. We went to this one market place area, almost got killed by an elephant who suddenly appeared from around the corner, and then ended up on a dock on a random river that I had no idea was even there (Thailand is so cool). It was fun to notice the random blessings you get from doing what you're supposed to be. We were walking around this market, and smelling all this delcious food and thinking how hot it was and how much we wanted to buy food or a drink, (but it's sunday, and we're good missionaries, so we can't) and then periodically over the next couple hours, random people came up to us and handed us food. "here, these are for you"....uhhhh thanks! I think my favorite part of the day was talking to people on the dock enjoying the beauty of Thailand. Simple things are the best. We ended up getting 2 new investigators that day, too. Wahoo!
So one experience that really affected me this week was going to visit this one old lady. I think I wrote about her before, how she is half paralyzed and her son doesn't care about her at all and there is no one else to take care of her, but I'm not sure if that was in one of the letters that didn't make it to you or not. But anyways.. we went to go visit her again. Last time we were there, we cleaned her house and sang to her and such and we noticed that she hurt her foot and it was pretty gross. So this week when we went back, we talked to her neighbor who was outside hanging up laundry and the neighbor said this lady's foot was worse. So we went in, and sure enough it was. It was sooo sad. I probably have never felt so completely useless in my life. As missionaries we can only do so much, plus we have no car, so we couldn't take her to the hopsital. So we called the Bishop and did the best we could to get some help for her. But really.. just looking at this woman and the state that she lives in, and then NOT being able to help her, or even talk to her really just made me so sad. Then my companion felt so helpless too, she started crying.. which made ME want to cry... and by the end of it, we all were. We joked and said we were crying because of all the water we drank, but the lady said it was naamcay ( heart water). It was really an emotional moment. Im just so thankful for the gospel and that this old lady knows the gospel too and that's she's basically just enduring to the end. oh man.. God bless that little woman. So yes, mom, dad, and everyone who has ever done anything to help someone in need: Thank you, and please keep it up. You are literally angels of the Lord when you help your fellow man.
Hmm...what else. We're trying to move houses...which is just another hassel. There's another situation where I feel usless.. There is this annoying third party lady that we "have to use" which I know we don't, but I can't really help the situation go faster becasue I can't explain it in Thai. I know could totally make this not as difficult if I could speak more fluently. BUt at least I'm doing what I can (talking to the officer Elders and President about it- which is easier for me to do, than for my comp) So basically we make a good team.
2 random ridiculous things. The other day I walked back outside to leave when my skrit fell off. I really don't kno what the heck is wrong with me. at the Mtc, my slip fell off, and now my SKIRT feel off. I'm pretty sure at least 2 of the 8 construction workers nextdoor saw it, but I don't really know. I just laughed, pulled it back up, and went inside. (if you're wondering, it was the brown skirt we made. I guess i'll have to get it adjusted to prevent futher fallage.) Then just right now, (like 40 min ago) i was in the bathroom and the drawstring on my shorts broke...making me scared that next my shorts will fall off....at the mall. Awesome.. Seriously...I wish I weren't so ridiculous.
Well, I think I pretty get going now. Only a couple more hours to buy groceries and prepare for English class. Next week is moves! I'm pretty sure I'll stay in the same place. I'm excited for the 15 Missionaries from the MTC to come! yay!
Please tell the Bences and Owens and such hello for me. Thanks Tammie and Kathy for the letters/emails. It's fun to hear from people. Kell-dawg, thanks too! You continue your streak of amazing letter writer. Laura, and Tara and other people I havent' written too yet, calm down. I can't becasue i don't really have your addresses becasue I know you're moving soon. So email your new address or something. Thank you! Thanks for taking care of the random mail and such from the MTC.. I don't really know why my letter to Trevor came there, but ok.
I love you all! Keep up the good work at home. Enjoy church and the temple and random vacations and such. oh, girls camp toO! Have fun with that, Jen! Love love love from Thailand!
Love, Sister O'Neil
Lets, see.... This week was interesting. I still feel like everyday is so long (but short weeks) and each day is so different and difficult in it's own way, but so fun and easy at the same time. And while I feel like so much happens every day, I also feel like I don't have much to report on. So here are some things from this week. I think Sunday was one of my favorite days. We went to church- My first Fast Sunday in Thailand. And just like every ward, it was open mic night. We had a lot of other Farangs there (a cute family of 3 from the States, but who have been living in China for 2 years and came to Thailand to renew their visas. And an old missionary who cobed (ended) a year ago and came back to visit) So sister Wichittra was translating for the family and so I was actually able to understand all the little details of the testimonies. My favorite was probably from a Brother who is basically the Asian version of Adrian. He's even a teacher. However, in his "testimony" he was sharing about how he used to beat this one bad student who never did his homework with a metal rod until he realized it probably wasn't the Christlike thing to do. Yay for him trying to be more Christlike. I acutally really like him, I just thought it was funny that he was sharing that story. After church, we ate with the ward, and then had correlation meeting, which basically means I sit there and get a headache becasue After 8 hours of translating in my head, I'm mentally tired. It's getting better though! Then we decided to go and preach the good word to some people and hand out a couple copies of the Book of Mormon. We went to this one market place area, almost got killed by an elephant who suddenly appeared from around the corner, and then ended up on a dock on a random river that I had no idea was even there (Thailand is so cool). It was fun to notice the random blessings you get from doing what you're supposed to be. We were walking around this market, and smelling all this delcious food and thinking how hot it was and how much we wanted to buy food or a drink, (but it's sunday, and we're good missionaries, so we can't) and then periodically over the next couple hours, random people came up to us and handed us food. "here, these are for you"....uhhhh thanks! I think my favorite part of the day was talking to people on the dock enjoying the beauty of Thailand. Simple things are the best. We ended up getting 2 new investigators that day, too. Wahoo!
So one experience that really affected me this week was going to visit this one old lady. I think I wrote about her before, how she is half paralyzed and her son doesn't care about her at all and there is no one else to take care of her, but I'm not sure if that was in one of the letters that didn't make it to you or not. But anyways.. we went to go visit her again. Last time we were there, we cleaned her house and sang to her and such and we noticed that she hurt her foot and it was pretty gross. So this week when we went back, we talked to her neighbor who was outside hanging up laundry and the neighbor said this lady's foot was worse. So we went in, and sure enough it was. It was sooo sad. I probably have never felt so completely useless in my life. As missionaries we can only do so much, plus we have no car, so we couldn't take her to the hopsital. So we called the Bishop and did the best we could to get some help for her. But really.. just looking at this woman and the state that she lives in, and then NOT being able to help her, or even talk to her really just made me so sad. Then my companion felt so helpless too, she started crying.. which made ME want to cry... and by the end of it, we all were. We joked and said we were crying because of all the water we drank, but the lady said it was naamcay ( heart water). It was really an emotional moment. Im just so thankful for the gospel and that this old lady knows the gospel too and that's she's basically just enduring to the end. oh man.. God bless that little woman. So yes, mom, dad, and everyone who has ever done anything to help someone in need: Thank you, and please keep it up. You are literally angels of the Lord when you help your fellow man.
Hmm...what else. We're trying to move houses...which is just another hassel. There's another situation where I feel usless.. There is this annoying third party lady that we "have to use" which I know we don't, but I can't really help the situation go faster becasue I can't explain it in Thai. I know could totally make this not as difficult if I could speak more fluently. BUt at least I'm doing what I can (talking to the officer Elders and President about it- which is easier for me to do, than for my comp) So basically we make a good team.
2 random ridiculous things. The other day I walked back outside to leave when my skrit fell off. I really don't kno what the heck is wrong with me. at the Mtc, my slip fell off, and now my SKIRT feel off. I'm pretty sure at least 2 of the 8 construction workers nextdoor saw it, but I don't really know. I just laughed, pulled it back up, and went inside. (if you're wondering, it was the brown skirt we made. I guess i'll have to get it adjusted to prevent futher fallage.) Then just right now, (like 40 min ago) i was in the bathroom and the drawstring on my shorts broke...making me scared that next my shorts will fall off....at the mall. Awesome.. Seriously...I wish I weren't so ridiculous.
Well, I think I pretty get going now. Only a couple more hours to buy groceries and prepare for English class. Next week is moves! I'm pretty sure I'll stay in the same place. I'm excited for the 15 Missionaries from the MTC to come! yay!
Please tell the Bences and Owens and such hello for me. Thanks Tammie and Kathy for the letters/emails. It's fun to hear from people. Kell-dawg, thanks too! You continue your streak of amazing letter writer. Laura, and Tara and other people I havent' written too yet, calm down. I can't becasue i don't really have your addresses becasue I know you're moving soon. So email your new address or something. Thank you! Thanks for taking care of the random mail and such from the MTC.. I don't really know why my letter to Trevor came there, but ok.
I love you all! Keep up the good work at home. Enjoy church and the temple and random vacations and such. oh, girls camp toO! Have fun with that, Jen! Love love love from Thailand!
Love, Sister O'Neil
Jul 18, 2009
Hilary from Thailand!!
HELLO HELLO Everyone!!
Wow.
WOW.
wow.
I don't even know where to begin. I guess I'll just go in order starting from the airports. First of all, SORRRRRRY!!! I really didn't get to talk to anyone for very long at all. I think Dad won with the most time- So congrats. ;) But just so you know-I love you all- SO MUCH- Thanks for all the emails and love and support. and I promise that at Christmas time we'll have more than 4 min each, then make someone else call a mysterious pay phone. :) Everything happens so fast now. Those few hour layovers were not boring at all especially the one in LA. That international terminal is horrible right now. Plus, we were like lost little children, even though LA is my home town, I still really had no idea what the heck was going on. The flights overall weren't bad at all. From SLC to LAX I stuck inbetween 2 of the Elders, one of them being Elder Murphy, so that was comfortable. Then from LAX to Taipei, we were all scattered about the plane, so I sat inbetween two randos. That plane was packed! And I pretty much sleep the whole way. I woke up when the cute, little, yet aggresive asian flight attendent pretty much put my seat in the upright position FOR me, then I think i started to realize what was going on when I noticed my tray was pulled out and she yelled at me "chicken or beef". I was just like.. "what the...? Chicken?" Dinner time. THen I feel asleep again until we were flying over Japan. We were in Taipei for maybe 2 hours and then on to another plane (jammed between the same two elders). It was fun sitting there listening to the announcements, looking around at each other, asking "oh no...was that THAI? I hope not...please tell me that was Mandrian or something." (it was mandrian, thank goodness... but I still had no idea what the Thai annoucement was saying.) THEN we got to THAILAND! WOOO.. Beautiful airport. We walked outside and I'm pretty sure I have not stopped sweating. ever. It took us a while to find President Smith, but we did and loaded up and went to their house. They have a beautiful house and we stayed there for a night. The next day was "moves" meetings. No one seems to know it's called "moves" and not transfers, but whatever. Sister Knudson describes moves kinda like a game show. She was right. It was fun. "and the new district leaders are:...." They made all the greenies get up and say hello in THAI, and that was fun.
SO....the new companion and area is:............!
I am in Baangna (southeast Bangkok) and my cute and amazing trainer is Sister Wichittra. She is a KhonThai (native) Actually, she's Chinese, but born and raised in Thailand. She speaks amazing English too, so that's kinda nice for me. Score. (she studied at BYU-Hawaii so we say she is 70 % Thai, 20 % Chinese and 10 % American/ hawaiian)
So unlike my expeirence at the MTC where I really can't remember anything that happend the first week or so, I can remember pretty much every detail of my life here in Thailand so far. Kinda weird, but cool. I don't know how long it will last, but I'm glad I can remember some things, becasue I swear I forgot all my Thai (but that comes later...so hold your horses). So after Moves meeting was over, we walked with some of the elders to a place to go eat. First place I ate at in Thailand : Subway!? (yes, american sandwiches) What the...Elders? But it was ok, becasue I wasnt really hungry anyway. Then we all hoped in some taxis [everyone is a taxi driver here....seriously...either they drive cars, mopeds/motorcycle taxis (maxium number...who cares... can you fit? jump on! I've seen 5 people on one mo-ped. no joke.) or Tuk tuks, buses,
trucks, other unidentifable vehicals..whatever...If it moves, it's probably a taxi. Maybe I can make some money while I'm here too. ;) ] Anyways... so we hopped in taxis and went to the other side of town to get our bikes. All 8 of the greenies and their comps were in the store getting bikes and it was fun. I have a sweet new green bike, with a basket and all the goodies. Then we put my bike in the Taxi (yes, in the back seat with us) and went back to the mission office to pick up the rest of my stuff and finally go to our house.
My HOUSE.. haha, oh man. What a happy place. Litteraly becasue we live in a little nieghborhood called "happy land." The elders like a couple streets over and their house is nicer than ours (or so I'm told, I acutally havent' even seen it yet) so we're either going to make them trade with us, or we're move out. OUr house seriously makes me laugh. It's a 3 story little apartment, with no kicthen (although we do have a refrigerator- score), no kitchen sink (it's out in the "back yard" along with the washing machine, right next to the cinderblock wall that divides our back yard and the factory /.sweet shop behind us...who knows... I think Nike owns it....ok, not really... but it is some kind of factory). ONe thing I like about our house is the stairs and the secret rooms we really don't use on the 2, 2 1/2 ish (?) and 3rd floors? (i'm not really sure...some are locked...and the roof definitely is... dang, gina) We use padlocks to lock our doors and selves in everynight. OH, and thank goodness for the Airconditioner that mostly works in our bedroom. Without that... i would just..... well.... i guess I would just sleep anyway...
but still. Awesome. The second day I was there, we came home and all the weeds/trees out in the front were gone. Made it look much better. And then we cleaned it today, too...so my life is better. Although... i am still going to clean more. My companion said today " you're not like other farangs (white peps) You like to clean." That's too bad that other people aren't clean... but i am. So yes. way to clean.
Let's see... Language. The first couple of days, I had great experiences with speaking and learning (again) that that Lord will qualify you for the work, depsite your weaknesses. We've had some great lessons with some people. (we TEACH all the time, BTW. Every single Taxi ride, walking around the street, and also to all our investigators). My favorite one so far was with this family. Jerjan's family. I, for the life of me cannot understand AT ALL.... but all the kids (ages 14 -24) are nice. We have high hopes for them. I'm not going to lie though. It's so hard! And I always feel better and the end of the day, then I do at the begining. But my comp is fantastic and helps me everyday. My favortie times are when I absolutely can't understand ANYTHING...and then I just smile and say "Well....God loves you. Sawadii Kha." I need to try harder. OH, so I asked Sister Knudson if people in Thailand speak softly (becasue i've always felt like most Asains speak quietly) and she said No... GOHOK.. (LIES!!) They totally do. Most times I can't understand ANYTHING becasue I can't hear them. But it's ok... i think I won't think they talk quietly when I can understand everything. So yay! for that day.
We have a good ward. THey made me speak my first day. Typical. And it was fine. They are all so nice and they all make great food.
Speaking of food. It's good. The first couple of days I was not hungry at all, so I didn't really eat, but now i'm doing better/ (well... i wasn't sick...so i'm not doing "better " casue i wasn't "sick" but i think you know what i mean).
Man... hmm.. I don't know what else. IT's so cool over here. Crazy. Busy. Crazy Busy. and I love it. There are dying dogs everywhere (our favorite is called zombie) and everyday as we ride our bikes around i hear "farang! Farang! Uan! Farang!" which means "Hey look! White person! A fat
white person!" excellent. I love Thailand. I'm going to count tomorrow and see how many times i hear it. Thai people love white people. But we do stick out. I didn't realize it until I saw 2 other ones the other day (and no, it wasn't the Elders).. cuase i was like- "oh, white people"
I hope that is a good enough report for now. We're going to go shopping at the market /mall. (sooo awesome..) Then it's off to teach English.
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, YOU ALl. Thanks for all your prayers and love. They really help! The Church is still true. Even in Thailand. Even in the year 2552 (oh yeah.. it's the year 2552 here in Thailand. Thanks Buddah).
Love,
Sister O'Neen (how Thai's say my name)
Wow.
WOW.
wow.
I don't even know where to begin. I guess I'll just go in order starting from the airports. First of all, SORRRRRRY!!! I really didn't get to talk to anyone for very long at all. I think Dad won with the most time- So congrats. ;) But just so you know-I love you all- SO MUCH- Thanks for all the emails and love and support. and I promise that at Christmas time we'll have more than 4 min each, then make someone else call a mysterious pay phone. :) Everything happens so fast now. Those few hour layovers were not boring at all especially the one in LA. That international terminal is horrible right now. Plus, we were like lost little children, even though LA is my home town, I still really had no idea what the heck was going on. The flights overall weren't bad at all. From SLC to LAX I stuck inbetween 2 of the Elders, one of them being Elder Murphy, so that was comfortable. Then from LAX to Taipei, we were all scattered about the plane, so I sat inbetween two randos. That plane was packed! And I pretty much sleep the whole way. I woke up when the cute, little, yet aggresive asian flight attendent pretty much put my seat in the upright position FOR me, then I think i started to realize what was going on when I noticed my tray was pulled out and she yelled at me "chicken or beef". I was just like.. "what the...? Chicken?" Dinner time. THen I feel asleep again until we were flying over Japan. We were in Taipei for maybe 2 hours and then on to another plane (jammed between the same two elders). It was fun sitting there listening to the announcements, looking around at each other, asking "oh no...was that THAI? I hope not...please tell me that was Mandrian or something." (it was mandrian, thank goodness... but I still had no idea what the Thai annoucement was saying.) THEN we got to THAILAND! WOOO.. Beautiful airport. We walked outside and I'm pretty sure I have not stopped sweating. ever. It took us a while to find President Smith, but we did and loaded up and went to their house. They have a beautiful house and we stayed there for a night. The next day was "moves" meetings. No one seems to know it's called "moves" and not transfers, but whatever. Sister Knudson describes moves kinda like a game show. She was right. It was fun. "and the new district leaders are:...." They made all the greenies get up and say hello in THAI, and that was fun.
SO....the new companion and area is:............!
I am in Baangna (southeast Bangkok) and my cute and amazing trainer is Sister Wichittra. She is a KhonThai (native) Actually, she's Chinese, but born and raised in Thailand. She speaks amazing English too, so that's kinda nice for me. Score. (she studied at BYU-Hawaii so we say she is 70 % Thai, 20 % Chinese and 10 % American/ hawaiian)
So unlike my expeirence at the MTC where I really can't remember anything that happend the first week or so, I can remember pretty much every detail of my life here in Thailand so far. Kinda weird, but cool. I don't know how long it will last, but I'm glad I can remember some things, becasue I swear I forgot all my Thai (but that comes later...so hold your horses). So after Moves meeting was over, we walked with some of the elders to a place to go eat. First place I ate at in Thailand : Subway!? (yes, american sandwiches) What the...Elders? But it was ok, becasue I wasnt really hungry anyway. Then we all hoped in some taxis [everyone is a taxi driver here....seriously...either they drive cars, mopeds/motorcycle taxis (maxium number...who cares... can you fit? jump on! I've seen 5 people on one mo-ped. no joke.) or Tuk tuks, buses,
trucks, other unidentifable vehicals..whatever...If it moves, it's probably a taxi. Maybe I can make some money while I'm here too. ;) ] Anyways... so we hopped in taxis and went to the other side of town to get our bikes. All 8 of the greenies and their comps were in the store getting bikes and it was fun. I have a sweet new green bike, with a basket and all the goodies. Then we put my bike in the Taxi (yes, in the back seat with us) and went back to the mission office to pick up the rest of my stuff and finally go to our house.
My HOUSE.. haha, oh man. What a happy place. Litteraly becasue we live in a little nieghborhood called "happy land." The elders like a couple streets over and their house is nicer than ours (or so I'm told, I acutally havent' even seen it yet) so we're either going to make them trade with us, or we're move out. OUr house seriously makes me laugh. It's a 3 story little apartment, with no kicthen (although we do have a refrigerator- score), no kitchen sink (it's out in the "back yard" along with the washing machine, right next to the cinderblock wall that divides our back yard and the factory /.sweet shop behind us...who knows... I think Nike owns it....ok, not really... but it is some kind of factory). ONe thing I like about our house is the stairs and the secret rooms we really don't use on the 2, 2 1/2 ish (?) and 3rd floors? (i'm not really sure...some are locked...and the roof definitely is... dang, gina) We use padlocks to lock our doors and selves in everynight. OH, and thank goodness for the Airconditioner that mostly works in our bedroom. Without that... i would just..... well.... i guess I would just sleep anyway...
but still. Awesome. The second day I was there, we came home and all the weeds/trees out in the front were gone. Made it look much better. And then we cleaned it today, too...so my life is better. Although... i am still going to clean more. My companion said today " you're not like other farangs (white peps) You like to clean." That's too bad that other people aren't clean... but i am. So yes. way to clean.
Let's see... Language. The first couple of days, I had great experiences with speaking and learning (again) that that Lord will qualify you for the work, depsite your weaknesses. We've had some great lessons with some people. (we TEACH all the time, BTW. Every single Taxi ride, walking around the street, and also to all our investigators). My favorite one so far was with this family. Jerjan's family. I, for the life of me cannot understand AT ALL.... but all the kids (ages 14 -24) are nice. We have high hopes for them. I'm not going to lie though. It's so hard! And I always feel better and the end of the day, then I do at the begining. But my comp is fantastic and helps me everyday. My favortie times are when I absolutely can't understand ANYTHING...and then I just smile and say "Well....God loves you. Sawadii Kha." I need to try harder. OH, so I asked Sister Knudson if people in Thailand speak softly (becasue i've always felt like most Asains speak quietly) and she said No... GOHOK.. (LIES!!) They totally do. Most times I can't understand ANYTHING becasue I can't hear them. But it's ok... i think I won't think they talk quietly when I can understand everything. So yay! for that day.
We have a good ward. THey made me speak my first day. Typical. And it was fine. They are all so nice and they all make great food.
Speaking of food. It's good. The first couple of days I was not hungry at all, so I didn't really eat, but now i'm doing better/ (well... i wasn't sick...so i'm not doing "better " casue i wasn't "sick" but i think you know what i mean).
Man... hmm.. I don't know what else. IT's so cool over here. Crazy. Busy. Crazy Busy. and I love it. There are dying dogs everywhere (our favorite is called zombie) and everyday as we ride our bikes around i hear "farang! Farang! Uan! Farang!" which means "Hey look! White person! A fat
white person!" excellent. I love Thailand. I'm going to count tomorrow and see how many times i hear it. Thai people love white people. But we do stick out. I didn't realize it until I saw 2 other ones the other day (and no, it wasn't the Elders).. cuase i was like- "oh, white people"
I hope that is a good enough report for now. We're going to go shopping at the market /mall. (sooo awesome..) Then it's off to teach English.
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, YOU ALl. Thanks for all your prayers and love. They really help! The Church is still true. Even in Thailand. Even in the year 2552 (oh yeah.. it's the year 2552 here in Thailand. Thanks Buddah).
Love,
Sister O'Neen (how Thai's say my name)
Jun 30, 2009
This is it... Dont get scared now
Sawadii KHA for the LAST time at the MTC!!! Wooo.....never thought this day would come.. blag (weird). And man! WHAT A WEEEK to report on:
Where to start:
Well, this week was the Mission President Conference so that made things really fun here at the MTC (long lines at the cafeteria because half of it was cut off and saved for the mission presidents, everyone turning into stalkers trying to find the apostles or mission president, etc...more security). We sadly did not get to meet our mission president becasue they didn't want any of the presidents to get swine fly, so the only time we could have seen them was during the big devotional...but i didn't know what they look like..But whatever...I'll just wait 7 more days and then meet them in Thailand.
So The first exciting story from this week was getting our flights plans. That's always an exciting time. So it's offical: We leave the MTC on Monday at 5:30pm; then we have a layover in LAX from about 10pm to 1 am; then a layover in Taiwan, and then finally get to THAILAND on Wed at 11am. So I'll be making some calls during that time. (Sorry, if I wake anyone up). [oh, mom, to answer your questions... I don't think I need anything. thanks! The phone numbers are great! If you do need to get anything to me, just make sure it all will get here by noon on Monday the 6th. Dear Elders are the way to go if you need to tell me anything]
Continuing on... Friday was our big devotional and all the major Mormon Celebs were there. We had 7 out of the 12 : Holland, Perry, Oaks, Christofferson, Andersen, Bednard, Cook. AWESOME. Elder Holland talked to all of us (Mission Presidents and missionaries) about having a "Divine Companionship," not only with our companions, but with the Holy Ghost.
We've had AMAZING talks on listening and recognizing the Spirit while here at the MTC from the apostles... I've really loved my life. Sitting there in that devotional was really just amazing. Soo spiritual and fantastic to be there with all the missionaries and the presidents. Wow.. if you could only feel it.
Then Sunday was seriously, a Perfect day. My district and I were all sitting outside the main building, "studying" aka stalking the Presdiency.. (over the weekend, all 12 apostles AND the Presidency were here, but I didn't see them all). We sat outside and enjoyed the hot summer weather and then we noticed they started the cars up. Then, President Uchtdorf and his wife walked out, waved and hopped in the car and took off. (he's soo tall! acutally, they all are). As we're watching Pres. Uctdorf drive off, the Prophet walks out! He then walked over to where we were and we ended up talking to him for about 30 min. By the time he left, the group have grown from 10- maybe 150 or so...and we were right up front. We told him where we were going, and 3 of my elders talked with him. It was sooo cool. He's basically been everywhere.. Elder Jensen (in my district) asked him "where haven't you been?" and Pres. Monson thought about it for a min, smiled and said "home" He's amazing. So then I look over and President Erying is out there too, talking with the other group. So it was great. All three of those men are so tall and you can just feel the power and Spirit oozing out of them. It was just great.
Well, I better go.. time is almost up. Everything is just great. The church is true and I love my life. I love you all too! Next time I'll be writting from the other side of the world, and the future.
Love!!!!! Hilary
Where to start:
Well, this week was the Mission President Conference so that made things really fun here at the MTC (long lines at the cafeteria because half of it was cut off and saved for the mission presidents, everyone turning into stalkers trying to find the apostles or mission president, etc...more security). We sadly did not get to meet our mission president becasue they didn't want any of the presidents to get swine fly, so the only time we could have seen them was during the big devotional...but i didn't know what they look like..But whatever...I'll just wait 7 more days and then meet them in Thailand.
So The first exciting story from this week was getting our flights plans. That's always an exciting time. So it's offical: We leave the MTC on Monday at 5:30pm; then we have a layover in LAX from about 10pm to 1 am; then a layover in Taiwan, and then finally get to THAILAND on Wed at 11am. So I'll be making some calls during that time. (Sorry, if I wake anyone up). [oh, mom, to answer your questions... I don't think I need anything. thanks! The phone numbers are great! If you do need to get anything to me, just make sure it all will get here by noon on Monday the 6th. Dear Elders are the way to go if you need to tell me anything]
Continuing on... Friday was our big devotional and all the major Mormon Celebs were there. We had 7 out of the 12 : Holland, Perry, Oaks, Christofferson, Andersen, Bednard, Cook. AWESOME. Elder Holland talked to all of us (Mission Presidents and missionaries) about having a "Divine Companionship," not only with our companions, but with the Holy Ghost.
We've had AMAZING talks on listening and recognizing the Spirit while here at the MTC from the apostles... I've really loved my life. Sitting there in that devotional was really just amazing. Soo spiritual and fantastic to be there with all the missionaries and the presidents. Wow.. if you could only feel it.
Then Sunday was seriously, a Perfect day. My district and I were all sitting outside the main building, "studying" aka stalking the Presdiency.. (over the weekend, all 12 apostles AND the Presidency were here, but I didn't see them all). We sat outside and enjoyed the hot summer weather and then we noticed they started the cars up. Then, President Uchtdorf and his wife walked out, waved and hopped in the car and took off. (he's soo tall! acutally, they all are). As we're watching Pres. Uctdorf drive off, the Prophet walks out! He then walked over to where we were and we ended up talking to him for about 30 min. By the time he left, the group have grown from 10- maybe 150 or so...and we were right up front. We told him where we were going, and 3 of my elders talked with him. It was sooo cool. He's basically been everywhere.. Elder Jensen (in my district) asked him "where haven't you been?" and Pres. Monson thought about it for a min, smiled and said "home" He's amazing. So then I look over and President Erying is out there too, talking with the other group. So it was great. All three of those men are so tall and you can just feel the power and Spirit oozing out of them. It was just great.
Well, I better go.. time is almost up. Everything is just great. The church is true and I love my life. I love you all too! Next time I'll be writting from the other side of the world, and the future.
Love!!!!! Hilary
Jun 28, 2009
Sawaddii Kha
Hanloo there!
Well, it's good (as per usual) to hear from you today, Mom. (i just noticed it said 3:35 am... can you still not sleep??!) Sounds like you're continuing to have many adventures. Yay for little Cracker. I can't wait to meet that kid. Sounds like Jenny will have a fun summer. Very busy! Good. Busy is the way to be. Life is better that way. However, I do think you, Mom, are too busy sometimes. And Dad. You should take a breather sometime. :) Which reminds me, When is the family trip? I was thinking about it today, and I only have about 2 weeks left here. Less than...I'll be on a plane somewhere over some ocean 2 weeks from today. We should get flight plans later this week, which is ridiculous to think about. (i just got here! What?!) So everyone, if you want to send me something while I'm still here in the MTC, make sure you do so by Next
Sat...the 4th. (yoah, 4th of July already?!) Oh and Mom, While i'm thinking about it...I need the phone numbers of everyone who would like to cause me to call them from the airport (sorry...that was just THAi grammar...weird). Are you going to be traveling all together on July 5th or 6th? I'm not sure yet what day we leave, but I'll be able to tell you next week.
So...let's see what I have to tell you about this past week. (I'm glad you got my letter about last week, and for typing it and sending it. Lisa said that you did. So yay.) Don't worry, I'm still healthy...we're all on Tamiflu (which acutally makes me want to throw up somtimes, but I'll take that over the real SWINE). I feel like this was a rather uneventful week to report on...We really just do that same things everyday. But rather than just saying "i'm still on a mission" I'll share some of the things I can remember from this week:
Bishop Edgely (the presiding Bishop of the Church) spoke to us last week. He talked about being happy...different ways we can be happy and more Christlike. It was great...as per usual. I would explain more about it, but I don't have my notes from it, and I can only really remember THai words right now. But just trust that it was great.
On Sat, we taught in the TRC (as per usual) but this time I taught in a Trio with Elder Hollowell and Elder Partridge. We thought Partridge would still be in Qaurantine, but he was out and we all taught together. I got to teach the natives again...Still can't understand them, and they can't understand me, but I still LOVE it. And them.. They are fun. (I got a letter from my Phii-Thais (Sister Lifferth and Christensen) who have been in Thai Town from a month now and they said that no one can understand them, but they love it and can't wait for me to experience it too. They
said the elephants and longsia (broken stomach....aka Dierreah) are waiting for me. Ummm.....Yes, please. (?) ahah. Oh man...I can't wait. Speaking of mail. Yesterday was like Christmas...literally... Grandma is so sweet and she sent me some chocolates. De-lish. Christmas in (almost) July. Thanks!
The temple is now closed...That is too bad... it's weird having 3 extra hours to do things... I'd rather be at the temple. Oh well..I'll do that in a year and 4 months when I come home and feel awkward about life so I just end up going to the temple all day. Excellent. Can't wait. haha.
Oh, this week is our fun and exciting "celebrity" week. Wed starts the mission president conference, so there will be all kinds of General Authorities lurking around. Ok... I doubt they'll be "lurking" but maybe I will be, trying to see them. :) Becasue of the SWINE, I don't think we'll be able to meet our President becasue they don't want them to get sick, but that's ok...we only have to wait a week and then they'll pick us up from the airport in THAILAND. I'll be sure to give you the full report on the happenings here next week.
Well...time is almost up. I better go now. So you can acutally get it this week. I would hate for that to happen again...especially since i just spent 30 min typing this whole thing up.. :) Oh, but one last thing. Can I just tell you how much I still LOVE being on a mission. Thank you, AGAIN and always for you love and support. I miss you all. I'll talk to you (litterally...in voice...(not person) very soon.) LOVE YOU!!
Love, Sister O'Neil ( Hili)
p.s. "Oh, dear."
Well, it's good (as per usual) to hear from you today, Mom. (i just noticed it said 3:35 am... can you still not sleep??!) Sounds like you're continuing to have many adventures. Yay for little Cracker. I can't wait to meet that kid. Sounds like Jenny will have a fun summer. Very busy! Good. Busy is the way to be. Life is better that way. However, I do think you, Mom, are too busy sometimes. And Dad. You should take a breather sometime. :) Which reminds me, When is the family trip? I was thinking about it today, and I only have about 2 weeks left here. Less than...I'll be on a plane somewhere over some ocean 2 weeks from today. We should get flight plans later this week, which is ridiculous to think about. (i just got here! What?!) So everyone, if you want to send me something while I'm still here in the MTC, make sure you do so by Next
Sat...the 4th. (yoah, 4th of July already?!) Oh and Mom, While i'm thinking about it...I need the phone numbers of everyone who would like to cause me to call them from the airport (sorry...that was just THAi grammar...weird). Are you going to be traveling all together on July 5th or 6th? I'm not sure yet what day we leave, but I'll be able to tell you next week.
So...let's see what I have to tell you about this past week. (I'm glad you got my letter about last week, and for typing it and sending it. Lisa said that you did. So yay.) Don't worry, I'm still healthy...we're all on Tamiflu (which acutally makes me want to throw up somtimes, but I'll take that over the real SWINE). I feel like this was a rather uneventful week to report on...We really just do that same things everyday. But rather than just saying "i'm still on a mission" I'll share some of the things I can remember from this week:
Bishop Edgely (the presiding Bishop of the Church) spoke to us last week. He talked about being happy...different ways we can be happy and more Christlike. It was great...as per usual. I would explain more about it, but I don't have my notes from it, and I can only really remember THai words right now. But just trust that it was great.
On Sat, we taught in the TRC (as per usual) but this time I taught in a Trio with Elder Hollowell and Elder Partridge. We thought Partridge would still be in Qaurantine, but he was out and we all taught together. I got to teach the natives again...Still can't understand them, and they can't understand me, but I still LOVE it. And them.. They are fun. (I got a letter from my Phii-Thais (Sister Lifferth and Christensen) who have been in Thai Town from a month now and they said that no one can understand them, but they love it and can't wait for me to experience it too. They
said the elephants and longsia (broken stomach....aka Dierreah) are waiting for me. Ummm.....Yes, please. (?) ahah. Oh man...I can't wait. Speaking of mail. Yesterday was like Christmas...literally... Grandma is so sweet and she sent me some chocolates. De-lish. Christmas in (almost) July. Thanks!
The temple is now closed...That is too bad... it's weird having 3 extra hours to do things... I'd rather be at the temple. Oh well..I'll do that in a year and 4 months when I come home and feel awkward about life so I just end up going to the temple all day. Excellent. Can't wait. haha.
Oh, this week is our fun and exciting "celebrity" week. Wed starts the mission president conference, so there will be all kinds of General Authorities lurking around. Ok... I doubt they'll be "lurking" but maybe I will be, trying to see them. :) Becasue of the SWINE, I don't think we'll be able to meet our President becasue they don't want them to get sick, but that's ok...we only have to wait a week and then they'll pick us up from the airport in THAILAND. I'll be sure to give you the full report on the happenings here next week.
Well...time is almost up. I better go now. So you can acutally get it this week. I would hate for that to happen again...especially since i just spent 30 min typing this whole thing up.. :) Oh, but one last thing. Can I just tell you how much I still LOVE being on a mission. Thank you, AGAIN and always for you love and support. I miss you all. I'll talk to you (litterally...in voice...(not person) very soon.) LOVE YOU!!
Love, Sister O'Neil ( Hili)
p.s. "Oh, dear."
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