The end of October...

Hello people!

Well.... it's the end of October? Ready for Halloween? I hope everyone has a grand time. We are planning on eating at a farang restaurant. (yummy Italian… Yes please)

First of all.. I really enjoyed laughing at all the email today. Especially Justin’s… I wish I could serve in the same area as him… Or write as entertaining letters as he does.. Dressing up like the Book of Mormon sounds pretty sweet.. However, I don’t think that would fly here in Thailand….people would be soooo confused. Plus.- It’s too unbelievably hot for that. Sounds like everyone else is having a grand life. Sorry I don’t get to do more commentary on that, but I just know there are more things to talk about from my end.

One thing I realize I haven’t talked much about is the work here.. What the heck do I talk about each week if I never talk about the work? The work is my life…. So, A few things you should know.

This past week one of our Investigators, Gan, was baptized. She is a hilarious 13 year old girl and she’s been investigating for a couple years now, she just had family opposition. But- Sunday was a great day. Right after church, we had the baptismal service (which is kinda weird to me, and I know in the future I can talk more about baptisms and church and culture and such, but for right now… I never have enough time) So yes… It was kinda funny because they baptized her, and she went to go change, but then they were like “come back! We didn’t say it right”… So… we dunked her again ( In what we call the “pot” because it is literally a big metal tank in the back of the church”) but she didn’t go all the way under. So 3rd time’s the charm! It was a great day and I was glad we had 7 other investigators there to watch it too. Last night I also found out that one of my investigators from Bangnaa was baptized on Sunday, too. SWEET! Our investigator change from week to week… It really just depends. But there is one girl who I just thing is amazing. Her name is Gift. She actually lived in Utah about 10 years ago and investigated the church, but then moved back here and didn’t know the church was in Thailand. So after 10 years of no contact, she saw our Free English class sign and has been investigating ever since. I love meeting new people everyday, too. Yesterday I met a great, cute family in the park and we’ll start teaching them this week. We teach people everyday. I never have enough time to write about them all, but they are great and I’m sure in the future I’ll tell you all about them. (it’s easier to tell you in person, than type… But I’ll type as much as I can, too,)

In other news… My comp, sister Young, fell into the klong yesterday. It was only a matter of time before that happened to one of us. I’ll take pictures and post them soon so you can see the klong for yourself. Oh, and I’m pretty sure that yesterday when I was talking to these people in the park, they were pretty confused at one point because I was telling them how Christianity had many different “watches” instead of “sects”. Cool… I love Thai.

Dear Bences, thanks for the greetings. Laura.. loved your story about little ellie, too. Kellie... loved your comments... And you. Everyone else.. I love you, too. Seriously.

Favorite scripture of the week : 2 Nephi 9:51

Number of dead frogs: 28 (a whopping 9 all from yesterday...the floods finnally cleared.:)

Well, Until next week!

Farewell to Manzanar,

Sister O'Neil

Pictures!!

You can click on the title or off to the side.
Both will take you to some pictures.
Check it every 6 weeks... she will upload more.

Enjoy!

1/3 of my life...

Well, it’s officially been 6 months since I started this ridiculous adventure as a missionary. 6 months? Already?! Dang, Gina…. I guess my mission will be a little less than 18 months, because I already have less than a year in this grand country.

Anyway..First of all.. Thank you, my valiant mother, for going to all that trouble to get those addresses for me and answer my questions. I appreciate it (and I’m sure Laura and Tara will too). (Yes, Laura- I know you wrote me…calm down. I loved it.) And thanks also for taking care of the blog everyone, and now Megan.-The new captain-Good luck.

Umm… well, once again, I’m not really sure what to write this week. The work continues to be so fun and also WORK. It’s Thailand’s “summer vacation” right now, so everyone is out of town playing. This past Sunday was stake conference. It was a broadcast from SLC to the 12 stakes in Asia. It was soo good too! Especially because we got to watch it in English! Sister Dalton, Elder Oaks, Brother Waston (from the Asia Area presidency) and President Ucthdorf spoke to us. I seriously LOVE President Ucthdorf.. What a mighty man.

I continue to love my life riding along the Klong paths. We rode around ALL day yesterday… probably spent 4 hours riding. And it was HOT too. (Today, however is wonderful… We just were lucky enough to ride in between two big downpours). I’ll take some pictures today and maybe some video and send it next week so you can all bask in the glory of the klong as well (that is, if I don’t fall IN while trying to take video and bike at the same time….awesome)

Wow.. well yeah…. I guess that’s it for today. Thanks for being wonderful. I LOVE you all very much.

Love,

Sister โอนีล

And the floods came up!

Hey there,

Well, another week has passed and what a rainy one it was! Our street FLOODS big time. In fact, we just rode our bikes in the knee high water to get here to email. It's quite entertaining really. I believe we got drenched about 4 times while riding bikes around. This week was all about water. Just this morning we took a klong monster to China Town. (a Klong is a river, filled with nasty water that smells, but the ride is so fun!) It's an interesting way to commute to work. I think the weirdest part was that it felt so normal. I could definitely live here. Then we've been having a great time riding the Klong paths. It just makes me so happy to be riding my bike around Thailand on a klong path (in a skirt), passing Buddhist temples and Islam temples, hearing the prayer calls and monk prayers and street vendor horns and THAI speakers and enjoying the dramatically beautiful full and fluffy clouds. All of that just in the 10 min ride to an investigators house where we ending up setting a baptismal date withe her. oh man, I love my life.

This past weekend we got to watch conference. All in Thai. Our English copies didn't work. But it was definitely an interesting experience. I love how the spirit transcends language. However, I AM really exciting to be able to read Elder Hollands talk in the Ensign so I can REALLY tell what he was so passionate about.

I don't have a whole lot of time to write today, mainly because I spent a lot of time reading all the various emails and looking at the cute pictures of the kiddlets. (thank you! I love communication) They are all so cute. I can't wait to see all the new things in a year ( yes, only 1 year left.. what the?) We had been teaching all about prophets the week leading up to conference, inviting everyone to come hear a living prophet speak to us. It's pretty incredible that we have a prophets today. Just saying. Thanks for the forward of Justin's letter. He looks like he's doing just fabulously! Please tell him I say hello. Oh, actually... can I get his address from someone? I should write him sometime. His picture of Mexico looks just like Thailand. The first day here in Thai town I remember looking around and asking "are you sure this isn't Mexico?" it doesn't help that Thai people often look Hispanic to me.... hola?

Can someone PLEASE give me Tara/Laura address?... I know it's really their job to write ME and give me their address first, but they're probably not writing because I haven't written yet..but they forget I can't write unless I have some place to send it. I figure if I put this questions out to the masses, I may get an answer.. Larvie, Tarlena... what the heck.... just email at least. I love and miss you both and think about you often... I just don't write because i can't. I've got letter's ready to go... so it's now Up to YOU.

Just in case anyone thinks I'm over here in Thailand breaking rules by going on to Facebook. Don't be alarmed... It's not me. I don't even think I remember my password... But apparently Jenny does...? Sooo ...if you get a comment or something-- it's not from me. OH facebook.....
On a side note..Internet is ruining the future of children here in Thailand. They are addicted to games. I've thoroughly enjoyed my time away from all electronics and Am glad i get to do it for another year before I have to go back to really life...

I've started to keep my own "key indicators" Number of dead squished frogs I've seen: 7 since moving to this area. Number of live ones in our house: 1..

Ok.. 2 mins.. That's all I got for today. I must go.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE you all. Seriously.

Thank you.

The Church is True

Love,

Sister O'Neil

Tall Bridge

Dearest Family..

Well, here I am in สะพานสูง. (Tall Bridge) It's just a little north east of where I was in Bangnaa. My new companion is great. Let me tell her about her: Her name is Sister Hulme and she is original from Texas. She is so fun and very talented (actually her entire family is- we listen to them play amazing piano (dad) , bassoon (brother-in-law) and her mom and sister just happen to be amazing opera singers too. So needless to say, amazingly talented and gifted family. I was looking at her pictures and i discovered that I actually know 2 of her brothers. They happened to be my first home teachers at BYU my first summer there. What the random? I love Mormon land. Who knew that 6 years later I'd be on a mission with their sister.

And my other Comp (yes, that's right Folks- I'm in a threesome!!) just happens to be Sister Young. I always knew we'd be companions, I just didn't know it'd be so soon. If you remember, she was one of the three sisters who came into the MTC just 1 transfer behind me. It was strange that the day before Moves meeting everyone was telling me that I'd be in a threesome. I even felt it too, I just didn't know I'd be so lucky to be in a threesome with these two sisters. I really do like it so far. I think I've trash talked threesomes before (sorry) , but honestly, I love it so far. So yay! Sister Young is fabulous. I love her still. and even more. I think this is a really good combo...or team as we call it.

I was definitely surprised to move though. I didn't really get to say goodbye to anyone, but I have a feeling I'll see them all again some day. I still have a year left in Thailand. I'm bound to run into them at a conference or something, right?

Being in a new area is kinda strange, and nice. It's not the HUGE shock of being in Thailand, and I CAN actually understand and talk with people. (blessings) Yes, I love my life. This ward is sooo nice too. (ok, every ward is, but in their own different ways) We have people calling all the time to tell us they have time to help us teach. They cut our grass in our front yard (more like jungle...pretty such there was a huge nasty lizard in it..yes please...maybe an Elephant?) and THEN they make us all kinds of food all the time. This area reminds me a lot of Pasadena... if it were in Florida. It's weird how the world can feel so familiar and so foreign at the same time. We ride our bikes even more in the area (and i really do love it) and it feels a little hotter. My house is way nicer too. Everyone says it's the nicest home for sisters in Bangkok. It feels American.. มัง. We've met some amazing people.. Some that are really the elected and amaze me with their testimonies. It's so fun to just walk up to people and start talking to them too.. I love my life.
One thing that I did notice was how loud sacrament meeting can be. New pet peeve... if you don't have children... try to keep it down a bit. Oh, and don't ever say you're bored of the temple.... If you hear yourself saying that... check your spiritual level out and then adjust if needed.

I feel like my email is really boring today. Sorry.. I think It's just because I'm hungry or something... it's lunch time and I just realized I didn't even eat breakfast. Thanks for the conference update. I'll be sure to listen for those things when we watch it this weekend.
Just a note. Please email my LDS mail account. I don't really ever get on Gmail unless I'm downloading pictures (which I won't do every week) so thanks for the emails... just send to LDSMail so i see them before 6 weeks has passed. :)

Just so everyone knows... i don't really have a problem with my clothes falling off all the time.. It's happened twice, ok?! Once in America, and once in Thailand.. So stop thinking i'm giving everyone and their mom a show. I'm a missionary, ok? haha.

Thank you for all your love and support and prayers. I really do feel it WAY over here in Thai Land. I love you all. oodles and oodles. (noodles?) yuum..

K- Until next week" you speak Thailand good"

Sister O'Neil

สู๊ดย๊อดดด!!!

Start date 09.30.2552:

This week has been filled with craziness and surprises. I don't even know where to begin. So... Last Thursday, we had to go to the office to pick up a new sister. She is a brand new Thai Missionary (and they come in a week before Farangs) so we were a Threesome for a week. Awesome. We had a lot of GREAT progress with our investigators, good work with the ward, and we even had a bapitism planned for this next Sunday. We've been having fun WALKING, ALL DAY in the RAIN... it's seriously rainy season now. The streets flood (all of them) and we I felt like I was at the beach becasue of the waves that would come every time a bus passed us on the streets. I've come to the decision that riding bikes is superior to walking. I'm always so much more exhausted when we walk opposed to riding. If we go a day without riding that Babylon song "I want to ride my Bicycle" comes to mind... (oh, Queen...) So then, becasue Moves meeting is Tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday (and Today) are full of wonderment and anticpation. Monday-- we try to guess what's going to happen. On Tuesday, we all change our guesses after we get the phone calls that tell us who's going to move or not. This Tuesady was especially fun.. I had to go down to the office and Downtown to renew my Visa ( every 3 months is country) So we were with a bunch of other missionaries as everyone got "the calls". So we had finished our Visa business and then gone to our local missionary favored resturant (Que Pasa--ohh I love Mexican food!) when we finally got our call. Well.. surprise surprise... We already knew that sister Wichittra would be moving becasue she's already been in Bangnaa for 4 moves (6 months-time to move) and since I just got here, and typically they only replace one missionary so the other one can lead and continue the work with the invesitagotors--(all of you have been on missions understand this) we assumed I would be staying. Which was perfect becasue i know the area, our investigators, our new Landlord, etc... But WATCH OUT...we're both moving!?! what the... ok. So... then we went into hyper drive becasue we have sooo much to do before Thursday mornning moves meeting. We spent ALL day yesterday moving all of the stuff from our old house to the new one. Thanks to the office Elders and our wonderful Elders in our district, we were able to successfully move everything. The only hard things was getting ride of all the junk left over from the 9 years of missionaries who had passed through that house. Missionary houses are interesting.. And it was hard to get ride of stuff becasue my Thai sisters wanted to keep everything, while our American mentality is to get ride of everything we don't need. But really... "we don't need that map of Camobia from 1960, Sister.... It's torn in 3 pieces anyway." Needless to say, I spent a lot of time going through and throwing stuff awayl.. Now of next project is to set up the new house and prepare everyrthing as well as possible for the poor new sisters who have to boldly (and blindly) move into this area. We just hope our new landlord brings all the promised items for the house today... Oh man...

And I haven't even started to pack for real yet. Awesome.

I really do love everything about missions. Everything. Thailand is AWESOME. The Gospel, AWESOME.

In other news, while I was in the office the other day I got to talking with one of the Elders who was in the MTC with me (one transfer behind me.) Elder McConkie.. and we discovered that we both know the Huffs. He was like "you live in Pasadena? My aunt lives there" Turns out it was the Huffs. So we had a fun time chatting about that. So if you see them, please tell them we say hello from Thailand. Their nephew is an amazing missionary. He's going to do FANTASTIC things here.
Umm, I'm running out of time, and I have a lot to do. But. It was fun to hear from a few of you today. Katie K Shaw lady... I love you. You know this. I can't belive it's been a year since you went to Utah. (and No, we didn't get to see Women's conference either mom, And conference will come a week after it is in the states, so EnjoY!!!) Sister Clive! Thanks for the email. That was a fun surprise. Good to hear about all your adventures. I hope All your kids are having fun and success. Did the fires stop? It's hot here too, but the sheet of water falling from the sky prevents forrest fires (much like smokey the bear... or you?...umm yeah... ) anways. Family- I love you all soooooo much and I hope you remember that. Tara- thanks for the email.. However, you forget to mention your new address.. So, just so you Bence girls know.. it's NOT my fault you're not getting letters from me. I do NOT have a address to send things to you. I love you. Kellie!!! You are sensational.. and I love you...7 times over.. I'm currently in the process of writing back.. but it might take a while (for everyone actually) with this whole moving craziness business.) (she might should)

Please don't judge my English skills.... I know they're are decressing.

Well, I'll write to you next week from a new city and with a new comp. ( i think i'll be a threesome.. why? i don't know-- but that's how i feel.)

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE...

Sister O'Neil

Update!

Hello from the other side of the world.

Well, i don't think my letter will be very long today, I'm working on uploading all my photos to Picasa so you can all see them and so I don't have to print out every picture and send it to you. President said I could, so I think once a moves ( every 6 weeks) I'll upload. Then u can all look at them and enjoy my life too. It should make it really easy to add photos to the blog too, if you so wish to do so. (Note from Megan... I will work on posting pictures)

This week was pretty good... filled with hilarious mis-adventures. My favorite was the pouring RAIN yesterday. Probably the hardest I've ever seen in my life here in Thailand (or in life in general....not sure... but pretty close). It stopped for a while and then just as we were about to leave to go to a visit a recent convert it started to sprinkle again. Well, we didn't get more 5 feet from our house before it started to rain harder. Then with each progressing step it got harder and harder and harder! Thunder, lightening, everything. I was just laughing. We only had one umbrella and by the time a found a taxi to hop into we were SOAKED.. Pretty much just went swimming.. (umm.. is that against the rules? The street wasn't a swimming pool when we left our house, President, I promise!)
haha. Anyhoo. Today we're off to President's house to meet with the sisters and Sister smith! Yay! It should be fun.

Ok- I love you all.. I hope you enjoy the pictures and such. Take care. Thanks for all the love and support and prayers! The church is TRUE!!!

Love, Sister O'Meil (yes.. i spelled my name wrong in Thai this week... awesome. :) )