Greetings from the Future! 6/13/10

Well, this week was moves (not "moons") meeting... and we got 3 new sisters yay!! And I also got moved. I am now in a place called Bangkapi... (which is about 20 min away from my last area). I guess as you get old in your mission, they send you home to "die" so.. I went back to Bangnaa for a little bit, before deciding (or, rather, forced) to move to a different city to discover my roots, or do some family history work. I was moved to the home ward of my trainer (or "mom") Sister Wichitra (now know as "cherry"). So I moved "home" to get to know my "grandparents". ok... my English and all is probably horrible so Basically what I'm saying is I moved to Sister Wichitras area... but she is not here.. I missed her by one week. She already moved back to Utah to finish school at BYU. I've been here in the area for 4 days and I think I'll really love it here. Well, all except for the house...which is disgusting.. and which I spent 5 hours so far cleaning.... it's getting there... but hey.. at least we have a working kitchen now and all the cockroaches are out of it. YAY!.

My new comp is Sister Akagi. She was in the group that came after me in the MTC, so we've known each other for a while now. Ever since the MTC, I've always kinda felt like we would be companions....so now that time has come. She's a cute girl from Hawaii. everyone thinks she's Khon Thai...but she's a Japanese/Chinese mix from Hawaii. So that's fun to explain to people. The ward is pretty great. I was kinda sad to leave Bangnaa again, esp becasue I was going to miss Nuu's baptism... but We just had a baptism yesterday here in my new ward instead..It was kinda a circus (because there are a lot of kids) but it went really well. Oh, I'm also back serving with an Elder that I served with when I was a greenie in Bangnaa...so that's kinda fun. Now he's my District leader... and we "cob" together (aka... end our missions together) I am excited for this area (probably my last one... I can not believe I only have 4 months left... ridiculous).

Sounds like everyone is doing well. Your party FHE sounds delightful. Have fun... Here's a little something somethin for Cody:

Dear CoCo,

You are smart. I told you that 2 years ago. Congratulations on completing for GRE.. If we all lived in Thailand together, I would buy you ice cream in a bread bun in celebration. (or a red fanta with a straw from seven). But we don't...so please just wait until sat and get yourself a cake or 2 (and some jalapeno bread) from my backyard. K.. Super. CONGRATS!!! YOU CANZ GOE TO SKOOL!

love, Grizz

I think that's all for the week. I love you all. please keep up the good work with life. Go to church and the temple. Keep the commandments and you'll be happy. (it's that simple).

Love,
Sister O'Neil P.S. 2 Corinthians 13:11

6/6/10

Dearest Family,

Well, greetings from ºÒ§¹Ò, where the sky looks fake today because it's so beautiful. The past two p-days have just been wonderful. Except it's still 309547592394829+ degrees. I really was just trying to "endure to the end" yesterday before coming home. I love being exhaustified at the end of the week though. We worked HARD.... and it was a rough week as far as actually meeting with people.. we had TWO FULL days of people not showing up or canceling our appointments, back to back... I'm not gonna lie... it was a little frustrating. Sometimes i feel like people are just too lazy to be happy. "Every religion teaches us to be a good person. They're all the same" hence "SAME SAME" but people...THEY"RE DIFFERENT. Despite all the bad things right now (ok... theres really nothing that bad... just a little sore throat this morning that won't go away)... I'm still completely happy and wouldn't trade it for anything.

Oh, before I forget:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

To Jenny, Chris, Ryan... and anyone else who's birthday was this week and I just can't remember. Oh...and late happy b-day to Adrian... So I McForgot to mention it in the email, but i did remember on the day.

I hope you all had a grand day. (sounds like Chris/Jen/Mom/Dad had fun at Mimi's cafe.. (yummm) ) Everyones b-day is this month... so that's fun.

I'm trying to think of things that are note worthy. Oh! This week we did Sister Switchoffs... I finally went out of my area... and went over to Bangkapi (my trainer, Sister Wichitras, home ward) I was excited to see her, but she actually left the SAME DAY to go to BYU Utah...so I'll have to wait to see her again. But it was fun to serve over in a different area... it felt kinda like a "vacation" because it's not your area... but you still do the same thing. (I love missionary work). It was so hot, and we spotted a McDonalds that was selling ice cream cones for 9 baht...( 30 cents) so we drove through the drive-thru on our bikes... The Thai's loved that... especially when I tried to order two cones.... which if you say "cone" it sounds like "¤¹" which means person.... so that was fun (I'd like two ice cream people please". Um.... wow... I really don't have anything else today. Sorry. We get new sisters this week! We haven't had any new ones for 8 months now, so we're all excited. to meet them. well, I hope you all have a good week. Enjoy the last weeks of school (unless it's already summer time... then enjoy that too... Lisa) Thank you all for your love and support and letters and such.

Love, Sister O'Neil

P.S. ESTEE.... I HAVE gotten your letters- i just sent you one back. Thank you! However... i didn't get your postcard yet.... so i don't know.. I dont' trust postcards some how... I don't even know if anyone ever got the ones I sent)

Katie-- thank you for that. I loved it.

Laura/Kellie--- i love your comments. Almost as I love you.

Sorry I've been so bad at writing letters lately... I just don't have any time anymore... But I'm TRYING!!!

5/30/10
Hello Dearest Family,

Another week has come and gone
and my companion and I still ä´èÃѺ¾Ã.

That was a poem... that none of you will get, because it only rhymes in Thai.

I'm discovering that I love Thai-glish more and more everyday. Almost as much as I love just Thai.

Well... just like the title of my email says.... everything is SAME SAME.... but different.. I'm still a missionary, doing the same thing... just some of the characters have changed. Some investigators we dropped, and we found a whole bunch more (yay for families!) So this next week we'll just be trying to help them all progress. We should have a baptism on Sunday...If not this one, the 13 for sure. ˹٠is just great. I love her. We will be friends for a long time.

It rained a lot this week... It's definitely starting to be the rainy season again. You should just see the lightning storms... it hit our church last week... fried a bird.. This second half of my mission is giving me the opportunity to get to know some of the other sisters that I don't really know.. We're a dying group... we've had no new ones come in for more than 8 months now... So we're excited for next week... we're getting 3 new ones! But then in the next 3 months we're all pretty much "dying out" weird...


Oh dear family... I'm sorry my letters are so lame now... There's always so much I want to say... but it's kinda like in 3 Nephi 7: 17 "and she did minister many things unto them: and all of them cannot be written, and a part of them would not suffice, therefore they are not written in this email" It's all or nothing.... so sorry you kinda get nothing. Such is life. I have not perfecting the art of getting my thoughts and feelings recording in a way that would actually give it justice.

I'm still safe, still happy, still preaching, still (insert missionary action-ing) here.

I uploaded some new pics... not very many and most are from Chaing Mai / Moves meeting. There are a few of my way high-so apartment in Bangna...

ummmm..... well....... big gulps ehh?


K- I love you all.. That is all.

Love, Sister O'Neil

5/23/10
Dearest Momsy and Popsicle (and everyone else that I love),

First of all... I'm totally fine. All the missionaries are. This week was definitely an eventful week and I'm sure you all know more about it than I do, just because of the way the CNN is probably covering it, but everything is fine now. They burned down a lot of things, implemented a curfew, closed all the 7-11s (probably the biggest casualty), and closed some of the roads going into the city....but every since Elder Oaks and his posse of other "high ranking" servants of the Lord flew into Thailand on Friday, things have calmed down and the city is back to normal (minus a few GREAT shopping areas/malls that they decided to torch). We spent one day on "lock down" so we deep cleaned our house and made delicious food together and listened to some great talks by John Bytheway. SO yes... I'm safe. No need to worry.

Hmm... this week was soo busy of happenings, I will never be able to write it all.. So here are some highlights:

Sunday (yesterday) We had a huge Bangkok Special Sunday conference at the Impact convention center and our special guest speaker was Elder Hallstrom of the Presidency of the 70. (Elder Oaks, Elder Pratt and Bishop Burton all came to this neck of the woods too... but only for a training of the priesthood leaders on Sat and then they divided and conquered South East Asia. I'm a little jealous of my MTC comps who are serving in Cambodia, because that's where Elder Oaks went.... but yay...good for them.) It was such a neat experience to see ALL of the those Thai saints (and international peps... i was surprised there was so many) but my favorite part was seeing some old friends from Saphan Sung. It was a great event ....I just wish more of our investigators went... but at least 1 went... so that's good. They talked about being unified.. Elder Hallstrom shared some thoughts from Elder Oaks's training with the leaders.. Elder oaks said "I've heard a lot about red shirt and yellow shirts. Today...I've come in a white shirt and it represents the Priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ" It was such a powerful thought to share with the Thai people, esp at this time. They stressed the fact that we need to support our leaders. Realize their not perfect, and maybe they will do some things that We personally don't think about right... but it's our duty as members in this church to support (publicly and privately) our ward, stake and church leaders. We all need to be unified "with an eye single to the glory of God" not to the glory of the bishop, or stake president. It's so true. When we raise our right hand and show our support, we are publicly promising to support our leaders... so if we go and trash talk them later... maybe we need to repent (change our thoughts). Plus, disagreeing with the Bishop is the first sign of apostasy.... so watch out there. Just keep the 1st and great commandment, and then Love everyone else and we'll learn to be more forgiving and supportive. There will be no success in the church without unity.

This morning we had a special meting with just Elder Hallstrom and his wife, just for the missionaries this time. They gave wonderful talks and the spirit was so strong. This gospel is just incredible. I just took a look at my copious amounts of notes (that my little notebook could hold) and there's just too much. Just teach your children (or yourself) to "grow up in the Lord" (see: Helamen 3:21, Samuel 3: 9-10, Jeremiah 20:9)

This week was just full of fun things. I've had a chance to get to know a couple of the Sisters that I've never really known before, so that just made it even more fun.

My English is REALLY horrible now... Sorry...

Zone conference and Interviews were also this week... I may have shard too much information with my President when I told him I had diarrhea when he made a comment of "oh...the sisters are still here" ... but I just wanted him to know that I had a legit reason for being at the office 30 min longer than normal, and not just being a lazy missionary. But... in Thai culture... that's not TMI (Too much Information) it's just a fact that they're happy to share.

So yes... I have BM issues.. just wanted to let you all know... Welcome to Thailand.

OK.. I have to write my letter to the president now.. Thank you all for your love and support. I really do love you all, and am grateful for your letters and prayers. I hope you all have a great week filled with lots of success and joy.

Peace in the middle east! (or Thailand...that's fine too)

Love,

Sister O'Neil

Hey there family,

Well, it's Monday afternoon here in Thailand and it's 3876273 degrees still and will probably rain a little later. yes. So, Happy Sabbath to you. I hope you all enjoyed your day full of churching and serving and eating and such. I bet it was a great day. (Especially for you Jen-Babe).

I'm sitting here at the computer and I'm not really sure what to say. I still feel like I JUST got off the phone with you, so I'm kind a loss for words. My life is still awesome. I'm still in Thailand and still doing the best thing I've ever done....so what more can I say?

Yesterday at church was fun. A farang family came to visit so I had to translate the whole time. It was a mental marathon, especially when the Bishop talked...which he did an abnormal amount of yesterday. But it was fun. Turns out this family from Idaho, is here building a water park? But one of their sons served his mission in Arcadia... Small world. He didn't serve in our ward...sounds like mainly in the La Crescenta Stake... but anyways. I love Mormon Land.

The teaching was good this week. There's a lot of turn over in some of our investigators though...so we're working on getting this stuck on the gospel. The only thing that was strange this week was that everyone kept asking us if we were scared. As I'm sure you know, there are some crazy things going on in the city right now. You don't need to be worried about me. Some missionaries have been pulled out of the heart of the city, and President Smith knows what's up....so I'm not worried. Life goes on as usual for us.

I went to Gospel Doctrine for the first time in a year (thanks to the farang family who needed a translator). You're studying the Old Testament?! Sweet. That's the only book I need to read now. I didn't know that Joshua parted the waters of Jordan.... What else does that book say? That is one thing I'm exciting for.. Gospel Doctrine class... weird huh?

I love tuna sandwiches... with cucumber, tomato, and lime........ yummm

I gave a pass a long card to an elephant yesterday. It was just walking down the street... could've payed 20 baht to feed it.... but it was Sunday.

Ok... well.. Sorry. I really have nothing to say today. I LOVE LOVE LOVE you all. I hope that you have an amazing week . Thanks for all the updates. Mom, I'm so excited for you! Congrats on finally graduating from all that stuff!! :) You are awesome. And the best mom. Way to support us all. Dad, you're awesome too. Same same..... but different.


Farewell to Manzanar..


Love, Sister O'Neil

Well, it was really great to talk to you ALL today. I LOVE YOU ALLLLLLLLLL SO MUCH. I don't think I left anything out...

so today... i'll just make a shout of to my "family" that I didn't talk to.

Katie-k-shaw lady. I love your emails. LOVE... That person sounds like "little woman" Yes please. I'm so glad those two FINALLY got the message. We told them there furture almost 2 years ago... they could have kids by now. haha. And you are a nark. I love it.

Kellie- Caliente!!! I can not believe you. However.... i am excited for the letters. yay! And if you haven't sent that package yet... thrown some "church treats' into it... They don't sell those here....and I may be running out. :) I appreciate your concern for my engrish.... It really is something that will not be the same ever again.. So... i've accepted that. hope you can do. If not...i'll just yell at you in Thai all the time.

Laura/Tara--- love you guts. Hope you're well

Cody-- stop telling everyone we talked for 3 hours.. LIAR... it was only 2. please tell your mom I said hey. Oh wait... you ready this too, Tammie... so HEY GIRL!! Hope you're doing well..

Estee.... girl... i love you.

Amy. Thanks for the letter!...now send that other one that you took a picture of and didn't send. ;)

Cami-- a boy!? YAY!

TJ... just saw an Indian man who tried to sell me peanuts..

Tre---you don't even read this... but Hey there... hope you figured out my last letter.... and that we can still be friends. :)

Everyone else... I love you... just haven't heard from you for a while or whatever or jsut forgot for now.. sorry... but this is a shout out. Hope you're doing well

LOVE,

Sister O'Neil

Well, last week when I wrote to you, I was waiting for the phone call to tell me that I was moving "for sure". 2 hours after I finished writing, they called. So I packed everything up, took a 14 hour train ride to Bangkok, a 30 min songtaw to the church, sat and listened to all the greenies try and speak Thai (oh, that felt like just yesterday for me), listened to the "Joppers" testimonies, listened to training, listened to everyone else get their new assignments, and then FINALLY... I found out where I was moving. And then I was sent home... so see you soon!


Ok... just getting. I was sent "Home" though. Aka Bangnaa... aka my GREENIE area. I'm not gonna lie, it was quite the shocker and at first I really didn't know how to feel. Moves meetings days are always crazy anyways (it's like the one day where I didn't sleep for 2 days straight, because i was traveling from Afognak to Anchorage, playing all day/night, then flying forever to get to Arizona for the wedding, and then had to just keep going...and so I cried for stupid reasons just because I was sooo tired/excited/etc...) So... anyways.. It was hard to leave my little happiness in Chiang Mai. That will forever be my favorite part of Thailand...mainly because so far it's been the longest time in one area, and there were just so many miracles that happened while I was there, I can't even BEGIN to explain it all. And then, it was kinda hard to think about going back to my first area. It's back to feeling to opposite feelings at the same time, that makes me all confused. I'm SOOO excited to be back here in Bangnaa because now I can acutally TALK and get to know people for REAL.... but it's also so weird because it's my greenie area... and it was kinda crazy. But it's nice that I don't have to get to know a new area.... and I get to go see some old friends and really get to know them this time. Church was really fun yesterday because everyone was just like "What the?... you're back... were are your parents... they didn't come to pick you up?" and then I told them no... I still have 6 months left of my mission... I'm just back to serve here again. (it's cool to see that I actually HAVE progressed with the language.. I remember making a mental note in the head that if I could ever understand this one dad of an investigator here in this city, then I know I could understand Thai... and yesterday I talked to him for about 20 mins with no problem and we're going back on today to see the rest of his family.... Awesome)

My new comp, Sister Jacobson, is fun. She's one of the sisters I really haven't ever know except for seeing at moves meetings, so it'll be fun to get to know her more. She kinda reminds me of Megan, a lot. It's fun.

Actually... I'll tell you more about this all next week. When I talk to you (has it really been that long already again!... i just talked to you all like 5 sec again.

Here's the deal.. same as last time... just different number... 01166815566656.. the ones at the beginning are the country codes and such... 81-556-6656 is our cell phone number. You should call next Sunday night.. around 7 pm... that'll be Monday (p-day) for me.. So basically anytime Sunday night for you... cause I have all day monday.. :) ... I'll just wait and try to guess who's calling before I pick it up. (i know mom and dad will call for sure... I think anyone else family who wants to can... I guess? just coordinate with the parentals... like that time i talked to you all from the airport. :) I'm trying to make a list of things to talk to you about... or questions... so do the same and that will make sure our convos are at correct level of awesome. oh, speaking of awesome. Riles!!! I loved your letter. Thanks so much. You too Jill.. it was the perfect combo of hilarity, joy and deliciousness.. Same to you too, mom. Thanks for the package!!! I LOVE YOU ALL

I'll TALK to you all soon. .Kisses

Galatians 1 :20

Love, Hilary

P.S. happy birthday Adriana!