Things I Wish I'd Known Before the Mission........

So this blog is directed to all you newly called sisters going to Thailand. 

I'm going to talk about what shoes you need, what bag you DEFINITELY need... and what kinds of clothes worked well and didn't... and answer some general questions that I'd wondered about before I arrived to Thailand.

SHOES

I'm going to tell you now that the only shoes you will wear on your mission are........ Crocs. Sorry to say it, but it's true. Don't try to think that you'll be different and beat the Crocs trend that you've probably seen in every Thai missionary blog you've ever read. You won't. Just accept it now. Crocs are essential because: 1) they're comfortable. 2) They don't mold. 3) They dry easily. 4) If they start to stink, you can wash them.

You probably noticed that I really only wore this one pair of Crocs:

http://www.crocs.com/crocs-alice-work/11050,default,pd.html?cid=001&cgid=women-footwear-flats

These are the only ones I can recommend, because they get a decent amount of airflow, and more importantly: they have the strap. I never lost my shoes riding my bike, which I can't say the same for the ballet flat styles that some of my companions wore. Get these Crocs and you won't regret them.

HOWEVER, you may want to bring one other pair of leather, classier looking footwear for transfer meetings and Sundays when the skies are clear. I really loved my Clark's red sandals. I wore them into the ground. I would have brought them home with me if they hadn't been completely worn out! They're SO comfortable, and SO cute.

http://www.clarksusa.com/eng/product/wendy_land/26060554

When you get into country you might be tempted and/or persuaded by your trainer to buy some jelly flats that are really popular in Thailand. DON'T DO IT. They're cheap, have no arch support, and will break your back. Don't even go there.

BAG

I struggled so bad trying to find the right bag. Unfortunately for me, I didn't find THE bag until I had about 5 months left of my mission. At first I had the wrong idea that I needed a "cute" bag, or at one point a backpack, but let me tell you, you don't need to look anymore beyond this point. I'm telling you that this is it. A large portion of sisters in Thailand end up buying this bag, and you won't find a single one of them regretting it. It's kind of pricy, but it'll last the whole mission, AND save your back, and look fairly good in the process. It's called: Healthy Back Bag.

http://www.thehealthybackbag.co.uk//healthybackbag/6103-pl#slide-2-field_product_images-7985

I won't say more. Just buy it. Get the textured fabric. It wears better than any of the other kinds of fabric.

OUTFITS

Both of these outfits are good thai missionary outfits. I found that looser, t-shirty materials were my favorites for shirts. They were comfortable and dried quickly. Gingham was also a material that I liked.

Dresses and skirts were best if A-line and hit at mid-calf. Anything was too short or too long when it came to bike riding.

I don't have too much to recommend for outfits. Stay simple and comfortable!

TOILETRIES

Deodorant - You can buy it in Thailand, so don't worry about bringing a whole years' supply.

Pads - You can buy them in Thailand.

Tampons - Can't buy them, bring all that you can.

Toothpaste - You can buy it in Thailand.

Shampoo/soap/bathwash - You can buy it in Thailand.

Makeup - You can buy tons of it in Thailand.

BUGS

The bugs are terrible! You will get eaten alive. Putting on bugspray in the morning isn't very effective, because it wears off during the day and it's in the evening when you get bit the most. It would be more effective to carry it around in a spray bottle and apply it throughout the day.

BATHROOMS

Your home will have a normal toilet. So will the church and all malls. I never used a squatter potty! I just used a normal toilet in one of those three places whenever I had to go. They aren't hard to find.

BIKES AND SKIRTS

Tuck your skirt in your garment legs. Other than that..... it's kind of just a game of trying to keep it out of the chain or blowing over your head, hence the "keep your skirt at mid-calf length" rule.

ELECTRONICS

Bring a hair drier that can switch to the Thai voltage. Also bring some adapters that you can plug your camera charger into. Bring a hard drive to save all your pictures on as you go, just in case your camera gets lost! Also, in order to send pictures home you'll want to bring a usb SD card reader. Bring an iPod and good speakers, and BRING CHURCH MOVIES. Mormon messages (you can get them on DVD), The Legacy, The Testaments, Work and the Glory, 17 Miracles, Ephraim's Rescue, etc.

FOOD

You'll always be eating out at local places. The rule for me generally was if I could see a refrigerator I would eat there, and if the meat looked like it was recently pulled of the grill, I would eat it. Go with your gut, and you'll be fine. Of course, the spicy food with a combination of occasional wrong choices will give you diarrhea now again. Not every day, but you can expect it several times on your mission. Your digestive system will be out-of-wonk in Thailand to some degree, but if you're experiencing extreme changes/regular diarrhea, contact your mission president's wife.


So that's all I can think of right now! Maybe if I think of more things I'll update this post, but really, if any of you guys have questions, don't be afraid to shoot me a message on facebook! I'll tell you everything I know!

Good luck out there! The Thailand Bangkok Mission is THE BEST MISSION! TBM!!!!!!! You will LOOOOVE IT!!!!!!!

So uh................ I'm home!

Huh?

It seems like a dream! I'm gonna try to explain what it's like and give an overview of what I'm doing next. I'll do one more post after this with some tips for Thailand-bound missionaries on things to buy or what to expect, but after that, I'll be done posting on the blog! Thanks for sticking with me through this crazy ride that I called my mission.

So the going home process was an interesting one. Thursday morning I took my tripanionship down to Bangkok on my last Nakonchai Air bus (not sure if I'll miss that annoying theme song they always play on the bus or not). The bus got a late start,so I missed my exit interview... which ended up being just fine, because I got to interview with President later in his study at his and Sis Senior's condo!! So cool.

Anyway, they took me and Sis Tilley out to dinner at this super fancy Thai restaurant in an 80-year-old Thai home. BEST last dinner in Thailand ever! Then we did a little "talk about the mission and bear you testimony" meeting back at their apartment.... and Tim-Tam Slammed! It was so fun and felt like hanging out with good friends and not super emotional or dramatic. It was perfect. It was without all the fanfare and drama that comes with finishing your mission at a transfer meeting. Looooved it!

After that they put us up in a hotel near the office, and we didn't sleep a wink! I was soooooooo nervous! I had this pit in my stomach, I wasn't sure if it was upset stomach from bad bus food or anxiety, or what. But morning came, and we met up with Sis Senior and the APs and they dropped us off at the sky train where we took our baggage to the airport. Elder Nirut, a native Thai missionary drove us there and it was one of the funniest things I've seen. One time he almost hit a motorcyclist with the van and he yelled, "FREAK!!!!!"

....So then we were at the airport, and we were going through immigration and Sis Senior disappeared through the crowd, and we were getting on a plane. The pit in my stomach was getting bigger, so I pulled out my journal to catch up on while the plane was filling up with passengers. And then the engines turned on and I felt the wheels leave the ground and that's finally when all the tears came out. Up until that point it didn't seem real and I didn't actually believe that I would actually leave Thailand and stop being a missionary, but when I felt that we were not longer on Thai soil, it kind of all came crashing down on me and I just had to sit there with my eyes closed and let the tears come out until they were gone.

So now I'm home! It's a weird mixture of being happy, confused, sad, overwhelmed, scared, excited and sick. The American food is messing with my stomach, but it sure tastes good! The weather is a little chilly, but the family is soooo good. I love my family! They're the only thing that made coming home OK. I've been snuggling baby ever since I got off the plane.

As for adjusting to non-missionary life....... I still feel naked without my tag. My best friend sent me a playlist of music, and after 2 songs I had to turn it off because I got overwhelmed. Going into a room by myself feels weird, and I'm really missing the sun. Still haven't watched a movie, and I'm not sure if the clothes that I bought on Saturday are cute or not. 

Basically, I went from rejecting any thought that distracted me from my purpose to all of a sudden being able to think whatever, eat whenever, sleep whenever, watch whatever and listen to whatever. But the guilt is still there, and so I've opted to listening to hymns, doing the dishes, and avoiding movies. I'm making a big step by watching a movie today! We'll see how it goes.

Went to the temple on Saturday. SOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOD!!!!! After having taught the Plan of Salvation a million times, it made the endowment much more meaningful. I felt like I actually understood it this time! Love the temple! Can't wait to go back.

Jet-lag is a killer. The night I got home I decided to wake up at 9AM. I woke up at 8AM to use the restroom and thought to myself, "Well, I'll just lay back down for another hour." Dad woke me from a deep sleep at 12PM. Oops.

What do you do when you first get home from your mission....?

Play in a bucket truck!

I randomly speak Thai to my family on accident, but they think it's funny, so it isn't so bad.

So uhhh... yeah! I'm taking it a day at a time. I really miss Thailand.... but I know I'll be back someday. Right now I just need to focus on learning how to be a person again. Fine dining and breathing (kudos if you get tha treference). Next Monday I fly to Provo for school. Animation classes start on Tuesday. That's where the fear comes in. Do I even remember how to draw or animate? Haven't really done that in 2 years! I doodled occasionally on the mission, but serious drawing was a distraction so I cut it out..... I'm pretty scared. Crossing my fingers for mission blessings!!

So next blog post I'll answer some questions on "what bag should I buy?" or "what shoes should I buy?" "just how hot is it?' and such, so stay tuned!

Love y'all!

The Last Email

So this is awkward.

 Happy Thai mothers' day!

Here I am, with 5 days left in Thailand and I'm still derping along thinking that I'll be here forever! It just doesn't feel real! I'm never going home guys! I've only ever been a missionary, and it's all I'll ever do!

Well, at least, that's how it feels.

This week I learned a lot about "Team God".

My last baptisms! GO TEAM GOD!!!!!!!!!!!

I think the focus of this transfer has been mission unity. So many times I slip up and think, "my investigator" or "my baptism", when really they're not mine at all! They're the Lord's! This is His work, and it's His harvest. I'm along for the ride, and every baptism and person brought to Christ, whether I taught/found them or not is a point for "Team God". Any other missionary's success in helping others make the covenant of baptism is my success as well..... because well, we're all on the same team! I had always hoped that I would have one final baptism on my last Sunday, but, in the end, it didn't work out that way. But that's ok, because there were 4 baptisms in my district, and they were all for my team, and I was so happy to see them all be baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO TEAM GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Visiting RC's in Nong khai!

So this week was mothers' day! The traffic was horrible, and we went to nong khai to find some of my recent converts there who have gone less active. The zone leaders gave me permission to teach them one last time before I go home. I was only able to find one of them, which was.... Tii. LOVE that kid! Love him like my own brother. As we were leaving to go back to Udorn, he leaned over and mumbled something to Elder Arne, who then said, "Sis Zaugg, come back and listen to this. Tii's been memorizing scriptures in English. Tell her the scripture that you just told me." So Tii clears his throat and says with the straightest face: "I, Jacob, saw that I must soon go down to my grave." Jacob 7:27

The nong khai elders' bikes.

LOL Elder Arne slapped him and said, "NOT THAT ONE. THE ONE YOU JUST TOLD ME. Sorry. He loves Jacob."

hahahahhahahahhahah I love that kid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So then he cleared his throat again and said: "And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent." Mosiah 3:17

I wanted to cry it was so good! He is going to be such a good missionary someday. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I had to meet him and teach him!!!!!!!!

What else happened this week......

This is the guard from our neighborhood.
A previous elder gave him his BYU shirt.
Notice all the buddhist idols hanging around
his neck.

We went inviting at walking street, and I heard a barfing sound, looked down, and sure enough this little kid was vomiting RIGHT next to my feet and it splashed on me. :( i was able to wash it off, but for the rest of the night, me sis speas and hughes would just watch, horrified as people stepped through the vomit and spread it around. It was a lot like the scene in Monster's Inc. when Sully thinks that Boo is getting put through the garbage dispense and he makes all those funny faces.

We call this place the "banana lady".
She sells lots of bananas.

Sis Hughes bought a new shirt!

Let's all take a moment to appreciate
Thai fashion. That same night we saw a woman
wearing a full body jumper decorated with cats
wearing crowns.

Beyond that, not much else happened. We've picked up a couple of new investigators that are very promising and super excited about!

 I will never stop loving the people.

Well, I guess this is the last time that you guys will hear from me in Thailand! My mission has meant the WORLD to me, and has changed me in so many ways it's amazing. I've come to know God better, and developed a deeper understanding and appreciation for the Savior and His Atonement. I've learned how to smile through the hardest of times and witnessed some of the greatest miracles. Miracles that will stay with me forever and have proven to me that this work is true. The Savior lives. His Gospel has been restored. People can change. I love Thailand! I love the people. They have taught me so much and I will never EVER forget them. I will be praying for this place for the rest of my life. I'm so grateful that I was called to the Thailand Bangkok Mission! TBM The Best Mission! That isn't an understatement. It really is the best.

Goodbye Udon!
GOODBYE THAILAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love you ALL! I'll update next week, I promise!

Sis Zaugg

See Ya Stew

Can you see how packed buses in Bangkok get?
Man, I miss that place!

Well, I had to say goodbye to Stew. :,( That was really sad, and actually kind of hard, because we had to go down to Bangkok on Tuesday, even though her plane didn't leave 'til Friday, because she had to do all the dying missioanry business stuff. So that was pretty hard, trying not to be affected by it all. Two more weeks! I gotta stay strong guys! Pray that I won't get trunky! So far so good. :)

Dinner with members in Bangkhen!
 All of those guys are melchizedek
priesthood holders now!

I think the best part of being in Bangkok was that we got to go to Stew's old area, where my very first convert lives!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We went out for dinner with a bunch of members and it was so much fun getting to see him. I met him a year ago, and now he's a Melchizedek priesthood holder, the president of the young mens' organization AND is prepping to serve a mission. He made me want to cry, it was so good to see him! Shout out to Bro Bao! It was an experience that really validated my work as a missionary. For everything hard and sad that has happened to me here, it was all worth it to meet and see people get baptized like Bro Bao.

Bro Bao!

Old friends from Saphaansung

Missionaries' second to last night in Bangkok
often go to the tallest tower in Thailand and
eat at the buffet on the top floor. The
food was actually second-class, but the the view
was priceless. Pictures don't do it justice
(especially on my dying camera).

Sis Packard and Sis Embley praying at their
 apartment in Pakkret the night before transfers.

This group of sisters changed the Thailand Bangkok
Mission forever! They changed the image of sisters
and their role in the Lord's work in Thailand. They
were my phiis and dear friends. They led us all by
example and saw soooo many miracles. The mission
won't be the same without them!
I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 My peeps! Full circle.

At transfers meeting my whole MTC group was there! We got a picture. I love them all so much! Elder Wahl is training Bro Boss from saphaansung! That made me incredibly happy. Bro (well, I guess now he's Elder Boss now) said that he loves Elder Wahl and considers himself lucky to have such a good trainer.

The craziest part about transfers was finding out who my new companion is...... or should I say companionS! I'm With Sister Speas and get this........ SISTER HUGHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My dying wish has come true! I'm so shocked that it actually happened! We jokingly would request to be put together my last transfer, but President always flat out said "no". But.... I guess Heavenly Father said, "Yes"! :)))))))))))))))))))) I'm so happpppyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

We were inviting at walking street and
I looked over and Sis Hughes had a
monkey in her arms!

Then it started to flop around.

OOF!

Then I decided that I wanted to hold it.
And it decided to grab my neck fat. Ouch!

Took this taxi for an hour to the bus station.
Also, not pictured: two bikes strapped to the back.

We had to send all our stuff up on a seperate bus
because there was so much of it. We went to go
pick it up, and I had the special opportunity to
sit next to this little guy.

On Wednesday we we went to the King's Palace.
It was soooo pretty!

 Pres and Sis Senior came up for zone training today!
Little did they know that we all happened
to coordinate outfits!

So uhhhh... yeah! We had a few investigators at church this Sunday. We're really hoping that ne of them, Sister B gets baptized next Sunday. It's my last chance for one more baptism! I realllyyyy want to help one more person be baptized!

Talk to you next week!

Sis Zaugg

Watch This Video...

First off, every one go watch this video! All of us Udorn sisters are obsessed with it.

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=3701964025001&cid=HPTH073114368

Anyway, this week was another MLC week. Stewart stayed in Udorn to get as much time in the area as she could and I took Muller with me down to Bangkok. We took the train down. That was the second time I've taken the train, and I think I prefer the bus.

 Bro Sii Thai!

Since it was Stewart's last week in Udorn, we just spent a lot of time working on the area book, visiting recent converts, inviting to try and find new investigators, and teaching the one investigator we have, Sii Thai. I mentioned him last week. He's the one who giggles a lot.

 Invite ALL the bikers!

He really was a miracle! We've met with him EVERY day since the day Stewart found him, and from day one he was so willing to learn, keep the commandments and grow closer to Christ. Brother Sii Thai actually reminds me SO much of Grandpa Wright. Only he's more out-going and giggly. :)

Anyway, Bro Sii Thai's parents were refugees from Vietnam, and his mom taught him about Jesus his whole life, but he never knew how he was supposed to be a disciple of Christ, so he was really happy to learn with us! He truly is amazing. He has so much faith.

We were so excited for him to get baptized on Sunday, but his baptism gave me SO much anxiety! This is why:

We realized last minute that we hadn't asked anyone to baptize Sii Thai and the other sisters' investigator, so we ended up asking a sweet younger brother who was recently ordained to the aaronic priesthood a few months ago to baptize them. He was so sweet to accept the request! But he was soooooooooo nervous. He just paced up and down the halls trying to memorize the baptismal prayer, and during the baptismal service he just sat up in the front looking so faint and scared out of his pants. But we had faith in him! We knew he could do it.

So he gets in the water with Sii Thai, and fumbles over the prayer several times. Finally he gets it right, and goes to put Sii Thai in the water.

.....It was the most painful thing in the world to watch.

He put him in SO SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW

 I love these people so much.
They are the most christ-like and loving people I know.

Like, literally it looked like slow motion. Poor Sii Thai didn't know what to do so he kind of just did a trust fall into this brother's arms, but because the brother was putting him in so timidly he just kind of floated in the font on his back with his eyes closed, and all the brother could do was try to push him in, but Sii Thai was too floaty.

So the second goes pretty much the same as the first, except Sii Thai's face got submerged, but the rest of him wasn't, so the brother kept him in the water while he tried to shove the rest of him in, and the rest of us were like, "PULL HIM OUT HE'S GONNA DROWN"

So now that poor brother was just stressing his brains out! The poor guy. He had to say the baptismal prayer like, 6 times because he kept messing it up. BUT he got sii thai all the way immersed and it was over.

I literally died. I felt bad for Sii Thai for a little bit, but then I knew he was alright, because I could hear him giggling in the changing room, but I felt so bad for the brother because he still had to baptize a whole other person!!! Biw, the other investigator had to do it twice, but then it was done and we all gave a sigh of relief.

Oh it was so bad. But also, it was really hilarious. During the intermission hymns I was trying to calm down, but then Sister Adams leaned over and muttered, "I just lost our investigators. They thought that was so scary." and I made eye contact and we just started to giggle really hard. And then Sii Thai came back into the room all dried up with the BIGGEST goofy smile on his face, sat down, looked at us and then started to BUST out laughing. He threw his hand out with three fingers up: "THREE TIMES!!!!!" and we just lost it. We all just laaaauuuuuuuughed and laughed. I'm glad Sii Thai thought it was funny, because that could have been bad. Sister Adams' investigators, however, were probably scarred for life.

 Traditional dying meal at the Browns'!
Tacos! Yummmmmmmmmmmm

So Stewart is the only one leaving the area! The rest of us are staying.

Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Have a great week!

Sister Zaugg