Sawad dii khaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!

 

You know what's funny? 'Khaa' with a mountain tone also means to kill, so basically females in Thailand always end their sentences with "killll".

 

So time here is still crazy. Sometimes I feel like it's SUPER slow, but then sometimes I think, "Oh whoa. I'm already HALF WAY THROUGH??" My zone is pretty much consistent of missionaries that all came on the same day, so we're all counting down together! Have I told you who all is in my zone? There's us 5 Thais, like 15 Cambodians, 3 Vietnamese, and about 5 Mhongs. We have a lot of fun. I feel bad for our nccng Thais who come in a WEEK AND A HALF!!! (whoop whoop!) 'Cause after we all leave, they're going to be the only ones in the zone! Sundays are going to be very lonely. haha 

 Anyway. I love my calling. I got to interview the senior companions on Sunday and I loved listening about their strengths, their triumphs, and also their weaknesses. I tried really hard to lead like Christ would, to listen and to direct them to always be better! Right now our district is working on sarcasm. ....We kind of have a problem. We're working on it though!

 

I'm super excited right now, because two of the cambodians in my zone are HUGE Avatar: The Last Airbender fans!!!!! It makes me so happy. Also, we all agree that Toph is the coolest character ever, so I pretty much love them even more now. Cool people going to cool places, I tell ya.

So last P-day was the most amazing day ever. I didn't include it in my last email 'cause it all happened after I sent the email!! So, we always go to the temple on P-days, and I like to go to the temple with a question in mind, 'cause it's at the temple when I always get the most direct answers (pretty awesome, I tell you). Well, that week I had been pretty discouraged. I'm really impatient with myself. Basically I want to be a perfect teacher now, and I wasn't allowing myself to feel ok that the MTC is the Missionary TRAINING Center, not the Missionary PERFECT Center. My companionship are tons more unified and are really close, but we're not perfect, and I was just super bummed! I didn't know if I was working hard enough, or what I was doing wrong. Well, at the temple I picked up a triple combination and kind of just opened to a random page and BOOM opened right to D&C 6, which talks about being called of God and being forgiven and was just SO perfect and gave me the comfort and knowledge that Heavenly Father is pleased with me. He knows I'm working hard, and He will guide me if I continue to repent and change daily and just put my whole heart into! So I came out of the temple feeling preeeeetty good.

 

But wait! That wasn't the end of it!

 

Guess. Who came. To the devotional.

 

.........

 

RICHARD G. SCOTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

SERIOUSLY?!??!!? An Apostle of the Lord came to speak at Tuesday Devotional!!! I was in the choir so I was even in the same room as him!!!!!! And guess what scripture he based his talk on? Yup. D&C 6. Yeah. I'm not kidding. He talked about having more meaningful prayers with God, and finding comfort in missionary service through prayer. I was in awe.

 

Here are some notes!

 

"God did not put us on Earth to fail, but to succeed gloriously."

"You are His child. You can trustingly approach Him."

"DON'T RUSH THROUGH COMMUNICATION WITH GOD."

"Be careful to seek His will."

"Sometimes when God does not give a response, it means that He trusts you to make the right decision. If you make the wrong choice, He will not let you go too far down that path without giving a warning."

"Refuse to be discouraged."

"Be thankful that sometimes God let's you struggle."

"Pray even when you have no desire to pray."

 

Ok. So that wasn't even the best part. He gave us all an Apostolic Blessing that we will be able to learn our languages. That was so amazingly comforting, and I knew it was true. Also, after he had sat down after the talk, the closing prayer girl was getting up to gvie the benediction, when he all of a sudden rushed up there in his cute old-manly way and spoke some more!!! He spoke about having peace in the knowledge that God knows our struggles, that He has a plan for us on our missions. That he has called us to succeed and not fail. That we will find talents that we nver even knew we had. But the most important was this: you have been called.

 

What comfort and peace that brought! I was so astonished. I knew in that moment that he truly is an apostle of God. He is an inspired man. He loves us. It was so cute, as we all stood to watch him exit, he was waving at us and smiling. As he walked out, I realized I was crying. I was so filled with the love of God from that man. I knew my prayers had been answered. I knew that God loves me. I knew that He has called me, and that He will make me into the missionary He wants me to be. I am so honored to have this sacred calling. I know that this is what God wants me to do. What an amazing day and blessing that was! I am so full of joy. I can't wait to share this with the people of Thailand.

 

So on a less spiritual note... my district has been struggling to SYL (speak your language). Some of us (me) want to SYL ALL THE TIME! While others aren't as gung-ho as I. Our khruus (teachers) of course want us to nevere speak a word of English again, so they started a new game for us. It's called con salad. It means pirate, but literally it's translated as: "thief salad". LOL! I don't even know. It's awesome. I love Thai! Basically we have to speak as much Thai as possible in order to steal this little ship away from the con salad. It's fun and really good for us!

 

Also, we have new roommates! They're going to Taiwan. They're so awesome! Sis Burr, Graham, and Chang! Sis Chang is from Australia!! She's so sweet. She's a recent convert! Also, Sis Burr is teaching me how to do a head stand. It's gonna be a struggle, but I can't wait to be able to do it!

 

Anyway, sidtee rag phuagkhun! I love you all!! I say it every time, but Ima say it again, 

SEND ME LETTERS.

 

Love, 

     Sister Zaugg

Hello again! I feel like I was just sending an email... time is so weird at the MTC.

 

Well, not too much happened this week. We're kind of just settling into a regular routine. Same old, same old. An average day kind of looks like this:

 

6:30 Wake up, shower, pray

 

7:20 Go to breakfast!! I always get cheerios and cantaloupe. I think I've eaten more cantaloupe and honey dew in the last 4 weeks than I have in my entire life.

 

8:00 Teach an investigator! We're getting better. We're trying to use simple, but powerful techniques that invite the Spirit to teach. Sometimes I get really depressed after lessons, because I know where I want to be, and I feel like sometimes I'm never going to get there, but I usually get over it after a few hours. lol It drives my companions nuts, I'm trying to have more faith.

 

9:00-10:00 Class!! I love class. We learn so much about our purpose, how to be better servants of the Lord. It's funny, in the MTC we're preparing ourselves by constantly being reminded how much this isn't  about ourselves. It's very humbling. Also, we learn language and roleplay a lot during class. : )

 

11:00 Personal study. This can sometimes be really hard, especially when I'm tired, but I like the quote, "When you're tired, you can rest on your Savior's love." This time is precious to be able to be spiritually fed so that I can be prepared to teach with the power and the Spirit! Future missionaries: DO NOT WASTE PERSONAL STUDY! Don't do it. Just don't.

 

12:00 LUNCH!! I love lunch. I'm so hungry by the time it rolls around. Hahha I always tell myself that I'm going to eat healthy when I go to lunch, but I'm so starving that I just kind of go crazy. The cookies are so killer. I can't resist them. Like, yesterday, somehow I ended up with a cookie on my plate even when I didn't physically get up to get one. I dunno! The cookies love me too! I like lunch, too, 'cause that's when we hang out with our Cambodian friends. There's so many of them and so little of us Thais, that it's a nice change of pace. They're so crazy and fun. Compared to my district... we... cough... yeah. We're boring.

 

1: 00 Language study. This is when I just try to drill vocab.

 

2:00 Teach another investigator! We just started teaching twice a day. It's kinda crazy.

 

3:00 - 4:00 Class!!

 

5:00 Dinner!! Another exciting part of the day. Especially when there's the icecream bar AND cookies.

 

6:00  TALL (Technology Assissted Language Learning) Some people hate it, some love it. It's ok. I use it to work on my pronunciation and reading.

 

7:00 GYM!!!!!!!! I love gym. That's when I work off the cookies and try not to be demolished in four square. I can hold my own sometimes! Sis Barton is MERCILESS.

 

9:00 Extra study time

 

9:30 Daily planning!!

 

10:00 Get ready for bed/write in my journal/pray/talk to Sis Cloud about how awesome she is.

 

10:30 Go to sleep!

 

 

Yuuuup. That's about how it is every day. In about 2 weeks it's getting changed, though. P-days will no longer be on Tuesday, but Wednesday. That means when our Nccng Thais come it will be on our P-day!!!!! We're going to devote some time from then to stalking them. : ) Also, we found out that there's going to be a TRIO!!!!!!!!!!!!! We're so stoked. The generation will continue! We can't wait to tell our Phii Thais.

 

The cambodians that we room with leave today!! We're so excited for them, but we will dearly miss them. I would attach pictures of them, but for some reason the computer can't find my sd card for some reason. :/

 

OH. I just remembered  something kinda important. Oops. Haha I've been called to be one of the new Sister Training Leaders! It's kind of like a cross between the District Leader and Zone leader... but for the sisters. Haha I'm still not exactly sure what all my roles are. Basically have interviews weekly, check in with all the sisters and make sure they're following rules by leading by example with love~ You know how it is. I'm excited to have this opportunity to serve all the sisters in my zone. I love them so much!!

 

I've made the goal to mainly speak in Thai now, so we'll see how that goes. haha

 

Just want you all to know how important I know this work is. God loves all so much! The Gospel is the GREATEST thing in the world. I want every one to have it!! That's why I'm here. : )

 

Love you all!!

 

Sister Zaugg

Hello friends and family~

So... tomorrow marks 3 weeks in the MTC! Our Phii Thais left us yesterday. I'm so happy for them! They're going to do great. I'm looking forward to seeing them and possibly being in a companionship with some of them!

Our district has recently received a new member. The Elder companionship is now a threesome! Elder Hunt, one of our Phii Thais totally destroyed his knee while playing basketball a few weeks back, and now will be flying out to Thailand with us in 6 weeks. We're not sure if he'll be staying at the MTC until then or go home. It kind of sounds like he'll be going home to heal, but we'll see! Right now we're enjoying the neat little rectangle that we form at the table during meals. :O) Lesson to be learned: sports at the MTC take out more missionaries than any other reason! Every day I see SO MANY PEOPLE who have casts or splints! Not only that, but random illnesses are taking people, out, too. Already so many of the Phii Thais had to go home because of random disorders that popped up at the MTC. I think Satan is really working hard to keep us from teaching people about Christ. :O I sure hope I manage to make it out of the MTC alive! The chances look slimmer every day. 

Starting two days ago we started singing from the Thai hymn book at the beginning of classes. At first we were reading romanized versions (PS Thai songs are super easy because there are no tones), but now it's full blown SCRIPT. Script is interesting. You basically find the consonants and then scan all around them  to find vowels that are scattered about them. Sometimes consonants wear hats, sometimes pants, sometimes they have a three piece suit! On top of that, you have to remember if a consonant is high, middle, or low class, and if the vowel is short or long, and then notice if there is a tone marker. All of those combined make various tones and it's haaaaard! We have 'script cards' that tell us all those things. We call them the Urim and Thummim. :P

Thai is coming still. Tones are really killing me. If you want to say, 'I believe in Christ', "Sidtee chxua nay Phrayeesuu Khrid khaa" it will sound the exact same way when you say it 3 years from now. Tones are SO specific. I think I told you how some Phii Thais have said in discussions that they bought tigers instead of shirts, that Joseph Smith is evil, and give the investigator a relationship rather than an interview. WELL. Last week in a discussion with a new investigator I was trying to tell him that when you read the scriptures, God fills you with His love. Welllll, what I actually said because of tones was, "When you read the scriptures, God drinks until He dances." I was wondering why the investigator looked so confused!! I learned that day that you never ask a Thai person "khaw chay may khaa?" (do you understand?) because they will always say yes no matter what you say. haha!

My companionship with Sis Ng and Barton has really grown. We're really learning to lean on

each other and the Lord. At first we were trying so hard to plan every sentence out in a lesson, but we learned that you just can't do that! It's all about getting to know the person as an individual who has needs and concerns and who has been prepared by God to receive your message! You just have to go in and discern what they want/need to hear! We're still working on that, but we're finally starting to allow the Spirit to guide us. It's really hard. It's easy to think that it's all on us, that we have to do everything. I learn every day that I just have to rest on the Savior and He'll take me where He needs me. As long as I'm obedient, study hard and love my companions and the people I serve, I will be able to accomplish what I'm supposed to!

I've learned a lot of awesome words! I wanna share some. : )

Bobaboboa = crazy (SO fun to say)

phrabida bon sawan = Heavenly Father

pen pay DAY! = it's possible! (literally translated: is go can)

patiseed = deny/reject (we use this alot in four square)

chxa = believe

Thai is kinda like German. It's so literal. you just take a lot of words, stick them together and boom you have a new word! Savior is: Praphuuchuayhayrccd which literally translated is royal person who helps give salvation. Yup!

Love you all! Send me letters. : )

       Sister Zaugg

Sawadii kha krccbkhrua le phxuan khccn sidtee!! Hello my friends and family!!

So, even though I haven't quite been here for two weeks, it's still counted as 3 because of how the MTC works or something... Anyway, the second week was MUCH better than the first! We finally feel like we've been initiated into the MTC experience and kind of know what we're doing. A little bit. Last Wednesday was the BEST because all the new misisonaries came and some even asked us things like "where's the bathroom?"! We felt pretty cool, even though we didn't know how to answer most of them still. haha!

Recently we have discovered the ~*CHOIR*~. I knew that Aunt Wendy had really recommended it, but I've never liked choir so I hadn't really decided to go. However, our Phii Thais whom we cherish and follow around like puppies were all like, "GO TO CHOIR IT IS THE BEST THING AT THE MTC!!" So of course we went. And oh... my goodness... IT IS!! The choir director is hilarious. Not only are we singing in a huge choir with 800 other misisonaries all sharing our testimonies about the same thing, but we get like a little comedy hour AND he always has the best spiritual thoughts that really strengthen my own testimony! By the end I feel really light hearted and rested, but spiritually stronger. Plus, we got to sing in the giant sacrament meeting on Easter which was amazing.

Speaking of Easter, it was lovely! I hope your Easters were as fantastic as mine. We all had the sacrament at the same time! Which I guess has never been done before at the MTC. Sitting in the choir with all these other missionaries whose purpose is the same as mine, watching the pictures of Christ show on the big slideshow and reading the words of the song "The Lord is My Shepherd" just about did me in. It was so overwhelming. I just had this huge realization that Easter is the reason why we're missionaries! There have been so many devotionals lately about how even though we need to cater to investigators' personal needs and show how the Gospel helps them no matter the concern, that we must always remember that the one thing EVERYONE needs is to be freed from their sins and to live again. And that's what the Atonement is about!!! Christ took our sins upon Himself so that we can become better than what we are. He died for us so that we can live again with Him, God, and our families. What an amazing message! That is what we are sharing with the world. We are the Lord's Battalion in the 11th hour. It's amazing.

I learn so much about my purpose and Christ every day. Something I want to share is a message from David A. Bednar's talk, "The Character of Christ" which we watched after the devotional on Sunday. He tells us, "Just because you have a testimony doesn't mean you are converted unto the Lord. You are converted unto the Lord when you begin to take His characteristics upon yourself." How do you do that? What are the characteristics of Christ? Simply, it's turning out with love and compassion for our fellow man when the natural man in us would turn in. I would ask all of you the next time you're having a bad day and just want to complain about it and say, "look at me! wahh wahh!" Turn out and make it about someone else. Remember that even when Christ was dying on the cross, He still was more concerned about His mother, the thieves on the crosses next to Him, and the Romans.

Teaching is betterrr.... just not good. I'm happy to say that yesterday we gave our first lesson in Thai with NO NOTES!! We had dictionaries, but we only looked up two words the whole time. The only problem is that we haven't been very unified in our teaching. That's the hard part about trios, it's harder to be unified, and thus harder to teach with the spirit. We're working on it.

We're happy and excited for our Phii Thais who got their travel plans last week! They leave next Monday! We're going to miss them so much. : ( 

Recently Sister Barton and I have discovered four square. We love it!! We play with the Phii Thais, Cambodians, and Mongs. It can get pretty intense.

I love you all! And I love letters. : )

Sidtee ruu waa saadsanacag nii ben saadsanacag thii thee chin khaa. Sidtee ruu waa Phrayeesukhrid ben Phraphuuchuayhayrccd khccn raw. Prakhaw rag raw.

Talk to you next week! <3

Sister Zaugg