I MOVED!

This week was nuts!! So much happened. For one: I got TRANSFERRED!!!!!! But more on that later.

A crazy guy on a bike

Last Monday for P-Day we still didn't know who was being transferred (minus Elder Appleyard who was dying and Sister Sahagun who's been in Pakkret for like, 7 months), so we decided to have a last meal as a District. We ate Muka Tha (?). At a Muka Tha place you have hot plates that they stick flaming pots under, and then there's a buffet of raw meats, noodles and veggies that you throw on the hot plate and cook up. I was pretty sketched out and way confused, but the missionaries who've done it said they've never gotten sick doing it (still... yikes) and had a grande 'ol time watching the rest of us start throwing random food on these flaming plates and just being lost in general. It was way fun, and I think my food was cooked... enough. To be honest I spent more time just watching food cook than eating. haha But we had such a good time! I loved my district so much! 

At the end of the night Sis Downs and I had to leave to get to an FHE appointment at a member's house, so I went to grab the phone to give them a call..... except there was no phone! I'd left it in the taxi that we took with the sisters! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I was so mad at myself... and afraid to tell Elder Jones who takes care of all that kind of stuff. He already thinks that I'm so helpless. haha So we dejectedly took a taxi back to Don Muang to try to find this member's house even though we only vaguely knew which area it was in, we were late, and Sis Downs ate something that was making her sick. Luckily a neighbor who lived in that area was home and he directed us to the other member's house. When we arrived the WHOLE family was waiting for us outside and were yelling, "SISTERS!!!! THEY FOUND YOUR PHONE!!!!" We were like, "WHAT?!"

Apparently Sis Sahagun had the number of the taxi driver and he found our phone and was meeting them at a gas station to drop it off! About a week ago Sis Sahagun had made the goal to get a phone number from every taxi driver, and she'd gotten it from the one that took us to dinner! Ahhh She's so good! I want to be like her.

So anyway, even though Sis Downs was like, "We need to go home... I feel sick." The members forced us in and fed us mango sticky rice and played Uno while we waited for the sisters to come bring our phone. Sis Downs felt better pretty soon. :) At one point during the game, the member's son jumped up with his hands in the air when he won and shattered the chandelier above us and showered us and the fruit on the table with glass. lol! His younger sister the whole time was like, "NOT THE FRUIT!!!!!!!!!!" hahahah

So we were expecting the sisters to show up in a taxi since Pakkret is fairly far from Don Muang, so we were SHOCKED to see them ride up on their bikes with Brother North red, out of breath and dripping! They were like, "Brother North LIED to us!!! He said that you guys were close to Central!!" They biked soooo far! Ohhhhhh it was so sad but so hilarious. Sis Sahagun thought it was funny but Sis Tilly was way flustered. Brother North was just sheepish. I'm not really sure what he was thinking. So that was our last Monday in Don Muang! It was one to be remembered for sure. :)

On Tuesday pretty much everyone was just DYING to know what was gonna happen at transfers. We were all so anxious! We kinda just came to the conclusion that we prolly weren't gonna know until Wednesday, but about an hour before English class the Zone Leaders got the call, and let me tell you: this was the craziest transfers EVER.

Elder Watts and Elder Tanner: moving

Sister Zaugg AND Sister Downs: moving

Elder Terry + new zone leader: move to the don muang house (my old house)

Sister Sahagun: moving

Sister Tilly: training and moving to Sis Mac + Sis Jackson's house

Sis Mac + Sis Jackson: moving to Sis Tilly's house and becoming the new Don Muang sisters

Whaaaaaaaaaat the heeeeeeck! If you didn't understand that, basically half of us moved out and the rest just switched houses. Yup! We were all freaking out. I was particularly freaked out because Sis Downs and I were white washing out and being replaced by ELDERS!! I was way scared that Foam was gonna hate the Elders and stop learning. BUT on Wednesday night we went out to dinner with her and she was really sad but prepared to learn with Elders. :))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) Also, we met her boyfriend who wants to learn with his mom!!! Ahhh it was so awesome. I miss that girl so much! I've pretty much known her about as long as I've been in Thailand, and I've seen her grow so much and I just can't express how happy I am for her and how much I love her! I'm sad that I can't be at her baptism, but I'm so glad that she's sticking with the Gospel.... even if her missionaries aren't around anymore. :,)

Saphansung at night!

So then Thursday was TRANSFERS! Sis Downs was way scared. She was afraid of moving to the Issan, which is the last place she wanted to go. I was pretty calm. I knew that it was time for me to go. I was in Don Muang for 5 months. I loved it soooo much! But it was time to take the things I learned there and apply them somewhere else. So, after introducing the new missionaries and pairing them with their trainers, they started the rest of the transfers! And starting with Bangkok East Zone in Saphansung was Sister Zaugg and Sister Hughes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First awkward companionship picture!
 Sis Hughes is holding toilet paper because
 I gave her a cold and she's been stuffing
 toilet paper up her nose for the last 2 days.

I'm still in Bangkok!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I'm with SISTER HUGHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've always thought that I would love being her companion. And I do!!!!!!!!!!!! She's so amazing.

So Saphansung  is just wonderful. It just turned into a ward so it has a bishop and everything!! Also, it has old men and ping pong.

There are these three old men that are just the cutest thing on the PLANET. My first day here we went to the church to see who was around and there was this man wearing home-made suspenders playing ping pong like a CHAMP. He greeted us with a fist bump and a "Seeeesterrsssssssssssssssss!" His name is Brother Geua. Then there's the other old guy who's this teeeeeeny tiny veteran who's pretty much blind but still reads the Book of Mormon using a jeweler's glass. He just buries his face in the book and squints through it. It is adorable. 

The other old guy of note is Bro Suchad. He joined the church when it was first brought to Thailand! He was in a library one day and found a Book of Mormon in English. Even though he doesn't speak English he translated it into Thai, knew it was true and joined the church!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Soooooo cool! Yesterday at zone conference I was sitting behind him. We so happened to sing all the songs that I know the alto line to, and so after the meeting he turned around and said, "You can sing alto! JOIN THE CHOIR." When I asked Sis Hughes about it she was like, "This guy gives everything he has to the church. We're gonna do whatever it takes to serve him." So now I'm in ANOTHER choir. How does this keep happening?!?!? I swear I've never NOT been in a choir since I've been a missionary. I hope this isn't a sign or something.

Anyway. This branch also has two international families. One family is from America just having a Thai experience. It's awesome!! They have the two CUTEST daughters. I love that they're not living with the other expats but are living in a Thai neighborhood and have Thai friends and go to the Thai branch. :D The other family is probably the most amazing family I've ever met.

 Eating delicious Bumi!

Sis Isrin and her husband Bro Brian. Sis Isrin is Bro Suchad's daughter, but she went to school at BYU Hawaii so she speaks perfect English. Bro Brian is from the Marcatian Islands (I don't know where or what the is so I don't know how to spell it) and speaks French and English with a French accent. They met at Hawaii, got married then started their family with 3 little boys in the Marcatian Islands, so the boys only speak French, but now they're in Thailand and are just the most adorable, odd-ball family EVER. Sis Isrin is gorgeous and looks like a Thai Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and Bro Brian is HUGE and French and looks like Gaston. When I mentioned it to them they both broke out into Gaston's song. It was perfect. Their boys are sooo cute! They run around and get into all kinds of trouble and speak in French and it just kills me.

Thai Ronald McDonald wai-ing

So basically I'm in love with Saphansung, and Sis Hughes and I have made all kinds of goals and are planning to just be amazing and have all kinds of miracles this transfer. Don Muang was way hard and I had to learn a lot of stuff, and now I'm ready to rise. Amazing things are going to happen here. We're gonna start it off by fasting to help a current investigator be ready to be baptized this coming Sunday. We got a really good feeling when we thought about her for this weekend, so we're going to be using all our faith to accomplish it!

So this is a beast of an email, and I'm not even finished. I'll just impress upon your minds even more how amazing this place is by saying that yesterday I got waied by a dog in 7/11 and afterwards I jumped onto a moving song thew. It was amazing.

Love you lots!

Sister Zaugg