That awkward moment when you've been companions with everyone in your zone

OK, so, I'll start with the news:

I got moved.

AGAIN.

GYAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

That's OK. I've come to terms with it already.

But man I hate moving.

This is at the famous park in Udorn call Nongprajak.
There they have the three, giant, iconic ducks
that float in the middle of the pond.
As you can see, it appears that the big duck
is taking a nose dive into the pond.
That is because a few weeks ago there was a
big storm in Udorn. There was LOTS of wind,
and the wind ripped one of the ducks out
of the pond and it took flight and crashed into a bridge.
It caused a lot of damage and took out several
people in the process.

So Monday during emails we got the transfers call saying that Sis Maughan would leave and I would stay. Which was great because she's never left the Udorn Zone and I asked Pres Senior to stay. But then Tuesday morning rolled around and we got a call from the zone leaders saying that it had been SWITCHED. I was leaving and Sis Maughan was staying! So that was a bummer. :( I knew immediately what my new area was: Udorn! Because that's where the zone leaders are, and I was the only sister training leader in the mission who wasn't in the zone leaders' area. Plus, the assistants to the pres told me to leave my stuff in Udorn on the way down to Bangkok... so that was a clue.

Our "breakfast" on the
bus down to Bangkok.

Sis Maughan and I ended up having to take a morning bus down to transfers meeting because there weren't enough seats on the night bus for us and the elders to go together, and Pres Senior doesn't let sisters travel alone at night. Boy that was MISERABLE. Soooooooo boring! But because it was light outside we got to see some cool mountain type things.. they weren't really mountains, more just like the hills in Oregon, but after having been in flat Bangkok for 9 months, they sure seemed pretty mountain-ish to me!

Sis Maughan and I wore matching
Laotian skirts to transfers

Our little chancho!!!!!!!

This was a fun transfers because LES WAS THERE!!! He moved to Don Muang! He's grown up. He's taller, and has a deeper voice... and he's wayyyy more outgoing!! I love that kid! He's doing great. He's dying to be a missionary and carries around his own planner. lol! I was just so happy to see him. I love seeing my recent converts! Especially when they're still going strong!

Me and my mom! May she rest in peace.

The saddest part of transfers was the fact that Sister Reedy died. :((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((( That was almost a year ago that she picked me up from the office and took me to my baby area! I can't believe it. And now she's dead. I kind of just followed her around like a lost puppy the whole day. I'm gonna miss her so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have always looked up to her SO much. I just think the world of her.

So this is the setup of sisters in my zone now:

I'm in Udorn with Sis Stewart. Sis Tilley is staying for a third transfer in Udorn with Sis ADAMS, and Sis Maughan is in Nong Khai with SIS DOWNS.

But, here is the twist: Sis Stewart's last companion is going home because of health issues, so Sis Stewart is still in Bangkok supporting her last companion... which means right now I'm in a trio with Sis Tilley and Adams. So that's been crazy. hahahhaa I've basically been told to just put my area on the back-burner and follow Sis Tilley and Adams around until Sis Stewart comes up.

Hahaha Poor Sis Adams. She thought she could escape me!

But really, Udorn is this weird... mashed-up area...... Let me explain. Basically everyone in the Udorn zone has served together in past areas. 

Talking on the phone with an investigator...
trying to catch a water buffalo. Y'know.

My first district had pretty much followed each other our whole missions. Me, Sis Tilley, Elder Wheeler, Elder Terry, Sis Downs, Sis Sahagun, and Elder Watts. We were all together in Pakkret, and then we all moved up to Udorn. Udorn is weird. Sis Sahagun's trainer, Sis Carter, died here a few transfers ago. THEN Sis Sahagun came up and replaced her. Then Sis Tilley (who was trained by Sis Sahagun) came up and lived in the same house together! Then Sis Downs (who I trained) came up to be companions with Sis Tilley in Udorn, and now Sis Tilley is with Sis Adams who I trained, and now I'm there, too! It's just weird. It's kinda freaky, actually.

I hope you can fathom that mess that I just tried to explain.

MOOOOO!!!!

Us on the train!

Anyway. So we ended up taking a train back up to Udorn with the Nongkhai district. That was fun. It was a sleeper train and had bunks! It was sooooo ghetto. I LOVED IT! I used the restroom, and not only did it smell completely foul, but I looked down the hole and realized that it is literally just a whole that empties out onto the tracks.

So think twice before walking on train tracks, guys.

Our beautiful new house!

So now I'm here in Udorn! We live in a BEAUTIFUL house! It's gorgeous. We have the Elders' house right next to ours, and the Senior Couple, Elder and Sister Brown a couple houses down. I love the Browns! They make us waffles and lemonade at night! They are sooo cool. The only down side to the house is that we get cockroaches. The first night here Sis Adams found a cockroach EATING a dead gecko. Like... DEVOURING it!  So after we freaked out about that for a while I was nominated to kill it.... and for some reason I decided to use a clear tupper-ware to smash it..... and it like.... literally exploded. It must of been really full, because it just ejected all of the gecko it had eaten plus it's own guts. AND IT WAS STILL ALIVE. It tried to run away but I just kept smashing it until it died. But, anyway, the other sisters were freaking out the whole time. Like, standing on chairs, SCREAMING their heads off. Our district leader came over (he's thai! yay!) and was like "are you... ok...?" We laughed SO hard. The sisters explained what happened and all we got was: "Sis Zaugg, why you gotta be so brutal?" LOL

SO yeah! Sunday was sad, because my investigator Naraa was gonna get baptized here in Udorn, but he chickened out at the last minute. :( BUT. Tii got baptized!! Apparently he cried and it was amazing. YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The zone leaders from before (terry and cahoon) both died at transfers, but they left SEVEN baptisms for this sunday. So awesome!!

So yeah! I'm excited to get my new companion... hopefully this week!

Have a great week!

Sis Zaugg

Rawn Ja Taay

"Rawn ja taay" is how you say, "It's so hot, I'm gonna die" in Thai.

It is so hot. 

I don't think I've EVER been this hot before in my whole life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's so hot, all I have to do is stand outside and I sweat bullets. Then I ride my bike and I get SOAKED. I'm dyyyyinnnggggggg.

 From left to right: E. Wheeler, E. Sae Dan,
E. Smith, E. Watkins, ME, S. Briaw, S. Maughan

Songkraan was on Sunday through Tuesday. So on P-Day we actually got to play in the water fight! After emailing we went to go eat lunch at the only restaurant open in town on that day...... and got soaked in the process. I wasn't lying when EVERYONE plays in the waterfight. If you don't get hit by the pedestrians there's always a truck passing that will get ya. I had managed to stay pretty dry actually, not too far from the restaurant, until some drunk dancing guys decided to walk right up to me and throw water in my face. When I opened my eyes I quickly realized that I was crashing into a motorcycle. 

By some miracle I stayed on my bike, but I TOTALLY took the girls out. They went flying! They were alright and got back on and went on their merry way. My knee hit my bike and got a cut, but it could have been much worse!

And that's just one reason why songkraan would be illegal in the USA.

Pretty much all day we just went to members' houses and threw water at passing cars and motorcycles. It was way fun! A huge parade came through at one point..... the floats had transvestites all dressed up in traditional Thai apparel.... they were there for the purpose of being a target for water. hahahaha In between each float there were hoards of old drunk people dancing. They would walk up to us, smear baby powder all over our faces and then we would dump water over their heads.... hahahah Weird.

After a while we decided to go walk through the major street in Nong Khai. THAT was crazy. The entire street was backed up with trucks full of people with water. And both sides were lined with tents and dancing people. It took an hour and a half to walk down the whole stretch...... I've never had my face grabbed more times in my life. That baby powder stuff starts to burn after awhile....

 I got a police officer. hahahahahha
He was way nice about it and gave me a high five!

So songkraan was crazy and I was exhausted afterwards... and that was just one day! They play 3 days in a row! I don't know how they do it.

Tuesday we could NOT get any work done... so we cleaned the church instead! It really needed it.

A cool restaurant that we ate at.
When people were done eating
they would just jump into the river! Gross!

We were invited to go eat lunch with some members at this one place by the Thai-Laos bridge, and we thought that we could prolly make it there without getting too wet. WRONG. We all got soaked. NO WHERE was safe in this town during songkraan. The streets got sooooo muddy! Sis Maughan got trashed by her bike. hahaha At the end of the day we went to Tesco to buy cleaning supplies for the house and felt like wet dogs in a nice home... somehow everyone in Tesco were dry and clean! They must have not ridden their bikes there. haha

 Prepping to go back in the fray.

Tii is my favorite investigator!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He's finally getting baptized on Sunday!

Two of our investigators were interviewed and passed! They are getting baptized this week. :) Yayyy!

Our favorite homeless man.
The Elders named him Sweet Caroline..........
We smile and wave at him everytime we see him
and he scrunches up his face and waves back. SO cute!
The locals take pretty good care of him.
He's always munching on free food that someone gave him. 

One investigator is getting interviewed this week... he just needs to really decide that he wants it bad enough. We're not 100% positive, but we're pretty sure that he sells drugs. We don't ask for the details, but from what he's said we're pretty sure that's his major hang up. He really wants to change, though! He's so awesome. 

We also found out that one of our other investigators murdered someone and did 20+ years in prison. 

So when we asked, "Do you know any murderers, adulterers or drug dealers? ...Can we get their number?" We weren't joking!

Easter was an interesting experience.... Because it didn't really happen! We didn't sing a single Easter song at church! It was way disappointing. Just when I was feeling like I was the most appreciative of Easter.... was when no one else did! I don't blame them... most of the members are converts and have never celebrated Easter before, but still. :(

EASTER!

Sis Maughan and I celebrated Easter by making dinner for the missionaries and the members who always help us teach! Turns out we were able to buy all the stuff necessary for Gramma Wright's Easter/Christmas dinner! Perfect! It was soooo good, but we got stuffed SO fast. It also made us sick.... we haven't eaten real American food in sooo long! 

 I drew this for Book of Mormon class.
It's Lehi on his death bed talking to Laman,
Lemuel, Zoram, Jacob and Joseph.
It made me laugh... a lot. Probably too much.

So that was my week!

I know that Christ lives! He is our Savior and Redeemer. I love Him and love serving Him as a missionary.

Have a wonderful week and HAPPY EASTER!!!!!!!!

Sis Zaugg

IT'S WAR!!!!

So the biggest Thai holiday sounds an awful like the word for 'war' in Thai. Songkhraam (war) and Songkraan (Thai New Year). But to be honest, I wouldn't be able to tell you the difference from what's going on outside right now. 

Basically the whole country has shut down for three days and has turned into a MASSIVE WATER FIGHT.

My whole mission people have been telling me about songkraan and how nuts it is.... but I just didn't believe them! I thought they were exagerrating.... but ohhhhhh no. They were not.

Elder Smith. This picture makes me smile. :)

The last 3 days we have not been able to get any one to commit to going to church on this last Sunday because they've all said: "I'll get soaked! It's too dangerous!" And we were like, "pffffft no you won't. just come." But then yesterday morning we rode out of our house and saw that every house had giant barrels of water being filled with hoses, or people filling swimming pools and water guns. Literally. Every. House. Entire streets were blockaded by dancing people with water just waiting for vehicles/bicyclists to pass just to soak them. Every truck that passed (and that's most of the cars that aren't motorcycles here in Thailand) was loaded with barrels of water and people splashing water at you as they drove by. Even on the bigger roads that didn't have houses had stations of water to splash and refill every 20 feet. Every one that we passed was wet. We were SHOCKED. IT'S TRUE. 

 I got stuck.....

elDER

So right now it's warring outside and we get to play in it today. :) Yayyyyyy! Yesterday I somehow managed to make it around without getting too wet... but Sis Maughan got soaked through. hahahahhahahaha Not sure how that happened.

Literally the coolest holiday ever.

Pausing a moment from inviting
to call an investigator.

This week we found a couple new investigators who really seem to be ready for baptism! The first is a guy that I met at the park. His name is A. He's way cool! When I invited him, he said, "I don't want to commit to anything, but I would like to go to the church to learn more!" When we taught him we found out that his grandpa recently passed, so we decided that the Plan of Salvation would be an excellent message to share with him! That morning I had read a talk about being the kind of missionary who teaches and testifies by the Spirit, and that we should always be bold and that if we teach by the Spirit, then the investigator will be ready to make any commitment! So I testified my heart out! I really felt the Spirit working in that lesson.... and then we decided to read a scripture in Alma 7 about the atonement of Christ, and how His atonement frees us from sin and death. 

 11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

 12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

 13 Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.

After we read that together he kept looking at it, so we figured that he was just thinking about the verses, but then he looked up and was like, "I really like verse 14."

 14 Now I say unto you that ye must repent, and be born again; for the Spirit saith if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye may be washed from your sins, that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, who is mighty to save and to cleanse from all unrighteousness.

And we were like "YES YOU DO" and committed him to be baptized right then and there! So now he has a date for the 27th! So awesome. :)

SHEEEEEEEEEEEP

So, funny story about that day at the park: we were walking around and saw this huuuuuge herd of random sheep run across a bridge onto one of the mini islands floating in the middle of the park. So, of course I was like, "SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP" and dragged Sis Maughan over to take pictures. Well, we ended up talking to the shepherd, invited him to be baptized and got his number! hahahhaa We still haven't taught him yet, but it was a way awesome experience.

Me and SHEEEEEEEEEEP

Pouring water on old peoples' hands?

On Friday the branch had a songkraan activity. I guess it's Thai tradition on Songkraan to pour water on the old peoples' hands and wish them a good year, and then they say things like, "I hope you have happiness and find a handsome husband" lol Then after you've done that they smear white powder on your face and it turns into a water fight. It was the only time in my life where I would feel OK about dumping a giant bowl of water over an old lady's head. hahah!

Wearing the songkraan flowers!

Oh, yeah. I forgot to talk about the part
where Sis Briaw, a recently certified nurse,
took out E. Wheeler's stitches at the church.
LOL

General conference was AWEEEEEEEEESOOOOOOOOMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

Elder Packer's talk blew my mind. His last testimony of Christ made my heart stop:

Cooped up in the clerk's office
for 10 hours watching GC.

"After all the years that I have lived and taught and served, after the millions of miles I have traveled around the world, with all that I have experienced, there is one great truth that I would share. That is my witness of the Savior Jesus Christ.

Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon recorded the following after a sacred experience:

“And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!

“For we saw him” (D&C 76:22–23).

Their words are my words.

I believe and I am sure that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that He lives. He is the Only Begotten of the Father, and “by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God” (D&C 76:24).

I bear my witness that the Savior lives. I know the Lord. I am His witness. I know of His great sacrifice and eternal love for all of Heavenly Father’s children. I bear my special witness in all humility but with absolute certainty, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

I love the apostles and prophet! I know they have been called of God to be Christ's special witnesses. I can't wait to study the talks that were shared by them in this last General Conference. It was my last as a missionary! :,(

Have a wonderful week everybody! I'll be over here getting soaked. :,)

Love ya!

Sis Zaugg

'Sup

So there's this furniture shop on the road that our little house is on. Every night we pass it and every night the guy yells, "Hello!" and we say, "'Sup!" In the last week or so he's been yelling, "THUP!!!!" at us. We're teaching good things here, people!

Eating at a Japanese place with the district last P-Day!
Sis Maughan gave up on the chopsticks.

Then we went bowling!
(I'm in non-missionary attire because
we were about to go iceksating)

The hospital is always the best way to end a P-Day.

So this week has been alllllllll over the place! On P-day we went ice skating with our district and the Gumpawapi elders. It was really great until E. Wheeler went wayyyyy too fast on his iceskates and tried to stop with his chin. We took a fun trip to the hospital in Udorn. 7 stitches!

Tuesday night we took a van down to Udorn and took an over-night bus with the Zone Leaders down to Bangkok for missionary leadership training! It was way good. We focused on filling the cracks in the mission to keep us going forward. The official number for baptisms in March was 218. Yeah. THAT IS AMAZING. That has never been done before in the Asia Area. I am SO sososososososso blessed to be here right now! I love this work, people. I love Thai people, I love our missionaries, I LOVE THAILAND!!!

I also really love my mission President and his wife. I know I've said it a MILLION times already, but they have changed my life forever. I finally got an interview with Pres Senior. The last one was in August. I wished that I had problems or something so that I could talk to him longer! hahahaha At the end of the day when we were all leaving to our various areas across the country, I watched Pres Senior walking away from the office in his spiffy suit and briefcase in hand. And I just realized how much he sacrifices for the Lord and for Thailand. We all know that Pres Senior is disgustingly rich, but he's dedicating his time, energy, money, and to be honest, his whole soul to getting a temple here in Thailand. I have SO much respect for those two.

I went on another switch-off in Udorn, and then finally made it back to my own area on Friday! Phew!

This week Sis Maughan and I slowly started realizing how crazy we've become on our mission. It's just been slowly unfolding and last night was when we really truly understood just how CRAZY WE ARE!! 

It started last Tuesday when we were standing outside of 7/11 for like, the 3rd time that day in the BLAZING heat, and had invited the like, 3 people that we've invited on at least 4 other occasions, and we were like, "We.... are here.... all day. Every day."

 I think this is the Buddha version of Scout Camp.....?

And then it got worse when we were talking to the zone leaders on the bus when they told us about THEIR own realization. They said, "If we were in America, we would be two huge, African men wearing their traditional garb who stand outside of Walmart all day EVERY DAY in the blazing heat, who ask every one they see to wash their sins. THAT IS US." We DIED laughing.... because it's TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then it got worse on Thursday when we were making more of an effort to ask people who we invite for referrals of people who would be interested. Sis Maughan was like, "Hey, Sis Zaugg.... what do you ask them to get referrals?" and I was like, "Hey. Do you know any drug dealers, murderers, or adulterers? .....Can we get their number?" and then we died again!!!!!! BECAUSE IT'S TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No wonder people think we are crazy! BECAUSE WE ARE!!!

But in such a good way. :,) We have a solid group of investigators right now who 90% of them came from contacting like this!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thai people think we're crazy for it, but for some reason or another they fall for it. hahahahhahaa! They want to wash their sins! We just gotta ask them. :)

In Udorn we helped a member clear our her garden!I took a family picture with my daughter!

Yes, hatchets were involved.

Timberrrr!!

Here's another funny 7/11 story:

Hahahaa......

For branch sports day we played basketball at the Chinese school in downtown Nong Khai. Half way through, this wayyyyy huge group of HUGE Thai guys wandered over and was like, "Hey... you wanna play full court?" so all the missionaries minus Elder Sae Dan and myself played them. Somehow Sis Maughan ended up guarding the biggest one out of the group, and because she was raised on a res and played dirty in high school, she totally stuck her foot out in front of him and tripped him. He was a total baby about it and wouldn't play afterwards. So fast forward a few days, and last night we were contacting at 7/11.... per usual, and two guys in basketball jerseys pull up on a scooter. I invited them, and it was way awkward 'cause they were giving me the funniest look, and I didn't know why. And then I realized that one of them had his ankle all wrapped up and was limping. I looked at Sis Maughan and we were like, "NO WAY." We were soooo scared! hahahah they kept glaring at us the whole time they were in the 7/11. We were so afraid that they were gonna kill us. lollllllllllllllll Oh dear.

For April Fools day we put that dead fish on Elder Sae Dan's bike seat.

Our April Fool's joke! :)

Sooo yeah! It was a fun week. We made bookmarks with Pen, my favorite cambodian girl! We are OBSESSED with her!!!!!!!!! She is glued to us at church! We draw pictures during sacrament meeting and she gives us lots of hugs. :))))))))

We love riding bikes with Pen!

Right now we have about 4 investigators and ALL of them are male! That's so crazy!!!!! We're really excited about all of them. Whoop whoop for potential priesthood holders!!! The church here really needs 'em.

I'm SO STOKED FOR GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!! It kills me that we have to wait. It's better than Christmas, yo. It's gonna be pretty crazy this weeked, because General Conference falls on the biggest holiday in Thailand: Songkraan... which is basically a giant water fight. :O I'm way excited!

It's ridiculously hot and the work is good! 

Have a great week, y'all!!!

Sis Zaugg