Ok well merry Christmas! I will be speaking to yullie soon! Whats happening to my house! I need some pics!
Ok well oh man. Snow snow frrezing snow! I love it. Tonight were going shoveling. Were just going to go shovel old geezers driveways. It will be fun. Weve got like 5 to 6 inches which is a lot for here. Assen is small I guess my comp when he was here before me with his old comp didn’t do anything. They were tesching 2 lessons a week. Its like starting the city from scratch. Lot of finding!
Well we have a baptism on the 2 ramone is the coolest kid ever hes 20 and an x drug dealer. But wants to change his life around. What a stud. Hi is coming with us tonight to a dinner apt. im kindof scared because it is the really slow people. They are kindof retarded but super nice. Ill have to prep him for it. It will be interesting. And after that he is coming snow shoveling. Ha yeah its cold here. Im wearing just about everything I own. I feel like the kid on Christmas story when his mom dresses him in his snow gear. He can barely move.
Ha we had a Christmas party on sat. a little get together dinner. We had to investigators there. Were really getting things picked up around here. Oh yeah I was riding down the street on my bike which is falling apart. And there was this big ol dude in the freezing cold while im bundled up Christmas story style hes riding his bike in bare feet and clompens? I cant spell. Those wooden shoes. The firs time ive seen anybody with themn on. Mom yes that number is right I think.
Ok well merry Christmas ya filthy animal. Ps I still haven’t got that package. I think I will get it tomorrow at district meeting though. Read 2 nephi 2 or something like that for chrismas. I read it today pretty interesting. Lehis last few words. K g2g ho ho ho ho ho love you all cant wait for Christmas.!! LOVE JORDAN
12.21.2009
12.20.2009
morgan 12.18.09
Quoi 2 9?! haha or quoi de neuf?! the first one is french texting language for whats up?! the 2nd is just normal language for whats up?! haha yes that is what i learned this week!! haha I taught the full 1st lesson like 4 times all in french!! it was cool!
first of all thank you whitney for that ornament shaped coke!! DOMINATED!! and the clemintines!! (or however you spell those oranges) Thanks Youngs!! paigie!! i love that mouse!! it went right up with my nativity set under my tree!! Court!! Thank you also so much!! how is boston doing?! I love my family!! I know i am forgetting someone so if i am i am so so sorry!! i forgot my notes. well courtney, you asked what you can do to prepair your kids for the mission. just read with them!! do book of mormon studies and help them to apply it. and today is actually a holliday!! YAY!! it's my half way done with the MTC mark! YAHOOOO!!! not that i don't like the MTC cause i really don't mind it one bit. Its just i can not wait to get to France and actually be able to help other people! like here in the MTC i am not helping other people. What i am doing is prepairing myself to help other people.
In my language study me and s. smart are pretty far ahead of the class. well.. at least elder gilmour and elder brobbey. i have learned pretty much every tense now. so now all i have to do is practice using them. the other kids only know passe compose, present, and Future proche. I can't believe christmas is next week crazy!! Mom i need a hair cutting attachment to my buzzers, prefferably 1 and a half or 2 inches. my hair is getting long and i don't want the dude here to butcher it!! mom i also need a new pair of Zurrick's my ones i have are so thrashed!! since mode went out of buisness you can order them online. ask chan. he will know. you choose which pair you want me to have. haha. oh and by the way mom get ready for me to be sending home stuff to lighten my load! my bags were so heavy! so just be prepaired!!
so this week we had a fireside on sunday. The BYU mens choir came and me elder gilmour and elder brobbey were laughing so hard at some of their faces!! we could not stop! i felt bad but i just couldn't help it. oh and that reminds me!! our 1st counselor of the branch presidency was with us in our district meeting on tuesday. I HATE THAT MAN!! his name is brother harward! ugh!! he just always gives me the worst dirty looks ever! but we was with us and we were singing le premier Noel (the 1st noel) and as it got to the chorus it says in the english version, "noel, noel, noel, noel, born is the king of israel" and on the last noel you can either choose to go really high or go a little lower. he chose to go for the high note!! it was so bad!! Dad, it was like brother Child that one year in the christmas program! We couldn't even sing the rest of the song we were all balling!! even the sisters! the prayer was the worst! after the song we had to say the prayer and we could not do it! i am pretty sure he was getting mad but honestly that is just something we couldn't help. i felt bad but oh well. i love you all thanks for all your support. thanks brig for the letter!! au revoir!-Morganps. chris, your poem was so funny!! thank you so much!! haha i dumped my pants twice!!
first of all thank you whitney for that ornament shaped coke!! DOMINATED!! and the clemintines!! (or however you spell those oranges) Thanks Youngs!! paigie!! i love that mouse!! it went right up with my nativity set under my tree!! Court!! Thank you also so much!! how is boston doing?! I love my family!! I know i am forgetting someone so if i am i am so so sorry!! i forgot my notes. well courtney, you asked what you can do to prepair your kids for the mission. just read with them!! do book of mormon studies and help them to apply it. and today is actually a holliday!! YAY!! it's my half way done with the MTC mark! YAHOOOO!!! not that i don't like the MTC cause i really don't mind it one bit. Its just i can not wait to get to France and actually be able to help other people! like here in the MTC i am not helping other people. What i am doing is prepairing myself to help other people.
In my language study me and s. smart are pretty far ahead of the class. well.. at least elder gilmour and elder brobbey. i have learned pretty much every tense now. so now all i have to do is practice using them. the other kids only know passe compose, present, and Future proche. I can't believe christmas is next week crazy!! Mom i need a hair cutting attachment to my buzzers, prefferably 1 and a half or 2 inches. my hair is getting long and i don't want the dude here to butcher it!! mom i also need a new pair of Zurrick's my ones i have are so thrashed!! since mode went out of buisness you can order them online. ask chan. he will know. you choose which pair you want me to have. haha. oh and by the way mom get ready for me to be sending home stuff to lighten my load! my bags were so heavy! so just be prepaired!!
so this week we had a fireside on sunday. The BYU mens choir came and me elder gilmour and elder brobbey were laughing so hard at some of their faces!! we could not stop! i felt bad but i just couldn't help it. oh and that reminds me!! our 1st counselor of the branch presidency was with us in our district meeting on tuesday. I HATE THAT MAN!! his name is brother harward! ugh!! he just always gives me the worst dirty looks ever! but we was with us and we were singing le premier Noel (the 1st noel) and as it got to the chorus it says in the english version, "noel, noel, noel, noel, born is the king of israel" and on the last noel you can either choose to go really high or go a little lower. he chose to go for the high note!! it was so bad!! Dad, it was like brother Child that one year in the christmas program! We couldn't even sing the rest of the song we were all balling!! even the sisters! the prayer was the worst! after the song we had to say the prayer and we could not do it! i am pretty sure he was getting mad but honestly that is just something we couldn't help. i felt bad but oh well. i love you all thanks for all your support. thanks brig for the letter!! au revoir!-Morganps. chris, your poem was so funny!! thank you so much!! haha i dumped my pants twice!!
12.19.2009
taryn 12.16.09
Hello~>
imsorry that i am emailing early, moves is tomorrow. im not moving! im actually pretty disappointed. it came as a surprise that i am staying because president already told me awhile ago that i was headin out, i was all geared up[ and excited. because of sister webb going home, it changed a lot of things. i am really happy that i get to stay with sister bradfield, and that i get to stay in this branch, the members are awesome and we have some good investigators. but, i am a little antsy for a change, not beingthe greeny anymore, and not being in the same place with all of my anxiety attached. i feel like im kinda on a platue. this moves is a long one too, 7 weeks. oh well, i guess it is what the lord wants, ill just have to work extra hard. >
ive been alittle homesick lately, i dont know if its because of the season or what, but 11 months seems so far away. i missyou all so so much. i just dont feel like it is going to ever be finished. hah who would have ever thought i would be homesick?! i have been turning to the words of the prophets and the scriptures, and prayer for comfort. what an awesome time for growth. i know i am going to be so happy and grateful!>
well enough about that, its christmas and i am in thailand!!> >
my stomach isnt feeling the greatest right now. haha some members in the branch took us and the elders out to eat today for pday. right when we pulled up we saw a lady playing with a cobra that was sitting on a table, not an everyday occurrence. i started videoing it and then she picked it up with her stick, held it up, and then with three huge slams to its head with a rod killed it right there!! then she hangs it up by its head, takes a knife and splits it up its middle and pulls out all the guts letting them flop into a bowl, blood slooshing out. i got it all on film! haha then we go sit down and they order. then another lady goes out back and comes walking through with a net full of frogs. for lunch we ate alligator, osterich, frog, and SNAKE! hah we ate the snake and frogs that had been alive 10minutes earlier!!!!!! the alligator was super chwey with little bones that you could pull out, but the snake was just plain nasty, as you chewed the bones and whatever else what in there crunched. haha grandma, i think im ahead in the game right now!>
my pushups every morning are paying off. yesterday for fhe, they decided to have arm wrestling matches. i almost took both elders, i held them for a minute. and then i took brother a, the strongest of the thais:) >
mom, i gave gift the faith necklace, a ctr ring, and the jesus christ page that you sent me. thank you so much!!! she loved it!! she is pretty set on coming out the end of next year to visit, i told her she could stay at our house, i hope thats ok.. she is darling!!!!>
on saturday we went to asoke, the center of bangkok for the stake christmas party. they had christmas lights and everything!!! it was fun to see other missionaries and introduce our converts to other members. >
the other night as i was riding home, i was lost in thought, thinking about how many people there are in this world. then my thoughts moved to how every single person in this world is trying to be happy. that is the ultimate purpose for everyone, but each person tries to find it in a different way. it is neat to think that we are the ones that have the key to ultimate eternal happiness. it makes my purpose here a little more important realizing this. i wish i could just proclaim this to everyone on a big loudspeaker, but its not the way of Heavenly Father. he is personal. i love the quote, "we can do no great things, only small things with great love." -mother theresa...>
this gospel really is true. i am so grateful to the Lord for his life, his sacrifice, and his love. i am so grateful for this experience to grow closer to Him. dont forget the true purpose of christ this christmas! if you take of one syllable, it it the "spirit if christ" >
thank you everyone for your love and support. ill write AND talk to you soon! i miss you all so very much!!!!! i love you more than anything in this world.>
love, ty>
families are forever
imsorry that i am emailing early, moves is tomorrow. im not moving! im actually pretty disappointed. it came as a surprise that i am staying because president already told me awhile ago that i was headin out, i was all geared up[ and excited. because of sister webb going home, it changed a lot of things. i am really happy that i get to stay with sister bradfield, and that i get to stay in this branch, the members are awesome and we have some good investigators. but, i am a little antsy for a change, not beingthe greeny anymore, and not being in the same place with all of my anxiety attached. i feel like im kinda on a platue. this moves is a long one too, 7 weeks. oh well, i guess it is what the lord wants, ill just have to work extra hard. >
ive been alittle homesick lately, i dont know if its because of the season or what, but 11 months seems so far away. i missyou all so so much. i just dont feel like it is going to ever be finished. hah who would have ever thought i would be homesick?! i have been turning to the words of the prophets and the scriptures, and prayer for comfort. what an awesome time for growth. i know i am going to be so happy and grateful!>
well enough about that, its christmas and i am in thailand!!> >
my stomach isnt feeling the greatest right now. haha some members in the branch took us and the elders out to eat today for pday. right when we pulled up we saw a lady playing with a cobra that was sitting on a table, not an everyday occurrence. i started videoing it and then she picked it up with her stick, held it up, and then with three huge slams to its head with a rod killed it right there!! then she hangs it up by its head, takes a knife and splits it up its middle and pulls out all the guts letting them flop into a bowl, blood slooshing out. i got it all on film! haha then we go sit down and they order. then another lady goes out back and comes walking through with a net full of frogs. for lunch we ate alligator, osterich, frog, and SNAKE! hah we ate the snake and frogs that had been alive 10minutes earlier!!!!!! the alligator was super chwey with little bones that you could pull out, but the snake was just plain nasty, as you chewed the bones and whatever else what in there crunched. haha grandma, i think im ahead in the game right now!>
my pushups every morning are paying off. yesterday for fhe, they decided to have arm wrestling matches. i almost took both elders, i held them for a minute. and then i took brother a, the strongest of the thais:) >
mom, i gave gift the faith necklace, a ctr ring, and the jesus christ page that you sent me. thank you so much!!! she loved it!! she is pretty set on coming out the end of next year to visit, i told her she could stay at our house, i hope thats ok.. she is darling!!!!>
on saturday we went to asoke, the center of bangkok for the stake christmas party. they had christmas lights and everything!!! it was fun to see other missionaries and introduce our converts to other members. >
the other night as i was riding home, i was lost in thought, thinking about how many people there are in this world. then my thoughts moved to how every single person in this world is trying to be happy. that is the ultimate purpose for everyone, but each person tries to find it in a different way. it is neat to think that we are the ones that have the key to ultimate eternal happiness. it makes my purpose here a little more important realizing this. i wish i could just proclaim this to everyone on a big loudspeaker, but its not the way of Heavenly Father. he is personal. i love the quote, "we can do no great things, only small things with great love." -mother theresa...>
this gospel really is true. i am so grateful to the Lord for his life, his sacrifice, and his love. i am so grateful for this experience to grow closer to Him. dont forget the true purpose of christ this christmas! if you take of one syllable, it it the "spirit if christ" >
thank you everyone for your love and support. ill write AND talk to you soon! i miss you all so very much!!!!! i love you more than anything in this world.>
love, ty>
families are forever
12.18.2009
jordan 12.14.09
ok wow holy week. Man . well the first miracle started when I fit everything in my suitcase. I had 3 suitcases a packpack and a side bag plus a bike. All on a 3 to 4 hour train ride with transferring trains and everything. Kindof a nightmare.
So I met my new comp in Utrecht. Where we were with another elder who was by himself for a couple days so we worked in a three some. My comps name is elder douglass. He is from Washington. Just like my old comp. hes an interesting kid. His dutch is better than my last comps so that is good. Ive been working really hard on being nice to him. Hes not the most obedient missionary so ill see what I can do.
K so I got into assen wed night it is in a flat. We live on the fifth floor. No mom there is not a luxsurios (bad spelling) vaulted celieng. Its twice as small as my last apt. the view is nice though. Not very much room to put all your stuff though. But the first night we had an appointment with a kid named ramone he is 22 and a drug dealer that is the nicest kid. I think he has stopped selling. And wants his life to be happy. He already is happy and enthusiastic but he is looking for more. That night we set a baptismal date with him for jan 2.
Elder kopishka the area pres told our mission pres he wants all the elders that have progressing investigators to give them a baptismal date before the years end. There are 160 progressing investigators. They need those numbers it sounds like. They want 300 baptisms before the end of the year. They are at around 267 ish. Well after our appointment with ramone we slept in assen then cince we were in a three some the other elder that we were with works in Groningen up north. So in the morning we went up there. Wow that city is amazing. We ate lunch at there ward mission leaders house. Strait real dutch people. Then we biked arouned Groningen all day we only had 2 bikes so we do what is called achter op. it is where one person rides on the back of the bike on the rack. It is super common every where you go in Netherlands. You always see people doing it. So we rode around like that all day. The city is full of cool art and rivers and boats. It kindof reminds me of an old pirate town. There are a lot of cool modern buildings and stores. So after we rode around passing out invitations to less active members houses all day. We went to the church where they had a young mens and young womans activity with dinner and a lesson. Groningen has a big ward. And a lot of young woman and men.
The next day we pretty much did the same thing we had dinner at this old couples house that live in Winschotel right next to the German border. If felt like I was eating at the Queen of Englands house se was so proper and spoke with a English accent. Relly nice people. On the way there in the train there was drug dogs and under cover cops. They busted a couple different people with drugs. They try to take them across into germany I guess.
Ok I got to hurry.
After we worked in Groningen we were taken home by a senior couple and on the way we stopped at the sisters in Groningen. We went into there apartment. It was a weird experience. They live in luxury man I tell ya. Ok we got back to assen man its small. We went to eat at this members house. Oh boy. They are kindof a mentally handicapped couple but super nice. The food was a little sketchy though man. They gave me a little Bartje figurine. And made me read the story about him. And gave me some assen stickers. They have really bad st st st st st stutter problems. Man it was hard figuring out what they say. Everybody in assen speakes really nasaly. Kindof red neck.
So every morning I wake up to roosters at about 4 in the morning and cant go back to sleep. There is a big farm right below us in the back. With sheep a mini horseand some other little guys.
Ok so we went to church on Sunday and its in an office building. Tiny tiny about the size of our living room. They share the building with another company. Church was interesting. I find out the interesting character that we ate at has an identical twin. So in sacrament meeting the only one sitting above what I guess you can call the stand was the bishop. I don’t think he has counselors. There was about 19 people in the whole sacrament. It was so weird. That’s including all the kids which consisted about a third. I gave my testimony. There are a couple cool members though.
Ok so about the telephone call on Christmas I think Im going to have you call me at 9 o clock at night here. Which will mean you call me at 1 o clock in the afternoon. xxxxxxxxxxxxxx that’s my # call me! If you don’t end up calling I will call you I guess. Any questions? Write me. I never got the package that was going to make me pee my pants. Did you send it to assen? K g2g love you all, Jordan
So I met my new comp in Utrecht. Where we were with another elder who was by himself for a couple days so we worked in a three some. My comps name is elder douglass. He is from Washington. Just like my old comp. hes an interesting kid. His dutch is better than my last comps so that is good. Ive been working really hard on being nice to him. Hes not the most obedient missionary so ill see what I can do.
K so I got into assen wed night it is in a flat. We live on the fifth floor. No mom there is not a luxsurios (bad spelling) vaulted celieng. Its twice as small as my last apt. the view is nice though. Not very much room to put all your stuff though. But the first night we had an appointment with a kid named ramone he is 22 and a drug dealer that is the nicest kid. I think he has stopped selling. And wants his life to be happy. He already is happy and enthusiastic but he is looking for more. That night we set a baptismal date with him for jan 2.
Elder kopishka the area pres told our mission pres he wants all the elders that have progressing investigators to give them a baptismal date before the years end. There are 160 progressing investigators. They need those numbers it sounds like. They want 300 baptisms before the end of the year. They are at around 267 ish. Well after our appointment with ramone we slept in assen then cince we were in a three some the other elder that we were with works in Groningen up north. So in the morning we went up there. Wow that city is amazing. We ate lunch at there ward mission leaders house. Strait real dutch people. Then we biked arouned Groningen all day we only had 2 bikes so we do what is called achter op. it is where one person rides on the back of the bike on the rack. It is super common every where you go in Netherlands. You always see people doing it. So we rode around like that all day. The city is full of cool art and rivers and boats. It kindof reminds me of an old pirate town. There are a lot of cool modern buildings and stores. So after we rode around passing out invitations to less active members houses all day. We went to the church where they had a young mens and young womans activity with dinner and a lesson. Groningen has a big ward. And a lot of young woman and men.
The next day we pretty much did the same thing we had dinner at this old couples house that live in Winschotel right next to the German border. If felt like I was eating at the Queen of Englands house se was so proper and spoke with a English accent. Relly nice people. On the way there in the train there was drug dogs and under cover cops. They busted a couple different people with drugs. They try to take them across into germany I guess.
Ok I got to hurry.
After we worked in Groningen we were taken home by a senior couple and on the way we stopped at the sisters in Groningen. We went into there apartment. It was a weird experience. They live in luxury man I tell ya. Ok we got back to assen man its small. We went to eat at this members house. Oh boy. They are kindof a mentally handicapped couple but super nice. The food was a little sketchy though man. They gave me a little Bartje figurine. And made me read the story about him. And gave me some assen stickers. They have really bad st st st st st stutter problems. Man it was hard figuring out what they say. Everybody in assen speakes really nasaly. Kindof red neck.
So every morning I wake up to roosters at about 4 in the morning and cant go back to sleep. There is a big farm right below us in the back. With sheep a mini horseand some other little guys.
Ok so we went to church on Sunday and its in an office building. Tiny tiny about the size of our living room. They share the building with another company. Church was interesting. I find out the interesting character that we ate at has an identical twin. So in sacrament meeting the only one sitting above what I guess you can call the stand was the bishop. I don’t think he has counselors. There was about 19 people in the whole sacrament. It was so weird. That’s including all the kids which consisted about a third. I gave my testimony. There are a couple cool members though.
Ok so about the telephone call on Christmas I think Im going to have you call me at 9 o clock at night here. Which will mean you call me at 1 o clock in the afternoon. xxxxxxxxxxxxxx that’s my # call me! If you don’t end up calling I will call you I guess. Any questions? Write me. I never got the package that was going to make me pee my pants. Did you send it to assen? K g2g love you all, Jordan
12.17.2009
morgan 12.11.09
Hey!!
okay so this week has been a pretty insane week. so remember when i said elder smith was going to stay?? well about an hour after i sent the e mail he was talking to the branch president again talking about going home. so me and elder gilmour were stuck in the waiting room again. we have seriously spent like 6 hours in that room over the past 3 weeks!! no lie! but this time there was a pretty cute sister missionary in there so i didn't mind at all. haha. when elder smith got out of his office he still wasn't talking to me and elder gilmour. so at this point he hadn't spoke to us in like 2 days. when we finally got to the class room he told us he was going home again. when the teacher asked why he asked s. smart and her comp. sis. verdeja to leave for a sec. He then told us he
tried to commit suicide earlier that day with some pills that he had. it was a really hard day for us and our district. he ended up leaving that night. but before he left we had a little testimony meeting just our district. this was one of the first times sis. smart opened up to us about the whole insident that happened. it was pretty cool to realize how much she has been through!! she had some strong feelings towards elder smith leaving!! she never told him but she opened up to me and i was peeing my pants!! it was pretty funny and scary!! me,
elder gilmour, elder kirkland, and elder porter (the are some buds in the zone) we talked till like 12 that night! it was a weird day!! but ever since then things have been running so smoothly!! it is like a weight off of my shoulders! the spirit is now so much stronger!! before we honestly couldn't get anything done with him.
but yeah. anyways... we have these things called progressing investigators. it is where the teachers act like they are and investigator and you teach them all the lessons throughout yourstay here at the mtc. well me and e. gilmour just committed out first one to baptism!! it was kinda cool!
oh and there is also a thing called the rc (referal center) where you call people and make sure they got their free dvd and ask if they want missionaries over and kinda bear testimony. well i got 2 people to agree to have the missionaries over!! it was kinda cool!!
mom i need a bigger hair cut attachment, preferably like 2 inches or 1 and a half inch. i can't believe the snow!! it makes me wanna go skiing so bad!!
oh and for everybody who keeps asking if i am in san fran still... no i am not. i went to san fran for like 4 hours. i just had to go down there to get my french visa. so i pretty much just went down there handed them a few papers, flexed my guns once or twice and they let me go. then i got some in-n-out.
okay back to the mtc life now, we got a new kid in our district. he is in e. smiths bed now. his name is elder brobby he is a big black kid born in Guana and then moved to London for about 7 years. i don't know him that well yet but he seems like a really cool kid! the funniest thing happened this week!! okay so i don't know if i have told you about how we play 4 square in gym but we do. and i dominate!! but one day we were playing and sister smart stops us all and says "someone stinks!! you guys need to put on some deoderant or something!!" little did she know she had the kid that hasn't showered in 5 days right next to her!!! i was peeing my panties!! the kid seriously never showers!! it is so nasty! i am so glad i don't share a room with him!!
so last weekend all the older elders left. they gave us these things called "pass alongs". elder smith got this one called shooting for gay! haha you shoot it to see how gay you are. if you miss you are gay, if you miss twice you are super gay, and so on. but when you make it twice in a row you are straight. i personally didn't like that so we switched it up. you say a babes name and if you make it you get that girl. if you don't make it then you move on the the next girl. haha its kinda fun! only missionaries!! haha.
well i taught the whole 1st lesson in french to a family from canada and 2 of them didn't speak any english!! they were just volenteers but it was still cool. they told us their conversion story and it was amazing!!
well thanks everybody for your letters! Happy birthday to grandpa larry! you are awesome! thanks for all your help with this mission grandpa!! oh and sadie ladie, yes i am in the choir! Sagie Pantalones, Tu es beau! (you are handsome in french!) Brigard T. Justice! Study hard in school! especially french! you have no idea how much it can help! mom and dad i love you so much!! Whit!! thanks for the letters! tell fin and J i say hi! by the way whit, i think i get more letters from you then anyone else! your awesome!! ashley and sandy, thanks and you have a handwritten letter coming soon don't worry! thanks again
everybody!! Je vous aime!
Elder Wimmer
okay so this week has been a pretty insane week. so remember when i said elder smith was going to stay?? well about an hour after i sent the e mail he was talking to the branch president again talking about going home. so me and elder gilmour were stuck in the waiting room again. we have seriously spent like 6 hours in that room over the past 3 weeks!! no lie! but this time there was a pretty cute sister missionary in there so i didn't mind at all. haha. when elder smith got out of his office he still wasn't talking to me and elder gilmour. so at this point he hadn't spoke to us in like 2 days. when we finally got to the class room he told us he was going home again. when the teacher asked why he asked s. smart and her comp. sis. verdeja to leave for a sec. He then told us he
tried to commit suicide earlier that day with some pills that he had. it was a really hard day for us and our district. he ended up leaving that night. but before he left we had a little testimony meeting just our district. this was one of the first times sis. smart opened up to us about the whole insident that happened. it was pretty cool to realize how much she has been through!! she had some strong feelings towards elder smith leaving!! she never told him but she opened up to me and i was peeing my pants!! it was pretty funny and scary!! me,
elder gilmour, elder kirkland, and elder porter (the are some buds in the zone) we talked till like 12 that night! it was a weird day!! but ever since then things have been running so smoothly!! it is like a weight off of my shoulders! the spirit is now so much stronger!! before we honestly couldn't get anything done with him.
but yeah. anyways... we have these things called progressing investigators. it is where the teachers act like they are and investigator and you teach them all the lessons throughout yourstay here at the mtc. well me and e. gilmour just committed out first one to baptism!! it was kinda cool!
oh and there is also a thing called the rc (referal center) where you call people and make sure they got their free dvd and ask if they want missionaries over and kinda bear testimony. well i got 2 people to agree to have the missionaries over!! it was kinda cool!!
mom i need a bigger hair cut attachment, preferably like 2 inches or 1 and a half inch. i can't believe the snow!! it makes me wanna go skiing so bad!!
oh and for everybody who keeps asking if i am in san fran still... no i am not. i went to san fran for like 4 hours. i just had to go down there to get my french visa. so i pretty much just went down there handed them a few papers, flexed my guns once or twice and they let me go. then i got some in-n-out.
okay back to the mtc life now, we got a new kid in our district. he is in e. smiths bed now. his name is elder brobby he is a big black kid born in Guana and then moved to London for about 7 years. i don't know him that well yet but he seems like a really cool kid! the funniest thing happened this week!! okay so i don't know if i have told you about how we play 4 square in gym but we do. and i dominate!! but one day we were playing and sister smart stops us all and says "someone stinks!! you guys need to put on some deoderant or something!!" little did she know she had the kid that hasn't showered in 5 days right next to her!!! i was peeing my panties!! the kid seriously never showers!! it is so nasty! i am so glad i don't share a room with him!!
so last weekend all the older elders left. they gave us these things called "pass alongs". elder smith got this one called shooting for gay! haha you shoot it to see how gay you are. if you miss you are gay, if you miss twice you are super gay, and so on. but when you make it twice in a row you are straight. i personally didn't like that so we switched it up. you say a babes name and if you make it you get that girl. if you don't make it then you move on the the next girl. haha its kinda fun! only missionaries!! haha.
well i taught the whole 1st lesson in french to a family from canada and 2 of them didn't speak any english!! they were just volenteers but it was still cool. they told us their conversion story and it was amazing!!
well thanks everybody for your letters! Happy birthday to grandpa larry! you are awesome! thanks for all your help with this mission grandpa!! oh and sadie ladie, yes i am in the choir! Sagie Pantalones, Tu es beau! (you are handsome in french!) Brigard T. Justice! Study hard in school! especially french! you have no idea how much it can help! mom and dad i love you so much!! Whit!! thanks for the letters! tell fin and J i say hi! by the way whit, i think i get more letters from you then anyone else! your awesome!! ashley and sandy, thanks and you have a handwritten letter coming soon don't worry! thanks again
everybody!! Je vous aime!
Elder Wimmer
12.15.2009
taryn 12.9.09
hello~>
another week with lots of little miracles. >
to start, gift got baptized on sunday! hurray! it was awesome. she actually asked me to speak at it, i was very honor and happy she would choose me, but also very nervous.. the baptism went well except for the fact that the elders forgot to start filling up the font earlier, so the water was freezing, it had no time to warm up from the sun! hah gift came up gasping fromthe water. on monday she called us and told us on sunday night after the baptism, she was with her friends and they kept saying how she was glowing. they asked her why and she told them she has just changed religions. what an awesome thing to have said to you on your baptism day!! her friends are now interested in learning as well now!>
another miracle: last friday we were teaching this really cute 25 year old girl (looks like she is 10) named Gigi. she is so excited about the church and will hopefully get baptized the end of this month!! anyway, on friday during the opening prayer before the lesson i had the thought to give gigi 500 baht (only about 16 dollars, but a LOT of money here...) the whole lesson i was fighting with myself, not able to decide if it was me or if it was the Spirit. during the lesson i casually was looking through my wallet, but all i had was 1000 baht bills. i figured it was just me, but then i looked in a random pocket and there was one bill, a 500. on the way out i slipped it in her purse without anyone seeing. i forgot about it, until monday night. i went to the hospital because there is a sister that is sick, to switch off with her comp and let her out of confinement for a while. they went to teach gigi again, while there, gigi looked sis bradfield in the eye and asked "did you put money in my purse?" i was so glad that i wasnt there, i didnt have to lie, and sister brad had no idea i did it so she was innocent as well! she went on to tell her that work is not good right now. she went to dinner that night and had only 25 baht left, enought for one meal. she told herself she was going to eat that night, and then worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. she reached in her purse and pulled out 500! she said that she has been praying for help, but didnt think that Heavenly Father would answer her that soon. He is sooo good.>
one sad thing is that sister oneil got taken from our companionship early:( president smith called her on saturday and told her to pack up her stuff, she was moving to lopburi (where we just were on wed with the monkeys!) we found out that the 15 yr old sister of sister webb is dying of cancer and they are hoping to get her back in time to see her, so sister oneil went up to take her place. so so so sad. i am SO grateful for all of you and your health and safety. i pray for it everyday. that is my very worst nightmare. i love you so much, i am grateful that i have you, i cant imagine life without one of you!!!! please stay healthy and safe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! > >
saturday was the kings birthday (also known as fathers day!) saturday we had thai music and monks chanting all morning through the nieghborhood speakers ( yes, thailand is filled with speakers in every neighborhood!) and then that night there were fireworks in EVERY neighborhood! hah so loud... sunday morning before sacrament meeting, we all had to stand up and bow our heads as the branch president read a crazy thai chant thing devoted to the king, and then we sang the kings anthem. then the part that i loved was that all of the younger people got flowers and then kneeled in front of their dads and then other old men, bowing and wying them and they gave the flowers, saying thank you. so cute and respectful. dad i love you. you are the most amazing dad anyone could ever want, you are perfect. thanky ou for all that you have done for me, the family, the church, and everyone you come in contact with. you are incredible!! i love you and miss you so much. >
also on sunday, we had a few tears of grattitide for the missionaries. it is so sweet to see these kind people so grateful for us and our service.> >
the APs came over to pick sister oneil up and they saw that the lock on our door was broken, hah they inspected and think that someone broke in witha crowbar or screwdriver! hah nothing is gone though, and we are all safe and sound. dont worry!!!>
i wish i had more time to write. i am going to try and get my letters off today, sorry they are going to be late for christmas. also, i am sending a package, i wish it would get there by christmas, but it will more likely be a valentines day present:( sorry!! life is so crazy everyday and it is hard when you only have a few hours once a week to get everything done. >
the church is SO true!>
i love you so much and miss you!! >
love, t
another week with lots of little miracles. >
to start, gift got baptized on sunday! hurray! it was awesome. she actually asked me to speak at it, i was very honor and happy she would choose me, but also very nervous.. the baptism went well except for the fact that the elders forgot to start filling up the font earlier, so the water was freezing, it had no time to warm up from the sun! hah gift came up gasping fromthe water. on monday she called us and told us on sunday night after the baptism, she was with her friends and they kept saying how she was glowing. they asked her why and she told them she has just changed religions. what an awesome thing to have said to you on your baptism day!! her friends are now interested in learning as well now!>
another miracle: last friday we were teaching this really cute 25 year old girl (looks like she is 10) named Gigi. she is so excited about the church and will hopefully get baptized the end of this month!! anyway, on friday during the opening prayer before the lesson i had the thought to give gigi 500 baht (only about 16 dollars, but a LOT of money here...) the whole lesson i was fighting with myself, not able to decide if it was me or if it was the Spirit. during the lesson i casually was looking through my wallet, but all i had was 1000 baht bills. i figured it was just me, but then i looked in a random pocket and there was one bill, a 500. on the way out i slipped it in her purse without anyone seeing. i forgot about it, until monday night. i went to the hospital because there is a sister that is sick, to switch off with her comp and let her out of confinement for a while. they went to teach gigi again, while there, gigi looked sis bradfield in the eye and asked "did you put money in my purse?" i was so glad that i wasnt there, i didnt have to lie, and sister brad had no idea i did it so she was innocent as well! she went on to tell her that work is not good right now. she went to dinner that night and had only 25 baht left, enought for one meal. she told herself she was going to eat that night, and then worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. she reached in her purse and pulled out 500! she said that she has been praying for help, but didnt think that Heavenly Father would answer her that soon. He is sooo good.>
one sad thing is that sister oneil got taken from our companionship early:( president smith called her on saturday and told her to pack up her stuff, she was moving to lopburi (where we just were on wed with the monkeys!) we found out that the 15 yr old sister of sister webb is dying of cancer and they are hoping to get her back in time to see her, so sister oneil went up to take her place. so so so sad. i am SO grateful for all of you and your health and safety. i pray for it everyday. that is my very worst nightmare. i love you so much, i am grateful that i have you, i cant imagine life without one of you!!!! please stay healthy and safe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! > >
saturday was the kings birthday (also known as fathers day!) saturday we had thai music and monks chanting all morning through the nieghborhood speakers ( yes, thailand is filled with speakers in every neighborhood!) and then that night there were fireworks in EVERY neighborhood! hah so loud... sunday morning before sacrament meeting, we all had to stand up and bow our heads as the branch president read a crazy thai chant thing devoted to the king, and then we sang the kings anthem. then the part that i loved was that all of the younger people got flowers and then kneeled in front of their dads and then other old men, bowing and wying them and they gave the flowers, saying thank you. so cute and respectful. dad i love you. you are the most amazing dad anyone could ever want, you are perfect. thanky ou for all that you have done for me, the family, the church, and everyone you come in contact with. you are incredible!! i love you and miss you so much. >
also on sunday, we had a few tears of grattitide for the missionaries. it is so sweet to see these kind people so grateful for us and our service.> >
the APs came over to pick sister oneil up and they saw that the lock on our door was broken, hah they inspected and think that someone broke in witha crowbar or screwdriver! hah nothing is gone though, and we are all safe and sound. dont worry!!!>
i wish i had more time to write. i am going to try and get my letters off today, sorry they are going to be late for christmas. also, i am sending a package, i wish it would get there by christmas, but it will more likely be a valentines day present:( sorry!! life is so crazy everyday and it is hard when you only have a few hours once a week to get everything done. >
the church is SO true!>
i love you so much and miss you!! >
love, t
12.14.2009
message from mom
don' feel sorry for jords move. I looked up Assen on mapquest and it is a big racing town. Motorcycles and cars. Big tracks. Just like home. Sorry bout that one Jordan. I went to the temple last week and did 5 names all from Noord Netherlands [way up north in Netherlands] Noord means north. The Lord was telling me something.
...gp
...gp
12.13.2009
jordan 12.7.09
ok so this week was quite interesting. first off. im leaving Breda. im pretty bummed. im going all the way up north to Assen. its a tiny little branch. the town is tiny. not very many people. well see what happens.
my address is
Maria In Campislaan #239
9406 JG
Assen
Netherlands.
i leave on wed. my comp is e. Douglass. pray for me.
so on tues last week. we got to go to one of our investigators weddings. oh man. the were from curacou. youve never seen so much gold teeth. white suites, and cheap decorations in your life. it was quite the experience. harry came with us. we got to go to an old catholic church where they got married. it was fun to go with harry he used to be catholic for years. That night my comp and i went on exchanges. he went with the stake pres. to a family. and i went with harry to the reception. it was at this real scetchy building. with misic blasting and a nice shampaign fountain when you walk in. Harry made the mistake of ordering "fruit Punch" he took a little sip. "there is alcohal in this!" he then said "and it tastes good youngin" ha ha it was a good time. right after that we cought a train to the hauge. and the next morning we got to go to the temple. it was awesome to see! and it is really pretty.
As you might now chris was baptised on a week ago sat. we got to go celebrate with him at kfc. it was hard saying goodbye to all the people you worked so hard with.
mom i never got the package that would make me pee my pants. ha ha. send stuff to my new address!!!! hopefully i can get that stuff way up to my new town in the middle of nowhere. well i started packing this morning. oh man ive got a lot of crap. i dont know if im going to be able to fit it all. its been so stressfull the past few days. well i hope all is well thanks for all the letters! love you all! see ya
my address is
Maria In Campislaan #239
9406 JG
Assen
Netherlands.
i leave on wed. my comp is e. Douglass. pray for me.
so on tues last week. we got to go to one of our investigators weddings. oh man. the were from curacou. youve never seen so much gold teeth. white suites, and cheap decorations in your life. it was quite the experience. harry came with us. we got to go to an old catholic church where they got married. it was fun to go with harry he used to be catholic for years. That night my comp and i went on exchanges. he went with the stake pres. to a family. and i went with harry to the reception. it was at this real scetchy building. with misic blasting and a nice shampaign fountain when you walk in. Harry made the mistake of ordering "fruit Punch" he took a little sip. "there is alcohal in this!" he then said "and it tastes good youngin" ha ha it was a good time. right after that we cought a train to the hauge. and the next morning we got to go to the temple. it was awesome to see! and it is really pretty.
As you might now chris was baptised on a week ago sat. we got to go celebrate with him at kfc. it was hard saying goodbye to all the people you worked so hard with.
mom i never got the package that would make me pee my pants. ha ha. send stuff to my new address!!!! hopefully i can get that stuff way up to my new town in the middle of nowhere. well i started packing this morning. oh man ive got a lot of crap. i dont know if im going to be able to fit it all. its been so stressfull the past few days. well i hope all is well thanks for all the letters! love you all! see ya
morgan 12.4.09
Hey!!
okay well i forgot my notes i had to write about so it looks like i am going to be all over the place once again.
We went to san fran on tuesday at the butt crack of dawn!! we woke up at 4:30!! i am still tired because of that. but it was very worth it!! i loved it!! it was so much fun to get a taste of the real world!! we got to san fran and the french consalate took like 2.5 seconds!! i just handed them a paper and they took my finger prints. but after that we went to in-n-out!!! haha that double double will drive me straight through the
mtc!! and just when i was thinking my life couldn't get any better i take one step out the door and Taylor Swift was like 5 feet infront of me!!! okay i'm kidding!!
i took a step out the door and some black dude starts yelling at us!! "Elders!!! Elders!!!" he ended up being a member from Guana!! we talked to him forever!! he introduced us to his family and when his sister found out that Sister Smart was Elizabeth she freaked!! it was so much fun!! we did a little contacting out there but not much. we had like 1 pass along card each to give out. but it was such a fun experience!! we had some guys at the slc airport give us all cinna-bon's!! it as really cool! he was a nice guy!! i couldn't believe
how many people in san fran loved us!! we had so many people waving and saying hi! it was really cool! i was not expecting that in san fran!! okay the rest of the week was alright. it was been really really weird though. and super hard on me and elder gilmour!! Elder Smith was supposed to go home last week but his
bishop never came down to talk to him. so they moved it to yesterday. his parents came down to pick him up at like 11. but they went into a room and talked till like 2. while me and elder gilmour were just chillin in the office with the secretary. he finally came out and told us he was staying. he didn't talk to us the rest of the day. we then later found out that his parents are making him stay. and he just really really wants to go home!! he doesn't participate at all!! like not one bit. he wont pray. he wont sing. he has been dying to go home since day one. so it's like our whole companionship is at a hault. even when we have lessons to teach he doesn't plan with us. and we just wont talk during the lesson. it is really frustrating. it is hard to have the spirit there when he is always so negative. it is really hard! it's going to be a challenge! we asked him if he wants a blessing and he doesn't. I know i sound really bitter towards him but i am doing all i can to help him but he just
doen't want it. he just wants to go home. but anyways... haha the mtc is fun!! i am really liking it (not quite loving it) but oh well it's still fun! i finally decided yesterday after dominating everyone in 4 square so many times i needed to start working out. so we did a little work out and then after my arms were
dead already, i found out that we had a pull up bar in the building. so we went to that with the elders i was working out with they got like 4 or 5 at most! Morgie jumps up there pulls out a quick 12 no prob. i had to pick up my friends jaw from off the floor. even my comp. elder gilmour who was all fresh with no work out before only did 9 weak ones. then my 2nd go i got like 11?? not sure exactly on that number. they were peeing their panties!! haha i couldn't imagine what they would do if they saw jord or cam. so i got a lot of questions about thanksgiving. it was fun. not much of a meal but it wasn't bad. we had elder holland come speak which was amazing!! i was so pumped up after!! then we had a service project. it was a really layed back day.
well thanks for the tree mom!! thanks for the letters sage, sadie and brig!! dad your a dork!! haha i saw that picture of you tanning by the trailer. so weird! it made me laugh though!! thanks for the letter! whit!! your cookies were so good! thanks for all your letters!! how is finn and his stitches?? he is such a stud!! Youngs, those cookies were pretty much gone in 2.5 sec!! haha so scrumdidlyumsious!! dear elder is down. i haven't had a letter since like monday, but i think they are working on it. so sorry if i don't respond to a letter. I love you all so much!! thanks for everything!! my family is awesome!! oh and mom, i had a tithing envelope with a check for 175 dollars in it. did you turn that in? if not can you? i completely forgot! thanks!!
Elder Wimmer
ps. the guy from guana's name was Abu!! haha! so funny!!
okay well i forgot my notes i had to write about so it looks like i am going to be all over the place once again.
We went to san fran on tuesday at the butt crack of dawn!! we woke up at 4:30!! i am still tired because of that. but it was very worth it!! i loved it!! it was so much fun to get a taste of the real world!! we got to san fran and the french consalate took like 2.5 seconds!! i just handed them a paper and they took my finger prints. but after that we went to in-n-out!!! haha that double double will drive me straight through the
mtc!! and just when i was thinking my life couldn't get any better i take one step out the door and Taylor Swift was like 5 feet infront of me!!! okay i'm kidding!!
i took a step out the door and some black dude starts yelling at us!! "Elders!!! Elders!!!" he ended up being a member from Guana!! we talked to him forever!! he introduced us to his family and when his sister found out that Sister Smart was Elizabeth she freaked!! it was so much fun!! we did a little contacting out there but not much. we had like 1 pass along card each to give out. but it was such a fun experience!! we had some guys at the slc airport give us all cinna-bon's!! it as really cool! he was a nice guy!! i couldn't believe
how many people in san fran loved us!! we had so many people waving and saying hi! it was really cool! i was not expecting that in san fran!! okay the rest of the week was alright. it was been really really weird though. and super hard on me and elder gilmour!! Elder Smith was supposed to go home last week but his
bishop never came down to talk to him. so they moved it to yesterday. his parents came down to pick him up at like 11. but they went into a room and talked till like 2. while me and elder gilmour were just chillin in the office with the secretary. he finally came out and told us he was staying. he didn't talk to us the rest of the day. we then later found out that his parents are making him stay. and he just really really wants to go home!! he doesn't participate at all!! like not one bit. he wont pray. he wont sing. he has been dying to go home since day one. so it's like our whole companionship is at a hault. even when we have lessons to teach he doesn't plan with us. and we just wont talk during the lesson. it is really frustrating. it is hard to have the spirit there when he is always so negative. it is really hard! it's going to be a challenge! we asked him if he wants a blessing and he doesn't. I know i sound really bitter towards him but i am doing all i can to help him but he just
doen't want it. he just wants to go home. but anyways... haha the mtc is fun!! i am really liking it (not quite loving it) but oh well it's still fun! i finally decided yesterday after dominating everyone in 4 square so many times i needed to start working out. so we did a little work out and then after my arms were
dead already, i found out that we had a pull up bar in the building. so we went to that with the elders i was working out with they got like 4 or 5 at most! Morgie jumps up there pulls out a quick 12 no prob. i had to pick up my friends jaw from off the floor. even my comp. elder gilmour who was all fresh with no work out before only did 9 weak ones. then my 2nd go i got like 11?? not sure exactly on that number. they were peeing their panties!! haha i couldn't imagine what they would do if they saw jord or cam. so i got a lot of questions about thanksgiving. it was fun. not much of a meal but it wasn't bad. we had elder holland come speak which was amazing!! i was so pumped up after!! then we had a service project. it was a really layed back day.
well thanks for the tree mom!! thanks for the letters sage, sadie and brig!! dad your a dork!! haha i saw that picture of you tanning by the trailer. so weird! it made me laugh though!! thanks for the letter! whit!! your cookies were so good! thanks for all your letters!! how is finn and his stitches?? he is such a stud!! Youngs, those cookies were pretty much gone in 2.5 sec!! haha so scrumdidlyumsious!! dear elder is down. i haven't had a letter since like monday, but i think they are working on it. so sorry if i don't respond to a letter. I love you all so much!! thanks for everything!! my family is awesome!! oh and mom, i had a tithing envelope with a check for 175 dollars in it. did you turn that in? if not can you? i completely forgot! thanks!!
Elder Wimmer
ps. the guy from guana's name was Abu!! haha! so funny!!
12.12.2009
taryn 12.2.09
Hey! >
we just got back from a fun day in lopburi, seeing lots of sunflowers and playing with the monkeys(hah more like them climbing all over us trying to steal our stuff..) we went with all of the sisters that are serving in bangkok, loaded in a big van and left really early to make the 2 hour roadtrip. tiring, but fun!>
this week has been good, we have been doing lots of inviting. we tinged(dropped) some of our investigators because they werent progressing, hard to do, but it is the best. hopefully they will learn later and be more ready. with all the free time we rode around on our bikes, or walked around, talking to everyone. we have already found some awesome new investigators that we are excited about. Hah we have a fun game that we have been playing, it is called find gifts house. (our investigator whos baptism is this Sunday!!!!!!!!!) She is building a new house for she and her husband to move into when they get married. She told us the general area, which is much bigger than we thought! We ride around trying to find the place from the pictures she showed us, and inviting everyone along the way. We have discovered new neighborhoods we didn’t even know existed, new very exotic khlong paths to ride our bikes on, and some good people! We found two older ladies, one who helps the other. The younger one lives down the street from the older one who doesn’t have any children, her husband died, she has to use a wheelchair, and didn’t have a home. The people in the area helped her build a 3 sided shack out of metal and old advertisement posters, donated an old tiny fridge, cot to sleep on, and sheets to surround the cot for the mosquitoes. She honestly has nothing, it is so hard to see people like that. We see it so often. Her house is just surrounded by trash, dogs, and a cat who she calls her child. The kind lady down the street who also doesn’t have much money, uses as much as she can buying the other food and water (all of our water is bottled here, the tap isn’t clean.. quite a pain!) and just being her friend. We plan on going back and helping them both out. We are so blessed to have what we have, be who we are, be born into what we were born into, and have that families that we have!>
On that note, thanksgiving was good. We were able to go to an American family’s for dinner. It was pretty uncomfortable though, being in a huge American-like house with American people. I forgot what a normal house is like (except I still have yet to see carpet) im excited to read your emails and see what went on for thanksgiving (I print them off and then read them after) >
We got the general conference liahona! Hah it was like Christmas(which actually doesn’t exist here..) it is funny that our highlight of the week is getting conference talks! Oh but they are so awesome!!! i haven’t gotten to them all, but I did get to read bednar’s about raising families. I read it and thought of you mom and dad. I thought about how many many nights we gather together and it is just madness, the little boys running everywhere, at least one of the girls crying or whining, and it seems like no one is listening. But nevertheless, you always did it. He talked about how sometimes you feel it isn’t working, that no one is listening, but that it is the consistency. You are planting and have planted so many seeds and so many awesome things into our heats from all of your efforts. It really is through the small things like family prayer that actually make a huge difference in our family. Thank you mom and dad for being so amazing. I owe everything I am to you!! I hope that have and will continuously serve you well through my life. Oh I love you!!>
This church is incredible. It truly is from God, it is Jesus Christ’s church. I know that it is the only way to true happiness. A happiness that will last forever!!! Yes, there are still so many hard times and trials, but that is how we learn. Hah I learn so much every day from those times. Another year still scares me, but at the same time I am excited for the growth that I am going to have with another year. (actually almost 11 months!) I have learned and grown so much, everyone needs to go on a mission just to better themselves. Oh man it is hard. H A R D. but I know that this experience will have lasting effects through my life and eternity. I was looking through my pictures the other day and realizing how many people I have met that I have grown to love. It reminded of me of my blessing that President Smith gave me in the beginning when I was having a really hard time. He said something along the lines of “there are people here that you promised before you came to earth that you would find them. People who were your friends, and will be for eternity.” How amazing. Everytime I think about going home, I just have to remind myself that I promised myself to them. I promised heavenly father. I am happy to get to repay him even the smallest bit for everything that I have been blessed with. Joseph Smith was and is a true prophet. The book of mormon is true. Read it. Love it. Study it. Ponder it!!!! Ok ive got to go. >
I LOVE YOU!!! Please keep praying for me, jord and morg. We need all the help we can get. How cool that we get to be out here together serving. >
I miss you. >
Love, t
we just got back from a fun day in lopburi, seeing lots of sunflowers and playing with the monkeys(hah more like them climbing all over us trying to steal our stuff..) we went with all of the sisters that are serving in bangkok, loaded in a big van and left really early to make the 2 hour roadtrip. tiring, but fun!>
this week has been good, we have been doing lots of inviting. we tinged(dropped) some of our investigators because they werent progressing, hard to do, but it is the best. hopefully they will learn later and be more ready. with all the free time we rode around on our bikes, or walked around, talking to everyone. we have already found some awesome new investigators that we are excited about. Hah we have a fun game that we have been playing, it is called find gifts house. (our investigator whos baptism is this Sunday!!!!!!!!!) She is building a new house for she and her husband to move into when they get married. She told us the general area, which is much bigger than we thought! We ride around trying to find the place from the pictures she showed us, and inviting everyone along the way. We have discovered new neighborhoods we didn’t even know existed, new very exotic khlong paths to ride our bikes on, and some good people! We found two older ladies, one who helps the other. The younger one lives down the street from the older one who doesn’t have any children, her husband died, she has to use a wheelchair, and didn’t have a home. The people in the area helped her build a 3 sided shack out of metal and old advertisement posters, donated an old tiny fridge, cot to sleep on, and sheets to surround the cot for the mosquitoes. She honestly has nothing, it is so hard to see people like that. We see it so often. Her house is just surrounded by trash, dogs, and a cat who she calls her child. The kind lady down the street who also doesn’t have much money, uses as much as she can buying the other food and water (all of our water is bottled here, the tap isn’t clean.. quite a pain!) and just being her friend. We plan on going back and helping them both out. We are so blessed to have what we have, be who we are, be born into what we were born into, and have that families that we have!>
On that note, thanksgiving was good. We were able to go to an American family’s for dinner. It was pretty uncomfortable though, being in a huge American-like house with American people. I forgot what a normal house is like (except I still have yet to see carpet) im excited to read your emails and see what went on for thanksgiving (I print them off and then read them after) >
We got the general conference liahona! Hah it was like Christmas(which actually doesn’t exist here..) it is funny that our highlight of the week is getting conference talks! Oh but they are so awesome!!! i haven’t gotten to them all, but I did get to read bednar’s about raising families. I read it and thought of you mom and dad. I thought about how many many nights we gather together and it is just madness, the little boys running everywhere, at least one of the girls crying or whining, and it seems like no one is listening. But nevertheless, you always did it. He talked about how sometimes you feel it isn’t working, that no one is listening, but that it is the consistency. You are planting and have planted so many seeds and so many awesome things into our heats from all of your efforts. It really is through the small things like family prayer that actually make a huge difference in our family. Thank you mom and dad for being so amazing. I owe everything I am to you!! I hope that have and will continuously serve you well through my life. Oh I love you!!>
This church is incredible. It truly is from God, it is Jesus Christ’s church. I know that it is the only way to true happiness. A happiness that will last forever!!! Yes, there are still so many hard times and trials, but that is how we learn. Hah I learn so much every day from those times. Another year still scares me, but at the same time I am excited for the growth that I am going to have with another year. (actually almost 11 months!) I have learned and grown so much, everyone needs to go on a mission just to better themselves. Oh man it is hard. H A R D. but I know that this experience will have lasting effects through my life and eternity. I was looking through my pictures the other day and realizing how many people I have met that I have grown to love. It reminded of me of my blessing that President Smith gave me in the beginning when I was having a really hard time. He said something along the lines of “there are people here that you promised before you came to earth that you would find them. People who were your friends, and will be for eternity.” How amazing. Everytime I think about going home, I just have to remind myself that I promised myself to them. I promised heavenly father. I am happy to get to repay him even the smallest bit for everything that I have been blessed with. Joseph Smith was and is a true prophet. The book of mormon is true. Read it. Love it. Study it. Ponder it!!!! Ok ive got to go. >
I LOVE YOU!!! Please keep praying for me, jord and morg. We need all the help we can get. How cool that we get to be out here together serving. >
I miss you. >
Love, t
12.11.2009
jordan 11.30.09
hey! well im so frustrated. my mailbox is full and i didnt get any of your letters this week. ahhhhh. what a way to start out the week.
well this week on tues we are staying in the hauge. then on wed going to the temple. mom i sent a package today. its kindof a christmas package i wasnt able to fit every thing i wanted into the box.
we went bowling last week it was not bad. im so frustrated i can barely write. well on sat we had our baptism. it was good. then on sunday he was confirmed. his name is christian williams. today we are eating at a members house and chabbi is cooking. the members are really treating the people that we baptise really well.
my comp is boring! he talks about the stupidest things. we will be around random people and he startas talking about stupid things that shouldnt come out of a missionaries mouth. its so embarrasing. he has the most monotone voice ever.
ok thanks for the packages last week! the brownies court! and also the christmas tree mom and everyone who helped! i love all the ornaments you guys made! and the little lights!dad thanks for the letter. ok well maybe you shouldnt send this letter to everyone. its not too uplifting. ok weel see you next week.
well this week on tues we are staying in the hauge. then on wed going to the temple. mom i sent a package today. its kindof a christmas package i wasnt able to fit every thing i wanted into the box.
we went bowling last week it was not bad. im so frustrated i can barely write. well on sat we had our baptism. it was good. then on sunday he was confirmed. his name is christian williams. today we are eating at a members house and chabbi is cooking. the members are really treating the people that we baptise really well.
my comp is boring! he talks about the stupidest things. we will be around random people and he startas talking about stupid things that shouldnt come out of a missionaries mouth. its so embarrasing. he has the most monotone voice ever.
ok thanks for the packages last week! the brownies court! and also the christmas tree mom and everyone who helped! i love all the ornaments you guys made! and the little lights!dad thanks for the letter. ok well maybe you shouldnt send this letter to everyone. its not too uplifting. ok weel see you next week.
morgan 11.27.09
Hey guys!!
so this week was really really cool!! we had elder oaks come on
tuesday and elder holland on thursday. elder hollands talk was so so good! it
was like a pump up for the missionaries. so the biggest news of the week is that
i am district leader and that i am going to san francisco on tuesday. we are
going to san fran to get our visa's. i am actually really excited!
Thanks so much whit for those donuts! dominated them!! kim thanks for those chips and
salsa. i might just have to have a fiesta one of these nights. court your letter
was sweet!! i wish i could go to dear valley!! haha. sorry if i forgot to
mention your name if you wrote me i am trying to hurry.
this week has been fun. me and elder gilmour are going to get a solo missionary in like 2 weeks cause that is when the group above us leaves. how is t.y. doing??
French is coming along okay. i have the 1st vision down in french and contacting in french and
the first 2 articles of faith in french so thats always good. i am still working
on my purpose though... my teachers are awesome! the sister is a babe and the
guy is kinda a nerd. i love them both they are so cool.
the best way to write me is probably through dear elder right now because they print out the e mails for you so i don't take away from the 30 min. i can email. I love getting packages!!
it makes my day!!
haha i dominate 4 square every time!! i did okay at soccer, a lot better than i thought i would at least. today i get to go to the temple for the first time. i am excited! sorry how all over the place my e mail is.
I am so excited to get to france!! i really can't wait!! i like the mtc but i just get
so excited when my teacher frere luke talks about toulouse (he went there).
I love getting letters! it doesn't bother me to think about home anymore. even
though i rarely do. just when i am writing or at night. i can't believe it is
almost december! cole! do work on those skis for me! chan huck some serious
corks for me! go all out!! you could go so far skiing! do it! don't hold back!
thats what we have been talking about this week! don't hold back! just get up
and go! no regrets!! brig if you could ask mr nielson for all the french papers
you can get your hands on it would really help. mom i need my line of authority
and my oil. i left a verb book in my room i would love that if you can send it.
i sent home my address book and that select med. so hopefully you get it. just
add all my e mail addresses to the fwd list. dad i love you!! Thanks everybody i
love you all! sage your letters are awesome!! sadie i love your pictures!!
Morgan
so this week was really really cool!! we had elder oaks come on
tuesday and elder holland on thursday. elder hollands talk was so so good! it
was like a pump up for the missionaries. so the biggest news of the week is that
i am district leader and that i am going to san francisco on tuesday. we are
going to san fran to get our visa's. i am actually really excited!
Thanks so much whit for those donuts! dominated them!! kim thanks for those chips and
salsa. i might just have to have a fiesta one of these nights. court your letter
was sweet!! i wish i could go to dear valley!! haha. sorry if i forgot to
mention your name if you wrote me i am trying to hurry.
this week has been fun. me and elder gilmour are going to get a solo missionary in like 2 weeks cause that is when the group above us leaves. how is t.y. doing??
French is coming along okay. i have the 1st vision down in french and contacting in french and
the first 2 articles of faith in french so thats always good. i am still working
on my purpose though... my teachers are awesome! the sister is a babe and the
guy is kinda a nerd. i love them both they are so cool.
the best way to write me is probably through dear elder right now because they print out the e mails for you so i don't take away from the 30 min. i can email. I love getting packages!!
it makes my day!!
haha i dominate 4 square every time!! i did okay at soccer, a lot better than i thought i would at least. today i get to go to the temple for the first time. i am excited! sorry how all over the place my e mail is.
I am so excited to get to france!! i really can't wait!! i like the mtc but i just get
so excited when my teacher frere luke talks about toulouse (he went there).
I love getting letters! it doesn't bother me to think about home anymore. even
though i rarely do. just when i am writing or at night. i can't believe it is
almost december! cole! do work on those skis for me! chan huck some serious
corks for me! go all out!! you could go so far skiing! do it! don't hold back!
thats what we have been talking about this week! don't hold back! just get up
and go! no regrets!! brig if you could ask mr nielson for all the french papers
you can get your hands on it would really help. mom i need my line of authority
and my oil. i left a verb book in my room i would love that if you can send it.
i sent home my address book and that select med. so hopefully you get it. just
add all my e mail addresses to the fwd list. dad i love you!! Thanks everybody i
love you all! sage your letters are awesome!! sadie i love your pictures!!
Morgan
12.10.2009
taryn 11.25.09
Hey!>
a few days ago as we were biking past a market there was someone selling american music. hah one of the few american songs i have heard and it was john denver blasting, "take me home, to the place where i belong, "orem, utah" mountain momma take me home"... it has been playing in my head ever since, it is a lot of what i feel right now as this holiday season is approaching. my comps have been listening to christmas songs lately, it just brings back so many memories. its hard being here where there is no christmas spirit at all. as i was sitting in church the other day, i realized this week was thanksgving and i started to get sad. i tried to change my thoughts. this is going to be my first and only christmas without family, friends, anything christmas-y, and snow, but it will be a christmas where i wont have any of the commercialization. i will be able to focus more on the savior and the true purpose of christmas as i am serving Him. it is going to be a hard time, but i hope that i can learn, grow, and gain much more faith and stronger testimony in the Lord. it will be a neat time. >
I read a talk a few days ago that was given to us in our moves meeting a few weeks ago. it is such good advice! it is called "Opening the Heavens" by elder yoshihiko kikuchi. it is awesome. i hope that you all will read it and do it as well!! >
Our investigator Gift got interviewed yesterday, she is getting baptized in a week! this is my first investigator that i found and have been teaching from the beginning! man i have been so so blessed. the average baptisms for missionaries in thailand per year is 2.3 baptisms, i already have 3 and ive been here for 3 1/2 months. gift is amazing, she has such a strong testimony. i think if i remember right, i wrote about her last week. im sorry, i never remember what i write, i just sit at the comp and pour out my brain and then wonder what i wrote about once it has been sent off. hah maybe i should start proof reading.. git was an exchange student in america 10 years ago and lived with a member family. she came back and has slept with the bom under her pillow ever since. she kept seeing churches, but felt like she wasnt ready, and the churches were too far. then a few months ago she saw the one right by her house, our church. one that has been there for years but she never noticed it! i know that heavenly father was preserving her so that i could meet her! she decided it was time to stop procratinating and called us. she has been so easy, a baptism pretty much just handed on a platter! hah she reads martha stewart and makes the cutest things for us. she told me yesterday that she wants to come visit me next year maybe during christmas time. that would be SO FUN! she is going to be such a blessing to this church. it is a real testimony of sowing seeds that may be reaped later, like abinadi who didnt have any idea the impact he had because of alma. i wish i could thank those missionaries in wyoming for planting the seed 10 years ago. > >
Elder Wimmer, you are awesome!!! i am so excited to have another one of us out! how cool that we went from 0 to three now!!!! ill write ya soon:) >
oh i wish i had more time.>
i am so grateful for family. that is my thanksgiving gratitude. i really am. you are so so so so so amazing, i couldnt ever ask for a better one. you are perfect. like it says in moroni 8 "i am mindful of you always in my prayers" i love you so much and miss you more than i ever thought possible. please be safe and happy and keep studying and praying. > love, sister young> >
ps.. yesterday on the way to an appt, i stopped to invite a few people on the side of the road. hah it wasnt until i had begun talking to them that i realized they were smoking marijuana. oh the adventure of being a missionary! hah all they were interested in was the "farang" talking to them that they wanted to marry. hah i have been proposed to several times now. another time was last week in english class week "brad pit" (they got to chose american names and that is what he named himself.. he actually is a pretty handsome thai man though, which is rare!) asked me to marry him, i didnt know what to say and then he asked me out. so so awkard, especially in front of a class of other people! they are so forward here
a few days ago as we were biking past a market there was someone selling american music. hah one of the few american songs i have heard and it was john denver blasting, "take me home, to the place where i belong, "orem, utah" mountain momma take me home"... it has been playing in my head ever since, it is a lot of what i feel right now as this holiday season is approaching. my comps have been listening to christmas songs lately, it just brings back so many memories. its hard being here where there is no christmas spirit at all. as i was sitting in church the other day, i realized this week was thanksgving and i started to get sad. i tried to change my thoughts. this is going to be my first and only christmas without family, friends, anything christmas-y, and snow, but it will be a christmas where i wont have any of the commercialization. i will be able to focus more on the savior and the true purpose of christmas as i am serving Him. it is going to be a hard time, but i hope that i can learn, grow, and gain much more faith and stronger testimony in the Lord. it will be a neat time. >
I read a talk a few days ago that was given to us in our moves meeting a few weeks ago. it is such good advice! it is called "Opening the Heavens" by elder yoshihiko kikuchi. it is awesome. i hope that you all will read it and do it as well!! >
Our investigator Gift got interviewed yesterday, she is getting baptized in a week! this is my first investigator that i found and have been teaching from the beginning! man i have been so so blessed. the average baptisms for missionaries in thailand per year is 2.3 baptisms, i already have 3 and ive been here for 3 1/2 months. gift is amazing, she has such a strong testimony. i think if i remember right, i wrote about her last week. im sorry, i never remember what i write, i just sit at the comp and pour out my brain and then wonder what i wrote about once it has been sent off. hah maybe i should start proof reading.. git was an exchange student in america 10 years ago and lived with a member family. she came back and has slept with the bom under her pillow ever since. she kept seeing churches, but felt like she wasnt ready, and the churches were too far. then a few months ago she saw the one right by her house, our church. one that has been there for years but she never noticed it! i know that heavenly father was preserving her so that i could meet her! she decided it was time to stop procratinating and called us. she has been so easy, a baptism pretty much just handed on a platter! hah she reads martha stewart and makes the cutest things for us. she told me yesterday that she wants to come visit me next year maybe during christmas time. that would be SO FUN! she is going to be such a blessing to this church. it is a real testimony of sowing seeds that may be reaped later, like abinadi who didnt have any idea the impact he had because of alma. i wish i could thank those missionaries in wyoming for planting the seed 10 years ago. > >
Elder Wimmer, you are awesome!!! i am so excited to have another one of us out! how cool that we went from 0 to three now!!!! ill write ya soon:) >
oh i wish i had more time.>
i am so grateful for family. that is my thanksgiving gratitude. i really am. you are so so so so so amazing, i couldnt ever ask for a better one. you are perfect. like it says in moroni 8 "i am mindful of you always in my prayers" i love you so much and miss you more than i ever thought possible. please be safe and happy and keep studying and praying. > love, sister young> >
ps.. yesterday on the way to an appt, i stopped to invite a few people on the side of the road. hah it wasnt until i had begun talking to them that i realized they were smoking marijuana. oh the adventure of being a missionary! hah all they were interested in was the "farang" talking to them that they wanted to marry. hah i have been proposed to several times now. another time was last week in english class week "brad pit" (they got to chose american names and that is what he named himself.. he actually is a pretty handsome thai man though, which is rare!) asked me to marry him, i didnt know what to say and then he asked me out. so so awkard, especially in front of a class of other people! they are so forward here
12.09.2009
jordan 11.23.09
Moma yes i wear my black shoes. almost everyday.
yeah sister robbins i saw her all the time in the mtc. Cole congrats on your eagle scout!!! Morg is a missionary!! and is in elesabeth smarts district? wow crazy. he will be spending everyday with her for the next 2 months. mom i would be ok going any where for transfers but breda is awesome i could stay here too. transfers are dec. 9. havnt got whits package. pokemon is from seattle was.
ok so this week was a crazy one. first we'll start off with my little pet mouse. i saw him running across the kitchen floor during personal study. i loaded up the mouse trap with some mac and cheese. and that night came home to a dead mouse on the kitchen floor. poor little guy. we go and visit that really old lady sis staf in the old folks home. she smokes like crazy. but loves to draw and color. her art is really cool. im starting to collect her work. ha ha. she drew a picture of me! its rad i have a cowboy hat on. mamas dont let your babies grow up to be cowboys. ha ha.
ok so this week we ate out once at this frites shop. a "burger" place i figured richy would be eating in n out so i had to try and compete some how. so i ordered. they sent us back into this really weird old closed bar.( i guess thats where they put the mormons) then gave me my burger. i dont even know if you can call it a burger. it had an egg on it and some other wierd stuff. i guess why not. took a bite. officially the worst burger ive ever touched. it was disgusting. europeans dont know how to make a burger man. all i wanted was a burger.
well tonight its district p day im going bowling in eindhoven. and staying the night then im going on exchanges. my old companion from the mtc e. kieth is coming to breda! ha its going to be weird. so on sat we have a baptism! chris is totally ready! we got his friend to batize him and the bishop to confirm him! it will be good! this week is another make or break with our investigators. well se who is in and who is out. this week we went finding with harry in the centrum of tilburg. he is amazing. its so fun to se him attack people with the gospel. hes not afraid of anything. we got 5 or 6 new people in an hour.
Whats going on with taryn and morgan!!!!!!?????? fill me innnnn i want to know everything!!!! i mean everything!!!! ok? morg is a stud. oh and the pictures. bro cam that bierd you got going is weak son. i will be able to outgrow that in a few days when i get back. cam and chris ive seen some cool art out here but nothing compares to you guys. keep painting!!!! you cant see how great your potential is!!!! dad thanks for the letter the new dogg is rad!! same with your new do! gained a little wait got some tats and grew your bierd out too. ha ha man i was laughing so hard. well i learned some more things about chabbi. he spilled his story. he never heard oh christ or god in nepal. he lost his house his and moved in with an aquantance. there were wars at the time and a lot of terrorists where he was. if you believed in God or Christ you would be killed. he was in hard times. he said he tried to kill himself many times. then someone introduced him to who God was and Christ. he got a job offer in dubia. before he fled to dubia. one day he was eating at a restaraunt and was attacted by terrorists and nearly was beaten to death. he fled to dubia. got a job. the people were really corrupt. he was fired. then fled to Here! while this was going on he was desperetly looking for the truth. finally he found it. well my life dont sound so bad.
got to go yo love you all. thanks for everything. have an amazing thanksgiving! i will be celebrating too with an half american fam. write me! ok bye bye dooi chandler yo son write me doggy dogg sorry my letters are all over the place.
yeah sister robbins i saw her all the time in the mtc. Cole congrats on your eagle scout!!! Morg is a missionary!! and is in elesabeth smarts district? wow crazy. he will be spending everyday with her for the next 2 months. mom i would be ok going any where for transfers but breda is awesome i could stay here too. transfers are dec. 9. havnt got whits package. pokemon is from seattle was.
ok so this week was a crazy one. first we'll start off with my little pet mouse. i saw him running across the kitchen floor during personal study. i loaded up the mouse trap with some mac and cheese. and that night came home to a dead mouse on the kitchen floor. poor little guy. we go and visit that really old lady sis staf in the old folks home. she smokes like crazy. but loves to draw and color. her art is really cool. im starting to collect her work. ha ha. she drew a picture of me! its rad i have a cowboy hat on. mamas dont let your babies grow up to be cowboys. ha ha.
ok so this week we ate out once at this frites shop. a "burger" place i figured richy would be eating in n out so i had to try and compete some how. so i ordered. they sent us back into this really weird old closed bar.( i guess thats where they put the mormons) then gave me my burger. i dont even know if you can call it a burger. it had an egg on it and some other wierd stuff. i guess why not. took a bite. officially the worst burger ive ever touched. it was disgusting. europeans dont know how to make a burger man. all i wanted was a burger.
well tonight its district p day im going bowling in eindhoven. and staying the night then im going on exchanges. my old companion from the mtc e. kieth is coming to breda! ha its going to be weird. so on sat we have a baptism! chris is totally ready! we got his friend to batize him and the bishop to confirm him! it will be good! this week is another make or break with our investigators. well se who is in and who is out. this week we went finding with harry in the centrum of tilburg. he is amazing. its so fun to se him attack people with the gospel. hes not afraid of anything. we got 5 or 6 new people in an hour.
Whats going on with taryn and morgan!!!!!!?????? fill me innnnn i want to know everything!!!! i mean everything!!!! ok? morg is a stud. oh and the pictures. bro cam that bierd you got going is weak son. i will be able to outgrow that in a few days when i get back. cam and chris ive seen some cool art out here but nothing compares to you guys. keep painting!!!! you cant see how great your potential is!!!! dad thanks for the letter the new dogg is rad!! same with your new do! gained a little wait got some tats and grew your bierd out too. ha ha man i was laughing so hard. well i learned some more things about chabbi. he spilled his story. he never heard oh christ or god in nepal. he lost his house his and moved in with an aquantance. there were wars at the time and a lot of terrorists where he was. if you believed in God or Christ you would be killed. he was in hard times. he said he tried to kill himself many times. then someone introduced him to who God was and Christ. he got a job offer in dubia. before he fled to dubia. one day he was eating at a restaraunt and was attacted by terrorists and nearly was beaten to death. he fled to dubia. got a job. the people were really corrupt. he was fired. then fled to Here! while this was going on he was desperetly looking for the truth. finally he found it. well my life dont sound so bad.
got to go yo love you all. thanks for everything. have an amazing thanksgiving! i will be celebrating too with an half american fam. write me! ok bye bye dooi chandler yo son write me doggy dogg sorry my letters are all over the place.
12.08.2009
morgan 11.21.09
hello!!
so this week has been really rough! It is so hard to stay optimistic!! I
sent a letter home thursday which i wrote friday. did you really not get it yet?
well i just found that i have a select med thing in my wallet. i am guessing you
need that? haha i was wondering if i should send it home through the mail or
not? i don't want it to get lost like my other letter did. so i wrote you again
today but we will see if you get it. but thanks grandma and whit for the e
mails. that was a really hard day and you made it!
so where is taryn going to go? are they still moving missionaries out of her mission?
well my comp's are cool. they make it easier to stay focused and why i am here.
mom, did you fwd out my info to my friends? if you need their e-mails i can send back the address book if you need me too.
my p day is on friday's but since i am a new missionary
i have it on saturday today. my teachers are awesome. the brother is a nerd but
he is sweet and the sister is a babe!! haha she is so nice! i am starting to
like it here more. but i am still not loving it yet. sister smart is in my
district. which means i go to class with her everyday! we will be going to the
temple together and pretty much spend most of the day together. she is awesome.
her testimony is so strong. it is really weird though her and montana look
exactly like each other from behind! it really throws me off!
elder gilmour is my comp. i talked about him in my 1st letter. he is from scotland. he has a very
strong accent!! i can understand why people going to england get an accent. i
can barely talk normal after living with him for a week. he is awesome though!
my other comp is elder smith. his comp is stuck in south africa because of his
visa so he joined up with us. well i hope you start getting my letters that i
sent. thanks for all your support and packages! it really helps a lot!! thanks
so much!! I love you all!!
-Elder Wimmer
ps. jon that is way cool you got called to peru. you always have been mexican
looking!! keep up the pmg and memorize the 1st vision in your language it helps
so much!!
so this week has been really rough! It is so hard to stay optimistic!! I
sent a letter home thursday which i wrote friday. did you really not get it yet?
well i just found that i have a select med thing in my wallet. i am guessing you
need that? haha i was wondering if i should send it home through the mail or
not? i don't want it to get lost like my other letter did. so i wrote you again
today but we will see if you get it. but thanks grandma and whit for the e
mails. that was a really hard day and you made it!
so where is taryn going to go? are they still moving missionaries out of her mission?
well my comp's are cool. they make it easier to stay focused and why i am here.
mom, did you fwd out my info to my friends? if you need their e-mails i can send back the address book if you need me too.
my p day is on friday's but since i am a new missionary
i have it on saturday today. my teachers are awesome. the brother is a nerd but
he is sweet and the sister is a babe!! haha she is so nice! i am starting to
like it here more. but i am still not loving it yet. sister smart is in my
district. which means i go to class with her everyday! we will be going to the
temple together and pretty much spend most of the day together. she is awesome.
her testimony is so strong. it is really weird though her and montana look
exactly like each other from behind! it really throws me off!
elder gilmour is my comp. i talked about him in my 1st letter. he is from scotland. he has a very
strong accent!! i can understand why people going to england get an accent. i
can barely talk normal after living with him for a week. he is awesome though!
my other comp is elder smith. his comp is stuck in south africa because of his
visa so he joined up with us. well i hope you start getting my letters that i
sent. thanks for all your support and packages! it really helps a lot!! thanks
so much!! I love you all!!
-Elder Wimmer
ps. jon that is way cool you got called to peru. you always have been mexican
looking!! keep up the pmg and memorize the 1st vision in your language it helps
so much!!
12.07.2009
goodbye elder wimmer
leaving home.
morgan + skye.
friends & family.
hanging out.
watching luggage go out the door.
2 years worth of luggage.
missionary training center.
.
goodbye sage. goodbye sadie.
girly girls.
walking him to the front doors.
morgan + skye.
friends & family.
hanging out.
watching luggage go out the door.
2 years worth of luggage.
not light.
missionary training center.
sidewalk enterance goodbyes.
.
another goodbye.
brings back recent memories.
good memories (believe it or not!)
.
buddies for life.
chandler. morgan.
goodbye to all his favorite people this year.
it hurts.
goodbye sage. goodbye sadie.
8 years old.
see you when you're 10.
girly girls.
crying.
laughing.
crying.
walking him to the front doors.
bye-bye.
taryn 11.18.09
Hello!>
Im in downtown Bangkok right now, its wierd writing from a different place than im used to! we came back to braeyok tower and bratunam market because sister oneil and bradfield havent been here yet.. oh yeah, i havent told you about my new comp! sister bradfield is actually sister larsons trainer (a comp from mtc) she is really awesome. she doesnt speak thai as well as sister hulme, but she is amazing in other ways. she is from sandy utah, she finishes her mission in 3 more moves. this moves is going to be cut short so that the jopers (those leaving the mission) can go home before christmas. it will be 5 weeks long, and president told me in my interview yesterday that i am probably leaving my area:( also at moves meeting, president told us that right now we have 142 missionaries, but by april of next year we are going to ahve 92. we have to close 25 areas. they have lowered the amound of missionaries because this mission is such a low baptising mission compared to others even in asia, everyone is so so buddhist, and because we have a decreasing number of missionaries right now. chandler we need you!!!!! you could be the difference between having a whole area open and so many more people hearingthis message. chandler, it is hard. very hard. but way way more worth it. you will be doing the work of the Lord. you will be doing the best and most important and most valuable thing that you have ever done in your life. do it for you. do it for the Lord. do it for Thomas. Do it for your family. do it for the world. you are going to be SO amazing!!! > >
coming back to this market has been fun because i noticed how much better my language has gotten. i now understand people in their shops and can actually speak to people! hah i am no where near fluent, or even able to understand every word taht they say, but i am able to understand the context and able to hvae a conversation. wierd. >
this week has been a good week, very busy! we have been teaching a lot, and recently have been involved in a lot of drama trying to help buuk. she is our convert from a few months ago, the one that her ex husband beats her. he found out where she lives and has done it a few more times. she called us on monday night because she saw him outside her house when she was walking home from us teaching her. we didnt know what to do because we live a 20 minute bike ride from the church and her house. we had her call the branch president, and then called his wife to make sure that they were talking, and then called it a night, thinking everything was fine. the next day we saw her at the church for institute, bruised again. the president didnt do anything. after a few hours of figuring things out, having the elders come help us as well and talking to president, we got permission to tell the branch prez everything that was going on. buuk was too embarrassed and didnt want to burden him so he didnt have much of an idea. we got her food, went to her tiny one room apt to pack up her stuff, and then took her to an awesome members house in our branch to spend the night. we were scared that buuk wouldnt tell her anything again, but our prayers were answered! sister jim called us today and said taht everything was good and they would take care of her until they fround her a new place. it was so amazing to see the Lords hand working last night. the stars were really lined up (hah not the stars in the sky, we only have about 3) everything fell right into place and poeple were coming out of nowhere that helped, and also that we were able to help. for example our taxi driver who ended up taking us to our house to get my suitcases to put her stuff in, to her house,and then to sis jim's was also having a hard time in life and we were able to teach him. we got his number and the elders are going to his house soon! Heavenly Father works in such mysterious ways. He really does know much more than we do.>
its so wierd having to see and help people with real life problems. my whole life i thought it was the end of the world if a guy broke up with me or i did horribly on a test. my whole perspective has changed. those things are so so minor compared to so many of the problems that people face here that we try to help with. i hope that i can always keep this perspective in mind. sometimes in the morning when i really dont want to be here, i have to remind myself that this is only for 1 more year, and then never again. that there are so many people here that need my help and need the message of peace and joy that i have to offer people. hah and there are many more people that need my help with their bikes. dad, i have helped a lot of people fix their chains, gears, and brakes already. it has actually turned into a good missionary tool! usually it is someones chain that has fallen off. these chains are so hard to get back on though! they are all such old bikes, and hardly ever have any gears! i have found some good tactics for getting caked grease off my hands though:) >
last weekend we went to a wedding. sister xang and her husband threw a wedding together in 2 days. he is from cambodia and his visa was expiring. they were hoping to go to the temple, but dont have enough money yet. they got married civally, but are still not going to live together until they go to the temple. they are so amazing! the faith of these people is incredible. the wedding was cute. it was at the church, we ended up singing a few songs for it. hah the other missionaries in this area cant sing., i was trying to keep it afloat, its sad when i am by far the best singer, i really dont ahve that good of a voice! in practice we sounded horrible, but we prayed and for the wedding Heavenly Father really helped and it sounded pretty good! they also sang christmas songs. i dont think that thailand knows which are christmas songs, (i guess cause christmas doesnt really exist here)... it was cool to see her wedding dress and the other little girls dresses, traditional thai costumes. their makeup was way cool, haha even the groom was wearing makeup. i have found that both genders are beginning to ba able to wear it here. a lot of the "cool" kids wear a little. wierd.>
sorry, im rambling. i forgot my paper that had everything i wanted to write about, i guess imrunning out of time anyway. mom, did you ever get to look at the pics and the map from sister oneils site? family, i miss you so much. we're on the countdown now!!!! oh man i miss you. i love you more than anything in this world and would give up anything for you. this church is true. please read your scriptures every day! coops, paige and cade you too!! bigger kids, for a christmas present to Christ, read the gospels in the NT, along with your BOM reading. get to know Christ better and get a stronger testimony. do it for me:) i am so grateful for everything that i have been blessed with, we really do have the most blessed and incredible life. thank you to all for writing, it really does mean so so much to me!!!!!!>
love you so much>
sister young
Im in downtown Bangkok right now, its wierd writing from a different place than im used to! we came back to braeyok tower and bratunam market because sister oneil and bradfield havent been here yet.. oh yeah, i havent told you about my new comp! sister bradfield is actually sister larsons trainer (a comp from mtc) she is really awesome. she doesnt speak thai as well as sister hulme, but she is amazing in other ways. she is from sandy utah, she finishes her mission in 3 more moves. this moves is going to be cut short so that the jopers (those leaving the mission) can go home before christmas. it will be 5 weeks long, and president told me in my interview yesterday that i am probably leaving my area:( also at moves meeting, president told us that right now we have 142 missionaries, but by april of next year we are going to ahve 92. we have to close 25 areas. they have lowered the amound of missionaries because this mission is such a low baptising mission compared to others even in asia, everyone is so so buddhist, and because we have a decreasing number of missionaries right now. chandler we need you!!!!! you could be the difference between having a whole area open and so many more people hearingthis message. chandler, it is hard. very hard. but way way more worth it. you will be doing the work of the Lord. you will be doing the best and most important and most valuable thing that you have ever done in your life. do it for you. do it for the Lord. do it for Thomas. Do it for your family. do it for the world. you are going to be SO amazing!!! > >
coming back to this market has been fun because i noticed how much better my language has gotten. i now understand people in their shops and can actually speak to people! hah i am no where near fluent, or even able to understand every word taht they say, but i am able to understand the context and able to hvae a conversation. wierd. >
this week has been a good week, very busy! we have been teaching a lot, and recently have been involved in a lot of drama trying to help buuk. she is our convert from a few months ago, the one that her ex husband beats her. he found out where she lives and has done it a few more times. she called us on monday night because she saw him outside her house when she was walking home from us teaching her. we didnt know what to do because we live a 20 minute bike ride from the church and her house. we had her call the branch president, and then called his wife to make sure that they were talking, and then called it a night, thinking everything was fine. the next day we saw her at the church for institute, bruised again. the president didnt do anything. after a few hours of figuring things out, having the elders come help us as well and talking to president, we got permission to tell the branch prez everything that was going on. buuk was too embarrassed and didnt want to burden him so he didnt have much of an idea. we got her food, went to her tiny one room apt to pack up her stuff, and then took her to an awesome members house in our branch to spend the night. we were scared that buuk wouldnt tell her anything again, but our prayers were answered! sister jim called us today and said taht everything was good and they would take care of her until they fround her a new place. it was so amazing to see the Lords hand working last night. the stars were really lined up (hah not the stars in the sky, we only have about 3) everything fell right into place and poeple were coming out of nowhere that helped, and also that we were able to help. for example our taxi driver who ended up taking us to our house to get my suitcases to put her stuff in, to her house,and then to sis jim's was also having a hard time in life and we were able to teach him. we got his number and the elders are going to his house soon! Heavenly Father works in such mysterious ways. He really does know much more than we do.>
its so wierd having to see and help people with real life problems. my whole life i thought it was the end of the world if a guy broke up with me or i did horribly on a test. my whole perspective has changed. those things are so so minor compared to so many of the problems that people face here that we try to help with. i hope that i can always keep this perspective in mind. sometimes in the morning when i really dont want to be here, i have to remind myself that this is only for 1 more year, and then never again. that there are so many people here that need my help and need the message of peace and joy that i have to offer people. hah and there are many more people that need my help with their bikes. dad, i have helped a lot of people fix their chains, gears, and brakes already. it has actually turned into a good missionary tool! usually it is someones chain that has fallen off. these chains are so hard to get back on though! they are all such old bikes, and hardly ever have any gears! i have found some good tactics for getting caked grease off my hands though:) >
last weekend we went to a wedding. sister xang and her husband threw a wedding together in 2 days. he is from cambodia and his visa was expiring. they were hoping to go to the temple, but dont have enough money yet. they got married civally, but are still not going to live together until they go to the temple. they are so amazing! the faith of these people is incredible. the wedding was cute. it was at the church, we ended up singing a few songs for it. hah the other missionaries in this area cant sing., i was trying to keep it afloat, its sad when i am by far the best singer, i really dont ahve that good of a voice! in practice we sounded horrible, but we prayed and for the wedding Heavenly Father really helped and it sounded pretty good! they also sang christmas songs. i dont think that thailand knows which are christmas songs, (i guess cause christmas doesnt really exist here)... it was cool to see her wedding dress and the other little girls dresses, traditional thai costumes. their makeup was way cool, haha even the groom was wearing makeup. i have found that both genders are beginning to ba able to wear it here. a lot of the "cool" kids wear a little. wierd.>
sorry, im rambling. i forgot my paper that had everything i wanted to write about, i guess imrunning out of time anyway. mom, did you ever get to look at the pics and the map from sister oneils site? family, i miss you so much. we're on the countdown now!!!! oh man i miss you. i love you more than anything in this world and would give up anything for you. this church is true. please read your scriptures every day! coops, paige and cade you too!! bigger kids, for a christmas present to Christ, read the gospels in the NT, along with your BOM reading. get to know Christ better and get a stronger testimony. do it for me:) i am so grateful for everything that i have been blessed with, we really do have the most blessed and incredible life. thank you to all for writing, it really does mean so so much to me!!!!!!>
love you so much>
sister young
jordan 11.16.09
hello.
well mom you asked me if i wanted 2 christmases. yeah.
another baptism closing in. chris is still holding strong. he said hes never tried root beer. so tonight were taking him root beer. and making root beer floats. hes like i thought you guys didnt drink beer?
well man alta got 9 feet? are you serious? or nine inches? haaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaaaa morg im sorry. one day away from in n out. oh boy. dont worry those rubber burgers in the mtc aint bad. oh yeah you will be in france in 2 months where the beer flows like wine. ha ha thats for richy. morg i sent you an e mail read it son. shanny chan whats up? workin at the ski shop? you better get a pass this year and dominate. you have more talent on a pair of skiis than anyone else i know. start getting into it. get some sponsorships going. try new thinggggsss! in the powder first please. take pics film ect... i want to see some action this winter. put your heart into it.
well im spending thanksgiving din din with the schools. its a dutch family. the mom is from kentucky and the husband from netherlands. she said to come hungry. she is a good cook so it will be fun.
last p day. a kid in the ward that ive become really good friends with invited us over and he cooked us this huge lunch then we went and played soccer football and basketball. his name is rocky. it was good to get out.
well i think the leaves are in full bloom now. they didnt bloom all at one time it was kindof a slow transition. but its pretty. there are some leaves that are like a florecent yellow.
oh yeah chhabi is doing good still he isnt a legal citizen thats why he lives in a reffuge camp. he work at the camp doing volunteer work everyday. he is such a stud. he cant get a real job though because he is not legal. he is trying to figure out something to do.
with harry we just have a normaal day. we go visit members and investigators. and look up preveous investigators and all. hes hilarious.
oh yeah pokemon(my comp) plays wow too ha ha he actually skates i guess. hes not too bad. we dont mesh perfectly but what ever. k g2g love you all peace
well mom you asked me if i wanted 2 christmases. yeah.
another baptism closing in. chris is still holding strong. he said hes never tried root beer. so tonight were taking him root beer. and making root beer floats. hes like i thought you guys didnt drink beer?
well man alta got 9 feet? are you serious? or nine inches? haaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaaaa morg im sorry. one day away from in n out. oh boy. dont worry those rubber burgers in the mtc aint bad. oh yeah you will be in france in 2 months where the beer flows like wine. ha ha thats for richy. morg i sent you an e mail read it son. shanny chan whats up? workin at the ski shop? you better get a pass this year and dominate. you have more talent on a pair of skiis than anyone else i know. start getting into it. get some sponsorships going. try new thinggggsss! in the powder first please. take pics film ect... i want to see some action this winter. put your heart into it.
well im spending thanksgiving din din with the schools. its a dutch family. the mom is from kentucky and the husband from netherlands. she said to come hungry. she is a good cook so it will be fun.
last p day. a kid in the ward that ive become really good friends with invited us over and he cooked us this huge lunch then we went and played soccer football and basketball. his name is rocky. it was good to get out.
well i think the leaves are in full bloom now. they didnt bloom all at one time it was kindof a slow transition. but its pretty. there are some leaves that are like a florecent yellow.
oh yeah chhabi is doing good still he isnt a legal citizen thats why he lives in a reffuge camp. he work at the camp doing volunteer work everyday. he is such a stud. he cant get a real job though because he is not legal. he is trying to figure out something to do.
with harry we just have a normaal day. we go visit members and investigators. and look up preveous investigators and all. hes hilarious.
oh yeah pokemon(my comp) plays wow too ha ha he actually skates i guess. hes not too bad. we dont mesh perfectly but what ever. k g2g love you all peace
12.06.2009
taryn 11.11.09
Hey!>
Another week has passed. Some hard times, fun times, growth, learning, and spiritual experiences, just lke every week..>
Mom, I don’t want get to the end of the time and have time to write you. I just want to say you are amazing. Gosh I miss you. I wish I could have heard that talk for the training meeting, your talks are always incredible. I look up to you so much. I really do. Thank you for raising me how you do and being such a good example, not only to me, but to so many others. You are so selfless, sacrificing all of your time for the benefit of others. Someday I hope I can be like you. You mean the world to me.> >
This week I have been thinking a lot about how the gospel is preached. I was wondering why more people haven’t caught onto the message, or even heard the message. You think that a message like this would have reached every corner of the earth already, but it hasn’t. not even close. I was thinking about how we just need to go all over the media and spread the word, THE GOSPEL IS RESTORED!!! Then I realized that is not the way of the Lord. This is a personal message. One that will be personally taken to each person and then allow agency and the Spirit to kick in. Just like with temple work and everything else in the gospel, it is personal, not done in massive groups. > >
So I was wrong last week, I am staying another moves.. most people don’t move for atleast 3 moves, but I didn’t think they would keep a threesome together for two moves. Hah sister hulme is moving, but sis oneil and I are staying!! Im pretty sure well get another sister moving in. that will make me having 5 companions and 5 moves. Crazy! Out of the 5 6 week periods, I have only had one with only one companion. I am excited though, it is going to be fun having sis o again! I am going to miss sister hulme, she is awesome. > >
Last thurs and fri we have switchoffs again. A Thai sister came here who doesn’t speak much English. It was cool to see that I could survive a day with no English, though by the end of the night I was pretty ready to speak some English, my brain was tired! Hah it will be an adventure when I have a native.>
Every 6 weeks, we have a little celebration for English class. Tonight we are doing a Halloween theme, hah they don’t really know what it is anyway, its ok its 2 weeks late.. we are going to use the decorations you sent thanks mom! We are going to teach Halloween vocabulary, have a spiritual thought, and then are going to carve watermelons! >
Since I have a few minutes, I will let you know my usual daily schedule (hah but there is usually something that comes up and it changes..)>
6:30 the alarm goes off. Usually im already awake from the sunlight, the noisy cars and motorcycles, and the barking dogs and so I have already said my prayers and already exercising..>
7:00 shower, eat breakfast and get ready>
740 writing in my journal and/or starting my personal study early>
800 personal>
900 companion: sing a hymn, pray, recite 2 of the 4 in English and in thai: Thailand mission motto, missionary purpose, D&C 4, standard of truth…. Then we talk about what we prepared in personal study for the lessons and also what we learned from personal, sometimes say a miracle from the night before, read the white hb, and then study something in pmg..>
1000 language study>
1100 leave house>
1200 eat thai food and then go back to teaching and biking in the heat>
5-6ish eat again is some crazy market>
900 return home, pray and plan for the next day>
930 write in journal, get stuff ready for the next day>
1015 im usually in bed> >
Kids, thank you so much for writing me last week!>
Cade, you are so so so amazing!! Holy cow, the only touchdown in the finals!!!!!!!!!! And you have grown a ton, 5’1” 95 lbs??? I don’t think I hit that until I was in 10th! You are going to be as tall as me when I get home. Please don’t grow up too fast!! Please stay the exact same until I get home!!!!>
Paigey, I agree with you. It seems like I have been gone forever huh?! Yes, it has only been 5 months, and I still have a whole year left, but I think it will start going faster. (at least I hope and pray for that!!!!) I miss you! How is your harp going? I want to see pics from Halloween! >
Elle my state champ!!! Youre awesome!! hah I want to see pics of bulldog boinkins I have so many cute things that you have made me decorating the house, I think of you every single day. >
Coops and Ash! I hear you are so good at rollerblading. That sounds fun! We’ll have to go blading up the canyon together when I get home! I miss you so much. Please please don’t grow up!!!!>
Andie Lou, I miss you so much. You are incredible. I cant wait until winter semester when we will be at the y together! I want to hear from you again soon!> >
Ps… the branch loves that I fell in the khlong. They keep asking me about it.. they say that I am officially the first sister to fall in. there have been a whole list of elders, (the members have found the need to tell me all of their stories) but no sisters. I think it is because most sisters are too scared to ride on it, so they take the longer way on the streets!!> >
I love you!! I miss you so much!! I sure hope time starts going faster!>
love, sister taryn
Another week has passed. Some hard times, fun times, growth, learning, and spiritual experiences, just lke every week..>
Mom, I don’t want get to the end of the time and have time to write you. I just want to say you are amazing. Gosh I miss you. I wish I could have heard that talk for the training meeting, your talks are always incredible. I look up to you so much. I really do. Thank you for raising me how you do and being such a good example, not only to me, but to so many others. You are so selfless, sacrificing all of your time for the benefit of others. Someday I hope I can be like you. You mean the world to me.> >
This week I have been thinking a lot about how the gospel is preached. I was wondering why more people haven’t caught onto the message, or even heard the message. You think that a message like this would have reached every corner of the earth already, but it hasn’t. not even close. I was thinking about how we just need to go all over the media and spread the word, THE GOSPEL IS RESTORED!!! Then I realized that is not the way of the Lord. This is a personal message. One that will be personally taken to each person and then allow agency and the Spirit to kick in. Just like with temple work and everything else in the gospel, it is personal, not done in massive groups. > >
So I was wrong last week, I am staying another moves.. most people don’t move for atleast 3 moves, but I didn’t think they would keep a threesome together for two moves. Hah sister hulme is moving, but sis oneil and I are staying!! Im pretty sure well get another sister moving in. that will make me having 5 companions and 5 moves. Crazy! Out of the 5 6 week periods, I have only had one with only one companion. I am excited though, it is going to be fun having sis o again! I am going to miss sister hulme, she is awesome. > >
Last thurs and fri we have switchoffs again. A Thai sister came here who doesn’t speak much English. It was cool to see that I could survive a day with no English, though by the end of the night I was pretty ready to speak some English, my brain was tired! Hah it will be an adventure when I have a native.>
Every 6 weeks, we have a little celebration for English class. Tonight we are doing a Halloween theme, hah they don’t really know what it is anyway, its ok its 2 weeks late.. we are going to use the decorations you sent thanks mom! We are going to teach Halloween vocabulary, have a spiritual thought, and then are going to carve watermelons! >
Since I have a few minutes, I will let you know my usual daily schedule (hah but there is usually something that comes up and it changes..)>
6:30 the alarm goes off. Usually im already awake from the sunlight, the noisy cars and motorcycles, and the barking dogs and so I have already said my prayers and already exercising..>
7:00 shower, eat breakfast and get ready>
740 writing in my journal and/or starting my personal study early>
800 personal>
900 companion: sing a hymn, pray, recite 2 of the 4 in English and in thai: Thailand mission motto, missionary purpose, D&C 4, standard of truth…. Then we talk about what we prepared in personal study for the lessons and also what we learned from personal, sometimes say a miracle from the night before, read the white hb, and then study something in pmg..>
1000 language study>
1100 leave house>
1200 eat thai food and then go back to teaching and biking in the heat>
5-6ish eat again is some crazy market>
900 return home, pray and plan for the next day>
930 write in journal, get stuff ready for the next day>
1015 im usually in bed> >
Kids, thank you so much for writing me last week!>
Cade, you are so so so amazing!! Holy cow, the only touchdown in the finals!!!!!!!!!! And you have grown a ton, 5’1” 95 lbs??? I don’t think I hit that until I was in 10th! You are going to be as tall as me when I get home. Please don’t grow up too fast!! Please stay the exact same until I get home!!!!>
Paigey, I agree with you. It seems like I have been gone forever huh?! Yes, it has only been 5 months, and I still have a whole year left, but I think it will start going faster. (at least I hope and pray for that!!!!) I miss you! How is your harp going? I want to see pics from Halloween! >
Elle my state champ!!! Youre awesome!! hah I want to see pics of bulldog boinkins I have so many cute things that you have made me decorating the house, I think of you every single day. >
Coops and Ash! I hear you are so good at rollerblading. That sounds fun! We’ll have to go blading up the canyon together when I get home! I miss you so much. Please please don’t grow up!!!!>
Andie Lou, I miss you so much. You are incredible. I cant wait until winter semester when we will be at the y together! I want to hear from you again soon!> >
Ps… the branch loves that I fell in the khlong. They keep asking me about it.. they say that I am officially the first sister to fall in. there have been a whole list of elders, (the members have found the need to tell me all of their stories) but no sisters. I think it is because most sisters are too scared to ride on it, so they take the longer way on the streets!!> >
I love you!! I miss you so much!! I sure hope time starts going faster!>
love, sister taryn
jordan 11.9.09
chan did that girl add you? yes she did. i was at there house and i told her too. i said. tell him im sitting on your couch and i say hi and im terrible at dutch. did she send it? ha ha she is a little crazy her mom is celine. she is a little crazy too. what have you been up to? i checked out your profile. shhhhh. ha ha mom i dont know if i can handle this kid. he is ok but. im not feeling happy for some reason. i can work through it. ok thanks for all the letters. whats goin on in the fam. can you send me everybodys birth date so i can have them and put them on my calander. i relly like the calander you got me thanks. k g2g love ya
jordan 11.9.09
hey well this week was a rough one. alot of appointments fell through. but we still had alot of success.
we are in the middle of really seeing who is in and who is out. clean up a little bit. its pretty cold out here. mom. the majority of people here are tall. i guess this is one of the "tallest countries" people that is.
this week we had stake conference in brussels. i love that place. its rad. this week also there was another jumper they call them. when somebody jumpes in front of the train. our train was cancelled. we had to take a bus to tilburg that day. we work tuesday, thurs, and friday in tilburg. and on friday we are with Harry all day. best day of the week.
we had a dinner appointment with a fam. on thurs. we celebrated guy fawkes. we burned a stuffed man in the fire and everything. then we roasted smores.mmmmmm it was nice to be around a fire. you will have to check out that holaday on the internet. its an english holladay.
my comp is ok. its hard getting used to somebody new. how is everything going in utah? they celebrate sinti clause out here on dec 5 and i think its a couple of days. then they celebrate christmas and its a couple of days also. they love holladays.
weeelll i dont have much more boring i know. write me yo yo. thanks for the letters! im still discovering amazing places and streets here in breda. there are some really pretty places. my language skills are still struggling. ok bye. oh yeah morg oh man its getting dang close. ahhhh! good luck wish i could be there! shanny chan new friend? ha ha love ya all dooi
we are in the middle of really seeing who is in and who is out. clean up a little bit. its pretty cold out here. mom. the majority of people here are tall. i guess this is one of the "tallest countries" people that is.
this week we had stake conference in brussels. i love that place. its rad. this week also there was another jumper they call them. when somebody jumpes in front of the train. our train was cancelled. we had to take a bus to tilburg that day. we work tuesday, thurs, and friday in tilburg. and on friday we are with Harry all day. best day of the week.
we had a dinner appointment with a fam. on thurs. we celebrated guy fawkes. we burned a stuffed man in the fire and everything. then we roasted smores.mmmmmm it was nice to be around a fire. you will have to check out that holaday on the internet. its an english holladay.
my comp is ok. its hard getting used to somebody new. how is everything going in utah? they celebrate sinti clause out here on dec 5 and i think its a couple of days. then they celebrate christmas and its a couple of days also. they love holladays.
weeelll i dont have much more boring i know. write me yo yo. thanks for the letters! im still discovering amazing places and streets here in breda. there are some really pretty places. my language skills are still struggling. ok bye. oh yeah morg oh man its getting dang close. ahhhh! good luck wish i could be there! shanny chan new friend? ha ha love ya all dooi
12.05.2009
taryn 11.4.09
Hey!>
This past week has been really good. Jord and I hit our 5 month mark yesterday! i have a year left..>
The weather hasnt been too horrible lately! yesterday was the first day in country that i didnt sweat! it is supposed to get hot again, but it is nice for a few days. i will welcome cool weather anytime! Thank you all for writing!!!!!!! it really is amazing to hear from people. mom, before i forget, could you keep forwarding me ryans emails? i havent gotten one for a few weeks.. >
im in muang thong right now, where the office is, i had to renew my visa! i think today is just going to be a hang out with the sisters day before we return to sapphaan sung, about and hour away, to teach english. after i emailed last week we went down to the neatest little island. definitely the most foreign place i have ever been!! we rented really old rickety cruiser bikes and rode them around it (more like back and forth through the village on the crazy little pathways) every house was the traditional thai house (looks like on stilts), most were over the water, using boats to get aroung. hah we passed a man who was using a hammer, crushing little chipmunks heads and pulling out the guts for his restaurant. hah sister oneil said as we were passing "poor alvin". weird how being out here you just get used to stuff like that. we rode through tons of banana trees and other tropical things, it was beautiful. m and d, i cant wait to take you there! > last week in sacrament we sang "press forward saints" i was just waiting to hear coops and ash sing out alleluia, but it never came:( hah it sounds very different in thai..>
we have found out that there are fishes included in the water that floods our streets. i have no idea how! the first sign was when we were teaching 3 little less-active girls that we are in charge of. we were in their "backyard" which consists of a gas stove, a sink, a shower head for showering, a little wooden platform for sitting (beer bottles all over it from their dad and others that live there) overgrown plants and trees, and lots of trash. there was a little pond from the flooding back there that the two younger girls, 6 and i think 9, were catching fish with a little string and some meat on it. they would pull hook out and everything and then stick them in a bucket. they caught 3 in a teeny puddle within the time we were there! we were amazed! >
then, with our street being flooded, lots of trash and leaves and things get washed up under our bikes by the house. there was a dead fish under my bike! the final sign was while we were biking, a fish went flopping across the road to get to the other side where another huge puddle was! haha i didnt know fish were that smart! (except for the fact that we almost ran it over with our bikes!) >
halloween was a good day, though it was hard on sunday morning waking up and knowing that all the kids were dressed up cute at that moment going out... on sat for lunch we ate at a nice itaian restaurant (only one around) it was nice to get a break from thailand for a minute. before we started our fast (we start in afternoon and end in afternoon) we went to the 7-11 (which are everywhere, but i havent ever seen one attatched to a gas station) and bought a bunch of candy and indulged..>
monday was loygratong, a national holiday where they make little floating things and put a candle, money, incense, and other things on it to give thanks and apologize to the water and send it on the water. we got to go to the wat and see the festivities, it was really cool! there were people selling the little lanterns, random things like snakes, and also food like seahors and squid tentacles on a stick everywhere, fireworks, monks all over the place dressed in their orange robes, and thousands of thais, all sending their lanterns on the khlong. we were the only farangs (not asian) in the whole place. it was one of the moments that makes me realize im really in thailand. no place like it. > >
oh my so frustrating. i lost my work that i wrote after this. i had some good stuff. oh well. i hate comps i thailand!! i have a feeling im moving next week, that would be sad. we have gotten the work really going here. we got praised by the APs for being the best area right now. oh man i wish that would have gotten erased.>
well i love and miss you so so so much. talk to you soon>
love, sister young >
random: andie, when is class registration next fall for winter semester?
This past week has been really good. Jord and I hit our 5 month mark yesterday! i have a year left..>
The weather hasnt been too horrible lately! yesterday was the first day in country that i didnt sweat! it is supposed to get hot again, but it is nice for a few days. i will welcome cool weather anytime! Thank you all for writing!!!!!!! it really is amazing to hear from people. mom, before i forget, could you keep forwarding me ryans emails? i havent gotten one for a few weeks.. >
im in muang thong right now, where the office is, i had to renew my visa! i think today is just going to be a hang out with the sisters day before we return to sapphaan sung, about and hour away, to teach english. after i emailed last week we went down to the neatest little island. definitely the most foreign place i have ever been!! we rented really old rickety cruiser bikes and rode them around it (more like back and forth through the village on the crazy little pathways) every house was the traditional thai house (looks like on stilts), most were over the water, using boats to get aroung. hah we passed a man who was using a hammer, crushing little chipmunks heads and pulling out the guts for his restaurant. hah sister oneil said as we were passing "poor alvin". weird how being out here you just get used to stuff like that. we rode through tons of banana trees and other tropical things, it was beautiful. m and d, i cant wait to take you there! > last week in sacrament we sang "press forward saints" i was just waiting to hear coops and ash sing out alleluia, but it never came:( hah it sounds very different in thai..>
we have found out that there are fishes included in the water that floods our streets. i have no idea how! the first sign was when we were teaching 3 little less-active girls that we are in charge of. we were in their "backyard" which consists of a gas stove, a sink, a shower head for showering, a little wooden platform for sitting (beer bottles all over it from their dad and others that live there) overgrown plants and trees, and lots of trash. there was a little pond from the flooding back there that the two younger girls, 6 and i think 9, were catching fish with a little string and some meat on it. they would pull hook out and everything and then stick them in a bucket. they caught 3 in a teeny puddle within the time we were there! we were amazed! >
then, with our street being flooded, lots of trash and leaves and things get washed up under our bikes by the house. there was a dead fish under my bike! the final sign was while we were biking, a fish went flopping across the road to get to the other side where another huge puddle was! haha i didnt know fish were that smart! (except for the fact that we almost ran it over with our bikes!) >
halloween was a good day, though it was hard on sunday morning waking up and knowing that all the kids were dressed up cute at that moment going out... on sat for lunch we ate at a nice itaian restaurant (only one around) it was nice to get a break from thailand for a minute. before we started our fast (we start in afternoon and end in afternoon) we went to the 7-11 (which are everywhere, but i havent ever seen one attatched to a gas station) and bought a bunch of candy and indulged..>
monday was loygratong, a national holiday where they make little floating things and put a candle, money, incense, and other things on it to give thanks and apologize to the water and send it on the water. we got to go to the wat and see the festivities, it was really cool! there were people selling the little lanterns, random things like snakes, and also food like seahors and squid tentacles on a stick everywhere, fireworks, monks all over the place dressed in their orange robes, and thousands of thais, all sending their lanterns on the khlong. we were the only farangs (not asian) in the whole place. it was one of the moments that makes me realize im really in thailand. no place like it. > >
oh my so frustrating. i lost my work that i wrote after this. i had some good stuff. oh well. i hate comps i thailand!! i have a feeling im moving next week, that would be sad. we have gotten the work really going here. we got praised by the APs for being the best area right now. oh man i wish that would have gotten erased.>
well i love and miss you so so so much. talk to you soon>
love, sister young >
random: andie, when is class registration next fall for winter semester?
12.04.2009
jordan 11.2.09
hey ok not much time.
well i have a new comp its hard getting used to somebody new. the first full day i was with him was really hard. everything was dumped on me. it honestly felt like a nightmare. but mom i took money out to buy a discount card for the train. then today i took a little more out because they are late on putting our money in our account. frustrating.
well felix was baptized on sat! he came out to play proffesional soccer. he had a permit to stay in holland for 3 months. he did not succeed in making a professional soccer team so he was depressed and decided to go home early. so he was walking to the train station and thats when we met him. he sais he is happy now ever since he met us. he loves the church and the BoM. his 3 months was up today. he went back to austrailia right after his confirmation.
chhabi got the priesthood yesterday. our ward mission leader has said hes the stongest convert hes ever seen. he bikes 50 min to church from his reffugee camp. we taght some of his friends the other day. we have a return app. well see what happens.
we had some cool experiences this week. some cool run ins with people. we blew a lot of people minds with our message this week.
im guessing you got my package i sent. we have some good app this week. meeting with a family tonight. that is very interested. oh yeah we have another baptism. remember chris. his baptism is going to be on the 28 nov.
chan loyal! whats going on son benjimon? ps my comp collects pokemon cards oh boy. oh boy. thanks for the twizzlers mom. he loved them! Morg! whats goin on son? its getting close!!!. thanks for all the letters. see you next week
well i have a new comp its hard getting used to somebody new. the first full day i was with him was really hard. everything was dumped on me. it honestly felt like a nightmare. but mom i took money out to buy a discount card for the train. then today i took a little more out because they are late on putting our money in our account. frustrating.
well felix was baptized on sat! he came out to play proffesional soccer. he had a permit to stay in holland for 3 months. he did not succeed in making a professional soccer team so he was depressed and decided to go home early. so he was walking to the train station and thats when we met him. he sais he is happy now ever since he met us. he loves the church and the BoM. his 3 months was up today. he went back to austrailia right after his confirmation.
chhabi got the priesthood yesterday. our ward mission leader has said hes the stongest convert hes ever seen. he bikes 50 min to church from his reffugee camp. we taght some of his friends the other day. we have a return app. well see what happens.
we had some cool experiences this week. some cool run ins with people. we blew a lot of people minds with our message this week.
im guessing you got my package i sent. we have some good app this week. meeting with a family tonight. that is very interested. oh yeah we have another baptism. remember chris. his baptism is going to be on the 28 nov.
chan loyal! whats going on son benjimon? ps my comp collects pokemon cards oh boy. oh boy. thanks for the twizzlers mom. he loved them! Morg! whats goin on son? its getting close!!!. thanks for all the letters. see you next week
12.03.2009
taryn 10.28.09
Hey >
This week was good. we have a lot of fun as a companionship, we work hard, and we are a powerful threesome! i have seen the Lords hand in the work every day this past week. > Gaan got baptized on Sunday! it was really neat to see her walk out of the bathroom in her white dress. i had serious doubts that i would ever see the day! she is the 13 year old who wanted to get baptized so badly, but her mom and grandpa wouldnt let her. after much prayer and fasting and faith, we were able to see the miracle of her baptism. She was so excited. we actually had 10 investigators between the elders and us there to watch it too. hah, she had to be baptized multiple times. the first time we all thought it was good, she went in and started changing, but then they figtured out that the words were said wrong and had to come back into the "boiling pot" outside which is honestly what it looks like. her head didnt go all the way under the 2nd time. the third was a charm, well almost. when she was changing, some people said that her underwear had some color and they had this big disagreement whether to count it. the branch prez finally approved it by pulling out his handbook of instruction. the three of us sang "the Lord is my Shepherd" during the program, it was so pretty! also, while she was getting dressed, i heard them singing "angels we have heard on high". hah christmas songs are fair game all year round. >
another highlight from sunday was watching 2 of the elders investigators walk in in t-shirts, one a marijuana shirt, the other with swear words written all over it. i am excited to see them in a few weeks when a change has started take place. one sad thing about clothing here is that there are alot of bad shirts written in english, but i dont think that they really understand what the shirts say.>
I have had a few khlong adventure in the past while. first, 2 weeks ago when we went to china town, as we were getting off the khlong boat, i put on my backpack and somehow my tag dropped perfectly, right into the water. the last thing i saw before the brown water took over it was my CTR sticker:( >
a big piece of the narrow old khlong path that we ride broke. there is a 2x4 piece of wood connecting that we cross, carrying our bikes over the water. scary!>
hah and the best of all. yesterday it happened. i fell in! there is a part that we usually walk our bikes down and then back up because there isa dip that is super steep. i decided that i was skilled enough and decided to ride it this time. i almost made it to the top when my bike stopped. the next thing i knew i was up to my shoulders in nasty brown water, my feet in gush with big chunks of who knows what at the bottom, and i dont want to know what else. alive or dead, that was by me. luckily it was right in the dip, where it gets submerged in the water a few inches, so throwing my bike back up and getting out was able to be done in a matter of a few seconds. hah my shoes were stuck, i wasnt about to wait for them. they floated up a little later. haha one of my elders last night said making fun of me" what a cool thing, you can tell people you swam in a thailand sewer." hah thats pretty much what it is!!! oh man i get the shivers just thinking about it! my garments are gray. one really amazing miracle is that my bag got submerged and a lot got wet, but nothing that was really important or irreplacible!! not going to lie, it felt pretty good to ride around wet. a little relief from the heat!!!>
I am going to chastize a little... please write/email me:(>
also, mom could you forward ryans email again, it didnt work.. oh, and can you send me morg's MTC and mission address? i cant believe he enters soon!!! also, thank you for the package, i got it a few weeks ago. i love the decorations, it makes me feel a little closer to home. > >
sorry, dont have enough time to write everything. I love you so much and miss you like crazy. >
love, t> >
the past week:>
number of dead frogs: 15>
bugs: HUGE cockroach. in our bedroom! mom you would have died. the thing was bigger than the one that coops made for me on his card saying "dangerous beetle, beware!">
names: cartoon, rat, new, sugar
This week was good. we have a lot of fun as a companionship, we work hard, and we are a powerful threesome! i have seen the Lords hand in the work every day this past week. > Gaan got baptized on Sunday! it was really neat to see her walk out of the bathroom in her white dress. i had serious doubts that i would ever see the day! she is the 13 year old who wanted to get baptized so badly, but her mom and grandpa wouldnt let her. after much prayer and fasting and faith, we were able to see the miracle of her baptism. She was so excited. we actually had 10 investigators between the elders and us there to watch it too. hah, she had to be baptized multiple times. the first time we all thought it was good, she went in and started changing, but then they figtured out that the words were said wrong and had to come back into the "boiling pot" outside which is honestly what it looks like. her head didnt go all the way under the 2nd time. the third was a charm, well almost. when she was changing, some people said that her underwear had some color and they had this big disagreement whether to count it. the branch prez finally approved it by pulling out his handbook of instruction. the three of us sang "the Lord is my Shepherd" during the program, it was so pretty! also, while she was getting dressed, i heard them singing "angels we have heard on high". hah christmas songs are fair game all year round. >
another highlight from sunday was watching 2 of the elders investigators walk in in t-shirts, one a marijuana shirt, the other with swear words written all over it. i am excited to see them in a few weeks when a change has started take place. one sad thing about clothing here is that there are alot of bad shirts written in english, but i dont think that they really understand what the shirts say.>
I have had a few khlong adventure in the past while. first, 2 weeks ago when we went to china town, as we were getting off the khlong boat, i put on my backpack and somehow my tag dropped perfectly, right into the water. the last thing i saw before the brown water took over it was my CTR sticker:( >
a big piece of the narrow old khlong path that we ride broke. there is a 2x4 piece of wood connecting that we cross, carrying our bikes over the water. scary!>
hah and the best of all. yesterday it happened. i fell in! there is a part that we usually walk our bikes down and then back up because there isa dip that is super steep. i decided that i was skilled enough and decided to ride it this time. i almost made it to the top when my bike stopped. the next thing i knew i was up to my shoulders in nasty brown water, my feet in gush with big chunks of who knows what at the bottom, and i dont want to know what else. alive or dead, that was by me. luckily it was right in the dip, where it gets submerged in the water a few inches, so throwing my bike back up and getting out was able to be done in a matter of a few seconds. hah my shoes were stuck, i wasnt about to wait for them. they floated up a little later. haha one of my elders last night said making fun of me" what a cool thing, you can tell people you swam in a thailand sewer." hah thats pretty much what it is!!! oh man i get the shivers just thinking about it! my garments are gray. one really amazing miracle is that my bag got submerged and a lot got wet, but nothing that was really important or irreplacible!! not going to lie, it felt pretty good to ride around wet. a little relief from the heat!!!>
I am going to chastize a little... please write/email me:(>
also, mom could you forward ryans email again, it didnt work.. oh, and can you send me morg's MTC and mission address? i cant believe he enters soon!!! also, thank you for the package, i got it a few weeks ago. i love the decorations, it makes me feel a little closer to home. > >
sorry, dont have enough time to write everything. I love you so much and miss you like crazy. >
love, t> >
the past week:>
number of dead frogs: 15>
bugs: HUGE cockroach. in our bedroom! mom you would have died. the thing was bigger than the one that coops made for me on his card saying "dangerous beetle, beware!">
names: cartoon, rat, new, sugar
12.02.2009
jordan 10.26.09
ok well. im staying in Breda. but im getting a new comp. oh boy. his name is elder sticht. ive met him before at zone conference. he is serving in Gent in belgium. my comp is taking his place. the little switcharoo. i hope he speaks really good dutch because i dont. except for the first time ever during a lesson i could actually follow what they were saying a little bit. then i went to church and didnt understand a word. last week we had zone conference. it was good. pres brubaker is a stud.
the weather is strange here. it was really cold two weeks ago then last week it warmed up a bit now its cold and rainy again. oh well i guess its not that strange. just notice it more because im outside.
we started to teach this guy named chris he is from sierra leone. really nice guy came to church yesterday. we set a baptismal date with him. we also started to work with a lady named frida. she has already had all the discussions years ago. but doesnt remember anything. so we are reteaching her. her x husband also wouldnt let her join but they just got divorced. kennith and maddeline, we still se them once a week. his baptismal date is right after his wedding on december 1st. sis seabers is still investigating she comes to church every week but is a slow mover and i think slow of change and scared. she needs a good soft nudge. this week we are starting to teach a family. its another kennith and his girlfriends name is annie i think they live together and they have 2 kids. but they all came to church 2 weeks ago and we havnt seen him since. we found out that their kid got pnemonia and was in the hospital for 2 days.
well thats about it. thanks for all the support everybody.
chhabi is still doing great. he paid his tithing the other day. man he is solid. he is getting the priesthood soon! he made us the best indian meal on saterday night it was amazing. except the next morning it smelt like indian food throughout the whole chuch. everybody that walked in was wondering what was up. my suit still reeks of it. well ill see you later skater. mom dank u wel, dad bedankt.
the weather is strange here. it was really cold two weeks ago then last week it warmed up a bit now its cold and rainy again. oh well i guess its not that strange. just notice it more because im outside.
we started to teach this guy named chris he is from sierra leone. really nice guy came to church yesterday. we set a baptismal date with him. we also started to work with a lady named frida. she has already had all the discussions years ago. but doesnt remember anything. so we are reteaching her. her x husband also wouldnt let her join but they just got divorced. kennith and maddeline, we still se them once a week. his baptismal date is right after his wedding on december 1st. sis seabers is still investigating she comes to church every week but is a slow mover and i think slow of change and scared. she needs a good soft nudge. this week we are starting to teach a family. its another kennith and his girlfriends name is annie i think they live together and they have 2 kids. but they all came to church 2 weeks ago and we havnt seen him since. we found out that their kid got pnemonia and was in the hospital for 2 days.
well thats about it. thanks for all the support everybody.
chhabi is still doing great. he paid his tithing the other day. man he is solid. he is getting the priesthood soon! he made us the best indian meal on saterday night it was amazing. except the next morning it smelt like indian food throughout the whole chuch. everybody that walked in was wondering what was up. my suit still reeks of it. well ill see you later skater. mom dank u wel, dad bedankt.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
