Pictures from Thailand

The District

Me talking to a cow

Riding our bikes into the sunset

Me on some ruins of an old Buddhist Temple

This is the cockroaches we caught in one day in the shape of a heart! Love You!

The dogs I have to face EVERYDAY!!!!





A monkey for Holly

Dressed as angels for the branch's Christmas pageant

Singing at the pageant

'Tis the Christmas Season

Hello!

This week has been great! Met lots of new investigators. We've done some service too for the branch. They're preparing the church for the "Journey to Bethlehem" this Saturday. Every room is decorated wall to floor. It's a completely different place! I'll have many pictures next week about that one. It's really neat how full out they go for this!

Pres. and Sis. Smith are coming here on Christmas Eve so that will be fun!

We had a great training in Bangkok this week too! It was really good!

Well, that's about it! Sorry, I can't think of anything that happened this week! We just had a week full of dogs attacking us. Needless to say, Sis. Supansa and I had to build barricades to escape them!

Love you all!!!

Sis. Henderson

Hello Again!!!!

Monkeys in the city

Emily in Lopburri

My new companion, Sister Supansa

My last area, Saphann Sun

Bangkok, notice all the cars and motorcycles

Hello!

Glad to hear that the Christmas season is up and going! Save some cookies for me!!!!!

Dad, Happy Father's Day!!!! Yesterday was the King's birthday, so it is father's day too! Hope you had a great Sunday!!!!

Well, last week I got off the computer and realized that I hadn't told you about my amazing companion. Her name is Sis. Supansa (I sent a picture). She's from Bangkok. Her 2 older sisters and older brother served missions and now she is. Sis. Lifferth actually was companions with her older sister. I'm just following my Maa's footsteps! Anyways, her family is all Chinese but they all live in Thailand. She's really fun! This is only her 2nd moves so it's quite an adventure! Oh, she also is fluent in English. She went to BYU-Hawaii for a year and a half before coming on a mission. People often don't believe her when she says that she is Thai. hahaha!!!

My district leader, Elder Baker, is so crazy and that's what makes it fun! He said his official title is the mission entertainment supervisor. He's just hilarious! It's really a lot of fun to work with him and his greenie, Elder Heslop.

This week we went inviting (tracting as you old people call it) in a neighborhood that we've never been to before! It was also hit with flooding. They're just barely starting to recover from it. When we first entered the neighborhood, the walls had holes in them like cannons were fired or something. Turns out it's just water damage. We talked to a family who was in the process of cleaning the walls of their house of mold and dirt. (the houses were under water for 2 weeks) It's quite fun riding through those neighborhoods because it's all a remodeling zone. Everyone is painting their houses in bright colors! It's so colorful!!!

We were inviting a person who works at a movie/CD store. She really wants to learn but her boss will only allow her one day off in a month! I was like, "Are you serious?" It's really sad!

Recently we've been riding around Monkey city and I must say, I appreciate Holly's prayers. They are so scary! If you have something that they want, they'll pounce on you and take it. It takes a lot of courage to walk around there.

It still amazes me everyday how we'll be inviting and I'll just take a random turn and find a random person who has been wanting to learn about the gospel. It's fantastic how it all works!!!

Love you all!!!

Sis. Henderson

Em

Lopburi!!!!!

Emily and her new companion

Hello everyone!!!!

Oh my gosh I LOVE my new area!!!! I've been thinking, "Where have you been this whole time?" It's just so amazing! I can't even describe it!

Lopburi is about a 2 hour drive from Bangkok. Not bad! It's like a Rexburg in comparision to my other area. I think that's why I like it! It's still very much a city, but it also has a lot of jungle around it. Not to mention this place is busseling with tourists. Lopburi is the land of the monkeys and has a lot of history too. So people go to see these ancient wats and a palace too! It's really cool! I'm biking around looking at all of this in amazement. No worries, pictures are coming your way!
Tracting is a blast because it's like hiking through the jungle! It's great! No, I haven't had to use a masheti (sword) yet.
And the monkeys. They're everywhere! Fortunately they are confined to a certain area of the city. When we drove into Lopburi my first thought was, "This reminds of The Jungle Book!" Monkeys all over these ancient buildings! Then in the city, they hangout on the roofs, powerlines, and sidewalks. Needless to say, all the vendors have sticks to wack the monkeys away from their goods. Apparently they are rather mischievious! A couple of months ago, the monkeys hopped on the train (it goes straight through the middle of Lopburi) rode it to the next city. Raided the food stands near the station and hopped on the train and went back to Lopburi. hahaha! Crazy!

The branch here is really nice! The day I arrived here was Thanksgiving. All of the missionaries in Bangkok get to go to a foreigner's house for Thanksgiving but we don't get that luxury. The members felt bad for us so they made Thanksgiving dinner for us. They had chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, and cake! It was definitely an unforgettable Thanksgiving. One of the members called us over early because she was panicked that none of it tasted right. She was quizzing me about how to make gravy. As you know, I was useless in that field. Then I was rushed into another room for my fitting. I'm going to be an angel for the Christmas activity and they're having me sing too. Fortunately not solo! After that, the branch gathered together and shared the information they learned about Thanksgiving through research online. Then they told everyone that we couldn't eat till everyone got up and shared a 2 minute talk! That's an idea for you Dad to get people to speak. Great evening indeed!

So my ankles officially have caluses on them because I sit cross-legged on the tile floor so much! Weird!

I don't know if you heard about all of the flooding in Thailand... Anyways, Lopburi was one of those areas hit with flooding. The missionaries last moves spent 3 weeks with the army and volunteers helping clean everything up and such. We went to a house last night that got flooded. The water was up the 2nd storey window! Right now it looks like nothing ever happened. That family was interesting to teach. The father informed us that we will all die in 7 days. Wasn't sure if he just watched a movie or what. hahaha!

Anyways, more stories in the future!

Thanks Monty, Berna and Sis. Mack for your letters!!!

Love you all!!!

Sis. Henderson

Em

Bangkok East Zone Conference November 17, 2010

I think this is Emily's companion

Missionaries serving in the Bangkok East Zone

Emily with Janis Smith, the Mission President's wife

Last week......

Hello!

It's been a fantastic last week here in SaphaanSung. I really am moving this time. I've been here too long I'm afraid. Everyone thinks I'm going North. Most likely Lopuri AKA the land of the monkeys!!!!! I really hope I do! That would be an adventure! Apparently you have to always keep track of your bag and hold onto everything tight. I guess the monkeys are used to getting their way. hahaha! Wherever I go, it will be great!

This week we had Zone Conference which was fantastic! We learned about our Area book and planning. (stuff they don't tell you in the MTC) It's really something we all needed since we're all new. It was great! Lots of pictures taken, that's for sure! Oh, I thought you might like my new rule that Sis. Meyers suggested. I have to take one photo a day. So far I'm doing great! I'm working on buying a card reader so that I can send pictures to you in my emails. We had the doctor come and give us a lecture about health. I liked what he said, "You only have to floss the teeth you want to keep." So, it's nice there's options! :-)

This week Pii Bu has stopped drinking coffee. She became severely ill from it. Vomiting, headache, etc. She couldn't even get out of bed she was so weak. She was telling us, I now understand why God doesn't want us to drink coffee if this is what it does to us. She definitely gained a testimony of that one! She was so bad that we asked some priesthood holders in the branch to come and give her a blessing. It was great! Her husband was there to watch it too! That was exactly what I wanted him to see. Needless to say, we went over the next morning and she was completely normal, completely healed. I commented how she looked like she was dying yesterday and now she's better. She laughed and talked about how instant the blessing took effect. Received a testimony of the priesthood too! Later, she hosted a dinner party! hahaha! I love her!

This week at church a very interesting experience took place. A lady walked into church saying that she wanted to worship with us. Later I sat down next to her in sacrament meeting and she started to speak in perfect English. She's from California but was originally born here in Thailand. She's trying to get to her family down in the south. She explained how she graduated in ministry. I was thinking, "Why am I constantly running into Christians this moves?" Anyways, she explained how she liked the name of our church. I explained the meaning. She sat through all the classes. Even contributed in discussions. Later we gave her a Book of Mormon. Sis. Jolley and I became companions for a day. We had her read the 2 last paragraphs in the introduction. After reading it she said that it was true. She exclaimed how she knows this church is true, how the BofM is true, and how Joseph Smith is a man of God. She talked about how she was on a bus and she felt liked she needed to turn her head and look out the window. When she did, she saw our church. She felt that God wanted her to go to that church. Obviously she did. We taught her an amazing lesson. (she's amazing) She talked about how she really thinks the only reason she had to come to Thailand was to receive this knowledge. She even talked about how before she came to Thailand, she received revelation that she would receive a "new bible." She was so thrilled to receive the Book of Mormon. I hope it helps her receive new direction in her life.

So, ya! Lots of miracles!

Last night was the Floating Festival. I don't really know anything about it, but I went to it! It was really cool to watch. Everyone makes these flower boats that have a candle on it. They make a wish and then push it off into the water. (Don't worry, I got pictures!) Needless to say, everyone was there to make wishes and watch the fireworks. (we did lots of following up!) Some people make these mini hot air balloons that they send off into the sky. The sky was lit up with everyone's wishes! I wish you all could've seen it!

The weather has been really hot which is quite the opposite to be said in your neck of the woods. hahaha! Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!! Thank you all for supporting me!!!
Everyone keep looking for ways to strengthen the ward you are living in!!!


Love you!

Sis. Henderson

It's Me...... Again

Hello!

So... this might shock you..... Everyone should sit down before reading this.... I have started teaching someone how to play the piano. Not that I wanted to but she wants to learn so whatever. I know! Good thing I'm not there to hear everything you would say, mom. She's definitely got a gift. She's never played before, but at the end of our first lesson, she could play How Gentle God's Commands by herself. Wow! I was impressed!

So this week I made cookie dough and every night we scoop some into a bowl and microwave it and then scoop some ice cream on it. It's been divine! Yes, a cookie monster!

I'm not going to lie, I'm super glad this week is over! Everyone we talked to this week was Christian. What in the world? They all asked super hard questions. Never had to study so hard for investigators. I'm only used to teaching Buddhists so it was really different.

Went on exchanges with Sis. Meyer in Bangkapi. It was great! Walked down a street fearlessly with 7 dogs barking at us and following us! Okay, no I was scared but we pressed on! It was great! I loved it! Weird to think she's finishing in 5 weeks.

A member at church informed me that I've gained weight. hahaha! Maybe you should stop feeding me!!!!

Thanks Virginia for your letter!!!!

Well, that's all I've got this week!

Love you all!

Em
Sis. Henderson

Thailand News

Hey Everyone!

This week I had my interview with Pres. Smith. We talked about the new translation of the Thai Book of Mormon!!! I'm so excited! This one is so nicer! I'll get it next week... See right now the Thai Book of Mormon doesn't have the title page or the introduction so we have to make it up by ourselves. I'm happy that we'll be able to say, "read it!" And they are coming out with the D&C with the Bof M too! It'll be sooo nice!

This week the Elders had a baptism. Nud. He's great! I know him very well. Sis. Lifferth and I were teaching his family before. We gave him to the Elders because he was the only one interested. Now he's a member! We're still teaching his older sister though! She's Christian and her church is rather wacky by Christianity terms. She knew nothing about Christ. Just that he died on the cross. It's just been hard to teach her when her church says everything contradictory. Slowly but surely! She's starting to understand.

So, I thought I should share this great culture with you. I've mentioned the markets before. They're everywhere! Every morning and night they're there. No one cooks. Just go and buy food from the market. (Teaching keeping the Sabbath day holy is rather difficult) My favorite part is that everyone is in their pajamas. They really don't care. Everyone just goes to the markets in their pajamas and no one thinks less of you. It's like a pajama party... I love it!

Oh, I should tell you. We were studying when I looked out the window to our backyard when I saw this HUGE rat! It's actually really cute! We named him Timothy (no relation to Timothy Spalling who plays Peter Petigrew in Harry Potter). He apparently lives off the contents from our garbage can. So, ya! Oh, not to mention the flying cockroach attack in our bedroom last night.... I'll save that story for later.

While inviting this week we've run into lots of people who just bawl to us about their family troubles. It's so sad! Don't be stupid! Go tell your family you love them and care about them right now. Nothing is worth all of the pain and suffering people go through over matters that don't even matter.

Today, Sis. Jolley and I have been singing! It's great! It's crazy how we know the same songs and can sing them on beat together. No worries, our companions think we are officially crazy!! .... It's true!

Thanks everyone for your letters this week! They all come at the same time! Aunt Catherine (Love the card by the way), 3 from Austin (stop getting sick), Holly (How are you on the wise? Love your glasses), Paige (yes, they are stupid), and Marie (He's coming home!!!).

Love you all!!!

Sis. Henderson
Em

Happy November!!!!

Wow! November already?!? Crazy!!! Time flies, ya know!

Halloween here was really funny! I live next to a lot of foreigners and they tried to live it up as much as they could. Basically the Thai people could care less. The Italian pizza place was all decorated for Halloween and they had a special Halloween promotion on pizza so of course we had to go! Then chocolate cake. Sis. Jolley and I made French toast this morning... it was divine! Ya, I've eaten a lot of bad food lately. Just needing a break from all the rice...

So, it's getting pretty chilly here. Yesterday we stepped outside to go to church and it was actually cooler outside than inside. (that's the first) Cool is basically a warm September day. It's hot but with a cool breeze. I like it! It's perfect! Apparently it's time to start breaking out the winter coats...

So, I thought I should talk about this. I haven't said much lately about the investigators. The work is going well and you wouldn't believe the number of lessons we teach each week. I just don't feel like I can talk about them because it's a bit much. You see, they all lead rather dramatic lives. Either that or drama finds me. All of the problems and things that my investigators are going through are difficult and personal. So, I really don't feel at liberty to discuss it. I will share about one investigator though!

Pii Rat: Remember her? She's still going strong! In fact, she just finished the Book of Mormon on Saturday. She insisted that she wanted to join the members in having a goal to read the Bible by next year. So that's what she's up to. Her husband still won't let her get baptized so we've been focusing on teaching her 12 year old daughter, Cherry. Yesterday was the first time Cherry went to church in a long time. YAY!!!!!

Anyways, so, just know that there's lots of people learning. Pray for them! They need it big time!

So, this week I sat on the pavement outside of her house and talked to a lady about herself. That's my favourite thing to do. She's Muslim so we can't teach her about the gospel. She talked about how similar our religions are and lots of other things about herself. I am so grateful I studied world religions before I came here. I was able to talk to her about her religion because I knew about it. Plus, through that class I gained a great respect and love for the Muslims. My area is mostly Muslims so I get to talk with them frequently. (which I love) But mostly, I love being able to walk away knowing I have made a new friend.

This week I also had a cool experience. We taught this lady along the side of the road in a neighborhood (hard to explain). We were simply teaching her how to pray. 13 kids gathered around us to listen as well. It's a cool experience to be surrounded by them learning how to pray. I felt like Maria from Sound of Music or Christ teaching the children.

Hope all is well! Keep working hard!

Love you!

Sis. Henderson

Em

Happy Holidays!!!

Well, today is a holiday in Thailand. Not sure what, but it is! So happy whatever it is!!!!

We're heading into winter too over here. Too which I asked, "And how is this weather any different?"

Oh, had a FANTASTIC half birthday by the way... went to the bakery and got some cake. The lady has become a good friend of the sister missionaries.... She smiled when I ordered. She replied with, "You sure do love chocolate, don't you?"
She gave me 2 extra pieces of chocolate cake for free. It was divine!

Sis. Jongkaew is all healed. The doctor said that she just got hit really hard so it was severely bruised. She's doing great though!

This week we had 3 day training again. For some reason they decided to drag Sis. Jongkaew and me into the mix of things. Didn't have to go to the meeting, but had to help take care of all the greenies. Sis. Jongkaew went back to Bangna with 2 greenies and Sis. Eyestone (who was in the district after me in the MTC) came to me. It was pretty intense because she was depending on me to understand what everyone was saying. I will say that it is amazing how well I was able to understand and speak. If I had to train next transfer, this exchange helped me see that I could do it. Actually, next transfer I'm probably going to be companions with Sis. Eyestone. hahaha! Crazy!!! So, I'd say my language has vastly improved. I somehow seem to understand mostly everything. Just still a problem with speaking...

Well, we're in the process of changing how we teach English. I've been put in charge of teaching the very beginning class AKA the alphabet and how to read. If anyone has any advice email it to my mom and she'll email it to me.

Well, Mom, I must say, you are quite correct on the day I am ending my mission. I go to transfer meeting on Oct. 26th and I'll be riding down the escalator at the airport Oct. 27th in the evening. Home for Halloween!!!! YAY!!! So I only have one year left! Crazy, right?
So... everyone put that on your calendars.... :-)

One of our investigators told us that she doesn't have to read the scriptures at home because her priest said that they study them at church. No need to study them at home. We've had lots of Christian investigators recently. You have no idea how much your conversion story comes in handy. Because they think that people who are Christian don't change to another sect of Christianity. Just Buddhism to Christianity. Your story helps them see that no matter what church you are a part of, you can change. It's weird, I know!

Love you all!!! Can't believe it's already November!!!

Em
Sis. Henderson

Moves 3 or transfers

Hello all!!!

Elder Perkins told us the correct term is not moves but transfer. So this is transfer 3.

Well, the unexpected always happens! Sis. Homsombat and I thought we were staying together but not so! This transfer we had 4 Thai sisters come in so Pres. Smith really had to mix things up. So what happened to me????

I'm in Saphaansung with Sis. Homsombat, Sis. Jolley, and Sis. Jongkaew (or Zhonggao for you Chinese speakers). They split our area for the sisters. I'm in the south with Sis. Jongkaew and Sis. Homsombat is in the north with Sis. Jolley. We live in the same house though! Makes life exciting! This is only for one transfer though. So it's only temporary. Transfer meeting was crazy though! 65% of our mission is under 5 transfers. We're all really young! All the Elders that jopped or went home this past week were all zone leaders and office elders. Crazy!!! Anyways what this means is that I am currently senior companion or pii. Sis. Webb was saying she didn't go pii till transfer 8. Shows you how young everyone is right now. Sis. Hirschi and Sis. Johnson are serving together. They're already fluent so it's no problem.

My companion actually came into the mission with me but left for three weeks for the MTC. Now she's back! She's really great at being bold. I don't think I could ever get away with how bold she is. And this weekend was so scary! We were riding along on our bikes when this car zoomed out of the neighborhood and completely slammed into Sis. Jongkaew. She went flying and all the contents on her bike went flying. I didn't see it but I definitely heard it. She got up and walked away from it. She only has a couple of scrapes and bruises and possibly a sprained ankle. Her bike is in perfect condition. For the speed that car was going at, I'd say it was definitely a miracle.
She says there's nothing wrong with her ankle but it's swollen. I'm taking her to the hospital whether she likes it or not! Oh, by the way, there is no such thing as just a medical clinic. You go to the hospital for everything. Guess it makes it easier if you need some higher technology....

I made microwave cake last night and I've never seen Sis. Jongkaew more excited. Guess I now know the way to her heart! :-) She's been pleading with me to make brownies... any good recipes?

I already know the exact day I'm going home! :-) You'll find out soon! I'll tell you when I hit my year left mark.....

Well, to be honest, there really wasn't much going on this week. We've been doing lots of tracting or inviting because of the split. It's been really cold too! I've been contemplating buying a coat! Ya, you should look at the temperatures this last weekend and you'll know what cold is for me.....

Love you all!!!

Em
Sis. Henderson

Moves October 2010

Emily at the "moves" or transfer meeting.

Cooking show host

Hello Everyone!

The Elders just barely gave us back a family that we gave to them earlier. They keep coming to church but they have many problems with our church. They are Catholic right now and the mom spends the whole time comparing our church to hers. Yesterday was painful meeting with them. She's a tyrant as the Elders call her. When we are in the middle of speaking she'll rudely interrupt and go off on something about her church. Why does she want to know about our church if she loves that one so much? Anyways, if I go into more, it will make me feel frustrated again. Basically I explained that I'm from America and have been to many other church services, you don't have to explain it to me.

I had to go to the office this week to pick up a greenie!!! No, I'm not training! Don't worry! The Thai missionaries come in a week before the foreign ones so we get to be a three-some for a week. It's been a lot of fun! Good stuff!

So we were riding our bikes through the "Oh so perfect Perfect Place" when a car drove up next to us and they rolled down the window. It was Cecil. Cecil is from France. I think I've talked about her before. She's a member and has a really thick French accent. Anyways in her French accent she says, " Good Morning Sisters!" I could've sworn she was moving her hand like in Princess Diaries to say, "thank you for being her today" as she said it. At that moment, I felt like I had just dived into a Keeping up Appearances episode. Ya, she said it just like how Hyacinth would say it. It was weird....

Conference was great! It was all in Thai. What I got from it was something about families, Priesthood, and the Holy Ghost and that's about it. I also learned that jokes don't translate over. There were times when our translator was laughing at the joke before he translated it. It was awkward to be sure.

For lunch I made cookies for the branch. Everyone was in awe of me making cookies. I was placing the dough on the cookie sheets and taking them off and I had quite an audience for that. I felt like I was doing a cooking show or something. Needless to say, the cookies were long gone before the actual food itself. Everyone was telling me that I HAD to teach them how to make them. Hey, at least they were good! Then the members started breaking out Maltesers and dark chocolate and I was like, " Now we're talking..."

This week was bizarre! I was teaching at a recent member's house. The daughter speaks English and Chinese. The Dad speaks English, Chinese, and Thai. Their friend only speaks Thai. So I taught in English and Sis. Homsombat translated it over. Just another crazy lesson with 3 languages. I told Heavenly Father that this puts a whole new spin on language study! Anyways, here's the crazy part. That language was so hard to teach! Words were only coming in Thai, not English. They asked me to pray in English at the end and it was horrible! My companion informed that I literally sounded like a Thai trying to speak English. hahaha! Ya, I'm losing it my friends! Bare with me....

This week is a Chinese holiday where they go vegetarian for a week and the restaurants don't serve meat either.... I'm not a fan.

Okay, well, best go! Love you!!!

Em
Sis. Henderson

Hey!

Hello!

Conference sounds great!!!! I'm so excited for the temple in Indy!!! We have to go when it is done!!! I get to hear conference in Thai.

Oh, last week you talked about how dress standards changed for the Sister missionaries. They announced it my last week in the MTC. I was like, "Go figure! My last week in the MTC and now they decide we don't have to wear nylons." Ya, it's a nice change!

Well, this week has been a super crazy one! We ended up not having a baptism because she wasn't quite ready yet. That's all I'm saying about that....

Tuesday we had a fireside meeting in Asoke. No one knew what it was about. We all sat in the church wondering what on earth we were learning about. Then Pres. Smith announced that today we get to think about after mission stuff. We had people from BYU-Hawaii give a presentation about their school, etc. It was crazy to think about all of that again. I felt like I was in school again....weird. Basically it was for the Thai missionaries who don't get a lot of opportunities to go to school in USA. It was good!

So..... Heavenly Father always has surprises in store for us. On Tuesday, I mailed my letter to Austin explaining how I do not study Chinese anymore nor speak it because there is no one to talk to in Chinese. Well, I feel like I eat my words each week. That night a girl walked into the church. I started speaking in Thai to her and she was like, " No, I no speak Thai! I am Chinese." I was like, " Someone pinch me right now, this is not happening!" We were teaching english that night. She looked at the picture of Christ on the wall and started apologizing for not knowing about who he is. I was like, "Believe me, I know that you don't know." I asked if she wanted to know about him and she energetically said yes. Our first lesson with her was pretty crazy! Nothing like teaching in 3 languages!!! It was insane! My mind was like, "No more!" It was very simple and very eye-openingfor me. Chinese and Thai are not the same. The whole time I kept thinking about how chinese she was. It was great! I was so glad to have all of the Chinese stuff from Austin. So thank you Austin! You saved me there. I taught her how to pray in Chinese. She was just so thrilled to have it in Chinese.

We had companion exchanges with Sis. Jolley this week! That was a blast. And when we were returning, I was in a taxi and I looked out the window to see an elephant walking down the busy streets of Bangkok. I was shocked someone would use an elephant as transportation, but hey, why not?

I'm so proud of Nong Blithe! She's progressing by leaps and yards! On a test in school they asked the question: "Buddha and God are the same. True or False." She put down false because they aren't the same. She got it wrong. I was like, " That question is so unfair. What kind of question is that? Did she tell the teacher about it?" Sis. Homsombat was like, "This is Thailand Sister. You can't just go up to your teacher and tell them about it." I thought it was quite interesting. I'm very proud of Nong Blithe for standing up for her beliefs. She's amazing!

Okay! Well, I love you all!!! Thanks for everything!!!


Em

Sister Henderson

Halfway through Moves 2.....Really??

Hello!

Okay, First off thank you for all of the mail this week!

So this week was really good! More training meetings this week. I don't know if you've noticed, but we've had a meeting every week this moves. Crazy!!!

This past week we had companion exchanges with Bangkapi sisters. It was fun! I was with Sis. Oneil who is going to finish next month. She's served here before so she had a blast taking me to all these different places that I've never been to. Also rode the klong. It's a small path along the river. It was quite an adventure! And the people we met along there....

Well, as promised, here's my investigator update:

Note: In Thailand you use titles such as Mr. and Mrs. when talking to people. This is what you say:

Pii: Those who are older, but not way older than you.
Nong: Those who are younger than you.
Maa: Those who are old enough to be your mom. (not that I'm saying you're old mom)
Baa/yay: Those who are old enought to be your grandma.
If they're close to your age, you don't use a title.

Gip: Well, a little bit crazy this week because we had our meeting with the Branch President this week and we talked about how Gip is getting baptized on 10/10/10. Then he said that we couldn't do that because it's general conference day. Why they couldn't tell us this before, no one knows. Anyways, so we asked Gip what she wanted to do and we are now having it Oct. 3rd. This means I have a lot of work this week.... I'm excited though! She's really ready for it! She told us of, yes, another dream she's had with Christ in it. She hadn't read the Book of Mormon for two days. Christ in her dream came to her and told her that she's forgotten Him and she had a lot of pain. Okay, I didn't fully understand it, but basically after the dream she knew she had to read everyday. :-) Yep!

Pii Joy: Oh Joy..... words really can't describe her. Joy has a lot of pain in her life. She's been abused so much that she has a mental problem. There are 2 Joys see... one is normal, the other is some high pitched, english-speaking cartoon character about the age of 7. It's really crazy! The first time we met with her it took about 15 min. to establish what language she speaks. When she's not herself, she claims she can't speak/understand Thai. Her english is hard to understand because it's so high-pitched and mixed with Thai. It's crazy. Anyways, it's been remarkable to teach her because we have seen a vast improvement in her. She's not switching as much anymore. There's definitely more control in her life now. She even got a new job and is doing great. We love her!

Pii Rat: Okay, so I said last time that I know she received her answer, but she won't admit it, right? Well, here's the story... we watched the Restoration DVD with her and afterwards the spirit whispered to me that this was her answer. You could tell by the look on her face that she got it. Her whole countance has changed. I didn't know at the time that Sis. Homsombat received the same revelation. We asked her about it but she claimed she felt nothing. That I knew was a lie. Next visit with her I asked her about it. It was funny because she looked at me the whole lesson because she knew that I knew. She said that she did receive her answer, but she wasn't confident in it and was scared. I asked her to pray about it again about the feelings she felt in the movie. Next time we met with her, she said that it's true for reals. She's knows she's got to make a decision, either deny everything that the spirit has told her or get baptized. Hmmm... We're working on helping her let go of her fears and look at the big picture.

Pii Bu: Well, I wish we could say the same about Pii Bu. We're really struggling with her. I still feel like this is a recreational activity for her. The problem: the world. She's got her eyes on it. She's holding to the rod but earnestly looking and keeping her eyes on the great and spacious building. It's interesting to teach Pii Rat and Pii Bu together because Pii Rat even notices it. Everytime Pii Bu talks about something Pii Rat looks at her like, "Clearly you don't understand." That's the hard part for Pii Rat is seeing her friend not progressing and understanding like she is. Anyways, she definitely isn't getting baptized anytime soon unless she changes.

Nong Blithe: I've had questions about her. She's Pii Bu's daughter. They're on the same page.

Pii Oi: New investigator that walked into church the day of the Open House. She's doing good! She sincerely wants change in her life. Her family has lots of problems and she's seeking comfort and peace. She's a retired teacher. She's as sweet as honey. Last time we met with her, she had her dining room table full of food for us to eat! She's so nice!

Yay lamphay: She's Christian and just lists off these questions she has everytime! It's quite intense! It's interesting how people here don't understand that there are many different kinds of Christianity. Everyone thinks Christianity is like one church or something. So she's concerned about that.

That's all for this time! There's more, but I won't go into them right now.

So do I go tracting? haha! Yes! Almost everyday when we have no appointments because no one is home yet from school and work. In fact, this past week I ran into another family with a down's syndrome daughter. I know, go figure, right? I talked about Heather and she invited us in to her house. She loved hearing about Heather. She wasn't interested in the gospel but Heather opened the door a little bit. Her daughter reminded me of Heather too! She kept saying, " mai ow, mai ow! " Which basically means she doesn't want it or Nope! She even gave me the hand like Heather does saying "nope!" hahaha!

Well, I had my last rabies shot this week!!!! YAY!!!! I celebrated by going to the bakery and eating delicious chocolate cake. I love this bakery because everytime we order 2 slices, the owner insists that we take 3 more for free. Hey, I'm not complaining. She claims we are so cute and do so much good that we deserve it!

Love you all!!! Thanks!

Em
Sister Henderson

Bangkok East and West Zone Conference with Elder Perkins September 2010

Bangkok East and West zone missionaries with President and Sister Smith and Elder and Sister Perkins

Sister missionaries serving in the Bangkok East and West zones

Emily and Sister Jolley

Another week in Thailand

Hello hello!!!

Well, this week has been an adventure! After rejuvenating my energy at Baskin Robbins (which was a trip to heaven and back), we went back to work on teaching the Thai people!

I've been chosen to be the English leader which means I get to speak English 24/7!!!!! hahahaha!!! No, I'm kidding! It means I am the leader for the way English is taught in my area. Great stuff!

Okay, so the more I'm here the more I believe that the movie, "Cats and Dogs" is true! I've mentioned that dogs randomly gather in groups and then split in all different directions randomly. This past week in the middle of Perfect neighborhood cats have been gathering together. They sit at least 7 of them in a circle on the street corner under a lamp post. Suspicious? I think so... Plus, when have cats been social animals like that?

This week was the long awaited open house. I was actually thoroughly impressed with what the members did. It was really awesome! They all worked so hard! Days literally spent at the church to get things ready. Before the open house a French lady who married a Thai came and talked to us. She's really funny! I am known as the Englishman's daughter. I mentioned that Dad is from Newcastle... Her husband studied in England for a long time. He was thrilled to talk to me about it.

Anyways, the open house had a great turnout. Even a monk from the Buddhist temple close by came. The meeting had a video of a member now living in Utah. They showed footage of Utah. That night God granted me the gift to see Utah through the eyes of the Thai people. It was quite a special experience. From that I understood how completely lucky and special I have been to grow up there. For those who are in Utah, you have no idea how privileged you are to live there. Looking at Utah made it seem like a place that was utopia. A place only really real in fairytales. It's hard to describe, but it was amazing.

Afterwards everyone rushed outside to eat. No one even looked at the building to see what the members had done. It makes me sad. They put some much work into it and no one looked at it. Oh, well!

That day was a hard one for my companion. She's from Bangkok. So, that open house was full of people she knew including her family. It would be like me being called to serve in my stake. That would be really hard! She's a trooper!

Yesterday we were out inviting when we stopped by this family who had a 6 yr. old with down syndrome. This was the first one I've seen in Thailand. I said "Hello!" To which she responded with sticking out her tongue to me. Hmmm... what a familiar response! I talked to her mom about Heather even showed a picture. She was really intrigued and showed the picture to all her friends of Heather. My guess is, she hasn't met many or zero who have a similar situation. She wasn't interested in the gospel but I made a new friend. hahaha! It just reminded me a lot of Heather. Love you Heather!!!!! This is me sticking my tongue out to you :P

Later that day we ran into a few people who were chillin' in the evening. They kept talking about how beautiful I was as they usually do. As always they asked if I had a boyfriend. Needless to say, there are many people here in Thailand holding out that I break up with Austin and marry their son. Anyways, this particular time, I was actually able to really converse with them. It was great!


Received revelation that Pii Rat has her answer but isn't telling us.... yep, she's scared.

Gip is my hero! When we taught about chastity, that night she talked to her boyfriend and the next day, she moved out. She has amazing faith!

Received another investigator who walked into the church searching for more happiness... She's amazing too!

Well, next week I'll give you an update on investigators!!!! It's going to be great!!!!

Love you all!!! Thanks for all of your support!!!

Em

Sister Henderson

Yep, it's me again!

Hello! It's me again!

So all of the food here is pretty much fried. If you're wondering whether the food is good, the answer is it's fried, yes!!! I can't tell you how many times I've had fried chicken. It's really just not the same without gravy!

We were riding our bikes home when Sis. Homsombat ran over a frog! Ew!!!! hahaha! It was hilarious!!!

Also while we were biking home (it's dark) there was a guy on the side of the road walking our direction. He was holding something that I couldn't see till I was close to it. It was a huge snake! Must've been at least 7ft. long! It was rather suprising!!!

The other day two lightbulbs in our house went out so I changed them. We went over to Pii Bu's and Rat's later and they were highly impressed. They were like,"You changed the lightbulb?! That is amazing!" What can I say? It takes major skill to change lightbulbs!!!!

Oh, FYI I have received a letter from Grandma, Holly, Catherine, Paige, McKenzie, and 2 from Austin. Thanks everyone!!! I'm a slow writer so have patience!!!!

Well, Sis. Homsombat and I were out inviting when she started humming a familiar tune. It was Zen Ma Ban from SHE. I started singing along and she about died with shock. "YOU know this song?" I'm like, "Of course!" We excitedly started talking about Asian music and TV shows. Go figure! My companion is a fan of Hana Kimi too! I would say we definitely get along!!!

So this week was full of miracles!!! It was amazing!!! Some of the most random people showed up at church. People who have flat out rejected us before have showed up! It was crazy!

Oh, and one of our new investigators, Joy, has set a baptism date too!!! Oct. 24th!!! She's awesome!!!!

Elder Perkins who is our area seventy came to visit us yesterday! It was a great meeting! Talked about a lot of things! Pretty awesome things are going on over here. I don't write about them because there would be no way to write about it. It's purely divine work being done here! I really do wish I could let all of you see it though! It's truely amazing!!!

Well, what I want to say this week is remember the lesson of Les Miserables. Jean Valjean was a criminal but had a change of heart. Everyone can experience a change of heart. Always give people 2nd chances. I've found as we give an investigator a second chance, they have a change of heart and capture joy they never knew existed in this life. Really. Miracles are happening everyday!

Love you all!!!

Em
Sis. Henderson

Moves 2

Hello!

So here I am in the heart of moves 2! I'm in the same area with a different companion. I'll talk about her later.
This past week I saw my Ma, Sis. Lifferth, die. It was super depressing! I wanted to cry but decided there was no need for tears. Since she is a jobber (finishing the mission) we had 2 P-days to prepare for her departure!
It was quite a blast! I loved it! And the other sister who was jobbing too came down to our place and had quite a party.... of missionary work. We went to Brathunam (I don't know how to spell it) which is the tallest tower in
Thailand. It's the 28th tallest in the world. It was pretty intense. Saw an alien. Shopped... a lot! :-) I got my one item from move 1. It's pretty awesome. It's a vase and the interior design major helped me pick it out. The next day was
moves meeting and we saw all of the nongthais come in from the MTC. I love them! Sis. Lifferth's jobbing line (as they all get an opportunity to say their last words) "In the words of Neil Diamond, "I'm going to America, TODAY!!!!!" Job!"
hahaha! I love her!!!
Then I got my new companion. She is Thai and her name is Sis. Homsombat. She's on her 3rd move so she's not that far ahead of me.
At first I will admit, I was really nervous to get a Thai companion, but I've been really prepared for it. On the drive home she talked about how her favorite things to eat is cheese, chocolate, ice cream...
I knew immediately after that that we were going to be great friends! hahaha! She speaks English really well! Some people think she's Philipinno. We switch off in speaking to help each other improve. So every other day we speak English and switch off with Thai. It's really great! She's super dramatic too! She acts out everything for me! I love it! She should go into theatre... she also loves watching musicals.

So I'm sure many of you are dying to know how the language is going.... It's still going but I will say it has vastly improved and not by anything on my part. I'll say before my Thai was okay. It was super weird though. The instant Sis. Homsombat became my companion, my Thai improved. It is purely the gift of tongues. I understand and can talk far greater than I ever have before. It's super weird. So, I'm getting it! Really!

So Peanut Butter.... what is it with pb? When I come to Asia, I indulge in it. Eat everything with PB. I've come to find out that all the other sisters are eating the exact same way. They're all like, "I don't know, but all of the sudden I really like pb." Maybe there's something up with that.....

We had a referral lesson with the Branch president's family last night. They are soo funny! I showed our family picture and they commented how everyone looks so nice.

Our investigators are going really well especially Gip. We've become quite good friends lately. It's been a lot of fun to teach her. And we've been teaching lots of new people too! We've had a lot of people randomly walk into church on Sunday because they are curious. I must say, that's the best way to get investigators!

Sorry I don't have much news this week! There isn't a lot of news because of all the changing around everything....

I love you all!!!! Enjoy Labor Day!!!!! I'm enjoying mine!

Em
Sis. Henderson

It's Me Again!

Hello!

I've got so much to tell you! It's crazy how much happens in a week! Really!

So... last p-day we went to the mall and ate at Sizzler which quite frankly was amazing! Then we went to the hospital in Bangkok which is super nice! I really like the set-up!

You go in and register and they give you a membership card. Then they tell you where to go according to your problem. So I explained my situation and Sis. Johnson explained hers. (She has huge scabs all over her legs from mosquitoes) He told Sis. Johnson that she needs to go to the dermatology center. Then he turns to me and says, " You need to go into surgery." I'm like, "No!!! It's only a dog bite!" He's like, "You have to go into surgery right now." I kept saying over and over how I don't need surgery. He told me that it isn't what I think. Just go to the surgery center. So we go. They take me into this room and check all my vitals (I'm still alive) and then had me go sit out again. Then they had me go in again and sit at a desk with the doctor to which we had a lovely conversation. Afterwards he had me go out and asked the nurse to prepare the shot. Then they sent me to the Cashier's office which is like the DDM where they give you a number and you wait till they call you to go up and pay. Then I go back and then they gave me the shots. I have to go back 4 now 3 more times to complete the vaccine. They were super nice! It was really fast and efficient too! They just whip people through. So needless to say the "Surgery Center" isn't for surgeries. It's for small injuries. I personally think it can be translated better....

We went to the dermatology center for Sis. Johnson. It looked like a hotel. Probably because it's the same place for plastic surgery and Botox. Same drill there too. The doctor was so disgusted with her legs. It was hilarious! She kept saying over and over, "2nd bacteria infection!" She gave her like 5 medicines to clear it up! She's already doing better!

So that was a great experience. The hospital just called right now to remind me that I get to go in tomorrow for my next set! YAY!!!!

However, this news is not the highlight of my week, definitely not!!!

Pii Bu and Nong Blithe finally agreed to get baptized!!!! On 10/10/10!!! AND...... Gip too!!!!

Gip is just zooming along! She's incredible! Last night she was visited by Christ in her dreams and he took her sins away and poured water on her head (baptism). Apparently a lot of Thai people have spiritual dreams. She just kept saying over and over how true everything is.....
She's so prepared!

Pii Bu.... still doesn't understand why she needs to get married before getting baptized. We're like, "You've been with him for over 30 years. Why would there be a problem?" She doesn't want to because what if randomly we decide to split up? Then what? hahaha! She's dramatic!

So we're excited for them! They're awesome!

Pii rat wants to get baptized too but her husband is against it too! We're working on it! No worries!

Yes.... this is my last few days Sis. Lifferth. On Thursday I get a new companion! We're pretty positive that it will be a Thai sister because there literally is no one else. That's okay! I'll learn Thai!

Love you all!!!!

Thanks!

Em
Sister Henderson

Hello! I'm alive!!!

Okay!

Sorry for the delay! The Pres. decided to have a spontaneous 3 day training for all of the trainers, district leaders, and zone leaders this week. So everything is all mixed up and crazy! I'm currently in Bangna with Sis. Johnson and JongKaew (who is Thai) so we're good! It's just a little crazy that all of the greenies have to do three days on their own. That's okay! We're surviving.... well.... we have to go to the hospital for me today!!! It's going to be great! A dog bit me yesterday. Actually not even a dog, a puppy. We were at an investigator's house and they have a new puppy going through it's teething stage. I'm so used to dogs that I didn't even think about it running around until it decided to taste my finger. No blood or anything. Didn't even hurt. Regardless, Sis. Smith said that I have to go get those rabis shots..... I'm guessing more painful than the actual dog bite itself. That's okay! I'll tell ya how that goes!

So FYI, p-days sometimes change when things are going on. Sometimes I won't have a p-day. So if you don't hear from me, don't panic. All is well, really!

So Sis. Lifferth and I had to do her shopping for gifts for everyone last week. What a crazy trip with all of the things to buy. One store we went to had tye-dye and all sorts of crazy looking clothes. I saw a sweater that very much belonged to Mrs. Weasley in the store and I thought of you Mom.

Had Zone Conference last week, obviously. It was good! Pretty much everything they emphasized in the MTC. Good stuff!

So, I've been here for a month! Crazy! Time flies friends!

Crazy stuff has happened this week:

1. I'm tanning! No joke! It truly is the weirdest thing ever! Get ready for some crazy tan lines when I get back! Oh, Pii Rat said that apparently I was so white that I looked dead with no blood when I first came. According to her, I look so much better now! hahaha!

2. Ma A is not getting baptized. Her whole family joined together in the cause and told her she needed to stop all of this nonsense. No more church. No more prayer. No more Book of Mormon. See originially she told us she'll try to just do what we've taught her already, but they said she can't do anything. And if she does, they will cut off her money supply and kick her out of the house! It's really sad! She called the other day just to say how sad she is. I hope they'll soften soon. I'm not worried about her though. She has such incredible faith! Regardless, I know that it will work out in this life or the next.

3. RAIN- I've about had it up to here with the rain story! The Thais hate rain. They refuse to do anything when it rains. When it rains, literally no one except the leaders and a few members come to church or anything else. It's funny to watch everyone when it is about to rain, though. It starts with a cold wind to which everyone starts running around trying to get to cover. Then it starts raining. It rains like it does in the movie "Notebook" when she says, "Why didn't you write to me?" Sometimes I contemplate that in the rain too! No, I'm kidding! But it really rains when it rains. In fact, this last week our church was dedicated. Everyone was there. Every strong member in Thailand. Even the lady who translated the Book of Mormon and Pres. and Sis. Smith. So, we were inviting before it when it started to rain. Needless to say, we showed up completely soaked. They made us go sit on the stand and translate for Sis. Smith. It was horrible! Mostly because of the air conditioning. hahaha! Good times.

4. Pii Bu is amazing! She got up at 4am on Sunday to do someone's hair so that she can go to church! Amazing! I'm concerned for her though. Her house used to be full of people. Now, no one is over there. We asked about it and she said that all of her friends oppose her learning about Christianity. She said she doesn't care what they think because family is what matters, not friends. Wow! It's not easy though being social queen and dropping to commoner. She'll be fine though! She expressed a desire to get baptized on Monday... Next moves I think! She'll be ready!

5. Pii Num and Bu are the new family. They are the ones that expressed that they want to change religions. Anyways, we go back for our second visit and they are like, "This church is true!" We were like, "Whoa! What happened?" Apparently Pii Num was fed up with the taxi service he was working for because it gave him no time with his family. He wanted to spend more time with his wife and kids. So they both prayed that he would find a taxi car so that he could be an independant driver. Well, literally hours later a brand spanking new one appears for sale at a low price. Naturally he got it. They're a really cute family!

6. So Pii Bu and Pii Rat wanted to learn how to make American food. The simplest thing we could think of was spaghetti. So we got the materials and made it for them. They HATED it! The kid's faces were of complete disgust! It was hilarious! The thing is, they are used to using ketchup for spaghetti, not tomato sauce. Speaking of which, Sis. Lifferth and I found this place called "Pizza Thai". We ordered a Hawaiian pizza. The pineapple was amazing! The ham turned out to be hotdog. The sauce was ketchup and.... mayonnaise?!..... It was disgusting! But the ice cream was amazing! She's my new ice cream lady!

7. Well, I have to admit, things are a bit slow here. So we both fasted this week to get things going here. Miracles always happen with fasting! This sunday a 20 yr. old named Gip randomly showed up at church. We taught her following church. She said that she just felt like coming today like she needed to. She's been reading the Bible everyday for awhile now and wants to learn more about chrisitanity. She's literally amazing! She was begging us to give her the Book of Mormon and to give her the way to repent from all the guilt she carries. We all cried in that lesson. The spirit was so strong that she could really feel it. We met with her on Monday. She explained how she didn't want to go home from church because she felt so good. She said she was literally waiting all day to meet with us. She was begging with us to meet with her everyday! Unfortunately schedule doesn't allow but we will meet with her again tomorrow. What a miracle! I can't even describe our lessons with her! She's so ontop of it and so prepared!

So Sis. Lifferth has given me the phone, given me the house money and all of this responsibility. She said that I have to because I will have to train in a matter of 1 or 2 moves. Literally no option. I have to get it now. Everyone at Zone Conference was like, "What is it like training a trainer?" Even Pres. Smith was like you need to pick it all up fast Sister! Crazy!!! I have to because all of the old sister are going home. The only ones left are the new ones.

You asked about the language. Actually, many have asked about it. It's going is all I can say. It's like Chinese, I understand more than I can speak. Plus, I've had 3 years worth of not understanding so I'm very used to it. I have to go... I'll explain later.

Love you all! And thanks for the letters this week from Virginia, Molly, Holly, and Austin! Just so you know, the mail system works!

Love,

Em
Sister Henderson

Zone Conference

Sister Henderson and her companion, Sister Lifferth

Sister Henderson eating mango and sticky rice

Sister Henderson and the mission president's wife, Janis Smith

From a letter sent to Holly:

Thailand is amazing! It's really different though! I eat rice for like every meal! It's really good! I love it!

And there are dogs everywhere! We were exercising at the park on Saturday and all of the dogs in the neighborhood were going crazy! They all met up at the park, had a meeting or something and then all ran in different directions at the same time. It was super weird!

So I've discovered that riding a bike in a skirt is not easy! My skirt is always flying up! I feel like Kiki, in the movie "Kiki's Delivery Service," when she's flying on her broomstick and her skirt is going everywhere. When we're out riding our bikes everywhere people shout out all the English they know as we pass: "Hello!" "How are you?" "I love you!" The guy at the checkpost always says, "Hello, I love you!" and opens the gate for us. It's really funny!

So I'm teaching a couple of girls your age right now with their parents. They don't get done with school till 8 P.M.! Crazy right?

Every house has a fence and gate in front because of robbers. Also no one has a front door like we do. All the doors are like our back sliding door. I quite like it. Our house is awesome right? And its only me and my companion that live here.

Hello everyone!

Okay, so as promised, I'll first share a little about each of my investigators:

Maa A: She's about 55 yrs. old and is just so lovable! We think she's one of those people who has loved Jesus for years but never admitted it because everyone is Buddhist. She said that before we came she wanted to learn about Christ but thought that she was too old to learn. hahaha! Anyways, she's the one with the baptism date. She's actually the very first person I taught here. We're kind of worried because as usual the husband doesn't like it one bit and he makes it known. She said he gave her permission, but he doesn't like it. We're worried it could be a problem so that's what we're working on this week. She's hilarious! We told her about the ten commandments and how you can't lust. She said that when she walks down the street she sees people and she just has love for them and wants to help them. (She just loves everyone) We told her that's definitely okay. Then at church she loved the music so much that she wanted a hymnbook to read when she is at home. We gave her one our many hymn books at home. We talked about having sisters help us teach investigators in relief society. Later that day Maa A called us and asked when she can help us teach. We had to explain that it's for people to come and help us teach her. We thought it was very generous of her though! We love her so much! We really hope her husband's heart is softened....

Pii Rat: A mom that has 3 kids 14yrs-5yrs. She's amazing! Always reads the scriptures each day and is just dutiful in doing her commitments. In fact, she heard rumor when she started learning from us that we don't drink coffee so she just dropped it. Amazing right? She's good in absolutely everything except keeping the sabbath day. Like most people, she works in the market on sundays. She's having a hard time having the faith to just try it out. Once she does, she'll get on that highway and stay there. She has a best friend who is our next investigator.

Pii Bu: She's someone I've talked about before. The social queen of the neighborhood. She cuts hair and is really into fashion. Has 3 kids too! She's really getting it now. Not sure what happened because over a day everything about her changed. Now she's really getting it and progressing like crazy. She hasn't set a baptism date because she's still afraid as most people are in this kind of culture. She's strong though! She can do it!

Baa gai: Baa gai is the grandma and her grandchildren: Euro, Aiko, and Namo. Never have I met such well-behaved and christ-like kids! They're incredible! They really get it! It's just hard because the grandma has twisted feet so she walks on her ankles and half of the time she can't go anywhere because it hurts. The mom was really interested but has to work now so she literally has no time.

Pii Dik: Pii Dik has 20 people in her family! We've only taught a little bit, but it's super crazy when we do!

Pii Bu and Pii Num: They're new! We found them contacting. We usually have to say that you don't have to change religions in order to learn about Christ. They have this belief that if you do anything with the Christians, you have to be Christian. Anyways so we said that and the dad was like, "We want to change religions though! " You can only imagine how that took us aback! Super cute family!

Alright, that's the most promising ones. There's more, but no time to talk about them!

Funny story! Everyone here thinks I'm only 12 or 15. They always ask my companion if she's my mom! hahaha! She doesn't like that one!

Finally had ice cream on a bun with sticky rice! Quite delicious, if you like bread! Try it!

Oh, I'm a horrible daughter and forgot to wish you mom a Happy Mother's Day!!!! It's Mother's Day when it is the Queen's birthday! Quite a celebration! Fireworks and everything. No school. No work. Sounds great right? It was great until the neighborhood speakers came on. They came on at 6 am! Wishing everyone a happy mother's day and then started playing 5 songs over and over and over for 8 and a half hours!!!!! Try studying through that! It was a fun day though! Everyone is always super nice on a holiday and super drunk.

Oh, I've noticed that the sewing machines here are ancient! No one has a nice one like you mom! They all have one's like that black one you have. Ancient!

Oh and a side note: I eat rice for every meal. If I don't have it, I'm hungry.

Hope all is well!!!

Love,

Em
Sister Henderson

Hello everyone from the very wet Thailand!

Okay, first and foremost a quick reminder: Don't send any packages through any service including UPS. Send it through normal mail. Or else I have to pay hefty and I mean hefty fines for it.

So, I forgot to finish my wad trip last preparation day. While we were at the temple, we had a Thai sister with us who was waiting for her visa to come through to serve in New Zealand, which cleared when we were there. She explained all of the stuff to us and it was really neat! Like, super amazing! They have the history of Thailand on this big walls. It all starts with a war in Heaven. Good vs. Evil. Good wins out. Sound familiar? Then the rest of the stories are like Bible stories combined. Weird. We walked to one of the temples that is decorated with flowers and has these strange creature statues infront of it. She told us how they believe the first people on the earth lived in a sacred garden that was guarded by these creatures who carried a sword (Garden of Eden and the cheribums with the flaming sword). Then we went to the main temple and it was so sparkly! It was like, wow! Almost felt like I was walking into a treasury or something. Anyways they had all of these statues holding their hands out and they all had dots in their hands. I asked what they are. She said that they believe someone greater than Buddha will come and he will have holes or markes in his hands. I was like, "Are you serious?"
They believe in Christ without even knowing it! Amazing! It was really cool to learn about that stuff.

The new church building is so nice! In fact I was freezing at church! It was sooo cold! There's a brother in our ward that seriously has the exact same voice of Uncle Chris but speaks Thai. It super weird! Just know that I think about ya everytime I'm at church! There's a picture in our church and I don't know why they put it in our church because the people can't relate to it at all. It's a picture of the pioneers harvesting wheat in the fields. All of the people are like, "Oh, they're harvesting rice!" "What a nice picture of the rice fields." Sis. Lifferth and I had to explain to them what wheat fields are.

We had switch-offs this last Friday. My first experience with a Thai companion! She was super nice! I felt like I didn't talk the whole day though! The experience made me very grateful for my area and my companion. The people are little bit nicer where I live. I had 4 dogs chasing us on our bikes that day! Scary!!! hahaha! The dogs are even nicer where I live! The sisters that we switched with have a super nice apartment. They're the only people living in the whole complex because it is so nice! More like a hotel really! All of the staff serve only them! Wow!

So I mentioned how wet it is here. Well, It's rained everyday this week. So much that I don't think I've really been dry at all. We show up at appointments soaked all the way through. It's great. Who needs swimming? And our neighborhood is always flooded. It makes me fell like we live at a lake house. Everyday the water is lapping up on our driveway like the ocean. It's crazy! I said we should invest in a little boat. We could actually use it in our streets! I've just gotten used to walking through water up to my knees. It's great fun!

On behalf of Gabbi I enjoyed fried ice cream this week! It's really good!!!

Well, quickly a little about our investigators:

Maa A:
Has a baptism date!!! YAY!!! 29th! The other day she stopped our lesson because she was concerned that my freckles hurt.

Oh, I'm out of time! Sorry! I'll have to do it next week....

Love you all!!!

Em/Sister Henderson

Week 2 in Thailand!

Hello from Thailand!

Just got back from an exciting day in Bangkok. We went to the wadpergao or something like that. It's basically the main Buddhist temple in Thailand. It was amazing! So sparkly and breathtaking! Got some good pics of the outside. We met up with Sis. Jolley and the other Bangkok sisters today. They kept shutting down the temple and wouldn't let us in. Apparently very important people, mainly the princess and some of her friends were there. We got to see her friends up close! And when we were trying to leave, they shut down all of the streets so that the princess could leave. Exciting! It was weird to be there because there were so many foreigners. In Saphaan Sung (where I am), we are like the only foriegners. So it was weird to see people like me again. Rode home on a boat! Quite exciting! It rained all day so I was already wet anyways!

This week has been so amazing! We had 13 investigators at church yesterday! It was so good! And they all got to see a baptism. The Elders had a baptism last week and will have another next week. Oh, it was so good! A little crazy though! Trying to get all the kids where they need to go and such. The new church is beautiful! I love it! Although I'm starting to turn Thai meaning the air conditioner is becoming an enemy than a friend.

Went to pii Bu's house ( the social queen of the neighborhood) for dinner this week. She is one of our investigators. She has 3 kids, one of which is autisitc like severe autistic. She's a warrior! Her husband hasn't joined us yet, but he will. Anyways we had stir-fry roman noodles and french fries and chicken wings. ( The dad likes american food). It was really good! I swear everytime we go over there there is someone new who wants to listen. A few days ago we were over there and an eleven year old was over there. We asked if everyone has been reading. Usually we have about 8 people over there when we teach. The new girl said she had already read 30 pages of the Book of Mormon and so has her mom who wasn't there. Wow! So we go over to her house the next day and find out that the dad is very much against it. Apparently the mom and daughter really want to learn so they've been reading and praying in secret. That actually happens a lot here. The dads always eventually end up converting so don't worry!

Taught English last Tuesday! It was so much fun! And all of them are amazing! They honestly all have way better handwriting than me! I was like, "Wow, I should just sit down."

Did I tell you about Maa A? She is soo cute! When we were over teaching the plan of salvation, I started to teach about this life and she started laughing outloud. Apparently I was just so cute that she couldn't get over it.... Weird, I know, but it happens a lot!

So Thailand has so many dogs on the streets. They wonder around in packs just like Lady and the Tramp or something. Buddhists don't believe in killing anything so dogs are everywhere! They're all taken care of and most are nice.

I really like this take off your shoes deal. Whenever you come to a building you leave your shoes at the door and go barefoot. Like right now, I'm in an internet cafe going barefoot! I love it! And I also love toast! The Thai's love toast here. They have shops and carts devoted to making toast and having all of this stuff to put on toast. Yummy! And also crepes. Not like normal crepes. It's like a fortune cookie that's softer and you can put anything in it: chocolate, oreo, nuts , sprinkles, gummies, etc. It's so good!

Oh, so I should say that no one actually really cooks at home here. Everyone usually buys stuff off of the street. We actually don't really have a kitchen. Only a fridge. Anyways, everyday people make some kind of food and take their stand and sell it each day. It's like Taylorsville Dayzz but everyday! Imagine putting up a booth and taking it down everyday! That's what they do! It's nice because everyone who sells is good at what they make. Really good! So, it's like everyone making the thing that they are good at and bringing it to a potluck. There's always a great selection!

Well, I need to be off! Like really!

Love you all!

Love,

Sister Henderson , Em

Hello from Thailand!!!

Hello!

Travel to Thailand was great. It was fun traveling together as a group.
The night that we got there they gave us an orientation and then immediately had us go out on the streets of Bangkok to give out a BofM (Book of Mormon) with no help from our senior companion... Scary!
But, we all did it! Awesome, right?

Moves was quite a party the next day! Oh, we stayed in the mission home with the Smiths. I got assigned to be with Sis. Lifferth in LA (AKA Bangkok, Bangkok in Thai means land of angels so they call it LA), can't remember the city name...sorry!
Sis. Jolley is in the next door city... going to see her today! Sis. Naegle went to heaven AKA ChiangMai. Sis. Johnson went to the white wash area. Sis. Hirschi went out to the middle of nowhere. I bet she's excited!

After moves we hopped into a taxi and drove about an hour away and immediately started working. Thailand reminds me a lot of China. It has the same look, except more tropical, green, and better food! The food is so good here! I was eating rice one night and the only thing that could come to mind was Heather's words, "This is good rice!" hahaha! Really! Most of the food is spicy, fortunately I've been able to find a way around it for now...

We ride bikes everywhere! I never imagined myself riding a bike in crazy asian traffic, but here I am! It's quite exciting! And sometimes we ride on the sidewalk (just like it is in China) and the tiles are broken, etc. I often feel like I'm mountain biking in a skirt!

My trainer is amazing! She's from Springville and this is her last move! She's leaving in 6 weeks! Weird!!!! So she really knows how things work which is really nice! I'm quite excited to learn from her, she's already taught me a lot! Her personality reminds me a lot of Virginia. So we have lots of fun together!

It's funny being in asia again where everyone thinks you're gorgeous because of your skin. I honestly get hit on way to many times throughout the day. I had a guy even try to kiss my hand on my second day! Sis. Lifferth and I had a good laugh about that one. Let's just say, contacting is always an adventure!!!

My second day it also downpoured like big time. We were teaching and then we came out and the streets were completely flooded! The water was almost mid-calf deep. Never been so glad to have worn crocs!!! Crazy!!! That was fun to bike through to! Like I said, it's all a great adventure!

Our house is awesome and super nice! It's two levels for the both of us and is next to a 7/11. I like the convenience! Haven't seen a cockroach yet! Our house is mostly ants. Ants that are smaller than the ones at home! I can handle those!!!
We live right next to the neighborhood called Perfect Place. It's like a ridiculously nice neighborhood. Most of them have servants and such. A lot of foreigners live there because it is a very secure and nice area! Really nice! I like biking through it everyday!

Our branch is getting a new building next week! They've been having church at an office building, but now they actually have a full out building! It looks super nice! We're excited for that!!!

Our investigators are great! We're focusing on families. We're teaching pii bu and pii rat. Both different families. They are best friends though! Pii Bu is like the social queen of the neighborhood, though! She has quite an influence. Last Friday we were teaching a lesson and all of these people kept coming in and listening so we stopped and taught the intro lesson. Many of them went home and prayed! She tells everyone that comes over how to pray and tells them to pray. Hopefully we'll see more progress in that neighborhood!

Well, I 'm off!
Love,

Em

Arriving in Thailand

Emily "meets" Mike and Janis Smith, her mission president and his wife (our former bishop)

Exchanging her money

The excited new sister missionaries

Emily's district from the MTC who all travelled together to Thailand

Outside the mission home

The incoming missionaries inside the mission home