In a great surprise to all concerned, Emily arrived home Saturday afternoon on October 22nd. In light of the tremendous flooding occurring in Thailand where 2/3 of the country is under water, the missionaries due to leave next week were called into Bangkok a week early and sent home on the earliest available flights. We learned of Emily's early release Friday morning.
It is great to have her back home!!! She will have her homecoming on Sunday, October 30th at 11 AM in the Taylorsville Valley Park 5th ward located at 2603 W. 4700 South. Join us and hear about some of her amazing experiences!
Thanks to everyone who has supported and encouraged her! This will be the last posting of her mission blog.
Emily's Mom
Monday, October 24, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
It's not a party, it's a production
I'm so glad all of you enjoyed the elephant pictures!!! It really was indescribable! I told you it would be worth it! :) Can't wait to watch the DVD! It has to be watched on a computer so we haven't seen it either!
Be assured that all flooding now is in Bangkok. Everything here is all dry. Although everyone is still in flood rescue mode. They're still gathering goods to send down south. If Bangkok doesn't dry up soon, Sis. Sorge and I will be flying down to Bangkok as riding a bus is impossible at this time. :) We'll see what happens there.
So, the members have been working hard to get ready for my farewell party (6+ weeks in the making). Now that it's down to the final week, they're really busy. Thai people are so funny! When they have a party, it's a full out production! All I know so far is that the theme is Ancient Thailand. They're apparently going to dress me up in traditional thai dress complete with hair and makeup (did I say a production?). Then there will be dinner and a show. Yep! I also teach my "last lesson". Fortunately all of this is on my last P-day. so you know what I'll be up to.....
hahaha! They're great! I love them!
To answer your question, we watched General Conference on Sat 10-12, 1-3 Sun 8-10, 11-1 So they split it up for us!
Well, love you all!!! I'm going to go to the ZOO today!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!
Em
Be assured that all flooding now is in Bangkok. Everything here is all dry. Although everyone is still in flood rescue mode. They're still gathering goods to send down south. If Bangkok doesn't dry up soon, Sis. Sorge and I will be flying down to Bangkok as riding a bus is impossible at this time. :) We'll see what happens there.
So, the members have been working hard to get ready for my farewell party (6+ weeks in the making). Now that it's down to the final week, they're really busy. Thai people are so funny! When they have a party, it's a full out production! All I know so far is that the theme is Ancient Thailand. They're apparently going to dress me up in traditional thai dress complete with hair and makeup (did I say a production?). Then there will be dinner and a show. Yep! I also teach my "last lesson". Fortunately all of this is on my last P-day. so you know what I'll be up to.....
hahaha! They're great! I love them!
To answer your question, we watched General Conference on Sat 10-12, 1-3 Sun 8-10, 11-1 So they split it up for us!
Well, love you all!!! I'm going to go to the ZOO today!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!
Em
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Elephant pictures
Emily sent home these pictures of her elephant adventures.... with more to come when she gets home!
Monday, October 10, 2011
In honor of Christopher Columbus....
we will eat Indian food (although I'm sure Columbus was quite disappointed when there was no Indian food to be found when he entered the Americas)!!!!!
You know, it's Columbus' thought that counts.
The elephant pictures are on a CD and unfortunately all of the internet places don't have CD-ROMs so.... ya, you'll have to wait! SORRY!!!!!
The flooding is all gone now. It's now headed towards Bangkok. That could be exciting!!! We just have lots of cleaning to do. This weekend, the members have been helping each other find their stuff. You know in a flooding how things get swept away. So they all search the area for lost items. Sounds exciting!
I've got FANTASTIC news!!!!! So do you remember my first baptism? Her name was Nan. While I was there, her husband refused to meet with us or even come close to the church. He would go to the effort of dropping her off a block from the church. Ya, weird. Anyways, he's getting baptized!!!!! Isn't that great? Also another that I taught in Roiet (Ma Maliwan) she got baptized. I was like, "Why did no one tell me????" It's just so great to see all these people progress!
Also, the Chinese girl we've been teaching, she knows this church is true. She came to Conference and LOVED it! Sis. Sorge and I split yesterday and I taught her. That was one of the BEST lessons I've had on my mission.
Funny fact: we were biking home the other night passing by all the bars. I happened to glance as I went by. You know what they were watching? The Chronicles of Narnia. Yes. I'm serious. I thought it was an interesting selection to have at a bar. They were all drinking and watching Narnia. :)
This week we got "Daughters in My Kingdom" in the mail from the office. In Chiang Mai all of our mail gets sent with the Elders. So we have to wait for the District leader to pass it out. Kind of like the MTC. Anyways, he left the book for us in our closet at the church. I asked if we get to keep them or what. He said he didn't know and that they actually got 2. "One for you and one for the Elders," he said. I couldn't help but laugh. I told him, "I think they're both for us. I don't think they'd be sending out books about the Relief Society to the Elders." He agreed and gave the other one to us. Although I could tell that the Elders really wanted a chance to read it! Shhhhhh! Don't tell!!!
General Conference was FANTASTIC! What they do is that we all sit in the sacrament room and watch it on the screen. They put Thai over the speakers and they put English over the translation headphones. So I got to watch it too! Glad I did! Really random foreigners showed up too! There was a family from Denmark that came. I shared that Dad went on a mission there. They said that that had to have been a while ago.
I'm working to get this place all ready for when I leave. We already swept the leaves off our roof! One thing off the list!
Today, I'm going to go shopping to find more stuff. YAY!!!!! Oh, for my goodbye party, Chiang Mai is setting off lanterns into the sky! Isn't that nice of them? :) (It's actually a Buddhist thing but we won't go into that)
Well, I love you all!!!!!!!!!
Em
You know, it's Columbus' thought that counts.
The elephant pictures are on a CD and unfortunately all of the internet places don't have CD-ROMs so.... ya, you'll have to wait! SORRY!!!!!
The flooding is all gone now. It's now headed towards Bangkok. That could be exciting!!! We just have lots of cleaning to do. This weekend, the members have been helping each other find their stuff. You know in a flooding how things get swept away. So they all search the area for lost items. Sounds exciting!
I've got FANTASTIC news!!!!! So do you remember my first baptism? Her name was Nan. While I was there, her husband refused to meet with us or even come close to the church. He would go to the effort of dropping her off a block from the church. Ya, weird. Anyways, he's getting baptized!!!!! Isn't that great? Also another that I taught in Roiet (Ma Maliwan) she got baptized. I was like, "Why did no one tell me????" It's just so great to see all these people progress!
Also, the Chinese girl we've been teaching, she knows this church is true. She came to Conference and LOVED it! Sis. Sorge and I split yesterday and I taught her. That was one of the BEST lessons I've had on my mission.
Funny fact: we were biking home the other night passing by all the bars. I happened to glance as I went by. You know what they were watching? The Chronicles of Narnia. Yes. I'm serious. I thought it was an interesting selection to have at a bar. They were all drinking and watching Narnia. :)
This week we got "Daughters in My Kingdom" in the mail from the office. In Chiang Mai all of our mail gets sent with the Elders. So we have to wait for the District leader to pass it out. Kind of like the MTC. Anyways, he left the book for us in our closet at the church. I asked if we get to keep them or what. He said he didn't know and that they actually got 2. "One for you and one for the Elders," he said. I couldn't help but laugh. I told him, "I think they're both for us. I don't think they'd be sending out books about the Relief Society to the Elders." He agreed and gave the other one to us. Although I could tell that the Elders really wanted a chance to read it! Shhhhhh! Don't tell!!!
General Conference was FANTASTIC! What they do is that we all sit in the sacrament room and watch it on the screen. They put Thai over the speakers and they put English over the translation headphones. So I got to watch it too! Glad I did! Really random foreigners showed up too! There was a family from Denmark that came. I shared that Dad went on a mission there. They said that that had to have been a while ago.
I'm working to get this place all ready for when I leave. We already swept the leaves off our roof! One thing off the list!
Today, I'm going to go shopping to find more stuff. YAY!!!!! Oh, for my goodbye party, Chiang Mai is setting off lanterns into the sky! Isn't that nice of them? :) (It's actually a Buddhist thing but we won't go into that)
Well, I love you all!!!!!!!!!
Em
Monday, October 3, 2011
Well, I guess I should've worn a shower cap
Thank you everyone for your emails and letters! You're all so great!I was trying to figure out how to get an elephant home, but I don't think it will happen.... :) Pictures will suffice!
This week was another great week. Although it ended with me getting sick AGAIN!!!! What's with me? Just a cold. I guess in the future I'll wear a shower cap like everyone else when I go outside. This will prevent me from getting sick again!!!!!
Chiang Mai, I don't know if you heard, took quite a hit this week. It's flooded! Some places are about knee height and others to the second floor. Fortuantely it only flooded on the Elder's side of Chiang Mai so we never saw it or encountered it. They've been spending a lot of this week helping people move stuff and clean stuff. The elders gave us strict instructions that we were not to go near it. Not that I would want to! There's lots of snakes over there! The Branch President kept us all busy doing stuff. As Sisters we were asked to go shopping. We bought so much food and water to give to the members who lost everything. It was cool to see the city come together to help everyone out.
The testimony meeting this week was a really humble one. Many of the flood victims got up and bore their testimony about how they had lost everything but they didn't seem to care (we're talking computers, appliances and stuff too). They saw miracles and acts of love and kindness. The ward really came together to help each other. They felt that even though they lost a lot, they still had everything that mattered the most: family and the gospel. I thought that was so cool! Very touching! The Branch Pres. then re-emphasized that everyone needs a food storage and water supply. It's true! Everyone, you better have one or get one!
This week was also the battle of the Book of Mormon eater. The little 6 month old guy is a Bof M eater! More on that story later my friends.... like my homecoming talk! YAY!Thanks for the General Conference review! It sounds great! Fortunately I'll be able to listen to it in English because there's so many foreigners here! YAY!!!
Love you all!!!!
Em
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Mud, bananas, and elephant dung
This week was amazing!!!!!
As all of you are wondering... I rode elephants for the day!!!! To answer the question, yes, that verse is true! They are more useful than horses! YAY!!!! The Book of Mormon is so true!!!
Oh my goodness! I can't even explain to you how amazing it was. I got to take care of an elephant for the morning and then ride it. I felt like I was in the Jungle Book or something. It was in the middle of the mountains in the jungle! Way cool! I got assigned a girl elephant named Ma Mai. She has a 5 month old son! So I got to take care of the baby elephant too! He was soooooo cute! He reminded me a lot of Holly when she was a toddler...... yes, quite the troublemaker. Ya, you're all jealous! Sis. Sorge got a teenage male. So she had to learn getting on and off with the tusks in the way! hehehehe! We were the only ones who spoke Thai so we got to know the elephant trainers (the Karean guys who helped us) really well. Amazingly enough, they are friends with one of the members. They're interested in learning more.... It was an unforgettable experience! I was so dirty afterwards! Plenty of pictures to come..... just not today. Sorry! Thanks mom! It was soooooo worth it!!!!! I will give a detail depiction of my adventures on this day when I come home! :) Today we're going shopping for random tidbits like keyboard in Thai and a Thai mat. Things I can't live without you know!
So, it was a great week! Pres. Smith came up for District Conference. so that was fun! Sis. Smith has family visiting so she didn't come.
Love you all!!!!!
Em
As all of you are wondering... I rode elephants for the day!!!! To answer the question, yes, that verse is true! They are more useful than horses! YAY!!!! The Book of Mormon is so true!!!
Oh my goodness! I can't even explain to you how amazing it was. I got to take care of an elephant for the morning and then ride it. I felt like I was in the Jungle Book or something. It was in the middle of the mountains in the jungle! Way cool! I got assigned a girl elephant named Ma Mai. She has a 5 month old son! So I got to take care of the baby elephant too! He was soooooo cute! He reminded me a lot of Holly when she was a toddler...... yes, quite the troublemaker. Ya, you're all jealous! Sis. Sorge got a teenage male. So she had to learn getting on and off with the tusks in the way! hehehehe! We were the only ones who spoke Thai so we got to know the elephant trainers (the Karean guys who helped us) really well. Amazingly enough, they are friends with one of the members. They're interested in learning more.... It was an unforgettable experience! I was so dirty afterwards! Plenty of pictures to come..... just not today. Sorry! Thanks mom! It was soooooo worth it!!!!! I will give a detail depiction of my adventures on this day when I come home! :) Today we're going shopping for random tidbits like keyboard in Thai and a Thai mat. Things I can't live without you know!
So, it was a great week! Pres. Smith came up for District Conference. so that was fun! Sis. Smith has family visiting so she didn't come.
Love you all!!!!!
Em
Monday, September 19, 2011
Well another week of miracles!!
This week was awesome! Another miracle filled week. I could try to share about it, but it would be too complicated. Let's just say, we had a lot of investigators go to church. One of them sat next to me and cried on my shoulder all through sacrament meeting because the spirit hit her so strong. Another investigator asked us if he could move up his baptism date. That can definitely be arranged. I'm just really excited to see so many people come unto Christ and see the light come into their eyes. I love it!
As to what I'm doing this week, take a look at Ether 9:19 in the Book of Mormon.(Ether 9:19 And they also had horses, and asses, and there were elephants and cureloms and cumoms; all of which were useful unto man, and more especially the elephants and cureloms and cumoms.)We decided as a companionship that it would be good to test out this scripture. We just wanted to see if it was true. So, in an hour we'll find out! :) I'll let you know how it goes!
Tell Stacie thanks for her email! I love her!
Well, like I said, short and sweet!
Glad everything is going well!
Love you all!!!
Em
As to what I'm doing this week, take a look at Ether 9:19 in the Book of Mormon.(Ether 9:19 And they also had horses, and asses, and there were elephants and cureloms and cumoms; all of which were useful unto man, and more especially the elephants and cureloms and cumoms.)We decided as a companionship that it would be good to test out this scripture. We just wanted to see if it was true. So, in an hour we'll find out! :) I'll let you know how it goes!
Tell Stacie thanks for her email! I love her!
Well, like I said, short and sweet!
Glad everything is going well!
Love you all!!!
Em
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