Just to clarify, Emily refers to Black Mamba, which  is a nickname Tanner sometimes uses for himself...something to do with being a teenager, I'm assuming!

Dear murm, durd, addis, a be be, dooonis, manuel, walders, and anyone else who will read this:

 

I'm super short on time so this might be kinda quick. I just wanted to do a short recap of the week, which has been SUPER fast. I can't believe I leave to Thailand in a month! Well, this week has been a little rough, but overall very good still. An elder in our district went home on Wednesay, so it really took a toll on our district. We had a hard day, and it's gradually gotten better. It seems like that was forever ago...whoa. I really admire him for his courage in making a hard choice. We loved him so much and I pray for him daily. He's planning on coming back and I know he'll be a great missionary when he does. Sunday was a good day, as Sundays always are here. You know how I said they randomly pick two people to give the talk on Sunday? Well it was my lucky day!! I didn't expect it at all, until we were taking the sacrament. Then my heart started pounding and I had a feeling that I should pray for the Spirit. haha oh dear. that's when I knew I would speak. So after the sacrament  was over he stood up and annojunced my name and another elder. The topic was on enduring to the end. I tried to focus more on HOW we endure. I really like what it says in Mosiah 24...can't remember which verse right now. But it says that we should submit ourselves "cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord." And I shared a quote that I found in a letter mom had written me that was still in my scriptures.."life isn't about waiting for the storms to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain." Love that. So my talk went well, and all of the nccng thai's (younger thai's) sang God be with you til we meet again" to the phii thai's (older thai's) because they left to Thailand YESTERDAY!! so crazy! It's weird to think we'll be with them in a month, because they had been here 13 weeks! wow. I definitely learned a lot this week, and I wanted to make a list of things I learned...so here they are:

 

 

1. They've started to change lots of men's bathrooms into girl's bathrooms because of the HUGE amount of sisters  coming in. You can tell the bathrooms were built for a small amount of sisters because there's only one stall per women's restroom and there's maybe 3 per building.

2. Some girls in our district were talking to the MTC president and he said that in June, when it really starts to flood, they will probably have a whole separate MTC campus and start moving people to Wyview.

3. Sometimes I still catch myself starting off my prayer with "Financial Services, this is Emily..." hahahaha

4. I'm gonna have to throw my perfectionism out the window. No room for perfectionism while learning Thai.

5. I hate the showers here with all my heart. They aren't made for normal sized people

6. I'm reallly weird. I yelled "DOOOONSAVEEEEN" today and my companion looked at me like I was crazy.

7. I learned what FOMO means: Fear of Missing Out. Sometimes I have that.

8. I know how to say hello in 10 different languages. Maybe more!

9. Making a goal of 'no sweets' is bad. I've eaten more sweets since I made that goal haha.

10. iPods automatically switch to the correct time (daylight savings) We didn't know that so my companion switched hers an hour ahead and set the alarm. THen it switched by itself, so we ended up waking up at 4:30am on Sunday. JOYYYY

11. The movie Legacy is funny. Great. But funny, and wonderful acting. MTC humor will take what it can get...and we had a lot of interesting reactions to all the romantic scenes. We are so deprived hahaha.

12. Without God, I am nothing.

13. I am so thankful for the support that I have. I can feel the prayers coming my way, and people I don't even know write me letters. If you could tell Sam to tell Dorena Glen? I believe? THANKYOU for writing me. She is such a sweetheart. She's from Wallsburg and writes to ALL the missionaries she knows of.

14. You can feel the spirit even in a role play. I've seen it multiple times

15.I LOVE Mormon messages!

16. I loved it when mom forwarded me Mitch's experience in tracting. It made me realize that these are REAL people, and I'll get to teach them SO soon!

17. It's possible to get sick twice in 2 weeks. Who woulda thought! I had to sleep in yesterday and today because I felt like death.

18. I am forever grateful for the Black Mamba. so apparently you can put the 'sender name' on Dear Elder as anything you want. So I got one the other day from the Black Mamba. It was the worst day out of the week and I was feeling pretty down. I went home and read that letter and it was so short and simple and plain, but I laughed so hard that I cried, and it totally turned my whole night around. I don't believe in accidents in God's world. I know that that letter was so timely, and it really lifted me up. So I want the Black Mamba to know that his letter was an answer to my prayers. THe Lord truly works tender mercies in our lives. He knows me and loves me and knows what I need and when I need it, and it is so comforting to know that he is so involved in the little aspects of our lives. I know that He feels that way about all of His children.

 

The gospel is SO TRUE.

 

Love you all,  Sister Steele