Started from the Bottom Now We're Here

1. Our new companionship! Sister Lam, Sister Ladle, and me!

2. Saturday Lunch in Roi-Et with Sister ฟน, Sister Lam, Sister Ong (my Nong-thai), Sister Bentley, Sister Ladle and me! (And Sister Stoker, but she was the one taking the picture).

3. My Nong-thai sisters! Sister Grover, me, Sister Hatch and Sister Ong! 

(featuring Sister Black and a random Elder who are pro photo-bombers)

This week started out pretty rough. We found out we were going to lose one of the Elders in our little 4-person district (he was moving to a different zone at transfers), and we're all way tight, so we were sad about that, and also sad that we weren't going to be able to go to transfer meeting, which is a huge party that all Bangkok missionaries and all missionaries who are moving go to every six weeks. I was especially bummed because I knew my Nong-thais (the MTC group that came in six weeks into our MTC stay) were coming and I wanted to see them again so badly before they all went their separate ways in the country.

Then Tuesday evening, we were sitting there eating dinner, preparing for English class, feeling pretty exhausted overall...and the phone rings. It's President Senior.

Sister Ladle: Hey President!

President: Hey Sister Ladle, question for you. How many people can you fit in your house?

Sister Ladle: We can easily fit another set of Sisters, if that's what you're asking...

President: That wasn't what I was asking...Are you two coming to transfers?

Sister Ladle: No...

President: Well, why not?

Sister Ladle: Because we weren't invited....

President: Well, consider yourselves invited. See you at transfers!

Us: *incoherent screaming*

so, the best way I've heard President Senior described is that he's just like Willy Wonka. It's so accurate. He's whimsical and likes to act mysterious and suspicious, but he's really wonderful and kind-hearted. So we went to transfers, not knowing what was going to happen, although we guessed neither of us were moving. So we're sitting in transfer meeting and he announces our names...and then another Sister. WE'RE A TRIO!

Our third musketeer is Sister Lam. She's way awesome. I can already tell we're gonna have a lot of late night 90s music jam sessions. She is way enthusiastic and I've already laughed so much in the last four days that I'm probably going to live a really long life.

Although we lost Elder Burke in Maha Sarakham, we got...wait for it...THREE MORE ELDERS in our district! So now there are four Elders in Maha Sarakham, and the three of us in Kalasin. Our district almost doubled in one week! f that doesn't testify to how the work here is exploding, I don't know what does. One of the Elders is one of my Nong-thais, Elder Chamberlain, and one of the other Elders is Elder Visser, my Phii-thai (the group that came into the MTC right before us). We'll take a picture this week of the three of us in our age progression. I'm so pumped, because I know them both pretty well and they're seriously awesome missionaries.

Transfer week is usually pretty crazy. I was super happy to get to see all of my Nong-thais! They were so happy to see me, too...it was an insanely joyful reunion. They are so prepared and so enthusiastic about the work and so ready to go!

Then Saturday we were finally trying to have a normal day and get back into the swing of things. A member, Sister ฟน, came by to pick up a washing machine to bring to the missionaries in Roi-Et an hour away, and really wanted us to come. We were going to stay, but then Sister Lam pointed out that we are here to help EVERYONE as missionaries -- people on the street, investigators, yes...but also members! So we went with her to Roi-Et, delivered a washing machine, and were able to have lunch with Sister Stoker (the senior sister missionary there), and Sisters Bentley and Ong who just got there after transfers! It was way good and I knew we made the right decision to go with her even though it was insane and made the rest of our day a little chaotic.

The Lord is preparing the people here in Kalasin like never before. The success we have had lately is not ours, it is the Lord's! But we are allowed to take part in it, and I am so, so grateful for that privilege. Kalasin has come so far in the last six weeks. Sister Ladle and I pretty much started with nothing when we first got here a transfer ago, and now the work here is going crazy and we are all on fire!

I love you all, I love this work, and I love the 8.5 overnight bus rides to Bangkok (okay...not really on the last one...but I do love everything else :))! Have a great week!

--

Sister Zoller

In a Kalasin far, far away....

So I'm in Thailand! la, it's the strangest thing. People here have smartphones and ipads and the works but they live in tiny shacks without air conditioning. Those kinds of contradictions are everywhere here and you just get used to it apparently...I haven't quite done that yet.

Before I get into everything, I'll talk about the journey to Thailand. Truly, God looks out for His missionaries, because there's no way 14 teenagers and young adults could have made it to Thailand with all our luggage as safely and smoothly as we did. We arrived in Bangkok tired and hot, and President Senior met us! He's pretty cool. I have to say, I wasn't expecting him to be as cool as he is. I went into my interview with him and within five minutes found out he's a HUGE Green Bay Packer fan. So, you know, he's obviously pretty righteous. ;)

Transfer meeting came and went, and in less than no time I left my district and hopped a bus to Kalasin, about 9 hours from Bangkok. My trainer is Sister Ladle. She's from Ohio, BYU student, she's been out here for about a year. She's so fun and honestly everything I could have ever asked for in a trainer. We get along really well (which is good because we spend lots of hours walking the hot streets of Kalasin inviting anything that moves to go to church)! We got into Kalasin at 4am Friday morning, got a ride to our apartment, slept for two hours, and got up at 630 to start my first day in this area. Woot. I've never wanted sleep more than I did on Friday. Maybe it was the lack of sleep combined with the fact that I haven't ridden a bike in two years, but I crashed my bike in a parking lot and have a bunch of bruises and a beautiful scrape to show for it. It finally stopped oozing pus today...so that's good.

Weeell. We haven't been having much success here in Kalasin. All our investigators dropped this week, a few people have just disappeared, and no matter how many hours we spend walking around asking people if they want to come to church and be clean, no one is really interested. They always say "may mii weyla" which means "don't have time." If they understood even a particle of what it was we were inviting them to do, they'd have all the time in the world! Ahh well. Maybe they're not ready. Regardless, we always ask. And while it should be kinda discouraging that we're not getting anywhere, it's not. I know what we're doing here is important enough to forget about the rejection. Rejection is our opportunity to prove our perseverance and patience to wait for the Lord's timing, and I could spend my whole mission waiting if that's what He needs me to do. And who knows but that we're planting seeds, softening hearts, or maybe even just making people's days. We met a man from Minnesota yesterday, and while he was in no way interested in what we had to say, he was more than happy to speak English with some farangs like us. Our purpose here is to love the people and invite them to Christ, and we've been doing that all the time.

Saturday I saw my first elephant! it was a baby, about as tall as me, and while we were "Dan Jones-ing" (inviting people to come to church/be baptized) it came up to us and decided it wanted to follow us around. Obviously, we invited it to church, but I think the language barrier was too much. Ah well. We tried.

Well, there's so much to say but no time left. I love you all! I love this work, and I love the people of Thailand! Have a great week!

Bonus:

Weirdest thing here: so one time we were biking somewhere and I saw a truck with a double decker cage just packed with pigs. That might be the strangest thing I've ever seen.

Coolest thing here: RAIN. it pours for five to twenty minutes a day and then just stops. I'm sure I'll get sick of it eventually but for now it's just awesome.

pictures: 

1. My beautiful scrape!

2. Water Buffalo! We weren't entirely sure if they wanted to follow us or charge us. It was a little bit nerve-racking, but also super fun.

3. So many scenes here look like they're straight out of National Geographic. Never gets old.

4. Sister Ladle on the wayyy back road to a member's house. We had to hurry and get back before it got dark since there weren't any street lights there...we made it, no worries!

5. So we made an apple cake for a ward activity...but we needed cinnamon and ground cinnamon doesn't exist here. So we bought sticks and ground them ourselves.

--

Sister Zoller

MTC insights: things I've learned from my MTC district

I've been blessed to be part of a big, incredible district the past 9 weeks here. I'm so grateful for them and as part of that expression of gratitude, I wanted to make a separate blog post about some of the things I've learned from all 13 of them!

#teamthaithighs
--
Sister Alley always turns outwards! Whenever someone needs help, she is always willing to sit down with them and help them understand a concept or brainstorm ideas for an answer. She is so selfless, and has an incredible amount of wisdom and spiritual insight that she is selfless in sharing with those around her.

Sister Pitts is so humble. She watches people and always tries to emulate their best characteristics, which reflects the humility in her and also her ability to see the gifts and strengths of others. She is so kind and caring and will work tirelessly behind the scenes to take care of people and situations and then take none of the credit.

When I think of Sister Mamea I think of how she's always laughing about something. She is such a genuinely positive person! She's also super obedient. I've never once heard her complain or try to fudge the rules to get her way. She knows what she's been asked to do and she just does it! She is so positive and upbeat and it's contagious! I always feel happier around her.

Sister Peck is a wonderful example of endurance and patience. She is an excellent teacher and student, and she's always willing to slow down to ensure comprehension and learning in herself and others. She's also super patient with other people and takes everything in stride. She's an emotional person, and that adds such strength to her testimony and her beliefs.

Sister Brown is empathetic, supportive of everyone in their desires and goals, patient in misunderstandings, and loving of everyone. She is an agent of change -- she sees when something needs to be changed and then takes steps to make it happen.

Sister Herrmann is so sincere and always tries to understand and express empathy when she's talking to others. She is an effective communicator and definitely has the gift of love for others and for the people of Thailand.

Elder Hilton is cheerful, patient with himself, and so good at service! He always knows how to help with the little things and is eager to jump in with both feet in service to others. He is bold and unafraid of the language barrier.

Elder Okimoto has the same positivity I see in Sister Mamea -- must be a Hawaii thing. He knows how to find joy in the simple things; eating a mango, memorizing another stack of flashcards, or getting seconds at dinner. He is so diligent! When he's not actively working in class or teaching, he's reviewing a stack of his hundreds of flashcards. I love his never-ending work ethic, and his testimony has grown exponentially since coming here.

Elder Luker has so much faith! To see him come to realize just how much faith he does have over the last nine weeks has been a blessing for me to watch. When he dedicates himself emotionally to learning and serving, he is so determined and unstoppable. He has a huge amount of emotional strength, which gives his testimony so much power!

Elder Williams likes to pretend he's just mean and doesn't have any redeeming qualities, but we all know he's one of the most caring people in our district. He is patient, trustworthy, and perceptive of the feelings of others (which is what makes him an EXCELLENT district leader for these last two weeks here). While he sometimes seems hesitant to share spiritual insights when we study the scriptures together, his insights are always unique and so well thought out.

Elder Hinkson is sooo smart. Not only does he have the gift of knowledge, but he knows how to share that with others in a way that helps them understand and increase in their own knowledge. There have been multiple times I've had a doctrinal question and he's always able to use scripture as well as personal experience to explain it to me. I'm so grateful for his wisdom and willingness to share his experiences and testimony to serve others.

Elder Curtis has an infectious enthusiasm for missionary work and life in general! He's helped me understand so much about how to be a better missionary and person. He knows how to make anything fun and enjoyable when most other people would complain or be unenthusiastic. He also has an incredible spirit and a powerful testimony and when he speaks purposefully, he speaks with power.

Sister Nethercott is a stubborn, determined, persistent missionary and I have no doubt it'll get her places others wouldn't be able to go in Thailand. She loves to sit down with people and help them sort things out in a really objective, logical way. She tends to approach everything very logically but she also feels the Spirit very strongly (I think some people have a tendency to think you can't do both). She does both very well. I'm grateful to have had her as a companion these last few weeks.

--
Sister Zoller

Just a small town girl...

This week we were Skyped with people in Thailand for one of our lessons! Sooo crazy to think we were talking to a real person in Thailand...sometimes I think I've been here so long I've forgotten what real life is. The lesson was AWESOME. We met with a member and despite some issues with skype connections, it was a very powerful experience. I learned a lot and I'm so excited to leave for Thailand in...7 DAYS!!!!! That's right folks, we got our flight plans Friday evening and it's official! I'm leaving the United States for 16 months in Thailand. We fly out next Monday evening from Salt Lake City to LAX to Hong Kong and then we arrive in Bangkok on the morning of Wednesday, August 6.

I've been thinking a lot about Thailand lately, obviously...and it's led me to ponder the steps that led me here. I'm just a girl from a tiny town on Lake Michigan! I didn't have any major plans for my life, and I didn't really expect to go anywhere or do anything important. But here I am, doing the most important work that can be done on this earth for God's children on the other side of the world! And the only answer I can come up with for the why is because God has a plan for me and my life that is very individual and is meant to teach me a lot of humility, trust in God, and love for Him and for other people. I can't get over how grateful I am for this opportunity to serve and be a missionary. On that note, I can say with confidence that God has an individual plan for everyone, and that if we are obedient and work hard, the Lord's not gonna let us miss out on the awesome things He has in store for everyone and the amazing ways He wants to help us grow and develop.

This week was way fun! We've become pretty tight with all the Nong-Thais -- they're a great group of missionaries and I'm so pumped to serve with them in Thailand. The cool thing about being here is seeing all the potential in everyone, the incredible maturity and faith and strength. It brings me up every time I feel discouraged or overwhelmed. On a not-so-spiritual note, one of the Nong-Thai Elders this week said a prayer and he said "Khop khun farang" instead of "khop khun prah-ong" and "farang" is the thai word for guava fruit and also a lightly mocking word for white people, the cultural equivalent of being called a "gringo" in spanish-speaking countries. So instead of "We thank thee" he said "Thank you white dude" and that is something we're still laughing about a week after it happened. Maybe that's just funnier because we've been here as long as we have...

Tuesday we had an awesome devotional from a general authority and all nine of his children, who have all served missions (the youngest is still currently serving). The overall message I pulled from the devotional was the importance of hope. Hope is "an abiding trust" that all things will work together for our good. DON'T LOSE HOPE. Because when you do, you stop trying and caring. So even if you do lose hope, don't stop trying! Never stop trying and pushing forward because sometimes you just have to push through and while life never gets easier, it always gets better and it will get better!

Tuesday night, we ate a fresh mango (shoutout to Mama Nethercott for that one!) with Elder Okimoto and Elder Hilton. Elder Okimoto is from Hawaii and I thought he was going to cry tears of joy he was so happy to have a fresh mango. I've learned so much from him and all the elders about appreciating the simple pleasures and being able to laugh about everything and not sweat the small stuff.

Wednesday was Elder Curtis' birthday! He just turned 19, and while he's not the youngest in our district, he is very young and we all loved giving him a hard time all day. jk, jk, we just liked doing that because he didn't want us to make a big deal out of his birthday. We decked out his chair and desk and the other sisters even made him a birthday crown and fan. I also saw Hillary Hughes because she just got here to the MTC! Shoutout to Sister Hughes, she's gonna be an AWESOME missionary (48th ward represent!).

Thursday was service again! I got to put up the flag for Greece...not many people know this, but when I was 16, I went to a youth activity about missionary work and I was "called" to the Greece Athens mission. Before that time, I'd never thought seriously about a mission, nor did I think I would be any good at it. That day, we learned some Greek (all of which I've since forgotten) and went out to teach a lesson with the sister missionaries in that area. It was a super spiritual experience and made a powerful impact on me and made me mentally open to the possibility of serving. It definitely prepared me a lot for this mission, and it's because of that that Greece has always held a special place in my heart here.

Friday was a wonderful day for the sole reason that we got our travel plans!!! We've been here so long it doesn't feel like we're finally leaving, but we ARE and it's gonna be the greatest thing ever!
Saturday was crazy. Sister Herrmann has Strep throat and so we were up super late with her and Sister Brown helping them out and keeping them comfortable. Being sick in the MTC is soo horrible. You're supposed to be relaxing and staying in bed but you want to be productive but you can't mentally focus so you end up just feeling like you have no purpose and you feel like you're slacking off, which isn't true but that's just how you feel when you get sick here, and I'm guessing on the mission in general. Not fun. Sister Herrmann's been so positive though. She's a trooper. :)

On Sunday, we heard from Sheri Dew and had an amazing sacrament meeting with talks by our own Sister Nethercott and Elder Hinkson! We talked about the Book of Mormon...man, that is my favorite book of all time. I want absolutely everyone in the whole world to read it.

This is my last week here...gonna go hard! To quote Elder Curtis, "Let's freaking go!"

Shoutout to my family for being so awesome and for settling in Indianapolis this week! Shoutout to my Dad because it's his birthday this week! I love you guys so much!

(Extra note for anyone who reads these all the way through to the end: because I'm leaving on a Monday, if you send me any dearelders this week, they need to be sent before this Friday at noon because they don't do those on Saturday and on Monday we leave too early to get any mail. Same goes for any mail, if you want me to get it, send it as early as you can! I'll post my Thailand address probably next week.)

1. me and the greece flag!

2. Sister Nethercott, myself and the Nong-thai sisters! Sisters Hatch, Ong, and Grover.

3. Elders Curtis, Elder Hinkley, Elder Pratt, and Elder Hinkson doing a boy band pic.

--
Sister Zoller

know your purpose, be bold, expect miracles!

Sooo...another week. Man are these flying now. Sister Nethercott shared with me a diagram this week that has a long line representing our lives on Earth and another line that is almost equally long that represents our time here in the MTC. Looking back, it feels like forever, but looking forward, it feels like no time at all, because we only have two weeks left here in the states!

Due to unusual circumstances with part of the district, there was a companion transfer for myself, Sister Herrmann, Sister Brown and Sister Nethercott. My new khuu is Sister Nethercott, and Sister Herrmann is with Sister Brown. I love Sister Herrmann and have learned a lot from her! She is a dedicated missionary and knows how to focus on really getting to know the investigator and helping relate the gospel to them with their personal challenges. She also has a love for the Doctrine and Covenants I've never seen, and it's inspired me to study and appreciate that book more. She's extremely gifted with the language and knows how to focus and study effectively. I've been blessed to be her companion for the last six weeks (the length of a normal transfer).

As awesome as Sister Herrmann is, I am thrilled to have Sister Nethercott as my khuu! We sat down at our first companion study to talk about our language goals for the next few weeks and discovered that we share all the same goals! We went right to work and we've accomplished so much in just the last three days. We've already memorized our missionary purpose and half of the hymn "Called to Serve" in Thai, and this week we're diving into memorizing the First Vision in Thai and one or two other scripture passages. We've been so productive, and I've already learned so much from Sister Nethercott about how to be a better missionary.

Because we are missionaries, everything we do here is done in the name of Jesus Christ -- prayers, testimonies, invitations, studying...everything. This week, we had a devotional about remembering the sacredness of that name and not letting our prayers, which end in his name, to become repetitive or commonplace. It helped me evaluate how I pray and make efforts to make my prayers more meaningful. Since learning how to pray in Thai, my prayers have become more powerful and more sincere since I have to really think about what I'm saying. It's a huge blessing to be set apart to learn and speak a foreign language.

As mentioned last week, this week we said goodbye to the Cambodian, Vietnamese, and Hmong missionaries in our zone. It was exciting but also sad, because we've all gotten really close in the last six weeks. Tomorrow, the two Lao-speaking Elders fly out and after that we will be the oldest people in the zone! We had 18 new Thai-speaking missionaries come in last week, though, so that was awesome. They remind me so much of our district when we first got here, all wide-eyed and trying to contain the insane amount of new knowledge being crammed in their heads. They're gonna be so great. We're now majority Thai-speaking in our zone, with two other districts of Cantonese-speakers. So, huge shoutout to the Lao Elders, because they're leaving this week. They've been the zone leaders for the last three weeks, and man do we love them. For those who don't know, Laotian and Thai are pretty similar -- if you know one, you can understand the other pretty well. Lao is actually a little easier than Thai in some ways, so we've picked up some Lao and the Lao Elders have helped us speak/read Thai better. We love them and wish them the best of luck in Sacramento, California!

With the Lao Elders leaving, our new zone leaders are Elder Curtis and Elder Hinkson. As goofy and immature as they can sometimes be (and as loud as Elder Curtis laughs sometimes), they have the Spirit and power of God with them and as I watched them on Sunday go up to the stand and take on their new responsibilities, I was struck with how grateful I am to be in this district to see the growth and change in everyone. It feels like forever for all that's happened, but it's been no time at all for all the growth that's taken place in everyone. It's been especially apparent in the Elders, but everyone in my district is so spiritually mature and has such an understanding and love for this work and it is inspiring.

With all the Nong-Thais (new thai missionaries) we've had some extra substitute teachers stepping in and helping every once in a while. We love them all dearly! Brother Sanchez (who's actually the official Lao teacher but knows Thai, Lao, Hmong, Spanish, and Arabic) was teaching us this week and Elder Hinkson asked him in Thai if Brother Sanchez can translate between all those languages "on the fly." What Elder Hinkson meant to say was "Khun blaah on the fly?" (the "a" sound in "blaah" is pronounced like the A in apple, and it means "to translate") but what he actually said was "Khun bleh on the fly?" and "bleh" means fish and putting "khun" before a noun makes it beloved, so what Elder Hinkson actually said to Brother Sanchez was "Beloved fish on the fly." We haven't stopped calling Elder Hinkson "beloved fish" yet.

Aside from the companion swap, the highlight of the week was probably getting our Thai nametags! Shoutout to Sister Nethercott for asking around and being determined in getting them for us a week earlier than we otherwise would have. We're not allowed to wear them here because we're an English-speaking training center so people need to be able to read our nametags, but they're so cool.

Extra shoutout to the Elders down the hall from us who are going to Madagascar speaking Malagasy! They're so much fun and we love bearing our testimonies to each other in Thai and Malagasy.

I love you all! Have a wonderful week!

Pics:
1. Sister Nethercott, myself, Elders Hinkson and Curtis (new zone leaders) and Elder Parsons and Griffin (old zone leaders/Lao Elders).
2. Thai nametag! Looks pretty funky, huh?
--
Sister Zoller

Week 6 (just put me on a plane to Thailand already!)

Me and my puppy Ginger!

Well, all I've got to say about the MTC at this point is that I'm leaving three weeks from today and that is a wonderful, wonderful blessing! On Monday, we got to clean the Provo temple with our district! The sisters cleaned the chandeliers in the sealing rooms. I've never noticed before how incredibly intricate all the light fixtures -- dozens and dozens of tiny glass rods put together to reflect light. As a Church, we put so much work into our temples because they are truly the Lord's houses, and I feel immensely blessed to have access to one like I do for the next few weeks.

While we were serving in the temple, we were with some of the temple workers who were helping and directing us. We sat down cleaning crystal chandelier pieces and talked for maybe two hours. It was the first time I've had a legitimate conversation with a person outside of the MTC since I got here and I can't tell you how nice it was to sit down with a person who actually knew 80s music as well as I do (shoutout to Dad and Mom for raising me right!).

Beyond that, the only really unique thing that happened this week was our district kickball game against the Cambodian district on Saturday! We lost, but our whole district had a blast. Considering I've never played kickball before in my life, I think we did pretty dang good. I've also started playing catch with Sister Peck and sometimes other people in our district, and there's nothing quite as relaxing as playing catch outside on a beautiful morning in the shadow of a gorgeous mountain and a temple (until I accidentally hit Sister Brown with a softball. She's totally fine, don't worry. shoutout to Sister Brown for being awesome and playing with me anyways!). Oh, and we also flew kites in the rain during companion study this week. Shoutout to the Cambodian Elders for having kites and letting us borrow them! I'm at the point now where literally anything that takes away from our normal schedule is the greatest thing ever. Also, shoutout to half our zone because they're leaving today and tomorrow! We're losing our Vietnamese-speakers, our Hmong-speakers, and all the Cambodians. That's like...half of our zone. But we get 18 new thai-speakers on Wednesday! We're so pumped to have more Thai missionaries (although we're secretly really jealous that our teachers will be spending more time with them instead of us now).

This week I'd like to talk a little bit about enduring trials. On thursday, I had a strong prompting all day that I needed to be praying for my family, although I had no idea why. It all made sense when I received a DearElder that evening that said that Ginger, my family's German Shepherd, had been put down. While the event itself wasn't a shock, it was still a pretty heavy emotional blow, and I'm still reeling in some ways. She was one of my best friends, my baby, and I already feel her absence. Saying goodbye never gets any easier, but I knew when I left home that I was sacrificing that. Maybe that doesn't seems like that big of a deal, but for me, it was huge. Being a missionary is truly a humbling experience. Just when I think I have given my all, more is asked of me and more weight is placed on my shoulders. The Lord has been teaching me some very powerful lessons lately about learning to rely on Him and I don't think I've learned it quite yet.

In an amazing talk entitled "Trust in the Lord" by Richard G. Scott, he said the following: "To exercise faith is to trust that the Lord knows what He is doing with you and that He can accomplish it for your eternal good even though you cannot understand how He can possibly do it...Your Father in Heaven and His Beloved Son love you perfectly. They would not require you to experience a moment more of difficulty than is absolutely needed for your personal benefit or for that of those you love." There's another talk by Elder David A. Bednar called "Bear Up Their Burdens with Ease" that talks about how to move on from tragedy and trials: "We are not and never need be alone. We can press forward in our daily lives with heavenly help. Through the Savior's Atonement we can receive capacity and strength beyond our own."

This work is hard, but it is the only work that truly matters in the end. Said the Prophet Joseph Smith, "Let us here observe, that a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation." This is the only Church on the Earth that has the restored fullness of Christ's gospel. I know that. I've always known, but probably never as strongly as I do now. I love you all!

--
Sister Zoller

whoaaa....we're halfway there...

Another week! so technically we're not halfway through yet, we won't be until this thursday, but exactly five weeks from today we'll be flying out to Thailand! Bomb diggity.

This week we started learning how to read and write Thai script. We started on Tuesday and were basically left to our own devices to study and teach ourselves how to do it. It's AWESOME. I'm so dang slow but I can usually figure words out relatively quickly. I freaking love learning Thai.

On Tuesday evening we had our usual devotional but it was special because this week was the Mission President Seminar where all the new mission presidents come and get trained by the apostles and first presidency. At our devotional, there were six apostles sitting at the front! Elders Oaks, Christoffersen, Anderson, Bednar, Ballard, and Nelson. Elder Christoffersen was the only one to speak, but it was so powerful to feel the spirit of all those apostles in the same room as us! Elder Christoffersen talked about the worth of souls. What is the worth of a human soul? "The worth of a human soul is its capacity to become like God." There are no ordinary people in this world! He went on to say that if the worth of souls is great in the sight of God, it must be worthless in the eyes of Satan. Satan will do everything he can to make us feel worthless and ordinary. Recognize that when you feel that way, those feelings are not from God.

Most days we sit in class and have Thai spewed at us for 8 or more hours a day, but on Thursdays we have an hour and a half to do service in the MTC, usually by helping out with some of the more menial cleaning tasks. We love it because it's physical and we don't have to be sitting in class, but last week was more awesome than usual because we got to put up flags at the MTC! The sisters in our district put up 31 flags in the front and side of the MTC, from Peru to India to Canada to South Africa. And of course Thailand!

On our temple walk we ran into one of the sisters we know from Thailand. While the rest of the sisters in my district were talking to her, I started up a conversation with her companion, Hermana Ferro, and quickly learned she's from Peru and barely speaks English. Sister Nethercott and I talked to her for probably an hour and a half in Spanish and the rest of the night we were speaking "Spaiglish" (which is Spanish, Thai, and English). So fun. Hermana Ferro is speaking Spanish and English on her mission but there are four sisters in her district and they are native-speaking Korean, Thai, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish. They can't communicate in any language other than English and most of them didn't know but a few words before they got here. I was so impressed with the sisters dedication to learning the language and persevering despite the enormous trial of the communication barrier. I know I can't imagine not being able to express my thoughts and ideas in English to my district. There are so many sacrifices made by missionaries to be here; we give everything we have and were before the mission to be who God wants us to be. "Greatness comes as you forget yourself and lose yourself in service to God."

I always feel like I never really mention any stories in my weekly letters but that's because it's the small moments in life that often bring the biggest memories. In the MTC, it's so easy to see the impact of a random act of service like opening a door for someone. I thrive on little moments like that here, like being able to work out every morning in the weight gym or biking a new record. When I start worrying about my ability to be a missionary and suddenly Elder Hilton will make some sassy comment and Elder Okimoto will start laughing and then we all start laughing. When Sister Herrmann and I are sitting in a lesson and suddenly our investigator makes a major personal breakthrough and starts feeling what we're saying instead of just listening. When we talk about favorite movies and somehow Elder Curtis and I end up leading a rendition of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," or when we're all super frustrated with studying and suddenly our whole district is on the floor laughing about something really stupid or immature. In the words of a random note I got this week, "everything is gonna be alright. :)"

The Church is true...la iglesia es verdad...ศาสนาเป็นความจริง

all of our food. there are eight sisters and we all donated as much as we could to the cause. it was a huge success.

there was this spicy thai tuna that sister brown's mom sent to us! we were all a little apprehensive to try it but sister Alley, sister Mamea and I had the guts to do it and it turned out really good!

district pic!

sisters having fun pic!

In the last almost three weeks, we've had devotionals from Elder Quentin L. Cook, Elder M. Russell Ballard, Sister Sheri Dew and Sister Janice Kapp Perry. Because it's the new mission president conference for the next few days, we've had 14 of the 15 apostles on our MTC campus (we haven't seen really any of them though) and yesterday the Elders in our district had the opportunity to pass the sacrament in the same room as President Thomas S. Monson. This morning my companion and I were coming back from the temple and we totally saw President Henry B. Eyring! He waved to us from his car. Nooooo big deal...our lives are kinda made. ;)

We said goodbye to the older Thai elders this week! They actually just left today. We were all sad to see them go but excited to see them when we hit Thailand in six weeks and at zone conferences and stuff. Crazy how three weeks with people can make us feel so connected and close! That's mission life for ya.

Well, if I've noticed any patterns in my life, it's that really hard stuff leads to really awesome stuff. Sometimes they occur simultaneously. This week has been a week of the Spirit. I've received so many answers to prayers and questions in so many different ways and it's been physically exhausting because it's so spiritually intense. It's awesome.

The gift of tongues is real. As we put in the effort to speak the language all the time, we have been blessed to learn faster and feel the spirit more powerfully. I have been struggling to learn the word "special" for almost a week and was really frustrated that I could never remember it, but as I was sitting in a lesson on Saturday our investigator used it in a question and in that moment I learned the word and pronunciation and I have not forgotten it since. I have been sitting in lessons struggling to remember words or phrases to use and out of seeming nowhere the Spirit will bring a word to my mouth or a thought of what to say. I'm so grateful to be learning Thai.

All the sisters in our district have decided that we're going to do "Friday Night Food Parties" every friday night! We collect all the food we're sent and go crazy. This week's special was this "spicy Thai tuna" courtesy of Sister Brown's mom! We were all a little scared to try it but it turned out to be soo good! We're already pumped for next week. Apparently we have a bit of a reputation in our building of being the loudest district because we're always singing, laughing, and being generally happy and awesome. We're really cool with being gossiped about that way.

Sometimes when Sister Herrmann and I get bored during study we go outside and bear our testimonies in Thai to missionaries or employees to help us practice, and we've had so many good experiences come from that because even though no one can understand what we're saying (and we're probably butchering the words that we are saying), the Spirit is there and conveys the message anyways. As we were walking I felt impressed to share our testimonies with an older couple that were walking around campus but as we introduced ourselves we realized that they didn't speak English! They were the new mission president for the Argentina Rosario Mission and were there for training, so their English was broken and about as good as our Thai. We bore our testimonies in Thai and I was able to speak with them in Spanish afterwards! It was suuuuch a tender mercy for me because I LOVE Spanish and it was such a blessing to feel like I could still speak and understand it as well as I could (although I don't doubt that the spirit was there to help me as much as ever). The Church is true in every language, in every country, in every time and place. The Lord has given us the privilege of serving Him and furthering the work. 

Go watch "Missionary Work and the Atonement" on youtube. it's our district's favorite video.

Na na na na...hey hey hey...goodbye!

(The following are the highlights from my farewell talk, given May 25, 2014, in a random ward in St. Louis because that's where my family moved last year! The theme was the conference talk "The Gospel to All the World" by Elder John B. Dickson.)

There's a scripture my roommate and I loved repeating last year: "And God said unto John, come forth and receive eternal life. But John came fifth, and won a toaster."

Okay, I'm kidding, that's obviously not a real scripture. I just really wanted an excuse to squeeze that joke in. I don't really know anyone in this ward, and none of you really know me, so this makes this farewell talk kinda unique. So here's a little bit about me, to put the rest of my talk in context. I was born and raised in Wisconsin, and I've been going to BYU for the past two years, studying something yet to be determined. I got my mission call four months ago to serve the people in Thailand, Myanmar and Laos for the next 18 months. I've learned that in my life, the Lord sometimes manifests His will through my desires, and that's how I knew I wanted to go on a mission shortly after the announcement of the mission age change back in 2012. Based on all the things that needed to happen before I left, it should have been impossible for me to go, but when the Lord wants something done, he provides a way. So here I am!

There's an awesome talk from the April 2013 General Conference called "The Gospel to All the World" by Elder John B. Dickson. He says "From the time of the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1830, the Church has moved steadily across the world from nation to nation, culture to culture, people to people, on the Lord's calendar and in His time."

I've never been more grateful for this than I was when I opened my mission call to Thailand. Thailand is considered a developing third-world country. I would argue that we don't really know what poverty is in this country. But there are families in Thailand who live in three-sided shacks and depend on their 8-year-old daughters to bring in money from boxing matches. There are families in Thailand who have to send their children away to be able to support the rest of the family. That isn't something I can fathom. Thai, the official language of Thailand, is a tonal language, which basically means that the same word or syllable can mean up to five different things depending on the tone with which you say it (and I'll be honest, those tones all sound the same to me right now). 95% of people in Thailand are Buddhist, a religion that does not recognize a Creator God. So, to say that Thailand is different from America is like saying that fire is different from water. How can I go to teach a people who deal with a set of challenges I will never face, whose culture is so different from mine, and, more importantly, whose language is so utterly foreign to me?

The answer is that the Gospel of the Church of Jesus Christ is just as universal as it is personal! The best example of this is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He suffered for each of us, personally, but his sacrifice applies to every sentient being who ever lived and who ever will live. But just because it's for everyone doesn't take away its significance for me as a person. Universal, but still personal. And that's my favorite thing about the gospel. Hands down. The gospel is so, so simple; it's here to bring us happiness! Our beliefs can be summed up in the Articles of Faith, just thirteen sentences. So why do we worry ourselves over anything else? The culture of the members of the Church may vary, but we all live and share the blessings of the same gospel, and that is just so cool.

The purpose of all missionaries is to "bring others unto Christ." What does that mean? Well, there are a hundred ways to interpret that statement, but remember, the gospel is simple. And simply put, Christ is charity, the purest form of love there is, and if Christ is love and my job is to bring others unto Christ, then my job is to love them. Obviously, that can be done in an unlimited number of ways, but when I remember that, it allows me to focus on what really matters and forget about all the silly little things that don't matter.

One of the coolest things I've learned is that we are all called to serve exactly where we are. You are not random. You are here for a reason, in this specific area. Maybe you can touch a lot of lives, maybe just one. But isn't it worth the one? Christ sure thought so, that's why he came down and sacrificed himself for us.
This gospel is true. I've learned that for myself. It's brought me so much hope and happiness, and I'm so excited and grateful to be able to go share the happiness that it has brought me with people half a world away!