But if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need

1. President and Sister Senior, and our senior missionaries, 

Elder and Sister Stoker, came to visit our ward 

in Kalasin this weekend! So much fun!

2. Cocoa Yen as mentioned in the letter...so good. So good.

3. me and Elder Hinkson (awkwardly taken and 

photobombed by a variety of Elders in our zone haha)

4. The lake at the park where we go contacting most often!

5. Various members and one of our investigators at our Friday night 

Book of Mormon class! The members here are hilarious and awesome missionaries 

and teachers. Their faith and knowledge of the gospel is so inspiring!

This week, there were a lot of big and little miracles in the midst of a really brutal week of work and not very much success.

Miracle number one is called Tiger Balm. It's this weird cream (smell/feels/looks just like vicks, that stuff you use when you have a sore throat) that you put on mosquito bites and ohhh sweet relief. It's a lifesaver. The second miracle is Cocoa Yen, which is basically cold/iced chocolate (think opposite of hot chocolate). It's so amazing. They give it to us free at the hospital where we volunteer every week and it's just the greatest thing.

On Saturday, we went to Roi-Et for district training and most of the zone was there, which was cool because I finally got to meet and hang out with some more missionaries (it gets really lonely up in Kalasin with just me and Sister Ladle for miles and miles in any direction). And guess who's training in Roi-Et right now...Elder Hinkson from my MTC district! It was SO good to see him again! He's doing great, has an awesome trainer, and it loving the work. I didn't realize how many inside jokes our district has until we were talking over lunch and just about every other thing that was said was a reference to something that happened in the MTC.

You know when you hate something for long enough, you start to love it? I realized yesterday that that's what's happening to me and biking. It's still hard and kinda nerve-wracking, but my average number of near-death experiences has gone down significantly, and sometimes at night when it finally cools down and the breeze picks up and it's dark, I realize I'm enjoying it. That's been a miracle, too.

So we get to teach English every week as part of our agreement with the Thai government to teach the gospel here, and it's insanely fun. Here in Kalasin we just have one class for all ages/levels of experience, which is a bit of a unique challenge sometimes, but it's all the same another miracle because I've always wanted to teach English and I passed up an opportunity to do that to come on a mission, and now I get to teach it every week. God really is mindful of me, and I know He is mindful of all of us.

Funny story of the week: we were out contacting and I talked to a guy who seemed really interested, we started talking about the gospel and God and he said he's studied our religion and a lot of others. So we're talking, and then suddenly he says, out of the blue, that he saw God, and he starts describing it in detail to me, how God told him to do whatever and go to whatever church he felt like...yeah...turns out he wasn't really interested. But it was really funny because it's probably the most in-depth/longest conversation I've ever had with a Thai person.

We haven't had a whole lot of success with numbers this week. President Senior sent me to a pretty tough area, and it's hard to have so many good people just falling through the cracks or vanishing. I love the scripture James 1:5 for a lot of reasons. It's pretty significant in our church because it inspired Joseph Smith to kneel in a grove of trees and ask a question of God. But I particularly like that it says that God "giveth to all men liberally." And it's so true! If we want help, if we need strength, if we need a specific gift or just support, all we have to do is ask.

Lastly but not leastly, huge shoutout to Elder Chase Junge because he just got his visa to Brazil! He's been serving stateside waiting for his visa for more than a year now, just an incredible missionary and friend and he's been a huge part of why I'm out here and I'm so excited for him to go to Brazil.

Have a great week everyone!

Sister Zoller

You can't always get what you want...

Second week in Thailand! I don't even know where to begin with all that's happened.

I'll start with sweat. It really doesn't feel that hot or humid here to me, but then suddenly I'll notice drops of sweat falling off my face and then I'll remember I'm in Thailand. It's even worse if you're running. Speaking of running....last week we were talking with people in the park and we talked to this runner named Jackie and he was really interested in going to church and meeting with us. We had just turned to go on our way and he started running again, when suddenly Sister Ladle stopped us and said, "wait! we didn't invite him to be baptized!" so she started booking it after him, bag and everything. The result is that he has a baptismal date, and he's super excited about it (not nearly as excited as we are, though).

There are lizards everywhere here. And they camp out in our tennis shoes a lot. So one morning when we went running I felt something clammy crawling down my leg and I realized it was a lizard! It was a really uncomfortable sensation, but I was still half-asleep so there was no screaming or freaking out. I'm such a boss.

So...when I was like 14 or something like that, I was pretty obsessed with Korean music. I never guessed that would ever help me later in life, but it turns out that pretty much everyone in Thailand listens to K-pop, and all the members in the ward think it's the funniest/greatest thing that I know it as well as I do.

People drive on the other side of the road here. I'm not used to dreading right turns haha. I only had a few biff-ups this week! And I got back on the bike right away as opposed to crying on the side of the road/parking lot for an hour. Haha... Speaking of nerve-wracking things, we switch off phone days here and so every other day I have to make all the calls and talk to everyone -- in Thai. It's, um, still not something I enjoy, but I've gotten pretty good at it. Everyone is just shocked at my Thai around here, so I guess for a greenie I speak it pretty well.

Oh! On Tuesday, we have district meeting. So we take a bus for like an hour to go meet our Elders, and we have district meeting and then go get frozen yogurt at a little froyo place. I NEVER thought I'd miss Provo/froyo, but it was the greatest thing I've ever had since being here in Thailand. Okay, maybe slight exaggeration, but only slight. Frozen yogurt is a tender mercy. As is Dairy Queen. They have those here. Oh man those are so good. Tuesday was also mother's day in Thailand! There were fireworks! I loooove fireworks, and here in Kalasin they really know how to put on a fireworks show.

Every day I come home tanner and more tired than I thought was possible to be and still be functional (don't worry mom, I put on lots of sunscreen -- and I reapply on some days, too ;)). And to be honest, most days it doesn't even feel worth it at the end of the day, after no success and having people show up drunk to lessons. But we still get up the next morning and keep going and moving forward. There's no standing still on the strait and narrow path, you're either climbing upwards or sliding downwards. There is nothing glamorous about what we do. Don't think that any missionary goes into it for the fame and glory (I suppose some people might go into it thinking that, but that idea is lost very quickly). We're here to serve and give everything we have and are to the Lord's work. How I have energy to make it through every day is beyond me, but as long as I'm here I'll continue to give it my all.

I love you all! Have a great week!

pictures!

1. We made curry! there's me with some raw chicken. Mmmm.

2. the view from our apartment bedroom window (feat. a storm rolling in)

3. my bike! it's called..."The Black...Mambaaaaa...." :) Originally called Mahnnsiidaa, or Black Devil, because of how many times it's almost caused me serious accidents.

--

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

I'm ready to go! (get me outta my mind)

So...today's our last day here! And today I'm two months old already! We leave at 3:00pm Utah time and fly out tonight! It's sooo weird to think I've spent basically my entire summer here and now I'm finally leaving. But we're all so ready.

Monday night was our last night with Brother Thrap, one of our teachers. In honor of his last night, he sang "Let it Go" in Thai (he promised to do it a long time ago but we didn't think he actually would haha). We've really gotten attached to our teachers, they are all incredible people with incredible spirits and it's through their examples as teachers and friends that I've been able to become a better teacher and missionary here.

Tuesday was our last big devotional here! And wow was it a good one! Elder John Groberg came to speak to us (for those who don't know, he's the missionary that the movie "The Other Side of Heaven" is based on) about testimonies. We are always sharing our beliefs, whether we realize it or not, through what we say, what we do, what we sing, what we pray, what we write, and who we are. It was an inspiring devotional, but in my opinion the coolest parts came after he spoke. When all the missionaries in the MTC sang the closing hymn "I Know that My Redeemer Lives" and we're now several thousand strong, the Spirit hit me like a wall. We are truly God's army here, preparing to be sent forth to the nations to declare the truth and serve God's children. I'm so grateful to have been here for that. After the hymn, we went to our classroom for our "devotional review" with everyone in our district, and MAN my district is just so strong spiritually. 9 weeks with the same people 24/7 has given me an in-depth look into the lives of the 13 other people in my district, and I love them like they're my family.

Wednesday we got to host again! Hosting is one of my favorite things here, so I'm so grateful we got to do it one more time here. Some of the people I hosted and some of the people others in my district hosted got me thinking about how amazing it is that PEOPLE CAN CHANGE. While here, I always was so prideful about not wanting to change because I like who I am, but God has our end in mind and if we allow Him to improve us, we will never be disappointed with the result!

Thursday was my Dad's birthday! Happy birthday Dad! :) We had our last lesson with our investigator that night, so it was a little bittersweet. One powerful lesson I've learned here is that I am not the author of my success, the Lord is. When I commit myself to the work and focus on studying and being productive, I'm demonstrating my desire for the gift of tongues and the other blessings I've been promised as a missionary.

Friday was In-Field Orientation!!!! This is the infamous all-day workshop that takes place the Thursday or Friday before you enter the field. We've been looking forward to it for nine weeks haha...well, it was good. Nothing new, necessarily, and to be frank I think the majority of it was directed to missionaries going english-speaking or stateside, but there were definitely some good insights there.

Saturday was our last day of class -- another bittersweet moment. We got to say goodbye to Brother Shipley, Sister Stolworthy and Sister Hirschi, as well as our other teachers like Brother Chamberlin and Brother Yuen. Again, it's crazy how close we've all gotten. I've never once doubted that they genuinely care about me and love me and want to help me be the best missionary I can be. I'm so grateful for all of their insights, advice, and mostly their testimonies and their love for the people of Thailand. They have changed my mission and my life more than I can say and I love them more than I can express.

Sunday was our last everything! Last temple walk, last sacrament meeting, last time in our classroom together, last dinner in the MTC, last devotional...crazy! It was so much fun and crazy busy but all in all I can say this has been a great learning experience. In a lot of ways, the MTC is a refiner's fire, and as hard as it's been I'm grateful to have grown by being here for nine weeks. I didn't want it, but I think I needed it.

I love you all, and I love this gospel! I'm so grateful and humbled, really, to be going to Thailand and to be leaving TODAY.

1. district picture

2. picture with our Nong-thais!

3. another pic with our Nong-thais! We were only gonna get like one picture with a few of them but then suddenly they all piled in and wow I just love these missionaries so much! we have an amazing zone, and AMAZING missionaries going to Thailand!

--
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

living on a prayer

Getting through this week was hard, but I can now humbly say that I'm more than halfway through my nine weeks in the MTC! This week was all about prayer and keeping a constant conversation going with God all day, every day. Someone once made the observation here that we're a lot like the apostle Peter walking on the water to the Savior; and "when he Peter saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me." (Matthew 14:30) It was because Peter was distracted that he began to sink, because he looked around at the world around him and realized what a scary situation he was in. And in that instant after he began to sink, he cried out to the Lord. "And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him..." (Matthew 14:31). That's pretty much how this week has felt. When I keep up an ongoing conversation with the Lord throughout my day (in addition to praying on my knees and with my companion/investigators), I feel like I'm metaphorically hanging on to the Savior's arm in a world that I would never be able to face on my own. Even with all that, I often trip and get distracted, but gratefully, the Lord is ever-patient and merciful and willing to help me back up to try again and again and again.

On Wednesday we had the opportunity to serve as hosts in the MTC, which meant we helped all the new missionaries as they arrived with getting books and getting them settled into their rooms and classrooms. The first person I hosted was an international sister from Bombay. She spoke decent English but overall seemed very nervous being alone in a foreign country with just a medium-sized suitcase. I was humbled to talk with her and serve her because she sacrificed so much to come here, thousands of miles, to serve the Lord and do his will.

In addition to this wonderful sister, I hosted three elders and another sister. It was so touching to see the enthusiasm and anticipation in the eyes of the missionaries. One of the Elders I helped was going to Argentina, and as we were walking down the sidewalk with all his luggage, he quietly admitted his feelings of inadequacy. I almost dropped all his luggage to hug him right where he was. I opened my mouth and heard the words, "Elder, the Lord needs you here. He has called you. He loves you. I promise you you're doing the right thing." And that was all we said on that topic for the rest of the time until I put him on a bus to west campus. The coolest part of that experience, though, was that I didn't say any of those words. Those words were spoken by the spirit through me. I've had experiences like this many times in the MTC but it never ceases to amaze me to feel the power of God. I am humbled and grateful to be in a position to be the servant of the Lord.

Being a missionary has made me so aware of God's love for everyone in the missionary equation: the investigator, the member, the missionary, and the companion. Our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ; that means EVERYONE! Once this week, in a moment of exasperation, I asked God, "what would you have me do?" and immediately I thought of a scene from Lord of the Rings where Eowyn asks her Uncle King Theoden the same question as he leaves her with the tremendous responsibility of ruling a kingdom. He puts his arms around her and says in response, "I would have you smile again." In spite of the darkness of the world, in spite of everything she had to do, her uncle (and father figure) just wanted her to be happy. Doesn't our Heavenly Father, who loves us infinitely, want the same thing for us? I know He wants that for all of us.

Friday was the 4th of July, obviously...I've never been the most into celebrating holidays but my companion more than made up for it with the most patriotic outfit and accessories. But that night was possibly the best night of my life thus far. We started the night off with a musical show that got us all hyped up because we have some insane talent here in the MTC. Then there was a devotional that brought the Spirit like crazy, and then we watched 17 Miracles, which I've heard loads about but never seen before. It's about the journey of the companies of Latter-Day Saints who crossed the plains in handcarts and the miracles that made it possible for them to arrive in the Salt Lake Valley. It was inspiring to see and remember the tremendous sacrifices that were made by those who went before us, but my favorite part was when the main character said, "I can't remember how many times I turned around to see who was pushing my handcart, but saw no one" and as the camera pans behind him it shows angels and people helping him by pushing his cart as he pulled it -- it is the same with us. God does not leave us alone, he sends help, though often we can't see it or even realize it until later.

Then we went and watched the fireworks for the Stadium of Fire! I've never seen a fireworks show that big, so I'm sure there were stars in my eyes the whole night, but as it came close to the finale I remembered that the last time I watched fireworks was in 2012, a few nights before my family and I left Wisconsin. At that time in my life, I had recently graduated high school. I was scared and felt purposeless; I did not know who I was or what I was going to do with my life. The future appeared dark and uncertain, and I did not know what to expect or what to do. Whether aloud or in my heart, in the form of a prayer or just a desperate wish, I begged that the next time I watched fireworks, I would be a different person, I would feel my life had purpose, and I would be happy. That night, at that time in my life, non of that seemed possible, but three nights ago I stood outside watching fireworks from the MTC on my way to Thailand, and I am a better person than I ever thought was possible then. God heard me. The Lord has been in the details of my life since its beginning, and I am and will be forever grateful for all He has done and continues to do for me. As I stood there watching the beautiful fireworks, I was hit with a wave of gratitude that overwhelmed me. I love the Lord and this gospel. The Lord has led me this far and he will not abandon me, now, or ever. And if He has done all that for me, don't you think He's done all that for you, too?