The weather is so nice right now.
The trees on the mountains are slowly changing colors. It is really
beautiful to see. I forgot how dry Utah can be, it hasn't rained since I got
here, and when it finally did, it rained for like 10 minutes. I would
love to go run up Provo Canyon. Instead I get to spend most of my day in a
classroom, and get to run on an indoor track. Bummer.
Thai is coming along, I can read it ok, and when I read it I sound
like a preschooler trying to learn how to read. I'm getting better at teaching
lessons, and now I can cram a 20-minute lesson on a small piece of paper on my
small planner. We are singing out of the Thai hymnbooks, but none
of us can read Thai that fast. We all sound like a bunch of dying animals.
During class we practiced asking, "How many siblings do you
have?" One elder in my district accidentally said, "How many siblings
eat people?" My teacher and all of us had a good laugh.
During a devotional, the speaker was Chad Lewis, who played in the
NFL and helped take the Eagles to the Super Bowl. He broke his foot right
before the super bowl which was a bummer. Elder Wilcox, another elder in my
district, played football for his high school. After the meeting him and I went
up to Chad Lewis to try and talk to him, along with the other 50 people trying
to do the same thing. He talked to me for about 5 seconds and shook my hand as
he was walking out the door. Pretty neat.
Yesterday we switched companions with the Elders in the other
Thai district. I got Elder Bunker who actually lived in Thailand for 13 years.
He went to college for two years in Arizona and plays Rugby. He is going to try
out for BYU rugby when he gets back. He's very cool and we had a good time
working together. I got a picture with him afterwards. While we were
switching companions, we were sitting in the class studying when an Elder from
the other district threw one of his flashcards. And guess where that landed? It
SOMEHOW landed right between the ceiling and the wall!!!!! There's a picture. I
don't know how the heck that could ever happen.
The Malaysian Elders are leaving next week, and I'm going to miss
them a lot. There's a picture enclosed (with a photobomb). The one on the left
is Elder Christiansen, who lives in Hurricane, Utah (Southern Utah). He is
really fun and he reminds me of my family on my dad's side. On the right is
Elder Williams, who is the smallest Samoan ever, but he is the happiest person
I have ever met. He hugs me about 20 times a day. Love him to death.
I just realized that I haven't really said much about the elders
in my district. Here they are:
Elder Turley is my companion who is from the Salt Lake
City area and played tennis and volleyball in high school. He always has a
smile on his face and works very hard.
Elder Fjelstead (pronounced: Felsted) is
from Minnesota, and is the oldest and smallest in our district. He went to
BYU for a year, and made a lot of friends there. He said he once threw a party
and 300 people showed up. He was born in Japan, and taught English in Thailand
for a summer. He's also traveled all over Asia too. He took a few years of
Chinese in high school/college.
Elder Wilcox is from north Salt Lake, and is the
biggest Elder in our district. He is 6'3, played football, and is very laid
back. He is a big Ute Fan, and is going to the U after his mission. He also
took a few years of Chinese in high school. Elders Wilcox and Fjelsted
have a lot in common. They both took Chinese, have the same first name,and
have blonde hair. Everyone in our district calls them "king size and
fun size."
Elder Kekaouha is
from Los Angeles, and is by far the funniest elder in our district. He is also
very smart, he finished 11th in his class of 600 in his high school. He also
speaks Spanish and some Japanese. He and I talk in Spanish sometimes. He
already knew how to read Thai beforehand, since there was a Thai temple near
him. He went to the same high school as Ice Cube, the rapper. He is going to
BYU afterwards with half of his tuition already paid in scholarships. When he
laughs, it gets everyone laughing. He rolls on the floor and stomps his
feet.
Elder Brown is
from California, he is very passionate about two things: volleyball and
politics. He wants to run for the US senate and live in Washington DC one day.
He is going to BYU afterwards, and he aced his AP Government and AP Econ tests.
He also has a photographic memory.
Elder Holland is
not the Elder Holland you think. From Oregon, he was a little quiet at first.
He is very humble and smart. When he started playing basketball at gym time, he
was way better than we all expected. Turns out he played basketball for
Southern Virginia University before coming.
Elder Decker is
from Vegas, and one of the funniest in our district. He can get Elder Kekaoha
laughing like crazy. He can do some hilarious impersonations that get us all
laughing.
Spiritual
Highlights of the week:
One of our teachers showed us a video on missionary work in
Thailand. It's on Facebook, and somewhere on that page that I shared earlier.
It has a choir singing a song while it shows missionaries doing spiritual work.
Even our teacher who is from Thailand is in that video. It really opened my
eyes to see what it will be like there.
Last Sunday, we watched
a movie on Joseph Smith and his
life. It was a really inspiring movie - how he worked his whole life to
translate the Book of Mormon, and for the LDS church to come forth. The last
quote in the movie goes: Shall we not go on in such great a cause?
It really stuck to me and explains what missionary work is all about.
Take care and have a great day!
Elder Brinkerhoff
No comments:
Post a Comment