Week 8 already!!

Snow!

สวัสดีทุกคน! (hello everyone) 

Funnies:

1. So we had a welcome party this weekend for the nong thais and It was soooo good. The sistah friends (the name of our rap group) performed of course but this time it was featuring Elder Lindhardt and it was super awesome. They are finally starting to open up more and we love it 

Blurry selfie from our welcome party...you could tell it was wild

Elder Yoon trying to hide balloons for our party so the nong Thais wouldn't see

2. You know people are getting stir crazy when missionary appropriate pranks start to happen. The cambodian elders have started putting dryer sheets in my fanny pack everyday. It's so random and I have no idea how they do it without me seeing but I swear every time I open it and there are dryer sheets in every pocket. My bag smells pretty good though and so does our room because I have like 15 dryer sheets there. I'm going to plot one big revenge.

3. We also have an army men war too. We hide toy army men in each others classrooms and it's pretty fun. 

Thai Learning: 

Sooooo we had our first TRC with a real Thai girl in Bangkok!! She was sooo sweet but spoke really fast and with a lot of words we don't know. We had such a great time and honestly it makes me soooo much more excited to go to Thailand and I didn't think that was possible.

I really love speaking Thai and lessons are always just so amazing, and God really does help us a lot. 

Skype call with a คนไทย!

Random Tidbits:

It snowed!! And it was soo beautiful, we don't have a lot of warm clothes but it was still really awesome. It was both sister aungs and elder Sugabos first time seeing snow and they were so excited and so cute. Sister Aung ate it and said it tasted really good. 

We also have bonded a lot with the new sisters that came in And they are wonderful! We always bond over our major amounts of junk food every night.

Our district did this secret Santa charity thing so we each had a name and did nice things for them this week and it was really fun and hilarious! We were really creative it was awesome. 

We had a major kickball tournament Thais against Cambodians and it was so legendary. 

Sister Aung tried pop for the first time and her reaction was the cutest thing ever 

Picture with some of our favourite hmong elders who are leaving this week

GOT TO SEE AND TALK TO KEANNAAA

Spiritual thought:

This week I have been thinking about the atonement a lot (for those who don't know the we believe Jesus Christ ztoned for our sins and felt every single thing we have felt. Whether that be joy, sadness, pain, love, everything! He perfectly understands us.) Christ through God's plan really did do everything and more for us... He did it all and all he asks is to do is use this amazing gift he has given us of the atonement to change, and experience the fullness of joy in this life even when it seems impossible. The atonement is beautiful and it can transform us in ways we can't imagine. It also provides us with a best friend and brother that knows us perfectly... Jesus Christ. We are the only ones stopping ourselves from experiencing joy and forgiveness. God's hand is constantly outstretched to us no matter what we do and he will always give us a second chance. 

ึฉันรักพวกคุณ​มาก​ (I love you all a lot), 

Sister Clement 

A Week of Goodbyes

Apparently 👍 is a regular thing at the MTC!

Our other good friends leaving to Germany!

Funnies: 

1. So... We made a little trip to the lost and found and in the free stuff bin I found a really nice thick black sweater, so I snagged that, and I wore it a couple days after. I was bragging about how good of a steal that was at the cafeteria and then Elder Foushee (an elder of our district family) turns to me and goes..."Wait, I think that's MY SWEATER!" We had a little debate for a while and I think it actually is his sweater which really sucks but what can ya do. I'm happy he found it. (I still wore it for the whole day though)

Some of our friends leaving to Peru!! (that's the elder foushee sweater lol) 

2. We inherited "Le Fridge" From the STL's. They were in a trio so they had an extra closet and so naturally they stuffed it with food, and labeled it Le Fridge, so we inherited a lot of good stuff. Sister James didn't understand the joke of Le fridge so she thought we were actually getting a fridge and she was a bit disappointed. Luckily our food stash is no longer dwindling in unbelief!

French sisters came over on their last night for a feast... We love them so much!!!

Thai Learning: 

Class is getting a bit long however I am still learning a lot. Our lessons are more and more smooth every week it really is amazing. I can't believe we all actually can speak and understand thai even if it is at a beginner level!

Fall is soo beautiful here! (view from my study spot)

Random Tidbits: 

We got our NONG THAIS (new thai missionaries) and they are all so so so cute. Sister Christensen's new companion is from myanmar and she is the tiniest huan I have ever seen, but shes super sassy, and hilarious so she's fitting right in.

The French sisters and Thai sisters!

On a sadder note everyone that we started with here except for the Cambodian and Hmong missionaries has left :(. Elder fiore included! It was so tough to say goodbye to all of them but we got some nice pictures annnnd I am soooo happy for all of them.

 Some more elders going to Peru!! 

The Russian sisters in our district who just left!

Our friends! (Bolivia and Peru)

 Luckily I got to sit with Elder Fiore in his last devotional which was super awesome. We shared a nice handshake to say our goodbyes and now he is officially in Tahiti!!

Last thumbs up pic with Elder Fiore for just under 2 years!! :((

Casual dinner selfie

Our cute little room setup for Halloween! 

I also got all my shots.3 in 1 day!! 

Spiritual Thought: 

This week I just really want to say something simple, That I feel very passionate about. God answers our prayers. He really does. There really is someone listening every time you pray and he really is so aware of you personally and everyone you love. Trust in him, believe that he can work miracles in your life because I promise he can if we ask. 

Love, 

Sister Clement 

 

 

A Week of Festivities

5 weeks already done!!  In 4 weeks, she will be heading to Thailand on November 11!  She will be more than ready.

Funnies: 

1. So this week we have been taking our rapping to a whole new level. It was an elder in our districts birthday on Friday so we made him a birthday rap which was so good. If i can attach the video I will. If I can't we dressed up like gangsters (as much as you can in the mtc) so like with hoodies and sunglasses and performed it in class.

(I know my funny things are getting worse and worse every week) 

Birthday Boy!

2. So in Thailand no one goes through their first name, they all have nicknames, and our teachers were telling us some and they are pretty funny. They've had people named: Facebook, Obama, Donut, Happy Birthday, and Happy New year (of course with cute Thai accents)

Thai Learning: 

One of our teachers shared a really amazing story from his mission that really touched me. He was in Thailand and they had no one to teach or help..no one was being super receptive so they were pretty bummed out. They found this Cambodian neighborhood and found this Cambodian man who wanted to learn about our religion. They were having a super hard time communicating with him because he didn't speak Thai or English, so the next time they went to visit him they brought someone who spoke a little bit of Cambodian so that they could teach him how to pray. It wasn't going well and the man really wasn't understanding. Our teacher got this super strong prompting to open his mouth...So he did, and he spoke fluent Cambodian, and was able to teach him how to pray he he understood completely. Still to this day he cannot say what he said, he doesn't understand Cambodian, but I know God was with him then and God does not leave his Missionaries, or anyone alone.

 "Personal study" (I was awake don't worry)

Some of our teachers

Also This week was our last TRC with real people, so next week we practice teaching with real Thai people via Skype!! SO TERRIFYING 

Random tidbits: 

Okay so this week we had SO MANY parties!! First one was a cupcake party for Elder Lindhart for his birthday, the second was a RAMEN PARTY! Elder Yoon's mom sent him a bunch of real ramen...like the good good stuff, and he kindly shared it with all of us. SO we all ate hot ramen outside in the cold enjoying each others company while doing the Thai squat. Of course we had to make a rap about it because us sisters are awesome and we make things fun and it was so good as well. The elders were shook. Next was CANADIAN THANKSGIVING! They just happened to serve turkey and mash potatoes in the caf that day so it was a big moment for me.

Cupcake party!

full group noodle party pic 

Thai squat and noodle party

Canadian Thanksgiving picture with elder Fiore who leaves so soon!! :( and also :)

Sitting with elder Fiore at choir!

WE GET NEW THAI MISSIONARIES TOMORROW! We've already seen pictures of them and they are soooo cute. We are so excited to welcome them! It does mean though that our trio is kind of getting split up because there is only one sister coming in so Sister Christensen is going to be her new companion! 

At the provo temple

Trying to figure our where to put all this food to make room for the new sister! 

Sister James and I were asked to be STL's (sister training leaders)! SO pretty much we are over all the girls in our zone, and we deal with any problems and plan a lot of stuff, and just love them a lot so its going to be awesome!

Our service was changed because it's too cold to work outside now so now we clean there buildings! Yay for service!!

Our district with Brother Brown! (trc person)

Spiritual Thought:

This week we had the opportunity to hear from Sherri Dew!!!!! I was so excited and got super good seats. She did not disappoint. I loved it when she talked about questions. She didn't just say that questions aren't bad, she explicitly said that questions are GOOD and NECESSARY. Especially questions about the gospel. Because questions invite revelation from God, and make it possible to become more knowledgeable. Questions do not make us doubters, the make us seekers. Do not be afraid to ask questions, and if you do, make sure you are willing to do whatever it takes to get that answer. Seeking is not a passive thing. I promise that if you have questions and you ask God sincerely, he WILL answer you. I have experienced too many times to count even just at the MTC. He loves us so much and wants to communicate with us. He will be with us everyday if we invite him. 

I love you all and hope you have a great week!! 

Love, 

Sister Clement

Toronto...Utah??

Hello Hello Hello beautiful people, I hope you all had a great week because I sure did here at the MTC! 

Sister James drew our district and It's amazing! She is sooo talented

Funnies: 

1. We are currently working on a song for the MTC... its called PARTY AT THE MTC (like the Miley Cyrus song) and honestly it going pretty well, stay tuned for the finished product...it'll blow your mind. 

2. As the title suggests, when I was talking to an elder and we had the classic where are you from and where are you going conversation, I said I was from Toronto. He pauses for a second and then goes "Toronto Utah???" Oh my goodness....Americans

3. So we all watch general conference all together and during the last session on Sunday I looked around and about 80% of missionaries were completely passed out sleeping haha. Everyone had such creative ways of getting comfortable too.

Early morning service crew (those are real people with real lives!)

Thai Learning: 

So we overcame a few obstacles this week, one being learning how to say "week" instead of Monday. We literally thought that Monday was week since we got here and now we know why everyone was sooo confused in lessons because we'd ask them to pray on Monday instead of will you pray this week? 

Also tones are SOOOOOO important it is insane, a slight voice fluctuation changes things so much. We've made a bunch of mistakes with that too haha. 

We are learning so much everyday, and our lessons are so much smoother now with our teacher and with people who come in to volunteer. It's so amazing...the gift of tongues is so real! (gift of tongues is something we believe God gives us and it is like a special blessing to learn and speak the language better!) 

Thai elders (Idk what they are doing half of the time)

Random Tidbits: 

During General conference I ended up sitting beside a Thai person who had just gotten there and a French person who had also just gotten here! It was so fun to be able to talk with both of them, and I always love being able to practice my french too aha.

We got to host again on Wednesday and it is always super fun. It is always hard to watch the goodbyes though..especially the dads. The dads saying goodbye to their kids gets me every time.

There was also a Thai couple that was going on a tour and we spoke with them for a bit too! They are sooooo sweet and all Thai people are like them so I'm so excited! We also got all the group emails for the Thai missionaries that left last week and Thailand looks SOOOO AWESOME. 

Us with the Thai people!

Everyone has also caught on to the fact that I am Canadian now so the jokes just never stop everywhere I go. 

Spiritual Thought:

Of course with general conference this weekend I could talk about so so much. So in thai, repentance directly translates to return of heart. It's really beautiful. Everyone has the ability to change....everyone. We have the ability to center and return our heart to God if we want to. We need to have a desire to change and he will help us, and we need to be willing to give our old ways up, which is not an easy thing. As Elder Renlund talked about, we need throw our past ways away into a waterfall, with no hopes or intentions of retrieval. If we do this, there is no doubt in my mind that Heavenly Father will help us become the best people we can be and reach our full potential. 

I love you all and as always I would love a nice little email here or there ;)  rachael.clement@missionary.org

Love, 

Sister Clement 

RIP Dale- Another Day, Another Death

So I don't know why animal funerals are such a big thing at the mtc, I really couldn't tell you...but they are. 

We are decorating our classroom soooo nicely (Thailand and Laos Flags)

Funnies: 

1. So as the title and opening line suggests there was another funeral... for Dale the Bird. He flew into the window and died. We were walking on our way to class and we saw someone playing a very somber song through their nose so we stopped to see what all the commotion was about...low and behold there was dale dead on the window. There was a mini paper gravestone and everything. It was very sad.

Dale's funeral

2. Elder Lindhart swallowed a chunk of roast beef and choked for a bit and then it kind of went down but it was still blocking the pathway to his stomach, so he was vomiting everywhere, and had to go to the hospital. They had to do a little surgery to get it out so he was on some drugs and he kept speaking Thai to the nurse, mixed with Spanish. He was super proud of himself that he was speaking Thai in his subconscious. The video is super super funny.

At the ER!

Elder Yoon sleeps EVERWHERE.. It's a problem

Thai Learning: 

Thai is getting better and better. I can form my own phrases now because I know enough words, and teaching is getting so much better. Our lessons flow so smoothly now. However in one of our lessons all of us forgot how to say like so we kept saying you need to strive to become God instead of become like God and they were pretty confused, but oh well, that's why we are here! 

Seriously though I love how much we are learning and how quickly it's coming. Heavenly Father really is helping all of us so so much. 

The view from our study spot!!

Random Tidbits: 

Our P-Thais left this week **Lots of tears**. SO we are the only Thai district here now. They were so excited to leave though, 9 weeks was getting a bit long. 

Most of the Thai missionaries at the temple!!

 All the Thai sisters :))

Saturday night movie night was THE BEST this week. Our neighbors came and we had so many snacks and we did face masks and danced every time they played music in the very cheesy videos, it was awesome. We taped my phone to the dresser and put our mattresses on the floor and had one big slumber party until 10:35pm!! (just so you  know that's 5 minutes past bedtime so it was a pretty big deal...don't tell my mission president!)

Slumber party!

Sister James is so talented! 

Freezing cold for our morning service!

We got to host on Wednesday, which is where we welcome the new missionaries and help them with their luggage and show them around a bit! It was super fun and we get to do it again tomorrow!. 

They also announced a new change to the Sunday schedule here at the Mtc.....7 HOURS OF FREE TIME!! They even encouraged us to rest during that time. I am so excited for this change. Its going to be so much better to enjoy and cherish the sabbath day instead of dreading the back to back meetings all day.

Spiritual Thought: 

In another devotional we talked about how we need to become the message. We are sharing a message of joy, and love. We need to emulate that. Most times sharing what we believe in doesn't have to be through words. It should be through actions and being an example. How can we share a message we don't live ourselves. Be joyful in all that you do, and have the charity and love that Christ has, and people will want to know more. We are so blessed to be able to have something that brings true joy, purpose, and the ability to be forgiven for all of our mistakes. People are searching for this, and I hope to be able to be a guide for them, and direct the to the true source of peace and joy...Jesus Christ. Everyone can do that too through our actions. I love you all and hope you have an amazing week! 

Love, 

Sister Clement