Week 2 in Thailand!! Hey hey hey!! This week has been AMAZING and I can't wait to write all about it!

Sister Clement's first area- Udon Thani

Mom's note:  Udon Thani is a provincial capital city in northeast Thailand. Wat Phothisomphon is a Buddhist temple complex from the 1800s, with a 21st-century pagoda. In Udon Thani Park, Nong Prachak Lake has an island with a plant-filled garden. The Udon Sunshine Orchid Farm grows a breed of orchids known for their fragrance. East of the city is Ban Chiang, an archaeological site with Bronze Age farming and burial artifacts.

Hey hey hey!! This week has been AMAZING and I can't wait to write all about it!

Funnies:

In English class we wrote letters to Santa and three teenage boys came up to the front and said they want  a"Falang girl" for Christmas. (white girl)

Also in English class (clearly a lot happens there) we had to introduce our families with pictures and I showed one with my siblings and after I was done explaining I asked if anyone had any questions. One girl raises her hand and points to Andrew and asks, "is he single?" ohhh boy. Then I asked her how old she was and she was 23!! Lol Andrew if you're reading this don't let it go to your head.

English class

after a service project today (harvesting rice) I got a little bit of a tan!! (yay) but then Brother Noi (and older guy in our ward) looks at me and says I'm not as beautiful as before because I have a tan 

Rice harvesting crew!!

Making little deserts as a service project!

Thai kids are the cutest kids I've decided

Again I think my point is proven about Thai kids

In the big market advertising for English this one women came up and started asking about it. She asked me if she could take a picture, I assumed she meant of the board bc that's what people do but no she takes a selfie with me! I'm pretty much a famous person now but all I've got going for me is my white skin aha. 

Random tidbits:

I finally was able to take money out and get a bike!! I also got Chased by a dog for the first time on that bike... Felt like a true missionary in that moment 

I finally have a bike!!!! 

At our apartment building!

We advertise for English class in this big market on Saturday nights and we were in our usual spot when this like group of boys I had just talked to started dancing! They were seriously so so good and totally stole our spotlight lol so we were going to move but I had the idea to ask them to dance with our signs and they said yes!!! It was epic. And so many people talked to us after. Hopefully we will get a lot more people coming to English class!! Always gotta use your resources people. 

With the dancers!

it's pretty cool because every member I meet thinks I've been here for like 3-6 months already and they always say my Thai is really good! (I never trust it though because they are way too nice to Falangs aha). one brother said I have the personality of someone who's been here a while because I'm not shy lol 

À member in the ward is marrying a French guy today and he was at church on sunday and I had to translate from Thai into French! Hardest thing I've had to do lol (mostly because I barely understand Thai but also because I'm already starting to lose little connectinf words in French!! So sad!) 

We got to go to the wilderness twice this week (that's what all the missionaries call it because it's so far out of town) and in the middle of the wildnerness there was a random eiffel tower thingy. It was so funny (reminded me of my second home :() 

The eiffel tower in the middle of the wilderness

Thailand

The wilderness! (the roads are like this red clay it's super cool) 

One of the elders friends has a friend that invited us to lunch at her hotel and we ate like this gourmet Thai food buffet that is usually 400-500 baht!! ($17-22) But we ate for free!! It was a good day

Us with the super rich lady at the hotel!!

Miracles:

I had to include a section about miracles because this week it seriously was amazing 

The first one was this really nice women who hadn't been to church in years and didn't want to come back for a while. Slowly but surely she started becoming more open. But she told us she wouldn't come back to church until her debts were paid off (she had a lot à lot of debt, like a lifetimes worth) so ofc everyone was really sad. Her and her husband started praying again. And really praying hard to find a way out of this crippling debt. They were praying when they got this prompting to go to this place (couldn't understand everything) and ask the person if he could help them. He said, "yes I can" and then gave them enough money to pay off all of their debts, which had seemed impossible. She told us that she cannot deny God now and that she really knows he loves and cares about her. 

The second one was this women who the missionaries have been teaching for 2 years and we finally felt she was ready to be baptized, and she wanted to so so badly but she was so stuck on not being ready and not being perfect enough. She was supposed to get baptized this past week but she told us she prayed and she got an answer that she shouldn't (even thouvh she's gotten so many answers already that she should) we were a little sad but we decided to change our lesson plan and show a video of the atonement of Jesus Christ in Gethsemane and the spirit was so so so strong like an explosion in my whole body. We all shared our testimonies and then both sister yamma and I felt we should end it there so we did. There was a bit of silence and then she looked at us and said, "when can I do my baptismal interview?". We were so taken aback but also so happy!! So happy she was finally open and willing to trust that the saviour can take away all of the bad things we've done in our life. That through him we can have peace and perfection eventually. And also joy no matter our circumstances. That's why I'm here, to spread joy and love whether that is in teaching or just simply smiling at people and saying hello!!

Thailand is honestly the best. 

Love, 

Sister Clement

Woah Wait What....I'M IN THAILAND!?!?

A very tired Sister Chem

Yeah that's right... Im in THAILAND!!!! After the huge hassle of thinking I couldn't go with my group, being devastated thinking I was never going to go to Thailand, then à 36 hour journey, not sleeping for like 3 days I am HERE!! A ten hour train ride from Bangkok and life is wild over here in Udorn. I have a Thai companion which is awesome. Her name is sister yamma! And I go by sister chem because it's a lot easier for them to say! 

the train with beds we took to udorn!

Okay let's get right into it. 

Funnies:

Okay so everyone here either loves "Falangs" (white person) or is scared of them. The little girls love touching my face and skin because I'm white lol and they always just stare at me a lot aha. 

People never refer to me as sister clement just always oh the "Falang" and they'll say wowww "Falang gin gang mag" which means wow I can eat super well (huge compliment here lol) 

Since rice is such a big part of meals here every person I see or meet, especially the members always ask me if I've eaten rice yet. It's like the equivalent of oh are you hungry, have you eaten yet? It's like the main greeting here 

random rice field with some lovely people we had just met! I got to harvest rice for the first Time

Just out here harvesting some rice

Mom's note:  The member who was driving the missionaries about 90 min out into the country just decided to stop on the side of the road and talk to these random people and invite the missionaries to help with the harvest!

Haha older ladies touch our bums, it's just what they do and it really caught me off guard lol. Now I'm starting to get used to it. 

Thai Culture:

So here in the esan everyone calls each other mom and dad! So like every person older than me you just call them that. It's like we are one big happy family it's so great! 

Also eating is a hugeeeee aspect of the Thai culture. I'm def going to get fat because we eat so much. We teach a lot of people so we eat À LOT.  The food is so amazing I can't get over it

Lunch at a members house!

Everyone is soooooo nice here. So smiley and loving to everyone. And just such charitable people it's amazing 

One of the girls I skyped for trc before coming here!! She's so cute

The girls in our branch at the mtc! 

Our district, I miss them already! 

Language:

Its so hard here because they speak a different dialect and really don't speak clearly but it's okay I'm really really trying. I still love it a lot! 

The work:

There are so many people we are teaching who are so interested! Our days our jam packed with people to teach and I love them all so much, even if it is hard to remember them all lol. They have such a desire to learn about God and Jesus Christ and it truly is wonderful! 

Inviting people to free English class at a crazy busy market!! 

Spiritual thought:

Love has been on my mind a lot this week. Love is so important. Without love we have nothing. Jesus Christ was the most loving person. As a missionary I realized this week that ultimately my job here for the year and a half if to just love people and be there for them when they need me, because that's what Christ did. I know he loves everyone more than we can comprehend and I'm slowly starting to be able to feel a small portion of that love for the Thai people. 

Love you all! 

Sister Clement 

Hitting the Ground Running!

President and Sister Hammond

Mom's note: After getting up Monday morning around 1am to catch a 6am flight, there was an unexpected glitch and Sister Clement was not able to get on the plane with the rest of her district.  It was very emotional to say the least.  An MTC staff member woke up at 1am and told her husband that she felt she needed to go to work right away.  She was able to help out and get things organized and Rachael was on the next flight about 12 hrs later. So travelling for almost 30hrs on her own, on very little sleep, she arrived in Bangkok on Wednesday around 10am.  We received the following letter from the Mission President. I am so grateful that Rachael is being looked after while she is away from home.  Couldn't ask for better guardians!!  Off to work she goes:)  We are excited to learn where she will be serving.

We are happy to report that your daughter arrived safely in Bangkok this morning. She will stay this evening at the FX Hotel. She is in good spirits and is anxious to begin laboring in the Lord's vineyard in Thailand. We are thrilled to have her as a missionary in the Thailand Bangkok Mission family.

Sister Clement will join other newly arrived missionaries, together with Sister Hammond and me and the Assistants to the President, at Lumpini Park for an afternoon devotional. Lumpini Park is the site where then Elder Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the land of Thailand for the preaching of the Gospel in 1966. Sister Clement will have the opportunity to dedicate and consecrate herself to this most wonderful work.  The new missionaries will be trained by Sister Hammond and me, and later oriented by the Office Couple, Elder and Sister Cook, Sister Williams, the mission nurse, and the Assistants to the President. New missionaries will have their first experience street contacting in the area followed by dinner at the Mission Home.

Your daughter will receive her first assignment tomorrow morning. Preparation day will be on Monday and she will be able to email you and contact you each week.  I am sure she will have much to share regarding her experiences in Thailand, missionary activities, and her first Sunday in her assigned area. Your expressions of encouragement and spiritually uplifting email correspondence will be of great support.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions during your daughter's term of missionary service.

Sincerely,

President and Hammond

Thailand Bangkok Mission

LAST P-DAY IN THE MTC

All the Thais at the temple :) 

Yeah you read that right, the next time I will be emailing I will be in THAILAND!!! I am so so so excited it is unreal! I can't believe this day is steadily approaching. ALso I think my emails will be a lot more exciting after I leave as well.

Funnies:

Disclaimer honestly I'm sure there are so many funny things that happened this week because our group is crazy and everyday's a party and a half but I really can't think of anything specific since all the days just blend together. 

1. HALLOWEEN!! The sisters and I dressed up as elders or fbi agents...whichever floats your boat and it was awesome. We got in a teeny bit of trouble but we didn't know we weren't allowed to "dress up". Our costumes was completely appropriate though don't worry. We found some white button up shirts in the free stuff bin in the lost and found so we got creative! 

Half of our Halloween costumes! 

2. So this week we found out that one of the cambodian teachers gets mad every time we hide a little army man in their room (it's been an on going battle, teachers are usually in on it too) and he rips there heads off and throws them in the garbage...we might have to stop doing that.

Thai Learning: 

It's coming slowly but surely, and I definitely am a lot more comfortable speaking now and understanding is a lot easier. We have a couple people from thailand here at the mtc so I am able to talk and speak with them a lot and it is awesome. I still know though when I get to thailand I am like not going to understand everything and it's going to be really hard but that's what it is supposed to be like! We only progress when things are difficult! I am just so excited to go there. 

We skyped again with a Thai girl and she was 17 and sooooo cute. She also just loved God so much which I think is amazing considering she had no concept of who He was like 2 years ago. She was amazing and really an inspiration to me so much.

SISTER KIM! SO CUTE

Random Tidbits: 

We have gotten so much closer to our girls this week in our zone and we just love them so much. They all have different stories and reasons why they are here but I know for sure they are meant to be going to where they are assigned. Seriously my capacity to love people has increased exponentially...one of the perks of being a missionary I guess! Feeling even a tiny portion of that christlike love for other people is truly amazing. 

The thai sisters at the temple! 

We got our flight plans!!!! We were so excited when we got the email in class and our teachers made us wait to look at it! We are leaving the MTC at 2:30am all together and then flying to detroit at 6am and then to Korea, and then to Thailand where we will stay in a hotel for a couple nights in bangkok and get to know the mission presidents! SO PUMPEDDDD

The two sister C's Album cover (for when we come home)

Ran into Sister Murphy

Our neighbors who left this morning :( good news is we inherited a disco ball from them so we will definitely be using that

mom's note:  My friend Melanie has been sending Rachael packages of snacks since she got there and got to visit with her today while I was skyping:)  She has requested a list of airplane snacks from Rachael and her companions.  They will get one last package from Sister Lumsden.  Thank you!!!

Spiritual Thought: 

We had a really good discussion in class last night about what God expects from us and while reading some scriptures I really came to know and reaffirm my understanding that God just expects US. Wherever we are, whatever stage we are at he expects US and all that we have. Giving our all to him and just offering what we can, which is going to change everyday and with every person. That's all he wants. He loves us so much and really is our Father. He just wants us to grow, be happy, confide in Him, consult with him, try our best in all that we do, and always try to pick ourselves back up when we fall - with his help of course. Just like our own dads or parents. He needs us. He created us for a reason, so if we strive to use our talents and just be ourselves he can work with that and he will work with that! 

I love all of you so so much! And I think about you all the time!

Love, 

Sister Clement