testifying in Thailand

testifying in Thailand

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Week 3 - Nong-Thai no more!

Hello hello! Now to explain the subject. Our Phii-Thai's (Phii= older/respect, so in the MTC it just means they have been here a transfer longer than you) are now in Thailand!! We were their Nong-Thai's (younger sibling type of word) They left Monday morning at 2:30 and now the two younger districts are the best speaking Thai missionaries in the MTC...haha that's terrifying. But we are learning!

THAI
Attention attention everyone, Sister Hammon has officially translated 1.5 verses from Thai script to Romanized Thai! I was seriously so excited I did a missionary appropriate happy dance. We are learning script! It is absolutely crazy and every once in awhile I take a step back and look at the page and realize that I am reading noodles. It is incredible. I am in the middle of translating one of my favorite scriptures, it is 10 lines and I have 3 left! Each line takes about 10 minutes so I've been working for a long time. Something challenging about the language is the spelling. Thai's are very concerned about the beauty of their language, so if they don't think a word looks good enough they will throw in a random symbol that you don't pronounce, but it's just there for fun. They're like silent English letters but way more random. Some elders in my district are phenomenal at translating and it is amazing to see how fast they can pick it up. It's hard because I feel like I'm behind but also wonderful because I can ask them 100 questions and they usually know the answer. I AM LEARNING TO READ NOODLE and I am so blessed that God is helping me because without Him I would be so so lost. 

Random Thai Language Fact: Something super hilarious about Thai is their classifications. They have random groups that you say when using words to clasify them (yeah I don't know why but you just do) anyway! They groups are the most random thing in the world. For example, one classification includes, books, candles, axes and other similar objects. Because obviously those objects have so much in common. 

Super Cool Thai Lang Fact: Big Thai words are just a bunch of little Thai words put together and I love it! For example
Repentance literally translates to "return of heart"
Perfect = "good and ready" haha that one kills me
God/Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, Holy Ghost all have the word "phra" which means royal which I LOVE
Hymn = to "song of prayer"
Happy = "good heart"
and so on, it is so wonderful! 

Funny Language Mistakes:
- During role plays I told an elder in my class that "praying is grandma"....hahah I was atempting to say that "praying is simple/easy" but it definitely did not come out that way
- Someone in our class (she won't tell us who) bore testimony to Sister Painter during a lesson that they killed a dog 
- So "mon" said with the right tone in Thai is "devil" Haha so guess what my name can be if said wrong? Yup, you got it. Sister Ham-Devil at your service. (they actually have to be super careful about how they spell it on my nametag for that exact reason)

Sorry I spent so much time on the language, it consumes my thought day and night so it's fitting that it consumes my emails too! Thai is an absolutely beautiful language and I am so absolutely blessed to have the opportunity to learn it. God is helping me more than I realize and I will never be able to thank Him enough!

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
1- We taught a lesson to our new investigator Sister Jo (Sister Painter) and it was so incredibly powerful. Our companionship did an amazing job at splitting the time 33/33/33 which we need to work on. We were all blessed with the gift of tongues and it was incredible. When I walk out of a lesson I feel like I know so much Thai and it just boosts my confidence so much! Then someone asks me anything besides a gospel question and I have no idea what language they are speaking, haha I'm getting better everyday! 
2- Our district found out that we get to host on Wednesday!!! I AM SO EXCITED. I'll let you know how it goes :)
3- We had Chick-fil-A for dinner. God truly does love His missionaries.

SPIRITUAL
We have really focused on simplifying this week. Brother Hartman thinks that is one of the most challenging things in the gospel and he's right. But we can tell the power that comes from saying things in a way that primary kids can understand them. It is something I hope to perfect over these next 18 months!
Also we really focused on prayer this week. We need to teach investigators not just how to pray, but that prayer is a LIFELINE. They need that help from God and they won't get it if they don't ask sincerely. Which means that we need that connection in our lives, our prayers are their example! So I challenge you all to make prayer your lifeline, because in the MTC it really is!

Thank you for all your love and support! I love it here, it is very hard but I am surrounded by incredible people who are blessing my life. Thai is coming but extra prayers won't hurt, I promise. I love you all and have an incredible week! 

Much much love,
Sister Ham-Devil

LOVE HER. We are the same person, I swear, so we twinned, but now she is in THAILAND!

It was the week of twinning with matching shirts for the Thai zone

Sister Hammon!!! (they may change the spelling on my tag though!)

Haha long story but Sister Painter gave us flowers and I was taking a picture when an elder walked right behind me but it FREAKED ME OUT haaha it was just funny that we got a picture of it!

Flowers from Sister Painter!

Most loved sister in the MTC! 3 packages in one day!! :)

Right when I finished translating my very first verse!!!!! I know, I know, I'm super talented;)

Woohoo!

How great is this picture?

Team Thai:')

Week 3!


All the Thai's! (minus the other young district)

Bye Phii-Thai's...SEE YOU IN 6 WEEKS!

Thai Sisters!

I don't want her to leave

cute cute cute

 honestly cannot explain how we got in these positions

We are pretty gangsta

I will leave the selfies to Elder Tuttle

haha I find this hilarious

Let's just say our district is REALLY into volleyball . . .  this is the second injury from volleyball in our zone!  Crazy, let's just say games are much less intense now . . .



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