I know I am here for a reason!

Sawad dii Ka!!! Sabaydii Mai? (How are you?) I have so much to say in so little time. The MTC is wonderful, but overwhelming all at once. The first three days here felt like I had been here for like three months! The days go by faster after the first week though. Wednesdays are my P days so look forward to me writing my blog on those days! Anyhow, my companion, Sister Her is super wonderful. She's Hmong, but she's lived in Sacramento Ca all her life and I'm already jealous of her Hmong speaking skills! (yes there is a lot Hmong people in Thailand). The Sisters in my district, Sister Maughan and Sister Peterson dorm with us, and they are awesome as well. I have been blessed with a great group. We all get along so far and we have similar attitudes to things and such (like being on time to meetings etc.) The Elders in my district are really smart. They catch onto the language pretty fast and I have a hard time keeping up! But, I really should be proud of myself. The first three days, our teacher Brother Burgess spoke NOTHING but Thai at us. It was a bit overwhelming. And on the third day we were expected to give a lesson to an "investigator" (a teacher here in the MTC that speaks Thai) named "Sombad". It went pretty bad to say the least with our limited Thai. Well, our entire district did pretty bad as well. He kept asking us all these questions that we somewhat understood but didn't know how to answer back. We just stared at him blankly whole muttering, "Ummm" most of the time. We got out a few legible sentences and prayed... with him staring at us awkwardly since we didn't know how to teach him how to pray in Thai. After we said "Amen" we looked up and said, "Chook dii!" (Bye Now!) He looked at us weird and then pointed to the door like, "What, you leave already?" Haha! Yeah... it wasn't a good first lesson. All eight of us trudged back to our classrooms and I decided to share my cinnamon rolls with them to cheer everyone up. Our failure only motivated us to do better the next time! And we ALL did better! In fact, tonight will be our fourth lesson with Sombad and I have confidence in Everyone, even myself! I can already bear my testimony, pray and give some sentences about God and the plan of salvation. It's pretty incredible to say the least. I know I would not have been able to do it without the strength of the Lord and the Holy Ghost. Seriously, in three years of Spanish that I took, I would not be able to say half the things I say now in Thai that I learned in less than five days. It just boggles my mind sometimes. The Lord is strong and he is able to do anything. I just have to be patient with myself and all will come together. The devotionals here are so powerful. We were able to hear from Richard. J. Maynes of the Seventy. And, I was able to participate in the choir and THAT was amazing. I love the music there and it's just so much fun! I had to go on splits with some sisters in my zone since my companion and the other sisters in the district didn't want to go. But I knew if I didn't go I would totally regret it. I missed choir anyhow. But, overall, the MTC has been such an exhausting but uplifting experience. I am getting both physically and spiritually stronger here everyday with exercise, and constant prayer and study. I feel that I will be an entirely different person for the better by the end of my mission. And most importantly, I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for me in Thailand. I know I am there for a reason, and the Lord will use me to do his work and touch someone's heart and life. Thank you for all your support! I apologize if this first entry sounds a little random. I have so much to say in so little time! But, I love you all so dearly! I will continue to work very hard :) Love, Sister Carter