" All doubts melted away"

Sawadii Kha! Sabaydii may? Wanii pen yangray? 

So, I am in Thailand. No big deal, right? 

No, I am sooooo excited! I wish I could elaborate how awesome it is to be here. No joke, it. is. amazing. I was super nervous on the plane. It was such a long trip and I had a hard time sleeping more often than not. They tried feeding us dinner on the plane at 3:00 am and I was like, "What? I just want to sleep!" haha! Oh, and it was pretty dang neat to see Gordon Ramsey in LAX... just saying. 

I can't believe I was in China! It's just so cool! I mean, I guess the airport in Hong Kong doesn't really count by all technicality but, I still count it. It was a two hour flight from there to Thailand and it was the shortest plane ride of my life. I was basically freaking out. In a bad way. I was doubting my ability as a missionary and my capacity to speak Thai. It was kind of bad. But as we were descending and I could see glimpses of the land I would be serving in... all doubts melted away. I was filled with joy and love and awe. I can't describe half of what I felt, really. I almost cried with joy! The rest of the day was really long. We met President and Sister Senior and they are SO wonderful. I can't wait to get to know them more. We Dan Jonse'd the first day (handing out Books of Mormon to people) and I was able to be paired up with Sister Phelps from my Stake! It was so nice to see her and meet with her. She is such a sweetheart. We passed a Book of Mormon to a man sitting at a Bus stop and I was able to bear my testimony of it! I was so happy!

Transfer meeting was a blur. I was so tired and taking everything in that I can't really remember important details. All I know is that I was able to meet my trainer, Sister Yim and be called to serve Srinakarin (in East Bangkok). We got to our apartment and it's so High So! (super nice by Thai standards) Our apartment is nice and clean with a normal bathroom and AC. I live with two other Sisters, Sister Barton and Sister Bentley. They are wonderful and nice. I love them all so much. Sister Yim lived in Hawaii and she is of Chinese decent. (even though she looks Hawaiian) A lot of people think that she's a khon thai, or a Thai person. We tried to exchange my money but the banks here are super picky about American money. We will try again today to exchange it. Anyway, the malls here look like American malls almost. They are so modern and nice! But then you step outside and see all the craziness of Thailand. It's kind of dirty and run down in a lot of areas but it's still super awesome. 

Sister Yim and I study and keep our clothes and stuff in this room and sleep in the other room with the other sisters

We got back to the apartment and I felt a little overwhelmed by all the things I have to memorize in Thai. And then on top of that, I smacked my face into the clear, glass door in our apartment. Haha! I laugh now, but it was super embarrassing. 

The days after were kind of a blur as well. Today is P-day (Monday here and Sunday in the US) and so I am trying hard to think of all that happened four days ago...

We have two new Elders in the district! Elder Codling (from my MTC district!) and Elder Murkeley are so awesome. Elder Murkeley is our District Leader and he is super nice and awesome. He is so geng (skilled) at approaching people and being super friendly to them. We helped them move into an apartment since we never had Elders in the area before. I have had so much fun meeting all the members and different people here in Thailand. They are so kind and loving and very forgiving of my Thai. They are always so surprised when I say hello and wai to them. Farangs (foreigners/white people) never really approach Thai people let alone speak their language. I scared this poor lady I was sitting next to at this bus stop. She was in her own world when I said, "sawadii kha!" she jumped and practically screamed! Oh my goodness! I felt so bad! But, I was able to talk to her a little about the Gospel. Ugh... it is so hard to approach people and commit them to baptism. Our zone leaders want us to contact people on the street and basically ask them the baptism commitment straight off the bat. Apparently it works? My trainer and I will be giving it a shot this week and see how things go. We are trying to live by strict obedience to the rules and to the Lord. I have actually come up to 6 people or more in total and asking them about baptism and such. They are always surprised and a little apprehensive about my approach. I haven't had success yet but I know the Lord will bless me. 

I have been really striving to be positive. My motto recently is "no excuses!". I can't keep giving myself reasons not to approach people. I am a missionary and I am accountable for teaching these people the gospel. So, NOW more than ever, I have been praying to my Lord above. I have felt His love for me and for the people I see everyday in Thailand. 

I love you all so very much! I pray for you and hope that you are all happy and well. Please don't forget about your missionaries. We need all the help we can get! 

I love you,

Sister Carter

These pictures are of a bridge we found when we were exploring the area and "Dan Jones-ing" (approaching people about baptisims/trying to find more investigators) 

more make shift bruges

glass on wall

Do you see what is on the wall? They are so smart! They put broken glass bottles and glued them on the wall so no one would climb over! Yep... this is Thailand!

 The toad I almost stepped on yesterday!

A view from my patio 

The Church from the roof of my apartment

 Srinakarin!

 Srinakarin!

Well, this is Srinakarin! It's pretty great! I love it here!