July 21, 2009 "Look! Missionaries!"

Where do I even begin!? I love being a missionary! I had a funny experience the first day - I was sitting in the meeting for new missionaries and I turned around and saw a bunch of sisters with missionary tags on and I thought "look! missionaries!" Obviously, it takes some getting used to -- the new title and new calling.
I am just excited and I love every day! I will start with my companion -- Like I told you, her name is Sister Erin Meyers. I really like her a lot. We have a similar personality -- we didn't do a lot of talking at first but as we have gotten to know each other, we have really hit it off - we get along really well. She is fun and slightly sarcastic, which is good - because she wouldn't be able to stand me if she wasn't. She is from Oregon, and we are the only new Thai sisters. We are the smallest district in the MTC with the two of us and one elder. (His companion has already gone home.) It creates a strange situation with the Elder - he is a solo Elder so he hangs out with my companion and me. He is a really fun guy - he is half Thai, so the little bit of Thai he speaks has a really good accent - which makes him a great resource. However, he leaves in three weeks, and I have no idea what that means for our district. For me, it is a testimony to me that I am supposed to be in Thailand at a specific time and for a specific purpose. I am excited to find out what that is.
I live with five sisters. Four of them are going to Thailand (in three weeks) and one is going to Cambodia. They are really fun and willing to help with the language, which is awesome.
So a little bit about the Thai language - - it is INSANE. I got excited on the first day because they said that verbs are the same word no matter what - there are no tenses and there are no conjugations. There are also no plurals or articles. So I thought to myself, this might not be too bad. Oh was I wrong! That makes it so you have to say three times as many words to get out what you want to. The grammar is very different from ours. For example, the sentence for Our Heavenly Father (as in prayer), literally translated is Heavenly Father, of us and I (humbly). The word for Savior literally translated means royal person who helps to save us. Most of their words are a lot of little words put together. It is interesting but difficult. And it is very hard to learn the vocabulary - I have to use a word at least 10 times before it will stick - they are just so different and strange sounding. We are one-on-one / three teachers with three of us. And I love all of them. One, Brother Sakhaa, is a native Thai - he is a convert to the church and he loves the gospel. Obviously he is a great resource. And he is sweet and hilarious. Then we have a sister, Sister Knudson. She went on her mission to Thailand. She is new and teaching both Thai and "script" - (the written Thai language) - very fast. We can already pray in Thai, testify in Thai, teach about the atonement in Thai, and say a whole bunch of other things, like "I like to... or Where is" ... and a whole bunch of phrases like that. I counted the other day and we already know about 200 words in Thai! That is pretty impressive for four days of class! We have only had the third teacher once, - he is very goal oriented and serious - and he only speaks Thai in class. That is difficult, but I am really excited about that because I think that will help us learn a lot faster. Our first lesson with him was on the first two principles of lesson one - God is our loving Heavenly Father and the Gospel blesses families. I love talking about how the gospel blesses families because of how much it has blessed mine.
I have seen Sister Williams and Sister Lund all over the place - it is great to see familiar faces, although they will be gone in a couple of weeks and I will be here until the end of time. Twelve weeks is definitely going to be a long time when I'm anxious to go to Thailand.
I just want you to know that I love the gospel and I love the opportunity to serve a mission. I am excited about the work and the message we have to share. I have felt the Spirit so strong while I have been here. I love being surrounded by missionaries and surrounded by the gospel. I love you all so much! Think of me often!
Sister Webb