Pictures of Calvin from Friends

Calvin got to host an international missionary! Thanks, Ann.  It's soo fun to get pictures of Calvin being a missionary.

Calvin and his friend from childhood--from age 3-5 they played almost every day together--our backyards were kitty-corner to each other.  It was soo fun that they found each other in the MTC--although they've both changed quite a bit since then--its a good thing they both had name tags on!  Hudson has three weeks left in the MTC and is going to Hungary/Romania.  Good boys :) I love it.

"I am a Fluffy Old Grandpa"

สวัสดีครับ! Sawatdee kap!

We're finally starting to get into a rhythm over here and I'm so relieved haha. The first week was super slow and I was wondering if I could really handle 9 weeks here. But through prayer, study, and lots of patience, we made it to 2 weeks! The power of prayer is so real!

NEW ARRIVALS

Remember last week when our entire branch left to the field except for the Thais? Well we got some new missionaries! All spanish speaking, so they'll get out of here 2 weeks before they do, but we'll always have a week over them so that's something, right?

PASAA THAI

I'm learning more and more Thai every day! On wednesday, we learned how to pray in Thai. It's so much fun and a great new way to talk to my father in heaven. Our teachers also challenged us to learn 20 new words a day. Aaaaahhhhhh! It's been getting harder and harder to keep that up. I don't think I've been able to learn more than about 18 in a day, but I'm writing them all down and making flash cards so hopefully I'll be able to get more words jammed into my head every day haha. For our companion study, Elder Yang and I have been reading in the Thai Book of Mormon. That sounds more impressive than it really is, we get through only like 7 or 8 verses in half an hour haha. It's really cool to see words I recognize in the scriptures in Thai. Brother McRae had us read Moroni 3-5, and we understood almost all of it! The Gift of Tongues is so real, I can personally testify of it! A week ago, Thai script looked like ramen noodles. Now they're words! Actual words!

We're finishing up the basic core now, so now we know how to meet someone, offer a prayer, testify, share a scripture, and even say "must be nice" (TM Elder Yang) haha. 

POOSONGJAIS

Remember just now when I said I know how to testify? Well we got to actually use that this week! We got to teach two lessons to "Brother Game" (Brother Borg's Thai-dentical twin). He is an interested person who saw all the cars at a church building, so he went in and now he's taking discussions from us. We're armed with our broken Thai, and Prawinyanborisud (The Holy Ghost), so we took on the challenge haha. Thailand is 95% Buddhist, so when we teach poosongjais, we really have to start from the ground up. The spirit is so strong and time flies when we teach him, so it's something that I always look forward to! We also got to do our first TRC's! They're when we get to meet some people volunteering as members, and talk to them, get to know them, and share a quick message. It was a really cool experience to talk to people that speak such good Thai. The only problem is I'm not quite there yet haha. It was hard to understand what they were saying, but I could grasp the general idea. One of them, Brother Brown, gave me a piece of paper that said, "be at ease, no need to stress, I am a fluffy old grandpa." He's hilarious haha. I felt really good about my ability to speak, so there is hope, don't worry!

RUN RUN RUN

I'm really worried about weight gain in the MTC, so I decided it would be a good idea to pick up running again. Plus, I'm less likely to break my ankle playing basketball or volleyball when I'm too busy running, right? I started with 2.5 miles and then the next few days I ran some 5ks. But I have to run on an indoor track above the gym, which is 10 laps for a mile. Yikes. But I'm feeling fit and happy, not quite fat and sassy, despite how huge my shirts make me look haha.

FLIP, ELDER

Ok. So let me try to explain how many snacks we've gotten. Think of a mountain of snacks. Got it? Ok now think of two. Good? Ok now subtract like 99% of them and that's about how much we have haha. Elder Maetani has gotten so many packages and we have a community snacks policy haha. Elder O'Bryan sent us a care package too. It was super cool of him. He even gave me a whole box of Frosted Flakes. This guy knows me. But those, plus all of the snacks Elder Thaxton and I have been sent, adds up to a lot of snacks. Elder Yang is still waiting on stuff, and says "must be nice" whenever someone gets something haha. It's kinda become our motto.

OK, NOW DROP A BEAT

The Pi Thais threw us a "Party" the other night. Complete with a Miley Cyrus parody, and a completely original "Welcome, Nong Thais" rap song. It's actually hilarious and already has a ton of inside jokes we share with the Pi Thais. So funny. Elder Maetani licked some expired easy cheese off of Elder Yoon's balloon girlfriend's face, and I'm scarred for life because of that.

GROVIES!!!

Sister Burkman, my former bobcats co-counselor got into the MTC this week! We tried to get a picture with her, Sister Beus, Sister Webb (who just left to Arizona!), and me, but Sister Burkman got stuck in the Character of Christ so we had to take it without her. Sad day. I also ran into STEPHEN! He worked with me this summer too and he's working as an actor investigator at the MTC. I saw him on my way from class and I surprise hugged him and forced him to take a picture. I was so happy to see him again before I was gone for two years. He's almost done with his papers too so hopefully Elder Haymond will be coming to an MTC near you.

PRAWINYANBORISUD (The Holy Ghost)

I had so many powerful encounters with the spirit this week. I know I am on my mission for a reason, and I know this is where I need to be. It really hit me that my mission doesn't start once I get off the plane in Thailand, my mission started two weeks ago. The MTC is here for me to learn, grow, and become the best missionary I can possibly be. I've been in the attitude that I'm above being in the MTC, which is far from the truth. I need all 9 weeks in the MTC, so it's time that I "Don't count the days. Make the days count." The spirit is so real. I've never been so sure of it in my life. I guess my mini challenge for you (yes, you!) is to pray for the spirit to be with you and then look for it! The blessings and love are there, I promise you!

LAST THINGS LAST

-You guys, my sister got engaged!!! I know I can't believe it either! So excited!

-My pitching ability is getting very good. The Pi Thais and us have been throwing stuff at each other's rooms from all the way across the hall. 

-Sister Aung got her endowment last Tuesday and we all got to go with her! It was so cool!

-I love you all, don't forget that.

Elder Barrett

1. Sister Aung's Endowment

2. Me and Sister Beus (Inspired by Mulan. Also pay no attention to how huge I look in this picture haha)

3. Me and Stephen!!

4. Me and Sister Burkman (Bobcats for life)

5. Candy Mountain

Sneak Peek!

I got this picture from my friend, Ann Miles, who works at the MTC.  She saw Elder Barrett and his companion, Elder Yang, on their way back from gym time.  I love these tender mercies!  It's so nice to know people are looking out for him. 😊

First letter from the MTC

Sawatdee kap!!

Wow this has been a busy week haha. The days are so full but the spirit in the MTC is so strong. I have 8 more weeks to go so we'll see how it goes haha.

WELCOME TO THE MTC

When we're given our nametags on the first day, we're given a bright orange sticker on them that my dad so lovingly dubbed the "dork dot". Everyone and I mean EVERYONE will say "Welcome to the MTC" all. Day. Long. You get a little sick of it and eventually you just stop saying thank you haha. 

THE DISTRICT

My Thai class only had 6 people in it including me. So that's my new district haha. I was in a threesome with Elders Thaxton and Maetani. The other companionship was Elder Yang and Elder O'Bryan. We have a solo sister named Sister Aung from Myanmar. Elder O'Bryan had to go home early, unfortunately, so now I'm companions with Elder Yang. Our main teachers for the first chunk of our time here are Brother Oakes and Brother Borg. They're super friendly and helpful, they make Thai class so much fun. There's only one other group of Thai speakers in the MTC. They're 6 weeks in right now, I think. They're the Pi Thais, which basically means older Thais, which makes us the Nung Thais. They're really cool and super fun, we'll learn a lot from them.

THAISERCISE

The Thai learning classes do something really fun to learn Thai, we call it Thaisercise. It's basically learning new words and connecting them to some sort of dance/exercise. It looks ridiculous, but it's really fun. Thai is a super expressive language, because of the tones. So learning them in this way is super helpful and I always look forward to it. It also helps wake us up when things are getting a little slow haha. The best one had to be "bobababo" which means crazy. We kinda just fling our arms around and yell it, it's great haha.

FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD

The cafeteria can be very hit or miss. Sometimes it's fantastic like the chicken and waffles or Papa John's day, other times it's really not great at all. Swedish meatballs specifically stood out because they tasted like the color gray. Not great. I'm really making an effort to eat as many fruits and vegetables as I can because I have heard some horror stories about missionaries gaining 30 pounds in the MTC. No thank you. Elder Maetani is just pounding it, though. He is eating so much, it takes guts.

THAI

Let's make this perfectly clear: Thai is such a difficult language. There are so many letters to learn and rules with tones and the vowels and vowel clusters ahhhhhhh. I've been praying so hard for the gift of tongues, so I know it'll come to me. I just have to try not to get buried, because there is a lot of Thai to learn every day.

PRAMIYANBORISUD

On a more spiritual note, I have loved the spirit in here. You can feel it just about anywhere. I've really learned to enjoy personal study time and allowed myself to really get sucked into the scriptures. Even when people are sharing a thought in Tahitian, French, Thai, Russian, or English, the spirit is so strong and you can feel the power of these missionaries testimonies. The Holy Ghost must have been helping my 3s fall in basketball because up until the MTC, I'd been in the biggest shooting slump of my life haha.

FAN DIDI

Every night before bed, the Pi Thais will come into our room and each hug us individually, give us some pats on the back and say "fan didi!" which means "sweet dreams". They do this every night and it really makes us feel loved and cared about. All the other missionaries in our branch know it too so sometimes they'll come in and say it, whether they're going to Tahiti, Russia, Ukraine, or Spokane. It's really fun and it brings our branch really close together. Emotionally and physically haha.

MANNA FROM HEAVEN

We came into our residence one night to find a cereal pyramid of Tootie Fruities right in the middle of our room. More than 100 boxes of cereal. What. How. Heaven? We have a million helpings worth of cereal so if you're hungry, let me know. I have the hookups.

DEPARTURES

Elder O'Bryan had to leave early which was pretty rough, but we're happy he's doing what's best for him. Also a few districts are leaving our branch. Specifically EVERYONE WHO ISN'T THAI!! It's going to be so crazy being the only ones here for a day. But on Wednesday, we get 12 spanish speakers so we'll see how that goes.

LAST THINGS

I'm going to use this section just for some information that you may like to know

-My P Day is on Tuesday, so while I'm in the MTC, I'll be sending emails on Tuesdays

-I can't respond on any other days so it's nothing personal if I take a while to respond haha

-Thai word of the week: Bobababo, crazy

1. District mirror selfie, because we're trendy

2. The Manna from Heaven

3. District picture (left to right: me, Elder Thaxton, Elder Maetani, Elder Yang, and Elder O'Bryan)