Almost Heaven, Ubon Ratchatani

สวัสดีครับ! Sawatdee kap!

That's another week down! This was a great week full of lots of ups and downs, exhaustion, fear, stress, but also lots of miracles, excitement, and progress! We went all over, taught a ton, and ate even more haha.

CHRISTMAS

In Thailand, Christmas is nothing special. No one celebrates it, no one really cares, and they all just think that it's American new year pretty much. So we had an awesome opportunity to share the joy of our savior with everyone in Ubon! The district woke up a little early and we made ourselves a special breakfast and headed out. We had an awesome miracle, on our way to talk to a member, we rode past this guy who was standing out in front of his house just jamming on his guitar. We stopped and asked him to play for us. He was happy to! Elder Thorn recorded a video of him playing that I'll have to send with this email. You can hear him say "he's going to get baptized." After this, he legit played "Take Me Home, Country Roads" in perfect English. Whoa. We started teaching him. We gave him pamphlets and he has been studying them DILIGENTLY. He has so many questions and wants to learn so bad. Miracle! I shared the first vision with him and the spirit was there so strong. He's so interested already, we got him to commit to come to church on Sunday! We talked to a ton of members on Christmas and shared a ton of messages about the Savior. We also talked to ต้อง again and he is surprisingly knowledgeable in the Bible. Very interesting. Oh, and Elder Thorn's mom sent him face cards, which are illegal in Thailand haha.

POOSONJAI

We've been talking to a lot of less actives and poosonjais to try to get them to come back to church, pray with their families, read the Book of Mormon, etc. One of these is Pa เจรินชัย (yes, we call old people Mom and Dad. It's the cutest). He is the cutest grandpa ever. When we visit him, he always brings us snacks and drinks. He spoils us haha. We were eating watermelon and as we were about to start, he said, "no, no wait until you're finished." I love him. We taught him about prayer and about the importance of family prayer specifically. We shared experiences and the spirit was totally there. It was the best. It was kinda hilarious because he kept spontaneously praying in the middle of the lesson. It's hard to tell when he is praying, because he doesn't fold his arms or close his eyes he just says "Oooooooooh Heavenly Father" and we have to scramble into prayer position haha. 

THE WARD

We also have a group of little girls that we handed off to the sisters this week, but we shared about the godhead and I'm happy to say that my experience with the 6 year olds at Aspen Grove last summer helped me with kids haha. Especially the kids in the ward. They love the missionaries so much, and I'm starting to understand them a little more, so I can joke around with them. They're so cute and it's so fun. We also talked to a family yesterday for our Sunday dinner appointment because we never make our own food over here and we can't buy food on Sunday. We helped them peel and cut sour mangoes (so good) and then we helped them put salt with sugar and spice (and everything nice) into little packages with them (makes the mangoes even better, oh man). Then we made ขนมจีบ and oh it was so tasty. They're like thai pot stickers almost... but so much better.

THE TOUR DE THAILAND

We had a switch-off in Roi-Et on Friday. I was with Elder Kearsley. It was so fun! We gave out ice cream at a school (less creepy than it sounds), ate with some members, and visited this แม่ (old lady, but literally means mom). I also got to cut some crazy fruit out of a tree with a crazy long scythe thingy. It was so sick. For sports night, they had a few non members come over and join us and it was so fun. They said "เอ็ลเดอร์shootสวย" (Elder shoots beautifully). I hit so many 3s, I was afraid they wouldn't want to listen from me about the gospel haha. But they were so cool and it was so fun! There was one big problem though, we couldn't find bus tickets back to Ubon. So we were worried we'd be stuck in Roi-Et. We devised a plan and figured out it would take all day to bike to Ubon. We prepared ourselves mentally and physically, and then found bus tickets and breathed a sigh of relief. There wasn't enough seats for us so I sat on the floor. At one time, there was a puddle of dirty water creeping towards me, my leg was falling asleep, my back was hurting, the baby to my right was screaming, and the guy to my left was throwing up. It was quite the scene and I wasn't exactly the happiest camper haha. There was a lot of times this week that I was kinda grouchy, tired, and annoyed. But then I finally repented and realized that I'm literally in Thailand, serving the greatest people every day. Service is supposed to be a joy and not a burden and it took me until then to realize that. Now, whenever I'm feeling less than happy, it motivates me even more to be like the Savior and serve because I love to serve. It has made all the difference for me.

พระเยซูคริสต์ (Jesus Christ)

Seeing that Christmas is over, I feel like it's the perfect time to talk about our Redeemer. He never complained. He is so selfless. Always thinking of the desires and wills of others before his own. He has perfect patience with us. He has perfect and infinite love for us. I'm so grateful for a Savior who has been leading me along this past week. My attitude hasn't been what it should have been 100% of the time, and that's to be expected. But whenever I recognize that I'm not thinking how I should, I think of Christ. I am a representative of him for the next two years. And should be a representative of him for the rest of my life. He loves us all. He payed the ultimate price for you. For me. For everyone that came before or has yet to come. On Christmas, we celebrate the birth of the Savior. Let this Christmas be the birth of a more Christlike love in your heart. Do as he would, love as he would, serve as he would! You'll be blessed in more ways than you can count! I already have been, and that's not just because I can't count very high!

LAST THINGS LAST

-I had Laab for the first time in Thailand! It was so good. And super spicy haha.

-I heard John Mayer for the first time since I left in October. So good.

-Elder Thorn is teaching me how to solve a Rubik's Cube, so try not to be too impressed.

-if anyone would send me chords to guitar songs that you know I like, you will receive many blessings and that's a promise.

-I bought a knockoff Fila fanny pack. It says Fifi. I love it.

-Shoutout to Jake Chamberlain, who just had his farewell yesterday! Good freaking luck in Germany!

-I love Thailand, I love เด็กๆ, I love the gospel, I love Reese's Pieces, I love rice (seriously, it's the best. Hot Rice especially), and I love you. Keep being you.

เอ็ลเดอร์ แบร์ (Elder Bear)

Elder Barrett

1. We thought we were about to bike 200 km at this very moment.

2. Sports Night in Roi-Et.

3. Our Sunday dinner appointment! (Sitting on the ground for that long straight up murdered my back)

4. The river that runs through Ubon. สวยมากๆ! (Very Beautiful!)

Tinsel and Jesus

สวัสดีครับ! Sawatdee kap!

I'm in Thailand! This is not a drill!! Oh my gosh this is happening everybody stay calm! STAY FREAKING CALM! Sorry to everyone looking forward to an email last week, I was busy flying across the Pacific Ocean. We made it to Thailand! I got to do some inviting, get my trainer, and head out to my first area! It's finally real, you guys!

WELCOME TO UBON

I got my companion on Thursday. He's Elder Thorn and he's the greatest. His Thai is so good, the members love him, and I'm already learning so much from him. I couldn't have asked for a better trainer. Although, everyone keeps asking if we're brothers. I guess all ฝร่าง (foreigner/guava) look alike right? The ward is super cool. Some of the recent converts met us at the train station, there's a group of friends who got converted together who are all like 16 and 17 and they're so great. I've had a lot of opportunities to meet members and they're all so warm and welcoming, even though I can hardly communicate (even though so many of them actually speak super good English. I'm trying my best to not use that crutch haha). Ubon is soooooo pretty. There's a giant river that runs through the middle of the city and there are just trees and plants and everything is so pretty. I'm so happy to be here! 

THE WARD

In the TBM, we're focusing super hard on working with members and keeping them strong in the faith, so we have a ton of activities at the church for them. My first night, Friday, we had sports night. It was uncharacteristically quiet, though. Usually tons of people show up, members and non-members, but not this week. I still got to meet a ton of the members and they're all so friendly! Some of them love to hug you, and all the little kids love it when we fist bump them haha. They're adorable. Saturday night, we had our Christmas party, so the Elders all wondered how we can advertise it the best. Elder Dollery had a great idea of renting a samlaw (a three-wheeled bike with a carriage in back) and decorating it with tinsel and Jesus. The result was so good, I was worried that it was about to be translated. We took two kids with us in the back and rode around the streets of Ubon wishing everyone Merry Christmas and inviting them to come to the party. We actually met a monk who had talked to the Elders before and he was super cool. He didn't come, but who knows maybe we'll see him again? Everyone was saying "Hello Hello! Murry Chreesmad!" We were quite the spectacle haha. At the Christmas party, we had food (because there is always food at ward events in Thailand haha), lots of kids had skits, dances, or songs to show, and the missionaries sang Angels We Have Heard on High in English and Thai. The Adults also had a hilarious skit too that I wish I could send haha. In church on Sunday, I got to talk to tons of members in my broken Thai, and they even called all of the new missionaries to go up and share their testimonies in sacrament meeting. While I was waiting for my turn, my heart was pounding. I was so nervous. But as soon as I stood up, I was calm and steady. The spirit definitely gave my talk on Sunday, not me haha.

WE'RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE

Thailand is nuts. It is nothing like Utah in the slightest. The second we stepped out of the airport, it was like a sauna. So humid, so hot. We went to Lumphini Park on our first day. While I was sitting and pondering, I looked to my right and saw a giant lizard. As big as my dog back home. This thing was straight up prehistoric. He was just chilling in a patch of tall grass. Then I look just past it to a tree and I see another one climbing down a tree. Then I look in the river right next to me and there's one swimming through it. I was outnumbered and surrounded. I wisely decided to remove myself from the situation in a timely manner. People drive crazy here. There are no rules, just drive. So biking through the streets can feel like a free for all. There are no mountains, I can see forever. We eat all of our food from vendors on the street, or 7-Eleven. Everywhere you look, there's a 7-Eleven. On our street alone, in a 2 minute bike ride you'll pass 3 of them. But they're so good over here, so don't think that I'm complaining.

BATIHAN

We are already seeing miracles. Yesterday, after we met with Bro. Addie, who is an amazing piano player, we went to meet with a less active member. We met Dong on the way, and we taught him how to pray, and we're meeting with him again tonight! When we got to the member's house, we found out that he wasn't home, but we met his mom and dad there instead. We talked to his mom, and we're going to meet with her again soon! The Lord leads us, we just need to be willing to talk to anyone and everyone!

LAST THINGS LAST

-Thai people cannot pronounce Barrett for the life of them. So I told them they can call me Elder Bear. Now a ton of them call me Elder หมี, which means bear in Thai.

-My district is amazing, we play guitar at night, eat pad thai with members, and other amazing things. They're hilarious and we're having a great time.

-I've sang so many Christmas songs in Thai. I've never sang this many in English.

-I love talking to members. They're all so nice and it's such a humbling experience seeing where these people live and being able to share a message of hope with them.

-We met with Bro. Hut yesterday and he showed us his garden and we ate all kinds of crazy leaves. Don't worry, we're still worthy.

-Even though I'm literally on the other side of the world from most of you (some of you are pretty close. Howdy, Brynlee, Sherstin, and Brady), I love you so much. Y'all are the best.

เอ็ลเดอร์ หมี (Elder Bear)

Elder Barrett

1. Me and Elder Thorn!

2. The Christmas Samlaw

3. Sister หวาน (Sweet) (this was my first lesson!!)

4. Bro. Addie

5 & 6. Me and Bro. ก่อน (he's a police officer and like the coolest guy ever)

Calvin Arrives in Thailand!

We got this picture from the Mission's Facebook Page.  He looks soo great.  We're looking forward to hearing from him ASAP!

And we got the following letter soon after...

Dear  Brother and Sister Barrett,

We are happy to report that your son arrived safely in Bangkok last night.  He is in good spirits and is anxious to begin laboring in the Lord's vineyard in Thailand.  We are thrilled to have him as a missionary in the Thailand Bangkok Mission family.

Elder Barrett will join other missionaries at the mission office and will be trained by Sister Hammond and myself, and later oriented by the Office Couple, Elder and Sister Cook, the mission nurse, Sister Williams, and the Assistants to the President.  New missionaries will have their first experience street contacting in the area followed by dinner at the Mission Home.  Your son will have the opportunity to dedicate and consecrate himself to the most wonderful work.

Your son will receive his first assignment tomorrow morning.  Preparation day will be on Monday and he will be able to email you and contact you each week.  I am sure he will have much to share regarding his experiences in Thailand, missionary activities, and his first Sunday in his assigned area. Your expressions of encouragement and spiritually uplifting email correspondence will be of great support.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions during your son term of missionary experience.

Sincerely,

President and Sister Hammond

Thai Masterminds

สวัสดีครับ! Sawatdee kap! 

This is my last email from the MTC! We're in the endgame now. My MTC experience has been a good experience, no matter how unbelievably long it feels like I've been in here haha. This was a super fun week and we're so pumped to head out to Thailand! We got our Nong Thais this week, and our flight plans! We head from SLC, to Seattle, to Seoul, and finally Bangkok! So pumped!

ภาษาไทย (Thai language)

Speaking Thai is so fun, you guys. I highly recommend it. In class we've been having so many opportunities to speak Thai and it's been starting to get more and more comfortable. Apparently the Nong Thais know me as the best speaker of the Pi Thais. I don't know who decided that or who's been spreading false doctrine, but none of us are very good at Thai yet, so don't believe everything you hear. My ku, Elder Yang's dad listens to a lot of Thai music. So we may have gotten to enjoy a little Thai culture before we get into Thailand. And it rocks. We've been helping the Nong Thais learn a little bit, too. It's really cool to see where we used to be and where we are now. There is a Thai sister here at the MTC that I had a chance to talk to before one of the devotionals. We mostly talked about what I'm excited to see and do in Thailand. Which mostly included Thai food and 7-Eleven, haha. But yeah, I had a whole conversation with a konthai in person. Not to flex, but maybe a little.

ผู้สนใจ (Interested Person)

We got to teach another konthai this week, her name is Sister Bloom. We talked to her about her conversion story and what the gospel means to her. And we can understand what she's saying! Who would've thought? It's so much fun to be able to communicate with someone that a couple week ago wouldn't make any sense to me. We also had another chance to teach Brother Nok. Before we could even ask him how he's been doing he said, "Elders! I have a christian friend and she told me that it's Christmas time and told me all about it! I want to know all about Christmas!" We were so happy to share with him. We told him what Christmas was and why we celebrate it. We shared with him the part of the Christ Child video with the wise men, and he was gripped. We also shared some scriptures with him and it was amazing to see him finally understand Jesus Christ and what He means for Brother Nok. When we shared our testimonies with him, the spirit was so strong. We got him to commit to sharing his testimony with those around him. I'm so pumped to hear how it goes! 

โดยอำนาจของพระผู้เป็นเจ้า (By the power of God)...UNO!

The MTC is pretty funny sometimes and just decides to close down the gym for whatever reason. On Tuesday, Elder Yang and I headed to the gym early in the freezing cold morning to find out that the gym was closed. But that's when Sister Beus stuck her head out of T2 and called us in. The Japanese were having an underground game of Uno. So that's how we spent our gym time. Then on Friday, they did it again. Gym closed. So we got the gang back together. It's not quite underground poker or shooting craps, but it does make me feel like a gangster. I won both games of Uno that we played that day. The odds were at least one Japanese speaker would win a game, seeing that I was the only Thai speaker at the table. But I guess the Thailand Bangkok Mission really is the best in the world.

อร่อยที่สุดในสามโลก (The most delicious of the three worlds)

I'll set the stage for you. 4 starving Thai Elders. One sister who lives nearby. The very existence of In-N-Out Burger. Get the picture? After the Tuesday devotional, we returned to our residence hall with a plan in place. One Elder who will remain nameless has a sister who was willing to bring us In-N-Out. We graciously accepted. We decided the drop point, waited until she was in position, and booked it outside, grabbed that bag of double doubles, and returned safely with the contraband. Let me tell you, that burger was the tastiest thing I've had since I came into the MTC. One of the counsellors in the branch presidency decided to visit us that night. When he saw our burgers he said, "They didn't even bring you fries?" It was the best.

IT'S JESUS

I just wanted to share a little bit about Jesus Christ this week. It's almost Christmas, and I'm going to be spending it in Thailand. I'm lucky enough to not be distracted by all of the stuff that takes away from Christ. We get to spend all of our time sharing the joy of our Savior. I've really enjoyed Alma 38:9 and Helaman 14:8 this week. They share truths about our Savior way better than I could on my own. I'm so grateful for his sacrifice. Before I came into the MTC, I had some questions about him. Maybe you do too. I didn't know how someone who died so long ago really mattered to me now in my life. What I've learned is that everything he did is everything for my life. He's the light of the world. He's the way back to our Father in Heaven. Through Jesus Christ, we can have eternal happiness. I am so grateful for Him.

LAST THINGS LAST

-apparently BYU beat UCLA, but lost to Utah in basketball. So I'm not sure how I'm feeling about that.

-Da Jesus Book has been the comic relief that we desperately needed. Bless Hawaiian Pigeon.

-Thai word of the week: เขา kao, he/she. Be careful who you refer to in Thai, because you might accidentally call someone a cow and owe them chocolate.

-We get our name tags in Thai this week! Apparently we're not allowed to wear them outside of class until we get into Thailand... but we'll see how that goes haha.

-I love you all. You're the greatest (yes, you!) and Jesus loves you. If I could send Hershey's kisses to you all, I would. Because apparently that's how we do things in the MTC.

Elder Barrett

1. No heist is complete without a photo shoot

2. Squad Eats

3. I drew pictures of our teachers and I'm very proud of them.

If I Execute this Bicycle Kick Correctly, I Cannot Be Defeated.

สวัสดีครับ! Sawatdee kap! 

The seventh week was a roller coaster, haha. Thanksgiving was still Thanksgiving-y but also pretty much Christmas in November. The Spanish Elders just got sent off into the world, so now us Thais and the Finnish are going to have to hold down the fort. We've heard so many cool stories about Thailand, and we've really been working hard on learning what we're going to teach. So another busy week haha.

POOSONJAI

This week with poosonjai was very interesting and new. We taught Bro. Game about the Plan of Salvation, and shared with him that he would see his mom, who had recently passed away, again. The spirit really filled the room and it was just so cool to be teaching things that directly apply to who we're teaching. Bro. Game still has a lot to learn about the gospel, but I can tell that he is so excited and anxious to learn more. We taught Bro. Lucky again, but this time he was feeling really down. His family wasn't very happy that he was learning from us, so he was having a tough time. We taught him about the Book of Mormon and shared that with the Book of Mormon, we can find answers to our questions. He told us that it felt like he had to choose his family or God. Bro. Hunt told us that in a situation like that, we need to be bold. We need to tell him that when he chooses God, he chooses his family as well. We also taught a new poosonjai, Bro. Golf (Bro. Fly's Thai-dentical twin). He's older and has a rough situation with his family. He's constantly having to go to Japan for 6 months, and Thailand for 6 months to support his kids and family. It's really a tough situation. His dad was a catholic, and his brother is a member of our church. He noticed that they always seemed really happy and wanted to find out more about the church. When he went to church with his brother, he was very confused about just about everything that they were talking about haha. We're doing our best to help him out with his questions. We also got to talk to a real konthai over Skype this week! He's already a member, and we just shared a message about the restoration. It was so cool to have a real experience with a konthai. I'm pretty sure he made his Thai a little simpler for us, but I really understood pretty much everything he said! It was so cool!

WANKAPKOONPRAJAO

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, so missing it with the family this year was kinda rough. But y'know what? Despite all of the snow, it was the best day at the MTC so far. We started with a devotional with Elder Neil L. Andersen. It was the best. He brought out his grandkids and they gave us all cards. It was really sweet. Oh, and I got to shake his hand, which gives me an excuse to never wash my hands again, right? Our lunch was actually fantastic, and tasted like Thanksgiving. So grateful for all of the people who came and volunteered to help with that. Then we had a service project and the MTC made about 400,000 meals! After that, we got to watch The Other Side of Heaven and it was so nice to watch an actual movie again. It kinda felt like watching a movie in school, though haha. We had a musical devotional with Tanner James and Micheal Dowdle. It was so cool and I feel the spirit so strongly through music. That, or I was just so happy to hear the sound of a guitar. They lit up the lights they had on all of the trees, and we got to go check it out and take pictures. It might've been a little early for Christmas, but it was very pretty haha. 

PRAWIHAN

We got to go to the temple last week with the Vietnamese district, and it was super cool! I really love being in the Celestial Room. It's the most peaceful place in the world and has the strongest spirit. Last week I decided that I would pray in Thai and it was an amazing experience. It made my prayer feel a lot more meaningful when I had to think that much harder about what I'm going to say to my Heavenly Father. Fun fact about praying in Thai, when we pray, we use the royal language. Which means that when we refer to ourselves, we say kapraong. Kapraong basically translates to "slave of a heavenly being." Thai is the best. Speaking about Thai and the temple, in class on Monday we got to watch a little bit of the groundbreaking for the Thailand Bangkok Temple, which will be finished in about two years! The people of Thailand are so ready for a temple and I couldn't be more excited for them.

GOD KNOWS YOU

On Saturday, we received some bad news. My boss' son from Aspen Grove, who was also one of my Bobcats all summer, died in a snowmobile accident while clearing snow. It was devastating news. I had never had a brother, but that's what Herman was for me this summer. I was out of it for the day, but all of the Grovies here at the MTC came together. We cried together, prayed together, and on fast Sunday we all fasted together. It's a really powerful family and bond that working at Aspen Grove brings, and I'm grateful that God had that family there at the MTC to support each other. After lunch, we had another 3 hours of class. When we started class, Bro. Fly said, "We were going to practice teaching about the restoration, but I feel like we should do the Plan of Salvation today." That was no coincidence. He didn't know what just happened. He had no clue. But God knows me and he impressed Bro. Fly to change it up to help me. Hearing about the Plan of Salvation after receiving news like that was exactly what I needed. God knows you. He knows me. He is aware of our struggles and is here to lift us up. I am so grateful for a loving Father in Heaven who knows me, what I need, and offers help to me through his servants. Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us. He knows us individually and he will do everything that he can to help us when we feel like we can't go on. I know that Herman has returned to live with Him again. I know that he was welcomed with open arms and now he is an angel watching over his family. I know that through this trial, the Slaughter family will only grow stronger. And I'm so grateful for the help, love, and reassurance that we receive from God the Father and his son, Jesus Christ.

LAST THINGS LAST

-We had some extra free time on Monday, due to a teacher devotional, so Elder Thaxton and I decided to set up a little game of Takraw (Basically Thai volleyball but with our feet. Still working on my bicycle kick). We are so bad.

-I finally memorized the Ten Commandments in order, so there is hope that I won't be the worst missionary ever.

-We found a youth song that sounds like "Better Now" by Post Malone, so that's how we've been getting our music fix haha. It's "What Does He Think" So go check that out haha.

-Be grateful for your families. Be it your immediate family, extended, friends, even your dog. We're here to strengthen each other and families are on of God's greatest gifts to us.

-Love ya bunches and bunches (and even Honey Bunches of Oats).

Elder Barrett

1. Japan is ok, I guess.

2. The most professional game of Takraw you've ever seen.

3. Thanksgiving Borg Smiles.

4. The Gift of Kalua Pork

5. Us with the Vietnamese District at the Provo Prawihan!

6. Thursday Night Lights!

7. Our Class!