serving in the land of smiles: Well folks, after today I shall indeed be tonsil-less!

Sawadii khaa!!

Family, it was sooooo good to be able to hear your voices TWICE this week!! Am I a lucky girl or what? I think so—except for the fact that I'm getting my tonsils out...hahahaha. I kinda think it's hilarious because if I were to think of it any other way, I would just be so sad. So hilarious it is :)

This last week was the fastest week in the history of all time. I mean seriously, where does the week go? We've all decided that the days feel like weeks, but the weeks feel like days. The MTC is an odd time warp, if you ask me.

On Friday, I went to the health center because i had been having some annoying stuff going on with my throat for a while (try six weeks ha). It got to the point where I thought to myself, "Just go in, what's the worst that can happen?" The doctor I saw was not a very talkative person, and everything he said sounded so serious. He told me I would have to see a Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist, and that I would most likely have to get my tonsils removed. I was ok with that, until he started explaining what all would happen. Like: "Recovery takes 3 weeks or longer, so you probably won't be able to go to Thailand on your scheduled date. You will most likely have to go home for the surgery, and I would recommend you going as soon as possible." He then proceeded to ask me about my crocs, as if he hadn't just told me it was the end of the world or anything. He left me in the room and to go get the nurse.

It was in that moment that I kinda broke down. I realized what I really want—and that is to get to Thailand as fast as possible. I want to go serve the people. I want to go teach them about Jesus Christ. I want them to know that they can live with their families forever. It was a stressful moment when I thought I would have to come home. (Not that I don't love you, family :) )

Then to make Friday better, we found out that Brother Shipley is LEAVING US. BAH. We all love that man to pieces, and we somehow got it out of him that he is going to teach our nong Thais (who come in today!! so happy!!) He wasn't planning on telling us for a few more days, and was surprised that we were able to get it out of him. He said, "Man, you missionaries are getting really good at asking inspired questions." Definitely had to laugh at that one. Elder Astle said after a really long silence, "I feel like I just got broken up with." haha. Ching nan, Elder Astle. Ching nan. (Ching nan = true that.) but here's the thing, as sad as I am about Brother Shipley leaving, I am so happy for the nong Thais to have him as teacher. He really helped me to set the attitude for my time in the MTC and I think my whole mission. I have learned so much from him, and I'm really glad the nong Thais get to have that experience, too. I just hope they appreciate him as much as we all do. And if they don't, we will happily steal him back. Haha. Our new teacher is brother Thrap, who has been sitting in on our classes for the last 6 weeks. We all love him and are so excited to have him! He has big puppy dog eyes and I totally nailed it when I realized that he looks like Lizzie McGuire's little brother.

So yeah. I had a whole weekend to wonder if I would have to come home or not. I wasn't able to get an appointment with an ENT until Monday morning, so I just kinda laid in bed at night trying to figure out what would happen, which was impossible, since I didn't even know if I needed to get my tonsils out in the first place. But it ultimately came down to me trusting in Heavenly Father's will for me. I wasn't super keen on the idea at first, but as soon as I told my Heavenly Father my fears and my worries, I felt the most amazing peace in the whole world. I knew that whatever happened, I would be just fine. I'm so grateful for that peace.

On Sunday, I was able to talk to some sisters at choir who are going to PARIS!! Annie Barton, look for a Sister Francis, she is so cute. I was able to write her a list of all the places she should see, where she should eat (I told her to eat all the poire chocolat in the world), and places that I thought might be good for contacting. Who knows if I am right about that or not, but I thought it couldn't hurt. It was so fun. Every Sunday night, we get to watch a movie or a general conference talk. This Sunday, Sister Greenwood and I went to go see the Joseph Smith movie in French. Her family is from Montreal; it is such good fortune to have a fellow French-speaker here :) Hearing French for a hour and a half straight and being able to actually understand everything felt like home. It made me so homesick for France! I hope those sisters know how blessed they are to be going there :)

So Monday morning. I went to the ENT at Intermountain Health Care in Provo, who, obviously, told me I needed to get my tonsils out. He said that the recovery is actually only TWO weeks and that I WOULD be able to go to Thailand on my scheduled date, no problem. I feel so happy about that. As soon as he told me I needed to get them out, I knew it was the right thing to do. I was able to get a surgery date for...well, TODAY haha. And I should be ship-shape in time for July 1st :) I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

In regards to my surgery—I am not nervous at all. I feel so much love! Haha. But really. Everyone has been so wonderful to me, making sure I feel ok about it. And that's the best part—I really do! I was able to get a blessing from the elders last night and it was one of the coolest experiences ever. I'm pretty sure most of them have never given blessings before, or if they have, they're very new to it. I love watching them grow up so instantly and seeing how highly they honor their priesthood. I'm so grateful for the priesthood in my life. :)

Cool realization of the week. On Sunday we learned about repentance. Sister Stack asked me what I thought about weakness vs sin, and do we have to repent of our weaknesses, too? And how to do you know when you have to? So that night as I was in the shower (because that is where I have all of my brilliant thoughts) I was thinking about the word for repentance in Thai. It is kaanklabchay, which literally means "returning heart." I love how Thai is made up of so many compound words—it is so cool. And it dawned on me that repentance doesn't just mean asking forgiveness for sins. Repentance is the process in which we change ourselves to become more Christlike. It is changing our hearts— or returning our hearts— to Him, and asking him for help with our weaknesses. Repentance can be asking him for help to change and become better. Cool, right?! :)

Alrighty, well I'm off....I love you all! Have a splendid week! Thank you for your continued letters and support. It really means the world to know that I have so many people backing me up :)

gab khwaamrag, (with love,)

Sister Hungry

PS this week is the first week that we have all felt really comfortable with Thai! We're reading like pros and we can pretty much say whatever we want, as long as it's gospel related... :)

Quote of the Week:

"Sister Hughes, you better stop telling all these cool stories about your family or one of the elders might hear you and want to marry you on the spot." —Elder Black. (So I guess I like talking about my awesome family. What of it? Haha, I really do have the best family in the world!!!!!)

PS. Elder Black and I would love Kirsten Skabelund's address! A big congrats to her and to Maddy Cope on their mission calls—Sister Missionaries whoop whoop!! :)

the whole fam :) THAILAND!!!

tried to have a companion hug...we all fell down. elder winsor had my camera and somehow managed to capture this moment exactly. best photo ever. it also describes us so very well.