serving in the land of smiles: Change.

Brother Tom, one of the great recent converts we work with. He is living proof that the gospel changes lives.

Dearest Family Family Dearest,

This was such a long and unusual week. There was a lot of change. Walker is at college. WHAT HE'S AT COLLEGE. New investigators! Sister Zaugg finished her mission and went home. Sister Speas and I are officially Sister Training Leaders. We are dead exhausted from our trips to and from Bangkok. And we love Udon. So here it is! Enjoy :)

We have a new and wonderful investigator named Philip. He is so funny. He is 17 with big hipster glasses. He uses his hands to talk and when we taught him that he could know that what we had taught him was true through the power of the Holy Ghost, he whispered, "Amazinggggg." :) He has a baptismal date for the 7th of September. We have another wonderful investigator, Jupe, who is the younger sister of a member. She reminds me a lot of my little Bam from Saphaan Suung. She will be baptized on Sunday.

So as for Sister Zaugg going home...it was a little crazy. On Tuesday we found out that Sister Zaugg would be going to Bangkok on her own and that Sister Speas and I would be staying in Udon all week. But then we got another call saying that Sister Speas and I needed to go to Bangkok with Sister Zaugg on Thursday and stay through Friday for a meeting. Then we found out that we weren't going. It was a roller coaster. Then on Wednesday morning, the APs called again and told us we would be going to Bangkok. So Sister Zaugg packed up all of her stuff and Sister Speas and I had little overnight bags and on Thursday morning we took a bus down to Bangkok.

Sister Zaugg’s leaving was so bittersweet. I was so excited for her to see her family and meet her baby sister (her mom had a baby in May!). But I was so sad to have her leave. Sister Zaugg has been one of my closest mission friends and companions. She worked so hard up until the very last second. She is an amazing missionary and I am so glad that I was able to be companions with her again before she returned home.

On Friday after we dropped Sister Zaugg off, we had Mission Leadership Council. It's training for all of the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders. After, we tried to get on an early afternoon bus home...but to no avail. It was an overnight bus for us. We got to Udon at 6am on Saturday morning and Sister Speas and I are so exhausted. We get to do it all over again in two weeks for a meeting with Elder Steven Allen, who is the head of the missionary department! He is coming to visit our mission. It should be a really neat experience.

This week I have thought a lot about change. Why do we fight against it so hard? Why do we have this idea ingrained into us that we cannot change? The central message of the Atonement of Jesus Christ is just that—we CAN change. Through Christ, we can change. And not just change, we can change for the better. I love that. We can become new people again and again and again.

I love Alma 5 verse 7. It says:

7 Behold, he changed their hearts; yea, he awakened them out of a deep sleep, and they awoke unto God. Behold, they were in the midst of darkness; nevertheless, their souls were

illuminated by the light of the everlasting word.

Alma reminded his people that through Christ, hearts were changed. Christ changed them. Christ caused their souls to be illuminated by the light of His gospel. He has changed my life, and there is a light in my life that I never want to fade. Each of us can experience this change. It is not scary. It is not hard. It is possible, and it is good.

And there was my week ... Sister Speas and I are still recovering from our lack of sleep haha.

I love you all, family. Thank you for all of your emails and your support and love. I can feel it!! :)

Love,

Sister Hungry (the people in Udon eat this one up, no pun intended haha whoops)