Long Beach - Christmas

So this week was a little different than usual, since we had Christmas. I had a New Missionary Training this week. It was really nice not only to get some new information, but to see some of my Thai speaking friends. It was nice to see that they had all adjusted to mission life and were enjoying their companions and the mission.

For Christmas Eve and Christmas we went caroling around our Zone with all of our Zone members. It was really nice, and a good way to wish people a Merry Christmas. We mostly sang for investigators and members. We did go and sing to some random houses and hand out some pass along cards. Christmas day was really fun. We still had studies at 8, so we went over to some of the other Elders’ apartment at like 5 in the morning, to open presents. It was really cool to spend time with other Elders and enjoy Christmas. After our study time, we got to go Skype home. it was really nice to be able to Skype home and talk to family. After Skyping, we got to play Basketball at the Church for a while. It was fun to play Basketball. We got to have dinner at one of the Tongan member’s home. It was very good and we left very full and with plates they wanted us to take home for later. All of the Tongan members are really nice.

We had an interesting few days after Christmas. So, on Saturday, we were really successful all day and had like 6 lessons and committed all of those people to come to church. We also met a few new people we might start teaching. It was a really nice day, especially for right after a bunch of days where we had a lot of things going on. Then yesterday, on Sunday, was not the best day. None of the people that said they would come, came. We had like 8 people that said they would come throughout the week, that didn't. It was really depressing and then to add to it Elder Oniki and I, along with the other YSA Elders, had a special musical number for Sacrament Meeting where we were singing. We were planning on singing along with the piano but there was a bunch of stuff by the piano so we didn't use it. We started singing without a piano and then someone messed up and one of the Elders we were singing with started laughing, that caused another Elder to start laughing, then he slammed his hymnbook and walked off the stage, then the other elder that laughed first walked off the stage. That left me and one other Elder up there and we slowly just died off as well, not really knowing what to do from there. It was pretty bad. Then later in the night we had an appointment that went off and back on like three different times and changed locations twice. We had to get keys and stuff to have it at the church and had to call a member that was supposed to teach her with us several times canceling and rescheduling, and in the end we didn't have a lesson. 

 

I thought it was interesting at how different days can be on your mission, and how you just need to make the best of whatever happens each day.

Elder Cheney

ฉะนั้น, หากเจ้ามีความปรารถนาจะรับใช้พระผู้เป็นเจ้า เจ้าก็ได้รับเรียกมายังงาน

่่้เซนื

Long Beach - Straight into Compton

Long Beach - Straight into Compton

So, I have been in the field for almost a whole week now. It seems crazy. My new companion is Elder Oniki. He is from West Jordan. He is pretty cool. We are in Compton. I thought it would be sketchier here, but it isn't too bad, and most of the people are pretty nice to missionaries. It feels really nice to just be able to go around and talk to people, because it has been all I could think about for the last nine weeks. I have been enjoying teaching, we are always working. I always kind of wondered what missionaries do with all their time because it doesn't seem like much is happening from a members point of view. So much time goes into talking to people and meeting with less actives or recent converts.

So it ends up that I have to drive here. My companion lost his driver’s license, so I had to get driving privileges on the first day. About half of the missionaries in our mission drive and the other half bike. They set that up so the people with cars can pick up the bike missionaries to take them to district meetings and things of that nature. It felt really weird to drive after being confined to the same square 1/2 mile for nine weeks. I am not sure how much I like driving here, everyone drives really fast and recklessly; also U turns are legal; that's weird.

We are actually the missionaries over two wards, the YSA here and the Tongan ward. Church yesterday was interesting because everyone was speaking Tongan the whole time and I didn't really understand anything from it. It was like the first day in the MTC all over again. My Companion is learning little bits of Tongan in our language study time.

My Thai seems to becoming along just fine. I was really worried but it seems I can still speak just fine. This morning I taught like a thirty minute lesson to Elder Oniki in Thai, he just nodded for the whole thing. I was surprised I still remembered all the words I wanted to use. Hopefully, I will get lots of time to practice and keep it up.

The weather here is warm enough for my Thailand attire, for the most part. Our house gets really cold because it doesn't have any heat, but I can just wrap up in a blanket when I am there. 

I am really enjoying being out in the field. It seems weird that I will be here for such a short time and that I probably won’t see any of my fellow missionaries here, after I go to Thailand.

I am excited for Christmas on Friday. The Christmas season is a really nice time to talk to people and it seems like a lot more people want to hear more at more this time of year. I really can’t compare to any other time of year but it seems like lots of people are willing to talk, even if it is just for a few seconds, about the real meaning of Christmas.

Well, hope everything is still going well,

Elder Cheney

--

ฉะนั้น, หากเจ้ามีความปรารถนาจะรับใช้พระผู้เป็นเจ้า เจ้าก็ได้รับเรียกมายังงาน

่่้เซนื

MTC - Week 9

MTC – Week 9

So I had an interesting turn of events this week in my mission experience.  Last week at this time I thought I would be on a plane to Thailand right now. So on Thursday, we get on the computer and Elder Brander is on his missionary portal, I am looking over at his screen and I notice that the picture of our mission president had changed to some other people. I point this out and we read the description and come to find out that it is a picture of the Long Beach mission president. We already had some idea that we might not get our visa's. We go and check my portal and find the same picture of the Long Beach mission president and wife. We have every one in our district check their portal and everyone in our district had gotten reassigned. There are three in our district going to Long Beach, California, 5 going to Modesto, California and 4 going to Atlanta, Georgia. This was shocking because, beforehand, we had heard that a few of us might not get our visas but it ended up being all of us. 

I am pretty excited for Long Beach. It will be very cool to have two missions, we should only be reassigned for about one transfer (6 weeks) and possibly less if our mission president wants us as soon as our visa's come. I think we will end up being there for however long the Lord wants us there. All of the people going to Modesto left early this morning, they ended up staying up late because they didn't really have time to pack. It seems really empty here without all of them. The rest of us leave early tomorrow morning. It has been kind of nice to have a P-day right before we leave, I have already done all my packing and now I just can relax till dinner.

The week has been pretty nice. Last Saturday we had a testimony meeting in our class and said good bye to all of our teachers. The people still left here will get to have another class after dinner with one of them. 

None of us will probably get to speak much Thai in our reassignments but we might be surprised at what comes up. I am worried about not speaking everyday and only getting an hour to keep my language up. I have a feeling it will all work out fine and I will be OK at speaking Thai still when I get to Thailand. 

The Long Beach Mission is the smallest mission, I am pretty sure. It only has about 20 square kilometers of land and then two islands that I am not even sure there are missionaries on. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Yesterday we sang a nice arrangement of How Great Thou Art with the Cantonese district during Sacrament Meeting. It included both groups singing in English and in the mission language. I think it turned out well. We also had the BYU Mens’ Choir come yesterday for our devotional. They are very good.

Well, it will be an interesting next week going out into the field I am excited to see what Heavenly Father has prepared for me in Long Beach.

ฉะนั้น, หากเจ้ามีความปรารถนาจะรับใช้พระผู้เป็นเจ้า เจ้าก็ได้รับเรียกมายังงาน

่่้เซนื

MTC – Week 8

We are all really excited about going.

Our Skype lesson last Monday seemed to go better then the first one. We have another one today so I am excited to see how we do with another week of Thai under our belt.

We had our nun Thais come in on Wednesday. They seem to be learning the language well, and doing well at the MTC. We got to carry out a fun tradition with them. The tradition is that after their first lesson in Thai you show them this video from

 LDS.org https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2012-06-1870-school-bus?lang=eng

It is really funny because we have everyone talk before about how this video changed their perspective on life and helped them through the first week. Some of the people are even able to tear up to make it believable. In reality, the video is a joke that really doesn't make you feel better about anything. Afterward, we shared a good spiritual thought to help them out.

The Christmas devotional last night was great. We got to watch that instead of our regularly scheduled Sunday devotional. It does feel weird that it is Christmas time. Even though they have Christmas lights around the MTC, it does not feel like the same exposure as the outside world. I am not sure what exactly Christmas will be like in Thailand. Our teachers say it is only really celebrated in big cities and it is very commercialized. It has been fun singing all the Christmas songs in our Thai hymnbook. I remember when I heard Silent Night in Thai before I left and it just sound like random noises but now I am able to sing the song and know, for the most part, what it is saying.

Reading Thai is getting way better every day. I remember when we first started learning how to speak script and I took me two weeks to read through 1st Nephi chapter one. I haven’t really tried just reading through chapters like that in a while, but I think it would take me about twice as long as normal, but that is still a huge upgrade.

Not that much else has been going on. I might not be able to write next week because of our flight to Thailand but I am sure I will have tons to write about the week after that.

Elder Cheney