Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining

Hey guys, 

First of all HAPPY BIRTHDAY this week grandma!! I hope it is so great!

This week was interesting to say the least, but I just keep reminding myself two weeks until Thailand!

Something cool about this past week is that when we do our member TRC lessons, where we used to do them with just Thai people that went to BYU/ return missionaries, we now Skype with real Thai people in Thailand! So that's really cool, although Thai is like 2178234978432873420 times harder to understand when its super muffled! Thailand is a day ahead, so we do it at like 815pm, and its morning the next day their time..so weird.

Also this week Elder Webb, Elder Sun, Sister Burbank and I had a sweet time playing on the piano/singing/violin playing, "If you could hie to Kolob." It sounded awesome! We might get our whole district together and do it in sacrament before we leave. 

One thing I really learned this week as I had  a hard week was a lot more about the Atonement. I learned that the atonement of Jesus Christ is real, it is not just for sins, it is for burdens people have, be it fear, worry, or anxiety. I was praying a lot about this, and the spirit taught me that in order to use the atonement of Christ, all we have to do is call upon Christ to help us through prayer, and he will. Our fears and worries, or whatever our problems may be, may not be taken from us all at once, but little by little it gets better. 

Sorry this email is so short this week!! I will have more funny experiences/awesome stories to share next week. Promise.

I love you all so much, thanks for all the amazing advice and prayers offered in my behalf. 

Love,

Sister Remington 

REMINGTONS NEVER GIVE UP

Hey everyone! 

First of all, Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! Suffice it to say, I am super happy you guys got married.

Thank you all so much again for the dear elders. They make me laugh, and feel so inspired! I especially loved both Wyatt and Elliott's awesome ones this week ;). Also I only get them mon-fri, so if you send any sat/sun, i don't read them until late monday night. 

Also the Peterson's sent me the NICEST package and note, it definitely made my day :). Also Grandma Cammy thanks so much for the oranges! They were even better this time if that's even possible! 

This week here is some funny stuff that happened. First of all, I realized that I've given the Elders in my district Waaay to many prank ideas. Like I am the mastermind behind all their schemes. For example (time capsule in the ceiling, ice water bucket, crazy spoon thing etc.) I realized I have to keep some of them to myself. They also tried to prank me this week by unscrewing my desk.... but i caught them! hahah Anyways, if anyone has any good prank ideas let me know. Revenge must happen.

A funny thing with the language happened when I was teaching a lesson to my investigator/teacher Bro Chamberlain. We were talking about the 10 commandments, specifically the commandment, "thou shall not kill". He had a question if he could still kill animals, because in Buddhism they don't kill anything. Period. Not even Mosquitoes. Anyways, Sis B. shared a scripture about how killing animals is fine, because they are for eating. I kinda just had this funny thought come to my head so I was like, hey I'll just go ahead and say it. It was "Raw may gin cone" (we don't eat people)." SO funny. We all just died laughing, and Bro Chamberlain couldn't get it together for the longest time! 

Also, we've started singing by reading the Thai script for the Hymns. It's so hard, and we go so slow, and half the time are singing a different tune to the hymn, than the actual hymn we are signing just because there are so many things to think about. 

Oh, and I probably should have mentioned this in like week one email, but in Thailand how people great each other is by saying Sawatdee kha (female), or Sawatdee crap (male), and by doing this little pray bow thing with their hands. So that is how anyone in my zone/district greets each other, even if they are not going to Thailand, just because its so fun. 

This next week (week 7 yay! only 3 left)  should be exciting because we are having the new thai group come, and they have one sister who will be moving into the room with me and the other Thai sisters! So we are stoked cause it'll be a change up. Also, they keep telling us that there is something awesome planned for American Thanksgiving, so i'm stoked for that! 

This week honestly was the hardest week so far at the MTC. Thursday hit, and I felt like I was living the movie Groundhog day, where the guy wakes up and relives the same day over and over and over again. That day we had done the same activity in class, same this same that, i'd eaten the EXACT same food for lunch I had for seven weeks, the language was still hard (the tones), and suffice it to say I got really frustrated. And lost it a little. I hadn't taken my own advice about having hope, and trying to make everyday the best. 

I was also thinking quite a bit this week about why exactly missions are so hard, and I thought that probably the reason they are so hard, is because you don't have anything you can do to take your mind off of anything. For example, I used to be able to whenever I wanted not to think about something, I would just go on my phone/go skiing/ hang out with friends etc. Here there aren't any of those options, you can't in a sense "numb" so you have to face all the problems that occur, instead of just pushing them away through ignoring them. 

Something however that helped me a ton this week is someone said, "Everything in your mission that happens, happens to help you." And I do believe that. All the experiences I've already had in this short almost month and a half, have really helped me, and each day I've wondered if I could still do it, something would happen to reassure me that I still could. Heavenly Father never forgets us. 

This week especially I remembered something my Mom and Dad would always say to me and my siblings when something was hard. It's that, "Remington's never give up." When it gets hard I remember that and I will NEVER give up. 

I also read in Alma 3:26 this week and it says, "You'll either have happiness or misery, according to the Spirit you listeth to obey." This is so true, we choose everyday, so we might as well choose to listen to the good.

Grandma Cammy also sent me this awesome quote, "To find real happiness we must seek for it in a focus outside of ourselves."

Oh and Elliott sent me this awesome thought! She said she was in her seminary class this week and they were reading in Joseph Smith History 1:15-20 Elliott said, "It is really cool because it's when he is in the garden and he's praying for the first time and satan is all around him it's cool because he could have just given up, he could have so easily! But nothing worth having comes easily, remember that. No matter what happens don't give up, it's all worth it in the end." 

I am so grateful for the awesome example of my family.

Also, this week when I read Alma 26:1 which says, "For could we have supposed when we started from the land of Zarahemla that God would have granted unto  us such great blessings?"I had this realization, that sometimes its hard to know at the start of things how good things could be, it's often only in looking back at the end of events, that you see why things happened the way the did. In Phillipians 4:11 it says, "For I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." This really made me think, as when it comes down to it, none of us really have very much time on this earth so we may as well be happy. 

Something that I am going to work on this week is to try and gain more of an unshakable testimony of Christ. I realized that it is through Christ that we are able to do all things so that is what I must begin to do. 

An awesome quote that I would like to leave you all with this week is: 

"There are 2 kinds of people in this world, those who act and those who are acted upon. Be one who acts."

I love you all and miss you so much!

Love,

Sister Remington 

P.S. I feel like this email is all over the place so sorry if it makes no sense!

Make Each Day the Best

Hey guys,

I hope your week was great. This week was a little hard, but it went by fast!!

Grandma Cammy!! Thanks so much for the mandarins you sent, I shared them with my district and zone and they loved them!!

Funny story about that actually:

I went to go hand some of them out to the Hmong elders, and I stood in the door of the classroom and tried to lightly toss each elder a mandarin. After doing this, one elder asked for a second mandarin, but told me, "Sister Remington, I bet you played baseball or softball, so throw it hard." I told him that I actually didn't play baseball or softball, but that I could still throw pretty hard. So in classic form, I wound up and threw it super hard, only it didn't go to him, it smacked against the elders desk next to him and juice was everywhere! It was super funny, and actually a little embarrassing as all the Hmong elders are all like, "Oh, Sister..." They then made me try to say the word "Hmong" correctly for like 5 min. Apparently its like a breathy H, where you blow out of your nose. It was hard, and I still can't say it right hahaha

Some random news of the week:

*They are starting to send Sisters to Laos!

*My blood type is O negative, not sure what that means, but it is. 

*I realized everyone in my district is taller than me, and also some of the Elders who have just graduated high school are older than me too. 

*Elliott! We learned how to say please pass the rice!!!!

Thai is coming along pretty well, however any prayers are still appreciated! Asian languages are hard!

This week I said so many funny things in Thai. For example in a lesson teaching about the word of Wisdom, instead of committing my investigator to Stop Smoking (leeg subburi). I committed him to Start Smoking (reum subburi) So embarrassing, and my teacher was laughing so hard, and was all like in Thai, "Don't you wan't me to stop smoking?" 

Another time in class, my teacher was testing our Thai by saying sentences in Thai and then having us raise our hand and translate them to English. He said in Thai, "In which book in Alma do they talk about Faith?" I raised my hand super quickly, and translated that sentence. But instead of saying, "In which book in Alma do they talk about Faith, I said, "In which book in Alma do they talk about Satan." Everyone just about died laughing, as the word for faith is "Sattah", and the word for Satan is "Sataan." My teacher then wrote in huge letters across the chalk board, sattah does not equal sataan. So funny. 

My teachers also think It is really funny that in just about every example/answer in class I bring in the Thai word for cake. We even told our investigator we would bring him a cake. haha

Anyways, I learned a lot this week.On tuesday, we went to the devotional in the Marriott center. It was really neat to finally go off MTC campus, but also kinda hard as I missed BYU a lot. I did however, think about how grateful I am to go to such an awesome school, and also have the opportunity to go on a mission. It was still a little hard though. Anyways, in the devotional they talked about tenacity, and how it is the "persistence, perseverance, stubborn determination, and people that just won't quit." I loved that. I really want to be a tenacious missionary, and person, and to "Pray about it, Make some decisions, and Get on with it." I also loved this devotional, as in the end the speaker referenced a talk that helped me a lot when deciding to go on a mission. The best line is, "NEVERTHELESS I WEN'T FORTH." Sometimes in life we may not know all the reasons why we are doing certain things, but the Lord will help us if we pray, have faith and hope, and go forth. 

I also kept thinking about how in this life, often hope is the most important thing someone can possess. We can never lose hope. It even says in D&C 18:19, "If ye have not faith, hope, and charity, ye can do nothing." This is true, without hope we will not have the power to go forth in anything, big or small, be it waking up, or deciding what we should major in, if there is no hope.It kind of hit me this week, that this is why I am on a mission. To tell people about the hope that the gospel brings, of knowing who you are, and in a sense the purpose of life. 

 In another devotional I saw this week given by Sister Nelson, (Russel M. Nelson's wife), she told the story of young 13 year old Henry B. Eyring. He had just moved from New York, to another state and school. In this new school all the kids teased him about his "accent" and he got pretty down, and wanted to stop going to school, and basically give any effort. One day when he was playing basketball the words came to his mind, and he wrote them in his journal :"Someday when you know who you really are, you will be sorry you didn't use your time better." Those words hit me hard. I thought about them over and over, and they are so true. We need to always give our best effort, in anything we do, be it a small task or large. This is how we live happily. This is how we live without regret. 

I love you all, and pray for each one of you! 

Make each day the best. 

Rak mag (lots of love),

Sister Remington

20 Seconds of Courage

Hey everyone!

This week was pretty good, and went fast. Its now week 5 and only like a month before I'm in Thailand! Which is good because its getting super freezing here in Utah. 

Emailing is hard because I always forget things, it would just be so much easier to call hahah

Speaking of calling, that was crazy that I got to talk to you guys for a minute about my blood type, sadly there was no field trip off MTC campus to figure it out, they just did it here. 

Thanks mom, grandma and everyone for your dear elders! I love hearing what you are up to and reading inspiring thoughts. You guys are doing so many awesome things and being so kind to others I love it. It's inspiring. Also mom and dad i got your letter in the mail-and i loved the "Christmas card" and Dad's letters. I love Dad's letters and read them often. And mom that hair stuff is AWESOME. Thanks. 

I forgot to update you all on my 4 square game last week, so here's the update:  I've been playing every gym time for the last 15 minutes, and I am getting to be pretty good. Not gunna lie. If 4 square was an Olympic sport, they'd probably put me as the back up for the team... I'm not good enough to be on the team...yet. But I have 4 more weeks. I heard an Elder say when I went in the game, "Watch out for this girl she's good." And then I slammed the ball at his feet and got him out haha

Anyways, this week we also put up a sweet Canadian flag grandma sent in the "Canadian corner" of the classroom where me Elder Darby, and Sis Burbank sit. Everyone is pretty impressed haha

Thai is coming along, we started learning the script this week and man that is hard. You literally need to know like 10 things about each letter to read... and there is 87 letters or so. But its getting better. I'm sure I'll be a pro soon. I also learned this week that the Thai word for practice (Fxg) sounds exactly like a swear word. Everyone in my district laughed about that one for a while. 

This week we also started this tape throwing competition that we do at the end of each day, you basically just try and throw the roll of tape onto the wall with coat hooks on it. It probably sounds lame but its really hard, and sometimes (actually all the time) you have to get creative in the MTC to entertain yourself. 

For Halloween in the MTC it was basically the same as any other day. I just ate a TON of candy and krispy kremes and Elder Webb and Darby wore some fake beards. SO good times. 

This week as one of the Sister Training leaders, Sister Burbank and I really tried to help this Sister missionary that was struggling with some things, and really wanting to go home. We did our best, but in the end she went home, and that was really sad. She may come back in like 6 months tho! 

Each day at the end of the day we meet with all the sisters in the Zone, and do "Zone Prayer" for a few minutes. I thought of a pretty fun question thing to do each night, where we ask one sister a funny question, she answers, and the next night she has to think of a question to ask someone else. They all loved it. 

Okay, I learned a ton this week, but a couple of things that really stuck out to me were:

1. Its all so simple: The gospel is pretty simple if you think about it. I think sometimes people (and I've been guilty of this) try and make it seem so complicated, and it's really not. I was reading in 2 Nephi 25:23 and it says, "For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." I loved this scripture, to me it just reminds me thatthis is what the gospel is all about.It's the only reason for church, and the only reason for the book of Mormon. To help people come unto Christ and believe in him! Everything else will follow. 

2. I had an experience this week where I was told I am kinda quiet in class sometimes. Probably due to the fact that I wake up at 630, but none the less it really made me think. I feel like sometimes I am scared to participate or share at the risk of sounding dumb, but I prayed and then opened up to 2 Nephi 7:7. And it definitely is now my favorite scripture. It says, "For the Lord God will help me, therefore shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed." Isn't that the best scripture ever? In life sometimes it just takes the courage and determination to try, and to "set your face like a flint" If you do this God will help you. I took these words to heart and really tried to share as much as i could in class, and I even bore my testimony in Sacrament. It was amazing the results after too.People even came up to me multiple times thanking me for things I had said. As my mom (at least I think it was my mom) says, "Sometimes it just takes 20 seconds of courage, for amazing results." This is true, and i just want to challenge everyone to try a little harder, to take a little more courage with something in your life that scares you. I know that if you do, and if you ask God for help, he will help you. That doesn't mean it still won't be hard, but I promise that each time you do it,in every way, it'll get better. 

Well that's all for now, I love and miss you all!! I pray and think about each and every one of you daily.

Peace out Girl Scouts till next week.

Love,

Sister Remington