Sister Melissa Larson: Hello New Year! :)

Family and Friends!

Oh it was so good to talk on Friday!! Yes, I was trunky! But it's ok, I have already forgiven myself. I had a wonderful Christmas in Thailand. No they don't celebrate Christmas here, only in the mall where there are Chirstmas trees, lights and Christmas sales everywhere (and Christmas music!!) None of the people celebrate it. It was a normal day for most people. I even had a guy tell me yesterday that December 25th is the day America celebrates new years and the Thai's celebrate it on December 31... So basically when you are saying Merry Christmas, a correct response would be Happy New Year, because its the same thing here... I love saying Happy New Year because it's Sawatdii bii my (which translates to Hello New Year) and it's just fun to say.

So Christmas Eve was really fun! We sang Christmas carols and went to President Smith's and ate sugar cookies!!! I was SO happy because I really missed eating sugar cookies! On Christmas day I talked to the fam in the morning and it was so good. It just went by so so fast!! I didn't like that... but I am already excited for May which I know will come in no time! After talking, my companion and I ate lunch at an Italian resturant, and I had raviolis!!! SO good!! :) Then we went to a members house, Mink (the one on facebook) and had an awesome lesson about Christmas. We read Luke 2 in the Thai Bible and bore our testimonies. Mink's was so strong. She is only 18 and the only member in her family. She told us how her dream is to one day read scriptures with her family on Christmas day, but that she was so grateful we were there to read with her and that we were like family to her. :) She is amazing. We went to Impact center, which is like Arco Arena to this thing called OTOP where tons of Thai vendors are selling all kinds of different things. I bought myself a necklace, Sister Neilsen and I matching purses and the boys, dad and the elders I had for secret santa, ties (like I promised!! :) After that we went to the mission office and watched the Christmas devotional, ate pizza and opened presents. It really felt like Christmas :) My favorite part was just going to the office and laying on the couch with a blanket (the office is always freezing!!) It felt SO nice to just relax!! That is something we never do at 7 o'clock at night! So Christmas was awesome!

Honestly though, the day after Christmas had to be one of the most fun days of my mission!! We rode our bikes ridiculously far and it was a miracle that I even had the strength to ride as far as we did. It felt really good though! :) I just can't tell you how much I LOVE Sister Neilsen. I loved Sister Hulme and Sister Brad, I really did, but Sister Neilsen is just hilarious!!! I laughed until I cried FOUR times!! The first time was on our first long stretch, our first two appointments cancelled so we decided to write a note to a new investigator who's trust we are still trying to gain. We go into the 7-11 and we were just drenched in sweat (in December!) from the long bike ride and Sister Neilsen grabs a water from the shelf and drinks half of it before she even paid! I just couldn't stop laughing! OK, so maybe you had to be there... The second time was when we were leaving the 7-11 and I was turning my bike around and accidently ran over my own foot... some how my shoe came off of all my toes besides the big one, and all this happened in front of like 5 people who were giving me pity smiles... I just laughed... So now we are riding to our next appointment and Sister Neilsen, who HATES dogs, is riding in front of me and a dog comes out and starts barking like crazy at her. So she does the only logical thing to do... stops right in front of the dog and stares at it as it furociously barks at her (that was sarcasm) I almost hit her, she stopped so quickly! I said Why did you stop?! I laughed like crazy and am still laughing as I am writing this.... hehehe. And finally after we rode our bikes ridiculously far and I thought I would die, we made it home and stopped at the 7-11 to buy carbs and Sister Nielsen was opening up the banana chips she had just bought and having a hard time. After yelling at them, she finally bursted the bag open and the entire bag of chips fell on the ground.... It took every last bit of energy in me to laugh until I cried.... Ah, what a good day! But more than just laughs, we taught two really good lessons and invited a lot of people. It feels so good to be a part of the teaching. The first lesson was just a spiritual thought with a recent convert and I taught the entire lesson on my own about how the Savior heals us from sin through his atonement. It was so good. I love my life.

And finally today was SO fun. It is Sister Bradfield's Birthday! So 7 of us sisters went out to an island in our area and road bikes along these tiny little roads that remind me of Rainbow Road in Mario Kart (because there are no sides) Then we took a boat around the island and it was just so beautiful! I LOVE Thailand! I took lots of pictures so I will send them home for sure! :) It was an amazing trip. We ate lunch in this cute little restaurant and now I am emailing! The work here is so good! But I'm not gonna lie, sometimes I do feel like I am just on vacation. But as Dad says, if you love what you do, you never have to go to work a day in your life!! And it's true. I love sharing the gospel with the Thai people. They are so amazing and many are ready for the gospel. I am so grateful for this experience!

I love you all so so much. Have a great new year and everyone write me! or send a package ก๊ได้
ซิสเตอร้รักคูณมำกๆๆๆๆ

Love,
Melissa

PS OK the pictures...