Dear people who raised me
And my fellow offsprings
I hope that the whole family didn't think that all I do here
is nurse drunk women haha.
Also I think the world of Jo so I hope they don't think
anything bad of her, because I don't. She's so Christlike and she doesn't even
know what that means. I'm giving her a Book of Mormon when this is over.
Also I miss you guys and I was sad that I wasn't at the clue
house. I decided that I am very grateful for that house and I got quite
nostalgic that I won't be there next year either. It sounded like an adventure!
Lots of sickness and sadness that I wasn't around lol. ;) jk glad you had
fun.
Gratitude is a funny thing. Once things are taken away from
you, you're suddenly happy that you have them. But actually you don't have them
because they are taken away from you... So it's just a hopeless circle that is
really hard to win haha. But that's why it's humbling right? It's hard.
When I came out here I was expecting to be humbled but not
in the ways I have been. I mean yes I have been humbled in most of the ways
you'd expect. But I've found myself rejoicing over the most unexpected things,
like the fact that there's always change in the US. If you want to pay for a
one dollar item with a ten dollar bill, no problem! Here it is hard. I am
grateful that my siblings are sweet friends as well as family. I'm grateful
that our brooms have long handles. I'm grateful that our government has a
system of trash disposal. I'm grateful that everyone at home understands my
accent, for hugs from mom, and for printers. Im grateful that no one swears in
our house.
I am grateful for the knowledge that families are always
together. This has become so important to me lately.
So today, the day that I'm BEGINNING this email haha, is
January 20. Which means I've been gone 15 days, which means I'm halfway done
with this. It also means I've been away from home longer than I ever have before.
Actually that happened at day 7 lol but whatever. "If I take one more
step, I'll be farther away then I ever have been from home." That was
misquoted sorry Samwise. But January 20 also means that I have 3 months until
my mission. 3 MONTHS. uhhh... ! It also means that in two days, Ryan, spencer
and Ben will have been on missions for 6 months. My friends, the work is
hastening! And it's hastening quickly so I've got to grab my knickers!
#ahhhh
By the way dad, right before I read your email, like RIGHT
before I opened it, I was thinking of how I missed the temple and then I
panicked because you're right and I indeed took zero temple prep. So... Yup.
Blessings come to those who feed Nepali children porridge.
Thank you! Keep them coming. I love D&C 97 mucho.
I'm concerned though, I won't have been to church for 5
Sunday's, I think? And then I'll just enter the temple. Is that a bad thing?
Like I feel ok but what do you think? I haven't defiled myself and don't plan
to so... ;)
But it was an eventful day. It was really interesting. I
stayed up late drawing maps for the street kids so we could teach them about
geography today. It went really well. I taught toddlers the alphabet and how to
say butterfly along with putali. I made a kid do squats for talking in Nepali
when he was supposed to use English (how I hate disciplining. I hate it but I
have to do it). Somewhere in there, I went on a run outside of the city and
into a little village around the lake. I tripped and face planted on some rock
or something like an idiot and some women rode past me on a motorbike staring
at dusty bloody ol' me. But dad! I saved your phone! Yayyyy. I sacrificed my
knee instead. Don't need those really anyway.
I ran up this little mountain and found a ginormous spider
web and an equally ginormous spider... Eek. I'll send a picture.
The view from where I stopped on the mountain made me think
about a lot of things. It was quiet compared to the city where our house is, and
also much greener. I just sat and looked and looked at the jungle book trees,
the colorful square houses, the woman who was pointing at things with her dark
skinned baby. The dust drifted just above the field below where another woman
and her children put things in a straw basket. I thought, first, "I'm in
Nepal." Second, I thought "I feel at home."
It was kind of a first, here. I just felt very comfortable
in that moment, all by myself, staring at foreign people and foreign spiders
and foreign trees on foreign mountains. I don't know why nature does that to me
but I seem to connect with myself and God better when I'm in it. I think it's
so easy to be close to him when you're surrounded by his creations and you have
a solid view of the sky. I know he's out there somewhere.
Then it was Richard's birthday. Richard is an older
Australian man who says witty things. We went to this place with a live band,
and everyone knows I sing because I've been teaching some of the kids a song,
so they kept asking me to get up and sing a song. I told Bibek (the Nepali dude
who dances) that if he could get them to let me use their guitar, I would sing.
Guess what happened? I played a beautiful guitar on a cool stage in front of
the volunteers and some people from Nepal. It was fun but I'm sick so it wasn't
my best. But still fun and a lot of people videoed so hopefully I'll get a hold
of that sometime.
Mom:
Oh you guys are so kind. That was cool of you to say because
I've been trying REALLY hard to be positive here and sometimes it's difficult.
I've definitely had many negative moments. I need to write Makk a letter soon.
Wow I'm bad at writing anyone but you guys and Ryan haha.
I'm laughing picturing teesh with her mouth of curdly
cracker tomatoes. Whatever it was hahaha. Keep eating weird stuff please. Ah
man tomato soup sounds good! I want to take some recipes home with me because
the food here is actually so so good. They feed us a TON. It's a problem.
Hahahaha! Those pictures were hysterical! What kind of game is
that hahaha.
My weekend plans are paragliding and hiking so don't worry
about it for now because I have enough money. But next weekend we might go
trekking and that's gonna be a little more (not sure how much yet, maybe around
$200) and I haven't bought my $120 plane ticket home yet so yeah.. Just stick
some Benny's in my account and I'll be enslaved to you when I come
home...
Thank you. Love you.
You can access my account yes? You don't have my card but
you have my account info in that folder I made for you.
I haven't gotten time to watch that video but thank you. :)
I will.
Dad:
Once again I miss the temple. I wanna go to the Ogden temple
soon. I wish there were a Nepal temple!!! It would be so gorgeous...
Hahaha why was the road to our house dangerous? Did you hit
a peach tree?
I don't know what to say about hunger games and alma 51.
Maybe I'll read that chapter and then I'll have something but for now.. Cool! 😎
I liked the movies so much. Haven't seen part one yet.
The fish. I'm pretty sure I told everyone in my house that
story haha. What a lot of munted creatures.
Dad you ARE amazing! Truly incredible! My goodness gracious.
I can't believe your urinary tract skills or computer hacking skills or pie
making skills.
Ps I want pie.
Getting cooler isn't for sissies either 🤓
AJ: I hear you're emotional over downton abbey. I'm proud.
Please give me a plot line.
Yes I know a kid from Ecuador! He's quiet but he's very
nice. Smokes always and swears always but we have a good time. Uh... I don't
know what part of Quito. I'll ask. He loves meat and talks about verde.
Ian: make me a summary of school and girls and social life
and bucket hats and video games. Ready go!
I miss wrestling with you. Never thought I'd say that.
Teesh: wow girl what face expressions you make. Keep eating
ice cream for me.
Frosty: I want to buy you one of the toys here that are way
popular- they are these tops that they spin fast with a string and you can do
cool tricks. Tell me what you think of that.
I have to tell you guys- mostly mom and dad
Thank you! THANK YOU for letting me do this. I don't know
how to express my appreciation but you guys are brave to let me do this and I
know it wasn't an attractive thought in a lot of ways, but I am learning so
much and that's the second best gift ever, next to being your daughter.
:)
Have a happy time. I sent pics over whatsapp and ill explain
them someday.
Share with whomever you think wants this.
Namaste! 
How is the world of America? I'm very patriotic about
America these days since I'm the only one from that good ol' home of the brave.
Is it still snowy? 9 degrees? Farenheit and Celsius are hard. I don't
understand C and nobody understands F. Why did we do that?
Well. Here's some more random things and facts and what have
you.
The two women in charge of male patan (the childcare center)
are named Cabita and Bagwatti. Bagwatti is the kind of person who acts like her
name sounds. She's very harsh on the children and sometimes hits them or pushes
them or yells constantly. Ugh. It doesn't really do anything for the kids
except make them scared of her and make them think it's ok to hit when they
want something. I'm happy that we got ignored when we were bad as kids, so
thanks for ignoring me. But she takes care of her 77 year old mother and lives
alone other than that, as far as I know. It's probably a lonely life. Women
here often have rough lives.
Cabita is lovely, though. We are pals. She doesn't speak
much English and I speak exactly enough Nepali now to communicate with children
in Tarzan language so mostly we just sing each other songs or she teaches me
Nepali. She always comes up and hugs me or plays with my hair. She's taken to
calling me "kanchi" (I think I spelled it wrong) which means
"baby girl" in Nepali. I'm still a little confused as to why, except
there's this song about dimples and baby girls that she sings and points to my
dimples. She's got a few of the little kids doing it to. I'll walk in and a few
of them will be like "lovely kanchi Namaste!"
I'm really quite attached to these kids. I love them more
and more every day and feel like I've made a connection with a lot of them.
It's gonna be a problemo.
Paragliding. Wowzers. Honestly while I was in the air, I was
questioning whether or not I was actually for reals doing there. I was like
"wait, I'm paragliding?" It was kind of shocking. But so FUN!!! Ah! I
wanted to go right back up that mountain and do it again as soon as we landed.
Let's do it sometime. :) totally safe. except for it was kind of expensive and
in the US it would be 1000 times more expensive. That's how everything is here.
Super duper cheap.
And the sunrise before that, ah. I was fortunate enough to
have an hour and a half of perfect Nepal. The city we stay in is alright but
once you get out into the villages and the mountains, the beauty is just
unbeatable and unforgettable. I could sit in it forever.
I think everyone should have the chance to do something like
this. I would love to do this again someday. :) teesh if you can, do it! Except
if I did it again, I'm not sure that I would go with GVI. I might want to go
with a church based organization or something else because really the only
major thing I've struggled with here is the fact that my standards are so
different from everyone else's. It's been hard to have the same friendships
with people when I want to separate myself from them every time I feel somewhat
uncomfortable. I really do love them! But sometimes it's much better to take
myself out of the environment.
But at the same time, i actually don't think I would change
it! I feel that I've really done a LOT of self-discovery because of the
situation, and it feels good to know myself a little better. It feels good to
know that I have said no to things I believe are wrong and that it's not
actually that hard to do it! I thought it would be but I found out that I don't
care as much about what people think of me as I care that I keep my promises to
myself. Dad, the blessing you gave me before I came has helped me so much and
everything is evident now.
I've also learned a lot about the world and that everyone,
no matter what they believe, has something good to offer. Everyone has some
good intentions, I think. They don't have to be LDS or attend the temple or
raise kids to be good people... But just IMAGINE if all these millions of good
people in the world accessed the blessings of the atonement!! It would be
great... The problem is everyone holds themselves back from believing in
something. At least in my experience here so far, I find that most everyone is
like "well, I like to believe that there is something out there, but I
don't know what."
"And I don't want to take the time to find out" (I
added that part myself).
I don't know. I want to be like "don't you know you're
God's child?!" So glad that we have the truth, you know?
Gonna jump into a funny story now. The past few days, my
digestive system has been having some... Issues. Don't worry it's completely
fine. But I've experienced some bloating and other fun things. Don't know what
I ate but it is normal to happen here I think.
Anyway, the other night I had to get up and relieve some
stress on the bowels and I was half asleep. I walked out of the bathroom and Jo
woke up to the noise, took one sniff, and was like "Mmmh" trying to
stifle her face. All I could think of to say was "I'm sorry Jo, my farts
glow in the dark" and I went back to sleep. I'm still confused as to why I
said that.
Not a crimson trail story but I keep laughing about it.
:)
I think I might consider going into a teaching degree in a
while, or at least something where I can work with kids because I didn't
realize how much I absolutely love it. It gets better every day. :) I feel like
I still am a kid. There's no feeling in the world like getting something across
to someone that you are teaching. Making someone believe in themself is so
difficult and actually I take that back, it's impossible. They have to be the
one to believe, there's no forcing it. But giving someone some ideas of how
they can and seeing that light click on in their brain... It's so rewarding. If
anything, it's made me so so pumped to be a mom someday, to love and raise some
of my own! Ahh I'm so stoked for that. And scared but you know. Most good
things require a little courage. Good job mom.
I've done yoga at this place a couple of times, and last
time I went, I was alone with the instructor. She got really excited about this
and told me in her broken English "when just two of us, we do many
stretching. I like." Hahaha and then the little lady led me in this super
intense chanting-meditation-stretch-in-the-weirdest-positions-you-can-imagine
routine, the whole time running little circles around me and positioning me in
the right ways. Chattered about chakras and things like that. Every time I did
something right she would clap and squeal for joy. Towards the end she said
"I know the problem you have. Too tight. I massage now." She gave me
a back massage that made me drool on the carpet. I feel like I made a new
friend. ;)
The couple who owns the place we stay at are named chetchra
and pashpati. I think that's how they are spelled. They are some of the most
incredibly kind and generous people! Pashpati owns a company and he organizes
donations to buy large quilts for people who have no means to buy them. There
are still a lot of people struggling because of the earthquake that happened in
April and the bad economy on top of that... It's super sad. But he's given
hundreds and hundreds of these quilts to people that he sees on the street in
villages and he remembers them. Chetchra cooks for us every day and is the
sweetest woman. She always remembers everyone's names and what they are doing
and what kinds of food they like. I love them.
The doorways are very short. I have hit my forehead an
embarrassing amount of times.
That girl who you said looks like me- her name is Tess,
she's 20 and from Australia. She and I get along really well because we make
weird noises and faces and she's just a fun gal. I look up to her a lot.
:)
Ok these next things are directed at anyone... If I'm
talking to you I think you'll know it.
Ooh! What play are we going to?! I'm so excited!!!! Guess
what I haven't watched a movie in three weeks either!! I want to watch Mulan
really bad.
If I'm a missionary I don't think I'm doing a good job of it
haha. If people ask me questions, I usually feel like I'm overwhelming them
with information and I'm not explaining it in a clear and concise way... I
suppose the MTC will help me with that problem? ;)
YAY!! I love it when life goes "awrye." 🙄
haha good one mom. I laughed at that pretty hard.
I think I explained the street kids thing... But they don't
live on the streets anymore. They live in a house and we call it
"streets" but I'm not sure if that's short for.. Something. Haha. We
give the streets boys snacks for lunch because they don't get that and we feed
the children at male patan lunch because it's just lunch time for them. :)
really fun. I wish I could bring one home with me and give them a better pair
of pants. I'll see if I can make room in my luggage for one more
souvenir.
I sang "cherry wine" by hozier and I sang that
song I wrote :) the cold is pretty much gone now!
I want to hear some details about the cabin and AJ's love
life. Ready go. AJ you can email me separately to give me non-false
information.
I still don't really know what to say about the hunger
games... Except I'm glad that dad opened his heart to it haha. And I'm glad
that you opened yours to Star Wars. Does this mean that you'll like lord of the
rings now?!!? Because THAT would make me glad :) hey and good thought about
adaptability. I have noticed that the volunteers who have the hardest time here
are those who won't accept things how they are. It's hard to eat rice every
day, it's hard that every restaurant is vegetarian, it's hard that there's so
much dirt everywhere, it's hard it's hard it's hard.
But what if the word "hard" is imaginary? What if
we make things difficult by just telling ourselves they are?
Just something to chew on.
Lol at Donald trump. People keep asking me what I think of
the elections and I'm like "uhh. You probably know more than I do."
Who's even running against him? I feel like I should be more involved in
politics but also I don't want to be. Hahaha I hope he doesn't get elected
though.
Dad you should sell Pedro for thousands of dollars. Or we
should sell the boobah since he's been in so many movies now.
I'm sorry that you can't say anything concerning the back
country of Yellowstone on your fun online chat room dad. What are you supposed
to talk about now? Grotto geyser? Please.
But I think that statement about how Yellowstone is like the
temple was quite profound and gave me something to mull over this week.
Sometimes there are things that shouldn't be discussed, because there aren't
words to do justice in any way. I'm guessing this is how the temple is? Maybe.
In a way.
Unparalleled beauty.
Teeshy- you write just like you speak and that made me
really happy. I'm looking forward to a lot of cute emails from you while I'm on
my mission, yeah? ;) good job winning splendor. I'm the champ at that game and
so you'll have to face me when I come home.
Hahaha high tech coloring book. 😂
I am astounded at the new technology of this rising generation. What will we
have next? High tech sticky notes or something I hope. But that was a cool frog
picture dad sent to me. Yay for teesh 🤘🏼
can I color in it?
I could tell you typed so fast because the letters were
smeared because of the amazing quickness.
Also stop asking if you have a sense of humor you fool. Of
course you have a sense of humor.
I have no idea if there's peanut butter in Tahiti but I'm
gonna say I hope with all of my heart
Did you get impaled by a hedgehog? Sad day. 😥
I wouldn't trust a bidet here. Not touching my bum to
anything unknown thank you.
Funny you should say that thing about finding beauty in
every day. Ecc. 3:9-11 (I forgot the verse but it's one of those) has impacted
me a lot lately. We don't know what's in store, but every day is a creation of
God and he has a purpose for it. That makes every day quite beautiful I think.
:)
I want to hear this talk that is on mom's top list now. I
demand it.
Yay temple dress! I'm so so so so so excited. :) temple prep
is slow but progressing. Thank you for all of it.
I am gonna eat all the Raisin Bran when I get my bum back
over there. Although I have eaten the whole world over here. I seriously eat so
much. But on the positive note, the food they make us is very very healthy and
not processed. It's wonderful.
Alright well that isn't really an ideal farewell situation.
But I guess the Selvages will take up much of the time so I'm happy about that.
;) do I have a topic?
Ill go find my friend to do yoga with before I come back.
She will help me.
AJ- I am so pumped for zoolander. Ian are you coming with
us? Anyone else? It's gonna be a party. And really update me AJ. Or you can
when I get home. Either way. Also I bought you something so cool today.
Ian- dude. Do you want a baseball cap or a sun hat or ?
There's lots of cool stuff around here. You would also approve of the milkshake
I had today. It came in pints. I got one.
Teesh 😘
Frosty- I don't know if I can get a top. I'm trying but the
kids hand make them so maybe I can pay one off to help the economy...
Haha just kidding. I miss you lots!! SO many of the boys
here remind me of you and your funny sense of humor and dance moves.
Ok well that's all for now folks. Ta ta until next time. I
officially have around 10 days until I see you all and I cannot wait. :) time
is FLYING and it's making me both sad and happy.
Thank you for being my fam. Love you!
Ps maybe I'll explain the pics when I get home. Too many.
For now, some typical and beautiful Nepali sights and some of my group.
Yes everyone is drinking. Yes that's a beer tower. Yes I still had fun
that night and still love them. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment